A pope who belongs to the world - Louie Verrecchio
The latest scandal surrounding Pope Francis concerns the gifts he received from Bolivian President Evo Morales; a sacrilegious representation of the Crucifix fashioned out of a hammer and sickle and a medallion bearing the same communist symbol.
Now, there is considerable debate taking place in the Catholic blogosphere about whether or not Pope Francis said, upon receiving the bastardized Crucifix, “No esta bien” (This is not good).
From a review of the video, it’s not clear to me either way, but what should be clear to all concerned is that there is a major problem with this pontificate.
Even if Pope Francis did say “No esta bien,” two entirely unacceptable and avoidable things took place:
Number one, Morales successfully executed a photo-op of himself standing next to a smiling Roman Pontiff, who happens to be holding in his hands an article that combines two mutually exclusive things – one pure evil, one the greatest gift mankind has received; namely, Communism and the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
I’d say that Morales hit himself a home run.
Secondly, a semi-private muttering of “No esta bien“ isn’t even close to good enough.
If, in fact, it actually was said, the manner in which it was spoken only confirms what we’ve long since known about this pope; he simply doesn’t take his role as guardian of the Faith and Supreme Teacher seriously.
One wonders how Popes Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI, and Pius XII would have reacted to such an affront.
On the one hand, we might say that a firm and unmistakable rebuke would have taken place, followed by the Holy Father likely dropping to his knees in reparation for this terrible offense against Christ.
On the other, it’s more realistic to believe that such a travesty would have never taken place.
There is no way that such “gifts” would have ever made their way into the same room as the Holy Father in those days; his entourage of assistants and security personal would have immediately eliminated that possibility, if for no other reason than knowing full well that their own heads would likely roll if they allowed such a thing.
Which brings me to another aspect of this scandal; namely, the kinds of men with whom Pope Francis chooses to surround himself.
Every pope surrounds himself with men who think as he thinks, or at the very least learn to conform their thinking to his own in order to serve him. There can be no doubt whatsoever that, especially given that we now live in an age of terrorism, that any number of persons in the papal entourage had screened and approved of these magnificently offensive “gifts” well before they were given.
They even allowed Morales to drape Communist symbols around the Holy Father’s neck; like it is acceptable to use the pope as if he is little more than a mannequin!
In the best case scenario, the pope’s staff failed him, and then he in turn failed the world.
That said, it’s not as if his staff had no reason to believe that their boss would be open to posing for a politically charged photo-op.
What kind of pope allows himself to be treated as a billboard for various causes even by those who are enemies of the Church; enabling them to steal what looks to many like her approval?
The kind of pope who belongs to the world more so than to the Holy Catholic Church.
A pope who belongs to the world - Louie Verrecchio
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Permalink Reply by Michael on
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And now the official smokescreen...
Vatican: "Communist crucifix" sign of dialogue, not ideology
Jul 9, 4:00 PM (ET)
By NICOLE WINFIELD
(AP) Bolivian President Evo Morales presents Pope...
Full ImageSANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivian President Evo Morales' controversial gift of a "Communist crucifix" to Pope Francis threatened to overshadow the pope's visit to Bolivia on Thursday, with the Vatican and Bolivia both insisting that no offense was intended or taken.
Morales gave Francis the crucifix carved into a hammer and sickle upon Francis' arrival in Bolivia Wednesday, immediately raising eyebrows given Morales' past attacks on the church and his socialist bent.
It turns out, the crucifix was originally designed by a Jesuit activist, the Rev. Luis Espinal, who was assassinated in 1980 by suspected paramilitaries during the months that preceded a military coup. Francis, a fellow Jesuit, stopped his motorcade to pray at the site where Espinal's body had been dumped.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Thursday the pope had no idea that Espinal had designed the crucifix and was surprised to receive it — a reaction clearly visible in the footage of the encounter.
Some reports suggested the pope told Morales "This isn't good;" one of Francis' friends sent a tweet quoting him as saying such. But Lombardi said it wasn't known what the pope had said.
