Mike's Observations of the First Jesuit Pope
Within minutes after appearing for the first time to hundreds of thousands of Catholics in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope,
announced that he would be praying to Mary for the protection of Rome.
Not once did he mention the name above all names, the name of Jesus.
The Vatican released this statement about his first official act:
"Francis began his first day as pope with a visit to a Roman basilica
dedicated to the Virgin Mary and prayed before an icon of the Madonna."
No one must have told him that praying to anyone other than God is
forbidden by the Word of God (Ex. 20:4; 1 Tim. 2:5).
Okay...here we go again with this guy. As usual Gendron wants to make
an issue of Catholic Marian devotion, but of course he doesn't even
understand it even though he claims that he was once Catholic.Those who want an excellent and factual source for apologetics on Marian belief should invest $10.00 on...
During his first papal Mass, his message was not about the Lord Jesus Christ, but on Joseph, the husband of Mary. He asked, "How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church?" "By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God's presence and receptive to God's plans."This is nothing more than a desperation attempt with polemics. Who does Gendron think His Holiness is inspired by? Mickey Mouse? This is so shamefully weak as to be almost pitiful. Furthermore, isn't what Pope Francis said a very clear statement of what being a fully committed Christian really is all about?
Delegations from 33 Christian denominations and 132 national governments or international organizations, as well as Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist leaders, came to Rome for his inauguration mass. Among the many religious leaders who attended was the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians, Bartholomew I. He became the first patriarch to attend a papal ordination since the two branches of Christianity split nearly 1,000 years ago. Also attending for the first time was the chief rabbi of Rome. Their presence underscores the broad hopes for the pope's ecumenical and interfaith dialogue for unity.Gendron loves to bang on about this as if it's wrong, but if he didn't waste so much time on his anti-Catholic drivel and propaganda, he might actually win some souls. (See Proverbs 11:30)
The next day, the new pope met representatives of other Christian communities and other religious groups, including Jewish, Muslim and Jain communities. He described the spiritual bond between Catholics and Jews as "very special" and expressed gratitude to Muslim leaders. He also said he feels close to atheists, even praising them as allies; "who, although not claiming to belong to any religious tradition, still feel themselves to be in search of truth, goodness and beauty."Gendron would never make a good soldier because with this statement he shows he has no compunction about "friendly fire". A person who has some truth, even though it is not the fullness of same, at least has a point at which one can enter into dialog and this is exactly the tactic Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ used on many occasions. (See John 3, John 4, and Matthew 8:8-10 just for example). If Christ Himself sought the common ground from which to begin His evangelism then how can Gendron fault Pope Francis for doing that same thing?
The election of the new pope has polarized many evangelicals on the issue of Roman Catholicism. Many do not know whether Catholics should be treated as our brothers and sisters in Christ or as unbelievers who need to be evangelized. Evangelist Louis Palau, megachurch leader Rick Warren, former presidential candidate Gary Bauer and others have enthusiastically welcomed Pope Francis and his calls for ecumenical unity.Well Mike, maybe that's because, unlike you, they actually listen to what His Holiness says and don't just attack out of hand the way you do.
Others such as Pastor John MacArthur, Mike Gendron and Tom McMahon of the Berean Call have released strong warnings against the ecumenical compromise of the Gospel. John MacArthur gave a "must hear" message on the new pope entitled Usurping the Seat of Christ. It is a message that every evangelical and Catholic needs to hear.Big surprises here. NOT! That's like a short list of the most vitriolic anti-Catholic polemicists and propagandists around. The only reason that I would even consider listening to MacArthur's stuff is to refute it. "Berean Call", just like Gendron's own "Proclaiming the Gospel" are nothing more than ongoing anti-Catholic organizations that(as I have proved many times in my refutations of Gendron's tracts and articles) do anything but proclaim the authentic New Testament Gospel of Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
See:
- Response to Hard Questions to Ask Good Catholics (By Mike Gendron)
- Refuting anti-Catholic tract: "Rome vs The Bible" by Mike Gendron
- Refuting: "Is a Catholic Christian an Oxymoron?"
- Refuting Mike Gendron's attacks on Eucharistic Adoration
- Refuting Mike Gendron's tract "Are You Being Deceived?"
In the end, though, a majority of the bishops voted to overrule him, his only such loss in his six-year tenure as head of Argentina’s bishops’ conference. But throughout the contentious political debate, he acted as both the public face of the opposition to the law and as a bridge-builder, sometimes reaching out to his critics.
“He listened to my views with a great deal of respect,” said Marcelo Márquez, a gay rights leader and theologian who wrote a tough letter to Cardinal Bergoglio and, to his surprise, received a call from him less than an hour after it was delivered. “He told me that homosexuals need to have recognized rights and that he supported civil unions, but not same-sex marriage.”
Evangelicals must be ready to contend earnestly for the faith because this Jesuit pope's primary agenda is to bring undiscerning separated brethren back home to Rome.That's funny because all the converts I have met and talked with here at CAF have been very discerning people who took their time to check it all out before swimming the Tiber. Read any of the many threads on here where people talk about their conversion and you'll see that (as usual) Mike Gendron doesn't know what he's talking about.
He will use Catholic mysticism, apparitions of Mary, social gospels, liberation theology, unity accords and deceptive propaganda to accomplish his objectives.Really Gendron? So far, all His Holiness' messages have been calls to be more saintly and more diligent followers of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ and his own personal actions have been exemplary of Christ-like humility and love for others. Hate it for ya Mike, but your assertion just doesn't hold water.
The glory of God and the purity of the Gospel is at stake if Christians refuse to fight the good fight of faith. Don't worry Mr. Gendron. We Catholics will keep right on presenting the fullness of the original, full Gospel, New Testament, Christian message. We haven't refused "to fight the good fight of faith."
A Catholic sister then asked: I wonder, did he not hear the Holy Father's first homily about how if the Church forgets about Christ it ceases to be a Church and becomes a NGO?? I don't have the link to the homily but I thought it was really beautiful and perfectly sums up Pope Francis' beliefs. Catholicism is all about Christ.
Well said my friend! Here's a quote and a link.
Thirdly,
professing. We can walk as much as we want, we can build many things,
but if we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong. We may become a
charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord. When we are
not walking, we stop moving. When we are not building on the stones,
what happens? The same thing that happens to children on the beach when
they build sandcastles: everything is swept away, there is no solidity.
When we do not profess Jesus Christ, the saying of Léon Bloy comes to
mind: "Anyone who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil." When
we do not profess Jesus Christ, we profess the worldliness of the
devil, a demonic worldliness.
Journeying,
building, professing. But things are not so straightforward, because
in journeying, building, professing, there can sometimes be jolts,
movements that are not properly part of the journey: movements that
pull us back.
This
just shows all the more how this particular anti-Catholic misrepresents
almost anything Catholic and (it seems to me) that this is a serious
effort at deception that is unworthy of anyone who names themselves as a
follower of Christ. This propaganda is generally pretty simple to
refute by just looking at the facts. I always marvel that so many people are fooled into paying this guy's salary to be fed such misinformation. If I were someone who had supported Gendron's "ministry" and saw this kind of stuff, I think I'd be angry enough to cut off any support. That only makes common sense, doesn't it?
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