The John-Henry Westen Show - Bishop Strickland unpacks Pope Francis' new 'all religions are a path to God' agenda

00:00:00.000 Frankly, if that were God's will, he didn't need to send his son, and we don't need a church

00:00:07.360 if it's all about a brotherhood of man.

00:00:16.120 Hello, my friends, and welcome to the John Henry Weston Show. I've got a really special show for

00:00:20.180 you today because I've got two guests who you know very well. We're going to be talking about

00:00:26.140 what's going on in Rome because we've seen now three times Pope Francis pushing this idea of

00:00:33.400 all religions are a path to God, and there's divine inspiration in all the religions.

00:00:39.960 This is not the teaching of the church, and it's something that is very troubling, but it also

00:00:46.020 seems there's an agenda. Despite the pushback, and there has been pushback among church leadership

00:00:51.260 as well, this is being proposed again and again. What's that all about and why? And we do need the

00:01:01.480 clarity that comes from church leadership, and we will have that today because there was great clarity

00:01:08.220 in the Diocese of Tyler, Texas. You all remember that. Bishop Joseph Strickland, who in the words of

00:01:14.020 the Babylon Bee was canceled for being too Catholic, was also a great sign of clarity, and it is today 1.00

00:01:21.040 still a great sign of clarity for the whole of the Catholic world, sort of unleashed from Tyler and

00:01:27.220 given to the world in an amazing way. Well, while he was in Tyler, Texas, he had a deacon who stayed by

00:01:33.440 his side and what really was a disciple of his in putting forward that clarity of truth through the

00:01:40.160 whole diocese. And he too has been unleashed and is also now still working with Bishop Strickland

00:01:47.900 to bring clarity not only to the Diocese of Tyler now, but also to the whole wide world. And that

00:01:54.920 is Bishop Joseph Strickland and Deacon Keith Fournier. Stay tuned to this episode.

00:02:01.180 We are doing everything we can to help keep Christ in the election. So please, if you're a U.S.

00:02:07.220 resident, text LIFE SITE, L-I-F-E-S-I-T-E, to 50155 and give what you can today. Let's proclaim

00:02:16.860 Christ is King together.

00:02:20.380 Bishop Strickland, to be with you. Deacon Keith Fournier. I say good to be with you.

00:02:24.740 Good to be with you.

00:02:25.460 Good to be with you, John Everett.

00:02:27.260 Bishop, if you wouldn't mind starting us off at the sign of the cross.

00:02:29.960 Sure.

00:02:30.700 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

00:02:33.840 Amen.

00:02:34.160 Amen. So we've had a rocky time in the church of late. I mean, it's been rocky for like over

00:02:41.020 a decade now, but even over the last week or two, we've seen really what is unbelievable.

00:02:48.860 That's where things have really gone awry. The first statement, and I'll read part of it,

00:02:53.960 every religion is a way to arrive at God. And he says, is that true? And then he says,

00:03:00.220 there's only one God, and each of us is a language, so to speak, in order to arrive at God,

00:03:07.080 Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian. They're all different paths. And there's a big pushback.

00:03:13.800 There were people saying, wait a minute, that goes right against what Christ himself said in the Bible.

00:03:18.860 But then it happens again. And then just recently, again, he's talking about imagined peace.

00:03:25.920 We need to keep meeting to weave the bonds of fraternity and allow ourselves to be guided

00:03:31.680 by the divine inspiration present in every faith. It seems like an agenda, despite the

00:03:39.440 fraternal corrections from yourself, and even so other bishops, which was shocking for me,

00:03:45.060 there's still this push. And if you could speak to that for us.

00:03:49.380 The reality is, it is an agenda. I think that the whole Vatican presence now is, what are we hearing?

