Category: News

BREAKING NEWS! Pope calls for civil unions for same-sex couples, in major departure from Vatican doctrine

Posted on by Tom

I don’t normally publish two posts in one day, but this news cannot wait.

I was doing some routine work on the blog late this morning when I overheard on the television in the adjoining kitchen a special news announcement involving the “leader of the Catholic church.”

I scrambled into the kitchen to hear that Pope Francis is calling for civil unions for same-sex couples. This is ASTOUNDING, although not altogether surprising. The Vatican has been preparing for this moment for several years via the work of Jesuit priest, James Martin, its advance man for full acceptance of practicing LGBTers.

The ramifications and fallout from this “announcement” (underhandedly communicated via a docu-bio of Francis) are and will be ENORMOUS. This contradicts previous papal teaching on the illicitness/sinfulness of homosexual practices and same-sex unions/marriages that many/most serious Catholics held to be unchangeable and even infallible. Conservative and traditionalist Catholics will be enraged to a such a degree that many will now surely call for a formal split from pragmatically-progressive, world-pleasing, pope Francis.

I need to read some more reports on this development before I can comment at length. The bottom line is the Roman Catholic church does not teach the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Whether it’s Francis’s progressive camp, now publicly embracing same-sex unions, or the Catholic conservative camp, the genuine Gospel is not to be found in Roman Catholicism.

Pope calls for civil unions for same-sex couples, in major departure from Vatican doctrine
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/pope-calls-civil-unions-same-sex-couples-major-departure-vatican-n1244137

Update: I made it a point to listen to conservative Catholic talk-radio host, Al Kresta, at 4:00 p.m. today to get his take on Francis’s bombshell. As would be expected, Kresta tied himself up into multiple knots trying to downplay/minimize/mitigate/white wash the news. Kresta lamely postulated that, in approving civil unions for same-sex couples, Francis wasn’t necessarily sanctioning homosexual behavior. Kresta stumbled and stammered, suggesting the pope would expect civilly-united, same-sex Catholic couples to live as brother-brother or sister-sister. Say what?!?!? Kresta is living in fantasy land. He can’t yet admit to himself and his audience that his pope is a heretic according to Catholicism’s own tenets. But I think with this particular “reform,” Francis has finally given conservative Catholics, like Kresta, something they cannot glibly explain away.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 10/17/20

Posted on by Tom

What to make of Mexican President, Andrew Manuel Lopez Obrador’s (photo left) demand this past week that pope Francis apologize on behalf of the Roman Catholic church for its role in the bloody Spanish Conquest of Mexico (1519-1521)? And what of the Native American protesters who toppled another statue of Franciscan friar and canonized “saint,” Junipero Serra (1713-1784), in San Rafael, Calif., on October 13th, Columbus Day aka Indigenous People’s Day (photo right)? I’m glad that the history of the Roman Catholic church is increasingly coming under the spotlight of scrutiny. Historical persecutions and abuses by the RCC were downplayed or denied for centuries behind a veneer of altruistic benevolence. Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis have already apologized on behalf of past popes and prelates for many flagrant abuses, to the chagrin of Catholic apologists. On the other hand, believers know the Marxist Critical Race Theorists and BLMers who criticize the RCC have their own wicked agenda.

In three previous posts (see here, here, and here) we noted how the ordinations of two Catholic priests were recently deemed to have been “invalid” because the wrong baptismal incantation pronouns were used during their infant baptisms, which led to a lot of “remedial” clean-up within the dioceses affected. The fiasco was a good example of the inanity of Rome’s sacramental salvation system. The author of the article above, writing for a progressive Catholic periodical, also comments on the ridiculousness of Rome’s ritualistic scrupulosity as revealed by this controversy.

A New Orleans Catholic priest recently got caught in some dastardly behavior. However, I contend that the Roman Catholic mass that’s conducted 350,000 times daily around the world, whereby it’s claimed Jesus is turned into bread and wine and sacrificed for sins, is even more demonic than this crazy incident.

Writers such as the author of this article love to reference the anti-Catholic bigotry of 19th Century America, but omit any reference to the militant anti-Protestantism in Catholic-controlled countries at that time. Protestants in the U.S. were justifiably wary of Catholic influence and domination.

