UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

* Catholics have come to expect papal pageantry and scripted settings from its papacy that still operates often in a medieval manner. But Pope Francis’ trip to the Philippines seems to have taken things to a darker side. First, there were the shocking revelations that young street children were being rounded up by Manila officials and held in horrible conditions to clear the streets for Pope Francis’ visit, as reported here:

* [Daily Mail]

* Now there is a significant short Reuters’ video of Manila’s police preventing peaceful Filipino protesters trying to be visible to the pope from doing so, as seen here:

* [Reuters]

* Of course,if Pope Francis really wants to understand what the street children are facing, he should view the PBS report about Fr. Shay Cullen. This prophetic priest had earlier in 2012 discussed his work, over…