The following comes from a June 18 story on recordnet.com.
When Bishop Stephen Blaire came to Stockton in 1999, the region’s highest-ranking Catholic soon realized that dangerous levels of air pollution were contributing to high asthma rates here.
The Stockton diocese later launched a program seeking relief specifically for those who suffer the most from environmental problems. Nine years later that program is believed to still be the only one of its kind.
So it was no surprise on Thursday that Blaire praised the much-publicized release of Pope Francis’ new missive on climate change, the highest-level document that the Catholic church has ever published about the environment.
Local Catholics, after all, have been working on this issue for almost a decade.
“The future of our world is at stake,” Blaire said Thursday. “When you see the environmental degradation that has taken place in so many areas, you realize that we all have to work together to save our world, for now and for the future.”
…. An official communiqué from the pope is likely to have some influence on conservative Catholics, said environmental advocate Susan Mora Loyko, a Catholic who attends Church of the Presentation in Stockton.
“I think he’s going to bring some folks into the fold,” she said. “This is not just a political issue anymore. This is a matter of faith.”
The Stockton diocese’s Environmental Justice Program began in 2006, about the same time that California approved its first mandate to lower the carbon emissions that most scientists say are responsible for climate change. Recently, the program has advocated for sustainable development in Stockton and for a fair share of state funds for local projects to reduce emissions and improve quality of life.
The organization’s longtime leader, Betsy Reifsnider, retired in late 2013 and was replaced by Katelyn Roedner Sutter, who echoed the bishop’s praise for the pope’s remarks on Thursday, and predicted that other dioceses from across the country will now attempt to replicate Stockton’s program.
Blaire has been “very, very supportive” on environmental issues for a long time, Mora Loyko said.
“I don’t know who’s following in whose footsteps — Bishop Blaire following Pope Francis, or the other way around,” she said.
I recall a number of years ago that Bishop Blaire sent boxes of energy-efficient light bulbs to his priests asking them to distribute them to parishioners … does anyone remember this? Blaire may very well a man of good intentions, but is very much a product of his time. I recall that the Blessed Mother at Fatima said nothing about pollution, but instead was quite concerned that many men were on their way to hell. Rather than light bulbs, I suspect she would have preferred Blaire send out boxes of rosaries. And I’ll lay you odds, Blaire’s diocese produces few vocations to the priesthood or religious life, has low Mass attendance, few numbers of children in Catholic schools (and those schools that exist are not orthodox), and is…
I know little of this situation but it seems the diocese will start dying out within a generation or so…perhaps the Church will regain its footing when we return to the catacombs
Add to what Carol and St Christopher have said is the abysmally low state of priestly spiritual life and discipline, a problem stretching far back decades now. Priests today tell you that prayer is pushed into the back of their daily lives: those who go back a ways will tell you that the disastrous de-construction of the priestly obligation to daily prayer as his primary purpose (S Pius X’s pre-V2 breviary, the “office of the priest” took over two hours usually per day to recite, besides the obligation of daily mental prayer and Mass), is one of the salient issues today.
Too bad the Stockton Diocese is bankrupt. Too bad Bishop Blaire doesn’t focus on sin and redemption as he should. Difficult to do when your masses are chock full of the modern and are said in largely wreckovated buildings. Much more fun to act like an elected official, rather than doing the hard stuff of being a faithful Catholic bishop.
No bishop should have positions on the economy, immigration, the environment and the like, except as these issues impact salvation. Blaire is a fool and a failure. Francis is following a Court Jester, and not a prophet.
St. C, I have to assume from your comments about Bishop Blair that you live in that Diocese of Stockton, you seem so knowledgeable. To say that a Bishop should have no position on the economy, immigration, environment is to completely misunderstand Catholicism. The salvation of souls, in the Catholic tradition includes fighting for the needs of the poorest among us, opening opportunities for families to rise out of hopelessness, ensuring that we are good stewards of our earth and ensuring freedom of religion for all of us. They need to be in the streets, at the peripheries, not in their mansions. That is where people meet Christ. We may go to church for community worship, but we live our Catholic lives in the midst of our neighbors…
” We may go to church for community worship, ” You may go for community worship Bob One (like a good tolerance liberal) but St C and I go to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, I will no longer allow liberals like you to control the dialogue or the language anymore..