Lombardi said Espinal had designed the crucifix as a symbol of dialogue and commitment to freedom and progress for Bolivia, not with any specific ideology in mind. Lombardi said he personally wasn't offended by it.
"You can dispute the significance and use of the symbol now, but the origin is from Espinal and the sense of it was about an open dialogue, not about a specific ideology," Lombardi said.
He noted the context in which Espinal was living: as a priest working for social justice in Bolivia during a period of instability that preceded a right-wing dictatorship known for human rights abuses.
However, one of Espinal's friends and fellow Jesuits, the Rev. Xavier Albo, said Espinal's intent was for the church to be in dialogue with Marxism, and said Espinal had altered his crucifix to incorporate the Communists' most potent symbol: the hammer and sickle.
"In this he clearly wanted to speak about the need to permanently dialogue not just with Marxism but with peasants and miners etc.," Albo told The Associated Press earlier this month.
The Vatican launched a harsh crackdown on Liberation Theology in the 1970s and 1980s, fearing that Marxists were using its "preferential option for the poor" to turn the Gospel into a call for armed revolution.
The Bolivian government insisted the gift wasn't a political maneuver of any sort, but was a symbol that Morales thought the "pope of the poor" would appreciate.
"That was the intention of this gift, and it was not any sort of maneuver ... It was really from great affection, a work designed by the very hands of Luis Espinal," Communications Minister Marianela Paco told the Patria Nueva radio station.
The Catholic blogosphere was buzzing Thursday with the "Communist crucifix" and what, exactly, Morales intended by giving it to the pope.
The Rev. James Bretzke, a theologian at Boston College in Massachusetts, said there is no church legislation that addresses whether Christian imagery is sacrilegious since Christian art is often portrayed in a variety of ways.
But, he continued: "Is this in good taste? Does this seem to be using the Crucifix for political agenda? And I would say the answer is probably yes. Therefore, I would judge it personally in bad taste and especially manipulative to present it to the Holy Father in a situation like that where it clearly hadn't been cleared ahead of time."
The Rev. Robert Gahl, a moral theologian at Rome's Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome, said it all boils down to Espinal's intent in designing the cross and Morales' intent in giving it to the pope.
"I'd suppose that, given Morales' warm welcome and Espinal's personal convictions, the intent was not to offend but rather to indicate potential for dialogue and even synergy," he said in an email. "Christians tend to see our symbols from the perspective of universal love, redemption, and even Christ's triumph over evil. Indeed, that is what the cross is all about!"
Vatican: "Communist crucifix" sign of dialogue, not ideology
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Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on
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Someone translated what he actually said rather than the Rome Report spin of this is not good-
"Bergoglio said: "I didn't know that" rather than "That's not right" to president Evo Morales. And Evo Morales replied saying "Now you know", later Bergoglio said: Thank You."
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One may in all fairness say this is a man who belongs to the enemy of Christ, knowingly or unknowingly.
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Permalink Reply by David Kaftal on
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In actual fact, Francis' reaction seems slightly more forceful than that of John Paul II was to a topless lectorette giving the readings at his Mass in Papua New Guinea. Francis at least gaped and murmured something like "That's not good." John Paul II greeted the half-naked woman outside the church with a warm smile.
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My apologies for the source but the homework they did can not be found elsewhere....and no it is not a mark of approval for sedevs it is simply a source for clarity on this matter.
Less than 12 hours after the news broke in the English-speaking world that the Bolivian president Evo Morales had given Francis a blasphemous crucifix depicting the Lord Jesus Christ nailed to a hammer and sickle, and that Francis had accepted it without any sign of protest, disgust, anger, or resentment, the Novus Ordo news site Rome Reports published a story claiming that during this infamous exchange of gifts, Francis had actually rebuked the Socialist president with the words, “That’s not right” (“No está bien eso”). The report included a video clip of the occurrence, with very faint audio supported by subtitles.
