Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] The St. Gallen Mafia and Orwellian FrancisIn George Orwell’s 1984, no one is supposed to know about anything predating the Revolution that put the now-dominant Party in power. In Orwell’s dystopian prophecy, the records must all be redacted, the memories must all be censored, and the statues must all be renamed to align with the Party’s official account of history. In an eerily similar way, under the current regime of Pope Francis, a dubious history of the 2005 conclave is now being recirculated. With his new interview on the 2005 papal election, Francis is retelling an edited version...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinals worried about liberation theology in 2013 conclave, pope saysA group of cardinals asked Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in-depth questions about liberation theology and its political consequences before deciding to elect him pope in 2013, Pope Francis said.In the book-length interview, "El Sucesor" ("The Succesor"), published in Spain April 3, the pope said he "did not realize" that he was a serious candidate for the papacy in 2013, but that he began to put together the pieces of a campaign to elect him after a group of cardinals asked him about liberation theology — a theological approach developed...

[Catholic Caucus] Was Pope Francis ‘used’ by liberal cardinals in attempt to thwart Benedict XVI’s election?While Pope Francis' comments about the 2005 conclave have made waves, several aspects require further investigation.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has confirmed prior information that he was a close contender to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during the 2005 papal conclave, while also claiming he was “used” by other cardinals and that he himself voted for the future Pope Benedict XVI. “In that conclave – the data is known – they used me,” said Pope Francis, in a preview chapter released Easter Sunday, ahead of the...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope says he was 'used' in 2005 conclave: Ratzinger 'was my candidate'Pope Francis discusses details from the 2005 conclave he participated in as archbishop of Buenos Aires in an upcoming book.Pope Francis voted for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, in the 2005 conclave that followed the death of St. John Paul II."He was the only one who could be pope at that time," Pope Francis said about his immediate predecessor in an excerpt from the upcoming book "El Sucesor" ("The Successor"). The excerpt was published March 31 by the Spanish daily newspaper ABC.Pope Francis told...

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Pope Francis defends restrictions on Latin Mass – ‘Read the motu proprio’In new comments to LifeSiteNews, Pope Francis said that his reasons for suppressing the Traditional Latin Mass are all contained within his 2021 document 'Traditionis Custodes.'In new comments to LifeSiteNews, Pope Francis said that his reasons for suppressing the Traditional Latin Mass are all contained within his 2021 document 'Traditionis Custodes.' The motu proprio in question is the July 2021 text Traditionis Custodes, by which Francis ushered in sweeping restrictions on the traditional liturgy – also known as the Latin Mass, or the Extraordinary Form –...

Italian Regime Newspaper Mocks Pinocchio-FrancisThe daily IlGiornale.it (owner: Berlusconi family) satirised on November 5 that the Vatican had created the Golden Pinocchio award, which Jorge Mario Bergoglio had won “without competition".The story behind it was Francis’ recent answer to the regime's TG1 news programme on whether he preferred Maradona or Messi, "I prefer the third one, Pelé", he said.But seven years ago, when asked by a group of boys whether he preferred Maradona or Pelé, he replied, “I chose the third one, Messi."IlGiornale.it comments that no one knows what the truth is, but they all agreed to award Bergoglio the...

[Catholic Caucus] Rupnik's Amoris Laetitia Morals: Francis Gets Away With LyingA former member of the Loyola community named "Klara", 58, gave another testimony against Father Marko Rupnik SJ (EditorialeDomani.it, January 23).Klara was 16 when she met Rupnik, who was ten years her senior, in 1980. A year later, he began kissing and hugging her as "a gesture of tenderness". In 1986, he masturbated in front of her and asked her to masturbate him.A year later, Klara joined the Loyoala community, which was controlled by Rupnik. Many sexual encounters followed. He admitted to her that he had sexual relations with other...

Pope Francis accused of ‘lying’ after he denies involvement in Fr. Rupnik sex abuse caseAfter Pope Francis denied any personal involvement in the decisions about Fr. Rupnik, he was accused of ‘lying diplomatically’ to try and save his reputation.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) –– Pope Francis has denied having any involvement in deciding or assisting the case of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, the Jesuit priest whose alleged psychological and sexual abuse has raised questions about the Vatican and the Pope’s actions.In a newly released interview he granted to the Associated Press, the Pontiff fielded questions on his health, critics of his papacy,...

Bergoglio Uses Bad Knee as Excuse to Duck Out of Commitmentsunusual confession. (Rome) Does Pope Francis have an ideologized knee which dislikes certain journeys? This ironically meant question is being discussed among Vaticanists and bloggers. What is meant by this is whether Francis' knee problems increase before certain trips in order to prevent them.Francis' knee problems worsened when, for example, he was supposed to go to Florence last spring, meaning that he would only have had to travel a relatively short distance within Italy. An exact program was coordinated with the Holy See and organized down to the last detail....

