Media outlets worldwide, both secular and Catholic, have been discussing Francis’ Santa Marta homily of 15 May wherein he suggested that he is contemplating retirement.
According to Vatican News:
Pope Francis focused his reflections on the day’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles where Paul, “compelled by the Holy Spirit,” takes his leave from the Church Elders at Ephesus to go to Jerusalem. “It’s a decisive move, a move that reaches the heart, it’s also a move that shows us the pathway for every bishop when it’s time to take his leave and step down,” he said …
“When I read this, I think about myself, he declared, “because I am a bishop and I must take my leave and step down.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such talk.
Readers may recall that Francis prophesied his own death, while also speaking of retirement, back in 2014 on the return flight to Rome from South Korea.
As reported by The Guardian:
“I see it as the generosity of the people of God. I try to think of my sins, my mistakes, not to become proud. Because I know it will last only a short time. Two or three years and then I’ll be off to the Father’s house,” [Francis] replied …
Pope Francis also mentioned the possibility of retiring from the papacy, as his predecessor Benedict XVI did last year, if he felt he could no longer adequately perform his duties.
Resigning the papacy was a possibility “even if it does not appeal to some theologians”, he told reporters.
Last April, he made similar remarks that led the Associated Press to report: Pope Francis hints he may not be around in 2019.
What we are to make of these things is anyone’s guess.
On the one hand, starting with the earliest days of his “so-called pontificate” (yup, that’s Fr. Nicholas Gruner speaking yet again from his pauper’s grave) it has become rather obvious that Jorge “Mama watch me” Bergoglio has an insatiable desire to call attention to himself. As such, his recent comments may be nothing more than that.
On the other hand, one has every reason to suspect that the infamous St. Gallen mafia (and others) conspired to send Jorge Bergoglio to Rome (well before Benedict the Abdicator fled for fear of the wolves, mind you) to carry out a rather specific task in service to a well-defined cause.
It only stands to reason that they likely did so with the understanding (and mutual agreement) that, once he had outlived his usefulness, he too would step aside in favor of the next chosen Generalissimo of the Revolution.
In any case, I for one am hoping that the day will come when Francis will announce his resignation. Not because I have any expectation whatsoever that the terrible crisis at hand will subside in any meaningful way, but because I do expect that it would be very instructive; shedding light, albeit inadvertently, on the case of Benedict the Abdicator.
For instance, if Benedict’s precedent-setting resignation was utterly unforced and entirely valid, we should expect to see such things as the following in the aftermath of a Bergoglian resignation:
– Francis will not resume his former name but will henceforth take the title “Pope Emeritus”
– He will dress in papal whites
– He will be addressed as Holy Father, even by his successor
– He will live within the confines of the Vatican
– He will be as one “cloistered” and will move about only with the permission of his successor
– He will remain practically mute even in the face major ecclesial scandals
If, however, these things do not happen in the aftermath of a Bergoglian resignation (and I wouldn’t expect them to), then this will serve as yet another sure sign that all is not what we are being told with respect to Benedict’s departure.
In fact, if one considers in some detail the Santa Marta homily of 15 May, the signs are already pointing in that direction; i.e., one of these men is not like the other.
Casual readers of Francis’ words are equating, for all intents and purposes, St. Paul’s departure from Ephesus (as recorded in Acts 20) with the resignation of the papacy, or at the very least, the resignation of an office, and for the simple reason that they believe that Francis himself has done so.
I for one am not so sure. Besides, the comparison just doesn’t hold water.
Don’t get me wrong; Francis has a knack for making Sacred Scripture say whatever he wants it to say, but be that as it may; in this case, the very notion is absurd even for him.
For one, St. Paul was not the pope. For another, in taking leave of Ephesus, in no way was he “resigning” his office; rather, he was simply relocating, and as a matter of historical fact he continued in precisely the same office (Apostle and missionary) for many years afterwards.
Even though St. Paul lived at Ephesus for three years in order to establish and organize the Church there, St. Timothy, properly speaking, is considered its first bishop, having been appointed as such by St. Paul following his departure for Jerusalem.
In weighing Francis’ comments on Acts 20, it seems rather clear that he is painting St. Paul as the de facto bishop of Ephesus who departed his See, saying:
[It’s] a move that shows us the pathway for every bishop when it’s time to take his leave and step down … When I read this, I think about myself because I am a bishop and I must take my leave and step down.
Recall, if you will, the earliest days of the Bergoglian occupation and his reluctance to refer to himself as anything other than “the Bishop of Rome.”
This, of course, was one of many red flags that were raised in short order concerning the state of the papacy.
One wonders, why was this the case, and why did he eventually come around to calling himself the pope?
