DID THE POPE COMMIT RANK HERESY

Patrick Buchanan: Did the Pope Commit Rank Heresy?

 By Patrick J. Buchanan | March 30, 2018 | 7:11 AM EDT

Pope Francis speaks to the faithful on Passion Sunday, March 18, 2018, from St. Peter's Square, Vatican City. (Screen grab/YouTube)

"Pope Declares No Hell?"
So ran the riveting headline on the Drudge Report of Holy Thursday.

Drudge quoted this exchange, published in La Repubblica, between Pope Francis and his atheist friend, journalist Eugenio Scalfari.

Scalfari: "What about bad souls? Where are they punished?"

Bad souls "are not punished," Pope Francis is quoted, "those who do not repent and cannot therefore be forgiven disappear. There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls."

On the first Holy Thursday, Judas betrayed Christ. And of Judas the Lord said, 

"Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man shall be betrayed; it were better for him if that man had never been born."
Did the soul of Judas, and those of the monstrous evildoers of history, "just fade away," as General MacArthur said of old soldiers?

 If there is no hell, is not the greatest deterrent to the worst of sins removed?
What did Christ die on the cross to save us from?

If Francis made such a statement, it would be rank heresy.
Had the pope been speaking ex cathedra, as the vicar of Christ on earth, he would be contradicting 2,000 years of Catholic doctrine, rooted in the teachings of Christ himself. He would be calling into question papal infallibility, as defined in 1870 by the Vatican Council of Pius IX.

 

Questions would arise as to whether Francis is a true pope.
The Vatican swiftly issued a statement saying the pope had had a private conversation, not a formal interview, with his friend Scalfari.
The Vatican added: "The textual words pronounced by the pope are not quoted. No quotation of the aforementioned article must therefore be considered as a faithful transcription of the words of the Holy Father."

Sorry, but this will not do. 

This does not answer the questions the pope raised in his chat. 

Does hell exist? 

Are souls that die in mortal sin damned to hell for all eternity? 

Does the pope accept this belief? 

Is this still the infallible teaching of the Roman Catholic Church?
However one may applaud Francis' stance on social justice, on matters of faith and morals he has called defined doctrine into question and created confusion throughout the Church he heads.
In his letter Amoris Laetitia, "The Joy of Love," the pope seemed to give approval to the receiving of Holy Communion by divorced and remarried Catholics, whose previous marriages had not been annulled, and whom the Church holds to be living in adultery.

Relying on the pope's letter, German bishops have begun to authorize the distribution of Communion to divorced and remarried couples.

Cardinal Gerhard Muller, former prefect of the Vatican office for the Doctrine of the Faith, the position once held by Pope Benedict XVI, says this contradicts Catholic doctrine as enunciated by Pope John Paul II.

Said Cardinal Muller, 

"No power in heaven or on earth, neither an angel nor the pope, not a council, nor a law of the bishops has the faculty to change it."
Four cardinals, including Raymond Burke of the United States, in a formal letter, asked the pope to clarify Amoris Laetitia. The pope did not, nor has he addressed the cardinals' concerns.

Indeed, when asked early in his papacy about the immorality of homosexuality, the pope parried the question, "Who am I to judge?"

But if not thee, who? Is not the judging of right and wrong part of the job description?

Nor is it only in the realm of doctrine that the pope has sown confusion among the faithful.
To legalize the underground Catholic Church in China, the pope and the Vatican have agreed to ask Catholic bishops to stand aside for bishops approved by the Communist Party that seeks tighter control of Christian faiths.

The Vatican has also agreed to approve the consecration of a bishop named by Beijing, whom Rome previously regarded as illegitimate.

The capitulation is necessary for the Catholic Church in China to survive and prosper, argues the Vatican. But what kind of church will it become, asks retired Archbishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong.

The Vatican is "selling out" the Church in China, says the archbishop: "Some say that all the effort to reach an agreement is to avoid the ecclesial schism. How ridiculous! The schism is there, in the Independent Church!"

Archbishop Zen concedes his criticism of the Communist Party and the Vatican's diplomatic efforts are causing problems in closing the rift between the underground Church and the Communist Party-sanctioned church, but makes no apology: 

"Am I the major obstacle in the process of reaching a deal between the Vatican and China? If that is a bad deal, I would be more than happy to be the obstacle."

There is a division inside Catholicism that is widening, between a Third World and traditional church that are growing, and a mainstream Church in Europe and here that is taking on aspects of the Anglican Church of the 20th century.

