The Vatican issued the announcement on Saturday morning: “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible.” This comes three days after Pope Francis announced that the 95-year-old former pontiff was “very ill.” For the first time in 600 years, there will be no conclave to choose a new bishop of Rome after a pope has died, for in 2013, Benedict became the first pope in six centuries to resign from office rather than serve until his death. But observers both inside and outside the Catholic Church have long noted that Pope Benedict’s relative traditionalism contrasted sharply with Francis’ uncompromising wokeness and trend-chasing, and questions have persisted in the eight years since Francis arrived on the scene as to the validity of Benedict’s resignation. So now who’s the pope?
Catholic author Matthew Hanley noted in October that Italian journalist Andrea Cionci, after “years of intensive investigation,” contended “Benedict XVI remains the sole legitimate Pope and, moreover, that he has been communicating this fact in a particular manner, as circumstances allow,” although Benedict was “limited in his ability to communicate ‘with the outside world from his situation of confinement.’” Cionci, according to Hanley, asserted that “not only is Francis a usurping anti-Pope, but he is one ‘whose objective is to demolish Catholicism.’”
Andrea Cionci was by no means the first to suggest both that Francis was a destructive force and that Benedict was the legitimate pope. Nor was he the last. The famed Vatican whistleblower Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò tweeted as recently as December 18:
The events that led to the resignation of Benedict XVI still need to be clarified, but one of the members of the deep church, the deceased Cardinal Danneels admitted that he was a part of the so-called Saint Gallen Mafia, which essentially worked to bring about the “springtime of the Church” which John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, wrote about in his emails published by Wikileaks. Thus there is a group of conspirators who have worked and still work in the heart of the Church for the interests of the elite. Most of them are identifiable, but the most dangerous are those who do not expose themselves, those whom the newspaper never mentions. They will not hesitate to force Bergoglio to resign also, just like Ratzinger, if he does not obey their orders. They would like to transform the Vatican into a retirement home for popes emeriti, demolishing the papacy and securing power: exactly the same as what happens in the deep state, where, as I have already said, Biden is the equivalent of Bergoglio.
Whatever may be behind what Viganò is saying, there is no doubt that Benedict and Francis were a study in contrasts. Benedict showed a consistent respect for Roman Catholic tradition, and gave wide permission for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass; Francis has repeatedly called into question his own adherence to traditional Catholicism, and sharply restricted celebration of the Latin Mass. Benedict touched off worldwide outrage in 2006 by quoting a fourteenth-century Byzantine emperor criticizing Muhammad; Francis has declared, with a brazen and breathtaking disregard for obvious fact, that “authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.” On April 30, 2019, a group of Catholic clerics and scholars published an open letter accusing Francis of a “comprehensive rejection of Catholic teaching on marriage and sexual activity, on the moral law, and on grace and the forgiveness of sins.” They accused Francis of the “canonical delict of heresy,” which they explained as occurring when someone “knowingly and persistently denies something which he knows that the Church teaches to be revealed by God.”
Is Pope Francis really a heretic? Is he really an antipope, placed on the throne of St. Peter by far-Left forces allied with the American Leftist elites and determined to destroy centuries of Catholic tradition, particularly in the area of sexual morality? If Pope Benedict XVI was the legitimate pope, who is the legitimate pope now? We will likely get no answer to these questions, at least not anytime soon and likely not within any of our lifetimes. The story of the Left’s infiltration into and subversion of the Catholic Church, as well as the Orthodox Church and others, has not been told and may never be told. But the silent last eight years of the life of Benedict XVI bore mute witness to the fact that something is deeply wrong within the Catholic Church. The sinister forces that are accused of engineering his abrupt resignation are very much in power now, and it doesn’t look as if there is any force that can stop them — that is, any earthly force.
Thank you, Mr. Spencer, for reading my mind. I’m a cradle Catholic who has been watching with dismay at what’s been happening inside the Vatican and to the Catholic Church in America. What’s more disturbing is how otherwise normal, rational, good people have bought into it., some who are my friends, who seem blinded by the soft squishy form of Catholicism that Francis is selling. Like you say, no earthly force can dislodge all the damage they’ve done, but I am ready for a schism. Let them go on their merry way with their 10 Suggestions and leave those of us who still believe in the 10 Commandments alone.
