Robert John Bennett - Revision - Harvard Novel

2018.01.05

@Pontifex “Pope tells theologians: be faithful to Vatican II (Vatican News)” Let’s pray that this pope will also be faithful to Vatican II.

@Pontifex How we long for a good pope, Lord, one who will not spread evil and confusion in the Church, one who will not surround himself with homosexual clerics, one who is not suspicious, angry, deceitful or manipulative. God, bless Your Church with such a pope.

@Pontifex Millions of us around the world continue to pray fervently for a good pope.

@Pontifex The whole world prays: God, send us a good pope.

@Pontifex We pray for a pope, Lord, who really believes that “the family is the harmonious union of differences between a man and a woman,” not a pope who believes that divorced and “remarried” couples can receive the Eurcharist.

@Pontifex This poor pope claims he wants to make his changes in the Church “irreversible.” Two thousand years of Church history, though, have shown that no ruin, no evil, no destruction in the Church is in the end truly “irreversible.”

@Pontifex “Pope Shares Disturbing Nagasaki Image as a Warning Against War”. And we are all praying – millions of us – that this pope will also share a warning against error and confusion in the Church, against deceit, suspicion, and anger in the Vatican.

@Pontifex Millions of us pray that God will forgive this pope for what he did to the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and the Knights of Malta.

@Pontifex Millions pray for a good pope, one who is faithful to the teachings of the Church, not to the teachings of Cardinal Kasper and others like him, and certainly not to the teachings of the homosexual clerics in the Vatican and elsewhere.

@Pontifex And let this pope nurture the seeds of faith as they grow within himself and within the Church, and let him be free of suspicion, deceit, and anger.

@Pontifex Send us a great pope, a great saint, Lord, who can restore and rebuild Your Church and make it the glorious, magnificent institution it once was, not the shabby little club it has become, led by error-prone and often homosexual clerics.

@Pontifex Forgive this pope, we pray, Lord, for what he’s done to Your Church, for all the damage he’s caused, for all the souls he’s led astray. Help those poor souls, Lord, and forgive this poor pope.

@Pontifex We pray urgently for this poor pope, during whose pontificate it is even necessary for the bishops of Kazakhstan to state that allowing divorced and “remarried” persons to receive Holy Communion is “alien to the entire Tradition of the Catholic and Apostolic faith”.

@Pontifex In the nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square we encounter and contemplate the horrors revealed by the homosexual clique that this pope has surrounded himself with in the Vatican, and in the clergy in general. We pray desperately for this poor pope.

@Pontifex We beg God: please don’t let this poor pope punish the bishops of Kazakhstan as he usually punishes those who disagree with him https://goo.gl/xQa2Xj

@Pontifex We pray for this pope: O God, may You give this poor pope the grace to control his anger and to control his tendency toward suspicion, vindictiveness, and deceit. Keep him from fake humility as well. Keep him from spreading error and confusion in Your Church.

@Pontifex “Pope: Those who decry security risks of Muslim migrants demean ‘the human dignity’ of the ‘sons and daughters of God’.” “So now a concern to protect people from being murdered in jihad attacks is ‘demeaning’ to the ‘human dignity’ of Muslim migrants.” – Robert Spencer

@Pontifex In the name of Jesus, with Him as our Witness, the Church can again prove that a good pontificate is possible, either through the conversion of the current pitiable pope, or the election of a new, good pope.

@Pontifex Forgive this pope, Lord, for being suspicious and vindictive; please keep him from punishing the three Kazakhstan bishops who have reiterated their support for the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family.

@Pontifex “And all the time that the degradation and squalor continue in the Church — both physically and morally — no one is really speaking up and coming to her rescue.” – LifeSiteNews https://goo.gl/YiB4eE

@Pontifex Yes, “God became a child to be closer to the men and women of every time, and to show us His infinite tenderness.” And he showed His love by establishing a Church so we can save our souls, a Church with teachings of truth that a good pope should uphold, not undermine.

@Pontifex Rescue your Church, Lord, from the homosexual network in the Vatican and throughout the clergy.

@Pontifex “Cardinal Brandmüller on How the Dubia Should be Answered” https://goo.gl/8Gd9WL And how long will it be before this pope punishes Cardinal Brandmüller, as he always punishes those who are faithful to the teachings of the Church?

@Pontifex The Church has survived these popes https://goo.gl/cQir5u The Church can survive the current pope.

@Pontifex And “God walks along the dusty paths of our lives and responds to our longing for love and happiness by calling us to joy” in the truths of the faith, which is something this current pope seems to be ignorant of.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.09

The following is a copy of a message I sent today to Opus Dei in Germany:

Ich danke Ihnen für die Zuwendungsbescheinigung, die ich von Ulrich Schütz aus Rüttenscheid erhalten habe.

Ich möchte noch einmal erklären, warum ich das Opus Dei nicht weiter unterstützen kann. Mir ist klar geworden, dass Opus Dei leider wenig oder gar nichts tut, um die Fehler und Zerstörungen zu korrigieren, die der jetzige arme Papst der Kirche zufügt. Der Artikel (auf Englisch) unter https://goo.gl/Hq2fFZ ist ein Beispiel dafür, was ich meine.

Ich respektiere das Papsttum, aber ich kann den Handlungen eines Papstes nicht zustimmen, der Menschen bestraft, die den Lehren der Kirche treu sind, während er diejenigen fördert, die die Wahrheit dieser Lehren leugnen.

Und ich kann keine Organisation wie Opus Dei unterstützen, die nichts tut, um den Schaden zu beheben, den dieser Papst der Kirche zufügt.

Es tut mir sehr, sehr leid.

Mit Gebeten,

Robert John Bennett

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.11

Tweets:

@Pontifex “Cardinal signs statement calling Pope’s reading of Amoris Laetitia ‘alien’ to Catholic faith” https://goo.gl/FD9gNJ So, now another cardinal makes himself a target of this pope’s anger and vindictiveness. The only question remaining is: how will the pope punish him?

@Pontifex What’s wrong with this pope, where Islam is concerned? “The Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul in Iraq has said, ‘Our present sufferings are the prelude to those that you, Europeans and Western Christians, will suffer in the near future’.” https://goo.gl/1XGfBt

@Pontifex Michael Matt, publisher The Remnant, predicts that the Church will approve “gay unions” at the next synod. https://goo.gl/ryujXC

@Pontifex Forgive this pope, dear God, for what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do to the Church. Please. Stop him.

@Pontifex Forgive this pope, Lord, for things like his approval of the horrendous nativity scene at the Vatican. Forgive him, Lord. Like the men who crucified You, this pope doesn’t know what he’d doing.

“As the Kazak bishops rightly say: ‘The Catholic faith by its nature excludes a formal contradiction between the faith professed on the one hand and the life and practice of the sacraments on the other’.” https://goo.gl/bhvGSU

@Pontifex Yes, “like the Magi, believers are led by faith to seek God in the most hidden places, knowing that the Lord waits for them there,” but believers also seek the guidance of the Church in order to be sure that it really is the Lord waiting for them, not some other entity.

@Pontifex O God, help this man, this poor pope. Forgive him for the wreckage in much of the Church and his attempted destruction of her teaching. Send us a good pope, we beg You. Send us a pope who will rebuild the Church, and repair the damage that this pope has done.

@Pontifex Yes, as this pope says, “Let us share the joy of our Christian brothers and sisters of the East who are celebrating Christmas today.” Let us also share our joy in the knowledge that God will ultimately protect His Church from the ravages this pope is inflicting on it.

@Pontifex “Without Jesus, There is No Christmas, Says Pope Francis” True, and this pope might keep in mind that without following Christ’s teachings, there is no Church. This pope should avoid more error and confusion. May God forgive him for what he has done to the Church.

@Pontifex Holy Mother of God, Theotokos, when will your Son free us from this pope – the errors, the confusion, the adulterers receiving Holy Communion, the coming approval of “gay unions”, the homosexual clergy, all the homosexual priests.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Joy, prayer and gratitude are three ways that help us live authentically.” And prayer will bring us a good pope one day, and then we will be able to experience joy and gratitude that this pope’s wrecking of the Church is at an end

@Pontifex “The Church born of the people is a new invention that is both absurd and of perilous character … only with difficulty, could it avoid being infiltrated by strangely ideological connotations.” – Pope St. John Paul II https://goo.gl/dP8oWQ

@Pontifex Theotokos, Mother of God, please ask you Son to send us a good pope, a great pope, one who will repair the wreckage this pope is leaving behind him as he rampages through the Church. Please hear our desperate prayer.

@Pontifex “Pope Francis said that the stability of the family is integral for the future” (https://goo.gl/XnADLd), except that when this pope’s “discernment” applies – which will happen increasingly often – the family is allowed to collapse through divorce and “remarriage.”

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “A joyful soul is like healthy soil in which life can thrive and produce good fruit.” It’s also true that a pope who is faithful to the teachings of the Church is like healthy soil in which the Church can thrive and produce good fruit.

@Pontifex “Every bishop knows that many Catholics believe ‘before God’ that the innovations violate the Gospel….Why would bishops refrain from personally offering their own witness before God for the benefit of their people and the universal Church?” https://goo.gl/7aztKL

@Pontifex The more this pope is rooted in Christ, the more he will rediscover interior peace, even in the midst of daily challenges, and the more he will support the traditional teachings of the Church and end the errors and confusion of his pontificate.

@Pontifex How difficult it is for this pope to love his neighbor when he is close, and how easy it is for him to love the migrants and the foreigners from afar. https://goo.gl/bhJ5dV

@Pontifex “Pope, at general audience, says that the liturgy is a true school of prayer (Vatican News)” If that is what this pope really thinks, then why does he do his best to suppress the Traditional Latin Mass and those groups who celebrate it, like the FFI?

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “if we fail to suffer with those who suffer, even those of different religions…or cultures, we need to question our own humanity.” If this pope fails to uphold the teachings of the Church and spread the Gospel, he needs to question his own humanity.

@Pontifex “We did not wake up one fine day in 2017 to find ourselves suddenly confronted with Eucharistic sacrilege being promoted from on high. There was a long, slow process that led to this moment.” https://goo.gl/5djJwV

@Pontifex Okay, I admit it: I am Marcoantonio Colonna. The Dictator Pope’s Gestapo can come and get me. Best regards, Robert John Bennett, Dusseldorf, Germany.

@Pontifex “Ethical truth and the untruth of this proportionalism are subject of Catholic faith, can be recognized by human reason. They have been defended by the great thinkers Socrates, Plato, and Cicero and are defended by members of other religions,” https://goo.gl/11dSXo

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.16

Some recent Tweets:

@Pontifex An observation about joining kneeling and receiving Communion: “I’m kneeling now because here is Someone who is greater than I, even this little Host, and so I open my mouth like a little child to receive the Lord of the Kingdom of God.” https://goo.gl/61dFAp

@Pontifex “Bishop Schneider Interview: Catholics must not ‘become victims of an insane pope-centrism’” https://goo.gl/ncM7cY

@Pontifex “Amoris Laetitia brings ‘paradigm change’ to Church, says Cardinal Parolin” https://goo.gl/45hM2K Oh, come on. Why not just call it what it really is: Amoris Laetitia isn’t bringing “paradigm change” to the Church, it’s bringing schism.

@Pontifex Now that that this pope allows unrepentant adulterers to receive the Eucharist, many believe that unrepentant sodomites will be next, after the synod this year.

@Pontifex “German bishop: find positive responses to same-sex couples” (LifeSite News) https://goo.gl/7PztkN Oh. Dear. God.

@Pontifex With prayers that God will have mercy on this bishop and will allow him to undergo conversion, rather than suffer eternal punishment for his errors – and the same is true of our poor pope. https://goo.gl/7PztkN

@Pontifex Yes, just as, according to the pope, “the encounter with God and our brothers and sisters cannot wait just because we are slow or lazy,” so too the pope’s correction of his errors and confusion cannot wait just because he may be slow or lazy.

@Pontifex This is what “pastoral” REALLY means: https://goo.gl/tcFd8b

@Pontifex An Austrian bishop wants to “bless” homosexual unions, and this pope says and does nothing? God help this poor pope. God help the Church.

@Pontifex “It remains to be seen what service Lilianne Ploumen has provided, given her support for homosexuality, abortion and contraception; it is difficult if not impossible to separate her recent Pontifical honor from this grievous and scandalous act.” https://goo.gl/3eA1po

@Pontifex “It is no longer possible to take the Vatican seriously,” writes one commentator. Yes. this pope has become a joke. https://goo.gl/3eA1po

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “We must not wait to be perfect before responding to the Lord who calls us, but rather open our hearts to His voice.” True, and a pope must not wait to support the teachings of the Church and the Gospel, but rather open his mind to the truth.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “We should…protect…whoever is forced to leave their own home and undergo moments of real difficulty.” And we should not be naive, as this poor pope seems to be, when it comes to the dangers of Islam, the teachings of which decree world domination.

@Pontifex In this video (https://goo.gl/RUwLr3), Bishop Athanasius Schneider speaks about the Anti-Christ, false prophets, and bishops who lead their flocks into error. He knows that he makes himself a target of this pope’s vengeance, but also that he is building up the Church.

@Pontifex Dissent? Really? https://goo.gl/xtf356

@Pontifex May God forgive this pope for the evil he is doing in the Church. O God, send us a good pope soon.

@Pontifex Does this pope know that a German bishop has called on the Church to “bless” couples who sodomize each other? https://goo.gl/7PztkN So what is this pope doing about such a bishop?

@Pontifex So now, according to rumor, this poor pope is soon to require from all clergy an oath of fidelity to himself and to his magisterium? Or they will be suspended? Mother of God, beg your Son to have mercy on His Church and on this poor man, this pitiable pope.

@Pontifex Does this poor pope, this poor man, really think he can turn error into truth by forcing the clergy to swear “fidelity” to him and to his “magisterium”? What a pitiable individual he is. And may God have mercy on him.

@Pontifex Only a real “dictator pope” would try to compel “fidelity” to him and to his “magisterium.” Does he really think that by doing that he can turn confusion into clarity? Surely he can’t be quite that foolish, can he?

@Pontifex Surely this poor pope, this poor man, doesn’t really think that by demanding an oath of “fidelity” to himself and his “magisterium” he can quiet his own fears, suspicion, paranoia, anger, and desire for vengeance? He can’t really that, can he? God, send us a good pope.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “I ask you to accompany me on my journey to Chile and Peru in your prayers.” And we pray too that his suspicion, insecurity, paranoia, and anger will not – as is rumored – cause him to compel the clergy to swear “fidelity” to him and his “magisterium.”

@Pontifex Refugees? This pope is blind: “Mia’s family accepted Abdul, the refugee who became her boyfriend. In a fit of jealousy, he allegedly ambushed the 15-year-old girl in broad daylight and stabbed her though the heart with a 4in kitchen knife.” https://goo.gl/X7k9Fe

@Pontifex As this pope says, “We should try to see the face of Jesus in the face of suffering migrant children. But why can’t we also see the face of Jesus in the face of the victims of Muslim migrants—those who have been beaten, raped, and stabbed?” https://goo.gl/18fkAH

@Pontifex “Papal honor for Dutch abortion activist” (LifeSite News) How is this possible? Dear God, send us a good pope.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.17

Clearly, “The Great Religion of Peace” is at work worldwide (https://goo.gl/XCSfpa), and to oppose it, even verbally, can be considered islamophobic.
In our long history, stretching from the Christian present back into Old Testament times, we, the People of God, have experienced many such periods. And we have survived them all.
And we will continue to survive them, especially during times of social collapse, such as we may have to face again fairly soon.
However, we may take some comfort in the often-repeated words of Our Lady, who could look into the future and say: “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.18

Für den Nuntius:

ich habe kürzlich den Pastor meiner örtlichen Pfarrei gefragt, ob er eine traditionelle lateinische Messe feiern würde. Seine Antwort lautete: “Willst du, dass wir RÜCKWÄRTS gehen?”

Ich bin Amerikaner und kann meine Ideen auf Deutsch nicht so gut zum Ausdruck bringen, aber ich will einfach sagen: Später dachte ich mir: „Ja, ganz genau, das will ich. Ich möchte, dass die Kirche ,rückwärts’ geht. Zurück zu einer Zeit, in der die Kirchen sonntags voll waren; rückwärts bis in eine Zeit, in der die Priesterseminare prall gefüllt waren; rückwärts bis in eine Zeit, in der die meisten Katholiken jede Woche zur Messe gingen; rückwärts in eine Zeit, in der es viele katholische Schulen und katholische Hochzeiten und Taufen und Konfirmationen gab; rückwärts bis in eine Zeit, in der es eine enorme Anzahl von religiösen Berufungen gab; rückwärts bis in eine Zeit, in der Kirchen gebaut, nicht verkauft oder abgerissen wurden; rückwärts bis zu einer Zeit, als die Menschen das Knie vor dem Allerheiligsten Sakrament gebeugt haben, statt lebhaft an dem Tabernakel vorbeizugehen, während sie laute Gespräche führen; rückwärts bis zur Zeit, als alle – Priester und Leute – an die reale Präsenz glaubten; rückwärts in eine Zeit, in der Menschen – einschließlich Frauen mit Einkaufstüten – sich nicht im Heiligtum um den Altar für die Messe versammelten. Ja, es stimmt. Das will ich. Ich will, dass die Kirche ‚rückwärts‘ geht.”

Und ja, es versteht sich von selbst: Ich will zurück in eine Zeit gehen, als die traditionelle lateinische Messe überall gefeiert wurde.

Mit einem Gebet

Robert John Bennett

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.19

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

ich bin ein amerikanischer Rentner, der seit mehr als fünfundzwanzig Jahren in Deutschland lebt. Mein Deutsch ist immer noch nicht sehr gut, aber ich möchte mich bei einem der Rheinbahn-Busfahrer bedanken.

Gestern, am 18. Januar, während des Sturms, gegen 11:45 war ich auf dem Weg zur Andreaskirche in der Altstadt. Ich war am Rheinufer, nahe der Ecke Schulstraße. Der Wind war so stark, dass ich stürzte zu Boden. Ich zerriss meine Kleidung und verletzte mein Knie, das zu bluten begann. Einer Ihrer Busfahrer sah mich und hielt seinen Bus an, öffnete die Tür und bot an, mich abzuholen.

Ich musste ablehnen, weil ich nicht wusste, wohin der Bus fuhr, und ich wollte die Andreaskirche erreichen, bevor die Heilige Messe begann, um 12 Uhr. Trotz des starken Windes konnte ich meinen Weg fortsetzen.

Ich möchte dem Busfahrer meinen Dank aussprechen. Seine Geste war sehr nett. Es war eine sanfte, menschliche Geste in einer Zeit, in der solche Gesten manchmal selten sind.

Ich weiß nicht, wer dieser Busfahrer war, und ich werde ihm nie persönlich danken können, aber ich möchte wenigstens Ihnen, seinem Arbeitgeber, meine Dankbarkeit ausdrücken.

Sie haben einen guten, anständigen Mann, der für Sie arbeitet. Ich bin mir sicher, dass es viele andere geben muss.

Freundliche Grüße

Robert John Bennett

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.22

To whitehouse.gov:

An article on the internet states that the Trump administration continues to support the president’s crackdown on immigrants belonging to The Great Religion of Peace.

I believe President Trump deserves much credit for doing this.

I don’t agree with him on everything – actually, I’ve always been fairly liberal – but I agree with him on this issue.

Most people just don’t get it: The Great Religion of Peace isn’t really a religion at all; it’s an ideology bent on world domination. It’s an ideology that’s been pretty successful so far: from the Atlantic shores of North and West Africa all the way eastward through the Middle East and Pakistan, and elsewhere in Asia, like Indonesia and the Philippines. That is an enormous part of the world.

And now it’s on the verge – within a generation or two – of adding Europe to its list of conquests.

Whatever President Trump does to keep The Great Religion of Peace suppressed in the United States, it doesn’t matter what his other policies may be, not to people like me.

And I think there are many of us, very many of us.

