I thought I’d feel happier about him being gone. I feel like the air is lighter and I’m looking forward to what happens next, but I also feel a profound sadness when I think about him being gone. At any rate, I’ll get to experience a conclave as a professed catholic for the first time, so that’s exciting.
Actually, it’s a nine day period of mourning officially, if I remember correctly. We are in the interregnum. That’s wonderful that you will have the experience of this conclave as a professed Catholic. I made my profession of Faith and my First Holy Communion during the interregnum between John XXIII and Paul VI. I was 15. I was trying to finish up my 9th grade year in school and I remember very little about it. In this day of internet and satellite TV you can see it all.
I feel the same as well. After the havoc he contributed to by insisting we take the vax as well as permitting same sex blessings etc, I thought I'd be glad that we now have a chance to get a different pope... instead, there's this gentle sort of sorrow over his passing. Sorrow over what his papacy could have been as not all of it was wrong or bad, he did a lot of good too. All the anger that once lived strong in me has gone.
It’s exciting to think we may be getting a true Catholic pope this time. But I’m not sure that will be the case. According to Garabandal things will get worse. Like Benedict who was more orthodox, this next Pope will be more progressive. Let’s get ready to defend Jesus. Viva Cristo Rey!
Mother Tereasa of Calcutta once said that some people come into your life as lights and some people come in as lessons. I would say Papa Frankie came into my own life as a lesson.
Agree. But God as we all know is always in control. In a way Popes John Paul and Benedict spoiled us. We had a moral compass which was usually flawless so we didn’t have to be particularly discerning and wise so many of us were unprepared for what came next. But sometimes we get popes that are good men and manage to keep the barque afloat. Sometimes we get spiritual giants like Popes Pius 10 and John Paul 2. Sometimes we get demons from hell.
I think the Pope that had to flee was Pope Benedict XVI. A fulfilled prophecy, in my opinion. Ironically he himself published the relevant Fatima-prophecy in the year 2000, as Cardinal Ratzinger, right hand-man to Pope St JP II.
The 'woke' are, I think, the heirs of the sixties/seventies hippies. They share the same 'look-at-me' narcissism and pose at being 'rebels', while liking nothing better than imposing their views on everyone else, in the manner of tyrants. The first moment most people saw Pope Francis as Pope, he seemed to be posing as the 'cool' rebel, deciding not to wear traditional papal garb. And, of course, drawing even more attention on, not his Office, but himself. He then proceeded to very publicly pose as, not just modest, but the modestest, most humble pope that ever was. Ali was 'the greatest!' but Pope Francis was indisputably 'the modestest!'. While he so frequently contradicted, and at best deemed as 'uncool' those who wished for Catholicism as Christ gave us, he told the world all religions lead to God. Why would anyone convert to a religion as demanding as Catholicism, if that is the case (which no other pope said-and now, he's just another dead pope, nothing special about him)? He's getting great praise for his attitude to immigrants in the liberal/secular (that is, anti-Catholic) media, but turned the Vatican into a punitive Fort Knox for anyone who had the temerity to immigrate into his piece of ground. He gave us an admittedly laudable Year of Mercy, but had little mercy for Vatican employees during COVID or anyone with even loyal disagreement to his diktats (had any other of our many popes a book entitled 'The Dictator Pope' written about him?). He showed no mercy to anyone who, as permitted by Pope Benedict, and not unpermitted by any other pope, preferred the Mass that was good enough for the Catholics of nearly two millenia. Instead, he tried to absolutely crush them. He gave us synods. And then, a synod on synods. Only attended, for the most part, by the most wacky, way-out liberal types imaginable, producing nothing but the kind of cow-manure, hippy/woke jargon that one would associate with people who have such disdain for absolute Truth, Reason and Logic. "a new way of being church"; "a kenotic decentering"; "a listening Church" (they're not listening to the likes of us); "respects the protagonism of the spirit"; are some of the gems produced by the synod on synodality. How many souls will that save? Come to think of it, who would want to be saved, if that's what salvation is? God help us. Finally, to use the terminology of the ageing hippies (a nearly extinct species that now seems to have its last habitat in the Catholic Church-Fr Tony Flannery was on yesterday evening on Today FM-a channel was never changed as quickly), Pope Francis, with his burning desire to be at the front of those who storm the barricades of the worldly issue of the moment, whether it was COVID, immigration, climate-change, anything or anyone opposed to Donald Trump, was the 'Pope of Now'. Well, man, he's yesterday. Rant over. Apoplogies (note the Freudian slip-I meant to write 'apologies', not a cross between it and 'apoplectic'), but I feel better for sharing this. May The Lord have Mercy on Pope Francis and may He grant us a great, Catholic Pope.
I guess we wont see eye to eye on this. I think what happened with this last papacy was a lot bigger than a response to Catholics getting soft. I don't see how calling out the actions of a toxic Pope some how relates to not believing God in control. I don't see the two as mutually exclusive. An argument could be made that Catholics in general are now a lot wiser and informed, but my question to that would be how many, what percentage. Because while church attendance is growing, it isn't particularly massive. I think the faithful became a lot more faithful and informed, those who had eyes to see and ears to hear. Also, the argument that Good Popes make for weak Catholics just doesn't hold water for me. I think what we experienced is a lot bigger than all of that. I am more in the view point where satan got his time and power. One of the mysterious phenomena of our time which has been given a lot of light as of late is how people when presented with an extremely obvious truth still cannot see it. There is a theory whereby the majority of people in general conform socially as a survival mechanism. To the point of blocking out anything that does not conform socially, even if it is an obvious truth (IE women are biological females). In conventional parlance they are referred to as NPCs. Possibly those who Jesus infers as not having eyes to see or ears to hear. They conform to authority subconsciously because they see being accepted socially as the best way to survive. Authorities holding the highest places in society, hold the most power over the social conformists (NPCs). I think this phenomena was hijacked globally, via infiltration of authority structures, especially in the west.
