I've heard all kinds of critiques from Catholics and non-Catholics alike. accusing Pope Francis of being Marxist, globalist, atheist and Satanist to name just a few. All of these accusations seem to stem from the same fundamental misunderstanding of what the Catholic Church actually is, and what the pope's role is within it. The non Catholic fears the pope because she believes he has way more authority than he actually has. The critical Catholic forgets that God places the leaders where they are, and the pope is just as human as the rest of us. The Church is dogmatic in nature for this very reason. Official Catholic teaching is considered revealed truth. Truth is unchanging. Therefore, no one (including the pope) can change official doctrine. Neither can the pope declare new doctrine that contradicts existing doctrine. So waving our fists at the pope will only result in sore arms and cramped fingers!

To actually answer the question; It seems to me that the Lord gave us the pope we needed, precisely when we needed him.

I always hated the old "love the sinner, hate the sin" line. Not for what it said, but for what it means in the real world ("hate the sin and hypocritically judge the sinner").

And, yes, it seems that there is a parallel attitude among anti-theists. This is why I'm always glad to meet those (from either group) who are willing to set aside prejudicial thinking.

nah just people voting with their fee.

nice!

The usual story: churches fighting among each other ...

It is a tautology

"good atheist"

isn't that an oxymoron?

if you think the catholic church is "old and weary" you should see the liberal churches!

Yesterday I was under attack on Facebook by a group of ultra conservative christians. I never expected it to be so vicious. As a good atheist, I forgive them.

Let God plan your family and it will prosper.

That's a pretty safe promise to make, given that if I don't use birth control, then no matter what happens to my family, you will say it is prospering.