Pope Francis who has often said that we should never judge has unleashed one of his most brutal judgments against regular church-goers. During his General Audience of January 2, he condemned Catholics who go to church every day but who "go on hating" their fellow man. He said it “is better” that they not go.
"How many times have we witnessed the scandal of those who go to church and spend all day there or attend every day, and later go on hating others or speaking ill of people. This is a scandal," the pontiff said.
Francis speaks of those tradition-minded Catholics who earnestly correct him of his many errors. A troubled conscience indeed renders him defensive and touchy. While the ‘words’ of his Wednesday address carry much truth, they actually apply to Francis who has spent his pontificate detracting the dedicated and the whole of tradition.
The pope said, "It would be better to not go to church. Live like an atheist. If you go to church, then live like a son, like a brother, like an authentic witness, not a counter-witness."
By "counter-witness," he speaks of those loyal witnesses of tradition who counteract the modernist trend in the Church. Francis has a history of derogatorily referring to such witnesses as "superficial Christians," "Idolaters," "Gnostic", "climbers...attached to money," and "fomenters of coprophagia." He has regularly referred to traditional Catholics as "rigid" and dubs "museum mummies" those proponents of the Latin Mass who adhere to the traditions of the old Church. Consider this excerpt from his Gaudete et Exsultate:
"Not infrequently, contrary to the promptings of the Spirit, the life of the Church can become a museum piece or the possession of a select few. This can occur when some groups of Christians give excessive importance to certain rules, customs or ways of acting."
Francis also took a 'pop-shot' at vocal prayer. According to the pope, those who devoutly say their vocal prayers [Rosaries] out-loud in church are "hypocrites" engaging in mindless parrot-babbling without heart just so "they can be seen by people."
"Pagans," the pontiff said, "think they pray by talking, talking, and talking. I think that many Christians believe that praying is to talk to God, if you’ll forgive me, like a parrot. No, praying is done in the heart, from within."
His rant echoes the typical Protestant charge against “empty repeated prayers” said by Roman Catholics. And how interesting to note that his slight of vocal prayer comes just at a time when he is considering making a historic change to the most sacred and famous of all vocal prayers—the Our Father—on the grounds that this prayer as it is currently said “induces temptation.” Is it that Francis loves prayer from the heart or is he just barking against heartful prayer?
Certainly, he has gone out of his way to extol heartless rebels who bark against the Church—people like Luther, Bonino, Camara, and Castro. According to Francis, censured homosexuals and liberals are the "marginalized ones" that Jesus has "crowned with joy."
As we know, eulogizing rebels as martyrs is a commonly used ploy in the Communist movement. Alluding to this movement, the pope said, "This is the Gospel revolution. Everyone is capable of love. Peacemakers that until then had been on the margin of history are building the Kingdom of God." He emphasized, "Where the Gospel is, so too is revolution. The Gospel does not leave us unmoved. It pushes us; it is revolutionary."
His use of the word "revolutionary" suggests that the Church is a Marxist organization that Jesus set up to counteract institutionalized religion. Did Francis not say more than once that "the communists are the true Christians" and that "they have stolen our flag"? The inference is that the communists and not the Catholics deserve to carry the flag of "justice and peace."
Francis says, "It would be better not to go to church" than to spend "all day there" as "hypocrites." Amen, it would be better never to go to Church than to spend every day there trying to update and revolutionize the Church. Better that Renew hypocrites leave the Church, lest Christ suddenly come and sling them from His Temples!
Pope Francis: It’s better to be ‘atheist’ than attend daily mass as hypocrite
David Martin is the former moderator for St. Michaels Radio which is the one radio program of our time specializing in Catholic prophecy. He has also authored numerous articles on the Church and the Papacy which have appeared on various blogs and websites.
David presently resides in Los Angeles, California where for thirty years he has coordinated a Catholic ministry. He is a daily communicant in his parish church and strongly supports Benedict XVI’s aspiration to see the Traditional Latin Mass returned to every Catholic parish of the world.
Pope Francis who has often said that we should never judge has unleashed one of his most brutal judgments against regular church-goers. During his General Audience of January 2, he condemned Catholics who go to church every day but who "go on hating" their fellow man. He said it “is better” that they not go.
"How many times have we witnessed the scandal of those who go to church and spend all day there or attend every day, and later go on hating others or speaking ill of people. This is a scandal," the pontiff said.
