The Catacombs - Pope Francis

Study finds priests aligned with Pope Francis are more likely to approve of sodomy

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 13:58:21 +0000

No surprise here...

Study finds priests aligned with Pope Francis are more likely to approve of sodomy
‘Approval of Pope Francis is negatively associated with the belief that homosexual sex is always wrong,’ researcher Lucas Sharma found.

Pope Francis
Shutterstock

Tue Sep 23, 2025
(LifeSiteNews [slightly adapted, not all hyperlinks from original included below]) — A recently published study shows that priests’ approval of Pope Francis during his lifetime is associated with the moral acceptance of homosexual activity.

“Approval of Pope Francis is negatively associated with the belief that homosexual sex is always wrong,” researcher Lucas Sharma found using data from the 2020-2021 Survey of American Catholic Priests.

In his study, Sharma also found that priests’ disapproval of homosexual activity – which the Catholic Church teaches is “intrinsically disordered” and gravely sinful – was correlated with several other factors. These included “ordination date, political conservatism, any degree of reported same-sex sexual attraction, and religious traditionalism.”

As previous studies have found, Sharma observed that heterosexual, recently ordained, politically conservative, and religiously traditional priests are more likely to endorse the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. A priest’s “religious traditionalism” was estimated by the frequency with which he prayed the Divine Office, since its daily recitation is a mandate of the Church, per canon law.

All the above factors were statistically significant in Sharma’s analysis. Interestingly, religious priests were found to be less likely than diocesan priests to believe that homosexuality is wrong.

While the gravely sinful nature of homosexual acts is an unchanging doctrine of the Church, Francis had given many Catholics the impression that the immorality of homosexuality is not as serious as the Church had always taught, or even that it is morally ambiguous.

He signaled this belief in many ways, not least of all by supporting homosexual civil unions, and by approving the blessing of same-sex couples via Fiducia Supplicans, which are both contrary to Scripture and perennial Church teaching.

Catholic laymen and priests immediately thereafter justified both immoral arrangements using Francis’ own endorsement, with many priests sacrilegiously performing blessings of same-sex couples in Catholic churches.

Francis also repeatedly held private audiences with pro-LGBT persons such as Father James Martin, S.J., who is a notorious defender of homosexuality.

Perhaps most famously, when asked by reporters about whether a priest can be homosexual, he said, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?” Some Catholics were quick to point out that a Catholic can have homosexual inclinations without wrongdoing – but this depends on refraining from homosexual activity. His statement was ambiguous and as such, led some to infer he was referring to active homosexuals.

Francis frequently gave the impression, not just with regard to homosexuality but with other moral issues, that Church teaching can change. At times, he veered into outright heresy, most clearly both through his endorsement of same-sex civil unions and his claim that one can receive Holy Communion in mortal sin.

Theologians, academics, and prelates felt compelled to correct him in defense of authentic Church teaching.

Destruction Reached after 12 Years of Francis

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 10:50:42 +0000

Destruction Reached after 12 Years of Francis
Paix Liturgique

TIA [slightly adapted and reformatted] | Posted June 18, 2025

The Bergoglian Age in numbers: In ancient Christian countries, but not only, the number of Catholics is declining.

Of course, there are many reasons for this, such as secularization, urbanization, competition from competing ideologies and religions, and the unravelling of family units and traditional values in many places. But the statistics point to a worrying acceleration since the start of Pope Francis' pontificate, particularly in places where bishops and, indeed, the Church as a whole, pride themselves on their progressivism and their entry into the 'marvellous' synodality.

Germany loses 500,000 Catholics a year

A prime example is Germany, spearhead of progressivism in the Church, whose dioceses are, along with the United States, the Vatican's main source of money. In August 2024, Riposte Catholique published statistics on “church exits” in Germany, showing that while their bishops are fleeing ahead in a less and less Catholic “synodal path,” German Catholics are losing interest in their religion:

“Church departures declined compared to last year: 402,694, to be compared with the 2022 figure of 522,821 departures, but the statistical office notes that this is nevertheless the second-highest figure in the history of church departure statistics. If one adds 'deaths, entries and moves,' the number of Church members in Germany has fallen by 591,718. At national level, the statistics still count around 20.3 million Catholics at the reference date of December 31, 2023. A year earlier, the figure was still 20.94 million.

The decline in German Catholics jumped dramatically in recent years

As there are also 18.56 million Protestants in Germany, the majority of Germans are no longer Christian - or rather, no longer officially attached to one of the country's main Christian churches. As a reminder, in 2020 Germany still had 22 million Catholics and 20 million Protestants for a population of 83 million. The decline of the Catholic population can also be seen in another statistic, shared by Katolisch.de on July 9: “In 2011, there were still 23 cities with a Catholic majority in Germany. Now only Münster, Paderborn, Bottrop and Trier remain. In Regensburg and Ingolstadt, for example, the proportion of Catholics has fallen by almost a quarter”

Above all, church departures are accelerating, in line with the dynamics of the “German Synodal Way” and thus with the line of thought promoted by Pope Francis: “if in 2010 181,000 Catholics and 141,000 Protestants had left their churches, in 2020 they were 221,000 and 220,000 respectively.

In 2011, there were 24.07 million Catholics and 23.37 million Protestants - the two religions then accounted for 60% of Germans”.

And of course, fewer Catholics means less tax redistributed to the Church and therefore to the dioceses, and consequently to the Vatican - we'll come back to this: “in 2023, the revenues of the 27 German dioceses will amount to 6.51 billion euros. This represents 330 million euros, or 5% less than in 2022. When inflation is taken into account, the decline is even more marked."

In neighboring Belgium

Equally progressive, the practice has fallen below 1% of the population, and in formerly more practicing Flanders, by 2022 70% of documents registering requests for euthanasia were written in Dutch - the language of the Flemish minority.

Above all, there are barely 30 seminarians left for the whole country, as the head of the Namur seminary explained to the parliamentary commission on abuses in the Church in March 2024: “at the John XXIII seminary in Louvain, 15 seminarians are currently studying for the five Flemish dioceses, and in Namur 17 seminarians are studying for the French-speaking part of the country [including 5 from Liège and 8 from Brussels in 2023].”

Switzerland: 34,000 fewer Catholics per year

In Switzerland, it's no better - statistics for 2022 published online by Riposte Catholique show a 10% acceleration in exits from the Catholic Church compared to the previous year, and above all a higher prevalence of exits in the most progressive diocese, that of Basel:

“In 2022, 34,561 people left the Catholic Church in Switzerland, roughly the same number as in 2021, but significantly more than in previous years (in 2021: 34,182; 2020: 31,410; 2019: 31,772), notes the SPI in a report published on October 30, 2023; compared with 1080 entering the Church and 910 in 2021. At the end of 2022, church membership stood at around 2.89 million (in 2021: 2.96 million). The cantons with the biggest losses are Basel-Stadt (3 out of 100), Aargau (2.7 out of 100), and Solothurn (2.2 out of 100).”

Italy: young people on the verge of extinction

In Italy, religious practice is holding steady... but not among young people, and the cessation of celebrations during the pandemic was an accelerating factor... as was the submission of many Italian bishops to health measures that were as intrusive as they were changeable and ineffective.

One of the many abandoned Churches of Italy
Credit: Roman Robroek

In August 2023, Riposte Catholique translated the report by the Italian Institute of Statistics (Istat), which took stock of so much decline - and of Italy's low birth rate:

“Over the past twenty years, religious practice in Italy has steadily declined, down to just half: from 36.4% of the population in 2001 who declared themselves 'practicing,' to less than 19% last year, so fewer than one in five people. The biggest 'leap' was recorded between 2019 and 2020, with the loss of 4 points of mass-goers. This was the year of the pandemic, during which 'face-to-face' celebrations were suspended, but church attendance was permitted."

According to the latest data from the Diocese of Milan, one of the largest in the world, baptisms have fallen from 37-38,000 in the 2000s to 20,000 today. Even taking into account the falling birth rate, this figure is low. As for marriages in the diocese, they have fallen from 18,000 a year in the 1990s to 4,000 today.

Churches are gradually emptying in all age groups, but the most obvious decline is among young people (18-24) and teenagers (14-17). While overall religious practice has fallen by 50% over the last twenty years, for these age groups the decline is two-thirds”.

Poland, South Korea: vocations down by half

In the de-Christianized, aging dioceses of old Europe, where the birth rate is often low, Polish or even South Korean priests often offer an alternative to African or Indian Fidei Donum. But for how much longer? These two countries are experiencing a drastic drop in vocations.

In July 2023, Riposte Catholique reported that the gathering of some 1,400 Polish seminarians at the Jasna Gora shrine was the tree that hid the forest of collapsing vocations:

“In 2021, admissions to Polish seminaries fell by 20%, Poland suffering the double shock after Amoris Laetitia and the closure of diocesan churches during Holy Week 2020, under the pretext of Covid and the so-called 'health' restrictions thereafter - something that had never happened, even under the Communist regime. The introduction of communion by hand and other Rome-inspired innovations didn't help matters either.

“Father Piotr Kot, president of the Conference of Rectors of Major Seminaries in Poland, told the Catholic news agency KAI that 356 seminarians had begun their studies in 2021. This compares with 441 in 2020, a drop of around 20%. The figures were 498 in 2019 and 828 in 2012”. That's a drop of half (57%) since 2012.”

Mass attendance in once staunchly Catholic Poland has fallen

In South Korea, it's no better, reports Fides in February 2025 - not least because of the world's worst birth rate (0.72), but not only because of it, the number of seminarians has fallen by 40% in ten years, and the number of baptized is plummeting as the generations get younger: “according to data from the Dicastery for Evangelization, in 2013 there were a total of 1,264 major seminarians in the various dioceses of the Korean Church.

Ten years later, in 2023, there were 790 seminarians, a drop of around 40% in ten years.

If we look even further upstream at the number of baptized Catholics, in the official statistics of the Korean Bishops' Conference (to 2023), we see that baptized children between the ages of 0 and 4 represent 1.8% of the Korean population; in the 5-9 age bracket, baptized children are 3.9%; and between the ages of 10 and 14, they represent 5.8% of the total Korean population. If we compare these figures with the overall figure, according to which Catholics represent 11.5% of the entire Korean nation, we can see that as the generations go by, their numbers diminish."

In Argentina, 50% less seminarians & 80% fewer entrants

The statistics on the decline in priestly vocations are even more marked in Argentina, the home country of both the Pope and Cardinal Fernandez. Moral affairs don't help: Pope Francis tried to clear a pedophile priest when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Father Julio Cesare Grassi, sentenced to fifteen years in prison in 2009 and incarcerated since 2013 (just as he protected to the bitter end Bishop Zanchetta of Oran, Argentina, who was forced to resign in 2017 but whom he immediately rehired as advisor to the Vatican's administration of the Apostolic See patrimony, but who, in 2025, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for raping seminarians, a sentence confirmed by the Court of Appeals).

The result of secularization and the Francis effect is a collapse in vocations: “Whereas the country had 2,260 seminarians in 1990, there will be just 481 diocesan seminarians in 2024 according to the American website The Pillar. While the number of religious seminarians is not available, it should be remembered that there were 351 in 2020. It can be estimated that there will be fewer than 900 seminarians in Argentina.

"There is therefore a clear drop in vocations, which is also reflected in the low number of entries to seminaries. This year, there were only 57 entries into diocesan seminaries. As a reminder, in 1997, there were 256 entries, a drop of almost 80% in twenty-five years."

Latin America turns Evangelical

The April 2018 issue of Hérodote magazine provides statistics on the subcontinent as a whole, and looks back at a major shift: Latin America... isn't so much Latin anymore.

“If, in the early 1970s, 90% of Latin Americans claimed to be Catholics, today the figure is just 65%. This decline in Catholicism takes three main forms. Firstly, a decline in the number of Catholics accompanied by an increase in the number of Evangelicals. This is the case in the region's most populous countries, Brazil and Mexico, where Catholics fell from 95% to 61% and 99% to 81% respectively between 1970 and 2014."

This decline is all the more striking given that these are the two countries in the world that still have the highest number of Catholics: Brazil with 172.2 million baptized, or 26.4% of Catholics in the Americas, followed by Mexico with 110.9 million baptized. The decline in the number of Catholics in Brazil is accompanied by a significant increase in membership of Protestant and Evangelical churches, which account for 26% of the population.

The Catholic Faith is declining all across Latin America

The second form of Catholicism's decline is the transformation of the religious landscape in Central American countries, where Catholicism has become a minority religion. All of these countries now have a Catholic population of less than 50%, compared with over 90% in the 1970s.

The decline of Catholicism in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala is all the more striking in view of the strong roots of liberation theology in the 1980s-1990s, and the role played by the Catholic Church in accompanying victims of abuse by both the military dictatorships and the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

These three countries, plus Honduras, are also the only ones where Evangelical churches could eventually become the majority: in Nicaragua, 30.4% of the population have joined them; in El Salvador, 35.3%; in Guatemala, 38.2; and in Honduras, 43.9%. Finally, in Chile, it's not the evangelicals but the atheists who are gaining in power, with 16% of the population, while Catholics are declining.

As a result, in 2014, countries that were still monolithically Catholic in 1950 and over 90% in the early 1970s lost 20% of the faithful in Argentina, 34% in Costa Rica, 31% in Brazil, 43% in El Salvador, 47% in Honduras - half of the total, 43% in Nicaragua, 15% in Mexico, 31% in Puerto Rico and 20% in Venezuela. And the number of Catholics has been falling ever since.

A map put online by the Center for Orthodox Journalists in 2024 shows that while Paraguay still has 89% Catholics and Mexico 74%, as well as Colombia, Ecuador and Peru 70%, there are only 57% in Brazil, 52.5% in Chile, 49% in Argentina, now one of the least Catholic countries in Latin America, and 37% in Uruguay. Meanwhile, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua now have between 36% and 43% Evangelicals, Venezuela 23%, Brazil 25%, Mexico just 4.5% and Argentina 7%.

By the way, Argentina has also dethroned Chile regarding the number of people who claim to be agnostics or atheists - 40% of the population. And 13% in Brazil, 5% in communist Venezuela, and 16% in Mexico. Almost half of the Catholic population in a country that was 91% Catholic in 1970: 40% atheist, irreligious or agnostic - the Pope Francis effect is in full swing in Argentina, a real hit.

Will the great Catholic decline affect Africa?

