Pope: I’m Not ‘Left-Leaning’
Pope Francis says the perception that he is a liberal is not accurate. He is not political, he says, but rather a messenger of church teaching.
The Argentine known as the “slum pope” for ministering to the downtrodden in his native Buenos Aires is expected to urge America to take better care of the environment and the poor and return to its founding ideals of religious liberty and open arms toward immigrants.
During the flight, Francis defended himself against conservative criticism that his condemnation of trickle-down economics makes him a communist.
“I am certain that I have never said anything beyond what is in the social doctrine of the church,” he said. He said some may have misinterpreted his writings in a way that makes him sound “a little bit more left-leaning,” but he said that’s wrong.
Joking about doubts in some quarters over whether he is truly Catholic, he said, “If I have to recite the Creed, I’m ready.”
Copyright 2015 Liberaland
54 responses to Pope: I’m Not ‘Left-Leaning’
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arc99 September 23rd, 2015 at 13:13
It has been said that reality has a liberal bias.
It is quite telling that while the Pope sees himself as doing nothing other than communicating the teachings of the church, his critics see him as a leftist.
Looks like Christianity has a liberal bias as well.
Who knew…
Dwendt44 September 23rd, 2015 at 13:50
Jesus was a liberal and a socialist.
rg9rts September 23rd, 2015 at 14:41
And the conservative fixed his a$$ too
Suzanne McFly September 23rd, 2015 at 13:14
Welcome to America Pope Francis, now you can see everything you do or say will be broken down then analyzed and you will be declared a liberal or a conservative. We like to group people so we can label who is bad and who is worthy.
rg9rts September 23rd, 2015 at 14:41
The United States…he has been in America most of his life LOL
Suzanne McFly September 23rd, 2015 at 15:57
Point taken :)
rg9rts September 23rd, 2015 at 16:26
I am amazed how many can’t see that
Roctuna September 23rd, 2015 at 13:27
“If I have to recite the Creed, I’m ready.” He has a sense of humor too!
bpollen September 23rd, 2015 at 19:09
The one that goes:
Well I just heard the news today
It seems my life is going to change
I close my eyes, begin to pray
Then tears of joy stream down my face
Or the one that goes:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
Maker of all that is, seen and unseen.
Bunya September 23rd, 2015 at 13:55
Given his stance on women’s rights and gay marriage and his lack of action in resolving the pedophile scandal, I’d say he’s more “conservative light” pandering to the liberal base.
Something’s not right here. I have a bad feeling about this pope and I hope I’m wrong, but the last two times I had this feeling was during the Reagan and Dubya Administrations.
This is strictly my opinion.
rg9rts September 23rd, 2015 at 14:40
He is Pope and doesn’t have to pander to anyone….he is not running for reelection …if anything ..he has pissed off the conservatives that have run the church for centuries…He is making them behave like christians should …
Bunya September 23rd, 2015 at 15:09
Oh but he does have to pander. Even though he doesn’t have to worry about with regard to re-election, if he pisses of the wrong people, he can pay a much higher price.
Ever hear of the “smiling pope”?
rg9rts September 23rd, 2015 at 15:20
He takes being in the crosshairs as being normal
anothertoothpick September 23rd, 2015 at 16:13
Was that the pope that turned out to be a woman and gave birth during a papl parade much to everyones surprise?
Bunya September 23rd, 2015 at 16:17
If it was, he was a self-hating woman.
anothertoothpick September 23rd, 2015 at 16:28
ected pontiff around 855, Pope Joan supposedly reigned as Pope John VIII. Sources vary on the length of her time at the helm of the church from a few weeks to more than two years. Some theorized that her term came between Pope Leo IV and Benedict III. Unfortunately, according to the stories, her secret was uncovered during a papal procession. Pregnant at the time, Pope Joan was on her way to the Church of the Lateran in Rome when she began having contractions. Learning that the pope was having a baby, the people reacted in horror. Most reports indicate that she was killed that day, either by stoning or by being dragged behind a horse. Later popes avoided the crossroads where Pope Joan was supposedly killed, which was called the Vicus Papissa, or street of the female pope.
Bunya September 23rd, 2015 at 16:55
Never heard of that pope. The “smiling pope” was the first John Paul. He was pope for 30 days before he died under mysterious circumstances. John Paul I was a closet radical who would have taken the church in a dramatically different direction than the two popes who followed him. He didn’t think women were inferior and even considered making women priests. He also had very liberal ideas about in vitro fertilization and birth control.
bpollen September 23rd, 2015 at 19:06
There are some sordid tales in the annals of the Papacy.
bpollen September 23rd, 2015 at 19:00
” if he pisses off the wrong people, he can pay a much higher price.”
