Pledge to pray for the repose of Pope Francis’ soul
(LifeSiteNews) — On this special Easter Octave episode of Faith and Reason, Father Chris Alar, MIC, joins John-Henry Westen to discuss his faith journey, the death of Pope Francis, the upcoming conclave, the resurrection of the Church, and more.
After briefly discussing the pope’s death, Westen noted the need for his successor to restore tradition and sanity to the Church. Alar agreed, emphasizing that Francis’ pontificate was marked by confusion.
“It’s not an attack on any individual to state the true fact that there was confusion. There was a lack of clarity, there was ambiguity, there’s no doubt about that,” the priest said. “We have to face the facts of what the truth was. … There was much confusion; there are many people who left the Church because of this confusion.”
READ: John-Henry Westen reacts to Pope Francis’ death: ‘Our first duty is prayer’
Alar stressed that the faithful need to pray not only for the repose of Pope Francis’ soul but also that the cardinals enter this conclave in a state of grace, and that the Holy Spirit will guide them.
“We need to pray hard, as the cardinals do too, that the Holy Spirit will lead them. And that’s the purpose of the Mass, which is supposed to kick off the conclave, is that the Holy Spirit will lead them,” he said.
Alar underscored that Francis has appointed over 100 of the cardinals voting in the conclave.
“The problem is, Pope Francis has appointed … almost or over 100 of these [cardinals]. So there needs to be an extreme amount of prayer that these cardinals will not come in thinking [that] because he appointed them, that they are to carry on necessarily his exact viewpoints,” he said.
“Even especially things like immigration and borders that were not doctrine or dogma of the Church, which are not defined ex cathedra, or in unison with the bishop, the college of bishops. But rather they become their own person led by the Holy Spirit, asking for His guidance, and not to have any collusion among these cardinals.”
READ: Freemasonic lodge hails Pope Francis’ work as ‘deeply resonant’ with their ‘principles’
Later in the episode, Westen noted that it feels like the Church is now in the tomb following the crucifixion and emphasized the need to pray for its resurrection. Alar agreed, highlighting his theory that we have been living through the passion of the Church – and that this conclave, God willing, will be its resurrection.
“Christ went through His passion, death, and resurrection with a time in the tomb of confusion. People [said], ‘Where is He at? Did He resurrect? Did somebody steal the body?’” the priest said.
“I believe the Church went through the crucifixion phase in the Church [abuse] scandal. I believe that what happened was the Church had to be purified of its sins. The only way to do that was to expose it to the air,” he added.
“To expose to the air the sins of the Church … I believe [that] was its crucifixion. Now, if we are in the time of the tomb, we have a time of confusion. … Now, I believe this is setting the stage for the resurrection. This is just my personal belief that the Church is following in the footsteps of her Lord. How beautiful is that, if that ends up being what’s happening?”
To hear more from Fr. Chris Alar, tune in to this episode of Faith and Reason. LifeSiteNews readers are also invited to pray for the repose of Francis’ soul, and for the cardinals now tasked with electing a new pope.
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Pledge to pray for the repose of Pope Francis’ soul
