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In First Diplomatic Address, Pope Francis Decries ‘Tyranny Of Relativism’

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Photo Credit: breitbart

In his first address on the world’s affairs to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis was very clear about one thing: no one should assume that because he is devoted to the poor and the goal of peace in the world, that he deviates from the substance of the message of his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

On Friday, the newly elected pontiff expressed serious concern for the “spiritual poverty” of the world as represented by a rejection of both God and objective standards of morality.

Borrowing a phrase from Benedict, Pope Francis told representatives from 180 nations that he rejects the “tyranny of relativism,” which, he said, “makes everyone his own criterion and endangers the coexistence of peoples.” Francis said that while he praised the efforts of those who “dedicate themselves to helping the sick, orphans, the homeless and all the marginalized,” he was equally concerned about the “spiritual poverty of our time, which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously.”

The pontiff asserted that the world cannot attain the goal of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, to build world peace, without truth. Referring to the “dictatorship of relativism,” and the importance of clear moral standards, Francis said, “There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion.”

Francis said that in choosing his new name he was evoking St. Francis of Assisi, a familiar figure to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Reminding the diplomats that the word “pontiff” means “bridge-builder,” the pope said that he hoped to create “real spaces of authentic fraternity” between peoples and cultures. “In this work, the role of religion is fundamental,” Francis said.

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Shock Claim: The Pope Seeks Immunity, the End of The Vatican Could Be Near

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Photo Credit: Getty Images The Pope will have immunity from prosecution regarding the mishandling of child sex crimes by staying within the walls of the Vatican, according to an anonymous Vatican source. Reuters reported Friday, Feb. 15, that church sources have explained that the retiring Pope Benedict would be “defenseless” if he leaves the Vatican.

This official news story comes on the heels of a statement issued by the International Tribunal into Crimes Against Church and State (ITCCS) that detailed the legal situation that surrounds the Pope and the Vatican. An unnamed European country and the ITCCS have issued a campaign to hold the Pope accountable for the Vatican’s cover-up of child sex crimes. There was an international arrest warrant secured for the Pope’s arrest:

“On Friday, February 1, 2013, on the basis of evidence supplied by our affiliated Common Law Court of Justice (itccs.org), our Office concluded an agreement with representatives of a European nation and its courts to secure an arrest warrant against Joseph Ratzinger, aka Pope Benedict, for crimes against humanity and ordering a criminal conspiracy.

The Tribunal and the unnamed European nation intend to take a lien against the property and wealth of the Catholic Church, beginning on Easter Sunday March 31. They are calling it an “Easter Reclamation Campaign,” part of which involves citizens seizing the assets of the Church under international law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

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A Godly Man In An Ungodly Age (+video)

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photo credit: sergey gabdurakhmanov“To govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

With those brave, wise, simple words, Benedict XVI announced an end of his papacy. How stands the Church he has led for eight years?

While he could not match the charisma of his predecessor, John Paul II, his has been a successful papacy. He restored some of the ancient beauty and majesty to the liturgy. He brought back to the fold separated Anglican brethren. The Church is making converts in sub-Saharan Africa. And in America, new traditionalist colleges and seminaries have begun to flourish.

That is looking back eight years. Looking back half a century, to that October day in 1962 when Pope John XXIII declared the opening of Vatican II, the Church appears to have been in a decline that, in parts of the world, seems to be leading to near extinction.

At Vatican II, the Rev. Joseph Ratzinger, the future Benedict XVI, was among the reformers who were going to bring the Church into the modern world. The encounter did not turn out well.

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A Signal From Above? Lightning Hits St Peter’s Hours After Pope Benedict Stuns Cardinals With First Resignation In 600 Years

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Photo Credit: EPAThe Catholic church was thrown into turmoil today after Pope Benedict XVI made the shock decision to quit the papacy because of his deteriorating health.

In a decision that has surprised even his closest aides, the 85-year-old Pontiff said his strength was ‘no longer adequate to continue in office due to his advanced age’.

He announced his resignation in Latin to a meeting of Vatican cardinals this morning, saying he did not have the ‘strength of mind and body’ to continue leading more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide.

Although officials said there had been no pressure for Benedict to resign, the internet is already awash with speculation that there was a more sinister reason behind his decision.

Speaking in one of the Vatican’s state rooms, the Pope today told cardinals: ‘After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.

