Sun, 5 Mar 2017 | Cover | Page 15

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Pope

By Timothy J Cullen

The figure of Francis I (or just plain Francis, as he prefers to style himself) as papal is often jarring to older, pre-VII- Catholics, not to mention difficult to reconcile with their concept of the papal office. How does one explain him to the young folks as a legitimate pope? This writer, who lives in the home country of Jorge Bergoglio, is to a great extent at a loss.

Ann Barnhardt claims that Francis is an Antipope. Granted, Miss Barnhardt is unapologetically extreme in her opinions, but this writer believes that her opinions cannot be dismissed without significant consideration.

Granted, Miss Barnhardt is an extremist, but she is no fool; thus in this writer’s opinion, her claims merit examination.

Chief among them is her insistence that the true and legitimate pope is Benedict XVI, his "abdication/resignation" notwithstanding. This writer for one is not inclined to dismiss this assertion without due consideration.

Papal elections since that of John XXIII are questioned by some devout Catholics as perhaps illegitimate if not entirely manipulated by political forces inimical to Catholicism, forces that have as their "final solution" the destruction of the Catholic Church as a force that has as among its purposes the defense of Western culture and civilization as the secular means of achieving Her God-given goal of the redemption of immortal souls not merely in the West that is a product of Her labors, but in the world at large. If the Church, the repository and transmitter of the teachings of Christ, is subverted, then it is not only the West that shall suffer, but humankind as a whole, an immortal condemnation that simply cannot be permitted.

Pope Francis appears to have forgotten this in favor of the age-old delusion of the secular utopia, a heresy that is in no way "new", but rather has deep roots dating from the very beginnings of the articulations of the Faith within the dogma of the Church.

This writer lacks the theological selfassurance of Miss Barnhardt, but nevertheless is inclined to view Pope Francis as at best a papal anomaly, at worst an Antipope in fact devoid of papal authority. This essay is written under the assumption that Francis is in fact a legitimate pope, albeit one whose words and actions belie such an assumption. Pope Francis appears to this writer as a figure whose papacy represents a challenge and a test to the Faithful with respect to the future of the Church and the Faith.

Those of you who are parents or grandparents will eventually be required to state truthfully to your progeny and descendants just what are your thoughts and feelings with respect to the reigning pope, particularly if you find yourselves at odds with his present teachings as opposed to the millennial teachings of our Church. This writer, who lives in the home country of Francis, the first South American pope, has not found this an easy task to say the least, even with a daughter-in-law born here 28 years ago taught to believe in a Catholic Faith very different from that learned by her father-in-law in a time that now seems nearly antediluvian by folks her age. This young woman, a devout and previously unconditional supporter of her papal countryman, has begun to have doubts and finds herself quite confused in this soon-to-be fourth year (13 March) of the papacy of Francis, a situation not all that surprising for anyone who thinks critically.

It has been very instructive for this writer to have observed this process in a young woman (mother of two) who was raised to accept the teachings of the pope as tantamount to the teachings of Peter and to accept them without debate. It is not an exaggeration to state that her present confusion is a matter that has disconcerted her and troubles her greatly, given that she was until recently the catechism teacher for young children in our parish.

This young woman is a Traditional Catholic without fully understanding that she is and this writer struggles to explain to her that this is indeed the case. The task is doubly difficult owing to the fact that Pope Francis is a countryman of hers, a fact that is a great source of pride for her and her birth family and many, many others like her, persons of humble origin who were raised and indoctrinated by priests sympathetic to the heresy of what is known as "Liberation Theology".

The recent papal pronouncements with respect to the acceptance of adultery in the name of a dubious "mercy" that also extends to homosexuals and other perversions has been beyond her capacity of understanding, just as has been the case for her husband and her father-in-law and to an evergreater extent her largely unlettered birth family. Her instinctive acceptance of Natural Law makes recent papal teaching not merely confusing but at bottom repugnant. In short, this sincere young woman has begun to question the legitimacy of the pope and particularly his teachings.

Thus, this writer finds himself patiently explaining as if to a child, "Yes, Jesi, there is a pope, but who he is, well, that’s kind of an open question". This is this writer’s belief, erroneous though it may be. Francis calls to mind a somewhat snide short story by a wellknown (here) South American writer, Alfredo Bryce Echinique: "Papa Guido, s/n" (Pope Guido, without number).

Pope Francis is farcical and this sad fact is becoming increasingly more obvious even in his native land. Ah, the shame he has brought upon the Church and the Faith he betrays!

This pretentious "pope" represents the quintessence of the subversion of the Church by Her mortal enemies, a Quisling who has sold out the Faith for a mess of narcissistic pottage. Does anyone within the community of those who hold fast to the millennial Faith not find himself occasionally questioning whether or not this man is the Vicar of Christ, dogma notwithstanding?

