Pope Francis on Ukraine, China, Islam, Democracy: The West Has "Lost"

On the flight back from Nur-Sultan, Francis doubted that arms deliveries to Ukraine were moral, flattered communist rulers and declared to the West that it had "lost."

(Rome) At the flying press conference last night, on the flight back from Nur-Sultan to Rome, Pope Francis commented on a wide range of topics. There was also an innovation. These flying press conferences during the Pope's trips abroad are particularly popular with the media. The more various the topics addressed were, the more different is the quality of the answers. Francis made it clear that arms deliveries to Ukraine are probably immoral, flattered socialist rulers gave his blessing to the totalitarian regime in the People's Republic of China, and declared to the West that it had "lost." He found clear words about euthanasia and said that the killing should be left to the "beasts".

Francis' communication with and for the world is not so much through the official pronouncements of the Holy See, but above all through his spontaneous statements. So far, the Vatican has left the majority of the reporting to the accompanying journalists. After numerous requests to the Vatican Press Office, the media work has now been changed on this point. The English edition of VaticanNews published a transcript of the press conference last night, albeit with the note that this is not an official translation of the Pope's words. This will continue to be submitted in various translations only at a time when the secular media have long since communicated and co-opted the Pope's statements in their own way. However, a first step in the right direction has been taken. Thus to the statements of Francis himself.

Nur-Sultan, the "forward-looking" city

The Pope attested to Kazakhstan and the planned capital Nur-Sultan that "they have developed well and intelligently". Its inhabitants are "very disciplined" and the country is "beautiful". The architecture of the city is "well balanced, well laid out". Nur-Sultan is a "modern city that I would describe as 'forward-looking'."

Francis described the congress of the leaders of the world's religions and traditional religions as "a very important thing". The fact that it took place for the seventh time shows:

"(...) that "it is a country with a vision of the future that brings into dialogue those who are normally marginalized. Because there is a progressive world view for which religious values must first be thrown overboard."

 Arms deliveries are immoral rather than moral

Afterward, correspondent Rüdiger Kronthaler celebrated the German cult of guilt, he asked Francis whether weapons should be delivered to Ukraine. Francis responded in a differentiated way. Arms deliveries are a "political decision", and this can be moral, but must meet "many conditions". The Pope indicated that it is more likely to be "immoral"

"(...) is done with the intention of provoking further wars or selling weapons or throwing away those that I no longer need."

Self-defense as an expression of patriotism

Motivation qualifies action. At the same time, Francis broke a lance for self-defense:

"Defending oneself is not only legitimate, but also an expression of love for the fatherland. Whoever does not defend himself, who does not defend something, does not love it, but he who defends it loves it."

 This touches on another aspect, Francis said. He had pointed out in his speeches that:

"(...) one should think more about the concept of just war. Because peace is on everyone's lips today: for many years, for seventy years, the United Nations has been talking about peace, making many speeches about peace. But how many wars are there right now?"

  

In doing so, Francis also diverted his gaze away from Ukraine, which is currently concentrating all its attention on the West, in order to show that there are many armed conflicts in the world, but which would find little interest in the West. At the same time, he repeated his statement that "we are in a world war" without explaining in more detail how exactly he means by this drastic choice of words.

"Peace is greater than all wars"

Rather, he told a childhood memory:

"I remember something personal when I was a child, I was nine years old. I remember the alarm of the largest newspaper in Buenos Aires sounding: back then they rang it to celebrate or announce bad news – today it no longer rings – and it could be heard all over the city. My mother said, 'What's going on here?' We were at war, in 1945. A neighbor came to the house and said, 'The alarm has gone off...' and shouted, 'The war is over!'. And I still see my mother and neighbor crying with joy because the war was over, in a South American country, so far away! These women knew that peace is greater than all wars, and they wept with joy when peace was made. I can't forget that."

 

Peace was by no means concluded at the time, but Francis wanted to say something else with his story:

"I wonder: I don't know if we are well enough educated in our hearts today that we cry for joy when we see peace. Everything has changed. If you don't go to war, you're not useful! And then there's the arms business. This is a business of murderers. Someone who is familiar with statistics told me that all the hunger in the world would be solved if you stopped making weapons for a year... I don't know if that's true or not. But hunger, education... it doesn't help, it doesn't work because you have to make weapons."

