Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Reintroducing Logic and Reason to the Age of Sentimentalism

Pope Francis

All of the posts under the "Pope Francis" category.

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

How Accurate Was I In 2016?

With 2016 behind us, it is time for me to look at how well my predictions were for the last year.

the thinker

1. Pope Francis will announce his abdication from the throne of St. Peter to be effective in 2017.

Obviously, this didn’t happen, although interestingly enough, Cardinal Burke, along with several other Cardinals issued Pope Francis a Dubia, which the Pope has yet to respond. So, while the Pope himself did not move in any direction to leave his office, it seems like some in the Church might be moving in that direction.

2. Pope Francis will release his Apostolic Exhortation in January. This Exhortation, which will be written based on the findings of the two Synod of the Family, will have wording that will make it allowable for those who are divorced, remarried, or engaging in homosexual behavior, to receive Holy Communion, based on their “conscience.”

Pope Francis released Amoris Laetitia in April, so wrong on the release date. The exhortation used the findings of the two Synods on the Family and did indeed have wording that allows for the divorced, remarried, or those engaging in homosexual behavior to receive Holy Communion. Argentinian bishops have “interpreted” the writings in this way, and Pope Francis has stated that there is “no other interpretation.” This exhortation prompted the Dubia from Cardinal Burke.

3. The new Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be in the mold of former Archbishop Harry Flynn.

Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Bernard Hebda to replace Archbishop John Neinstedt. So far, it would appear that he is not in the mold of Archbishop Flynn, but neither is he in the mold of Archbishop Neinstedt. He seems to be somewhere in the middle from what I have been able to gather thus far. It will be interesting to see his episcopate unfolds in the coming years.

4. The new Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be against tradition and will work to undermine the progress of the FSSP, the TLM community, and the progress the seminary has made.

Completely and utterly wrong, thankfully. When I predicted this, I thought we would get a bishop similar to that of now Cardinal Cupich of Chicago, who is a sworn enemy of tradition and the extraordinary form. Thankfully, we dodged a bullet.

5. Hilary Clinton will be elected president of the United States.

Thank God I was wrong on this one. I honestly thought Hillary would win a year ago. Though, once Donald Trump won the nomination and the scandals began to break from the Clinton camp, I changed my mind and thought she would lose. I completely forgot about this prediction.

6. I will blog more than The Old Evangelization.

TRCT – 36
TOE – 5

Overall score: 1.5/6

Jeff January 5, 2017 Leave A Comment Permalink

Pope Francis Could Learn Some Social Media Skills From Donald Trump

“Pope Francis just doesn’t understand the media.”

“Pope Francis’ handlers are sheltering him; he doesn’t realize the media is tampering his message.”

“The media is translating Pope Francis incorrectly, and he doesn’t know this.”

Donald Trump Twitter

These excuses have riddled the papacy of Pope Francis for almost four years now, and I don’t think they can be applicable any longer, mostly because Pope Francis has a way to issue clarifications which he chooses not to use. One of these tools is Twitter.

Pope Francis has 10.1 million followers on his English Twitter account alone. Most of his tweets are, to be honest, pretty sappy. While they do have an element of truth to them, they contain mostly buzzwords that are popular in the Church today; mercy, encounter, dialogue, witness, and all that jazz.

pope francis computer

Pope Francis is also known to read the La Repubblica on a daily basis. He has said that it is his favorite paper. La Repubblica is a very liberal publication, comparable to the New York Times.

To say that he does not know what the media is saying seems illogical to me, simply because he is reading what the media says about him daily. If there were inaccuracies, he could easily recant them by having the Vatican Press Office issue a statement affirming what he meant. He also could use that Twitter account to set the record straight.

We can compare him to President-elect Donald Trump. Before the weekend, many news outlets were reporting that Trump was planning to work on his show “The Apprentice” during his spare time.

However, Trump took to his Twitter page to immediately condemn the reporting and state that he is not working on “The Apprentice” squashing any rumors to the contrary.

This is quite the move on Trump’s part, having a direct line of communication with the American people and setting the record straight when the media won’t. Additionally, he has also been using Twitter to inform the American people on when he will announce his cabinet. For four years, Francis has seldom issued any retractions or corrections by himself or through his press office.

Logically we are left with only a couple of options as to why we see this behavior from Pope Francis.

One, he is truly being held captive. I find this difficult to believe, considering he is the Pope and he could easily issue corrections through Twitter, the Press Office, his audiences, his homilies, etc.

Two, he doesn’t think it’s as bad as it appears, which I also find to be highly unlikely, given that La Repubblica publishes articles on him on a daily basis that if erroneous, should be corrected immediately. I know if someone were publishing daily articles that represented me in a false light, I would issue some form of a statement offering a correction. Additionally, I wouldn’t continually do interviews with journalists who “don’t get my side of the story straight.” These interviews are sent to Pope Francis for approval before La Repubblica publishes them, and Pope Francis reads them when they are printed. These interviews are then posted on the Vatican website.

