VIDEO: Pope Francis turns 80: many hope this will be his last year

Walt failed to wish Pope Francis a happy birthday, and many more, on the 17th. It wasn't forgetfulness. I just can't bring myself to write something which I manifestly don't mean. Like many traditionalist and conservative Catholics -- yes, there is a difference -- I hope the Pontiff's 80th year will be his last, at least in the Petrine office.

It must be said that Pope Bergoglio remains enormously popular among most rank-and-file, jump-through-the-hoop-yes-Father Catholics (Hello, Jeff Mirus!), the number of those who hold to the Faith of Our Fathers, who disapprove of the Pope's radical agenda, grows every day, especially now that his priorities are out in the open for all to see. (Except for those who will not see, that is. Hello again, Jeff Mirus!)

When you look at the recent Synod on the Family, the Pope's environmental alarmism, and his statement last week that Jews don't have to convert to Christianity to be saved, there's plenty to criticize. Here's some calm and well-reasoned crticism from Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant, and Christopher Ferrara.



A few days ago, The Remnant published an open letter arguing that Francis's papacy is causing grave harm to the Church, and begging him to resign. If you sign the petition at the end of the letter, your name and e-mail address will NOT be published. Walt hopes you will join him in doing so.

Returning to the point about many Catholics hoping this will be the Pope's last year... In an interview with La Stampa, Francesca Chaouqui, appointed by Francis himself as a Vatican PR person, said "Many people in the Vatican want Francis dead."

Ms Chaoqui explained that the Pontiff's in-house reforms and nominations have emboldened his enemies, many of whom were in the Vatican when Francis was archbishop of Buenos Aires and had a less-than-pleasant relationship with Rome. Some of these Cardinals and bishops are openly resisting his reforms, she said, while others inside and out of the Vatican are simply waiting out his pontificate under the argument that popes come and go but the Curia remains.

Tomorrow we will see just how far the Pope is willing to push the envelope when he gathers the Curia for his traditional Christmas greeting. A year ago, Francis threw a very wet blanket over the usually jovial affair by issuing a blistering public dressing-down of the Cardinals and bishops, accusing them of using their careers to grab power and wealth, of living "hypocritical double lives" and of forgetting, due to "spiritual Alzheimer's" that they’re supposed to be joyful men of God. The Pope's remarks were not well received.

Sandro Magister, a senior Vaticanista often quoted in WWW, wrote: "Since then, the murmuring of criticism of Jorge Mario Bergoglio has grown, always though anonymously given the the pope's reaction to anyone who criticizes or irritates him. Many are wondering what he’ll say this time."

In fact, many wonder what the Pope says a great deal of the time! Canon lawyer Edward Condon, one of Francis's supporters, writes in the Catholic Herald that the Pope’s casual and free way of speaking has nevertheless led to confusion among the faithful about where he stands on certain key issues.

"[Pope Francis's] interventions, when they come," Mr. Condon writes, "seem to have an almost impatient tone at the inability of the rest of us to get with the programme, whatever it might be. So, if the Pope isn’t trying to leave himself open to constant contradictory interpretations, what is going on? The most obvious answer seems to be that he is simply unaware of the turmoil carrying on outside the Vatican walls."

Speaking of the Vatican walls, consider what transpired there on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The feast day (and Holy Day of Obligation) also marked the beginning of Pope Francis's Holy Year of Mercy. To mark the occasion, St. Peter's Archbasilica was pimped out -- there's no more apt term -- with a light-show promoting "climate change". Politically-slanted images of overcrowded city centres, depictions of pollution, and negative portrayals of industry, were projected onto the facade of St. Peter's, one of the holiest shrines in Catholicism.

The profane, even sacrilegious show had nothing to do with religion or mercy, but was a shameless copy of Barack Hussein Obama's rainbow projection onto the White House after the Supreme Court approved "gay marriage". Even the Pope's own followers denounced him for turning "this most sacred space into a backdrop" for political propaganda. You can see some of the horrors of the light-show in the video.

Bad enough that he should do so at any time, but truly sacrilegious in that he ordered it done on one of the most important Marian feastdays, the Immaculate Conception, when Catholics celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary being conceived in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne, without the stain of original sin.

Criticism among conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic was swift and severe. Catholic leaders from around the world said they were flabbergasted that Pope Bergoglio would allow St. Peter's Archbasilica to be used as a backdrop for promoting the political "climate change" agenda. On his Facebook page, noted Catholic author Antonio Socci wrote, "The sense that St. Peter’s Basilica has been profaned is strong. The holy place par excellence, the heart of Christianity transformed on a maxi-screen for the show of the ‘New World Power Ideology’ -- and the Nativity crib was left in darkness."

Dear Catholic reader, if you're confused about Pope Francis's beliefs and intentions, think about the implications of the sacrilege of December 8th, and be confused no longer. As Chris Ferrara says in the video, you couldn't have a more perfect representation of what has gone wrong in the Church since Vatican II. Please click on the link above to sign the petition!

