Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, in that case could we call them Statians or Unitians?
Or perhaps Usonians: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usonia
Muricans.
First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
971–980 of 1001 posts
Re: First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
#972Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's an interesting thought but if they're actually that concerned about it then they'd wait longer than four months. It probably has more to do with America's predominant religion being protestantism by a very wife margin for most of the country's existence. We didn't have a Catholic president until Kennedy and even then proving to the common American that Catholics aren't insane Vatican mindslaves was considered…
> America's predominant religion being Protestantism Tangent: Protestantism is not a religion. The religion is called Christianity. I have seen this trend for quite a while of Protestants (or people born in Protestant countries) of referring to Christianity branches as religions. I find it very segregational. The whole point of all the branches is the same guy whose name begins with C. But yes, given the state of Ame…
Yes, protestantism is a sect, with a history of conflict with catholicism. Catholics have a huge body of literature and claim stories about tens of thousands of saints and holy/blessed people (you could get lost in those stories for years and never see the end of it, quite beautiful.) whereas the default protestant position is to be skeptical due to the self serving nature of the catholic church.
Pope Leo is obviously not going to represent any american interests, just like the earlier popes not representing german and argentinian interests as that would be blatant and absurd.
Re: First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
#973Earlier quoted context omitted.
Give Twitter another 24 hours to stew over his past ministry and his Peruvian citizenship, and one will find our modern Know Nothings making similar hullabaloo.
Is it even viable to run for pope as a priest who spent his whole life in a first-world country? I can't imagine somebody who has spent a significant portion of his life doing charity work or spreading the church to some new population losing out to some guy who spends his whole career preaching to a crowd of predominantly-white bourgeois Americans in a boring midwestern suburb where the biggest problem is either too…
There is no shortage of the downtrodden and dispossessed in the USA, if you seek them. The problem in this hypothetical would rather be that acknowledging and prioritizing such people in America is likely to be, for many fellow first worlders (to include parts of the American Catholic hierarchy) an inherently radical, polarizing, and political act. I doubt such a priest would be so rapidly promoted as was Leo XIV.
Acknowledging and prioritizing similarly marginalized people in poor countries, or at least in countries less tetchy about their failings and political pieties, carries less political risk. (Which is not to claim Prevost cynically avoided American ministry to the poor.)
That said, that such ministry is qualification at all seems to me more a product of Francis’s remaking of the college of cardinals with a notably Franciscan philosophy. The majority of post-WW2 popes have been European, of the first or second world. Benedict was German and John Paul Polish.
Re: First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
#974Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would that even be a good thing? Religion is inherently above politics. Politics is concerned for the temporal good of its subjects. Religion is concerned for the ethical and spiritual good of its subjects. Politics are short sighted and can never produce a paradise. Religion can produce a paradise in the soul of one even in the worst political and economic circumstances. Jesus was homeless and broke.
That doesn't seem to mesh with the fact that religion has historically been deeply tied to politics and governance. Meddling in political affairs is a routine thing for organized religions. The very existence of the Pope is a power play designed to make the Church's power seem more legitimate and justified than politicians. Examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_no_one_rid_me_of_this_tur... https://en.wikipedia…
The existence of the Pope is inherent in the need for doctrinal and disciplinary unity. Otherwise when there's a dispute over whether to obey a pastor or whether he's correct about something in faith or morals, there's no arbiter, so the church splits in two, and it continues on the pattern of cancer. Naturally there will be faithless people in the church who use such positions as if they were political, but only because "if there is no resurrection, then let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" and politics is the most obvious way of ensuring that luxury.
Re: First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
#975Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, but there clearly wasn't much concern if an American got 2/3rds of the vote on day 2. They didn't have to elect a new pope this quickly.
130+ cardinals aren't going to be stuck in Sistine Chapel for months just to assuage some hypothetical concerns about America.
At one point they took the roof off of a building because they were taking too long. Another, they changed their diet to bread and water. In one instance they stopped their pay until they decided.
You should look into the history of choosing a pope, it’s wild.
Re: First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
#976Earlier quoted context omitted.
All are welcome Including atheists?
As long as you aren't a smug asshole about it, most religious people don't mind talking about religion with atheists. You have to be honestly interested in what they have to say and not just looking for a way to 'prove them wrong'
Conversations with those kinds can be fun too, if you're in the right mood.
Re: First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
#977Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cubs
I stand corrected. His brother is on the news saying this is fake news and he's a Sox fan.
He also said he rarely spoke to his brother after childhood. So I doubt he is faithfully representing his essentially-long-lost brother's current opinions.
Re: First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
#978Earlier quoted context omitted.
American Christianity != American Catholicism
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Re: First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
#979Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're talking about crossing country borders, then maybe. If you're talking about distance traveled, I would venture to guess that Americans on average travel further distances. The United States of America has states larger than many countries in Europe.
Citizens of the world usually refers to cultural exposure and appreciation for differences around the world. I have never seen it refer to distance travelled, however I can see how some Americans can use that definition to try and change the topic
You caught me, I was trying to change the topic... ?
(/s)