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Behind Vatican walls, the conservative Pope Benedict and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church.
Code:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8404614/
the most interesting thing about this movie is a glimpse inside the Church and their activities, especially the philosophical topics discussed by the two popes of somewhat opposing viewpoints
was expecting a stronger leftist smear campaign, but they mostly only attacked conservative viewpoints and made the former pope Benedict look bad, at least compared to their new favorite pope Francis
an example of this is criticizing some position of the Catholic Church, while the movie shows images of heavy weather making preaching duties difficult, as if symbolizing God's dissatisfaction with these conservative positions
they showed a rather luxurious lifestyle in Vatican, which may be a valid point of criticism, even though no priest personally owns any of these costly items
the main conflict is between conservatism and reform within the Church, where reform is interpreted by the scriptwriters as allowing more liberties for whatever the sinful world deems desirable - they see an opportunity to steer the Church in this direction by the appearance of an unorthodox new pope Francis
pope Francis is a Jesuit, in an order known for unorthodox methods of acting or preaching, but also for strong faith, simplicity and devotion to Lord Jesus, which is why they have continuously been attacked by the enemies of Christianity
seems the movie makers take special pleasure in labeling pope Benedict a nazi due to his activities as a young man, yet they fail to criticize marxism/communism, even though it was a much worse ideology which gave rise to the likes of Stalin and other mass murderers; which is still very much active nowadays, giving rise to the likes of Soros and other manipulators; not to mention that nazism itself was a response to growing marxism/communism in Germany at the time
seems that pope Benedict is more of a secluded scholar, whereas pope Francis is more of a social person (popular)
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Originally Posted by movie
our churches (in Europe) are beautiful but empty
not quite correct, since although the local population in western Europe may be less interested in going to Church due to their intoxication with a consumerist western lifestyle, many of the religious workers from eastern Europe are more disciplined in church attendance in the suburbs
another point is that large cathedrals are often flooded by a constant stream of tourists from all over the world, most of whom are not in an adversarial mood towards religion in general
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Originally Posted by Plato
most important qualification for any leader is not wanting to be a leader
that makes no sense, its like saying most important qualification for any good football player is not wanting to play football or not wanting to play good
what was meant is probably that a leader should not attempt to grab power by any means available to him, choosing only the right kind of action, thus keeping his honor intact, for he will be judged by God according to his actions
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Originally Posted by movie
(there is) only one unchanging eternal Truth
yes, but also innumerable changing views or levels of realization of that Truth (personal level) and several revealed teachings on that Truth (aka world religions)
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Originally Posted by movie
People are abandoning Catholicism because it is too conservative.
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Catholic Church
Church membership in 2007 was 1.147 billion people[55] (17% of the global population at the time), increasing from the 1950 figure of 437 million[56] and 654 million in 1970.[57][58]
On 31 December 2008, membership was 1.166 billion, an increase of 11.54% over the same date in 2000
Code:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_population_growth#By_branches
conservatism means stability, tradition and maintaining values, not letting them become watered down or perverted by various influences
too much conservatism means rigidity and inability to adapt to new circumstances
one of the reasons why pagans mostly disappeared was not being able to conserve their belief system, in other words, they forgot what they once believed in, their religion degraded with time to a point of no return
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Originally Posted by movie
There are no coincidences. We are all in God's hands.
yes, everything (materialistic) has a cause and every action has an effect - therefore no randomness exists, except the appearance of randomness due to one's imperfect senses or understanding
we are controlled and God is the supreme controller, although He gives us free will to make our own choices as we desire
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can one ever live simply enough?
if it results in reaching the Kingdom of God, then it was simple enough
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celibacy can be a blessing, but also a curse
celibacy is recommended for spiritual advancement, but if a person has much trouble maintaining it, it is better he turns to regulated householder life
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giving communion is not a reward for the virtue but food for the starving
communion is supposed to be blessed food, which cleans one of sinful reactions - it works better if a person is already trying to be virtuous, just like cleaning a less dirty person works better - the aim is to reach optimum conditions of experiencing results of the Holy Mass
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the bigger the sinner, the warmer the welcome
the bigger the sinner, the more difficult the cleansing - when big sinners were saved, that was to show the potency of saving ie. the potency of pure faith and surrender, not to welcome big sins as something desirable
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mercy is the dynamite that blows down the walls
mercy gives another chance or helps in insurmountable situations
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we are losing people
people may call themselves believers, but for the large majority their faith is weak, flickering and impure, which is why it was said: 'if only you had a grain of Faith, you'd be able to move mountains'
people want quick, easy 5-step answers, not a lifetime of disciplined adherence to a set of rules, even if God Himself recommends them
people want a life of enjoyment now, not to patiently prepare and wait until the afterlife
people are generally ignorant and that is their main problem, which is why it was said: 'forgive them for they know not what they do'
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the Church is narcissistic
that would be the sin of pride, which just like all other sins arises from imperfect understanding of the Truth
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God does not change
true
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He moves towards us
if this means: 'we are given easier methods of approaching Him in this age' then it is correct - in a more difficult age (Kali Yuga), people are given easier methods, otherwise they would hardly be able to accomplish the goal of reaching the Kingdom of God - an example would be the different methods used in OT & NT
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the real danger was inside with us...we knew there were priests who preyed on children
the real danger is inadequate faith - a sufficiently strong Faith does not succumb to the impulse of satisfying one's desires with males, females or children
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we moved them onto another parish where they could start all over again...to initiate the canonical trial
it is recommended to move them physically and mentally away from temptations, so a good solution would be to move them to a secluded monastery, not just another parish
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confession does not help the victim
so treat the victim then as well, after which they can move on with their lives
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sin is a wound, not a stain
these are just symbolical descriptions, sin is simply inappropriate action, which causes (sinful) reactions that bind you like chains to this world, becoming an obstacle in reaching the Kingdom of God - the soul itself is always pure, it cannot be stained nor wounded, however it can be covered (veil of maya)
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football...i've never understood the excitement myself
the excitement of running after or kicking a ball around the field is a rather childish activity - a properly used God-given ability to play football would be in such a way to promote God's glory
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This country doesn't need another priest.
actually, it needs better, more devoted priests, priests whose Faith is so strong they can 'move mountains', ie. move people to start taking their spiritual health more seriously
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Now you know our Father is watching.
