The John-Henry Westen Show - Young Catholics are asking： Is Pope Francis a bad Pope？

00:00:00.220 Welcome to this episode of the John Henry Weston Show.

00:00:03.560 This show actually is a bit of a role reversal.

00:00:06.380 You see, I was just in Milwaukee and some great young men who run a local Catholic blog named Cream City Catholic put me on the hot seat.

00:00:15.500 Jake and Adam and their co-conspirator James, who I wasn't able to meet,

00:00:19.320 are militant Catholic young men running a local Catholic blog which makes great and entertaining video promoting faith and beauty.

00:00:27.680 Jake's questions were tough.

00:00:29.120 Is it right to call Pope Francis a bad pope?

00:00:32.900 Yikes! 1.00

00:00:33.840 Well, stay tuned to see how it turned out.

00:00:36.300 And be sure to check out their blog at CreamCityCatholic.com

00:00:40.240 God bless you.

00:00:59.120 Hello everyone, my name is Jake Ross.

00:01:01.360 I'm one of the founders of Cream City Catholic and today I'm sitting down with the co-founder of LifeSite News, John Henry Weston.

00:01:07.200 Thank you very much for joining us today.

00:01:08.680 Good to be here, Jake. Thank you.

00:01:09.600 I only have four questions for you, so I'll make this brief.

00:01:12.240 The first question I have for you is,

00:01:14.340 Well, the thing is, with regard to a pagan idol in the Vatican, no one's answering the question, which is very strange.

00:01:34.420 They have this idol. It's a wooden, carved, nude, pregnant image.

00:01:41.020 There was two of them, actually, when they were doing the prostration before it in the Vatican Gardens.

00:01:46.060 The pope wasn't one of the ones actually kneeling down.

00:01:48.660 If you watch the video, they were kneeling down around a circle and then actually went foreheads to the ground.

00:01:53.420 So, it was some kind of adoration or worship of whatever they're not saying.

00:01:59.660 At first, the bishop on the dais at the first of the press conferences for the synod said,

00:02:05.340 Well, it might represent the Virgin Mary or maybe, you know, Mother Earth or something.

00:02:11.940 We don't know.

00:02:13.140 That's very dangerous because Mother Earth is Pakamama, also known as Gaia, a false god. 1.00

00:02:19.120 To whom, actually, in much earlier times, they used to do human sacrifice, then it became much more friendly.

00:02:24.900 But it is a pagan god.

00:02:27.620 So, are they worshiping it?

00:02:30.280 Well, they're not saying.

00:02:31.300 What are they doing?

00:02:32.240 I don't think someone lost their contact lenses and they were all looking for it.

00:02:36.020 Sorry.

00:02:36.700 So, they were doing something of a religious nature, whether they want to admit that or not.

00:02:40.120 So, the fact that this thing has been trotted into the St. Peter's Basilica, put on the floor,

00:02:47.820 the Pope was saying prayers with the cardinals in front of it.

00:02:51.440 There's something strange going on.

00:02:53.100 Whether or not he thinks he's worshiping an idol, I don't know.

00:02:56.900 The fact that they're not answering the questions makes it all the more concerning.

00:03:03.000 And so, it's very difficult.

00:03:06.720 The bishops already, Cardinal Burke and Cardinal Brandtmuller, have already called the instrumentum laboris apostasy.

00:03:15.280 The problem with that, of course, is that had to be approved by the Pope before it was released.

00:03:22.000 Okay.

00:03:22.840 Obviously, you know, the bishop at the synod said, I don't think we need to create any connections with the Virgin Mary.

00:03:30.640 Serious problem.

00:03:31.840 Yeah.

00:03:32.240 I know.

00:03:32.960 That's the next, one of the next press conferences that they talked about it.

00:03:37.780 The bishop there says, no, it's not the Virgin Mary.

00:03:41.300 So, then that leaves us with what?

00:03:43.900 And they're trying to dismiss it as just, oh, it's a nothing.

00:03:46.420 Don't worry about it.

00:03:47.520 You know, look the other way.

00:03:49.060 Don't see evil under rocks when there's nothing there.

00:03:51.160 And come on.

00:03:52.120 There's something going on.

00:03:53.200 They won't answer the question.

00:03:54.360 It's concerning.

