The Truth

IN DEFENCE OF THE POPE

There is no Catholic God.

The Church was founded in 33 A.D., at the time that the spear was thrust into Christ's side and blood and water gushed out. There was no Catholic Church prior to that time. God had been working through the Israelites, which is why He came to us as a Jew. Does that mean God was a Jew? Of course not. Jesus was a Jew in his human form, but was his Divine nature Jewish? Obviously not. God predated the Jews and the Israelite nation. He predated the Catholic Church. He existed before time itself!!!! God always was and always will be, no beginning and no end. We as human beings have a beginning and the Catholic Church also had a beginning, meaning there was a time when the Church did not exist.

So no.. God is not Catholic. God is not subject to the rules and regulations of the Catholic Church. Unlike we sinful human beings, God does not need the church in order to exist.

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CARDINAL BURKE RESPONDS!

Cardinal Burke responds to Recent Criticisms
In an Italian-language interview, the patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta said, ‘I am not against the Pope; I have never spoken out against the Pope. … My purpose is to serve the truth.’

Cardinal Burke, in the debate that preceded and followed the first synod on the family, some of your statements did sound like criticisms of the Pope, or at least that is how they were interpreted. For example, quite a stir was caused by your recent remark, “I will resist; I’ll resist,” as a response to a possible decision of the Pope to grant Communion to the divorced and remarried.

That comment was misrepresented, and there was no reference to Pope Francis. I believe that because I have always spoken very clearly on the issue of marriage and the family, there are people who want to undermine what I say by depicting me as an enemy of the Pope or even ready for a schism by using that answer I gave in an interview with a French television channel.

“It’s total nonsense; I don’t understand this attitude, ” said Cardinal Burke. “I have never said a single word against the Pope; I strive only to serve the truth, a task that we all have. I have always seen my talks and my activities as a support to the Petrine ministry. The people who know me well can witness to the fact I am not anti-papal. On the contrary, I have always been extremely loyal and wanted to serve the Holy Father, as I am doing now.” (NCR)

https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/cardinal-burke-responds-to-recent-criticisms/

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The Pope and the Rotarians

In 1970 Pope Pius VI addressed Rotarians in Italy and in 1979 Pope John Paul II spoke at the Rotary International convention in Rome praising many of Rotary’s humanitarian programs. Later, Pope John Paul II accepted a Paul Harris Fellowship and a World Understanding and Peace award from Rotary.

TTo The Members Of Rotary International

14 June 1979

Following the example of my predecessor Paul VI, I am happy to extend a cordial welcome to members ofRotary International. It is a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to continue, on an international level, the conversation which Paul VI inaugurated with you years ago in Milan, and which he later carried on in Rome. I too am very willing to reflect with you on your important aims and on your worthy activities.

Your presence here today indicates a great power for good. You come from many different nations and backgrounds. You bring with you vast experience in the economic, industrial, professional, cultural and scientific fields. In the solidarity of your association, you find mutual support, reciprocal encouragement and a shared commitment to work for the common good. To one who observes you with deep interest and keen attention it seems as though you are offering, with sincerity and generosity, your talents, your resources and your energies to the service of man. And to the extent that you pursue this lofty ideal of reaching out to people everywhere, I am certain that you will continue to find satisfaction and human fulfillment. Indeed, in your very act of giving, of assisting, of helping others to help themselves, you will find enrichment for your own lives. In demonstrating ever greater involvement in the cause of man, you will appreciate ever more the unsurpassed dignity and grandeur of man, as well as his real fragility and vulnerability. And in your efforts and endeavors for the good of man you can be assured of the understanding and esteem of the Catholic Church.

At this point no one will be surprised if, in my reflections, I add a word with special reference to those Rotarians who are linked to me in the Christian faith. Precisely at a moment when he was speaking about the progress of man and the development of peoples, Paul VI proclaimed his conviction, which is mine and that of Christians everywhere: "By reason of his union with Christ, the source of life, man attains to new fulfillment of himself, to a transcendent humanism which gives him his greatest possible perfection: this is the highest goal of personal development". And it is to this "new fulfillment" and to this "transcendent humanism" that I wish to give witness today, offering them as the complement of all you are doing in your noble and worthy program of service. Thus looking upon man as "the primary and fundamental way for the Church", I could not but likewise proclaim that "Jesus Christ is the chief way for the Church".

