Matt C. Abbott
Worst pope ever?
FacebookTwitter
By Matt C. Abbott
July 13, 2017

The following is a powerful commentary from Father Brian W. Harrison, O.S., M.A., S.T.D., which speaks for itself:
    The question raised in the title line above is, I am afraid, no longer just a way to let off rhetorical steam. The present Holy Father is not of course a libertine or a worldly and irreligious seeker of power and wealth, as were a few notoriously immoral medieval and Renaissance popes (e.g., John XII, Alexander VI or Julius II).

    On the contrary, Francis is a man whom no one has accused of failing to live up to his Jesuit's vow of chastity; and his modest personal lifestyle and concern for the poor are not only well-known to all, but remind us that these virtues are central to Christ's Gospel.

    However, the Church's greatest and most essential treasure – to be guarded and preserved at all costs – is the revealed deposit of saving truth: Christ's doctrine, transmitted through Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium, and given its primary living expression in the Sacred Liturgy.

    The aforesaid 'bad popes,' in spite of grave scandals in their personal lives, rarely if ever made public statements that contradicted or undermined Catholic orthodoxy. But Pope Francis has not only done that innumerable times in a seeming effort to accommodate Christian doctrine to the worldly 'wisdom' of current secular élites; he is – still worse! – harshly punishing those offering orthodox resistance and filling the Church's key leadership positions with like-minded prelates who will, he hopes, entrench his revolution permanently.

    Since this project is provoking a terrible and unprecedented crisis throughout the Catholic Church, and is set to do her far greater long-term damage than an immoral private papal lifestyle, the question must be raised in deadly seriousness as to whether he is the worst pope in history. Not the worst man to attain the papacy; the worst pope – qua pope. The pope whose governance of the universal Church is the most harmful on record.

    This pungent LifeSiteNews 'A-to-Z' list of the boldest Bergoglian bombshells, all backed up with hyperlinks to documentary sources – click here to read it – strikes me as an excellent resource to pass on to friends and family whose views have been formed by glowing mainstream media presentations of Francis as a smiling, humble, open-minded pontiff, and who therefore can't imagine why any Catholic should be troubled by his leadership.

    Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
© Matt C. Abbott

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)

Click to enlarge

Matt C. Abbott

Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic commentator with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication, media, and theatre from Northeastern Illinois University. He also has an Associate in Applied Science degree in business management from Triton College. Abbott has been interviewed on HLN, MSNBC, Bill Martinez Live, WOSU Radio in Ohio, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's 2019 ‘Unsolved’ podcast about the unsolved murder of Father Alfred Kunz, Alex Shuman's 'Smoke Screen: Fake Priest' podcast, WLS-TV (ABC) in Chicago, WMTV (NBC) and WISC-TV (CBS) in Madison, Wisconsin. He’s been quoted in The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and other media outlets. He’s mentioned in the 2020 Report on the Holy See's Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), which can be found on the Vatican's website. He can be reached at mattcabbott@gmail.com.

(Note: I welcome and appreciate thoughtful feedback. Insults will be ignored. Only in very select cases will I honor a request to have a telephone conversation about a topic in my column. Email is much preferred. God bless you and please keep me in your prayers!)

Subscribe

Receive future articles by Matt C. Abbott: Click here

More by this author

 

Stephen Stone
This holiday season: A message to all who love our country and want to help save it

Stephen Stone
The most egregious lies Evan McMullin and the media have told about Sen. Mike Lee

Siena Hoefling
Protect the Children: Update with VIDEO

Stephen Stone
FLASHBACK to 2020: Dems' fake claim that Trump and Utah congressional hopeful Burgess Owens want 'renewed nuclear testing' blows up when examined

Tom DeWeese
'Catching Fire News' videos for July 10, 2026

Rev. Mark H. Creech
Pastor Loran Livingston is wrong: America’s sins don’t prove she was never a Christian nation

Linda Kimball
Luciferians are desensitizing humans to accept the torture and eating of babies

Curtis Dahlgren
Who said "Never talk about politics or religion?" Maybe it's time to

Jerry Newcombe
Is there a 'spectre' haunting America?

Steve A. Stone
Stone & Jud, Episode 5

Dan Popp
Misreading the Sermon on the Mount

Pete Riehm
The excruciating passing of your grandfather's Democrat Party

Kari Lee Fournier
Almighty God vs. Satan: 'Our fight for freedom—it’s back!'

Tom DeWeese
America at 250: The remarkable story behind the first public reading of the Declaration

Cliff Kincaid
VIDEO: Impeach Justice Roberts

Rev. Mark H. Creech
America at 250: Will we keep what we have been given?
  More columns

Cartoons


Click for full cartoon
More cartoons

Columnists

Matt C. Abbott
Chris Adamo
Russ J. Alan
Bonnie Alba
Chuck Baldwin
Kevin J. Banet
J. Matt Barber
Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
. . .
[See more]

Sister sites