It appears that Francis and infamous Giacomo Casanova may have had similar ideas on moral relativism. The two also seem to disagree with Venerable Mary of Agreda on the Virgin Mary.
Norman Mailer, in his book "Prisoner of Sex," shows why the
relativism of Francis's Amoris Laetitia with its moving away from natural
objective truths or denial of intrinsically evil acts such as adultery,
contraception and sodomy leads to Nietzschean will to power and nihilism:
"So, yes, [homosexuals] in prison strive to become part of the male
population, and indeed – it is the irony of homosexuality – try to take
on the masculine powers of the man who enters them, even as the studs,
if Genet is our accurate guide, become effeminate over the years. ...
Homosexuality is not heterosexuality. There is no conception possible,
no, no inner space, no damnable spongy pool of a womb ... no hint
remains of the awe that a life in these circumstances can be conceived.
Heterosexual sex with contraception is become by this logic a form of
sexual currency closer to the homosexual than the heterosexual, a
clearinghouse for power, a market for psychic power in which the
stronger will use the weaker, and the female in the act, whether
possessed of a vagina or phallus, will look to ingest or steal the
masculine qualities of the dominator.'"
It appears that Nietzschean will to power and nihilism was personified by Casanova according to his sexual memoir:
- Kelly also found evidence to confirm that a number of Casanova's sexual encounters had been with men, corroborating two references in Casanova's sensational memoir, The History of My Life.
"The modern concept of bisexuality, no less than of homosexuality, didn't really exist in the 18th century," Kelly says, " and the conception of sexual preference was on the whole a much more fluid affair. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/27/biography.history]
- Casanova: Rape, Incest and Disease
Casanova’s womanizing certainly was not all innocent fun; he was accused of rape and battery, had numerous bouts with sexually transmitted diseases and most scandalously, may have fathered his own grandson with Leonilda. Casanova also had a penchant for deflowering virgins in such a way that he convinced them of his undying devotion before deserting them, which must have led to broken hearts across Europe. Casanova wounded a Polish Count in a duel he fought over an affair and the man was not afraid to turn his anger on a young woman that did not respond to his advances. Although Casanova claimed that he had to find his women both physically and mentally stimulating, he was not above having sex with the lowest of street prostitutes or even complete strangers.
The stories of Casanova’s sexual conquests are made even more colorful when contrasted to his life as an adventurer, which included everything from fighting duels to dabbling in the occult. However, Casanova’s tales of adventure always lead back to the many women in his life and if not for his overpowering libido, Casanova may have become an ambitious, but otherwise unknown Catholic priest. As it were, the brief time in Casanova’s life when he did believe he was to become a priest was hardly spent in pious activity. Casanova the apprentice priest was a wolf in sheep’s clothing whom trusting mothers, matrons and husbands would allow too close to their wives and daughters – or both. [https://lifeinitaly.com/giacomo-casanova/]
It is without question that no pope in history ever wrote anything close to the moral relativism of Francis's Amoris Laetitia and it seems that no pope ever called the Virgin Mary a “normal young woman" like Francis:
“I imagine the Virgin Mary as a normal young woman, a young woman of today, open to getting married, to forming a family.” [https://aleteia.org/2018/10/10/pope-explains-hail-mary-prayer-in-book-interview/#]
Casanova apparently also believed the Virgin Mary was just "normal young woman" like Francis:
Was the notorious Casanova perhaps right when, impris-
oned in the ominous eighteenth-century underground prison
in Venice known as "The Leads," he described Mystical City of
God as the "wild conceptions [and 'fantastic visions'] of a
devout, melancholy Spanish nun ... shut in by convent walls"?5
2 Maria of Agreda,Mystical City of God: The Conception (Books 1 and 2), The Incar-
nation (Books 3 and 4), The Transfixion (Books 5 and 6), The Coronation (Books 7
and 8), trans. George J. Blatter (Chicago: Theopolitan Company of Chicago, 1914;
reprinted Albuquerque, NM: Corcoran Publishing Company, 1949). This reference is
from The Conception, 14, 15. Further citations from this reference are cited as MCOG,
followed by the volume name and page.
