YES, I ACTUALLY THINK HE IS THE POPE

By Tim Rohr

For about a decade now, opposition to Pope Francis has been growing ever louder, and not just from "rigid" (the pope's favorite derogatory adjective) traditionalists, but from a growing number of so-called "moderates" (I'd call them "lukewarm"), and even liberal Catholics who fear the pope is going too far too fast.

Story on the pic 

For those who would like a crash course in what is going on, see Frenchie's recent post ON THE SYNOD ON SYNODALITY, and/or see "Cardinal Burke drops bombshell on Synod of ‘ideology’ and ‘schism’" (the article contains a link to a free pdf book titled “The Synodal Process is a Pandora’s Box."

I don't claim to be any sort of visionary, but I began saying the same ten years ago when this Argentine cardinal presented himself, after election as Supreme Pontiff, upon the loggia high above St. Peter's Square in 2013. 

Why I immediately thought there was trouble ahead is a post for another day, but to summarize, the "pope of mercy" has been anything but merciful, and the "pope of humility" has been anything but humble, and the pope has been...well, anything but pope. (In fact, he insists on only being a bishop - the bishop of Rome.)

True, we've had troublesome pontiffs before. In fact, we've had some really bad dudes, particularly in what came to be called the "Iron Age of the Papacy." But usually these guys were too busy killing each other or conniving on how to harbor ever more power and mistresses to have time to propagate profound doctrinal error - something the present pontiff appears to have both time and the will to do.

All of the foregoing is to preface the following. 

Naturally, there are alarmists, some of whom are ordained. Recently a certain U.S. priest, already a known "alarmist," posted a "gloves-off" YouTube attack upon the Francis Papacy, even going so far as to suggest - or even declare - that Francis ("Bergoglio" - his pre-pope last name - and as his detractors call him) is not the pope.

As I am semi-known as a lighting rod for controversial Catholic issues, I received several emails and messages linking to this latest alarmist attack. 

I am quite sure that the senders did not expect my reply - which I will copy below, however, most replied with "good point." Here is my reply to the attack on Francis:

Yes. I actually think he is the pope in the same way God gave Israel corrupt kings as punishment for their worshiping other gods. Catholics have been worshiping other gods for quite a while, e.g. majority of Catholics voting for Obama and Biden. So God said, “okay, here you go, here’s Francis.” Rather than harangue on the pope, priests like (name redacted) should be telling Catholics to pray, fast, and get off birth control.

I don't know about the rest of the Catholic world, but for the U.S. to abort 4,000 babies a day post-Roe, and for U.S. Catholics - which comprise the largest single voting bloc (25%) - to consistently support pro-abortion presidential candidates, well there's little to complain about when it comes to Francis. 

And to bring it home, again, for Guam, perhaps the most Catholic place in the world per capita: to be, for three decades, post-Roe, the easiest place in the nation to procure an abortion - and even now, post-Dobbs, the only place in the nation where "Roe continues to have vitality"... well, we hardly need some synod (or "sin-odd" as I like to spell it) to screw things up further. 

God doesn't condemn anyone to Hell. He just lets us have our way.

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Meanwhile, and soon, there is this:

ABORTION BILLS ON THE LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR