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Category Archives: News
Indiana and the Coming Golgotha: The Consequence of the Hierarchy’s flight from the Cross
Another reason to promote the Year for True Converstion (Y4Tc)
Pope Francis twists Scripture to promote heresy of false mercy
Rome, March 17, 2015: It was and is the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ that all who come to Him with faith and repentance receive the Mercy and forgiveness of God, and He won these great gifts for all mankind by His most bloody death on the Cross. But He established a prerequisite for every man, woman, or child who would come to Him, to receive these gifts: namely, faith and penance. It was with this exhortation, that He began His public ministry, when He said, “The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.“ (Mk 1:15). For many Christians, who revere the Bible as the source of their faith, these may only be nice sounding words, but for the Catholic Church, which Christ Founded, these words are both an exhortation unto the end of time and the very form and practice of our Holy Religion.+
The Path of true Repentance & Faith which Christ taught
When a man recognizes that he is a sinner, he comes to Christ by confessing his sins and professing His faith in the Lord Jesus, as God and his Redeemer. He accepts Christ’s teaching as a whole, that is entirely and in every respect, and he submits to the authority of Christ which He handed down, in part, to the Apostles and through them to all the Bishops and priests of His Church. To be incorporated into Christ, therefore, a sinner must present himself to a Catholic priest and receive Baptism, making a profession of faith in Christ and His teachings, and repenting of all his sins. He shows publicly that he is sincere in his repentance by removing himself from the public profession of sin, which consists in those forms or lifestyles which are contrary to the Gospel. Thus, drunkards give up drink and remove it from their homes; fornicators give up fornication, adulterers leave their lovers, sodomites give up their sodomy and its lifestyle, etc.
For Catholics, who have fallen away from the practice of the Faith, and have entered into sinful relations, such as marrying one who is already married but separated or divorced, or cohabiting with anyone, the return to the practice of the Faith requires this same repentance and faith, separation from the life of sin and reception of the Sacrament of Confession. Then one can receive the Eucharist. In the Catholic Church, we take the Sacraments seriously, because we believe just as Our Lord taught us, that in the Eucharist there is really, truly and substantially the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Most High and Holy God of Israel, the Eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, before whom, even in Christ, no one is worthy to come, unless he repent and believe, but by Whose mercy and grace a man is made worthy to receive in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, if he repent of his sins and believe the entirety (not just what he picks and chooses) of the Gospel.
This is the discipline and faith which the Catholic Church has received from Our Lord Himself, through the Apostles, and from the Apostles through the very men they chose for Bishops and priests (presbyters), and through these down through the ages. Our teachings and disciplines have never changed, because they are not ours, but Christs, and our Church, the Catholic Church is not ours, but Christ’s. The Catholic Church, therefore, being the one of which Christ said: And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her. (Matthew 16:18), knows that this Faith which Christ gave her is her victory over the world, the flesh and Satan; to alter that Faith therefore, would be to succumb to the world, the flesh and Satan. This is what we have always believed, this is what Christ and the Apostles have taught, and not only to us, but to all the world.
A HOMILY WHICH CONVICTS THE POPE OF OPEN SCHISM WITH CHRIST
Thus, it was an incredible and shameless act of defiance to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, when Pope Francis preached this blasphemous sermon, this morning, at Mass. Here is the Italian text of that sermon from Radio Vaticana:
“Un uomo – una donna – che si sente malato nell’anima, triste, che ha fatto tanti sbagli nella vita, a un certo momento sente che le acque si muovono, c’è lo Spirito Santo che muove qualcosa, o sente una parola o… ‘Ah, io vorrei andare!’… E prende coraggio e va. E quante volte oggi nelle comunità cristiane trova le porte chiuse: ‘Ma tu non puoi, no, tu non puoi. Tu hai sbagliato qui e non puoi. Se vuoi venire, vieni alla Messa domenica, ma rimani lì, ma non fare di più’. E quello che fa lo Spirito Santo nel cuore delle persone, i cristiani con psicologia di dottori della legge distruggono”.
La Chiesa è casa di Gesù
“A me fa dispiacere questo”, afferma subito dopo Francesco. Che ribadisce: la Chiesa ha sempre le porte aperte:“E’ la casa di Gesù e Gesù accoglie. Ma non solo accoglie, va a trovare la gente come è andato a trovare questo. E se la gente è ferita, cosa fa Gesù? La rimprovera perché è ferita? No, viene e la porta sulle spalle. E questa si chiama misericordia. E quando Dio rimprovera il suo popolo – ‘Misericordia voglio, non sacrificio!’ – parla di questo”.
The link above contains the full audio of the homily.
Here is our unofficial English translation, of the citation we just made:
“A man, a woman, who feels bad at heart, sad, who has made so many mistakes in life, at a certain moment feels the waters move, it is the Holy Spirit who moves something, or he hears a word, o, “Ah, I would want to go!” … and he gets the courage and goes. And how many times, today, in the christian community he finds the doors shut: “But you cannot, no, you cannot. You have made a mistake here and you cannot. If you want to come, come to Mass on Sunday, but remain there, don’t do anything else.” And that which the Holy Spirit is working in the heart of these persons, Christians with the mentality of doctors of the law, destroy”.
The Church is the House of Jesus
“This displeases me,” Francis affirms immediately afterwards. He repeats: the Church always has her doors open:“She is the house of Jesus and Jesus is there welcoming. But not only welcoming, he goes to find the people just as he went and found this one. And if the people are wounded, what does Jesus do? Does he reprove them because they are wounded? No, he comes and carries them on his shoulders. And this is called, “mercy”. And when God reproves His people — “I want mercy, not sacrifice!” — He is speaking of this”.
Analysis
The context of the Pope’s talk is about receiving communion. And anyone with the simplest Catholic education can understand that what the pope is doing is denouncing the discipline of reserving the Eucharist for those not in mortal sin, which discipline comes from the Apostles and is universal in all the local Churches which they founded (Jerusalem, Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, etc.).
Notice, that there is not 1 word about how the sinner is guilty of a moral offense: in the pope’s mind, the sinner is just 1 who made “mistakes”, and thus has no need to repent, to change his life, and to remove scandal, or to go to confession, before receiving the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. NO! Its the faithful Catholics, who remind him that unless he do this, he cannot receive the Eucharist, but can attend Mass, to pray for the grace of conversion: it is they who have the “mentality” of the pharisees, it is they who destroy the working of the Holy Spirit in these sinners — a most blasphemous and unjust assertion!
Not to mention, an interpretation contrary to 2000 years of faith.
But no, Francis will have none of this! He wants the “doors open” to all, without regard to the necessity of first believing (faith) and converting (penance).
In a word, the Pope just attacked Apostolic Tradition as it regards the discipline of refusing Communion to those in grave sin. That is heresy! And such a sin is condemned by the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicea, held in 787 A. D., in its 4th anathema:
If anyone should despise any written or unwritten ecclesiastical tradition, let him be anathema!
The Pope’s homily is also a formal violation of the teaching of the Council of Trent, Session 13, canon XI (bold facing added):
CANON XI: If any one saith, that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist; let him be anathema. And for fear lest so great a sacrament may be received unworthily, and so unto death and condemnation, this holy Synod ordains and declares, that sacramental confession, when a confessor may be had, is of necessity to be made beforehand, by those whose conscience is burdened with mortal sin, howsoever contrite they may think themselves. But if any one shall presume to teach, preach, or obstinately to assert, or even in public disputation to defend the contrary, he shall be thereupon excommunicated.