00:03:56.740 Thank you.

00:03:57.560 How do you feel about this statement?

00:03:59.760 Vatican II was obviously a huge failure.

00:04:02.340 This is manifestly shown through its fruits.

00:04:04.480 Now, this nuclear destruction of our church was probably not a mistake.

00:04:09.380 It was a plot by agents of the devil to destroy the church.

00:04:14.900 Well, one of the things that you can tell from the fruits of what was attempted with Vatican II, 0.80

00:04:23.560 particularly the, there's sort of a difference, I guess you could say,

00:04:28.440 between what is actually in the documents and what's happened thereafter and the spirit of Vatican II.

00:04:34.480 Although, even the spirit that went into creating the documents was problematic

00:04:39.180 because we know now, if you read the history, what was actually going on

00:04:43.280 was this huge openness to the world in a way that was extremely detrimental to the church.

00:04:49.020 Watching the aftermath has been the most horrifying thing that's ever happened.

00:04:53.760 And I'm too young to have watched the early part of it. 0.97

00:04:57.380 But by the time I came, you know, along in the church, it was pathetic. 0.66

00:05:03.640 And every time you see a resurgence of the old mass, thanks to Pope Benedict,

00:05:10.240 largely in Samorum Pontificum, you've seen a growth, a spark of vitality,

00:05:16.880 young people coming back.

00:05:18.100 And an amazing knowledge of the faith.

00:05:23.420 Somehow, with tradition, there is a knowledge of the faith like you never see.

00:05:27.780 I can tell you, one of the first times that I gave a talk at a traditional parish in Toronto,

00:05:32.660 I was shocked at the knowledge of the faith of these young people,

00:05:37.420 young men and young women who knew their faith.

00:05:40.360 Whereas, you know, much of Catholicism, post-Vatican II, had this,

00:05:47.660 that's basically the faith disappeared.

00:05:50.440 And the knowledge of the faith disappeared.

00:05:52.300 So has it been a failure?

00:05:55.220 Yes, I think just speaking based on evidence, absolutely it's a failure.

00:05:59.180 No question about that.

00:06:00.160 No question at all.

00:06:01.460 Was it a plot?

00:06:03.480 Well, I do think that there were some people who plotted to do very nefarious things with it.

00:06:10.200 And normally what happens is they work themselves into processes

00:06:14.560 and then work within them to create what they create.

00:06:18.440 And it turns out, and this one, for the bad guys, this one worked out very well.

00:06:22.880 And so was there plotting?

00:06:25.200 Yes, there was.

00:06:26.220 But, you know, you can't say that everyone who did it plotted, obviously.

00:06:30.360 So were there good people who tried to work within Vatican II?

00:06:34.240 Yes, there were.

00:06:34.920 And did they think they were doing good things?

00:06:36.540 Yes, they did.

00:06:37.240 And so that's one of the sad things.

00:06:39.660 We don't often see the machinations of the devil and don't recognize them

00:06:43.680 and sometimes go along doing things that are actually very bad,

00:06:46.420 and we think they're good.

00:06:47.880 I'm sure there are many priests, God forbid,

00:06:51.660 who tell people not to kneel for Holy Communion, which is horrific.

00:06:55.980 But they think they're doing a good thing.

00:06:58.660 And yet I would say it's evil.

00:07:00.160 So next question.

00:07:05.000 Is it okay for Catholics to say plainly and out loud that Pope Francis is a bad pope?

00:07:13.500 Well, first of all, the simple answer to that is yes, because ostensibly it's true.

00:07:21.220 We've never had a pope like this.

00:07:23.520 We've had popes who have had affairs, have done all sorts of things, have stolen money and done even worse than that.

00:07:32.220 But we've never had a pope like this.

00:07:34.320 And I've been told by some people who know much more than I do, it would be much better, for instance,

00:07:40.540 if he had some women and children, because at least it would be a moral failing on his part.

00:07:46.920 What we have with this is an aberration in teaching that we've never had to this extent before.

00:07:54.560 In the Arian heresy, you did have the pope sort of go along with it for a long, long time. 0.87

00:07:59.140 And, you know, it really did feel like the whole world was Arian. 0.97

00:08:03.040 But you at least had one heresy.

