“…this
missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of
conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may
freely and lawfully be used… Accordingly,
no one whatsoever is permitted to infringe or rashly contravene this notice of
Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, direction, will,
decree and prohibition. Should any person venture to do so, let him
understand he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles
Peter and Paul.”
Pope St. Pius V, Papal Bull, QUO PRIMUM, Tridentine codification of
the “received and approved” immemorial
Roman rite of Mass
St. Luke the Evangelist
Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Propagation of the Faith
St. Luke, originally a pagan, was born,
according to St. Eusebius, at Antioch, the capital of the kings of Syria. St. Paul tells us that he exercised the
profession of a physician. He
accompanied the apostle of the nations in his travels, and was with him during
most of his missions and when he was twice a prisoner in Rome. Owing to his connection with this master and
the other apostles, he was enabled to write the third gospel which St. Jerome
and St. John Chrysostom describe as the “gospel of St. Paul.”
Like the Doctor of the Gentiles, he
addresses himself to pagans to show them that salvation is brought by Jesus to
all men without exception who believed in Him.
He is symbolically represented as an ox, one of the four animals in the
vision of Ezechiel, because at the beginning of his Gospel he mentions the
priesthood of Zacharias, and because the ox was usually the victim in the
sacrifices of the Old Law.
The Mass of St. Luke, like that of St.
Mark, offers this particular that its Gospel refers to the instructions given
by the Saviour to His seventy-two disciples, both these evangelists not having
been apostles, but only disciples of our Lord.
St. Jerome relates that St. Like died in Achaia, at the age of 84 years.
The
Lessons in the divine office for this Sunday are often taken from the Book of
Machabees. The Book of Machabees is
particularly relevant to the problems in the Church today in the ecumenical
effort to corrupt true worship.
As St. John Chrysostom says: “Antiochus
surnamed Epiphanes, having invaded Judea and ravaged wholesale, forcing many
Jews to give up the holy traditions of their fathers, the Machabees remained
steadfast and uncorrupted, amidst all these trials. Traversing the whole country they gathered
together all the faithful and loyal citizens whom they met, and even a great
number of those who had allowed themselves to be discouraged or led astray,
urging them to return to the true faith and religion of their fathers.
“For they remembered that almighty God is
full of indulgence and mercy, never refusing to repentance the gift of
salvation.
“These exhortations resulted in the raising
of an army composed of men of the utmost bravery who were fighting not so much
for their wives and children and servants; not to ward off slavery and ruin
from their country, but for the laws of their fathers and the rights of their
nation. God Himself was their
leader. Moreover, when they went into
battle to sacrifice their lives, this alone was enough to put the enemy to rout;
in fact they trusted less in their arms than in the cause for which they had
armed, which they considered sufficient to secure victory even if armor were
altogether lacking. When on the march,
they did not, like the people of some races, fill the air wither with curses or
profane songs; but they prayed God to send them aid from on high, to help and
keep them, and to give them His strength, since they made war for His sake and
not for their own glory” (Fourth Sunday in October, 2nd Nocturn).
God’s primary care in the world is for His
own people, i.e. Christ and His Church who together make only one. Everything else is of secondary
importance. “Lord,” says the Gradual, “Thou
hast been our refuge from generation to generation.” While the Alleluia psalm relates that “When
Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, Judea was
made His sanctuary,” and “Israel His dominion.”
And then having recounted all the wonders wrought by God for the
preservation of His people, the psalmist adds: “But our God is in heaven: He
hath done all things whatsoever He would…The house of Israel hath hoped in the
Lord: He is their helper and protector.”
The psalm, from which the Communion and
verse of the Introit are borrowed, repeat the cry of hope raised by just souls
to heaven. “My soul is in Thy salvation. When wilt thou execute justice on them
that persecute me? The wicked have persecuted me: help me, O Lord my God.”
In the same sense the Church prays in
today’s Collect: “Lord, we pray Thee, keep Thy household the Church in
continual godliness; that through Thy protection it may be free from all
adversities, and devoutly given to good works, to the glory of Thy holy name.”
The ancient people of God and His people
today, have the same end in view, to glorify God and to assert His rights; and
both have the same adversaries, the devil and his agents. Today the Church draws on the breviary
lessons of the preceding Sundays, reminding us of Satan’s onslaught upon Job
and the treatment of Mardochai by Aman who was “a slanderer like the devil”
(See Introit psalm). God delivered these
two just men, as He freed His people from the bondage of Egypt, and as He came
to the aid of the Machabees who were fighting in His cause.
In the same way Catholics are attacked by
evil spirits, for the persecutors of the Church, like those of Israel under the
Old Law, are really stirred up by the devil.
“For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities
and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the
spirits of wickedness in high places” (Epistle). Moreover, like the Machabees, who, valiant
soldiers as they were, trusted more in God than in their arms, the means of
defense used by Catholics must by chiefly of a supernatural kind. “Be strengthened in the Lord,” says the
apostle, “and in the midst of His power…Take unto you the armor of God…that you
may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.”
St. Paul’s Roman guards (and the Machabees
were accoutered like them) here served the apostle as a model for the detailed
description which he gives us of the mystic panoply of the soldiers of
Christ. Its defensive armor consists of
justice, peace and faith, while its weapons of offense are the inspired words
of the Holy Ghost whom the Church received at Pentecost.
Now that portion of the divine Word which
we have in today’s Gospel sums up the whole Christian life in the practice of
that virtue of charity which makes us treat our neighbor as almighty God has
treated us. He has forgiven us great
sins; let us in turn, learn how to forgive our brethren their infinitely less
important offenses against us. The devil
in his jealousy drives men to act like the wicked servant who seized by the
throat one who owed him a trifling sum and cast him into prison because he
could not pay at once. In the Day of
Judgment God will treat us as we have treated our neighbor. Of that day this Sunday’s Mass warns us in
our Lord’s words: “The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who would take
account of his servants.” At that time
of justice pure and simple, He will be merciless like us if, during this life
when He is all mercy to us, we have not learned to be merciful like Him. The wicked servant was delivered to the
torturers. “So,” says our Lord, “shall
my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from
your hearts.”
The executioners, to whom we shall be
delivered by our Lord in His just anger against us, will be the powers of hell
from whom He has protected us on earth, but whom He will then leave to indulge
their hatred against us. It is enough to
recall their rage against holy Job. Let
us be on our guard against them, the more so, that this Sunday reminds us of
the time when the devils will use their power against men with greater violence
since they will soon lose it altogether.
If we seek strength from God, whose will
none can resist (Introit), we shall be victorious over the devils even in those
troublous times, and we shall have no fear of the judgment to come.
INTROIT:
Ps. 138. To me, O God, how wonderful are
Thy friends! Their power is exceedingly
strong. O Lord, Thou hast searched me,
and known me: Thou knowest my down-sitting and my up-rising. Glory be, etc. To me, O God, etc.
COLLECT:
May holy Luke Thy Evangelist, we
pray, O Lord, intercede for us, who for the honor of Thy name bore ever in his
body the mortification of the cross.
Through our Lord, etc
Keep,
O Lord, we pray, Thy family by Thy continued goodness, that, through Thy
protection, it may be free from all adversities, and devoted in good works to
the glory of Thy name. Through our Lord,
etc
O God, who willest that all men
should be saved, and come to the knowledge of Thy truth, send, we beseech Thee,
laborers into Thy harvest, and give them to speak Thy word with all confidence,
that Thy message may run and be made plain, and that all peoples may know Thee,
the only true God, and Him whom Thou hast sent, Jesus Christ our Lord. Who with
Thee liveth and reignest, etc.
EPISTLE:
2 Cor. 8, 16-24.
Brethren: I give thanks to God, who hath given the
same carefulness for you in the heart of Titus.
For indeed he accepted the exhortation; but being more careful, of his
own will he went unto you. We have sent
also with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel through all the
churches. And not that only, but he was
also ordained by the churches companion of our travels, for this grace, which
is administered by us, to the glory of the Lord, and our determined will:
Avoiding this, lest any man should blame us in this abundance which is
administered by us. For we forecast what may be good not only before God, but also
before men. And we have sent with them
our brother also, whom we have often proved diligent in many things; but now
much more diligent, with much confidence in you, either for Titus, who is my
companion and fellow labourer towards you, or our brethren, the apostles of the
churches, the glory of Christ. Wherefore
show ye to them, in the sight of the churches, the evidence of your charity,
and of our boasting on your behalf.
GRADUAL:
Ps. 18. Their voice is gone out through all the earth; and
their message to the ends of the world.
The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his
handiwork. Alleluia, alleluia.
John 15. I have
chosen you out of the world, that you should go and should bring forth fruit,
and your fruits should remain. Alleluia.
GOSPEL: Luke 10,
1-9
At that time: The Lord appointed also
other seventy-two: and he sent them two and two before his face into every city
and place whither he himself was to come.
And he said to them: The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are
few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send labourers into his
harvest. Go: Behold I send you as lambs
among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor
scrip, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way.
Into whatsoever house you enter, first say: Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace
shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. And in the same house, remain, eating and
drinking such things as they have: for the labourer is worthy of his hire.
Remove not from house to house. And into
what city soever you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set
before you. And heal the sick that are
therein, and say to them: The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
OFFERTORY:
Ps. 138. To me, O God, how wonderful are thy friends! Their power is exceedingly strong.
SECRET:
By these heavenly gifts, we beseech Thee, O Lord,
grant us to serve Thee with a free mind; that through the intercession of Luke,
Thy blessed Evangelist, they may avail us both unto healing and glory. Through our Lord, etc.
Graciously
receive, O Lord, this offering whereby Thou hast wished to be appeased, and
restore our souls to health by the power of Thy loving kindness. Through our Lord, etc.
Behold, O God our protector, and look upon
the face of Thy Christ, who gave Himself a redemption for all, and cause that,
from the rising of the sun even unto the going down thereof, Thy name may be
magnified among the gentiles, and that in every place a clean offering be
sacrificed and offered to Thy name. Through our Lord, etc.
PREFACE OF THE APOSTLES:
It is truly meet and just, right and for our
salvation, to entreat Thee humbly, O Lord, that Thou wouldst not desert Thy
flock, O everlasting Shepherd, but, through Thy blessed Apostles, wouldst keep
it under Thy constant protection; that it may be governed by those same rulers,
whom as vicars of Thy work, Thou didst set over it to be its pastors. And
therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with
all the hosts of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of Thy glory, evermore
saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, etc.
COMMUNION:
Matt. 19. You who have followed me shall sit on seats,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
POSTCOMMUNION:
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that what we have
taken from Thy holy altar may, by the prayers of Luke, Thy blessed Evangelist,
sanctify our souls and keep them in safety.
Through our Lord, etc.
Having
been given the food of immortality, we pray, O Lord, that what we have received
with our mouth we may cherish with a pure heart. Through our Lord, etc.
Strengthened
by this gift of our redemption, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by this aid of
everlasting salvation, the true faith may ever advance. Through our Lord, etc..
LAST GOSPEL: Matt.
18, 23-35
At that time, Jesus spoke to his disciples
this parable: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who would take an
account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the account one was
brought to him that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith
to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and
children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. But that servant falling
down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And
the lord of that servant, being moved with pity, let him go, and forgave him
the debt. But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his
fellow-servants that owed him a hundred pence: and laying hold of him, he
throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest. And his fellow-servant falling down
besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he
would not; but went and cast him into prison till he paid the debt. Now his
fellow-servants, seeing what was done, were very much grieved: and they came
and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him, and said to
him: Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest
me: shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellowservant, even
as I had compassion on thee? And his lord being angry, delivered him to the
torturers until he paid all the debt. So also shall my heavenly Father do to
you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.
Who
are understood by the king, and the servants?
The King is God, and the servants are all mankind.
What
is meant by the ten thousand talents?
The ten thousand talents, according to our money more than ten million
dollars, signify mortal sin, the guilt of which is so great that no creature
can pay it; even all the works of the saints cannot make atonement, because by
every mortal sin the infinitely great, good, and holy God is offended, which
offence it is as impossible for any creature to cancel as it is for a poor
servant to pay a debt of ten million dollars. Nevertheless God is so merciful
that He remits the whole immeasurable debt of sin, on account of the infinite
merits of Christ, if the sinner contritely begs forgiveness and amends his
life.
Why
did the master order, not only the debtor, but also his wife and children to be
sold?
Probably because they assisted in contracting the debt, or gave
occasion for its increase. This is a warning to those who in any way make
themselves partakers of others' sins, either by counsel, command, consent,
provocation, praise or flattery, concealment, partaking, silence and by
defending ill-done things.
What
is understood by the hundred pence?
By the hundred pence are understood the offences committed against us,
and which, in comparison with our debt against God, are very insignificant.
What
does Jesus intend to show by this parable?
That if God is so merciful and forgives us our immense debts, we should
be merciful and willingly forgive our fellow-men the slight faults and
offences, which they commit against us; he who does not this, will not receive
pardon from God, in him will be verified the words of the apostle St. James:
Judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy (James 2, 13).
Who
are those who throttle their debtors?
These are, in general, the unmerciful, but particularly those who have
no compassion for their debtors; those who immediately go to law and rest not
until the debtor is left without house or home; those who oppress widows and
orphans, if they owe them anything, thus committing one of the sins which cry
to heaven for vengeance (Ecclus. 35, 18-19); those who even in just lawsuits
act harshly and severely with their opponent, without the slightest inclination
to come to an agreement with him; finally, rulers and landlords who overburden
their subjects with excessive tithes and taxes, and exact their share with the
greatest rigor.
Who
are those who accuse these hardened men before God?
They are the guardian angels and their own conscience; the merciless
act itself cries to God for vengeance.
What
is it to forgive from the heart?
It is to banish from the heart all hatred, ill-will and revengeful
desires, to treasure a true and sincere love towards our offenders and enemies
not only in our hearts, but also manifest it externally by deeds of charity.
Therefore those have not forgiven from their hearts, who, indeed, say and
believe, that they have no ill-will against their enemy, but everywhere avoid
him, refuse to salute him, to thank him, to pray for him, to speak to him, and
to help him in necessity, even when they might do so, but who rather rejoice at
his need.

To
me, O God, how wonderful are thy friends!
Their power is exceedingly strong.
PROPER OF THE SAINTS FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 18th:
Date Day Feast Rank Color F/A Mass Times/Notes
|
18 |
Sun |
St. Luke,
Evangelist 21st Sunday
after Pentecost |
d2cl |
R |
|
Mass 9:00 AM; Members Ss.
Peter & Paul; Rosary of Reparation 8:30 AM; Confessions 8:00 AM |
|
19 |
Mon |
St. Peter of Alcantara, C |
d |
W |
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of
Reparation before Mass |
|
20 |
Tue |
St. John Cantius, C |
d |
W |
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of
Reparation before Mass |
|
21 |
Wed |
St. Hilarion, Ab Ss. Ursula &
Companions VvMm |
sp |
W |
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation
before Mass |
|
22 |
Thu |
Ferial Day |
|
G |
|
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of
Reparation before Mass |
|
23 |
Fri |
Ferial Day (St. Anthony Mary Claret) Most Holy Redeemer |
|
|
A |
Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of
Reparation before Mass |
|
24 |
Sat |
St. Raphael, Archangel |
dm |
W |
|
Mass 9:00 AM; Rosary of
Reparation & Confession 8:30 |
|
25 |
Sun |
Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ 22nd Sunday
after Pentecost |
d1cl |
W |
|
Mass 9:00 AM; Members Ss.
Peter & Paul; Rosary of Reparation 8:30 AM; Confessions 8:00 AM |
And all that heard, wondered; and at those
things that were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart
(Lk. 2:18-19). And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was
subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart (Lk.
2: 51). And how could St. Luke have known what was in the Blessed Virgin
Mary’s heart unless she had told him!
St. Luke is the evangelist of the thoughts our Blessed Mother’s heart.
Br. Francis Maluf, MICM
"Truly, matters in the world are in a bad
state; but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves, a really good
beginning will have been made."
St. Peter of Alcantara
United to her
divine Lord, warriors the most valiant stand about her [the Church]; they merit
that privilege by their well-proved sword and their skill in war; each one of
them has his sword ready, because of the night-surprises which the enemy may
use against this most dear Church. For
until the dawn of the eternal day, when the shadows of this present life are
put to flight by the light of the Lamb, who will then have vanquished all His
enemies, power is in the hands of the rulers of the world of this darkness,
says St. Paul, in our today’s Epistle; and it is against them that we
must take to ourselves the armour of God, which he there describes; we
must wear it all, if we would be able to resist, in the evil day…This
armour consists of many parts, because of its varied used and effects; and yet,
whether offensive or defensive, all of them have one common name, faith.
Dom Gueranger, The
Liturgical Year, Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Satan has a horror of the
Christian who, though he may be weak in other respects, is strong in this
divine word. He has a greater fear of
that man than he has of all the schools and professors of philosophy; he knows
well that at every encounter he will be crushed beneath his feet, and with a
rapidity akin to what our Lord tells us He Himself witnessed : ‘I saw Satan
like lightning, falling from heaven.’
Dom Gueranger, The Liturgical Year,
21st Sunday after Pentecost
For combat is the normal state
of every man here below. The Most High
is pleased at seeing a battle well fought by His Christian soldiers. There is no name so frequently applied to Him
by the prophets as that of the God of hosts.
His divine Son, who is the Spouse, shows Himself here on earth as the
Lord who is mighty in battle. In the
mysterious nuptial canticle of the forty-fourth Psalm, He lets us see Him as a
most powerful Prince, girding on His grand sword, and making His way, with His
sharp arrows, through the very heart of His enemies, in order to reach, in fair
valiance and beautiful victory, the bride He has chosen as His own. She, too, the bride, whose beauty He has
vouchsafed to love, and whom He wills to share in all His won glories, advances
towards Him in the glittering armour of a warrior, surrounded by choirs singing
the magnificent exploits of the Spouse, while she herself is terrible as an
army set in array….Happy are those who shall fight the good fight, and win
victory!
Dom Gueranger, The Liturgical Year, 21st Sunday after
Pentecost
St. Peter of Alcantara
assisted St. Teresa, whose spirit he approved, in carrying out the reform of
Carmel. And she having learned from God
that whoever asked anything in Peter’s name would be immediately heard, was
wont to recommend herself to his prayers, and to call him a saint, while he was
still living. St. Teresa said, “Here is
a saint of the present day; yet his manly fervor equaled that of past ages; and
he had a supreme disdain for everything earthly. But without going barefoot like him, or doing
such sharp penance, there are very many ways in which we can practice contempt
of the world, and which our Lord will teach us as soon as we have courage. What great courage must the holy man I speak
of have received from God, to keep up for forty-seven years the rigorous
penance that all now know!”
Dom Gueranger, The
Liturgical Year, St. Peter of Alcantara
Avoid slander because it is difficult to
retract—Avoid offending anyone for to ask forgiveness is not delightful.
St. John Cantius, written on the wall of his
cell
A City on a
Mountain
Since the first Head or
Leader of Christ's Church, Saint Peter, fixed his Apostolic chair in Rome, this
is why She is called Roman — that is, governed by the Pontiff of Rome,
successor of the authority of Saint Peter, and consequently, like him, Vicar of
Jesus Christ and Father of all Catholics.
Some heretics, not
knowing what to answer Catholics who ask them where their church was before
their heresiarch came into the world, slyly suggest that the Church of Jesus
Christ was to be invisible. Which is equivalent to saying that the sun, in the
middle of a bright day and without an eclipse, can be hidden.
You must realize, my
son, that the true Church is necessarily visible. Because visible are the
faithful and Her members; visible are the Sacraments which She administers to
them; visible are the traditions which form the wise and holy laws that She
teaches; visible are the bishops who govern Her under obedience to the
Sovereign Pontiff, and visible also is that Supreme Pontiff who rules Her in
all his universality and with all the fullness of power.
Besides this, She must
be visible because Jesus Christ ordered that cares and complaints be brought to
the Church. And as His judgments are to be revered, this order could not be
carried out if She were not visible.
The true Church is a
city seated on a mountain, of which the holy Evangelist speaks, and therefore,
Her visibility must be clearly evident. Consequently, the evasions of the
heretics are futile. For this reason you cannot doubt that the only true Church
is our Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church, in which you must persevere,
inwardly and outwardly. And with all preciseness must you observe Her holy laws
if you want to save your soul. Otherwise, you will be lost forever.
St. Anthony Mary
Claret
"When I see the need
for Divine teaching and how hungry people are to hear it, I am atremble to be
off and running throughout the world, preaching the word of God. I have no
rest, my soul finds no other relief, than to rush about and preach."
St. Anthony Mary Claret
"The faith I have when I am in the presence of
the Blessed Sacrament is so strong that I find it impossible to express what I
feel…. When the time comes to leave I must force myself to overcome the
inclination to prolong my stay with Jesus."
St. Anthony Mary Claret
What kind of work can
be more noble than to cultivate the minds of young people, guarding it
carefully, so that the knowledge and love of God and His holy precepts go
hand-in-hand with learning? To form young Christians and citizens-isn't this the
most beautiful and noble-minded way to make use of life, of all one's talents
and energy?… Knowledge and wisdom seek a covenant with holiness.
St. John Cantius
To be a Hilarion, and yet to fear death! If in the green wood they do these things,
what shall be done in the dry? O
glorious saint, penetrate us with the apprehension of God’s judgments. Teach us that Christian fear does not banish
love, but on the contrary, clears the way and leads to it, and then accompanies
it through life as an attentive and faithful guardian. This holy fear was thy security at thy last
hour; may it protect us also along the path of life, and at death introduce us
immediately into heaven!
Dom Gueranger, The Liturgical Year,
Feast of St. Hilarion
Bless ye the God of heaven, give glory to Him
in the sight of all that live, because He hath shewn His mercy to you… When you
didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead…. I offered thy prayer to the
Lord. And because thou wast acceptable
to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee. And now the Lord hath sent me to heal thee,
and to deliver Sara thy son’s wife from the devil. For I am Raphael, one of the seven, who stand
before the Lord… Peace be to you, fear not;… bless ye Him and sing praises to
Him.
St. Raphael the Archangel to Tobias
I have loved,
O Lord, the beauty of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth - Psalm
25, 8
The place, indeed, is
awe inspiring, and worthy of all reverence, which is the home of the faithful, the
dwelling place of angels, the very habitation of the presence of God.
St. Bernard, on a
Catholic Church
The intention of Paul VI with
regard to what is commonly called the Mass, was to reform the Catholic liturgy
in such a way that it should almost coincide with the Protestant liturgy — but
what is curious is that Paul VI did that to get as close as possible to the
Protestant Lord’s supper ... there was with Paul VI an ecumenical intention to
remove, or least to correct, or at least to relax, what was too Catholic, in
the traditional sense, in the Mass and, I repeat, to get the Catholic Mass
closer to the Calvinist Mass.
Jean Guitton, journalist, close
friend and confidant of Pope Paul VI
The priest, in reciting the
prayers of the Mass, speaks in the person of the Church, in whose unity he
remains; but in consecrating the sacrament he speaks in the person of Christ,
whose place he holds by the power of his Orders. Consequently, a priest severed
from the unity of the Church celebrates Mass, not having lost the power of
Order, he consecrates Christ’s true body and blood; but because he is severed
from the unity of the Church, his prayers have no efficacy.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Have
patience with me (Matt. 18, 26).
Since God
has such great patience with us, ought not this to move us to have patience
likewise with the faults and weaknesses of our fellow-men, and to resign
ourselves patiently in all the sufferings and tribulations sent us from God?
What will your impatience avail you? Will you thereby change or ease your
sufferings? Do you thereby correct the faults of your neighbor? No; on the
contrary, it makes suffering more oppressive, misfortune greater, and the
erring neighbor more obstinate, so that he will ultimately refuse even mild and
patient corrections. Besides impatience leads to many sins, to cursing,
raillery, quarrelling,. contention, and murder. The pious Job gives us a good
example of true patience and resignation to the will of God. He was a wealthy,
respected, God-fearing man in the land of Hus, the father of seven sons and
three daughters, and lived peacefully and happy. God wished to try him and
permitted the devil to vent his entire rage upon him. Job was deprived of his
children and all his property, and, finally, he was himself afflicted with the
most painful disease of leprosy. But in the midst of all these dreadful
misfortunes he remained calm. Naked, covered only with a few patches, he sits
on a dunghill, a picture of misery, and yet no sound of murmuring comes from
his lips, he does not curse, does not blaspheme God, but says resignedly: The
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it
done: blessed be the name of the Lord. To all this misery was added the
baseness of his own wife, who came and mocked him, and of three intimate
friends, who instead of consoling him, judged him falsely and said, that his
misery was a just punishment from heaven. Still Job did not murmur against
God's wise dispensations; with unshaken patience he faithfully confided in God,
and he was not forsaken. God rewarded him well for his fidelity and patience;
for He restored him to health, and gave him greater wealth than he had
previously. See what patience can do, what reward is in store for it! And thou
a Christian, a follower of Christ, the patient, crucified Lamb, art immediately
irritated, become angry and morose at every little cross which you meet! Be
ashamed of your weakness, and learn from the pious Job, to practice the virtue
of patience, for patience proves hope, and hope permits us not to be put to
shame. Patience always gains the victory, and will be rewarded in heaven.
If you find
yourself inclined to impatience, make every morning a firm resolution to battle
bravely against this vice and often ask God for the virtue of patience in the
following prayer:
O God who by the patience of Thy only-begotten Son hast humbled the pride of the old enemy, vouchsafe that devoutly considering what He has suffered for us we may cheerfully bear our adversities, through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, etc.
J.A. Jungmann, one of the truly
great liturgists of our century, defined the liturgy of his time, such as it
could be understood in the light of historical research, as a “liturgy which is
the fruit of development”.... What happened after the Council was something
else entirely: in the place of liturgy as the fruit of development came
fabricated liturgy. We abandoned the organic, living process of growth and
development over the centuries, and replaced it--as in a manufacturing process--with
a fabrication, a banal on- the-spot product.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, from
the preface to Reform of the Roman Rite
O Jesus, the duty of souls admitted to Your intimacy is to suffer with
You, to raise the Cross on high, not to allow it to leave their hands, whatever
the perils in which they find themselves, and not to let themselves be found
wanting in suffering. Now that You have
shown me what a single blessing it is to suffer trials and persecutions for
Your sake, I find I cannot cease from desiring trials; for those who follow You
must take the way which You took, unless they want to be lost. Blessed are their labors which, even here in
this life, have such abundant recompense!
O Jesus, what greater proof of Your love could You give me than to
choose for me all that You willed for Yourself?
To die or to suffer: this is what I should desire.”
St. Teresa of Jesus
We shall never learn to know
ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness, we
realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating
upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble.
St. Teresa of Avila
The world is on
fire. Men try to condemn Christ once
again, as it were, for they bring a thousand false witnesses against Him. They would raze His Church to the ground… It
breaks my heart to see so many souls traveling to perdition. I would the evil were not so great… I felt
that I would have laid down a thousand lives to save a single one of all the
souls that were being lost.
St. Teresa of Jesus
The more you pray the more you
will be illumined; the more you are illumined, the more profoundly and
intensely you will see the Supreme Good, the supremely good Being; the more
profoundly and intensely you see him, the more you will love him; the more you
love him, the more he will delight you; and the more he delights you, the more
you will understand him and become capable of understanding him. You will
arrive successively to the fullness of light, because you will understand that
you cannot understand.
Blessed Angela of Foligno
FORGIVENESS TWENTY‑FIRST SUNDAY AFTER
PENTECOST
PRESENCE
OF GOD‑ O
Lord, as You are so generous in forgiving me, teach me to forgive others
generously.
I . "The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king
who would take an account of his servants." Today's Gospel (Mt 18, 23‑35)
refers to the account which all men will one day be called upon to give. It is
a serious thought, which makes us reflect, as we did last Sunday, on the state
of our conscience. Yet, as we continue the reading of this parable, our hearts
are comforted. God, represented by the king, manifests such kindness, mercy,
and compassion to the poor servant who cannot pay his debt; He forgives him
everything and sets him free.
The debt of that servant was not a trifling
one: ten thousand talents; our debts to God are much greater and cannot be
computed in talents, nor in silver and gold; they must be reckoned according to
the price of our redemption, the most precious Blood of Jesus. Our debts are
our sins which needed to be washed away in the Blood of a divine Victim. In spite
of our good will, we increase these debts each day, to a greater or lesser
extent, if only by faults of frailty and weakness. Is there one who can say at
the day's end that he has not contracted new debts with God? If, at the end of
life, God should place before us an exact account of our deficit, we should
find ourselves in a much more embarrassing position than that of the servant in
the parable. But God, being infinite goodness, knows and has pity on our
misery; each time we place ourselves before Him and humbly acknowledge our
faults with sincere repentance, He immediately pardons us and cancels all our
debts. God is magnificent when He pardons: He does not reproach us for the
faults over which we have already wept, nor does He keep any account of them;
His pardon is so generous, so great and complete, that it not only annuls our
debts, but destroys even the memory of them, as if they had never existed. It
is enough for Him to see us repentant; then every wound, even the most grievous
and repugnant, is completely healed by the precious Blood of Jesus. Christ's
Blood is like an immense sea which has the power to cleanse and destroy the
sins of all mankind, provided they are sincerely repented of. Every minute of
every day we can take the burden, heavy or light as it may be, of our sins and
infidelities and make it disappear in this ocean of grace and love, certain
that not one trace of it will remain.
2.
The second part of the parable speaks of our forgiveness of others. Returning
home, the fortunate servant whose debts had all been cancelled, met one of his
fellow servants, who owed him a hundred pence, a very small sum compared with
the ten thousand talents which had been cancelled for him. Yet he who had been
treated with so much mercy, showed none to his fellow servant; he would neither
listen to his pleadings, nor heed his tears, but "went and cast him into
prison, till he paid the debt."
A few moments ago we were moved by the
master’s kindness; now the servant’s cruelty makes us indignant. Yet, even though we blush, we ought to
recognize that, just as the kindheartedness of the master is the image of the
mercy of God, ever ready to pardon, so the cruelty of the servant is the figure
of our own hardheartedness and miserliness in forgiving our neighbor. Unfortunately, it is all too true: we need
our daily bread, are so hard, so demanding toward our fellow men; we find it
difficult to be indulgent and forgiving.
Yet what are the debts that our neighbor may owe us compared with what
we owe to God? Certainly, infinitely
less than a few pence compared with ten thousand talents, since it is a matter
of an offense committed against a mere creature compared with one committed
against the infinite majesty of God. But
what a contrast! God pardons, forgets,
and entirely cancels all our heave debts; He does not cease to love us and
bestow favors upon us in spite of our continual want of fidelity. We, on the contrary, find it very difficult
to forgive some little slight; even if we do forgive, we cannot entirely forget
it, and we are ready to reproach the other person at the first opportunity, How would we act if our neighbor committed
against us each day the numerous infidelities and faults that we commit against
God? Oh! Haw miserable and constrained
is our way of pardoning others!
The parable describes the punishment
inflicted on the cruel servant by his master: “And his lord being angry,
delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt”; and the conclusion
follows: “So also shall My heavenly Father do to you if you forgive not your
brothers from your hearts.” If we wish
God to be generous in pardoning us, we must be generous in forgiving others; we
shall be forgiven according to the measure in which we forgive, which means
that we ourselves give to God the exact measure of the mercy He is to show to
us.
COLLOQUY:
“Is there anyone, O Lord, who is not in
debt to You? Is there anyone who has not
someone in debt to Him? In Your justice
You have determined that Your rule of conduct toward me, Your debtor, should be
that followed by me in regard to my debtors.
Therefore, because I also have sinned - and how often! – I must be
indulgent with him who seeks my pardon.
In fact, when the time of prayer comes, I should be able to say to You,
‘Forgive me, O Lord, my trespasses,’ and how?
The condition is laid down by me, I myself fix the law; ‘Forgive me my
trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me.’
“O Lord, You have set down in the Gospel
two short sentences: ‘Forgive and it shall be forgiven you: give and it shall
be given to you.’ This is my prayer; I
ask pardon of You for my sins, and You will that I should pardon others.
“Just as the poor beg from me, so I, Your
poor little beggar, stand at the door of my Father’s house; rather, I prostrate
myself there, begging and groaning, longing to receive something, and this
something is You. The beggar asks me for
bread, and what do I ask of You, if not Yourself, for You have said, ‘I am the
living bread that came down from heaven?’
“In order to obtain forgiveness, I shall
forgive; I shall pardon others, and I shall be pardoned. Because I wish to receive, I shall give, and
it shall be given to me.
“If it is hard for me to forgive someone
who has offended me, I shall have recourse to prayer. Instead of repaying insults with more
insults, I shall pray for the guilty one.
When I feel like giving him a harsh answer, I shall speak to You, O
Lord, in his favor. Then I shall
remember that You promise eternal life, but You command us to forgive
others. It is an if You said to me, ‘You
who are a man, forgive other men, so that I, who am God can come to you’” (St.
Augustine).
It is evident
that the Novus Ordo has no intention
of presenting the Faith as taught by the Council of Trent, to which,
nonetheless, the Catholic conscience is bound forever. With the promulgation of
the Novus Ordo, the loyal Catholic is
thus faced with a most tragic alternative.
The Ottaviani Intervention:
Letter from Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci to Pope Paul VI, September 25, 1969
on the Novus Ordo. N. B.: The Ottaviani Intervention addressed
the Novus Ordo in its normative Latin
version before the corrupted translations were introduced. Now that the worst mistranslations have been
corrected, we are back to the Ottaviani Intervention
INSTRUCTION ON THE FOLLY OF HUMAN RESPECT
Thou art a true speaker ' neither carest thou or any man, for thou
dost not regard the person of men (Matt. 22, 16).
In this Christians ought especially to follow the Saviour, and not permit themselves to be deterred from piety, and the practice of virtue by fear or human respect. What matters it, what people think and say of us, if we only please God? He alone can truly benefit or injure us; therefore he alone is to be feared, as Christ says: Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt. 10, 28).
How foolishly, therefore, do those act who through fear of displeasing certain people, are afraid to serve God and practice piety; who even go so far as to commit sin; who in order to be pleasing to others, oppress innocent, poor and forsaken people; who adopt the latest and most scandalous fashions and customs; those who eat meat on days of abstinence, or give it to others; those who sing sinful songs, or what is still worse, do not hesitate to ridicule sacred things to give others occasion to laugh, or in order to be considered strong-minded. Implore God daily and sincerely, that He may take from you this vain fear of men and give you instead the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.