Three, what we are reading is the truth, and he is fine with that. This third option is likely the real reason why there has not been any clarification given by the Holy Father. What we are reading and seeing is what is happening, and is not the fault of the media, the translators, the Pope’s caretakers or anyone else but the Pope himself.

With the growing amount of criticism with regards to the heresies issued within Amoris Laetitia and Pope Francis ignoring the Dubia given by Cardinal Burke and three other Cardinals, it is becoming increasingly obvious that Pope Francis is content with the confusion being caused by his statements. His right-hand men have spent their time attacking these holy cardinals and question their faith, implying that they should be stripped of their hats (why these men have hats is beyond me).

In hindsight, when Pope Francis told those present at World Youth Day in Rio in 2013 to “make a mess,” he wasn’t speaking to the faithful, but rather, to the unfaithful. And that is precisely what Pope Francis has made in these four years, a mess.

Jeff December 12, 2016 1 Comment Permalink

Martin Luther Welcomed at the Vatican By Pope Francis

For those who argue the orthodoxy of Pope Francis, it is time to admit that he doesn’t have an orthodox bone in his body.

This past Friday, October 13, the 99th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, Pope Francis prepared for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation and Luther’s depart from Catholic teaching.

How did Pope Francis prepare you might ask? By looking into the errors of Protestantism to welcome them back into the fold? By expressing his sincere desire to have Protestants rejoin the Catholic Church and unifying all Christians? No, not quite.

Rather, he welcomed them with open arms and received the beautiful gift of a red statue of Martin Luther himself!

Pope Francis and Luther

Additionally, he was presented with a jumbo leather bound copy of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses.

Copyright L'osservatore Romano

Copyright L’osservatore Romano

But, you know, he was actually not happy with receiving this gift because it was practically like having the reformation all over or some lame excuse that his apologists will use.

Seriously, is there any question anymore that Pope Francis is actively trying to undermine and destroy the Catholic faith? The Vicar of Christ is engaging in Protestantism as if it was another acceptable alternative to Catholicism. There is no defense that you can give this man that explains away his actions.

Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and died a heretic. While there is a very minute chance that he isn’t in Hell, the odds are very much in favor of him being there. Martin Luther was a pervert who taught a doctrine contrary to the law of Jesus Christ, despite how much Luther argued to the contrary.

Martin Luther is the reason why there are so many different branches of Christianity when at the time of his revolt there were only the Holy Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox.

To put it bluntly, if Pope Francis looks to Martin Luther as misunderstood, or a good theologian or what have you, then it explains so much as to why he does the things he does.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll reiterate it again. Pope Francis is a heretic. He proves it over, and over, and over again. It is tantamount that we pray for his conversion, lest he ends up in a place that none of us would like to be.

And is there not a single Catholic bishop or Cardinal that is going to call him out on his error or are we just going to have to sit around and watch him continue to pervert the faith until he draws his last breath?

Jeff October 18, 2016 3 Comments Permalink

What You Need To Know About Priestly Celibacy

As is pretty typical when it comes to certain topics circulating within Catholic media, I am late to the party, again.

latin mass

A couple of weeks ago,  Pope Francis began investigating whether to allow married men to become priests within the Roman Rite. Yes, I know, the Eastern Rites allow for their priests to be married, but we are discussing the matter of whether the Roman Rite should allow this or not.

There is an excellent homily given by a priest that can be listened to on YouTube, courtesy of Sensus Fidelium. You can play it below:

I want to emphasize a warning given by St. Bridget of Sweden that is quoted within this talk.

“But now I shall tell you God’s will in this matter……

Know this too: that if some pope concedes to priests a license to contract carnal marriage, God will condemn him to a sentence as great, in a spiritual way, as that which the law justly inflicts in a corporeal way on a man who has transgressed so gravely that he must have his eyes gouged out, his tongue and lips, nose and ears cut off, his hands and feet amputated, all his body’s blood spilled out to grow completely cold, and finally, his whole bloodless corpse cast out to be devoured by dogs and other wild beasts. Similar things would truly happen in a spiritual way to that pope who were to go against the aforementioned preordinance and will of God and concede to priests such a license to contract marriage.

 

For that same pope would be totally deprived by God of his spiritual sight and hearing, and of his spiritual words and deeds. All his spiritual wisdom would grow completely cold; and finally, after his death, his soul would be cast out to be tortured eternally in hell so that there it might become the food of demons everlastingly and without end. Yes, even if Saint Gregory the Pope had made this statute, in the aforesaid sentence he would never have obtained mercy from God if he had not humbly revoked his statute before his death.”

Allowing married men to become priests, or allowing priests to get married will not aid in eliminating the priest shortage. It will not reduce the abuse scandals either.

What will reduce the sexual abuse is when the Catholic Church kicks out all men who exhibit homosexual behavior from the seminary and the priesthood. Additionally, when the modern Catholic church stops being so effeminate and returns to its masculine roots, then you will see more men who are willing to sacrifice having a family of their own and are willing to lay their lives down for Christ and His Church.

 

Jeff October 13, 2016 Leave A Comment Permalink

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