Thread: His Holiness The Pope of Rome

The Lords Prayer, sung in Jesus's tongue of Aramaic, moves the Holy Spirit in the Holy Father



These beardy Eastern Orthodox mad monks of Rasputin sure know how to bang out a timber-shiverin tune bejasus

About time they gave the job to a darkie

Looper, is this actually real?

I don't mean the institutionalised pederasty, we know that's a thing.
I mean the statue in Australia?

^That is real AFAIK Planners

The little angelic little boy even has his hand authentically cupping the imaginary Brother's balls just as I was taught in the sacristy after Mass in my altar boy vestments


I came across a hypnotising pentecostal changing sign from God while out on the bike today

But in the end I found an even more appealing place of worship in the one true faith in Broadbeach

This is a beauty and I will defo be coming back here

No way is Lulu-Lucifer going to prize this colossal crucified Christ of his perch

• Pope Francis cancels trip to Dubai for COP 28 conference on doctor's orders

Pope Francis has canceled a trip to a climate conference in Dubai on doctor's orders, according to the Holy See Press Office.

"Although the Holy Father's general clinical picture has improved with regard to his flu-like condition and inflammation of the respiratory tract, doctors have asked the Pope not to make the trip planned for the coming days to Dubai for the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said in a statement.

The pope’s scheduled to hold his weekly public audience Wednesday morning and has a few other appointments set for this week that have not been canceled.

"Pope Francis accepted the doctors' request with great regret and the trip is therefore cancelled," the statement continued. "While the willingness of the Pope and the Holy See to be part of the discussions taking place in the coming days remains, the modalities by which this can be made concrete will be defined as soon as possible."

He had been scheduled to leave Friday, give an address on Saturday and then return to Rome on Sunday afternoon.

On Nov. 25, the Vatican said Francis had gone to the hospital for a "checkup" after coming down with the flu.

On Monday, Bruni said the pope had receive a CT scan, which ruled out pneumonia, but showed lung inflammation "causing breathing difficulties."

Francis, 86, met with Spanish bishops on Tuesday morning and Italian news agency ANSA reported he met with the Pontifical commission for the care of minors and with a group of French victims of clerical abuse at his Santa Marta residence.

Bruni had said earlier Tuesday that Francis was doing "quite well" and outlined the plan for the COP 28 visit. He said the pope had been scheduled for 30 "brief" meetings with heads of state and government officials.

He was also supposed to deliver a speech in Spanish at the conference and one at the inauguration of the Faith Pavilion, according to Bruni.

Pope's participation in COP28 Summit cancelled at doctors' request - Vatican News

• Pope Francis reveals he will not be buried in Vatican

Pope Francis has said he has “already prepared” his tomb in a Rome basilica in a further sign of the pontiff’s quest to break from longstanding Vatican tradition.

Francis, who turns 87 on 17 December, told the Mexican broadcaster N+ that he would be laid to rest in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Esquilino neighbourhood in Rome, where he goes to pray before and after trips overseas.

Francis cancelled a trip to the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai after a bout of acute bronchitis in late November.

He has made more than 100 visits to the fifth-century basilica, where he prays in front of a venerated image of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus.

The pope told the journalist Valentina Alazraki that he had met the master of ceremonies in order to simplify papal funerals, adding: “I’ll launch a new ritual.”

Popes are usually buried with much fanfare in the grottoes beneath St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. “At the very least, this is another break with longstanding tradition, just like his decision not to live in the Apostolic Palace [the official papal residence],” said Paddy Agnew, a Vatican reporter for Ireland’s Sunday Independent.

The pope’s health has declined in recent years, forcing him to use a wheelchair and feeding speculation about him stepping aside, as did his predecessor Benedict XVI.

Francis had a colon operation in 2021 and was hospitalised in early April with bronchitis. The pope, who marked the 10th anniversary of his papacy in March, said in the interview that despite his health problems, he had “no thought of resigning”.

Francis has made his mark amid battles with a deeply conservative faction of the church, irked by his fixation on issues such as social inequality, the climate crisis and refugees. When asked about his health in an interview in September, he quipped: “Still alive … although some want me dead.”

Born to Italian immigrants, Francis had part of one lung removed in his early 20s while training to be a priest in his native Argentina.

Since May last year he has frequently been seen in a wheelchair or using a walking stick because of a knee ailment. The Vatican has not disclosed exactly what the problem is, but José María Villalón, the chief doctor at the Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid, was called upon to treat the issue.

Villalón, an expert in the field of sport traumatology, said in November last year that Francis, whom he described as “a very charming and very stubborn patient”, had made it clear he did not want surgery on his knee.

Not there yet, but moving in a good direction.