INSTRUCTION ON THE VALUE AND DIGNITY OF THE SOUL
Whose image is this? (Matt. 22, 20)
Thus we should often ask ourselves with respect to our soul, particularly when we are tempted to stain and ruin it by sin, Whose image is this? We should then say to ourselves, "Is it not the likeness of God, a likeness painted with the blood of Jesus, an image for which the Saviour gave His life? Should I defile and deform this by sin and voluptuousness? God forbid!" For in truth, what among all created things, except the angels, is more beautiful and more precious than a human soul, which is in the state of grace? "Could we," says St. Catherine of Sienna, "behold with our corporal eyes a soul in the state of grace, we would see with astonishment that it surpasses in splendor all flowers, all stars, the whole world, and there is probably no one who would not wish to die for such beauty." It is a dwelling of the Blessed Trinity! Christ did not give His life for all the goods and treasures of this earth, but for the human soul. And yet many estimate their soul at such little value that they sell it for a momentary pleasure, for a present not worth a penny! For shame! The body we estimate so highly that we take all pains to decorate it and keep it alive, and the soul the image and likeness of God, we take no pains to keep in the state of grace, and adorn with virtues! What folly!
"Venial sins are blotches, which do not
indeed kill the soul, but like some hideous leprosy, fearfully disfigure
it."
St. Caesarius of Arles
Jesuits
Missionary, Fr. Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, Emissary to the King of Spain on
behalf of the Indians
Ruiz de Montoya’s task in
Madrid was, in brief, to secure a remedy for hazards besetting the missions. On
the journey, being eminently a man of action, he spent countless hours writing
out specific proposals to present to King Philip V. According to Ruiz de
Montoya’s own summary, these were that the king should:
1.
Enforce the law established in 1611 in Lisbon
(Philip IV being then king of both Portugal and Spain) against enslaving
Indians
2.
Confirm decrees of Paul III and Clement VIII
against enslaving Indians
3.
Make the capture of Indians a case for the
Inquisition
4.
Give the governor of Rio de Janeiro
responsibility over south Brazil, since the capital in Bahia was too remote to
be effective
5.
Invest the bishop with the power of a papal
nuncio to repress members of religious orders who harm the Indians
6.
Give authorizes power to stop boats setting
out for slave raiding
7.
Forbid the transporting of Indians or other
criminals to Brazil
8.
Free all captive Indians, men and women, and
send them to Buenos Aires, where the Jesuits will undertake to return them to
their homes, even if they have to sell their chalices and vestments to pay for
it
9.
Have bishops excommunicate those who fail to
disclose what Indians they are holding
10. Punish
the guilty and the magistrates who have allowed these abuses also “to dispel
the shame brought on the holy gospel, which has been defamed in the eyes of
pagans and recent converts”
11. Allow
Indians who no longer have homes or relatives to settle in the Indian villages
around Rio de Janeiro
12. Send
a serious person zealous for God’s service, with armed support to ensure that
the royal orders are carried out
“In this way,” he adds, “two
things will be assured: firstly, the liberty of so many persons who are being
captured, bought, and sold in their own lands; secondly, the security of Your
Majesty’s realms in Peru, which they are trying so hard to hand over to the
rebels, and where the road is already open from São Paulo to the borders of
Potosi. And I protest that my intention
is not the death of anyone nor the shedding of any blood.”
Fr. Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, Spiritual Conquest, from the
introduction. Fr. Montoya after he secured
these provisions from the government of Spain on behalf of the Indians of the
Jesuit Missions wrote the historical narative, Spiritual Conquest. After this
he returned to South America to the port of Lima where he died. The Indians from his mission in Paraguay
traveled more than 2500 miles across hostile territory, jungles and mountains
to return his body to the Missions.
Mercy
and Gratitude
So also will My Heavenly Father
do likewise unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother
their trespasses; namely, He will recall all your past sins which have been
already forgiven, even as the lord recalled the past debt of his servant which
had been already remitted. This remitted
debt, therefore, and sin is said to be recalled and to return, through that
subsequent mercilessness and ingratitude. 1) Because this want of mercy is a
deadly sin; for to be unwilling to forgive our neighbour a fault, is to cherish
hatred, anger, and revenge against him, which is clearly mortal sin. And thus by this means the former state of
sin and liability to hell returns. For
he who will not forgive is a debtor to the wrath of God in the same way that he
was previously, on account of other sins.
For this sin is irremissible, because so long as a man will not forgive
his neighbour for a trespass against himself, so long will not God forgive him
his own faults.... 2) Because ingratitude is a great aggravation of sin, and
that withdraws the more in a deadly manner.... For this ingratitude attaches
itself to all sin. Theologians teach
that it is especially to be discerned and taken account of in four kinds of
sins; namely, hatred, apostasy, obstinacy and impenitence. For these four are directly repugnant to the
very essence of the remission of sins; that is to say, either to faith, or
charity, or repentance. 3) Because this
ingratitude although be not in itself a mortal sin, yet it is often the cause
of mortal sin. For God, on account of
the ingratitude, withdraws the more plentiful supply of His grace from the
sinner, and permits him to be more severely tempted by the flesh and the
devil. Hence it comes to pass that he
falls into more dreadful mortal sins, by which that former multitude of faults
returns, which is signified by the ten
thousand talents. God will require of him as much as the former debt
amounted to, because of his want of mercy.... "He shall have judgment
without mercy, who hath shewed no mercy." (James 2:13)
Rev. Cornelius a' Lapide, The
Great Commentary
Who is Responsible
for the Undermining the Catholic Doctrine of Matrimony?
Pope
Francis is following the path of Pope Benedict XVI - The reception of Holy
Communion by those living in an open state of objective adultery is relegated
to the internal forum as a "judgment of conscience"!
In recent years, in various regions, different pastoral solutions in
this area have been suggested according to which, to be sure, a general
admission of divorced and remarried to Eucharistic communion would not be
possible, but the
divorced and remarried members of the faithful could approach Holy Communion in
specific cases when they consider themselves authorized according to a judgment
of conscience to do so. This would be the case, for example, when
they had been abandoned completely unjustly (by their first spouse), although
they sincerely tried to save the previous marriage, or when they are convinced
of the nullity of their previous marriage, although unable to demonstrate it in
the external forum or when they have gone through a long period of reflection
and penance, or also when for morally valid reasons they cannot satisfy the
obligation to separate.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the
Catholic Church Concerning the Reception of Holy Communion by the Divorced and
Remarried Members of the Faithful, September 14, 1994
A true Catholic is he who loves the truth
revealed by God, who loves the Church, the Body of Christ, who esteems
religion, the Catholic faith, higher than any human authority, talents,
eloquence, and philosophy; all this he holds in contempt, and remains firm and
unshaken in the faith which, he knows, has always from the beginning been held
by the Catholic Church; and if he notices that anyone, no matter who he may be,
interprets a dogma in a manner different from that of the Fathers of the
Church, he understands that God permits such an interpretation to be made, not
for the good of religion, but as a temptation, according to the words of St.
Paul: “For there must be also heresies; that they also, who are reproved, may
be made manifest among you” (I Cor. xi. 19). And indeed, no sooner are novel
opinions proclaimed, than it becomes manifest what kind of a Catholic a man
is.
St. Vincent of Lerins, Commonit.
The Word of God willed
to make use of our nature, when in excruciating agony He would redeem mankind;
in much the same way throughout the centuries He makes use of the Church that
the work begun might endure… Not only the sacred ministers and those who have
consecrated themselves to God in the religious life, but also all the other
members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ have the obligation of working
hard and constantly for the upbuilding and increase of this Body… A tremendous
mystery and one which can never be sufficiently mediated upon: that the
salvation of many depends on the prayers and voluntary mortifications
undertaken for this end by the members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ and
on the cooperation of the pastors and of the faithful.
Pope Pius XII, Mystici
Corporis
There is an amazing and
scarcely fathomable depth in this sentence of St. Thomas Aquinas: false
prudence and excessive cleverness are derived from and essentially tied to
covetousness…. “Covetousness” here means more than the disordered love for
money and property. Covetousness is to
be understood here as the immoderate striving after all “possessions”, through
which the person thinks he can assure his own greatness and worth. Covetousness thus signifies the anxious
senility of a frantic self-preservation bent on only its own assurance and
security. Is further explanation needed
on how greatly all this is contrary to the innermost direction of prudence; how
impossible it is for one to have that silence that knows and recognized the
truth of objective realities; and how impossible it is to have any conformity
to reality in knowing and deciding, without the youthfulness of a courageously
trusting and, as it were, prodigal renunciation of the conditions of anxious
self-preservation and of all selfish “interest” in mere self-confirmation; how
simply impossible, then, is the virtue of prudence without the constant
readiness for disregarding oneself and without the detachment and tranquility
of authentic humility and objectivity?
Dr. Josef Pieper, Virtues
of the Human Heart
The
Novus Ordo Memorial Meal begets the non-sacrificial Priesthood
"The priest must be in his own way a victim. Why? Because Christ in offering himself during the sacrifice of the Mass offers also his entire Mystical Body, and especially his minister who is celebrating Mass. Therefore every priest has his own individual vocation to be a victim in order to become like to Christ. The truth of this becomes even more evident if we consider the opposite error. Take the case of a priest who shares in the priesthood of Christ by virtue of his ordination and yet refuses to share in his state of victim. Such a priest is refusing the obligation laid on all the faithful of taking up the cross; and this obligation presses all the more urgently upon a priest in view of the fact that he is intended to be another Christ amongst the faithful."
Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Priest in Union with Christ
To tell the truth, it is a
different liturgy of the Mass. This needs to be said without ambiguity: the
Roman Rite as we knew it no longer exists. It has been destroyed!
Rev. Joseph Gelineau, S. J., a
member of Msgr. Bugnini’s Concilium, on the Novus Ordo
Such
as, the sacramental presence of Jesus Christ!
"We must strip from our
Catholic prayers and from the Catholic liturgy everything which can be the
shadow of a stumbling block for our separated brethren, that is for the
Protestants."
Msgr. Annibale Bugnini,
L'Osservatore Romano, March 19, 1965
If only the
"New-Evangelization" by the laity was modeled upon the
Old-Evangelization by the laity
Everyone can help his neighbor if he does his duty. There would be no pagans if Christians were
real Christians, if they really kept the commandments. A good life sounds clearer and louder than a
trumpet.
St. John Chrysostom
The first suffering which the
damned endure is that they are deprived of seeing Me. This suffering is so great that, if it were
possible, they would choose to endure fire and torments, if they could in the
meantime enjoy My vision, rather than to be delivered from other sufferings without
being able to see Me. This pain is
increased by a second, that of the worm of conscience, which torments them
without cessation. Thirdly, the view of
the demon redoubles their sufferings, because, seeing him in all his ugliness,
they see what they themselves are, and thus see clearly that they themselves
have merited these chastisements. The
fourth torment which the damned endure is that of fire, a fire which burns but
does not consume. Further, so great is
the hate which possesses them that they cannot will anything good. Continually they blaspheme Me. They can no longer merit. Those who die in hate, guilty of mortal sin,
enter a state which lasts forever.
Our Lord to St. Catherine of
Siena, Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena
Reflective of the primacy of
prayer over understanding is the semantic development of the term ‘orthodoxy’
in the Christian context. The Classical Greek compound noun orthodoxia
originally signified ‘right opinion’. However, since the second component doxa
had also the secondary meanings of ‘glory’ and ‘praise’, the word came, in the
usage of Greek speaking Christians, to mean ‘right worship.’ Hence the Old
Slavonic loan-translation pravoslavie (‘orthdoxy’, but literally ‘right
praise’) adapted the secondary (Christian) rather than the primary (classical)
meaning of orthodoxia.
Geoffrey Hull, The
distinguished linguist and author of Banished
Heart
In the building constructed
upon Christ, good works are compared to gold, to silver, to precious
stone. Venial sins are compared to wood,
to hay, to stubble. The day of the Lord
is that on which He manifests His judgment, first of all during tribulation on
earth, then at the particular judgment after death, finally at the last
judgment. The fire which tests and
purifies is that of tribulation on earth, then that of purgatory, lastly that
of universal conflagration at the last judgment. In truth, many tests of Scripture speak of
the purifying fire under these three different forms.
St. Thomas, Commentary on the
First Epistle to the Corinthians
We take the side of science in
spite of the absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to
fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the
tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories,
because we have a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and
institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of
the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to
create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce
material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how
mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for
we cannot allow a divine foot in the door.
Professor Richard Lewontin,
leading evolutionist and geneticist, Billions
and Billions of Demons
To
"see" "intelligent design" presupposes intelligence &
good will - so much for "Roman Catholic scholars"
It is worth noting that in all
of the major court challenges to creationism, Roman Catholic scholars—biblical
specialists, theologians and scientists— have been witnesses against
creationism and the fundamentalist understanding of intelligent design.
Fr. Michael Guinan, ‘Creationism’ What’s a Catholic to Do?, in
which he defends modern evolution and naturalism against the literal
interpretation of Holy Scripture and the unanimous teaching of the Church
Fathers.
For one thing, every careful
thinker knows that a reconciliation of science and the Christian faith has
never been needed, because true science (in contradistinction to false
philosophies disguised in scientific garments) can never be incompatible with
the Christian faith.
Dietrich von Hildebrand, Teilhard de Chardin: A False Prophet
The Word of God willed
to make use of our nature, when in excruciating agony He would redeem mankind;
in much the same way throughout the centuries He makes use of the Church that
the work begun might endure… Not only the sacred ministers and those who have
consecrated themselves to God in the religious life, but also all the other
members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ have the obligation of working
hard and constantly for the upbuilding and increase of this Body… A tremendous
mystery and one which can never be sufficiently mediated upon: that the
salvation of many depends on the prayers and voluntary mortifications
undertaken for this end by the members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ and
on the cooperation of the pastors and of the faithful.
Pope Pius XII, Mystici
Corporis
INSTRUCTION ON THE FOLLY OF HUMAN RESPECT
Thou art a true speaker ‘neither carest thou or any man, for thou
dost not regard the person of men (Matt. 22, 16).
In this Christians ought especially to follow the Saviour, and not permit themselves to be deterred from piety, and the practice of virtue by fear or human respect. What matters it, what people think and say of us, if we only please God? He alone can truly benefit or injure us; therefore he alone is to be feared, as Christ says: Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt. 10, 28).
How foolishly, therefore, do those act
who through fear of displeasing certain people, are afraid to serve God and
practice piety; who even go so far as to commit sin; who in order to be
pleasing to others, oppress innocent, poor and forsaken people; who adopt the
latest and most scandalous fashions and customs; those who eat meat on days of
abstinence, or give it to others; those who sing sinful songs, or what is still
worse, do not hesitate to ridicule sacred things to give others occasion to
laugh, or in order to be considered strong-minded. Implore God daily and
sincerely, that He may take from you this vain fear of men and give you instead
the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.
INSTRUCTION ON THE VALUE AND DIGNITY OF THE SOUL
Whose image is this? (Matt. 22, 20)
Thus we should often ask ourselves with respect to our soul, particularly when we are tempted to stain and ruin it by sin, Whose image is this? We should then say to ourselves, “Is it not the likeness of God, a likeness painted with the blood of Jesus, an image for which the Saviour gave His life? Should I defile and deform this by sin and voluptuousness? God forbid!” For in truth, what among all created things, except the angels, is more beautiful and more precious than a human soul, which is in the state of grace? “Could we,” says St. Catherine of Sienna, “behold with our corporal eyes a soul in the state of grace, we would see with astonishment that it surpasses in splendor all flowers, all stars, the whole world, and there is probably no one who would not wish to die for such beauty.” It is a dwelling of the Blessed Trinity! Christ did not give His life for all the goods and treasures of this earth, but for the human soul. And yet many estimate their soul at such little value that they sell it for a momentary pleasure, for a present not worth a penny! For shame! The body we estimate so highly that we take all pains to decorate it and keep it alive, and the soul the image and likeness of God, we take no pains to keep in the state of grace, and adorn with virtues! What folly!
Between 2000 and 2010, the number of Brazilians describing themselves
as Catholics has dropped by 12.2%. This record fall brought the proportion of
Catholics down to 65% from 74%; in 2010 it was the lowest share since religious
affiliations was first surveyed in 1872. In 2022, 56.7% of the population
classified themselves as Catholics. Brazil has the world's largest Catholic
population but some now project that the percentage of Catholic will fall below
40% by 2032. The "New Evangelization" not only does not make
proselytes, it drives baptized Catholics from the Church. The collapse is
leading to the loss of salvation for millions of souls.
“The
Rosary is the most powerful weapon for defending ourselves on the field of
battle.”
… The decadence which exists in the world is without any doubt the
consequence of the lack of the spirit of prayer. Foreseeing this
disorientation, the Blessed Virgin recommended recitation of the Rosary with
such insistence. And since the Rosary is, after the holy Eucharistic liturgy,
the prayer most apt for preserving faith in souls, the devil has unchained his
struggles against it. Unfortunately, we see the disasters he has caused.
… We must defend souls against the errors which can make them stray
from the good road. … We cannot and we must not stop ourselves, nor allow, as
Our Lord says, the children of Darkness to be wiser than the children of Light
… The Rosary is the most powerful weapon for defending ourselves on the field
of battle.
Sr. Lucy of Fatima, Letter to Dom Umberto Pasquale
CATHOLIC
PROPHECY
May
13, 1820: I saw also the relationship between the two popes. . . I saw how
baleful would be the consequences of this false church. I saw it increase in
size; heretics of every kind came into the city (of Rome). The local clergy
grew lukewarm, and I saw a great darkness. . . Then, the vision seemed to
extend on every side. Whole Catholic communities were being oppressed,
harassed, confined, and deprived of their freedom. I saw many churches close
down, great miseries everywhere, wars and bloodshed. A wild and ignorant mob
took to violent action. But it did not last long.
Once
more I saw that the Church of Peter was undermined by a plan evolved by the
secret sect, while storms were damaging it. But I saw also that help was coming
when distress had reached its peak. I saw again the Blessed Virgin ascend on
the Church and spread her mantle [over it]. I saw a Pope who was at once
gentle, and very firm. . . I saw a great renewal, and the Church rose high in
the sky.
Sept.
12, 1820: I saw a strange church being built against every rule. . . No angels were supervising the building
operations. In that church, nothing came from high above. . . There was only
division and chaos. It is probably a church of human creation, following the
latest fashion, as well as the new heterodox church of Rome, which seems of the
same kind. . .
I
saw again the strange big church that was being built there (in Rome). There
was nothing holy in it. I saw this just as I saw a movement led by
Ecclesiastics to which contributed angels, saints and other Christians. But
there (in the strange big church) all the work was being done mechanically
(i.e. according to set rules and formulae). Everything was being done according
to human reason. . .
I
saw all sorts of people, things, doctrines, and opinions. There was something
proud, presumptuous, and violent about it, and they seemed to be very successful.
I did not see a single Angel nor a single saint helping in the work. But far
away in the background, I saw the seat of a cruel people armed with spears, and
I saw a laughing figure which said: “Do build it as solid as you can; we will
pull it to the ground.”
Blessed
Anna Katherina Emmerich, Catholic Prophecy by Ives DuPont
“Necessity
Knows No Law”
In 1976, the head of the UGCC, Cardinal Josef Slipyj, living in exile
in Rome after 18 years in the Soviet gulag, feared for the future of the UGCC.
Would it have bishops to lead it, given that Slipyj himself was now over 80? So
he ordained three bishops clandestinely, without the permission of the Holy
Father, Blessed (sic) Paul VI. At the time, the Holy See followed a policy of
non-assertiveness regarding the communist bloc; Paul VI would not give
permission for the new bishops for fear of upsetting the Soviets. The
consecration of bishops without a papal mandate is a very grave canonical
crime, for which the penalty is excommunication. Blessed (sic) Paul VI—who
likely knew, unofficially, what Slipyj had done—did not administer any
penalties.
Fr. Raymond J. DeSouza
John
Henry Newman: A Novus Ordo Saint and Doctor... of the Novus Ordo Church!
"I see much danger of an English
Catholicism of which Newman (Cardinal John Henry Newman) is the highest type.
It is the old Anglican, patristic, literary, Oxford tone transplanted into the
Church. It takes the line of deprecating exaggerations, foreign devotions,
Ultramontanism, anti-national sympathies. In one word, it is worldly
Catholicism."
Cardinal Manning, Primate of England, Letter
to Monsignor Talbot, written in 1866, the second year of his reign as
archbishop
THE NATURE OF GOD'S CHRUCH -
“The kingdom of heaven”
In
the thirteenth chapter of St. Matthew there are several parables recorded,
commencing with the words, “The kingdom of heaven is likened,” etc. Now, this
cannot be the kingdom of God’s glory, for there are no tares or bad fishes to
cast out in that kingdom. It must of necessity be the Church of Jesus Christ on
earth, the new-chosen children of God, who have superseded the people of the
ancient law.
It
is called “the kingdom,” in the singular number, not in the plural number,
kingdoms, for Jesus Christ founded but one Church, which is His kingdom; “and
of His kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:33). He does not call it a
republic, but a kingdom, thus describing the monarchical form of government
which He gave to His Church. A kingdom is a country governed by a king; and if
the king does not preside over it in person, he governs it by means of a
viceroy, who in everything represents the king, and governs the country
according to the powers and laws received from the king. If nowadays we have so
many Christian sects, each one calling itself the true Church of Christ, it is
not because He founded them, but because “many revolted and did not remain in
the doctrine of Christ” (II John 9).
To
say that all churches are good and pleasing in the sight of God, since they all
believe in the same God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, is the
same as to say that provinces and individuals originally of the same kingdom,
but revolting against their lawfully-constituted authorities and forming laws
for themselves not sanctioned by the king, are just as agreeable to the king as
those who were always faithful and submissive to him and to his ministers, and
that it is enough to say to Jesus Christ, “Lord, Lord!” in order to be saved,
no matter how many of His doctrines one rejects, nor how many of His laws and
ordinances are despised. He Himseif answers “Not every one that saith to me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will
of My Father, who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many
will say to Me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name?”
(and to prophesy does not only mean to foretell future things, but also to
explain and discourse on religious matters), “and cast out devils in Thy name,
and done many miracles in Thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you : depart from Me, you that work iniquity” (Matt 7:21). If the Apostle
St. Paul says, “There must be also heresies,” it is not because Jesus Christ approves
of them, but He permits them only “that they also who are approved may be made
manifest” (l Cor. 11:19). They are, as it were, the shades which serve to make
what is light still clearer and more visible to the world. But shade is
darkness, and nothing dark or defiled will ever be admitted into the kingdom of
glory. “Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in you be not darkness”
(Luke 11:35).
If,
then, Christ has established but one Church, which is His kingdom — “the
kingdom of heaven” — and this Church has a monarchical form of government,
behold here already a main feature of the holy Catholic Church.
JOSEPH
PRACHENSKY, S.J., TIlE CHURCH OF THE
PARABLES - TRUE SPOUSE OF THE SUFFERING SAVIOR, 1880
"Dogma,
or divine truth, must go before all devotion."
Let us next go on to see what is
devotion. Devotion, or worship, or adoration is the love and veneration with
which we regard God and His Divine Truth. There can be no Divine Truth which
ought not to be an object of love and of veneration. Every truth that God has
revealed is the word of God ; it is the mind of Jesus Christ — it comes to us
from a divine voice. How is it possible that we can do otherwise than love and
venerate every such divine declaration? If, when a divine truth is declared to us,
our hearts do not turn to it, as the eye turns to the light; if there be not in
us an instinctive yearning, which makes us promptly turn to the sound of the
divine voice, the fault is in our hearts; for just in proportion as we know the
truth we shall be drawn towards it. Devotion, therefore, signifies the worship
and love which by faith we offer first to God, to the Ever-blessed Trinity, and
to the Three Persons one by one. When the Persons are known to us, our
relations to those Persons become likewise known, and every relation carries
with it duties and prompts us to affections. We shall see hereafter the
application of these truths. For the present it is enough to say that, in the
measure in which we know the truth, in that measure we shall have the motives
of loving and of venerating it.
We may therefore understand the
relation between dogma and devotion to be simply in this, that without
knowledge we cannot have either a love or a veneration for truth. Our Lord
said, ' You adore that which you know not ;' and because they knew it not they
could not ' adore in spirit and in truth.' S. Paul found some of the disciples
who did not so much as know whether there were any Holy Ghost. Could they have
had any love and veneration for the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, of
whose coming, nay, of whose existence, they never heard ? We may, indeed, love
a person whom we have never seen ; because S. Peter says of our Divine Lord, 'Whom
not having seen you love;' but we cannot love anybody of whom we do not know.
We may know by hearsay and we may know by faith, and we may love those whom we
know by faith and by hearsay ; but we cannot love those of whom we never heard.
Therefore it is a law of our nature that we can will nothing and can love
nothing unless we first know it. The intellect is said in philosophy to carry a
light before the will. What is called dogma, or divine truth, must go before
all devotion ; and in the proportion in which we have the light to know the
objects of faith, in that proportion, if we be faithful, devotion will spring
up in our hearts. [....] Here, then, is the relation between devotion and
dogma. You see, therefore, why it is that the Catholic Church, from the
beginning, has been inflexibly firm in maintaining every jot and tittle of its
dogma. It is because God has revealed it, and because God has committed it to
its custody; because if one jot or one tittle were lost, then the Church of God
would lose some object of its devotion. The whole revelation of God, — of the
Ever blessed Trinity, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, of the Maker
and the Redeemer and the Sanctifier; the mysteries of the one uncreated nature
and of the three consubstantial, co-equal, coeternal Persons; of the glory of
God, of the mutual knowledge and love of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, — this is
the first great and divine reality, the object of our divine worship. To know
and to adore the Ever-blessed Trinity is to adore God ' in spirit and in truth.
Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, Dogma, the Source of Devotion
Viganò denounces Amoris
Laetitia summit as ‘rupture’ from Church teaching
'The officials of the
conciliar and synodal church call 'paradigm' what in the language of the Church
has always been called error,' said Viganò.
LifeSiteNews
| October 15, 2026 — “A theological paradigm that changes”: they admit it
themselves. Whoever declares that the
Church “is moving toward the full realization of Vatican II and the
Synod on Synodality” is merely confessing what we denounce: a rupture, not a
homogeneous development.
Theology
has no paradigms to change, because it has the deposit of faith to safeguard
and transmit. Vatican I defined it in terms that no one can abrogate: from the
sense of the dogmas one must never stray “under the appearance and name of a
higher understanding,” under the pretext of a better comprehension.
“A
Church in which everyone has a voice”? The Church is not a parliament, and Our
Lord did not call for consultations: “He who hears you hears me.” The listening
that saves is that of the Word of God (“faith comes from hearing” Rm. 10:17),
not a listening to the world, which has obtained our surrender. One listens to
Our Lord, and then one obeys.
And
Amoris Laetitia, whose “reception” is celebrated with such fervor, has introduced
into the discipline of the sacraments what Scripture (Mt. 19; 1 Cor. 11:27) and
the Council of Trent excluded. Trent anathematized whoever says that the Church
errs when it teaches that the matrimonial bond is not dissolved by adultery,
and that other marriages may be contracted while the spouse is still living
(Sess. XXIV, can. 7); and it established that whoever is conscious of mortal
sin must not approach the Eucharist without prior sacramental confession (Sess.
XIII, can. 11).
The
officials of the conciliar and synodal church call “paradigm” what in the
language of the Church has always been called error. And when the error
concerns a defined doctrine (i.e.: DOGMA), the Catholic Church has an even
graver name: heresy.
Pope Leo: Take to heart the
riches of ‘Amoris laetitia’
In his homily read by
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle at the concluding Mass of the Vatican encounter to
mark the 10th anniversary of 'Amoris laetitia,' Pope Leo XIV calls on the
Church to put the Apostolic Exhortation's pastoral guidance into practice in
the heart of families.
Vatican News Service | Christopher Wells | October 14, 2026
“Today,
as we celebrate the Eucharist, we offer to the Lord the fruits of the work we
have carried out” on Amoris laetitia,
“and we seek to take its riches to heart and put its pastoral guidance into
practice”, Pope Leo said on Wednesday, 14 October, in his homily for the
concluding Mass of the ecclesial Encounter marking the 10th anniversary of Pope
Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation on love in the family.
The
Holy Father’s homily was read by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the new Dean of
the College of Cardinals and Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evanglization.
COMMENT: Amoris laetitia overturned all Catholic morality. It
established the individual subjective conscience as the primary
determination of the morality of any
human act. Catholic morality holds that the primary determination of the
morality of any act is always the objective act itself. The subjective
motivation for any human act contributes to the merit or guilt of a human act,
but the act itself is always the primary determinate. A good motive cannot
redeem an evil act however an evil motive can destroy an objective good act. A
good motive may mitigate the imputability of an evil act but it cannot remove
the guilt. The late Pope Francis/Bergoglio, by permitting divorced and
remarried Catholics to receive the Holy Eucharist based upon their own
subjective conscience set the precedence for overturning all Catholic morality.
For this crime, Francis/Bergoglio is unhappily paying an eternal recompense.
Now Pope Leo/Prevost is travelling down the same road to perdition. Their own subjective consciences cannot by any
measure make this objective evil act of corruption Catholic morality good.
Francis/Bergoglio
and his shadow, Leo/Prevost have said nothing about the grave sin of abortion
while claiming to defend "human dignity." Their argument is now the
public position for politicians seeking the Catholic vote.
Texas
Democratic Senate candidate is James Talarico, (surnamed after his apostate
Catholic step-father, is neither Catholic nor Italian). He supports abortion
and has actively worked against Texas law that restricts abortion access. Talarico pointed to the consequences of Texas' restrictive
abortion law, arguing that it has endangered women experiencing pregnancy
complications. He said the ban prohibits abortion even when a mother's life is
threatened. Talarico said, "If we are
authentically pro-life, I think we should be disturbed by the outcomes of this
extreme abortion ban." When Talarico was questioned, "If you
cannot provide policies or support policies that protect the most innocent
among us, who is the unborn child, how can we trust that you're going to
provide policies to protect the rest of Texans?" Talarico responded by
invoking Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, whom he described as consistently
pro-life because their concern for human dignity extends beyond abortion to
poverty, climate change, (capital punishment) and war.
Remember in your charity:
Remember the welfare of our expectant mother:
Camilla Meiser requests our prayers for her
granddaughter, Katie Wess, and her nephew, Haden Carlson,
Fr. Paul
Sretenovic, a faithful priest who works in California,
Drews petition prayers for the spiritual and
temporal welfare of the Christian
& Irene Melnick family,
Gene Peters asks our prayers for the spiritual
welfare of Beverly Wood and Bonnie
Cormesser,
Mr. & Mrs. Hall request prayers for the health
of their daughter, Erika Smith,
Drews request your prayers for Phyllis Virgil, for her health and spirital welfare,
For Anthony
Niekrewicz, spiritual and temporal welfare is the petition of all the
members of Ss. Peter & Paul,
Mary Lou Loftus' aunt, Susan Hendricks, who is gravely ill after emergencyC
surgery,
Fred Holder,
for his
spiritual and physical welfare,
Thomas Soul,
a
nursing home patient who has suffered a stroke,
Donna Kallal, a dear friend of the
Schiltz family who is dying,
Philip Thees requests our prayers for the heath of Mary Glatz and Agnus Messineo,
For the welfare of Aaron, a York resident in need of conversion,
For the spiritual welfare of Margaret Connelly is the petition of Camilla Meiser,
Linda Boyd, for her health,
Pete
Schiffbauer, a cousin of Monic Bandlow who is gravely ill,
Joan R.
Barr,
the widow of F. Donald Barr who died March 7, they were married 70 years
Cole
Schneider, prayers for his welfare are requested by Camilla Meiser,
JoAnn
Niekrewicz,
for her recovery from a recent fall and shoulder injury,
The Drews ask prayers for the spiritual and physical
welfare of Robert Carballo,
Conversion of Jack
Gentry, the nephew of Camilla Meiser,
For Sr.
Maria Junipera, who took her final vows as a nun with the Slaves of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary in Richmond, New Hampshire April 8,
Stephen
Bryan,
the brother of a devout Catholic religious, for his spiritual welfare,
Marie
Kolinsky,
for her health and spiritual welfare is the petition of her family,
Gene Peters requests our prayers for the conversion
of Shirley Young and Carl Loy who are dying, the
conversion of Dawn Keithley
and Nate Schaeffer,
Rev. Leo
Carley,
an eighty-nine year old priest faithful to Catholic tradition, who is seriously
ill,
For the recovery of Hayden Yanchek, the grandson of Francis Yanchek, injured in
a farming accident,
Maureen
Nies, for
the recovery of her health is the petition of Camilla Meiser,
Daniel
Vargs, for
his health is the petition of his parents,
Art Noel, for the restoration of his
health,
For the welfare of Peg Berry and her husband, Bill,
Marianne Connelly asks prayers for Chris Foley, who is gravely ill,
and the welfare of his wife, Mary
Beth,
The spiritual welfare of the Sal & Maria Messineo family is the petition of the
Drew’s,
Liz Agosta, who is seriously ill, for her
spiritual and temporal welfare,
Warren
Hoffman, a
long time member of our Mission who is in failing health,
Patrick
Boyle,
for the recovery of his health and his spiritual welfare,
For the spiritual welfare of the Drew children,
Monica Bandlow request our prayers for the welfare of
Ray who is recovering from a
MVA, and his daughter, Sonya,
and Tera Jean Kopczynski, who
is in failing health, and for a good death for Mr. Howald, Kathy
Simons, Regina Quinn, James Mulgrew, Ruth Beaucheane, John Kopczynski, Roger
& Mandy Owen
Peg Berry requests our prayers for her brother, William Habekost,
For the recently widowed, Maike Hickson, and her children,
For the spiritual welfare of the Carmelite nuns in Fairfield, PA,
Geralyn
Zagorski, recovery of her health and spiritual welfare and
the conversion of Randal Pace is the petition of Philip Thees,
For the grandson of
Joe & Liz Agusta,
Fr. Waters requests our
prayers for the health and spiritual welfare of Elvira Donaghy,
For the health and
conversion of Stephen Henderson,
Fr. Paul DaDamio requests
our prayers for the welfare of Rob Ward, and his sister, Debra
Wagaman,
Kaitlyn McDonald, for the recovery of her health and spiritual
welfare,
Roco
Sbardella,
for his health and spiritual welfare,
The Vargas’ request our prayers for the spiritual
welfare of their son, Nicholas,
Family, for the welfare of Lazarus Handley, his mother, Julia, and his brother, Raphael, with Down’s Syndrome,
Fr. Waters requests prayers for the spiritual and
physical welfare of Frank McKee,
Nancy
Bennett, for the recovery of her
health,
For the spiritual welfare of Mark Roberts, a Catholic faithful to tradition,
Michael Brigg requests our prayers for the health of John Romeo,
The health and welfare of Gene Peters and his sons,
Conversion of Anton
Schwartzmueller, is the prayer request of his children,
Christine
Kozin, for
her health and spiritual welfare,
Teresa
Gonyea,
for her conversion and health, is the petition of her grandmother, Patricia
McLaughlin,
For the health of Sonya Kolinsky,
Jackie Dougherty asks our prayers for her brother, John Lee, who is gravely ill,
For the health and spiritual welfare, Meg Bradley, the granddaughter
of Rose Bradley,
Timothy
& Crisara, a couple from Maryland have requested our prayers for their spiritual
welfare,
Celine
Pilegaard, the seven year old daughter of Cynthia Pilegaard, for her recovery from
burn injuries,
Rafaela de
Saravia, for
her health and welfare,
Abbe Damien Dutertre, traditional Catholic priest
arrested by Montreal police while offering Mass,
Francis
(Frank) X. McLaughlin, for the recovery of his
health,
Nicholas
Pell,
for his health and spiritual welfare is the petition of Camilla Meizer,
Mary Kaye
Petr, her
health and welfare is petitioned by Camilla Meizer,
The welfare of Excellency Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò,
The welfare of Rev.
