Yoo-Hoo! Francis! God's Mercy Does NOT Extend To Demons!

The average Catholic of yesteryear understood that the truly penitent could rely on God's mercy - provided that he/she was truly penitent.  The current occupant of Peter's chair, however, has cheapened the gift of God's mercy - a gift acquired through the Crucifixion of Our Lord - to imply universal and unconditional forgiveness for everyone, even if these persons. are without repentance even continuing in sinful conduct.

Now they are trying to convince us that God's mercy will be extended to demons.  You read that correctly.  The Vatican website states it quite plainly, in the "Spirituality of the Synod" document.  Look on page 31 of that pdf; it's right there, in black and white.

By the way, this cockamamie notion is literally hundreds of years old.  It is this idea that got one of the earliest great thinkers of the Church, namely Origen, condemned as a heretic.  This is one of the several heresies of this sin-nod that Bergoglio and company are trying to insinuate into the teachings of the Church and the thinking of Catholics.

Just think.  We're only one month into this dumpster fire of a sin-nod.  What more awaits us?

How Francis-Mercy Is Harming The Church

In a talk given to a meeting of Italian Catholics a few days ago, Pope Francis flat out said that the Church must submit itself to all sorts of "change".  All sorts?  Yes.  He opined that "our times require a deeply merciful Church that is unafraid of change".  What are the assumptions implicit in that statement?  They are:

• "Our times" are somehow different than all the other epochs in the thousands of years that human beings have walked the earth, despite the fact that our human natures remain the same.
• Implicit (maybe explicit) in this statement is an assumption that until now, the Church hasn't been "deeply merciful".  In fact, the Church has always been merciful, proclaiming the truths of God and being about the mission of "saving souls" via the Sacraments and teachings.  If the pope is truly concerned about getting back to mercy, perhaps he can recall the primary mission of the Church is to save souls from hell, not to be a front for "social justice", community organizing and environmentalism.
• That the Roman Catholic Church, although it is the Mystical Body of Christ and entrusted with the Teachings of Jesus Christ and His Sacraments has been deficient in "mercy" during its two-thousand years of existence.
• "Change" in the Church is somehow a pressing necessity in this era, although it seems the pope just can't bring himself to be specific about the "change" he thinks the Church needs.  Perhaps he just doesn't want to tip his hand.
• All change is good.  That sentiment is clearly indicated by lack of distinction between "good change" and "bad change" in his talk.  Whether or not the pope intended it, the "change" mantra seems reminiscent of the "hope and change" slogan utilized by Obama.

Here's a very telling and ominous statement from the pope:  "Before the problems of the church it is not useful to search for solutions in conservatism or fundamentalism, in the restoration of obsolete conduct and forms that no longer have the capacity of being significant culturally,  Christian doctrine is not a closed system incapable of generating questions, doubts, interrogatives -- but is alive, knows being unsettled, enlivened. It has a face that is not rigid, it has a body that moves and grows, it has a soft flesh: it is called Jesus Christ."

There's so much mess in here so let's take it from the top.  Notice the jabs at "conservatism and fundamentalism"?  Why didn't he also say that "it isn't useful to search for solutions in novelties that occur to progressive minds out of the blue"?  Sometimes what isn't said is just as indicative as what is said.  Couple this statement with the crack about "obsolete conduct and forms that no longer have the capacity of being significant culturally".  Who or what is the pope allowing to be the determinant of obsolescence and significance?  The truths of God, of Jesus Christ, are timeless as He is eternal.  They do NOT change!  If they appear to be at odds with the culture at large, it's because the culture itself requires change to be in conformity with the Word of God as represented by Catholic doctrine and teaching, not vice versa.  As Pope St John Paul II wrote in his book "Sign of Contradiction", the Church, as she obeys God, will often speak and act in ways not in accordance with the world's dictates.  We cannot try to be "significant" to a culture steeped in sin lest we entangle ourselves in that sin.  We are not to assume the "smell of the sheep" but rather to exude the odor of sanctity.