Thus, this homily of the Pope can serve as formal, canonical evidence of his heresy. If the College of Cardinals, whose duty now is to rebuke him, remain silent and allow him to issue no retraction, they are also guilty of a grave sin against fraternal and filial charity. If he persists, after 2 or 3 corrections, then they are obliged gravely before God to depose him from the papacy, as a heretic and schismatic.
The pope’s reinterpretation of Scripture, this morning, is nothing short of a sacrilege: the imputation to a text from Scripture which is entirely at odds with its signification and proper meaning, and this, to foster the approval of sin, the condoning of sin by false mercy.
For it is mercy to preach repentance to sinners, as Our Lord commanded St. Peter and the Apostles, when He ascended into Heaven. It is false mercy to preach acceptance of sinners without repentance and faith, since that leaves them in the state of sin in which they merit eternal damnation and temporal punishments.
Pope Francis evidently thinks that he is God
And that the infallible and indefectible Church of God, which is the Catholic Church alone, is wrong. And that she has been wrong for 2000 years,* to require both faith and penance of any sinner, before allowing them to receive Jesus Christ in the Sacrament.
What the pope is doing is committing the sins of heresy, blasphemy and sacrilege of scripture all at once.
This is NOT HUMILITY, this is DIABOLIC PRIDE. It is also an act of schism with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
To say that what God said in the Old Testament, “It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6; cf. Mt. 9:16), applies to abandoning the requirements of faith and penance, which God’s Only Begotten Son established as the prerequisites of Christian worship, when He said, “The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.“ (Mk 1:15),° is a plain and simple and direct denial of the authority of God the Son, and a usurpation by himself of the prerogatives of the Messiah, the Christ, to establish the limits of the faith!
Such a sin is a work of the Antichrist.
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+ The original article did not contain these first 4 paragraphs, since those who read this blog are devout Catholics. But due to the publicity this article has drawn, the editor has added them to explain the context of what follows even to non-Catholics and show why what the Pope did at mass, on Tuesday, was and is such a scandal.
* For citations from the new Catechism, see the comments below.
° St. Peter the Apostle, shows that this is to be understood of the Sacraments, when he preached on Pentecost day, saying: But “Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38), where he shows the necessity of penance and faith prior to receiving the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Since, the Christian Faith, is not a Pharisaical religion of external observances, but a spiritual one, the spiritual requirements for 1 sacrament are the spiritual requirements for all the sacraments. Thus faith and penance (repentance) is required most of all for the Eucharist, which is the supreme Sacrament of communion with God.
Matt & Ferrara on Ognissanti, the Kasper Agenda & Francis’ trajectory
See our blog post on the homily at Ognissanti, for more information about Pope Francis’ intentions about his plans for the Church.
Let the Year of Mercy be a Year to Call for an end to Vatican II Madness!
Come Holy Spirit, Creator Blest!
Y4Tc = A CALL TO TURN THE YEAR OF FAKE MERCY ON ITS HEAD
Rome, March 14, 2015: Yesterday, Pope Francis announced a special year of “mercy” to “celebrate” and commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council, which took place on Dec. 8, 1965. Which “Year of Mercy”, will be celebrated from Dec. 8, 2015, to Nov. 20, 2016.
Here is what the Vatican Insider reported yesterday:
Francis announced the Holy Year saying: “Dear Brothers and Sisters, I have often reflected upon how the Church can make its mission as a witness of mercy more apparent. It is a journey that begins with spiritual conversion. For this reason I have decided to proclaim an Extraordinary Jubilee which focuses on God’s mercy. It will be a Holy Year of Mercy. We wish to experience this inspired by the Word of the Lord: “Be merciful, just as your father is merciful” (cfr. Luke 6:36). This Holy Year will begin on the next Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and will conclude on 20 November 2016, Sunday of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the universe and the living face of the Father’s mercy.”
“I entrust the organisation of this Jubilee to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation, so that it may bring it to life as a new leg of the Church’s journey on its mission to bring the Gospel of mercy to every person. I am certain that this Jubilee will give the whole Church the joy of rediscovering the mercy of God and making it grow. All of us are called to be merciful and offer consolation to every man and woman of our time. We entrust it henceforth to the Mother of Mercy, that she may cast her gaze upon us and watch over our journey.”
Let’s be honest, Pope Francis has no idea what God’s Mercy is about
It is a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit to laud, with a sacred act, that which attacked in every way the blessings which the Church had received by Her own fidelity to the Holy Spirit’s gift of piety to Her through the course of 1933 years…
It is a sacrilege of the very notion for which the Jubilee years were established, to turn a year which should be marked by the quest of the forgiveness of one’s own sins through penance and prayer and alms-giving, into a political event equivalent to patting one’s self on the back for having destroyed everything holy in the Church.
Mercy, as any Christian knows, has nothing to do with ignoring or excusing sin, as Pope Francis has made absolutely clear he’s about. Its about confessing one’s sin, in the humble recognition that God, not man nor the Pope, defines what is right and wrong, and man must accept or be thrust down into the everlasting fires of Hell!
True Mercy consists in this, that God deigns to forgive man his sins when and only when man agrees to recognize them as such, repent of them completely and perfectly, and amend his life by conforming it to the rules and laws and obligations which God has set, as He has revealed them in Scripture and Tradition.
Let’s be more honest, the “Fruits” of Vatican II are all rotten and putrefying
For those who have not lobotomized themselves with loyalty to a political ideology, which requires only the consistent parroting of the same ideology: one has only to look at the statistics which measure Catholic life, to know that Vatican II’s effect has been entirely rotten.
There is no need to prove the point, other bloggers have collected impressive amounts of evidence, as can be seen in this post, by Joao, “Catholic Church statistics (Vatican II is a disaster!)”, published on January 14, 2014.
One could also measure the theological meltdown by a simple comparison between the contents of homilies, newspapers, magazines and other publications, which are run by the hierarchy today, and those run by the same hierarchy yesterday.
Simply do a google search, or go to a “Catholic” bookstore.
I won’t mention the 10,000’s of boys who have been sexually abused by 1,000’s of homosexual predators among the Cardinals, Bishops, Priests and Religious who support Vatican II’s reforms — though we shouldn’t pretend that this moral disaster is only confined to that group.
Thus, there is no reason to celebrate the anniversary of Vatican II. Rather, on the contrary, we should lament it!
A Year for True Conversion (Y4Tc)
On which account, I believe it would redound to the honor and glory of the Divine Majesty of the Most Holy Trinity, that Catholics everywhere, recognizing that it is a special grace of the Holy Spirit to have been preserved in mind and soul from the massive delusion which has swept the Church since Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council, and considering it the gravest act of truth and love to call one’s fellow brothers and one’s fathers to repentance, before the wrath of God falls upon them, or the Faith of the Church be entirely extinguished in them…
To call for a YEAR FOR TRUE CONVERSION (with the official Acronym: Y4Tc).
To participate meritoriously in this authentic year of grace, a Catholic will pledge himself in thought, word and deed to calling for the repentance of all those addicted to the Second Vatican Council as the new Gospel of the Church.
By reminding them,
- that it is God, not men, Who is the Author of Creation and of Man, and of all natural institutions which are consequent to these.
- that is is God, not men, Who is the Author of the Catholic Faith and Founder of the Catholic Religion, such that no man, not even the pope or bishops united with him, has any power to alter or change that which God has established;
- that is is God, not men, Who is the Author of all authentic spiritual renewal of each and every individual and of the entire Church, and that no man, not even the pope with all the bishops united with him, can set up another path for spiritual renewal, than that which He has always worked.