Fr. Martin Skierka, who produces the traditional Ordo in the U.S.,
For the health and welfare of Katie Wess, John Gentry, Vincent Bands, Todd Chairs, Susan Healy and
James O’Gentry is the petition of Camilia,
Marieann
Reuter, recovery of her health, Kathy Kepner, for her health, Shane Cox, for his health,
requests of Philip Thees,
The Joseph
Cox Family, their spiritual welfare,
For the health of Kim Cochran, the daughter-in-law of Joseph and Brenda
Cochran, the wife of their son Joshua,
Louie
Verrecchio,
Catholic apologist, who has a health problem,
John
Minidis, Jr. family, for help in their spiritual
trial,
Joann
DeMarco, for her health and spiritual
welfare,
Regina
(Manidis) Miller, her spiritual welfare and health,
Melissa
Elena Levitt, her conversion, and welfare of her children,
For the grace of a holy death, Nancy Marie Claycomb,
Conversion of Annette
Murowski, and her son Jimmy,
Brent Keith from Indiana has petitioned our prayers
for the Keith Family,
The welfare of the Schmedes Family, and the Mike and Mariana Donohue Family,
The spiritual welfare Robert Holmes Family,
For the spiritual and temporal welfare of Irwin Kwiat,
Fr. Waters asks our prayers for Elvira Donaghy,
Kimberly Ann, the daughter of John and
Joann DeMarco, for her health and spiritual welfare,
Rende and
Mary Mufide, a traditional Catholics from India ask our prayers for her welfare and
he family members, living and deceased,
Mary Glatz, her health and the welfare
of her family,
Barbara
Harmon,
who is ill,
Jason Green, a father of ten children,
his health,
For the health and welfare of Sorace family,
Fr. Waters asks our prayers for the health and
spiritual welfare of Brian Abramowitz,
Thomas
Schiltz family, in grateful appreciation for their contribution to the beauty of our
chapel,
John Rhoad, for his health and
spiritual welfare,
Kathy Boyle, requests our prayers for
her welfare,
Joyce
Laughman and Robert Twist, for their conversions,
Michael J.
Brigg & his family, who have helped with the needs of the Mission,
Nancy Deegan, her welfare and conversion
to the Catholic Church,
Francis Paul
Diaz,
who was baptized at Ss. Peter & Paul, asks our prayers for his spiritual
welfare,
The conversion of Rene McFarland, Lori Kerr, Cary Shipman
and family, David Bash, Crystal and family, Larry Reinhart, Costanzo Family,
Kathy Scullen, Marilyn Bryant, Vicki Trahern and Time Roe are
the petitions of Gene Peters,
For the conversion of Ben & Tina Boettcher family, Karin Fraessdorf, Eckhard Ebert,
and Fahnauer family,
Fr. Waters requests our prayers for Br. Rene, SSPX, and for Fr. Thomas Blute,
For the welfare of Fr. William T. Welsh,
The Drew’s ask our prayers for the welfare of Joe & Tracey Sentmanat family, Keith
& Robert Drew, Christy Koziol & her children, Fred Nesbit and Michael
Nesbit families, and Gene Peters Family,
the John Manidis Family, the Sal Messinio Family, Michael Proctor Family,
Ryan Boyle grandmother, Jane Boyle, who is failing health,
Mel Gibson
and his family, please remember in our prayers,
Rev. Timothy A. Hopkins requested our prayers for the
welfare of his friend, Fr Jean-Luc Lafitte,
Ebert’s request our prayers for the Andreas & Jenna Ortner Family,
Joyce Paglia has asked prayers for George Richard Moore Sr. & his
children, and her brother, George
Panell,
Philip Thees asks our prayers for his family, for McLaughlin Family, the welfare of
Dan & Polly Weand, the
conversion of Sophia Herman,
Tony Rosky, the welfare Nancy Erdeck, the wife of
the late Deacon Erdeck, John Calasanctis, Tony Rosky, James Parvenski, Kathleen Gorry, health of mind and body of Cathy Farrar.
Pray for the
Repose of the Souls:
Shanon
Smuckers,
a thirty-three year old mother of three, died July 15,
John
Callisanti, a faithful Catholic, died June 23, prayers petitioned by Philip Thees,
Christian
Joseph Melnick, died June 19, a 56 year old faithful Catholic and devoted husband and
father of nine,
Fr.
Radoslav, a
relatively young faithful priest who was working with Bishop Stobnicki in
Poland,
Leonard Messineo, a long time traditional
Catholic, dies May 18,
Fr. Paul
DaDamio, ordained
conditionally by Bishop Richard Williamson, and warmly devoted to the Blessed
Virgin Mary, died March 27, 2026,
For Jo Ann
Niekrewicz, our dear friend, died March 1, for the blessed repose of
her soul is the petition of all the members of Ss. Peter & Paul,
Shirley
Rotondo, died
February 2-26, and Louisa McBride,
died February 27, is the petition of Monica Bandlow,
Katherine
Veronica Wedel, the mother of Mary Baer, died February 6,
James
Condit, Jr., traditional Catholic activist, died December 27,
Beverly
Harmon, died
December 16, requested by the Sentmanat family,
Rev.
Nicholas DeProspero, a faithful Ruthenian Eastern rite Catholic priest, died December 10,
Monica Bandlow petitions our prayers for her friend, Patricia Messineo, died November
28,
Guy
Berthault,
died November 23, a great Catholic scientist whose work in sedimentology
destroyed Lyellian geology and the theory of evolution,
Thomas Soul,
died
November 8 after receiving the last rites of the Church,
Etta Van Der
Werken, a
dear friend of Barbara Taffe, died 10-21-2025,
Gary Potter, Catholic writer and
apologist and great long time defender of Catholic doctrine and tradition, died
9-9-2025,
Elizabeth
Gorska,
who died September 9, a relative of Lidia Gjec,
Camilia Meiser request our prayers for the souls of Peggy Cummings and Elizabeth Genter,
Thomas A.
Nelson, founder of TAN Books and
Publishers, died August 16,
Juan D.
Gonzalez,
our former sacristan, choir director, and dear friend, died July 23,
Sal
Messineo,
a faithful traditional Catholic, died Augsut 14,
Patricia
Askew, a
friend of Camilla Meiser, died July 3,
Joseph
Kerney, a
young man whose family provided the statues of the Sacred Heart, Mary and
Joseph in our sanctuary, died May 30,
Louis
Richard Ajlouny, the father of Randa Sharpe, died May 15,
Rene Guidicessi, died April 25, an old
friend of the Drews,
F. Donald
Barr, died
March 7 at 94 years of age, co-founder of Robert Francis Religious Goods, in
Philadelphia,
Dr. David
Allen White, a well known defender of the Catholic faith, died February 11,
Bishop Richard
Williamson, a renowned defender of the Catholic faith and most charitable gentleman,
died January 29,
Rodolfo
Alberto Lacayo, a cousin of Claudia Drew, died January 4,
Genieve
Wallace, died
Christmas day,
Ruth Marion
Beaucheane, died December 8, is the
petition of Monica Bandlow,
Ana Maria Salcedo, the sister of Mario Fiol, died November 26,
Fr. Johin Cardaro, a
traditional Catholic priest who was found dead in his home November 2,
Robert Carballo asks that we
remember his parents, Roberto & Aida Carballo, and his friend, David
Duclos, who died April 15,
Bishop Bernard Tissier de
Mallerais who may have been responsible for preventing the SSPX's public
reconciliation with Rome in 2012, died October 8,
Lorna
Edwards, our
dear friend and loyal supporter of this Mission, died August 10,
Lois Petti, died July 28 two hours after
receiving the Last Sacraments from Fr. Waters,
Wolfgang
Smith, a
renowned Catholic scholar, mathematician, scientist, philosopher, who helped
the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation, died July 19,
Willaim
Glatz, a
good and faithful Catholic, died July 17,
Alicio
Gonzalez, a
Catholic who asked for the sacrament of Extreme Unction, unfortunately did not
receive, died July 9,
John
Zavodny, a faithful Catholic who died wearing the scapular
of Mt Carmel on the first Saturday of May,
requested by Phyllis Virgil,
Catherine
Martel, a lapsed Catholic, received
the last sacraments in a good disposition from Fr. Waters on March 25 and died
on April 4,
Father
Basilio Méramo, a faithful priest, died March 5, removed from the SSPX for opposing
their accommodation with Rome,
Julia
McDonald,
the mother of Kyle McDonald, died March 1,
Agnus
Melnick,
died February 28, a long time faithful Catholic and mother of eight children,
including a traditional priest,
Kathryn
(Drew) Lederhos, of Wellesley, MA, died
February 3, 2024,
Chris Foley, the
brother of Mary Lou Loftus, died February 1,
Louis Zelaya, the brother of Claudia
Drew, died January 30,
Fr. James
Louis Albert Campbell, a faithful priest who died December 18 at 91 years of age, and her
mother and father, Teresa and Thomas
Maher,
Charles
Harmon,
the father of Tracey Sentmanet, died October 1, after receiving the rites of
the Church,
Fr. Waters requests prayers for Elvira Donaghy, his friend and former secretary a for Bishop
Gerado Zendejas, died September 9,
Robert
Hickson,
a faithful Catholic apologist who died Septembber 2,
Monica Bandlow requests prayers for her parents, Thomas & Teresa Maher, her
husband, William Bandlow, her
brother-in-law, Richard Bandlow,
her sister, Mary Maher, Fr. Christopher Darby, SSPX, who died March 17, Robert Byrne, Michelle Donofrio McDowell, her cousin, Patricia Fabyanic, the Prefect
of Our Lady’s Sodality, March 8, for
John Pfeiffer who died August 20, Theresa
Hanley, died July 23, Fr.
Juan-Carlos Iscara, SSPX, who died December 20, John Kinney, died December 21, Willaim Price, Jr., and Robert Arch Ward, died January 10,
and Myra, killed in a MVA
June 6,
John Sharpe,
Sr.,
died July 20,
Maria
Paulette Salazar, died June 6,
Dale Kinsey requests prayers for his wife, Katherine Kinsey, died May 17,
Richard
Giles,
who died April 29, the father of Traci Sentmanat who converted to the Catholic
faith last All Saints' Day,
Joseph
Sparks,
a devout and faithful Catholic to tradition died February 25,
Joyce Paglia, died
January 21, and Anthony Paglia,
died January 28, who were responsible for the beautiful statuary in our chapel,
Joe Sentmanet request prayers for Richard Giles and Claude Harmon who converted to
the Catholic faith shortly before their deaths,
Rodolfo
Zelaya, the brother of Claudia Drew,
died January 9,
Elizabeth Agosta petitions our prayers for Joseph Napolitano, her brother,
who died January 2,
Michael
Dulisse,
died on December 26,
Michael
Proctor, a close friend of the Drews,
died November 9,
Richard
Anthony Giles, the father-in-law of Joe Sentmanat converted to the Catholic faith on
All Saints Day, died November 5,
Robert
Kolinsky,
the husband of Sonja, died September 18,
Gabriel
Schiltz,
the daughter of Thomas & Gay Schiltz, died August 21,
Mary Dimmel, the
mother –in-law of Victoria Drew Dimmel, died July 18,
Michael
Nesbit,
the brother-in-law and dear friend of the Drew's, died July 14,
Thomas
Thees, the brother of Philip, died
June 19,
Carmen Ragonese,
died June 22,
Juanita
Mohler, a friend of Camella Meiser,
died June 14,
Kathleen
Elias, died February 14,
Hernan Ortiz, the
brother of Fr. Juan Carlos Ortiz, died February 3,
Mary Ann
Boyle,
the mother of a second order Dominican nun, a first order Dominican priest, and
a SSPX priest, died January 24,
John DeMarco, who
attended this Mission in the past, died January23,
Charles
O’Brien, the father of Marlene Cox,
died December 30,
Mufide Rende requests our prayers for the repose of
the souls of her parents, Mehmet
& Nedime,
Kathleen
Donelly,
died December 29 at 91 years of age, ran the CorMariae website,
Matthew
O'Hare,
most faithful Catholic, died at age 40 on November 30,
Rev. Patrick
J. Perez, a Catholic priest faithful to
tradition, pastor Our Lady Help of Christians, Garden Grove, CA, November 19,
Elizabeth
Benedek,
died December 14, requested by her niece, Agnes Vollkommer,
Dolores
Smith and Richard Costello, faithful Catholics, died November,
Frank
D’Agustino,
a friend of Philp Thees, died November 8,
Fr.
Dominique Bourmaud, of the SSPX, Prior of St.
Vincent in Kansas City, died September 4,
Pablo Daniel
Silva, the brother of Elizabeth
Vargas, died August 18,
Rose Bradley, a
member of Ss. Peter & Paul, died July 14,
Patricia
Ellias, died June 1, recently
returned to the Church died with the sacraments and wearing the brown scapular,
Joan Devlin, the sister-in-law of Rose
Bradley, died May 18,
William
Muligan, died April 29, two days after
receiving the last sacraments,
Robert Petti, died
March 19, the day after receiving the last sacraments,
Mark
McDonald, the father of Kyle, who died
December 26,
Perla Otero, died December 2020, Leyla Otero, January 2021,
cousins of Claudia Drew,
Mehmet Rende, died
December 12, who was the father of Mary Mufide,
Joseph
Gravish, died November 26, 100 year
old WWII veteran and daily communicant,
Jerome
McAdams,
the father of, died November 30,
Rev. James
O’Hara, died November 8, requested by
Alex Estrada,
Elizabeth
Batko, the sacristan at St. John the
Baptist in Pottstown for over 40 years, died on First Saturday November 7
wearing the brown scapular,
William Cox, the
father of Joseph Cox, who died September 3,
James Larson, Catholic
apologists, author of War Against Being
publication, died July 6, 2020,
Hutton
Gibson, died May 12,
Sr. Regina
Cordis,
Immaculate Heart of Mary religious for sixty-five years, died May 12,
Leslie Joan
Matatics, devoted Catholic wife and
mother of nine children, died March 24,
Victoria
Zelaya, the sister-in-law of Claudia
Drew, died March 20,
Ricardo
DeSilva,
died November 16, our prayers requested by his brother, Henry DeSilva,
Rev. Fr.
Joseph F. Collins, died April 27, 2019 to whom we are indebted for establishing our traditional
pre-Bugnini Holy Week in all its beauty,
Roland H.
Allard,
a friend of the Drew’s, died September 28,
Stephen
Cagorski
and John Bogda, who
both died wearing the brown
scapular,
Cecilia
LeBow, a most faithful Catholic,
Rose Cuono, died Oct 23,
Patrick
Rowen,
died March 25, and his brother, Daniel
Rowen, died May 15,
Sandra
Peters, the
wife of Gene Peters, who died June 10 receiving the sacraments and wearing our
Lady’s scapular,
Rev. Francis
Slupski, a
priest who kept the Catholic faith and its immemorial traditions, died May 14,
Martha
Mochan, the
sister of Philip Thees, died April 8,
George
Kirsch,
our good friend and supporter of this Mission, died February 15,
For Fr.
Paul J. Theisz, died October 17, is the petition of Fr. Waters,
Fr. Mecurio
Fregapane,
died Jan 12, was not a traditional priest but always charitable,
Fr. Casimir
Peterson,
a priest who often offered the Mass in our chapel and provided us with sound
advice, died December 4,
Fr.
Constantine Bellasarius, a faithful and always
charitable Eastern Rite Catholic Melkite priest, who left the Roman rite, died
November 27,
Christian
Villegas,
a motor vehicle accident, his brother, Michael, requests our prayers,
John Vennari, the former editor of
Catholic Family News, and for his family’s welfare, April 4,
Mary Butler, the aunt of Fr. Samuel
Waters, died October 17,
Joseph
DeMarco,
the nephew of John DeMarco, died October 3,
John Fergale, died September 25 after
receiving the traditional sacramental rites of the Church wearing the brown
scapular,
John Gabor, the brother of Donna
Marbach, died September 9,
Fr. Eugene
Dougherty,
a faithful priest, fittingly died on the Nativity of the BVM after receiving
the traditional Catholic sacraments,
Phyllis
Schlafly,
died September 5,
Helen
Mackewicz,
died August 14,
Mark A.
Wonderlin,
who died August 2,
Fr. Carl
Cebollero,
a faithful priest to tradition who was a friend of Fr. Waters and Fr. DeMaio,
Jessica
Cortes,
a young mother of ten who died June 12,
Frances
Toriello, a
life-long Catholic faithful to tradition, died June3, the feast of the Sacred
Heart, and her husband Dan,
died in 1985,
John
McLaughlin, a friend of the Drew’s, died May 22,
Angela
Montesano,
who died April 30, and her husband, Salvatore,
who died in July 3, 2013,
Charles Schultz, died
April 5, left behind nine children and many grandchildren, all traditional
Catholics,
Esperanza Lopez de Callejas,
the aunt of Claudia Drew, died March 15,
Fr. Edgardo Suelo, a
faithful priest defending our traditions who was working with Fr. Francois
Chazal in the Philippines, died February 19,
Conde McGinley, a long time
laborer for the traditional faith, died February 12, at 96 years,
The Drew family requests
your prayers for Ida Fernandez and Rita Kelley,
parishioners at St. Jude,
Fr. Stephen
Somerville,
a traditional priest who repented from his work with the Novus Ordo English
translation, died December 12,
Fr. Arturo
DeMaio,
a priest that helped this Mission with the sacraments and his invaluable
advice, died December 2,
J. Paul
Carswell,
died October 15, 2015,
Solange
Hertz, a
great defender of our Catholic faith, died October 3, the First Saturday of the
month,
Paula P.
Haigh,
died October 22, a great defender of our Catholic faith in philosophy and
natural science,
Gabriella
Whalin,
the mother of Gabriella Schiltz, who died August 25,
Mary
Catherine Sick, 14 year old from a large traditional Catholic family, died August 25,
Fr. Paul
Trinchard,
a traditional Catholic priest, died August 25,
Stephen J.
Melnick, Jr., died on August 21, a long-time faithful traditional Catholic husband
and father, from Philadelphia,
Patricia
Estrada,
died July 29, her son Alex petitions our prayers for her soul,
Fr. Nicholas
Gruner,
a devoted priest & faithful defender of Blessed Virgin Mary and her Fatima
message, died April 29,
Sarah E.
Shindle,
the grandmother of Richard Shindle, died April 26,
Madeline
Vennari,
the mother of John Vennari, died December 19,
Salvador
Baca Callejas, the uncle of Claudia Drew, died December 13,
Robert Gomez, who died in a motor vehicle
accident November 29,
Catherine
Dunn,
died September 15,
Anthony
Fraser,
the son of Hamish Fraser, died August 28,
Jeannette
Rhoad,
the grandmother of Devin Rhoad, who died August 24,
John Thees, the uncle of Philip Thees,
died August 9,
Sarah
Harkins, 32 year-old mother of four
children, died July 28,
Msgr. Donald
Adams, who
offered the Indult Mass, died April 1996,
Anita Lopez, the aunt of Claudia Drew,
Fr. Kenneth
Walker,
a young traditional priest of the FSSP who was murdered in Phoenix June 11,
Fr. Waters petitions our prayers for Gilberte Violette, the mother of
Fr. Violette, who died May 6,
Pete Hays petitions our prayers for his brothers, Michael, died May 9, and James, died October 20, his
sister, Rebecca, died March17, and his mother, Lorraine Hayes who died May 4,
Philip
Marbach,
the father of Paul Marbach who was the coordinator at St. Jude in Philadelphia,
died April 21,
Richard
Slaughtery,
the elderly sacristan for the SSPX chapel in Kansas City, died April 13,
Bernedette
Marie Evans nee Toriello, the daughter of Daniel Toriello, died March 31, a
faithful Catholic who suffered many years with MS,
Natalie
Cagorski,
died march 23,
Anita Lopez
de Lacayo,
the aunt of Claudia Drew, who died March 21,
Mario
Palmaro,
Catholic lawyer, bioethicist and professor, apologist, died March 9, welfare of
his widow and children,
Daniel Boyle, the
uncle of Ryan Boyle, died March 4,
Jeanne
DeRuyscher,
who died on January 25,
Arthur
Harmon,
died January 18,
Fr. Waters petitions our prayers for the soul of Jeanne DeRuyscher, who died
January 17,
Joseph
Proctor,
died January 10,
Susan Scott, a devote traditional
Catholic who made the vestments for our Infant of Prague statue, died January
8,
Brother
Leonard Mary, M.I.C.M., (Fred Farrell), an early supporter and friend of Fr. Leonard
Feeney, died November 23,
John Fergale, requests our prayers for his sister Connie, who died December 19,
Jim Capaldi, died December 15,
Brinton
Creager,
the son of Elizabeth Carpenter, died December 10,
Christopher
Lussos,
age 27, the father of one child with an expecting wife, died November 15,
Jarett
Ebeyer,
16 year old who died in his sleep, November 17, at the request of the
Kolinsky’s,
Catherine
Nienaber,
the mother of nine children, the youngest three years of age, killed in MVA
after Mass, 10-29,
Nancy Aldera, the sister of Frances
Toriello, died October 11, 2013 at 105 years of age,
Mary Rita
Schiltz,
the mother of Thomas Schiltz, who died August 27,
William H.
(Teddy) Kennedy, Catholic author of Lucifer’s Lodge, died August 14, age 49, cause of
death unknown,
Alfred
Mercier,
the father of David Mercier, who died August 12,
The Robert Kolinsky asks our prayers for his friend, George Curilla, who died August
23,
John Cuono, who had attended Mass at
our Mission in the past, died August 11,
Raymond
Peterson,
died July 28, and Paul Peterson,
died February 19, the brothers of Fr. Casimir Peterson,
Margaret
Brillhart,
who died July 20,
Msgr. Joseph
J. McDonnell, a priest from the diocese of Des Moines, who died June 8,
Patrick
Henry Omlor, who wrote Questioning The Validity of the Masses using
the New, All English Canon, and for a series of newsletters which were
published as The Robber Church, died May 2, the feast of St Athanasius,
Bishop
Joseph McFadden, died unexpectedly May 2,
Timothy
Foley,
the brother-in-law of Michelle Marbach Folley, who died in April,
William
Sanders,
the uncle of Don Rhoad, who died April 2,
Gene Peters ask our prayers for the repose of the
soul of Mark Polaschek, who
died March 22,
Eduardo
Gomez Lopez, the uncle of Claudia Drew, February 28,
Cecelia
Thees, died
February 24,
Elizabeth
Marie
Gerads, a
nineteen year old, the oldest of twelve children, who died February 6,
Michael
Schwartz,
the co-author with Fr. Enrique Rueda of “Gays, Aids, and You,” died February 3,
Stanley W.
Moore,
passed away in December 16, and Gerard (Jerry) R. Pitman, who died January 19,
who attended this Mission in the past,
Louis
Fragale,
who died December 25,
Fr. Luigi
Villa, Th.D. author of Vatican II About
Face! detailing the heresies of Vatican II, died November 18 at the age of 95,
Rev. Michael
Jarecki,
a faithful traditional Catholic priest who died October 22,
Jennie Salaneck, died September 19 at 95
years of age, a devout and faithful Catholic all her life,
Dorothy Sabo, who died September 26,
Cynthia
(Cindy) Montesano Reinhert, the mother of nine children, four who are still at
home, died August 19,
Stanley
Spahalski, who died October 20, and his wife, Regina
Spahalski, who died June 24, and for the soul of Francis Lester, her son,
Julia
Atkinson,
who died April 30,
Antonio P.
Garcia,
who died January 6, 2012 and the welfare of his teenage children, Andriana and
Quentin,
Helen Crane, the aunt of David Drew who
died February 27,
Fr. Timothy
A. Hopkins,
of the National Shrine of St. Philomena, in Miami, November 2,
Frank Smith, who died February 7, and
the welfare of his wife, Delores,
Eduardo
Cepeda,
who died January 26,
Larry Young, the 47 year old father of
twelve who died December 10 and the welfare of his wife Katherine and their
family,
Sister Mary
Bernadette, M.I.C.M., a founding member of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, died
December 16,
Joeseph
Elias,
who died on September 28,
William, the brother of Fr. Waters,
who died September 7,
Donald
Tonelli,
died August 1,
Rev. Fr.
Gregory Hesse, of Austria, a great defender of Catholic Truth, died January 25, 2006,
Emma
Colasanti, who died May 29,
Mary
Dullesse,
who died April 12, a Catholic convert who died wearing our Lady’s scapular,
Ruth Jantsch, the grandmother of Andre
Ebert, who died April 7, Derrick and Denise Palengat, his godparents,
Philip D.
Barr,
died March 5, and the welfare of his family,
Judith Irene
Kenealy,
the mother of Joyce Paglia, who died February 23, and her son, George Richard
Moore, who died May 14,
For Joe
Sobran who died September 30,
Fr. Hector
Bolduc,
a great and faithful priest, died, September 10, 2012,
James &
Jean Rowan
and their sons, Patrick & Daniel,
John Vennari asks our prayers for Dr. Raphael Waters who died
August 26,
Stanley
Bodalsky,
the father of Mary Ann Boyle who died June 25,
Mary Isabel
Kilfoyle Humphreys, a former York resident and friend of the Drew’s, who died June 6,
Rev. John
Campion,
who offered the traditional Mass for us every first Friday until forbidden to
do so by Bishop Dattilo, died May 1,
Joseph
Montagne, who
died May 5,
For Margaret
Vagedes, the aunt of Charles Zepeda, who died January 6,
Fr. Michael
Shear, a
Byzantine rite Catholic priest, died August 17, 2006,
Fr. James
Francis Wathen, died November 7, 2006, author of The
Great Sacrilege and Who Shall
Ascend?, a great defender of dogma and liturgical purity,
Fr. Enrique
Rueda,
who died December 14, 2009, to whom our Mission is indebted,
Fr. Peterson asks to remember, Leonard Edward Peterson, his cousin, Wanda, Angelica Franquelli, and the six
priests ordained with him.
Philip Thees petitions our prayers for Beverly Romanick, Deacon Michael Erdeck,
Henry J. Phillips, Grace Prestano, Connie DiMaggio, Elizabeth Thorhas,
Elizabeth Thees, Theresa Feraker, Hellen Pestrock, and James & Rose Gomata,
and Kathleen Heinbach,
Fr. Didier
Bonneterre,
the author of The Liturgical Movement, and Fr. John Peek, both were traditional
priests,
Brother
Francis, MICM, the superior of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in
Richmond, NH, who died September 5,
Rodolfo
Zelaya Montealegre, the father of Claudia Drew, who died May 24,
Rev. Francis
Clifford,
a devout and humble traditional priest, who died on March 7,
Benjamin Sorace, the uncle of Sonja Kolinsky.
SPES CONTRA SPEM
Observations on the Note “A
Journey of Hope” by the Dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith, Christian
Unity, and Interreligious Dialogue
Carlo
Maria Viganò, 23 September 2026
Et
non est in alio aliquo salus
Nec
enim aliiud nomen est sub caelo datum hominibus,
in
quo oporteat nos salvos fieri.
Act
4:12
Habere non potest Deum patrem
qui Ecclesiam non habet matrem.
S. Cyprianus, De unitate Ecclesiæ, 6
Foreword: An Accusing Date
The Note A Journey of Hope, drafted for the sixtieth anniversary
of Nostra Ætate, bears the signatures of Cardinals Fernández, Koch, and
Koovakad. Leo XIV approved it and ordered its publication. It is dated
September 16, the memorial of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian.
I do not know whether the authors noticed the irony: St. Cyprian is the
Father who bequeathed to the Church the formula salus extra Ecclesiam non
est. He taught that he who does not have the Church for his Mother cannot have
God for his Father. Under his patronage, a document has been published that,
for sixty entire paragraphs, takes great care never to repeat that truth;
indeed, in many ways, it contradicts and denies it. And this is the Dicastery
that was once the Holy Office. The body established to guard the Catholic Faith
now signs off on its liquidation.
I would add that the Note comes out four days after the Feast of the
Most Holy Name of Mary. Blessed Innocent XI extended this feast to the
Universal Church in 1683, in thanksgiving for the liberation of Vienna from the
Ottomans. Precisely during these same days of September, the Holy See explains
to us that the true danger to Christendom is called Islamophobia.
Let us therefore examine the document, not for what it claims to be,
but for what it actually “teaches.”
I. A Confessed Rupture
The Note presents itself as the testimony of an «enriched continuity».
Yet a simple reading suffices to realize that the text itself refutes this claim,
and more than once.
Already at the outset (n. 1), it asserts that Nostra
Ætate marked a profound change in the way the Church understands her
relationship with other religions. In its conclusion (n. 57), it takes pleasure
in the fact that this Conciliar Declaration radically transformed
interreligious relations. The Church, the document claims, supposedly pivoted
from a reserved and distant stance to a journey of dialogue. At n. 51, it goes
so far as to state that dialogue transforms individuals, communities, and at
times even ecclesial structures.
Now, the Church cannot «understand differently» her relationship with
error, for that relationship is fixed by Divine Revelation. The First Vatican
Council taught this in words that admit of no updating. The sense of sacred
dogmas once declared by the Church must forever be retained: nec umquam ab
eo sensu, altioris intelligentiæ specie et nomine, recedendum; one must never
depart from that meaning [of the dogmas] under the pretext or appearance of a deeper
understanding (Dei Filius, ch. 4). And in the Anti-Modernist Oath of St. Pius
X, every cleric up until 1967 swore: prorsus rejicio hæreticum commentum
evolutionis dogmatum, ab uno in alium sensum transeuntium diversum ab eo, quem
prius habebat Ecclesia – “I entirely reject the heretical misrepresentation of
the evolution of dogmas, passing from one meaning to another different from
that which the Church held before.”
A document celebrating the «radical transformation» of a teaching does
not describe a homogeneous development. It describes a mutation. And the
individuals within those Dicasteries who are adulterating the Faith, with Leo’s
consent and patronage, betray and abuse the authority they hold.
II. Indifferentism in a clergyman’s collar
The doctrinal core of the Note is a thesis the Church has always
condemned: that false religions are, to one extent or another, pathways to God.
It repeats (n. 1) that the Church rejects nothing of what is true and
holy in other religions. It adopts (n. 33) Leo’s catechesis of October 29,
2025, according to which every sincere religious search should discern a
reflection of the sole Divine Mystery. It affirms (n. 59) that the Holy Spirit
works within the various religions of peoples and kindles in them the flame of
wisdom. Finally (n. 51), it defines interreligious dialogue as «a theological
locus, where the Holy Spirit wishes to make Himself heard».
The fact that fragments of natural truth are scattered among the errors
of the pagans, no Catholic has ever denied. The devil himself, in order to
deceive, mingles the true with the false. But it is one thing to recognize a
fragment of truth within an erroneous system; it is quite another to attribute
to that system, as such, a salvific value, a presence of the Holy Spirit, or a
function as a «theological locus». This second step is precisely what the
perennial Magisterium has always condemned.
Blessed Pius IX condemned the following propositions in
the Syllabus: Homines in cujusvis religionis cultu viam æternæ salutis
reperire æternamque salutem assequi possunt. Men can find the way of
eternal salvation and attain eternal salvation in the worship of any religion
(prop. 16).
Saltem bene sperandum est de æterna illorum omnium salute, qui in vera
Christi Ecclesia nequaquam versantur. We must at least entertain good hope
concerning the eternal salvation of all those who are in no way within the true
Church of Christ (prop. 17).
Pius XI, in Mortalium Animos (1928), described future
interreligious congresses with prophetic accuracy. He condemned their core
principle: the false opinion of those who consider all religions plus
minusve bonas ac laudabiles, more or less good and praiseworthy. And he warned
that whoever adheres to such an opinion departs entirely from the Religion revealed
by God.
St. Pius X, in Pascendi, exposed the theological root of this
error: Modernist immanentism. If religion springs from the experience of the
divine within human feeling, then every religion, even that of the pagans, must
be called true. The Note merely applies this principle when it speaks of a
«sincere religious search» and a «dialogue of religious experience» (n. 39).
The Holy Spirit is Spiritus veritatis (Jn 16:13), and cannot
dwell where the Divinity of the Son who sent Him is denied. The Psalmist knew
nothing of the nuances of dialogue: Quoniam omnes dii gentium dæmonia –
for all the gods of the pagans are demons (Ps 95:5). Nor did the Apostle know
them: quæ immolant gentes, dæmoniis immolant, et non Deo – what the pagans
sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God (1 Cor 10:20).
III. The Old Covenant and the Synagogue
The most grave section of the document concerns Judaism. I wish to be
clear from the outset, for the bad faith of the neo-Modernists stands ready to
misrepresent my words. Hatred toward the Jews is a sin, and the Church has
always condemned it; charity toward them is a duty. Yet the greatest charity
one can show them is that which the Church has always practiced: praying for
their conversion to Our Lord Jesus Christ, their Messiah. It is precisely this
charity that the Note suppresses.
1.
The naturalistic genesis of
Christianity
At n. 10, the Note sets forth a reconstruction that no Father of the
Church would ever have recognized. Primitive Christianity supposedly developed
out of the «movement initiated by Jesus». The early Christians allegedly
adopted principles of contemporary Judaism, adapting them to the new
post-Paschal situation. Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity would thus appear as
two parallel branches of the same root.
his is the history of religions according to 19th-century rationalism,
not the Catholic Faith. The Church of Christ is not an «adaptation» of Judaism.
She is the true Israel, Israël Dei (Gal 6:16), in whom the promises
are fulfilled. Rabbinic Judaism, which arose after the destruction of the
Temple, is not a twin brother to the Church: it is the continuation of that
portion of Israel that failed to recognize the time of its visitation (Lk
19:44).
That a document from the former Holy Office should invoke the authority
of the Calvinist theologian Karl Barth (n. 5) to illustrate the Incarnation as
«the Word [who] became Jewish flesh» says everything about its underlying
inspiration...
2.
The «irrevocable» covenant and the
present religiosity of the Jews
At n. 13, the Note asserts that the covenant with the Jewish people is
irrevocable and possesses theological significance. It adds that the
religiosity of today's Jews, not merely that bound to the Old Testament, is
relevant for Christians. It goes so far as to present it as an effect of the
revealed Word, a current and dynamic value capable of enriching us. The Note
takes pains to deny the existence of «two ways of salvation». Yet this is a
mere facade, for immediately afterward it attributes salvific and theological value
to the very thing it claimed not to view as a parallel path. Against this
doctrine stands the entire perennial Magisterium of the Church.
