A visiting female shaman performing an incantation on Francis in the Vatican.
Earlier this week...
On the airplane flight from North Macedonia to Rome...
Peter Nanev, BTV: Good evening. Peter Nanev, BTV Bulgaria. [In English] It is more of a personal question, as Your Holiness, you’re like a human being, from where do you find strength in your body, in your spirit in cases when you have to give even more strength for a heavily sick child?
Francis: First of all I would like to tell you that I do not go to the witch... [laughs]. I do not know. I do not know, really. It is a gift from the Lord. When I am in a country, I forget everything, but not because I want to forget it, I forget it, and I am only there. And then this gives me perseverance, I don't know, but [when] I am on the trip I am not tired! Then I am tired! After! But where do I take the strength from? I believe that the Lord gives it to me, there is no explanation. I ask the Lord to be faithful, to serve him in this work of travels, that the trip will not be tourism. I ask. All is his grace. Nothing else comes to me to say. But then I do not do so much work, huh? Thank you.
“Loud laughter accompanied the joke Francis made in response to the query asked by Cristiana Caricato, a journalist of TV2000, who, (upon) greeting him, had asked him: “We want to know what the doctor gives you so that we can take it too, we who struggle just as you do” — a reference to Bergoglio’s stamina during these trips. “But I do not go to the doctor, I go to the witch!”, he said, laughing with gusto.”
“VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The Latest on Pope Francis' visit to the Baltic countries (all times local):
6:35 p.m.
Pope
Francis has acknowledged that his reputation pales a bit compared to
St. John Paul II — at least as far as Poles are concerned.
Greeting
journalists Saturday en route to Lithuania, Francis was given a book
about the former pope by Polish photographer Grzegorz Galazka. Receiving
the large book with a beaming John Paul on the cover, Francis quipped:
"(Pope John Paul II) was a saint, I am the devil."
Laughing, Galazka immediately corrected him: "No, you are both saints! You are both saints!"
Francis'
quip appeared to acknowledge that he has his detractors, particularly
among conservative Catholics who long for the more doctrinaire papacies
of John Paul and Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.
The
criticism of Francis by conservatives has grown more vocal recently amid
the church's sex abuse scandals and the distress over his opening to
letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion.
On the papal airplane from Rome to Chile, Francis offered his latest off the cuff quip.
“Loud laughter accompanied the joke Francis made in response to the query asked by Cristiana Caricato, a journalist of TV2000, who, (upon) greeting him, had asked him: “We want to know what the doctor gives you so that we can take it too, we who struggle just as you do” — a reference to Bergoglio’s stamina during these trips. “But I do not go to the doctor, I go to the witch!”, he said, laughing with gusto.”
All of these ‘jokes’ reveal facets of Francis’ inner-Jew. Francis publicly maintains that, “One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.” Notice what he never jokes about Talmudic Judaism, the Holocaust, or noahidism — a synthesis of all heresies. All these are strictly off limits while the Catholic faith is open to mocking jests. We are digressing, returning to Francis reply, Francis does see witch doctors — typically they come to visit him. Below are two of the witch doctors whom have visited Francis in the Vatican.
So one can see the truth in Francis’ latest joke. The question arises whom is Francis mocking when he jokingly but truthfully replies that ‘visits from witch-doctors give him stamina’? Simply, the answer is the typical pewsitter that thinks Francis is a practicing Catholic. Francis has nothing but contempt for these people as his mocking jests and candid jokes reveal.
Pro-homosexual and acolyte of Vatican II, Msgr. John McSweeney, ran the largest parish in the United States with 10,000-plus families until he retired on 16 July 2017 .
“I’m going to try to walk in the sandals of the Lord”
[...]
During an interview with the Observer, he spoke candidly about a Catholic Church he thinks has often put the Book of Law before the Book of Love.
Echoing Pope Francis – the fifth pontiff to reign during McSweeney’s time as a priest – he’d like the church and the diocese to be more about hospitality and less about judgment. That means, he said, being more welcoming: Of divorced-and-remarried Catholics, of LGBTQ persons, and of others who have long felt excluded by the church.
