“The approach a Pope takes is not what destroys the Church” really? I think her goal is in bringing all religions into one,... https://www.catholicireland.net/journeying-together-already-step-towards-unity/ Judaism Buddhism Islam Traditional Religions Hinduism Interreligious Organisations Buddhism The rapport with the Buddhist faithful has been a significant part ofthe Focolare Movement’s history in dialogue. Although Focolare foundress Chiara Lubich intuited as early as the 1960’s that it would be possible to construct genuine fraternal relationships with persons of different religions and cultures, it was not until 1979 that she personally met a leader from another religion, the Rev. Nikkyo Niwano founder of the Rissho Kosei kai. The freindship that developed between them was based on deep mutual respect. In 1981 Niwano invited Chiara to speak of her Christian experience before 12 thousand Buddhists in Tokyo. This marked the historical beginnings of a genuine experience of fraternity. This relationship has gone on for many years now and was recently rienforced by Maria Voce’s visit to Tokyo in 2010. Paths of cooperation and understanding were later opened with other Mahayan currents in Japan and Taiwan. The meetings with Venerable Etai Yamada of the Tendai School remains an unforgettable moment. Chiara loved to quote the motto of the Grand Master Saicho:
Would it be irreverent to say that she could be the female version of Pope Francis? I was going to say the Pope in drag but some might find that offensive. Definitely in the running for the first female Cardinal. http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2017/11/28/maria-voce-to-dialogue-means-taking-risks/ I read something she said about Mary having given up Jesus at the Crucifixion is an example to us that we should be willing to give up our treasure for the sake of unity. I don't think she meant material treasure.
She also self-identifies as a feminist. Maybe I'm reading her wrongly, but it is all too close to globalist monoversity. If one really respects someone with Buddhist or other non-Christian beliefs, one would point out their errors. There seem to be many who mistake for sanctity the positive feelings induced by virtue-signalling.
The Focalare often gather near where I live and I attended Mass and a talk at one of their gatherings a few years ago. I was taken aback by the level of chatting, the volume of it, in the chapel, before during and after Mass. Then I was invited to come to the afternoon session, yoga... No thanks...
Reading between the lines of what this woman with the ready smile says, they are an ageing movement. It is reassuring to know that those movements within the Church that are the most liberal are the ones demographically doomed. Yet, those young that are committed to their faith appear to be overwhelmingly embracing the Faith of the ages. Let us pray for less spirituality (whatever it is) and more religion (which has the distinct advantage of being easily objectively defined, for a start).
I get the impression that this obsession with uniting religions is a kind of attempt to circle the wagons against the rising threat of militant atheism. While atheism is a threat, I have a sense that various types of paganism are making greater strides and these touchy feely spiritual movements could be something of a trojan horse.
If all religions are true then no religion is true. I think of the various Protestant sects now for instance who have given their approval to sexual perversion. Why are we having Ecumenical links with such people ( a for instance the Lutherans) ...we should be running from them screaming. 1 Corinthians 5:12 Expel the Immoral Brother …11But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 12What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”…
Two wrongs will never make a right. Nobody's perfect. Cliches exist because they usually express ancient truths.
To be fair, most strands of Buddhism, in contrast to the form that is known in the West, have a rigid system of morality. Most great religions follow what CS Lewis called the Tao and have some variant of the Golden Rule (the exception to the latter is Islam, which is narrowly limiting of what ir regards as a neighbour). To the extent that a religion possesses a degree of Christianity, so is it Christian and one could argue that this Christian aspect should be embraced but with the strict proviso that the remainder is rejected completely and the whole of Christian Truth preached. It is also arguable that sometimes this preaching must be accompanied with words, to paraphrase St. Francis of Assisi. One hears few words nowadays.