Best regards,

Robert John Bennett

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.24

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex Isn’t multiculturalism wonderful? https://goo.gl/kvAuER

@Pontifex “Global Abortion Advocate Lilianne Ploumen Claims Papal Award is ‘Confirmation’ of Her Work” https://goo.gl/nfBs1v How long, O Lord, how long?

@Pontifex “He (this pope) has intentionally surrounded himself with corrupt and craven men. They are, by and large, lazy and vicious and self-serving simply don’t care about doing what is right.” https://goo.gl/d8xWLF

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: And we, the faithful, pray to God for a good and courageous pope who will ask forgiveness for what the present pope has done; we pray for a pope who will listen to what God – not his own fantasies and imagination – is really saying to him.

@Pontifex “Pope in Chile to Bishops, Religious: Church Should Seek to Heal World’s Wounds” (https://goo.gl/fTUqgL) This pope should seek to heal his own wounds first, and the wounds he has inflicted on the Church. Never mind the world right now.

@Pontifex “Pope in Chile: Unity Is a Gift That Must Be ‘Persistently Sought’ for Good of All” https://goo.gl/LF2ox1 Oh, right. This pope knows a lot about promoting unity, doesn’t he?

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “The Gospel message is a source of joy.” Yes, that’s true, as long as we all – including the pope – are faithful to the Gospel and Church teaching, Dear God, send us a good and faithful pope.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Every life counts: from the beginning to the end, from conception to natural death.” So is that why this pope recently recognized Lilianne Ploumen, the Dutch abortion activist, as a Dame in the pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great?

@Pontifex “ ‘Enoch walked with the Lord and was seen no more, for God took him.’ In the Old Mass,…the priest disappears.” https://goo.gl/NPEmYX

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Praise to you, Lord, for this wonderful creation.” And praise to You for the teachings of Your Church. May this pope uphold those teachings, and not distort them into more error and confusion.

@Pontifex (https://goo.gl/LeFd5q) Either “the destruction of the moral edifice of the Catholic Church” in Germany will continue, and the Church here will ultimately disappear, or these errors will be corrected by a good and decent pope, and the Church will be preserved.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “There is no better medicine to heal so many wounds than a heart capable of mercy.” Perhaps. It’s certainly true, though, that there is no better medicine to heal wounds in the Church than a pope capable of defending the Gospel and Church teachings.

@Pontifex Theokokos, Mother of God, what kind of a pope is this? He gives a papal award to an abortion activist, he accuses clerical sex-abuse victims in Chile of slander, and he marries a couple on an airplane without following canon law.

@Pontifex Theokokos, Mother of God, what kind of a pope is this? He never mentions – much less censures – a German bishop who wants to “bless” sodomite couplings. How long must the we suffer this pope?

I respect Edward Pentin, but does anyone still think that #PopeFrancis really wants to have the “sensus fidelium”? If he doesn’t understand by now that all the faithful want is for him to be faithful to the Gospel and Church teachings, then he never will understand.

@Pontifex In response to this pope’s Tweet: the Lord calls this pope today to defend and support the Gospel and to be faithful to the teachings of the Church, without error and confusion, through every city, throughout the world. He calls this pope to be a disciple of the truth.

@Pontifex Bishop Athanasius Schneider has spoken out in defense and support of the Gospel and Church teaching. So I worry about how long it will be before this pope punishes him for being a faithful Catholic, just as this pope has punished others for that same reason.

@Pontifex “The Pope also hinted that the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors would be reconstituted soon” (Catholic Herald) Oh, fine, he “hinted.” Well, that changes everything, doesn’t it?

@Pontifex So, this pope is “grateful to all who have accompanied (him) on (his) pilgrimage to Chile and Peru, especially with prayer.” Now if God would only answer those prayers and convert this pope, making of him a pontiff who defends the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.

@Pontifex “Pope denounces injustices committed against Amazon region’s indigenous peoples” (Vatican Press Office) Now if only this pope would also denounce the injustices committed against victims of clerical sexual abuse in Chile, instead of demanding (unobtainable) “proof.”

@Pontifex In response to a Tweet by this pope: “Prayer that purifies, strengthens and illuminates our path is like fuel for this pope’s journey towards a pontificate that is free of error and full of clarity.”

@Pontifex This pope says, “There is no such thing as harmless disinformation; trusting in falsehood can have dire consequences.” This pope gets at least one thing right: trusting in falsehood can have dire consequences. It can devastate the Church and its teachings.

@Pontifex Why is liberation theology good for Palestine, but not for the Muslim population of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, Somalia, and other countries? (https://goo.gl/ZqS1Rq)

@Pontifex “’I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach’…They have cast disgrace upon all previous recipients of the award over the better part of two centuries. The Vatican should be utterly ashamed.” (https://goo.gl/v4ua9H)

——

I’ve just seen the Frontline program “Exodus – The Journey Continues,” and I found it very moving. However, it was in at least one aspect somewhat misleading.

I think the United States should welcome any and all refugees from Central American countries. Most of them share – at least in some distant way – the religious and cultural values of people born and raised in the United States.

However – and I know this is politically incorrect – refugees from the Middle East and North Africa are adherents of a belief system that is not a religion at all. It is, rather, a political ideology that is completely oriented toward world domination.

I don’t expect anyone at PBS to take that idea seriously, but I suggest you try to inform yourselves as to the real nature and teachings of Islam.

And to call this program “Exodus,” was deceptive and disingenuous to the point of absurdity. The Jews who emigrated to Israel after World War II were quite different from Muslims. Judaism is not a religion that encourages or commands its members to murder non-Jews or to try to dominate the world.

As I indicated, I certainly don’t expect anyone at PBS to accept my viewpoint or my ideas, but I wanted to express these thoughts in any case.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.25

Dear God, if only we had more bishops like St. Francis de Sales today (https://goo.gl/SqR1e7), bishops who truly believe this: “Those who love God cannot cease thinking of Him, living for Him, longing after Him, speaking of Him.”

If only we had a pope, dear God, who also thought in those terms.

As the psalmist said, “How long, Oh Lord, how long?”

How long must Your Church suffer from bishops who want to “bless” sodomite couples, bishops who allow adulterers to receive the Eucharist?

Mother of God, please, beg Your Son to send us a good pope, one who is capable of rebuilding the Church, one who will not spread error and confusion, one who “cannot cease thinking of God, living for God, longing after God, speaking of God.”

——

“So how are our bishops thinking and addressing this reality?” (https://goo.gl/dbyCXU)

You can be sure that they’re NOT thinking about addressing this reality in the only way that will change it for the better: by returning to the teachings of the Church, the liturgy, and the theology as they were before the distortions and consequent wreckage cause by the “spirit” of Vatican II (wherever that “spirit” may have come from).

It’s NOT that the Council itself created this new and terrible “reality.” It was that “spirit” that inflamed so many souls and led them astray into the horrors we see in the Church today: the bishops, for example, who want to “bless” sodomite or other adulterous relationships.

And – if sodomy and adultery are no longer grave sins, how long will it be before those who believe in polygamy, incest, pedophilia, and God knows what else begin lobbying for the social and ecclesiastical “non-judgmental” acceptance of their behavior.

Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat.

——

Lieber Hajo,

vielen Dank für diesen Brief des Prälaten.

Der Prälat hat mit großer Weisheit geschrieben: “Freiheit des Geistes bedeutet auch, uns nicht mit Verpflichtungen zu belasten, die nicht existieren”.

Und, meiner unbedeutenden Meinung nach, besteht die Tragödie der Kirche in den letzten fünfzig Jahren darin, dass der so genannte “Geist” des Konzils so viele Menschen davon überzeugen konnte, dass Verpflichtungen, die in der Tat existieren, existieren überhaupt nicht.

Und dieser “Geist” setzt seine Arbeit auch heute noch fort, mit deutschen Bischöfen, die Sodomiten-Beziehungen segnen wollen und Ehebrechern erlauben, die Heilige Kommunion zu empfangen.

Mit einem Gebet, dass Gott uns einen guten Papst schicken wird, der die Kirche aus ihren gegenwärtigen Ruinen wieder aufbauen kann

Robert John Bennett

——

It’s been several hours now, since I saw this Vortex the first time, and it brought me to tears.

The thought of it still does.

It’s clear that for Michael’s father the barrier between this world and the next had become invisible, when he said, “I have to go!” and when he told someone he alone could see, “I’m coming! I’m coming!”

I think all of us, without being close to death, can comprehend how fragile that barrier is, and how transparent, certainly for those on that other side of it. And we can comprehend, too, how many of our friends can see us and are waiting patiently for us to join them, when God decides the time is right.

But only then.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.28

In response to a comment on Facebook:

Yes, that’s the problem. Programs like PBS Frontline (and such programs exist here in Europe too) run these sentimental stories about poor refugees – almost always women and children – struggling to make it to the safety and security of Europe. (Or North America.)

And sure, such refugees exist, but they are in fact greatly outnumbered by young males whose meaning in life is imbued with the dictates of The Great Religion of Peace. And when they reach Europe – or North America – they ACT on those dictates, or convert others who act on them instead.

Among those dictates is the command “And kill them wherever you find them” (Sura 2:191).

Sure, people explain away this verse (and others like it) all the time, but the truth is that it is there, in the Koran, and it is still valid. And many of these young male refugees believe it enough to die for it.

Actually, in fact, it is applicable to ALL followers of The Great Religion of Peace, although many choose to ignore it for now. (And many who choose to ignore it sympathize and support those who do NOT choose to ignore it. Or if they ignore it, they raise children who, when grown up, definitely do NOT ignore it.)

——

Message to the producers of the Anne Will broadcast:

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

ich bin Amerikaner, und ich sah mit großem Interesse die heutige Anne-Will-Sendung zu.

Ich habe den Eindruck, dass alle Ihre Gäste meinen, dass es fast keinen Zusammenhang zwischen dem Anstieg des Antisemitismus in Deutschland und der Zunahme von Migranten aus dem Nahen Osten gibt.

Es tut mir wirklich Leid, dies fragen zu müssen, aber ist das Ihr Ernst? Glaubt man das wirklich?

Wenn ja, dann fürchte ich, Sie täuschen vielleicht sich selbst.

Auf jeden Fall ist das meine Meinung. Es kann natürlich sein, dass ich derjenige bin, der Unrecht hat.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Robert John Bennett

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

2018.01.28

Dear Richard,

Thank you for your message.

It’s all right for young people to be immature? Do you mean that really? When the future of our society may be at stake?

I may not be immature, but I admit that I do feel insecure when confronted with an ideology that appears ready to do anything to dominate the world. I think you should feel insecure about that too.

If you’ll forgive me for saying this, you might try being somewhat better informed. You could start by reading a few books like “Mohammed’s Koran: Why Muslims Kill For Islam” by Tommy Robinson and Peter McLoughlin, or “While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within” by Bruce Bawer.

You also might want to subscribe to JihadWatch or the Gatestone Institute’s newsletter.

And I have to say that, yes, I’m glad I’m a senior citizen, because I won’t have to face the danger of living in a world that may be governed by Sharia. On the other hand, you may have to live in just such a world, since you appear to be young, or at least younger than I am.

Best regards to you,

Robert John Bennett

——

Dear Raymond,

Thank you once again for your message.

I’m sorry you feel driven to anger. I don’t want you to worry about anything if you don’t want to.

Besides, as a man, you should feel quite comfortable with Islam. After all, think of the advantages of living under Sharia, if you convert: four wives, a male-dominated environment, and then all those virgins in Paradise after you die, especially if you die murdering a group of believers – even women and children. Or even trying to murder them.

I mean, who could ask for anything more?

In the meantime, you may find this article (https://goo.gl/PbDLY3) of some interest.

Best regards,

Robert John Bennett

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.01.31

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex “The office of the Pope is not that of a dictator, toward whom nobody dares to express, either privately or publicly, a well-founded concern. The bishops are brothers and colleagues of the Pope. Christ warned especially Peter, his vicar….” https://goo.gl/v4ua9H

@Pontifex “Pope condemns ‘fake news’ in annual message on Social Communications” (CWN) If only some REAL news about this pope could turn out to be fake, like Lilianne Ploumen being made a Dame of the Pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great.

@Pontifex “Pope condemns ‘fake news’ in annual message on Social Communications” (CWN). If only some REAL news about the Church could turn out to be fake, like the report on the German bishop who wants to “bless” sodomite couples.

@Pontifex Bishop Franz-Josef Bode rejects the view that in the Church “a same-sex relationship is classified as a grave sin.” https://goo.gl/iLZfFY He calls for a “blessing” on such relationships. Surely this is “fake news,” or else this pope would condemn Bishop Bode, right?

@Pontifex So this pope tweets that he wants everyone “to promote a journalism of peace, a journalism created by people for people.” How about having a pope who avoids error and confusion, who invites the Church to defend its ancient teachings and the truth and the Gospel?

@Pontifex Oh Theotokos, dear Mother of God, we beg you and plead with you, ask your Son to convert this present pope, and to make him a good and decent man, a pope who will support the Gospel and Church teachings, a pope who will rebuild the Church, not try to tear it down.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Prayer allows us to see one another as God our Father sees us, as brothers and sisters.” Dear God, give this pope the grace to pray. Give him the grace to pray that he can stop spreading error and confusion in the Church and will begin to rebuild it.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Christian joy…comes from faith and from meeting Jesus Christ.” And it comes from being faithful to Church teachings. Without the guidance of the Church, how does anyone know it is really Christ he or she is meeting, and not some darker entity?

@Pontifex Without the guidance of the Church, how does anyone know it is really Jesus Christ he or she is encountering, and not some darker entity – perhaps something like the so-called “spirit” of the Council?

@Pontifex In response to a Tweet by this pope: Yes, here we are, Lord, ashamed of what this pope is capable of doing to Your Church. Remember us in your mercy.

@Pontifex Father Gerald Murray and the three Kazakh bishops agree: “Adultery is never pleasing to God, is never authorized or tolerated by God, is always evil.” (https://goo.gl/k9D7B2) But this pope, standing amid the ruins of the Church, says it’s all subject to “discernment.”

@Pontifex Holy Mother of God, we thank your Son for giving us priests and bishops like this (https://goo.gl/k9D7B2), men who are faithful Catholics. Now if we only had a good pope, too, one who believed in and defended the ancient teachings of the Church, not his own errors.

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: I pray for those who suffer from the errors and confusion of this pope’s “teachings.” And I encourage those who pray for the salvation of such people, despite what this pope has done to them.

@Pontifex In this article https://goo.gl/eu6bD6, the author makes the point that in the course of this century, Christians in France will suffer the same fate as those in those countries already occupied by The Great Religion of Peace – but it’s not only Christians.

@Pontifex A priest, a bishop, with all his tremendous burdens of office and with the thousands of things he had to do each day, could find time to spend an hour in adoration (https://goo.gl/zHWfUm) before the Blessed Sacrament, EACH DAY, HIS WHOLE LIFE – and I can’t? Dear God.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Through prayer we can enter into a stable relationship with God, the source of true joy,” and through his own prayer this pope could stop spreading error and confusion, stabilize the Church, and bring true joy to Catholics.

@Pontifex Losing it. https://goo.gl/fW54KP

@Pontifex True, as this pope tweets: “Goodness, together with love, justice and solidarity, are not achieved once and for all; they have to be realized each day.” And we need a good pope who will realize them by no longer spreading error and confusion in the Church.

@Pontifex”Veritatis Gaudium” – a “paradigm shift” from “Sapientia Christiana.” In other words, let adulterers and others in a state of mortal sin follow their “conscience,” and receive the Eucharist, after “discernment,” “dialogue,” and “encounter” (whatever all that may mean).

@Pontifex “This is contrary to Divine Revelation,” Bishop Schneider said. “Beautiful explanations” like “discernment” and “pastoral accompaniment,” or a “change of paradigm” and “discovery of the subjective part of the truth,” are an allowance to sin. https://goo.gl/FbsqRm

@Pontifex “It has to be feared that an open schism in the Church will arise, that will be difficult to heal. Meanwhile, what I would like to call is the ‘heresy of the sliding panels’ is going on, that has its foundations in Amoris Laetitia.” https://goo.gl/WQuXv9

@Pontifex “Ah, Lord God! Why have you brought this people across the Jordan at all, to hand us over to the Amorites so as to destroy us?” Joshua 7:7 https://goo.gl/WQuXv9

@Pontifex “1393 Catholic schools closed in US over past decade; 287 schools opened” (CNS) And what is one of the main sources of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life?

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.02.06

@Pontifex So, Archbishop Paglia thinks the term “intrinsically evil” is too restricting? Oh why stop there? Why not just say that the term “evil” is too restricting? Then everyone can do whatever they want, right? Homoerotic paintings, Archbishop Paglia? Homoerotic behavior?

@Pontifex This pope says there is no humility without humiliation. (Vatican News) That’s true, but there’s plenty of fake humility without humiliation, not to mention plenty of error and confusion. Isn’t they right, Your Holiness?

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Jesus is our mediator, who reconciles us not only with the Father but also with each other.” But will He reconcile this pope with the truth? Will He stop this pope from spreading error, confusion and destruction within the Church? Dear Jesus, help us.

@Pontifex In this blog (https://goo.gl/a2VFuS), a priest writes of “the false prophet on the Chair of Peter.” He says, “We have full apostasy now in the Vatican.”

@Pontifex “What the Church teaches about contraception is not a matter of free discussion among theologians,” Pope John Paul II said in 1987. “Teaching the contrary is tantamount to inducing the moral conscience of spouses into error.” https://goo.gl/wSPuWJ

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “A faith that does not trouble us is a troubled faith.” So, surely, with all of the error, confusion, and apostasy this pope has spread in the Church, he must have a “troubled faith,” or at least a guilty conscience.

@Pontifex “The controversy surrounding Pope Francis’ teaching on marriage and family as found in his exhortation Amoris Laetitia can be reduced to allowing Catholics ‘to sin,’ said Bishop Athanasius Schneider in an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews.” https://goo.gl/t3Nhga

@Pontifex You combine Marxist thinking with a superficial Jesuit formation and this is what you get. Why are we surprised? https://goo.gl/B1fyoA

@Pontifex This pope is “misinformed” about Chile and apparently about China as well? Well, thee are those who believe this pope has been “misinformed” practically since the age of reason – if you can call it that in this case.

@Pontifex This pope – “misinformed” about Chile, about China. And about the army of gays in the clergy too?

@Pontifex Marxism, a Jesuit formation, and growing up in the backwater of a Latin American dictatorship – that’s a perfect storm of “misinformation”. So, can we expect anything else from this pope EXCEPT “misinformation”?

@Pontifex St. Peter Canisius said: “Better that only a few Catholics should be left, staunch and sincere in their religion, than that they should, remaining many, desire as it were to be in collusion with the Church’s enemies and in conformity with the open foes of our faith.”

@Pontifex Yes, as the pope tweets, “may every person come to Christ, the Light of Truth.” And may this be especially true for those Catholics in China who – in the opinion of many observers – have been betrayed by this pope.

@Pontifex “The pope’s actions in China are characteristic of a leader who has repeatedly practiced realpolitik to achieve important goals. But they clash with Pope Francis’ image among many Catholics and others as a defender of the oppressed….” https://goo.gl/Q1MREG

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “A life of faith means wanting to be with the Lord, and that means constantly searching for Him wherever He is.” It also means for a pope not to fool himself into thinking he has found the Lord, when in fact he has found the Prince of Darkness.

@Pontifex When the pope intervenes in Vatican decisions and really DOES act like a dictator, then he puts the Church in even more danger than he put it in before. Dear God, when will You free us from this accursed pontificate? https://goo.gl/XW6EB7

@Pontifex It’s even worse than we thought. (https://goo.gl/PXELba) But who cares? This pope? Oh, you gotta be kidding.

@Pontifex Cardinal Marx wants to bless sodomite unions (https://goo.gl/PXELba) Where is the pope? He knows when to keep his mouth shut. The German Church has few members, but it’s rolling in money. One archdiocese, Cologne, is richer than the Vatican (https://goo.gl/Cww5ds).

