A Journal of 2019 – 2
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2018.03.09
Some Tweets:
@Pontifex “The Catholic Church has, in fact, been about the last bastion of the Socratic principle in the modern world. Clearly, if – in fact – its authority contradicts itself at a deep level, something has gone wrong.” – James V. Schall, S.J. https://goo.gl/tf8Qwp
@Pontifex This pope tweets, “We can support one another, and face every kind of challenge with courage and hope, when we draw our strength from Jesus.” That is really true when faced with the challenge of rebuilding the Church, ruined by the errors and confusion of this papacy.
@Pontifex Cardinal Sarah has been saying this kind of thing (https://goo.gl/w3fjm9) for some time. I have often wondered how long it will be before the pope punishes him, as others have been punished for speaking in support of Church teaching and the Gospel.
@Pontifex “IN THE CHURCH’S 2000 YEAR HISTORY OF HERESIES BERGOGLIANISM WILL BE KNOWN AS ONE OF THE MOST DEADLY BECAUSE OF THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO SPREAD THE VIRUS” https://goo.gl/F69ac5
@Pontifex “Invite children of divorce to Cupich’s Amoris Laetitia seminars” (https://goo.gl/C1yHdP)
@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: The season of Lent each year is a chance for this pope to return to God in every aspect of his life, and to stop spreading error and confusion in the Church.
@Pontifex “A looming demographic disaster is facing the Church in the United States.” https://goo.gl/71usqs
@Pontifex A delusion of the devil? (https://goo.gl/K92MBK} This is also a delusion created by the “Paradigm Shift” or the “New Paradigm” that Cardinals Cupich and Parolin and others are now promoting, and that Cardinal Müller and Archbishop Chaput and others are condemning.
@Pontifex Fasting reminds us that God alone can satisfy our hunger, and He alone can send us a good pope, one who is faithful to the teachings of the Church, one who can rebuild the Church and free it from this pope’s errors and confusion.
@Pontifex A response to the Pope: fidelity to Church teaching and to the Gospel helps us recognize our neighbor as our brother or sister, and to acknowledge that what we possess never belongs to the pope alone. It belongs to the 2,000-year-old history and teaching of the Church.
@Pontifex So, this pope is having a movie about himself produced, now, during his lifetime. What enormous humility! Dear God, why are You punishing Your Church? What did we do to deserve this? Please, dear God, send us a good pope, one who will rebuild Your ruined Church.
@Pontifex This pope tweets, “When you meet other people in the Lord, you can be sure God’s surprises will follow.” And when you encounter almost anything this pope writes, you can be sure confusion will follow.
@Pontifex Mother of God, why is your Son punishing us by allowing so many homosexuals in the Vatican and elsewhere in the hierarchy and the clergy? Why is He allowing them to go on trying to influence Church teaching? Mother of God, help us.
@Pontifex This pope, this man of humility, uses Catholic movie director Wim Wenders (who is now married to his fifth wife) to produce a “documentary” about – I am not making this up – himself.
@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: Let us recognize what leaves a good and lasting mark on our hearts, i.e., faithfulness to Church teaching, to the truth of the Gospel, knowing this comes from God, without the error and confusion that has marked this pontificate up to now.
Cardinal Wuerl noted: priests should respect the decisions made in conscience by individuals who act in good faith. ( https://goo.gl/443r6F ) So if an individual decides in conscience to receive Communion despite committing adultery, sodomy, incest, or pederasty, that’s fine?
@Pontifex What would the martyrs of The White Rose say about today’s world, about today’s Church? “With every day that you still hesitate, that you do not resist this spawn of hell, your guilt increases like a parabolic curve higher and higher.” (https://goo.gl/AACA3L)
@Pontifex “St. Cloud Is 4th Minnesota Diocese to Declare Bankruptcy Amid Abuse Lawsuits” (https://goo.gl/tAHGWD) You have to wonder if this sort of thing would have happened without “the spirit of Vatican II” (or whatever that “spirit” was).
@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: if sometimes error, confusion, anger, vindictiveness, and the refusal to follow Church teaching flame up in the heart of this pope, God and His Blessed Mother protect the Church and the people of God from such a man.
@Pontifex O Lord, teach this pope the truths of the Gospel and Church teachings. Stop him from spreading any more error and confusion in the Church. Have him correct his errors, and keep away from him those evil cardinals who constantly lead him into error. Please, Lord.
@Pontifex This video https://goo.gl/F2enfU is a masterpiece. That’s the only word for it. When Michael speaks about these truths and in this way, he creates a brilliant masterpiece of Church teaching, and an elegant tapestry of the teachings of Christ.
@Pontifex In response to a papal tweet: I thank all decent clerics who strive to build a clean and pure Church, free of this pope’s error, confusion, anger, and vindictiveness, and free of the monstrous acts and perverted teaching of some in the hierarchy.
@Pontifex This pope says, “Even the fleeting life of the least of beings is the object of God’s love.” (https://goo.gl/kq76pq) Yes, even the fleeting life of a pope who spreads error and ruin in the Church, hiding his pride and anger behind “mercy” and a show of humility.
@Pontifex This pope hopes that many will be “celebrating the sacrament of Reconciliation.” (https://goo.gl/ahVbnD) But with a “paradigm shift” where everyone is “accompanied” and then follows his or her own conscience, does sacramental confession even mean anything anymore?
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2018.03.11
St. Alphonsus writes of Our Lord’s “compassion for the necessities of the souls of poor sinners who are deprived of Divine grace.” (https://goo.gl/YJPQ62)
With saints like that in heaven, why should we be afraid of clerics and prelates with their fake “mercy” and “paradigm shift” and their “accompaniment” and “discernment,” which, as Bishop Athanasius Schneider points out, while sounding “beautiful” really amount to a permission to sin. (https://goo.gl/UN1GCH)
There is probably no connection between this “paradigm shift” thinking and the perversions reportedly practiced by Vatican clerics, but St. Alphonsus is here to protect the Church against them, just in case.
Along with Our Lady, crushing the head of the serpent with her heel.
With such protection, together with that of St. Michael, we have little to fear from the errors, the confusion, the destruction, and all the other horrors of the present pontificate.
