As far as I
am aware, Pope Francis has certainly been one of the most controversial popes
within this last century. A simple
internet search will show that this is the case. He has done much to erode the trust of
Catholics worldwide, and to confirm the suspicions of Protestants and others.
There are a
number of articles on this topic, and the following one cites a fairly recent
example of his controversy. On October
4, 2019, the pope attended the Amazonian Synod during the worship services in
the Vatican gardens. It is said that in
this synod, “Pope Francis attended an act of idolatrous worship of the pagan
goddess ‘Pachamama.’” Pachamama is a
wooden image depicted as a naked, pregnant Amazonian woman. He “further participated in this act of
idolatrous worship by blessing a wooden image of Pachamama.”
This
particular article also stated, “On October 7, 2019, the idol of Pachamama was
placed in front of the main altar at St. Peter’s and then carried in procession
to the Synod Hall. Pope Francis said
prayers in a ceremony involving this image and then joined in this procession.”
Looks like
full participation from the pope, to me.
Then the backlash came:
“When the
wooden images of this pagan deity were removed from the church of Santa Maria
in Traspontina, where they had been sacrilegiously placed, and thrown into the
Tiber [river] by Catholics outraged by this profanation of the church, Pope
Francis, on October 25, apologized for their removal.”
Because of
his ecumenical agenda, Francis would rather apologize to (and save face with)
his pagan Amazonian members, than he would with the God of the Bible (Exodus
20:1-6; 1Corinthians 10:14).
“Another
wooden image of Pachamama was returned to the church. Thus, a new profanation was initiated.”
The people
were not happy about this, but Francis wasn’t finished with his idolatry:
“On October
27, in the closing Mass for the Amazonian Synod, Pope Francis accepted a bowl
used in the idolatrous worship of Pachamama and placed it on the altar of St.
Peter’s Basilica.”
See this
link:
https://www.cleansingfire.org/2021/03/the-silence-of-death-at-st-peters-basilica/
But reportedly,
the Vatican was silent about all this.
In an interview
with Vatican Media, Paulo Suess, a
German priest who served for decades among the indigenous peoples of the
Amazon, recognized the pope’s sin. The
priest who interviewed Suess acted as though paganism in the Catholic Church
was no big deal, and Suess stated:
“Even if that
had been a pagan rite, what took place was still a worship service. A rite always has something to do with
worship. Paganism cannot be dismissed as
nothing...”
The article
states that “Vatican Media eventually
removed those comments from its interview with the priest, with no note or
indication of the redaction.”
Hmmm. Seems that the Vatican didn’t want this
detail in the story to go public. Even
among many Catholics, the pope’s actions did not sit well. In fact, it caused quite a stir and it was the
“subject of fierce social media debate among Catholics.”
What the
people were seeing clearly looked like worship
to them:
“Figures
used prominently in unexplained and unfamiliar rituals or spiritual
expressions, even with persons prostrating themselves in front of the statues,
led journalists to ask what connections the figures have to indigenous
religious rituals.”
“But at
least three times, Vatican officials or synod participants were asked about the
statues, and the events in which they were involved. Questions went mostly unanswered. Vatican
officials pointed to organizers of synod events, who pointed back to Vatican
officials.”
In other
words, they were playing the old “pass the buck” game. But it got worse:
“… the same
commentators began to claim that the figures were indigenous symbols about
which asking questions was somehow an expression of prejudice, or even racism…
Even in the Vatican press room, one journalist said during a press conference
that other reporters, presumably those who had asked questions about the
statues, had committed lamentable acts of racism against indigenous
persons. Vatican officials did not
refute that charge.”
“Still, one
synod participant told CNA [Catholic News Agency] that behind closed doors,
some Vatican officials dismissed concerns as either propaganda from
‘anti-Francis Americans’ or overt racism.”
Boy, does
this sound like American leftist politics of today, or what! If you say something they don’t like (or
don’t want to answer), you are immediately labeled a racist (even if there is
no evidence for that claim). That’s when
you know they have an ulterior motive.
