Dear Pope Francis,
I am writing to you in the spirit of parrhesia, a biblical word you have used several times to encourage us to speak freely, boldly, and without fear of disagreement. In your opening speech to the Synod delegates on Wednesday, you said that “everyone needs to express themselves freely.” Please receive the following words freely, not from Rome, but from the peripheries, from a simple parish priest.
My Papa Francesco, I must tell you that you are making my job as a parish priest difficult. I work in one of the declining parishes of San Francisco, California, a city that prides itself in having evolved beyond faith in God. In my city, the faith is openly mocked and attacked, and my parishioners are struggling to believe in Jesus. Most of their family members, friends, and co-workers have abandoned the Christian faith. My parishioners cannot wear a cross or speak the name of Jesus at work for fear of losing their jobs. Our schools teach their children from kindergarten to doubt the natural goodness of their bodies, and to despise marriage and family life. My parishioners are clinging to the simple truths of our faith, especially the Church’s teachings about the human person.
When you promote homosexuality, Holy Father, you hurt me and my parish. When you do not speak clearly, you make my priestly task very difficult. You have said that two men cannot “marry,” and that homosexual acts are wrong, but you also encourage bishops who bless same-sex unions. A female student from my parish, who attends a Jesuit-owned university, “married” another woman according to United States law. She later surgically removed her breasts and uterus to appear like a man. She hates her mother for raising her Catholic, and her mother grieves the loss of her daughter and grandchildren. But this college student points to you, Holy Father. She says you permit blessings for homosexual unions in Germany, and that you favor priests and cardinals who promote homosexual relations. She knows that you have appointed a European cardinal who promotes homosexual unions to lead the Synod.
You are my spiritual father, Papa Francesco. Please know that you are hurting me, and hurting my parish. We need you to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ clearly in a time of great confusion and hurt. We need you to teach the simple truth of the first book of the Bible, that God made us male and female, and for this reason “a man clings to his wife, and the two become one flesh.” If you do not teach this clearly, we parish priests cannot evangelize our people well, and all the people suffer.
From Father Illo’s Blog
Fr. Joseph Illo is pastor of Star of the Sea Parish, San Francisco
You cannot lose your job for wearing a cross or speaking the name of Jesus. It is illegal to fire someone for that.
What kind of jobs do they have?
Some jobs like factory work need you not to wear any jewelry for your own safety.
They will come up with pretenses for denying you promotions or for firing you. It’s really easy to terminate an employee that the manager doesn’t like. You can fire someone for whatever. At will employment.
If they fire you and you think it is because of your religion, you can talk to a civil rights attorney.
“You cannot lose your job for wearing a cross …” If members of his parish have in fact lost jobs for wearing Christian symbols, then legal or not, it is happening.
It can happen that people are asked to put them under their shirt if their business is being affected by it. I assume if you work in a Muslim grocery store, they might ask you to do that.
Learn your rights.
Lying about the Pope to the Pope?
Wow!
Lying? What lies did Fr. Illo make?
Publicly calling someone a liar is serious. Please provide some evidence of your allegation.
The specific lies are that the Pope permits blessings for homosexual unions in Germany.
That he favors priests and Cardinals who promote homosexual relations.
That he has appointed a European Cardinal who promotes homosexual unions to lead the Synod.
None of those statements are true.
Rather than acknowledging that they are untrue (and telling the Pope where the student heard or read these lies he allows them to be seen as true and accuses the Pope of hurting him.
The Pope cannot control the gossip on the Internet. He cannot control what people say about him.
People should tell the truth-but they don’t.
People should get their news about the Pope from the Vatican website not from National Catholic Reporter or LifeSiteNews or any third hand source.
The Jesuit university student may have heard these things on campus. That would be something to let the Pope know as well, especially if it is being taught in a class.
The pope could stop gay blessings in Germany. He chooses not to. His inaction is equivalent to permitting them.
The pope did not have to appoint Cardinal Hollerich relator general of the synod. Yet he did. That is tantamount to favoring him when he promotes homosexual unions and a change in church teaching.
Just like Biden is permitting illegal immigration, the pope is permitting blessing gay unions. You won’t find a statement by Biden saying he favors or permits illegal immigration, but his inaction to stop it signals his approval and endorsement. Same with the pope vis-a-vis gay blessings.
Well, let’s start with two of your untrue statements. (I’ll presume you’re misinformed and not intentionally lying.)
The Pope permits blessing homosexual couples, as couples, in Germany. He could publicly condemn that and stop that.
Also, some Cardinals and others he has appointed, like Cardinal Cupich and James Martin, have proposed some sort of blessing for homosexual couples.