As we’ve discussed many times previously, Roman Catholics are obligated to attend mass every Sunday under threat of eternal damnation. When C-19 hit in mid-March, the U.S. Catholic bishops unilaterally issued “dispensations,” allowing the members of their dioceses to skip mass without incurring mortal sin. A month ago, as the C-19 numbers began to drop, some bishops began lifting the dispensations and ordering their members back to church. However, with the recent spikes in C-19 around the country, the bishops are reversing themselves and issuing dispensations once again. What a farce! Catholics are on a legalistic Yo-Yo.

Pro-liberation theology, pope Francis, has just released a new encyclical, “Fratelli tutti” (All brothers), which is a thinly-veiled critique of capitalism, and this conservative Catholic commentator doesn’t like it. Conservative Catholics are looking forward to a new pope, but there’s a good chance he’ll be another progressive like Francis. Either way, the Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone is not proclaimed within the polarized RCC.

150 years after pope Pius IX had himself proclaimed infallible in major matters involving faith and morals at the First Vatican Council in 1870, only one doctrine has been officially defined as infallible, binding dogma: the alleged “assumption of Mary,” as defined by pope Pius XII in 1950. It’s all nonsense. What’s the point of having an infallible pope if they never go out on a limb and define anything as infallible?

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 10/10/20

Posted on by Tom

This past week, the Roman Catholic dioceses of Rockville Centre on Long Island and Camden, New Jersey became the 25th and 26th U.S. dioceses respectively to file for bankruptcy in an attempt to shield assets from victims of clerical sexual abuse.

Apologist, Ravi Zacarias, passed away on May 19th. Three ex-employees, all massage therapists, have come forward with accusations against Zacharias for improprieties at the two day-spas that he co-owned. An appeal to prurient interests? Nope, just a warning that no one is “above” anything.

The Duggars are independent fundamental Baptists. While reading this article, I could not help but recall my eight years at an IFB church where the motivator was guilt rather than joy in the Lord.

John MacArthur and Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA have continued to hold indoor worship services without any social distancing or PPE precautions despite a restraining order from a Los Angeles judge. MacArthur claims “there is no pandemic” and that the pandemic “deception” is being orchestrated by the “kingdom of darkness.” A trial is set for November 13th. Tomorrow, at the packed GCC, will JMac have a comment about the “imaginary” C-19 cluster outbreak at the White House that affected President Trump and nearly three-dozen other people to date? Meanwhile, after having defied public health safety guidelines, Pastor Jack Trieber and North Valley Baptist Church (IFB) in Santa Clara will acquiesce after accumulating $150K in fines.

Photo above: President Trump’s announcement of his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the SCOTUS on the White House lawn on September 26 was a C-19 “superspreader” event that has affected three-dozen people to date. Social distancing and the use of PPE were not followed.

Pope Francis is trying to renew the semi-secret 2018 Vatican-Beijing Accord, which allows the communist government a degree of direct control over RC churches in China in exchange for who knows what? Francis has been glaringly silent about human rights abuses in China over the past two years, a probable condition of the accord. U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, requested a meeting with the pontiff to discuss the dirty dealing, but Francis wants none of it.

Catholicism is rife with devotions to Mary, angels, and the saints, but missing is simple, saving faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

Two weeks ago, arch-conservative Catholic cardinal, Raymond Burke, proclaimed that Joe Biden was not a “Catholic in good standing” and should not be allowed communion, inferring that no Catholic should vote for him, either.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 10/03/20

Posted on by Tom

During the 1960 American presidential campaign, Protestants were legitimately concerned about candidate Jack Kennedy’s membership in the Roman Catholic church. RC church-state hegemony was still an oppressive reality for Protestants living in Catholic countries in Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland) and Latin America at that time. But JFK had little personal interest in his religion and the RCC was already rapidly losing its political influence worldwide. Sixty-years later, Joe Biden, is running for president, but no one is raising an eyebrow about his Catholic affiliation except for conservative Catholics. The RCC’s historical militant hegemony is a distant memory and Democrats know nominal-Catholic Biden is totally on-board with the party’s prime platform principles: “reproductive rights” and the LGBT social engineering agenda.

Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the SCOTUS, takes her Roman Catholicism very seriously as a member of “People of Faith” Catholic charismatic sect. Democrats don’t want to confirm her because she will definitely oppose abortion and the LGBT social agenda. The vacancy is politically fortuitous for Trump because he knows nominating Barrett prior to the presidential election appeals to conservative Catholics and other religious-political conservatives. Would Democrats be willing to possibly alienate Catholic presidential voters by grilling Barrett about her religious beliefs as senators Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin did at her 2017 appellate-court nomination hearing?