Faced with such a catastrophic picture, some would like to believe that Africa is a Christian sanctuary resisting decline. It's true that vocations remain at a high level, and many African dioceses twinned with the vocation-strapped dioceses of old Europe send them seminarians and deacons to enable them to keep the parish geography at arm's length.

Even Africa is starting to decline following the influence of Francis

Admittedly, Africa has spearheaded the refusal of Fiducia supplicans, and Cardinal Ambongo mentioned the “loss in terms of value, a cultural and moral decadence of the West” to whom he wished, from Kinshasa in DR Congo on January 16, 2024 a “happy demise.”

Yet some bishops' conferences are already worried. In Ghana, the number of Catholics fell by a third between the two censuses of 2010 and 2021, the bishops' conference warned in 2023: “The members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference (GCBC) propose the development of well-structured catechesis and formation programs, among other proposals, to address the declining number of Catholic faithful" in this West African country. The 2021 Population and Housing Census (2021 PHC) in Ghana shows that the number of Catholics has declined from 15.1% to 10.0% since the 2010 census.”

This article was published by La Paix Liturgique on Febraury 26, 2025 under the title “NUMBERS, JUST NUMBERS? THE FIGURE-BASED REALITY OF THE POST-CONCILIAR AND SYNODAL CHURCH IN EUROPE... AND AROUND THE WORLD”

Francis Was a Faithful Son of the Vatican II Revolution

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 16:00:10 +0000

Francis Was a Faithful Son of the Vatican II Revolution

Robert Morrison, Remnant Columnist | April 23, 2025

Francis was a faithful son of the Vatican II revolution. If he managed to save his soul, then surely he will pray for us to learn the most important lesson of his hostile occupation of the papacy: that all the harm he caused was directly related to the changes set in motion at the Council.

Jorge Bergoglio was ordained to the priesthood on December 19, 1969, four years after the close of Vatican II. His immediate predecessors — John Paul II and Benedict XVI — had been influential experts at the Council, but Francis was the first claimant to the papacy to have been formed in the priesthood during the period of revolutionary change propelled by Vatican II. While this does not absolve him of responsibility for his actions, it should help form our assessment of Francis’s role in Church history and learn the lessons that God wants us to learn from the harms he caused.

In his 1968 book about the Council’s aftermath, Is It the Same Church?, Frank Sheed introduced his topic by describing the way in which the Catholic world changed after the Council:

Quote:“My own feeling is that all the changes ushered in by Pope John XXIII were made possible by the forty years which preceded him. But how fast and furiously they have come. Consider how things would strike a Catholic wrecked in 1957 on a desert island and only just now brought home. His Catholic friends have him in their houses. In all of them he finds the conversation beyond him. It circles, sometimes heatedly, around two words which mean nothing to him — Ecumenism and the Pill.” (p. xi)

Sheed was of course referring to debates among Catholics about contraception (which would become the subject of Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae) and the false ecumenism that animated Vatican II. Sheed continued:

Quote:“The weeks that follow are full of shocks. The priest facing the congregation takes some getting used to. And Mass in English even more. He remembers arguments with Protestants in which his trump card had been the use of Latin as proof of the Church’s Catholicity — ‘one language everywhere in the world.’ . . . Whichever way he looks, the Catholic world he knew seems to have turned upside down — and so quickly: after all, he was only away ten years. He hears of priests getting married, with other priests performing the ceremony. He hears of nuns in picket-lines, nuns marching with Negroes and communists in Alabama; of seminarians picketing Cardinals, refusing daily Mass, declaring the Pope unfitted for his primacy.’ (pp. xi-xii)

This is what Jorge Bergoglio would have known during his priestly formation. It was not simply a matter of new beliefs, practices, and disciplines — all around him the Catholic world was unstable, with the only certainty being a radical departure from what had been standard in the eyes of most Catholics prior to the Council.

Elsewhere in Is It the Same Church?, Sheed listed ten matters he would consider changing if he was Pope:

Quote:“(1) The election of the Pope by the Cardinals; . . .
(2) The appointment of all Bishops by Rome;
(3) Clerical celibacy;
(4) The obligation of Sunday Mass;
(5) Diocesan seminaries;
(6) Communion in one kind only;
(7) Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament;
(8) Marriage in the presence of the priest;
(9) Vestments, special clerical dress, various titles and insignia;
(10) Censorship, the Index, Imprimaturs, etc.” (p. 9)

Sheed is still well-respected in Traditional Catholic circles today, with his books remaining in Traditional Catholic bookstores and online catalogs. As we can see, though, the list he compiled while Bergoglio was still a seminarian includes a few items most Traditional Catholics would consider to be impermissible changes. It should thus come as no surprise that a priest formed during this time would wholeheartedly embrace the revolutionary spirit that Sheed clearly adopted after the Council.

As another frame of reference, we can consider Yves Congar, one of the most important experts at Vatican II. In his farewell address to the clergy of Rome, Benedict XVI listed Congar among the “great figures” from Vatican II:

Quote:“And this continued throughout the Council: small-scale meetings with peers from other countries. Thus I came to know great figures like Father de Lubac, Daniélou, Congar, and so on.”

So Benedict XVI spoke well of Congar, who had been made a Cardinal by John Paul II. But Congar understood the revolutionary spirit of Vatican II quite well because he had helped kindle it:

Quote:“By the frankness and openness of its debates, the Council has put an end to what may be described as the inflexibility of the system. We take ‘system’ to mean a coherent set of codified teachings, casuistically-specified rules of procedure, a detailed and very hierarchic organization, means of control and surveillance, rubrics regulating worship — all this is the legacy of scholasticism, the Counter-reformation and the Catholic Restoration of the nineteenth century, subjected to an effective Roman discipline. It will be recalled that Pius XII is supposed to have said: ‘I will be the last Pope to keep all this going.’” (Congar, Challenge to the Church: The Case of Archbishop Lefebvre, pp. 51-52)

In other words, Vatican II not only yielded certain identifiable changes in belief and practice but also fostered an environment in which almost everything else was subject to change. It should come as no surprise, then, that Francis cited Congar as an inspiration for the most revolutionary project of his occupation of the papacy, the Synod on Synodality:

Quote:The Holy Spirit guides us where God wants us to be, not to where our own ideas and personal tastes would lead us. Father Congar, of blessed memory, once said: ‘There is no need to create another Church, but to create a different Church’ (True and False Reform in the Church). That is the challenge. For a ‘different Church,’ a Church open to the newness that God wants to suggest, let us with greater fervour and frequency invoke the Holy Spirit and humbly listen to him, journeying together as he, the source of communion and mission, desires: with docility and courage.”

Congar had been suspected of heresy during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII and should never have been allowed to play a pivotal role at Vatican II. It was an insult to the Holy Ghost for John XXIII to appoint Congar (like Rahner, Kung, etc.) as an expert at the Council. Ideas have consequences: once you break with Tradition and endorse radical change in the Church, there are few boundaries to the amount of destruction that can occur.

Who was supposed to convince Francis that Congar and the other Vatican II revolutionaries were wrong? The primary opponent of the Vatican II revolution, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, had been censured by Paul VI and excommunicated by John Paul II, two men canonized by Francis. And the conservative Catholics who ought to have opposed the Vatican II revolution have instead directed their energy toward supporting the Council’s innovations against anyone who has sided with Archbishop Lefebvre.

Francis was a faithful son of the Vatican II revolution. If he managed to save his soul, then surely he will pray for us to learn the most important lesson of his hostile occupation of the papacy: that all the harm he caused was directly related to the changes set in motion at the Council. Regardless of whether Francis saved his soul, though, it seems evident that God wants us to abandon the anti-Catholic ideas that have plagued the Church since the Council. If we refuse to do this, then we deserve for the next claimant to the papacy to be even more anti-Catholic than Francis. May God have mercy on him and us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

Disgraced former LA Cardinal Roger Mahony chosen to help seal Francis’ casket

Sat, 26 Apr 2025 09:42:39 +0000

Disgraced former LA Cardinal Roger Mahony chosen to help seal Francis’ casket
Mahony, 89, is widely considered to be one of the worst clerics of the past forty years,

having been implicated in a massive sex abuse cover-up in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 25: Cardinal Roger Mahony leads Christmas mass at The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels December 25, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.
Eric Thayer / Getty Images

Apr 25, 2025
(LifeSiteNews) — Disgraced U.S. Cardinal Roger Mahony has been chosen to help seal Pope Francis’ casket for his funeral this weekend.

Mahony, 89, is widely considered to be one of the worst clerics in the U.S. over the past forty years. He served as the Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 until 2011. As a result of his covering up of abuse, the archdiocese paid out more than $660 million to more than 500 victims over the course of his tenure.

Following his retirement, Mahony was scandalously allowed by Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez to participate in the archdiocese’s religious education conference in 2019.

Mahony took part in the 2019 installation Mass of former archbishop of Washington, D.C. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who was an acolyte of Theodore McCarrick, the former, now deceased, archbishop of Washington D.C. He also participated in the installation Mass of Archbishop Joe Vásquez in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston this March.

News of Mahony’s involvement in the ceremony was not well received by Catholics.

“Shame on him for participating in the public rite for Pope Francis, and shame on the College of Cardinals for allowing him to do so,” Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of Bishop Accountability.org, told the New York Post.

Author Peachy Keenan echoed those sentiments on X. “I will be boycotting the Pope’s funeral because the Vatican has chosen to include Cardinal Roger Mahony closely in the funeral ceremony. He is personally responsible for the mass rape of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of small boys in California and should be doing hard time in San Quentin, not frolicking in Rome. Shame on everyone involved in this travesty,” she remarked.

In 2013 a court demanded that some 12,000 pages related to Mahony’s time in office be released. The documents showed Mahony purposely concealed from the public knowledge of priests who had committed sex crimes with minors, and that he transferred the perpetrators after they received counseling only to have them sexually abuse again and again. The abuses were so severe that Gomez commented at the time, “the behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil.”

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said that Mahony was chosen based on his seniority as a cardinal. But Mahony told ABC 7 News that he and Francis often communicated.

“He encouraged us to write to him,” Mahony said. “I don’t know if anybody else did, but I started writing to him, and he answers the letters. I have, I don’t know the final number, over 30 letters back from the pope, Pope Francis. He responds to them.”

Francis’ funeral will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square. LifeSite’s Michael Haynes reports that a “small group of transsexuals” will attend. The coffin ceremony will take place Friday at 8pm in St. Peter’s as well. It will be overseen by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, and will include Cardinals Pietro Parolin and Giovanni Battista Re, as well Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, among others.

‘Transgender’ individuals to welcome Pope Francis’ coffin at burial site

Sat, 26 Apr 2025 09:38:34 +0000

‘Transgender’ individuals to welcome Pope Francis’ coffin at burial site
As announced by Vatican News, some self-described transgender individuals be included in a welcoming party for Pope Francis’ remains at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

Pope Francis meets with transgender activist group at weekly audience
LifeSiteNews

Apr 25, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews [adapted - not all hyperlinks included from original]) — A party of self-described transgender individuals will form part of a small group welcoming Pope Francis’ body to the Roman basilica where he will be buried on Saturday.

As announced by Vatican News – the in-house news outlet for the Vatican – some gender-confused individuals will be included in a welcoming party for Pope Francis’ remains at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

A group of of some 40 people were already due to be present outside the basilica on Saturday afternoon in order to form an official welcoming party to the mortal remains of the late pope. This was explained by the Holy See Press Office as being reflective of the pope’s attention to the poor during his life.

But a little later, Vatican News quoted the words of one of Rome’s auxiliary bishop – Bishop Benoni Ambarus – who gave further details about who would constitute the party.

Ambarus said there will be “a small representation of transsexuals whom I know, whom we follow through a small community of nuns.”

Also present will be some of Rome’s poor, homeless, prisoners, and migrants.

Explaining this, Ambarus said, “There will also be prisoners met at the opening of the Holy Door in Rebibbia [prison]. It is a moving choice, because the Holy Father will be welcomed by the Mother he loved so much and by his beloved children who will surround him.”

“Ideally, it is as if all his beloved people were accompanying him on his last steps,” he added.

The precise details of who will be in the party are not yet public.

Francis is well known for his frequent hosting of transgender groups at the Vatican, along with key transgender activists such as Sister Jeannine Gramick.

Asked about this during a television interview earlier this year, Francis said “Proximity! That’s the word. Proximity to everybody. Everyone.”

Francis’ practicing of “proximity” has included a number of audiences and meetings with individuals actively living as though a member of the opposite sex, or key LGBT activists. He has also welcomed a group of purportedly transgender individuals as VIP guests at his weekly audiences, after Sister Genevieve Jeanningros facilitated the encounter between them and the pontiff.

Participants of these encounters have also recounted how meeting the Pope re-enforced them, rather than awakening them to their biological reality.

One woman, who lives as a man, commented that her meeting confirmed her in her “transgender identity.”

The Catholic Church calls all souls to the practice of chastity, but particular care is given to those suffering with same-sex attraction to offer the assistance needed but also to ensure that the fullness of Catholic morality is not compromised in this endeavor.

Teaching found re-iterated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law.” The catechism is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved, and repeats that “[h]omosexual persons are called to chastity.”

The late pope’s LGBT record infamously began with his 2013 in-flight comments, “Who am I to judge?” when asked about the existence of a gay lobby within the Vatican and the practice of homosexuality. Such support took a marked increase in the wake of the Vatican’s March 2021 responsum condemning same-sex “blessings,” as Francis made numerous public statements praising and supporting advocates of LGBT ideology and same-sex civil unions.

Then in December 2023, he authorized the Declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which contained approval for “blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.” Written by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández – prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith – and approved by Francis, the document caused instant and widespread consternation throughout the global Church.

Fiducia Supplicans was swiftly welcomed by LGBT advocates and heterodox clerics, while vocal opposition was found predominantly in Africa along with a steadily growing number of dioceses in the U.S., Europe, the U.K., and among religious orders.

Notable prelates – Cardinals Gerhard Müller and Joseph Zen and Robert Sarah, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Bishop Athanasius Schneider – all penned their rejection of the document’s proposal for same-sex blessings, many doing so repeatedly. Sarah went as far as to state that Fiducia Supplicans proposes a “heresy that gravely undermines the Church, the Body of Christ, because it is contrary to the Catholic faith and tradition.”

Fiducia Supplicans’ publication arguably caused one of the greatest tumults in the Francis pontificate up until that time, with the global backlash against the text on a scale previously unseen in the prior 11 years of Francis’ reign.