And further:

"War itself is a mistake, it is a mistake! And we breathe this air at this moment: if there is no war, there seems to be no life. A bit confusing, but I have already said everything I wanted to say about the just war. The right to defend oneself, yes, but also to use it when necessary."

 "Without an outstretched hand, we close the only reasonable door to peace"

At the same time, Francis affirmed that dialogue must always be sought. The "annoying" sometimes and some, but is indispensable:

"We should give everyone a chance for dialogue, everyone! Because there is always the possibility that we can change things in dialogue and also offer a different point of view, a different point of view. I do not rule out dialogue with any power, whether it is at war or the aggressor... sometimes you have to have a dialogue, but you have to do it, it 'annoys', but you have to do it. Always one step forward, always an outstretched hand! Because otherwise we will close the only reasonable door to peace."

  

"The declining West has lost"

In this context, Francis spoke of the West:

"It is true that the West in general is not currently at the highest level of excellence. It's not an [innocent] First Communion child, not really. The West has taken the wrong paths."

 

As a concrete example, however, Francis only mentioned "social injustice". Although he addressed the "demographic winter" that prevails in the West, he only promotes mass immigration that the West "really needs" because of its birth deficit.

"On the other hand, in view of the demographic winter, the question arises: Where are we going, where are we going? The West is in decline, it is a little in decline, it has lost..."

 Where are the politicians who move society forward?"

At the same time, he denounced the political failure. Where are great figures such as Schuman, Adenauer, De Gasperi:

"Where are they today? There are great people, but they don't manage to move society forward."

 

Francis did not elaborate on what united the three statesmen mentioned, nor on the fact that this common cultural, historical, ethical, and religious basis of being German or German Catholic Central Europeans has been consistently smashed for a hundred years.

"Let's leave the killing to the beasts", hence no to euthanasia

Francis found a pleasing and unusually concise and clear statement when asked about euthanasia:

"Killing is inhumane, quite simply. If you kill with motivation, yes... then you will kill more and more in the end. Let's leave the killing to the beasts."

 "I don't think it's right to call China undemocratic"

Francis, on the other hand, was very cautious about the People's Republic of China:

"It takes a century to understand China, and we haven't lived a century."

 

An evasive romanticized statement in the face of a totalitarian communist regime that has only ruled China for 73 years, i.e. has not yet been in power for a hundred years.

"It's not easy to understand the Chinese mentality, but we have to respect it, I always respect it. And here in the Vatican there is a well-functioning dialogue commission chaired by Cardinal Parolin, who at the moment is the man who knows best about China and Chinese dialogue. It's progressing slowly, but there's always progress."

Francis, in his attempt to woo the red rulers in Beijing, falls into a fatal error with frightening ease by adopting a Marxist-Leninist diction:

"I don't think it's right to call China anti-democratic, because it's such a complex country."

"These women are good revolutionaries, but of the gospel"

He showed the same leniency towards the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua:

"As for Nicaragua, the news is clear. There is a dialogue. There have been talks with the government, there is a dialogue. This does not mean that I approve of everything the government does, or that I disapprove of everything. No. There is a dialogue and the problems need to be resolved. At the moment there are problems. At least I hope that the nuns of Mother Teresa will return. These women are good revolutionaries, but of the gospel! They don't wage war against anyone. On the contrary, we all need these women."

 "We are working intensively on coexistence with Muslims"

As far as the relationship to Islam is concerned, it is about "coexistence with Muslims":

"We are working intensively on this."

 

At the Congress of the Leaders of the World Religions, there was "no relativism whatsoever."

In this context, the striking praise for Kazakhstan and Nur-Sultan can also be seen. At the congress of religious leaders in Nur-Sultan there was "no relativism":

"No relativism at all. Everyone had their own opinion, each respected the other's point of view, but we talked like brothers. Because if there is no dialogue, there is either ignorance or war. It is better to live as brothers, because we have one thing in common: we are all human beings. Let's live like people who are well educated: what do you think, what do I think? Let's agree, let's talk, let's get to know each other. Often these misunderstood 'religious' wars are due to a lack of knowledge. And this is not relativism, I do not renounce my faith when I talk to someone who has another, on the contrary. I cherish my faith because someone else listens to him, and I listen to his."