Finally, I would ask you to convey to all the members of Rotary International, to all your colleagues throughout the world, the expression of my esteem for the efforts you are making on behalf of humanity. May your generous service render honor to your respective countries and be reflected in the joy of your daily lives. My special greeting goes to your children and to the elderly at home, and my prayers include the many intentions that you carry in your hearts. May God sustain Rotary International in the noble cause of reaching out to serve humanity - humanity in need. St Pope John Paul II

http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/…/headin…/leaders/vatican.htm…

http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/history/headings/leaders/vatican.htm#.VR17WvnF-24

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POPE FRANCIS ON THE DIVORCED AND REMARRIED.

"THE REVEALED TRUTHS OF FAITH WERE THEOLOGICALLY FORMULATED AND TRANSMITTED AS OUR NON NEGOTIABLE INHERITANCE

Pope Francis is clear that those who abandon the inheritance of Faith replace it with heresy. It is also clear that while he rightly considers pastoral care of the divorced and remarried as important, he also sees them being members of the Church without recourse to Holy Communion because they are on the margins of ‘the commandment’.

Pope Francis..."I agree that what is essential is conserved through the witness and testimony of the fathers; in our case, through the apostles. In the third and fourth centuries the revealed truths of faith were theologically formulated and transmitted as our nonnegotiable inheritance. That does not mean that throughout history, through study and investigation, other insights were not discovered about these truths: such as what Christ is like, or how to configure the Church, or how and what should be true Christian conduct, or what are the commandments. All of these are enriched by these new explanations.

There are things that are debatable, but— I repeat— this inheritance is not negotiable. The content of a religious faith is capable of being deepened through human thought, but when that deepening is at odds with the inheritance, it is a heresy. At any rate, religions refine certain expressions with time, even though it is a slow process because of the sacred bond that we have with the received inheritance. This respect is such that we must be very careful not to mess it up by going too quickly. One medieval theologian expressed in this way the progress and comprehension of inheritance, the received revelation: “The legitimate rule of all progress and the correct standard of all development consist in the inheritance being consolidated through the ages, developed with passing of the years and expanded with the passage of time.” To respond with the received inheritance to the new issues of today takes time and even more when issues of conscience are concerned.

When I was a boy, a divorcee could not enter your home, and even less so if they were remarried. Today, the Pope himself summons those that are in a new union to live in the Church. He asks them to pray, to work in the parish communities, and to participate in works of charity. Just because they are on the margin of the commandment does not erase their baptism. I admit that the tempo cannot keep up with the speed of social change, but holy leaders, those that seek the voice of God, have to take the necessary time to find the answers. Nevertheless there is the risk of confusing other economic, cultural and geopolitical interests. It is important to know how to distinguish.

"The revealed truths of faith were theologically formulated and transmitted as our NONNEGOTIABLE inheritance" Pope Francis

" The Church, which was set up to lead to salvation all people and especially the baptized, cannot abandon to their own devices those who have been previously bound by sacramental marriage and who have attempted a second marriage. The Church will therefore make untiring efforts to put at their disposal her means of salvation.

Pastors must know that, for the sake of truth, they are obliged to exercise careful discernment of situations. There is in fact a difference between those who have sincerely tried to save their first marriage and have been unjustly abandoned, and those who through their own grave fault have destroyed a canonically valid marriage. Finally, there are those who have entered into a second union for the sake of the children's upbringing, and who are sometimes subjectively certain in conscience that their previous and irreparably destroyed marriage had never been valid.

