Cardinal-Designate Americo Aguiar—one of the cardinals Pope Francis intends to create in his September consistory—is head of World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023 and an auxiliary bishop of the Portuguese capital. In a July 6 interview on Portuguese State Television, he said the following about WYD:
We don’t want to convert the young people to Christ or to the Catholic Church or anything like that at all. … We want it to be normal for a young Catholic Christian to say and bear witness to who [sic] he is or for a young Muslim, Jew, or of another religion to also have no problem saying who he is and bearing witness to it, and for a young person who has no religion to feel welcome and to perhaps not feel strange for thinking in a different way.
The prelate went on to stress the importance “that we all understand that differences are a richness and the world will be objectively better if we are capable of placing in the hearts of all young people this certainty of [Pope Francis’s encyclical] Fratelli Tutti, brothers all, that the Pope has made an enormous effort so that this enters the hearts of all.”
This Catholic father, who has raised youth, would like to say to the Cardinal-Designate: Basta! Suficiente! Enough!
His statement is confusing. It is open to two possible interpretations, neither of which reflects well on the Cardinal-Designate.
First: Does he really believe that WYD is not about converting youth firmly to Christ? Conversion is the core message of Christianity!
Catholicism takes the human person as he is: broken by sin and in need in redemption. The Church truly welcomes him by calling him to healing, which demands conversion. Conversion first of all involves repentance, because people’s fundamental problem is their enslavement to sin and evil. The word used in the New Testament for “conversion” and “repentance” is metanoiete (from which comes the Anglicized “metanoia”). Metanoiete literally means “to change one’s mind,” “to change one’s way of thinking.”
The biblical call to conversion is not, therefore, a celebration of “thinking in a different way.” St. Paul didn’t call on the first Christians in Philippi to be “thinking in a different way.” He called on them to put on the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5). That is the way of thinking to which we are to be “converted.” As St. Paul told the Christians in Rome: “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2).
Conversion is a perennial feature of Catholic life. The German Redemptorist Bernard Häring made a useful distinction between what he called “first conversion” and “second conversion.” “First conversion” is an absolute prerequisite, without which there is no second conversion. For Häring, “first conversion” meant rejection of sin (mortal sin) and turning to Christ. In a sense, it’s reversing what St. Thomas Aquinas defined as sin: aversio a Deo, conversio ad creaturam (aversion from God, conversion to a creature). In sin we turn from God and turn to a creature. To be healed from our fundamental wound, then, is to converted from creatures and to God.
That “first conversion” has to be followed throughout life by second conversions. Mortal sin and spiritual life are simply incompatible because mortal sin and charity (i.e., love) cannot coexist: it’s either one of the other. Once that conversion occurs (and it can be reneged), we are called constantly to ever deeper rooting in love, to ever deeper conversion to God and from things, a conversion that is the process of a lifetime.
That process of conversion begins with and in Christ, with and through the grace of the Spirit of Christ that is the Holy Spirit. It is, therefore, inextricably inseparable from Christ, “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
That Jews and Muslims and even nonbelievers might go to WYD is a nice thing, but that is not the raison d’être of WYD. The event is a celebration for Catholic youth to “bear witness to who he is” as a disciple of Christ. This is not about the youth’s self-chosen “identity.” It is about the radical “identity” he acquired in baptism and through the other sacraments of initiation as a member of Christ.
So, with all due lack of respect, Bishop, how can you utter nonsense about “we don’t want to convert the young people to Christ”? If the purpose of WYD is not to convert young people to Christ—either initially, by welcoming them to Catholicism, or in terms of deciding to whom their lives are committed (first conversion) or how to deepen their incorporation into Christ (second conversion)—then please give those 400,000 young people you expect to attend their money back. They’re coming on false pretenses.
WYD is not a Catholic Woodstock and Pope Francis is not a rock star. WYD does not exist to boost Portuguese tourism or just to steer a few more bodies to Fatima. If it does not exist to “convert” youth to Christ—in all the meanings of the word “conversion”—it is a gigantic waste of time.
Do I hope that any young Jews or Muslims or nonbelievers feels “welcome” at WYD? Yes. I also hope the Church welcomes them with a confident faith in what she is and believes that she wants to share with them. If that leads to “conversion,” that’s called a moment of grace, a Kairos.
Do I really have to write this to a Cardinal-Designate?