Hence, during the “Year of Mercy” decreed by Pope Francis, from December 8, 2015 to November 20, 2015, Catholics adhering to the YEAR OF TRUE CONVERSION will pray and work for the conversion of all who are addicted to the Second Vatican Council by reminding them that the Deposit of Faith is Scripture AND Tradition, as interpreted and taught by the Perennial UNCHANGING Magisterium of the Church, and that it is
- a MORTAL SIN of IDOLATRY to regard any other authority as the basis of the Catholic Faith.
- a MORTAL SIN OF SACRILEGE to despise or contemn any ecclesiastical tradition, whether written or not, which the Church has received from Christ, from the Apostles or Prophets, from the Fathers or Doctors of the Church, from the Saints, or from the pre-Vatican II Magisterium or Popes.
- a MORTAL SIN OF IMPIETY to propose new and novel forms or meanings for any Catholic liturgy, ritual, word, practice, devotion, for the purpose of mixing the spirit of the world, of the flesh, or of the devil, into Catholic life and belief.
The purpose of this Year of True Conversion will be to obtain the explicit and verbal recognition of these truths and the abandonment of that sacrilegious impiety known as the Aggiornamento, which has sought to adapt faith to life, in such wise, as to make of life the rule of faith.
I leave it to the artistic creativity of Catholics everywhere to create whatever signs or logos to show their adhesion to this year of grace.
Thus, let this year, be a year of intense spiritual warfare against the impiety of Modernism and of the Modernists. In this way, we can work the greatest and most necessary act of fraternal charity possible, for the greatest number of souls, today, and unto the end of time! — And such is, a true work of Mercy, a true work in collaboration with the Holy Spirit!
I encourage and ask one and all to place and consecrate this Year of True Conversion to the Holy Spirit, under the patronage of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, that He and She might work through all for the true reconciliation of God and men and the only authentic renewal possible for the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis’ Homily at Ognissanti, March 7, 2015
Rome, March 9, 2015: On Saturday, Pope Francis celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first use of a vernacular form of the Roman Rite, when he visited the titular church of Cardinal Walter Kasper, at Rome, the Parish of All Saints (Ognisannti).
For the record, here is our unofficial English translation of the original Italian text, which can be found at News.Va.
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Holy Mass at the Roman Parish of Ognissanti, on the Via Appia Nuova
Homily of Pope Francis
3rd Sunday in Lent
Saturday, March 7, 2015
On the occasion of the feast of the Jewish Passover, Jesus went to Jerusalem. Arriving at the Temple, he does not find people who seek God, but people who are conducting their own business: merchants of animals for the offering of sacrifice, money-changers, who exchange the “impure” money, bearing the image of the Emperor, with the money approved by the religious authority to pay the annual temple tax. What do we find when we take ourselves there, when we go to our temples? I give you this example: The unworthy commerce, source of ill-gotten gain, provokes the energetic reaction of Jesus. He overturns their tables and throws their money to the ground, he drives the merchants away, saying to them: « Don’t make the House of my Father a market! » (John 2:16).
This expression does not only refer to the traffic which was being practiced in the courtyards of the Temple. Rather, it regards the type of religiosity. The gesture of Jesus is a gesture of “cleaning”, of purification, and the mentality which He expresses can be found in the texts of the Prophets, according to which God does not take pleasure in an exterior cult wrought through material sacrifice and based upon personal interest (cf. Isaiah 1:11-17; Jeremiah 7:2-11). This gesture is a call back to authentic worship, to the correspondence between liturgy and life; a call which is valid for every epoch and even for us today. That correspondence between liturgy and life. The liturgy is not something strange, over there, far off, and one during which I think of many things, or pray the Rosary. No, no. There is a correspondence, between the liturgical celebration and what I then carry on in my life; and on this (path) one must go further ahead, one must journey onward.
The conciliar Constitution, Sacrosanctum Concilium, defines the liturgy as « the first and indispensable source from which the faithful can draw the true Christian spirit » (n. 14). Which means to reaffirm the essential link which unites the life of the disciple of Jesus with liturgical worship. This is, above all, not a doctrine to comprehend, or a rite to fulfill; it is naturally also this but in another manner, it is essentially diverse: it is a source of life and of light for our journey of faith.
Moreover, the Church calls us to have and to promote an authentic liturgical life, so that there may be a harmony between what the liturgy celebrates and what we ourselves life in our own existence. It treats of how to express in life what we have received by means of the Faith and what which have celebrated (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 10).
The disciple of Jesus does not go to church only to observe a precept, to feel okay with a God who should not “trouble” him much. “But I, Lord, go every Sunday, I fulfill …, don’t mix yourself up with my life, don’t bother me”. This is the mentality of so many Catholics, so many. The disciple of Jesus goes to church to encounter the Lord and to find in his grace, working in the Sacraments, the strength to think and act according to the Gospel. On which account, we cannot delude ourselves into thinking that we can enter the house of the Lord and “cover ourselves over”, with prayers and devotional practices, comportments contrary to the requirements of justice, of honesty or of charity towards our neighbor. We cannot substitute with “religious gifts” what is owed to our neighbor, putting off a true conversion. The cult, the liturgical celebration, are the privileged place to heed the voice of the Lord, which guides us along the road of righteousness and Christian perfection.
This regards the fulfillment of a journey of conversion and penitence, to take from our life the scars of sin, as Jesus did, by cleansing the Temple of petty interests. And Lent is the favorable time for all of this, it is the time for interior renewal, for the forgiveness of sin, the time in which we have been called to rediscover the Sacrament of Penance and of Reconciliation, which causes us to pass from darkness to the light of grace and friendship with Jesus. There is no need to forget the great strength which this Sacrament has for the Christian life: it makes us grow in union with God, it makes us reacquire the lost joy and to experience the consolation of feeling ourselves personally welcomed by the merciful embrace of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, this Church was constructed thanks to the apostolic zeal of St. Luigi Orione. It is precisely here, that, fifty years ago, blessed Paul VI inaugurated, in a certain sense, the liturgical reform with the celebration of the Mass in the language spoken by the people. I auger that this circumstance may revive in you all the love of the house of God, In her, may you find great spiritual help. Here you are able to experience, every time you wish to, the regenerative power of personal prayer and of community prayer. Listening to the Word of God, proclaimed in the liturgical assembly, it sustains you in the path of our Christian life. You meet together here between these walls, not as strangers, but as brothers, capable of giving one another a hand freely, because you have been built up in love through Christ, the foundation of hope and the fundament of pledge for every believer.
Him, Jesus Christ, the Corner Stone, do we embrace in this Holy Mass, renewing the resolution to commit ourselves for our own interior purification and for the interior cleansing of the spiritual edifice of the Church, of which each of us is a living part in force of our Baptism. Amen.
A word of truth for Pope Francis, from a layman in the pews
March 8, 2015: The From Rome blog is not accustomed to quote comments from other websites, but every now and then one runs upon a comment which summarizes in the succinct and colorful language with which laymen are often blessed to have the talent for, the true nature and spirit of current events. Here is just one comment from a layman, James, made on the article, Uneasy Truce: Vatican Spokesman will not sue Canadian Blogger for Public Criticism, by Kathy Schiffer at National Catholic Register, on March 6th:
Posted by James on Friday, Mar 6, 2015 2:40 PM (EDT):The totally gratuitous scandal ignited by Father Rosica’s real and threatened actions against Mr. Domet is plain stupid. It is hard to believe that there is any facet of common sense that would allow a priest to embark on such a course of action. Nevertheless, given the current climate where the heterodox are given full reign to attack and undermine doctrine, why not bite at the heels of a concerned, faithful and orthodox layman. The utterly cruel nonsense Mr. Domet met with at the Vatican when he appealed to their intervention is of even greater concern. Lies, theft and malarkey go unabated and uncorrected. They pose behind any chunk of pious sentimentality to boost their orthodox credentials (soccer balls on altars comes to mind). Left-wing clerics, from the “tippy-top” to the local pastor are exposing themselves to be beneath contempt over the last two years. They have lost all credence among Catholics who are not amongst the low-info. Indeed … “why all the reticence?” Cowardliness, that’s why. All of them need to learn how to teach doctrine and how to accompany the flock on the spiritual journey…but I guess it’s just easier to distort the Magisterium rather than lead the flock to the journey’s intended end. Someone needs to hold the mirror up. Someone needs to fire these clowns. Someone needs instruction on how to make a genuine examination of conscience, or if not that, how to write a letter of resignation.
