The Smoke of Satan Chokes the Faithful

Posted on by charliej373

smoke of satan

By Charlie Johnston

What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?-Mark 8:36

In my anger over the revelations of what a serial predator former Cardinal (now merely Archbishop) Theodore McCarrick has been for his whole career – and how many in authority knew and did nothing, I chose first to repeat my investigative piece on former Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn. Bishop Finn, confronted with an abusive Priest under his authority in his Diocese, did everything a Bishop should. He removed the Priest from public ministry to protect the young people; he sent the Priest for psychiatric care to try to be just to the Priest, and he co-operated with public authorities. He did some of this a little clumsily, but he did it all. He was not accused of any sort of abuse. For his clumsiness, Pope Francis and his American factotum, Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley, forced Finn’s resignation. All I could think of after Pope Francis ordered Cardinal McCarrick, a Bishop under his authority, to resign from the College of Cardinals (henceforth to be a mere Archbishop) was that if Francis held himself to the same standards he held Finn to, he would have to resign. But, of course, Pope Francis won’t do that. He rarely holds those who are heterodox to account unless he is forced to. His wrath is almost entirely reserved for the orthodox and those who, however clumsily, try to live their faith with fidelity – the faith passed on from Christ, the Apostles (through the authentic Magisterium), the Gospels and the Prophets.

I hear from as many – or more – Priests these days (and, quietly, a few Bishops) from across the country as I did when my prior site was at its peak readership. These are very hard times for them. It is frequently agonizing. It heartens me that so very many good men in the hierarchy are working to balance their duty of obedience with their duty to proclaim the faith with fidelity to Christ and the Magisterium. I write this, though, not to rally general support to the hierarchy, but to say, “Enough!” – to acknowledge bluntly how badly much of the hierarchy has betrayed the faithful AND how many of us in the laity have failed those clerics who have kept faith with Christ.

For a very long time my primary criticisms of the hierarchy have been that they have been too busy playing at being politicians while abdicating their responsibility for the faith – and that they have failed to protect the faithful from the wolves. I didn’t know the half of it. It turns out that too many in the hierarchy are, themselves, wolves. It can escape no one’s notice that the overwhelming majority of the offenders come from the ranks of those clerics who bleat the loudest and most insistently about how we must welcome the sexually disordered while making no call for them to reform. I have come to think many of these abysmal clerics are not as interested in their peculiar variety of mercy (a mercy that tells those soul-sick with a deadly disease that they are fine just as they are) as they are in preserving an ample supply of victims at their disposal.

I well know about the pleasures of the flesh – and am no harsh puritan. In more innocent times, I was actually considered soft on homosexuality. I have always been skeptical of the idea that they choose their orientation. Celibacy is a tough cross to bear, but that makes it a particularly worthy offering. I was sexually active most of my life. It was always with women (even in my disorder I am fundamentally orthodox). I got serious about celibacy 14 years ago. It was brutally hard the first six years, but I have lived as a layman what some of these prelates had no intention of living. It somewhat grieves me that, when I made my private vow, it was not for pure love of God. I became convinced 14 years ago that I would probably eventually have to go forth and speak publicly. I could not help what I had been, but I would not bring scandal on the faith as I was speaking. I look at these predatory Priests and Bishops and wonder, where is their fear of God? Do they even believe in God? Anyone can stumble, even the best of people. Then they get up and seriously resolve to reform their lives. But that is not what this is. These men have plotted and schemed, even while mouthing pious platitudes, to use the things of God to serve their own lusts – lust for power, sex, and money. There is the stench of betrayal and brutality to it, but also the sulfurous scent of blasphemy.

Yet we in the laity have badly failed our duty to those Priests and Bishops who HAVE kept faith. Many – maybe most – of the laity insist on never criticizing a Priest. That means we treat the most predatory and corrupt the same as we treat those who live holy fidelity. How does it work out in practice? It means everything goes to the lowest common denominator. The most viciously corrupt clerics know that, barring huge revelations, they can attack any Priest who tries to draw them back into line with impunity, for the lay people will not intervene to help the poor, hapless reformer who is orthodox. So those Priests who live orthodoxy in a heterodox Diocese are attacked from above if they don’t toe the party line and get little help from below once they are targeted. If there are charges and countercharges, the laity loses interest in this dispute “above their paygrade,” but the persecutors never forget – and never cease their persecution. In two issues of his Parish bulletin, a gutsy Priest in Tampa, Florida explains clearly what the problems are for the Priest who tries to keep faith in the midst of these wolves, the lavender mafia. Meantime, all the noble, honorable Priests who live faith with fidelity and truly seek to minister to, rather than prey on, the flock given to them, must suffer along with the predators the contempt that only the predators have earned. They must suffer because we, the laity, refuse to “judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24), nor even to exercise discernment at all. So the good suffer for the actions of the bad while the bad leverage their power to prey on more victims behind a camouflage of “mercy.” (Yes, I know some will point out Matthew 7:1 to me – “Judge not lest ye be judged.” They need to read the two verses that follow to get context. Jesus does NOT contradict Himself in these two verses, though the malicious and the stupid only quote the latter partially in order to make it seem so.)

The satan loves all this. Why shouldn’t he? He instigated it. There are people leaving the Church because of all the trouble and turmoil of these last few years. That’s what the satan wants – and his gambit this time is one of his most clever, ever. If you are on this great ship at sea and the boiler started smoking, would you attempt to save yourself by tossing yourself into the sea? If you found the officer corps was corrupt, would that persuade you to toss yourself in the sea? Bad plan for survival – but that is exactly what the satan is persuading some to do. We are not passive passengers on this ship; we are the crew. Now is the time to call on and cooperate with Our Lady, our Stella Maris, our sure guide as we right the ship and navigate back to Her Holy Son, Our Lord.

Doctrinal Honesty

At the root of all the disorder was first the failure, which is now become a defiant refusal, to teach authentic Catholic doctrine, as expressed by Scripture and by the Magisterium, the consistent and unbroken teaching of the Apostles. Most often, this defiance of doctrine is justified in the name of mercy. This is because the attackers from within have redefined mercy, itself, to advance their own ugly temporal passions.

Should we welcome sinners? Of course we should! We are all sinners struggling to make our pilgrim way to God. But when we welcome a thief, we do not show our welcome by celebrating and honoring thievery. When we welcome liars, we do not do so by celebrating the joy of lying. We insist that all make firm resolution to reform. We understand that disorder can rarely be turned on and off like a light switch, so we help those who stumble get up and start anew. In some cases, such as with rape and murder, offenders must go to jail. Even there, we do not abandon them – but embrace the necessity for temporal punishment and restraint to protect others even as we continue to help them in their effort to reform. It is almost exclusively with sexual disorder that malicious intriguers inside the Church have decided that Christ’s teachings, Scripture, and the Magisterium are no longer operative – that sexual disorder is not only no big deal, it is a positive good to be celebrated and encouraged. That toxic climate has encouraged the explosive growth of all manner of disorder in every corner of the Church and the culture.

A doctor who diagnosed a patient with a severe, but curable disease, then chose to let the patient die in order to mercifully spare him from the worry and pain of a lengthy cure would rightly be sued for malpractice and, at the very least, kicked out of the profession in disgrace. A lot of our clerics are guilty of intentional spiritual malpractice. The Lord has made it clear how He will deal with such unrepentant spiritual quacks: “It would be better…if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea.” (Luke 17:2)

We are in the midst of the age of sexual heresy. Refuse to submit. Pray that, as bad as it is now, Priests and Bishops do not succumb as heartily as they did to the Arian heresy ages ago (most estimate over 80 percent of the Catholic clergy and hierarchy signed on.) That, of course, was a more subtle heresy, one that did not involve as obviously a defiant and direct repudiation of Christ and the teachings of Scripture as this new heresy does. The new sexual heresy is a direct attack on the faith, on the family, and on Christ, himself. Already, it is clear that the Synod on Youth (scheduled for October in Rome) and the World Meeting of Families to be held later this month in Ireland will be presided over and marred by the presence of men who deny faithful teaching on sexuality – and will have a large LGBT advocacy presence. It is not enough that we are swamped with sexual disorder, now we have large swaths of faithless clerics advocating for sexual disorder.

There is a genuine process for development of doctrine, but there are serious limits. Defined doctrine may be refined, but not in a way that contradicts itself. When it is refined, it requires a serious, weighty and worthy explanation and exposition. The Pope is not master of the Magisterium, merely its servant. The Magisterium is not some transient political agenda. A “social democrat” Pope who succeeds a “tory” Pope may NOT upend everything and start over. The Pope is called to be guardian of the Deposit of Faith. It amazes me that the least intellectually gifted Pope of my lifetime is the most cavalier about seeking to change doctrine by arbitrary personal fiat, with no serious effort to explain or justify. Last week, Pope Francis abruptly changed the catechism to forbid the death penalty in every case. He said it denies the dignity of the human person. In January of 1999, I saw St. John Paul in St. Louis. Part of his talk that day included an appeal against the death penalty. He largely convinced me in all but the most compelling circumstances. He did so because he recognized the legitimate concerns of all societies and their leaders, he acknowledged that he did not have authority over all contingencies – then respectfully and humbly made his case and his appeal. Now, I am faced with accepting this sudden convulsion as an authentic development of doctrine. To do so, I must repudiate all the saints, Popes and theologians before Francis as having an insufficient respect for the dignity of the human person. Further, I must do it with no carefully crafted argument seeking to lay any intellectual groundwork for this change. I must accept it simply because this Pope asserts it is his imperial will. Nah…I will stay true to the commitment St. John Paul sparked in me, but I will not repudiate 2000 years of saints, Popes and theologians just because Pope Francis decided I should.

Henceforth, when a Priest starts to consistently explain why Christ doesn’t actually mean what He actually said…or that the Bible doesn’t mean what it plainly says, I will abandon any contact with that Priest. I won’t do it lightly for the occasional error or, even, offense – and with the understanding that I am not a theological expert. But I will leave if he shows himself to be a committed opponent of the faith. When a Priest decides that “Thou shalt not fornicate” actually means fornicate to your heart’s content, you don’t need a degree in theology to know that is a repudiation of Christ. I will not deprive myself of the Sacrament, but I will be at pains to avoid him. Over the last few years, I have been all over the country. Even in a Diocese presided over by the most antagonistic Bishop, you can find Parishes where the faith is proclaimed in fidelity to Scripture and the Magisterium. I know, I have found them everywhere. Now, withdrawal of financial support from me means nothing: I have lived poverty for almost all of the last eight or nine years. Any church dependent on me for financial sustenance would have went under years ago. But what few pearls I have I will NOT cast before the swine who have invaded the hierarchy – and neither should you. If your Pastor consistently defames the faith, find a new Parish – and close your wallet while you are looking. If it is your Bishop who consistently defames the faith, find a good Parish within the Diocese, support it, but give nary a dime to any Diocesan appeals. Do not be hyper-sensitive; do not assume you know more than you do; but when the offenses are clear and consistent, do not let your time or money support the war on the faith by its internal enemies.

Pope Francis

I have long criticized those clerics who busy themselves explaining why Christ doesn’t mean what He actually says, yet I have spent way too much time over the last few years explaining why Pope Francis doesn’t mean what he often says. I am done with that. I have decided to take him at his word on the matter – and by what he does. No, I am not joining forces with those who claim he is an anti-pope or that his election was invalid. He is legitimately the Pope, with all the authority and responsibility inherent to that office (though no more than that). In the long history of the Church, it has pleased God to suffer more than a few unworthy occupants of the Throne of Peter. Sometimes, those unworthy Popes have accomplished things ancillary to their office that were useful long-term. Sometimes, the unworthiness of a particular occupant of the papacy served to reveal and bring great scandal to a head, to show how bad things truly are, forcing reform. Certainly, the tenure of Francis has served to reveal the depths of the rot in the hierarchy – and seduced the opponents of Christ to identify themselves in the mistaken conviction that there is no God and there will be no reckoning.

Pope Francis likes to be seen as the Pope of Mercy. No doubt he is indulgent and solicitous of enemies of the faith. The Vatican has honored abortionists, population control advocates, authoritarians, totalitarians, and advocates of normalizing sexual dysfunction under his watch. Where, though, is the mercy for orthodox clerics and laypeople? All he has for them is scorn, insults and, occasionally calumny. He has mocked large families which are generously open to life. He consistently ridicules and insults traditionalists. I am not a traditionalist, myself – and certainly I am tart with those rad/trads who use their faith as a club with which to bludgeon others. But that is not what we’re talking about here. I know and have become friends with many who are traditionalists, who find soaring beauty and transcendence in the traditional Latin Mass. Why would a beautiful and authentic expression of faith offend anyone? Yet Pope Francis regularly denounces them as rigid, inflexible, and some sort of weirdos. This disdain for orthodox worshippers offends me. Where is the mercy? Just a few months before the hideous McCarrick scandal unfolded, Pope Francis responded to reports of great scandals in Chile by insulting and smearing the victims. Where is the mercy? The Vatican has sought to curry favor with the Chinese Communists by breaking faith with the Catholics in China those communists have been persecuting, even to torture and murder. It is one of the most rank betrayals in the history of the Church. Where is the mercy? Apparently, reserved only for enemies of the faith.

Pope Francis likes to speak of encouraging dialogue. I encourage you to read the Dubia. It was respectfully, even reverently worded. The Cardinals who posed it kept it secret for two months while Francis ignored them, only going public when it became clear he was not going to answer them. When he finally made an informal response to a reporter, it did not address the questions, themselves. Rather it was, once again, to insult the Cardinals and impute ill intent to their motives – and, of course, to accuse them of rigidity. That is not even a simulacrum of dialogue.

In politics, we used to say that “personnel is policy,” that is to say, pay attention to who an executive appoints to carry out his agenda and you will know who he is. Look at Pope Francis’ appointments of Cardinals. Look and see how many heterodox men he appoints to high office. Even in the wake of these predatory sexual scandals, he insists on appointing and elevating who preach sexual permissiveness, men who deny and even mock the teaching of Christ and the Scriptures on the matter. I used to be offended that Pope Francis seemingly snubbed men such as Archbishop Jose Gomez and Archbishop Charles Chaput in passing out the hat of Cardinals (though it is rare for a Bishop to be named a Cardinal if there is already a living Cardinal in the same Diocese). Now I am grateful. Not so long from now, I suspect, having received your appointment from Francis will not immediately discredit you, but it will be a hard mark against you. There will be a reckoning.

I won’t belabor the matter. I do not discount that Pope Francis’ story is not entirely written. He may yet have a Damascus moment. Until now, though, there has been more of Saul of Tarsus than there has been of St. Paul to him. I am just going to take him at his word. Should he start showing respect, compassion, or any regard at all for people who are orthodox and trying to live fidelity to the faith, I will pay attention to that, too. But I will not respond to his constant open contempt for the faithful by making apologies for him like some pathetic battered spouse.

Judge Righteous Judgment

It would be easy to rise, in self-righteous anger, and form a lynch mob. But we must first look to our own failure. We are all complicit. I say that not in any mewling “Who am I to judge” way to excuse hideous offenses; rather, I say we must all acknowledge our part, amend our faults, judge righteous judgment, and hold the offenders to account, particularly the smarmily unrepentant.

Sadly, once disorder is welcomed in small ways as a positive good, it grows with aggressive virulence, touching all areas of the faith. That means that we will have many false accusations from people who think there is a buck to be had or a name to be made. Already, we have seen heterodox abusers weaponize such accusations to defame the orthodox even as they seek to conceal their own predatory nature. We must not return like for like. We must not react in a knee-jerk way to specious accusations that may be leveled by someone with an axe to grind. We must be guided by evidence. Then we must act, with charity certainly, but with resolution and vigor. Every one of us must work to set this house in order.

Stick with the evidence. Remember, one of the most hideous hotbeds of homosexual abuse came from a seeming pillar of orthodoxy, the Legionnaires of Christ. Right now, Rod Dreher is running an intense series of pieces in The American Conservative on how the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, one of the most orthodox in the country, covered for some disordered behavior in order to try to protect the reputation of the Church. We do not protect our reputation by sweeping our dirty laundry under the rug and covering for the offenders – we protect our Church by exposing and eradicating it.

Back in 2002 when the Dallas Conference was announced to address revelations of abusers in the Church in America, I was delighted. I thought the Bishops would get serious about addressing ills in the Church – and, frankly, that I would yet manage to get out of ever having to speak publicly about my visitations. Alas, the week before the conference began, Our Lady appeared to me (it was early afternoon, while I was grabbing something off the floor of my son’s bedroom while he was at school.) She was as sorrowful as I had ever seen her. She told me, “Dallas will show you how bad things truly are: they will scarcely acknowledge my Holy Son.” I immediately called one of my director Priests. I thought I surely had my out card. Throughout history, though there had been plenty of conferences populated by dissolute Bishops, all had at least given lip service to Christ. This could not be true. Late in the conference, my Priest called me, shaken. He said he had only heard Christ mentioned twice that week. That was twice as many times as I had heard Him mentioned. The conference seemed like a bloodless meeting of the Board of Directors of Catholicism, Inc. I was furious. I wrote one of the angriest letters I ever have. It was to a Bishop I knew who had been involved. I arranged to make sure that he got it personally. In a key part, worth repeating here, I wrote that a Bishop is not primarily an administrator, a fundraiser, a lobbyist, or even a theologian. He is an Apostle of the living Christ. All the protocols and zero-tolerance policies in the world will not make things any better. It will not get better until the Bishops recollect themselves of who they are – and insist that the fundamentals of the faith be preached boldly and in fidelity to Him Crucified…that what would solve this would be the consistent preaching of the True Presence, the dignity of life, the centrality of the family. Then, and only then, would this crisis lift. (To his credit, a few years later in a very small meeting where the Bishop recognized me, he stated that the way he handled his part in the matter was one of his greatest regrets. He then started repeating swaths of my letter, frequently looking at me while stating what he should have done. It was noticeable enough that the fellow who had accompanied me asked afterward what the weird sub-theme was between the Bishop and me. It was a sweet and grace-filled moment. I have held that Bishop in affection ever since then.

It is not a time for the grinding of axes or the venting of spleens. It is a time for careful, considered and deliberate action. We would do well to emulate the last paragraph of Abraham Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s (Church’s) wounds…to do all which may achieve and cherish, a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves and with all nations.” (Bolded copy is my addition). After that, he pressed on with fortitude to simultaneously end the scourge of slavery throughout the nation and bind the nation back together. May both the relentlessness and the charity of Lincoln in crisis be an inspiration to us.

None of us are passive passengers in the Barque of Peter. Only the officer corps (the hierarchy) can direct the ship. But we, the crew, have both the right and the obligation to demand that the officers neither abuse us nor drive us into the shoals. We have the obligation to stand up on behalf of all those officers who have tenderly and lovingly ministered to us and worked to navigate by the teaching of Our Lord, guided by the light of Our Lady. We must not leave them standing alone before the wolves any more than we expect them to leave us alone and vulnerable. There is a temptation among many to leave the hard things to some nebulous “other.” We have all failed; we must all stand and be true, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, lifting each other up, heartening each other, and confirming each other in fidelity to the faith. Looking at our fractured corps of shepherds, we must do as they say (in the authentic Magisterium), not as they do, (Matthew 23:3) as Jesus once told his listeners about another hierarchy rocked by corruption and clericalism. When we all make our stand and act true, we participate in (and even help facilitate) the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart.

Be not afraid. Since the breaking of the satan’s power, it has not stopped his acolytes from working his malice on mankind. But it HAS stripped them of their camouflage. The satan cannot cover for them any more. Things are not any worse than they were last year at this time. In fact, they are better – but Our Lady has shown us how bad things truly are. Now let us stand and be true.

O Lady, aid my prayer and let my cry come unto thee! Sweet Immaculate Conception, make speed to defend me; from the hand of the enemy mightily defend me!

474 thoughts on “The Smoke of Satan Chokes the Faithful”

  1. Wow! Such truth is never easy to say, for one must infuse into the sometimes difficult-to-say truth, the essential interplay between Justice and Mercy. The apropos Lincoln quote which you chose, Charlie, beams from the concepts you have covered in this piece. It is a time for prayer and fasting to undergird our discerning of personal next right steps rooted in judging righteous judgement.

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      1. Great idea! I’m ready, Andy. Perhaps we could choose to fast on one day each week. How about Fridays since it’s a traditional fast day? Or we could say that anyone interested in fasting in solidarity one day each week can choose the best-for-the-person day. For those with health issues for whom fasting would cause harm to self, there are a multitude of ways in which one can deny self for the good of God’s Kingdom reigning in His Church on earth.