Watching the new film, “The Death of Stalin,” it occurred to me that there are these two lessons, among other of course, that we can learn from history: one, even the most monstrous evil is in the end ridiculous and laughable, certainly sub specie aeternitatis; and two, every period of governance, in every institution and in every country, no matter how awful it may be, does not last forever.
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2018.03.14
You have to wonder if Archbishop Hebda believes (https://goo.gl/bz4VEL) it might be the duty of the hierarchy to avoid the kind of bankruptcy the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has confronted, a bankruptcy involving $156 million in claims by sex-abuse survivors.
You also have to wonder if the archbishop believes it might be the duty of the hierarchy to avoid the kind of error and confusion of the current pontificate, error and confusion that seem to have begun after the propagation of the “spirit” of Vatican II and probably played a role in the sex-abuse crisis.
Might it also be the duty of the hierarchy, therefore, to represent and support the traditional teaching of the Church and the Gospel?
After all that’s been done, then might be the time for the archbishop to ask the laity to represent the Catholic faith in the public arena.
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2018.03.15
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “In the Sacrament of Reconciliation we find our way to the Lord, and discover the meaning of life,” unless we’re a victim of the “paradigm shift.” Then is there a need for confession? After “accompaniment,” and we can follow our own conscience, right?
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “In the Sacrament of Reconciliation we find our way to the Lord, and discover the meaning of life,” unless we follow the “paradigm shift.” Then there’s no need for confession – after some “accompaniment,” we can just follow our own conscience, right?
@Pontifex More from Cardinal Eijk in the Netherlands (https://goo.gl/hP5Fdj). He’s utterly right, of course, but I’m afraid that if he keeps it up, this pope will be shipping him off to Tierra del Fuego or someplace. Or demoting him to a parish priest in Bangladesh.
@Pontifex I listened to Michael’s hard, splendid comments in this Vortex (https://goo.gl/7qGM2P, and I thought how few people can understand and accept the truth of such ideas. I also thought of some lines from “Four Quartets”: “….human kind / Cannot bear very much reality.”
@Pontifex “Confessors should help young people discern vocations, Pope says” (Vatican News) But how are they going to do that after the “paradigm shift” that pretty much does away with confession by telling people to follow their conscience? Oh, right, there’s “accompaniment.”
@Pontifex Cardinal Onaiyeken of Nigeria said he’s astonished that leaders of the Church in the West are concentrating their energies on the status of Catholics who are divorced and remarried, at a time when “the churches are getting more and more empty.” https://goo.gl/oWZhXB
@Pontifex If this pope dedicates more time to prayer, his heart will reveal the lies with which he deceives himself, and he will find true consolation in God, while at the same time ceasing to promote error and confusion in the Church and stopping the protection of evil prelates.
@Pontifex And what will happen to this pope if he does not seize the God-given opportunity to start over again and create a new pontificate, faithful to the Gospel and to Church teaching, without error, confusion, ruin, anger, and vindictiveness?
@Pontifex St. Alphonsus writes of Our Lord’s “compassion for the necessities of the souls of poor sinners who are deprived of Divine grace.” (https://goo.gl/YJPQ62) With saints like that in heaven, why should we be afraid of clerics with their “paradigm shift” and fake “mercy.”
@Pontifex This pope tweets, “Living the encounter with Jesus means allowing yourself to be turned inside out by Grace every day.” That’s nonsense. Living the encounter with Jesus means – for this pope – being faithful to the Gospel and Church teachings and not spreading error.
@Pontifex Aid to the Church in Need reports “Christians are the victims of at least 75 percent of all religiously motivated violence and oppression.” The report adds that some 215 million Christians face severe persecution, mostly at the hands of Muslims. https://goo.gl/P2asDs
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “When we allow Jesus to enter our lives we discover the secret to keeping alive the flame of our spiritual life.” That appears to be a secret this pope has yet to discover, along with the secret of preventing error and being faithful to Church teaching
@Pontifex “Vatican Hires Pro-Homosexual Law Firm to Shut-Down Pro-Family, Catholic Website” https://goo.gl/G3AvQV How long, O Lord, will You be silent in the face of this evil?
@Pontifex “Vatican Hires Pro-Homosexual Law Firm to Shut-Down Pro-Family, Catholic Website” https://goo.gl/G3AvQV How long, O Lord, will You be silent in the face of this evil? With a prayer that the works of the Demon and his allies will soon be brought to an end.
@Pontifex “‘…This pope is a man with profound philosophical and theological formation….” Wow! Next we’ll hear that he’s a world-class polylinguist, an orator comparable to Churchill, a strategist on a par with Napoleon. We Catholics are just so lucky.” https://goo.gl/92QcJF
@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: If we encounter Jesus and our brothers and sisters every day, we will remember how important the Gospel and Church teaching are. We will remember eternity, not simply the present moment.
@Pontifex You have to wonder if Archbishop Hebda believes (https://goo.gl/bz4VEL) it might be the duty of the hierarchy to avoid the kind of bankruptcy the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has confronted, involving $156 million in claims by sex-abuse survivors.
@Pontifex Numerous USCCB statements have absolved Islam of the crimes committed in the name of Islam. Instead of naming the religious ideology that motivates the terrorists, Church officials echo the mantra that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. https://goo.gl/RqTCUc
@Pontifex “When viewed objectively, it is surely hard to reconcile the conciliar doctrine on conscience presented in Gaudium et Spes with the novel teachings of Cardinal Cupich and Pope Francis.” https://goo.gl/Twv8az (Will another Catholic professor soon be fired?)
@Pontifex “Vatican doctored photo of letter by Pope-emeritus Benedict” https://goo.gl/wew1xG And what else was doctored in this letter? The text as well?
@Pontifex “Cardinal Parolin: joy, mercy, and evangelization are the major themes of this pontificate” (Vatican News) Yes, along with error, confusion, anger, and vindictiveness toward anyone who dares disagree with this pope.
@Pontifex “True reform entails ‘missionary transformation of Church,’ Vatican cardinal says” (Fides) Some might say that true reform entails support of the the Gospel and Church teaching.
@Pontifex “In order to prepare a truly human future, it is not enough to reject evil.” ,No, it is also necessary to reject the error, the confusion, the destruction, and the sheer evil of this horrendous pontificate, together with this pope’s anger and vindictiveness.
