I reckon peace and harmony are overrated — frankly, they make life less fun.
Luckily, Pope “Palpatine” Benedict XVI agrees, sending a July “Fuck you!” message to Protestants, with a gentle finger-wag at the Orthodox Church for good measure:
PROTESTANT churches have reacted with dismay to a new declaration approved by the Pope insisting they were mere “ecclesial communities” and their ministers in effect phonies with no right to give communion.
Coming just days after the reinstatement of the Latin Mass, Tuesday’s document left no doubt about the Pope’s eagerness to back traditional Catholic practices and attitudes, even at the expense of causing offence.
[...]
The Vatican’s statement had fewer misgivings about the Orthodox Church, which had “true sacraments” and a genuine priesthood. But its failure to acknowledge the Pope’s authority meant it suffered from a “defectus”, politely translated from Latin as “a wound”.
That’s right, Joey Ratz has turned into Eric Cartman: “Respect my authoritah!”
Of course, the underlying thoughts behind these statements aren’t particularly surprising, but it’s somewhat shocking to see them stated so plainly. Pope John Paul II, conservative though he was, at least made efforts to heal old wounds, rather than rubbing salt into them.
The real question here is why any Christian who doesn’t already recognise the Pope’s authority will give a shit as to what he has to say about them. This really is a case of “preaching to the choir”.
July 12, 2007 at 12:27 pm |
The only statement I want to hear coming out of the Pope’s mouth is that Jesus is the way to salvation…not Catholicism, not 40 Hail Mary’s, not participation in a soup kitchen, not a Sunday service…and while I am on a roll…not ANY “religion”. All that said, this is kind of old news, the Catholic faith has been misleading people for a long time…they are a “works” based religion…guiding people to jump through hoops to get to heaven. Sorry, its all about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Unless a church is preaching that…it’s barking up the wrong tree.
How do I know? I have personally experienced the salvation that only Jesus can bring. It is by His grace not mine that it happened for me.
July 12, 2007 at 12:42 pm |
Alexander,
How is your statement that Catholic doctrine is “misleading” any less divisive than the Pope’s?
I’m not a fan of Catholicism’s legalistic tendencies, either, but neither am I a fan of some Protestants’ rather combative attitude towards Catholics. I’d prefer to see a more generous spirit coming from those who declare themselves to be Christian.
July 13, 2007 at 1:46 am |
I’ve been away from the protestant faith for a long time(in large part because of this sactimonious “everyone else is barking up the wrong tree” crap), although I’d be ready to get on any train that involved extending the middle finger to the present pontiff.
July 20, 2007 at 10:55 pm |
Who could have expected such INTOLERANCE and close-mindedness from a man who was once a Hitler Youth?
I’m so disappointed.
July 27, 2007 at 8:37 pm |
eh.. what’s the big deal here? That’s what the doctrine states and the Pope is reiterating it not for the sake of the prottys but for the sake of his own flock. Ecumenical growth is out of control! Catholics are fraternizing with anybody these days and calling it “fellowship”! Time to remind them about the uncomfortable bits.
It will keep people talking because it’s controversial. In the end it will backfire because the talking finds more in common than in difference.
April 14, 2009 at 9:35 am |
Why should the pope be tolerant of a leaderless schism who will follow pop culture easily.
October 12, 2009 at 3:02 am |
Oh shut up. All this political correctness nonsense just gets in the way of the truth. An *honest* evaluation of the history of the Reformation will show you how the schism occurred and will confirm the Herr Pontiff’s message. If you want to live in denial, go ahead. But where do you get off trying to silence someone. It’s high time the RCC stopped coddling and catering to the Protestants with this ecumenical rubbish.
November 10, 2009 at 2:11 am |
two words. fuck protestants
November 10, 2009 at 5:57 am |
Well, Protestants are bunch of Catholic hating noobs.
Every Protestant in Ireland or England tried to shoot a Catholic.
I have gotton 2 true stories about it.
Once, A few Protestant teenagers in Northen Ireland got their hands on a gun and they immediatly decided they were going to shoot a Catholic. This quickly spread around the protestant community and the police, but nobody did anything about it. One of the teens shot a Catholic 19 year old, he told his friends and went to the pub. When he went in, everyone clapped, and the bartender offered free beers for the whole night.
This next story happened in my hometown, Newry.
In the street of Derry Bég, some British soldiers were standing outside a few small sweet shops with their armoured trucks. Many children aged 5 to 14 were playing nearby. I was one of them. A British soldier got out of the truck and shouted, “Hey, you!” I and the other boys turned round and seen the soldier firing a shot at one of my friends, standing right beside me. He used a Dum-Dum bullets, which explode on impact. The back of my friends head was missing. Blood traveled all the way through the street to the drain. I could hear the soldier saying “Yes! Headshot. Im going to get a medal for this.” Everyone seen the blood from their houses and got out seeing a soldier with a gun. Everyone started throwing stones at the soldiers. They quickly drove away. There is a memorial plaque were he died. Go see for yourself.
November 10, 2009 at 7:37 am |
Can’t we all just get along?