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November 8, 2013

Habemus papam [Bumped]

pope_francis_kisses_a_man_suffering_from_boils_in_saint_peters_square_at_the_end_of_his_wednesday_general_audience_nov_6_2013_credit_ansa_claudio_peri_cna_11_6_13.jpg

Pope Francis embraces man with tumorous disease : As he carried out his typical greeting of pilgrims at the conclusion of the general audience, Pope Francis paused for several minutes to receive the sick man in his arms. Moments later, he took the man’s face in his hands, kissed him, and gave him a blessing.

"We have no idea... until that unconditional acceptance of our own leprous soul is demonstrated to us with the healing touch of Love." -- Joan of Arggh (in comments)

Posted by gerardvanderleun at November 8, 2013 5:40 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Would the Obamanazi do this to those who have lost their insurance and will become afflicted?

Posted by: PatriotUSA at November 7, 2013 7:30 PM

Showed the photo to a physician. He said that the person the Pope was kissing probably had the inherited disease called von Recklinghausen's Neurofibromatosis. One is born with it. One does not catch it.

Dan Kurt

Posted by: Dan Kurt at November 7, 2013 10:05 PM

It's not whether or not one can "catch it" even if some brainless commenters equate this to leprosy. The pathos of the moment is caught in the teeth of the social leprosy that a man with this condition must suffer daily.

Even the leper that Christ healed was likely first impacted by the power of an accepting look and touch. To be a social, physically hideous Outcast is a lonely, desperate fate.

We have no idea... until that unconditional acceptance of our own leprous soul is demonstrated to us with the healing touch of Love.

Posted by: Joan of Argghh! at November 8, 2013 4:06 AM

Habes papem. The guy's an Obama-level disaster, but the photo-op chicken feed keeps a lot of people feeling full.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at November 8, 2013 4:49 AM

Dan Kurt. Thank you for taking the time. Yes you are born with it and it progressively gets worse over a lifetime.
It has nothing to do with Obama, or health insurance.

Posted by: Potsie at November 8, 2013 5:46 AM

This is what a real leader looks like.

Posted by: tripletap at November 8, 2013 6:31 AM

Matthew 6

1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

....................

This photo op is just another blatant example of how mainstream institutionalized religion fails to conform to scripture and true worship.

Posted by: edaddy at November 8, 2013 7:27 AM

edaddy: Granted, but still--presented with a man with an absolutely hideous disfiguring condition, he embraced and kissed him. What should the Pope have done? Pushed him away? If I drop money into a beggar's dish should I wait until no-one else is around? Any Mass is a public act. Is it therefore invalid and not-to-be-done? The Pope was greeting pilgrims at the end of a general (public) audience. Was every greeting hypocritical? Should no priest ever discharge his duties when someone other than God is looking? I acknowledge the scriptural passage but, respectfully, I think you're misinterpreting this event.

Posted by: JB at November 8, 2013 7:52 AM

It is impossible to interpret the pope's gesture as any but the most Christlike of acts.

This is why Catholicism is growing, even here in America. (Eastern Orthodoxy, too, for that matter.)

Posted by: Donald Sensing at November 8, 2013 8:40 AM

edaddy, I invite you to read and consider Matthew 7:3-5.

Posted by: Donald Sensing at November 8, 2013 8:43 AM

The Pope is by his very office a public figure, and what he says and does is always going to be in the public's eye. Consider the deeds of Pope Pius XII, when he housed thousands of Jews in the Vatican, even in his own apartment. He was still vilified as Hitler's Pope. Whatever the press' interpretation of the Pope's views on the issues they only seem to care about, this one photograph speaks volumes for Francis as the vicar of Christ.

Posted by: Jewel at November 8, 2013 11:07 AM

Pope Pius XII was the target of a vicious disinformation campaign by Stalin's NKVD (later KGB). That's where the "Hitler's Pope" nonsense originated. Unfortunately, many in the Western media and academia were only too willing to swallow Beria's lies, and the stigma stuck.

Unlike some on these pages, I think Pope Francis is the real deal. I believe he is going to surprise a lot of people, in ways that might disturb some of us, and in ways that might make others reflect on what it means to be Christian (I'm Catholic myself, but regardless of denomination). I look forward to the challenge.

Posted by: waltj at November 8, 2013 11:32 AM

Jesus said that "In that you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto Me" and that very act of kindness, concern and care is illustrative of what we should all strive, in some sense, to imitate.

