Wow! Thanks Carol. That strikes a little too close to home. A pagan statue of a naked woman and child trying to be passed off as Our Lady.
The posts about Lord of the World put me to thinking. I remember being consoled a few years ago to read that Pope Francis had recommended the book, assuming that he must be orthodox deep down if he likes it. It dawned on me tonight that it is plausible that he identifies with the Father Francis of the novel, rather than with Father Franklin. Perhaps, he sees all those stubborn Catholics led by Father Franklin as 'rigid' 'ideologues' and that the progressives led by Felsenberg, are the real heroes. This latter interpretation seems to fit the current facts a lot better.
DeGaulle, The Wikipedia page for the book also has the following: In a sermon in November, 2013, Pope Francis praised Lord of the World as depicting "the spirit of the world which leads to apostasy almost as if it were a prophecy."[2] * In early 2015, Pope Francis further revealed Benson's influence upon his thinking, speaking to a plane load of reporters. At first apologizing for making "a commercial", Pope Francis further praised Lord of the World, despite its being "a bit heavy at the beginning". Pope Francis elaborated, "It is a book that, at that time, the writer had seen this drama of ideological colonization and wrote that book... [ It is called "The Lord of the Earth," or "The Lord of the World." One of those. The author is Benson, written in 1903.] I advise you to read it. Reading it, you'll understand well what I mean by ideological colonization."[77] *** *Pope Francis denounces ‘adolescent progressivism,’ calls Lord of the World prophetic November 19, 2013 During his homily at Mass on November 18, Pope Francis called the first chapter of the First Book of Maccabees “one of the saddest pages in the Bible” because “a great part of the people of God withdraw from the Lord in favor of worldly proposals.” L’Osservatore Romano reported that the Pope preached: “Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us; we cannot become isolated” or remain stuck in our old traditions. “Let us go and make a covenant with them, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us.” The proposal so pleased them that some of the people eagerly went to see the king, to bargain with the king, to negotiate. L’Osservatore Romano continued: The Bishop of Rome likened their attitude to what he called the modern-day “spirit of adolescent progressivism” which seductively suggests that it is always right, when faced with any decision, to move on rather than remaining faithful to one's own traditions. “The people,” he said, “bargained with the king, they negotiated with the king. But they didn't negotiate habits … they negotiated fidelity to God, who is always faithful. And this is what we call apostasy; the prophets called it adultery. They were an adulterous people” who “negotiated something essential to their very being, i.e., their faithfulness to the Lord.” Many people, he said, accepted the king's orders “which prescribed that all the people in his kingdom should be one: and every one should leave his own law.” However, he observed, it was not the “beautiful globalization” which is expressed in “the unity of all nations” who each preserve their own identity and traditions. No, he said, the passage describes the “globalization of hegemonic uniformity,” a uniformity of thought born of worldliness. “Still today, the spirit of worldliness leads us to progressivism, to this uniformity of thought” … Negotiating one's fidelity to God is like negotiating one's identity, Pope Francis said. He then made reference to the 20th-century novel Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson, son of the Archbishop of Canterbury Edward White Benson, in which the author speaks of the spirit of the world that leads to apostasy “almost as though it were a prophecy, as though he envisioned what would happen” … “We would do well to think about what happened in the Book of Maccabees, he continued, about what happened step by step, before we decide to follow an ‘adolescent progressivism’ and go along with what everyone is doing,” the L’Osservatore Romano report added. “We would also do well, he said, to ponder the consequences of their infidelity, to think about the ‘death sentences, the human sacrifices’ which followed thereafter. He then asked those present: ‘Do you think there are no human sacrifices today? There are many, many of them. And there are laws that protect them.’” PS - Sometimes I wonder if because Pope Francis wants to distance himself to whom he refers to as 'rigid' 'ideologues' that he is now surrounded by progressives many of whom are far more progressive than the pope could ever have realized and maybe still does not fully realize. [To use a metaphor, he has opened Pandora's Box.] *** “So You Can Remember” Elizabeth A. Mitchell | Saturday, October 12, 2019 https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2019/10/12/so-you-can-remember/ *** *** Pope's bodyguard resigns over leak in financial probe By Louis Casiano | Fox News | October 14, 2019 | https://www.foxnews.com/world/popes-bodyguard-resigns-over-leak-in-financial-probe
Statements as above, or something like them, are what I probably found consoling. Reading them, one would have expected that PF was about to put Benedict and JPII in the 'ha'penny place' in terms of traditionalism. Unfortunately, he has turned out to be the man of confusion and contradiction. He has definitively chosen, in his compromises towards adultery and environmentalism, to 'go along with what everyone is doing'. In bringing lewd pagan idols into St Peter's itself he has apparently 'negotiated fidelity to God'. In his own words, this latter is 'what we call apostasy'. He would have a syncretistic world of 'hegemonic uniformity' with the Mohammedans. His Synod is a specific exercise in "the spirit of adolescent progressivism", where it seems to be 'always right...to move on, rather than remaining faithful to one's own traditions'. Most ominously, he warns of a phenomenon of 'ideological colonisation' in one of the passages above and in recent days he aimed his sights and identified those whom he calls the 'ideologues', but it is the upholders of the traditions of the Faith whom he has so labelled. With this upending of logic and his broad definition of 'proselytism', it is difficult not to suspect that his culprit in 'ideological colonisation' is the Faith itself.
