428 Comments

The Catholic Church protected pedophile priests and attacked their victims. The Catholic church never met a right-wing dictatorship they didn't love. The Catholic Church was in bed with Hitler and Mussolini. I do not care what the Pope thinks about anything. His church has absolutely no moral standing to issue proclamations regarding human dignity.

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For all his lame attempts to at least appear as though he has some understanding of 21st-century humanity, Pope Frankie has shoved his tootsies past his tonsils yet again with this Infinite Dignity crap. He has clearly demonstrated that he has neither understanding nor empathy for trans people, on top of dumping on those couples who cannot have a child without the help of surrogacy. He fails to comprehend that sometimes, life can become unbearable and that release from the constant pain is preferable to being forced to live with it. As for violence against women, I wonder if Frankie has any intention of taking action against those priests who act out sexually against both kids and adults, using their position of authority as a forcing issue.

Long story short, Frankie doesn't get it. I'm not convinced that he ever has, and any "dignity" he may have ever considered his just went out the window. He and his organization are anathema and anachronistic and they have no place in our society.

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The first solution to protect abused wives is one the catholic church reject (unless it's for controlling European monarchs). It's not even lip service at this point.

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If Francis wasn't the same monster Pope's have always been, he would have never been chosen.

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I suspect that the Pope is to the RCC not like the captain of a ship, but more like 'first pusher' of a multi-ton stonehenge block. More control than any other individual? Yes. A lot of control over which way it goes? No.

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interesting how all of a sudden the pope/the church has come completely outta the closet in his/their loathing around women, women’s rights, human rights… totally supporting the recent arizona decision and more… and of course we know this is a planetary ‘male action’… we are gonna have to rise up at some point… there is no choice… unless we want to live our lives as slaves… the word heinous accurately describes it all…

RISE UP!

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I'd just like to quote Bishop Floyd Begin, the founding bishop of the Oakland, California diocese, on the occasion of my catholic confirmation in the spring of 1964: "Shut the fuck up, kid." That was to 12-year-old me, who had been protesting being forced into the ceremony with every tactic I could muster over the previous year, who had to be dragged to the altar by two nuns built like linebackers (some stereotypes are true), who forced me to my knees before him, and responded to my "don't do this to me". Oh, and before I forget, was named as an abuser in December 2022, just a few months before the diocese declared bankruptcy. Over 300 abuse allegations had been made in the previous two years. That's what il papa and his buddies in the RCC are saying to every woman, trans person, and everyone else with this latest list of atrocities: fuck you. And anybody expected anything else? (On a lighter note: anybody remember the retort to the then pope banning birth control back in the 1960s? "You no play-a da game, you no make-a da rules." I'd laugh, except these fuckers have so much power and they don't wait til the sweet bye-and-bye to exercise it.)

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i hear you.

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Thanks. Begin and all the others are real pieces of work.

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"A threat to human dignity." This from THESE guys:

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/photo/catholic-clergy-and-nazi-officials-give-the-nazi-salute

The RCC and the Nazis (good Catholics and Lutherans) had a cozy relationship. Holy Mother Church (via the Bishops of Fulda) issued a "War Prayer For Reich" calling for a German victory of arms. It was published in the New York Times on (get this) December 7th 1941.

They elevated the previous guy (Ratzinger) to Pope despite the fact that he'd been a first a Hitler Youth and then later a soldier in Hitler's army.

Threat to human dignity, RCC? You said what?

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Don’t forget the Reichskonkordat.

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“Section 50 says the procedure “violates the dignity of the woman” even when it’s entirely consensual.“

Where’s the dignity in denying women any choice in their lives? Women aren’t allowed to refuse sex, they’re often forced into having sex, they cannot choose to be a surrogate, they aren’t allowed to end an unwanted pregnancy, shit, most of the time they don’t even have the agency to choose an occupation, wife and mother and only if your husband can’t make enough you can find some menial subordinate job to help pay the bills.

There’s no dignity in denying women agency in their reproductive future.

