Category: Pope/Vatican

Switzerland: Zurich churches to pass on $2,262,000 in tax money to Islamic associations

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/03/switzerland-zurich-churches-to-pass-on-2262000-in-tax-money-to-islamic-associations; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

From a Muslim standpoint, this is just the natural order of things. Non-Muslims paying for the upkeep of Muslims is a Qur’anic dictate: “Fight against those who do not believe in Allah or the last day, and do not forbid what Allah and his messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, even if they are among the people of the book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (Qur’an 9:29)

The caliph Umar said the jizya payments from the dhimmis were the source of the Muslims’ livelihood: “Narrated Juwairiya bin Qudama at-Tamimi: We said to `Umar bin Al-Khattab, ‘O Chief of the believers! Advise us.’ He said, ‘I advise you to fulfill Allah’s Convention (made with the Dhimmis) as it is the convention of your Prophet and the source of the livelihood of your dependents (i.e. the taxes from the Dhimmis.)’” (Bukhari 4.53.388)

The UK jihad preacher Anjem Choudary said in February 2013: “We are on Jihad Seekers Allowance, We take the Jizya (protection money paid to Muslims by non-Muslims) which is ours anyway." The normal situation is to take money from the Kafir (non-Muslim), isn’t it? So this is a normal situation. They give us the money. You work, give us the money. Allah Akbar, we take the money. Hopefully there is no one from the DSS (Department of Social Security) listening. Ah, but you see people will say you are not working. But the normal situation is for you to take money from the Kuffar (non-Muslim) So we take Jihad Seeker’s Allowance.”

“Zurich churches pass on tax money to Islamic associations,” translated from “Zürcher Kirchen leiten Steuergeld an Islamverein weiter,” HeimatKurier, March 15, 2024 (thanks to Medforth):

The Catholic and Protestant Church in Zurich wants to give away a whopping two million francs in tax money to Islamic associations. What is sold as a gesture of goodwill is a cash injection for Islamization. With the gift of money, the Swiss are involuntarily helping to finance the Islamic conquest of land.
In Zurich, only recognized religious communities are entitled to state funding. Currently these are three Christian and two Jewish communities. Since the Protestant and Catholic churches seem to be swimming in money through tax contributions, they now want to give the “Association of Islamic Organizations Zurich” (VIOZ) a cash gift of around two million francs.

Islamization and false tolerance
A staunch supporter of the project is the reformed church council president and former SP cantonal councillor Esther Straub. She promotes the idea and speaks of it as a sign of “interreligious cohesion”. This kind of accommodation is, of course, sought in vain in Islamic countries with Christian minorities. The church uses this money to distribute money to Islamic organizations, which are often noticed in Switzerland with fanatical tendencies.

Promoting moderate Islam?
The former left-wing politician argues that the move is intended to finance decidedly non-radical and moderate Islamic associations. With over 40 facilities, VIOZ operates around 90 percent of the mosques in the canton of Zurich. There are also other associations. In addition to the three VIOZ facilities in Winterthur, there is also the “An nur Mosque”, which, according to security authorities, is a real hotspot for jihadism. How interconnected or separated the VIOZ is with such communities cannot be clearly determined. In the past there have been cases in which the moderate mask slipped off the faces of radical Islamists in Switzerland

Islamism from the streets to the universities
In October 2023, a 25-year-old Syrian also had to appear in court in Winterthur. He had previously been convicted of a jihadist trip to Syria. However, due to a cozy sentence, he was little deterred and continued to carry out terrorist propaganda for IS. The University of Bern provided another case of Islamism. After the Middle East war broke out last fall, an “Islam expert” and lecturer at the university expressed his joy at the event. The author was even the husband of the head of the Islamic Institute. The couple quickly distanced themselves from violence and terror, which meant they were probably back within the definition of “moderate”. In Schaffhausen it even became known that a convicted “ex-terrorist” was teaching in a mosque.

Switzerland withdraws passports from Islamists
The Islamist side effects of the population exchange have led to a return of passport withdrawals in the Swiss Confederation. Since 2020, a total of seven people have had their citizenship revoked, and corresponding proceedings are pending for another dozen. Just a few weeks ago, Zurich became the scene of an Islamic terrorist act in which a 15-year-old Tunisian injured a Jew with a knife on the street.

