A Man of the People: Pope Francis Has Died

@laurieluvsit Common values for inclusivity, tolerance, kindness. While he did not ultimately shake catholic doctrine as much as I'd of enjoyed to see he changed the emphasis of the church in daily practice, I'd grown very critical of my own protestant upbringing myself because I'd noted the way it seemed more interested in hating on LGBTQIA folk and abortion than actually helping the poor and needy, which the bible has verse after verse admonishing Christians to do. This is a pope that took fighting the scourge of poverty seriously. He made everyone felt seen, tolerated. We might not have seen eye to eye on all things, but he made space even for people like me who have become extremely skeptical of religion. Over and over again, he preached compassion and for human dignity. He did much too to punish and hold accountable the pedophiles in the ranks. He rankled feathers but, those feathers needed to be rankled. People who had only shown up to hate on LGBTQIA people and abortion were certainly not happy, but, fuck em. On top of all of that, he ordered catholics to confront the scourge of climate change.

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/21/nx-s1-5309672/pope-francis-climate-change

@PDXNative1986
Yes, I noticed that about him and was hoping you would mention that.

Also, he said that many in the clergy, both male and female, were viewing Porn and his admonishment to them was that they should ..."Be Careful" ...lol

So he didn't just come right out and say not to do it, instead acknowledging that everyone is human.

I loved hearing him say that for some strange reason :)

@laurieluvsit I think it's cool because he is a very modern Pope who accepts real life the way it is or was and he had an open mind which helped bring people together Under the Umbrella of faith not alienate others and push them apart that will definitely be missed