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Val, women, from the poorest to aristocrats and queens, worked despite what the rcc and inertia kn History maintain. There is a huge gap between what men wrote about women and the historical reality. This is a valid source of what I am trying to explain. Sorry, it's in French but all my sources on this topic are in it

https://www.cairn.info/revue-le-moyen-age-2003-2-page-295.htm

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I understand that women have always worked. My comment was about the RCC expectations for women and the ways in which religion and society have made women’s lives more difficult. In the case of women working, there’s a great deal of shame heaped upon women for working rather than dropping everything that makes you unique to raise children. There’s also a lot of folks pushing the narrative that women should only want to be mothers no matter what. Their only purpose and ability in life is gestating and raising children. Women who choose to be childless are being dragged for their choices, and they have been historically as well, the worst thing for a woman was to be a spinster. Women are pushing back on that, and I support anyone who does, we’re slowly changing the narrative to acceptance of childless women.

Women have always worked outside the home, I’m aware, it’s just shamed.

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Yes and no, there was shaming of women in general in religious texts but most of the shaming of working women comes from 19th and early to mid 20th centuries interpretation of medieval and Renaissance texts. Jeanne Bourin's and Robert Merle's movels, two writers who knew what they were talking about, are full of women who worked alone or alongside their fathers or husbands.

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How about penile enhancement implants , fellas of the Church? Modified dick is ok for those pesky heterosexuals? I walked away from the Catholic church decades ago because of blatant hypocrisy and abuse of power. I live a far less conflicted life.

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For 2,000 years the Catholic church has been committing crimes against humanity- it is astounding that anyone still goes to these churches, or any church. The Catholic church has spent millions and millions and millions of LAITY money lobbying against and campaigning against women and all minorities......including our right to vote. So, nothing has changed, and why would anyone expect anything to change?

The PARISHIONERS must change, they must stop going. Most parishioners do not buy into their dogma, but yet they still go- they will say it is Catholic guilt. But, No one can inflict guilt on another person, guilt comes from within us- once we recognize that then we can walk away. The step down doesn't necessarily happen overnight. I can only hope that this lack of Integrity document will push more Catholics away from the church. Enough is enough.

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I've said this more than once: the Church has rendered it's laity into sheep, indoctrinated and programmed to pray, pay, and obey. The only ones who aren't utterly in line with this dogma are typically those who have been injured by the Church (see movie: Spotlight), and even then efforts to correct the course of the Church result in minimal effects at best.

Indeed, you are absolutely right in that change in the hierarchy of the Church will most effectively come from INSIDE the Church. Considering my first paragraph, I wouldn't hold my breath.

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Pray, pay, obey........so totally accurate!!!!

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I've forgotten where I first heard that phrase, and I'll stipulate that it's almost certainly an over-generalization. Still, I have to ask: WHERE is the outcry from the average parishioner about the rape of children, which has been going on, not just for years or decades, but for CENTURIES. I'm outraged about it, and I'm not even a former Catholic!

So it does make one wonder about those who stick with Catholicism.

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I stopped believing when I was 8. I had questions and the priests, nuns, etc. had no answers.

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I was realizing I was stuck on Chuck when bitchup fulton j sheen went on tv declring me pervert, an abomination, an affront to god, among dozens of other slurs. Now I realize he was fighting his own same-sex attractions, but that realization came only after much of my life had been destroyed by self-loathing.

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“ God’s love, we’re told, is unconditional.”

I don’t know how any Christian can say that with a straight face. The Bible clearly reveals God is transactional. (That might be a clue as to why fundies love Trump so much. He too is purely transactional.)

You get forgiveness IF…

You get heaven IF…

You are blessed IF…

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Look, when I think about the universe... really think about it... the universe is so very fucking big. There are billions of galaxies and trillions of stars. Narrowing it down... there are eight planets in our solar system and hundreds of moons and we've only barely scratched the very surface of exploring our own neighborhood.

Now assuming there was a god in charge of making all of this (which is a pretty large assumption for many folks, but go with me...) they would be bigger than the universe they made, yes?

Just thinking of our little pale, blue dot... we haven't even found everything that lives on this planet. We still make new discoveries every year. What we have found suggests that gender is not always a binary. Some species can change gender naturally. What's up with that? That's pretty amazing, right? We had no idea that happened when I was growing up.