The Apostle Paul teaches: Dicendo autem novum, veteravit prius.
Quod autem antiquatur et senescit, prope interitum est; in speaking of a new
covenant, God has declared the first one old; and what is becoming obsolete and
growing old is ready to vanish away (Heb 8:13).
The Council of Florence, in the Bull Cantate Domino (1442),
defined that the legal prescriptions of the Old Testament ceased with the
coming of Christ. After the promulgation of the Gospel, they cannot be observed
without forfeiting eternal salvation. The same Council proclaims that no one
existing outside the Catholic Church – not only pagans, but also Jews,
heretics, and schismatics – can become partakers of eternal life. Firmiter
credit, profitetur et prædicat, nullos extra catholicam Ecclesiam existentes,
non solum paganos, sed nec Judæos aut hæreticos atque schismaticos, æternæ vitæ
fieri posse participes.
St. Thomas (S. Th. I-II, q. 103, a. 4) teaches, alongside the
Fathers, that the ceremonies of the Old Law became dead after the Passion, and
mortiferous (deadly) after the propagation of the Gospel.
Pius XII, in Mystici Corporis (1943), teaches that with the
death of the Redeemer, the Old Law was abolished, and the New Testament took
its place.
For nineteen centuries, the Catholic Church prayed on Good Friday for
God to lift the veil from the hearts of the Jewish people, according to the
words of St. Paul: velamen positum est super cor eorum. Cum autem
conversus fuerit ad Dominum, auferetur velamen – to this day, whenever Moses is
read, a veil lies over their hearts; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil
is removed (2 Cor 3: 15-16). But the Note does not view that veil as an
impediment to be removed; rather it sees it as a richness from which to learn.
3.
An amputated citation
There is a detail that reveals the method. At n. 14, the Note invokes
the Holy Office decree of March 25, 1928 (AAS 20 [1928], 103-104) as a
precedent for its fight against antisemitism. That decree indeed condemns
hatred against the people once chosen by God. Yet the Note remains silent
regarding the 1928 decree’s primary objective. The decree suppressed the
association Amici Israël, whose members requested, among other things,
modifications to the Good Friday liturgy. The Holy Office judged their ideas
contrary to the mind of the Church, the doctrine of the Fathers, and the sacred
Liturgy.
Thus, the officials of the Roman Dicasteries quote in support of their
position a document that condemned the very things they are now promoting. This
is no oversight: it is the hallmark of a deceitful operation sustained by
amputated citations and calculated omissions.
4.
Rabbinic Judaism is not the religion
of the Old Testament
Here lies the misconception upon which the entire edifice of the Note,
and of Nostra Ætate, is built: speaking of Judaism as though it were the
religion of Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets, surviving intact down to our day
through another channel. It is not so, and the Magisterium has always known it.
The religion established by God on Sinai was entirely ordered toward the
Temple, the Levitical priesthood, and ritual sacrifice: when the veil of the
Temple was rent and the Sacrifice of the Cross fulfilled and abolished these
figures, that economy came to an end; and the destruction of the Temple in A.D.
70, which no observant Jew has ever been able to remedy, was the visible sign
of this end. What arose thereafter – Rabbinic and Talmudic Judaism, codified in
the Mishna and Talmud between the 2nd and 6th centuries and in its subsequent
schools—is not the continuation of the Mosaic religion: it is a post-Christian
construct, developed largely in opposition to the Church and to the recognition
of Jesus as the Messiah come in the flesh. It is not the ancient branch: it is
a new branch, born after Calvary and against Calvary, born of the Sanhedrin
that condemned Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the expressions «elder brothers» (n. 20) and «fathers in the
faith» (n. 12) are not merely unfortunate phrases: they are theological errors.
Far from elder brothers! Our fathers in the faith are the Patriarchs and
Prophets who awaited Christ and whom Christ, descending into hell, set free. Most
Holy Mary, the Apostles, and the early martyrs were Jews, and the Ecclesia
ex circumcisione is our mother. But later Rabbinism is in no way our
father: it was born after us and in controversy against us. St. Paul, who loved
his brothers according to the flesh so much that he wished himself accursed and
separated from Christ for their sake (Rom 9:3), teaches that the natural
branches were broken off because of unbelief, and that God has the power to
graft them in again if they do not persist in unbelief (Rom 11:20, 23). The
Apostle's entire hope rests upon that if – and the Note, while quoting the
Epistle to the Romans copiously, never mentions that if.
Let me add a word that I wish to be understood precisely as stated. The
criterion given by St. John the Apostle does not concern a people, a bloodline,
or a nation; it concerns a doctrine: Quis est mendax, nisi is qui negat
quoniam Jesus est Christus? Hic est antichristus, qui negat Patrem et
Filium. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This
is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son (1 Jn 2:22). Whoever
denies Christ falls under that judgment: Greek or Roman, European or American,
layman or cleric, and today preeminently cleric... But a religion
historically constituted around the denial of the Messianic identity of Our
Lord Jesus Christ is not a sister faith with a few omissions: it is, in
principle, the antithesis of Christianity. To say this is not contempt for
anyone: it is the very reason why the Catholic Church prayed for the conversion
of Israel on every Good Friday in her history. Whoever stripped us of that
prayer did not render us more charitable; they rendered us indifferent to the
eternal salvation of men we claim to love.
5.
A Judaizing Catholicism
That which the Note intends to bring to completion bears an ancient
name, found in the Epistle to the Galatians: quomodo gentes cogis
judaizare? Why do you compel the Gentiles to judaize? (Gal 2:14). St. Paul
fought all his life against those who sought to maintain a parallel economy
alongside the Cross, using words that no Dicastery would dare reprint
today: si circumcidamini, Christus vobis nihil proderit; if you receive
circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you (Gal 5:2). The Judaizer does
not deny Christ: he places something alongside Him. He does not say the Cross
is useless: he says it is not spes unica. This is precisely the structure
of n. 13, where the doctrine of two ways of salvation is denied in words but
reaffirmed in substance, attributing an ongoing theological significance to the
Old Covenant and a value to contemporary «Jewish religiosity» that allegedly
enriches us.
This Christianized Judaism is no Conciliar invention: for nearly two
centuries, the Anglo-Saxon Protestant world has cultivated the same
two-covenant theology – the dispensationalism of Darby and Scofield – with
political consequences now visible across Western nations, where proponents of
“Christian Zionism” subject nations to the Ashkenazi mafia. The synodal church
has done nothing more than import its substance, dressing it in “Catholic”
vocabulary: today's Judaizing Catholicism is the synodal counterpart to
Protestant Zionism. Two paths different in origin, identical in effect, for
both render the Cross partially superfluous and reduce the Catholic Church to
merely one path among many.
6.
Noahidism, or the universal religion
of the Gentiles
If one denies that Jews must convert to Christ, the question remains:
what is offered to the Gentiles? Rabbinic tradition offers an ancient and
consistent answer: the seven Noahide laws (Sanhedrin 56a), a minimal moral code
reserved for non-Jews that excludes any supernatural claim for them. A
universal religion without the Trinity, without the Incarnation, without the
Cross, without the Priesthood, without the Church, without Grace, and without
the Sacraments. This is no mere scholarly curiosity: in 1991, the United States
Congress, through Public Law 102-14, solemnly recognized the «Seven Noahide
Laws» as the foundation of civilization.
Compare that project with what the Note proposes. At n. 58, religions
are called upon to transform the world so that it becomes a fraternal
expression of the will of God, while at n. 53 it hastens to exclude any
intention of founding a world religion. The result, however, is identical: a
generic monotheism, a common morality, a fraternity without the Son of God. I
need not attribute motives to anyone, and I refrain from doing so: it suffices
to observe that the synodal church is preaching to the Gentiles roughly what
the Synagogue has always reserved for the Gentiles, and in neither framework
does any place remain for Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is this, and not
evangelical fraternity, that hides behind the phrase «elder brothers».
IV. Islam and the memory of Lepanto
At n. 43, the Note reiterates the claim from Nostra
Ætate that Muslims worship the one God. It further rejoices in a growing
critical awareness regarding Islamophobia.
But what God is worshipped by a person who explicitly denies the Most Holy
Trinity, the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, His Death on the Cross, and His
Resurrection? St. John the Apostle answers unambiguously: Omnis qui
negat Filium, nec Patrem habet; whoever denies the Son does not have the Father
(1 Jn 2: 23). And again: Omnis qui recedit, et non permanet in doctrina
Christi, Deum non habet; anyone who goes ahead and does not abide in the
teaching of Christ does not have God (2 Jn 9). A monotheism that rejects the
Son is not an imperfect form of the true faith: it is its denial, and a
deliberate one, for the Quran knows Christ and yet rejects Him as God.
Then there is the practical dimension, which the Note touches upon with
revealing caution. At n. 45, it draws from Evangelii Gaudium to ask
Christians to welcome Muslim immigrants with affection, while imploring Islamic
countries to grant Christians freedom of worship. Note the asymmetry of the
verbs: on one side a duty, on the other a plea. Reciprocity has been invoked
for sixty years and has never arrived, yet no one dares draw the obvious
conclusion.
Meanwhile, mass immigration continues, promoted by political and
financial powers well aware of its effects, and blessed by a hierarchy that has
found in it its ultimate social purpose (and a convenient source of profit compensating
for disastrous losses in donations and offerings from its own faithful). The
consequences are visible to anyone not paid to ignore them: entire European
suburbs effectively removed from Christian law and custom; churches sold,
closed, or converted while mosques multiply; a planned ethnic and religious
replacement that can no longer be denied, which people prefer to label as
enrichment. At n. 47, the Note acknowledges the persecution of Christians by
extremist groups, but without naming the place, the cause, or the remedy: the
sole response identified is yet more dialogue – a dialogue that turns its gaze
elsewhere, almost annoyed by the blood of Catholic Martyrs in Nigeria, daily
massacred by those whose smiling hands Rome shakes.
Charity toward the individual foreigner is a duty, and no one here
disputes it. But charity has an order – the ordo caritatis that St. Thomas
expounds in the Summa (II-II, q. 26, a. 6-8) – and charity toward the
foreigner does not obligate a Christian people to hand over to their children a
de-Christianized land. The Pontiffs who organized the Holy League loved the
Turks enough to desire their conversion, and loved their own peoples enough not
to surrender them to their rule. Today, both approaches have ceased, and this
double, cowardly abandonment is hypocritically labeled as “welcome.”
The Note repeatedly invokes St. Francis of Assisi as the patron of
«universal brotherhood» (n. 30). In the past few days, the Church celebrated
the Stigmata imprinted upon his sacred body. Now, when
the Poverello traveled to Damietta to meet Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil
in 1219, he did not go to «build a fraternal society capable of accepting
differences». He went to preach Our Lord to him and to convert him. In his
First Rule, he prescribed that friars going among the Saracens should proclaim
the Word of God, so that they might believe and be baptized. This is Franciscan
brotherhood: the charity that desires the eternal salvation of the brother, not
that he be confirmed in error.
St. Pius V did not fight Islamophobia: he assembled the Holy League,
entrusted the fleet to the Rosary, triumphed at Lepanto, and instituted the
feast of Our Lady of Victory. Blessed Innocent XI, after the Battle of Vienna,
consecrated September 12 to the Name of Mary. According to the criteria of this
Note, both should be numbered among the «monolithic models» that n. 54 declares
to be a source of violence and suffering.
V. Religious freedom and the religion of Man
The Note explicitly ties Nostra Ætate to Dignitatis
Humanæ (n. 2). It presents religious freedom as the prerequisite for any
respectful relationship among religions and places it at the foundation of a
«universal citizenship».
Here too, the prior Magisterium is unanimous.
Gregory XVI, in Mirari vos (1832), calls freedom of
conscience an absurd and erroneous proposition, or rather a delirium, stemming
from the poisoned source of indifferentism: Ex hoc putidissimo
indifferentismi fonte absurda illa fluit ac erronea sententia, seu potius
deliramentum, asserendam esse ac vindicandam cuilibet libertatem conscientiæ.
Blessed Pius IX, in Quanta Cura (1864), made that
condemnation his own. The Syllabus condemns the proposition that
everyone is free to embrace that religion which, guided by the light of reason,
he shall consider true (prop. 15). It likewise condemns the proposition that it
is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only
religion of the State (prop. 77).
Leo XIII, in Immortale Dei (1885) and Libertas
præstantissimum (1888), teaches that the State cannot treat all forms of
worship in the same manner without sinking into practical atheism. Liberty of
worship, understood as a right to profess any religion, contradicts the virtue
of religion, which is owed to the one true God alone.
Pius XI, in Quas Primas (1925), proclaims the Social Kingship
of Christ over individuals, families, and States. He denounces secularism as
the plague of our time.
Even the dream of a «universal brotherhood» without Christ has already
been judged. St. Pius X did so in his Apostolic Letter Notre charge
apostolique (1910), condemning the Sillon. He denounced a vast
movement of apostasy organized in all countries pour l’établissement d’une
Église universelle qui n’aura ni dogmes, ni hiérarchie, ni règle pour l’esprit,
ni frein pour les passions, for the establishment of a universal Church which
will have neither dogmas, nor hierarchy, nor rule for the mind, nor restraint
for the passions. The Note, at n. 53, hastens to clarify that it does not
intend to establish a great world religion, yet meanwhile demands that
religions transform the world into a fraternal expression of God's will (n.
58). A will of God that, evidently, can express itself indifferently in a
synagogue, a mosque, a pagoda, or St. Peter's Basilica.
In that same Letter, St. Pius X recalled that the true friends of the
people ne sont ni révolutionnaires, ni novateurs, mais traditionalists –
the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries nor innovators, but
traditionalists. This explains why traditionalists today are treated as
enemies.
VI. The Abolition of the Mission
The point at which the Note drops its mask is n. 54. There we read that
«defending one’s position and proselytism», as modes of encounter with the
other, no longer make sense in the «global village». At n. 22, those who might
be «tempted» to insist upon the obligation to proclaim Christ are admonished.
At n. 46, assurances are given that there is no proselytism within the dynamics
of love.
Before answering, one must unmask the lexical deceit upon which this
entire operation rests.
Proselytism, in current usage, carries a negative connotation: it
evokes aggressive persuasion, psychological pressure, recruitment, a conscience
bought with bread or bent through threat. Now, evangelization is not
proselytism, and never has been. The Church has always taught that the act of
faith must be free and that infidels cannot in any way be coerced into belief
(S. Th. II-II, q. 10, a. 8). St. Gregory the Great forbade baptizing Jews
against their will, and that prohibition entered into the decree Sicut
Judæis, renewed by a long line of Pontiffs. No Catholic worthy of the name has
ever defended forced conversions.
The deception consists in conflating the
terms evangelization and proselytism. Bergoglio deceptively
played upon this identification, attributing the abhorrent traits of
proselytism to the mandate of evangelization: arrogance, violence, lack of
respect for the other. Once the substitution was complete, the game was won:
whoever preaches conversion becomes an aggressor; whoever remains silent
becomes a man of dialogue; and the missionary, who for twenty centuries stood
as the purest image of Christian charity, is cast as intolerant and divisive.
It is an elementary sophism, and for that very reason effective. But it
must be stated clearly: none of us promotes proselytism – that is rather the
hallmark of sects, particularly those of Protestant origin. We claim the
mandate of Our Lord, which is a vastly different thing, and which no Pope and no
Dicastery has the power to abrogate.
In the conciliar and synodal church, Our Lord’s command is considered a
form of intolerance to be banished. Yet that command cannot be
erased: Euntes ergo docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris,
et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti (Mt 28:19). Nor does it admit of
exceptions: Qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit, salvus erit; qui vero non
crediderit, condemnabitur (Mk 16:16).
Benedict XV, in Maximum illud (1919), reminded missionaries
that their sole end is the extension of the Kingdom of Christ and the salvation
of souls. The same was taught by Pius XI in Rerum Ecclesiæ (1926) and
Pius XII in Evangelii præcones (1951). A Church that renounces
converting infidels is no longer missionary and betrays her reason for being.
She becomes a cultural mediation agency serving «peaceful coexistence».
Even the practices praised by the Note were explicitly forbidden by
Church law. No. 49 praises «shared celebrations»; canon 1258 § 1 of the 1917
Code of Canon Law (in force until 1983) established that it is not licit for
the faithful to actively assist in or take part in the sacred rites of
non-Catholics in any way: Haud licitum est fidelibus quovis modo active
assistere seu partem habere in sacris acatholicorum. No. 19 celebrates the 1986
pantheon of Assisi, with the leaders of false religions gathered to pray each
to his own god. Mortalium Animos had strictly forbidden Catholics
from participating in such assemblies.
No. 41 presents «interreligious couples» as a fruit of dialogue. Canon
1070 established that disparity of cult renders a marriage null. Canon 1060
declared that the Church likewise forbids mixed marriages with non-Catholic
baptized persons.
No. 38 of the Note records with satisfaction that the Dicastery sends
greeting messages for the feasts of other religions. St. John commanded not
even to greet those who do not bring the doctrine of Christ: Nec Ave ei
dixeritis (2 Jn 10). Today, the Holy See sends best wishes for the worship
of idols. But what concord has Christ with Belial? What agreement has the
temple of God with idols? Quæ autem conventio Christi ad Belial? Qui autem
consensus templo Dei cum idolis? (2 Cor 6:15-16).
VII. The Newspeak of False Irenism
It remains to speak of language, which is not an accessory but the very
vehicle of error.
The Note offers us the «culture of complexity, flexibility, and
friendship» (n. 55) and the model of the «polyhedron» (n. 56). It speaks to us
of a «common home», a «global village», and «martyrs of dialogue» (n. 33). None
of these terms belongs to the vocabulary of Faith. They all belong to the
lexicon of globalist ideology. The Martyrs of the Church died for refusing to
dialogue with idolatry, and for refusing to offer a single grain of incense to
Jupiter. The Note has invented a new category for them: martyrs of compromise.
Pius XII, in Humani Generis (1950), described this phenomenon
with precision. He deplored the false irenicism of those who, to foster union,
are willing to hollow out dogmas of their meaning and replace Scholastic
terminology with vague and adaptable formulas. Truth is not openly denied: it
is rendered unspeakable, because the words to speak it have been abolished.
A Church that can no longer utter the
words infidel, heresy, conversion, or hell has no need
to formally renounce the Faith. She has already done so in her language.
VIII. Conclusion: the Broad Way
The Note is entitled A Journey of Hope, and its final paragraph
invites everyone to walk it together. Yet Our Lord warned us that two ways
exist. One is narrow and leads to life. The other is wide and spacious, et
multi sunt qui intrant per eam(Mt 7: 13). The path proposed by Leo and the
Roman Dicasteries displays every characteristic of the second. It is wide, for
anyone may enter it without conversion. It is spacious, for everything is
admitted except the claim to Truth. It is crowded with dignitaries of all
religions, lacking only Him who said: Ego sum via, et veritas, et vita.
Nemo venit ad Patrem nisi per me (Jn 14:6). Abraham, of whom the Note claims
common fatherhood, contra spem in spem credidit (Rm 4:18): he
believed in hope against all human hope, because he believed in the promise of
God, who is Our Lord Jesus Christ. The hope offered to us by the Note is the
exact opposite: an entirely human hope that has ceased to believe in the
Promise.
This is not theological hope, which has eternal life for its object and
the merits of Our Lord for its foundation. It is the worldly hope of peace
without the Prince of Peace, fraternity without the Father, and coexistence
without the Cross. It is the Religion of Man that Freemasonry theorized for
three centuries and which the conciliar church, sixty years ago, began
preaching from its pulpits.
To those who ask me whether it is licit to reject a document approved
by the Pope, I answer with St. Paul: Licet nos aut angelus de cælo
evangelizet vobis præterquam quod evangelizavimus vobis, anathema sit (Gal
1:8). I have cited Gregory XVI, Pius IX, Leo XIII, St. Pius X, Benedict XV,
Pius XI, Pius XII, the Council of Florence, and the First Vatican Council. Who
among them and this Note stands in contradiction with the Faith of all
time? Certainly not those Pontiffs.
To the faithful I say: do not be troubled. What was true for nineteen
centuries did not become false on October 28, 1965, with the promulgation
of Nostra Ætate, nor on September 16, 2026, with the publication of this
Note. Continue to pray for the conversion of infidels, heretics, and Jews, as
the Church has always done. Continue to profess that outside the Church there
is no salvation. Continue to love souls enough to desire their Baptism.
And let us turn to Her of whom the Church sings: Gaude, Maria
Virgo, cunctas hæreses sola interemisti in universo mundo. She who saved
Christendom from the sword at Lepanto and Vienna will save it from this more
subtle deception as well. She will do so when a Pope returns to doing what St.
Pius V and St. Pius X did: confirming his brethren in the Faith, condemning
error, and restoring to the Church her mission. Or Our Lord Himself will do so
on the Day of His Second Coming, when He shall gather up unto Himself universal
Kingship and the Supreme Pontificate.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
21 September MMXXVI
S. Matthæi Apostoli et Evangelistæ ✠
The Sacraments of Christ being carried by
St. Tarsicius,
When a vulgar profane gang would have overwhelmed
the Wholesome Things,
He willed to release his soul by being
cut down
Rather than give up the Celestial
Members to rabid dogs.
Pope St. Damasus I, His 4th
century inscription on the tomb of St. Tarsicius
1) Whoever shall faithfully serve Me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.
2) I promise My special protection and the greatest graces to all who shall recite the Rosary.
3) The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against Hell. It will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. (Actually, were that the only promise, we should pray it for that reason. Because what have we in our world today? We are surrounded by, wherever we are in the world, vice, sin and heresy.)
4) It will cause virtue and good works to flourish. It will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God. It will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5) The soul which recommends itself to Me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
6) Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death. If he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God and become worthy of eternal life.
7) Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
8) Those who are faithful in reciting the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces. At the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.
9) I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10) The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
11) You shall obtain all you ask of Me by the recitation of the Rosary.
12) All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by Me in their necessities.
13) I have obtained from My Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.
14) All who recite the Rosary are My sons, and brothers of My only Son, Jesus Christ.
15) Devotion to My Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
How
to Pray the Rosary with True Devotion
Before beginning a decade, pause for a
moment or two----depending upon how much time you have----and contemplate the mystery
that you are about to honor in that decade. Always be sure to ask of Almighty
God, by this mystery and through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, one of
the virtues that shines forth most in this mystery or one of which you stand in
particular need.
Take great care to avoid the two
pitfalls that most people fall into during the Rosary. The first is the danger
of not asking for any graces at all, so that if some people were asked their
Rosary intention they would not know what to say. So, whenever you say your
Rosary, be sure to ask for some special grace. Ask God's help in cultivating
one of the great Christian virtues or in overcoming one of your sins.
The second big fault a lot of people
make when saying the Holy Rosary is to have no intention other than that of
getting it over as quickly as possible! This is because so many of us look upon
the Rosary as a burden which is always heavier when we have not said
it----especially if it is weighing on our conscience because we have promised to
say it regularly or have been told to say it as a penance more or less against
our will.
It is really pathetic to see how most
people say the Holy Rosary----they say it astonishingly fast and mumble so that
the words are not properly pronounced at all. We could not possibly expect
anyone, even the most unimportant person, to think that a slipshod address of
this kind was a compliment and yet we expect Jesus and Mary to be pleased with
it! Small wonder then that the most sacred prayers of our holy religion seem to
bear no fruit, and that, after saying thousands of Rosaries, we are still no
better than we were before! Dear Confraternity members, I beg of you to temper
the speed which comes all too easily to you and pause briefly several times as
you say the Our Father and Hail Mary. I have placed a cross at each pause, as
you will see:
Our Father Who art in Heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with Thee,
blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. ![]()
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now
and at the hour of our death. Amen.
At first, you may find it difficult
to make these pauses because of your bad habit of saying prayers in a hurry;
but a decade that you say recollectedly in this way will be worth more than
thousands of Rosaries said all in a rush----without any pauses or reflection.
Saint Louis de
Montfort, The Secret of the Rosary
The Incarnation Unites Jesus Christ to His Church, Not to
all Humanity;
Baptism Unites the Individual to Christ in His Church!
For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.
Gal. 3: 27
The kingdom of heaven is the assembly of the just; for, the Lord says
by a prophet: “Heaven is My throne”; and Solomon says: “The soul of the just
man is the throne of wisdom”; and St. Paul calls Christ the Wisdom of God. If, therefore, heaven be the throne of God,
we must evidently conclude that, as Wisdom is God, and the soul of the just man
is the throne of Wisdom, this soul is a heaven… The kingdom of heaven, then, is
the assembly of the just… If this kingdom is said to be like to a King, who
made a marriage for his Son, your charity at once understands who is this
King, who is the Father of a Son, King like Himself. It is He, of whom the psalmist says: “Give to
the King Thy judgment, O God, and to the King’s Son Thy justice!” God the Father made the marriage of
God His Son, when He wished that He, who had been God before all ages, should
become Man towards the end of ages…. It is, perhaps clearer and safer to
say, that the King made a marriage for His Son, in that, by the mystery
of the Incarnation, He united the Church to Him.
St. Gregory the Great, Commentary on the Gospel, 19th Sunday
after Pentecost
The Wedding garment, says St. Augustine is the honour and glory
of the spouse, which each one should seek, and not his own; and he shows this,
to be charity. St. John Chrysostom
explains that this charity is an immaculate life, or a life shining with
virtues, and free from the filth of sin; for charity cannot exist without a
good life, nor the purity of a good life, without charity. When, therefore, we
are called by the grace of God, we are clothed with a white baptismal garment,
to preserve which from every stain, from every grievous sin, depends upon the
diligence, the watching and praying, of every individual.
Fr. George Leo Haydock, Commentaries of the Church Fathers on the
Wedding Garment
Keep thyself therefore, and thy soul carefully. Forget not the words that thy eyes have seen, and let them not go out of thy heart all the days of thy life. Thou shalt teach them to thy sons and to thy grandsons.
Deut 4:9
"It is
a sin to believe there is salvation outside the Catholic Church!"
Blessed Pope
Pius IX
PREVIOUS BULLETIN POSTING
WORTH REMEMBERING:

Sins
That Cry to Heaven for Vengeance:
1.
Willful murder
2.
The sin of Sodom
3.
Oppression of the poor
4.
Defrauding the laborer of his wages
Nine Ways of Being Accessory to Another's Sin
1.
By counsel
2.
By command
3.
By consent
4.
By provocation
5.
By praise or flattery
6.
By concealment
7.
By partaking
8.
By silence
9.
By defense of the ill done
“For the Jews,
‘Anti-Semitism’ is anything that is in opposition to the naturalistic Messianic
domination of their nation over all the others.” Rev. Denis Fahey, C.S.Sp., B.A., D.Ph., D.D.
On the Charge of Anti-Semitism in Our Time
“…Two reasons can be assigned to the fact
that Our Lord’s faithful members will often be betrayed by those who should be
on the side of Christ the King. Firstly, many Catholic writers speak of Papal condemnations
of Anti-Semitism without explaining the meaning of the term, and never even
allude to the documents which insist on the Rights of Our Divine Lord, Head of
the Mystical Body, Priest and King. Thus, very many are completely ignorant of
the duty incumbent on all Catholics of standing positively for Our Lord’s Reign
in society in opposition to Jewish Naturalism. The result is that numbers of
Catholics are so ignorant of Catholic doctrine that they hurl the accusation of
Anti-Semitism against those who are battling for the Rights of Christ the King,
thus effectively aiding the enemies of Our Divine Lord. Secondly, many Catholic
writers copy unquestioningly what they read in the naturalistic or
anti-Supernatural Press and do not distinguish between Anti-Semitism in the
correct Catholic sense, as explained above, and ‘Anti-Semitism’ as the Jews
understand it. …”
Fr.
Fahey’s Preface in Grand Orient Freemasonry Unmasked: As the Secret Power
Behind Communism by Monsignor George F. Dillon, D.D.
Good Night,
Sweet Princeton! By Fr. Leonard Feeney, 1952
Maritainism
is a system of thought which allows Catholics to be both Catholic and
acceptable in the drawing rooms of Protestant and Jewish philosophers.
Maritainism is not a seeking and a finding of the Word made flesh. It is a
perpetual seeking for un-fleshed truth in an abstract scheme called
Christianity. Maritainism is the scrapping of the Incarnation in favor of a God
Whose overtures to us never get more personal or loving than the five rational
proofs for His existence. This plot to encourage only pre-Bethlehem interest in
God takes its name from its perpetrator, that highly respected religious
opportunist, Jacques Maritain.
The
slightest acquaintance with Maritain’s history is sufficient to indicate how
awry he must be in his Catholicism. He is a former Huguenot who married a
Jewish girl named Raïssa. During their student days in Paris, both Jacques and
Raïssa felt a double pull in the general direction of belief. Intellectually
they were attracted to the religious self-sufficiency of a Jewish intuitionist
named Henri Bergson. Sociologically they were attracted to the spurious
Catholicism of Leon Bloy, a French exhibitionist who made a liturgy of his own
crudeness and uncleaness and tried to attach it to the liturgy of the Church.
At some point in their association with an unbaptized Bergson and an unwashed
Bloy, the Maritains figured out that there was a promising future ahead of them
in Catholicism.
Jacques
Maritain is noted for his solemn-high, holier-than-thou appearance. For this
reason, more than one priest reports that by the time a Maritain lecture is
over, any priest who is present has been made to feel that the Roman collar is
around the wrong neck and that perhaps he, the priest, ought to put on a
necktie and kneel for Maritain’s blessing.
One
explanation of Maritain’s distant expression is that he fancies himself to be
the Drew Pearson of the Christian social order. Judging by Maritain’s passion
for the abstract, the fulfillment of all his prophecies will come in an era
when mothers can sing such songs as “Rock-a-bye Baby, on the Dendrological
Zenith,” and children recite such bedtime prayers as “The Hail Mariology.”
Jacques
Maritain prefers Thomism to Saint Thomas Aquinas and, similarly, he much
prefers the notion of the papacy to the person of the Pope. He could not,
however, turn down the prestige of an appointment as French ambassador to the
Vatican. Maritain went to Rome, but he protected himself against over exposure
to Italian faith by visits to Dr. George Santayana. In Maritain, Santayana
recognized a brother, the kind of European intellectual cast-off that is
annually being grabbed-up by American Universities.
That
Jacques Maritain should now be found preaching at Princeton University is not
so strange. It did not require too much insight on Princeton’s part to see that
a Catholic who hates Franco, speaks at Jewish seminaries, and favors
“theocentricity” in place of Jesus, would be a bizarre, but harmless, addition
to anybody’s faculty club.
Perhaps
Princeton realized also that a Catholic’s admirers are a good measure of his
militancy. Among Maritain’s more prominent sympathizers are John Wild, Charles
Malik and Mortimer Adler (N.B. Adler was converted and received into the
Catholic Church in 1999 only 18 months before he died at 98 years of age), who are,
respectively, an Anglican, a Greek schismatic, and a Jew. Naturally Maritain
could not insult intellectuals like these by telling them that although they
are outside the Church they can get into Heaven because of their “invincible
ignorance.” It was necessary that Maritain concoct a new way of getting around
the dogma, “No Salvation Outside the Catholic Church.”
After
a lot of abstract deliberation, Maritain decided that a man could be
“invisibly, and by a motion of his heart, a member of the Church, and partake
of her life, which is eternal life.” According to Maritain’s new covenant, the
important salvation-actions in our world are no longer a head bowed to the
waters of Baptism, a hand raised in Absolution, a tongue outstretched to
receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. “A motion of his heart,” says Maritain,
is all that is required before a man may partake of eternal life.
The
Sacred Heart might have saved Himself a lot of inconvenience had He only known
this, one Friday afternoon on Calvary.
COMMENT: Jacques Maritain was Paul
VI’s favorite philosopher. Maritain's reputation as a great philosopher is based on his supposed integration of the Scholastic principles of St. Thomas with the modern world. He had a world-wide reputation and following that extending beyond his
native France to hold visiting professorships
at Princeton and the University of Chicago, as well as a visiting lecturer at Notre Dame, Yale, Harvard, and the University of Toronto. Pope Paul VI publicly confessed his
profound respect and influence by
Maritain’s thought on his Credo of the People of God (1968). At
the close of the Second Vatican Council on December 8, 1965, the pope’s “Address
to Men of Thought and Science” was dedicated to his “dear friend and mentor, Jacques Maritain.” Pope Paul offered Maritain a cardinal’s hat, but the philosopher declined
it. Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Freedom—Dignitatis Humanae—which teaches that the dignity of man is so exalted
that he possesses the inalienable right to neither conform his mind to God’s
revealed truth nor obey God’s commandments, drew as its inspiration Maritain’s book Man and the State (1951) which is an
articulation of the language
of “rights” that Dignitatis
Humanae employs.
“By
their fruit you shall know them!”; & by their fruit you had better well
know them!
For such false
apostles are deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ. And no wonder: for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of
light. Therefore it is no
great thing if his (Satan's) ministers be transformed as the ministers of
justice, whose end shall be according to their works.
II Corinthians
11:13-15
The order of divine justice exacts that
whosoever consents to another's evil suggestion, shall be subjected to him in his punishment; according to II Peter
2:19: "By whom a man is overcome, of the same also he is the
slave."
St. Thomas Aquinas
We will see
the same from Pope Leo!
The
end of dialogue is to produce opinion. The purpose of logical argument is to
appeal to the intellect to arrive at truth.
Rhetoric appeals to the will and poetry to the imagination. The emphasis
of the Novus Ordo Church since Vatican II on dialogue is therefore a
repudiation of any claim to truth offering in its place only the opinions of
churchmen. It is the debasement of Jesus Christ’s gospel from Truth to just
another opinion, from historical fact to mythology. It is only incidental that
Novus Ordo Church, having turned its back against the truth, has also turned
away from rhetoric and poetry which explains why it is both effeminate and
ugly.
“The Church will have to opt for
dialogue as her style and method, fostering an awareness of the existence of
bonds and connections in a complex reality. . . . No vocation, especially
within the Church, can be placed outside this outgoing dynamism of dialogue . .
. . [emphasis added].”
Pope Francis’ Instrumentum
Laboris, XV ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF SYNOD OF BISHOPS: YOUNG
PEOPLE, THE FAITH AND VOCATIONAL DISCERNMENT
And
thus, the 'spirit of Vatican II' - dialogue so that everyone can reach an
accomodation of error and the repudiation of logical argument appealing to
truth!
“Don’t proselytize; respect others’ beliefs. We can inspire others
through witness so that one grows together in communicating. But the worst
thing of all is religious proselytism, which paralyzes: ‘I am talking with you
in order to persuade you,’ No. Each person dialogues, starting with his and her
own identity. The church grows by attraction, not proselytizing.”
