What does God say about the false prophet?

… “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did live. And he had the power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and caus that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Rev. 13:11-17).

… “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” (Rev. 16:13). (Emphasis added).

… “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” (Rev. 19:20). (Emphasis added).

… “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”  (Rev. 20:10). (Emphasis added.)

False Prophet announces there is no hell, being gay is ok, crowns an idol/statue as the “queen of heaven,” supports a one world government, says being good is “good enough” to get into heaven, addresses the United Nations in speech (no word of the gospel, just politics and worldly solutions), maintains a cover up of his priests’ pedophile sexual abuses around the world, approves fashion show glorifying priestly garments, is forming an alliance with other religious leaders around the world. Numerous retractions by his priests indicating the head priest didn’t mean what he said. Lies and more lies. Continues to deceive, to communicate false doctrine(s) and the worship of idols. Worships power, influence and wealth. Accepts and supports other world false religious doctrines.

Three-fold Reference to Unclean Spirits:

… “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” (Rev. 16:13). (Emphasis added).

Commentary: Unclean is the opposite of clean or righteous. Therefore, unclean spirits are evil spirits, or those spirits coming from Satan’s kingdom. It is possible, these spirits have a spiritual form representing some form of grotesque frog or amphibian-like creation, however, the reference to frogs might be better understood using a metaphorical interpretation. Frogs are usually camouflaged creatures, blending in and hidden in their environment. You usually don’t know they are in proximity to you unless you see them suddenly jump and swim away. They make a load croaking sound to attract a mate and draw attention to themselves (just as the beast/antichrist wants to draw attention to himself). They can very quickly, in a split second, capture a fly or prey, with a quick thrust of their tongue. If you are an insect, and are in close range of the frog, you will become his meal, very quickly. Apparently, Satan calls up and releases three of his frog-like evil spirits out into the world for them to spiritually attract kings of the earth to do battle at Armageddon. Being camouflaged and otherwise unseen, the kings may not be aware of, and are unsuspecting that they are being targeted with deception by the frog-spirits. You can be sitting on a bench, near a pond or swampy area, and unbeknownst to you, a frog could be sitting a foot away from you on the edge of its domain. Sitting quietly, waiting…and waiting…and waiting for the right moment to capture its prey. The only goal for the unclean, frog-like spirits is to quietly, under camouflage, sneak into the domains of other kings on earth and spiritually goad or prompt them into coming to war at Armageddon. These kings may already be in the thought process of waring either against the beast/antichrist, or in waring against other kings, nonetheless, the evil frog-spirits provide them with a spiritual nudge or suggestion to that they need to come to Armageddon.

Let me suggest this. If you were a king, of let’s say China or India, and you were being told by the beast/antichrist of the world that he directly commands you and your army to attend the battle with the one who sits on throne of heaven, who has great wrath, what would you think? Sure…sign me up, count me in, I’ll be there as soon as my battalions are ready! NOT! The incentive for them to come to Armageddon has to be deceptive, hidden and subtle. They can’t know what they are in for, or else they won’t come…they won’t be “gathered to do battle of that great day of God Almighty.” (Rev. 16:14). The Bible is silent on whatever the incentive or provocation is for these kings … all we know is that three, unclean, frog-like, evil spirits are sent out by Satan, the beast/antichrist and the false prophet to lure foreign kings to come to a great battle at Armageddon. Why does the bible use the reference out of their mouth three distinct times? My interpretation is that this is spiritual form of deception or lie is released by each evil entity (Satan, Beast and False Prophet) by speaking the unclean spirit into existence and commanding it to go out into the world to accomplish what it is capable of accomplishing…and that is to deceive the Kings to come to Armageddon. These spirits will lie, deceive, and manipulate the kings, in any way possible to accomplish Satan’s goal. The evil, unclean, frog-like ‘toadies’ are just the perfect special operations team, from hell or the bottomless pit, to get the job done.

Four-fold Reference to the False Prophet/2^nd Beast:

1. … “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” (Rev. 13:11-12). (Emphasis added).
2. … “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” (Rev. 16:13). (Emphasis added).
3. … “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived themn that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimestone.” (Rev. 19:20). (Emphasis added).
4. … “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimestone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Rev. 20:10). (Emphasis added).

Commentary: All of the references used are lowercase and descriptive in purpose. The term false prophet (used three times to signify emphasis and intensity) and another beast, two horned lamb, speaking as a dragon are all used only once. Why the descriptive use of false prophet? A prophet is someone who claims to speak the word of God directly to men, based on the authority and conviction of the Holy Spirit. A false prophet is someone who is attempting to deceive men with a word or doctrine that is not of or from God. It is not divinely inspired with authority or conviction from the Holy Sprit, but rather, comes from someplace else (hell, bottomless pit, mouth of Satan, demons, devils). The doctrine and worship is false as opposed to true. Thus, the false prophet is promoting false objects of worship and false doctrines of man made religious practices and rituals. Since he is a real, physical man, his name will not be known until he assumes his evil role, once the the beast / antichrist / man-of-sin shows up on the scene. The symbolism of the false prophet having two horns like a lamb, yet speaking like a dragon is interesting. The small, two horns on a lamb are not powerful, they can’t hurt anyone or cause any damage. Neither can a lamb. Lambs are meek and mild creatures, easily scared and frightened. They do not posses any power or strength. They bleat and do not roar. Dragons (along with lions), on the other hand, roar with fierocity.

This false prophet roars with satanic conviction and authority. He is given his power from the beast/antichrist, to speak things and perform miracles while in his presence. Unclean spirits are also sometimes referred to as demons. The false prophet has the ability, through the antichrist, to cast into the world an unclean spirit or demon from his mouth. All of these special abilities and powers come directly from the beast, who gets his power, authority and seat from Satan. Just like black, smelly sludge in a pit, evil flows downhill … from Satan, to the beast, to the false prophet, to men. There is a double (2) reference that the false prophet will end up in the lake of fire and brimestone (2^nd death). This double emphasis of an equal measure or weight indicates that there is no error in the fact that the false prophet is destined for the lake of fire and brimestone (2^nd death), along with the beast at the end of the Tribulation period. Satan will be joining them also in the lake of fire and brimestone (2^nd death), but at the end of Christ’s Millenial 1,000 year reign. The false prophet, like the beast / antichrist / man of sin, and Satan will be tormented for ever and ever (eternity) in the lake of fire and brimestone (2^nd death).

Five-fold Satanically Empowered Counterfeits:

1. … “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, seat, and great authority.” (Rev. 13:2). (Emphasis added).
2. Beast Worship. … “…and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast.” (Rev. 13:14). (Emphasis added).
3. Beast Image / Worship. … “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” (Rev. 13:15). (Emphasis added).
4. False Prophet. … “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” (Rev 13:12). (Emphasis added). “…he had power to do in the sight of the beast.” (Rev. 13:14). (Emphasis added). “…and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them…” (Rev. 19:20). (Emphasis added.
5. False Prophet Miracles. … “And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.” (Rev. 13:14). (Emphasis added).

Commentary: These four (4) verses clearly indicate that Satan provides the beast directly, with his “power, seat and authority”, and the false prophet indirectly, “with all the power of the first beast, to do miracles in the sight of the beast.” The beast and false prophet are satanically driven puppets that are only able to exercise their evil power, as a result of receiving it from Satan. Satan’s power is not omnipotent or omnipresent. Satan’s power is limited in scope and requires his presence. The false prophet can only exercise his power and deceptions when he is in sight (close proximity) of the beast.

Seven-fold Evils of the False Prophet:

… “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.”  (Rev. 13:11-13). (Emphasis added).

… “And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”  (Rev. 13:14-15). (Emphasis added).

…. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom, Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of man; and his number is Six hundred three-score and six.”  (Rev. 13:16-18). (Emphasis added).

1. Exercises all the demonic power of the antichrist. (Rev. 13:12)
2. Causes people on the earth to worship the beast/antichrist. (Rev. 13:12)
3. Deceives those on earth by false miracles or wonders, but is only able to do these when the antichrist is present. (Rev. 13:13-14)
4. Requires people on earth to build an image of the beast/antichrist. (Rev. 13:14)
5. Gives false life to the man-made image enabling it to speak. (Rev. 13:15)
6. Forces all people to receive the antichrist’s mark of ownership in their forehead or right hand, forces buying and selling to be contingent upon having this mark. Causes the martyrdom of those not willing to worship the beast or his image. (Rev. 13:15-17)
7. Causes people on earth to worship the beast’s image. (Rev. 13:15)

Commentary: The False Prophet is the Antichrist’s ‘right hand’ man, propaganda minister, and #1 religious cheerleader, in an all-in-one package. A yes man of the most evil sort. Adolf Hitler had very similar people operating in this capacity during his evil attempt to enslave the world. The False Prophet will be demonically or satanically inspired to perform the deceit and false miracles that lead the weak-minded and spiritually dead to falsely worship the beast/antichrist. Interestingly, the False Prophet can only conduct these false miracles when he is in sight/proximity to the beast. This indicates that Satan’s power is not omnipresent, but can only be conveyed to a willing participant within close proximity to Satan. Whereas God’s power is unlimited by time and space, Satan’s power is not and is strictly limited. Just as Hitler forced the Jews to take a tattoo or mark of the Star of David, for identification, so too will the beast/antichrist force citizens to take his mark for identification. Additionally, Hitler forced Jews to have a number tattooed on them in concentration camps, for more detailed recognition and identification. Scripture continues to tell us that the Antichrist/Beast will also force the number of his name to be forced onto people. Impossible you say? See my detailed analysis of the Sevenfold Markings by the Beast/Antichrist. The False Prophet is also the ringleader to get men to make a false image(s) of the beast and to have men worship it. Impossible you think? Read my detailed analysis on the Sevenfold Image of the Beast. The False Prophet is the enabler of spiritual fornication on a global, worldwide scale all with the endorsement, approval, sanctioning and blessing from the Beast. Satan gives the False Prophet enough power, through the beast/antichrist, to ensure this satanic abomination is accomplished.

