From LifeSiteNews
By Dogg Mainwaring and Pete Baklinski
October 12, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Three days after posting on Twitter that he does not “want or have” Jesus as King, Brisbane Archbishop Coleridge broke his silence, clarifying that he does not “favour royalist ideologies.”
“I worship Jesus reigning from the Cross, whose ‘kingdom is not of this world’ and who ‘casts the mighty from their thrones’...I don’t favour royalist ideologies ‘of this world’ which make Christ remote, the Church triumphalist, the Pope and bishops princely etc.,” he tweeted on Oct. 10.
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| Screen shot of Archbishop Mark Coleridge's Oct. 10, 2018 tweet on not favoring 'royalist ideologies' regarding Christ's Kingship. |
Responding to a tweet earlier this month stating that “Most people want Jesus as a consultant rather than a King,” Archbishop Mark Coleridge remarked, “Not too sure I want (or have) him as either.”
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| Screen shot of Archbishop Mark Coleridge's Oct. 7, 2018 tweet on not having or wanting Christ's Kingship. |
The Brisbane Archbishop’s words sparked a backlash of tweets, some of which condemned the prelate’s words, while others sought to make sure that he meant his words to be taken at face value.
LifeSiteNews reached out to the Brisbane Chancery seeking clarification on his original tweet, but never received a reply.
Catholics hold, following the book of Revelation that Jesus is the “Lord of lords and King of kings.” St. Paul teaches in his letter to Philippians that at the name of Jesus, “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth.”
The Church is clear that the Kingship of Christ is not simply spiritual. In his 1925 encyclical Quas Primas which instituted the feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius XI called it a “grave error” for one to say that “Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs.”
This is the case, he said, since “by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to Him by the Father, all things are in his power.”
Thus the empire of our Redeemer embraces all men. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope Leo XIII: “His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ.” Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society. “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved.”
Cardinal Raymond Burke told Catholics at the Rome Life Forum in May that they must consciously place themselves under the “Kingship of Christ” in the face of enemies of the Church today who are attempting to “infiltrate the life of the Church herself and to corrupt the Bride of Christ by an apostasy from the Apostolic Faith.”
“The Kingship of Christ is, by nature, universal, that is, it extends to all men, to the whole world. It is not a kingship over only the faithful or over only the things of the Church, but over all men and all of their affairs,” he said.
Archbishop Coleridge has shown himself to be an ardent supporter of Pope Francis’ agenda for the Church. He stated in 2015 that the Catholic saying “love the sinner, hate the sin” with reference to homosexuality no longer holds since the distinction “no longer communicates” “in the real world” where sexuality is “part of [your] entire being.”
He has also argued that using the word “adultery” for remarried divorcees needs to end. He criticized the four dubia Cardinals in 2016 for searching for what he called “false clarity” amid “shades of gray.” In 2016 Coleridge’s archdiocese defended the staging of a sexually charged, explicitly anti-Christian ballet and fashion show in a Catholic church.
He recently made derisive comments against Archbishop Viganò, suggesting that the Vatican whistleblower thinks he’d make a better pope than Francis.
The Archbishop’s most recent tweet was met with criticism on Twitter.
One suggested the Archbishop’s explanation was disingenuous:
“Sleight of hand here? Misconstruing Christ's word's before the Resurrection, mis-labelling His reign as a royalist ideology, let alone causing Christ to be remote. Then challenge doctrine on the Church Triumphant but add a political sweetner with those untrustworthy 'princes'."
I worship Jesus reigning from the Cross, whose “kingdom is not of this world” and who “casts the mighty from their thrones”...I don’t favour royalist ideologies “of this world” which make Christ remote, the Church triumphalist, the Pope and bishops princely etc. #StJohnXXIII pic.twitter.com/m66kjUIljS
Sleight of hand here? Misconstruing Christ's word's before the Resurrection, mis-labelling His reign as a royalist ideology, let alone causing Christ to be remote. Then challenge doctrine on the Church Triumphant but add a political sweetner with those untrustworthy 'princes' ..
And some chose to simply quote Scripture as a corrective to the Archbishop’s unsatisfying response:
“Jesus does reign over the Church even now: ‘The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!’ -(Psalm 110: 2 ESV),” tweeted Patrick Williams. “Christ is King over all, even if all do not accept it (Phil 2:9). Jesus is Messiah, the King who is seated at God's right hand.”
I worship Jesus reigning from the Cross, whose “kingdom is not of this world” and who “casts the mighty from their thrones”...I don’t favour royalist ideologies “of this world” which make Christ remote, the Church triumphalist, the Pope and bishops princely etc. #StJohnXXIII pic.twitter.com/m66kjUIljS
Jesus does reign over the Church even now:"The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!" -(Psalm 110: 2 ESV). Christ is King over all, even if all do not accept it (Phil 2:9). Jesus is Messiah, the King who is seated at God's right hand.
The Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of kings will triumph in the world despite your desire
Christ is not reigning from the Cross, is He?
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, He's reigning from the right hand of the Father. Christ truly is our King. Any Bishop who doesn't believe in this is suspect of heresy; a wolf in shepherd's clothing.