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2018.03.19
I guess I’m kind of stupid, but I have never understood Matthew 1:19: “Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.”
By “divorcing” her, i.e. ending the betrothal, wouldn’t Joseph have exposed her to MORE shame? She would then have been simply an unwed mother.
If he had wanted NOT to “expose her to shame,” wouldn’t his first reaction have been to MARRY her, rather than taking steps “to divorce her quietly”?
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Thank you for taking the time to respond to my comment. You’re right when you say that the New Theological Movement site doesn’t really offer an answer to my question. The site says, “He (Joseph) made up his mind to divorce her quietly, seeking to preserve both her good name and his justice.”
I still don’t understand how his decision “to divorce her quietly” would allow her “to preserve…her good name.” Again, since at this point Joseph knew nothing about the real circumstances of her pregnancy, wouldn’t he have simply been deciding to abandon her to the fate of being an unwed mother, in a society where such a thing was an utter scandal?
If Joseph had wanted to help Mary preserve her good name, wouldn’t he have made the decision simply to marry her, instead of abandoning her?
Of course later he learned everything, but still, before that, the idea that not marrying her would allow her “to preserve…her good name” is – and always has been – really puzzling for me.
But again, thank you for your response.
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Thank you. I understand that Joseph’s first reaction was to do the right thing under the circumstances, as he for the moment understood those circumstances to be. Later he learned, through divine intervention, that the right thing to do was in fact to take Mary as his wife.
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2018.03.20
Some Tweets that may be of interest:
@Pontifex If Pius XII were alive today, would he counsel us to proceed with a spirit of “discernment” and “accompaniment”? Would he describe a “paradigm shift” in favor of the modern world? God, send us a pope to write “Mit brennender Sorge” for us? https://goo.gl/LJJRqE
@Pontifex “Rome troubled by criticism on doctrinal orthodoxy, Vatican official says” (Rome Reports) Rome may be troubled, but I’m sure this pope isn’t. He probably just has a good laugh, before deciding which critic he’s going to punish next, like all those he’s already punished.
@Pontifex “Gay male prostitute outs dozens of active homosexual priests to Vatican in 1200-page dossier” “The homosexual subculture throughout Vatican offices goes back decades but seems to have experienced a major resurgence during the Francis papacy.” https://goo.gl/ChHkNC
@Pontifex “Cardinal Kasper: Homosexual unions are ‘analogous’ to Christian marriage” (https://goo.gl/VEmwoS) Of course. And no doubt incestuous unions are too. And pederastic ones, and polygamous ones, and….
@Pontifex “Cardinal Kasper: Homosexual unions are ‘analogous’ to Christian marriage” (https://goo.gl/VEmwoS ) Of course. And no doubt incestuous unions are too. And pederastic ones, and polygamous ones, and….
@Pontifex “Cardinal Kasper: Homosexual unions are ‘analogous’ to Christian marriage” (https://goo.gl/VEmwoS ) Okay, I give up. There’s no point in weeping any more over the wacky things Cardinal Kasper says. It’s beyond tears. Now is there anyone who just can’t stop laughing?
@Pontifex Now, since Cardinal Kasper believes that “homosexual unions are ‘analogous’ to Christian marriage” (https://goo.gl/VEmwoS) and since this pope wants married priests, will we soon have married GAY priests? Hey, THAT is something to look forward to, isn’t it?
@Pontifex Oh, the drama, the DRAMA! https://goo.gl/ZjFQQ3
@Pontifex A response to a papal tweet: Even this pope can find freedom, joy, and life. But he must correct his errors, clarify the confusion, repair a ruined Church, follow the Gospel and Church teaching, and rectify the injustice his vindictiveness has caused faithful Catholics.
@Pontifex “Prayer requires courage and patience, Pope preaches at weekday Mass” (Vatican News) Being a good pope, free of error, confusion, anger, and the need to punish critics also requires courage and patience.
@Pontifex “US adult Catholic population slipping, study shows” (CARA) And those clerics still under the spell of “the spirit of Vatican II” just keep charging ahead toward the cliff edge.
@Pontifex “Papal preacher devotes 4th Lenten sermon to obedience” (Cantalamessa.org) Obedience is important for everyone, except, of course, for this pope. He has no need to obey the Gospel, Church teaching, tradition, or the thinking of earlier popes.
@Pontifex This pope says, “Jesus made Himself like the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies to give life.” It’s a shame that this pope cannot follow Jesus’ Gospel and the teachings of His Church. It’s a shame that this pope spreads error, confusion, and yes, heresy.
@Pontifex We hope this pope will “listen to the aspirations of young people,” and that he will have mercy on them by teaching them the truth of the Gospel instead of filling their minds with error, confusion, and the anger that makes him so vindictive toward faithful Catholics.
@Pontifex “Pope: Catholics in Mortal Sin Not to Receive Holy Communion” (ChurchMilitant.com) Well, yes, but we all know that with a little of this pope’s “discernment” and “accompaniment” and “mercy,” no can really be “in mortal sin” anymore, can they?
@Pontifex “Cdl. Dolan, parade leaders partner to stem Catholic school decline” (ChurchMilitant.com) Right, there’s nothing like forming an alliance with gay-sponsoring St. Patrick’s Day parade leaders in New York to revive Catholic schools, is there?
@Pontifex Married priests an answer to the priest shortage? No, but end Communion for the divorced and “remarried,” strengthen Catholic families, build Catholic schools, teach children the Faith, return to that Faith, stop spreading error and confusion. The result? More priests.
@Pontifex Married priests – an answer to a problem? No, the start of an even bigger problem, the start of MORE and STILL bigger problems.
@Pontifex Homo-Arianism (https://goo.gl/g2LcCj) – now THIS is a heresy. And how long will it go on?
@Pontifex So now we know the name of the author of “The Dictator Pope” (https://goo.gl/2pscTk). And how will this pope punish Henry Sire? I’m sure he’ll find a way. He’s managed to punish everyone else who’s dared to criticize him. Such mercy.
@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: Happy Feast of St. Joseph! Follow his example when caring for God’s Church so it can increase wisdom and grace, without errror, without confusion, and without anyone being punished for being faithful to the Gospel and Church teaching.
