Pope, you need to speak plainly that you think the capitalist economy of the United States is evil. Let's cut to the chase you arrogant Argentine communist. Even though the poorest in the United States under capitalism are more wealthy and have an easier life than most of the socialist/communist countries of the world, you try to lay the blame for a "subtle dictatorship" against the United States. Pope Francis, you have a world view that is evil, denying the dignity of any man or woman to better their life through his God-given abilities while blaming capitalism for the poverty that is evident in nations that have corrupt governments and leaders.

I love you Pablo.

This is the most political minded pope I've ever witnessed. He's out there spreading socialism, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Exactly....he is not preaching the Word and the Guidance of Jesus. He takes the world in the opposite direction.

He's senile.

I wish I could give him credit for senility. No, it's FAR more insidious than simply senile. Something else is at work here.

In my 60 years on the planet I've managed to come to 1 definite conclusion: NO ONE needs a middle man to know God. NO ONE. Fuc* the pope. He is no closer to the divine than my cat Moochie is. And, I''m willing to bet Moochie knows God infinitely better than the pope does. I was raised in the church and denounced it in my teens. I didn't denounce God; I denounced his supposed representative on earth; a BIG difference. There are many good people in the Church, and I have no problem with them personally. It's the organization I have a problem with. The Church is not about God; it's about the Church, and it always has been. I believe in Christianity, I'm just not sure which sect. One sect believes in NOT celebrating Christmas or birthdays; another believes in handling poisonous snakes, ie, serpents. Another believes in confession, where others do not.
All of this chaos is man made and has nothing to do with the divine. You either come to God as a result of inspiration, or you remain in the wilderness, meaning the lack of a belief in something bigger than yourself. This is what atheists do; they believe they are the highest form of life possible, and there is nothing in the cosmos more knowing than they. It is the pinnacle of arrogance.

Hey Butch, you are correct, that is why I believe that the
former POPE was forced to retire to make room for this
Anti-Christ POPE, that myself and many other Americans
believe him to be, along with his boyfriend, the worthless
Black turd of a POS of a POTUS. Both are in the employ-
ment of the George Soros' "NEW WORLD ORDER." That
is why this worthless Black turd of a POS of a POTUS,
travelled to the Vatican and discussed how these two
Anti-Christs could adverselly affect planet Earth, because
both are the son's of SATAN. And now you know the rest of the story.

That's because he's an adherent to Liberation Theology, which is a communist political movement coupled to some degree with the RC Church. Nothing good will come of this.
I don't like the Church to begin with; not the lay people, but the officials. Never did. I saw them for the bullshi% artists they are many years ago. To hell with the pope and his organization.

Jesus - who's Jesus? This is what he thinks of Jesus.

Jesus "Marx" Christ

The pope knows full well Who Jesus is, but will never acknowledge HIM as SAVIOR. We are saved through the church and all their doctrines and bogus teachings.

First, when anyone uses their expertise to make points outside their area of expertise, they have a tendency to look rather stupid, because most times there is no correlation. The Pope keeps doing this and unfortunately he plays upon the ignorance of most folks in a lot of areas and they believe him because of his position, NOT HIS EXPERTISE [Obama does the same thing]. He is used to a relatively uneducated population where he is from and not used to the blow back from the rest of the world where there ar a lot of educatd folks. In the end he may do more harm than good.

He already has done more harm than good. What are his limits of harm, and who sets these limits? The pope is a dangerous being who if not stopped will destroy our Country like popes of the past have succeeded in many other Countries.
Are we the educated to bow before the ignorant and uneducated? Or, are we the educated to do away with ignorance?

You bet we are the educated and in no way do we bow, because if we do the tower falls which is what he and Obama are hoping for. The Pope is hoping no one calls him out....Even Trump is smarter than that, but oblique references to his stupidity by enough smart folk might get his attention, but when you think you sit so close to God who knows.

Have you noticed that in the current world our "Leaders" are tending towards meglomania and away from taking us toward a common good.

Slippery slope stuff Blanche. When you say do away with ignorance, just precisely what are you saying? Do away with the desire to remain ignorant? If so, you will never accomplish that goal. Many Hispanics from Mexico and the lower Americas embrace lack of education. Many of them believe education to be wrong, to be counter productive, because they have always been taught that. They also resent education as being the mark of the folks who would use them. It never occurs to them that by becoming educated they can beat someone at their own game, but that train of thought takes a high degree of education to reason out, so we're back at square one, AGAIN. Our current administration would indeed have you and I bowing to the unwashed masses, because he feels we've somehow screwed them. I wonder what he feels about his own wealth in regard to the same unwashed masses. Probably nothing, and that doesn't surprise me at all. He is far above the fray, as a good elitist should be: as they always are, and always have been. This is just the same old same old, and it doesn't even have a new face. it's the same old tired one; it's the one we all recognize, unfortunately.

