Even for the best Catholics, navigating the last 8 years has been difficult.  From a theological standpoint, it started with Laudato Si.  General trepidation about our new “off the cuff” speaking pontiff quickly turned to puzzlement and uneasiness overnight.  Many of us started with simple non-combative questions such as, “is a writing about ‘climate change’ even theological in nature?  How binding is this encyclical?”, and “who are these ‘environmentally minded’, anti-Church characters that Francis keeps inviting to the Vatican?  Is an encyclical like this the product of their “dialogue” with the pope?

    Then there came Amoris Laetitia, which more directly challenged our Theologians.  They were tested in their ability to do Theological gymnastics in order to reconcile an encyclical with the Church’s longstanding teachings on divorce, remarriage, and the Eucharist (not to mention the words of John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio).  Even more troubling may have been the ignoring of Cardinal Burke et al. When they released their Dubia asking for clarification from the Vatican.  

    Then there was the summer of shame in 2018, McCarrick, troubling appointment after troubling appointment, and countless head scratching and other times unbelievable statements.  And through it all we saw the comings and goings of guests at the Vatican among the elites of the elites.  And when it wasn’t enough for de-population experts such as Jeffery Sachs and Melinda Gates to have their place at the table, a pagan idol joined in 2019 when Pope Francis blessed the Pacemama idol and said prayers over it inside St. Peter’s Basilica.  

    I think the measure of Pope Francis’ pontificate comes down to the company he chooses to keep and the company he rejects.  It was once defensible to cite his desire for “dialogue”.  Naive Catholics used to say things like, “Jesus ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, perhaps dialogue with population control experts, openly defunct Catholics like Melinda Gates, and nods to the CCP through the blessing of their approved bishops allows the Pope to positively influence all of these otherwise bad actors.”  But if we as parents expect our kids to take us seriously when we tell them to “pick carefully who their friends are” and to “stay away from bad influences”, then we need to call a spade a spade and recognize what this “dialogue” has really amounted to: influence on Vatican policy up for the highest bidder, plain and simple.

    For proof, I direct you to the most recent conference held at the Vatican from May 6th to the 8th.   A quick look at the guest list should tell you all you need to know: Albert Bourla, the CEO of a company which produces abortion pills., Pfizer.  The Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff, who is an outspoken LGBT advocate.  David Feinberg, the head of Google Health.  Other guests are your garden variety pro-abortion B listers such as Cindy Crawford, Chelsea Clinton, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, and the man who influenced mass lock downs throughout our country, Anthony Fauci.  In other words, the brass of Big Pharma (they couldn’t possibly be influencing the Pope’s pro vaccine tweets, could they?), a representative from the company that can’t make enough money from government “Covid-related” shutdowns (Google), and a legate from the ever corrupt and ever exploitative Clinton Foundation are high priority guests at the Vatican.  

    It’s good to see the head of the Church hang out with such salt of the earth people, eh?  Just like Jesus would want, right?  Correct me if I am wrong, but marching to the same policies of billionaires, who test their unproven vaccines on millions of poor Africans (and now us), who endorse the eradication of private property, who endorse the shutting down of churches, and who dabble with trans-humanism just seems so opposite of the Apostolic mission Jesus preached.  Jesus converted sinners, drove out the money changers, and sent his Apostles into all nations to baptize men and to accept martyrdom.  Call me flippant, but I am willing to say that Kephas is in the wrong (Gal 2:11).  

     Perhaps Pope Francis shouldn't have rejected that meeting with Cardinal Zen, representative of the oppressed Chinese Catholics under the domination of the CCP, and should have spent the weekend with with him instead of inviting the Great Resetters over to promote all of their individual agendas with all of their investments attached to them.  I guess I’m old fashioned to think that the Pope should not use the Vatican as a business conference whereby unscrupulous corporate heads advertise their multi-billion dollar business ventures and network with other bad actors to do more harm on humanity as long as the ROI is good for them.  