Pope Francis
The
proper literal understanding of this dogma from the Council of Trent:
Canon 4 on the sacraments in general: If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for
salvation but are superfluous, and that without them or without the desire
of them men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification,
though all are not necessary for each one, let him be anathema.
The Dogma
defines two revealed doctrinal truths:
1.
If anyone says: that the sacraments of the
New Law are not necessary for salvation but are superfluous, let him be
anathema.
2.
If anyone says: that without the
sacraments or (if anyone says) without the desire of the sacraments men
obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification, let him be
anathema.
Both
the Sacrament of Baptism and the will to receive the Sacrament
are necessary for salvation!
“But God desired that his
confession should avail for his salvation, since he preserved him in this life until the time of his holy
regeneration.” St. Fulgentius
“If anyone is not baptized, not only in
ignorance, but even knowingly, he can in no way be saved. For his path to salvation was through the confession,
and salvation itself was in baptism.
At his age, not only was confession
without baptism of no avail: Baptism
itself would be of no avail for salvation if he neither believed nor
confessed.” St. Fulgentius
Notice, both the CONFESSION AND
THE BAPTISM are necessary for salvation, harkening back to Trent’s teaching
that both the laver AND the “votum” are required for justification, and
harkening back to Our Lord’s teaching that we must be born again of water AND
the Holy Spirit.
In fact, you see the language of St. Fulgentius reflected in the Council of
Trent. Trent describes the votum (so-called “desire”) as the PATH
TO SALVATION, the disposition to Baptism, and then says that “JUSTIFICATION
ITSELF” (St. Fulgentius says “SALVATION ITSELF”) follows the dispositions in
the Sacrament of Baptism.
Yet another solid argument for why Trent is teaching that BOTH the votum
AND the Sacrament are required for justification.
“Hold most firmly and never
doubt in the least that not only all pagans but also all Jews and all heretics
and schismatics who end this present life outside the Catholic Church are about
to go into the eternal fire that was prepared for the Devil and his angels.”
St. Fulgentius
“The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes,
professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church,
not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share
in life eternal; but that they will go into the ‘eternal fire which was
prepared for the devil and his angels.’”
Pope Eugene IV, Cantate Domino
Ladislaus,
CathInfo
Leo XIV
embraces ‘profound change’ in Church’s stance on false religions
Leo XIV’s ‘A
Journey of Hope’ rejects the Church’s historic approach to religious error as
‘defensive’ and ‘insular’ while advancing a ‘new paradigm’ of interreligious
dialogue.
LifeSiteNews | Matthew McCusker | Oct
1, 2026 — The Vatican has recently published a
“commemorative document” to mark 60 years since the “promulgation” of Nostra
Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s “Declaration on the Relation of the
Church to Non-Christian Religions.”
The text contains errors regarding:
· The
nature of religion,
· The
sources of revelation,
· The
theological virtue of faith,
· The
incarnation of Our Lord,
· The
relation of the old and new covenants,
· The
duties of the state toward the true religion,
· The
necessity of the Church for salvation,
· The
Church’s mission toward those outside her fold,
· The
manner in which the baptized are to be reconciled to the Church,
· The
prohibition on participating in false worship,
· The
legitimate use of violence by a society in self-defense.
Underlying the specific errors
can be discerned the erroneous systems of naturalism, liberalism,
and modernism.
Taken as a whole, the text is
incompatible with the public profession of the Catholic faith and the visible
unity of Christ’s Church.
The
authors of the text
The document,
“A Journey of Hope: Sixty Years of Interreligious Dialogue and Fraternity in
the Light of the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate,” has been published in
the names of three Vatican cardinals and their secretaries.
The cardinals are:
Cardinal Victor Manuel
Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, who has been
a key figure in implementing the programs of both Francis and Leo.
Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of
the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, under whose leadership that
dicastery produced a document that I have previously described as a
blueprint for transforming the papacy as part of “the commitment to
build a synodal Church.”
Cardinal George Koovakad,
prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, who has also shown
himself a loyal adherent of the revolutionary program, as can be seen, for
example, in his message to Muslims at Ramadan.
On June 22, 2026, the document
was approved by Leo XIV who “ordered its publication,” which took place on
September 16, 2026.
A
clear break with the past
“A Journey of Hope” does not
hide its lack of continuity with the teaching of the Catholic Church.[1]
In fact, the document is
refreshingly honest about the novelties introduced by Vatican II, and the
contradiction between the new approach and the old. The document says of Nostra
Aetate:
Far more than a mere text, it marked
a profound change in the Church’s understanding and expression of her
relationship with followers of other religions.[2]
It made “it possible to
overcome attitudes of exclusion, contempt, or indifference that had long
prevailed.”[3]
The document speaks of “the
Church’s new attitude toward other faiths and religious traditions – which
emerged from the Second Vatican Council” and notes that since Vatican II,
“non-Christian religions should no longer be seen as adversaries but as
companions on the journey.”[4]
Nostra Aetate
“radically transformed the face of interreligious relations,” as a result of
which:
The Church has moved from an
attitude that was often reserved or distant to a courageous path of sincere
dialogue, respectful encounter, and fraternal cooperation.[5]
Taking
the revolution further
In “A Journey of Hope,” Leo XIV
and his collaborators are open about their intention to take this revolution
further, in order to achieve the goal of building “a fraternal society capable
of accepting differences.” The differences to be accepted are specifically the
religious differences of “believers of different traditions.”[6]
The authors think that a
“genuine shift in mindset is necessary.” This means “abandoning the logic of
defensiveness, hostility, or conquest in order to adopt an attitude that is
open, benevolent, and courageous.”[7]
In paragraph 55, we read that
“it is time to promote a new ethic of dialogue”:
It is no longer a matter of
fearing or keeping one’s distance from the “other believer” – another
civilization, another way of thinking – but of daring the encounter. The one
who was once perceived as a threat, an enemy to be feared, respected only from
a distance, or even destroyed, can become a dialogue partner, an ally, a
friend, even a “pilgrim of truth” with whom one shares a part of the journey.[8]
The authors continue:
Civilizations and religions can
certainly come into tension, but they can also resonate with one another in a
creative dynamic, knowing how to transform diversity into solidarity. Otherness
should no longer be experienced as an obstacle, but as a challenge to be
embraced. In a world confined within the suffocating limits of immanence,
believers belonging to different religions do not wish to give up presenting to
the world the truth of transcendence and God’s love for all people.[9]
And they hold that:
Monolithic and isolated models,
which encourage a closed view of reality, are proving increasingly inadequate
and, ultimately, become sources of violence and suffering for the most
vulnerable. The defensive entrenchment in one’s own position and the view that
proselytism is the only way to engage with the other no longer make sense in a
world that increasingly resembles an interconnected and constantly evolving
global village.[10]
Quoting Francis, the text
affirms:
Long gone are the days when an
insular mode of thought could determine an approach to time and space and
appear to offer a valid way of resolving conflicts. Now is the time to be bold
and envision the logic of encounter and mutual dialogue as the path, common
cooperation as the code of conduct, and reciprocal knowledge as a method and
standard. In this way, we can provide a new paradigm for resolving conflicts
and help foster greater understanding and the protection of creation. In this
regard, religions, like universities, have much to offer, without having to
renounce their specific character and special gifts. Everything we do in this
regard will be a significant step towards guaranteeing younger generations
their right to the future, while serving the cause of justice and peace.[11]
The goal toward which Leo XIV’s
document tends is not the conversion of mankind to Christ, but rather the
coexistence of false religions with the religion revealed by man’s Creator and Savior,
which He commands be believed by all (cf. Mk 16:15-16). Nostra Aetate
remains “highly relevant,” so the document states, in a world searching “for a
peaceful coexistence within a universal citizenship founded on fraternity and
mutual recognition.”[12]
The new text asserts that an
“integral dimension” of the Church’s missionary activity is “the dialogue
of life, consisting in respectful and fraternal coexistence among
believers of different religions”.[13] It
also presents “interreligious dialogue” as “an essential and complementary
dimension” of “the explicit proclamation of the Gospel.”[14]
By this sleight of hand, the
document is able to simultaneously insist on the proclamation of the Gospel,
while robbing that phrase of its authentic meaning.
The
Church opposes error because she loves mankind
The quotations above, though
lengthy, represent only a selection of the many similar affirmations contained
throughout the document. They clearly manifest two of the central positions of
the text:
1. That
the Church’s authentic teaching about other religions was “defensive,”
“insular,” and based on “fear” and other negative characteristics.
2. That
the proposed alternative to this attitude is a “new paradigm” of “dialogue” and
“coexistence.”
Both the text’s characterization
of the Church’s true teaching and the proposed solution are false.
The Catholic Church has
directed herself outwards toward the whole of mankind more than any institution
in human history. Her missionaries have gone forth since the day of Pentecost
to bring all mankind into one universal Church. The Church seeks out every
single person that her Divine Founder has lovingly created. She wants to bring
every man, woman, and child, of every race and nation, under her loving care.
When the Church encounters each
society and culture, she does not seek to impose any man-made ideology, or
reject any natural goods. She seeks only to teach those truths which are
intended for all mankind, and which God Himself has revealed; to provide the
worship and sacraments that unite us to God and to direct souls in that which
pertains their eternal salvation.
Under her divinely assisted
tutelage, all peoples can attain their greatest glory and see their particular
gifts and characteristics brought to a higher state of development and
perfection.
Pope Pius XII taught that “the
nations” have “diverse conditions of life and of culture.” They “enrich and
embellish [the human race] by the sharing of their own peculiar gifts” and by a
“reciprocal interchange of goods.”[15]
However, this enrichment, is only possible and efficacious “when a mutual love
and a lively sense of charity unite all the sons of the same Father and all
those redeemed by the same Divine Blood.”[16]
Mankind can find unity in supernatural charity only within the unity of the
Catholic Church.
The Church always seeks the
genuine good of all mankind, in those things which are natural and temporal, as
well as in those that are supernatural and eternal. She only seeks to eliminate
that which is always harmful to mankind, namely error and sin.
She is completely and
irreconcilably opposed to these because they harm us in this life and endanger
our eternal happiness in the next. It is precisely because she loves us that
the Church opposes all the errors and sins that threaten us.
Father Réginald
Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., expressed this truth well when he wrote:
In the Church we again meet
with this same harmony between things most difficult to reconcile. In her,
charity most compassionate and doctrine most firm and uncompromising are united
in one love, which is zeal for God’s glory and the salvation of souls. She
knows she can do no good without combating evil, that she cannot preach the
Gospel without fighting heresy. Mercy and firmness of doctrine can exist only
when united; separated they die, and we have left but two corpses, namely,
humanitarian Liberalism with its false serenity, and fanaticism with its false
zeal.
It has been said: “The Church
is intolerant in principle be cause she believes; she is tolerant in practice
because she loves. The enemies of the Church are tolerant in principle, because
they do not believe, and intolerant in practice, because they do not love.”[17]
Leo XIV and his cardinals have
abandoned the harmony of Catholic doctrine for the “corpse” of “humanitarian
Liberalism with its false serenity.” This path leads nowhere but misery in this
life, and eternal agony in the next.
That is why it is so important
that the doctrinal errors in this document be countered. In the next part of
this series, we will go deeper in our analysis of this deadly text.
References not posted
After 40 Years
of Dialogue, Rabbi identifies papal “conundrum.”
"The real conundrum that faces Benedict
XVI on his visit to Israel… is should he be loyal to the Gospels which claim
that only acceptance of Christ can bring the messianic age, or should he
endorse Vatican II which acknowledges that Jews… can find the kingdom of God
via a different route? Should he look
inwards, backwards or forwards?"
Rabbi Jonathan Romain, The Pope’s Jewish
Dilemma, The Guardian
Pope
Leo thinks everyone will be "equal" in Hell and worship the devil of
their choice!
“First of all,
I think it’s very important to understand that the unity or division of the Church
should not revolve around sexual matters. We tend to think that when the Church
is talking about morality, that the only issue of morality is sexual. And in
reality, I believe there are much greater, more important issues, such as
justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion, that would
all take priority before that particular issue.”
Pope Leo,
April 2026 interview on return flight from Africa, overturning Catholic
morality
NOTE: The unity of the Church
'revolves around' the faith. Catholic morality follows from the faith. It is of
Catholic faith that homosexuality is a fundamental corruption of the natural
law and is incompatible with salvation.
Leo cannot get first things first because he does not have the Catholic
faith.
EXCLUSIVE:
Abp. Viganò says Leo XIV has intensified Francis’s agenda, not slowed
it
In this
exclusive interview, Abp. Viganò argues that changing the way Catholics worship
ultimately changes what they believe, making the liturgical reform central to
the post-conciliar crisis.
LifeSiteNews— In Part 1 of this
interview, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò claimed that the reforms associated
with the Second Vatican Council weakened the Church’s role as the katéchon,
the force that restrains the spread of the Antichrist’s spirit in history. He
discussed the nature of papal authority, the distinction between the papacy as
a divine institution and individual popes while critiquing of post-conciliar
developments, the rise of synodality, and women in Vatican leadership.
This second part of the
interview centers on Viganò’s critique of the post-conciliar Church, focusing
on liturgical reform and Traditionis Custodes as
instruments of a broader theological transformation. He also discusses the
pontificate of Leo XIV, particularly the allegations of networks of protection
among ecclesiastical elites, and the influence of ideological and global forces
on the contemporary hierarchy.
LifeSiteNews: Throughout this entire crisis, you have
always identified the liturgical reform not as a consequence but as a cause.
Why is the question of the Mass, in your judgment, prior to and more decisive
than the doctrinal one? And what meaning does the relentlessness of Traditionis
Custodes, maintained intact by Leo XIV, have in this context?
Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò: Because
the Church has always known what the modernists deliberately forgot: ut legem credendi lex statuat
supplicandi (“that the law of prayer may establish the
law of belief”). It is the law of prayer that establishes the law of faith, and
not vice versa. The Christian people do not learn dogma from manuals: they
breathe it in at the altar. A man who for years knelt before the Blessed Sacrament,
who has seen the priest turned toward God and not toward the assembly, who
witnessed the Consecration in the sacred silence of the Roman Canon, believes
in the Real Presence and in the Sacrifice, even if he would not know how to
formulate the corresponding dogmas; and no theologian will succeed in taking
that faith away from him. Change the way a person prays, and you change what he
believes, without him noticing and without anyone ever having to state a single
heretical proposition.
That is why I say that the
liturgical reform was not a consequence of the crisis: it was its instrument.
It was the fastest and safest way to obtain what a definition would never have
achieved. Let it be noted: it is the perfect application of that Bergoglian
principle according to which “time is superior to space.” Nothing is defined, a
process is initiated, and then all it takes is a couple of generations for the
rest to fall into place. Anyone who wants confirmation of this method should
read the Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass by
Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci, who as early as 1969 warned that the new rite
“departs impressively, as a whole and in detail, from the Catholic theology of
the Holy Mass as formulated in Session XXII of the Council of Trent.” They were
not two seditionists: one was the former secretary of the Holy Office [NOTE: Indeed, the office of Prefect of the Supreme Sacred
Congregation was reserved to the Pope himself. Ottaviani served as the
Congregation’s Secretary] and the other a curial cardinal. They were
ignored, and today the statistics on belief in the Real Presence confirm how
right they were. Cranmer understood four centuries earlier that changing the
Mass is enough to change the religion of a people, and he did not need to deny
any dogma in order to eradicate the Holy Sacrifice from England.
As for Traditionis
Custodes, it is the most eloquent confession our adversaries could have made.
If the two rites truly expressed the same faith [the vetus ordo
and novus ordo], persecuting one of them would be an
inexplicable whim: they persecute it because they know perfectly well that they
do not express the same faith, and that as long as a single altar safeguards
the ancient lex orandi, the new one cannot claim victory.
It should also be noted that
under Prevost, Traditionis Custodes has neither been withdrawn nor
mitigated: instead, it has been applied even more rigidly, with a
meticulousness that Bergoglio did not have time to exercise. That Leo himself –
who speaks so much of welcome and listening – should be so relentless in
opposing the Mass of all time proves to those who still hoped in him that in
the synodal church there is room for everything except the rite in which the
Church prayed for centuries.
LifeSiteNews: Prevost was elected thanks to those who
hoped for a restoration of the juridical order, but in fact he seems to be
continuing his predecessor’s agenda, simply slowing its pace and delegating the
most contentious decisions to the Curia. Does this more phlegmatic and
“dialoguing” style not risk being even more insidious for the defense of dogma
than Francis’s direct authoritarianism?
Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò: I
must correct the premise of the question, because it is precisely the
misunderstanding on which Prevost relies. It is not at all accurate to say that
Leo is proceeding “little by little.” He is proceeding by means of forced
marches, without the slightest concern for reactions – also because negative
reactions are few, and those few are promptly suppressed. What changed, if
compared with Bergoglio, is not the speed: it is the face. Bergoglio shouted,
and whoever shouts wakes people up; Prevost smiles, and whoever smiles puts
people to sleep. But it is an icy smile, the smirk of one who knows he will
meet no resistance.
Look at the facts, not at the
manner. The agenda has not been slowed down: it has been intensified on every
front – synodality, environmentalism, pro-immigration policies, syncretic
ecumenism, normalization of LGBT ideology. And above all, look at the
appointments, which are the acid test of a pontificate: there is not a single
one that makes an exception; not one man of sound doctrine promoted, not one
enemy of the faith removed. On every front, Prevost has gone beyond his
predecessor.
On August 13, in Cusco, at a
conference preparing for Prevost’s journey to Peru, Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu –
pontifical commissioner of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith – placed
coca leaves in an offering to the infernal idol Pachamama together with Bishop
Lizardo Estrada Herrera, auxiliary bishop of Cusco and secretary general of
CELAM, and Bishop Miguel Ángel Cadenas, bishop of Iquitos. Under Bergoglio, the
Pachamama entered the Vatican Gardens and St. Peter’s Basilica as a scandalous
gesture; under Prevost, the Pachamama entered the dicastery whose task ought to
be to condemn it – and that idol entered it at the hands of the man who, within
that dicastery, administers justice. This is not a slowing down: it is an
institutionalization.
Leo’s style is measured only in
appearance. The Latin here and there, the mozzetta worn even in inappropriate
circumstances – even when getting off the plane – the courteous tone: these are
anesthetics administered to a body now incapable of reacting. And the anesthetic
does not lessen the violence: the anesthetic is what makes the violence
possible.
The conservatives have allowed
themselves to be enchanted by the form. But in truth there is not even that.
Those who were satisfied by the mozzetta got the mozzetta and nothing else, and
are now paying for that piece of cloth with silence about everything else.
Finally, there is the aspect
that reveals the authentically tyrannical nature of this government, and that
is delegation. Prevost delegates to the Curia, to the dicasteries, to episcopal
conferences, to the “synodal processes,” so that no decision bears his
signature and each one can be presented as the fruit of collective discernment.
This is not mildness: it is the most perfect form of absolute power, one that
exercises command without assuming responsibility for it. The ancient tyrant
signed his edicts and bore the hatred they generated; the synodal tyrant has
others deliberate and remains above them, an arbiter and never the accused. It
is the dissolution of the pope’s personal responsibility – exactly what
synodality sets out to achieve – and whoever never makes decisions can never be
contradicted. The pope who does not decide is the pope who decided to let
others act, and who found a way not to be held accountable by anyone.
LifeSiteNews: You intervened publicly in the case of
Eleuterio Vásquez González, known as Lute, the Peruvian priest accused of
serious abuse of girls in the Diocese of Chiclayo. When Leo XIV was bishop of
that diocese, the canonical investigation was described by an ecclesiastical
delegate as “a farce”; yet today the Pope has as his personal secretary Edgard
Rimaycuna, a priest who was raised precisely within Lute’s pastoral and
vocational circle.
Another prominent prelate, the
Venezuelan Edgar Peña Parra – formerly Substitute for General Affairs of the
Secretariat of State and now Apostolic Nuncio to Italy and San Marino – was
reported by you in 2002 over extremely serious allegations, ranging from the
abuse of underage seminarians to alleged links to violent deaths, allegations
that were then systematically ignored by Bergoglio.
In light of these and other
cases, do you believe that under Bergoglio a genuine “network” of reciprocal
protection among men of power has become consolidated in the Church, in which
omissions and responsibilities are covered up in order to preserve internal
balances? And, if so, how extensive is this phenomenon at the highest levels of
the Holy See?
Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò: The Lute
case reproduces with astonishing precision the modus operandi of other extremely serious cases, from
McCarrick to Rupnik: victims who report and are not heard; an investigation
conducted in such a way as to find nothing; the dicastery that closes the case
by invoking the statute of limitations; the accused who not only remains
unpunished, but is actually protected.
Alongside this, the necessary
reverse side: whoever exposes the crimes and defends the victims is destroyed.
Bishop Ricardo Coronado, the canon lawyer who had taken up the defense of the
three young women, had his ecclesiastical forensic authorization revoked by the
Peruvian Episcopal Conference in August 2024, and four months later was
dismissed from the clerical state by a decree that – please note – did not bear
Bergoglio’s handwritten signature.
Whoever accuses loses the
priesthood; whoever is accused keeps everything. There is nothing to interpret
here: the bishop of Chiclayo who conducted that investigation, described as “a
farce” by those who knew the details closely, now sits on the Chair of Peter,
and he has chosen beside him, as his personal secretary, a priest formed within
Fr. Lute’s circle. These are not biographical details or unfortunate
coincidences: they are proof that in this system, proximity to certain circles
is not an obstacle to a career, but in fact the very condition for having one.
Also, observe a coincidence
that is no coincidence. The same Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu who offered coca leaves
to Pachamama in Cusco is the man who, in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the
Faith, inaugurated – and justified in principle – that interpretation of canon
law whereby ordinary procedures, with the safeguards they guarantee to the
accused, are replaced by parallel structures and extraordinary commissarial
powers. It is the juridical doctrine that makes the fate of Bp. Coronado
possible: wherever procedure gives way to the will of the commissioner, whoever
causes trouble is lost from the outset, and is not even left with the right to
defend himself. Before being dismissed from the clerical state, Coronado was
accused of infamous acts without a shred of evidence.
This is not an isolated case.
When a Peruvian priest, Father Omar Sánchez, publicly criticized Bertomeu’s
handling of matters, 22 days later an allegation of abuse against him appeared
in the press – an allegation that the supposed complainant subsequently
publicly denied, declaring that he had never filed any complaint.
Whoever raises his voice
against the system discovers that he has a file already opened against him. And
the man who places coca leaves before Pachamama is the same man who strips the
priesthood from the man who defended the three young victims of Fr. Lute in
Chiclayo. This gives us the measure of what the Holy Office has now become.
As for Peña Parra, allow me a
clarification that I consider important. I dealt with his case much earlier,
when I was Delegate for Pontifical Representations at the Secretariat of State.
The allegations – his seduction of two underage seminarians in Maracaibo in
September 1990, and his connection with the circumstances surrounding two
violent deaths in August 1992 – had been transmitted to the Secretariat of
State in 2002 by the Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela, Archbishop André Dupuy. But
this did not prevent Peña Parra’s career from advancing. And I will add a
detail that says much about the role of the media: I spoke about that case in a
lengthy interview with the Washington Post,
and it was precisely the part concerning the Venezuelan abuser that never saw
the light of day. Bergoglio wanted him as Substitute; and Prevost has now sent
him as nuncio to Italy.
Yes, a network exists. I do not
say this as a conjecture. I know it to be true from direct experience of
decades in the Roman Curia and in nunciatures. It is founded on a simple
principle: whoever can be blackmailed can be controlled by whoever holds the
blackmail material. Moral corruption is not an accident of the system: it is
the glue that holds the entire system together. That is why the guilty party or
accomplice is promoted, while the person who reports him is isolated and struck
down.
How extensive is this network
of corruption? You need only to see how many among McCarrick’s “progeny” still
occupy positions of authority in the United States and in the Vatican; how many
of the cardinals created by Bergoglio were chosen precisely for their
corruption and susceptibility to blackmail; and how many, in the Secretariat of
State and in the dicasteries, owe their position not to doctrine or holiness,
but to membership in a faction. The answer lies in the facts, and the facts
speak for themselves.
LifeSiteNews: Who benefits from this mechanism? Was
Bergoglio its architect, or did he become entangled in it against his will?
Archbishop Carlo Maria
Viganò:
Neither one nor the other, in the terms in which the question is posed.
Bergoglio was not a victim of a system, but neither was he its inventor: he was
its beneficiary and then its guarantor. He was elected thanks to the Mafia of
Saint Gallen, that is, thanks to a network that spent years planning its own
seizure of power, and that found in him the right man because he was
unscrupulous, devoid of doctrinal scruples, and extraordinarily skilled in the
use of power – qualities refined through a long Jesuit formation whose method
he retained throughout his life: ostensible obedience united with subterranean
maneuvering, outwardly proclaimed poverty while simultaneously wielding
absolute command.
Once elected, he did what every
illegitimate power does: he surrounded himself with men who could not betray
him because he knew their corruption and crimes, and he removed those who,
being in no way blackmailable, could not be controlled. It is no coincidence
that his closest collaborators – from Zanchetta to Peña Parra – are figures
burdened by extremely serious allegations, which he systematically covered up
and promoted.
Above all, the case of Marko
Rupnik, S.J., is no coincidence: expelled from the Society of Jesus, already
excommunicated for absolving an accomplice, and nevertheless protected for
years, along with the entire faction that owes its position to that protection
– beginning with the then-Cardinal Vicar Angelo De Donatis, whose transfer from
the Vicariate of Rome to the Apostolic Penitentiary took place precisely in the
wake of that case. That was not at all a promotion, as people wanted to make it
appear, but a way of shielding him, removing him from the questions he would no
longer have been able to evade in Rome.
Who benefits? Internally, it
benefits a clerical caste that made the Church its private property and that
needs impunity in order to survive. Externally, it benefits those financial,
political, and supranational powers – that is, globalists – who have an
interest in keeping the Catholic Church under blackmail, because a blackmailed
Church does not speak, condemn, or evangelize: it collaborates. The link
between deep church and deep state is
not a theory: it is the reason why the Holy See docilely supported every
globalist agenda – from climate to migration, from the pandemic to universal
fraternity, from vaccine advocacy to pan-sexualism – and why it has signed and
stubbornly renewed the secret agreement with Communist China, handing over
faithful bishops and the underground Church to their persecutors, while
remaining silent about everything that the Gospel ought to require it to
proclaim loudly.
Moral corruption and doctrinal
corruption are two sides of the same coin. Whoever betrays the faith also
betrays morality, and whoever is blackmailable on morality is willing to betray
the faith – even to the point of idolatry, as the coca leaves placed at Cusco
by an official of the former Holy Office demonstrate to anyone who has eyes to
see.
LifeSiteNews: While the 2025 Papal Conclave was underway,
a high-ranking Masonic authority told me confidentially during an investigation
I was conducting: “You will see that they will elect Francis’s useful idiot.”
When I asked for an explanation, this Freemason contact – who was, in fact,
very close to the circles of the Roman Curia – told me that Francis appointed
cardinals “with skeletons in their closets” from the peripheries of the world,
with the request that they elect “his man” and preserve his “synodal legacy.”
When Prevost was elected, this same Freemason told me sarcastically: “Habemus
Papam! They elected him.” At first I was very cautious, and even hopeful
about Prevost. Now that one year and several months have passed, I wonder how
far this Masonic authority’s interpretation was from reality… What do you
think?
Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò: I
cannot confirm words that I did not hear, nor am I interested in giving
credence to the boasts of circles that have always enjoyed attributing to
themselves credit for governing the Church. But I can say that this reading
coincides exactly with what the facts make evident to anyone willing to look at
them.
Bergoglio created the
overwhelming majority of the College of Cardinals, choosing men whom no one
knew, with very poor formation, coming from irrelevant sees, whose only
qualification was personal loyalty to Bergoglio and, almost always, a
vulnerability that made them controllable. A conclave composed in this way
could only elect a man like Prevost, that is, a man who would guarantee the
continuity of Bergoglio’s “synodal legacy.”
Freemasonry takes pleasure in
this election, and this is not surprising at all: it also rejoiced at the
election of John XXIII. For three centuries now it has pursued a single design,
namely to demolish the Catholic Church: first by emptying her of her
supernatural dimension and reducing her to a philanthropic organization, then
by subverting her from within, and finally by transforming her into the
anti-church, that is, into the Universal Religion of Humanity, which is its true
goal.
Synodality, as a permanent
revolution and the quintessence of all the demands of modernism, is the closest
thing to that project ever accomplished from within. There is no need to imagine
conspiracies: it is enough to read the Permanent Instruction of the Alta
Vendita, which describes a century and a half in advance a pope formed in the
ideas of the revolution, elected by cardinals formed in the same ideas.
If a Masonic authority rejoiced
at Prevost’s election, it is because what was being sought was achieved. The
regret belongs to those cardinals and faithful who, for a few months, wanted to
delude themselves. The expression “useful idiot” is offensive, and I would not
make it my own; but I fear that whoever used it knows well the nature of the
usefulness expected from the man they elected.
Our
Lady of Fatima will have the last word!
But a resounding explicit confirmation came from Benedict XVI himself, who, during an unexpected pilgrimage to Fatima on May 13, 2010, affirmed: “He deceives himself who thinks that the prophetic mission of Fatima is concluded.”
He added: “there are indicated future realities of the Church which
little by little are manifesting themselves… and therefore it is the sufferings
of the Church which are announced.”
But could such prophecies be found in that
text [of the vision]?
These two phrases of the Pope in that
discourse at Fatima prompt reflection: “Man has the power to unleash a
cycle of death and terror, but he is not able to stop it.” And then: “The faith
in vast regions of the earth risks being extinguished, like a flame without
fuel.”
From these words of Pope Benedict one
discerns, therefore, that there is truly something else in the Third Secret and
that it is dramatic for the world and the Church. Perhaps it is precisely due
to that visit by the Pope that this book was released, from which another
precious little piece of the truth filters out.
The volume in fact draws from the letters of Sister Lucia and from the unpublished diary “My Way.” Impressive, among things previously unpublished, is the account of how Sister Lucy overcame the terror that prevented her from writing down the Third Secret.
The
Unpublished Account
At around 4 p.m. on January 3, 1944, in the
chapel of the convent, before the Tabernacle, Lucia asked Jesus to make known
His will: “I then felt a friendly hand, maternal and affectionate, touch my
shoulder.”
And the Mother of God said to her: “be at
peace, and write what I have commanded you, but not, however, that which has
been given to you to understand its meaning,” intending to allude to the
meaning of the vision which the Virgin herself had revealed.
Immediately afterward, said Sister Lucia, “I felt my spirit inundated by a
mystery of light that is God and in Him I saw and heard: the point of a lance
like a flame that is detached, touches the axis of the earth, and it trembles:
mountains, cities, towns and villages with their inhabitants are buried. The
sea, the rivers, the clouds, exceed their boundaries, inundating and dragging
with them, in a vortex, houses and people in a number that cannot be counted.
It is the purification of the world from the sin in which it is immersed. Hatred, ambition, provoke the destructive
war. After I felt my racing heart, in my
spirit a soft voice said: ‘In time, one faith, one baptism, one Church, Holy,
Catholic, Apostolic. In eternity, Heaven!’
This word ‘Heaven’ filled my heart with peace and happiness in such a
way that, almost without being aware of it, I kept repeating to myself for a
long time: Heaven, Heaven.”
From this came the strength to write the
Third Secret.
Antonio Socci, APOCALYPTIC NEWS FROM FATIMA (THE LATEST MYSTERY: THE SILENCE OF THE SISTERS, BUT WHO IS SILENCING THEM?, August 17, 2014
COMMENT: The
Novus Ordo Church has canonize Bishop Fulton J. Sheen a Catholic prelate very
popular with conservative Catholics. The miracle in support of his canonization
is a "stillborn" infant who may very well not in fact been dead. Like
the recent Novus Ordo canonization of Cardinal John Henry Newman, Sheen is
thought by conservatives to represent an example for faithful Catholics but the
Novus Ordo Church recognizes that he endorsed many modernist heretical first
principles and thus can be used as a weapon against the Catholic faith. Bishop
Sheen, while participating in the Sabbath service, did not remind his Jewish
hosts of their need to convert to the Catholic faith to save their souls.
Cheers to Fulton Sheen!
Bishop Sheen Pulpit Guest at New York Synagogue
Sabbath Services
Jewish
Telegraphic Agency | January 19, 1968
The
Mount Neboh Synagogue here conferred a brotherhood award on Fulton J. Sheen,
Bishop of Rochester, at its regular Friday Sabbath service. The ceremony marked
the first time in the New York Archdiocese that a Catholic prelate has
addressed worshippers from a Jewish pulpit on the Hebrew Sabbath.
The
award, an illuminated parchment scroll with doves of peace in 14th century
character lettering, opened with an inscription from Psalm 133: “Behold how
good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Bishop Sheen
accepted the award from Dr. Edward Jacobs, president of the Metropolitan
Conference of the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods, and hailed recent
advances in ecumenicity within Christianity. He emphasized a growing
rapprochement between Jews and Christians. Rabbi Philip Hiat, spiritual leader
of the congregation, stressed that “with all our so-called differences, there
is a host of aims and goals toward which both faiths can work together in
perfect harmony.”
EXCERPT: The Vatican
has been covering-up the crimes of homosexual pederasts since 1922 but the
practice became actively enforced policy since 1962!!!
The total
payouts by the Catholic Church for sex abuse claims in the United States have
exceeded $5 billion over the past two decades with almost all of this for
homosexual crimes.
FROM FORGIVENESS, TO SILENCE... TO BETRAYAL, By
Michael Kenny
THE FEAR OF
SCANDAL: A DEEPENING MOTIF
As the Church gained public visibility and institutional structure, the
fear of scandal – that is, anything that could bring shame or doubt upon the
Church – grew proportionally. This concern is not without biblical foundation.
Apparently Christ Himself warned that:
“Scandals must come, but woe to the one through whom they come.”
In a world where the Church was often maligned, the temptation to
protect its reputation – even at the cost of truth – grew strong.
This approach reached its most formal expression in the 20th century.
CRIMEN
SOLICITATIONIS: CODIFYING SECRECY
In 1962, the Vatican issued a secret instruction titled CRIMEN SOLICITATIONIS.
Which laid out procedures for dealing with priests accused of using the
confessional to solicit sexual acts (an update of canon 904 in 1741). While its
original focus was on confessional abuse – a particularly grievous offense – it
extended its protocols to cover ALL sexual misconduct by clergy, including
child abuse.
This document mandated
strict secrecy:
“Cases of this nature
are subject to the strictest pontifical secret – under pain of
excommunication.”
This meant the victims, witnesses, and Church authorities were all
bound by silence, ostensibly to protect the sacrament and the dignity of the
Church. But in practice, this secrecy protected the perpetrators and silenced
the victims.
The same theological instinct that once prompted Origen to counsel
forgiveness now found its legal expression in institutional concealment.
