Posted on 09/18/2015 12:24:46 PM PDT by HomerBohn
“By their fruit you will recognize them.” -Matthew 7:16
Rotten Fruit #1: culture war within church hierarchy
His papacy is only 2½ years old, and already Pope Francis has provoked a raging culture war within the Catholic Church.
Anthony Faiola reports for The Washington Post, Sept. 7, 2015, that rather than stake out clear stances, Francis is more subtly, often implicitly, backing liberal church leaders who are pressing for radical change, while dramatically opening the parameters of the debate over how far reforms can go. Since then, liberals have tested the boundaries of their new freedom, with one Belgian bishop going as far as calling for the Catholic Church to formally recognize same-sex couples.
In more than a dozen interviews, including with seven senior church officials, insiders say the change wrought by Francis “has left the hierarchy more polarized over the direction of the church than at any point since the great papal reformers of the 1960s.”
There is “a growing sense of alarm” about Francis among the Catholic Church’s conservative clergy, who have launched “a conservative backlash” against “the liberal momentum building inside the church.”
The conservative rebellion is taking on many guises — in public comments; in the rising popularity of conservative Catholic Web sites promoting Francis dissenters; books and promotional materials backed by conservative clerics seeking to counter the liberal trend; and leaks to the news media, aimed at Vatican reformers.
While criticism of a sitting pope is not unusual — liberal bishops on occasion challenged Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI — what shocks many is just how public the criticism of Francis has become. Here are some examples:
◾Wisconsin-born Cardinal Raymond Burke who, in November 2014, was demoted by Francis from his position as Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, recently told a French news crew that he would “resist” liberal changes, and called the church under Francis “a ship without a rudder.” Burke also seemed to caution Francis about the limits of his authority, saying, “One must be very attentive regarding the power of the pope. Papal power is not absolute. The pope does not have the power to change teaching [or] doctrine.”
◾A senior Vatican official said on the condition of anonymity that conservatives have been thrust unfairly into a position in which “defending the real teachings of the church makes you look like an enemy of the pope. We have a serious issue right now, a very alarming situation where Catholic priests and bishops are saying and doing things that are against what the church teaches, talking about same-sex unions, about Communion for those who are living in adultery. And yet the pope does nothing to silence them. So the inference is that this is what the pope wants.”
◾In an open letter to his diocese, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, R.I., wrote: “In trying to accommodate the needs of the age, as Pope Francis suggests, the Church risks the danger of losing its courageous, countercultural, prophetic voice, one that the world needs to hear.” Commenting on Francis’ call for dramatic action and a supranational new global authority on climate change, Pell told the Financial Times in July, “The church has got no mandate from the Lord to pronounce on scientific matters.”
◾In conservative circles, the word “confusion” also has become a euphemism for censuring the papacy without mentioning the pope. 500 Catholic priests in Britain drafted an open letter this year that cited “much confusion” in “Catholic moral teaching” following the bishops’ conference on the family last year in which Francis threw open the floodgates of debate, resulting in proposed language offering a new stance for divorced or gay Catholics. Although that language ultimately was watered down, it set up another showdown for next month, when senior church leaders will meet in a follow-up synod that observers predict will turn into another theological slugfest. Francis will have the final word on any changes next year.
◾Last year, five senior leaders, including Burke and Cardinal Carlo Caffarra of Bologna, Italy, drafted a “manifesto” against a possible policy change that would grant divorced and remarried Catholics the right to take Communion at Mass. In July, a DVD distributed to hundreds of dioceses in Europe and Australia, and backed by conservative Catholic clergy members, made the same point.
ROTTEN FRUIT #2: LEFT-WING GERMAN BISHOPS LEADING CHURCH TO A SCHISM
The Culture War within the church hierarchy may lead to a rupture.
Maike Hickson reports for LifeSiteNews, Sept. 8, 2015, that Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the head of the Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), said German bishops are leading the Church to a schism.
According to the German newspaper Die Tagespost, Mueller criticized “a climate of the German claim to leadership for the Universal Church.” Many German bishops have declared that “life realities” must be taken into account as part of Church teaching and salvation. However, Mueller said the goal should not be “about adapting the Revelation to the world, but … about gaining the world for God.”