00:04:02.260 Push back on the basic teachings of the faith. And then Pope Francis really continuing that agenda

00:04:09.560 with really pushing back on Christ himself. I mean, to say that Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu are certainly

00:04:19.940 every child, every person in the world, God wants to be his beloved children. But Jesus Christ, his son,

00:04:30.580 truth incarnate, told us only through baptism. And so that was probably the most deeply troubling

00:04:39.140 aspect of what Pope Francis said. To make equivalent Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, is totally,

00:04:50.580 where does Jesus Christ fit into that? Because they don't believe in Jesus Christ. That's who he is,

00:04:58.020 who we know he is. And so the great beauty of our Catholic faith, to know the Lord of the universe,

00:05:06.120 is the one who established our church, is the one who established our church, to be moving away from

00:05:12.180 that with a clear agenda to move away. We must speak up. Every baptized person must say, yes, God loves

00:05:21.120 those who are not baptized. But what did Jesus say in the gospel? Very clearly, as his last words of the

00:05:29.760 disciples, go out to all the world and teach every creature, the truth that he has delivered to us,

00:05:39.320 revealed to us, the loving truth of God, and baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the

00:05:47.100 Holy Spirit. An effort to reach out to those who are not baptized, certainly that's what the great

00:05:52.580 missionaries have done through the ages. But this doesn't sound like reaching out. And really,

00:06:01.580 sadly, I have to say it sounds like what we're hearing in other facets of what others in the

00:06:09.120 Vatican are saying. All are welcome, but stay in your sin. Basically, this is saying, oh, we want to

00:06:16.300 welcome everyone. But don't worry about being baptized. Don't embrace Jesus Christ. And that for us is to

00:06:24.500 say, don't believe, don't follow the one God so loved the world to send us, his own son. And it's terribly

00:06:34.620 confusing. It's confusing the faithful. Not only that, it's confusing all of those people who the Lord wants

00:06:42.000 to come into the church and to know his son, Jesus Christ, and to profess him as the Lord and Savior.

00:06:49.920 I mean, from Acts chapter 4, Peter stood up and said very clearly, there is no other name in heaven or

00:06:56.160 on earth by which men could be saved. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to

00:07:03.200 the Father but through me. And for 2,000 years, the church has clearly proclaimed the Father sent his only

00:07:10.680 son. That's the core, the kerygma of the gospel. That's what makes us Christian. Now, certainly,

00:07:17.080 we want to collaborate, work with other people, and respect their traditions. But our goal is to

00:07:23.000 bring them to acknowledge Jesus is Lord. I mean, there's a beautiful document in the year 2000 that

00:07:29.000 came from the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, now dicastery. And it was signed by Joseph

00:07:35.480 Cardinal Ratzinger, went on to become Pope Benedict XVI, and approved by Pope St. John Paul II called

00:07:41.880 Dominus Iesus. Jesus is Lord. And it is crystal clear. It's clear in the documents of the last

00:07:49.560 council of the church. It is eminently clear in the scriptures. So what's going on here? It sounds

00:07:56.200 more like what's called indifferentism, that there are all kinds of paths to God, than it is Christianity.

00:08:02.280 I'm a revert to the church over 50 years, and I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ and the privilege I've

00:08:10.600 had of sharing him with people. And we continue to have. That's the missionary mandate of the church.

00:08:16.680 This is far from it. It sounds more like, and I'll be honest, I'm going to be 70 soon. I remember a song

00:08:22.600 about John Lennon, Imagine. Remember that song? It sounds more like the words to imagine,

00:08:28.600 that it does the words from the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

00:08:32.760 You wonder if the Pope wasn't meaning that, because imagine the song is also all about peace,

00:08:39.320 and world peace, and blah, blah, blah. And the Pope, in his, what he's saying, was talking imagine

00:08:45.640 peace, imagine peace. He said twice. I think we were sort of given a hint. You and I, Deacon,

00:08:51.960 we're talking about Pope Francis and his former statements, not that last one about imagine peace.

00:08:59.960 And I'm not a big pop music fan, so I'd heard imagine before. I didn't know any of the lyrics,

00:09:06.680 really. But you had mentioned to me the lyrics. And this was before the Pope's thing came out,

00:09:11.960 because you were saying about imagine there's no religion, blah, blah, blah. And then this came out.

