Vatican Vibrations?

Remember Father Lefty Goodvibes from almost seven years ago?  I'm wondering if he was called to the Vatican to offer his services there - perhaps as a shaman.  Now calm down!  Of course "Goodvibes" is a fictitious character.  I only wish some of the slop coming from the pope's mouth were just as imaginary.  Papolaters, if you think the term "slop" is overly harsh, what would you prefer I call the unabashed indifferentism and New Age glop that he uttered a few days ago?  Bovine excrement?

I'm referring to his recent letter to the mayor of Paris, who happens to be an atheist.  He asked her prayers, but if she is not inclined, to send him "positive waves".  Is this an example of the "new evangelism"?  To affirm someone in their sin against the First Commandment?  To appeal to New Age idolatry?

This serious lapse is not the first such episode. In June 2015 he asked a group of reporters to "send him good vibrations" if the "cannot pray because they aren't believers".   Why didn't he urge them to pray?  Did he have any concern for their souls?  Is he not the chief shepherd?  Our Lord had something to say about true shepherds versus hirelings.

Will prayerful Catholic songs soon be replaced by the following?  I regret that in this clip seems to sum up the pseudo-spirituality evinced by the pope's letter to the mayor.  Let's continue to pray our rosaries that Our Lord will once again be honored at the Vatican.

Papolatry - Deadly To The Church

Papolatry isn't a new word.  It has a formal definition; see the Oxford Dictionary.  The definition is "excessive reverence for the pope".  Our Lord promised one thing regarding the pope: that he would never solemnly proclaim error, that is, anything that contradicts the Deposit of Faith.  That's it.  As we all know, such a solemn proclamation must meet a stringent set of conditions.  The pope has free will.  Apart from such solemn declarations, he can wreak all kinds of havoc if he is so inclined.  A number of examples can be found in Church history.

This blog, and others, have been shining the light on various errors being promulgated by the Vatican and yes, by Pope Francis.  Others in high places share our concerns: hence the issuance of the dubia.  We have been pilloried and criticized for so doing; that reaction is certainly not unexpected.  Now some in the Vatican are enraged because they know the light is shining on their schemes, threatening their outcome.  The preceding post gives us a glimpse into the halls of the Vatican.

Others, though, particularly among faithful Catholics in the pews, are likewise outraged that their illusions of the papacy are being challenged.  Many hold to a dangerously simplistic concept of the papacy, believing that every utterance and deed of the sitting pope is beyond question.  They too rail against us, accusing us of "pope-bashing" and "causing division".  On Friday, I posted Cardinal Burke's latest interview where he answered that criticism as it was leveled at him and the other authors of the dubia.

I believe these Catholics, holding that the pope cannot be questioned, are falling into the error of papolatry.  That itself is its own sin, as the one guilty of it ascribes to the pope authority and power that never was granted to him by Jesus Christ and His Church.  Only Jesus (and His Mother) can be held to be completely free of error.   Not even the sainted popes were completely free of error.  Recall that the now-sainted John Paul II kissed a Koran.  Of course we read in Galatians how the first pope himself fell into such a grievous error that Paul had to publicly rebuke him.

A year or two ago, social media was full of these papolatrous individuals.  Their numbers have dropped as the accounts of this pope's verbal gafffes and misdeeds increase at an alarming rate.  I think many of them find that they cannot deny the incontrovertible truth that slaps us all in the face continually.

To those who persist, I beg you to wake up and remove the blinders from your eyes.  For all your accusations of us regarding "pope bashing" or even "not being true Catholics", I fear it is you who are falling into papolatry, a sin against the First Commandment.  You are placing yourselves in grave dangers; one of these dangers is that of being seriously disilusioned to the point of despair when the evidence becomes too great for even you to ignore.  Yes, the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church, but all must know and acknowledge where the problems are within the Church lest they become part of the problem.  Some of you papolaters are already part of the problem.  For your good and that of the Church, please cease and desist.