Mueller said that he is frequently asked why German bishops claim to be leaders of the Catholic Church — while flouting teachings on marriage and sexuality — despite overseeing dramatic reductions in church attendance, shrinking numbers of seminarians, and a drop in vocations to religious orders.
Mueller specifically identified allowing “remarried” Catholics to receive the Eucharist, as well as accepting a redefinition of marriage, as challenges to overcome. “We may not deceive the people, when it comes to the sacramentality of marriage, its indissolubility, its openness toward the child, and the fundamental complementarity of the two sexes,” he firmly stated. “Pastoral case has to keep in view the eternal salvation,” as opposed to a desire to be popular or accepted in the world.
Rotten Fruit #3: Vatican approves of iran deal
Jordan Schachtel reports for Breitbart that on Sept. 15, 2015, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s chief diplomat, released a statement officially welcoming the nuclear agreement between the P5+1 world powers (U.S., UK, China, France, Russia, Germany) and Iran, stating that the Holy See believes Tehran will reduce its nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Moreover, in calling for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons, the Vatican also appeared to target Israel, given that it is the lone nuclear power in the region.
H/t Fr. Michael T. Barry, who had this comment about the Vatican’s approval of the Iran deal: “What? LSD in Vatican water supply?”
Francis will arrive in Washington, D.C., on September 22.
On Sept. 23, he will be welcomed to the White House by Obama, who, in a supreme “F-you” gesture to the Church, has invited to the meeting with Francis a freak-show of opponents of traditional Catholic teachings, including a pro-abortion nun, a transgender woman transvestite, the first openly-homosexual Episcopal bishop, and two “Catholic” homosexual activists.
Provide one stitch of evidence that anyone currently in the Roman Catholic hierarchy or administration believes the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." I find this totally unworthy of credibility.
And I mean evidence, not accusation.
Exactly.
This guy is turning the Catholic faith on its head. He is wrong, wrong, wrong on many of his statements, such as atheists can go to heaven on their good works. WRONG!!! NO ONE gets into heaven on good works. It is not a works faith. Christianity is a total belief that Jesus Christ is whom He said He was. That you believe the gospel of grace, the free gift from Jesus. That you believe on Him, believe the gospel that says in 1 Corinthians 15: verses 1-4, that you believe He died on the cross, was buried and rose on the third day. THAT is the gospel. You believe. Simply believe. Then you become a child of God, and will be with Him for all eternity. I am afraid that this pope needs to get back into the Bible and do a bit of study. Looks like he may not believe in the gospel. He is not God’s leader here on earth. There is no such person on this earth. Jesus Christ does not need the help. HE is all that we need. Not this false leader of a pope. Belief in Mary ain’t gonna get you there either. That is all false religion. Simple as that.
What I do know, is that he IS the one whom God chose to lead His church in these times.
____________________________________________________________
Umm! That is not true. He (the pope) is the one whom God ‘ALLOWED’ to be chosen.
Each and every one of those Bishops has free will, for good or for evil. As did Judas (unrepentant) and Peter (repented.)
Confusion has over-shadowed the Church.
Why has this pope been so silent?
Why has he hand picked these REBELLIOUS Bishops?
He IS surrounding himself with those who HATE CHRIST and love the world. Christs Church can never, ever be of this world.
Evil is trying to destroy the Church from within and from those enemies of Christ in the world.
Are we so blind that we cannot see?
Bishop Tobin has it right. I’m telling you, to us watchers this Pop is looking to be the FP.
Absolute nonsense...he's a little too liberal for me, but remember the promise, the gates of hell shall not prevail against her.....they won't.
Which is it?
My Salvation depends and belongs on one thing - Jesus Christ.
You may forget that I know where you are coming from. I was baptized, confirmed, married, in Romanism and spent decades there. I was going to Hell, and I knew it, before I gave my life to Jesus Christ. I am not "lapse" anything, except united with God now. He gets all the credit.
The Last Days appear to be before us. I pray that you come to Christ (the real one) before the Tribulation.
You OBVIOUSLY have no idea of what you are talking about and if you don't believe in the Catholic church....what do you care????
