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The Political Pope: How Pope Francis Is Delighting the Liberal Left and Abandoning Conservatives
The untold story of the left's efforts to politicize the Vatican and the battle to stop it-before the Catholic Church as we know it is destroyed.
Pope Francis is the most liberal pope in the history of the Catholic Church. He is not only championing the causes of the global Left, but also undermining centuries-old Catholic teaching and practice. In the words of the late radical Tom Hayden, his election was "more miraculous, if you will, than the rise of Barack Obama in 2008."
But to Catholics in the pews, his pontificate is a source of alienation. It is a pontificate, at times, beyond parody: Francis is the first pope to approve of adultery, flirt with proposals to bless gay marriages and cohabitation, tell atheists not to convert, tell Catholics to not breed "like rabbits," praise the Koran, support a secularized Europe, and celebrate Martin Luther.
At a time of widespread moral relativism, Pope Francis is not defending the Church's teachings but diluting them. At a time of Christian persecution, he is not strengthening Catholic identity but weakening it. Where other popes sought to save souls, he prefers to "save the planet" and play politics, from habitual capitalism-bashing to his support for open borders and pacifism.
In The Political Pope , George Neumayr gives readers what the media won't: a bracing look at the liberal revolution that Pope Francis is advancing in the Church. To the radical academic Cornel West, "Pope Francis is a gift from heaven." To many conservative Catholics, he is the worst pope in centuries.
Pope Francis is the most liberal pope in the history of the Catholic Church. He is not only championing the causes of the global Left, but also undermining centuries-old Catholic teaching and practice. In the words of the late radical Tom Hayden, his election was "more miraculous, if you will, than the rise of Barack Obama in 2008."
But to Catholics in the pews, his pontificate is a source of alienation. It is a pontificate, at times, beyond parody: Francis is the first pope to approve of adultery, flirt with proposals to bless gay marriages and cohabitation, tell atheists not to convert, tell Catholics to not breed "like rabbits," praise the Koran, support a secularized Europe, and celebrate Martin Luther.
At a time of widespread moral relativism, Pope Francis is not defending the Church's teachings but diluting them. At a time of Christian persecution, he is not strengthening Catholic identity but weakening it. Where other popes sought to save souls, he prefers to "save the planet" and play politics, from habitual capitalism-bashing to his support for open borders and pacifism.
In The Political Pope , George Neumayr gives readers what the media won't: a bracing look at the liberal revolution that Pope Francis is advancing in the Church. To the radical academic Cornel West, "Pope Francis is a gift from heaven." To many conservative Catholics, he is the worst pope in centuries.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published May 2, 2017
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October 10, 2017
When Pope Francis utters something outrageous (which is often), I used to dismiss him, like every other good Catholic, saying, “There he goes again.” I even naively thought, like some of the pope’s more yes-men supporters, that the media misconstrued what he said, or that the translation was wrong, or that the plane hit an air pocket as he uttered the outrageous or unorthodox thing, I dunno.
Neumayr’s masterly and thoroughly-researched book, however, demands that I pay close attention to (akin to what we English professors call a “close reading” of) whatever this liberal pope says. Doing so explains why the pope disdains (if not hates) Americans, conservatives (whether political or religious), President Trump, capitalism, evangelization, those who want to help persons with same-sex attraction to live chaste lives, etc.
In short, Neumayr’s book explains why Pope Francis has an animus against orthodox Catholics: he’s as liberal as Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.
Enough said.
But please read on; I spent a lot of time on this review.
Neumayr doesn’t complain; he explains why the pope is hostile to those Catholics who live their faith in the modern world, a very Vatican Council II thing to do. Why the pope is liberal first and Catholic second is obvious from the evidence which this pope has generated and which Neumayr has collated into a coherent and eminently-readable book. Unlike some other papal biographies, Neumayr provides a substantial index to help researchers investigating Pope Francis’ controversial ideas.
Neumayr’s central thesis is simple: Pope Francis supports politically-correct liberal causes and is willing to ignore, if not corrupt, Church teaching to accomplish his goals. The following are items supporting that thesis. Unfortunately, some sources are unnamed, which could point either to Neumayr’s lack of primary sources or (what I consider most likely) to the fear of living and working under such a radical pope, especially if one is in the Vatican. While we did not suffer under the dictatorships of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc., we Catholics in the United States have an inkling of what it is like to live under some form of dictatorship which persecutes Christians (can you say “Obama”?).
Item. When an unnamed bishop is quoted as asking, “How do you remain loyal to Peter when Peter is not loyal to the Church?” (7), I can empathize. I, too, feel disenchanted by a pope who seems to abandon pro-life causes for his pet projects of global warming and environmentalism. (Nota bene, Pope Francis: I do my part for the environment, such as weekly recycling and grass clippings in the garden. Is that all right for you?)
Item. When the pope tweeted “Inequality is the root of all [social] evil”, Neumayr is correct in saying that “According to traditional Catholic theology, the root of all evil came not from inequality but from Satan’s refusal to accept inequality” because he is not equal with God, whom he should have served (9). That is an important distinction that the pope should have clarified.
Item. The leftist media wanted a pope concerned with the “imminent threat of global climate change” (14). They got their goal. Meanwhile, unborn babies are directly killed in abortion, handicapped newborns are directly killed in infanticide, and the medically vulnerable and the elderly are directly killed by euthanasia. If only Pope Francis were as outspoken about these victims as those who possibly suffer from global warming (if that has even been scientifically proven).
Item. When an unnamed priest claims that “the pope hates American conservatives” (19), every unbiased person must admit the veracity of the claim. Almost every news account, in both liberal and conservative venues, shows Francis’ preference for fellow liberals over orthodox Catholics.
Item. Francis' bias against conservatives applies to bishops. When bishops reach age 75, they should retire. “Even though the pope is not canonically required to accept their resignation,” Neumayr writes, “Francis has promptly accepted resignations in the case of conservative bishops while letting liberal bishops linger on” (20). Why such bias? Shouldn’t the pope be fair in his “employment” practices?
