I think I really am beginning to understand what Pope Francis is trying to do, he recognises the Church is already deeply divided
and there are two ways of healing it. The first, is what Cardinal Burke
spoke about to the CCC on Tuesday, he recognises the Church is divided but insists he is 'calling the Church to unity' around what has been revealed and what has been the Tradition.The second way of healing division, is what I believe Pope Francis is recognising what has been happening in the Church for the past century, maybe since before the Reformation rather than being doctinally united we doctinally divided or diverse. He is recognising that we are disunited, the difference is that he is the first Pope (ever?) to seem to accept the status quo as a given rather than call to obedience and call into communion.
At the heart of everything is the question "Who is Catholic?" For Cardinal Burke, it is those who believe the entire Catholic faith, for the Pope, it seems to be anyone of goodwill who identifies themselves as such. One could caricature the Cardinal's position as one which excommunicates those who neither believe or act according to the Church's teaching, whereas the Pope position could be caractured by the stance of the German bishops: we accept any and everybody, the only people who are beyond the pale are those who don't pay Church Tax.
Cardinal Burke might be a idealist and Francis might indeed might be a realist, but the role of a Pope as any cleric is to set before us the ideal of faith, sociology is not a substitute for Jesus. The Successor of Peter, is "the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity" (Lumen Gentium, 23) but it is not unity for unity's sake but for Christ's sake.
The Petrine Ministry, excercised primarily by the Pope but by all those who have a role of service in the Church, including all bishops, priests and deacons, is not something low down on that fragile integrated structure, the 'hierarchy of doctrines' but a safeguard of the most fundamental doctrines, essentially it is about announcing the Incarnation, Resurrection and Redemption.What is at the heart of next October's Synod is not merely divorce, marriage and the Eucharist but something touching the very nature of Christianity, can the Church be trusted to teach. What I find deeply worrying is that if the Church cannot be trusted, can Christ? Can Revelation?
The gloomy Remnant isn't one of my favourite reads but I was sent a link to this, an email it published. I think I could easily find a dozen similar ones from concerned clergy.
All over the world we’re seeing cardinals, archbishops and bishops affirming behaviors which are unequivocally condemned by Popes and Councils in previous centuries. As I listen and watch these events, in my mind, over and over, I hear the phrase, “the smoke of Satan has entered the sanctuary.” Could it be that all that is happening is truly the work of Satan? I’m not ready to affirm that it is, but in my heart I fear that it may be true. If it is then it may also be true that many members of our hierarchy do not belong to Christ. I’ve had conversations with priest friends about all of this. We are all fearful for what is to come. None of us feels as if we’re standing on doctrinally solid grounds any longer. We all cringe every time Pope Francis steps in front of a group of journalists. What will he say next? How will he berate those who are faithfully serving Christ? How will he beat up on us this time? One of my priest friends asked me during a conversation what I would do if the Church does formally approve what it previously formally condemned. I had to confess in all honesty that I’d probably have to leave priestly ministry. He admitted that he’d probably have no choice but to do the same. My deepest fear is that if Pope Francis continues to push the Church toward heresy that we may experience a war among the faithful that would make Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s opposition after Vatican II appear like a simple objection! I know you’ll understand why I’m not signing my name to this email. May God preserve His Holy Church from the forces, visible and invisible, within and without, who seek to destroy it. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners!
Father AnonymousI have enormous sympathy for the anonymous priestly author. He is not alone in his anxieties, though 'to leave priestly ministry' is not something most priests would consider but there is a problem, a very serious problem. The Church approving what it previously formally condemned, is a serious problem, no-one with integrity can go along with that, without a crisis of faith. In the past this was not an issue, now suddenly it is very real.
Rather than healing divisions, I fear that the Synod will introduce deeper rifts in the Church, to the point where true Communion becomes a real fiction and we end up in the same doctrinal mess as the CofE, or any other Protestant sect and our Bishops will be left with more and more difficulty wallpaper over the cracks, with less and less success.
41 comments:
Is it better to have unity with everyone going to hell?
Or is it better to have disunity with as many as possible going to Heaven?
