Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Reintroducing Logic and Reason to the Age of Sentimentalism

Papacy

All of the posts under the "Papacy" category.

Four Years of a Disastrous, If Not, the Worst Papacy

Much ink has been spilled these last four years writing about Pope Francis. Since his elevation to the Papacy, Jorge Bergoglio has given reason to spill ink on an almost daily basis.

Pope Francis Rolling Stone Cover

He has given many interviews in which he provides ammunition to the enemies of Christ and her Church. He has surrounded himself with Cardinals who were, for the most part, considered radically liberal and had been pushed to the wayside. He continues to undermine the pontificates of his predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, by his attacks on the family, the Liturgy, tradition, and everything Catholic. He undermines Jesus Christ by creating new teachings that are contrary to what Our Lord has given us in the Gospel relating to divorce and remarriage.

It gets tiring.

His latest assault on the Church is against the priesthood. He suggests that Catholic men who have been married may potentially be able to become priests, a practice which hasn’t existed in the Roman Rite for close to 1900 years (except converts from Anglicanism or Orthodoxy).

But this shouldn’t surprise us, after all, Pope Francis is a follower of “the god of surprises.”

Pope Francis must sense that something is afoot and that his time as the Pope is coming to an end. His novel teachings of blatant disregard to Catholic teaching are becoming more accelerated, quicker, and more frequent. Four years ago it was every few weeks in which he said or did something scandalous; now it is a daily occurrence. Perhaps the thought of the canonical penalties of refusing to respond to a dubia are weighing on him?

To say that the conservatives and traditionalists are unopen to the Holy Ghost is, quite possibly, one of the saddest excuses I’ve heard to defend this man. A Pope can’t change teachings of the Church which have excommunications on them. A Pope can’t change the teachings of Jesus Christ. This Pope attempts to and receives praise for it.

Clergy who argued with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II about the need to change Church teaching are strengthened by Pope Francis. These clergymen continue to wreck havoc with their false mercy allowing those who are unrepentant to receive access to the sacrament while ridiculing the repentant as being too rigid.

No other Pope has been as popular by secular culture as Pope Francis is. Jesus Christ was crucified by the society in which He lived, for our sins; Pope Francis is set on a pedestal and praised for his inclusiveness and mercy. Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II were regularly mocked by the media and society in general.

Pope Francis will likely go down in history as one of, if not the worst Pope in the entire history of the Catholic Church, putting to shame the horrendous papacies of the 1000s and Borgia Popes of the 1500s. While those Popes lived disgusting, vile, and sinful lives, they at least taught the Catholic faith as it had been given to them. Pope Francis, on the other hand, teaches a doctrine contrary to what has been given to him and lives a life that matches that heretical doctrine.

Pope Francis Loggia

It has been four years of this pontificate, and I will not bore you with anymore (at least in this post). For those who follow this blog regularly, you know where I stand. May the Lord spare us any more of this non-sense.

Jeff March 12, 2017 Leave A Comment Permalink

On This Fourth Anniversary of Pope Benedict’s Abdication

On this fourth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s abdication of the Papacy, I have some musings that I have been thinking of for some time.

Thoughts on Pope Benedict's Resignation

For Catholics, we are living in a rather difficult period in the Chuch’s almost 2,000-year history. Under the papacy of Pope Francis, faithful Catholics are ridiculed, mocked, and left with a feeling that we have been bad simply for following the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church.

In contrast with that of Pope Benedict, we feel that we had it so wonderful under his reign. After all, he gave us Summorum Pontificum, encouraged the return to Latin, Ad Orientem, and other reforms to bring reverence back to the Liturgy. I have heard many Catholics pine for the days of Pope Benedict, wishing that we could have him back as our Pope and talk about how great of a Pope he was.

I wish I could say I felt the same way.

Pope Benedict

The truth is, we can thank Pope Benedict for Pope Francis. Pope Benedict, for whatever reason, abdicated the throne. Why he did this has been up for debate for the last four years. Some speculate he was blackmailed, tired, ill, opposed from within (St. Gallen mafia), couldn’t handle the politics, and I’m sure many other reasons that I have yet heard. But for whatever reason, he abandoned us.

If Pope Francis is the abusive father that berates his children behind closed doors and puts on a show of pleasantries for the world to see, Pope Benedict is the father who walked out on his wife and children and left them alone and wounded for the abusive father to waltz right in.