00:09:17.000 That was stunning for me. It was like, the Lord had a little prep so that I would understand it

00:09:23.240 better through your intervention. This is something scary, because it does sound nice.

00:09:30.920 This sounds nice, you know, to say, hey, we're all headed to God in our own different way. And we just,

00:09:41.000 you know, follow your path. Be sincere in what you're doing. And that's your truth. And I have

00:09:47.800 my, and it's beautiful. We can come together and have peace because I value your truth and you value

00:09:54.440 my truth. And we can wonderfully coexist peacefully. Those big signs coexist and everything else.

00:10:00.920 How do we answer that?

00:10:03.160 Well, I think we answer it with Jesus Christ. And that's not what he said. And what, in reflecting

00:10:12.920 on all this, I go back to John 3, 16, probably one of the best known scripture. Even people who don't

00:10:19.880 know the Bible know John 3, 16, because you see it at football games and all over the place.

00:10:24.920 God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son.

00:10:28.200 That, this is denying the importance of that, denying that it's God's plan, that his son will

00:10:36.520 bring us to him, the father. Jesus is the one who revealed the fullness of God, the Trinitarian God,

00:10:44.360 father, son, and spirit. Sikhs and Hindus don't believe in a Trinitarian God. So it really is striking at the 0.87

00:10:53.560 very root of what Christianity is. And I saw one of the bishops mention how devastating this would be

00:11:03.720 to martyrs who died, literally gave their lives to say, no, I will not accept all these, this pantheon

00:11:14.360 of gods. I won't accept a world where there are all these different paths. It is Jesus Christ. And many

00:11:21.720 of them died saying his name and died because they were unwilling to stop saying his name,

00:11:29.560 the name of the son of God. As a bishop, and it's been an honor to work with a deacon, a deacon and a

00:11:36.280 bishop. There's something very ecclesial about that. A bishop being assisted by a deacon and a deacon

00:11:43.640 inspiring a bishop. That's how the church is structured. Bishop, priest, and deacon, that's holy

00:11:49.880 orders. And bishops and deacons especially. I think we're still figuring out what that means. But I'm

00:11:56.680 grateful for this man of great faith, great knowledge, who assisted me for over five years

00:12:03.160 as a bishop. We did make a great team because we love Jesus Christ. And I like to think that both of us

00:12:11.320 know we would hope we would be willing to be martyred for his name rather than do anything

00:12:19.800 that diminishes him as Lord of the world. And so we've got to speak up. We've got to be strong.

00:12:27.400 We have to realize. And going back to, I remember, you know, I'm a little older than you. I'm closer to

00:12:34.600 deacon's age. And I remember very well, imagine. I frankly like the melody. But if you look at the

00:12:42.680 words, it's really horrifying. For us, it should be horrifying as Catholics and as profoundly Catholic

00:12:50.280 people who are also deeply committed Christians, members of the body of Jesus Christ, to hear what,

00:12:58.120 if you really look at what that song says, imagine no religion. So I think we have to really be

00:13:08.040 very concerned because Jesus Christ did not proclaim a brotherhood of man. He proclaimed a gospel to change

00:13:19.080 us to be who we are created to be, the children, sons and daughters of God. And Jesus has absolutely

00:13:27.960 clearly, clearly, clearly. You cannot be sons and daughters of God without baptism. So I believe

00:13:34.680 that that, and maybe that's what the Lord is doing in this time, the 21st century, is reminding us and

00:13:43.320 reinvigorating those who know Jesus Christ and are baptized in the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

00:13:51.880 We've got to get back in that evangelical thrust of proclaiming who Jesus Christ is.

00:13:59.880 In my lifetime, we've been too shy about that. We've been too reticent to really say,

00:14:05.800 there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and that is Jesus Christ. And for the Holy Father

00:14:14.440 to definitely confuse that basic truth, it's deeply harmful. And all of us baptized need to say no

00:14:28.840 to an agenda that says, it's all about a brotherhood of man. Frankly, if that were God's will,

00:14:36.920 he didn't need to send his son. And we don't need a church if it's all about a brotherhood of man.