And how did that turn out, Your Holiness?

Happy Easter!

JESUS WAS REJECTED THAT WE MIGHT BE ACCEPTED

Jesus was rejected that we might be accepted

By Jerry Newcombe

March 30, 2018

What are Good Friday and Easter all about? In a sentence: Jesus was rejected that we might be accepted.

When I was a child, I attended a parochial grade school where there was an in group, and there was an out group. I was always in the out-group. Sports were the end-all-be-all. And I was lousy in sports. 

I hated it during gym class, where they would choose two people as team captains; and then those captains would choose players, one at a time, for their team. And virtually every time I was chosen last.

I felt like I was on the outside looking in. Never fully accepted. That's hard for a child to get over.

There was a sad story I read about last month that occurred in a poor Denver neighborhood. A lady playing Elsa from Frozen came to a little 7-year-old girl's birthday party. Only there were no other children there. The Elsa character did much to try and smooth over the hurt feelings. Obviously, something went terribly wrong in this scenario. In any event, the little girl experienced rejection.

But Jesus experienced incredible rejection that seemed to have no end:

• He was rejected by Judas, one of the twelve disciples, who betrayed Him for money.
  
• He was rejected by His disciples who couldn't even stay awake as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the soldiers came, they abandoned Him.
  
• He was rejected by the crowd that shouted "Crucify Him!" It is possible that some of the same people on Friday morning rejecting Him had welcomed Him with open palms on Sunday.
  
• He was rejected by the Roman authorities for claiming to be the King of the Jews.
  
• He was rejected by the soldiers, who scourged Him mercilessly and even wove a crown of thorns to mock His kingship. They spat on Him and beat Him, even though He had made them.
  
• He was rejected by God the Father and thus cried out from the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

"Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow." So goes one of the arias in Handel's Messiah, speaking precisely about Jesus and Him crucified.

But this wasn't pointless suffering. There was a grand purpose to it. God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, for our sake, that those who believe in Him might become the righteousness of God.

God rejected Jesus so that those who believe in Jesus will be accepted by Him. Not because we're good, but because He paid the price for the sins of those who believe in Him.

Because Jesus endured Hell for us, we can enjoy Heaven. Because He descended into Hell for us on the cross, we can ascend into Heaven.

Borrowing from St. Francis' prayer:

• He experienced hate, that we might know love.
  
• He suffered despair, that we might know hope.
  
• He endured the darkness, that we might walk in the light.
  
• He experienced infinite sorrow, that we might know joy.

Jesus was rejected so we don't have to be.

Fade to black. Fast forward to early Sunday morning.

Something happened that has changed the world. Your own birth-year is marked in reference to Jesus' birth because of what happened next.

He arose. He conquered the grave, thus sealing the deal. It is finished. He overcame death and is alive forevermore. Now, He has been accepted by His Father. Now we can be accepted when we trust in Him for salvation and repent of our sins.

The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are the events that changed the world. Even when an atheist sleeps in on any Sunday morning, he is paying indirect homage to the fact that Jesus rose again on Sunday, which is why, virtually the world over, Sunday is a day off. To worship the risen Christ.

Newsweek magazine is not always friendly to Christianity. Yet in a cover story almost 20 years ago, called "2000 Years of Jesus" (3/29/99), Kenneth Woodward wrote: 

"[N]early a third of the world's population claims to be his followers. But by any secular standard, Jesus is also the dominant figure of Western culture. Like the millennium itself, much of what we now think of as Western ideas, inventions and values finds its source of inspiration in the religion that worships God in his name. art and science, the self and society, politics and economics, marriage and the family, right and wrong, body and soul – all have been touched and often radically transformed by Christian influence."

He is risen. He is risen indeed.

© Jerry Newcombe

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/newcombe/180330

WHY I AM A CHRISTIAN

Why I am a Christian

By Bryan Fischer

March 30, 2018

Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
Host of "Focal Point" on American Family Radio, 1-3pm CT, M-F www.afr.net

I am a Christian for one simple reason: the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

There is simply no credible alternative to the view that his grave was empty on Easter morning because of his bodily resurrection. His body wasn't there because he wasn't there. And he wasn't there because he had been raised from death to life.