 Seven-fold Reference to the Beast’s Mark/Name/Number Required by the False Prophet:

1. … “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.” (Rev. 13:16). (Emphasis added).
2. … ”And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand.” (Rev. 14:9). (Emphasis added)
3. … “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name”. (Rev. 14:11). (Emphasis added).
4. … “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” (Rev. 15:2). (Emphasis added).
5. … “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.” (Rev. 16:2). (Emphasis added).
6. … “ And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimestone.” (Rev. 19:20). (Emphasis added).
7. … “And I saw the thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement was given unto them: and I saw souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hand; and they live and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:4). (Emphasis added).

Commentary: The false prophet causes those who dwell on the earth to do a lot of bad things. The beast/antichrist uses marks to identify those who belong to his evil kingdom. The mark of the beast is physically apparent on the forehead or right hand of his citizens. What this mark will look like is a matter of debate and conjecture. It could be a stamp using non-removable die, a tattoo, or even a physical blemish that results from genetic manipulation. Cattle are often marked or branded by their ranchers or owners for identification. The process of cattle branding uses extremly hot fire to heat up a metal die or stamp (at the end of a long metal pole). The metal stamp is heated until the point of being red hot (glowing), or hot enough to burn a mark, initials or emblem into the leathery, thick skin of the cattle. This leaves a mark deep enough, that the cattle cannot outgrow the rancher’s mark of ownership. They permanently belong to him, until they are sold and slaughtered. By the beast/antichrist using a mark to identify his ownership of unredeemed souls, he views them as cattle…ready for the slaughterhouse of hell. The marking of unredeemed souls compares very differently to the seals or sealing used by God on those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 3:12, 7:3-4, 7:5-8, 14:1).

Historically, a seal was placed by a king on a document to authenticate the document’s origin and ownership. In many cases, wax would be heated to the point of melting and dripped onto the document’s edges. As the wax was drying, the king would use a signet ring or royal stamp to put his initials, mark, or royal crest (emblem) into the wax. As long as the seal was not broken, the person receiving the official document, sealed and in tact, immediately knew who sent the document and that it was not tampered with. The recipient could then be assured of the document’s authenticity and accuracy. God applies his seal of ownership to redeemed souls, through Jesus Christ. We have a royal seal of the spirit as opposed to the  physical marking characterized by the antichrist. We have been spared a bloody slaughtering, as Christ was already bloodily slaughered on the cross for our behalf. By contrast, the cattle owned by the antichrist/beast will experience a bloody slaughtering at Armeggedon. (Rev. 14:20 … “blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hudred furlongs). The mark of the antichrist/beast indicates the corrupted physical and spiritual image of those he owns, whereas, the seal of God, through Jesus Christ, indicates our imager status as belonging to God and of being citizens of heaven and the New Jersusalem.

I would rather have the loving, royal seal of God, given to us by Christ, in my heart and head…than to have an ugly, stamp forced or burned onto my forehead or hand. Once again, in his Revelation to John, the Apostle, Jesus mentions seven (7) times that the mark of the beast will lead to eternal damnation. He cares enough about all of us, to keep repeating himself and reminding us, over and over. Unfortunately, there will be millions (or billions) who ignore or don’t care about his warnings and offer of salvation. The beast/antichrist forces his mark on souls, whereas Jesus, gives us his mark. He doesn’t force himself on anyone who doesn’t’ want to be idenfied with him or his kingdom. Just as Jesus indicates what happens to “those who take the mark of the beast” (white throne judgement, lake of fire), He also indicates what happens to “those who do not take the mark of the beast”.  We are victorious, live and reign with Christ for one thousand years, have harps of God, stand on a sea of glass, sit on thrones. What a contrast in eternal existence!

The Number of a Man (False Prophet, Beast, Mankind):

Revelation 13:18 clearly states that 666 is a number of a man … not a number of an angel, not a number of Satan, Devil, serpent or dragon, nor of any kind of reference to Babylon (city) or Mystery Babylon (false religion). The reference is literally to man (mankind), the beast/antichrist (a literal, physical man) and the false prophet (a literal, physical man) Each of them is judged to be extremely evil and each is therefore assigned a number of six (6) to represent the imperfection, sinfullness and evilness of man, before God. Combining the number of each type of man leads to 666, this number represents the consumation of evil, of the three men. The number three (3) denotes intensity and emphasis. The fact that the number six (6) is repeated three (3) times emphasizes the most intense evil that mankind, antichrist, and the false prophet collectively possess during the tribulation period. Evil doesn’t come any worse, or more intensly than this. Period. When the bible states an important reference to someone or something, the word of God is very specific and literal. There should be no confusion. To understand why the number six (6) represents evil, Verse 13:18 tells us to ‘count his number. When we read all of Revelation, we can literally ‘count’ (using your fingers, toes, abacus, etch-a-sketch, spreadsheet or notepad and pen) the number of sins or evil actions conducted by all of evil mankind, of the beast/antichrist and of the false prophet. Their evil footprints leave an evil, smelly trail in the mud and muck of the world, that can very easily be sniffed out, followed and counted. Are you excited to be a bloodhound and to begin sniffing out the clues!?

Let’s revisit the fact that evil is represented by the number six (6). And that there are three men (man) referenced as being intensely evil; mankind / the beast-antichrist / the false prophet. Each man is assigned the number six (6). The fact that there are three (3) men denotes God’s emphasis and intensity. Since there are three (3) men, there will be three, six’s (6).  God’s mathematics not only have numerical values but also descriptive values. God’s mathematics not only express statistical truth, but also sequential, logical and descriptive truth. This is truth within truth, layer within layer, meaning within meaning.

Mankind (6) + beast/antichrist (6) + false prophet (6) = 666 (a literal number represented by the number 6, repeated three times in a linear row.)

 An earthly, false throne for whom, in the temple of the false prophet?

• Could the earthly throne built and pictured below accommodate someone 10 (ten) feet tall?
• If any human sat in this throne, would that be blasphemous?
• If someone in human form sat on this throne and demanded to be worshipped, would that be blasphemous?
• How could someone possibly gain access to this throne, let alone sit on it?
• With the restrainer gone, who would prevent someone from sitting on this earthly throne?
• If someone sat on this throne, could that be a physical manifestation of and representation of Mystery Religion Babylon?
• Who would possibly want to sit on this throne?
• Why would he want to sit on this throne?
• Would someone sitting on this throne be in a position to deceive many people?
• Why would he be in position to deceive many people?
• If someone alternatively sat in this throne (representing the world’s largest ‘Christian’? group) for 3 ½ years and then sat in the throne of the holy of holies in the rebuilt Jewish Temple, for 3 ½ years, what would you make of it?
• Who is the throne intended for?
• Even if the throne was built for symbolic or artistic purposes, could it be used for a real purpose someday?
• Is this earthly throne the most ornate, glorious and revered throne in Western Civilization?
• Why would a false, religious dictator desire to be on this throne?
• Could a false and evil religious, political and military empire be ruled from this throne?
• If something happened to the sun and its light was blotted out, would the throne be in the light or the dark?
• Does this throne exist (geographically) in an area once considered part of the Roman Empire?
• Is Christ literally represented anywhere in this throne?
• Why are mortal men represented at the base of the throne?
• Why is the representation of these mortal men positioned at the feet of whomever might sit on the throne?
• Does the throne represent or show any of the sacrificial work of the Lamb?
• Did Christ promise any crowns to men, while they were alive on earth?
• Does this throne display earthly glory and not holy glory?
• Does this throne have 24 (twenty-four) elders represented around it?
• Does the world consider this throne to be in a “temple.”?
• What is this temple used for?
• Is it possible that a human false prophet could function in close proximity to this throne?
• Doorways or entrances into the ‘temple’ that contains this throne are much larger than necessary to accommodate normal sized human beings. Why are these doorways so large? What purpose would larger than normal doorways or entrances serve? What person would be so large that needed access through these doorways? Currently, these very large doorways and entrances appear to serve either an architectural or artistic purpose. Could the purpose change?
• Is this throne the focal point of this ‘temple.’?
• Could official proclamations and happenings occurring on or near the throne be broadcast worldwide with today’s technology?
• Do you see the glory of Christ anywhere in this throne?
• Is Christ’s throne in heaven or on earth?
• In a very real, practical sense … does the throne represent a kingdom of heaven or a kingdom and religious system on earth?
• When Christ returns to earth at his second coming, would he need to sit on this throne so people would know who he is?
• Are many people led to believe this is might be what Christ’s throne would look like?
• Does the Bible indicate that this is what Christ’s throne looks like in heaven?
• Is this throne made for a man? Or for Christ?
• Why make a throne if it does not glorify God or Jesus Christ?
• Why would men want to worship another man?
• If someone sat on this throne, could he be worshiped worldwide 24×7 through modern communication technology and satellite systems?

The list of questions could go on and on. Yes, I have asked many questions and provided no answers. However, most questions can be answered with a simple yes or no. I don’t believe there is any middle ground answers to any of these questions. Some people will be very uncomfortable with their answers to these questions and the possible implications. That is the point. Things exist today in certain form and function that can change in the “twinkling of an eye.” The Jews were offended (to put it mildly) when Christ indicated who he was and what he was here for. Will mankind act the same way when someone mysteriously sits in this (or some other throne) and demands to be worshiped. By now, the answer should be etched in your mind. I’m not suggesting a conspiracy theory, I’m simply asking yes and no hypothetical questions. If you have some discernment, you can readily answer the questions for yourself. Do not mock or marginalize the questions above. Take them seriously under consideration. Apply what you know from the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ in answering these questions.

The false prophet of Mystery Religion Babylon

[Authors note: Three (3) denotes God’s emphasis and intensity of a matter. Six (6) denotes evilness and monstrosity of a man. The false prophet is one of three evil men (666) in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. 3×6=18. Eighteen (18) instances outline the evilness and intensity of the false prophet.]

Item #1. All atheists go to heaven? May, 2014, Rome.