Anyone who believes education to be wrong is wrong themselves. Education is counter productive to ignorance, and to the goals of the Elitists themselves. The ignorant will follow the Elitists, while the educated will either ignore them
oppose them or carve a separate path away from them. The path away from them is growing, while they themselves
are in struggle to maintain their own status quo. They have created their own monster, which is now so out of control, and they themselves cannot control.

He "may do more harm than good"? Understatement of the day! We're talking very survival. Life and death. And worse, eternal souls!!!

Do you mean Jesus M. Christ?

Amen!

Excellent point.

Not true. It's Catholic Doctrine, centuries old.
Dog eat dog is one way to distribute wealth and reward labor. It isn't the only way. Does anyone think there's an open market where supply meets demand today....with all our concentration of wealth in a few devilish hands? Raise your hand if you think our economy is ideal for most people, most of the time?

Wealth is not distributed, it is earned, morally or immorally. We need government to assure that wealth is earned morally. Unfortunately when government starts to make public-private partnerships we get cronyism and corruption. That is the trap we have voted ourselves into.

Hey Matt, well exposed. In the Communist world, wealth
of the masses is distributed not to the masses, but to the
Communist rich, and that is what the worthless Black turd
of a POS of a POTUS is. He was formed in he bowels of
Hades, a son of SATAN, and grew up in a den of Commun-
ists and is the Black turd that he is today, behodling to
George Soros and the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS, in
his search to establish a global Caliphate with himself as
its first Caliph.

My up vote was raising my hand

"6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!" from Galatians 1

Nail, meet hammer! POST OF THE DAY.

No, it's old fashioned Catholic social doctrine that pre-dates the Protestant Revolt, 500 years ago. Read Hillaire Belloc some time for an education.

Yeah, we 'know' what it is . . . (and no - I'm not going to debate it with you)

Brilliant insight...'yeah...we know,...duh'.

We may be on different sides of the fence but at least, I think we're heading the same direction. Sometimes it's hard to tell when I read your comments. (As I'm sure you figured out, I am not a Catholic nor do I agree with much of their doctrine but I do believe this is a Christian nation and because of that - I do want to see that City on a Hill)

Let's do it for the grandchildren, getstryker. Time's running out and America's down about 17 touchdowns. It's not impossible!

“All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…they can’t get away this time”
– Lewis B. Chesty Puller, USMC

Agreed . . . for the grandchildren - I have 4 and I sure don't want them growing up in the hell-hole Obama and his ilk have in mind.
Another little saying every Marine learned in boot camp:
"Good night Chesty Puller and your son Peter" -
(just keep'n it real. ;-)

Amen.

As a former Marine, I salute you. The words of Chesty
Puller are always worthwhile to read. Ha!!! Being sur-
rounded is Chesty's preference.

While the Vatican may have been wrong about some things 500 years ago selling indulgences, line of demarcation, printing press and so on. They no longer hold to those doctrines. As Protestants broke away the Vatican abandoned some things as well, their is a push / pull to these things. This is a very similar situation to the break with England by the US in 1776. Look at Canada, New Zealand, and Australia for a minute. Ask you're self, how high is their tea tax? How are they doing with taxation and no representation? Those issues do not apply because the 13 colonies wound up on the "bleeding edge of government technology".
So the Catholic church has made some mistakes in the past and the present, we all do that were human.

What is their main purpose for existing?
Did any illiterate peasants get saved throughout the 1000 years of European history known as the "dark ages"?
500 years ago they were not impressed with printing presses, OK. They already had 1000 years of legacy built up from pointing at paintings on the wall in an effort to evangelize illiterate peasants.
If they succeeded in only one case, if they brought one illiterate peasant to Christ then they served their main purpose.
Catholics are Christians.

Catholics are not just allowed to, but encouraged to read the Bible in Today's world, by the Pope himself.

I can appreciate that you have strong feeling about the Catholic Church and their history. As I indicated previously, it is a subject that I do not choose to debate. I have done so many times in the past and it solves nothing. I may have different beliefs as an Evangelical Christian but I do believe what 'smokes' mentioned is absolutely correct - this IS a Christian nation, it's in trouble and even though we may differ on doctrinal viewpoints, we all need to ban together to save America. We 'Christians' have, over the last 5 or 6 decades and more, abdicated our rightful positions of moral and spiritual leadership in government, culture, education and business. The evil we see today has rushed in to fill the vacuum - we must take it back. That will require the cooperation and participation of all who call themselves 'Christian'. All revolutions begin with one man . . . if that man is Trump - then let the revolution begin here and now!
God Bless America.

