Quickies: A Pontificate Bent On The Destruction Of The Church?

From Ann Barnhardt's latest:

    Q. How could Pope Francis keep making blunder after blunder, saying and doing things that are turned into massive media victories for the enemies of The Church?
    A. Because they aren’t blunders. It is all but certain that he knows exactly what he is doing, and the effect it is having. It is all but certain that his objective is amassing as much personal power as he can through worldly popularity, and everything else, including The Church and the souls of every human being on the planet, can LITERALLY be damned in service to that goal.

I find it difficult to believe that a pope would knowingly set out on a course that would bring about the destruction of the Church, especially since that would also destroy the basis for his authority. Nevertheless, it is possible -- and it's also possible, unfortunately, that Pope Francis has that in mind.

What's certain is that the pope's pronouncements, especially his most recent ones, are causing rifts in the Church comparable to those of Luther's time -- and Luther, at least, had a corrupt Church hierarchy, steeped in the indolence and luxuriance of Renaissance Rome, for his target.

Secular authorities -- kings avid for more power -- have claimed to have "deposed" a pope or two. I don't know if the Church even has a procedure for dethroning a sitting pope. Present papal trends continuing, the next few years might enlighten us all.