During a homily, Francis said that God redeems everyone — not just Christians, but atheists, as well. “We must meet one another doing good,” the Pope said. To those who say: ” ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ ” the Pope said, “But do good: We will meet one another there.” So, was the Pope saying that people can go to heaven, even if they don’t believe in God? Probably not, say church experts. Catholicism has long held that salvation is open to everyone — but with a really big caveat: If you know about the Catholic Church and don’t become a member, the door to heaven is likely closed, a Catholic spokesman said.

Item #2. There’s a ‘gay lobby’ inside the Vatican. 

Meeting with Catholic leaders from his native Latin America and the Caribbean in 2014, the Pope said that there are a lot of holy people in the Curia, Catholicism’s Rome-based bureaucracy. But there is also a “stream of corruption,” Francis said, including a “gay lobby.” “We need to see what we can do,” he added, somewhat cryptically. Only the Pope knows exactly what he meant. The Vatican clammed up, refusing to explain. Catholic experts believe Francis was referring to a secret dossier presented to his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI that investigated a series of embarrassing leaks from Vatican insiders to Italian journalists. The dossier referred to a Vatican network of sexually active gay clergy who might have been subject to blackmail, according to Italian reports.

Item #3. Vatican Church is essential for faith pope says. June 25, 2014, Catholic News Service.

Christians are not made in a laboratory, but in a community called the church, Pope Francis said. At his weekly general audience Wednesday, Pope Francis continued his series of audience talks about the church, telling an estimated 33,000 people that there is no such thing as “do-it-yourself” Christians or “free agents” when it comes to faith. Every Christian, he said, can trace his or her faith back to parents, grandparents, teachers or friends. “I always remember the nun who taught me catechism. I know she’s in heaven because she was a holy woman,” he said. In the Old Testament, the pope said, God called Abraham and began to form a people that would become a blessing for the world. “With great patience — and God has a lot of it — he prepared the people of the ancient covenant and in Jesus Christ constituted them as a sign and instrument of the union of humanity with God and unity with one another.” Pope Francis described as “dangerous” the temptation to believe that one can have “a personal, direct, immediate relationship with Jesus Christ without communion with and the mediation of the church.“ Obviously, he said, it is not always easy to walk the path of faith with other people. “Sometimes it’s tiring. It can happen that a brother or sister creates problems for us or scandalizes us, but the Lord entrusted his message of salvation to human beings, to us, to witnesses,” he said. “It is through our brothers and sisters with their gifts and their limits,” the pope said, “that he comes to us and makes himself known. This is what belonging to the church means. Remember: Being Christian means belonging to the church. If your first name is Christian, your last name is Member of the Church.” At the end of his talk, the pope asked people to join him in praying that they would never “give into the temptation of thinking you can do without the church.” Christians, he said, are not manufactured in isolation, but belong to a long line of believers who handed on the faith and challenged one another to live it fully.

Items #4-5. Pope Francis Decrees ‘We Need a Global Central Bank.’ January 10, 2017, yournewswire.com.

New World Order demagogue Pope Francis has rung in the year by calling for the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions and the increasingly unruly masses.Acknowledging that a central monetary authority will mean a loss of sovereignty and independence for nation states, as well as a loss of freedom for individuals, Pope Francis claims that such “costs” are well worth the overall societal and economic gains. As the new year dawns, it seems the current occupant of St. Peter’s Chair will take on a new function which is outside the purview of the office that the Divine Founder of his institution had clearly mandated.  Besides being a self-proclaimed expert on global warming and a vociferous advocate of societal-wrecking mass immigration, it looks as if “Pope” Francis has entered the realm of global economics specifically, international monetary policy. In an 18-page document issued through the Vatican’s Office of Justice and Peace, the Pope has called for, among other repressive and wealth-destructive measures, the establishment of a “supranational [monetary] authority” to oversee international monetary affairs:

“In fact, one can see an emerging requirement for a body that will carry out the functions of a kind of ‘central world bank’ that regulates the flow and system of monetary exchanges similar to the national central banks.” The paper, Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority, contends that a world central bank is needed because institutions such as the IMF have failed to “stabilize world finance” and have not effectively regulated “the amount of credit risk taken on by the system.” Naturally, as one of the planet’s preeminent social justice warriors, Pope Francis claims that if a world central bank is not commissioned, than the gap between rich and poor will grow even wider:

The Pope acknowledges that if a central monetary authority is established it will mean a loss of sovereignty and independence among nations, but such “costs” are well worth the overall societal and economic gains: “Of course, this transformation will be made at the cost of a gradual, balanced transfer of a part of each nation’s powers to a world authority and to regional authorities, but this is necessary at a time when the dynamism of human society and the economy and the progress of technology are transcending borders, which are in fact already very eroded in a globalized world.” While the document demonstrates that Pope Francis has not a clue of basic monetary theory, it shows again that the Pope is a radical socialist who has more in common with the loony ideas of Karl Marx than he does with Roman Catholicism.

Pope Francis’ letter follows [sections one and two are omitted for brevity]:

January 3, 2017

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE

TOWARDS REFORMING
THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL AND MONETARY SYSTEMS
IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL PUBLIC AUTHORITY

Preface

Presupposition

1. Economic Development and Inequalities [author’s note: this section has been omitted for brevity].
   2. The Role of Technology and the Ethical Challenge [author’s note: this section has been omitted for brevity].
   3. An Authority over Globalization
   4. Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in a way that Responds to the Needs of all Peoples

Conclusions

Preface

“The world situation requires the concerted effort of everyone, a thorough examination of every facet of the problem – social, economic, cultural and spiritual. The Church, which has long experience in human affairs and has no desire to be involved in the political activities of any nation, ‘seeks but one goal: to carry forward the work of Christ under the lead of the befriending Spirit. And Christ entered this world to give witness to the truth; to save, not to judge; to serve, not to be served’”(1).

With these words, in the prophetic and always relevant Encyclical Populorum Progressio of 1967, Pope Paul VI outlined in a clear way “the trajectories” of the Church’s close relation with the world. These trajectories or perspectives intersect with the perspectives of others outside the Church in the profound value of human dignity and the quest for the common good, which make people responsible and free to act according to their highest aspirations.

The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through summons everyone, as individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values that underlie social coexistence. What is more, the crisis engages private actors and competent public authorities on the national, regional and international level in serious reflection on causes and on solutions of a political, economic and technical nature.

In this perspective, as Pope Benedict XVI teaches, the crisis “obliges us to re-plan our journey, to set ourselves new rules and to discover new forms of commitment, to build on positive experiences and to reject negative ones. The crisis thus becomes an opportunity for discernment, in which to shape a new vision for the future. In this spirit, with confidence rather than resignation, it is appropriate to address the difficulties of the present time”(2).

The G20 leaders themselves said in the Statement they adopted in Pittsburgh in 2009: “The economic crisis demonstrates the importance of ushering in a new era of sustainable global economic activity grounded in responsibility” (3).

The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace now responds to the Holy Father’s appeal, while making the concerns of everyone our own, especially the concerns of those who pay most dearly for the current situation. With due respect for the competent civil and political authorities, the Council hereby offers and shares its reflection: Towards reforming the international financial and monetary systems in the context of global public authority.

We hope that world leaders and all people of good will find this reflection helpful. It is an exercise of responsibility not only towards the current but above all towards future generations, so that hope for a better future and confidence in human dignity and capacity for good may never be extinguished.

Peter K. A. Cardinal Turkson
President

Bishop Mario Toso
Secretary

Presupposition

Every individual and every community shares in promoting and preserving the common good. To be faithful to their ethical and religious vocation, communities of believers should take the lead in asking whether the human family has adequate means at its disposal to achieve the global common good. The Church for her part is called to encourage in everyone without distinction, the desire to join in the “monumental amount of individual and collective effort” which men and women have made “throughout the course of the centuries … to better the circumstances of their lives…. [T]his human activity accords with God’s will”(4).

1. Economic Development and Inequalities [omitted for brevity].
2. The Role of Technology and the Ethical Challenge [omitted for brevity].
3. An Authority over Globalization

On the way to building a more fraternal and just human family and, even prior to that, a new humanism open to transcendence, Blessed John XXIII’s teaching seems especially timely. In the prophetic Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris of 1963, he observed that the world was heading towards ever greater unification. He then acknowledged the lack of correspondence in the human community between political organization “on a world level and the objective needs of the universal common good”(11). He also expressed the hope that one day “a true world political authority”(12) would be created.

In view of the unification of the world engendered by the complex phenomenon of globalization, and of the importance of guaranteeing, in addition to other collective goods, the good of a free, stable world economic and financial system at the service of the real economy – in this perspective, the teaching of Pacem in Terris appears to be even more vital today and worthy of urgent implementation.

Consistent with the spirit of Pacem in Terris, Benedict XVI himself expressed the need to create a world political authority.13 This seems obvious if we consider the fact that the agenda of questions to be dealt with globally is becoming ever longer. Think, for example, of peace and security; disarmament and arms control; promotion and protection of fundamental human rights; management of the economy and development policies; management of migratory flows and food security; and protection of the environment. In all these areas, the growing interdependence between States and regions of the world becomes more and more obvious as well as the need for answers that are not just sectorial and isolated, but systematic and integrated, rich in solidarity and subsidiarity and geared to the universal common good.

As the Pope reminds us, if this road is not followed, “despite the great progress accomplished in various sectors, international law would risk being conditioned by the balance of power among the strongest nations”(14).

The purpose of a public authority, as John XXIII reminded us in Pacem in Terris, is first and foremost to serve the common good. Therefore, it should be endowed with structures and adequate, effective mechanisms equal to its mission and the expectations placed in it. This is especially true in a globalized world which makes individuals and peoples increasingly interconnected and interdependent, but which also displays the existence of monetary and financial markets of a predominantly speculative sort that are harmful for the real economy, especially of the weaker countries.

