ARCHBISHOP PLAINLY LIES TO SWEETEN UP PEOPLE TO KEEP PAYING INTO HIS CHURCH
Some clerics think that by being sweet and lying they can keep the flock interested and the money coming in. Now we are going to talk about a case where this was done to children and young people during a confirmation ceremony.
Catholic archbishop, Michael Jackels of Dubuque, Iowa, said in 2023 that sin is terrible and big but as God's love and mercy are so much bigger that Hell has to be empty.
"Everyone is called to Heaven: that's our destination right? ... Everyone is called there, God wants everyone there. In fact, in my opinion-and I'll tell you if you promise not to tell anyone else-I don't think that there's anybody in Hell." Of Hitler and Bin Laden he declares, "Okay, they did bad things, but what's the one thing bigger than the baddest thing? God. God and His mercy. God and His love. God says to Hitler, 'Oh you old fool, what were you thinking? Your mother drop you on your head when you were a kid? Come on in, although you gotta stop at Purgatory and get cleaned up first, but come on in. Come home, come home'".
So he went as far as to declare that God would tell Hitler off and cleanse him in Purgatory and then welcome him to Heaven. And yet he tries to make out God would not know if Hitler was responsible or not. Perhaps he had brain damage! God is unable to say and is happy to suggest it may have been the mother letting him fall. So it is not so bad after all then!
And Bin Laden wasn't baptised so now he gets to Heaven too?
Anyway the presumption here is that God is irresistible. The Church does indeed teach that he is but that the sinner blocks him out and God respects free will so he will not force. Church teaching is that strictly speaking it is sin that condemns you to Hell and God only recognises it.
It is an obvious question that if God can reach anybody and they will respond positively, then why didn't he do that with Hitler before so many millions died?
And the archbishop would know from his Bible that Jesus said eternal punishment was for the Devil and his angels and despite that people would go there and he would separate the sheep from the goats. So if the Devil and his angels are there who are humans to think that they are better than they are and will not end up there? He seems to think they are not there either!
When Jesus never mentions a purgatory but goes on about Gehenna or Hell a lot what does that say?
Regarding Purgatory, the archbishop does not really believe that it cleanses from sin. Church teaching is that a person who was very evil and retains the damage the sin has done to their soul despite repenting and getting it pardoned by God can avoid Purgatory by having somebody get a plenary indulgence for them. This overthrows the lie that God is not involved in sin or human evil. He actually is when he can welcome a damaged person into Heaven. Sin becomes just a dead law written on paper but otherwise just a law.
Those who tell you cannot know God clearly, still tell you that you will find him irresistible one day. That would imply a lot of familiarity and personal knowledge.
And the Qur'an is clear that Hell is real and is a torture-chamber for anybody that is in there. We have this archbishop insinuating that the God of Islam is incapable.
How people can listen to lies in the pulpit is a mystery.