That's what I was afraid of. We all thought when he took the name Francis, it was out of deference to St Francis of Assisi or his great Jesuit predecessor, St Francis Xavier. Now I fear it might be taken after the Father Francis character in the novel. The only benevolent reading I can make of all this, and it requires copious mental gymnastics, is that Pope Francis is deliberately putting his Church to the test, seeing just how far the progressives within it are prepared to go down the road described in Benson's book, in the expectation of an ultimate Divine intervention; not necessarily the end of the world, as in the conclusion of the novel, but perhaps the Triumph of Our Lady's Immaculate Heart. I only keep this open on account of the orthodoxy of his earlier pronouncements and because of little clues such as that 'Our Father' he said in abandonment of the prescribed words in that garden incident. I also find his facial expressions and body language somewhat downhearted in recent photos, but there might be alternative reasons for all that.
Not likely, imo, but anyway it´s not for any man to do that, only God can put us to the test. Didn´t Hitler put millions of people to the test? Didn´t his actions expose a lot of evil that had been lurking in millions of people´s hearts? Didn´t God extract some good from the horrible suffering and evil of his actions? Does that mean his actions were good and justified? I´d go with your parallel between the book (which I haven´t read) and what´s going on in the Church - very, very insightful.
When you put it that way, even my 'benevolent reading' is not very benevolent. It was too much of a stretch anyway, but you are right-it would be grossly irresponsible to cause such scandal and confusion in order to achieve such an end. The simpler explanation is more likely to be true in most cases, in other words, we have a pope who seems to wish to destroy the Church.
Here's the video of the opening of the Synod as posted on the Vatican News youtube channel. The first couple of minutes are an eye opener.
I read the book. I'll need to read it again because I've forgotten nearly all of it. Back then I thought that the Pope was warning against the acceptance of euthanasia. I think that he had spoken out against euthanasia. I vaguely recall that in the book euthanasia was considered an acceptable alternative to living through unhappiness or disappointment. Now, I'm not so sure why he urged people to read the book. As often as not, soon after he expresses his disapproval of some evil practice he goes ahead and lauds the evil's practitioners or gives a nod and wink to Catholics promoting or practising it. Maybe he really believes that he's a great Pope fighting the Anti-Christ and only he knows the identity of the AC.
I don't think one can believe a word he says. There is no longer any point in trying to figure him out. I think Father Weinandy's analysis (Catholic Thing, Oct. 8th) is the best approach, now. Or, as David Warren often says, "I don't care what they do in Rome, I'm staying Catholic".
Hmm, I'd like to download it. You'd be amazed at the 2 binders I have now created of my accumulation of docs, articles, research on Catholic prophesy, Councils, etc. Of course I sorted everything according to select tabs. I'd photography the tabs but I have a tough time making a photo small enough to insert to a post. Since both Pope Benedict and Francis have recommended this book to us, it's quite appropriate to include it. It seems either a little nuts or quite brilliant (depending on the person). For now, I may not label either binder.
