ENCYCLICAL LETTER FRATELLI TUTTI OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON FRATERNITY AND SOCIAL FRIENDSHIP
1. “FRATELLI TUTTI”.[1] With these words, Saint Francis of Assisi addressed his brothers and sisters and proposed to them a way of life marked by the flavour of the Gospel. Of the counsels Francis offered, I would like to select the one in which he calls for a love that transcends the barriers of geography and distance, and declares blessed all those who love their brother “as much when he is far away from him as when he is with him”.[2] In his simple and direct way, Saint Francis expressed the essence of a fraternal openness that allows us to acknowledge, appreciate and love each person, regardless of physical proximity, regardless of where he or she was born or lives.
Ecuador 7/7/15 Pope Francis told a large crowd, “I ask you to pray fervently for this intention,” the Pope continued, “so that Christ can take even what might seem to us impure, scandalous or threatening, and turn it into a miracle. Families today need miracles!”
Jesus’ miracle was simple, turn away from sin, and come follow me. There is nothing impure, scandalous or threatening about that. For Jesus is none of these. Families need love, charity, mutual respect for each other in Jesus.
However, what the Pope fails to mention is, people need to stop sinning, turn away from sin. There is the impurity, scandal and threat of the message – you need to do something in return- the Pope fails to mention the most important aspect of Jesus’ ministry.
Pope Francis explained his vision for evangelization and missionary activity in Ecuador July 7 2015
We evangelize not with grand words or complicated concepts, but with the joy of the gospel, that fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Continue reading Pope Francis & Evangelization→
Pope Francis is reportedly preparing a major world statement
by Michael Salla July 23, 2014
from ExaminerWebsite
Pope Francis Prepares Statement on Extra-terrestrial Life
Pope Francis is reportedly preparing a major world statement about extra-terrestrial life and its theological implications. Continue reading Pope Francis & Aliens→
I am telling you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don’t want to go.” (In saying this, Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God.) Then Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”
(Joh 21:18-19)
When Jesus made this statement to Peter, it was the third time he had appeared to the disciples after His resurrection. Peter had just told Jesus he loves Him; Jesus, tells him to feed His sheep. Then, Jesus -giving Peter an indication of what lay ahead of him[Peter], in his future- says emphatically “Follow me!”.
2016-07-27 (Vatican Radio) Referring to recent acts of violence, Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the world is at war but stressed
“it is not a war of religions but for power. “It is,” he continued, “a war about (economic) interests, money, natural resources and the domination of peoples.”
1. Climate has always changed, and it always will. The assumption that prior to the industrial revolution the Earth had a “stable” climate is simply wrong. The only sensible thing to do about climate change is to prepare for it.
2. Accurate temperature measurements made from weather balloons and satellites since the late 1950s show no atmospheric warming since 1958. In contrast, averaged ground-based thermometers record a warming of about 0.40 C over the same time period. Many scientists believe that the thermometer record is biased by the Urban Heat Island effect and other artefacts.
The article below was featured on CNN.money. Now that begs the question – what religious interest has CNN Financial reporting. The short answer is None. That’s right – there is nothing religious to report here. The significant role players are two CEOs of two business organisations where God takes a back seat or does not exist at all, or not in the Christian sense anyway. The omnipotent god here is Money and that is what CNN.money is reporting on.
If you have been misled into believing that the leader of the Catholic church is going to save your soul, then you’re wrong. It is Jesus that saves souls. This alleged, so-called Christian leader is more interested in making money than he is in praying to Jesus directly. Who is his God? He’ll pray to God, and to Christ- but Pope Francis never prays directly to Jesus. And as we are advised:
And the light of the lamp shall shine no more at all in thee: and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth: for all nations have been deceived by thy enchantments.
(Rev 18:23)
Francis with the Broken Cross Staff on April 7, 2013, at St. John Lateran
It was just a matter of time…Francis Brings Back Bent Cross
It was bound to happen. Mr. Jorge Bergoglio – whom the world calls “Pope Francis” – has reintroduced the repulsive ‘Bent Cross’ Crozier (sometimes referred to as the “Broken Cross”), after Benedict XVI had, for the most part, abandoned it. The “bent cross” ferula, or staff, which is a hideous rendition of a crucifix, shows our Lord’s legs immodestly spread apart and shows the cross bars bent, rather than straight. Continue reading Francis brings back the Bent Cross, Broken Cross→
Including a Database of Publicly Accused Argentine Clerics
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2013 and president of the Argentine bishops’ conference from 2005 to 2011. During these years, as church officials in the US and Europe began addressing the catastrophe of child sexual abuse by clergy – and even as Popes John Paul II and Benedict made public statements – Bergoglio stayed silent about the crisis in Argentina.
He released no documents, no names of accused priests, no tallies of accused priests, no policy for handling abuse, not even an apology to victims.
In his many homilies and statements (archived on the Buenos Aires archdiocesan website), he attacked government corruption, wealth inequities, and human sex trafficking, but he said nothing about sexual violence by priests.
In On Heaven and Earth (first published in Spanish in 2010), a wide-ranging collection of conversations with Argentine rabbi Abraham Skorka, he suggested in fact that the problem did not exist in his archdiocese…..
