Hysterical Reactionaries Opposed Pope Francis from Day One

Last updated on: December 3, 2019 at 12:41 pm By Dave Armstrong

The “inside story” (from Hilary White) of what happened among a cadre of well-known fanatical reactionaries on the very night Pope Francis was elected Dr. John Rao, “Rorate Caeli’s first-ever credentialed Conclave correspondent in 2013″ and regular Remnant columnist, signed the objection to the beatification of Pope St. John Paul II (posted at The Remnant). Reactionary Hilary White provides (at One Peter Five: 6-7-16) an utterly fascinating “inside” account about how she was with John Rao, Mike Matt (big shot at The Remnant), the late John Vennari... Read more

Bible: Completely Self-Authenticating? (vs. Wm. Whitaker)

Last updated on: December 3, 2019 at 12:57 pm By Dave Armstrong

. . . So that Anyone Could Come up with the Complete Canon without Formal Church Proclamations? William Whitaker (1548-1595) was a Calvinist Anglican apologist and Master of St. John’s College, Cambridge. His masterwork was Disputation on Holy Scripture: Against the Papists, Especially Bellarmine and Stapleton, published in 1588. I have utilized an online copy published in 1849 by the University Press of Cambridge. Bishop “Dr.” [???] James White, a zealous Reformed Baptist apologist and prominent defender of sola Scriptura,... Read more

My Ancestry (English Royalty, St. Margaret, Cleopatra, Etc.)

Last updated on: May 24, 2021 at 2:04 am By Dave Armstrong

I’ve had so much fun tracing my ancestry and also doing DNA tests. It gets really interesting and fruitful when you can manage to tie into some royal lineage. That way, the people are famous, the birth and death records are very good, and the Internet makes it very easy to obtain information even beyond the paid plans of Ancestry.com. I “got into” the lineage of English royalty by means of King Edward IV (1442-1483; r. 1461-1483), and his mistress... Read more

Pope Benedict’s Enthusiastic Approval of Pope Francis

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 1:24 pm By Dave Armstrong

This is from Last Testament: In His Own Words (with Peter Seewald, Bloomsbury Continuum, 1st edition: 11-4-16), Seewald’s words will be in blue. ***** Seewald: Many things about Pope Francis are unprecedented. He is the first Jesuit Pope; he is the first to choose the papal name of Francis; and perhaps most importantly, he is the first Pope from the ‘New World’. What does that mean for the global Catholic Church? Benedict: It means that the Church is flexible, dynamic and... Read more

“Confusing” Pope Francis & Ignorant, Lazy Lay Catholics

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 1:12 pm By Dave Armstrong

The original Facebook title of the first part of this was: “Has Pope Francis Sometimes Acted Imprudently, Causing Confusion That Could Have Been Prevented or Minimized? I Respectfully Think So“. As the discussion went on, I delved into the related question of an educated, responsible lay Catholic populace, and so the title changed. Reactionary Thomas A. Hunt‘s words (originally posted on my Facebook page) will be in blue. ***** I know a lot of people from all walks of Catholicism,... Read more

G. K. Chesterton on the Incompetence of Journalists

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 12:44 pm By Dave Armstrong

[all excerpts from The Illustrated London News (Vol. 27: 1905-1907 and Vol.28: 1908-1910) ] The real way of reading the newspapers is to read nothing but the posters and head-lines. If we read nothing but these, we can keep, like a perpetual childhood, the belief that wonderful things are really happening on every side of us. If we are unwise enough to read the journalistic text itself, we discover that nothing has happened at all. (2 June 1906) Blessed are... Read more

Is Pope Francis Against Apologetics & Defending the Faith?

Last updated on: December 3, 2019 at 11:29 am By Dave Armstrong

[all the words below — unless indicated otherwise — are Pope Francis’ own; blue highlighting and bolding are my own] 132. Proclaiming the Gospel message to different cultures also involves proclaiming it to professional, scientific and academic circles. This means an encounter between faith, reason and the sciences with a view to developing new approaches and arguments on the issue of credibility, a creative apologetics which would encourage greater openness to the Gospel on the part of all. When certain categories... Read more

Viganò, Schneider, Pachamama, & VCII (vs. Janet E. Smith)

Last updated on: November 25, 2019 at 5:41 pm By Dave Armstrong

On 11-22-19, I posted my article, Bishops Viganò & Schneider Reject Authority of Vatican II (And Abp. Viganò Appears to Have Lost His Mind; Denies Indefectibility, Spews Ridiculous Tin Foil Hat Conspiracies). Renowned Professor of moral theology, Janet E. Smith (whose work — especially regarding Humanae Vitae — I have greatly admired for years), cross-linked it on her public Facebook page, with her original caption: “What some people think.” The usual “feeding frenzy” (personal attacks from others) ensued, and then I... Read more

James Swan Foolishly Attacks Catholic Conversion Stories

Last updated on: November 25, 2019 at 12:32 pm By Dave Armstrong

James Swan is a Reformed Protestant anti-Catholic polemicist, who specializes in defenses of Martin Luther. I have dealt with his arguments off and on since 2002. He wrote an article, “The Protestant’s Dilemma: A Review (Part One)” (1-15-15), on Bishop James White’s blog. It was a partial review of Devin Rose’s book, The Protestant’s Dilemma: How the Reformation’s Shocking Consequences Point to the Truth of Catholicism (San Diego: Catholic Answers Press, 2014). I’d like to concentrate on one portion where he gets... Read more

Mary’s Assumption & Death (?): Debunking James Swan

Last updated on: November 23, 2019 at 3:12 pm By Dave Armstrong

Reformed Protestant anti-Catholic polemicist James Swan wrote a truly ludicrous and clueless article on Bishop James White’s blog, entitled, “On the Death of Mary: Why the Infallible Interpreter Still Needs to be Interpreted” (10-16-11). His words will be in blue. ***** As I’ve understood Roman Catholicism, it isn’t determined one way or the other that Mary died. A Roman Catholic is free to believe either. It’s one of the many marvels of Swan’s polemics, that he actually starts out with... Read more