The Roman Catholic Church with Bergoglio at its head is an impostor church. So William Kilpatrick asks:
. . . how can one tell the imposter Church from the Church established by Christ?
Although there are several indicators, the main giveaway, I believe, can be found in differing attitudes toward sin. The true Church takes sin very seriously and warns about it constantly. Indeed, the main mission of the Church is to save us from our sins. On the other hand, one of the main goals of the Church which Francis and his followers are building is to diminish the importance of sin.
On several occasions, Francis has belittled sexual sins, referring to them as the “lightest of sins” or jokingly as “sins below the waist.” He reportedly told a group of Spanish seminarians that they must absolve all sins in the confessional, even if there is no sign of repentance. On one occasion, when asked about the exploits of a homosexual priest, Francis replied, “Who am I to judge?” But—with the exception of sins against the environment and “sins” of rigidity—he seems to take a “Who-am-I-to-judge” attitude toward almost all sins.
In a Substack article from a couple of years ago, I explore the real root of the rot in the Roman church. See The Role of Concupiscence in the Decline of the Catholic Church.
Related
Abortion and the Wages of Concupiscence Unrestrained: Why do the powerful arguments against abortion have such little effect?
When I pray the Rosary, often in the middle of the night, and I come to the Nicene Creed, I find the words "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, and I try to see what that would be now; and I do not think it can be any current institutional church; "one" has been gone since A.D. 1054; "holy" excludes the RCC due to the cover-up of priests diddling altar boys; "catholic" could still apply to a mystical , non-institutional church with Christ at its head, and it would include every former addict who has been saved by Christ Jesus, because they will tell you He's plenty real; as for "apostolic," I'm not sure how that applies except as relating to do your best to follow Christ and the apostles. Due to it's current behavior, the RCC certainly can't claim anything special about the long string through history of who physically laid hands upon whom. So I am left with "Church" meaning a people mystically connected in some inner way, and I think it includes many "outliers" who in the conventional view of things would not be seen as churchy types at all.
Posted by: Joe Odegaard | Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 02:13 PM
Well said,imho.
Posted by: DaveB | Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 10:00 PM
Hi Bill,
Not intending to start a dispute, but merely to ask or possibly correct a less that concise phrase.
“Indeed, the main mission of the Church is to save us from our sins.”
The main mission of the church is to preach Christ, who has saves us from our sins.
Possibly the quoted phrase was just rushed carelessness. I can’t tell the intent, but it sounds much too pelagian from one perspective, even for Rome. Or perhaps, if the quote is accurate, a further reason to wonder about an imposter church.
Mike
Posted by: Mike DeSocio | Friday, September 15, 2023 at 06:28 AM
All compromise with Bergoglio now has evil results.
The article linked below explains why.
There is no pope right now, and anyway I have excommunicated Bergoglio, so he's not even a Catholic at this point.
https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/6811-at-this-point-of-the-spiritual-battle-all-compromises-with-francis-have-evil-results
Posted by: Joe Odegaard | Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 10:14 AM
This week, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò spoke, as is his custom, of the evilness of Bergoglio and those who do his bidding:
"The declarations of the Vicariate of Rome on the Aletti Centre (the company that produces Rupnik's expensive and horrendous mosaics) and its founder leave one baffled and scandalised.
The Vatican sends Commissaries and Apostolic Visitors to anyone who gives even a timid sign of fidelity to the Tradition, without giving justifications, without stating the reasons for Apostolic Visits, without guaranteeing the protection of the suspects and violating all confidentiality. Calumnies and unfounded accusations are fed to the media, for the sole purpose of terrorising anyone who dares to question Bergoglio's actions and words
Such ruthless severity disappears when it comes to his protégés, who may be blatantly guilty of the most heinous crimes, of the most horrendous offences - the McCarrick case among many is blatant proof of this - but are neither tried nor even condemned as they deserve. And the courtiers of Santa Marta are careful not to question the legacy that these perverse and corrupt clerics leave behind, as if their presence had been almost accidental. How much mercy, for the wicked. How much understanding. How much reserve in protecting their name and keeping quiet about the most gruesome details of their nefarious deeds.
As in all other no less shameful cases of sexual abuse, Bergoglian mercy does not care about the victims, whom it always tries to discredit and silence. Nor does it care about the scandal of the Roman clergy, or the discredit cast on the Auxiliary Bishop Msgr Libanori, who has been shamelessly denied. What is the lesson to be learnt by the faithful?
It is clear: if you are a heretic, corrupt, pervert, thief, sacrilegious and serial predator but you are Bergoglio's friend, you enjoy total impunity. If you are Catholic, live consistently with the Faith and do not follow the Argentine tyrant, persecution is certain, cruel and merciless. By now it is clear that the Bergoglian court does not serve the Church of Christ, but has embedded itself in it like a tumour to usurp its authority and destroy it from within" (https://twitter.com/CarloMVigano/status/1704076776706654631).
For me, what is most damningly revealing about the sinful state of the Church in all of this is not the scandalous wickedness of one man and his minions but THE ALMOST GENERAL SILENCE AMONG THE EPISOCOPATE, motivated (1) by ideological adherence to heresy, (2) corruption, (3) quisling careerism, or, in many cases, (4) a combination of the first three.
Posted by: Vito B. Caiati | Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 05:31 AM
Vito,
Your comments are highly valued since you know a lot more about the machinations of the Vatican than I do.
As for the GENERAL SILENCE this is a general human trait. As Jordan Peterson has pointed out, if we lived in Nazi Germany we would (almost) all be Nazis: we would (almost) all find clever ways of justifying our going along to get along. Or consider the almost TOTAL SILENCE of Democrats about the physical, mental, moral, and poliical unfitness for office of Traitor Joe. He is literally a traitor just like Bergoflio is (metaphorcally) a termite.
And you are right about "quisling careerism." Take Gen. Milley. WTF motivates that guy if not quisling careerism? Again it is a general human trait.
I would add to your astute analysis my bit about the role of concupiscence.
Posted by: BV | Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 06:31 AM
What I personally feel the lack of in this current deep corruption of the RCC, is the support and solidarity that should be there for the Truth and for living a moral life, when one says in public "I am a Catholic." That's gone. Now, to say that you are a Catholic, invites hard responses from the secular world, and makes living a moral life more difficult.
Posted by: Joe Odegaard | Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 07:31 AM
I agree that concupiscence should be added to list and perhaps given pride of place. A religion such as Catholicism, the real thing and not the facsimile of today, sets out a demanding path in matters of sexuality, one that is easily transgressed, opening the door to excuse making, scandal, and blackmail.
I also concur with your comment on “GENERAL SILENCE… [as] a general human trait” in the face of radical political parties, Left or Right, and regimes; however, and this is not to excuse the silent collaborators of yesterday year, it is one thing to keep silent when the penalty of opposition is the Soviet gulag, the Nazi concentration camp, or likely torture and death, and quite another when it involves no more that the loss of a bureaucratic position or reputation, as with the Catholic bishops and those officials in the American state who know Demo Party policies are destroying the nation. In these latter cases, the costs of telling the truth are lower and, therefore, the wrongness of silence is greater.
Posted by: Vito B. Caiati | Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 08:14 AM
Joe,
Hence the importance of 2A.
Posted by: BV | Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 09:48 AM
>>In these latter cases, the costs of telling the truth are lower and, therefore, the wrongness of silence is greater.<<
Yes.
Posted by: BV | Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 09:50 AM