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[Cath Cauc] Should we pray for ‘our Holy Father’s intentions’ even if a pope has bad intentions?
LifeSite News ^ | October 3, 2019 | Peter Kwasniewski

Posted on 10/03/2019 7:08:21 PM PDT by ebb tide

[Catholic Caucus} Should we pray for ‘our Holy Father’s intentions’ even if a pope has bad intentions?

October 3, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — I was in a car driving with a friend, and he said to me: “You know, it’s really hard in this pontificate to know what to do in front of the children. I mean, you can’t just pretend that everything is fine with Pope Francis. Kids are smart, and they hear stuff. They ask questions. They know something weird is going on. One day when I led the rosary, I said we would pray ‘for the pope’s good intentions.’ But this also struck my older kids as odd. Does that mean he has bad intentions? And the answer to the question is pretty obvious: yes, some of his intentions seem very bad, as the Vatican presents them in its little videos. So what are we supposed to do when we are seeking to gain a plenary indulgence, which requires praying for the pope’s intentions?”

I have noticed this question come up many times in recent years. Some families have stopped praying for the pope’s intentions altogether. Some pray for his conversion instead. That’s certainly not a bad idea, but I think we can all give a deep sigh of relief about the main question.

In the past year, I heard two different traditional Catholic priests — on different continents — give a homily on this subject. Their explanation of what it means to pray for the intentions of the Holy Father was virtually identical.

According to the Church’s longstanding book of indulgenced prayers, the Raccolta (which can be purchased in its last English edition of 1957), the pope’s intentions always include the following objects:

1. The progress of the Faith and triumph of the Church

2. Peace and union among Christian Princes and Rulers

3. The conversion of sinners

4. The uprooting of heresy

Patrick Hawkins, creator of the excellent homiletics resource Sermonry, cites these four general intentions and then observes:

Whenever you pray for the pope’s intentions, you are praying for these extremely Catholic intentions. You are even praying for these intentions if you are praying in the sede vacante period between different papal reigns. ... [W]e can with confidence pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be for the intentions of the Holy Father whenever this is required of us. We should do what the Church enjoins us to do to receive a plenary indulgence. If we do this with faith, and unite our will to God’s, only good can come of it.

In the same spirit, a canon of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest explains:

It is very good for you to have these specific intentions in mind when you pray for the Holy Father’s intentions. Even if you do not think of them specifically, however, your prayer is still valid, as they are included in the intention of our Mother the Church. Of course the Pope may have other personal intentions, and these can form part of your prayer as well, but this is not necessary.

So, then, we should be at peace. An individual reigning pope is not the only one who determines what are “the Holy Father’s intentions” for which we must pray; the Church herself tells us what they include, and we know they must always include the welfare of the Church in the four ways sanctioned by tradition and by approved publications. If a particular pope happens to have some wayward intentions of his own that conflict with the Faith, his intentions will be invalid, and we will not be praying for them.


TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic
KEYWORDS:
According to the Church’s longstanding book of indulgenced prayers, the Raccolta (which can be purchased in its last English edition of 1957), the pope’s intentions always include the following objects:

1. The progress of the Faith and triumph of the Church

2. Peace and union among Christian Princes and Rulers

3. The conversion of sinners

4. The uprooting of heresy

...

If a particular pope happens to have some wayward intentions of his own that conflict with the Faith, his intentions will be invalid, and we will not be praying for them.

1 posted on 10/03/2019 7:08:21 PM PDT by ebb tide
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To: Al Hitan; Coleus; DuncanWaring; ebb tide; Fedora; irishjuggler; Jaded; JoeFromSidney; kalee; ...

Ping


2 posted on 10/03/2019 7:08:56 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome)
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To: ebb tide

No , when God’s word is skewed in any manner no .


3 posted on 10/03/2019 7:09:25 PM PDT by mythenjoseph
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To: mythenjoseph

Might want to read the article.


4 posted on 10/03/2019 7:44:09 PM PDT by al_c (Democrats: Party over Common Sense)
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To: ebb tide
Should we pray for ‘our Holy Father’s intentions?

Yes, because Benedict is our Holy Father.

5 posted on 10/03/2019 7:48:57 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: ebb tide
This link is also good on that: What We Pray For When We Pray For the Intentions of the Holy Father
6 posted on 10/03/2019 8:39:59 PM PDT by Fedora
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To: ebb tide

NO.


7 posted on 10/03/2019 8:44:12 PM PDT by Maris Crane
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To: ebb tide

This is what I pray in the part of my morning offering pertaining to Francis:
...I offer my prayers, Mass, and Communion this day through the Blessed Mother, for her intentions, my intentions, and the Holy Father's intentions that You approve of...
I leave it to God to sort out.

8 posted on 10/03/2019 8:57:13 PM PDT by BlessedBeGod (To restore all things in Christ~~Appeasing evil is cowardice~~Francis is temporary. Hell is forever.)
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To: ebb tide
In our church, we pray for the traditional intentions of the Holy Father, which are the four blanket intentions listed in the article, which are in play even when the See is vacant.
9 posted on 10/03/2019 9:02:20 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (Sutor, ne ultra crepidam--Appelles of Kos)
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To: Dr. Sivana

BTTT!

1. The progress of the Faith and triumph of the Church

2. Peace and union among Christian Princes and Rulers

3. The conversion of sinners

4. The uprooting of heresy


10 posted on 10/03/2019 9:06:49 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: ebb tide

Pray that the pope understands God’s intentions and not his own. That’s really the trick for all of us- turn off the brain, empty out the ego and listen for God’s voice.

CC


11 posted on 10/03/2019 9:38:23 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV)
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To: ebb tide

Hey, haven’t you guessed yet? He’s no holy father .


12 posted on 10/04/2019 12:49:34 AM PDT by CAGOPgramma (In God we still trust!!)
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To: Celtic Conservative

Or try anyways.


13 posted on 10/04/2019 2:59:29 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: ebb tide

Seems rather, if the “actual words” on any given Sunday are changed (to hilight whatever this socialist wants to emphasize that Sunday), then you are being asked (tasked!) to pray for what the actual words call for.

You can’t claim “Well, that is what I want you to believe all of the previous popes were praying for.” The actual words want us to pray for animals, for social “justus” and for harm to people by artificially raising energy prices worldwide.


14 posted on 10/04/2019 4:14:49 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (The democrats' national goal: One world social-communism under one world religion: Atheistic Islam.)
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To: steve86

I, too, believe that Benedict is our REAL Holy Father.


15 posted on 10/04/2019 7:35:37 AM PDT by nanetteclaret (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column)
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