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Pope At Odds With ‘Politically Correct’

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photo credit: onelaptopperchildPope Benedict XVI, 85, is resigning just as the biblical family is under assault, the willingness to kill the unborn is at an all-time high and President Obama has launched a number of efforts that limit the free exercise of religion.

Catholics around the world were stunned to hear the news that Benedict will resign his pontificate Feb. 28. The pontiff said he chose to resign because of his advanced age and worry about his ability to lead the 1-billion member church.

Elected April 19, 2005, to succeed the highly regarded John Paul II, Benedict was the oldest man to be elected pope in nearly 300 years.

Benedict saw evil first-hand as a young boy. Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger April 16, 1927, in Bavaria, he lived through the Great Depression in Germany and the horror of the National Socialist regime. In 1939 he, like all German 14-year-olds, was conscripted into the Hitler Youth.

He refused to attend meetings. Later he was conscripted as a child soldier; his elder brother Georg had been conscripted earlier. He risked his life in 1945 when he deserted and returned home.

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Pope Benedict XVI to Resign at the End of February

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Pope Benedict XVI will resign at the end of February, the Vatican Press Office tells Fox News.

The 85-year-old pontiff made the announcement Monday, saying he no longer had the strength to carry out his papal duties.

“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” the pope said according to a statement released by the Vatican.

He said he is aware of the “seriousness” of his resignation, but that he did so in “full freedom.”

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism among competing papal claimants. The sudden announcement sets the stage for the Vatican to hold a conclave to elect a new pope by mid-March, since the traditional mourning time that would follow the death of a pope doesn’t have to be observed. There are several papal contenders in the wings, but no obvious front-runner, according to Vatican watchers.

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Pope Benedict XVI: Find Room for God in Fast-Paced Modern World

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(Reuters) – Pope Benedict, leading the world’s Roman Catholics into Christmas, on Monday urged people to find room for God in their fast-paced lives filled with the latest technological gadgets.

The 85-year-old pope, marking the eighth Christmas season of his pontificate, celebrated a solemn Christmas Eve mass in St Peter’s Basilica, during which he appealed for a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and an end to the civil war in Syria.

At the mass for some 10,000 people in the basilica and broadcast to millions of others on television, the pope wove his homily around the theme of God’s place in today’s modern world.

“Do we have time and space for him? Do we not actually turn away God himself? We begin to do so when we have no time for him,” said the pope, wearing gold and white vestments.

“The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent. Our time is already completely full,” he said.

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Pope On Gay Marriage: ‘People Dispute the Idea That They Have a Nature’

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — The pope pressed his opposition to gay marriage Friday, denouncing what he described as people eschewing their God-given gender identities to suit their sexual choices — and destroying the very “essence of the human creature” in the process.

Benedict XVI made the comments in his annual Christmas address to the Vatican bureaucracy, one of his most important speeches of the year. He dedicated it this year to promoting traditional family values in the face of gains by same-sex marriage proponents in the U.S. and Europe and efforts to legalize gay marriage in places like France and Britain.

In his remarks, Benedict quoted the chief rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, in saying the campaign for granting gays the right to marry and adopt children was an “attack” on the traditional family made up of a father, mother and children.

“People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given to them by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being,” he said. “They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves.”

“The manipulation of nature, which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man’s fundamental choice where he himself is concerned,” he said.

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Nancy Pelosi’s New Catholic Archbishop: US may be moving toward despotism

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Photo credit: Leader Nancy Pelosi

Recent government attacks on religious liberty have made him fear the United States might be headed toward “despotism,” the newly appointed archbishop of San Francisco—a city represented by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi—warned in a recent speech.

“When I saw what was happening and my eyes were opened, it made me fear that we could be starting to move in the direction of license and despotism,” the Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone said at a May 24 conference on religious liberty at the Ethics in Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

In the same speech, Cordileone also said church leaders “cannot get political in the sense of being partisan,” while noting that protecting religious liberty was not a political issue but an issue of “first principles.”

Cordileone, who holds a doctorate in canon law, currently serves as bishop of Oakland, Calif., and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Subcommittee on the Defense and Promotion of Marriage. He has been a leading spokesman for Catholic teachings on marriage and sexual morality and an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage and civil unions.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cordileone archbishop of San Francisco on Friday. Cordileone will formally take up that position on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of San Francisco.

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