It's not credible that his body was stolen by the disciples. If it had been, the disciples would know that any public story that he was raised from the dead was a lie. Now people will die for a lie they believe to be true, but they will not die for a lie they know to be a lie. Eleven of the 12 apostles died a martyr's death, a powerful confirmation that they knew beyond any shadow of doubt that Christ had risen from the dead.

Chuck Colson made the point once that it was Watergate that convinced him of the truth of the resurrection. What he meant by that was that a dozen highly gifted, highly educated, highly accomplished, and highly motivated men (highly motivated because to fail in the cover-up meant prison) could not conceal the truth for even a few months. Once the story began to unravel, it unraveled quickly and a bunch of people wound up behind bars.

Colson's point was simple. If such a group of men could not perpetuate a lie to cover up a third-rate burglary, what are the chances a group of unsophisticated fishermen could conceal what would have been the greatest hoax in history?

His resurrection was confirmed by abundant eyewitness testimony. He was seen alive by women who came to the grave on Easter morning, by two travelers on the road to Emmaus, and by all the apostles except Thomas on Easter evening. When doubting Thomas saw Christ a week later, and had the opportunity to physically examine Christ's wound with his own hands and own eyes, he fell at the feet of Jesus, exclaiming "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).

Jesus was seen alive after he had died by well over 500 eyewitnesses. Far more people saw Christ alive with their own eyes than saw John Kennedy dead, yet no one doubts that he actually died because too many people saw him dead, and physically handled his dead body. Their testimony was unanimous regarding the fact of his death. It's the same kind of eyewitness testimony that confirms that Jesus was alive after he died.

If the Jews had stolen the body, they would have produced it to squelch rumors of his resurrection. Belief in the resurrection could not possibly be a matter of wish fulfillment, because each of the apostles had to be convinced against his will.

Now enemies of the cross say our faith is some kind of purely subjective leap into a fact-free abyss. But it's not. My faith in Christ is firmly rooted in the stubborn, historical fact of the physical resurrection of Christ from the dead.

The beauty of the Christian faith is that we do not need to check our brains at the door to be a sincerely devoted follower of Jesus Christ. In fact, a man must check his brain at the door not to believe in Christ's resurrection, because of overwhelming eyewitness testimony and the absence of any other rational explanation for the empty tomb. Our faith is grounded in history, fact, and truth.

Carl Sagan once said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." We can be quite settled in our minds and hearts that that standard has been met with regard to the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

John Adams famously said, "Facts are stubborn things." He was right, which is precisely why my faith in Christ is stubborn, unbending, and unyielding.

© Bryan Fischer

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/fischer/180330

SPANISH FLAGS TO FLY AT HALF-MAST TO MARK DEATH OF CHRIST

Spanish flags to fly at half-mast to mark death of Christ

The Ministry of Defence confirmed the flag will be lowered at all military establishments

The Spanish flag will fly at half-mast on all military buildings including the Ministry of Defence in Madrid to commemorate the death of Christ this Holy Week.

In a statement, the ministry said all units, bases, barracks will lower the flag from 2pm on Maundy Thursday to 12.01am on Easter Sunday “as is traditional”.

The ministry explained that the practice dates back several decades and “forms part of the secular tradition of the armed forces”.

The Spanish military will take part in 152 parades and celebrations to mark Holy Week in 80 cities across the country this year, including Seville, Granada, Madrid and the Canary Islands.

The Ministry of Defence highlighted the fact that freedom of religion for servicemen would be respected, and that participation by members of the armed forces at these events is voluntary.

http://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2018/03/28/spanish-flags-to-fly-at-half-mast-to-mark-death-of-christ/

AN ARMY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS IS MARCHING ON AMERICA

An Army Of Illegal Aliens Is Marching On America

JAZZ SHAWPosted at 8:31 am on March 31, 2018

Sounds like the first line of a movie script based on some dystopian future, doesn’t it? But it’s actually an underreported story from the real world.

SEE ALSO: Review: Ready Player One

I first became aware of this developing tale thanks to a tweet from Nicolas Medina Mora lionizing the work of Adolfo Flores of Buzzfeed. What is Adolfo up to? Take a look.

TRENDING:

An army of illegal aliens is marching on America

Nicolás Medina Mora

✔@MedinaMora

Follow the great @aflores as he accompanies a caravan of 1,200 Central American migrants as they cross Mexico all the way to the US. https://twitter.com/aflores/status/979708026117484544 …

7:37 AM - Mar 30, 2018

• 12
• 32 people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Flores is apparently on a lengthy trek through all of Mexico with a literal army of migrants from a number of countries including Honduras. Normally one might imagine that a potential national security crisis for the United States such as this would be cause for raising the alarm. Instead, the Buzzfeed reporter is cheering them on and talking about their “struggle.”

