Never in the present generation has a pope been as controversial as Pope Francis. A growing number of Catholics are now blaming him for the worsening division in the Church in an era where the World Economic Forum (WEF), growingly perceived as the platform for the rise of the Antichrist of all antichrists, is perceived as papal ally.
Canadian mystic Fr. Michel Rodrigue, who is reputed to have received serious messages from no less than God the Father, said before an American audience in 2019 that Pope Francis would be faced with regret later in his papacy and even die a martyr. It was a statement that impliedly confirmed errors of the Pope.
Because of the gravity of the controversies surrounding Pope Francis, allow me to quote John-Henry Westen, founder and editor of the LifeSiteNews, who, together with two other prominent Catholic media personalities in a recent press conference, issued their “Declaration of Filial Resistance to Globalist Agenda of Pope Francis.”
Westen wrote his litany of controversies revolving around the Pope as follows.
“This short litany of Francis is why I believe faithful Catholics have a duty before God to resist the attempt to undermine defined dogma on the moral questions.
“From the very first moment of this pontificate there was scandal. On the balcony with Pope Francis, with that tiny number of the College of Cardinals selected by the new pope to accompany him onto the balcony at his proclamation, was none other than Cardinal Danneels—the cardinal known to be dissident on abortion, having encouraged the king of Belgium to sign a pro-abortion law. He supported gay marriage and wore the rainbow stole, and, if that isn’t bad enough, he is the only cardinal caught on tape encouraging a victim of pedophilic incestuous sexual abuse not to report the abuse to authorities.
“On day three the Pope praised the heretic Cardinal Walter Kasper for doing theology on the knees.
“He banished Cardinals Burke, Sarah and Mueller. He banished the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, the order of priests who were responsible for offering more traditional Latin masses than any other order apart from the Fraternity of St. Peter.
“He publicly praised Italy’s leading abortionist Emma Bonino and met with her so much that this former illegal abortionist turned politician and champion of abortion now speaks at Catholic churches.
“He endorsed the UN Sustainable Development Goals, of which #3.7 promotes abortion via the UN code words of ‘universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services.’
“In 2015, he invited a ‘transgender’ couple to the Vatican and called the two females, one of whom had mutilated herself to appear as a man, ‘married’ and happy. He referred to the mutilated woman as ‘He that was her but is he.’
“Under Francis, the Church did a 180-degree about-face on population control. Whereas JPII called on the pro-life movement to fight depopulation at the United Nations, Francis has made the biggest population control advocates like Jeffrey Sachs, Paul Erlich and Ban-Ki Moon speakers at the Vatican itself.
“On July 16, 2016, he called cohabitation real marriage and said that it had the grace of real marriage—when referring to some in Northern Argentina who he felt were monogamous in their sexual relations.
“He committed idolatry with the Pachamama scandal and continued it in Canada with the native shaman invoking one of the four directions to open “the sacred circle of spirits” while the pope and attending cardinals all participated in the pagan ceremony with eyes closed and hands placed reverently over their hearts.
“Pope Francis was asked about “avoiding pregnancy” in areas at risk of Zika virus transmission. He noted that contraception was not an absolute evil. Asked for clarification, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis was approving use of contraceptives and condoms in grave cases.
And in case that wasn’t clear enough, the Pope has now permitted the so-called Pontifical Academy for Life to openly suggest a change to the Church’s perennial teaching against contraception.”
“But oh, one might say these are not official documents of the Church—they do not therefore constitute anything magisterial, they can be ignored. Well not so fast.
“First there was Amoris Laetitia. And even when some tried to do mental gymnastics to interpret the document in an orthodox fashion, Francis made the heretical interpretation (allowing for communion for remarried divorcees) the official interpretation.
“Then, in a little-known passage in his 2018 exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, Francis teaches the opposite of what Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI taught regarding the pre-eminence of abortion as an issue of moral concern. Speaking of immigration and abortion: ‘Some Catholics consider it a secondary issue compared to the ‘grave’ bioethical questions.’ The Pope added: ‘That a politician looking for votes might say such a thing is understandable, but not a Christian.’ He criticized those who ‘relativize’ these issues ‘as if there are other more important matters, or the only thing that counts is one particular ethical issue or cause that they themselves defend.’
“And in the latest apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi, which addressed Holy Communion, the Pope said that all that was needed for the reception of Holy Communion is faith. The document was released on June 29—the very day on which the most pro-abortion politician in US history, the so-called Catholic Nancy Pelosi, came to the Vatican and visited with Pope Francis and received Communion at a papal mass. This must be seen against the background of Pelosi’s bishop publicly issuing a decree noting that she must be denied Holy Communion, after a decade of trying to convince her to amend her ways. The Pope openly bashed Pelosi’s archbishop, Salvatore Cordileone, as ‘lacking a pastoral nature.’
“Tyler, Texas, Bishop Joseph Strickland, Kazakhstan Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Dutch Bishop Robert Mutsaerts, and Texas retired-Bishop René Gracida have issued a condemnation of the apostolic letter, citing it as ‘contradicting the faith’ and quoting the Council of Trent, which calls the notion put forward by Francis in his letter ‘heresy.’
“Shall we not join with these heroic bishops and the many learned priests, religious and laity who have begun to resist Pope Francis? If we care about the faith, about our children, and about Francis’s own soul, we must.” (End of quote.)
Also in the press conference was Michael Matt. a Catholic newspaper publisher who comes from a long line of Catholic newspaper publishers. His family publishes The Wanderer, the oldest Catholic weekly in the US.
“For 150 years, my family has been in the Catholic press apostolate, defending the Church against aggressors on all sides,” he said.
Matt said it is now necessarily a sin to go against the statements of a pope, saying that resisting the pope could even have biblical basis.
He said: “The use of the term ‘resist’ is taken directly from Holy Scripture, Galatians 2:11, wherein St. Paul resisted Peter to his face because he was blameworthy. But St. Paul did not hate Peter, nor did he deny Peter’s petrine office. St. Paul was not committing a schismatic act, and neither are we.”
“We resist Francis honorably to his face and in charity, as loyal sons of the Church resist an abusive father,” he said, and then quotes St. Robert Bellarmine, doctor of the Church as follows:
“Therefore, just as it would be lawful to resist a Pontiff invading a body, so is it lawful to resist him invading souls or disturbing a state, and much more if he should endeavor to destroy the Church. I say, it is lawful to resist him, by not doing what he commands, and by blocking him, lest he should carry out his will.”
Matt stressed, however, that “You have heard this first half of the famous Bellarmine quote, but the rest of it reads as follows: ‘Still, it is not lawful to judge or punish or even depose him, because he is nothing other than a superior....’”