Pope: When faith becomes an ideology, it can make Christians hostile and arrogant
2013-10-17 17:00:17
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October 17, 2013. (Romereports.com) In his daily morning Mass, Pope Francis talked about Christians who turn their faith into an ideology. He explained that this makes people hostile and arrogant, and pushes them away from their peers. The root of such behavior, the Pope said, is a lack of prayer.
POPE FRANCIS
“The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens. Ideology chases away the people. It creates distances between people and it distances the Church from the people. But it is a serious illness, this Christian ideology.”
“The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens. Ideology chases away the people. It creates distances between people and it distances the Church from the people. But it is a serious illness, this Christian ideology.”
Pope Francis also added there is a difference between praying and simply saying prayers. People carried away by ideology, he concluded, do not pray, rather they repeat memorized prayers.
EXCERPTS FROM THE POPE'S HOMILY
Source: Vatican Radio
Source: Vatican Radio
“The
faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology.
And ideology does not beckon [people]. In ideologies there is not Jesus:
in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid,
always. Of every sign: rigid. And when a Christian becomes a disciple of
the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of
Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought… For this reason
Jesus said to them: ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.’ The
knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also
moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many
requirements.”
“The faith becomes ideology
and ideology frightens. Ideology chases away the people. It creates
distances between people and it distances the Church from the people.
But it is a serious illness, this ideology in Christians. It is an
illness, but it is not new, eh? Already the Apostle John, in his first
Letter, spoke of this. Christians who lose the faith and prefer the
ideologies. His attitude is: be rigid, moralistic, ethical, but without
kindness. This can be the question, no? But why is it that a Christian
can become like this? Just one thing: this Christian does not pray. And
if there is no prayer, you always close the door.”
“When
a Christian does not pray, this happens. And his witness is an arrogant
witness.” He who does not pray is “arrogant, is proud, is sure of
himself. He is not humble. He seeks his own advancement.” Instead, he
said, “when a Christian prays, he is not far from the faith; he speaks
with Jesus.” And, the Pope said, “I say to pray, I do not say to say
prayers, because these teachers of the law said many prayers” in order
to be seen. Jesus, instead, says: “when you pray, go into your room and
pray to the Father in secret, heart to heart.” The pope continued: “It
is one thing to pray, and another thing to say prayers.”
“These do not pray, abandoning the faith and transforming it into moralistic, casuistic ideology, without Jesus. And when a prophet or a good Christian reproaches them, they the same that they did with Jesus: ‘When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him’ – they are ideologically hostile – ‘and to interrogate him about many things,’ – they are insidious – ‘for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.’ They are not transparent. Ah, poor things, they are people dishonored by their pride. We ask the Lord for Grace, first: never to stop praying to never lose the faith; to remain humble, and so not to become closed, which closes the way to the Lord.”
Comment
Catholicism is worse because it
has turned Christianity into a culture. Children are forced into this culture
through infant baptism. This culture of roman Catholicism makes people completely
bewitched and dead to the gospel of salvation. Many Catholics can tell you that most of the doctrines in roman Catholicism
are false …but will continue being roman Catholics. Many catholic priests have studied
philosophy and critical thinking and know the errors in roman Catholicism but
die as Catholics anyway. Many Catholics have rebelled against most of
the tenets of roman Catholicism but die as Catholics anyway. One lay catholic once
said that, ‘’we know that the doctrine of priest celibacy in the catholic
church is not biblical, but the catholic church can not live without it’’. This is arrogance of the highest order. This
is witchcraft of the highest order . This is worse than what Pope Francis calls ideological Christianity.
