Pope Francis says the Church should be "home for all". It should focus on mercy. It should not be consumed by issues of abortion, gays and contraception. If the Church continued to focus on these divisive issues its moral edifice may "fall like a house of cards". On the issue of gays the Pope's response "who am I to judge?' is a huge step toward the kind of openness that is required in the 21st century. Pope Francis' approach is inclusive. On the issues of contraception and abortion the thrust of his remarks is that the Church should be a healer and not a condemner. I may have missed the nuances of his message because the dogma of the Catholic church and any other organised religion is Greek to me. I have not consciously stayed away from the knowledge of various religious dogmas. I have never felt the need to know them in order to live an honest life. Each one of us has a unique way of connecting with our inner being. I am no exception. I do believe though life is richer and more complex than can be accommodated or explained by any or all of the religious dogmas. We need to respect each other and continue in our pursuit of creating a better world for humanity's future generations. In aid of that objective Pope Francis' words have come as a breath of fresh air.
His message of mercy and love is so very important in a world full of violence , hate and exclusion. As we all hear it often proclaimed all religions are religions of peace. No argument there. Our hearts and religious places should be open to all. There should be no exclusion of women from priesthood. They should be able to become Catholic priests, bishops and Popes. They should be able to become Imams. They should be able to become the Head Granthis . They should be able to become Sankraacharyas. In parts of rural India some temples still do not allow the Dalits to enter and worship. It is changing but at a snail's pace . Mahatma Gandhi fought against the exclusion of the Dalits from some temples in his time. There is no honour in exclusion of Dalits or women.
Note: Since I posted this re Pope he has seen fit to call abortion a part of our "throwaway culture". He has at least on this issue gone from healing to condemning. Perhaps he did not mean to. Perhaps he meant to only placate the rabid anti choicers in his flock. I am disappointed. My initial remarks about the hope he had unleashed still stand.
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Talking about honour, there has been a case of the so called 'honour killings' in the state of Haryana, India. Just 80 kilometres from Delhi in a village of Rohtak district 23 year old Dharmendra Barak was beheaded for marrying a young woman Nidhi Barak from the same village. Nidhi was stabbed to death. The whole village approves of the murders and the murderers. I grew up in a village in India. I understand all of the cultural norms and strictures that prohibit such marriages. One is free to condemn the act. One can argue that the couple should be boycotted. Committing murder to enforce cultural norms does not resolve the issue. It in that context I am reminded of the religious teaching of rejecting the act of the sinner but not hating the sinner. Pope Francis said he "is a sinner' too. In some respects we may all be sinners. We do not need to accept everything that happens in the world around us. We may not forget. But we must walk this earth with a heart full of forgiveness. The world will be a better place.
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