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            1. Let’s say Friday for all who can. And if Friday of a particular week doesn’t work for you, simply choose a different day to fast that week and get back to Friday when you can.

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              1. Count me in, need some breakthroughs in other areas also. Sr. Emmanuel of Medjugorje recommends spelt bread, but I alternate with rye and sourdough.

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              2. What a timely discussion for me! Last Wednesday I had a colonoscopy. Tuesday was no solid food. I took several bottles of various vitamin waters and a couple of sports drinks to work. I knew I would have to keep my blood sugar up because Good Friday of this year I tried to eat nothing, only water. By 11:00 that morning I started to feel shaky and confused. By noon I nearly fainted twice. I mean VERY close to going down. Better judgement took over and I got something out of a vending machine. Can’t remember what exactly but it got me through until I could leave for a light lunch. In any case, last week I was able to work a whole day and function into the evening with the above mentioned drinks. I was desperately hungry by dinner time but tried to offer it up and reminded Mrs. J that millions of people around the world feel like this most days. My point (such as it is) is that after ‘surviving’ a day without real food, I started thinking I should do this one a day every week. Twice if manageable. So yeah, I’m all in on a SOH fast!!! I’ll keep checking back to see if there is a consensus of which day would work the best for the most people.
                God Bless you all. Thanks, Charlie!

                Aw shucks! I corrected several mistakes. Sorry, Holy Souls 😦

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              4. I will happily jump in with my ‘widow’s mite’ of a fast as I am no longer able to do a strict bread & water fast due to medical issues. Not eating in between small meals is a killer for me so I will offer that and throw in my already operational daily fast of no alcohol and No. More. Coffee. Ever. Again. As. Long. As. I. Live. Can you tell which one I find hardest?

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            2. Can I put a little butter on my toast, or is that cheating? 😁

              I asked a professor at UCCS (Jackie Berning, PhD in nutrition) to analyze a bread/water fast. Sitting in her office, I watched as she did some calculations. One slice of bread (~100 kcal) in the morning, another piece at lunch, and plenty of water provided just the right amount of carbohydrates to prevent ketosis, according to her. If I’m not mistaken, she used the word “perfect” to describe this fast. She would often say to her students, “Fat burns in a carbohydrate fire.” So those of us who do this fast periodically will burn a bit of body fat each time — and the bread is the key.

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              1. Ha on butter! Thanks for this interesting nutrition fact, Patrick. I used to fast on bread and water after my pilgrimage to Medjugorje in 1992. Invariably after lunch, I was tempted to lay my head on my desk and set my first graders on auto-pilot. Not a good scenario. Coming from hereditary genes which landed 7 of my siblings in the Type II Diabetes mode when each had hit the mid-forties – blessedly, by focusing on either a low-carb or keto eating lifestyle, the diabetes has never been a health issue for me – I know bread and water are a no go fast for my temple of the Holy Spirit. I do much better to simply skip the food. And while Our Lady, at Medjugorje, recommended bread and water fasts, the Church – to whom she ever defers – teaches that health issues can shape the particulars of the fast for an individual. Very seriously, there are so many of life’s pleasures, good and great gifts from the Lord which we can enjoy, which can become offerings, sacrifices in the Little Way of St. Therese.

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                1. Yes, Beckita—If I were to eat a piece of bread in the morning, I would eat a whole loaf. I would be better not to eat or to fast on vegetables–I’ve never binged on veggies. But there are many ways to fast—no tv, no radio in the car, etc! Lots of creature comforts to forgo!

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                  1. Kim Sevier: Bread is the hardest darn food to give up! Two slices of bread and water sounds like a party to me especially if it’s whole wheat and/or 7 grains…well you know what I mean. I’m better off not eating at all with lots of ice water. Anyway the whole loaf comment made me chuckle out loud. Like every good quip it has an element of truth in it at least for me.

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                2. Beckita I am gluten sensitive so I asked my confessor if I can fast on veggies. He said yes. Someone here told me it is binding in confessional. I can easily fast now almost all days n eat normal dinner😄

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                3. Ha Beckita! I have found “no food” fasting to be simpler for me and I have all this time on my hands for prayer and meditation when I am not thinking about my next meal. I will join all the NRS or SOH folks for any kind of fasting. I’m enjoying it. (Type 2 diabetes here.)

                  It’s been a rough year. My youngest brother died. Please pray for him and his/my family. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters and his beloved dog and his 94 year old mother and 7 siblings. He was a wonderful guy who enjoyed a wonderful fulfilling life.

                  Wouldn’t you know I had a life threatening problem with 4 days in the hospital just before he passed away. I never felt worried or abandoned. This was just before he died. It just seemed like an another amazing Lent to me. What is Father saying to me?

                  A few weeks later a cousin died. He had a ravaging experience with cancer. Please pray for him. The flu followed for me and I felt like I could not get on my feet but it has worked out.

                  I am shy of some of the intellectual discussion here because often my knowledge is limited but more so because I know I can be a fool and experience has taught me to be reticent. Experience is a good mama.

                  I will, I’m sure, at some time jump in. Charley has again to my great relief been right on this forum and I am relieved because I have grown weary of Pope Francis’ intolerance of orthodoxy. My prayers are with him but I embrace him with terrible pain. My nonbelieving family members are flummoxed at the contradiction between traditional Church standings and his paradoxical perspective. I am more than confused; I am angry.

                  Personally, I now have 4 grandchildren with two on the way. It is so cool I can’t describe it. Other grandfathers can tell you about it. How great Thou art!

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                  2. So good to see you, Luke Michael. Sounds like you have had a time of trials and sorrow. Praying for the repose of your brother’s soul and your counsin’s soul and for their families (you) and all who love them. Hope your own health has been fully restored. Oh the grandchildren! This nana gets that joy!

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                  3. Luke Michael, I will pray for the repose of your brother and your cousin, and for all those who love them. And congratulations on all the grandkids!

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              2. I have notice that when fasting on bread and flavored water also know as coffee my weight reduces. But when I have bread with normal meals my weight goes up.. An odd anomaly.

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              3. Love that inquiry, Patrick. I was new to this idea of fasting over 25 years ago. I ate apple, raisin, and cinnamon nut breads. I also drank flavored waters. I joked with my Pastor, that I even could find a way to indulge while fasting.
                At a Chicago Marian conference, Mirjana Soldo was a guest speaker and was asked about adding spreads, peanut butter, etc. to the bread and through her interpreter she really did not say one way or the other. However. in the Flame of Love book, Elizabeth Kindelmann made it clear that the bread and water was to be void of flavor. It makes so much sense when you think of the bitter herbs and unleavened bread that the Holy Family partook in during Passover. So…

                😉

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                  2. Tsk tsk, PD, no ‘sighing’ allowed during the fasting-just kidding. Even though I know God wants a cheerful giver, I’ll probably be muttering/ admonishing myself on Fridays to, ‘buckle up buttercup’.
                    A favorite quote comes to mind from my (then) teenagers’ favorite movie, The Man From Snowy River: “Spare me the affectations of your martyrdom.” I used to say this to them during Lent; now I’ll hear the echoes….

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              4. Butter is a slippery slope Patrick
                … next thing you know it’s peanut butter instead of butter
                … then a sliced banana on top…. then milk to wash it down

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                    1. Ha! CG, I have read that book a ton of times to first graders. Let’s hope Andy gets to writing his version so the kids can enjoy another adaptation of the story line.

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        3. Beckita, fasting, according to Evagrius of Ponticus has a two fold spiritual value. It confronts the demons of gluttony. These demons precede the demon of porneia (sexual sins), who are wanderers. Nothing stops these demons like fasting, especially if you are able, from water.

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          1. Personal note: True, I’ve observed how gluttony often precedes sexual sin. I’m not normally prone to eating in excess or rich foods, but leading up to sin of the flesh I notice I’m drawn to loading up on fast food, chocolates, Doritos (which is a gluttonous type of food in itself), energy drinks, ice cream (which I never eat), cigarettes (which are not part of my lifestyle), and alcohol (which I don’t particularly enjoy). The sexual sin then represents a demonic “cherry on top,” if you will. Yes, I see this relationship between gluttony and lust quite clearly.

            On the flip side though, in my experience, fasting does not always stop those persistent porneia bastards and can even accompany the sin — where I’d rather sin than eat, sometimes for great lengths of time. But I’ve never tried withholding water. Hmmm…. This adds insight into Jesus’ cry, “I thirst.” Perhaps I need to get more extreme; after all, satan’s minions are playing hardball with my soul. So the next time temptations come barreling down the pike, I’ll try to keep dry (in more ways than one).

            Thank you, J.I.M. Keep the spiritual direction coming!

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            1. Patrick, if there is any priest nearby who you trust, please consider asking him for deliverance prayer. In this, or any area of compulsive sin, deliverance is a mighty support in the spiritual battles which each one of us must contend. And oh how many different areas compulsiveness can arise. I was blessed by deliverance prayer from Stella Davis. Christ’s Power in this kind of prayer is awesome!

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              1. Deliverance prayers work, and I trust all of the priests at my church. Christ’s power is indeed awesome.

                On a recent visit with my counselor, I was in the throes of great temptation to sexual sin. I had the TIME, I had the MEANS, and I had the DESIRE. I could hear the devil’s “train coming down the track” straight for me. It was good because I was able to articulate for him the intense battle I was caught in.

                He gave an excellent recommendation: “Go to the church, find a priest, and make a confession.”

                I said I’d just been to confession 2 days ago. He insisted, and I did so immediately. Through the grace of God with the absolution, that temptation was utterly, completely crushed right there on the spot. No trace of it remained. The train vanished, gone from my heart and my mind! I was amazed and elated.

                The thing with sin, though, is that often we *choose* not to ask for help. Even one Hail Mary can significantly diminish temptation, but if we make up our mind that we want to proceed with the ego’s desires, then many of us won’t ask for that saving help. Is that a sin in itself? I sometimes ponder.

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                1. Well done, Patrick. I’ve heard several exorcists remark that each confession is as a mini-exorcism. That said, sometimes confession and deliverance are a dynamic duo. Blessed are you with spiritual direction!

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                  1. Pat, Beckita is correct in her advice. Ask them about Evagrous. Chances are, most have not heard of him.
                    In that vein, do not waste your time with Evagrius’ Kephalia Gnostica. It has some chaff mixed with the wheat and really is of no help in the spiritual combat.

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                    1. Agreed about Beckita’s advice. But there were a couple things in the wording of your post that grabbed my attention. I’ve finally pinpointed the start of my sins of concupiscence to the smallest echoes of an idea, a mere whimsical thought sometimes days in advance, and that what may unfortunately follow is academic or a matter of course. The start of my sin is that small thought, and the bulk of my sin is agreeing to follow through on that thought, almost more egregious than the actual sin itself. I suppose I’ve just described addiction.

                      It’s odd to me that we liken sinning to a fall. A fall is accidental, unintentional, and your body reflexively tries to prevent it…but before you know it, Wham! you’ve face-planted into the ground. Venial sins fit this description better. But with the sins we’re talking about here, they require an affirmation to commit, some planning, time, resources, and willful effort. In fact, there are countless opportunities to catch oneself — or grab onto Someone — before hitting the ground. These sins literally require turning away from God in order to accomplish.

                      Love this discussion Jim, Joe, and Beckita!

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                2. Would it be pride? I too when tempted don’t necessarily want to ask for help. When I even whisper Jesus the temptation is gone. Oh, my feeble weak flesh.

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                  1. Ah yes — that Name, that Holy Name! I often won’t ask for his help because I know he’ll respond right away. Like Peter experienced on the water, when he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and caught him. (Mt 14). I, so sadly often, don’t want to be saved at that moment.

                    Feeble flesh indeed, HTTP. The key to our sainthood somehow lies at this small point within ourselves to either ask for help or to refuse that help. Why would we ever refuse? Hmmm….

                    I don’t have a good answer, but pride is a good guess.

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                3. Patrick Daniel: I find myself that even the desire for prayer gets lessened when I’ve succumbed . It’s like a swamp, being sucked in but knowing/not wanting to know. You were so right to have humiliated yourself in Confession so soon. Thank God you did. Then you received Mercy. So difficult to do, so great when it happens.

                  Which reminds me…

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            2. Patrick, for years it plagued me. Then a couple of priests tied my belly to the demons of porneia. But, no one ever taught me how to fight. Deliverance prayers were prayed over me, but in a certain sense, they are defensive spiritual weapons. So I asked our Lady. First, I gave up beer at her request back in early May. Then she had me see the Montfortian prayer of consecration every morning. Finally, she introduced me to Evagrius Ponticus. Evagrius is the source of what we know as the seven deadly sins. But, Evagrius identifies them as the eight thoughts. In his Praktikos (Chapters on Prayer) Evagrius lays out the basics. In the Eight Thoughts, he shows you how to fight the thoughts (that is, suggestions or what we call temptations ). In Talking Back, Evagrius shows us how to deal with temptation as the Lord does in the Gospel.

              I never have read anything remotely as good as this and wish someone had told me this years ago. If you can. get your local library to get you a copy of Evagrius Ponticus, the Greek Ascetic corpus. Well worth the effort.

              And Beckita, four months without beer. It is my sacrifice.

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          2. i would not recommend fasting from water. water in moderation i think would be ok. i believe healing and bondage breaking from sexual sins is most efficacious when presented to Mary and perseverance is key. demons do not have unlimited resources. but they will bark the loudest when your winning. Rosary is huge. natural inclinations and lust are two seperate things. both need to be considered. st francis at a temptation once threw himself into the snow and built snow people and said here is your family. i have found the mental trick of imagining that beautiful woman who caught my gaze as an old woman. like really old and ugly. it surely has helped.

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            1. Joe, you applied the Evagrian formula. Thought for thought. What the thought is, is the key..sometimes a bible verse, as Evagrius shows, using the Lord’s example in Talking Back
              Other times to get up and walk.
              The Book of the Elders is great because it gives practical examples how to deal with these thoughts.

              Sometimes you just have to call on Mom (Mary) for help.

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              1. Joe, interestingly enough, the story you relate of St. Francis, and how he responded to a temptation shows that Francis was exposed to St. John Cassian’s Conferences. Cassian was a disciple of Evagrius, and Cassian provided the list of eight vice that St. Gregory the would use to draw up the list of the seven deadly sins in his Morals on the Book of Job.

                Cassian’s work was highly recommended by St. Benedict and used until relatively recent times as the basis for the training of the spiritual life of religious. Regrettably, and of spiritual concern is the fact that the sections dealing with sexual sins were redacted/removed/ ignored and this was before the Council! This shows you how well the enemy lays his plans.

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          3. just one additional comment while my other commentary is being moderated. moderation and prudence i believe is key. i used to be a smoker well a spell back when i was trying to quite. one of my many unsucessful attempts. i had a strong unclean temptation to lust. i knew i was physically in a weaker state and decided to break my smoking fast. it curbed my desires enough and was able to overcome. i talked with a priest about this and he said it indicated a spiritual maturity. excess one way or another can be bad. first things first, work on the more important things first. i have found breaking a fast early at times more benifical. we are little children arent we? i remember once breaking a fast early 2/3 of a day in and though i should have been a little guilty at my failure it felt as I was eating from the hands of Jesus.

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    2. Bekita, what do you think of Fr. Linus Clovis quote from the May 2017 Rome Life Forum? He said, “It is self-evident that the Catholic Church and the anti-Church currently co-exist in the same sacramental, liturgical and juridical space. The latter, having grown stronger, is now attempting to pass itself off as the true Church, all the better to induct, or coerce, the faithful into becoming adherents, promoters and defenders of a secular ideology.” To be very clear, I do not think that the chair of Peter is vacant, but about a year ago I stopped trying to turn myself into a pretzel to explain and defend the anti-Catholic stuff coming from the Vatican–not just the pope. To hear Fr Clovis’ statement was a breath of fresh air for me. Understanding the reality of the “anti-Church/Church” occupying the same space gives me the freedom to respectfully and firmly say, “That’s not Catholic.” For example, I respectfully challenged a priest in my diocese who said that Islam and Catholicism are equally valid because they both worship one god. He then said that there are many ways to salvation. I said, “but that’s not Catholic, Father.” I reminded him that while the Church teaches baptism of water, blood, and desire, Jesus himself proclaimed that He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. The facts show that Islam’s Allah is not God. Then I asked father if he had lost his supernatural faith. I asked him if he believed that he holds Jesus–Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity–in his hands at the consecration. He said that he did and I left the conversation at that. Perhaps my part was to respectfully remind Father of something he’d forgotten.

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      1. From reading only this quote, III, and not seeing it in context, I think Father describes the challenges which have cycled through the Church in many ages. Respectfully correcting error is the best way to do it, III.

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      2. A few years ago, a visiting priest said Mass in my parish. In his homily he presented a definition of the Immaculate Conception as the Virgin conception of Jesus and in a kind of disrespectful way. (Perhaps I should mention what I was taught and believe. The Immaculate Conception is the BVM herself conceived by St. Anne without original sin.) I know many Catholic think the IC as the virgin conception of Jesus The very large church that day was packed. Why was a priest forgo the chance to teach a truth? and muddle the truth given to us by Herself at Lourdes?

        It’s definition is kind of a pet peeve with me and I once called the AP ( in NY) when I read a snide reference to the Immaculate Conception as the Virgin conception of Jesus in one of it’s news articles. I told the reporter that maybe he should look up the definition and that the Catholic Church gets to define dogma not the press and that he sounded totally uneducated when he made the reference. The reporter argued with me and I left him with one of my mother’s favorite quotes, “Look it up!”. He actually called me back and apologized. Ahh, for a press with integrity. My hope was he would never make that snide incorrect joke he made of the IC again.

        But why would a priest teach this incorrectly? I waited till after Mass to ask him. I made sure I was the last in line so as to not would embarrass him and asked why he would reinforce this erroneous definition. He was not happy with my question. His answer….Oh, you mean the “other” definition of the IC. I was incredulous. But then again I was just starting to understand how far the church was veering from its core.

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        1. Very disheartening, Joanne; however, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, as I was, that Mr. Cuomo schooled his guest on this very subject

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  2. Shame on you for criticizing the holy father…..this causes division. God put Francis where he is and if you have a problem with that ….well, what can I say.

    Sent from my iPad

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    1. Sharon, the division is clear and it was prophesied by Our Lady of Akita. “The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops…” And we’ve been living this for a number of years. I see that Charlie has criticized certain clergymen, including the Holy Father, not based on a feeling but on the evidence which Charlie lays out in his piece. In it there is lots to think about, ponder deeply and discuss. Hopefully, it will challenge the daylights out of people who love the Holy Father as do I. I have defended him in every possible way, including defending him to the various clergy with whom I come in contact and, because of my life, there are quite a few with whom I discuss our Church and times. What I am challenged to do, now, is look – with open eyes – at the problems in this Papacy.

      Hopefully this piece will also heartily challenge those pious ones who have harshly condemned – not criticized but condemned – Pope Francis from the moment he walked onto the loggia. May they, too, pray and fast with heartfelt intent for the success of this Papacy.

      May we be able to dialogue about our concerns, strong as our convictions may be, in a manner so that we actually hear one another.

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      1. Sadly I have so much to do to prepare for my trip and do not have the time to prepare a proper defence of The Holy Father. I am sure there are others far better suited to this job. The dubia knew full well the true teaching of the Church so they should have sought the best way to grow the teaching and intention of Pope Francis in terms of this truth. But instead they sowed doubt and created division. Charlie, you have chosen to follow suite. You have put words into his mouth and painted him in the worst possible light. This is your greatest blunder. Shame on you.

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          1. Charlie and Joe, it is funny how we can disagree. I strongly disagreed with Charlie’s criticism of Mark Mallet. However, I am in complete agreement with Charlie, here.
            There is something wrong when the wolves get off , but good men like my old pastor, Father James Haley get thrown under the bus for doing the right thing.

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            1. I James, I daresay there will always be innocent victims in war and that includes spiritual warfare. The wolves are not in sheep’s clothing but in the clothing of shepherds and sherpas. There will always be innocent victims like Fr Haley, martyrs for the truth, but they will receive their eternal reward and their light will shine for all to see.