I read it about six years ago and it seemed plausible. Now, much more so. I don't know whether it's prophesy per se or a good read of the signs of the times by a man with great insight into human nature and a knowledge of Catholic prophesy up to that time. Monsignor Benson has been said to have written the book in answer to HG Wells' utopian novels. He has been described as having written perhaps the first science fiction dystopian novel. Developments since have shown Monsignor Benson's vision to be far less fictional than those of the later-disillusioned Wells. Dystopias are far more easily achievable than utopias. Monsignor Benson also wrote a lovely book about Lourdes which I downloaded from the internet around the same time. I can't remember where, but a search should easily find them.
Oct. 15, 2019 The Mysterious Resignation of Vatican Police Commander Giani NEWS ANALYSIS: Ostensibly his resignation was a consequence of the leaking of the names of five suspended Vatican officials, but sources tell the Register it was actually triggered by other issues. Edward Pentin | http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/the-mysterious-resignation-of-vatican-police-commander-giani [Please click on the link for all of the hotlinks.] VATICAN CITY — The resignation of Vatican police commander Domenico Giani on Monday had been long expected, but the background to his removal remains shrouded in intrigue and mystery. The Vatican announced Giani’s replacement today, Gianluca Gauzzi Broccoletti, who has served in the Vatican police corps since 1995 and was appointed Giani’s deputy last year. A former officer in both Italy’s finance police, the Guardia di Finanza, and Italy’s Secret Service, Giani, 57, brought a wealth of experience and contacts to the role when he was employed by Pope St. John Paul II 20 years ago. He effectively served as the Pope’s chief bodyguard, winning the trust also of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis and protecting the successors of Peter on almost 70 apostolic visits, including some highly dangerous ones (most memorably Benedict’s visit to Turkey in 2006 amid the Islamic fallout of his Regensburg address, and Pope Francis’ visit to the war-torn Central African Republic in 2015). Reportedly an active Catholic with a devotion to St. Francis of Assisi, Giani told Vatican Media Monday he used all his energy to carry out “the service entrusted to me” and that he tried to do so with “self-denial and professionalism, but calmly feeling, as the Gospel of two Sundays ago reminds us, a ‘useless servant’ who has done his little part to the end.” This is why the ostensible reason for his resignation — the leaking of names of five Vatican officials suspended after an Oct. 1 Vatican police raid, for which the Vatican said he “bears no personal responsibility” — is confounding Vatican watchers and raising a number of questions. The memo regarding the five officials, one monsignor and four laypersons, was meant for internal use but leaked to the Italian magazine L’Espresso, which duly published the information. The Vatican decried the publication of the names of the officials, saying the five were subjected to “media pillory” despite pending investigations that have yet to establish any misconduct on their part. Pope Francis reportedly called the release of the names a “mortal sin.” The source of the leak has still not been identified. The escalating outcry led to a sense of inevitability that someone would have to take responsibility, and eyes therefore turned to Giani, despite his reported innocence of any direct involvement in the leak. Other Possible Reasons Yet his departure comes after months of talk in Rome that the former Italian Secret Service officer was “on his way out” and some surprise that he had kept his job for so long. “The reason why he has resigned is fake,” said an informed source. “They could not find a good reason to dismiss him, they did not want to disclose the internal reasons for doing so, and so used this story as an easy instrument to get him out.” Anonymous sources cited a number of reasons, one in particular being that he was too closely allied to the “old guard” and involved in resistance to clearing out financial and other corruption in the Vatican. This came into sharp focus during the dismissal of the Vatican’s first auditor general, Libero Milone, in 2017. Milone told media at the time he had been forced out after launching an investigation into a possible conflict of interest involving an unnamed Italian cardinal. He said his phones were bugged and computers hacked and that Cardinal Angelo Becciu (then sostituto, deputy secretary of state) had told Milone to resign on the basis of a seven-month investigation by Vatican police. Cardinal Becciu alleged at the time that Milone “was spying on the private lives of his superiors and staff, including me,” and that if he had “not agreed to resign, we would have prosecuted him.” But Milone said the facts presented to him on the morning of his dismissal “were fake, fabricated” and that he was “in shock,” as “all the reasons” given for his dismissal “had no credible foundation.” “I was threatened with arrest,” he said, adding that Giani “intimidated me to force me to sign a resignation letter that they had already