Mgr Ronald Knox wrote:
"If, per impossibile, the Church should pronounce authoritatively on a question of faith or morals, and her pronouncement was demonstrably wrong, then, per impossibile, I would leave the Church."
But as he says it is impossible that such should happen.
But unless that happens he tells us to stick with it and fight on.
The Church is not some club which is for everyone but a means of salvation by loving God and following his commandments.
This is what frightens me witless.
The quote from Knox tells us that we must retain our Faith even though many of us feel we are passing through very uncertain times. I do feel for that Priest quoted and all those who fear a schism may be inevitable.
The 'Divide' does seem to be getting stronger. Today's 'Riposte Catholique' has pointed out that although Cardinal Robert Sarah has been in France for the last two weeks and given many conferences, no mention has been made at all on the website of the French Bishops - it is as if he does not exist.
One commenter has added that the daily Catholic newspaper 'La Croix' has also not mentioned the visit. Another writes that they are frightened that he will take them out of their comfort zone.
Cardinal Sarah personally welcomed Summorum Pontificum with 'confiance, joie et action de grace.' Sadly many of the French Bishops did not. The divisions are already there and only time will tell whether they are healed or whether they grow ever wider.
Pelerin said:
"no mention has been made at all on the website of the French Bishops - it is as if he does not exist."
THE
LILY
(“The martyrs were bound, imprisoned, scourged, racked, burnt, rent, butchered – and they multiplied.” St. Augustine)
No burning tearing
Scourging skin
It’s psychological
All within.
No rotting flesh
Or putrid blood
It’s sterile clean
No rancid crud.
For butchered
Tortured bound up skins
Reveals the Truths
Of Bishops' sins.
They want it nice
They want it hushed
With veins of ice
Good souls are crushed.
The silent cold
Is better yet
Frozen solid
Can’t beget.
For martyred blood
Reveals the Church
Blind souls see Truth
And end their search.
“We can’t have that!”
The Bishops say,
“So let’s ignore…
They’ll go away.
Enlightened men
Don’t scourge the skin
Enlightened men
Keep blood within.”
But they forgot –
The woman bleeds
And monthly makes
A bed for seeds
Where nice and hushed
They’ll grow to men
And seize the oars
From wrists that bend…
On Peter’s Barque
Where blood still flows
From woman’s womb…
The Lily grows!
The Bible speaks of the "abomination of desolation" in Matthew and Revelation. Some interpret a change in praxis of admittance to the Eucharist by adulterers and sodomites (often public acts) as the abomination of desolation because that will strike at the heart of the priesthood. Seminaries of the official Church will require young men prepared to do that, while the True, remnant Church goes underground. Society will embrace the official Church because it will be inclusive, blessing the unions of adulterers and homosexuals. Priests and faithful who cannot abide by the new practice will be driven into the latter-day catacombs.
I'm sticking with Pope emeritus Benedict on this one. Should he die, I'm following Cardinal Burke.
"As they led him off, they caught hold of a man called Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and loaded him with the cross, so that he should carry it after Jesus.
Jesus was followed by a great multitude of the people, and also of women, who beat their breasts and mourned over him; but he turned to them, and said, 'It is not for me that you should weep, daughters of Jerusalem; you should weep for yourselves and your children.
Behold, a time is coming when men will say, It is well for the barren, for the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never suckled them. It is then that they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, Cover us.
If it goes so hard with the tree that is still green, what will become of the tree that is already dried up?'" Luke 23:26-31 (The Knox Bible)
This is why studying history is so important. What Pope Francis is doing isn't all that unique. Practically every single one of the Christological heresies that threatened schism had a "realistic" Pope that sometimes even supported the persecution of "idealistic" priests and bishops.
History has shown time and time again that "realistic" Popes are despised by future generations, and today's "idealists" are tomorrow's saints...but they must pass through their own personal Calvary before that happens, and like Moses may never enter the promised land this side of the veil. So holding fast to the Cross all the more important.
While I sympathize with the anonymous priest, he need not despair. We're just in one of the several Church crises that appear to happen every 500 years or so. What we must not do is abandon Peter because of Judas, even when Peter is possessed by "The Spirit of Judas II". We must be like St John and our Blessed Mother, bravely stay by Jesus at Calvary even though Peter and the others abandoned Christ and even at the risk of being caught by the Roman and secular powers of this world.
