William Levada was a United States Cardinal, the "former head of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation and retired archbishop of San Francisco and Portland, Oregon." [1] Born "June 15, 1936," in "Long Beach, California," [2] he "died [September 26, 2019,] in Rome. He was 83." [3]
Not knowing the reasons, this blogger liked him very much.
9/29/19 Update: "[Sante Fe, New Mexico,] Archbishop John Wester[, former Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco,] stated this morning [(September 26, 2019)], 'The Cardinal always gave of himself selflessly to the Church that he loved so much, and he used all of his abilities in her service. The gift that always impressed me most was the gift of his heart. He had great compassion for the priests and people of the Church..'" [4]
For more on William Levada, see the commentary entitled Remembering Cardinal William Levada (1936-2019) written by Father Raymond J. de Souza. [5]
[1] https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/us-cardinal-william-levada-former-doctrinal-head-dies-rome
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Levada
[3] https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/us-cardinal-william-levada-former-doctrinal-head-dies-rome
[4] https://sfarchdiocese.org/cardinal-levada-memorial
[5] http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/remembering-cardinal-william-levada-1936-2019
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Nouns & Adjectives
"Pope Francis urged people not to describe Christianity with
qualifiers and adjectives. 'We have fallen into the culture of adjectives
and adverbs, and we have forgotten the strength of nouns,' he said." [1]
As the head of Catholic Christianity, here is a noun to describe Bergoglio: HYPOCRITE!
Is that good enough for you, Bergoglio?
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/24/us/pope-adjectives-intl-hnk-scli/index.html
As the head of Catholic Christianity, here is a noun to describe Bergoglio: HYPOCRITE!
Is that good enough for you, Bergoglio?
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/24/us/pope-adjectives-intl-hnk-scli/index.html
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Clerics Confusing Freedom Of Religion With Freedom Of Speech
As defined in this blog entry, freedom of speech is the freedom to express one's views freely without government interference and any fear of prosecution. Freedom of religion is defined similarly. However, religion ceases to be a religion when its clerics step outside of their religious roles and engage in opining on and partaking in matters that are political.
Many clerics find the need to speak out publicly on every issue they disagree with when they ought to give a hand to those in need, like the Good Samaritan [1], and to "'love [their] enemies and pray for those who persecute [them].'" [2]
Who does that nowadays? Clerics are more interested in securing power, raising funds and mastering hypocrisy.
To add confusion upon confusion, it has become unclear on many fronts as to who are the persecutors and who are the persecuted, who are the victims and who are the attackers. Each side believes it is never wrong. Only God is always right.
This blogger will go as far as to say that the spirit of Christ is either dead or nearly dead in everyone's hearts and minds and it needs to be either resurrected or resuscitated.
[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A25-37&version=NIV
[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A43-48&version=NIV
Many clerics find the need to speak out publicly on every issue they disagree with when they ought to give a hand to those in need, like the Good Samaritan [1], and to "'love [their] enemies and pray for those who persecute [them].'" [2]
Who does that nowadays? Clerics are more interested in securing power, raising funds and mastering hypocrisy.
To add confusion upon confusion, it has become unclear on many fronts as to who are the persecutors and who are the persecuted, who are the victims and who are the attackers. Each side believes it is never wrong. Only God is always right.
This blogger will go as far as to say that the spirit of Christ is either dead or nearly dead in everyone's hearts and minds and it needs to be either resurrected or resuscitated.
[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A25-37&version=NIV
[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A43-48&version=NIV
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Mercy And Democracy
Democracy is defined as "government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system." [1]
Mercy is defined as "compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence." [2]
This blogger wonders if those who thinks that democracy is the greatest form of government ever question God Who is not elected? Does God listen to the wishes of the majority? Or is God, Creator of all, a merciless tyrant Who can condemn souls to Hell for an eternity, or is God a benevolent dictator Who can forgive and grant souls an eternity in Heaven?
In a democracy, people from different factions want to have their way; they want to have power; they do not love their enemies; they want to restrict their enemies' freedom of choice; they want to take away their enemies' Free Will given by God. In a tyranny, the same applies. This is permitted by God Who gave to every person Free Will.
It is those who will the gift of Free Will back to God and who do God's will who are the children of God.
Even those who crave power, who are liars and hypocrites and who kill directly and indirectly, who create suffering for many are also children of God. Whether they would be forgiven is for God to decide.
There is only one Judge, one Ruler and He is God Almighty. The democrats and the tyrants (as if there even is a difference between them) of the world find it difficult to accept that anyone is greater and more powerful than them. They are envious; they want absolute control; they do not tolerate differences in opinion. What little love that is in their hearts is completely overshadowed by an overabundance of pride. If they can destroy Heaven and God, they would most likely do so. Perhaps democrats and tyrants have already started by becoming secular, and the theocrats are continuing to politicize a supreme being.
Even Bergoglio has politicized Catholicism by emphasizing differences among different factions rather than uniting them under the One God by leading them to the Father through unconditional love.
This is a merciless world with relatively few exceptions. The political mercy that is shown is symbolic. It is all talk and no action. There is no real plan for those who are homeless, who live in poverty, who are drug-addicted and who are violent. These societal problems can be solved when everybody sees a future, is able to afford a home, pay for health care and for other necessities for themselves and their loved ones and is to be able to live comfortably, when in other words poverty is eradicated for good.