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          2. Charlie, I object to those people saying “shame on you”! Anyone who is a parent would/should know how harmful that terminology is, and it should not be applied to adults either. Furthermore, you have once again analyzed only, IMHO. The facts are there, the black and white words are there. We are just looking at it all. There are words from a Pope that are not doctrine or dogma, but are “prudentail judgment” only. We have a right to disagree with words that are not dogma (which must be believed as Catholics). The “judge not…” thing is also almost always twisted. We do not judge one’s soul, but even the Lord expects us to judge right and wrong.

            The hierarchy has failed miserably, with some notable exceptions, in the last 50 or so years. I can’t even begin to list everything! Fortunately some of us held on to the true Catholic Faith, but many of our children have suffered the consequences of a watered down faith.

            I can find no fault with one thing you say. As a matter of fact, Father Z had a blog entry a few days ago about the seminary in Honduras and the horrible situation there. It is in the diocese of one of the Pope’s “key players” in reshaping the Curia, Cardinal Maradiaga. Why does the Pope rely on such corrupt people?!

            Yes, stay close to Mama and Jesus! There is, as a matter of fact, a new extended Rosary campaign from the Assumption to May 31, the Visitation, for the definition of Blessed Mother’s dogma. The promises of the Lady of All Nations are impressive; how could we not want those! Love you all!

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            1. Ha, Annie. I appreciate your sympathy…but I have had a LOT worse things said than “shame on you” to me. I spent almost a week contemplating this so I would say precisely what I wanted to. Even so, Randal caught a piece where I had overstated my case in a way I did not want to. When I spend that much time on it, I have carefully weighed my conscience – and am content with whatever comes my way. (In such a situation, both praise and attacks are just iterations of the weather to me. I would prefer the sunny weather of praise, but I am content with the stormy weather of criticism – when I have considered well and spoke my conscience true. But thanks for the ray of sunshine!)

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        2. Joseph,
          I prayed for your safe journey to the homeland and asked Rafael the Archangel to guide you.

          I do detest the current use of “shame on you” it is abused by the American left (not saying Joe is on the left) but for me it seems rather hypocritical as those who point verbal ‘fingers’ (myself included) often do not realize four fingers are pointing back at them.

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        3. Happy Birhtday Joe!

          On the positive side Pope Francis has inspired me to deepdive everything I can on papal infallibility lately. There are things he has done and said that left a queasy feeling in my gut as well as things that have inspired.
          Something that stood out for me about infallibility was the reponse at Catholic Answers;
          “What infallibility does do is prevent a pope from solemnly and formally teaching as “truth” something that is, in fact, error. It does not help him know what is true, nor does it “inspire” him to teach what is true. He has to learn the truth the way we all do—through study—though, to be sure, he has certain advantages because of his position.”

          While Pope Francis responded to reports of great scandals in Chile by insulting and smearing the victims, if you have followed closely what he has done since, he has made a great effort to correct his errors and get his hands dirty in this particlar abuse scandal and some good things are starting to happen.

          https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-admits-serious-mistakes-in-chile-sex-abuse-case-38511
          https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/04/13/chile-victims-will-meet-pope-francis-april-28-29-at-vatican/
          https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/all-chilean-bishops-present-resignation-await-decision-from-pope-66506
          https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/pope-accuses-chilean-bishops-of-destroying-sex-abuse-evidence-1.3935211
          https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/chilean-bishop-suspends-12-priests-apologizes-for-not-acting-sooner-28045

          So I haven’t given up on Pope Francis, I think he is learning “…the truth the way we all do—through study—though, to be sure, he has certain advantages because of his position.” (They forgot to mention there are certain disadvantages too).

          ♫ You could be better than you are, or would you rather be a fish…

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        4. The below set of videos by a traditionalist FSSP priest helped me to understand why the Dubia was issued and the series of events leading up to its creation. The priest simply follows the evidence wherever it leads and nothing more.

          It’s a 6 part series and is not for the faint of heart. The truth is sometimes painful but ultimately it sets us free (from error, from deception, from false security, etc.).

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      2. Bekita, perhaps in the “Big Picture of Eternity” this Papacy is already a success. I mean to say that the long-standing division that has existed since the 20’s and 30’s is successfully and without a shadow of a doubt being demonstrated by the problems of this Papacy. The choice between a temporal, anti-Catholic, man-centered theology and the eternal, Catholic, God-centered truth becomes more and more clear with each ambiguous, anti-Catholic statement, clarification, or modernist development that has been problematically promoted by not only this Papacy but previous ones as well. The choice either for God of against God that we are each called to make becomes clearer and clearer. Absolutely we should continue to fast and pray for the continued success of this Papacy as well as “Damascus moments” for all poor sinners especially those who have no one to pray for them.

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      3. Sadly, Beckita, I have defended the Holy Father on line on so many occasions but it is becoming harder and harder to do. There are so many virile anti Catholic Protestants writing the most horrendous comments. I figure at least for the Bible reading Protestants they at least understand “plank in your eye” and “casting stones” references. But when he listens to only climate change advocates (the science of which is very sketchy) who are also atheists and population control and abortion advocates, it gets harder and harder. I still remember the sting of his condemning remarks regarding the pro life community, and his treatment of Chaput and Burke. In any case, I was trying to understand until the Eucharist seems to be under redefinition. I started thinking in @2008 that a schism was coming to our beloved church. I stopped years ago using the collection basket and substituted organization such as Legacy of Life Foundation which this year has saved 400+ babies from abortion and sticks with the mothers for up to 5 years; an inner city Catholic grade school that is doing tremendous work and producing wonderful accomplished Christian young adults; Food for the Poor; Catholic Vote; Little Sister of the Poor; soup kitchens, etc. I know these organizations and that the money is spent on those in need. First my country and now my church – the veil covering the corruption has been stripped away.
        I worry about the new young priest. What must they think? What are they being taught? You do know that the John Paul II Center at Catholic University has been stripped of its JPII philosophy and its teachers fired to reorient it in Pope Francis’s image and philosophy. You can google this.

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        1. We need a reset, Joanne. I am not looking forward to the suffering ahead, but I do look forward to navigating it together and I welcome its purifying dimension.

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        2. Joanne, it is an old dictum, better remembered in the east than the west, that the first see (Rome) is judged by no one. What this means is judicially judged by his fellow bishops. We are members of the priesthood of the baptized sealed with the sacred chrism (confirmation/chrismation) of the Holy Spirit. We can only pray for the pope, request that the clean and rational iblation (mass/divine liturgy) be offered for him, and, if called, like Catherine of Siena, remonstrate (not rebuke) the Pope. The first Vatican Council did not give the Pope carte blanche to do as he is doing. However, as Father John Hunwicke and others have pointed out, Pope Francis’s overreaching unilateral actions have their precedence in certain negative actions of prior occupants of the apostolic see. Nor did Pastor Aeternus require us to be irrationally devotionally slavish to the pope. Remember, we are in communion with the Pope through our Bishop.

          Remember, prayer and sacrifice are your strongest tools to help Pope Francis.

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    2. With all due respect Sharon, I believe the pope is causing the division and Charlie is just pointing it out. The pope,God bless him, by his decisions and actions has caused my family to be divided. Left me flying in the wind and I am not a traditionalist. For years I wondered why Charlie hadn’t said something sooner. I believe Charlie has been almost unbearably patient with the pope IMO.

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      1. High HTTP,
        I believe Pope Francis has been unbelievably patient with the dissenters and doubters. The humility is his. IMHO.

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        1. Dear Joe,
          I believe we are both wrong-God has been incredibly patient with us all. Lord have mercy on us and forgive us.

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      1. Louise, I agree that one can criticize the Pope if he is wrong, but who are we to make that determination? I don’t hear criticism of Pope Francis from Cardinal Arinze nor do I hear criticism of Pope Francis from Pope Benedict. Does Charlie purport to know better than these two men?

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        1. Donna– all the things that Charlie enumerated in this article are factual and they are inappropriate. I can’t figure out if those commenting here who are in disagreement with Charlie choose to blindly agree with any pope because he is pope, or they just happen to like this pope and are ok with anything he says or does. I agree with Charlie. I cannot fathom how these things can be defended.

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          1. Hi Kim
            I support the pope because I believe that more than anyone – especially anyone here – that he is better informed than anyone can possibly imagine and therefore better equipped than anyone to guide the Church through this end of times. I trust him 100% because I believe 100% that he is acting in good faith for the good of The Faith. He is under no obligation to pander to the incessant demands and whining from pestering ankle snappers for clarification and explanation from those who lack the proper docility in the presence of his authority. “But why” is the never ending protest and the proper reply is “because I told you so.” He has never contradicted nor promoted contradiction of gospel truth or church teaching but his radical approach has proven too much for those of weak stomach. He is putting the axe to the roots (Radical comes from the same stem as root.) He is also letting the darnel grow so that it may be more easily recognized and destroyed. He knows when the Great Miracle will take place and therefore approximately when the Warning will take place. The eternal truths are still intact and available to all. The lack of docility which accompanies rigidity is the sign of disobedience which the faithful will need in order to know which direction to take and who to follow. Some shepherds and sherpas appear to be be docile, obedient and faithful but in their rejection and correction of this Pope their true colours will be revealed. Wolves in sheeps clothing with an overcoat of the shepherd’s garment, not seemless but seemingly so in order that even the elect will be deceived.

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            1. Thank you, Joe, for your response to me. You said “I support the pope because I believe that more than anyone – especially anyone here – that he is better informed than anyone can possibly imagine and therefore better equipped than anyone to guide the Church through this end of times. I trust him 100% because I believe 100% that he is acting in good faith for the good of The Faith.” What I’m wondering is, do you feel this way because he is the Pope, and would feel this way no matter who the Pope is, or is it particularly Pope Francis that you have this allegiance to? I

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              1. Hi Kim
                I hold a special regard for Pope Francis because I see in him, in a way I have never seen in any other pope, the faces of Christ and the apostles etched with the history of the church and her peoples, the sheep of her flock. I hear in him the voice of one crying in the wilderness – ” Make straight the way of the Lord” I see in him the fulfillment of the promise “Behold, I make all things new.”

                The special seat of honour that is reserved for him at the table of our church leaders, primus inter pares, draws my eye and holds my heart. He is but a man like us, made a little lower than an angel, but soon to rise above their station in the glorified body of Christ.

                He has opened the doors of mercy and revealed the thoughts of many. He not only waits to see the whites of his enemies eyes but allows then to come close enough to hear his invitation to return. He is surrounded by a pack of dogs and evil doers and still he answers the cry of the poor and embraces the sick and the lowly. He keeps company with sinners and tax collectors but is not infected by their sin. He smells of his sheep. “He exhorts, “pray for the hungry – then feed them.”

                His courage has been tested on the front line as he formed his own Schindler’s list of victims rescued by his intervention from the Argentinian junta and yet he humbly declares his fear of pain. He welcomes martyrdom as long as it does not hurt too much. He feels the fear but still acts. He makes his face like flint, staying true to his calling believing in his mission as it unfolds. His way is all confidence and love, love stronger than death.

                He is a man of prayer and meditation who DECRIES THE CULT OF PERSONALITY and with Mary, always points to Jesus. He is a Jesuit through and through, the first of his order to occupy the seat of Peter and the last to occupy it in these end of times. In this role he reflects the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega.

                He knows how important the Papacy is. The founder of his order, St Ignatius, had a special devotion to St Peter, his patron and advocate, which began even before his conversion experience. St Ignatius was also accused of heresy but like Pope Francis his exercise was always for reform rather than protest. He stayed within the church.

                And from this vantage point, Francis, like Peter, and Ignatius, understands his importance is “not so much because he represents an authority to be defended against its critics but because he provides the foundation on which new forms of church life can be securely built, manifesting new and greater divine glory.” Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. The modus operandi of Francis reflects that of St Ignatius who counselled his first missionaries to Germany that their ‘zeal in countering heresy’ must rather be such as ‘to reveal love for the heretics themselves and a compassionate desire for their salvation.”

                In addressing the consistory before the 2013 conclave Pope Francis said “it is as though there is a Christ knocking at the door from within his disciples and within the Church, bidding us to let Him come out. THIS is the Christ of whom Peter is the vicar, or representative. And if the Church keeps that Jesus within itself, it becomes ‘self-referential and sick’ “.

                I feel the way I do not because he is the pope but because he is THIS pope. He probably would not thank me for thinking like this but my thoughts are dictated by my understanding. I can do none other. But perhaps as much as anything, I see in Pope Francis the pope of Garabandal in whose prophesies I also have complete faith. I do not need a myriad of details or guarantees for my future. I have enough and simply place my trust in The God of Pope Francis, The God of Surprises, The Supreme Spirit who alone exists of Himself and who is infinitely perfect.

                I hope this answers your question. As I sit on the simple wooden seat in front of the pine trees where our Blessed Mother and St Michael so often appeared I will pray for this forum and my online family. But first I will attend Sunday Mass and receive Holy Communion in the little village church, a grace infinitely greater than any apparition. (I bet that poor person who finds it hard to get through my comments wishes you had not asked me ha ha.)

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                2. Joe, I wish I could sit on that little wooden bench with you and have a conversation. I love to understand where people are really coming from and it is so much easier to communicate in person than electronically. You are a spiritual man—you love your faith. I love my faith, too, but it seems we are not on the same wavelength regarding Pope Francis. I have found the Garabandal prophesies to be very interesting and plausible, but I am not well versed in them. Do you believe that the 3 days of darkness will occur soon, and because of the timeline, Pope Francis must be the good Pope who gets us through that? In other words, since he is here now he must be a good and great pope? Some things that Pope Francis has said and done, and the people he has surrounded himself with, have caused me concern and confusion. I realize that this could all be a part of Our Lord’s beautiful plan, and my little brain doesn’t get it now and doesn’t see the big picture, that he is a great pope. What I wonder is, do you see why I feel troubled about some of the things Pope Francis has said and done, and why the people surrounding him give me great pause? Thank you for your patience with me! My family says I can really drive them crazy sometimes with my incessant questions!

                  Liked by 2 people

                  1. https://cruxnow.com/cna/2017/06/27/understand-pope-francis-understand-jesuits/

                    The Catholic who threw me off his ‘Catholic’ forum several times for defending Pope Francis began by saying on his forum that we must never forget that there two popes – the real pope and the one created by the media. He changed his tune and now refers on his forum to Pope Francis as a malicious liar and heretic. So yes I do understand your disturbance. But I also understand the disturbance that ‘rigidity’ causes Pope Francis. Of course ‘rigidity’ itself must be understood in the way that Pope Francis intends. I suspect the above article from Crux may be of some help to some but not to others. But whatever your reaction be assured it is intended to help and not confuse you further. Have you ever thought of putting your questions in a letter to Pope Francis? You may not receive a personal reply but you will be given an answer. “Seek and you will find – knock and the door will be opened.”

                    Like

                    1. Hi again Kim
                      I hope the following answers your question. There is no direct association in my mind between Pope Francis and the three days of darkness. FACTS ABOUT THE “CHASTISEMENT ” & THE 3 DAYS OF DARKNESS.

                      I want to address this topic as it comes up quite a bit. First of all, the term “3 days of Darkness” was NEVER used at Garabandal. Now the concept of that event does closely resemble “The Chastisement” mentioned at Garabandal, although the details of that event are very limited, the girls reaction to seeing it, certainly matches the horror I have read about from other visionaries who have seen it.
                      Now, in one of my internet interviews in 2014, I was in the process of investigating Padre Pio’s involvement in this supposed letter, and made some comments about his writings, but unfortunately I did not find out the truth until afterwards. He DID NOT PREDICT the 3 Days of Darkness. The “Three Days of Darkness” attributed to the late mystic, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi .

                      It is difficult to compare the prophecy of the “Three Days of Darkness” attributed to the late mystic, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, and the Chastisement .
                      The reason it is difficult is because we have only one descriptive statement from Conchita as to one aspect of the event, where as Blessed Anna’s is more detailed and descriptive. They do same one common theme of “ FIRE”. Here is Conchita’s statement on what the Blessed Mother allowed her to say about the “Chastisement” : “The Chastisement is conditional and depends on whether or not mankind heeds the messages of the Blessed Virgin and the Miracle. If it should take place, I know what it will consist of, because the Blessed Virgin told me about it, but I am not permitted to say what it is. Moreover, I have seen the Chastisement. I can assure you that if it comes, it will be worse than being enveloped in fire, worse than having fire above and beneath you. I do not know how much time will elapse between the Miracle and the Chastisement.“

                      “The wind will howl and roar. Lightning and thunderbolts of an unprecedented magnitude will strike the earth. The whole earth will shake, heavenly bodies will be disturbed (this will be the beginning of the Three Days). Every Demon, every evil spirit will be released from hell and allowed to roam the earth. Terrifying apparitions will take place. Many will die from sheer fright. Fire will rain forth from the sky, all large cities will be destroyed, poisonous gases will fill the air, cries and lamentations everywhere. The unbelievers will burn in the open like withered grass. The entire earth will be afflicted; it will look like a huge graveyard.

                      (Prophecy of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi [1769-1837 A.D.] who was Beatified by Bendedict XV in 1920.)

                      NOT FROM PADRE PIO. According to James J. Drummey in
                      “Catholic Answers 2”:

                      Padre Pio’s name was connected with this prophecy in the
                      late 1940s by the Council of Heroldsbach, a group in Germany that was formed
                      after some children claimed that the Blessed Mother had appeared to them. The
                      Council composed a letter about the three days of darkness and forged Padre
                      Pio’s name to it. The letter was declared a forgery in 1950 by Padre Pio’s
                      superior in San Giovanni Rotondo. In 1951, the Vatican’s Holy Office, without
                      mentioning Padre Pio by name, stated that the alleged appearances of the
                      Blessed Virgin in Heroldsbach were not supernatural.
                      “. . . There are printed materials containing prophecy of three days of
                      darkness which attribute such a prophecy to Padre Pio. But the author [i.e. Birch] has in his possession sworn documents from the Capuchin Order stating that no such prophecy ever emanated [sic] from Padre Pio. All the author’s attempts to track down an authentic source from Padre Pio ,
                      have led to the conclusion that; [sic] some person(s) either accidentally or
                      willfully created these attributions of such a prophecy to Padre Pio”
                      (Trial,Tribulation, & Triumph, p. 283).
                      From The Padre Pio Center for North America:

                      “Dear “Doubting” Thomas ,

                      I applaud your diligence in seeking truth.The prophecy of the “Three Days of Darkness” is correctly attributed to the late mystic, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi.

                      Back in 1960, was the first time that this rumor, associating the prophecy with Padre Pio began in which it was brought to the attention of Church authorities who turned it over to the Capuchin Order for reply.

                      Father Clement Neubauer O.F.M. Cap., Superior General of the Capuchin Order, speaking on behalf of the Order and specifically for Padre Pio labeled the prophecies attributed to Padre Pio as forgeries.

                      Later in 1977, Volume XII, number 2 of the Voice of Padre Pio magazine, the official publication of the Cause for Postulazaione (Beatification and Canonization) of Padre Pio, clearly printed that on several occasions Padre Pio answered with a resounding “NO” to those who questioned him about whether he made the prophecy of the Three Days of Darkness. Thank you for seeking the truth. Perhaps you may wish to learn more of the life of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi; very interesting life. Her incorrupt body is in the Church of San Crisogono in Trastevere Section of Rome, if ever you travel to Italy.

                      Liked by 1 person

  3. The need for an optomotrist and audiologist come to mind – not for Pope Francis – but for Charlie. I have seen this coming. I have heard the footsteps. I will respond in a fuller fashion when I have more time.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I feel obliged to respond to this dreadful undermining of authority for the good of The Church, my Church and for the good of The Pope, my Pope. This is my only motivation.

      Like

  4. My prayer “groupies” and I have decided to pray for the Church every afternoon at 3 – just a little Hail Mary if we’re busy. I have a reminder set up on my phone.

    It seems to me that we are in a time where many leaders in the secular and religious world are arrogant, thin skinned and treat critics with disdain. It’s hard to tell the truth when what a leader really wants is to be famous–and “liked”. We live in an age when leadership is measured in clicks and followers. Our thinking has gone offline. I’m hoping the 3 days of darkness that some seers have predicted, is literal and not figurative – we could use a major global power outage to reboot our thinking.

    Liked by 13 people

  5. Yes Charlie, I think you have said what many people must feel; but it also feels like it would be letting the side down and being unfaithful by expressing the numerous times our beloved Holy Father has made a lot of us feel unloved, even trashed sometimes.