prepared weeks in advance.” Milone also said he suspected that his forced dismissal was linked to the arraignment of Cardinal George Pell, who was then serving as the prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, on sexual-abuse charges in Australia, as the two events occurred within a week of each other. Both were uncovering extensive evidence of financial mismanagement at the time. The Vatican withdrew all charges against Milone last year. Giani’s ties with Cardinal Becciu are also significant, given that it was Cardinal Becciu who was instrumental in ending the first external audit of the Vatican by the auditing giant PwC in 2016. The audit and its costs had been agreed upon by Cardinal Pell and the Council for the Economy, but Cardinal Becciu argued not enough consultation had been carried out about the expense and unilaterally halted the audit after just four months. Now comes the recent raid on the Secretariat of State, carried out by Giani on the orders of Vatican prosecutors, which, as the Register reported, was aimed primarily at Cardinal Becciu and previous employees of the dicastery. L’Espresso reported that it focused on misuse of Peter’s Pence and a dubious London property transaction. The Financial Times this week revealed more about the latter, in particular that $200 million in Swiss bank accounts controlled by the Secretariat of State were used in 2014 to finance a luxury property development in London’s Chelsea district. The Financial Times reported that the property generated large profits for a company that also managed the investment for the Holy See while Cardinal Becciu was sostituto. (He resigned from that post on June 29, 2018, one day before he was elevated to the rank of cardinal and subsequently was appointed to his current position as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.) ‘Vatican Power Game’ The main question being asked, in addition to questions over financial misconduct, is why was the Secretariat of State handling property at all? All Holy See real estate is the responsibility of another dicastery, the Administration of Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA). Cardinal Becciu told the Register Oct. 12 he preferred “to keep silent and let justice take its course. Of course, the truth will come out.” Giani is not suspected of involvement in that affair, but his closeness to Cardinal Becciu and collaboration with him is a focus of discussion, as are other elements connected with the former Vatican police commander, namely that he had become “too powerful.” Writing in Italy’s Start Magazine Oct. 14, Andrea Mainardi noted that Giani investigated “questions of sex and drugs, of disloyal employees and, above all, money” during the “Vatileaks” scandals of 2012 and 2015. Numerous sources, on condition of anonymity, have told the Register in recent months that Giani knew “everything about everyone” and was widely reputed to be the “most powerful man in the Vatican” — so much so that some Vatican insiders would say even the Pope and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, were “scared of him.” The Register has also frequently heard allegations in recent years of Vatican offices, particularly in the Secretariat for the Economy, being heavily bugged. As well as in the auditor general’s office, two devices reportedly were found in the offices of Cardinal Pell. Giani and his officers would have placed them there, the sources say. The former commander was “as much controversial and criticized as he was esteemed and loved, and therefore hated,” wrote Mainardi, who also alluded to a questionable extension and renovation of a Vatican apartment where Giani lives with his wife and children. Giani, he wrote, is in the “sights of a Vatican power game that needs to be deciphered.” Does it really have to do with the leaking of the five Vatican officials’ names, or friction between the Secretariat of State and the Vatican’s finance departments? Or is it because Giani really did know too much about corruption in the Vatican, making him too powerful? His resignation might also have something to do with the publication of a new book next week by the Italian investigative reporter Gianluigi Nuzzi, which threatens to herald another Vatileaks scandal. The Register asked Giani to comment on the reasons for his resignation, but at the time of publication he had not responded.
So what does everyone think will be the next overt step taken after this synod closes? Will there be the open presentation of the new liturgy rumored to have already been created in secret? Will the already planned next steps be put into action to continue the gradual initiation of the faithful to the accepted protestant type outlook from here on out? What will be the next demands? And then what will come from the opposition.....firming up the sides?
I can't answer that, but I think we can know what won't come. Clarity in truth. Orthodoxy of faith. Teachings reiterated. Traditional unchanging doctrine. Bottom line, more relativism and dissent from God's revelations defined in his Church for the past 2000 years. We won't see unity in faith until the purification is through and the era of peace our Lady of Fatima said would come, via the Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart.