Bad News from London for the Pope. The Trial Puts the Screws on HimThere were two practical tasks that the cardinals entrusted to Jorge Mario Bergoglio when they elected him pope in 2013: the reform of the curia and the reorganization of Vatican finances.On the first point of the program, what holds sway is the apostolic constitution “Praedicate Evangelium,” issued on August 19 of 2022. On the second point, the publication of the Vatican balance sheets of 2021, at the beginning of this month of August.The reform of the curia will be evaluated by the consistory Pope Francis has convened...

Argentine Bishop Zanchetta sentenced for sex abuseThe former Bishop of Oran, Argentina, was sentenced Friday to four and a half years in prison for the sexual abuse of two former seminarians. Bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta was convicted of simple sexual abuse aggravated by his position as a minister of religion, in a decision handed down by judges in his former diocese.The bishop returned to Argentina in the summer of 2021 to face the charges, after he spent years living and working in the Vatican. After Zanchetta resigned from diocesan leadership in scandal, Pope Francis created a special post for the...

The Trial of the Century Takes the Pope to Court. Which Also Risks an Incident With ChinaAmong the papers in the possession of the Vatican tribunal called to judge Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu and other defendants, with the next hearing scheduled for January 25, there is an explanatory note at the top of which it is written that “during the board meeting of April 6 the Holy Father gave the authorization to make the aforementioned Note public.” Signed: Edgar Peña Parra, substitute secretary of state.This is what Settimo Cielo does in this post: provide readers with the essential features of...

Nearly ‘two-thirds of bishops’ disagreed with restrictions to Latin Mass, Vatican journalist revealsDiane Montagna yesterday shared 15 more revealing responses of the world’s bishops to the 2020 survey on the implementation of Summorum Pontificum.(LifeSiteNews) — A top Vatican correspondent just shared another sampling of the responses from the world’s bishops to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF)’s 2020 questionnaire on the implementation of Summorum Pontificum and accompanying use of the Traditional Latin Mass.On October 7, The Remnant newspaper published a print edition of Diane Montagna’s 2021 CIC talk revealing that Traditionis Custodes, the July motu proprio issued...

BOMBSHELL—New internal CDF information shows Pope Francis flagrantly lying about bishops’ TLM survey The full transcript of Diane Montagna's revelatory lecture at the Catholic Identity Conference 2021, held in Pittsburgh this past weekend, has just been published at The Remnant, enriched with additional material. "Traditionis Custodes: Separating Fact from Fiction" includes extensive quotations from the internal CDF document in which the bishops who responded predominantly spoke favorably of Summorum Pontificum and the TLM in their dioceses (some even requested help with establishing the Mass). It also includes inside information about the crooked path by which Traditionis Custodes was pre-designed,...

[Catholic Caucus] ‘Legitimate illegality’: Famed Catholic author on how to defend tradition'Whoever wants to resist must be prepared to pay a price for it.'(LifeSiteNews) — Since the publication of Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes in the middle of July, several developments show us that the Pope is serious about his plan essentially to abolish the traditional Latin liturgy and all the communities attached to it. Tradition has to go.LifeSite has reached out to the prominent Catholic German author Martin Mosebach, a strong defender of the traditional Latin Mass and Tradition in general, asking him to help us discern this...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis, in interview: Actually, the Traditional Mass was not abolished, I just wanted a “constructive reordering” of Summorum Pontificum… From an interview granted by Francis to Spanish Catholic radio COPE:[Q.] I don’t know if Pope Francis is a man who likes to bang his fist on the table. Would it be possible that the last blow on the table has been the pontifical document limiting the celebration of the ‘Tridentine Masses’? And I also ask you to explain to my audience what the ‘Tridentine Mass’ is, what is it about the Tridentine Mass that is not mandatory....

McCarrick report will seek to lay blame on John Paul, Benedict while minimizing Francis’ fault The report is set to be released tomorrow, Tuesday, November 10. November 9, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Tomorrow, the long-awaited McCarrick report will be released. The report itself, which is more than 600 pages long and will have tons of footnotes, has taken years to compile. Early indications are that it’s going to lay the blame for former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s abuse on John Paul II and Pope Benedict instead of on Pope Francis.  But given that Pope Francis is complicit in the McCarrick scandal, an independent...

Vatican Scandal: Exposed Pope Shuffles Deck Francis moves money matters to new department VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pope Francis has transferred responsibility for funds and real estate assets managed by the Secretariat of State to another department on the same day it was revealed that the scandal-ridden London property deal was made "with the approval of the Holy Father."Venezuelan homosexual Abp. Edgar Peña Parra The Vatican Press Office announced the transfer to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) Thursday, as Italian newspaper La Stampa reported that the pope had also endorsed hiring Italian middleman Gianluigi Torzi for...