Tuesday, December 2, 2014

The diminished and distorted Christ of Pope Francis


 

Francis bows to Patriarch Bartholomew
What do the two men in this image, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew, have in common?
Neither one believes in the authority of the pope as understood by the Catholic Church.
In a letter to the Bishops of France, Pope St. Pius X wrote of the Sillon, a socio-political movement that formally existed there from 1894-1910:
Their leaders are self-confessed and irrepressible idealists … they have a particular conception of human dignity, freedom, justice and brotherhood… In an attempt to justify their social dreams, they put forward the Gospel, but … interpreted in their own way; and what is even more serious, they call to witness Christ, but a diminished and distorted Christ. (Notre Charge Apostolique)
Sound like anyone you know? (HINT: Think bishop in white…)
In one of his many homilies lashing out at tradition-minded Catholics, Pope Francis said:
This group of Christians in their hearts do not believe in the Risen Lord and want to make theirs a more majestic resurrection than that of the real one. These are the triumphalist Christians.
This raises some questions; first, what exactly is a “triumphalist”?
In his Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon, S.J., provides a very useful definition:
Triumphalism: a term of reproach leveled at the Catholic Church for the claim that she has the fullness of divine revelation and the right to pass judgment on the personal and social obligations of humankind. (Etym. Latin triumphus, public rejoicing for a victory.)
Furthermore, we might ask, what precisely is this “real” Resurrection that some Catholics, according to Pope Francis, tend to exaggerate?
According to Pope Pius XI, writing in Quas Primas, it was the Resurrection from whence Our Lord:
Took the opportunity to call himself King, confirming the title publicly … solemnly proclaiming that all power was given Him in heaven and on earth … words that can only be taken to indicate the greatness of His power and the infinite extent of His kingdom.
That’s the real Resurrection, and I’d say it’s pretty darn majestic, wouldn’t you?
In fact, we might wonder how Pope Francis could imagine that it’s even possible for the human mind to conceive of something that’s more majestic still.
The answer is at once simple and tragic; it is because his is a view of the Resurrection that pales in comparison to the “real one,” and that necessarily means that he, like the leaders of the Sillon, witness to a “diminished and distorted” Christ.
Such a view necessarily gives rise to a similarly diminished and distorted view of the priesthood, and therefore the papacy itself.
In the Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis says:
The ministerial priesthood is one means employed by Jesus for the service of his people, yet our great dignity derives from baptism, which is accessible to all. The configuration of the priest to Christ the head … does not imply an exaltation which would set him above others.
Consider very carefully what Pope Francis is saying here: He is telling us that the dignity derived from priestly ordination is no greater than that of baptism – something that even the heretics have received!
Those who sentire cum ecclesia, by contrast, believe as the former Bishop Giuseppe Sarto believed when he wrote:
If the faithless modern world has stripped the priest of that halo of veneration with which he was formerly crowned, it is more than necessary that in our times he should by his bearing win once again the people’s respect for his high dignity and propriety. [Pastoral Letter to the Clergy of the Diocese of Mantua, 25 August, 1895]
