Posted on 09/29/2015 9:08:12 AM PDT by BlatherNaut
Papal Visit - Ominous Harbinger Of Things To Come
Several hours ago, the pope returned to the Vatican from the United States. We all got a glimpse into what we may expect from this pontificate - and it ain't pretty! We heard some snippets of exhortation to respect innocent life, but they were minuscule in comparison with the shillings for the allowance of illegal immigration, climate change, death penalty, arms trade, etc: all the talking points that had progressives (Obama included) waxing giddy with joy. Jim Sedlak of American Life League penned his opinion of some of the pope's addresses, with which I concur.
Ladies and gentlemen, at best the papal visit was an abysmal disappointment. More troubling is that progressives of many stripes were allowed to use the visit as bully pulpits to promote their anti-God agendas: from the gay-rights theatrics in New York and Philadelphia to the staged anchor-baby stunt during the DC parade. Michael Hichborn of Lepanto Institute put up some commentary on the debacles of last week, noting that these things did not occur in vacuums. Indeed, they could only have occurred with the connivance of the prelates of the respective venues in which they occurred.
In the first paragraph, I touched upon the various issues upon which the pope dwelt. Nowhere did he deal with abortion and same-sex #mowwidge with the same treatment as he did the others. In fact, I don't think he even mentioned them by name. Speaking of name, one name that was curiously absent from his lips was that of Jesus Christ (with the obvious exception of his Mass celebrations).
When I pointed this out to some other faithful Catholics, they contorted themselves into pretzels trying to justify this glaring negligence. They said things like: "he's being gentle" "he didn't come here to argue" "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" "he refrained out of deference to the Jews and Muslims" "it's not the time nor the place" Mind you, all these came from faithful Catholics!
Ladies and gentlemen, since when is it considered argumentative to acknowledge - by name - Jesus Christ, the God Whom we serve and adore? As far as not being the time nor place, we are exhorted to preach the gospel "in season and out of season". All the excuses above have a common theme - being "nice". As we all know, "nice" is not a virtue. Have you noticed that the enemies of the faith are most astute and diligent in seizing every opportunity to promulgate their falsehoods? By and large, the mainstream culture applauds them, and we stand still for it in pseudo-respectful silence. When we dare lift our voices, that same culture shouts us down and too often we comply with their demands for our silence, for we "want to catch flies with honey and not vinegar". In other words, they define the terms and language of social conversation and debate and we acquiesce to it. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not legitimate kindness or deference. It is cowardice, rooted in an inordinate desire to be liked.
Speaking of being liked, Jesus had some things to say about that. From Luke 6:26 we read "Woe to you when men shall bless you: for according to these things did their fathers to the false prophets." Pope Francis was treated like a rock star in the mainstream culture whereas Jesus Christ was crucified. Think about it. More importantly, pray. If this past week is any harbinger of things to come, the upcoming Ordinary Synod on the Family could be disastrous.
THAT really bugged me!! The CELEBRITY Pope....the PEOPLE’
S POPE.
I find the irony is that he came to the US just before the Blood Moon =)
You might want to read this:
Methinks this pope will cause another schism in the church.
Pope Schism
Love him or hate him, he is the Pope. He is head of the Catholic church. He is considered the voice of God. Luckily for us his power does not reach to our government. There was a day when the Popes word was law, those days are over. His opinions on immigration and climate change are just that, his opinions. He can give advice to every world leader, how they take it is up to them. He is here to serve the people, all people, which is why his views contradict the way many of us think. He is trying to help as many people as he can, he should be commended for that, but unless he is willing to give his own country to the cause then he shouldn’t expect others to do so. I don’t see him offering Vatican City as a refuge for millions on illegal immigrants.
Wow - that’s about as hard-hitting a statement as you’ll ever see.
That’s all that needs to be said.
***Mind you, all these came from faithful Catholics!***
I feel so lost that all of my Catholic friends are enamored with this Pope. I am not, and I feel like I’m supposed to support him, but I just can’t. He doesn’t really seem to be that Catholic to me.
Is it just that he’s so ultra-liberal? He seems so much like a politician to me. I’ve never felt this way about a Pope before.
Unless it’s here on FR, I feel like I have no place where I can express my ideas about him. It’s very disturbing to me that I see so many Catholics, good friends of mine, fawn over this guy. To me, he is just another human being. I respect him, but I feel no connection to him otherwise.
The only thought that helps me, is that maybe he is here to save some who have wandered from the fold. His opinions make me think about wandering.
Exactly.
That right there should be a bright red warning flag.
I don’t mean that God speaks to him, I mean it in the way that God’s word is “translated” by the Pope. How the Pope interprets the word of God is how it is to be interpreted by the entire Catholic Church. I phrased it badly.
This Pope seems different to me. I am still not sure how I feel about him. Times are changing, which this Pope seems to understand better than others before him. This doesn’t mean that things are changing for the better though. Catholicism should not conform to other beliefs.
by a few maybe. I'm not one. My god speaks to me through His Son and his Spirit.
BY WHOM???
**He is considered the voice of God.**
Only when he speaks on matters of faith and morals.
Look for him to step down when he hits the big 8-0.
AMEN.
We can pray for him.
He is simply is witnessing for the Gospel of Jesus, that is all.
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