Pope Francis on the Ten Commandments: ‘I observe them, but not as absolutes’

Michie said:

1. “I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have any gods before Me.”
   
   This commandment forbids idolatry, the worship of false gods and goddesses, and it prohibits polytheism, the belief in many gods, insisting instead on monotheism, the belief in one God. This commandment forbids making golden calves, building temples to Isis, and worshipping statues of Caesar, for example.
   
   
2. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
   
   The faithful are required to honor the name of God. It makes sense that if you’re to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then you’re naturally to respect the name of God with equal passion and vigor.
   
   
3. “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.”
   
   The Jewish celebration of Sabbath (Shabbat) begins at sundown on Friday evening and lasts until sundown on Saturday. Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians go to church on Sunday, treating it as the Lord’s Day instead of Saturday to honor the day Christ rose from the dead.
   
   
4. “Honor thy father and mother.”
   
   This commandment obliges the faithful to show respect for their parents — as children and adults. Children must obey their parents, and adults must respect and see to the care of their parents, when they become old and infirm.
   
   
5. “Thou shalt not kill.”
   
   The better translation from the Hebrew would be “Thou shalt not murder” — a subtle distinction but an important one to the Church. Killing an innocent person is considered murder. Killing an unjust aggressor to preserve your own life is still killing, but it isn’t considered murder or immoral.
   
   
6. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
   
   The sixth and ninth commandments honor human sexuality. This commandment forbids the actual, physical act of having immoral sexual activity, specifically adultery, which is sex with someone else’s spouse or a spouse cheating on their partner. This commandment also includes fornication, which is sex between unmarried people, prostitution, pornography, homosexual activity, masturbation, group sex, rape, incest, pedophilia, bestiality, and necrophilia.
   
   
7. “Thou shalt not steal.”
   
   The seventh and tenth commandments focus on respecting and honoring the possessions of others. This commandment forbids the act of taking someone else’s property. The Catholic Church believes that this commandment also denounces cheating people of their money or property, depriving workers of their just wage, or not giving employers a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. Embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, and vandalism are all considered extensions of violations of the Seventh Commandment.
   
   
8. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
   
   The Eighth Commandment condemns lying. Because God is regarded as the author of all truth, the Church believes that humans are obligated to honor the truth. The most obvious way to fulfill this commandment is not to lie — intentionally deceive another by speaking a falsehood. So a good Catholic is who you want to buy a used car from.
   
   
9. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.”
   
   The Ninth Commandment forbids the intentional desire and longing for immoral sexuality. To sin in the heart, Jesus says, is to lust after a woman or a man in your heart with the desire and will to have immoral sex with them. Just as human life is a gift from God and needs to be respected, defended, and protected, so, too, is human sexuality. Catholicism regards human sexuality as a divine gift, so it’s considered sacred in the proper context — marriage.
   
   
10. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.”
    
    The Tenth Commandment forbids the wanting to or taking someone else’s property. Along with the Seventh Commandment, this commandment condemns theft and the feelings of envy, greed, and jealousy in reaction to what other people have.

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So which of those will the pope let me slide on?

Michie said:

This one?

“I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have any gods before Me.”

This commandment forbids idolatry, the worship of false gods and goddesses, and it prohibits polytheism, the belief in many gods, insisting instead on monotheism, the belief in one God. This commandment forbids making golden calves, building temples to Isis, and worshipping statues of Caesar, for example.

Pachamama comes to mind.

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שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is ONE!

Taodeching said:

Christ gave us a new commandment, well two to be precise.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31

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They are not new....both are Torah in Leviticus and in Deuteronomy

chevyontheriver said:

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is ONE!

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Shema Yisroel, Adonai elohenu, Adonai Echad...
Hear Israel, the Lord (YHVH) our God, The Lord (YHVH) is One!

I found this article helpful ;

Do We Have to Obey the Pope?

Taodeching said:

I find myself in a very strange position, I agree with the Pope in a certain way. Christ gave us a new commandment, well two to be precise.


And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31

So I think he is saying that we don't have to sweat every jot and tittle because if we miss up we have somewhere to go, to Christ in confession. So we can go on Saturday or whenever confession is and know that we are forgiven. Salvation is by the grace of Christ through faith (not that alone stuff) and He offers it freely to those who seek earnestly. Of course I could have misunderstood the Pope

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AnalogJoe said:

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I tried to popesplain for pope Francis for months and months but I had to give it up.

anna ~ grace said:

This Pope needs prayers. I am afraid he has taken the very real, valid Catholic theology of Divine Mercy and warped it into something like Sola Fidé.

“Don’t worry about works, sin, repentance, confession, spiritual growth, moral continence, or sacrifice, it’s all about Mercy!”

Not accurate. Again, pray for the Pope.

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That's a really interesting point. I've never thought of that before.

chevyontheriver said:

I tried to popesplain for pope Francis for months and months but I had to give it up.

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I am by no means a fundamentalist or a radical traditionalist, but I am truly worried by the way the pope is conducting the Church, at times, I even feel very angry (his statement on the commandments is a good example). I don't think Vatican II is invalid, I do belive Francis is the true pope, but that doesn't mean that there hasn't been bad popes in the past, so I think we have another bad pope, and by 'bad' I don't mean evil.