For greater insight into the prevailing view of the priesthood, and by extension the papacy, among the current Holy Father’s inner circle, consider the words of Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, the man handpicked by Pope Francis to lead the group of cardinals advising him on the Curia’s reorganization:
The function of the hierarchy is redefined in reference to Jesus as Suffering Servant, not as “Pantocrator” (lord and emperor of this world); only from the perspective of someone crucified by the powers of this world it is possible to found, and to explain, the authority of the Church.
God bless Cardinal Rodríguez for his frankness!
You see, for him and those who think like him, including the pope, Our Blessed Lord didn’t rise from the dead victorious unto Kingship, but rather as the itinerant preacher who is prepared to be “crucified by the powers of this world” all over again!
Pope Francis, apparently, has great difficulty reconciling “humble service” with the uniquely majestic dignity inherent to kingly authority, as if the two are mutually exclusive.
In truth, Christ the King is the perfect synthesis of these attributes; even as those who act in His person as priests, bishops, and ultimately as His Vicar (the Sovereign Roman Pontiff) are at times persecuted in this world by those who reject Him.
And yet, Pope Francis can only seem to imagine that he is the Vicar of a Christ who is the servant-preacher alone, apart from being the King who reigns over all men and all nations. Thus is his Christology, and likewise his understanding of his own office, rendered “diminished and distorted.”
As such, it’s little wonder that the current Bishop of Rome struggles just to call to himself “pope,” much less behave like one in his relations with those who reject the pope’s God-given authority (e.g., bowing his head to receive a “blessing” from Justin Welby, a heretic layman in a Halloween costume.)
This brings me to the Holy Father’s recent comments to the schismatic Orthodox during his trip to Turkey:
I want to assure each one of you here that, to reach the desired goal of full unity, the Catholic Church does not intend to impose any conditions except that of the shared profession of faith.
Oh how I wish Patriarch Bartholomew would have responded, “Thank you! Please draft the ‘shared profession of faith’ for our review!”
As for what that “profession” would contain, no one can say for certain, but based upon all that has been said thus far, every indication seems to be that Pope Francis imagines a “unifying” profession that does not include any requirement on the part of the Orthodox to acknowledge, much less heed, the authority of the pope.
Upon the Orthodox acceptance of said profession, the million dollar question would finally be answered – at least for those who as yet haven’t reasoned their way to the punchline – and that is, what would the subsequent “unity” look like?
The answer: It would look exactly like it does now, with the Orthodox still issuing “Orders of Second Marriage” to the civilly divorced, condoning abortion in limited cases, rejecting the filioque and, of course, the Office of Peter itself.
In other words, the dirty little not-so-well-kept secret is that there is no destination for the ecumenical movement such as it exists in the Church today, no matter how “humble” the man leading the charge may be; there is only endless dialogue, emotional pleas, and symbolic gestures. That’s it.
It can never lead to authentic unity; only the conversion of heathens, heretics and schismatics to the Holy Catholic Church can do that.
The reason the ecumaniacs of today, including Pope Francis, find this simple truth so very difficult to embrace is equally as simple: they call to witness Christ, but a diminished and distorted Christ.-Louie Verrecchio
 