“ISN’T IT IRONIC that Godless Leftist Vampires, who always cringe at the sight of a Crucifix, love pOPE FRANCIS?” Why? Because he preaches the Gospel of Marx and Alinsky in a Liberation Theology agenda. Obama preaches what was taught to him, Michelle, and Oprah… Black Liberation Theology where raised BLACK POWER fists and promoting Black Supremacy is allowed. Even “BLACK’S ONLY.” They also cry about Hate Speech, Racism, and Diversity and then attack Whites who are left out of their Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Rules and Laws.
Pope Benedict WAS ousted by a radical element that was promoted by Francis and Others. Catholic Churches were INFILTRATED, including every government agency/FBI/DOJ, Congress, White House, by COMMUNISTS.
What word is next to M.A.R.X. in the dictionary? The Father of Communism is next to M.A.R.Y. the Mother of Jesus Christ. There is a war between Marx and Jesus as Marx has infiltrated ALL churches using Social Justice as the con.
POPE JOHN PAUL II, lived under Communism and he warned Central American priests about the Communist infiltration using Liberation Theology. CPUSA FRONTS aided this movement, mainly in EL SALVADOR. (What’s the translation?) OH, THERE’S MORE and this angle it.
I wish he was just a Marxist. He’s far worse, he worships demons
Yes, the right word for today’s Catholic Church is Godless. Some are in acceptance of everything that God condemns and rebukes.
Pope Paul and Pope Benedict did try to reform the Catholic Church on abortion, and Gay priesthood. Things became too political to actually uphold the Will of the One True God.
Pope Francis takes the title of “Vicar of Christ” and allows people to call him the Holy Father, and also accepts the worship of himself. The Word “Vicar” means “stand in” or “substitute”. These so called infallible statements are, to say the least, blasphemous.
There is only one “Holy Father” and that is the Creator of this Universe. The True Vicar of Christ on this earth is the “Holy Spirit”, not the Pope. the Bible makes it quite clear that no one is to be worshipped except Almighty God, When the Roman Soldier Cornelius fell at the feet of Peter, whom the Catholic Church claims to have been the first Pope, Peter rebuked him saying, “Stand up, I too am just a man. Acts 10:25-26.
When Pope Francis addressed the joint session of Congress, he never mentioned Jesus once in his entire speech, but focused on global warming, and the re-distribution of wealth.
1 John 2:22. “Who is the liar but one who denies that Jesus is the Christ, (Messiah)”
He lost me when he started kissing the feet of Muslim men. Why couldn’t he condemn a few islamic practices such as female genital mutilation, polygamy or executing homosexuals?
Thanks to God for Robert Spencer, foremost authority on Islam’s satanic agenda. The RCC is not far behind Big MO in its apostasy. I believe the RCC and elements of Islam will be the hit men for the coming anti-Christ. In many parts of south Texas there are KKKOC units waiting to do the bid of the Vatican and most are already armed and ready..
If you want to be a good Christian, be a good Jew as was Yeshua (Jesus) and do not follow the great perverter and inventor of Christianity, Paul of Tarsus.
Or follow the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah (the Noachide Laws). If you are not familiar with this philosophy, look it up on AskNoah.org or on Chabad.org. Try this link:
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/62221/jewish/The-7-Noahide-Laws-Universal-Morality.htm
These are the laws that were given to all mankind, i.e., the children of Noah. Only the Jews are required to keep the laws of the Torah, but this set of laws is for every human, including of course Jews. Check them out.
If Jesus was such a ‘good Jew”, how come he was condemned by the Sanhedrin?
Because he told and sold the truth. as he Claimed ‘I Am the Truth, the Light, and the Way.
What if Pope Benedict were to be raised from the “bottomless pit” of death? Would all the world wonder? Would Francis be identified as a heretic? Would Benedict take the papal throne? Might he change his name to reflect a new pontificate? Would Jesus’ prophecy of John 5:43 become current reality?