Progressive pope Francis has been carefully steering the RCC away from conservative sectarian doctrinalism, but the German Catholic church’s “Synodal Path” reforms threaten to be “too much, too soon” even for him.

Conspiracy theories abound during this COVID-19 pandemic, but there’s always been an audience for extremist conspiracy theories.

Catholic charismaticism is making the headlines with the nomination of Catholic charismatic, Amy Coney Barrett, to the SCOTUS. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal got its start at Duquesne (Catholic) University near Pittsburgh in 1967 when a group of teachers and students manifested the requisite “glossolalia” (speaking in tongues) common to Pentecostals and Protestant charismatics. But how can Catholics who still hold to Rome’s false gospel of sacramental grace and merit (works righteousness) be indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Definitely does not compute.

The firing of cardinals, once unheard of, is becoming commonplace. Starting with nascent Romanism in the first millennium, cardinals have lived like temporal monarchs and have routinely funneled money to personal interests. “In Rome the first persons to be called cardinals were the deacons of the seven regions of the city at the beginning of the 6th century, when the word began to mean ‘principal,’ ’eminent,’ or ‘superior.'” – from Wikipedia

It’s notable that Francis refuses to receive his own bishop, Joseph Zen, a vocal critic of the pope’s semi-secret 2018 Vatican-Beijing Accord, which pragmatically abandoned Chinese Catholics who defied communist government interference. Thanks to SlimJim at Veritas Domain for the heads up to this article!

Now that President Trump, his wife, and others at the White House have regrettably contracted the COVID-19 virus, will the pandemic-deniers and PPE refuseniks change their rhetoric and behaviors?

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 9/26/20

Posted on by Tom

Earlier this month, I posted about Detroit Catholic priest, Matthew Hood, who was found to have been “invalidly baptized” and thus, invalidly ordained, leading to all types of ramifications and “remediations” (see here). The deacon who had baptized Hood as an infant had used the incantation, “We baptize you…” instead of the correct, “I baptize you…” The Vatican subsequently sent out a memo this summer admonishing all priests and deacons worldwide to use the correct formula, which resulted in another priest, Zachary Boazman, of Oklahoma City discovering that he similarly had been baptized as an infant in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1992 with the incorrect “We baptize you…” incantation used by deacon, Philip Webb. The diocese of Oklahoma City is now scrambling to put “remediations” in place to compensate for the invalid sacraments administered by Boazman after he was invalidly ordained in 2019. The diocese of Ft. Worth is also instituting “remediations” to deal with the invalid baptisms administered by Webb. This legalistic scrambling, like the Keystone Cops, is sadly laughable. In stark contrast to this deepening sacramental rabbit hole crisis is the simple (and yet profound) Good News! of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

Progressive and conservative Catholic clerics continue their internecine tug-of-war regarding the licitness of voting for cafeteria Catholic, Joe Biden.

The semi-secret 2018 Vatican-Beijing Accord is about to expire and pope Francis is scrambling to renew it. Francis pragmatically threw non-state-sanctioned Chinese Catholics under the bus in order to have diplomatic ties with Beijing.

Michigan priest, Paul Graney, defied current politically-correct protocols by comparing BLM to Muslim terrorists in a homily. Refer to the video embedded in this article. The irony is that Graney’s Roman Catholic church has inflicted more spiritual suffering and destruction than Muslim terrorists could ever possibly dream of with its false gospel of salvation via sacramental grace and merit.

Rad-trad Catholics are demanding they be allowed germ-spreading communion on the tongue as moderate priests try to observe COVID-19 precautions. Read my thoughts about this ridiculous “on the tongue” vs. “in the hand” controversy here.

Progressive German Catholic clerics continue to formulate their liberal “reforms” via this “Synodal Path” initiative. These liberal clerics will be pushing for such things as married priests, female deacons and priests, full acceptance of practicing LGBTers, and intercommunion with “Protestants.”

