As I've thought more about this I wonder if the pope was not greeting individuals of a procession which was being videoed in its entirety, and his response to the boy was sincere. But then others took that one clip and posted it with a political motive.

"but perhaps you weren't a victim of a Catholic upbringing." Or perhaps I was? It is not wise to make assumptions based on zero evidence. There are many people who have suffered from a Catholic upbringing who still continue as Roman Catholics, and many who did not suffer from it, like my late wife for example, who find fulfillment in the Church. There will be thousands in Ireland who, despite its awful record historically and currently, will remain Catholics, having voted not to accept its teaching and guidance regarding abortion.

Every institution is a mixture of good and bad, to varying degrees. Only admitting the bad (no matter how bad) is no way to influence their members towards re-evaluating their long held beliefs and loyalties.

The nastiness of some posts here just plays into the hands of those who (want to) misrepresent us. There is a distinct pattern in Pope Francis' sayings which we should welcome, accentuating the positive, eliminating the negative, while maintaining a healthy scepticism. Any hint of the Church moving away from its dark past, however modestly, should be encouraged. Generosity of thought is a good thing.

Pope made a comment just recently to a gay guy that God "made him that way" and loves him. The guy felt better, but the logic is off, as usual. So, God intervenes to make some people a certain orientation! Well, why didn't God tell his precious church instead of millennia of moral condemnation and persecution? How come it's still a sin, Pope baby, because officially it still is, doorstop interview and cuddly photo-Op sessions of the pope aside. Like all politicians, work the room, get a photo, look for the headline, pretend to placate different parts of the catholic constituency, and hope no one looks to see what's really going on. But don't the mainstream media love this stuff; another Pope Frank headline that means nothing, and another grateful weepy progressive Catholic on the telly.

I have seen many reported quotations from Pope Francis referring to things he has said in private as well as in public, the most recent that he reassured a gay man that god loves him, another than evolution is not just possible but a fact (as we know). I suspect he represents the best qualities of Christianity (which like most 'things' is a mixture of good and bad.)

The Pope is a religious politician and everything he says "on the run" should be treated with great skepticism. Nothing he says off the cuff about atheists, gay people, or anything else means a scrap. Only official Catholic policy and practice counts. And that never changes from its reactionary, moralistic, judgemental stance.

It was vile opportunism. The poor child.

I think I saw it--but I think what I saw was on the news. In what I saw the pope asked the boy something like, "Did your father love you?" Then when the boy answered affirmatively the pope responded with something like, "God loves fathers who love their family. Do you think God would send someone he loves to hell?" He left it to the boy to draw the conclusion.
I thought it was about as kind a response as a pope could possibly give.

This pope is dangerous.

I'll be polite : fuck him.

I did a post on this. It was a total photo opportunity. The poor boy was planted and abused to benefit the Catholic cause. Child abuse. I had comments saying, Oh the pope was just showing compassion, he was kind - fuck that. No kindness or compassion for the little boys raped by his catholic priests. Disgusting hypocrite.

Yeah I saw that bollox I bet the dad would have been well pissed if he was still alive