It’s a nice image, I suppose, multiple tons of locomotive daring to drive where no rail has gone before. Blogger John Vennari, who’s been cited on a handful of sites as the poster boy for Francis Derangement Syndrome:
Though this might shock some readers, I must say that I would never allow Pope Francis to teach religion to my children.
Perhaps the first time that a parent has put the child-block on Vatican Insider for the family ‘puter. Evangelii Gaudium on the Forbidden Book List. If Mr Vennari has a sixteen-year-old, I can imagine her cracking out the flashlight and pulling a Pope Francis homily out from under the mattress.
For example, Francis recently claimed that all men, Catholics, non-Catholics and atheists, are all “first-class” children of God. There are 16-year-old traditional Catholics who know better than to make such a claim. Scripture and Catholic Tradition teach that we are adopted children of God only through Baptism and incorporation into the Church by means of Faith and Sanctifying grace.
I suppose that if one accepts such a thing as a theological caste system, the notion that “Adam, Son of God” is a problematic sort of thing, even if it is biblical. Or the countless Old Testament references. But we know that Judaism can be an inconvenient truth for some Catholic traditionalists.
For Catholic conservatives accustomed to operating like their secular confreres, I suppose proof-texting and sifting for comments out of context to skewer politicians and celebrities has become too much a daily chore like walking the dog or brushing the teeth. I’d be more curious as to the context of the Holy Father’s remarks.
At the very least, I’m sure Pope Francis, if he were inclined to capitalization, would hit up the noun, grace, rather than the adjective sanctifying. I know Pope Benedict would’ve gotten it right.
Catholic Sensibility 