“Be tough. The last few years have seen many positive steps for LGBT Catholics. And there are two big trends. The first can be summarized by two words: “Pope Francis.” His five most famous words are still, “Who am I to judge?,” which was first a response to the question of gay priests and then expanded to LGBT people. Francis is the first pope ever to use the word “gay.” He has LGBT friends. And he’s appointed many LGBT-supportive cardinals, archbishops and bishops. Another trend is that as more and more Catholics are coming out and being open about their gender identity, they and their families are bringing their hopes and desires into their parishes, and slowly the culture of the church is being changed.”
[...]
“Jesus is free from the need to be loved, liked or approved of. He is free from the need to be loved by the Samaritans. He is free of the need to be liked by the disciples, as when he rebukes James and John. And he is free of the need to be approved of by his family, who early on think he’s crazy. He is supremely free. And what is he free to do? To follow the Father’s will.
Many people in the LGBT community feel unwelcome, like Jesus felt, as well as excluded, rejected and sometimes, as Jesus was, persecuted. It can be painful and enraging. And it’s okay to feel those things. It’s human and it’s natural, and sometimes those feelings should stir you to action on behalf of people and groups who are being persecuted! But, ultimately, Jesus asks us to be free of the need to be loved, liked or approved of. And to be confident in who you are.
Notice that Jesus is also free of the need to punish. James and John wanted to “call down fire from heaven” to destroy the Samaritans who rejected Jesus. But Jesus “rebukes” his disciples for this. That’s not his way. He is free of the need for revenge. So be like Jesus. Be free.
Finally, be hopeful. The life of Christian discipleship is not simply a hard row to plow, it’s not simply tough, it’s not simply a chore. As St. Paul says in today’s reading, “For freedom Christ set us free.” Isn’t that beautiful? The Christian life is not some terribly burden or “yoke” as St. Paul says, echoing the plow imagery of Jesus. No, it’s an invitation to live in freedom. Just as Elijah covered Elisha with his cloak, so all of us, LGBT or straight, who accept Jesus’s invitation are wrapped under what the theologian Barbara Reid calls the “protective cloak of his spirit.” We live in freedom. And in joy!
And in hope too!”
[...]
“These readings, so ancient, so different, so seemingly far away, are actually tailor made for us today, during Pride Weekend for all of us who are called to encounter God. In these readings we hear God say to us: Be tough, be free, be hopeful. Be proud to be Catholic. And for my LGBT brothers and sister and siblings, be the LGBT Catholic whom you are called to be by Jesus Christ himself.”
The term #trans which James Martin refers to in his tweets is a mentally sick person who is born one sex but self-identifies as wanting to be the other sex.
“Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God.”
Francis, back in 2008, when he was known as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio told this to his sodomite friend Yayo Grassi. Is there a place for homophobia? Is it unhealthy as Bergoglio was implying? If one looks at Bergoglio’s past behavior and his present actions as Francis never does he perform pastoral work with homosexuals. He instead welcomes them, condones their deranged sinful behaviors, and tells them that they are part of his mockery of a church which stands for anything and everything but the Catholic faith given to us by Our lord, Jesus the Christ. Does Francis have no place for scelerophobia as well? Who is he to judge? Isn’t condemning ‘homophobia’ a judgement?
Below is a video as well as a transcript of what Francis’ long-time friend, Yayo Grassi, said about the man. These remarks took place at New Ways Ministry’s Bridge Building Award Ceremony and were wink, wink ‘impromptu’. New Ways Ministry is in the Vatican’s official penalty box, at least that’s the public position. They however have many allies on the inside who must agree with their belief that homosexuals are born that way and homosexuality is not a sinful nor an abnormal behavior. One of these is the secretary to both Benedict XVI and Francis, Archbishop Georg Gänswein. Back In February 2015, Gänswein gave front row tickets to the two head honchos, Sister Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo, at New Ways Ministry.
Grassi was there to watch and give his support to James Martin, the editor of the Jesuit magazine America, receive the Building Bridge Award. Martin who we have earlier covered in this blog posted a photo with Martin Luther that strongly implied he was a saint to his America magazine and facebook page as well as runs with crazy things attributed to Francis such as “paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.” As we wrote previously of Martin, “Apparently if you can fog a mirror, the Novus Ordo church wants you as an editor.”
Mr. Grassi was previously written about on Call Me Jorge... when he and his male homosexual boy toy had a private audience with Francis when he came to America. Grassi speaks of this visit and others in the video. This audience happened the same day that Kim Davis met with Francis but thanks to Thomas ‘three Marinis a day’ Rosica, the English language media attaché of the Holy See Press Office, we know it was all a big mistake...the Kim Davis meeting. Francis may not believe in homosexual lobby at the Vatican but this blog, judging by the behaviors of James Martin and Thomas Rosica makes us wonder if they are members of a Vatican homosexual club.
