While the Patriarch of the West repeatedly either states or implies that Catholics should disengage from crucial social threats, or suggests that they do little in the face of dangerous inroads of government into the rights of Christians to live their lives free of compulsion to ignore their consciences, one high-ranking clergyman spoke up.
-Excerpt from an interview is below:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/english-exclusive-cardinal-burke-on-faith-the-right-to-life-and-the-family
"......10. The policy of the President of the US towards the Christian civilisation becomes more and more aggressive. Does Your Eminence notice any symptoms of Catholic reactions against this policy? If yes, what are they, if not why?
"It is true that the policies of the President of the United States of America have become progressively more hostile toward Christian civilization. He appears to be a totally secularized man who aggressively promotes anti-life and anti-family policies. Now he wants to restrict the exercise of the freedom of religion to freedom of worship, that is, he holds that one is free to act according to his conscience within the confines of his place of worship but that, once the person leaves the place of worship, the government can constrain him to act against his rightly-formed conscience, even in the most serious of moral questions. Such policies would have been unimaginable in the United States even 40 years ago. It is true that many faithful Catholics, with strong and clear leadership from their Bishops and priests, are reacting against the ever-growing religious persecution in the U.S. Sadly, one has the impression that a large part of the population is not fully aware of what is taking place. In a democracy, such a lack of awareness is deadly. It leads to the loss of the freedom which a democratic government exists to protect. It is my hope that more and more of my fellow citizens, as they realize what is happening, will insist on electing leaders who respect the truth of the moral law as it is respected in the founding principles of our nation."................"
*http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2013/09/pope-francis-bringing-church-western.html
".............I would welcome his words if he urged the developed countries to increase their assistance of agricultural development such as irrigation, soil improvement, and drought/disease resistant crops. He could have added that we would do well to improve access to water and provide jobs by building production facilities of any type in underdeveloped nations.
All of these would would be more in line with Christian principles than merely telling people that the right to property, with that of national sovereignty and cultural identity naturally following, essentially mean nothing. It would also be of far more benefit to help them from a position of - of not prosperity, which is fast leaving Western nations, at least of having more than what is necessary; a key acquirement for those who are called upon to help others rather than from a position of forced, mutually-shared ruin.
I respect the call to end what amounts to slavery in many nations, but Pope Francis is taking the position of the Left by having us infer that we have no right or reasons for our concerns.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/24/us-pope-refugees-idUSBRE98N0CT20130924
"Pope Francis urged countries on Tuesday to welcome and respect migrants and refugees and not treat them as "pawns on the chessboard of humanity".
Francis, who has made the defense of the poor and vulnerable a cornerstone of his papacy, said in a message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees that there should be a change in attitude on the part of host countries......
"They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more."...........
Immigration is a divisive issue in Europe and beyond. France's far-right National Front, which has an anti-immigrant policy, has been buoyed by improving poll numbers.
Italy's first black minister, Cecile Kyenge, who was born in Africa, has been the butt of racist comments from the anti-immigrant Northern League because she supports automatic citizenship for immigrant children born in Italy.
The steady flow of refugee boats is a also hot issue in Australia, polarizing voters this month's election.
The pope, whose own ancestors left Italy for Argentina in the early 20th century and lived through the Great Depression, called for "the elimination of prejudices and presuppositions" in the approach to migration.
"Not infrequently, the arrival of migrants, displaced persons, asylum-seekers and refugees gives rise to suspicion and hostility. There is a fear that society will become less secure, that identity and culture will be lost, that competition for jobs will become stiffer and even that criminal activity will increase," he said.......
["Yes, your Holiness, that is correct, but our concerns are not petty, nor are they without cause. They are derived from what we are already experiencing now. These are not irrational fears, they are realizations that everything that you mention is happening as we speak".]........."
**http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2013/10/pope-francis-papal-train-wreck.html
".......The Pope's idea of Christian love is one that can safely ignore the responsibility of the believer to act as a representative of the Faith, be it primarily by word or action.
Jesus clearly loved the woman caught in adultery, but he also directed her to "go and sin no more". No Gospel, epistle, or any great Christian writer would give the impression that love without instruction and correction is sufficient in any way.
God have mercy on us - the man who sits on the chair of Peter seems to be little more than a moral relativist who has a very low appreciation of true evil and the core message of the Gospel - sin, redemption, and a call to personal holiness......"
***http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2013/12/pope-francis-removes-conservative.html
"......ROME — Pope Francis moved on Monday against a conservative American cardinal who has been an outspoken critic of abortion and same-sex marriage, by replacing him on a powerful Vatican committee with another American who is less identified with the culture wars within the Roman Catholic Church........
Cardinal Burke, who came to the Vatican in 2008 after serving as archbishop of St. Louis, is a favorite of many conservative Catholics in the United States for his upholding of church rites and traditions favored by Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Burke’s preference for the long train of billowing red silk known as cappa magna, and other such vestments, has, however, made him seem out of step with Francis, who has made it clear through example that he prefers more humble attire.
Last week, Cardinal Burke also seemed to create more substantive daylight between himself and the pope, giving an interview in which he raised concerns about comments by Francis that the church should reduce the focus on abortion and same-sex marriage.
“One gets the impression, or it’s interpreted this way in the media, that he thinks we’re talking too much about abortion, too much about the integrity of marriage as between one man and one woman,” Cardinal Burke said of the pope in an interview with EWTN, a Catholic broadcaster. “But we can never talk enough about that.”..............
http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2014/02/mike-huckabee-and-pope-francis-two.html
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