Canisius, you are getting picky me thinks. One can, and should, worship God at all times, or whenever possible. Individual worship is great and to be commended. But, when we attend Mass we are worshiping as a community of believers. We are instructed how to worship as a group – gestures, responses, songs, prayers, etc.. It is a liturgy that we follow. The only liturgy, that I know of off the top of my head, is the Liturgy of the Hours which is often done alone. At Mass we are a community worshiping God together, are we not?
BobOne – regarding “Liturgy” – one of the 16 Documents of
Vatican II is “Sacrosanctum Concilium” on Sacred Liturgy. It is one of 4 of the Dogmatic Constitutions.
GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) is the instruction on the Liturgy of the Mass.
The problem with the Liturgy of the OF Mass is that many people have no clue what they are supposed to be doing or not doing regarding gestures, do many incorrect actions that distract others from the Mass, do not correct Priests on abuses of the Mass, and do not turn them into the Diocese Bishop if the Priest continues in error.
On the other hand, Priests do not correct abusive actions of the Laity either. So it is one big irreverent mess in many cases.
One could have the entire world crammed into a Church, Bob One, attempting to worship God, but it would be nothing compared to a single offering of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament even if attended by only the priest.
It’s not people that make the mass or lend the mass its efficacy.
The people in attendance are much like the accidents of bread and wine that remain visible after the consecration. To focus on the community is to focus on receiving bread and wine without perceiving the realities of the mystery.
When I am at Mass it is between Christ and me, not the “community” I don’t attend mass to attract attention to myself or to talk incessantly. I can do that after mass when we are having coffee….
John: You are aware, are you not, that the Novus Ordo Missae of 1969 is nowhere prescribed in the “Dogmatic Constitution” Sacro. Concilium, nor is prescribed the abrogation/abolition of the Traditional Latin Mass? SC says “sound tradition” is to be retained (#23), the liturgical books only to be “revised” (#25: they were: the result was the Tridentine Mass Missal of 1965: so the TLM was in fact the Mass celebrated at the start, middle, end, and even AFTER the council — with no expectation of a “New Order”), and the norm of the Mass was to be in Latin (#36.1). So why do we dismiss this solemn constitution? Just like we dismiss Veterum Sapientiae, another (ap.) constitution.
Wow, catechesis is needed.
CCC 1322-1419
Bob One – do you know the difference between Clergy & Laity ?
CCC: ” 898 “By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the LAITY to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will. . . .
It pertains to them in a special way so to illuminate and order ALL temporal things with which they are closely associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ and maybe to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer.”
Bob One,
CCC: ” 2245 The Church, because of her commission and competence, is not to be confused in any way with the political community. She is both the sign and the safeguard of the transcendent character of the human person. The Church respects and encourages the political freedom and responsibility of the citizen.”
Bishops (and Priests) main job is to teach the Gospel to SAVE SOULS for eternity. And many are doing a lousy job.
The Stockton Diocese applying for bankruptcy under Blaire
due to child sexual abuse payments was in all the CA papers. You can google it for more info.
In addition, no Bishop (including Blaire) has the authority to violate ANYTHING in Sacred Scripture or the Doctrine of the Faith (CCC).
ILLEGAL immigration violates Church teaching, as does promoting a One World Government with the power to make laws, tax and enforce.
“Bob One”: What “Canisius” says is accurate. And, where does it say anywhere that one cannot comment on the Church and its leaders, or that anyone is geographically limited to being a concerned member of the Church. Your views are always a smoke-screen for Zombie-Liberals, who most of all want to silence debate or criticism of awful bishops and what they do.
As to rights of the Laity, please review: Canon 212, Secs. 1-3, Catechism Sec. 907, and Ch. 4 of Lumen Gentium (among others).
The diocese of Stockton and the city of Stockton are both bankrupt. This indicates that the leaders of both are going down the wrong path.