Item. Most galling is Francis' comment that “The Church is too ‘obsessed’ with the issues of abortion, contraception, and gay marriage” (27). Thanks, Pope Francis, for summarily rejecting so quickly the activism of faithful Catholics and caving in to those who support abortion, artificial birth control, and the gay and lesbian distortion of heterosexual normativity.
Item. One can argue that “the signature phrase of his papacy: ‘Who am I to judge?’” (30) could have been distorted by anti-Catholics using the pope for their own political goals. However, the frequency of this assertion by the pope agitates against such a facile view.
Warning: get ready for a HUGE paragraph, the kind that I warn my students not to write in their papers. And it’s more than a full page, too!
The list of items which I culled from this exemplary book for my own notes goes on and on in a tsunami that could generate extreme despair for faithful Catholics: “the maddening incoherence and people-pleasing relativism of his pontificate were all too predictable” (33); “the [media] elite’s pontiff” (37); “According to polling data released by Pew Research in 2016, only one in ten American Catholics said that they rely a ‘great deal’ on Pope Francis’s moral direction” (38-9); Tollers is quoted, saying, “this Bergoglio fellow played […] the progressive music most of the time, but now and again switching sides to the more conservative band if need be” (61); George Soros’ support of Francis for the purpose of creating “a ‘critical mass’ of American bishops and lay Catholics supportive of the pope’s priorities” (note: not the life issues, but political issues favorable to the liberal elite) (77); Francis implied support for the anti-life Bernie Sanders and opposition to the pro-life Mr., now President, Donald Trump (81-2); Francis excoriated pro-life candidate Trump “Just days before the presidential election” regarding the wall issue (86); how could a pope not mention abortion in an address to Congress? (90); the façade of St. Peter’s was used for a "climate change awareness” film (can we demand equal time and have the façade used for a pro-life film during October, which is Respect Life month?) (100); regarding global warming, Neumayr is correct in pointing out that “What the pope presents as a moral crisis is in fact nothing more than a political dispute” (105); Stephen Moore has the courage to counter Francis’ ideas about economics (my money’s on Steve, thank you) (109); the claim of a “frivolous abuse of his authority” is explained in this quote: “On the moral issues a pope should address, he falls silent. On contentious political issues, he couldn’t be more voluble” (119); wonderful language encapsulating a severe moral problem: “Pope Francis subscribes to the left’s suicidally softheaded explanation for the rise of Islamic terrorism in Europe. He blames it not on Islamic radical ideology but on the West’s unwillingness to ‘integrate’ Muslims and open its borders to them” (126); what we all know, that some in the Church hierarchy are more concerned about money than orthodoxy: “the Catholic Church in America has received tens of millions of dollars from the Obama administration to resettle migrants. Flush with government grants, the U.S. bishops have stepped up their lobbying, even calling on Catholics to write ‘a letter to President Obama, urging him [to] expand U.S. resettlement efforts of Syrian refugees’” (130); Francis believes in the myopic claim that Islam is a religion of peace (as students and any victim of Islamic terrorism would say, “Puh-leeze”) (148); Neumayr states it succinctly: “The Islamic persecution of Christians is a subject that Pope Francis has largely avoided out of a politically correct fear of offending Muslims” (149); while Neumayr does not comment on it, Francis’ striking use of first-person pronouns in this passage suggests his narcissism: “’I do not approach the relationship in order to proselytize, or convert the atheist; I respect him and I show myself as I am. [….] I do not have any type of reluctance, nor would I say that his life is condemned, because I am convinced that I do not have the right to make a judgment about the honesty of that person” (as students would say, it’s not about you) (152); Bishop Fellay’s assertion that the pope’s comments “are directly primarily at ‘conservative Catholics’” (164); an unnamed priest’s opinion is telling: “I will be happy when this pontificate ends [….] I have stopped paying attention to what he says. It is too painful” (170); Francis praised the Italian abortionist Emma Bonino (when has he praised an American pro-life activist like David Daleiden? Matt C. Abbott had already written about this) (174); a major problem with Francis’ emphasis on mercy, different from that of Jesus’: “In other words, if living in a state of adultery doesn’t constitute ‘mortal sin’ and doesn’t deprive one of ‘sanctifying grace,’ as Pope Francis says in Amoris Laetitia, why would anyone need mercy?” (198); despite the negatives of Pope Francis’ reign, there is hope that “Paul will correct Peter” [209]; result of all these items: “Francis fatigue” (215).
Fortunately, as Neumayr states, there is always hope, even when faithful Catholics are faced with a hostile pope. We must continue to practice our faith and pray for Pope Francis. (I pray specifically that he will overcome his narcissism and begin to appreciate orthodox Catholics, especially Americans, who are major donors to the Church.) During this week which sees the end of the centenary celebration of the miracles at Fatima, we who strive to be faithful Catholics have the wonderful spiritual weapon of a mere string of beads, a rosary, which can combat evil wherever it is found, whether in the Vatican or elsewhere.
Thus, while highlighting the many problems caused by Francis’ ideas, Neumayr’s book can greatly aid in the restoration and rejuvenation of one’s faith more than anything coming out of the Vatican.
Neumayr’s masterly and thoroughly-researched book, however, demands that I pay close attention to (akin to what we English professors call a “close reading” of) whatever this liberal pope says. Doing so explains why the pope disdains (if not hates) Americans, conservatives (whether political or religious), President Trump, capitalism, evangelization, those who want to help persons with same-sex attraction to live chaste lives, etc.
In short, Neumayr’s book explains why Pope Francis has an animus against orthodox Catholics: he’s as liberal as Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.
Enough said.
But please read on; I spent a lot of time on this review.
Neumayr doesn’t complain; he explains why the pope is hostile to those Catholics who live their faith in the modern world, a very Vatican Council II thing to do. Why the pope is liberal first and Catholic second is obvious from the evidence which this pope has generated and which Neumayr has collated into a coherent and eminently-readable book. Unlike some other papal biographies, Neumayr provides a substantial index to help researchers investigating Pope Francis’ controversial ideas.
