The living out of the Gospel in the social realm is the duty of primarily the laity as expressed in the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. The Clergy instructs and upholds the channels of grace by which we are forgiven, strengthen, and immersed in the love and wisdom of God. But the evil one likes to gum up the works! Lord have Mercy!
Thank you for these details, this makes a lot more sense as the puzzle pieces come together. I knew the Vatican was already in trouble financially, especially given what was going on with Cardinal Pell and all the other scandals. But the fact that the Vatican was kept out of SWIFT was something I did not know. So it looks not just like infiltration but also a capture of the Vatican too, at least financially.
Good. I’m still praying that Pope Leo will eventually fully allow the TLM. I think he’s moving slowly but moving in the right direction.
Praying he pardons Bishop Strickland soon. If he does that then he will surely be heading in the right direction.
I see Pope Leo is on holidays in Castel Gandolfo at the moment. This used to be an old tradition and it is lovely he revived it. I have read so much about the place. During the Seocnond World War, for instance, they used it to hide poor Jews there. I'd love to see it sometime. I love history and tradition. It;s so beautiful!! https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/...-some-summer-holidays-in-castel-gandolfo.html
The global press exposure regarding PF’s blatant lies in promoting his motu proprio that banned the TLM in many places will force PL to overturn PF’s draconian attack on the TLM. As a result many, even trads, will be even more convinced PL is on the side of orthodoxy and orthopraxis. If he is indeed a wolf is sheep’s clothing this will make it even more difficult to convince the orthodox wing of the Church of the dire situation we are in. I honestly don’t know myself. I was very critical from the start of this papacy but I am not saying anything for or against at this point. (I have no supernatural input to fall back on and my own opinions are far from infallible.)
Psalms 37:12-40 12 The wicked make evil plans against good people. They grind their teeth at them in anger. 13 But the Lord laughs at the wicked, because he sees that their day is coming. 14 The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows to kill the poor and helpless, to kill those who are honest. 15 But their swords will stab their own hearts, and their bows will break. 16 It is better to have little and be right than to have much and be wrong. 17 The power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord supports those who do right. 18 The Lord watches over the lives of the innocent, and their reward will last forever. 19 They will not be ashamed when trouble comes. They will be full in times of hunger. 20 But the wicked will die. flowers of the fields; they will disappear like smoke. 21 The wicked borrow and don't pay back, but those who do right give freely to others. 22 Those whom the Lord blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be sent away. 23 When a person's steps follow the Lord, God is pleased with his ways. 24 If he stumbles, he will not fall, because the Lord holds his hand. 25 I was young, and now I am old, but I have never seen good people left helpless or their children begging for food. 26 Good people always lend freely to others, and their children are a blessing. 27 Stop doing evil and do good, so you will live forever. 28 The Lord loves justice and will not leave those who worship him. He will always protect them, but the children of the wicked will die. 29 Good people will inherit the land and will live in it forever. 30 A good person speaks with wisdom, and he says what is fair. 31 The teachings of his God are in his heart, so he does not fail to keep them. 32 The wicked watch for good people so that they may kill them. 33 But the Lord will not take away his protection or let good people be judged guilty. 34 Wait for the Lord's help and follow him. He will honor you and give you the land, and you will see the wicked sent away. 35 I saw a wicked and cruel man who looked strong like a healthy tree in good soil. 36 But he died and was gone; I looked for him, but he couldn't be found. 37 Think of the innocent person, and watch the honest one. The man who has peace will have children to live after him. 38 But sinners will be destroyed; in the end the wicked will die. 39 The Lord saves good people; he is their strength in times of trouble. 40 The Lord helps them and saves them; he saves them from the wicked, because they trust in him for protection. A psalm of David to remember.
These verses from the psalms are among the most powerful in the Bible. I find them extraordinarily straightforward. God truly speaking to us. What I find mind boggling is that these verses of course are in the Jewish Bible. The reading of psalms is viewed in Jewish tradition as a vehicle for gaining God's favor. How can they NOT see that the atrocities they are committing will eventually inevitably turn against them when God says ENOUGH. Time to reap what you have sown. And the same applies to evil men in the church. The only answer I can come up with is what Malachi Martin described 30 years ago: they’ve lost the faith. They don’t believe there is a God and those prophets actually conveyed His words to us. They were deceived. We know best. We have computers and go to the moon. Those prophets lived in tents or caves and they were all slaughtered. They can’t have been right. 35 I saw a wicked and cruel man who looked strong like a healthy tree in good soil. 36 But he died and was gone; I looked for him, but he couldn't be found.
Exposing evil for what it is is this first step to overcoming it. Praise God a first step has been taken.
