Pope Francis

Pope Francis
His Holiness, Pope Francis.
Papacy Began: 13 March 2013
Papacy Ended: Currently in office Predecessor: Pope Benedict XVI Successor: None
Born: 17 December 1936, as Jorge Mario Bergoglio Nationality: Argentine Motto: Miserando atque eligendo
Reference style: His Holiness In person: Your Holiness In religion: Holy Father

His Holiness Pope Francis (formerly Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) became the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church on March 13, 2013. Pope Francis, elected as 266th Roman Catholic pontiff, is the first Jesuit to be elected Pope, the first Pope from a Latin American country (where Catholicism is the predominant religion and where Catholicism is fast-growing) and the first Pope from the Southern Hemisphere as well as the first non-European pope in 1300 years. He succeeded Pope Benedict XVI, to whom he was reportedly the runner-up in the papal election of 2005. Archbishop Bergoglio was created a cardinal by the late Pope John Paul II.

Pope Francis courageously points out, contrary to the view of globalists, that NATO started the Russia-Ukraine war by "barking at Putin's door."

Pope Francis is considered to be politically liberal on every issue except one: he is pro-life. Accordingly, the pro-abort media demands that he resign. He has called criticism from conservatives an "honor," and he endorsed a bigoted essay attacking conservative Catholics and evangelicals. He has called on Christians to ignore the Great Commission.

Background

Pope Francis entered the Society of Jesus in 1958. As a Jesuit, Cardinal Bergoglio rejected and opposed liberation theology in South America.

The son of an Italian workman who emigrated to Argentina, Cardinal Bergoglio chose to carry the name of an Italian saint, "Francis", while serving as Pope. And like his papal namesake, St. Francis, Cardinal Bergoglio has an ascetic and humble lifestyle.

Pope Francis has overcome a disability: as a young man, one of his lungs was removed due to illness.

The Pope is the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion people - almost 17% of the Earth's population and 55% of all Christians.

Naming conventions

Vatican tradition holds that when a new Pope is elected and takes a name that has not been used by a prior pope, they will be referred to simply as "Pope ______", rather than "Pope ______ I" until another pope has taken the same name. In this case "Pope Francis An exception to the rule occurred when Albino Luciani was elected Pope on August 26, 1978, and took the name, Pope John Paul I.

Pope Francis' first mass

Personality

Pope Francis has shown to be very affectionate toward the poor, the sick, and the needy. Rather than flaunt his position as the head of the Church, with the expectation of being acknowledged, he humbles himself when in the presence of those less-fortunate.

Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel

In the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis invited all to a renewed daily personal encounter with Jesus Christ Our Lord, "3. I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.[1] The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”. How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards!"

Political and Scientific Views

Pope Francis is the most liberal pope in history, his progressive views about multiple issues were mainly supposed by Leftists around the globe. However, he has still taken some more conservative positions, such as on abortion.

Abortion and euthanasia

Pope Francis has spoken out against abortion. However, he played a key role in helping a euthanasia law pass in Italy, and he has frequently met with pro-abortion individuals despite refusing to meet with certain other figures because of their hardline immigration stances. The Vatican under Pope Francis choose to abandon the November 2019 Nairobi UN meeting due to its anti-life stance but others complained that he should have been more vocal in his opposition.

Capital punishment

Pope Francis changed the catechism to oppose capital punishment in all cases, despite a long history of the Roman Catholic church supporting it in certain cases, but in agreement with the teachings of former pope John Paul II. The old catechism of 1992 stated: "Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor" and that already practically prohibited the endorsement of its application by the Roman Catholic church.

Saint Augustine supported capital punishment, Saint Thomas Aquinas supported it. Jesus was crucified alongside two rebels (gospel according to Mark and Matthew), and according to the gospel according to Luke one of them said that the death penalty for them as criminals was deserved as opposed to the unjust treatment of Jesus. It should also be noted that two American Governors who are devout Catholics -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott -- are strong supporters of capital punishment.

Climate change

Pope Francis believes in the existence of human-caused climate change and has made that issue one of his strongest-held positions. Francis believes that humans face a "climate emergency" and that skepticism of human-caused climate change is "perverse."

Conscientious objection to same-sex marriage

Pope Francis has stated, in regard to the political case of Kim Davis, that a person should have the right to refuse to carry out a duty, if it violates the person's conscience.

Evolution and Big Bang

Pope Francis recently declared evolution and Big Bang theory to be right and that God isn't "a magician with a magic wand."

Speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pope made comments which experts said put an end to the “pseudo theories” of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

Hell

In March 2018, Pope Francis gave an interview which drew large outrage after he reportedly denied the existence of Hell. The Vatican did not deny those claims when questioned.

Homosexuality

Pope Francis believes there is harm posed by the homosexuality and has even acknowledged the presence of a "gay lobby" in the Vatican that he seemed to suggest operated from corrupt motives.

Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, has been an outspoken critic of homosexual adoption of children, explaining that it is discriminatory against the children. Pope Francis is also strongly pro-life, and has referred abortion as the "culture of death."

Among his teachings and stands, he strongly affirms church teaching on the intrinsic immorality of homosexual practices, though he teaches the importance of respecting homosexual persons. He strongly opposed legislation introduced in 2010 by the Argentine Government to give legal equivalency between true marriage and homosexual partners.

In 2017, Pope Francis asked Italian Education Minister Valeria Fedeli, a strong supporter of LGBT ideology and "gender theory" and someone opposed by pro-family organizations, to write the preface of a book he was writing on education. However, Pope Francis has otherwise opposed transgender ideology.

Immigration, globalism, and nationalism

Pope Francis supports globalist and very liberal immigration policies, and he has criticized those who support lower immigration levels, such as by claiming that concerns for cultural identity are not legitimate arguments for lower immigration.

Pope Francis has stated that people should rethink "the figure and the role of the nation-state" due to globalism.

Church sexual abuse of children

On September 27, 2015, Pope Francis met with victims of sexual abuse by clergymen of the Church. He apologized on their behalf, and promised to hold those responsible accountable.

Persecution and human rights

Pope Francis has spoken out against violence of minorities in the Middle-East, including that of Christians, and, contrary to the typical Catholic views, has endorsed the use of force, if necessary, to accomplish this goal.

His holiness remains an adamant supporter of Social Justice. His 2009 speech, titled Las deudas sociales de nuestro tiempo, or The Social Debts of our Time, lays out his views on the world's inequality, between rich and poor, especially in Argentina. He further rebuked the wealthy, claiming that "You [the wealthy] avoid taking into account the poor. We have no right to duck down, to lower the arms carried by those in despair. We must reclaim the memory of our country who has a mother, recover the memory of our Mother."

"Palestine" and Israel

Pope Francis is set to sign a treaty that includes a provision that will recognize "Palestine" as a state. He called Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas a “man of peace” and in May 2015 he even told him: “I have thought of you: that you could be an angel of peace.”

Communism and Christianity

In November 2016 Pope Francis stated that "It has been said many times and my response has always been that, if anything, it is the communists who think like Christians."

A new book by George Neumayr in May 2017, entitled “The Political Pope,” documents the extensive communist influence on Pope Francis as a young man in Argentina.

Russia-Ukraine war

Pope Francis listing on the Ukrainian Nazi kill list.

According to the Daily Beast, Pope Francis works for Vladimir Putin. The pontiff said that NATO started war the Russia-Ukraine war by ‘barking at Putin’s door’. The Beast labeled the pope a 'conspiracy theorist' when in fact the historical record shows that NATO violated agreements with Russian leaders at the conclusion of the Cold War not expand eastward beyond the former state of East Germany. Francis stated that the war is nothing more than a giant opportunity for a “trade in arms” and that it is still ongoing because of the constant shuttling of weapons to Ukraine:

"The clear thing is that weapons are being tested there. The Russians now know that tanks are of little use and are thinking of other things. This is why wars are waged: to test the weapons we have produced. Few people are fighting this trade, but more should be done,"

and questioned "whether it is right to supply the Ukrainians." The Pope added, "In Ukraine, it seems that it was others who created the conflict." On June 14, 2022 Pope Francis told a group of editors of Jesuit magazines, "World War 3 has already been declared," according to the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

Speaking to the 10th All-Russian Catholic Youth Assembly in a video address in late August 2023 Pope Francis said

“Never forget your heritage...You are the descendants of great Russia: the great Russia of saints, rulers, the great Russia of Peter I, Catherine II, that empire – educated, great culture and great humanity...Never give up on this heritage...You are descendants of the great Mother Russia, step forward with it...And thank you – thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russian”.

Advisor to the fascist regime of Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podoliak blasted the speech as "imperialist propaganda", CNN reported. Days later, Pope Francis was added to the official Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior's Myrotvorets, or "Nazi kill list", a joint effort with NATO and the U.S. taxpayer funded CIA.

See also

• Jesus Christ
• Catholicism
• Vatican