Neumayr’s central thesis is simple: Pope Francis supports politically-correct liberal causes and is willing to ignore, if not corrupt, Church teaching to accomplish his goals. The following are items supporting that thesis. Unfortunately, some sources are unnamed, which could point either to Neumayr’s lack of primary sources or (what I consider most likely) to the fear of living and working under such a radical pope, especially if one is in the Vatican. While we did not suffer under the dictatorships of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc., we Catholics in the United States have an inkling of what it is like to live under some form of dictatorship which persecutes Christians (can you say “Obama”?).
Item. When an unnamed bishop is quoted as asking, “How do you remain loyal to Peter when Peter is not loyal to the Church?” (7), I can empathize. I, too, feel disenchanted by a pope who seems to abandon pro-life causes for his pet projects of global warming and environmentalism. (Nota bene, Pope Francis: I do my part for the environment, such as weekly recycling and grass clippings in the garden. Is that all right for you?)
Item. When the pope tweeted “Inequality is the root of all [social] evil”, Neumayr is correct in saying that “According to traditional Catholic theology, the root of all evil came not from inequality but from Satan’s refusal to accept inequality” because he is not equal with God, whom he should have served (9). That is an important distinction that the pope should have clarified.
Item. The leftist media wanted a pope concerned with the “imminent threat of global climate change” (14). They got their goal. Meanwhile, unborn babies are directly killed in abortion, handicapped newborns are directly killed in infanticide, and the medically vulnerable and the elderly are directly killed by euthanasia. If only Pope Francis were as outspoken about these victims as those who possibly suffer from global warming (if that has even been scientifically proven).
Item. When an unnamed priest claims that “the pope hates American conservatives” (19), every unbiased person must admit the veracity of the claim. Almost every news account, in both liberal and conservative venues, shows Francis’ preference for fellow liberals over orthodox Catholics.
Item. Francis' bias against conservatives applies to bishops. When bishops reach age 75, they should retire. “Even though the pope is not canonically required to accept their resignation,” Neumayr writes, “Francis has promptly accepted resignations in the case of conservative bishops while letting liberal bishops linger on” (20). Why such bias? Shouldn’t the pope be fair in his “employment” practices?
Item. Most galling is Francis' comment that “The Church is too ‘obsessed’ with the issues of abortion, contraception, and gay marriage” (27). Thanks, Pope Francis, for summarily rejecting so quickly the activism of faithful Catholics and caving in to those who support abortion, artificial birth control, and the gay and lesbian distortion of heterosexual normativity.
Item. One can argue that “the signature phrase of his papacy: ‘Who am I to judge?’” (30) could have been distorted by anti-Catholics using the pope for their own political goals. However, the frequency of this assertion by the pope agitates against such a facile view.
Warning: get ready for a HUGE paragraph, the kind that I warn my students not to write in their papers. And it’s more than a full page, too!
The list of items which I culled from this exemplary book for my own notes goes on and on in a tsunami that could generate extreme despair for faithful Catholics: “the maddening incoherence and people-pleasing relativism of his pontificate were all too predictable” (33); “the [media] elite’s pontiff” (37); “According to polling data released by Pew Research in 2016, only one in ten American Catholics said that they rely a ‘great deal’ on Pope Francis’s moral direction” (38-9); Tollers is quoted, saying, “this Bergoglio fellow played […] the progressive music most of the time, but now and again switching sides to the more conservative band if need be” (61); George Soros’ support of Francis for the purpose of creating “a ‘critical mass’ of American bishops and lay Catholics supportive of the pope’s priorities” (note: not the life issues, but political issues favorable to the liberal elite) (77); Francis implied support for the anti-life Bernie Sanders and opposition to the pro-life Mr., now President, Donald Trump (81-2); Francis excoriated pro-life candidate Trump “Just days before the presidential election” regarding the wall issue (86); how could a pope not mention abortion in an address to Congress? (90); the façade of St. Peter’s was used for a "climate change awareness” film (can we demand equal time and have the façade used for a pro-life film during October, which is Respect Life month?) (100); regarding global warming, Neumayr is correct in pointing out that “What the pope presents as a moral crisis is in fact nothing more than a political dispute” (105); Stephen Moore has the courage to counter Francis’ ideas about economics (my money’s on Steve, thank you) (109); the claim of a “frivolous abuse of his authority” is explained in this quote: “On the moral issues a pope should address, he falls silent. On contentious political issues, he couldn’t be more voluble” (119); wonderful language encapsulating a severe moral problem: “Pope Francis subscribes to the left’s suicidally softheaded explanation for the rise of Islamic terrorism in Europe. He blames it not on Islamic radical ideology but on the West’s unwillingness to ‘integrate’ Muslims and open its borders to them” (126); what we all know, that some in the Church hierarchy are more concerned about money than orthodoxy: “the Catholic Church in America has received tens of millions of dollars from the Obama administration to resettle migrants. Flush with government grants, the U.S. bishops have stepped up their lobbying, even calling on Catholics to write ‘a letter to President Obama, urging him [to] expand U.S. resettlement efforts of Syrian refugees’” (130); Francis believes in the myopic claim that Islam is a religion of peace (as students and any victim of Islamic terrorism would say, “Puh-leeze”) (148); Neumayr states it succinctly: “The Islamic persecution of Christians is a subject that Pope Francis has largely avoided out of a politically correct fear of offending Muslims” (149); while Neumayr does not comment on it, Francis’ striking use of first-person pronouns in this passage suggests his narcissism: “’I do not approach the relationship in order to proselytize, or convert the atheist; I respect him and I show myself as I am. [….] I do not have any type of reluctance, nor would I say that his life is condemned, because I am convinced that I do not have the right to make a judgment about the honesty of that person” (as students would say, it’s not about you) (152); Bishop Fellay’s assertion that the pope’s comments “are directly primarily at ‘conservative Catholics’” (164); an unnamed priest’s opinion is telling: “I will be happy when this pontificate ends [….] I have stopped paying attention to what he says. It is too painful” (170); Francis praised the Italian abortionist Emma Bonino (when has he praised an American pro-life activist like David Daleiden? Matt C. Abbott had already written about this) (174); a major problem with Francis’ emphasis on mercy, different from that of Jesus’: “In other words, if living in a state of adultery doesn’t constitute ‘mortal sin’ and doesn’t deprive one of ‘sanctifying grace,’ as Pope Francis says in Amoris Laetitia, why would anyone need mercy?” (198); despite the negatives of Pope Francis’ reign, there is hope that “Paul will correct Peter” [209]; result of all these items: “Francis fatigue” (215).
