Pope Francis vs. Pope John Paul II On Illegal Immigration

A few days ago, I posted a video of Tom Homan– a Catholic– taking issues with Pope Francis and his stance on the handling of illegal aliens. Now, Michael Knowles– another Catholic– provides a very substantive discussion and even goes to the extent of comparing Francis’ statements with those previously provided years ago by the late Pope John Paul II. Remain mindful that the Southern Baptist Convention, other evangelicals and certainly liberal mainline Protestant denominations have also fumbled on this issue:

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2 thoughts on “Pope Francis vs. Pope John Paul II On Illegal Immigration”

  1. TC: Many people do not understand the role of the pope and think he is somehow the absolute ruler of Catholics. To be sure, he is a ruler of sorts but cannot order or compel any Catholic to do something she otherwise doesn’t want to do. It’s a spiritual leadership thing, not a temporal one. Consider the “golden rule,” “Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.” It’s unenforceable except perhaps in a spiritual way.

    By tradition and papal canon (law), the pope may issue binding orders to Catholics but only on matters of faith and morals. When he talks about immigration, even if he makes references to Jesus and the plight into and out of Egypt by the Jews and Moses, it’s an opinion like yours or mine. You know what they say about opinions; even the pope, as holy as he is, has one of them!

    Of course, the more powerful one is, whether determined by strength or money or just good looks, the more credit is afforded to the veracity of one’s opinion. The pope, like Taylor Swift, is a celebrity, and when he says something, especially something controversial, the media covers it.

    This particular pope is a lefty and a holdover from the old South American Jesuits who practiced “liberation theology,” a form of Marxist rebellion against dictators and others who ruled from the Rio Grande southward. He’s 88 years old and presently in a hospital in Rome being treated for pneumonia. Catholics, by and large, are decent people who do not want to begrudge an old man, and so they put up with these sorts of things.

    Just remember, the pope is to Roman Catholicism what the king of England is to the U.K. and the Commonwealth. It’s important for every corporate entity to have a leader and a headquarters, a place where people can visit and spend time reviewing the history and meaning of the entity’s existence. The Vatican and the pope provide this. I felt the same sense of attachment many years ago when visiting the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. It was like a museum, indeed, it WAS a museum. Every commercial ever made for Coke anywhere on the planet could be called up and played on a TV screen. There were exhibits of early “drug stores” where Coca-Cola, the “brain tonic” was available as a mix with carbonated water or in a take-home bottle. When I left the building, I was, for a long time, a firm believer in drinking Coca-Cola.

    A visit to the Vatican for Catholics may evoke the same response and that, in the final analysis, is a good thing. I respect the Pope’s opinions but I also think he sometimes gets too involved in things that belong to Caesar, if you know what I mean. Right now, Caesar, aka Donald Trump, is in charge of immigrants in the US and I feel better for it. I’ll bet you do, too.

    1. The challenge, Fred, is that Francis is representing this as a matter of morality over which he claims authority or expertise. You are right that the Pope does not control what happens at the local level– the bishop or cardinal does– but he has the right to fire the bishop or cardinal. And he HAS fired some of them who happen to be more conservative or orthodox than he is.

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