I supposed I am "silly" and "divisive" because I am struggling to trust this pope. What he did for the SSPX yesterday went a long way toward making me less suspicious of him and "cutting him some slack" but I think you need to cut US some slack too.
The only forum in which I have questioned (NOT criticized) the pope is here and I have done so anonymously.
I do not badmouth the pope to anyone I know. Even my kids hear these strange quotes from the pope and ask me about them, sometimes in disbelief. I try to be diplomatic, and tell them that I am not sure what he means. I don't WANT my children thinking the pope is "defective" (or whatever term one would use to describe a disappointing pope), so I cover for him.
I cannot get the story of "Team Bergoglio" out of my mind. If it IS true, then that would mean we have a fake pope. Do we? I'll probably never know, so again, I HAVE to cut him some slack, but I do so in a cloud of doubts.
We have been told repeatedly now that this pope "doesn't do doctrine". My! How hip! Unfortunately, a pope HAS to be the ultimate guardian of doctrine. Many seem to forget that until recently, the prefect for the Holy Office was always the pope himself (thank God not in this case).
I am grateful to Pope Bergoglio for cutting the SSPX some slack yesterday. However, if his record is any indicator, this is the precursor to just one more statement or act that will shake our faith in his legitimacy as pope.
I'd like to relax, but instead I am bracing myself.
I'm sorry, but history has taught us that there have been some less-than-exemplary popes. I am not even saying that Francis is less-than-examplary, but I think it is ignorant and papo-idolatry to think that we are exempt from any such thing happening in our time.
Pope Francis: love him or you are a heretic, anti-Catholic, protestant, divisive, hyper-traddie, doctrinaire, narrow-minded, unrepentant,schismatic, judgemental, mean, un-charitable, homophobic, racist, jingoist, elitist, small-minded, aristocratic, bigoted, arrogant, heartless, mindless, cruel, greedy, grasping Capitalist pig who hates the Church and your Mama drove a manure truck. You will certainly go directly to Hell, where you will be forced to listen to Bergoglio sermons and attend NO folk masses with pimply-faced choir boys playing cheap guitars while all girl altar servers sing "On Wings of Eagles" while dancing the Mashed Potato. Brimstone tea will be served from Dixie cups. There you will learn the truth that God is a woman, Jesus was a Marxist hippie, and all angels are gay. Enjoy!
You are not a traditional Catholic who went to a traditional school with traditional nuns otherwise your you would know that your knuckles would have gotten a whack got your imputance and smart remarks and your father would have washed your mouth with soap even if your smart remark was true!
I continue to struggle to understand Pope Francis. He has not, to my knowledge, said anything in public which is contrary to doctrine. He has, however, often fed the media sound bites, feeding them the sweet soft center, while leaving out the hard shell of full truth. In other words, very often his comments are excerpts from the CCC, for example, and leave out the "hard teachings".
That has frustrated me, as the media are more than capable of twisting things on their own, so why feed the trolls? And the resultant confusion--for those Catholics who get their news nowhere than the main-stream media--can lead some into misunderstandings of great concern. Perhaps, in possession of only these crumbs, they may enter into sin, believing it to be no sin, because of something in the media.
The contrast with Pope Emeritus Benedict, of course, is huge.
The great shame and disappointment for this pontificate, it's great failure, is that this pope has the opportunity to correct so much that is wrong in the Church, but isn't anything to correct error.
He isn't reforming the great religious orders that have fallen into ruins. Instead he congratulates scandalous women like the LCWR which sends a message that he agrees with them. Yet he crushes a thriving order like the Franciscans of the Immaculate.
While the world, country by country, turns it's back on Christ and the sacrament of marriage he remains silent. He focuses on the environment, which in itself isn't a bad thing, but why the scandalous silence while millions of Catholics are putting their souls in jeopardy by believing and promoting things like gay "marriage"' contraception, abortion, active homosexuality, abandonment of a Catholic identity and believing that one religion is as good as another. Why the silence.
He picks up the telephone if some injustice is apparently done to an individual in some far off country that nobody ever heard of......yet he is silent when it is revealing that innocent babies are being slaughtered and their body parts are being sold like meat. Why the silence.
And the list goes on and on. Why can't Francis have a preferential potion for the poor while clearly teaching and upholding the doctrines of the Church. Yes, I know he hasn't come out officially to change anything but some of his actions and off the cuff comments give the impression that he doesn't really believe what the Church teaches. That is why I don't trust him. And now we have this scandalous synod on the family coming up that will cause more confusion. We have the German bishops now officially demanding that gay unions be recognized as a sacrament and Francis is silent. No work of charity can cover the sin of leading shouls astray from the Truth either by commission or omission. That's my issue with that man. It's not because he dresses sloppily and does not have the dignity and demeanor of a pope. It's because of the confusion he willfully is causing. He could easily stop Cardinal Kasper but he doesn't. Why? Yet he silenced Cardinal Burke. Why?