00:08:05.320 Now we have multiple heresies going on from the pope himself.

00:08:10.540 And that's the problem.

00:08:11.820 And it's not my words.

00:08:12.800 I'm not a theologian.

00:08:13.860 But it's very plain as just a dad who has kids who are older now and therefore confused in their faith because of what the pope is saying.

00:08:21.880 He's distorting the faith on contraception, on cohabitation, on the Eucharist, on homosexuality, on transgenderism.

00:08:30.260 And not even so much by his words, which there are words to back all those things, but also by his actions.

00:08:36.220 And so these things are harmful for the faith.

00:08:39.720 So can you say this is a bad pope?

00:08:41.680 Well, absolutely so.

00:08:43.260 Should you say he's a bad pope?

00:08:45.320 At this point, I'd say the answer is yes.

00:08:47.360 You might try to be prudent in the beginning when things aren't so bad and sort of benefit of doubt.

00:08:51.900 And maybe it's going to change.

00:08:53.240 And we're hoping and praying.

00:08:54.220 We have been hoping and praying for six years now.

00:08:57.000 Now, and this is not changing so far, barring a miracle, I don't see it changing.

00:09:02.840 We have to pray for the conversion of the pope.

00:09:04.880 Is he a bad pope?

00:09:06.240 The evidence speaks for itself.

00:09:08.460 And the faithful in canon law, I think it's canon 212, but are given the right and even the duty to manifest to their sacred pastors, the pope included,

00:09:21.320 their concern about, especially when the faith is in danger, with respect for persons.

00:09:28.120 And we are speaking with respect for the pope by calling him a bad pope also, because he's endangering his own soul.

00:09:39.220 The pope, while being the victor of Christ, while being a bishop and cardinal and so on, a priest of God,

00:09:45.740 he's also a man, and therefore, in that sense, our brother.

00:09:50.160 And we're responsible for the souls of our brother, even if he's our spiritual father.

00:09:55.660 And so in a normal family, when the father is getting drunk and doing all sorts of things that are unbecoming of a dad,

00:10:02.980 if the son, especially an older son or something, is really concerned for the dad, he's going to tell him that.

00:10:08.860 And if he doesn't listen, he's going to tell him again, and he's going to tell him stronger and stronger every time,

00:10:13.440 so that he will come out of it for his own good.

00:10:17.600 And that's true love.

00:10:19.040 It's tough love, but it's true love.

00:10:21.880 It's easy to get discouraged with all of this stuff.

00:10:24.620 Given the troubling reports coming out of Rome, have you seen any silver lining in the midst of all the confusion and heterodoxy?

00:10:31.560 Oh, yes.

00:10:32.260 I think the most amazing part of this whole story is that I have seen a resurgence of faith in this time like never before.

00:10:40.640 I think when, you know, when the times get tough, things get tough, the tough get going, that's been proved in spades.

00:10:46.420 And I see it in young people with the energy and the fight they have for the faith.

00:10:50.960 They're coming alive out of the woodwork.

00:10:53.120 I'm here with incredible pro-life, pro-family, hardcore Catholics at the Catholics United for the Faith Conference, where I was.

00:11:01.040 And I was receiving that award on behalf of Archbishop Vigano.

00:11:06.920 It is incredible to see this caliber of Catholic, to be with brothers in arms who are ready to fight for the faith, unstintingly.

00:11:17.740 And it's not only here, but I'm so impressed with here, I have to say.

00:11:21.540 But in Rome, in all over the world, there are these incredible fighters for the faith who are being brought together like never before.

00:11:30.880 This is one very interesting thing.

00:11:33.080 There's all sorts of factions, you know, this and that, and you don't like this certain thing.

00:11:37.340 So there was a lot of division.

00:11:38.960 But you know what?

00:11:39.900 So much division is being done away with because we're being so attacked that the only very narrow path of the truth is we're all rubbing shoulders now.

00:11:50.660 And so about a week and a half, two weeks ago, we ran what we call a round table in Rome that just was before the launch of the Synod.

00:12:01.660 And we brought together Michael Boris, Michael Matt, Taylor Marshall, Marco Cisate, Professor DeMatte, John Smits from France.

00:12:10.900 And what we did was we all were there.