(Archbishops who don’t favor the gay lobby, in sees where cardinals are usually appointed, were not made cardinals. Archbishops Chaput, Gomez. and Vigneron, for example. Archbishops who are at least open to such were made cardinals. Indianapolis and Newark never had a cardinal before. Newark, New Jersey is right next to New York, which has been a cardinalate see.)
You’re entitled to have your own opinion, but those are facts.
If Fr. Illo said things about the Pope that are untrue, he could face canonical penalties. Yet, we know he won’t. What he wrote is true.
Thanks for your comment, Curious.
You’re on the wrong side of right.
“None of those statements are true.” That poor unfortunate woman thinks they are true, and that was enough to move her to the dark side.
Everyone agrees that he has not done what is written.
They just keep saying “Since he did not take this action” he is guilty of the falsehoods.
That is not how it works.
It is faulty thinking.
And you should check your facts.
They don’t hold up.
The accusations are false and the letter should have included where the girl heard them.
I have seen them on the Internet. I have seen them on the news.
False reports are out there. She may have heard them at school.
That is the person responsible, not the Pope.
Father speak freely and boldly. Speak the truth.
Yes. Speak the truth.
Especially if you don’t like crowds.
The synod will be a big nothing burger, as were the synod on the family, the synod on young people, and the synod on the Amazon. Don’t get worked up about it. It will amount to nothing.
nothing, May you be correct.
Unfortunately there is a lot of confusion, and liberal people are happy as long as the church is sumbissive to their pleas. Whether it’s the media or it is true that the pope will accept same sex marriage it is not yet clear, however if it’s true this will definitely creates a precedent. The fact that the Pope stated that he is not the one to judge leaves much to be desired. The pope is there to lead the congregation according to the gospel of Jesus.
Marriage is between one man and one woman in the Catholic Church.
He said “Who am I to judge?’ about a gay priest who lives all the Church’s teaching (hypothetical).
The pope isn’t mentioned in the Gospel last time I looked.
Of course he is, my fellow Catholic.
The pope is the successor of he Apostle, St. Peter, to whom Christ entrusted His Church after His death. And that is in the Gospels.
He needs to be preaching in every country to stop this evil.
Even in Yemen?
I know I am supposed to feel sorry for the mother but two of our friends had adult children die last month.
I never was blessed with a daughter. I wanted one badly.
Can’t she just love her child?
Can’t they do some work with the homeless together?
Can they go check out Most Holy Redeemer?
Sometimes family members want to bellyache about other family members, but no matter what they have done that you disapprove of the answer is always the same-Pray for them. Love them. Forgive them.
The Catholic religion is the best religion on earth. I am sorry that the child got sick of it but she is going to a Catholic university. Can the mom show interest in what she is learning?
Look in their eyes. They are the same person they always were. Even if you think she made a mistake, just love her. Everyone makes mistakes.
Criminies, the young woman mutilated herself and sterilized herself. Let her mom mourn her grandchildren that will never be and her very confused and possibly possessed daughter. The daughter is in the grips of Jesuit sophistry and evil.
Why do people need to blame someone? the Pope, the Jesuits, the devil.
Often someone else is to blame.
Blaming is assigning responsibility to someone. It is often shifting responsibility.
No one has sex reassignment surgery because of the Pope or the Jesuits.
The devil may have a hand in it.
The responsibility is the patients’..
.
Blame– a Catholic school is responsible for training your kids in authentic Catholic teaching. Bad Jesuits who falsely teach lies, sins and evils to kids– like Jesuit Fr. James Martin– are directly responsible for their lies to students and to the public, about Catholic teaching. How many gay Catholic college students have heard Martin speak, and have read his books– and next, became sexually active in the deviant, sinful “gay lifestyle?” A priest has a big responsibility to God! Sinful priests who teach and preach terrible lies about the Catholic Faith– are to blame for many evils, destroying Catholic parishioners’ lives!
