Pope denounces the "rigid" attached to doctrine as "Pharisees"
"maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you." 1 Cor 11:2 So yesterday Pope denounced the "rigid" attached to doctrine as "Pharisees...weak to the point of rottenness." To Western ears, it sounded as if he was criticising faithful Catholics who stick to Church teaching; he even used the word "doctrine" ( dottrina in the original Italian)which means "teaching". But that would be absurd. For the Pope, our Holy Father to criticise faithful Catholics for following Church teaching???!!!! I had to stop, turn myself around and have a careful think about what he said. Excerpt: "Pope Francis recalled how “Pius XII freed us from the very heavy cross that was the Eucharistic fast”: “But some of you might remember. You couldn’t even drink a drop of water. Not even that! And to brush your teeth, it had to be done in such a way that you didn’t swallow the water. But I myself as a young boy went to confession for ...