People send me links (“Did you see this??”); I don’t seek out these things anymore. But Steve Skojec at 1 Vader 5, who has now resorted to posting screenshots from Facebook for the general ridicule, claims that Pope Francis actually condones adultery in Amoris Laetitia. (You can find it here if you are free from GERD.)”He does!” Mr. Skojec says with the incorrectible confidence he alone possesses. “Paragraph 298!” (Okay, the exclamation points are my own.) Let us check, then.... Read more
Paragraph 7 of Amoris Laetitia is the most important section, and it tells us ...But you’ll have to read the link to find out what it says. Read more
At the New York Times, there is an article today optimistically titled “How Pope Francis’ ‘Amoris Laetitia’ Could Affect Families and the Church.” From the article: In the document, known as an apostolic exhortation, the pope could change church practice on thorny subjects like whether divorced Catholics who remarry without having obtained annulments can receive holy communion. I think not. Did the New York Times not read the pope’s interview in-flight from Mexico to Rome? He was asked about this... Read more
The Vatican is publishing a papal exhortation on Friday. *** If you like the content on this blog, your generous gift to the author helps to keep it active. I remember all my supporters in my Mass intentions each week. Read more
In a recent article in the Washington Post, Jacob Lupfer argues that “doubting the Bible is good for Christians.” Since the article appeared on Good Friday, I suspected that the obligatory yearly scoffing at the Resurrection was afoot. Mr. Lupfer did not disappoint. The secular media is always busy at its charism of instructing Christians on how they really should interpret the Bible. It is not as though we inquire with the Church or anything like that; instead, we look... Read more
At Life Site News, John-Henry Westen was first to publish the claim, on February 25. “Pope,” the headline cries, “calls Italy’s foremost abortion promoter [Emma Bonino] one of nation’s ‘forgotten greats.’” This is now the latest so-called papal scandal; it has been picked up by all the usual suspect blogs. Even Mike Gendron, the anti-Catholic apologist, wrote an outraged Facebook post about it, telling Catholics to rise up and cry: Enough is enough! It attracted all sorts of anti-Catholic vitriol in the comments. Traditionalists and anti-Catholics make strange bedfellows. John Bugay himself has a post about it, citing Rorate Cæli as his infallible authority. [...] Read more
The overall gist of the pope’s response seems to be: Abortion is always and everywhere evil, but there are licit means to avoid pregnancy. I would like to think that by “avoiding pregnancy” the pope means abstinence during fertile periods. But the difficulty with that interpretation is that the only specific method of avoiding pregnancy anyone brings up during the exchange is contraception—and it is Pope Francis who introduces it into the discussion, not the reporter. Another difficulty: I have found no one who can point me to any primary evidence that the precedent Pope Francis cites—Paul VI permitting nuns in danger of rape to use contraception—ever occurred. [...] Read more
Political agitator Ann Coulter took to Twitter a few days ago to share these sterling thoughts. The typography is hers. "Jeb!, an AMERICAN Catholic, defends Trump, disapproves of Pope bossing around U.S. on wall. Rubio, a ROMAN Catholic, beholden to the Pope." Coulter was not at all alone; on his radio show, Sean Hannity accused the pope of “insert[ing] himself into this election.” Even the New York Times proclaimed that the pope was “inserting himself into the Republican presidential race.” Really? Does no one—no one—know how to check a transcript anymore? To suggest the pope is inserting himself and bossing the U.S., if he is not in fact doing that, is bearing false witness. Is it not? [...] Read more
I tried to get the word to Dr.* James White before he took to his Dividing Line webcast to applaud me with a literal clapping of hands. I did. I sent this tweet to him and his producer Rich Pierce on February 15. I included Mr. Pierce because the good Reformed apologist blocked me all the way back in October of 2013 after I confronted him on his utter refusal and inability to exegete the text of Ephesians 4 in any meaningful way. Though Dr.* White has now apparently concluded that I am one of the rare breed of Catholic apologists who deserves to be thanked for my honesty, I remain blocked. So it goes. But if Dr.* White is thanking Catholic apologists now, he should also thank Benjamin Baxter and Dave Armstrong. [...] Read more
I am me As Trump is we And we are free And let's vote Trump together See how they run To grab all our guns See how they lie They're lying Stumping in a corn state Waiting for the votes to come Corporation cronies, stupid open borders 'Bam you've been a naughty boy You've done the country wrong [...] Read more
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