The reference to “reticence” is perhaps an allusion to the recent editorial by Edward Pentin, which appeared in the same paper.
It is a heresy to say Capital Punishment is immoral, or can be abolished
Rome, March 6, 2015: The agenda of Communism* to disarm Christendom more and more has reached fever pitch this week with pronouncements by the Vatican Observer at the United Nations, the Pope, and several media outlets in the United States against the death penalty.
Patheos a left-wing, source for news and opinion for Catholics in the English speaking world, is running a story today about this, entitled, “Catholic Media Unite in Opposition to the Death Penalty“. That article in part reads:
‘Capital Punishment Must End.’ That’s the bold headline in the National Catholic Register this morning. The Register, in a groundbreaking collaboration with three other Catholic journals, published a strong statement opposing capital punishment.
The editorial boards of the Register, the National Catholic Reporter, Our Sunday Visitor and America joined in opposition to the death penalty, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in Glossip v. Gross, a case out of Oklahoma that challenges the most widely used lethal injection protocol as being cruel and unusual punishment.
The title of their article is more than misleading, it is implicitly heretical.°
For this simple reason, that it is de fide, that is a truth of Divine Revelation itself, that the State has the authority to punish wicked doers with capital punishment.
This is the teaching of Our Lord during His very Passion, when to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Procurator of Judea, insisting that He not be silent but answer his questions, He replied to him, declaring:
You would have no power over Me if it were not given you from above (John 19:11).
This truth was taught by St. Paul in other words, when he said,
1 LET every soul be subject to higher powers: for there is no power but from God: and those that are, are ordained of God. 2 Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation. 3 For princes are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good: and thou shalt have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to thee, for good. But if thou do that which is evil, fear: for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is God’s minister: an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil. 5 Wherefore be subject of necessity, not only for wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For therefore also you pay tribute. For they are the ministers of God, serving unto this purpose. 7 Render therefore to all men their dues. Tribute, to whom tribute is due: custom, to whom custom: fear, to whom fear: honour, to whom honour.
Therefore, the Catholic Faith has ever held that the state has the authority from God to punish criminals with capital punishment, since the metaphor “power of the sword” in St. Paul’s day referred to the punishment of beheading which was inflicted upon citizens of the empire for grave crimes.
The State, thus, has the moral right and the duty to impose this punishment in appropriate cases, the propriety of which arises not from the subjective dispositions of the individual, but from the objective transgression of the moral law committed by the evil doer.
This truth of the faith is intimately associated with another truth, namely that the Moral Law — which says what is right and wrong, which has God as its author and which is legible in the works of His creation — is superior in dignity to the individual human person, inasmuch as every human person is a creature of God Who is the Author of the moral law. For every law shares in the dignity of the one who issues it.
For these reasons it is not only an error, but a heresy against the Faith of Christ, to say that capital punishment is evil, un-useful or inappropriate, either in itself, or in its application. It is always useful and necessary to the state, because there will always be in this world, individuals who gravely offend the particular or common good in such wise as to merit the supreme temporal punishment, the loss of their own life. That is a fact of original sin.
The Roman Catechism, which summarized the Faith of the Catholic Church at the time of the Council of Trent had this to say on capital punishment:
That Pope John Paul II said that there exists other means to remediate the criminal does not mean that capital punishment is evil in itself or to be entirely abolished. He spoke about the remediation of the individual, not the duty of the state or the right of the state nor of the greater common good. And if he meant anything contrary to the teaching of Christ, it is obvious, that he erred and is not to be followed in that, since Vatican I required that Popes teach nothing contrary to Christ and His Apostles, and exhorted Catholics not to follow them if they do so.
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* Marx held that the way to social justice was through class revolution, and that capital punishment was the tool of the rulers to suppress the masses: this error promoted through liberation theology has spread from Europe to most of Latin America.
° Inasmuch as it says that such pronouncements are Catholic.
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The Book on the Trinity, every faithful Catholic priest would love as his next present
With this book, your priest will always have something intelligent and awesomely inspiring to preach to you about
God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Spirit!
An Interview with David Domet, the Vox Cantoris blogger who stood up to Fr. Rosica
French Translation | Italian Translation
Q. The Catholic world is gladdened to hear today that Fr. Rosica has decided not to take legal action against you, for your public criticism of his positions at your now famous blog, Vox Cantoris. As one of those who would like to know more about this sad episode, I am honored that you have consented to be interviewed by the From Rome blog.
Let us begin, therefore, with the facts of the case. When and how did you receive the threat of legal action, what Fr. Rosica now calls, the cease and desist letter?
Mr. Domet: Well, it clearly did not seem to me as a “cease and desist letter” which could have been written by him without the aid of one of Toronto’s most expensive law firms (though he does state the work was “pro bono; the fees to my Solicitor are certainly not, I’ve already paid her a retainer, as is just). The letter was quite clear on its demands and what was more astounding was the continued threat of a lawsuit even had I complied with their demands which I was not prepared to do. I was at lunch on Tuesday, February 17, the day before Ash Wednesday with a colleague and it came across my smartphone. Suffice to say, after reading it, lunch was over. The letter is available on line at my blog, people can read it and draw their own conclusions.
Q. What was your and your wife’s reaction at receiving such a communication from a man of God? and this at the beginning of Lent?
Mr. Domet: I was astounded and shocked, and my wife was extremely hurt and upset; and frankly, afraid as I was of what this meant for us and our home and my son; this has been very hard on her, especially coming from a priest. We know so many and work with so many priests organizing and assisting, consulting and training for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and chanting the Mass. She herself has a beautiful voice and assists me every week in the traditional rite. I also sing weekly in the Ordinary Form so my work with priests is well known and my love and respect for these good priests with whom I work is without doubt. The affects upon us have been physical, too, with more than a few chiropractic adjustments for neck and shoulder pain and stress. As for Lent, well; since we married nearly two years ago, life’s been pretty soft. Our Lent began with a very heavy cross much more so than the usual we might try to put upon ourselves. We have both been sustained by prayers from so many people around the world and we have many times offered up this trial to God our Father united with the Cross of Christ. We are happy that we can now regroup over the next few days and rest and then get on with a more structured Lenten focus.
Q. Who is Jesus Christ and what does the Catholic Faith mean to you? And how did this magnify your dismay at what had happened?
Mr. Domet: He is my LORD and saviour and King of all; if I try to do anything without him I fail – I’ve proven that more than once and “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me” was what I remembered in this matter. Nothing is more important than the Catholic Faith as given to us by Our Blessed Lord; He and It are the rock on which life makes sense and truth is anchored.
