Author: Remnant Disciple

+AMDG+

The original article is represented here, with our comments* interspersed, in blue italics.

Reported by Ed Wilkinson of the Catholic News Service  ( 17^th May, 2016) on Crux website, reporting on Fr. Thomas Rosica speaking at an event in downtown Brooklyn, where he  was presented with the Brooklyn Diocese’s St. Francis DeSales Distinguished Communicator Award by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.

“Although Pope Francis has succeeded in rebranding the public profile of the Church, according to a Vatican PR aide, his positive tone isn’t always reflected when Catholics themselves take to the use of social media.”

On the contrary, to hear Father Thomas Rosica tell it, sometimes Catholic conversation on-line is more “culture of death” than “culture of life.”

This is true – we lament the culture of death that has entered the Church and is killing the teachings of Our Lord Jesus and undermining the doctrines which are the Life of the Church. When the powerful ocean continually pounds up against a cliff, it makes an indent at first, then a cave, then finally the cliff collapses and is eroded. With time, the whole cliff is washed away by the powerful forces of the ocean, and all that is left is the rock platform, which is level with the ocean, and which is continually inundated with the tides.

“Many of my non-Christian and non-believing friends have remarked to me that we ‘Catholics’ have turned the Internet into a cesspool of hatred, venom and vitriol, all in the name of defending the faith!” he said.

“Indeed is this the hatred that is directed at us, no less than by the one who is at the highest point of the Church’s hierarchy? – the Rosary counters, those who breed like rabbits,….”

How can the Vatican PR accuse Catholics of hatred when we expose and criticise words and actions which do NOT lead to eternal life? That is our purpose. We hate error, not the man. We hate untruth and half truth. We hate what is happening to the church and to it’s true teachings. We hate that sinners are being gently but surely herded along the path to HELL by ones that should shepherd them away from danger! True love does not do this to souls or be complicit in those acts! True love tells the Truth (and lives it) so that souls can be part of the culture of life on earth and eternal life in heaven!

So the Vatican PR accuses us of words but ‘Pope’ Francis can freely use words to accuse us of all sorts of things! And the actions he accuses us of?? Living out, speaking of and praying the Holy Rosary to uphold the Church’s teachings on contraception, fruitfulness, marriage, abortion, adultery, immoral sexual behaviours, anti-Catholic agendas, the family, sin, hell, repentance, the Eucharist, keeping holy the Sabbath and all the Commandments, rightful ministering, chastity, heresy, apostasy and even teachings about God the Father, Jesus and Mary, His Mother! How dare we be so obstinate as to speak about and DEFEND these things against him?! To risk his ridicule, slighting and persecution for the sake of Our Lord! 

But apparently it’s ok for him to call us morbid-faced Rosary counters, rabbit-like irresponsible breeders, heartless, uncaring, joyless, uptight, greedy, pride-filled, Neo-Pelagian and pharisaical (among other names that I care to forget) or to infer and insinuate those things about us. The pope can do this but is not held accountable. But we are the haters? That’s ironic!

So the cesspool of hatred is two groups: one who hates Truth and the other who hates all that is NOT Truth- for the sake of Love. 

“The character assassination on the Internet by those claiming to be Catholic and Christian has turned it into a graveyard of corpses strewn all around,” said Rosica, who assists the Vatican Press Office with English-speaking media, on May 11 as he delivered the keynote address at the Brooklyn Diocese’s observance of World Communications Day.

“Often times the obsessed, scrupulous, self-appointed, nostalgia-hankering virtual guardians of faith or of liturgical practices are very disturbed, broken and angry individuals, who never found a platform or pulpit in real life and so resort to the Internet and become trolling pontiffs and holy executioners!” Rosica said.

Yes, we are obsessed with defending the Faith, (someone has to). We are self-appointed because we can’t depend on the hierarchy, especially those in the Vatican to defend the Truth. Yes, we are disturbed and our hearts, full of love for our Faith are broken, but someone has to defend our Faith – the appointed guardians are not doing it.

“In reality they are deeply troubled, sad and angry people,” he said. “We must pray for them, for their healing and conversion!”

They have it back to front. We must, and are, praying for them – for their conversion back to the Faith of our Fathers. Prayer is the strongest weapon.  Join Cardinal Burke’s Rosary Campaign.

Both Rosica and his “Salt and Light TV” Catholic network in Canada have occasionally been targeted for on-line criticism, especially from conservative and pro-life Catholic organizations.

“They have to be corrected. They have to know that there are people who stand up for the Truth of their Faith, as taught by Jesus. We are proud to be ‘conservative’ and “pro-life’ ”

“The Internet, Rosica said, ‘can be an international weapon of mass destruction, crossing time zones, borders and space.’ He also described it as “an immense battleground that needs many field hospitals set up to bind wounds and reconcile warring parties.”

We  would like it to be a weapon of mass destruction – destruction of evil and lies against Jesus’ teachings. The only thing that can reconcile “warring parties” is the Truth – only the Truth can set us free. The internet (pope videos) and the mass media – tv. Newspapers – are being used to destroy the Faith, so we are using it to defend the Faith.

“If we judged our identity based on certain ‘Catholic’ websites and blogs, we would be known as the people who are against everyone and everything!” he said. ”If anything, we should be known as the people who are for something, something positive that can transform lives and engage and impact the culture.”

