If the Pope thinks you’re “backwards,” you’re almost certainly doing something wrong. Granted, Pope Francis is a lot more open-minded than most predecessors. He’s on Instagram and he goes to record stores. He’s also slammed actual fake news — not the Trumpist variety but the nonsense he and his cronies spread. Now, in a new statement, he’s extending his vitriol to American conservative Catholics in general.
As per Associated Press, the Pope effectively picked a side in the ongoing American culture/political war, unloading on the nation’s conservatives while in Lisbon during a private meeting with Portuguese Jesuits. One of them told Francis that he’d recently had a sabbatical in the United States, during which he found many local Catholics criticizing his 10-year reign.
Francis shrugged them off, saying there’s “a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude” among many American Catholics, who he saw as “backward.” He made a distinction between conservative “backwardness” and believing in tradition, as he does, being the Pope.
“Doing this, you lose the true tradition and you turn to ideologies to have support. In other words, ideologies replace faith,” Francis said. “When you go backward, you make something closed off, disconnected from the roots of the church.”
He added, “I want to remind these people that backwardness is useless, and they must understand that there’s a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals,”
It’s not the first time Francis has admonished American conservatives. When asked about rightwing attacks on his papacy, he’s said it’s an “honor” to be attacked by them.
(Via AP)