Is Pope Francis Catholic?

Honestly, I wonder sometimes if Pope Francis is truly Catholic. I know I am certainly not the first to bring this up, and tragically, more than likely won't be the last.

Maybe it's me. Maybe I have the wrong idea of what being Catholic means. 

Has the Church changed so much that what She used to teach and ask of all the Faithful is no more?

Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the Great Commission... 

Matthew 28 [18] "And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. [19] Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." 

Yet we have a pope who has stated on more than one occasion and proven on more occasions than I can count at the moment, that he has ZERO interest in converting anyone to the Catholic Faith. 

Why?  

Should not our Holy Father be like the disciples in the Bible and so many of our wonderful Saints who risked all to convert people in order to save their souls? 

What's the point in being pope if you don't save souls? 

Should not soul saving be a pope's primary duty in order to do what Christ asked of us all? 

I just don't understand this pope. 

Perhaps Francis thinks that the "spirit of dialogue and friendship which allows the followers of the world’s religions to work together to open new paths for peace in our human family" is how people become Catholic these days. 

That quote is part of a letter Pope Francis sent to Venerable Koei Morikawa, the Supreme Priest of the Tendai Buddhist Denomination recently. 

Is the "spirit of dialogue" anything like the "spirit of Vatican II"? 😕

Why would we want to "open new paths for peace in our human family" without conversion? Isn't the point of our lives here on earth to get us and all those we can to eternal life with Christ in Heaven? 

Who gives a rats ass about our "new path for peace in our human family" on earth if we end up in Hell? 

I have to ask (and I'd love to one day hear Pope Francis' answer)... does Pope Francis believe the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation? 

If he does, he's sure got a funny way of showing it... 

I truly believe that Pope Francis doesn't want to bring anyone into the Catholic Church. I think he believes the watered down, protestantized version of "catholicism" that is being toted about these days. The "Jesus is all love, and he'd never allow anyone to go to hell- and if he did, it would only be for a short time" crowd. 

That's not Catholic, its Protestant.

Pope Francis' definition of prayer is off-kilter too. 

Quote: “[prayer]inspires and sustains our efforts for peace, because it helps to deepen our reciprocal respect for each other as persons, strengthens the bonds of love between us, and spurs us to make decisive efforts towards promoting just relations and fraternal solidarity.”

Pope Francis' definition of prayer replaces God with men! It's all about men getting along for peace with other men and the love between them. Where's God? Shouldn't interfaith prayer be about people coming together to God, rather than "just relations and fraternal solidarity" among themselves? Again, where is God in all this? What's the point without God?

How is that definition of prayer even Catholic? Heck, that's not even mainline Protestantism! It's New Age! 

Where is Our Lord's Great Commission that He entrusted to His Catholic Church? 

Shouldn't all our "dialogue" be about converting people...saving souls? If they don't want to hear it, we do what Our Lord said and "shake the dust" off our feet [Matthew 10:14] and move on to the next. Time is short and souls are being lost while we embrace "the spirit of dialogue and friendship" minus God! Pointless! 

Has the Catholic Church under Pope Francis become the Church of Dialogue for Just Relations with no Conversion? What about souls going to Hell? 

"When you see a condemned man on his way to the gallows, it moves you to pity. If you could do something to free him, you would do it. Well, brothers and sisters, when I see a person in mortal sin, I see someone drawing nearer with every step to the gallows of hell. And seeing him in this unhappy state, I happen to know the way to free him: that he be converted to God, ask God's pardon, and make a good confession. Woe betide me if he does not." - St. Anthony Mary Claret

Our pope speaks bluntly and aggressively about the woes of our planet. He writes encyclicals warning us about global warming and the need to save our planet, yet says NOTHING about converting people and saving souls from eternal damnation. Why?

I want to know why our pope works so hard to save the planet yet refuses to tell the world we must be about Our Lord's business of saving souls. 

This is how it's done: 

[1] And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities. [2] And the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, [3] James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, [4] Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. [5] These twelve Jesus sent: commanding them, saying: Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not.
[6] But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. [7] And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give. [9] Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses: [10] Nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff; for the workman is worthy of his meat.
[11] And into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence. [12] And when you come into the house, salute it, saying: Peace be to this house. [13] And if that house be worthy, your peace shall come upon it; but if it be not worthy, your peace shall return to you. [14] And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words: going forth out of that house or city shake off the dust from your feet. [15] Amen I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
[16] Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves. [17] But beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. [18] And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles: [19] But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak. [20] For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you."-Matthew 10

That is what Our Lord taught us. Go out and save souls.

