- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.org
- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.org
VATICAN CITY, April 21 (Reuters) - Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said in a video statement on Monday, ending an often turbulent reign marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the hidebound institution. He was 88, and had recently survived a serious bout of double pneumonia.
“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel.
“At 7:35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, surprising many Church watchers who had seen the Argentine cleric, known for his concern for the poor, as an outsider.
He sought to project simplicity into the grand role and never took possession of the ornate papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, saying he preferred to live in a community setting for his “psychological health”.
He inherited a Church that was under attack over a child sex abuse scandal and torn by infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy, and was elected with a clear mandate to restore order.
But as his papacy progressed, he faced fierce criticism from conservatives, who accused him of trashing cherished traditions. He also drew the ire of progressives, who felt he should have done much more to reshape the 2,000-year-old Church.
While he struggled with internal dissent, Francis became a global superstar, drawing huge crowds on his many foreign travels as he tirelessly promoted interfaith dialogue and peace, taking the side of the marginalised, such as migrants.
Unique in modern times, there were two men wearing white in the Vatican for much of Francis’ rule, with his predecessor Benedict opting to continue to live in the Holy See after his shock resignation in 2013 had opened the way for a new pontiff.
Benedict, a hero of the conservative cause, died in December 2022, finally leaving Francis alone on the papal stage.
Francis appointed nearly 80% of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope correct as of February 2025, increasing the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies, despite the strong pushback from traditionalists.
You’re not going to get this website to love this guy. Also new atheism may do that but nobody here is
Literally, like okay cool but a lot of this website is trans and many (like me) have religious trauma. Sorry if we’re not fans of the Catholic Church lmao
I saw somebody calling celebrating this as “cynical” like no, you just don’t have the same sensitivity to his transphobia. The best leader of the pedophile queerphobes is still a leader of the pedophile queerphobes
yes! exactly this! Seeing people here say that shit is a good reminder that the only people that really reliably support trans people are other trans people
And I know some cis person is probably going to try to respond to this but like no just shut it, for once lol
To begin with, would you please read my edit at the end of the original comment? I admit I messed up.
Regarding shutting up, is it an exaggeration for effect? Like when some ML say on the Internet “Mao did nothing wrong”, when actually he was probably 70% good, 30% bad? Honest question.
I get LGBT people have historically suffered horribly, and, while things have improved, they still suffer unacceptably, and theocrats are possibly the biggest obstacles for them. It is not about loving the Catholic Church, it is about being productive. Has not Pope Francis made an effort to move the Church in a better direction? Have not most of his actions support the LGBT community? Yet this thread obsesses about a speech, lashes out against religious people, and antagonizes half of the working class.
Does the Communist Party of China or Cuba behave like this?
You misunderstand the nature of this forum. It is not a party, there is no discipline, it is people venting to their comrades. They “obsess” over a speech because it said they specifically were a greater danger to society than nuclear weapons. They will not mourn the man who targeted them till his dying days and requesting that seems unreasonable. You can say this would be alienating in organizing the working class, which is true, but nobody here is doing that, they’re commiserating with likeminded people in an insular forum
literally lmao
I come here to get news updates from comrades and shitpost, we’re not organizing here and if somebody is… well I think that you better take that offline this is essentially a public forum
Trump is currently destroying the empire, and I’ll still laugh when he gets got
Francis wasnt even destroying the catholic empire
the pope, a literal theocrat, the (former) leader of one of the world’s most powerful religious institutions, literally described trans people as akin to nuclear weapons that would annihilate civilization. he literally compared the existence of a group of people, not their actions, but their existence alone, to humanity’s most destructive, horrifying, and world ending weapons. the same group of people is heavily represented on this site. on seeing that some members of the group that the theocrat wanted to erase from existence are not exactly sad about this news, your immediate reaction was to compare the users of this site to the bloodthirsty architects and boosters of the iraq war. and now you’re complaining about being dogpiled. if you are actually confused by the reaction you’re getting, I encourage you to read what I wrote again.
like your other antitrans-apologist comrade @Terrarium@hexbear.net, I’m giving you the sit down and stop talking challenge. post one more thing in the thread that isn’t “you’re right transcomrades, maybe I shouldn’t be sticking up for the theocrat who described 80% of the hexbear userbase as a nuclear weapons just waiting to destroy civilization” and I will ban you also.
I made a further big change to the “Edit” section. Would you give it a read? I apologize for taking so much of your time, but I want to clarify things. I don’t want to burn all bridges with Hexbear.
Thank you for making the effort.
You are welcome. It seems Lemmy lacks a reaction feature, so I upvoted your reply, and wrote this.
Only now have I seen this reply. I have edited my comment to clarify the war crimes thing. It was directed at New Atheists, not hexbearites. Don’t bite newbies.
Anyway, Internet posting is easily misunderstood. I also simply did not see your “sit down” challenge soon enough.