Unfortunately it seems that this false "Francis-mercy" is infecting too many churches.  I blogged a few days ago about Our Savior Parish in Manhattan hosting a hare krishna idolatry session in front of its altar.  We now have more startling details: one being that a Cardinal was in attendance.  In that link you will find a short video of the sacrilege.  And yes, it is sacrilege; some are of the belief that this Church will need to be reconsecrated to purify it of the effects of the idolatry.

Then in the Diocese of Buffalo, NY, the pastor saw fit to put a sign outside the Church of St Columba Brigid that said "Jesus had two dads and He turned out just fine".  No one can doubt what the pastor intended to convey.  Fortunately the bishop of that diocese intervened and ordered its removal.

The hare krishna thing was not the first act of idolatry permitted to occur in a Catholic Church.  I was just made aware of a video in which a muslim carries on in a Catholic Church.  The video did not identify the Church but the video makes plain that this is a Catholic Church.  I hope that since this incident occurred that the church was reconsecrated.  Below the video I'll have more commentary.



The Bellarmine Forum has a post that addresses these atrocities in light of Our Lady's apparitions in both Fatima and Akita.  There is no doubt that she has given us ample warning.  Sadly, it seems that the Church, as a whole, is still not listening.  I realize that what Our Lady is asking of us seem to no longer have the capacity of being significant culturally (where have we heard that before?), but so what?  Again, the world does not call our shots.  Our Lord does.  Despite the fact that the Vatican seems hell-bent on hindering us, we need to pray and proclaim the truth before it's too late.

The Multi-Marriage Ceremony - Obfuscation Of The Issue Of Sacrilege

Yesterday Catholic News Agency posted a piece by Kevin Jones and Ann Schneible entitled "No Scandal Here: How The 20 Couples Married By Pope Francis Were Legit".  Right there in the title can be seen a hint of the problem.  In all the reading I've done on this matter, I don't recall anyone casting doubt on the canonical legitimacy of what happened this past Sunday at St. Peter's Bascilica.

Possible sacrilege is another matter - one that is receiving too little attention.  The Sacrament of Matrimony, being a sacrament of the living, must be received in a state of sanctifying grace.  Else sacrilege will occur.  All reports indicate that at least a few couples were "CURRENTLY cohabitating": not "WERE cohabitating" but "CURRENTLY".

Now bear in mind these couples were selected by the Vatican for this Sunday ceremony.  Why were "CURRENTLY cohabitating" couples selected?  I asked a number of questions in a post Friday that I won't rehash here; please read the post and "Leon's" comment.  That comment is most telling in terms of marriage preparation in US parishes at least.  In a post on Saturday, I tried to reply to Leon as well as rehearse the preparation for my own First Confession.  I used those Baltimore Catechism questions to illustrate concerns as to whether those 20 couples were given ample time and teaching to avail themselves of that Sacrament, and to understand why fornication is mortally sinful.

Let's move back to the CNA article.  John Grabowski, a theology professor at Catholic University of America, had this to say about the Holy Father's approach: "What he wants to do is simply put the Church’s focus on mercy, on an encounter with Christ as the heart of its life."

"Put the Church's focus on mercy"??!?!  Odd!  Since when has the Church not focused on mercy?  No need to put focus on something if that focus is already there (and has been for two thousand years).  I will now link to an excellent piece written by Msgr Charles Pope (ht LifeSiteNews) regarding the mortal sin of fornication, which would have been the sin of those cohabitating.  One sentence is key, with this "focus on mercy".  It is "Mercy is accessed only by repentance".  It's toward the end of the article but the rest is very worthwhile.  If we're really going to "focus on mercy" there must be focus on the Sacrament of Confession, for only therein is forgiveness for mortal sin.

As I said in one of the previous posts, I know priests who make plain in their bulletins that any couples seeking marriage in their churches while living together will be required to separate.  Will the efforts of these good priests now be undermined by what happened Sunday?  While I hope not, I think so.