Together with the Synod, I earnestly call upon pastors and the whole community of the faithful to help the divorced, and with solicitous care to make sure that they do not consider themselves as separated from the Church, for as baptized persons they can, and indeed must, share in her life. They should be encouraged to listen to the word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts in favor of justice, to bring up their children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God's grace. Let the Church pray for them, encourage them and show herself a merciful mother, and thus sustain them in faith and hope." John Paul 11

Pope Francis stated that the divorced and remarried couldn’t receive communion, in the book-length interview El Jesuita, the Aparecida document . He also spoke of the principle of “Eucharistic Coherence” according to which “people cannot receive holy communion and at the same time act or speak against the commandments” He also criticises “gnostic solution” of elite groups of “enlightened Catholics” who offer a “higher spirituality.” He said some advocates of ordaining nuns to the priesthood or of giving communion to the divorced and remarried fall into this error. "

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Pope Francis on Sin

That is what should have made headlines after the papal press conference”not that Francis used the word “gay,” or expressed a merciful (and thus deeply Christian) attitude toward those seeking reconciliation with God.

“This is what is important: a theology of sin.”

The words are striking, especially to a world often in denial of sin; but it is typical that many secular commentators blew right past them, instead focusing on Francis’ now-famous “Who am I to judge?” comment. (Never mind that Francis was speaking about individuals who humbly confess their sins before the Lord”not those who adamantly persist in them.)

Since his elevation to the episcopacy, and especially since becoming pope, Francis has promulgated a “theology of sin” with force and clarity. He often returns to the theme that we are all sinners who offend God, need to examine our consciences daily, and amend our lives accordingly. He has referred to himself as a sinner, publicly asked forgiveness for his sins, and requested that people pray for him . And when he was asked during the press conference why he “so insistently” invites prayer, he answered as a true shepherd would:

I have always asked this. When I was a priest, I asked it . . . . I began to ask with greater frequency while I was working as a bishop, because I sense that if the Lord does not help in this work of assisting the People of God to go forward, it can’t be done. I am truly conscious of my many limitations, with so many problems, and I a sinner”as you know!”and I have to ask for this . . . . It comes from within. I ask Our Lady too to pray to the Lord for me. It is a habit, but a habit that comes from my heart and also a real need in terms of my work.

Last April, Francis described his theology of sin as a three-part process. The first part is to recognize the darkness of contemporary life, and how it leads so many astray:

Walking in darkness means being overly pleased with ourselves, believing that we do not need salvation. That is darkness! When we continue on this road of darkness, it is not easy to turn back. Therefore, John continues, because this way of thinking made him reflect: “If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Look to your sins, to our sins, we are all sinners, all of us . . . . This is the starting point.

The second stage is to realize that confession is not simply a way to remove stains from our souls”as if the confessional were a theological “dry cleaner””but rather, an encounter with Jesus Christ, who is always ready to forgive sins and transform lives. But in order to receive his healing grace, we have to acknowledge not just our sins, but our shame in violating his will. We have to be willing to say, as Francis does,

“Lord, look . . . this is how I am.” We are often ashamed to tell the truth: “I did this, I thought this.” But shame is a true Christian virtue, and even human . . . . You need to stand in front of the Lord “with our truth of sinners.” . . . We must never masquerade before God . . . . This is the virtue that Jesus asks of us: humility and meekness.

The third and final part of this process is having absolute faith in God to renew us:

We must have trust, because when we sin we have an advocate with the Father”“Jesus Christ the righteous.” And he “supports us before the Father” and defends us in front of our weaknesses.

In an address to his fellow Jesuits , on the Feast of St. Ignatius, Pope Francis summed up his Catholic vision of life: “To put Christ and the Church in the center; to allow ourselves to be conquered by Him in order to serve; to feel the shame of our limitations and our sins, in order to be humble before Him.”

It’s instructive to contrast the Pope’s views with those of the secular world. Francis takes it for granted that sex outside of marriage (to cite only one sin) is gravely wrong; the world does not”and increasingly doesn’t even believe in the proper definition of marriage. The Pope maintains the urgency of confessing our sins; the world believes in celebrating and justifying them. The Pope believes it essential to acknowledge and promote a healthy Christian concept of shame, whereas the world mocks the very idea of shame. Perhaps that is why Francis, in his April address, reserved some of his strongest words for the “unashamed”:

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Pope Francis On Satan And The Works Of Evil!