00:14:44.920 Yeah, we don't need a savior. That's the whole point. We need a savior. We were separated from

00:14:50.120 God because of sin. We couldn't overcome that ourselves. So God so loved the world, as Bishop said,

00:14:56.280 he sent his only son who did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. And he shed every last drop of

00:15:01.720 his blood to bridge that gulf when he hung on that cross. And then he defeated the last enemy,

00:15:07.320 death. And then he was raised from the dead. And the church continues his redemptive mission.

00:15:14.360 You know, you mentioned, John Henry, this notion that you have your truth, and I have my truth,

00:15:19.320 and you have. That's St. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who issued that Dome initiation, wonderful letter,

00:15:25.640 became Pope Benedict XVI. And before he assumed the chair, the homily before the day he was chosen,

00:15:32.760 he warned of the dictatorship of relativism. And relativism says, you have your truth, I have my

00:15:38.360 truth. Ultimately, there's no truth. And Christianity says, truth has been revealed. And his face is the

00:15:45.800 face of Jesus Christ. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And we need that truth to be

00:15:53.160 saved and then to be baptized into him. This is the core of Christianity that is being threatened.

00:15:59.640 Now, either it was just confused words, but whatever it was, it needs to be clarified,

00:16:06.040 because people need to know the only truth that will set them free.

00:16:11.640 I'm reminded of another pop song, Wouldn't It Be Nice? And it seems to kind of go with

00:16:18.920 imagine. It might be nice to have a brotherhood of man, but it would lose what Jesus Christ is about,

00:16:27.400 the truth. And he brings us the good, the true, and the beautiful. After, I mean, as Deacon says,

00:16:34.760 we need to be redeemed from a dark world where sin and death are suffocating us. We were without

00:16:42.920 the option and the opportunity of salvation. And Jesus Christ brought us much more than nice.

00:16:50.840 He brought us all that is good, all that is true and profoundly beautiful. He brought us the

00:16:58.040 opportunity to live in the heart of God, to dwell in eternity in that wondrous heavenly banquet that the

00:17:08.200 Catholic Mass directs us to and echoes and truly connects us with. Our Catholic faith isn't nice. 1.00

00:17:18.680 It's beautiful. It's true. It's profoundly challenging. It's joyful. But nice is empty compared to the

00:17:29.800 glorious gift. The glorious gift that Jesus Christ won for us when he died on the cross and rose from

00:17:36.360 the dead and established a church to guide us in his way. The early church, the deacon and I constantly

00:17:43.960 talk about, that was the first way it was spoken of, the way. Jesus Christ is the way. And to abandon him

00:17:54.600 leaves humanity, lost, seeking this brotherhood of man, that according to God's loving plan,

00:18:03.320 the plan of salvation, God knew that men would never get there without a savior.

00:18:11.800 This October 17th and 18th, we are going to be running Rome Life Forum in Exile. We're doing that in

00:18:19.160 Kansas City, Missouri. This fine bishop, Bishop Joseph Strickland, sort of in exile, is going to be

00:18:24.200 joining us there, as well as Dr. Janet Smith, as well as prophecy expert Xavier Aral and many more,

00:18:32.040 including a special guest. Hope to see you there.

00:18:35.480 Hope to see you there.

00:18:36.760 God bless you. RomeLifeForum.com. Sign up now.

00:18:40.040 Let me take the devil's advocate side for a sec, because I think they've responded,

00:18:44.760 no, no, no, no, no, no, no, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not saying abandon Jesus.