Fortunately, as Neumayr states, there is always hope, even when faithful Catholics are faced with a hostile pope. We must continue to practice our faith and pray for Pope Francis. (I pray specifically that he will overcome his narcissism and begin to appreciate orthodox Catholics, especially Americans, who are major donors to the Church.) During this week which sees the end of the centenary celebration of the miracles at Fatima, we who strive to be faithful Catholics have the wonderful spiritual weapon of a mere string of beads, a rosary, which can combat evil wherever it is found, whether in the Vatican or elsewhere.
Thus, while highlighting the many problems caused by Francis’ ideas, Neumayr’s book can greatly aid in the restoration and rejuvenation of one’s faith more than anything coming out of the Vatican.
August 31, 2018
God Save our Church from this pseudo-Pope!
A deeply disturbing, utterly frightening account that lays bare all the sordid details of how Bishop Jorge Bergoglio AKA Pope Francis, has utterly hijacked true Catholic faith and traditional Christian faith and replaced it with his so-called "liberation theology," which is basically Communism with a quasi-Catholic flavour; anti-free market, anti-self defence rights (whether it's individual self-defence against criminals through bearing arms, societal self-defence against murderers through the death penalty, or free nations' self-defence against terrorists and dictatorships through Just War principle), anti-American, anti-traditional values.
I lost track of the number of times I gasped and/or groaned and/or shook my head in shock and disgust at the author's detailed descriptions of the repeated left-wing transgressions and abominations committed by this godawful excuse for a Pope. You've heard of RINOs (Republicans In Name Only)? Well, Bergoglio (Francis) and his leftist radical "liberation theologist" ilk are CINOs--Catholics In Name Only, appeasing Communist dictators, radical Islamic terrorists (Francis's ultra-pacifism conveniently gives ISIS and Al-Qaeda a free pass), tree-hugging environmentalist whackballs, and all sorts of hipster social justice warriors (SJWs), moral relativists, and secularists.
George Neumayr has written an invaluable book, an absolute must-read for *true* Catholic Christians who worry about the spiritual well-being of our Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed in Sacred Scripture that "the gates of Hell will not prevail against" His (and our) Church. But thanks to Pope Francis's shenanigans, those gates are coming way too close for comfort.
RANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS (and noteworthy passages):
--p. 1: So strong were Pope John Paul II’s anti-communist credentials and so effective was his anti-Soviet advocacy that Kremlin leaders, according to historians, hired a Turkish gunman to assassinate him. 2 That attempt failed, and Pope John Paul II continued to denounce the Soviets until their empire crumbled in 1991. Joseph Ratzinger also opposed communism fiercely." Oh, for the good old days.
--p. 2: “'The movement was born in the KGB, and it had a KGB-invented name: liberation theology,' according to Ion Mihai Pacepa, who served as a spymaster for Romania’s secret police in the 1950s and 1960s." The sinister truth laid bare.
--p. 7: "Pope Francis early in his papacy decried capitalism as 'trickle-down economics'—a polemical phrase coined by the left during the Reagan years that Francis frequently borrows" Ugh, disgusting.
--p. 9: "In the early twentieth century, as Marx’s socialism spread across the world, Pope Pius XI declared the theory anathema. &No one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist,' he said. To hear Pope Francis speak today, one might conclude the reverse: that no can be at the same time a good Catholic and an opponent of socialism."
--pp. 9-10: "Could a satirist like Waugh have imagined a pope happily receiving from a Latin American despot the 'gift' of a crucifix shaped in the form of a Marxist hammer and sickle? That surreal scene happened during Pope Francis’s visit to Bolivia in July 2015. Evo Morales, Bolivia’s proudly Marxist president, offered the pontiff that sacrilegious image of Jesus Christ." And the MSM gives Francis a free pass for all of this stuff.
--p. 11: "The world is witnessing nothing less than a liberal revolution in the Catholic Church—a revolution that is **emboldening the Church’s enemies and alienating her friends**." [emphasis added]
--p. 23: "The lone American on the Council of Cardinals is Boston Cardinal Seán O’Malley, who is a political liberal in the mold of Pope Francis. A gun control advocate, O’Malley befuddled conservative Catholics by saying after the terrorist Boston bombings that the 'inability of Congress to enact laws that control access to automatic weapons is emblematic of the pathology of our violent culture.'" Nauseating!
--p. 48: "In 1953, Manning Johnson, a former propaganda director for the Communist Party in America, testified to the U.S. Congress that determined Marxists had infiltrated Catholic seminaries." A fifth column of boll weevils (yes, I'm mixing metaphors here).
--p. 50: "referred to capitalism as the 'dung of the devil,'" what a pile of dung from Bergoglio himself!
--p. 73: "The only group of Catholics whom Archbishop Bergoglio treated severely were conservative Catholics, whose interest in the traditional Latin Mass he blocked." The guy has respect for nothing sacred!
--p. 77: "In 2016, it was revealed through disclosures by WikiLeaks that the billionaire socialist George Soros bankrolled much of this lobbying. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to shape the pope’s visit to the United States." The ($)hits just keep on coming.
--p. 81: "In an interview with Vatican spokesman Fr. Thomas Rosica, which a Catholic television station in Canada aired in 2015, Sanders spoke about Pope Francis as a fellow socialist." Birds of a feather flock together.
--p. 83: "He [Joe Biden] said that he knew Pope Francis 'as well as anybody' and that they share a socialist interpretation of Catholicism." How much more nauseating can this get?!?!
--p. 129: "from Cardinal McCarrick,” ah yes, that egregious child molester.
--p. 134: "Even a concept as uncontroversial as lifetime imprisonment for serial killers has been rejected by this pope. Not even the most liberal of liberal Democrats in the United States take his absolutist stance against lifetime imprisonment." Great, so in addition to being anti-capitalism, anti-gun, and anti-military, he's also pro-criminal.