Could it be that he initially felt compelled to speak of himself only as bishop knowing damned well that the only thing that changed was his clothing? Was he pressured to refer to himself as Roman Pontiff by those who labored to place him in Rome so he could use the weight of the papal office to their ends even if only as a usurper?
I don’t have the answers to these questions, but this much is clear:
As time goes on, there are more and more reasons to believe that the so-called resignation of Benedict XVI and the dog-n-pony “papacy” that followed are likely to go down in history as two of the greatest acts of deception ever recorded.
Regarding the “Bishop of Rome” business; I took that as part of his faux humility shtick that he took great pains to exhibit early in his so called pontificate in order to establish the “narrative” right out of the box. Sort of like ditching the red shoes and being ferried around in the back seat of an economy sedan. All a shtick. Pope Gimmick I.
At first I thought, what you assumed was a shtick, was directed at the Orthodox for a reunification effort. Than after reading how the Vatican was grilled concerning the Rights of the Child Treaty it signed with the UN in the nineties, and the lawyers all around the world representing the clerical pederast victims and naming the Pope in their suits, I suddenly realized the Vatican wants to distance themselves even more from the liability of the Bishops’ transfer and coverup policies. In other words, you cannot sue the Vatican or hold the Pope responsible and just in case Benedict is quiet , does not leave Rome, and Francis is just another Bishop and his See is Rome.
What a crock ! Just like changing hats to suit the political climate.
Maybe it is time for Borgoglio to resign since S Americans have become fed up with the transfers to their continent and just might name him in a major RICO lawsuit. Why do you think he walked so far back from the comments he made on the victims in Chili?
https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-09-18/south-america-has-become-safe-haven-catholic-church-s-alleged-child-molesters
If Pope Francis abdicates, what he wears and where he goes afterwards won’t be an issue and Pope Emeritus Benedict already admitted the great difference in style between the two men. Ho hum event.
Now, when Benedict dies, that’s when you’ll have open warfare between the sedevacantists and bennyvacantists as heated debates around Vatican II and ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue and the Mass of Paul VI will absolutely rage at this time. That’s when you’ll want to have the popcorn handy.
Ah, but if an even MORE liberal Pope is elected after Pope Francis resigns, and Benedict is still alive, you will have Sedevacantists, Bennyvacantists, and Frankievacantists (oh my!).
Seems to me there’s a pretty clearly pattern of fragmentation once you get into extreme positions…how many different varieties of SSPX are there these days?
Popcorn, indeed.
Your dream is for either a Pope Shekelsteinowitz or a Pope ButtsUp, or even better, the two combined into one: Pope Shekelsteinowitzbuttsup. Admit it, degenerate!
You have aptly captured your disgust for Jews and gays. You forgot minorities, which you also despise.
You do know none of what you’re saying is compatible with Catholic teaching – correct?
Yet more virtue signaling squeals of RAAAAACCISSS and HomoPHOOObia from the sulfuric Beelzebub. LOL!
Saints Against Sodomites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDaxjrfWIls
Saints Against the Jews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntuS2dc1yyg
No virtue signaling and no squealing. You insist on spreading filth in this comments section that is at odds with the Catholic faith and are misleading impressionable people who are seeking the truth (albeit in the wrong place). You cannot contain your bigotry and inject it into discussions of topics completely unrelated to the groups you despise. YouTube videos from an ALL CAPS channel with “ALL CAPS TITLES” about the personal – and wrong, and non- magisterial. and non-infallible – unfortunate remarks of some Saints does not override Church teaching. Your bile is a stain on the Church and on Traditonalism.
Why not consider joining Westboro Baptist, where your vituperations will be embraced and echoed, instead of trying to deliberately mislead Catholics and providing non-Catholics with written confirmation of their worst unfounded – except for people of your ilk – opinions of Catholicism?
I don’t believe Francis will retire. There is no need for him to retire like there was a need for Benedict to retire: to make Catholics think that there is a good “pope” and a bad “pope”. The good pope is “orthodox” and “traditional” and the bad pope is not. Benedict retired to further deceive Catholics into thinking that what is in the Vatican since Vatican II is actually Catholic.
And Benedict was completely complicit in this ruse.
Excellent, Beelzebub. Once again your most passionate words are reserved for both perfidious Jews and stinking sodomites, revealing yourself yet again as opposed to the teachings of both Scripture and saint after saint after saint, who in the supreme sulfuric arrogance of your false compassion and unconscious disenlightenment you declare to be wrong. May you continue to reveal yourself as a totally processed Judas Conciliarist!
He will never resign. He’s too filled with himself and his love for power. May He meet his maker soon! May his predecessor have him cremated and spread his ashes in the Tiber.