The sheer size of all there is... even on planet Earth... the sheer scope of it all... wouldn't that... shouldn't the natural response to that be humility? I am infinesimally small. Not even microscopic on this scale... what the fuck do I know about the universe? What the fuck do I know about life? What the fuck could I possibly know about a god that could create all of (waves hands) this?

Therefore, shouldn't my response to my fellow humans be empathy? Shouldn't it be grace? Shouldn't it be respect for their identity? Who the fuck am I to tell them that I know what they are and what they "should" be? I'm nothing. I'm a brief nanosecond in the universe. Shouldn't I extend a hand in humble acceptance to another nanosecond?

I mean, who really am I to speak for any god of THE UNIVERSE? I know nothing. I am ignorant.

Isn't the better, more dignified response to accept one another in our shared humanity? To make our brief lives better rather than filled with pain and rejection?

My God, the arrogance to speak for God and condemn another person for their existence...

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Indeed. And of course there is the blatant HYPOCRISY of claiming to be moral while playing pedophile shell games and laundering money for criminals and stealing art .. and of course let us not forget the whole LETS SIDE WITH GENOCIDAL NAZIS thing but call abortion wrong.

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" I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

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Actually when thinking of the sheer HUBRIS of the pope I am reminded of Zaphod saying that if there was anything around that was bigger than his ego then he wanted it found and shot.

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Well said.

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Yes....humility and awe. That's how I feel when I look at the night sky! All the shit we DON'T know....

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Direct experience with Transgender people can change your whole perspective. When my cousin announced to our family that she was Trans, she was amazed at the love she has received from even the oldest and Republicanest and Christianest family members. I wonder how many Trans people the Pope knows personally. I'm not saying just "oh I know someone" or "I met someone" but a good friend or a family member. I would suggest it's the Pope's job to get to know people of all kinds. Just because that's hard to do for someone in his position, that can't be an excuse. My cousin's wife is still married to her through it all because, as she said, "that's the person I love and she's happier now than she's ever been." How can you argue with that?

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Most chilling line in the whole article “The only reason they’ve been held accountable at all is because of forces outside the Church.” — a chilling thought because it caused me to think what the world would be like if there were no forces outside the Catholic Church 😬

I cannot understand why anyone sees the Catholic Church as a source of moral authority after all the crimes they have committed— residential school deaths, the Magdalene laundries, the crusades, the persecution of heathens, pagans, and witches, the child abuse, etc etc

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300,000 catholic Cathars were murdered by the pope as "the wrong kind" of kkkatliks. Moral is the antithesis of kkkrsterism.

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King Philip of France wanted their land which was valuable, also

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Yep, agreed — but I wouldn’t refer to the Cathars as Catholics — they were more Gnostics — but given the cruelty with which they were persecuted by the Catholic Church, I think it’s unfair to them to call them “Catholics”.

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Anyone who has witnessed a birth or delivered a baby knows this is quite a painful, violent and potentially risky affair. Before birth control and safe abortions, women were forced to either subject themselves to all the physical and psychological risks a pregnancy entails or the risks of an illegal abortion. Pro-life is a misnomer - it is pro-fetus. The Catholic church would happily impose their faith on all and deny all women on the planet birth control and abortion. More children to sexually assault I guess.

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I’m with former republican Jenifer Rubin in calling them “forced Birthers .”

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That's what we here call antiabortionists. "Pro-forced birthers."

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I knew I liked it here!

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They always have. Now their doctrine of infallibility is coming back to bite them in the ass. Now the pope can only double down on hate driving even more people away from religion.

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𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇-𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑. 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑜 “𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑦” 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 “𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛"...

Hmmm...

I think I like it when people make a personal self-determination. That sounds like owning your life, frankly.

I subscribe to the theory that gender is (at least somewhat, let's leave %.s out of it) socially constructed. Does that mean my cis identity is mere personal self-determination? Let me guess, the insult only applies to gay or trans people who think gender has a social component?

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“Personal self-determination”.

Y’know, that “free will” shit they keep insisting that their god gave to all humans, but punishes us for actually exercising it.

That’s literally the definition of an abuser.

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Five will get you 50 that Frankie has never met a trans person, nor does he have any idea of the possibility that someone's internal image of themselves not only doesn't match up with their physiology but that difference creates genuine conflict within them.

