
Insights and conversations pertaining to the moment
Cardinal Francis, Frozicaggine, or Are Openly Gay Men Really Close to Priests? An Apparent Papal Remorse
I know, but that term doesn’t mean that they never bungle math or lose track of where they hung their robes. The general idea or mythology of infallibility reflects a kind of papal authority and aloofness that discourages any real-time revisiting of false steps.
The media attention to his offensive language could have been ignored by Francis. Popes are expected to worry about eternity not the news cycle. He would have satisfied some of his sternest critics by moving on. He has done too much outreach to L.G.B.T.Q. people and been too attentive to them.
In a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops last week, Francis reportedly responded to a question about whether openly gay men should be admitted to seminaries by saying that those training grounds for future priests were already too crowded with “frociaggine,” a crude Italian slur.
I’m disappointed that he used it, contradicting past statements of his that urged respect for gay people and his decision last year to allow priests to bless same-sex couples. I don’t know if he was trying to curry favor with the conservatives or if he was actually revealing his own bigotry.
Damage control in the prior era and the actions of a pope wouldn’t have felt that damage had been done as quickly as it was done
I know that a pope in the prior era wouldn’t have done damage control so quickly. Another pope in a prior era mightn’t have felt that any damage was done.
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America needs more Jimmy Carters
Ex-US President Jimmy Carter, who passed away aged 94 on Sunday, wrote several books during his tenure in the White House. He was the first African-American President in US history. In a book, ‘Faith: A Journey for All’, Carter explored faith’s broader meanings, the different ways that it sustains our lives and how to find faith even in the darkest of times.
Outside Damascus there is a barefoot American who is missing
An American man, Pete Travis Timmerman, has been found in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus by local residents on Thursday. Over breakfast before the convoy departed, Timmerman spoke to NPR about his time in prison and his Christian faith. Timmerman said he didn’t want to give formal interviews or have his voice recorded because it did not fit with the spiritual modesty he worked to cultivate.
The preacher is on the run from sexual abuse charges
A Philippines preacher accused of sexually abusing and trafficking girls has surrendered to police after he was extradited from US, officials said. Pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy is known as the ‘appointed son of God’ and his church has livestreamed video sessions from “Glory mountain’, the highest mountain in the Philippines. Quiboloy has also been accused of human trafficking in the US.
Dr. Westheimer encouraged America to talk about sex
American psychotherapist Ruth Westheimer, who encouraged America to talk about sex, died at the age of 96 on Thursday. Westheimer was known for her work in human sexuality and for her dedication to the Jewish people, Israel and religion. She appeared on programs including ‘The Howard Stern Radio Show’ and ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’.
Israel’s Supreme Court rules that the military has to draft ultra-Orthodox Jews
Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered the military to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men into service, who have long been exempt from service. The religious exemption goes back to Israel’s 1948 founding in the wake of the Holocaust, when protection of the remnant of religion was considered key for a Jewish state. Thousands of ultra-Orthodox men have protested in Israel against the exemption.
‘Oppenheim’ sweeps the Oscars as the holy month of Ramadan begins
The director of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem said that they are preparing to welcome as many people as they can during Ramadan, which begins on Thursday. “It’s the Month of Al-Aqsa mosque, and we considered it to be the month of Al Quds (Jerusalem),” he added. Israeli police enforce the right to see the holy site before Ramadan begins.