Latest Scandals Warn Us to Beware of Pope Francis
Richard Bennett and Stuart Quint
The Vatican officially teaches that the Pope is the substitute for Christ Jesus.
“The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, ‘is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.’ ‘For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise.”[1]
The Roman Church in effect, sets up a false Christ, the Pope. This Pope claims to come in Christ’s name as His Vicar. However, further study of the Pope’s behavior reveals his true agenda to invade and usurp Christ’s offices.
Men Hostile to Christ Praise Francis
Even today, despite the numerous scandals and controversies swirling around him, Pope Francis still receives the doting of men. Those praising Francis include a rather curious, if not dubious, hodgepodge of fans.
Homosexual groups exalt Francis. The Catholic site cnsnews.com quotes Pope Francis telling a Chilean man that “…you are gay, [it] does not matter. God made you like that and he loves you like that and I do not care.”[2] The article goes on to cite the approval of several Catholic gay activists, including the Rev. James Martin, a pro-homosexual Jesuit, and Jay Michaelson, an openly gay writer at The Daily Beast.[3]
Communist Chinese sing praises to Francis. On the eve of a deal to lift the excommunications of seven bishops ordained without Rome’s permission by the state-run church, the Chinese government lauds Francis: “Pope Francis has a positive image with the Chinese public. It is expected he will push China-Vatican ties forward and solve related problems with his wisdom.”[4]
Radical environmentalists also laud Francis. Former Vice President Al Gore states Francis as “at the forefront in leading the world toward constructive climate action.” [5]
Latest American Scandals Cast a Pall on Pope Francis
Sexual scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, unfortunately, is nothing new.[6] Indeed to quote our article from 10 years ago about the horrific scandals in Boston, “It is only the tip of the iceberg.”[7]
The blame extends directly to false Papal doctrine and the deliberate recruitment of priests prone to sexual immorality.[8]
Nonetheless, the latest global scandals are still shocking and point to the top of the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
At a minimum, Pope Francis and his Vatican hierarchy condoned and covered up horrendous sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in six dioceses across the state of Pennsylvania. This excerpt comes from the report of the Investigating Grand Jury released by State Attorney General Josh Shapiro:
“We, the members of this grand jury, need you to hear this. We know some of you have heard it before. There have been other reports about child sex abuse within the Catholic Church. But never on this scale. Now we know the truth: it happened everywhere.
We were given the job of investigating child sex abuse in six dioceses – every diocese in the state except Philadelphia and Altoona-Johnstown, which were the subject of previous grand juries… We subpoenaed, and reviewed, half a million pages of internal diocesan documents. They contained credible allegations against over three hundred predator priests. Over one thousand child victims were identifiable, from the church’s own records. We believe that the real number – of children whose records were lost, or who were afraid ever to come forward – is in the thousands…
While each church district had its idiosyncrasies, the pattern was pretty much the same. The main thing was not to help children, but to avoid ‘scandal.’ That is not our word, but theirs; it appears over and over again in the documents we recovered. Abuse complaints were kept locked up in a ‘secret archive.’ That is not our word, but theirs; the church’s Code of Canon Law specifically requires the diocese to maintain such an archive. Only the bishop can have the key.”[9]
Later, Attorney General Shapiro accused the Vatican of knowing and tracking the cover-up of the molestation of these children.[10]
Pennsylvania is not the only problem for Francis and his henchmen in the United States. Our nation’s capital is also a source of current scandal.
Pope Francis refuses to deny allegations of his personal cover-up of the sexual abuse carried out by Theodore McCarrick, the recently resigned Archbishop of Washington.[11] Former Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio Carlo Maria Vigano accuses Francis of withdrawing sanctions imposed by the previous Pope Benedict.[12]
The former Vatican Nuncio also exposes the darkness in the Catholic Church full of “homosexual networks [that] acts under the concealment of secrecy and lies with the power of octopus tentacles, and strangles innocent victims and priestly vocations, and are strangling the entire Church.”[13]
Global Controversy Engulfs Pope Francis
The Scriptures speak of the “mystery of godliness” and “great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…”[14] Only Jesus Christ reflects the true essence of God.
By contrast, 2 Thessalonians 2:7 speak of His antithesis, “the mystery of iniquity,” that is, the manifestation of the Man of Sin.
International Scandals are making manifest the “the mystery of iniquity”.
In his visit to Knock, Ireland, Pope Francis expressed his sorrow for the stories of children suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy.[15] His words appear empty considering the fallout from ongoing sexual scandals as well as the shocking revelations of human trafficking and child abuse in Tuam.[16]
Consequently, Ireland itself has seen major defections from the Catholic Church. Indeed, attendance for Pope Francis was only half that of the last papal visit of John Paul II to Ireland nearly 30 years ago.[17] Massive protests also surrounded Francis’s visit.
Ireland and the US are only 2 centers of global scandal under Pope Francis’ watch. Chile[18] and Australia[19] also suffer from the pall of sexual scandals in the upper parts of Roman Catholic clergy. Where will it all end?
Why Do Professing Evangelicals Extol Pope Francis?
In all seriousness, it appears that in our own day, the Lord God could hand over many in the professing Evangelical world to the deceit of Pope Francis. Why do they embrace him so much?
They will have to answer—not only for their own sins—but for the sins which others have been drawn into by their influence. In the Old Testament, judgment came upon the people of Israel for conforming to the idolatry of Jeroboam.