Saint John of the Cross quote: "I am also driven to preach without ceasing by the sight of the throngs of souls who are falling into hell - for it is of faith that all who die in mortal sin are damned. It is estimated that about eighty thousand die each day, and how many of them die in mortal sin and hence are damned? As the saying goes, "talis vita, finis ita" - your death will be as your life has been. Behold how many there are who are called, and how few who are chosen! And behold, if you have no care for yourself, your perdition is more certain than your amendment, especially since the way that leads to eternal life is so narrow."

I wish our Holy Father would remember that Great Commission wasn't about saving the planet, its about saving souls from eternal damnation.



In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 



Catholic Catechism: 2559 "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." 2 But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? 3 He who humbles himself will be exalted; 4 humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," 5 are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God." 6


Links: 

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-sends-letter-to-interfaith-prayer-mee

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1.htm

http://www.drbo.org/chapter/47028.htm

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

Don't tell me the pope is powerless!

As is my custom, I watched today's episode of Church Militant's 'The Vortex' and found myself talking back to Michael on my computer screen (I do that with the television too) and really getting sort of ticked off with him. 

He was dashing my hopes and dreams of a pope who has any influence at all in righting this ship. What *I* got out of today's Vortex (and I do hope others found something more encouraging) is "it ain't in the pope's power to fix the Church so don't bother hoping in this pope-or any pope in the future because the power is all with the Bishops. The pope has zero authority, influence or ability to fix the problems in our Church." 

How freaking depressing! I gotta say, I felt the hope get sucked right out of me listening to today's Vortex. I'm sure that isn't what Mr. Voris intended but there it is. 

The Vortex began with Mr. Voris once more scolding Catholic bloggers (and EWTN) who say anything negative about the pope's statements that too often cause chaos and confusion among the laity. 

quote: "The problem any pope faces, has faced or will face for the foreseeable future is that no matter what he does or doesn't do, the spirit of disobedience and rebellion rampant in the ecclesiastical ranks isn't going anywhere. The danger of always pointing to Rome, always saying the Pope is a heretic, the Pope is confusing, the Pope is this, the Pope is that, is that the Pope isn't the problem — just an easy target.
When outfits like EWTN start talking about confusing things the Pope is saying, the question needs to be asked: Where have you been all these years when hundreds of bishops have let the Church deteriorate and rot on the vine? Is that just a case of chest pounding to act all tough now because they have tested the winds and realize that their audience doesn't like some of what the Pope says?" 

Seemingly, Mr. Voris wants to put all the blame on the Bishops and tell us that no matter how much a pope tries, he simply can not control these bad Bishops and the Church will forever be corrupted because no pope can get the Bishops under control. 

Horsehockey!  

I simply REFUSE to believe that.  And I am NOT placing the blame alone on our current pope. Any pope who won't TRY or attempt to stand up against evil or corruption in the Church SHOULD be called out and put on the spot. The Pope is our shepherd, we are the flock.  

Right now the flock are walking around with little to no direction because THIS pope is rambling on about climate change and turning off air conditioning, while Bishops fight for immigration reform with nations, priests attend gay pride parades selling "who am I to judge" t-shirts and nuns work for birth control and abortion. What the hell is that all about?  

Don't tell me the pope has NO authority to do anything!  Sorry Michael, I do not buy that. I won't believe that. To allow myself to believe that would be to fall into despair and hopelessness.  

The fact is we need a STRICT BY THE BOOK pope who ENFORCES the Faith. If a Cardinal/Bishop shows any sort of wavering in the faith or rebellion he is removed from his position for a time(give 'em a chance to repent), and sent to uncomfortable accommodations (somewhere hot with no AC -that the pope is so concerned about- no more plush accommodations) and given ONE shot to make it right, if he refuses he is EXCOMMUNICATED PUBLICLY for the scandal he may have caused.  Do that to a few dozen Bishops and see what happens! 