LifeSiteNews readers are invited to continue praying for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis’ funeral to take place Saturday

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 09:03:30 +0000

Pope Francis’ funeral to take place Saturday
Members of the faithful can pay their respects to the late pontiff from Wednesday, as his remains will be lying in state in the Vatican.

Pope Francis lying in state, April 22, 2025
Vatican Media

Apr 22, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis’ funeral will take place on Saturday, April 26, the Vatican has announced, following the public veneration of his body in the days prior.

In an announcement issued Tuesday morning, the office of papal liturgical ceremonies gave details about Pope Francis’ funeral and the public paying respect to his remains.

On Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Rome time, the funeral for the deceased pontiff will take place in St. Peter’s Square. It will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re who is Dean of the College of Cardinals. Following this, the pope’s remains will be transferred inside the basilica, and from there will be taken to the Basilica of St Mary Major’s, where he is to be buried in accord with his wishes.

Prior to that, the pope’s remains will be on public display in St. Peter’s Basilica, for members of the faithful to pay their respects. He will be taken from the Casa Santa Martha guesthouse to the Vatican Basilica on Wednesday morning, and there displayed in front of the high altar for all to see.

Many thousands of pilgrims were due to be in Rome this weekend for the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. However, following the pope’s death on Monday morning, the ceremony has been postponed, with no replacement date yet being given. For many, though, their journey to Rome will still take place but with the sombre rites of a simplified papal funeral instead of the joyous ceremony of a canonization.

The announcement of the pope’s funeral arrangements came during the course of the first of the General Congregations for the College of Cardinals, which began at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning. [To read LifeSiteNews’ full explainer on the process following a pope’s death, see here]

Cardinals not already in Rome will have to hastily travel to the city, in order to take part in the congregations as well as the funeral.

The second of the General Congregations will take place tomorrow afternoon, after the cardinals join in the solemn rite of translation of the pope’s body into the Vatican. As part of the Holy See’s formal mourning period of nine days, the Novendiali, a Mass will be offered every afternoon at 5 p.m. The first day of the Novendiali is April 26, the date given for Francis’ funeral.

As for the start of the conclave itself and the rounds of voting to elect a new pope, the Church’s law stipulates that this must begin between 15 and 20 days after the pope dies. In this case, that would mean starting around May 6 at the earliest, and May 11 at the latest.

Pope Francis has died aged 88

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 10:34:43 +0000

Pope Francis has died aged 88
Pope Francis' reign in the papal throne spanned more than a decade, and witnessed the spread of widespread confusion

on numerous matters of the Catholic faith.

Apr 21, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews [adapted, not all photos and hyperlinks included from original]) –– Pope Francis has died today, aged 88.

The Holy See Press Office announced the news, writing:

A short while ago, His Eminence Cardinal Farrell announced with sorrow the death of Pope Francis with these words:

Quote:“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with deep sorrow that I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis.

At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the Father’s house. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church.

He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially toward the poorest and most marginalized.

With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the Triune God.”

Pope Francis’s health had been steadily declining in recent months. He had suffered persistent breathing problems through the winter and was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 for bronchitis but was then diagnosed with double pneumonia in what was first described as a “complex” then a “critical” medical scenario. He suffered a number of respiratory crises and failures and presented with symptoms of “mild” kidney failure during his hospitalization. Discharged back to the Vatican after 38-days, Francis began a 2-month convalescence as his doctors revealed he nearly lost his life twice in the spring hospitalization.

He was last in public on Easter Sunday to give the Urbi et Orbi blessing, but looked notably weak, being barely able to raise his arms and with a particularly strained voice.

The Argentinian prelate had led the Catholic Church as Pope since March 13, 2013. He emerged to the world as a surprise successor to Benedict XVI, following the German Pope’s shock resignation in February 2013.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained on December 13, 1969 and was raised to become Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in May 1992, before assuming control of the see in 1998. Created cardinal by Pope John Paul II in February 2001, he served as the vice-president and then president of the episcopal conference of Argentina from 2002 – 2011.

In the papal conclave following Benedict XVI’s resignation, Cardinal Bergoglio was elected to the Papal throne on March 13, 2013, at the age of 76.

Styled as the “pope of confusion” by commentators, his reign was marked by a rapid diversion from Catholic teaching on numerous issues, with his pronouncements and writings leading to widespread confusion amongst Catholics on topics such as LGBT issues, divorce and “re-marriage,” nature of the priesthood, role of the laity in ecclesial governance, adherence to Tradition, and the permissibility of the traditional Latin Mass.

Indeed, the issues arising from his pontificate do not end here, since they also include the gutting of the Pontifical Academy for Life and re-filling it with supporters of abortion; the championing of “climate change” and globalist policies; the promotion of taking abortion-tainted COVID-19 injections as a moral duty; pushing an irreligious concept of “human fraternity” which was widely accused of rejecting God and subsequently welcomed by Muslims and Freemasons; being involved in the reported cover-up of a number of high-profile abuse cases, such as Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick; remaking the Vatican curia with individuals noted for their rejection of Catholic teaching on numerous points.

Pope Francis: A bishop from ‘the ends of the earth’

Announced as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church on March 13, 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected on just the second day of the conclave. Many have argued that his election was a result of a longstanding and coordinated plan by the secretive St. Gallen group or mafia. (More details on his election are provided further below in this obituary).

Citing concern for the poor as his reason, Bergoglio chose the new papal name of Francis in imitation of St. Francis of Assisi, though he had in fact not visited Assisi at that point. Addressing the crowds in St. Peter’s Square on the evening of his ascent to the throne, Francis avoided using the term “Pope,” presenting himself instead as “bishop” of Rome. “You know that it was the duty of the Conclave to give Rome a Bishop. It seems that my brother Cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth to get one… but here we are… I thank you for your welcome. The diocesan community of Rome now has its Bishop.”

His appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s was notable for is departure from tradition: gone were the Pope’s red shoes which symbolized martyrdom; gone were the Papal pectoral cross and ring, with Bergoglio choosing his own instead; gone also was the traditional red mozzetta.

He also dispensed with the usual order of a papal blessing, asking the assembled crowd to pray for him, before imparting a blessing.

The evening was a revelatory one, with many commentators already remarking on the new Pope’s disregard for customs.

He created over 140 cardinals in nine consistories through his reign, and issued well over 3,500 documents, texts or speeches. Among this number were 4 Encyclicals: Lumen Fidei, largely written by Pope Benedict and finished by Francis; Fratelli Tutti, which expounded a form of irreligious fraternity dubbed as “blasphemous”; Laudato Si’, which advocated for “climate change” measures and formed the basis for his future ecological writings and interventions; Dilexit Nos, on the Sacred Heart.

Pope Francis also penned 74 Motu Proprios, 92 Apostolic Letters, 7 Apostolic Exhortations, 20 Apostolic Constitutions, and one Papal Bull. Francis made over 40 official papal trips outside of Italy and visited 65 countries as of September 12, 2024.

Newly elected Pope Francis speaks to the waiting crowd from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on March 13, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican.

Pope Francis bows to receive the prayers of those assembled in St. Peter’s Square, March 13, 2013.

Traditional Latin Mass

One of the most notable and impactful aspects of Francis’ tumultuous pontificate is his attack on the Church’s traditional Mass, which was affected over a number of years. His July 16, 2021, motu proprio Traditionis Custodes abrogated Pope Benedict’s 2007 Summorum Pontificum, declaring that the liturgy of Pope Paul VI, or the Novus Ordo, is the “unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”

The immediate fallout of the text saw closure of traditional Masses in various locations around the world. It was supposedly born out of a survey by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which claimed devotees of the traditional Mass fostered “disagreements,” ruptures in the Church, and the “peril of division.”

READ: Cdl. Roche says Latin Mass needs to be restricted because the ‘theology of the Church has changed’

However, the implementation of the restrictions was not swift or widespread enough, prompting Francis’ perfect of the Congregation for Divine Worship (Cardinal Arthur Roche) to issues increased restrictions in December 2021, followed by yet more restrictions in February 2023. The results of the CDF’s survey were never published, and are believed never to have been seen by Roche’s dicastery implementing the restrictions.

Canonists have argued that Traditionis Custodes itself was not canonically legal, and prelates such as Cardinals Raymond Burke, Robert Sarah and Bishop Athanasius Schneider repeatedly spoke out against the papal moves. Schneider has stated that to comply with the restrictions would be a “false obedience,” Sarah decried them as “diabolical,” and Burke styled them as being a “persecution.”

By virtue of these various documents against the traditional Mass, Francis thus ordered traditional Masses out of parish churches, forbade newly ordained priests from automatically being able to say the traditional Mass, limited the number of priests already with that permission, restricted the use of the traditional sacraments, and removed diocesan bishops’ powers to exempt their priests from the papal restrictions.

In addition to this, the Pontiff repeatedly took aim at devotees of Tradition, describing them as “rigid” and highlighting this as a problem related to “clericalism.” In one such characteristic discussion, Francis argued that devotion to the traditional Mass was a “nostalgic disease” resulting in “indietrism.”

In a quasi-autobiographical book published in January 2025, Francis also accused Catholics who attend the traditional liturgy of having a “mental imbalance, emotional deviation, behavioral difficulties, a personal problem that may be exploited.”

READ: Pope Francis accuses young Catholic priests who like the Latin Mass of ‘mental imbalance’

Indeed, further restrictions on the traditional Mass had been rumored to be enacted over the summer of 2024, with Francis reportedly having the document on his desk ready to sign. But following an outpouring of public support from groups and individuals, the rumored text never emerged.

Fiducia Supplicans: same-sex blessings

On December 18, 2023, the Vatican published the Declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which contained approval for “blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.” Written by CDF prefect Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, and approved by Pope Francis, the document caused instant and widespread consternation throughout the global Church.

READ: Pope Francis publishes norms for clergy to ‘bless’ homosexual couples

The Declaration argued that offering blessings to same-sex couples did not change the teaching on marriage, or validate the “status” of such relationships. It came in apparent contradiction to the CDF’s 2021 note which ruled out the possibility of blessings “unions of persons of the same-sex,” stated that blessings could be provided to individuals who came alone, seeking a blessing.

Fiducia Supplicans was swiftly welcomed by LGBT advocates and heterodox clerics, while vocal opposition was found predominantly in Africa along with a steadily growing number of dioceses in the U.S., Europe, the UK, and amongst religious orders.

Notable prelates – Cdls. Müller and Zen and Sarah, Abp. Viganò, Bp. Schneider – all penned their rejection of the document’s proposal for same-sex blessings, many doing so repeatedly. Sarah went so far as to state that Fiducia Supplicans proposes a “heresy that gravely undermines the Church, the Body of Christ, because it is contrary to the Catholic faith and tradition.”

Francis and Fernández defended the document strenuously from critics, with Francis arguing that “those who vehemently protest [Fiducia Supplicans] belong to small ideological groups.”

In one March 2024 interview which exemplified the rationale often used by the Pope, Francis stated that “I do not bless a ‘homosexual marriage,’ I bless two people who love each other and I also ask them to pray for me.”

Fiducia Supplicans’ publication arguably caused one of, if not the greatest, tumult in the Francis pontificate up until that time, with the global backlash against the text on a scale previously unseen in the prior 11 years of Francis’ reign.

Homosexuality and LGBT

The late Pope’s record on homosexuality and apparent promotion of it, is of proportions previously unseen by the Vatican. He was repeatedly praised by LGBT activists for regular comments appearing to break with Church teaching opposing homosexuality and gender ideology.

This record infamously began with his 2013 in-flight comments “who am I to judge” when asked about the existence of a gay lobby within the Vatican and the practice of homosexuality. Such support took a marked increase in the wake of the CDF’s March 2021 responsum condemning same-sex “blessings,” as Pope Francis made numerous public statements praising and supporting advocates of LGBT ideology and same-sex civil unions.

READ: Pope Francis appears to reject the idea that homosexuals are called to chastity

Numerous times he appeared to suggest that homosexuals could present themselves for Holy Communion, though without stating so explicitly. Such statements often took the form of the Pope refusing to answer specific questions with the relevant aspect of Catholic teaching on chastity or the immoral nature of homosexual actions. Notably, when speaking with Portuguese Jesuits in August 2023, he appeared to suggest that homosexual should not be encouraged to practice chastity if “they are not yet mature, or are not capable.”

Pope Francis and Fr. James Martin SJ

The Pope also argued strongly against anti-sodomy laws – in contradiction to the teaching of saints and Church Fathers – saying that criminalizing homosexuality is “unjust.” He criticized bishops who supported anti-sodomy laws, calling for them to “undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.”

READ: Pope Francis calls woman with sex-change operation a ‘man’ and calls partners ‘married’

As part of his LGBT advocacy, he repeatedly welcomed prominent LGBT activists at the Vatican, such as Fr. James Martin S.J., along with transgender individuals and groups. He also allegedly told dissident U.S. activist and professor Aaron Bianco, who is in a same-sex “marriage,” to continue his efforts to make the Church more open to homosexual unions.

A duo of pro-LGBT advocates – Sr. Jeannine Gramick and the openly homosexual Juan-Carlos Cruz – respectively claimed that Francis wasn’t aware of the text of the CDF’s 2021 note prohibiting same-sex blessings and that he subsequently fired the officials responsible for the text. {This CDF text was of course contradicted by Fiducia Supplicans in 2024} Cruz himself attested that Francis told him that “God made you gay;” Cruz was brought by Francis to join the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Pope Francis meeting with woman who underwent sex-change surgery (right) and her ‘wife’ (left)

Due to his policy of public inaction against bishops repudiating Catholic teaching on homosexuality, bishops in both Belgium and Germany approved plans and documents for same-sex blessings, despite the church’s prohibition of such. Prior to FiduciaSupplicans’ publication, Belgium’s Bishop Johan Bonny claimed on a number of occasions to have the Pope’s personal approval for the Belgian bishops’ same-sex “blessings,” a statement which supported the German bishops’ approval of same-sex blessings in March 2023.

Such was Francis’ record on LGBT issues, that the CEO of one of the most influential pro-LGBT pressure groups in the U.S. – GLADD, which describes itself as “the world’s largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization” – praised him for his actions, during the 2025 World Economic Forum’s Davos meeting.

Amoris Laetitia, the Dubia and Holy Communion

The emergence of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia in April 2016 was a seminal moment for the Catholic Church, due to the text’s promotion of Holy Communion for the divorced and ‘re-married.’

