A Very Popular Pope

Pope Francis

Pope Francis recently swept across the United States in his custom made Popemobile and drew adoring crowds everywhere he appeared. People waited in line all day to catch a glimpse of him and went into ecstasy at every sighting. This fan frenzy reminded me of the Beatlemania phenomenon of the ‘60s and of the hysterical Princess Diana cult of the ‘90s. People must have a need to worship someone. They seem to like to follow a crowd, lose their individuality and become part of something bigger than themselves.

The Pope certainly attracts this kind of popularity. “Authentic” is the favorite adjective used to describe him. He is obviously a “good” person, really cares for the disadvantaged, has a benevolent smile for everyone and radiates good will. People feel that he speaks for them and project their hopes onto him. And yet I cannot help asking myself these questions: What is so wonderful about finally recognizing that we are adversely affecting our environment and are the prime cause of global warming? We are like cancer cells destroying their own habitat. This is now a safe topic to tackle except perhaps if you live in West Virginia and believe that it is still debatable.

Population explosion is a big cause of the environmental problem. The total number of people on the planet is moving us toward Armageddon. The Vatican which is the richest organization in the world could do much to slow this event and to end poverty by endorsing birth control. It refuses to do so and opposes the use of condoms which would also help prevent AIDS.
Pope Francis has often stated that he would save homosexuals who repent. Save them from what? If they have done nothing wrong, why do they need to repent? Says Bill Maher of the papacy: “I think it is the easiest job in the world. You have tenure and you are selling an invisible product you don’t have to prove exists.” And Pope Francis would also allow atheists to go to Heaven. I think this is really funny since atheists don’t care about or believe in Heaven. It is also a pretty safe promise because no one has ever come back from Heaven to describe what it is like.

Further questions. Why can’t priests marry? Wouldn’t it solve the problem of priests abusing children? Why can’t women be priests? Women don’t want to be patronized. They don’t want to be patted on the head and told that they are wonderful creatures. What they want is equality.
The Pope apparently met with Kim Davis, the Kentucky official who refuses to marry gay people. Andy Borowitz of the New Yorker says: “Reporting every day to a job one has no intention of doing can only fill one with anguish. The pope wanted to show compassion.” It turned out that the Pope did not in fact deliver words of encouragement to Davis, but was in fact pranked into this by an American Bishop who had his own agenda.

And now we come to the Pope’s action which perturbs me the most: The beatification of Father Junipero Serra. Serra was a Franciscan priest who founded the California Missions, which were the first settlements in the area. In doing so he eradicated the culture, religion and language of the indigenous people and violently converted them. Entire populations were also wiped out by disease. The whole concept of sainthood is an archaic one. It is based on the belief in miracles and the supernatural which we should have outgrown by now. A miracle is an event which cannot be explained by scientific laws. Belief in the supernatural closes the mind against questioning and the search for a real explanation. So no matter how “liberal” and benevolent Pope Francis appears to be, he represents the Catholic Church which is based on dogma and is therefore incompatible with many of the positions he claims to support.

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