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Is Pope Francis a modern-day Nicodemus?

Published:Monday | January 30, 2023 | 12:09 AM

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Recently, Pope Francis made a statement that homosexuality is not a crime but a sin. Murder is one of the most heinous crimes anyone can commit, yet some still get parole sometimes. Sins not forgiven have eternal consequences. It would be foolish to live a life and at the end, be condemned to all eternity, without any chance of getting free.

It was Jesus who asked Nicodemus as the teacher of Israel. Nicodemus was thinking physically, whereas Jesus was thinking spiritually that the new birth is from the heart. Deuteronomy 6: 4-7 states that one should love God with all their heart, soul and strength. There is no repentance after death (Heb 9:27).

Is Pope Francis a modern-day Nicodemus? One of the things that drove Martin Luther to post his famous 95 thesis was the sale of indulgence relief, made popular by German friar Johann Tetzel under Pope Leo X. Tetzel’s sales pitch was, ‘When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs.’ These poor parishioners, wanting to make sure that their dead loved ones are safe, would buy these useless pieces of paper. Now, when the Pope is making an ambiguous statement that will give false hope to practising homosexuals, it is sad that the leader of the Catholic Church is acting like a pied piper, leading so many to eternal damnation.

The Bible clearly states that practising homosexuals will not be in God’s kingdom. So why is it that the Pope didn’t say we love you? The honest truth is, you have to repent and abstains from the practice. Is it that this false hope will allow many to find comfort in the Catholic Church and allow more money in the coffers? There are things that seems right unto man, but the reward is death and destruction. We must test the spirits to see if they are of God or the Devil.

RAY STENNETT

Larchmont, New York