Presidents Trump’s choice to fill the SCOTUS seat vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Judge Amy Barrett. Barrett belongs to a small, Catholic charismatic cadre, the “People of Praise,” that pushes ecumenism with charismatic evangelicals. Some evangelicals are still profusely praising Ginsburg. Did I miss something? RBG was a staunch defender of the ongoing abortion genocide.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 9/19/20

Posted on by Tom

There’s a bit of a controversy going on over at “Christianity Today” magazine because recently-retired editor, Mark Galli, has “converted” to Roman Catholicism. I’m not surprised. CT has always encouraged ecumenism with Rome, going back to its creation by Carl Henry and Billy Graham in 1956. The evangelical writers of the two articles above, Ed Stetzer and Roger Olson, react to Galli’s conversion with a degree of disapproval while also holding to the hopelessly incongruous view common to all ecumenical evangelicals, that says while Roman Catholicism is totally wrong about the doctrine of justification (how a person is saved), it is somehow still considered to be a Christian entity. Does not compute. How could a genuinely born-again believer swap salvation in Jesus Christ through faith alone for the chains of religious sacramentalism, legalism, and attempting to merit salvation? Impossible! This is a good example of how some who “profess” to be Christians and even hold leadership roles are tares among the wheat. Some people navigate within Christian circles and learn to “talk the talk” (Galli had earned a M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary), but never genuinely trust in Jesus Christ as Savior by faith alone.

The Roman Catholic church normally requires that all members must attend mass every Sunday under threat of eternal damnation. When the pandemic hit mid-March, the U.S. Catholic bishops each issued “dispensations,” allowing the Catholics in their diocese to miss mass without incurring mortal sin. Now that cases of COVID-19 are declining in some regions of the country, bishops are lifting the dispensations and ordering Catholics back to mass. “Those who deliberately fail to attend Sunday Mass commit a grave sin,” admonished the bishop of Milwaukee in anticipation of lifting his dispensation. How many Catholics will comply with the order to return to Sunday mass? Prior to the pandemic, only 13 percent of Catholics attended mandatory weekly mass, 20 percent attended at least once a month, and 67 percent attended no more than a few times a year if at all.

Catholics were encouraged to watch streaming mass services during the quarantine, although the RCC has always taught that the forgiveness of venial sins and the reception of graces were possible only by attending mass in-person. How many Catholics actually bothered to watch mass online on Sundays? In a recent survey, only 25 percent of young (between ages 18 and 35) Catholics surveyed said they participated “very often” or “somewhat” in mass online or on television during the pandemic.

The day is coming in the United States when the Bible will be categorized as “hate literature.”

After nearly 50 years, Charles Stanley announced that he is stepping down as pastor at First Baptist Church, Atlanta (SBC). I disagreed with Stanley on some issues (he was soft on ecumenism with Rome), but he was one of the very few TBN regulars who preached the genuine Gospel.

Southern Baptists are contemplating changing the name of their convention to “Great Commission Baptists.” SBC pastors who are faithful to the Gospel must also contemplate whether they can remain in an alliance in which Bible-denying liberalism is on the rise.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 9/12/20

Posted on by Tom

This month, we note the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim Separatists’ journey to the New World. The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England on September 16, 1620 and arrived in New England on November 11. The events that were planned to commemorate the anniversary will obviously be scaled-back because of the pandemic. Sadly, most will view this occasion as a secular event with few references to the Pilgrims’ Christian faith. It occurs to me that in the “new think” revisionism being promoted by BLM, the arrival of the Pilgrims will probably be viewed as an “invasion” rather than something to be commemorated.

Expect to see incidents such as this one multiply as Jesuit priest, James Martin, and other Vatican-backed progressives continue to push for acceptance of practicing LGBTers within the RCC.

The internal fight within the RCC over Catholic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, is heating up, with progressive members enthusiastically supporting him and conservatives disavowing Biden and warning that anyone who votes for him commits mortal sin.

Catholic progressives were shocked beyond belief when pope Francis didn’t push for married priests at the Vatican Amazon Synod last October as they expected him to. But Francis has already roiled church conservatives to fever pitch and is content to let his successor introduce this “reform.”

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, pope Francis had to postpone the anticipated “Loreto jubilee” until next year. Catholics assert that Jesus’s boyhood home in Nazareth was transported by angels to Loreto, Italy (see here). If pilgrims visit the “holy house” in Loreto, they will receive a “plenary indulgence,” which allegedly erases all punishment for venial sin and any remaining temporal punishment that would otherwise need to be expiated in fictional purgatory.

I was surprised by this article to see that ecumenical, Gospel-betraying ECT is still issuing declarations. This new statement exhorts politicians and public officials to defend life, protect freedom of religion, and support traditional marriage. The obvious underlying message to Catholic and evangelical voters is that they should only support political candidates who uphold these values. Ecumenical evangelicals deprive Catholics of the genuine Gospel by insinuating that the Catholic gospel of salvation by sacramental grace and merit is “close enough.” From the list of Gospel-betraying signers, I recognize Kevin J. Vanhoozer and longtime ECT supporter, Timothy George. Shame on them.

