13 Jan 1535 A.D. “No more books to be printed!” Edict from the French King, Francis 1, to the French Parliament

13 Jan 1535 A.D.  “No more books to be printed!”  Edict from the French King, Francis 1, to the French Parliament.

Dr. Rusten tells the story.

Rusten, E. Michael and Rusten, Sharon. The One Year Christian History. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003.  Available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Year-Christian-History-Books/dp/0842355073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393302630&sr=8-1&keywords=rusten+church+history

Francis 1 had initially been tolerant of the growing Luther-phenomenon in France in the early 1520s.. After all, he had been a supporter of all things-Renaiisance, Italian artistry and buildings.

His sister, Marguerite of Angeloume, had been sympathetic to the growing Protestant cause against Romanist corruptions.  But, the Sorbonne resisted and, finally, the Parliament joined the anti-Protestant cause. Francis 1, however, occasionally helped some targeted by the Franco-Italiano-Vatican axis.

However, Francis was becoming increasingly intolerant.  Protestants by the 1520s-1530s had to walk a tightrope.

The tipping point came with the “Placards Affair.” This was too much for Francis.

A document entitled “The True Article Respecting Horrible, Great and Insuperable Abuses of the Papal Mass” was penned by Anoine Marcourt.  He had been a French ex-pat to Neuchatel, Switzerland. The document found its way to Paris.  It was plastered all over the city on 8 Oct 1534.

It also was tacked to the King’s bedroom door in his castle.  He was furious. He became fiercely intolerant although Protestant literature was throughout France.

On 13 Jan 1535, Francis issued an edict to his Parliament in Paris.  There was to be no more printing of books.

In Jan. 1535, 6 Protestants were burned to death.

In June 1540, the Edict of Fountainebleau gave the Parliament control over determining heresy.

In 1542, the faculty of theology at the University of Paris issued the infamous “Index of Prohibited Books,” an action that would have a long, long, long shelf-life in Romanist behaviors of repression and deviance.

However, the toothpaste was not going back into the tube.  Books and Bibles were throughout the nation and half of the population was Protestant (later repressed with violence in subsequent years and decades, yeah, centuries).

Questions:

1. What’s the value of this story to a young person in 2014?
2. Should we tell these stories today?  Are they repressed in some quarters?  Why aren’t TV networks telling these stories? 
3. How was Henry VIII’s behavior, if at all, coordinated with Francis 1’s?
4. How much of the “Placards Affair” was known in England, Germany and elsewhere?
5. If repressed, would you flee your native land or simply acquiesce to the entrenched theologies and interests?
6. Did Calvin dedicate anything to Francis 1?  Or, other Reformed writers?  If so, what?  If so, why?
7. Does the rehearsal of these horror stories reverse ecumenical dialogue?
8. Should Rome repent of the “St. Bartholomew’s Day” Massacre in 24 Oct 1572?  Should we insist on the Pope coming clean and doing an international act of public repentance for his outfit in Rome?  Should the Pope write a document of repentance, circulate it internationally, and require every parish to read the Pope’s maxima mea culpa for generational and trans-national murders?  If not, why not?  How will Jesus handle these matters at the Last Judgment? Rev.6.9ff.?

Sources

Baird, Henry M. History of the Rise of the Huguenots of France, Vol. 1. New York: Scribener, 1879. 383-4.

Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church, Vol. 7. New York: Scribener, 1894. 296-321.

One Hell of a Deal: Follow Francis on Twitter, Purgo-time Reductions, A Tweet Away

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/one-hell-of-a-deal-pope-francis-offers-reduced-time-in-purgatory-for-catholics-that-follow-him-on-twitter-8713666.html

One hell of a deal: Pope Francis offers reduced time in Purgatory for Catholics that follow him on Twitter

 

 

The Penitentiary said that Pope Francis' Twitter account, which has already gathered seven million followers, would be one such medium to follow the 'rites and pious exercises'

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Court in charge of forgiveness of sins says those that follow upcoming event via social media will be granted indulgences

Michael Day

Wednesday 17 July 2013

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Salvation – or at least a shorter stay in Purgatory – might now be only a tweet away with news that Pope Francis is to offer “indulgences” – remissions for temporary punishment – to the faithful who follow him on the social media site.

Around 1.5 million are expected to flock to Rio de Janeiro to celebrate World Youth Day with the Argentine pontiff later this month. But for those who can’t make it to Brazil,  forgiveness may be available to contrite sinners who follow Francis’s progress via their TV screen or social networks.

The Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican court that rules on the forgiveness of sins, has said that indulgences may be given to those who follow the “rites and pious exercises” of the event on television, radio and through social media.

The Penitentiary said that Pope Francis' Twitter account, which has already gathered seven million followers, would be one such medium.

Vatican officials, noted however, that to obtain indulgences over the internet or otherwise, believers would first have to confess their sins, offer prayers and attend Mass.

“You can't obtain indulgences like getting a coffee from a vending machine,” Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the pontifical council for social communication, told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Barna Group: What Protestants Think of Pope Francis

https://www.barna.org/barna-update/culture/660-what-do-protestants-think-of-pope-francis#.Uy9Lu8JOVjo

What Do Protestants Think of Pope Francis?