Almost everyone would agree with the Pope that “we need unity to protect creation”. However, the devil is in the details.
Global warming is not a scientific reality. For the past 10 years, the US Climate Reference Network has shown no sign of global warming. In fact, there’s been a very slight cooling in temperatures across the US.
The Church condemned Galileo for stating that the sun was not the center of the universe.
In trying to be a scientific authority, the Catholic Church is moving from being a religious authority to a secular authority. It is losing its moral authority. It is using an atheist scientist to present the encyclical, Laudato Si.
Does the encyclical address what will happen to the workers who lose their…
ever since this encyclical came out, i’ve been on damage control since the last damaged control from this pope. I find myself quoting our Lady of Fatima, Success, and akita. Anyone else experiencing this???
No. It would be contrary to the Catholic Faith to put a private revelation in opposition to the teaching of the Church.
Although there are certainly some things in “LAUDATO SI” that are Catholic Church teaching,
supporting a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT – that has the authority over the entire world – to make laws, police, and tax – is not Church teaching.
Ummmm. exactly where in the document does it call for one world government?
Pope Benedict got falsely accused of that, too.
Paragraph number please?
Pope Francis – calling for a one world authority (one world government) in his encyclical –
# 164 “…… Interdependence obliges us to think of one world with a common plan….”
# 164 ” ……. A global consensus is essential for confronting the deeper problems …….”
# 167 ” …… its accords have been poorly implemented, due to the lack of suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic review and penalties in cases of non-compliance.”
# 167 …… Convention on international trade in en-dangered species of wild fauna and flora, which includes on-site visits for verifying effective compliance…. ”
# 170 ……. Some strategies for lowering pollutant gas emissions call for the internationalization of environmental costs,…
????
Certain “private revelations” have often been in conflict with official Church approbation. Some of the latter accounts of the visionaries of LaSalette were condemned; in the time of John of the Cross, a “visionary” nun with outlandish “prophecies” had to be censured by the Inquisition; Savonarola’s visionary revelations were beyond extreme and bizarre; or, there is in our own time, Our Lady of Bayside and its visionary/ies.
However, Akita, Fatima, and the major part of LaSalette’s revelations are in fact, approved private revelations, by contrast.
Steve Phoenix, yes.
We don’t really know what fan meant by doing ‘damage control” on the document. I may have misunderstood the person.
Ok, got it, thanks.
The US is a very small part of the globe, and 10 years is not a relevant scope of time, even within a single country.
The pope and the bishop have done a terrific job and warned us about the evils of capitalism, greed, the wealthy, the conservatives, the traditional liturgy, even light bulbs, the mafia and global warming.
Will they every get around to warning us about even greater evils?
Such as sodomy, sodomite “marriages”, the sodomite indoctrination of young children, the genocide of children under the age of nine months, Marxism, Socialism, liturgical abuses, the leftist media and the liberal politicians?
No Gabe neither ever will….
They both already have.
But I do wish they would strengthen their warnings.
And include murder and suicide.
By the way, one of the reasons for “air pollution” in the central valley is endemic to the region: having lived there for some years, it naturally traps particulates (not even auto-emitted matter) under temperature inversion layers, coupled with the ground-hugging tule fog. It has much less to do with “man-made emissions” than having to do with topology. But the spectre of “asthma rates in children” is a favorite cudgel of the environmental-left. (MBTE, by the way, anyone?)
God created the world. He set its boundaries and prepared the land as a home for his supreme creation, human beings in the likeness of God. He can also turn his back on that gift if we decide to reject his authority. Can man hold back the seas? Can man cause the sun to rise and the wind to blow? The biblical father gave his headstrong son his inheritance and let him go out to experience the world on his own. It didn’t work too well for the young man. Only when he returned to his father was order put back into his world. Might that be a good lesson for us, now, in this world which seems to be coming apart at the seams?
When are the Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, and Priests going to take their own responsibilities seriously by cleaning up the Church from within – – – –
Removing everyone from a clergy position who does not adhere 100% to
Sacred Scripture and the
“Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition” ?