Other blogs and web sites, including secular news sites, quickly picked up Francis’ alleged rebuff of Morales: “Fr.” John Zuhlsdorf jubilantly published a post entitled “Pope Francis given Hammer and Sickle ‘crucifix’, reacts ‘No está bien eso’ … that’s not right.” The ultra-NovusOrdo site Catholic Culture published a report headlined, “Pope rebukes Bolivian President Morales for hammer-and-sickle crucifix”. The secular News Busters also thought they were finally able to report something of Francis opposed to Liberalism: “Pope Rejects Communist Crucifix from Bolivia President: ‘That’s No.... And Catholic News Agency claimed that Francis was “apparently not amused” by the disgusting blasphemy.
The trouble is, all these reports got it wrong. Francis did not say, “That’s not right.” Instead, he said, “I didn’t know that” (“No sabía eso”), in response to Morales’ explanation of the blasphemous present. The confusion lay not in a bad translation — even Spanish-speaking sites got it wrong — but in the bad audio quality and the fact that the annoying sounds of camera clicks drowned out both Francis’ and Morales’ softly-spoken words. The fact that “No sabía eso” is phonetically very similar to “No está bien eso”, added to the confusion.
Further below we will prove that Francis said “I didn’t know that” rather than “That’s not right”. But before we do so, we want to point out that some news sources/commentators have already conceded that the originally-reported rendition of “That’s not right” is incorrect. For example:
- Rome Reports has revised the original post, omitting the misreported quote and changing the headline, from “Pope to Bolivian President: ‘That’s Not Right’” to “Pope Receives Controversial Gift from Bolivian President” — the video with the incorrect subtitles was deleted off YouTube
- “Fr.” Zuhlsdorf has conceded he may have jumped the gun
- The Vatican press spokesman, “Fr.” Federico Lombardi, agreed the audio was unclear but said it was more likely that Francis said “I didn’t know that”
But let’s have a look at, and especially a listen to, what happened. The evidence is actually quite clear. We have investigated the matter thorougly, consulted with different Spanish speakers, sourced various video files, and filtered and amplified the audio so you can have as good of a sound as possible under the circumstances. Below you will find five different video clips, all of them showing more or less footage of the same incident, that of Bolivia’s Evo Morales giving “Pope” Francis the hideous and blasphemous present, explaining to him what he is receiving. Watch for a minute without any sound, and only focus on Francis’ bodily reaction. At first, a confused and concerned look, then, he listens to Morales, and his facial expression turns serene and even somewhat happy or at least content. There is no bodily sign of consternation, anger, rebuke, or offense.
As far as the spoken words go: As is visible and audible from the clips, Morales explains to Francis that the “crucifix” was probably designed by the Jesuit “worker priest” Fr. Luis Espinal Camps and then hands him the blasphemous piece. At that point, Francis says, “I didn’t know that” (that’s the part all the fuss is about) and his look turns serene and he smiles a bit and seems content with the explanation given. Morales replies, “Now you know”, and the whole affair — both words and gestures — makes perfect sense, especially because the night before this encounter, Francis had prayed at the site where this Fr. Espinal was assassinated in 1980 and “Fr.” Lombardi has since confirmed that Francis did not know this “artwork” had been designed by Fr. Espinal. (Detailed background on Fr. Espinal can be found in this post: “Francis the Humble Marxist”)
But now consider the alternative explanation: Assume for a moment, as some Francis defenders would have you believe, that Francis rebuked Morales and said, “That’s not right”, in response to the Bolivian president’s explanation about the origin of the Communist crucifix. Not only do his gestures and facial expressions not match a supposed rebuke, it also makes no sense that he would accept the present anyway, that he would smile and look content, and that Morales would respond, “Now you know.”
But see and hear for yourself. We have chosen the six following clips because they all show the same thing but have different quality audio and some have subtitles.
The matter is clear: Based on his words and his gesturing, Francis did not rebuke the Socialist president but merely expressed his astonishment at the origin of this “crucifix” and didn’t give a flip about it being a blasphemy. He gladly accepted the explanation given by Morales.
Here is a transcript of the words exchanged between Morales and Francis, extracted from the clips based on the audio and subtitles:
[Morales:] Santidad, han tallado afortunadamente el símbolo de la cruz del martillo y de la hoz que es probablemente obra de Espinal, Luis de Espinal… Interesante como símbolo.
