There was a time when I considered myself a huge fan of the Brothers Archbold and their blog, Creative Minority Report (CMR). Not so long ago, I became a bit leery of Patrick Archbold's writing, though his brother, Matthew didn't appear as.....how should I put this?........crazy. At one time, both brothers wrote for National Catholic Register in addition to their blog. Patrick has since been fired from the Register.
From how I see it, Pat Archbold began to come off the rails about the time Pope Benedict XVI resigned and Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected - taking the name Pope Francis. I doubt Pope Francis can do anything right in Pat Archbold's eyes.
Archbold's hatred of the current Pope has finally forced me to remove the link to CMR from this blog.
While visiting Bolivia, left-wing Bolivian President Evo Morales attempted to present the Pope with a crucifix sculpted in the shape of a hammer and sickle. Naturally, the crucifix has caused an uproar.
CNN, BBC, catholicnewsagency.com, Fr. Z's Blog,newsbusters.org, and telegraph.co.uk are reporting that Francis "rejected", "rebuked", and "condemned" Morales' gift. Most are reporting that Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi had the final word: "Certainly," he told reporters, "it will not be put in a church."
Creatively Minority Report, however, posted an inflammatory post, rejecting, rebuking and condemning Pope Francis for accepting the crucifix. In his hatred for Pope Francis, Pat Archbold refuses to give the Pope the benefit of any doubt. To Archbold, Francis is a Marxist.......and probably an illegitimate Pope to boot.
This is the last straw. I'm finished with Creative Minority Report.
Update - Jan. 11, 2017:
I've begun reading CMR again. For more on this, read this post.
Pope leaves decorative honours with the hammer and anvil in Bolivia
ReplyDelete(©Afp)
(©Afp) Francis with Morales. The Pope wears the decorative honours received by the president
This morning Francis lay the two presidential honours he received Wednesday from President Evo Morales in La Paz, at the feet of Our Lady of Copacabana. One of these featured the hammer and anvil with a carving of a crucifix
ANDREA TORNIELLI
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Before leaving Bolivia, Francis placed two gifts he received on Wednesday from President Evo Morales at the foot of a statue of Mary. One of these, a chain with a chunky medallion, had the figure of the crucified Christ carved into a wooden hammer and anvil. This image had been drawn by Fr. Luis Espinal, the Jesuit priest who was assassinated in Bolivia in March 1980.
“This morning,” reads a statement issued by Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, “Pope Francis celebrated Holy Mass in the chapel of the private residence of the Archbishop Emeritus of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the Holy Father presented two decorative honours that were conferred onto him by Bolivian president Evo Morales during his courtesy visit to the Presidential palace in La Paz , to a statue of the Our Lady of Copacabana, patron saint of Bolivia.”
Francis accompanied this gesture with the following words: “The President of the nation was kind enough to offer me two decorative honours on behalf of the Bolivian people. I thank the Bolivian people for their affection and the President for this courteous gesture. I would like to dedicate these two decorations to the patron saint of Bolivia, the Mother of this noble nation, so that she may always remember her people and from Bolivia, from the shrine where I would like them to be, that she may remember the Successor of Peter and the whole Church and look after them from Bolivia.”
“Mother of the Saviour and our Mother,” Francis prayed, “You, Queen of Bolivia, who from the height of your Shrine in Copacabana attend to the prayers and needs of your children, especially the most poor and abandoned, and protect them: Receive as a gift from the heart of Bolivia and my filial affection the symbols of affection and closeness that – in the name of the Bolivian people – Mr. President Evo Morales Ayma has bestowed on me with cordial and generous affection, on the occasion of this Apostolic Journey, which I entrusted to your solicitous intercession.”
Francis concluded his prayer by saying: “I ask that these honours, which I leave here in Bolivia at your feet, and which recall the nobility of the flight of the Condor in the skies of the Andes and the commemorated sacrifice of Father Luis Espinal, S.J., may be emblems of the everlasting love and persevering gratitude of the Bolivian people for your solicitous and intense tenderness. At this moment, Mother, I place in your heart my prayers for all the many petitions of your children, which I have received in these days: I beg you to hear them; give them your encouragement and protection, and manifest to the whole of Bolivia your tenderness as woman and Mother of God, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.”