@Pontifex “A spiritual catastrophe for the Catholic Church” https://goo.gl/ofA48W
@Pontifex “Pope…asks forgiveness for faults” (Vatican News) If this pope wants forgiveness, he must correct his errors, clarify the confusion he has caused, try to rebuild a ruined Church, and rectify the punishments meted out to faithful Catholics who have disagreed with him.
@Pontifex “Pope, in meeting with Muslim leader, says there is no link between Islam and terrorism” (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) This pope should read the Quran before he makes statements that will sound very foolish to future historians, and which sound foolish now.
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2018.03.25
In response to a Facebook entry:
I’m a US citizen who, more or less by accident, has not even set foot in our “very troubled country,” for over thirty years. The time just somehow sped by. Now, with John Bolton as National Security Adviser, I very much fear that we are ALL very soon going to be living in not just a very troubled country, but in a very troubled WORLD.
Seriously, Bolton’s solution for our disagreements with Iran? “Bomb ’em!” His solution for our disagreements with North Korea? “Bomb ’em!”
I am not making this up. Google it. He’s made this kind of statement in The Wall Street Journal and on Fox News.
When the Mueller investigation or the Stormy Daniels affair makes Trump really uncomfortable, Bolton will offer the ultimate distraction: “Bomb ‘em!” Yeah, nuke ‘em! Start a war! THAT’ll keep Trump safe in office!
Hey, it worked for Nixon before Watergate. The war in Vietnam not only got Nixon elected but also kept him in The White House for years.
It was only AFTER the war in Vietnam ended, that Nixon was finally forced from office.
No American president has ever been FORCED from office or IMPEACHED IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR. Yes, Truman left office in the middle of the war in Korea. BUT Truman was VOTED OUT of office. Again:
No American president has ever been FORCED from office or IMPEACHED IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR.
Trump knows that.
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2018.03.27
Tweets:
@Pontifex A papal Tweet: “Each one of us is a treasure whom God allows to grow in his or her own way.” Fine, but that means – especially for a pope – following the Gospel and Church teaching, spreading truth and not error, speaking with clarity, not punishing faithful Catholics.
@Pontifex “The Quran specifically denies Christ was the Son of God. Yahweh and Allah are not the same God. The Quran is a book about man’s complete submission to Allah. It will overturn the world to make this submission prevail.” – James V. Schall, S.J. (https://goo.gl/e4obMf)
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “To defend the earth and to safeguard water is to protect life.” No. For a pope, to protect life is to defend the Gospel and to safeguard Church teaching.
@Pontifex “Looking at the Crucifix heals our poisoned hearts,” Pope preaches (Vatican News). And whose heart, exactly, is he talking about here?
@Pontifex “Study shows growing indifference to religion among millennials in Europe” (Guardian). Is that really a surprise? The Catholic Church has become an NGO where this pope tweets his concern with “defending the earth” and “safeguarding water” instead of transcendence.
@Pontifex What we must first do is recognize that the enemy, modernism and its minions, will never stop. They will never just take enough and stop. They will never be satiated. They will relentlessly continue until there is nothing left of True Religion. https://goo.gl/9pyAXK
@Pontifex “When the television cameras aren’t rolling, Pope Francis transforms into another person: arrogant, standoffish with people, vulgar in his language and famous for his violent outbursts of anger that are known to all, from cardinals to car drivers.” – The Dictator Pope
@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: Now is the time for this pope to be reconciled with God, to stop spreading error and confusion and punishing faithful Catholics who criticize and disagree with him, as if he really were a “Dictator Pope.” Continuing to do evil brings sadness.
@Pontifex “Cardinal Dolan: Democrats have abandoned Catholics” (Wall Street Journal). Or have many Catholics abandoned the Democrats?
@Pontifex “In Confession, we receive God’s loving embrace, Pope preaches at weekday Mass” (Vatican News). But in this age of “paradigm shift” (“discernment”, “accompaniment”, “mercy”) isn’t Confession a meaningless waste of time? (This “paradigm shift” stuff is SO confusing!)
@Pontifex “Algeria closes 4th church in 4 months” (World Watch Monitor) But…but that just can’t BE! I mean, this pope says that in Islam and Christianity, people worship the same God! Could this pope be WRONG about that?? Now I’m REALLY confused!
@Pontifex Response to this pope: The Word of God invites us to connect our faith to our hearts – without error or confusion, without taking revenge on critics – and our hearts to our hands, in order to do good deeds, not as members of an NGO, but as the Mystical Body of Christ.
@Pontifex In all the long history of human kind, stretching back into the Old Testament and beyond, back into the mists of early time, no society has ever reached this low level of moral behavior (https://goo.gl/zuR3bD) without suffering a catastrophe.
@Pontifex So, Cardinal Cupich condemns conservative Father Phillips, celebrant of the Tridentine Mass, but supports James Martin, promoter of sodomy and the homosexual lifestyle? Sure, Cupich has no agenda, does he? “It was never ‘if,’ but only ‘when’.” https://goo.gl/Y4RmTk
@Pontifex People ask of this pope, “Where’s the mercy?” “When the publicity cameras are off, Pope Francis turns into a different man: arrogant, dismissive of people, full of bad language and furious outbursts toward everyone from the cardinals to the chauffeurs.” – H. Sire
@Pontifex People ask of this pope, “Where’s the mercy?” Well, there is no mercy for any faithful Catholic who dares criticize or disagree with this pope. Just ask Henry Sire, among others. There is only punishment. But if you approve of things like sodomy? Hey, you’re OKAY!
@Pontifex If this pope started disapproving of matters like gays or sodomy, would there be many men left in the Vatican or in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church? Or in the clergy? This is where “discernment” and “accompaniment” and “follow your conscience” have brought us.
@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: and please, let us fight together against the crimes of repeated papal error and confusion and anger and vindictive punishment, which continue to cause unspeakable suffering and threaten to ruin the Church.
@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: And this pope might pray: “Christ, teach us never to be ashamed to preach the truth without error! Teach us never to be ashamed to support Church teaching! Teach us never to be ashamed to cease punishing those who disagree with us!”
@Pontifex “In Cardinal Sarah’s typical firm but gentle manner he notes a problem—a lack of faith in the Real Presence—and notes some possible causes. He then suggests a potential response given the mystery we encounter in the Eucharist.” https://goo.gl/ktUAg9
@Pontifex This pope says, “The joy of the Gospel disturbs the self-righteous” (Vatican Press Office). And the Joy of the Gospel is unknown to those who abandon the Gospel and Church teachings, to those who preach error and confusion, to those who act with anger, vindictiveness.