Remigration instead of Islamization
Due to numerous jihadist incidents and their involvement in Islamic cultural associations, it is uncertain whether the two million francs of tax money that the local churches want to give to Muslim associations will ultimately end up with questionable organizations. In addition, the Swiss people have repeatedly spoken out clearly against further Islamization in the past, for example with the ban on minarets in 2009. By continuing to finance Islamic associations, the canton continues to cultivate a parallel society for itself. This gives rise to Islamist activities and clans, as a look at neighboring states makes clear. Instead of giving further impetus to Islam and the Islamism associated with it, the canton should strive for a policy of remigration. Muslims who want to live strictly according to their beliefs and customs then have the opportunity to do so in an Islamic country.

EX-CATHOLIC MIKE GENDRON: Discerning Deceitful Doctrines of Demons, January 31, 2024

You Will Be Shocked by the Twisted Teachings of Catholicism~April 7, 2023~Catholics submit to a different authority, believe in a distorted gospel and worship a false Christ.

Pope Francis: ‘Demasculinize the Church’~Is a masculine vitality in Christianity truly “a great sin”?

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REPUBLISHED, SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/pope-francis-demasculinize-the-church/?


Controversial Pope Francis, whose left-wing leanings are alarming to more traditional and conservative Catholics, recently received members of the International Theological Commission (ITC) at the Vatican, where he sparked a new controversy by informing the gathered theologians that the Catholic Church is “female” and needs to be “demasculinized.”

The ITC was established by Pope Paul VI within the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1969 to assist the Vatican in examining crucial doctrinal issues. It consists at any given time of 30 theologians who serve a five-year term on the Commission. Women have served on the panel since 2004, but never more than two at a time until 2014 when Pope Francis named a record five women to the ITC. In the current membership of the Commission, five again are women.

Among the Pope’s comments to the theologians was a condemnation of the scarcity of women among them. “We must progress on this!” Francis passionately declared. “Women have a different capacity for theological reflection than we men. At the next meeting of the [Council of Cardinals], we will reflect on the female dimension of the Church.”

Fair enough so far. Women often do have a different capacity for theological reflection – reading the great female mystics in history from Hildegard von Bingen to Julian of Norwich to Teresa of Avila demonstrates that – and there is room for debate in the Church about the ministerial role of women. But then the Pope went off the rails. “The Church is female,” he stated, “and if we do not understand what a woman is, what the theology of a woman is, we will never understand what the Church is.”

I humbly submit that the Pope, who is considered by Catholics to be infallible when speaking ex cathedra on matters of doctrine, is wrong on this point. While the Church is believed to be referred to in the Bible as “the bride” of Jesus Christ, this is a theological metaphor about their relationship. It does not make the Church “female,” and certainly not in the way he went on to explicate.

“One of our great sins,” Francis continued, “has been masculinizing the Church. And this is not resolved through ministerial means, that’s another thing. It is resolved through the mystical, the real way.”

It’s unclear how the Church being vitalized with a masculine energy is a sin at all, much less a “great” one, although the West generally speaking is suffused with the assumption, cultivated through decades of relentless feminist messaging, that masculinity is “toxic” and that thousands of years of so-called “patriarchy” have prevented women from stepping up and fixing the mess men have purportedly made of the world. In his comments to the ITC, Pope Francis seems to be pandering to this childish idea.

(Speaking of which, Hollywood funnyman Will Ferrell unintentionally humiliated himself with a virtue-signaling display in his opening remarks for the recent Women in Entertainment Gala. “Isn’t it just time for women to run the planet?” the Saturday Night Live alumnus asked, which predictably drew vigorous applause. “[W]e men, we’ve been running the show since, what, 10,000 B.C., something like that? And we’re not doing so good. So please, can you guys just take over, can you? I think it’s time.” In reality, women increasingly are running the planet – and how’s that been working out for us? Our own epically incompetent Vice President Kamala Harris, Germany’s Angela Merkel, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, the three Ivy League university presidents who recently refused before Congress to take a stand against campus antisemitism, to name just a few – has their sex, broadly speaking, shown any greater capability than men for visionary leadership, for “fixing” the world? We are all, men and women, subject to the same flaws and limitations of human nature.)

Back to the Pope: he concluded by pleading with the members of the International Theological Commission, “This is a task I ask of you, please: demasculinize the Church.”

Demasculinize the Church? How is this notion different in substance from Will Ferrell’s begging for women to take over running the planet? Both men seem to see masculinity as some kind of obstacle to human flourishing and excellence, and see simply replacing men with women as the solution.

Contrary to the Pope’s apparent fear, Catholicism today – and Christianity in general – does not exactly suffer from a surfeit of masculinity. The Church already has been demasculinized, and the result is a foundational institution of Western civilization being in dangerous, accelerating decline.

