[ 0 → 14] It's Friday, March 19th, 2021. [ 14 → 22] In the last week or so, the Jesuit apostate Jorge Bergoglio, otherwise known as Pope Francis, [ 23 → 29] dropped a few theological whoppers which have largely gone unnoticed, as usual. [ 29 → 37] They're found in his sermon for Laetare Sunday, March 14th, in his Angelus Address for the same [ 37 → 44] Sunday, and in his address to participants in a course organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary [ 44 → 51] given on March 12th. Let's start with Francis' Angelus Address on March 14th. [ 51 → 59] He commented on the Gospel of the Day, which was John 3, 14-21. In verse 18 of that, [ 59 → 61] our blessed Lord tells Nicodemus, [ 62 → 82] Now, did Francis mention anything about unbelievers being condemned, especially in light of his recent [ 82 → 89] trip to Iraq and his nauseating interreligious human fraternity agenda? Of course not. [ 89 → 92] Instead, he merely says, [ 92 → 98] "...whoever chooses darkness will face a judgment of condemnation. Whoever chooses light [ 98 → 104] will have a judgment of salvation." And then he explains that, [ 105 → 114] "...whoever practices evil seeks the darkness." So, whereas Francis had a great opportunity here [ 114 → 118] to teach the revealed truth that not choosing Christ the light [ 118 → 123] means choosing darkness, something Bergoglio's Jewish and Muslim friends should have been told, [ 124 → 131] he instead talks about practicing evil, which, granted, is also relevant in this context, [ 131 → 139] but the whole point Christ was making is that because people loved evil and practiced evil, [ 139 → 146] therefore they did not want to believe in him, who is the Son of God, the light, which is why [ 146 → 147] our Lord says in verse 18, "...who is the Son of God, the light." And then he says, [ 147 → 155] "...who is the Son of God, the light, which is why our Lord says in verse 19, that men loved darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil." [ 155 → 162] So, here we see Bergoglio simply omitting discussion of what doesn't fit into his theology. [ 162 → 167] Christ specifically says that he who does not believe in him will be condemned. [ 168 → 175] Bergoglio ignores it and talks about doing evil in general. Now, when it comes to doing good, [ 175 → 177] Francis also manipulates. [ 177 → 183] our Lord's message. He says, quote, whoever walks in the light, whoever approaches the light cannot [ 183 → 191] but do good works, unquote. That's false. It's heretical. It implies that we no longer have free [ 191 → 198] will once we have come to Christ, that we can no longer sin. Is that what Francis meant to [ 198 → 204] communicate? Probably not, because afterwards he talks about how we should ask God for forgiveness. [ 204 → 212] But the way it is stated, it's heresy. And we can't excuse heresy on the grounds that it's [ 212 → 219] contradicted a few lines later. That's what Pope Pius VI condemned in 1794 in his bull [ 219 → 225] Auctorum Fide, as the deceptive method of the innovators at the Synod of Pistoia. [ 226 → 234] Anyway, let's briefly look at why the idea that once you're justified, you can't help but do good [ 234 → 234] work. [ 234 → 243] is heresy. Consider Canon 23 of the Decree of Justification by the Council of Trent. Quote, [ 244 → 251] if anyone shall say that a man once justified can sin no more, nor lose grace, let him be anathema, [ 252 → 260] unquote. And Canon 24 is also quite relevant to what Francis said. And it states, quote, [ 260 → 263] if anyone shall say that justice received, [ 264 → 270] not preserved, and also not increased in the sight of God through good works, but that those [ 270 → 277] same works are only the fruits and signs of justification received, but not a cause of its [ 277 → 285] increase, let him be anathema, unquote. And you can look this up yourself in Denzinger, [ 285 → 294] Numbers 833 and 834. Next, Francis talks about obtaining God's forgiveness, [ 294 → 297] in confession. And he says, quote, [ 297 → 324] unquote. Now, that is false. Okay, there are conditions that have to be fulfilled, [ 324 → 329] in order to receive God's forgiveness, especially in the sacrament of penance, [ 330 → 337] and most especially for mortal sins. Simply making a confession of one's sins is not enough. [ 337 → 343] To receive valid absolution and confession, we have to have contrition for our sins, [ 343 → 350] which is a supernatural sorrow, meaning we have to be sorry for our sins because of some [ 350 → 354] supernatural motive, which ideally is a supernatural sin. So, if we have to be sorry for [ 354 → 354] our sins, we have to be sorry for our sins. So, if we have to be sorry for our sins, we have to [ 354 → 362] the love of God, but even the fear of hell suffices to receive a valid absolution. Now, [ 362 → 368] there's