I had wrongly assumed this priest had repented and wanted to have a somewhat obscure ministry serving people who would not otherwise have access to the sacraments. I mean that is the only sensible reason I could think of for the lifting of the ban.
I am deeply disturb by the very mixed messages from Pope Francis regarding the direction of the Church and her message to the world.
NO NEED to worry since the Church is guided by God. It's been around for 2000 years and will be around until God ends it all.
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From Wikipedia: The Church has survived the following persecutions.
Roman persecution (52-312)
Persians, under Sapor II (339 or 340), under the instigation of the Persian priests, initiated a severe persecution of the Christians.
Among the Goths (340-526)
Under Julian the Apostate (361-63)
Among the Vandals (422-523)
In Arabia: (6th century) Christians were brutally persecuted by the Jewish King Dunaan, no less than five thousand, including the prince, Arethas, being said to have suffered execution in 523 after the capture of Nagra.
Among the Lombards (568-590)
Under the Iconoclasts: (726-842) The troubles brought on the Church of the East by the Iconoclastic emperors cover a period of one hundred and twenty years.
Under the Muslims: (852-87) The persecution was begun in 850, was continued by Mohammed and lasted with interruptions till 960, when the Christians were strong enough to intimidate their persecutors.
The Protestant Reformation: (1517) It was the schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestant Reformers.
MODERN TIMES: During the second millennium the Church has continued to suffer persecution in her mission of spreading the Gospel, especially in Japan and China. (See JAPANESE MARTYRS; MARTYRS IN CHINA).
Poland, Turkey (Ottoman Empire), England, Holland, Nazis, USSR have all seen persecution of Catholics.
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The Church WILL survive. NOTHING makes for converts like persecution.
When Pope John Paul II ordered Priests to remove themselves from politics, at least our Liberal Jesuit Democrat Congressman Father Drinan complied. This guy apparently flipped him the finger.
The messages aren’t all that mixed if you pay attention. Almost everything he says has to be corrected by someone or the nuances have to be pointed out because we are too dumb to understand he’s a Communist. The “tell” for me was when he had to explain his comment on a new beginning about sodomy. The Bible is plain and the church has handled sin for thousands of years and now that we have a new pope we must re examine how we approach homosexuals? Is it to make excuses for priests? I don’t know. Sorry, I don’t trust him and I won’t defend him. I think he will be a disaster for the church. Just look at South America and Central America and see that almost all are left wing activists. They will sell out Jesus for a new program for the poor. That’s his background. It’s the same disease Pelosi and Kerry have. They compare taking the children from Honduras across the border to Jesus going to Egypt as they kill babies and embrace homosexuality. Jesus says He never knew them even as they said Lord Lord.