Pope Francis glare

What the Church needs right now is not a return of Pope Benedict, but rather, a Pope who will defend the Church, her teachings, Christ’s teachings, and proclaim the Gospel as given to us by Jesus Christ. We do not need a Pope who will only go half way, but a Pope who will stand by the Church and with full force return her to her former glory.

Enough of the liberal nonsense, enough of the modernist propaganda, enough of the Protestant, all religions are the same garbage and enough of the globalist mentality that has infected and wounded the Church for the last 100 years.

Pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict, pray for Pope Francis, pray for the Church, and pray that God spares us any more of this disastrous papacy.

Jeff February 11, 2017 3 Comments Permalink

Pope Francis Denies the Catholic Faith and Precepts of the Church…Again

Three years ago I publicly blogged that Pope Francis was a heretic. The reason being that he stated, “if you do not feel you are in need of God’s mercy, then you better not go to Mass.” While we might initially react that this is sound advice, we must remember that Catholics are morally obligated to attend Mass every single Sunday. What we are not morally obligated to do is to receive the Holy Eucharist. We are only required to receive only once a year, and it is preferable to do so around Easter.

Pope Francis Staring

Being that this was still early in his papacy, not even completing his first year, I faced much criticism. I ended up taking the original post down and republishing it on the two-year anniversary of the original publish date. Interestingly enough, Pope Francis has again said something similar.

Speaking to the youth of the parish of Santa Maria in the city of Guidonia, Pope Francis said:

If I say I am Catholic and go to Mass, but then don’t speak with my parents, help my grandparents or the poor, go and see those who are sick, this does not prove my faith, there’s no point. So it is none other than parrot Christians, words, words, words, I wonder if you remember that song. Christian witness you do with three things: the word, the heart, the hands.

While these acts fall under both the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, they are not required, nor are they morally obligated to stay in a state of grace. What is necessary is going to Mass each and every week, whether you want to or not.

It is good to perform the works of mercy, as there is great grace that God bestows to those who perform them faithfully. But to say that one who does not perform these works makes Mass pointless, and then to call the individual a “parrot Christian,” is not only insulting to the Catholic who does fulfill his weekly Mass attendance, but to Christ and His Church who gave us the commandment.

Time and time again, we have witnessed the Holy Father insult the Catholic faith and those who make a conscious effort to follow Jesus faithfully. For those who have been paying attention these last four years, especially this past year, you have realized that we have a Pope who very likely doesn’t believe the Catholic faith, as he is constantly rushing to change pastoral practice at every turn.

There are still those out there who believe that Pope Francis is a holy man and is in the mold of his predecessors. Can you imagine Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI insulting Catholics who faithfully practice their faith by calling them “parrot Christians” for their shortcomings? Can you imagine either of these Popes being offended that a particular group prayed so many Rosaries for them? Can you imagine either of these Popes changing the rubrics of the Mass simply so that they can break them after they go into effect?

I can’t.

Simply put, upon the election of Pope Francis, it was very evident that there was a clear break from previous Popes. When faithful Cardinals who were very close to Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI were ostracized, and unfaithful Cardinals who were clear enemies by the previous two pontiffs become best friends with Pope Francis, you know that we have a problem. And you are silly for thinking that everything is just fine.

Jeff January 17, 2017 2 Comments Permalink

Common Sense Commentary on Pope Francis and the State of the Church

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from my friend, Wes Hardin. He has a Masters in Theological Studies from Ave Maria University’s Insitute of Pastoral Theology. He originally posted this on his Facebook wall and I was impressed with the quality and precision of his thoughts on the state of the Church in relation to the papacy of Pope Francis. While many of my critics will look at this as “another bash Francis post”, it is important to recognize what Catholicism is and if each and every single Catholic is responsible for living a good and holy life, then that too extends to the Holy Father. The faith is not decided by the Pope, but he is given the keys of the Church, to safeguard her treasures and her teachings, not to drive it around as if it were daddy’s shiny corvette around town, trying to impress all those he passes.

Without further ado, here is the article.

Pope Francis Papal Presser-AP

So, there’s been [yet another – will it ever end?] media kerfuffle involving Pope Francis…surprise, surprise. Those who dismiss the criticism and hide behind so-called “translation errors” and “context/off-the-cuff/subtext” are just kidding themselves. Those who dismiss Pope Francis’ legitimacy as the Vicar of Christ on Earth (God help us!) are kidding themselves as well. The fact of the matter is: We have a bad Pope; that is, we have a Pope who hardly even popes, and when he does, he maliciously calumnies those who have merely been faithful to Catholicism in both the big and small things.

