Last Week In Life:

November 29 , 2021-December 5 , 2021

Last Week’s SPECTACULAR STORY OF WEEK

Shouting At The Pope

The holy father must feel like he is in a desert on a consistent constant basis as he gets heckled and heralded as a heretic by his more Catholic than the Pope super righteous sheep sneering at him as they hide out from the world in their crisp green pastures typing their perceived holy but nasty thoughts about him online. Recently a visible representative for these folks appeared  for the world to see in the form and words of an orthodox priest who had something to say to the good pontiff as he journeyed to Greece on a goodwill visit.

An elderly Greek Orthodox priest shouted “Pope, you are a heretic” as Pope Francis was entering the Orthodox Archbishopric in Athens on Saturday and was taken away by police, a reminder of the lingering distrust between the two divided churches.
–Orthodox priest shouts ‘Pope, you are a heretic’ at Francis in Athens | Reuters

Of course a lot of Catholics cheered on the priest and added more vile to the bowl of toxic waste the angry priest was unable to spew out. So the reaction to that comment, done in the spirit of St. Nicholas, was that the Pope walked over to him, looked him in the eye and then socked him right in the face and shouted “NO! Your the heretic, Loser!” I’m sure some would love to have had that happen. But, seriously, the pope went about his business which was to ask forgiveness for the crappy things, like what I mentioned, that Catholics have done to their other half during the last millennium since they broke up.

Pope Francis has followed in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II in asking forgiveness of the Orthodox fo the mistakes made by Catholics — “actions and decisions that had little or nothing to do with Jesus and the Gospel, but were instead marked by a thirst for advantage and power” and that “gravely weakened our communion.”

In a moving reflection during a meeting with His Beatitude Hieronymos II, he nevertheless invited Christians of both confessions to lean on their common roots.-Pope Francis echoes John Paul II in asking forgiveness of Orthodox (aleteia.org) You can also read more about this at Two papal apologies two decades apart – Catholic World Report

Despite all the hatred given to the pope by the people who are supposed to love him, he still is an ambassador of Christ and his mission is to make Jesus known and loved. When you represent Christ to the world, it doesn’t help if you are a jerk in the name of Jesus. This is why saying your sorry is a good gesture when you have made Jesus look unattractive by a gross display of sin. Our church has had a history of doing this and it has been acknowledged by both St. JP2  and our PF.

Not all Catholics have an online hatred for our current pontiff. Not all non-Catholics think he is a heretic. Some people really like him.  The actor chosen to play Jesus in the hit The Chosen, Jonathan Roumie, recently meet the pope and was delighted.

“From the time I was a kid, I always wanted to meet the pope and go to World Youth Day, and I never knew how to do that,” Roumie said in a CNA interview. “My parents were immigrants, so that wasn’t something that they knew about.”

Roumie told the pope that he portrays Jesus on an internet television series.

“His eyes kind of lit up when I said that,” Roumie recalled.

“When I met him, I said, ‘I’m a Protestant, but I’m making a show about Jesus that people of all faiths appreciate,” Jenkins told Pope Francis.

Jenkins added that Pope Francis then “pointed to Jonathan and he said: ‘Is he Jesus?’ And I said, ‘yes.’ And he said, ‘Are you Judas?’ And I said, ‘no, no no,’ and he laughed.”

“I really loved his sense of humor, and he just has a very sweet nature about him. So for me, I appreciate all that even if I don’t relate to the formality of it.”

Catholic Jesus Actor Jonathan Roumie Meets Pope Francis: “The Honor of My Spiritual Life” – (churchpop.com)

Our current pope goes about his mission trying to make Jesus known and loved despite various opinions. Some don’t get it and shout in anger. Some get it and praise God for his presence in his vicar on earth.