VIDEO (for Catholics): Serious (and sad) thoughts for a Sunday

Dr Taylor Marshall discusses a recent statement by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, in which the prelate accuses the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church -- "heretical and depraved modernists" -- of trying to turn Holy Mother Church, the Bride of Christ, into a philanthropical organization like the Rotary Club or the United Nations.

   

Let us pray that God will intervene to protect His Church from Her enemies. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Footnote for the Catholic faithful: Have you been lazy... not paying attention to the crisis in the Church? If you understand and agree with what Archbishop Vigano, Archbishop Sheen, Dr Taylor and so many others are saying... if you are afraid for our Church... wake up and speak up! Copy the URL and send this to your pastor and to all others who are blindly following the leadership of Jorge Bergoglio into heresy and damnation.

Further viewing: Click here to hear Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant newspaper, discuss the upcoming Vatican conference mentioned by Dr Marshall in this video. How seriously (Mr Matt asks) should we be taking "Pope Francis the Globalist"? Really!

6 ways Pope Francis promotes political liberalism

The following is excerpted from "The Undertaker Pope: A Brief Study of an Infallibly Politically Correct Pontificate", an article by Christopher A. Ferrara, featured in The Remnant Newspaper.

In the fourth year of his pontificate, Pope Francis continues to deliver regular payloads of explosive off-the-cuff remarks that delight the media and shock the Catholic faithful....

For Francis, "magisterium" and "what I think" are one and the same thing. What Francis thinks -- and speaks incessantly -- generally serves the ends of political liberalism and state power while confirming the Church’s post-Vatican II demotion to a mere religious constituency under the secular sovereign. Witness, for example:

· Francis’s warm relations with socialist dictators;

· his lauding of pro-abortion and pro-“gay” politicians;

· his abuse of the papal office as a platform for globalist environmentalism (thus advantaging the same transnational corporations he professes to deplore);

· his refusal to intervene in opposition to the legalization of “gay marriage” because “the Pope belongs to everybody, he cannot enter the concrete, domestic politics of a country. This is not the Pope's role”;

· his demand -- flatly contradicting his professed abstention from domestic politics -- for universal abolition of the death penalty (while declining to demand the abolition of abortion), open borders in Europe and America, and policies of environmental regulation and wealth redistribution;

· his conspicuous failure to identify government policy, particularly in socialist countries, as a primary cause of the poverty he attributes entirely to the greed of the wealthy.

Not even during a post-conciliar epoch marked by the generalized surrender of churchmen to the zeitgeist have we seen a Pope willing to serve as the veritable pontifical undertaker at the funeral of the Church Militant, glibly reciting a few last words at the graveside in superficial remarks to reporters that he insists are "magisterium".... How is it possible that a conclave could have placed such a spectacularly unsuitable man on the Chair of Peter?...

I propose no answer to the question. Only history will provide the answer. Meanwhile, however, one can only wonder whether the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the elevation of Cardinal Bergoglio to the papacy are in some mysterious way related to the unexampled recklessness of his reign, so pleasing to the world that sings his praises.

The "liquid" message of Pope Francis; will he be the last supreme pontiff?

Even mainstream Catholic theologians are tiring of Pope Francis. His rambling, apparently off-the-cuff speeches tha frequently contradict traditional, even dogmatic Catholic teaching, are leaving them astonished and bewildered. How much more so is it for your average parish priest and us humble laymen ["laypersons", surely! Ed.]

Sandro Magister's studious and highly informed newsletter, Chiesa, brings us today a lengthy commentary -- over 2500 words -- by Professor Pietro De Marco, a teacher at the University of Florence and the Faculty of Theology of Central Italy. Its title is "A 'liquid' message". And to call it critical is the grossest understatement.

Prof. De Marco analyses recent public statements by the Pope -- Sr Magister calls them "encyclicals by interview" -- and points out the flawed reasoning and heresies into which Francis seems to have fallen. Notice I didn't say "unwittingly". Neither does Dr. De Marco. It is his contention that the Pope knows full well the import of what he's saying, when he says things like "Who am I to judge [homosexuals]?" and has fallen into serious error.

Walt and Len said the same thing, albeit not with such eloquence or at such length, back in July. Here's an excerpt from Prof. De Marco's commentary on this point.

No one is exempt, in daily and private conversation among a few, from approximations and distortions, But there is no person who has responsibility in regard to many - who teaches, for example - who will not adopt another register in public and seek to avoid improvisation.

Now, instead, we have a pope who exclaims: “Who am I to judge?" as one can emphatically say at the table or even in preaching spiritual exercises. But before the press and the world a “who am I to judge?” spoken by a pope objectively jars with the entire history and profound nature of the Petrine function, moreover giving the distasteful sensation of an uncontrolled outburst. Because of his function as a vicar with respect to Christ, not as an individual, the pope judges. [Walt's emphasis. Ed.]

The good doctor goes on to excoriate the Pope's slighting references to "religion" -- as if it were something bad or something of the past -- and his reversal of his predecessor's efforts to correct the abuses of the liturgy which are the bitter fruits of Vatican II.

Walt is tempted to reproduce the entire commentary here, for the sake of its comprehensive criticism of the Pope's utterances and the profound damage being done to the Faith. (Dr. De Marco didn't say anything about placing a soccer ball and t-shirt on the altar. Perhaps words failed him as they fail me.) Sadly, constraints of space prevent posting the whole thing here. You can read it on the Chiesa site, or, if you wish, we'll send it to you as a .doc file. Just e-mail your request to Ed. Here's the closing paragraph:

The expressive model chosen by Bergoglio cannot be pushed to the limit of knocking down the ordinary magisterium and making it hardly or not at all obligatory. The powers of a pope do not extend to the very nature of his own "munus," which transcends him and imposes limits on him. I do not approve of the traditionalist extremists, but there is no doubt that tradition is the norm and the power of the successor of Peter.

And a closing thought from Walt... well, actually from Saint Malachy, known as a great prophet. While in Rome in 1139 he received a vision showing him all the Popes from his day to the end of time. According to his prophecies, only two Popes would come after John Paul II.

The 111th prophecy, describing the second-last pope, is "Gloria Olivae" (The Glory of the Olive). The Order of Saint Benedict claimed that this pope would come from their ranks. The 111th pope was, sure enough, Benedict XVI.

St. Malachy refers to the last pope in his vision as "Peter the Roman". It is hard to relate this title to Pope Francis, who was born "Jorge Mario Bergoglio" in Argentina, half a world away from Rome. But that's the maddening thing about prophesies -- it's almost impossible to understand them until after the predicted event occurs.

Anyway, many believe that the final pope will likely be Satan, taking the form of a man who will gain a worldwide allegiance and adoration. Ah yes, a crowd-pleaser, a very "humble" man of the people, deceiving even the elect! He will be the Antichrist which students of prophecy have long awaited.

The 112th prophesy states: "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Petrus Romanus, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End."