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Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The ‘humble’ Francis went to Confession

A new display of Francis’ “humility”: On March 4, 2016, with St. Peter's Basilica filled with people, Bergoglio made a show by going to Confession in front of the entire congregation.

Everyone knows that a Pope, like any other person, should go to Confession; perhaps a Pope even more than anybody else. However, the Popes traditionally make their confessions in private because it is a very shaming and mortifying act to recognize that one offended God by committing a sin and breaking God's Commandments and, therefore, is deserving of eternal punishment in Hell or Purgatory.

Accordingly, if a Catholic is truly repentant, has contrition and seeks God's forgiveness for his crime, he does not take a boasting attitude when he approaches Confession, which was quite accurately called the Tribunal of Penance. Instead, everything should be as discrete as possible. This is why confessionals are in sequestered places, set up so that the priest does not directly see the penitent and, the whole act of Confession is carried out with great privacy and in lowered tones of voice.

In opposition to this Catholic perspective, we see a thespian Bergoglio stepping down from his chair in full sight of the thousands of persons present at that ceremony and heading toward a confessional. Arriving there, he refuses to take the place designated for the penitents, on one of the traditional kneelers on either side of priest's seat. Instead, he kneels directly in front of the center door of the confessional to make it easier for the cameras to capture his theatrical act.

No sign of compunction for offending God, no exterior sign of repentance and, certainly, no expressed desire to change his life. Just another Bergoglio show, made this time at the expense of the Sacrament of Penance.

If we put this performance into context with his recent declarations that the penitent no longer needs to reveal his sins and the confessors should not deny absolution to anyone, we can ask: Isn't this Confession show just a mockery intended to destroy this Sacrament and transform it into something agreeable to Protestants?

The original video is available below in the last row.

Photos from video by RomeReports.com, first seen in Call Me Jorge

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Posted March 13 2016

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