While not a sedevacantist for reasons of dogma, this writer in his heretofore hidden heart has felt and feels a revulsion toward the V-II papacies that is tantamount to an emotional acceptance of sedevacantism while rejecting it intellectually and spiritually.

The papacy of Francis, quite frankly, threatens to push this writer over the edge. Yet in his reasoning mind and heart of hearts he knows that he cannot permit himself to fall into such error.

Reflecting upon the present papacy somehow led this writer to recall with pleasure that as a boy some sixty years ago, he was delighted by a series (19501955) of movie comedies featuring actor Donald O’Connor and Francis the Talking Mule. The first seen was the last in the series: Francis in the Navy (1955), but with time and television, he came to see them all save the 1956 Francis in the Haunted House, featuring a different cast.

O’Connor typically played the part of Peter Sterling, good-hearted and naïve (typically depicted as a soldier) who received wise advice from Francis the Talking Mule. The mule character in the movies was represented as a gruffvoiced male, although in fact the actual mule was female.

1

The notion of a talking mule that can only be heard by the bumbling protagonist made for great childhood fun, but had Francis been a snide, sanctimonious ass doing the talking, spouting off to all and sundry, frequently making no sense at all, the results would have been less amusing and perhaps positively disconcerting. No, a talking mule with only one listener was just the ticket.

Strange how a mere coincidence of names can call up seldom recollected memories, but some subconscious association must have been made.

Perhaps it had to do with the "haunted house"? It should be noted that there is no scandalous comparison to be made here between the pope and a fictional talking jackass, particularly when taking into consideration that the talking mule was filled with wise advice.

No previous pope of the past century, not even those post-V-II popes, even remotely calls to mind the present pope. As a friend recently pointed out, younger Catholics without sound formation now employ St. John Paul

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_the_ Talking_Mule

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There is, after all, precedent.

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Pope

T. Cullen/ Continued from Page 15

II as a benchmark by which to measure popes! The task, however, is to explain how in his words "even bad popes are still popes", while one finds oneself unable to dismiss out of hand the "antipope" thesis as put forth by Miss Barnhardt, tenuous though it may be.

Again, this writer’s friend was of great assistance: "From what you have said in the past and what you say here, I get the impression that your DIL [daughterin- law] reacts far more from emotion than from reason." This writer, at 70, is ashamed to admit that at times the same is probably true of him.

Francis is a vexing but legitimate pope as nearly as can be determined after considerable research. Benedict XVI is now "Pope Emeritus", a heretofore non-existent papal office. Was he forced out of the papacy as some claim? This writer finds himself persuaded by this statement made by a British priest and doctor of theology: "There are persistent rumours that Benedict’s resignation was not entirely free, and these are potentially damaging to the unity of the Church, because if this were the case then both his resignation and the election of his successor would be canonically invalid.

In a rare, direct interview with a German journalist with whom he has close contacts, Benedict categorically denied that he was forced to step down."

2

Readers of the Remnant are familiar with Italian journalist Antonio Socci’s original argument against the validity of Benedict’s resignation3 and subsequent withdrawal of his questioning of the validity of the papal election.

4 This writer

2 http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/issues/february-27th-2015/ the-pope-emeritus-experiment-is-working/ (emphasis added). 3 http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/ item/274-latest-updates-from-socci-the-papal-games .

4 http://www.remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.

defers to those more knowledgeable than he on the matter and thus attempts to explain that while the present pope’s words and deeds seem to fly in the face of the teachings of two millennia of Catholic Teaching, he is in fact the pope, a fact that does not, however, exclude the questioning and criticism of words and deeds that may in the fullness of time be relegated to footnotes in a history of a Church that for reasons known only to God was permitted to go astray for a spell.

The Faith does not go astray and what this writer deems to matter most when dealing with the perplexed is emphasizing this point again and again while pointing to clearly stated timehonored doctrine and teachings as the means of clearing away the confusion created by papal pronouncements that appear to contradict or change them. The Faith is immutable, unlike, for example, "settled science", which is "settled" only until some new discovery or other unsettles it.

When treating of matters of Faith, look to the past for what has been "settled" once and for all; nothing, not even nondogmatic assertions by what one might consider a renegade pope can change that!

So, yes, Virginia, for better or worse, there is a pope, but far, far more importantly, there is the Faith and by holding fast to the Faith as taught and practiced by your forefathers, you will receive the greatest gift given by God to man, receive it again and again, every day of your life. What more can you ask?

php/a-cnn/item/2377-socci-media-delighted-withpope- who-seems-to-have-set-about-attacking-thechurch- rather-than-defending-her-against-attackers ; http://eponymousflower.blogspot.com.ar/2016/02/thelast- prophesy-antonio-socci.html