Radical Truth and Imago Dei

“In his recent book Pope Francis’ Revolution of Tenderness and Love, Cardinal Walter Kasper contends that Francis is not a liberal (as some pundits would suggest) but rather a “radical” in the etymological sense of being rooted (radix) in the person of Jesus. Emerging from this root is a blossoming of Christian virtue that smells to many evangelicals like the aroma of Christ.” Chris Cataldo, Christianity Today.
Last week, the mainstream media gave limited coverage to the pope’s meeting with Charismatic Catholics in America. Yet, Francis’s reach has stretched beyond the evangelical wing of the Catholic Church and into the realm of evangelical Protestantism for some time. According to the National Catholic Reporter, the pope not only “played a central role” in an effort to bring Catholics and evangelicals together in Argentina, but he also provided significant support for the Argentine Bible Society. He shares his Argentinian roots and a close friendship with notable evangelical Luis Palau. Continue reading “Radical Truth and Imago Dei”

BLOGPOST: ‘Hate’ Mail and the Pope

“When you get to know someone on a human level, see that they are human just like you and have similar struggles and the same deepest yearnings, you cannot hate them.” Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone
I read my blog’s first negative comment the other day. (See below: “What We Are For.”)
I am a hater, the commentator said, because I wish celibacy and loneliness upon gay people. Celibacy and loneliness are bad. Because those states of being are bad, I wish bad things upon gay people. Therefore, I “hate” gay people.
Such a conversation doesn’t really leave much room for discussion about the meaning of hatred.
Or about Christian love and what it means.
Or about how the Church has not been receptive to the idea of ministry to those who struggle with same sex attraction. How the Church hasn’t felt like a safe place for someone who may need to say, “Here is my struggle. Will someone walk with me in it?” Continue reading “BLOGPOST: ‘Hate’ Mail and the Pope”

%d bloggers like this: