"I've Never Been A Right-Winger"
"Progressive
Catholics are applauding the
pope's remarks on homosexuality, reproductive rights, and the role of women,
calling his views perhaps the beginning of a new era at the Vatican, as well as a
return to the Gospel.
"I cried when I first began to read it," said Sister Jeannine
Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, on NewsNation Thursday. "His humility
was just overwhelming."
But some people are not pleased with this new
pope. In fact, they are enraged, though they are hard-pressed to put their rage
in the appropriate words. Their silence, in fact, was deafening.
For a while.
Now the Christian Right is beginning to react, with the more timorous declaring
that Francis is "naive" when it comes to issues like abortion and
homosexuality or too bleeding-hearted when it comes to the dreaded nemesis,
social justice, and the more vocal saying that he is in league with Satan - or
the Anti-Christ himself.
Peter
LaBarbera (AFTAH hate group
Americans For Truth About Homosexuality):
"I dare say that a more sinister
plot to undermine the Catholic Church and its reputation could not have been
carried out had Satan's earthly minions spent $100 million devising one."
Bryan Fischer (American Family Association)
[Tweet] Pope Francis: it's not
the church that's obsessed with gay sex, it's gays. As soon as they stop
talking about it, we will.
(Irony: Fischer and LaBarbera talk about gay sex so much that people have
seriously questioned each wingnut's sexuality.)
They
Have An Antipope -- Raging Liberal Apostate Francis named new antipope of the
Vatican II sect
Ah, what John XXIII hath wrought, this pope is reviving! And not only is he
rejuvenating the progressive stance of 50 years ago, he is definitely the
prophesied "Anti-pope", the charismatic Anti-Christ (a sobriquet
previously applied to Obama) foretold in The Book of Revelations.
You can watch a totally bizarre affirmation of this belief on YouTube
(didn't want to include in the body of this article - it could give you bad day
dreams).
From The
Prophetic Years:
I think it is safe to say that only the very brightest priests are allowed into
the Jesuit order and the primary mission of Jesuits is to counter the
protestant reformation and bring the whole world under the Pope's authority and
establish a world church on earth.
And, of course, WingNutDaily's (WND or World Net Daily) religion section has
already chimed in with its article Ancient "Prophecy of
the Popes" promoting its own film titled The Last Pope? - a "riveting story of
eschatological intrigue!!" (big, academic words not included).
The "Prophecy" is based on the writings of a Nostradamus-like
character named St. Malachy, an Irish saint and the Johnny Appleseed of his
era. End-timers dug his prophecy up because they needed one concerning
popes. It's ironic that most of these apocalyptic dreamers believe in the
prophecy of a Catholic saint (Cindy Jacobs must be furious!). The last pope
would be referred to as Petrus Romanus.
From wikipedia:
A "Prophecy of the Popes" is attributed to St. Malachy,
which is claimed to predict that there would be only 112 more popes before the
Last Judgment. It was discovered and published by Benedictine Arnold de Wyon in
1590. Most scholars consider the document a 16th-century elaborate hoax. [5] Like any good conspiracy theory, there
are many holes in the lore of St. Malachy, according to James Weiss, a
professor of church history at Boston College. "It is widely thought ...
given who the author was and his relationship, [that the prophecies] were
published to establish the case for election of one particular cardinal,"
said Weiss. [6] Dr. Thomas Groome, chair of the
Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College, has
a similar notion, "For myself -- and even as a native Irishman -- the
'Prophecies of St. Malachy' are a grand old fun tale that have about as much
reliability as the morning horoscope". [6] Thomas J. Reese, SJ, of Georgetown
University, had only this to say: "St. Malachy's prophecy is
nonsense."[6]
Take that, Glenn Beck!
Back To The Future Church
The future of the Catholic Church may hinge on Francis' words, but conservative
Catholics are not taking them at face value - or to heart. Witness the most
disingenuous statements coming from Bill Donohue, virulently anti-gay head of the
Catholic League in his interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo:
"You have bashed on these issues for
years and years," Cuomo said. "Most infamously, recently, saying that
the Church had a homosexual problem, not a pedophile problem... You're saying
you won't do that anymore?"
Donohue said he would continue to "tell the truth" and that he is
"against gay bashing." The interview became heated when he defended his
past comments, saying that the majority of victims abused by priests were
adolescents, rather than children.
When Donohue asked if Cuomo thought he "made up those figures," Cuomo
responded, "I think you're parsing them. I think you're cherry-picking
them and I think that the most important part is your motivation."
See the rest below. It includes Cuomo's
relentless questioning of Donohue's attitude towards gays and Jews.
Whichever way they choose to parse Francis' words, they must concede that the
future of the Catholic Church now rests on a man who has said "I have
never been a right-winger" and who has shown unabashed humility: when
questioned by a little girl as to why he wanted to become pope, Francis answered
"I didn't. A person who wants to become pope doesn't love himself. And
God doesn't bless him."
Ah, the humble words of the Anti-Christ.
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