This is a talk from a podcast on the Berean Beacon website by former Roman Catholic priest Richard Bennett (March 10, 1938 – September 23, 2019.) After praying what my next project for this website should be, the Lord reminded me of Richard Bennett who served the Church of Rome as a priest for 22 years. I consider insiders who became born-again Christians to be the most reliable and accurate sources of information. I hope you read Richard Bennett’s life story.

I transcribed into text the main message of the first 34 minutes of audio from the 42-minute podcast to make it easier for us all to get Mr. Bennett’s message. The audio is hard to catch in some places.

Pope Francis shows his true colors

Welcome to the program.

Once Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope, he chose the name Francis, after Saint Francis. Saint Francis was known to be soft-hearted and kind, a lover of nature, somebody who was humble and kind and unassuming. Thus it was that Pope Francis implied that he was going to be unassuming, kind humble and gentle. And this would be his image.

That has been the image that the media picked up on. It was amazing to see the media as they were announcing the Pope worldwide on radio and television and the media in newspapers, all showing the Pope as humble. He was the one who paid his own bill at the hotel after he was elected Pope. He went and personally paid his bill at the hotel where he had stayed during the papal conclave (a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope).

And then they showed that he was the one who insisted that he would not take up the regular apartment complex, the papal suite in the Vatican, but he would take up a much more humble one where he would be more accessible, showing that he was visible for people to see him and to know him. And so it was that he was making himself known to be kind and humble. And then he went to a great extent on television and really showed this to welcome back the previous Pope, Benedict the 16th.

Benedict the 16th had resigned with some disgrace and it was difficult for him to resign with the different rumors that were circulating. And now he was welcomed back into the Vatican, showing again that Francis the new Pope was kind and gentle and would welcome back even the aged and the one who had difficulties in the last months of his pontificate, Benedict the 16th. Was this not like a new Francis of Assisi?

However, there was a novel address that took place on the 19th of March, 2013. Pope Francis showed a different face. The new Jesuit Pope began to graphically display a genuine image while thousands of people crammed into St. Peter’s Square and literally millions watched by television and heard by radio across the world.

He said the following,

“Dear brothers and sisters, I thank the Lord I can celebrate this holy mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry.”

Francis the new Pope knew quite well what the Vatican declares is the position of the Pope and what the Petrine ministry means. It is in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 882. I’ll read the exact words:

882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, “is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.” “For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.”

So Francis knew that this power was now his, and he thanked God that he could celebrate “my Petrine ministry”. And notice the emphasis, my Petrine ministry. It was his, he was the one now in the position of supreme and absolute power, what is claimed for the Bishop of Rome as Pope. And this has always been the Vatican’s position going back many, many hundreds of years, and in particular from the 11th century under the well-known Hilderbrand Pope Gregory VII, this idea of the papacy had a man that goes back to the very position of Peter himself. This was emphasized. And it was to be the presupposition that they just won’t change. No matter the fact that Peter is never recorded to be in Rome, there’s no mention of him going to many cities. They insist that Peter went to Rome and now the Pope takes his position. This is the presupposition that they just will not concede, and is to give them stability in a tumultuous world of many things happening. The Vatican is to appear as stable, appear as stable because they claim no historical or theological grounds.

He then goes on to say why he is celebrating the Mass. Joseph was called to be the costos, the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary, of Jesus. But this protection is then to extend to the Church. How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with unfaring presence and utter fidelity. These carefully chosen words give a distinct picture in the mind of the person who is listening. And then the Pope went to say these exact words:

“Let us protect Christ in our lives so that we can protect others so that we can protect creation. The vocation of being a protector, however, is not just something involving us as Christians alone, it has a prior dimension which is simply human involving everyone.”

So Francis insists that this idea of protection is a job for everyone, not just Christians, he says, but for everyone. It is amazing that this is a way that Francis very cleverly under the guise of protection is actually bringing in Catholic social dogma into his very first inaugural address. He is declaring that everyone has to look after creation, and everyone is responsible, and that implies that goods belong to everyone and that is official Vatican teaching. And it is this social duty that he is emphasizing.

So I like to read again his exact words. He said,

“Please, I would like to ask all of those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life and all men and women of goodwill. Let us be protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan, inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.”

And this was required because he said again, quoting,

“There are Herods who plot death, wreak havoc and mar the countenance of men and women.”

Now he does not define who these “Herods” are, but he goes on to describe just how we are to protect.

And this next statement of his as I read the exact words is of uttermost importance. He said the following,

“To protect Jesus and Mary. To protect the whole of creation. To protect each person, especially the poorest. To protect ourselves. This is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out.”

That is quite amazing that anyone could say this, let alone someone claiming to speak as a Christian or claiming to speak as a Pope. It’s amazing how anyone in their right mind could say this, to protect Jesus with Mary. Jesus does not need to be protected! You just have to read the Scriptures. He’s King of King and Lord of Lords! To read the exact words of Scripture that glorify Jesus, He is the only Potentate, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He needs no protection. So this idea of protecting Jesus with Mary is ludicrous, to say the least.