Cardinal Bernard Law, who was forced to resign over sexual abuse scandals in his Boston archdiocese, where 150 priests were accused of molesting children. Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty
Vatican guide says ‘not necessarily’ bishop’s duty to report suspects to police despite Pope Francis’s vows to redress Catholic church’s legacy of child abuse.
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome Wednesday 10 February 2016
For six months, National Geographic photographer Dave Yoder had extraordinary access to Pope Francis at the Vatican, an experience that he expects he will one day look back on as “surreal.”
“The Rev. Thomas Rosica is CEO of Canada’s Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and English-language media attache to the Holy See Press Office.”
(CNN)Pope Francis seems to be obsessed with the devil.His tweets and homilies about the devil, Satan, the Accuser, the Evil One, the Father of Lies, the Ancient Serpent, the Tempter, the Seducer, the Great Dragon, the Enemy and just plain “demon” are now legion.For Francis, the devil is not a myth, but a real person. Many modern people may greet the Pope’s insistence on the devil with a dismissive, cultural affectation, indifference, or at the most indulgent curiosity.
Yet Francis refers to the devil continually. He does not believe him to be a myth, but a real person, the most insidious enemy of the church. Several of my theologian colleagues have said that he has gone a bit overboard with the devil and hell! We may be tempted to ask, why in the devil is Pope Francis so involved with the prince of demons?
This intelligent Jesuit Pope is diving into deep theological waters, places where very few modern Catholic clerics wish to tread.
Francis’ seeming preoccupation with the devil is not a theological or eschatological question as much as a call to arms, an invitation to immediate action, offering very concrete steps to do combat with the devil and the reign of evil in the world today.
In his homilies, Francis warns people strongly to avoid discouragement, to seize hope, to move on with courage and not to fall prey to negativity or cynicism.
1 of 802 pope quote 02098 photos: The quotable Pope: Some of his more surprising sayings
2 of 803 pope quote 02098 photos: The quotable Pope: Some of his more surprising sayings
3 of 804 pope quote 02098 photos: The quotable Pope: Some of his more surprising sayings
He is drawing on the fundamental insight of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, the Pope’s own religious family. With his continual references to the devil, Pope Francis parts ways with the current preaching in the church, which is far too silent about the devil and his insidious ways or reduces him to a mere metaphor.
During the first months of Francis’ pontificate in 2013, the Evil One appeared frequently in his messages. In his first major address to the cardinals who elected him, the Argentine pontiff reminded them: “Let us never yield to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day.”
In several daily homilies in the chapel of the Vatican guest house, the Pope shared devilish stories with the small congregations rapt in attention as he homilized on taboo topics.
He has offered guidelines on how to rout the demon’s strategy: First, it is Jesus who battles the devil.
The second is that “we cannot obtain the victory of Jesus over evil and the devil by halves,” for as Christ said in the Gospel of Matthew, “who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”
The Pope has stressed that we must not be naive: “The demon is shrewd: he is never cast out forever, this will only happen on the last day.”
Francis has also issued calls to arms in his homilies: “The devil also exists in the 21st century, and we need to learn from the Gospel how to battle against him,” the Pope warned, adding that Christians should not be “naive” about the evil one’s ways. The devil is anything but a relic of the past, the pontiff said.
Acknowledging the devil’s shrewdness, Francis once preached: “The devil is intelligent, he knows more theology than all the theologians together.”
Before a crowd of people on Palm Sunday in 2013, the newly elected Pope even dared to say that when Christians face trials, Jesus is near, but so is “the enemy — the devil,” who “comes, often disguised as an angel and slyly speaks his word to us.”
Most recently, on July 12, in the prepared text he was to deliver (in typical fashion he instead gave a masterful, unscripted address to 600,000 young people at a rally in Paraguay), the Pope presented the job description of the devil:
“Friends: the devil is a con artist. He makes promises after promise, but he never delivers. He’ll never really do anything he says. He doesn’t make good on his promises. He makes you want things which he can’t give, whether you get them or not. He makes you put your hopes in things which will never make you happy.
“… He is a con artist because he tells us that we have to abandon our friends, and never to stand by anyone. Everything is based on appearances. He makes you think that your worth depends on how much you possess.”
Since the beginning of his papacy, Francis has been warning that whoever wants to follow Jesus must be aware of the reality of the devil. The life of every Christian is a constant battle against evil, just as Jesus during his life had to struggle against the devil and his many temptations.
For Francis, the spirit of evil ultimately does not want our holiness, he does not want our Christian witness, he does not want us to be disciples of Christ.
In all of these references to the devil and his many disguises, Pope Francis wishes to call everyone back to reality. The devil is so frequently active in our lives and in the church, drawing us into negativity, cynicism, despair, meanness of spirit, sadness and nostalgia.
We must react to the devil, Francis says, as did Jesus, who replied with the Word of God. With the prince of this world one cannot dialogue.
Dialogue is necessary among us, it is necessary for peace, it is an attitude that we must have among ourselves in order to hear each other, to understand each other. Dialogue is born from charity, from love.
