It is now official that the attack in Nice, France, on Bastille Day, July 14, 2016, was an act of terrorism. [1] " In a telegram sent on his behalf by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis has condemned the terror attack in Nice and expressed his profound sadness and his spiritual closeness to the French people." [2]
This entry analyzes the content of the telegram. First, the pope condemned the terror attack and commiserated with the French people, as would any head of state, and the pope as head State of Vatican City, was correct to make this secular condemnation. Then, as the head of the Catholic church, he expressed a sense of "spiritual closeness." Is that spiritual closeness not always present but only arises when there is a tragedy, if it did indeed arise? Only he and God knows the truth. What good does the pope's spiritual closeness do for the victims of the attack (not much, if any) and how effective (not effective at all) is it at stopping, or at least reduce the frequency of, such acts of terror?
So what should this pope have done instead? A lot, in this blogger's opinion. For example, he could banish his secular thoughts and fill them with holy ones, replace his power-obsessed egomania with humility and believe in the Blessed Virgin Mary Who in many apparitions urged people to pray and do penance for the conversion of sinners [3] rather than in himself.
He had not asked, or it had not crossed his mind to ask, the world to pray the rosary daily and do penance for the conversion of sinners. Instead, he chose to express his worthless "profound sadness" and his meaningless "spiritual closeness" at a time when spiritual leadership and guidance would have been beneficial.
"The telegram continued by saying that [he] 'entrusts to the Mercy of God those who have lost their lives...'" Catholics ought to pray for God's mercy, including the innocent victims of this terror attack in the French Riviera, for no victim is completely sin-free, but the pope did not ask his flock to pray for mercy as instructed by the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima. "'Do you want to learn a prayer?' the [Fatima] vision asked, 'Yes we do!' the children responded. 'When you recite the Rosary, say at the end of each decade: Oh My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy.' [4] Accordingly, it ought to be the person who took the lives of so many, as well as those who were behind his heinous action, that the pope should also "entrust to the Mercy of God" because they would be "most in need of [Jesus'] Mercy."
The telegram then concluded "by imploring from God the gift of 'peace and harmony...'" When did God or the Son of God speak of or grant the gift of "harmony?" This blogger does not know, but thinks that "harmony" is a concept that is central to the Chinese "Dao." "The dominant interpretation in traditional China is that Dao represents the source of the original, undifferentiated, essential qi-energy, the 'One,' which in turn produces the yin and yang cosmic forces. While the 'lighter,' more rarefied yang energy-stuff rises to form heaven, the “heavier” yin solidifies to become earth. A further 'blending' of the two generates a 'harmonious' qi-energy that informs human beings. [5]
Maybe this pope wants to infuse the bad (sins that are being committed on this earth) with the good (Heaven) so that man can live in harmony with all his iniquities while being happily at peace with God (if only God sees it that way -- God does not, not after putting Jesus, God's only Son, up for torture, torment and crucifixion for the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of souls). If that is the pope's objective, he surely is the self-righteous sinners' pope, or as some have labeled him, the people's pope.
[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/16/nice-terror-attack-truck-driver-who-killed-84-named-as-loner-fre/
[2] http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/07/15/pope_on_nice_attack_condemns_blind_violence/1244452
[3] http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/appdisce/nineapps.html
[4] http://www.theholyrosary.org/fatimaapparitions, under the "Third apparition of Our Lady."
[5] http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/laozi/, at section 6 "Dao and Virtue."
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