Just to add to this, I remember Archbishop Fulton Sheen speaking about how something like 200 hundred dedicated people out of 100k can change and shape a society, for good or evil, because the rest just follow. I will see if I can find the video.
I am in agreement, also. Allowance must be made for a lot of people, who have been subjected to an immense amount of brainwashing from those they have previously been brainwashed into accepting as good authority. Indeed, most of us were brought up with the reasonable assumption that those in authority were to be trusted, with the common good being cherished in their hearts. The Church itself broadly teaches us to have respect for the laws of our lands, with the implicit assumption that the authority of our lawmakers and enforcers is ultimately sourced from God. Somewhere along the line, this reality has changed. Perhaps, it is when our authorities in various jurisdictions, at different times, decided to legalise abortion, which quickly, as intended, became univeral and on demand. Maybe, it was further back, when contraception and divorce were introduced. At any rate, political authority has become ungodly. As it's really another form of Marxism, it's unsurprising that property has become compromised and the state is laying claim to most of what we possess. Is there a Commandment left that our state authorities do not pervert or invert? Even the concrete laws of nature itself are under attack. There are even satanic lunatics that plot to manipulate us into being essentially non-human, the so-called transhumanists. Simultaneously with all the gullible masses being duped by the very powers they have been brought up to trust, the institution which should be the great Counter-Witness, the Sign of Contradiction, has chosen to 'open the windows' and 'let in the world', culminating in the leadership of Pope Francis which has given succour to sodomy, multiculturalism, climate tyranny, health despotism and just about every imaginable policy of the New World Order that our political authorities are attempting to impose. Let us pray for a great Pope who will stand bravely as a counter-witness and provide for the sheep of the world a leader who can be trusted.
Incredibly well said, impressive. "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do" comes to mind. I think it could be argued that the greatest cross that Jesus carried was being the Truth, the Remedy and watching people not get it for His whole life. Mark 9:19, LSB And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”
Back in the day on the forum, I cheered on the Pope as loud as many that left. I would get into it with Brian all the time. Years later, I saw the error in my thinking mainly because the actions of the Pope could not be ignored. Many actions lead me to my final conclusion but the pachamama incident was the nail in the coffin for me. How dare you place a demon idol on the alter of God in the Vatican no less. Some brave true Catholics removed the abomination and threw it in the river only for the idol to be retrieved and placed again. I was absolutely floored when this happened and no amount of spin would change the fact that this papacy placed a demon on the alter. Such a sad sad day but as Padraig mentioned, a true lesson for many. I still tell people about that today and they can't believe it happened when I tell them.
A couple more things about social conformists. I guess women have a greater tendency to fall into this, I am not sure why it works this way, but allegedly it does. Which is part of the reason I believe feminism was promoted everywhere and masculinity degraded. We see this typified in the "Karens" who are now a general meme in society. They love to go into HR positions and will de-platform people who do not conform to the rules orchestrated by those in power. Essentially brainwashed gatekeepers for the communists/globalists. They also will naturally get loud and aggressive should the social norms dictated by those in authority get challenged. One, because they get social virtue signalling points for doing so and two they don't like their position in society to be challenged by anything they perceive as a threat. I think this is why when female bishops/priests are ordained all they can do is use authoritarian talking points and cannot stick to tradition. They literally self-suicided their church in Sweeden by taking down crosses from their churches in order not to offend muslims. The same with the Anglican church. Female priests and bishops are the death knell of any church.
I agree. I detested many of the explicit and implicit stances of our deceased Pope. DeGaulle has articulated something incredibly well. He has batted it out of the park. And yet I cannot bring myself to say a bad word about Pope Francis. I know this is infuriatingly paradoxical. The epitomy of self-censorship. I even find myself saying, "may his gentle soul rest in peace." I will always remember the photo of Pope Francis with his arms around that poor man with an incredibly deformed and disfigured (elephantiasis-like) face. The Pope's fingers rested gently on that poor man's "leprosy -laden" cheeks. The man's head was as if on Pope Francis' lap. It was hard to even look at the man. Pope Francis was a symbol of God in the world at that moment for me. But there are very serious challenges to out Faith right in front of us now. Transhumanism, AI and the deception of 'aliens'. I think Glen Beck portrays the clear and present apocalyptic danger to our Faith when he talks about the 'singularity' - the point of no return. (A term taken from the science of the cosmology of 'black holes' in space). https://rumble.com/v6sfeqb-glenn-be...e-singularity-saying-its-coming-in-2030..html Daniel O'Conor highlights the apocalyptic and blasphemous danger of the 'aliens' deception here: It seems much of the Catholic world is being well and truly primed to accept the 'aliens' deception. What I am not clear about in my own mind is whether, like Robert Sungenis, one needs to believe in a truly Biblical cosmology and perhaps flat earth geocentrism in order to withstand what is coming down the line with this aliens deception. And while I am at it, what the heck is the Vatican doing poking around in modern astronomy!? Lastly, here is another good video discussing the nature of the spiritual battle which besets us. We also have the huge problem of the continuing murder of the pre-born on an unbelievable scale. I pray the Holy Spirit is at work in the Conclave to select a new Pope who is up to the challenges we face.
