Confusion reigns

This is St. Francis not the Pope

This is the Pope not St. Francis

Are you baffled, confused, totally lost or find yourself at the brink of losing your faith? Do you feel the Catholic Faith has crumbled at breakneck speed and can’t keep up? Don’t be alarmed. it is simply the Francis effect. It is not just you, it is not a nightmare. Unfortunately, it is real. Yes this really has happened . . . it is not fake news.

The following article reminds us of just some of the reasons that may have put you into a Catholic funk. The original article can be found here.

Summary and Highlights

2013 – Pope Benedict XVI announced “resignation” and lighting struck Saint Peter’s Dome hours later; In his first speech Francis announced himself as the Bishop of Rome from the ‘end of the world‘; Masonic lodges congratulated Jorge Bergoglio on becoming Pope Francis and wrote ‘nothing will be as it was before‘; Pope Francis claimed that the miracle of Jesus multiplying the bread and fish was really a miracle of ‘sharing‘, not multiplying; Said ‘Who am I to judge?‘ about gay priests; Restricted use of Latin Mass by Franciscan Friars; Said to youth ‘I want a mess‘ and ‘I want trouble in the dioceses‘; The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League tweeted ‘Thank you Pope Francis from prochoice women everywhere‘; Said we are ‘living the myth of Shiva‘; Cover of the leading LGBT magazine, The Advocate; Said atheists who do good are redeemed; Started taking selfies with fans…

2014 – Held the first Muslim/Jewish prayers and Koran readings at the Vatican; Sent an iPhone message to evangelicals through prosperity-gospel TV preacher Kenneth Copeland; Peace doves attacked; Said to ‘scold the Lord‘ and also that he would baptize aliens; Cover of Rolling Stone; Accidentally said ‘the F word’; Cardinal Dolan claimed Francis said ‘Catholic Church should not dismiss gay marriage‘; Mentioned re-thinking celibacy for priests; Said he’s ‘not interested in converting evangelicals to Catholicism‘; Initial synod document suggested shift in Church’s position on homosexuality, but was revised; Said man is ‘the king of the universe!‘…Told a woman in invalid marriage it’s alright to take Holy Communion, saying ‘A little bread and wine does no harm‘; Compared Islamic terrorists to Christian fundamentalists…

2015 – Claimed lost souls do not go to Hell; Joked about the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ; Claimed that Jesus begged his parents for forgiveness and the Virgin Mary ‘reproached‘ Christ; Became PETA’s Man of the Year; Met with a transgender dubbed ‘The Devil’s Daughter‘; Left Lutherans wondering if they can now take Communion in the Catholic Church; Routinely scolded and mocked ‘rigid‘ Catholics; Projected images of animals and humanity onto Saint Peter’s for climate change support on the Feast day of the Immaculate Conception…

2016 – Released a video promoting his prayer intentions featuring Muslim prayer beads, a Buddha statue, and Menorah, but no cross; Changed Roman Missal to include women in Holy Thursday foot-washing; Lutherans received Holy Communion at Saint Peter’s Basilica; Announced he will participate in a joint ceremony with the World Lutheran Federation to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation; Suggested that John the Baptist doubted that Jesus Christ was the Messiah; Taught priests that those confessing need not verbalize their sins but can confess through ‘the language of the gesture‘; Proclaimed that a US Presidential candidate is ‘not a Christian‘; Approved of contraception in special circumstances; Praised an abortion rights advocate; Issued an Exhortation that changes the practice of denying Holy Communion to those who are in ‘irregular unions’ (divorced and remarried, etc.); Discussed possibility of women deacons; Compared idea of Islamic conquest to Jesus’ Words in the Gospel of Saint Matthew; Said that Mother Earth is the one who ‘gave us life and safeguards us‘; Taught that Jesus ‘knew temptation in Himself‘; Elevated memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to rank of Apostle; Said that the ‘thegreat majority of Sacramental marriages are null‘ then issued a clarification changing ‘the great majority‘ to ‘a portion’; Said some priests ‘are animals’; Said the ‘intentions of Martin Luther were not mistaken; Said the Church should ‘ask forgiveness to the gay person who is offended’; Said if he speaks of Islamic violence he ‘must speak of Catholic violence‘; Met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; Added an eighth Work of Mercy, ‘Caring for Our Common Home‘; Prayer intention to build a society ‘that places the human person at the center‘; Said ‘It’s not right to convince someone of your faith‘; Put a red statue of Martin Luther in the Vatican; Completely overhauled Congregation responsible for liturgical questions; Signed joint pledge with Lutherans to remove obstacles to full unity; Created 6 new ‘Beatitudes’ for ‘modern’ Christians; Said Martin Luther was a prophet and he ‘admired him‘; Said inequality is ‘the greatest evil that exists‘; Said ‘communists think like Christians‘; Cardinals publicly and formally ask for clarity on Amoris Laetitia after being ignored by Francis; Attributed ‘weakness‘ and a ‘bad memory‘ to God; Warned that media who spread ‘ugly things‘ (even if true) could suffer from ‘coprophilia‘ (arousal derived from excrement); Said God was ‘unjust with his son‘; Reportedly said he may ‘enter history as the one who split the Catholic Church‘…

2017 – Appointed protestant pastor as Editor of Argentinian Holy See’s newspaper; Said ‘Jesus was always the servant of all, and this is what gave Him authority‘; Vatican to release a Martin Luther postage stamp; Says Martin Luther’s intention ‘was to renew the Church‘; Took over religious order whose leader defied him in clash over condoms; Ordered review of the new Mass translation; Said obeying all the commandments ‘paralyzes you‘; Anglican Liturgy to be celebrated in St Peter’s; Recorded video message for Superbowl, didn’t mention God once; Denounced ‘Restorationist’ Orders, Poked fun at Medjugorje; Cardinal Kasper said allowing intercommunion with Protestants in some cases is the “position of the current Pope.”; Said there is no such thing as Islamic terrorism; Seminarians told they can leave if they don’t agree with Pope Francis; Said ‘Jesus did not say whether it is lawful or not lawful‘ about divorce; Reduced sanctions for sex abusers; Signaled openness to ordaining married men; Joked saying ‘Inside the Holy Trinity they’re all arguing behind closed doors, but on the outside they give the picture of unity‘…

At least we now know that we are not crazy. We actually have a reason for taking our anti-anxiety meds and should not sit around asking ourselves questions like: “I wonder if it is just me?” No, it is not you. It is the Francis and friends carnival from South America that has left you muddled and confused. The inmates really are running the asylum.