3 MCOG, The Conception, 38, 40.
4 MCOG, The Conception,41-42.
5 Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, The Memoirs of jacques Casanova de Seingalt,
1725-1798, Vol. 10
In short, no, Casanova was not right.Yet, how are we to uncover
the gems of Mary's utterly inspiring simplicity, her sleek moth-
erly beauty, in such a lengthy ornate work as Mystical City of
GoeR One example is found in the way Venerable Fr. Solan us
Casey read Mystical City of God-prayerfully, on his knees,
meditating on the life of Mary-each day, for fifty years. [It was
Fr. Casey who personally gave the four-volume set of Mystical
City of God to my husband's family in 1952.] [https://ecommons.udayton.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1226&context=marian_studies]
It appears that Francis like Casanova might not like Venerable Mary of Agreda's book on the not “normal young woman" Virgin Mary which the Church has allowed:
This was the golden marial
age in Spain, and her Immaculate Conception was being fiercely debated.
On one side as staunch defenders were the theologians who followed Duns
Scotus, the Franciscans and the Spanish Universities of Salamanca,
Madrid, Granada, among others. On the other side were the French
Thomist theologians and, in particular, the University of the Sorbonne.
In that climate of debate the work of Mother Mary of Agreda, which
defends her Immaculate Conception, came under suspicion.
In 1681, the Holy Office censured the book, and on August 4 of the same year included it on the Index of Forbidden Books.
By the order of Blessed Innocence XI, however, the decree of
condemnation was removed three months later after it was shown that a
faulty French translation was at the basis for the censure.
But the incident had a negative influence on her cause of beatification,
and since then repeated campaigns have been made against The City of God.
The Jansenists and Gallicans in the 18th century renewed the attack
that the work was “excessive” in its devotion to Mary. Time and time
again, the cause of Venerable Maria of Agreda was promoted, and then
silenced.
In recent years, after the 400th anniversary of her birth in 2002, there
have been renewed efforts by various Marian groups to move the
beatification process forward. But another barrier stands in the way:
the strong emphasis on Our Lady as Co-redemptrix and Co-mediatrix found
in The City of God is in variance with the ecumenical doctrines
of Vatican II. Mary of Agreda, once again, is being set aside for
promoting devotion to Our Lady.
Incorrupt body
 Her incorrupt body is displayed at the Convent Chapel |
The holiness and admirable life of Mother Mary of Jesus has never been
disputed. Within the walls of the Conceptionist Convent of Agreda we
find a lively memory of the venerable Abbess. There we can see the eight
books of The Mystical City of God, her cell with its two windows
and the Franciscan habit she wore. But the most extraordinary sight for
the admiring pilgrim is the incorrupt body of Venerable Mother Mary of
Jesus.
In 1909 her casket was opened for the first time after her death in
1665. Her body was found to be completely incorrupt. A full report on
the condition of the body was prepared by physicians and authorities.
In 1989, another careful scientific investigation was made. Spanish
physician Andreas Medina reported that the body was in the same state as
it was described in the medical report from 1909. “We realized it had
absolutely not deteriorated at all in the last 80 years.”
[https://www.traditioninaction.org/History/B_017_Agreda_5.html]
Below is a taste of the beautiful writings of Mary of Agreda on the Virgin Mary:
She alone was to call Him Son, and She alone was to be called Mother, a Mother worthy of having an incarnate God for a Son. Now as all this far surpassed in dignity the whole creation, so did it also take the precedence in the mind of the supreme Creator. Hence He says : THE CONCEPTION 65 56. "Before He made anything from the beginning, I was set up from eternity and of old." We, in our present state, conceive this eternity of God as an interminable time. But what were the things "of old," since none had been created ? It is clear that the three Persons are here spoken of, namely, that She was foreseen from the eternal ages of the Divinity, by the Beings, which alone are ancient, namely, the indivisible Trinity (since all the rest, having a beginning, are recent), that She was fore seen when only the ancient Uncreated was, and before any ideals of the future creation were formed. Between these two extremes intervened the ideal of the hypostatic union which was to be verified ad extra through the in tervention of most holy Mary.
[https://archive.org/stream/mysticalcityofgo01dejauoft/mysticalcityofgo01dejauoft_djvu.txt] Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis's Amoris Laetitia.