Pope Believes Chinese Virus Is Nature’s Wrath, by Kristine Christlieb

By Kristine Christlieb, Church Militant, March 24, 2020

Other clergy view outbreak as chastisement from God

ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) – Pope Francis is weighing in on one of the most troubling theological questions of all time: Does God bring about natural disasters and other trials to punish humans for their sins? His answer is “No.”

But Mother Nature does.

In a Skype interview aired on Spanish television, Francis suggested the global pandemic is nature’s response to man’s ecological sins: “God always forgives. We forgive from time to time. Nature never forgives. Fires, earthquakes … nature is kicking in so that we take care of nature.”

Some analysts note that embedded within the pontiff’s remarks are important teachings — and not all of them helpful. For example, despite the Pope’s claim, it is not clear that God forgives as part of sinners’ confession of — or at least contrite repentance for — past sins, coupled with a firm purpose to avoid these sins in the future.

Without these well-known Catholic parameters, the pope’s claim, while comforting at first blush, ultimately fails. The claim would then be twin brother to Bp. Robert Barron’s belief that all men have a reasonable hope of salvation.   …

Read more here:   churchmilitant.com/news/article/nature-never-forgives