But with the Dark Prince one cannot dialogue; one can only respond with the Word of God that defends us.
4 of 807 pope quote REDO 02098 photos: The quotable Pope: Some of his more surprising sayings
5 of 806 pope quotes 02098 photos: The quotable Pope: Some of his more surprising sayings
6 of 805 pope quote 02098 photos: The quotable Pope: Some of his more surprising sayings
7 of 810 pope quote 02098 photos: The quotable Pope: Some of his more surprising sayings
8 of 801 pope quote 02098 photos: The quotable Pope: Some of his more surprising sayings
The devil has made a comeback in this pontificate and is playing an important role in Francis’ ministry. Francis is dead serious about the devil! And he takes every opportunity he can to tell the devil to get the hell out of our lives and our world.
It’s not that Francis has been focusing on the evil one’s power, nor has he been mesmerized by the Harry Potter movies or by a desire to do sequels to the “Exorcist” movie: This Pope doesn’t watch TV!
All of the temptations Francis speaks about so often are the realistic flip side to the heart of the Argentine Jesuit Pope’s message about the world that is charged with the grandeur, mercy, presence and fidelity of God. Those powers are far greater than the devil’s antics.
Pope Francis tries on a traditional sombrero he received as a gift from a Mexican journalist on Friday, February 12, aboard a plane during his flight from Rome to Habana, Cuba. The voyage kicks off his week-long trip to Mexico. With his penchant for crowd-pleasing and spontaneous acts of compassion, Pope Francis has earned high praise from fellow Catholics and others since he replaced Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013. 1 of 34
Pope Francis arrives for his visit with prisoners in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on Friday, July 10. The Pope emphasized the plight of the poor during his eight-day tour of South America, which also included stops in Ecuador and Paraguay. 2 of 34
Bolivian President Evo Morales presents the Pope with a gift of a crucifix carved into a wooden hammer and sickle — the Communist symbol uniting laborers and peasants — in La Paz, Bolivia, on Wednesday, July 8. 3 of 34
Pope Francis greets a crowd of Italian Catholic boy scouts and girl guides at St. Peter’s Square on Saturday, June 13. 4 of 34
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, June 10. The Pope gave Putin a medallion depicting the angel of peace, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said. The Vatican called it “an invitation to build a world of solidarity and peace founded on justice.” Lombardi said the pontiff and President talked for 50 minutes about the crisis in Ukraine and violence in Iraq and Syria. 5 of 34
Pope Francis meets with Cuban President Raul Castro at the Vatican on Sunday, May 10. Castro thanked the Pope for his role in brokering the rapprochement between Havana and Washington. 6 of 34
The Pope prays face down on the floor of St. Peter’s Basilica during Good Friday celebrations at the Vatican on Friday, April 3. 7 of 34
Pope Francis touches a child’s face as he arrives for a meeting in the Vatican on Friday, March 6. 8 of 34
Hindu priest Kurakkal SivaSri T. Mahadeva presents a shawl to Pope Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday, January 13. 9 of 34
The Pope attends Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. 10 of 34
Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I address the faithful in Istanbul on Sunday, November 30. 11 of 34
Pope Francis speaks during the feast-day Mass while on a one-day trip to the Calabrian region of Italy in June 2014. The Pope spoke out against the Mafia’s “adoration of evil and contempt for the common good,” and declared that “mafiosi are excommunicated, not in communion with God.” 12 of 34
Pope Francis prays next to a rabbi at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City in May 2014. The Pope went on a three-day trip to the Holy Land, and he was accompanied by Jewish and Muslim leaders from his home country of Argentina. 13 of 34
The Pope meets faithfuls as he visits the San Gregorio Parish in Rome in April 2014. 14 of 34
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with the Pope during their one-day visit to Rome in April 2014. 15 of 34
Francis speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited the Vatican in March 2014. 16 of 34
The Pope blesses the altar at Rome’s Santa Sabina church as he celebrates Mass on Ash Wednesday in March 2014. 17 of 34
Daniele De Sanctis, a 19-month-old child dressed up as a pope, is handed to Francis as the pontiff is driven through the crowd in St. Peter’s Square in February 2014. 18 of 34
Wind blows the papal skullcap off Pope Francis’ head in February 2014. 19 of 34
A lamb is placed around Francis’ neck in January 2014 as he visits a living nativity scene staged at a church on the outskirts of Rome. 20 of 34
Pope Francis meets with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Vatican in December 2013. Benedict surprised the world by resigning “because of advanced age.” It was the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years. 21 of 34
Pope Francis marked his 77th birthday in December 2013 by hosting homeless men to a Mass and a meal at the Vatican. One of the men brought his dog. 22 of 34
Pope Francis embraced Vinicio Riva, a disfigured man who suffers from a non-infectious genetic disease, during a public audience at the Vatican in November 2013. Riva then buried his head in the Pope’s chest. 23 of 34
Pope Francis jokes in November 2013 with members of the Rainbow Association, which uses clown therapy in hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages. 24 of 34
A young boy hugs Francis as he delivers a speech in St. Peter’s Square in October 2013. The boy, part of a group of children sitting around the stage, played around the Pope as the Pope continued his speech and occasionally patted the boy’s head. 25 of 34
Francis has eschewed fancy cars. Here, Father Don Renzo Zocca, second from right, offers his white Renault 4L to the Pope during a meeting at the Vatican in September 2013. 26 of 34
