Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 3/18/23

Posted on by Tom

The big news this past week was that the 2019-2023 German Catholic Synodale Weg (Synodal Path), a reform initiative by progressive German RC clerics and laypersons, came to an end. At last week’s final meeting, the participating bishops approved the blessing of same-sex unions, the normalisation of lay people preaching, a guideline of “concrete improvements for intersex and transgender faithful,” and requests to reexamine the Catholic church’s stance on clerical celibacy and on women’s ordination. Liberal RC priests all over the world have already been blessing S&G weddings on the Q.T., including here in the USA. Pope Francis has been keeping a close eye on the Synodale Weg. While he is favorable towards some of the reforms, he must also keep the lid on conservative schism. Missing in this ideological tug-of-war is the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

The conservative Catholic website, The Pillar, broke the news in August 2021 that many RC priests were using the S&G hookup app, Grindr. Notable Catholic sociologist, Richard Sipe, estimated that 30-40% of RC priests were S&G-ites.

I had assumed, as did many others, that pope Francis was going to lift the mandatory celibacy rule for newly-ordained priests in the Amazon region at the 2019 Vatican Amazon Synod, but that didn’t happen. However, Bergoglio is inching closer and closer. Read the Book of Hebrews. The sacerdotal priesthood and ongoing sacrifice for sin were eliminated by Jesus Christ.

Pope John Paul II approved the 1992 RC Catechism, which states that “homosexual acts (are) acts of grave depravity…(and are) intrinsically disordered” – CCC 2357. Pope Francis and his point man, Jesuit James Martin, have been chipping away at the RCC’s reluctance to embrace practicing S&G-ites. Perhaps Francis’ successor will be more amenable to transgenderism?

Yes, Francis has been greasing the skids towards lifting the ban on non-abortifacient contraceptives.

Evangelicals readily reference the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Watchtower Society as false churches. There are 17 million and 9 million members in those two institutions respectively, totaling 26 million souls. That total number is only 2% of the 1.4 billion souls who follow Rome’s false gospel. Why is evangelicalism so focused on the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, but not on the multitudes of lost souls in RC-ism with its false gospel?

There was speculation several months ago, but this past Monday the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, California made it official by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The diocese of Albany, New York then filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday. The two dioceses became the 28th and 29th U.S. dioceses respectively to file for bankruptcy since 2004. Catholic dioceses use bankruptcy to shield assets from survivors of priest sexual abuse and cover-up. The Albany diocese’ bankruptcy amounts to a “quadfecta of corruption” spanning from one end of the New York State Thruway to the other. The dioceses of Upstate New York’s four largest cities – Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany – have all declared bankruptcy because of priest abuse.

44 thoughts on “Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 3/18/23”

  2. This is an important question: “Why is evangelicalism so focused on the LDS and Watchtower Society, but not on the lost souls in RC-ism with its false gospel?”

    You have looked at it a lot. What is your insight?

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Thanks for the question, Michael. Following the Second Vatican Council, there was a great hope among evangelical theologians that the RCC was shifting towards a more Biblically-based theology. Despite the window dressing changes, that never happened, but the match was lit and evangelicalism’s accommodation of RC-ism has been steadily growing (despite the RCC’s unabashed and unapologetic propagation of its works-righteousness gospel and its advancement of religious universalism). Feeding all of this was the “ecumenism of the trenches,” i.e., the perceived shared battle against growing secularism causing politically-minded evangelicals to ignore doctrinal differences and embrace Catholics as political and spiritual allies.

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      1. A big part of this is that in many Protestant churches RCC is just seen as another “denomination”. I didn’t learn the true differences until I was in college at an Evangelical university and even then until I dug deeper into a forum for Christian moms I still didn’t understand fully just how unbiblical the RCC was. Your posts have always been so informative in helping me understand even better.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Thank you, Katherine! Roman Catholic and Gospel Christianity soteriologies are diametrically opposed, yet there is tremendous pressure to accept Catholics as Christians. The WordPress Christian blogging community is generally not open to critical examinations of RC-ism. There’s a good degree of peer pressure to concede to the ecumenical paradigm.
        Thank you for your encouragement and support.

