Friday, February 19, 2016

Pope Francis

Pope Francis by MSW. MGB: Francis actually said that being a political animal (not necessarily a partisan one) is essential to being a human being - so he thanks Trump for acknowledging his humanity.



Francis left no doubt on how he feels about immigration policy, although its not his job to deal with details of the policy (for example, Sanders voted no on the Senate compromise because the guest worker provisions amounted to slavery - a legitimate position) or the election.  It has not gotten to the point where he will excommunication Trump voters, but he certainly did drop a hint on Trump and the entire anti-immigrant wing of the GOP.  Indeed, he might not even be happy with neo-liberal Hillary Clinton's stances.



Interestingly, he mentioned abortion not at all - and again - there are more nuances than most Democratic pro-lifers are willing to admit.  Being pro-life is a nice feel good label for some, but it is in the details that the problems begin - especially how you propose to protect unborn life and who has to talk to the police when you do?  Once you specify details, only the most rapid authoritarians keep using the label.  Once you start having to investigate miscarriages (and if you protect first trimester embryos, you do), support for doing so goes south quickly.



It will be interesting to see, if Trump is nominated, what happens with these statements around election time.  I wonder if Catholic Republicans will notice either now or in November - and whether the Bishops will be at all moved - or do they like being seen as being among the "winners?"

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