I expect simple behaviours here. Friendship, and love. Any advice should be from the perspective of the person asking, not the person giving! We have had to make new membership moderated to combat the huge number of spammers who register
Based on Jorge Mario Bergoglio's track record as the Cardinal of Buenos Aires in areas other than pastoral care it would appear the Vatican has chosen to favour the status quo rather than take leadership and show initiative in the selection of their newest Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis.
Location: the burning former USofA
Registered: July 2010
Messages: 399
Now taking odds on the following:
1- How long until it is revealed the new papal father was accused of molesting boys.
2- How many men come forward (or already have) with such accusations.
3- Whether or not the previous papal father had helped cover up said accusations against the new papal father in the past.
4- How many pedophiles the new papal father helped hide from justice.
Location: Worcester, England
Registered: January 2005
Messages: 1560
I think he does seem to be a conservative, theologically speaking, which means he's going to toe the previous line on homosexuality, abortion, and suchlike. I suspect we'll see rather more explicit support for use of condoms to reduce the risk of infection, as a part of a safer sex strategy that doesn't rely solely on abstinence before marriage, and complete lifelong fidelity.
However, I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll see a considerably greater emphasis on the social justice teachings. Poverty and diseases of poverty kill - not only in 3rd world countries, but here in the UK, and in the USA. They kill the body. they stunt the growth and achievement of children. They, in fact, kill "the soul".
This is an area where many Catholics have always worked happily alongside Christians of other denominations, members of other religions, and agnostics and atheists. I would count Francis's papacy a success if he were to give the RC Church a firm shove on this, even if he does nothing about other things dear to my heart (gay, abuse and women's issues). I look forward with some interest to seeing how it pans out.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King