Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 9/14/19

• Rochester Catholic diocese, facing flood of sex-abuse claims, files for bankruptcy protection
• Rochester Catholics Claim Diocese Bankruptcy Filing Will Not Shake Their Faith

Due to the mounting lawsuits filed by former victims of priest sexual abuse, the Catholic diocese of Rochester, N.Y. (where I live) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past Thursday. Fifty-nine claims have been filed in Rochester in the last month under the state’s 2019 Child Victim Act and another 100-200 are expected before the legal window closes in August 2020. The Rochester diocese is using bankruptcy protection to shield its financial assets from survivors of priest abuse. To date, nineteen other U.S. Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy protection because of priest sexual abuse. Expect many more to follow. Roman Catholicism is absolutely corrupt on multiple levels including its apostate false gospel of salvation by sacramental grace and merit.

• Pope Francis in Africa: Is the continent the Catholic Church’s (last) great hope?

As members fall away elsewhere, the Catholic church is growing in Africa. As this article explains, unwitting new African converts are attracted to the church’s social welfare programs.

• On conservative American Catholic critics, pope Francis says he doesn’t want a schism but he’s not afraid of it

On his plane trip to Africa two weeks ago, pope Francis stated that he felt “honored” to be “attacked” by conservative American Catholics. On his return trip to the Vatican this past week, the pope remarked that while he doesn’t desire that church conservatives break away into schism, he’s not fearful of that increasingly possible development. Wow! We live in extraordinary times with the progressive pope addressing the growing rebellion against him, including the possibility of schism.

• EWTN host defends American Catholics against pope’s accusatory remark: They love the Church

This past week, conservative Catholics reacted to pope Francis’ remark that he felt “honored” to be “attacked” by them. Next weekend, we’ll see how they react to Francis’ broaching the subject of the potential schism of conservative Catholics.

• Buffalo Catholics poured their hearts out to bishop Malone. He blocked their emails.
• EDITORIAL: Buffalo Catholic diocese needs a new leader

What must it take for pope Francis to fire the Catholic bishop of nearby Buffalo who was outed eleven-months ago on national television as a serial abuse-enabler? Francis talks about reform, but the foxes in the henhouse still watch out for their fellow foxes.

• Weeping Virgin Mary statue is ‘sign of miracle’, worshipers claim

There have been statues and paintings of Mary allegedly weeping for centuries. This one occurred in a Greek Orthodox church. These phenomena are either outright frauds, the result of natural causes, or manifestations of demonic activity. Thanks to our sister at “I Once Was Lost” for the heads up!

• Can Catholics use or wear crystals for healing?

This article from a Catholic media source discourages the use of crystals, but the church’s sacramentals (medals, statues, holy water, and other jujus) and Catholic mysticism predispose the membership to dabble in New Age practices.

• Least Masculine Society In Human History Decides Masculinity Is A Growing Threat (SATIRE)

Man-buns and girly spandex skinny jeans on men are de rigueur at hipster mega-churches. Well, okay, man-buns are yesterday’s news and have been replaced by one-hundred-dollar swag haircut$.