As for my dismay, what else can we expect? Look around at the world and at the Church. The Church for many reasons is weak so faith is weak; when faith is weak, Catholics are weak and the world is inflamed with evil and terror. I am dismayed that there are so few Catholics, whether priest, prelate or laity, prepared to stand up for Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. In Canada, we have over 40% baptized as Catholics, in the United States of America maybe 30% ; if every one of us went to the Sacraments and Mass on Sunday and lived our faith we would change our nations overnight! If that is the situation here, how much more for Europe where the percentages are even higher? My dismay is your dismay—the failings of Catholics to be Catholic and stand up for Our Lord.
Q. What did you do first, seek advice or contact the Law Firm in question?
Mr. Domet: I sought advice from a very small group of close advisors. I did not contact the law firm directly – I needed to secure the right Solicitor and found her, a Catholic with some other background knowledge which I cannot reveal but which aided our strategy. Our first contact back to the law firm apparently engaged “pro bono” by Father Rosica was by mail with the response to their first letter and contact was only made by my Solicitor.
Q. What was the advice given, or response from the Firm, as the case may be….?
Mr. Domet: As I indicated this on my own blog, Vox Cantoris; we responded to the deadline in the first letter to prevent an injunction on their part, though not meeting their demands, of course. We stated our position and suggested other options for discussion within the Church which were rejected.
Other items were then put on the table, making demands on me that were impossible to accept. It became apparent to me that we needed to communicate with clarity what we were not prepared to do, and what we were prepared to do, which was to defend ourselves and engage a crowd-funding campaign to sustain it.
Q. Out of respect for your contact in the Secretariat of State, I won’t ask you to divulge his name. And, assuming the advice he gave you was not his own, but that which he was counseled to give, can you tell us what advice did he give you? And did you ask him to explain why he gave such unexpected advice?
Mr. Domet: As I stated on my blog, I first “took it to the Church” as we are commanded to do in Holy Scripture. Frankly, it was easier to go to my contact in Rome than my own Chancery in Toronto. I can only assume that the information coming back to me was his personal advice and nobody else’s and I have no reason to believe otherwise. However, I was asked to state my “intention” and I did not respond to it and was then asked the next morning again and that maybe it would be better to “seek humility” and “apologise.” I did not and was advised not to respond to either. The fact is, intervention could have happened on the first or second day.
Q. Personally, I have seen time and time again, members of the clergy use spiritual counsels to convince the laity to assume a posture of excessive respect toward the clergy which seems to be would only enable further abusive behavior by members of the clergy, the same or otherwise. Was this any part of your own reaction to the advice given you through your contact in the Secretariate of State? And how does that reflect on the state of affairs in the Vatican, under Pope Francis, in your opinion?
Mr. Domet: I don’t think that I am qualified to give an opinion on the Secretariat of State and its operation under Pope Francis. However, let me state this; I’ve heard a lot of clergy do exactly as you stated and I myself have seen it directly, I have experienced it directly. It is the height of clericalism and it is detestable.
It is particularly detestable to attempt to do it to informed laity, which is in direct contravention of our rights and duties under Canon 212 §3 and the precepts of Vatican II, which they preach when it suits them.
Look, our parents and grandparents were victims of a clericalism that destroyed the liturgy and the faith for millions of souls. The same clericalism abused and sodomised and destroyed lives. This same clericalist attitude demanded that we “pay, pray and obey” while they “preyed!” Some of them say that we who wish to live by the Law and desire proper liturgy are Pharisaical and pelagian and desire clericalism. Nonsense! It is they that are the Pharisees, they are the clericalists –I’ve seen it; I’ve lived it and I’ve had direct experience with all of it and in some ways that I would rather not discuss at this time.
Q. What should catholics, and especially catholic bloggers who are faithful to the teaching of Christ, do, when confronted with such a letter?
Mr. Domet: Pray. Ask for spiritual warriors to pray especially Carmelite Nuns (thank you to them!!!). Assemble a small team of advisors and a practicing Catholic lawyer including a Canon Lawyer; but something tells me this won’t be happening again anytime soon.
Q. And how do you think your case gives good example of what should be done in the future, regarding attempts by an ever increasing number of clergy and religious to urge and push the Church to abandon Christ’s teaching about faith and penance, marriage, chastity, and the traditional Eucharistic Discipline?
Mr. Domet: The example is quite clear; the Catholic blogosphere lit up with what happened; we need to see the power in that and take up the cause for the faith the family and the Holy Eucharist which seems to me to be at the heart of the matter.
How can those of us now unite to form an army of devoted and believing Catholics that blog to prevent an attempt to overturn doctrine at the Synod?
What vehicle can we use to coordinate our work, not control it, but to coordinate and disseminate and educate and catechise beyond just our few hundred readers?
Well, that’s what it was, I dare say now it is in the thousands! This situation since Ash Wednesday also shows the Church the power of blogs and how we will not be silent anymore in the face of heterodoxy. I can still remember as a child how my late mother particularly lamented what was done in the 1960’s. They had no way to stop it, no tools to fight back, we do and there is no excuse anymore not to use it to the advantage of the Church with “clarity and charity” as my own Archbishop will often state.
Q. Do you believe the proposals of Cardinal Kasper are, as Cardinals Muller and Sarah describe them, heretical, inasmuch as they propose to divorce Catholic Faith from Traditional discipline regarding the Sacraments?
Mr. Domet: Yes, 100% without reservation. Let me say this too. I married my lovely Frankie nearly two years ago; we courted for nearly two before that. I was married previously in the Church but was granted a “Decree of Nullity” many years ago. Let these prelates stop with the distortion of the facts. The annulment process, at least I can speak of here in Toronto, is rigorous and thorough as it must be, but it was not “painful.” It took time because I was lazy with my documents. My recollection is the cost was a suggested donation of $900 Canadian for which I received a tax receipt — so we can get off that carousel that it is not possible to obtain one.
One cannot divorce the Catholic Faith from Traditional discipline regarding the Sacraments and still remain Catholic.
Q. What do you think Catholic Cardinals and Bishops should be doing now to avert a disaster in October at the Synod for the Family?
Mr. Domet: Our own Cardinal Archbishop Thomas Collins has addressed the matter publicly and upholds the doctrine. He has asked for input from the faithful and I have certainly provided my own. What the Catholic faithful need to see are more examples of prelates such as Cardinal Burke and Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Cardinal Sarah, Archbishop Cordileone, the Polish bishops and many of those in Africa. Why are they not all speaking out? What are they afraid of? I’ve had enough of bishops in Belgium and the United States and here in Canada musing about blessing and accepting of alternative lifestyles. Yes, they have said this; I don’t need to name them here. I’ve heard enough of this “mercy” it is a false mercy – there is nothing merciful about someone being left in a place that will jeopardise their eternal salvation.
Q. If the Pope and those who prefer loyalty to him to loyalty to Christ Jesus, should push or declare any deviation from the Faith or traditional discipline of the Sacraments in the October Synod, will you stand with the Pope or with Jesus Christ?
Mr. Domet: I stand with Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. Let us not, as Catholics, give an exaggerated status to any pope along the lines of what our protestant friends think – an infallibility without respect for the Gospel, which he does not possess. The First Vatican Council defined it very clearly.
Q. How high do you think the stakes are in this battle?
Mr. Domet: As high as they can be; schism, heresy and the loss of souls and as our beloved Benedict XVI said, “the very future of the world is at stake”; God will not be mocked.
If they don’t get their way, then they threaten open schism…
Rome, February 26, 2015: Moments ago, Mateo Matzuzzi, noted journalist at il Foglio, one of Italy’s premier newspapers, published an astounding summation of the Kasper agenda by one of its chief German proponents, entitled, Marx lancia la sfida: “Non siamo una filiale di Roma e non sarà un Sinodo a dirci cosa fare qui”.