Francis is always making a judgement even when he judges that he, himself, is not fit to judge. When it comes to one of the four sins that cry to Heaven for Vengeance, sodomy, Francis is often coy and vague about his position on it leaving it up to the listener to fill in the blanks. When he isn’t the mainstream and Novus Ordo presses pretend as if he never said anything. If one takes the time and examines his actions over the years as we did extensively in the entry, Francis takes his ‘Jubilee Year of Mercy’ to its logical conclusion, another picture emerges. This is of a pontiff who tries to keep all his flock in perpetual confusion as he transforms the Novus Ordo religion through pilpul into a noahide golem of Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism. And without further ado we present Yayo...
Yayo Grassi spills the beans on Francis
— English transcript of video —
“I have known Pope Francis since he was my teacher, my professor in high school when I was seventeen years old. I know that he knew then that I was gay, and we have been friends ever since. I visited him in Rome and then we visited when he came to Washington. He met who was at the time my boyfriend both times, and he’s always asking about him.
When the gay marriage law was being discussed in the Senate in Argentina, I read on the internet that then-Cardinal Bergoglio was very much against it and that he had said really painful and hateful things about the approval of the law. I was very surprised. I was very surprised more than anything else because knowing him, and knowing how much love there is in his heart, it was difficult for me to understand that he would do such a hateful thing. Words like this [inaudible] word from God this is a temptation from the devil etcetera.
So I wrote him a quite extensive letter. I sent him an email telling him how much I admire him, how important he was in my life, and how much he did for me. How he had brought forward through his education the most open and progressive thought in my life. And then I went on saying, I will never be able to thank you, so you might think its a very strange way to thank you if I tell you I’m very disappointed by the way you treated the gay [marriage] law.
And I went on with the explanation and the letter was too long and very personal, so I will not go into it. He replied two days later and the first thing he said was, ‘first of all was I want to ask you to forgive me because I realize that I have, you are hurt. Believe me I never said any of those things. The press picked out from two letters that I sent to the nuns asking them not to give any kind of opinion on this, and they were distorted and they were put as my words.’
But the most beautiful thing and to me the most amazing thing and we are talking about 2008. He ends up his letter besides asking me, ‘to pray for him’ as he always does, saying, ‘Yayo, believe me, in my pastoral work, there is no place for homophobia.’ And that is the first time that I realized what an amazing person he was. He not only said, ‘Who am I to judge?’, there is something very important that he said later, he said ‘Who are we to judge?’ But that we wasn’t just personal, the we was the whole church, and the whole humankind.”
Yayo Grassi with his ‘impromptu’ address.
Yayo Grassi with James Martin watching.
Francis DeBernardo and twisted-sister Jeannine Gramick present James Martin with the Building Bridge Award.
Here’s a screenshot of Thomas ‘three Martinis a day’ Rosica’s twitter page. He has since changed the background photo. Credit goes to Antonio Carrabino for taking the screenshot and posting it to his twitter account.
This isn’t the first time Rosica has posted an image of Martin Luther to his twitter page as an endorsement. Below is another screenshot of a Rosica re-tweet of James Martin’s tweet on 14 December 2014.
Francis: “For me, the elaboration of decisions is very important. Not only the execution, but the elaboration; namely, that women, whether consecrated or lay, are inserted into the process of the discussion.”
Francis: “Because [a] woman looks at life with true eyes. We men cannot look at it so. The way of seeing problems, of seeing whatever thing is totally … different than men. They have to be complementary. In consultations, it is very important that women be there.”
The consecrated woman is an icon of the church but a priest isn't.
Francis: “The consecrated woman is an icon of the church, an icon of Mary. The priest is not an icon of the church, he is not an icon of Mary. He is an icon of the apostles, of the disciples ... but not of the church of Mary.”
The logical conclusion of a committee being set up to study an already settled matter will be female presbyters in the Novus Ordo church one day soon.
Francis: “The hierarchy of the church must speak of you, but first must speak with you. This is for sure.”
Francis: “You have spoken of newness in the positive sense. And the church is the majesty in this because it has had to change so, so much in its history.”
Francis: “Every change that you must do... enter into this process of discernment. This will give you more freedom.”
[...]
Francis: “TheCode (Canon Law)is an instrument. But I insist, never make a change without making a process of discernment.”