The New Emangelization Project, dedicated to inspiring Catholic men to greater involvement in the faith, warns that the Church has a significant “Man Crisis”:

About 11 million adult men in the U.S. were raised Catholic but left the faith and men are under-represented in the Church versus their share of the total population (46% of parishioners are male versus 49% of the population).

[…]

Only about 1/3 of Catholic men (36%) say they attend Mass on a weekly basis. One third of Catholic men (32%) are not formally members of a parish. A large portion (42%) of Catholic men attend Mass “a few times per year” or “seldom or never.” Almost half of Catholic men do not engage in a routine of prayer; praying only “occasionally or sometimes” or “seldom or never.”

[…]

The “face” of the Church is feminine; men are underrepresented in the pews (only 37% of regular mass attendees are men). Further, a Notre Dame study shows that 70-90% of catechesis, service, bible study activities are led by women, causing the authors to suggest that “young males…assume that serious religious studies are a women’s business,” resulting in greater numbers of younger men being disengaged.

Christianity, which has always been burdened by the perception that it is a feminized religion – is today in desperate need of exactly the opposite of what Pope Francis called for: it urgently needs courageous, bold, manly leadership to steer the faith away from its ongoing capitulation to our neo-pagan pop culture, away from the degrading influence of “prosperity gospel” hucksters and hipster pastors in skinny jeans, and away from subversion by gender ideologues who are determined to “queer” the faith and replace God the Father with “God is Trans.”

Francis’ feminist position comes as no surprise. After all, he is the Progressive, globalist, open-borders pope who berates Western countries to overcome their “fear” of “foreigners” and take in ever more “refugees” from cultures incompatible with Western values; he denounces capitalism, nationalism, and populism while promoting the big-government Green economy scam; he has taken measures to restrict celebration of the traditional Latin Mass; he insists on whitewashing jihad and has even been praised as a “defender of Islam” by the Grand Imam of Al Azhar University; and he has opened the door for greater acceptance of the LGBTQ agenda. Now he calls for his own already-flaccid Church to emasculate itself, driving Christianity even further into cultural obsolescence, especially in contrast to the perceived hypermasculinity of Islam, which is the world’s fastest-growing religion at least in part because it offers men an alternative that affirms, albeit to a misogynistic extreme, their masculine nature.

Francis’ call to “demasculinize” the Church is, at best, a foolish and irresponsible position for a Pope to take at this critical point in its decline; at worst, it is a deliberate subversion of the spiritual institution that powered our glorious civilization, an institution rendered increasingly impotent in a post-Christian West.

Transgender people can be baptized Catholic, serve as godparents, Vatican says

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SEE: https://www.reuters.com/world/transsexuals-can-be-baptized-catholic-serve-godparents-vatican-says-2023-11-08/;Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes

1699486220262.webp

The Vatican Says Transgender Catholics Can Be Baptized, Following Years Of Critical Statements

Vatican Says Transgender Adults & Children Can Be Baptized

Pope's lunch with transgender women cements unlikely friendship in the changing church

VATICAN CITY, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Transgender people can be godparents at Roman Catholic baptisms, witnesses at religious weddings, and receive baptism themselves, the Vatican's doctrinal office said on Wednesday, responding to questions from a bishop.

The department, known as the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, was vague however, in response to a question of whether a same-sex couple could have a Church baptism for an adopted child or one obtained through a surrogate mother.

Bishop Jose Negri of Santo Amaro in Brazil sent the doctrinal office six questions in July regarding LGBT people and their participation in the sacraments of baptism and matrimony.

The three pages of questions and answers were signed by the department's head, Argentine Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, and approved by Pope Francis on Oct. 31. They were posted on the department's website on Wednesday using the Italian word for "transsexuals".

Francis, 86, has tried to make the Church more welcoming to the LGBT community without changing Church teachings, including one saying that same-sex attraction is not sinful but same-sex acts are.

In response to a question of whether transgender people can be baptized, the doctrinal office said they could with some conditions and as long as there is "no risk of causing a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful".

It said transgender people could be godparents at a baptism at the discretion of the local priest as well as a witness at a Church wedding, but the local priest should exercise "pastoral prudence" in his decision.

Pope Francis holds a weekly audience at the Vatican

Pope Francis leads the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square, at the Vatican, November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights

"This is an important step forward in the Church seeing transgender people not only as people (in a Church where some say they don't really exist) but as Catholics," Father James Martin, a prominent Jesuit priest and supporter of LGBT rights in the Church said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Francis has met with transgender people and in July, he told a transgender person: "Even if we are sinners, he (God) draws near to help us. The Lord loves us as we are, this is God's crazy love."

The document said a person in a same-sex relationship could also be a witness at a Catholic wedding, the office said, citing current Church canonical legislation which contained no prohibition against it.

