During the press conference on the airplane returning from Bangladesh on December 2, the French journalist Etienne Loraillère posed this question to Bergoglio:
“Which is your priority: to evangelize or to dialogue for peace?”
The response of Bergoglio – after a series of incredible absurd statements – ended with these unheard of terms:
“And your question: what is the priority, peace or conversion? But when you live with testimony and respect, you make peace. Peace starts to break down in this field when proselytism begins, and there are so many ways of proselytism, but this is not evangelical.”
In practice, Bergoglio is maintaining that to announce the Gospel (proselytism) creates division and the purpose of the presence of Christians in the world is to dialogue, “to make peace.”
But the Church is not the United Nations. She exists to announce Jesus Christ to all mankind.
As Riccardo Cascioli has observed, this response of Bergoglio renders substantially useless (if not harmful) the missions and missionaries — and in fact it delegitimizes the many Catholic martyrs throughout the history of the Church (who evidently made the mistake of putting the proclamation of Christ ahead of the goal of getting along with everybody).
An answer like this – perfectly in line with Bergoglio’s behavior, which in fact discourages conversions – leads to a much bigger and more serious question.
I ask myself if this can truly be the response of a pope…the apostolic mandate of Jesus is something else and it is very clear:
“Jesus said to them: ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned’” (Mark 16:15-16).
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the world” (Matthew 28: 19-20).
Jesus also predicted that this work of evangelization would entail persecution and martyrdom:
“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own, but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15: 18-20).
Jesus warns his disciples that the proclamation of the Gospel will create divisions because darkness can only hate the light, but all the same we are called to give testimony:
“Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father. Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:32-36).
Jesus has also taught us that the proclamation of salvation is TRUE peace, not what the world considers peace. It is precisely by evangelizing that the Church builds up TRUE peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you” (John 14:27).
If therefore the apostolic mandate of Jesus and the reason the Church exists is evangelization, how can we remain silent in the face of a pontificate like Bergoglio’s which – with both words and actions – totally overturns the Lord’s command?
Are there still any Catholic bishops and cardinals left? They ought to know that God will demand an account from them for their complicit silence. And in case they might have forgotten, we must remind them of it.
What are they waiting for to make their voice heard and to confirm publicly – before the people of God – that the words of Jesus in the Gospel are the mission of the Church?
To recall the words of Jesus – even to Bergoglio, as a fraternal warning – is an act of charity towards him. It is their duty before God and men.
Translated by Giuseppe Pellegrino
This article originally appeared at Antoniosocci.com. It has been reprinted with permission and formatted for 1P5.
No, there are no real Catholic bishops and cardinals left. If the early Church was like this, it would have disappeared quickly. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said it would be up to the laity to save the Church.
Archbishop Sheen misplaced his hopes: it’s up to Christ to save the Church, apparently through his Blessed Mother, the Ever Virgin Mary. May God give us the grace to pray for Christ’s triumph and to remain faithful. We may face great evil before long.
And Jesus and Mary use their instruments on earth for that. We already face great evil with the formal acceptance of mortal sin, but it will get worse. Schism and fire falling from the sky wiping out a great portion of humanity, sparing neither priests nor faithful.
Have your blessed beeswax candles and matches handy…and keep praying.
Definitely!!!
I was going to like your comment but it’s really not likeable, right? We should all be praying, doing penance and fasting. I need to start fasting for sure
Advent is a time of fasting, especially from sin
Well I try to fast from that at all times. Hopefully you understand that my comment was meant to say that your comment was very good and accurate but it’s such an awful situation that the comment is not something to be “liked”.
Brian, surely only God can save His Church, and not not just apparently, but also surely He want do that through His Blessed Mother, Immaculata, Theotokos, the Ever-Virgin Mary. But we (the parts of His Mystical Body) should and must actively participate accordingly His, God’s Will. As St. Augustin says; God did not need you to create you, but he need you to save you. That’s the reason that WE (The Church) need to listen very carefully to God’s Mother, and also our Mother who wants to help us. That’s why WE (The Church) should and must get done a few very simple tasks that She have asked us (The Church) to do. That’s why The Church should and must consecrate Russia in the way as She asked, and that why The Church should and must proclaim the fifth Marian Dogma as She asked;- Maria “The Lady of All Nations – Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate”.
I mean apparent in the way it is meant to be used which is not in the snarky, offhand way the word is used today, as in “apparently, I will just have to do it myself”. No, I mean it is obvious to all; clear; unambiguous that God will raise us up through Mary.
I don’t think, and I will never think that we must think in way “there is nothing else I can do”…
Even not in the most ordinary times, if such ever existed, when we assume we could (can we?) be fully satisfied with our daily prayers, common charitable acts, being a good Catholic father or mother, etc …
Besides, we know we all received the talents, which are in some purport pretty same, but in other, on each personal case, they are different. And that will not say, only clerics have to say (or not say) and to do (or not to do) certain things, whenever they want (or don’t). Think here on some very known examples as St. Catherina of Siena who was ‘officially’ a lay-woman! Or St. Athanasius, who was well a cleric but wit a very low rank, so to say.
Furthermore, we did not choose God, but God chose us. Therefore we have not right to say; ‘I think what I do is just fine, enough, and similar…’ This means, it is not to us to chose when and how (much) to serve our God, but our obligation is to serve our God all the time with our best efforts. That’s why so many have so many different talents. And you are a very smart Catholic, so I expect you know all of this. Your example that you gave above, about writing the letter to your bishop… but then, in the same sentence, thereafter you immediately try to justify yourself, namely your tendency for an omission, because of reason which can not justify you, and even more, which is not really good reason, because you never know WHAT kind of impact your letter to bishop might cause. The probability that you’ll never receive any response from the bishop, does not want to say that your TALENT is invested in vain.
We must never be afraid of the failure, even before we try to do something good.
Think about it.
An other pair of the shoes is, if we are not able to determine whether something what we think we need to do is good at all.
(See also 2 Corinthians 13,5)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians+13&version=DRA
“Brian, surely only God can save His Church.”
As I pray to Him every day,”Lord, without You we can do nothing.”
We already face great evil, we just close our eyes to it or most of us would go nuts. 50 MILLION babies worldwide are murdered every year. The greatest genocide in the history of the human race. And we’re all complicit in it, one way or another. How do we imagine their Creator feels about that? It’s amazing to me that God has let this go on as long as He has, frankly.
I am not talking about cowardly murder of the defenseless in private: I am talking about expanded persecution (beyond what many of our brothers and sisters face in Muslim areas) into western civilization. I mean evils done in the open like the early believers faced. I do not confess those evils to be more or less evil than abortion but something that will strike terror into the faithful in a visible way that even abortion does not.
No, I do not deny that we should all be terrified about how God will judge all of this age because of abortion. Yet are we terrified enough? In most cases, I doubt it. But will all who do not apostatize be terrified of being tortured, beheaded, fed to wild animals, burned alive? I would think that would be a bit more imminent to most of us….
More proof we’re getting the Pope we deserve.
“Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” Sheen was right that it is up to the laity to find a place for the Son of Man to lay his head. Only if there are faithful laity will the bishops feel a call to fidelity.
Archbishop Sheen died in 1979. Still was in the mode of having to spin and defend the Council and that the turbulence was expected, but to hang on because things would be getting better.
I think sheen is wonderful for his expositions of doctrine, but I really don’t think that his words about the “contemporary” issues are as valid in 2017.
You really need to read his description of the religion of the end times
No one not Bergoglio Francis can give communion to a unrepentant dinner living in Sin. Kasper.notwithstanding lutherans stamp and Amoris latita call into question Bergoglio authority to void Canon law 915 inder ANY circumstances whatsoever.
And yet ignoring 915 happens all the time, so much so that it is effectively the practice of the Catholic Church.
It began in a major way with communion for child killers and almost everyone remained silent. Money. Money.
Do you really think it’s just about money? I think that fear of confrontation, of not being liked, is a much bigger factor. One of C.S. Lewis’s greatest essays deals with what he calls “the inner ring” — his term for what we now call “the IN crowd” or “the cool kids” or “all the right people.” By whatever name, we’re talking about that junior-high mentality that most of us never completely outgrow — the desire for social status and a terror of losing it.
http://www.lewissociety.org/innerring.php
Yes as well.
“The Kool Kidz”. Gotta be one of those “Kool Kidz”.
Kool yes,the approval of men; but still there is an immense and constant pressure in my area for parishes and dioceses to keep the money coming in…here churches are closing as they can’t keep the bills paid – empty pews mean empty collection baskets. Pastors fear driving people away by preaching the Truth.
