Vatican: conservatives out, "moderates" in

Pope Francis

As the West and its most valued institutions march aggressively towards the full embrace of secular humanism, conservative Christians are feeling more marginalized than ever – even in their own churches where ecumenicalism is all the rage.

Ecumenicalism is a movement to bring all world religions under one umbrella. The end goal, through “interreligious dialogue,” is to create a new religion in which the absolute truth of “salvation through Christ only” is replaced with one that teaches salvation through ”good works,” regardless of the deity one serves, how one lives his or her life, or the person’s unbelief in God/Jesus altogether.

And now it seems the Catholic church’s new pontiff, Pope Francis, is leading the Catholic church in a similar direction or, as the New York Times describes it, a more ”moderate” and “inclusive” approach. That said, Francis has been busy replacing conservative leaders around the world with a more liberal brood.

For instance, even in my hometown of St. Louis, Mo., Cardinal Raymond Burke, the very conservative former archbishop, was replaced with Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, Mo., on Dec 16.

According to the Christian Post:

Pope Francis decided not to reconfirm Burke to the powerful Congregation for Bishops council, which helps decide which bishops will be chosen in the future.

Cardinal Raymond Burke’s departure from the Congregation of Bishops council and his subsequent replacement by the more moderate Wuerl is being viewed by some as Pope Francis moving the Catholic church away from combating hot-button social issues and focusing on a more pastoral approach. Burke is a strong opponent of same-sex marriage and abortion, and has in the past said that moderates like Wuerl were “weakening the faith.”

“One gets the impression, or it’s interpreted this way in the media, that he thinks we’re talking too much about abortion, too much about the integrity of marriage as between one man and one woman,” Burke said recently about the Pope to EWTN, a Catholic broadcaster. “But we can never talk enough about that.”

Predictably, the liberal news media as well as progressive activist groups around the world welcome this change. Pope Francis was named TIME’s 2013 ”Person of the Year.” He was also named “Person of the Year” by the gay rights magazine known as “The Advocate.”

Despite Pope Francis’ stance against gay marriage, it seems secularists sense something different about the Catholic church’s first Jesuit leader.

Could it be what Francis said during his first “apostolic exhortation?"

In this speech, which sets the tone for the papacy, Francis instructed the wealthy to share with the poor and urges governments to take control of the process. He decried “the idolatry of money,” calling on politicians to “attack the structural causes of inequality,” and provide work, health care and education for everyone.

Francis’ message was admirable but, historically speaking, government intervention does not work. Contrarily, limited government via free market capitalism has liberated more people from poverty than the world has ever seen and, although far from perfect, is the closest in step to Jesus’ teachings.

It is a shame that the world’s political, religious and business leaders are hell bent on repeating the same ole’ cycle responsible for enslaving citizens and collapsing governments throughout history. But it seems it is in this direction we are heading.

The new pope’s message sounds eerily similar to rhetoric the Obama administration espouses on a daily basis. The very rhetoric that brought us, among other job-killing regulations, the Affordable Healthcare Act [Obamacare], the 2,700-page failing monstrosity that usurped one-third of the American economy.

A brief background on the Jesuits

A little research reveals that the Jesuit Order has been engulfed in politics all over the globe since its inception.

Jesuits tend to adhere to some form of liberation theology. According to Wikipedia, this political movement is rooted in Roman Catholic theology, interpreting the teachings of Jesus Christ in relation to a liberation from unjust economic, political or social conditions.

This theology was born in the 1960s in Latin America at the second Latin American Bishops’ Conference in Columbia. At that conference, the teachings of Jesus Christ were combined with those of Karl Marx to call for a violent revolution to overthrow capitalism.

The text that later emerged and was used for inspiration was called, A Theology of Liberation, written in 1971, by Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Peruvian priest and theologian.

Those who adhere to this theology within the Catholic church believe it is the church’s responsibility, in partnership with international government bodies such as the United Nations and European Union, to bring about this global change.

Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, was first commissioned to stop the spread of the Bible during the Protestant Reformation of 1517. When Loyola’s efforts failed, Jesuit missionaries spread across the globe infiltrating high level of governments to bring the countries under the control of the pope.

This strategy did not work out well in Western Europe and North America because of the influence of the King James Bible and its exposure of the Roman church's pagan idolatry, prompting many to leave the church and others to resist its influence.

The protestant/catholic divide, the falling away of the church universal

It's also worth noting that prior to the invention of the printing press, which propelled God's Holy word into the hands of average citizens, the Catholic church prohibited "laymen" from reading scripture. Interpretation was left up to the Pope who, according to Catholic doctrine, is the successor to the apostle, Peter.

Catholics believe Peter is the rock on which the church is built, while protestants -- as well as early Christians prior to the rise of the Catholic church -- believe the rock is the Jewish messiah, Jesus Christ. The latter became evident to many people as the Bible landed in the hands of everyday citizens.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ. ~ Colossians 2:8

Of course the Catholic church isn’t the only Christian denomination plagued with apostasy and liberal activism. We’ve been watching the Episcopal Church fall away for years. For instance, in 2009, the denomination approved an official liturgy to bless gay unions.

There are also many Christian denominations today, both Catholic and protestant, that advocate on the Palestinians' behalf to bring about a two-state solution in Israel, completely disregarding what God says in Deuteronomy about the Jews' natural right to the land.

They also dismiss God's warning for those false prophets involved in dividing Israel, particularly Jerusalem.

In Joel 3:2, the Lord says: “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.”

To fellow Christians: In the book of Revelation, God told us what the church would look like just prior to his second coming. We are commanded to come out of these churches unless we suffer alongside those “false prophets” who are leading God’s people astray.

God refers to the church as his bride. In Revelation, He calls her a whore for her apostate status and for “fornicating with the beast” [an oppressive future world government]. He commands the discerning flock to “come out of her.”

“Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; ⁵ for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. ~ Revelations 18:4,5

Now is a good time to remember that old adage: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

To read the New York Times article on the recent changes made by Pope Francis, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/world/europe/pope-replaces-conservative-us-cardinal-on-influential-vatican-committee.html?_r=1