A Catholic priest from Poland has kicked up an ecclesiastical storm after, as CNN reports, “calling Pope Francis a ‘foreign body’ in the church and implying the Pope should die soon if his views on refugees and non-Christian beliefs don’t change.
Father Edward Staniek, who will certainly be admonished for his views is reported as saying: “I pray for wisdom for the Pope, for his heart to open up to the Holy Spirit. And if he does not do that, I pray for his quick departure to the House of the Father.”
CNN reports Father Edward Staniek as uttering those words during a sermon in Krakow last month.
“I can always ask God for a happy death for him because a happy death is a great grace,” the TV network quotes him as saying.
Staniek, described as a prominent theologian, also does not agree with the Pope’s more liberal ideas on immigration, divorce, and Islam.
Of Muslims, he is quoted as saying there is “no way to dialogue with them.”
“In the name of mercy, [Pope Francis] calls parishes and dioceses to open the door for the followers of Islam,” he said during his homily. “As a religion, they are hostile to the Gospel and the Church. They murdered millions in religious wars…We can show mercy to those Muslim believers who are dying of hunger or thirst. The doors of the diocese and the parish may be open only to believers in Jesus Christ,” CNN quotes him as telling his flock.
The Archbishop of Krakow, Marek Jedraszewski censured Staniek’s words. Pope Francis is not averse to going against the grain and has pronounced himself on matters that conservative Catholics treat as no-go areas.
His predecessor Pope Benedict XVI declared homosexuality as intrinsic immorality. On the other hand, Pope Francis holds a flexible view.
“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who are am I to judge?” he is often quoted as saying. He has also said heathens can go to heaven and opposed careerism in church.
He has prayed in mosques and called Muslims and Christians brothers and sisters. In a video to promote ecumenism, the Pope also said all world’s religions worship the same god in just different ways.
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