The response was less clear regarding persons in same-sex relationships and their role in baptism, which is the initiation into the Church for infants, children, or adults.

The Brazilian bishop sought guidance on whether a same-sex couple who had adopted a child or obtained it from a surrogate mother could have that child baptized in a Catholic ceremony.

The response said that for the child of a same-sex couple to be baptized, there had to be "a well-founded hope that it would be educated in the Catholic religion".

There was a similarly nuanced response to the question of whether a person in a same-sex relationship could be a godparent at a Church baptism. It said the person had to "lead a life that conforms to the faith".

Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by David Gregorio

Al-Azhar fatwa committee top dog: ‘Rejoice in the demise of the descendants of the pigs’

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/al-azhar-fatwa-committee-top-dog-rejoice-in-the-demise-of-the-descendants-of-the-pigs;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Pope Francis and Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb signed an agreement a few years back about how violence in the name of religion is a perversion of religion. Is the pope naive, or evil?

“Virulent Incitement By Al-Azhar: Praise For Palestinian Jihad Fighters; Israel Is Destined To Perish; U.S. Is The Greatest Satan; Jews Are Descendants Of Apes And Pigs,” MEMRI, November 10, 2023:

In recent weeks, the Cairo-based Al-Azhar institution, the leading center of religious learning and supreme source of religious authority in the Sunni Muslim world, and senior members of this institution have been voicing support for Hamas and for terrorism and inciting against the U.S. and Israel, while using virulently antisemitic rhetoric….

Al-Azhar Fatwa:  The Occupying Entity Will Perish And The Lives Of The Martyrs Will Be Longer Than Those Of Their Murderers

On October 18, 2023,  Al-Azhar’s “Global Center for Online Fatwas” posted a fatwa on its Facebook page which predicted Israel’s demise….

“…In its steadfastness, resistance, and persistent adherence to its land, the Palestinian people continue to present a model of heroism, despite the danger of the arbitrary Zionist bombardment. It [also] places the world – which remains silent, neglects, or [even] encourages these crimes – in a great human and moral predicament, removing the fake mask of humaneness from its ugly face.

“The term ‘civilian’ does not apply to the Zionist settlers of the occupied land. Rather, they are occupiers of the land who usurp rights, disregard the ways of the prophets, and attack the holy sites in historic Jerusalem and the [sites of] Islamic and Christian heritage there…

“The world deliberately ignores the fact that the occupying Zionist entity is a cancer in the heart of the Islamic and Arab nation. According to international conventions and laws, occupying forces have no right to the land, the resources and the holy sites [they are occupying], and their aggression must necessarily be met with resistance against their usurpation, oppression and tyranny….

Faculty Dean At Al-Al-Azhar University: May Allah Bring Perdition Upon The “Cursed,” “Treacherous” Jews, “The Descendants Of Apes And Pigs”

Addressing Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel in a series of posts on his personal Facebook account, Muhammad Omar Al-Qady, dean of the Faculty for Islamic and Arabic Studies at Al-Azhar University, made virulently antisemitic remarks, glorified the jihad in Palestine and wished perdition upon the Jews….

“It brought the Palestinian issue back to the center of global attention, after it had almost disappeared and been forgotten… It managed to shatter the false myth about the might of the Israeli army and prove that it is weak and exhausted… It proved that the entire West – with the exception of the peoples – is a single community, especially the governments of the greatest Satan, America, and of the European countries, who follow the orders of the Zionist lobby that is part of [the camp of] our treacherous enemy… It managed to eliminate, if only for a while, the vast enterprise of [Israel’s] normalization with many Arab and Islamic countries, which was making large and rapid strides… [The resistance] also made additional achievements, which will be discussed in the future. I ask Allah to strengthen His soldiers and his camp and grant our brothers in Gaza, Palestine and in the rest of the Muslim countries victory over their enemy and ours, the enemy of Allah and humanity, the cursed descendants of apes and pigs [i.e., the Jews].”[5]

In another post Al-Qady wrote: “Allah, bring perdition upon the cursed and treacherous [Jews], the murderers of prophets, of rulers and of decent people, and on whoever helped them and agreed to their deeds…”[6]

Abbas Shuman, Inspector General Of Al-Azhar’s Fatwa Committees: “Rejoice In The Demise Of The Descendants Of Pigs”; The Zionists Are Worse Than Rabid Dogs

Abbas Shuman, formerly the deputy of Sheikh Al-Azhar and currently the inspector general of Al-Azhar’s Fatwa committees, likewise slammed Israel and expressed support for Hamas’ terror attack, gloating over the suffering caused to Israel. For example, on October 7, the day of the attack, he shared a post in which he praised it, writing, “Allahu Akbar, long live the noble Palestinian people. Allah will inflict defeat on the oppressive occupation and shame and disgrace on the Zionists and their supporters.”[8]

Additional posts over the following days were equally vitriolic and even antisemitic. For instance, on October 17, 2023, Shuman wrote, “I knew that the Zionists had no morals, but I didn’t imagine that they were filthier and more despicable than rabid dogs…”[9]

On October 18 he posted, “…The situation has reached the point of bombing hospitals, after the murder of children and even of fetuses, and [has reached the point where] the great satans [i.e. the world leaders] have come to Palestine to publicly support the Zionists. Rejoice in the demise of the descendants of the pigs.”[10]

Lecturer At Al-Azhar University: The Jews Of The World Can Be Resettled In Southeast Russia; Aiding Palestine Is A Religious Duty Of Every Muslim

In an October 19, 2023 article in the Egyptian daily Al-Usbu’, Dr. Ahmad Karima, a lecturer on Islamic law and comparative jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University,  stated that “aiding Palestine is a religious duty of all Muslims, a national duty of the Arabs, both Muslim and non-Muslim, and a moral obligation,” which must be carried out by the Muslim armies, according to their ability and the assessments of the rulers, by the wealthy Muslims, according to their financial ability, and by the clerics and experts, according to their rhetorical ability. Later he described his own efforts in supporting the Palestinian cause, including by publishing books and studies on Palestine and Jerusalem, as well as books on jihad….

Pope Francis Hints Openness To Blessing Same-Sex Couples

Pope Francis Hints Openness To Blessing Same-Sex Couples

Pope Francis leads an ecumenical prayer with Protestants and Orthodox at St. Peter’s square in The Vatican on September 30, 2023. (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images) / Canva edit

OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:30 PM – Tuesday, October 3, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/pope-francis-hints-openness-to-blessing-same-sex-couples/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Pope Francis hinted at a reversal of the official Vatican position by allowing some Catholic priests to bless same-sex nuptials.

On Monday, Francis noted several important qualifications, such as the need for case-by-case consideration and the fact that they should not be seen as equivalent to heterosexual wedding ceremonies.

Back in 2021, the Vatican said that it could not support same-sex relationships because “God cannot bless sin.” The pope did, however, hint that there may be some exceptions to this attitude on Monday.

“We cannot be judges who only deny, reject, and exclude,” he said in a letter to five cardinals who asked for clarity on the issue.

Although Vatican doctrine has not changed, some LGBTQ+ Catholics have seen Francis’ remarks as a significant step toward ending the isolation and judgment they claim to face inside the church.

Francis made the comments in a letter that was released on Monday by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Five conservative cardinals from Asia, Europe, Africa, the United States, and Latin America gave a list of “dubia,” which means “doubts” or “inquiries.”

They pressed him to uphold traditional Catholic doctrine on same-sex unions and other contentious topics like women’s ordination.

In response, Francis stated that there may be “forms of blessing, requested by one or more persons” that might be given sometimes. The clergy were urged to practice “pastoral charity,” which he defined as “kindness, patience, understanding, tenderness, and encouragement.”

The pope continued, saying that these unions “do not convey a mistaken concept of marriage,” however, they also “should not necessarily become a norm.”

This focus on permitting these partnerships on a “pastoral” rather than official basis may be a reference to a number of German Catholic priests who have recently publicly blessed same-sex weddings in a dispute with their diocese.

LGBTQ+ Catholics and other progressives hailed his comments as a major victory for the cause of “religious equality.”

“Though the Vatican’s latest statement about same-gender couples does not provide a full-fledged, ringing endorsement of blessing their unions, the document significantly advances Pope Francis’ work to include and affirm LGBTQ+ people,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, an organization that uplifts LGBTQ+ Catholics.

The 86-year-old pope, who has recently struggled with a variety of health challenges, is no stranger to progressive causes. He has established himself as a strong voice on everything from the immigrant crisis to climate change-related topics.

When challenged about LGBTQ+ matters and priests’ sexual orientations many months into his pontificate, Francis responded, “Who am I to judge?”

