Pope or no, when you’re THIS wrong, we’re calling you on it.

ClashDaily is an equal opportunity offender.

We’ve just called out Ashley Judd for saying the lawful election of an American President to rape. That was just crazy talk.

But just because we are friendly to the Christian perspective does NOT mean Christians get a ‘free pass’ when they do dumb stuff. If anything, Christians — especially those in leadership — are to be held to a HIGHER standard.

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And so we shall.

The Pope just made a horrible announcement. One that UNBELIEVERS have every right to hold up as an accusation against us, and everything we say we believe.

Let’s make this perfectly clear. Religious leadership is a sacred trust. Violation of that trust cannot be permitted.

This MUST be denounced for what it is: A gross miscarriage of justice.

If some random man in a trenchcoat came off the street and forced himself on five innocent boys, we would rejoice to see him carried away in shackles, and the courts would (if justice is REALLY present) deal SEVERELY with them.

If a man in a priest’s collar does the same thing, we should expect the penalty to be MORE severe, not less. A ‘trusted adult’ doing this to someone in his care is a far greater sin than an attack by a random passerby. In addition to the abuse, the victim’s trust is used as a weapon against him and the ability to trust may be forever destroyed in the process.

A shepherd should not wonder how the wolf feels about being struck down while he defends his flock. His job is to protect the sheep. Is this so hard to understand?

Pope Francis has been slammed by church officials and sex abuse survivors for cutting penalties for pedophile priests.

The Pope is said to be applying his vision of a ‘merciful church’ to sex offenders by reducing punishments to weaker sentences, such as a lifetime of prayer and penance.

It has been revealed by church officials that Pope Francis overruled advice given to him by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about two priests – allowing them to be punished by a lifetime of prayer. — Dailymail

His ‘lifetime of prayer’ might make sense in a culture where the penalty for exploiting children was death — and then only if it meant you were giving the guy an hour’s reprieve to prepare himself for it.

But ‘lifetime of prayer’ in lieu of penalty?

What the hell is that? ‘Punished’ with a lifetime of prayer? A lifetime of prayer was supposed to be what he did ANYWAY! Remember the Apostle Paul? Does ‘pray without ceasing’ ring any bells?

A ‘slap on the wrist’ for sexually violating a CHILD? But wait. There’s more.

Rev Inzoli was then convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against five children as young as 12.

He is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him. His predecessor Pope Benedict XVI defrocked 800 priests during his eight-year papacy

A church official has said some pedophile priests and their high-ranking friends appealed to Pope Francis by citing the pope’s own words about mercy in their petitions.

They said: ‘With all this emphasis on mercy … he is creating the environment for such initiatives.’

Marie Collins, an abuse survivor and founding member of Francis’ sex-abuse advisory commission, expressed dismay that the congregation’s recommended penalties were being weakened.

She said: ‘All who abuse have made a conscious decision to do so. Even those who are pedophiles, experts will tell you, are still responsible for their actions. They can resist their inclinations.’ — DailyMail

Pope Francis won’t even DEFROCK the man? We’d do more than that. We’d gladly lock him up in general population.

You DARE speak of ‘mercy’ in a case like this? Call it what it really is. Moral cowardice.

Jesus, as you should recall, had some pretty strong words for anyone harming children. Do you remember?

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

Scripture said a thing or two about false shepherd hurting their flock, too. Look it up.

What you seem to have forgotten is the HIGH PRICE that comes with mercy.

You can’t just freely forgive people for everything for no reason and call it ‘mercy’.

You need look no further than the CROSS to see how seriously Christ takes both Mercy AND Justice.

If you wink at wickedness, you are PROMOTING sin.

Jesus didn’t just call us forgiven. Justice still demanded a punishment. He took our guilt and paid our price … if we’ve actually repented of our sins.

But nowhere in scripture does it say that the wicked get to continue in their wickedness. Or that men guilty of crimes should go unpunished because of some connection they have to the church.

What trust could we possibly have in our religious leaders?

Go back to Titus 1:6-7. One of those famous passages describing the minimum requirements of being an elder (leader) in the Church.

if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,

If he fails in that list (see ‘debauchery’) he is unfit for the office entrusted to him. Period. ‘Defrocking’ should be the STARTING point of his consequences, not the worst-case-scenario so desperately avoided.

We need to heed the stark warning of Romans 2:24 ‘For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”’

Let us take great care not to be the ‘you’ in that sentence for OUR generation.

Failure to stand up and do the right thing in this situation has hurt the Church before (not just Catholic, but the Church Generally, by implication).

And we are once again making the same mistake.

To the non-Christians in our readership: we categorically denounce this decision as vile and a disgrace. It is utterly unfit any follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, let alone a leader.

To the Catholics in our readership: we urge you to make your voices heard, and hopefully, he will reconsider this dangerous decision.