@Pontifex This pope’s agenda: Punish faithful Catholics? Check. Reward heretics? Check. Destroy the FFI? Check. Allow Communion for adulterers and sodomites? Check. Sodomite unions blessed? Check. Allow communists to control Chinese Church? Check. Ruin the Catholic Church? Check.

@Pontifex Yes, to paraphrase: “Jesus wants to be found by a pope who looks for Him.” But to look for him, a pope must be honest and faithful to the teachings of the Church. He must lead the Church without spreading error and confusion, without betraying the Church to its enemies.

@Pontifex Ah, The Great Religion of Peace: “”Sexual assault and rape happen in every culture, but only in Islam do they have divine sanction.” https://goo.gl/eXPEuk

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “One who is aware of his own wretchedness and lowers his gaze with humility feels God’s merciful gaze set upon him.” If only this pope reflected God’s mercy, instead of the Demon’s vindictiveness, suspicion, anger, and betrayal of faithful Catholics.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “All of us are called to commit ourselves to protecting minors in the digital world.” This pope is called to protect minors especially in Chile. He’s also called to defend the ancient teachings of the Church, not to spread error and confusion.

@Pontifex “Nolite navem agitare.” https://goo.gl/zeTVq3

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

2018.02.07

Eine Nachricht für P. Dr. Sven Leo Conrad, FSSP:

Sehr geehrter Pater Conrad,

ich bin Amerikaner, und mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut, aber ich möchte versuchen, diese kurze Nachricht an Sie zu schreiben.

Ich möchte sagen, wie gut und bewegend ich Ihren Artikel im aktuellen FSSP-Informationsblatt gefunden habe.

Es erinnerte mich an das erste Mal, als ich vor fünf oder sechs Jahren zu einer traditionellen lateinischen Messe ging, die hier in Düsseldorf von einem FSSP-Priester gefeiert wurde. Ich war so bewegt, dass ich fast weinen wollte, denn es war ungefähr fünfzig Jahre her gewesen, seit ich eine solche Messe besucht hatte.

Wie gesagt, war das vor fünf oder sechs Jahren, und bis letztes Jahr wurde jede Messe mit gregorianischen Gesängen gefeiert, von Anfang bis Ende. Das war echt eine der schönsten Dinge, die ich je erfahren hatte.

Im vergangenen Jahr aber hatte der Pfarrer Schwierigkeiten mit der Schola, und statt des gregorianischen Gesangs musste er in der ersten Messehälfte nur deutsche Kirchenlieder singen lassen, sehr laut, von der ganzen Gemeinde.

Für mich, leider, hat das die traditionelle lateinische Messe ruiniert. Fast alles war wie in einer Novus Ordo Messe, wenigstens für mich. Und da es für mich schwierig war, die Kirche zu erreichen, wo der FSSP Priester diese Messe feierte, beschloss ich, dass ich genauso gut zu einer Novus Ordo-Messe in der Nähe meines Hauses gehen könnte. Es schien so wenig Unterschied zwischen dieser Novus-Ordo Messe und der „neuen“ FSSP-Messe zu geben.

Ich bin jedoch Gott und der FSSP sehr dankbar, dass ich diese fünf oder sechs Jahre mit einer echten traditionellen lateinischen Messe mit gregorianischen Gesängen erleben konnte. Diese Messen waren ein wirklicher Segen für mich, und ich hoffe, dass der Priester hier eines Tages das Schola-Problem lösen wird, und ich werde solche Messen wieder erleben können.

Mit Gebeten und freundlichen Grüßen

Robert John Bennett

——

Frau Sylvia Pantel
Herrn Andreas Rimkus
Frau Dr. Sahra Wagenknecht
Deutscher Bundestag
Platz der Republik 1
11011 Berlin

Sehr geehrte Frau Pantel,
Sehr geehrter Herr Rimkus,
Sehr geehrte Frau Dr. Wagenknecht,

ich bin ein pensionierter Amerikaner – und kein deutscher Staatsbürger. Ich kann nicht also für Sie stimmen, aber ich wohne seit über fünfundzwanzig Jahren in Deutschland, und ich bin jetzt mit einer Situation konfrontiert, die ich Ihnen beschreiben möchte. Denn diese Situation könnte auch die deutschen Bürger, die Ihre Wählerschaft sind, ab und zu betreffen. Es kann also möglicherweise nützlich sein, dass Sie sich dessen bewusst sind.

Ich bin ein Mann mit bescheidenen Mitteln und musste immer privat krankenversichert sein, da ich in Deutschland als selbständiger Englischlehrer arbeitete. Momentan bin ich in der Kategorie “Notfälle Krankenversicherung”, weil das alles ist, was ich mir leisten kann.

In dieser Kategorie soll der Krankenversicherer für Schmerzmittel bezahlen, und der beiliegende Brief von Axa zeigt, dass Axa dazu bereit war.

Eine seltsame Sache geschah jedoch, als ich Axa eine Rechnung und ein Rezept für Schmerzmittel gegen Gürtelrose schickte. Axa weigerte sich, das Medikament aus Gründen zu bezahlen, die ich nicht ganz verstehe. (Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut und tatsächlich schreibe ich diesen Brief mit Hilfe von Google Translate.)

Vielleicht interessiert Sie der Inhalt von Axas Brief. (Ich füge auch eine Kopie der ärztlichen Verordnung, zusammen mit der Rechnung der Online-Apotheke, bei.)

Ich verstehe, dass es wenig gibt, was Sie tun können, um mir zu helfen, aber um einiger Ihrer Wähler willen, die vielleicht ähnliche Schwierigkeiten mit privaten Krankenversicherungen haben könnten, wollen Sie sich dieser Situation vielleicht bewusst sein, wie ich schon gesagt habe. Man könnte fast den Eindruck haben, dass private Versicherungsfirmen manchmal versuchen, Wege zu finden, Auszahlungen zu vermeiden.

Mit freundlichen Grußen,

Robert John Bennett

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.02.13

To The Remnant Newspaper:

Michael Matt’s memory of the Church of his youth and childhood, described in the current edition of The Remnant Newspaper, was almost enough to move me to tears. I’m only a few years older than Michael Matt, I think, so my memory of that Church is quite similar. Especially his description of the priests of that time:

“I remember genuine and unaffected Catholic men. I remember how the parish house, or rectory, was located just a few feet from the church itself, and how Father was always there, working, praying, seeing to the needs of his flock.”

And the Church now? God help us. What keeps me going, though, is an idea that I keep thinking about all the time. It’s an idea that I’ve written about and tweeted elsewhere:

Christ never said the Gates of Hell would not infiltrate and undermine the Church; He said only that the Gates of Hell WOULD NOT PREVAIL.

And I also think often of His Mother’s promise: that in the end Her Immaculate Heart would triumph.

With a prayer,

Robert John Bennett

——

To The Remnant Newspaper,

I would like to respond to Chris Ferrara’s extremely moving article on this pope’s treatment of Chinese Catholics.

What I want to say is this: Christ never said that the Gates of Hell – in the form of evil and corrupt clerics and prelates, or even a pope – would not infiltrate and undermine the Church, and try to subvert its teachings.

Christ did say, however, that they would not PREVAIL.

That is one of Christ’s promises that I absolutely cling to in times like these.

With a prayer,

Robert John Bennett

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.02.14

Tweets:

@Pontifex “Encounter the poor, chaste, and obedient Jesus, Pope preaches” (Vatican Press Office) Who, exactly was this pope preaching to? Surely not to himself (“obedient” to Church teachings?), and surely not to the active homosexuals in the clergy and the Vatican hierarchy.

“Time to Let Go of Vatican II” https://goo.gl/E3tiXu

@Pontifex O God, send us a good pope, a decent, saintly man. Please send us a pope who will build up the Church instead of ruining it. Send us a pope who will support good Catholics and punish bishops like Cardinal Marx who want to bless sodomite couplings.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “All of us are called to protect minors.” And all of us, are called to protect the teachings of the Church in a world that attacks them. Popes are called to teach without spreading error and confusion, as this pope does. Dear God, send us a good pope.

@Pontifex Is this pope “growing”? Amoris Laetitia confusion, Humanae Vitae “reconsideration,” the Vatican overrun with homosexuals, a Lenten retreat by an author supporting an LGBT life style, China betrayal, Cardinal Marx blessing sodomite unions – all that is “Grace”? Dear God.

@Pontifex Ignoring the dangers of Islam, this pope naively preaches, “Let us welcome…those fleeing from war and hunger.” But “St Thomas…sets as the first condition for acceptance a desire to integrate.” https://goo.gl/bsH64g How many refugees are now living in the Vatican?

@Pontifex “The initiative of Cardinal Marx ignores the clear Revelation of God,” comments Cardinal Cordes. (https://goo.gl/1YT6GW) So, according to current Vatican policy, Cardinal Marx will be rewarded and Cardinal Cordes punished.

@Pontifex Yes, and in line with current Vatican policy, which decrees punishment for people who dare “dissent” (i.e., question anything this pope says), Biship Eleganti may not be a bishop much longer. https://goo.gl/k1uJDf

@Pontifex How IS this possible? (https://goo.gl/FCfiaX) Faithful Catholics are punished, while those who approve of sodomy and other grave sins are given complete freedom to express their views. Dear God, we offer up this crucifixion of the Church in reparation for our sins.

@Pontifex A litany for the bishops of the Church Militant, including the Bishop of Rome https://goo.gl/ytDgr9

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Christians are called to keep alive the memory of how much God has done through them.” And popes are called to keep alive the teachings of the Church. They are not called to distort those teachings through error and new “paradigms.”

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Christians are called to keep alive the memory of how much God has done through them.” Popes are called to keep alive the teachings of the Church. They are not called to spread error, chaos and confusion, angrily punishing those who uphold the truth.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Lord is present in our lives, showing us all His love.” And the Lord is present in the life of this pope too, showing him all His love and encouraging him to respond with truth, faithful to the teachings of the Church, without error, confusion, anger.

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: May this sick pope always be shown love in his fragility and respected in his inviolable dignity, and may God send us a good, decent pope soon, one who is strong enough to rebuild the Church from the ruins this pope will have left behind.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “To serve human life is to serve God and life at every stage.” For a pope, to serve God means being faithful to the teachings of the Church instead of spreading error, confusion, anger, and vindictiveness. Dear God, send us a good pope.

@Pontifex A multitude feels deep pain at the way sodomy is now being promoted in the Church. “God will not allow this to continue much longer…When Our Blessed Lord sets about to offer correction, it’s usually a fearsome prospect.” https://goo.gl/1iC53g

@Pontifex In “blessings for homosexual partnerships” and other adulteries, I wish I knew what this pope means by “the contribution of leaven, salt and light of the Gospel” (https://goo.gl/oBhBeo). We stupid people don’t understand such phrases. We understand only “The Gospel.”

@Pontifex After the sex-abuse scandal, when millions left the Church, the Vatican thinks it can improve things now by talking of “blessing” sodomite unions under the pretext of “new paradigms”? Dear God. What else is included in these “new paradigms”? Blessing incest maybe?

@Pontifex And these “new paradigms” the Vatican is going on about – do they include betraying the suffering and even the martyrdom of countless numbers of faithful Chinese, just because some hoodwinked Cardinal visited a few cleaned-up, “Potemkin” areas of China?

@Pontifex “See Christ in the sick, Pope asks Sunday audience” (Vatican News) Yes, see Christ even in this sick pope.

@Pontifex Cardinal Cupich “said that a priest should always respect the decision of the individual’s conscience.” (Catholic Herald) Yes, that thinking works so well during a sex-abuse crisis, when guilty priests follow their conscience and millions leave the Church.

@Pontifex Christ never said that the Gates of Hell – in the form of evil and corrupt clerics and prelates, or even a pope – would not infiltrate and undermine the Church, and try to subvert its teachings. Christ said they would not PREVAIL.

@Pontifex This pope says we cannot transmit the Faith alone. True: we need the Holy Spirit, and a pope who is faithful to Church teachings, who does not allow adulterers to receive Communion, who does not betray Chinese Catholics, who does not punish those who uphold the Faith.

@Pontifex Does this pope lie? https://goo.gl/pxYVQp

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “When we confess our sins with humility and sincerity, we receive forgiveness.” Even this pope, if he confesses his lies (https://goo.gl/pxYVQp) with humility and sincerity can receive forgiveness.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.02.19

Some recent Tweets:

@Pontifex “Evidence shows Pope Francis is a ‘principal in a cover-up’ of clergy sex-abuse in Chile: Expert” https://goo.gl/BKdCZ5

@Pontifex “Faithful have a right to good preaching, Pope tells audience” (Vatican Press Office) The faithful also have a right to a good pope, one who does not lie or spread error and confusion or betray Catholics in China, one who is faithful to all the teachings of the Church.

@Pontifex “Church in China further squeezed by revised regulations (UCANews)” Meanwhile, this pope asks Vatican-approved bishops to resign and recognizes bishops installed by the Chinese government. Dear God, when will this disastrous pontificate end?

@Pontifex “Hong Kong Catholics organize prayer vigil to oppose Vatican-Beijing accord” (Catholic Herald) A friend said, “Yeah, good luck with that. This pope will never to anything to offend his fellow Marxists or Communists in China. But surely he doesn’t lie the way they do.”

@Pontifex “Film biography of Pope will open in May” (The Wrap) A friend commented, “A film biography? During his LIFETIME? Oh, please, gimme a break.”

@Pontifex “Film biography of Pope will open in May” (The Wrap) A friend commented, “I wonder how much the German bishops, with all their wealth, paid Wim Wenders to make this film. And this pope is so GREAT at self-marketing and self-advertising. In all humility, of course.”

@Pontifex “How is it possible that Pope Francis, the world’s highest Catholic authority, does not feel any urgency to denounce the avalanche of anti-Semitism and hate coming from the Islamic authorities, but pleased them by sending a letter of support?” https://goo.gl/57GAvV

@Pontifex This pope tweets that every day “we experience the tenderness of God who lovingly saves us from our sins, fears and anxieties.” Now if only the tenderness of God will save the Church from this pope’s sins, fears, anxieties, error, confusion, anger, and vindictiveness.

@Pontifex “Pope says he meets ‘regularly’ with abuse victims” (CWN) A friend commented, “Sometimes what this pope SAYS and what he really DOES are two different things. But of course this pope would never, EVER actually LIE.”

@Pontifex “Pope says he meets ‘regularly’ with abuse victims” (CWN) A friend commented, “Sometimes what this pope SAYS and what he really DOES are two different things. But of course this pope would never, EVER actually LIE. He may have fits of rage, but he would never LIE.”

@Pontifex This video from Church Militant may be of interest: “Queer as a Bell” https://goo.gl/pH6fwn I know I speak for millions when I say we have a longing for the time when her “Immaculate Heart will triumph,” and we will be free of this kind of horrific pontificate.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “The message of Jesus is troubling and disturbs us.” The message of Jesus doesn’t trouble or disturb this pope. He interprets that message any way he wants, sowing error and confusion everywhere, while ruining the Church. May God have mercy on us.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Only those able to acknowledge their mistakes and ask pardon receive understanding and forgiveness from others.” May this pope be capable of acknowledging his grave mistakes and errors, his harm to the Church, in order to receive forgiveness from God

@Pontifex This pope doesn’t read heresy accusations? Please. Who then is responsible for all the punishments meted out to those who disagree with him? Who is responsible for the ongoing attempt to unmask the author of “The Dictator Pope”?https://goo.gl/oJHbjF

@Pontifex When confronted with opposition, the classic lie of all evil leaders is, “I ignore all opposition,” (https://goo.gl/oJHbjF) while in private they rage against it. According to reliable sources, that is exactly what this pope does. God help him. God help us all.

@Pontifex God help this pope, this wolf in shepherd’s clothing. Recently I spoke with my confessor about my criticism of this pope. My confessor, a young priest, wise beyond his years, responded in a way that made me shudder: “When he goes, we could get someone even worse.”

@Pontifex Many of us are praying urgently for this pope and his collaborators, especially during their Lenten retreat, led by Father José Tolentino Calaça de Mendonça, a pro-LGBT priest who supports the ideas of a pro-abortion nun who also favors homosexual “marriage.”

@Pontifex A Lenten retreat for this pope and his associates led by a pro-LGBT Portuguese priest? https://goo.gl/YRz14M May God have mercy on this pope and stop him from spreading more error, confusion, and ruin in the Church. May God give us a good pope to rebuild the Church.

@Pontifex “For Peter may yet lie” https://goo.gl/kxqYka

@Pontifex “For the Holy Ghost was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might…make known some new doctrine, but that, by His assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith.” (Vatican I, Pastor Aeternus, n. 4.6)

@Pontifex A professor at a Jesuit institution (Boston College) writes an article like this (https://goo.gl/Twv8az)! Like other professors who are faithful to the traditional teachings of the Church, he’ll no doubt soon be fired or otherwise punished.

@Pontifex This pope asks us to pray for him and his collaborators as they begin their week of Spiritual Exercises. We’re praying for them all right: may God help them, and may God have mercy on their souls. Dear God, send us a good pope, who does not spread error in the Church.

@Pontifex If this description https://goo.gl/KRmdtX of the greatness of the Catholic Church as it once was, compared to what it has become, doesn’t make you weep, then nothing will.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.02.27

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex In response to a Tweet from this pope: “We are all still praying for you, and praying that God will either convert you and make you a good pope, or send us a man who IS a good pope.

@Pontifex “Doubting souls suspect bishops are being “played” into accepting the Muslim victimhood narrative while ignoring Muslim victimization of Christians. Church leaders seem more interested in fighting ‘Islamophobia’ than in protecting Christians.” https://goo.gl/ds53vS

@Pontifex “London Modest Fashion Week celebrates Sharia-compliant clothing.” (https://goo.gl/e28YeC) I.e., “Slaves and slaves-to-be celebrate slavery in London while in Iran, women risk years of imprisonment to fight for freedom.”

@Pontifex This pope’s “paradigm shift” will no doubt soon make sermons like this (https://goo.gl/A7DrQ4) incomprehensible. But perhaps one day God in His goodness will send us a good pope, one who can rebuild the Church out of the ruins of this horrific pontificate.

“Leaked documents obtained by LifeSiteNews connect the Pope himself to a new Vatican financial scandal and raise serious questions about his global reputation as the ‘pope for the poor’.” https://goo.gl/ZEuCdL

@Pontifex “Leaked documents obtained by LifeSiteNews connect the Pope himself to a new Vatican financial scandal and raise serious questions about his global reputation as the ‘pope for the poor’.” https://goo.gl/ZEuCdL So if he needed money, why didn’t he just ask the Germans?

@Pontifex So @EWTN is supposed to get rid of @RaymondArroyo because he criticized @antoniospadaro and @CardinalBCupich and he supposedly represents “total war” on the papacy of this pope? Whatever happened to “mercy” and “dialogue” and “discernment”?

@Pontifex @antoniospadaro @CardinalBCupich “Are you serious? The media is causing this breakdown in the Church – not changing Christ’s words on marriage, blessing gay weddings, overturning Humanae Vitae, orgies at the home of the pope’s closest adviser? How stupid can one be?”

@Pontifex So, @tonyannett says it’s time to interdict @EWTN until they get rid of @RaymondArroyo. What about interdicting all those clerics and prelates who undermine the Gospel and the Church’s teaching of the last 2,000 years? Oh no, to THEM we show “mercy.”

@Pontifex “Cardinal Müller rejects idea of ‘paradigm shift’ in Catholic doctrine (CWN)” So, now @tonyannett will want to interdict Cardinal Müller, along with @EWTN, if they don’t fire @RaymondArroyo ? Dear God, save Your Church from men like @tonyannett.

@Pontifex “It should be, and I think it is, clear as night and day, that Jesus would not have been crucified had he been more nuanced….Amoris Laetitia …is on a par with Edgar Nye’s opinion that Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.” https://goo.gl/k4P2p4

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “I ask you to pray for me.” We’re praying for you, praying that God will convert you into a good and decent pope, one who will rebuild the Church, not ruin it through error and confusion.

@Pontifex “Father @GeraldMurray8 notes that Cardinal Cupich says God may inspire someone to decide in conscience that it’s necessary for him to commit adultery. Impossible.” https://goo.gl/udm1yb May God stop this pope from punishing Fr. Murray for being a faithful Catholic.

@Pontifex Good, solid teaching (https://goo.gl/3ptNdR) that will last for centuries more, in contrast to the oblivion that is waiting for the things men like Cardinal Cupich have been saying lately.

@Pontifex Today is the Feast of St. Peter, who, when he denied Christ, in a sense was guilty of heresy. Is it any surprise, then, that other popes have been guilty of heresy? Is it any surprise that this current pope spreads error and confusion and even ruin in the Church?

@Pontifex “Be sure you’re in the ark when the rain starts.” https://goo.gl/6kCFWi

@Pontifex We are all praying for you during this week of spiritual exercises led by a pro-LGBT priest. We’re also praying for a good pope who can rebuild a ruined Church.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Our Heavenly Father always listens to His children when they cry out to Him in their pain.” So, Lord, listen now to Your children as they cry out to You in the pain caused by this awful pontificate. Send us a good pope soon. We beg You.

@Pontifex Jay @hochstedt_jay asks: Q: How many Jesuits does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: We prefer not to think in mechanical terms about light; better to accompany someone until he understands his need of light; don’t impose rules about light fixtures and electric bills.

@Pontifex We offer a gift pleasing to Our Lord when we spend time with – or pray for – a person who has difficulties, even if, like this pope, they don’t even know they have difficulties or need help, if they’re spreading error and confusion without knowing what they’re doing.

@Pontifex “Seeming to encourage doctrinal division and moral discord, this pontificate has transgressed the foundational mark of the Church: her oneness,” Father Weinandy said, “Ignatius would be dismayed by the situation” https://goo.gl/FuoUo4 (Will Fr. Weinandy be punished?)

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: Let us invoke the gift of peace for this pope, who is suffering from error and confusion.

@Pontifex If we want a future for the Church, we need to keep our compass pointing toward “true North”, in the direction of the Gospel and the true teachings of the Church; this pope must correct his errors and end the confusion and ruin he has created in the Church.

@Pontifex This pope too is called to live the joy, truth, and honesty that comes from the encounter with Jesus, to overcome his selfishness, and to stop spreading error, confusion, and vindictiveness.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.03.09

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex “The Catholic Church has, in fact, been about the last bastion of the Socratic principle in the modern world. Clearly, if – in fact – its authority contradicts itself at a deep level, something has gone wrong.” – James V. Schall, S.J. https://goo.gl/tf8Qwp

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “We can support one another, and face every kind of challenge with courage and hope, when we draw our strength from Jesus.” That is really true when faced with the challenge of rebuilding the Church, ruined by the errors and confusion of this papacy.

@Pontifex Cardinal Sarah has been saying this kind of thing (https://goo.gl/w3fjm9) for some time. I have often wondered how long it will be before the pope punishes him, as others have been punished for speaking in support of Church teaching and the Gospel.

@Pontifex “IN THE CHURCH’S 2000 YEAR HISTORY OF HERESIES BERGOGLIANISM WILL BE KNOWN AS ONE OF THE MOST DEADLY BECAUSE OF THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO SPREAD THE VIRUS” https://goo.gl/F69ac5

@Pontifex “Invite children of divorce to Cupich’s Amoris Laetitia seminars” (https://goo.gl/C1yHdP)

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: The season of Lent each year is a chance for this pope to return to God in every aspect of his life, and to stop spreading error and confusion in the Church.

@Pontifex “A looming demographic disaster is facing the Church in the United States.” https://goo.gl/71usqs

@Pontifex A delusion of the devil? (https://goo.gl/K92MBK} This is also a delusion created by the “Paradigm Shift” or the “New Paradigm” that Cardinals Cupich and Parolin and others are now promoting, and that Cardinal Müller and Archbishop Chaput and others are condemning.

@Pontifex Fasting reminds us that God alone can satisfy our hunger, and He alone can send us a good pope, one who is faithful to the teachings of the Church, one who can rebuild the Church and free it from this pope’s errors and confusion.

@Pontifex A response to the Pope: fidelity to Church teaching and to the Gospel helps us recognize our neighbor as our brother or sister, and to acknowledge that what we possess never belongs to the pope alone. It belongs to the 2,000-year-old history and teaching of the Church.

@Pontifex So, this pope is having a movie about himself produced, now, during his lifetime. What enormous humility! Dear God, why are You punishing Your Church? What did we do to deserve this? Please, dear God, send us a good pope, one who will rebuild Your ruined Church.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “When you meet other people in the Lord, you can be sure God’s surprises will follow.” And when you encounter almost anything this pope writes, you can be sure confusion will follow.

@Pontifex Mother of God, why is your Son punishing us by allowing so many homosexuals in the Vatican and elsewhere in the hierarchy and the clergy? Why is He allowing them to go on trying to influence Church teaching? Mother of God, help us.

@Pontifex This pope, this man of humility, uses Catholic movie director Wim Wenders (who is now married to his fifth wife) to produce a “documentary” about – I am not making this up – himself.

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: Let us recognize what leaves a good and lasting mark on our hearts, i.e., faithfulness to Church teaching, to the truth of the Gospel, knowing this comes from God, without the error and confusion that has marked this pontificate up to now.

Cardinal Wuerl noted: priests should respect the decisions made in conscience by individuals who act in good faith. ( https://goo.gl/443r6F ) So if an individual decides in conscience to receive Communion despite committing adultery, sodomy, incest, or pederasty, that’s fine?

@Pontifex What would the martyrs of The White Rose say about today’s world, about today’s Church? “With every day that you still hesitate, that you do not resist this spawn of hell, your guilt increases like a parabolic curve higher and higher.” (https://goo.gl/AACA3L)

@Pontifex “St. Cloud Is 4th Minnesota Diocese to Declare Bankruptcy Amid Abuse Lawsuits” (https://goo.gl/tAHGWD) You have to wonder if this sort of thing would have happened without “the spirit of Vatican II” (or whatever that “spirit” was).

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: if sometimes error, confusion, anger, vindictiveness, and the refusal to follow Church teaching flame up in the heart of this pope, God and His Blessed Mother protect the Church and the people of God from such a man.

@Pontifex O Lord, teach this pope the truths of the Gospel and Church teachings. Stop him from spreading any more error and confusion in the Church. Have him correct his errors, and keep away from him those evil cardinals who constantly lead him into error. Please, Lord.

@Pontifex This video https://goo.gl/F2enfU is a masterpiece. That’s the only word for it. When Michael speaks about these truths and in this way, he creates a brilliant masterpiece of Church teaching, and an elegant tapestry of the teachings of Christ.

@Pontifex In response to a papal tweet: I thank all decent clerics who strive to build a clean and pure Church, free of this pope’s error, confusion, anger, and vindictiveness, and free of the monstrous acts and perverted teaching of some in the hierarchy.

@Pontifex This pope says, “Even the fleeting life of the least of beings is the object of God’s love.” (https://goo.gl/kq76pq) Yes, even the fleeting life of a pope who spreads error and ruin in the Church, hiding his pride and anger behind “mercy” and a show of humility.

@Pontifex This pope hopes that many will be “celebrating the sacrament of Reconciliation.” (https://goo.gl/ahVbnD) But with a “paradigm shift” where everyone is “accompanied” and then follows his or her own conscience, does sacramental confession even mean anything anymore?

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.03.11

St. Alphonsus writes of Our Lord’s “compassion for the necessities of the souls of poor sinners who are deprived of Divine grace.” (https://goo.gl/YJPQ62)

With saints like that in heaven, why should we be afraid of clerics and prelates with their fake “mercy” and “paradigm shift” and their “accompaniment” and “discernment,” which, as Bishop Athanasius Schneider points out, while sounding “beautiful” really amount to a permission to sin. (https://goo.gl/UN1GCH)

There is probably no connection between this “paradigm shift” thinking and the perversions reportedly practiced by Vatican clerics, but St. Alphonsus is here to protect the Church against them, just in case.

Along with Our Lady, crushing the head of the serpent with her heel.

With such protection, together with that of St. Michael, we have little to fear from the errors, the confusion, the destruction, and all the other horrors of the present pontificate.

Watching the new film, “The Death of Stalin,” it occurred to me that there are these two lessons, among other of course, that we can learn from history: one, even the most monstrous evil is in the end ridiculous and laughable, certainly sub specie aeternitatis; and two, every period of governance, in every institution and in every country, no matter how awful it may be, does not last forever.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

2018.03.14

You have to wonder if Archbishop Hebda believes (https://goo.gl/bz4VEL) it might be the duty of the hierarchy to avoid the kind of bankruptcy the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has confronted, a bankruptcy involving $156 million in claims by sex-abuse survivors.

You also have to wonder if the archbishop believes it might be the duty of the hierarchy to avoid the kind of error and confusion of the current pontificate, error and confusion that seem to have begun after the propagation of the “spirit” of Vatican II and probably played a role in the sex-abuse crisis.

Might it also be the duty of the hierarchy, therefore, to represent and support the traditional teaching of the Church and the Gospel?

After all that’s been done, then might be the time for the archbishop to ask the laity to represent the Catholic faith in the public arena.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.03.15

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “In the Sacrament of Reconciliation we find our way to the Lord, and discover the meaning of life,” unless we’re a victim of the “paradigm shift.” Then is there a need for confession? After “accompaniment,” and we can follow our own conscience, right?

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “In the Sacrament of Reconciliation we find our way to the Lord, and discover the meaning of life,” unless we follow the “paradigm shift.” Then there’s no need for confession – after some “accompaniment,” we can just follow our own conscience, right?

@Pontifex More from Cardinal Eijk in the Netherlands (https://goo.gl/hP5Fdj). He’s utterly right, of course, but I’m afraid that if he keeps it up, this pope will be shipping him off to Tierra del Fuego or someplace. Or demoting him to a parish priest in Bangladesh.

@Pontifex I listened to Michael’s hard, splendid comments in this Vortex (https://goo.gl/7qGM2P, and I thought how few people can understand and accept the truth of such ideas. I also thought of some lines from “Four Quartets”: “….human kind / Cannot bear very much reality.”

@Pontifex “Confessors should help young people discern vocations, Pope says” (Vatican News) But how are they going to do that after the “paradigm shift” that pretty much does away with confession by telling people to follow their conscience? Oh, right, there’s “accompaniment.”

@Pontifex Cardinal Onaiyeken of Nigeria said he’s astonished that leaders of the Church in the West are concentrating their energies on the status of Catholics who are divorced and remarried, at a time when “the churches are getting more and more empty.” https://goo.gl/oWZhXB

@Pontifex If this pope dedicates more time to prayer, his heart will reveal the lies with which he deceives himself, and he will find true consolation in God, while at the same time ceasing to promote error and confusion in the Church and stopping the protection of evil prelates.

@Pontifex And what will happen to this pope if he does not seize the God-given opportunity to start over again and create a new pontificate, faithful to the Gospel and to Church teaching, without error, confusion, ruin, anger, and vindictiveness?

@Pontifex St. Alphonsus writes of Our Lord’s “compassion for the necessities of the souls of poor sinners who are deprived of Divine grace.” (https://goo.gl/YJPQ62) With saints like that in heaven, why should we be afraid of clerics with their “paradigm shift” and fake “mercy.”

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Living the encounter with Jesus means allowing yourself to be turned inside out by Grace every day.” That’s nonsense. Living the encounter with Jesus means – for this pope – being faithful to the Gospel and Church teachings and not spreading error.

@Pontifex Aid to the Church in Need reports “Christians are the victims of at least 75 percent of all religiously motivated violence and oppression.” The report adds that some 215 million Christians face severe persecution, mostly at the hands of Muslims. https://goo.gl/P2asDs

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “When we allow Jesus to enter our lives we discover the secret to keeping alive the flame of our spiritual life.” That appears to be a secret this pope has yet to discover, along with the secret of preventing error and being faithful to Church teaching

@Pontifex “Vatican Hires Pro-Homosexual Law Firm to Shut-Down Pro-Family, Catholic Website” https://goo.gl/G3AvQV How long, O Lord, will You be silent in the face of this evil?

@Pontifex “Vatican Hires Pro-Homosexual Law Firm to Shut-Down Pro-Family, Catholic Website” https://goo.gl/G3AvQV How long, O Lord, will You be silent in the face of this evil? With a prayer that the works of the Demon and his allies will soon be brought to an end.

@Pontifex “‘…This pope is a man with profound philosophical and theological formation….” Wow! Next we’ll hear that he’s a world-class polylinguist, an orator comparable to Churchill, a strategist on a par with Napoleon. We Catholics are just so lucky.” https://goo.gl/92QcJF

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: If we encounter Jesus and our brothers and sisters every day, we will remember how important the Gospel and Church teaching are. We will remember eternity, not simply the present moment.

@Pontifex You have to wonder if Archbishop Hebda believes (https://goo.gl/bz4VEL) it might be the duty of the hierarchy to avoid the kind of bankruptcy the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has confronted, involving $156 million in claims by sex-abuse survivors.

@Pontifex Numerous USCCB statements have absolved Islam of the crimes committed in the name of Islam. Instead of naming the religious ideology that motivates the terrorists, Church officials echo the mantra that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. https://goo.gl/RqTCUc

@Pontifex “When viewed objectively, it is surely hard to reconcile the conciliar doctrine on conscience presented in Gaudium et Spes with the novel teachings of Cardinal Cupich and Pope Francis.” https://goo.gl/Twv8az (Will another Catholic professor soon be fired?)

@Pontifex “Vatican doctored photo of letter by Pope-emeritus Benedict” https://goo.gl/wew1xG And what else was doctored in this letter? The text as well?

@Pontifex “Cardinal Parolin: joy, mercy, and evangelization are the major themes of this pontificate” (Vatican News) Yes, along with error, confusion, anger, and vindictiveness toward anyone who dares disagree with this pope.

@Pontifex “True reform entails ‘missionary transformation of Church,’ Vatican cardinal says” (Fides) Some might say that true reform entails support of the the Gospel and Church teaching.

@Pontifex “In order to prepare a truly human future, it is not enough to reject evil.” ,No, it is also necessary to reject the error, the confusion, the destruction, and the sheer evil of this horrendous pontificate, together with this pope’s anger and vindictiveness.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.03.19

I guess I’m kind of stupid, but I have never understood Matthew 1:19: “Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.”

By “divorcing” her, i.e. ending the betrothal, wouldn’t Joseph have exposed her to MORE shame? She would then have been simply an unwed mother.

If he had wanted NOT to “expose her to shame,” wouldn’t his first reaction have been to MARRY her, rather than taking steps “to divorce her quietly”?

——

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my comment. You’re right when you say that the New Theological Movement site doesn’t really offer an answer to my question. The site says, “He (Joseph) made up his mind to divorce her quietly, seeking to preserve both her good name and his justice.”

I still don’t understand how his decision “to divorce her quietly” would allow her “to preserve…her good name.” Again, since at this point Joseph knew nothing about the real circumstances of her pregnancy, wouldn’t he have simply been deciding to abandon her to the fate of being an unwed mother, in a society where such a thing was an utter scandal?

If Joseph had wanted to help Mary preserve her good name, wouldn’t he have made the decision simply to marry her, instead of abandoning her?

Of course later he learned everything, but still, before that, the idea that not marrying her would allow her “to preserve…her good name” is – and always has been – really puzzling for me.

But again, thank you for your response.

——

Thank you. I understand that Joseph’s first reaction was to do the right thing under the circumstances, as he for the moment understood those circumstances to be. Later he learned, through divine intervention, that the right thing to do was in fact to take Mary as his wife.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.03.20

Some Tweets that may be of interest:

@Pontifex If Pius XII were alive today, would he counsel us to proceed with a spirit of “discernment” and “accompaniment”? Would he describe a “paradigm shift” in favor of the modern world? God, send us a pope to write “Mit brennender Sorge” for us? https://goo.gl/LJJRqE

@Pontifex “Rome troubled by criticism on doctrinal orthodoxy, Vatican official says” (Rome Reports) Rome may be troubled, but I’m sure this pope isn’t. He probably just has a good laugh, before deciding which critic he’s going to punish next, like all those he’s already punished.

@Pontifex “Gay male prostitute outs dozens of active homosexual priests to Vatican in 1200-page dossier” “The homosexual subculture throughout Vatican offices goes back decades but seems to have experienced a major resurgence during the Francis papacy.” https://goo.gl/ChHkNC

@Pontifex “Cardinal Kasper: Homosexual unions are ‘analogous’ to Christian marriage” (https://goo.gl/VEmwoS) Of course. And no doubt incestuous unions are too. And pederastic ones, and polygamous ones, and….

@Pontifex “Cardinal Kasper: Homosexual unions are ‘analogous’ to Christian marriage” (https://goo.gl/VEmwoS ) Of course. And no doubt incestuous unions are too. And pederastic ones, and polygamous ones, and….

@Pontifex “Cardinal Kasper: Homosexual unions are ‘analogous’ to Christian marriage” (https://goo.gl/VEmwoS ) Okay, I give up. There’s no point in weeping any more over the wacky things Cardinal Kasper says. It’s beyond tears. Now is there anyone who just can’t stop laughing?

@Pontifex Now, since Cardinal Kasper believes that “homosexual unions are ‘analogous’ to Christian marriage” (https://goo.gl/VEmwoS) and since this pope wants married priests, will we soon have married GAY priests? Hey, THAT is something to look forward to, isn’t it?

@Pontifex Oh, the drama, the DRAMA! https://goo.gl/ZjFQQ3

@Pontifex A response to a papal tweet: Even this pope can find freedom, joy, and life. But he must correct his errors, clarify the confusion, repair a ruined Church, follow the Gospel and Church teaching, and rectify the injustice his vindictiveness has caused faithful Catholics.

@Pontifex “Prayer requires courage and patience, Pope preaches at weekday Mass” (Vatican News) Being a good pope, free of error, confusion, anger, and the need to punish critics also requires courage and patience.

@Pontifex “US adult Catholic population slipping, study shows” (CARA) And those clerics still under the spell of “the spirit of Vatican II” just keep charging ahead toward the cliff edge.

@Pontifex “Papal preacher devotes 4th Lenten sermon to obedience” (Cantalamessa.org) Obedience is important for everyone, except, of course, for this pope. He has no need to obey the Gospel, Church teaching, tradition, or the thinking of earlier popes.

@Pontifex This pope says, “Jesus made Himself like the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies to give life.” It’s a shame that this pope cannot follow Jesus’ Gospel and the teachings of His Church. It’s a shame that this pope spreads error, confusion, and yes, heresy.

@Pontifex We hope this pope will “listen to the aspirations of young people,” and that he will have mercy on them by teaching them the truth of the Gospel instead of filling their minds with error, confusion, and the anger that makes him so vindictive toward faithful Catholics.

@Pontifex “Pope: Catholics in Mortal Sin Not to Receive Holy Communion” (ChurchMilitant.com) Well, yes, but we all know that with a little of this pope’s “discernment” and “accompaniment” and “mercy,” no can really be “in mortal sin” anymore, can they?

@Pontifex “Cdl. Dolan, parade leaders partner to stem Catholic school decline” (ChurchMilitant.com) Right, there’s nothing like forming an alliance with gay-sponsoring St. Patrick’s Day parade leaders in New York to revive Catholic schools, is there?

@Pontifex Married priests an answer to the priest shortage? No, but end Communion for the divorced and “remarried,” strengthen Catholic families, build Catholic schools, teach children the Faith, return to that Faith, stop spreading error and confusion. The result? More priests.

@Pontifex Married priests – an answer to a problem? No, the start of an even bigger problem, the start of MORE and STILL bigger problems.

@Pontifex Homo-Arianism (https://goo.gl/g2LcCj) – now THIS is a heresy. And how long will it go on?