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“Ailing Pope Francis Hurries to Bolster His Progressive Legacy”

SEE: https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletters/2023/newsletter20230808.htm;Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

On July 20th, the Wall Street Journal released an article titled, “Ailing Pope Francis Hurries to Bolster His Progressive Legacy.” Lighthouse Trails has addressed several issues regarding the Catholic Church’s current pope since his inception in 2013. Pope Francis (aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina) is a Jesuit, and as we wrote about in March of 2013, is spiritually “founded” on a contemplative tradition. For those who understood the “fruit” of contemplative prayer, it came as no surprise when very shortly into his reign, his inter-spiritual and universalistic beliefs surfaced. A March 2013 by USA Today was titled “Pope Francis Calls for Intensified Dialogue With Muslims” which reported on his belief that everyone is “a brother or sister.”

Within a month of Pope Francis’ election, the United Nations was hailing him as a spiritual leader of the world, and by June of that year, his sympathies and defense toward homosexuals and gay marriage began to surface. 1, 2, 3 By the Fall of that first year, his goal to “win back the lost brethren” (the Protestants) under the guise of “unity” also came to light. In November, we posted an article titled “The Catholic Church Continues Drawing In the ‘Lost Brethren’ Through Eucharistic Adoration.”

Pope Francis’ efforts to bring the Protestants under the fold of the Catholic Church were zealous. And as we have documented, he had the help of famous and highly popular evangelicals such as Rick Warren, Beth Moore, Franklin Graham, James Robison, and Kenneth Copeland. Ray Yungen wrote about this in his article “Christian Leaders – A New Openness . . . to the Catholic Church.” Francis turned to an Anglican priest, Tony Palmer, who became the Pope’s right-hand man in bringing in the “lost” fold. At one point, Palmer stood at the podium in Kenneth Copeland’s church and told the excited and welcoming congregation that the “protest” was no longer needed and we, as evangelicals and Protestants, could reunite with the Catholic Church. It looked like Palmer would be able to make great inroads in aiding the Pope and the Catholic Church when he was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2014 bringing his ecumenical work for the Vatican to an end, although the “new evangelization” has continued in his absence.

Francis’ progressive agenda has included environmentalism as Roger Oakland documents in his 2016 report/booklet: “A Christian Perspective on the Environment: How the Catholic Pope and Other Leaders Are Uniting the World’s Religions Through Environmentalism.” That same year, Pope Francis proclaimed a “new beatitude” – to see God in every person. And, of course, he would express such a belief. He was an admirer of the contemplative Catholic mystic Thomas Merton, who adamantly believed that God was in all. Ray Yungen’s article “Pope Francis and the Thomas Merton Connection” explains:

Just as Merton saw “fana” (Islamic mystical state) as one of the paths to spiritual unity, Pope Francis sees the various religions as one family. He is bringing Thomas Merton’s ideas of unity to the table of global unity among all humanity. Thomas Merton’s “contemplative style” (that Pope Francis referenced to Congress) saw no contradiction between Christianity and Buddhism; and Merton said he wanted to be the best Buddhist he could possibly be. When Pope Francis praised Thomas Merton (knowing full well the implications of this), he gave a green light for everyone to embrace interspirituality. And where there is interspirituality, there is no place for the Cross of Jesus Christ.

While the Roman Catholic Church is filled with false teachings and anti-biblical doctrines, Pope Francis has taken it to a whole new level. And as the article below explains, he is determined to do what he can to solidify his progressive legacy so that it continues even after he is gone.

“Ailing Pope Francis Hurries to Bolster His Progressive Legacy”

By Frances X. Rocca
The Wall Street Journal

ROME—Pope Francis is moving to shore up his progressive legacy as his health problems increase, making key appointments that could shape the Catholic Church well past the end of his pontificate.

Following hospitalizations in March and June, the pope named a new Vatican doctrinal chief, members of a Vatican synod that could consider major changes to church governance and teaching, and additional members of the body that will elect his successor, all in a little more than a week. 

The 86-year-old, who has had two operations for intestinal surgery in the past two years and now often uses a wheelchair, is planning trips to Portugal and Mongolia next month. 

“He’s a man in a hurry right now and he’s putting the final touches on this very long and gradual process of changing the church,” said Robert Mickens, English editor of La Croix International, a Catholic publication. Click here to continue reading.

(photo: Pope Francis with evangelical leaders including Tony Palmer, Kenneth Copeland, and James Robison)

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Pope Francis says he feels ‘indignant and disgusted’ over Qur’an-burning in Sweden~OPENLY CLAIMS “ANY BOOK CONSIDERED SACRED” MUST BE RESPECTED~DOES THAT INCLUDE THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE? APPARENTLY NOT!