For more on the story and the sources for the above quotes see:
Not so fast! The New York Times' motto should be changed to "all the propaganda that's not fit to be print" and Crux News should rename themselves Crooked News. In an article, Dogs in Heaven? Pope Francis Leaves Pearly Gates Open, published on 11 December 2014 there were several glaring errors made.
"Trying to console a distraught little boy whose dog had died, Francis told him in a recent public appearance on St. Peter’s Square that “paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.” While it is unclear whether the pope’s remarks helped soothe the child, they were welcomed by groups like the Humane Society and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who saw them as a repudiation of conservative Catholic theology that says animals cannot go to heaven because they have no souls."
We at Call Me Jorge... cannot fathom how Rick Gladstone made these 'errors'. Can he not read Italian? Are there not fact checkers at the New York Times? Or was he projecting his progressive desires onto Francis? After the NY Times published his story many media outlets echoed it around the world. Included in these was the Crux News outlet which published an edited version of Gladstone's story, Dogs — and all animals — go to heaven, pope says, which shares the quote below with the NY Times' article.
"Citing biblical passages that assert that animals not only go to
heaven, but get along with one another when they get there, Francis was
quoted by the Italian news media as saying: “One day, we will see our
animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of
God’s creatures.”
Theologians cautioned that Francis had spoken casually, not made a doctrinal statement."
Crux News has many on staff who are fluent in Italian and keep up with the minutiae of Francis. What a joke these people are!
James Martin the editor of America Magazine wrote an entire article,Is Heaven Open to Animals?, which justifies the alleged comments attributed to Francis.
"First of all, it’s important to note that this was an apparently
off-the-cuff remark from the Pope to a child...it was essentially a pastoral response to a child, and needs to
be understood as such. It was also notable that, as far as I can tell,
the Vatican did not release the Pope’s official remarks."
..."Pope Francis’s comments, though “pastoral” and though off-the-cuff,
offer an important insight into the Pope Francis’s mind and also seems
to reflect a change in what many Catholics believe—myself included."
..."To my mind, however, what Pope Francis said is clear. He's not trying to
obfuscate and he does not say anything to children that he does not
believe: The Pope believes, in his own heart, that paradise is open to
all creatures."
Apparently if you can fog a mirror, the Novus Ordo church wants you as an editor.
This has probably been stirred up by something Pope Francis said recently in the press:
“One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”
First and foremost, this was not – good grief… do I have to write this? – a definitive statement.
Thankfully Zuhl$dorf, even though he took the Francis quote at face value, rejected the idea that animals may go to heaven in his blog entry because as he correctly points out,
"Animals don’t have immortal souls...They
don’t need a Savior."
"Paradise is open to all creatures": thus Pope Francis on animals. "The apostle Paul states this explicitly when he says that" the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God '"
and clearly says a little later,
Francis is preparing an encyclical 'greening' the protection of Creation. Certainly the issue is recurring and sometimes controversial, in the Church. It is said that Paul VI had comforted a child in tears for the death of his dog and said: "One day we will review our animals in the eternity of Christ."
This article was written on 27 November 2014. The English language articles were published starting on 11 December 2014. That's two weeks worth of time to get the story correct. As if that isn't enough, the Paul VI quote was written of in 2008 at La Stampa and Corriere della Seraas well as in a 2010 book, La Leggende del Ponte Arcobaleno(Legends of the Rainbow Bridge). We at Call Me Jorge... found all this in several minutes by using an internet search engine, surely there must be more out there.
It says something that a reporter writes a story which isn't sourced and has several glaring mistakes in it. These mistakes repudiate Catholic theology and Novus Ordo prelates take it at face value that Francis actually said these things. None of these prelates is surprised but they take or argue different sides of the statement. In our opinion, that's the story!
The media shifts the blame to Corriere della Sera, when it is clearly their own fault.
Since we had written this entry (but not published it on Call Me Jorge...), the NY Times came out with this retraction:
Correction: December 12, 2014
An earlier version of this article misstated the circumstances
of Pope Francis’ remarks. He made them in a general audience at the
Vatican, not in consoling a distraught boy whose dog had died. The
article also misstated what Francis is known to have said. According to
Vatican Radio, Francis said: “The Holy Scripture teaches us that the
fulfillment of this wonderful design also affects everything around us,”
which was interpreted to mean he believes animals go to heaven. Francis
is not known to have said: “One day, we will see our animals again in
the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.'’
(Those remarks were once made by Pope Paul VI to a distraught child, and
were cited in a Corriere della Sera article that concluded Francis
believes animals go to heaven.) An earlier version also referred
incompletely to the largest animal protection group in the United
States. It is the Humane Society of the United States, not just the
Humane Society.