The good news is that if you live your life according to the laws of God as preached and taught by His Holy Catholic Church and not your own appetites, then God saves you from Hell-Michael Voris

The good news is NOT that everyone or nearly everyone goes to Heaven. The good news is that if you live your life according to the laws of God as preached and taught by His
Holy Catholic Church and not your own appetites, then God saves you from Hell.
 

Therefore, all must be converted to Him, made known by the Church's preaching, and all must be incorporated into Him by baptism and into the Church which is His body -Vatican Council II



For Christ Himself "by stressing in express language the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mark 16:16; John 3:5), at the same time confirmed the necessity of the Church, into which men enter by baptism, as by a door. -Ad Gentes 7, Vatican Council II




Proclamation
http://eucharistandmission.blogspot.it/2014/11/proclamation.html

-Lionel Andrades




Photos http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/

Feast of St.Francis Xavier tomorrow

 
The feet of St. Francis Xavier exposed after 450 years.
 
 
 
The Bom Jesus Cathedral in Goa where the body of St. Francis Xavier lies for veneration.
 
St.Francis Xavier's Exposition in Goa 2014.
 
 
 
 
 
 
-Lionel Andrades
 

What Happened When I Took the Pro-Life Message to a Conference of Abortion Doctors

 

 
by Irene van der Wende | Ljubljana, Slovenia | LifeNews.com
At the beginning of October, hundreds of abortionists from around the world met for their conference. I was there to watch them.
Our Dutch Bloemenhove abortion clinic is co-founder, and co-sponsor for the International Federation of Professionals of Abortion and Contraception Associates (FIAPAC). So when there was a request to do an educational pro-life campaign outside their worldwide FIAPAC meeting, I jumped at the opportunity.
And at the beginning of October, I traveled with some pro-life signs by plane to Slovenia. FIAPAC meets every two years. This most recent meeting—entitled “Task Sharing in Abortion Care” –took place in Slovenia. Hundreds of abortionists from around the world met there to inform each other and discuss practical and moral aspects related to abortion and contraception.
This their 11th conference was held in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, which is celebrating 2000 years of existence. At the same time as the FIAPAC meeting, other festivals were taking place, for example a festival called “City of Women: Survival Tactics”, including a “Revolution of the Reproduction” seminar, and “The Ongoing War Against Women” lecture. The city is surrounded by the burial grounds of partisans who died for the cause of freedom.
vanherkLittle did I know, that on the way to hold this public awareness campaign outside the meeting place of the FIAPAC conference of abortionists, that I would travel on a plane seated next to various members of Women on Waves. While I was reading a magazine about “Weapons of mass distraction”, I was thinking of the abortionists’ Weapons of mass destruction, and could overhear Rebecca Gomperts talking to Gunilla Kleiverda – both leaders of Women on Waves. They were talking about pain, and the amount of misoprostol to administer. Also there was some talk about Ireland.
A contact in Slovenia had arranged for us to stand on the street by the Presidential Palace, where hundreds of people passed in cars and busses, and also at the entrance on the other side, where the conference participants would come outside for smoke or lunch breaks. Our signs were graphic, but to show respect for passing children and parents, we didn’t show the signs when a child would pass. Many conference goers would laugh heartily and mock us for doing that. But some ventured to ask why.
One of the men, who also was interested in our AbortionInformation.eu English brochure, stopped dead in his tracks after he started to read the brochure as he walked away, taking in all the information. It was obvious he was moved, as couldn’t stop reading it. As he left, he was continuously turning his head looking at me over and over again, until he passed from view. I guess we left an impression.
Another conference goer was infuriated that we were there, and filmed us with her ipad from across the street, for what seemed an hour. Conference goers repeatedly took pictures and films of us all the time, especially during lunch breaks. To think these pictures of our campaign will be going all over the world!
Two women from Kyrgyzstan walked up because one was writing a report of the conference and wanted to include a picture of our display in her article. As she did that, she tripped over the silver tray in which we had placed a row of models of babies in the range of 6-12 weeks. As she stepped on them, the thought crossed my mind, “This is what in effect happens every day – treading on babies as if they are nothing.”
She felt abortion was needed for medical situations, like rape etc. I told her of my rape, and subsequent whirlwind abortion, and being conceived in violence myself, grateful for life. I told her how I cried and cried when I saw pictures of what they do to babies in D&E abortions like mine, where they tear off arms and legs. What have I done! My own flesh and blood! She was MY baby, and that day was the day I realized we weren’t given all the information beforehand to make an informed decision.
