Thank you to everyone for your responses. I really appreciate this conversation and everyone's take. Gives me a much better sense, which is comforting and discomforting at the same time.
I’m not judging. Pope Leo grew up Catholic in Chicago. Not exactly the best diocese then, maybe not even now.
Yes, while it is important in this time of instant news, to be aware of developments within the universal Church so as to better know how to intercede, the Bishopric and Vatican are ultimately in the hands of God. Best to discern how we as individuals can impact the lives of those around us.
There is also the financial politics where if certain things aren't done funding is cut. Like what happened in the US when USAID was cut. The USCCB grouped up and condemned it because they were all getting funded by it. Rome had and possibly still has financial incentive to follow globalist policies.
Yes, but "Rome" is so filled with freemasons, they're all working for the same goals. Like in the rest of the world, there is probably a very small percentage of faithful ones in the Vatican...not enough to overcome the wolves around them, but doing the best they can with God's help to minimize the damage and draw down graces with their silent martyrdom.
I’ve been reading through this thread and reflecting on some of the comments about recent popes. When you look at the history of the Church, we’ve had some pretty bad popes. Some did things completely contrary to what Christ taught. Yet the Church is still here. I believe Christ promised to protect His Church, particularly in matters of faith and morals. That doesn’t mean every pope is a saint or that every decision he makes is right. Even Peter denied Christ three times. But reading this thread also has me thinking about something more personal. Last night at our NCW catechesis, we reflected on the Gospel of Peter walking on water. I’ve heard it many times, but it struck me differently last night. Jesus sends the disciples out in a boat, and they find themselves in a storm. Peter sees Jesus walking toward them and asks Him to call him. Jesus says, “Come.” And Peter actually gets out of the boat and walks on the water. But then he becomes frightened by the wind and begins to sink. I see myself in Peter. I’ve had plenty of storms in my own life, especially these past couple of years. I struggle with wanting to control things, fix problems, and make everything right. And when I can’t, I get frustrated. Sometimes angry. I struggle with judgment, forgiveness, and even loving people who are difficult for me to love. I know what Christ asks of me. But knowing it and actually living it are two very different things. Something else our catechist said last night really stayed with me. Prayer is a battle. It’s not simply asking God to give me what I want or make things turn out the way I think they should. It’s recognizing that I can’t do this on my own. That I’m weak. That I need Him. I think that’s one of the hardest things for me to accept. I spend so much time trying to be strong, trying to figure things out, trying to fix what’s wrong. And maybe that’s part of why I struggle so much when things are beyond my control. What struck me about Peter is that the storm was still there when he walked on the water. Jesus hadn’t made it disappear. But Peter could walk toward Him, even in the middle of it. And when Peter became frightened and started to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out His hand. That really speaks to where I am right now. I don’t need to have everything figured out. I don’t need to fix every problem or understand every decision made by someone else, including those leading the Church. I need to learn to trust Christ, especially when things aren’t going the way I want. And when I fail, when I lose sight of Him and start sinking again, I need to remember that I don’t have to save myself. I only have to cry out, “Lord, save me.”
I have to disagree with you. He dresses like that all the time and, although a public figure he is known to be extremely shy in front of cameras. He said nothing, that I am aware of and simply took his Rosary beads. As I’ve often pointed out here, Dylan is unlike most celebrities because his political views are quite reactionary and most of his songs in the last forty-five years have been about Jesus Christ. He’s also name-checked Our Lady in a couple. This is a man who was once arrested for looking suspicious in a hoodie, because he wanted to have a look at Bruce Springsteen’s house and was too polite or shy to identify himself to the lady police officer. He might be a bit autistic. It’s not a sin to be eccentric.
I heard an interesting comment on this Scripture scene during the week. It was concerning all saints are different and with different tempraments. Someone said that St Paul, after his conversion would never have fallen into the sea. He would have run across the water to Jesus. This is not to criticise st Peter. All saints , like all people are different. Which is why we like some saints more than others and have our very own favourites. As does Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Only God can judge souls, Popes too. But what is the vocation of a Pope? What is he there for? Very simple, to preserve the Deposit of the Faith. To keep things Catholic. If he does this he is a good Pope. If he does not do it he is a bad Pope. It's not rocket science. The last two Popes have been the worst ever. Horrendously awful. Catastrophic. It's just a simple fact.