Catholics believe priests turn bread wafers into the actual body of Jesus Christ. Surplus Jesus wafers are then stored in the altar tabernacle. If a thief steals the tabernacle, as happened in this case, Catholics believe the Jesus wafers inside experience unthinkable desecration.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 9/5/20

Posted on by Tom

As we’re all well-aware, the fare on cable TV is largely junk, so it is exciting to see this streaming option from Sight & Sound Theaters. You can view encore productions of “Queen Esther” this afternoon and this evening. See here. My wife and I saw the production of “Moses” at the Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania several years ago and I reviewed the DVD of their production of “Ruth” here.

“Fatima” opened on August 28th in select theaters and via streaming. This movie is based upon the Catholic claim that the “Blessed Virgin Mary” appeared to three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal a total of six times in 1917. Interest in the alleged apparitions drew larger and larger crowds at Fátima. Reports at the time state that between 30,000 and 100,000 people were on hand for the final apparition on October 17th and the alleged “miracle of the sun,” with the sun supposedly appearing to “spin” in the sky. Details differed among the eye witnesses. Many saw nothing. Some chalked it up to religious group hysteria. Hundreds of Marian apparitions have been claimed all over the world, however, the Catholic church only officially recognizes nineteen. These Marian apparitions, which promote Catholicism’s false salvation system, are either the result of 1) calculated deception 2) religious hysteria/self delusion, or 3) demonic activity. The Fatima legend included alleged instructions from the Marian apparition to the pope and his prelates for the “consecration of Russia” in order to “convert” the Bolsheviks, which obviously didn’t happen. There’s a renewed interest in Fatima and its anti-communist message among conservative and traditionalist Catholics in response to the resurgence of Socialism/Marxism in the West.

The first article confirms that the word, “evangelical,” is almost completely useless at this point. The 52 percent of Americans mentioned in the second article who say Jesus was a “great teacher” of morality, but wasn’t God, haven’t read the Bible. Jesus asserted that He was God the Son. He wouldn’t be a great teacher if He was a liar. Does not compute.

Both candidates will be pointing to their personal “faith” in the next eight weeks in the runup to the presidential election. Traditionalist and conservative Catholics say Biden is a nominal Catholic at best and we know prosperity gospel charlatan, Paula White, an official member of the White House staff, is supposedly president Trump’s personal “spiritual adviser.”

It’s ironic that a Catholic publisher got caught using an image of a statue of angel Moroni, which sits atop Mormonism’s Salt Lake Temple. A Catholic blogger here at WordPress also unwittingly uses an image of the Moroni statue to decorate her blog.

I don’t often commend Catholic priests, but I commend this one for speaking out against the continuing abuse by priests and the hierarchical cover-up. Pope Francis and his bishops claim they are decisively dealing with abuse, but it’s all smoke and mirrors. The Vatican still does not require bishops to report suspected abusive priests to the civil magistrates.

Because the Catholic church teaches its members they must merit their salvation, no Catholic approaching death has assurance of salvation. The Roman church declares that a person commits the “sin of presumption” by believing they are saved. Catholics laugh at us evangelicals when we say that we are saved (by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone). They think we are being arrogantly presumptuous, when in actuality it’s the ultimate in arrogance for people like Catholics to think they can successfully obey the Law and merit their salvation.

I’m pretty well-versed in things Catholic, but I wasn’t aware of this “Neo-catechumenal Way,” which was founded in 1964. There are so many quirky sects beneath the wide Roman Catholic umbrella that it’s tough to keep up with them all. This interesting article recounts how the traditionalist pew sitters at one Catholic parish are battling the hyper-zealous, Novus Ordo neo-catechumenalists.

I’ve already posted a couple of items critical of JMac’s defiance of LA county health safety ordinances, so I debated whether I should keep “piling on,” but the story keeps getting weirder. I’m saddened by this irresponsible denial. Many of the nation’s colleges that just recently opened for the fall semester have already begun sending students home because of outbreaks of COVID-19, while one of American evangelicalism’s best-known pastors declares that it’s all a hoax and that “there is no pandemic.”

