Pope is anti granny

LMAO - He needs to come on here for a while "Haggard, infertile and lacking in vitality!" WOW how far from the truth can you get.

I was startled when I heard that on the radio - assumed I'd misheard!

I think we should all Tweet @Pontifex and tell him his analogy is pants. Little boy pants at that.

But - the message of the rest of his speech was excellent.

Oh dear - ageist and sexist - what about the grandfathers?

I trust GNHQ will send a formal protest note to the English papal legate to forward to the Vatican?

I hope his granny biffs him in a bad dream tonight.

I would prefer GNHQ to invite him to join us and air his views on the forum. He would have a quick re-think of his views on our grans.

Good idea pompa - mind you he would probably assume that you are a woman because of the feminine ending to your name!

The best bit about being infertile is you're no longer haggard and lacking in vitality.

Silly man.

!!!

Does he know me personally?!

What would he know - he's only a pope.

The quote is "In many quarters we encounter a general impression of weariness and aging, of a Europe which is now a "grandmother", no longer fertile and vibrant"
And this from an ancient, celibate, out-dated, prelate living a cloistered life in a male dominated institution!
We may not be fertile, we may have aged, but we are not weary, and we are vibrant. He obviously doesn't know many grandmothers!

Yes. Well. If he comes round my house he will experience an impression of weariness and ageing. [shrug]

And if he came before coffee time the haggard bit would be spot on too.

How very dare he

Sounds like he was describing a stereotype which is only in his head!

He's not anti-granny - he's just out of touch.

JBF, I don't recognise your description of yourself or any Gran on here, maybe we feel that way occasionally, but never in reality.
After his comment, i think he would get lively reception.

Maybe his message got lost in translation. What could he have really meant to say?

Francis spoke about the centrality of human dignity and deplored the response of Europe to immigrants. He said that we should not allow the Med to become a graveyard.

It was a sober and thoughtful speech with excellent points. Sadly, his unfortunate analogy has brought forth outrage and taken away from his message.

Carrie, would you like to issue an invitation to +++ Francis?

'Grandma' seems to be the latest derogatory term. I was very cross the other morning when I heard a young man on the TV talking about computer coding and that he thought that everyone should learn.
He said that courses have been designed that 'even your Grandmother could understand'.
I thought 'I'll have you know, you young whippersnapper, that I was doing a COBOL course before you were even thought of!'.

However, I do hope I am not still fertile. The thought of another baby at 70 fills me with horror not joy.

I'm sure the Pope is far too important to come onto GN

Can't see him in Gransnet Towers scoffing cake and photographed with a copy of Modern Granny or whatever it's called.

Thank you Lucy.

But - can someone post a link to the entire speech, I can't seem to do it on my new iPad.

And now we've all got over our outrage let's discuss the way in which European nations treat immigrants.

Pope's speech