Fr Weinandy: The Pope Insults The Faithful

When I actually consider how dreadful the Pontificate of Jorge Bergoglio has been, I am literally amazed that he has been allowed to remain in post.

There are no more excuses. He is a knave who deliberately favours thieves, abusers, narcissists and charlatans. He has enshrined Pagan idols in the Vatican and promoted globalist, anti-Catholic agenda's which work against the Gospel.

The Catholic Church is a network of dozens of churches, all unified by their association with the Pope, who acts as a physical point of unity for the Church. The simplest working definition of a Catholic is a Christian who is in communion with the bishop of Rome, as I have posted on this introductory page to my blog.

Has Pope Francis served as a point of unity or division?

His whole Pontificate is a tirade of condemnation. Not of the evils of the world which threaten the establishment of the Heavenly Kingdom, no, Francis criticises the faithful: the faith itself  and those who hold it in high regard - often, regularly, and with real feeling. He really doesn't like Catholics who believe in the Catholic faith, and he lets us all know all the time.

He hates priests who wear lace.

Lacking all sense of self awareness, he criticizes those “call themselves guardians of traditions, but of dead traditions,”

He doesn't like the way young priests dress,

He insults liturgical tradition and living from it,

He insults Catholic Youth,

He criticizes traditionalist Catholics who 'safeguard the ashes' of the past,

He wrote a letter accusing journalists who speculate that he quietly supports Putin of having a sexual fetish for faeces, I wonder if this is the most bizarre and disgusting thing a Pope has ever said?

The list literally goes on and on and on...

But I am not down hearted. My faith in Jesus is stronger than ever and I increasingly see that this dreadful papacy is illuminating both the villains and the heroes.

Francis has SHAMELESSLY promoted the proteges of disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick to the point where he is pointing out to us who is evil and complicit and does not care about the faith.

To whit, I draw your attention to this superb Francis take down by Fr Thomas Weinandy.

Weinandy is an American Roman Catholic priest and a leading scholar. He is a prolific writer in both academic and popular works, including articles, books, and study courses. He is clearly a passionate theologian and intellectual light in the Church.

Francis upset him almost immediately - of course - anyone with a fragment of authentic Catholic belief was upset by him as soon as he emerged onto the loggia - and by 2018 he had to speak out.

In this new article, Weinandy speaks to the utter travesty of the Pope's recent appointments to the college of cardinals. 

His premise is that Pope Francis has slighted Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles, who is, after all, the shepherd of the largest diocese in the United States. Fr Weinandy points out that Archbishop Gómez is a man of authentic Catholic faith, upholding the conciliar and magisterial teaching of the Church concerning faith and morals. He adds that Gómez is esteemed among the American hierarchy – currently serving as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Given these, and other credentials, it would seem that he meets the criteria needed to be a cardinal. The fact that he has now been passed over by Pope Francis on a number of occasions can surely only be interpreted as Pope Francis directly insulting Archbishop Gómez.

Weinandy continues:

"Even if Pope Francis has his own defensible reasons for not elevating Gómez to the College of Cardinals, yet there are many other capable American bishops and archbishops from whom Francis could have chosen. These prelates are, again, men of authentic Catholic faith who have boldly spoken out in promoting and defending the Church’s teaching, teaching that is vital to the present American cultural setting – evangelization, racism, immigration, abortion, gender theory, etc. The question arises: Why were none of these men chosen by Pope Francis? Is the passing over of these men also a not-so-hidden insult?"

It is hard to consider a scenario where this is NOT a direct insult to Catholicism and those who hold to it. When you think about it, it is a disgrace, and an insult to all those who bravely and faithfully seek to follow Jesus.

Weinandy emphasises this precise point:

"With regards to Archbishop Gómez and other bishops and archbishops of similar stature, it would appear, as some may conclude, that it is precisely their loyalty to the Church’s perennial teaching, especially with regards to its moral teaching, that disqualifies them from Francis’s consideration."

What an extraordinary situation, where it is precisely the virtue of loyalty to the Church’s perennial teaching, especially with regards to its moral teaching, that disqualifies bishops from Francis’s consideration. Utterly unthinkable!!

Fr Weinandy continues by looking now at Pope Francis preference for McElroy over Gómez:

"Pope Francis is correct in that bishops, as well as the entire Church, should clearly discern the contemporary work of the Holy Spirit. The problem is that Francis never clearly articulates where the Spirit is leading the Church – such knowledge remains an ambiguous unknown. One might discern the mind of Francis and thus where he believes the Spirit is leading, however, in what he does – like appointing Bishop McElroy, and others of like mind, to the College of Cardinals.

It is common knowledge that:

•McElroy does not see abortion as the preeminent evil scourge of our age – a scourge that fosters other forms of violence within our American society, including the daily mass shootings

• Moreover, McElroy is in favor of ordaining women deacons, though the ordination of women to the diaconate inevitably suggests a course for them to be ordained to the priesthood and episcopate. But then, maybe he does realize the consequences, and so wishes to advance women to the presbyterate.

• Then, there is his ambiguous attitude toward the morality of homosexual acts, an ambiguity that he shares with other like-minded bishops, priests, and lay organizations who appear to have Francis’s approval.

• Lastly, there is McElroy’s early relationship with Theodore McCarrick, a man who is not known for his staunch support of the Church’s teaching."

Weinandy asks if this record speaks to where Pope Francis considers the Holy Spirit is leading the Church seeing as he himself is so obscure about clearly articulating the direction. If it is (as indeed it seems to be) then Fr Weinandy believes Francis has not only insulted Archbishop Gómez and the American hierarchy, but also, without intending to, the faithful American Catholic laity.

Fr Weinandy speculates as to why Pope Francis appears to feel such distaste for the American Catholic Church. When I consider that question, my first reaction is the abuse crisis. But Pope Francis rehabilitated McCarrick despite the fact that he knew of the ex-cardinal's abuse. Despite this knowledge, Pope Francis lifted sanctions that Pope Benedict had secretly imposed on McCormick. This is easy to confirm, just look at this article from the Fishwrap from 2014:

McCarrick is one of a number of senior churchmen who were more or less put out to pasture during the eight-year pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. But now Francis is pope, and prelates like Cardinal Walter Kasper (another old friend of McCarrick's) and McCarrick himself are back in the mix and busier than ever.
McCarrick travels regularly to the Middle East and was in the Holy Land for Francis' visit in May. "The bad ones, they never die!" the pope teased McCarrick again when he saw him.

Pope Francis also rehabilitated disgraced cardinal Roger Mahony, despite the fact that Mahony’s successor has forbidden him from public ministry in the LA archdiocese due to his woeful handling of abuse cases.

I could go on, but the point is this surely demonstrates without doubt that Francis only has a problem with faithful US prelates, he really likes the dodgy ones!