God is also described as the eternal witness (see sig, the bird that watches) - your actions, thoughts and desires are never hidden from Him
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at the keyboard i'm not infallible
afaik, not even Lord Christ claimed infallibility, so why would a pope do such a thing
later on the popes say 'we are all sinners', so how can sinners be infallible?
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small pleasures are important
technically, if you still have such pleasures (attachments), you're not ready for the Kingdom of God
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is it permitted to smoke while praying or pray while smoking?
why would you smoke in the first place, your body does not need smoking to function properly, nor is smoking a part of any prayer, therefore smoking as such is unnecessary
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He doesn't laugh or at least i don't hear Him laughing
what is there to laugh at? at people wasting their time on spiritually (semi)useless activities like football or playing the piano or watching silly tv shows?
on the other hand, laughter is given to the living being engaged in earthly activities and God witnesses that laughter
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eating alone is not good for you...besides Jesus was always breaking bread and feeding people
Jesus was giving them blessed food as a ritual of spiritual significance - just like it is being done at every Holy Mass
technically, it is better that a person eats only food which has been blessed since this kind of food does not cause sinful reactions
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God forgets but i don't
it is the other way around
a person born in this world does not remember his previous lives, similarly this life is forgotten after one's death - however, all your actions are remembered and judged by God in order to give you the results you deserve (aka justice)
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where was Christ in all this (killings done by an argentinian dictatorship)
Christ, as a pure servant of God is always there where God wants Him to be
that dictatorship will be punished for their misdeeds, every person according to their own actions
people killed during the dictatorship, if they were wise, grabbed that opportunity to surrender to God and reach the Kingdom of God
other victims went for another round of reincarnation, according to how they had lived their life (according to their karma)
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People believe that, for us, it's different...
That we have...a direct line with God.
some saints can have such a communication line, especially those on higher spiritual levels or those chosen for a special mission (receiving visions)
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today, I'm not worthy of delivering a sermon.
My words would be empty.
so just read something from the Holy Scripture and you're on the safe side (no sinful reactions from speaking the Truth)
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They took away our companions!
actually, God took away your companions because their time was up
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Where are they (the companions)?
exactly where they ought to be, it was their own decisions in life that brought them there (free will)
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20% of the world's population consumes resources at the rate that robs the poor nations and future generations of what they need to survive
on one hand, people would be better off consuming only that what their body needs for proper functioning - such attitude would eliminate senseless consumerism
on the other hand, it is the greedy elite that are spearheading destruction of the environment, global exploitation and maintaining laws which allow such behavior
also, voters are not actively punishing politicians and political parties for their negative role in this
on yet another hand, fear not, for the Lord will provide food when needed
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the economy of exclusion and inequality (showing the mexican-usa border)
mexican people ought to grow their own food and become more independent of usa, then the wall of exclusion would not be much of a problem and they wouldn't be just a source of cheap labor used to keep the exploitative american promised land illusion afloat
people live different lives in different conditions while having different abilities, therefore inequality in this sense is natural
on the other hand, exploitation as the cause of inequality is caused by greed (another sin)
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every community is called to be an instrument of liberation, the liberation and promotion of the poor
liberation means not being disturbed by conditions of poverty
a good deal of poverty can be reduced by forcing companies to properly pay their taxes (in money or in goods), instead of giving them tax evasion opportunities as a result of their lobbying efforts
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we are not God, we live in God but we are not of it, we are only human
'we are not God' - correct
'we are not of it' - living beings (souls) are considered to be parts of the marginal energy of God, so in this way 'we are of it'
'we are only human' - we experience life as a human, in a human body, but we are not that body, we are the soul dwelling in that body
the movie makers made them forget to ask the Lord to bless their meal
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as a child i failed you first by not having the courage to taste the life itself, instead i hid away in books and done study
you tasted enough, tasting the materialistic life more only brings more attachment to it (chains mentioned above)
you don't need to taste drugs in order to understand the problem of addiction
you don't need to have children to understand the problems of raising them
etc.
you only need to surrender and take shelter of the Lord and He will provide whatever you may need
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you forgot to love the people you were meant to protect?
technically, it is sufficient to love only God because He distributes that love towards all others
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truth without love is unbearable
proper understanding of Truth and love for God are simultaneous, not separate from each other
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globalization of indifference which makes us think only of ourselves
empathy, charity and cooperation are commendable, however maintaining sovereignty is necessary as well
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who is responsible for the refugees washed up on our shores
'on our shores' makes them our problem, which can be viewed as a test by God to see how we handle the problem, according to His wishes or against them
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when no one is to blame, everyone is to blame
regardless of who is to blame, proper action needs to be taken (improper action leads to sinful reactions)
the movie is missing an important topic, namely the topic of ecumenism, which has a potential to end inter-religious wars by teaching inter-religious tolerance, which can work on a global scale and among different religions - this is to be understood as in direct opposition to the one world religion desired by the one world government of the globalist elite and the synagogue of satan
and finally, a recommendation to christian religious leaders: when contemplating whether you should choose reform/change or conservation, it would be beneficial to consider the position of other major religious groups, especially those following Vedic knowledge, whose understanding can clear many questions on what would be the best course of action