Category: News

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 12/3/22

Posted on by Tom

Coming out of a worldwide pandemic, common sense would tell you not to touch your lips to a cup shared by hundreds or even tens of people. The Roman Catholic church teaches its priests change bread wafers and wine into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. While the bread correlates to the body and the wine to the blood, the RCC teaches Jesus’ body and blood are present in both “species,” so there’s allegedly no need to consume both wafer and wine. However, practice contradicts doctrine because priests and “eucharistic ministers” do differentiate and say, “The Body of Christ,” when presenting the wafer and, “The Blood of Christ,” when presenting the wine cup to the credulous faithful. A percentage of Catholics think they’re getting “short-changed” if they consume only the Jesus wafer, so they’ll brave a flu or COVID-tainted communal cup to get the “benefit” of consuming both the Jesus wafer and Jesus wine. All of this is based on the RCC’s faulty misinterpretations of John 6 and the Last Supper accounts in the gospels. We are not saved by physically eating Jesus as the RCC teaches, but by trusting in Him as Savior by faith alone.

The secret 2018 Vatican-Beijing accord limited the installation of bishops to those who were members of the Chinese communist government’s quisling Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA). The government convicted and sentenced Hong Kong cardinal Joseph Zen because he was an outspoken critic of the accord. Progressive pope Francis pragmatically throws conservative Chinese Catholics under the bus in the quest for friendly relations with Beijing.

Nine months after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, pope Francis has finally cited Russia as the aggressor in the conflict. The pope refused to criticize Putin and Russia all this time in deference to patriarch Kirill and the Russian Orthodox church and also in an attempt to position himself as a potential peace-broker/mediator.

Despite its vow to never ordain women as priests, the day is coming when the RCC will do exactly that. The sacerdotal priesthood and sacrifice for sins were done away with by Jesus Christ and His once-for-all-time sacrifice on Calvary.

Catholics put their hard-earned dollars in the offering plate on Sundays without realizing the money is going to be used as pay-out to survivors of pedophile priests and to purchase a McMansion for the diocesan bishop.

The U.S. Catholic bishops were appalled by 2019 data that showed only 31% of American Catholics believe in transubstantiation, so they rolled out a three-year eucharistic revival to convince U.S. Catholics of the alleged genuineness of the consecrated Jesus wafer and to encourage proper reverence and worship. I see now that Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry (Catholic) has initiated a three-year, 21-city “Jesus Thirsts for America” tour in conjunction with the nationwide eucharistic revival. Imagine getting lathered-up over a bread wafer. The Catholic Inquisitors of yesteryear demanded those suspected of “Protestant heresy” to bow to and worship the Jesus wafer. Refusal led to torture and death.

This “parts of the Bible are no longer appropriate” mindset is gradually going to turn into condemnation of the entire Bible.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 11/26/22

Posted on by Tom

A congregant of an evangelical church in South Dakota recently called out Pastor Adam Weber (photo above) for wearing skin-tight “skinny jeans” when he preached. I can relate to this one. From 2015 to early-2020, my wife and I attended a Rochester mega-church that had several suburban satellite branches. The lead pastor left in 2016 and was replaced by a young man who was on a mission to make himself and the church more “culturally relevant.” His Sunday attire gradually devolved into hoodies and skinny jeans with the requisite holes in the knees, all topped off with a $100 swag haircut. It was ridiculous. We once brought an unsaved guest to the church and the first thing out of the person’s mouth when we got back to the car was, “Man, that pastor’s jeans were tight!” The church switched to streaming services online in March 2020 because of COVID, but we even stopped watching the virtual service because of the skinny jeans “controversy” as well as a host of other problems that we decided we could no longer tolerate. I began working weekends in January 2021, but we continued watching sermon videos from solid pastors. I retired on October 31st and last weekend we visited a local church and were quite pleased. The fact that the pastor wore loose khakis was a plus among many more important plusses. More on our new church in an upcoming post.

Pope Francis is favorable to several of the progressive changes being advanced by the German Catholic Synodale Weg (Synodal Path), but he must also appease conservatives who are already discontented with his reforms and are waiting for a reason to propose schism.

Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy split in 1054 after the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, refused to accept the primacy of the bishop of Rome and was subsequently excommunicated by the RCC. In trying to convince Michael of his primacy and authority, pope Leo IX referenced the “Donation of Constantine,” a fraudulent document forged in the 8th century purporting to show Roman Emperor Constantine’s bestowal of authority to the bishop of Rome over the four principal eastern sees. Lorenzo Valla, an Italian Catholic priest, proved the “Donation” was a forgery in 1439-1440. The history of the RCC is riddled with examples of heresy, fraud, and corruption. Modern popes have been making regular overtures to the EO patriarchs. Some form of a reunion is a forgone conclusion.

Last weekend, the city of Buffalo, New York was buried under six feet of white stuff in a late-autumn snow storm off of Lake Erie. Buffalo Catholic bishop, Michael Fisher, issued a dispensation allowing Buffalo Catholics to skip mass last Sunday without incurring mortal sin. The irony that’s not to be missed is that while Fisher was busy issuing a snow dispensation, the state-appointed, former-FBI official, Kathleen McChesney, was looking over his shoulder, making sure Fisher and the diocese were/are complying with New York State’s mandated requirements guarding Buffalo’s children from pedophile priests and enabling prelates.

Catholics are celebrating YouTuber and self-proclaimed “evangelical apologist,” Cameron Bertuzzi’s recent “conversion” to Roman Catholicism. While 38YO Bertuzzi has an admittedly large YouTube following (156K subscribers), his knowledge of the Bible and church history has been demonstrated to be severely limited. I’ll have more to say about Bertuzzi in an upcoming post.

Conservative Catholic prelates and priests are applauding the election of archbishop Timothy Broglio as president of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops. Broglio has a track record of passively-aggressively opposing many of Bergoglio’s reforms

It’s interesting to see this debate over Mariolatry in a secular newspaper. While the worship of Mary is grievous, the RCC’s most serious heresy is its false gospel of salvation by sacramental grace and merit.

Why would a Christian parent/s send their child to a Roman Catholic school where they are sure to be indoctrinated with the RCC’s false gospel? What parent would knowingly lower their child into a snake pit? Of course, we don’t know if the mother in question is genuinely saved.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 11/19/22

Posted on by Tom

Last January, a German investigative panel formally accused pope-emeritus, Benedict XVI, aka Joseph Ratzinger (photo above), of covering-up for multiple pedophile priests while he was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982. Ratzinger initially lied, claiming he was not present at discussions on how to “smooth-over” scandalous incidents of priest-abuse. In the face of undeniable evidence, Ratzinger flip-flopped and admitted he was at the discussions, but insisted he did not play a role. The RCC’s priest pedophile scandal reaches up to the papacy.

The rosary consists of 61 beads and baubles on a circular string that Catholics use to count a series of rote prayers, especially (53 of the 61) prayers to Mary. Jesus Christ specifically forbade rote prayer (Matthew 6:7), and prayers to anyone other than to God are blatant idolatry. In the “Hail Mary” rote prayer, Catholics petition Mary to intercede on their behalf unto God for their “hoped for” salvation, “now and at the hour of our death.” As for the origin of the rosary, Catholics purport that Mary appeared to St. Dominic of Spain in 1221, presenting him with a rosary and instructions on how to use it. Pagan religionists of antiquity used prayer beads and the RCC co-opted the practice.

A Catholic writer once asserted that of all of the Protestant denominations (besides Anglicanism/Episcopalianism), the Methodists had the most in common with Roman Catholicism. Methodists baptize infants and also believe a Christian can lose salvation, thus making salvation a faith-works collaboration.

Catholics are normally required to attend mass every single Sunday under threat of eternal damnation. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Catholic bishops granted “dispensations” allowing Catholics to skip mass without incurring mortal sin. As the pandemic has waned, the bishops one-by-one have rescinded those dispensations.

