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| Fr Lombardi: "I can explain everything...kind of." |
'Several telephone calls have taken place in the context of Pope Francis’ personal pastoral relationships. Since they do not in any way form part of the Pope's public activities, no information or comments are to be expected from the Holy See Press Office.
That which has been communicated in relation to this matter, outside the scope of personal relationships, and the consequent media amplification, cannot be confirmed as reliable, and is a source of misunderstanding and confusion. Therefore, consequences relating to the teaching of the Church are not to be inferred from these occurrences.'
Cracking. I mean, why say, "The Pope assures me he would never have said that and would never say that" when a more long-winded and vague statement which leaves much to interpretation will suffice?
Nobody can confirm, or say with any certainty what the Pope said on the phone, except the person who claims to have talked to the Pope.
But there's nothing to worry about.
Got that? God help us.
Meanwhile, The Catholic Herald is reporting that the woman at the centre of this uniquely dangerous ****storm, one...
Mrs Lisbona, who later called a Buenos Aires radio station to discuss the phone call, also claimed that in reference to her priest the Pontiff said, “There are some priests who are more papist than the Pope.” She also said that Francis told her he was “dealing with the issue” of Communion for the divorced and remarried.
Really? These priests who take Christ's words seriously are more 'papist than the Pope', are they? He's 'dealing with it', is he? Interesting. I hope to God he said no such thing because I could have sworn the Son of God 'dealt with this issue' already while He was walking on Earth, but I guess the Lord Jesus simply doesn't know His place nowadays. Who do you think you are, Lord? The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity or something? Everyone knows that You cannot be as Christian as the Pope!
I don't mean to rant but before Easter Wednesday 'The Vortex' was the title of an online Catholic web programme hosted by Michael Voris. Today, it is the Catholic Church. On Holy Thursday, the Holy Father asked us to examine our consciences and ask ourselves, in the story of the Passion of Our Lord, which character we are. "Are you like Judas?" he asked. Well, I must confess that on a bad day, I can be all of them, including the traitor (apart from Jesus). If this story is not put to bed in a more emphatic manner than it has been today, then what are Catholics to ask Pope Francis but 'Are you Peter or are you not?'
'The dogma of the Faith will always be preserved in Portugal, etc...'
~ Our Lady of Fatima
Where might it not be preserved?
14 comments:
Agreed. Thank you, and God bless!
fatima indeed-we are living it right now as pope benedict 16th stated when he read the third secret.the resignation of benedict and the resulting ,catastrophic,election of the bishop of rome is,in my mind ,the fulfilling of the prophecies.we have time to change and mend our ways but we need a good shepherd.please god-for the sake of the world- we will find one!!pope francis please wake up!god bless .philip johnson.
"The latest papal insult...those who profess Christ but who are, "Like bats...we can say that there are Christian bats who prefer the shadows to the light of the presence of the Lord.”
THE
ROSE
Took away the bells
Took away the art
Took away the songs
Inspiring our heart.
Took away the missals
Took away the veil
Took away our right to kneel
At Communion rail.
Scourged us with indifference
Whipped with Worship, weak
Crowned us with their humble words,
“It’s just a phone call, geek!”
Now with untuned strings you dance
Pass us on The Way
Carrying our crosses on the path
Of “long defeat”, we stay.
Try to kill us softly
With bashful, blushing, babble
Condescending degrader dogs
Then slap us as we scrabble.
The Way, the Truth and our life
“Is crux of all sedition.”
But we are merely branches
Rooted in Tradition.
Branches weak and branches strong
Branches propagate
Branches full of Sacred Sap
From Vine proliferate.
A branch can bend, a branch can break
Become dead wood to toss
But He Who makes all things new
Made dead wood save…the Cross.
So take away the bells
Take away the art
Take away our Catholic name
Written in His Heart.
For “What is in a name?”
Our Catholicity you cheat
But “By any other name”
Our Christian souls… still sweet!
The Pope has been in high office and in the public eye for many decades. He has employed a PR company, which is supportive of intrinsic evils. He knows what he's doing, and he meant to do it, knowing the disastrous effect it would have. He is anything but stupid or naive. It is all of a piece with the other things he's done to question the indissolubility of marriage, mortal sin, and the necessary state for receipt of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. The time for making tortuous excuses is well and truly up - that simply adds to the evil done. Let us pray more, and refuse to be bullied into silence or acquiescence regarding any attacks on the Deposit of Faith. Let us not jettison Faith or reason.
We will never know what was said in the exchange between this woman and the Pope because (I presume) it is protected by the seal between priest and penitent (even if the penitent is given to wantonly gab about the alleged content of the discussion).
