Jesus reached out his hand and saved St Peter! Peter, Peter, you are a man after the heart of many on this forum! With his human understanding and also believing in human strength , Peter declares he will prevent any harm coming to Jesus! But Our Lords words echo in our Soul. Get behind me satan! Peter Doubts. Peter Denies. Peter looks at the waves! Jesus had just mutiplied 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread to feed over 5000 men and to say nothing of women and children that were fed as well, and Peter and the apostles witnessed this! Matthew 14:22-32 22And at once he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he sent the crowds away. 23After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24while the boat, by now some furlongs from land, was hard pressed by rough waves, for there was a head-wind. 25In the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the sea, 26and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. 'It is a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear. 27But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, 'Courage! It is I! Don't be afraid.' 28It was Peter who answered. 'Lord,' he said, 'if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.' 29Jesus said, 'Come.' Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, 30but then noticing the wind, he took fright and began to sink. 'Lord,' he cried, 'save me!' 31Jesus put out his hand at once and held him! see........................ Jesus loved St Peter [our first pope] despite all his failings! and helped him in all his necessities! and Jesus loves our Pope Francis despite all his failings! and He is helping Him in all his necessities! Please pray for and speak kindly of Our Holy Father.
I see your point, and I agree to a point. I fail to see how Pope Francis' actions are merely failings, there is a consistency of modernism in them.
Today's Verse is a good reminder that Almighty God is the only Know-it-All in the Universe. Even the most sainted people were, at times, mistaken, sinful ..... and had "bad" days! HeartLight Daily Verse - 4 August Jeremiah 33:2-3: This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it -- the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Thoughts on today's verse: In a universe of billions of stars, think of the power of the God who made them and knows each of their names. Think of all he knows that we don't. Think of all he has seen that is not in a history book. Think of all he has done and can do. Add to this that he invites us to speak to him about the things of our heart. Prayer: Almighty God, there are so many things I am simply ignorant about. There are so many things in my world that I can't understand. There are so many things about you that I long to know but I can't begin to comprehend you. Please, dear Father, please give me more of you, and about you, that I may know you better. You are beyond me, so deal gently as you reveal yourself. I look with anticipation at the thought of knowing you, the Unsearchable, the Almighty, God, my Abba. Through Jesus I pray. Amen. Visit heartlight.org for more GOD SAVE ALL HERE!!
It is not disrespect to point out error and defend the faith. Again, the difference in employing the terms "material heresy" and "formal heresy"
Sometimes Pope Francis speaks better when he hits the ground. Perhaps it is the less rarified atmosphere. This is from Father Z. I find it particularly intriguing how emphatic Pope Francis is about the intelligence of Pope Emeritus Benedict. It seems to me he humbly considers himself, by contrast, as not very bright-which would explain much!: Pope Francis blasts “gender” ideology, quotes Benedict XVI: “this is the age of sin against the Creator!” Posted on 3 August 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf Here’s something the Fishwrap (aka National Sodomitic Reporter) types will struggle with. On 27 July the Holy Father had a closed-door meeting with the bishops of Poland. There was a brief Q&A. Today Francis’ remarks were published. Here is an excerpt. From Vatican Insider: “In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa and some Asian countries we are seeing some real ideological colonisations,” he repeated. “And one of these, I’m going to say it outright, is gender”: “Today, children, children! are told at school that they can choose their sex. Why are they taught this? Because the books are supplied by the people and institutions that give you the money. These are the ideological colonisations backed also by countries that wield a great deal of influence. And this is terrible. Speaking with Benedict XVI,” he said, “who is well and lucid, he told me: ‘Holiness, this is the age of sin against the Creator!’ He is intelligent! God created man and woman; God made the world like this, like this, like this… and we are doing the exact opposite.” Gender-twisting, denial of sexual differentiation, same-sex and homosexualist agenda…(my italics) …SINS AGAINST NATURE AND NATURE’S GOD. More, more...(when he gets it right, he can really nail it).
