Once again the social
media has shown its ignorance by not reading completely what the popes write in
their encyclicals. They write from what they have heard in summaries or reviews
and they take one sound bite and take it out of context. They think that everything
can be condensed into a tweet. Great theological and philosophical thoughts and
ideas are not tweetable!! I remember when students would use cliff notes
instead of reading the whole literary work in college and they missed the
beauty and profundity of the message. I have read the encyclicals of the last
three brilliant popes and though they have different styles, they and all the
other popes have never deviated from faith and morals of the church. Pope
Francis is essentially saying that we need to help the poor by feeding them but
also to teach them how to feed themselves. It is like the African proverb that
says:“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you
feed him for a lifetime”.
Catholic missionaries do this all around the world. They build wells so that people have clean water; they teach the poor to farm; they educate women so that they can earn a living and not be slaves of human trafficking; they help to educate people on Aids; they help Christians all over the world who are being persecuted and the ways in which they help the poor is endless. I do not see the U.S. government standing up these days for human rights and for human dignity and for religious freedom. Who is the communist or socialist I ask?
Pope Francis is a beacon od HOPE to me and to our oppressed brothers and sisters around the world! Congratulatons to him on being named " Person of the Year" by Time magazine. Pope Francis truly deserves it!
Catholic missionaries do this all around the world. They build wells so that people have clean water; they teach the poor to farm; they educate women so that they can earn a living and not be slaves of human trafficking; they help to educate people on Aids; they help Christians all over the world who are being persecuted and the ways in which they help the poor is endless. I do not see the U.S. government standing up these days for human rights and for human dignity and for religious freedom. Who is the communist or socialist I ask?
Pope Francis is a beacon od HOPE to me and to our oppressed brothers and sisters around the world! Congratulatons to him on being named " Person of the Year" by Time magazine. Pope Francis truly deserves it!