With too few diocesan priests, including in Charlotte, where the Catholic population is booming, McSweeney said he’d also support the church re-opening the door to married priests by making celibacy optional – as it was the first 1,000 years of Roman Catholicism.
[...]
“And many men I was in the (Catholic) seminary with would be great priests today except for one thing,” he added, that one thing being their desire to get married.
Revolt brewing?
McSweeney said he’s also “very concerned” that many of the priests graduating from seminaries these days are too conservative and could spur a revolt by Catholics in the pews against the priests’ efforts to stifle the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Also known as Vatican II, this council in the 1960s embraced church reform, including expanding the role for lay Catholics and celebrating the Mass in the local language more so than in Latin.
“The population that is the worshiping Catholic community have no understanding or history of pre-Vatican II,” he said. “They weren’t born (yet). The same with these young priests.”
McSweeney said Vatican II called for active lay participation in the liturgy, or Mass. “What I see happening (at some parishes) is that is not happening,” he said. “It’s being stopped.”
Lay people, particularly women, are not being permitted, for example, to dispense Communion as Eucharistic ministers. Altar boys are allowed, but not altar girls.
These young priests, McSweeney said, “are trying to reform the reform. ... I don’t endorse what they’re doing to God’s people.”
Recently, at a Catholic church in Waynesville, which is part of the Charlotte diocese, the pastor resigned after many from the congregation left to protest his insistence, for example, of replacing popular hymns with the ancient Gregorian chant.
[...]
McSweeney, who participates in celebrating an annual Mass for gay and lesbian Catholics in the the diocese, said his issue with Mecklenburg Ministries was “you don’t tell me who to invite.”
[...]
McSweeney also said he “won’t go there” in taking a stand on whether women should be ordained priests in the Catholic Church. Recent popes, including Francis, have said it will never happen, even though several large mainline Protestant denominations have been ordaining women clergy for years.
But McSweeney does favor letting women become deacons, which would give them the authority to preach at Mass, baptize and perform weddings.
And the monsignor said about 95 percent of his 63 staffers at St. Matthew are women, including the church’s chief financial officer, its chief of facilities and most of its clinical counselors.
Francis the humble first Moslem sweeping St. Peter’s Square after a Wednesday general audience.
“Some are devotees of the saint, others of ecology, and I am devotee of the broom he used.”
Martin de Porres Velázquez, O.P. (1579 AD -1639 AD) was a lay brother in the Dominican Order. He is often portrayed with a broom. This is a representation of his humility and the way he dedicated himself with love to even the most menial of tasks — something which Francis is entirely deficient of. As we see in the video Francis is the joker when it come to the Catholic Faith but is pious and respectful when it comes to Islam and Talmudic Judaism.
After finishing sweeping, Francis’ inner-Jew came out and put a kabbalistic spell
on the broom. Which he proceeded to ride back to Casa Santa Marta.
Two days ago, Francis had an audience with the Prelates of the Canadian Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops on their ‘ad Limina Apostolorum’ visit. One of the bishops, Michael J. Miller of Vancouver, shared with ACI Stampa reporter, Andrea Gagliarducci, some of what was discussed; Ecco di cosa ha parlato Papa Francesco con i vescovi canadesi. One thing in particular stood out,
But what did [Francis] speak about in two and a half hours? [Francis spoke] “of many things. He spoke about Peter, about the fact that he was crucified head first so that God could wash his feet.”
Francis met with representatives of Catholic Theological Ethics in
the World Church (CTEWC) for 50 minutes on 17 March 2017 where he told
this blasphemous joke.