Louie, loved the video especially the “pope trot”. Pope Humble I will never resign. He loves to put his humility on display for all the world to see. He will never step into the background like B16—unless, of course, the authorities are after him to lock him up.
I hope the fool reigns for many more years. Maybe then people will see the false NO sect for what it truly is.
AdolphusJr, the only people I’ve ever met who hated gay people as much as you, like clockwork, eventually came out.
Perhaps you’ve done a DNA test recently and discovered that you weren’t quite the ubermensch you thought you were.
And you also do realize that if your Klan buddies ever actually got into power, it would be a terrible day for Catholics, right?
Stop spreading poison. Work through your personal issues on your own. Your nonsense isn’t Catholic. As a Catholic, I don’t appreciate you attempting attach yourself and your bigotry to my Church.
Such tired, predictable (((Freudian))) nonsense. Of course!
Your pretty good at singing Louie, I hope Rome saw your music video.
Yes Louie , I think you should go on the road.
There are a lot of NO gigs in parishes across the county anxious for someone who can really play a guitar.
Your song might get the post V 2 crowd thinking !
The UN grilled the Vatican concerning the Rights of The Child Treaty in 2014. There was an article about it. There was mention of child sexual abuse, but their chief concern was that the Vatican’s canon law discriminates against acceptance of LGBT lifestyles and girls’ access to reproductive services. They sharply criticized the Catholic church’s teaching in that document and recommended that canon law be changed. https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/02/is-the-vatican-violating-childrens-rights
Your church? Which one do you belong to? Could it be the same one that St. Peter Damian belonged to? You know him, right? The saint who wrote Liber Gornorrhianus which condemned the acts and recommended the most severe punishments:
“Among St. Peter Damian’s most famous writings is his lengthy treatise, Letter 31, the Book of Gomorrah (Liber Gornorrhianus), containing the most extensive treatment and condemnation by any Church Father of clerical pederasty and homosexual practices.2 His manly discourse on the vice of sodomy in general and clerical homosexuality and pederasty in particular, is written in a plain and forthright style that makes it quite readable and easy to understand.
In keeping with traditional Church teachings handed down from the time of the Apostles, he holds that all homosexual acts are crimes against Nature and therefore crimes against God who is the author of Nature.
It is also refreshing to find an ecclesiastic whose first and primary concern in the matter of clerical sexual immorality is for God’s interests, not man’s, especially with regard to homosexuality in clerical ranks. Also, his special condemnation of pederastic crimes by clergy against young boys and men (including those preparing for holy orders) made over nine hundred years ago, certainly tends to undermine the excuse of many American bishops and Cardinals who claim that they initially lacked specific knowledge and psychological insights by which to assess the seriousness of clerical pederastic crimes.
Upon a first reading of the Book of Gomorrah I think the average Catholic would find himself in a state of shock at the severity of Damian’s condemnation of clerical sodomical practices as well as the severe penalties that he asks Pope Leo IX to attach to such practices.” Randy Engel. http://radtradthomist.chojnowski.me/2017/09/how-gay-friendly-was-catholic-church-in.html
Wake up, man. How well do you think you know your church? Do you still want to share heaven with St. Peter Damian?
Beelzebub knows all about this, and much more. But his diabolical arrogance drives him to say all the saints speaking against both sodomite perverts and perfidious Jews were wrong.
Beelzebub is indeed a fully processed Judas Conciliarist. As such, he’s an expert in concern-trolling, tone-policing, virtue-signaling, expressing false compassion, chronological snobbery, shrieking cries of RAAAAACISSSS; in short, he’s an expert in posing as an angel of light, a true child of the devil and his Judas Council.
I agree with others who state that His Humbleness will never retire: he loves the limelight and perpetual photo opportunities. Then, too, as the False Prophet he needs to stick around for 3-4 more years at least.
[Louie, I suspect you have a desire to sing at the Grand Old Opry: your pipes are good enough and you have the look].
Well, I belong to the Roman Catholic Church, and I know it quite well. St. Peter Damien lived a thousand years ago and his writings clearly show that molester priests are nothing new, and that *gasp* it wasn’t Vatican II that caused this problem. By all means, priests who molest children should be defrocked and jailed for life.
But where I and my Church differ from AdolphusJr is that he has called for the execution of gays for being gay, the brutal subjugation of Jews for being Jews, and the segregation of people of color for being people of color. By presenting his extreme bigotry as authentic Catholic teaching, he damages the reputation of the Catholic Church and Catholic Traditonalism, and, unfortunately, seems to influence several gullible people here.
Engel’s entire literary career is based upon outing literally everyone in the Church. Chojnowski is currently attempting to raise money to “prove” his Sister Lucy conspiracy theory, is predicting World War III, and has appeared on proven fraud and lunatic “TradCatKnight”‘s YouTube channel. I would do more research into the sources you cite.
Interesting how Beelzebub flew out of the SPLC howling and shrieking for this particular post. I suspect it’s the mocking “Mama Watch Me” video. A favorite Luciferian rhetorical tactic is ridicule and they really hate it/feel the burn when it’s turned back on them.
Feel the burn much?
“People of color,” squeaks Beelzebub. Yes, Beelzebub has fully internalized the language of (((Cultural Marxism))). What a tool.
Related, see this by Paul Gottfried, one of the decent Jews:
Yes Virginia [Dare], There Is A “Cultural Marxism”
https://www.vdare.com/articles/yes-virginia-there-is-a-cultural-marxism
@LennyB – Not sure how poorly written musical parodies about the Pope are a burn on me. Please to explain. If you look above, AdolphusJr made derogatory remarks about gays and Jews completely unrelated to my comment or to the article. Seems the hate boils over even in any and all situations. I’m responding with the Catholic position.
@AdolphusJr – do you have a better way of describing Black, Latino, or other folks who aren’t white? I’m fairly certain I know at least a few words you probably use every day, but I also know that most bigots are cowards and that your fear of losing your soapbox here via banning will prevent you from writing them. Or will your rage prevail? Only time will tell…
AdolphusJr, I replied to you below but somehow missed this gem. Would love to know what exactly “chronological snobbery” and “concern-trolling” are. Do tell.
@Blunderbuss. Why are you so angry and why do you defend child molesters? You should apologize to Louie for your constantly negative humorlessness, your anti-Catholic & anti-Semitic bigotry and your creepy stalking of his blog.
LennyB, I’m not angry. I think, as I said above, that child molesters, whether priests or laity, belong in jail for life. That’s not defending them. I am Catholic, so I’m not sure how you can say I’m spreading “anti-Catholic bigotry”. Hating Jews is what “anti-Semitism” means. I do not hate Jews, and tell others that they shouldn’t either. So not sure where “anti-Semitic bigotry” comes from? Perhaps you are confusing me with AdolphusJr, who does hate Jews, and vocally. Is that clearer?
The only thing clearer is that you are also Homophobic! Telling AJ to join the Westboro Baptist Church? You think that’s funny? Then you prattle on and equate homosexuality with pedophilia and sentencing priests and laity with same sex attraction to life sentences? Will you make them wear little pink triangles in prison too! What hatred in your heart must you have to tell AJ to “consider joining Westboro Baptist”! If you embrace La Chiesa del Papa Francesco then you know that you owe AJ respectful dialogue, kind discernment and a heartfelt apology for the hateful things you have implied about him. Show some of that “courage” you said he lacked.
Agree 100% Francesco. I suspect Bergoglio talks about resigning only so that his (orthodox) critics will figure, “Oh, he’ll either die or resign in a couple of years. Let’s not bother fighting him.” Meanwhile, I predict that Bergoglio will not only not resign; he won’t die for at least a decade. I shudder to think of the damage he’ll do in the next ten years.
Hey Louie, that was really good. You look like a good old boy there.
Nah, we know this guy by now, we’ve seen his antics too many times, “it’s FUN to be pope!” he said, he’s not going anywhere. That was just a little thing he put out there to stir up some buzz (he hopes). Must have been a boring day where he wasn’t poking trad Catholics in the eye. He has no reason to fear, his retirement would put lots of mainstream, poorly educated Catholics into tizzies of sorrow, so he’s got that anyway. It would give me some personal satisfaction to see him go anywhere, but now we know there’s just going to be something worse following him. I refuse to get my hopes up that this den of vipers can possibly elect someone Catholic.
Hey Hat Lady, fan of St. Peter Damian, did you know that traditionally the Catholic Church considered heterosexual oral sex sodomy?
Poor traditionalists, they finally find a Church where they can bash gay people and then they find that a blow job from the wife is a mortal sin.
Doh!
What a feculent wretch. To hell with you, demon!
Lenny, I’m not sure if it’s a language barrier or a comprehension barrier, but AdolphusJr is the one calling for gays to be executed, not me. You’re correct to condemn this way of thinking, as it is not Catholic. Westboro Baptist is militantly anti-gay and AdolphusJr’s attitude toward gays – “stinking sodimites”, in his words – would fit better with Westboro than with Catholic teaching. I believe he also referred to a “Pope ButtsUp”. Your beef – justifiable as a Catholic – is with him.
I would guess that my comment hit a little too close to home but then again I doubt you have a wife.
Zing!
……