Laudato Sii: There’s No Need to Spin Pope Francis On the Left

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Don't let yourself be politicized, Pope Francis.

Don’t let yourself be politicized, Pope Francis.

NewsMax reports Fr. Sirico’s warnings about the politization of the Pope’s visit to the U.S.

Pope Francis’ upcoming address to Congress, during which he may warn of the dangers of global warming, could turn into a political fiasco, says Rev. Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute.

Sirico said Friday on “The Steve Malzberg Show” on Newsmax TV that the Pontiff’s tendency to speak “off the cuff” could be exploited by the right as well as the left.

“Had I been asked, and I wasn’t, on whether the Pope should address the joint session of Congress, I would’ve said no,” Sirico said.

Why didn’t they ask Fr. Sirico?

“Why? Because it lends a whole political atmosphere to whatever he’s going to be saying to the Congress.”

Pope Francis is, of course, all politics.  He has a political agenda and it’s not good.  Politicization is the point of FrancisChurch.

“There’s no way the Pope is going to come out of that chamber without people putting a political spin on it whether to the right or the left,” Sirico said.

No spin will be necessary for the Leftists who interpret his speech to Congress.  The only spinning of the Pope’s words will be from those ‘conservatives’ and orthodox who try to make Pope Francis sound faithful, responsible, respectful, or just.

“The Pope is visiting us not as the head of Vatican City State, not as a politician, not as a monarch, but as a pastor, as a bishop.”

Pope Francis is a powerful shepherd.  It’s just that his staff leads in the wrong direction.  He’s also a brilliant politician and a monarch, ruling without limits.

But Vicar of Christ?  Perhaps, somewhat, when the opportunity presents.

 

Not Buying the Jubilee Year of FrancisMercy Hype

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yellow francis

See how Our Francis loves old ladies, Hispanic kids on crutches, Native American girls with broken arms, and construction women!

I was immediately taken aback at the announcement of a Pope Francis Jubilee Year of Mercy.  Francis has never been about mercy.  He’s about license.

I was happy to celebrate the Year 2000 jubilee because I was proud and amazed at our Church’s history, but I knew this time Pope Francis was just milking the tradition, breaking ancient protocols for which he cares nothing, and abusing the faithful for his own radical schemes.

The FrancisVatican employs cream of the crop secular PR consultants.  These brainiacs toss Church devotions, traditions, papal events around like cards, commiserating for an angle to ply their new FrancisChurch agendas.  Don’t look for any Jesus PR though.  Francis PR implies Jesus PR. It would be redundant.

In Rome apparently, the year 2000 jubilee was less than penitential anyway and many in Italy can see through the charade.

Eponymous Flower has the translation.

The Italian journalist Antonio Margheriti Mastino wrote on his website papalepapale: ” Some time ago, a well-known, hypochondriacal Cardinal, perhaps under a permanent state of fear of suffering caused by the psychosis, had said in private that the IOR [Vatican bank]  was in  very poor condition and that it was only a matter of months until it breaks down. Was that exaggeration? Possibly. However, this is not the first time that similar financial situations have occurred and the Holy See has often reacted to it with an extraordinary anniversary. By this he meant that such a generous offer had been made, that could  avoid through repentance and conversion,  to reduce the budget deficit.  Nevertheless, Antonio Mastino continued, “it is a fact that the last remoarseful Jubilee did not earn   much and they had bet all on extensive media coverage. To those, like me,  who live in Rome and experience it live, it seemed like a kind of giant fairground, where all sense of boundaries had gone and in the general penance was the last thing on the minds of the participants which took place in all of  2000. This was so bad that Cardinal Ratzinger raised his eyes to heaven glancing at this psychedelic program of the jubilee  and resignedly said, once every 25 years, okay … but no more ‘ .”