 

"Whoever thinks only of money and the development of pastoral plans does not bring anything forward"

On the question of the decline in the number of attendees at Mass, specifically in Germany, Francis found surprisingly clear words. Is it a scolding for Cardinal Marx and the bishops Bätzing, Bode et al.?:

"If a Church, no matter in which country or in which area, thinks more of money, of development, of pastoral plans and not of pastoral work and takes this path, then she does not attract people. [...] Sometimes – I'm talking about everyone, in general, not only in Germany – people think about how to renew pastoral care, how to make it more modern: that's good, but it must always be in the hands of a pastor. When pastoral care is in the hands of pastoral 'scientists' who express their opinions here and say what to do... (you can't get any further, VaticanNews note). Jesus founded the Church with shepherds, not with political leaders."

 

Said the "politician on the chair of Peter". Francis himself said during his answers that he or what he said might be a bit "chaotic", "impenetrable", or "confused". But it is clear what he wants to say, according to the head of the Church.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican.va (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

"Cold Sweat Ran Down Our Backs"

Pope Francis quoted the conciliar theologian Henri de Lubac on Sunday, whom he also quoted in his last address as a cardinal before his papal election.

Bergoglio cites Jesuit Henri de Lubac

(Rome) "Two days after the election of Francis, with the illusion of being wrong, we expressed the thought that now the time could begin to put into practice what a certain author of the Nouvelle Théologie, Henri de Lubac, said in one of his writings,” as Secretum meum mihi recalls.

A few days later, "cold sweat ran down our backs," the blogger continued, when Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Archbishop of Havana, published Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio's final speech before his election as pope, in which he quoted de Lubac had, and thus "confirmed the fear".

Looking back is obvious, since on Sunday, August 14th, Francis again quoted the conciliar theologian of the Nouvelle Théologie, who still makes a "cold sweat" run down their backs of many people. Before praying the Angelus in St. Peter's Square, the Pope meditated on the Gospel of the 20th Sunday of the Church Year (Year C) of the Novus Ordo, which Francis said is "the only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite," as stated in his Motu proprio Traditionis custodes and confirmed in his Apostolic Exhortation Desiderio desideravi. The Pope said:

“'Indeed', says one theologian, 'faith in God reassures us, but not in the way we wish: that is, not to give us a crippling illusion or a blissful satisfaction, but to empower action'.”

Francis did not say which theologians were involved. His name and a source are only found in the official reproduction of the speech on the Holy See's website: "De Lubac, About the Ways of God, Milan 2008, p. 184". The Spanish translation names the book but not its author.

Henri de Lubac was one of the key figures who prepared the ground for the Second Vatican Council and set the premises under which it met and unfolded. Under the influence of the post-conciliar period, de Lubac then changed course and founded the magazine Communio in 1972 together with Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger, which was intended to represent a counterweight to the magazine Concilium , which fueled the "conciliar spirit". 

For the overall assessment, it is important that the journals mentioned did not oppose modernists and traditionalists, but rather radical and moderate supporters of the Second Vatican Council, comparable to the Girondists and Jacobins at the time of the French Revolution.

De Lubac now lamented the feverish agitation with which the Council's interpretation was usurped. De Lubac belonged to that conciliar faction, as did the then theologian Joseph Ratzinger, who were appalled by the radicalism with which a section which they had hitherto seen as partisans of the same cause was proceeding. The more moderate ones like de Lubac and Ratzinger had helped these radicals to open Pandora's box.

This reversal was also the reason why de Lubac was elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1983. However, even these representatives of the moderate faction could not really part with the fundamental necessity of the Council and also the correctness of the path it had taken. This was shown in a way that was as significant as it was tragic in Benedict XVI's last speech as pope, which he held shortly before his abdication to the Roman clergy. The lack of ultimate consequence seems to be a major reason why Benedict XVI. has failed in his efforts to correct course, indeed had to fail, as some observers believe.

It seems doubtful that Francis is citing Henri de Lubac for what John Paul II created him a cardinal for. The papal favor seems to have more in mind that de Lubac, who prepared the ground for the ecclesiastical '68 with the Nouvelle Théologie, which started a few years before the Paris student protests in May 1968.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Twitter (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Capuchin Administrator In Chile Isn’t Walking in the Steps of Padre Pio

The Capuchin Celestino Aos Braco, who has not served as Administrator of Santiago de Chile for four weeks, is denying Communion kneeling on the tongue to the faithful.

