Pope Francis said Wednesday that the traditions of the Church should not be based on opinion or ideological leanings but on whether they favour the proclamation of the Gospel.
“Everything in the Church must be conformed to the requirements of the proclamation of the Gospel; not to the opinions of the conservatives or the progressives, but to the fact that Jesus reaches people’s lives,” he said Feb 22.
Francis asked: When there are ideological divisions in the Church, such as identification as conservative or progressive, “where is the Holy Spirit?”
“Be careful,” he warned. “The Gospel is not an idea; the Gospel is not an ideology. The Gospel is a proclamation that touches the heart and makes the heart change. You are making the Gospel a political party, an ideology, a club.”
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