In the brief lines of the infamous footnote 351 in Chapter 8, Pope argued for the “integration” of those in “irregular unions” into the life of the Church. In the footnote, he stated that this “integration” can, “in certain cases,” involve admittance to the sacraments, including the Eucharist.

Fielding questions on the text, he answered by saying there is “no other interpretation” of Amoris Laetitia except the one provided by the bishops of Buenos Aires allowing Communion for the divorced and remarried.

The Pope was also asked during an in-flight press conference if the text contained a “change in discipline that governs access to the sacraments” for Catholics who are divorced and “re-married,” Francis replied, “I can say yes, period.”

Pope Francis receives a ritual feather from an indigenous elder, Quebec City, Canada, July 27, 2022, on the day he participated in a smudging ceremony.

The document served as a catalyst for many Catholics – clerical and lay – who had hitherto been trying to interpret Francis’ increasingly obvious heterodoxy in line with Tradition. Within months, a group of Catholic scholars issued a letter to all the cardinals and patriarchs, warning that Amoris Laetitia contained “dangers to the faith” and appealing for a correction.

READ: Pope fails to reply to 4 cardinals’ urgent plea for clarification, so they go public

Then on November 14, 2016 four cardinals publicly released a letter, the Dubia, which they had privately sent to the Pope on September 19 but had gone unanswered. The four signatories – Cardinals Walter Brandmüller, Raymond Burke, Carlo Caffarra, and Joachim Meisner – issued the Dubia only ten days after Francis’ comments to the Buenos Aires bishops – an interpretation of Amoris Laetitia which Brandmüller had previously warned would be heretical.

Their Dubia consisted of five questions each requiring a simple answer of “yes” or “no,” and positing Amoris Laetitia in juxtaposition with Catholic Tradition.

The letter was never officially answered, with Caffarra and Meisner dying some years before Francis.

READ: Pope Francis signs text affirming Amoris Laetitia allows Communion for divorced and remarried

However, responding to a Dubia from Cardinal Dominik Duka O.P. on the same issue in 2023, the CDF provided an answer to the 2016 Dubia. Duka asked whether Pope Francis’ response to the Bishops of Buenos Aires – when the Pope stated there was “no other interpretation” of Amoris Laetitia except the one provided by the bishops of Buenos Aires in allowing Communion for the divorced and “re-married” – can be considered “a statement of the ordinary Magisterium of the Church.” Fernández wrote that since Pope Francis’ words were published in the Vatican’s official compilation of documents, the Acta Apostolicae Sedes, they were “authentic Magisterium.”

Pope Francis also refused to issue Catholic teaching on the prohibition of Holy Communion for politicians complicit in promoting abortion. He regularly argued “Communion is not a prize for the perfect,” that clergy should not “go condemning” pro-abortion politicians, and that he has never refused Communion to anyone.

Then in October 2021, Francis made waves when he reportedly told the radically pro-abortion U.S. President Joe Biden to “keep receiving Communion,” calling Biden “a good Catholic.”

Some months later, at a Papal Mass, Nancy Pelosi was permitted to receive Communion, despite having only recently been banned by her local bishop {Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone} due to her support for abortion.

Francis’ 2022 Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi, in which he reaffirmed his restrictions on the Latin Mass, also contained his argument that Communion was to be offered to all, leaving out the “essential topic of repentance for sin for the worthy reception of the Eucharist.” This prompted a group of prominent bishops, priests and lay scholars to write a statement warning that Francis’ claim of “garment of faith” as the only requirement for the reception of Holy Communion, “contradicts the faith of the Catholic Church.” Their statement went unanswered by the Vatican.

Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Iain Greenshields give a joint blessing in South Sudan, on February 4, 2023.

Papal Pachamama idolatry

During the 2019 Synod on the Amazon held at the Vatican, Catholics were shocked when pagan idols were afforded center stage in an idolatrous ceremony. One of the offerings made to the idols was later placed on the altar inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

On Friday, October 4, Pope Francis took part in the “highly symbolic tree-planting ceremony” in the Vatican Gardens, during which an Amazonian group prostrated themselves before a number of carvings, including two nearly identical wooden Pachamama statues depicting a naked, pregnant woman. Pope Francis was offered a statue of the image, which he blessed; he then set aside his prepared speech at the event, and instead simply recited an Our Father.

The Pachamama is a pagan goddess of the “figure of life,” an Incan fertility goddess, and is revered among Indigenous groups.

Ednamar de Oliveira Viana leads prayer ceremony in the Pachamama event, in Vatican Gardens, Oct. 4, 2019

Pope Francis receives a Pachamama statue in the Vatican gardens during the pagan indigenous ceremony, Rome, Oct. 4, 2019.

Pope Francis and female indigenous leader at tree-planting ceremony, Vatican Gardens, Oct. 4, 2019.

The event caused instant consternation and outrage amongst faithful Catholics, with laity and prelates condemning the act of seeming idolatry which was attended, and partially led, by the Pope.

A number of the Pachamama statues were kept in the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, some few hundred meters down the road from the Vatican. However, On October 21, an Austrian Catholic Alexander Tschugguel and his friend took the Pachamama carvings out of the Catholic church and threw them into the Tiber – an action which won the praise of numerous prelates, including Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, and Cardinal Raymond Burke.

Undeterred, Pope Francis apologized for this to “the people who were offended by this act,” and argued that there was no “idolatrous intention” in their usage. Francis stated that the statues had been recovered from the river and even suggested they would be displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica during the final Mass of the Synod.

This did not come to pass, but instead Pope Francis directed a bowl of plants – associated with Pachamama by virtue of having been “offered” to the pagan false god during the October 4 ceremony – to be placed on the Papal Altar for the Synod’s closing Mass on October 27. The altar is situated directly over St. Peter’s tomb.

“Many saw in this bowl an occult sign, an offering to a demon, that was scandalously placed on God’s altar on which the Pope offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,” wrote LifeSiteNews’ Dr. Maike Hickson.

Dr. Hickson also noted how even in late 2020, the altar had not been used for Mass since the Amazon Synod, and the infamous honoring of Pachamama statues. The absence of any Mass at the altar since the Synod was described by Professor Armin Schwibach, a Vatican Correspondent who has lived in Rome for more than three decades, as a “symbolic emptiness.”

Ecumenical human fraternity without God

Both with his Abu Dhabi Document on Human Fraternity (2019) and Fratelli Tutti (2020), Pope Francis issued a defining feature of his papal reign – namely, a form of “fraternity” and “unity” which appeared divorced from the Catholic faith. The Abu Dhabi document, signed by Francis and his friend the Grand Imam Ahmad el-Tayeb, infamously states: “The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings.”

Responding to its release in 2019, a Dominican theologian known to LifeSite argued that the document “in its obvious sense is false, and in fact heretical.”

Dr. Ahmad el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar Al Sharif and Pope Francis visit Sheikh Zayed Mosque on February 4, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The Abu Dhabi text was also described as seeming to “overturn the doctrine of the Gospel” with its promotion of equality of religions in a form of “fraternity.” Similarly, Fratelli tutti was condemned by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, as promoting a “blasphemous” form of brotherhood without God as well as “religious indifferentism.”

READ: Pope Francis’ new foundation appears to have more in common with French Revolution than with Catholicism

Promoting “fraternity” once more, Fratelli Tutti’s publication was met with praise by Spain’s Masonic Lodge, with the Masons calling it “the latest encyclical” of Pope Francis in which he “embraces the Universal Fraternity, the great principle of Modern Freemasonry.” Together, the two documents became the backbone of a number of subsequent aspects of Francis’ activities, particularly with regard to increased events, papal trips, and relations with Muslims.

Notably, the documents gave rise to the Abrahamic Family House in the UAE: a place of ecumenical encounter where Catholics, Moslems and Jews come together to worship in a “new phase in the history of religions.”

But in response to the texts Bishop Schneider has noted that: “it contradicts Divine Revelation to say that, just as God positively wills the diversity of the male and female sexes and the diversity of nations, so in the same way he also wills the diversity of religions.”

According to Church historian Roberto de Mattei, when “fraternity” is divorced from Christian charity, “far from constituting an element of cohesion in society,” it “becomes the source of its disintegration.” He argued that “if men, in the name of fraternity, are forced to live together without an end that gives meaning to their sense of belonging, the ‘ark’ becomes a prison.”

In September 2024, Francis made comments which appeared to dwarf the controversy of the afore-mentioned two texts, when he told an inter-religious group of children that “every religion is a way to arrive at God. There are different languages to arrive at God, but God is God for all. And how is God God for all? We are all sons and daughters of God. But my god is more important than your god, is that true? There is only one God and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, they are different paths.”

READ: Pope Francis: ‘Every religion is a way to arrive at God’

A widespread controversy erupted and the Pope’s comments were widely criticized as being akin to “heresy” and contradicting the “entire Gospel.”

Such a style was often displayed in Francis’ ecumenical actions, as he often joined leaders from various creeds for ecumenical vigils, and on several occasions joined Protestant and Orthodox prelates in giving a blessing in unison to the congregation.

Synod on Synodality

While the years of Francis’ pontificate were denoted by a series of Synods – Synod on the Family in 2014 and 2015, Synod on Young People in 2018, Synod on the Amazon in 2019 – the multi-year Synod on Synodality saw many themes of his time in the Vatican come to fruition and become a chief focal point of his years in white.

Beginning in October 2021, the Synod is set to last until October 2024. It is comprised of various stages, proceeding from local diocesan levels, through bishops’ conferences, then to continental levels. Its culmination in Rome in 2024 will see bishops and laity assemble to discuss the key themes of the Synod.

READ: Vatican’s Synod on Synodality will consult non-Catholics, lapsed Catholics

Since its inception, the Synod has been a cause of alarm for faithful Catholics, due to its process of “listening” including “Catholics who rarely or never practice their faith, etc,” as well as “people who have left the practice of the faith, people of other faith traditions, people of no religious belief, etc.”

With each successive synodal document, such concerns were increasingly vindicated with prelates such as Cardinals Burke, Müller, Pell, Joseph Zen all condemning the Synod and its trajectory in the strongest possible terms. In August 2023, Burke wrote that “Synodality and its adjective, synodal, have become slogans behind which a revolution is at work to change radically the Church’s self-understanding.” October 2022 saw Müller declared in an interview that the Synod was a “hostile takeover of the Church.”

Pope Francis with the Synod team. L-R: Cdl. Jean-Claude Hollerich, Fr. Giacomo Costa, Cdl. Mario Grech, Bp. Luis Marín de San Martín, Sr. Nathalie Becquart. October 14, 2022.

Bishop Schneider, for his part, argued that the Synod is “a tool used to dilute evermore the clarity of the Catholic faith,” and that it is permitting “poison, spiritual poisons” to spread.

A number of anti-Catholic issues presented themselves through the Synod process, including allowing Holy Communion for the divorced and “re-married,” the inclusion of “the divorced and remarried, people in polygamous marriages, or LGBTQ+ Catholics,” female deacons, and a new priority given to lay governance in the Church.

From the outset, the Synod received notable praise from Francis’ loyal supporters, and papal biographer Austen Ivereigh argued it was “potentially the most transformative moment in Catholicism since the Second Vatican Council, which it seeks to embed permanently into the life of the Church.” Such a statement which aligned with Francis’ own ideas, as he denoted the Synod as a continuation and implementation of the work of the Council, and event he described as “a visit of God to His Church.”

Francis also made ground-breaking changes to the structure of the Synod of Bishops, personally choosing lay-people to have voting rights alongside the bishops. While this move itself made waves amongst observers, his other select choices for the Synod’s meetings highlighted the direction of the event with numerous, influential pro-LGBT prelates and advocates listed as participants and leaders of the Synod.

Opening the Synod in 2021, Pope Francis quoted Vatican II theologian Fr Yves Congar and called for “a different Church” courtesy of the Synod. “Synodality is, in fact, the long-game of Pope Francis,” Newark’s Cardinal. Joseph Tobin revealed in May 2021. Indeed, Francis has previously stated in Canada in 2022 that “the Church is either synodal or it is not Church.”

When the Synod officially closed in October 2024, that goal appeared to have been effected and though the Synod event was over, the Synod process was ordered to continue.

Francis also accepted into the Magisterium the Synod’s final text, which contained the false claim that women’s access to the ordained ministry “remains open.” This was roundly rejected by a number of cardinals, though few among the wider episcopate made vocal objection. However more concrete changes on LGBT aspects were not contained in the Synod’s final text, leading to disgruntlement from such activists.

Handling of abuse

A phrase often repeated during the course of Francis’ pontificate was “zero tolerance,” which was how the Pope described his, and the Church’s, policy in response to cases of abuse.

In 2019, Francis issued a motu proprio responding to clerical sex abuse, entitled “Vos estis lux mundi,” making the cover up of sex abuse a crime under Canon Law. However the document was nevertheless lacking in that it did not condemn consensual acts of homosexuality by members of the clergy. It was subsequently slightly modified and re-issued in March 2023, this time condemning as criminal sexual acts not just with minors but also with a “vulnerable adult.”

However, as the years of his pontificate grew, reality did not appear to support the “zero tolerance.”

The Pope’s handling of the case of fellow Argentine Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta is a high-profile example. Zanchetta was one of the new Pope’s first appointments in 2013. In 2015, Zanchetta was summoned to Rome, after pornographic images of “homosexual sex,” along with “nude selfies” of Zanchetta himself were found on his phone. Francis accepted Zanchetta’s statement that the bishop had been subject to phone hacking.

The next year, several priests in Zanchetta’s diocese testified regarding evidence of Zanchetta’s behaviors, describing him as “a personal friend of the Holy Father.” When Zanchetta resigned his see in 2017, Francis created a new post for the bishop at the Vatican, defending the bishop for the next two years. The bishop underwent a canonical trial, with no results publicly delivered. When he finally underwent a civil trial in Argentina, the Vatican refused to cooperate. He was eventually sentenced to jail for “aggravated continued simple sexual abuse committed by a recognized minister of religion,” with commentators stating he “received an extraordinary degree of personal attention and protection from Francis.”

Pope Francis greets Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta.

The Pope’s record with disgraced ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick has also come under scrutiny. Former Papal Nuncio to the U.S. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò famously accused Francis of knowing about McCarrick, about the restrictions imposed on him by Benedict, and of deliberately repealing the restrictions. Viganò’s 2018 testimony took the Church and much of the world by storm, with the 11-page text naming numerous prominent prelates, and accusing Francis of making McCarrick “his trusted counselor.”

The long-awaited McCarrick report, released in November 2020, revealed that, contrary to Francis’ statements, he had in fact been informed of the immoral behaviors of Theodore McCarrick but did not act upon them.

