God has already won

 I have two posts to highlight today, both posts at The Federalists and both posts on the recent firing of Bishop Strickland of Tyler Texas. So, why, you might ask, is a Lutheran concerned with the inside politics of the Catholic Church? The truth is that the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) is a small organization compared to the Roman Catholic Church. The LCMS claims approximately 2 million members. On the other hand the Roman Catholic Church has 1.3 billion members world wide. If the Catholic Church goes off the rails, the resulting crash affects not just Catholics, but everybody else who claims to be Christian.

The first post by August Meyrat informs us that The Bishop Strickland Saga Outs Pope Francis As A Catholic King Lear.

On the heels of the pointless Synod on Synodality and a confusing motu prio on theology, Pope Francis finally caught the world’s attention by removing Bishop Joseph Strickland from leading the Diocese of Tyler in East Texas. Francis offered no explanation for the move, so he has left everyone following the story to speculate on the reasons. As far as anyone knows, Strickland didn’t have any scandals, nor did he deviate from the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings. On the contrary, he is one of the loudest proponents of Catholic orthodoxy.

Strickland was a conservative who sympathized with traditionalist Catholics. He asked uncomfortable questions about the Catholic leadership deliberately ignoring sexual abuse. As Catholic writer Kevin Wells explains in a recent essay, five years ago Strickland openly questioned why nothing was done with then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a notorious sexual predator who preyed on incoming seminarians at his beach house.

Strickland has since developed a reputation for opposing Francis’ progressive agenda. This culminated in a number of criticisms of the latest synod. He expressed fears about massive changes to the church’s teachings. In all likelihood, Strickland’s complaints — and those of men like him — prevented these changes from occurring.

And there it is. He criticized the Pope, who apparently has a very thin skin.  Rather than valuing the friendly criticism of a loyal subordinate telling him he might want to rethink his actions, he instead fires him. But despite that Strickland tells faithful Catholics to remain faithful.  He remains loyal despite the changes the Pope is trying to introduce. But of course, one wants to know what drives the Pope in the direction he seems to be going:

But I believe his motivations are much simpler and much more profound. It’s not that he has some grand scheme to recreate the Roman Catholic Church in his image. Rather, Francis has become King Lear.

For those unfamiliar with William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, King Lear is about an old British king who decides to leave his kingdom to his two older daughters. Lear’s older daughters flatter him while he repudiates and disowns his youngest daughter because she tells him the truth. Sure enough, the older daughters quickly seize their inheritance and kick their father out, leaving him to wander the countryside with his court jester. As this happens, the daughter whom he rejected works to save him despite his former behavior.

Something similar is happening with Francis, an old and distinguished monarch who has surrounded himself with shameless yes-men. These advisers are inept ideologues with ample personal baggage. They have absolutely no clue how to address any of the challenges facing today’s Christians. Sadly, Francis evidently prefers the sweet nothings of his circle to the harsh truths of men like Strickland. His circle has kept him safely insulated from reality for years now. This fact was recently revealed in his bizarre rant on priests acting like dandies.

So, in this telling, Pope Francis isn't himself trying to destroy the Church. Instead, he has surrounded himself with despicable people who are whispering in his ear. Except the Pope should be someone whose prayer life, whose reading of the Bible, whose learning is such that he is being guided by the Holy Spirit constantly. Even more, he should be familiar with Matthew 16:13-20:

13When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not [g]prevail against it. 19And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth [h]will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

I know many faithful Catholics who put the best interpretations on this Pope's actions and sayings. And it is comforting that the Church will stand despite the machinations of sinful men. Indeed, God routinely shows throughout the Bible that He can take the actions of evil men and uses them for good purposes. But one wonders how many will be led astray in the meantime.

The second post by Carina Benton reports that Pope Francis' Removal Of Conservative Texas Bishop Exposes More Cracks In The Vatican's New Agenda. Benton is even more clear on the nature of Strickland's criticism of Pope Francis' agenda:

A survey of the issues Bishop Strickland speaks out on should leave Catholics in no doubt as to how Rome regards this orthodox, humble, and courageous prelate, and the gentle influence he has among American Catholics. Strickland has labeled abortion and same-sex “marriage” policies as transhumanist ideas that are being advanced as part of a “godless agenda.” He has been a vocal critic of public officials who identify as Catholic yet reject Catholic teaching on the evil of abortion, and has advocated against receiving Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin.

On the eve of the Vatican’s supposedly Holy Spirit-guided, tautologically named Synod on Synodality, which every thinking Catholic and his dog understands is a backdoor route for ushering in major changes to the church, Strickland released a message calling on Catholics to hold fast to the truths of the faith. He urged wariness against “any attempt … to push for a faith that speaks of dialogue and brotherhood while attempting to remove the Fatherhood of God.”

With all the doom and gloom, interestingly enough Benton notes that there is hope for the future. As proof, she cites St. Athanasius who was persecuted by the forces at his time who promoted the heresy of Arianism. Eventually, Athanasius was proved correct. Strickland stands firm as well for the Gospel and against the current forces for LGHTQ ad nauseum and abortion. Strickland understands that this is nothing less that the ancient battle between God and the Devil. Here's a hint: God always wins.