This morning, the world’s media focussed on the Roman Catholic funeral mass, known as a Requiem Mass, for Francis, the recently deceased and the first former-Jesuit to become pope in Rome.

Roman Jesuitism was much in evidence to those who could recognize it. Presiding Roman cardinal Giovanni Battista Re read a homily saying that the end is not the tomb but “in the Father’s house” and, as Dean “on behalf of the College of Cardinals”, he thanked those present and concluded: “with prayers we now entrust the soul of our beloved pontiff to God that He may grant him eternal happiness in the bright and glorious gaze of His eminent love.” What he meant by “we now entrust” is anyone’s guess, but the fact is that we cannot entrust anyone’s soul to God after they have died Ecc 12:7. God has already judged and dealt with the soul at death Heb 9:27. In this homily he emphasized to his global audience “the first of the apostles, Peter” and he informed his audience that Francis “already had many years of experience in religious life in the Society of Jesus and above all was enriched by 21 years of pastoral ministry” in Buenos Aires before the Roman papacy.

Purgatory or heaven?

This homily was the beginning of several public declarations of uncertainty whether Francis is in heaven or not. Some said one thing, some another, and Re managed to say both of them. This was in line with the anathema (“curse”) pronounced at the 16th-century Roman Catholic Council of Trent upon anyone who declares with certainty their hope of reaching heaven. This is still in force. However, with typical Jesuitical obfuscation, on this occasion the public was left with the impression that all is well or at least will be well with Francis’ soul. George Orwell would call it “doublespeak”, giving one impression but meaning or saying another. The official Roman Catholic teaching is that Francis’ soul is in purgatory, but this was not mentioned and the impression was created for the uninitiated, watching world, by repeated references to heaven that Francis was away to heaven, and at one point Re specifically gave this impression in his prayer.

Christian words were used with Roman Catholic meanings, in a mixed-up, unbiblical manner, which is typical of Roman Catholicism and of Jesuitism.

Mixed theology and uncertainty

The mixture of theologies in the various prayers offered were impossible to unify except in a Jesuitical manner. Some suggested that the soul of Francis was already in heaven and others asked for it to be received into the kingdom of heaven. Purgatory and its fires were studiously avoided in typical Jesuitical fashion. Francis’ teaching on God as the Father of all mankind and the unity of the human family was mixed with distinctions between Roman and non-Roman humankind, discernible to those who understand the Jesuitical phraseology employed. One prayer suggested that Francis “put his trust in the prayers of the church”. The Roman church was, of course, prominent in proceedings. Francis described the church as a home for all, like a field-hospital for the wounded. Of course, Romanism wants everyone to come into its fold. The homily emphasized Francis’ evangelizing zeal, proclaiming the joy of the Gospel, but there was no Gospel in the presiding cardinal’s message. Like many other global occasions, the opportunity to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ was lost.

Cardinal Re concluded his 20-minute homily: “Spiritually united with all of Christianity, we are here in large numbers to pray for pope Francis that God may welcome him into the immensity of His love.” This shows that Re does not think that Francis is there yet, because he believes he is in purgatory. He then prayed to the dead Francis, “the successor of the apostle Peter”, whose soul is believed by Roman Catholics to be in purgatory, as if he was in heaven: “Now, dear pope Francis we now ask you to pray for us. … We ask you that from heaven you may bless the church, bless Rome and bless the whole world in a final embrace with all the people of God but also an embrace towards the entirety of humanity that seeks the truth with a sincere heart and holds high the torch of hope.” Notice the distinctions as well as the confusion. The Jesuitism is in “from heaven”. Not “in heaven”, because Re does not believe that Francis is yet there, but “from heaven” meaning that when Francis does reach heaven at some poorly defined time in the future, then “bless the church”. However, the impression is given to ill-informed observers that Francis is in heaven.