This is a complex and delicate process. A supranational Authority in this arena should have a realistic structure and be set up gradually. It should be favourable to the existence of efficient and effective monetary and financial systems; that is, free and stable markets overseen by a suitable legal framework, well-functioning in support of sustainable development and social progress of all, and inspired by the values of charity and truth(15). It is a matter of an Authority with a global reach that cannot be imposed by force, coercion or violence, but should be the outcome of a free and shared agreement and a reflection of the permanent and historic needs of the world common good. It ought to arise from a process of progressive maturation of consciences and advances in freedoms as well as awareness of growing responsibilities. Consequently, reciprocal trust, autonomy and participation cannot be overlooked as if they were superfluous elements. Consent should engage an ever greater number of countries that adhere with conviction, through a sincere dialogue that values the minority opinions rather than marginalizing them. So the world Authority should consistently involve all peoples in a collaboration in which they are called to contribute, bringing to it the heritage of their virtues and their civilizations.

The establishment of a world political Authority should be preceded by a preliminary phase of consultation from which a legitimated institution will emerge that is in a position to be an effective guide and, at the same time, can allow each country to express and pursue its own particular good. The exercise of this Authority at the service of the good of each and every one will necessarily be super partes or impartial: that is, above any partial vision or particular good, with a view to achieving the common good. Its decisions should not be the result of the more developed countries’ superior power over weaker countries. Instead, they should be made in the interest of all, not only to the advantage of some groups, whether they are formed by private lobbies or national governments.

A supranational Institution, the expression of a “community of nations”, will not last long, however, if the countries’ differences from the standpoint of cultures, material and immaterial resources and historic and geographic conditions, are not recognized and fully respected. The lack of a convinced consensus, nourished by an unceasing moral communion on the part of the world community, would also reduce the effectiveness of such an Authority.

What is valid on the national level is also valid on the global level. A person is not made to serve authority unconditionally. Rather, it is the task of authority to be at the service of the person, consistent with the pre-eminent value of human dignity. Likewise, governments should not serve the world Authority unconditionally. Instead, it is the world Authority that should put itself at the service of the various member countries, according to the principle of subsidiarity. Among the ways it should do this is by creating the socio-economic, political and legal conditions essential for the existence of markets that are efficient and efficacious precisely because they are not over-protected by paternalistic national policies and not weakened by systematic deficits in public finances and of the gross national products – indeed, such policies and deficits actually hamper the markets themselves in acting on the world stage as open and competitive institutions.

In the tradition of the Church’s Magisterium which Benedict XVI has vigorously embraced(16), the principle of subsidiarity should regulate relations between the State and local communities and between public and private institutions, not excluding the monetary and financial institutions. Likewise, on a higher level, it ought to govern the relationships between a possible future global public Authority and regional and national institutions. This principle guarantees both democratic legitimacy and the efficacy of the decisions of those called to make them. It allows respect for the freedom of people, individually and in communities, and allows them at the same time to take responsibility for the objectives and duties that pertain to them.

According to the logic of subsidiarity, the higher Authority offers its subsidium, that is, its aid, only when individual, social or financial actors are intrinsically deficient in capacity, or cannot manage by themselves to do what is required of them(17). Thanks to the principle of solidarity, a lasting and fruitful relationship would build up between global civil society and a world public Authority as States, intermediate bodies, various institutions – including economic and financial ones – and citizens make their decisions with a view to the global common good, which transcends national goods.

As we read in Caritas in Veritate, “The governance of globalization must be marked by subsidiarity, articulated into several layers and involving different levels that can work together”(18). Only in this way can the danger of a central Authority’s bureaucratic isolation be avoided – an isolation that would risk its being delegitimized by an excessive distance from the realities which underlie its existence, and easily falling prey to paternalistic, technocratic or hegemonic temptations.

However, a long road still needs to be travelled before arriving at the creation of a public Authority with universal jurisdiction. It would seem logical for the reform process to proceed with the United Nations as its reference because of the worldwide scope of the UN’s responsibilities, its ability to bring together the nations of the world, and the diversity of its tasks and those of its specialized Agencies. The fruit of such reforms ought to be a greater ability to adopt policies and choices that are binding because they are aimed at achieving the common good on the local, regional and world levels. Among the policies, those regarding global social justice seem most urgent: financial and monetary policies that will not damage the weakest countries(19); and policies aimed at achieving free and stable markets and a fair distribution of world wealth, which may also derive from unprecedented forms of global fiscal solidarity, which will be dealt with later.

On the way to creating a world political Authority, questions of governance (that is, a system of merely horizontal coordination without a higher authority super partes) cannot be separated from those of a shared government (that is, a system which in addition to horizontal coordination establishes a higher authority super partes) which is functional and proportionate to the gradual development of a global political society. The establishment of a global political Authority cannot be achieved without an already functioning multilateralism, not only on a diplomatic level, but also and above all in relation to programs for sustainable development and peace. It is not possible to arrive at global Government without giving political expression to pre-existing forms of interdependence and cooperation.

4. Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in a way that Responds to the Needs of all Peoples

In economic and financial matters, the most significant difficulties come from the lack of an effective set of structures that can guarantee, in addition to a system of governance, a system of government for the economy and international finance.

What can be said about this prospect? What steps can be taken concretely?

With regard to the current global economic and financial systems, two decisive factors should be stressed. The first is the gradual decline in efficacy of the Bretton Woods institutions beginning in the early 1970s. In particular, the International Monetary Fund has lost an essential element for stabilizing world finance, that of regulating the overall money supply and vigilance over the amount of credit risk taken on by the system. That is, stabilizing the world monetary system is no longer a “universal public good” within its reach.

The second factor is the need for a minimum, shared body of rules to manage the global financial market which has grown much more rapidly than the real economy. This situation of rapid, uneven growth has come about, on the one hand, because of the overall abrogation of controls on capital movements and the tendency to deregulate banking and financial activities; and on the other, because of advances in financial technology, due largely to information technology.

On the structural level, in the latter part of the last century, monetary and financial activities worldwide grew much more rapidly than the production of goods and services. In this context, the quality of credit tended to decrease to the point that it exposed the credit institutions to more risk than could reasonably be sustained. It is sufficient to look at the fate of large and small credit institutions during the crises that broke out in the 1980s and 1990s, and finally in the 2008 crisis.

Again in the last part of the twentieth century, there was a growing tendency to define the strategic directions of economic and financial policy in terms of ‘clubs’ and of larger or smaller groups of more developed countries. While not denying the positive aspects of this approach, it is impossible to overlook that it did not appear to respect the representative principle fully, in particular where the less developed or emerging countries are concerned.

The need to heed the voices of a greater number of countries has led to expanding the relevant groups; for instance, there is now a G20 where there was once just a G7. This has been a positive development because it became possible to include developing and emerging countries with larger populations in shaping the economy and global finance.

In the area of the G20, concrete tendencies can thus mature which, when worked out properly in the appropriate technical centres, will be able to guide the competent bodies on the national and regional level towards consolidating existing institutions and creating new ones with appropriate and effective instruments on the international level.

Moreover, the G20 leaders themselves said in their final Statement in Pittsburgh 2009: “The economic crisis demonstrates the importance of ushering in a new era of sustainable global economic activity grounded in responsibility.” To tackle the crisis and open up a new era of responsibility, in addition to technical and short-term measures, the leaders put forth a proposal “to reform the global architecture to meet the needs of the 21st century,” and later a proposal “to launch a framework that lays out the policies and the way we act together to generate strong, sustainable and balanced global growth”(20).

Therefore, a process of reflection and reforms needs to be launched that will explore creative and realistic avenues for taking advantage of the positive aspects of forums that already exist.

Specific attention should be paid to the reform of the international monetary system and, in particular, the commitment to create some form of global monetary management, something that is already implicit in the Statutes of the International Monetary Fund. It is obvious that to some extent this is equivalent to putting the existing exchange systems up for discussion in order to find effective means of coordination and supervision. This process must also involve the emerging and developing countries in defining the stages for a gradual adaptation of the existing instruments.

In fact, one can see an emerging requirement for a body that will carry out the functions of a kind of “central world bank” that regulates the flow and system of monetary exchanges, as do the national central banks. The underlying logic of peace, coordination and common vision which led to the Bretton Woods Agreements needs to be dusted off in order to provide adequate answers to the current questions. On the regional level, this process could begin by strengthening the existing institutions, such as the European Central Bank. However, this would require not only a reflection on the economic and financial level, but also and first of all on the political level, so as to create the set of public institutions that will guarantee the unity and consistency of the common decisions.

These measures ought to be conceived of as some of the first steps towards a public Authority with universal jurisdiction; as a first stage in a longer effort by the global community to steer its institutions towards achieving the common good. Other stages will have to follow in which the dynamics familiar to us may become more marked, but they may also be accompanied by changes which it would be useless to try to predict today.

In this process, the primacy of the spiritual and of ethics needs to be restored and, with them, the primacy of politics – which is responsible for the common good – over the economy and finance. Economics and finance need to be brought back within the boundaries of their real vocation and function, including their social function, in consideration of their obvious responsibilities to society – for example, that of nourishing markets and financial institutions which are really at the service of the person and are capable of responding to the needs of the common good and universal brotherhood. Clearly, this vocation, this function has nothing to do with the shallow and crass economism for which money and marketplace success are the only measure of social value.

On the basis of this sort of ethical approach, it seems advisable to reflect, for example, on:

1. a) taxation measures on financial transactions with fair rates modulated in proportion to the complexity of operations, especially those made on the “secondary” market. Such taxation would be very useful in promoting global development and sustainability according to the principles of social justice and solidarity. It could also contribute to the creation of a world reserve fund to support the economies of the countries hit by crisis as well as the recovery of their monetary and financial systems;
2. b) forms of recapitalization of banks with public funds, making the support conditional on “virtuous” behaviours aimed at developing the “real economy”;
3. c) the definition of the two domains of ordinary credit and of Investment Banking. This distinction would allow a more effective management of the “shadow markets” which have no controls and limits.