The Carnival of Viareggio featured a float named ‘il Che GuePapa’ created out of paper mâché by the brothers Vanni (Alessandro & Paolo). As can be seen in the assortment of photos (above and below), Francis is wearing the revolutionary beret of the anti-Catholic communist, Ernesto "Che" Guevara Lynch, while holding a communist ‘hammer and sickle’ crozier and giving the communist clenched power-fist. The paper mâché Francis is also surrounded by some of the worst communist ‘heroes’ — Mao Tse-tung, Karl Marx, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin), and Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz — who are portrayed ironically as cherubim. Recall, that Francis edited a book of dialogues between Fidel Castro and John Paul II many years ago, said in interview, “The Marxist ideology is wrong. But I have met many Marxists in my life who are good people, so I don’t feel offended”, and in another interview while laughing that, “I can only say that the communists have stolen our flag. The flag of the poor is Christian. Poverty is at the center of the Gospel [...] Communists say that all this is communism. Sure, twenty centuries later. So when they speak, one can say to them: 'but then you are Christian'”. People dressed in the clothing of religious danced and gyrated in front of the float and wore giant necklaces which were a version of the ‘hammer & sickle crucifix’ presented to Francis in July 2015 by Juan Evo Morales Ayma, the socialist president of Bolivia.
Francis meeting with delegation from the Fondazione Carnevale di Viareggio, November 2016.
Interestingly, the plans for the float had to be submitted before and were approved by the Fondazione Carnevale di Viareggio back in August 2016. Later that year in November, a delegation of forty people from the Fondazione Carnevale di Viareggio met with Francis after a general audience. They presented Francis with many gifts among them a was the hat of Burlamacco, the official mascot of the Carnival of Viareggio. Francis joked that Burlamacco’s hat reminded him of a bishop’s mitre. He told the delegation that he had been to Viareggio before as he has a relative in nearby Pescia. The delegation invited Francis to the Carnival of Viareggio to which he replied, “Who knows?” No word if the group informed him that he was to be one of the festivities. Even if Francis failed to show up in the flesh at the Carnival of Viareggio, he was most certainly there in spirit!
Never one to let an opportunity to make a macabre jest of the Catholic
Faith pass
by, Francis said the red hat of Burlamacco reminded him of a
bishop’s mitre.
(click images to enlarge)
The proposal sent in by the Vanni brothers and approved by the
Fondazione Carnevale di Viareggio in August 2016.
‘il Che GuePapa’ in the Carnival of Viareggio
***** UPDATED 28 FEBRUARY 2017 *****
The delegation of forty people from the Fondazione Carnevale di Viareggio including the float drivers sit in Francis’ private box at his general audience and chat with him (12 November 2016).
Nope, he can’t answer the 5 dubia because he would have to admit he is busy destroying what’s left of Catholic morals with his modernist ambiguity!
The following is the full text of the interview the Holy Father granted to the Belgian Catholic weekly publication “Tertio”, on the occasion of the conclusion of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
[(Interviewer)Representative of the bishops for means of communication …
(Francis)You once brought me some young people who asked good questions
(Interviewer) There is a Pope who gives good answers…
(Francis)I’ll wait a moment … I want to see the questions, because I haven’t seen them…]
QUESTION- In our country we are going through a moment in which national politics wishes to separate religion from public life: for example, in education. It is the opinion that, in a time of secularisation, religion should be reserved to private life. How can we be at the same time a missionary Church, outbound towards society, and live this tension created by this public opinion?
FRANCIS- Well, I do not want to offend anyone, but this is an old-fashioned mindset. This is the legacy that the Enlightenment has left to us - is it not? - in which every religious phenomenon is a subculture. It is the difference between laicism and secularism. I have spoken about this with the French. … Vatican Council II tells us about the autonomy of things, of processes and institutions. There is a healthy secularism, for instance, the secularism of the State. In general, a secular State is a good thing; it is better than a confessional State, because confessional States finish badly. But secularism is one thing, and laicism is another. Laicism closes the doors to transcendence, to the dual transcendence: both transcendence towards others and, above all, transcendence towards God; or towards what is beyond us. And openness to transcendence is part of the human essence. It is part of man. I am not speaking about religion, I am speaking about openness to transcendence. Therefore, a culture or a political system that does not respect openness to the transcendence of the human person “prunes” or cuts down the human person. Or rather, it does not respect the human person. This is more or less what I think. Therefore, sending to the sacristy any act of transcendence is a form of “asepsis”, which has nothing to do with human nature, which cuts from human nature a good part of life, which is openness.