There is NO reason for THIS pope to continually remove good authentic Cardinals/Bishops from prominent positions in the Church and replace them with Cardinals/Bishops who hold heretical progressive beliefs (and Michael knows who they are he talks about them all the time on his shows) other than those are the types of men the current pope wants in leadership positions. 

Michael paints a picture of popes waving the white flag to corrupt Bishops and saying "Oh well, they win, I lose, game over!" What sort of mentality is that for a Catholic to hold?

Voris goes on to say: 

quote:  "What if the Pope came out tomorrow and said no more Holy Communion in the hand, no more altar girls, no more heretics speaking at the L.A. Archdiocese Religious Education Conference, no more cardinals leading parades with gays, no more horrible catechesis being taught in schools (provided he would even know any of this) — what if he came out and did all this? Do you really think your local bishop in your local diocese, or the national conferences of Catholic bishops in all sorts of countries, would give it the slightest attention?"

Yes! What if?  

Imagine that!  A pope being pope!

What if only a quarter of the worlds Cardinals/Bishops did as the Pope said? Would that not be an improvement?  A turn in the right direction? Why can't the pope-any pope(current or future) say these things? 

And let's dream bigger! What if HALF the Bishops in the world insisted on Holy Communion on the tongue, no more altar girls, no more heretics speaking at any institute with the name "Catholic" in it? What if? 

Is it too much to dream of half the Bishops in the world listening to the pope if he said those things?  Let's take it back to the early Church.

If it's too hard to think that we can't find half, then how about a dozen faithful Cardinals and Bishops in the Church who would listen to the pope and do as he says? Would not even the number of the Apostles have an effect on the Church?  But of course it would! Look what the Apostles were able to do! 

I truly don't understand Mr. Voris today. What he seemed to be saying is we can't even have the hope of "what if" because all hope is lost if you place it in a pope to fix things, because no one will listen to the pope. That is the message I received from watching The Vortex today and I am pretty sure that wasn't the message Mr. Voris was trying to send. 

Any pope doing the Will of God can do anything...even if he only has Twelve faithful men listening to him. I truly believe that and I hold hope in that.

Voris has declined to say anything publicly about this pope, but I know he and his staff aren't blind to the shuffling of authentic Cardinals and Bishops with liberal progressive Cardinals and Bishops so that the heretical Cardinals/Bishops are in positions of power. They've reported these changes at Church Militant. And they know it happened and is happening under the authority of this pope. 

Pope Francis (and all popes) has the authority to place Cardinals and Bishops where ever he wants and he decides what sort of Cardinals and Bishops he wants in what places.  

He has the authority to decide the focus of his papacy...saving souls...saving the planet...converting sinners or leaving them where they are.

The pope is responsible for the direction the Church is taking right now, under this papacy based on his decisions.  The direction we have seen thus far is progressive- that is why the world adores him so much.  The overwhelming message the world has heard from Pope Francis is mainly global warming and 'who am I to judge'.

He has chosen a more progressive and liberal leaning Church, and to accomplish that he has demoted more orthodox conservative Cardinals/Bishops and replaced them with progressives. 

That is how this pope has chosen to lead the Church and laity along with the Bishops, who are following his lead as they work diligently to fight global warming and reform immigration laws around the world. They are following our popes lead, so clearly the Bishops ARE listening to Pope Francis.

The problem is not that Pope Francis is our pope. The problem is we have a pope who is leading us in a war against global warming and immigration reform while telling the world he does not wish to convert people to the Catholic faith. 

The Bishops are hearing that message loud and clear and like good little soldiers following the lead set before them by Pope Francis. 

We can't ignore the facts.

Michael asks, 'what if'? 

Yes, Michael, what if  the message were different? How many would follow? Half?  A quarter? Only a dozen faithful men? 

Oh what God can do with Twelve!

In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

Source: http://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-rome-be-damned

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UPDATE: One wonders if Raymond Arroyo got wind of Church Militant's Vortex mentioned above...

;) 

Must read tweets responding to Pope's "Laudato Si"

Twitter was burning up today over Pope Francis' Laudato Si encyclical.

I read a lot of tweets cheering the new encyclical and some very critical of it and others questioned what the point of it is when there are souls being lost.

But none were as...animated against it as the tweets from Brother Alexis Bugnolo...

