There are two articles written by Mr. Joseph Hippolito here. The first was published on March 9th, and the second on March 16th.

I do not write what I am to write here to offend anyone within the Church of Rome, but that large body of people worldwide has been theologically bankrupt and unsound in its doctrines and teachings for millennia. This is nothing new. A long history of practices, and beliefs foreign to true Christianity and the Word of God.

But in recent years the Church of Rome has accelerated this inward moral and theological decay and the visible turning from any remnant of following God, Jesus, and the Bible while running with arms spread wide to embrace abomination after abomination and unsound teaching upon unsound teaching. By our fruits, we are known and far too many are harvesting and ingesting and selling the fruits of the world, their love of the world rather than their love of God, their love of God’s Word.

Matters have just gotten worse, a whole lot worse recently.

And they will continue to erode and grow further from anything resembling Christianity.

Just the facts. If you read this and take offence I would urge you to take the time to compare and contrast the teachings, practices, beliefs, doctrines, and history of the Church of Rome against the Word of God.

For that is the only way to measure.

But how many denominations, churches, pastors, preachers, priests, and those calling themselves God’s people, followers of Christ, and Christians bother with the Holy Bible at this point in history? Not many. The proof is in the rancid poisonous pudding cooked up and stirred and poured out and devoured as if it were the elixir of life as millions delude themselves on the road to perdition and eternal death alien to God, removed from Christ rather than in Christ, and devoid of the truth.

If offended search the Word of God, and go to the Lord in prayer. Desire the truth rather than the teachings of this fallen and corrupted world.

I have differentiated the two articles by stating when they were originally published by Mr. Hippolito on FrontPageMag.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20

A Tree and Its Fruit

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

I Never Knew You

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Matthew 7:15-23

Ken Pullen, A CROOKED PATH, March 17th, 2023

 

Gender Ideology and the Church of Rome

Flirting with theological and moral bankruptcy.

 

March 09 & 16, 2023

By

Reprinted from FrontPageMag

 

THE FOLLOWING IS THE MARCH 9TH ARTICLE:

As it confronts perhaps the ultimate challenge to its credibility, the Catholic Church finds itself in full-fledged freefall.

Two American bishops publicly and strongly disagree about whether lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, or queer Catholics need to repent of their sexual behavior. One, the recently appointed cardinal of San Diego, argued for what he called “radical inclusion” without repentance. Another, a specialist in canon law, did more than disagree vigorously. He called his fellow prelate a heretic who should be relieved of his position.

Meanwhile, as his church burns, Pope Francis imitates that great Roman violinist, Nero.

San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy, whom Francis promoted in August, called for “radical inclusion” of lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and queer Catholics and removing “structures and cultures of exclusion” in a January 24th article for America, the Jesuit magazine. Those “structures” include a doctrine demanding that anyone engaging in sexual sin becomes ineligible to receive Communion, which Catholics call the Eucharist, “without previous sacramental confession,” canon law states.

“The exclusion of men and women because of their marital status or their sexual orientation/activity is pre-eminently a pastoral question, not a doctrinal one,” wrote McElroy, who criticized “a theology of eucharistic coherence that multiplies barriers to the grace and gift of the eucharist. Unworthiness cannot be the prism of accompaniment for disciples of the God of grace and mercy.” (Emphasis in original)

For McElroy, neither repentance nor sexual behavior matter.

“The distinction between orientation and activity cannot be the principal focus,” he wrote, “because it inevitably suggests dividing the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender community into those who refrain from sexual activity and those who do not.”

In disregarding repentance for sexual sin, McElroy went even further.

“The effect of the tradition that all sexual acts outside of marriage constitute objectively grave sin has been to focus the Christian moral life disproportionately upon sexual activity,” he wrote. “The heart of Christian discipleship is a relationship with God the Father, Son and Spirit rooted in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church has a hierarchy of truths that flow from this…Sexual activity, while profound, does not lie at the heart of this hierarchy.”

McElroy, in perhaps his most passionate rhetoric, apparently views anything other than blind acceptance as hate.

