(PatriotPostNews.com) – Pope Francis last weekend suggested that conservative Catholics in the US had a “suicidal attitude” that prevented them from seeing beyond their traditional beliefs.
In the first part of a wide-ranging interview with “60 Minutes” anchor Norah O’Donnell, the progressive pope was asked about the criticism he had received from conservative bishops in the United States who oppose the pontiff’s efforts to reform the Roman Catholic Church.
The pope defined the word “conservative” to mean someone “who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.”
Describing that as “a suicidal attitude,” the pope said there was a vital difference between accounting for tradition and remaining “closed up inside a dogmatic box.”
Since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has sought to make the Catholic Church an open and inviting church for everyone, describing it as a “field hospital” that was prepared to bind the wounds of the suffering.
However, more traditional Catholics have criticized the pontiff for breaking from tradition too much. Conservative bishops have resisted the pope’s efforts for reform, including his outreach to LGBT Catholics and his outspoken advocacy for climate change and migrants.
Much of the pope’s opposition comes from conservative Catholics in the United States who would prefer that the pontiff hold closely to Church doctrine.
The pope has previously described some of his outspoken American opponents as “backwardists,” arguing that conservative Catholics had replaced faith with ideology.
Earlier this year, the pope sanctioned one of his most vocal American critics, Cardinal Raymond Burke. He also removed the bishop of the Diocese of Taylor, Texas, after he accused Francis of undermining the central teachings of the Catholic Church.
In last Sunday’s “60 Minutes” interview, the pope also called for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine and insisted that countries should welcome migrants, saying accepting migrants was the way to make countries grow.
When asked if the church had done enough about the rampant abuse of children by priests, the pope said the church must do more to make sure that such abuse never happens again.
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