Summarizing the McCarrick report, Dr. Maike Hickson observed how the text confirmed that:

Quote:Pope Francis did know about the sex abuse allegations against McCarrick and that the Vatican had taken steps, from 2006 on, to remove him from the public, by telling him to move into a more remote residence and to hold back in his public appearances and travels. Pope Francis chose not to follow up.

More recently, Francis’ credibility on the issue was further rocked by the case of fellow Jesuit Father Marko Ivan Rupnik. Rupnik was accused of psychologically and sexually abusing religious sisters in an order for which he was a co-founder. In a separate offense, Rupnik was also automatically excommunicated and found guilty by the CDF’s court of absolving in confession a woman with whom he had sexual relations.

Francis was accused of having direct involvement in the case, and even of intervening within “a few hours” to overturn the excommunication. In January 2023, Francis denied his involvement in the case, a move described by Messa in Latino – which lead the coverage of the Rupnik case – as “lying diplomatically.”

Rupnik was later expelled from the Jesuits, but despite his alleged victims testifying that his artwork was “deeply connected” to his abuse, Francis continued to promote the images in various videos. Only after international outcry over Rupnik being incardinated into a Slovenian diocese in October 2023, did Francis announce the Vatican would open an investigation into the priest.

In late 2024, the inaugural edition of a Vatican investigation into its own policies for responding to abuse highlighted “current deficiencies” in procedures, including the CDF’s own handling of abuse cases, but notably did not touch on the potential role of a Pope intervening in abuse cases.

Pope Francis in audience with Fr. Rupnik, January 2022.

Closure of churches in COVID era

In a move, which was linked by many to the October 2019 act of idolatry led by the Pontiff, Pope Francis oversaw the closure of Catholic Churches in Rome in response to COVID-19. The Pope’s action was copied all across the globe, with Catholics locked out of their churches and denied the sacraments for weeks and even months on end.

With the emergence of COVID-19 into Italy, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis – the Pope’s vicar for the diocese of Rome – announced March 12, 2020 that all the Catholic churches in Rome would be closed until April 3, 2020. The decision was made only with the approval of Pope Francis, according to De Donatis.

Indeed, when De Donatis’ hand was essentially forced by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski – who refused to shut his church in Rome – the cardinal vicar reopened churches for private prayer. This decision was also taken with the direction and approval of Pope Francis.

The COVID related closures saw the Vatican portrayed in a hitherto un-envisaged light. Masses were live-streamed online, with the vast basilicas and churches left empty of worshippers.

Pope Francis famously held a special Urbi et Orbi prayer and blessing in the rain-drenched Vatican square on March 27, 2020, during which he prayed in front of two ancient religious images of Rome. The icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani – kept in the Papa Basilica of St. Mary Major – along with the miraculous crucifix kept in the church of San Marcello.

Following the 14th century crucifix’s exposure to the rain, strong concerns were raised that the image was damaged beyond repair, though subsequent analysis found that the damage was not as severe as initially thought.

Speaking in March 2020, Pope Francis said he believed that the coronavirus pandemic is nature “having a fit” in response to environmental pollution. He echoed this some weeks later, describing the emergence of COVID-19 as “certainly nature’s response” to what he referred to as human impact on the environment.

Dr. Hickson opined, regarding the COVID closure of churches and Masses, “whether there is a connection between all of these events: that is to say, from the Pachamama bowl on the Papal Altar to the cancellation of the Christmas Midnight Masses in many parts of the world.”

Climate change adherence

One of the repeated and very visible focal points for Francis during his time in the papal throne was his promotion to “climate change” oriented policies and promotion of an “ecological spirituality.” His 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si’ became the reference text for a number of Vatican and Papal initiatives focused on the green agenda. In it, Francis spoke about “true ecological approach” which listens to “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

The document later gave rise to the Laudato Si’ Movement, which aims to “turn Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’ into action for climate and ecological justice,” as the mass divestment from “fossil fuels” is inspired by the pontiff’s environmental writings.

On October 4, 2023, Francis published a second part to Laudato Si’ in the form of an Apostolic Exhortation named Laudate Deum.

READ: Pope Francis is subverting faith to the all-consuming ideology of ‘climate change’

The Pope also made numerous calls to action for global leaders to implement the pro-abortion Paris Climate Change Agreement, citing the “negative effects of climate change” and an “ecological debt” which required “climate finance, decarbonization in the economic system and in people’s lives.”

After many years of such rhetoric, in 2022 the Vatican officially joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Climate Agreement. Francis defended the controversial move, saying that “she [‘mother earth’] weeps and implores us to put an end to our abuses and to her destruction.”

READ: Vatican’s official newspaper promotes call to ‘fast’ from fossil fuels during Lent

His actions disregarded long-standing and repeated concerns from pro-life and family advocates, who continually warned about the climate activism movement’s alignment with pro-abortion and population control advocates and lobby groups.

READ: Pope defends participation in Paris Climate Agreement, says ‘mother earth’ is at ‘breaking point’

As already noted on numerous occasions by LifeSiteNews, the Paris Agreement is indeed pro-abortion and connects to the stated U.N. goal of creating a universal right to abortion in line with Goal #5.6 of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Consequently, Bishop Schneider joined the late Cardinal George Pell in condemning Francis’ concept of “ecological conversion,” with Schneider arguing it was “an expression of pure naturalism… there is no supernatural vision, or a very vacant supernatural vision.” “Ecological conversion is an abuse of this concept of conversion itself,” he stated.

Vatican’s deal with China

A feature more of the latter years of his pontificate, the Pope’s secretive deal made with authorities in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to be one of the chief elements of scandal from Francis’ tenure on the papal throne.

First signed in 2018, before being renewed every two years in 2020, 2022, and in 2024 the deal has remained a closely guarded secret, known only to the Vatican and Beijing authorities. Francis and Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin continually defended the deal, with Francis stating in 2018 that it would usher in a “new chapter of the Catholic Church in China.”

Cdl. Parolin has argued that the terms of the agreement remain secret since it is technically still only provisional. With the 2024 renewal being for a 4-year period, the deal will be a decade old by the time of its next renewal date.

It is believed to recognize the state-approved version of the Catholic Church and allows the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to appoint bishops. The Pope apparently maintains a veto power although in practice it is the CCP that has control, as has been evidenced by repeated violations of the deal by the Chinese. It also allegedly allows for the removal and replacement of legitimate bishops by CCP-approved bishops.

READ: Pope Francis empowered Communists with Magisterial authority in Vatican/China deal

Pope Francis and Parolin were both vocal in their defense of the agreement, with the Pope stating before its 2022 renewal that the deal “is going well.” Indeed, in a 2018 letter to Chinese Catholics, Francis described the deal as forming a “new chapter of the Catholic Church in China.”

China expert Steven Mosher described the deal as an action which was “perhaps the most controversial of a papacy dogged by controversy.”

Mosher’s assessment was strongly supported by emeritus bishop of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who repeatedly proffered his criticisms of the deal. He described the agreement as an “incredible betrayal,” and accused the Vatican of “selling out” Chinese Catholics.

The deal also led to a heightened increase in religious persecution, which the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China described as a direct consequence of the deal. In its 2020 report, the Commission wrote that the persecution witnessed is “of an intensity not seen since the Cultural Revolution.”

READ: Pope Francis’ deal with Communist China has led to greater persecution of Catholics

Yet both Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher – the latter being the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations – have argued separately that the deal is chiefly the work of Pope Benedict XVI. Such a claim, Zen described as telling “a series of lies with eyes open,” as he accused Parolin of knowingly “lying.”

Indeed the Vatican’s deal has garnered criticism not just from Catholics, but from politicians and freedom advocates. Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notably slated the deal in September 2020, writing that “it’s clear that the Sino-Vatican agreement has not shielded Catholics from the Party’s depredations, to say nothing of the Party’s horrific treatment of Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong devotees, and other religious believers.”

Early life

Born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the eldest of five children. His parents were of Italian origin: his father Mario José was an Italian immigrant and an accountant, while his mother Regina Sivori also had Italian roots.

After attending a Salesian school for part of his education, Jorge Mario then studied chemistry during his teenage years, earning qualifications as a chemical technician.

With this, he spent some years working with his degree until he discerned a vocation to the priesthood.

He then spent a few years training at the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto. But aged 21, he developed severe pneumonia and doctors found three cysts. Consequently, he underwent surgery to remove a large part of one lung as a result of the illness, and spent the rest of his life with just one full lung, a factor that was taken into consideration when assessing the seriousness of his conditions during hospital admissions in his latter years.

The young Bergoglio soon after left the diocesan seminary and joined the Jesuits as a novice in March 1958.

He finished his study of humanities in Chile and returned to his native Argentina in 1963, where he taught literature and psychology at Santa Fé’s Immaculate Conception College and at the Colegio del Salvatore in Buenos Aires, between 1964 and 1966.

Next, the young Jesuit studied theology at the Colegio of San José from 1967 – 1970.

Ordination and leadership roles in Jesuit order and universities

Bergoglio’s time as a Jesuit priest and later prelate is much less known about, at least in the English-speaking world, since any English-language reports on the man emerged chiefly at the time of his ascent to the Papal throne, and have focused on his years in Rome. Some, such as prominently heterodox English journalist Austen Ivereigh, have written biographies presenting accounts of Bergoglio’s pre-Vatican years, but are unsurprisingly laudatory. For a more nuanced account, one must turn to Spanish-language accounts.

Fr. Jorge Mario Bergoglio

After nine years in the Jesuits, Bergoglio was ordained a priest in December 1969 at the hands of Archbishop Ramón José Castellano. He continued his training following ordination, serving also as novice master and theology professor at Villa Barilari, San Miguel; consultor to the Province of the Society of Jesus and also Rector of the Colegio Máximo of the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology.

With such roles already under his belt, Bergoglio made his final profession as a Jesuit on April 22, 1973, aged 36 years old.

Weeks later, in July 1973, he was appointed as Jesuit provincial in Argentina and Uruguay, a position he held for six years. Many reports by non-Argentines published after his ascent to the Pontificate have denoted Bergoglio being personally austere, but Henry Sire recounts the testimony of locals who carefully argued that Bergoglio’s austere lifestyle was a carefully crafted move in the “pursuit of power.”

Sire further notes that during his time as provincial in Argentina Bergoglio did in fact resist the liberal Marxist school and liberation theology, but simply because “Bergoglio himself was a man of the people, and in Latin America ‘liberation theology’ was a movement of intellectuals from the higher classes.”

After this term of office concluded, he returned to the College of San José as rector between 1980 and 1986.

At this juncture, the priest was sent to Frankfurt, Germany to finish his doctoral thesis. However, only months later he returned to Argentina, reportedly without permission according to Sire. He then served as a confessor and spiritual director to the Jesuit community in Córdoba, Argentina. He remained here for another six year period, in what has been styled an “exile.”

This “exile” was in part due to Bergoglio being at the center of discord in the Jesuit community of Argentina. His style of governance and mixing of religion with politics earned him enemies, both on the left and the right, who had already begun to amass before he left San José seminary as rector.

Bergoglio was accused of not conforming with the widespread changes seen after Vatican II, described as even being too traditional.

This was acknowledged by Bergoglio when made Pope, stating in 2013 that his “authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have serious problems and to be accused of being ultraconservative.”

While later, as Pope Francis, Bergoglio made it a point to visit Jesuit communities on his various international trips – with all the appearance of a vibrant and healthy relationship – he was not liked by Jesuits in his native South America during the 1980’s and 1990’s. Relationships deteriorated to the point that Bergoglio was accused of having an “insistence that only he knew the right way to do things.”

By 1990, Bergoglio was confined to a restricted public ministry, not allowed to say public Mass, nor to make phone calls without permission, and to concentrate on confessions. Citing a “senior Jesuit in Rome,” researcher Paul Vallely wrote that Bergoglio’s leadership style had alienated about two-thirds of Argentina’s Jesuits by 1990.

Raised from Jesuit disgrace to be bishop

During this time, Fr. Bergoglio caught the eye of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino of Buenos Aires, who wanted to have the Jesuit assisting him in the archdiocese. Consequently he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in May 1992 by Pope John Paul II.

But such a promotion is out of the ordinary for a Jesuit, and consequently a dispensation was needed from the Order, along with a report. Henry Sire writes that the report – sent to Quarracino by the Jesuit general – “represents the most damning character study of Jorge Bergoglio composed by anyone before his election as pope.”

Archbishop Bergoglio

While the report since disappeared from the public view – and even from the Jesuit archives in their Rome headquarters – Sire presented the summary of a priest who had seen the report. It allegedly accused Fr. Bergoglio of:

Habitual use of vulgar language
Disobedience concealed under a mask of humility
Lack of psychological balance

Quarracino welcomed Bergoglio into the diocese, perhaps convinced of Bergoglio’s account that he was a victim of unjust reports from the Jesuits. In December 1993 he was made Vicar General of the archdiocese.

In June 1997, Bergoglio was then made Co-Adjutor bishop of the archdiocese, and, less than 9 months later succeeded Quarracino upon his death as Archbishop, Primate of Argentina and Ordinary for Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina.

Cardinal Bergoglio: The Peronist and liberal force

John Paul II made Archbishop Bergoglio a cardinal in the February 2001 consistory, along with 36 other prelates, many of whom have remained notable figures in the life of the Church in recent years, including:

Theodore McCarrick – the notorious ex-cardinal, whose alleged abuse sent shockwaves through the entire Church, but especially in America.
Giovani Battista Re – who presided over the 2013 election of Bergoglio to the papacy due to his role as senior voting cardinal, and was dean of the college of cardinals under Francis from 2020.
Walter Kasper – notoriously outspoken and heterodox prelate, who received signal praise from Francis in the earliest days and first half of his pontificate.
Oscar Maradiaga – who served as a long-time ally to Bergoglio and led his C9 Council of Cardinals from its inception in 2013 through 2023.
Cormac Murphy-O’Connor – key member of the St. Gallen Mafia who lobbied to elect Bergoglio in 2013.

In fact, the St. Gallen Mafia – a group well documented and self-confessed in their activities to organize Bergoglio’s election to the papacy in 2013 – can trace much of its influence in the 2013 conclave to this same 2001 consistory. Of the known members of the infamous group – O’Connor, da Cruz Policarpo, Martini, Danneels, Husar, Kasper, Silvestrini, and Lehmann – only Silvestrini and Martini were not created cardinal at the 2001 consistory.

