Another One Bites the Dust: Open Letter to John-Henry Westen & LifeSite News on the "Trust God, Not the Internet--Start Praying for Pope Leo" Video

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Signs A Girl Is Infatuated With You ...

Signs A Girl Is Infatuated With You

With the questionable pontificate of Jorge Bergoglio behind us and Robert Prevost elected as Leo XIV, many Catholics are eager to learn all we can about the Chicago native who has spent a lot of time in South America and who will now be leading the Church, for better or for worse.  He appeared on the loggia in papal vestments rather than a poncho--a good sign, as far as it goes.  But is that really all it will take to appease the faithful, or will something more substantive be required?

During the darkness of the Bergoglian era, John-Henry Westen and his team over at LifeSite News have been reliable contributors to the Catholic conversation.  Although it took them a while to "go there" on the question of whether or not the foul-mouthed Argentinian held the papacy validly, they did provide even-handed and respectful coverage of the countless repugnant statements and gestures of Pope Francis's which--let's be honest--were too egregious to overlook.  LifeSite has not flinched, in other words, even when "popesplaining" was at its revolting zenith.

The title of John-Henry's podcast--"Faith and Reason"--underscores not only the admissibility but even the moral necessity of calling out such offenses when they take place.  One is not a Catholic because one refuses to use one's mental capacities; one is a Catholic when one uses them to the full and, realizing their limits, humbly acknowledges even the truths that lie beyond them.  Seeing with the eyes of faith may require us to extend ourselves beyond that which is rationally accessible, but never against it.  Two plus two, either mathematically or theologically speaking, never equals five, and even a pope can't make it so.

Now, the mainstream Catholic commentariat has been assuring us all along that the "next pope" will correct the insufficiencies of Francis--how, they never seemed to specify, nor why it should be expected that the "next pope" will be better than the current one, since the "next pope" will then be the current one and excused by them from all accountability just as Francis was--so it is evident that the talking heads of Catholic conservatism have a serious interest in Leo XIV turning out to be who they said he would be.  Otherwise, their already tenuous credibility gets totally shredded. Popesplainers gonna popesplain.  Having assured us he is a lifelong White Sox fan, they seem sadly stumped when it comes to anything else.

We would expect, conversely, the faithful journalists at LifeSite News to be out there doing the real work of finding out what Cardinal Prevost's record is. The man, after all, wasn't created ex nihilo the moment the white smoke billowed forth.  Perusing John-Henry's coverage, does the serious Catholic encounter an in-depth analysis of whether the allegations of hush money being paid to young people in Peru have any basis in fact?  Post-McCarrick, this is not only a legitimate question but even a non-negotiable one.  Are we, or are we not, past the stage of considering it impolite to hold perpetrators and their enablers accountable?  By the same token, the falsely accused deserve to be incontrovertibly cleared.

What about the conspicuous lack of a paper trail when it comes to then-Cardinal Prevost's reaction to Amoris laetitia?  Has he had, for instance, his responsibilities unreasonably curtailed, or his rent raised astronomically?  If not, why not?  And while Lifesite is to be commended for launching a petition asking Leo XIV to liberate the TLM, if the man is all he is cracked up to be, why would he need to be asked?

It would be too tedious to go through the litany of festering evils the Church is facing now that Jorge Bergoglio has passed away, but they are so well known as to make the exercise unnecessary.  The point being:  what do we find at LifeSite instead?

"Trust God, Not the Internet--Start Praying for Pope Leo" a video clip currently exhorts.  And in case the reader is too dense to get the message, the thumbnail sports the subtitle, "Ignore the Rumors."  Another one, in other words, bites the dust, as Westen himself begins peddling the Protestant snake oil of "prayer alone."  His guests Deal Hudson and Deacon Keith Fournier shake the anti-rationalist pompons as gleefully as miniskirted High School juniors vying to attract the quarterback's eye, decrying the evils of thinking for oneself and positing a vacuous devotionalism as the authentically Catholic alternative.  One could have some fun with the notion of following the advice, "Trust God, Not the Internet" as found on the Internet, so that one would have to distrust God as a result, but the problem is too serious for all that.  Are there no reliable Catholic voices left who are willing to confront reality, no matter what?  If we truly bellieve in God--in the God who is sovereign over all of history as He is over all else--then why would we refrain?

Note: This piece is written by a Catholic Monitor contributor.

Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis’s Amoris Laetitia.

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church.