• Catholic Church will now bless same-sex couples

Catholic priests will now bless same-sex couples for the first time after Pope Francis formally approved the practice in a declaration released Monday.

While the blessings are a sharp change in Catholic practice, the declaration emphasizes that the church “remains firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage.”

“It is precisely in this context that one can understand the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage,” the declaration states.

While the church remained steadfast in its stance on marriage being between heterosexual couples, the declaration makes clear that it should not take “an exhaustive moral analysis” for same-sex couples to receive blessings.

The declaration goes on to say that “a blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God.”

“The request for a blessing, thus, expresses and nurtures openness to the transcendence, mercy, and closeness to God in a thousand concrete circumstances of life, which is no small thing in the world in which we live,” it states.

Francis had previously expressed openness to blessing same-sex couples in an October letter to conservative Cardinals.

The Rev. James Martin, who has advocated for the church to become more welcoming for LGBTQ people, said on X, formerly Twitter, that the decision was a “major step forward” that “recognizes the deep desire in many Catholic same-sex couples for God’s presence in their loving relationships.”

“Along with many priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex unions,” Martin wrote. He added in a subsequent post: “Be wary of the ‘Nothing has changed’ response to today’s news. It’s a significant change. In short, yesterday, as a priest, I was forbidden to bless same-sex couples at all. Today, with some limitations, I can.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who is Catholic, thanked the Pope in a post on X “for recognizing that we are all God’s children.”

“Being LGBTQ always has been a beautiful part of the magnificent creation that we call humanity,” he wrote.

Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson said on X that “Millions of lives will be released from judgement (sic) by this, many families reconciled, many hearts given comfort that were tormented before.”

According to Pew, there are 148 Catholics in the 118th Congress.

Doctrinal declaration opens possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations - Vatican News


a reminder

Here is a list of more than 30 countries where marriage equality exists:

• Netherlands: 2001
• Belgium: 2003
• Canada: 2005
• Spain: 2005
• South Africa: 2006
• Norway: 2009
• Sweden: 2009
• Iceland: 2010
• Portugal: 2010
• Argentina: 2010
• Denmark: 2012
• Uruguay: 2013
• New Zealand: 2013
• France: 2013
• Brazil: 2013
• England and Wales: 2014
• Scotland: 2014
• Luxembourg: 2015
• Ireland: 2015
• United States: 2015
• Greenland: 2016
• Colombia: 2016
• Finland: 2017
• Germany: 2017
• Malta: 2017
• Australia: 2017
• Austria: 2019
• Taiwan: 2019
• Ecuador: 2019
• Ireland: 2020
• Costa Rica: 2020
• Switzerland: 2022
• Mexico: 2022
• Chile: 2022
• Slovenia: 2022
• Cuba: 2022
• Andorra: 2023
• Estonia: 2024

^Get thee behind me Satan!

• Pope Francis Posts Political Christmas Message Amid Israel-Hamas War

Pope Francis has shared his thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war as Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem remain canceled.

Bethlehem is located in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank and is considered the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Usually a sacred place for Christians to celebrate Christmas, this year's festivities were canceled in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, who remain under fire from Israeli forces.

The Pontiff took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his thoughts on the ongoing Israeli war efforts in Gaza, which are retaliation to Palestinian militant group Hamas' surprise attack on October 7 that led to the death of 1,200 people in Israel. Around 20,400 people have been killed in Gaza, according to The Associated Press.

"Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world. #Christmas," wrote Pope Francis.

Jesus is sometimes referred to as the Prince of Peace, especially around Christmas time.

On Friday, the pope announced he had sent papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, to the Holy Land as a "sign of his solidarity amid the tragedy of war." The papal almoner is responsible for performing works of mercy on behalf of the pope.

Krajewski will spend Christmas with the local church in the place of Jesus' birth and has previously personally delivered humanitarian aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.

"Cardinal Krajewski will join this great invocation for peace together with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the entire local church, to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace and the only hope of our world," a release from the Vatican stated.

Pope Francis invited everyone to accompany the cardinal's journey in prayer, "in order to obtain the gift of peace in areas where the thunder of weapons continues to roar."

"Pope Francis, saddened by the 'third world war fought piecemeal' that afflicts the world, prays every day for peace, calling for an end to the conflicts that stain the earth: in martyred Ukraine, in Syria, in many countries in Africa, and now in Israel and Palestine," read the statement.

Pope Francis had warned of a "mountain of dead" piling up in Gaza and Israel, and described the conflict there as "terrorism."

"This is what wars do. But here we have gone beyond wars. This is not war. This is terrorism," the Pontiff told an audience in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City in November.