Well we should be against everything that is contrary to Catholic/Christian doctrine – against disobeying God’s laws e.g. Amoris Laetitia which, while spruiking doctrine that can’t change, encourages a way of interpreting this doctrine so that it is, in fact ignored; where the well-being of the person is placed above the well-being and salvation of the soul. We also against “encyclicals” that promote worldly ideas which appeal to politicians and which completely ignore God’s role in creation – “Laudate Si”. We are the people who lament the profanation of Sacred Sites  – (the Vatican) which houses the relics of many saints and popes and Jesus Himself in the Bl. Sacrament – with a light show with pagan images, gods and goddesses. We are against anyone who ignores the role of our Bl. Mother , who is ignored on her feastdays, whose Immaculate conception is usurped by a pagan light show. We are known as people who are for something, something positive that can transform (spiritual) lives, but WE DO NOT WANT TO ENGAGE the predominant culture that exists in the world today.

The good news, according to Rosica, is that in the broader media universe, Pope Francis has had exactly that effect.

“Prior to Pope Francis, when many people on the street were asked: ‘What is the Catholic Church all about? What does the pope stand for?’ The response would often be, ‘Catholics, well they are against abortion, gay marriage and birth control’,” Rosica said.

This is true; so it should be.

“They are known for the sex abuse crisis that has terribly marred and weakened their moral authority and credibility,’” he said. “Today I dare say that the response is somewhat different,” Rosica said. “What do they say about us now? What do they say about the pope? People are speaking about our leader who is unafraid to confront the sins and evils that have marred us,” he continued.

He is not confronting the sins – he is making them acceptable; the scary part is that he is not afraid to do this!

“We have a pope who is concerned about the environment, about mercy, compassion and love, and a deep passion, care and concern for the poor and for displaced peoples roaming the face of this earth,” he added. “Pope Francis has won over a great part of the media.”

Well that’s a worry! – John 15:19  Douay-Rheims Bible “If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” and St Paul in Romans 12: 2 ‘Don’t be conformed to the world‘ Also Romans 12:[20] “But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink. For, doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head” and. [21] ’Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good’.

The pontiff “has changed the image of the church so much that prestigious graduate schools of business and management are now using him as a case study in rebranding,” the priest added.

See Bible quotes above. We don’t want to be rebranded! Our brand is the Crucifix; Jesus who died for us, Who left us the Sacraments of Penance – i.e. confession – and the Eucharist.

While the pope has caused more people to take notice, that doesn’t mean that everyone agrees or follows the message he preaches, Rosica said.

Thank God+++ for that!

He explained that Pope Francis has opened up a dialogue with the world, and the Catholic media is a big part of showcasing the work of the Catholic Church.

 We don’t need to dialogue with the World. Dialogue means a 2 way conversation, usually accepting the other’s point of view. The only view we accept is the traditional and time-proven Teachings of our Catholic Church. Jesus Himself tells us that He is not of this world, nor are those who listen to His Word. Jn.17:14-15:” I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world; as I also am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil.”

He referred to Francis’ message for World Communications Day to explain how church media should go about its work.

“Our primary task is to uphold the truth with love,” he said.

Well, to be more specific – our main task is to uphold the one and only Truth with a faithful and loyal love. This means not just anything that is proclaimed to be truth, but the Truth (capital T) of Jesus’ teachings.

That means that Catholic media should “listen,” rather than merely “hear,” as it engages in dialogue.

It also means that church media should communicate with everyone, without exception.

It further means that “Christians ought to be a constant encouragement to communion and, even in those cases where they must firmly condemn evil, they should never try to rupture relationships and communication.”

Rosica further added that “political and diplomatic language would do well to be inspired by mercy, which never loses hope.”

Just a little correction: It must be inspired by mercy AND repentance. This last word is always omitted. You can never lose hope if you follow God’s teachings, and repent of your sins and love God.

“May our way of communicating help to overcome the mind-set that neatly separates sinners from the righteous,” he said. “We can and we must judge situations of sin – such as violence, corruption and exploitation – but we may not judge individuals, since only God can see into the depths of their hearts.”

“Situations of sin”  – what strange examples are given ! I should think blasphemy, abortion,  murder,  practising homosexuality are the worst sins. It is true – only God can judge individuals, but we can, and MUST guide them to the TRUE teachings of our Faith. Their conscience must be formed in the teachings and Truth of the Faith.  If we don’t guide them, we could be found wanting when we are judged – a sin of omission.

Rosica said the work of the Catholic media is to build bridges that encourage encounter and inclusion and to avoid misunderstandings that add to wounds and vengeance.

“The Church must shine with the light that lives within itself, it must go out and encounter human beings who — even though they believe that they do not need to hear a message of salvation — often find themselves afraid and wounded by life,” he said.

The message of Salvation must include obedience to ALL God’s commandments and unchanging teachings of Christ.

“The light of Christ reflected in the church must not become the privilege of only a few elect who float enclosed within a safe harbor or ghetto network of communications for the elite, the clean, the perfect and the saved.”

Sponsored by the DeSales Media Group, the event in downtown Brooklyn drew about 250 people. Rosica was presented with the Brooklyn Diocese’s St. Francis DeSales Distinguished Communicator Award by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.

What a shame that he didn’t communicate the whole Truth.

See original article at: http://www.cruxnow.com/cns/2016/05/17/vatican-pr-aide-warns-catholic-blogs-create-cesspool-of-hatred/

* Comments by Remnant Survivor and DonnaLiane