@Pontifex So now we know the name of the author of “The Dictator Pope” (https://goo.gl/2pscTk). And how will this pope punish Henry Sire? I’m sure he’ll find a way. He’s managed to punish everyone else who’s dared to criticize him. Such mercy.

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: Happy Feast of St. Joseph! Follow his example when caring for God’s Church so it can increase wisdom and grace, without errror, without confusion, and without anyone being punished for being faithful to the Gospel and Church teaching.

@Pontifex “A spiritual catastrophe for the Catholic Church” https://goo.gl/ofA48W

@Pontifex “Pope…asks forgiveness for faults” (Vatican News) If this pope wants forgiveness, he must correct his errors, clarify the confusion he has caused, try to rebuild a ruined Church, and rectify the punishments meted out to faithful Catholics who have disagreed with him.

@Pontifex “Pope, in meeting with Muslim leader, says there is no link between Islam and terrorism” (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) This pope should read the Quran before he makes statements that will sound very foolish to future historians, and which sound foolish now.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.03.25

In response to a Facebook entry:

I’m a US citizen who, more or less by accident, has not even set foot in our “very troubled country,” for over thirty years. The time just somehow sped by. Now, with John Bolton as National Security Adviser, I very much fear that we are ALL very soon going to be living in not just a very troubled country, but in a very troubled WORLD.

Seriously, Bolton’s solution for our disagreements with Iran? “Bomb ’em!” His solution for our disagreements with North Korea? “Bomb ’em!”

I am not making this up. Google it. He’s made this kind of statement in The Wall Street Journal and on Fox News.

When the Mueller investigation or the Stormy Daniels affair makes Trump really uncomfortable, Bolton will offer the ultimate distraction: “Bomb ‘em!” Yeah, nuke ‘em! Start a war! THAT’ll keep Trump safe in office!

Hey, it worked for Nixon before Watergate. The war in Vietnam not only got Nixon elected but also kept him in The White House for years.

It was only AFTER the war in Vietnam ended, that Nixon was finally forced from office.

No American president has ever been FORCED from office or IMPEACHED IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR. Yes, Truman left office in the middle of the war in Korea. BUT Truman was VOTED OUT of office. Again:

No American president has ever been FORCED from office or IMPEACHED IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR.

Trump knows that.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.03.27

Tweets:

@Pontifex A papal Tweet: “Each one of us is a treasure whom God allows to grow in his or her own way.” Fine, but that means – especially for a pope – following the Gospel and Church teaching, spreading truth and not error, speaking with clarity, not punishing faithful Catholics.

@Pontifex “The Quran specifically denies Christ was the Son of God. Yahweh and Allah are not the same God. The Quran is a book about man’s complete submission to Allah. It will overturn the world to make this submission prevail.” – James V. Schall, S.J. (https://goo.gl/e4obMf)

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “To defend the earth and to safeguard water is to protect life.” No. For a pope, to protect life is to defend the Gospel and to safeguard Church teaching.

@Pontifex “Looking at the Crucifix heals our poisoned hearts,” Pope preaches (Vatican News). And whose heart, exactly, is he talking about here?

@Pontifex “Study shows growing indifference to religion among millennials in Europe” (Guardian). Is that really a surprise? The Catholic Church has become an NGO where this pope tweets his concern with “defending the earth” and “safeguarding water” instead of transcendence.

@Pontifex What we must first do is recognize that the enemy, modernism and its minions, will never stop. They will never just take enough and stop. They will never be satiated. They will relentlessly continue until there is nothing left of True Religion. https://goo.gl/9pyAXK

@Pontifex “When the television cameras aren’t rolling, Pope Francis transforms into another person: arrogant, standoffish with people, vulgar in his language and famous for his violent outbursts of anger that are known to all, from cardinals to car drivers.” – The Dictator Pope

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: Now is the time for this pope to be reconciled with God, to stop spreading error and confusion and punishing faithful Catholics who criticize and disagree with him, as if he really were a “Dictator Pope.” Continuing to do evil brings sadness.

@Pontifex “Cardinal Dolan: Democrats have abandoned Catholics” (Wall Street Journal). Or have many Catholics abandoned the Democrats?

@Pontifex “In Confession, we receive God’s loving embrace, Pope preaches at weekday Mass” (Vatican News). But in this age of “paradigm shift” (“discernment”, “accompaniment”, “mercy”) isn’t Confession a meaningless waste of time? (This “paradigm shift” stuff is SO confusing!)

@Pontifex “Algeria closes 4th church in 4 months” (World Watch Monitor) But…but that just can’t BE! I mean, this pope says that in Islam and Christianity, people worship the same God! Could this pope be WRONG about that?? Now I’m REALLY confused!

@Pontifex Response to this pope: The Word of God invites us to connect our faith to our hearts – without error or confusion, without taking revenge on critics – and our hearts to our hands, in order to do good deeds, not as members of an NGO, but as the Mystical Body of Christ.

@Pontifex In all the long history of human kind, stretching back into the Old Testament and beyond, back into the mists of early time, no society has ever reached this low level of moral behavior (https://goo.gl/zuR3bD) without suffering a catastrophe.

@Pontifex So, Cardinal Cupich condemns conservative Father Phillips, celebrant of the Tridentine Mass, but supports James Martin, promoter of sodomy and the homosexual lifestyle? Sure, Cupich has no agenda, does he? “It was never ‘if,’ but only ‘when’.” https://goo.gl/Y4RmTk

@Pontifex People ask of this pope, “Where’s the mercy?” “When the publicity cameras are off, Pope Francis turns into a different man: arrogant, dismissive of people, full of bad language and furious outbursts toward everyone from the cardinals to the chauffeurs.” – H. Sire

@Pontifex People ask of this pope, “Where’s the mercy?” Well, there is no mercy for any faithful Catholic who dares criticize or disagree with this pope. Just ask Henry Sire, among others. There is only punishment. But if you approve of things like sodomy? Hey, you’re OKAY!

@Pontifex If this pope started disapproving of matters like gays or sodomy, would there be many men left in the Vatican or in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church? Or in the clergy? This is where “discernment” and “accompaniment” and “follow your conscience” have brought us.

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: and please, let us fight together against the crimes of repeated papal error and confusion and anger and vindictive punishment, which continue to cause unspeakable suffering and threaten to ruin the Church.

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: And this pope might pray: “Christ, teach us never to be ashamed to preach the truth without error! Teach us never to be ashamed to support Church teaching! Teach us never to be ashamed to cease punishing those who disagree with us!”

@Pontifex “In Cardinal Sarah’s typical firm but gentle manner he notes a problem—a lack of faith in the Real Presence—and notes some possible causes. He then suggests a potential response given the mystery we encounter in the Eucharist.” https://goo.gl/ktUAg9

@Pontifex This pope says, “The joy of the Gospel disturbs the self-righteous” (Vatican Press Office). And the Joy of the Gospel is unknown to those who abandon the Gospel and Church teachings, to those who preach error and confusion, to those who act with anger, vindictiveness.

@Pontifex This pope says, “The joy of the Gospel disturbs the self-righteous” (Vatican Press Office). The Joy of the Gospel is unknown to those who act with anger, vindictiveness, and a sense of vengeance toward those who disagree with them, while claiming to believe in “mercy.”

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Jesus changes our sins into forgiveness?” Is that a confused way of saying He forgives our sins, or does it mean something else? But yes: “In His Cross our hope is reborn,” hope for a good pope, a pope who will rebuild the Church, not tear it down.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.04.02

Sehr geehrte Patres von der Andreaskirche,

bitte verzeihen Sie mir, aber ich muss einige Ideen erwähnen, die mir eingefallen sind.

Ich bin Amerikaner, und ich muss mich auch dafür entschuldigen, dass ich diese Botschaft geschrieben habe, anstatt persönlich zu sprechen. Tatsache ist jedoch, dass mein gesprochenes Deutsch sehr schlecht ist, und es ist besser, wenn ich versuche, meine Ideen schriftlich auszudrücken. (Und selbst dann muss ich mich auf Google Translate verlassen.)

Was ich sagen möchte, ist folgendes: Heute Morgen in seiner Predigt während der Heiligen Messe um 8:30 Uhr hat der Priester darüber gesprochen, die Katholiken, die gegangen sind, zur Kirche zurückzubringen. Mein erster Gedanke war, dass dies wirklich eine unmögliche Aufgabe ist, fünfzig Jahre nach einem Vatikanischen Konzil, das Millionen Katholiken in meinem Land, den Vereinigten Staaten und in Ländern wie den Niederlanden, Deutschland, Frankreich und anderswo in Europa und im Rest der Welt von der Kirche vertrieben hat

Ich bin ein alter Mann – ich war siebenundzwanzig, als das Konzil 1968 endete – und ich erinnere mich an die Kirche, wie sie vor dem Konzil war. Es war eine Kirche mit klarer und tiefgründiger Lehre. Es war eine Kirche, in der der Klerus und die Hierachie immer noch an diese Lehre glaubten und auch ihr Keuschheitsgelübde hielten. Es war wirklich eine große Kirche, überall, nicht die kleine, weltzugewandte Institution, die sie jetzt ist.

Vor dem Konzil gab es eine Kirche mit einer wirklich majestätischen Form der Heiligen Messe, nicht die oberflächliche Form, die wir jetzt leider haben.

Wenn diese Kirche von einem zukünftigen großen Papst wieder aufgebaut wird, dann wird es möglich sein, daran zu denken, die Katholiken zurück in die Kirche zu bringen, aber vorher nicht. Bis dahin, fürchte ich, werden die Menschen weiterhin diese “moderne” Kirche verlassen. Sie wird immer kleiner werden, wenn wir ältere Menschen sterben und es gibt keine jungen Leute, die uns ersetzen könnten.

Erst wenn ein zukünftiger Papst die Kirche, wie es vor fünfzig Jahren war, wiederaufbaut und das ungeheure, tiefe Geheimnis der Heiligen Messe wiederherstellt, werden die Menschen in die Kirche zurückkehren und sie wieder lebendig werden wird.

Es tut mir sehr Leid, aber das ist es, was ich denke. Ich hoffe aufrichtig, dass meine Sicht der Dinge falsch ist, aber in diesem Brief habe ich einfach ausgedrückt, was ich denke.

Mit einem Gebet

Robert John Bennett

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.04.03

Liebe Patres,

im Internet heute tauchte eine Diskussion (https://goo.gl/8Gtcma) auf, die sich auf meine gestrige Botschaft bezieht.

Zwei intelligente, gut ausgebildete, treue und gläubige amerikanische Katholiken diskutieren – auf begründete, nicht feindselige Weise – über das gegenwärtige Papsttum.

Was diese Diskussion für Sie interessant machen könnte – auch wenn sie auf Englisch ist – ist das, was diese zwei Menschen über den “Zusammenbruch” der Kirche in Deutschland mitfühlend und verständnisvoll zu sagen haben.

Mit einem Gebet,

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.04.04

Tweets:

@Pontifex “There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the whole cycle of doctrine, and yet by one word, as with a drop of poison, infect the real and simple faith taught by our Lord and handed down by Apostolic tradition.” – Pope Leo XIII

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: Any pope who turns away from the Gospel and true Church teaching, while spreading error and confusion in the Church, also turns away from the Cross and the Resurrection.

@Pontifex “A theology professor at Holy Cross College sees Jesus as a ‘drag king’ of ‘gender indeterminate’ and recommends “imagining [Christ’s] passion experience as a (masochistic?) sexual relation with his own Father.” (https://goo.gl/XcxQob) Ah, the great paradigm shift.

@Pontifex “Vatican foreign minister: Church in China should be ‘fully Catholic and genuinely Chinese’” (Vatican Press Office) Well, it’s “genuinely Chinese,” all right: “Chinese authorities seize ‘underground’ bishop” (AsiaNews)

@Pontifex We can only pray: “Dear God, send us a good pope, one that knows what he’s doing – with the Chinese, with the members of The Great Religion of Peace, with everything. Dear God in Heaven, send us a pope who lives in the real world.” https://goo.gl/zoMkYn

@Pontifex It’s true, as this pope tweets, “Through the Eucharist we enter Christ’s paschal mystery,” but what is this pope doing to counteract the loss of faith in the Eucharist that is so widespread among the clergy and hierarchy?

@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: look upon Christ Crucified: our hope for a good pope, one who does not spread error and confusion, is born in Him.

@Pontifex Tradition is for the young. Many of us attend the traditional Latin Mass for its sublime beauty, rich symbolism, and sense of sacred worship. When many of us express our love for tradition, we are insulted and labeled “ultra-conservatives.” https://goo.gl/1LJj4G

@Pontifex This pope says, “Today we repeat that wondrous proclamation: ‘The Lord is truly risen, as He said!'” But does this pope really believe that? Do many in the hierarchy really believe that any more? Do the homosexuals who infest the Vatican believe that?

@Pontifex Being Catholic, despite this pope: https://goo.gl/ocDa7o

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: “As we contemplate Christ’s empty tomb, let us renew our belief that nothing is lost with Him.” And let this pope renew his belief in the Gospel and Church teaching. And let him rebuild the Church and stop spreading error and confusion.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “May Christ who conquered the darkness of sin and death, grant us peace in our days.” This pope will be granted peace only when he stops spreading error and confusion in the Church and when he acts with true mercy and stops punishing his critics.

@Pontifex How did we get here? https://goo.gl/bB5wdc

@Pontifex “Respond immediately to God’s surprises,” Pope preaches at Easter Sunday Mass (Vatican News) Fine. But just make sure the surprise is from God, and not from some other, dark entity.

@Pontifex “Pakistani Catholic beaten to death by hospital staff” (UCANews) Clearly the staff wasn’t informed of the meeting between this pope and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar University where the message was “the warmth of the conversation and gestures.” (https://goo.gl/FL75nA)

@Pontifex What young Catholics want versus what this pope and other old Catholics want young Catholics to want. https://goo.gl/CwDwWd

@Pontifex “China insists on control over Church” (CWN) Well, then, by all means, of course this pope wants to sign an agreement with China. What pope wouldn’t want to give up control of the Church and hand it over to China?

@Pontifex “As China, Vatican talk, bishop’s fate shows party’s power” (AP) Bishop Guo arrested AGAIN? Well, I’m sure that’s something this pope will just ignore as he plunges ahead with his really smart plan to hand over control of the Chinese Church to the Chinese government.

@Pontifex “As China, Vatican talk, bishop’s fate shows party’s power” (AP) This pope wants to let the Chinese government control the Church in China? Oh, that IS smart. What could possibly go wrong? Is this pope ruining the Church? No, of course not!

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Love is the only invincible weapon, because it has the power to disarm the forces of evil.” That is why we are called to love even this pope, so that the force of his evil – the error, the confusion, the desire to punish his critics – can be disarmed.

@Pontifex “He says what he says and does what he does without any real consequence, the shepherds apparently content to allow a wolf free roam among the sheep.” https://goo.gl/BnWZ6i I.e., congratulations to this pope. He’s got ’em all bamboozled.

@Pontifex “It’s strange,” writes Socci, “in fact, this story made the specter of impeachment for heresy hover (and perhaps it still is hovering) over Bergoglio, which could cost him the papacy.” https://goo.gl/33Ve6h

@Pontifex “And yet even more devastating than a mass rejection of the depth of Our Lord’s love for us among the sheep is the rejection of it among the shepherds. Judas was an apostle, a prototype of unfaithful shepherds down through history.” https://goo.gl/ck2LrF

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.04.07

Tweets:

@Pontifex “An Uprising of the Cardinals Has Stopped (for Now) the Bergoglian Heresy on Hell” (https://goo.gl/KHa8Y4) Dear Mother of God, why? Dear Mother of God, how did it ever come to this? Dear Mother of God, how long must Your Son’s Church suffer under this pontificate?

@Pontifex “An Uprising of the Cardinals Has Stopped (for Now) the Bergoglian Heresy on Hell” https://goo.gl/KHa8Y4 Dear Mother of God, when will it end? Dear Mother of God, we beg you, obtain for us the grace to endure and persevere under the repeated blows of this mad regime.

@Pontifex A response to a papal Tweet: And let us go forward knowing that Jesus is by the side of this pope, urging him to stop spreading error and confusion in the Church, urging him to stop ruining the Church, urging him to stop punishing and taking revenge on his critics.

@Pontifex “It will fall to you (faithful Catholics) to clear away the rubble and rebuild and start the clock moving ahead instead of counting down. Just stay faithful. The war of attrition is well underway.” https://goo.gl/fShThh

@Pontifex “A source of profound scandal” – Cardinal Burke (https://goo.gl/Fm9Jr4)

@Pontifex What is really bizarre? https://goo.gl/yF7HHz

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “The Word of God is a light in the darkness: it helps us face our difficulties without fear.” Really? Even if you’re the pope and your difficulties are caused by the way you are spreading confusion and error and ruin in the Church? May God help you.

@Pontifex “Why Private Sexual Vice is a Public Concern” https://goo.gl/b7QJZa Of course, it appears to be a concern that few in the Church hierarchy actually share.

@Pontifex This pope says Christians should be ashamed of themselves. (https://goo.gl/ytRMjg) Sure, why don’t we all just become converts to The Great Religion of Peace, which has brought such joy and happiness to places like the Middle East?

@Pontifex “Quebec bishops discuss ordaining married men” https://goo.gl/G8TVjH I wonder if it ever occurs to these bishops that if they simply reversed the changes brought on by the “spirit” of Vatican II they would have no problem with vocations to the priesthood.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Like the Good Samaritan, let us take care of those who are sick and suffering!” And so let us all also pray for this pope who in so many ways is sick and must be suffering.

@Pontifex Bishop Schneider: The Pope is not the “owner” of truth but its “servant and vicar” https://goo.gl/nRc5t7 But does this current pope KNOW this?

@Pontifex Leo XIII taught: “Amid such reckless and widespread folly of opinion, it is, as We have said, the office of the Church to undertake the defense of truth and uproot errors from the mind….” https://goo.gl/nRc5t7

@Pontifex ‘Each one is under obligation to show forth his faith, either to instruct and encourage others of the faithful, or to repel the attacks of unbelievers’ (S. Thomas, Summa theologiae, II-II, quaest. 3, art. 2, ad 2) https://goo.gl/nRc5t7

@Pontifex Pope John XXIII: “All the evils which poison men and trouble so many hearts have a single cause: ignorance of the truth. Anyone who consciously attacks known truth in order to shape the minds of the young engages in a despicable business.” https://goo.gl/nRc5t7

@Pontifex “The attacks of Satan have in rare cases had the effect of a temporary eclipse of the Papal Magisterium, when some Roman Pontiffs have made ambiguous doctrinal statements, causing a temporary situation of doctrinal confusion in the Church.” https://goo.gl/nRc5t7

@Pontifex “Where the See of the Blessed Peter has been set up for the light of the gentiles, there Satan has placed the throne of the abomination of his wickedness, so that, the Pastor having been struck, he may also scatter the flock.” – Leo XIII https://goo.gl/nRc5t7

@Pontifex “Holy Apostle! Calm the wildness of the tempest, lest the weak should take scandal. Beseech Our Lord not to permit the residence of thy Successor to be disturbed in that Holy City….” – Dom Prosper Gueranger https://goo.gl/nRc5t7

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

2018.04.08

Comment on a New York Times column (https://goo.gl/epDsmV):

Roger Cohen eloquently describes the problem and suggests a solution, when he writes that “the arrogance of liberal elites and the disruptions of globalization have played a role…. The democratic West needs to awaken from its slumber….Europe cannot open its doors to everyone. It needs a shared immigration policy that works, economic policies that offset rather than accentuate inequality and a Brussels bureaucracy that delivers tangible results to a half-billion Europeans.”

If those ideas can become a reality, then the situation Cohen describes with such insight can be corrected, not only here in Europe, but in the United States as well.

——

Lieber Klaus,

Danke für diesen Artikel. Senator John McCain und andere haben Putin als “Thug” bezeichnet.

