Coins, Climate and Contraception

As the Pope departs from Canada, after visiting the national shrine of Saint Anne de Beaupré, we pray through the intercession of the good Saint Anne and the Blessed Mother for good fruit and, as he enters into his August rest, that the Holy Spirit guide and inspire him. To be more specific, we pray that the Pope reconsider some doubtful and damaging policies, behind which he has put the full weight of his authority. We could mention the still-unanswered dubia, the unfolding tragedy that is Traditionis Custodes, his controversial choice of bishops and cardinals, and a host of other problems facing the Church, often self-inflicted…but, for now, we will list three c’s for Pope Francis to consider:

There is, of course, the Covid ‘vaccine‘ which he has not only recommended from the get-go, but has gone beyond the Church’s own hesitant and cautious recommendation, that this be available for certain segments of the population, while maintaining freedom and autonomy for all. Francis has urged every single person of the planet get vaxxed to the max, offering no distinctions for age, health, preconditions, and criticizing, if not ridiculing, those who refuse, or even hesitate. Neither, as far as I know, has he mentioned any caution on the possibility of very deleterious side-effects, evidence for which is piling up with each passing day, and now beyond reasonable doubt.  Nor has the Pope mentioned any reservation on its link to abortion. Au contraire! The Vatican has just released a commemorative coin celebrating the concoction, urging everyone to get the jab. The model recipient on said coin, a curly-haired t-shirted moppet, looks a good bit on the younger side of life, with no medical need for this genetic therapy, even if it did work. Why expose him and legions of others to the risk?

This will likely end up badly for the Vatican, as those ‘consequences’ of this mRNA therapy become more evident. Even the Germans are becoming – what was that term? – vaxx hesitant. Hmm.

Speaking of coins, August 24, 1572 saw the tragic Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre, when Catholics in France launched a surprise attack on Huguenots – French Calvinists – slaughtering thousands (the exact number is disputed). Pope Gregory XIII had a medal struck to commemorate the occasion. He was likely misinformed, thinking it was some sort of victory in the wars of religion.  Information traveled slowly and inaccurately in those days, like a global game of children’s ‘telephone’. We may presume the Holy Father regretted the medal.

And, alas, Francis has doubled down on climate change, crying out like a Old Testament prophet, albeit in quite a different mode, that those prophets may well have found odd, with an anthropomorphic Earth ‘weeping’, at a ‘breaking point’. The Pope’s point is that something must be done, now, with ill-defined and vague consequences if we do not, and continue our current course. Hence, his support for the radical ‘Paris Accord’ which, in fighting ‘climate change’, gives approval to ‘reproductive rights’ and ‘gender equality’. The Pope joins a bevy of others in a state of panic, with Prince Charles repeating his warning every few years, and Joe Biden, Trudeau, Macron, Gates all claiming a ‘climate emergency’. Officials at the EU are calling for a 30% decrease in gas (petrol) consumption, which is likely already happening given its price. The Pope’s solution? Young people should drive less and eat less meat, which, given the cost of a gallon of gas and a pound of ground beef, too many of them are already hunkering in subterranean dwellings, subsisting on insta-noodles and whatever they are planning to concoct from crushed crickets and mushed maggots.

The biggest problem here is that, besides the dubious catch-all science, climate change is fraught with an anti-human philosophy, whether the Pope is aware of this, or not. The less humans do, the better; and the fewer humans there are, better still. There are any number of coded enthymemes in the climate narrative. And not much motivation in that message to ‘go forth and multiply and subdue the Earth’, which is why marriage and birth rates are plummeting, and our young people are falling into a depopulation desuetude and despair.

Might all this be connected to the recent book by the Pontifical Academy for Life (an institution which, to maintain veracity, may soon have to change its name) apparently advocating for contraception and artificial reproduction? And the subsequent rumour – published in the Jesuit-Vatican paper La Civilta Cattolica – that the Pope is preparing a new encyclical which may lift the ban on contraception? We should say ‘try to’ lift the ban, for the teaching on contraception, and the inviolability of the sexual act as procreative and unitive, is part of defined and revealed natural law and, hence, infallible, being taught by the Church from the very beginning. Peruse the Didache (1st century) all the way to Casti Connubii, Humane Vitae, Familiaris Consortio, Veritatis Splendor, and numerous addresses, speeches, along with the whole Tradition of the Church. God hath spoken; it cannot be otherwise.

There are some – a remnant, perhaps, but the numbers are growing – who still get it, and hope does abound in places. I have already attended five weddings of our alumni this summer, all couples in their early twenties, ready to welcome all those bonnie bairns God may send. And the same may be said of many places across the globe. Hope abounds, and the Almighty will intervene, perhaps when we least expect it. As you continue with your own summer holidays, keep up the good fight, my friends, and stay thirsty for the truth!

Marana tha!

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