00:18:49.560 We're saying, can't you say that he's a path and the Sikhs have a path and the Hindus have a path? 0.91

00:18:57.400 They're all paths to God. What's wrong with that? It's not abandoning Jesus. We're not talking about

00:19:01.960 abandoning, no. It's just saying, look, we all have paths. And it reminded me of something you said

00:19:07.640 in the beginning. You were talking about how hopefully we would die to, if the choice wasn't

00:19:13.400 to say, no, no, no, we're not asking you to abandon Jesus. No. We're just asking you to say,

00:19:18.840 to admit that there are many different paths to God. Basically, what Francis just said,

00:19:25.320 would you die rather than teach that? The martyrs did. They died because they were told,

00:19:32.360 worship our gods. And according to this, he said, sure, we're brothers. We'll worship your God.

00:19:38.600 We'll worship Jesus. The martyrs said, no, I will not worship a false God. And that really,

00:19:46.440 again, as Deacon says, there's truth. It's not relative. It's not, oh, well, you're my God and

00:19:52.680 that's their God and his God. There is one true God. If you believe that, then those who are not

00:19:59.960 seeking his son are not seeking the true God. And so the idea that there are false religions,

00:20:08.360 there may be some that don't want to admit that and that, oh, every religion brings you to

00:20:13.160 this amorphous being that they're calling God. But we know God through his son. He gives us,

00:20:20.520 gives God a face. You did a good job as devil's advocate because that's really what it's about.

00:20:27.300 It's about a devilish plan to dismantle what Jesus Christ died to establish. It won't happen.

00:20:38.500 And anyone listening, don't get fearful. Don't get upset that, oh, the church is going to collapse

00:20:45.440 and disappear and fall to dust. It will not because Jesus Christ promised it will prevail against even the

00:20:54.060 gates of hell. But we all individually. Really, John Henry, I think that in our time, that's what we

00:21:03.080 need to remember, especially. God loves you as his son profoundly in ways you can't and we can't

00:21:11.160 imagine. He loves each of us, sons and daughters. His love is unbelievably profound, deeper than we can

00:21:19.140 express. But he calls us to him. So it's not to be fearful. It's to trust in the love of God and to

00:21:30.600 be willing to do anything rather than abandon truth that is God. That's what it all comes down to. And

00:21:41.000 it's supremely dangerous to humanity to act as if we can all choose our own because then ultimately we're

00:21:51.960 lost, as too many people are, who have abandoned God, who scoff at the idea of our faith. And they're

00:22:01.660 embracing this brotherhood of man, but it's taking them not into a glorious future, but into a darkness

00:22:09.860 that is without God. The language of brotherhood of man is not unique to John Lennon's Imagine.

00:22:16.160 Decidedness, all kinds of other false theories out there. The gospel speaks very, very clearly that truth

00:22:25.620 can be known. And Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Yes, we want all men and women to be

00:22:34.900 saved. And in fact, that's what the scripture says. The apostle Paul writes to Timothy, I would that all

00:22:41.060 men be saved. But it continues, and come to a knowledge of the truth. And the truth has been revealed

00:22:48.260 fully in Jesus. And there are not many truths and many paths and avatars. And when you deny that he is

00:22:57.240 the Savior, the only Savior, you just make him another avatar, a new pantheon that leads to some

00:23:05.820 brotherhood of man. And the bishops, right? It doesn't. It's a lie. It's a false utopianism. It's a

00:23:11.880 counterfeit. And John Lennon's words, you know, imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try.

00:23:17.440 No hell below us. Above us, only sky. Imagine all the people living life in peace. You who? You may say,

00:23:26.100 I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. Perhaps someday you'll join us, and the world will be as

00:23:31.300 one. That will never bring peace. Jesus alone brings peace. Only Jesus. He's the prince of peace.

00:23:39.100 And the world won't be one, because sin is separation. Separation from God. Separation

00:23:46.980 within, as a result of our separation from God. Separation from one another. The only way to peace,

00:23:52.620 Jesus said, my peace I give you, not as the world gives. So this is what we need to proclaim.

00:24:00.160 And because we do love the Hindu and the Sikh and all of these people who are looking for something more 0.97

00:24:08.260 than themselves, we want to give them the fullness of the revelation that has been given through Jesus

00:24:14.720 Christ and help them to find him. That's the mission of the church. And if we lose that,

00:24:21.240 we lose ourselves, and we lose God's loving plan for the whole human race.

