{"id":27553,"date":"2018-12-29T15:12:52","date_gmt":"2018-12-29T19:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=27553"},"modified":"2018-12-29T17:09:02","modified_gmt":"2018-12-29T21:09:02","slug":"yes-virginia-the-pope-believes-mary-is-immaculate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/12\/yes-virginia-the-pope-believes-mary-is-immaculate.html","title":{"rendered":"Yes, Virginia, the Pope Believes Mary is Immaculate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

The latest tempest in a teapot is the claim that Pope Francis supposedly denied the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It\u2019s nonsense, and ably dealt with by my friend, Fr. Matthew Schneider, in his article,\u00a0The Pope Didn\u2019t Deny the Immaculate Conception<\/a>. Anyone can read his reasoning there, but I\u2019d like to highlight the quotations from Pope Francis that Fr. Matthew found:<\/p>\n

In view of this motherhood, Mary was preserved from original sin, from that fracture in communion with God, with others and with creation, which deeply wounds every human being. But this fracture was healed in advance in the Mother of the One who came to free us from the slavery of sin. The\u00a0Immaculata<\/i>\u00a0was written in God\u2019s design; she is the fruit of God\u2019s love that saves the world. (12-8-13<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You are all-beautiful, O Mary!\u00a0In you there is no sin. <\/span><\/i>(12-8-13<\/a>)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Angel Gabriel calls Mary \u201cfull of grace\u201d (Lk 1:28): in her there is no room for sin, because God chose her from eternity to be the mother of Jesus and preserved her from original sin. (12-8-14<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today the People of God celebrate, they venerate you, the Immaculate, ever preserved from the stain of sin. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

Though we are sinners, we are still your children, the children of the Immaculate, called to that holiness that has shown resplendent in you by the grace of God from the beginning. (12-8-14<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He [Jesus] was made equal to us in every way, except one thing, that \u2018no\u2019. Except sin. For this reason, he chose Mary, the only creature without sin, immaculate. In the Gospel, with one word only, she is called \u201cfull of grace\u201d (Lk 1:28), that is, filled with grace. It means that, in her, full of grace\u00a0from the start<\/i>, there is no space for sin. And when we turn to her, we too recognize this beauty: we invoke her, \u201cfull of grace\u201d, without a shadow of evil. (12-8-16<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even the greatest saints were sinners and everything in reality, even the most beautiful things, are corroded by evil: everything, except Mary. She is the one \u201cevergreen oasis\u201d of humanity, the only one uncontaminated, created immaculate so as to fully welcome, with her \u2018yes\u2019, God who came into the world and thus to begin a new history. (12-8-17<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I engaged in dialogue about this controversy on my [public] Facebook page<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Bravo to my friend, Fr. Matthew. He soundly refutes the same-old same-old anti-Francis garbage.<\/p>\n

I would remind everyone that bearing false witness is objectively a mortal sin, and lying about the Holy Father is all the worse.<\/p>\n

Michael Hichborn:<\/a>\u00a0While he didn\u2019t outright deny the Immaculate Conception, his statement is nonetheless misleading. And this is the problem with many<\/em> <\/strong>of Pope Francis\u2019 statements. He says things that can be understood in different perspectives, and when the natural confusion ensues, he refuses to clarify or establish the objective standard \u2026 which is the very essence of his job as pope.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t need<\/em><\/strong> to clarify things where people are interpreting in an empty-headed, cynical \/ worst-case scenario fashion in the first place. We can use our heads and figure it out ourselves.\u00a0I know: I\u2019ve refuted probably at least three dozen bogus charges<\/a> against him over the last five years.<\/p>\n

As Fr. Matthew noted: \u201cPope Francis often speaks casually and informally, versus using strict theological language. Whatever you think of this stylistic choice, it is only fair to interpret informal addresses knowing this.\u201d So we learn that about him, interpret accordingly, and 95% of these \u201cdifficulties\u201d are solved.<\/p>\n

As with Scripture, if something is unclear or more obscure, we interpret it in light of clearer passages. It\u2019s the same with the pope or anyone else. Thus, when you say he should clarify, he has already<\/em>\u00a0in effect done that in his clear affirmations elsewhere. You and his legions of critics were simply too lazy to look it up. Instead of taking a half-hour of your time to delve into it more deeply, you prefer to make the quick accusation.<\/p>\n

Andy Dee:<\/a>\u00a0It\u2019s all about the interpretation.\u00a0The pope does have clerics write his homilies, scripts, etc.\u00a0Confusing words like this don\u2019t help.\u00a0At first glance, it\u2019s sounds unorthodox. Why so many misleading statements?\u00a0Is this done intentionally?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Then make a second<\/em> glance and do the work<\/em>. That\u2019s my point.<\/p>\n

