Pope Francis condemned the "very strong, organised, reactionary attitude" in the US church and said Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

Pope Francis condemned the “very strong, organised, reactionary attitude” in the US church and said Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the US Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

Francis’ comments were an acknowledgment of the divisions in the US Catholic Church, which has been split between progressives and conservatives who long found support in the doctrinaire papacies of St John Paul II and Benedict XVI, particularly on issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.

  • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca
    514·
    11 months ago

    They already have. Only Roman Catholics really care what the Pope has to say. There are far more Baptist, Methodist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Presbyterian in the US than Catholics.

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee
      38·
      11 months ago

      The Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic church, it’s always been the case that only Catholics really care about what he says.

        • TWeaK@lemm.ee
          27·
          11 months ago

          The Anglican Church is Protestant. Pretty sure they don’t like being called Catholic, they had a whole thing about that.

          • laylawashere44@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            52·
            11 months ago

            No, Catholic just means universal. This most Christian denominations claim to the the Catholic, aka, Universal Church. In other words, they mean to say they are the correct denomination.

            • severien@lemmy.world
              10·
              11 months ago

              In normal conversation, Catholic Church equals Roman Catholic Church.

              See e.g. wiki:

              The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, …

              • laylawashere44@lemmy.blahaj.zone
                73·
                11 months ago

                That doesn’t change the fact that the Anglican Church also considers itself the Catholic Church.

                The Act of Supremacy 1558 renewed the breach, and the Elizabethan Settlement charted a course enabling the English church to describe itself as both Reformed and Catholic.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
      211·
      11 months ago

      For reasons I can’t explain, many of those denominations don’t even recognize the catholic church as being Christian.

      • gaiussabinus@lemmy.world
        11·
        11 months ago

        The problem is much more fundamental than this. I have repeatedly had to explain to adults, in many different contexts the subset/superset relationship. People do not know that you can be part of a superset that describes all things in a subset. For some reason you are able to graduate high school without every actually figuring this out

      • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
        81·
        11 months ago

        That’s always boggled my mind.

        I had many childhood baptist friends who claimed with disgust that the Catholic Church isn’t Christian.

        I just can’t see the reason (there isn’t any) other than needing a conservative out group.

      • agent_flounder@lemmy.one
        2·
        11 months ago

        I’m pretty sure the reverse is true.

        There are some differences in the details of each denominations beliefs enough to mark some Christians as not real Christians. If only God could just make an announcement over the PA to clear things up…

        Related: How many denominations only allow their own denomination to take Communion?