00:24:26.540 What you just said there is very interesting, because you talked about because we love them.

00:24:32.100 Because I think Pope Francis is sitting there with representatives that was in front of a huge

00:24:39.020 inter-religious crowd, but he was also sitting there with, the first time, with representatives

00:24:43.260 from the different religions. There was a Hindu, a Sikh, and so on. And so it certainly sounded loving

00:24:50.500 for him to say, hey, we all have one God. I didn't know what the Hindu thought of that, but anyway. 0.83

00:24:56.720 Um, but we all have one God. It's the same God. We all have the same God. All of your paths are

00:25:03.040 similar. That sounds pretty loving, you know? And yet, I'm always reminded of this stunning thing

00:25:10.440 Mother Mary had said. She was sitting with Bishop Athanasius Schneider on one of her shows that we

00:25:16.440 are at LifeSite every day, by the way. And she said the worst form of anti-Semitism, and she was

00:25:24.880 concluding all the horrific anti-Semitism in the world, including the Holocaust. But she said the

00:25:31.160 worst form of anti-Semitism is keeping Jesus from the Jews. And that's mindful, that really focuses 0.68

00:25:41.280 back to what you said. If we really love the Hindu and the Sikh, we will make this uncomfortable, 1.00

00:25:49.840 exclusionary, non-inclusive claim about no man comes to God except through Jesus Christ.

00:25:59.560 And you know, Mother Miriam is just echoing the Apostle Paul, who was the rabbi Saul. And then the 0.93

00:26:06.840 Lord used to preach to the Gentiles. And he had such deep love for his brothers and sisters, the Jewish

00:26:12.480 people, he could not hold back from telling them about the Jewish Messiah. And, you know, we used to

00:26:19.240 make a distinction in Catholic theology between what we would call inter-religious or inter-faith

00:26:25.420 dialogue, which is a good thing. We share a common planet. We do have common interests. We don't want

00:26:30.860 to kill each other. But we made a distinction between that and what was once called ecumenism.

00:26:36.880 That referred to when we try to collaborate with other Christians and find a way back to full 0.93

00:26:42.120 communion as Catholics. We believe that means coming into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

00:26:46.800 Now it's all mucked up. And we're using words like ecumenism to talk about inter-religious 0.99

00:26:52.080 dialogue. And what's getting lost in the midst of it? Jesus Christ. And that without him, there

00:26:59.120 is no salvation. And the church is not just some nice organization. The church is this mystical

00:27:05.200 body. And it's the Lord's plan for the whole human race through baptism to come into that mystical

00:27:12.560 body. That's plan A. And there's no plan B.

00:27:16.340 I'm reminded of, I guess it's pop song day, but I'm reminded of another song close to the era of

00:27:25.060 Imagine, Joy to the World. Not the Catholic hymn, but the one that talks about Jeremiah was a bullfrog.

00:27:32.640 Some people won't know that. But it's that same idea. And I think there's a great contrast there

00:27:39.700 in a simple way. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king. We sing that at

00:27:47.120 Christmas. I think we should sing it every day. That's why I love the Angelus, because it basically

00:27:53.500 proclaims what is joy to the world. That's joy to the world. Jeremiah was a bullfrog. Joy to you and me.

00:28:01.540 The words of that song are, once again, empty of real joy. And I think that that's what it comes

00:28:08.860 down to. I'm known for being joyful because I know Jesus Christ. I know the one who is our creator

00:28:18.180 and our Lord and our Savior all at the same time, the Son of God. And we can know him through word

00:28:26.360 and through sacrament, especially the Eucharist. We cannot allow the real joy to the world.

