Look, I’m not a fan of the Catholic Church and their general ideology. But, this pope does have his based moments.

  • Muad'Dibber@lemmygrad.ml
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    3 years ago

    More evidence of the Vatican turning tankie; or more specifically, rejecting western liberal “democracy”. From A Roland Boer article:


    Even the Vatican understands the natural links between the Chinese state’s struggle for socialism and practical application of the Gospel. It recently pointed out that the Chinese state’s commitment to the common good has much more affinity with Catholic Social Teaching than the individualism of Western liberal democracies. Let me focus on the recent agreement between the Vatican and the Chinese government, which has confounded many observers, including on the socialist left.

    Three recent statements are important for understanding the agreement, which seeks to solve a centuries-long problem: who will appoint bishops, the Vatican or the Chinese government. Up to recent times, there have been two Roman Catholic Churches in China, one recognised by the Vatican and the other recognised by the Chinese government. The 2018 agreement finally solves this problem. But from the Vatican’s side, it was framed in terms of some very important observations.

    First, in 2016, Pope Francis observed:

    It has been said many times and my response has always been that, if anything, it is the communists who think like Christians. Christ spoke of a society where the poor, the weak and the marginalized have the right to decide.

    Second, in 2018 Massimo Faggioli (from Villanova University) pointed out that:

    …the use of Catholicism as an ideological surrogate for Western ideologies is not new, but is especially at odds with Pope Francis’ vision of Catholicism, and it makes it impossible to understand this important moment in the relations between the Vatican and China.

    In other words, the church has its own agenda and is not to be co-opted by a Western liberal ideological agenda.

    Third, and most importantly, Bishop Sorondo, who is head of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, made the following arresting observation in 2018:

    Right now, those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese … They seek the common good, subordinating things to the general good … The dignity of the person is defended … Liberal thought has liquidated the concept of the common good, not even wanting to take it into account, asserting that it is an empty idea, without any interest. By contrast, the Chinese focus on work and the common good.

    This may seem like an extraordinary development, especially in light of the ramped-up Sinophobia in a small number of Western countries, but it makes quite clear that the Vatican has its own agenda in the light of a long history of Catholic Social Teaching, and that it values the social good. For the Vatican, China embodies in our time a focus on the common good.

  • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
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    3 years ago

    I have been immensely critical of his performative pseudopolitics, but i like this one. I wonder what will polish media say about it. Probably “NotOurPope”, JP2 would never do that.

    EDIT: yup. Polish media and foreign ministry are “concerned”, and the fanatic catofash horde in the comments is right now shitting and pissing themsevels.

      • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
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        3 years ago

        Not in this case, pope is officially unfallible in the matters of faith. Of course question what exactly is a matter of faith is usually decided after curses stop flying and stakes burn out, but in this case it’s rather pretty clear it is not.

        Of course normally (as the XVI century polish bishop Andrzej Zebrzydowki put it “Let them believe in the goat, as long as they pay their tithe”) the matter of opposing entirely secular power of church is much more important, but in this case it is rather pope who is opposing it. Probably they just want to proselytise Ukraine again and are waiting for the opportunity.