@Pontifex This pope says, “The joy of the Gospel disturbs the self-righteous” (Vatican Press Office). The Joy of the Gospel is unknown to those who act with anger, vindictiveness, and a sense of vengeance toward those who disagree with them, while claiming to believe in “mercy.”
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Jesus changes our sins into forgiveness?” Is that a confused way of saying He forgives our sins, or does it mean something else? But yes: “In His Cross our hope is reborn,” hope for a good pope, a pope who will rebuild the Church, not tear it down.
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2018.04.02
Sehr geehrte Patres von der Andreaskirche,
bitte verzeihen Sie mir, aber ich muss einige Ideen erwähnen, die mir eingefallen sind.
Ich bin Amerikaner, und ich muss mich auch dafür entschuldigen, dass ich diese Botschaft geschrieben habe, anstatt persönlich zu sprechen. Tatsache ist jedoch, dass mein gesprochenes Deutsch sehr schlecht ist, und es ist besser, wenn ich versuche, meine Ideen schriftlich auszudrücken. (Und selbst dann muss ich mich auf Google Translate verlassen.)
Was ich sagen möchte, ist folgendes: Heute Morgen in seiner Predigt während der Heiligen Messe um 8:30 Uhr hat der Priester darüber gesprochen, die Katholiken, die gegangen sind, zur Kirche zurückzubringen. Mein erster Gedanke war, dass dies wirklich eine unmögliche Aufgabe ist, fünfzig Jahre nach einem Vatikanischen Konzil, das Millionen Katholiken in meinem Land, den Vereinigten Staaten und in Ländern wie den Niederlanden, Deutschland, Frankreich und anderswo in Europa und im Rest der Welt von der Kirche vertrieben hat
Ich bin ein alter Mann – ich war siebenundzwanzig, als das Konzil 1968 endete – und ich erinnere mich an die Kirche, wie sie vor dem Konzil war. Es war eine Kirche mit klarer und tiefgründiger Lehre. Es war eine Kirche, in der der Klerus und die Hierachie immer noch an diese Lehre glaubten und auch ihr Keuschheitsgelübde hielten. Es war wirklich eine große Kirche, überall, nicht die kleine, weltzugewandte Institution, die sie jetzt ist.
Vor dem Konzil gab es eine Kirche mit einer wirklich majestätischen Form der Heiligen Messe, nicht die oberflächliche Form, die wir jetzt leider haben.
Wenn diese Kirche von einem zukünftigen großen Papst wieder aufgebaut wird, dann wird es möglich sein, daran zu denken, die Katholiken zurück in die Kirche zu bringen, aber vorher nicht. Bis dahin, fürchte ich, werden die Menschen weiterhin diese “moderne” Kirche verlassen. Sie wird immer kleiner werden, wenn wir ältere Menschen sterben und es gibt keine jungen Leute, die uns ersetzen könnten.
Erst wenn ein zukünftiger Papst die Kirche, wie es vor fünfzig Jahren war, wiederaufbaut und das ungeheure, tiefe Geheimnis der Heiligen Messe wiederherstellt, werden die Menschen in die Kirche zurückkehren und sie wieder lebendig werden wird.
Es tut mir sehr Leid, aber das ist es, was ich denke. Ich hoffe aufrichtig, dass meine Sicht der Dinge falsch ist, aber in diesem Brief habe ich einfach ausgedrückt, was ich denke.
Mit einem Gebet
Robert John Bennett
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2018.04.03
Liebe Patres,
im Internet heute tauchte eine Diskussion (https://goo.gl/8Gtcma) auf, die sich auf meine gestrige Botschaft bezieht.
Zwei intelligente, gut ausgebildete, treue und gläubige amerikanische Katholiken diskutieren – auf begründete, nicht feindselige Weise – über das gegenwärtige Papsttum.
Was diese Diskussion für Sie interessant machen könnte – auch wenn sie auf Englisch ist – ist das, was diese zwei Menschen über den “Zusammenbruch” der Kirche in Deutschland mitfühlend und verständnisvoll zu sagen haben.
Mit einem Gebet,
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2018.04.04
Tweets:
@Pontifex “There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the whole cycle of doctrine, and yet by one word, as with a drop of poison, infect the real and simple faith taught by our Lord and handed down by Apostolic tradition.” – Pope Leo XIII
@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: Any pope who turns away from the Gospel and true Church teaching, while spreading error and confusion in the Church, also turns away from the Cross and the Resurrection.
@Pontifex “A theology professor at Holy Cross College sees Jesus as a ‘drag king’ of ‘gender indeterminate’ and recommends “imagining [Christ’s] passion experience as a (masochistic?) sexual relation with his own Father.” (https://goo.gl/XcxQob) Ah, the great paradigm shift.
@Pontifex “Vatican foreign minister: Church in China should be ‘fully Catholic and genuinely Chinese’” (Vatican Press Office) Well, it’s “genuinely Chinese,” all right: “Chinese authorities seize ‘underground’ bishop” (AsiaNews)
@Pontifex We can only pray: “Dear God, send us a good pope, one that knows what he’s doing – with the Chinese, with the members of The Great Religion of Peace, with everything. Dear God in Heaven, send us a pope who lives in the real world.” https://goo.gl/zoMkYn
@Pontifex It’s true, as this pope tweets, “Through the Eucharist we enter Christ’s paschal mystery,” but what is this pope doing to counteract the loss of faith in the Eucharist that is so widespread among the clergy and hierarchy?
@Pontifex In response to a papal Tweet: look upon Christ Crucified: our hope for a good pope, one who does not spread error and confusion, is born in Him.
@Pontifex Tradition is for the young. Many of us attend the traditional Latin Mass for its sublime beauty, rich symbolism, and sense of sacred worship. When many of us express our love for tradition, we are insulted and labeled “ultra-conservatives.” https://goo.gl/1LJj4G
@Pontifex This pope says, “Today we repeat that wondrous proclamation: ‘The Lord is truly risen, as He said!'” But does this pope really believe that? Do many in the hierarchy really believe that any more? Do the homosexuals who infest the Vatican believe that?