Meanwhile the kool, new, feel-good, Alpha mega parish has an intake of $26,000 a week, has 14 staffers and a weekly glossy magazine style bulletin…the pastor has been elevated to a diocesan position to replicate the “success”… meanwhile orthodox priests are sent for pastoral re-training.
God or Mammon?
You may be correct, but if you took away their money i cannot help wondering if their opinions might change.
Thanks for the link.
Dear Heartlander, Thank you for sharing this. We were in the inner ring within our parish and now thank God are well and truly out and rid of it.
This whole Bergoglio’s Papacy is One Big Scam. A Falsify footnote (#329) in Amoris Laetitia is now an “Authetic Magisterium.” A kid who falsify a footnote or a bibliography would get an “F” for his or her college term paper but not Bergoglio and his filthy document? Give me a Freakin’ break. Where are the Bishops? Where are the Cardinals? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f01324f285bfbac99d06fdd57fb34096f7085d38cc226bd535d795ee28d6b61d.jpg
Certainly not the Bishop of the diocese I belong to. He’s big fan of PF. I just cant understand this fascination. Our leaders are weak men, trying to advance themselves. In the army we called the boot lickers.
My parish priest thinks that PF is one of the greatest Popes who have ever lived. Mind you, after the publication of Laudato Si, he also told us that the 2004 tsunami was evidence of global warming.
Francis seems to be saying that preaching the Gospel makes some folks mad and then “peace” breaks down, so we ought not to “proselytize”. The best rebuttal to Bergoglio is the second letter of St. Paul to Timothy, which Socci doesn’t mention but which seems like it was written especially for this pontificate:
I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom: Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry. Be sober.
2Tim 4: 1-5
“In season and out of season” means welcome or unwelcome, popular or unpopular. It cost John the Baptist his head when he told Herod that it was not right for him to take his brother’s wife as his concubine. Yeah, “peace starts to break down” when the wicked are confronted with their wrongdoing.
The only thing Bergoglio does well is emptying churches and seminaries.
2Tim 4,1-5 fits a way better for Card. Burke and Co.
Second Epistle Of Saint Paul To Timothy
Douay-Rheims Bible
His charge to Timothy. He tells him of his approaching death and desires him to come to him.
[1] I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom: [2] Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. [3] For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: [4] And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. [5] But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry. Be sober.
[5] “An evangelist”: a diligent preacher of the gospel.
Funny, I just made a post on the other article that suits this one as well.
Who even knows what in the world this man Bergoglio’s message is? Anyone? To me, from a United Methodist and Lutheran background, the man sounds like a cryto-communist and liberal Lutheran. A more chartable things might be to say he is incoherent and spouts secular absurdities. When does he ever stand up for Jesus in clear terms in a secular environment?
But let’s not be too hard on Bergoglio. He is merely the most recent iteration of the type.
Let’s not forget Benedict’s assessment of the abandonment of EENS which as he admits was always a cornerstone of the philosophy of the faith and of the motivation for evangelization.
http://www.traditioninaction.org/ProgressivistDoc/A_006_RatzingerSalvation.htm
http://www.hprweb.com/2017/01/the-new-pagans-and-the-church/
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-emeritus-benedict-says-church-is-now-facing-a-two-sided-deep-crisis
It is very difficult to reach people who observe the pro-communist stance of many prelates and the liberalism, religious indifferentism, void of discipline of doctrinal and practice offenders {both clerical and lay}, lack of use of and understanding of the Bible and indeed, apparent disdain for evangelization itself that permeates the Church.
This is not a small concern. It is HUGE.
Personally, as a theologically-trained ex-Protestant missionary, among other things, I am very certain that there are large numbers of Protestants that were they to actually know the teachings of the Catholic faith {ESPECIALLY on Bible} and see some semblance of following of those teachings they might very well give the Catholic Church a respectful look. See, Protestantism is in a shambles itself.
But we continue to present to the world not just a mediocre picture, but worse than that, an ANTI-Catholic picture of our own faith, and I find it not one bit confusing that most Protestants think the Catholic Church is a really sordid joke and make fun of it as an institution. Why should they defend an institution whose leaders hardly defend it themselves?
What CEO besides Gerald Ratner goes out to the marketplace and tells the world his company’s products are crap?
