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SUNDAY REVELATIONS: The Arrogance of Pope Francis

the Telegraph reports the Pope’s arrogant effort to seek forgiveness for atheists.

Last Thursday I posted on the Jewish concept of Teshuvah .. the righting of wrongs. I wrote this in response to an email from my brother accusing me of being a bad Jew because of my atheism.  This Pope and my brother might understand each other.

In a sad move  Pope Francis tried to reach out, telling atheists that God will “forgive” them as long as they behave morally and live according to their consciences.

The Pope is arrogant.  If anything  his church ought to seek the forgiveness of the millions of unbelievers it has enslaved, castrated, tortured and killed abused in the name of the Roman God Jesus.  One of the Northwest gods is Raven, perhaps Francis could begin by asking Raven for forgiveness of acts done by Church missionaries in the name of Jesus?

the Telegraph’s  report says that  “Francis wrote a letter to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica under the byline “Francesco” as a response to editorials written over the summer by Eugenio Scalfari, an agnostic and the founder of the paper.

Scalfari had asked whether, “the Christian God forgives those who do not believe and do not seek faith,” the Telegraph reported.

According to the report, Scalfari said he had not expected Francis to respond, “so extensively and so affectionately, with such fraternal spirit.”

“To listen and to follow your conscience means that you understand the difference between good and evil,” the Pope said. ”

My feelings are different from those expressed by the response of  the Italian Union of Atheists and Agnostics:

“Why should a non-believer seek legitimization from the Pope?”    “What interests non-believers is certainly not ‘forgiveness’ from an entity whose existence we do not trust.”

Like my own fathers’ anger at Rabbis who purport to speak for God, the Italian atheists reject the Pope’s authority. I go further and take offense that any human who does good deeds would need to go to a deity for forgiveness.  The sadness is that Pope Francis, who has yet to stop the canonization of such bad Popes as Pious XII or the open abuser of Jewish children,  Pious IX.
The Jewish concept of Teshuvah teaches that good deeds should be done not to please God . Perhaps the Pope could ask God’s forgiveness for the sins of the Roman Church?  Or, perhaps he could go further, as Francis rather than as Pope and find ways to do good deeds to repair the harm done by his predecessors.

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