{"id":8432,"date":"2016-06-29T06:47:58","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T10:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/66.147.242.160\/~stumbli4\/?p=8432"},"modified":"2016-06-29T08:13:47","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T12:13:47","slug":"benedicts-bleary-francislove-makes-quite-the-feeble-endorsement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/?p=8432","title":{"rendered":"Benedict’s Bleary FrancisLove Makes For Quite the Feeble Endorsement"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pope Benedict 65th Ordination Anniversary struck me as a bit ‘forced.’\u00a0 Is this Bizarro World?\u00a0 What kind of a thing is this for anybody to say<\/a>, much less one of the most brilliant and clear-spoken men in the world?<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you will continue along this path of mercy,\u201d adding, \u201cYour kindness is my home and the place where I feel safe.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Isn’t that a tad over the top?\u00a0 What kindness?\u00a0 Is Pope Benedict Francis’ ward?\u00a0 Is Francis such a great and good friend of Benedict now that he actually has a home inside Francis’ kindness?\u00a0 Is this not syrupy, soupy, and creepy?<\/p>\n

Since when has ‘feeling safe’ been something Benedict felt compelled to discuss or even praise?\u00a0 Benedict is not a touchy-feely person.\u00a0 He’s spent a long lifetime teaching vital things.\u00a0 He is a sound theologian.\u00a0 Francis, on the other hand, is all about feelings.\u00a0 God’s always caressing him.<\/p>\n

Zenit <\/a>has it this way:<\/p>\n

Thank you above all to you, Holy Father: from the first moment of your election, your kindness in every moment of my life here strikes me, your kindness really brings me interiorly more than in the Vatican Gardens, with its beauty, to the place where I dwell; I feel protected.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Your kindness in every moment of my life?\u00a0 Is Francis being kind to Benedict in every moment of his life?\u00a0 Has Emeritus not earned a bit of his unprecedented papal retirement life?\u00a0 Benedict lives in the house of Francis’ kindness, and it’s more beautiful than the Vatican Gardens!\u00a0 Is this the Song of Songs? Are these men married, or is there some deeper mystical connection to their popehood?<\/p>\n

Did Archbishop Victor Fernandez help Benedict with his brief words?<\/p>\n

In response to Francis praising him, Benedict said:<\/p>\n

I can only thus say that with these words you have interpreted the essential of my vision of the priesthood, of my <way> of acting. I am grateful to you for the bond of friendship, which for a long time has continued up to now [\u2026]: it is almost present and tangible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Have Benedict and Francis been friends for a long time?\u00a0 Until 2013, did you ever see a picture of them together?\u00a0 Did Cardinal Bergoglio have some integral key role in the JPII, Benedict Curia? How does a bond of friendship become ‘almost present and tangible’?\u00a0 If I told a friend of mine our friendship were ‘almost present,’ would he feel warm?\u00a0 Why does this new Benedict need to pretend abstract things are substantial, as Francis constantly does?<\/p>\n

In closing, the Once-Pope says:<\/p>\n

\u201cEfharisomen\u201d <\/i>sends us to that reality of gratitude, to that new dimension that Christ has given. He\u00a0has transformed the Cross, suffering, all the evil of the world into \u2018thanksgiving.\u2019 And thus, He has transformed life and the world fundamentally and has given us and gives us every day the bread of true life, which surpasses the world thanks to the strength of His love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This garbled and worldly statement does not sound like Benedict.\u00a0 Christ did not “transform the Cross into thanksgiving.” He did not “transform life and the world fundamentally.” The Bread of Life does not “surpass the world.”\u00a0 The Bread of Life is Jesus.<\/p>\n

Christ has always been an enemy of the world.\u00a0 Satan is its prince. Jesus saved men<\/em> and renewed them in His grace.\u00a0 That certainly improved things wherever it happened.\u00a0 These words strike me as a worldly twisting of Christ and his victory.<\/p>\n

Why is Benedict speaking off-the-cuff?<\/p>\n

At the end, we want to insert ourselves in this \u201cthanksgiving\u201d of the Lord and thus really receive the novelty of life and help in the transubstantiation of the world: that it be not a world of death but of life; a world in which love has conquered death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here we are again making a physical ‘insertion’ into ‘thanksgiving.’\u00a0 Abstract things become ‘tangible’ just like Francis’ kindness turned into a garden and a safe-house.\u00a0 ‘Novelty of Life’ is nothing to wish for, but it is a new FrancisVirtue that supposedly comes from the Lord.\u00a0 ‘Transubstantiation of the world’ is a sinister goal of FrancisChurch, but does it have anything to do with Faith?\u00a0 I’m not so sure.<\/p>\n