For the third time in as many weeks, Pope Francis has warned not to speak ill of others, and again mentioned the devil in another striking homily this morning in the chapel of the Vatican’s Santa Martha residence.

Calumny, he said, is worse than sin and is the direct expression of Satan. “We are all sinners; all of us. We all commit sins. But calumny is something else. It is of course a sin, too, but it is something more,” he said, according to a Vatican Radio report.

“Calumny aims to destroy the work of God, and calumny comes from a very evil thing: it is born of hatred. And hate is the work of Satan. Calumny destroys the work of God in people, in their souls. Calumny uses lies to get ahead.” Be in no doubt, he said:“Where there is calumny, there is Satan himself.”

He then gave the example of St. Stephen, who was a victim of calumny, wrongly accused of bearing false witness, and was martyred because of it. The Church’s first martyr, the Pope said, does not repay falsehood with falsehood. Instead, he “looks to the Lord and obeys the law”, being in the peace and truth of Christ. It’s the way of martyrdom, he said, and there have been numerous examples of those who have witnessed to the Gospel with great courage.

But he added – and later repeated – that the age of martyrs “is not yet over” and that “even today we can say, in truth, that the Church has more martyrs now than during the first centuries.”

“The Church has many men and women who are maligned through calumny, who are persecuted, who are killed in hatred of Jesus, in hatred of the faith,” the Holy Father continued. “Some are killed because they teach the catechism, others are killed because they wear the cross … Today, in many countries, they are maligned, they are persecuted … they are our brothers and sisters who are suffering today, in this age of the martyrs”.

This age of “such great spiritual turmoil”reminded the Pope of an ancient Russian icon that depicts Our Lady covering the people of God with her mantle:“We pray to Our Lady to protect us, and in times of spiritual turbulence the safest place is under the mantle of Our Lady. She is the mother who takes care of the Church. And in this time of martyrs, she is the protagonist, the protagonist of protection: She is the Mother. (…) Let us state with faith: Mother, the Church is under your protection: Care for the Church.”

This is the third time at these early morning Masses that the Pope has warned against speaking poorly of others. Last month he said it was the equivalent of selling someone “like a commodity,” not unlike Judas, who sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. A few days later, he warned against gossip, saying that complaining behind each other’s backs is a temptation that comes“from the Evil One, who does not want the Spirit to dwell among us and give peace.”

Since his election last month, the Pope has also made frequent references to the devil. Observers have noted this emphasis with interest, especially as explicit mentions of the devil largely fell into disuse in the years following the Second Vatican Council. With his disappearance from Church texts, exorcists complained that the rite of exorcism had become useless against demons.

Pope Francis’s frequent allusions to “Satan” and the “Evil One” may well be part of an effort —one that Benedict XVI had already begun — to cast out the presence of evil and so bring back healing and harmony to the Church, and to parts of the Vatican in particular.

I do not know if there is a similar saying in Italian, but in our country [Argentina] those who are never ashamed are called “sin verguenza”: this means “the unashamed,” because they are people who do not have the ability to be ashamed and to be ashamed is a virtue of the humble, of the man and the woman who are humble.

In a recent column , John Allen proposed that Francis become known as “the Pope of Mercy,” since “his signature idea is mercy. Over and over again, he emphasizes God’s endless capacity to forgive, insisting what the world needs to hear from the Church above all today is a message of compassion.”

That is certainly true, but it is equally true that Francis’ understanding of mercy is not the kind dissenters and secularists believe in, much less the kind of false compassion Venerable Fulton Sheenpowerfully exposed and answered . True Christian mercy presupposes a strong moral order with clearly defined teachings on good and evil: It is not an open-ended, amorphous, free-floating concept; nor is it a prelude to changing moral doctrines rooted in eternal truth.

Francis’ teaching on mercy is beautiful and inspiring, but clearly takes place within his full theology of sin, from which it can never be isolated. It includes acknowledging the shame of our grievous sins, and abandoning them, with the help of the Lord Jesus. Only then can we experience the full joy and healing that awaits us from the merciful Son of Man.

definition of marriage. The Pope maintains the urgency of confessing our sins; the world believes in celebrating and justifying them. The Pope believes it essential to acknowledge and promote a healthy Christian concept of shame, whereas the world mocks the very idea of shame. Perhaps that is why Francis, in his April address, reserved some of his strongest words for the “unashamed”:

That is certainly true, but it is equally true that Francis’ understanding of mercy is not the kind dissenters and secularists believe in, much less the kind of false compassion Venerable Fulton Sheen powerfully exposed and answered. True Christian mercy presupposes a strong moral order with clearly defined teachings on good and evil: It is not an open-ended, amorphous, free-floating concept; nor is it a prelude to changing moral doctrines rooted in eternal truth.

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State Of Palestine

Did the Vatican just officially recognise the state of Palestine? ""Simply put, the AP got the story wrong and caused a cascade of similarly sloppy coverage..."

There was outrage and calumny aimed at Pope Francis and the Vatican for "officially recognizing" the Palestinian state... only that's not what really happened:

Other outlets quickly picked up the AP’s story or hammered out their own version. Vox’s “Pope Francis just officially recognized Palestine as a state” offers a representative headline. Soon, the move was being alternatively celebrated andcondemned by anti-Israel activists, the Anti-Defamation League, and even members of Congress.

But there was just one small problem with the news driving the whole hullabaloo: the Vatican hadactually recognized Palestine in 2012, after it declared statehood at the United Nations.

This fact, which is evident from a cursory search of the Vatican’s official news service, was quickly noted by several experts in Palestinian politics. Others observed that during his trip last May to Israel and Palestine, Pope Francis had explicitly heralded the “good relations existing between the Holy See and the State of Palestine.” As Ramallah-based journalist and former Al Jazeera producerDalia Hatuqa put it: “For years, Vatican has referred to it as State of Palestine. Nothing new here.”

The new treaty reported by the AP between the Vatican and “the state of Palestine,” in other words, was simply the first accord signed by the two parties since that original official recognition. Sure enough, when more discerning reporters tried to follow up on the AP’s big scoop, the Vatican and Palestinian Authority promptly denied that anything new had transpired, and pointed out that the officialVatican recognition had already been conferred years prior.

Years prior when... wait for it... the Pope wasBenedict XVI.

I shake my head at those, most of them conservative sadly, who jump on the I hate Pope Francis bandwagon.

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Brotherhood B Palmer

TO CHANGE THE EUCHARIST INTO A MASONIC SYMBOL OF BROTHERHOOD.

Re Tony Palmer's video..... First of all Tony was summoned to Rome in 2003 - therefore he has worked for unity under three Popes - John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis.

Pope Francis, in the Kenneth Copeland video, spoke about the separation of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37 and the famine in Genesis 42 explaining that the brothers were in search of food when they came across their brother, whom they had left for dead. As we can hear clearly in the video the Pope was not speaking about the Eucharist but a prayerful hope that we would all be together one day in union. This is after all what God wants. This is what Jesus prayed for!

But the Church is not brought into being only through the union of people, through the experience of brotherhood to which the Eucharistic Banquet gives rise.

The first step in any ecumenical effort is to build a relationship of trust with the other party. The time to discuss finer points of doctrine will come in due course. John Paul.

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Climate Change

PAPAL PRECEDENT

Francis is extending the work of his predecessors. Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI both spoke of environmental protection as an urgent moral concern and placed the issue the context of church social teaching on helping the poor and promoting the common good.

In 1990, John Paul II said Catholics had a special religious obligation to protect God's creation from damage caused by "industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unrestricted deforestation" and other practices. Benedict was dubbed "the Green Pope," for his frequent calls to stop ecological devastation and his efforts to bring solar power to the Vatican city-state. "Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change?" Benedict said in 2010.