(Santiago de Chile) On March 23, Pope Francis appointed the Spanish Capuchin, Fr. Celestino Aos Braco, Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile. At the Chrism Mass celebrated on April 18th with the priests of the diocese in the Cathedral Church of Santiago de Chile on April 18th, he refused the faithful, who knelt down to receive Communion, the very body of Christ.

According to Church law, priests, and more so the bishops, have a duty to exclude public sinners from Communion. If one follows the video of the Chrism Mass in Santiago de Chile, which was published by the archdiocese, then one would have to assume, that the Apostolic Administrator from the Capuchin Order had gifts like his brother, Saint Father Pio. But nothing is known yet.

But if Monsignor Aos Braco doesn’t have the ability to read souls, are the faithful who knelt down to receive Communion, publicly known sinners? And of all the publicly known sinners of Santiago de Chile, who are unlawfully going to Communion, are they kneeling for Communion? This detail is significant because the administrator only denied kneeling believers who presented themselves for Communion.

But still, such a knowledge of public sinners is unknown. Rather, they were pious believers who abide by the ecclesiastical rules, because they see in this act, they offer the necessary homage to the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.

The Apostolic Administrator of Santiago de Chile sees it very differently. Receiving Communion while kneeling on the tongue is obviously such a nuisance that he refused the believers - completely unlawfully - to receive communion. 

The Capuchin Aos Braco was appointed by Pope Francis in 2014 as Bishop of the Chilean diocese of Copiapó. The Diocese has 220,000  Catholics and 25 priests, but 35 permanent deacons.

Last March, Pope Francis retired the former Primate of Chile, Ricardo Cardinal Ezzati, in connection with the sexual abuse scandal in the Latin American country surrounding the Karadima case.

Since the inauguration of Msgr. Aos Braco, the Archbishopric of Santiago de Chile has published only his Chrism Mass as a video, so that a comparison with the behavior of the administrator during Communion is not possible.

Obviously, what Alain Pronkin said in Le Journal de Montréal on April 18, 2016, confirms that Pope Francis chooses the "most progressive candidates" in his occupation of dioceses.

They are a nuisance to the doctrine and discipline of the Church, while they face various annoyances "mercifully".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Arzobispado de Santiago (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Francis Faking Out the Faithful

Edit: this in from Latin Mass Society Blog. Pope Francis is trickin’ people out at the House of Loreto. These people seem to think that he’s the head of the Church and as if to disabuse them of the notion, he withdraws his ring in order to prevent people from kneeling and venerating his ring. He’s most gracious to some guys in tracksuits who are probably professional athletes. They’re ok! It’s as if respecting the office and the Great Commission is out of bounds!

AMDG

Francis Does Not Accept Cardinal Barbarin’s Resignation

Offered resignation of the Archbishop of Lyon sentenced at first instance for non-disclosure of sexual abuse "under the presumption of innocence" not accepted

Paris-Vatican City (kath.net/KAP) Pope Francis has for the time being rejected the resignation of the French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who was sentenced to a probation sentence for non-disclosure of sexual abuse. Barbarin retires from the exercise of the episcopal ministry "for a time" and hands over the leadership of the Archdiocese of Lyon to his Vicar General Yves Baumgarten. This was announced by Cardinal Barbarin and Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti on Tuesday in two communiques published in parallel in Lyon and Rome.

He offered Francis his resignation as Archbishop of Lyon on Monday in a conversation at the Vatican, Barbarin stated in his statement published on the website of the Archdiocese of Lyon. The Pope had "under the presumption of innocence," will not accept the resignation, reported the cardinal.

A court in Lyon sentenced the 68-year-old Barbarin to six months' probation on 7 March for failure to report sexual assault. The lawyers of the 68-year-old cardinal announced that they would appeal the verdict. Under French law, he is innocent as long as the proceedings are ongoing.