It is sensible and realistic to allow the necessary time to build up broad consensuses, but the goal of the universal common good with its inescapable demands is waiting on the horizon. Moreover, it is hoped that those in universities and other institutions who educate tomorrow’s leadership will work hard to prepare them for their responsibilities to discern the global public good and to serve it in a constantly changing world. The gap between ethical training and technical preparation needs to be filled by highlighting in a particular way the perpetual synergy between the two levels of practical doing (praxis) and of boundless human striving (poièsis).

The same effort is required from all those who are in a position to enlighten world public opinion in order to help it to brave this new world, no longer with anxiety but in hope and solidarity.

Conclusions

Under the current uncertainties, in a society capable of mobilizing immense means but whose cultural and moral reflection is still inadequate with regard to their use in achieving the appropriate ends, we are urged to not give in. We are asked above all to build a meaningful future for the generations to come. We should not be afraid to propose new ideas, even if they might destabilize pre-existing balances of power that prevail over the weakest. These ideas are seeds thrown to the ground that will sprout and hurry towards bearing fruit.

As Benedict XVI exhorts us, agents on all levels – social, political, economic, professional – are urgently needed who have the courage to serve and to promote the common good through an upright life(21). Only they will succeed in living and seeing beyond the appearances of things and perceiving the gap between existing reality and untried possibilities.

Paul VI emphasized the revolutionary power of a “forward-looking imagination” that can perceive the possibilities inscribed in the present and guide people towards a new future(22). By freeing their imagination, humans free their existence. Through an effort of community imagination, it is possible to transform not only institutions but also lifestyles and encourage a better future for all peoples.

Modern States became structured wholes over time and reinforced sovereignty within their own territory. But social, cultural and political conditions have gradually changed. Their interdependence has grown – so it has become natural to think of an international community that is integrated and increasingly ruled by a shared system – but a worse form of nationalism has lingered on, according to which the State feels it can achieve the good of its own citizens in a self-sufficient way.

Today all of this seems anachronistic and surreal, and all nations, great or small, together with their governments, are called to go beyond the “state of nature” which would keep States in a never-ending struggle with one another. Globalization, despite some of its negative aspects, is unifying peoples more and prompting them to move towards a new “rule of law” on the supranational level, supported by more intense and fruitful modes of collaboration. With dynamics similar to those that put an end in the past to the “anarchical” struggle between rival clans and kingdoms with regard to the creation of national states, today humanity needs to be committed to the transition from a situation of archaic struggles between national entities, to a new model of a more cohesive, polyarchic international society that respects every people’s identity within the multifaceted riches of a single humanity. Such a passage, which is already timidly under way, would ensure peace and security, development, and free, stable and transparent markets for the citizens of all countries, regardless of their size or power. As John Paul II warns us, “Just as the time has finally come when in individual States a system of private vendetta and reprisal has given way to the rule of law, so too a similar step forward is now urgently needed in the international community”(23).

The time has come to conceive of institutions with universal competence, now that vital goods shared by the entire human family are at stake, goods which individual States cannot promote and protect by themselves.

The conditions exist for going definitively beyond a ‘Westphalian’ international order in which States feel the need for cooperation but do not seize the opportunity to integrate their respective sovereignties for the common good of peoples.

It is the task of today’s generation to recognize and consciously to accept these new world dynamics for the achievement of a universal common good. Of course, this transformation will be made at the cost of a gradual, balanced transfer of a part of each nation’s powers to a world Authority and to regional Authorities, but this is necessary at a time when the dynamism of human society and the economy and the progress of technology are transcending borders, which are in fact already very eroded in a globalized world.

The birth of a new society and the building of new institutions with a universal vocation and competence are a prerogative and a duty for everyone, without distinction. What is at stake is the common good of humanity and the future itself.

In this context, for every Christian there is a special call of the Spirit to become committed decisively and generously so that the many dynamics under way will be channelled towards prospects of fraternity and the common good. An immense amount of work is to be done towards the integral development of peoples and of every person. As the Fathers said at the Second Vatican Council, this is a mission that is both social and spiritual, which “to the extent that the former can contribute to the better ordering of human society, it is of vital concern to the Kingdom of God”(24).

In a world on its way to rapid globalization, orientation towards a world Authority becomes the only horizon compatible with the new realities of our time and the needs of humankind. However, it should not be forgotten that this development, given wounded human nature, will not come about without anguish and suffering.

Through the account of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), the Bible warns us how the “diversity” of peoples can turn into a vehicle for selfishness and an instrument of division. In humanity there is a real risk that peoples will end up not understanding each other and that cultural differences will lead to irremediable oppositions. The image of the Tower of Babel also warns us that we must avoid a “unity” that is only apparent, where selfishness and divisions endure because the foundations of the society are not stable. In both cases, Babel is the image of what peoples and individuals can become when they do not recognize their intrinsic, transcendent dignity and brotherhood.

The spirit of Babel is the antithesis of the Spirit of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-12), of God’s design for the whole of humanity: that is, unity in truth. Only a spirit of concord that rises above divisions and conflicts will allow humanity to be authentically one family and to conceive of a new world with the creation of a world public Authority at the service of the common good.

Item #6. Pope comes “in his own name, not that of Christ.” June 11, 2017, Veritas Vincit.

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2015 in New York, Pope Francis chose not to mention the name of Jesus Christ.  Rather, he addressed the assembled nations “in his own name”. The opening statement of the speech of the Pope: “Following a tradition by which I feel honored, the Secretary General of the United Nations has invited the Pope to address this distinguished assembly of nations.  In my own name, and that of the entire Catholic community, I wish to express to you, Mr Ban Ki-moon, my heartfelt gratitude.”

The name of Jesus was never mentioned during the entire speech.  In his subsequent addresses to the U.S. Congress, as well as in the White House, the name of Jesus still was not mentioned. Following the speech, many Catholic commentators pointed out that the Pope speaks in the name of Jesus, and should therefore explicitly invoke his name in order to direct national and world leaders to the light of Christ and His teaching. Seven Speeches, No Mention of Jesus. Pope Francis has a history of choosing to omit the name of Jesus in various speeches.  In November 2014 he also omitted the Name of Jesus from his speech to the European Parliament. In July, 2014 when giving his “Top Ten List” about “how to be happier”, Pope Francis proposed many ideas, including “live and let live“, “stop being negative“, “respect nature”, but without mentioning Jesus Christ as the true source of joy in human life.  The website www.wildvoice.org analyzed seven major speeches of the Pope during trips to the United States and Cuba. The speeches were the following: Speech to Cuban Youth, September 20, 2015; In-flight Press Conference, September 22, 2015; Speech on White House Lawn, September 23, 2015; Address to United States Congress, September 24, 2015; Address to United Nations, September 25, 2015; Speech at “Ground Zero” at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, September 25, 2015; Address to World Meeting of Families, September 26, 2015. The analysis revealed that the 7 speeches had roughly 13,000 words, but zero mention of Jesus.

 Item #7. ‘Two-State’ solution for Israelis and Palestinians. September 25, 2017.

1. E. Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher Secretary for Relations with States Head of the Delegation of the Holy See to the Seventy-second Session of the United Nations General Assembly United Nations General Assembly Hall. FOCUSING ON PEOPLE: STRIVING FOR PEACE AND A DECENT LIFE ON A SUSTAINABLE PLANET.

Page 5&6. “Also, the complex political and diplomatic tensions in the Arabian Peninsula and the violence, together with the various humanitarian situations, in the Middle East must be adequately addressed by the international community. All must strive for an end to violence and reach “a solution which can enable Palestinians and Israelis alike to live at last in peace within clearly established and internationally recognized borders, thus implementing the ‘two state solution.’”

Item #8. GOOD ENOUGH – THE POPE, THE BOY, AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THEOLOGICAL QUESTION IN THE UNIVERSE. May 1, 2018, Phill Kwon, Wells Branch Community Church.

Heartsick Boy Asks Pope if his Atheist Father is in Heaven…  is pretty simple: Emanuele, a small boy, is ushered to the microphone and gets so choked up he can’t ask the question he was prepared to ask.  The Pope very graciously invites him to speak privately where you can see Emanuel break into tears. The pope whispers a few things to him, sends the boy back to his seat, then addresses the crowd.  Pope Francis explained that Emanuele’s father was an atheist and had recently died. The boy’s question was simply if his father was in heaven. This was the Pope’s response:

“That man did not have the [gift] of faith, wasn’t a believer. But he had his children baptized. He had a good heart,” Francis added. The pope said that God decides who goes to heaven and that God has “the heart of a father.” “Does God abandon his children when they are good?” “No,” the children shouted back. “There, Emanuele, that is the answer,” the pope said. “God surely was proud of your father because it is easier as a believer to baptize your children than to baptize them when you are not a believer. Surely this pleased God very much.” On the surface, the video seems like such a sweet moment.  To console a child is always good, and as Christians, we need to strive for compassion over judgment.  After all, we are called to love and care for those who mourn. What troubled me, though, about the Pope’s answer, however compassionate and well-intentioned, was how he seemed to give the crowd permission to judge this man’s heart and how far his answer was from the truth of the Gospel. Consoling someone who is grieving by giving them false hopes based on our own constructs of good and bad is a lot like giving someone directions when you don’t know the way.  It makes everyone feel pretty good in the moment, but at the end of the day you’ve lied to someone and the lost person is left in a worse position than when he started.

The Pope’s assertion that God accepts us based on our own arbitrary definition of goodness (in this case, defined by the mass of kids and parents behind the crowd control barriers), and that God wouldn’t send anyone to hell is growing in popularity because it feels safe.  It feels inclusive and decent. But in the end, it’s just us making ourselves God and judge over humanity. It’s okay for Emanuele’s dad because he seems like a decent guy, but who knows what his motivations were?  And what about people who cheat on their taxes?  Or cut you off in traffic?  Or a serial killer?  Or Hitler?  Do you think that’s being unfair?  On the contrary; every human heart is dark, and drawing a line on what you consider “good enough” or “too evil” just means you’re putting yourself in God’s seat. Even Stephen Colbert, who taught Catholic catechism classes, defended the fact that evil is our choice to remove ourselves from God’s love.  We send ourselves to hell, in a sense, because God has offered us a way to be saved and we say, ‘No thanks. I’d rather do it myself.”  Assuaging the immediate pain of the crowd by offering them a false hope is not courageous. It’s not kind. I have to hope that it wasn’t intentionally misleading, but in the end, we have to respond to the thousands who see the 90 second Facebook clip and make assumptions on what it means to be saved.