Putin beweist McCain auf jeden Fall recht. Ich schätze, Putin geht davon aus, dass er, wenn er die Sowjetunion nicht noch einmal zum Leben erwecken oder das russische Imperium wieder aufbauen kann, dann kann er wenigstens sein Bestes geben, um westliche Länder und Allianzen zu zerstören.

Ich habe oft (mit etwas Schadenfreude) gedacht, dass es Putin wütend machen muss, dass Russland eine kleinere Wirtschaft hat, als der Bundesstaat Kalifornien (https://goo.gl/QSna3L). Und es muss ihn besonders wütend machen, die gigantische und so sehr erfolgreiche chinesische Wirtschaft zu betrachten.

Der arme Vladimir.

Mit einem Gebet

Robert

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

2018.04.16

@Pontifex Cardinal Brandmüller concludes: “It would be time for the Magisterium to pay appropriate attention to this witness of Faith.” https://goo.gl/etR5aQ

@Pontifex A response to a papal Tweet: this pope, if he really is the pope (https://goo.gl/GUgVCt), should be holy by working for the good of the Church and renouncing error, confusion, anger, pride, and the desire to punish anyone who dares criticize or disagree with him.

@Pontifex Of COURSE he’s the pope! Isn’t he? (https://goo.gl/GUgVCt)

@Pontifex Cardinal Kasper comes from the German Catholic Church, which is just about the wealthiest in the whole WORLD, so if Cardinal Kasper says Bergoglio is the pope, then he MUST be the pope! Right? (https://goo.gl/GUgVCt)

@Pontifex For this pope, money is everything (just look at what he did to the Knights of Malta), so if cardinals from the supremely wealthy German Church say he’s the pope, well then, he MUST be the pope, right?

@Pontifex Money is VERY important for this pope. Why else would he do and say whatever the German cardinals want him to do and say?

@Pontifex Only 39% of American Catholics attend Mass on any given Sunday, a new Gallup survey shows. Meanwhile, with
‘Gaudete et Exsultate’ the pope continues to go after faithful Catholics who criticize him.

@Pontifex “Cardinal Burke: papal authority derives from obedience to Christ” (National Catholic Register) Not for this current “pope.” For him, papal authority derives from obedience to wealthy German bishops.

@Pontifex As the current “pope” and his associates follow the “spirit” of Vatican II and plunge on toward the cliff, I only know that while 39% of American Catholics now attend Mass on any given Sunday, as a new Gallup survey shows, the churches were packed before Vatican II.

@Pontifex “The conference communicated an immense sense of urgency, that things cannot continue on as they are. The pastors of the Church must do something to protect their flock from the deceptive spirit of falsehood which has invaded the Magisterium.” https://goo.gl/4HcNH8

@Pontifex Gaudete et Exsultate “Imagine trying to learn about holiness from the fellow who insists hell doesn’t exist, adultery isn’t really adultery, the Blessed Virgin wanted to call God a liar, we can use contraception though it’s a serious sin, etc.” https://goo.gl/r2UrRZ

@Pontifex Gaudete et Exsultate “I’m already hearing from friends who say it’s riddled with all the same kind of cringeworthy word salad, problematic theology, and needless degradations we’ve come to expect from our papal chastisement.” https://goo.gl/r2UrRZ

@Pontifex A papal Tweet: “Keeping a heart free of all that tarnishes love, sowing peace all around us, accepting daily the path of the Gospel, even though it may cause us problems: that is holiness.” Dear God, send us a pope who really understands that, who really lives that way.

@Pontifex Imagine https://goo.gl/r2UrRZ

@Pontifex Cardinals can declare that a heretical pope has ‘lost his office’ – Roberto de Mattei (https://goo.gl/SFZsPk)

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Holiness is the most attractive face of the Church.” And holiness would be the most attractive face of this pope, if he possessed this quality; and a Vatican without active homosexuals and drug takers would certainly make the Church more attractive.

@Pontifex Pope asks young people: ‘Are you willing to listen to Jesus and change?’(Vatican Press Office) I think we could ask this pope (if he really is the pope [https://goo.gl/GUgVCt]) the same question.

@Pontifex “Pope emphasizes importance of Sacrament of Reconciliation” (Vatican Press Office) But if, as this pope – if he really is the pope (https://goo.gl/GUgVCt) – says, there is no hell, why bother with the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: Good popes too are distinguished by a spirit of prayer and a need for communion with God. No pope can be holy without prayer, without avoiding error and confusion, and without avoiding anger and the desire to punish critics like Henry Sire.

@Pontifex “Whatever Vatican II intended, the results have been an EPIC FAIL. There’s NOT ONE area of the Church that is not worse now….Yet while many agree the Church is COLLAPSING, their answer is to do MORE of what they’ve been doing for 50 years!” https://goo.gl/Rh66Qe

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: and the holiness to which the Lord calls this pope grows through small gestures in his everyday life, and through the renunciation of error, confused teaching, anger, and the desire to punish.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do.” And for a pope, that means obeying the Gospel, avoiding error, confusion and anger, and not taking revenge on critics. Can this pope do all that?

@Pontifex “Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar….” First Letter of John 2:5

@Pontifex “12 Bad Things I Experienced Concerning Holy Communion Since Vatican II” (https://goo.gl/JX4TYp)

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Those who protect children are on God’s side….” and the greatest protection this pope could offer them – although he won’t – is a pontificate free from error and confusion, where there is no vengeance taken on those who criticize this pope.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————

2018.04.24

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex “Ihr einziger Fehler scheint die Rechtgläubigkeit in einem liberalen Umfeld, das kaum etwas mehr zu verachten scheint, als glaubenstreue Priesterberufungen.” https://goo.gl/L6sVYo

@Pontifex This pope asks a lot – assent to his errors, his confusion, his anger, his desire for vengeance toward critics – and in return he gives only fake humility and his “understanding” of The Great Religion of Peace and its murderous adherents.

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: The Church also needs a pope who does not spread error and confusion in the Church or punish critics, a pope who does not crush religious orders that appeal to faithful Catholics and where priests celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass.

@Pontifex “Daneels Protégé Kicks New Priestly Society Out of Brussels — Too ManyVocations” (https://goo.gl/1Wmir7) And this pope attacks more “rigid” Catholics. Yeah, gotta get’em outa the Church, them and all their vocations.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “The Christian vocation means being a brother or sister to everyone…even if they are an enemy,” unless they’re a society with too many and too orthodox vocations, like the Priestly Society of the Holy Apostles. In that case, get rid of the enemy.

@Pontifex “An ugly story.” https://goo.gl/Pu4u8w

@Pontifex Three quotes we should keep in mind now: First, “I will put enmities between thee and the woman,…she shall crush thy head.”
Second, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Third, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: this pope’s fake mercy makes him feel good, even though he takes revenge on critics and destroys groups like the Fraternity of the Holy Apostles, which brought needed vocations to the Belgian Church (but was made up of faithful Catholics).

@Pontifex “The Church and Islam: Nostalgia for the Sixties” https://goo.gl/yvCP5a

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “To encounter God we must show we are needy. The key to that encounter lies in humbling ourselves.” Pride, anger, errors, confusion, vengeance on critics, dissolving thriving orders of faithful Catholics – all that stops this pope’s encounter with God.

@Pontifex “China: churches demolished, bishop’s tomb desecrated, children forbidden in churches” (AsiaNews) And this pope plunges ahead with his plans to betray the faithful Catholics of China. (Well, why not? He’s betrayed faithful Catholics everywhere else.)

@Pontifex “German bishops’ spokesman denies report that Vatican has rejected intercommunion policy” (Servizio Informazione Religiosa) The German bishops are probably also threatening to cut off all the German money gushing into the Vatican unless it agrees with the Germans.

@Pontifex Henry Sire says (https://goo.gl/8NJ9NK) “The Dictator Pope” is “intended to be an alarm call” for a pope he believes has “gone off the rails.” “Sire says Francis is essentially a ‘politician who relies on public relations,’ a ‘maverick pope’ who manipulates the media”

@Pontifex This pope is defending his decision in Amoris Laetitia to allow some people who are living in adulterous unions to receive the sacraments of penance and the Holy Eucharistic while intending to continue to engage in adulterous relations. https://goo.gl/XAaW5E

@Pontifex Dear God, dear Mother of God, how long must we suffer under this pope? How long, O Lord, how long? Dear God in Heaven, we beg You: bring a swift end to the horrors.

@Pontifex This pope tweets “When we are full of self-importance, we leave no space for God. Let us ask the Lord for a conversion of heart.” Dear God in Heaven, we beg You: bring about a conversion of heart in this pope; empty him of the self-importance that is always on display.

@Pontifex So, now this pope is a mystic? https://goo.gl/bbZsQ9 Please,

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: And let us follow the example of St Francis of Assisi and take care to obey the Gospel and the teachings of the Church, no matter what, without error or confusion or anger or punishing those who criticize us, like Henry Sire.

@Pontifex Want a different Church? Hey, these guys got it fer ya. (https://goo.gl/T9ePTv)

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: the Word of God is the lamp with which we find our way to the truth; its light allows us to clearly see the error and confusion this present pope is spreading in the Church, and the ruin he is causing.

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: May God be moved by the prayers of those millions who are faithful to the Gospel and to Church teaching. We renew our appeals: may God end the suffering of His Church; may the pain caused by the error and confusion of this pope soon end.

@Pontifex O God, save Your Church from the ravages of this current pope, this great “mystic,” this great pontiff of public relations.

@Pontifex Today, in this commentary (https://goo.gl/V59ish), St Aelred of Rielvaux describes what a really good shepherd is; he is not the kind of shepherd we have in the Church now, a shepherd who is causing such suffering among faithful Catholics.

@Pontifex Response to this pope’s Tweet: “Life becomes tasteless when it is lived for itself alone.” The pope in “The Dictator Pope” lives like that. He’s an angry, selfish pope, treating others with contempt. His Jesuit Superior once wrote he should not even be made a bishop.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.04.30

Response to a meme on Facebook:

Yes, the issue of coasters is important – I mean that and I’m serious, not sarcastic – but another important issue of life in Germany is that the country isn’t polarized.

Sure, there are extremists of all kinds at the edges of the political spectrum, but the WHOLE COUNTRY isn’t divided into two almost enemy-like camps. I mean, there are talk shows on television here where opposing politicians and journalists sit down together and calmly and quietly discuss important questions, without rancor or tension, without yelling at one another.

Not long ago, my barber said he wanted to go to New York and open his own business. I told him to forget it. The calm and prosperous society that exists in Germany now existed in the US fifty or sixty years ago, but it doesn’t really exist anymore. I told him he was better off in Germany.

Speaking of the past, I heard a great pun on the German version of “Make America great again.” The pun doesn’t really work in English, but I’ll try to explain it anyway. “Make America great again” in German is “Mach Amerika wieder grossartig.” Some German wit changed it to “Mach Amerika wieder gestrig.” That translates, literally, to “Make America yesterday again.”

That “yesterday” is not the calm and prosperous America that once existed. It’s the America as Trump’s supporters remember it, which, I believe, is something quite different.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————

2018.05.04

When it’s a question of something this pope wants, he simply says, “I’m the pope, I don’t have to give reasons,” as when Cardinal Brandmüller asked him why two of his subordinates were summarily fired. When, however, it’s a question of a proposal by the German bishops that undermines the faith, and the pope doesn’t want to support it openly, he tells them to decide for themselves, “unanimously” (https://bit.ly/2HSFQmt). He knows full well that the majority of German bishops who favor giving the Eucharist to Protestants will put so much pressure on the minority of faithful bishops that these in the end will yield. Besides, this pope knows better than to object to anything that the enormously wealthy German bishops want (one archdiocese, Cologne, is richer than the Vatican itself https://reut.rs/2rl2YTr). This pope is no fool were money is concerned.

——

The most intimate connection between God and the individual praying the psalms has always seemed to me to be best expressed in the standard French Catholic translation, La Bible de Jérusalem. Psalm 22, verse 4, reads:

”Et toi, le Saint, qui habites les louanges d’Israël!”

Literally,

”You, the Holy One, who live in the praises of Israel!”

For me, that has always meant that when we pray the psalms, “the praises of Israel,” we are alive with the life of God Himself.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.05.05

Does anyone seriously expect this pope to oppose the German bishops? (https://bit.ly/2HR7KDj) The Church in Germany is collapsing, but that’s not the point. The German Church is enormously, fantastically wealthy. A single archdiocese, Cologne, has greater riches than the entire Vatican (Reuters https://reut.rs/2rl2YTr). This pope knows the value of money. He will find a way acceding to whatever the German bishops want, whatever it takes.

——

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex And on and on it goes: https://goo.gl/A8wM8j So, will we soon have married priests – married to one another?

@Pontifex Oh, the wonders of The Great Religion of Peace! https://goo.gl/CrJaxz

@Pontifex On 24 April this pope warned against an illness he suffers from himself: “the ‘rigidity’, which leads to placing oneself at the center and untouched by the works of the Holy Spirit and insensitive to new things” like clarity and truth, which are novelties for this pope.

@Pontifex True, authentic Christians are not afraid of opening up to others, but they also have no illusions, no dangerous illusions like the ones this poor, benighted pope has. https://bit.ly/2qSOV8j

@Pontifex God alone can give true happiness to us, to all of us, including this pope. It’s useless wasting time looking for happiness elsewhere, as this pope does: in power and wealth and anger at those who criticize or disagree with him.

@Pontifex “Gaudete et Exsultate is exactly what we have come to expect from this drearily predictable pontificate. ‘Many good qualities and substantive passages… often overshadowed, or even undermined, by straw men, dubious arguments, and cheap shots’.” https://bit.ly/2I4piJa

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “When we are open to God’s grace, the impossible becomes possible.” Yes, and though it may seem impossible for this pope to stop spreading error and confusion, and stop dissolving religious orders with many vocations, even he may become a good pope.

@Pontifex Dear God, please either convert this pope and make him a good pope and a good man, or end this pontificate. Either way, Dear God, stop the suffering this pope is causing in the world and in the Church. We beg you.

@Pontifex “The Lord Jesus communicates His love for us, so that we can love God and our neighbor as He has loved us, by giving His life for us” and so that all Catholics, even this pope, can be faithful to Jesus’ Gospel and all Church teaching. We pray for this pope’s conversion.

@Pontifex Dear God, send us a good pope.

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: Do we really want peace? Then let’s ban all error from this pope’s “magisterium” so we don’t have to live in fear of schism. Let’s ask God to send us a good pope, one who will build up the Church not try to tear it down in confusion and anger.

@Pontifex “Has Pope Francis Read the Quran?” https://bit.ly/2jdISXx “This pope confuses everyone by claiming that violent people belong to all religions and that all religions are religions of peace. He fails to separate violence motivated by religious faith from other violence”

@Pontifex A response for this pope: Be one with Christ when you pray, take care of your most vulnerable brothers and sisters, faithful Catholics, especially those who favor the Tridentine Mass. Do not spread error and confusion. Curb your anger. Take no vengeance on critics.

@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: Let us pray the Rosary and pray for a good pope, or for the conversion of the present pope. Let this pope stop spreading error and confusion; let him preserve Church teaching and not feel threatened by faithful Catholics, calling them “rigid.”

@Pontifex This pope Tweets: “Praying means being with God, experiencing God, loving God,” and for a pope that means not spreading error and confusion, not flying into a rage, not using profanity, not humiliating subordinates, not taking vengeance on critics, and being MERCIFUL!

@Pontifex This pope Tweets: “In the Cross, Jesus showed us the greatness of His love and the power of His mercy.” If only this pope would also show love and mercy, instead of attacking Catholics he regards as “rigid” and taking vengeance on critics like Henry Sire and others.

@Pontifex (Does the pope CARE about this?) “In Henan, the Chinese province with the largest Christian population, children have been expelled from an Easter Mass, church-run kindergartens have been closed, and churches and crosses have been demolished.” https://bit.ly/2roWZx8

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Joyfully performing works of charity for those who are suffering in mind and body, is the most authentic way to live the Gospel.” And for this pope, living the Gospel means not spreading error, not giving in to anger, not attacking faithful Catholics.

@Pontifex When it’s a question of a proposal by the German bishops that undermines the faith, and the pope doesn’t want to support it openly, he tells them to decide for themselves “unanimously”(https://bit.ly/2HSFQmt). He knows the minority of faithful bishops will lose.

@Pontifex When the history of this period in the Church is written, will this pope be reviled for what he has done to the Church? No, people will forgive him for the destruction and ruin he has caused within the Body of Christ. And God will forgive him too.

@Pontifex Even this pope, no matter what he does, cannot destroy the Church. Still, all of us are praying that God will soon end the Church’s suffering and send us a good pope, one who will repair the ruin and devastation this pope has caused.

@Pontifex All of us are begging God to end the horror of this pontificate, and to please end it soon.

@Pontifex This pope speaks of “joyfully performing works of charity.” For him the greatest work of charity would be to stop spreading error and confusion and to be faithful to the truth of the Gospel and the true teachings of the Church. We pray for the conversion of this pope.

@Pontifex “A source the Holy Father had ‘failed to fulfil his obligation as pope regarding a question of dogma which his office must decide’.” So this pope failed to fulfil an obligation to decide a question of dogma? So what else is new? https://bit.ly/2HR7KDj

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Every insult inflicted upon our neighbour, offends God our Father and Creator.” Yes, except of course when it’s this pope inflicting insults on faithful Catholics, or when he’s taking vengeance on those who criticize him. Then it’s okay.

@Pontifex Does anyone seriously expect this pope to oppose the German bishops? (https://bit.ly/2HR7KDj) With all their money? (https://reut.rs/2rl2YTr).

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.05.07

An answer to a message from Klaus Beckmann:

Oh, PLEASE don’t be disappointed! I was able to spend a wonderful hour of adoration in the chapel before the mass, and I was able to follow along with the Rosary prayers, which is always a good thing for me.

But yes, I left early for two reasons: one – I felt VERY out of place among all the elderly ladies (although I know I shouldn’t feel that way); and two – I also don’t find these “Communion services” (or whatever they’re called in English) very inspiring, especially when there’s a nun distributing Communion (although, again, I know I shouldn’t feel that way).

But really, on the whole, it was a very good time for me. And I was able to make a spiritual Communion as I was walking home.

I too hope Msgr. Dr. Vollmer is all right.

I wanted to stay until the end so that I could at least say hello to you, but I really felt uncomfortable by the time the nun was doing the readings for today.

But, as I said, on the whole, the time I spend in the chapel was VERY good for me. As I was reading the Liturgy of the Hours, something happened that has never happened to me before. (I wasn’t going to tell you about this, but I really don’t want you to have any negative feelings about the afternoon.) What happened was this: for the first time in my life, I was tremendously moved by the psalms. I have read them hundreds of times before, but today the words seemed in a way almost to come alive and to impress themselves on me as they never had before. And I was actually moved to tears, so much so that I was afraid one of the nuns or someone would see me practically weeping and think there was something wrong with me!

Really, that experience was worth ALL the discomfort caused by the “Communion service.” That experience was – and I don’t like to use this term – almost what some might call a kind of mystical experience, except that it was so emotional and therefore perhaps not very meaningful.

Anyway, as I said, I wasn’t going to tell you about that, but I really don’t want you to have any feelings of disappointment or other negative feelings. I’m actually very GRATEFUL to you for mentioning the possibility of going to St. Joseph’s Chapel today, because the time I spent there this afternoon was so very, very good for me.

——

Comments on a Church Militant Vortex episode:

This Vortex was a real stunner. Never have I heard such an articulate analysis of what is happening in and to the Church.

But you want an example of a Church that is REALLY dying? The country I live in – Germany.

It makes Pittsburgh look like it’s growing by leaps and bounds, in comparison.

I went to a special mass at 5 pm this afternoon. There were only about twenty people present, all of them – except two of us males – were women. No other men and certainly no children or young people. I would say that not one of the women was under fifty, and almost all of them looked like they were in their seventies and eighties.

The aged priest didn’t even show up – he was apparently taken ill – and so there was a “Communion service” (or whatever they’re called) with Communion to be distributed by a nun.

