“Almighty God my heavenly Father, You knew me before the creation of the cosmos and You wanted me to come into existence to bring You glory. Of all the possible universes You could have created, You created this one and You called me into it at exactly the time and place You chose for me so that I could fulfill my part in Your unfathomable plan. You willed that I have the honor to be baptized into the Church You designed and You maintain for our well-being. You willed that I receive the Body and Blood of Your Son and the indwelling of Your Spirit. You willed that I should also be confirmed so that our relationship be even deeper and that I might be an even better instrument of Your will. I now call upon that mighty Sacrament of Confirmation. Through it make me strong to bear whatever burdens I must endure in Your service. Make me wise to recognize accurately and then strong to resist, resolute, whatever is out of harmony with Your will as manifested especially in the beautiful Tradition You have guided in the authoritative, infallible and indefectible Church. Even if that disharmony should come from those whom you have endowed with the grace of Orders and seated even in the highest places of teaching, governing and sanctifying, make me steadfast. With confidence in Your plan for me I ask this for myself and for the brethren through the Holy Spirit’s Gifts and in the Name of Jesus Christ Your Son, who lives and reigns with You, ever one God, world without end. Amen.”
I am afraid Fr Z is underestimating the danger facing the Church at the moment when he blithely states, 'Bad Popes come and go'. This is rather like conparing a conventional small war to a Thermonuclear holocaust. Certainly there have been bad and evil Popes before and no doubt there will be Bad Popes again. But there has never been a Pope like this before, he is way, way, way out there on his own. Bad Popes before have generally left the Teachings of the Church alone . When they have been tempted into heresy they have been pretty quickly squashed for it. The latest unconfirmed report, among a long, long line of totally devastating reports is that he has given the nod to Married Deacons saying mass in the Amazon region. In addition he has selected enough of his own Brand of Cardinal to assure we get Francis Mark 2, Francis Mark 3 and so on. So, no , I would not say it is a case of , 'Bad Popes come, bad Popes go'. It is more a case of a totally wicked and depraved Pope has come and we are saddled with totally wicked Popes forever and ever ; unless God intervenes to save us. Which no doubt He Will, for of that we have His promise. Matthew 16:18 Peter's Confession of Christ …17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”… https://catholiccitizens.org/views/...re-already-saying-mass-and-the-pope-knows-it/ In the Amazon Married Deacons Are Already Saying Mass. And the Pope Knows It 09/12/2019 at 11:10 AM Posted by Kevin Edward White L’Espresso, September 10, 2019 For a few days a video has been circulating on the web in which an Italian priest of the highest rank, among those closest to Jorge Mario Bergoglio, says that in the Amazon the celebration of the Mass by married deacons is already a de facto reality, authorized by the local bishops. And Pope Francis, informed of the matter, is alleged to have said:”Go ahead!” The author of this revelation is not just anybody. He is Giovanni Nicolini, 79, an esteemed priest of the archdiocese of Bologna, which has as its archbishop that Matteo Zuppi whom a few days ago Francis promoted as cardinal. Fr. Nicolini is currently a national ecclesiastical assistant of the Catholic Associations of Italian Workers, ACLI, and was previously director of Caritas of Bologna, in addition to being a parish priest in the neighborhood next to the prison. A priest of the poor, of the imprisoned, of the immigrants: this is his best-known profile. But even before this he was a spiritual son of Giuseppe Dossetti (1913-1996), a leading politician in postwar Italy and then, as monk and priest, a protagonist of Vatican Council II along with Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro. In the footsteps of Dossetti, Fr. Nicolini founded in the 1970’s the Family of the Visitation, a community now made up of around thirty monks and nuns and as many married couples, divided between the countryside of Bologna and the archdiocesan missions in Tanzania and Jerusalem. Moreover, Fr. Nicolini is connected to that influential progressive Catholic think tank known as the “school of Bologna,” which had its founder in the same Dossetti and has in Church historian Alberto Melloni and in Bose monastery founder Enzo Bianchi its current mainstays and gurus, both of them ultra-Bergoglians. So here is a link to Fr. Nicolini’s shocking video: “Sento l’opportunità di ricordare…” The video is part of a broader “lesson” by Fr. Nicolini, it too recorded, at the summer school of the political-cultural Catholic association La Rosa Bianca, held in Terzolas, Trentino from August 21 to 25. And the following is an exact transcription of his words concerning the celibacy of the clergy and the “Masses” that already are said to be celebrated by married deacons in the Amazon, with the authorization of the local bishops and the support of Pope Francis. “AND THE POPE SAID: “GO AHEAD!” I feel it is fitting to recall, together with you, that the Church of priests is coming to an end. Is this a prophecy? No, it is the reality. This has to be taken into account, because it changes completely. We are now reaching the height of folly, every priest is taking care of six parishes, but this is how it ends. This crisis of the priesthood in any case will increase relentlessly, until serious consideration is finally given to the suitability of abolishing the celibacy of priests. As long as this celibacy of priests remains, the decline is unstoppable, in part because very often there is no reflection on the fact that I, for example, am a priest, but before being a priest I am a monk. Francesco, who is here, is a monk, and since [we] are a very small monastic community of prayer we have given to the Church of Bologna the gift of five priests, but we have been able to do so because we belong to a different breed. But as long as there continues a situation according to which – you get it, right? – the fact of remaining celibate is purely an arrangement of the disciplinary order, juridical, not a vow, not a gift of God, not supported by the life of the community… That’s all it is, he doesn’t get married, the rule is that he cannot marry. But it is clear that when I find out that a thirty-year-old priest who comes to me for confession, now they are putting him in a big rural area by himself, in six months he has a mistress. And so now this decline will be very rapid. They other day someone told me that if one does the math, in 2030 Bologna will have 30 priests. Right now there are 450, and that’s already a big decline. And so this structure of the Church will no longer be there. The synod of bishops for the Amazon is taking place. We found out that in the Amazon one evening, from an isolated mission parish in the Amazon they made a pone call, it was an old deacon, in his sixties, married, who said to his bishop: “I have to tell you that tomorrow there won’t be any Mass, because there is no priest.” And the bishop told him: “You go there and say Mass.” A married deacon, children already raised, the “elders” are called, and the bishops there have given him authorization to preside over the liturgy. They told the pope about this and the pope said: “For now we cannot write anything, you go ahead!” I wondered, when I found out that he was convening the worldwide meeting of bishops for the Amazon, who knows if perhaps he can or wants to say something. But the Church, in its concrete juridical structure, as it exists now, is at an end. That does it for the words of Fr. Giovanni Nicolini, which lead to questions that demand answers, even before the synod for the Amazon begins. Is it true or false, what he says about the “Masses” already being celebrated in the Amazon by married deacons? And is it true or false that Francis gave the go-ahead?