"I find it particularly intriguing how emphatic Pope Francis is about the intelligence of Pope Emeritus Benedict. It seems to me he humbly considers himself, by contrast, as not very bright-which would explain much!:" Before joining the clergy, Our Holy Father earned a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires. Jesuits are highly educated. Too much! b a
Just wanted to set the record straight... This is not true. He does not have a masters degree in Chemistry. He graduated with a título in chemistry from the Escuela Técnica Industrial No. 12*, which is a state-run technical secondary school. Apparently the título really represents something beyond our high-school diploma, something akin a certificate from a community college in the U.S.: https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/does-pope-francis-have-masters-degree-chemistry
Nation Catholic Reporter I knew I shouldn't have listened to the us news. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/14/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-pope-francis Sorry Brother al
FS, I guess I was too quick to like the post, no fault of yours. I have no idea how smart or not PF is but I do give him credit for giving Pope Benedict credit. He could have come out and said these are his ideas but if he had a previous conversation with PB about the topic then I can't blame him for saying so. I also wonder if it is a bit of a good cop/bad cop thing. I am not sure how "good" that is but just some thoughts to consider.
Right. http://www.breitbart.com/national-s...-chemistry-degree-not-that-it-matters-anyway/ "No the Pope doesn’t have a Masters degree in Chemistry. "I only mention it because the usual suspects have been making such a big deal of Pope Francis’s scientific credentials, as part of their inevitable campaign to persuade us that his controversial encyclical on “climate change” is rooted in deep wisdom and knowledge." .... "Indeed, for a period, the Pope’s science qualifications underwent massive grade inflation. The meme spread – possibly originating in this Catholic Herald article when he was still the all-but-unknown Cardinal Bergoglio – that the Pope actually had a Master’s degree in Chemistry. "Which he doesn’t. What the Pope in fact has is the equivalent of a something one notch above a high school diploma..." Given the state of Agentina's school system, others have said this is more comparable to our high school level "Vo-Tech" degree than a community college certificate.
I am with you...it's a humility factor. But when someone suggest someone is smarter or dumber...especially about modern Holy Fathers, it is nonsense. A lot of people have said Our Holy Father is not intellegent. Just pure nonsense. I agree, Pope Francis respects and loves Our Holy Father Benedict. May God Bless You and your Family Brother al
I agree too. He knows exactly what he is doing, and every word he utters and how it will be received and interpreted by the world is considered thoroughly before it is said - even his off-the-cuff remarks and plane interviews. http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/07/for-record-essential-rule-of.html “Francis knows exactly how power is spelled,” says Bernd Hagenkord, a Jesuit who is in charge of German programming for Vatican Radio. “He’s a communicator in the league with Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama. They say he’s being unclear, but we know exactly what he means.” http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/03/leonardo-boff-pope-francis-is-much-more.html Leonardo Boff: "Pope Francis is much more liberal than what is supposed." Leonardo Boff is the famous former Franciscan priest who is one of the main names of the ideological movement known as "Liberation Theology." He was the mentor of the closest friend, greatest electoral supporter and most influential Cardinal in the new pontificate, the Brazilian Claudio Hummes, also a Franciscan. His most influential book, "Church: Charism and Power", was the object of a specific 1985 notification of the Congregation for the Doctrine for the Faith, which "was obliged to declare that the options of L. Boff analyzed here endanger the sound doctrine of the faith".Excerpts provided in Spanish by Periodista Digital and published today: "Pope Francis is more liberal than what is supposed" ... The Brazilian former priest Leonardo Boff, one of the most preeminent representatives of the so-called Liberation Theology, believes that Pope Francis will surprise many by heading a radical move in the church. "He now is the pope and he can do whatever he wants. Many will be surprised with what Francis will do. In order to do this, a rupture with traditions will be needed, to leave behind the corrupt Vatican curia to give way to a universal church," Boff said in an interview published by German magazine Der Spiegel in its edition for the upcoming week. ... Boff also says that, even though in many aspects - as those referring to contraceptives, celibacy, and homosexuality - Bergoglio followed a conservative line, as a cardinal, that was due solely to pressure from the Vatican, and maintains that there are elements that indicate that the new pope is much more liberal than that. "A couple of months ago, for instance, he expressly approved that a homosexual couple adopt a child. He is in touch with priests who have been repudiated by the official church because they got married. And, most importantly, he did not let himself be separated from his conviction that we must be on the side of the poor," the former priest says.
