Are you a Francis Catholic who believes in Communion for adulterers as well as a warmonger neocon & pro-lockdown as well as pro-COVID vax guy who calls everyone an anti-Semitic and sedevancantist who doesn't agree with the secular Israel state war machine, the deep state war machine media and the Francis is definitely the pope Catholic media?

Dave said…

You know, I stopped having any interest in LifeSite, when I found LifeNews as a solid alternative.

LifeSite has turned decidedly anti-semitic, anti-Trump, and pro Vatican II to the point that they'd follow whatever just to make it ok. It stinks to high heaven.

I stopped reading when for the past few years, under JH Weston's editorial leadership, they started pushing this odd wingnut sedevacantist view. Note that I don't have any problem with sedevacantists. My own views are likely close to many of theirs. There's a small group of wingnut sedes that ironically has the mindset of Islamists.

Lifesite won't let you comment anything, however polite and constructive, against their stories, either. They blocked whomever and don't take new logins anymore. It's like a controlled narrative.

8:45 AM 

Fred Martinez said…

Are you a Francis Catholic who believes in Communion for adulterer[s] as well as a warmonger neocon and pro-lockdown as well as pro-COVID vax guy who calls everyone an anti-Semitic and sedevancantist who doesn't agree with the secular Israel state war machine, the deep state war machine media and the Francis is definitely the pope Catholic media?

9:46 AM  - The Catholic Monitor comment section 

DEFINE WONDERFUL

In the eye of the hurricane, after John-Henry has been provisionally reinstated and before the LifeSite Board of Directors completes its promised review, we have all had a chance to take a breath where Westen's apparent cancellation is concerned. The reactions seem to fall into two camps--that this is a fight over Lifesite's mission and, therefore, over the identity of the pro-life movement itself; or that it's mainly managerial and people outside the organization should shut their pie holes (according to people outside the organization themselves). It is not impossible, of course, for there to be both vision and implementation issues, which is why Boards of Directors exist in the first place, and we all hope and pray that LifeSite's will function effectively and decide well. The hope that this will happen is, to borrow a phrase from John-Henry himself, a bit pie-in-the-sky.

While Westen has been the "face" of the outlet since time immemorial and while Bishop Strickland became a significant contributor when he was (shall we say) deprived of his other duties by Pope Francis, Deacon Keith Fournier has only surfaced relatively recently but his influence on the organization appears to be significant.  In a throwaway line during the leaked audio, for example, Bishop Strickland encourages John-Henry to "listen to" others as he himself has heeded Fournier, gushing that the deacon has been, in His Excellency's estimation, nothing short of "wonderful."

Define your terms, please, Bishop Strickland.

Commentators like Chris Jackson have raised the issue of Fournier's defense of the "charismatic" practice of "speaking in tongues" without stating--perhaps, without even realizing--that it may be only the tip of an iceberg.  The Steubenville culture of decades past, in which Fournier was once a prominent and respected figure, has had countless clashes with Catholic orthodoxy, so his recent lack of objection regarding the "creation" Mass is merely par for the course.  As a sweeping generalization--but only as such--it is also fair to point out that this same culture faced allegations of cult-like control (slathered over with liturgical language) in the context of "covenant communities" where "spiritual directors" micromanaged people's lives.  We aren't supposed to ask how Cardinal Prevost handled things in Peru; maybe Deacon Fournier is without an official past, either.  So let's focus on the present instead.

The fact remains that a man in a Roman collar who confuses himself with the Holy Spirit has crossed a dangerous line.  If Deacon Fournier wishes to babble incoherently or to bow his head while others do so, this is still the United States and nobody can stop him, but when he brandishes the fact of his ordination to the permanent diaconate to elevate his own viewpoint beyond rational analysis--for who can argue with the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity?--we are dealing with intellectual dishonesty at the very least.  No "slants and opinions" allowed at LifeSite News, Bishop Strickland?  How about that one?  Even if the "tongues"  phenomenon did have a supernatural source, raw self-assertion would not suffice to demonstrate it.

During the years of the Bergoglian bludgeoning of the faithful at large, we got used to hearing that ours is a "God of surprises."  Nothing too surprising about the same old tired list of felt banner fantasies being trotted out at the Synod on Synodality; what did take us off guard was hearing, from the Argentinian in white himself, that such things came directly from the Holy Spirit, bypassing all else.  How did he know this?  The same way Deacon Fournier knows that "tongues" are real. Why should we believe them?  Because they say so, and they speak for the Holy Spirit. How can we believe them? Only by disregarding Sacred Scripture, magisterial teaching, natural law, canon law, and our own lyin' eyes and ears.  L'eglise, c'est moi!  