For those who don’t read Italian, that’s an explosive title: (Cardinal Marx) gives challenge: “We are not a local branch of Rome and it will not be a Synod that will tell us what to do.”
The comments of Cardinal Marx are significant, because he was a “Team Bergoglio” player from the beginning, as can be seen from this photo from the time of the 2013 conclave.
Cardinal Marx’s comments follow and dovetail the comments of a “Team Bergoglio” member, Cardinal Danneels, on the same subject.
Here is our unofficial translation of the central paragraph of that report:
The prince of the Church has clarified that even if in teaching one remains in communion with the Church, in merely pastoral questions, “the Synod cannot prescribe in detail what we must do in Germany”. As the German paper, il Tagespost, writes, the Episcopal Conference of Germany has left the gate and does not seem to have any intention of paying any heed to the decisions of the pope which might follow. “We cannot wait until a Synod tells us how we ought to conduct ourselves on Matrimony and pastoral practice for the family”. Marx has also announced that in the next weeks there will be published a document in advance of the meeting in October, in regard to which Germany “has a certain point of view”. It is necessasry, according to the judgement of the President of the Episcopal Conference, that one find “new approaches” capable of “helping and guaranteeing that the doors remain open”.
You can read the entire article from the German Paper, the Tagespost, in an unofficial English translation here.
A concrete example of Cardinal Bergoglio’s Peronist Homiletics
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio preaches at the Feast of San Cayetano, of Our Lady of Lujan, and of San Pantaleón, Argentina: Una producción del periodista Eduardo Delbono para el programa de TV ´Buenos Aires al Día¨.
First, a homily for the feast, which is all about Jesus being among the people, and St. Cajetan who gave bread and work to the people. The homily is in Spanish. The video gives a good view of how Catholicism is practiced in Argentina. Then follows his homilies at the other two feasts.
Bertone knew of Abication of Benedict and Advent of Francis 7 months before?
Rome, February 19, 2015: It must be a mistake, or a joke, otherwise its the stuff that will ignite the wildest speculation: Cardinal Bertone was quoted, yesterday, to have affirmed in an interview that he knew both of the planned resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the advent of Pope Francis months beforehand, and even discussed it with Pope Benedict!
Here is the explosive quote from the Catholic Herald, published today, and cited by us, minutes ago, but which was itself cited verbatim from the interview the Cardinal gave to Andrea Purgatori of the Huffington Post.
How surprised were you by his decision to leave?
I had guessed it, but put it out my thoughts. I knew long in advance, at least seven months before. And I had many doubts. We debated the topic at length after it seemed already decided. I told him: Holy Father, you must bestow upon us the third volume on Jesus of Nazareth and the encyclopedia of faith, before you sign things over to Pope Francis.
This phrase cannot have been said after the the Conclave, or before Conclave, because in the first case Benedict XVI had already abdicated; in the second, Pope Francis had not been elected nor taken his name. As it stands, it seems to signify that months before the election of Pope Francis, Pope Benedict and Cardinal Bertone, his secretary of State, knew that Cardinal Bergoglio would succeed him and take the name Francis.
The Huffignton Post, a liberal pro-Obama publication, was notorious some years ago for receiving a $30 million dollar grant, according to reports, from a foundation directed by George Soros to promote its own activities.
For the entire interview see the link to the Catholic Herald above.
You margins count for nothing, my margins are very definition of the Faith
Rome, February 18, 2015: Ash Wednesday is by immemorial tradition the day of penance, par excellence, in the Catholic Church. Catholics can prepare themselves for the advent of Holy Week by returning to a more vivid and faithful practice of the faith. As the From Rome blog noted, for Pope Francis, however, Lent is a time without sin or repentance, rather it is a time for social work. An ironic appeal for Lent, if ever there was one, especially since the Holy Father insisted at the beginning of his Pontificate that the Church could not become a NGO, merely a social works organization.
Yet in his homily to the College of Cardinals this Sunday, past, he reaffirmed the same error, when he closed saying:
Dear new Cardinals, my brothers, as we look to Jesus and our Mother, I urge you to serve the Church in such a way that Christians – edified by our witness – will not be tempted to turn to Jesus without turning to the outcast, to become a closed caste with nothing authentically ecclesial about it. I urge you to serve Jesus crucified in every person who is emarginated, for whatever reason; to see the Lord in every excluded person who is hungry, thirsty, naked; to see the Lord present even in those who have lost their faith, or turned away from the practice of their faith, or say that they are atheists; to see the Lord who is imprisoned, sick, unemployed, persecuted; to see the Lord in the leper – whether in body or soul – who encounters discrimination! We will not find the Lord unless we truly accept the marginalized! May we always have before us the image of Saint Francis, who was unafraid to embrace the leper and to accept every kind of outcast. Truly, dear brothers, the Gospel of the marginalized is where our credibility is at stake, is discovered and is revealed!
Official Vatican translation, if you can believe it.*
At the same time, the Holy Father, during the entire course of His Pontificate has granted no private audience to any Catholic group or layman noted for his promotion of the traditional Latin Mass.° Or with all those Catholics, whom Pope Francis has considered it urgent to marginalize by his more than 100 insults.
I guess the Holy Father’s message for Lent, in common parlance, would be, “Your margins don’t count for anything, and my margins are the very definition of the Faith”. I surely hope not, because then he would be a communist organizer of the Leonard Boff type — you know, the kind who is obsessed that we speak as he wants us to speak and to think what he wants us to think, and that we not have anything to do with what is authentically Christian or truthful — not a Catholic, and thus not even worthy to be the Pope.
Oh, and can we stop talking about sinners & the poor with the terms fit for comments on the side of a page? They are, after all, made in the image and likeness of God, not of letters on a page in a book on Marxist political diatribe.
_________________
* Where the Vatican translators found the word “emarginated”, I do not know, the proper word is in standard usage is “marginalized”.
° We do not exclude here Cardinal Burke and other of the Hierarchy who do meet with the Holy Father on occasion.
Oh Catholics! A Call to Arms
Shrove Tuesday, Rome, February 17, 2015: In response to the call by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, for Catholics to form groups of true Catholics to oppose the Neo-gnosticism of our day, a new international Association of Catholics has been established, which calls itself, « Veri Catholici », the Latin phrase for “true Catholics”. The organization is a grass-roots association, spontaneously arising from the overwhelmingly positive response by Catholics in all nations to the exhortation of Bishop Athanasius.
Their website, vericatholici.org contains a news release describing their spirit, essence and goals, in 8 different languages: Latin, English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Romanian and, soon to appear, Portuguese.
The Association also has a Face Book page and a Twitter Feed. Catholics are invited to show their support by placing the official logo of the Association on their blog, website, or Facebook page, or by liking them on Facebook. Catholics can also promote the Association by sharing news of it with their Twitter followers, or Facebook friends, or email contacts, or in person at their local parishes.
The Association, Veri Catholici, intends to promote the eternal Faith of Christ, faithful to the teaching of St. Paul, by means of sponsoring conferences, distribution of information via their website, and the lobbying of the sacred hierarchy. Its asks for whatever collaboration members can provide.
The Association is also seeking donors to fund their activities, and is taking donations through the web, via Paypal or through the mail, by check.
See their website for more information: vericatholici.org
The From Rome blog, pledges its support, and will proudly display the Association’s logo at the top of our right sidebar.