Then he goes on and he finishes his homily by praying,

“I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saint Peter, and Paul, Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry.”

Please notice he did not pray in the name of Christ to the Father. No, what did he do? He called up in prayer, dead saints. Now in scripture, it is emphatically said in the Book of Deuteronomy that we are not to call up the dead. We are to pray to God and God alone. We do not call up the dead to pray to them as if they were divine and could hear prayers. This is really an abomination that somebody who purports to be a Christian leader could pray to the dead and show no understanding of who the Lord Jesus Christ really is.

Following all of this, on March the 20th 2013, Pope Francis addressed religious leaders across the world. Among other matters, he stated:

“First of all, I thank my brother Andrew very much for what he said. Thank you very much. Thank you. It is for a cause of particular joy to me today with you, delegates of the Orthodox churches, the Oriental churches, churches and ecclesial communities of the West. Together with you, I cannot forget how much that counsel has meant for the road of ecumenism. For my part, I wish to assure you in the wake of my predecessors and of my determination to continue on the path of ecumenical dialogue. I ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to bring my cordial greetings and assurance of my remembrance in the Lord Jesus, to the churches and Christian communities He represented. I greet them cordially. Thank you all, dear friends belonging to other religious traditions. First of all, the Muslims who worship this one God living and merciful and call upon him in prayer, and all of you. I really appreciate your presence. In it I can see a tangible sign of the will to grow in mutual esteem, cooperation and common good of humanity.”

Again horrendous words, having esteem for the Muslims in prayer saying that they call upon God who is living and merciful. We know that the Allah of the Quran is not like that. It’s not the God of the Bible. But Francis, to please the Muslims, and to accumunize (compromise?) even with the Muslims, is willing to sacrifice biblical truth for the sake of false ecumenical dialogue. In this his Jesuitism. He was a shrewd Jesuit, putting forth his ecumenical goods, totally abhorrent before the God, the Holy God of Scripture.

Two days later on March the 22nd, Pope Francis spoke to a group of diplomats representing governments that have relationships with the Vatican. Again he showed his Jesuit sophistry. His speech began with the words:

Dear Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you again for all the work that you do along with the Secretary of State to build peace, to construct bridges of friendship and fraternity. Through you, I would like to renew to your governments my thanks for their participation in the celebrations on the occasion of my election. And my heartfelt desire to be a fruitful, a common endeavor.”

In his address, Pope Francis emphasized the fact that he was known as the pontiff, that is, the Builder of Bridges. And he said,

“In this work with governments, the role of religion is fundamental.”

That statement, the role of religion is fundamental in the work with governments, is exactly what the Roman Catholic Church claims in its Code of Canon Law. If you want to check the Code of Canon Law, it’s Canon 1405 that the Pope can judge “those who hold the highest civil office of a state.”

The blending of civil with religion has for many centuries been the policy of the Roman Church. It has been quite successful, disastrously so in many cases. The Roman Church by its position of being not only a religious system but also a civil system, it is also a government besides being a religious system, and she can use her position as a nation, a government to have a relationship in the civil order with other nations.

Thus, at the moment when he was speaking, Pope Francis, the Roman Church, had 179 legal agreements with nations of the world. Some of these go back a long time, particularly with some of the European and South American countries, and it can be seen that in nations where the Catholic Church has a civil position, it has been detrimental to the Christians there because the Vatican is claiming and using its power as a civil entity.

They have concordants with nations. A concordant is a guarantee in civil law that the Vatican can teach what is right religion and worship, and declare what is not right religion and worship. That they have a right to establish Catholic education, and a right to object to other education. That they have a right to insist that their laws on marriage and annulments are civilly accepted. Where these agreements are in effect, we have Christians being disbarred (or deprived) from having property in some nations, and things like Christian radio stations become legally impossible because the Vatican declares what religious system is acceptable in civil law!

When I was in Slovakia in the year 2000, and Slovakia became a country having a concordant with Rome, the believers there were horrified. They said,

“You do not understand what this means. It means that we will not be able to set up churches where we like. It means that if we go against the teaching of the Catholic Church, the police will turn up at our doors. This is a civil matter.”

I began to see, and I have a whole video on Vatican control through civil power, and it’s horrendous.

Now Francis knew well what was involved in his talking to leaders of government. And he knew well that he had in Argentina where he was the Cardinal since 1957, a civil agreement with the Church of Rome, and how that helped in civil law for the Catholic Church to increase, and to prevent other Christians, to prevent Christian churches from growing in Argentina. How clever was Francis in talking to these civil leaders in these religious terms addressing the civil leaders about how thankful he was to be able to work together with them! He was setting up, or willing to set up more and more agreements on the civil nature by which the Roman Church could take control in the nations. It’s frightening, and something that many people have no idea exists.