Am I out of line mentioning this? I'm looking at that video, and it looks like they set up a huge video in the church. Am I the only one who dislikes that idea? I realize they may not have had any other room as large, so I don't want to be too harsh.
I don't like it, either, Father. Our church sometimes sets up a projector screen behind the altar to show CCHD promo videos. Jesus is right behind that screen.
I plan on watching this special and I hope all goes OK, I hope people are inspired and encouraged to follow in the footsteps of Christ. That ABC is presenting this special is worrisome to me.
Beyond just the placement of the video screen, you touch on an good point. When an important person such as the President of the United States either travels to a foreign country, or is to be interviewed by someone in the media, an advance team sets everything up according to strict guidelines provided by the White House. There are valid criticisms that this can result in an "over-scripting", even a censoring, in order to achieve (in part) the objective to avoid or mitigate any embarrassing or damaging gaffs or appearances. In this case, a Vatican advance team would have laid down strict conditions for ABC to abide by. For example, the Vatican, doing the necessary diligence, would have looked at the list of churches and determined whether or not they were a true representation of U.S Catholicism. The Holy Father is not as media savvy as it would serve him better to be, and it appears sometimes that officials in the Vatican are not serving him as well as they ought. Things may not be as they appear though,and we know that Pope Francis likes to do things differently. He has succeeded in the Church having a much larger presence on the world stage and that objective is what motivates him in large part-or so it would seem.
Is the Church not filled with mortal, sinful men, who make mistakes? Christ is the Church and He promised that the gates of hell will not prevail. The 2000 year history proves this. The doctrine of faith and morals will not be changed no matter who is pope. The Holy Spirit will not allow it. Case in point... Pope Paul VI and "Humanae Vitae" ....scientifically, at that time, with the majority clamoring for birth control, the birth control pill was not known as an abortifacient, God knew, thus the encyclical. Additionally, if and when some pope changes the doctrine of the Church.....no need to worry, because it is the end anyway.
11 comments:
I supposed I am "silly" and "divisive" because I am struggling to trust this pope. What he did for the SSPX yesterday went a long way toward making me less suspicious of him and "cutting him some slack" but I think you need to cut US some slack too.
The only forum in which I have questioned (NOT criticized) the pope is here and I have done so anonymously.
I do not badmouth the pope to anyone I know. Even my kids hear these strange quotes from the pope and ask me about them, sometimes in disbelief. I try to be diplomatic, and tell them that I am not sure what he means. I don't WANT my children thinking the pope is "defective" (or whatever term one would use to describe a disappointing pope), so I cover for him.
I cannot get the story of "Team Bergoglio" out of my mind. If it IS true, then that would mean we have a fake pope. Do we? I'll probably never know, so again, I HAVE to cut him some slack, but I do so in a cloud of doubts.
We have been told repeatedly now that this pope "doesn't do doctrine". My! How hip! Unfortunately, a pope HAS to be the ultimate guardian of doctrine. Many seem to forget that until recently, the prefect for the Holy Office was always the pope himself (thank God not in this case).
I am grateful to Pope Bergoglio for cutting the SSPX some slack yesterday. However, if his record is any indicator, this is the precursor to just one more statement or act that will shake our faith in his legitimacy as pope.
I'd like to relax, but instead I am bracing myself.
I'm sorry, but history has taught us that there have been some less-than-exemplary popes. I am not even saying that Francis is less-than-examplary, but I think it is ignorant and papo-idolatry to think that we are exempt from any such thing happening in our time.
Pope Francis: love him or you are a heretic, anti-Catholic, protestant, divisive, hyper-traddie, doctrinaire, narrow-minded, unrepentant,schismatic, judgemental, mean, un-charitable, homophobic, racist, jingoist, elitist, small-minded, aristocratic, bigoted, arrogant, heartless, mindless, cruel, greedy, grasping Capitalist pig who hates the Church and your Mama drove a manure truck. You will certainly go directly to Hell, where you will be forced to listen to Bergoglio sermons and attend NO folk masses with pimply-faced choir boys playing cheap guitars while all girl altar servers sing "On Wings of Eagles" while dancing the Mashed Potato. Brimstone tea will be served from Dixie cups. There you will learn the truth that God is a woman, Jesus was a Marxist hippie, and all angels are gay. Enjoy!
You are not a traditional Catholic who went to a traditional school with traditional nuns otherwise your you would know that your knuckles would have gotten a whack got your imputance and smart remarks and your father would have washed your mouth with soap even if your smart remark was true!
Fr, I know the taste of soap! LOL!
I continue to struggle to understand Pope Francis. He has not, to my knowledge, said anything in public which is contrary to doctrine. He has, however, often fed the media sound bites, feeding them the sweet soft center, while leaving out the hard shell of full truth. In other words, very often his comments are excerpts from the CCC, for example, and leave out the "hard teachings".
That has frustrated me, as the media are more than capable of twisting things on their own, so why feed the trolls? And the resultant confusion--for those Catholics who get their news nowhere than the main-stream media--can lead some into misunderstandings of great concern. Perhaps, in possession of only these crumbs, they may enter into sin, believing it to be no sin, because of something in the media.
The contrast with Pope Emeritus Benedict, of course, is huge.
The great shame and disappointment for this pontificate, it's great failure, is that this pope has the opportunity to correct so much that is wrong in the Church, but isn't anything to correct error.
He isn't reforming the great religious orders that have fallen into ruins. Instead he congratulates scandalous women like the LCWR which sends a message that he agrees with them. Yet he crushes a thriving order like the Franciscans of the Immaculate.
While the world, country by country, turns it's back on Christ and the sacrament of marriage he remains silent. He focuses on the environment, which in itself isn't a bad thing, but why the scandalous silence while millions of Catholics are putting their souls in jeopardy by believing and promoting things like gay "marriage"' contraception, abortion, active homosexuality, abandonment of a Catholic identity and believing that one religion is as good as another. Why the silence.
He picks up the telephone if some injustice is apparently done to an individual in some far off country that nobody ever heard of......yet he is silent when it is revealing that innocent babies are being slaughtered and their body parts are being sold like meat. Why the silence.
And the list goes on and on. Why can't Francis have a preferential potion for the poor while clearly teaching and upholding the doctrines of the Church. Yes, I know he hasn't come out officially to change anything but some of his actions and off the cuff comments give the impression that he doesn't really believe what the Church teaches. That is why I don't trust him. And now we have this scandalous synod on the family coming up that will cause more confusion. We have the German bishops now officially demanding that gay unions be recognized as a sacrament and Francis is silent. No work of charity can cover the sin of leading shouls astray from the Truth either by commission or omission. That's my issue with that man. It's not because he dresses sloppily and does not have the dignity and demeanor of a pope. It's because of the confusion he willfully is causing. He could easily stop Cardinal Kasper but he doesn't. Why? Yet he silenced Cardinal Burke. Why?
And if you'd gone to a traditional school with traditional nuns you'd know there is no such word as "imputance."
Try "impudence."
-ed.
Dear Father:
Am I out of line mentioning this? I'm looking at that video, and it looks like they set up a huge video in the church. Am I the only one who dislikes that idea? I realize they may not have had any other room as large, so I don't want to be too harsh.
I don't like it, either, Father. Our church sometimes sets up a projector screen behind the altar to show CCHD promo videos. Jesus is right behind that screen.
I plan on watching this special and I hope all goes OK, I hope people are inspired and encouraged to follow in the footsteps of Christ. That ABC is presenting this special is worrisome to me.
Fr. Martin Fox:
Beyond just the placement of the video screen, you touch on an good point. When an important person such as the President of the United States either travels to a foreign country, or is to be interviewed by someone in the media, an advance team sets everything up according to strict guidelines provided by the White House. There are valid criticisms that this can result in an "over-scripting", even a censoring, in order to achieve (in part) the objective to avoid or mitigate any embarrassing or damaging gaffs or appearances. In this case, a Vatican advance team would have laid down strict conditions for ABC to abide by. For example, the Vatican, doing the necessary diligence, would have looked at the list of churches and determined whether or not they were a true representation of U.S Catholicism. The Holy Father is not as media savvy as it would serve him better to be, and it appears sometimes that officials in the Vatican are not serving him as well as they ought. Things may not be as they appear though,and we know that Pope Francis likes to do things differently. He has succeeded in the Church having a much larger presence on the world stage and that objective is what motivates him in large part-or so it would seem.
Is the Church not filled with mortal, sinful men, who make mistakes? Christ is the Church and He promised that the gates of hell will not prevail. The 2000 year history proves this. The doctrine of faith and morals will not be changed no matter who is pope. The Holy Spirit will not allow it. Case in point... Pope Paul VI and "Humanae Vitae" ....scientifically, at that time, with the majority clamoring for birth control, the birth control pill was not known as an abortifacient, God knew, thus the encyclical. Additionally, if and when some pope changes the doctrine of the Church.....no need to worry, because it is the end anyway.
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