And yet, that is what I hear from Bergoglio and his fellow bishops who exhibit embarrassment of the Catholic faith.
I remember Dolan being confronted about the Church always being stuck on contraception as an issue and his response that almost never will you hear a Catholic priest preach on the subject. And he demonstrated no strong discomfort with the fact!
Funny, because wasn’t it the Church’s teaching on contraception that brought Scott Hahn to the Catholic faith? I know it sure had a strong impact on me when I read what it was. And ditto so many other “uncomfortable” teachings of the Catholic faith that when one studies them or is adequately taught, as occurs in my FSSP parish, just make sense.
God Save the Catholic Church {from those who condemn proselytism…}.
“When does he ever stand up for Jesus in clear terms in a secular environment?”
Thank you, Rod. That is THE problem, in a nutshell. It just says it all.
And yet, his theme is mercy? What kind of mercy is it that deprives people of the Good News, the single most important thing in life, the whole purpose of our existence, our hope of eternal life?
Not once, during his recent visit to Myanmar, did Bergoglio mention the Name that is above all other names. Instead, while addressing political and diverse religious leaders, he waffled on inanely about building peace’ through mutual co-operation. The Holy Name of Jesus was mentioned once; by Aung San Suu Kyi. She even cited the Sermon on the Mount as the ideal framework for human relations, including international relations. I wonder; did Bergoglio silently disapprove? If so, he could hardly accuse her of “proselytism”. Because that most heroic lady is a Buddhist.
It is sad that that is probably the hallmark of Francis’ papacy – this failure to call people to Christ.
The link to Tradition in Action which trashes Pope Benedict, helps how? They take some of his words out of their full context, or accusing him of being seen talking with Hans Kung, and nodding with a knowing smile, that he was a Peritus at Vatican II — isn’t honest. That’s what Tradition in Action does, TFP and all their other works. Half truths are lies. Ratzinger said that too.
I might agree with you if that quote was the only one cited, but together, all three of those quotes give us a picture of the mind and heart of Ratzinger before V2, right after and recently. And that picture is cause to reasonably ask what Ratzinger even believes {and believed} about the dogma of EENS. Or doesn’t believe as the case may be.
From his lecture:
“For the modern Christian, it has become unthinkable that Christianity, and in particular the Catholic Church, should be the only way of salvation; therefore, the absoluteness of the Church, and with that, also the strict seriousness of her missionary claim, and, in fact, all of her demands, have become really questionable. Ignatius of Loyola requires the one making the spiritual exercises, in the meditation on the Incarnation, consider how the Trinitarian God sees that all men are falling into hell.8 Francis Xavier could tell the believing Mohammedans that all their piety was useless because they, whether pious or godless, whether criminals or virtuous persons, in any event were going to hell, because they did not belong to the only Church that makes a person pleasing to God.9
Today, our humanity prevents us from holding such views. We cannot believe that the man next to us, who is an upright, charitable, and good man, will end up going to hell because he is not a practicing Catholic. The idea that all “good” men will be saved today, for the normal Christian, is just as self-evident as formerly was the conviction of the opposite.”
“Our humanity” causes us to reject what has been the common belief of Catholics for nearly the whole life of the Church? Really?
Bergoglio you can legitimately criticize–at length. But your animus toward Pope Benedict has a stench to it. I think you should make a good examination of conscience as to your motivations, sir.
My ANIMUS? Are you actually serious? Just exactly what demonstration of “animus” have I given you by presenting Ratzinger’s own consistent thought over many years on the subject at hand?
READ him.
READ what he himself has said and written. He can speak for himself.
Pope Emeritus Ratzinger has publicly praised and supported Bergoglio every single step of this pontificate starting at the beginning till now. Many have searched to find a rift between them and it doesn’t exist. Indeed, speaking of “animus”, there is none between them if we are to believe Ratzinger himself, no matter what Bergoglio has said or done. The on-topic writings of then-Father Ratzinger and more recently of now Pope Emeritus Benedict give us clear enough reason to understand why this affection exists. They appear to have a very similar mind on the topic.
All I have done is provide quotes from Ratzinger himself. There are many more that demonstrate the similarities in thought between the two. That hardly constitutes “animus”.
People are having a difficult time coming to terms with the facts—which is another piece of this whole hideous ball of wax. It’s just intellectually easier to blame the Pope.