“It is a demonic mystery of the human soul why so many men and women have a profound and visceral animus toward members of the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender communities,” he wrote. “The church’s primary witness in the face of this bigotry must be one of embrace rather than distance or condemnation.”

Compare McElroy’s views with the Catholic catechism:

“Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. … Under no circumstances can they be approved.”

In the Bible, Leviticus listed homosexuality among other sexual behaviors considered “detestable.” Jesus defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Paul, a former Pharisee, described homosexual acts as “shameful” and practicing homosexuals as unable to “inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill. quoted the catechism in his rebuttal to McElroy, which appeared February 28th in First Things magazine. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently elected Paprocki as chairman of its Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance.

” … it is contrary to a ‘truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith’ to reject or condemn ‘a theology of eucharistic coherence that multiplies barriers to the grace and gift of the eucharist,’ as if no such barriers existed,” Paprocki wrote in quoting McElroy’s article. “They do exist, and they are a matter of divine revelation.”

Paprocki also quoted several sections of canon law in asserting that “a cardinal of the Catholic Church, like any other Catholic who denies settled Catholic teaching, embraces heresy, the result of which is automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church,” he wrote.

Promoting heresy, Paprocki continued, would result in a cleric losing any offices, powers and privileges, and could even mean being defrocked if the problem is serious or long-standing. But Paprocki added a pivotal stipulation.

“Only the pope can remove a cardinal from office or dismiss him from the clerical state in the case of heresy or other grave crimes,” he wrote. “If he does not do so, the unseemly prospect arises of a cardinal, excommunicated … due to heresy, voting in a papal conclave.”

So what will Francis do? Probably nothing, which reflects his passive strategy to promote the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and queer agenda.

As FrontPage Magazine reported in December, Francis uses his rhetoric to defend historic teaching. He even called gender theory “ideological colonization” and supported the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s decision in 2021 not to allow German bishops to bless same-sex unions.

But the pope’s actions reveal apathy toward, if not support for, homosexual behavior and activism.

As FrontPage Magazine reported in the same article, Francis’ appointments reflect his attitude. One is Cardinal Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life and the former president of the Pontifical Council on the Family. Before coming to Rome, Paglia commissioned and personally supervised work on a homoerotic painting for his cathedral. That painting featured a scene showing the semi-nude archbishop embracing a semi-nude male.

As president of the now-defunct Pontifical Council for the Family, Paglia in 2016 approved a sex-education program for teens that a Catholic psychiatrist called “the most dangerous threat to Catholic youth that I have seen over the past 40 years.”

Another appointment is the Rev. James Martin, America’s editor-at-large who serves as a communications advisor. Martin regularly uses his speaking engagements and media platforms to promote the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and queer agenda. For example, Martin told a gay man at Villanova University in 2017, “I hope in 10 years you will be able to kiss your partner (in church) or, you know, soon to be your husband. Why not? What’s the terrible thing?”

Two years later, Martin admitted on Twitter that the Bible “clearly condemns” homosexual sex. “The issue,” he continued, “is precisely whether the biblical judgement is correct.”

In 2021, Martin tweeted opposition to a pastoral letter condemning gender ideology from Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Va. In February 2022, Martin likewise responded to a legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who stated that prescribing hormone blockers and sex-change surgeries for children constituted child abuse under state law. That March, Martin opposed a proposed Idaho law banning similar procedures on children.

Not only has Francis yet to discipline Martin. The pope invited him to the Vatican in November to discuss “the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties, of lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and queer Catholics,” Martin tweeted. The time was “indeed punctuated with smiles and laughter, and after which I indeed felt elated,” he added.

So Francis’ subtle sabotage benefits McElroy, one of his most important allies. As FrontPage Magazine also reported, McElroy stated in a voting guide for California’s 2020 primary that the pope’s positions on immigration and the environment mattered more than the church’s historic opposition to abortion and contraception.

Two-and-a-half years later, Francis made McElroy a cardinal.