In the meantime she was translating for the other woman, and I could see they were affected. I continued with words to the effect of: “You speak of medical situations. You know, if I carry a baby with problems, and my baby dies naturally, I of course will grieve as a mother, mourning the loss of my baby. But this is a healthy way to mourn the loss of a human being. It’s healthy. But if instead of letting the baby die naturally, I decide to make the decision to kill her, this is a different process.
I repressed my feelings about my abortion for many years, as it was part of me I didn’t like – it was a trauma on top of a trauma. But we all know in psychology, when you suppress things, it comes out in different ways. If I kill my child for a medical condition, instead of letting them die naturally, this will have a different psychological effect in my life. I will perhaps try to suppress it as much as possible, but this will have an effect on my relationships. At the time it may seem a ‘quick’ fix to what may appear as a mountain of problems, but problems are often surmountable. Instead I may have lifelong feelings of guilt and regret – a very different psychological state of mind, the rest of my life- instead of healthy grieving from the natural death of my child.”
They were both visibly affected by what I said, and thanked me. They were now very quiet, and obviously mulling over what I had said. It seemed to sink in. I wonder what they will write in their article.
Another woman I spoke to was complaining about overpopulation, and was concerned about all the poor “unwanted” children who would otherwise be born and might have a hard life. When I responded “Maybe we should start putting people into prison, just in case they start stealing in a supermarket,” she was amused, and said, “That’s a very good response!” The point came across.
At the conference, Rebecca Gomperts of Women on Web talked about medical abortions (at home), citing a report stating that 13.6 percent needed a surgical intervention after their home abortions. While the pills are only to be used up to 9 weeks, another report from Brazil showed around 23 percent were used for pregnancies between 10-12 weeks, and almost 10 percent for 13 weeks or later.
Inside the conference a table was laid out with all the most recent medical instruments used to kill babies.
I watched the Exelgyn DVD “ Medical Termination of Pregnancy” which was handed out at the conference, showing how a medical termination is conducted, but this portrays the baby as a simple clump of cells which would be expelled. Personally, I consider this consumer fraud, as that would only be applicable for the first week of pregnancy, when the mother probably doesn’t even know she is pregnant yet. If the pills are to be used up to 9 weeks LMP, why not show the fully-formed baby with arms and legs, eyes and mouth, fingers and toes? I find it misleading.
At the end I recognized a man who walked up to us (above right). We had already met once before on opening day of his new abortion clinic in Houten in Holland. So I stretched out my hand and greeted him, “Good afternoon Mr van Herk!”
As a representative of the worldwide governance council of International Planned Parenthood (IPPF), he signed off their 2013 financial statement in which they proudly state they work in 172 countries. (The world has around 196 countries.) He asked who I was, and asked whether we had come there to shake things up a bit. I responded by saying that we were just showing that there are different viewpoints, and mentioned my own D&E abortion experience, and that I was horrified when I saw afterwards what is done to babies during the procedure, and that I feel women have a right to know beforehand what happens to their baby so they can truly make an informed choice.
He made a belittling comment about our “dolls,” but I simply said they were models of little children, which he “corrected” to “fetuses”. His attempts to spark something were clearly diffused, and all he could say was “Ja ja. You’re done?”, to which I responded, “Yes, we are finished with our activities and leaving”. I found it a pleasure to meet him again.
All in all, it was exciting to be part of this educational project, which is of international importance. It is clear that some of the professionals there were affected by our presence. A few were livid we were there, calling us sick, but the rest were peaceful, with some professionals clearly pondering a lot after seeing the signs and studying our brochure. The police were very helpful, no problems whatsoever, and the weather was perfect, with sunshine.
On the last day we had flags of nations draped over us, like the flag of the European Union, Germany, Holland etc, carrying the burden of the children killed in these countries. In the European Union some 3,300 babies are aborted every day according to ipfe.org. It was a big burden, and my soul was heavy.
LifeNews Note: Irene van der Wende is the founder of the Dutch pro-life organization Abortioninformation.eu (and AbortusInformatie.nl). Read an interview with her here.
 