Which brings us to what the right response is.  Unfortunately for so many of us, we have drawn a line between truth and love, honesty and compassion.  Sometimes we think that truth is something cold and unfeeling like the blade a knife, while love and compassion are its opposite – a warm, fluffy pillow.  God, however, never treats these things as opposites, instead of demonstrating through his Son that truth and love must go together. Jesus, remember, dealt compassionately with the woman at the well, guiding her to the truth of worship while still gently confronting her with the brokenness of her life circumstances.  The Bible constantly reminds us to love our neighbor, to serve, give, sacrifice, and deal gently with people.  This, however, is never at the expense of the truth.  Jesus doesn’t ever give up ground on the reality of sin, death, or the need for repentance and rescue.  No matter how gracious and kind a doctor is, she does her patient harm if she doesn’t confront him with the reality of his terminal illness.  Nor would she fabricate a prognosis just to make him feel better about his circumstances. Truth and compassion must go together, but we mustn’t sacrifice one for the other.

So what about Emanuele?  The reality is that God made us, and he loves us.  We are something special, the pinnacle of all creation.  Nothing in the universe was made that was made like us. Nothing else in the universe did God breathe the breath of life.  However, when confronted with the choice to trust God or pursue our own path, humanity collectively decided the latter, rejecting God and introducing death into creation.  The nature of humanity is corrupt, and even the superficially “good” things we do are tainted with selfish and self-seeking motivations.  Jeremiah the prophet wrote: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jer. 17:9).  That rebellion only leads to death, but God made a way to be rescued from death not with a set of rules or an arbitrary standard of “goodness,” but by sending Jesus, fully God and fully man, to offer himself in perfect obedience as a substitute for our guilt.

Jesus died the death we deserved, buried our broken, sinful, wicked, corrupt nature in the grave.  Then, on the third day, he rose from the dead, and anyone who puts their trust in him will be saved. The Bible, even ones you find attending mass, will tell you that: ‘to those who received [Jesus], to those who called on his name, [God] gave the right to be called Children of God’ (John 1:12) and ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16) and ‘if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’ (Rom 10:9)

Pope Francis, never did technically tell little Emanuele that his dad’s act of having his kids baptized in the Catholic Church meant that he was suddenly acceptable to God.  And it is true that God is the ultimate judge (Heb. 9:27, James 4:12). But God hasn’t left us desperately groping blindly for peace; he’s made it clear that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6, 1 John 2:23).  Implying that God might be cool with your dad because he seemed like a decent guy isn’t comfort, it’s a false hope at best. This whole episode begs the question of what a Christian’s response should be.  If little Emanuele came up to YOU and asked you this question, how would you answer?  Bring down the cold sword of theological truth? Pat him on the head with the fluffy pillow of compassionate fantasy?  My hope would be neither of those but instead:

Acknowledge Emanuele’s pain and grieve together.  Again, the Pope was right: we should cry more, and grieve more.  This is a broken world, and death is not something to be apathetic towards. Be gracious in reminding Emanuele of God’s grace to him, that he is saved by Jesus’ incredible love through his death, burial, and resurrection. Acknowledge that we don’t know what Emanuele’s dad’s last moments were like, and pray that God changed his heart in those moments. Encourage Emanuele and pray that the Lord would comfort him in his grief. I do pray for Emanuele, that he would grow up knowing that God loves him, wants him, and that a way was made for him to have eternal life.  I pray that he wouldn’t grow up after that encounter believing that somehow he is the arbiter of what is “good enough” for God. I pray for us as a church that we would be bold and compassionate to speak the truth in great love for the lost all around us.

Item #9. Pope Francis Places Crown on Head of Statue of Mary during Visit to Chile. January 18, 2018, Christian News Network.

SANTIAGO, Chile — Jorge Bergoglio, the leader of Roman Catholicism who is also known as “Pope Francis,” placed a crown on the head of a statue of Mary during his visit to Chile on Tuesday. In Chile, the statue is known as “Our Lady of Mount Carmel,” who is also known by Roman Catholics in the country as the patron saint and “queen” of Chile.

“[T]he virgin who wanted to be called Your handmaid was chosen mother of the Redeemer, and true mother of all the living, and now exalted above the choirs of the angels, reigns gloriously with Your Son interceding for all men as an advocate of grace and queen of mercy,” he prayed during mass, moments before crowning the statue. “Lord, look kindly upon these your servants, who by adorning with a visible crown the image of the mother of Your Son, recognize Your Son as King of the universe and invoke the virgin as queen,” Bergoglio said. He “blessed” the crowns and was escorted to place them on the heads of the images. The Roman Catholic leader also spoke to Chilean youth on Wednesday at the Basilica of Our Lady of Carmel in Maipú, where he told those gathered that the “Our Lady of Carmel waits for you and welcomes you with an open heart.” As part of his trip to South America, Bergoglio is scheduled to likewise travel to Peru, where, according to the Catholic site Aleteia, “the pope’s first Mass in Trujillo will be in honor of ‘Holy Mary, Door of Heaven.‘” “While he will not crown any statues here, the opening and closing prayers will be focused on Our Lady,” the outlet explains. “Later that same day he will lead a Marian celebration during which he will venerate Our Lady and a special litany will be sung in her honor. Vatican News reports that he additionally placed a bouquet of flowers on the altar below the icon. Bergoglio had also observed the annual feast day called “The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God” on Jan. 1, claiming that “[d]evotion to Mary is not spiritual etiquette; it is a requirement of the Christian life.” The Jan. 1 observance is part of what is known as the Octave of Christmas. “Looking to the Mother, we are asked to leave behind all sorts of useless baggage and to rediscover what really matters. The gift of the Mother, the gift of every mother and every woman, is most precious for the Church, for she too is mother and woman,” he stated. “… May the Mother, God’s finest human creation, guard and keep this year, and bring the peace of her Son to our hearts and to our world.”

While thousands attended the mass where Bergoglio crowned the Marian statue, Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries told Christian News Network that Catholics place an inordinate amount of emphasis on Mary, and wrongly ascribe attributes to her that only belong to God. “The pope crowning of the statue of Mary continues Roman Catholicism’s fascination with ‘another’ Mary that has been given the title Queen of Heaven. The pope crowned a statue of Mary because she is said to be the queen over all things,” he said. “Mary holds a very exalted position in the Roman Catholic Church, so much so that she is venerated as a goddess. This is blasphemy because the Catholic Mary has been given divine attributes that only God possesses. The emphasis on Mary by Catholics robs Christ of His glory, honor and praise.” Gendron, a former Roman Catholic of 30 years, pointed to the various doctrines about Mary as written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other official writings. “According to Roman Catholicism, Mary is ‘the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God’ (CCC, 721), the ‘Queen over all things’ (CCC, 966), our ‘Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix’ (CCC, 969), who is ‘full of grace’ (CCC, 722), the ‘Mother of God and our mother’ (CCC, 2677), the ‘new Eve’ (CCC, 726), and the ‘seat of wisdom’ (CCC, 721),” he outlined. Further, Catholic doctrine teaches that Mary “had no original sin (CCC, 508), and never committed sin (CCC, 493). She is second only to her Son (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, par. 66) and sits ‘on the right hand of the majesty on high’ (Pope Pius X, Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum, 14). In fact, ‘no man can go to Christ but by His Mother’ (Pope Leo 13th, Octobri Mense),” Gendron explained. He likewise noted that the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Mary “delivers our souls from death” (CCC, 966) and “continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation” (CCC, 969) through her intercession. “It is not wonder Catholics exalt Mary so highly based on their religious tradition,” Gendron said. “Mary has no power to do what the pope thinks she can do. I would encourage Catholics to submit to the supreme authority of the Bible which tells us ‘not to exceed what is written’ (1 Cor. 4:6).

Item #10.  Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. Pulpit & Pen, March 2, 2018.

Vatican Joins Vogue and Versace in Papal Fashion Show.  John the Revelator received prophecies from Jesus about what has traditionally been interpreted as the Roman Catholic Church. Part of that prophecy, which speaks of the opulent, prosperity-dripping extravagance of a church that made its wealth by taking advantage of the poor and selling purported salvation for the trappings of modern fashion. How ironic, then, that the Vatican is teaming up with Vogue Magazine and the Versace fashion line to showcase the influence of the papacy on gaudy, riches-doused clothing lines for immodest men and women.

An exhibition on Vatican wealth and style will begin on May 10 and is called Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. The website says: The Costume Institute’s spring 2018 exhibition—at The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters—will feature a dialogue between fashion and medieval art from The Met collection to examine fashion’s ongoing engagement with the devotional practices and traditions of Catholicism. Serving as the cornerstone of the exhibition, papal robes and accessories from the Sistine Chapel sacristy, many of which have never been seen outside The Vatican, will be on view in the Anna Wintour Costume Center. Fashions from the early 20th century to the present will be shown in the Byzantine and medieval galleries, part of the Robert Lehman Wing, and at The Met Cloisters. The event is sponsored by Versace, Vogue, and Conde’ Naste (a syndicate that sells Glamour Magazine, GQ, Vanity Fair, Allure, and Epicurious Magazines). The Vatican is loaning some of their most extravagant clothing items to the fashion icons to display the church’s wealth and their influence on fashion.

Item #11. Pope ‘says it is ok to be gay’ says Chilean clerical abuse victim after Vatican audience. The Telegraph News (Rome): May 20, 2018.