One thing that is hard to do, is to accept that some people may die without ever accepting Christ, and have rebelled against the Catholic Faith. It is so hard, when a young person rebels against the Catholic Faith, and parents who are even deeply involved in the Church, cannot reach them. Or else, if a person leads a sinful life and insists that it is fine, and gets involved in the Church– and refuses to obey Catholic teaching. I have seen lots of LGBTs do that– and refuse to obey Catholic teaching, even when dying of AIDs– and have had paid positions in the Church! Or else– are actually clerics (like Jesuit Fr. James Martin, Jesuit Cdl. Jean-Claude Hollerich, etc.) serving the Church! I recall one time, when a Franciscan Brother who was a professional Nurse, told us that he had recently served a community of AIDs patients– and that he, himself, was now dying of AIDs! He was asking everyone to pray for him. Several parishioners spoke up and said “how did you get AIDs?” He gave them what sounded like a bunch of “baloney,” saying sort of evasively, that he “loved all his patients in his community.” He kept on asking everyone to pray for him now, as he was soon going to die. People started to then say, “C’mon– what’s the truth? How on earth did you get AIDs– and are you really going to die? And you want everyone to pray for you? Are you really sure you have AIDs? How did you get it? C’mon– what’s really going on, here?” People got upset! And soon, he really did die! Did he die a good death, with Confession, if needed, and the Last Rites of the Church? I do not know. Anyway, we have to keep on praying for someone’s conversion. Never give up. Sometimes, Our Blessed Mother can amazingly reach and convert people, and bring them to her Son. Conversions are mysterious– they are often not logical, not something that a person makes up their mind to believe, after a series of Catechism classes, or instructions from parents, or proselytizing from friends. Or a priest or prelate trying to tell a Catholic involved in his church, that he must believe in and live by Catholic teaching! Look at Pres. Biden, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and many other bad Catholics! It is all in God’s hands. And after this life is over, we must keep on praying for wayward Catholics and others– have Masses said, say Rosaries and Novenas, etc. All of that can be helpful. But in the end– we just have to place everything in God’s hands.
Chaplet of Mercy promise-
When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a
dying person, divine wrath is placated, unfathomable
mercy envelopes the soul, and the very depths of My
tender mercy are moved for the sake of the sorrowful
Passion of My Son (Diary 811)
If you do not know the 3 Beautiful Prayers for the Dying, please google them.
Great. Long before the time of St. Faustina, St. Joseph as well as St. Michael the Archangel traditionally helped the dying. The Church also has traditional prayers to help souls in Purgatory. Of course, Christ and His Blessed Mother are a tremendous help for the dying. And St. Faustina’s prayers are very special, too.
In my comment of Oct. 14, at 12:30pm, I had an enthusiastic exclamation point after my first word– “Great!” But a Cal Catholic editor removed it! So now, it looks like my reply expresses no appreciation nor enthusiasm! Looks like no natural expressions of human warmth and feeling — even in writing a little comment– is acceptable to you — you only accept cold, “deadpan,” expressionless kinds of writing styles, for comments! Very, very discouraging! Why??
Reply to Prayers for the Dying: The Divine Mercy Chaplet is an amazing prayer for the dying.
I, too, have found the Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayers to be very effective, for the dying– especially, to do a Novena for the dying person. Except– I found that God might take the person’s soul, towards the end of the Novena. God took the souls of each of my parents, and other loved ones, too, that way. In fact, each of my parents passed away on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, in different years! Right before the end of our Novena. I felt that Pope St. John Paul II might be helping their souls, also– and that is when he, too, passed away, on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, in 2005– a Feast that he himself instituted.
I am sure that everyone knows that St. Joseph is the Patron Saint of the Dying, for a Happy Death. There are some ancient, beautiful prayers to St. Joseph, for the dying, for a Happy Death! And St. Michael the Archangel traditionally helps transport the dying soul to God. There are beautiful, ancient prayers to St. Michael for the dying, which I am sure everyone probably knows about.
A city with 1276 churches has “evolved beyond faith”?
1276 churches? I doubt there are even that many Church buildings. There is one Church in Sf according to the catechism. A few more if you accept our separated brethrrrn as churches.
But the thing that caught my eye was the admission that people are leaving his parish. Here I thought fr illos parish was the bast thing since sliced bread.
That number came from Google.
There is a group called YWAM who numbers at 590 places of faith (includes non-Christian).
https://www.ywamsanfrancisco.org/about
YFC– people who are rebellious to the True Catholic Faith, leave parishes like Fr. Illo’s. And people seeking the true Catholic Faith flock to his parish. There are lots of misguided, rebellious feminists, who have fought with Fr. Illo. For one thing– he does not allow “altar girls.”
Young Christians take Bibles to the people of the Himalayan mountains
Affirming the humanity of gay, lesbian and trans people is different that promoting homosexuality.
Affirming that gay, lesbian and trans Catholics exist and have choices to make, like we all do, concerning our behavior and beliefs is not promoting homosexuality.
Almost everyone agrees that the language in the catechism concerning intrinsically disordered behavior and objectively disordered inclination is misunderstood by most Catholics.
Maybe this is why people are leaving his church:
https://sfstandard.com/2023/10/18/san-francisco-homeless-fentanyl-drugs-school-pedophile/