Francis has his picture taken inside St. Peter’s Basilica with youths who came to Rome for a pilgrimage in August 2013. 27 of 34
During an impromptu news conference in July 2013, while on a plane from Brazil to Rome, the Pope said about gay priests, “Who am I to judge?” Many saw the move as the opening of a more tolerant era in the Catholic Church. 28 of 34
Crowds swarm the Pope as he makes his way through World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in July 2013. According to the Vatican, 1 million people turned out to see the Pope. 29 of 34
Francis frees a dove in May 2013 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square. 30 of 34
Francis embraces a young boy with cerebral palsy in March 2013 — a gesture that many took as a heartwarming token of the Pope’s self-stated desire to “be close to the people.” 31 of 34
The Pope washes the feet of juvenile offenders, including Muslim women, as part of Holy Thursday rituals in March 2013. The act commemorates Jesus’ washing of the Apostles’ feet during the Last Supper. 32 of 34
Francis stands at the reception desk of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI residence, where he paid the bill for his stay during the conclave that would elect him leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. 33 of 34
Francis, formerly known as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected the Roman Catholic Church’s 266th Pope in March 2013. The first pontiff from Latin America was also the first to take the name Francis. 34 of 34
And receives lavish donations from them. Name by name, all the magnates of finance and technocracy to whom the pope has given audience this year
by Sandro Magister
ROME, March 11, 2016 –Pope Francis is relentless against the rich gluttons who famish the poor Lazaruses, against what he calls the “economy that kills.”
And yet the richest men of the world and the moguls of high finance throng to be received by him. And he not only welcomes them with open arms, but he showers them with praise.
Christine Lagarde
The latest to benefit from the pope’s appreciation was Christine Lagarde, received at the Vatican last January 18, who was reconfirmed in February as head of the International Monetary Fund and in early March was praised by Francis as
“an intelligent woman who maintains that money must be at the service of humanity, and not the other way around,”
in front of a group of stunned socialist French Catholics.
At the beginning of his pontificate Jorge Mario Bergoglio had surprised everyone, preaching a Church “poor and for the poor,” and at the same time calling in to advise the Vatican the most famous and expensive finance and management firms in the world, from McKinsey to Ernst & Young, from Promontory to KPMG.
But now the tune has changed. It is no longer the Vatican coffers that are paying the bills of these corporations, it is the great impresarios admitted to speak with the pope who are making him the offer of lavish donations.
There are those who don’t talk about it and those who do. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, made no mystery of having handed a contribution to Francis (see photo) during the audience that like others of its kind took place not in the prosaic residence of Santa Marta, but in the solemn papal library of the Apostolic Palace.
And on January 28 Leonardo Di Caprio did the same. In the video of the meeting he can be seen giving the pope an envelope with a check “for works of charity close to your heart.” More than as a film actor, Di Caprio had obtained an audience as the head of a foundation against global warming, in the name of which he had spoken a few days earlier at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he received an award.
Pope Francis had also made his voice heard at the Forum in Davos, with a message in defense of creation and for an “integral” development of man. And to Di Caprio, as to many others, he gave a red-bound copy of his encyclical “Laudato Si’.”
Nature and technocracy, this is the winning combination. Seven days before the audience with Tim Cook of Apple, Pope Bergoglio received the chief of Google, Eric Schmidt, accompanied by the head of Google Ideas, Jared Cohen, they too with a foundation engaged on the fronts of poverty, energy, and the environment, whose imperative is “Don’t be evil.”
And at the end of February he received Kevin Systrom, founder and CEO of Instagram, the photo-based social network with 400 million users worldwide. Also in February, Pope Francis met with a delegation of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, headed by global president Yolanda Kakabadse.
But the biggest coup in this area was the film “son et lumière,” projected on the evening of December 8, the opening day of the Jubilee of Mercy, on the facade and dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica, a highly controversial film, a hymn to nature without the slightest reference to the Creator, and also very expensive but entirely offered to the pope by the World Bank, the Okeanos foundation, and Vulcan Inc. of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
And Francis just narrowly missed receiving in audience Bill Gates himself, the absolute top dog of Microsoft, in addition to being the richest man in the world according to the Forbes ranking. The proposal was shot down by a pair of African cardinals, who reminded the pope that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is highly active in promoting abortion in poor countries.
No objection, however, to the man in the second spot on the Forbes list, the Mexican Carlos Slim, a telecommunications magnate. The broadcasts and press centers for Francis’s journey to Mexico last February were entirely paid for by him.
_____________
This commentary was published in “L’Espresso” no. 11 of 2016 on newsstands as of March 11, on the opinion page entitled “Settimo cielo” entrusted to Sandro Magister.
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google parent company Alphabet, had an unusual meeting on his calendar on Friday — a private sit-down with Pope Francis at the Vatican.Neither Google nor the Vatican would comment on what the two discussed during the meeting, said to have lasted 15 minutes.
