Laudate Si

[3rdRock]

Money laundering? What about the Spanish inquisition and the suppression of the Cathars? The Catholic Church has a history with enough bad stuff to fill two millennia, but that doesn't mean that Pope Francis can't do a whole lot of good stuff if we give him half a chance.

I totally agree but I think he'll struggle to convince many of his contemporaries.

[biffvernon]

He's not slowing down:
http://mashable.com/2015/07/19/pope-fra ... e-meeting/

[biffvernon]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/ ... 9Z20150810

Pope Francis, riding a wave of mostly positive reaction to his encyclical on ecology, on Monday set up a Catholic "World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation" to draw attention to the plight of the planet.

The day, to be marked by the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics each year on Sept. 1, is Francis's latest move to try to highlight global environmental concerns ahead of a pivotal U.N. summit on climate change in Paris in December.

"As Christians we wish to contribute to resolving the ecological crisis which humanity is presently experiencing," Francis said in a letter to two Vatican cardinals whose departments are involved in issues of justice, peace and Christian unity.

Sept. 1 is also when Orthodox Christians mark their day for the protection of the environment, giving the gesture added symbolism in relations between the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity.

Francis said the day, to be marked with events in every Catholic diocese around the world, would offer Catholics "a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation".

[Mark]

it must nonetheless be recognized that demographic growth is fully compatible with an integral and shared development

Semantics maybe, but this reads to me that he is happy to advocate an ever growing population.....

The influence of the Catholic Church may be reduced in western democracies such as Italy & Spain, but it is still alive and kicking in South America,...

Semantics? 'recognized' has a very different meaning to 'advocate'.
There is little correlation between total fertility rate and Catholicism and to suggest that a high birth rate is still alive and kicking in South America is at variance with the data. TFR in Brazil is 1.69, Argentina 2.3, Chile 1.9. By comparison, the UK TFR is also 1.9 and the World average is 2.5. The Philipenes does come in a bit higher, at 3.06, but even this Catholic country ranks only 53rd in the TFR league table.
No, 'breeding like rabbits', which the Pope said we do not have to do, is confined to the poorest countries, and social justice that removes these wealth disparities is at the heart of Laudato Si. This Pope wants us to stop global warming and have a sustainable population.

Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... ility_rate

Meanwhile, in (very Catholic) Peru:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-34855804

Peru is 86th on the List, with 2.5 Total Fertility Rate.
The programme led to 260,000+ women having tubal-ligation operations between 1996 and 2000, in what was more 'ethnic cleansing' than 'voluntary surgical contraception'....
Alberto Fujimori is now in prison, but his daughter Keiko, is currently front-runner in the forthcoming Peruvian elections....

[biffvernon]

I don't suppose that the Pope approved of some of that stuff!

[Mark]

I don't suppose that the Pope approved of some of that stuff!

The Catholic Church in Peru is/was so anti reproductive rights for women, that when Fujimori presented this as liberalising Peru's laws on contraception, he was able to gain the support of many liberals. Little did they know what the outcome would be......
https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/mari ... ty-in-peru

Maybe if the Catholic Church had been more progressive......... ?
Extreme positions tend to generate extreme reactions.....