Then on April the 23rd 2013, Pope Francis was again anything but peaceful, humble and unassuming. In the sermon for that day, he said the following:

“In the reading today it makes me think of the missionary expansion the Church began at the time of the persecution and those Christians that went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch and proclaimed the Word. They had this apostolic fervor with them. And that is how the faith spread. But some at Jerusalem, when they heard this, became nervous and sent Barnabus. He saw that things were going well. And so the Church was a mother. The mother of more children of many children it became more and more a mother. A mother that gives us the faith, a mother that gives us an identity because it is not possible to find Jesus outside the Church. The mother Church that gives us Jesus gives us our identity that is not only a seal, it is a belonging. Identity means belonging. This belonging to the Church is beautiful. Think of this mother Church that grows with new children to whom she gives the identity of faith because you cannot believe in Jesus without the Church. Let me ask the Lord for this apostolic fervor that impels us to move forward as brothers, all of us forward.

It is really amazing and horrifying to see what the Pope said in these words. It is actually an official dogma of the Church that he was teaching. I like to read the official catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 181.

181 “Believing” is an ecclesial act. The Church’s faith precedes, engenders, supports and nourishes our faith. The Church is the mother of all believers. “No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother” (St. Cyprian, De unit. 6: PL 4, 519).

That summarizes what Pope Francis was saying. You must have the Church as mother otherwise you cannot have God as father. In Scripture it is totally different. The apostles said, believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved and thy house. Faith is God given, not Church given. The apostle Peter said,

2 Peter 1:1  Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

We obtain it. It is from God! It is not from any church. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. Scripture summarizes it. But Francis was insisting as does his papal Church that it’s the Mother Church that gives you your identity and gives you Jesus. No mother church gives anyone Jesus! Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. This is a strict sense of what the apostle Paul said in Galatians. If anyone preaches any other Gospel than what you have received, let him be anathema. This is accursed in Scripture, somebody giving a message of salvation that is not a message of salvation saying that Mother Church gives you Jesus.

It is shocking to read such things, but this is what Francis was doing in his very inaugural address. The system that professes to teach faith is teaching religion of trusting rituals and traditions that appear to be religious but are deceitful because they do not deliver what they say they do. This is emphatically contrary to what Scripture says. It is the gift of God. Faith is obtained as Peter said from God.

I’d like to say to you as we have shown these horrific statements of Pope Francis. What the Lord Jesus Christ said on the night before he died. He prayed that they may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I am in thee, that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou has sent me. Jesus knew very well all whom he prayed for. He prayed for those whom the Father had given him in the words of the Gospel of John. Those who were born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of God. Those who were born of God, it is God-given. Not any church given, it is God-given! They are the ones who believe.

This is the message I give to you today that you personally, as you watch this program, as you think of what Pope Francis has said, and you think of what really is the message. The message is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved.

The Scriptures teach us that we must serve God acceptably and with Godly fear. God is all holy, and it is something to know that even in the New Testament He is spoken about as a consuming fire. He is not just going to let things pass as if it didn’t count. In a strict justice, He will come against those who teach incorrectly. Those who believe wrong doctrine end up just in their own deception, and they continue in the sins that they were hoping would be forgiven.

In his own day, the Lord Jesus, we could say with compassion and kindness and care, reached out even to the Pharisees. It is in John’s Gospel chapter 8. He said, “I say to you that you shall die in your sins. If you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. If Francis himself, Pope Francis does not believe in Jesus Christ alone by the faith that God gives, he will die in his sins, and the same for all those that he teaches, and believe in rituals or sacraments, and not on the Lord Jesus Christ alone, they too will die in their sins.

You may say, “Well, I am a sincere Catholic, and I sincerely believe what my church teaches me. When the Pharisees were sincere and they believed what the Torah was supposed to have said to their religious leaders of Pharisees, they were sincere, and it didn’t make any difference. You will die in your sins.

This is a sobering message, and I say that to you. You may know that I was a Catholic for 48 years and 22 as a priest, and I spent many years in that system. I thank God for taking me out of it. I no longer substitute a church for rituals. I personally believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by God’s grace, I have done that since 1985. It is God’s grace. It is not as Francis says, purporting Mother Church to give you faith. It is God who gives you faith.

It is mind-boggling to see and to read the exact words of Pope Francis. It is shattering to know that there are literally millions upon millions of people across the world who believe what the Pope teaches. All for a billion worldwide, at least on paper, are accepted to be Catholics. Millions in each nation that has any presence of religious sentiment in them. Millions. Does your heart not go out to them to give them the message that is saving and real?

You and I are, as Scripture said, dead in trespasses and sins. By nature, we were born as children of Adam, and by personal sin, we have added to that sin. But in face of all that, the true Gospel came. The Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation, in the words of the apostle Paul. While we are sinners, children of wrath, rebels against God, the all Holy God, we do not match up to His Holiness. We can, by His grace, turn in faith.

I did it, aged 48, and I praise God. And I have known of literally thousands of others, particularly as our DVDs go out, and we get more response from our DVDs, and I thank God for that. People hear the word of God and live. It is really glorious.

I would ask that as you listen to this program, and as later on you see it, you already know that you should send this to friends and that you make it known, this program known to others.

(End of transcript)

This is up to 34 minutes and all of the main message of Richard Bennett’s 42-minute podcast. If you like, you can listen to Mr. Bennett’s entire talk on the Berean Beacon website.