In the past few days, including this morning, a great number of friends here on facebook and elsewhere have asked me why the spokesperson of the Vatican would say such a thing as Jesus will not come again... Well, here is my response: CORRECTING THE MISCONCEPTION – JESUS SECOND COMING IS A SIGNIFICANT COMPONENT OF OUR FAITH By: Imasiku Ngalama, Livingstone Catholic Diocesan Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies The claim attributed to a personage tagged as ‘Vatican spokesperson’, and named Cardinal Giorgio Salvadore, that the second coming of Jesus Christ may not happen after all, is false. Part of the false statement reads: “We just feel Jesus is not coming back by the looks of it… The Vatican defended Jesus’ broken promise, claiming he was probably drinking wine at the time when he made the comments about his second coming.” It is important to note that this article which has gone viral on the internet now was published around 25th April, 2014, by an anonymous author whose aim was to discredit the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Resurrection and the Parousia-the Second Coming of Jesus which will effect the resurrection of the dead, which is the core and pillar of the Christian Faith (1 Corinthians 15:14). Check the timing: Easter Sunday in the year 2014 fell on 20th April. This was a ploy and vain effort by a disgruntled element to tarnish the image of Mother Church. None of the 216 Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church goes by the name Cardinal Giorgio Salvadore. Rather, there is a Cardinal Salvatore de Giorgi (in the third photo on this post), an Archbishop Emeritus of Palermo in Italy, retired on December 19, 2006. The two names are not the same, and indeed Cardinal Salvatore de Giorgi is an 83-year-old retired Archbishop, who IS NOT the spokesperson of the Vatican. The official spokesperson of the Vatican is called Fr. Federico Lombardi (in the fourth photo, on the right, of this post). He is the head of the Vaticans communication department which comprises a radio station Vatican Radio), television station (Vatican Television Centre), wire service and international press office. Cardinal de Giorgi is a journalist-publicist, author of various publications. He was created and proclaimed cardinal by Pope John Paul II (in the second photo of this post) in the consistory of February 21, 1998. He is currently a member of the Vatican Congregations: for the Clergy, for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments; and for Bishops. The views stated in the statement do not come from any Cardinal or bishop or priest in the Vatican. If a Cardinal or any cleric of the Catholic Church made such untrue and blasphemous statements about Jesus, he would be called to order by Pope Francis (in the first photo of this post), the current universal shepherd of the Church, and custodian of the deposit of faith as handed down to the Apostles by the Lord. The second coming of Christ or the Son of Man, also known as the Parousia, is part of our Christian tradition. It is clearly evident in the New Testament Scriptures of Matthew 24:3, 27, 37, 39; 1 Corinthians 15:23; Hebrews 10:24; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8, 9; James 5:7, 8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4, 12; 1 John 2:28. It is also found in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (Profession of Faith) that we recite in the Catholic Church: “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 08:11:13 +0000
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