A video report from the TV news agency Rome Reports showed the pontiff shaking hands with Schmidt and Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas. Schmidt said to Francis, “I want to work with you to make these points. … We will make it happen.” The pope responded, “Pray for me. Don’t forget.” It’s not known what the two were referring to.
Although Francis has admitted he doesn’t know how to work a computer and has called the Internet a “gift from God,” he is no stranger to Google products. The 79-year-old pontiff has hosted two Google Hangouts from the Vatican, including one in which he confessed he’s a “dinosaur” when it comes to technology.
Pope Francis meets with , Kevin Systrom, the CEO and co-founder of Instagram, the photo-sharing social network – REUTERS
27/02/2016 15:04
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday met with the CEO and co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom. The photo-sharing social network was founded in 2010, and bought by Facebook in 2012. Over 300 million people use the service each month. Continue reading Pope Francis meets with CEO of Instagram, Kevin Systrom→
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday met in the Vatican with Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
The two also met in the Vatican on 10 December 2014.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is composed of 188 countries, was established in 1944 to help manage countries’ balance of payments. According to its website, it is
“working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.”
Was this a religious meeting or was this the meeting of two CEOs?
Did the Pope explore with Tim Cook the need to move away from exploiting human beings with exposure to pornography and encourage him to take steps to manage this situation in line with Christian values?
The use of technology promoting, or indeed, encouraging human beings to sin is explicitly and directly opposed to the will of Almighty God. Surely, the Pope, as an alleged moral and religious figure in the world, should be making the chasm between the promoters of “sin” wider, rather than narrower.
What is the Moral proclamation that the Pope gives to business leaders?
Does the Pope offer any Christian morality to business leaders? Is he displaying the moral characteristics representative and expected from supposed “Mosaic” leadership within the catholic church?
The answer to that is simply and sadly, no.
There should be condemnation of the business pursuits of companies like Apple and the likes and what they stand for -by the Pope and other religious leaders- but there is none. There seems to be a lack of moral leadership in the catholic church.
There is no “Mosaic” proclamation – ‘Are you for God?’
So does this all come down to what the Pope might consider “prudence”.
It is what it is, and “this is the avenue,” on the back of which the teachings of the church will be promoted. Why? Because the Pope, the church and it’s ministers promote an indifferent message towards it’s[catholic church] buddy system established with the likes of Apple’s CEO.
Well if that is the case then the scarlet and red is using “sin” to create business – which is deplorable and must be abhorred.
(Vatican Radio)Pope Francis spoke to members of the Neocatacumenal Way on Friday in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall.
In his address, the Holy Father focused on three words: unity, glory, and world.
Below is a Vatican Radio English translation of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks:
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!I’m glad to meet you and thank you for coming in such great numbers. I send a special greeting to those who are about to set off! You have accepted the call to evangelize: I bless the Lord for this, for the gift of the Way and for the gift of each of you. I would like to highlight three words that the Gospel has just handed you, as a mandate for the mission: unity, glory and world.
Unity.
Jesus prays to the Father so that his (followers) be ” brought to perfection as one” (Jn 17:23): he wants them to be “one” (v. 22), like Himself and the Father. It is his last request before the passion, the most heartfelt: that there be communion in the Church. Communion is essential. God’s and man’s enemy, the devil, is no match for the Gospel, cannot compete against the humble power of prayer and the Sacraments, but can do much harm to the Church by tempting our humanity. The devil provokes pride, being judgmental of others, he causes closures and divisions. He himself is “the divider” and often starts off by making us believe that we are good, perhaps better than others: thus the land is ready for the sowing of discord. It is the temptation of all communities and it can insinuate itself even in the most beautiful charism.
You have received a great charism for the baptismal renewal of life. Every charism is a grace of God to intensify communion. But this charism can deteriorate if you close in or if you boast about it, when you want to distinguish yourselves from the others. So we have to safeguard it. How? Following the main path: of humble and obedient unity. If there is this, the Holy Spirit continues to operate, just as it did in Mary, who was open, humble and obedient. It is always necessary to keep an eye on the charism, cleaning out the eventual human excesses through the search for unity with all and obedience to the Church. This is how to breathe in the Church and with the Church; this is how to stay docile children of the “Holy Mother Hierarchical Church” with a “soul which is prepared and ready” for the mission (cf. St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 353).
I stress this point: the Church is our Mother. Just as children carry, imprinted in their faces, a similarity to their mother, we all look like our Mother, the Church. After Baptism we no longer live as isolated individuals, but we have become men and women of communion, and we are called to be operators of communion in the world. Because Jesus not only founded the Church for us, but he founded us as Church. From her we are born again, she feeds us the Bread of life, from her we receive words of life, and we are forgiven and accompanied home. This is the fruitfulness of the Church, who is Mother: not an organization that seeks followers, or a group that goes ahead following the logic of its ideas, but a mother who transmits the life received from Jesus.
