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On Same-Sex Marriage And Family, Pope Rebukes Bishops Pushing ‘Dangerously Unbalanced’ Policy

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Pope Francis chastised Christian priests and pastors who make opposition to same-sex marriage the centerpiece of their message to their congregations.

Sunday morning in Philadelphia Pope Francis sent a strong message rebuking those Christian priests who have made anti-gay teachings the core of their ministry, and warned his Bishops that it is “dangerously unbalanced” to preach against modern day changes to marriage while not offering tangible support to families.

“A Christianity which ‘does’ little in practice, while incessantly ‘explaining’ its teachings, is dangerously unbalanced,” Francis explained to several dozen bishops attending the World Meeting of Families, and who have traveled the globe to visit with the Bishop of Rome. “I would even say that it is stuck in a vicious circle,” the Pope added.

Pope Francis urged his bishops to not wallow in claims of a past they might believe was better, but rather, to welcome the next generation into the Catholic Church and choose marriage.

LOOK: Pope Francis Shares Progressive Message Before Congress But Takes Subtle Swipe At Same-Sex Marriage

“Should we blame our young people for having grown up in this kind of society?,” Pope Francis posited. “Should we condemn them for living in this kind of a world? Should they hear their pastors saying that ‘it was all better back then,’ ‘the world is falling apart and if things go on this way, who knows where we will end up?’ No, I do not think that this is the way.”

“We need to invest our energies not so much in rehearsing the problems of the world around us and the merits of Christianity, but in extending a sincere invitation to young people to be brave and to opt for marriage and the family,”

In “Pope to bishops: Don’t blame others for gay marriage, family problems,” Religion News Service’s David Gibson noted the Pope did not mention same-sex marriage specifically, but called Francis’ message “a powerful rebuke to the culture war mentality that has often marked the public witness of the Catholic hierarchy.”

Although directed toward his bishops, the Pope’s warning could easily be aptly telegraphed to most of the GOP’s 2016 presidential candidates, like Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, and Ben Carson – all of whom have done exactly what the Pope warned his ministers against.

Gibson also noted the timing of Pope Francis’ remarks in the City of Brotherly Love, home to Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, one of the Catholic Church’s most anti-gay leaders and a vocal critic of what American conservatives like him see as the Pope’s progressive ideas.

 

EARLIER:

A Gay Dad Invites Pope Francis To ‘Meet My Family Face-to-Face’

Read: Full Text Of Pope Francis’ Address To Congress

Pope Praises Americans As ‘Committed To Building A Society Which Is Truly Tolerant And Inclusive’

 

Image by michael_swan via Flickr and a CC license

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Fox Hosts Try to Convince Viewers Trump ‘Not Really All That Different’ From Them

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Fox News hosts are suggesting that President Donald Trump is just an average guy.

In a segment on the cable network’s “Outnumbered” on Wednesday, co-host Harris Faulkner told her colleagues, “it’s ironic, though, but he’s not really all that different.”

Faulkner then sought to portray Trump — a billionaire real estate developer who owns multiple golf courses and the Mar-a-Lago resort — as relatable, describing him as “just a guy’s guy” and “not really all that different” from ordinary Americans.

“He loves McDonald’s,” she said.

“He likes to hang.”

“He loves his family.”

“And kind of, like, not that McDonald’s is poor to being, like, an all American, but I think it is — love those fries,” Faulkner remarked.

READ MORE: House Republican Calls for Bondi to Testify Over Epstein Files ‘Failure to Comply’

“But, I mean, he’s all those things that you don’t have to have a billion dollars or have to have zero dollars to get,” she exclaimed. “He’s just a guy’s guy.”

Faulkner went on to say that Trump “respects women.”

“He’s hired a lot of tremendously talented women — we’ve met them.”

“My dad,” she added, “used to say, the test of a man is how he treats the women in his life.”

“Can he be that alpha, and be loving, and generous, and all those things?”

Co-host Riley Gaines added, “They called him a misogynist but really he’s the worst misogynist, ever.”

READ MORE: Trump Blasted Federal Prosecutors as ‘Weak’ for Not Targeting His Adversaries: Report

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House Republican Calls for Bondi to Testify Over Epstein Files ‘Failure to Comply’

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A prominent House Republican is calling for U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify before Congress over her failure to comply with the requirements of federal law surrounding the release of the Epstein Files.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the federal government to release all unclassified documents in the Epstein files by December 19. Reports state that less than one percent of all the documents have been made public.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the lead co-sponsor of legislation forcing a vote on the release of the files, on Wednesday said that the Attorney General “should be called to testify in the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee where she must answer for her failure to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.”

READ MORE: Federal Officer Who Shot Renee Good ‘In Hiding’: Report

Congressman Massie also called it “unusual” that Bondi has “never appeared in front of the House Judiciary Committee.”

Massie, along with California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, last week asked a federal judge to consider appointing a special master to oversee the production and publication of the Epstein Files.

“Put simply, the DOJ cannot be trusted with making mandatory disclosures under the Act,” Massie and Khanna wrote to Judge Paul E. Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York, according to Politico.

“I think it’s the quickest way to produce, to expedite the document production, because these lawyers at the DOJ understand what judges can do in courtrooms,” Massie added. “And they are already communicating with that judge, even though they’re not communicating with us.”

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) told CNN that “Donald Trump continues to lead a White House coverup of the Epstein files.”

“Why has it been weeks now, weeks, that the date has passed, where all the files should have been released to the Congress and to the public? We have received one percent of the files. That is criminal, it’s illegal. What is Pam Bondi and Donald Trump hiding?”

READ MORE: Trump Blasted Federal Prosecutors as ‘Weak’ for Not Targeting His Adversaries: Report

 

Image via Reuters

 

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Federal Officer Who Shot Renee Good ‘In Hiding’: Report

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Jonathan Ross, who reportedly fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, at point-blank range in Minneapolis last week, is now said to be in hiding.

“I know for a fact now he has to be in hiding … for the safety of him and his family,” Trump border czar Tom Homan said during an episode of the “Will Cain Country” podcast, according to The Hill.

Homan alleged that there are “wanted” posters with Ross’ picture and license plate number, and said that Ross is receiving death threats.

“It’s beyond the pale,” Homan added.

READ MORE: Trump Blasted Federal Prosecutors as ‘Weak’ for Not Targeting His Adversaries: Report

He also suggested that Ross may decide to take legal action against those who have labeled him a murderer.

Vice President JD Vance said that Ross and all ICE officers have absolute federal immunity. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said Ross has “federal immunity.”

“The precedent here is very simple,” Vance said, according to CNN. “You have a federal law enforcement official engaging in federal law enforcement action – that’s a federal issue. That guy is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job.”

Legal experts disagree.

“The idea that a federal agent has absolute immunity for crimes they commit on the job is absolutely ridiculous,” said Michael J.Z. Mannheimer, a constitutional law expert, told CNN.

The Trump Department of Justice has said it will not open a civil rights investigation into Ross’ shooting of Good.

President Donald Trump claimed that Good was acting in a “disrespectful” manner while he defended the ICE officer.

READ MORE: Trump Declares Grocery Prices ‘Rapidly Down’ as Cost of Food Surges to 3-Year High

 

Image via Reuters 

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