POPE FRANCIS, "WHO AM I TO JUDGE?"

The pope said of gays, "Who am I to judge?" I am tired of people thinking that is progress. It only reflects Catholic doctrine that gay people are sinners but only God can know exactly how sinful they are and will judge them accordingly. The pope merely meant he cannot judge not that gay people should not be judged and punished by God. In fact, people would be better off being judged by the pope as Jesus warned that God gives you an unfair judgement if you judge others unfairly. Media stupidity over this papacy is getting very very irritating.

Regarding Gay Rights supporters praising Pope Francis for saying he does not judge gays and boasting how he is promoting their acceptance in the Church I have this to say.  While some gay people suffer a fantasist episode that they are going to get proper acceptance by the Catholic Church, they make the Church attractive to others. And when these new recruits get a taste for Catholicism, and then find out that its teaching is intolerant and bigoted to the degree of saying that unrepented homosexuality deserves everlasting punishment in Hell, some of them will start to support that teaching. The pro-pope gays are enabling homophobia and are in denial where Catholic and papal homophobia are concerned.

Regarding Gay Rights supporters praising Pope Francis for saying he does not judge gays and boasting how he is promoting their acceptance in the Church.
 
Yes and while some gay people suffer a fantasist episode that they are going to get proper acceptance by the Catholic Church, they make the Church attractive to others. And when these new recruits get a taste for Catholicism, and then find out that its teaching is intolerant and bigoted to the degree of saying that unrepented homosexuality deserves everlasting punishment in Hell, some of them will start to support that teaching. The pro-pope gays are enabling homophobia and are in denial where Catholic and papal homophobia are concerned. Do they understand how powerful the conditioning to support the pope's teaching will be if a person is raised in a strong Catholic context?
 
The issue might not be just LGBTQ concerns. It could be the bad doctrines such as Hell and banning people from communion or any of a number of issues. But the principle is the same - the dissidents are often enabling the problem.

The obsession with the "Who am I to judge?" comment is bizarre for it shows he is asking, "Gays maybe should be judged." You wouldn't say, "Who am I to judge?" if somebody was buying Primark runners and not Cedar State.

THE PHILIPPINES
 
In response to Pope Francis condemning same sex marriage in the Philippines:
 
It is important to remember that it is extreme homophobia to say that a gay marriage is not a marriage at all. And the pope says not only that it is not marriage but anti-God. It is the lowest form of abuse to refuse to give same sex love the protections that other sex love has.
 
The Church says that loving somebody does not mean loving their behaviour. You might think of a parent hating the fact that the child they love takes drugs. The Church says it does not love gay behaviour meaning it must be something toxic and evil like drug taking! Now if you did not love a person for being kind to Satan could you really say you love that person? To not love the behaviour of a gay man trying to make a life with his one true love is hating that man period. Loving somebody does mean loving their behaviour when they are doing good.

MERCY

Pope Francis Christmas Message 2015 "Only God's mercy can free humanity from the many forms of evil, at times monstrous evil, which selfishness spawns in our midst".

He blames man not God for the fact that we are in more trouble today than we ever were in the past. War is crueller today. But if he is telling us about God's mercy and God is not there at all or if God is an impersonal intelligence without any concern for us then he is enabling the problems by offering this placebo and false hope in God's mercy. It has not done much so far and only a fool would be consoled by thinking it is going to help much now.

If you tell people that prayers and magic are going to solve world turmoil and that is not true then you take responsibility for the terrible consequences if there is no power behind them, You take the blame. The pope will never do that.