    I could not imagine Paul VI, Saint John Paul or Pope Emeritus Benedict speak in such terms, or entertain persons so outright opposed to Catholic traditional beliefs. It sometimes feels like President Trump is more supportive of Catholics and more of a father figure than our Holy Father. Just sayin.

    I am sure Holy Father loves us all; but it must be a Latin American way of loving which comes across as without mercy, at least that is IMHO.

    I do acknowledge Holy Father and love and respect him. I do agree he is the real Pope permitted by God for our times.

    Thank you for your article. To be honest if felt like you let go and came in with all guns blazing. Now we need to get back to the job in hand. Keep Watch and Pray with Blessed Mother.

    I just wished we had someone like Michael Voris in the UK to tell us who the traitors are over here. We just have to walk blindfolded in the UK until someone makes us aware of the UK wolves.

    Liked by 11 people

  6. This is pretty heavy stuff.
    A couple of thoughts…when the pope was elected the left went gaga over him so that immediately threw up a red flag for me…when my very liberal siblings who aren’t catholic told me they sided with the pope about various issue which are against church teaching…red flag….during the time of homosexual marriage Supreme Court issue was going and he basically threw us under the bus….red flag…how many more do we have to endure with this guy…can’t we kick him out!

    I know not the ways of God…and it is good I am not….I would have zapped him already for Pete’s sake. Thy will be done. Is this the part of the storm where it is so dark we won’t be able to see the next step? Then alleluia! Complete dependence on God.

    Liked by 9 people

  7. Just a short quote for those who may run with Charlie’s papal admonition a little too far.
    “…no one can excuse himself, saying: ‘ I do not rebel against the holy Church, but only against the sins of evil pastors.’ Such a man, lifting his mind against his leader and blinded by self-love, does not see the truth, though indeed he really sees it well enough, but pretends not to, in order to deaden the sting of conscience. For he sees that, in truth, he is persecuting the Blood, and not Its servants. The insult is done to Jesus just as the reverence was His due.” To whom did Jesus leave the keys of this Blood? To the glorious Apostle Peter, and to all his successors who are or shall be till the Day of Judgment, all of them having the *same authority* which Peter had, which is *not diminished* by any defect of their own. —St. Catherine of Siena

    Liked by 9 people

    1. This is a load…. Tell that to the parents and their children who McCarrick abused all the while McCarrick was protected by his peers… Tell that to the Chileans who were screaming at the pope and then of whom he accused of calumny against his bishop…Was that a little too far? When Christ said it is better that a man never lived than to harm these little ones, a little too far?
      McCarrick and his cronies should be defrocked not resignations.

      This pope is the Obama of Catholic popes. he pledges fidelity to the Magesterium but appoints her enemies to high positions. Wuerl is aghast of the credible charges against McCarrick but craftily avoids stating he knew about it. He talks like a corporate lawyer doing damage control. Every person that McCarrick promoted are fruit of a poison tree and are highly suspect as are most of the gutless American cardinals and bishops. It was Wuerl who had Burke removed from his post at the Vatican, and more than likely he was the tickle in the ear of the radical environmentalist Francis who had pro-homosexual Cupich appointed to Chicago.

      This pope will not be the pope of the rescue, his papacy will be the unwitting demonstration that the Church needs to be rescued. This pope is like a farmer who has mercy and compassion for the hungry fox and allows him to sleep in the hen house. This pope has more or less intellectually checkmated himself and when some grave matter has come he will be the pope that will not or can not speak. He will not be able to speak the Truth to the enemies of the Church for it will mean disavowing what he has believed for 60 years and he can not accept speaking the Truth for it will mean that the orthodox were right all along. It will be up to other future popes to steer the ship safely between the two columns
      and rescue the hen house.

      Many will be shocked at how widespread the homosexual culture is in the American Catholic Church, but the Truth always comes out. (Pun intended with extreme prejudice). But be prepared for it will be a first a trickle then an avalanche.

      The next USCCB meeting should demonstrate the great divide in the American Catholic Church just as Trump has in the political realm. More or less those who speak legalease will be those who hide the truth and those who speak plainly will be the Church remnant.

      Liked by 4 people

      1. Gary, just curious if you purposely used the term “American Catholic Church”? That is a term I have seen somewhere in the past in regards to private prophecy and the coming divide within the Catholic Church. A smaller orthodox Roman Catholic Church and a large liberal anything goes American Catholic Church…

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Correct. It is not diminished. It is an office instituted by God himself to endure to the end of time. But where the Pope and Jesus differ on matters of morals and doctrine we are obligated to follow Christ and not the Pope.

      Liked by 5 people

      1. I must profess a bit of a perplexion with your statement CP123.
        I think it is necessary to remind everyone that Jesus did not institute His church but that the CHURCH instituted it.
        Everyone will now argue this statement but Jesus didn’t write down a single word and it wasn’t the Apostles that formulated what would and wouldn’t be church doctrine. The Church did these things hundreds of years in the making! They did it with the authority Christ gave them, but they did it.
        So when you say you follow Jesus and not His chosen authorities, what Jesus are you following?
        What “canonized” saint trumps the very authority who canonized him/her and claimed their work worthy in the first place?
        When can one, not of any authority, decide who is “worthy ” of their loyalty because so-in-so during such- in-such said somthing a bit different?
        There is not a single person on this platform who could come even close to filling Pope Francis’ shoes, nore do I believe would even WANT too.
        Any volunteers? I think not.
        Charlie made a good cause for blame for our present condition- Everyone is to blame. Sideline quarterbacking isn’t going to get the job done my friends.
        Mother Theresa while feeding a dying man was asked how she was going to feed all the poor in Calcutta, she answered; “I don’t know, but I can feed this one”. If everyone of us feeds a poor soul, we will all get fed and dispite the “poor who we will always have”, we can start to eliminate the spiritually poor in our own little corner of the world and help get our church back. This is how consistant, relentless, determined ants build a mound- one grain at a time.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. What i’m saying is that if Pope Francis believes that the death penalty is “inadmissible” (meaning immoral) in all cases and/or that it is an assault on human dignity then he is wrong. His opinion is opposed to Church doctrine. Other theologians, other Church Fathers, other Saints and even other Popes have already affirmed that the death penalty/capital punishment is not immoral or inadmissible. The death penalty is and always will be (per Church teaching) a legitimate, God-given tool of a government, nation, or society to carry out justice.

          How a prison is constructed is completely irrelevant to the question: Is the death penalty right or wrong? The security status of a prison has no bearing on the moral status of the death penalty. How can it? The strength of the prison bars and the number of locks on a cell door carries no weight in determining the rightness or wrongness of the act of the proper authorities taking someone’s life after a serious crime.

          Pope Francis’ personal feelings on the appropriateness of the death penalty cannot change or controvert an already existing doctrine. To say that the capital punishment is “inadmissible” is not a deepening or evolution of a previously revealed moral truth, it is an out-and-out reversal. If the Pope can reverse one moral doctrine (in this case capital punishment) then he can reverse all moral doctrine. If moral doctrine can be reversed then the entire Church falls apart. Black becomes white. Up becomes down. And my favorite flavor of ice cream is teriyaki chicken!

          But in all seriousness, my point was that if the Pope defies the perennial teaching of the Church then we, as loyal obedient Catholics, are obligated to follow Christ and not the Pope. We cannot reject doctrine even if the Pope does it. Even if the Pope himself wants us to.

          Liked by 3 people

  9. MAGA T-Shirt Update, the Question of Switching Parishes, the Death Penalty, and My Memories of the 2002 Dallas Conference

    So I wore my MAGA T-shirt to the church festival at a neighboring parish. The reception I got at the festival for my Make America Great Again T-shirt was this: Most people didn’t bat an eyelash, one guy looked at me askance, and … I ended up meeting a stranger and adding him to my Rosary. Because there was this guy, maybe in his twenties or thirties, who kept noticeably staring at me. At first I just stared back. Then I grinned and waved at him. He then flashed some sort of hand gesture which seemed to be of approval but I wasn’t sure what it meant exactly, so with my game face on I said evenly, “You’re in my Rosary tonight.”

    “What?” the guy asked, “An Our Father? A Hail Mary? Which decade? Which bead?”

    “The whole thing,” I responded.

    At that, he told me his name so I could pray for him more personally, I gave him my name, and we shook hands.

    Meanwhile, I haven’t switched parishes … because I’m wondering if I really would find “the right one” near where I live (I’ve looked), and if I’m not absolutely sure, then meanwhile I should just stay put … Especially because my current home parish has a Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. I do take sermons into account, and would be really tempted to switch to a friendly parish I’ve found … that is, if the parish I like better had more consistent sermons. One priest there has consistently excellent sermons, so I’m very grateful when I find myself at one of his Masses. There IS a real good Latin Mass parish … far away in the dangerous inner city, of course, and sometimes they close down the exit ramps on the highway downtown on the weekend in that area to make road repairs, but I should see about getting to the Latin Mass more often.

    As for the death penalty, I once heard that one reason why Hell exists is precisely because human beings are infinitely valuable since we were made in the image and likeness of God, such that if you commit a mortal sin that harms a human being, justice requires an infinite punishment to fit that crime.

    And as for the 2002 conference of bishops in Dallas called to deal with abuse, I had naively thought that someone in charge would give a sermon reminding everyone about mortal sin, hell, sincere repentance, ways to make reparation, and ways to avoid the near occasion of sin for the future so that such a thing would not happen again. It surprised me to see God so ignored there in favor of the more worldly “what will people think.”

    And meanwhile, we can all certainly do better!

    Liked by 8 people

    1. So, Phoenix, as I read I thought – What a brave person for wearing the MAGA t-shirt in public even to a church picnic! I can’t help thinking that probably unbeknown to you, you garnered a whole cart of Hail Mary’s from parishioners who said nothing but thought – Oh my, look at that poor women she voted for Trump. Just an aside: my sister lives in the Bay Area and did put up her Trump signs but in her backyard.
      Your rosary young man story is not the only one. I have one too but had forgotten it. But here goes. I am having deep problems with my legs. I don’t move well or fast and shopping takes its toll. I was in Lowes for porch chair that sit up high. The easier to get out of one. I found two for a reasonable price but now how to get them into the basket. Several men noticed my predicament but ignored it. Then this young Hispanic man came to my rescue. He had tattoos and a rosary around his neck and I though might be gang related.But he offered to help me. How bad could he be? Now I have noticed young Hispanic men before with Rosaries around their necks and have often wondered if they actually say it or if it is just a piece of jewelry for them.

      So I said to him, “Do you say it?”, as I pointed to it. He told me that it was his friend’s who had died. But I said, “Do you say it?” He answers with a question, “Say, what’? So I said, The ROSARY, as in “the Apostles’ Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary”. He had no idea of what I spoke. And about that time I guess he was wondering why the heck did he stop to help. So I told him to google the Rosary and told him that it was a very powerful prayer and that the BVM would take care of him.

      By now the chairs were in the basket and off we went.

      Liked by 4 people

      2. Wow, Joanne1950!

        Here’s hoping that nice young man who helped you also took your offered help and is now praying the Rosary which was so conveniently hanging around his neck! What a great story! 🙂

        Thanks for your kind words. Having always been eccentric, never one to follow the crowd, never being popular or liked by the clique all through school because I just wanted to be myself, having been teased, bullied, insulted or just plain ignored for wearing the “wrong” or “non-stylish” clothes/accessories … I enjoy wearing my handmade, painted by me MAGA shirt and have now considered adding a giant Q to it, especially since I’ve called myself Q for many years due to being a huge Star Trek fan … 🙂 … I will of course try to avoid situations where I might actually get beaten up or something. Maybe I’ll design and paint a new Q shirt or something …

        Always keeping in mind the prime importance of being a Prayer Warrior. Because one major reason why I support Trump, and this new Q movement, is because they support prayer, and bringing America back to Christ.

        Liked by 2 people

  10. I kneel to no man…..I love and worship only Him and His Holy Catholic Church. I thank God for the intersession of Our Blessed Mother, all the angels and saints and my Guardian Angel who continues to guide me. I thank God for Traditional reverent worship that I have found locally.
    We all need to put on sack cloth and ashes and prayerfully stand outside our respective Dioceses to repent for the horrific evil perpetuated amongst the Ordained Ministers of Christ. My pocketbook has been closed for a long time to the corrupt Bishops and agencies of our church. I give directly to those in need and offer my talents wherever and whenever I am able. I feel that it is going to get much worse. I will never give up my faith, because of those who have none. Thank you Charlie for a complete cleaning of house.

    Liked by 8 people

  12. Charlie, I think by the 1950’s The Catholic Church had attracted many priest and nuns who figured that being a religious was a prestigious, long-term career which promised self-esteem for those who knew how to follow the rules. However, following rules without loving(listening to a calling or vocation-the will of God which is love) can bring emptiness and ruin. The trouble is that it was never and is not about the rules; it is about love. The rules or commandments are just guides to help us love. So now the pendulum is swinging in the other direction so that anyone who stands up for the rules(orthodox bishop, priest or nun) is seen as possibly one of those “rule” people, a careerist who may lack compassion and love. After all how do you measure love? Pope Francis measures it by not always talking about what you shouldn’t do. Pope Francis calls us to love and accompany the sinner and then after our love and prayers have gotten the attention of the sinner to say, “o by the way what you are doing can hurt your ability to love.”
    At any rate the Holy Spirit chose Pope Francis and if Pope Francis is scandalizing some in the Church, well so did Jesus. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church(675-677) the Church has to undergo a trial and death-just as its Founder. Maybe we are seeing the start of it all.

    Like

    1. You are correct, Vyto. But just because someone scandalizes people, that does not mean he is doing good or like Jesus in other ways. He may be like the Medici Popes – who also scandalized the Church. Or Pope Stephen VI, or the execrable Pope John XII, or perhaps even Pope Boniface VIII who Dante ridiculed in his “Divine Comedy.” It could be said that the thief who mocked and scorned Jesus from another cross was crucified, “…just like Jesus.” My point is that, incidental similarities do not make for moral comparisons – or perhaps someone wants to rebuke me by noting that Charlie Manson had nut brown hair – just like Jesus. I am glad to hear you standing up for Pope Francis, but please do it on grounds of his behavior and teaching.

      Liked by 8 people

  13. I have often wondered whether Pope John Paul IIs interpretation of the fulfillment of the third secret of Fatima was a mere shadowing of another event in the future. I also wondered why God would allow a true literal interpretation where He would allow the Holy Father with a myriad of Cardinals and Bishops to be laid waste in the streets of Rome. There are many times in the Old Testament where God would use enemies of Israel to chastise and purify His people. If God needs to purify His church and His people similar to the first coming of Jesus, it sure looks like the stage is set for that now. I am certainly not saying I would want that, but I can now see why another fulfillment of the third secret would be a possible outcome.

    Much prayer and fasting is needed. Prayers for the Holy Father, and prayers for all our church leaders. May all those in serious sin repent while they still can.

    Liked by 7 people

  14. You know I haven’t commented in quite awhile, but I appreciate you all.

    I was thinking about the passion of Christ and how His Church must follow Him through a passion of her own.

    In my mind I see the release of Barabas the criminal and the call for the life of the Innocent One as being somewhat analogous to the changing of the catechism on the death penalty and the ambivalence or even support that we have seen for the slaughter of the innocents in the womb by prelates in the Church…

    I haven’t fully thought it through yet but would be interested in your thoughts.

    Brad

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Actually, I don’t Erin. Some very rocky times…but I don’t think actual schism, beyond the de facto one that has reigned for some time, will come. Some men will fall away – but they will no longer profess God at all…and even the de facto schism will fold in on itself. Strange as it sounds, I think these are the birthing pains of God drawing His Church back together. I think this is the beginning of renewal.

      Liked by 13 people

  16. Thank you Charlie. We trust in God, we respect our Pope; but we need to speak the truth when, over time, a distinct pattern has emerged.

    Liked by 9 people

  17. I am so grateful to finally have someone like yourself (Charlie) speak these truths as you have in this article. There have been many of us who have been chastised for a few years now because we saw through Pope Francis. There have been a few who have been called heretics because they spoke up and warned the faithful. Praise God that many eyes are now being opened. Only when the truth is spoken can we truly go forward and fight the good fight. I am with you 100 percent. God Bless.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. As Jesus explained in Matthew, from this past week’s readings, about the parables of the weeds and the kingdom of heaven, the angels will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire and the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. This will be at the close of the age, not the end of the world. I believe this is that time since Mary said she will no longer appear on earth after the Medjugorje apparitions have ended and her Immaculate Heart will triumph. She will have been coming for 40 years in 2021. We are all being divided now and the reaping will come.

    Liked by 8 people

  19. Recently I have been reading a wonderful book, “In Sinu Jesu”. I would like to submit a small prayer that I just happened to read last night for those who like myself are extremely troubled by what is happening in the church.
    “A prayer for those who would offer one hour of adoration and reparation at home, at work, in hospital, in prison, or while traveling:
    Lord Jesus Christ, although I cannot, during this hour, approach Thee physically in the Sacrament of Thy Love, I would approach Thee by desire and by faith.
    Transport me, I beseech Thee, by the lifting up of my mind and heart, to that tabernacle in the world where Thou art, at this hour, most forsaken, utterly forgotten, and without human company.
    Let the radiance of Thy Eucharistic Face so penetrate my soul that by offering Thee adoration and reparation, even as I am busy doing ordinary things in an ordinary way, I may obtain from Thy Sacred Heart the return of at least one priest to the Tabernacle where Thou waits for him today. Amen
    Yes Charlie we are partially at fault for what is happening. We have neglected or own duty in helping our holy priests to carry their cross behind Christ. They are the Altar-Christo, we are the Simon of Cyrene in a sense. It’s time we picked up our end of the cross.

    Liked by 14 people

    1. I absolutely LOVE your last paragraph MW! How insightful and true. In all times, but in these times in a very special way, we are called to be Simon of Cyrene to those Holy Priest and Bishops. So elegantly and powerfully stated…thank you for this!

      Liked by 6 people

    2. Upon receiving the Eucharist at todays mass I felt called to prayer this prayer:
      https://op54rosary.ning.com/profiles/blogs/a-prayer-for-priests-keep-them-o-lord

      A Prayer For Priests

      Keep them, I pray Thee Dearest Lord
      Keep them, for they are Thine—
      Thy priests whose lives burn out before
      Thy consecrated Shrine.

      Keep them—Thou knowest , dearest Lord—
      The world—the flesh are strong.
      And satan spreads a thousand snares
      To lead them into wrong.

      Keep them, for they are in the world
      Though from the world apart,
      When earthly pleasures tempt, allure—
      Shelter them in Thy Heart.
      Keep them and comfort them in hours
      Of Loneliness and pain
      When all their life of sacrifice
      For souls seems but in vain.

      Keep them, and oh, remember Lord,
      They have no one but Thee
      Yet they have only human hearts,
      With human frailty.

      Keep them as spotless as the Host—
      That daily, they caress—
      Their every thought and word and deed,
      Deign dearest Lord to bless.
      Amen

      IMPRIMATUR
      +Henry Joseph O’Leary, D.D., Archbishop of Edmonton

      https://op54rosary.ning.com/profiles/blogs/a-prayer-for-priests-keep-them-o-lord

      Liked by 8 people

  20. In the words of T.S. Elliot ,” what could have been and what has been.”
    I Pray, do meager penances and weep. Should I hash tag too?
    Yes indeed.
    #catholicwetoo.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Yes, from T.S. Eliot’s masterpiece, “The Four Quartets”, which is not as famous but greater than “The Wasteland”. A long, difficult but beautiful poem about time, eternity and the love and action of the Holy Spirit. “What might have been and what has been” is from the beginning first movement of the first quartet which is called “Burnt Norton”.

      Burnt Norton

      I

      “Time present and time past
      Are both perhaps present in time future
      And time future contained in time past.
      If all time is eternally present
      All time is unredeemable.
      What might have been is an abstraction
      Remaining a perpetual possibility
      Only in a world of speculation.
      What might have been and what has been
      Point to one end, which is always present.
      Footfalls echo in the memory
      Down the passage which we did not take
      Towards the door we never opened
      Into the rose-garden. My words echo
      Thus, in your mind.
      But to what purpose
      Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
      I do not know.
      Other echoes
      Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?
      Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
      Round the corner. Through the first gate,
      Into our first world, shall we follow
      The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.
      There they were, dignified, invisible,
      Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,
      In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,
      And the bird called, in response to
      The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,
      And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses
      Had the look of flowers that are looked at.
      There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.
      So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,
      Along the empty alley, into the box circle,
      To look down into the drained pool.
      Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
      And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
      And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
      The surface glittered out of heart of light,
      And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
      Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
      Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
      Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
      Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
      Cannot bear very much reality.
      Time past and time future
      What might have been and what has been
      Point to one end, which is always present.”