When Pope Francis recently sought to comfort a distraught boy whose
dog had died, the pontiff took the sort of pastoral approach he is
famous for — telling the youngster not to worry, that he would one day
see his pet in heaven.
“Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures,” Francis said reassuringly.
It was a sparkling moment on a rainy November day, and the setting in
St. Peter’s Square only burnished Francis’ reputation as a kindly
“people’s pope.” The story naturally lit up social media, became instant
promotional material for vegetarians and animal rights groups, and on
Friday even made it to the front page of The New York Times.
There’s only one problem: apparently none of it ever happened.
Yes, a version of that quotation was uttered by a pope, but it was
said decades ago by Paul VI, who died in 1978. There is no evidence that
Francis repeated the words during his public audience on Nov. 26, as
has been widely reported, nor was there was a boy mourning his dead dog.
So how could such a fable so quickly become taken as fact?
Part of the answer may be the topic of the pope’s talk to the crowd that day, which centered on the End Times and the transformation of all creation into
a “new heaven” and a “new earth.” Citing St. Paul in the New Testament,
Francis said that is not “the annihilation of the cosmos and of
everything around us, but the bringing of all things into the fullness
of being.”
The trail of digital bread crumbs then appears to lead to an Italian
news report that extended Francis’ discussion of a renewed creation to
the question of whether animals too will go to heaven.
“One day we will see our pets in the eternity of Christ,” the report quoted Paul VI as telling a disconsolate boy years ago.
The story was titled, somewhat misleadingly: “Paradise for animals?
The Pope doesn’t rule it out.” It wasn’t clear which pope the writer
meant, however.
Vecchi faithfully recounted the pope’s talk about a new creation, and also cited Paul VI’s remark.
But the headline put those words in Francis’ mouth, and that became the story.
The Italian version of the Huffington Post picked it up next and ran an article quoting
Francis as saying “We will go to heaven with the animals” and
contending that the pope was quoting St. Paul – not Pope Paul – as
making that statement to console a boy who lost his dog. (That story, by
the way, is nowhere in the Bible.)
The urban legend became unstoppable a week later when it was translated into English and picked up by the British press,which
cited St. Paul as saying that “One day we will see our animals again in
(the) eternity of Christ,” while it has Francis adding the phrase:
“Paradise is open to all God’s creatures.”
Fueling the meme was the fact that Francis was photographed accepting a gift of two donkeys from
a company promoting the use of donkey milk for infants allergic to
cow’s milk – and Francis said his own mother gave him donkey’s milk as a
baby.
When The New York Times went with the story, along with input from ethicists and theologians, it became gospel truth.
Television programs discussed the pope’s theological breakthrough, news outlets created photo galleries of popes with cute animals, and others used it as a jumping off point to discuss what other religions think about animals and the afterlife. At America magazine, the Rev. James Martin wrote an essay discussing
the theological implications of Francis’ statements and what level of
authority they may have. It was all very interesting and illuminating,
but based on a misunderstanding.
A number of factors probably contributed to this journalistic train wreck:
The story had so much going for it: Francis took his papal name from
St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of environmentalism who
famously greeted animals as brothers and sisters.
Pope Francis is also preparing a major teaching document on the
environment, and almost since the day he was elected in 2013 he has
stressed the Christian duty to care for creation.
Francis also blessed a blind man’s guide dog shortly after he was elected, an affecting image that was often used in connection with these latest reports of his concern for animals.
Moreover, the media and the public are so primed for Francis to say
novel things and disregard staid customs that the story was too good to
check out; it fit with the pattern.
In most accounts, Francis’ comments were also set against statements
by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who insisted that animals did not have
souls. That apparent contrast fit a common narrative pitting the more
conservative Benedict against the ostensibly liberal Francis.
That may be true in some areas, but probably not when it comes to animals.
Adding insult to injury, the Times article cited St. John Paul II as
saying in 1990 that animals have souls and are “as near to God as men
are.” But that, too, was a misquote, as media critic Dawn Eden explained at the website GetReligion.
On the other hand, there should have been warnings signs: Francis has frowned at the modern tendency to favor pets over people, and he has criticized the vast amounts of money spent by wealthy societies on animals even as children go hungry.
In addition, the pope’s huge popularity has led to at least one other
instance of myth-making: news reports last year said that Francis was
sneaking out of the Vatican at night to feed the homeless around Rome.
The pope personally debunked that rumor in
an interview last March, saying the idea “has never crossed my mind”
and that “depicting the pope to be a sort of superman, a type of star,
seems offensive to me.”
Maybe he’ll have to give another interview to deflate this latest story, and to offer his real thoughts on pets and paradise.
