I would say he was worse than Trump. All of the insanity began under Trump—lockdowns, operation warp speed, massive spending to pay for it all. To which I hold him personally responsible.
That said, and I know I t’s counter factual, but I don’t believe Trump would have mandated the masks or the shots as his illustrious follow-up did.
But to equate the pronouncements of the pope with those of Trump or any other popularly elected leader does not seem quite right to me. To be the earthly head of the Church carries far more weight than any world leader. And then to push experimental shots as a moral duty to 1.2 billion Catholics? He turned himself into the greatest salesman for the most corrupt industry in modern history.
I will end with saying that your essay gave a much more favorable light to Francis’ papacy that I did not realize was there. We are all human and fallible, and according to Childers of Coffee &Covid, perhaps Francis was also blinded by the propaganda during Covid, and paid for it with his life. But the Bishop of Rome putting such faith in earthly remedies to what was clearly an overblown, rights-trampling government exercise and calling it a moral duty is really hard for me to forget.
His being lauded as a “liberal” reformer at the start of his papacy by most the of institutions and people that turned the most intolerant and fascist during Covid painted a picture for me that had me questioning his methods and positions.
One major omission in your essay was his stance on the gene therapies. What are your thoughts with regard to that part of his legacy?
I would say he was worse than Trump. All of the insanity began under Trump—lockdowns, operation warp speed, massive spending to pay for it all. To which I hold him personally responsible.
That said, and I know I t’s counter factual, but I don’t believe Trump would have mandated the masks or the shots as his illustrious follow-up did.
But to equate the pronouncements of the pope with those of Trump or any other popularly elected leader does not seem quite right to me. To be the earthly head of the Church carries far more weight than any world leader. And then to push experimental shots as a moral duty to 1.2 billion Catholics? He turned himself into the greatest salesman for the most corrupt industry in modern history.
I will end with saying that your essay gave a much more favorable light to Francis’ papacy that I did not realize was there. We are all human and fallible, and according to Childers of Coffee &Covid, perhaps Francis was also blinded by the propaganda during Covid, and paid for it with his life. But the Bishop of Rome putting such faith in earthly remedies to what was clearly an overblown, rights-trampling government exercise and calling it a moral duty is really hard for me to forget.
I agree with you. Terrible. But compared to Peter's denial of Christ?
An interesting take on Francis.
His being lauded as a “liberal” reformer at the start of his papacy by most the of institutions and people that turned the most intolerant and fascist during Covid painted a picture for me that had me questioning his methods and positions.
One major omission in your essay was his stance on the gene therapies. What are your thoughts with regard to that part of his legacy?
And check this out: https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/memento-mori-tuesday-april-22-2025?r=gjvek&utm_medium=ios.
Childers’ theory on the shots initiating Francis’ rapid health decline is quite persuasive.
Agreed, he was terrible on the vaccine. But no worse than Trump?