Father,
In my view your fears are well founded, in that Franciscus appears to be converting Mother Catholic Church into a franchise, where different hierarchies whilst existing under the umbrella, of the term Catholic, plough their own version of the Dogma. Possibly, even to the point of the CofE model of "high", "middle", "low" and even "way-out" parishes.
Such has to be resisted and certainly the "big T" and "little t" clergy and congregations should unite in common cause.
The Feast of the Forty Martyrs has just passed, what exactly do the Kasperites, et al, and,Franciscus,
make of that bygone 'apparent' foolishness in their terms?
Father,
As one of The Remnant's principal contributors, I would like to thank you for this post. The witness of clergy outside "traditionalist" circles will be vitally important in confronting the reality of the threat posed by a "Synod on the Family" whose purpose, at least so far as its controllers are concerned, is to find a way to abandon the teaching of John Paul II and all his predecessors respecting discipline inextricably connected to the Church's infallible teaching on sexual morality. As Cardinal Burke has rightly warned: such a change of discipline would mean a change of doctrine. And that would be a catastrophe.
Please do not mistake The Remnant's realism with "gloom," however. It is the situation, not the Remnant, that is gloomy. We know that in the end the gates of Hell cannot prevail against the Church. But we also know that God deigns to use human instruments to achieve His ends and that Catholics have a duty to defend truth and oppose error.
That "the Holy Ghost is in charge of the Church," as some commentators intone reflexively, does not mean that she is on autopilot, immune from human error and in no need of defense by her human members. If the Faith were mere a zero sum game whose outcome is always appropriately adjusted by the Holy Ghost regardless of what we do or fail to do, there would be no risk to souls from the negligence or deliberate misdeeds of pastors. In which case, there would be no need to condemn heresy and insist upon orthodoxy, and thus no need for the truths of the Faith as opposed to what we are seeing now: "accompanying," "welcoming," "inclusion" and a "mercy" without reference to justice, with condemnations reserved only to Catholics who are zealous for orthodoxy and orthopraxis. This is a development we have not quite seen before, even in the midst of all the confusion of the past fifty years.
Again, thank you for posting this.
"Who is Catholic?" For Cardinal Burke, it is those who believe the entire Catholic faith, for the Pope, it seems to be anyone of goodwill who identifies themselves as such.
I think the Pope should be named (Pope Francis)otherwise there is the remote interpretation that Francis" belief is inherent in the Office of Papacy. Which I think is not the truth.
Along with many thoughtful advices you also opined:
"We're just in one of the several Church crises that appear to happen every 500 years or so."
To me that matter of fact observation eerily echoed the stark warning at 2 Peter 3:4
"Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."
There is something profoundly and uniquely amiss both in the world and in the Church.
It is by now very obvious what I have been saying for some time now: 'Rome we have a problem.'
"He is recognising that we are disunited, the difference is that he is the first Pope (ever?) to seem to accept the status quo as a given rather than call to obedience and call into communion."
As his campaign managers included a prelate whose favourite mantra was the vacuous: "Unity is more important than truth.", it is quite likely that the Pope drinks the same Kool-aid.
The reality is that there can never be unity without truth, and hence there can never be unity between those who follow Christ and those who follow Belial.
It is a natural process of growth in any organism's life cycle that it should intermittently slough off dead flesh, or drop off dead wood. It has to happen to keep the rest of the organism healthy. It seems that in the life of the Church, such events happen in roughly 500 year cycles and we are heading towards another tipping point now. Schism from the cancerous polyps and ecclesiastical parasites which risk overwhelming the rest of the body seems to be the only logical course for survival.
The answer is not to "leave priestly ministry" as the correspondent suggested, but rather to stand firm and "not be blown about by every wind of doctrine" that emanates from the tempter's orifice. That would give Satan everything he wants to achieve without him even having to break a sweat. No, fight it by teaching the truth, fight it by doing what is right and fight it by refusing to co-operate with evil. Fight it on our knees with our Rosaries in our hands.
