Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 1/27/24

• Pope Francis: ‘I like to think of hell as empty’

At the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the Roman Catholic church officially adopted the position of semi-Universalism, the view that all religions and even “moral” atheism are legitimate pathways to God. Pope Francis, as well as other prominent Catholic clergymen, such as bishop Robert Barron, are moving the RCC closer to full-blown Universalism by informally suggesting that hell is empty. In contrast to pope Francis, Jesus Christ stated, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” – Matthew 25:46.

• Pope Francis: Worst Pope in History?
• “The Catholic Church is not the Pope’s Church and Catholics are therefore not papists but Christians”

Conservative Roman Catholics are still reeling from pope Francis’ Fiducia supplicans declaration, which authorized priestly blessings for same-sex couples. Over the centuries, Catholics have boasted of their papal prerogative, claiming the absolute indefectabilty of their church because it was led by the allegedly divinely-appointed, infallible pope. That’s no longer the case. Conservative Catholic talking heads noticeably distance themselves from the papacy of progressive Francis, advising their audiences to ignore the pope and to cling to traditional Catholic doctrine. The conservative Catholic author of the first article above ponders in the affirmative whether Francis is the worst pope in history. In the second article, conservative cardinal Gerhard Müller, one of the pope’s most vocal critics, circumspectly suggests Francis is a heretic. We live in unusual times when the Roman Catholics who value the doctrines of their religion most seriously are opposed to their pope. In all of this brouhaha we see no trace of the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

• Conservative Catholic bishop deposed by pope Francis to give keynote at GOP gala

Joseph Strickland was deposed as the Catholic bishop of Tyler, Texas because of his repeated criticisms of pope Francis. At the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual Ronald Reagan Dinner in Washington, D.C on February 23rd, politically-compromised evangelicals in attendance will be enthusiastically applauding keynote speaker Strickland despite the fact that he propagates Rome’s false gospel of salvation by sacramentalism and merit. Politics idolatry causes believers to yoke with non-believers (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

• New book fails to explain why Protestants convert to Catholicism

This article from a Catholic source caught my eye. The writer briefly examines a recently published book, “Why Do Protestants Convert?” [to Roman Catholicism, implied but not stated on the cover – Tom] by Brad Littlejohn and Chris Castaldo. I’ve reviewed several books from Castaldo over the years. He’s soft on the RCC, i.e., critical of many of its doctrines, but still acknowledging it as a fundamentally-Christian institution. Along the same vein, Carl Trueman, a regular contributor to the Catholic ecumenical journal, First Things, supplies the forward. Catholics make much hay out of nominal “Protestants” converting to RC-ism while evangelicals are generally embarrassed regarding those who accept Christ, leave RC-ism, and join evangelical churches. Why? Because they contradict the Rome-friendly ecumenical paradigm that’s rampant throughout evangelicalism. I’ve obtained a copy of this book and will be reviewing it down the road.