This fruitfulness is expressed through the ministry and the guidance of Pastors. The institution is in fact a charisma, because rooted in the same source, which is the Holy Spirit. He is the living water, but the water can continue to give birth only if the plant is well maintained and pruned. Quench your thirst from the fountain, the Spirit, and take care, with delicacy and respect, of the whole ecclesial body, especially the most fragile parts, because all grow together, harmonious and fruitful.
The second word is: glory.
Before his Passion, Jesus foretells that He will be “glorified” on the cross: there his glory will appear (cf. Jn 17, 5). But it is a new glory: worldly glory manifests itself when one is important, admired, when one has assets and success. But God’s glory is revealed on the cross: it is love shines out and is spread. It is a paradoxical glory with clamour, no gain and no applause. This is the only glory that makes the Gospel fruitful. The Mother Church too is fruitful when it imitates the merciful love of God, that offers itself, it never imposes itself. It is humble, it’s like the rain on the earth, like the air we breathe, like a small seed that bears fruit in silence. Whoever proclaims that love can do so only with the same loving approach.
And the third word is world.
“God so loved the world” that He sent Jesus (cf. Jn 3:16). He who loves does not stay away, but comes towards. God is not attracted by worldliness, in fact, He detests it; but He loves the world he has created, and He loves His children in the world, just as they are, wherever they live, even if they are “far away.” Show the children the tender gaze of the Father and considered the realities you will encounter as a gift; become familiar with the cultures and the languages and respect local customs, recognizing the seeds of grace which the Spirit has already spread. Without yielding to the temptation to transplant acquired models, spread the news: “what is most beautiful, most grand, most appealing and at the same time most necessary” (Apost. Exhort. Evangelii Gaudium, 35). It is the good news that must always be in the forefront, otherwise faith risks becoming a cold and lifeless doctrine. To evangelize as families, experiencing unity and simplicity, is already a proclamation of life, a beautiful witness, for which I thank you so much. I accompany you and encourage you, and I ask you, please, do not forget to pray for me.
Let me first say with regard to Pope Francis, who am I to judge. God has his place ready -for sure.
When he misleads, misguides and misinterprets Holy Scripture with intent to undermine Jesus; when he uses language so abhorrent to put Jesus underfoot; when he clearly uses doublespeak-with outrageous comments- to continue his agenda, then I as a believer in Jesus Christ, true God and true man, will refute the words of his mouth – not for any self gain, but for the greater glory of God and the protection and saving of souls here on earth.
The article above is headed with the typical papal propaganda of the 21st century. This is not the way of a man who follows Jesus. This is the way of a regime who is trying to sell a message – which is the antithesis of Jesus – but is cleverly wrapped up in statements using doublespeak and propaganda. Why can’t everyone see it?
This is the secret of propaganda: The saturation of a group of people-with propagandist ideas without their noticing it. Of course it has a goal, but the goal must be so clever-and so brilliantly concealed- that the people who it influences don’t notice anything. – Goebbels(Hitler’s Henchman)
Pope Francis’ statement, typically, envelopes subtle – “brilliantly concealed” goals:
Following the main path: of humble and obedient unity – blind acceptance, but not to God – to man
keep an eye on the charism – monitor those around you, self-policing
cleaning out the eventual human excesses through the search for unity with all – root out the non-conformists
this is how to stay docile children – be easilymanagedorhandled; readilytrainedortaught;teachable.
of the “Holy Mother Hierarchical Church” – “rule of a high priest”, from ἱεράρχης, know your place and do what you’re told. Accept it -don’t question, it’s the church
a “soul which is prepared and ready” for the mission – be ready to do what you’re told to do what ever the mission is that is imposed upon you
we are called to be operators of communion in the world – operators are generally managed and maintained
she feeds us the Bread of life – infers sustenance is only possible through the church
This is the fruitfulness of the Church, who is Mother: not an organization that seeks followers – yet Jesus told His apostles to go proclaim the good news
This is the fruitfulness of the Church, who is Mother: not a group that goes ahead following the logic of its ideas – so what about the doctrine of the church?; theology?; what about the Word of God given in the Bible?
This is the fruitfulness of the Church, who is Mother: a mother who transmits the life received from Jesus. – this is the attempt at empowering an organization to become bigger than it’s founder and then remove the need for the founder. This sentence in this prepared statement is wholly ridiculous! And is not unlike many other sentences, here, and in many other statements.
These points above raise concerns about how Francis describes “what the church is”, referencing Jesus, God and motherhood. But in essence the crux of the message, like any other propaganda, Jesus and God are used as the vehicle of concealment of the subtlety to be submissive; monitor and police those around you; give up the non-conformists; accept; don’t question; do your mission because you are the operator. The plan will be transmitted from the hierarchy. This was not the instructions that Jesus gave to the apostles. And His version of “church” would be no different from then til now.
It’s Interesting to note that Jesus doesn’t pray for the world. Jesus states clearly in His prayer to His, and the only Holy, Father:
“I am asking on their behalf. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you gave me, because they are yours. All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine, and I have been glorified through them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name, the name that you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them by the authority that you gave me. I guarded them, and not one of them became lost except the one who was destined for destruction, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
(Joh 17:9-12)
Jesus tells us that we are called to love.