I’m prompted by your statement “Bergoglio you can legitimately criticize–at length”.
So you clearly and sweepingly judge a Pope and then condemn me for quoting the writings and statements of another. Does that not bother you?
Mind you, I am not necessarily taking you to task for the former, for there is much trouble in what we see in Francis. But I must observe that it appears popular today to disparage Bergoglio as an anomaly, a sort of theological freak, even by those who don’t want to straight up call him a heretic.
Somehow his status as Pope in no way bars strong criticism of him.
But there is a problem.
While I agree that on some issues Pope Francis SEEMS to {very strongly!} diverge from past Church teaching, I disagree that he is a singular phenomenon overall. In fact, he strikes me as a clear and natural and dare I say it, inevitable representative of a neo-culture of Catholicism that has permeated the Church at least since Vatican 2.
As if the previous 2 Popes stand in whole and complete contrast to all of his problematic positions. This simply does not bear out in the documentary evidence. Indeed, it was Pope St John Paul II who installed him as a Bishop {possibly against direct warnings about him} and Pope Emeritus Ratzinger has been his solid supporter throughout.
And why not?
On issues of religious indifferentism, all three of these men can hardly be said to be clear supporters of Mortalium Animos or many other past papal pronouncements on the uniqueness of the Catholic faith and the falseness of other religions. All three appear to be birds of a feather on this score, tho one might in the case of Benedict say his plumage is a bit less gaudy. Some have suggested he sort of transitioned over the years to a more traditional viewpoint as he got older, but I’ll let the historical theologians pass judgment on that score. We have his writings from many years ago and recent statement to take into account.
In the end, we learn a lot about a man in what he accepts, tolerates and/or tacitly approves. Maybe as much as we learn from what he directly says.
In the case of the last three Popes, on the score of other religions and religious indifferentism, can we with metaphysical certitude claim they all staunchly defended traditional teaching? In fact, who even makes that claim at all?
I am not sure that Ratzinger is saying what you think he is saying. It seems to me as if he is laying out the terms of the argument and explaining what some people believe as a whole. That is the problem with taking a block quote out of context. It’s the same thing the Muslims did after his Regensburg lecture…freak out about something that, when taken in context, he was not actually saying.
I think this is likely correct. The line about how “today our humanity prevents us from holding such views” is Ratzinger’s characterization of one side of an argument. Also, I’d note that it’s widely understood that Ratzinger became more orthodox over time. He should be judged on his official teachings — as head of the CDF and as Pope — not on everything he ever wrote or said.
You may find useful this article too: “Fr Ratzinger, von Balthasar, and demolishing the bastions”
http://www.lmschairman.org/2015/12/fr-ratzinger-von-balthasar-and.html
Very interesting.
I hope it would be for Ann too. At least, interesting.
He’s embarrassed of the Faith.
Soci is not simply correct he’s absolutely correct. Except that it is not simply a matter of should. We absolutely must reject the Pontiff’s apostate proposals and absolutely be faithful to Christ.
Honestly, I am so beaten and bruised by the state of the Church militant today – evidently being headed by someone who does not believe in the promises of Christ – that I simply have to deny, hide and duck, just to survive this madness. In Australia, we have just voted for so-called ‘gay marriage’, and some bishops and a few Jesuits said during the plebiscite that ‘gay marriage’ was for the ‘common good’ of Australians. No correction or punishment ensued. And most Catholics voted for it too. Tell me, is not the Devil reigning on earth? Should we just face the reality that the Church will be dead for another 100 years or so?
The more I mull it over, the more I wonder if the Thousand Year Reign of Christ occurred from the legalization of the Christian faith till the late 1400’s and the release of Satan occurred with the Protestant Rebellion, the time when the devil would be allowed to run amok for a time.
Not being dogmatic here and certainly not prophetic, but if you see the struggles of the Church in a certain light, they become not useless, but part of a bigger plan.
For myself, I’m holding tight.
The waves may be running high and the barque taking water, and Jesus may appear to be sound asleep on a pile of salt fish in the hold, and I’m getting tired baling with my hat, but I’m not jumping ship. It’s not like it’s the first time this has happened…
Take heart, my friend! Here is what made my day yesterday, and I hope it does the same for you:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pro-life-leaders-pledge-fidelity-to-catholic-teaching-say-they-wont-follow
It was the pro-life issue that attracted me to the Catholic Church so many years ago — and now, I find that it is pro-life leaders who have given me the key… the key to remaining faithful to Jesus and His Church while utterly rejecting Bergoglio and his heresies. Yes, it is possible to square that circle!
