Flashback: The Horror!

The future pope being blessed by a televangelist

I wasn't a regular reader of Rorate Caeli when Pope Francis was elected, but I remember this post, largely because it seemed so out of step with the cautious optimism of the time. The opinion itself was soon mixed up in accusations that the author was SSPX or some such, and so was dismissed by many as biased and uncharitable. And while Rorate itself called the author a "cherished friend", even that traditionalist site qualified the contribution with, "(this post) is a personal assessment by the author and does not indicate any opinion of this blog or its contributors."

But what faithful Catholic could today dispute any of this? Every single claim below has been borne out by Bergoglio's words and actions as Pope. Indeed, the piece is almost a perfect summary of his pontificate. Mr. González and Rorate Caeli got it right.

By Marcelo González, of Panorama Católico Internacional, March 13, 2013:

The Horror! 

Of all the unthinkable candidates, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is perhaps the worst. Not because he openly professes doctrines against the faith and morals, but because, judging from his work as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, faith and morals seem to have been irrelevant to him. 

A sworn enemy of the Traditional Mass, he has only allowed imitations of it in the hands of declared enemies of the ancient liturgy. He has persecuted every single priest who made an effort to wear a cassock, preach with firmness, or that was simply interested in Summorum Pontificum. 

Famous for his inconsistency (at times, for the unintelligibility of his addresses and homilies), accustomed to the use of coarse, demagogical, and ambiguous expressions, it cannot be said that his magisterium is heterodox, but rather non-existent for how confusing it is. 

His entourage in the Buenos Aires Curia, with the exception of a few clerics, has not been characterized by the virtue of their actions. Several are under grave suspicion of moral misbehavior. 

He has not missed any occasion for holding acts in which he lent his Cathedral to Protestants, Muslims, Jews, and even to partisan groups in the name of an impossible and unnecessary interreligious dialogue. He is famous for his meetings with protestants in the Luna Park arena where, together with preacher of the Pontifical House, Raniero Cantalamessa, he was "blessed" by Protestant ministers, in a common act of worship in which he, in practice, accepted the validity of the "powers" of the TV-pastors. 

This election is incomprehensible: he is not a polyglot, he has no Curial experience, he does not shine for his sanctity, he is loose in doctrine and liturgy, he has not fought against abortion and only very weakly against homosexual "marriage" [approved with practically no opposition from the episcopate], he has no manners to honor the Pontifical Throne. He has never fought for anything else than to remain in positions of power. 

It really cannot be what Benedict wanted for the Church. And he does not seem to have any of the conditions required to continue his work. 

May God help His Church. One can never dismiss, as humanly hard as it may seem, the possibility of a conversion... and, nonetheless, the future terrifies us.