@Pontifex Being Catholic, despite this pope: https://goo.gl/ocDa7o
@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: “As we contemplate Christ’s empty tomb, let us renew our belief that nothing is lost with Him.” And let this pope renew his belief in the Gospel and Church teaching. And let him rebuild the Church and stop spreading error and confusion.
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “May Christ who conquered the darkness of sin and death, grant us peace in our days.” This pope will be granted peace only when he stops spreading error and confusion in the Church and when he acts with true mercy and stops punishing his critics.
@Pontifex How did we get here? https://goo.gl/bB5wdc
@Pontifex “Respond immediately to God’s surprises,” Pope preaches at Easter Sunday Mass (Vatican News) Fine. But just make sure the surprise is from God, and not from some other, dark entity.
@Pontifex “Pakistani Catholic beaten to death by hospital staff” (UCANews) Clearly the staff wasn’t informed of the meeting between this pope and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar University where the message was “the warmth of the conversation and gestures.” (https://goo.gl/FL75nA)
@Pontifex What young Catholics want versus what this pope and other old Catholics want young Catholics to want. https://goo.gl/CwDwWd
@Pontifex “China insists on control over Church” (CWN) Well, then, by all means, of course this pope wants to sign an agreement with China. What pope wouldn’t want to give up control of the Church and hand it over to China?
@Pontifex “As China, Vatican talk, bishop’s fate shows party’s power” (AP) Bishop Guo arrested AGAIN? Well, I’m sure that’s something this pope will just ignore as he plunges ahead with his really smart plan to hand over control of the Chinese Church to the Chinese government.
@Pontifex “As China, Vatican talk, bishop’s fate shows party’s power” (AP) This pope wants to let the Chinese government control the Church in China? Oh, that IS smart. What could possibly go wrong? Is this pope ruining the Church? No, of course not!
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Love is the only invincible weapon, because it has the power to disarm the forces of evil.” That is why we are called to love even this pope, so that the force of his evil – the error, the confusion, the desire to punish his critics – can be disarmed.
@Pontifex “He says what he says and does what he does without any real consequence, the shepherds apparently content to allow a wolf free roam among the sheep.” https://goo.gl/BnWZ6i I.e., congratulations to this pope. He’s got ’em all bamboozled.
@Pontifex “It’s strange,” writes Socci, “in fact, this story made the specter of impeachment for heresy hover (and perhaps it still is hovering) over Bergoglio, which could cost him the papacy.” https://goo.gl/33Ve6h
@Pontifex “And yet even more devastating than a mass rejection of the depth of Our Lord’s love for us among the sheep is the rejection of it among the shepherds. Judas was an apostle, a prototype of unfaithful shepherds down through history.” https://goo.gl/ck2LrF
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2018.04.07
Tweets:
@Pontifex “An Uprising of the Cardinals Has Stopped (for Now) the Bergoglian Heresy on Hell” (https://goo.gl/KHa8Y4) Dear Mother of God, why? Dear Mother of God, how did it ever come to this? Dear Mother of God, how long must Your Son’s Church suffer under this pontificate?
@Pontifex “An Uprising of the Cardinals Has Stopped (for Now) the Bergoglian Heresy on Hell” https://goo.gl/KHa8Y4 Dear Mother of God, when will it end? Dear Mother of God, we beg you, obtain for us the grace to endure and persevere under the repeated blows of this mad regime.
@Pontifex A response to a papal Tweet: And let us go forward knowing that Jesus is by the side of this pope, urging him to stop spreading error and confusion in the Church, urging him to stop ruining the Church, urging him to stop punishing and taking revenge on his critics.
@Pontifex “It will fall to you (faithful Catholics) to clear away the rubble and rebuild and start the clock moving ahead instead of counting down. Just stay faithful. The war of attrition is well underway.” https://goo.gl/fShThh
@Pontifex “A source of profound scandal” – Cardinal Burke (https://goo.gl/Fm9Jr4)
@Pontifex What is really bizarre? https://goo.gl/yF7HHz
@Pontifex This pope tweets, “The Word of God is a light in the darkness: it helps us face our difficulties without fear.” Really? Even if you’re the pope and your difficulties are caused by the way you are spreading confusion and error and ruin in the Church? May God help you.
@Pontifex “Why Private Sexual Vice is a Public Concern” https://goo.gl/b7QJZa Of course, it appears to be a concern that few in the Church hierarchy actually share.
@Pontifex This pope says Christians should be ashamed of themselves. (https://goo.gl/ytRMjg) Sure, why don’t we all just become converts to The Great Religion of Peace, which has brought such joy and happiness to places like the Middle East?
@Pontifex “Quebec bishops discuss ordaining married men” https://goo.gl/G8TVjH I wonder if it ever occurs to these bishops that if they simply reversed the changes brought on by the “spirit” of Vatican II they would have no problem with vocations to the priesthood.
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Like the Good Samaritan, let us take care of those who are sick and suffering!” And so let us all also pray for this pope who in so many ways is sick and must be suffering.
@Pontifex Bishop Schneider: The Pope is not the “owner” of truth but its “servant and vicar” https://goo.gl/nRc5t7 But does this current pope KNOW this?
@Pontifex Leo XIII taught: “Amid such reckless and widespread folly of opinion, it is, as We have said, the office of the Church to undertake the defense of truth and uproot errors from the mind….” https://goo.gl/nRc5t7
@Pontifex ‘Each one is under obligation to show forth his faith, either to instruct and encourage others of the faithful, or to repel the attacks of unbelievers’ (S. Thomas, Summa theologiae, II-II, quaest. 3, art. 2, ad 2) https://goo.gl/nRc5t7
@Pontifex Pope John XXIII: “All the evils which poison men and trouble so many hearts have a single cause: ignorance of the truth. Anyone who consciously attacks known truth in order to shape the minds of the young engages in a despicable business.” https://goo.gl/nRc5t7
@Pontifex “The attacks of Satan have in rare cases had the effect of a temporary eclipse of the Papal Magisterium, when some Roman Pontiffs have made ambiguous doctrinal statements, causing a temporary situation of doctrinal confusion in the Church.” https://goo.gl/nRc5t7
@Pontifex “Where the See of the Blessed Peter has been set up for the light of the gentiles, there Satan has placed the throne of the abomination of his wickedness, so that, the Pastor having been struck, he may also scatter the flock.” – Leo XIII https://goo.gl/nRc5t7
@Pontifex “Holy Apostle! Calm the wildness of the tempest, lest the weak should take scandal. Beseech Our Lord not to permit the residence of thy Successor to be disturbed in that Holy City….” – Dom Prosper Gueranger https://goo.gl/nRc5t7
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2018.04.08
Comment on a New York Times column (https://goo.gl/epDsmV):
Roger Cohen eloquently describes the problem and suggests a solution, when he writes that “the arrogance of liberal elites and the disruptions of globalization have played a role…. The democratic West needs to awaken from its slumber….Europe cannot open its doors to everyone. It needs a shared immigration policy that works, economic policies that offset rather than accentuate inequality and a Brussels bureaucracy that delivers tangible results to a half-billion Europeans.”