I’ve been going nuts for months, thinking that what made Catholics different from Protestants was our belief in the papacy, and I couldn’t reconcile that with my utter refusal to give my loyalty to this pope. These pro-life leaders are people I trust completely — more than I do nearly anyone else on earth — and, for me at least, they have pointed the way.
Add the Pledge of Fidelity to the ever-growing list of public corrections/admonitions that have been submitted to this pope. I hope it is disseminated far and wide. It has great potential to wake people up, I think, because it is short; lists specific points at the heart of the pro-life and pro-family movements; and the signatories are not theologians, but rather, laypeople, not even all of them Catholic. Indeed, for me, one of the most powerful parts of the Pledge itself is the declaration that even non-Catholics have looked to the Catholic Church for decades for leadership in the pro-life cause, and accordingly, feel nearly as distressed and abandoned and confused and grieved by this pope as their Catholic friends do.
I really do believe that this is the way — or at least, a huge chunk of the way — forward.
https://www.fidelitypledge.com/
There is no need to be.
Jesus IS THE LORD!
Today we celebrate His first coming and look forward to His return.
The machinations of feeble men will be of no avail.
So let’s proclaim the Gospel even though the Pope will not. Especially because the Pope will.
We can hang our heads and cry or we can work. The choice is up to us.
This is another classic bait and switch or arguing against a straw man that Bergoglio does so well. Notice how his interlocutor uses the word “evangelize” and Bergoglio responds in terms of “proselytize”. Any Catholic worth his salt should have responded that evangelization is the only way that true peace can come on this earth. But not old Frankenpope, no, he has to set up his false dichotomy between peace and proselytism, then proceed to do battle with the straw man. Does he see some qualitative difference between evangelization and proselytization which he just does not care to elaborate on or does he view them to be synonymous terms?
I really hope he is mentally deficient in some way, because if he is truly cognizant of what he is doing, and he really intends to do the evil he does, then he must be one of the most evil people on earth.
Yes, indeed. More plausible denial.
Except that the Church has used the term proselytism in positive ways for more or less ever. As far as this convert is concerned, I am not ashamed to be a product of evangelization, proselytism or even the dreaded…”evangelism” {Uff da…not THAT!}
I just wish I’d been a proselyte long before I was.
Actually Bergoglio does not do it so well. Lame thinking and speech. He is political though – I will give him that.
“Evangelization is the only way that true peace can come on this earth.”
Tell it, brother!
Anyone who really studies the history of Islam as well as the teachings of its most influential current leaders must surely realize that the ONLY way there will ever be peace in the world is for Muslims to hear the Good News and accept Christ into their hearts. We should be praying for the conversion of the Muslims every single day.
Think of Mexico 500 years ago. The religion on which was built the mighty Aztec empire was based on massive human sacrifice — on special occasions, up to 10,000 human beings slaughtered in a single day. What defeated this mighty empire? Spanish conquistadors — who rightly get a bad rap for their greed and brutality, but who nevertheless opened the way for the missionaries who came and preached Jesus Christ. They made little progress into Our Lady appeared, and then virtually the whole Aztec nation — some 8 million people — became Catholic in the next 10 years.
“We should be praying for the conversion of the Muslims every single day.”
I know I do!
When Catholic pray for converting of all pagans, heretics, wrong-believers and nonbelievers, that includes islamites too. That should and must be indeed, one of our a every-day intentions of our daily Holy Rosary prayers.
“We should be praying for the conversion of the Muslims every single day.”
EVERY SINGLE DAY.
As far as I can tell, the only difference between “evangelization” and “proselytization” is that proselytization achieves conversion, whereas evangelization only attempts to achieve conversion. The only reason to denounce prosyletism is if you don’t want conversions. But that is hard to reconcile with Jesus’s last commandment.
Wickedly true comment! Witness the “proselytization” of Protestant sects in South America which really works.