I found the article not uninteresting. A warning shot? The New York Times and Pope Leo XIV. A note by Giuseppe Nardi Last Saturday, June 28, the New York Times published two articles ( here and here ) that can hardly be dismissed as randomly placed routine pieces. On the eve of the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul—the external feast day of the papacy and the visible unity of the Ecclesia militans— the leading US media outlet placed the new pope at the center of a dual abuse analysis. Is the grace period over? The symbolism of the publication date may have been deliberately chosen: on the very day that Pope Leo XIV personally awarded the pallium to new metropolitans for the first time again – a ritual that had faded into the background under Francis and which particularly emphasizes the unity of the Church sub Petro – the New York Times published a story that, if not questions this very authority, then at least undermines it. Francis – spared, Leo – under observation? While Pope Francis was treated with kid gloves by the influential globalist media for years – one thinks, for example, of his conspicuous restraint in the McCarrick scandal – the tone towards his successor is noticeably cooler, more analytical, and more distant. In both articles, Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is assessed based on two cases of abuse from his time as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru (2014–2020): In one, he is praised for his decisive action against the conservative Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana – even celebrated as a "hero" of the victims. In the other case, however, which took place within his own diocese, he is accused of a lack of consistency and weak oversight. While he acted "formally according to the rules," this is portrayed as inadequate. The contrasts are stark: on the one hand, the courageous cleric who stands up against an influential, conservative clergy; on the other, the administrator under whose jurisdiction accused priests were allowed to continue to hold public masses. Today's pope as diocesan shepherd – sometimes consistent, sometimes hesitant? The New York Times doesn't offer a clear answer, but focuses on the contradiction. Ambivalence as a message from the New York Times The title itself suggests it: This isn't a reckoning, but rather a kind of test. The articles construct an ambivalent image: one of integrity, the other of doubt—a man who still has to earn trust. But whose trust? That of the victims of abuse? Or that of the global, liberal elites, whose agenda Francis largely followed—except during armed conflicts? Curia Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo summed up the attitude of Leo's predecessor in 2017 when he praised the Bergoglian pontificate with regard to the globalist establishment : “Humanity is experiencing a magical moment: for the first time, the teachings of the Pope and the UN are in agreement.” Whether compatibility with the teaching authority of the Church was still given was apparently of secondary importance to Sanchez Sorondo. Instrument or partner? Was Francis a like-minded person—or a welcome lever for integrating the Church into a globalist agenda? The Catholic Church, with its unique, globally structured order, is viewed by parts of this establishment primarily in functional terms: useful as long as it serves the agenda—a nuisance as soon as it opposes it. So how is Pope Leo XIV assessed? The New York Times doesn't practice open hostility. But it examines, observes, and doubts—and, with a fine needle, sends a signal. The new pope no longer operates in the safe haven of benevolent clemency, but rather under reservation. The tone is professional but cool. The invitation is clear: He will be judged—not only by the standards of the Church, but by the expectations of an agenda that no longer operates secretively. https://katholisches.info/2025/06/30/ein-warnschuss-die-new-york-times-und-papst-leo-xiv/
I like that you posted the prophet Jeremiah. I find as of late this book has been bringing me a lot of comfort. God laments so much in there. He mentions how the leaders of Israel were committing adultery, worshiping and offering sacrifices to ba'al, exploiting the widow and the orphan and committing nothing but evil acts. And at the same time, thinking they were protected by God because the temple was in Jerusalem. They thought they were out maneuvering God. Then they got their just deserts. All the abused got to stay in the land of Judah while those who committed crimes got hauled off to Babylon in chains. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah 7&version=DRA https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah 39&version=DRA
https://brandsownedby.com/who-owns-the-new-york-times/ The Pope is worthy of attention. The NYT not so much. https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Leo...r-we-are-all-called-to-the-mission-63444.html
When I was a child and we used to go over the Old Testament one thought went through my mind about the Hebrews. They kept deserting God, getting whopped , learning their lesson. Going back to Him again. Then deserting Him. Then getting whopped. Going back to Him again over and over and over. The same with The Church. At the moment we have deserted Him and are just about to get the biggest whopping ever. Those who do not learn the lessons of Scripture are doomed to repeat them. Jeremiah 3:1-3 "They say, 'If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man's, May he return to her again?' Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me," says the LORD. "Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see: Where have you not lain with men? By the road you have sat for them Like an Arabian in the wilderness; And you have polluted the land With your harlotries and your wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no latter rain. You have had a harlot's forehead; You refuse to be ashamed.
Revelation 2 24 But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not have this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you. 25 Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.