Chirst said, "The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me." [3] Both these predictions have come true. The first part focuses on the poor. The poor will always be around not because poverty is an inevitability. It is because people are selfish and do not act together to eliminate poverty which people can do easily. The second part focuses on Christ Himself. Christ is always around but that seems to contradict what the words on their face indicate. If one reads carefully these words: "but YOU will not always have me" means that people will not always have Christ on their minds and in their hearts.
If poverty is wiped out and everyone has Christ on their minds and in their hearts, then mercy replaces democracies, tyrannies and theocracies, then there is only one Ruler and one Judge Who is God. The world will then be a place of peace.
[1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/democracy
[2] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mercy?s=t
[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A11&version=NIV, quoted without reference.
Mercy is defined as "compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence." [2]
This blogger wonders if those who thinks that democracy is the greatest form of government ever question God Who is not elected? Does God listen to the wishes of the majority? Or is God, Creator of all, a merciless tyrant Who can condemn souls to Hell for an eternity, or is God a benevolent dictator Who can forgive and grant souls an eternity in Heaven?
In a democracy, people from different factions want to have their way; they want to have power; they do not love their enemies; they want to restrict their enemies' freedom of choice; they want to take away their enemies' Free Will given by God. In a tyranny, the same applies. This is permitted by God Who gave to every person Free Will.
It is those who will the gift of Free Will back to God and who do God's will who are the children of God.
Even those who crave power, who are liars and hypocrites and who kill directly and indirectly, who create suffering for many are also children of God. Whether they would be forgiven is for God to decide.
There is only one Judge, one Ruler and He is God Almighty. The democrats and the tyrants (as if there even is a difference between them) of the world find it difficult to accept that anyone is greater and more powerful than them. They are envious; they want absolute control; they do not tolerate differences in opinion. What little love that is in their hearts is completely overshadowed by an overabundance of pride. If they can destroy Heaven and God, they would most likely do so. Perhaps democrats and tyrants have already started by becoming secular, and the theocrats are continuing to politicize a supreme being.
Even Bergoglio has politicized Catholicism by emphasizing differences among different factions rather than uniting them under the One God by leading them to the Father through unconditional love.
This is a merciless world with relatively few exceptions. The political mercy that is shown is symbolic. It is all talk and no action. There is no real plan for those who are homeless, who live in poverty, who are drug-addicted and who are violent. These societal problems can be solved when everybody sees a future, is able to afford a home, pay for health care and for other necessities for themselves and their loved ones and is to be able to live comfortably, when in other words poverty is eradicated for good.
Chirst said, "The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me." [3] Both these predictions have come true. The first part focuses on the poor. The poor will always be around not because poverty is an inevitability. It is because people are selfish and do not act together to eliminate poverty which people can do easily. The second part focuses on Christ Himself. Christ is always around but that seems to contradict what the words on their face indicate. If one reads carefully these words: "but YOU will not always have me" means that people will not always have Christ on their minds and in their hearts.
If poverty is wiped out and everyone has Christ on their minds and in their hearts, then mercy replaces democracies, tyrannies and theocracies, then there is only one Ruler and one Judge Who is God. The world will then be a place of peace.
[1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/democracy
[2] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mercy?s=t
[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A11&version=NIV, quoted without reference.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Holy See Budget Deficit
Quoted from spiritdaily.org [1]:
If sex scandals and denials of sex scandals [2], [3] are not enough to ruin the Vatican, its deficit could.
[1] https://spiritdaily.org/blog/news/pope-orders-vatican-to-shrink-budget-deficit
[2] See article entitled Theodore McCarrick Still Won't Confess at: https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/09/theodore-mccarrick-archbishop-interview-kansas-sexual-abuse.html
[3] See article entitled Bishop Malone: “This could be the end for me as bishop . . . It could force me to resign” at https://www.wkbw.com/news/i-team/the-malone-recordings/bishop-malone-this-could-be-the-end-for-me-as-bishop-it-could-force-me-to-resign?fbclid=IwAR0-LTIuAp2E_eJcPrP2foQxzBS3vrR_MbsElYq7_jtoDRseU0QwSE_RmGg
VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis ordered Vatican officials to close a widening budget deficit at the Holy See and stop poorly managed spending and investments from undermining the operations of the Catholic Church’s global headquarters.
The Holy See’s deficit doubled in 2018 to roughly €70 million ($76.7 million) on a budget of about €300 million, reflecting persistent inefficiencies and hits to investment income, according to senior Vatican officials. The gap is a measure of how the pope has fallen short of his mandate when elected six years ago to overhaul the Vatican’s management and finances. The Vatican also remains without a finance chief more than two years after the last one, Cardinal George Pell, left to face sex-abuse charges in Australia.
If sex scandals and denials of sex scandals [2], [3] are not enough to ruin the Vatican, its deficit could.
[1] https://spiritdaily.org/blog/news/pope-orders-vatican-to-shrink-budget-deficit
[2] See article entitled Theodore McCarrick Still Won't Confess at: https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/09/theodore-mccarrick-archbishop-interview-kansas-sexual-abuse.html
[3] See article entitled Bishop Malone: “This could be the end for me as bishop . . . It could force me to resign” at https://www.wkbw.com/news/i-team/the-malone-recordings/bishop-malone-this-could-be-the-end-for-me-as-bishop-it-could-force-me-to-resign?fbclid=IwAR0-LTIuAp2E_eJcPrP2foQxzBS3vrR_MbsElYq7_jtoDRseU0QwSE_RmGg
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