In the last two days these events have transpired:
1. The Pope and his close allies have started to promote the narrative that opposition to the agenda of Amoris Laetitia is part of a vast right-wing conspiracy. The conspiracy involves American bloggers, English and Italian journalists, dusty Catholic periodicals, the leading Catholic media company, cyberattacks by quasi-anonymous "trolls" and those who spread "fake news." They're all part of the "right-wing propaganda machine."
2. The Pope used an incredibly vulgar metaphor to describe his opponents (or those who he identified as spreading "fake news"). In an interview he said they are either sexually excited by, or like eating...sh*t. Needless to say, this shocked many faithful Catholics. It wasn't a mistranslation.
3. In the same interview, the Pope apparently confirmed that Amoris Laetitia sanctioned communion for the divorced and remarried. This is notable in that while he has now said much the same thing in a quasi-private letter and now in that interview, he has refused to say it "officially." Indeed, one of his men threatened to "de-cardinalize" four cardinals who asked the question through official channels.
4. A well-known and respected Rome-based journalist and Vatican "insider" claimed that the Pope is asking various allies to defend Amoris Laetitia.
5. The Pope and/or his allies signaled through the anonymous site Pope news (reputed to be another sock-puppet of the Pope's "mouthpiece" Antonio Spadaro, or the equivalent) that he has lost the support of EWTN. The broadcast network is now apparently part of the right-wing conspiracy.
6. Three of the Pope's leading opponents (and yes, I think it's fair to describe them as that) - Cardinals Burke and Bradmuller and Bishop Athanasius Schneider - made a joint presentation in Rome. Schneider spoke of a "schism" that was already a de facto reality, and likened the current "climate of fear" within the Church to that of the Soviet regime of his earlier days. It's probable that they are attempting to line up support for a "correction" of the Pope. The Pope fears this.
In my last blog post I made a Humphrey Bogart reference, likening the Pope's "mouthpiece" Spadaro to Bogart's paranoid Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny. Bogart also starred in a film called The Desperate Hours about a family taken hostage by a desperate criminal (Bogart). It was a near thing but the criminal was finally defeated. I assume the "desperate" applied both to him and the members of that family.
Are we in the final reel of The Desperate Hours?
The Pope seems desperate and unhinged. Some of his allies (Spadaro, at the least) seem desperate and unhinged. At precisely the same moment that Spadaro was commenting on the Pope's alleged patience and serenity, the Pope was lashing out at his "enemies," calling them sh*t eaters.
The Pope.
They're desperate. Does this mean a bright morning for the Catholics and the Catholic Church is about to dawn? No. Sorry to say it but desperate men sometimes win. Or even if they lose they manage to do a lot of damage. Hitler was defeated, but ask Europe whether that process was pleasant.
And no, I'm not equating Bergoglio with Hitler. Hitler was a mass-murderer but as far as I know he didn't care one way or another about anyone's soul.
Bergoglio does. He wants to drag you with him to...well, you know very well where he wants to drag you to. You won't let him. And you will do all you can to prevent him from dragging others there.
But be on your guard. Cornered animals fight hardest when they are injured.
Desperate hours indeed.
He has bitten off more than he can chew. They have underestimated our resolve from the very beginning to stand up for the Truth of Christ and oppose these malefactors to their faces.
ReplyDelete"oppose these malefactors to their feces".
DeleteFIFY!
I'm sensing unity of purpose among traditional Catholics. Can we mature past our insane proclivity towards straining at the gnat long enough to defend the Spotless Bride in her time of distress?
ReplyDeleteI think something is happening. Ordinary priests are simply avoiding any discussion of Francis. They can't bring themselves to quote him or to even hang his photo up in the hallway like JPII and they can't praise him so they are remaining silent. That may not seem like much but it's a beginning.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about that-
DeleteAlso the so called "Francis effect" is beginning to lose touch, as the reality of little to no actual conversion from it is being seen.
You and the Bear are in complete agreement. Ergo, you are correct.
ReplyDeleteW/r/t point 4. that in itself wouldn't be half bad. What's worse is that Bergoglio asked his "friends" to attack the 4 Cardinals and the Dubia.
ReplyDeleteBrave Francis....
Leadership traits... not!
For what it's worth, I think Hillary White may very well be correct in sensing the approach of victory. As you say Oakes, what lies between where we stand at this very moment and that victory may not be pleasant, they may even be absolutely horrible. But, it may be that Pope Francis is a God-send, the right man at the right time, who has revealed so many things that up to this point have remained hidden. We now know clearly who the enemies of the Bride of Christ are, who the false shepherds are, who the hirelings are. But better than knowing who they are, we the faithful in the pews have the moral conviction to stand up and do something. And now, it's "off to the races". Mary Immaculate, on this, your day, Ora Pro Nobis.
ReplyDeleteVery thorough analysis of what's been going down. I think Cardinal Burke set into motion something that cannot be stopped.
ReplyDeleteA couple weeks ago Cardinal Burke very quietly visited my state of Oklahoma. He was performing ordinations at Clear Creek, but I he gained support from the monks and other local Catholics, like Bishop (emeritus) Slattery.
Although the courage of the four Cardinals is to be admired, the problem will not be solved by either a formal correction or even the capitulation of the Pope in this conflict. For regardless how this ends, the practical policy of moral laxism and tolerance for sexual sin will continue under this pontificate, as it has under the previous post-Vatican II Popes. The real and decisive point is not affirming of Catholic doctrine, however important it is, but enforcing sacramental discipline at the altar rail: Refusing Holy Communion to public sinners, that's the all important thing.
ReplyDeleteAt our Byzantine parish last night, at the Divine Liturgy for Immaculate Conception, I noticed that our pastor had quietly removed the portrait of Francis from the church vestibule, and replaced it with one of Benedict!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a new front has opened. http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/6499/0/breaking-order-of-malta-top-official-removed-from-post
ReplyDelete