Remember when our biggest worry was “The Da Vinci Code”? 😀
Francis is just following the same guidelines as John Paul II’s Assisi meetings: peace via men and false religions, no needs for conversion.
no! May Saint John Paul in glory with the Triune Beloved and the Lamb, intercede for the bringing of the Light of Glory and Truth for all!!!!!!!!!!!!
lol good one
“Are there still any Catholic bishops and cardinals left?”
Great question.
about as many who are heterosexual.
It would be worthwhile to ask the Holy Father just what St Edmund Campion, St Nicholas Owen, St Inácio de Azevedo, Blessed Miguel Pro, and all the North America Martyrs died for.
All of them, of course, were also Jesuits.
Not to mention St Francis Xavier, cofounder of the Jesuits, probably the greatest missionary in history. We have a beautiful statue of St Francis, carved in India, in my church. It was donated by the local Goan community – who wouldn’t be Catholic if he hadn’t risked everything to go to India.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/296ef81860b3b597ac6a0f18dd521fb9e6c9daceed6b989167a2c7bd6438a6bd.jpg And we ask ourselves whom it is getting fed beneath us? For though it’s physical walls are not breached,
there are rumblings neath the floorboards of the Vatican and the strength of chains grows weaker……
Who needs Jesus when we have George Soros and that wonderful Open Society of Technocratic Tyranny awaiting us in the 2020’s and beyond? And that great Muslim Europe! Can’t wait!!!!
Yes, it’s soooo exciting and am reminded of a quote from our visionary Pope Francis:
“God is not afraid of new things! That is why he is continually surprising us, opening our hearts, and guiding us in unexpected ways.”
As the late Jim Nabors used to say as Gomer Pyle, ‘Well Surprise, Surprise!!”
And, there is no end in sight… (sigh!) …
https://gloria.tv/article/h9qS6ykTp16E3oeSCnnKU1Nwn
Vatican: Summit Against “Populism”, “Racism”, and “Xenophobia”
We are to proclaim the Gospel “both in season and out of season.” There probably never has been a time in the entire history of the Church during which the Gospel was so “out of season” as it is now, hence the need to proclaim it with ever greater zeal. Now is the time for ‘amps that go up to eleven’.
Amen!
Further listening or reading anything from the heresy of Bergoglianism is a complete waste of God’s precious time. Much better to pray the rosary(s) and fast for his removal or conversion. Christ is keeping His promises. He is allowing the full assault of His Church from within while His Blessed Mother watches and waits. Tick, Tick, Tick…..
Some things are so predictable and yet, somehow, so fitting:
Colin Kaepernick is honored by the ACLU. A Cocker Spaniel is honored by ALPO. And now this…
The Pope Francis meltdown will hit its 5th year mark soon. God help us all.
“Are there still any Catholic bishops and cardinals left?”
People who critique or question the Pope (and rightly so) are all too often fearful of implicating their favorite “orthodox” bishop. Silence is complicity.
AMBIGUITY
Some use vernacular
The next day Latin
Many charismatic
Some use a paten.
Then there are the ministers
Eucharistic-chic
Handing out Our Lord
So you can have your pick.
Liturgies diverse
Like Lutherans on their feet
Holding hands in the air
Kneelers obsolete.
One Holy Catholic
Apostolic Church –
Good for some let others run
In circles as they search.
For we are all approved
Don’t ever rock the boat —
Like those who open schools have classes
Teaching souls to float.
Saintly Thomas More
Could’ve had it all
Private Latin Masses
Behind a purpled wall.
But no – he chose the scaffold
Where truth and lie collide
Heads were cut —
Entrails gut –
Ambiguity couldn’t hide!
I haven’t a clue what he means. He is the most confusing Pope ever.
Yeah, but he’s a crystal clear Lutheran.
The Pope is right that to proclaim the Gospel brings discord.
Did the Lord not say that He did not come to bring peace but division? So to aim for peace is not really Christian because more often not to strive for peace means abandoning the Gospel. Let’s just get along is the dictum of the fence sitter and the lukewarm.
The annals of history is littered with people who strove to bring peace but in the end brought chaos.
It is only when we focus on Christ that we can truly know peace, the peace not as the world gives.
So onward we proclaim the Gospel even when -or rather most especially when – it is uncomfortable. We must reclaim that word proselytize for we should proselytize
The early Christians were referred to as the ones who turned the world upside down. Let’s do it, regardless of what the Pope says for in the end we are followers of Christ and not of the Pope.