Well, I think reading in full what Pope Francis had to say to the Polish bishops may be more valuable than arguing about how intelligent he is! “Benedict is right: It’s the age of sin against the Creator” 02/08/2016 DOMENICO AGASSO JR VATICAN CITY The contents of Francis’ address to Polish bishops during World Youth Day in Krakow were released today. The closed-door meeting took place on 27 July in Krakow cathedral and the now former director of the Holy See press office, Fr. Federico Lombardi (he left his post two days ago), had described it as a “very simple and informal” event, stressing that “most bishops are simple men, they aren’t members of the old guard that intimidate you a bit, but there is no mystery, the meeting was a totally informal affair”. There was nothing secretive about what was said at the meeting, hence the Vatican published a summary of the exchange between the Polish bishops – who asked four questions – and the Pope. The gender topic was among the issues Pope Francis focused on the most, affirming he agreed with his predecessor, Benedict XVI: “This is the age of sin against the Creator” “In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa and some Asian countries we are seeing some real ideological colonisations,” he repeated. “And one of these, I’m going to say it outright, is gender”: “Today, children, children! are told at school that they can choose their sex. Why are they taught this? Because the books are supplied by the people and institutions that give you the money. These are the ideological colonisations backed also by countries that wield a great deal of influence. And this is terrible. Speaking with Benedict XVI,” he said, “who is well and lucid, he told me: ‘Holiness, this is the age of sin against the Creator!’ He is intelligent! God created man and woman; God made the world like this, like this, like this… and we are doing the exact opposite.” The Bishop of Rome also reflected on the situation of parishes. These are “valuable” structures but they are in need of an overhaul. “The problem,” Francis pointed out, “is how I configure the parish! There are parishes with parish secretaries that seem like “disciples of satan”, they scare people! Parishes with closed doors. But there are also parishes with open doors, parishes where, when someone comes to ask something, they are told: “Yes, yes? Take a seat. What is the problem?...” And they are listened to patiently.” The Pope stressed that being a parish priest today is tough but “the Lord called us so that we get a bit tired, he called us to work not to rest”. He went on to describe what went on at a parish in Buenos Aires. “Young couples would turn up and say: ‘We’d like to get married here…’ and the secretary would say ‘Yes, here is the price list.’ This is not on, this kind of think shouldn’t happen in a parish,” the Pope stressed. On dechristianisation, he said: “There is a strong secularisation in the modern world. It’s very strong. But some say: yes, it’s strong but you so see religiosity phenomena, as if a religious sense has been awakened. And this can be dangerous too. I think that we, in this highly secularised world, face another danger too, the danger of gnostic spiritualisation: this form of secularisation gives us the chance to develop a slightly gnostic spiritual life”; Francis recalled “that it was the first heresy in the Church: the apostle John seriously scolds the gnostics! – where there is a subjective spirituality without Christ. As I see it, most serious problem with this secularisation, is dechristianisation: removing Christ, removing the Son. I pray, I feel…that’s all. That is Gnosticism.” Finding “God without Christ,” he observed, “a God without Christ, a people without a Church. Why? Because the Church is the life-giving Mother and Christ is our elder Brother, The Son of the Father who answers to the Father, who reveals to you the name of the Father. An orphan Church, Because today’s gnosticism is a form of dechristianiation, without Christ, it creates an orphan Church, or rather, orphan Christians, an orphan people. And we need to impress that upon our people.” The Pope advises this: “Closeness. Today, as servants of the Lord – bishops, priests, consecrated people and committed lay people – we must ne close to the people of God. Without closeness, you have the word without any flesh”. From here, the transition to works of mercy, “both corporal and spiritual,” is direct: ‘But you says this because it is fashionable to speak about mercy this year…’ No, it’s what is written in the Gospel! Closeness means touching the suffering flesh of Christ.” And the Church, “the glory of the Church,” he added, “are the martyr, for sure, but it is also the many men and women who have left everything and spent their lives in hospitals, schools, with children, with the sick…” The Pope then told a story: “I remember, a little old nun in the Central African Republic, she was 83 or 84 years old, thin, a good woman, with a young girl… She came to say hello to me: ‘I’m not from here, I’m from the other side of the river, in Congo, but once a week I come here to do the shopping because it’s more affordable.” She told me her age, 83 or 84 years old. ‘I have been here for 23 years: I’m an obstetric nurse, I’ve helped deliver 2,000-3,000 children…” – ‘Ah… and you come here alone?’ – ‘Yes, yes, we come in the canoe…’At the age of 83! It took her an hour in the canoe to get here.” “This woman – and many other like her, have left their country – she is Italian, from Brescia – they have left their country to touch the flesh of Christ. If we visit these missionary countries, the Amazon, in Latin America, in the cemeteries we come across graves of so many men and women religious who died young because their immune system wasn’t strong enough to combat local diseases, so they died young.” The Pope clarified that “mercy is not something that I thought of. This is a process. If we look at the Blessed Paul VI, he mentioned mercy a few times. Then there was John Paul II who was the king of mercy, with the Dives in Misericordia encyclical, the canonisation of St. Faustina and then the Octave of Easter: he died the day before,” the feast of Divine Mercy was instituted by him. Speaking about Fr. Jacque Hamel’s murder at the hands of ISIS, he remarked: “Ideologies, yes, but what is today’s ideology which is right at the centre and is the mother of corruption and war? The idolatry of money. Man and woman are no longer at the pinnacle of creation, that is where the money idol has been placed and everything can be bought and sold for money. Money is at the centre.” “A great Catholic told me in shock about a time when he went to meet a friend of his who was an entrepreneur: ‘I’ll show you how I make 20,000 dollars without setting foot outside the house’. From California, he made an acquisition online and in 20 minutes, under 20 minutes, he had made 20,000 dollars. Everything is liquid!” On the subject of migrants, he said that speaking with “world economists who see this problem, they say: we need to invest in their countries”; “investments will give them Worland they won’t need to migrate. But there’s war!” There is a war “of tribes, some ideological wars or artificial wars, set up by arms traffickers who make a living on this: they give arms to you who are against them and to those who are against you. And that way, they earn their living! Corruption really is at the source of migration.” So “what can be done?” I believe that every country must see how and when: not all countries are the same; not all countries have the same means. Yes, but they do have the means to be generous! Generous like Christians. We cannot invest over there, but for those who come here… How many and how?” It is impossible “to give a universal answer, because receiving migrants always depends on the situation each country is in and its culture. But of course, so many things can be done. Prayer for example: once a week we can pray to the Most Holy Sacrament, praying for those who knock at Europe’s door and cannot enter. Some manage to but others don’t…Then one gets in and takes a path that sparks fear.” There are countries “that have successfully integrated immigrants for years! They were able to integrate them well. Sadly, ghetto-like communities seem to have developed in others.” There needs to be a global reform in terms of welcoming migrants. But this is nevertheless a relative aspect,” emphasised. “an open and welcoming heart is absolute. This is absolute! With prayer and intercession, doing what I can. What is relative is the way in which I am able to do this is: not everyone can do this in the same way. But this is a global problem! The exploitation of creation and the exploitation of people. We are living through a moment of annihilation of man as the image of God.” http://www.lastampa.it/2016/08/02/v...he-creator-fFhzoClvpJmpt0lHPvIh0H/pagina.html
The official Vatican transcript of this meeting, https://zenit.org/articles/transcript-of-popes-dialogue-with-polish-bishops/ fails to mention the following subject. In these words of the pope, the world would finally have written proof that the Kasper proposal has actually been the pope's personal agenda all along, but the Vatican isn't willing to publicly confirm that yet apparently. (Of course, maybe the holy and orthodox president archbishop of the Polish bishops' conference, who reveres the teachings of Pope St. JPII, made this up out of whole cloth. But if not, the omission is cause for serious concern.) https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/p...decisions-on-communion-for-divorced-remarried Pope spoke of ‘decentralizing’ decisions on Communion for divorced/remarried: Polish bishops’ head Pete Baklinski Follow Pete KRAKOW, Poland, July 29, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The head of the Polish bishops conference says that in a private meeting this week Pope Francis held with the country’s bishops, he spoke of allowing local bishops conferences to make decisions about the controversial practice of giving Communion to those who are divorced and remarried. “The Holy Father says that general laws are very hard to enforce in each country, and so he speaks about decentralization,” Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki told reporters after a July 27 closed-door meeting with the Pope in Krakow. The pope had traveled to Poland for World Youth Day. The pope related that in a decentralized Church, bishops’ conferences “might on their own initiative not only interpret papal encyclicals, but also looking at their own cultural situation, might approach some specific issues in an appropriate manner,” Gadecki said. It was October 2015 that Pope Francis called for a more decentralized Church where bishops conferences could be given authority, even on doctrinal matters. Critics saw the move as contrary to the apostolic creed in which Catholics profess belief in a Church that is “one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic.” Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said at that time that on matters of faith and morals it would be impossible for local churches to teach differently than Rome because it would compromise the oneness of the Church. Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki “The Ten Commandments are not subject to national frontiers. A bishops’ conference in a country cannot agree that stealing from a bank is not sinful in that country, or that divorced persons who are remarried can receive Holy Communion in that country, but when you cross the boundary and go to another country it now becomes a sin,” he said in an interview with LifeSiteNews at that time. A suggestion of a decentralized Church also appeared in the Pope’s April apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. He writes: “I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium…Each country or region, moreover, can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs.” U.S. canon lawyer Father Gerald Murray called the passage a “dangerous statement” in that it indicates that there could be different and even contrary laws in different countries regarding, for instance, who can be admitted to the sacrament of communion. “That’s very disturbing. The sacraments are not the possession of any culture, so therefore, their regulation is entrusted to the guardians of the Church, that is, the pope and the bishops. So, that inculturation is a very popular theme because we think, well, this makes people feel more at home with their religion, but I say just the opposite: when the religion is transmitted accurately from the center, then you feel most at ease,” he said in an interview with EWTN in April. On the same show, Robert Royal, the president of the Faith & Reason Institute, agreed. “We [would] have this absurd situation [in a decentralized Church] that you can get in your car and drive from Poland, and in Poland if you’re divorced and remarried you receive communion, it’s a sacrilege and it’s a break with tradition, it’s a slap in the face of our Lord… you drive across into Germany and suddenly it’s this new outpouring of [so-called mercy],” he said. Archbishop Gadecki told reporters after the meeting with the pope that the Church in Poland will refuse Communion to divorced and remarried Catholics. While he said that he himself recognized the need for “constant discernment” for remarried divorcees, he added that there could be a “theological clash” over the “need for faith and receiving the sacraments.” Communion for remarried divorcees is “not something solved in the confessional in two minutes or two years,” he stated. “This is a path priests and laity need to walk together, knowing that if a marriage has been validly concluded, there are no grounds of giving Holy Communion if the person is divorced and remarried.”
It is interesting to note the bishops who have told the pope "to go pound sand" on this teaching. Notably here in the US, Bishop Thomas Paprocki and Archbishop Charles Chaput have said no as well as the Polish bishops right during his audience there.
It is not nonsense. Do you believe that all popes are necessarily exceptional intellects? They are not, and rightfully so, as intellect is no guarantee of sanctity. There are other more important qualities-our first pope was far from an intellectual and erred several times, but he had the quality of irrepressible perseverance. It is glaringly obvious that Pope Francis, despite the suspect claims of certain liberals who champion him as a reclusive genius for their cause, is neither a philosopher nor a theologian. This doesn't make him any lesser a pope, but it seems to me refreshing that he can acknowledge the superior intellect of a predecessor who happens to be a strong contender for most intelligent man alive. Indeed, to realise this and to publicly assert it so emphatically is a great credit to our pope and counters strongly the accusations of false humility that some lay upon him.
If this is true.. "A couple of months ago, for instance, he expressly approved that a homosexual couple adopt a child. He is in touch with priests who have been repudiated by the official church because they got married. And, most importantly, he did not let himself be separated from his conviction that we must be on the side of the poor," the former priest says. Then he needs to spend more time with Benedict and seek his wisdom. In fact he should not leave Benedicts side for a moment.
Francis has said that every child deserves both a mother and a father. Certain children should not be held out as undeserving of that natural fact because of some agenda. From the days when he was Cardinal in Argentina he went up against the gov.: A Jesuit cardinal has become the latest Church leader to speak out forcefully against a government’s push towards same-sex marriage, and has called on his nation’s contemplatives to pray fervently to prevent such laws. According to an article in tomorrow’s L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires and Primate of Argentina, has said that if a proposed bill giving same-sex couples the opportunity to marry and adopt children should be approved, it will “seriously damage the family.” He made the statement in a letter addressed to each of the four monasteries in Argentina, asking the contemplatives to pray “fervently” that legislators be strengthened to do the right thing. He wrote: “In the coming weeks, the Argentine people will face a situation whose outcome can seriously harm the family…At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts.” Cardinal Bergoglio continued: “Let us not be naive: this is not simply a political struggle, but it is an attempt to destroy God’s plan. It is not just a bill (a mere instrument) but a ‘move’ of the father of lies who seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.” The cardinal also noted that “today the country, in this particular situation, needs the special assistance of the Holy Spirit to bring the light of truth on to the darkness of error, it need this advocate to defend us from being enchanted by many fallacies that are tried at all costs to justify this bill and to confuse and deceive the people of good will.” http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal_bergoglio_hits_out_at_same-sex_marriage
