The pope was correct in pointing out that the birthrate in many countries, like Italy, has fallen far below "replacement" level, unlike the Philippines.

The interviewer was horrified that "Filipino women have an average of 3 children each", but Pope Francis insisted that a society must have a birthrate of AT LEAST three children per woman, or else the society will collapse. He mentioned, correctly, that Italy is facing the probability of not being able to support its own pensioners very soon.

In no way did he endorse three children as an "ideal," but rather, he warned that it is a kind of biological "minimum" in order for a society to survive at all. He was defending the still-thriving Philippines against the propaganda of population control.

The term "responsible parenthood" was used in Humanae Vitae, and it is not an objectionable term, as used by Blessed Paul VI. The off-the-cuff expression about "rabbits", however, was not a well-chosen remark.

It is interesting to see a reference to "the Communion rail."

I wonder how many Catholics under the age of 50 know what this means.

If only ...

It would have been an excellent technique to have the children name all of the rugby players (beloved heroes all of them) with enthusiasm and zeal; but then, to have them name the Christian heroes, the Twelve Apostles, with even greater enthusiasm and zeal.

This would have been easy to accomplish if the children had been given even one lesson on "who was at the Last Supper?" Children are just as capable of memorizing the names of the Twelve Apostles as they are of memorizing the names of their favorite rugby players. Children love "heroes" and "champions". It would only take one lesson with a good teacher:
Peter, Andrew, James and John;
Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Tom;
James and Simon, Jude and Judas
Now I know the twelve Apostles.
(and Matthias, who replaced Judas).

www.youtube.com/watch

The Pope made an excellent point about feeding the hungry: "We have enough food in the world to feed everyone." The Pope did not suggest that the young mother should be indiscrete or immodest, but only that she should feed her hungry child.

And he expressed the proper attitude of a good pastor, both for the baby (who was crying his eyes out), and for the people in the audience (who were listening to the baby crying his eyes out). "Please give it something to eat!" Yes. Amen.

And what's all this talk about a female carnival?

Oh, that's different. Never mind.

www.youtube.com/watch

The Vatican Information Service reports:
"At the culmination of the ceremony the Pope consecrated the world to the Virgin of Fatima."
www.vis.va/vissolr/index.php

The consecration did not occur during the homily, but at the end of the Mass, before the Angelus.

Please see the text of Pope Francis:

The Prayer of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Vatican City, October 13, 2013 (Zenit.org)

Holy Mary Virgin of Fatima, ...
... Accept with the benevolence of a Mother
the act of consecration that we perform today with confidence
before this image of you that is so dear to us ...

www.zenit.org/…/prayer-of-conse…

These poor, lost lambs, wandering around in Unitarian Churches, are playing "dress-up" like little girls. A sister who left the convent many years ago, playing priestess, and now, like Bo Peep, playing shepherdess, pats the head of another ex-nun. It is not an ordination, and they are not clergy. It is no more than a childhood fantasy, played by old women who have long ago wandered away from the Catholic faith.

I presume that the custom of eating cucumbers on the feast of the Prophet Elisha refers to the poisoned stew in 2 Kings 8:38-41. The stew was poisoned with wild cucumbers, but Elisha miraculously made it safe to eat.

'When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. Once, when the guild prophets were seated before him, he said to his servant, “Put the large pot on, and make some vegetable stew for the guild prophets.” Someone went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine, from which he picked a sackful of poisonous wild gourds.
'On his return he cut them up into the pot of vegetable stew without anybody’s knowing it. The stew was served, but when they began to eat it, they cried, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.
'He said, “Bring some meal.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was no longer anything harmful in the pot.'

How much good could be done by those extremely wealthy persons, if only they could see and understand the teaching of the Catholic Church in Humanae Vitae. They could provide much needed help for the pro-life movement, for unwed mothers, and for needy children. But instead, they squander billions of dollars on schemes to flood the world with more and more contraception. We should be praying for their sincere repentance and wholehearted conversion.

There was a peculiar phrase used by the Ursuline sister, in the midst of her jumble of peculiar statements. She did not say that the billionaire "follows" her conscience, but that she "leads" from her conscience. I am not sure what the sister meant by that.

But it sounds like a case of "the blind leading the blind." If one has an erroneous conscience, one leads others into error.