      In the fourth Quartet, “Little Gidding”, Eliot’s reliance on the Holy Spirit is made explicitly clear”

      The dove descending breaks the air
      With flame of incandescent terror
      Of which the tongues declare
      The one discharge from sin and error.
      The only hope, or else despair
      Lies in the choice of pyre of pyre—
      To be redeemed from fire by fire.

      Who then devised the torment? Love.
      Love is the unfamiliar Name
      Behind the hands that wove
      The intolerable shirt of flame
      Which human power cannot remove.
      We only live, only suspire
      Consumed by either fire or fire

      And Eliot ends the poem echoing Julian of Norwich –

      “And all shall be well and
      All manner of thing shall be well
      When the tongues of flame are in-folded
      Into the crowned knot of fire
      And the fire and the rose are one.”

      A good companion piece to “Four Quartets” is Thomas Howard’s book “Dove Descending”. You can listen to entire readings of it by the actors Paul Scofield, Alec Guinness and extracts by Jeremy Irons on Youtube. There is also a reading by Eliot himself.

      Liked by 4 people

  21. I knew it.

    . “Things are not any worse than they were last year at this time. In fact, they are better – but Our Lady has shown us how bad things truly are. Now let us stand and be true.”

    Beginning about three weeks ago, I thought I was starting a countdown of my late husband’s pending death last October. But what I’ve really been praying back about in spirit of repenting support for what was good, is the culture surrounding that time.
    I knew it.

    Liked by 5 people

  22. Charlie, I also believe these are the birth pangs. The entirely bizarre feel of entertainment and the news cycle, the growing babble of media voices spewing nonsense and narcissism, all signals the unraveling of modern human culture and demonstrates that our post-Christian civilization has already collapsed. IMHO everything that you told us, as a result of your visitations, would happen, has happened. I see, and believe, that even the time of peace has begun, as a result of Our Lady’s intercession and the prayers of the faithful.

    You told us that everything will be revealed. In His mercy, by the tender ministrations of His Mother, bit by bit, piece by piece if all the faults and lies and hidden vanities of each and every soul is being shown. What we will not repeat of in the privacy of our hearts is being shown to all. As Sister Lucia said, we are seeing all, but especially ourselves, “as in a mirror” of divine reflection. It seems to me that reality itself has become something of a divine Rorschach test in which every soul is being shown his or her foundational self. The insanity swirling around must be the cumulative responses…it feels like another Babel in which nearly everyone is speaking language only he/she can understand, so that what passes for public discourse is actually cumulative reactions of each individual to God’s interior unveiling. When a group of people “agrees” about something it takes on the form of a mob, mere barbarian reaction (ANTIFA, Soros backed agitprop, NeoNazis, etc) As you have said, we must all choose, in these days and hours and months and years, the destiny of our souls.

    With trepidation I confess that I see, I believe that we are now in a “chastisement.” Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Hirosh

    It seems to be happening so slowly, but I rather think

    Liked by 8 people

    1. I sure made a mess by hitting “send” accidentally. “What we will not repent of in the privacy of our hearts…” (Purgatory loses another soul 😉.) Beckita, can you edit out my unfinished paragraphs?

      Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. And no coincidence that California is literally burning. Our newest fire (please, all pray, it’s completely uncontained and spreading exponentially) is not nicknamed the “Holy” fire (for Holy Canyon) by accident. More warnings, for those to who can see and hear that God is indeed visiting us, far more gently and mercifully than we deserve. Yosemite burns, the Eastern US swelters, Europe is blazing hot with all time temp records, dozens died in a freakish fire on the coast of Greece.

      The Church burns too, with cleansing flames to

      Liked by 7 people

      1. …flames to remove sexual sins and the worship of Mammon. As Pope Benedict foresaw we are becoming a smaller, more vigilant brand of Catholicism, having been burned through bitter experience in the loss of modesty, chastity, and personal purity.

        Strangely, I am not discouraged by the grim state of affairs, because it seems to be so final and so hopeless that collapse and anarchy should already have consumed us. But because of the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed. They are renewed every morning: great is His faithfulness. The only conclusion I can draw is that every single instance happening to each of us is God’s greatest possible form of mercy for our souls. And that all the thrashing of the dragon’s tail, while formidible, is only it’s death throes. We really are in the moment of history in which the kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. And He will.reign forever and ever.

        This is the true story in which they “all lived happily ever after.”. And I don’t want to miss a minute of it, but pray for those who are struggling to choose heaven and hope and love and joy.

        If God granted Satan a hundred years to test man, to prove that our corruption and destruction are inevitable, wouldn’t our mighty Lord grant Mary two hundred years of health and peace for her children?

        For myself, as grim as the battle yet seems, I believe the tide has turned and we have begun the cleanup, the remaking of our culture and the rebuilding of our Church.

        St Francis, pray for us. St John Henry Newman, pray for us. St Frances de Sales, teach us. St Thomas Moore, pray for our courage, and the gift of humor in perseverance. Our Lady of the Atonement, ask your beloved Son to breathe the Holy Spirit’s fire of unity into the Kingdom of Heaven.

        Liked by 9 people

        4. “wouldn’t our mighty Lord grant Mary two hundred years of health and peace for her children?”

          He’s granted her 2000 years as such, and more, infinitely more, as Mother of the Church, right from Calvary. But, as ever, we have to co-operate with Her to receive those graces.

          Liked by 2 people

      2. Have been praying for all affected by the fires in California, Francesca. It’s OK when mistakes are made and corrections come as you have now included yours. I’m clearing comments now and have yet to read your original comment as those were already cleared last night by Mick as she manned her post here. Amen to your observation about exterior and interior flames of burning, cleansing fires all around us and, hopefully, within each person as well. God bless us, one and all.

        Liked by 5 people

      4. Ya know, the ponderosa pine needs fire for the cones to pop open and a new seed to come out. Many weeds are the same. So the Catholic Church is just a beautiful ponderosa pine right now. All will be well. God knows our names and where we are. Blessed be God forever.

        Liked by 8 people

        1. Love it! Yes, the fires are freeing the seed for a most glorious Spring. Especially in the church. No filth, no spiritual poison will be left because under Our Lady’s mantle is the flaming love of the Holy Spirit. May God grant us eyes to see and courage to endure all the flames in a spirit of gratitude and charity.

          Liked by 5 people

  23. Charlie,

    This article was written with fire, but one that illuminates rather than burns.

    I agree with your analysis of Pope Francis (and everything else you wrote). He’s my Pope, your Pope, our Pope- but that doesn’t mean he’s perfect.

    Still, painful as it may be, we need the truth. I have been reading about the Medici Popes recently, and in those times, just as these, we need faithful people who will tell the truth. Not just “ooh” and “ahh” at everything a Pope (or Cardinal, or Bishop) does because of their position in the hierarchy.

    Likewise, we need faithful people who won’t try and tear down the Church because of the sins of the hierarchy.

    St. Peter was flawed, but he’s still St. Peter.

    St. Paul was flawed, but he’s still St. Paul.

    Giovanni de’Medici was made a Cardinal at age 13 due to family connections. These secular connections helped him become Pope Leo X. He was more interested in political maneuverings during his papacy than feeding his sheep. He had a pet elephant while many in Rome starved to death.

    And yet, he rightfully and infallibly refuted Martin Luther’s heresies (perhaps for the wrong reasons. Maybe he just didn’t want a spiritual/secular rival; even so, God preserved the papacy and the infallibility of the Church’s teachings, and He will preserve it today as well).

    On another note: there are many twisting, bizarro parallels between Pope Francis and President Trump. Trump says the right things in the wrong way (or at least the harshest way), has an irritating style, picks as many worthy fights as unworthy ones (can negotiate like no one’s business, but then goes out of his way to makes jabby tweets against celebs- fights that aren’t worth picking, in my opinion), and sort of has a “if I have a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail” approach to fixing our nation.

    But Trump seems to be doing the best he can, and his actions speak louder than his words. I respect him for that. I will vote for him again for that. He’s willing to fight for what’s right, and fight hard, no matter what it.

    Pope Francis seems to be on the other end of this spectrum. A man of faith. Passionate. Commanding. Savvy. He’s highly respected, loved by pretty much everyone in power (both Church and secular), and yet, he seems to me a Pope more of words than actions (or, at least, the actions aren’t much to get excited about). He has the ability to do incredible things, to right the Ship of Peter, but he seems content to let us drift into dangerous waters (and to reward the pro-drifters while doing so).

    I pray for him. I want more from him. And I hope, by God’s grace, that Pope Francis is indeed the Pope of the Rescue.

    Liked by 12 people

      1. 🌅 “We possess the the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” Second Letter of St Peter: Feast of The Transfiguration

        Liked by 3 people

  25. Is the following report true?

    The resignation of Bishop Finn
    Apr 21, 2015
    by Michael Sean Winters

    The terseness of the Vatican’s official statement on the resignation of Kansas City, Mo., Bishop Robert Finn was in direct proportion to its gravity. This morning, as I do every morning, I went to the Vatican website, clicked on the daily bulletin, then clicked on rinunce e nomine and found this:

    Il Santo Padre Francesco ha accettato la rinuncia al governo pastorale della diocesi di Kansas City-Saint Joseph (U.S.A.), presentata da S.E. Mons. Robert W. Finn, in conformità al can. 401 § 2 del Codice di Diritto Canonico.

    There it was. The long nightmare that has engulfed the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph is over. The people of that diocese, whose numbers have shrunk by one quarter since Bishop Finn took the reins of the diocese in 2005, can now begin healing the wounds his leadership caused and, by the grace of God, rebuilding the once-vibrant local church.

    This is no time for popping champagne. Everything about the situation — Bishop Finn’s authoritarian manner, his conviction for failing to report child sex abuse, the years of inaction by the Holy See — is the stuff of tragedy. But it is tragedy of a specific kind. We say that a hurricane or a tornado, a force of nature or act of God that causes great harm and suffering, is a tragedy. But this is more of a Shakespearean tragedy in which the central character has a fatal flaw that, as the plot unfolds, brings about his ruin. In this case, the fatal flaw was hubris.

    As my colleagues Joshua J. McElwee, Brian Roewe and Dennis Coday report, when Finn took the reins in Kansas City, he began sacking longtime staff, shut down offices he did not like, and vowed to increase vocations. As is typical of many Midwestern dioceses, Kansas City had a long tradition of lay involvement in the workings of the diocese, dating back before the Second Vatican Council and its emphasis on the priesthood of the baptized. That tradition was ignored. Lines were drawn between the culture of the Church and the ambient culture.

    One wonders if +Finn was so isolated and insulated, he even knew how damaging his “bull in a china shop” methods were. Certainly, they did not build up the unity of the local Church, which must rank high on any bishop’s list of priorities. But he did not reverse course. He did not begin consultations. He sought and received the advice of people who already agreed with him. The isolation grew. The disaffection increased. Any loss in energy or numbers could be blamed on the forces of the ambient secular culture, the lack of catechesis in the previous generation, the lack of forceful leadership by previous bishops.

    This unwillingness to cultivate relationships with those whose views differed and consequent alienation from a large swath of his flock left Bishop Finn in a bad place to withstand the charges that emerged in the case of Fr. Shawn Ratigan. +Finn’s mishandling of that situation led to his conviction in civil court of failing to report child sex abuse. He was the first bishop in the United States to be convicted of a crime related to his handling of a sex abuse charge. It must be said, however, that even if he had been the most popular bishop in the land, he could not have withstood the charges resulting from the Ratigan case. The people of God have concluded, rightly, that sexually abusing children is horrific, and if those in authority do not react with horror, they forfeit their right to lead the Church.

    Many bishops mishandled clergy sex abuse charges in previous years, but in 2002, the bishops of the United States adopted a set of procedures and protocols, known as the Dallas Charter, that they promised would prevent future cover-ups. Whatever had happened in the past, they promised they had turned the page and such crimes, while not entirely preventable, would no longer be hidden by chancery officials, but turned over to civil authorities. A zero tolerance for the crime of sexually abusing children was adopted and policies on child protection put in place. But +Finn ignored the zero-tolerance mandate in the Ratigan case. He was above the law. Furthermore, one of the policies adopted at Dallas requires all Church employees and volunteers who work with children to go through a criminal background check to guarantee they had no prior conviction on child sex abuse charges. When +Finn was convicted in 2012, he could no longer have been allowed to teach Sunday school in his own diocese because he would have failed the required background check.

    The situation was untenable. Everyone knew it. Everyone, that is, except Bishop Finn, who had two powerful patrons in Rome on the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinals Justin Rigali and Raymond Burke. It was Cardinal Rigali who promoted Finn up the ranks of the chancery in St. Louis, and it was Cardinal Burke who consecrated him a bishop. They shared the narrative that all the criticisms of Bishop Finn were simply the complaints of lax Catholics who resented having an orthodox bishop. They failed to recognize that the credibility of the entire U.S. hierarchy was on the line. They had collectively pledged that cover-ups would no longer be tolerated. A cover-up had happened. Where was the accountability?

    Enter Pope Francis and Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

    It is true that both as cardinal and later as pope, Benedict XVI began to address the issue of child sex abuse by clergy with appropriate fervor in stark contrast to the way the issue had been handled by Pope John Paul II. But he did not cross the bridge of episcopal accountability. That remained a bridge too far. Cardinal O’Malley, who has been the cavalry for the Church on this issue since 1992, when he was sent to Fall River, Mass., to clean up the mess left by the James Porter case, argued forcefully for the creation of a separate commission on child sex abuse at the Vatican. He had seen, in three dioceses, the ecclesial calvary child sex abuse causes. He understood that the credibility of the entire U.S. hierarchy was on the line. And through O’Malley’s counsel, Pope Francis came to see it, too. And for Francis, episcopal accountability was not a bridge too far. This morning, he crossed that bridge.

    This morning, it is important to isolate the crime of child sex abuse as uniquely horrific in the life of the Church in recent decades. But there are many ways to misgovern a diocese. In addition to the commission in Rome, what is most needed is a conversion of heart among bishops. The days when “never contradict a bishop” was taught to Vatican diplomats-in-training must be consigned to the past. The days when bishops think of themselves as accountable to no one but the pope must be consigned to the past. The days when aloofness could hide behind sloppy talk about liberal Catholics with bad catechesis must be consigned to the past. Bishops are sent to serve their people, and in selecting bishops, the Vatican must look for men who understand that service is the only type of leadership that can possess the credibility of Him who came not to be served but to serve.

    A great sense of relief dawns. The page can be turned on a tragic episode. But there are lessons to be drawn from this morning’s announcement, important lessons that will take time to process. Let the first lesson be this: Hubris is not governance or leadership. That Bishop Finn could not see this is the real cause of his resignation. The shockwaves will be intense. Many will claim that the Vatican caved. But in removing a bishop for his failure to abide by the rules the hierarchy set for themselves, Pope Francis has made a bold statement: We are all accountable to each other for the welfare of the Church. And that lesson can, and will, extend beyond cases of clergy sex abuse.

    Like

    1. Joe,

      Do you know anything about Michael S. Winters and the paper he writes for, ‘The National Catholic Reporter” Without getting into the Finn debate, Winters is a man who regularly spews out invective toward George Weigel and other “conservative” Catholics. He is a liberal ideologue. I do give him credit in that he is against abortion. But here is a recent example of his nastiness”

      “Normally, when I get into a debate with a conservative friend and we are at an impasse, with no hope for resolution, I try to ease the tension with levity, and say, “Well, when the revolution comes, I will put in a good word for you and your family.” To my friends in the Republican political and legal establishment who have not stood up to Trump: When the revolution comes, you are on your own, and I will be clamoring not for mercy but for a seat next to the guillotine, where I can do my knitting.”

      https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/grim-fourth-july-arrives-age-trump

      Of course “the knitting” is a reference to Madame Defarge the villainess of “The Tale of Two Cities” who kitted a pattern of all those who The Revolution would destroy when it came into power. Does this sound like a man who has the Fruit of the Spirit in his life? Does this sound like a man who understands Christ’s mandate for mercy? Does this sound like a man who has any concept of fairness?

      I don’t agree with everything that Father Z writes but when he calls the “National Catholic Reporter” “the Fishwrap” or “The National Schismatic Reporter”, he’s right on the money.

      Liked by 7 people

      1. Exactly, Frank! One always needs background when reading what another person writes. Winters does not toe the orthodox Catholic line, but of course, neither does the National Catholic Reporter! It should not have the name “Catholic” in it’s title.

        Liked by 3 people

    2. Joe, quoting Michael Sean winters does not help your argument. Look up: Tricoteuse of the New Catholic Red Guard (MichaelSWinters aka Madame Defarge) Father Z’s blog July 3, 2015.

      I have read and followed Father Z since 2005 or 2006. Great orthodox priest.

      Liked by 4 people

  26. “…….if Francis held himself to the same standards he held Finn to, he would have to resign. But, of course, Pope Francis won’t do that. He never holds those who are heterodox to account unless he is forced to. His wrath is entirely reserved for the orthodox and those who, however clumsily, try to live their faith with fidelity – the faith passed on from Christ, the Apostles (through the authentic Magisterium), the Gospels and the Prophets.”
    By what connection or authority to you make this statement Charlie? Glass houses – Glass houses, Charlie, are not those who blunder, usually clumsy. Does this common ground constitute your expertise Charlie?

    Like

    1. Granted, Joe, words like “wrath” are difficult to read, and perhaps the word “never” can be challenged. But by what authority does Charlie make this statement?

      By his God-given right to free speech, coupled with his God-given ability to think critically while looking at the troubling facts in the Church hierarchy. And they are troubling indeed.

      The “Glass Houses” analogy only applies to those guilty of committing similar offenses, which is certainly not the case with Charlie. However, it actually applies fairly well to the Pope’s forced resignation of Bishop Finn: different standards for others than for himself. Charlie made a stinging yet valid point. We can agree or disagree, but he is in no way undermining the authority of the Pope. Just calling a spade a spade. ♠️

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Flynn acted on the priest.. where were those who for 40 years did not act on McCarriick. Like most liberal dioceses some one like Flynn would be despised by the hetreodox. And for a very long time orthodox priests are held to a different standard than the homosexuals.

        Liked by 4 people

  27. I understand your anger about the Priests doing all they should legally do to report sexual abuse & being punished for it…it is another black eye on this horrific scandal! One may not like Pope Francis in all he says & does, but God choose him to be our Pope at this time & only time will tell what his Papacy accomplished for the good of the church & the not so good…everything is for a purpose. All of these Bishops, monsignors, archbishops, & Priests should be excommunicated from the church & NOT be subject to a life of prayer & repentance…what’s the purpose??? They didn’t love the Catholic Church or Jesus’s teachings in their sickness. I always remembered your saying, ” look straight ahead, help who you can, & keep your eyes on God!” That’s what I try to do, but I’m human & certainly not perfect! Sweetest Mary conceived without sin pray for those who have recourse to thee. Amen🌹 My sweetest Mary conceived without sin, of Thee I ask a perfect love of your Son, Jesus. Amen🌹

    Liked by 2 people

  28. “At the root of all the disorder was first the failure, which is now become a defiant refusal, to teach authentic Catholic doctrine, as expressed by Scripture and by the Magisterium, the consistent and unbroken teaching of the Apostles.”
    In fact the disorder sprang from disobedience to our Pope justified by misrepresentation of his teaching projected through a prism of defiance, duplicity and self importance. His Burke is worse than his bite.

    Like

    1. Now Joe, I gave specific, documented evidence to back up my concerns. You just offer assertions against Burke – no specific evidence. It is clear that you, like Pope Francis, do not like Burke. Burke did NOT misrepresent the Pope’s teaching, but humbly asked the Pope to clarify those areas that were ambiguous. That is NOT disobedience – that is doing his honest duty – which he is authorized to do as a Cardinal. You are so blinded here by your determination that we should do whatever a sitting Pope says about anything that you are casually smearing a man and a Cardinal of the Church. If you are going to make that charge, please go to the text of the dubia and tell me what was defiant, what was duplicitous and what was self-important. I gave you specific evidence to back up my concerns with the Pope’s actions. You just make assertions, without citing specific evidence that, when examined, prove contrary to the evidence.