Pope John Paul II greets Cdl. Bergoglio at the 2001 consistory

As cardinal, Bergoglio demonstrated ever more his adherence to the Argentinian political style of Peronism – named after the controversial Argentinian president Juan Perón – a specific style of veering to the left or right, depending on what best suited his search for power. It was a style which later also characterized his pontificate. Even his more sycophantic admirers admitted to this, with Austen Ivereigh terming him “the most astutely political Argentine since Perón.”

READ: Pope Francis attacked and stonewalled sex abuse victims while archbishop of Buenos Aires

Drawing from Argentinian sources, Henry Sire wrote that Cardinal Bergoglio assumed “a simple, retiring person which was in fact cover for close psychological control.” He populated his inner circle with “mediocrities whom he could dominate,” Sire added.

The new cardinal was remarked at for his apparently simple lifestyle, travelling on public transport and eschewing the customary episcopal apartments next to the cathedral.

Cdl. Bergoglio on the metro in Argentina.

His rise to prominence in the wider sphere was partly due to accident: Cardinal Egan was due to be Relator General of the 2001 Synod of Bishops in Rome, but owing to the September 11 terror attacks, Bergoglio was called upon to take over.

His personal interventions and leadership of the event led fellow cardinals and Vatican observers to suggest that Bergoglio was being thought of as papabile. Writing in 2002, veteran Vaticanista Sandro Magister argued that the 2001 Synod meant Bergoglio “has leapt to the top of the list of the papabili, given the ever-increasing likelihood that the next pope could be Latin-American.”

Sire’s account includes the detail that Bergoglio’s much-lauded speech was in fact written by an Argentinian priest in the Secretariat of the Synod.

A 2005 report – which noted Bergoglio as the chief rival to Ratzinger in the 2005 conclave – declared that “his star shone in Rome” and left “a favorable impression as a man open to communion and dialogue.”

That same report recounted how “Bergoglio is not a theologian or an outstanding intellectual nor a polyglot (although he can cope with foreign languages), but he moves in all milieux securely and ably, especially in Rome.”

It was also during this time as cardinal that Bergoglio swung from being known for somewhat more conservative values, to being a staunch liberal. It is understood that following the 2001 Synod, Bergoglio renewed his acquaintance with Cardinal Carlo Martini SJ, the leader of the St. Gallen group and arguably the leader of the liberal wing inside the Church at the time. Vallely reported that in 2001, Bergoglio’s outlook changed and he “began to talk like a liberation theologian.”

According to Ivereigh’s biography of Pope Francis, Martini and Bergoglio became close, with Sire noting the Argentine cardinal portrayed himself “as the ally” of the St. Gallen mafia.

Bergoglio’s influence in Latin America also grew during this time. While he had turned down the position of president of the Latin American Bishops Conference in 2002 – serving instead as vice-president – in November 2005 he assumed the role of president. His prestige was thus that of the leading Catholic cleric in the country during those years.

But he also emerged as a surprise – at least to the wider public – close contender to Pope Benedict XVI in the 2005 conclave following John Paul II’s death.

Bergoglio was “seen as a highly attractive choice” by many of the cardinals, wrote Austen Ivereigh in 2013, especially after Cardinal Martini withdrew his name from consideration citing illness. He garnered 40 of the possible 117 votes during the second round of voting, thus coming second behind Ratzinger.

The now-widely attested account of Bergoglio’s near rise to the Papal throne in 2005 was largely forgotten about in the clamor surrounding the new Pope Benedict XVI, and in the lead up to the 2013 conclave most news reports were too focused on the details of a shock resignation to seriously recall the leading contenders from 2005.

Cardinal to Pope

At the time of Benedict XVI’s resignation in 2013, Cardinal Bergoglio was 76 years old and still in-situ as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Accounts suggest that in the years leading up to the 2013 conclave he was looking to retire and even mentioning his plans to move to a clergy retirement home.

Upon reaching 75 in December 2011, he submitted his mandatory notice of retirement as Archbishop but continued to lead the see due to Pope Benedict XVI not appointing a successor.

But upon Benedict’s resignation, everything changed for the Argentinian who had declared his intention to retire. Citing sources from Buenos Aires, Sire recounts how Bergoglio reacted to the shock news.

Bergoglio’s attitude, writes Sire, had become “exultant.” The telephone “never stopped ringing with international calls from Bergoglio’s allies and they were all calls of personal congratulations.” One of the cardinal’s friends who rang to ask about the news was reportedly told by Bergoglio: “You don’t know what this means.”

Emboldened by his near success in 2005 Bergoglio made his way to Rome for the conclave. His influence amongst the Latin American prelates was strong and his supporters in the St. Gallen group held considerable influence over European prelates.

READ: There are still many unsolved mysteries surrounding the 2013 election of Cdl. Bergoglio to the papacy

Much controversy has since surrounded the details of that 2013 conclave. Some have argued passionately that rules and procedures laid down by Pope John Paul II in Universi Dominici Gregis (UDG) were not followed, thus invalidating the procedure, and making Francis a non-pope. Others argue and present evidence to show that some form of pro-Bergoglio organizing was definitely in place prior to the conclave but was of a level that did not violate the Church’s law.

Certain reports are more credible and attested to by numerous sources, while other arguments remain less so.

Cdl. Bergoglio at the start of the 2013 conclave

Controversy aside, however, certain aspects are worth considering especially given that Sire describes the event as “probably the most political papal election since the fall of the Papal State.”

Writing just two days after Bergoglio ascended to the Papal throne on March 13, 2013, Ivereigh stated that the cardinal reportedly impressed his cardinal colleagues with a speech he gave.

Ivereigh wrote:

Quote:Before or after that address, he was approached by some over-80 cardinals who had voted for him on the first and second ballots in 2005, to ask him if he could be willing to be considered in 2013. Having received a favourable answer, the idea of Cardinal Bergoglio spread quickly among a number of different groups.

The afore-mentioned St. Gallen Mafia is argued to have been involved to some extent in the resignation of Benedict XVI, since it comprised of a number of key cardinals who schemed for years to elect a pope who would change the Church and attempt to make it more liberal. Journalists and researchers have highlighted links between Cardinal Bergoglio and members of the self-professed group.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, though too old to vote himself, was also described by various accounts as being highly influential in drumming up support for Bergoglio. Based on interviews with O’Connor and the former British ambassador to the Holy See, the former editor-in-chief for The Tablet Catherine Pepinster described O’Connor as “playing the most powerful non-voting role in the choosing of a pope I’ve ever known.”

This was acknowledged by The Guardian’s 2017 obituary of O’Connor, recounting a meeting between Francis and O’Connor shortly after the 2013 conclave, when “the pope pointed to his old friend and said, ‘You’re to blame!’”

Ex-cardinal McCarrick also attested to his role in the election. Some 6 months after the 2013 election, he declared that prior to the general conversations at the conclave he was approached by “a very interesting and influential Italian gentleman.” The “very brilliant man, very influential man in Rome” said, “What about Bergoglio? Does he have a chance?” McCarrick stated he was surprised at the question, and replied, “I don’t think so because no one’s mentioned his name.” The Italian man replied, referring to Bergoglio, “He could do it, you know, reform the church.”

Pope Francis greets then Cardinal McCarrick

Indeed, Ivereigh wrote that the St. Gallen group “first secured Bergoglio’s assent. Asked if he was willing, he said that he believed that at this time of crisis for the Church no cardinal could refuse if asked. Murphy-O’Connor knowingly warned him to ‘be careful,’ and that it was his turn now, and was told ‘capisco’ – ‘I understand.’”

This particular line of Ivereigh’s about the conclave was a cause of controversy even in itself, due to the claim that cardinals secured Bergoglio’s assent prior to the conclave, which would violate the laws of UDG. Holy See Press Office director Fr. Lombardi SJ issued a statement in December 2014, which attested that Cdls. O’Connor, Lehmann, Daneels and Kasper “explicitly denied this reporting, both concerning the request of approval from Cardinal Bergoglio, and concerning the conducting of a campaign to push his election.”

READ: Evidence Pope follows blueprint to change Church by dissident cardinal who led St. Gallen ‘mafia’

Ivereigh countered, arguing he “never meant to suggest” that the cardinals had “some kind of agreement” with Bergoglio, but that they believed “this time Cardinal Bergoglio would not resist his election.”

With such peculiar and political elements seemingly taking place and being widely reported in an unprecedented manner due to the nature of social media and internet news-sites, debate of varying degrees swirled around Francis’s election throughout his pontificate.

Finally, in August 2023, Archbishop Viganò made the striking claim that a cardinal who participated in the 2013 conclave told friends “that he has witnessed facts that render the election of Jorge Mario null and void.” The archbishop had in 2022 already expressed his doubts about the validity of the 2013 conclave and requested an “investigation.”

Viganò repeated but did not expand on the claim – a claim which progressed much further in its weight and impact than reports of political style machinations during the 2013 conclave. The claim went unanswered by the Vatican, and also by those cardinals who participated in the 2013 conclave.

Another peculiar aspect is about the existence of five votes on the second day of voting, which would violate UDG’s stipulation of only four votes per day. Henry Sire, Italian journalist Antonio Socci, and Austen Ivereigh all report details about the errant ballot, although Socci goes further than others in arguing that the ballot violated the entire election.

The first vote took place on March 12. The accounts state that on the second day of voting, the fourth vote of that day included a “blank voting-paper” which invalidated that particular count of votes. Ivereigh writes that there was found “one more ballot paper than there were cardinals,” meaning that the fifth vote of the conclave – fourth of the day – was “annulled” since “the rules were clear, and the cardinals had to vote all again.”

While UDG stipulates only four votes per day, a fifth one of the day – sixth of the conclave – then took place, in which Bergoglio received his majority of 95 votes of the total 115. Debate has since emerged as to whether that fifth vote of the second day was so irregular as to invalidate the election. With the details of a conclave bound by the Pontifical Secret, more precise accounts of the 2013 conclave are unlikely to be known, even though its end result is of course so widely documented in history, as Cardinal Bergoglio emerged onto the Vatican’s Loggia as Pope Francis – the first of that name.

With the death of Pope Francis, the Church thus sees the end of his pontificate: years marked by confusion, seeming attack on doctrine, along with tolerance of irreligious and non-Catholic values in the highest level of the hierarchy. Bergoglio, as priest, bishop, and cardinal proved to be a divisive figure.

As Pope, his supporters have argued that he was a radical figure of reform, opening the doors of the Church in order to let the touch of modern society influence an outdated reality. By his critics, he is described to have been one of the most destructive figures within the Catholic Church due to his statements, actions and lack of action.

Before Francis, Pope John Paul II also praised Pachamama

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 13:24:30 +0000

The following is taken from TIA's What People are Commenting section, dated April 3, 2025:

JPII Praised Pachamama

Dear TIA,

Recently I googled "Pachamama" and notices the mention of John Paul II's endorsement, in this long Wikipedia article. Perhaps you might want to do a little more research. Francis gets all the blame for the horror of five years ago, but JP II set a precedent. For him was pagan worship all just fine?

Below is the most expressive text.

-P.O.B.

Quote:Along similar lines, Pope John Paul II, in two homilies delivered in Peru and Bolivia, identified homage to Pachamama as an ancestral recognition of divine providence that in some sense prefigured a Christian attitude toward creation. On February 3, 1985, he stated that "your ancestors, by paying tribute to the earth (Mama Pacha), were doing nothing other than recognizing the goodness of God and his beneficent presence, which provided them food by means of the land they cultivated."

On May 11, 1988, he stated that God "knows what we need from the food that the earth produces, this varied and expressive reality that your ancestors called "Pachamama" and that reflects the work of divine providence as it offers us its gifts for the good of man."

Pope suffers breathing crisis amid pneumonia battle, Vatican says

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:46:23 +0000

Pope suffers breathing crisis amid pneumonia battle, Vatican says
The Vatican says that throughout the day that Pope Francis remained alert and oriented the entire time

Fox News | February 28, 2025 1:51pm EST

Pope Francis' condition worsened after he went through a bronchospasm that led to an episode of vomiting and inhalation, the Vatican said. Following the episode, the pope began non-invasive ventilation and was responding well. According to Vatican sources, the pope is now breathing with the help of a mask that covers his nose and mouth, and is not intubated.

The Vatican says that throughout the day the pope remained alert and oriented the entire time. However, Vatican sources noted that Pope Francis is not out of danger and the doctors still need to assess the impact of today’s episode.

Before the episode, Pope Francis spent his morning alternating between praying and respiratory physiotherapy. He also received the Eucharist.

This is not the 88-year-old pontiff’s first episode since being hospitalized nearly three weeks ago. On Saturday, he had trouble breathing and, according to Vatican sources, an "isolated" incident in which he coughed and vomited. He is now reportedly using a different type of mask and is breathing normally. [Story continues here...]

Francis' Lenten Appeal: "Conversion to Synodality"

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:31:00 +0000

Francis' Lenten Appeal: "Conversion to Synodality"

gloria.tv | February 25, 2025

Francis, hospitalized since February 14, published on Tuesday his Lenten message dated February 6.

He repeats his mantra that the Church is called "to be synodal" and even calls for a "conversion to synodality". Nobody knows what "synodal" or "synodality" is.

Furthermore, Francis proposes to face the "concrete reality" of an illegal immigrant: "It would be a good Lenten exercise for us to compare our daily life with that of a migrant."

Illegale immigration is a big business for international trafficking organisations. The illegal immigrants are mostly young and strong men with mobile phones.

Vatican says Pope Francis is still "critical" & "not out of danger."

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 09:44:10 +0000

Pope Francis receives blood transfusions, Vatican keeping prognosis confidential
'This morning Pope Francis presented with an asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the application of oxygen at high flows,' announced the Vatican, listing Francis' condition as 'critical.'

Feb 22, 2025
(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis, who remains in critical condition, was recently administered a blood transfusion and “high flows” of oxygen, the Vatican announced Saturday, adding that at this time his prognosis is being withheld from the public.

Per the Vatican:

Quote:The Holy Father’s condition continues to be critical, therefore, as explained yesterday, the Pope is not out of danger.

This morning Pope Francis presented with an asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the application of oxygen at high flows.

Today’s blood tests also showed plateletopenia, associated with anemia, which required the administration of hemotransfusions.

The Holy Father continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday. At the moment the prognosis is reserved.

Saturday’s update follows Friday’s press conference in which the doctors attending to Francis in the Gemelli stated that his condition is “fragile” and warned often that the 88-year-old is not out of danger.