You won’t see much in the way of coverage of this on the major networks or CNN, but Buzzfeed is covering it.

For five days now hundreds of Central Americans — children, women, and men, most of them from Honduras — have boldly crossed immigration checkpoints, military bases, and police in a desperate, sometimes chaotic march toward the United States. Despite their being in Mexico without authorization, no one has made any effort to stop them.

Organized by a group of volunteers called Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, the caravan is intended to help migrants safely reach the United States, bypassing not only authorities who would seek to deport them, but gangs and cartels who are known to assault vulnerable migrants.

Organizers like Rodrigo Abeja hope that the sheer size of the crowd will give immigration authorities and criminals pause before trying to stop them.

“If we all protect each other we’ll get through this together,” Abeja yelled through a loudspeaker on the morning they left Tapachula, on Mexico’s border with Guatemala, for the nearly monthlong trek.

This isn’t a group of family members or some isolated, organized clan. This is an army. Flores numbers them in the hundreds but looking at the pictures coming from the “march” it clearly appears that their numbers are swelling. The real figure, as cited by Mora, is likely already more than a thousand. Their purpose? They make no bones about it when asked. They, “hope American authorities will grant them asylum or, for some, be absent when they attempt to cross the border illegally.”

Perhaps they’ve been convinced that they can simply apply for refugee status or asylum when they arrive. And they actually can apply, but that doesn’t mean that they will be accepted on that basis. Further, Mexico bears some responsibility for helping to prevent this sort of organized invasion. Just this week our new Homeland Security Secretary met with Mexico’s Foreign Minister and signed agreements related to customs and border security. All of this is happening in the shadow of those NAFTA restructuring talks. It’s worth asking why, as Flores reports, nobody from Mexico is doing a thing to slow down this march. In fact, in some cases, the Buzzfeed reporter suggests that Mexican towns and cities are actually hurrying them along.

https://hotair.com/archives/2018/03/31/army-illegal-aliens-marching-america/

Adolfo Flores

✔@aflores

30 Mar

Replying to @aflores

I’m always surprised by how little some of these kids complain. They get up after a few hours of sleep and walk. The nice thing is the caravan goes at the pace of the women and children. pic.twitter.com/BcjLcr8tEz

Adolfo Flores

✔@aflores

The municipality we’re at now is offering buses to get us to the next town. It’s been happening at several stops, I imagine they’re more interested in getting people out of their public squares. pic.twitter.com/6ay7Rn8fzI

10:48 AM - Mar 30, 2018

• 38
• 86 people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

This army of interlopers moving across Mexico “without authorization” as Flores puts it (translated to “illegally”) is seeking to overwhelm the resources of immigration officials and are ready to cross the border illegally if an opening presents itself. If Mexico allows this to simply happen with no intercession they shouldn’t expect such a friendly reception with the State Department and the White House.

TAGS:BORDER PATROLBUZZFEEDHONDURASILLEGAL ALIENSIMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENTMEXICOMIGRANTS

THE RUTHLESS AND RELENTLESS LEFT

I encourage you all to read Joseph Farah's article:

http://www.wnd.com/2018/03/threat-to-independent-media-worse-than-you-know/

We may be witnessing the End to Free Speech in America.

This will not stop with Complete Control of the Internet,

It will extend to ever Source of Information,

Including what your Pastor preaches on Sunday.

I believe that the Apostasy will be the result

Of the Pressure the godless put on Pulpits

Not to Preach God's Word, as it is written,

And will not allow anything that Contradicts

The godless, Socialist, Secular Humanist Religion.

The Lesbian Mayor of Houston already tried this.

Today, in Canada preaching against Homosexuality,

Is determined to be 'Hate' speech.

The Christians who acquiesce to this Pressure

Will be Apostates,

And many have become Apostates already.

In other words, there will be precious few sources of Truth

Whether the Truth of God's Word, or any other.

This is what I believe Christians will be facing in the near future.

A Prophetess once Prophesied, that all Bibles would be taken away.

This will be the work

Of the godless, Socialist, Secular Humanist CABAL;

The CABAL that owns virtually

Every Cultural and Political Institution in America today;

And is Embedded in Government as “The Deep State.”

It is not restricted to the Democrat Party,

But includes all the godless.