The RCC teaches its priests transform bread wafers into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. Catholic congregants eat the Jesus wafer, believing it confers graces that will help them avoid sinning in order to merit Heaven at the moment of their death. In off-hours, a large Jesus wafer is presented in a see-through container and Catholics gather to worship it. Imagine sitting reverently with others in front of a large, elevated bread wafer and worshiping it.

Jesuit James Martin is the Vatican’s point-man in advancing the full acceptance of practicing S&G-ites within the RCC. Pope Francis has had several meetings with Martin in recent years to discuss their full-inclusion strategy.

Why are some evangelical “intellectuals” enamoured with “saint” Thomas Aquinas, who propagated (and in some cases defined) Rome’s many heresies including sacramental salvation? This is a good introductory article from Leonardo De Chirico on why some evangelical “intellectuals” make fools of themselves by becoming “Thomists.”

Catholics used to love to go on “retreats” to become further enmeshed in their works-righteousness religion while seeking contemplative/spiritual dopamine highs. But as many Catholics have fallen away from their religion, more and more of these retreat facilities have shut down. I can remember my eighth-grade class being taken to the Notre Dame (Our Lady) Retreat House (referred to in the article above) with its spacious and manicured grounds overlooking beautiful Canandaigua Lake for a day of religious lessons/discussions and “contemplation.” Perhaps our teacher-nuns were trying to spark vocations? I remember thinking as a thirteen-year-old, “How does the RCC afford an impressive but low-usage joint like this?”

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” – Proverbs 14:12

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 11/12/22

Posted on by Tom

In February 2019, New York State passed the Child Victims Act, which waived the statute of limitations for two years and allowed victims of childhood sexual abuse to bring civil suits against their abusers and/or enablers. Seeing the writing on the wall, the Rochester Catholic diocese filed for bankruptcy in September 2019 in order to limit future payouts to victims of pedophile priests (and a few victims of abusive nuns). 475 survivors eventually filed claims against the diocese. The case has languished in bankruptcy court until last week when the diocese agreed to pay $55 million to the survivors ($116K per victim). In addition to the payout, the survivors will also be able to pursue their claims against the diocese’s insurers. This scenario is being played out in Catholic dioceses across the country. Pedophelia isn’t restricted to Catholic clergy, but RC-ism’s mandatory celibacy rule for clergy uniquely attracted and fostered deviants resulting in priest predators and sympathetic hierarchical cover-up. The Rochester Catholic diocese was founded in 1868 and it’s safe to say there were thousands of additional victims of deviant Rochester priests who never got their day in court.

Conservative Catholic cardinal, Raymond Burke, has been one of the principal critics of progressive pope Francis. Burke contracted COVID-19 last year and was in serious condition, but he’s now recovered and back to criticizing Francis, this time for the curtailment (and eventual elimination) of the conservatives’ beloved Latin mass.

The German Catholic church’s Synodale Weg (Synodal Path) reform movement is too radical for even progressive Francis. The pope personally favors some of the German reforms, but must keep a cap on schism by conservatives.

Anti-Semitism is often a staple of radical conservatism, both political and religious.

Catholics were once restricted from eating meat on Fridays throughout the year under threat of eternal damnation. But in 1966, the U.S. Catholic bishops voted to limit the ban on meat to only Lenten Fridays, a good example of the RCC’s anti-Biblical arbitrariness. Environmentalists are now suggesting the RCC reinstate the mandatory Friday meat abstention to reduce carbon emissions. Progressive pope Francis would probably be sympathetic to the notion except for the fact that he can’t get the majority of today’s Catholics to attend mandatory mass on Sundays let alone reviving no-meat Fridays throughout the year.

Speaking of arbitrariness, the RCC once taught cremation was a mortal sin, either for those who chose it for themselves as part of a pre-planned funeral or for those who chose it for deceased family members. In 1963, Pope Paul VI reversed RC teaching and allowed cremation. How do Catholics explain such 180o-reversal arbitrariness?

Jesuit James Martin continues to be the Vatican’s point man/pawn in overcoming resistance within the RCC to full-acceptance of practicing S&G-ites.