God loves gay people and it is fine to be homosexual, Pope Francis has reportedly said. The Pope made the remarks, which went significantly beyond his previous tolerance for homosexuality, during a meeting three weeks ago with a Chilean man who had been sexually abused by Catholic priests. The Pope offered a heartfelt apology to Juan Carlos Cruz, who was a victim of Chile’s most notorious abusive priest, Fernando Karadima. Mr Cruz, who is gay, said the conversation moved on from the abuse crisis to the nature of homosexuality. “He told me ‘Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like that and he loves you like that and I do not care. “ The Pope loves you as you are, you have to be happy with who you are,’” Mr. Cruz told El Pais, the Spanish newspaper. He was responding to questions about claims of an alleged “gay lobby” of clerics working in the heart of the Vatican. “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” he replied. Mr. Cruz was one of three former sex abuse victims from Chile who came to Rome to receive an apology from Pope Francis for the years of abuse that they endured. The victims described clerical sexual abuse as “an epidemic that has destroyed thousands of lives.” Pope Francis had initially been slow to realize the gravity of the crisis in Chile and even came to the defense of a controversial bishop linked to Father Karadima, the abusive priest. But he performed an about-turn after Vatican investigators presented him with a 2,300-page dossier showing that sexual abuse of minors had been covered up in Chile for decades, in a pattern that has been repeated in many other countries, notably Ireland. On Friday, Chile’s 34 bishops offered to resign en masse over the abuse scandal, an act without precedent in the history of the Catholic Church.

Item #12.  Pope appoints Chilean bishop accused of child sex cover-up. May, 2018 GlobalPost.

(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File) In this Jan. 18, 2018 photo, Juan Barros, Bishop of Osornos, smiles as he leaves the altar at the end of a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on Lobito Beach in Iquique, Chile. The pope’s remarks defending Barros during his January visit drew shock from Chileans and immediate rebuke from victims and advocates worldwide, prompting him to later send the Vatican’s sex crimes investigator to investigate Barros, who is accused of helping to cover up the sex crimes of pedophile priest Rev. Fernando Karadima.

LIMA, Peru — Perhaps none of Pope Francis’ vaunted reforms of the Catholic establishment has been as urgent or necessary as his unveiling of a “zero tolerance” policy towards pedophile priests.  For decades, child sex abuse scandals, from Poland to the pontiff’s homeland of Argentina, have dogged the church. Victims have gone public and priests have been defrocked and jailed, yet still new allegations of this vile crime continue to surface. Since being named pope in March 2013, Francis has made all the right noises, describing pedophilia as satanic and unveiling a new high level commission reporting directly to him in a bid to draw lessons and prevent future abuses.

Yet those fine words and gestures have all been called into question by the pope’s controversial appointment of a Chilean bishop accused of covering up the activities of one of the Catholic Church’s most notorious child abusers. Earlier this month, amid chaotic scenes as hundreds of protesters shoved their way into the cathedral, Juan Barros took up his post as Bishop of Osorno, a sleepy provincial capital 600 miles south of Santiago. Barros, who was personally appointed by the pope, is accused of having been present during the abuse and of shielding the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a charismatic, high-profile Santiago priest — and serial abuser of young boys — from investigation.

Barros, who insists he was “never” aware of Karadima’s crimes, was a protégé and longtime friend of the cleric. A criminal prosecution against Karadima, 84, was thrown out in 2011 because the abuse he was formally accused of took place between 1980 and 1995, meaning the statute of limitations had run out. But that same year, the Vatican found him guilty of sexual abuse and ordered him to live in a monastery and dedicate himself to a “life of prayer and penitence.” “We are used to getting slapped in the face by the Chilean hierarchy but we didn’t expect this from Francis,” Juan Carlos Cruz, one of Karadima’s victims, told GlobalPost, of Barros’ appointment. “We had such high hopes of him as pope.” “Francis knew about Barros. He knew about my case. If he was from Japan or Serbia, maybe. But he is from next door [Argentina] and he knew all about Karadima. How could he still make Barros a bishop?”

Carlos Lombardi, a lawyer in Argentina advising former victims of pedophile priests there, agreed, accusing the pope of “demagoguery” and failing to tackle the “epidemic” of sexual abuse of children within the church.  “The pope says he wants zero tolerance but he has not changed a single internal norm in the church regarding child sex abuse,” added Lombardi. “He is great at giving us inspiring words and messages, but when it comes to concrete actions, there have been none.” Others aghast at Francis’ appointment of Barros include Chile’s Christian Democrat former President Eduardo Frei and 30 priests from the Osorno diocese who took the highly unusual step of writing a letter to the Vatican’s ambassador in Chile, Archbishop Ivo Scapolo.   In his own public letter, to Scapolo, Cruz, now 51, outlined the serious accusations against Barros, who he maintains was in a relationship with Karadima, including destroying letters reporting the crimes to senior Catholic officials.  “When we were in the room of Karadima and Juan Barros, if he [Barros] was not kissing Karadima, he watched as one of us, the youngest, was touched by Karadima,” wrote Cruz. “Juan Barros was witness to all this, and he was uncountable times, not just with me but with others too.” Barros has largely avoided responding in public to the accusations — other than writing an open letter to his new diocese in which he lamented the pain caused by Karadima.  “I never knew about nor imagined these serious abuses that this priest was committing with his victims,” Barros wrote. “I have not approved of nor participated in these seriously dishonest acts.” Barros went on: “I ask you, with great humility, to pray for me.”

The Vatican has not publicly commented on the furor over Barros’ appointment, but Scapolo, its ambassador in Chile has accused the protesters of violence and not representing most Osorno Catholics. He also warned that the faithful now just needed to “accept” their new bishop and move on.  Yet there seems little sign of that. Indeed, Barros’ appointment seems to have called Francis’ own credibility into question. “The church views itself as the moral rector of society,” said Lombardi, the lawyer. “There is a preoccupation in defending the institution of the church, its reputation, and that is taking precedence over protecting people, in this case, children, and their human rights.” The pope, however, does have his defenders. One is Felipe Monroy, editor of the Mexican edition of the Catholic magazine Buena Vida. “The pope’s actions have obliged other bishops and lay Catholics to be more open to talking about these problems, to dealing with them, and to attending to the victims,” he said. Yet even Monroy conceded: “Francis has maybe not been sufficiently clear that the ecclesiastic concepts of forgiveness and pardon may not prevail when these kinds of detestable, painful crimes occur.” Cruz, the Karadima victim who remains a practicing Catholic attending church every Sunday, puts it more strongly: “Francis has marketed himself like no other pope. Because of the things he has said, we have come to expect more from him.” “Francis has said there will be zero tolerance for child abuse in the church, so why has he made Barros a bishop?

Item #13. Bilderberg Conference. Catholic News Agency, June 7-10, 2018.

Dubbed by critics to be a kind of “global shadow government.” Cardinal Parolin’s participation may be an expression of the “culture of the encounter” encouraged by Pope Francis. The pope has often asked officials to engage a dialogue with the world. Receiving the Charlemagne Prize May 6, 2016, Pope Francis stressed that, ”today we urgently need to engage all the members of society in building ‘a culture which privileges dialogue as a form of encounter’ and in creating ‘a means for building consensus and agreement while seeking the goal of a just, responsive and inclusive society.’” The cardinal’s participation in the Bilderberg Group could be part of a strategy of dialogue the Holy See is engaging with the small influential elite group. It is noteworthy that last year, Parolin took part in the World Economic Forum in Davos, and there he delivered a speech in which he listed the aims of pontifical diplomacy.

Item #14. “Amazonia: New paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology.” Catholic News Agency: June 8 2018.

The meeting, known as a synod, will be taking place in October 2019. The synod will include bishops and other representatives from the nine countries of the Amazon basin and other groups, including indigenous peoples. The document re-states Pope Francis’ calls to protect the Amazon from business and consumer greed, saying the region and its natural habitat were vital for the planet. The document also points to a “hierarchical list of the Amazonia’s urgent needs” and states that the new paths emerging from the synod will impact “ministries, liturgy, and theology.” Regarding theology, the document mentions “Indian theology,” which takes into the account the place where Catholicism is set and proposes a “localization” of theology. “Pope Francis thus appeals for the defense of cultures and for the re-appropriation of a heritage permeated by ancestral wisdom,” it continues. Finally, the text offers evangelization approaches, which take into account the diversity and history of the Pan-Amazonian people. The “social – and even cosmic – dimension of the mission of evangelization is particularly relevant in the Amazon region, where the interconnectivity between human life, ecosystems, and spiritual life was, and continues to be, apparent to the vast majority of its inhabitants.”

Item #15. Pope Francis grants indulgences for Dublin participants – World Meeting of Families. BBC News NI, 3 June 2018.

Participants attending the World Meeting of Families in August can be forgiven their sins or help a relative speed through purgatory. Pope Francis has granted a “plenary indulgence” for those taking part. In Catholic doctrine an indulgence frees you from being punished for your previously committed sins or it can be passed on to dead relatives to shorten their time in purgatory. Even those following events on TV and radio can achieve a partial indulgence as long as they recite the Our Father, the Creed and other devout prayers. Martin Luther’s opposition to the sale of indulgences was one of the main causes of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century. The Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican body dealing with forgiveness of sins, said pilgrims would have to attend confession and Mass, pray for the Pope’s intentions and participate in some function during the five-day event. But like anything that sounds too good to be true, remember to read the small print. You may have ticked all the boxes above, prayed with the Pope, gone to confession etc. but there is one more step. According to the Enchiridion (handbook) of Indulgences none of the other steps matter unless you are “free from all attachment to sin” – a tall order even for saints.

Item #16. Report On Pennsylvania Priest Abuse To Be Most Extensive Yet. 06/11/2018, Associated Press.