00:28:34.680 The Lord has come to be diluted away into joy to the world because we're all brothers and sisters

00:28:42.420 in this brotherhood of man. That is a poverty that it devastates what the future and the hope and the

00:28:55.320 light of Jesus Christ brings to humanity. We all talk as people of faith, the triumph of the

00:29:03.060 Immaculate Heart of Mary, all because of the Sacred Heart of her Son. That's joy to the world. And we need

00:29:11.360 to vigorously and lovingly and joyfully proclaim that truth. In a world where the confusion just seems to

00:29:20.760 get foggier and stranger all the time, certainly coming from the Vatican, but also coming from 1.00

00:29:29.000 many other corners of the human neighborhoods of just confusion and ideas that, frankly, as a man of

00:29:39.620 65 years old, soon to be 66, when I was 10 years old, I would have imagined a lot of these things.

00:29:46.340 That's about the time when imagined came out. But I think we need to remember, we are charged with,

00:29:54.540 as the baptized, to proclaim true joy to the world, always rooted in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

00:30:04.440 No matter who tells us it's not, we have to stay strong in what it means to be baptized

00:30:10.460 in our own joy and share that joy with others. One thing I have to ask you, and that's, where are

00:30:18.480 the successors of the apostles? It's the most stunning thing is the silence. Because we just had

00:30:26.840 triple, like it was, it once was just unbelievably bad. Twice was insane. Three times, I, that,

00:30:34.400 I, I, where are you from here? What is this? And yet, honestly, apart from a handful,

00:30:43.260 and compared to you, even the handful is pretty timid, there's just silence. And, but the rest of

00:30:49.320 the world is freaking out. Sky News, for crying out loud, had a little clip saying, whoa, this is weird.

00:30:56.080 Sky News, a secular news agency, because they were like, oh, okay, this doesn't make any sense.

00:31:00.220 And other, like Protestant leaders wondering what is happening here. Can you give us some insight to

00:31:08.420 the mindset there? Well, I think there are multiple reasons. I think there's some fear on the part of

00:31:15.340 bishops. I don't want to end up like me, losing the diocese. But as far as I'm concerned, what did I

00:31:21.700 lose? I mean, yeah, I, I don't, I, I miss that flock and that family that is the Diocese of Tyler,

00:31:29.740 but I still have Jesus Christ, and I can still proclaim his truth as the successor of the apostles.

00:31:36.960 So, I would say to my brother bishops, and I have, I urge them, I plead with them,

00:31:43.440 we must speak up out of love for Pope Francis, out of love for Jesus Christ. Pope Francis is another

00:31:51.000 son of Christ, as we all are. Sons and daughters, those who are baptized, we are sons and daughters

00:31:57.880 of God through baptism. We're called to live that and make it real more and more deeply. That's what

00:32:04.500 the saints show us, to grow in holiness so that we can truly be everlasting, eternal life, sons and

00:32:11.400 daughters. So, I would just continue to urge my brother bishops to, to, to go back to the basics

00:32:20.500 of their faith. Frankly, I think it's, it is fear, and I have to say, I think it's a lack of supernatural

00:32:28.740 faith of really believing, because in many ways, I was formed in a, in a version of the church that's

00:32:37.080 more corporate than ecclesial. And that's part of the whole, that's the issue for the church,

00:32:43.920 that it, why it's, it's weakened and not clear and not robustly saying no to some of these things,

00:32:52.000 because it's more like a, a huge business than it is an ecclesial body that is the mystical body of

00:33:02.880 Christ. I mean, that's my favorite image in these days of what is the church. It's the mystical body

00:33:09.180 of Christ. Each of us united to Christ through baptism and the other sacraments, and through the

00:33:15.540 anointing of the Holy Spirit, we're called to live that. And I think in words of encouragement, I would

00:33:22.760 give, even if people are living in a place where their bishop has to set a word, and that's most places,

00:33:28.020 look to the saints, look to the saintly bishops, look to, the saints are a wonderful cloud of

00:33:36.000 witnesses that strengthen all of us. Every person that's listening can find a saint that really is

00:33:43.580 close to their path in life. Maybe young, they're young saints for teenagers and 20-somethings that are

00:33:51.320 saying, oh, it's all these old people. They're young saints, vibrantly, beautifully young saints.

