Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 7/21/18

• Scientists Debunk Blood Of Jesus Found On The Shroud Of Turin

The Catholic church loves its relics and few have been as celebrated and publicized as the Shroud of Turin. Despite the proof that it’s a 14th century forgery, credulous Catholics will still flock to it and continue to put their faith in their works-righteousness institution with its emphasis on religious objects and ritualism rather than trusting in Jesus Christ as their Savior by faith alone.

• Monument commemorates priest and nun killed in 1967 St. Philip Neri Church fire
• City aims to ban conversion therapy in Rochester
• Myra Brown assumes senior pastor role at Spiritus Christi
• Clergy sex abuse revelations stun, anger Catholics in Buffalo

There was a glut of local news stories this week, including coverage of a memorial to a priest and nun who tragically died in a church fire trying to rescue consecrated Jesus wafers (see my related post here); news that Rochester will join the “inclusive” band wagon and outlaw gay conversion therapy; an update on one of the first, big breakaway Catholic groups in the city that ordains women as priests and “affirms” everyone; and the angry reaction from Catholics in nearby Buffalo as they come face-to-face with the pedophile priests and cover-up scandal in their community

• Papal confidantes rue prosperity gospel, distorted ‘American dream’

I’m certainly not a fan of the prosperity gospelers, but I find it gallingly hypocritical for the Vatican to take pot shots at the Osteens, Copelands, Myers, and Dollars when Catholic prelates have been living like kings and princes for 1500 years.

• Netflix to Air Controversial TV Series ‘American Jesus’ About 12-Y-O Boy Reincarnated as Jesus Christ

Jesus reincarnated? This new show is no surprise given the rising popularity of neo-Hinduism in the West.

• Pope personally thanks Portuguese cardinal for Amoris guidelines

The raging controversy over Francis’ lifting of the ban on communion for remarried divorcees in his “Amoris Laetitia” document has run out of steam if the number of news articles are any gauge. Conservatives continue to wring their hands, but have been steam-rolled because they lack the fortitude to mount any kind of meaningful opposition. In the meantime, liberal bishops are busy implementing the new guidelines.

• Humanae Vitae’s ban on contraception causes suffering
• Pope will fall into ‘huge heresy’ if he approves contraception, says noted philosopher

This year marks the 50th anniversary of pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae encyclical, which banned all forms of birth control, even non-abortifacient contraceptives. Result? The church hierarchy lost a massive amount of credibility in the eyes of its membership, the vast majority of which have defiantly used or are using birth control. Pope Francis and his progressive allies would love to reform the church’s teaching on contraceptives, but it’s a question of how and when. It would not be surprising to see the church’s teaching overturned via a guileful, semi-ambiguous method, as Francis did by lifting the ban on communion for remarried divorcees in a footnote in his Amoris Laetitia encyclical.

• Is Jack Chick Running the Catholic Church?

Fundamentalist publisher, Jack Chick, hatched some absolutely outrageous conspiracy theories involving the Vatican and the Jesuits and ultimately helped to undermine credible Gospel witness to Roman Catholics. A couple of times, I’ve commented that Chick, in his wildest dreams, could not have come up with a papacy like that of Francis, which has created so much Sturm und Drang within Catholicism. I’m definitely not a fan of TBN huckster and ecumenist par excellence, James Robison, but I got a chuckle when I saw this article (written by a Catholic) in Robison’s virtual news rag, which makes the same observation.