This smacks of simple utopianism painted over in Catholic smears.\u00a0 It’s not the mind of Benedict I remember.\u00a0 It sounds more like FrancisBilge.<\/p>\n

At the same event the looming and persisting Cardinal Sodano<\/a> told Benedict:<\/p>\n

Reading your words today, they seem to be an anticipation of the luminous Magisterium of Pope Francis, who always invites us to encounter those who suffer most, taking to them our brotherly love. This is, moreover, the message of the Great Jubilee of Mercy, which we are celebrating.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The luminous Magisterium of Pope Francis?\u00a0 Is he kidding?\u00a0 Benedict has ‘anticipated’ that?\u00a0 Must we continue to be reminded how much Benedict is on board with all this new false mercy and environmentalism?\u00a0 It can’t possibly be true, but we sure hear it a lot, and the AP’s Nicole Winfield certainly thinks so<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Retired Pope Benedict XVI endorsed Pope Francis\u2019 mercy-filled ministry Tuesday during an unprecedented Vatican ceremony featuring a reigning pope honoring a retired one on the 65th anniversary of his ordination as a priest.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cardinal Sodano, like the big boss who’s flown in from New York,\u00a0 went on to affirm things just as they are in the new Francis-Benedict Bizarro World, telling Emeritus:<\/p>\n

Holiness, in the happy anniversary of that distant day of 65 years ago, the College of Cardinals, together with Pope Francis, presses around you, thanking you for your long and generous ecclesial service. At the same time, we want to ask you to continue, even if in another way, your long priestly ministry, just as you promised us on February 24, 2013, after having announced your decision to leave in new hands the guidance of Peter\u2019s bark. Then in fact you said to us: \u201cThe Lord calls me to go up on the mountain, and to dedicate myself yet more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean to abandon the Church, rather, if God asks me this, it is precisely so that I can continue to serve her with the same dedication and the same love with which I have tried to do up to now, but in a way more adapted to my age and my strength\u201d (cf. Insegnamenti <\/i>of Benedict XVI, Vol. IX, page 263).<\/p>\n

We are happy because of that promise, certain that you will always be close to us with your prayer and your affection. Finally we say to you with a typical greeting of your Bavarian land: \u201cBehut\u2019s Sie Gott\u201d! <\/i>May God protect you! Meanwhile the Church of Rome, under the guidance of Pope Francis, the Venerable Successor that Divine Providence has given us, will continue her journey in history with renewed vigor, in the service of the Christian community and of the whole of humanity! Best wishes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We are happy you made that promise! (Translate: We are glad you did like we told you?)<\/p>\n

“May God protect you! Meanwhile the Church of Rome, under the guidance of Pope Francis, the Venerable Successor that Divine Providence has given us, will continue her journey in history with renewed vigor, in the service of the Christian community and of the whole of humanity! Best wishes.”<\/em><\/p>\n

God gave us the Francis.\u00a0 Now go away to your cell, so we can keep pretending what we’re doing to the Church is Catholic.<\/p>\n

The Guardian has the headline:<\/p>\n

BENEDICT ENDORSES POPE FRANCIS IN UNPRECEDENTED VATICAN CEREMONY<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

This event was a stunt to try once again to legitimize Francis.\u00a0 What would they do if they couldn’t trot out Zombie-Benedict?\u00a0 Yes, I believe he looks medicated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Pope Benedict 65th Ordination Anniversary struck me as a bit ‘forced.’\u00a0 Is this Bizarro World?\u00a0 What kind of a thing is this for anybody to say, much less one of the most brilliant and clear-spoken men in the world? \u201cI hope you will continue along this path of mercy,\u201d adding, \u201cYour kindness is my …<\/span> Read More →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[996,997,995],"class_list":["post-8432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-benedict-endorses-francis","tag-cardinal-sodano","tag-pope-benedict-anniversary"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8432"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8471,"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8432\/revisions\/8471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stumblingblock.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}