QUESTION- You are concerned about the interreligious relationship. In our times we live with terrorism and with war. At times it can be seen that the roots of the current wars reside in the difference between religions. What can be said about this?
FRANCIS- Yes, I believe that this opinion exists. But no religion as such can foment war. Because in this case it would be proclaiming a god of destruction, a god of hatred. One cannot wage war in the name of God or in the name of a religious position. War cannot be waged in any religion. And for this reason terrorism and war are not related to religion. Religion is distorted to justify them, this is true. You are witnesses of this, you have experienced it in your homeland. But they are distortions of religion, that do not relate to the essence of the religious fact, which is instead love, unity, respect, dialogue, all these things. … But not in that aspect, or rather, we must be categorical about this, no religion proclaims war for the fact of religion. Religious distortions, yes. For example, all religions have fundamentalist groups.
All of them, we do too. And they destroy, starting from their fundamentalism. But these are small religious groups that have distorted and have “sickened” their religion, and as a result they fight, they wage war, or they cause division in communities, which is a form of war. But these are the fundamentalist groups we have in all religions. There is always a small group …
QUESTION– Another question on war. We are currently commemorating the centenary of the First World War. What would you say to the European continent about the post-war message, “No more war!”?
FRANCIS- I have spoken to the European continent three times: twice in Strasbourg and once last year, or this year, I do not remember, when there was the Charlemagne Prize [6 May 2016]. I think that “No more war!” has not been taken seriously, because after the First there was the Second, and after the Second there is this third war we are experiencing now, piecemeal. We are at war. The world is conducting a third world war: Ukraine, Middle East, Africa, Yemen … It is very grave. Therefore, we say the words “No more war!”, but at the same time we manufacture weapons and sell them, and we sell them to those who are fighting, as arms producers sell them to this and that, to those who are at war with each other. It is true. There is an economic theory that I have not tried to confirm, but which I have read in several books: that in the history of humanity, when a State saw that its accounts were not in good shape, waged war to balance its budget. That is, it is one of the easiest ways to produce wealth. Certainly, the price is very high: blood.
“No more war!” was something that Europe said sincerely, I believe: Schumann, De Gasperi, Adenauer … they said it sincerely. But afterwards … Nowadays there is a lack of leaders; Europe is in need of leaders, leaders who go ahead. … Well, I do not want to repeat what I said in the three speeches.
QUESTION- Is there any chance that you will come to Belgium for this commemoration of the war?
FRANCIS- It is not planned, no … I used to go to Belgium every year and a half when I was the provincial [superior], because there was an association of friends of the Catholic University of Córdoba. And so I used to go there to speak. They did the [spiritual] Exercises, and I used to go to thank them. I became fond of Belgium. For me the most beautiful city in Belgium is not yours, but rather Bruges [laughs].
[Interviewer: I have to tell you that my brother is a Jesuit.
Francis: Really? I didn’t know!
Interviewer: So, apart from being Jesuit, he’s a good person.
Francis: I was about to ask you if you were Catholic … (laughter)]
QUESTION– We are about to conclude the Year of Mercy. Can you tell us how you lived this Year, and what you expect when the Year comes to an end?