Immediately after the first-instance conviction, Barbarin had announced that he would offer his resignation to the pope immediately. In response to the suggestion of the Pope, and in view of the fact that "the Church of Lyon has been suffering for three years," he has decided to "retire for some time and leave the leadership of the archdiocese to Vicar General Yves Baumgarten," Barbarin said , The decision applies from this Tuesday, added the cardinal.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Pope Goes to Switzerland to Celebrate World Council of Churches 70th Anniversary

Edit: do nothing waste of time albatrosses like World Council of Churches are only capable of ushering in the anti-Christ.

By Philippa Hitchen

Pope Francis will travel to Geneva on June 21st to mark the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches. The announcement was made on Friday at a press conference in the Vatican by the WCC General Secretary, Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit and by Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The WCC was founded in 1948 with a membership of 147 Christian Churches, largely in Europe and North America. Today it brings together 348 members in countries across the globe, including most of the world's Orthodox, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches.

Since 1965 the Catholic Church has worked closely together with the WCC through a Joint Working Group, as well as through participation in specific commissions or practical initiatives.

http://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-03/pope-to-visit-geneva-for-world-council-of-churches-anniversary.html

AMDG

New Scalfari Interview: Pope Francis Really is a Revolutionary

(Rome) Is Pope Francis a Marxist? Or Communist? Who knows, but certainly he is a "revolutionary," as his friend and avowed atheist Eugenio Scalfari explained in the recent editorial of his La Repubblica, the only daily newspaper that is said to be regularly read by Francis.

Questions about the pope's political convictions have cropped up since the pontificate began. The starting point was in autumn 2013 with the publication of Evangelii gaudium. At the time, critics in the United States called Francis a Marxist.

Is the pope a Marxist? A communist?

From the left side it was first mentioned particularly clearly in connection with the visit of the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Tsipras, a representative of the radical left, which emerged from the former Communist Party of Greece, was received in September 2014 by Pope Francis in Santa Marta. The meeting came about through the mediation of Walter Baier, former president of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ). Following the meeting, Tsipras said:

"The Pope is not a leftist, but he talks like a leftist".

Pope Francis: "Liberation Theology Was a Positive Thing in Latin America"

Pope Francis in Interview with El Pais

(Rome) The Spanish daily El Pais published in yesterday's Sunday edition an interview with Pope Francis. In this, the leader of the Catholic church said that "liberation theology was a positive thing for Latin America," that "one can practice religion in China" and that he "must be much more incomprehensible because of my sins." An excerpt.

On Liberation Theology

El Pais : Do you not think that the Church has lost many positions for the benefit of other religions and sects even after the failed attempt of liberation theology? Why is that?

Pope Francis : Liberation theology was a positive thing in Latin America. The part was condemned by the Vatican which opted for the Marxist analysis of reality. Cardinal Ratzinger issued two instructions when he was prefect of the Congregation of the Faith. It was very clear about the Marxist analysis of reality, and a second in which he came back to the positive aspects. Liberation theology had positive aspects, but also deviations, especially in the Marxist analysis of reality.

To the People's Republic of China

El Pais : Can Vatican diplomacy  soon be broadened in China?

Pope Francis : In fact, there is already a Commission working with China and meets every three months, once here [Vatican], once in Beijing. And there is a lot of dialogue with China. China has always had the aura of mystery, which is fascinating. Two or three months ago they were happy with the exhibition of the Vatican Museum in Beijing. And they will come to the Vatican in the coming year with their things, their museum.

El Pais : Will you soon travel to China?

Pope Francis:  When I am invited. They know that. In China, by the way, the churches are full. They can practice religion in China.

Europe

El Pais : Do you think, Holy Father, that the signs are similar in Europe today, which were present in Germany in 1933? [It's like Hitler!!]

Pope Francis : I am not a technician in it, but on today's Europe, I refer to my three speeches. The two in Strasbourg, and the third, when I received the Charlemagne Prize, the only prize which I have accepted as a service because of the moment which Europe is going through. These three speeches say what I think about Europe.

About Paul VI. And misunderstanding

El Pais : 50 years ago there was almost everything. The Second Vatican Council, the journey of Paul VI. And the embrace with the patriarch Athenagoras in the Holy Land. Some say to understand you, they should come to know Paul VI. At a certain moment he was a misunderstood pope. Do you also feel a bit like an uncomfortable pope?