There are some apologists, theologians and professors (prominent ones) who have questions with regards to Pope Francis\u2019 actions or inactions.<\/span><\/p>\n

And there are apologists like myself and Fr. Matthew who have done the work of defending the Holy Father<\/a> against many false accusations. It\u2019s a fact that many of these do exist and have been refuted.\u00a0The more of these one sees, the more one tends to think that the root problem very often lies in the severe bias of the critic, rather than in the pope.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had bad popes in the past. It\u2019s not inconceivable that we can have one presently or in the future.\u00a0Just saying.<\/span><\/p>\n

I agree with the broad statement; disagree that Pope Francis is one.<\/p>\n

John Lillis<\/a>:\u00a0I\u2019ve known you for a long time and want to pose this simple question to you: Why does the Holy Father need his own legion of Global Interpreters? A quick follow-up\u2026 Certainly, there are those who lean-in with a \u201cTrad\u201d knife to twist the Pope\u2019s words into the \u201cworst case scenario;\u201d but are there not also a multitude of people, here yourself and Fr. Matthew, literally writing entire volumes bent on defending his \u201ccasual\u201d speaking style? . . . I would hope that we all would want a better, stronger, faster, and clearer<\/em><\/strong> Holy Father and an episcopate and presbytery, freed from the Gay Cabal and predators. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That all said, bottom line is this: He\u2019s the Pope, we\u2019ll pray for him, this is a given; and, one and at the same time, his words, however warm and colloquial, are plain wrong on every level: First, yes, both Joseph and Mary were born into the Communion of Saints \u2013 so they\u2019re \u201csaints.\u201d Not speaking for Joseph, but, the Blessed Mother was protected against sin and the perfect will to resist temptation, so, though of course, not Canonized, she was A) Living heroic virtue and sinless \u2014 thus, a Saint. What\u2019s not to be confused here?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If I were to give one reason for why the pope\u2019s statements seem to need an inordinate amount of explanation (though I think there are several), it would be what Fr. Matthew highlighted:<\/p>\n

Pope Francis often speaks casually and informally, versus using strict theological language. Whatever you think of this stylistic choice, it is only fair to interpret informal addresses knowing this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not understanding this aspect is an error thought and repeated over and over, therefore we get false charges over and over. As time went on, it became a \u201cnarrative\u201d and many jumped on the bandwagon; with a collection of by-now-predictable falsehoods that are accepted uncritically by millions of Catholics.<\/p>\n

Increasing hostility leads to basic fallacies and errors of fact, repeated over and over. It\u2019s the idea of the Big Lie: you simply repeat a lie over and over till millions start to believe it apart from reasoned evidence and proof.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also the case that Holy Scripture is systematically misinterpreted for many reasons by various groups (and it, too, requires serious interpretation, doesn\u2019t it?). It doesn\u2019t make it any less inspired or any less revelation.<\/p>\n

In other words, the mere presence<\/em> of widespread questioning and skepticism does not in and of itself prove<\/em> that the intended recipient is the origin<\/em> of the problem. It could also possibly be the critics<\/em> who are the root cause and the problem.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Photo credit:<\/strong>\u00a0Immaculate Conception<\/i> (1628), by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)<\/span> [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest tempest in a teapot is the claim that Pope Francis supposedly denied the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It\u2019s nonsense, and ably dealt with by my friend, Fr. Matthew Schneider, in his article,\u00a0The Pope Didn\u2019t Deny the Immaculate Conception. Anyone can read his reasoning there, but I\u2019d like to highlight the quotations from Pope […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":27556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,138],"tags":[2357,508,4492,4493,46,677,2356,680,961,7375,7372,504],"class_list":["post-27553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blessed-virgin-mary","category-papacy-infallibility","tag-blessed-virgin-mary","tag-catholic-mariology","tag-fitting","tag-fittingness","tag-immaculate-conception","tag-marian-doctrines","tag-mariology","tag-mary-mother-of-jesus","tag-marys-sinlessness","tag-pope-francis-the-immaculate-conception","tag-pope-francis-mariology","tag-virgin-mary"],"yoast_head":"\nYes, Virginia, the Pope Believes Mary is Immaculate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The latest false charge against Pope Francis is that he denied the Immaculate Conception. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Yes, Virginia, the Pope Believes Mary is Immaculate","description":"The latest false charge against Pope Francis is that he denied the Immaculate Conception. It ain't true. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}