The Church fathers were not wrong to value forgiveness. But forgiveness
without justice is not sanctity – it is surrender. And the Church must never
surrender the innocent to the sins of the powerful.
THE COST OF
MISAPPLIED MERCY
What unites the early Christian response to personal violation with the
institutional culture of silence centuries later is a tragic misapplication
mercy – a prioritizing of the Church's image, or of the offender's soul, over
the immediate demands of justice and the protection of the innocent.
In the name of forgiveness, the Church failed to act.
In the name of avoiding scandal, it created a greater one.
In the name of unity, it tolerates wolves among the sheep.
The very teachings of Christ – meant to uphold truth, protect the weak,
and heal the broken – were twisted into realizations for secrecy and inaction.
TOWARD A NEW ETHOS
OF ACCOUNTABILITY
The path forward must involve more than policy reform. It requires a
re-examination of the Church's spiritual instincts – a return to the full
Gospel, where mercy and justice walk hand in hand.
Forgiveness does not mean the abandonment of truth.
Compassion does not mean the protection of the predator.
The Church must rediscover the moral courage to expose evil, even when
it dwells in its own house.
EPILOGUE: A WAR ON
INNOCENCE
There is a deeper layer to this crisis. Darker than secrecy. Worse than
betrayal. It is diabolical.
Satan hates God. This hatred is total, consuming and unrelenting. But
Satan can't hurt God directly – God is beyond his reach. So he strikes where it
hurts most: at what God loves – CHILDREN.
Jesus told us to let the children come to Him. Jesus warned about the
millstone. So, what then is a perfect way for Satan's followers to do his
bidding and please him, and hate God at the same time...
VIOLATE A CHILD,
and do it wearing the robes of Christ
In this perverse inversion of the priesthood, the altar becomes a
hunting ground, and the confessional, a trap. [....]
COMMENT: From
the 1917 Code of Canon Law, clerical homosexual predators and other sex
offenders who were found guilty were
laicized and turned over to the state for suffer criminal penalties. Such a
response was necessary to restore justice, protect the faithful, and begin the
hard work of rebuilding. Everything changed in 1922 with a new canon law which
required all bishops of the world to violate mandatory reporting laws of the
state by concealing child abuse and homosexuality by clerics from criminal
state law enforcement. This document, Crimens Sollicitationis,
was included in the 1983 Code of Canon Law and remained in force until 2001.
Abp. Carlo Maria Vigano, the former apostolic nuncio to the United
States, was required first by Crimens Sollicitationis and then by Sacramentum Sanctitatis Tutela of 2001 and then by Graviora Delicta of 2010 to conceal any knowledge of sexual
crimes by clergy from public disclosure. The “Spotlight” investigation of
sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in 2002 revealed that many clerics found
guilty of child sexual abuse were repeatedly returned to Catholic ministry
where they repeated their crimes on new adolescent victims. Following this
investigation, the United States was the only country that received an
exemption from the Vatican policy to conceal sexual abuse from state criminal
law enforcement.
The problem was magnified in the 1983 Code of Canon Law protecting
homosexual predators. Canon 1341 of the current 1983 Code of Canon Law,
requires bishops whenever possible to ask priests to please stop committing
crimes, instead of punishing them for their criminal actions. What is perhaps
worse, Canon 1324 in the 1983 Code is used to decrease punishment for
pedophiles on the grounds that pedophiles have less freedom than non-pedophiles
to control their perverse passions. Thus, a diagnosis of pedophilia lessens
culpability and imputability of the crime of pedophilia!!! As a result, bishops
have concluded pedophiles should receive a lesser punishment for pedophilia
than other sex offenders. Their hypocrisy is evident when compared to the
treatment given to Fr. Samuel Waters. Homosexual predators are given the full
canonical rights of due process while Fr. Waters was denied canonical due
process for the "crime" of offering the "received and
approved" immemorial Roman rite of Mass and "administratively
laicized" which itself is a violation of canon law!
The SSPX follows the 1983 Code and has used it cover up sexual
offenders within the SSPX. This includes the former district superior in the
United States for the SSPX, Fr. Arnaud Rostand who was sentenced to a French
prison after conviction of homosexual pederasty in France, Spain and
Switzerland against seven boys on scouting trips between 2002 and 2018. The purpose
of this is not detraction of the SSPX but to point out an ugly fact that every
faithful Catholic should be aware of when receiving their sacraments, attending
their schools or participating in their supervised camps and other summer
activities. They as an organization have followed the Vatican policy to cover
up any crimes of sexual abuse of children. Perhaps, now that they have been
"excommunicated" from the Novus Ordo they will stop following the
Novus Ordo code of canon law.
LEO the Absurd and
Erroneous
"This shameful font of indifferentism gives rise to that absurd
and erroneous proposition which claims that liberty of conscience must be
maintained for everyone."
Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos,
1832
"Among the most cherished principles is religious freedom - the
right of every person to worship according to his conscience."
Pope Leo XIV, Letter on the 250th anniversary of the U. S. Declaration
of Independence
Surrogacy magnate to bring child
trafficking to Poland
The Ukrainian company BioTexCom will
hold a surrogacy fair from September 12–13 in Warsaw.
LifeSiteNew | Sep 7, 2026 -
ORDO IURIS Publication— Here is a harrowing
testimony from a woman born through surrogacy:
“I was programmed to be abandoned. My mother was supposed to disappear
from my life. This separation was not accidental. It was the purchase of a
product (…)
Throughout my childhood I felt a sense of abandonment, rejection, and
emptiness. I had the feeling that something very important was missing. (…) I
spent years trying to escape this pain through alcohol, drugs, and
self-destructive behavior, and at one point I even tried to take my own life.”
These words from Olivia Maurel shook those gathered at the June Ordo
Iuris Converence. They resonated powerfully within the walls of the Cardinal
Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, lending emotional weight to the voices
of international experts demanding the global outlawing of surrogacy.
The need to ban “womb renting” – which leads to child trafficking, to
the enslavement of women, and also to the growth of abortion and the IVF
industry – was argued at the time by experts from Poland, France, Chile, and
the United Kingdom, as well as the UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem.
After the conference, the Ordo Iuris publishing house reached an
agreement with Olivia Maurel to publish her book in Poland – a powerful
testimony and a professional analysis of the terrible mechanisms of the global
surrogacy industry.
Ordo Iuris took up this important issue literally moments before the
surrogacy industry’s assault on Poland.
The surrogacy business wants to enter Poland
In just a few days, a surrogacy fair is set to take place in Poland—in
the very center of Warsaw.
The Ukrainian company BioTexCom has announced that on September 12–13
it will hold a conference in Poland’s capital, at which attendees will be able
to learn about its offer of so-called surrogate parenthood.
Surrogacy is 21st-century slavery. Poor women are treated like living
incubators, and children are sold like goods. “Defective” goods are killed, and
“used-up” surrogate mothers are thrown out onto the street. The fuel for this
inhuman industry is supplied by well-off couples (often same-sex) who buy themselves
children at surrogacy fairs.
Until recently, these modern-day slavery fairs took place only in
Germany, Belgium, or France. Protests led to the fairs being driven out of
Paris, which gave hope for a broad condemnation of this repugnant practice. All
along, it seemed that Poland was a country free from surrogacy barbarism.
The September fair organized by the Ukrainian surrogacy magnate is
meant to change that. And it is counting on the leniency of the Polish
authorities.
That is why we have a duty to speak loudly about what surrogacy truly
is.
As lawyers, we must also state clearly that surrogacy should meet with
a firm response from criminal law. That is why, for years, we have been helping
to build the international group of experts behind the “Casablanca
Declaration;” they are demanding the global, treaty-based outlawing of
surrogacy. Proof of the effectiveness of these efforts is the resolute ban on
surrogacy in Italy, where both domestic surrogacy and “surrogacy tourism” are
subject to punishment.
Surrogacy is a barbaric practice
The links between surrogacy and abortion cannot be emphasized enough.
Recent weeks provide an example. On August 12 of this year, little Gabriel was
born in Texas – a boy with a heart defect, miraculously saved from abortion.
His mother is the surrogate McKenna West, who refused to carry out the contract
and kill the child that his biological parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar,
no longer wanted. The surrogate had to flee to Texas, where the law protected
the child’s life.
And so, for “failing to perform the contract” and refusing an abortion,
she was sued for $250,000 in damages. For now, a court has barred the surrogate
mother from contact with the child…
Gabriel was very lucky, but thousands of other children are not given
such a chance. If they fail to meet the excessive expectations of those who
commissioned them, they fall victim to abortion.
In the surrogacy procedure, the killing of children and trafficking in
them very often go hand in hand with the modern-day enslavement of women.
Surrogate mothers are subjected to humiliating selection and control. Very
often they must live on so-called surrogacy farms – isolated from their
families. And immediately after giving birth, they are forced to hand over the
child at once.
According to the price list on BioTexCom’s website, the “standard”
package costs €39,900, “standard plus” €49,900, and “VIP” €64,900. For that
price, BioTexCom gives its clients access to a database with photographs, video
interviews, and 3D footage – so they can view the women from various angles.
The company’s clients themselves select both the egg donor and the woman who is
to carry the pregnancy and give birth to the child.
Ordo Iuris against surrogacy
In Poland, surrogacy is illegal. That is why Ordo Iuris lawyers have
prepared a notification to prosecutors of a reasonable suspicion that a crime
has been committed.
In it, we point out that surrogacy-based child trafficking meets the
conditions of Art. 189a § 2 of the Criminal Code, which provides for a penalty
of up to 5 years’ imprisonment for preparing to commit the offense of human
trafficking.
We also cite Art. 211a § 1, § 2(a), and § 3 of the Criminal Code, which
provide that the illegal organizing of a child’s adoption for financial gain is
an offense punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment. The same penalty applies
to everyone involved in the transaction – including those who “buy” the child
by declaring their intention to assume parental authority over it.
In addition – because the operating model of the “surrogacy business”
is not a one-off but constitutes an entire, well-coordinated industry – we
direct the prosecutors’ attention to Art. 258 § 1 and § 3 of the Criminal Code,
concerning the direction of and participation in an organized criminal group.
Those taking part in the activities of such a group face up to 8 years’
imprisonment, while those performing leadership roles face up to 15 years’
imprisonment.
We have launched an online information campaign revealing what
surrogacy really is, along with a petition, "No to Surrogacy in
Poland", in which we call on Poland’s Minister of Justice and Prosecutor
General, Waldemar Żurek, to intervene urgently in this matter.
The response to the surrogacy fair in the center of the Polish capital
is part of a strategy pursued for years, aimed at introducing an effective ban
on surrogacy – both at the national and international level.
We must stand up in defense of the victims of surrogacy.
No one will do it for us.
COMMENT:
The
company, BioTexCom, is NOT a "Ukrainian" company. BioTexCom is a
Swiss‑registered fertility clinic based in Kyiv, Ukraine, and its registered
owner is Albert Tochilovsky. Tochilovsky is an Ashkenazi Jew. Tochilovsky says
that the three dynamic trends in reproductive medicine are genome editing to
produce designer babies; mitochondrial replacement to enable women in their 50s
and 60s to become pregnant; and ectogenesis, or artificial wombs. He said,
"I think that we will acquire ectogenesis within 5-7 years, and our clinic
keeps working in this direction. I doubt, though, that Ukraine will let us do something like that
because Ukraine is afraid of everything. Most likely, ectogenesis will be
allowed in the mentioned above America and Great Britain.... This is a
highly developed society, where women build their careers before they reach the
age of 40-45, after that they want to have children. Nowadays, immigrants help
to solve this issue. I believe, in future this problem will be solved through
the use of ectogenesis and mitochondrial replacement."
So
the "Ukraine is afraid of everything" while Poland is expected to not
"afraid" of offending God? This technology is so offensive to God
that only the Godless will dive in. The Jews were the main profiteers and
promoters of the slave trade historically. They are largely responsible for
bringing abortion to the United States.
They were in the forefront of promoting pornography, homosexual
"marriage," "no-fault divorce," the 'Epstein Class' and
anything else that destroys the traditional family and Catholic morality.
The
Jewish intellectual, Yuval Noah Harari, is a featured speaker at the Davos
Forum for the elites who plan of the New World Order. In 2016 Harari spoke
about the Fourth Industrial Revolution where "humanity will be divided between
a superelite of improved humans and a mass of 'useless people'" that will
have "power is in the hands of those who control the algorithms"
(WIKI). Harari says he was influenced
greatly by the Jewish writer, Jared Diamond, author of the popular best-seller,
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, A Short History of
Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years. Unlike the Catholic historian, Christopher
Dawson, Diamond holds that religion and the spiritual life have nothing to do
with civilization and culture. It is purely a mechanical determinist process.
Harari believes that through the use of technologies like that of BioTexCom
they will someday determine all human life forms. This is the technology that
Tochilovsky hopes to bring into Poland. In the United State it is already a
multi-billion dollar industry.
Surely
God cannot permit this destruction of humanity to proceed. Pray God that this foul pestilence is
prohibited from Poland.
EXCLUSIVE:
Abp. Viganò says
Leo XIV has intensified Francis’s agenda, not slowed it
In this exclusive interview, Abp. Viganò
argues that changing the way Catholics worship ultimately changes what they
believe, making the liturgical reform central to the post-conciliar crisis.
LifeSiteNews— In Part 1 of this interview, Archbishop Carlo Maria
Viganò claimed that the reforms associated with the Second Vatican Council
weakened the Church’s role as the katéchon, the force that restrains the
spread of the Antichrist’s spirit in history. He discussed the nature of papal
authority, the distinction between the papacy as a divine institution and
individual popes while critiquing of post-conciliar developments, the rise of
synodality, and women in Vatican leadership.
This
second part of the interview centers on Viganò’s critique of the post-conciliar
Church, focusing on liturgical reform and Traditionis Custodes as
instruments of a broader theological transformation. He also discusses the
pontificate of Leo XIV, particularly the allegations of networks of protection
among ecclesiastical elites, and the influence of ideological and global forces
on the contemporary hierarchy.
LifeSiteNews: Throughout this entire crisis, you have always identified the liturgical reform not as a consequence but as a cause. Why is the question of the Mass, in your judgment, prior to and more decisive than the doctrinal one? And what meaning does the relentlessness of Traditionis Custodes, maintained intact by Leo XIV, have in this context?
Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò:
Because the Church has always known what
the modernists deliberately forgot: ut legem credendi lex statuat
supplicandi (“that the law of prayer may establish the law of belief”). It
is the law of prayer that establishes the law of faith, and not vice versa. The
Christian people do not learn dogma from manuals: they breathe it in at the
altar. A man who for years knelt before the Blessed Sacrament, who has seen the
priest turned toward God and not toward the assembly, who witnessed the
Consecration in the sacred silence of the Roman Canon, believes in the Real
Presence and in the Sacrifice, even if he would not know how to formulate the
corresponding dogmas; and no theologian will succeed in taking that faith away
from him. Change the way a person prays, and you change what he believes,
without him noticing and without anyone ever having to state a single heretical
proposition.
That is why I say that the liturgical reform was not a consequence of
the crisis: it was its instrument. It was the fastest and safest way to obtain
what a definition would never have achieved. Let it be noted: it is the perfect
application of that Bergoglian principle according to which “time is superior
to space.” Nothing is defined, a process is initiated, and then all it takes is
a couple of generations for the rest to fall into place. Anyone who wants confirmation
of this method should read the Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass
by Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci, who as early as 1969 warned that the new rite
“departs impressively, as a whole and in detail, from the Catholic theology of
the Holy Mass as formulated in Session XXII of the Council of Trent.” They were
not two seditionists: one was the former secretary of the Holy Office [NOTE: Indeed, the office of Prefect of the Supreme Sacred
Congregation was reserved to the Pope himself. Ottaviani served as the
Congregation’s Secretary] and the other a curial cardinal. They were
ignored, and today the statistics on belief in the Real Presence confirm how
right they were. Cranmer understood four centuries earlier that changing the
Mass is enough to change the religion of a people, and he did not need to deny
any dogma in order to eradicate the Holy Sacrifice from England.
As for Traditionis Custodes, it is the most eloquent confession
our adversaries could have made. If the two rites truly expressed the same
faith [the vetus ordo and novus ordo], persecuting one of them
would be an inexplicable whim: they persecute it because they know perfectly
well that they do not express the same faith, and that as long as a single
altar safeguards the ancient lex orandi, the new one cannot claim
victory.
It should also be noted that under Prevost, Traditionis Custodes
has neither been withdrawn nor mitigated: instead, it has been applied even
more rigidly, with a meticulousness that Bergoglio did not have time to
exercise. That Leo himself – who speaks so much of welcome and listening –
should be so relentless in opposing the Mass of all time proves to those who
still hoped in him that in the synodal church there is room for everything
except the rite in which the Church prayed for centuries.
LifeSiteNews: Prevost was elected thanks to those who hoped for a restoration of the juridical order, but in fact he seems to be continuing his predecessor’s agenda, simply slowing its pace and delegating the most contentious decisions to the Curia. Does this more phlegmatic and “dialoguing” style not risk being even more insidious for the defense of dogma than Francis’s direct authoritarianism?
Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò:
I must correct the premise of the
question, because it is precisely the misunderstanding on which Prevost relies.
It is not at all accurate to say that Leo is proceeding “little by little.” He
is proceeding by means of forced marches, without the slightest concern for
reactions – also because negative reactions are few, and those few are promptly
suppressed. What changed, if compared with Bergoglio, is not the speed: it is
the face. Bergoglio shouted, and whoever shouts wakes people up; Prevost
smiles, and whoever smiles puts people to sleep. But it is an icy smile, the
smirk of one who knows he will meet no resistance.
Look at the facts, not at the manner. The agenda has not been slowed
down: it has been intensified on every front – synodality, environmentalism,
pro-immigration policies, syncretic ecumenism, normalization of LGBT ideology.
And above all, look at the appointments, which are the acid test of a
pontificate: there is not a single one that makes an exception; not one man of
sound doctrine promoted, not one enemy of the faith removed. On every front,
Prevost has gone beyond his predecessor.
On August 13, in Cusco, at a conference preparing for Prevost’s journey
to Peru, Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu – pontifical commissioner of the Dicastery
for the Doctrine of the Faith – placed coca leaves in an offering to the
infernal idol Pachamama together with Bishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera, auxiliary
bishop of Cusco and secretary general of CELAM, and Bishop Miguel Ángel
Cadenas, bishop of Iquitos. Under Bergoglio, the Pachamama entered the Vatican
Gardens and St. Peter’s Basilica as a scandalous gesture; under Prevost, the
Pachamama entered the dicastery whose task ought to be to condemn it – and that
idol entered it at the hands of the man who, within that dicastery, administers
justice. This is not a slowing down: it is an institutionalization.
Leo’s style is measured only in appearance. The Latin here and there,
the mozzetta worn even in inappropriate circumstances – even when getting off
the plane – the courteous tone: these are anesthetics administered to a body
now incapable of reacting. And the anesthetic does not lessen the violence: the
anesthetic is what makes the violence possible.
The conservatives have allowed themselves to be enchanted by the form.
But in truth there is not even that. Those who were satisfied by the mozzetta
got the mozzetta and nothing else, and are now paying for that piece of cloth
with silence about everything else.
Finally, there is the aspect that reveals the authentically tyrannical
nature of this government, and that is delegation. Prevost delegates to the
Curia, to the dicasteries, to episcopal conferences, to the “synodal
processes,” so that no decision bears his signature and each one can be
presented as the fruit of collective discernment. This is not mildness: it is
the most perfect form of absolute power, one that exercises command without
assuming responsibility for it. The ancient tyrant signed his edicts and bore
the hatred they generated; the synodal tyrant has others deliberate and remains
above them, an arbiter and never the accused. It is the dissolution of the
pope’s personal responsibility – exactly what synodality sets out to achieve –
and whoever never makes decisions can never be contradicted. The pope who does
not decide is the pope who decided to let others act, and who found a way not
to be held accountable by anyone.
LifeSiteNews: You intervened publicly in the case of Eleuterio Vásquez González, known as Lute, the Peruvian priest accused of serious abuse of girls in the Diocese of Chiclayo. When Leo XIV was bishop of that diocese, the canonical investigation was described by an ecclesiastical delegate as “a farce”; yet today the Pope has as his personal secretary Edgard Rimaycuna, a priest who was raised precisely within Lute’s pastoral and vocational circle.
Another prominent prelate, the Venezuelan Edgar Peña Parra – formerly Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State and now Apostolic Nuncio to Italy and San Marino – was reported by you in 2002 over extremely serious allegations, ranging from the abuse of underage seminarians to alleged links to violent deaths, allegations that were then systematically ignored by Bergoglio.
In light of these and other cases, do you believe that under Bergoglio a genuine “network” of reciprocal protection among men of power has become consolidated in the Church, in which omissions and responsibilities are covered up in order to preserve internal balances? And, if so, how extensive is this phenomenon at the highest levels of the Holy See?
Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò:
The Lute case reproduces with
astonishing precision the modus operandi of other extremely serious
cases, from McCarrick to Rupnik: victims who report and are not heard; an
investigation conducted in such a way as to find nothing; the dicastery that
closes the case by invoking the statute of limitations; the accused who not
only remains unpunished, but is actually protected.
Alongside this, the necessary reverse side: whoever exposes the crimes
and defends the victims is destroyed. Bishop Ricardo Coronado, the canon lawyer
who had taken up the defense of the three young women, had his ecclesiastical
forensic authorization revoked by the Peruvian Episcopal Conference in August
2024, and four months later was dismissed from the clerical state by a decree
that – please note – did not bear Bergoglio’s handwritten signature.
Whoever accuses loses the priesthood; whoever is accused keeps
everything. There is nothing to interpret here: the bishop of Chiclayo who
conducted that investigation, described as “a farce” by those who knew the
details closely, now sits on the Chair of Peter, and he has chosen beside him,
as his personal secretary, a priest formed within Fr. Lute’s circle. These are
not biographical details or unfortunate coincidences: they are proof that in
this system, proximity to certain circles is not an obstacle to a career, but
in fact the very condition for having one.
Also, observe a coincidence that is no coincidence. The same Msgr.
Jordi Bertomeu who offered coca leaves to Pachamama in Cusco is the man who, in
the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, inaugurated – and justified in
principle – that interpretation of canon law whereby ordinary procedures, with
the safeguards they guarantee to the accused, are replaced by parallel
structures and extraordinary commissarial powers. It is the juridical doctrine
that makes the fate of Bp. Coronado possible: wherever procedure gives way to
the will of the commissioner, whoever causes trouble is lost from the outset,
and is not even left with the right to defend himself. Before being dismissed
from the clerical state, Coronado was accused of infamous acts without a shred
of evidence.
This is not an isolated case. When a Peruvian priest, Father Omar
Sánchez, publicly criticized Bertomeu’s handling of matters, 22 days later an
allegation of abuse against him appeared in the press – an allegation that the
supposed complainant subsequently publicly denied, declaring that he had never
filed any complaint.
Whoever raises his voice against the system discovers that he has a
file already opened against him. And the man who places coca leaves before
Pachamama is the same man who strips the priesthood from the man who defended
the three young victims of Fr. Lute in Chiclayo. This gives us the measure of
what the Holy Office has now become.
As for Peña Parra, allow me a clarification that I consider important.
I dealt with his case much earlier, when I was Delegate for Pontifical
Representations at the Secretariat of State. The allegations – his seduction of
two underage seminarians in Maracaibo in September 1990, and his connection
with the circumstances surrounding two violent deaths in August 1992 – had been
transmitted to the Secretariat of State in 2002 by the Apostolic Nuncio to
Venezuela, Archbishop André Dupuy. But this did not prevent Peña Parra’s career
from advancing. And I will add a detail that says much about the role of the
media: I spoke about that case in a lengthy interview with the Washington
Post, and it was precisely the part concerning the Venezuelan abuser that
never saw the light of day. Bergoglio wanted him as Substitute; and Prevost has
now sent him as nuncio to Italy.
Yes, a network exists. I do not say this as a conjecture. I know it to
be true from direct experience of decades in the Roman Curia and in
nunciatures. It is founded on a simple principle: whoever can be blackmailed
can be controlled by whoever holds the blackmail material. Moral corruption is
not an accident of the system: it is the glue that holds the entire system
together. That is why the guilty party or accomplice is promoted, while the
person who reports him is isolated and struck down.
How extensive is this network of corruption? You need only to see how
many among McCarrick’s “progeny” still occupy positions of authority in the
United States and in the Vatican; how many of the cardinals created by
Bergoglio were chosen precisely for their corruption and susceptibility to
blackmail; and how many, in the Secretariat of State and in the dicasteries, owe
their position not to doctrine or holiness, but to membership in a faction. The
answer lies in the facts, and the facts speak for themselves.
LifeSiteNews: Who benefits from this mechanism? Was
Bergoglio its architect, or did he become entangled in it against his will?
Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò:
Neither one nor the other, in the terms in which the question is posed.
Bergoglio was not a victim of a system, but neither was he its inventor: he was
its beneficiary and then its guarantor. He was elected thanks to the Mafia of
Saint Gallen, that is, thanks to a network that spent years planning its own
seizure of power, and that found in him the right man because he was
unscrupulous, devoid of doctrinal scruples, and extraordinarily skilled in the
use of power – qualities refined through a long Jesuit formation whose method
he retained throughout his life: ostensible obedience united with subterranean
maneuvering, outwardly proclaimed poverty while simultaneously wielding
absolute command.
Once elected, he did what every illegitimate power does: he surrounded
himself with men who could not betray him because he knew their corruption and
crimes, and he removed those who, being in no way blackmailable, could not be
controlled. It is no coincidence that his closest collaborators – from
Zanchetta to Peña Parra – are figures burdened by extremely serious
allegations, which he systematically covered up and promoted.
Above all, the case of Marko Rupnik, S.J., is no coincidence: expelled
from the Society of Jesus, already excommunicated for absolving an accomplice,
and nevertheless protected for years, along with the entire faction that owes
its position to that protection – beginning with the then-Cardinal Vicar Angelo
De Donatis, whose transfer from the Vicariate of Rome to the Apostolic
Penitentiary took place precisely in the wake of that case. That was not at all
a promotion, as people wanted to make it appear, but a way of shielding him,
removing him from the questions he would no longer have been able to evade in
Rome.
Who benefits? Internally, it benefits a clerical caste that made the
Church its private property and that needs impunity in order to survive.
Externally, it benefits those financial, political, and supranational powers –
that is, globalists – who have an interest in keeping the Catholic Church under
blackmail, because a blackmailed Church does not speak, condemn, or evangelize:
it collaborates. The link between deep church and deep state is
not a theory: it is the reason why the Holy See docilely supported every
globalist agenda – from climate to migration, from the pandemic to universal
fraternity, from vaccine advocacy to pan-sexualism – and why it has signed and
stubbornly renewed the secret agreement with Communist China, handing over
faithful bishops and the underground Church to their persecutors, while
remaining silent about everything that the Gospel ought to require it to
proclaim loudly.
Moral corruption and doctrinal corruption are two sides of the same
coin. Whoever betrays the faith also betrays morality, and whoever is
blackmailable on morality is willing to betray the faith – even to the point of
idolatry, as the coca leaves placed at Cusco by an official of the former Holy
Office demonstrate to anyone who has eyes to see.
LifeSiteNews: While the 2025 Papal Conclave was underway, a high-ranking Masonic authority told me confidentially during an investigation I was conducting: “You will see that they will elect Francis’s useful idiot.” When I asked for an explanation, this Freemason contact – who was, in fact, very close to the circles of the Roman Curia – told me that Francis appointed cardinals “with skeletons in their closets” from the peripheries of the world, with the request that they elect “his man” and preserve his “synodal legacy.” When Prevost was elected, this same Freemason told me sarcastically: “Habemus Papam! They elected him.” At first I was very cautious, and even hopeful about Prevost. Now that one year and several months have passed, I wonder how far this Masonic authority’s interpretation was from reality… What do you think?
Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò:
I cannot confirm words that I did not
hear, nor am I interested in giving credence to the boasts of circles that have
always enjoyed attributing to themselves credit for governing the Church. But I
can say that this reading coincides exactly with what the facts make evident to
anyone willing to look at them.
Bergoglio created the overwhelming majority of the College of
Cardinals, choosing men whom no one knew, with very poor formation, coming from
irrelevant sees, whose only qualification was personal loyalty to Bergoglio
and, almost always, a vulnerability that made them controllable. A conclave
composed in this way could only elect a man like Prevost, that is, a man who would
guarantee the continuity of Bergoglio’s “synodal legacy.”
Freemasonry takes pleasure in this election, and this is not surprising
at all: it also rejoiced at the election of John XXIII. For three centuries now
it has pursued a single design, namely to demolish the Catholic Church: first
by emptying her of her supernatural dimension and reducing her to a
philanthropic organization, then by subverting her from within, and finally by
transforming her into the anti-church, that is, into the Universal Religion of
Humanity, which is its true goal.
Synodality, as a permanent revolution and the quintessence of all the
demands of modernism, is the closest thing to that project ever accomplished
from within. There is no need to imagine conspiracies: it is enough to read the
Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita, which describes a century and a half
in advance a pope formed in the ideas of the revolution, elected by cardinals
formed in the same ideas.
If a Masonic authority rejoiced at Prevost’s election, it is because
what was being sought was achieved. The regret belongs to those cardinals and
faithful who, for a few months, wanted to delude themselves. The expression
“useful idiot” is offensive, and I would not make it my own; but I fear that
whoever used it knows well the nature of the usefulness expected from the man
they elected.
Vatican Council I listing the beneficial
Fruits of the Council of Trent which are in every detail exactly the opposite
which we have seen from Vatican Council II
Now this redemptive providence appears very clearly in
unnumbered benefits, but most especially is it manifested in the advantages
which have been secured for the Christian world by ecumenical councils, among
which the council of Trent
requires special mention, celebrated though it was in evil days.
Thence came:
1.
a closer definition and more fruitful exposition of
the holy dogmas of religion and
2.
the condemnation and repression of errors; thence too,
3.
the restoration and vigorous strengthening of
ecclesiastical discipline,
4.
the advancement of the clergy in zeal for
· learning and
· piety,
5.
the founding of colleges for the training of the young
for the service of religion; and finally
6.
the renewal of the moral life of the Christian people
by
· a more accurate instruction of the faithful, and
· a more frequent reception of the sacraments. What
is more, thence also came
7.
a closer union of the members with the visible head,
and an increased vigour in the whole Mystical Body of Christ.
Thence came:
1.
the multiplication of religious orders and other
organisations of Christian piety; thence too
2.
that determined and constant ardour for the spreading
of Christ’s kingdom abroad in the world, even at the cost of shedding one’s
blood.
While we recall with grateful hearts, as is only
fitting, these and other outstanding gains, which the divine mercy has bestowed
on the church especially by means of the last ecumenical synod, we cannot
subdue the bitter grief that we feel at most serious evils, which have largely
arisen either because
o
the authority
of the sacred synod was held in contempt by all too many, or because
o
its wise
decrees were neglected.
First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Faith, listing some of the manifold beneficial fruits from the Council of
Trent!
Pope Pius IX professes the
Catholic Faith at the Opening of Vatican Council I
I likewise receive and accept the rites of the Catholic Church which
have been received and approved in the solemn administration of all the
aforesaid (seven) sacraments. [.....]
I resolutely assert that images of Christ and the ever virgin mother of
God, and likewise those of the other saints, are to be kept and retained, and
that due honour and reverence is to be shown them. [.....]
Likewise all other things which have been transmitted, defined and
declared by the sacred canons and the ecumenical councils, especially the
sacred Trent, I accept unhesitatingly and profess; in the same way whatever is
to the contrary, and whatever heresies have been condemned, rejected and
anathematised by the Church, I too condemn, reject and anathematise. This true
Catholic faith, outside of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess
and truly hold, is what I shall steadfastly maintain and confess, by the help
of God, in all its completeness and purity until my dying breath, and I shall
do my best to ensure that all others do the same. This is what I, the same
Pius, promise, vow and swear. So help me God and these holy gospels of God.
Profession of Faith, made by Pope Pius
IX before the bishops of the Church at the opening of the First Vatican Council
Regarding the Crime of Schism and Archbishop
Carlo Maria Viganò
There are no manifest acts of schism
with one and only one important exception which will be identified below. This means
there are no acts that are necessarily always and everywhere evidence of a
schismatic motive in the internal forum excepting one. Contrasted, for example,
with abortion and blasphemy which are acts that are manifest sins because they
can never be done with a morally right intention; the act itself reveals the
intent of the internal forum as being vicious. These are always and everywhere
necessarily mortal sins. As St. Paul says, "Some
men's sins are manifest, going before to judgment: and some men they follow
after" (1Tim 5:24). St. Paul gives specific examples of "manifest
sins": "Nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind
(sodomites), nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor
extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God" (1 Cor 6:10). What exactly
is the schismatic motive that a contentious canonical process must discover for
conviction and attribution of imputability of the crime?
The canonical definition for both heresy
and schism are taken directly almost verbatim from St. Thomas Aquinas:
"Schismatics are those who refuse to submit to the Sovereign Pontiff, and
to hold communion with those members of the Church who acknowledge his
supremacy." Schism is the repudiation of the universal jurisdiction of
Sovereign Pontiff and communion with those who accept it. It is the burden of
the canonical trial to prove the schismatic intention for all schismatics are
disobedient to the Sovereign Pontiff but not all who are disobedient to the
Sovereign Pontiff are schismatics. St. Thomas' in his examination identifies
schism as a specific species of sin.
St. Thomas says, "Hence the sin of schism is, properly speaking, a special
sin, for the reason that the schismatic
intends to sever himself from that unity which is the effect of charity:
because charity unites not only one person to another with the bond of
spiritual love, but also the whole Church in unity of spirit." The genus to which schism belongs is acts
opposed to peace which is the fruit of "that unity which is the effect of charity."
Regarding peace, St. Thomas continues: "Peace implies a twofold union...
The first is the result of one's own appetites being directed to one object;
while the other results from one's own appetite being united with the appetite
of another: and each of these unions is effected by charity." All acts
that disturb the fruit of peace are directed against the cause of peace which
is charity."
Acts of disobedience against properly
constituted authority are only acts of schism when the intention is to overturn
the peace of unity caused by charity. This intention constitutes the species difference of schism from other
acts opposed to peace, as St. Thomas says, the schismatic "intends to separate
himself from the unity that charity makes" (Q.39, a.1.) among the faithful. St.
Thomas is offering an essential
definition of schism which is the best of all definitions because it is the
most intelligible because it identifies the essence.
Schism, just as other acts opposed to peace enumerated by St. Thomas, which
include discord, contention,
war, strife and sedition, requires contextualization. Specifically for the case
of Archbishop Viganò, St. Thomas says that morality of contention, which is the opposition to
another in speech, is determined by the intention: "As to the intention,
we must consider whether he contends against the truth, and then he is to be
blamed, or against falsehood, and then he should be praised." Archbishop
Carlo Maria Viganò's "contention" against Pope Francis is the
contention of truth against falsehood and is therefore praiseworthy and not
schismatic. This is why a canonical trial is called "contentious" for
it is intended to reveal who is contending for truth.
