Joe Scarborough Jabs at Conservatives in the Church Who ‘Hated’ a ‘Christ-Like’ Pope Francis

BRZEZINSKI: “He chose to live so simply with a focus on the humanity of all people, even and especially the poor. Also, his focus on inclusivity, his outreach to marginalized communities. Those words, who am I to judge, will echo —“
SCARBOROUGH: “Many on the —“
BRZEZINSKI: “— throughout his legacy. Go ahead.”
SCARBOROUGH: “Oh, yeah, and I was just going say many on the hard right inside the church were shocked that this Pope would actually borrow from Jesus Christ and living that simple life, borrow from Jesus Christ, and they were radical words when he said it and it was like — it was — it was sounded like — like the shot of a cannon. It just stunned everybody when the pope said who am I to judge now? Why in the world would he say something that radical? I don’t know, maybe it’s because that’s exactly what Jesus said to the woman at the well when religious leaders were going to stun her to death and — and Jesus said as they dropped their rocks after saying let he who is without sin cast the first stone? Jesus turned and said where are your accusers now? Well, I — I also don’t accuse you. Go and sin no more. And that’s the thing. Mika, his legacy was remarkable in that Jesus reached out to those who were shunned by religious leaders in society, the lepers, the tax collectors, the sinners like the woman at the well, and with France’s conservatives many conservatives inside the church hated him for being Christ-like in that respect, just as the religious leaders of His day hated Jesus, but Francis was unbowed and being inclusive while following the word of the Gospels. Many on the left were also disappointed as we heard in Chris’s package that often his words would not lead to changing church doctrine But even that approach mirrored Jesus who did save the woman at the well, said he held no judgment toward her and then said go and sin no more. He — he Pope Francis understood the importance of opening wide the doors of the church to everybody, to those who were judged, to those to those that Jesus opened his faith to. And it really was, Mika, it really — was really radical for — for the time in which he lived, and now the big question is moving forward which direction does this church go back to? Does it go back to a legacy of doctrine and law over love and inclusivity? We will see how much of an impact Francis —“