Essential, wise advice. It would be interesting to look back on the posts here about Pope Francis. I think I only joined in 2015 or '16 and I have a memory that most of us thought he wasn't too bad, although we were confused with some of his teaching. I think it wasn't until Pachamama that we broadly realised, or more accurately, accepted, that we had a major problem. Then it became one thing after another. While forewarned is forearmed and we are now aware that a Pope isn't necessarily good and our antennae will more quickly sense trouble, we need to wait until our antennae find it first.
There is nothing wrong with being careful. I can pray for the Pope but I do not have to gush or fuss over the choice. Given the state of our Church at the moment, misgivings can be warranted. No matter what, we are truly living out prophecy right now..using the brain God gave us is not running to rash judgements
Having spent the past couple of days watching interviews with people who know Pope Leo, I'm cautiously optimistic that he will continue to prioritise care for the poor without being side tracked by the rich homosexual and anti-family lobby. He seems to be more circumspect than Pope Francis which suggests that he won't start out by making enemies of large sections of the Church. From what I can discern thus far, he doesn't have the vindictive streak that was all too evident in Pope Francis. We may well see the Francis agenda being progressed but with clarity and without the media circus. Time will tell. I do have a sneaking suspicion that he may have been chosen long before the death of Pope Francis, but that wouldn't be a first. The God of Surprises can thwart the plans of the most crafty and manipulative of men May the Holy Spirit guide him and protect him from the wolves.
There were, as I recall, only two (maybe three) of us who commented on the election of Francis who were horrified to find ourselves led by a South American Jesuit with openly Marxist leanings and a reputation for aggression and manipulation. We took some 'stick' for our comments about the likely outcome of such a papacy. Most of those here at that time, applauded the election of a 'humble, kindly man who was a champion of the poor and the underdog. After a few hours of Googling Jorge Borgoglio's name, I came across the blog of an Argentinian laywoman who said that she knew him personally and was appalled at his election. She said that he was heterodox, displayed a false modesty and had been deposed from the leadership of the Argentinian Jesuit province for his aggressive style of leadership (confirmed to be true by the man himself). She said much else but I have no wish to bore you. I then waited for what I saw as the inevitable horrors to come. I didn't have to wait long, nor for the changes of attitude by fellow 'trads'. Here and elsewhere.
Leo XIII faced a world where anti-Christian ideologies were emerging, such as socialism, which was fueling the class struggle. Today, with the advancement of artificial intelligence and technology in general, we are witnessing a new version of the class struggle—this time between workers and machines. I wonder how many years it will take before this leads to a new "proletarian revolution", once the suppression of jobs due to technological progress reaches an explosive and unsustainable level for global human development indicators. The most effective way to start a revolution is to create a pretext for it to exist.
He has peruvian citizenship..two south-american Popes in a row!! He's anti-communist also, he suffered personally from (maoist) SL guerrilla in Peru. no way he likes commies.
Papa Leon is calling for peace in Ukraine, Gaza, Pakistan and India. Return of hostages, and I think he might get it all this week.
Interestingly, he included a quote from Saint Ignatius of Antioch, a Church Father martyred in Rome, in the first homily of his pontificate: 'Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus, when my body is no longer visible to the world.'"
Amid so many speculations about a pope who, according to prophecies, will leave Rome and suffer martyrdom, I found it interesting to see a reference to the martyrdom in Rome of one of the first Apostolic Fathers.
My liking of Pope Leo is turning to love since he sang the Regina Caeli on Sunday. God bless our Pope. I am thanking God for this man despite my lack of faith in fearing the worst (Parolin or Tagle). I think that our prayers have been answered against the odds. Alleluia!