The crisis holds serious implications beyond theology. As FrontPage Magazine’s Christine Williams reported, a student at a Catholic high school in Canada was suspended for insisting that only two sexes exist. That student, Josh Alexander, led a student walkout in November to support girls who opposed having transgender boys use their restrooms. Alexander and the girls tried to convince Principal Derek Lennox to intervene but Lennox did nothing.

St. Joseph’s Catholic High School suspended Alexander after the walkout. When Alexander tried to return once his suspension ended, the school had him arrested for trespassing.

Alexander, who calls himself a “born-again Christian,” tried to get support from a local priest, who refused to talk with him.

“I’m kind of shocked at how little response there has been from the church,” Alexander said on a podcast. “I even phoned one of the local churches the other day, and the pastor just told me he didn’t want to speak to me. I can’t imagine a leader of a church telling a 16-year-old kid he wouldn’t even have a discussion with him.”

But another priest reached the breaking point when Francis publicly advocated ending anti-sodomy laws in interviews surrounding his February trip to Africa, and called upon bishops to lead that effort.

“It struck me that a lot of the Holy Father’s public comments revolve around this issue of homosexuality, as though that were the centerpiece of his ministry,” the Rev. Jason Charron said on video February 8th. “You don’t hear a whole lot of comments coming from him calling for the defense of persecuted Christians in, oh, I don’t know, places like China?”

Charron ended by posing a provocative question:

“Who do you belong to, Francis? Do you belong to Christ or do you belong to Sodom?”

************

BREAKING: Pope Francis showed his ultimate intent regarding the issue March 7 by appointing Jesuit Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg, to his circle of close advisors, the Council of Cardinals. Last year, Hollerich publicly rejected the church’s historic teaching on homosexuality in an interview with a German Catholic news service.

“I believe that this is wrong,” Hollerich said. “But I also believe that we are thinking ahead here in teaching. As the Pope has said in the past, this can lead to a doctrinal change. Because I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this doctrine is no longer correct. I believe that it is time for us to make a fundamental revision of doctrine.”

THE FOLLOWING IS THE MARCH 13TH ARTICLE:

Two events within 72 hours last week demonstrate the Catholic Church’s rapid capitulation to gender ideology — and its ensuing journey toward theological and moral bankruptcy.

On March 10, German bishops who will participate in an upcoming international synod overwhelmingly adopted a resolution to allow blessing same-sex unions in their own dioceses, and encouraged their fellow German bishops to imitate them. Of the assembly’s 202 bishops, 176 approved the resolution, 14 opposed it and 12 abstained.

The resolution directly challenges papal authority. In 2021, as FrontPage Magazine reported, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s highest theological body, ruled against a similar request from the same bishops. The CDF concluded that the church had no authority to bless same-sex unions, since both Scripture and the Catholic catechism considered them sinful.

Pope Francis supported that decision. He even described gender theory as “one of the most dangerous forms of ideological colonization,” in an interview March 10 with the Argentine daily La Nacion.

However, one of Francis’ recent appointments shows that the pope probably has no interest in pressing the issue.

On March 7, as FrontPage Magazine reported, Francis appointed Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, a fellow Jesuit, to the pope’s group of close advisors, the Council of Cardinals. Hollerich rejects historic teaching that defines homosexual behavior as sinful, as he said last year in an interview with a German Catholic news agency.

“I believe that this is wrong,” Hollerich said. “But I also believe that we are thinking ahead here in teaching. As the Pope has said in the past, this can lead to a doctrinal change. Because I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this doctrine is no longer correct. I believe that it is time for us to make a fundamental revision of doctrine.” (Emphasis added)

Note well those italicized words. They indicate the pope’s true attitude toward gender theory. They also express the pope’s ultimate strategy: doctrinal change through theological osmosis, history and revelation be damned.

Should Hollerich, the German bishops and their allies succeed, the Catholic Church not only will devastate its theological credibility. It will land squarely on the side of lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and queer activists who demand that children be exposed to their all-encompassing ideology, especially concerning transgender identity, regardless of parental concerns.

That possibility is frightening, given the Catholic Church’s pathetic record on clerical sex abuse.