The price of remaining faithful in the face of rampant apostasy will be long, painful suffering, constantly bearing the contempt and ridicule of the backsliders, and perhaps loss of office and ministry because of persecution by corrupt bishops. But if Our Lord could endure His Passion and Cross for us, so what? This is the chance for our own salvation. Let the enemy bring it on.
Yes Father after two years some of us are beginning to think we understand what the current pope is up to, but we're not quite sure.
Yes, the Church is divided, i.e., contains those of heretical belief within its nominal ranks.
Yes, he admits this, but not nearly as openly and frankly as St Pius X did.
I trust, however, he does not accept this. That would be heresy.
The essential thing now is which side of the divide we are on. That of Scripture, Revelation, Tradition, and the Magisterium, or that of diverse heretical belief, compatible with Secular society.
Those who reject the Catholic position, i.e., who are heretical, are automatically excommunicated. It has nothing to do with action. You can be a very sinful person and still be a Catholic. (Although you should not receive Holy Communion, that would be pushing things)!
Of course the”the smoke of Satan “ is about in the Church just as it was at the Protestant Reformation and other great heresies.
The “anonymous “ priest should not leave the Church. All priests, good and true, are desperately needed. No, he and all other priests of Faith and goodwill should remain in the no doubt much numerically reduced Catholic Church - regardless of how many other priests or bishops move to the Secular/Relativist/Modernist side.
But the second session on the “Family” will be the deciding issue. You priests, and bishops should you ever read these opinions, should be crystal clear about that!
ps Long skirts. Excellent. May I quote? I mean, “Frozen solid , Can't beget.”...................
I think there may be a danger of becoming too gloomy about all this. As far as the Synod is concerned it is surely the final written document that will matter. So far we have had two Relatios Post Disceptionem. The first one was terrible but the second one was a complete rewrite and with one or two exceptions seemed to me to correct the unorthodox first relatio and it is now the lineamenta for the second session of the Synod. What is interesting is to look at the voting pattern for the lineamenta and it is apparent that this correcting of the first Relatio received the overwhelming indorsement of the Synod Cardinals. In roughly two thirds of the votes on the sixty odd propositions there were less than 10 votes against the changes. It is possible to work out that the Kasperite theme at no time won more than about 30 votes out of a total of 178. It seems to me that if the Synod continues like that then we do not need to worry quite so much. There may have been improper manipulation and acts from certain quarters but these were so blatant that I think they will have done more harm to the Kasperite cause than any good.
It is interesting that the orthodox views of the majority of the Cardinals seem to be winning the day whilst whatever it is that Pope Francis and his colleagues are alleged to be doing is being sidelined.
German Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes at https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-rebukes-head-of-german-bishops-we-cant-ignore-christs-teaching-on
shows us just how pathetic Cardinal Marx and his German church are whilst Chiesa points us to how this may be Africa's Hour:
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351004?eng=y
Yes we are all looking to the synod as a 'make or break' event for the Church. However for those in our diocese who are awaiting a new Bishop, whoever is chosen will no doubt form the direction in which this particular diocese will move.
For many of us it will be the first time we will be able to find out from the Internet about our new Bishop on his eventual appointment Rumours abound as to who will be chosen or indeed who may already have been chosen and the choice will tell us much about the direction of the Church as well as that of our diocese. It does seems like a long wait.
Nicolas,
Actually even the Final Report doesn't matter if it in any way conflicts with twenty centuries of Catholic teaching. Yes, it certainly matters in that we will see clearly where the battle lines are drawn but a mere Synod Report, however newsworthy, is not the final say on any matters regarding faith or morals.
We Catholics have one wonderful fall-back position. Whenever we hear words coming from a priest, Bishop or even Pope that contradict previous teaching we can always go the higher authority. That higher authority are the infallibly-defined doctrines which we know are free from error. So a Synod Report may indeed confirm previous teaching or do incredible damage by deviating from what was always taught. In any case it is hardly the last word on any subject.
I too used to think The Remnant---along with Catholic Family News---gloomy. Later I realized that they simply refuse to put on the rose-colored glasses of denial.
