23 October 2013 (20:01 UTC-07 Tango 22 October 2013)/18 Dhu’l-Hijja 1434/01 Aban 1391/19 Ren-Xu (9th month) 4711

“The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology, and ideology does not beckon. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. Ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid.  When a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought…..For this reason Jesus said to them: ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.’……it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians. It is an illness…..”-Pope Francis, on Radio Vatican 17 October

Francis also blamed arrogant Christian right wingism on false praying.

Today, Pope Francis ordered Catholics to pray for other Christian denominations, specifically for reunification with Lutherans: “But we Catholics must pray with each other and other Christians. Pray that the Lord gift us unity!.………..Catholics and Lutherans can ask forgiveness for the harm they have caused one another and for their offenses committed in the sight of God. Together we can rejoice in the longing for unity which the Lord has awakened in our hearts, and which makes us look with hope to the future.”

“I already hear concerns that the reformist church of 76-year-old Pope Francis might not survive his pontificate. I hear talk that the anti-reformists who took back the Second Vatican Council will likely do it again once Francis is gone….will Francis fade like the council, a meteorite in the night sky? Francis is the first pontiff educated during the council. He is a product of the council. In this sense, he is the first post-conciliar pontiff.”-Thomas C. Fox, Catholic National Reporter

“Seven months after ascending the throne of Saint Peter, Pope Francis is in the midst of a crusade against the sins of Vatican City……Francis personally moved to oust top officials of the secretive Vatican bank…..backed a push for greater financial transparency, while moving faster than many expected to replace Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone……who once wielded the power of a vice pope……the pope is preparing to consolidate the Curia’s myriad operations, with the aim of reducing the size of the bureaucracy. Francis has recently suggested that clerics should focus on their home dioceses rather than angle for prestigious postings in the Holy See. His new advisory board of eight cardinals from around the globe is seen as a counterweight to the power of Vatican-based authorities.”-The Independent, 23 October

Esquire Magazine declared Pope Francis the most interesting man in the world.

“Speaking of Pope Francis, obviously as an observant Catholic, I believe the pope is infallible. But he’s also wrong about a lot of things.”-Stephen Colbert