The doctors did mention Friday that Francis was taking oxygen occasionally, but the Saturday update suggests that such use has become more frequent or more intense. Prior to Saturday, there had not been mention of Francis needing hemotransfusions.

Francis was taken to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome last Friday for bronchitis, and since then was diagnosed with double pneumonia in what was described as a “complex” medical scenario.

Pope Francis has double pneumonia, Vatican announces

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:49:11 +0000

Pope Francis has double pneumonia, Vatican announces
The latest update from the Vatican about Pope Francis' health reveals that his condition has deteriorated yet again, now presenting with double pneumonia.

Pope Francis at the Vatican, February 9, 2025
YouTube

Tue Feb 18, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has double pneumonia requiring “complex” medical care in the hospital, the Holy See Press Office announced this evening.

In a statement issued to the Vatican press corps around 7:30 pm tonight, the press office director stated that Francis’ health situation had deteriorated once again, following his Friday admission to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital:

Quote:The laboratory tests, chest X-ray and clinical conditions of the Holy Father continue to present a complex picture.

The polymicrobial infection, which arose in a context of bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis, and which required the use of cortisone and antibiotic therapy, makes the therapeutic treatment more complex.

The chest CAT scan that the Holy Father underwent this afternoon, prescribed by the Vatican health team and the medical team of the “A. Gemelli” Polyclinic Foundation, showed the onset of bilateral pneumonia that required further drug therapy.

Nevertheless, Pope Francis is in a good mood.

This morning he received the Eucharist and, during the day, he alternated rest with prayer and reading texts. He is grateful for the closeness he feels at this moment and asks, with gratitude, that people continue to pray for him.

Already missing a large part of one lung as a result of illness in his early 20s, Francis has always been particularly susceptible to winter colds affecting his breathing capability.

Francis had been admitted to hospital Friday with a fever and with bronchitis, though the Holy See Press Office told journalists Saturday evening that the fever had apparently subsided, and medical personnel reportedly stated that he was showing “improvement in some values.”

On Sunday evening his condition was declared “stationary,” but then on Monday the press office announced it had worsened, and that “all the investigations carried out to date are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require appropriate hospital stay.”

Earlier today, his audiences were again cancelled, this time up to the end of Sunday, February 23.

Should he remain in hospital until then, then it would indeed be the longest hospitalization of his pontificate. He was in hospital for less than five days in the spring of 2023 and then in June 2023 for 9 days. During the latter occasion, he underwent surgery for an “incarcerated incisional hernia,” which the Holy See Press Office described as a necessary procedure, but not an emergency.

This story is developing…

Pope Francis plans major inter-faith event for ‘fraternity’ between Catholics and Muslims

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:25:40 +0000

A reminder that Pope Francis is continuing the actualization of the errors of Vatican II, putting them into fruition and carrying on the work of his conciliar predecessors (e.g. the infamous Assisi meetings).

A brief summary of some of those V-II errors regarding false religions:

Quote:
SiSiNoNo
September 2003 No. 55

The Errors of Vatican II

PART V

Throughout Parts 1-4 of this continuing series, we have been discussing the "mentality" of the Second Vatican Council, both generally and in particular. In Part 5 we will concentrate on the doctrinal errors of Vatican II regarding

1.The false representations of non-christian religions, and
2. Errors concerning politics, political community, and relations between Church and State.

9) The False Representation of Non-Christian Religions

Falsely attributing to non- Christian religions that, like us, they believe in God the Creator.
Gaudium et Spes §36 states:

Quote:"...[All] believers of whatever religion have always heard His revealing voice in the discourse of creatures."1
To attribute this to non-Christian religions is false. Citing just the two examples of Hinduism and Buddhism, both completely ignore the idea of a God who created from nothing and who reveals Himself in His creatures, since both are convinced that reality proceeds through emanation of an impersonal, cosmic, eternal force which is identically replicated in all things, from which force all comes and to which all returns, becoming a part of it, dissolving into it.

Likewise,inconceivably awarding the marks of truth and holiness to all the non-Christian religions, whereas they do not contain revealed truth, but are the fruit of the human spirit and, so, neither redeem nor save anyone
Nostra Aetate §2 states:

Quote:The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy (vera et sancta) in these religions. She looks with sincere respect upon those ways of conduct and of life, those rules and teachings which, though differing in many particulars from what she holds and sets forth, nevertheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.
It is necessary to note the contradiction in the above, noting too its decidedly Deist tone. That is, if these religions "differ... in many particulars" from the Catholic Church's teaching, how can they "often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men"? This means that, for the Council, the truth "which enlightens all men" perhaps comes through rules and teachings that differ "in many particulars" from the Church's teaching! (How could an authentic ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church have been inspired to articulate such an idea?)

[Vatican II's] baseless assertion, always denied by Tradition and Holy Scripture (e.g., Ps. 95:5: "For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils"; and I Cor. 10:20), that pagan religions, past and present, would have in some way been included in the plan of salvation. In fact, §18 of Ad Gentes, on missionary activity, states:

Quote:Working to plant the Church, and thoroughly enriched with the treasures of mysticism adorning the Church's religious tradition, religious communities should strive to give expression to these treasures and to hand them on in a manner harmonious with the nature and the genius of each nation. Let them reflect attentively on how Christian religious life may be able to assimilate the ascetic and contemplative traditions whose seeds were sometimes already planted by God in ancient cultures prior to the preaching of the gospel.
Here, "ancient cultures" whose gods were "devils," and whose sacrifices were offered "to devils and not to God" (I Cor. 10:20), are unjustly re-evaluated by the Council, which wants to recognize in them a salvific presence of "semina Verbi" of the "seeds of revealed Truth." But that violates a truth always held to belong to the deposit of Faith. In Lumen Gentium §17 and in Ad Gentes §11, the same idea is applied to all contemporary non-Christian peoples, including pagans: missionaries must discover the "hidden seeds of the Word" in the people whose evangelization has been entrusted to them.

[...]

In Lumen Gentium §16, the statement:

Quote:But the plan of salvation (propositum salutis) also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place (in primis) among these there are the Moslems, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind (qui fidem Abrahae se tenere profitentes, nobiscum Deum adorant unicum, etc.).
This statement falsely attributes adoration of our God to the Moslems, and includes them, per se, in the plan of salvation. This statement is contrary to dogma because those who do not worship the true God are not included in the plan of salvation. And the Moslems do not adore the true God because, although they attribute to God (Allah = "God"), the creation of "the world" and "man" from nothing, and accord traditional attributes of omnipotence and omniscience to Him, and although they recognize him as Judge of human beings at the end of time, Allah is not thought of as God the Father, who in His goodness created man "in his image and likeness" (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 32:6, etc.). Further, Moslems do not believe in the Holy Trinity, and their abhorrence of it repeats the Jews' error. Consequently, they deny grace, our Lord's Divinity, Incarnation, Redemption, His death on the Cross, and His Resurrection. They deny all of our dogmas and refuse to read the Old and New Testaments. Because they obviously contain no mention of Mohammed, the Moslems consider the Old and New Testaments to be falsified texts.

Too, Moslems deny free will (defended only by a few minority Moslem exegetes who are viewed as heretics), while professing an absolute determinism which admits of there being no place in the world for true relationships between cause and effect, so that, out of time, all of our actions, good or bad, have already been "created" by Allah's inscrutable decree (Koran 54: 52-53).

Lumen Gentium §16's recognition of Islam is repeated in an even more detailed and gravely erroneous way in the Declaration Nostra Aetate's §3:

Quote:Upon the Moslems, too, the Church looks with esteem. They adore one God, living and enduring, merciful and all-powerful, Maker of heaven and earth and Speaker to men (qui unicum Deum adorant etc...., homines allocutum). They strive to submit wholeheartedly even to His inscrutable decrees (cuius occultis etiam decretis toto animo se submittere student), just as did Abraham, with whom the Islamic faith is pleased to associate itself.
This goes so far as to state that the God in whom the Moslems believe "has spoken to men"! Therefore, by this does the Council demonstrate that it views as authentic the "revelation" transmitted by Mohammed in the Koran? If so, isn't this implicit apostasy from the Christian faith, given that the "revelation" in the Koran specifically contradicts all of Christianity's basic truths?

Moreover, it also represents the Moslems' way of believing precisely as they themselves understand it, as if to approve it. In fact, it employs the usage, "submission to God," which is the meaning of the term "Islam" (submission), and whose substantive adjective is muslim (Mussulman = submission [to God]). In its entirety, this passage seems to reflect the Koran's own 4:124: "And who has a better religion than he who submits himself entirely to Allah, doing good and following the belief of Abraham, like a pure monotheist (hanif)?" Finally, the allusion to obedience to the decrees of Allah "even if they are hidden" has a strong Islamic aura because it reminds us that in the Koran, Allah is defined as "the visible and the hidden" (57:3), visible in his works and hidden in his decrees. Therefore it seems that the Council wanted to have its "esteem" understood, rather than shrink from according such esteem to the Koran and Islam because of the ambiguous, troubling, impenetrable quality of the entity spoken of in the Koran.

Vatican II praise of the Moslems' profession of the "faith" of Abraham, as if it constitutes a quality linking them to us, obscures the truth, since we know that the Abraham of the Koran, who is infused with a legendary and apocryphal quality, does not correspond to the real Abraham, who is evidently the Abraham of the Bible. This, because the Koran attributes a "pure monotheism" or anti-Trinitarianism, anterior to Judaic and Christian monotheism, to Abraham. Thus, as an Arab prophet and a descendant of Abraham thanks to Israel, Mohammed would have been sent in order to restore this pure monotheism by liberating it from the so-called Jewish and Christian falsifications!

Nostra Aetate §3 also takes into serious consideration the veneration that the Moslems accord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary:

Quote:"Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they call on her, too, with devotion."
But it is well known that the Koran's "Christology" is founded on an altered and deformed Jesus of the apocryphal gospels and of all sorts of Gnostic heresies that proliferated in Arabia in Mohammed's time. The Koran's Jesus (Isa) was born of a virgin through a divine intervention (of the angel Gabriel), a prophet particularly appreciated by Allah, a simple mortal whom Allah permitted to work numerous miracles, a prophet who thus preached the same monotheism as that attributed to Abraham (57:26-27), whose recited formula is: "There is no God but God, one, lord" (38:65). This is why, for the Moslems, Jesus was a servant of God (19:31), submissive to Allah, that is, a Moslem, a Mussulman, to the point that, like Abraham, he announced the coming of Mohammed (51:6)! Therefore, when the Moslems venerate Jesus as a prophet, they mean that he is a "prophet of Islam," a lie that any Catholic, provided that he still has the Faith, obviously cannot accept.2

As for the Moslem veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that they "sometimes call on her with devotion," from a practical standpoint, it must be said that this "devotion" is meaningless and based on superstition. Such as it is, this "devotion" to Mary is such only in terms of her being the mother of a "prophet of Islam," and not because she is the Mother of God. Therefore, it is offensive to Catholic ears.

Moreover, it is necessary to repeat that the Koran's "Mariology" is also entirely corrupted because its origins are in apocryphal and heretical sources. The existences of St. Joseph and the Holy Ghost are completely ignored. And Mary is called "sister of Aaron," "sister of Moses," and "daughter of Imram" (Hebr. Amram), who was their father (Num. 26:59), thus confusing her with the prophetess Mary (Ex. 15: 21) who lived circa 12 centuries before Christ! And as if this weren't enough, she is introduced into the Christian Trinity, so detested, and which is denied with such aggressiveness, because, according to the Koran, it is made up of God (the Father), Mary (Mother) and Jesus (the Son): "Jesus never said: take me and my mother as two divinities, before God"! (5:116).

Finally, Nostra Aetate §3 seems to praise the Moslems and to present them as an example to Catholics because

Quote:"they await the day of judgment when God will give each man his due after raising him up. Consequently, they prize the moral life and give worship to God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting."

The article concludes:

Quote:Although in the course of the centuries many quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this most sacred Synod urges all to forget the past and to strive sincerely for mutual understanding. On behalf of all mankind, let them make common cause of safeguarding and fostering social justice, moral values, peace, and freedom.

Historical facts are also overturned here, since the bloody, long, and cruel battles, faith against faith, that we have had to launch over the course of the centuries to repulse Islam's assault, are adroitly reduced to the size of simple "quarrels and hostilities." Passed over in silence are the abysmal differences that exist between Catholic and Moslem eschatology (the absence of a Beatific Vision, the luxury of paradise, the eternity of infernal punishments reserved only for infidels), as well as the abysmal differences between our and their conception of "moral life" and of "veneration": Islam is a religion which not only allows unacceptable moral structures, such as polygamy, with all of its corollaries, but also alleges to guarantee salvation simply by carrying out legalistic practices of worship: therefore, it is an exterior and legalist religion, even more so than Pharisaism, expressly condemned by our Lord (cf. Mt. 6:5).

All of this is passed over in silence in order to invite us into collaboration that is impossible for the simple reason that the meaning the Moslems give to the words "social justice," "peace," "freedom," etc., is merely that which can be drawn from the Koran or from the words and deeds of Mohammed, a meaning established over the course of the centuries by "orthodox" interpretation: an Islamic meaning totally different from our own. For example, Moslems do not understand peace in the way that the currently reigning Pope understands it. They do not believe that Moslems can live under infidels. This is why they divide the world into two parts, one where Islam rules (the house of Islam) and the rest of the world, necessarily an enemy unless it converts and submits (house of war), the rest of the world with whom the Islamic community believes itself to be perpetually at war. Therefore, for them, peace is not an end in itself that allows them to coexist with different nations and religions; it is only a means, imposed by circumstances which oblige them to make truces with infidels. But the truce must have a limited duration; it must never exceed ten years; and every time they have the means, then war must be resumed. For the Moslem, this is a juridical, religious, and moral obligation. It is in force until the final, inevitable battle that results in the installation of a world Islamic State.

+ + +

Pope Francis plans major inter-faith event for ‘fraternity’ between Catholics and Muslims
Pope Francis has reportedly tasked the Vatican to organize a high-level inter-religious event with Muslims, following a request from the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, who cited Francis’ ‘Fratelli Tutti’ as inspiration for the event.

Chems-Eddine Hafiz greets Pope Francis, February 2025.
Grande Mosque de Paris

Thu Feb 13, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Upon the suggestion of the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Pope Francis has reportedly tasked the Vatican to organize a high-level inter-religious dialogue event between Muslims and Catholics this year.