Like Shift the Ape in C. S. Lewis' The Last Battle, Pope Francis soon gave us to understand that there was no need for anybody to hear directly from Aslan any more.  Hearing from him was sufficient and even obligatory, from then on. Now, it is true that one may rely on people in authority when they submit themselves to the voice of Our Lord and Savior first and foremost, we cannot excuse them and they cannot excuse us.  When people in authority cut themselves off from the One who bestows it upon them, those of us under authority have not the option but the obligation to obey God rather then men (or apes).  This Scriptural injunction presupposes our ability, and our responsibility, to know when a wolf is wearing sheep's clothing. Perversion of their privileges on the part of spiritual leaders, matched with self-deceptive compliance on the part of their subordinates, is not something "wonderful," Bishop Strickland--it is diabolical.  It is the m.o. of the McCarricks and the Rupniks of this world, whether it finds an expression in sexual misconduct or in other ways.  ("God says this is OK because I say it is, so you have to say so, too!"  To what, exactly, could this argument not be made to apply?  The provisions of Amoris laetitia, Fiducia Supplicans, Traditionis Custodes, whatever else the synodalists deign to dream up?)  In keeping with this well-documented pattern, we find the Lofton parrot at Eternal Life Plan--where the leaked LifeSite Board meeting audio was made public--complaining that the real problem with John-Henry is that he chronically damaged the otherwise sterling reputation of Pope Francis, and that the Board really needs to deep-six Westen because he was going to start "pope-bashing" Leo XIV next.  Exactly what Cardinal Danneels said to the young abuse victim who turned to him for help--according to those of a certain mentality, it isn't the responsibility of the malefactors to behave like followers of Christ by observing the moral law and Church teaching, but the responsibility of everybody else to "behave like followers of Christ" by lying by omission in order to protect them.The real divide isn't between "conservative" Catholics and "liberal" ones, but between those who understand Christ's Cross authentically and those prepared to twist it for their own purposes.

Joe McClane may be right, then, in contending that this LifeSite crisis is all about leadership, but not the way he means it.  He means that if there are financial or management issues that need to be addressed, then they should be addressed, even by changing CEOs, and nobody disagrees with him about that--not even John-Henry Westen himself.  But the real "leadership" question extends far beyond administrative matters such as these.  Is authority in the Catholic Church what the Bergoglians say it is, or what Thomas More says it is?  Can any pro-life apostolate buy into the idea that interpersonal domination is capable of being christened, when abortion in its American expression is a matter of interpersonal domination fundamentally--men over women, women over unborn children?  Rupnik over nuns, Pope Francis over the Bishop of Tyler, Texas?  Tucho Fernandez over Sacred Scripture, Westen's critics over photos of the Pachamama ceremony in the Vatican gardens?  Planned Parenthood doesn't like representations of the reality of fetal development getting out there any more than some people like LifeSite reporting on what is actually happening in the Church, but facts also belong to the truth, and only the truth will set us free.  Right, Bishop Strickland?

What does it mean to lead, and what does it mean to follow?  Will we obey Our Lord at all costs, or stop short by offering unholy submission to those who claim to speak for God without actually doing so?  Is it John-Henry who needs to be removed, or rather Deacon Fournier and Bishop Strickland?  If every one of us would reject false "gospels" even when preached by an angel of light--let alone a man in a Roman collar, in a mitre, or even in a cassock of white--that would be something meeting the definition of wonderful indeed.

Note: This piece is by a Catholic Monitor contributor. 

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

-- 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 [J6] 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.

Comments

Dave said…

You know, I stopped having any interest in LifeSite, when I found LifeNews as a solid alternative.

LifeSite has turned decidedly anti-semitic, anti-Trump, and pro Vatican II to the point that they'd follow whatever just to make it ok. It stinks to high heaven.

I stopped reading when for the past few years, under JH Weston's editorial leadership, they started pushing this odd wingnut sedevacantist view. Note that I don't have any problem with sedevacantists. My own views are likely close to many of theirs. There's a small group of wingnut sedes that ironically has the mindset of Islamists.

Lifesite won't let you comment anything, however polite and constructive, against their stories, either. They blocked whomever and don't take new logins anymore. It's like a controlled narrative.

8:45 AM 

Fred Martinez said…

Are you a Francis Catholic who believes in Communion for adulterer as well as a warmonger neocon and pro-lockdown as well as pro-COVID vax guy who calls everyone an anti-Semitic and sedevancantist who doesn't agree with the secular Israel state war machine, the deep state war machine media and the Francis is definitely the pope Catholic media?

9:46 AM 

Evangeline said…

I must have missed LifeSite's failings. For me LS was John Henry, as well as reliable place to get the latest Catholic news, unflinching, as I saw it. Now I understand they are largely unhappy with any opposition to the Synodal Church being created, they want to go along with it. Well, there goes another one, we can say. Its in many prophesies. It is disappointing but not shocking, anymore, about Bp. Strickland. Bottom line it is Jesus Christ we serve, to Him we owe our love, fidelity, and allegience, and we have a duty to defend the church and faith from the misguided and the ambitious, not to forget the gullible and naive. Also the cutthroats and wolves and sellouts. There are just so many now, of every kind.

10:21 AM