--p. 137: "That weapons protect innocent people from the violent rarely figures into his analysis." Excuse me while I go wretch....
--p. 139: "The pacifism of this pontificate is also seen in its diplomacy, which has been marked by the coddling of communist dictators and excuse-making for Islamic radicals."
--pp. 149-150: "People should “expect a punch,” he said, if they offend others. 8 The pope’s comments sparked outrage in conservative circles, prompting articles about the pope “blaming” the cartoonists for “provoking the attack.” Conservatives ruefully noted that the pacifist pope, normally so eager to lecture others on the need to turn the other cheek, had finally found a form of violence that he could condone." Left-wing double-standards and hypocrisy rearing their ugly heads again.
--p. 164: "Early in his papacy, Pope Francis was captured on videotape belittling an altar boy for holding his hands together piously. Were they stuck together, he asked the bewildered boy. Another time he mocked a Catholic group for sending him a note saying that its members had recited thousands of rosaries for him." WTF seriously!
--p. 174: "'Sometimes it seems as if Pope Francis is determined to purge all humor from the phrase ‘more Catholic than the pope,’ said former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes." Spot-on as usual, Alan, spot-on.
A deeply disturbing, utterly frightening account that lays bare all the sordid details of how Bishop Jorge Bergoglio AKA Pope Francis, has utterly hijacked true Catholic faith and traditional Christian faith and replaced it with his so-called "liberation theology," which is basically Communism with a quasi-Catholic flavour; anti-free market, anti-self defence rights (whether it's individual self-defence against criminals through bearing arms, societal self-defence against murderers through the death penalty, or free nations' self-defence against terrorists and dictatorships through Just War principle), anti-American, anti-traditional values.
I lost track of the number of times I gasped and/or groaned and/or shook my head in shock and disgust at the author's detailed descriptions of the repeated left-wing transgressions and abominations committed by this godawful excuse for a Pope. You've heard of RINOs (Republicans In Name Only)? Well, Bergoglio (Francis) and his leftist radical "liberation theologist" ilk are CINOs--Catholics In Name Only, appeasing Communist dictators, radical Islamic terrorists (Francis's ultra-pacifism conveniently gives ISIS and Al-Qaeda a free pass), tree-hugging environmentalist whackballs, and all sorts of hipster social justice warriors (SJWs), moral relativists, and secularists.
George Neumayr has written an invaluable book, an absolute must-read for *true* Catholic Christians who worry about the spiritual well-being of our Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed in Sacred Scripture that "the gates of Hell will not prevail against" His (and our) Church. But thanks to Pope Francis's shenanigans, those gates are coming way too close for comfort.
RANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS (and noteworthy passages):
--p. 1: So strong were Pope John Paul II’s anti-communist credentials and so effective was his anti-Soviet advocacy that Kremlin leaders, according to historians, hired a Turkish gunman to assassinate him. 2 That attempt failed, and Pope John Paul II continued to denounce the Soviets until their empire crumbled in 1991. Joseph Ratzinger also opposed communism fiercely." Oh, for the good old days.
--p. 2: “'The movement was born in the KGB, and it had a KGB-invented name: liberation theology,' according to Ion Mihai Pacepa, who served as a spymaster for Romania’s secret police in the 1950s and 1960s." The sinister truth laid bare.
--p. 7: "Pope Francis early in his papacy decried capitalism as 'trickle-down economics'—a polemical phrase coined by the left during the Reagan years that Francis frequently borrows" Ugh, disgusting.
--p. 9: "In the early twentieth century, as Marx’s socialism spread across the world, Pope Pius XI declared the theory anathema. &No one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist,' he said. To hear Pope Francis speak today, one might conclude the reverse: that no can be at the same time a good Catholic and an opponent of socialism."
--pp. 9-10: "Could a satirist like Waugh have imagined a pope happily receiving from a Latin American despot the 'gift' of a crucifix shaped in the form of a Marxist hammer and sickle? That surreal scene happened during Pope Francis’s visit to Bolivia in July 2015. Evo Morales, Bolivia’s proudly Marxist president, offered the pontiff that sacrilegious image of Jesus Christ." And the MSM gives Francis a free pass for all of this stuff.
--p. 11: "The world is witnessing nothing less than a liberal revolution in the Catholic Church—a revolution that is **emboldening the Church’s enemies and alienating her friends**." [emphasis added]
--p. 23: "The lone American on the Council of Cardinals is Boston Cardinal Seán O’Malley, who is a political liberal in the mold of Pope Francis. A gun control advocate, O’Malley befuddled conservative Catholics by saying after the terrorist Boston bombings that the 'inability of Congress to enact laws that control access to automatic weapons is emblematic of the pathology of our violent culture.'" Nauseating!
--p. 48: "In 1953, Manning Johnson, a former propaganda director for the Communist Party in America, testified to the U.S. Congress that determined Marxists had infiltrated Catholic seminaries." A fifth column of boll weevils (yes, I'm mixing metaphors here).
--p. 50: "referred to capitalism as the 'dung of the devil,'" what a pile of dung from Bergoglio himself!
--p. 73: "The only group of Catholics whom Archbishop Bergoglio treated severely were conservative Catholics, whose interest in the traditional Latin Mass he blocked." The guy has respect for nothing sacred!
--p. 77: "In 2016, it was revealed through disclosures by WikiLeaks that the billionaire socialist George Soros bankrolled much of this lobbying. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to shape the pope’s visit to the United States." The ($)hits just keep on coming.
--p. 81: "In an interview with Vatican spokesman Fr. Thomas Rosica, which a Catholic television station in Canada aired in 2015, Sanders spoke about Pope Francis as a fellow socialist." Birds of a feather flock together.
--p. 83: "He [Joe Biden] said that he knew Pope Francis 'as well as anybody' and that they share a socialist interpretation of Catholicism." How much more nauseating can this get?!?!
--p. 129: "from Cardinal McCarrick,” ah yes, that egregious child molester.