Abortionist: We Let Babies Born Alive “Expire”

 

by Sarah Terzo | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com |
(LiveActionNews) — A while back, I wrote a series on abortions that resulted in the births of live babies. In the instances I wrote about, these babies were left to die or even killed by the abortionist. Also, in almost every case, the abortionist evaded any kind of punishment.
An investigation by Live Action revealed that many clinics are still willing to allow infants born after abortion to die. And a representative of Planned Parenthood gave shocking testimony where she refused to condemn the killing of babies born alive after abortions and refused to say what Planned Parenthood doctors did in cases of live birth. Sadly, it seems that the killing of born babies, either by neglect or by direct action, goes on in abortion clinics to this day.
baby32I recently saw a quote on SaynSumthn’s Blog by another abortionist who has admitted that two babies survived abortion at his clinic. Unfortunately, those babies did not survive for long.
Akron abortionist, Rein Siiner (whose clinic can be found here) described what he does when a baby is born alive during an abortion procedure.
“We provide care and comfort until they expire.”
He said this while testifying in a court case about the partial-birth abortion ban in front of Judge Walter Rice of the Ohio legislature.
Siiner works at Washington Surgi- Clinic (website here) which advertises performing abortions up to 26 weeks.
This testimony was given in 2001. There is no way to know how many more babies have survived abortion (and then were allowed to “expire”) at Washington Surgi-Clinic in the past 13 years.
Source: “Testimony Graphic As Dayton Trial on Abortion Ban Begins” Ohio Plain Dealer January 10, 2001
LifeNews.com Note: Sarah Terzo is a pro-life liberal who runs ClinicQuotes.com, a web site devoted to exposing the abortion industry. She is a member of the pro-life groups PLAGAL and Secular Pro-Life. Follower her on Twitter. Reprinted from LiveActionNews.

Woman Was Headed to Abortion Clinic But This Happened: “Thank God I Didn’t Abort My Baby”

 

by Sarah Zagorski
As LifeNews previously reported, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) is calling for a law to move pro-life protestors ten meters or 33 feet away from abortion facilities in the United Kingdom.
The BPAS launched a campaign called “Back Off”, which asks the government to create access zones to prevent women from coming in contact with pro-lifers on the sidewalks. This measure would be similar to the “buffer zone” law abortion proponents passed in Massachusetts in 2007.
baby33However, earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law because the judges believed it was “inconsistent with the First Amendment,” and it “restricts access to ‘public way[s]’ and ‘sidewalk[s],’ places that have traditionally been open for speech activities.”
Additionally, peaceful pro-lifers save lives from abortion every day because they share with women that killing their baby isn’t their only option. In fact, one woman in the UK named Susan Briggs opposes the legislation because pro-life protestors changed her mind about abortion.
“Last year I found out I was pregnant. I already had three children and didn’t think I could cope with another. I decided to go to terminate the baby so I booked an appointment. When I got there they gave me information about abortions, but there were campaigners waiting outside the door. They had some leaflets about abortions and they started talking to me. They had pictures of a foetus at eight weeks and they had pictures of aborted babies.
They started preaching the word of God and telling me abortions aren’t good. I was really scared. I told them I had three kids already and I didn’t need this baby but they told me I didn’t have to go through with the termination. They told me God would help me and give me strength. They took me to a coffee shop, they bought me tea and I said I would go home and try to think about it. I tried not to listen to them, but they were praying for me and I was crying and shaking.
The way they talked to me gave me faith and their encouragement made me decide to keep the baby. I promised them I’d go to the doctor in a few days. They promised to come with me. They kept in touch and came to my home to encourage me. They kept checking I was ok. That kept me going.
Now I thank God I didn’t pass through that process. At eight weeks you can really see the leg is already formed, the head, the face. Then when I finally saw my daughter, I thought, ‘How could I have wanted to terminate this baby? She has given me joy and peace in my family. She has made me and my partner stronger.
The campaigners have also helped me by providing clothes for the baby. They don’t pressure you outside the clinics if you don’t want to listen. They’re just giving their opinion. They should be allowed to do it because some people will change their minds. If I didn’t listen to them, I would have regretted it all my life.
For me, abortion should be banned – everyone should stick to prevention to only have a baby when they’re ready. I want people to have the happiness and peace that I have. My daughter Miracle is now eight months and two weeks old. She’s standing, walking around the table on her own. She’s really growing fast. Everybody says she’s so cute. When they say that I thank God I didn’t do it.”
The particular group Briggs credits to saving her baby’s life is Abort67, which is a pro-life organization dedicated to making abortion unthinkable. The group clearly states on their website that they are against all violence and refuses even to work with individuals or groups that do not share their view. So while the British Pregnancy Advisory argues that pro-life protestors are threatening to women, it seems like all they are doing is sharing the truth about abortion and providing help to women in need.