If those ideas can become a reality, then the situation Cohen describes with such insight can be corrected, not only here in Europe, but in the United States as well.
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Lieber Klaus,
Danke für diesen Artikel. Senator John McCain und andere haben Putin als “Thug” bezeichnet.
Putin beweist McCain auf jeden Fall recht. Ich schätze, Putin geht davon aus, dass er, wenn er die Sowjetunion nicht noch einmal zum Leben erwecken oder das russische Imperium wieder aufbauen kann, dann kann er wenigstens sein Bestes geben, um westliche Länder und Allianzen zu zerstören.
Ich habe oft (mit etwas Schadenfreude) gedacht, dass es Putin wütend machen muss, dass Russland eine kleinere Wirtschaft hat, als der Bundesstaat Kalifornien (https://goo.gl/QSna3L). Und es muss ihn besonders wütend machen, die gigantische und so sehr erfolgreiche chinesische Wirtschaft zu betrachten.
Der arme Vladimir.
Mit einem Gebet
Robert
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2018.04.16
@Pontifex Cardinal Brandmüller concludes: “It would be time for the Magisterium to pay appropriate attention to this witness of Faith.” https://goo.gl/etR5aQ
@Pontifex A response to a papal Tweet: this pope, if he really is the pope (https://goo.gl/GUgVCt), should be holy by working for the good of the Church and renouncing error, confusion, anger, pride, and the desire to punish anyone who dares criticize or disagree with him.
@Pontifex Of COURSE he’s the pope! Isn’t he? (https://goo.gl/GUgVCt)
@Pontifex Cardinal Kasper comes from the German Catholic Church, which is just about the wealthiest in the whole WORLD, so if Cardinal Kasper says Bergoglio is the pope, then he MUST be the pope! Right? (https://goo.gl/GUgVCt)
@Pontifex For this pope, money is everything (just look at what he did to the Knights of Malta), so if cardinals from the supremely wealthy German Church say he’s the pope, well then, he MUST be the pope, right?
@Pontifex Money is VERY important for this pope. Why else would he do and say whatever the German cardinals want him to do and say?
@Pontifex Only 39% of American Catholics attend Mass on any given Sunday, a new Gallup survey shows. Meanwhile, with
‘Gaudete et Exsultate’ the pope continues to go after faithful Catholics who criticize him.
@Pontifex “Cardinal Burke: papal authority derives from obedience to Christ” (National Catholic Register) Not for this current “pope.” For him, papal authority derives from obedience to wealthy German bishops.
@Pontifex As the current “pope” and his associates follow the “spirit” of Vatican II and plunge on toward the cliff, I only know that while 39% of American Catholics now attend Mass on any given Sunday, as a new Gallup survey shows, the churches were packed before Vatican II.
@Pontifex “The conference communicated an immense sense of urgency, that things cannot continue on as they are. The pastors of the Church must do something to protect their flock from the deceptive spirit of falsehood which has invaded the Magisterium.” https://goo.gl/4HcNH8
@Pontifex Gaudete et Exsultate “Imagine trying to learn about holiness from the fellow who insists hell doesn’t exist, adultery isn’t really adultery, the Blessed Virgin wanted to call God a liar, we can use contraception though it’s a serious sin, etc.” https://goo.gl/r2UrRZ
@Pontifex Gaudete et Exsultate “I’m already hearing from friends who say it’s riddled with all the same kind of cringeworthy word salad, problematic theology, and needless degradations we’ve come to expect from our papal chastisement.” https://goo.gl/r2UrRZ
@Pontifex A papal Tweet: “Keeping a heart free of all that tarnishes love, sowing peace all around us, accepting daily the path of the Gospel, even though it may cause us problems: that is holiness.” Dear God, send us a pope who really understands that, who really lives that way.
@Pontifex Imagine https://goo.gl/r2UrRZ
@Pontifex Cardinals can declare that a heretical pope has ‘lost his office’ – Roberto de Mattei (https://goo.gl/SFZsPk)
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Holiness is the most attractive face of the Church.” And holiness would be the most attractive face of this pope, if he possessed this quality; and a Vatican without active homosexuals and drug takers would certainly make the Church more attractive.
@Pontifex Pope asks young people: ‘Are you willing to listen to Jesus and change?’(Vatican Press Office) I think we could ask this pope (if he really is the pope [https://goo.gl/GUgVCt]) the same question.
@Pontifex “Pope emphasizes importance of Sacrament of Reconciliation” (Vatican Press Office) But if, as this pope – if he really is the pope (https://goo.gl/GUgVCt) – says, there is no hell, why bother with the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: Good popes too are distinguished by a spirit of prayer and a need for communion with God. No pope can be holy without prayer, without avoiding error and confusion, and without avoiding anger and the desire to punish critics like Henry Sire.
@Pontifex “Whatever Vatican II intended, the results have been an EPIC FAIL. There’s NOT ONE area of the Church that is not worse now….Yet while many agree the Church is COLLAPSING, their answer is to do MORE of what they’ve been doing for 50 years!” https://goo.gl/Rh66Qe
@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: and the holiness to which the Lord calls this pope grows through small gestures in his everyday life, and through the renunciation of error, confused teaching, anger, and the desire to punish.
@Pontifex This pope tweets, “We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do.” And for a pope, that means obeying the Gospel, avoiding error, confusion and anger, and not taking revenge on critics. Can this pope do all that?