There seemed
to be questions about the actual identity of these images, but on October 25,
after the statues had been recovered from the river, Francis acknowledged the
truth about the Amazonian statues and indeed referred to them as
“Pachamama.” But sensing that his own
people were recognizing the obvious idolatry, he tried to counter and stated
that the idols had been placed in the Church without “idolatrous intentions.”
See here:
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/42644/analysis-why-pachamama-took-a-dip
Of course,
the Vatican tried to downplay these events.
Just one month after this happened Catholic
World News wrote a short editor’s note defending the pope:
“Pachamama
is not a divinity or idol that is worshiped, but is mother earth, honored as
the ‘creation and manifestation of the love of God,’ writes retired Mexican
Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel. He
recalls that years ago, while in Bolivia for a meeting, he asked a member of
the indigenous Aymara people whether his people consider Pachamama and Inti to
be gods. The man replied, “Those who
have not received evangelization consider them gods; for those of us who have
been evangelized, they are not gods, but God’s best gifts.” Bishop Arizmendi commented, ‘Wonderful
response! … They are manifestations of God’s love, not gods.”
It looks as
though the Vatican just does not want to admit to the pope’s idolatry!
See here:
https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=44075
But my
response is, how can a demon be a
manifestation of God’s love? And how can
this Catholic bishop, a leader in the
Church, call the Amazonian man’s reply a “wonderful response”?!!!
Someone
might ask, “But why do you call Pachamama a demon?
The apostle
Paul, himself, calls idols demons/devils:
“But I say, that the
things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God:
and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the
cup of devils: Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of
devils. Do we provoke the Lord to
jealousy? Are we stronger than He?” (1 Corinthians 10:20-22)
Not only
that, but according to the Encyclopedia
Brittanica, Pachamama is an Andean deity
(a god/goddess), especially in Peru and Bolivia, where she is worshipped as
“the goddess of the Earth.” It goes on
to say, “Through the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has accepted some
indigenous rituals and customs by assimilation [i.e., taking in and fully
understanding information or ideas], mainly through combined Catholic and
traditional celebrations that continue to be an important part of life in rural
and urban settings.”
See here:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pachamama
In other
words, the Catholic Church purposely allows the pagan aspects to be blended
into their Catholicism for the sake of Amazonian “tradition.”
Furthermore,
according to World History Encyclopedia,
on the Inca religion, Pachamama was considered a “lesser” deity, although still
important. She was considered the “earth
goddess.” See here:
https://www.worldhistory.org/Inca_Religion/
And interestingly, all this stuff that the pope did ties in with the “Mother Earth” movement, nature worship, and the “going green” mentality that leftists are pushing today. Just an observation.
Conclusion
So there is
no escaping the fact that Pachamama is an idol, a false god. And it has no business in ANY church that
claims to be Christian. Many of the
Catholics recognized this fact. So,
kudos to those Catholics who did recognize the pope’s idolatry concerning
Pachamama – but what about Mary? Why
can’t Catholics see their own prayers to (and prostration before) Mary and
other “saints” as idolatry? What’s the
difference? Yes, what the pope did was
wrong, but the “devotion” given to Mary by many Catholics is, I would say, not
less than those Amazonians’ devotion to Pachamama. If the Amazonians can’t worship as they do,
then the pope and other Catholics can’t either.
If what the Amazonians do is worship, then how much more is it worship when the same things (and more) are
done by Catholics toward Mary? We would
do well to stick to the biblical
examples of worship for everyone.
One of the
previous articles that I mentioned above says that the synod’s working document
proclaims that “Jesus was a person of dialogue and encounter.”
As if to say
that Jesus would not have been offended by the pope’s actions. They seem to think that rather than
condemning those involved, Jesus would have encouraged dialogue and promoted
diversity with them, instead.
But why do you think that Jesus was turning over the money changers’ tables in righteous anger (Mark 11:15-17; John 2:13-16)? It was because of the idolatry of the Jewish leaders, concerning their love of money (e.g., Luke 16:14). Neither Jesus nor the early church was tolerant toward idols.
So, the
problem here is not just a bad pope whose cohorts in the Vatican are covering his every evil deed – it is the fact that the Catholic Church is an unbiblical religious system in
which he is the head. This is a hard
pill to swallow for members of the Catholic Church, but hopefully, many
Catholics’ eyes will be opened after this.
