Pope Francis is Dead: a Traditionalist Response

[Michie]

A few months ago I asked my spiritual father the following question. This is a questioned that has burned in me for years since I took over the editorship of OnePeterFive. It is a question that has troubled by conscience and caused me to lose a great deal of sleep. Here’s the question:

How do I criticise Pope Francis and not fall into the sin of pride? How do I tell the truth without provoking anyone to harden their hearts against our Holy Father?

My spiritual father responded with this wisdom:

In order to avoid the sin of pride, we must imagine that Pope Francis will one day die a Christian death and attain a higher place in heaven than you.

Continued below.

Pope Francis is Dead: a Traditionalist Response

In order to avoid the sin of pride, we must imagine that Pope Francis died a Christian death and will attain a higher place in heaven than you.

onepeterfive.com

 

[Wolseley]

A good thing to reflect on. I myself am all too prone to criticizing others, especially when I may disagree with them on some point or other. A lot of that is ingrained in me, unfortunately, from bullying I endured as a small schoolchild, and it was augmented by military experiences I underwent which contributed to my PTSD.

But none of that is an excuse. I suffer from chronic sinfulness as much as any other human being; and it would behoove me to look to my own faults instead of those of others.

I remember someone asking me once whether I thought a well-known person, who had died, was in heaven or hell. I replied that the answer to that question was above my pay grade; I am not qualified to offer judgements about the state of anyone's soul, one way or the other. I need to get back to that mindset.

 

[RileyG]

A good thing to reflect on. I myself am all too prone to criticizing others, especially when I may disagree with them on some point or other. A lot of that is ingrained in me, unfortunately, from bullying I endured as a small schoolchild, and it was augmented by military experiences I underwent which contributed to my PTSD.

But none of that is an excuse. I suffer from chronic sinfulness as much as any other human being; and it would behoove me to look to my own faults instead of those of others.

I remember someone asking me once whether I thought a well-known person, who had died, was in heaven or hell. I replied that the answer to that question was above my pay grade; I am not qualified to offer judgements about the state of anyone's soul, one way or the other. I need to get back to that mindset.

Amen.

All I can do is pray for their soul.

I highly, HIGHLY, doubt Pope Francis was damned, and I'm 99.9999% sure he's in purgatory. I will bet my own soul on this.

Pray. Pray. Pray.

It's all we can do after someone passes.

 

[Wolseley]

I highly, HIGHLY, doubt Pope Francis was damned, and I'm 99.9999% sure he's in purgatory. I will bet my own soul on this.

I completely agree. Whether I agreed with some of the things Francis did or not (and I disagreed with him stringently on a number of points), I am sure that he did what he thought was right, and what he thought Christ wanted him to do.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Few will actually make it into heaven. God willing, Pope Francis made it to purgatory and then he has the benefit of over a billion Catholics praying for his soul to reach heaven. I definitely won't have that!

 

[linux.poet]

MOD HAT ON​

A small cleanup was done here to remove some posts that were non-Catholic members debating against Catholic teaching in their own forum.​

Please give our Catholic members space to grieve, pray, and reflect in peace. A comforter who can’t empathize or understand is not helpful.​

MOD HAT OFF​

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Amen.

All I can do is pray for their soul.

I highly, HIGHLY, doubt Pope Francis was damned, and I'm 99.9999% sure he's in purgatory. I will bet my own soul on this.

Pray. Pray. Pray.

It's all we can do after someone passes.

I believe God is his judge and more likely than not he's in Heaven.

 

[Mountainmike]

It’s hard to comprehend just how hard the Job of pope has been with pressure coming from all directions, with outright hostility from the secular world, and all the squabbles within catholicism.

It is too easy to criticise. There is an old adage called dobbins law, worth remembering when criticising politicians too. ” everything is easy for someone that does not have to do it”

We should all remember he was chosen by our Lord.

 

[Michie]

It’s hard to comprehend just how hard the Job of pope has been with pressure coming from all directions, and outright hostility from the secular world, and all the squabbles within catholicism.

It is too easy to criticise. There is an old adage called dobbins law, worth remembering when criticising politicians too. ” everything is easy for someone that does not have to do it”

We should all remember he was chosen by our Lord.

And now for some doublespeak:

The election of a pope thus can be said to be God’s will in the same sense that any historical event can be. In this broad sense, however, the fact that something is God’s will does not guarantee that he approves of it.

Continued below.

Does God Pick the Pope?

When Pope Benedict was elected in 2005, I was overjoyed. As much as I loved John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger spoke to me in a special way. I was puzzled, though...

www.catholic.com

 

[RileyG]

I believe God is his judge and more likely than not he's in Heaven.

God alone is the judge. Amen.

 

[Mountainmike]

And now for some doublespeak:

The election of a pope thus can be said to be God’s will in the same sense that any historical event can be. In this broad sense, however, the fact that something is God’s will does not guarantee that he approves of it.

Continued below.

Does God Pick the Pope?

When Pope Benedict was elected in 2005, I was overjoyed. As much as I loved John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger spoke to me in a special way. I was puzzled, though...

www.catholic.com

That article misses one issue.

The apostolic successors acting together can ” bind and loose” which is also the power by which councils act in an inspired or infallible way. Does that apply to the cardinals? Only our Lord can decide that! They are
some apostolic successors acting together, ( although as a caution we know our Lady demanded at Fatima all the bishops act together with the pope for a valid consecration., so maybe not)

So are cardinals picking a pope inspired? The answer is over our pay grade!
But I think our Lord has his fingerprints on it!

Suffice to say the king picked successive stewards in the Old Testament precursor.

 

[Michie]

That article misses one issue.

The apostolic successors acting together can ” bind and loose” which is also the power by which councils act in an inspired or infallible way. Does that apply to the cardinals? Only our Lord can decide that! They are
some apostolic successors acting together, ( although as a caution we know our Lady demanded all the bishops act together for a valid consecratuion., so maybe not)

So are cardinals picking a pope inspired? The answer is over our pay grade! But I think our Lord has his fingerprints on it!

Suffice to say the king picked successive stewards in the Old Testament precursor.

I don’t know. I tend to agree with the article.