Latest news with #Non-Catholics
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Greensburg Bishop, parishioners, and non-Catholics weigh in on day one of Papal Conclave
Just 16 days after his death, Cardinals in the Catholic Church have sequestered themselves inside the Sistine Chapel to elect Pope Francis' successor. 'I, like Catholics around the world find today and the days that are following as days of great anticipation,' said Bishop Larry Kulick of the Greensburg Diocese. Some Catholics and Non-Catholics in Greensburg tell Channel 11's Andrew Havranek the next Pope has big shoes to fill. Several hope it will be someone who is in touch with a technological world, someone who can help bring more youth to the church, and one who can help bring peace and unity. 'The way that Pope Francis had guided us is really a blessing to the world and to the country,' said Rosalinda Castillo. 'I'm hoping it'll be somebody rather like Francis, in sort of the attitude and humility and care for the poor and those who are downtrodden and someone who is as gutsy as he is,' added Steel Halling, who isn't Catholic. 'I'm hoping that the next Pope will be brave enough and courageous enough to handle all the problems that may come from all the chaotic parts of the world,' said Frank Castillo. Channel 11's Andrew Havranek was with Bishop Kulick as the first black smoke came from the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday. No new Pope has been elected yet, but he encourages everyone to pray for the Cardinals. 'As any priest, bishop, or the Holy Father, we are called to live the example of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ gave us that example of great humility and also service. I'm very confident the Holy Father will exhibit both a sense of humility but also a sense of pastoral care as he governs the people as our spiritual leader,' Kulick said. 'I think we're all looking forward to welcoming the new Holy Father, to respecting him, looking towards him as our spiritual father, and really being open to the spiritual guidance and truly the leadership he is going to offer for all of us.' Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Epoch Times
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
John Robson: Why Are So Many Non-Catholics Fascinated With the Catholic Church
Commentary Pope Francis is dead. May he rest in peace. But his Church lives on, as does a strange fascination with it on the part of people who are not Roman Catholics or remotely sympathetic. Thus, the New York Sun emailed, 'Why So Many Non-Catholics Will Be Watching This Conclave.' So what is it about the successors to Saint Peter that so fascinates the successors to Pontius Pilate? Francis's election caused excitement partly because he was the first pontiff from Latin America and partly because he seemed to be completing a trifecta of outstanding popes by It was predictable that The Canadian Press Thus, that CP piece began, 'Pope Francis will be remembered by Canadian Catholics as a progressive leader' as though it were incontrovertibly high praise. Heatmap emailed, 'The Death of the 'Climate Pope.'' GZero The Japan Times went with, 'he sought to overhaul the hidebound institution.' And a New York Times Related Stories 4/18/2025 4/15/2025 The author quoted Francis as saying that, 'We are often chained like Peter in the prison of habit. Scared by change and tied to the chain of our customs.' And, the author gushed, 'He was unafraid of change.' But as Thomas Sowell once snapped: 'Is there anything more mindless than the endless repetition of the word 'change'? Does it make any sense for grown men and women to be either for or against 'change' in the abstract? The word covers everything from Hitler to the Second Coming.' Speaking of Hitler, Francis resolutely opposed anti-Semitism despite wobbling on the Middle East. But speaking of the Second Coming, the key thing about the Pope is that he's head of the Roman Catholic Church and the key thing about that Church is that it is among those institutions that insist that the pivot of history, and of every human life, is that Christ really did rise from the dead. You don't have to believe he was true god from true god, of course. Nor are you compelled to join the Church and pretend to, as was once scandalously true in many countries. But if you don't believe it, why claim to be Catholic or care what some guy in a funny hat says about a person you don't think was the Messiah? It seems to be precisely because the Catholic Church so resolutely insists that if Christ is not risen, our faith and preaching are in vain. The 'chain' of its 'customs' is what holds it together, unlike other churches, free to shrug off Christ's divinity and many of his core teachings. Progressives especially thought Francis would fold on gender, a recurring obsession they will return to with the next pope. But Catholics are unbendingly pro-life. OK, not all. And frankly, I'd like to see some self-declared Catholic politicians excommunicated over it. There are plenty of churches they could join that take liberal stands on 'social issues.' But why they even want to be in a Church that doesn't I do not understand. Or do I? I sympathize with the Wall Street Journal 'Go Woke, Go Broke' works for churches, too, and Francis didn't convert many people, including liberal journalists. So why do they care? Because in a very real and important way, the Catholic Church is the last significant bastion of tradition in the Western world. So progressives need it to fold, to say they were right after all. But it won't. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