Huge financial incentives. When pressure was being applied toBXVI to resign the high ranking money men who are never known or named shut off all financial transactions in the Vatican. No banking. No ATMs. Fr Murr goes into this ( he wrote a book about masonic infiltration a few years ago). It was the final straw for poor Pope Benedict.
Yes I saw it. It left me with the impression that he had cut a deal with the devil. I hope i am wrong.
I saw it. I don’t recall that view of it at all. I do remember the controversy, and I’ve thought about it a lot, and I’m content that Christ is his ‘chief commander’. He’s never a man that has looked for fame, it has tended to follow him. At the absolute height of his fame, in 1966, he disappeared, got married and didn’t perform for seven years. I’ve been a fan for over half a century and followed his career and life in detail. Any other meaning to that TV appearance, with a vocal statement by a man who is very nervous on camera, can not be supported by any evidence from decades of words that he has written. It is not fair to condemn a man for one ambiguous spoken phrase in a sixty-five year career of writing songs and giving other interviews in which that allegation is completely contradicted. In 1979, he was probably the most famous Jew in America. Do you not realise how difficult it was for him to convert to Christianity, against the wishes of his family, who were Jewish and also of most of his friends and musical colleagues, many of them Jewish and many others hostile to religion? And he’s stayed the course. Instead of condemning him for looking weird, we should be welcoming one of the few musical celebrities who has condemned abortion, homosexuality, globalism and even landing on the moon. He was also about the only prominent person, along with St Pope John Paul II to oppose the First Gulf War. He’s even sung in Latin!
See my post above. And another point. He qualified ‘chief commander’ immediately by saying ‘in this world and the next’. He’s no dunce when it comes to theology (read his lyrics) and would know that the devil might be commander in this world, but he’s not in the next. I think this was meant as a correction precisely for the misinterpretations that could be made from the phrase he had just used.
The man who wrote ‘Forever Young’, ‘Shelter From The Storm’, ‘When He Returns’, ‘I Believe In You’, ‘In the Garden’, Every Grain of Sand’, ‘Sweetheart Like You’, ‘Foot of Pride’, ‘Dark Eyes’, ‘When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky’, ‘Narrow Way’, ‘Pay In Blood’, ‘Tempest’ and ‘Cross the Rubicon’, among many others seems to gravitate to God. He has also covered many traditional Christian songs and Christian songs by the likes of the Stanley Brothers and Hank Williams. And he’s a Christmas album with a half dozen-or-so hymns. Also: https://biblehub.com/topical/c/chief_commander.htm As for deals with ‘destiny’, if one thinks God is Destiny (or Providence), it’s not wrong to make ‘deals’ with Him. Every time we confess our sins and pledge not to commit them again, we make a ‘deal’ of sorts. Dylan has often said that he keeps touring because ‘the time comes when no man can work’, a phrase of Christ’s from John 9:4. Here’s the interview transcript: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-bob-dylan-rare-interview-2004/
While I believe in evaluating oneself, I think it is necessary to look at a wider range, not weeks or months, but years. I'm human, therefore I'm a sinner. In the last week I've fallen. In the last month I've fallen (which reminds me that I need to get to Confession!). So self-reflection needs a wider scope (and the help of spiritual direction). After your accident, there were struggles, but you proved faithful in your love for Alyce. While I try to be the same toward Geralyn, she could share my shortcomings if she so desired. But she wouldn't because of faithfulness over the years, in the long run, which have bonded us together ever more deeply. I love Christ's injunction: Matt 16:224 “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. I slip, I fall, I fail, but the Mercy of Jesus heals and will ultimately triumph in all of our lives.
Perhaps he did make a deal with something dark, but he is drawn toward God and wishes he hadn't done it. We should pray for him.
