Pope Francis is Dead
Initial Unsentimental Thoughts
I woke up briefly at 3am and found out that Pope Francis had died. My immediate response, after looking around to verify, was to pray for God’s mercy on his soul. Then I recalled I was more on target than I knew when I posted this on Easter Sunday:
And the two minutes in that excerpt (which you can see at the link on X) was strange — much of the band and the crowd and little of Francis. Yet I thought it was his last Easter, not his last day.
Something that surprised me about my response — I thought I would be sorely tempted to be disrespectful upon his death, even trollish. It turns out I am not, for which I thank God, who is still working on me. Nonetheless I still think it important to be realistic, not forgetful or sentimental, about Francis and his legacy.
We do not know his heart before God nor his eternal destination. But we know, or should know, he did great harm to the Church. Among other acts, he elevated numerous evil men to the College of Cardinals. Really he stacked the College with such men. And one of Francis’ last acts was to appoint one of the worst of them, Cardinal McElroy, as the Archbishop of Washington.
You Don’t Know How Evil Cardinal McElroy Is...
Many of you are aware that Cardinal Robert McElroy was installed as the Archbishop of Washington this week in accord with Pope Francis’ appointment. You may be aware he is not a good appointment. But I venture that few of you are aware of just how awful, really evil McElroy is. I wasn’t.
This is part of a pattern of Francis of coddling and elevating evil men in the church, such as the German bishops and James Martin, while suppressing orthodox with the courage to stand up to him, particularly Bishop Joseph Strickland.
Francis’ suppression of the orthodox includes his suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass. TLM people are among the most faithful, active and zealous Catholics. They are the salt of the Earth and the salt of the Church. Yet Francis . . . finding a polite yet accurate description for what Francis did to them in so zealously suppressing the Traditional Mass is difficult for me early in the morning. I know one family that moved to my town in part because of a TLM parish here. Francis took that away from them. Are there polite words for that?
Oh, but Francis was all for bringing in blessings of alphabet people. Yes, I know the Vatican tied itself in knots to say it was not blessing certain behaviors. But we should not be so dense as to not know ecclesiastical winks and nods when we see them.
The harm Francis did went beyond the church. He was not responsible for the Invasion that has plagued the West. I am not one of those who think the Pope is that powerful. But he sure did cheerlead it. Then he vilified President Trump and other leaders with the backbone to stop the Invasion.
I could go on. I suspect I have offended some readers already. But when the Church, Roman Catholic and otherwise, faces dangers and evils within and without is no time to be sentimental. We must face up to the truth, not give ourselves false comfort with sentimental thinking or forgetfulness. The Church of Rome must deal — and deal even ruthlessly at times — with the evils and apostasies Francis has watered and grown if it is to continue as an orthodox and somewhat faithful church.
Nor will I give place to sentimental thinking about the coming Conclave either after Francis has so stacked the College of Cardinals. I see much wishful thinking about the Conclave already.
In short, this is no time to whitewash or sugarcoat the legacy of Pope Francis. It is a time to extirpate it from God’s Holy Church. I pray that means God does a miracle and grants us a series of faithful orthodox Popes in spite of the current stacked College of Cardinals. I do want God’s best for the Roman Catholic Church.
But I suspect dealing effectively with the legacy of Francis and allies will instead mean the faithful remnant Church eventually treating the Church of Rome as the apostate body it has already become in Germany and in much of the West. I pray that will not be the case as losing the Church of Rome would be a great and epochal loss that would surely usher in even greater evil.
Yes, I do think the current situation is that grave. I would be glad to be proven mistaken.
Do pray for the Church. And if you can pray for the soul of Francis as I have, do that as well.
"Oh, but Francis was all for bringing in blessings of alphabet people. Yes, I know the Vatican tied itself in knots to say it was not blessing certain behaviors. But we should not be so dense as to not know ecclesiastical winks and nods when we see them."
Even if they aren't winks and nods, but genuine attempts to be welcoming while remaining orthodox, my long experience in progressive adjacent churches suggests that such practices tend to open the door to serious confusion and encourage or permit many people to drift from orthodoxy.
There's a reason Paul tells Timothy to "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." If people aren't continually taught the truth of scripture clearly, they will drift, like sheep without a shepherd.
I believe in what I call retroactive prayer, and have engaged in it many times, not alone in regard to the fate of someone's soul, but about many things: that someone who thought in 1978 that I had snubbed her would have had the perception in the many years since that it was not an act of snobbery is a perfect example. The odds are good that she is still alive, but I have also prayed about people whom I know have died.
And why not? God is outside time and has always known that I would be praying such prayers, about whom or whatever. And so I see nothing amiss in one's praying that Francis have believed on The Lord Jesus Christ.
I've never discussed this with my pastor, but know him well enough that I would be surprised if he has not prayed such prayers. The one person I have mentioned it to, a lady in my church, was nearly ecstatic to hear it. She herself has been engaging in such prayers for many years.