The truth hurts: Bertone goes off in a huff

Walt is looking forward to an eyeball-to-eyeball with Agent 9, who is enroute from the northwest frontier. They will have many things to talk about, including the resignation from his position as Vatican Secretary of State of the despised Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone.

Just today, the Catholic News Agency passes on the revelation of an unnamed Vatican insider that The Man Who Would Be Pope resigned earlier than expected, because he resented the fact that other Vatican officials did not defend him against the criticism of (among others) Francesca Cahouqui, the hottie recently appointed by Pope Francis to a top Vatican PR job.

Further reading: "The new face of the Vatican -- mulier iucunda intellegensque" and "Sandro Magister on the Pope's two super-embarrassing appointments"

Cardinal Bertone was expected to resign in September or even October. But over lunch with the Pope at Castel Gondolfo on August 15th, he told the Holy Father he was quitting immediately. His resignation was formally announced on August 31st, and will take effect on October 15th.

Why the hurry? According to the anonymous source cited by CNA, Cardinal Bertone was miffed that Fruity Francesca said on her Twitter account that he was corrupt. Imagine that! Actually she said a great deal more, not just about Bertone but the whole rotten Vatican power structure. Her account has since been, errr, closed.

What burned Bertone's episcopal ring, apparently, was that none of his colleagues at the Vatican -- not even his old friend and mentor Cardinal Sodano (who was also lunching with the Pope) responded to the charges of corruption and incompetence. Shortly after his resignation was announced, Bertone denounced the “mix of crows and vipers” who generated critical stories about his leadership.

Sandro Magister on the Pope's two super-embarrassing appointments

Further to our article of Saturday on the Vatican's new PR girl -- fragrant and fruity Francesca Chaouqui -- and July's outing of Msgr Battista Ricca, "the prelate of the gay lobby", Len is pleased to recommend "Ricca and Chaouqui, Two Enemies in the House", today's blog by eminent Vaticanista Sandra Magister. Here's a short excerpt from the beginning of the article.

"He the prelate of the IOR, she a commissioner for the reorganization of the Vatican administration. Two appointments desired and decided by Pope Francis, which however are the living negation of his program of housecleaning and reform.

"Both of these appointments were made by Pope Francis, the first through his own highly personal decision. And for both of them, immediately afterward, there came to light grave counter-indications about which the pope was initially in the dark.

"And yet, in late August, no correction of course appears to be in sight."

Why has the Pope done nothing to correct these two obvious and huge mistakes? Are Cardinal Bertone -- the man who would be pope -- and the other disgraced members of the Curia leaving the Holy Father to twist in the wind, his papacy dead in the water because of his disorganization, inexperience and naïveté? Len thinks we won't have to wait long for an answer.

The new face of the Vatican -- mulier iucunda intellegensque

Thought you might like to see a pic of the Vatican's new PR (= Public Relations) girl, hired personally by Pope Francis. Vero! (= Really!) Her name is Francesca Chaouqui, and she's said to have "connections" with seven -- count `em, 7! -- cardinals.

Len's guess is that the man with whom Francesca is "connecting" in the picture is not one of the prelates. After all, he does seem to be enjoying the company of a mulier iucunda, not a vir iucundus.

Getting back to Ms Chaouqui... She's the director of PR (= Chief Fart-catcher) for the Pope's new "Privy Council" -- the eight cardinals Pope Francis appointed basically to run the Church because, as he has admitted publicly, he himself doesn't have the "organizational skills" to do so.

Iucunda Francesca may be, but whether she's intelligens is a matter of debate within the walls of the Holy See. She's already made several powerful enemies by daring to speak the truth (as she sees it) on her Twitter account, which has just mysteriously been closed.

Chief among her detractors is our old friend Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, whom Ms Chaouqui accused of being "corrupt". His Eminence is now suing her. If there's ever a trial [In your dreams! Ed.] both Walt and Agent 3 will be going to Rome for the pleasure of seeing Bertone cross-examined under oath.

Ms. Chaouqui also reported that Pope Benedict XVI resigned because he has leukaemia, and that his butler, Paolo Gabriele, was not the one who leaked sensitive Vatican documents showing corruption in the highest offices of the Church, and implicating... you guessed it... Bertone. In reality, she said, Gabriele took the fall for a "certain high Vatican official", who was the real leaker.

All three of Ms. Chaouqui's stories, which "certain high Vatican officials" find so scandalous, sound quite plausible to me. If she's right, she may indeed have the makings of a fine investigative reporter. How on earth Pope Francis determined to appoint her to a sensitive PR position is a mystery -- one of the famous mysteries of the Church. Perhaps he just liked her name. (Geddit?!)

Recommended reading: Information for this post was drawn from a report in "Clerical Whispers", a blog with which was have no connection!

If I remember my catechism rightly, "making known the hidden faults of your neighbour" is a violation of one of the Ten Commandments. All the same, we need to be told the truth about what's going on in the Church, so plaudits to the bloggers and Francesca and all those who dare to speak out.