...who had the following to say on the matter:

Just a wild guess...but I think Br. Alexis is neither a fan of Laudato Sii or Pope Francis.





In Christ,


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner


Source: https://twitter.com/BrAlexisBugnolo

Laudato Si: One World Authority Wrapped in a Papal Bow

Laudato Si ... what beast has Pope Francis created with his Laudato Si?

Does he know?  Was it intentional?

Does it even matter any more?

To give a quick summery of what I am talking about, I refer to Michael Voris's (Church Militant) "Breaking Report- Papal Encyclical A First Look".

Where Michael says Laudato Si "is not binding" on Catholics.

I don't think he's right about that - I HOPE he's right about that, but sadly I don't think he is.  Here is my comment on his website explaining why I think Voris might be wrong.

#15 from Laudato Si, states:

       "15. It is my hope that this Encyclical Letter, which is now added to the body of the Church’s social teaching, can help us to acknowledge the appeal, immensity and urgency of the challenge we face. I will begin by briefly reviewing several aspects of the present ecological crisis, with the aim of drawing on the results of the best scientific research available today, letting them touch us deeply and provide a concrete foundation for the ethical and spiritual itinerary that follows. I will then consider some principles drawn from the Judaeo-Christian tradition which can render our commitment to the environment more coherent. I will then attempt to get to the roots of the present situation, so as to consider not only its symptoms but also its deepest causes. This will help to provide an approach to ecology which respects our unique place as human beings in this world and our relationship to our surroundings. In light of this reflection, I will advance some broader proposals for dialogue and action which would involve each of us as individuals, and also affect international policy. Finally, convinced as I am that change is impossible without motivation and a process of education, I will offer some inspired guidelines for human development to be found in the treasure of Christian spiritual experience."

If that is true, its not the worst of it- at least in my opinion.

The worst part is Pope Francis telling the world we need  ONE GLOBAL AUTHORITY TO RULE OVER EVERYONE on the environment.

177. Given the real potential for a misuse of human abilities, individual states can no longer ignore their responsibility for planning, coordination, oversight and enforcement within their respective borders. How can a society plan and protect its future amid constantly developing technological innovations? One authoritative source of oversight and coordination is the law, which lays down rules for admissible conduct in the light of the common good. The limits which a healthy, mature and sovereign society must impose are those related to foresight and security, regulatory norms, timely enforcement, the elimination of corruption, effective responses to undesired side-effects of production processes, and appropriate intervention where potential or uncertain risks are involved. There is a growing jurisprudence dealing with the reduction of pollution by business activities. But political and institutional frameworks do not exist simply to avoid bad practice, but also to promote best practice, to stimulate creativity in seeking new solutions and to encourage individual or group initiatives. 

And the Pope is suggesting that such an Authority be unchanging...

181. Here, continuity is essential, because policies related to climate change and environmental protection cannot be altered with every change of government. Results take time and demand immediate outlays which may not produce tangible effects within any one government’s term. That is why, in the absence of pressure from the public and from civic institutions, political authorities will always be reluctant to intervene, all the more when urgent needs must be met. To take up these responsibilities and the costs they entail, politicians will inevitably clash with the mindset of short-term gain and results which dominates present-day economics and politics. But if they are courageous, they will attest to their God-given dignity and leave behind a testimony of selfless responsibility. A healthy politics is sorely needed, capable of reforming and coordinating institutions, promoting best practices and overcoming undue pressure and bureaucratic inertia. It should be added, though, that even the best mechanisms can break down when there are no worthy goals and values, or a genuine and profound humanism to serve as the basis of a noble and generous society. 

Folks this is NOT good news...it should be terrifying if you take a moment to look into the future of such a global power.

Here is my comment left on Church Militants website:

The days of worrying over whose statistics say what about climate change are over.

How many people think nations will willingly hand over such power to ONE AUTHORITY on earth?  Some will, most won't.  Even if its 50%/50% it will mean WAR.

As I said in the above statement... Pope Francis has just founded the tool to a One World Authority and he's wrapped it in a Papal Bow.

Pray Catholics, pray for the salvation of souls - and a pope with wisdom and foresight- we need it- badly.


In Christ,


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner


Sources:  

http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/breaking-reportpapal-encyclical-a-first-look

http://jlpressagency.com/news-stories/20150618-Laudato-Si.html