Posted by: Jack at November 8, 2013 12:42 PM

JB, when you drop a coin in the beggars dish do you take photos of it?

Mr. Sensing, you seem like an intelligent man. Do you really believe that the religion with the most members wins? And, Matt. 7 only applies to me if I claim there is no mote or beam in my own eye ... Trust me, I need help just as much as that man in the picture with Pope Pius. But in my mind Pope Pius is just a man, too. Show me in the Scripture where God or Christ established the position of Pope, elected by a group of archbishops.

From my research, Catholicism emerged from those Jewish believers who contended with Paul over the question of circumcision. Catholicism was a compromise of what Christ established. Have you ever asked yourselves why boys are circumcised in Western Society today? It is an Old Testament ritual brought through the centuries with Catholicism. Peter and Paul made it expressly clear that circumcision had nothing to do with salvation.

I believe in God. I believe he has one Will for all of humanity. I believe that His Will is revealed in His Son and shared with us through the scriptures. There are many denominations. To which one does God belong?

In the beginning, Adam and Eve were separated from God because of a seemingly silly little sin of eating the wrong fruit. But in God's eyes that sin of disobedience was enough to cause eternal separation from Him. Disobedience is clearly a big deal in the eyes of God.

If Adam and Even couldn't get away with eating the wrong fruit, how can any denominations get away with institutional violation of a single tenet of God's word. Christ died so that we could be reconciled to God. His death doesn't mean we get a free pass.

When then whole world has gone mad, finding anyone with Judeo-Christian values is a relief. We're certainly grateful to live in such a society, but to me that feeling is deceiving in itself.

Here's what I propose. I propose that we re-engage religious competition. (I think this is also the antidote to Islam, especially the militant brand.) Those who say, "I don't talk about politics and I don't talk about religion" are engaging in political correctness. We all believe that a free market is the best way for the best products and services to rise to the top. Well, that's how I feel about religion and particularly religious discussion. I think what I believe is the best. You think what you believe is the best. I even think ... that you should think what you believe is the best. Now, let us compete with our ideas. Whose ideas most closely align with God's will for humanity? Whose ideas bear the fruit that God's word says would be born?

The spiritual renaissance this society so desperately needs lies not in getting along because I'm okay and you're okay, but in re-igniting the discussion of spiritual belief and embracing our Christian tendency to love one another.

Posted by: edaddy at November 8, 2013 2:24 PM

This pope has been and is a disaster for the Church.

Note: I am a traditionalist Roman Catholic.

Posted by: B Lewis at November 8, 2013 6:42 PM

Right. Everyone knows Protestants wrote and compiled the Bible.

Posted by: Gagdad Bob at November 8, 2013 6:48 PM

Gagdad, please explain thyself, or live up to thy namesake. To which Bible do you refer? You know, the one that "Everyone knows the Protestants wrote." ... Please help me understand which Bible I should be reading.

Posted by: edaddy at November 8, 2013 9:19 PM

This photo would be truly moving were it not for the Pope's previous hot-dogging and the fact that his actions have encouraged--according to the legislators---the legalization of gay marriage in Illinois, which effectually makes Christianity illegal. I fully expect to end up in jail one of these years.

Other than that, he's a great guy.

Posted by: ahem at November 8, 2013 11:20 PM

edaddy, I don't know if you are kidding or serious, but as a recent convert to Catholicism, I will leave you with this:

To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant. - John Henry Newman -

Learn the history of the Bible and you will understand what saithed Bob.

Posted by: Jewel at November 9, 2013 12:10 AM

It really doesn't matter what any of us think of him or his actions. He stands in the place of Christ's authority and, for good or ill, people respond to that power and authority in a way that transcends who the man himself might be.

Jesus didn't have a grotesque Popemobile to shield himself from the crowds. What a spectacle it must have been every time he went anywhere. People shouting, pressing in, grabbing his clothes. They weren't responding to the Pharisee's opinion of Jesus' legitimacy, they were blind and then they received their sight. They were leprous and were incredibly made whole. They were hauled in to give account of their bad religion and support for man who was known to have supped with evil people but could only say, "Whether he be a sinner, I know not, but this I know, I was blind and now I see."

I think the wretched man in the photo is responding to something more real than all of our arguments, and he should be the focus of our wonder.

