Pope Leo XIV – the Lion of Africa

The next conclave

In your prayers for the next Pope, remember to ask the Holy Spirit for a strong Pope who can stand up to the secularists especially in the media. In fact the Twelfth Prayer Crusade, to start at the beginning of the Conclave, is for just this purpose. Many are praying for their own particular favourite. But how about this:

Pope Leo XIV – the Lion of Africa

It is clear that the media and the liberals in the Church do not want a black Pope. Not that they are particularly racist (though I do wonder sometimes); it is just that most Third World Cardinals are very conservative theologically and morally. The African Cardinals are particularly strong on traditional family values. The African Cardinals have told the do-gooders of Europe that condoms are making the AIDS problem in Africa worse; they are also strong on the Church’s teachings about homosexuality. So in my dreams and in my prayers I hope for a Conservative African Pope who will scare the liberals in the Church and in the media. I’ve already given him a name: Pope Leo XIV – the Lion of Africa, for he will be fearless in proclaiming the Gospel to secularist Europe and America. There is always a tendency to think “now that I have said it, it will not happen”. There has already been a film called ‘Saving Grace’ 1986 with a Pope Leo XIV (I have not seen it so I can’t comment) and then there is all this talk about the last pope – however I was hoping and praying for Cardinal Ratzinger at the last Conclave.

Farewell to a wonderful Pope

As I was so happy when Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope I would like to write few words on the end of his pontificate. Having looked back over the past eight years I feel nothing but gratitude; for despite the media’s liking for only the difficult aspects of the modern Church, and its non-reporting of modern Catholic martyrs, it has actually been a good time for the Church in the wider world.  The Catholic Church is the largest religious organisation in the world with 1.2 billion Catholics. The Church may be under pressure in Europe because of the more sinister elements of modernity, but in the world in general we continue to grow. Tired old Europe may have long ago lost its soul and abandoned Christendom just as it is now losing its economic potency to the emerging economies; it has lost its faith and is losing its dynamism - perhaps the two are linked?

What did Benedict mean by ‘Technological Prometheanism’

One person who never lost his dynamism was Pope Benedict; he always astonished with his ingenious speeches and sermons that even the secular media could sometimes not resist quoting. Who could forget his sermon just before the last Conclave when he described the world’s media-promoted Zeitgeist philosophy as being a dictatorship, specifically a ‘Dictatorship of Relativism’. His strong support for marriage was like that of no other world leader. He kept up his incredible output right to the last. An example of this was to Cor Unum last January in which he discussed modern man’s penchant for Technological Prometheanism. He was referring to man’s use of science to play God by manipulating the genetic structure of humanity and other organic life; - he was making the comparison with Prometheus in Greek mythology, who stole fire from heaven. Prometheus was eventually punished by the gods for his pride and impertinence. However, as the editor of Inside the Vatican said, Pope Benedict is saying incredible things, yet no one seems to be listening. ... Benedict is “standing watch on the rampart of our once-Christian society, and raising an alarm about the terrible dangers he sees for humanity, but he is being, for the most part, ignored.” The secularists did their evil best to pull him down but it was impossible for you can’t pull a truly good man down.