        Liked by 3 people

      4. You’re welcome, Michael. I appreciate the question. Summing up 60 years of ecumenism in a few sentences was an interesting challenge for my Saturday morning! 🧐

        Liked by 1 person

      1. This is a totally unrelated question to this post. Do you know when Catholics started crossing themselves, would it have been even earlier than the start of the Catholic Church? I am reading Athanasius and he talks about “the sign of the cross” and that led me to wonder about Catholics crossing themselves today. I know you’re busy so if you don’t have time to answer this no problem, just thought I’d ask!!!!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Mandy, your questions are always welcome. I just so happened to write a post about the “sign of the cross” a couple of years ago, link below.
        RE: start of the RCC
        We can’t put a precise date on it. We see error creeping in with the fathers, which is no surprise seeing as Paul recorded false teachers and teachings entering into the church during his ministry. Of course the institutionalization of the church beginning with Constantine opened the flood gates to clericalism and sacramentalism.

        https://excatholic4christ.wordpress.com/2021/02/22/roman-catholics-and-the-sign-of-the-cross/

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I checked the front door per your prompt and, yup, there was the package! Thank you very much, Mandy! I appreciate your generosity. I finished a very tedious book about American Polonia this morning so I’ll be able to start on one of these two tonight or tomorrow.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. One wonders what it will take for some to see the errors of Rome’s ways, not to mention, some of our own. Lost sheep needing our Shepherd sometimes seems like an understatement. I marvel at God’s patience. Blessings.

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    1. Thanks, Bruce. There’s so much error “out there” today. Pastors and other church leaders have really been negligent in warning the sheep. Truth be told, many have embraced the errors.
      Blessings to you.

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  5. So much of this Roundup is about wayward sexual opinions and practices that are clearly dealt with in the Bible. The continuing saga doesn’t appear to be waning in the least.

    In the middle of this I think you have raised a very good question:

    “Why is evangelicalism so focused on the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, but not on the multitudes of lost souls in RC-ism with its false gospel?”

    It is a very good question. Before the Mormons and JWs ever existed, there were preachers who saw things as they were and pulled no punches. I think of Charles Spurgeon in particular. I have no idea why there is not more discussion on why the RCC is NOT just another mainline Christian denomination.

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    1. Thanks, Chris. This S&G issue has the real potential of splitting the RCC as it did the United Methodists. Of course, we also see the steamroller making inroads into evangelicalism via the likes of Andy Stanley.
      In response to my comments about the LDS and JWs, another blogger asked me why evangelicalism took the wrong course regarding the RCC. I answered Following the Second Vatican Council, there was a great hope among evangelical theologians that the RCC was shifting towards a more Biblically-based theology. Despite the window dressing changes, that never happened, but the match was lit and evangelicalism’s accommodation of RC-ism has been steadily growing (despite the RCC’s unabashed and unapologetic propagation of its works-righteousness gospel and its advancement of religious universalism). Feeding all of this was the “ecumenism of the trenches,” i.e., the perceived shared battle against growing secularism causing politically-minded evangelicals to ignore doctrinal differences and embrace Catholics as political and spiritual allies.
      Yes, pastors of previous generations like Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones spoke the truth about the RCC with no apologies. But that is a religious no-no in this ecumenical era.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. You’re welcome, Tom, and thank you for the explanation on growing ecumenism. I wonder what a split in the RCC would look like. That would be one major event but it probably would make no difference when it comes to any of them embracing the Biblical gospel. It certainly doesn’t help that so many churches are in the same place that Andy Stanley’s is. When believing Christians find it difficult to find a good church, where are the ex-catholics supposed to go?