Pope Francis : No, no. I think I am much more misunderstood because of my sins. Paul VI was the martyr of disagreement. Evangelii gaudium  was in the framework of the Pastoral.  What I want to give to the Church now is an update of Evangelii nuntiandi of Paul VI. He is a man who went forward in history. And he suffered, suffered much. He was a martyr. And many things he could not do, because he knew as a realist that he could not, and so he suffered, but he offered that suffering. And he did what he could do. And what Paul VI did best: sow. He sowed things that were later harvested in history. Evangelii gaudium is a mixture of Evangelii nuntiandi and the Aparecida document [2007 Latin American Episcopal Conference]. Things that have grown from below. Evangelii nuntiandi is the best post-conciliar pastoral document and has lost none of its topicality. I do not feel misunderstood. I feel accompanied, accompanied by all types of people, boys, old people, ... Yes, some out there are disagreeable, and that's their right, because if I felt bad, because some disagree. that would be the beginnings of the dictator in my attitude.  You have the right to disagree. You have the right to think that the road is dangerous, that it could bring bad results, that ... they have the right. But always on the condition that they enter into a dialogue, and not that they throw stones and hide their hand, not that. No man has a right to that. [Except for you and your close circle of intimates who rules the Vatican like oriental despots?] Throwing a stone, but hiding the hand is criminal. Everyone has a right to discuss, and hopefully, we will discuss a lot, because this is what sets us apart. The discussion unites. The discussion with good blood, not with slander and all that ... [Unless it's you who's doing the slander, Holiness?]

Introduction / translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: OSS / El Pais (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

 to press

Pope Reveals His Contempt for Catholics Faithful to Ancient Liturgy

Edit: we could just as well have stopped at "Pope Reviles Catholics", since those who don't cherish the traditions and doctrines handed down by the Apostles are hardly Catholic themselves.

The war against the Reform of the Reform continues apace and it is only its resemblance to true and authentic public worship and the faith which they seem to abhor.  It causes the Pope to sneer and revile young people who embrace it.  You will recognize some of the usual slights made by leftist and effeminate clergy against the faithful who remain true to the traditions of the Church.  We were wondering when he'd take a swipe at Pope Benedict's project to restore the liturgy after the depradations of a half-century of modernist innovation.

Picked this article up from Catholic Culture and Catholic Family News:

He also discussed the sacred liturgy. Crux reported:

Asked about the liturgy, Pope Francis insisted the Mass reformed after the Second Vatican Council is here to stay and “to speak of a ‘reform of the reform’ is an error.”

In authorizing regular use of the older Mass, now referred to as the “extraordinary form,” now-retired Pope Benedict XVI was “magnanimous” toward those attached to the old liturgy, he said. “But it is an exception.”

Pope Francis told Father Spadaro he wonders why some young people, who were not raised with the old Latin Mass, nevertheless prefer it.

“And I ask myself: Why so much rigidity? Dig, dig, this rigidity always hides something, insecurity or even something else. Rigidity is defensive. True love is not rigid.”

Communion for All, Even for Protestants

Edit: For the record.

In addition to the divorced and remarried, for Luther’s followers as well there are those who are giving the go-ahead for the Eucharist. Here is how “La Civiltà Cattolica” interprets the pope’s enigmatic words on intercommunion.

by Sandro Magister

ROME, July 1, 2016 – In his way, after encouraging communion for the divorced and remarried, in that it “is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak,” Pope Francis is now also encouraging Protestants and Catholics to receive communion together at their respective Masses.

He is doing so, as always, in a discursive, allusive way, not definitional, leaving the ultimate decision to the individual conscience.

Still emblematic is the answer he gave on November 15, 2015, on a visit to the Christuskirche, the church of the Lutherans in Rome (see photo), to a Protestant who asked him if she could receive communion together with her Catholic husband.

