Francis and the Pharisees: At Jews’ behest, Vatican Conference re-evaluates Christ’s Enemies

Bergoglio accommodates successors of Caiphas…

Francis and the Pharisees: At Jews’ behest, Vatican Conference re-evaluates Christ’s Enemies

Don’t you hate it when that happens? Day in and day out you try to excoriate the last remaining people attempting to be Catholic in your Modernist sect by deriding them as rigid Pharisees who know nothing of the mercy of God, and then the real Pharisees complain that this makes them look bad.

That is the situation Jorge Bergoglio — “Pope” Francis — has gotten himself into after years of preaching against conservatives in his sect, accusing them of being hypocrites like the Pharisees:

• “Jewish leaders warn Pope off anti-Semitic ‘Pharisee’ stereotype”
• “Pope at Santa Marta: There are Pharisees in the Church today like in the time of Jesus”

With regard to the question of adultery in particular, Francis has tried to paint those who insist on its absolute prohibition (like Jesus Christ, we might add; see Mt 5:27-28; 19:3-9) as legalistic Pharisees who rigidly attach themselves to “rules” and “laws”, as though we were talking about a mere ceremonial law or human convention and not the Divine Law revealed to man (see Ex 20:14; Deut 5:18; Mk 10:19). Ironically, it was the Pharisees, of course, who took the position favoring divorce and “remarriage” in their disputes with Christ, and so with Amoris Laetitia Francis has actually revealed himself to be the real Pharisee.

On Apr. 8, 2019, Vatican Insider reported that this year the so-called Pontifical Biblical Institute is commemorating its 110th anniversary with an interreligious conference under the title, “Jesus and the Pharisees: an Interdisciplinary Reappraisal”. “It will take place in cooperation with the Cardinal Bea Center for Judaic Studies of the Pontifical Gregorian University at the latter’s Aula Magna May 7-9 and is co-sponsored by AJC (the American Jewish Committee), the CEI (the Italian Bishops Conference), the Gregorian University Foundation and Verbum”, Lisa Palmieri-Billig, who is a representative of the American Jewish Committee and liaison to the Unholy See, writes in her report. She continues:

Within the disciplines of academic inquiry, the specialized speakers will examine how the Pharisees and their relations with Jesus have been portrayed in Patristic Literature, Medieval Jewish interpretations, Passion Plays, Movies, Religion Text Books and Homiletics. “In the end”, it is stated in the program, “we will look at possible ways to represent the Pharisees less inadequately in the future.”

The term, “less inadequately” refers to the basic issue that inspired the scrupulous planning of this event over the past two years. The Pharisees have for centuries been depicted in a disparaging manner as a synonym for people who are “hypocritical”, “self-righteous”, “sanctimonious”, “legalistic”, “enemies of Jesus”, “venal” etc. These definitions, as recalled by the organizers at a recent press conference, are listed in many dictionaries and often still used by political and religious leaders to indicate an absence of spirituality, an example of moral depravation.

(Lisa Palmieri-Billig, “Jesus and The Pharisees: an International Interreligious Conference”, Vatican Insider, Apr. 8, 2019; underlining added.)

So, after declaring Martin Luther a “witness to the Gospel” who “did not err” on justification, lauding abortionist Emma Bonino as one of Italy’s “forgotten greats”, praising “many Marxists” as “good people”, and suggesting that Judas Iscariot, too, is saved, it looks like Francis and his gang of Vatican Modernists are preparing to give the next batch of Satan’s minions a complete makeover: the Pharisees!

The conference took place as expected, and of course Francis had to give an address for the occasion. Let’s have a look at some excerpts:

Among Christians and in secular society, in different languages the word “Pharisee” often means “a self-righteous or hypocritical person”. For many Jews, however, the Pharisees are the founders of rabbinic Judaism and hence their own spiritual forebears.

The history of interpretation has fostered a negative image of the Pharisees, often without a concrete basis in the Gospel accounts. Often, over the course of time, that image has been attributed by Christians to Jews in general.

A negative image of the Pharisees “without a concrete basis in the Gospel accounts”! Alright, well, we are happy to help by making things more concrete. How about Matthew 23? Or Matthew 5:20? “For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

The Pharisee Francis continued:

In our world, sadly, such negative stereotypes have become quite common. One of the most ancient and most damaging stereotypes is that of a “Pharisee,” especially when used to cast Jews in a negative light.