Thank you for mentioning the Orthodox Church, Most of the Collective West, supporters of the grifting clown puppet Zelensky, have ignored the fact that he unceremoniously banned the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as being “‘proRussian’ and is actually detaining, or arresting, UOC monks. Zelensky’s regime has begun looting priceless icons and property and his new monks participated yesterday in Ukraine’s slobbering love affair praising and celebrating the birthday of Ukrainian National Hero Stepan Bandera. Songs are sung, torchlight parades are held , banners flown in ” honor” of the “Fuhrer of Ukraine, their beloved Nazi Collaborator. Even the Rada, Ukraine’s Parliament joined in on the praise and speeches
This is the barren wasteland for which the US , the biden regime, gives never ending support, at least ” for as long as Ukraine continues to exist”, said biden.
Dear God, this is a wonderful case of fractal wrongness. Let me count the ways…
Part 1
“Thank you for mentioning the Orthodox Church, ”
Agreed.
“Most of the Collective West, supporters of the grifting clown puppet Zelensky,”
Grifter and Clown he may be, but he is hardly a “puppet.’ Moreover, Zelenskyy is the democratically, constitutionally elected President of Ukraine and most of his policies on the matter have followed from that of his political rival and predecessor Poroshenko. Which is why trying to overly personalize this by focusing on “Zelensky, Zelensky, Zelensky” is doomed to fail.
” have ignored the fact that he unceremoniously banned the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as being “‘proRussian’ and is actually detaining, or arresting, UOC monks. “”
Dear God, what nonsense is this!
Firstly: Even on its most basic level, this is false. Neither the “Ukrainian Orthodox Church” (as if such a thing were uniform and united, which it isn’t as I get to later) nor the Moscow Patriarchate (which is what you are really getting into) have actually been banned. Zelenskyy has seriously curtailed the actions of the latter and has not-so-subtly raised trial balloons about banning the Moscow Patriarchate, but has not actually done so yet. And if you wish to claim otherwise, I challenge you to cite the relevant laws.
Zelensky A racial and nominally active Jew is hardly a ‘Nazi’ (as the epithet presumes, deferentially opposite of the National Socialist theology of impute here. ) it difficult to ‘de-Nazify” a nominally Orthodox Catholic nation led by a Jew. Many of the actions of Putin are the source to public declaration.
1 Putin has ‘politicized’ the Russian Orthodox
Church’: IE: implying this invasion is proper protection of “Mother Russia” from the evils of the Western World” and demonizing a Jew as the problem. ;many insinuations will be used – proper and not – as justification.
Part 2
But as you apparently don’t want to admit, there are many different Orthodox Churches present in Ukraine, and many have sought independence from the Moscow Patriarchate by appealing to Constantinople and elsewhere.
Which brings me to the second point: Why would the Ukrainian government be considering banning the Moscow Patriarchate and churches affiliated with it?
Well, here are a few examples.
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-patriarch-kirill-dying-ukraine-sins/32052380.html
https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/russias-patriarch-kirill-defends-invasion-ukraine-stoking-orthodox-tensions
So put simply, “Patriarch Kirill” is not only proven KGB spy who infiltrated the Russian Orthodox Church in order to pervert it for his Chekist Masters, but has currently been wholeheartedly justifying and supporting the invasion and dismemberment of Ukraine as a *Holy War* and probably committing blasphemy in the process due to the theological nature of remission of sins and how that interacts with Crusading.
Even completely setting aside any of the wider historical or theological landscape, is it any question why the Ukrainian government is leery about a patsy of the Kremlin acting as an avowed enemy political agent, and even abusing his religious authority to justify the destruction of their country from the pulpit.
Part 3
Thirdly: To those of us who aren’t naive, it is sadly routine and justified to take a dim view of religious organizations that either have temporal heads of state or have religious authorities that are to deferential to said temporal heads of state. Our own Continental Congress heavily restricted the actions of the Anglican Church in the US during the Revolutionary War and soon thereafter, and even went so far as to ban churches from praying for King George III, in spite of how many of them were Anglican ones with him as its head.
https://trinitywallstreet.org/stories-news/1776-trinity-church-and-american-revolution
And for the record as an American, a Christian, and a Protestant this is actually one of the decisions I’m horrified by and disagree with the actions of the Founders on, since prayer for someone is a deep part of our faith and does not necessarily indicate support or endorsement for their actions, meaning I view this as not merely policing Royalist actions by clergy but outright violating fundamental freedom of conscience, a grave sin.
