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Pope Francis: I am not a “Liberal”

Pope Francis waves as he delivers a "Urbi et Orbi" message from the balcony overlooking St

Pope Francis: I am not ‘left-ish’
September 22, 2015, 04:45 pm
By Jesse Byrnes

Shortly before Pope Francis touched down on U.S. soil for the first time on Tuesday, he assured journalists that he is not a liberal, according to reports.

“Some people might say some things sounded slightly more left-ish, but that would be a mistake of interpretation,” Francis said aboard his flight from Cuba to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

“It is I who follows the church … my doctrine on all this … on economic imperialism, is that of the social doctrine of the church,” Francis added,according to Time.

Francis arrived to cheers and chants welcoming him to the U.S. when he landed outside Washington, D.C., where he will address a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday, with speculation running rampant about what he might discuss.

The pope shook hands with President Obama, the first lady and their daughters, as well as the vice president and his wife after he landed.

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/254558-pope-francis-i-am-not-left-ish

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The Left Has Its Pope

Pope Francis

by THOMAS SOWELL

 September 22, 2015 12:00 AM
Pope Francis has created political controversy, both inside and outside the Catholic Church, by blaming capitalism for many of the problems of the poor. We can no doubt expect more of the same during his visit to the United States.

Pope Francis is part of a larger trend of the rise of the political left among Catholic intellectuals. He is, in a sense, the culmination of that trend. There has long been a political left among Catholics, as among other Americans. Often they were part of the pragmatic left, as in the many old Irish-run, big-city political machines that dispensed benefits to the poor in exchange for their votes, as somewhat romantically depicted in the movie classic, “The Last Hurrah.” But there has also been a more ideological left. Where the Communists had their official newspaper, the Daily Worker, there was also the Catholic Worker published by Dorothy Day.

A landmark in the evolution of the ideological left among Catholics was a publication in the 1980s, by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, titled “Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy.” Although this publication was said to be based on Catholic teachings, one of its principal contributors, Archbishop Rembert Weakland, said: “I think we should be up front and say that really we took this from the Enlightenment era.”

The specifics of the Bishops’ Pastoral Letter reflect far more of the secular Enlightenment of the 18th century than of Catholic traditions. Archbishop Weakland admitted that such an Enlightenment figure as Thomas Paine “is now coming back through a strange channel.” Strange indeed. Paine rejected the teachings of “any church that I know of,” including “the Roman church.” He said: “My own mind is my own church.“ Nor was Paine unusual among the leading figures of the 18th century Enlightenment.

To base social or moral principles on the philosophy of the 18th-century Enlightenment and then call the result “Catholic teachings” suggests something like bait-and-switch advertising. But, putting aside religious or philosophical questions, we have more than two centuries of historical evidence of what has actually happened as the ideas of people like those Enlightenment figures were put into practice in the real world — beginning with the French Revolution and its disastrous aftermath.

It is not poverty, but prosperity, that needs explaining. Both the authors of the Bishops’ Pastoral Letter in the 1980s, and Pope Francis today, blithely throw around the phrase “the poor,” and blame poverty on what other people are doing or not doing to or for “the poor.“

Read more at: https://www.nationalreview.com/article/424365/pop-francis-left-poverty-social-teaching

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‘Cake Boss’ to make heavenly treat for the Pope

alg-cake-boss-shop-jpg

By Rebecca Panico | The Jersey Journal
on September 20, 2015 at 12:04 PM, updated September 20, 2015 at 2:44 PM

HOBOKEN – Hoboken’s very own “Cake Boss” will serve up some divine sweets for Pope Francis’ Philadelphia visit next Saturday, according to the New York Post.

Buddy Valastro, who stars in the TLC television series along with other family members, was asked to whip up a cake for the pope’s “Festival of the Families” event on Sept. 26, the newspaper reported. The event will feature performances by Aretha Franklin and The Fray.

Valastro opened a new bakery in Philadelphia this past summer, NJ Advance Media reported. It is the 10th Carlo’s Bakery to open, with the flagship location in Hoboken.

Valastro — “a devout Catholic,” according to the New York Post — described earlier this year what his cake for the pontiff would look like.

“It would be in the shape of his magnificent hat or the Vatican…That city is rich in history, and buildings. I wouldn’t know where to start!” he told The Telegraph.

https://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/09/hobokens_cake_boss_to_make_heavenly_treat_for_the.html

 

Carlo’s Bakery Ridgewood  
“Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro’s bakery is known for a variety of cookies, cannoli & elaborate cakes.
Address: 12 Wilsey Square, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Phone:(201) 962-9080
Hours: Open today · 7:00 am – 9:00 pm

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To see the pope, Ridgewood faithful settle for humble habitat

Mount Carmel

JULY 26, 2015, 11:33 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2015, 11:36 PM
BY JEFF GREEN AND MONSY ALVARADO
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

They’ll be sleeping on the ground among bugs and birds, near lions and tigers, but the parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Ridgewood decided they’d do it if that’s what it took to see Pope Francis.

With hotel room prices shooting sky-high as far back as a year ago, Cathy Hunt, the church’s director of religious education, sought out, in Francis fashion, humbler lodging. After a little negotiating with the Philadelphia Zoo, the group cemented plans to roll out sleeping bags inside two buildings that contain the insect and bird exhibits.

More than 60 families of Our Lady of Mount Carmel are signed up for the church’s late-September pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia — the capstone of Pope Francis’ five-day visit to the U.S., his first as pope.

Parishioners expect to walk several miles back and forth  between the zoo and the festival site, but at $120 per person, including transportation, it’s a bargain as reservations get tougher to come by with only two months to go before the festival.

At least two other Bergen County congregations also made plans well ahead of time to travel to Philadelphia, where North Jersey Catholics may have their best opportunity to see the pope and hear him speak. Besides Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., the pope is visiting Manhattan, where he is to say Mass at Madison Square Garden and lead a multi-faith service at Ground Zero. But the Archdiocese of New York announced last week that its limited tickets for those events will be available only to its own parishioners.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/to-see-the-pope-ridgewood-faithful-settle-for-humble-habitat-1.1381272