March 18, 2014 — He was the most talked-about person of 2013 and winner of TIME’s “Person of the Year” award. Google Translate coders have set his name to translate as “a better world.”


Yet Pope Francis insists that he is “a normal person,” and has no desire to be “a superman or a star.”


Some religion columnists and commentators attribute the public’s esteem to his humble insistence that he is ordinary. In fact, humility may just be the pontiff’s paradoxical trademark. The Washington Post summed it up in one headline: “Like Pope Francis? You’ll Love Jesus.” The Post is not alone in pointing out that the pope’s actions, words and demeanor are often reminiscent of the Jesus portrayed in the Gospels. Humility may be exactly the kind of “ordinary” Pope Francis hopes will become the norm among all of those who claim to follow Christ.



It’s widely accepted that Catholics love the Holy Father, but what about people of other traditions? Some have called Francis a pope for Protestants or for Millennials, but what do these groups actually think of him? And if his influence is so far-reaching, what has been the impact of the so-called “Pope Effect,” one year into his papacy?



A new study conducted in late February 2014 by Barna Group examines the impact of the new leader of the Catholic Church on the U.S. population, including the nearly half of Americans who identify as Protestants.




The World’s Most Well-Known Religious Leader



 Just last March white smoke billowed above St. Peter’s Square and then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis I, head of the Roman Catholic Church and leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. In a single year, Pope Francis has become the most well-known religious leader in ministry today.



Of all U.S. adults surveyed, 62% say they are somewhat or very familiar with the pontiff. Not surprisingly, Catholics take the lead at 99%. Among practicing Protestants, 58% say they have a working familiarity with the pope.



Second to Pope Francis is Billy Graham, the famed evangelist who has been in public ministry for 65 years. Sixty percent of adults say they are familiar with Rev. Graham. The third-most well-known religious leader is the Dalai Lama; just under half of all adults (49%) say are somewhat or very familiar with him.




Popularity, Power and Public Critique



 Familiarity is, of course, not the same as favorability—but Pope Francis receives positive marks among a majority of U.S. adults (54%). About one-quarter (26%) say their opinion of the pontiff is neutral, less than one in 10 (7%) view him unfavorably and 14% say they don’t know enough to have an opinion. More than half of all adults (54%) say Pope Francis is an improvement on his predecessor (among practicing Catholics, it’s a two-thirds majority). When asked to identify how well certain words describe the current pope, nearly nine out of 10 Americans say he is very or somewhat honest (87%), compassionate (88%) and intelligent (86%).



Practicing Catholics take the lead in giving him high marks: an overwhelming 98% have a favorable view of the Holy Father. In contrast, just 45% of practicing Protestants express a very or somewhat favorable opinion, and among non-mainline Protestants even fewer have a favorable view (37%).

On a generational scale, positive views of the pope increase among older adults. While only 41% of Millennials see him in a positive light, favorability is higher among Busters, also called Gen-Xers (51%), and Boomers (63%). The generation most favorable toward the pontiff is the cohort to which Pope Francis belongs: the Elders, two-thirds of whom view him favorably (66%).



But what about dissenters? The largest demographic to express negative views is practicing non-mainline Protestants, one-quarter (26%) of whom feel somewhat or very unfavorable toward the pope. Specific critiques of Pope Francis range from descriptions of him as out of touch (22%) to the more serious allegation that he is corrupt (17%). While he has sometimes been cast as the pope for faith-jaded Millennials, young adults are notably skeptical about the pontiff’s integrity: 37% say he is somewhat or very corrupt, more than twice the national average.



Adults are evenly split on whether Pope Francis—often billed by the media as progressive compared to former pontiffs—is too liberal (27%) or too conservative (27%) on social issues. Four in 10 adults (39%) believe the pope is too powerful.



These critiques uncover some notable denominational and generational differences. For example, just 8% of practicing Catholics say the pope is either somewhat or very corrupt, while 22% of practicing Protestants say so. The leading groups to disapprove of the pope as too liberal include non-mainline Protestants (51%) and, perhaps surprisingly, Millennials (36%). On the opposite end of the spectrum, those most at odds with Pope Francis as being too conservative on social issues are also non-mainline Protestants (30%) and Millennials (38%).




For the rest, see:
https://www.barna.org/barna-update/culture/660-what-do-protestants-think-of-pope-francis#.Uy9Lu8JOVjo

(CNS) Pope to Mafiosi: Turn Away From Hell

POPE-MAFIA Mar-21-2014

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1401186.htm

Pope to Mafiosi: Turn away now from the road to hell By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service



ROME (CNS) -- Surrounded by survivors of innocent people killed by the Mafia, Pope Francis made an emotional appeal to Italian gangsters to give up their lives of crime and avoid eternal damnation.

"Men and women of the Mafia, please change your lives, convert, stop doing evil," the pope said at a prayer vigil March 21. "I ask on my knees and for your own good.

"This life you have now, it will not give you pleasure, it will not give you joy, it will not give you happiness," the pope said. "The power, the money you have now from so many dirty deals, from so many Mafia crimes, blood-stained money, blood-stained power -- you will not be able to take that with you to the other life."