[Francis:] No sabía eso.
[Morales:] Ya lo sabe.
And now the same in English:[Morales:] Your Holiness, fortunately they have made the symbol of the hammer-and-sickle cross, which is probably the work of Espinal, Luis de Espinal. It’s an interesting symbol.
[Francis:] I didn’t know that.
[Morales:] Now you know.
Look at Morales’ physical reaction when Francis responds, “I didn’t know that”. It underscores our point that Francis merely says he was not aware that Espinal had designed the crucifix, not that Francis was rebuking him. In fact, Morales goes on to explain more (here we have not yet been able to ascertain the words) and Francis adds, “Eso está muy bien” — “That’s very well”.And thus we have the latest intolerable scandal from Jorge Bergoglio, the man who claims to be the Pope of the Catholic Church.
Despite the facts about him, there are always some Francis-admiring Novus Ordos out there who act as his useful idiots — you know, the kind that will happily ignore or explain away over two years of obvious Bergoglio apostasy but then beat up on any blogger critical of Francis who gets one detail wrong about a particular story. Two such individuals (Christine J. and Thomas L. McDonald) did their duty on Twitter on July 9 beating up on Pat Archbold, a conservative Novus Ordo writer formerly affiliated with the National Catholic Register who’s had it with Francis and doesn’t mind letting people know.
Archbold caught flak for allegedly jumping to conclusions about Bergoglio and “not giving the Pope the benefit of the doubt”. Christine J. criticized Archbold, saying: “…you complained first, learned facts later” (source). This is amusingly ironic since, as we have seen, she is the one who didn’t get the facts first, because she was operating under the false assumption that Francis had rebuked the Bolivian socialist president, when we now know that this was not at all the case. So she, Christine, is the one who didn’t learn the facts first before complaining — against Archbold. Alas, Christine had simply relied on the Patheos blogger Thomas McDonald, who had relied on the misreported story from Rome Reports.
Oh well. It’s tough being a Francis defender these days. Will Christine and Thomas show the same remorse they insisted Pat show for, supposedly, getting it wrong about Francis, now that we know he got it right and they got it wrong? Now they have a chance to prove it.
As we pointed out in our original post, to which this one is merely a follow-up, Francis is no stranger to blasphemy or to bizarre crucifixes and ugly pseudo art. Nor is he known as a foe of Communism. No, truly, Francis’ contentment at receiving a blasphemous Commie crucifix insulting our Lord is actually entirely consistent with what else we know about the man Jorge Bergoglio. He is most certainly not entitled to any benefit of the doubt anymore.
From the scourge of Communism and Modernist Anti-Popes, deliver us, O Lord.
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Sadly no he didn't say "That's not good". If he would have even said that it would have been better than what he did say and do, which was silence to the blasphemy. A silence which can be taken as tacit approval or at the very least severe weakness on the part of Francis in the face of cruel blasphemy against Our Lord.
David Kaftal said:In actual fact, Francis' reaction seems slightly more forceful than that of John Paul II was to a topless lectorette giving the readings at his Mass in Papua New Guinea. Francis at least gaped and murmured something like "That's not good." John Paul II greeted the half-naked woman outside the church with a warm smile.
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Now called decorative honors, Pope Francis leaves them at the feet of Our Lady of Copacabana. First he gives a beach ball in Rome to Our lady and now a blasphemous symbol to Our Lady in Bolivia. God help us.
Pope leaves decorative honours with the hammer and anvil in Bolivia
(©Afp)(©Afp) Francis with Morales. The Pope wears the decorative honours received by the president
This morning Francis lay the two presidential honours he received Wednesday from President Evo Morales in La Paz, at the feet of Our Lady of Copacabana. One of these featured the hammer and anvil with a carving of a crucifix
ANDREA TORNIELLI
Santa Cruz de la SierraBefore leaving Bolivia, Francis placed two gifts he received on Wednesday from President Evo Morales at the foot of a statue of Mary. One of these, a chain with a chunky medallion, had the figure of the crucified Christ carved into a wooden hammer and anvil. This image had been drawn by Fr. Luis Espinal, the Jesuit priest who was assassinated in Bolivia in March 1980.