And when are ALL Clergy as a “matter of Faith” going to publically and officially get around to warning the world about even greater evils?
” Such as sodomy, sodomite marriages, the sodomite indoctrination of young children, adultery (divorce with civil remarriage), the genocide of children under the age of nine months, marxism, socialism, liturgical abuses, the leftist media and the liberal politicians?
Asparagus is grown on the islands near Stockton in the rich peat dirt. When the peat blows into the city, it causes a lot of allergies. I wonder if Stockton will outlaw the growing of asparagus, too, one of the few industries left there. Thus will go down the drain more local jobs in an already bankrupt area. .
It is NOT a matter of the Catholic Faith to support a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT with the Power to make laws, police, and tax.
In fact it violates Church teaching on the Principle of Subsidiarity, and violates Church teaching against all forms of Collectivism.
First of all, Pope Francis is NOT calling for a one world government.
Second, the principle of subsidiarity is that a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co- ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.” CCC 1883
When you are talking about a global problem, the proper community is the world. Making improvements in the global problem supports all the societies which make up the world. But yes, there can be risks and dangers to be monitored and avoided.
The Pope would probably deny that he calls for a One World Government, but look at what he wrote – which is opposite to freedom of the people, opposite to subsidiarity, and supports collectivism.
A super power over all the world with Power for: Law making, Policing and Enforcement, and Taxing (unlimited income) – as a very small group of people see fit.
The Pope’s written encyclical speaks louder than any attempt to deny his intentions.
All forms of COLLECTIVISM violate the Doctrine of the Faith. (CCC 1885)
COLLECTIVISM is the theory and practice that makes some sort of group rather than the individual the fundamental unit of political, social, and economic concern.
In theory, collectivists insist that the claims of groups,…
Please read n. 175 LS, where PF states it is “..essential to devise stronger and more efficiently organized international institutions with functionaries who are appointed fairly by agreement among national governments.” To do so, he says there is “an urgent need for a true WORLD POLITICAL AUTHORITY.
That sounds like the pope calling for a world governing authority to me.
Thank you for citing your reference.
Pope Francis is quoting Pope Benedict XVI when he talks about the “true world political authority.” That was very controversial when he wrote it. It is in paragraph 67 of Caritas in veritate. He also was not calling for a one world government. And he cites his predecessor Saint John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris
Calling for international institutions does not mean a one world government.
I do not think the Pope in any way wants a one world government.
Concern for an ordered and peaceful coexistence within the human family prompts the Magisterium to insist on the need to establish “some universal public authority acknowledged as such by all and endowed with effective power to safeguard, on the behalf of all, security, regard for justice, and respect for rights”…it is essential that such an authority arise from mutual agreement and that it not be imposed, nor must it be understood as a kind of “global super-State”.
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church 2004
“LAUDATO SI”
# 164 “…… Interdependence obliges us to think of one world with a common plan….”
# 164 ” ……. A global consensus is essential for confronting the deeper problems …….”
# 167 ” …… its accords have been poorly implemented, due to the lack of suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic review and penalties in cases of non-compliance.”
# 167 …… Convention on international trade in en-dangered species of wild fauna and flora, which includes on-site visits for verifying effective compliance…. ”
# 170 ……. Some strategies for lowering pollutant gas emissions call for the internationalization of environmental costs, …..”
# 173 ……. “Enforceable international agreements are urgently needed…
But none of those call for a one world government. Seriously, in #173, it says specifically that “Relations between states must be respectful of each others’ sovereignty.”
Thank you for reading it and citing the paragraphs and quotes.
continued from LAUDATO SI” –
#173 ……. “Enforceable international agreements are urgently needed…..”
# 173″…….”Global regulatory norms are needed to impose obligations……”
# 175……” it is essential to devise stronger and more efficiently organized international institutions, with functionaries who are appointed fairly by agreement among national governments, and empowered to impose sanctions.”
Sounds like a One World Government to me. Power over the entire world – with Law making, policing and enforcement, and tax (unlimited funding) authority.