Posted by: Joan of Argghh! at November 9, 2013 3:35 AM

Well Jewell, here's some history back to you from Martin Luther. "The Roman Catholic Church is a slaughterhouse of souls". "Leaving the history of the Bible" is exactly what the RC Church has done and why Luther said what he did.

Posted by: Denny at November 9, 2013 5:31 AM

Thank you Joan.

Posted by: Jewel at November 9, 2013 6:33 AM

Denny: you are confusing history and masturbation.

Posted by: Gagdad Bob at November 9, 2013 7:49 AM

Really Gag? Here's some more history for you. Try and find a single Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence? Many of the original colonies refused basic civil liberties to Catholics including the right to vote. How's that for "separation of church and state? They did this because they did not believe that someone could hold the totally opposite philosophies of liberty and oppression in the same mind or decide between a pledge of allegiance to America or to the Pope's Vatican. The whole idea of our revolution was to separate ourselves and condemn men who believed themselves to be a blasphemous "Spirit of God on earth". The signers were all Protestants and maybe it's you who should knock off the booze and porno sites.

Posted by: Denny at November 9, 2013 8:25 AM

Jewel, I know the Bible and it's historicity very well. The N.T. is the best documented ancient text in the entire world. If we reject the bible, especially the N.T., as the word of God then there's no basis for discussing Christianity. We can discuss "faith", but not Christianity.

As for Catholicism, I can show you many places in the N.T. scripture where Catholic doctrine is in violation. By this reasoning, it is in violation of God's will for humanity. Like other denominations, its meaning has been modified to suit man and that is why we have so many of them ... and the reason I ask "to which denomination does God belong?"

As an ancestor of Pope Victor II, my personal belief is that the heavenly patriarchy of the trinity has been supplanted by multiple natural patriarchies, one of which is the Catholic institution and it's leadership. Our government has become another such patriarchy and it's pope is named Obama. Look around and count them ... they are everywhere.

My mission is to uncompromisingly seek out the truth of God for me, not others. (We can impose nothing on others, as it must be by willful submission ... but I can enunciate what I believe.) As I discover His truth, I am mostly unable to conform to it in my own human powers. At this point, I can demand the truth be changed to conform to me (and adopt/form a new denomination), or I can admit my way does not conform, bow down to him and beg for the power He promised.

I'll not deny that there is much to like about the Catholicism. I personally cannot reconcile it to God's word, nor have I received acceptable responses from priests and laypersons I have asked over the years in my search for the one true way that God promised.

Posted by: edaddy at November 9, 2013 8:43 AM

Another Catholic view, from a devout Catholic -- it was a photo-op stunt by a sadly narcissistic 'bishop of Rome' [I quote him as follows]:

"Give me a break.

Do you think that Pope Benedict would have refused to see, or bless, the very same man? What about JPII, JP I, Paul VII? Pius XII perhaps, or Pius XI? Or perhaps is it so, that these were all men who, conscious of the fact that they must disappear as persons so that Christ may appear in the Papacy, would not indulge in public gestures easily – and rightly – seen as cheap shot at personal popularity?

What is more like the Pharisee in the Gospel of a Pope who, instead of sending his Almoner to help around in the most discreet manner possible – as it used to be; so much so, that most people do not even know who an Almoner is and what he does – sends him around to say to the people he helps 'this money comes from Pope Francis', with the unavoidable press echo whenever someone makes the event public?"

http://mundabor.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/beyond-the-wheelchair/

Posted by: JohnK at November 9, 2013 9:31 AM

Denny: of the signers of the D of I, Charles Carroll was Catholic. And there are whole books detailing the contribution of Scholastic philosophy to the education of the Founding generation. While it is true that the Catholic church of time was skeptical of democracy, it was not without good reason, based upon the European experience with which they were most familiar. The French Revolution made them look prescient, not reactionary. Nor would it be unreasonable to say that the Muslim ME is developmentally incapable of democracy in the absence of well-established liberal traditions and institutions.

Posted by: Gagdad Bob at November 9, 2013 9:58 AM

And the notion that Catholics misunderstood the book they wrote and compiled is absurd on its face -- similar to liberals insisting they know better than the founders as to what the Constitution means.

Posted by: Gagdad Bob at November 9, 2013 10:03 AM

I mean, I'm not Catholic, but facts are facts.

