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Bergoglio was a South American intellectual. He could recognize a proxy war when he saw one. That's why his account of the war was a tad more complex and articulated than that of the average liberal Anglo.
Pope Francis has died
91–100 of 875 posts
Re: Pope Francis has died
#92I genuinely liked him, even as an atheist. He seemed to be trying his best to make the world a better place and I can't fault him for that.
> .. even as an atheist
lots of christians didn't like him, considering he was too progressive
Re: Pope Francis has died
#93I genuinely liked him, even as an atheist. He seemed to be trying his best to make the world a better place and I can't fault him for that.
A prevalent sentiment.
I'd researched popes' policies and statements toward the poor some years back, and he really had no peer going back centuries.
Partial exception in the late 1900s, under Leo XIII (1878--1903), in the encyclical Rerum novarum.
Re: Pope Francis has died
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The line between good and evil is very clear in this case. Edit parent meant Ukraine war, not the Israel conflict quote Pope had.
That is a great and underused method of evaluating moral judgments and I believe that it’s very suitable in this particular case. I do not have much hope that Palestinians would behave “better” according to any sensible measure of the word. I would conjecture that many governments would position themselves differently and that criticism would face less obstacles. In the end it would be as much of a catastrophe.
>That is a great and underused method of evaluating moral judgments and I believe that it’s very suitable in this particular case.
It also dilutes the current and very real responsibilities of the 'effectors'. In saying 'they would have done the same' it becomes very easy to justify the unjustifiable.
Re: Pope Francis has died
#95Why is this posted on HN, even twice? It’s not like other news sources won’t announce this. The pope had its good and bad sides, but in the end we should remind ourselves he’s just a human being. It’s OK for HN to inform about people here, but shouldn’t they be somehow related to any topics HN touches? The popes was just a guy who somehow got popular because of some quite successful religion - but I’d personally prefer keep religion out of HN.
Re: Pope Francis has died
#96Re: Pope Francis has died
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
With all due respect, massacring civilians because “you have no other choice” is historically not an excuse holding up in courts. Israel has enormous advantage over Palestinians and while I don’t mind them waging war with Hamas, indiscriminate bombing is not ok and never will be.
> With all due respect, massacring civilians because “you have no other choice” is historically not an excuse holding up in courts. The thing is, under the rules of war, protected installations (such as residential areas or even hospitals) lose their protection if they are being abused by a warring party for military operations. Otherwise, it would be an open invitation for anyone to do what Hamas did - force the oth…
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Re: Pope Francis has died
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pope John Paul II was also extremely popular across the world.
He was, but John Paul II was traditionally conservative. I think Francis resonated with more people–Christian or not–because he emphasized compassion, humility, and social justice. He spoke more openly about issues like poverty, climate change, and inclusion–his encyclical LAUDATO SI’ is a great read–, and he often used language and gestures that the "common man" could relate to. Perhaps the way he dressed so simply–…
Didn’t JPII rebuild the curia so that progressive popes like Francis could get closer to the keys of power?
Re: Pope Francis has died
#99[flagged]
That's a generalization that does not help the vision of the world he had. Putin is the villain. Spreading the bad image of Russian people in general is not really helping anything. Even if the polls in Russia might show support for the war, it's mostly because everybody in Russia if afraid of speaking their opinion in public.
They're not afraid, they're disinterested in politics as long as it doesn't affect their day to day life, so food and fuel prices remaining manageable.
Putin is popular and has personal interest in remaining so, because otherwise Russian elites will find themselves a new Putin.
Re: Pope Francis has died
#100I wonder whether we will have another Jesuit Pope. Jesuits are supposed to be generally very education focused, more progressive (especially w.r.t science) and stand less on ceremony. I know nothing about how the College of Cardinals work, but if they're anything like other political voting bodies, one of two outcomes are possible: a swing to the Right (and toward tradition), recognizing the current balance of power…
> especially w.r.t science I would like to know more. My impression is that most Christian institutions have long ago disentangled from scientific debate - providing interpretative value rather than alternative science. This is part of a larger trend to focus their scope and mission in modern life. Have the last few popes made comments on scientific issues? (The exception is evangelical Americans.)
the pontifical academy of science has.