Both pontiffs advocated for conservation as part of a "culture of life" that includes ending abortion. Francis has done the same in his remarks, decrying a "culture of waste" that devalues human life.

Encyclical on the environment... Pope Francis slams attacks against human life such as abortion, embryonic experimentation and population control – saying that respect for creation and human dignity go hand in hand. "Instead of resolving the problems of the poor and thinking of how the world can be different, some can only propose a reduction in the birth rate. At times, developing countries face forms of international pressure which make economic assistance contingent on certain policies of 'reproductive health'."

It is a grave crime to require the sinful spread of contraception and abortion as a condition for reception of humanitarian aid." The Pope explained that “a sense of deep communion with the rest of nature cannot be real if our hearts lack tenderness, compassion and concern for our fellow human beings.”
“At times we see an obsession with denying any pre-eminence to the human person; more zeal is shown in protecting other species than in defending the dignity which all human beings share in equal measure,” he said. It is “clearly inconsistent” to

combat the trafficking of endangered species while remaining indifferent toward the trafficking of persons, to the poor and to the decision of many “to destroy another human being deemed unwanted,” the Pope stated.
“How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?” he asked.

Once the ability to welcome a new life is lost on the part of individuals and society, other forms of acceptance also “wither away,” he said, warning against a “culture of relativism” that sees an absence of any objective truth outside of our own immediate wants and needs.
Francis also rejected some ecological movements’ discontinuity in calling for limitations to be placed on environmental scientific research, while at the same time failing to apply the same principals to human life.

As an example, he noted that within science, there is “a tendency to justify transgressing all boundaries when experimentation is carried out on living human embryos.”

“We forget that the inalienable worth of a human being transcends his or her degree of development,” he said, adding that once technology disregards ethical principles, “it ends up considering any practice whatsoever as licit.”

“When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities – to offer just a few examples – it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything is connected.” Once the human being seeks absolute dominion, the foundations of our life “begin to crumble,” the Pope said, so that instead of cooperating with God, man puts himself in God’s place “and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature.”
He cautioned against seeking to exercise “absolute power” over our bodies as if they were something that we own, saying that “man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will.”

Accepting and caring for our bodies in their truest nature is essential for human ecology, he said, and stressed that this acceptance includes “valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity.”

In acknowledging differences, “we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment,” the Pope observed.

An attitude which seeks “to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it” is unhealthy, he said. “In the face of the so-called culture of death, the family is the heart of the culture of life,” he said.

Family life is where children first learn how “to show love and respect for life; we are taught the proper use of things, order and cleanliness, respect for the local ecosystem and care for all creatures,” as well as how to be grateful for what they’ve been given and to ask for forgiveness when they’ve caused harm, he explained.

“These simple gestures of heartfelt courtesy help to create a culture of shared life and respect for our surroundings.”

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The Poor

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis is insisting that his concern for the poor and critique of the global economic system isn't some novel, communist-inspired ideology but rather the original and core "touchstone" of the Christian faith.

"He cites church fathers dating to St. Ambrose and St. John Chrysostom as expressing the same concerns, and noted somewhat wryly that if he had said the same "some would accuse me of giving a Marxist homily."

Pope Francis...."As we can see, this concern for the poor is in the Gospel, it is within the tradition of the church, it is not an invention of communism and it must not be turned into some ideology, as has sometimes happened before in the course of history," an apparent reference to the Latin American-inspired liberation theology.

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Angel Of Peace

"One of the gifts that the Pope often presents to visiting presidents is a large, round, bronze medal by a contemporary artist that represents an 'angel of peace,' " said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman."When the Pope presents the medal to the president or head of state, he offers a few words of explanation of the gift as well as an invitation to a commitment to peace on the part of the recipient. Each one of us must be for others and for the world an 'angel of peace.'"

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Moral Issues.