Posted by: Gagdad Bob at November 9, 2013 10:04 AM

The ideas of democracy, representative government, Lockean liberty, and libertarian individualism are antagonistic to the truth taught by Jesus and to the Catholic Church. God is a monarchist and an aristocrat, and Reality is hierarchical. Our Lord is not the President of the Universe, He is the King of the Universe, and His mother its Queen. Saint Peter was not elected to the post of Secretary-General of the United Apostles, he was appointed Prince of the Church. Scripture is not a do-it-yourself instruction manual, but the Word of God as defined and interpreted by the Church.

"I'm a free man, and I'll decide for myself!" "I'm just as good as anybody else!" "All men are brothers!" Balderdash. Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity is the motto of the Luciferian Revolution. Christianity is the faith of Duty, Humility, and Subsidiarity. The only form of government practiced by God is monarchy.

Don't like bowing to kings? Too bad. Earthly rebellion is all part and parcel of the great rebellion against the King of Kings that began in the third chapter of Genesis. The Serpent's entire philosophy can be summed up in the phrase "No king (pope, priest, saint) is going to tell me what to do!"

"Fear God and honor the King" was once the Christian program. Now we are our own gods and our own kings. We have accepted Lucifer's philosophy. Since the so-called enlightenment and the Protestant rebellion, we have appointed ourselves gods, defining for ourselves Good and Evil. And now we are about to pay the price for our decision.

Or, rather, our children will pay it.

Posted by: B Lewis at November 9, 2013 10:49 AM

OK Bob I stand corrected, one Roman Catholic signer. BTW I have never accused Roman Catholics of not being intelligent. I disagree with you that the RC "wrote and compiled" the Bible, especially the "wrote" part. Anyway, what good is a Bible that had a death penalty attached if the RC happened to catch you reading it? It is well documented that the Bible, including the New Testament (the Gospels and Paul's epistles) was widely circulated and at least partly available to Christians all over the know world by the second and third century. This was well before the advent of Roman Catholicism and it's reign of "infallible" Popes. What is absurd is the identification of the RC as the "first church".

Posted by: Denny at November 9, 2013 10:49 AM

I am privileged to attend a Catholic Church that was burned to the ground by their more tolerant and freedom loving Protestant neighbors. It has since been restored, fortunately before the more vigorous building codes were enacted, otherwise we would be allowed to have the Underground Railroad in our basement.
Proof text all you want, son of Pope Victor II, no one is arguing against the validity of scriptures here, but from which iteration of Protestantism are you arguing your point? There be tens of thousands of them, and for every point you make, a well taught Catholic can make ten more valid counterpoints.
As for the American Devolution: Vive La Vendee!

Posted by: Jewel at November 9, 2013 11:11 AM

Meant to say wouldn't have been allowed to have the Underground Railroad.

Posted by: Jewel at November 9, 2013 11:15 AM

I grew up in the Methodist church and left it after I got out of the military in 69. Over the years I have looked over the protestant denominations and found none I could follow. In the last few years I have looked at the Catholic faith and though I have not joined I find that Michael Voris at Church Militant TV makes more sense than I have found anywhere else. I think most Protestants have a very poor understanding of the Catholic faith. And it certainly hates Jews far less than in Martin Luther's world.

Posted by: indyjonesouthere at November 9, 2013 1:36 PM

When the latest pope starts actually doing something about the festering disease of perversion in the Church over which he has total authority, then I'll be impressed. It's not just the paedophilia; it's the sadism practised by nuns running orphanages and monks running schools, too. BTW, I was a victim of the latter. Hitting 7-year-old boys hard enough with a cane to draw blood is NOT acceptable.

Ask yourself a simple question. What would Christ think if He came back and entered the Vatican? And what would He do?

Posted by: Fletcher Christian at November 11, 2013 4:04 PM

When Tocqueville visited America he was surprised to see that the Catholic priests here did not interfere with the processes of liberty or counsel their parishioners politically. He concluded that this happy state of affairs, which did not exist in Europe, was due to the country being so Protestant. Tocqueville had observed that no where on earth had any other than Anglo-Protestants explored the possibilities of liberty. That was then, of course. But whatever Catholicism is, it is not primarily a friend of liberty. If that sounds like a criticism, it isn't. As a fellow said, whoever seeks through his religion to save other than himself will save nothing.

Posted by: james wilson at November 12, 2013 9:39 AM

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