I left shortly after it began.

And this is the Church, and these are the bishops that have so much influence on the current pope?
I read somewhere recently that the Catholic Church in Germany is “exporting failure,” because of its close ties to the Vatican and because the Vatican needs the enormous wealth that the German Church has. (It has fewer and fewer members, but by heaven, it’s wealth is growing by leaps and bounds, mainly because of the money it gets from the German government. No, I am not making that up. Google it.)

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.05.10

In The New York Times, two former Obama administration advisers write (https://nyti.ms/2jOqAN2) that “it’s unrealistic to think that Mr. Trump will change his mind on the Iran deal.”

Yes, it certainly is unrealistic, but not for the reasons most people have in mind. Trump’s decision on the Iran deal has nothing to do with Iran or it’s nuclear policy.

Trump’s decision has everything to do with his need to create a huge distraction – such as a war, perhaps – from the gathering perfect storm of the Mueller investigation, the inquiry into Michael Cohen’s affairs, and the Stormy Daniels case.

European leaders can present their arguments on Iran from here to eternity, but they will have no effect. The Europeans are talking about one reality, while Trump is consumed with something quite different.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.05.11

So, we have a pope who insults faithful Catholics and believes Protestants should be allowed to receive Communion, in line with the bishops from the country with the wealthiest Catholic Church. https://bit.ly/2KTBqxx God, how did it come to this? How long, O Lord?

——

2018.05.13

With all the other news this weekend, I was really impressed by this story (https://bit.ly/2Gb6OEe) of still more “blessings” that The Great Religion of Peace has brought to the world.

We have a saying in America that “the family that prays together stays together.”

Clearly The Great Religion of Peace has just raised that idea to a whole new level: “the family that slays together stays together.”

Is this what Europe has to look forward to? Or will there be only “minor” incidents like the stabbing in Paris yesterday?

It’s true that I’ve become disillusioned with Trump, but I won’t be sorry if he remains the US president. Whatever can be said against him and those around him, like Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, they understand the danger – no, the THREAT – that The Great Religion of Peace presents to civilization.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.05.14

Perhaps the truth of the traditional teachings of the Church will become really visible only after a complete collapse of our society and our civilization. People may then be forced to turn to God in order to save themselves from utter despair and desolation, as has happened in the past.

Such events and such periods in the history of the People of God have already been recorded, beginning in the Old Testament.

Now, in the present time, humanity appears to be headed in that direction once again. There are millions, however, who are praying that a collapse of our society does not take place. We are praying that people will turn to God, and that they will come to understand that in the end only God can make us happy.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.05.15

Some recent Tweets:

@Pontifex The German bishops know they’ve got this pope over a barrel. https://reut.rs/2rl2YTr He’ll do whatever they want!

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “How wonderful to be “envoys of hope.” If only we had a pope who was an “envoy of hope,” who followed the Gospel and the teachings of the Church, who did not spread error, confusion, and ruin in the Church, who did not insult faithful Catholics.

@Pontifex This pope and the German bishops should meet to discuss what will REALLY save the German Church, i.e., a faithful return to the Gospel and the traditional teachings of the Church, not heterodox ideas like giving the Eucharist to Protestants and adulterers.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Convert our hearts, Lord, so that love may spread here on earth.” And Lord, convert this pope so that he becomes a good pope, one who does not spread error and confusion and ruin in the Church, one who does not make us regret that he was ever elected.

@Pontifex “A religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.” -Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk quoting Article 675 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church https://bit.ly/2wjcKv8

@Pontifex Why is the Catholic Church dying in countries like Germany, the USA, and elsewhere? This is why: https://bit.ly/2rqGpwQ

@Pontifex We can only pray that God in His mercy will soon end this suffering in His Church. https://bit.ly/2InVcTg

@Pontifex “A Dutch cardinal has said that Pope Francis’ failure to uphold the Church’s authentic faith makes him think of the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s prophecy of a ‘final trial’ for the Church before the second coming of Christ.” https://bit.ly/2jJPXPL

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Our Lady Queen of the Rosary, pray that Jesus may have mercy on us sinners.” And Lady, please ask your Son to send us a good pope, one who will rebuild the Church out of the error, confusion, and destruction left in the wake of this pontificate.

@Pontifex Cardinal: Pope’s response to German intercommunion proposal is ‘incomprehensible’ https://bit.ly/2I7y7B3 THIS pope? Incomprehensible? Oh, say it isn’t so!

@Pontifex So many souls lost. Such ruin in the Church. Dear God, when will the horrors of this pontificate end?

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “We are Christians to the extent that we allow Jesus Christ to live in us.” Allowing Christ to live in us means obeying the Gospel and the true, traditional teachings of the Church, not the errors and confused ramblings of many contemporary prelates.

@Pontifex “The latest Gallup data (https://bit.ly/2IrV8Sw), for instance, shows American Mass attendance declining faster in the Francis era.” – Ross Douthout, The New York Times

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “The Ascension of the Risen Jesus contains the promise that we too will participate in the fullness of life with God.” But for this pope that may hold true only if he stops spreading error, confusion, and ruin in the Church, and stops insulting people.

@Pontifex So, we have a pope who insults faithful Catholics and believes Protestants should be allowed to receive Communion, in line with the bishops from the country with the wealthiest Catholic Church. https://bit.ly/2KTBqxx God, how did it come to this? How long, O Lord?

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “We begin building peace in our homes, streets, and workplaces when we craft communion and community.” And this pope can do that by not betraying Church teaching on intercommunion with Protestants, and by not obeying rich, error-prone German bishops.

@Pontifex If this conference https://bit.ly/2GapeEW really does take place, it will only be because this pope doesn’t know about it. As soon as he finds out, he’ll shut it down, the same way he shuts down all groups composed of faithful Catholics.

@Pontifex Response to this pope’s Tweet: this pope’s response to Jesus cannot be conditioned by error, confusion, anger, vengeance, and insults toward faithful Catholics. It must be a life-long “yes” to the truths of the Gospel and the truths and traditions of the Church.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “I invite communications professionals to promote a journalism of peace….” And faithful Catholics invite men like Msgr. Dario Viganò to be honest about matters like the letter of Benedict XVI “praising” a book about this pope’s “theology.”

@Pontifex I was really impressed by this story (https://bit.ly/2Gb6OEe) of more “blessings” that The Great Religion of Peace has brought. In America we say that “the family that prays together stays together.” Now we have, “the family that slays together stays together.”

@Pontifex Bishops…are presiding over a demographic disaster unseen in the annals of Church history. https://bit.ly/2GfhIbU

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “There is no freedom greater than letting yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to lead you wherever he wishes.” That’s true, as long as you can be sure you’re not deceiving yourself and it really is the Holy Spirit who is leading you.

@Pontifex “Pope Francis is not the clearest of leaders. But what is perhaps even more disturbing in these contested matters is that we are often arguing as if the questions have never been treated earlier in the Church. They have.” – Robert Royal https://bit.ly/2InrKth

@Pontifex “We are in a time when we are not only increasing division among existing Catholics, but with the Fathers of the Church and the great doctors and saints, martyrs, and confessors of the ages.” – Robert Royal https://bit.ly/2InrKth

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “The Family is the hope of the future. Let us pray especially for families facing serious difficulties: may Our Lord assist them.” May this pope assist them by supporting the truth of the Gospel and by not spreading error and confusion in the Church.

————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.05.29

Some recent Tweets:

@Pontifex Reply to a papal Tweet: God needs a pope who brings all his strength to supporting, defending, and preserving the Gospel and the teachings of the Church and past popes. God does not need a pope who spreads error, is power-hungry, and takes revenge on faithful Catholics.

@Pontifex A slick new movie about this pope and his horrific pontificate? Oh, the world is going to LOVE it! The world is going to love this pope more and more! And when the world loves you? What did Christ say about that?

@Pontifex Among this pope’s formidable talents is his genius in science and medicine. The world’s greatest researchers and physicians admit that they don’t know what causes same-sex attraction. Ah, but our great, divinely-inspired pope knows. God’s the cause, he says.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “A Christian’s life should be invested in Jesus, and spent for others.” And a pope’s life should be invested in truth, the truth of the Gospel, Church teachings and the teachings of past popes, his life should be spent defending those teachings.

@Pontifex “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word” WOW! A blockbuster film! The whole WORLD is going to absolutely LOVE it – and love this pope too!
(Uh, what did St. John say? “If you were of the world, it would love you as its own” – John 15:18)

@Pontifex “The Holy Spirit changes hearts and situations, Pope says in Pentecost homily” (Vatican Press Office) Dear God, if only You would change this pope’s heart, this pope’s situation – or end the catastrophe of this pontificate, end the Church’s suffering under this pope.

@Pontifex So now, thanks to this pope (“A Man of His Word” – now a major motion picture) we have not just a magisterium but also a SHADOW magisterium (https://bit.ly/2KNyHF3)!! Oh boy! Is there no end to the wonders and miracles that this pope works?

@Pontifex Phil Lawler asks, “Are German Catholic bishops trying to export their model for failure?” https://bit.ly/2HGmy7v Oh, they’re not just TRYING, they’re SUCCEEDING beyond anyone’s wildest dreams! (https://bit.ly/2wYBitA)

@Pontifex Phil Lawler writes, “In ‘Lost Shepherd’ I remarked: ‘The confusion in Amoris Laetitia is not a bug; it is a feature.’ The same could be said of this entire pontificate.” https://bit.ly/2LlVrgn

@Pontifex A response to a papal Tweet: a pope that loves the truth of church teachings will be blessed. An arrogant pope who spreads error and confusion and who punishes critics will be condemned. He must defend and preserve what the Church and the Holy Spirit have always taught.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Today we are united in prayer with our Catholic brothers and sisters in China.” But Cardinal Joseph Zen called the coming China/Vatican pact a “suicide deal” and accused the Church of “selling out” the members of the oppressed Catholic underground.

@Pontifex We stand at one of the major turning points of history…Islamists want to bring back the subjugation of women, female genital mutilation, sex slavery, beheadings, and dhimmitude for non-believers. https://bit.ly/2s5PeNv Sounds absurd? Let’s wait and see.

@Pontifex “Today another prelate hails the reign of Christ in another atheist tyranny. Bishop Sorondo discovers ‘the moral leadership that others have abandoned’ in The People’s Republic of China. https://bit.ly/2IJL8VG

@Pontifex The pope wants to root out the sexual abuse of minors by clergy? (https://bit.ly/2knZm03) It might help if he also rooted out the doctrinal abuse by the clergy – and by himself.

@Pontifex This is an “it’s-so-good-you-practically-fall-off-your-chair” Vortex episode from ChurchMilitant.com. https://bit.ly/2J4eHAz

@Pontifex “Pope: ‘foolish lie’ to connect Islam with terrorism” (Vatican Insider) Only someone who has never read the Koran, who is unaware of 1400 years of Islamic history and Islamic attacks on Christianity could make such a patently ridiculous statement.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Love of God and love of neighbour should be the two cornerstones of our lives.” For this pope, love of God, love of neighbour and love of the TRUTH of the Gospel and Church teaching should be the three cornerstones of his life.

@Pontifex “Pope confirms: seminaries should exclude homosexuals” (CNA) It looks like this pope is FINALLY starting to get it! FINALLY he does something right! So maybe there’s some small hope that this pontificate won’t be a complete disaster.

@Pontifex Do you suppose this pope ever makes a connection between the “hemorrhage” of vocations and his suppression of thriving religious groups like the Fraternity of the Holy Apostles in Belgium and the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate? https://bit.ly/2KVkZA5

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “The Gospel calls us to live outside our comfort zone, because anyone who follows Jesus, loves the poor and the lowly.” And this pope must live outside the comfort zone of his own whims and fantasies. He must be true to the Gospel and Church teachings.

@Pontifex “‘I was part of the problem‘ Pope Francis was quoted telling the Chile abuse victims.” “Your Holiness, no. You weren’t PART of the problem… you are the ENTIRE problem.” – Elizabeth Yore (https://bit.ly/2xi5YpU)

@Pontifex Response to papa; Tweet: We can be certain that wherever there is love, there is God, and where there is God, there are also the truths of the Gospel and Church teaching. May God send us a pope who understands that.

@Pontifex Reply to a papal Tweet: What lasts? What has value in life? What treasures don’t disappear? Definitely four: God and our neighbor and the truth of the Gospel and the truth of all the teachings of the Church, without the error and confusion that this pope has introduced.

@Pontifex “MGR LIVIO MELINA: CONSCIENCE AND TRUTH IN THE MAGISTERIUM OF CARDINAL CAFFARRA” (https://bit.ly/2H0RWbD) Too bad we don’t also have some correct teaching on conscience and truth from this current pope.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “The Eucharist gives us the strength to produce the fruits of good works, and to live true Christian lives.” The Eucharist should give this pope the strength to teach the truth of the Gospel and the infallible Magisterium, not his whims and fantasies.

——

Comment on an article at (https://bit.ly/2sgCm7w):

It’s not only Ireland that has elected to annihilate its future.

We’ve been here before, though.

Human societies and civilizations collapse and die and are eventually reborn and rebuilt.

I doubt that ours will be very different. Ancient Egyptian history comprises a period of 3,000 years, but that civilization today appears to be only a blip when we consider the past. One day, far in the future, millennia from now, our civilization will be regarded in the same way by our distant descendants.

Except that one element of our civilization will remain, in one form or another, until the end of time: the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.06.04

Regarding a Vortex episode (https://bit.ly/2kLwcrK) at ChurchMilitant.com:

The Church is in a very, very sad situation – in Ireland, in every country – and Michael describes that situation with great precision, with the precision of great faith.

I remember, though – and it’s a memory that brings me fear and hope – the words of Thomas Jefferson, chiseled in the stone of the Jefferson memorial in Washington:

“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.”

——

In response to a Facebook comment:

RIGHT!
——-In adult poverty,
——-in childhood poverty,
——-in youth homelessness,
——-in adult homelessness
——-in short life expectancy,
——-in poor health,
——-in high obesity levels,
——-in the number of children massacred in schools,
——-in general gun violence,
——-in the number of people in prison,
——-in the number of people addicted to drugs,
——-in wealth concentration among the top 1%,
WE’RE NUMBER ONE!
WE’RE NUMBER ONE!
——-(Or, well, okay,
—————among developed nations,
—————in most of these areas,
—————ALMOST number one!)

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.06.06

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex “It is not a paradigm shift of which we stand in need, but a conversion of the heart, so that our conscience is open to the truth and realises it in our acts.” – Mgr. Livio Melina, Rome Life Forum, 18 May 2018 (https://bit.ly/2H0RWbD)

@Pontifex “A flourishing order (the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate) was brought to the brink of annihilation based on rumors and unbelievable slander. Responsibility for this lies with Pope Francis.” And this pope worries about a lack of vocations? (https://bit.ly/2LKwP0T)

@Pontifex This pope Tweets: “When the Holy Spirit is present, something always happens. Where the Spirit blows, things never stand still.” True, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t bring chaos or confusion; He doesn’t wish that concubinarian bishops, like Bishop Ticona, become cardinals.

@Pontifex In this Vortex (https://bit.ly/2J5jNtp), Michael does more than carve eternal truths in the stone of prophetic statements. In this Vortex, he approaches the realm of sheer poetry, and this poetry magnifies the truth and makes it utterly unforgettable. Kudos to him.

@Pontifex “Our Sad Decline in Priestly Vocations: Most Priests will Retire in 2015-2025” https://bit.ly/2stq9LT Yeah, but this pope’s gotta suppress “rigid” TLM groups like the Fraternity of the Holy Apostles and the FFI. Better a “hemorrhage” of vocations and empty churches.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “The Eucharist contains all the flavour of Jesus’ words and deeds, the taste of His Death and Resurrection, the fragrance of His Spirit.” Too bad many clerics don’t believe in the Real Presence anymore. And this pope? Dear God, help their unbelief.

@Pontifex “Reject worldly patterns of behavior, Pope preaches at weekday Mass” (Vatican News) Sure, like NEVER having “documentary” movies produced about yourself, which of course this pope would not DREAM of doing.

@Pontifex This poor old man, this poor pope. May God have mercy on him and forgive him for what he’s done to the Church and to so many souls who may be lost because of the horrors of his pontificate.

@Pontifex Oh yeah, I almost forgot: “now a major motion picture.” Sure, “a man of his word.” Is that a laugh or is that a laugh. “His word”? To whom? To what dark entity? Certainly not to God.

@Pontifex God would never ask a pope to give “his word” that to destroy two thriving “rigid” religious orders, that were attracting MANY priestly vocations. God would never expect such a pope to then complain of a “hemorrhage” of vocations. But a darker “spirit” would expect it.

@Pontifex If governments and social media are so concerned with stopping “hate speech,” you wonder why they continue to make the Koran available. There is no other “holy” book that expresses such hatred toward Jews and other “unbelievers.” No other with such incitement to murder.

@Pontifex “Chinese officials adopt 5-year plan to for ‘Sinicization’ of Catholic Church” (AsiaNews) And this pope is doubling down on his plan for “dialogue” with the Chinese government? Terrific. In the words of the immortal Sarah Palin: “Hey, how’s that workin’ out fer ya?”

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Love can recognize good things even in bad situations. Love keeps a tiny flame alight even in the darkest night.” Yes, even when we have a pontificate that has covered the Church with nearly impenetrable blackness.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Seek the Lord in prayer: He is the one who has called you.” Many of us wonder if it is really the Lord who has called this pope, or the Dark Entity.

@Pontifex Europe is committing suicide – and is the Vatican an accomplice? https://bit.ly/2JahRjj

@Pontifex This pope is just fooling himself when it comes to Islam (https://bit.ly/2sxWXU5).

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “On this Feast of Corpus Christi, we need to remember that Jesus, the Bread of Life, is our strength and support on life’s journey.” For this pope, that’s true as long as he preserves the truth of the Gospel and Church teaching.

@Pontifex It’s so “modern,” but is it really such a good idea? https://bit.ly/2Jb7Qq7

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “The living presence of Christ within us is the light that guides our choices….” But if this pope chooses error and confusion, can it be the light of Christ guiding him, or is it perhaps the Great Deceiver’s darkness disguised as light?

@Pontifex A friend asked, “What kind of pope shuts down two religious groups with many vocations, and then complains because there is a “hemorrhage” of vocations? That doesn’t make sense.”

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Lord, reawaken in us a sense of praise and gratitude for our Earth, and for everything you have created.” Lord, awaken in this pope a love of the Gospel and Church teaching. Make him understand he’s destroying vocations and harming the Church.

@Pontifex We must be careful. If someone doesn’t remember the Latin Mass, this video (https://bit.ly/2Jr4tux) may make them curious about it. If someone DOES remember the Latin Mass, this video may reawaken a terrible longing for it.

@Pontifex The pope Tweets: “Loving Christ…is an attitude of the heart that we demonstrate when we live as He wants us to.” A pope demonstrates it when he upholds the truths of the Gospel and Church teaching without error, heresy, or confusion. And when he controls his anger.

@Pontifex The Bergoglio shell game: https://bit.ly/2LoSlHI

@Pontifex “Why doesn’t this pope kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament?” (https://bit.ly/2xKRlvF) C’mon, gimme a break. For him, it’s just too much trouble, and it might indicate he actually believes in the Real Presence. Besides, he’d get no “humility credit” for it.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.06.11

Tony, I know this is going to sound pretty stupid, but maybe God has answered your prayer by trying to tell you that being happy is not the purpose of life.

So, what is it? Well, many individuals have discovered that one pretty clear purpose is to make OTHER people happy.

Christ also gave us eight other examples of what happiness means. The word translated as “blessed” in the Gospel can also be translated as “happy,” so,

“Happy are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Happy are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
“Happy are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
“Happy are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
“Happy are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
“Happy are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
“Happy are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
“Happy are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Happy are you, when men revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
“Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets who came before you.”

Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3-10

But, as I said, I know all that sounds pretty stupid to a lot of people.