No doubt, we will most likely soon hear claims that the poor bishop was misquoted, misunderstood, mistranslated, read out-of-context, or some other spin to explain a frankly scandalous statement. If he’s been mistranslated, clarify it: Portuguese is not a lingua franca.
If by “conversion,” the bishop means the dread “proselytizing,” well, two comments. First, while I don’t expect anybody at WYD to demonstrate the narrowmindedness of a Catholic Jack Chick, threatening any non-Catholic with hellfire and damnation, that doesn’t mean we don’t want you to see, think about, and consider joining the faith hopefully on display in Lisbon. Second, if Mormons can routinely engage their youth in missionary work—not just “doing anonymously Christian nice things on the peripheries” but knocking on my door to share with me their “good news” of Joseph Smith—why are we so allergic about sharing our faith?
Second, assuming that the preceding is not new theology to Bishop Aguiar, then why the effort to put the explicit Catholic message under a bushel basket? I am confident it would be highly unlikely to find many contemporary Catholic bishops—at least in the West—with the vehemence of a Jack Chick in terms of proclaiming the faith. My bigger question is why bishops seem to lack such confidence in robustly proclaiming that faith?
If it’s not a lack of confidence, I must ask—drawing on Aguiar’s reference to “fraternity”—whether his shift of WYD emphasis has anything to do with “pleasing the boss” by diligently quoting Fratelli Tutti. Francis’s perennial complaints about “clerical ambition” notwithstanding, it’s pretty clear that the upward path in Francis’s dispensation is not necessarily citing theological tradition as much as his keywords.
The ”certainly of … brothers all … that the Pope has made an enormous effort to [promote]” cannot start on the human level, because human beings are fallen. Fraternity has to begin in the realm of grace—in the spiritual conversion that enables a person to be animated by charity and not just by convenient friendship or even some purely natural sense of “we’re in this together.” But if we start in the realm of grace, the first direction we want to go is up, vertically, towards the explicit message of the Good News—not sideways, horizontally, attempting to ground some brotherhood on purely human bases or strengths. Ask Abel how that kind of “fraternity” went.
And if the fundamental message of WYD is “fraternity” rather than Jesus Christ, who is Lord and Savior, I wish the bishop would have told us beforehand. I would have used to money to send the kid to Paris for Bastille Day, where he would have gotten a three-fer, throwing in “liberty and equality” along with the “fraternity.” At least la République does not deny its secular “fraternity.”
Having just put two of my three children through college, I’ve gone on enough college tours at Catholic colleges to hear “student ambassadors” make the obligatory detour to the chapel, only to assure prospective freshmen that “they don’t force religion on you or make you go to church.” And with all the institutions of American life corralled to its promotion, I really don’t think WYD participants are as endangered by a lack of exposure to “differences” as the lack of explicit witness to Christ. The “joy of the Gospel” presupposes speaking the Gospel explicitly, unabashedly, pro-actively, inviting others to join in it, and not just “think in a different way.”
Pope St. John Paul II launched World Youth Day to bring to a global stage what he did as a young professor in Poland: to gather young people and share an explicitly Catholic vision of reality with them in a state whose institutions were universally, vociferously, and ideologically committed to its denial. Getting back to basics would be a good thing.
What will be truly worth observing is whether, in his addresses in Lisbon, Pope Francis offers a richer repast or hews to Aguiar’s at least semi-anonymous Catholicism.
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John, per usual, you have written well. But a different John was inspired by the Holy Spirit to protect His children:
1 John 4:1-6 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
God’s Fool has pointed to the key difference: a Spirit which refers to Christ. It is easy to call on the “holy spirit” to back one’s claim to enlightenment when that “spirit” remains vague, undefined, and anonymous. The Holy Spirit we know is very different, the intense spirated love of Father for Son and Son for Father. And that Son is Christ incarnate, who was scourged on our behalf, decrying sin as an obstacle to love. With Saint Paul, we preach Christ crucified, Who is a stumbling block to so many. If He proves a stumbling block to our own shepherds, we need to find better shepherds.
Great article! Great comment! Praise God!
In full agreement, and therefore to simply repeat from yesterday a reply and JPII link on the same imposter “successor of the apostles”…
And, should clerical functionaries actually have something elevating to say to youth who are, yes, looking for fraternity, but also deeply hungry for the permanence of Truth? If there is a Truth larger than just the “diversity” thingy.