The poles of contention are
truth-falsehood which is the same for dogmas of faith. As St. Jude admonishes:
"I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend
earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3). Schism
is the rejection of the divinely revealed truth of papal universal
jurisdiction, a dogma of faith since Vatican I. Schism is manifested by
disobedience but all disobedience is not schism. Obedience to God is
unqualified. All other acts of obedience are morally good only to the degree
that they are properly regulated by the virtue of Religion which is the primary
subsidiary virtue under Justice. Any act of obedience that violates the virtue
of Religion is a sin. The virtue of Religion above all requires that we
"give unto God the things that are God's." This first and necessary
act of obedience is to believe all that God has revealed and to keep his
commandments. Without this first necessary condition, it is impossible to keep
the greatest commandment to love God above all things and it is impossible to
have "the unity that charity makes."
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò was
administratively "excommunicated" for "schism" because the
administrative process avoided the canonical requirement to prove that his
intent was to "separate himself from the unity that charity makes" among
the faithful. They denied the right of Archbishop Viganò to defend himself in a
contentions forum
against the charge which would obviously have included discussing the heretical
acts of Pope Francis which are manifest. The ultimate purpose of the canonical
process is to determine truth and bring those who have deviated from truth back
from error. But for many the contention itself irrespective of truth or
falsehood is the manifest evidence of schism. The reason for this will become
clearer after discussing the relationship in the context of faith and charity,
and heresy and schism.
Schismatics "refuse to submit to
the Sovereign Pontiff" because they deny that the pope possesses universal
jurisdiction conferred by God for the
legitimate exercise of the papal office which produces unity and peace.
Universal jurisdiction of the pope is a divinely revealed truth that was
dogmatized at Vatican I Council. St. Thomas says:
"Heresy and schism are distinguished in
respect of those things to which each is opposed essentially and directly. For
heresy is essentially opposed to faith, while schism is essentially opposed to
the unity of ecclesiastical charity. Wherefore just as faith and charity are different virtues, although
whoever lacks faith lacks charity, so too schism and heresy are different
vices, although whoever is a heretic is also a schismatic, but not
conversely."
Since the universal jurisdiction of the
pope has become a dogma at Vatican Council I, a schismatic is now also
conversely always a heretic. Importantly, faith precedes charity. "Without
faith, it is impossible to please God" (Heb 11-6) because "whoever lacks faith lacks
charity." The keys of universal jurisdiction were promised to St.
Peter after his profession of faith which is its proximate material cause. Many
Church Fathers, such as St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom, describe an
analogical identity of the rock (petra) with divine faith, with St. Peter, with
Jesus Christ the "cornerstone," and the Church itself. The faith proceeds and is the
proximate cause of the universal jurisdiction conferred by Jesus Christ because
faith is indispensible to the bond of unity which is charity. Cardinal Henry Edward Manning wrote:
“The interpretation by the
Fathers of the words ‘On this rock; etc. is fourfold, but all four interpretations
are not more than four aspects of one and the same truth, and all are necessary
to complete its full meaning. They all implicitly or explicitly contain the
perpetual stability of Peter’s faith...:’
“In these two promises [i.e.
Lk 22:32, Mt 16:18] a divine assistance is pledged to Peter and to his
successors, and that divine assistance is promised to secure the stability and
indefectibiity of the Faith in the supreme Doctor and Head of the Church, for
the general good of the Church itself.”
Cardinal
Henry Edward Manning, “The Vatican Council and Its Definitions: A Pastoral
Letter to the Clergy”, p. 83-84, 1870
All
this is nicely summed up by St. Paul who admonishes "that you walk worthy
of the vocation in which you are called; With all humility and mildness, with
patience, supporting one another in charity. Careful to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One body and
one Spirit; as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith,
one baptism" (Eph. 4:1-5). The
primary and essential cause and sign of the unity in the Church is the faith.
The pope is only secondarily and accidentally the sign and cause of unity in
the Church. If the pope falls from the faith he is to be confronted as St. Paul
did to St. Peter when he "walked not uprightly unto the truth of the
gospel" and accommodated the Judaizers leading others into
"dissimulation" (Gal. 2:11). If the pope is a heretic he "lacks
faith (and) lacks charity". Without charity he breaks the bond of unity in
the Church and necessarily becomes schismatic. Manifest Heresy is the one and
only sin that identifies a schismatic because it manifests a schismatic intent.
Tikkun olam (Hebrew תיקון עולם, literally, 'repair of the world') is a concept in Judaism, often interpreted as aspiration to behave and act constructively and beneficially. Documented use of the term dates back to the Mishnaic period (ca. 10-220 AD), (that is, the time when the oral traditions of the Jews were committed to the written form in the Mishna, also called the Oral Torah). Since medieval times, kabbalistic literature has broadened use of the term. In the modern era, among the post-Haskalah (Jewish enlightenment, 1770-1880) movements, tikkun olam is the idea that Jews bear responsibility not only for their own moral, spiritual, and material welfare, but also for the welfare of society at large. For many contemporary pluralistic rabbis, the term refers to "Jewish social justice" or "the establishment of Godly qualities throughout the world". Wikipedia
COMMENT: Jews
repeatedly since the time of Jesus Christ are the passionate creators and
principle instigators of ideological movements conceived as necessary for the
moral and material improvement of political and social order. When one after
the other proves to be a political and social failure, it is simply dropped and
they move on to another. They recognize a ‘fall from grace’ because they
recognize the ‘world needs to be repaired.’ Since they have rejected Jesus Christ,
the incarnate Logos, the eternal Wisdom of the Father, they have rejected His
divine plan for the ‘repair of the world’ and in its place offer what Fr. Denis
Fahey, C.S.Sp. described as “Organized Naturalism” in opposition to the
Supernatural Order of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is
that whoever is not working for God is working for the Devil. There is no
middle ground. As Jesus said, “He that is not with me, is against me: and he
that gathereth not with me, scattereth” (Matthew 12:30).
Where Tikkun Olam has led in the past and is now leading in Gaza
OPINION: Stalin’s Jews
Israel News | ynetnews | Sever Plocker
Here's
a particularly forlorn historical date: More than 100 years ago, between the
19th and 20th of December 1917, in the midst of the Bolshevik revolution and
civil war, Lenin signed a decree calling for the establishment of The
All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and
Sabotage, also known as Cheka.
Within a short period of time, Cheka became the largest and cruelest
state security organization. Its organizational structure was changed every few
years, as were its names: From Cheka to GPU, later to NKVD, and later to KGB.
We cannot know with certainty the number of deaths Cheka was
responsible for in its various manifestations, but the number is surely at
least 20 million, including victims of the forced collectivization, the hunger,
large purges, expulsions, banishments, executions, and mass death at Gulags.
Whole population strata were eliminated: Independent farmers, ethnic
minorities, members of the bourgeoisie, senior officers, intellectuals,
artists, labor movement activists, "opposition members" who were
defined completely randomly, and countless members of the Communist party
itself.
In his new, highly praised book "The War of the World,"
Historian Niall Ferguson writes that no revolution in the history of mankind
devoured its children with the same unrestrained appetite as did the Soviet
revolution. In his book on the Stalinist purges, Tel Aviv University's Dr. Igal
Halfin writes that Stalinist violence was unique in that it was directed
internally.
Lenin, Stalin, and their successors could not have carried out their
deeds without wide-scale cooperation of disciplined "terror
officials," cruel interrogators, snitches, executioners, guards, judges,
perverts, and many bleeding hearts who were members of the progressive Western
Left and were deceived by the Soviet regime of horror and even provided it with
a kosher certificate.
All these things are well-known to some extent or another, even though
the former Soviet Union's archives have not yet been fully opened to the
public. But who knows about this? Within Russia itself, very few people have
been brought to justice for their crimes in the NKVD's and KGB's service. The
Russian public discourse today completely ignores the question of "How
could it have happened to us?" As opposed to Eastern European nations, the
Russians did not settle the score with their Stalinist past.
And us, the Jews? An Israeli student finishes high school without ever
hearing the name "Genrikh Yagoda," the greatest Jewish murderer of
the 20th Century, the GPU's deputy commander and the founder and commander of
the NKVD. Yagoda diligently implemented Stalin's collectivization orders and is
responsible for the deaths of at least 10 million people. His Jewish deputies
established and managed the Gulag system. After Stalin no longer viewed him
favorably, Yagoda was demoted and executed, and was replaced as chief hangman
in 1936 by Yezhov, the "bloodthirsty dwarf."
Yezhov was not Jewish but was blessed with an active Jewish wife. In
his Book "Stalin: Court of the Red Star", Jewish historian Sebag
Montefiore writes that during the darkest period of terror, when the Communist
killing machine worked in full force, Stalin was surrounded by beautiful, young
Jewish women.
Stalin's close associates and loyalists included member of the Central
Committee and Politburo Lazar Kaganovich. Montefiore characterizes him as the
"first Stalinist" and adds that those starving to death in Ukraine,
an unparalleled tragedy in the history of human kind aside from the Nazi horrors
and Mao's terror in China, did not move Kaganovich.
Many Jews sold their soul to
the devil of the Communist revolution and have blood on their hands for
eternity. We'll mention just one more: Leonid Reichman, head of the NKVD's
special department and the organization's chief interrogator, who was a
particularly cruel sadist.
In
1934, according to published statistics, 38.5 percent of those holding the most
senior posts in the Soviet security apparatuses were of Jewish origin. They
too, of course, were gradually eliminated in the next purges. In a fascinating
lecture at a Tel Aviv University convention this week, Dr. Halfin described the
waves of soviet terror as a "carnival of mass murder," "fantasy
of purges", and "essianism of evil." Turns out that Jews too, when
they become captivated by messianic ideology, can become great murderers, among
the greatest known by modern history.
The
Jews active in official communist terror apparatuses (In the Soviet Union and
abroad) and who at times led them, did not do this, obviously, as Jews, but
rather, as Stalinists, communists, and "Soviet people." Therefore, we
find it easy to ignore their origin and "play dumb": What do we have
to do with them? But let's not forget them. My own view is different. I find it
unacceptable that a person will be considered a member of the Jewish people
when he does great things, but not considered part of our people when he does
amazingly despicable things.
Even
if we deny it, we cannot escape the Jewishness of "our hangmen," who
served the Red Terror with loyalty and dedication from its establishment. After
all, others will always remind us of their origin.
“Don’t
Jews still believe in a Messias to come?” asks the credulous Christian. “And
don’t they believe in the same Biblical Heaven and Hell that we do?”
The answer to both these questions is — no. And it is an emphatic “No!”
as the subsequent Jewish testimony will verify.
Concerning the
Messias: The Jews of today reject the notion of a personal redeemer who
will be born of them and lead them to the fulfillment of the Old Testament
prophecies. The Jews believe that the whole Jewish race is to be elevated to a
position of prosperity and overlordship and that, when this happy day arrives
(the Messianic Age), they will have achieved all that is coming to them by way
of savior and salvation. In his recent book, The Messianic Idea in Israel, Jewish theologian Dr. Joseph Klausner
explains: “Thus the whole people Israel in the form of the elect of the nations
gradually became the
Messiah of the world, the redeemer of mankind.”
Concerning Heaven and
Hell: A succinct summary of Jewish teaching on “life after death” was
given in the May, 1958 issue of B’nai B’rith’s National Jewish Monthly. Under
the caption, “What Can A
Modern Jew Believe?” there appeared: “Judaism insists that ‘heaven’ must
be established on this earth. The reward of the pious is life and happiness in
this world, while the punishment of the wicked is misery on earth and premature
death … By hitching its star to the Messianic future on this earth, Israel
became the eternal people.” The article goes on: “The best Jewish minds have
always held that a physical hereafter is a detraction from mature belief.” And
the conclusion: “There is neither hell nor paradise, God merely sends out the
sun in its full strength; the wicked are consumed by its heat, while the pious
find delight and healing in its rays.”
Fr. Leonard Feeney, MICM, The Point, October 1958
“In the name
of the Gospel, and in the light of the Encyclicals of the last four Popes,
Gregory XVI, Pius IX, Leo XIII, and Pius X, I do not hesitate to affirm that
this indifference to religion which puts on the same level the religion of
divine origin and the religions invented by men in order to include them in the
same skepticism is the blasphemy which calls down chastisement on society far
more than the sins of individuals and families.”
Cardinal
Désiré Félicien François Joseph Mercier,
Archbishop of Mechelen in Belgium and Catholic scholar, 1918, The Lesson of Events, quoted by Fr.
Denis Fahey in The Kingship of Chirst and
Organized Naturalism
Infallibility is primarily
and essentially an attribute of the God's Church because it is an attribute of
God!
“Infallibility is not a quality inherent in any person, but an assistance
attached to an office [of the Church]”
Cardinal Henry Edward Manning (1808-1892)
“There is no greater enemy of the Immaculata and her Knighthood than
today’s ecumenism, which every Knight must not only fight against, but also neutralize
through diametrically opposed action and ultimately destroy.”
St. Maximilian Kolbe
COMMENT: GREAT INTERVIEW!
Archbishop Viganò clearly understands and articulates the current problems in
the Church, their causes, and the modus operandi of the apologists of evil. Now
that the enemy is stripped naked, it is much easier matter to clean his mess
up.
Archbishop Viganò says restraint on
Antichrist loosened at Vatican II
In Part 1 of an interview with
LifeSiteNews, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò discusses Leo XIV, the Antichrist,
women in Vatican leadership roles, and more.
LifeSiteNews | Sep 10, 2026 — Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has become
one of the most controversial and, for many Catholics attached to Tradition,
courageous voices in the contemporary ecclesial crisis. After serving as
Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from 2011 to 2016, Viganò definitively
entered the center of ecclesial debate in August 2018 when he published his
denunciation concerning the case of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick,
accusing Pope Francis and several members of the Curia of having ignored
information already available about the conduct of the then-prelate and calling
for Francis’ resignation.
Subsequently, his opposition to the Francis pontificate became
increasingly radical, eventually raising fundamental questions on Petrine
authority, the Second Vatican Council, and the legitimacy of the post-conciliar
ecclesial direction. In July 2024, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
declared him guilty of schism and announced his excommunication latæ sententiæ, specifically charging
him with refusing to recognize the Pontiff and the legitimacy of Vatican II.
It is precisely in light of this long and dramatic affair that his new
book, The Capital Schism: When the Pope Is the First Enemy of the Papacy,
should be read. READ: Archbishop Viganò publishes book on ‘when the pope is the
first enemy of the papacy’ Published in August, the essay represents Viganò’s
reflection on the crisis in the Church. He distinguishes between the papacy
understood as a divine institution and the person who occupies its Chair,
culminating in the thesis that the current crisis represents a profound rupture
between the Petrine office and the one who exercises it.
The book also addresses such themes as a state of necessity, resistance
to commands deemed illicit, and the eschatological dimension of the ecclesial
crisis through the biblical figure of the katéchon, “the one who restrains” the
Antichrist spirit that is already at work in the world. LifeSiteNews
interviewed Archbishop Viganò to discuss these issues and, above all, the theme
that runs throughout the entire book: what happens when the crisis no longer
concerns merely certain men of the Church or certain decisions, but the one who
sits upon the Throne of St. Peter?
LIFESITENEWS:
Your Excellency, in your new book you argue that today the first enemy of the
papacy is the Pope himself. How do you explain this paradox?
Archbishop Archbishop
Viganò: The paradox is only apparent, and it is resolved as soon as one
distinguishes what Catholic theology always distinguished: the Papacy as a
divine institution, willed by Our Lord when He said to Peter, “Tu es Petrus,”
and the individual person who at any given moment in history occupies the Chair
of Peter. The Papacy is indefectible, because it is of Christ; the person of
the Pope is a man, with his free will, who may correspond to the grace of state
or reject it. On the other hand, the Church prays for the Supreme Pontiff,
asking the Divine Majesty to preserve the Domnum
Apostolicum in Holy Religion, precisely because she knows that his
perseverance in the Faith is not automatically guaranteed by the office. If
this were not so, that is, if the Pope were exempt from the possibility of
failing in his mandate, praying for him would make no sense. When a Pontiff
uses the authority that has been conferred upon him ad ædificationem to instead demolish what that authority is called
to safeguard — doctrine, liturgy, discipline, the very monarchical and
hierarchical constitution of the Church — he places himself in contradiction
with his own munus. He is no longer
the servant of the Papacy: he becomes its first adversary, because no external
enemy could wound the Church as much as one who wounds her from within, clothed
in the garment of Peter. I have called this phenomenon a capital schism in the
proper sense of the word: a schism that begins from the caput, from the head.
Classical schism is the separation of a portion of the body from the head; here
we witness the opposite: it is the head that separates itself from the mystical
body and from the Tradition that precedes it, that rebels against what its
predecessors taught and what it would have the obligation to transmit intact.
Saint Paul says it in words that admit no reply: sed licet nos aut angelus de cœlo evangelizet vobis præterquam quod
evangelizavimus vobis, anathema sit (Gal 1:8-9). Not even an angel, not
even an Apostle, not even the Successor of the Apostle Peter may proclaim
another gospel. The Pope is the custodian of the Depositum, not its owner; and
he who, from custodian, makes himself owner, betrays the very reason for which
Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Papacy in vicarial form.
LIFESITENEWS:
You compare the current situation to the removal of the katéchon spoken of by
Saint Paul (cf. 2 Thess 2:6-8). What role does the figure of Leo XIV play in
this dramatic removal of the “restraint” on iniquity?
Archbishop Archbishop
Viganò: The Fathers and the great commentators understood the katéchon,
“the one who restrains,” as both the Christian Roman Empire and, together with
it, the authority of the Church, and eminently the authority of the Papacy,
which for centuries had opposed a barrier to the mysterium iniquitatis. That restraint began to be loosened from the
moment when the hierarchy, with the Second Vatican Council, renounced
exercising its authority in the sense willed by Christ, in order to seek
reconciliation with the world, with modern thought, with the Revolution. From
then on, those who should have restrained began to accommodate. Leo XIV fits
into this process not as an innovator, but as the one who consolidates it and
makes it presentable. Bergoglio dismantled the Papacy violently; Prevost gives
that dismantling an institutional, “orderly,” almost reassuring form. His task
— and I believe he is perfectly aware of it — is to make synodality
irreversible, that is, that “permanent revolution” which brings the Council to
its extreme consequences, and to ensure that the Catholic Church definitively
ceases to be an obstacle to the Masonic and globalist project. When the Pope is
no longer a restrainer but an accelerator, the removal of the katéchon is not a
future event: it is happening right now before our very eyes. And the Lord
warned us: tunc revelabitur ille iniquus.
I do not say this with apocalyptic relish, but with the sorrow of a Bishop
seeing the Bride of Christ handed over to her enemies by those who should
defend her.
LIFESITENEWS:
In the face of canonical sanctions, you invoke a state of necessity, just as
the Society of Saint Pius X has done for its new episcopal consecrations. How
do you respond to the many conservatives who accuse you of formal disobedience
to the Pope? Archbishop
Viganò: I respond that obedience is a virtue, not an idol. Obedience is
to be given to a legitimate command given by a legitimate authority for the
purpose for which that authority exists. When a command is contrary to the
Faith, divine law, or the good of souls, it not only does not bind, but obliges
one not to obey: obœdire oportet Deo
magis quam hominibus (Acts 5:29). This principle is not an invention of
traditionalists: it is taught by Saint Peter, it is taught by Saint Thomas, it
is taught by the perennial Magisterium, it is demonstrated in practice by the
conduct of the Saints who resisted Pontiffs when they erred, from Saint Paul
who resisted Peter in faciem, to
Saint Athanasius, to Saint Catherine of Siena. A state of necessity is not an
invention for evading the law: it is a principle of law itself, according to
which the salus animarum, which is
the supreme law, prevails over positive norms when these, applied literally,
would produce irreparable harm to souls. The Society of Saint Pius X, in
consecrating its Bishops this past July, did exactly what Archbishop Lefebvre
did in 1988, and for the same reason: Rome is not giving Tradition the bishops
it needs, and without bishops there are no priests, and without priests there
are no Sacraments. And it is significant that, in threatening the Society,
Prevost let the pretext of the Consecrations fall away in order to confess that
the real fault is the rejection of the Council. In doing so he revealed —
perhaps involuntarily — the fraud: canonical sanctions are a political
instrument, wielded against those who remain Catholic and never against those
who openly deny the Faith. To the conservatives who reproach me I say with
affection: you obey a man who asks you to disobey Our Lord, and you call this
contradiction “fidelity.” I have never intended to separate myself from
Apostolic Communion; I have asked and continue to ask Leo XIV to tell me in
what way I contradict the Depositum Fidei.
I have received no answer. Which of the two, then, is in a state of schism?
LIFESITENEWS:
In a now-distant 1999 address to the European bishops given by Cardinal Carlo
Maria Martini – pioneer of the St. Gallen Mafia and, as he liked to define
himself, not an antipope, but the “antepapa” (the one who would prepare the way
for the “new” pope) – Martini declared that the Church, in order to “update”
itself, had to urgently untie a series of knots. And he identified the first
knot as the “shortage of ordained ministers,” to be untied by abolishing
celibacy or at least making it optional. Recently, Bishop Johan Bonny in
Antwerp announced that he will ordain married men by 2028. Not to mention that
the Vatican has just appointed a new archbishop of Vienna, Josef Grünwidl, a
former member of the dissident movement “Call to Disobedience,” which has
advocated for the same abolition of clerical celibacy. Rome watches all of this
in silence and, unlike in other situations, does not threaten sanctions even
though canon law is systematically trampled upon. It almost seems that Rome is
encouraging all this. What do you think?
Archbishop Viganò:
It does not “seem” that Rome is encouraging this – Rome is encouraging this.
Rome is not a distracted spectator of a process that is escaping it; it is the
director. The method is the one tested by the conciliar Revolution:
disobedience is allowed to begin from the periphery, it is allowed to
consolidate itself as a “fait accompli,” and then the center intervenes not to
repress it but to “accompany” it, invoking synodality, listening, pastoral
needs. The Bonny Case is emblematic: a Bishop publicly announces that he will
violate the law of the Church, and no Dicastery calls him to account. The
Grünwidl case is even more eloquent, because it is not a matter of tolerating a
dissident, but of promoting him to one of the most important sees in Europe.
Someone who belonged to a movement literally called “Call to Disobedience” is
rewarded by a Pontiff who excommunicates those who ask to be able to obey the
Church of all time. But the question goes deeper than celibacy. The “shortage
of ordained ministers” is the poisoned fruit of sixty years of emptying the
Priesthood of its substance. When people ceased to believe that the priest is
the alter Christus, that he ascends
the altar to renew the Sacrifice of the Cross, celibacy ceased to make sense,
because it makes sense only as total configuration to Christ the High Priest.
Cardinal Martini knew this well: the list of his “knots” is not a list of
problems to be solved, but a program of demolition, in which each point is a
stepping stone to the next. First celibacy is abolished, then women are
admitted, then morality is rewritten, then marriage is dissolved… It is a plan,
and its executors are called by other names today but pursue the same design.
The fact that Martini called himself “antepapa” says much about the awareness
with which the St. Gallen Mafia prepared what we see today.
LIFESITENEWS:
The second knot identified by Martini concerned the role of women and the
question of women’s ordination. The bishops promoted by Leo XIV — I am thinking
of Mackinlay, Grögli, Satué, Grünwidl, and many others — have openly expressed
support for the female diaconate. The Vatican Commission on the subject
reiterated “no” to the sacramental ordination of women, but it defined this
judgment as “not definitive.” Consequently, numerous bishops today avoid
addressing the question directly, preferring to enhance women’s presence in the
governance of dioceses or to propose “inclusive” liturgical reforms. In your
view, is this strategy aimed at progressively shifting the Overton Window on
the issue of women’s ordination?
Archbishop Viganò:
It is exactly the Overton Window technique, and not even particularly
disguised. John Paul II, with his Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, did not define something new: he declared
that this doctrine belongs to the Depositum
Fidei and has been taught infallibly by the ordinary and universal
Magisterium — as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed in
its Responsum of 1995. To say today that this judgment is “not definitive”
therefore means not reopening a disciplinary question, but denying the very
infallibility of the ordinary and universal Magisterium. The female diaconate
is the lever, because the Sacrament of Orders is one in its three degrees:
admitting a woman to the diaconate means admitting that she is capable of
receiving Orders, and at that point exclusion from the priesthood would appear
to be nothing more than discrimination to be removed. It is no coincidence that
the admission of women to orders is promoted by anti-Catholic movements in the
name of gender equality, which the synodal church embraces and makes its own.
The neo-modernists know this perfectly well, and for this reason they do not
immediately ask for priestly ordination: they ask for governing roles, a
presence in the Curias, “instituted ministries,” “inclusive” liturgies. Each
step prepares the next, and each step is presented as harmless. The Bishops
appointed by Prevost were not chosen despite their positions on the female
diaconate, but precisely because of them: whoever appoints a Bishop knows his
ideas, and whoever appoints many with the same ideas is building an Episcopate
that, at the appropriate moment, will ask “from below” for what the Pope wishes
to grant “from above.” This is synodality: the staging of a play in which
actors present a demand whose answer has already been decided. To all this is
added an aspect that I consider even more serious, and about which there is a
culpable silence: the promotion of women to head Roman Dicasteries. We have two
religious sisters, Sister Simona Brambilla and Sister Tiziana Merletti,
respectively Prefect and Secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of
Consecrated Life, who now command authority over Cardinals, Bishops, Abbots and
priests; another religious sister, Sister Reffaella Petrini, President of the
Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the
Governatorate; a laywoman, Maria Montserrat Alvarado, at the head of the Dicastery
for Communication, which is coordinating and reorganizing the entire
communications system of the Holy See; and also women appointed as members and
consultants of various Dicasteries, including the Congregation for Bishops,
that is, called upon to decide on promotions to the Episcopate. Now, the power
of governance in the Church is not an administrative function that can be
attributed to just anyone by decree: by its nature it is connected to sacra potestas, which flows from the
Sacrament of Orders, because in the Church — which is a supernatural society
and not a business corporation — one governs insofar as one is configured to
Christ the King and High Priest. Separating jurisdiction from Orders, by
conferring upon those who cannot receive Orders the power to govern those who
have received them, means overturning the hierarchical constitution that Our
Lord gave to His Church. This is why I say that Bergoglio, and now Prevost, do
much more and much worse than conferring Holy Orders upon these women. An invalid
ordination would be a sacrilege, but it would remain a null act; here, instead,
the sacramental order is being dismantled piece by piece, sacra potestas is being rendered a superfluous accessory, and the
clergy are being accustomed to obeying those who have no divine title
whatsoever to command them. It is a deadly assault on the divine constitution
of the Church, that is once again being carried out in practice, without the
need to touch a single dogma.
LIFESITENEWS:
The third and fourth knots identified by Martini concerned, respectively,
sexual morality and the discipline of marriage. In his official book-length
interview with Elise Ann Allen, Leo XIV stated that people’s “attitudes” must
be “changed” before doctrine itself is changed. In your opinion, what are the
means that the neo-modernists in power intend to use to bring about this
change?
Archbishop Viganò:
That sentence deserves to be weighed, because it is a confession. “Changing
attitudes before changing doctrine” is to admit that doctrine will be changed —
just not at first. Doctrine will be changed last, when by then no one believes
in it anymore, and its formal abrogation will appear as a mere notarial act. It
is the modernist method described by Saint Pius X in Pascendi: one does not attack dogma head-on, one transforms the
mentality that sustains it, one separates faith from life, and one allows life,
thus separated, to drag faith along with it. In reality, it is not even
necessary to change the dogma: one renders it irrelevant through pastoral
practice. And this method today has its theoretical charter, which almost no
one has wanted to read for what it is. In Evangelii
Gaudium, Bergoglio set out four principles, and the first of them — “time
is greater than space” — is the key that opens all the others: “giving priority
to time means being concerned with initiating processes rather than possessing
spaces.” In other words: do not define, but initiate; do not establish a
result, but trigger a dynamic that no one will ever again be able to stop.
Space is the bounded territory; the boundary, the dogmatic definition, the
canon that says how far it is permissible to go; time is the process that
erodes that boundary without ever declaring an intention to tear it down. And
note the cunning: whoever guards a space must defend a position, and a position
can be besieged, debated, refuted; whoever initiates a process has no positions
to defend, and is therefore unassailable. Nothing can be opposed to him,
because he has not yet asserted anything. Someone will object that this is not
Hegel but Romano Guardini, whose writings Bergoglio studied extensively without
ever completing his doctoral thesis. Guardini’s polarity — the Gegensatz — is
conceived precisely against dialectical contradiction, since tensions are to be
held together and not resolved in a higher synthesis. Whether one calls it
Hegelian synthesis or an unfinished process, the result is that no truth
remains a fixed point, but becomes a mere moment in a process of becoming. And
what in Hegel was philosophy of history, and in Marx became revolutionary
praxis (praxis preceding the principle, judging it and subverting it), in the
synodal church is now simply called “pastoral ministry.” And here is the work
taking place before our eyes: Amoris Lætitia
does not abrogate the indissolubility of Marriage, it merely opens a
“process”; Fiducia Supplicans does
not declare an irregular union licit, it simply “blesses” those who are in one;
the synodal path decides nothing, and precisely for this reason it decides
everything. Doctrine is never formally touched, and precisely for this reason
there is no new doctrine that can ever be formally challenged. There is no
proposition to censure, no heresy to condemn, nothing upon which to pronounce
an anathema. The faithful are left with the intact wording of a dogma that no
longer prevails in the life of the Church. But this is precisely what the First
Vatican Council condemned with an anathema, forbidding that the dogmas proposed
by the Church should ever be attributed a meaning different from that which she
understood and understands: eodem sensu
eademque sententia. The means are those that we have seen at work for
decades. The first is language: “sin” is replaced with “fragility,”
“conversion” with “journey,” “truth” with “discernment,” “law of God” with
“ideal.” The second is pastoral practice, deliberately made ambiguous: Amoris Lætitia with its footnotes, Fiducia Supplicans with its blessings
that bless without blessing; and now Prevost’s strategy, which has not
withdrawn any of this but allows it to operate “calmly.” The third is
formation: seminaries, theological faculties, catechesis, in which for sixty
years it has been taught that Catholic morality is a historical remnant to be
overcome. The fourth is the choice of pastors: those who practice ambiguity and
error are promoted, while those who speak clearly are marginalized. And beneath
all this there is an alliance that I never hesitated to denounce: that between
the synodal church and the globalist agenda. This is not one ideology among
others, but the synthesis of all the ideologies of the right and the left,
which for two centuries have pretended to fight one another while leading men
toward the same destination; a synthesis of neo-Malthusian origin, which no
longer sees in man the image of God but an excess to be managed, and which is
therefore anti-human even before it is anti-Christian. We know its components,
and each strikes a precise aspect of the order willed by the Creator: the
dissolution of the natural family; pansexualism and gender ideology, which deny
man created masculum et feminam;
vaccinism, which makes the body the property of the State; environmentalism,
which replaces the worship of the Creator with that of the creature; mass
immigration ideology, which dissolves nations and with them Christian peoples;
and at the summit transhumanism, which promises man divinization without God,
already promised in Eden by the serpent: eritis
sicut dii. The conciliar church does not suffer this process: it
participates in it. She has renounced judging the world and accepted being
judged by it; she stopped converting it, and allowed herself to be converted by
it. This is why Martini’s third and fourth knots are not knots to be untied at
all: indissoluble marriage and sexual morality are not the historical shell of
a bygone age, but the very flesh of the Gospel, and they are the words of Our
Lord — quod ergo Deus coniunxit, homo non separet. Whoever claims — as
Pope — to change them does not reform the Church: he founds another religion,
and founds it upon the ruins of the one he received into his custody.
Remembered Ecumenical
Outrages of Benedict/Ratzinger
Pope Benedict greeting the spiritual
sons of Luther the Liar
As the Bishop of Rome, it is deeply moving for me to be meeting
representatives of Council of the Lutheran Church of Germany here in the
ancient Augustinian convent in Erfurt. This is where Luther studied theology.
This is where he was ordained a priest in 1507. Against his father’s wishes, he
did not continue the study of Law, but instead he studied theology and set off
on the path towards priesthood in the Order of Saint Augustine. On this path,
he was not simply concerned with this or that. What constantly exercised him
was the question of God, the deep passion and driving force of his whole life’s
journey. "How do I receive the grace of God?": this question struck
him in the heart and lay at the foundation of all his theological searching and
inner struggle. For him theology was no mere academic pursuit, but the struggle
for oneself, which in turn was a struggle for and with God. “How do I receive
the grace of God?" The fact that this question was the driving force of
his whole life never ceases to make an impression on me.
Pope Benedict to the Lutherans in Germany, September 22, 2011
Hermeneutics
of Continuity/Discontinuity
Tradition:
from an Objective Truth Received reduced to a Subjective Impression of
Historical Events
Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; By which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received.
St. Paul, 1 Cor. 15: 1-3
Concluding and summing up, we can therefore say that Tradition is
not the transmission of things or words, a collection of dead things. Tradition
is the living river that links us to the origins, the living river in which the
origins are ever present, the great river that leads us to the gates of
eternity.
Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, April 26, 2006
Both the Catholic and Protestant interpretation of Christianity have
meaning each in its own way; they are true in their historical moment... Truth
becomes a function of time... fidelity to yesterday’s truth consists precisely
in abandoning it, in assimilating it into today’s truth. [.....] The truth is whatever
serves progress, that is, whatever serves the logic of history.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Principles
of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology
Pope Benedict to the Jews in Germany: Maybe he never
heard of the Talmud?
I would also like to express my gratitude for the deepening dialogue between the Catholic Church and Judaism. The Church feels a great closeness to the Jewish people. With the Declaration Nostra Aetate of the Second Vatican Council, an “irrevocable commitment to pursue the path of dialogue, fraternity and friendship” was made (cf. Address in the Synagogue in Rome, 17 January 2010). This is true of the Catholic Church as a whole, in which Blessed John Paul II committed himself to this new path with particular zeal. [....]
Alongside these important initiatives, it seems to me that we Christians must also become increasingly aware of our own inner affinity with Judaism, to which you made reference. For Christians, there can be no rupture in salvation history. Salvation comes from the Jews (cf. Jn 4:22). When Jesus’ conflict with the Judaism of his time is superficially interpreted as a breach with the Old Covenant, it tends to be reduced to the idea of a liberation that mistakenly views the Torah merely as a slavish enactment of rituals and outward observances. Yet in actual fact, the Sermon on the Mount does not abolish the Mosaic Law, but reveals its hidden possibilities and allows more radical demands to emerge. It points us towards the deepest source of human action, the heart, where choices are made between what is pure and what is impure, where faith, hope and love blossom forth.