      Liked by 16 people

        1. Thank you Charlie for speaking out. It is so obvious that Pope Francis has gone after those of us who adhere to the teachings of the Catholic church.. This has been going on in the church for some time.. I thank God for John Paul II. There is no need to change anything he has written. I said from the very beginning of his Papacy, the Pope is using the same tactics that Obama used as President.. He has done much damage to this country, and likewise this Pope has done much damage to our church.
          We do need to fast and pray for heavenly intervention. God the Father is acting, he is exposing all things that have been hidden. Things hidden in our church and in our government… They will not go down without a bitter fight, for we know who is behind all of this.. the one who hates human beings to begin with, the one who knows the Catholic church is the one true church. the one who knows the United States of America was founded on Christian Ethics.. God help us all.
          M

          Liked by 3 people

      2. What is clear Charlie is that you believe you know better than The Pope. You did not present truth but facts. Like any reporter. You gave your opinion. Like any journalist. You know full well that for every charge you levy on Pope Francis there is another reading which you have chosen to subjugate to your perspective. The dishonesty of the dubia is that while claiming to know the truth they chose to ignore it. You have the text of the dubia. You know their error. Theirs was an emotional dishonesty driven by a destructive motive to preserve what they perceived rather than what the pope hoped they would receive – a deepening of faith snd a broadening of Spirit. They were happy with the devil they knew. They went public when they knew they should not. They played to the gallery. Just as you have misrepresented me you have misrepresented the pope: I am not blinded by a determination to convince people to do whatever a sitting pope suggests. I am, with eyes wide open, a mind alert and a heart full of faith, hoping that people do whatever THIS sitting pope truly says and not some perverted version of his words. He does need a Damascus moment. But you certainly do. He did not honor those souls given over to sin but created space for them to come in and start the journey home. He clearly condemned homosexual behaviour and the homosexual lobby and the LGBTs took great exception to his defence of traditional family values. He slways made it clear that communion cane only at the end of the journey back home that this was a process of relationship building with Jesus and The Church. He condemned gender manipulation especially in the young. He was 100% agsinst abortion and that so called honour for a pro abortionist was only part of a protocol applied to those granted an audience. You are very very wrong here Charlie. Clean yiur glasses and your ears and put your mind and mouth to better use. While it can be a great thing I would suggest that forum members forget about fasting until after they have recollected the faith of our fathers and reviewed the truth that mercy akways takes precedence over justice, that you are not the pope, that you have none of his Divine authority, and that your contradictions of his directives do nothing but undermine the faith and stunt the growth of the faithful in this critical time of developement. But I fear I am wasting my time. Your ‘angel’ not only allowed you to err, but also faciltated error in many who listened to that which you said was true. I want nothing to do with such an angel. For all I know it is behind the subversion that you now promote.

        Like

        1. Joe, I hold you in great affection. But the fact is, yours is an emotional dishonesty driven by your desperate need to deal in formulas and absolutes – and a peculiar terror of ambiguity and complexity. Ordinarily, I don’t much mind…it is one of your quirks, charming in its way. But in this case you are recklessly smearing those who don’t share your fearful myopia. I gave HARD evidence for my conclusions. They are NOT just opinion. They are firmly grounded in facts everyone can see.

          Yet, just like Francis, you don’t actually grapple with what the Dubia Cardinals actually did or actually said; instead you impute ill motives to them – presuming you know what is in their heart (and in your mind it cannot possibly be what they said)…and then condemn those evil motives you made up for them. You cannot merely speak to the facts and make your case, you have to use those times when I have erred to suggest I am from the devil. Disgusting. And if next spring, there were a new Pope who condemned everything Francis did, you would be arguing that we were duty bound to do whatever that Pope said. What a pathetic and impoverished view you have of obedience. In your mind, we have no duty of fidelity to the Magisterium, our only duty of obedience is to whoever is currently Pope – and that duty is absolute. We must follow him even in calumnying others and repudiating previous Popes. Pathetic. That is not faith. That is abdication of responsibility, then taking on a formulaic (and false) security blanket. You desperately cling to formulas you create in your own mind, assert you know it with exact certainty, panic if facts and evidence contradict you, then start swinging wildly to defend those castles you have erected in your mind. You start calling actual facts totems and assert that your totems are facts. I would think, after a lifetime of being serially proved wrong about certainties you have created in your mind and ever going into a rage to deal with it, you would have developed a little suppleness. You are going to need it…because just like me, there are more things you are ultimately going to be wrong about.

          Now I know your virtues…and for those, I have been glad to have you here. But that does not entitle you, when one of your internal certainties is threatened, to go on a recklessly personal and malicious rampage against me or others you hold in contempt. You will confine yourself to facts and evidence when you comment here without the personal smears and slurs. You may make as vigorous a case as you want on behalf of the idea that everything Pope Francis does is altogether true and holy. But you are going to have to hold off on your routine assertion that any who disagree with him – or with you – are the devil’s minions. No more slurs and smears, Joe, masquerading as arguments. Comments from you that are just extended smears of anyone, me included, will not be cleared.

          And at long last, I would thought you would have noticed by now, that you only start bringing out the smears and slurs when you can’t mount actual credible arguments. Everybody else has. For heavens sakes, grow up, and deal with disagreement without all the stickers and pricklies. You can be so much better than that.

          Liked by 9 people

          1. I am reminded of that move The Song of Bernadette, where the Blessed Mother tells her to go wash at the Grotto. Bernadette starts to wash her face in the mud and then appears to be crazy and is condemned. But the mud gives way to a stream of water and the water becomes a source of healing. I hope that I have that much faith. Maybe Charlie you were not that wrong, there was and is an attempted coup against Trump. To many Trump looks crazy as well.

            Liked by 4 people

          2. I agree with Charlie’s reply. While I don’t give my personal assent of faith to the Garabandal apparitions, I read through all of Joe’s posts on them, hoping to glean some good from them and out of respect. My personal dubia towards those apparitions does not put me at odds with Joe or any other person who believes in them, especially St. Pio whom I love with all my heart. The Church gives me freedom of conscience on these matters, especially as regards any matter of private revelation.

            Liked by 3 people

      3. I did not say that Cardinal Burke misrepresented the pope. What he did, however, was not humble. He continued to insist on a right that was not his to more and more clarification, polarising opinion and endangering unity. And he went public with his protest to put more pressure on the pope. BTW I wrote to Cardinal Burke in relation to my annulment and was referred to an excellent canon lawyer with rota experience. Your conclusion that I do not like Cardinal Burke is again erroneous. I simply did not like the way he tried to manipulate pope Francis, the way he refused to put his brains to better use in support of Pope Francis and the bad example of his ignoring the clear wishes of his pontiff. The silence of Pope Francis took far more courage to maintain than his critics ever showed. This again is one of the many ways you have misrepresented me.

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        1. Read the canons, Joe. You are just flat-out wrong here. Cardinals DO have the right and have had it for over a millennia to submit such Dubia. In serious ambiguity, they even have an obligation to do so. The fact that five signed and submitted it shows it is a serious matter. On the larger point, you keep trying to make this just about the rightness or wrongness of Pope Francis. That is actually hijacking the much larger point I was making on how we all should live our authentic duty to renew our Church. We get it. You are convinced that everything Pope Francis says is pure and holy, just and true. This is NOT a binary pro-Francis, anti-Francis issue and I will not let you make it into one by constant pounding at straw men. As ever, you are free to speak your mind, but you are not free to hijack this thread.

          Liked by 3 people

    2. Stop. This is just nonsense. You need to open your eyes. Papal positivism (the position that the Pope is always good and right) is not Catholic doctrine.
      (edit: Louise, I’m going to add a correction here: This comment has been cleared as an example of what we don’t do here. It’s a welcome thing torespectfully respond to commenters by disagreeing with points. It’s not OK to order anyone on what they must do or not do unless it’s a moderator setting boundaries which comply with the comment policy. Please, let us all engage with the respectful tone which has been a hallmark of this website and TNRS. second edit: written by BH)

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      1. Papal positivism no but postively in support of Pope Francis yes. Its like the difference between Traditionalism and Tradition. Yes to Tradition.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. You’re entitled to your opinion, but I can’t see any qualitative difference between what I said to Joe and what Charlie said to Joe.

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        1. Several things, Louise. That exchange between Charlie and Joe, where Charlie set boundaries on how comments need to be expressed was a very sensitive exchange. As managing editor and one of the moderators of this site, I think that a commenter ordering Joe – or any other community member – to do whatever is inappropriate. Again, this is a tone issue. And it was particularly so, in my judgement, as it read, to me, as if it was piling on Joe. It read like someone sticking a finger in someone else’s wound. I maintain that one of the wonderful marks of dialogue at ASOH is the respect shown to one another, even in disagreement. If your comment had started with something like “I disagree with you, Joe, and here’s why…” then VOILA! It would have been cleared without further comment from me.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. My opinion is that “tone” is not the real issue here. We have clergy who rape people. I think we need to put things in perspective. That’s my honest perspective. However, I’ll try to be “nice.”

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            1. Both-And. We certainly need to hold the errant clergy to account. AND we can uphold expressing in the respectful tone for which this online site is well known.

              Liked by 1 person

              1. It has been extremely frustrating watching commenters here at this site defend Pope Francis for the past couple of years that I have been reading along. And they’re *still* doing it. I’m sorry, but tone is not the issue. The issue is people here and elsewhere refusing to face unpleasant realities. It’s this attitude (and lack of virtue) which has helped perpetuate the abuse by clerics. It’s effeminate and wrong. I don’t know how to say that without hurting people’s feelings.

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                1. I understand your feelings, Louise. You have expressed respectfully what your frustrations are.

                  I am one who continues to defend everything good Pope Francis has done. And he has done great good. I pray daily for him to fulfill the mission God has entrusted to him. I’m also surrounded by priests and laity who are concerned about what is perceived as his problems. Over time, in discussions with the clergy and laity in my personal life, offline and in the discussions here, I cannot deny that there are problems to be resolved. For expressing this, I have been rejected by friends and family whom I hold as very dear to me. What can I do but wait, hope and pray for reconciliation? It cannot be forced; I can only be ready for it when the other is ready to reconcile.

                  This is a site where differences in thinking and opinions are welcome as we discuss, pray and reason our way through these times. The comment policy says it all so I’ll reprint excerpts here:
                  The views and opinions expressed in the comments section are those of the commenters and do not necessarily reflect mine or other administrators’ views. I encourage a wide range of comments here – treat it kind of like an Irish pub where we can sit and reason (and sometimes wrestle) with each other. That said, this is a faithfully orthodox site and I do not give space to those who try to disparage either the Catholic Church or the Christian faith of others who we count as brethren.

                  “…you will see from comments – and even a guest column – that I both encourage and welcome people to offer serious, clearly stated opinions that are different than mine. Properly understood, debate should lead us closer to truth. A sneer is not a substitute for an argument here, so if that is all you can muster, please go somewhere else.”

                  “I understand that in the modern world, people frequently want to jump into the middle of a debate without seeing what is already said. We treat each other seriously and with respect here. If you want to jump in, use the search feature to at least see what has been said recently on a subject.”

                  “…That is not to say we are nice and don’t say hard things or make tough criticisms – but it must be based in evidence rather than simply emoting feelings – and all is designed to build up the people of God, not to tear each other down.”

                  We all remain free to make our arguments in a respectful manner, fully realizing we may, at times, just have to agree to disagree.

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                    1. God bless you, Valiant Woman. These times will not last forever. They won’t. A New Day is dawning and we’re in it. The purification IS in process as all the sin within the Church, vile and wicked, comes to light. Let us purify ourselves that Our Lord may make us humble and holy with a fragrance that overpowers and extinguishes the putrid, sulfurous odor of wickedness from the highest echelons in the hierarchy to the lowest levels within our Church. Let us, in solidarity, continue to pray to the Queen of Angels with St. Michael the Archangel at the lead, as ordained by God, to continue crushing the head of the serpent until he is in that place which has been prophesied from of old. I maintain, if one listens in the Sacred Silence, even now the hissing can be heard round the world.

                      May our prayers, fasting and sacrifices make us to BE as a mystical blessed salt, sprinkled interiorly throughout the Church. I love the old Roman Missal blessing to exorcise salt:

                      God’s creature, salt, I cast out the demon from you by the living + God, by the true + God, by the holy + God, by God who ordered you to be thrown into the water- spring by Eliseus to heal it of its barrenness. May you be a purified salt, a means of health for those who believe, a medicine for body and soul for all who make use of you. May all evil fancies of the foul fiend, his malice and cunning, be driven afar from the place where you are sprinkled. And let every unclean spirit be repulsed by Him who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.

                      May the Living Water which Christ promised us flow freely in our lives that when we acknowledge God, take our next right steps and allow Him to make of us a sign of hope, we mystically become blessed holy water which ripples to wash over every nook and cranny of the beautiful, glorious Bride of Christ, our Holy Mother Church. The old Roman Missal blessing for holy water:

                      “God’s creature, water, I cast out the demon from you in the name of God + the Father almighty, in the name of Jesus + Christ, His Son, our Lord, and in the power of the Holy + Spirit. May you be a purified water, empowered to drive afar all power of the enemy, in fact, to root out and banish the enemy himself, along with his fallen angels. We ask this through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire…

                      God, who for man’s welfare established the most wonderful mysteries in the substance of water, hearken to our prayer, and pour forth your blessing + on this element now being prepared with various purifying rites. May this creature of yours, when used in your mysteries and endowed with your grace, serve to cast out demons and to banish disease. May everything that this water sprinkles in the homes and gatherings of the faithful be delivered from all that is unclean and hurtful; let no breath of contagion hover there, no taint of corruption; let all the wiles of the lurking enemy come to nothing. By the sprinkling of this water may everything opposed to the safety and peace of the occupants of these homes be banished, so that in calling on your holy name they may know the well-being they desire, and be protected from every peril; through Christ our Lord…

                      God, source of irresistible might and king of an invincible realm, the ever-glorious conqueror; who restrain the force of the adversary, silencing the uproar of his rage, and valiantly subduing his wickedness; in awe and humility we beg you, Lord, to regard with favor this creature thing of salt and water, to let the light of your kindness shine upon it, and to hallow it with the dew of your mercy; so that wherever it is sprinkled and your holy name is invoked, every assault of the unclean spirit may be baffled, and all dread of the serpent’s venom be cast out. To us who entreat your mercy grant that the Holy Spirit may be with us wherever we may be; through Christ our Lord.”

                      Like

                    2. Hey, Valiant Woman. I just noticed your twitter feed is accessible via your screen name. If you wish to keep it that way AOK. If you would like me to remove it, I can edit it out.

                      Like

    1. And I am off to pray that you will receive Charlie’s charitable rebuke as a gift from the Holy Spirit.
      I read somewhere that getting a rebuke is like having a coconut drop on your head. A wise man picks it up, drinks the milk, eats the meat, and throws away the hard container that caused him pain.

      Liked by 5 people

    2. Indeed, Joe. So much to sorrow over.

      Bad news on the insidious persecution of Christians in China, though good news that estimates put their numbers around 100 million.

      Bad news about devastating fires in California, good news as people come together to help each other.

      Bad news that our Food and Drug Administration (FDA) intends to use fetal tissue from aborted babies to humanize mice for research, the good news is…..well, I don’t have any good news on that one yet.

      Much suffering, real suffering, but God will always shine through in the end.

      BTW, Joe, Our Lady’s Choir (a new group I formed) will have our debut singing the Rosary during veneration of Padre Pio’s relics on September 29. Too bad he won’t be here for his 50th anniversary on September 23. (He died exactly 7 months after my birth).

      St. Padre Pio, pray for us.
      Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

      Liked by 2 people

  30. I hope this exposure really works to start to clean house and we get back to basics. Also, I am seeing that all the so called focus on “social justice” may be more of a cover up for that lack of fidelity in the sexual area. It is a distraction against one of the root causes of disintegration within the church. Thanks Charlie. I am greatful you are here!

    Liked by 10 people

  31. Charlie, thank you for speaking some indisputable truths about the current state of the hierarchy, and in particular, the current occupant of St Peter’s chair. He is indeed the lawful pope, but I sense no “aroma of sanctity” in Pope Francis. I believe his mind was formed—speaking in earthly terms—by the poisonous modernism that has been drifting around the Jesuit order for the last three generations. And although his intellectual formation was clearly faulty, he insists on playing the “public intellectual,” a role for which he shows little acumen. If his intellectual defects were counterbalanced by a deep piety or humility, it wouldn’t bother me. Now, no pope has to be a brilliant thinker. But humility and piety don’t seem to be in evidence either. I see shallow thinking supercharged by a will to impose mental engineering on the faithful. It smacks of political partisanship rather than of the aroma of holiness.

    I often say to myself, “I’m glad to know the Holy Father loves us….because he sure doesn’t LIKE us very much.” That’s a bitter judgement, but it’s one that keeps emerging in my thoughts the more I read about what’s going on in the Vatican, and the Church in general.

    Then again, maybe we’ve finally gotten the Pope we deserve! We, the Catholic, certainly weren’t deserving of St John Paul the Great or the prayerful and deeply meditative and pious Benedict. Maybe we’ve gotten the Pope we deserve; it’s not a pretty sight.

    It is also high time—in my view—to give Randy Engel her due. Her “Rite of Sodomy” series of books was clearly correct in its thesis regarding “generational sodomites” in the hierarchy. Maybe the the details weren’t all correct, but the general thesis appears solid. Talk about a Swamp! And an infernal one at that.

    I have often wondered whether the events you foretold on the other site weren’t fulfilled in part because of the sorry state the Vatican. If anything like a divine rescue is to take place, the Vatican would have to be front and center. The current Vatican powers that be are clearly not worthy of such graces.

    Anyway, thanks for the opportunity to vent.

    Liked by 3 people

  32. As we become embroiled, angered and distracted by all the Scandals/Troubles in Our Church & Elsewhere ;-(, it might do us well to remind ourselves that The Church has been around for a Long, LONG Time and unless we have been duped by some mysterious 3,000+ year hoax …………….!!??
    The below is interesting and a good “reminder”!:

    “Extremely rare medieval bible that ‘bears witness’ to Christian history re-discovered”

    http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/08/06/extremely-rare-medieval-bible-that-bears-witness-to-christian-history-re-discovered.html

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE!!

    Liked by 7 people

  33. From my perspective the Dubia is trying to clarify some of the ambiguous language in Amoris Laetitia. From my perspective one of Pope Francis’s largest error (purposely or by accident is yet to be determined) is creating these type of fuzzy areas.

    At a conference a few weeks ago I attended a talk given by a Bishop. A priest there mentioned that as a result of Amoris Laetitia several of his brother priests have now turned to providing annulments in the confessional. Granted we do not know the circumstances but this does not sound good in that annulments should some very careful discernment to declare.

    These are some scary times in deed and frequent prayer is needed.

    Liked by 4 people

  34. Thank you Charlie. I read your message early this morning. I then set about doing some chores. While doing so I listened to music. A favorite song came on my iPhone library: “Courageous” by Casting Crowns. I wish I was more adept electronically! If someone out there is, please do so by linking it so all can hear it! This song captured closely what you wrote about the “crisis” we face and what our response should be!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Thanks, Joe. It will be an easy search for folks to find the song using the info you have given. I offer the wonderful lyrics to the song:

      We were made to be courageous
      We were made to lead the way
      We could be the generation
      That finally breaks the chains
      We were made to be courageous
      We were made to be courageous
      We were warriors on the front lines
      Standing, unafraid
      But now we’re watchers on the sidelines
      While our families slip away
      Where are you, men of courage?
      You were made for so much more
      Let the pounding of our hearts cry
      We will serve the Lord
      We were made to be courageous
      And we’re taking back the fight
      We were made to be courageous
      And it starts with us tonight
      The only way we’ll ever stand
      Is on our knees with lifted hands
      Make us courageous
      Lord, make us courageous
      This is our resolution
      Our answer to the call
      We will love our wives and children
      We refuse to let them fall
      We will reignite the passion
      That we buried deep inside
      May the watchers become warriors
      Let the men of God arise
      We were made to be courageous
      And we’re taking back the fight
      We were made to be courageous
      And it starts with us tonight
      The only way we’ll ever stand
      Is on our knees with lifted hands
      Make us courageous
      Lord, make us courageous
      Seek justice
      Love mercy
      Walk humbly with your God
      In the war of the mind
      I will make my stand
      In the battle of the heart
      And the battle of the hand
      In the war of the mind
      I will make my stand
      In the battle of the heart
      And the battle of the hand
      We were made to be courageous
      And we’re taking back the fight
      We were made to be courageous
      And it starts with us tonight
      The only way we’ll ever stand
      Is on our knees with lifted hands
      Make us courageous
      Lord, make us courageous
      We were made to be courageous
      Lord, make us courageous

      Songwriters: John Mark Hall / Matthew West

      Liked by 4 people

  35. Has anyone else seen this? I don’t know if it is fact but it is definitely scary indeed.

    “the Vatican Tinkering With the Online Catechism to Remove Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality?”