On March 15, the Italian journalist Antonio Socci asked on his site antoniosocci: “Will the Holy Year, which has just been announced be centered, as the previous, on  Jesus Christ or will it be centered  on Pope Bergoglio? … The jubilee years have always been related  since the First in 1300 on dates that had to do with the birth and death of Jesus Christ; including the (very rare) Extraordinary anniversaries. The anniversary year in 2016 is the first anniversary in the history of the Church that is not centered around a historical event of Jesus Christ during his earthly life. Because they needed a reason to convene it in 2016, Bergoglio decided that it should take place on the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. But what’s this? For an anniversary?  There was never an anniversary year for a council. Moreover, the Second Vatican Council ended in 1965, not in 1966 and therefore they will not celebrate the 50th, but the 51st anniversary of the conclusion of the 21st Council of the Church.

Therefore, this is an excuse, which is more than any other ideological and self-referential, because the anniversary year refers to a church event, rather than on Christ. (When we look at similar events in the history of the church, you could organize a Holy Year every year.)

Self-Referential!  How can he say that?

Hey, did you see any of this great new gear you can pick up before the Philly FrancisVisit?

 

Francis: Don’t Be One of Those Medjugorje Catholics

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Insipid ethereal gnostics full of prayers and ideas and only seeking God?

Insipid ethereal gnostics, full of prayers and ideas and only seeking God?

Zenit News Reports:

During his daily Mass at Casa Santa Marta this morning, Pope Francis called on Christians to contemplate what exactly is our Christian identity, and warned against ways it can be weakened, reported Vatican Radio.

It is true that we are sinners, Francis acknowledged. Yet, he added, when we fall down, God’s strength enables us to get up again and continue our journey.

While sin is part of our identity, the Holy Father said, we are sinners with faith in God “who has anointed us, put his seal upon us” and given us the Holy Spirit as a pledge in our hearts.

How many times is Pope Francis going to remind us that we are all sinners?  Some may find that encouraging.  I find it de-motivating.

So I’m a sinner but I’m anointed.  I’m a sinner but the Holy Spirit is a pledge in my heart.  It was just yesterday that the Holy Eucharist was also a pledge!  How can God be a pledge?

Christians, the Pope said, are those who remain faithful to this God-given identity as the anointed ones who let the Spirit into their hearts, rather than those who follow a particular philosophy.

So although I’m a sinner, I’m a Christian so long as I remain faithful to my ‘identity’ and let the Spirit into my heart.  Well that’s easy.  Spirit c’mon in!  I don’t have to follow a particular philosophy.  Well that’s good too.  What about a particular theology?  No mention.

The Argentine Pontiff went on to warn of three ways in which this witness can be weakened.

The first applies to those who move for a concrete faith in Christ to “a kind of insipid religion of just prayers and ideas,”  a type which could be compared to the Gnostics in the ancient world.

A Gnostic was a particularly proud sort of heretic.  “Insipid” is an insulting word for people who pray and think, as if prayers and ideas were dull, dead or boring.  This is the Pope’s continual straw man.

Who are these terrible people that only pray but never love, who only have ideas but never act upon them?  Hint: None of them are liberals and none of them are dissenters.

These “modern Gnostics,” Francis said, are tempted to avoid the scandal of the Cross. Through their “rather ethereal Christian spirituality,” they are content to seek God, Francis said.

Second, there are those who always are searching for some “novelty” in their Christian identity since they have forgotten they have been anointed and given the guarantee of the Spirit. Francis joked that they say: “Where are the visionaries who can tell us exactly what message Our Lady will be sending at 4 o’clock this afternoon?”

Why has Medjugorje been allowed to persist?  It has always been what it is.  There must be a great deal of money involved.

The Pope is right to speak against it, but why now?  Might it perhaps have something to do with the fact that most of its followers are faithful Catholics?  Doesn’t it perhaps put devotional Catholics in a bad light, and make those who are attentive to Marian visions look bad?  It certainly does, as it always has, but is the Pope saying that all visionaries have that sort of ‘ethereal spirituality’ that ‘only seeks God?’  I hope not but it sounds like it.

It’s clear that Pope Francis is willing to use Church scandals against faithful Catholics.  Look at Kansas City Bishop Finn, Bishop Livieres in Paraguay, and now Cardinal Pell.  All three of these situations came from overhyped scandals.  Medjugorje is just another opportunity to exploit weaknesses.