Catholic apologists guilefully present the RCC as a unified monolith, but the spectrum of views/beliefs in the RCC ranges from ultra-traditionalist to ultra-progressive. I need to read this book, “Catholic Discordance: Neoconservatism vs. the Field Hospital Church of Pope Francis” by Massimo Borghesi about conservative Catholics’ opposition to the progressive pope.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 11/5/22

Posted on by Tom

In 1604-05, thirteen Roman Catholic conspirators worked on their plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London in an attempt to overthrow the Protestant monarchy of King James I and install a Catholic monarch. The Gunpowder Plot was discovered on November 5, 1605 and the conspirators, including Guy/Guido Fawkes, the munitions expert (illustration above), were arrested. The foiling of the plot has been celebrated in Britain as Guy Fawkes Night every year since then. In a hat tip to religious correctness, the celebration is now officially referred to as “Bonfire Night.” Colonists brought the celebration to America as “Pope’s Night” with the burning of effigies of the pope and mobs of “Protestant” ruffians looking for Catholics to harass. With the start of the American Revolutionary War, General George Washington discouraged the observance in deference to potential French-Catholic allies in Quebec and Paris. I don’t condone any religious violence, but the British and early-American Protestants of that era were keenly aware that the pope and Catholic monarchs had no compunctions about persecuting Protestants. Were the Jesuits involved in the Gunpowder Plot? A direct connection was strongly suspected (the night was also referred to as “Jesuit Night” by some), but never proven. TRIVIA: Our word “guy,” used to designate a strange, unfamiliar person, actually stems from the infamous Guy Fawkes.

This article confirms that the Vatican is using the RCC’s church-wide 2021-2024 “Synod on Synodality” initiative to move the church forward towards eventually embracing practicing S&G-ites as fully-accepted members.

In an unprecedented measure, New York State has assigned an independent, former high-ranking F.B.I. official to the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo to oversee the diocese’s compliance with strict protocols aimed at eliminating sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and any hierarchical cover-up. This should have been done decades ago in hundreds of U.S. Catholic dioceses when the priest sexual abuse scandal first broke, but city and state officials of the past worked hand-in-glove with the RC hierarchy.

Roman Catholicism’s celibacy rule for clergy has both attracted and fostered deviancy. In 2021, a conservative Catholic source reported many Catholic priests use the gay hookup app, GRINDR (see here). It’s ironic that Francis warns priests and nuns about using porn, but propagates spiritual wickedness with his church’s false gospel of salvation by sacramental grace and merit.

A small but vocal faction of young Catholic “rad-trads” are calling for a return to pre-conciliar Catholic militantism.

Conservative Catholic pundits on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network), especially Raymond Arroyo with his “World Over” program, regularly criticize progressive pope Francis, and the Vatican is definitely not pleased.

This interesting article points out that Martin Luther may not have used nails to attach his 95 theses to the Wittenberg Castle Church door as has been popularly portrayed. Also, the reclamation of the New Testament Gospel wasn’t full-blown on October 31, 1517 as many assume, but the Holy Spirit was working, working, working.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 10/29/22

Posted on by Tom

In 2018, pope Francis struck a secret accord with the Chinese communist government in Beijing, which mandated that only quisling stooges affiliated with the puppet Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) could be appointed bishops. Francis pragmatically threw cardinal Zen and all other non-CCPA Catholics under the bus by brokering the deal. The accord was renewed in 2020 and again this month. It’s estimated that there are 12 million Catholics in China; 6 million belong to the CPA and 6 million do not. There’s no genuine Gospel in sight in this religious-political quagmire, but we note the dastardliness of Bergoglio’s sellout.

Conservative Catholic prelates were roiled by the election of Joe Biden to the U.S. presidency in 2020. Democrat Biden touts his Catholic “faith,” but is an ardent supporter of pro-abortion genocide legislation. Catholic prelates took sides in the “wafer wars” following the election, with conservative bishops calling for Biden and other pro-abortion politicians to be banned from receiving the Jesus wafer and other sacraments. Progressive pope Francis quelled the debate by publicly endorsing both Biden and Nancy Pelosi, but some conservative prelates like Chaput continue to defy the pope.