As the outcome of a February 10 private audience with Chems-Eddine Hafiz, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Pope Francis has instructed the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue to coordinate yet another event to promote fraternity between Islam and Catholicism.

Hafiz’s idea of “a new international meeting” for a “brotherhood” of Christians and Muslims in Europe on a “continental scale” was presented to the Pope during their encounter, which is their second such meeting after they first met in 2022.

Christians and Muslims in Europe

“How many of our prayers have risen like two shores called to join together, how many hearts have opened to the certainty that the love of God is reflected in our will to love all his creatures?” So began the message delivered by Hafiz to Pope Francis on Monday, during which Paris’ leading Muslim sought to win papal support for the cause of Muslims “who are facing increasing stigma.”

“For too many years, in the West, Islam has been perceived through the distorting prism of terrorism and violence. This misperception fuels the discourses that are hostile to Muslims, who are facing increasing stigma,” Hafiz stated in his message.

Hafiz cited Francis’ 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, which promoted inter-religious activity and “fraternity” and which is widely argued to promote religious indifferentism, highlighting the theme of “dialogue.”

Along with Pope Francis’ equally controversial 2019 Abu Dhabi document on human fraternity –itself a key text showing Francis’ desire for collaboration with Islamic leaders, and which was heralded by Hafiz as “a turning point in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims” – Fratelli Tutti has become the “go-to” reference text for all such events relating to the topic of fraternity.

But “fraternity” between Christians and Muslims in Europe, said Hafiz, “is nonetheless threatened by indifference, dehumanization, fear of others and of the future.” This he partly attributed to how Islam is perceived by non-Muslims, as he urged Europe to “welcome” Muslims more than it does and added that Europe has “long been a land of diversity.”

“The Muslims of Europe are also acting as protectors, as citizens, and intend to shape a peaceful future,” said Hafiz. “But the lands that welcomed them now seem to be inhabited by fear. Many Europeans are giving up hope, locking themselves into a narrow vision of themselves and rejecting those they no longer see as brothers and sisters.”

“For too many years, in the West, Islam has been perceived through the distorting prism of terrorism and violence,” added Hafiz. “This misperception fuels anti-Muslim discourse, which in turn leads to growing stigmatization.”

Citing the 2019 Abu Dhabi declaration, which Francis has himself often cites in ecumenical and inter-religious events, Hafiz urged increased unity between Christians and Muslims since he said they are “members of the same family of faith in God”:

Quote:Our fellow citizens, both Christians and Muslims, need to recognize each other as members of the same family of faith in God and of profound values, in a dialogue where differences do not distance but bear witness to the richness of divine Creation. Pope John Paul II thus addressed young Muslims: we believe in the same God, the living God, who created the world and cares for his creatures.

A new inter-religious event for unity

Pope Francis has regularly championed and attended key ecumenical and inter-religious events through the nearly 12-year course of his pontificate, many of which have been “in the spirit” of the controversial 1986 Assisi meeting, at which Pope John Paul II prayed together with Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and representatives of many other religions.

Speaking to gloria.tv in 2020, Bishop Athanasius Schneider stated that the Assisi meeting was a “preparation” for the worship of the Pachamama statues in the Vatican Gardens, as it accustomed Catholics to the “erroneous teaching … that all religions are on the same level.”

In light of this same meeting, Hafiz asked Francis to lead an event “marking the friendship of the Christians and Muslims of Europe, in the spirit of the inter-religious meetings of Assisi initiated on October 27, 1986, and in memory of their exceptional significance.”

Hafiz offered his own city of Paris as a home for the possible 2025 event, while also suggesting it could be named after St. Augustine who is “a figure of convergence between the lands of the East and the West.”

Europe, he said, must be “true to its humanist heritage, where everyone, whatever their faith, can be respectful and be respected.”

“Religions can offer a vision to societies plunged into uncertainty. To this end, we must reaffirm the need for interreligious dialogue.”

Catholicism and Islam: related or not?

Despite Hafiz’s claim of Christians and Muslims being united in a family of faith, theologians have strongly rejected such a notion, as outlined by this correspondent.

The Abu Dhabi text promoting fraternity and unity, especially between Christians and Muslims, has been described as seemingly seeking to “overturn the doctrine of the Gospel” due to its promotion of equality of religions in a form of “fraternity.”

Leading Catholic prelates have carefully outlined how Islam is “not faith,” and how Catholics and Muslims do not worship the same God.

In the words of Islam’s holy text itself, it can be noted that there is an outright rejection of so many fundamental elements of Catholicism. Firstly, the Koran rejects the notion of God as a trinity; secondly, it rejects that God has a son, saying it is beneath Him to have one. Thirdly, Jesus is viewed simply as a messenger of God, necessitating the fact that Mary would not be the Mother of God.

Notwithstanding this, Francis’ own relations with Islamic leaders have proliferated in recent years, as the Pope has regularly prioritized “fraternity” of the kind contained in his writings. In doing so, Francis is performing the natural continuation of the ecumenical drive which gained traction after Vatican II, and which was raised to new prominence by John Paul II at Assisi in 1986.

The Worst-Kept Secret: What Will Francis Do to the FSSP?

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 11:06:27 +0000

The Worst-Kept Secret: What Will Francis Do to the FSSP?

gloria.tv | February 14, 2025

Guido della Rovere, a pseudonym, has given an interesting account of the current situation in Rome on Caminante-Wanderer.Blogspot.com (13 February).

- Rome is empty, despite the Holy Year; last year at this time there were many, many more people queuing to enter St Peter's or to visit the other churches.

- Since Bergoglio has decided that the Church's role is to promote illegal immigrants, protect the planet and provide refuge for militant homosexuals, then there is little point in going to Rome to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence.

- Indulgence? Francis has claimed that hell is empty: "The Jubilee has lost all meaning."

- Francis opened only two of the holy doors, that of St Peter's and, as an "innovation", another in a prison.

- At St Peter's, he opened the Holy Door by remaining in a wheelchair, without mitre or cope, simply knocking on the door that opened from the inside; but in those same days he consecrated one of his protégés as a bishop, and there he was seen to be energetic and mobile.

- For observers, it is clear that the Jubilee is an annoyance for Francis.

Anniversary of the death of Benedict XVI

- The second anniversary of Pope Benedict's death was not officially commemorated.

- The Eucharist in St Peter's, presided over by Cardinal Müller, was a private initiative and was obstructed by the Basilica authorities.

- On the first anniversary, members of the Sistine Chapel Choir, who offered their services free of charge, sang, but this time they refused to do so "because of the criticism they had received".

Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter

- Nothing is known about the current apostolic visit to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP), "which does not augur well".

- The priests of the FSSP are not known for their "sagacity or chivalry".

- "I will throw a cloak of compassion over all the treachery and despicable acts they have committed against their friends in recent months, with the naive aim of ingratiating themselves with Francis, which of course will not happen".

- The prognosis is that priests will be forced to co-preside with the diocesan bishop on Holy Thursday and that they will have to regularly preside over the Novus Ordo Eucharist in their seminaries.

- Some welcome the long life of Francis because it has allowed all the dirt hidden in the Church to come to the surface and the "fruits of the Council" to be seen for what they are, no longer ripe but rotten.

- Cardinal Burke is being watched with interest by his fellow cardinals, not so much as a possible candidate but as an adviser, given his closeness to the American 'conservative' milieu.

A few comments to this article

...because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.
It is quite simple: Francis will do to FSSP what they will allow him to do. BTW, post-conciliar indultism died ultimately with Traditionis Custodes (i.e. four years ago) and it is a pity some people have not noticed it yet.

Cardinal Parolin likely to oversee next conclave after Pope approves re-elected Dean of Cardinals

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 16:25:03 +0000

Cardinal Parolin likely to oversee next conclave after Pope approves re-elected Dean of Cardinals
91-year-old Cardinal Battista Re has been re-elected as Dean of the College of Cardinals, meaning the Vatican's current Secretary of State,

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will lead proceedings in a papal conclave if it happens before he turns 80 in 2035.

Cardinal Re (L) & Cardinal Parolin ®
Mario Tama/ Adam Berry/Getty Images

Feb 6, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Holy See announced that 91-year-old Cardinal Battista Re has been re-elected as Dean of the College of Cardinals, but what does that mean and what role will it play in a papal conclave?

On February 6, the Holy See Press Office announced that Pope Francis had approved the re-election of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri as Dean and Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals respectively. Their approval came on January 7 and January 14 respectively.

Re has served as Dean since January 2020, upon the death of Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who had been Dean from April 2005. Re is a long-serving and influential member of the Roman Curia and had previously been Vice-Dean from January 2017, in addition to chairing the 2013 Papal Conclave.

For his part Sandri has been Vice-Dean since January 2020 and is now aged 81, having also spent a number of decades working in the Roman Curia.

The by-product of this announcement is that Francis has thus ensured that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, currently the Vatican’s Secretary of State, will lead the proceedings in a papal conclave, provided it happens before he turns 80 in 2035.

What is the role of the Dean?

The Dean of the College of Cardinals is considered the “primus inter pares” or the “first among equals.”

The cardinal who is named to this ancient role is elected by brother cardinals who have the rank of cardinal-bishop, and must himself be a cardinal-bishop. A cardinal-bishop is the highest of the three levels of the College of Cardinals, with cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons following suit.

The principal role of the Dean of the College of Cardinals is to announce the death of the reigning pontiff to all the cardinals and to the Diplomatic Corps attached to the Holy See. He celebrates and preaches at the pope’s funeral and is the de facto public face of the Holy See during the sede vacante period.

The Dean also has responsibility for organizing the conclave that follows the death of the pope. This involves presiding over the “general congregations” that take place before the actual voting of the conclave, along with the conclave itself.

Such a position, whilst very much in the public eye upon the death of a pope, is more honorary for the rest of the time, and the Dean does not hold legal power over his fellow cardinals, though he celebrates funerals for cardinals in Rome.

Cdl. Parolin to organize next conclave

However, Cardinal Re is now aged 91. As such, he is too old to participate in a papal conclave, since no cardinals over 80 are allowed to vote.

With the Argentinian Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals – Cardinal Sandri – also being over the age limit, this means that the coordinating role of the Dean over the papal conclave upon Pope Francis’ death will fall to the highest ranking cardinal-bishop, namely Cardinal Parolin.

Having turned 70 this past month, Parolin will not age out of the conclave until 2035, and with the health of the 88-year-old Pope Francis becoming increasingly frail, it is highly unlikely that Parolin will be too old to take part in the next conclave.

Thus while Re will likely preside over the Pope’s funeral, it will fall to Parolin to organize the ensuing conclave.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re incenses Pope Benedict XVI’s coffin, Jan 2023.

The conclave itself is made up of two chief elements, first of which are the “general congregations.”

These are particularly key times for the College of Cardinals to exchange ideas and arguments, as well as for finalizing the procedures for the conclave. With an increasingly diverse College of Cardinals whose members are unfamiliar with each other, it will also be one of the only times for cardinals to learn more about each other.

Cardinals over the age of 80 are allowed to participate in these sessions, in order to offer advice and guidance to the younger members.

Rumors had surfaced in late 2023 that Pope Francis’ favored canonist, Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda SJ, was reworking the rules to exclude cardinals over 80 from the general congregations. However, Ghirlanda subsequently denied it.

After the general congregations comes the more famous aspect of the conclave comprising of the rounds of voting held in the Sistine Chapel. Only the cardinal-electors – those under the age of 80 – take part in this.

While the Dean or his substitute – in this case Parolin at the next conclave – coordinates the conclave, he does not necessarily have responsibility for counting and reading out the tally of votes. According to Pope John Paul II’s 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis, the men who count and check the ballots are themselves chosen by lot. The text states about this aspect:

Quote:The voting process is carried out in three phases. The first phase, which can be called the pre-scrutiny, comprises:

1) the preparation and distribution of the ballot papers by the Masters of Ceremonies, who give at least two or three to each Cardinal elector;

2) the drawing by lot, from among all the Cardinal electors, of three Scrutineers, of three persons charged with collecting the votes of the sick, called for the sake of brevity Infirmarii, and of three Revisers; this drawing is carried out in public by the junior Cardinal Deacon, who draws out nine names, one after another, of those who shall carry out these tasks;

3) if, in the drawing of lots for the Scrutineers, Infirmarii and Revisers, there should come out the names of Cardinal electors who because of infirmity or other reasons are unable to carry out these tasks, the names of others who are not impeded are to be drawn in their place. The first three drawn will act as Scrutineers, the second three as Infirmarii and the last three as Revisers.

An Italian Pope?

Parolin has already been named by many Vaticanistas as papabile for the next conclave. His prominent role as Secretary of State already places him on the shortlist of cardinals deemed likely to be named pope.

Rumors also suggest that cardinals might be interested in electing an Italian in the next conclave, to try and calm the waters of Francis’ turbulent pontificate which has shocked even those who would identify as “liberals.” Having only turned 70 in mid-January, the Italian native Parolin has age and nationality on his side also to win over such support.

Pope Francis and then-new Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, attend a mass with newly appointed cardinals at St Peter’s Basilica on February 23, 2014 in Vatican City, Vatican.

But his recognition as papabile is not without concern for some, particularly given his pivotal role in the highly-controversial Sino-Vatican deal and his record of being opposed to the traditional Mass.

Hong Kong’s Cardinal Joseph Zen has accused Parolin of intentionally deceiving Francis about the China deal and of having led the “betrayal” of Chinese Catholics.

Parolin’s smooth diplomatic skills have been at the forefront of his role as Secretary of State, and Zen himself praised Parolin for such diplomacy but added that it was not of a sort befitting a Catholic: “I don’t think he has faith. He is just a good diplomat in a very secular, mundane meaning.”

When surrounded by journalist gaggles at various events around Rome, Parolin ensures that he stays to take a handful of questions – most of which are then documented on the Vatican’s news channels – which further aids his attempt to paint an image of public geniality.

Reports have linked Parolin to the Vatican’s moves against the traditional Mass in Traditionis Custodes, and others have attributed to him the comment “we must put an end to this Mass forever!” when speaking about the Latin Mass.

Parolin had been named in 2024 reports as being a key supporter of rumored new restrictions on the Latin Mass, but later denied any such involvement when questioned by this correspondent.

The last cardinal who entered the conclave as Dean and emerged as Pope was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Parolin, as acting Dean during the conclave itself, might have strong odds in his favor, but the old adage recounts that “he who enters the conclave as ‘pope’ emerges as a cardinal.”