much more to be said about contrition and how that works, but for our purposes here, [ 368 → 374] we can just leave it at that. Then there's also the requirement of being willing to make [ 374 → 380] satisfaction for our sins. That means we have to do the penance that the priest gives us, [ 380 → 384] and depending on what sins we've confessed, we may have to do the penance that the priest gives us, [ 384 → 389] to make restitution as far as possible. So, for instance, if you've stolen money, [ 390 → 395] you have to give it back. If you've lied about someone, you have to retract that. If you've [ 395 → 402] scandalized someone, you have to undo or repair that, if possible, and so forth. So, these are [ 402 → 411] all conditions that are necessary to be forgiven in the sacrament of penance. And the Council of [ 411 → 413] Trent says in Canon 4, [ 414 → 423] if anyone denies that for the full and perfect remission of sins, there are three acts required [ 423 → 429] on the part of the penitent, as it were, the matter of the sacrament of penance, namely, [ 429 → 435] contrition, confession, and satisfaction, which are called the three parts of penance, [ 435 → 444] let him be anathema, unquote. That's Denzinger number 914. So, this idea, [ 444 → 449] that all you have to do is confess your sins and God will always necessarily forgive, [ 450 → 456] is simply not true. Now, some Francis apologists might say, well, but Francis is addressing [ 456 → 463] Catholics, so they know all of that already. So, he's assuming that knowledge in his audience. [ 464 → 472] Yeah, sure. First of all, virtually nobody in the Vatican II Church knows that stuff, [ 472 → 474] okay? Heck, hardly anybody. [ 474 → 480] Everybody even goes to confession. But even aside from that, it makes no sense to say that [ 480 → 485] Francis is assuming his listeners are familiar with the requirements for a good and valid [ 485 → 491] confession, because then why is he telling them that God is always ready to forgive? [ 492 → 494] You mean to tell me that they don't know that part? [ 496 → 502] All right, let's move on to Francis' sermon at the Novos Ordo worship service on Laetare Sunday, [ 502 → 504] March 14th. [ 504 → 510] That sermon was a mixed bag with a little something for everyone, something for conservatives, [ 511 → 516] something for liberals. I'd like to comment on just one particular thing he said, though, [ 516 → 518] which is this, quote, [ 518 → 526] That is why God comes to us, because he so loved us. His love is so great that he cannot fail [ 526 → 534] to give himself to us, unquote. That, too, is heresy. Francis is saying that God had [ 534 → 540] no choice but to redeem us. In other words, God did not act freely. He did not truly choose [ 540 → 548] to become incarnate and redeem us, but was more or less compelled to do so out of love. But it's [ 548 → 555] not love if there is compulsion. In fact, Francis' statement here is reminiscent of one of the errors [ 555 → 563] of the Italian theologian, Father Antonio Rosmini, condemned by Pope Leo XIII in 1887. [ 564 → 570] And that error in particular is found in Denzinger, 1908. It states, quote, [ 570 → 576] The love by which God loves himself, even in creatures, and which is the reason why he [ 576 → 582] determines himself to create, constitutes a moral necessity which in the most perfect being [ 582 → 590] always induces the effect. For such necessity in many imperfect beings only leaves the whole [ 590 → 594] freedom bilateral, unquote. Again, that is an error. That is a mistake. That is a mistake. That is a [ 594 → 602] error condemned by Pope Leo XIII. Now, Father Rosmini, for the record, actually retracted [ 602 → 611] his errors and submitted to the Holy See's judgment, unlike Francis. Pope Pius XII, too, [ 611 → 618] in his encyclical Humani Generis, number 25, rejects the idea, quote, that the creation of [ 618 → 624] the world is necessary since it proceeds from the necessary liberality of divine [ 624 → 631] love, unquote. Now, granted, Francis wasn't talking about creation, but about the redemption. [ 631 → 636] But it's still the same principle. If God isn't compelled to create on account of love, [ 636 → 641] then neither is he compelled to redeem his creation on account of love. [ 641 → 648] Now, this Bergoglian error is also visible in the discourse the false pope gave on March 12th [ 648 → 653] to the participants in a course organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary. [ 654 → 659] So, I suppose he was basically addressing a group of confessors. And so, of course, the topic was [ 659 → 664] confession, the sacrament of penance, or, as it is called in the Vatican II Church, [ 664 → 672] the sacrament of reconciliation. Francis presented confession as an encounter of love, [ 673 → 677] typical Novus Ordo