Weekend Roundup – News and Views – 11/26/16

I hope everyone has recovered from their turkey hangovers at this point as we take a look back at the news of the last seven days.

• Pope closes Roman Catholic ‘Holy Year’ marked by lights and shadows

Now that the “holy doors” are closed, Roman Catholics will have to get their “plenary indulgences for temporal punishment in purgatory” elsewhere. If that all seems like a bunch of unintelligible religious gobbledygook to you, see here.

• Archdiocese Appealing Archbishop Sheen Ruling

A few days ago, I mentioned that a New York court recently ruled that the remains of television celebrity, bishop Fulton Sheen, could be moved from New York to Peoria, IL (see here), but cardinal Dolan of New York City is still fighting to keep the future saint’s body at Saint Patrick’s cathedral. To those unfamiliar with Catholic turf wars, this must seem like really strange stuff.

• Bishop says four cardinals’ letter could provoke schism
• Catholics everywhere should be grateful for the four cardinals’ appeal
• The American Who Would Impeach Pope Francis, if Only He Could
• The four cardinals and their five doubts
• Top Vatican Cardinal: Not Even A Pope Can Change Divine Law on Communion
• Pope Francis puts his enemies not on the rack, but the couch

This historic stand-off between the four conservative cardinals (and the many others they represent) and Francis continues. The daily Catholic talk radio show I listen to has understandably avoided this controversy because it certainly doesn’t reflect well on the myth of Catholics marching in lockstep behind their infallible pope.

• 50 Reasons Why Martin Luther Was Excommunicated

I’m in agreement with Luther on most of the 50 items as they’re stated here but I never received my formal excommunication even though I requested it.

• Pope Francis extends Catholic priests’ power to forgive abortion
• Pope Francis Just Changed Church Law On Forgiving Abortion
• The Pope’s abortion comments have provoked confusion

Priests in the US and some other countries are already able to forgive women who have had abortions but that ability has now been conferred to priests throughout the world. If it seems very strange to you that some priests allegedly have powers that others don’t based on national borders, see my earlier thoughts on the topic here.

• Catholics Did It First: The first Thanksgiving was not at Plymouth Rock, but at St. Augustine among Catholic explorers

“Yes, I’ll eat your Protestant turkey but I’m eating it under protest!” Relax and just go with the flow, my Catholic friend. The traditionalist Catholic writer of this article reminds me of Nikita Khrushchev insisting that the Russians invented everything.

• Threat of hell is real for not being faithful to God, pope says

Since no one is perfect, exactly how “faithful” does one have to be to merit Heaven? I’m so grateful the Holy Spirit revealed my sinfulness to me and the Good News! of salvation by God’s grace through simple faith in Jesus Christ alone. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and run from institutional religion.

• Is Pope Francis the last pope before Armageddon?

St. Malachy’s infamous “Prophecy of the Popes” turned out to be a forgery and is completely bogus.

• Joel Osteen’s Bible Makes Daring Escape From Abusive Owner

There’s no doubt that Osteen’s Bible suffers from neglect. Major portions  – those dealing with any and all hardship and persecution – are apparently never read.

• Close Encounters With Anti-Catholic Street Preachers

Everyone who reaches out to Catholics with the Gospel is labeled “anti-Catholic” and in this era of tolerance and plurality nobody likes an “anti” anything.

• Rabid anti-Catholic views of late pamphleteer kept him marginalized

More criticism of the late hyper-fundamentalist, Jack Chick, this time from a Catholic perspective. Unfortunately, Chick’s irresponsible worldwide Jesuit conspiracy theories smirched credible Christian outreach to Roman Catholics.

• Why does Connecticut lead the nation in disaffected Catholics?

Connecticut turns out to be a leading indicator of the general decline of Catholicism in the U.S.

• Cardinal Sarah’s pastoral call to “turn to the Lord”

Catholicism occupies itself with such minutiae as which way the priest should be facing during mass while they deny the Good News! of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

• Catholic Church Apologizes for Role in Rwandan Genocide

The Catholic church partnered with repressive and murderous political regimes in Europe, Latin America, and Africa right up into the 20th century in the effort to discourage and eliminate Protestant “heresy.”

• Mixtec Evangelicals

Speaking of Catholic persecution, this article refers to a new book written about the ongoing Catholic persecution of evangelicals in Southern Mexico, which I’ve been posting about for over a year.

• Distinguishing between disagreement and bigotry

Well, isn’t this refreshing! Here’s a Roman Catholic who admits some of the prejudice against Catholics in the U.S. was a reaction to Catholic intolerance elsewhere. Objective assessments like this one are hard to find.

• 10 Stormy Days for Protestantism

The Protestant mission of returning the church to the simple, saving Gospel had its challenges. Here’s an interesting history lesson.