"We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods...."..So what is the truth?"The Teaching of the Church is clear on these issues..Pope Francis says, "If one has the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ and truly follows Him, then all the moral absolutes will fall in place and follow."“In this way We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the Church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel. The proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow.”. ".. when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the Church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the Church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.... "He said exactly the same as Benedict....“I always knew the questions in advance. They concerned the ordination of women, contraception, abortion and other such constantly recurring problems. If we let ourselves be drawn into these discussions, the Church is then identified with certain commandments or prohibitions; we give the impression that we are moralists with a few somewhat antiquated convictions, and not even a hint of the true greatness of the faith appears. I therefore consider it essential always to highlight the greatness of our faith – a commitment from which we must not allow such situations to divert us.” Pope Benedict.

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"Jesus is not a Spirit"

CAN WE SAY THAT JESUS IS NOT A SPIRIT AND SAY THAT HE IS GOD AT THE SAME TIME? Yes! Jesus is not a spirit but a person, a man, as Pope Francis preaches truthfully. Christ the Spirit is the Spirit, not Jesus the Man. If Pope Francis said, “Christ is not a spirit” then he would have been heretical, but the Pope is accurately explicit when he said, “Jesus is not a spirit! Jesus is a person, a man, with flesh like ours, but full of glory.”Though Jesus is not a spirit but a person, a man, He is God at the same time.

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Franciscans of the Immaculate“

More than 80% of the friars appreciate the intervention of the Church,” Father Alfonso Bruno, a spokesman for the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, told Catholic News Agency.Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/no-rejection-of-benedict-in-franciscans-of-the-immaculate-decree-say-leader#ixzz3EArxfQZNhttp://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/no-rejection-of-benedict-in-franciscans-of-the-immaculate-decree-say-leader#ixzz2atPNtTeQ

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Redemption

Pope Francis says...'The Lord has redeemed all of us ... even the atheists'It is true the Lord has redeemed all of us with His Blood including the atheists, but not all will accept salvation.But can atheists be saved?St. Paul tells us that a person's conscience will accuse or defend them at their judgement.... "The gentiles who do not have the law, do by nature the things of the law. They show the work of the law written on their hearts." Romans 2:14-16 He is telling us that those who have not known God yet have lived according to the law of God can be saved!Early Church Father, St Justin Martyr explains this further..If a man accepted that law, even though he doesn't know that it's God that writes it, he is in effect following the Spirit of Christ. God's Mercy is unfathomable!

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Jesus Took On Our Sins

Read the following from 'Biblical Evidence For Catholicism' D ArmstrongI had presupposed for the sake of argument that I was working with an accurate translation. So out of curiosity, I did a Babylon translation of the offending phrases in their sentences, since one of the critics provided the Italian version of the "controversial" part of the homily. Here are the results that I found, using three online translators and also in consultation with an Italian friend, Greta Villani:1) La vera riconciliazione è che Dio in Cristo ha preso i nostri peccati e si è fatto peccato per noi.a) Vatican translation: "True reconciliation means that God in Christ took on our sins and He became the sinner for us."b) Babylon translation: "True reconciliation and that God was in Christ took our sins and was made sin for us."c) Google translation: "True reconciliation is that God in Christ has taken our sins and was made sin for us."d) Bing translation: "The real reconciliation is that God in Christ took our sinsand became SIN for us."e) Greta Villani translation: "The true reconciliation is that God in Christ took our sins and he became sin for us." 2) E a lui piace, perché è stata la sua missione: farsi peccato per noi, per liberarci . . . a) Vatican translation: "And Jesus likes that, because it was his mission: to become the sinner for us, to liberate us . . ."b) Babylon translation: "And he likes, because it was his mission: to be sin for us, to liberate us."c) Google translation: "And he likes it, because it was his mission to be sin for us, to free us."d) Bing translation: "And he likes to, because it was his mission to be sin for us, to get away from ..."e) Greta Villani translation: "And he likes it because it was his mission: to become sin for us, to free us . . ."I asked my friend, Greta: "How lousy was it, then, to translate those sentences as 'became / become the sinner for us'? Is that permissible or possible to do, or is it taking liberties?" She said: "It definitely changes the meaning of the phrase." With this bit of information, the argument collapsed, and even the person I was primarily disputing about it with, conceded as much. The pope in fact echoed closely if not identically the biblical language and it was yet another tempest in a teapot and bum rap; much ado about nothing, just like all the other instances I have investigated thus far: "

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Abortion

Francis denounced today's "throw-away culture" that justifies disposing of lives, and said doctors in particular had been forced into situations where they are called to "not respect life."

