Bishop Joseph Strickland speaks during the fall General Assembly meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Nov. 17, 2021, in Baltimore. Video screengrab
Posted on 01/15/2022 6:36:11 PM PST by ebb tide
(RNS) — A virulent strain of anger in various American Catholic circles is increasingly directed at Pope Francis.
But of the available issues — from Francis’ new restrictions on saying the Old Latin Mass to his advocacy of environmentalism to the wars over whether pro-choice Catholic politicians should be denied Communion, the most troubling and troublesome are the ravings of the anti-vaccine crowd.
Those who are angry about the pope’s approval of, and advocacy for, the vaccine deny reality.
They deny the reality of the pandemic. They deny the reality of protective measures. They deny the facts of science.
In the name of what?
The claims flowing across airwaves and tumbling from pulpits are that masks are unnecessary or that COVID-19 vaccines are morally tainted due to testing or development using fetal tissue.
Catholics are not the only ones who have fallen for misinformation. But Francis and other officials at the Vatican have repeatedly refuted these claims. That so many lay Catholics and clerics alike are ignoring church teachings demonstrates a large leak in the barque of Peter.
RELATED: Pope Francis hopes ‘reality therapy’ of COVID-19 overcomes ideological opposition to vaccines
Addressing members of the Vatican diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See on Monday (Jan. 10), Francis led off with comments about the pandemic. His main point: There must be a personal commitment to, in effect, follow the science.
The pope said it is important “to immunize the general population” because the personal responsibility to care for one’s own health “translates into respect for the health of those around us.”
The pope then spoke about the “ideological divides” that allow people to be influenced by the “ideology of the moment, often bolstered by baseless information.”
And he called for the world to return to reality and accept vaccines.
The world may return to reality, but what about the angry Catholics?
Bishop Joseph Strickland speaks during the fall General Assembly meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Nov. 17, 2021, in Baltimore. Video screengrab
Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, a supporter of Francis’ most vicious critics, recently Tweeted that he “will not extend (his) life by USING murdered children.”
To be clear, the most effective vaccines available, Moderna and Pfizer, were tested on one of two fetal cell lines initiated from fetuses aborted in 1973 and 1985. The abortions were not performed solely to obtain the cells.
The Philadelphia-based National Catholic Bioethics Center echoes guidance issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in December 2020, which said that vaccines tested on either cell line are preferable to those using cells derived from them, but even those are allowed because of the common good.
Too many Catholics are not having it.
The very strange “Bethlehem Declaration,” published and perhaps spearheaded by the Canada-based LifeSite News in December, argues against what it calls “dangerous, under-tested, under-monitored, abortion-tainted Covid-19 injections.”
Its signers include retired Archbishop Carlo Vigano, Deacon Nick Donnelly and catechist Caroline Farey.
Vigano, a former papal nuncio to the United States who called for Francis’ resignation in 2018, has written of a “health dictatorship” that includes vaccines.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò listens to remarks at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual fall meeting on Nov. 16, 2015, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Donnelly, attached to the Diocese of Lancaster in England, claims more than 17,000 Twitter followers. Not long ago he tweeted: “The Bergoglian Vatican is wicked and should be abolished.”
Farey, meanwhile, a British subject currently on the second papal women deacon’s commission, belittles Francis’ support of vaccines as simply “his own viewpoint,” folding her stance under “the synodal way,” according to a report in The Tablet.
The disregard for papal insight does not stop there. San Francisco Archbishop Salvador Cordileone publicly refuses to take a COVID-19 vaccine; Fresno, California, Bishop Joseph Brennan called vaccines “morally unacceptable”; and U.S. Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio says Catholic service members can refuse vaccination on religious grounds.
LifeSite News, Church Militant, and the Eternal Word Television Network, as well as smaller media outlets such as Los Angeles’ Virgin Most Powerful Radio, along with a significant number of priest-bloggers and anti-vax preachers, continue to spread the kind of vaccine misinformation Francis described to the Diplomatic Corps. Some, but not all, have been banned from Facebook and other platforms due to their falsehoods.
Catholic anger and disinformation are certainly known to Francis. In September 2021, the pope intimated that EWTN, possibly the world’s largest religious media network, is the “work of the devil.” And that work spreads far. EWTN’s quarter-million-viewer-strong television audience (in 140 countries) is bolstered by its 24-hour radio service to some 350 radio stations, Sirius XM and shortwave radio.
RELATED: Vatican tightens COVID-19 restrictions, applies mandatory vaccination
In addition, EWTN owns the National Catholic Register newspaper and the Catholic News Agency. Each outlet includes programming and reporting critical of Francis, even as it broadcasts papal audiences and Masses.