Earlier that week, he shared a video message to X in which he said: "The Palestinian people and the people of Israel have the right to live in peace: two fraternal peoples.

"Let us #PrayTogether for peace in the Holy Land, so that disputes may be resolved through dialogue and negotiations, and not with a mountain of dead on each side."


Pope: May Christmas bring peace to our world and turn sorrow into joy - Vatican News

• Pope laments ‘indiscriminate striking’ of civilians in Gaza and Ukraine wars

Pope Francis on Monday denounced the killing of civilians amid ongoing conflicts around the world, including in Gaza and Ukraine.

In an address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, the head of the Catholic Church said “modern wars no longer take place only on clearly defined battlefields, nor do they involve soldiers alone.”

The pope delivered a warning to aggressor nations: “In a context where it appears that the distinction between military and civil objectives is no longer respected, there is no conflict that does not end up in some way indiscriminately striking the civilian population,” he said, adding, “the events in Ukraine and Gaza are clear proof of this.”

“We must not forget that grave violations of international humanitarian law are war crimes, and that it is not sufficient to point them out, but also necessary to prevent them,” he added.

The pope’s remarks come as Israel continues military strikes against Palestinians, killing at least seven civilians in Jenin City in the occupied West Bank and two journalists in southern Gaza on Sunday.

South Africa has brought a case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the highest U.N. court, which will hold hearings this week.

Pope Francis condemned Hamas’ violent attack against Israel on October 7, which he said provoked a “strong Israeli military response in Gaza which has led to the death of tens of thousands of Palestinians, mainly civilians, including many young people and children, and has caused an exceptionally grave humanitarian crisis and inconceivable suffering.”

“This is not the way to resolve disputes between peoples; those disputes are only aggravated and cause suffering for everyone,” he said, renewing his appeal for a cease-fire “on every front, including Lebanon, and the immediate liberation of all the hostages held in Gaza.”

Referring to the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine, the pope said “the greatly desired peace has not yet managed to take root in minds and hearts after nearly two years of large-scale war waged by Russia against Ukraine despite the great numbers of victims and the massive destruction.”

Pope Francis: 'Peace is a responsibility incumbent on all of us'

_________

• Pope Francis blasts surrogacy as "deplorable" practice that turns a child into "an object of trafficking"

Pope Francis on Monday called for surrogate motherhood to be banned worldwide, calling the practice of surrogacy "deplorable" and saying an unborn child "cannot be turned into an object of trafficking."

In a wide-ranging speech to ambassadors of the 184 countries that have diplomatic relations with the Vatican, the pope said surrogacy represented a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child and that it exploited surrogate mothers' financial circumstances.

"A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract," Francis said.

In 2022, the pope called surrogacy "inhuman," saying "women, almost all poor, are exploited, and children are treated like goods."

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Pope Francis on Monday denounced the killing of civilians amid ongoing conflicts around the world, including in Gaza and Ukraine.

Pedo#1 has had enough of this shit.
He's about to get Old Testament on these warmongers.

• ‘Sexual pleasure a gift from God’ but avoid porn, Pope Francis advises

“Sexual pleasure is a gift from God” but Catholics must avoid pornography, Pope Francis has said.

The pontiff made the remarks during a catechesis devoted to the “vice of lust” at his general audience in Saint Peter’s Square on Wednesday.

Sexual pleasure was something to be cherished, he said, but it was being “undermined by pornography”, and “satisfaction without a relationship can generate forms of addiction”.

“We must defend love,” the pope said. But he added: “Winning against the battle of lust can be a lifelong undertaking.”

Francis appeared to be responding to his conservative critics, who were incensed last week after a book resurfaced featuring sexually explicit content written decades ago by the Vatican’s head of doctrine.

The book, now out of print, by Víctor Manuel Fernández, an Argentinian cardinal close to Francis who was already known as the author of another sexually charged book written in his youth, included a chapter describing the differences between male and female orgasms.

In response to the more recent scandal, Fernández, whose appointment to one of the Vatican’s most powerful positions was criticised by conservative cardinals, told Crux: “I would certainly not write [that] now.”

In 2022, during a talk with seminarians about the dangers of social media, the pope warned against the “devil” of digital pornography, while admitting that priests and nuns also watch online porn. “It is a vice that so many people have. So many laymen, so many laywomen, and also priests and nuns,” he said. “The devil enters from there.”

In late 2020, the Vatican was left in an embarrassing predicament when it was forced to “seek explanations from Instagram” after Pope Francis’s official Instagram, which along with his other social media accounts is managed by a team of people, “liked” a photo of the Brazilian model Natalia Garibotto. The “like” from the pope’s account was visible on Garibotto’s page for several days before being unliked.