It can't possibly happen and hasn't happened for over 2,000 years...good grief, don't you believe Christ's promise to be with her until the end of time and that the gates of hell would not prevail against her??????
Amen.
WOW, your God is a real hard nose.......a person living in the jungles of central Africa who loves his wife, raises 10 wonderful, well fed children, has no idea of who Christ is.....is going to spend eternity in Hell????
I doubt it.
Sure he is.
By the way Mrs. Don-o, do you even know the relationship between Encyclicals, Synods, and catholic doctrine?
Don't you know what the very definition of those are?
Don't you know that Jorge is about to sign a new Encyclical, and that he is bringing all the power he has to bear on the Synod?
Pope appoints leading opponents of Catholic doctrine to Ordinary Synod
Pope Francis Sends Encyclical To Republicans In Congress - 16 Sep 15
I have never seen such ignorance on the part of posters on FR as this. You make yourself look incredibly foolish.
Looks like Harry Reid in a Pope outfit
You are being handed the truth if you choose not to believe what you can research with your own little fingers Jesus will judge you accordingly. You can plead ignorance no more here it is what you do with it determines your soul’s place in the Heavenly Realms,
How many verses does it take for and RC to get the message that Jesus Christ is our ROCK, not some sinful man! When the Word of God says something once he means it, when he says something twice he really means it, and three or more time he’s trying to drive the point clean through your bone to the marrow!
Matthew 16:18
New International Version
And I tell you that you are Peter (4074 [e], Petros) , and on this rock (4073 [e], Petra)
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
1 Corinthians 10:4
New International Version
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock (4073 [e], Petras) that accompanied them, and that rock (4073 [e], Petra) was Christ.
1 Peter 2:8
New International Version
and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock (4073 [e], Petra) that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
Matthew 14:28
New International Version
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter (4074 [e], Petros) replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
Deuteronomy 32:4
New International Version
He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
Deuteronomy 32:15
New International Version
Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior.
Deuteronomy 32:18
New International Version
You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
Deuteronomy 32:30
New International Version
How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
Deuteronomy 32:31
New International Version
For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.
Deuteronomy 32:37
New International Version
He will say: “Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in,
1 Samuel 2:2
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“There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.
2 Samuel 22:2
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He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
2 Samuel 22:3
New International Version
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me.
2 Samuel 22:32
New International Version
For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
2 Samuel 22:47
New International Version
“The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior!
2 Samuel 23:3
New International Version
The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God,
Psalm 18:2
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The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:31
New International Version
For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
Psalm 18:46
New International Version
The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!
Psalm 19:14
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May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 28:1
New International Version
Of David. To you, LORD, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Psalm 31:2
New International Version
Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
Psalm 31:3
New International Version
Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
Psalm 42:9
New International Version
I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”
Psalm 62:2
New International Version
Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
Psalm 62:6
New International Version
Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
Psalm 62:7
New International Version
My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Psalm 71:3
New International Version
Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
Psalm 78:35
New International Version
They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
Psalm 89:26
New International Version
He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.’
Psalm 92:15
New International Version
proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
Psalm 94:22
New International Version
But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
Psalm 95:1
New International Version
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Psalm 144:1
New International Version
Of David. Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
Isaiah 8:14
New International Version
He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
Isaiah 17:10
New International Version
You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines,
Isaiah 26:4
New International Version
Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 30:29
New International Version
And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.
Isaiah 44:8
New International Version
Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”
Isaiah 51:1
New International Version
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
Habakkuk 1:12
New International Version
LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, LORD, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.
On all cylinders.
Few see it, which amazes me.
"But I say to you, anyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be subject to punishment. And whoever says to his brother 'Raka!' will be subject to the Council. And whoever says, 'You fool!' will be subject to hell fire."
Matthew 5:22
But I hope you don't argue that Jorge has no power to change catholic doctrine again. His documents will be akin to Obama's Executive Orders. People can argue themselves into the fence whether they are "legal" until they are blue in the face, but they waste their breath. Moreover, to argue that Jorge is not changing doctrine is....well......
As prophesied.
Is there a new Encyclical coming out?
"Laudato Si" came out a few months ago - around May or June.
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