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    1. Prtx, I deleted the link to the video but kept the title which people can search for themselves at the One Peter Five site where the article appears. There has been an update to it which closes with this line: “Although some oddities yet remain, it appears that this was a false alarm, and the Catechism is not being tinkered with — quite yet. But that doesn’t mean that such a change isn’t coming.” Now, perhaps – or perhaps not – there will be more changes to the CCC attempted after Pope Francis’ announcement concerning the capital punishment change. Surely the homosexual activists would love to see the Teaching Magisterium altered to their favored agenda. Without becoming alarmists, let’s continue to pray, watch and see.

      Liked by 3 people

      2. Words to listen for at the Youth Synod in Rome and the Family Meeting in Ireland- “Differently Ordered.” Martin has been testing this phrase out for quite a while. I believe, the death penalty was just the battering ram for the next Catechism “change.”

        Liked by 5 people

        1. If he does like what he did with Amoris Laetitia he will allow bishops to bless homosexual marriages under certain “circumstances”. And then there will be a schism that we have not seen since the Reformation.

          Liked by 2 people

      3. Interesting JB
        Original sin has not only spiritual but also physical and mental implications. Before the fall there were no disorders. After the fall we were all created disordered. Baptism confers the potential to deal with disorder and to survive as originally intended by God “to know him to love Him and to serve Him in this world so that we may be happy with Him forever in Heaven” according to the conditions prescribed in our conception. Just as physical conditions can be inherited so can spiritual conditions. In this light we can perhaps see the truth of the CCC about homosexuals: they did not choose their condition, for many it is a great cross. In medical records we see many examples of extremely disordered mental and physical conditions. We love those people born with those conditions but it is often asked how a good God could create such people. In my opinion in my opinion homosexuality is often a spiritual expression of disorder inherited from the effects of original sin. But homosexual behaviour as opposed to homosexuality can also result from choice and habit. Although the alcoholic does not chose to become an alcoholic he does initially chose to drink. Eventually he loses that choice: the man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes a man. A Jesuit once described homosexual indulgence as a form of sexual greed – heterosexual offerings were just not enough for them. And they are given over to their sin.

        Liked by 3 people

        1. Interesting insights Joe, for sure.

          The father of my children was and maybe still is an abusive drunk/alcoholic. I’ve suffered from addictions too. I just quit smoking cigarettes, again, on June 2nd and I had bulimic tendencies decades ago. By the grace of God, that was an on again, off again stage for a bit and never really took hold. I mention that only to say that I firmly believed that *addictions*, despite being a healthcare professional, were not an “illness” genetic or otherwise and instead I felt strongly that they were character flaws.

          Now, I surely do not know for certain how or why disorders are…. There are so many things that I do not fully comprehend, and I am fine with that. I trust God and no longer feel the desire to have to have *all the answers*, the way I used to. In hindsight I’ve discovered that when I thought I was *on the edge* of culture, technology, you name it, I was simply an easy target being led down other people’s paths, and not my own. I have come to realize that I don’t have to *have all of the answers*, knowing full well and accepting that that is not my place.

          ❤

          Liked by 1 person

  36. On July 30th Fr. Regis Scanlon proposed the following as a solution to the sexual abuse and recklessness engaged in by priests. He quite bluntly states his conclusion:

    “So, here is a final recommendation for solving the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Church. And this recommendation applies to heterosexual men in relation to women as it does to homosexual men in relation to other men. No seminarian or religious should be admitted into a seminary, religious life, vows or ordination who cannot refrain from entertaining impure thoughts and masturbation for at least one year.”

    While that may be one step towards an answer to the ongoing crisis I have begun to see that the only solution to the issues of Church governance and the hierarchy is the person of Jesus. The first thing a prospective seminarian should be asked is “Have you met Jesus? Do you know him? Is he alive to you?” If the candidate answers no, or hesitates, or seems to not understand the question, he should be referred to prayer and study but should not be put upon the path to ordination. If after prayer and study the man can finally answer a free and unequivocal “yes” then the process of being formed as a priest can begin.

    At age eighteen I experienced the power of our living God. Jesus, the Spirit and the Father became real to me. Forty-six years later this meeting is still the fulcrum and turning point of my life. I am no saint. Even having encountered the living Jesus I fall into sin. My sins over the years have been such that I know my only hope of heaven is in Jesus’ divine mercy as revealed to St. Faustina. I may disobey. I my pout and stamp my feet like a child who is not given its way. I cannot, however, deny the existence of Jesus, the Spirit and the Father. I shudder to think what my sins and life would have been without the immeasurable grace that has come to me from that relationship over all these years. It is the grace from that relationship which picks me up each time I fall and sets me on the way again. It is the grace from that relationship that supports and upholds the good and holy things in my life; my relationship to my wife, children and grand children, my career. My relationships with extended family and friends. My adherence to the Church and the magisterium. My understanding and profound awe at the reality of the real presence in the Eucharist.

    In my relationships, conversations, meetings, working on projects with priests there are many who do not seem to have had an encounter with the living God. There are many priests and religious who do have such a relationship and it is wonderful to see how their ministry flows from it, but it is not all. Sometimes I despair that it is not even a majority.

    I do not say this to judge. In fact, far from judging, I often feel sorry and find myself wondering why has God blessed me when others who seem far more worthy do not seem to share what I have known. I could not be a husband, father, son, friend or follow the teachings of the Church without this grace. (I barely manage to accomplish it with the benefit of God’s power.) My sense is that many priests have never come to this encounter and are trying to push through the life of ministry and service on their own power. They attempt to maintain their celibacy on their own power. I do not believe such efforts, without the grace of knowing the living God, are possible over the long run. Even Fr. Scanlon’s recommendation for a year of abstinence prior to being accepted to seminary seems to me to be quite impossible without the support of this grace.

    Perhaps the answer is as simple, and at the same time as profound, as this. The true formation of a priest requires that the candidate have a living relationship with God, with the Persons of the Trinity and especially with Jesus. The initial priests and bishops, the Apostles, had this relationship and it was the foundation of their lives and ministry.

    Our role as laity may be to seek and foster that relationship in our own lives and to share the same with the men and women, priests and religious, who are called to serve us as they serve God. Part of our role may be to call out the hierarchy to put aside the legal splitting of hairs and the concern for the Church’s status, reputation and finances to instead focus on our individual and corporate relationship to God. As with my would be seminarian mentioned above, it may be time to tell those who do not have such a relationship, or who do not seem to understand what we are talking about, to take their leave from authority for a time of prayer and study to seek that which is necessary for the life of faith.

    Humbly placed here for your consideration.

    Thank you, Charlie, for the posting.

    JT

    Liked by 7 people

    1. Beautiful reflection, JT. My own thoughts are consonant with yours on the need for, as you say, “an encounter with the living God” or as I refer to this: “a personal relationship with Jesus.” Like you, for all the priests and religious with whom I come in contact, the existence – or lack – of such as this is quite evident, or not, by the ways the consecrated one speaks of faith and the Lord.

      What comes to my mind as well, in reading your words, is that the Church has every spiritual tool to overcome every spiritual malady. I think we’re missing out on the use of a weapon in our arsenal which is most effective: deliverance prayer. Both laity and clergy have been given the mandate in Matthew 10:8: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” Caution must be taken for deliverance prayer is not something to be attempted by one not ready to do the deliverance prayers/work. At the same time, when done by a wise one, developed under the spiritual guidance of a priest, deliverance prayer is an effective nuclear option to obliterate any addictive behavior. I’ve seen it happen, again and again, with my own eyes. With detachment from a sin that has been repeated in compulsion, there is yet great work to be done in building oneself up in a new life in Christ.

      God bless us all as we make our way through these times.

      Liked by 7 people

  37. One of these days I’m going to be able to get through a Joe Crozier post, because Charlie and others here really seem to have great fondness for him. (edit: rest of comment deleted)

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    1. I deleted much of your comment, wpsahm. Disagreeing with any person on his/her points is welcomed here but poking fingers in the wounds of someone who has been corrected, grinding into the wound the salt of personal negative views about the person, is not the stuff of which this site is made.

      Liked by 4 people

      1. Thanks for that Beckita. I don’t know what the comments were and don’t need to know but personal attacks should be off limits here, while even strong disagreements on principle is acceptable.

        Liked by 4 people

      2. And here I thought I was poking fun at myself and my own shortcomings. But you have a tough job here and you do it very well, so I will take my lumps in this regard. So thank you for the edit.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Yes Noreen, I’m shocked by the dialogue that has ensued on this forum. I trust God will sort it out as well as sorting out the problems within our beloved Holy Catholic Church.

        Liked by 1 person

  38. Hi Charlie. Just wondering, do you think your potential walk may lead you up to Baltimore in November. Curious that their conference will be right after the election. I think many Catholics need to march on the USCCB conference.

    Liked by 11 people

  39. I’m convinced, more than ever, that the timing of Pope Francis’ Death Penalty Proclamation was timed to distract from the Pervert Sex Scandal. Brietbart is a conservative site but I think the comments section is very interesting nonetheless as it will give you an idea what the people that count think about The Situation. Yes!! We are a Divided Nation & Church and, I think, it’s a Good Thing!! For 50 years we have compromised ourselves to perdition!!! We have a small window of time to “Right the Ship”:

    “Chicago Cardinal: I Wish Justice Scalia Lived to See Pope Outlaw Death Penalty”

    https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/06/chicago-cardinal-wish-scalia-lived-pope-outlaw-death-penalty/

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE!!

    Liked by 8 people

  40. My father always advises us to “sleep on it” before making any major decision. That is what I have done before commenting… I pray I have sufficiently pondered what I will write. The sex ed program that the Church tried to implement was an open door for abuse. As a victim, I recognize the tactics. I wondered how they could and why they would propose such a program. Now I recognize it was wolves in sheeps clothing pushing their own disgusting agenda. But also as a victim, I do not desire a witch hunt. Those who are guilty deserve punishment-for their soul’s sake. But those who truly tried to do it right deserve applause, not jail. I keep hoping that Pope Francis has been duped rather than actively trying to promote the rot. I have stated before that I am against capital punishment and have debated this with Steve BC ( hi Steve!) and others but when Pope Francis changed the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the death penalty, an alarm went off for me. It was the same internal alarm that I heard and felt when I read about the church’ sex ed program. It signals danger! The Pope is the Pope. The Pope is human. I look forward to the day when our Pope proclaims Mea Culpa along with each of us and the Church is restored to it’s true, pure and holy self.

    Liked by 13 people

  41. Oh dear, like Joe Crozier, I am a refugee from the MoG forum after having been banned, like him, for defending Pope Francis. While on that forum I got a lot of ‘stick’ for defending Charlie Johnson as well but now I see a very different Charlie emerging here on this site.

    I totally agree we have to follow our consciences on these matters but when we go public, the care needed to avoid making false judgments increases.

    There is noting in Charlie’s article here that justifies the resulting negativity shown by him to the Pope. I really do hope that Charlie doesn’t continue this very dangerous path.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. David, of course, you are welcome to your opinion. I do believe you are an infrequent visitor to this site and I only mention this because I think it’s important to read the whole of how Charlie has written about the Holy Father. Back at TNRS, Charlie continually defended our Holy Father against the vicious attacks which Pope Francis underwent at the hands of those who began attacking from the moment our Pope first greeted the world. Charlie kept a permanent link to the book written by Peter Bannister: No False Prophet. You might also have a look at an earlier piece from this site: https://asignofhope442992340.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/is-the-pope-catholic/ In this article, you will see the reverence which Charlie holds Pope Francis in prayer as Charlie states: “…for the intentions, person, and immortal soul of our Holy Father, Francis: may he be strengthened to accomplish all God has appointed him and may his papacy bear great fruit…” And I also add a line from Charlie’s current piece which shows his hope for Pope Francis: “I do not discount that Pope Francis’ story is not entirely written. He may yet have a Damascus moment.” God bless you, David, and all who visit here.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Ok Beckita, I confirm this site is new to me but the article from Charlie to which you provide a link does not encourage me to be positive about Charlie’s approach to Pope Francis. Nevertheless, it is Charlie’s site and I will certainly respect his views and those of everyone else if allowed to continue posting. But I do need to say that my posts are likely to focus on defending Francis.

        Liked by 4 people

        1. Hi David. A few quick things…this is not a site where you need to agree with or parrot me to comment. Shoot, my team and I frequently disagree about things. I want honest, candid discussion. The rule is that we treat each other with respect. That doesn’t mean there aren’t occasionally a few sharp elbows. But we do seek truth and reason together, while making our case with passion. The key is, we don’t slander or smear each other. An insult is NOT an argument. What a boring, fruitless place it would be if we all saw from the same perspective. The dynamic tension between competing perspectives, when dealt with with mutual respect and affection, helps us find truth. So welcome to the site.

          Liked by 8 people

          1. There is such a lot to comment on in Charlie’s article but I would like to comment on only one aspect. And that is the rightness or wrongness of criticising the Pope in the way he is so widely criticised these days.

            I believe it is wrong for the laity to get involved in criticisms for the simple reason that in giving us ‘Peter’, Jesus gave us our LEADER. One might say Jesus didn’t choose a very good leader with Peter being far from being the best qualified candidate. Yet Peter is who Jesus chose and I am quite sure the other apostles followed and obeyed him as leader even when they might not have agreed with him. Now we all know that Paul got into a disagreement with Peter and eventually won the day. But that very particular case is not an excuse for every Tom, Dick or Harry to decide to appoint themselves as a doctrinal director of the Catholic Church.

            What is missing, in my view, in all the criticism is humility.

            Like

  42. wow, quite a fallout from some readers here. I guess some can’t take constructive criticism. Well here is an article written by Dennis Prager:

    https://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2018/08/07/pope-francis-rewrites-catholicism–and-the-bible-n2507438 on Pope Francis’s philosophy.

    “Pope Francis, the product of Latin American liberation theology — along with many other Catholic religious and lay leaders — is remaking Catholicism in the image of leftism, just as mainstream Protestant leaders have been rendering much of mainstream Protestantism a branch of leftism, and non-Orthodox Jewish clergy and lay leaders have been rendering most non-Orthodox synagogues and lay institutions left-wing organizations.(Prager, 2018)”

    Liked by 4 people

  43. When I ask God about the Pope, God tells me to pray for him. God tells me not to attack anyone (including the Pope). I don’t believe stating the Pope is confusing is attacking him. He is confusing. I think it’s natural to question things like the appointment of pro-choice people to the Pontifical Academy of Life. But in the end God tells me that He has got this. He has known exactly what we would be facing in these times. We have nothing to fear. We need to pray and love. As for the continual sexual scandals that are now being made transparent, I am reminded of a phrase Charlie used to use, “these things must come.” God will clear out the stench. I am not worried about the authority of the church being undermined because the authority is the Holy Spirit. And if the earthly authority strays to where it should not, they will come to know who is Lord. So I keep my eyes on Christ, I pray for the Pope and all earthly authority and I trust that God truly does have this in the palm of His hand.

    Liked by 14 people

    1. Amen, Susan. And while we pray and acknowledge that God does have this, may we all be ready to be His Hands in whatever ways He wishes to use us as His Instruments when He invites us assist in accomplishing what He wishes us to do.

      Liked by 7 people

  44. Interesting comments today, folks. God bless all here. Have happy hearts and be at peace.

    I’ll join you in prayer and fasting on Fridays for sure – have to eat, but will cut way back and stop the coffee and drop the internet for a day and reduce time on computer the rest of time – for the glory of God and the salvation of all souls – for our purification and sanctification.

    Liked by 8 people

    2. Will join on Friday’s fast.
      So, here is my question…how do we keep up with this post on Friday if we give up extra digital activities? (Typed with a smile on my face-does that mean everyone here will take a break from this site so we don’t miss anything? ;-0 )

      Liked by 1 person

  45. I’ve had much to ponder on this latest word from our Pope Francis. I know that non-death penalty goes against the grain for many, but I have read many remarks that were (yes, here goes) allegedly spoken by Jesus to alleged “receivers” (including famous ones) where He was understood to explain that we are NEVER to take the life of another human being, no matter the human reasoning, because truly, only God the Father is allowed to make that call to end a life. I have had to ponder this.

    It rides right alongside the prohibition to euthanize a person who is suffering more than they can bear — we, as Catholics, know we don’t have that right, as understandable as it may sound in some circumstances. Most of us understand not allowing the death of innocents in abortion, but it’s a little harder if someone is begging for relief from something dragging out horrifically.

    But we say we’re about “the right to life from conception until natural death”. Do we mean it? For everybody?

    When I heard of the Pope’s new “change”, I first thought it may not be an actual change, but merely a tough reinforcement of the hard teaching that we need to back off on the playing-God-thing of executing even a dangerous criminal. What to do…

    Pope John Paul II left little room for the ending of someone’s life, as he said we have modern facilities to contain most of such criminals. Those modern facilities seem like a waste of money to people who haven’t been taught deep spiritual realities; they are quick to say “off with their heads and have done with it”. Makes sense in a purely secular sense.

    We who can at least somewhat comprehend the infinite value of an eternal soul, can better hear Jesus’ warning to rethink that.

    Francis may be hearing that same admonition from Jesus, for all I know.

    Because of other things our Pope Francis has done and said in troubling ways, I will throw my lot in with our beloved Saint John Paul II (may he please intercede for me), who left a bit of wriggle room for the possibility of there being times when we may — carefully — exercise some reasonable exception to the hard rule. He taught that, and he’s the Saint. That’s all I can come to.

    I have to think that Pope Francis is not able to change Pope John Paul II’s teaching. I will respect our present Pope as is proper, but he sure is causing a lot of trouble for the credence of faithful Catholics who are out there in the trenches.

    These were the warnings of “confusion within the Church”, and Bishops at odds with their fellow Bishops, that we’ve been hearing about for so long. We thought we’d seen it before, but it’s all coming to pass now, what we’ve heard, it’s just taking longer than we expected to get finished.

    Summerfields

    Roam around here if you like, plenty to contemplate (I don’t make it up or guarantee it, I just report it for your discernment): https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/blessedhope/

    Liked by 3 people

  46. Thank you so much, Charlie. Has anyone read “I will give them a new heart” by Conrad Baars? . Although the book is not about those who have malicioua intent, it is a good book to promote wholeness and wellness in priests do they can be strong to withstand the attacks of the devil and those who serve him.

    Liked by 1 person

  47. God Bless you Charlie! Well reasoned and balanced.

    My dear son’s short life was bookmarked by such all-out assault from the satan. Suffice to say, I’m certain every bit of suffering is being used by Our Dear Lord for His mysterious ways.

    I am doing my part, clinging to Our Sorrowful Mother at the foot of the cross. I tell her that like her I too, held my dead son. I beg her to help me and mine and All, sinners to a man.

    Please keep my son and us in your prayers. Love to All.

    +My God I will praise You always and forever!+

    Liked by 9 people

      1. Thank you, so much Beckita (and All!) This is a tangent, but, maybe something you can all send up a prayer for:

        What I’ve discovered is that our Church doesn’t have a formal ministry to help families deal with suicide loss. We are in the Stone Age, kind of like the Pro life movement was in the 1970’s, on this topic. Before all the studies and data came out on abortion loss, talking about the deep, tangled webs of hurt to mothers and fathers, families, the causes, need for education, the terrible misconceptions, the coercion and the need for radical forgiveness like Rachael’s Vineyard, and a dedicated Priests for Life Ministry, etc, etc.

        Suicides deaths are tragically increasing. Just this week the local news and Spirit Daily reported about a suicide app/twisted game that is available to teens to download onto their phones. It is very common for many loved ones left behind to have no clue their loved one was every struggling with suicidal thoughts–because they hid it and did not want to be deterred. That was eye opening. The misconceptions and bad information I’ve read from the rare article posted by Catholics convinced me we haven’t even scratched the surface of ministry. The need is overwhelming, great.