The sprinkling of incense then preceded the Roman teaching about the sacrifice of its mass. Somehow, dead Francis was still called “the pastor of the universal church”. Dean Re concluded: “Let us commend to God’s tender mercy the soul of pope Francis bishop of the Catholic church … through the intercession of the blessed virgin Mary, Queen of Apostles and Protectress of the Roman people. May God reveal to our pope the face of His beloved Son and console the church with the light of the resurrection.” Yet again, Francis has still to see “the face of His beloved Son”. Possibly the multiplying of prayers will prompt God’s tender mercy to release Francis from purgatory. In July 1988, 400 years after his death, Roman Catholics all over Europe said Requiem masses for the Marquis of Santa Cruz, the original leader of the Spanish Armada who died in July 1588 before the Armada was launched. This lengthy stay in purgatory is contrasted with the fast-tracking of some heaven, such as John Paul II, or mother Teresa who was canonized within four years of Francis’ papacy and only 19 years after her death. Pity the Marquis.

Pursuing such mistaken beliefs, the gathered crowd at Francis’ funeral began invoking the Roman saints in heaven to pray for Francis. What for? The forgiveness of his sins. Poor Francis has not yet had his sins forgiven. The Invocation of saints and martyrs involves their names being chanted individually that they would pray for Francis to have his sins forgiven. Thus the names of the apostles and saints such as Saint Mary Magdalene, all the holy disciples, followed by a long list including Clement I, St Leo the Great and Gregory the Great (both central to the aggrandizement of the bishop of Rome in their day), John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II and “all holy Roman Pontiffs” (seeming to admit that there were unholy ones), St Stephen Acts 22:20 and the first martyrs of the Roman church, and some significant persons from religious orders, such as Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, were individually invoked in a sequential manner to pray for Francis that all his sins would be forgiven. News reports afterwards showed how enthusiastic Roman Catholics from various nations are praying for the soul of Francis, but I heard none of them explain what exactly they were praying for. However, the broadcast prayers made it clear that they were praying for his sins to be forgiven, but the unspoken meaning was that thereby he would hurry on to heaven. It is time for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached to them.

Communion and division

Everyone present, who wanted to, was invited to partake of “the consecrated host”, the Roman idea that the bread was turned into the body, blood, soul and divinity of the Son of God. This invitation is an attempt to draw in as many people as they could persuade, compromising all those who do so, but the Roman divisions and distinctions were still evident to see, because the Roman clergy dipped the bread into the wine but the crowd received only the bread, a public manifestation of Roman division. Similarly, Francis’ emphasis that “we are all children of the same Father Who is in heaven. … we all belong to the same human family” was used to encourage people to experience Roman Catholicism by participation in its ceremonies.

The London Requiem mass

A Roman Catholic Requiem mass is an attempt to speed the soul through the fires of the Roman Catholic purgatory towards heaven. Not only was Francis’ funeral a Requiem mass, but earlier this week Roman Catholic cardinal Vincent Nichols held a Requiem Mass in Westminster cathedral in London, UK, reminding us that one Requiem mass is not enough. When he was interviewed by the BBC, Nichols said of Francis that he was “a man of great hope. He always wanted us to be striving to make the world a better place, but to understand that our destiny in life takes us to heaven, which is the step he has now taken.” This Jesuitism creates the impression to the uninformed public that Francis was in heaven, but only the day before Nichols was overseeing a Requiem Mass in Westminster cathedral to speed the soul of Francis through purgatory towards heaven. The Jesuitism is in the word “step”. Nichols did not actually say that he was in heaven but stepping towards heaven, although the ordinary public would think he meant that Francis is in heaven. Similarly, today’s presiding cardinal Re made use of the resurrection in order to introduce heaven. One needs to learn and discern the Jesuitistic use of words.

Christian words were used in a mixed-up, unbiblical manner, which is typical of Roman Catholicism and of Jesuitism.

Attendees

US President Donald Trump and UK Prince William were present at this Requiem Mass, compromising any witness against this global display of the idolatry of the Roman Catholic mass. Ever practical, Trump took the opportunity to have an impromptu, ad hoc, face-to-face meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on two chairs in the middle of St Peter’s Basilica. Possibly this was a higher priority for Trump in his pursuit of global peace. I do not know if he took the bread, but he says he attended “out of respect” and referenced his large number of Roman Catholic voters. Ian Paisley, former First Minister of Northern Ireland, had a large Roman Catholic vote but he felt no need to show such respect.

After thousands of hours of free publicity on the world’s media, promoting Roman Catholic dogmas and ceremonies, it is time for Christians to understand the importance of biblical teaching and how it applies to those claiming to be Christian.