The answer from Francis was a stupefying pinwheel of yes, no, I don’t know, you figure it out. Which it is indispensable to reread in its entirety, in the official transcription:

“Thank you, Ma’am. Regarding the question on sharing the Lord’s Supper, it is not easy for me to answer you, especially in front of a theologian like Cardinal Kasper! I’m afraid! I think the Lord gave us [the answer] when he gave us this command: 'Do this in memory of me'. And when we share in, remember and emulate the Lord’s Supper, we do the same thing that the Lord Jesus did. And the Lord’s Supper will be, the final banquet will there be in the New Jerusalem, but this will be the last. Instead on the journey, I wonder – and I don’t know how to answer, but I am making your question my own – I ask myself: “Is sharing the Lord’s Supper the end of a journey or is it the viaticum for walking together? I leave the question to the theologians, to those who understand. It is true that in a certain sense sharing is saying that there are no differences between us, that we have the same doctrine – I underline the word, a difficult word to understand – but I ask myself: don’t we have the same Baptism? And if we have the same Baptism, we have to walk together. You are a witness to an even profound journey because it is a conjugal journey, truly a family journey, of human love and of shared faith. We have the same Baptism. When you feel you are a sinner – I too feel I am quite a sinner – when your husband feels he is a sinner, you go before the Lord and ask forgiveness; your husband does the same and goes to the priest and requests absolution. They are ways of keeping Baptism alive. When you pray together, that Baptism grows, it becomes strong; when you teach your children who Jesus is, why Jesus came, what Jesus did, you do the same, whether in Lutheran or Catholic terms, but it is the same. The question: and the Supper? There are questions to which only if one is honest with oneself and with the few theological lights that I have, one must respond the same, you see. 'This is my Body, this is my Blood', said the Lord, 'do this in memory of me', and this is a viaticum which helps us to journey. I had a great friendship with an Episcopalian bishop, 48 years old, married with two children, and he had this concern: a Catholic wife, Catholic children, and he a bishop. He accompanied his wife and children to Mass on Sundays and then went to worship with his community. It was a step of participating in the Lord’s Supper. Then he passed on, the Lord called him, a just man. I respond to your question only with a question: how can I participate with my husband, so that the Lord’s Supper may accompany me on my path? It is a problem to which each person must respond. A pastor friend of mine said to me: 'We believe that the Lord is present there. He is present. You believe that the Lord is present. So what is the difference?' – 'Well, there are explanations, interpretations…'. Life is greater than explanations and interpretations. Always refer to Baptism: “One faith, one baptism, one Lord”, as Paul tells us, and take the outcome from there. I would never dare give permission to do this because I do not have the authority. One Baptism, one Lord, one faith. Speak with the Lord and go forward. I do not dare say more.”

Link to Chiesa... AMDG

Pope Downgrades the Church's Message on Bioethics

Edit: this came in the e-mail with the observation from a reader that the pope is outrageous to say this.  I'm sure we've all heard this sort of thing from the elderly Call to Action lady, the Sinsenawa Dominican who serves as an escort at an abortuary or a fly by night Nouvelle Theologian.  Surely, the Church has a privileged voice in this field and to suggest otherwise is monstrous. What of the unborn, the handicapped, the elderly and most fragile members of society?    Francis doesn't feel the same when it comes to the myth of man-made global warming, does he?

Here's something from Vatican Downslider:

“Everyone is aware of how sensitive the Church is to ethical issues but perhaps it is not clear to everyone that the Church does not lay claim to a privileged voice in this field…,” Pope Francis said in a meeting with the Italian Committee for Bioethics today, highlighting the risk of utility and profit being the only reference points for developments in science and biological and medical technologies. He urged this advisory body of the Italian government, headed by Francesco Paolo Casavola, a Catholic, to look further into environmental degradation, “disability and the marginalisation of vulnerable individuals”. He asked them in other words to tackle the challenge of countering today’s “throwaway culture” which “takes on many forms, including treating human embryos as disposable material, as well as sick and elderly people approaching the end”. The Pope also asked them to harmonise standards and norms in the biological and medical fields.

Just monstrous:

Bioethics, established by the President of the Council for Ministers in Italy 25 years ago,” Francis said. “Everyone is aware of how sensitive the Church is to ethical issues but perhaps it is not clear to everyone that the Church does not lay claim to a privileged voice in this field; in fact it is a source of great satisfaction for the Church when civic responsibility at different levels is able to reflect, discern and act according to a free and open way of thinking and inspired by integral human and social values. This mature civic responsibility is a sign that the seed of the Gospel – which has been revealed and entrusted to the Church – has produced fruits, successfully fostering the search for truth and good in complex human and ethical questions”