"The pontiff is not enraged over the industrial-scale clerical sex abuse that has plagued the Church, about the escalating persecution of Christians worldwide, or about the wholesale abandonment of Christianity in Europe. Instead, he is furious because an Iraqi refugee in Sweden set fire to a copy of the Qur’an. Meanwhile, when has Pope Francis ever said he was “indignant and disgusted” over Islamic jihad violence? Why, never. He has never acknowledged that Islamic jihad violence even exists. Admitting it does might harm his beloved “Muslim-Christian dialogue,” which he pursues indefatigably despite its never having saved a single Christian from persecution. It does get him woke points, and that seems to be all that matters."

Pope Gets Angry Over the Burning of a Book That Calls Christians 'Vile'

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/07/pope-francis-says-he-feels-indignant-and-disgusted-over-quran-burning-in-sweden;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

When has Pope Francis ever said he was “indignant and disgusted” over Islamic jihad violence? Why, never. He has never acknowledged that Islamic jihad violence even exists, and instead has insisted counterfactually that “authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Qur’an reject every form of violence.”

“Pope Francis decries the burning of the Quran in Sweden,” Vatican News, July 2, 2023:

In an interview with the United Arab Emirate’s daily ‘Al-Ittihad,’ Pope Francis laments the burning of the Quran, Islam’s holiest book, in Sweden, while urging individuals take to heart the values promoted in the Document on Human Fraternity.

“I feel indignant and disgusted by these actions,” Pope Francis expressed to Hamad Al-Kaabi, editor of the UAE’s daily Al-Ittihad, regarding the burning of copies of the Quran in Sweden in recent days.

“Any book considered sacred by its authors must be respected out of respect for its believers, and freedom of expression must never be used as an excuse to despise others, and to allow this, must be rejected and condemned.”

Al-Itthad is an Arabic language newspaper published daily in the United Arab Emirates. It is part of the Abu Dhabi Media group, a government organization….

The Pope, recalling his visit to Abu Dhabi in 2019, expressed appreciation for the Commitment of the UAE and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed for the path taken to spread brotherhood, peace and tolerance, and called for young people not to be left by adults in the grip of mirages and clashes of civilisations.

“In my opinion, the only way to protect young people from negative messages and false and fabricated news, and from the temptations of materialism, hatred and prejudice, is not to leave them alone in this battle, but to give them the necessary tools, which are freedom, discernment and responsibility.

“Freedom,” he continued, “is what distinguishes a person. God created us free even to reject Him, freedom of thought and expression are essential to help them grow and learn.”

“We must never fall into the experience of treating young people as children incapable of choosing and making decisions,” the Pontiff continued, “they are the present and investing in them means guaranteeing continuity,” always following the golden rule of doing to others what you would like to be done to you….

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SEE ALSO:

https://pjmedia.com/culture/robert-spencer/2023/07/04/pope-gets-angry-over-the-burning-of-a-book-that-calls-christians-vile-n1708212

Nun whose body shows little decay since 2019 death draws hundreds to rural Missouri

THE WORK OF GOD, SATAN, OR THE MORTICIAN?

INSERTED INTO THE GLASS CASE LIKE A MUMMIFICATION

Sister Wilhelmina's body was reinterred in a glass display case inside the church of the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus in Gower, Missouri, on May 29, 2023. Joe Bukuras/CNA

RACIST POPE FRANCIS IS LIKELY TO DECLARE HER A SAINT TO GENERATE MORE CONVERSIONS; MEANWHILE, HIS PROPAGANDA IS BEING BROADCAST AT THE SAME TIME THE SUPREME COURT IS DECLARING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AT COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES AS REPEALED.

BIBLE QUOTES:

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 ESV For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Matthew 24:24 ESV  For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

2 Corinthians 11:3 ESV  But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

1 John 4:1 ESV  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 Peter 2:1-3-False Teachers and Their Destruction

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with feigned words and making merchandise of you. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
WAS BURIED  IN THE GROUND FOR FOUR YEARS

 

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEE: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nun-whose-body-shows-little-decay-2019-death-draws-hundreds-rural-miss-rcna87080;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Some say it’s a sign of holiness in Catholicism, while others say the lack of decomposition may not be as rare as people think.

Pictured is Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster's incorrupt body on display at a chapel in Gower, Missouri

Pictured is the nun, who died in 2019 and was exhumed on May 18

Pictured is one person who was among those flocking to Gower to see the nun's body

People pray over the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster at the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles abbey near Gower, Mo., on Sunday.Charlie Riedel / AP

The abbess of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles speaks with reporter Catherine Hadro about Sister Wilhelmina’s life and her experience when the foundresses’ remains were exhumed.

Hundreds of people flocked to a small town in Missouri this week and last to see a nun whose body has barely decomposed since 2019. Some say it’s a sign of holiness in Catholicism, while others say the lack of decomposition may not be as rare as people think.

Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster was exhumed in April, according to a statement from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in Gower, Missouri.

The nuns had been preparing for the addition of a St. Joseph shrine, and that involved “the reinterment of the remains of our beloved foundress, Sister Wilhelmina,” the statement said.

When they exhumed Lancaster, they were told to expect only bones, since she had been buried in a simple wooden coffin without any embalming four years ago.

May 31, 202301:34

Georgetown, the Oldest Catholic University in the U.S., Opens a Big Mosque on Campus

Georgetown, the Oldest Catholic University in the U.S., Opens a Big Mosque on Campus

1

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/culture/robert-spencer/2023/05/05/georgetown-the-oldest-catholic-university-in-the-u-s-opens-a-big-mosque-on-campus-n1692878;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Georgetown University, which was founded as Georgetown College in 1789 and is the oldest Catholic university in the United States, has earned yet another distinction: it is now the oldest Catholic university in the U.S. that has a large new mosque on campus. This is great news, right? This is just the sort of openness and good-heartedness that will erase misunderstandings, melt hostility and mutual suspicion, and usher in a new era of peace. Won’t it? Meanwhile, we eagerly await the announcement of which Islamic university anywhere in the world is planning to open a Christian chapel on campus.

The College Fix reported Friday that Georgetown “recently completed a major construction project erecting a large mosque on campus.” The university happily proclaimed that the Yarrow Mamout Masjid, which was named after a famous Muslim freed slave and entrepreneur who lived in the Georgetown area in the early nineteenth century, is “the first mosque with ablution stations, a spirituality and formation hall and a halal kitchen on a U.S. college campus.” How exciting! And really, what could possibly go wrong?

The Georgetown mosque has been happily welcomed at the highest levels. The College Fix stated that it has actually been operating since 2019 while construction continued, but finally the building “was completed earlier this year to much fanfare, with a dedication ceremony March 18 drawing Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who issued a proclamation recognizing the mosque.”

Yet even with a proclamation from the mayor and proud Catholic university administrators boasting about ablution stations and a halal kitchen, the university didn’t seem eager to talk about its grand new structure. The Fix noted that “Georgetown University’s media relations, as well as representatives of its Catholic Faith Communities, Catholic Ministry and alumni center, all ignored requests over the last week from The College Fix seeking comment on the mosque.” Now, that’s downright strange. Are they proud of their new mosque or not?

They should be if they have any interest in being consistent. The College Fix also points out that “the Catholic Georgetown is not shy about embracing Islam. Its news release touted the fact that Georgetown was also the first U.S. university to hire a full-time Muslim imam 24 years ago.” And “in 2016, students at Georgetown University elected a Muslim student to serve as their student association president, a first for the school.” Fr. Mark Bosco, the vice president for Georgetown’s Mission and Ministry division, explained the underlying rationale for all this when he said: “We need to embrace interreligious dialogue.”

Fr. Bosco has several million reasons to say this. The Daily Caller reported back in June 2019 that Georgetown was among the American universities that have “taken hundreds of millions of dollars from the government of Qatar, a middle eastern nation with suspected links to international terrorism.” Long before that, the Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal gave Georgetown $20 million for the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, which pumps out “Islamophobia” propaganda by the bucketload, gives Sharia supremacist and pro-slavery and rape apologist Jonathan A. C. Brown and other disingenuous Islamic apologists an aura of respectability, and sponsors the Bridge Initiative, which endeavors to hoodwink Catholic institutions into thinking there is no jihad threat and that “Islamophobia” is the real problem (as if they needed much convincing).

Related: Wokeness on Steroids: Indiana University Hosts Deported Jihad Mastermind as Featured Speaker

The links to Saudi Arabia and Qatar make it clear: Georgetown is bought and paid for, like so many other American universities today. The new mosque is more about that than about a genuine attempt to foster interfaith understanding and dialogue. And regarding that dialogue, a parting question for Fr. Mark Bosco: where is the Islamic university that is opening a Catholic chapel, or any kind of Christian chapel? Why does the “interreligious dialogue” to which you are so indefatigably committed, despite the fact that it has not saved a single Christian from persecution or prevented one church in a Muslim country from being destroyed, always and in every case go only one way?

The renowned twentieth-century Muslim Brotherhood theorist and Islamic scholar Sayyid Qutb put it plainly: “The chasm between Islam and Jahiliyyah [the society of unbelievers] is great, and a bridge is not to be built across it so that the people on the two sides may mix with each other, but only so that the people of Jahiliyyah may come over to Islam.” Georgetown, still supposedly a Catholic university, has become one of those bridges.