"There is still time not to end up in hell, which awaits you if you continue on this road," Pope Francis said. "You had a papa and a mamma. Think of them, weep a little and convert."

Every year since 1996, the Italian anti-Mafia group Libera has observed March 21, the first full day of spring, in memory of innocent victims of organized crime. According to the group, the approximately 700 people gathered with Pope Francis in a Rome church this year represented the families of an estimated 15,000 such victims across Italy.

In his greeting, Father Luigi Ciotti, founder of Libera, denounced the Mafia as the "assassin of hope" and recalled a range of its victims. The priest mentioned women caught up in human trafficking, people fallen ill owing to illegal disposal of toxic waste and even children, including Domenico Gabriele, an 11-year-old shot to death while playing soccer in 2009, and Nicola Campolongo, a 3-year old murdered in January, reportedly to avenge an unpaid drug debt.

Pope Francis and Father Luigi Ciotti, founder of the Italian anti-Mafia group Libera, participate in a prayer service for victims of the Mafia at the Church of St. Gregory VII in Rome March 21. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Father Ciotti thanked the pope for coming, saying, "We thought we had found a father, we have also found a brother."

The pope listened for about 45 minutes, head bowed and hands folded in prayer, as members of the congregation stepped up to the lectern and recited, in some cases with breaking voices, the names of people killed by the Mafia.

"Let us pray together to ask the strength to move ahead," the pope said, "to be not discouraged but to continue to struggle against corruption."

END

Roman, Greek, Tractarian & Arminian Edits of Rom.3.21-31

Here's what the Messieurs, men of adiaphora, in the ACNA, refuse to address. They self-identify as Anglican, but have--to be polite--a "low" theology.

 

In fact, their silence on these matters is complicity with Rome, Constantinople and Arminian soteriological centres.

 

Ergo, we bring you the following: "Roman, Greek, Semi-Pelagian and Arminian Edits to St. Paul."

These sober and deliberative editors thought St. Paul needed their editorial and theological insights.  This is reflected in the Council of Trent, subsequent theologians, and documents.

 

We bring these much-needed corrections to the canonical text to you, that is, Romans 3.21-31... corrected, amended and taught world-wide. This will aid St. Paul "above" (if he had enough good works) and those of us "below."

(God’s Righteousness Through Faith and Works)

 21 But now the righteousness of God including the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ as well as all your meritorious good works, pieties and deeds, to all and on all who believe in Jesus and work hard as well. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified at a contributory cost (among other contributory causes) by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus including the treasury of the saints (whom you should invoke for help, especially Mary), 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith but also your good works as meritorious instruments, to demonstrate His and your righteousness (it’s cooperative), because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His and your righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus and who has meritorious works too. Never forget this; those Lutheran, Reformed and old school Anglican Protestants are screwballs.

 (Boasting Included)

27 Where is boasting then? It’s right here. It is included. By what law? Of works? Why of course! Yes, boasting is by the law of faith and the law of good works, including “tweets-for-reductions in purgo-time.” So, go ahead, boast and exalt yourself and other saints too.  "You deserve some of the credit, after all." Ask Joel Osteen, he's got it about right. 28 Therefore we conclude, again, we conclude definitively that a man is justified by faith and the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? No, but He is also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. One is justified by "faith in Christ and his or her works." So, get’a’ crackin.’

Virtual Tour of the Largest Marian shrine in the World available, ahead of Pope's visit to Brazil

Virtual Tour of the Largest Marian shrine in the World available, ahead of Pope's visit to Brazil

Virtual Tour of the Largest Marian shrine in the World available, ahead of Pope's visit to Brazil

2013-07-16 19:38:49 
 

July 16, 2013. (Romereports.com) In a matter of days, Pope Francis will make his first international trip as the head of the Catholic Church. His schedule in Brazil, will include a quick visit to the largest Marian shrine in the world, the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.

The immense complex has been the home of Brazil’s patroness for centuries. Located between the cities of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro, a visit to the Shrine is also available online.
 

 

The sanctuary’s website,  www.a12.com  allows visitors to check out video and photos, as well as a 360 degree “virtual pilgrimage” of the large complex.

 

The tour starts off at the new Basilica, which ranks second in size to St. Peter’s Basilica. With the sounds of a choir in the background, users can choose from seven points throughout the building. They include a few of the chapels on the wings of the church, dedicated to Jesus Christ, as well as St. Joseph.

 

However, the main draw is the small statue of Our Lady of Aparecida, which is perched at the head of the Basilica, surrounded by the Chapel of the Apostles. According to tradition, fishermen came across the statue on the sea. Soon after, locals began venerating it. Aparecida, eventually became the Patroness of Brazil. The image, which resembles the Immaculate Conception, differs in that it became the first Marian apparition with dark skin.But the pilgrimage would not be complete without visitng the old Basilica. For nearly 200 years, it housed the statue of Our Lady of Aparecida, until the new one was completed more than 30 years ago. The old Basilica, which is much smaller in size, was build in barroque style, and is much more ornate than the new one.