And he would have to know! On Dec. 19, 2014, for example, the fake pope declared in one of his countless weekday homilies: “And today is also a day to pray for our Mother Church, because of so much sterility within the people of God. A sterility arising from egoism, from power … when the Church believes she can do everything, that she can take charge of the consciences of the people, walk along the road of the Pharisees, of the Sadducees, along the road of hypocrisy, yes, the Church is sterile”, as reported by Vatican Radio (underlining added). Notice that in that one sentence, he slammed both the Church and the Pharisees — as only Bergoglio can do!

He went on to say:

Recent scholarship has come to realize that we know less about the Pharisees than previous generations thought. We are less certain about their origins and about many of their teachings and practices. Your Conference’s examination of interdisciplinary research into literary and historical questions regarding the Pharisees will contribute to a more accurate view of this religious group, while also helping to combat antisemitism.

But of course! The biweekly condemnation of “Antisemitism” cannot be missing; and, at this point, the term can be defined as basically “anything the Jewish elite doesn’t like” — including this definition.

Bergoglio then attempted to recast the Pharisees in a positive light, in remarks that read like they were taken straight from Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate:

Jesus had numerous discussions with Pharisees about common concerns. He shared with them a belief in the resurrection (Mk 12:18-27) and he accepted other aspects of their interpretation of the Torah. Jesus and the Pharisees must have had much in common, for the Acts of the Apostles tells us that some Pharisees joined the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem (15:5). Acts also presents Gamaliel, a leader of the Pharisees, defending Peter and John (cf. 5:34-39).

And Christ even ate with them — there, another thing in common! They presumably breathed the same air, too.

But Francis wasn’t done yet. Further on, he remarked:

Rabbi Aqiba, one of the most famous rabbis of the second century and an heir to Pharisaic traditions, pointed to the words “love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev 19:18) as a great principle of the Torah. According to tradition, he died as a martyr with the Shema on his lips, which includes the commandment to love the Lord with all one’s heart, soul and strength (cf. Dt 6:4-5). As far as we can know, then, he would have been substantially in agreement with Jesus and his scribe or Pharisee interlocutor. Likewise, the so-called Golden Rule, albeit in various formulations, is attributed not only to Jesus but also to his older contemporary Hillel, usually considered one of the leading Pharisees of his time. The rule is already present in the deuterocanonical book of Tobit (4:15[16]).

Aside from the fact that there is no such thing as a non-Catholic martyr (see Denz. 714 and our post here), what Francis says there is a serious distortion of the facts. As pointed out by the Call Me Jorge… blog, the Shema Rabbi Aqiba recited is an anti-Trinitarian polemic that teaches that the “neighbor” in “love of neighbor” is only fellow-Jews (“the children of your people), whereas “others (idolators)” are perfectly fine to “take revenge of and bear a grudge against”. The Call Me Jorge… post includes other important tidbits, so be sure to check it out in its entirety:

• Francis’ address to the Pontifical Biblical Institute and participants in the Conference ‘Jesus and the Pharisees: An Interdisciplinary Reappraisal’

But enough of Francis’ speech. The papal pretender is simply trying to introduce the next revolution into what is left of Catholic thought, as though the Church had misunderstood the truth about the Pharisees for 2,000 years. Who’s next in the perpetual Novus Ordo reappraisal campaign? Lucifer himself? (This parody of Nostra Aetate — on the Church’s relationship to Satan — gives a preview.)

The Catholic Encyclopedia gives some informative background on the Pharisees: how they came to be and why so many of them ended up legalists by the time of our our Blessed Lord. Before Christ began His public ministry, by the way, it was St. John the Baptist who had choice words for the Pharisees: “Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Mt 3:7).

The Jewish rabbis of our day are, sadly, the successors of the Pharisees mentioned in the Gospels. They are the spiritual, and often even physical, progeny of Annas and Caiaphas, consciously and with full deliberation deciding against Jesus of Nazareth. What happened when Caiaphas solemnly and officially rejected Christ, tearing his garments (see Mt 26:63-66)? St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church and patron saint of Bible scholars, explains the spiritual consequences: