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Sunday, December 4, 2022

SUPER PROGRESSIVE HETERODOX ROBERT MICKENS SOUNDS THE ALARM ABOUT POPE FRANCIS’ COGNITIVE DECLINE


Robert Mickens, writing for the progressive LaCroix and also writes for the ultra progressive Tablet, the UK’s equivalent to the National Catholic Reporter, has in the past gushed over Pope Francis and His Holiness’ 1970’s liberal Catholicism, the kind of backwardism that the pope calls out except when His Holiness doesn’t do that.

Mr. Mickens reacts to Pope Francis’ recent off-the-cuff interview with America Magazine that then caused an international incident with Russia. The pope called out two nationalities in Russia for special denigration and name-calling. Normally this is reserved for Catholic traditionalists, but here the Russians and somewhat justified, called out the stereotyping for what it is and questioned if the pope was even Christian! Keep in mind that the pope questioned if Trump was Christian when Trump said something the pope didn’t like.

And on top of that this may have caused the Russians to then hack the Vatican website last week.

Then the pope rambled on about why women can’t be priests and talked about the Petrine Ministry which forbids it but that women can find their place in the Marian ministry. The former Irish Prime Minister, Aliesse called His Holiness out on this and named him a “woman hater”. 

Then Micken dares to say what no progressive has said thus far—the pope is cognitively compromised, talks to much and should not give as many if any more interviews which always have something in them that is problematic. 

Here is the money byte from LaCroix:

 To be fair to the pope, he said some really good and encouraging things in this recent interview. But he also repeated much of the stuff that he's already said on numerous other occasions, like comparing abortion to hiring a hitman. Repetition is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can be an effective pedagogical tool. And it's also true that not everyone tracks the pope like the journalists who are assigned to cover him. So it's probably wise for him to repeat some of things he feels are important to every single audience or group of people he encounters.But recently Francis seems a bit "off his game", as it were. He's begun making impromptu comments that are not always that clear or articulate. For instance, he gave a rambling, off-the-cuff talk on November 12 to members of the Dicastery for Communication that was hard to make sense of.And in an aside while addressing the International Theological Commission (ITC) on November 24, he offered what he called an historical example of "indietrismo" in the Church — a Bergoglism that means always looking to the past and believing nothing should change because "we have always done it this way". The pope actually gave what seemed to be a counter-example. He pointed out an unnamed group that separated from Rome after the First Vatican Council (presumably the Old Catholics) because they were "trying to be faithful to tradition" but then ended up ordaining women. That's hardly a group that says, "We've always done it this way."

Read more at: https://international.la-croix.com/news/letter-from-rome/pope-raises-more-than-just-eyebrows-with-interviews-and-off-the-cuff-comments/16991?utm_source=NewsLetter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Mailjet_04Dec22

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Father McDonald said..."Keep in mind that the pope questioned if Trump was Christian when Trump said something the pope didn’t like."

On February 18, 2016 A.D., many "mainstream" news media outlets had misrepresented Pope Francis' comments in question. Donald Trump, having believed the initial news media reports, denounced Pope Francis' supposed comments as "disgraceful."

Later that night, during a CNN Town Hall Meeting, after having received Pope Francis' actual comments, Donald Trump said of Pope Francis:

Here is the 56-second CNN video of Donald Trump's below comments:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/02/19/sc-gop-town-hall-donald-trump-pope-francis-bts-31.cnn

"I think he said something much softer than was originally reported by the media."

"I have a lot of respect for the Pope. And I think he's doing a very good job."

"I think he was very much misinterpreted."

The following year, then-President Trump reported that he had enjoyed a very warm, positive meeting with Pope Francis.

Mike Pence repotted that he, and former President Trump, also enjoyed a very positive working relationship with Pope Francis.

Pax.

Mark Thomas

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Mark my post isn’t about the working relationship Trump had or didn’t have for Pope Francis. It is about Pope Francis saying within the context of immigration, I think, that Trump is not Christian in that aspect. But the point I was making is what Robert Mickens wrote in the article. Mickens sites what the pope said about Trump’s policy making him not a Christian and then the Russians using that quote against the pope, that the pope isn’t Christian because of how he stereotyped a couple of nationalities within Russia as being particularly cruel and blood thirsty. Mickens points out the comparison and how the Russians used the pope’s own words against Trump to their own advantage.

Please comment on the content of the post and not bring up other things having nothing to do with it.

TJM said...

The Catholic Catechism does not advocate for open borders. Pro Life Trump is far more Christian than Pro Abortion Biden.

rcg said...

Dang, Mark. Keep up or stay of the mic.

I don’t think this trait is recent for the Holy Father but was part of the attraction for his supporters in the College of Cardinals. It has just become more noticeable as he loses control of his inner dialogue.

TJM said...

Maybe, faithfless bishops, priests and laity who vote Democrat need to meditate on this:

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s latest attempt to score points in the culture war came with some pious blowback when a Texas Bishop slammed the “evil woman” after a startling analogy of pro-life supporters and war criminals.

Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, progressives have continued to see the promotion of abortion as a winning issue for campaigns and fundraising. Clinton demonstrated this Thursday when she joined Christiane Amanpour on PBS’s “Amanpour and Company” to discuss the Clinton Presidential Center’s summit on global women’s rights.

As highlighted by NewsBusters Alex Christy, when asked about comments she had made in the past about “unfinished business,” Clinton was all too happy to smear pro-life advocates as akin to wartime rapists in the Middle East and Ukraine, seemingly referring to Russians.

Mark said...

TJM:

Of course, Hillary Clinton tried to score points in the culture war. Just like various Republicans try to score points in the culture war. Both parties cynically use issues in the culture war, including, and even especially, abortion for their own partisan advantage in our corrupted politics. Surely there is a better way!

Fr. Michael J. Kavanaugh said...

If only Trump were pro- The Constitution of the United States of America.

Said Trump: "“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution."

The "Big Lie" followed by: The. Termination. Of. All. Rules. Regulations. And. Articles. Even. Those. Found. In. The. Constitution.

And some of you wonder about why Catholics in great numbers found his opponent the better candidate.

Mark said...

Father Kavanaugh:

I thought about commenting on this latest Trump outrage but decided against it because I would hope that everyone here, even including TJM, would by now surely recognize what a signal danger this man is. This said, I am glad you commented as you did. All I can add is that Trump’s lawyers must find him completely exasperating. Why does he do it? Is he daring Jack Smith to recommend prosecution? Or does he just enjoy gaslighting us (and do some of us also enjoy it when he does)?

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaslighting

https://www.amazon.com/Gaslighting-America-Love-When-Trump/dp/0062748009



Anonymous said...

Father McDonald said..."...Mark my post isn’t about the working relationship Trump had or didn’t have for Pope Francis. Please comment on the content of the post and not bring up other things having nothing to do with it."

Father McDonald, the final sentence of my comment noted that Donald Trump had enjoyed a good working relationship with His Holiness. Other than one or two sentences, I believe that I had remained focused upon your post. If not, than I stand corrected.

My focus was on the fact that Donald Trump had noted that the news media had misrepresented Pope Francis...His Holiness had replied to a reporter's question. Then, as Donald Trump noted, the news media had twisted our Holy Father's response.

Therefore, Robert Mickens' claim that "what the pope said about Trump’s policy making him not a Christian and then the Russians using that quote against the pope, that the pope isn’t Christian..." does not hold water.

Anyway, despite Donald's defense of Pope Francis, and correction of the news media, certain anti-Donald Trump news media folks had accomplished their goal:

To this today, the popular belief is that Pope Francis was at war with Donald Trump. That is why I had noted that Pope Francis and Donald Trumped enjoyed a positive working relationship with each other.

Also, to this day, thanks to news media deception, the popular belief is that Pope Francis denounced Donald Trump's belief in Christianity (as understood via Presbyterianism).

In 2020 A.D., Donald Trump declared: "Though I was confirmed at a Presbyterian church as a child, I now consider myself to be a non-denominational Christian."

Pax.

Mark Thomas

TJM said...

Well, Mark, here is something which explains why you think the way you do. You inhabit the world in which the propagandists aka media tell you what to think. I am sure you will read this piece by Victor David Hansen:

https://amgreatness.com/2022/12/04/how-corrupt-is-a-corrupt-media/

Since he is Father K's intellectual superior he will never read this. Cheers!

TJM said...

Mark,

Just say Hillary is wrong. Why create a smokescreen of moral equivalence where none exists. Is that too much to ask? After all for Catholics abortion is an intrinsic evil, yet the Democrat Party fundraises on promoting abortion. There are few things that are black or white but this is one of them

From Fr. Khouri said...

Mickins is writing about the pope's mental decline. His primary theme is that the Pope is showing signs of loss of mental aquity,not about his relationship with Trump. Can we stay on target here?

Mark said...

TJM:

I read the article by Hansen. Some of his points are well taken. Some are not. I do not have time, however, to check every single one of his claims. But to take one example, Hansen refers to “[t]he entire Russian-collusion hoax” as “a complete waste of time.” As I have explained several times before, it just is not the case that Mueller found no collusion. He found plenty of evidence of collusion. But there was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy (which is different from collusion) beyond a reasonable doubt—and who knows what evidence might have been developed if Manafort and Stone had cooperated. You’re a lawyer too, so surely you understand these points and distinctions.

More generally, I agree with Hansen that the media is corrupt—just like our politics is corrupt. But what I don’t agree with is his one-sidedness. As one of the comments states, “And don't leave out the new media led by Limbaugh, Carlson etc. They are manipulators too.” Quite so!

So, if someone is going to call out the “corrupt” media as Hansen does, perhaps a bit more intellectual honesty (as opposed to partisan point scoring) might be welcome, no?

Regarding the moral equivalence point, we are talking past one another, or comparing apples and oranges. I make a distinction between character and policy. Yes, Trump and the Republicans might be right on policy, but if they are insincere and dishonest (which I believe many of them are), then they fail in the character column. Contrast the Democrats, who may be wrong on policy but who, for the most part at least, seem to be sincere and honest when they defend a legal right to abortion (even though many of them might be personally opposed to it).

Character matters to me; I am sorry it does not seem to matter to you. As I have said before, I am prepared to call out Democrats for various failings (including on abortion). I have yet to hear you utter a peep against Trump and the Republicans. Why is that?



Dave Thoman said...

Mark – Are you saying that you are more likely to vote for a candidate who holds a pro-abortion position if you somehow judge that candidate to be sincere in his/her belief that there is a valid reason to kill an innocent life in the womb rather than vote for a pro-life candidate if you somehow judge that person to be insincere?