Francis is Presenting Mercy as a justification for breaking the law of Christ
There is an excellent, and detailed analysis, of the Pope’s Sunday Homily to the College of Cardinals, by Megaera Erinyes at the Remnant, which begins thus:
Monday, February 16, 2015
Papal Signaling: Pope Francis and the False Dichotomy
Pope Francis’ homily for the latest consistory of cardinals meeting in Rome this week is being called a re-statement of his programme for his pontificate. Fr. Thomas Rosica, his English language spokesman, wrote on Twitter: “More than anything I’ve heard from (the pope) today’s homily is his mission statement.”
Let us assume for a moment that the pope knows the implications of what he is saying, and that the people closest to him are telling the truth when they say, repeatedly, that the things that are happening are happening at his behest, and examine what this “mission statement” has to say to the Church.
Francis is clearly signaling, again, his intentions for the Synod and the future envisioned at it by the Kasper faction. The question of Communion for the divorced and remarried is never named, but the terms describing the issue are unmistakable. And they are wholly on the side of the Kasperites, adhering without an iota of divergence from the basic presumption in Kasper’s proposal: that the law of God must be overturned or ignored for the sake of extending the mercy of God. A contradiction that is totally incompatible with all of Catholic theology, with logic and natural reason.
What I hope to offer here is not a detailed theological analysis, but merely a point-by-point clarification, given the context of what the pope means. It can only be described as a volley in an ideological war currently being waged at the highest levels for supremacy in the Church. I will go through the text of the consistory homily and try to add some clarification for those who might be in the position now of trying to explain what some of us see as the grave danger being posed by this pope.
(Continue reading, from the Original)
Why love for the Holy Father requires criticism of his errors
On February 12, 2015, Mr. Lou Verrecchio, a noted Catholic Apologist from the United States of America, explained the true nature of charity when criticizing the Holy Father and other Catholics on matters of the faith.
Since his talk contains some important distinctions of which many Catholics are not well instructed, we repost it here from his blog, Harvesting the Fruit of Vatican II. The video is in Vimeo format.
[vimeo 119491458 w=500 h=281]
At Mr. Verrechio’s blog you can read more about the topics he discusses and get the link for Michael Voris’s video.
The From Rome blog will only note here, that the proper response to the expression of heresy and heretical intend of clergy, is not just prayer and faith and public denunciation, but requires in grave matters a formal written denunciation to the ecclesiastical authority capable of punishing the guilty cleric, or in the case of what clear appears to be the intentions of “Team Bergoglio” the organization of national and international Catholic collaborative initiatives necessary to preserve the faith in the face of the prospect of the public apostasy of a large number of the bishops led by the Pope against the teaching of Jesus Christ.
The From Rome blog will have news of such an association in the next few days. We ask our readers to think long and hard, and weigh in their soul the immeasurable value of the true Faith and what sacrifices they will make to see the Church is not overtaken by a heretical sect proposing communion for all and/or the acceptance of sodomy.
Commentary on Papal Discourse for Public Consistory of 2015
Pope Francis emphasizes again & again a Faith without Doctrine or Morals
Rome, February 14, 2015: During his address to the College of Cardinals, this morning, Pope Francis emphasized over and over the importance of fraternal charity and of not-rocking-the-boat. His exhortation expressed the same personal religion of his, which the From Rome blog detected and criticized in his analysis of Pope Francis’ opening speech to the Extra-Ordinary Consistory on Thursday, namely:
This attempt and goal of the discourse is emblematic of the fundamental theological error promoted by Cardinal Bergoglio during his pontificate as Pope Francis and throughout his life, as recently indicated by Jack Tollers, a criminal prosecutor from Buenos Aires, whose interview we published this morning. This error consists in a sociopathic presentation of the Catholicism, that is, the insistence that “being a Catholic” has nothing to do with the observance of the moral law or the assent of dogmatic faith to the teachings of Jesus Christ, but consists rather in a merely human convention and agreement to go-along and get-along no matter what heresies or immoralities are practiced or promoted by other Catholics.
You can read the Pope’s entire discourse, in its official English translation, here.
False Humility
It is often said that true humility consists in depicting oneself sincerely; but true humility, in the Catholic sense, is much more than that. It consists in taking and tending to the place where God has willed one to be. As a baptized Christian, a Catholic is obliged by true humility to unswerving faith, hope and charity for God above and beyond all else, and to love his neighbor as himself. False humility, however, puts on the display of self-effacement, but in fact refuses to remain in the place which God has willed for it.
Take for example the teaching of the Apostle St Paul in 1 Cor. 11:26-27. Therein, the Apostle of the Nations condemns those who approach to receive the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar without first examining themselves as to whether they are in the state of mortal sin or not: those who are, are not to receive because otherwise they commit another mortal sin, the one most horribly punished, that of sacrilege.
Now, a humble man who is Catholic accepts this teaching of St. Paul as well as all the others, especially that on true fraternal Charity, which was the subject of the Pope’s Discourse to the Cardinals this morning, which at the beginning, includes these words of the Pope:
All of us, myself first and each of you with me, would do well to let ourselves be guided by the inspired words of the apostle Paul, especially in the passage where he lists the marks of charity.
But it is the epitome of false humility, to cite the discourse of St. Paul on Charity, and work all the time to undermine the continued teaching and practice of refusing communion to adulterers and public sinners, as the Church has ever done for the last 2000 years, faithful as She is to this teaching of St. Paul.
That the pope is working to overturn this teaching of St. Paul has been loudly decried and openly manifested in the recent Extraordinary Synod for the Family, the secretary appointed to which, Cardinal Badlisseri, himself has confirmed that the Pope was behind every scandalous moment and document which it issued. He even directed the Cardinal in the minutiae of the actions which the Cardinal made during the Synod, sending him, as is reported, frequent notes about what to do.
That’s false humility of a most outrageous kind, the heretical one.
Now lets consider the Pope’s discourse and show how he is reading St. Paul in a heretical light, that of his own personal faith, which is not the Catholic one:
False Charity
When the Pope spoke about charity this morning, he began by explaining what he means (Boldfacing our own):
Saint Paul tells us that charity is, above all, “patient” and “kind”. The greater our responsibility in serving the Church, the more our hearts must expand according to the measure of the heart of Christ. “Patience” – “forbearance” – is in some sense synonymous with catholicity. It means being able to love without limits, but also to be faithful in particular situations and with practical gestures. It means loving what is great without neglecting what is small; loving the little things within the horizon of the great things, since “non coerceri a maximo, contineri tamen a minimo divinum est“. To know how to love through acts of kindness. “Kindness” – benevolence –means the firm and persevering intention to always will the good of others, even those unfriendly to us.
Here the Pope has radically mischaracterized what “catholicity” is about. In its proper sense, “Catholic” is from the Greek, “catholicos”, which means ‘universal’. As such, it is used as the proper adjective for the Church which Christ founded for the salvation of all peoples in all times. It does not, in any sense of the word, mean “patient”. In fact, there is much which is proper about our faith which has nothing to do with patience, but rather with impatience.
We must be impatient to hear and believe and accept the word of God as preached to us by Christ and the Apostles and faithfully handed down to us through the Fathers, Doctors and Saints and the infallible Magisterium of the Church. We must be impatient to repent of our sins and go to confession; we must be impatient to do what is right and fulfill our daily obligations of our state in life. In all these things, “being catholic” means ‘being impatient’.
Contrariwise, it is evil to be patient when we should not be patient. For example, it is evil to be patient in enduring the unjust persecution of others; in enduring the false presentation of facts, in tolerating the unjust deprivation of the human rights of others. That is evil, and evil which can come from many causes, such as sloth in the good, cowardice in the face of the difficult, malignity in the love of the suffering of others.
For these reasons, St. Paul couched his discourse on charity in the context of personal relationships in the local church, and did not intend what he wrote regarding matters which regard other issues.