At the risk of tooting my own horn, if *I* can get that, why can't HE?

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Hand over the monopoly money 😁

https://outreach.faith/2023/01/pope-francis-meets-regularly-with-transgender-catholics-at-general-audience/

Which makes his last attack on transgender people even more stupid 🙄

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Ha. Well, how about that shit. It occurs to me that the fact of that meeting actually makes matters WORSE and shows Frankie as someone who apparently can't be bothered to listen, especially as it comes to issues as nuanced as trans.

As for the Monopoly money, the check is in the mail! 😉

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Sorry, I don't accept checks since the bank who was a 5 minutes walk away had closed. The nearests are now 30 minutes and a bus away, in both directions.

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Well, DRAT! I'd shower you with "Turtles," but I don't know if you like chocolate, caramel, and pecans! 😁

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Diabetic, remember ? I will accept bamboo yarn or vegan kimchi 😁

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In the U.S. most banks offer a phone app where you sign the check and take a picture of the front and back and then destroy the check (after it's cleared)

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Concerned parishioner: We're losing members because of anti LGBTQ positions.

Pope: Double down on the hate ..... and put it in writing.

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And...gone.

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Ha. That was fun for a bit, but fact is, there wasn't a single original thought in his head (big surprise, eh?). After not very long, trolls like him are just, plain BORING.

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It wasn't very fun, ze reached 3rd grade insults after maybe 5 posts.

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Hey, THESE days, I take my fun where I can get it ... though, by comparison, volunteering as a Playhouse Square "Red Coat" (which I've done for something over a year now) makes that dip look like ... well ... a DIP! [chuckle]

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I enjoy poking them. I don't get to use my mean streak as much as I did.

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Wonder if he bounced.

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He bounced back here... You jinx 😉

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Gone.

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Hemant must have woke up from his nap.

(Projection on my part : )

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“suffering can become an opportunity to strengthen the bonds of mutual belonging and gain greater awareness of the precious value of each person to the whole human family”

And what are the dying people going to do with that newfound awareness? SMDH

Perhaps the RCC (the pope and cardinals and bishops in charge of these decrees) should endure some suffering so they can actually understand that which they are talking about.

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When I decided to retire and move one of the criteria was to go to a state that had a death with dignity law. I’m going to die on my own terms, unless I get hit by a bus first.

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Originally from New Jersey, moved out of state 40 plus years ago. Asked by family and friends if I’ll ever return. My response.. “just to die on my own terms “. NJ is only a few states that permit medical assisted death with dignity. Overall this country is embedded in archaic beliefs and much of it is based on religious propaganda and the ferocious need to control the masses.

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Yes this country is archaic....... I didn't think that 20 years ago but I do now, it has gotten so regressive. The US lags behind Canada and most European countries in everything.

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And yet when I was a kid, I was told this was the best country on Earth. Repeatedly. Nearly every time another country was brought up.

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It wasn't then and isn't now. Still, a lot of USAians seems to believe US is the best country on the planet terra. Like every countries it has very good things and very bad things and a lot in between.

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If the pope is saying this, it's no wonder they canonized (not cannonized) the Skunkfucking Ghoul of Kolkatta.

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Was talking to my mom on Sunday, and she came up and I expressed my disgust with her. My mom was shocked that o would call her a ghoul. I told her to look it up, which she said she would, but I doubt it. Mom is pretty progressive on certain things, but doesn’t change her mind once it’s been set on something and this was something she learned as a child. She got way too defensive when I told her that Oriental was offensive and gave her some options. (She buys and sells antiques as a hobby and she’s always talking about oriental this or that, even when she knows the origins of the pieces and sometimes she calls a person oriental as well.) Folks are too sensitive and this what I’ve said since childhood and I don’t mean to offend, it’s not offensive to me.

But yeah, I was not pulling any punches with Mother Teresa.

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I contend that no one who lives in a literal fucking palace, with servants tending to his every whim, has any right to lecture anybody about the virtue of suffering. Or, for that matter, about anything else.

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But suffering is not for them. When the ghoul of Calcutta was stealing oxygen she held the same belief, until she was suffering and then it was only the best treatment AND pain management for miss pain is jayzuz kissing you. Fuck them. Fuck them all sideways with krait.

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