# 175……” for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority.”
This does not represent “one world government.” Countries make treaties with each other all the time that include enforcement clauses. I think that it is important to keep in mind that Pope Francis comes from the Americas, but from the south. He grew up, lived, in a country known for dominating governments, lack of freedom for people, torture and a minority of rich who ran things while the rest were in poverty. He, like 70%+ of the worlds population has a different outlook that us rich U. S. folks. I remember being in Europe once when someone asked me where I was from. I told them America. Their response was “Oh, what country in America?”
885 The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.
I don’t see anything in the document that calls for collectivism.
The Power by a very small group over all peoples to take away their freedom by –
Making Laws, Policing and Enforcement, and Taxing (unlimited income) –
kills the Freedom of individuals, and makes it almost impossible to get rid of corruption in this Super-sized government.
COLLECTIVISM is defined as the theory and practice that makes some sort of group rather than the individual the fundamental unit of political, social, and economic concern.
In theory, collectivists insist that the claims of groups, associations, or the state must normally supersede the claims of individuals.
Pope Francis clearly is supporting something that in not part of the Catholic Faith, and may even violate the Doctrine of the Faith.
I think you are completely misinterpreting something in the document.
I do not think this document support collectivism as you have defined it.
I would say it is the opposite of that.
CCC 1882
1882 Certain societies, such as the family and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man; they are necessary to him. To promote the participation of the greatest number in the life of a society, the creation of voluntary associations and institutions must be encouraged “on both national and international levels, which relate to economic and social goals, to cultural and recreational activities, to sport, to various professions, and to political affairs.” This “socialization” also expresses the natural tendency for human beings to associate with one another for the sake of attaining objectives that exceed individual capacities. It develops the qualities of the person, especially the sense of initiative and…
Francis completely rejects the principle of subsidiarity. He fosters the complete command and control system of beliefs and compliance.
The only problem is that the system that Francis adores is outside the Church. His notion of “Liberation Theology” and Eco-Religion have no roots in Catholicism, although they are strong in Latin America and among its Marxist, anti-capitalist dopes.
Where? Where EXACTLY does he do this?
This was already pointed out to you, YFC, cf. n 159-162, where PF calls for “justice between generations” (obviously, that one class of haves is taking away from “future generations” that have-not: criminal-class and victim-class. “Extreme poverty” in “mega-cities” leads to “brutality and exploitation” “and spawns antisocial behavior and violence.” (n.149): and who causes it? Advanced countries (50-55). Classic liberation-theology theory always plays upon a divide between a victimized class, championing them against an evil overlord class and their “unjust structures”. PF fulfills all the requirements.
I don’t think that the Pope is a Marxist or a Liberation Theologist. I don’t think that this Eco-religion you refer to is what the Pope has promoted at all. I am wondering if you understand the document.
I do not see rejection of the principle of subsidiarity. And I kind of laughed when you accused him of fostering a completer command and control system of beliefs and compliance. The Pope? The Head of the Catholic Church? Really?
Pope Francis encyclical to have a One World Government to:
make Laws, police and enforce, and tax is dangerous to our God given free wills.
The bigger the Government (especially One World) the less power the people will have to choose, and the less power they will have to remove corrupt officials.
Freedom will be lost. And nothing will be “voluntary”.
Jesus never taught that we should have a Central Government for the entire world. This is a creation of Pope Francis.
And not part of the Catholic Faith.
Where are you hearing that he wants a one world government?
It;s not in the document he just issued.
There is nothing “voluntary” about a One World Government with powers for
making Laws, Policing and Enforcement, and Taxing (unlimted funding) as this small group of governing people see fit.
Jesus never taught that we should have a Super Government or One World Government (OWG) which by its mere existence would limit the freedom of the people.
This is a creation of Pope Francis. God gave people the right to choose – called freedom, and Francis wants to take it away.
A OWG makes it almost impossible for the people to get rid of governmental corruption,
and denies a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Is somebody out there saying the Pope called for a One World Government?
Where is this stuff coming from?
The Left has always wanted a World Government and the Pope is a leftist
Canisius, if you have read Laudato Si, it does not call for a World Government. It just doesn’t.
It supports local governments and individuals but it points that individuals, corporations and nations have a responsibility to their neighbors to not harm them. It’s pure Christianity, not leftist socialism.
It is a brilliant, Spirit-filled, highly integrated document which is Catholic and Christian. It is written to all people in the world. I think some people are projecting their own economic and political paradigms onto it.
I encourage you to read it for yourself and to read the sources in the footnotes.
I have read it and I reject.. I reject anything that is Leftist….
Canisius, I think you have more going on upstairs than that and that you are just being uppity.
CLIMATE CONFUSION –
https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/micd-upclimate-confusion
– – – – –
Global Warming / Climate Change – junk science; contains bias, bad modelling.
“An Open Letter to Pope Francis on Climate Change”
https://www.cornwallalliance.org/2015/04/27/an-open-letter-to-pope-francis-on-climate-change/
The vast majority of Clergy are not educated in the Sciences and this includes those at the USCCB and Bishop Blaire or they would know – – –
UNITED STATES of AMERICA :
1955 Air Pollution Act, followed by the Clean Air Act of 1963 updated with regulatory controls in 1970, 1977 and 1990.
Noise Pollution and Abatement Act of 1972.
Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, Clean Water Act of 1977, and the Water Quality Act of 1987.
Safe Drinking Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 regarding solid and hazardous waste.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as “Superfund,” was enacted in 1980 to address…
In a June 24,’15 12:23pm post above, one demonstrates he has not read nor analyzed “Laudato” (LS).
Cf. n. 175 LS: PF states it is “..essential to devise stronger and more efficiently organized international institutions with functionaries who are appointed fairly by agreement among national governments.” To do so, he says there is “an urgent need for a true WORLD POLITICAL AUTHORITY.”
This has in fact never been called for by a pope. He (or his ghostwriters) cite BXVI’s Caritatis in Veritate (2009) and John XXIII (no document) — neither of which/whom can I find call for a world governing authority. A great deception and deviation from Church teaching is going on. Open your eyes to the “caritatis in…
Open your eyes to the “caritatis in veritate” (“charity in the truth”) (2009, P BXVI, who never calls for a world political authority over all the nations.
I do see where BXVI mentioned a “true world political authority” (Caritas in Veritate, 67), but PF goes much further suggesting “agreements among national governments” empowering “functionaries”(actual wording) — answerable to whom, exactly? If the UN is a failure, how would creating a ‘supra-authority’ ruled by “functionaries”, all with diplomatic immunity, protected from any corrective action, work, exactly?
What is wrong with “functionaries”?
He never said anything about creating a “supra-authority” with diplomatic immunity protected from corrective action.
Where are you getting this?
In fact, may I suggest that people concentrate on 165-175, the calling for a “true world political authority” (by the way, it is one of those many vast sections [14-64, 101-216] that generally make no mention of God, Jesus Christ, nor the Gospel and our ultimate end: so this authority will not be founded on the Kingship of Christ).
In this section, PF endorses every single radical falsely-“prophetic” convention of the EarthFirst movement: ’92 Rio Summit, the ’72 Stockholm Declaration, etc. as the new secular-atheist “Gospel”, eventually calling for a “bold cultural revolution” (114: this was the title of the Chinese communist re-indoctrination of the 1970’s) and ultimately, “ecological conversion” (n. 217).
P. Francis notably avoids the mention of Jesus Christ in this encyclical (17x’s total, mostly in n. 96-100 only, out of 246 total paragraphs), and edits out of S Francis “Canticle of the Sun” Francis dire warning of “those who die in mortal sin” and the “second death”. Why?
Instead he ends up LS (#243) affirming fait accompli that all will be saved:
243. At the end, we will find ourselves face to face with the infinite beauty of God (cf. 1 Cor 13:12), and be able to read with admiration and happiness the mystery of the universe, which with us will share in unending plenitude.
There really is no need of Jesus Christ, who will be our Last Judge at that Last Judgement, in his philosophy.
