LAST EDITED ON 09-20-13 AT 08:05 PM (EST)

So, the other day I got caught behind a Catholic truck in traffic. Old Ford pick-up, a bit on the beat up side, seen better days. Red. Bunch of stuff in the back, smoker at the wheel. Now, normally I wouldn't know or care what church a truck attends. But this truck wanted me to know it was Catholic. Very proudly Catholic I guess, that old red beat-up truck. It wasn't just the bumper stickers, the license plate spelled it out, mighty proud.

Thing is, you see, one of those bumper stickers said you can't be both Catholic and Pro-Choice. Pretty insistant it was. But no bother to me as I'm not Catholic anyway, never was.

Anyway, I don't imagine the pope has the power to tell a Catholic truck what it can and cannot say with the bumper stickers it sports.

Some of my classmates are nuns. They're ecstatic with this guy. So are my Catholic profs. They taught me how to read between the lines of what he's saying, too.

They're been concerned about the backlash brewing, too, but it was either this or lose the American Catholics, who were on the verge of splitting before Francis came on the scene.

I don't remember who it was, but someone on this board said that if a Jesuit became pope, she'd return to the Church.

Transcribed by Sharnina

Basically, this is a signal to the priests and other church figures, and it all boils down to a very simple message: Hate the sin, love the sinner. He couldn't change church doctrine, or if he could simply giving an interview isn't the way it is done. But don't get bogged down in dogma. Don't be the Southern Baptist Convention.

"...The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all..."

-so good !

>Issued by "Q" and RollDdice

-- from around the world.

http://news.msn.com/world/catholics-react-to-popes-remarks-on-gays-abortion

Worshippers applauded what they heard as a message of inclusion from the man who assumed the papacy just six months ago.

"I think he's spot on," said Shirley Holzknecht, 77, a retired school principal attending services in Little Rock, Ark. ..

In Havana, Cuba, Irene Delgado said the church needs to adapt to modern times. "The world evolves, and I believe that the Catholic Church is seeing that it is being left behind, and that is not good," ..

In Brasilia, Brazil, .. 22-year-old student Maria das Gracas Lemos said Francis was "bringing the church up to date." .. In Brazil, people are no longer rejected because they are divorced," Lemos said. "The church has to catch up with changes in society, even if it still doesn't admit divorce."

Isaias Miguel Ortiz, a teacher at a private university in the Dominican Republic, took a similar view of Pope Francis' statements on gays. Although he believes the church will never accept homosexuality, Ortiz said Francis is "getting closer to more people. All the people should be accepted the way they are," ..

Martha Fabiola Rojas Lerma, 76, of Mexico City .. "It was very correctly well-spoken," she said. "There's a lot of injustice. Instead, we should work so that everyone has the basics, shelter, food, clothing." ..

Outside a church in Coral Gables, Fla., Frank Recio said he was grateful that the pope is trying to shift the church's tone ..
"I think the Catholic Church had gotten out of touch with the way the world was evolving," ..

Jose Baltazar, .. longtime church volunteer in Manila, in the Philippines, said the pope has set his priorities mindful of stark realities.

No wonder Timothy Dolan looks so mad these days.