Pope Francis becomes leading propagandist for Islam

"As the prototypical progressive Jesuit, Pope Francis prides himself on his 'ecumenism'. He oozes enthusiasm for every religion except his own. At the top of his list of favorite religions is the Church's fiercest adversary -- Islam."

So says George Neumayr, author of The Political Pope (soon to be published), in "The Papal Propagandist for Islam Heads to Egypt", in The American Spectator, 26/4/17. Mr Neumayr refers to the visit of the "Holy Father" -- Walt thinks quote marks are appropriate, now, for Francis's title -- to Egypt for the purpose of repairing relations between the Holy See and al-Azhar, which took place during the time of Pope Benedict.

Al-Azhar can refer to either or both of a prestigious university or one of the great mosques of the Islamic world. There was a falling out between the Vatican and Al-Azhar because Pope Benedict XVI dared to speak out about the Muslim persecution of Christians. Francis went to Cairo to say Benedict didn't really mean it, we love Muslims, we all worship the same God (a grievous theological fallacy), yada yada yada.

Mr Neumayr says Pope Francis "often sounds more like a spokesman for CAIR [the Council on American-Islamic Relations] than a Catholic pope. After jihadists cut off the head of a French priest in July 2016 — yelling 'Allahu Akbar' over the priest’s slit throat — Pope Francis rushed to the defense of Islam. 'I don’t like to talk about Islamic violence, because every day, when I read the newspaper, I see violence,' he said, before ludicrously blaming the rise of terrorism on the 'idolatry' of free-market economics....

"As Europe turns into Eurabia," Mr Neumayr continues, "Pope Francis is picking up honors and awards from progressives, including, hilariously, the 2016 'Charlemagne Prize' for his Islamic apologetics. It is hard to imagine a Christian leader less like Charlemagne. Pope Francis is energized not depressed by the disappearance of Christian Europe. 'States must be secular,' he told La Croix. Christian states, he said, 'end badly' and go 'against the grain of history.' He added that 'when I hear talk of the Christian roots of Europe, I sometimes dread the tone, which can seem triumphalist or even vengeful.'"

The truly sad thing about Francis's embrace of the Islamists is that too many Catholics treat him as if he were a divine oracle, his every utterance to be revered, respected, studied, and followed. Vatican II erroneously stated that "religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra," and "must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will."

So Catholic leaders and publications -- hello, Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler! -- tend to think that they must adhere to anything and everything the Pope says about anything and everything. Too many Catholic leaders and institutions are more interested in being papists than in being truthful. They would rather show loyalty to the Pope, no matter how damaging his utterances, than stand for the True Faith even when -- especially when -- Francis stands against it!

Further reading: "Pope Francis sez 'no religion' is terrorist. LMAO!", WWW 17/2/17, and "Pastor asks Pope Francis, 'What's wrong with you?'" (includes video), WWW 12/3/17.