00:33:57.060 There are saints that had terrible illness and suffering, saints that were worldly successful

00:34:03.600 and gave it all away. There are saints of poverty. Saints fit every walk of life, and I think we need

00:34:10.660 to look to them and say, what did they do? What did they say? And they said, it's Jesus Christ that

00:34:19.140 they've fallen, and especially the martyrs. But really, all the saints made Jesus Christ Lord of their life.

00:34:25.340 That's why the church says they've completed the journey. They're with God in heaven. And we need to

00:34:32.140 be very strong in that and pray for our bishops. Pray for them to be men who deepen their faith. And

00:34:40.580 you know, the only secret for me is the Blessed Virgin Mary and our Lord in the Eucharist. I'll say it

00:34:49.340 again, what I've said in many different settings. Mary took me by the rosary and pulled me closer to the

00:34:56.820 sacred heart of her son. And I truly pray for that for every bishop and every priest, because that's

00:35:02.800 where Christ wants us, close to his Eucharistic heart. That should be the very center of every priest and

00:35:10.300 bishop's and deacon's life, is that focus in ministry, everything coming from that Eucharistic

00:35:19.600 altar where Christ is, and going back to the Eucharistic altar where Christ is, and spending

00:35:26.280 ample time there. That is what all of us need to do. And that's the only reason I have the strength to

00:35:34.620 speak more clearly and more boldly, as people say. The boldness is Christ. The clarity is Christ.

00:35:43.420 And because I've come to know him in a beautiful and deep way, I can't do anything else. No matter who

00:35:51.540 tells me to be quiet, in what position I get removed from, I can do nothing but my best, as weak as I am,

00:35:59.720 and as imperfect as I am, to proclaim Christ as my Lord, our Lord and Savior, Christ died for all of us.

00:36:11.460 That's what's devastating to me about saying that all religions are fine. What other religion 1.00

00:36:19.480 did their Lord and founder die for them and call us to follow him, even unto death?

00:36:27.760 You know, when I thought of the Apostle Paul, just as he was speaking, Paul said,

00:36:32.060 Lord, to me, if I do not preach the gospel, and as Paul continued his ministry, he grew closer and

00:36:39.500 closer to Jesus, and look at what the Lord did through him. And this is what we need today.

00:36:44.520 We need successors of the Apostles who are apostolic, and the Lord has given them to us. Yes, I agree with

00:36:51.480 Bishop. Pray for our bishops to really find that courage and to join together. But I'd also say,

00:36:57.400 and I'd end with this, just a sign of hope on the horizon to me. Look to Africa. Look to Africa.

00:37:04.320 We may not hear about those African bishops, but I'll tell you what, when I read about them,

00:37:09.620 they are in love with Jesus Christ, and they're not compromising. They're guarding the deposit of

00:37:15.440 faith. They're preaching the fullness of the truth. So, you know, look to Africa. Wouldn't it be

00:37:21.680 something if we watch and see what the Lord does in terms of the church? But anyway, this has been

00:37:29.800 great, and it really is an honor, I have to say, an honor for me to know this man, to be a deacon

00:37:35.920 and help him, and we need to pray for him. Indeed. Indeed. That's one thing we all need to do is pray

00:37:43.440 for Bishop Joseph Strickland. Speaking of that, would you mind closing us off with your blessing,

00:37:48.420 please? Sure.

00:37:50.100 Almighty God, we thank you for the gift of your Son, because you have so loved us and all the world.

00:37:56.600 Strengthen us in his light and grace. Keep us joyful and strong in the truth that he incarnates. May the

00:38:03.320 blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints intercede for each of us in powerful ways. And we ask this

00:38:09.140 blessing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God bless you,

00:38:15.980 and God bless all of you, and we'll see you next time.

The John-Henry Westen Show - October 01, 2024

Bishop Strickland unpacks Pope Francis' new 'all religions are a path to God' agenda

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