I have been following Pope Francis stories off-and-on and while I can say I understand all the hype he's getting I can't help but point out that it's all a show. The "people's Pope" is still a Pope, and still a bit of a gimmick by nature. So while I'm not surprised by articles talking about something new and super liberal he's recently said, I'm also not surprised that he would publicly ask forgiveness for the many child sex crimes that have taken place within the church over the years. It's a rather problematic statement to make because it implies that these incidents are a thing of the past, which they aren't. I also feel it detracts from the scope of these crimes and the devastating effects they have on their victims. He shouldn't be apologizing, he should be doing something about it. He should be going on a witch hunt for these priests but instead he asks us to recognize that "It is their own personal and moral damage, but they are men of the Church." Why are they men of the church if they would do harm to a child?
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It's like when white people try to apologize for slavery. It doesn't do much to help the cause, especially when the problem is still ongoing. Not to mention, it would've been better had he turned his apology into a mission statement to work harder to prevent sex crimes within the institution.
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to show that you need to do some research before idolizing somebody. Especially such powerful political figures. The Vatican may not rule the whole of Europe anymore, but it still holds a lot of weight and the Pope is still a wildly influential person and the fact that he can talk so flippantly about child sex abuse is really disappointing.
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