The Pope is full of shit

If there's any LGBT feeling over the moon about the Pope's new rhetoric about gays and all, it may be time for a dose of reality. His actions aren't consistent with that rhetoric after he's excommunicated a Melbourne priest over his stance on gays and women. So what gives?

My estimation is this, as someone who's had experience with churches before and their changing rhetoric. He's stretching the truth as far as he can take it, without actually saying that it's OK to be gay. I've seen this before. It's a political move. With ongoing busts on paedophile priests in the world media (they just don't stop do they) the churches reputation as any kind of moral authority is in tatters for a lot of people. Membership is falling fast, and you know what that means; less money, power, and influence for the church. So what's the solution?

I'd guess that high on the list of possible solutions is to change the image of the church, or as the new buzzword is now, to "modernise". This means media management, and a toning down of the hateful abuse directed at us constantly from the church. This would please many of the "modern" Catholics who may well be on their way back to mass right now, after not going for a while being disillusioned with the medieval beliefs the church still craps on about.

Or, to put it more bluntly, the Pope is full of crap. 

He refuses to say he agrees with being gay. In this case it's more about what he doesn't say  that's telling. That in itself is a dog whistle to the homophobes in the Catholic church.

He has left in place an Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, who's at war with gays and women it appears, as well as media management of paedophile abuse.

In another important decision, Francis left Archbishop Gerhard Mueller in the powerful role of prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Mueller, originally appointed by Benedict XVI, directs the Holy See's crackdown on nuns suspected of undermining Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality. His office also shapes policy dealing with clergy who sexually abuse minors.

Under Mueller's tenure, critics of the Vatican's strategy have so far been frustrated in their lobbying for Vatican and other church hierarchy to be held accountable for policy that for decades left pedophile priests in their ministry, merely shuffling them from parish to parish when complaints emerged. more

But there's more! It was just three years ago, not long before he became the Pope, that he sent a letter to nuns about legislation in Argentina to do with gay marriage. In it he describes same sex marriage equality as discrimination against children and an effort by Satan to destroy the plan of god.

Dear Sisters, 

I write this letter to each one of you in the four Monasteries of Buenos Aires. The Argentine people must face, in the next few weeks, a situation whose result may gravely harm the family. It is the bill on matrimony of persons of the same sex. 

The identity of the family, and its survival, are in jeopardy here: father, mother, and children. The life of so many children who will be discriminated beforehand due to the lack of human maturity that God willed them to have with a father and a mother is in jeopardy. 

A clear rejection of the law of God, engraved in our hearts, is in jeopardy. I recall words of Saint Thérèse when she speaks of the infirmity of her childhood. She says that the envy of the Devil tried to extort her family after her older sister joined the Carmel. Here, the envy of the Devil, through which sin entered the world, is also present, and deceitfully intends to destroy the image of God: man and woman, who receive the mandate to grow, multiply, and conquer the earth. Let us not be naive: it is not a simple political struggle; it is an intention [which is] destructive of the plan of God. It is not a mere legislative project (this is a mere instrument), but rather a "move" of the father of lies who wishes to confuse and deceive the children of God. more

Lovely.....

So don't break out the Champaign yet darlings. It would be really great if a person so influential as the Pope would come out in support of the LGBT, particularly given the gay hate spawned by the church over centuries. But alas it's not to be. This is all simply an effort to attract people and money back to the church, nothing more.  A political exercise in damage control. Pffft.