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 8/29/20

Posted on by Tom

Joel Osteen regularly peddles his positivity/prosperity false gospel on TBN. Those who can’t get enough of his “Live Your Best Life Now” hokum will soon be able to purchase his “in$piration cube” (photo above), which will include 365 daily “inspirations,” 52 “sermons,” and 31 “affirmations.” Osteen and all of the other TBN prosperity shysters give Christianity a bad name.

The progressive German Catholic prelates are pushing hard for women priests during their current “synodal path” initiative, but will settle for women deacons as an intermediary step…for now.

There’s intense idolatrous emphasis on the alleged consecrated Jesus wafer and wine within traditionalist and conservative Catholics circles. In contrast, progressive Catholics pantheistically believe God is in everything and don’t get as excited about the alleged Jesus wafer.

In regions of Italy, the Catholic prelates and priests still have close ties with the Mafia dons. Priest-led religious processions stop at Mafia establishments to confer blessings on the dons and their underlings. Mafia members are often “deeply devoted” Catholics who compartmentalize their “business” from their “faith.”

TBN president, Matt Crouch, has purged some of the old-school prosperity shysters like Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland and is promoting young hipster pastors in skinny jeans, swag haircuts, and sneakers like Steven Furtick.

Articles like this one conveniently omit the fact that popes publicly condemned democratic forms of government and freedom of religion well into the twentieth century. In the 1960 presidential campaign, many Protestants were concerned that Catholic candidate, Jack Kennedy, would take his orders secretly from the pope. As it turned out, JFK didn’t take his religion all that seriously and formerly-militant Catholic hegemony was already in decline at that point. Conservative American Catholic prelates consider presidential candidate, Joe Biden, to be only a nominal Catholic.

Survivors of priest abuse had until August 13th to file claims against the Rochester Catholic diocese under a provision of the 2019 Child Victims Act, which lifted the statute of limitations for one year. 503 survivors came forward and filed claims by the deadline. The Rochester diocese filed for bankruptcy last September in order to shield its assets from claimants. Similar scenarios are being played out all over the country. To date, 25 Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy in the United States and its territories because of abuse claims.

Politics and religion make strange…partners.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted that Jerry Falwell Jr. was in big trouble due to indiscreetly posting a compromising photo online. That and a previous scandal involving the Falwells’ pool boy has rendered Junior’s position as president of Liberty University untenable. Falwell Jr., like his father, was one of the leading proponents of American Christian nationalism. 

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 8/22/20

Posted on by Tom

I published a post back on August 10th (see here) critical of John MacArthur and Grace Community Church’s decision to defy state and local mandates related to the COVID-19 pandemic and reopen without even any health safety protocols. On Friday, August 14th, a judge for the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that GCC could reopen. The following day, Saturday, August 15th, the California Court of Appeal overturned that ruling and directed GCC to abide by LA County health safety restrictions, which GCC, in turn, defied by holding public services the next day. The legal tug-of-war continues as I write these words. It’s interesting, in a very sad way, that in their fight against the state and local governments, MacArthur and GCC retained the legal services of the Thomas More Society, a Roman Catholic legal entity that specializes in religious freedom issues. I was listening to Catholic talk radio on Monday and one of the show hosts was boasting about the wonderful ecumenical partnership between GCC and Roman Catholics in this alleged “fight for religious freedom.” I find that development very regrettable.

Pope Alexander VI, aka Rodrigo de Borja, is symbolic of historical papal corruption.

Excommunicated Catholic priest, Jeremy Leatherby, exemplifies the views of many traditionalist and conservative Catholic clerics and laypersons who consider progressive pope Francis to be a heretic.

This article from the liberal Jesuit magazine, “America,” accuses traditionalist and conservative Catholic critics of pope Francis of dividing the Catholic church. Of course, those same traditionalists and conservatives accuse Francis of deviating from Catholic orthodoxy.

The Southern Baptist Convention has much bigger problems than its name, e.g., Rick Warren, Beth Moore, and ecumenist crusaders, Timothy George, Richard Land, Ronnie Floyd, etc., etc.

Catholic conservatives will back Trump while Catholic progressives will support Biden.

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin was celebrated by the Roman Catholic church on August 15th. The Roman church teaches Mary was taken up to Heaven bodily, either immediately prior to her death or immediately afterwards, it’s not quite sure which. Mary’s alleged assumption is one of Catholicism’s numerous “sacred traditions” with no basis in fact. Under normal conditions, Catholics are obligated to attend mass on the Feast of the Assumption under threat of eternal damnation, although relatively few comply.