00:12:14.120 And, you know, there are some difficulties between Boris and Matt and perhaps Taylor.

00:12:19.440 I don't know.

00:12:19.780 But the thing is, they sat together.

00:12:23.380 They proclaimed the faith together.

00:12:25.480 And, you know, we thought, oh, boy, they're all huge personalities.

00:12:28.280 They're going to hog this, you know, the money.

00:12:30.160 They're not letting each other speak.

00:12:31.240 Or maybe they're going to, who knows what.

00:12:32.980 It was awesome to watch them dialogue with one another.

00:12:36.260 And there were some disagreements.

00:12:37.400 But they disagreed not in the way we see in the sort of political left-wing, right-wing disagreements, which isn't really a dialogue at all.

00:12:46.040 Although they say dialogue, dialogue.

00:12:47.520 It's all BS.

00:12:49.380 There it was.

00:12:50.200 It was real dialogue.

00:12:52.600 So, yeah, I see a silver lining.

00:12:54.440 I see encouragement like I've never, ever seen before.

00:12:56.820 We know in the end the Immaculate Heart and Mary will triumph.

00:13:01.080 That's for sure.

00:13:01.900 So, if you know the ending, you can watch all the things that are happening that are bad, going, oh, yeah, that's really bad.

00:13:09.900 And we might suffer some.

00:13:11.260 We can offer it up.

00:13:12.560 And, yeah, it's bad.

00:13:13.560 But you know what?

00:13:14.220 That makes the victory in the end all the sweeter.

00:13:16.680 Because out of the crucifixion, the most horrible thing ever came, the salvation of mankind.

00:13:22.040 And so the mystical body of Christ, the church, will suffer.

00:13:25.920 The catechism tells us that.

00:13:27.100 It will suffer like her head.

00:13:28.260 It will follow her head into agony and passion. 1.00

00:13:30.600 And so I think we're suffering some kind of an agony in the church.

00:13:35.320 But you know the victory is coming.

00:13:37.740 And the troops are rallying.

00:13:39.740 It's incredible to see.

00:13:41.980 And I want to not finish this interview without the most important thing.

00:13:47.100 And the most important thing and the rallying cry, and I think what is uniting us more than anything else, is true devotion to Our Lady.

00:13:56.740 Our Lady plays the key role in the end times.

00:14:00.600 We were told in Fatima about what was coming in 1917.

00:14:04.620 In 2017, she warned that in the end, you know, the final battle between Our Lord and the reign of Satan would be over marriage and the family.

00:14:12.000 And she told that to Cardinal Kaffara.

00:14:13.640 Well, Sister Lucia did.

00:14:14.920 And she said, you know, you're always going to be persecuted for such things.

00:14:19.640 She said, don't worry.

00:14:21.400 In the end, her immaculate heart will triumph.

00:14:23.580 So that's what we're dealing with now.

00:14:26.220 And that's why I think the number one thing we can all do is true devotion to Mary.

00:14:32.300 St. Louis de Montfort's true devotion is the original and best devotion.

00:14:36.600 And it will bring you to tradition.

00:14:39.600 It will bring you to Christ like no other thing ever can.

00:14:43.420 You know, the saints in the old, not in the Old Testament, but in the olden days, de Montfort describes how they molded themselves into Christ.

00:14:52.560 But it was very arduous, tough work.

00:14:54.920 It was like hammer and chisel, chiseling away the bad parts.

00:14:57.800 And if you do a wrong blow, you get some weird deformity in the artwork.

00:15:01.200 And, ah, it's so difficult to do.

00:15:03.860 And it's painstaking.

00:15:05.620 They call Mary the mold of God.

00:15:08.660 You melt yourself or you try and do away with yourself.

00:15:12.260 Make yourself small.

00:15:13.300 Pour yourself into the mold.

00:15:15.000 And you're formed into Jesus Christ.

00:15:16.760 Like there's no other way of doing that.

00:15:19.640 So there's a lot of hope.

00:15:21.720 There's a lot of hope.

00:15:23.080 And it's in Our Lady.

00:15:24.500 It is.

00:15:25.080 John Henry, thank you very much.

00:15:26.140 Thank you.

The John-Henry Westen Show - October 24, 2019

Young Catholics are asking： Is Pope Francis a bad Pope？

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