Great Britain is slowly moving towards prosecuting Catholic priests who hear the confessions of child abusers and don’t notify law enforcement, in accordance with the Catholic “seal of confession,” i.e., everything admitted to in the confessional stays in the confessional. The Catholic sacrament of reconciliation is from the deepest recesses of the pit of hell. Only God can forgive sins. Catholic priests are trained to ask “probing questions” of their penitents in order to elicit a “good confession.” You can read between the lines, dear reader. Many predator priests initially groomed their young and mostly-male victims in the confessional. The RCC mandates that Catholics must go to confession at least once per year under threat of mortal sin, but church sources report only 26 percent of members comply. Who wants to discuss their sins with a deviant?

Conservative Catholics jaundicely view the 2021-2024 RC church-wide Synod on Synodality as an opportunity for pope Francis to introduce additional progressive reforms.

This upcoming Monday marks the 505th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Schlosskirche or Castle Church of Wittenberg, Germany, beginning a glorious reclamation of the New Testament Good News! Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Evangelical Christians certainly don’t put Luther on a pedestal. He along with the other Reformers, were sinners saved by God’s grace alone, but the Holy Spirit used these men mightily in the reclamation of the genuine Gospel. Sadly, relatively few evangelical pastors will mention the Reformation in their sermons tomorrow. Roman Catholicism has not changed any of its core doctrines since 1517. The Reformation continues!

On the Catholic liturgical calendar, this coming Tuesday, November 1st is All Saints Day in which all canonized Catholic saints are celebrated. The Catholic notion of “saints” – super-good people who propagated Rome’s false gospel of salvation by sacramental grace and merit in their lifetime and can now be prayed to as heavenly intercessors – is contrary to the Biblical definition of saints as all born-again believers. All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation, meaning all Catholics must attend mass under threat of mortal sin, but relatively few will comply. All Soul’s Day is Wednesday, November 2nd, when Catholics offer up prayers and masses for the early release of loved ones allegedly suffering in Purgatory. In heavily Catholic portions of Europe, many will go to the local cemetery on Wednesday at dusk and light candles on their loved ones’ graves. The notion of Purgatory is pagan in origin and un-Biblical.

Above: A cemetery in Poland is aglow with candlelight on Dzień Zaduszny, “All Souls’ Day.” Hundreds of millions of souls are blinded by the RCC’s false gospel.

Some evangelicals were undiscerningly joyous when popular rapper, Kanye West, announced he was a born-again Christian. However, many telltale aberrations followed, including Kanye’s recent appearance at a fashion show wearing a t-shirt with multiple photos of pope John Paul II with the slogan, Seguiremos Tu Ejemplo (“We will follow your example”) emblazoned on the front and “White Lives Matter” on the back. Kanye also recently made some anti-Semitic remarks that are causing a huge stir. Anti-Semitism is popular among some so-called “evangelical Christians” who are enmeshed in far-right, Christian-nationalist conspiracy theories. I’ve seen examples here at WordPress.

Above: Conservative media pundit,
Candace Owens and Kanye sporting
pope JPII shirts. Owens is married to
convert to RC-ism, George Farmer.
Above: Details of the JP II photos and slogan design
worn by Owens and Kanye

Personal matters 1: The Philadelphia Phillies vanquished the San Diego Padres, 4 games to 1 in the National League Championship Series. I have no desire to publish a separate post to commemorate the Padres’ whooping, but congrats to the Phillies and their fans.

Personal matters 2: After almost 22 months at L3Harris, tomorrow will be my last work day, although my official last day will actually be Monday when I have to come in briefly for my exit interview. After 48 years of working, my retirement begins Tuesday! This is indeed fodder for a future post.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 10/22/22

Posted on by Tom

In 2021, Pope Francis’ launched a two-year, church-wide synod on synodality. The idea was to involve the laity in discussions regarding the future path of the RCC. I imagine Francis was fishing for consensus/support regarding future progressive reforms, although not as radical as the German Catholic church’s Der Synodale Weg. Up to this point, the initiative has largely been met with indifference, so Francis is extending it to 2024. There’s no genuine Gospel in sight with any of these initiatives.