I think you are very brave for publishing your post, Father. As 'careerism' goes, you obviously have not a drop! Your career path points down the Via Dolorosa. I pray for you and for 'Pope Frank' that he will have more brave priests!
http://kneelingcatholic.blogspot.com/2013/09/dear-holy-father-francis-please.html
There will be no definitions, so after the Synod, Bishops will have to define doctrine and praxis in pastoral letters to the faithful in their own diocesis, especially about Communion.
That will be the division between Catholic and non-catholic (or sacrilegious) areas. And Catholics should avoid attend Mass on the seconds.
Jacobi asked:
"May I quote? I mean, “Frozen solid , Can't beget.”"
Of course.
They speak the truth at The Remnant, and hold to the unchanging and unchangeable Faith and morals.
Priests and bishops have a grave duty to uphold their solemn vows and to continue to work for the salvation of souls, which becomes more critical when a majority of bishops and priests and the pope are attacking the Faith, to the danger of many souls. Bishops, priests - do not abandon God and His Holy Church, and the souls that need you to get to heaven. We should not even imagine abandoning the Faith just because the great majority has apostatised. If we know the true Faith, we will be found guilty of we abandon it. This is by far the worst crisis of the Church - there is only a tiny remnant that continues to believe and practise as we are required to do as Catholics. And the people, starting with the leaders of the Church, are supporters and promoters of the greatest evils to a much greater number than at any time in history. The greatest evils have been "normalised" and are forced on children from the earliest age. The denial of what is plain for all to see, is astounding. How easily has reason been jettisoned, in order to avoid continuing to stand up for the timeless universal truths. The great apostasy has been prophesied many times and is obvious for all who are honest. It is ongoing denial of the apostasy that has probably been the biggest single factor in its rapid development - denial which is ultimately due to sin. Motus in fine Velocior. When I was a child, or even in my twenties, I could never have imagined the depths of evil to which the world and Church have sunk, and I was always following what was happening with close attention, and involved in efforts to fight the public sanction, promotion and enforcement of the worst evils. One after another, worse and worse evils were accepted, then imposed, and each time, the majority of bishops and priests were derelict in their duty to fight evil, so that today, the majority matter of factly refuse to do their duty, whilst defending intrinsic evils by commission or omission. The priests who continue to do their most sacred duty stand out and are openly and aggressively persecuted, not only from without, but more crucially from "within" the Church, as apostates have the power, precisely because they are few in number and with little temporal power. Of course, their supernatural power is very great. Their witness in the face of persecution brings enormous graces.
There are many above with whom I agree. I too have seen the article on Chiesa and its claim that the future lies with Africa. Most interesting.
The very fact that many are predicting a schism is, in itself, an indictment of this Papacy.
I certainly have no wish to unite myself with a clique whose destination is Hell. I am a 100% traditionalist. I unite with the likes of Cardinal Burke. In no way do I deny Divine Mercy but long ago I wrote in some comment, somewhere, that God is not a silly old fool sitting on a cloud saying "There,there my Dear. It's alright I forgive everyone"!
Beautiful long skirts. Beautiful.
Me too. Cardinal Burke's talk in Chester last week was brilliant. Why can't pope Francis think like that?
The online newsletter of a local parish this week states that 'we will also very likely have our new Bishop present.' This refers to the 50th anniversary celebrations in July.
However it is a little ambiguous as
this could mean either that his name will be announced on that day or earlier, or that the future Bishop will be present (perhaps as one of the speakers) but his name not yet made public.
Perhaps it will be one of the 'celebrity' speakers? I suppose we can rule out the retired Archbishop of Canterbury - can't we?
For me the key division is not between Bergolio and Burke. The issue is at what point do we "go to the mattresses"? Such a move is predicated by a culture war whose very existence is simply unacknowledged by the Derek Worlock project of which Murphy-O'Connor has been the main project manager in this country for the last fifteen years. Whatever is happening, war or not, can we really "selfie" our way out of this?
There was something of the "end of history" about Worlock and I am beginning to see why Auberon Waugh teased him mercilessly. He resembled some of the English twits found in his father's novels and what we can learn from Derek's life is that he was wrong about absolutely everything. Not least that a) history did not end in his life time and b) history, as that wise old bird Henry Ford remarked, is a racket anyway.
