I listened to Robert Moynihan and Fr Murr discussing the Vigano letter. They were not supportive of Vigano making very serious allegations without showing proof they still were not dismissing him. Vigano must feel a great responsibility to expose the corruption that has overtaken the church. So many who should speak out remain silent. Unfortunately PF has stuffed the college of Cardinals with liberals after his own heart we will probably end up with someone worse. At the moment everyone is saying nice things about PF.I think Vigano is not prepared to stay silent.He is an insider and knows a lot. He is fighting for the church. There must be more cardinals who knows the truth. Why don't they speak out. Don't forget the big white box of evidence of wrongdoing handed over to PF by P Benedict.
This resonates greatly with me. Sometimes, perhaps unwittingly, a beam removed by God's grace may be picked up elsewhere and used to flog someone. The damage done by that action can be devastating for many more souls than the one targeted....But, as you say, "People will insist that they have a valid reason. Let them decide." I'll add to that, God will be the judge in the end...
Yes, you are right. God alone is the Judge, now and in the end. The souls we judge may have already been to Confession for those sins. We don’t know.
Ongoing prayers. Such a long drawn out bout of serious illness is telling. O Lord, let the Holy Father use these days to prepare for personal Judgment, no matter its timing! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Continued prayers for him. These next few days may be very critical given the ARF being caused by mucus build up and need for 2 bronchoscopes.
For sure, but I'm more concerned about the longevity of the illness and the endurance of a man at 88 years of age. Speak to him, St. Therese, that his heart may be focused on the Lord! Thank you, Jesus, for giving our Pope the time to prepare to stand before You - a day of both longing and trembling!
This Italian profile posted on X that they are considering transferring the Pope to Santa Marta. If this is confirmed in the coming days, it could be a sign that his end is near, as it is a tradition for Popes to die within the Vatican walls. https://x.com/CesareSacchetti/status/1896652982403698816?t=a1pbZ_OfMneBcHHxohN_pQ&s=19
The main difference I see beteeen what St. John Bosco said regarding the children and guilt by association for adults, especially priests or Bishops, is that adults often have to interact and have a civil relationship with people they dislike. There's also the complication of the seal of Confession. I recall reading something from a priest about sex offenders using the Sacrament to bind innocent priests to silence. That's my not very good summary of a long description of how they went about it. One solution might be to ban priests in community or in the same parish from hearing each other's confession. I've actually been in the queue for Confession in a church run by one religious order and seen priests from another order go to Confession there. Perverts can be very devious and McCarrick seems to have been a master manipulator. He's not far off his own particular judgment. I'll offer a prayer for his eternal salvation and healing for his victims. We have to pray for all souls especially those most in need of mercy. St. Catherine wasn't a nobody. She was very highly regarded and all sorts of VIPs, both clergy and laymen, sought her advice. I didn't know that she had locutions. She was very astute and could see the harm caused to the Church by self-serving members of the hierarchy. Her voice carried some weight. St. Joan's story is strange in that her voices told her to go to the aid of the King. Not a priest or bishop but the king. I don't understand how her story helped the Church. I'm probably missing something important. Maybe something to do with the prophecy about a future holy French King but I just don't see it. We'll have to take Benedict's word for it that his resignation was valid. It's not as if he was locked up in a dungeon. He even went to visit his brother in Germany after his resignation. The Vatican's finances were a mess which probably explains them being excluded from the SWIFT system. Whoever made that decision for SWIFT probably got an awful shock when the Pope resigned. There must have been a high level meeting in the bank once the world's press focused on the Vatican. I'd say that's the reason the decision was reversed. Did it cause the resignation? I don't think so because it's clear now that Benedict had been considering retirement for a while before that. He was probably very worried about the mess in the Vatican's finances and didn't feel strong enough or wily enough to sort it out. We know that the finances were a concern for the Cardinals before the conclave. That could have been a big part of Francis being their choice. They probably felt they needed an outsider - a non-European with a strong personality who didn't have a reputation for living high on the hog. There does seem to be some improvement on the finance front, scandal ridden though the process has been. Is it perfect? No. Accusations and counter-accusations and decades of bureaucratic mess-ups could take many more years to straighten out. As to the famous file which Benedict passed on to Francis, how can we know that Francis ignored it? We don't know what was in it. Maybe it was the contents of the file that Benedict felt unable to tackle. He most likely knew who all his liberal opponents were. What if that file contained information about people he regarded as friends? We just don't know and can speculate 'til the cows come home but where's the good in that? I'm not sure that we have any right to know what's in that file. The fact is that Benedict resigned and made it clear to everyone that he regarded Francis to be the valid Pope. All the investigations in the world can't change that. One of little Francisco's relatives said something to the effect that if he needed to say many rosaries, it doesn't augur well for the rest of us. It's such a blessing for you that you're spiritually prepped for Lent. It seems to have crept up out of the blue and I'm not ready for it but I'll think of something. And yes, thank you for the offer of prayer. I surely need it.
One thing that really concerns me about what is going on in the Gemelli Hospital is the attitude of the Doctors. Their attitude appears to be to keep him alive at all costs. This is not common sensed and is not Christian. This is a very, very old , very very sick man , clearly in great pain. When my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer I advised her not to accept radio or chemo therapy which would only hold of the inevitable by a few months for her to live in pain. I find a lot of these extreme medical interventions very distasteful.
I treated a couple regularly for almost a decade. They were good humble practicing Catholics. She was diabetic and had diabetic kidney disease. When she was in her early 70s the kidney disease got to the point she would soon need dialysis. But she and her husband had decided she just wasn’t interested in getting kidney dialysis several hours a day for three days a week, and her pastor, thankfully, supported her. She did get to the point she needed dialysis, all her doctors were saying how “necessary” it was and she was “too young” not to do it, but she quietly went home with her husband and died a happy death within a couple weeks, at home with her husband holding her hand. I think of them every time I have to consider chemo for cancer or advanced therapies for an 88 yo with double pneumonia, for example.
I suppose it depends on whether the treatment increases or decreases his discomfort. It must be very distressing. This morning's news is that the Pope slept well overnight: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/...s-morning-health-update-gemelli-hospital.html
Needless to say this has absolutely nothing to do with euthanasia. If memory serves Pope John Paul in his last days also refused further invasive treatment and died peacefully in his bedroom.
An encouraging update. Given his age and medical issues I hope he can come home to Vatican and have peace. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/...s-morning-health-update-gemelli-hospital.html This all reminds me of my Mom’s last few months of life. She suffered COPD- really awful as it takes your breath and ultimately csn lead to drowning in your own fluids. She too had motions episodes of ARF and similar treatments as PF. After another ER visit, she told my wife and I she was content in stopping treatments. She told us she wanted to come to our house to pass there. We objected and said she needs to keep fighting. Well, as only an Irish mom can do- she look at us and said get over yourselves. She said I had a most blessed life and this next part was part of her journey. We brought her home. She was there only a week - and despite what Hospice warned, her passing was very peaceful and beautiful. She received the last rites, viaticum , and surrounded by love. She was in a coma the last day but a few minutes before she passed looked up at us all and smiled. And then looked up and clear said 3 times Love you, love you, love you. I do pray PF has a holy death if this is indeed his time.
I was wondering if these intermittent episodes of shortness of breath end up affecting his cognitive abilities. I know many patients who had COVID and experienced memory problems afterward. Although the virus often caused a systemic illness, I once thought this might be due to a lack of oxygenation in the brain.