Maybe by going back to the mentioned first World Youth Day of 1985….Here’s the link to St. John Paul II’s “Letter to Youth,” together with a peek at the confidence and fatherly guidance of a true shepherd: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1985/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_31031985_dilecti-amici.html
” [….] Christ answers as he answered the young people of the first generation of the Church through the words of the Apostle [St. Paul]: ‘I am writing to you, young people, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father… I write to you, young people, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you”. The words of the Apostle, going back almost two thousand years, are also an answer for today. They use the simple and strong language of faith that bears within itself victory over the evil in the world: “And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith”. These words have the strength of the experience of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, the experience of the Apostles and of the generations of Christians that followed them. In this experience the whole of the Gospel is confirmed. These words also confirm the truth contained in Christ’s conversation with the young man” [who asked: ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’] (part of n. 15).
The difference between a shepherd in season and out of season, and an empty suit.
“BEWARE THE YEAST OF THE Pharisees”
John Paul knew and did nothing about widespread pedophelia. Hardly a true shepard.
These light weights show exactly what Our Lord said when he told us by your fruit shall you know them! That an archdiocese has 2 cardinals is a disgrace!
I seriously see WYD going off the rails soon! I hope I’m wrong but remember Francis stated at Brazil to make a mess, I deeply feel that if the views of the Lisbon auxiliary is what the future of a synodal future is then: bye bye WYD!
So very discouraging that we have bishops like this…. and that he is being made a cardinal. I never thought I would see this in our Church. What a fool I have been. Lord, save us from this diabolical insanity!
It’s hard to believe this shepherd and many others actually pray. I mean the Rosary,time before the Blessed Sacrament, meditation etc. The training and their theology leaves one questioning. How far off the Catholic teaching track we have gone. I support good pastors who try and dissuade the Youth ministers in their parish who plan on attending WYD. God help us from the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
You are not a fool. You know the truth so you see the lie. Hold onto the truth and pray. It is the Lord’s Church and He will not let it fall. There has been error in the past and will continue to be until He returns. Be strong! Listen to the faithful bishops and cardinals. You will recognize them by who they are and what they say.
God bless.
If the head of World Youth Day Lisbon – Bishop Aquiar – says that the mission of that event is NOT an ongoing conversion of youth to Christ, then it is the MORAL OBLIGATION of Catholic pastors in the Church to encourage the youth who are planning to attend to, instead, change their mind and TO NOT ATTEND. Pastors are charged with promoting and safeguarding the eternal salvation of those under their care. If attending WYD is not about an ongoing conversion to Christ but something else, then it is a lie and potentially harmful to youth.
I would fully expect local pastors at parishes throughout the world to actively encourage their congregations to cancel their plans to attend WYD. After all, this is not a school trip to DisneyWorld (but then, again, maybe it is).
Amen.
And if I ever hear another word from Cardinal-to-be Aguiar (and his ilk), it’ll be too soon.
About John M. Grondelski, Ph.D. Mr. GRONDELSKI is right on. Of course we would have to teach the children about Jesus and try to convert them. That’s what Jesus said in the Bible over and over again he wanted his word to be spread throughout the world so I don’t understand this new cardinal at all three cheers for Mr. GRONDELSKI, he knows, what we should do with our youth. Of course we have to teach them about Jesus this insane what this cardinal is saying. They must know about Jesus, in order to change their life, and accept Jesus as the Lord God, and Master into change their lives. Metanoia is what we need for these young people.
You can only have a Great Apostasy from The True Church, Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church, Through The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque).
The spirit of anti Christ claims it is Loving and Merciful that we remain in our sin, and embrace the “diversity “ of sin and the diversity of “desires” toward sin. If it were true that it is Loving and Merciful that we remain in our sin, we would not need our Savior, Jesus The Christ, to Redeem us.
“Oh what a tangled web they weave!”
“Penance , Penance, Penance!”
All Catholics are called to be, in The Holy Name Of Jesus, “a counter cultural light” that shines in The Darkness illuminating The Sacred Heart Of Jesus.
“4For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, have tasted also the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5Have moreover tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come…”, to not believe that Christ’s Sacrifice On The Cross will lead us to Salvation, but we must desire forgiveness for our sins, and accept Salvational Love, God’s Gift Of Grace And Mercy; believe in The Power And The Glory Of Salvation Love, and rejoice in the fact that No Greater Love Is There Than This, To Desire Salvation For One’s Beloved.
