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Pope says people being ‘defrauded by the rich’ in latest forceful sermon
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2026
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Reminder that the Catholic church just instituted an absolute trans healthcare ban in the USA - including for adults. This is worse than the Trump regime's laws, plus the Catholic church owns an astounding number of hospitals.
He is not a "woke pope". This is the Catholic church.
Maybe true, but not very ~~relative~~ relevant to the fact that international companies more powerful than some nations are gaming every system they can to squeeze more profit, by the expense of everyone else.
whataboutism right here ^
The first comment engaged in whataboutism. The above poster just restated the point of the article..
It's a fair mention, though, especially considering the "defrauded by the rich" comment is pretty hypocritical coming out of the Vatican.
Why bother talking about it, though? Trying to refute it just means the people it does reach are less likely to believe the rich are defrauding them.
You can criticize an institution for something while also acknowledging that their criticisms are valid as well.
Treating everything as black and white, good and evil, with no gray area at all is both counter to reality and progress.
Because context matters.
Isn't the Catholic church like a big tent with the pope as its figurehead? Obviously he can steer the church in a certain direction, but does he necessarily condone everything that happens under its banner?
by doing nothing about it, absolutely yes.
Yes. The pope isn't so micromanaging monarch who is like determining every other member's policy.
You can live in the same city, and multiple congregations in that city have wildly different levels interpretations of scripture and politics that they preach. There are progressive Catholics and ones who are Orthodox.
but we can't let that never of nuace int othe discussion, because lemmy users are Very Intelligent and know that all religion is bad, and FOSS is the only true god we should all worship at the temple of...
Well, I think it's perfectly consistent to believe that generally speaking religion is bad and that the Catholic church isn't exactly a monolith.
Here's what you're talking about since you didn't cite it.
"U.S. Catholic bishops voted Wednesday..."
Not the pope. US bishops, bishops that look like judges from a country that looks evil.
They are part of the same Catholic church. They answer to the pope.
thats not how the power structure works at all. not everything is absolutist and the pope cant dictate others faith without risking separation if its a large group. its almost like you cant do whatever you want, not even the pope.
If they are to be separated so be it. In not taking that chance, all that blood is in this Pope's hands.
Off course there's never been a Pope who hasn't been at least happily complacent in mass murder. In not condemning it he endorses it.
But to the Pope it is more important to maximize his power, be in from murderers, pedophiles, conmen or a devil of any kind. This God's emissary on Earth has always been a refuge for the most evil people on it, and continues to be so.
This isn't the 15th century, the pope does not have the same kind of top-down control. And the American clergy are notoriously conservative and dickish, and they fucking hate the pope, they hated the last pope too.
The Pope who is, to them, infallible (at least in certain contexts) and who could very easily say "fuck no, we're not doing that, assholes".
yah cuz that worked out everytime the church has done that. ignorance is not a shield, its a blindfold.
This is just an empty posturing championship and the pope is the grand winner. It's so tiring that he so much praise for saying the least controversial things that everyone agrees with.
oh but when useless dems do it everyone fucking cheers, hypocrites.
*fix it
I am not Usaian
Two things can be true at the same time. You can condemn evil and still be evil yourself. It's very hypocritical of them but it doesn't make their argument weaker, It just says that they aren't going to be the ones to do anything about it.
Agreed. So many fickle opinions on the internet. Hate AI, oh but they’re making Lego memes to troll Trump. Hate Catholic Church, oh but the pope is criticizing Trump.
You can hate something but still appreciate when they make steps in the right direction. Progress is never instantaneous, and expecting it to be is a recipe for disappointment and disenfranchisement.
I’ll how long you’ve been on Lemmy, but lots of folks around here are very black and white about things.
Im well aware, but as I see things in full color im going to understand that they're frustrated, but at least working on pushing for a better future for everyone. So im not just going to give up and assume they're all horrible people who I should ignore and instead try my best to work with them towards that better future.
That’s the spirit!
Why are you hijacking and denouncing a post about the pope doing good with trans politics, he didnt even order that to happen, Your country is falling apart and this is what your focused on?? People are lossing they're livelihoods and loosing the ability to feed themselves and their family and you going "well some of them don't like trans people" grow the hell up.
I don’t think the Catholic Church owns hospitals, but I could be wrong. I think the main model you see today is that hospital systems can claim tax exempt (nonprofit) status by aligning to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs). Under the ERDs, the church is able to enforce its religious beliefs in healthcare, such as the ones on trans healthcare. While that is bad, there are parts of the ERD that are tied into providing more community service and ensuring compassionate care for our least privileged communities.
I don't know how valid this is or what their source is, but I found this saying that in the US alone forty-six states have Catholic-owned hospitals, with 14% of the hospital beds under Catholic ownership, exceeding 40% of the beds in some states. The same source says "15.8 percent of all short-term acute care hospitals in the United States are Catholic-owned or are affiliated with a Catholic system."
Take that estimate for what it's worth, they didn't name their sources, but those figures actually seem a bit conservative, and not at all out of the realm of possibility. Whether it's outright ownership or just the maintenance and operation of hospitals and other healthcare organizations, the Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of health care services in the world.