——

Dear Klaus,

I have to tell you this, because, as the Church in Germany plunges on toward irrelevance, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

And I ask, Dear God, how much more of this can the Church in this country tolerate, before it finally collapses? And, where do the clerics here get these “bright” ideas?

At the end of that funeral mass at St. Andreas today, as the mourners were leaving the church, there was a sudden blast of a trumpet solo (yes, a trumpet), and a singer burst forth with a full-throated rendition (in English) of an old Fred Astaire pop-song from the 1930’s, “Dancing Cheek to Cheek.”

And what does THAT song have to do with a funeral?

Well might you ask.

The first line of the song, which most of the mourners would have understood in English, is, “HEAVEN, I’m in HEAVEN!”

In Christo,

Robert
——

Dear Klaus

Fortunately, the mass itself was all right – for a Novus Ordo mass, anyway. It was only at the end with the “I’m in HEAVEN!” business that it went off the rails.

I would have left too, except that I go to daily mass, and there was no other mass I could go to today.

There are predictions that in the United States the Catholic Church will have all but disappeared within ten years, mainly because older Catholics are dying off, and there’s practically no one to replace them, except in those few, fortunate parishes where the Traditional Latin Mass is still celebrated, along with all the Church teaching that goes along with it – and the families raising their children as good, solid Catholics.

In Germany, though, ten years may be an optimistic number. After all, if there’s only “HEAVEN!”, and no purgatory or hell, why should anyone bother going to church on Sundays anymore?

Closed parishes, empty seminaries – it sure looks like the modernists have won, doesn’t it?

Except for the remnant that will remain. This remnant will ultimately celebrate the realization of Our Lady’s prophecy at Fatima: “In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

In Christo,

Robert

——

Dear Klaus,

I’m sure it will be a good talk. His theology is very solid.

You know, when I go to the Novus Ordo mass on Sundays at St. Andreas – or when I go to ANY Novus Ordo mass now – I silently read the beginning of the Tridentine Mass in Latin while the choir is singing its non-Gregorian hymn. When I do that, I feel almost as if I were at a Petrus Bruderschaft mass at St. Dionysius, because when I’m at one of THOSE masses, I do the same thing: I read the beginning of the Tridentine Mass to myself with all of the distraction of having the choir singing some non-Gregorian hymn.

So, sadly, for me, whether it’s Sunday Mass at St. Andreas or Sunday Mass at St. Dionysius, there’s very little difference.

This afternoon, I was talking to one of my neighbors, and we were discussing the state of the modern world, and I said that at my age (77) I sometimes find it difficult to be too concerned about the modern world, because I have no way of knowing how much longer I will have to endure it. And later, it occurred to me that something similar is true with regard to the liturgy. Quite “soon,” if God judges that I’ve somehow merited heaven, I’ll be able to be present for the unutterably beautiful liturgy there, the heavenly liturgy, the beauty of which will, of course, surpass by far the finest Tridentine liturgy here on earth!

So I don’t feel too bad if I don’t – or can’t – go to mass at St. Dionysius when Father Fuisting insists on that awful non-Gregorian music during the masses there! Whether in the long term or the short term, I have something much better to look forward to!

In Christo,

Robert

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.06.13

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex It won’t be long now: (https://bit.ly/2JmAaBZ)

@Pontifex “Though I have written several articles about Pope Francis’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, I am repeatedly struck anew, as time goes on, by its inexorably destructive implications.” https://bit.ly/2sLd6ph

@Pontifex Bishop Jean-Pierre Delville of Liège said, “We must help Islam get rid of such manipulative and perverted interpretations, by promoting dialogue and friendship all the time.” Tell that to all the groups that have “dialogued” with Islam in the Middle East in 1400 years.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “For those who are with Jesus, evil is just a provocation to love even more.” And for a pope who is with Jesus, evil is a provocation to take more care in avoiding error, confusion, heresy, and schism, and to take care to curb his anger.

@Pontifex Another example of this pope’s tendency toward unbridled anger and his desire to take revenge whenever he can: (https://bit.ly/2JiKfDJ) All faithful Catholics are begging God to end the Church’s suffering under this pope.

@Pontifex The pope of “mercy”? What joke! This pope takes revenge on a bishop in Argentina whom he regarded as a rival, a good bishop. Mother of God, when will this monstrosity of a pontificate end?

@Pontifex This pope’s “a man of his word”? Oh yes, especially if that word is “revenge.” He’ll even take out his enormous anger on a brother bishop in Argentina who “offended” him years ago. Is Christ in this pope’s heart, leading him? Satan is more likely.

@Pontifex Have mercy on us, dear God. Please either convert this pope and make him a good man, or, we beg you, end this awful pontificate.

@Pontifex Oh God, how long will You continue to punish Your Church with this pope? How long, O Lord, how long?

@Pontifex Oh God, how long will You punish us with leaders like Trump, Putin, and this pope with his horrific pontificate?

@Pontifex “The prayers, ritual, and music of the Latin Mass are perfect for making present again the reality of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, His infinite act of love…Religious vocations occur when the soul begins to see God as attractive.” https://bit.ly/2sS2IvM

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Let us ask the Lord to give us good priests: hardworking men, men of prayer, who are close to God’s people.” And let’s ask God to give us a good pope, a merciful pope, one who will not express his anger and take revenge on men like Archbishop Aguer.

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Mary is exactly what God wants His Church to be: a loving and humble Mother, poor in possessions but rich in love.” And that’s what God wants this pope to be: rich in love, not rich in anger, vengeance, error, confusion, and heresy.

@Pontifex The A – Z list of concerns with Pope Francis https://bit.ly/2jYSB4y

@Pontifex A man of his word? Really? At least one critic says that there should be a movie titled “Jorge Bergoglio: Don’t Trust Him An Inch.” https://bit.ly/2HyJlNO

@Pontifex The German bishops are unhappy because this pope rejected their wish to have Protestants receive the Eucharist? They needn’t worry. This pope will change his mind tomorrow. He always does. His rejection was just a temporary sop to his “rigid” critics. It won’t last.

@Pontifex The pope tweets: “Whatever we do, let us sustain the voice of the Holy Spirit through practical good deeds and actions.” For the love of God, whatever this pope does, may he sustain the voice of the Holy Spirit by avoiding error, confusion, anger, vengeance, and heresy.

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “The Holy Spirit gives us the strength we need to achieve holiness in our everyday lives.” But will this pope use that strength, or will he waste it on error and confusion, on expressing his anger, and on taking revenge on men like Archbishop Aguer?

Sometimes – and this is certainly one of those times – the clarity, the truth, and the sheer rightness of what Michael says in these Vortex episodes is stunning, absolutely stunning. https://bit.ly/2t0tW3G

@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Children must be able to play, study and grow in a peaceful environment. Woe to anyone who stifles their joyful impulse to hope!” And woe to any pope who supports those who practice contraception or – God help us – abortion.

@Pontifex Something from today’s Gospel that this pope might want to remember: “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.”

@Pontifex Something for this pope to keep in mind: “I have a quarrel with the prophets who lead my people astray with their lies and their pretensions.” – From today’s Office of Readings on the Feast of St. Antony of Padua.

@Pontifex “We cannot close our eyes to the disaster, the devastation and the schism that the modern promoters of a living liturgy caused by remodeling the Church’s liturgy according to their ideas.” – Cardinal Robert Sarah https://bit.ly/2y77fQZ

@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Never tire of encountering Jesus in prayer, in listening to the Word of God, and in receiving the Eucharist.” If you’re pope, never tire of stopping the spread of error, confusion, heresy. Never stop trying to control your anger or thirst for revenge.

@Pontifex Here’s an article this pope might be interested in: “The Benefits of Learning to Control Our Anger” https://bit.ly/2LNaPSo

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.06.16

Dear Klaus,

I just read something that made me think of our discussion this afternoon, about the present state of America. The following paragraph is from a homily (https://bit.ly/2JJy976) by a very gifted and intelligent priest from New York, Fr. George Rutler (boldface print is mine):

“Suicide rates in our country in all age groups have climbed nearly 30% in the last generation. Among women between ages 45 and 64, who were promised sexual and social liberation, suicides have increased 60% in the last twenty years. While not wanting to lapse into the logical fallacy of “cum hoc ergo propter hoc” (a coincidence must be a consequence), these figures almost exactly match the increased number of Americans who say they have no faith or belong to no religion.”

I heard another shocking statistic in a CNN interview this afternoon with Professor Philip G. Alston the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights. Alston claimed that life expectancy at birth in CHINA today is HIGHER than in the United States I haven’t found any information about that in the internet, where the most recent information is from 2016 (when the comparable figures were already very close), but Alston may have access to more recent statistics.

Perhaps I mentioned this to you before, but again and again I keep thinking of something Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.” (https://bit.ly/2eMBe2C).

In Christo,

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.06.17

Abbot Philip writes what is true, that “the present world tells us that God is not necessary, is only a foolish thought of humans, and that life is much better without God.” https://bit.ly/2LYl0Uh

At the same time, Father George Rutler in a recent homily (also appearing on this blog at https://bit.ly/2JJy976) is quoted as saying, “Suicide rates in our country in all age groups have climbed nearly 30% in the last generation. Among women between ages 45 and 64, who were promised sexual and social liberation, suicides have increased 60% in the last twenty years….These figures almost exactly match the increased number of Americans who say they have no faith or belong to no religion.”

Sexual and social liberation? No faith and no religion?

And a dramatic increase in suicides.

Father Rutler accurately points out that we cannot ASSUME there’s a connection.

And yet as Abbot Philip states, “Without God, all becomes useless and without meaning.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.06.20

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex This pope tweets about the World Cup in Moscow: “a positive opportunity for encounter and fellowship.” And Putin’s crimes – his seizure of Crimea, shooting down of the Dutch airliner, the murder of journalists, the poisoning of the Skrypals? From this pope – silence.

@Pontifex “A Chinese dissident and author who was imprisoned by Chinese Communists for four years says Pope Francis is the worst pope in history. He warned the Catholic Church about making a ‘deal with the devil’ as regards its negotiations with Beijing.” https://bit.ly/2ybx6aF

@Pontifex “A New York Times columnist and one of America’s leading Catholic commentators said that it is ‘legitimate’ for Catholics to vocally raise concerns over Pope Francis’ teaching.” https://bit.ly/2HNDBQv

@Pontifex “Pope: Mediocrity Is the Biggest Threat Young People Face” https://bit.ly/2JORiR7 It’s also the biggest threat this pope faces – aside from his tendency toward error, confusion, anger, and revenge.

@Pontifex Dear God in heaven, send us a good pope. Please.

@Pontifex Dear God in heaven, send us a good pope, please, one who does not spread error, confusion, and heresy, one who is faithful to the Gospel and Church teaching, one who does not yield to anger, revenge, and the desire for power, one who is kind to others, like Christ is.

@Pontifex An excellent Vortex, chiseled in the stone of TRUTH, as always. One of the best sentences includes the prediction of what will happen to bishops who speak out. https://bit.ly/2la6bTd

@Pontifex The current pope tweets: “Love is always at the service of others. Because love is seen in actions, not words.” In a pope, the action of love is seen in the support he gives to the Truth and his avoidance of error, confusion, heresy, anger, insults, and vengeance.

@Pontifex “The dispute between the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Peoria about Bishop Sheen has left questions only the Vatican can resolve.” (National Catholic Register) But this pope has no interest in seeing a “rigid” bishop beatified, so he will do nothing.

@Pontifex The current pope tweets, “Invite the Holy Spirit to be part of your activities.” We all wish this pope would do that. Then he might spread less error and confusion and cause less destruction in the Church. He might also be able to control his anger better.

@Pontifex The current pope tweets: “Let us share the journey of refugees and migrants with concrete gestures of solidarity.” Fine, but let us also be aware that most of them adhere to The Great Religion of Peace, which is not a religion at all, but a dangerous political ideology.

@Pontifex The current pope tweets: “Let us try to express the joy of God’s Kingdom in every way possible!” O God, let this current pope express the joy of Your Kingdom by correcting his errors and confusion, and by showing his faith in the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.

@Pontifex O God, we beg you, send us a good pope, one who upholds the Gospel and Church teaching, one who does not spread error, confusion, and heresy. Send us a good pope, O God, not someone like the current pope.

@Pontifex O God, end Your Church’s suffering, send us a good pope, one who does not fill the Church with clerics who support homosexuals and their agenda.

@Pontifex O God, help this current pope and the homosexual clerics who fill half the Vatican and the rest of the Church, clerics like James Martin, S.J. – help them all to understand that sodomy is a grave sin.

@Pontifex Mother of God, help this current pope and all his homosexual clerics to understand that homosexual actions are not “differently ordered,”
but intrinsically DISORDERED and gravely sinful. Help them to see the truth.

@Pontifex O God, send us a good pope, one who will end the scourge of homosexuality among the clergy, especially in places like the Archdiocese of New York. This current pope is unable to do that.

@Pontifex “Pope reflects on Kingdom of God, parable of mustard seed” (Vatican Press Office) The current mustard seed has been planted in the Church by faithful, traditional Catholics, and it will grow. All Catholics will one day dwell in it again, long after this pontificate.

@Pontifex “Why does the pope – and Cardinal Schönborn – ignore the scandal surrounding Bishop Alois Schwarz and the women in his life? Is this how the Catholic faith will regain her strength?” https://bit.ly/2JOk4p0 Maybe we should be grateful Bishop Schwarz doesn’t like boys.

@Pontifex The current pope tweets: “Choosing to follow Christ helps build a more just, more friendly, more humane society, closer to the heart of God.” For a pope, it also helps to build a Church free of error, confusion, heresy, free of anger and revenge against critics.

@Pontifex The Francis effect? Hey guys…um…it ain’t workin’. https://bit.ly/2tl47eO Maybe it’s time to try something else?

@Pontifex This current pope tries to be so friendly and smiling; he has a great movie produced about himself. He probably wonders why it isn’t working, why people don’t RESPOND! It’s because, in the end, people see through it all, they see his real self – angry, hungry for power.

@Pontifex “A Man of His Word”? You bet! When this current pope gives his word to the modernists, he KEEPS it! And by the way, he probably LOVED watching that movie about himself. While the world yawned.

@Pontifex The “Francis Effect”? The Francis Effect statistics (https://bit.ly/2tbbwy6 ) have hardly moved since the current pope took office. Maybe the “Francis Effect” is just modernist claptrap compared to the eternal truths of the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.

@Pontifex This current pope says, “If you want to destroy institutions or people, you start by speaking ill of them.” (https://bit.ly/2K2ZDno) Yes, you start with: “rigid Christians, modern gnostics, slaves of superficiality, museum mummies, moralistic quibblers, elitists, etc.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.06.26

Some Tweets:

@Pontifex The current pope tweets: “Saving the life of someone fleeing war and poverty is an act of humanity.” Yes, but allowing vast numbers of unattached, military-age men into your country and being blind to the core values of “The Great Religion of Peace” are reckless acts.

@Pontifex This guy is the real deal. (https://bit.ly/2lkci7k) Even this current pope of ours might learn something from what he has to say.

@Pontifex When will this current pope and his homosexual colleagues in the Vatican PR office – and elsewhere in the Vatican – understand that no matter how much James Martin, SJ, disguises the truth, sodomy will always be one of the four sins that cry to heaven for vengeance?

@Pontifex The current pope tweets: “Praying together, walking together, working together: this is the way that leads to Christian unity.” True, unless you have German bishops who want to follow their own separate beliefs and a pope who spreads error, confusion, and heresy.

@Pontifex “No matter how many soldiers we send to fight in the Middle-East, the main battle in the clash of civilizations is being waged in our classrooms.” https://bit.ly/2K7V1ZS But our leaders, religious and secular, are concerned with more “important” issues, aren’t they?

@Pontifex “Dubia were hand-delivered to Pontiff, Cardinal Burke confirms” (LifeSite News) Oh, but surely this current pope wouldn’t LIE, would he? He obviously just “forgot,” in all of the error and confusion and hunger for power that characterizes this pontificate.

@Pontifex “Worldwide survey finds increased restrictions on religion (Pew Forum) The countries with the tightest restraints on religion are found primarily in the Middle East, with predominantly Muslim nations.” Oh, but we can just “dialogue,” can’t we?

@Pontifex This current pope tweets: “Love for others needs to become the constant factor of our lives.” Yes, and also, for this current pope, constant factors should include: no more error, confusion, lying, anger, desire for revenge, or hunger for power.

@Pontifex “Pope Francis: ‘Only’ true family is that of a man and a woman” https://bit.ly/2MhFYgZ Fine. That’s what he thinks today. Tomorrow he may think differently. Like his hero Juan Peron, this pope can say one thing to one group and the opposite to another group.

@Pontifex “Pope Francis: ‘Only’ true family is that of a man and a woman” https://bit.ly/2MhFYgZ Wait until after the Youth Synod this fall and see if he’s still saying that.

@Pontifex The current pope tweets: “Let us ask our Lord to help us understand that love is service, love means taking care of others.” Lord, help the current pope to understand that for him love means being free of error, confusion, heresy, insults, anger, the desire for revenge.

@Pontifex “When it comes to Pope Francis, you cannot trust what he says. There’s more and more evidence of that all the time….Atomize and deconstruct the universal faith, one bishop at a time.” https://bit.ly/2MjPgsG

@Pontifex A friend commented, “Don’t you love that movie title? ‘Pope Francis: A Man of His Word.’ Riiiiiight. One word today, the opposite word tomorrow, another word the next day. I mean, it’s almost like having Juan Peron as pope!”

@Pontifex Dear God, send us a good pope.

@Pontifex Dear God, send us a pope will tell the truth about everything, even about things like receiving the Dubia. Does anyone really believe what he said about that?

@Pontifex The current pope tweets: “Christians have to humble themselves.” Christians, yes, This current pope, no. He can go on being as arrogant, angry, vengeful, error-filled, confusing, and heretical as he was in Buenos Aires. No need for HIM to be humble.

@Pontifex So now this current pope says any bishop is permitted to allow intercommunion in his own diocese. Dear God, send us a pope who will promote Church unity and Church teaching, not another clown.

@Pontifex “I tried to warn everyone. You cannot trust what Pope Francis says. On the matter of intercommunion, Catholics wanted to believe the best. ‘Hey look! He’s orthodox!’ Now, we see what it was. A rhetorical head fake. Another papal shell game.” https://bit.ly/2lvwweH

@Pontifex Oh God, it is Your will that the Church should suffer the depredations of this current pope, who is to be greatly pitied, not condemned. But God, we are only human, and we beg You to end the Church’s suffering soon. Send us a good pope and good bishops.

@Pontifex Dear God, end the madness of this poor pope that we have now.

@Pontifex God, we beg You: end the madness of what this poor pope is doing to your Church.

@Pontifex The current pope claims he didn’t know about the five Dubia until he read about them in the newspaper. It’s bad enough for anyone to tell a lie like that, but it’s even worse that he thinks we’re all stupid enough to BELIEVE it!

@Pontifex The current pope tweets: “Faith in Jesus Christ frees us from sin, sadness, emptiness, isolation.” Perhaps if this pope had faith, Jesus Christ would free even him from his sin, sadness, emptiness, and isolation, and from error, confusion, anger, and a hunger for power.

@Pontifex “Pope Francis Says He Heard of the Dubia Only Via Newspapers” https://bit.ly/2ly657V Gimme a break.

@Pontifex “We are full of homosexuals.” – Pope Francis (https://bit.ly/2Kt8QWx) Is it possible that he’s FINALLY catching on?

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

2018.06.27

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

I know someone who was given an inexpensive cardboard copy of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help over sixty years ago, when he was still a boy. He considers it remarkable that the icon is still with him, after going through school and university, into the army, travelling once around the world, living and working in countries in North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, during the last fifty years of his life.

He never planned for the icon never to leave him him, and its continued – apparently accidental – presence in his life he considers a kind of wonder, a sort of miracle. He has lost many things over the years, many books, many articles of clothing, many papers, but not the icon. He is convinced that the only reason he survived those fifty years is because Our Lady stayed with him and never stopped looking after him.