“Hail The Cross, Our Only Hope.”
It has always been about “The Marriage In Heaven And On Earth”.
“Blessed are they that are Called to To The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb. And he saith to me: These Words Of God Are True.”
Yet another symptom of what certainly appears to be a Rome that has lost the faith. Thank you, BV Mother of Lasalette for giving us ample and fair warning about this disaster. Let us be prepared to remain Catholic and Christian and not succumb to a Bergolian false church. This is what an institution looks like that has separated Truth from Power. Inevitably, it serves one master over the other. By all appearances, the “moderns” have tossed Truth and are serving raw power to the detriment of the salvation of souls. Out with Aquinas and Trent, in with Marx, Nietzsche and Schwab. Harsh? It literally pains me to think it. Seek out the life boat of real Catholic identity found in the Latin Mass and don’t look back or, at some point, you might be turned into a pillar of salt.
Be careful with your contempt for Pope Francis for it indicates a sedevacantist view and tendency which if taken to its logical conclusion, you can end up in schism.
Is it not possible in your mind that a chief Shepherd might say things that lead the flock astray? Be careful with your answer. Everything that is not ultramontanist is not sedevacantism.
Lol. What do you call a pope who, himself, seems to have departed the chair of Peter? Don’t call him Vicar of Christ. Don’t kiss his ring, or even try. Thanks for your advice. Don’t be appalled if I refuse to take it.
I think the point about having contempt for the Holy Father is valid, as it can lead to a bad end, sedevacantism. How could the Church be led by such a terrible man; he must not really be pope, etc.
If the Church had to rely on the perfect witness of the Gospel by her human prelates, she’d have been long gone. But she doesn’t rely on them. She relies on Christ, and the Holy Spirit Who protects her teachings. Be careful not to lose sight of that when things from Rome seem fraught with confusion.
I suggest people read this article.
https://catholicmissionarydisciples.com/news/the-toxic-mix
Dear Patricia,
I can’t agree with you more – the man IS my Pope. I pray for him at every Latin Mass I attend. Sadly, he seems to have lost HIS way. Have you the Catholic quality enough to kiss his Papal ring, he’ll scold you. Have the Catholic courtesy enough to refer to him as the “Vicar of Christ”, he’ll correct you. The man, himself, treats his Papacy FAR WORSE than my critical comments – all of which, by the way, are MORE THAN JUSTIFED. Don’t like Pacha Mama? Too bad. He’ll set it on the Papal Altar anyway. Referencing large Traditional Catholic families, he called such people “breeders, like rabbits”? Too bad. He hasn’t apologized. Don’t like him referring to Latin Mass Priests as “grown men in lace”. Suck it up, Buttercup. He’s not interested in your Catholic sentiments. The man has much to learn about common human decency, let alone the fundamental goodness required to perch in Peter’s Chair and navigate his Barque. For my part, the man epitomizes all that Our Lady of Lasalette warned us about when she said “Rome would lose the faith”. Well, she’s either a liar or no matter how bad Rome gets in the eyes of some (blinded) Catholics, it will NEVER lose the faith – simply on account of the fact that Rome is the seat of the Chair of Peter. If the man were sincere about the Faith and advancing it in this Lacrimarum Vale, he wouldn’t be hosting the likes of James Martin, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, John Kerry and Alex Soros. My comment above STANDS.
Aguiar has subsequently sought to walk back his comments, saying “World Youth Day is an invitation to all the young people of the world to experience God.” As the aphorism tells us, the devil’s in the details. That God revealed Himself and has a Name: Jesus Christ. Why didn’t he use that Name? Is Aguiar still soft-pedaling an explicit Christological focus in the name of his interreligious dialogue, his “differences in thinking?” That fits if WYD is a “fraternity” encounter where everybody encounters some generic, individual “god.” But is that what WYD is for? Where are Catholic youth to experience Christ explicitly in a Catholic-focused setting to which all are welcome but whose primary audience are Catholic youth? Or is that not important?
As usual, well written, well thought out and true. Thank you
Did anyone else notice the Orwellian change in title for this article from yesterday to Cardinal Wants the Young to Experience God or some such? I know I’m a fool, but that’s just ridiculous (Hurry, the Faithful are rioting! This l’enfant terrible said what we believe! Change the title to something that will encourage no one to read what his actual words;).