But the point is: that’s what our Founders did during a nasty, existential war. And it’s way worse than what that “Grifter clown” Zelenskyy has done or even considered doing, TO HIS CREDIT.
Part 4
Fourthly: It’s not exactly news that the Moscow Patriarch has had an unhealthily submissive relationship to whatever dictatorship rules the Kremlin, in many cases extending even to express enemies of The Christ like the Bolsheviks. While every Christian church and denomination has struggled with the appropriate relationship to worldly power, (to put it mildly) and the Eastern Orthodox Churches generally did not have the kind of divide between Caesar and Pope like what originated almost accidentally in the West, the Moscow Patriarchate has acted like a tool of the Muscovite Government for hundreds of years with few notable and heroic exceptions.
To this day I still have not heard any coherent or theologically sound explanation for why the likes of Ivan Mazepa were not merely criticized or condemned by the Moscow Patriarch, but excommunicated.. And I say this as someone who has no great love or admiration for Mazepa even if Ukrainians do; I find him to be a dodgy character for reasons too long to get into here. Even in the best possible light he appears as an opportunist who was happy to accept Tsarist hegemony and even utilize its abuses until it began hurting his interests and those of his people.
But having said that, none of this justified a RELIGIOUS sanction such as excommunication.
Part 5
And it certainly didn’t justify almost-literal demonization, as Mazepa has received down the centuries by the wider Russian Orthodox Church. His historically recorded sins (of which there were MANY) were worldly and political, not theological. He was no heretic or avowed enemy of Christ, but was treated as if he was by people who inappropriately conflated adherence to Jesus Christ and his Perfect Message with adherence to the worldly idea of a Greater Russian Empire and its rulers, who were very much not-perfect and acknowledged as such by the ROC itself.
It is a textbook case of rendering undo Caesar what was never Caesar’s to claim.
And it turns out that when you have an immensely powerful, wealthy organization claiming to speak for God and to spread his Gospel pervert their mandate for worldly ends (and either tiptoe to the threshold of or even outright lapse into heresy doing so), THAT TENDS TO BREED A JUSTIFIED BACKLASH because the Moscow Patriarchate is quite literally doing its Job and is neglecting the Great Commission to continue receiving Caesar’s headpats. Especially now, since while I have plenty to gripe about regarding the likes of Patriarch Nikon, at least they were accomplished theological scholars and religious leaders.
Here the most senior religious leader is a man who prostituted his spiritual calling to the KGB and blatantly disregarding fundamental doctrine on the remission of sins in holy war.
Part 6
“Zelensky’s regime has begun looting priceless icons and property”
Got any proof for that? Considering you got basic facts about him banning the Russian Orthodox Church wrong, I’m doubtful..
” and his new monks participated yesterday in Ukraine’s slobbering love affair praising and celebrating the birthday of Ukrainian National Hero Stepan Bandera. Songs are sung, torchlight parades are held , banners flown in ” honor” of the “Fuhrer of Ukraine,”
This is unfortunately true, and I make no apologies for it. Bandera was always a nasty, brutal Fascist and terrorist. The only possible mitigation I can make is that he was the less evil murderous despot in the conflict that featured Hitler and Stalin (the latter of whom has been discreetly whitewashed by Kirill and Putin)- which is just about the lowest bar you can get – and that he figured that if the game was about the annihilation of entire communities and languages (as it was in a time when Stalin enacted multiple Holodomors) he might as well do unto others before they did unto him and his.
But that only can explain his actions and perhaps provide food for thought, not mitigate them. I can understand the nostalgia for Bandera, but I do not approve of it for the same reasons I do not approve of the far more pervasive and disgusting Stalin nostalgia in Belarus and the Russian Federation.
Part 7
“their beloved Nazi Collaborator. ”
Frankly calling Bandera a Nazi Collaborator is about as misleading as calling Stalin one was, and for pretty much the exact same reasons. True in a very literal and horrible sense, but not what either man is remembered for or what most of their actions and atrocities were committed. And for the same reason that Hitler backstabbed them both.
Why not call Bandera what he always was: A murderous, Fascist terrorist?
