Excuse me, Your Holiness...

Let me preface this post by stating that as a faithful Catholic I follow and pray for our Pope as the head of the Catholic Church. However, in all too frequent instances, his quips and off-hand comments unfortunately do not match the official teachings of the Church. And that leads to confusion among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Pope Francis is our spiritual leader on matters of faith and morals, not on social justice issues.

The Holy Father posted another of his cringe-worthy "tweets" recently.

Do we really want peace? Then let’s ban all weapons so we don’t have to live in fear of war.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 29, 2018

It seems Pope Francis overlooked this passage in the Catechism of the Catholic Church...

"Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility."
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church #2265

In his defense, I don't believe most Catholics today ever bother reading the Catechism. If they did, they wouldn't be voting for democrats. Given the combined influence of his Jesuit education and living with Latin American Marxism, the Pontiff's error is not wholly surprising. Since the Pope wasn't speaking Ex Cathedra, Catholics are hardly bound to agree. As a Catholic gun owner, I feel no obligation to make any changes to my stance.

I've seen a lot of pro-gun ownership folks taking exception to the Pope's statement. Interestingly, I haven't noted many responses in support from the left, people who are usually quick to say, "See, the Pope agrees..." Perhaps even they recognize the inanity of his comment.

I wonder how these guys feel about the Pope's statement. They have no shortage of weapons in their own arsenal.

Some previous Musings on Catholics and firearms can be read here.