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First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV

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606 points saikatsg | 2 comments | 08 May 25 16:30 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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mensetmanusman ◴[08 May 25 20:38 UTC] No.43931060[source]▶
“ That the spirit of revolutionary change, which has long been disturbing the nations of the world, should have passed beyond the sphere of politics and made its influence felt in the cognate sphere of practical economics is not surprising.

The elements of the conflict now raging are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the marvelous discoveries of science; in the changed relations between masters and workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals, and the utter poverty of the masses; the increased self reliance and closer mutual combination of the working classes; as also, finally, in the prevailing moral degeneracy. The momentous gravity of the state of things now obtaining fills every mind with painful apprehension; wise men are discussing it; practical men are proposing schemes; popular meetings, legislatures, and rulers of nations are all busied with it - actually there is no question which has taken deeper hold on the public mind.”

From the last Pope Leo over 100 years ago.

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Ey7NFZ3P0nzAe ◴[08 May 25 20:54 UTC] No.43931231[source]▶
Neat thanks.

Btw how do you know this?! Have you memorized stuff of all the passed popes?

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kergonath ◴[08 May 25 21:03 UTC] No.43931346[source]▶
The last Leo was a notable pope. His views are well known. You don’t need to memorise everything, a lot of what they’ve said over the years is available in books or online.
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ben_w ◴[08 May 25 21:16 UTC] No.43931452[source]▶
Pope Quartz: https://xkcd.com/2501/

I was raised Catholic and couldn't have even told you there'd been a single Pope Leo, let alone 13 of them before today. The only Pope quote I could even give you is the term "Ex Cathedra".

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PortiaBerries ◴[08 May 25 21:57 UTC] No.43931778[source]▶
It never ceases to amaze me how poorly catechized the majority of cradle Catholics are. I don't intend this to be directed at you, but it's a standing joke among traditionalist Catholics that "I was raised Catholic" is the preamble to a statement of either ignorance or heresy.
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CGMthrowaway ◴[08 May 25 23:08 UTC] No.43932256{3}[source]▶
For most of history 99% of Catholics could not read, much less own a Bible. The fetishization of theology is not necessary to be a good Catholic
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1. graemep ◴[09 May 25 07:50 UTC] No.43934663{4}[source]▶
Bibles were the first book to sell in large numbers when the printing press was invented.

Before that the church did expect at least priests and monks and nuns to be able to read the Bible, and there were a lot of them.

Most is strictly true, but you are talking about a millennium between the clear primacy of Rome and the invention of the printing press, and half a millennium since so its not hugely more.

Finally, historically most people could not own books and had no to limited literacy. Literacy is not necessary to be a good anything, but its definitely better to be literate and have access to things to read.

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2. AStonesThrow ◴[12 May 25 19:17 UTC] No.43966577[source]▶
A phenomenon that I see all too often is the absurdity of young adults who try to plow through writings of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Church Fathers, which is great, so when do they have time to read Scripture itself?

I think it's great that literacy and the printing press has democratized the reading of books, but when you're faced with such a corpus presented by Catholic tradition, you really need to pick and choose your weekly time investments!

I've inquired with a few religious orders as a layperson. The first thing you will find when inquiring with them is the thickness of tomes that land on the table for all adherents to read. Each religious order has a particular spirituality that is synthesized in the writings of saints and mystics. So if I was not already well-acquainted and well-grounded in the Old and New Testaments, and in the habit of reading those every day, what good would it do me to read Aquinas? Or Leo XIII encyclicals? Pointless.

The Bible itself has so many layers and aspects and messages for us. Many scholars invest entire lifetimes in understanding only the Bible. The only way to be a good Christian is to live the life. It doesn't matter what books you've read, at the end of the day, only your experience and your response to the Holy Spirit. If that means reading books, then good. If that means welding metal, also good. But, don't try to break open the words of Aquinas before you've read Daniel, or Matthew!