But the Pope has taken St. Paul’s words out of context and uses them as a template under which “catholicity” itself is to be practiced. This is no less a counterfeiting of the faith that the counterfeiting committed by the defrocked communist priest, Leonard Boff, the Brazilian theologian of whom Pope Francis has spoken so highly off. In his infamous book on St. Francis, Boff attempted to depict the Saint as a Marxist all the while claiming that the values of Marxism were the authentic values of St. Francis.
For those of poor instruction, Boff’s book was a tool to transform the authentic catholic piety of the poor in Latin America into a zeal for supporting communist infiltration and takeovers throughout the continent. And it succeeded for the most part, as history itself is the witness today.
For Pope Francis to attempt this as pope, does not surprise, therefore, because he is merely rehashing the method of Leonard Boff. As anyone in the West can recognize, that the Communists and Socialists have always insisted on disarming their opposition by advocating to excess the virtue of the qualities of passivity and toleration and pacifism in the face of mortal threats. This attempt of the Pope is seen clearly when he said, this morning:
Charity, Saint Paul says, “is not irritable, it is not resentful”. Pastors close to their people have plenty of opportunities to be irritable, to feel anger. Perhaps we risk being all the more irritable in relationships with our confreres, since in effect we have less excuses. Even here, charity, and charity alone, frees us. It frees us from the risk of reacting impulsively, of saying or doing the wrong thing; above all it frees us from the mortal danger of pent-up anger, of that smouldering anger which makes us brood over wrongs we have received. No. This is unacceptable in a man of the Church. Even if a momentary outburst is forgivable, this is not the case with rancour. God save us from that!
It is simply stunning that Pope Francis should have the gall to read these words to the Cardinals, since he himself is notorious for his brutal verbal outbursts by which he terrorizes everyone who is not doing what his whims suggest. I myself can indirectly testify to this, since in the Fall of 2013, I had the occasion to speak with a Bishop recently ordained by the Pope, and at my suggestion that for the sake of a small justice, he speak to the Pope about it, he began to shudder with great fear, saying, “You just cannot go into Santa Marta and request to speak with the Pope, he does not allow that!”
For more on our coverage of the agenda of the Pope, see our reports on the heretical spirit of “Team Bergoglio” and the schismatic intentions for which they are working.
If you want to see the fear on the faces of the Cardinals attending this weeks consistory, you need look no further that the video Report from Rome Reports.
The Public Consistory of Feb. 14, 2015 A.D. : Pope’s Discourse
The Official English translation, by the Vatican Press office:
Discourse of the Holy Father
Dear Brother Cardinals,
The cardinalate is certainly an honour, but it is not honorific. This we already know from its name – “cardinal” – from the word “cardo”, a hinge. As such it is not a kind of accessory, a decoration, like an honorary title. Rather, it is a pivot, a point of support and movement essential for the life of the community. You are “hinges” and are “incardinated” in the Church of Rome, which “presides over the entire assembly of charity” (Lumen Gentium, 13; cf. IGN. ANT., Ad Rom., Prologue).
In the Church, all “presiding” flows from charity, must be exercised in charity, and is ordered towards charity. Here too the Church of Rome exercises an exemplary role. Just as she presides in charity, so too each particular Church is called, within its own sphere, to preside in charity.
For this reason, I believe that the “hymn to charity” in Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians can be taken as a guiding theme for this celebration and for your ministry, especially for those of you who today enter the College of Cardinals. All of us, myself first and each of you with me, would do well to let ourselves be guided by the inspired words of the apostle Paul, especially in the passage where he lists the marks of charity. May our Mother Mary help us to listen. She gave the world Jesus, charity incarnate, who is “the more excellent Way” (cf. 1 Cor 12:31); may she help us to receive this Word and always to advance on this Way. May she assist us by her humility and maternal tenderness, because charity, as God’s gift, grows wherever humility and tenderness are found.
Saint Paul tells us that charity is, above all, “patient” and “kind”. The greater our responsibility in serving the Church, the more our hearts must expand according to the measure of the heart of Christ. “Patience” – “forbearance” – is in some sense synonymous with catholicity. It means being able to love without limits, but also to be faithful in particular situations and with practical gestures. It means loving what is great without neglecting what is small; loving the little things within the horizon of the great things, since “non coerceri a maximo, contineri tamen a minimo divinum est“. To know how to love through acts of kindness. “Kindness” – benevolence –means the firm and persevering intention to always will the good of others, even those unfriendly to us.
The Apostle goes on to say that charity “is not jealous or boastful, it is not puffed up with pride”. This is surely a miracle of love, since we humans – all of us, at every stage of our lives – are inclined to jealousy and pride, since our nature is wounded by sin. Nor are Church dignitaries immune from this temptation. But for this very reason, dear brothers, the divine power of love, which transforms hearts, can be all the more evident in us, so that it is no longer you who live, but rather Christ who lives in you. And Jesus is love to the fullest.
Saint Paul then tells us that charity “is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way”. These two characteristics show that those who abide in charity are not self-centred. The self-centred inevitably become disrespectful; very often they do not even notice this, since “respect” is precisely the ability to acknowledge others, to acknowledge their dignity, their condition, their needs. The self-centred person inevitably seeks his own interests; he thinks this is normal, even necessary. Those “interests” can even be cloaked in noble appearances, but underlying them all is always “self-interest”. Charity, however, makes us draw back from the centre in order to set ourselves in the real centre, which is Christ alone. Then, and only then, can we be persons who are respectful and attentive to the good of others.
Charity, Saint Paul says, “is not irritable, it is not resentful”. Pastors close to their people have plenty of opportunities to be irritable, to feel anger. Perhaps we risk being all the more irritable in relationships with our confreres, since in effect we have less excuses. Even here, charity, and charity alone, frees us. It frees us from the risk of reacting impulsively, of saying or doing the wrong thing; above all it frees us from the mortal danger of pent-up anger, of that smouldering anger which makes us brood over wrongs we have received. No. This is unacceptable in a man of the Church. Even if a momentary outburst is forgivable, this is not the case with rancour. God save us from that!
Charity – Saint Paul adds – “does not rejoice at the wrong, but rejoices in the right”. Those called to the service of governance in the Church need to have a strong sense of justice, so that any form of injustice becomes unacceptable, even those which might bring gain to himself or to the Church. At the same time, he must “rejoice in the right”. What a beautiful phrase! The man of God is someone captivated by truth, one who encounters it fully in the word and flesh of Jesus Christ, the inexhaustible source of our joy. May the people of God always see in us a firm condemnation of injustice and joyful service to the truth.
Finally, “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”. Here, in four words, is a spiritual and pastoral programme of life. The love of Christ, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, enables us to live like this, to be like this: as persons always ready to forgive; always ready to trust, because we are full of faith in God; always ready to inspire hope, because we ourselves are full of hope in God; persons ready to bear patiently every situation and each of our brothers and sisters, in union with Christ, who bore with love the burden of our sins.
Dear brothers, this comes to us not from ourselves, but from God. God is love and he accomplishes all this in us if only we prove docile to the working of his Holy Spirit. This, then, is how we are to be: “incardinated” and docile. The more we are “incardinated” in the Church of Rome, the more we should become docile to the Spirit, so that charity can give form and meaning to all that we are and all that we do. Incardinated in the Church which presides in charity, docile to the Holy Spirit who pours into our hearts the love of God (cf. Rom 5:5). Amen.
“Rome Reports” covers the Consistory of 2015
The Report is dated February 12, 2015.
Fr. Lombardi answers Questions regarding the opening of the Consistory
Fr. Lombardi receives and answers questions in Italian.