http://magister.blogautore.espresso...-defends-life-and-family-and-theres-a-reason/ No One Listens To Him, When He Defends Life and Family. And There's a Reason 24 dic > Italiano > English > Español > Français > All the articles of Settimo Cielo in English * One time, when he was visiting Turin, he said to a crowd of young people: “Be chaste, be chaste.” And he almost apologized: “Pardon me if I am telling you something you did not expect.” Pope Francis is also this. A pope who occasionally goes back in time and reiterates the precepts of the perennial Church. Such as not aborting. Or to use his words to the young people in Turin: not “to kill children before they are born.” The mainstream media minimize it or are silent when Francis departs from his dominant image, as a pontiff who is permissive on subjects that until a few years ago the Church defined as “non-negotiable.” And yet there have been so many times, at least a hundred, in which he has departed from it, even in solemn circumstances as in Strasbourg, in front of the European parliament, when he condemned the logic of the “discardable,” of the elimination of all human lives that are no longer functional, “as in the case of the sick, of the terminally ill, the elderly who are abandoned and uncared for.” It is what he customarily calls “hidden euthanasia.” But it was as if he had not even said it. His speech in Strasbourg was greeted with thunderous applause from all the seats of the assembly, and calmly shelved. This is also what happened in mid-November, when Francis dug up no less than a warning from Pius XII to reiterate the condemnation of euthanasia, here too with the media instead interpreting his words as an “opening.” A week later, in two consecutive homilies at Santa Marta, the pope also took aim at the “ideological colonization” that presumes to wipe out the difference between the sexes. One year ago, while he was in Georgia, he even branded it as “a world war to destroy marriage.” Even these repeated outbursts of his trickled away like water on marble. Ignored. The press may have its share of the blame, but it is truly paradoxical that this should happen to a pope like Jorge Mario Bergoglio, whose mastery in the use of the media is seen as unbeatable. Unless one were to hypothesize that he in the first place is the one who wants these statements of his to have no impact, and above all to do no damage to his reputation as a pontiff with the passing of time. One thing is certain: the epic head-on confrontation between a John Paul II and modernity, or between a Benedict XVI and the “dictatorship of relativism,” is something that Pope Francis does not want to revive in the least. He is perfectly content to have his pontificate interpreted in the reassuring light of “who am I to judge?” and as a consequence never to have any of his spoken or written words on these divisive issues taken as definitive and definitional, but to be offered as harmless, pliable, up to the judgment of each individual. This result has also been produced by Bergoglio’s ability to perform gestures with an impact in the media that is incomparably more powerful than that of words. When two years ago, at the end of his visit to the United States, he gave a very warm audience (see photo) to one of his Argentine friends, Yayo Grassi, accompanied by his Indonesian “partner,” Iwan Bagus, this was enough to consecrate the image of Francis as open to homosexual marriage, in spite of all his words to the contrary. And vice-versa, when imposing crowds, Catholic and not, take to the streets in defense of marriage between man and woman and against “gender” theories, as happened in Paris with the “Manif pour tous” or in Rome with the “Family Day,” the pope is cautious not to say a single word in their defense. Nor much less to protest against the victories of the opposing side. When in May of 2015 in Ireland the “yes” on homosexual marriage won, Francis left to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, the duty of calling that result “a defeat for humanity,” and thus of taking upon himself the inevitable accusations of obscurantism. In short, where and when the political and cultural battle is raging for or against the affirmation of new rights, Pope Francis remains silent. And he speaks instead far away from the contest, in the places and moments most sheltered from attack. He preserves the Church’s traditional doctrine this way, as in an air raid shelter. (English translation by Matthew Sherry, Ballwin, Missouri, U.S.A.) ---------- This commentary was published in "L'Espresso" no. 52 of 2017 on newsstands December 24, on the opinion page entitled "Settimo Cielo" entrusted to Sandro Magister. Here is the index of all the previous commentaries: > "L'Espresso" in seventh heaven
This will be his posterity. Fortunately, he has let down the liberal side also. He will be remembered fondly by few. Sadly, he will stand out, I fear, as the exemplary format for the ambitious of how not to be a pope. Take note that Cardinal Parolin, who receives quite a lot of criticism, was prepared to speak the truth about the Irish sodomy referendum. Perhaps, there is hope for the future.
Pope Francis Calls On Europe To Take In More Migrants, Compares Them To “Joseph and Mary” ......Calls for Europe continue taking in migrants comes amid the Pope condemning President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...ds-europe-take-migrants-compares-joseph-mary/
Talking about the Holy Father is a bit like Shadow Boxing or holding water in your hands or wrestling with air. The thing you are battling never seems to be really there. It is a bit like trying to chase a ghost. It is the most puzzling thing. Puzzling but vexing.