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Schism within the RCC is difficult because one of the most cherished RC tenets is absolute fealty to the pope. Even though conservative RC prelates dislike pope Francis, some of them intensely, there’s no leadership faction for conservatives to rally around. That reminds me that Pope Francis strategically dismissed several prominent conservative prelates from influential Vatican positions during the course of his papacy.
        RE: where are the ex-catholics supposed to go?
        Yup, as I expressed in my “church search” posts back in January, it’s very difficult to find a Gospel-preaching, non-ecumenical church up here in the anti-Bible Belt.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Thanks for sharing, Tom. I can imagine that absolute fealty to the pope is wearing thin among many in the conservative ranks. Not having another option certainly must be frustrating. I would think one possibility would be the several bishops joining hands to offset liberal theology. In any case, they would just be creating another group with the same false gospel message. It is a mess either way it pans out.
        I’m glad you have been able to find a good Church. Imagine ex-Catholics without the knowledge that you have trying to sort it all out. Yikes!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Thanks, Chris. There’s a handful of conservative cardinals who have publicly criticized Francis’ reforms in the past (and were subsequently demoted from influential Vatican offices as I’ve mentioned) and two have just spoken out against the German bishops’ go-ahead for German priests to bless same-sex “marriages.” I’ll be referencing this reaction in the next roundup. It will be interesting to see how Francis reacts. This controversy has the potential to ramp up quickly, especially with bishops in the US where the majority are conservative.
        RE: finding a good church
        Thank you! We are so blessed after five years of attending two disappointing churches and then no church for almost three years because of COVID and me working weekends. My wife was of a mind to never attend church again, but she absolutely loves our new church.
        RE: Ex-Catholics
        The support and discipleship for ex-Catholic believers is a nightmare these days because so many evangelical pastors are saying the RCC teaches the genuine Gospel. There’s so much confusion, disappointment, frustration, and misinformation out there. The Lord led me to many solid resources about the RCC after I was saved forty years ago, so I was able to firmly resist going along with the ecumenical flow, but those resources are fewer and farther between these days.

        Like

      5. It would be very interesting to watch what happens if this controversy does ramp up quickly. Perhaps there would be a positive effect of Catholics reevaluating their beliefs.

        The nightmare of “confusion, disappointment, frustration, and misinformation out there” among ex-Catholics is very unfortunate. I can only hope that, if there is some sort of mass exodus from the Catholic church, seekers would find good churches like the one you and your wife have found.

        I’m so glad to hear that your new church continues to be a pleasant relief after the bad experiences you’ve had.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Thanks, Chris! We now look forward to Sundays and church!
        I imagine the RCC will withstand the current conservative-liberal tug-of-war. I tend to dwell on the controversial news while the average Catholic in the pew has little idea of the ideological jousting that goes on among clerics and voiced by angry rad trad YouTubers. But this split over S&G has great potential to grow.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. When I was brought out of the practice of RC by the Lord I was shocked how many “evangelicals “ see the RC as just another denomination! Many don’t want to talk about the RCC errors in fear that they are being “judgemental”! 😳

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    1. I hear you, Beth. I was shocked as well after I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior in 1983 and immediately observed that many evangelicals viewed the RCC as Christian. Of course it’s gotten even worse since then. Yes, in all types of situations (including here at WordPress) critiques of the RCC are generally not well-received by evangelicals.

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  8. 1. ” Missing in this ideological tug-of-war is the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.”
    Right its what Van Til call an inside tribe’s squabbling among the family of unbelievers.

    2. “Notable Catholic sociologist, Richard Sipe, estimated that 30-40% of RC priests were S&G-ites.”
    yikes that’s a lot.

    3. Seems that number of RC being alpabet soup has a correlation with catholic Priests’ abuses. Sick.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks for the comments!
      RE: Van Til call an inside tribe’s squabbling among the family of unbelievers.
      Yes, that’s appropriate.
      RE: 30-40% of RC priests were S&G
      Yup, that’s a startling statistic
      RE: Correlation between high S&G percentage and abuse
      There’s definitely a strong correlation but of course it’s socially incorrect to point it out. I’ve read that 80% of the abused children were male.

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. “Why is evangelicalism so focused on the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, but not on the multitudes of lost souls in RC-ism with its false gospel?” I’ve asked the very same question.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Evangelicalism’s dalliance with RC-ism is spiritual blindness of immense proportions. No explaining the irrational illogic and betrayal of the Gospel except for demonic influence.

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    2. What I keep learning over and over is how so much of the heresy we have is just repackaged throughout time. The more I learn about the ancient church the more I am thankful for the true Gospel and for people like yourselves who expose the false gospel and institution of Romanism. Blessings Cathy and Tom!!!!

      Liked by 2 people

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    1. Pillar outed the General Secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for using Grindr and said it had many more names of priests using the app.

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  11. “What the Bible says is no longer popular, so let’s change it!” ~ Catholics.
    But in all seriousness, that’s what I think when I see these types of news. And it’s not good for them, and it’s not good for their followers, because they’re following a false doctrine, imho.

    Liked by 1 person

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