Roman Catholic Blog

Anathema Sit?

Hat tip to Fr. Z.

A reading from the 13th session of the Council of Trent:

“CANON XI.- If any one saith, that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist; let him be anathema. And for fear lest so great a sacrament may be received unworthily, and so unto death and condemnation, this holy Synod ordains and declares, that sacramental confession, when a confessor may be had, is of necessity to be made beforehand, by those whose conscience is burthened with mortal sin, how contrite even soever they may think themselves. But if any one shall presume to teach, preach, or obstinately to assert, or even in public disputation to defend the contrary, he shall be thereupon excommunicated.”

Render unto Caesar?

Pope Francis: "A Christian can never say, ‘I’ll make you pay for that.’ Never! That is not a Christian gesture. An offence is overcome with forgiveness, by living in peace with everyone."

From an article by Harriet Sherwood at the Guardian

"Pope Francis has made a thinly veiled criticism of the policies of Donald Trump, saying societies should build bridges not walls to encourage good relations among people.

The pontiff did not directly refer to the US president or his plan to build a fence along his country's border with Mexico.

But his statement at his weekly general audience at the Vatican that it was a Christian calling “to not raise walls but bridges, to not respond to evil with evil, to overcome evil with good” will be seen as an allusion to Trump’s plans and policies.

In improvised remarks, the pope appeared to further refer to Trump by saying: “A Christian can never say: ‘I’ll make you pay for that.’ Never! That is not a Christian gesture. An offense is overcome with forgiveness, by living in peace with everyone.”"

See the full story at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/08/pope-francis-walls-bridges-donald-trump