--p. 134: "Even a concept as uncontroversial as lifetime imprisonment for serial killers has been rejected by this pope. Not even the most liberal of liberal Democrats in the United States take his absolutist stance against lifetime imprisonment." Great, so in addition to being anti-capitalism, anti-gun, and anti-military, he's also pro-criminal.
--p. 137: "That weapons protect innocent people from the violent rarely figures into his analysis." Excuse me while I go wretch....
--p. 139: "The pacifism of this pontificate is also seen in its diplomacy, which has been marked by the coddling of communist dictators and excuse-making for Islamic radicals."
--pp. 149-150: "People should “expect a punch,” he said, if they offend others. 8 The pope’s comments sparked outrage in conservative circles, prompting articles about the pope “blaming” the cartoonists for “provoking the attack.” Conservatives ruefully noted that the pacifist pope, normally so eager to lecture others on the need to turn the other cheek, had finally found a form of violence that he could condone." Left-wing double-standards and hypocrisy rearing their ugly heads again.
--p. 164: "Early in his papacy, Pope Francis was captured on videotape belittling an altar boy for holding his hands together piously. Were they stuck together, he asked the bewildered boy. Another time he mocked a Catholic group for sending him a note saying that its members had recited thousands of rosaries for him." WTF seriously!
--p. 174: "'Sometimes it seems as if Pope Francis is determined to purge all humor from the phrase ‘more Catholic than the pope,’ said former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes." Spot-on as usual, Alan, spot-on.
May 10, 2017
Leave it to a conservative to pretend to be a better, more moral, more upstanding Catholic and person than the pope himself. Really disgusted by this book. It's idiotic books like these making people run from religion.
July 25, 2017
Alarming doesn't even begin what this book points out. You'll either rejoice (if you're a full blown socialist liberal) or cry/despair and pray for the Church (if you're traditionally minded).
February 7, 2018
Disquieting.
I miss Pope Benedict XVI.
I miss Pope Benedict XVI.
May 20, 2025
The Liberal Shepherd of a Largely Conservative Flock
A solid conservative critique of the most liberal Pope who has ever sat on the chair of St. Peter. Author George Neumayr critically analyzes how the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide tried to steer the Church in a liberal direction, alienating traditionalists and becoming a darling of the global left.
The book traces Pope Francis’ liberal ideology to his early years as a liberal Jesuit priest wherein he regarded the pre-Vatican II Church as “hopelessly unenlightened.” According to the author, the Jesuits at that time were influenced by socialism and modernism and their order “was rapidly moving to the left, both politically and theologically.” Being a protégé of Pedro Arrupe, the Pope was inspired by the latter’s liberalism.
Since the start of his papacy, Pope Francis has followed the liberal zeitgeist and championed liberal causes at the cost of undermining the Church’s doctrine. He has furthered liberal ideals by promoting liberal churchmen and marginalizing their conservative counterparts whilst maintaining close relations with ultra-progressive bishops. His combination of political liberalism and doctrinal relativism has weakened the Church’s once rigid stances on issues such as homosexuality, abortion, premarital cohabitation, heterodoxy, just wars, evolution, among others. In doing so, he has been indifferent to the conservatism of his predecessors, who upheld moral absolutes, thereby undoing their legacy. From being the “people’s pontiff,” he has veered into becoming the “liberal elite’s pontiff.” Despite reiterating the views of the Church on abortion and same-sex marriage, Pope Francis has maintained his distance from Catholic activism opposed to gay marriage as well as the pro-life movement.
In stark contrast to his immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who had urged priests to stay out of politics unless it touched upon non-negotiable moral positions of the Church, Pope Francis has been actively involved in political matters, going as far as saying, “A good Catholic meddles in politics.” This has led to the “constant blurring of the line between official Church teaching and the Pope’s political opinions.” His silence on controversial moral issues has emboldened the left. Given his ideologically formative years in the erstwhile socialist Argentina, Pope Francis has a soft spot for left-wing politics. Hence, it is no wonder that he had rubbed shoulders with Latin American leftist leaders like the Castro brothers and Evo Morales. Furthermore, Pope Francis’ appeasement of the communist People Republic of China has drawn scrutiny from his critics.
George Neumayr further reproaches the Pope for his intervention in American politics. The strange alliance between the Vatican and the liberal Democrats (most of whom are pro-choice and pro-LGBT) is telling of the Pope’s political priorities. Besides, the attempts of the George Soros-backed Catholic front groups to politically exploit Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to the United States, as revealed in the leaked Hillary Clinton emails, shows the extent to which leftists were ready to go to fulfil their agenda. What is ironic in particular is that the same Pope who said, “Who am I to judge?”on the status of gay people in the Church, went on to judge the then-US presidential candidate Trump by saying that he was “not Christian.”
Pope Francis has frequently criticized conservative Catholics who do not subscribe to “his loose interpretation of Catholicism.” As the author notes, “by condemning these Catholics, Pope Francis is implicitly condemning his predecessors, who urged the faithful to cleave to orthodoxy and value Catholic tradition and doctrinal fidelity.” His anti-conservative prejudice has made him stay in the good books of the liberal elite. Moreover, he had denounced states that give a privileged position to Christianity in their constitutions, and embraced the liberal concept of a secular nation state. With this being the case, he aligned himself with the “secular movement that is antithetical to the fundamental theological underpinning of Catholicism.”
Although the author predominantly makes justified criticisms of Pope Francis, he also unduly criticizes the pontiff’s views on modesty, prisoners’ rights, environment, and ecumenism within the Christian community. Some of his arguments about the Pope’s decisions are more pedantic than constructive. His opposition to liberation theology is evident throughout his writing. Also, his mention of the ‘Eurabia’ theory seems controversial.
Through his startling political stances, Pope Francis has either directly or indirectly espoused the liberal viewpoint. Owing to this, his popularity has decreased among conservative Catholics within the Church, while he enjoys widespread popularity outside the Church. At the same time, his response to the sexual abuse scandal in the Church has drawn considerable criticism. In his bid to liberalize the Church, Pope Francis has rebelled and taken some positions, which are contrary to Catholic faith and morals. As the author sardonically remarks in the book, “With a friend like this Pope, orthodox Catholics don’t need enemies.”