terminology. Here's what he said, quote, [ 677 → 682] One who has been welcomed by love cannot but welcome a brother. [ 682 → 688] One who has surrendered him or herself to love cannot but console the afflicted. [ 688 → 695] One who has been forgiven by God cannot but wholeheartedly forgive their brothers, unquote. [ 696 → 703] Yep, this is a part of his experience theology. Maybe we should call it experience theology. [ 704 → 709] Though it sounds really profound and spiritual, the problem is that it once again introduces [ 709 → 712] the notion of necessity, denying freedom, and the notion of necessity as a form of freedom. [ 712 → 719] And it also has some things backwards. Let me explain. First, the idea that he who has been [ 719 → 726] forgiven by God cannot help doing good works is false. Okay, obviously false. And that shouldn't [ 726 → 732] need further elaboration. There's really no theological reason for it, if you think about it, [ 732 → 738] right? It would mean that God's forgiveness takes away your free will. Well, that's baloney, [ 738 → 742] and everyone knows it. We keep going back to confession because we, [ 742 → 748] didn't keep God's commandments. And then this idea that once we've been forgiven by God, [ 748 → 755] now we can go ahead and forgive others, as though we basically passed on the forgiveness [ 755 → 761] we received from God. And this too sounds really great at first, but it's theologically untenable. [ 762 → 768] In order for God to forgive us, we first have to forgive others, at least insofar as our [ 768 → 772] refusal to forgive would constitute an unrepentant of more. [ 772 → 779] mortal sin. So it's not that we first receive God's forgiveness and then spread that forgiveness [ 779 → 785] to others, but that we first have to prepare ourselves to receive God's forgiveness by [ 785 → 791] forgiving everyone who sinned against us. Otherwise, God will not forgive our sins either. [ 792 → 798] And lastly, in the same address, Francis says, quote, Dear brothers, let us always remember that [ 802 → 807] one of us does not feel this way. Better not to go to confession. Unquote. [ 809 → 817] First of all, feeling has nothing to do with it. Secondly, you'd think that if you're not right with [ 817 → 823] God and you don't think that's a problem, that in particular is a reason to go to confession [ 823 → 830] and get your act together. Not for the Frankster. Oh, no. He doesn't want you to go to confession [ 830 → 832] if you don't feel like a... [ 832 → 841] forgiven sinner. But wait, if you're already forgiven, then why would you go to confession? [ 842 → 848] Besides, the Council of Trent, Decree on Justification, Canon 13 says, quote, [ 849 → 855] If anyone shall say that it is necessary for every man in order to obtain the remission of sins [ 855 → 861] to believe for certain and without any hesitation due to his own weakness and indisposition [ 861 → 862] that his sin is not to be forgiven, then why would you go to confession? [ 862 → 869] Sins are forgiven him. Let him be anathema. Unquote. Stensinger 8.23. [ 871 → 878] And so, what's with this forgiven sinner talk? That's not Catholic terminology. That's Lutheranism. [ 879 → 885] I'm not saying you can't spin it into something Orthodox, but most people wouldn't understand it [ 885 → 892] in an Orthodox sense. The Catholic dogmas on justification make clear that when the sinner [ 892 → 899] is regenerated in grace, his soul becomes genuinely holy. There is not merely an absence [ 899 → 908] of sin, but also a presence of sanctifying grace. The sinner is transformed into a just man, [ 908 → 916] and so he becomes truly righteous before God. So, it's not simply a matter of being forgiven, [ 916 → 919] but of becoming just. [ 920 → 921] So, you can see that, [ 922 → 927] Francis has it all backwards. His theology is all over the place. It's flowery words with [ 927 → 934] superficially plausible, but ultimately false and dangerous ideas condemned by the church. [ 935 → 939] And honestly, I don't want to hear now that, oh, but if you look at it this way [ 939 → 944] and interpret it that way, then it's not heresy, or it's not really what Francis meant. [ 945 → 951] Look, the man claims to be the pope. He has the ability and the duty, [ 952 → 961] to speak truth and speak it clearly. You know, he could just do that, right? He could just speak [ 961 → 970] in such a way that only one interpretation is possible. And yet, for eight years, he has chosen [ 970 → 980] not to. That's because not only is he a heretic, he also wants to make you one. And that is the [ 980 → 982] very opposite of what he wants. He wants to make you one. He wants to make you one. He wants to [ 982 → 991] of what Christ instituted the papacy for. Francis is not a pope. In the truest sense of the word, [ 991 → 994] he is an anti-pope.