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Which is miqouting “pleasing God rather than men.” Did you even read what I said? If I were you I wouldn’t question what Pope Francis says or does here. I for one take St. Francis’ words very seriously, “”Never question the Lord Pope or the Lord Bishop, for he who questions either, places hismself outside of this order.” So what you said is totally out of line here.

First I will start off by saying that it’s impossible for a Pope to teach heresy. No pope has ever taught heresy. A pope can embrace heresy as an individual and this certainly has happened. but it has never happened that he taught it as part of the faith.
Popes are very careful when it comes to civil actions that overlap with moral law or with doctrine, as the case with abortion. The popes have never said that it is immoral to vote for a pro-choice candidate. If they did, that would bind Catholics at the polls, because we are bound by moral law. Evangelium Vitae very tactfully dances around elections and speaks only of abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, infanticide and embryonic stem cell research, but says nothing about the individuals. What it says about government is that government has a moral duty to protect the sanctity of life. From there, the voter has to use his brains. So too it is when the pope speaks about the economy as has Pope Francis. He has packaged his statements on the economy in moral wrappers. Morality is within his jurisdiction. We can’t just blow off what he has to say about the economy.
I fail to understand why Americans are so terrified of the power of the Church. Sometimes, I get the impression that people are Americans first and Catholics second. It comes across that way in the manner that people are often seen arguing or defending themselves from the authority of the hierarchy.

I would not want to belong to a Church where I do not trust its leadership.

You obviously didn’t read my statement closely enough. I’m not the one who made those silly statements about Pope Francis. Your statements is what was stupid in the first place. Know the facts before you start mouthing off.

“This is very consistent with Francis’ prior statements about gays and Islam. Basically, ‘who am I to judge’ seems to be his main philosophy. As long as something thinks they are doing good as they understand it, who are we to judge? Come on in and enjoy the new judgement free church!”

Nonsense! In the confessional, hopefully, the penitent has hopefully opened up his soul to the confessor as one opens a door to a room. In the setting where people are asking about gays in general, the pope is not acting as a confessor. He’s speaking objectively. Objectively, not even the pope has the right to judge a sinner. He can only judge what he sees, not what happens in the soul which he does not see. That is the judgment that the confessor is making. He is judging what has been confessed to him. He’s not making a general judgement over an entire population of people. That’s not how moral theology works. You should read the writing of St. Alphonsus de Ligouri on sin, confession and how to make judgements. Talk about stupid.

Eventually, these liberals will find that Pope Francis is no Obama. And that he’s not the progressive/socialist/liberal that the msm makes him out to be. He’s probably going to be one of the most misunderstood Popes in history.

You might want to read on Father Z’s blog on heroic virtue.

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/12/what-is-heroic-virtue/

Luke 22 even says that the Apostles were to sell their clothing to get swords.

I’m so sick of people criticizing VII and think they know better than the Church. The Holy Spirit can’t deceive nor be deceived.

Another thing too Dutchboy88,

Man can resist grace. He cannot fully accept grace on his own power. Man is free to reject God. Only with help can he turn toward God. Therefore, man’s freedom is limited with and by grace, man can love God. He can also resist grace. The seed heresy of Calvinism is irresistible grace. We were created by Love and for Love.

Classic straw man argument. No where in Matthew 16:23 does it say that Jesus took the keys away from Peter. Note that in Matthew 16:18 Jesus says that he will give the keys to Peter but not right at that moment. Also, I’m afraid that you’re attributing Papal Infallibility to impeccability. Acts 15:8 by the way is not a contradiction between the Apostles having the authority to forgive sins and God granting them the Holy Spirit. Btw, you forgot to capitalize Holy Spirit or part of it anyway.

How so? If we don’t have free will, then I guess using that logic I might as well not make the choice to get up in the morning to go work.

“My FRiend, if all was ‘good’ in the sense that you mean, then Satan was a regular, righteous being since he was in creation along with man.”

You’re putting words in my mouth. I never said anything about Satan being good.

Answer me this. If man doesn’t have free will then what are we say about these passages:

Luke 10:16 He that hears you hears me; and he that rejects you rejects me; and he that rejects me rejects him that sent me.

Jeremiah 21:8-9 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.

Tell me, if man were evil, why would man always seek the good or intrinsicly know to seek the good?

IS MAN BASICALLY EVIL?

WHERE THE BIBLE SAYS NO:

Gen 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

Gen 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Gen 6:9
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.

Gen 18:25
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked!

Job 1:8
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

Jer 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Psalm 139:13-15
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Proverbs 11:4-5
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

Proverbs 12:2
A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns.

Proverbs 12:5
The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are treacherous.

Matt 12:35
The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. (Also see Luke 6:45)

Luke 1:6 (ref. to Zacahariah & Elizabeth)
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Luke 23:50
Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,

Mark 6:20
for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man,

Acts 7:20
At this time Moses was born, and was beautiful before God.

Acts 11:24 (ref. to Barnabas)
for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

1 Tim 4:4
For everything created by God is good,

WHERE DOES THE BIBLE SAY THAT MAN IS BASICALLY EVIL?

The proposition that man is basically evil is normally defended by quoting the following verses:

Romans 3:9-12
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all; for I have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one.”

Romans 3:22-23
For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 11:32
For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.

The book of Romans as quoted above is the chief source for defending the idea that man is basically evil. Such an interpretation of these verses is clearly problematic for the following reasons:

1. In Romans 3:9-12, Paul says that all are under the power of sin. This is a reference to the “Fall” and the burden of original sin. Paul is speaking of Jews and gentiles as equal in their damaged state of inheritance, and that the Jews need grace and redemption just as much as the gentiles. All of mankind needs redemption, and man is prone to sin, but this fact does not mean that man is basically evil.

2. In Romans 3:9-12, Paul is quoting from Psalm 14:1-5. Paul makes reference to the Psalm by saying, “as it is written,” and he would not have made that remark or quoted so much of the passage word for word, if he did not intend for us to look to the psalm in order to place his own statements within the Old Testament context. The context of Psalm 14 is made clear in the first verse which states, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good.” Then in verse four and five the psalm reads, “Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord? There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous.” Psalm 14 clearly distinguishes between the evil doers (i.e. the fool that says there is no God) and “my people”….”the generation of the righteous.” This is in harmony with all of the above scriptures that state that man is basically good.

3. Romans 3:22-23 and Romans 11:32 merely reiterate what Paul speaks of in reference to Psalm 14. While these verses clearly show that men are under the burden of original sin and that men commit personal sin, they do not state either explicitly or implicitly that man is basically evil.

4. Scripture does not contradict itself. If the Book of Romans or any other book of scripture actually indicated that man was basically evil, then those passages would “clearly” and “directly” contradict Genesis 1:26, Genesis 1:31, Psalm 139:13-15, Proverbs 12:2, Matt 12:35, Luke 1:6, Luke 23:50, Mark 6:20, Acts 7:20, and 1 Tim 4:4.

What does this have to do with the current subject that’s at hand on this thread here? You lost me with that statement.

Scripture disagrees with you.

John 20:[22] When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. [23] Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

Matthew 16:[15] Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am?

[16] Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. [17] And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. [18] And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [19] And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

We are going to see a minor chastisement, followed by better times.

Nietzche: (spelling?) “God is dead”

God: “Nietzche is dead”

“Rev” Wright, just can’t bring myself to call him reverend, is about “black theology”.

It’s simple, Catholics and Christians in general are not serious about their faith. Unless the hierarchy repents and changes their ways, this kind of persecution is going to continue.