” “This is not just a political issue anymore. This is a matter of faith.” (comment by Susan Loyko, “environmental advocate”.
Considering the dreadful level of ignorance about the Holy See’s area of competency, which it has appallingly breached in this entirely secular-atheist embrace of radical climate theory, I would expect this kind of intellectual vacancy. It is always thrilling to use the obedience of the Catholic faithful against them to destroy them, as founder of the Italian Communist Party, Antonio Gramsci predicted.
And Gramsci would love this pseudo-encyclical that does not proclaim Christ as King, nor a transcendent God, but on our world, using using class-warfare and liberation theory to divide the whole human race. Don’t you want to save the earth? Then you are a reprobate and retrograde.
“Gramsci’s principles.. lock both the individual and his culture in the close embrace of a goal that was totally immanent: the class struggle for socio-political liberation.” (–Malachi Martin)
And the pope has embraced it all.
Steve Phoenix, it is not a psuedo-encyclical. It is an encyclical. From the Pope.
You seem to have a LOT of issues, but please stop with the Straw Man arguments.
The fact that LS is an encyclical from a legitimate Pope is disturbing, Anonymous. And making accurate observations about what it implies – not just the context of the document, but what the context implies about the beleaguered state of current leadership and its departure from the Catholic Faith – is no straw man.
So, yes,it is a matter of Faith as stated by Susan Loyko. If one has the “Catholic” Faith, one will recognize the departure from Faith in this oddly worded, touchy-feely encyclical that seems to be nothing more than a beating stick for those who choose the Faith over a misguided concept of obedience.
And the LOT of issues is the knowledge of what the Faith demands outside of mindless follow-the-leader to those who…
As for the present pontiff being a Marxist, no: but he is a Leninist: Lenin’s conviction that capitalist countries prosper by robbing the raw materials of underdeveloped countries is exactly mirrored in his philosophy (n. 51). (cf. Robert Service, “Lenin”)
He is also a Leninist in his unabating hatred of free-markets and how they operate via capital (“capitalist”, therefore) (see 32. 55-56, 82, 109, 123, 189), as he emphasizes the (pay attention) “subordination of private property to the universal destination of goods.” He likes the Paraguayan bishops’ idea of land re-distribution (94), an idea that has failed miserably everywhere it was effected. So yes he is a Leninist socialist.
And some of this sovereign pontiff’s observations are unconscious self-parody of his demonstrable lack of intellectual depth of analysis. Here is a precious one:
“The markets, which immediately benefit from sales, stimulate ever greater demand. An outsider looking at our world would be amazed at such behaviour, which at times appears self-destructive.” (n.55)
Uhh, Holy Father, if sales increase, it be because of demand and need, no? Or what do you propose: closing the markets, emptying out the stores and forcing people to stop their “consumerism”, as in the old Soviet Union (and now in Venezuela, Cuba, and self-consuming N. Korea)?
Maybe you should reread the document in the light of Ezekial 33:
It begins
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman; and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people; then if any one who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet,…
Ezekial 33 has nothing to do with the Popes errors and personal opinions regarding economics, being pro-one world government authority, other personal political positions, and unproven climate change.
Where was our Pope when we need(ed) an important ENCYLCICAL on MORALS as they relate to the FAITH – regarding:
homosexual acts & homosexual marriage; fornication; adultery (sexual acts with the valid spouse of another); pornography; and contraception ? ? ? All MORTAL SINS.
I think in matters of Faith and Morals (-his job) he was/is ‘Missing in Action’. Does not our Pope care about our eternal salvation ? ? ?
It is about morals. Read it again.
May I suggest that you read the Homily that Pope Benedict XVI gave at his Mass of Installation?
You are distorting what the Pope has said. He is not a socialist. He does not hate free markets.
I think he has mor going on intellectually and spiritually than you realize. If you would, perhaps, read the document again. This time, pray to the Holy Spirit or use a lectio divina approach or other mental prayer technique.
You seem to be over-reacting to ideas that the Pope never even proposed.