Kinda like that Jesus guy, right?
Bunya September 24th, 2015 at 09:43
Kinda, but the crime of that Jesus guy was sedition.
bpollen September 25th, 2015 at 17:52
But sedition is action or SPEECH intended to incite rebellion. Which pretty much sounds like he pissed off the wrong people, doesn’t it? Traditionally, it’s been used to suppress or eliminate the ideological opposition.
rg9rts September 23rd, 2015 at 14:37
LMAO…anything that doesn’t jive with the RRWNJ’s world view is liberal or left. They are wrong
maggie September 23rd, 2015 at 16:25
the catholic church is very backwards when it comes to women and victims of molestation by the church
Robert Smithson September 23rd, 2015 at 20:45
How so? The Catholic Church holds all women in high esteem (I’m sure you know it’s feelings about the Blessed Mother) and it is now dealing forthrightly with the molestation issue.
whatthe46 September 23rd, 2015 at 20:53
wrong on both fronts.
rig slip September 23rd, 2015 at 21:35
Less than 20% of the molestation cases have been resolved here in the US and almost none have been addressed in third world countries.
You must be a Buddhist cause the Abrahamic religions tell us god and Mary conceived a child without Mary’s consent or knowledge (like a rufi rape) and women in all three books can be raped, bought, or sold, as sex slaves.
Eve herself is blamed for all the sins of mankind because she ate from the forbidden tree of knowledge.
Catholics taught that the menstruation cycle was the curse of god on women. I’m gonna say that’s not how you hold women in high esteem…unless you’re Donald Trump.
whatthe46 September 23rd, 2015 at 21:41
20 thumbs up.
Andy_Kreiss September 23rd, 2015 at 21:48
Well, maybe if those other women would get off their lazy asses and give birth to a deity, they’d be held in high esteem, too. Is that too much to ask, earn some respect, like that sole example of a woman who’s held in high esteem?
Dwendt44 September 24th, 2015 at 00:12
What ‘high esteem’? Women are to be silent in church, have no, zero, nada, authority within the church. Priesthood is men only and they get a pension with they retire. Nuns get the poor house when they retire, if they are really really to old to work. Priests shuffle papers, Nuns clean up after them. Women aren’t supposed to have any control of their own bodies, aren’t supposed to enjoy sex, and are supposed to be baby factories.
Robert Smithson September 24th, 2015 at 02:46
There is no silence in the Catholic Church for women. They are lectors, singers, musicians, they help distribute Holy Communion, and girls are altar servers. As for nuns/sisters, when they retire they live in nice communal houses with electricity and running water just like everyone else. I can see you really have no idea what happens in the Catholic community.
whatthe46 September 24th, 2015 at 02:56
ah nope. wrong again.
Robert Smithson September 24th, 2015 at 10:22
When was the last time you went to a Catholic Church? This is not the 1950’s. I attend Mass regularly and have a friend who is a nun so I have been where she lives. You shouldn’t attempt to make statements about things you know nothing about. There is really no need to argue about this, just go to any Catholic Church this coming Sunday and you will see that what I say is true..
William September 24th, 2015 at 10:45
“There is no silence in the Catholic Church for women.”
Really?
So just how many women catholic priests has the church ordained lately?
Bunya September 24th, 2015 at 10:08
High esteem?!? LOL! How so? Oh sure, they drag out statutes of the Virgin Mary and reserve “holy days” for her, but it’s all a pandering stunt. The church knows women are the biggest tithers. Like almost all religions, Catholics believe women are nothing more than brood mares and servants to the superior men, which is why they’re so against birth control and abortion. Women have become way too independent, a threat to insecure men, and are now doctors, lawyers and scientists – all jobs once held by men only. Also, prior to Roe v. Wade, women were allowed abortions (back then they were called “D&C”s) with no interference from the church, but they required a man’s permission, of course.
.
Don’t think that for one moment the Catholic church is “pro-life”. They are not. If a woman requires an abortion to save her life and she agrees to it, she is automatically excommunicated from the church. They use the excuse they can’t choose one life over another – which is code for “if a fetus dies, the mother should die with it”.
chloe2005 September 24th, 2015 at 18:43
You did not hear what the Pope said about women. He said any woman who has had an abortion is to be FORGIVEN.
