Can't get this answered in "Ask an Apologist" forum

[jesusluv]

This picture I am posting the link to is from cnn but I keep seeing it pop up on anti-catholic websites that of course call The Church evil/whore of babylon, etc. Their “proof” is the “hidden message” the church is sending by putting an upside down cross on the chair Pope John Paul the Great was sitting in. Can anyone tell me why the chair has an upside down cross or what appears to be?

remnantofgod.org/invert.jpg

 

[Genesis315]

jesusluv:

This picture I am posting the link to is from cnn but I keep seeing it pop up on anti-catholic websites that of course call The Church evil/whore of babylon, etc. Their “proof” is the “hidden message” the church is sending by putting an upside down cross on the chair Pope John Paul the Great was sitting in. Can anyone tell me why the chair has an upside down cross or what appears to be?

remnantofgod.org/invert.jpg

That represents the “Seat of Peter.” St. Peter was crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die the same way as Christ.

 

[jesusluv]

I should have probably known this, but the excuse I will use is I’m converting now to the Church from protestantism.

Thank you for the answer.

 

[Marie]

jesusluv:

This picture I am posting the link to is from cnn but I keep seeing it pop up on anti-catholic websites that of course call The Church evil/whore of babylon, etc. Their “proof” is the “hidden message” the church is sending by putting an upside down cross on the chair Pope John Paul the Great was sitting in. Can anyone tell me why the chair has an upside down cross or what appears to be?

remnantofgod.org/invert.jpg

“Concerning the manner of Peter’s death, we possess a tradition - attested to by Tertullian at the end of the second century and by Origen (in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. II.i.) - that he suffered crucifixion. Origen says: ‘Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downwards, as he himself had desired to suffer.’” [Refers to Eusebius; the Ecclesiastical History, II. Xxv.]

 

[springbreeze]

Dear friend

This represents nothing sinister. It is as ‘Genesis’ poster stated, the cross of St Peter who was crucified upside down.

I have a bunch of holy statues on my kitchen work bench and much to the amusement of my friends who joke of my ’ macabre statue beheading fetish’ even though they know the truth, but if anyone walked into my kitchen and didn’t know me well they would be a bit worried by all the statues there with heads and other bodily parts missing. I repair them for the Church and for people who are Catholic/ Christian who have had a statue mishap!

See how the innocent are as lambs led to the slaughter, see how they are continually misread and misconstrued!

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[Nan_S]

I just finished reading The Bones of St. Peter by John Walsh (unfortunately out of print, but available at the library and on used book websites - for a premium price).

It tells the full story of the modern excavation beneath the high altar at the Basilica of St. Peter, uncovering graves hidden for 1600 years, which ultimately ended in the discovery and authentication of St. Peter’s remains.

Two most remarkable apsects of the forensic examination of his bones:

1. The bones had been wound with cloth dyed in genuine Roman imperial purple, and woven with genuine gold thread.
2. Bones from every other part of the body were represented, even tiny bones from the fingers, but absolutely no bones were present from the ankles or feet!!! Why? After crucifying St. Peter upside down (exactly as the ancient accounts said they did), the Romans probably removed his body from the cross by hacking it off at the ankles!

 

[Lazerlike42]

anybody know anything about the claims that the Papal cross is Satanic because it is curved? I forget the exact accusation…

 

[Nan_S]

Lazerlike42:

anybody know anything about the claims that the Papal cross is Satanic because it is curved? I forget the exact accusation…

I have one of these - it’s a rosary medal that I hung from a neck chain to wear to an “all-faiths” retreat. It made a great conversation piece for evangelizing! I still wear it regularly.

The curved papal crosier staff was an original work of art created for Paul VI. Two important meanings are behind the curve:

• The arched crossbar is in the traditional style of the crosiers carried by the Eastern church prelates.
• The arched crossbar and the curving horizontal show the full weight of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf - that when He took the weight of the world’s sins upon Himself, not even the stout wood of the cross could bear their weight. Only Jesus Himself could bear that weight.

The crosier staff was passed down from Paul VI to John Paul I, who also carried it in public, and then to John Paul II. Sometime in the latter part of John Paul II’s papacy, mindful of his advancing age and worsening health, a lighter weight crosier with the same image was made for him.

John Paul II’s crosier was then handed down to Benedict XVI, who carried it for the first time at the mass over which he presided on the morning after he accepted election.

You can get more good background and pictures about the pope’s crosier at traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/a022htVaticanArtExhibit.htm. There are plenty of websites screaming “satanism” over this crosier. A simple search engine scan will turn them up easily. I, for one, will not do them the dignity of posting links here.

 

[jimmy]

jesusluv:

This picture I am posting the link to is from cnn but I keep seeing it pop up on anti-catholic websites that of course call The Church evil/whore of babylon, etc. Their “proof” is the “hidden message” the church is sending by putting an upside down cross on the chair Pope John Paul the Great was sitting in. Can anyone tell me why the chair has an upside down cross or what appears to be?

remnantofgod.org/invert.jpg

The upsidedown cross is the symbol of Peter. Tradition says that Peter was crucified upsidedown because he said that he was unworthy to die in the same fashion that Christ died.

As you know, the pope claims to be the successor to Peter. Since this is the teaching, they also bear the symbol of Peter.

There is nothing evil about the symbol. The only thing that is evil is that people take the symbol and try to turn it into something evil.

 

[jimmy]

Lazerlike42:

anybody know anything about the claims that the Papal cross is Satanic because it is curved? I forget the exact accusation…

The bent crossbar is a symbol of the weight of the world on Christ when He was crucified. He bore the sin of the world. I don’t know why someone would claim it is satanic though.

 

[Nan_S]

jimmy:

The bent crossbar is a symbol of the weight of the world on Christ when He was crucified. He bore the sin of the world. I don’t know why someone would claim it is satanic though.

In his book, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, John Paul II says that this crosier was very dear to him - it was a constant reminder of his sacred duty: ***Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which ***you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood. Acts 20:28

The so-called satanic symbolism is described thusly by ignorant anti-Catholics:

This Bent Crucifix is a sinister symbol, used by Satanists in the sixth century, that had been revived at the time of Vatican Two. This was a bent or broken cross, on which was displayed a repulsive and distorted figure of Jesus, which the black magicians and sorcerers of the Middle Ages had made use of to represent the Biblical term ‘Mark of the Beast’. Therefore, Pope John Paul II is telling all the occultists the world over that he is NOT a Traditional Pope, but a Pope that is committed to carrying out the role of World Religious Leader as called for in the New World Order Plan.

It’s just another blasphemous excuse to deny the authority of the True Church and to justify making themselves the ultimate authority.