These knuckleheads may as well have changed the title to:
Deepak Chopra Wants Young to Experience God
He sounds a bit self-serving and inconsequential. No room for the Love of Christ? Social prattle.
This is a case of a fruit of that disastrous theological fantasy of Karl Rahner called “anonymous Christianity.” I can see this Cardinal-elect having been theologically trained in the seminary during the era when the greatest 20th century Catholic theologian reigned.
This Pope has sown doubts and confusion in his words and deeds.
Call me disgruntled.
I’d call you disgruntled; but, I would rather call you on track. .👌
Men with such anti Catholic views should be disciplined, not promoted. When will the hierarchy start disciplining itself. Why should it be left up to rabid lay bloggers to expose all of our dirty laundry for all the world to see and cause many lay faithful to leave the Church in disgust? May God have mercy on us all.
Dear James Connor.
What a strange comment! You appear to want us to deny the truth and engage in conflict with Christ who says it is the truth that sets us free!
In my local parish, in Australia, there are quite a few freemasons who share your approach: “Appearance is everything, truth is meaningless!” Having carefully studied their beliefs & the deceptive spirit that animates them, one concludes they are neither free nor masons. Obviously, all such (despite good works) are bound in spiritual deception. They are all averse to truth and hence are enemies of Christ and His Church.
There are websites established by former masons, providing the prayers and steps needed to escape freemason lies & enter into an obedient, alethic relationship with Christ. Strongly recommended for those who desire eternal salvation.
Ever in obedience to King Jesus Christ; love & blessings from marty
Thank you, Dr. Grondelski, for another excellent and much needed commentary.
Another member of the hierarchy who would turn the Church into a nothing burger. Who would need or bother with such a church or its vacuous prelates.
The right words in the title should be: “Basta! Chega! Enough!”
Thanks, was not aure re Portuguese.
You’re welcome. Here is the video with English subtitles:
https://youtu.be/sYbqwk9Q8AU
This guy clearly has no business being in charge of this event and his words are proof of that. He said what he intended the FIRST time he spoke, and what he attempted to “walk back” is simply pandering to smooth the waters he has roiled. Too many in the church hierarchy are leftists who believe that all people’s beliefs are equally truthful and to imply otherwise is to commit a grave social sin by being judgmental or unkind. To avoid such a secular social stumble they would rather betray the church and what they swore to defend when they were ordained. Tough. Its about time that anyone in a high church position be made to understand they are to defend and help spread the church of Jesus Christ. It does not matter if unbelievers are “offended”. So sad to see the church in this weakened position.
LJ, thanks for your comment. Agree completely.
Bishop Barron’s reflection on today’s Gospel reading states that when the Church fails “to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead…a beige and unthreatening Catholicism emerges, a thought system that is , at best, an echo of the environing culture.” Tragically that’s exactly what we getting these days from clerics like Bishop, soon to be Cardinal, Aguiar.
Well written, dear ‘LJ’. The simple truth, succinctly put.
Through history The Church has overcome many heresies, such as Arianism. We need a name for this new heresy, currently being fostered by the wealthy, influential, spin-skilled, Pope Francis clique.
I don’t have a neat descriptor for this clique’s antinomian, immoral, syncretistic, unitarian, & universalist emissions, other than ‘Anti-Apostolic’ – that is anti-Petrine, anti-Johannine, etc.
However, the battlelines are abundantly clear, no matter how expert the charm of the Francis’ clique’s public-relations, ‘angel of light’, camouflage.
The line in the sand is of faith in, teaching of, and obedience to all that The Holy Spirit of God gave the 9 Apostolic authors of the 27 texts of The New Testament chosen as the Canon by the magisterium of the Church. THIS always has been and still is the faith of those true to The Lord Jesus Christ, Founder & Foundation of The Church; a faith that millions of our brothers & sisters have gladly suffered and died for.
From now on the choice is stark: Apostolic Catholicism versus the heresy of Anti-Apostolic ‘Catholicism’.
As Moses said to the clergy of his day: “I call Heaven & Earth to witness against you today that I have set before you Life & Death., blessings and curses.”
Stirring times indeed! A season of separation of those who are built on the True Rock of obedience to the Apostolic revelation of King Jesus Christ’s commands, from those who are gaily building on the quicksand of Anti-Apostolic popularist spin.