FRANCIS– The Year of Mercy was not an idea that came to me unexpectedly. It takes its cue from Blessed Paul VI. Paul VI had already taken a number of steps to rediscover God’s mercy. St. John Paul II then placed great emphasis on this with three facts: the EncyclicalDives in Misericordia, the canonisation of St. Faustina, and the Feast of Divine Mercy on the Octave of Easter; he died on the eve of that feast day. He introduced the Church onto this road in this way. I felt that the Lord wanted this. It was … I don’t know how the idea formed in my heart. One fine day I said to Msgr. Fisichella, who had come about matters related to his Dicastery, “How I would like to hold a Jubilee, a Jubilee of Mercy”. And he said, “Why not?” And that is how the Year of Mercy began. It is the best assurance that it was not a human idea, but rather that it came from on high. I believe that it was inspired by the Lord. And evidently it went very well. In addition, the fact that the Jubilee was held not only in Rome, but all over the world, in all dioceses and within each diocese, created a lot of movement, a lot of movement … People were very active. There was a lot of activity and people felt called to reconcile themselves with God, to encounter the Lord again, to feel the caress of the Father.
QUESTION– The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer made the distinction between cheap grace and costly grace. So, what does cheap or costly mercy mean to you?
FRANCIS– Cheap mercy or costly mercy: I do not know Bonhoeffer’s text, I don’t know when he explains this. .. But it is cheap because there is nothing to pay; one doesn’t have to buy indulgences, it is a pure gift. And it is costly because it is the most precious gift. There is a book based on an interview I gave, entitled “The name of God is Mercy”. It is precious because it is the name of God: God is merciful.
It reminds me of that priest I had in Buenos Aires, who continued to celebrate Mass and to work, and he was 92 years old! At the beginning of Mass he would always give certain warnings. He is very energetic, 92 years old, preaches very well, the people go to listen to him. “Please, switch off your mobile phones”. And during the Mass, the Offertory began, and a telephone began to ring. He stopped and said, “Please, switch off your mobile phones”. And the altar boy, who was next to him, said, “Father, it is yours”. And he took out his phone and answered: ‘Hello!’” [Laughter]
QUESTION– To us, it seems that you are indicating Vatican Council II for our times. You are showing us ways of renewal in the Church. The Synodal Church. … In the Synod you explained your vision of the Church of the future. Could you explain this for our readers?
FRANCIS- The “Synodal Church”, let me take this word. The Church is born from the community, it is born from the foundation, it is born from Baptism, and it is organised around a bishop, who brings it together and gives it strength; the bishop who is the successor of the Apostles. This is the Church. But in all the world there are many bishops, many organised Churches, and there is Peter. Therefore either there is a pyramidal Church, in which what Peter says is done, or there is a synodal Church, in which Peter is Peter but he accompanies the Church, he lets her grow, he listens to her, he learns from this reality and goes about harmonising it, discerning what comes from the Church and restoring it to her. The richest experience of all this was that of the last two Synods. There all the bishops of the world were heard, during preparation; all the Churches of the world, the dioceses, worked. All this material was worked on during the first Synod, which gave its results to the Church, and then we returned a second time – the second Synod – to complete all this. And from thereAmoris Laetitiaemerged. It is interesting to see the rich variety of nuances, typical of the Church. It is unity in diversity. This is synodality.
Do not descend from high to low, but listen to the Churches, harmonise them, discern. And so there is a post-Synodal exhortation, which isAmoris Laetitia, which is the result of two Synods, in which all the Church worked, and which the Pope made his own. It is expressed in a harmonious way. It is interesting that all that it contains [Amoris Laetitia], in the Synod it was approved by more than two thirds of the fathers. And this is a guarantee. A synodal Church means that there is this movement from high to low, high to love. And the same in the dioceses. But there is a Latin phrase, that says that the Churches are alwayscum Petro et sub Petro. Peter is the guarantor of the unity of the Church. He is the guarantor.
This is the meaning. And it is necessary to progress in synodality, which is one of the things that the Orthodox have conserved. And also the Oriental Catholic Churches. It is a richness of theirs, and I recognise it in the Encyclical.
QUESTION- It seems to me that the Second Synod made the passage from the method of “seeing, judging and acting” towards “listening, understanding and accompanying”. It is very different. These are the things that I am constantly saying to people. The passage of the Synod is from seeing, judging and acting, and then to listening to the reality of the people, understanding well this reality and then accompanying people on their path…
FRANCIS- Because each person said what he thought, without fear of feeling judged. And everyone had the attitude of listening, without condemning. And then we discussed, like brothers, in the groups. But it is one thing to debate like brothers and another to condemna priori. There was great freedom of expression. And this is beautiful!