http://m.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-maradiaga-denies-financial-allegations-but-questions-remain-unansw Cardinal Maradiaga Denies Financial Allegations, But Questions Remain Unanswered Posted by Edward Pentin on Saturday Dec 23rd, 2017 at 8:33 PM Sources tell the Register the most serious claims involve Bishop Juan José Pineda, an auxiliary bishop in the Honduran cardinal’s archdiocese, to whom the cardinal is very close. One of Pope Francis’ chief advisers on Church reform has rejected allegations of financial corruption made in an Italian publication this week, but questions remain over diocesan accounting procedures, and his close ties with one of his bishops who is accused of misappropriating vast amounts of diocesan funds and illicit relationships. Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga, a member of the Pope’s Council of Nine Cardinals, told CNA Dec. 22 he was a victim of “calumnies” which included allegations, repeated in the Italian magazine L’Espresso Dec. 21, that he had received $600,000 from the University of Tegucigalpa in 2015, as a sort of “salary” for being the chancellor of the University. The cardinal, who is archbishop of Tegucigalpa, was also accused of losing nearly $1.2 million of Church funds through investments in some London financial companies. He asserted that the money from the university (amounting to $41,400 a month) was not given to him personally but to the archdiocese and transferred in the name of the archdiocese. He said the funds went to pay for seminarians’ tuition, property maintenance, and rural or poor priests. Cardinal Maradiaga also denied making “any investment” as the ones he is accused of losing money on, and stressed the university had grown in size while he’d been archbishop. Honduran Catholic officials have said the financial irregularities are aimed at discrediting the archbishop; the Vatican, meanwhile, confirmed Friday that Francis had ordered an investigation. So far, no results of the investigation have been made public, and questions remain over exactly how these funds were spent as there is no accounting to refer to. Some details of archdiocesan income and expenditure were passed on to Pope Francis during the Honduran bishops’ ad limina visit in September. The documents, which the Register has obtained, show general figures denoting gross income for the archdiocese and spending running into millions of dollars, but with no particulars. One source with a detailed knowledge of the issue told the Register the documentation omits $1.3 million that the Honduran government gave the archdiocese to be spent on Church projects. Bishop Pineda The money is alleged to have found its way into the hands of Auxiliary Bishop Juan José Pineda of Tegucigalpa, a close friend of the cardinal, but no accounting exists detailing how the money was spent. Bishop Pineda has long been the subject of accusations of financial mismanagement, and rumors that he financially supports a male companion using archdiocesan funds. Some have alleged that he had an apartment built on the campus of the Catholic University of Honduras, in order to house this companion, according to CNA. The bishop has said he wanted an investigation to clear his name, but the Register has been told he is a “cancer” for the cardinal due to these accusations, including misappropriating funds for a number of “intimate” friends. These relationships are said to be of “far greater concern” than the allegations of financial impropriety. “The cardinal’s relationship with Pineda is very close and the cardinal defends him across the board,” an informed source told the Register Dec. 23. One of the bishop’s close companions, called “Mike,” is said to be a police chaplain and has celebrated the sacraments for a number of years, despite not being ordained, nor even a Catholic. “The cardinal knows everything,” the source said. The Vatican’s Investigation L’Espresso reported that on hearing of the allegations, Pope Francis sent retired Argentine Bishop Alcides Jorge Pedro Casaretto, 80, as an apostolic envoy to Honduras last May. The Register has been told that Bishop Casaretto was shocked by the extent of the corruption he discovered, including accounts of sexual abuse perpetrated against priests and seminarians. The bishop sent the Pope a report on the archdiocese based on the testimonies of more than 50 witnesses, including diocesan staff members and priests, according to L’Espresso. As well as the Pope, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and Archbishop Angelo Becciu, the third highest official in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, were all informed. Vatican and Honduran sources say on receiving the report, the Pope decided to take the matter into his own hands rather than have a commission or a more extensive apostolic visitation deal with it further, but so far the only action that has been taken has been to send Bishop Pineda to stay with Jesuits in Madrid on a short retreat. When the claims became public knowledge, the apostolic nuncio, Tanzanian Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, began looking into the allegations against Bishop Pineda and Cardinal Maradiaga. The Register tried to contact the nuncio but was unable to reach him. Cardinal Maradiaga turns 75 Dec. 29, and many will be looking to see if the Pope will accept the Honduran cardinal’s mandatory resignation which he is obliged to submit on turning 75. Edward Pentin is the Register’s Rome correspondent.
The Higher up you get the more you seem to get away with it all. If you are highest up you seem to get away with things most of all. ..in this life anyway.
