I enjoy your input, Luan. So much to ponder and evaluate. Such is the reality of our instant information age. In the 1700's and earlier we would not be in the same ballpark to even know what was going on. Perhaps God has allowed this so that the number of us who can intercede may be multiplied. That thought brings me peace. Matthew 6: 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-leo-xiv-celebrates-francis-birth-into-heaven-will-he-canonize-him/ Pope Leo XIV celebrates Francis’ ‘birth into heaven.’ Will he canonize him? LifeSiteWed Apr 22, 2026 - 11:58 am EDT Listen to this article (LifeSiteNews) — While celebrating Pope Francis’ “birth into heaven” on the first-year anniversary of his death, Pope Leo XIV said his predecessor took up the legacy of the Second Vatican Council. In a message delivered by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, Leo honored Francis yesterday as a “devoted shepherd,” saying that he, “in continuity with his predecessors, took up the legacy of the Second Vatican Council,” Vatican News reported. Leo’s remarks were given on the first year anniversary of Francis’ death, a day which Leo calledFrancis’ “birth into heaven,” in the assumption not only that Francis was headed toward heaven, but that he went straight there as a saint. This assumption contradicts Catholic tradition by which, for the good of the deceased, one prays for their souls in the hope of salvation and for deliverance from purgatory. The assumption that Pope Francis was immediately welcomed into heaven as a saint is also at odds with his legacy of sowing confusion and error by making statements and issuing documents that contradicted perennial Catholic Church teaching, as has been documented in a recently published book. In his commemoration of Francis, Leo suggested, remarkably, that his pontificate marked a turning point in the Church. He said Francis recognized that he acted as pope “at a time that has marked – and continues to mark – a change of era, a change of which he was fully aware, offering all of us a courageous witness that represents a significant patrimony for the Church.” By all indications, Leo appears to embrace the “change of era” marked by Francis’ pontificate. He has praised one of his most controversial – and heterodox – documents, Amoris Laetitia, which suggested Holy Communion may be given to divorced and “remarried” Catholics who are living in grave sin, itself a grave offense that violates Catholic teaching. Leo has also endorsed Francis’ idea that there is an “infinite human dignity,” when he authorized a study by the International Theological Commission published in February. Various clerics, and Leo’s own brother, have affirmed that he desires to continue that path of Francis. Vatican Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has said that “Pope Leo has expressed in various ways the need to continue to receive the magisterium of Francis.” Leo himself has explicitly and repeatedly positioned himself as the inheritor of Francis’s program, stressing continuity on synodality, women’s roles in the Church, ecumenism, curial reform, and liturgical disputes. He stated in a September interview, “I hope to continue in the footsteps of Francis, including in appointing women to some leadership roles at different levels in the Church’s life.” Leo has also actively championed the Second Vatican Council, sharing his affinity for it with Francis, who said his spirituality comes directly from Vatican II. Leo announced in January that he would be beginning a catechesis series to “closely” study Vatican II, which many priests and scholars have affirmed to be in need of correction.
Pray, pray, pray. The Baltimore Catechism is fine and the 1994 edition Catechism of the Catholic Church is commendable (not later editions). Obviously, the change concerning the death penalty, is thoroughly unacceptable to me, for how can a perennial teaching of the Church suddenly be nullified?
The Church is Christ's unsullied Bride. Our Mother. He loves her a billion times than we ever could. No doubt He is working hard to fix things and He is God. The dark is always blackest just before the Dawn.
I will accept any part of Francis’ magisterium (if any can be found) that does not contradict the previous magisterium of The Church. As The Church herself cannot err, but an individual pope (even several) can, as has happened before, the law of non-contradiction supports my statement. May the Lord save us from these days…
Stay in the barque of Peter. There always has been weeds and tares within the wheat of the Church. It is Christ's Church and he will sort it out. Theres a furious storm and Jesus appears to be asleep at this time. Our patience, our love and our faith are being tested.
Yes, didn't Chesterton say something to the effect that the Church has gone to the dogs several times over the centuries but each time it was the dog that died.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18gU48as8F/ Short video of Pope Leo speaking about same-sex blessings in the Catholic Church.
This is a wonderful post. I agree. Never jump ship no matter how big the waves or how asleep Our Lord seems.
We are living in a very dangerous moment in church history. Everywhere we look there is a struggle even in the Vatican. The only hope is prayer and more prayer.
Then, there was the Italian Cardinal who told Napoleon that he was wasting his time trying to destroy the Catholic Church on the grounds that She had survived eighteen hundred years of the clergy’s attempts to do so!
I love that story. I quoted it to my husband yesterday! He cant get passed the terrible failings of the clergy. But then I always think what about the terrible failings of the laity---myself very much among them? We have all failed. The world the flesh and the devil are " equal opportunity employers".
I remember reading that when quoted by Cardinal Ratzinger in one of his interviews with Peter Seewald. Sadly, it seems he may well have suffered at the hands of some of those wayward clergy.
Once heard a sermon using famous Rembrandt painting of the Storm on Sea of Galilee. Priest said notice apostles closest to Jesus even as He sleeps are very calm and peaceful as storm rages. They just stay at rest with their Lord. The others farther away from Jesus are in panic and furiously trying to save themselves from the Storm. Serves as a great visual reminder as we face storms in our lives- stay in the boat next to Jesus. Peace
When God has to die for His creation, there obviously are problems. Fortunately, there was a Solution.
