The Pope Criticizes The Bad Catholics

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Pope Francis again gave evidence of his particular interest in the underprivileged with a forceful message to Catholics who go to mass on Sunday and exploit the poor the rest of the days of the week.

In the homily of his Thursday morning mass held in the chapel of the Casa de Santa Marta, the pontiff's residence, Francisco harshly criticized what he called “the double life” that those who practice certain aspects of religion lead, but fail to comply its main precepts, such as love of neighbor.

“Scandal is saying one thing and doing another; it is the double life, the double life. I double it in everything: I am very Catholic, I always go to Mass, I belong to this association and this one; But my life is not Christian, I do not pay my employees fair, I exploit people, I am dirty in business, I do money laundering… double life,”said the Holy Father, according to Vatican Radio.

“So many Catholics are like this. And they scandalize. How many times have we heard - all of us, in the neighborhood and elsewhere - 'but, to be a Catholic like that, it is better to be an atheist'. That is the scandal. It destroys you, knocks you down. And this happens every day, he added.

For example, he mentioned the case of a company, of which he did not mention the name, whose workers were on the brink of strike because they did not receive their wages, but whose manager did not respond to the authorities' call to find a solution because he was on vacation. on a beach in the Middle East.

"For all of us, each of us, it will do us good today to think about whether there is something of double life in us: to appear fair, to seem good believers, good Catholics, but underneath to do something else," Francisco warned.

As CNN in Spanish recalled, this is not the first time that the pope touches on the subject of so-called bad Catholics. In another sermon he had spoken of the "falsehood" of those who consider themselves religious, but do not help others.

He also recalled at a mass in 2013 that Jesus Christ had died on the cross to redeem all human beings, including atheists.

Since his arrival in Pedro's chair, the Argentine pontiff has put the fight against poverty and inequality on the front page of the Vatican's agenda, while being more open to groups that have stayed away from life. religious.