In charity to Pope Francis, and from what I glean of the various 'facts' available, Pope Francis may have extrapolated from the 14 September 1994 letter of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, then Prefect of the CDF, to all of the Bishops of the Catholic Church concerning the reception of Holy Communion by divorced and remarried members of the Faithful within which letter Cardinal Ratzinger stated:
"The faithful who persist in such a situation may receive Holy Communion only after obtaining sacramental absolution, which may be given only "to those who, repenting of having broken the sign of the Covenant and of fidelity to Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage. This means, in practice, that when for serious reasons, for example, for the children's upbringing, a man and a woman cannot satisfy the obligation to separate, they 'take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts proper to married couples'"(8). In such a case they may receive Holy Communion as long as they respect the obligation to avoid giving scandal."
Under such conditions the faithful may receive Holy Communion if no scandal is given, i.e. receiving the Holy Eucharist in a parish where one's situation as a 'divorced - remarried' Catholic is known and may give rise to scandal.
This woman may...may only have heard that she might partake of the Holy Eucharist. The rest of the nuance may have been lost on her.
The woman in question may not have desired to get into a public discussion about life-time continence.
heheh - great post. The Church is the vortex; does that make Frankie the papal voris? They both like to do unlent like things during lent. they both have a gift for vitriol. they both have an 'o' in their surnames. weird.
he descended to a new level of insult with the 'bat' comments (I wonder if he saves these things up, or they just come to him). and good point, how shadowy is all this private phone call business, which is really, we all know, going to be a worldwide event once he hangs up?
re the message of Our Lady of Fatima: 'after 1960 the devil will succeed in leaving the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders [by causing] religous and priests to fall away from their beautiful vocation dragging numerous souls to hell'. Sister Lucia to Fr. Fuentes, 1957. 'False Friends of Fatima' is a good read. Online also is 'The Devil's Final Battle', a compilation of the writings on the subject:
http://www.devilsfinalbattle.com/content2.htm
'scuse this off topic link, but it's too bizarre. Is God trying to tell us something?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/10786410/Man-crushed-to-death-by-giant-crucifix-dedicated-to-Pope.html
Liam,
I have always noted the great charity in your comments and here it is again with regard to the present actions of Pope Francis.
It may be all true what you wrote - but the problem is there is no justification for his action - as the reaction of the woman and the world press shows.
Totally imprudent - like most of what he's done since he was elected?
Or what?
Or probably Lynda is right - HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE'S DOING - and so he is reforming the world-view of the Church by his disgraceful phone-calls and public fan-fare antics...
Yes, Lynda is probably right - it has been more than a year of these now disturbing and in some cases disgusting papal intiatives...
I for one will be taking to prayer during "the canonizations" this Sunday - I don't think I can bear to see 2 living popes at such a thing ....
Barbara
What can't be claimed about these wretched 'phone calls is that they are made on the spur of the moment. The Vatican postal and secretarial staff must sort thousands of letters to the Pope and will have been instructed which type to single out. Only the most likely dozen to appeal to Francis will be placed before him for consideration. So he will know exactly what the query is before he makes the call and will, presumably, have formed his answers/advice; at the same time being fully aware that his alleged comments - understood or misunderstood - are likely to go viral.
Those who don't speak Spanish and Italian can rest easy that they are unlikely to get The Call. A pause for prayer and reflection is what I prescribe.
When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well, a woman married many times, and His disciples were not present, do you believe He thought: "Uh Oh! No witnesses to what I will say to this woman. If I do say anything to her she'll misrepresent it, dash off and tell her friends, and probably post it on Facebook. I'd better keep stum." John 4: 27 - 29
Well...maybe not the Facebook part. Let us above all things be charitable here. Let's be wise as seprents but not have our hearts grow cold.
Peace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lLmB8PBsXo
Of course charity in all things Liam, but I think you missed the point of my comment if your mention of cold hearts refers to me.
I merely question the wisdom of such a phone-call and the world-wide effect of its "misinterpretation " if you like, given all the other things that are going on about marriage (Kasper etc.,)in the Church at the moment. It's messy. And quite frankly I'm rather fed up with the Pope's messes - that every one has to go around cleaning up afterwards..
It is very unsettling to me that a Pope would risk such misinterpretation on such a sensitive and important matter to all serious Catholics.
Our Blessed Lord and the Samaritan woman is another matter entirely...it was a "one to one" "heart to heart" encounter...and I'm sure she straightened her life out immediately after that wonderful meeting...
No - in my view you can't compare the two....
Barbara
Dear Barbara,
I didn't intend my mention of cold hearts to refer to you at all. I was just paraphrasing Matthew 24: 12 - 13 and Jesus' admonition about the end of days:
"Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved..."
Being charitable doesn't mean we should forsake being wise as serpents. Given all that's going on it is supremely important to be on guard.
Peace!
After a year, it still hasn't been learned? Kyrie eleison
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