The Pope Speaks

I read a remarkable story yesterday out of the Vatican.  It was about a speech the Pope gave a week ago.  I've also posted video below (from RomeReports.com) for those who don't believe it.  The speech struck me as quite important -- if it gets disseminated among the faithful...and adhered to.  I have some expectation for the former, less for the latter.  But we'll see.  Still, it was impressive to say it, and be so blunt.  Basically, Pope Francis spoke about how ideological Christianity is a "sickness."  His point is that true Christianity is being a disciple of Jesus, not ideology, and that pushing ideology is restrictive and frightens people.

From Raw Story --

Speaking at daily Mass last Thursday, Pope Francis warned Christians against turning their faith into a rigid ideology. “The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology,” he said, according to Radio Vatican. “And ideology does not beckon [people]. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid.

“And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought… For this reason Jesus said to them: ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.’ The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements.”

“The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances of the Church of the people,” Francis added. “But it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians. It is an illness, but it is not new, eh?”

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Whether the Pope actually says, "eh," I can't swear to.  The tape cuts off before that last phrase.  But I'll go with the Raw Story quote.  Not only for the sake of not editing a quote, but just on the general principle of hoping the Pope spoke with this way...