It is going to be Critical

That Christians understand the Word of God;

That they are Born Again,

Filled with the Holy Spirit,

And are walking in the Light of Christ.

Our only Hope is Christ living in and through us.

(Colossians 1:27)

It is the Apostasy that brings forth the Lawless One,

The son of Satan, the Beast of Revelation, the Antichrist.

(2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

It is the Breast, that the Whole World bows down to;

Receives his “mark” and worships him.

Damning themselves to an Eternal Hell.

(Revelation 13)

Christ Jesus warned us:

Be always on the Watch,

And pray that you will be able to Escape

All that is about to happen,

And that you may be able TO STAND

Before the Son of Man.

(Luke 21:36)

Today, the World is Raging Against God,

Rushing toward Oblivion. (Psalm 2)

This World in it's Present Form is Passing Away.

(1 Corinthians 7:31)

America is being Ground to Powder

Because of her SIN against God.

Save yourself from this Corrupt Generation! (Acts 2:40)

As God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!

Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done,

On Earth as in Heaven!

BETWEEN THE LINES

THREAT TO INDEPENDENT MEDIA WORSE THAN YOU KNOW

Exclusive: Joseph Farah calls Digital Cartel's action 'a war of extermination'

I feel like the prophet Jeremiah. He was always the prophet I did not want to be when I grew up. He not only was the bearer of bad news to Israel, but he did not exactly live a mostly comfortable life – like Ezekiel and Daniel.

But it’s been my misfortune to raise alarms about the devastating attacks by the Digital Cartel – Google-Facebook – on the independent media. They’ve been going on for a long time to be sure. 

But the scorched-earth policy began last summer – and it’s been killing sites like WND, Breitbart, Daily Caller, et al.

Just this week, for instance, Politico published a story almost gleefully reporting that my friends at Breitbart.com have lost half their traffic and even more advertising during this siege by the politically motivated giants of the internet. 

Even if the reports are exaggerated, we’re talking about an imminent, existential threat to the biggest of the big independent media sites.

Where does that leave WND, the oldest, the pioneer, the grandaddy of all independent media?

This war on us is not going away. We’re all in the same boat – and Google-Facebook are shooting holes in it. It’s a massive power play that not only threatens the independent media that were so important as a reality check in the 2016 presidential election but is crippling us in the critical 2018 election battle for control of Congress.

But it’s even bigger than that, I’m afraid. 

I honestly believe that this fight, at the end of the day, will determine whether or not freedom of speech on the internet will survive. 

I think the independent media are just the lab rats in a grand and gruesome experiment for total control of thought by the left. 

If the lab rats die, it will be on to stifling other voices through intimidation and humiliation.

I can only speak for WND when I say the hour is late and the threat is large.

While the WND loyalists have come through with unprecedented financial support since January, we are far from out of the woods because the attacks keep coming. 

The enemy is rich, powerful and ruthless. 

You cannot appeal to their “good nature.”

It’s a war of extermination – not just of the independent media, but free speech as we have known it in America.

Those on the left may not own the White House today, but they own every other cultural and political institution in America – 

and they’re going in for the kill, total control. 

They already own the means of distribution of news and information, and they are preparing to lock it up and seal it tight.

Just so you understand, they are using their powerful search engines to deny us traffic and their hammerlock control of advertising to deny us revenue. 

It’s a powerful combination. And what’s happening now is worse than it’s ever been in my 20-plus years in this business.

Where does all this lead? 

It leads to me urgently reminding you that without your sacrificial support now, we – not just WND, but all the voices of dissent and truth – could soon be stifled, permanently.

Please come to our rescue. Try to imagine a world devoid of alternative voices.

I’m one of those guys who gets news tips every day from people who reveal corruption, fraud, waste and abuse in our country, evil-doings that curl your hair, sinister political and cultural oppression – and they all end something like this: 

“Please don’t use my name because I fear for my job and my safety.”

Help us continue to report the unvarnished truth every day.

You can support us by making your most generous financial contributions, but don’t worry about the amount. Hundreds of thousands of people like you are getting this plea. If only 10 percent responded with contributions of $3 a month, it would result in revenue that would allow us to expand our work, not just keep our doors open and the lights on.

Can you do that?

Can you afford to do more?

I thank you for taking this plea seriously. The situation is dire. And the hour is late.

http://www.wnd.com/2018/03/threat-to-independent-media-worse-than-you-know/