Best Pope Ever?

[aberrant85]

Pope Francis has again pushed aside tradition and embraced a progressive outlook, repairing frayed bonds between the Church and gays, atheists, and those who use contraception and have had abortions.

As leader of the Vatican, Pope Francis is not only a religious leader, but Head of State of the small Catholic nation, and can politically and diplomatically intervene in world affairs to promote peace and ethics.

So, with only a few months of experience, how does this Pope rank amongst all others?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/w...l=1&adxnnlx=1379603441-u49LjqOIOSEikXs/MIljqw

 

[Un biased]

Best pope so far

 

[ocean515]

I'm no religious scholar, but it seems to me if people want to go against what I understand are the teachings of the Catholic faith, or any faith for that matter, they should start a new religious order.

That's what King Edward VIII did.

 

[longview]

Francis is impressive so far, His humility and grace place him in the same field as John-Paul II,
but only time will tell if he will be better than John-Paul II.
The Catholic Church needs both a great man and a great leader to stay relevant in modern times,
They appear to have made a good choice in Francis!

 

[SBu]

Pope Francis has again pushed aside tradition and embraced a progressive outlook, repairing frayed bonds between the Church and gays, atheists, and those who use contraception and have had abortions.

As leader of the Vatican, Pope Francis is not only a religious leader, but Head of State of the small Catholic nation, and can politically and diplomatically intervene in world affairs to promote peace and ethics.

So, with only a few months of experience, how does this Pope rank amongst all others?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/w...l=1&adxnnlx=1379603441-u49LjqOIOSEikXs/MIljqw

I'm not a Catholic historian so I'm not sure about ever (Popes have been around since Peter). I would say that out of the last three that you've mentioned, Francis has a lot of high hopes. He seems like a healer which is what the church needs. Many have left the church recently and still more speak of it with disdain and cynicism. I think Francis can reverse this trend. Heck, haven't been to church in years and after watching his inauguration I almost went. Almost.

 

[rocket88]

That's quite the question given all the Popes in about 2000 years!

I think it really depends on what kind of leader the Church needs at a particular time. Pope Francis int the time of the Borgias would have been a disaster.

 

[Ben K.]

Gregory VII was probably the most influential on the course of human history.

Pope Gregory VII - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Medusa]

john paul in my opinion but not for his religious side

but for forgiving a murderer who tried to killed him.

 

[phattonez]

Benedict XVI is definitely my favorite of the past few popes. As for the best all time, Pope Leo XIII has to be up there.

 

[Van Basten]

I'm not a fan of any Pope or the Catholic Church. However, the newest pope is basically a joke, trying to score brownie points at any given chance. :shrug:

 

[justabubba]

he has the potential, certainly
many of you are probably not well acquainted with Pope John XXIII
he was a fabulous pontiff. he was a peoples' pope, and not just for catholic people
he moved away from ideology to embrace social causes and economic realities
and he apologized for the church's anti-semitic history

Pope Francis initially appears to be a person of the same high calibre

 

[joG]

Pope Francis has again pushed aside tradition and embraced a progressive outlook, repairing frayed bonds between the Church and gays, atheists, and those who use contraception and have had abortions.

As leader of the Vatican, Pope Francis is not only a religious leader, but Head of State of the small Catholic nation, and can politically and diplomatically intervene in world affairs to promote peace and ethics.

So, with only a few months of experience, how does this Pope rank amongst all others?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/w...l=1&adxnnlx=1379603441-u49LjqOIOSEikXs/MIljqw

If you like Popes that take a loose view on traditional values, I would have thought you would have gone for a guy like that Spaniard Alexander VI.

 

[American]

St Peter?

 

[Cephus]

Francis is probably the best of the three listed, although it's clear that the Vatican doesn't like him much (they have to keep "correcting" him), but the best Pope will be the last Pope that finally drives that criminal organization completely into the ground.

 

[Paschendale]

The best pope will be the one that sells all of the Vatican's treasures and uses its wealth to feed hungry people all across the world.

 

[Smeagol]

Pope Francis has again pushed aside tradition and embraced a progressive outlook, repairing frayed bonds between the Church and gays, atheists, and those who use contraception and have had abortions.

As leader of the Vatican, Pope Francis is not only a religious leader, but Head of State of the small Catholic nation, and can politically and diplomatically intervene in world affairs to promote peace and ethics.