Aged Parent: I could not agree more with what you have said. I think I have previously pointed out that a Synod has no power to make infallible statements. The crunch point would only come if Pope Francis were to declare the teaching of the Synod to be correct and thus infallible. If the final statement of the Synod is erroneous that cannot happen.
I found the article and comments here to be very interesting. You are all clearly much more forgiving than I am. All that I feel is anger.
As far as I can see, whether the Synod results in major changes or just a further loosening of the Church's teaching, it will simply continue the process of the last 50 years. This is the steady slide (with a slight plateau through Pope Benedict) of the Catholic Church towards Protestantism.
The anger comes from my expectations. Whilst they may well have personal failings, I expected priests and bishops to, as a minimum, defend the Catholic Church and Christ's teaching. With notable exceptions, this has not been done.
How dare they dismantle the religion that was passed into their safe keeping. How dare they destroy the Church I was born into and, slice by slice, take apart the truths that my parents and school taught me.
Indeed, how dare they destroy the teaching in catholic schools to such an extent that children go out into the World with no real knowledge of what it is to be a follower of Christ.
I shall end there - but thank you Father for your blog. It is a light in an increasingly dark world.
Lynda,
I have read your comment carefully. It is very, frighteningly, depressing. My first reaction is that you're being a bit negative. The trouble is, I am not sure now that you are.
I am in my seventies. When I was a youth, a cradle Catholic, I mixed often with non-Catholics. Always, when conversation drifted to religion, which it often did (late at night etc.), heads would turn to the few Catholics - and we were listened to. That would not happen now.
You mention “by far the worst crisis of the Church”. You may well be right. It's a bit scary to find oneself in the midst of a historically significant event. I mean that's supposed to happen to others?
And the sad thing is we will not see its resolution. I have always felt sorry for soldiers we were killed in battle, before the outcome was clear. I suppose we are now in that situation.
But there will be a clear outcome, and the One, True, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church will emerge. That is for sure. And it is particularly up to the remaining loyal priests and bishops to ensure that.
Must go. Being called down for lunch!
If Bebedict can resign, why not Francis?
I think the problem is much worse than a mere break, as bad as that is. If the Vatican no longer backs 2000 years of teaching on sacraments, and we are seeing it now, there will be no place to stand when priests preach the Gospel- they will be sued. There will be no place to stand when fighting abortion. No place to stand for private, secret confessions. No place to stand for marriage. It will be a FOUNDATIONAL destruction. There will be sacrilege across ALL sacraments and it will be 'the world' that decides what the Catholic Church should teach, under force of 'law'. Even a later pope couldn't undo the damage done.
C'mon, c'mon folks!
Cheer up!
The worst cannot happen!
The Church will never declare heresy to be true! We have the cast iron guarantee of Jesus himself that such is impossible.
However, we may indeed go through a very rough time before the end of this affair.
Can you see the Faithful standing up in protest at the next Conclave and shouting out "We want Cardinal Burke as our next Pope"? It just might happen!
Sorry in advance for the long post Father.
I think there are two BIG problems in the Church today
The liberals since they deny sin, do not see the need for prayer and penance and I suspect that many prayers and penances offered up by Traditionalists are not accepted by God since they are made in spiritual pride.
There is a line of dialogue from "Star Trek Generations" where Cpt Picard is trying to enlist Kirk to help defeat the bad guy.
Kirk: I take it the odds are against us and the situation is grim?
Picard: You could say that.
Kirk: You know if Spock were here, he'd say I was an irrational, illogical human being for going on a mission like that. [pauses] Sounds like fun!
That is the attitude I take, we few, we disorganised, sinful, squabbling, badly armed few are going to take on the secular liberal, hedonistic world (not forgetting the likes of Kasper et al) in an endeavour which may very well end up in Martyrdom....... Where do I sign up? Call me a sucker for a lost cause but I find this sloppy, amateurish mickey mouse operation sooo appealing that I just gotta sign on.
If were on the board of Church Millitant TV, The Remnant or Catholic Family News I would suggest that a jester be hired to play practical jokes on the executives in order to lighten them up somewhat.