God gives us the commandments
Jesus tells us that what eternal life is in His prayer
Jesus loves us, calls us to Him, asks us to repent and sin no more.
Jesus was Almighty God’s spokesman.
Therefore, this is what the LORD says: “If you repent, I’ll take you back and you will stand before me. If you speak what is worthwhile, instead of what is worthless, then you will be my spokesman. People will turn to you, but you aren’t to turn to them. I’ll make you a fortified wall of bronze to this people. They’ll fight against you, but they won’t prevail against you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you,” So I’ll deliver you from the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
(Jer 15:19-21)
Sadly Pope Francis is not a spokesman of God, he speaks of what is worthless and he turns to the people. The prepared statement above is not Neocatechumenal, it is anti-Catholic and anti-Christian.
#WalkWithJesus and always stay close to Jesus in your personal prayer. Your personal relationship with Jesus will safeguard your soul from the evil one.
Pope Francis said the story of God’s love for us can be found on the Cross where Jesus emptied himself of his divinity and dirtied himself with sin in order to save humanity. He said that the biblical story of salvation features the serpent, an animal he describes as both a powerful symbol of damnation and mysteriously of redemption as well. The Pope was speaking at his morning Mass on Tuesday at the Santa Marta Residence.
The mystery of the serpent
Using the day’s readings from the Book of Numbers and the gospel of St. John, Pope Francis’s homily reflected on the link between the meaning of Jesus’ annihilation of himself on the Cross and the story of how the people of Israel implored Moses to pray to God to take away the serpents that had been sent among them as punishment by the Lord.
Pope Francis pointed out that the symbol of the serpent features twice in this story from the Book of Numbers.“The Lord said to Moses: ‘make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.’ It’s a mystery: God doesn’t kill the serpents but leaves them alone. But if one of these (serpents) harms a person, look at that bronze serpent and he will be healed. Lift up the serpent.”
The Pope noted that this verb, ‘lift up’ is at the heart of the argument between Christ and the Pharisees described in the reading by the gospel of St. John. At a certain point, Jesus says: ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realise that I AM.” First of all, he explained, ‘I AM’ is also the name that God used to describe himself and gave to Moses for communicating with the people of Israel. And, then there is that recurring expression: ‘Lift up the Son of Man…”
God’s annihilation
“The serpent is a symbol of sin. The serpent that kills but also a serpent that saves. And this is the Mystery of Christ. Paul, when speaking about this mystery, said the Jesus emptied himself, humiliated himself and destroyed himself in order to save us. And (what’s) even stronger, ‘he became sin. Using this symbol, he became a serpent. This is the prophetic message of today’s reading. The Son of Man, who like a serpent, ‘became sin,’ is raised up to save us.”
Pope Francis went on to explain that this is “the story of our redemption, this is the story of God’s love. If we want to know God’s love, let us look at the Cross, a man tortured” a God, “emptied of his divinity,” “dirtied by sin.” But at the same time, he concluded, a God who through his self-annihilation, defeats forever the true name of evil, that Revelation calls ‘the ancient serpent.’
“Sin is the work of Satan and Jesus defeats Satan by “becoming sin” and from there he lifts up all of us. The Cross is not an ornament or a work of art with many precious stones as we see around us. The Cross is the Mystery of God’s annihilation for love. And the serpent that makes a prophecy in the desert is salvation, it is raised up and whoever looks at it is healed. And this is not done with a magic wand by a God who does these things: No! This is done through the suffering of the Son of Man, through the suffering of Jesus Christ.”
Listen to this report by Susy Hodges that includes clips of the Pope’s voice:
These are the words of a man who neither follows, loves nor even likes Jesus. This is an angel of satan.
Jesus was sinless.
Jesus conquered death.
Jesus didn’t become sin. Jesus didn’t become a serpent.
This man, francis, spouts lies, deliberately speaks in doublespeak and confuses Catholics. Please discern for yourself. But if you still don’t believe me – here are the words from the devil’s own mouth…
Plenary Session on Evolving Concepts of Nature
24-28 October 2014
Casina Pio IV, Vatican City
Your Eminences,Dear Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen!
A joyful emotion arose in my soul as the bust, which the Academics wished to have in the headquarters of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences as a sign of acknowledgment and gratitude, was unveiled. This bust of Benedict XVI brings dear Pope Ratzinger’s person and face back to the eyes of all. It also evokes his spirit: that of his teaching, of his example, of his opus, of his devotion to the Church, of his current “monastic” life. This spirit, far from crumbling over time, will appear from generation to generation ever greater and more powerful. Benedict XVI: a great Pope. Great in strength and intellectual insight, great in his significant contribution to theology, great in his love for the Church and for human beings, great in his virtue and his religiosity. As you well know, his love for the truth is not limited to theology and philosophy, but extends to science. His love for science spills over into regard for scientists, without distinction among race, nationality, culture or religion; care for the Academy, from the time St John Paul II appointed him a member. He knew how to honour the Academy with his presence and his words, and he appointed many of its members, including the current President, Werner Arber. Benedict XVI, for the first time, invited a president of this Academy, to participate in the Synod on the New Evangelization, cognizant of the importance of science in modern culture. It could certainly never be said of him that study and science withered his person and his love for God and neighbour; on the contrary, science, wisdom and prayer only expanded his heart and his spirit. Let us give thanks to God for the gift He gave to the Church and the world with the life and Pontificate of Pope Benedict. I thank everyone who so generously made this work of art and this event possible, especially the author of the bust, the sculptor Fernando Delia, your family, and all the Academics. I would like to thank all of you who are present here to honour this great Pope.