Stop for a moment of silence, ask Jesus Christ what He wants you to do now and next. In this silence remember God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Three Divine Persons yet One God, has an ordered universe where you can know truth and falsehood as well as never forget that He wants you to have eternal happiness with Him as his son or daughter by grace. Make this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading anything here or anywhere else on the Internet.

Conclave Notes:

Has the Trad Media fallen into a COVID-like mass formation with "the Uncola or 'UnFrancis'" Leo XVI? While it's humorous to see the former anti-Francis Trad pundits suddenly acting like teen age girls infatuated with Leo, it could lead to a Trojan Horse effect

It appears that a group of Bishops or Cardinals needs to give Leo XIV Dubia questions on if he still supports "Invalid and Sacrilegious" Confession

"Prevost’s reported support...allowing divorced & civilly 'remarried'...to receive Holy Communion": “Whoever…helps...promulgation of heresy…is suspected of heresy.” - The Catholic Monitor

 

--  Dr. Seifert, regarded as one of the greatest living Catholic philosophers, founding Rector of the International Academy of Philosopher & friend of John Paul II, to Cardinals: INVESTIGATE FRANCIS' HERESIES, VALIDITY BEFORE THE CONCLAVE.."If Francis is found guilty of heresy or apostasy, then: - His cardinal appointments would be invalid" [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2025/04/dr-seifert-philosopher-personal-friend.html]

Nick Donnelly

@ProtecttheFaith

Urgent intervention concerning the invalidity of the Conclave by Prof. Josef Seifert "St. Pius V and Pope Paul IV have decreed that all cardinal appointments made by a heretical pope are null and void." Last edited

6:50 AM · Apr 27, 2025

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42.7K

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Olin

@Olinobnizov

According to Wernz-Vidal: "Those who are barred as incapable of being validly elected are all women, children who have not reached the age of reason; also, those afflicted with habitual insanity, the unbaptized, HERETICS, schismatics…" (Jus Canonicum 1:415;).

10:28 AM · May 9, 2025

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-- Are the Cardinals who will participate in the upcoming conclave authentically appointed & morally justified in voting, or will the shadow of Francis's possible illegitimacy cast itself over the next papacy?  [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2025/04/are-cardinals-who-will-participate-in.html]

-- Pray for the soul of Francis, but now it is time for all the Catholic Cardinals, Bishops & pundits who have been saying that nothing can be addressed until he dies to be held accountable to act [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2025/04/pray-for-soul-of-francis-but-now-it-is.html]

-- 5 Dubia Questions for 1P5's Steve Skojec & All faithful Catholics especially Francis is definitely Pope Cardinals, Bishops & pundits [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/06/5-dubia-questions-for-steve-skojec.html]

Francis Notes:

– Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church in such a situation:

“[T]he Pope… WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See.”
(The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306)

Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said “the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church.”
[https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]

– “If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html

– “Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html

– If Francis betrays Benedict XVI & the”Roman Rite Communities” like he betrayed the Chinese Catholics we must respond like St. Athanasius, the Saintly English Bishop Robert Grosseteste & “Eminent Canonists and Theologians” by “Resist[ing]” him: https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/12/if-francis-betrays-benedict-xvi.html 

 –  LifeSiteNews, “Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial weight behind communion for adulterers,” December 4, 2017:

The AAS guidelines explicitly allows “sexually active adulterous couples facing ‘complex circumstances’ to ‘access the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'”

–  On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:

“The AAS statement… establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense.”

– On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:

“Francis’ heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters magisterial documents.”

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.

Election Notes: 

– Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: “212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted…Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden” [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]

– Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times “Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003”: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html

– Tucker Carlson’s Conservatism Inc. Biden Steal Betrayal is explained by “One of the Greatest Columns ever Written” according to Rush: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/tucker-carlsons-conservatism-inc-biden.html?m=1

– A Hour which will Live in Infamy: 10:01pm November 3, 2020:
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1

What is needed right now to save America from those who would destroy our God given rights is to pray at home or in church and if called to even go to outdoor prayer rallies in every town and city across the United States for God to pour out His grace on our country to save us from those who would use a Reichstag Fire-like incident to destroy our civil liberties. [Is the DC Capitol Incident Comparable to the Nazi Reichstag Fire Incident where the German People Lost their Civil Liberties?: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-dc-capital-incident-comparable-to.html?m=1 and Epoch Times Show Crossroads on Capitol Incident: “Anitfa ‘Agent Provocateurs‘”:
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1] 

Pray an Our Father now for the grace to know God’s Will and to do it.

Pray an Our Father now for America.

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.