So, with only a few months of experience, how does this Pope rank amongst all others?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/w...l=1&adxnnlx=1379603441-u49LjqOIOSEikXs/MIljqw

Good question. I'd be curious to know, of those responding, who are themselves Roman Catholics. I'd also be curious to know if any of the Popes so impressed anyone that they joined or plan to join the Catholic Church.

 

[rocket88]

Good question. I'd be curious to know, of those responding, who are themselves Roman Catholics. I'd also be curious to know if any of the Pope's so impressed anyone that they joined or plan to join the Catholic Church.

I was raised Catholic. Tried to be a Franciscan, which is what I like about Pope Francis (I'm still a big fan of St. Francis).

People like Ratzy (Benedict XVI) drove me away from the church. Francis is almost the polar opposite.

 

[DiAnna]

Although it's difficult to judge based on such a short time, I find Pope Francis far superior to his predecessor, who appeared to me to be more concerned with pomp and ideology than people themselves. If my instinct is correct, Francis may have a healing effect overall, bringing together Catholics who had previously been disdained by the church.

Still, I'm not a big fan of Catholicism, with its incredible wealth which it squanders on itself rather than on the people who live in poverty. Church leaders drape themselves in silk and gold while so much of their flock go hungry, lacking basic requirements for a decent life. To me, the church represents greed and selfish authoritism. Perhaps eventually this pope will initiate changes to use the church's wealth for its people instead of itself. I hope so.

 

[Medusa]

Although it's difficult to judge based on such a short time, I find Pope Francis far superior to his predecessor, who appeared to me to be more concerned with pomp and ideology than people themselves. If my instinct is correct, Francis may have a healing effect overall, bringing together Catholics who had previously been disdained by the church.

Still, I'm not a big fan of Catholicism, with its incredible wealth which it squanders on itself rather than on the people who live in poverty. Church leaders drape themselves in silk and gold while so much of their flock go hungry, lacking basic requirements for a decent life. To me, the church represents greed and selfish authoritism. Perhaps eventually this pope will initiate changes to use the church's wealth for its people instead of itself. I hope so.

and thats why the church can never represent any religion

 

[Tucker Case]

I'm liking Pope Franky a lot. JP Deuce had some personal qualities that I admired, but I disagreed with a great deal of his messages. Franky appears to have both character and message down for me.

As far as "best pope ever" goes, though, I don't have an adequate knowledge base from which to make that assessment.

 

[Dapper Andy]

Pope Francis has again pushed aside tradition and embraced a progressive outlook, repairing frayed bonds between the Church and gays, atheists, and those who use contraception and have had abortions.

As leader of the Vatican, Pope Francis is not only a religious leader, but Head of State of the small Catholic nation, and can politically and diplomatically intervene in world affairs to promote peace and ethics.

So, with only a few months of experience, how does this Pope rank amongst all others?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/w...l=1&adxnnlx=1379603441-u49LjqOIOSEikXs/MIljqw

He seems like a good enough guy.

I think the left's appreciation of him has more to do with media slant though.

 

[nota bene]

I'm not at all sure that "popularity" is desirable anyway, but I do think it's far too soon in his papacy to assess Francis's leadership.

 

[phattonez]

The best pope will be the one that sells all of the Vatican's treasures and uses its wealth to feed hungry people all across the world.

You clearly don't understand the mission of the Church. It's not to feed the poor.

 

[phattonez]

I was raised Catholic. Tried to be a Franciscan, which is what I like about Pope Francis (I'm still a big fan of St. Francis).

People like Ratzy (Benedict XVI) drove me away from the church. Francis is almost the polar opposite.

People like Benedict XVI who tried to restore tradition to the Church are what deepen my faith. It is very lukewarm otherwise.

 

[phattonez]

Although it's difficult to judge based on such a short time, I find Pope Francis far superior to his predecessor, who appeared to me to be more concerned with pomp and ideology than people themselves. If my instinct is correct, Francis may have a healing effect overall, bringing together Catholics who had previously been disdained by the church.

You don't understand the point of tradition and ceremony, then.

Imagine if the president gave a speech to Americans dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and started saying stuff like "yo, dude." Yet by ignoring the ceremonies and forms of the Church, it is what many modernists have accomplished.

Still, I'm not a big fan of Catholicism, with its incredible wealth which it squanders on itself rather than on the people who live in poverty. Church leaders drape themselves in silk and gold while so much of their flock go hungry, lacking basic requirements for a decent life. To me, the church represents greed and selfish authoritism. Perhaps eventually this pope will initiate changes to use the church's wealth for its people instead of itself. I hope so.

The Church's mission is not relief of temporal needs!