    If Jesus whipped the money changers out of the temple, I think we who imitate Christ can call out blatant corruption.  And it’s okay to call it what it is out loud, folks.  There has been corruption in the Vatican before.  You don’t need to wait until centuries later or for a Martin Luther to destroy half of the Church in Europe before it’s okay for the laity to simply call a spade a spade.  Dante called out all sorts of popes in the Divine Comedy, and he is revered for it.  We have much more to gain in simply being honest and acknowledging it together now.  How many problems have you ever navigated without being able to acknowledge what the problem actually is?  If a priest brought an idol into your parish and prayed over it, would you say nothing?  Or would you seek justice, speak truth against it, and try to protect your family and your community from further scandal out of charity?  

    What kind of problems are we headed for if this keeps up?  To answer that, I would like to point out an interesting fact that I realized when I considered the date of the “Covid” conference hosted at the Vatican… May 6th.  This was exactly one year after the most infamous press conference I have ever witnessed and that you have probably never heard of.  On May 6th 2020, Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York and professed Catholic, gave his “Build back Better” Covid related press conference, in which he touted tracking and tracing, announced a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, stated that schooling for children would be “re-imagined” so that fewer kids would be attending brick and mortar schools anymore, and he even announced a partnership with Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google.  “WHOA!  WHY DIDN’T I HEAR ABOUT THIS WHEN IT HAPPENED??!”, you ask.  For the same reason that Joe Perry of Aerosmith (distraction) stole headlines about this Vatican Conference on “Covid”… those who know where to look in order to learn the new policies, and thus where to invest, knew Cuomo’s press conference was going to be a big one that day, you didn’t.  They listened and benefited, just like those who knew that the Vatican Conference was more than just a silly “circus show” with washed up former rock stars.

    One year later, we now know the result of that Cuomo press conference… all of the  slick billionaire leftists Cuomo invited to partner with New York to “Build Back Better” have apparently influenced a year’s worth of policy decided by Cuomo and his health officials.  All policies that hurt New Yorkers, but served the elite bad actors.  New York stayed shut down… and Google made more money.  There are vaccine passports in New York… and Bill and Melinda Gates couldn’t be happier.  

    So when the Vatican hosts the leftists elites as they did last week, what should we expect?  When the Vatican puts a halt on US bishops who seek to bar Joe Biden, a pro-abort who has officiated two different gay weddings, from receiving communion, what should we expect?  If we the faithful continue to be squeamish, soft, and scrupulously concerned as to whether we are bad Catholics if we call out corruption, what should we expect?  We should expect more of the same... bad policy and scandal influenced by bad company.

    So what can we do?  If you are one of the privileged people who actually know what is going on, then I have good news for you.  You can start within your own circle of influence and work your way out.  If you know the devastating effects of the Vatican influenced by people in the wrong, then consider how similar situations will affect your own community at the parish or diocesan level.  You may not have a priest or a bishop in your community who is outright scandalizing the Church and the world, heck, you could actually have a solid priest or bishop who just needs extra help understanding the bad influence  and advice he is receiving (even from well intentioned people) that is setting up his community for some bad times ahead.  Help that priest!  Help that bishop!  You may face a hard screen in your attempt to do so… press anyway.  Get uncomfortable if you have to.   If your own children are still wearing masks at a Catholic school at this time, do what you must to get through now before bigger issues come later.  If you are discouraged by, say, a procession beginning at a rather early time of 6:00am, dig deep within  yourself and within your network to make sure that as much good company is there bright and early ready to support our clergy and ensure that they are assisted through these times to reject policy that will only cripple our freedoms and our Church down the road.  

    Difficult?  You bet it is.  Are world elites with influence intimidating?  You bet they are.  But be encouraged that you are one of millions of people who have already taken the first steps in giving the hard rejection to these kinds of people.  Though many of the masses still need more awakening, many are fed up and ready to do something.  For proof, just look at professional sports and the Academy Awards ratings, yikes!  Let’s get in front of the charge and lead men and women to the next step!

    The bad company I speak of are not laughable men, I grant that, but they are hallow, narcissistic, and weak men.  Feel the strength of your conviction as you take whatever the next step is for you to push back against these men.  They will fall.  Be a part of the victory we will win against them.  That our Lady is promised to win against them.  I see the truth and I speak the truth, with you, because the truth will set us free.  Let us keep marching together, the good company, as we speak and live the truth in charity against our foes both physical and spiritual as we embrace this glorious battle together.  Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

God bless,

Gadfly