FrontPage Magazine explored the issue in depth in “The Catholic Church’s Lesbian, Homosexual, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Odyssey” recently and “The Catholic Church: Crossroads on Same-Sex Marriage” in December. Several points from those stories prove salient.

First, the catechism, following biblical injunctions, condemns homosexual behavior: “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. … Under no circumstances can they be approved.”

In the Bible, Leviticus listed homosexuality among other sexual behaviors considered “detestable.” Jesus defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Paul, a former Pharisee, described homosexual acts as “shameful” and practicing homosexuals as unable to “inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Second, despite his public rhetoric, Francis promotes figures who endorse homosexuality and the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and queer agenda. One is the Rev. James Martin, a fellow Jesuit who serves as one of the pope’s communications advisors. Martin routinely uses his influence, especially on social media, to advocate gender theory. Another is Cardinal Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who commissioned a homoerotic painting for his cathedral.

The problems go far beyond theology or personnel. Martin used Twitter in 2021 to oppose a pastoral letter from Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Va. that condemned gender ideology.

“The worst kind of marginalization, the worst kind of discrimination and the worst kind of hatred is to claim that someone doesn’t exist,” Martin tweeted. ‘No one “is” transgender,’ says the Diocese of Arlington. Transgender people exist and are beloved children of God.”

In February 2022, Martin tweeted opposition to a legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who stated that hormone treatments and sex-change surgeries constituted child abuse under state law. But instead of disagreeing openly, Martin hid behind opposition from the Texas Pediatric Society. The next month, Martin used the same technique by posting an article from the Idaho Statesman to express opposition to a proposed state law banning sex-change surgeries for children.

If Francis believes gender theory is “ideological colonization,” why is Martin still a papal advisor?

Paglia went even farther. As president of the Pontifical Council for the Family in 2016, he approved a sex-education program for teens that Dr. Rick Fitzgibbons, a Catholic psychiatrist, called “the most dangerous threat to Catholic youth that I have seen over the past 40 years.”

Consider Fitzgibbons’ ensuing comments in light of the increasing number of drag shows for children.

“In a culture in which youth are bombarded by pornography, I was particularly shocked by the images contained in this new sex education program, some of which are clearly pornographic,” Fitzgibbons wrote. “My immediate professional reaction was that this obscene or pornographic approach abuses youth psychologically and spiritually.

“As a professional who has treated both priest perpetrators and the victims of the abuse crisis in the Church, what I found particularly troubling was that the pornographic images in this program are similar to those used by adult sexual predators of adolescents.”

Nevertheless, when the council disbanded, Francis moved Paglia to his current position.

Not all Catholics want to go gently into that dark night of catastrophe. German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former head of the CDF, called Hollerich and his fellow prelates to account last year for supporting lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and queer ideology.

Müller described gender theory as “totally idiotic because its Neo-Gnostic mythology is absolutely against human nature, not only in a biological sense, but also in a philosophical one,” he told the National Catholic Register. The cardinal added that blessing same-sex unions was “absolutely a blasphemy” because it represents a “negation of the constitution of human beings as man and woman, and there can be no blessing,” he said.

Müller also called activists committed to doctrinal revisionism “materialists” who “want to keep the name ‘Catholic,’ to stay in the institution and take the money, but they won’t accept the teaching of the word of God,” he said.

For Hollerich, the word of God matters less than the spirit of the age.

“We have to position ourselves in a completely different way,” he said. “We have a great change in civilization. We are in Year Zero of the digital age. And this will have such serious changes that we will perish if we do not position ourselves differently. We cannot give the answers of the past to the questions of tomorrow.

“The change in civilization we are experiencing today is the biggest change since the invention of the wheel. The Church has always moved with the times and has always adapted. Today we have to be faster. Otherwise, we lose touch and can no longer be understood.”

But in revising inspired doctrine to do so, the Catholic Church risks destroying itself.

Joseph Hippolito is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to FrontPage. His commentaries have appeared in The Federalist, The Stream, Human Events, American Spectator, Wall Street Journal, Jerusalem Post and National Post.