In response to a 2019 Pew Survey, which revealed that only 31% of U.S. Catholics believe that the eucharist bread and wine are transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ, the U.S. Catholic bishops initiated a two-year, nationwide “eucharistic revival” in order to foster proper worship of the “blessed sacrament” Jesus wafer. The revival kicked off on June 19, 2022 (the feast of Corpus Christi – the body of Christ) and will end with a National Eucharistic Congress in Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis in July of 2024. The eucharistic revival guidebook used by parish leaders speaks about “enkindling a living relationship with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.” Because of RC-ism’s grievous misinterpretation of John 6, Catholics are attempting to have a “relationship” with a bread wafer instead of trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior by faith alone.

Saint worship is not what it used to be compared to when I was a Roman Catholic parochial school student growing up in the 1960s, but there are still pockets of ardent devotion wherein conservative Catholics take their “patron saint” business very seriously. Catholic patron saints have a direct correlation to the pantheon of patron gods of pagan Rome. See my relevant post here.

Some evangelicals are enamoured with the showy intellect and dry wit of British-Catholic writer, G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936). However, not only did Chesterton espouse his church’s false gospel of salvation by sacramental grace and merit, he was also an anti-Semitic British falangist. This ecumenical apologist attempts to make G.K. Chesterton’s anti-Semitism palatable, but even saint-making pope Francis knows Chesterton is uncanonizable.

It’s amazing how some conservative Catholics are whipped into a frenzy in the debate over whether priests face the altar (ad orientem) or the congregation (versus populum) during mass. The Second Vatican Council decreed that priests switch their posture from ad orientem to versus populum and conservatives have been wringing their hands ever since. Priests and sacrificial altars were done away with by Jesus Christ and His once-for-all-time sacrifice on Calvary.

Society is descending into the deep, dark depths with public school boards sanctioning “family-friendly” drag queen shows for young students. Watch one mother’s righteous indignation here. The Gospel and “social morality” aren’t the same thing, but this is an indication of how bad things are getting.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 10/15/22

Posted on by Tom

This special “Mass of Celebration and Inclusion” for practicing S&G-ites recently held in Milwaukee is being duplicated in progressive Catholic parishes across the country.

Roman Catholicism teaches its priests transform bread wafers into the actual body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. In this EWTN poll, 50% of Catholic respondents said they believe in the doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Hmm, that seems a bit high. In a 2019 Pew Research poll, only 31% of Catholic respondents said they believed in the Jesus wafer. Either way, a very large portion of Catholics don’t believe in a doctrine that their church declares is “the source and summit of Christian spirituality.”

Last weekend, pope Francis presided over the canonization of Giovanni Battista Scalabrini (d. 1905), who founded two Catholic missionary orders that supported Italian-Catholic immigrants. The plight of refugees/immigrants is high on progressive Francis’ agenda. Missing in all of this is the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

This incident brings to mind that the Vatican is full of art treasures revealing the worldly nature of RC-ism. Would Jesus Christ or the apostles have approved of the Vatican and its ostentatious worldly treasures? It’s a rhetorical question.

A faction of conservative and traditionalist Roman Catholics disavow the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which pragmatically liberalized the church in several respects, especially in regards to ecumenism and interreligious cooperation.

I agree with Barber here. Leaving the Gospel behind and aligning with zealous Christian nationalism stokes an “us-against-them” mentality that invites a reaction. Hence, the “persecution” is self-inflicted.

Same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide in 2015 and advocates of polygamous marriage have been pushing their cause as well. It will happen.

I admit that I do like a cup of hot pumpkin spice flavored java.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 10/8/22

Posted on by Tom

Last month, pope Francis addressed the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, Kazakhstan (see photo above), praising interfaith “solidarity” and decrying “fundamentalism” as a viewpoint that “defiles and corrupts every creed.” Pope Francis’ “pastoral” brand of Roman Catholicism de-emphasizes catechetical doctrine in favor of a nebulous “spirituality” that accommodates all religions and even atheism. All of this points to the developing, one-world religion. When a crisis overtakes the planet, people will turn to the pope.