Monsignor William Lynn, pictured, was convicted in 2012 for transferring known pedophiles within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

The results of a lengthy probe into the handling of sexual abuse claims by Roman Catholic dioceses throughout Pennsylvania, which victim advocates say will be the biggest and most exhaustive ever by a U.S. state, could be made public within weeks. A statewide grand jury spent nearly two years looking into the abuse scandal, and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has said he plans to address the panel’s findings by the end of June. The grand jury investigated six of the state’s eight dioceses, which collectively minister to more than 1.7 million Catholics. The report is expected to reveal details of widespread abuse and efforts to conceal and protect abusive priests. A judge’s ruling last week gave the first real details of an investigation that started in July 2016. Judge Norman Krumenacker rejected an effort to delay the report’s release or allow people named in the report to challenge parts of it before its release. Krumenacker, a Cambria County judge who has been overseeing the grand jury, wrote in his opinion that the investigative body had heard from dozens of witnesses and reviewed over half a million pages of internal documents from diocesan archives. The investigation involved allegations of child sexual abuse, failure of church structures to report it to law enforcement and obstruction of justice by people “associated with the Roman Catholic Church, local public officials and community leaders,” he said.

The report could be groundbreaking, said Terry McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org. Several smaller states, including Maine and New Hampshire— each with one diocese that covers the full state — have issued reports, but no state the size of Pennsylvania has conducted a full accounting, he said. “You’re going to learn a lot about this crisis that you never knew before,” he said. “Another thing you are going to see in a report of this geographic scope is an accounting of the geographic solution, meaning within the Pennsylvania dioceses there is a certain amount of mobility, and priests who have trouble in one diocese might be transferred to another within the state. There hopefully will be some accounting of that.” Two priests have been arrested on child sexual abuse charges as a result of the probe, one each in the Erie and Greensburg dioceses. Prosecutors have said one of those priests assaulted a boy more than 20 times as he was serving as an altar boy and would later require the boy to confess the abuse to him. The overall investigation involves the dioceses of Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton.

It is unclear whether there will be any other charges filed as a result of the report, because of Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations on child sexual abuse crimes. Under state law, criminal charges can be filed up to the time the person making the claim of child sexual abuse is 50 years old. Civil claims can be filed for child sexual abuse until the person alleging the abuse turns 30. Previously release grand jury reports on the other two Pennsylvania dioceses — Philadelphia and Altoona-Johnstown— advocated a two-year window to allow people alleging long-ago abuse to pursue civil claims. Efforts to pass that legislation have stalled or been blocked. Rep. Mark Rozzi, who put forward the legislation, said he testified about his own experience of abuse at the hands of a priest in the Allentown diocese. Rozzi said he plans to reintroduce legislation to extend the statute of limitations. The church has said changing the statute of limitations would be unfair to schools and parishes and could be financially crippling.

In 2005, the Philadelphia district attorney’s office released a scathing grand jury report that said allegations against more than 100 priests and other clergy had been looked into by the panel. The report criticized internal practices of moving priests and not reporting allegations to law enforcement. In 2011, the office released another report, having instructed a second grand jury to examine whether the diocese had changed its practices. The investigation resulted in several priests and members of the clergy being charged with crimes related to child sexual abuse, including Monsignor William Lynn, who was charged with endangering children for allegedly moving priests from parish to parish instead of removing them or reporting allegations to police. In 2016, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office released the results of a statewide investigative grand jury in the Altoona-Johnstown diocese, the State’s least populated. It detailed allegations of abuse against more than 50 priests and others in the church by hundreds of children over decades. The report noted the process by which bishops were told to keep secret the allegations of abuse by priests. Once that first statewide grand jury report was released, Rozzi said, the attorney general’s office was overrun with phone calls from people alleging abuse by clergy or by teachers at religious schools. “We demanded that they look into the remaining dioceses at this point. If you think it’s going on here and here, then you know. … It’s happening in the remaining dioceses,” he said.

Item #17. For what’s believed to be the first time, the Vatican uses the term ‘LGBT’ in official document. June 20, 2018, Washington Post.

The Vatican this month is showing unprecedented, if symbolic, outreach on issues of human sexuality, using what’s believed to be for the first time the term “LGBT” in a planning document for a huge upcoming bishops meeting. Vatican officials also invited to speak at a second global meeting a prominent advocate for LGBT people, something some gay Catholic groups say has never been done.

The two moves, announced in the last 10 days, are being seen by church-watchers as largely an effort to speak in a more respectful way with a younger generation of Catholics who are confronting the church on topics from female priests and abortion to sexuality – but who are clearly not ready to totally walk away from the faith. The efforts related to the Synod of Bishops on Young People (in October) and the World Meeting of Families (in August) are part of an explicit push by Pope Francis’ church to say “we have to pay attention to this whole LGBT reality, especially for those who have chosen to remain in the church,” said the Rev. Thomas Rosica, who has often served as an English assistant to the Vatican press office.

On Tuesday, the Vatican released the details of the upcoming bishops’ synod, or meeting, the third in a series of major global gatherings about the family. The others were in 2014 and 2015. While the document was released only in Italian, the National Catholic Reporter noted that it was the first time the acronym was used. The Catholic Church “has in the past formally referred to gay people as ‘persons with homosexual tendencies,’ ” the Reporter said. Rosica agreed it was a first, but said “they’re just using the lingo young people use. There’s nothing earth-shattering.” Vatican spokeswoman Paloma Garcia Ovejero declined to comment on the reason for the adoption of the acronym beyond saying, “I guess there’s no specific answer … it’s just the result of so many proposals and will be used as a ‘tool’ for discussion.”

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke did not return request for comment. Hundreds of bishops will attend the meeting in Rome to discuss how they can serve young people better. Their meeting will touch on topics from lack of job opportunities for young people in some places and migration to digital addiction and the struggle for reliable news.

In a section of the synod outline called “the body, affectivity and sexuality,” reports the Catholic Reporter, “It states: ‘Sociological studies demonstrate that many young Catholics do not follow the indications of the Church’s sexual moral teachings . . . No bishops’ conference offers solutions or recipes, but many are of the point of view that questions of sexuality must be discussed more openly and without prejudice,’ ” the Reporter quoted the document saying.

“There are young Catholics that find in the teachings of the Church a source of joy and desire ‘not only that they continue to be taught despite their unpopularity, but that they be proclaimed with greater depth,’ ” the Catholic Reporter quotes the document as saying. “Those that instead do not share the teachings express the desire to remain part of the Church and ask for a greater clarity about them.” Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways ministry, which aims to connect gay Catholics and their church, said the use of the term LGBT is very significant – especially compared with past language, such as people with “homosexual inclinations.” “That said, there is nothing in this new document that indicates a change in church teaching. It simply indicates a new openness to discuss these issues more respectfully. How they actually conduct the synod, and, more importantly, what the final synod document will say, is much more important than these developments,” he wrote in an e-mail to the Post.

The second development involves the World Meeting of Families, a massive, Vatican-run event the Catholic Church holds once every three years. The last time it was held, in 2015, Pope Francis was in Philadelphia. The church faced criticism from LGBT advocates when the only sign of gay families amid a days-long display of family issues was a gay man and his mother talking about celibacy. Eight days ago, the Vatican announced details of the next World Meeting, Aug. 21-26, in Dublin. Among many other speakers will be the Rev. Jim Martin, a New York City Jesuit popularly known as Stephen Colbert’s pastor – but within the church as a fierce advocate for positive images and engagement with gay Catholics. Martin will be the first speaker at a World Meeting “on positive pastoral outreach to LGBT people,” the Associated Press reported. Martin, author of “Building a Bridge,” about Catholic outreach to the LGBT community, has had several talks canceled in the United States in recent months because of pressure from conservative groups who oppose his call for the church to better accompany gay Catholics, the AP reported.

Item #18. Pope and Macron hold ‘intense’ meeting at Vatican. AFP, June 26, 2018.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis spoke for 57 minutes

Vatican City (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron held an “intense” meeting with Pope Francis during his first official visit to the Vatican on Tuesday, discussing global issues including the fate of migrants coming to Europe. The tete-a-tete between the Argentine pontiff and Macron in the Vatican’s ornate library lasted 57 minutes — the longest between Francis and a head of state. They also discussed secularism, inter-religious dialogue and climate change, the French presidency said in a statement that described a “very free and very intense exchange”.

Macron’s visit with the pope, who has called for “solidarity” with migrants, came as the thorny issue of migration casts deep divisions within the European Union. After the meeting, Macron said France will be one of six European countries to take in some of the 233 migrants on board the NGO rescue ship Lifeline, which has been stranded for days in the Mediterranean after being turned away by Italy. The French president earlier had breakfast with Rome’s Community of Sant’Egidio — a charity with ties to the Vatican that plays a role in welcoming migrants, and organizing “humanitarian corridors” bringing Syrian refugees to Europe. The programme, which is open to vulnerable Muslims and Christians alike, is an alternative to dangerous smuggling routes.

After his meeting with Francis, Macron attended a ceremony where he was made an honorary canon of St John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome. The tradition dates back to the 15th century when the French state and church were indistinguishable. The French president said he was “truly moved” by the honour in a speech. Several of Macron’s predecessors declined to go to the Vatican to accept the title, including socialists Francois Mitterrand and Francois Hollande, in order to avoid associating themselves with religious imagery.

Macron’s decision to attend the ceremony has drawn criticism in France, which is strictly secular under a landmark 1905 law that separated the state from the church. “I decided to accept this invitation because it belongs to a tradition of harmony and friendship between France and the Vatican to which I am attached“, Macron said in his speech. Francis and the French president smiled and embraced each other as they left their meeting. The French president offered the Pope a 1949 edition in Italian of “The Diary of a Country Priest” by French Catholic writer Georges Bernanos. Francis presented Macron with a bronze medal of Saint Martin, a fourth century symbol of generosity, and the main texts from his papacy. Giving the medal to Macron, the Pope said it was the “vocation of those in government to protect the poorest”. After the meeting, Macron said he had met with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday evening, but kept the informal talk discreet out of respect for Vatican protocol. Past talks between the pope and a president have never exceeded 50 minutes — Francis spoke with former US president Barack Obama for 50 minutes and with his successor Donald Trump for 30 minutes.