God bless the God fearing, World over.

We can have a moral nation if its people are moral, and that will translate into moral leadership, but not necessarily a religious leadership. I do not want religious leadership-I want moral leadership.

Tell me . . . what informs that which is 'moral?' - what does 'being moral' mean? Where does the concept of 'morality' come from? By what standard is 'being moral or having morality judged?'
You say you don't want 'religious leadership' and yet, you want 'moral leadership' - If you mean that you don't want a 'theocracy' - (prevalent in Middle Eastern countries) I would agree. But the 'moral leadership' you seek here in America are based on the 10 Commandments - moral laws that came from God.
The moral laws we live by are in fact based on religion. Do you object to that? Is there some other way you have in mind? I am simply trying to understand what you want.

Do you know right from wrong? I don't mean moral equivalency bullshi&; I mean ACTUAL right from wrong? I do, and I'm not a religious person. I'll grant that the basic precepts of right from wrong probably do, in fact, come from past religious beliefs and/or training. I have no intention of arguing the point. What I want are people who have good morals, regardless of the source, who will NOT impose their personal religious beliefs on me or anyone else.
Sounds like our Constitution, doesn't it?

So, in other words, you want murder, rape, robbery, arson, discrimination, etc, to be a crime based on those acceptable moral precepts based on 'past religious beliefs and/or training', HOWEVER, you, in your judgment of what is 'right or wrong' based on your 'sense of morality' find nothing wrong, in fact you strenuously object to those same 'past religious beliefs and/or training' if they conflict with your 'non-religious morals' - you insist that Christians should not object, support legislation or speak against 'abortion' (shedding of innocent blood) or 'gay' marriage, lifestyle, etc., (an abomination before God) because you don't want their (Christians) personal beliefs imposed on you or anyone else. You have every right to your opinion, and your free to express those opinions. As Christians, we have the right to oppose what you and your ilk may want . . . it is a struggle - yet to be fully decided.

Is it any wonder the pope and obuma are such close buds??!! Throw-in the castro's and we have a new cast for the three stooges!!

Before the LIVs chim in, I know there are two castro's but fidel is all but brain-dead, so we'll give raul the benefit of the doubt and cast him as "one" of the three stooges!!

The Pope has many Catholics in Cuba to help; Barack has a fellow communist to rescue who'll be dead in a few years, anyway. Did you object to John Paul working with Reagan to free Russia and East Europe from communism, too?

Good point.

What's the point?? Reagan shut down the communist regime and obuma is supporting it ---

The point is Ronald Reagan was not alone. Pope John Paul II was an asset and ally and if we go back there we should include Marget Thatcher as well.
You are comparing old apples to fresh oranges.
Neither of us are Russian however, and they have a side to the story as well.
Bottom line that is a legacy issue and not President Obama's fault, but his responsibility.

And what has the pope or obuma done to rid cuba of communism??
Try to be specific!!

Hey Treeman, we are on the same page when we both view
that this worthless Black turd of a POS of a POTUS and this
worthless POPE are such close confederates in crime. Is it any
wonder that the former POPE had to retire? "THE NEW WORLD
ORDER," has spoken, the election of Donald Trump will change
all of that in 2016. What the U.S. does not require is another
lawyer or politician, as our POTUS in 2016. What we require is
somebody whom understands how to put people back to work,
and once people have a sense of reputable emploment, they will
have time for killing,raping, burning and destroying property. This
type ideology should be the Utopia of the United States. Put
everyone back to work, get rid of the Welfare addicts, and get rid
of the career politicians, namely, the 535 Congressionials and the
9 sweethearts that are viewed as the Supreme Court. In other
words, term limits for all government employees, and then we will
observe the real dedicated politicians whom travel to D.C. to do
the business of the American people, not to get rich and retire at the expense of the American people, above all, reinstate our
military to its greatness that this worthless Black turd of a POS
of a POTUS has reduced it to, while Russia and China are in-
crasing theirs. Trump will change all of this, once elected, and
then, the Democrats and all those whom stand in his way, will
be "TRUMPETED" into elimination, similar to the outlook for the
global Muslims, wherever they may lurk. Their time is num-
bered, similar to the Bubonic Plague during the Middle Ages,
and will suffer the same deadly fate, and that ain't a promise,
that is a fact. It is a pity that the Middle Ages Crusaders did not
finish the job then, for had they been successfull then, we would
not be experiencing these same worthless religious conun-
drums today.

Nonsense, Pablo. You think goodies bought with a $20 TRILLION debt are free? Grow up.

By the way, no group has fought Marxism more than the Catholic Church, since the 19th century. It's a far more pernicious enemy than Islam.