As the Catholic writer of this article notes, the RCC encompasses a wide range of theological beliefs, from ultra-traditionalist to ultra-progressive, but missing throughout the spectrum is the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

A group of Catholic conservatives and traditionalists gathered in Pittsburgh last weekend for the “Catholic Identity Conference.” Speakers included bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan and archbishop Carlo Viganò, former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. The two prelates have been progressive pope Francis’ biggest critics and accuse him of being a heretic (see Schneider’s criticism of Bergoglio in the top article). Many Catholic conservatives rue the day that Francis was elected pope and look forward to the end of his tenure.

Catholic archbishop, Salvatore Cordileone, of San Francisco banned Nancy Pelosi from receiving the Jesus wafer this past May because of her support of pro-abortion legislation, but Cordileone is reluctant to cooperate with California state officials in identifying pedophile priests in his diocese.

Catholic parishes across the nation offered pet blessings on Wednesday, Oct. 4th, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals. The RCC claims its priests are endowed at ordination with miraculous powers, including the ability to transform bread wafers into Jesus Christ and to be able to bless animate and inanimate objects. Many Catholics took their pet dogs, cats, and hamsters to church on Wednesday to receive a blessing from the parish priest. I’ve often used a hamster wheel as a symbol of Catholicism’s impossible works-righteousness salvation system = lots of religious activity, but no salvation.

hamster GIF

Catholics beamed with pride when fellow-Catholic, John F. Kennedy, was elected POTUS in 1960. But 58% of polled Catholics don’t want a second term for fellow-Catholic, Joe Biden.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 10/1/22

Posted on by Tom

The American Catholic church is split not only by politics, but by opposing views on abortion, S&G-ism, the ordination of women, the progressive reforms of pope Francis, etc. The RCC is definitely not the united monolith presented by Catholic apologists. It must be noted that missing amidst all of this Catholic disharmony is the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

This is a first and definitely a sign of things to come. The Catholic bishops of Belgium are the first national conference of bishops to officially approve a liturgical blessing for S&G same-sex unions, although they refrain from calling it a “wedding blessing.” This is a significant “crack in the dam” in the eventual full acceptance of practicing S&G-ers in the RCC.

…and pope Francis continues to do his part to pave the way for full acceptance of practicing S&G-ers.

After the historical bloody tensions between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, many suppose the country’s demographic shift to a Catholic majority will lead to eventual unification with Ireland. It can correctly be said that the vast majority of Catholics and Protestants living in Ulster and Ireland are nominal members of their respective religions at best.

Although Brazil still has the world’s largest Catholic population, so-called “evangelicals” are quickly gaining. The majority of these “evangelicals” are disciples of the health-and-wealth, word-of-faith, prosperity false gospel.

Seven long and nightmarishly bloody months after the initial invasion of Ukraine, frustrated Russian despot, Vladimir Putin is rattling his nuclear sabre and conscripting Russian men. Prior to the invasion, some misguided American evangelicals hailed Putin as a champion of “traditional Christian values.”

It’s “interesting” to see a Catholic conservative ascend to the office of Prime Minister in Italy, a country where liberal politics has ruled for 75-years. Why this turn to political conservatism in Italy and elsewhere in Europe? There’s no doubt that a large part of it is a reaction to unbridled immigration. It’s no coincidence that pope Francis gave a speech encouraging support of immigrants on Italy’s election day (see here). Suffice to say there will be no evidence of the Gospel in the future tug-of-war between Giorgia and Francis.

President Joe Biden claims that his Roman Catholic church doesn’t go so far as to ban all abortions with no exceptions for rape, incest, and age. Actually, it does, Joe, and I know that without even being a Catholic. A June 2022 AP poll found that 64% of Catholics agreed that abortion should be legal in most or all cases in contrast to 25% of those who identified as evangelical Protestant. Although pope Francis has called abortion “murder,” he’s gone out of his way to publicly support pro-abortion Catholic politicians, Biden and Nancy Pelosi,