Alphonse Jr. says that the above just refuse to put on the 'rose tinted glasses of deinal' Well here is my response
Yes the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but right now I thoroughly believe that we at Midway, El Alamein and Stalingrad, I see the shoots of what will become the restoration beginning to bloom. These battles were not the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning. it was a long and bloody road to the gates of Berlin and Tokyo Harbour and many fine men who ought to have grown up, learned to shave and die in their beds gave the last full measure of devotion in the fight against evil but their sacrifice was not in vain.
The Devil wants you to be discouraged; laugh at him, laugh in his face cos he's a pathetic poser, the ape of God who was beaten by a teenage Jewish girl from Nazareth with her Fiat, he's the most pathetic being in existence, the ultimate sour grapes. Those commenting on this blog will (with the grace of God) sit for eternity on the thrones he and his cronies once occupied.
We will do so because we are the Don Quixotes, the bastard children adopted by God who with our prayers are going to give him a shellacking he'll never forget.
Lock 'n' Load, its gonna be one helluva ride !!
2 Thessalonians:
[3] Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, [4] Who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. [5] Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
Douay-Rheims Commentary;
[3] A revolt: This revolt, or falling off, is generally understood, by the ancient fathers, of a revolt from the Roman empire, which was first to be destroyed, before the coming of Antichrist. It may, perhaps, be understood also of a revolt of many nations from the Catholic Church; which has, in part, happened already, by means of Mahomet, Luther, &c., and it may be supposed, will be more general in the days of the Antichrist.
[3] The man of sin: Here must be meant some particular man, as is evident from the frequent repetition of the Greek article: 'the man of sin, 'the son of perdition, 'the adversary or opposer. It agrees to the wicked and great Antichrist, who will come before the end of the world.
[4] In the temple: Either that of Jerusalem which some think he will rebuild; or in some Christian church, which he will pervert to his own worship: as Mahomet has done by the churches of the east.
[6] And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. [7] For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way. [8] And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth; and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, him, [9] Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, [10] And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying:
[10] God shall send: That is God shall suffer them to be deceived by lying wonders, and false miracles, in punishment of their not entertaining the love of truth.
The signs of Our Times: We Love NOT the Truth, We have been given the operations (workings, actions) of error to believe lies. (We pray as we believe and believe as we pray, need I say more?)(Our public prayer of the Masses is working of error. Why? because we believe NOT the Truth.
Are you waiting for a 4 headed beast from Hollywood? Are we as the Jews in Our Lords day, waiting for what WE perceive will happen, and like the Jews who could not recognize Our Lord for who He was, we too do not recognize the FALSE christ the Devil and his minions for who they are, and thus we are deceived. Such that even the elect might be lost. I fear, God Forbid, that we are staring in the face of The Great Falling Away. Remember, you cannot loose what you have never had, "thus" the falling away is from the Holy Roman Catholic Faith. "JMJ Pray for us."
I think you are absolutely right Father, Pope Francis' personal view sees to be that doctrine doesn't really matter. For him that is all abstraction and theory. Which is precisely why he will not try to formally define anything IMHO. What matters to him is practical action. He wants change on the ground, but is quite happy to leave the official formulae alone. I agree that this is an attitude that is ultimately corrosive of all doctrine and all truth, so it is very damaging. But I doubt he wants to stand up as Pope and redefine the Church's teaching. The fact that he seems not to want to defend it in practice is an unprecedented and gravely concerning situation, but not a terminal one. Maybe this is bringing the whole latent division in the Church to a head like a massive boil. It will be painful and messy, but better and clearer afterwards. At least it is becoming very clear which side people are on. The "great divorce" proceeds apace.
"...it may also be true that many members of our hierarchy do not belong to Christ."
I have been thinking this for years. I think our time ranks with the days of the Arian crisis.
You can't vote on doctrine, especially morality. None of the synodal churches whether Protestant or Catholic gets that apparently. The Presbyterians are 7 votes away...how many do you think the RCC is now?
Father, Thank you very much for your most welcoming article... As a Roman Catholic Priest... will stay and fight for the Lord, the Faith and Holy Mother the Church. I am proud of the Polish Bishops and the stand that they are also taking... Poland has always been and will be faithful... a good expample for all of us!
Holy Mary Mother of the Church... Pray for us!
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