-
Papal Priorities: Biblical Study or Saint Veneration?
Roman Catholics often raise the topic of authority and claim that we need an infallible interpreter to interpret Scripture. This, they say, means we need the papacy. But what does the papacy actually do or care about? When pressed, however, Roman Catholic apologists typically acknowledge that an allegedly infallible interpretation has been provided for fewer…
-
Pope Francis on Luther on June 26, 2016
Pope Francis was interviewed aboard an airplane on June 26, 2016. In that interview he expressed the position that Luther was right about justification. Before we get too excited, though, please consider the statement in its full context: Kleinjung: Holy Father, I wanted to ask you a question. Today you spoke of the gifts of…
-
We are all children of God? Pope vs. Jesus
In his first video, Pope Francis asserts: “In this crowd, in this range of religions, there is only one certainty we have for all: we are all children of God.” But Jesus’ rebuttal of this view is set forth in John’s gospel: John 8:39-47They answered and said unto him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus saith…
-
Mariolatry and Externals
Francis of Rome on March 5, 2014, as reported by the Vatican Information Service (VIS) statesd: We get used to living in a society that claims to be able to do without God, in which parents do not teach their children how to pray or how to make the sign of the Cross. This inurement…
-
Evangelii Gaudium – the BBC Has Overstated the Pope’s Liberal Leanings
BBC News has the headline: “Pope Francis calls for power to move away from Vatican” and the opening line: “Pope Francis has called for power in the Catholic Church to be devolved away from the Vatican, in the first major work he has written in the role.” The document in question, Evangelii Gaudium (“Gospel’s Joy”)…
-
Irony of Idolatry in Francis of Rome’s Remarks and the Split Tenth Commandment
Francis of Rome recently was reported as saying (VIS, 9 June 2013): “We shouldn’t see the Ten Commandments as restriction upon our freedom; no, not that way. We should see them as signs for our freedom. … They teach us how to avoid the slavery to which the many idols that we ourselves build reduce…
-
Francis of Rome on Atheists and Redemption
Francis of Rome was recently reported speaking about good works and atheism: Wednesday’s Gospel speaks to us about the disciples who prevented a person from outside their group from doing good. “They complain,” the Pope said in his homily, because they say, “If he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he…
-
The Other Thing Francis of Rome Said … about Killing in the Name of God
Francis of Rome recently made some comments about atheists that got a lot of attention, but in the process people missed a bigger point. Francis stated: Instead, this ‘closing off’ that imagines that those outside, everyone, cannot do good is a wall that leads to war and also to what some people throughout history have…
-
"It is not Possible to find Jesus Outside the Church"
Pope Francis in today’s homily stated (Vatican Radio translation): And so the Church was a Mother, the Mother of more children, of many children. It became more and more of a Mother. A Mother who gives us the faith, a Mother who gives us an identity. But the Christian identity is not an identity card:…