As you like it, George. We finally agree, when it comes to you, Vicar of Christ is a historical reference.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-drops-vicar-of-christ-title-in-vatican-yearbook
Apr 4 at 1:00am
“YOU HAVE SAID SO” - Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò
“Truly, I say to you,
one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful, and began to say to
him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his
hand in the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of man goes as it is written of
him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been
better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, said,
“Is it I, Master?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
(Mt 26, 20-25)
On March 25, the 2020 Pontifical Yearbook was published with
a real novelty. It may seem like a typographical trifle, in the part dedicated
to the reigning pontiff, but this is not the case. Until last year, in fact,
Francis’s titles were listed at the top of the page, beginning with “Vicar of
Christ”, “Successor of the Prince of the Apostles” etc., and ending with his
birth name and a very brief biography.
In the new edition, on the other hand, the secular name
JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO stands out in large letters, followed by the biography,
the date of election and the beginning of his “ministry as universal Pastor of
the Church.” Separated by a dash and the words, “Historical titles,” all the
titles of the Roman Pontiff are then listed, as if they were no longer an
integral part of the Munus Petrinum that legitimizes the authority which the
Church recognizes in the Pope.
This change in the layout and content of an official text of
the Catholic Church cannot be ignored, nor is it possible to attribute it to a
gesture of humility on the part of Francis, which is not in keeping with his
name being so prominently featured. Instead, it seems possible to see in it the
admission — passed over in silence — of a sort of usurpation, whereby it is not
the “Servus servorum Dei” who reigns, but the person of Jorge Mario Bergoglio,
who has officially disavowed being the Vicar of Christ, the Successor of the
Prince of the Apostles and the Supreme Pontiff, as if they were annoying
trappings of the past: only mere “historical titles.”
An almost defiant gesture — one might say — in which Francis
transcends every title. Or worse: an act to officially alter the Papacy, by
which he no longer recognizes himself as guardian, but becomes master of the
Church, free to demolish it from within without having to answer to anyone. In
short, a tyrant.
May the significance of this most serious act not escape
pastors and the faithful, for by it the sweet Christ on earth — as St.
Catherine called the Pope — releases himself from his role as Vicar to proclaim
himself, in a delirium of pride, absolute monarch even with respect to Christ.
We are approaching the sacred days of the Savior’s Passion,
which commences in the Upper Room with the betrayal of one of the Twelve. It is
not illegitimate to wonder whether the understanding words with which Bergoglio
tried to rehabilitate Judas on June 16, 2016 were not a clumsy attempt to
exonerate himself.
This chilling thought is further confirmed by the terrible
decision to allow an almost universal ban of the public celebration of Easter,
for the first time since the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
“The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to
that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed!” (Mt 26:24)
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
Friday in Passion Week 2020