Not so much about Jesus or souls

Not so much about Jesus or souls

St. Louis Public Radio has a report on the recent U.S. Bishops’ Meeting entitled, “Earthly and heavenly concerns dominate meeting of U.S. Catholic bishops in St. Louis.”

My only question is, What’s so heavenly about it?

The formal 2015 spring General Assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops begins its hard work in committees, much like Congress does. On Monday at the Hyatt Regency downtown, some three dozen committees and sub-committees began candid discussions after hearing the views and research of experts and theologians. No sessions are open to the public; the Wednesday day-long and Thursday morning sessions will be open to news reporters.

Why candid discussions? Why not just hedge and obfuscate?  Gleaning through the report I found the following agenda topics:

  • Plans for Pope Francis’ visit to his city in September for the long-planned World Meeting of Families
  • The Synod on the Family
  • How botanical research gardens can work with development agencies
  • Partnerships that would educate people in the Third World about heating alternatives to the traditional, disastrous cutting and burning of their forests
  • Awakening nations to the devastating toll poverty-powered immigration has on children and family life
  • Plans to make the infamous “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” voter guide much more liberal and FrancisChurch-like
  • Sex abuse reporting
  • New translation of the Liturgy of the Hours
  • Chinese lanterns

Only two of these bulleted items touch upon prayer, faith or sacraments.  These are the two that are in the most peril.  Wait ’till we see what happens to that voter guide!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firmly placed inside a den of thieves

Firmly placed within a den of thieves

That Vatican envoy to the UN, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi has repeated a mantra which has become so common in the Church today that you never read a whiff of criticism about it, despite the fact that it’s a hysterical Marxist rant.

The Google translation reveals:

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, insisted during the annual International Labour Conference to better protect workers. At the same time he praised SMEs. “In 2014 was 1% of the world 48% of the wealth in the world,” said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, who believes that it has become practically impossible to unemployment worldwide still below the level before the financial crisis of 2008 back penetrate. According to Tomasi we can no longer put our trust in the laws of the market to solve problems. “Combating global poverty requires a special effort and forces of governments, workers, labor organizations, civil society and all the private partners.” That should contribute according to Archbishop Tomasi to better protection of workers against unemployment and illness. Tomasi still urged for support to SMEs because they “are crucial to the economic recovery.”

What is the ‘law of the market’ anyway?  Isn’t it just one man paying his own dollar to someone offering a dollar’s worth of something in return?  If that’s a ‘law’ then whose law is it?

Among that group of wonderful contributors to this new non-market solution I’ve noticed only one actually pays anything.  Those are the ‘private partners.’  These are the business leaders who hope to be first in line to back-stab their competitors in the hopes they’ll receive some sort of government reward or relief.  Every other party to the good archbishop’s poverty saving effort is a payee, as is the Church, unfortunately.

A pair of new prescription glasses costs hundreds of dollars after you pay the monthly insurance premiums.  Why?  They’re not iPhones.  It’s because the process is so tied up with medical, insurance, and workplace regulatory schemes that we have no choice but to pay that.

Prescription glasses are actually worth about thirty dollars, and there are plenty of people who would be happy and willing to provide them at that price, but they aren’t permitted.  There are just so many do-gooders that target you evil market people and  your dollars for love of the poor, that we must pay, pay, and pay.

I’ve read plenty of Jesus’ parables about kings, and farmers, and tax collectors; about fishermen, and shepherds.  I’ve never read anything against property or in praise of scams.

What did Archbishop Tomasi do for lunch today?

 

 

 

 

 

Yucking it up for a better world

Yucking it up for a better world

For the fifth time in his two-year papacy Pope Francis has met with the President of Argentina.  This Latin American socialist is a woman whose enemies mysteriously die before they can testify against her, but we are supposed to believe that she and Pope Francis have nothing political to discuss.

Are they talking about Jesus for an hour and a half?

The Vatican’s protocol officer is denying reports that a meeting between Pope Francis and Argentina’s president had a political tone.

Guillermo Karcher told local Rosario 3 radio on Monday that the criticism against Francis was “disrespectful.” He said Sunday’s meeting of the Argentine-born pope with President Cristina Fernandez was far from political.

One of the things I find most upsetting about Pope Francis is this idea that his politicized and twisted understanding of Christian doctrine is not ideological, nor is it political.  The Communists stole our flag, he boldly proclaims, as if that thieving and murderous ideology were just a misnamed Christianity with an atheistic tinge.

The Pope is entirely ideological himself, if the word means opting for power politics over truth.  Francis doesn’t sound very Catholic.  He doesn’t act very faithful.  He is the least pope-like pope perhaps ever.  The only thing he truly can be said to be is political, a sort of Leftist political agitator in the role of Pope.

Yet we are supposed to all agree that all his activism is just the work of God.  He even warns the world’s bishops not be to exactly the way he constantly is, as if He were the only one anointed to promote a thousand destructive and unjust causes in the name of Christ.

That’s why it’s so important to his proponents in the Obama-Pelosi-Castro circles and in the world-wide media that the Pope’s words be given the air of sanctity, that they be treated as something ‘far from political.’  Meanwhile the Vatican is packed with leftist hacks posing as bishops who apologize for the UN, insult faithful Catholics, and can scarcely utter a propagandist’s prayer.  Global Warming is now Catholic doctrine and there is no room for dissent.  As the Vatican’s Margaret Archer asserts, “I am appointed by the Pope” and “that leaves you out in the cold!”

It seems Fernandez does have something to promote in meeting with the Pope at this time.

Fernandez is now in her second term and is not running in October elections because a third consecutive mandate is not allowed. But she remains active in the campaign, and is backing some candidates.

Opposition lawmaker Elisa Carrio was among those criticizing the meeting.

Sounds like Pope Francis has landed once again squarely on the wrong side of that political game.  Why do all these people-first people never side with the people?

That is not something for humble Catholic lay people to determine.  It’s enough that we’re not disrespectful, that we don’t criticize the Pope, or dare to call his FrancisChurch political.