The Vatican said at the time: “We can exclude that the ‘like’ came from the Holy See”.

Natalia Garibotto

• Pope Francis accused of opposing reforms to tackle clerical sexual abuse

Pope Francis has been accused of opposing reforms that would seriously address the problem of clerical sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults, while “turning a blind eye” to priests who assault nuns and force them to have abortions.

Francis promised to “spare no effort” to bring to justice paedophile priests and the bishops who covered up their crimes at an unprecedented summit in February 2019, an event that was supposed to mark a turning point in the handling of a scandal that has embroiled the Catholic church for decades.

A week before the summit, Francis became the first pontiff to publicly admit that priests had also sexually abused nuns, some of whom shared testimony during the event, and pledged to do more to fight the problem.

Three months later, the Vatican established procedures for every diocese to report allegations of abuse and foster accountability for the actions of bishops and cardinals. Francis also abolished the rule of “pontifical secrecy” – a kind of code of confidentiality – in an effort to improve transparency in sexual abuse cases.

Five years on, activists for the survivors of clerical sexual abuse say Francis has failed to fulfil his promises and the new rules have made little impact.

On Tuesday Anne Barrett Doyle, a co-founder of BishopAccountability, which tracks alleged clergy sexual abuse cases, cited 10 cases since 2019 that allegedly show the pope favoured accused bishops and clerics over their victims. The cases include that of Marko Rupnik, who was excommunicated in 2020 after accusations of sexual and psychological assault against nuns dating back three decades, but in 2023 was accepted into a diocese in his native Slovenia.

“It would be one thing if we were coming here to talk about an overall good record with an occasional inconsistency, but we’re not, we’re talking about a continued pattern of the pope backing accused abusers,” Doyle told reporters in Rome. “It’s not that this pope doesn’t have his heart in reform or is maybe being blocked by other members of the curia. I believe he is opposed to reform – his measures have been designed to produce little impact.”

Meanwhile, the Vatican had been aware of the abuse of nuns by priests for decades before the public acknowledgment by Francis, but “nothing has come of his commitment” to fight the issue, said Doris Reisinger, an activist and survivor of clerical sexual abuse who authored a research paper on the girls and women impregnated by priests and their subsequent forced abortions.

“While the pope publicly condemns abortion, comparing it to hiring a hitman, he turns a blind eye to the priests who force nuns into having abortions,” said Reisinger.

Reisinger said that while some nuns had come forward about abuse since 2019, they were mostly too afraid to speak out. There is scant care for abused nuns, many of whom have been thrown out of their orders and made homeless, and under canon law they “have no status at all”, she said.

“The pope has admitted abuse of nuns but he has not acted on it,” said Reisinger. “And we have never heard a pope or bishop acknowledge coerced abortion at the hands of priests. They always treat abortion as a female issue yet they have never spoken about priests forcing abortions, despite knowing it is going on.”

In her research, Reisinger had come across cases in which the priest paid for an abortion, including one occasion when money from the offertory collection was used.

El Popo needs to beef up his security. This Orthodox bible-basher Mar Mari Emmanuel started popping up on my youtube feed a couple of months ago. Then tonight he got stabbed while doing a livestream of his mass.

Sydney church stabbing: crowds clash with police after bishop allegedly stabbed during mass | New South Wales | The Guardian

Looks like he gets stabbed in the eye which is pretty nasty



Just 2 days after the Sydney shopping center stabbing.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Three months later, the Vatican established procedures for every diocese to report allegations of abuse and foster accountability for the actions of bishops and cardinals. Francis also abolished the rule of “pontifical secrecy” – a kind of code of confidentiality – in an effort to improve transparency in sexual abuse cases.

The organization committing the crimes investigating the criminals. Ridiculous innit? The catholic church, like any organization, has to be investigated by the same government agencies that investigates and prosecutes all crimes comitted in a particular country. Lock em up!

Appears to be shedloads of Bishop bashing downunder

Originally Posted by Looper

Then tonight he got stabbed while doing a livestream of his mass.

Some divine retribution was apparently doled out by the irate flock after they subdued the knife-wielding nutter.

Somehow his finger was accidentally cut of while he was being held down and could not be located after police arrived. I hope it was not the one he uses to pick his nose with.

Nocookies | Sky News Australia

These Eastern Orthodox Christians are hardcore and almost as rabid as our Muslim Abrahamic brethren when they get fired up.

They wrecked a bunch of police cars that attended in a minor riot and broke a coppers tooth.


Brother Emmanuel is rockin a groovy hat-scarf in this micro-sermon



I might get one of them to keep my ears warm in the forest this winter