Jesuits are notorious for the trait of Pharisees 2,000 years ago and their dwelling on hair-splitting. An old coach training candidates to take the CPA exam said, “Keep your eye upon the donut, and not upon the hole.”

There is a sixty-year old hole that has not been properly resolved, and that is how to judge and what to do with active homosexuals in the priesthood. Then there is the more difficult question of how to judge and what to do with bishops and cardinals who enabled and protected offending clergy to this day. One-third of church membership and related contributions were lost due mainly to clergy pedophile abuses, and there needs to be a YEAR of public repentance for at least six decades of scandals.

Pope Francis must address the problem of pedophile clergy first and then go on to the esoteric that is best handled in university debates. Not so incidentally, Jesuit Pope Francis must judge his contemporary Jesuit US universities – twenty of twenty-five are presumed to be non-Catholic in their now admitted secular institutions of higher learning that associate with Planned Parenthood along with acceptance, promotion, and funding of gay lifestyle activities.

In July, Francis signaled a more progressive attitude on sexuality, asking, “If someone is gay and is looking for the Lord, who am I to judge him?” The damage done to young victims cannot be simply passed over with a cheap, “Who am I to judge?” The fact is that clergy crimes committed were prohibited by Civil Law as well as religious and ethical law. Damage has been done and there is the need for some sort of admission, restitution, and punishment.

The fact is that we must and do judge and discern between perceived good and evil in the course of everyday life. To obey the traffic signal or not; to do harm to another or not; judgments to discern good from every type of evil; to eat rotten food or toss it away; to allow filth to enter the mind or not; to take what belongs to another or not; to tell the truth or not; to engage in dangerous same-sexual behavior or not; to carry a baby to term or not. Truth be told, ignoring the truth is a form of lying that enables actions by others based on false pretenses.

“But who am I to judge?” Tell that to victims of that behavior and the thousands of judges passing judgment every day, granted, who too often inflict wrong judgments, but the law is the law, albeit imperfect. Mankind is imperfect in application of any law, precept, admonition, or advice.

Pope Francis now makes another questionable statement, “Let Conscience be Your Guide to Heaven,” as he wrote in an open letter stating that non-believers would be forgiven by God if they followed their consciences. That means an informed and trained conscience, not the conscience of today’s free-spirit world that believes there is no right or wrong; that anything is okay if it makes one feel good.

Papal comments like this can enable many to continue on the wrong path contrary to what Jesus actually said in Luke 7:13-14: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Words are dangerous weapons, and by their own words will they be condemned is an axiom for the wary. Mathew 13:9 describes much of current culture: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” The trouble is that intentionally ignoring the truth is every bit a lie as much as making untruthful statements that political correctness deems not to be lies. Liars must have good memories; otherwise their own words will betray them.

Jesus, before leaving earth, gave power to judge: “Whoever’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven to them. Whoever’s sins you retain, they have been retained.” That calls for judgment, and is the ultimate power and requirement to judge given by Jesus God himself. So why does Pope Francis not judge and chastise his own Jesuit religious order, along with Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, to Deacons that have betrayed trust given them for children under their care and supervision?

Jesus in Luke 17:2 said about those who harm his little ones, “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” If that does not involve judgment, what does?

God judges and has given mankind the Ten Commandments, observation of which would safely guide humanity from earthly life to eternity, and the trust was given to the priests in both the Old and New Testaments. Priests from the beginning of time were often the problem as they would occupy themselves with minutiae, splitting hairs, and public ostentatious service, and Jesus called this type, “Whited Sepulchers.” Jesus also gave power to his disciples as he said, “As the father has sent me, so I send you.”

Jesus also gave contrarian advice when he said to those who would stone a woman to death for her transgressions. Jesus said in John 8: “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. … At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’” There is forgiveness with the admonition to sin no more.

Which leads to the double, triple, or quadruple standard prevalent in the US today. Justice is turned on its head. Everything good and holy is judged to be illegal. Every form of evil and depravity is defended in the interest of fairness. It is illegal and politically incorrect to burn, desecrate, or destroy the Cross, Bible, or American flag as freedom of speech but burning a Quran is not politically correct.

Guess Jesus Christ was not politically correct when he fed the 5,000 followers who were tired and hungry. Today’s Liberals frown upon that type of behavior because only government can give something for nothing, and to prove it, government is shutting down “soup kitchens” that are faith-based.