Vatican Official Concerned by Populist Leaders ‘Hijacking’ Religion

Our Sunday Visitor ^ | 3/10/21 | CNS

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DUBLIN (CNS) — Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, head of the Vatican’s evangelization congregation, has expressed concern over the “hijacking” of religion by populist leaders who sow division and exploit the anger of those who feel excluded.

Speaking after he delivered the 2021 Trócaire/St. Patrick’s College Maynooth annual Lenten lecture March 9 on “Caring for the Human Family and our Common Home,” the Filipino prelate warned, “There is a growing sense in the world today of divisiveness, and unfortunately religion is being used to further division; sometimes even within the same religious affiliation you have divisions.”

Referring to the recent rise of populist leaders, Cardinal Tagle described the phenomenon as “the return of the powerful big-boss-type of people,” some of whom “hijack religion.”

These so-called populist leaders know where the pockets of disgruntled people are, and they present themselves as messiahs, he said. They use religion as a “convenient way” of getting followers, he added.

The president of Caritas Internationalis noted that in the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis devoted several paragraphs to the matter of populist leaders who claim that they are defending the people, when in fact they are defending a certain group.

Speaking via Zoom from Rome, the cardinal stressed, “We need to study carefully why these leaders get followers; why do they become popular?”

He suggested that the pandemic could make the exclusion of people such as the poor and migrants worse, and that was why Caritas Internationalis had issued two documents calling for greater access to COVID-19 vaccines for the Global South.

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Is he referring to people inside or outside the Roman Catholic Church?

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Evil Frank wants to squelch the Traditional Mass movement.

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Pope Marx has already hijacked The Church.

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The Vatican under the command of Pope Francis is busy rebuking ownership of firearms for personal protection to the cheers of Islamic followers as well as decrying attempting any evangelical conversion of islamists plus suppressing followers of the pre Vatican 2 liturgy form including the latin mass But when it comes to other forms of mono theistic beliefs such as the One World Abu Dhabi Movement. Francis refuses to say one word disclaiming and decrying what practice adherents of the Islam code Sharia not only claim, but truly believe that God has authorized them to any evil means using force or decption used to convert is justified as well as kill those who refuse to submit to their version of Gods will .