“This morning,” reads a statement issued by Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, “Pope Francis celebrated Holy Mass in the chapel of the private residence of the Archbishop Emeritus of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the Holy Father presented two decorative honours that were conferred onto him by Bolivian president Evo Morales during his courtesy visit to the Presidential palace in La Paz , to a statue of the Our Lady of Copacabana, patron saint of Bolivia.”
Francis accompanied this gesture with the following words: “The President of the nation was kind enough to offer me two decorative honours on behalf of the Bolivian people. I thank the Bolivian people for their affection and the President for this courteous gesture. I would like to dedicate these two decorations to the patron saint of Bolivia, the Mother of this noble nation, so that she may always remember her people and from Bolivia, from the shrine where I would like them to be, that she may remember the Successor of Peter and the whole Church and look after them from Bolivia.”
“Mother of the Saviour and our Mother,” Francis prayed, “You, Queen of Bolivia, who from the height of your Shrine in Copacabana attend to the prayers and needs of your children, especially the most poor and abandoned, and protect them: Receive as a gift from the heart of Bolivia and my filial affection the symbols of affection and closeness that – in the name of the Bolivian people – Mr. President Evo Morales Ayma has bestowed on me with cordial and generous affection, on the occasion of this Apostolic Journey, which I entrusted to your solicitous intercession.”
Francis concluded his prayer by saying: “I ask that these honours, which I leave here in Bolivia at your feet, and which recall the nobility of the flight of the Condor in the skies of the Andes and the commemorated sacrifice of Father Luis Espinal, S.J., may be emblems of the everlasting love and persevering gratitude of the Bolivian people for your solicitous and intense tenderness. At this moment, Mother, I place in your heart my prayers for all the many petitions of your children, which I have received in these days: I beg you to hear them; give them your encouragement and protection, and manifest to the whole of Bolivia your tenderness as woman and Mother of God, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.”
Pope leaves decorative honours with the hammer and anvil in Bolivia
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Wow! Just when you think he couldn't possibly stoop any lower he offers a blasphemous gift to the Mother of God....leaves one speechless.
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Interesting, I just found this....
"When they did succeed in getting a Bishop according to their liking, I saw that he had been intruded contrary to the will of the Holy Father; consequently, he possessed no legitimate spiritual authority." Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
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Pope closes South America trip urging youth to 'make a mess!!'
Pope Francis left for Rome on Sunday at the end of a trip to South America during which he censured capitalism, championed the rights of the poor, warned of irreversible damage to the planet and urged youths to "make a mess".
"They wrote a speech for me to give you. But speeches are boring," the Argentine pontiff said to loud cheers, casting aside his script. "Make a mess, but then also help to tidy it up. A mess which gives us a free heart, a mess which gives us solidarity, a mess which gives us hope."
It was not the first time Francis has called on young people to shake things up, repeating a mantra he voiced in Brazil in 2013 when he urged youngsters to demand a more outward-looking Catholic Church.
"We don't want young weaklings. We do not want young people who tire quickly, who live life worn out with faces of boredom. We want youths with hope and strength," Francis told the crowd, as night fell over the banks of the Paraguay River outside the capital Asuncion.
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Permalink Reply by Alley on
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Why is it that most people even traditionalists cannot read the sign of the times?!
Amen!
Dawn Marie said:
Interesting, I just found this....
"When they did succeed in getting a Bishop according to their liking, I saw that he had been intruded contrary to the will of the Holy Father; consequently, he possessed no legitimate spiritual authority." Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
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I am so sad for Our Mother, :( Reparation is so urgently and intensely needed.
Our Showman Pope, every true Catholic should take offense at his actions which
speak louder than words.
Fasting every day this week in Reparation - for all those blindly following. :(
Dawn Marie said:
Wow! Just when you think he couldn't possibly stoop any lower he offers a blasphemous gift to the Mother of God....leaves one speechless.
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