At the conclusion of your Plenary Session, dear Academics, I am glad to express my profound appreciation and my warm encouragement to move forward with scientific progress and the betterment of the standard of living of people, especially of those in the greatest poverty.
You are addressing the highly complex subject of the evolution of the concept of nature. I will not go into the scientific complexity, which you well understand, of this important and crucial question. I only want to underline that God and Christ are walking with us and are also present in nature, as the Apostle Paul stated in his discourse at the Areopagus: “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
When we read the account of Creation in Genesis we risk imagining that God was a magician, complete with an all powerful magic wand.
But that was not so.
He created beings and he let them develop according to the internal laws with which He endowed each one, that they might develop, and reach their fullness.
He gave autonomy to the beings of the universe at the same time in which He assured them of his continual presence, giving life to every reality.
And thus Creation has been progressing for centuries and centuries, millennia and millennia, until becoming as we know it today, precisely because God is not a demiurge or a magician, but the Creator who gives life to all beings. The beginning of the world was not a work of chaos that owes its origin to another, but derives directly from a supreme Principle who creates out of love.
The Big Bang theory, which is proposed today as the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of a divine creator but depends on it. Evolution in nature does not conflict with the notion of Creation, because evolution presupposes the creation of beings who evolve.
As for man, however, there is a change and a novelty. When, on the sixth day in the account of Genesis, comes the moment of the creation of man, God gives the human being another autonomy, an autonomy different from that of nature, which is freedom. And he tells man to give a name to all things and to go forth through history.
He makes him the steward of Creation, even that he rule over Creation, that he develop it until the end of time.
Therefore the scientist, and especially
the approach of the Christian scientist is that of investigating the future of humanity and the earth, and, as a free and responsible being, to contribute to preparing it, to preserve it, and to eliminate any risks to the environment, both natural and manmade.
But, at the same time,
the scientist must be moved by the conviction that nature, in its evolutionary mechanisms, hides its potential which it leaves for intelligence and freedom to discover and actualize, in order to reach the development that is in the Creator’s design.
So then, no matter how limited,
the action of man partakes in the power of God and is capable of building a world adapted to his two-fold physical and spiritual life; to build a humane world for all human beings and not only for one group or one privileged class.
This hope and trust in God, the Creator of Nature, and in the capacity of the human spirit, are able to give the researcher a new impetus and profound peace. But it is also true that
the action of man, when his freedom becomes autonomy — which is not freedom, but autonomy — destroys Creation and man takes the place of the Creator.
And this is a grave sin against God the Creator.
I encourage you to continue your work and to carry out these happy theoretical and practical initiatives for the benefit of human beings, which do you honour.
It is with joy that I now consign the insignia, which Bishop Sánchez Sorondo will present to the new members. Thank you.
John Paul II refers to Pius XI’s hope that the Academy would become a Senatus scientificus. In relation to the origins of life and the universe the Pope asks: ‘How do the conclusions reached by the various scientific disciplines coincide with those contained in the message of Revelation? And if, at first sight, there are apparent contradictions, in what direction do we look for their solution?’ Continue reading Address to the Plenary Session on ‘The Origins and Early Evolution of Life’→
Image: Bergoglio with Military Dictator General Jorge Videla
By Bill Van Auken, March 16, 2013
For over a week, the media has subjected the public to a tidal wave of euphoric banality on the Roman Catholic Church’s selection of a new pope.
This non-stop celebration of the dogma and ritual of an institution that for centuries has been identified with oppression and backwardness is stamped with a deeply undemocratic character. It is reflective of the rightward turn of the entire political establishment and its repudiation of the principles enshrined in the US Constitution, including the wall of separation between church and state.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner recently referred to Bergoglio as a relic of “medieval times and the Inquisition.” At the time, El Presidente was referring to the new Pope’s position on same sex marriage while serving as Archbishop of Buenos Aires back in 2010. But was that all she meant?
To understand, we need to go back to the time of the Dirty War in Argentina.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio and Argentina’s “Dirty War”
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, September 25, 2015
In the course of the last two years, Pope Francis has been portrayed in chorus by the Western media as an antiwar activist and a left leaning champion of “Liberation Theology” committed to World peace and global poverty alleviation. His September 24 speech to the US Congress was described as “stunning in the breadth, depth, and conviction of its progressivism.” “If President Barack Obama had delivered the text of Pope Francis’s speech to Congress Thursday [September 24, 2015] as a State of the Union address, he would have risked being denounced by Republicans as a socialist.” Continue reading “Washington’s Pope”? Who is Pope Francis?→
2016-03-18 Vatican Radio
The Loud Cry 
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