Overall, The Political Pope is a critical dissection worth a read for both Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
A solid conservative critique of the most liberal Pope who has ever sat on the chair of St. Peter. Author George Neumayr critically analyzes how the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide tried to steer the Church in a liberal direction, alienating traditionalists and becoming a darling of the global left.
The book traces Pope Francis’ liberal ideology to his early years as a liberal Jesuit priest wherein he regarded the pre-Vatican II Church as “hopelessly unenlightened.” According to the author, the Jesuits at that time were influenced by socialism and modernism and their order “was rapidly moving to the left, both politically and theologically.” Being a protégé of Pedro Arrupe, the Pope was inspired by the latter’s liberalism.
Since the start of his papacy, Pope Francis has followed the liberal zeitgeist and championed liberal causes at the cost of undermining the Church’s doctrine. He has furthered liberal ideals by promoting liberal churchmen and marginalizing their conservative counterparts whilst maintaining close relations with ultra-progressive bishops. His combination of political liberalism and doctrinal relativism has weakened the Church’s once rigid stances on issues such as homosexuality, abortion, premarital cohabitation, heterodoxy, just wars, evolution, among others. In doing so, he has been indifferent to the conservatism of his predecessors, who upheld moral absolutes, thereby undoing their legacy. From being the “people’s pontiff,” he has veered into becoming the “liberal elite’s pontiff.” Despite reiterating the views of the Church on abortion and same-sex marriage, Pope Francis has maintained his distance from Catholic activism opposed to gay marriage as well as the pro-life movement.
In stark contrast to his immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who had urged priests to stay out of politics unless it touched upon non-negotiable moral positions of the Church, Pope Francis has been actively involved in political matters, going as far as saying, “A good Catholic meddles in politics.” This has led to the “constant blurring of the line between official Church teaching and the Pope’s political opinions.” His silence on controversial moral issues has emboldened the left. Given his ideologically formative years in the erstwhile socialist Argentina, Pope Francis has a soft spot for left-wing politics. Hence, it is no wonder that he had rubbed shoulders with Latin American leftist leaders like the Castro brothers and Evo Morales. Furthermore, Pope Francis’ appeasement of the communist People Republic of China has drawn scrutiny from his critics.
George Neumayr further reproaches the Pope for his intervention in American politics. The strange alliance between the Vatican and the liberal Democrats (most of whom are pro-choice and pro-LGBT) is telling of the Pope’s political priorities. Besides, the attempts of the George Soros-backed Catholic front groups to politically exploit Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to the United States, as revealed in the leaked Hillary Clinton emails, shows the extent to which leftists were ready to go to fulfil their agenda. What is ironic in particular is that the same Pope who said, “Who am I to judge?”on the status of gay people in the Church, went on to judge the then-US presidential candidate Trump by saying that he was “not Christian.”
Pope Francis has frequently criticized conservative Catholics who do not subscribe to “his loose interpretation of Catholicism.” As the author notes, “by condemning these Catholics, Pope Francis is implicitly condemning his predecessors, who urged the faithful to cleave to orthodoxy and value Catholic tradition and doctrinal fidelity.” His anti-conservative prejudice has made him stay in the good books of the liberal elite. Moreover, he had denounced states that give a privileged position to Christianity in their constitutions, and embraced the liberal concept of a secular nation state. With this being the case, he aligned himself with the “secular movement that is antithetical to the fundamental theological underpinning of Catholicism.”
Although the author predominantly makes justified criticisms of Pope Francis, he also unduly criticizes the pontiff’s views on modesty, prisoners’ rights, environment, and ecumenism within the Christian community. Some of his arguments about the Pope’s decisions are more pedantic than constructive. His opposition to liberation theology is evident throughout his writing. Also, his mention of the ‘Eurabia’ theory seems controversial.
Through his startling political stances, Pope Francis has either directly or indirectly espoused the liberal viewpoint. Owing to this, his popularity has decreased among conservative Catholics within the Church, while he enjoys widespread popularity outside the Church. At the same time, his response to the sexual abuse scandal in the Church has drawn considerable criticism. In his bid to liberalize the Church, Pope Francis has rebelled and taken some positions, which are contrary to Catholic faith and morals. As the author sardonically remarks in the book, “With a friend like this Pope, orthodox Catholics don’t need enemies.”
Overall, The Political Pope is a critical dissection worth a read for both Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
May 12, 2017
Only on page 24, but had to rate it now. Although a 5 is described as 'amazing' on here, I would describe it more as important and disquieting...
Upon finishing the book, I feel the same.
Matt 16:18
Upon finishing the book, I feel the same.
Matt 16:18
June 20, 2018
I reccomend this book highly to anyone who cares about and for the Catholic church and her future. There is great danger!
January 14, 2023
The more I learn about Pope Francis and the more I hear from him the more disappointed I become. This book paints a dark picture. Faithful Catholics won’t feel good after having read it. But “the gates of hell shall not prevail ...”
November 11, 2018
A devastating critique of the current Papacy. Neumayr gives an insightful look into the leftward turn the Catholic Church has taken under Francis, with much of the information provided to him from church insiders who are witnessing this transformation firsthand. If you are a Conservative Catholic concerned with the future of our church, then you should definitely read this book. Read it and pray.
Read
September 21, 2017The book is like a very long version of articles the author wrote for American Spectator - a hatchet job sprinkle with cornels of facts. Pope Francis is not a favorite of conservatives, which should be no surprise to anyone.