“Hold fast to the eternal truth, blessed people of God!” we hear The Holy Spirit sing.
Eternally in the unshakeable, unbreakable, unbeatable Word of Christ; love & blessings from marty
Thinking positively, the childlike Cardinal-elect is photogenic and looks fit. And he is a proven politician in the real world. At the risk of coming across too shallow, these are sorely needed attributes in the College.
Dear ‘God’s Fool’.
Rainbow colored, sugar-coated cyanide is childlike & photogenic!
Surely, it’s what’s inside that gives life or death . . ?
Love & blessings in The Lamb; from marty
Of course you are right Dr. Marty. I am aware that mis-synodaling is still intrinsically wrong. (Though who am I to judge myself?). No wonder I didn’t get an invitation to the upcoming Synod on Synodaling. I guess they don’t want a jester to entertain the papal guests.
Maybe they need more magicians!
Gentlemen, Ladies, Children and Others, for my first trick, I’ll do the impossible! Watch as I make sin disappear without Confession…
Something about that smile and glasses that is reminicent of a young Heinrich Himler before he grew a moustache.
If it is worth saying, it is worth repeating
The core of WYD is Christ who welcomes and embraces all, not those whom we only want to welcome or embrace. Inclusivity means means those who are inside and those in the perpheries. Remember that the sumprema lex of the Church is salus animarum that does not exclude. There is really nothing wrong with the theology of the Bishop, what is wrong is the way we accept such theology. Let us not make or present Christ according to our interpretation or understanding but through the lens of the Magisterium. Do not let others swallow the pill even if they are not sick. Allow the Holy Spirit to inspire the youth rather than focusing on the Bishop. It is not a joke to guide the entire WYD, so let us give our share by praying that like St Paul, everyone will have their Damascus experience.
It pays to be cautious of institutions that fetishize youth; leave that to politicians and the legions of secular «messiahs».
A millennium of «youth days» will not make genuine Catholic silk purses out of secularized sows ears especially in these days of childishly sentimental faddism and syncretism.
There are differences which are impossible to intellectually reconcile without compromising ones core beliefs.
Pope Benedict XVI realised that.
«We don’t want to convert the young people to Christ or to the Catholic Church or anything like that at all» Who’s we?
“First: Does he really believe that WYD is not about converting youth firmly to Christ? Conversion is the core message of Christianity!”
We should not try to convert people directly. Rather, we should try to set a good example so that people will be attracted to Faith in God.
No. There is no need for such passivity. Why would we HESITATE to welcome others actively to the faith? Does the military just sit out there, parade around, and hope that the martial elan prompts somebody to sign up?
Amen brother! “The deeds we do may be the only sermon some persons will hear” – St. Francis.
Your questions are clear. But shame on you for asking! I, for one, will never answer them.
If I was Pope, I’d make sure questions like this were never asked again. For the last time, listen up you rigorist, backwardists, intragalists and other ists I cant remember at the moment: It’s not Catholic to ask questions! Stop trying to synodal like this!
Wonderful observation today from Bishop Barron:
” … if you had told him [Pope St John Paul II, who launched WYD] that the true purpose of the event was to celebrate difference and make everyone feel comfortable with who they are, and that you had no interest in converting anyone to Christ, you would have gotten a look to stop a train.” In its tracks.
Well said again, dear John M. Grondelski!
Indeed, our aim is to be courteous & friendly & helpful to all people, even our worst enemies; to the extreme of blessing & praying for them.
HOWEVER, the Apostolic Catholic (vide Pope JPII) has NO time for the Anti-Apostolic Counterfeit Catholic. This we have heard again & again from the Apostles of Christ –
“Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God; whoever abides in the teaching has both The Father & The Son.”
“Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone who comes to you & does not bring this teaching; for to welcome is to participate in the evil deeds of such a person.”
2 John 9-11: Now, there’s a line-in-the-sand for all of eternity!
In ‘Ethical Encounter Theology’ this is understood as ‘Binary Ethical Apocalypsis’ running to ‘Ethical Dialysis’.
Christ-beloved JMG, your faithfulness in the Apostolic witness to our God & Lord & King is so much appreciated by so many, here & on high.
Keep praying everyone; especially for a Damascus Road Revelation for Pope Francis.
Ever following The Lamb of God & His friends; love & blessings from marty