Phyllis Zagano. Courtesy photo
The poison in this stew is a general willingness to deny undeniable facts. The danger increases when clerics and other Catholics deny reality. And the people of the world suffer when so-called “Catholic” media spread the dangerous falsehoods.
(Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, New York. Her most recent book is Women: Icons of Christ. The views expressed in this commentary do not reflect those of Religion News Service.)
Barf Alert Ping
Had no idea Religion News Service was a Marxist organization.
The reality of the pandemic is that it was planned and overblown to achieve greater control over the masses and Bergoglio (heretic and minion of Satan) is in on it.
Satan is literally everywhere we turn lately.
Phyllis can suck a lemon.
It matters not the issue - the.pagan pope is sure to be on the wrong side and siding with the corrupt 🤪
There’s nothing left to hide or cover up
The pope is marxist.
Not surprised his news service is.
Satan’s Beotch
True. The fakepope is becoming more apparent to Catholics around the world as the poseur he is. This author does his bidding…she is a rabid dog….
Nice Adam’s Apple ya got there Phyllis.
The Heretic Pope, Francis, approves of what this wannabe witch wrote.
I swear, put a picture of Benedict XVI on a chair, and the picture by itself would be a better Pope than Francis is able to comprehend being.
People are rejecting all the politicians and leaders lying about how “safe and effective” it is taking the clot shot.
She’s another know nothing who denies the reality of vaccine deaths and injuries. And Francis and the Vatican don’t “refute” anything.
The Pope is a Commie Dope.
How can ANY Catholic be happy with this Pope.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Zagano
Phyllis Zagano (born August 25, 1947)[1] is an American author and academic. She has written and spoken on the role of women in the Roman Catholic Church and is an advocate for the ordination of women as deacons. . .
In 2016, Pope Francis appointed Zagano to the Papal Study Commission on the Women’s Diaconate. . .
https://wdtprs.com/2018/09/popcorn-moment-james-keenan-sj-and-his-8-women-cardinals/
Popcorn Moment! James Keenan, SJ, and his 8 women cardinals!
Posted on 8 September 2018 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
At Fishwrap, which is ever devolving into the delusions they have fomented over the years, you can read about the devious Jesuit promoter of sodomy – I know, I know – James Keenan. Weigel’s notes on Keenan’s antics are helpful.
Keenan penned a patently sycophantic piece about making women cardinals. He provides eight candidates!
After you stop laughing, take a look at his list. It’s a hoot. You’ll laugh until you stop!
Included among The Keenan 8™ are the likes – I promise I am not making this up – of the heretical Srs. Elizabeth Johnson and Margaret Farley.
Margaret, whose work was censured by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is a promoter of masturbation and same-sex activity. In her censured book, she wrote: “My own view, as should be clear by now, is that same-sex relationships and activities can be justified according to the same sexual ethic as heterosexual relationships and activities.” Yep. Let’s make her a Cardinal.
Sr. Mary Ann Hinsdale is a colleague of Keenan at Jesuit BC, so that’s not at all self-serving. She is a great admirer of the late ex-priest homosexual Gregory Baum (so venerated by certain of Team Francis).
Sr. Mary Catherine Hilkert is one of the 16 signers of the ultra-feminist Mandeleva Statement calling for an end to patriarchalism in the Church and acceptance of homosexuality. I’m sensing a theme.
Sr. Theresa Forcades, a darling of the wymyn who want ordination and, it seems, carnal knowledge of other women, is feted at the site of the Conference for the … no no… WOC: Women’s Ordination Conference for her “queer theology”. She is against capitalism and, in an interview, said: “I do call my church structurally misogynist. It’s not just a couple of priests here and there or a particular bunch of cardinals. The whole structure needs to be undone. Fully. Because it’s based on clericalism, and clericalism is based on ordination, and only males can be ordained and access the places where decisions are made. I find this completely sinful.” Yeah… she should be one of Keenan’s cardinals, too.
And there is, of course, our old pal and promoter of women’s ordination Phyllis Zagano!
No, really.
That’s enough for now. You can do your own digging. What do you want to bet a certain theme keeps coming up in their work.
Now that I think about it…
A dominating criterion for Keenan’s list seems to be along the lines of ex-Card. McCarrick’s proclivities. Is that the Jesuit standard for making someone a cardinal?
Inquiring minds want to know. . .
I’ve read where atheists claim at times Pope Frank acts more like an atheist than a Catholic. He contradicts the bible in words and deeds. They claim that the pope, like many religious leaders are not true believers. They are just doing a job for the money, fame and/or power. Sometimes that is very hard to disagree with.
Jesus said of the church “the gates of hell will not prevail against it”. Read the catechism. You’ll develop a keen conscience and then follow it. We’ve had great popes and terrible Pope’s. The church lives!
Is Pope Francis due for his booster roulette?
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