In our own day, both blind leaders and their blind followers look ready to fall into the ditch. “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”[20] The Lord Jesus Christ stands ready to judge the Man of Sin and others.
The Lord Jesus Christ: Is He Your Savior or Your Judge?
No sword cuts so deeply, nor causes so grievous pain, as the sword of Lord Christ Jesus’ mouth. This judgment by the Lord Jesus Christ is possible because of the justification merited by His death and resurrection and credited to the believer. Justification is first and foremost the Lord Jesus Christ’s legal judgment of the believer. As Scripture proclaims; “by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. [21]
We truly pray that the truth of the Word of God touches the conscience of those who sin in leading others into accepting Pope Francis as if he were a Christian leader. They need to repent of leading people to extol Pope Francis, the man of sin.
We pray the Word of God will take hold of sinners, and indeed all of us.
As you read this article, please ask the Lord to convict your heart with the truth about Christ: “and we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”[22]
Read about the root cause of Catholic sex scandals – https://bb.berea.edu.pl/the-root-cause-of-the-catholic-sex-scandals/
If the Lord has touched your heart by His grace through faith, please let me hear from you at; rbennett@temp.bereanbeacon.org I thank you,
Richard Bennett
Permission is given to copy and distribute this article in its entirety
Our MP3s are easily downloaded and our Videos seen on Sermon Audio at: http://www.sermonaudio.com/go/212
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[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church; Second Ed. (Wash DC: US Catholic Conf., 1994 Para 882. Authors’ emphasis.
[2] Michael W. Chapman, “LGBT Activists Praise Pope Francis’ Remarks that ‘God Made You Gay’”, May 22, 2018 on https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/lgbt-activists-praise-pope-francis-remarks-god-made-you-gay accessed on August 27, 2018.
[3] Idem
[4] Christopher Lamb, “Beijing praises ‘wisdom’ of Pope Francis”, The Tablet, February 6, 2018 on https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/8518/beijing-praises-wisdom-of-pope-francis accessed on August 27, 2018.
[5] Charles Collins, “Al Gore praises Pope Francis for environmental advocacy in interview”, July 5, 2018, Crux on https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/07/05/al-gore-praises-pope-francis-for-environmental-advocacy-in-interview/ accessed on August 27, 2018.
[6] Read our article “Sex, Shame, and the Catholic Church” on https://bb.berea.edu.pl/sex-shame-and-the-catholic-church/ .
[7] Idem.
[8] Read our article, “The Root Cause of the Catholic Sex Scandals” on https://bb.berea.edu.pl/the-root-cause-of-the-catholic-sex-scandals/ .
[9] 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury REPORT 1 Interim – Redacted, August 14, 2018 on https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/163-grand-jury-report-on-catholic/0cd27c9ad02aee539650/optimized/full.pdf#page=1%208-%2028%20-2018 accessed on August 29, 2018. Italics are in original report. Authors’ emphasis in bold.
[10] Justin Heinze, “The Vatican Knew About Priest Child Abuse In PA: Attorney General”, August 28, 2018 on https://patch.com/pennsylvania/newtown-pa/s/gi0vi/the-vatican-knew-about-priest-child-abuse-in-pa-attorney-general?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=weather&utm_campaign=alert accessed on August 29, 2018.
[11] Nicole Winfield and Jon Sharman, “Pope Francis refuses to answer question on ‘cover-up’ of child abuse allegations”, Independent (UK), August 27, 2018 on https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pope-francis-ireland-visit-catholic-church-sex-abuse-theodore-mccarrick-a8509451.html accessed on August 27, 2018.
[12] Edward Pentin, “Ex-Nuncio Accuses Pope Francis of Failing to Act on McCarrick’s Abuse”, National Catholic Register, August 25, 2018 on http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/ex-nuncio-accuses-pope-francis-of-failing-to-act-on-mccarricks-abuse accessed on August 27, 2018.
[13] Daniel Burke, “The ‘coup’ against Pope Francis”, CNN, August 27, 2018 on https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/27/us/vigano-pope-resign-abuse-analysis/index.html accessed on August 27, 2018.
[14] I Timothy 3:16
[15] Nicole Winfield and Jon Sharman, “Pope Francis refuses to answer question on ‘cover-up’ of child abuse allegations”, Independent (UK), August 27, 2018 on https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pope-francis-ireland-visit-catholic-church-sex-abuse-theodore-mccarrick-a8509451.html accessed on August 27, 2018.
[16] “Tuam babies: Church much address ‘shameful chapter’”, BBC News, August 27, 2018, on https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45324302 accessed on August 27, 2018.
[17] Aoife Moore, “Crowds for Phoenix Park Mass fall well below expected level of 500,000”, August 29, 2018 on https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/pope-francis-in-ireland/crowds-for-phoenix-park-mass-fall-well-below-expected-level-of-500000-37254339.html accessed on August 29, 2018.
[18] Associated Press, “Chile police raid Catholic church HQ in sex abuse investigation”, August 14, 2018 on https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/14/chile-catholic-church-sex-abuse-scandal-police-raid-latest accessed on August 29, 2018.
[19] Adam Baidawi, “Cardinal George Pell to Stand Trial on Historic Sex Offenses”, April 30, 2018 on https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/world/australia/cardinal-george-pell-trial-sexual-abuse.html accessed on August 29, 2018.
[20] Revelation 2:16
[21] Ephesians 2:8-9
[22] I John 5:20-21