"Every child that isn't born, but is unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, has the face of the Lord," he said..... He urged the gynecologists to abide by their consciences and help bring lives into the world. "Things have a price and can be for sale, but people have a dignity that is priceless and worth far more than things," he said.

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Same Sex 'Marriage' And Adoption

As Cardinal, Francis spoke out against same-sex marriage...."The prospect that same-sex couples could adopt would deprive children "of the human growth that God wanted them given by a father and a mother..... "Here again is the envy of the devil, by which sin entered into the world, that cunningly seeks to destroy the image of God: man and woman who are mandated to grow, multiply and dominate land."

Pope Francis... the then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio wrote on June 22, 2010: "The Argentine people must face, in the next few weeks, a situation whose result may gravely harm the family. It is the bill on matrimony of persons of the same sex. The identity of the family, and its survival, are in jeopardy here: father, mother, and children. The life of so many children who will be discriminated beforehand due to the lack of human maturity that God willed them to have with a father and a mother is in jeopardy. At stake is the total rejection of God's law engraved in our hearts. ... Let us not be naive: it is not a simple political struggle; it is an intention [which is] destructive of the plan of God. It is not a mere legislative project (this is a mere instrument), but rather a 'move' of the father of lies who wishes to confuse and deceive the children of God."

"The selfless, reciprocal, fruitful and indissoluble union between a man and a woman is part of God's original plan and "the sacrament of marriage is a great act of faith and of love," ~ Pope Francis

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1501964.htm

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Who Am I To Judge?

The quote above is not in context. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago said this quote has been very misused because he was talking about someone who has already asked for mercy and been given absolution, whom he knows well,” George said.

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Proselytism

Pope Francis....."Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes no sense. We need to get to know each other, listen to each other and improve our knowledge of the world around us'.

He also said.....The Lord does not proselytize; He gives love. And this love seeks you and waits for you, you who at this moment do not believe or are far away. And this is the love of God. —POPE FRANCIS, Angelus, St. Peter’s Square, January 6th, 2014; Independent Catholic News

Of course, he was saying nothing that hasn’t already been said by his predecessor:

The Church does not engage in proselytism. Instead, she grows by “attraction”: just as Christ “draws all to himself” by the power of his love, culminating in the sacrifice of the Cross, so the Church fulfils her mission to the extent that, in union with Christ, she accomplishes every one of her works in spiritual and practical imitation of the love of her Lord. —BENEDICT XVI, Homily for the Opening of the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, May 13th, 2007; vatican.va

Paul VI “It would be . . . an error to impose something on the consciences of our brethren. But to propose to their consciences the truth of the Gospel and salvation in Jesus Christ, with complete clarity and with total respect for free options which it presents . . . is a tribute to this freedom.” . . . The Church’s missionary spirit is not about proselytizing, but the testimony of a life that illuminates the path, which brings hope and love.

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Humanism

" The Pope has spoken and.. "warned against the “adolescent progressivism” that is only another guise of secular humanism. He referenced Robert Hugh Benson’s novel Lord of the World in which the world has sunk into a secular, socialist dream, out of which arises a charming anti Christ, Julian Felsenburgh who promises the world to the worldlings." Fr Longenecker

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Repentance

POPE FRANCIS "If you don't listen to the Lord, if you don’t accept correction and if you do not trust Him, your heart has not yet repented.”

Pope Francis has made an emotional appeal to mafia members to give up their lives of crime and avoid eternal damnation.

The Pope said that Jesus condemned the hypocrites who called themselves 'pure' but lived a double life. If your heart is not a repentant heart, if you do not listen to the Lord, if you don’t accept correction and you do not trust in Him, your heart is unrepentant. "