No if you listen to the latest edition of , EWTN , 'World Over', Fr Gerald Murray of New York describes very well , as an expert in Church Law describes very well why this is illicit. I think he described it as a , 'Horror'. Sometimes lately they look like they have been hit over the head with a Baseball Bat they seem so shocked. he Reverend Gerald E. Murray, JCD 106 Parish Staff Pastor (212) 753-3401 ext.11 gmurraychurchholyfamily.org Father Murray was born in Brooklyn, New York in May 1959, and grew up in New Rochelle. He attended Regis High School and Dartmouth College. He entered St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie in 1980, and was ordained a priest on December 1, 1984. He was assigned to various parishes in the Bronx and Manhattan before being sent to the Gregorian University in Rome in 1993 to study Canon Law. He was awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law in 1998, and then served briefly as a Judge on the Metropolitan Tribunal before being named Pastor of St. Vincent De Paul Church on West 23rd Street in 1998. In 2012 Fr. Murray was named Pastor of Holy Family Church. Fr. Murray has appeared as a commentator on religious topics on various television and radio outlets, including EWTN, EWTN Spanish, Fox News, Fox Business News, MSNBC, NY1, Radio Maria, Relevant Radio, Fox News Radio and the Voice of America. He is fluent in French, Spanish and Italian, and has a working knowledge of Portuguese. He served in US Naval Reserve Chaplain Corps from 1994 to 2005.
I would at the moment be, very, very careful indeed of Churchmen who try in any way to defend Pope Francis's goings on at the moment no matter who they or how good they seem. The Evil is right out in the open now and anyone defending evil is complicit in it. There was a time you could forgive people for misunderstanding but no more. These people are not even trying to pretend anymore. They're not even making excuses. The mask is off and we can see the evil thing sniggering behind it. If those who make excuses are not complicit in evil, they're totally useless and getting sucked down the drain hole. Don't get sucked in with them. Suckers end up in a bad place.
You may want to consider reading other posts from Fr. Z regarding the present Pope. He is certainly not trying to underestimate the danger in the Church today.
As far as Pope Francis is concerned...some people have been behind the ball, some people have been ahead of the ball , some people have been on the ball. I have read few of Fr Z's posts down the years. The post suggesting Pope Francis is only one bad Pope among many suggest to me that he is presently 10. 5 Light Years behind the ball and may very well never catch up. Pope Francis is like no other Pope in 2,000 years. That is the Elephant in the Room. Not seeing the Elephant in the Room explains the 10.5 Light Years behind the ball.. For The Elephant is indeed, very, very, very much in the room. Indeed he has taken the room over. Certainly he is nowhere near being on the ball. I hope he does catch on....the ball is moving very, very fast at the moment.
I haven't read Fr Z for ages and ages: https://wdtprs.com/2026/10/keeping-an-eye-on-the-amoris-laetitia-confab-in-rome-7-14-october/ Keeping an eye on the “Amoris laetitia” confab in Rome – 7-14 October Posted on 8 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf XFacebookEmailWhatsAppGmailYahoo MailCopy LinkShare It has been 10 years since Amoris laetitia (chose your own translation) was emitted into the world and, of course, its time to sit in circles and talk about it while predetermined statements are already cooling from the laser printer. They are sitting in circles at the Paul VI Audience Hall from 7-14 October. That’s quite a while, if you think about it. A couple things might strike someone who is keeping track of the proceedings. I can’t imagine that that is a large number, but, nonetheless we have to keep at least the corner of our eye on things. After all, we are living in a time when the modus operandi includes creeping incrementalism: the Whatever High Atop The Thing knows it can’t complete the agenda right away, so they nudge their projects forward guttatim… peditemptim… minutatim… overcoming resistance with delay because cunctando regitur mundus. In this particular confab about AL there are speeches. Here is something Leo said. It is of particular interest because it touches probably most neuralgic point of Francis’ document. Leo yesterday : “Our task, therefore, is not only to interpret these realities, but to let them question us and motivate our pastoral responsibility, so that the Church may find renewed ways of proclaiming the Gospel, offering sacramental grace, accompanying families, and making visible the tenderness with which Christ continues to walk among his people.” There it is. Did you see it? “offering sacramental grace”. That’s Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried.
So Pope Leo was going to wade into the Amoris Laetitia thing and suddenly comes down with suspected cancer and this stops him dead in his tracks. Coincidence? Proverbs 16:33 – “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
There is so much hope in this. I am going to pray extra rosaries that Mary will speak to him while he's on the operating table.
Very amazing observation Padraig. Fr. Z also appears to be able to see very clearly inspite of his cross. What a remarkably amazing priest.