@Pontifex “Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar….” First Letter of John 2:5
@Pontifex “12 Bad Things I Experienced Concerning Holy Communion Since Vatican II” (https://goo.gl/JX4TYp)
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “Those who protect children are on God’s side….” and the greatest protection this pope could offer them – although he won’t – is a pontificate free from error and confusion, where there is no vengeance taken on those who criticize this pope.
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2018.04.24
Some Tweets:
@Pontifex “Ihr einziger Fehler scheint die Rechtgläubigkeit in einem liberalen Umfeld, das kaum etwas mehr zu verachten scheint, als glaubenstreue Priesterberufungen.” https://goo.gl/L6sVYo
@Pontifex This pope asks a lot – assent to his errors, his confusion, his anger, his desire for vengeance toward critics – and in return he gives only fake humility and his “understanding” of The Great Religion of Peace and its murderous adherents.
@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: The Church also needs a pope who does not spread error and confusion in the Church or punish critics, a pope who does not crush religious orders that appeal to faithful Catholics and where priests celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass.
@Pontifex “Daneels Protégé Kicks New Priestly Society Out of Brussels — Too ManyVocations” (https://goo.gl/1Wmir7) And this pope attacks more “rigid” Catholics. Yeah, gotta get’em outa the Church, them and all their vocations.
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “The Christian vocation means being a brother or sister to everyone…even if they are an enemy,” unless they’re a society with too many and too orthodox vocations, like the Priestly Society of the Holy Apostles. In that case, get rid of the enemy.
@Pontifex “An ugly story.” https://goo.gl/Pu4u8w
@Pontifex Three quotes we should keep in mind now: First, “I will put enmities between thee and the woman,…she shall crush thy head.”
Second, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Third, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: this pope’s fake mercy makes him feel good, even though he takes revenge on critics and destroys groups like the Fraternity of the Holy Apostles, which brought needed vocations to the Belgian Church (but was made up of faithful Catholics).
@Pontifex “The Church and Islam: Nostalgia for the Sixties” https://goo.gl/yvCP5a
@Pontifex This pope tweets: “To encounter God we must show we are needy. The key to that encounter lies in humbling ourselves.” Pride, anger, errors, confusion, vengeance on critics, dissolving thriving orders of faithful Catholics – all that stops this pope’s encounter with God.
@Pontifex “China: churches demolished, bishop’s tomb desecrated, children forbidden in churches” (AsiaNews) And this pope plunges ahead with his plans to betray the faithful Catholics of China. (Well, why not? He’s betrayed faithful Catholics everywhere else.)
@Pontifex “German bishops’ spokesman denies report that Vatican has rejected intercommunion policy” (Servizio Informazione Religiosa) The German bishops are probably also threatening to cut off all the German money gushing into the Vatican unless it agrees with the Germans.
@Pontifex Henry Sire says (https://goo.gl/8NJ9NK) “The Dictator Pope” is “intended to be an alarm call” for a pope he believes has “gone off the rails.” “Sire says Francis is essentially a ‘politician who relies on public relations,’ a ‘maverick pope’ who manipulates the media”
@Pontifex This pope is defending his decision in Amoris Laetitia to allow some people who are living in adulterous unions to receive the sacraments of penance and the Holy Eucharistic while intending to continue to engage in adulterous relations. https://goo.gl/XAaW5E
@Pontifex Dear God, dear Mother of God, how long must we suffer under this pope? How long, O Lord, how long? Dear God in Heaven, we beg You: bring a swift end to the horrors.
@Pontifex This pope tweets “When we are full of self-importance, we leave no space for God. Let us ask the Lord for a conversion of heart.” Dear God in Heaven, we beg You: bring about a conversion of heart in this pope; empty him of the self-importance that is always on display.
@Pontifex So, now this pope is a mystic? https://goo.gl/bbZsQ9 Please,
@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: And let us follow the example of St Francis of Assisi and take care to obey the Gospel and the teachings of the Church, no matter what, without error or confusion or anger or punishing those who criticize us, like Henry Sire.
@Pontifex Want a different Church? Hey, these guys got it fer ya. (https://goo.gl/T9ePTv)
@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: the Word of God is the lamp with which we find our way to the truth; its light allows us to clearly see the error and confusion this present pope is spreading in the Church, and the ruin he is causing.
@Pontifex Response to a papal Tweet: May God be moved by the prayers of those millions who are faithful to the Gospel and to Church teaching. We renew our appeals: may God end the suffering of His Church; may the pain caused by the error and confusion of this pope soon end.
@Pontifex O God, save Your Church from the ravages of this current pope, this great “mystic,” this great pontiff of public relations.
@Pontifex Today, in this commentary (https://goo.gl/V59ish), St Aelred of Rielvaux describes what a really good shepherd is; he is not the kind of shepherd we have in the Church now, a shepherd who is causing such suffering among faithful Catholics.
@Pontifex Response to this pope’s Tweet: “Life becomes tasteless when it is lived for itself alone.” The pope in “The Dictator Pope” lives like that. He’s an angry, selfish pope, treating others with contempt. His Jesuit Superior once wrote he should not even be made a bishop.
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2018.04.30
Response to a meme on Facebook:
Yes, the issue of coasters is important – I mean that and I’m serious, not sarcastic – but another important issue of life in Germany is that the country isn’t polarized.
Sure, there are extremists of all kinds at the edges of the political spectrum, but the WHOLE COUNTRY isn’t divided into two almost enemy-like camps. I mean, there are talk shows on television here where opposing politicians and journalists sit down together and calmly and quietly discuss important questions, without rancor or tension, without yelling at one another.
Not long ago, my barber said he wanted to go to New York and open his own business. I told him to forget it. The calm and prosperous society that exists in Germany now existed in the US fifty or sixty years ago, but it doesn’t really exist anymore. I told him he was better off in Germany.
Speaking of the past, I heard a great pun on the German version of “Make America great again.” The pun doesn’t really work in English, but I’ll try to explain it anyway. “Make America great again” in German is “Mach Amerika wieder grossartig.” Some German wit changed it to “Mach Amerika wieder gestrig.” That translates, literally, to “Make America yesterday again.”
That “yesterday” is not the calm and prosperous America that once existed. It’s the America as Trump’s supporters remember it, which, I believe, is something quite different.
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