Bunya September 25th, 2015 at 09:53
Yes. They CAN be forgiven, but for a limited time only, from Dec. 8 to Nov. 26, during an extraordinary Holy Year or “Jubilee”. After time runs out, they’re back to groveling before bishops, begging for their forgiveness. Funny, men can be forgiven for raping and killing women, but women have to seek out the top pedophile and kowtow before them, hoping and praying they’ll be forgiven.
…And that’s why I’m no longer Catholic.
jybarz September 23rd, 2015 at 18:41
If being right is leftist, then so be it.
But then if you’re being so wrong yet you think you’re right, then you’re a right wing nut.
Wear it!
amersham46 September 23rd, 2015 at 19:08
But the Fiat during the motorcade was definitely very working class , just loved it
Robert Smithson September 23rd, 2015 at 20:43
I bet dollars to donuts that you don’t love his stance on abortion and so-called same sex marriage. It will be interesting to see what he says tomorrow in his appearance before the Congress.
Andy_Kreiss September 23rd, 2015 at 20:57
That’s how most adults see other people, they can agree or disagree, issue by issue, without putting every person on the planet into neat little “Us” and “Them” boxes.
Red Mann September 23rd, 2015 at 22:27
I like that he wants to tone down the rhetoric that has been the norm and concentrate efforts on actually helping people and the world in general. People are welcome to their own view on birth control and abortion, no matter how wrong they might be, but extremist Xians want their narrow views to be the law of the land.
Obewon September 23rd, 2015 at 19:36
Another right leaning conservative makes RWNJ’s head explode because the Holy See is scientifically, economically and functionally literate. Unlike today’s Greedy Oil Party.
Robert Smithson September 23rd, 2015 at 20:39
If the Pope agrees with President Obama on “climate change” and charge that capitalism is not a good economic system you lean to the left. He is quite unlike his two predecessors who were solidly conservative on the many issues of the day.
whatthe46 September 23rd, 2015 at 20:57
you mean pro-life until birth, then fk you both?
Red Mann September 23rd, 2015 at 22:29
No, he’s just be rational and accepting reality. Climate change is happening and it will get worse if we follow the right’s do nothing attitude. Uncontrolled capitalism tends to be evil and create a small and powerful upper class and a huge and helpless lower class. Go read some Dickens.
nola878 September 23rd, 2015 at 20:46
I’d say he’s human leaning.
Andy_Kreiss September 23rd, 2015 at 21:00
A caller to Lispy Limbaugh’s show today insisted that the Pope was being used by Obama for political purposes.
Lispy questioned whether the Pope had any role in it ( I guess to avoid saying that the president was smart enough to do that).
The caller clarified, that is was a “symbiotic relationship”.
View from the right wing hothouse- any two sane adults who seem to be in agreement on facts are officially in cahoots and driving a leftist agenda.
William September 23rd, 2015 at 23:21
THe drug soaked draft dodger also observed after seeing the Pope in a Fiat, that he was in a Chrysler PT Cruiser, and wondered suggested the President had sold Chrysler to Italy. Not making it up, he actually said that.
Limbaugh, our national embarrassment.
Andy_Kreiss September 24th, 2015 at 20:38
Even more embarrassing- the stupidest 1% of the country actually listen to him as a credible source of information. And that’s a large group of people in a country our size.
rig slip September 23rd, 2015 at 21:42
No, the Pope is very conservative, the problem is people who call themselves conservatives in this country are really mean spirited, dupes for the billionaires who want more money and power. They can’t really run on that platform so they convince the slow ones to concentrate on silly stuff they think is important while they rob us all blind through corporate greed.
Take away my healthcare…go GOP
Cut my Social Security…go GOP
Make me work til I’m 80…go Gop
Tax me more than billionaires…go GOP
Who would vote for the stuff they do if they said it like that.?
robert September 23rd, 2015 at 22:11
there is one way to find out, have the pope talk to our gop candidates and we will see how far left he really is
amersham46 September 23rd, 2015 at 22:16
Left leaning ? being reasonable is enough to send the right wingnuts into a foaming rage
William September 23rd, 2015 at 23:28
Pope: I’m Not ‘Left-Leaning’
That is correct.
He’s Christian leaning
(Republicans hate that)
1,4-Dichlorobenzene September 24th, 2015 at 20:52
I like that Il Papa is apolitical. That is how it should be, and I can respect him for that, even though we no not see eye-to-eye on everything.