The thing that troubles me so regarding the current and deplorable state of the Catholic Church isn’t so much that we have a bad Pope (if you disagree, I suggest you take a big dose of reality), but that he is simply a realistic representation of the current state of Catholic clergy. Seriously, there are too few priests and bishops whom I have met (and I have met and worked closely with many…as in a lot) in my time with Catholicism (which predates my Confirmation and First Communion in 2011 by quite a bit) who think, speak, act, lead, pray, believe, confess in the same manner as His Holiness, Pope Francis does. In the end, he is a typical *modern* Jesuit, which makes him a typical *modern* cleric, which makes the current situation that Catholicism finds itself in to be nothing more than total and utter shambles. “A city half in ruins, half trembling,” as some might say.

For those of you who would like to debate about how I’ve “abandoned all hope,” and don’t truly believe that “the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church,” I’ll save you the trouble: that’s not what I’m saying here at all…Take a deep breath, and think…just exactly is the Church (non-Catholics need not chime in on this particular note, not interested in that rabbit-hole right now)? What exactly needs to concretely exist for there to be a Church? How many were there at the beginning? How many are there really now. Seriously…think, think, think.

All this being said Pope Francis still remains the Vicar of Christ on Earth, and he has every respect from me that is due him as a brother in the Image of God, the Holy Father, and public figure. I’m just saying that he’s bad at being those things, and I lament that fact. I pray for him daily…for his intentions (though I dare not mention them specifically, because, well…material heresy…), his conversion, and for an end to the madness. I exhort you, in the name of Christian Charity, to do the same.

Wes Hardin December 2, 2015 2 Comments Permalink

Legitimate Criticism of the Pope

With Pope Francis’ trip to Cuba and the United States, it has come to my attention that Pope worship, or Papolatry, is at a record high. Many of these Catholics who are guilty of Papolatry are responding rather negatively about those who are criticizing Pope Francis’ actions, in regards to his public speeches, as well as his general conduct. A year ago I wrote in some length about how the Pope is not infallible when it comes to anything he does off-the-cuff or outside of the realm of teaching faith and morals as long as it is done with respect to the office of the Papacy and charitably. You can read that here.

125_Catherine_GregoryXI

This week I have been bombarded with accusations saying that I am not a good Catholic due my criticisms and disagreements with Pope Francis. One accusation that was thrown my way was that I was “being an unfaithful son of the Church”. It struck me as odd that criticizing the Pope’s words, especially when he is speaking of his own personal opinions (read: not official Catholic teaching) is considered being an unfaithful son. Even more ironic is that more often than not, you can find Pope Francis’ speeches actually conflict with Catholic thinking regardless if his predecessors Popes John Paul II or Benedict XVI performed the same actions or speeches.

I, as a faithful son of the Church, am to reject heresy, no matter who utters it. I imagine these papolaters would have been the first in line to criticize St. Paul when he criticized Pope St. Peter, St. Catherine of Siena when she criticized Pope Gregory XI or St. Athanasius when he fought tooth and nail against Arianism, even being excommunicated for doing so.

While I’m not a saint, to say that no-one can criticize the Pope is an error that is proven wrong by the aforementioned saints. They saw heresy and fought it. This pontificate is riddled with error and Modernism. To argue otherwise demonstrates a lack of knowledge of Catholic teaching and a lack of understanding of Dogma and Doctrine.

We have a Pope who claims to defend the Family, yet is inviting mostly the enemies of the Family and the Church to the Synod. He proudly announces how “serene” Cardinal Kasper’s theology is and how it’s an example of doing “theology on one’s knees”.

We are in odd times, and to falsely proclaim that we can’t point this out is willful ignorance and promotion of error. These individuals may call me a poor son of the Church, but I won’t ever stop pointing out the errors of this pontificate. I will not tolerate error.

Continue to fight against error. We have 2,000 years of Church teaching to stem from, not the last 50 years or even worse, the last two and a half. Jesus Christ is unchanging. If you encounter a teaching that is contrary to what Jesus has given, then you can be assured that it is incorrect, no matter who says it, including the Pope.

Jeff September 27, 2015 1 Comment Permalink

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