July 25, 2018
He sniffs at "adulterers in line for Communion" as the result of Pope Francis' Amoris Laetitia 2016 remarks encouraging priests to consider, after confession and consultation, admitting Catholics divorced and remarried outside the Church back to the sacraments. This mean-spirited tone dominates this book. I lean towards the middle, as one of those raised as my contemporary Bishop Robert Barron laments in a post-Vatican II "beige Catholicism." I can see the critiques Neumayr and his colleagues raise against the sometimes befuddling or curiously hedging comments made by Jorge Bergoglio, but I can also welcome the more nuanced traditionalist views of conservative critic Ross Douthat, say, compared to the harsh condemnations made by this author; the same attitude soured me on Robert Cardinal Sarah's memoir-interview "God or Nothing." If such stiff, stern spokesmen are dominating the debate today about how to attract lapsed or alienated or rejected Catholics back into the fold, it does not bode well. Many of the 33-odd million (10% of the population) who have left the Church in America struggle with their family situation, their predicament mentally and socially as to feeling unwanted by the Church, and the challenges made by a post-modern and often cynically negative denial of anything that cannot be weighed or measured. While some have shifted to Pentecostals, evangelicals, or Episcopals, and others to New Age spirituality, there's a significant remnant who might, if invited nicely, stop by for a parish visit.
Neumayr's snippish air and dismissive style weakens some of the valid objections he and his cautious confreres make, necessarily, about how diluted today's Church may be as to its strong cultural and intellectual and spiritual powers, when instead of Pope John XXIII opening up the windows to let the Church's light out into the secular realm, the world rushed in to overwhelm the beauty which used to invite so many in the past centuries into the embrace of Catholicism. I lament the abandonment of so much value in an effort to clear out the cobwebs and tidy up the sanctuary.
I'd turn to Douthat's uneven but readable "To Change the Church" instead. While as close as Neumayr may claim to be as to the secrets of the Curia, his thoughtful approach jibes better with the American sensibility. Neumayr must realize that the majority of those still in the pews have already moved irrevocably beyond the Tridentine in its "smells and bells" charms and its detached, foreboding air; few today are around who even remember its appeal; I was only a toddler then. While I am glad that the Latin Mass is approved and I hope that the current Pope does not cut back on what his predecessor negotiated here, an expectation that the right-wing will triumph is naive.
I recommend too the revised and updated ed. of Paul Vallely's biography of Pope Francis. Despite its length, it presents a balanced consideration of the situation Bergoglio has created and occupies. It may lean left as most journalism does, but you will come out of it able to put Douthat's fears in perspective. "The Political Pope" fails to offer such an informed consideration; it's instead a screed.
There's no pleasure in reading this. I am turning to other observers who are hesitant about leaping on this Vatican bandwagon, and I trust they may prove more sensible in their justified critiques. And one might add, as the current Pope urges, that mercy must be upheld, not only stern justice. Many billions are looking to Rome for guidance, and few able to tolerate the finger-wagging and the score-settling which some on the right wish to exact upon the wavering but hopeful masses.
Neumayr's snippish air and dismissive style weakens some of the valid objections he and his cautious confreres make, necessarily, about how diluted today's Church may be as to its strong cultural and intellectual and spiritual powers, when instead of Pope John XXIII opening up the windows to let the Church's light out into the secular realm, the world rushed in to overwhelm the beauty which used to invite so many in the past centuries into the embrace of Catholicism. I lament the abandonment of so much value in an effort to clear out the cobwebs and tidy up the sanctuary.
I'd turn to Douthat's uneven but readable "To Change the Church" instead. While as close as Neumayr may claim to be as to the secrets of the Curia, his thoughtful approach jibes better with the American sensibility. Neumayr must realize that the majority of those still in the pews have already moved irrevocably beyond the Tridentine in its "smells and bells" charms and its detached, foreboding air; few today are around who even remember its appeal; I was only a toddler then. While I am glad that the Latin Mass is approved and I hope that the current Pope does not cut back on what his predecessor negotiated here, an expectation that the right-wing will triumph is naive.
I recommend too the revised and updated ed. of Paul Vallely's biography of Pope Francis. Despite its length, it presents a balanced consideration of the situation Bergoglio has created and occupies. It may lean left as most journalism does, but you will come out of it able to put Douthat's fears in perspective. "The Political Pope" fails to offer such an informed consideration; it's instead a screed.
There's no pleasure in reading this. I am turning to other observers who are hesitant about leaping on this Vatican bandwagon, and I trust they may prove more sensible in their justified critiques. And one might add, as the current Pope urges, that mercy must be upheld, not only stern justice. Many billions are looking to Rome for guidance, and few able to tolerate the finger-wagging and the score-settling which some on the right wish to exact upon the wavering but hopeful masses.
October 24, 2018
Truth ,reaffirmed, ,4 th time!
Every book ,I have read on this pope ,leads me to believe
what is written is true .All these books have reaffirmed ,what pope Francis papacy has revealed .
This is a book Thar describes in generality of popes politicom,How he wants the Church be of the world not in the world. Totally contradicts what Christ says ,that You
are in the world .As Christs Church in the World .Christ says that we Chould l have to choose to love Him or the World .If you choose Christ you can not love the world. If
you love Christ as the world hates Christ so will it hate you .Thus The Church is supposed to lead us to Christ ,not
away from Him .Especially the shepherd of the "Catholic Apostolic Church.
Every book ,I have read on this pope ,leads me to believe
what is written is true .All these books have reaffirmed ,what pope Francis papacy has revealed .
This is a book Thar describes in generality of popes politicom,How he wants the Church be of the world not in the world. Totally contradicts what Christ says ,that You
are in the world .As Christs Church in the World .Christ says that we Chould l have to choose to love Him or the World .If you choose Christ you can not love the world. If
you love Christ as the world hates Christ so will it hate you .Thus The Church is supposed to lead us to Christ ,not
away from Him .Especially the shepherd of the "Catholic Apostolic Church.
January 14, 2018
Worth reading. Pope Francis is a revolutionary. I saw identical parallels to Bannon and Trump in terms of their objectives - deconstructing outdated institutions. However, Francis is articulate. I was unaware of all the turmoil he has unleashed among catholics. But, he is focused on the outcome of helping people - and forcing his community to think and act on behalf of people and the planet - and to abandon dogma and traditions. I had no idea!
October 13, 2023
While I didn't like much of what this very conservative author had to say in his analysis of Pope Francis, he did a good job of painting a portrait of a guy who perhaps really is shaking up the Roman Catholic church...in ways that make conservatives squirm. And I love that. Quite an interesting look at one of the most powerful men in the world...opened my eyes in many ways.
September 12, 2023
Resist Francis. He’s not even Catholic
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