        I am certain, the Lord wants light and mercy shed on this. I’m certain in time the church will have a formally organized ministry to address this terrible reality. The numbers are compelling that the need is real. There must an organized Catholic response. It is coming, I’m certain.

        Liked by 3 people

    3. Littlelight, You have my deepest and heartfelt condolences; please know that you and your family are in my prayers and sacrifices.

      Liked by 1 person

    4. p.s. EWTN’s Johnette Benkovic shares her personal experience of feeling no consolation when given news of her son’s death. (starts around the 14min mark, and if I have overstepped boundaries and offended you in any way, by posting this, I sincerely apologize.)

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I never got a chance to thank you for your prayers for my daughter last Christmas. It turned out to be more helpful than you will ever know—-it was an especially tough day and I know your prayers helped. Pls. keep her in prayer as her birthday is coming up and Liam’s soon after. Very agonizingly difficult.

        Like

        2. You’re very welcome, Littlelight; and I will keep your dear daughter in my prayers as her birthday approaches. God bless and keep you all.

          Liked by 1 person

  48. Charlie, I agree with the much of what you said here but was disappointed at some of the sweeping generalizations. For instance, you write in the first paragraph:

    “He never holds those who are heterodox to account unless he is forced to. His wrath is entirely reserved for the orthodox and those who, however clumsily, try to live their faith with fidelity…”

    The use of “never” and “entirely” did not ring true and caused me to feel a sourness about your writing for the first time. These terms imply 100 percent. I am not counting, as I don’t know how many times he has had to act in these types of matters, but I would suggest it is not 100 percent; I doubt it is even a majority of the time.

    I keep reminding myself that he was duly elected as the pope for these times. I know that God may allow the walls of the Church to be battered but never defeated. So much to say here but suffice that I am partly at fault in all this due to my poor prayers, sacrifices and actions. I am a sinner. However, as with all of us, including the Pope, we can be instantly transformed (like Saul/St. Paul) by the Holy Spirit which fills and guides us. It can even be that we (and the Pope) are made into modern day St. Jeanne d’Arc. My heart aches. This writing deepened my heartache, but also my determination, which I think, in part, is what Charlie hoped to accomplish. God knows what He is doing. I pray that I do my part in bringing unity, truth and hope to others.

    Liked by 9 people

    1. Thank you, Randal, excellent criticisms…and I will change the piece to reflect this better. I used absolutes I should not have. I didn’t soften it much, but I did remove the over-stated absolutes.

      Liked by 9 people

          1. As a king to rule over a people allows limited room for addressing mistaken speech, misunderstandings, or strong opinion in a timely forthright manner as may be warranted yet wide boulevards for grievances to be held instantaneously against you. To be from among the people allows wide boulevards for addressing mistaken speech, misunderstandings, or strong opinion in a forthright manner yet limited room for grievances to be instantaneously held against you. It would seem that you are graced not to be king.

            Liked by 1 person

  49. My thinking or rather feeling about Pope Francis hews pretty closely to Charlie’s. But I am not as forthright.

    For me personally Pope Francis’s greatest contribution has been the Special Jubilee Year of Mercy he declared after he discerned that the whole world was in dire need of Mercy. It was so well organized. Centered around the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He instructed the clergy to make it easy and make it available. He opened up convenient extensions of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s. He reacquainted a whole new generation with the remarkable grace of indulgence. Plenary indulgence. A sharing of the infinite Spiritual Treasury of Mercy and Redemption earned by Jesus on the cross.

    Charlie is fond of saying “God wants his kids back.” I do believe Pope Francis helped reel in a whole lot of God’s kids during that year of Mercy.

    Frankly, if it was up to me I’d keep the Year of Mercy going all the time.

    I believe Pope Francis is fundamentally a good man. Trying to do his best. His intentions are good. He has a clean conscience.

    But I also believe our good Pope is not the sharpest tool in the shed. He makes mistakes. Well intentioned mistakes. But a lot of them. See Charlie’s list. So many of them appear to be unforced errors. Especially while talking to the Press. Almost amateurish.

    Pope Francis has what I believe to be an ill-formed almost unformed world view or what might be called a hegemonic idea for revising or updating Catholic Social Doctrine and organizing society. John Paul II had one of those. He called it Solidarity.

    John Paul had a highly nuanced world view and was careful about how he expressed it. Social doctrine of the Church. Development. His world view was shaped by living most of his formative years under Nazism and Communism.

    If you study John Paul II’s conceptualization of a righteous hegemonic central idea for organizing and administering society it looks amazingly like the Communist conception. If Solidarity is not a kind of soft Communism then it comes right up to the border and tiptoes through the minefield. You can read his ideas about the Social Doctrine of the Church here Especially Paragraph 49 and subsequent.

    http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30121987_sollicitudo-rei-socialis.html

    “The Popes have not failed to throw fresh light by means of those messages upon new aspects of the social doctrine of the Church. As a result, this doctrine, beginning with the outstanding contribution of Leo XIII and enriched by the successive contributions of the Magisterium, has now become an updated doctrinal “corpus.” It builds up gradually, as the Church, in the fullness of the word revealed by Christ Jesus3 and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 14:16, 26; 16:13-15), reads events as they unfold in the course of history. She thus seeks to lead people to respond, with the support also of rational reflection and of the human sciences, to their vocation as responsible builders of earthly society.

    I wish principally to achieve two objectives of no little importance: on the one hand, to pay homage to this historic document of Paul VI and to its teaching; on the other hand, following in the footsteps of my esteemed predecessors in the See of Peter, to reaffirm the continuity of the social doctrine as well as its constant renewal. In effect, continuity and renewal are a proof of the perennial value of the teaching of the Church.

    This twofold dimension is typical of her teaching in the social sphere. On the one hand it is constant, for it remains identical in its fundamental inspiration, in its “principles of reflection,” in its “criteria of judgment,” in its basic “directives for action,”6 and above all in its vital link with the Gospel of the Lord. On the other hand, it is ever new, because it is subject to the necessary and opportune adaptations suggested by the changes in historical conditions and by the unceasing flow of the events which are the setting of the life of people and society.

    The term “development” is taken from the vocabulary of the social and economic sciences. From this point of view, the Encyclical Populorum Progressio follows directly in the line of the Encyclical Rerum Novarum, which deals with the “condition of the workers.”Considered superficially, both themes could seem extraneous to the legitimate concern of the Church seen as a religious institution – and “development” even more so than the “condition of the workers.”

    Therefore political leaders, and citizens of rich countries considered as individuals, especially if they are Christians, have the moral obligation, according to the degree of each one’s responsibility, to take into consideration, in personal decisions and decisions of government, this relationship of universality, this interdependence which exists between their conduct and the poverty and underdevelopment of so many millions of people. Pope Paul’s Encyclical translates more succinctly the moral obligation as the “duty of solidarity”; and this affirmation, even though many situations have changed in the world, has the same force and validity today as when it was written.

    This is one of the reasons why the Church’s social doctrine adopts a critical attitude towards both liberal capitalism and Marxist collectivism. For from the point of view of development the question naturally arises: in what way and to what extent are these two systems capable of changes and updatings such as to favor or promote a true and integral development of individuals and peoples in modern society? In fact, these changes and updatings are urgent and essential for the cause of a development common to all.

    Each of the two blocs harbors in its own way a tendency towards imperialism, as it is usually called, or towards forms of new- colonialism: an easy temptation to which they frequently succumb, as history, including recent history, teaches.

    At the same time, in a world divided and beset by every type of conflict, the conviction is growing of a radical interdependence and consequently of the need for a solidarity which will take up interdependence and transfer it to the moral plane. Today perhaps more than in the past, people are realizing that they are linked together by a common destiny, which is to be constructed together, if catastrophe for all is to be avoided.

    41. The Church does not have technical revolutions to offer for the problem of underdevelopment as such, as Pope Paul VI already affirmed in his Encyclical.69 For the Church does not propose economic and political systems or programs, nor does she show preference for one or the other, provided that human dignity is properly respected and promoted, and provided she herself is allowed the room she needs to exercise her ministry in the world.

    The Church’s social doctrine is not a “third way” between liberal capitalism and Marxist collectivism, nor even a possible alternative to other solutions less radically opposed to one another: rather, it constitutes a category of its own. Nor is it an ideology, but rather the accurate formulation of the results of a careful reflection on the complex realities of human existence, in society and in the international order, in the light of faith and of the Church’s tradition. Its main aim is to interpret these realities, determining their conformity with or divergence from the lines of the Gospel teaching on man and his vocation, a vocation which is at once earthly and transcendent; its aim is thus to guide Christian behavior. It therefore belongs to the field, not of ideology, but of theology and particularly of moral theology.

    The teaching and spreading of her social doctrine are part of the Church’s evangelizing mission. And since it is a doctrine aimed at guiding people’s behavior, it consequently gives rise to a “commitment to justice,” according to each individual’s role, vocation and circumstances.”

    John Paul II

    Nuanced. Comprehensive. Global. Inspiring. Teaching. Not Mandating. Aimed at guiding people’s behavior.

    John Paul II walked the line. Brilliantly and with deftness and with huge intellect and analytical ability.
    John Paul was not looking to confront or condemn but to illuminate and energize disciples.

    I was always suspicious of Solidarity. It was said of John Paul II that it wasn’t Communism that he opposed. It was the Communists.

    Nevertheless, Solidarity was a well formed and complete hegemonic argument for Catholic Social Doctrine and organizing and administering the world and its goods.

    Contrast John Paul II with Pope Francis. Do you think Francis has any nuance at all? His world view arises from his formative years in Argentina. Francis might fairly be called a Peronist in his views with respect to social doctrine and organizing society. by reason of his words and actions.

    https://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/What-is-Peronism-20141111-0014.html

    “It is an idea founded on Christian social values that has three basic principles: social justice, political sovereignty and economic independence. To do this Peron said his movement was in a “third position” which counterposed itself equally to capitalism and communism. He also aimed to create a social model of an organized community with direct state intervention to mediate between labor and capital. Although not the same as a traditional Scandinavian welfare state, the model has similarities in its mixed economy and a central role for Unions.

    In a speech in the Congress in 1948, Peron himself said, “Peronism is humanism in action; Peronism is a new political doctrine, which rejects all the ills of the politics of previous times; in the social sphere it is a theory which establishes a little equality among men… capitalist exploitation should be replaced by a doctrine of social economy under which the distribution of our wealth, which we force the earth to yield up to us and which furthermore we are elaborating, may be shared out fairly among all those who have contributed by their efforts to amass it.”

    Indeed, over time it has been an odd mix of socialism, liberalism and populism Peron himself, and therefore the movement became a symbol of and a champion of what he called the “shirtless ones,” (descamisados) appealing to the dispossessed, labor, youth and the poor.

    Peronism accepts that the state should coordinate society for the common good and that it can do this without serving class interests.

    Peron, and Peronism is hostile to many of the tenets of classic liberalism, although at times concedes such as considering that democratic and republican institutions are the only ones that can guarantee freedom and happiness for the people, and a political opposition is admitted as necessary.

    But Peron was also hostile to Marxism, thinking that “forced collectivism” robs individuals of their personality, even though he garnered many supporters from the communist left during the seventies thinking that he, and his ideology would be the only way for Argentina to implement a communist state. Yet Peron thought that class conflict could be transcended by a social collaboration mediated by the state.”

    This is an odd social doctrine. From my point of view highly authoritarian almost fascist. Champion of the shirtless ones. I see a lot of Pope Francis in this description. Take executive action to advance the interests of the poor. Put your thumb down on political means to achieve moral ends.

    I think a big problem we are grappling with in the Church is politics bleeding into moral theology.

    John Paul II was nuanced enough to just come up to the line of political meddling and advancing Catholic Social Doctrine which he summarized quite comprehensively as Solidarity.

    Francis has no such nuance and no such balance. He is pushing Catholic Social Doctrine as a solution to political problems. Bleeding over the line. In the Peronist mode. Blunt. Very blunt.
    Well intentioned. Champion of the shirtless ones. Lousy process.

    Charlie has spent a few years now —as he says— defending Pope Francis as not meaning what he says. Misquoted. Taken out of context. But Francis’ actions and inactions defines him more than his verbal miscues. I feel very much the same about our Pope.

    My concern with Pope Francis really began with his Sept 2015 visit to America and specifically his address to Congress. Many of us sat transfixed as our Pope came to talk to our Congress. I had high hopes for that speech. I was disheartened with what I heard that day.

    To cut to the chase Pope Francis had nothing to say to me that day. He was championing the shirtless ones. There is one little nod to the “workers” of America in that speech. About 1 sentence.

    I believe Francis has a blind spot about what America is all about. A suspicion. A certain contempt about Capitalism and American bankers and what they did to his Argentina. He doesn’t get us. He doesn’t see the American model as Exceptional or fair, or even moral. It doesn’t work …. we don’t work … in his concept of a moral social doctrine. He is not odd. We are odd.

    Note in the speech linked below that Pope Francis’ lauded America for producing Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day. He had to stretch for those symbols of American greatness.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/transcript-pope-franciss-speech-to-congress/2015/09/24/6d7d7ac8-62bf-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html?utm_term=.03ff40fc938d

    Note one other thing about this speech to America and Congress.

    He never mentioned the words Jesus Christ once.

    I think Pope Francis can learn on the job. I pray he does. We need him to. We need him to develop some of John Paul II’s nuance. To learn how to bring Catholic Social Doctrine up to the border that needs to be respected between moral theology and telling the world how to run itself. Or ordering the behavior of Catholic individuals in the world. Without advance warning or instruction or inspiration but mere Papal Authority.

    He might start by organizing and presenting a clear, comprehensive explanation of his Catholic Social Doctrine hegemonic proposal. He could call it Solidarity II if he wants. But in the meantime he should go slow on changing up the Catechism until we are all educated on just what his game plan is.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Excellent analysis, S.T. Ed. I see clearly the differences in points of view between the saint Pope and the one who, when first elected, called himself a “sinner.”

      If I may divert into a siding from this main track of thought, I would like to offer this for everyone’s prayers and contemplation: In the “Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum, included in the prologue of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pope Saint John Paul II writes this,

      “Therefore, I ask all the Church’s Pastors and the Christian faithful to receive this catechism in a spirit of communion and to use it assiduously in fulfilling their mission of proclaiming the faith and calling people to the Gospel life. This catechism is given to them that it may be a sure and authentic REFERENCE TEXT (emphasis added) for teaching Catholic doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms…

      This catechism is not intended to replace the local catechisms duly approved by the ecclesiastical authorities, the Diocesan Bishops and the Episcopal Conferences, especially if they have been approved by the Apostolic See. It is MEANT TO ENCOURAGE AND ASSIST IN THE WRITING OF NEW LOCAL CATECHISMS, WHICH TAKE INTO ACCOUNT VARIOUS SITUATIONS AND CULTURES, WHILE CAREFULLY PRESERVING THE UNITY OF FAITH AND FIDELITY TO CATHOLIC DOCTRINE. (

      Liked by 2 people

      1. (Emphasis added again)

        Obviously, we wish to adhere to a strict reading of the CCC when we catechists pass on and teach the Catholic faith. But we should not, and I am guilty of this, consider the CCC to be on the same par as Holy Scripture or Holy Tradition. It is, above all, a reference text which, it appears, there is room for various interpretations following local customs and traditions.

        Surely in America, we are conscious of the great tradition of being American and the beautiful symbols of our country such as the flag and the national anthem and national mottos, et al. The Constitution was practically “divinized” after it was adopted and now has become the standard for writing her laws which guide her people to the ends it proposes in its preamble, “the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

        But to my way of thinking, the CCC is also a symbol of our Catholic Church. Its ends, as Pope St. John Paul clearly states, is to use as a reference and a guide. It should never be “divinized” and held to be as indispensible as Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. Above all, the Pope pointed out that Jesus is the Supreme Teacher but the CCC is not His primer; Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture aid us in following HIM WHO is the way, the truth and the Life. Jesus Himself is the primer.

        So maybe this concern of the CCC being changed is not as dire a situation as we might imagine it to be. Just food for thought… Peace and blessings to all who remain here.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. I appreciate your thinking of these things, Marisa. I read you sincerely searching for meaning here. At the same time, great caution is needed, I think. The CCC is loaded with quotes from the Bible, Teaching Magisterium, and/or Tradition. Anything defined cannot be altered or interpreted. It is to be followed and respected. Parts that only quote opinions of theologians is to also be respected. Also true is the reality that the CCC IS an official document of the Church, approved by the Holy Father. We must be careful to not downplay this.

          Liked by 2 people

      2. This is a noteworthy quote, Marisa. Thank you for sharing it. What most catches my eye is Pope St. John Paul II’s two qualifiers concerning the local catechisms approved by the Bishop and Episcopal Conferences: “… especially if they have been approved by the Apostolic See.” AND “… while carefully preserving the unity of faith and fidelity to Catholic Doctrine.” An abundance of well-schooled, well-trained, and well-read spiritual writers are giving their reasoned views which reflect the concern that Pope Francis inserted the new text concerning capital punishment into the CCC without the usual dialogue which precedes such a change. On January 29, 2016, the Pope addressed members of the Doctrine of the Faith:

        “Diversity in the Catholic Church springs from its reality as a communion of different people with different gifts, and a collegial approach to facing challenges ensures that those differences strengthen communion rather than harm it, Pope Francis told members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

        ‘On all levels of church life, a correct synodality must be promoted,’ the pope said Jan. 29, referring to a process of discernment and decision making based on listening with respect to differing opinions and experiences and discussing them in an atmosphere of prayer.”

        Lots to ponder and pray about.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Yes, absolutely, Beckita. I had wanted my tone to be more cautionary than flippant as if I were intending to say, Oh well, never mind, it’s not binding anyway.” But sincerely searching out the reason that the Catechism was created and promulgated, I remembered how happy I was when it first came out, after having read so many different catechisms that just got it – well – wrong. And then there was the stupid delay while the ICEL got their hands on it for translation. To this day, I still use the Baltimore as a “supplemental” resource because I have never seen a regional catechism get so many things right. Of course, you have to smile and explain away the old drawings in the BC and examples “this store has bad magazines” and even the depictions of the Mass ad orientam. Maybe one day, I will write a catechism. LOL

          Anyway, like so many, I was aghast at how quickly Pope Francis inserted his changes when even Pope St. John Paul the Great did not have the arrogance to act in such a way without intense and varied collaboration. He remarks that the CCC was a long time in the making – 30 years, in fact – since the end of the Second Vatican Council. Perhaps he will still listen to reason but, as Charlie has remarked, we can only judge him on his actions, not his intentions.

          May St. Dominic bless us all today as we ponder. I am missing my 4 Dominican priest friends from my time in Houston at Holy Rosary Parish. May the good Saviour enjoy some time with His Dominicans today, along with Our Lady, to whom they all dedicate their ministry.

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  50. I was pleased to read this post Charlie — “I have spent way too much time over the last few years explaining why Pope Francis doesn’t mean what he often says. I am done with that.”

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    1. My feelings too, Eric, for a good while now.

      I love Pope Francis.
      And I LOVED the Year of Mercy he instituted.
      I pray for him every day from my heart,
      And I pray for him especially to Our Lady
      for she asked me to;

      But I am tired:
      …of reading stories about baffling statements,
      …of teachings that contradict,
      …of making excuses that it was just a bad translation,
      or that the Godless media twisted his words;

      I am tired:
      …of trying to explain to my Protestant friends what he really intended,
      …or shrugging my shoulders in silence,
      …or simply saying he’s human and would you please pray for him,

      I’m tired of this, and the division and fighting.
      He has put me in a strange place,
      And I really don’t want to be here right now.

      So, sadly,
      …when new stories surface, good or bad, I ignore them,
      …when some weird quote appears, I turn away,
      …when he speaks, I am not there to listen,
      which is sad because he has some wonderful sermons.

      I love Pope Francis, and I believe he loves me too.
      He was chosen by God Almighty to serve our beloved Mother Church,
      And I pray for him every day.

      Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

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Published by charliej373

Charlie Johnston is a former newspaper editor, radio talk show host and political consultant. From Feb. 11, 2011 to Aug. 21, 2012, he walked 3,200 miles across the country, sleeping in the woods, meeting people and praying as he went. He writes on cultural, global and political issues from an orthodox Catholic perspective. He emphasizes that we find God most surely through the ordinary, doing the little things we should with faith and fidelity. His constant refrain is that, to live real joy, we must acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope to those around us. He lives in the Archdiocese of Denver in the United States.