It was a
couple of months ago that I posted an article on Pope Francis’ involvement in
the Catholic Church’s Amazonian Synod that occurred back in October of
2019. In that particular meeting, the
pope presided in, what I believe can only be seen as acts of idolatry. People were kneeling and bowing down to
wooden objects that are identified by many as Pachamama idols. On the Vatican
grounds, there were a number of Amazonian Catholics who were bowing before, and
presenting offerings to, these wooden fertility statues (statues of a naked,
pregnant Amazonian woman). Not only did
the pope attend the ceremonies without
objections, he even blessed one of the statues and put it on the high altar
of St. Peter’s Basilica. Much of the
Catholic world was horrified.
And the head
of the Catholic Church, the supposed “Vicar of Christ” and “Supreme Pontiff of
the Universal Church” was absolutely fine with all this. This couldn’t possibly be a stumbling block,
right?
Catholic
apologist, speaker, and Director of Catholic
Answers Tim Staples weighed in on the Amazon Synod fiasco. He seems to be surprised that anyone objected
to all this. What could possibly be
wrong with a little homage to idols (which are demons) on the grounds of the Vatican and in St. Peter’s
Basilica?
But
apparently, it wasn’t a big deal.
According to Staples, it was just an “imprudent application of the
communion of saints.” What is that
supposed to mean? How should all this have been “applied”?
See his
article here:
https://timstaples.com/2019/pope-francis-commit-a-sin-of-idolatry-with-pachamama/
Tim calls
this charge of idolatry against Pope Francis “absolutely unfounded.” He quotes the Catholic Catechism and says
that idolatry consists in “divinizing” what is not God. He then goes on to point out that idolatry
can be committed with power, pleasure, race, ancestors, etc., including money, and
he quotes Jesus saying that we “cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).
Of course
this is true, but I think that most of us have never, ever seen anyone bow down
and pray to their money. My point is
that if we can be guilty of idolatry toward our money (like the rich young
ruler was – Luke 18:18-24) WITHOUT bowing down to it, then how much more is it idolatry for those
who prostrate themselves before (and give offerings to) anyone or anything that
is not God? The pope is just as guilty
for being a part of this. So, no, Tim –
this charge is not “absolutely unfounded.”
Tim says
that he was unable to find reference to anyone there who considered Pachamama a
goddess. But if no one present at this
meeting thought of her this way, then what was all that bowing, praying, and
extreme devotion going on? It seems that
Tim thinks that since these people were “evangelized” (as Catholics), then that
changes the meaning of what they were obviously doing (worshipping). He thinks that they couldn’t possibly be idolizing,
since they were “evangelized”! Even his fellow
Catholics sensed that something was seriously wrong with their “evangelization”
process.
Tim claims
that the Pachamama is just a “cultural symbol.”
But the Old Testament pagans no doubt thought the same thing of their
own idols. Would Tim be ok with
cannibals going around killing and eating people, you know, since it was simply
their “culture”? I would hope not. Simply being “cultural” does not make
something right.
At one
point, Tim goes on about Pachamama simply being a symbol of wisdom, fertility,
and “new life.” But what’s wrong with
fertility and new life? Nothing, but
remember that it seems that in every pagan
religion there is some kind of “mother earth goddess” that involves fertility
and new life. That’s exactly what’s
wrong with this picture. Tim should know
better, but he is confusing (and conflating) biblical wisdom with pagan concepts of new life and
fertility. Tim is just muddying the
water here with far-too-vague language.
Tim Staples
then claims that “wisdom” is not a matter of only one interpretation. There it is, folks. The old “there’s more than one
interpretation” argument. This is just
an excuse, and a weak one, at that. This
is exactly why we have, and need, Sola Scriptura (i.e., the Bible alone as the
ultimate source for the church today).
Not only was
the pope’s involvement in all this a big enough insult to many Catholics
worldwide, but Francis went a step further.
One year after this Amazonian Synod, on its anniversary, the Vatican
Mint issued a coin depicting “Madre Terra” (Mother Earth, Pachamama).
See here:
Rather than
distancing itself from the Pachamama idol, the Vatican commemorates it with a new coin! It shows
that neither the Vatican nor the pope is repentant for what they are involved
in. Although the pope has the authority
to stop all this, he is allowing and even promoting
it. Whatever happened to the fear of
being a stumbling block (Matthew 18:6-7)?
This is
something they could easily leave behind or put aside, but they don’t care that
many of their own people are up in arms about this. It seems that, right or wrong, it’s either the pope’s way or the highway!
Conclusion
How
important is Pachamama to the pope?
Consider that, after these idols had been thrown into the Tiber River,
he had people go down into the river to retrieve the idols. To find them, it must have been like a needle
in a haystack! So surely, he has quite
an investment in all this. Very
interesting.
In his
“Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation,” of 12-02-2020, Pope Francis is asking us
to “enter into communion with the forest,” and then “our voices will easily
blend with its own and become a prayer.” (Querida
Amazonia, paragraph 56)
What kind of
globalist, extreme environmentalist mumbo jumbo garbage is that?! It looks like nature worship to me.
See the
document here:
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/02/12/200212c.html
If what the
people were doing in the pictures we saw at the Amazonian Synod isn’t idolatry,
then there is no such thing as idolatry!
Apparently, many
Catholics do recognize at least some
forms of idolatry when they see it. Good
for them. But I have a question to all
Catholics: Isn’t this what many Catholics across the world do when “venerating”
Mary? How is this any different than the
idolatry of the Amazonian church?