QUESTION- In Krakow, you gave valuable inspiration to the young. What could be a special message to the young people of our country?
FRANCIS- Not to be afraid, not to be ashamed of faith; not to be ashamed to seek out new ways. And to the young who are not believers: do not worry, search for the meaning of life. To a young person, I would give two pieces of advice: seek out horizons and do not go into retirement at the age of 20. It is very sad to see a young pensioner at 20, 25 years of age, isn’t it? Seek out horizons, go ahead, continue to work in this human task.
QUESTION- A final question, Holy Father, regarding the media: a consideration regarding the means of communication…
FRANCIS– The communications media have a very great responsibility. Nowadays they have in their hands the possibility and the capacity to form opinion: they can form a good or a bad opinion. The means of communication are the builders of a society. In and of themselves, they are made to build, to interchange, to fraternise, to make us think, to educate. In themselves they are positive. It is obvious that, given that we are all sinners, also the media can – we who use the media, I am using a means of communication here – become harmful. And the communications media have their temptations. They can be tempted by calumny, and therefore used to slander, to sully people, especially in the world of politics. They can be used as a means of defamation: every person has the right to a good reputation, but perhaps in their previous life, or ten years ago, they had a problem with justice, or a problem in their family life, and bringing this to light is serious and harmful; it can annul a person. In slander we tell a lie about a person; in defamation, we leak a document, as we say in Argentina, “Se hace un carpetazo” – and we uncover something that is true, but already in the past, and which has already been paid for with a jail sentence, with a fine, or whatever. There is no right to this. This is a sin and it is harmful. A thing that can do great damage to the information media is disinformation: that is, faced with any situation, saying only a part of the truth, and not the rest. This is disinformation. Because you, to the listener or the observer, give only half the truth, and therefore it is not possible to make a serious judgement. Disinformation is probably the greatest damage that the media can do, as opinion is guided in one direction, neglecting the other part of the truth. And then, I believe that the media should be very clear, very transparent, and not fall prey – without offence, please – to the sickness of coprophilia, which is always wanting to communicate scandal, to communicate ugly things, even though they may be true. And since people have a tendency towards the sickness of coprophagia, it can do great harm. Thus, I would say that there are these four temptations. But they are builders of opinion and can construct, and do immense good, immense.
QUESTION– To conclude, a word for priests. Not a speech, because they say we have to conclude. … What is most important for a priest?
FRANCIS– It is a rather Salesian answer, but it comes from the heart. Remember that you have a Mother who loves you, and never cease to love your Mother, the Virgin. Secondly, let yourself be looked at by Jesus. Third: seek out the suffering flesh of Jesus in your brothers: there you will encounter Jesus. This as a basis. Everything comes from here. If you are an orphan priest, who has forgotten that he has a Mother; if you are a priest who has drifted away from He Who called you, from Jesus, you will never be able to carry the Gospel. What is the way? Tenderness. May they have tenderness. Priests should never be ashamed of having tenderness.
May they caress the suffering blood of Jesus. Today there is a need for a revolution of tenderness in this world that suffers from “cardiosclerosis”.
For readers of this blog who do not understand the Italian language, the Vatican reporter Andrea Tornielli has transcribed highlights from the interview at La Stampa’s Vatican Insider, I am allergic to flatterers, I deserve detractors.
This video exchange between Francis and a Mexican was recorded by one Mexican monsignor, Monseñor Carlos Alberto Cardona, on 1 January 2016 in St. Peter's Square. We don't know if the person interacting with Francis was the monsignor or not.
MEXICAN: “Pope, we are waiting for you in Mexico!” FRANCIS: “With or without tequila?” MEXICAN: “Lots of tequila!”
