The following is from the Christian News Network:
The leader of Roman Catholicism, Jorge Bergoglio, also known as “Pope Francis,” observed the feast of “the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God” on New Year’s Day, urging followers to “entrust the new year to Mary.”
“Let us entrust the new year to Mary, Mother of God, so that peace and mercy may grow throughout the world,” he Tweeted on Sunday, generating over 33,000 likes and 11,000 shares.
The feast “coincides with the octave-day of Christmas” on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, and was initially the feast of the Circumcision of Christ until being replaced in 1974 by Pope John VI. The “mother of God” concept, however, can be traced back as early as the Council of Ephesus in 431.
Read more: http://christiannews.net/2017/01/02/pope-francis-urges-let-us-entrust-the-new-year-to-mary/
See: CRN Research Paper on Roman Catholicism
Pope Francis will grant plenary indulgences throughout the 100th anniversary year of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. He gave three ways to obtain the indulgence: 1) visit the shrine in Portugal, 2) pray before any statue of Our Lady of Fatima, 3) pray in front of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima and "spiritually unite themselves" to the jubilee celebrations on the 13th of each month between May and October. Read more.
In other words, the pope is telling Catholics that they must commit the sin of idolatry in order to receive remission for temporal punishment of their sins. The Ten Commandments expressly forbid the worship or veneration of images, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them" (Exodus 20:4, 5).
See: Pope's Immaculate Deception by Mike Gendron (PTG)