Pope Francis vs Lawrence Khong etc.,

Unlike Lawrence Khong and countless other pastors, Pope Francis gets it. He captures the spirit of Jesus well.

Link to article.

For someone with little time and need to blog quickly, it is best to quote extensively from the article.

His surprising comments came in a lengthy interview in which he criticized the church for putting dogma before love, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over serving the poor and marginalized.


Many Christians and their pastors need a few pet sins which most of them do not indulge in to condemn in order that they may feel that they are good people. No different from the religious people of Jesus day.

Francis told the interviewer, a fellow Jesuit: “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.

“We have to find a new balance,” the pope continued, “otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”

He is bound to be misunderstood. He didn't say not to speak about abortions, gays etc., but not to be preoccupied with them. Of course we know why many Christians had to - to make themselves look good.

“I see the church as a field hospital after battle,” Francis said. “It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars. You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”

And this is exactly what Jesus did for the woman he forgave who was caught in adultery.

Lawrence Khong tried to defend his decision till blue in the face. It was never necessary. I had waited and I guess it isn't coming. The baby is innocent. If the church love, do something for that child.

Don't talk about love, show it. I had earlier blogged that we outside the church will recognize love when we see it. We are not as gullible as their remaining flock.

“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality,” he told Father Spadaro. “I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.”

and the final paragraph of the story.

“This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people,” he said. “We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.”