I do think that Francis is an extremist and a liberal, since the beginning of his pontificate, the Church has become some sort of NGO, worried more about trees, politics, ecumenism and social issues rather than the saving of souls. I am not saying that the church should be blind to those matters, but it is not its primary concern.

I think the pope is misguiding a lot of ill informed people with his friendly behavior and modern statements -many of which are completely heretic- even if they sound completely innocent. For example, there is an old video out there -many of you might have already seen it- of a little kid who wanted to ask Francis a question in public, he started crying and the pope told him to ask the question to his ear instead. The child approached the pope, asked the question and went back to his seat; afterwards, the pope said to the crowd what the child had asked him, the child told Francis that his father -who was an atheist- had recently died and the boy wanted to know if he was in heaven. Francis gave the entire crowd some comforting speech basically saying that the boy's father was in heaven even if he was an atheist.

I mean, I get it, Francis would've been a monster if he told the child that his father was in hell. But what he said is completely opposite to Catholic -or even Protestant and Orthodox- teaching, now many people must believe that it doesn't matter if you are an atheist as long as you are a 'good guy', you will go to heaven, because, in Francis's words "God doesn't abandon his children". That is dangerous. The pope should've instead give a glimmer of hope to the child, but without going completely against Catholic dogma, what he said is basically universalism, the child is now living an ignorant bliss because the pope said so.

Anna - grace said it well, the Pope is relying (or rather abusing) too much on Divine Mercy. Which is odd, because with his "Commandments are not absolute" statement, he is basically preaching Sola Fide, but when the child asked him about his father, he is downgrading faith as something optional. These conflicting statements, which have been a signature of his entire pontificate are what makes Catholics feel disturbed.

Many people, even non-Catholics feel the same way: "Who am I to judge?" but later "The church can't allow the blessing of homosexuals", but then again, Fr. James Martin is "following Jesus's steps" and LGBT priests in Germany who bless homosexuals are ok, however, the Traditional Mass is wicked and should be supressed. The Hail Mary and St. Michael prayer are banned from mass, but if a priest lets Muslims chant to Allah next to the altar during mass? totally fine
The Chinese goverment can appoint Bishops, but a priest who wants the Tridentine mass should ask approval from his Bishop and then the Bishop must ask approval from the Vatican which is going to 'think about the proposal'; a priest is on Grindr? re-assign him, but a priest from the same diocese talks about abortion or matters of the faith? cast him out.

Like I said, I am not a traditionalist, but is it just me who thinks there is something really wrong about all this?

Also, it seems that the pope plans not only to make more radical reforms to the church during his time left in the papacy, but certainly he already has someone appointed for his succession, so we can expect more of this type of Kumbaya and lenient Catholicism in the years to come.

Michie said:

About whether he 'disregards' the Ten Commandments Pope Francis said, 'No. I observe them, but not as absolutes, because I know that what justifies me is Jesus Christ.'


ROME (LifeSiteNews) – “I observe them, but not as absolutes,” Pope Francis said of the Ten Commandments at a general audience on August 18, 2021.

Pope Francis made the statement in the context of how Christians live a moral life. He began the discourse by asking the audience a rhetorical question. “How do I live?” he said.


He responded to his own question by saying, “Do I live in fear that if I don’t do this or that I will go to hell? Or do I also live with that hope, with that joy of the gratuitousness of salvation in Jesus Christ? That’s a good question.”

The Catholic Church teaches that anyone who dies not having repented of just one mortal sin does indeed go to hell.

The Holy Father continued his message with a second question about the nature of the Commandments. “And also a second question: do I disregard the Commandments?”

The answer Pope Francis gave to this question addressed whether or not he views the Ten Commandments as binding moral laws. About whether he “disregards” the Ten Commandments he said, “No. I observe them, but not as absolutes, because I know that what justifies me is Jesus Christ.”

The audience applauded as the Pope finished speaking.

Continued below.
Pope Francis on the Ten Commandments: ‘I observe them, but not as absolutes’ - LifeSite

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So pope Francis is dipping his toes in the lurky water of gnosticism? I mean, its pretty obviuos even to me, a sinner redeemed by grace. The basic idea here is that you can have a fully internal and higher form og piety totally unrelated and unattached to any form of external piety. Rightoussness is then separated from works. This means that one can be saved regardless of ones life choices and actions. In its most extreme forms it means adultry at nighttime, a qiuck "Hail Mary", and mass on sunday. No need to let the world see our good works and our holliness...

Its important to name the devil when one see him present in thoughts, words or actions. The devil rests in the details, even in the popes statements and articulation of theology. Gnosticism is a horrible heresy and no pope should ever fall into its snares.

Michie said:

This one?

“I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have any gods before Me.”

This commandment forbids idolatry, the worship of false gods and goddesses, and it prohibits polytheism, the belief in many gods, insisting instead on monotheism, the belief in one God. This commandment forbids making golden calves, building temples to Isis, and worshipping statues of Caesar, for example.

Pachamama comes to mind.

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That was the day when I stoppes ignoring him and started praying for a new conclave.