Rash judgement also includes portraying that which is evil as good not just good as evil . Two sides of the coin. Luke 6:26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. Pretty well everyone in the entire world is speaking well of our new Pope. Including the legacy media. The exact same thing happened with Papa Frankie. Be honest , didn't you yourself thing well of him that way back then, as Mr Wonderful? Now the same thing again, you, along with pretty well everyone else on the planet think well of this new guy once again. he pretty well glows in the dark. A saint walking. Just like Papa Frankie. I doubt very much if you think Frankie is as wonderful now. Does that not give you cause to rethink? What you want and what you get are not always the same thing. You want, you want very much to believe the new guy is wonderful because that would solve all your confusion and doubt. A glow in the dark guy who has all your cures to all your doubts. a glow in the dark kinda guy. I do not not think you are a bad person for thinking what may be evil is good. Extend me the same courtesy in that I believe that what seems to be a good person is pure evil. You very, very, earnestly want this guy to be Mister Glow in the dark. Everyone is telling you he is Mr Glow in the Dark. Therefore he must be Mister Glow in the Dark. But often what you want and what you get are not the same thing. He looks nice, he dressed nice, he sings Fleiz Navitad well he has a good voice, he sounds sincere , he had tears in his eyes, He is an American. He said the right Mass at the right time. Are not these the exact same tricks the devil would use to fool you and people like you? As Papa Frankie did? So do not confuse evil for good and deceive people to go down the wrong path. Everyone is swooning over him. For goodness sake take a grip.
The Devil when he comes does not look like a monster. He looks, as Scripture tells us, like an Angel of Light. Like he glows in the dark. I have never, in my entire life, seen anyone at all reported so favourably upon than Papa Leo. They rant and rave about him endlessly. Even on the internet. Does that in it self not give you pause?
I never, ever considered Francis to be the sweet guy the world depicted, not for one moment. I trusted my instinct against your own view of him as well as that of almost everyone on the forum and the world in general. I trust my instinct again (with quite a lot of reason), Pope Leo clearly loves Our Lady and bravely, in my view, wore the stole and mozetta to signal a definite break from the recent past. He is described by those who know him as discreet, thoughtful and extremely kind man who chooses his words carefully. Quite a contrast. He was also loved in his Peruvian diocese for his genuinely 'common touch'. He is also a canon lawyer, intellectually gifted and an excellent administrator. He obtained permission to say the TLM daily in the Vatican. Don't worry, you will love him too once the world starts to attack him for his lack of 'progressiveness'.
I personally don't like all this papolatry. Cheering crowds as if he was some kind of God. But I respect the Office. He is our Holy Father. Although Jesus did say call no one your 'Father', for we have but one Father and He is in Heaven. But really Pádraig, do you believe he is pure evil? What confuses me is that you criticised JHW, rightly I think, for jumping the gun and flying off the handle about our new Pope. You said he should wait maybe one or two years in prayer before saying such things if they were justified. What caused you to make a U turn? Maybe you were saying those things tongue in cheek? If what you are saying is true, it reminds me of Bishop Williamson who used to call those in the Vatican 'devils'. Michael Matt is moderately pleased so far with Pope Leo and he is not one to hold back from saying what he thinks is consistent with the traditional Magisterium of the Church.
Next year, we will have another stage of the synodal journey that Leo mentioned continuing. By then, I believe it will become clear whether he is a conservative or a liberal. If we consider his homilies, we are walking on air when it comes to Christocentricity and avoiding the promotion of false religions as paths to salvation. However, I won’t deny that I’m a bit apprehensive about things possibly changing soon.
I’m worried about how such a man rose through the hierarchy in this day and age. And with so little concrete evidence of his historical leanings. He’s either been in the palm of God's hand his whole career, or he’s been very crafty.
No everyone absolutely is NOT swooning over Pope Leo XIV. Everyone I know is cautious, but hopeful. I don't know about HH, but I certainly felt strange about Pope Francis from the beginning. Your sudden about-face and declaring this pope to be more "pure evil" than Pope Francis, is what should be raising eyebrows here. It is saintly to assume the best of others until proven wrong, to only see bad in yourself and good in others. I've never heard any saint declare themselves to be in perfect communion with God (having reached the 7th mansion as you claim) while calling others without any proof "pure evil." We all see you make these assertions and many stay silent, but you like it when people call a spade a spade, right? So I'm speaking up. HeavenlyHosts is one of the sweetest, most level-headed, respectful members of this forum and I have huge respect for her. She is right in how she is approaching this pope, seeing the goodness in him, giving him the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. She does not need to get a grip. Your words worry me sometimes, Padraig. We are fond of you and thankful for this forum. But you remind me of someone that turned out to be a false prophet. I don't say that lightly, and I don't mind getting kicked off the forum for it.