Probably because it doesn’t have the same “Oompf” as calling him a “Nazi Collaborator” and also begs for an explanation into who he was and what he believed, which would inevitably bring us to the reason why he was the particular turd that floated to the top of the blood pool while most saner, more ethical, and decent people in the Ukrainian community got flushed. It would also point out that his was largely a reaction to the catastrophic failure of far more moderate Ukrainian political leadership during the years of the Russian Revolution as they got partitioned by Poland and the Bolsheviks and had their people be subjected to atrocities that are so archtypically genocidal, the Soviets rushed to stack the courts that helped write the legal definitions so that they could form a definition of genocide that excludes the Holodomors.
Part 8
As a final Note, I SITLL see people indirectly cite the Soviet-shaped definitions as arguments that the Holodomors aren’t genocide, in a Ouroboros style Snake-eating-its-Tail) case of circular logic that does more to vindicate Orwell’s assessment that He who controls the present, controls the past, he who controls the past controls the future than almost anything else.
“This is the barren wasteland for which the US , the biden regime, gives never ending support, at least ” for as long as Ukraine continues to exist”, said biden.”
Firstly: You are probably the first person on Planet Earth to define Ukraine – a hugely vital region in ores, foodstuffs, and other materials, with a proven track record of feeding much of Europe for more than 2,5,00 years * – as “barren.”
Secondly: While I utterly despise the Brandon Regime and do not trust either him or the GOPE to preform honorably (which is one reason I opposed McConnell’s Omnibus sellout, because even if I do support supplying Ukraine I did not support that coming at the expense of the rest of the party’s voice or America’s own interests), the fact is that the US has indeed committed itself to supporting Ukraine’s defense of its territory “as long as Ukraine continues to exist.”
As long as Ukraine continue to exist – is a quiet Deth Knell. Bite-Me has already (Previously – many deals with Hunter et al.) profits from the Death of Ukraine. this ‘special military action is specifically tailored to benefit the ‘elites’ Biden, Putin and downhill from them all the other Neo-Marxists and Islam-o- Marxists.
they forget the night of Long Knives.
Part 9
https://policymemos.hks.harvard.edu/files/policymemos/files/2-23-22_ukraine-the_budapest_memo.pdf?m=1645824948
“4. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to seek
immediate United Nations Security Council action to provide assistance to Ukraine, as a non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons, if Ukraine should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used.”
That’s what the US, UK, and Russia signed back in 1994 in exchange for Ukraine hesitantly surrendering its nuclear weapons to Russia. And while Biden was happily mucking things up at the time he didn’t have much direct input there.
Now, you’re happy to argue that this agreement was misguided at the start. I’m sure the Ukrainians sure as heck think that given how the Kremlin has shown it was happy to violate it. You’re also happy to argue it is in our interests to renege. But you’ll have to make that case and accept that it will make the US’s credibility plummet even further (to the benefit of the likes of the CCP and IRGC) But I don’t see the benefit of giving a violent, bald narcissist playing Caesar with Chechen Jihadist mercs the leeway.
“I can only say that the communists have stolen our flag. The flag of the poor is Christian.”
We don’t have to wait until the next life to find out whether dear Francis is determined to get it back with or without God because he already told us what God is.
Francis is a very stupid person and so there is never any need to wonder about what he is thinking. Other people are doing that for him.
channeling -Marx, Muhammad, Malthus. his trinity
“Pope Francis’ favourite beverage has a uniquely Jesuit flavour”
Is it his favourite drink?
When Paul VI violated his oath to pass on his inheritance but instead destroyed the mass of the faithful and invented a ‘new’ one via a committee headed by a FREEMASON. The rupture was accomplished and ever since it has been ‘playing out’.
Something is deeply wrong within the Catholic Church? And that’s news?
Tune into Faux News for the latest hombre.
To answer the headline, “Who’s pope now?”, no one. The chair is vacant. The pope has died. And confusion grows.
No pope currently. When the next pope is selected, a leading candidate will be the Vatican secretary of state. His name is Pietro (Peter) and he lives in Rome.
Peter the Roman.
I don’t know about being a heretic, but it is abundantly clear to me that Pope Francis whose election was a catastrophy for the Catholics and the catholic Church is a politician first and foremost. My eternal gratitude to pope Benedict XVI who enabled me to continue to go to church every Sunday.