In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43-47; Luke 6:31-36), Jesus urges us to love our enemies as any fellow human. I confess I cannot; I have not, yet, reached such Christian perfection.

All I can do for now is not hate anyone—not even those who have caused immense harm to me, to those I love, or to innocents—and to treat my enemies with honesty, fairness and Christian compassion. This also applies to the recently deceased Jorge Bergoglio, the last occupant of the papal seat.

Why do I consider Jorge Bergoglio, known as Pope Francis, to have been an enemy of Christianity? Among other things, for what I wrote in a 2016 article titled Two Popes, a Byzantine Emperor, and a Muslim Scholar: Regensburg 2006, which I invite you to (re)read for two reasons:

First: the text is about a good pope, Benedict XVI, removed during his lifetime from the papal seat by the progressive „mafia” of cardinals. „Mafia” is the self-descriptive (ironic?) word used by the Belgian Cardinal Danneels, a proud member of the St. Gallen group of cardinals who conspired against Pope Benedict XVI in favor of their colleague Bergoglio.

Second: since 2016, nothing has improved at the Vatican. But maybe now, who knows…

I quote a passage from my 2016 article:

[…]IV. Is Pope Francis Still a Christian?
We ask this because, in November 2013, he rushed to publish the progressive exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, the new anti-capitalist gospel of social justice against „criminal markets”—which would have made even Karl Marx envious. All the while, Pope John Paul II, whom Francis cited (misleadingly) with great zeal in 2006, had entirely different views—as evidenced by the 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus, where he stated (II.15) that „the state has the task of setting the juridical framework for economic affairs and thereby ensuring the preconditions of economic freedom”; yes, John Paul II spoke against socialism, in favor of free-market economics, private property, capitalism, free association, and minimal state intervention—only to uphold the rule of law, ensuring liberty and true equality of opportunity. A genuinely Christian view, in the biblical spirit.

We also ask [if Pope Francis is still a Christian] because in 2015, the same Francis hurried to address Christendom with the eco-Marxist encyclical Laudato Si. With this new apostolic work, Francis urgently called for action against climate change—the greatest global threat; not Islam, not classical and cultural Marxism—again falsely leveraging the symbolic capital of John Paul II, and even Benedict XVI.

We ask also because around the same time—June 2015—under the EU’s aegis (Mogherini, Juncker, Merkel), a new Muslim invasion of Europe began, publicly and clearly promised by the Islamic State in February 2015, with jihadist attacks intensifying. Pope Francis supported the invasion, calling on Christians to welcome and integrate Muslim „refugees”, publicly repeating that all religions are the same. Because, apparently, under Pope Francis, the top priorities of Christendom’s most important leader were climate change, “criminal” markets, and the welfare of Islam— and last, but not least, the progressive multicultural lie, which must be supported, not opposed.

Never during these years did Pope Francis defend the persecuted and massacred Christians in the Islamic world—not even verbally, let alone through public prayers or concrete acts of aid.

Never did he objectively or honestly criticize the irrationality, lies, violence, persecution, rape, slavery, jihad, and discrimination religiously and traditionally prescribed in Islam against Christians, Jews, and nonbelievers. Not even on April 2, 2015, when 147 Christian students were massacred on the Garissa university campus in Kenya by Boko Haram and Al Shabaab, in the name of Allah and in honor of Easter. (A strange “anniversary” coincidence: John Paul II died on April 2, exactly ten years earlier.)

Instead, in 2013, he embraced—an act of major and sinister symbolic weight—some Muslim “refugees” at Lampedusa, and recently went further, bringing more Muslim refugees with him to the Vatican from the island of Lesbos. Not a single Christian from Syria or Iraq—only Muslims. It wouldn’t surprise us if, following the example of Swedish pastors, he takes down some crosses or covers up nude statues at the Vatican, as he already did earlier this year in order not to “offend” his Muslim guests.

And that’s not all. In a shocking gesture, in March 2016, just days after the bloody jihadist attacks in Brussels, the same Pope once again “reinterpreted” the Bible and Christian faith as irrationally and irresponsibly as possible: […] he publicly washed the feet of some Muslims, without even inviting them to convert to Christianity.

What did Islam make of all this? Logically, what the Quran says: that Pope Francis, the Vatican, and through them, Christendom, have humiliated themselves and submitted to Allah, accepting Islam’s superiority and Muhammad’s supremacy. Allahu Akbar! They’ve conquered Rome too, yes!

Thus, in the spirit of the biblical Logos, of reason and objective truth, we must ask: is Pope Francis still a Christian?

Yes. Pope John Paul II, whom Cardinal Bergoglio devoutly referenced in 2006, performed acts of great Christian nobility and reconciliation with Islam. But not like this—he used reason, because “acting without reason is contrary to the nature of God.” For example, John Paul II forgave his would-be assassin, the Muslim Mehmet Ali Ağca, who shot him in 1981; but not before convincing him to convert to Christianity.

How many Muslims has Pope Francis converted—from Islam to Christianity—through his (anti-)Logos? Perhaps before washing their feet…

Yes. Jesus washed feet—but those of his disciples, of Christianity and love, not of hatred and jihad.
Yes. Jesus urged humility—but not before the enemy.
Yes. Jesus, “the King of the Jews”—the people whom the Quran (5:60; 7:166) considers inferior beings, monkeys and pigs—sacrificed Himself to save the world; but the world that believes in Him and follows Him, not Muhammad.

These are basic Logos truths that seem to have eluded the current Pope.[…]’

See the context and the rest here.

No, this isn’t the only anti-Christian policy—because politics and ideology is what Jorge Bergoglio practiced at the Vatican—that made me question whether the man was truly a Christian; in other words, whose apostle he truly was. But I will stop here, because, as they say, speak no ill of the dead…

I end with three thoughts, appropriate for the moment, I believe.

First: Popes are human; they are eminently and essentially fallible—not as the bizarre, if not heretical, doctrine of papal infallibility claims—and they are mortal, as we can see. So we can only pray that God forgives Jorge Bergoglio, if He wants, and that the next Pope errs less, and will be a friend, not an enemy, of Christendom. In other words, let us pray that the next occupant of the papal throne will resemble the late John Paul II or Benedict XVI, whom I had the privilege of witnessing during my lifetime.

Second: the most persecuted religion in the world remains, from the beginning to this day, Christianity. No, I’m not joking. If you don’t believe me or don’t understand what I’m talking about, follow Raymond Ibrahim, Robert Spencer, or Pam Geller, or read the articles I wrote (often with their help) from 2015 to 2019 on my personal blog. And pray, at least occasionally, for the most persecuted among our fellow believers.

Third and final thought doesn’t belong to me, but to C.S. Lewis:

„Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth „thrown in”: aim at earth and you will get neither.” (Mere Christianity 1943, Book III-Christian behaviour, Chapter 10-Hope)

And Happy Easter, everybody!

The support of our readers, including financial support, is essential to the maintenance and development of the ACIDmedia page. Any donation is welcome. Thank you! You can donate here