The message of hope contained in the books of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament has been appropriated and continued in different ways by Jews and Christians. “After centuries of antagonism, we now see it as our task to bring these two ways of rereading the biblical texts – the Christian way and the Jewish way – into dialogue with one another, if we are to understand God’s will and his word aright” (Jesus of Nazareth. Part Two: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, pp. 33f.). This dialogue should serve to strengthen our common hope in God in the midst of an increasingly secularized society. Without this hope, society loses its humanity.
Pope
Benedict to the Jews in Germany, September 22, 2011
“Strengthen Our
common hope in God”??? – Society lost “its humanity” after Vatican II
96% of Jewish Leaders Support Abortion
The study also found that on a variety
of issues involving sexual morality that have roiled other religious groups,
Jews are much more liberal than other Americans. Jews take a less critical view of homosexuality,
abortion, birth control and pornography than do Gentiles," the study
found. In each case, Jewish leaders are
even more tolerant than the Jewish public.
For example, 48 percent of non-Jews say homosexuality is
wrong, compared to 23 percent of Jews and 7 percent of Jewish leaders. And
while 56 percent of non-Jews support abortion
rights, 88 percent of Jews and 96 percent of Jewish leaders do.
Only 38 percent of Jews support allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools, compared to 65 percent of non-Jews; 39 percent of Jews would allow the teaching of creationism, compared with 63 percent of non-Jews; and 22 percent of Jews would support vouchers that could be used at religious schools, compared with 43 percent of non-Jews.
Pew
Charitable Trusts, examining the contemporary role of religious groups in the
United States
Hermeneutics of Continuity/Discontinuity
The novel
theory that Dogma contains "perennial truths" and contingent
accretions
My
fundamental impulse, precisely from the Council, has always been to free the
very heart of the faith from under any ossified strata, and to give this heart
strength and dynamism. This impulse is the constant in my life.
Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger, Salt of the Earth
The
steps taken by the Council towards the modern era which had rather vaguely been
presented as ‘openness to the world’ [aggiornamento], belong in short to the
perennial problem of the relationship between faith and reason that is
re-emerging in ever new forms.... The Council had to find a new definition of
the relationship between the Church and the modern age.... Here I shall cite
only John XXIII’s well-known words, which unequivocally express this
hermeneutic when he says that the Council wishes "to transmit the doctrine
pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion". And he continues: "Our duty is not only
to guard this precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity,
but to dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear to that work
which our age demands of us…" It is necessary that "adherence to all
the teaching of the Church in its entirety and preciseness…" be presented
in "faithful and perfect conformity to the authentic doctrine, which,
however, should be studied and expounded through the methods of research and
through the literary forms of modern thought. The substance of the ancient
doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is
presented is another…", retaining the same meaning and message.... It is
clear that this commitment to expressing a specific truth in a new way demands
new thinking upon it and a new relationship with it.
Pope
Benedict XVI, speech to Roman Curia on Dec 22, 2005, outlining his papal
agenda
Catholic
teaching that Dogma once defined is the irreformable formal object of Divine
and Catholic Faith
For
the doctrine of faith which God has revealed has not been proposed like a
philosophical invention, to be perfected by human ingenuity; but has been
delivered as a divine deposit to the Spouse of Christ, to be faithfully kept
and infallibly declared. Hence, also, that meaning of the sacred dogmas is
perpetually to be retained which our holy Mother the Church has once declared;
nor is that meaning ever to be departed from, under the pretence or pretext of
a deeper comprehension of them. Vatican Council I
If
anyone shall assert it to be possible that sometimes, according to the progress
of science, a sense is to be given to doctrine propounded by the Church
different from that which the Church has understood and understands; let him be
anathema.
Vatican
Council I, Canon III, on Faith and Reason
TO KNOW THE FAITH, YOU MUST KNOW THE RULE
The Rule of Faith was given to the Church in the very act of Revelation
and its promulgation by the Apostles. But for this Rule to have an actual and
permanently efficient character, it must be continually promulgated and
enforced by the living Apostolate, which must exact from all members of the
Church a docile Faith in the truths of Revelation authoritatively proposed, and
thus unite the whole body of the Church, teachers and taught, in perfect unity
of Faith. Hence the original promulgation is the remote Rule of Faith, and the
continuous promulgation by the Teaching Body, (i.e.: DOGMA) is the proximate
Rule.
Rev. Scheeben’s Manual of Catholic Theology
“O
Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words,
and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called.
Which some promising, have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee.
Amen.”
St. Paul, letter to his
disciple, Bishop St. Timothy (1 Timothy 6:20-21)
... We wish to
make our own the important words employed by the Council; those words which
define its spirit, and, in a dynamical synthesis, form the spirit of all those
who refer to it, be they within or without the Church. The word “NOVELTY”,
simple, very dear to today’s men, is much utilized; it is theirs... That
word... it was given to us as an order, as a program... It comes to us directly
from the pages of the Holy Scripture: “For, behold (says the Lord), I create
new heavens and a new earth”. St. Paul echoes these words of the prophet Isaiah
(II Corinthians 5, 17); then, the Apocalypse: “I am making everything new” (II
Corinthians 21, 5). And Jesus, our Master, was not He, himself, an innovator?
“You have heard that people were told in the past ... but now I
tell you...” (Matthew 5) – Repeated in the “Sermon on the Mount”.
It is precisely thus that the Council has come to us. Two terms
characterize it: “RENOVATION” and “REVISION”. We are particularly keen that
this “spirit of renovation” – according to the expression of the Council – be
understood and experienced by everyone. It responds to the characteristic of
our time, wholly engaged in an enormous and rapid transformation, and
generating novelties in every sector of modern life. In fact, one cannot shy
away from this spontaneous reflection: if the whole world is changing, will not
religion change as well? Between the reality of life and Christianity,
Catholicism especially, is not there reciprocal disagreement, indifference,
misunderstanding, and hostility? The former is leaping forward; the latter
would not move. How could they go along? How could Christianity claim to have,
today, any influence upon life?
And it is for this reason that the Church has undertaken some reforms,
especially after the Council. The Episcopate is about to promote the
“renovation” that corresponds to our present needs; Religious Orders are
reforming their Statutes; Catholic laity is qualified and found its role within
the life of the Church; Liturgy is proceeding with a reform in which anyone
knows the extension and importance; Christian education reviews the methods of
its pedagogy; all the canonical legislations are about to be revised. And how
many other consoling and promising novelties we shall see appearing in the
Church! They attest to Her new vitality, which shows that the Holy Spirit
animates Her continually, even in these years so crucial to religion. The
development of ecumenism, guided by Faith and Charity, itself says what
progress, almost unforeseeable, has been achieved during the course and life of
the Church. The Church looks at the future with Her heart brimming with hope,
brimming with fresh expectation in love... We can say... of the Council: It
marks the onset of a new era, of which no one can deny the new aspects that We
have indicated to you.
Pope Paul VI, General Audience of July 2, 1969
And Then, Only
Three Years Later:
Through
some cracks the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God: there is doubt,
uncertainty, problematic, anxiety, confrontation. One does not trust the Church
anymore; one trusts the first prophet that comes to talk to us from some
newspapers or some social movement, and then rush after him and ask him if he
held the formula of real life. And we fail to perceive, instead, that we are
the masters of life already. Doubt has entered our conscience, and it has
entered through windows that were supposed to be opened to the light
instead....
Even
in the Church this state of uncertainty rules. One thought that after the
Council there would come a shiny day for the history of the Church. A cloudy
day came instead, a day of tempest, gloom, quest, and uncertainty. We preach
ecumenism and drift farther and farther from the others. We attempt to dig
abysses instead of filling them.
How
has all this come about? We confide to you our thought: there has been the
intervention of a hostile power. His name is the Devil; this mysterious being
who is alluded to even in the letter of St. Peter. So many times, on the other
hand, in the Gospel, on the very lips of Christ, there recurs the mention of
this enemy of man. We believe in something supernatural (post-correction:
“preternatural”!), coming into the world precisely to disturb, to suffocate
anything of the Ecumenical Council, and to prevent that the Church would
explode into the hymn of joy for having regained full consciousness of Herself
(!!).
Pope
Paul VI, June 29, 1972
And we DO know them!
"BY THEIR FRUITS YOU WILL KNOW THEM ... A GOOD TREE CANNOT BEAR BAD FRUIT, NOR CAN A
BAD TREE BEAR GOOD FRUIT." JESUS
CHRIST, MATTHEW 7:15-18
Pope Leo XIV appoints Freemason to
Vatican committee
Umberto Longo, appointed to the
Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, appears repeatedly in Masonic
records.
LifeSiteNews | VATICAN CITY | Fri Aug 14, 2026 — Pope Leo has appointed a historian who
appears repeatedly in Masonic records to a Vatican historical committee.
On August 13, Pope Leo XIV appointed
Umberto Longo, director of the Italian Historical Institute for the Middle Ages
and professor of medieval history at Sapienza University of Rome, as a member
of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.
The appointment comes despite documentary evidence connecting him
to Freemasonry, including records from the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
and later appearances by Longo at events organized within the sphere of the
major Masonic lodge in Italy, the Grand Orient of Italy (GOI).
On February 9, 2019, for example, Longo participated in the
conference “God and People. Roman Republic. 170 years of love,” organized in
Rome by the GOI and the District College of Worshipful Masters of Lazio. The
surviving video provides visual evidence of Longo speaking at the event, opened
by Giuseppe Bramucci, a Master Mason. In particular, Longo gave a lecture
titled “The Legacy of the Roman Republic.”
The Roman Republic of 1849 was deeply influenced by the ideals of
liberty, equality, and fraternity that spread through Europe after the
Enlightenment and the French Revolution, and was founded in hatred against the
Roman Pontiff. The Republic’s leaders – including Giuseppe Mazzini – were
mostly Freemasons and shared with the Masonic tradition a vision of a moral and
civic regeneration of humanity, grounded in reason and universal brotherhood
rather than religious authority. […..]
During his lecture, Longo describes with remarkable precision the
stages of the Masonic initiation ritual: the chamber of reflection, the
divesting of metals, the inner journey. He presents them not merely as a
subject of historical study, but as a “complete representation” which he
interprets using the kind of language of someone well-versed in the Order’s
symbolism.
At the end of his lecture, Longo concludes by placing himself, Hugo
Pratt, Corto Maltese, and the audience within a single shared category: “Corto
and Ugo know well that an initiate can only be a traveler… Pratt and Corto embody
all of this, with a gentle smile, without dogmas, without claims to primacy;
they are gentlemen of fortune. And, after all, so are we.”
Even more striking is that, at the conclusion of the conference, a
man introduced as the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite took the floor to thank the speaker, referring to him verbatim as
“Brother Professor Longo.”
Pagan Gaia earth
worship officially part of Novus Ordo liturgical prayer service!
Pope asks Catholics to acknowledge 'unfaithful'
attitudes for care of creation
National Catholic Reporter | Justin McLellan | Vatican
Correspondent | September 1, 2026
Celebrating a new form of the Catholic Mass "for the care of
creation," Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to contemplate nature as well as
the ways they have shirked their responsibility to care for it.
"From contemplating creation and encountering its creator,
there arises an awareness of our particular place within God's wondrous plan,
and of the responsibility that we bear both personally and collectively for
preserving the original harmony," Leo said while celebrating Mass in the
papal gardens at Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome, on Sept. 1.
During the intimate Mass marking the church's celebration of World
Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and attended by Vatican staff, Leo
remarked that the Gospel invites believers to contemplate God's creation,
"a task that is certainly not difficult in the setting of these beautiful
gardens."
It was only the second time the pope has celebrated a Mass
"for the care of creation" using a new formulary for the Mass he
introduced into the Roman Missal last July.
Pope Leo XIV
celebrates Mass for the Care of Creation on the grounds of the Borgo Laudato
Si’ ecology center in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sept. 1, 2026. (CNS/Vatican
Media)
The Vatican's liturgy office promulgated the Latin text of the new
formulary last year. But English and Spanish translations were approved only last
month (August), making this the first year in which Catholic communities in the
United States can celebrate the new Mass during the Season of Creation — a
month long period devoted to prayer and action for the care of creation which
runs from Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, through
Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
This year's observance ends during the 800th anniversary of the
death of St. Francis: the founder of the Franciscan order, namesake of Pope
Francis and a central inspiration for the late pope's encyclical on the care of
creation, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home."
In a nod to the patron saint of ecology, Leo quoted extensively in
his homily from St. Francis' "Canticle of the Sun."
Beginning Mass amid the lush green surroundings of the papal garden
on Tuesday, Leo invited the congregation to "recognize with humility the
ways in which we have been unfaithful in safekeeping creation and caring for
the dignity of each person."
In his homily, the pope asked the faithful in the coming weeks to
"set aside a few moments to pause from the frenzy of our daily lives, in
order to savor the profound harmony of which we ourselves are a part."
"Let us place in 'silent mode' the many noises generated by
human activity, so that we may hear the melodious voice of creation, through
which God, the author of all things, speaks to us," he said.
Contemplation of nature, Leo added, "is a first step towards
an authentic ecological conversion."
"It is not yet too late, and the Season of Creation calls us
to a profound conversion," he said.
Celebrating Mass in the same spot as he did last year to inaugurate
the new formulary, the pope prayed "for the conversion of many people,
inside and outside of the church, who still do not recognize the urgency of
caring for our common home."
Leo, who has continued the church's advocacy for environmental
issues which was championed by his predecessor Francis, warned in his
encyclical Magnifica Humanitas of the far-reaching environmental consequences
of the AI revolution.
One of the prayer intentions offered during the Mass asked that the
work and research of those working in artificial intelligence "may be
increasingly oriented toward the common good, safeguarding human work and
service of fraternity and peace."
The pope's celebration came as local churches worldwide seek to
better understand and embrace the new formulary of the Mass.
Bishops' councils across Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia
with other Catholic organizations hosted a webinar in June to explain how to
celebrate the new formulary of the Mass and why it should be celebrated on the
day of prayer for creation.
"The new Mass is a significant step to enable our liturgical
celebrations of this special day, aligning our faith and deeds," said
Bishop Allwyn D'Silva, chair of the Office for Human Development at the
Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences said in a statement on the new
formulary. "Ultimately, the Eucharistic celebration of Creation Day is an
opportunity to celebrate God as Creator and renew our appreciation of the
sacred gift of creation, while inspiring us to care for it more
fervently."
Mass for care of creation ready for
US churches after Vatican finalizes translations
National Catholic Reported | Brian
Roewe | environment correspondent | August 27, 2026
The Mass for safeguarding the environment that Pope Leo XIV first
celebrated last summer is now available for Catholic churches in the U.S., just
in time for the upcoming ecumenical Season of Creation.
The Vatican's Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of
the Sacraments finalized Aug. 4 English and Spanish translations of the Mass
"for the care of creation," a new set of prayers and texts the
Vatican added to the Roman Missal in June 2025.
The completion of the translations proved providential for the
Seattle Archdiocese, which plans to use the new texts (known as a formulary) at
a Mass Sept. 2 celebrated by Archbishop Paul Etienne at St. James Cathedral to
open its celebration of the Season of Creation. The monthlong period of prayer
and actions for God's creation runs from Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for
the Care of Creation, to Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.
"The timing is ideal to be able to celebrate it when it's new
and fresh and just start a new tradition, I guess, to do this each year,"
said Corinna Laughlin, the cathedral's pastoral assistant for liturgy and
consultant for the archdiocese's liturgy office.
Pope Leo XIV
leads the Mass for the Care of Creation, in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 9,
2025. (Pool Via AP/Yara Nardi)
The Mass for creation joins 17 other "civil needs"
formularies in the Roman Missal, among others for particular needs and other
circumstances. Several touch on environment-related themes, such as times of
harvest and famine along with prayers for good weather.
Vatican officials said its development was in response to requests
for a liturgical means to celebrate the messages of Pope Francis' 2015
encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." In that papal
teaching document, Francis bemoaned the numerous ecological threats facing the
planet, including climate change and biodiversity loss, and called on
Christians to act.
"At this time it is evident that the work of creation is seriously
threatened because of the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods God has
endowed to our care," Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the divine worship
dicastery, wrote in the decree issuing the new formulary.
The first iteration of the Mass for creation was celebrated in July
2025 by Leo at the Borgo Laudato Si' ecology project in Castel Gandolfo outside
Rome. He is set to do so again on Sept. 1. But before it could be used in most
churches in the U.S., it first needed to be translated from Latin.
Along with the exemplar original Latin text, the Vatican released
working translations to assist national bishops' conferences in preparing them
for use in their native languages. The English translation was led by the
International Commission on English in the Liturgy, which includes the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops. In June, the U.S. bishops' unanimously approved
the translation, which were then sent back to Rome for final confirmation.
A similar process unfolded for the Spanish translation, which was
undertaken through a collaboration by the U.S. bishops' conference and the
Mexican Episcopal Conference.
Fr. Dustin Dought, executive director of the U.S. bishops'
Secretariat of Divine Worship, said the procedure for approving adaptations of
liturgical texts was outlined in Francis' 2017 motu proprio ("on his own
initiative") Magnum Principium. That document gave bishop conferences
responsibility for translating into local languages.
"His insight there was that the conference of bishops is
closest to the culture and language that it serves," Dought said.
The new formulary will be included in
future editions of the Catholic Lectionary for Mass. In the meantime, the U.S.
bishops' conference has posted translations for both the English and Spanish
versions of the Mass for the care of creation on its website, as well as
bulletin inserts.
Along with creation-themed prayers, the formulary suggests readings
for the Liturgy of the Word, including passages from Matthew's Gospel where
Jesus calms the sea and where he instructs his disciples to learn from the
birds in the air and flowers in the field to trust in God's providence.
Before the Mass for creation was issued, some Catholic churches
prepared ecological liturgies at various times, even at the occasion of the
first Earth Day in 1970. The practice has grown in the past decade, including
with "Green Masses," following Francis' invitation for Catholics to
join fellow Christians in marking the Season of Creation.
Tuty Gunawan
sings during a prayer service marking the summer solstice and celebrating the
beauty of creation at the motherhouse campus of the Sisters of St. Joseph of
Brentwood, N.Y., June 20, 2024. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz)
Having a Mass for the care of creation formally added to the Roman
Missal is a major step, said Jesuit Fr. James Hug, who for years has developed
liturgical resources for the Season of Creation.
"It's official, and that makes it legitimate to use," he
said, calling the prayers "lovely" and affirming the Christian
mission to care for the world God has created.
That stamp of approval from the Vatican is important, Hug added,
for many priests who may have been hesitant to use other creation-centered
liturgical resources in the past, whether ones he prepared or from groups like
the Catholic Climate Covenant or Laudato Si' Movement.
"It says that this is the concern of the whole church,"
Laughlin said. "This isn't just a thing we pray about but a really
important universal concern."
At Seattle's St. James Cathedral, the
new formulary will be used at the Mass with the archbishop as well as a weekend
Mass later in the month. Other parishes have also expressed an interest in
planning their own liturgies for creation.
Dought said his office has received many inquiries about when the
Mass for the care of creation would be available.
Preparations are already in the works in at least a half-dozen
dioceses to celebrate the Mass for the care of creation. That includes the St.
Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese, where Archbishop Bernard Hebda will be the lead
celebrant Sept. 6 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Lake St Croix
Beach, situated along the St. Croix River in Minnesota.
School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Storms, who too for decades
has developed creation prayer services, is eagerly anticipating the first use
of the new formulary in the Twin Cities region.
"Even with everything we've seen just this summer — with the
fires and the floods and the huge hurricanes and all of the rest — sometimes
there is no connection between what's going on there and
what the church teaches about care for creation," she said.
Sr. Kathleen
Storms shows tomatoes grown in a raised garden bed made by her brother with
recycled cedar planks at her apartment in West St. Paul, Minn., Aug. 17, 2022.
(CNS/The Catholic Spirit/Dave Hrbacek)
Storms hopes the new Mass for creation will lead more priests to
uplift Catholic social teaching on creation and to preach on environmental
concerns. How and when a formulary is used is mostly left to the discretion of
the pastor, who weighs it against other feast days and holy dates on the
liturgical calendar.
Catholics who have been eagerly anticipating the new formulary see
in it the potential to expand awareness of Laudato Si' and other church
teachings on creation, as well as cultivate the ecological conversion both Leo
and Francis have said is essential to spur the level of collective action
needed to address crises like climate change and deforestation.
"The liturgy does something that a lecture can't do. The
liturgy does something that a catechism can't do," Dought said.
Laughlin, the liturgical consultant in the Seattle Archdiocese,
turned to the church adage "Lex orandi, lex credendi" — how we pray
expresses what we believe.
"What we lift up at Mass really shapes our understanding of
what church teaching is, even without going to other documents. ... It tells us
this is part of what we believe. This is significant enough and substantial
enough that this is part of the Mass, which is source and summit. "So I
think planting the seeds there will make a difference, because obviously we
need to be praying about this."
COMMENT:
Freemasonry is the creation of
gnostic Jewish Cabalism. Its mystical symbology is taken from Jewish Cabalism.
Freemasonry is a secret society that reveals itself to its initiates as they
progress to greater degrees of depravity for everyone begins by choosing evil
under the appearance of good. At the apex of freemanonry, like Jewish
Cabalism, it is unadulterated Satanism.
Pope Leo has been pictured paying religious homage to the pagan goddess,
Pachamama, an Andean earth goddess, like the Greek goddess Gaia. Common in pre-Columbian Andean worship was
ritual human sacrifice. Thier ritual murder seems to have largely involved
children, like our present day abortion and the ancient worship paid to the
pagan deities Baal and Moloch in the Old Testament. Every faithful Catholic
knows that "All the gods of the gentiles are devils" and Pope Leo
knows this as well. The Novus Ordo offers the "fruit of the earth and the
work of human hands" like the ritual offering of Cain who killed his
brother Abel. He killed his brother out
of envy because God would not accept his man-made worship and, rather than
repenting, he looked for another who would accept his worship. Like freemasonry
that reveals itself in degrees, we now see the direct unification of earth
worship and the Novus Ordo service by a pope who worships the earth goddess and
honors professed enemies of Jesus Christ.
Conservative Catholics are critical of
Pope Leo just as they slowly became critical with Pope Francis but the tragedy
is that they argue as a correction against this blasphemy for a return to days
of Pope Benedict. It was Pope Benedict
who was present at, participated in, and personally endorsed the Aparecida
Document (2007) that was produced by the Fifth General Conference of Latin
American and Caribbean bishops. This document explicitly promoted the
integration of the Catholic faith with native American pre-Columbian paganism. The document claims that the
proclamation of Jesus Christ did not alienate pre-Columbian religions of
indigenous cultures but sought a synthesis between the gospel values and
existing cultural expressions. Pope Benedict in meeting with pagans
acknowledged the richness of native American rituals, symbols and spiritual
practices and advocated for their integration into Catholic worship. Pope Benedict praised the Jews, he praised
Luther and the Lutheran religion, and he praised the native American pagans.
Pope Francis and Pope Leo are doing nothing more than following his example and
the example of John Paul II who kissed the Koran, received the blessing of a
Hindu priestess, and established the syncretistic Prayer Meeting of Assisi.
Conservative Catholics are just retarded liberals who prefer style over
substance. Conservative Catholics prefer the style of Benedict's apostasy to
the crude style of Francis and Leo. They do not defend the Catholic faith. We
are witnessing as participants the punishment of God that will bring about the
restoration of the Church but we cannot forget our Lady of Fatima said,
"the good will be martyred."
We must keep the faith and recognize the face of the enemy. We do not
seek the approval of the Novus Ordites but their conversion.
On the other hand, it is certain that the Jewish Cabalistic tradition
was one of the principal mediums through which Eastern occultism, which has so
many times come to the surface in European history, has been transmitted to
modern Europe; and that many, if not all, of the recognized founders of the
eighteenth-century Illuminism, including Weishaupt, Pasqualis, and Cagliostro,
were initiated into its secrets by Jewish Cabalists or drew their inspiration and their methods from
the Jewish esoteric writings. The Jewish
apologist, Bernard Lazare, states that “there were Cabalistic Jews around the
cradle of Freemasonry, as certain rites still in existence conclusively show.”
Rev. E. Cahill, S.J., Freemasonry
and the Anti-Christian Movement, 1930
When
our Saviour conquered Satan He left him power over those who make themselves
slaves to the sensual pleasures, and thus there exists an evil force against
the Church, and it will exist to the end of time. This is a fact that we must
keep in view in order to fully understand and judge the conditions. The realm
darkness, Satan’s realm, stands opposed to the realm of Christ. Satan and his
adherents carry on the warfare against the Church of Christ, as they assaulted
Christ Himself. “As they have persecuted they will also persecute you,” so did
Christ prophecy. The Church of Christ demands the subjection of the flesh; she
preaches against luxury, pride and selfishness. She preaches chastity
submission to the commandments of God; she preaches penance to those of high
and low station in life. This angers all those who would indulge in the evil
things of this world. They cry: “Let us break her bonds asunder; and let us
cast away her yoke from us.” But as Christ foretold the persecution of His
Church, so He also foretold that the gates of hell would not prevail against
her. The Church of God will in due time conquer all her enemies, some will be
converted, while others who are obstinate will perish in the battle. In all
these battles and victories of the Church, Mary, blessed mother of her divine
Founder, co-operates with the Church through her intercession. Mary was already
spoken of in paradise as the one who would come to tread upon the head of the
serpent, the spirit of darkness. This she has done by becoming the mother of
God, by bringing forth the Redeemer. And as Jesus through Mary’s co-operation
came into this world, so He desires her cooperation in ruling the world. The
history of the contests and victories of the Church verify this throughout the
centuries.
The evil spirit
has a twofold weapon with which he assails and combats God’s Church; namely,
the godless rulers of the world and heresy. Through the godless authorities of
the world Satan has endeavored since the beginning to crush the Church; through
heresy he attempts to destroy the Church by internal dissension. Both weapons
are used together, for heresy and calumny cannot prevail without substantial
support, and heretics seek worldly power and assistance. On every page
of Church history we find recorded , the clashes planned by these evil forces,
from which the Church always came out not conquered, but a conqueror.
The history of the veneration of Mary tells us that the Blessed Virgin
Mary helped to win these victories. During the early times, when fierce battles
against the Church were raging, bishops and priests knew of no more efficacious
means to avert these dangers than to exhort the faithful to pray to the Blessed
Virgin.
Cardinal Henry Edward Manning
In such a time as this, then, it is most opportune to be reminded, that
the age of martyrs is not over yet; that it is continual; that the conflict is
endless; that not peace, but a sword, is the perpetual portion of the Church.
And for this the following pages will bear witness. The sixteenth, seventeenth,
eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries have their martyrs as great and as
glorious as the first, the second, and the third. Not Asia and Africa alone,
but Europe; not remote lands only, but France and England have been steeped
with blood sacred to Jesus. In these modem days of the nineteenth century,
which seem so unheroic and so commonplace, while we have been treading the
every-day path of life, martyrs have been continually ascending to their crown.
Hardly a year has passed but in China some servant of our Lord has been
conformed to his Master’s Passion. It is well that we
should bear this in mind, and make it familiar to our thoughts. For it
is most certain that, if we would be faithful, we must learn to be ready for
the sword. In some form it will come to us. If we would be crowned with Him, we
must also suffer with him; amid though not martyrs in deed, we must bear a
martyr’s will; for if we be not martyrs, at least in will, we should not be
even confessors in the hour of trial; and if not confessors, how Christians? It
would be a fearful scrutiny into our life if we were now to be asked, ‘what
have you ever suffered, what have you ever risked for the truth, and for our
Lord’s sake?’
It is good, then, to have the realities of martyrdom brought home to us
in our own land and day, and to see how it looks in the context of modern
society, and to put it to ourselves how we should endure in such an hour.
Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, preface to Pictures of Christian Heroism
Our Lady of LaSalette
“Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat
of the Antichrist.” “The demons of the air, together with the Antichrist, will
work great wonders on the earth and in the air, and men will become ever more
perverted. God will take care of His faithful servants and men of good will;
the Gospel will be preached everywhere, all peoples and all nations will have
knowledge of the Truth.”
Blessed Virgin Mary addressing the children at LaSalette, September 19,
1846
“When the Secret has been scorned, misunderstood ... held back for
money, one must be surprised at nothing. The Church will endure forever, our
Lord said so; but among the teaching members of the Church, what traitors, what
apostates, what mercenaries, what sectarians, who bear the imprint or the sign
of the beast with ten horns St. John speaks of in his vision on Patmos! But
this beast similar to the Lamb, who rises out of the earth, isn't it the figure
of faithless ecclesiastics? I firmly believe so. Happy those who die in God's
grace, for those who live will see sad and terrifying things. We still haven't
reached the beginning of the end.”
Melanie Calvat, visionary of LaSalette, Letter to Fr. Roubaud, January
2, 1892), quoted by Solange Hertz
"Souls who are God's friends can guess the Secret's meaning
without help, and the others won't want to because it applies to them too
closely." Melanie Calvat, to her spiritual director in 1903, quoted by
Solange Hertz
Leo XIV says we shouldn’t ‘retreat into our own
religious certainties’
Contrary to what Leo suggested, the Church has never
seen a conflict between 'religious certainties' and an 'authentic relationship
with Christ.'
LifeSiteNews
| Robert T. Morrison | August 24, 2026
— In his recent Angelus message, Leo XIV
introduced a puzzling dichotomy to call into question “religious certainties”:
"Dear
brothers and sisters, let us seek not to retreat into our own convictions and
religious certainties, but to remain open to an authentic relationship with
Christ."
According
to Leo, one must choose between our “convictions and religious certainties” on
the one hand, and an “authentic relationship with Christ” on the other.
Although it should be evident to Catholics that the Church has never seen a
conflict between religious certainties and an authentic relationship with
Christ, it is worthwhile to recall how St. Paul viewed this matter:
But
though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which
we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say
again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received,
let him be anathema. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please
men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Galatians
1:8-10)
St.
Paul’s words tell us that we must absolutely adhere to the convictions and
religious certainties handed down through the Church. Indeed, anyone telling us
that we ought to do otherwise is anathema. Moreover, St. Paul tells us that
choosing to adhere to the immutable Christian truth is the way to serve and
please God, which necessarily means that it is the way to cultivate “an
authentic relationship with Christ.”
Perhaps,
though, Leo simply misspoke or was mistranslated? Unfortunately, he continued
with an even more emphatic call to reject St. Paul’s admonition:
"At
times, when it comes to the Christian faith, we may be content with what we
have merely ‘heard,’ with common assumptions or with what has been handed down
to us, perhaps even with the best of intentions. Yet Jesus calls us to give a
personal response, to know him more closely and to allow ourselves to be shaped
by friendship with him through an ever-new encounter. This may also ask us to
follow unfamiliar paths and to make choices different from those we had
imagined. This is true both for our personal journey and for the journey of the
Church, as well as for our pastoral choices, when we may sometimes think that
it is enough simply to continue doing things as we have always done them."
It
seems that the most astounding piece of this is the notion that the Church
itself must be willing to “follow unfamiliar paths and to make choices
different from those we had imagined.” As he said, neither individual Catholics
nor the Church cannot simply “continue doing things as we have always done
them.”
As
awful as this is, at least he is being honest. As LifeSiteNews reported, Bishop
Robert Mutsaerts recently published an open letter to Leo, which respectfully
critiqued the Synod on Synodality. Bishop Mutsaerts’ criticism of the synod
includes a passage which essentially condemns what Leo said in his Angelus
message:
"Faith
does not arise because the Church first inventories what people believe and
then distills a common conviction from all those experiences. Faith is
received. Paul constantly uses words such as receive, hand down, and preserve
for this. The Church possesses Revelation not because she conceived it, but
because she received it. This means that Christianity cannot, in essence, be
democratic. Not because democracy as a form of government is bad, but because
truth does not arise by a majority vote. If tomorrow 90 percent of Catholics
were no longer to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist,
Christ would not be any less truly present. If 80 percent reject a certain
moral doctrine, that doctrine does not automatically become untrue. Truth is
not produced by consensus. That constitutes the first major area of tension
surrounding the synodal project."
All
of the pre-Vatican II saints would surely agree with Bishop Mutsaerts on this,
and indeed many of them chose martyrdom because they were convinced that this
was necessarily true. But, as Leo has affirmed, the Synodal Church sees matters
differently.
All
of this also ties to the Vatican’s condemnation of the Society of St. Pius X
(SSPX). Before the SSPX proceeded with the consecrations of four bishops
without Rome’s approval, Leo explained that the Vatican’s real conflict with
the SSPX was about religious convictions rather than permission to consecrate
bishops:
"Certainly,
division among Christians is always a painful matter. But they refuse to accept
certain fundamental elements of the Church, beginning with various points of
the Second Vatican Council. And if they make those choices, I am sorry. But we
must move forward."
As
discussed in a previous article, Leo XIV rejects many of the portions of
Vatican II that simply reaffirm Church teaching – so we cannot take his words
at face value without concluding that he and his Vatican are guilty of the
charges he levels at the SSPX. That said, the overall sentiment is entirely
consistent with what Leo said in his recent Angelus: the Synodal Church wants
to move forward, so it cannot accompany those like the SSPX and other
Traditional Catholics who want to follow what St. Paul said.
So
while Leo’s dichotomy is a false one that can lead souls to hell, there is a
true dichotomy presented to us today. Do we accept the ideas of Leo or the
ideas that the Church has always taught? With points 80 to 83 of its Profession
of Catholic Faith (June 24, 2026), the SSPX reiterated the Church’s teaching on
this all-important matter:
80.
I believe that the Roman Pontiff enjoys infallibility when he speaks ex
cathedra, that is, when, fulfilling his office as pastor and doctor of all
Christians, he defines, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, that a
doctrine concerning faith or morals is to be held by the universal Church.
81.
I further profess that the power of the Magisterium in the Church is
essentially ordered to the safeguarding of the revealed Deposit and, through
this means, to the salvation of souls. The Holy Ghost was not promised to the
successors of Peter so that they might manifest new doctrine, but so that they
might guard holily and expound faithfully the Deposit transmitted by the
Apostles.
82.
This is why the present Magisterium cannot substantially contradict the prior
Magisterium. The living Magisterium is not current preaching set in opposition
to past preaching; it is the continual and uninterrupted preaching of the same
truth of Faith with the same meaning throughout the centuries. The Pope and the
bishops are not the masters of Revelation; they are its guardians and are
subject to it as a disciple is subject to his master. They can neither change
the Faith, nor modify the divine constitution of the Church, nor declare good
what is contrary to the law of God.
83.
I therefore reject every evolutionist conception of dogma, according to which
revealed truths would change their meaning over the course of history. There
can be within the Church a homogeneous progress in understanding, which
perceives better, in a more distinct and explicit manner, the meaning of
revealed truth, but never a mutation in the meaning of that truth. What has
already been taught by the living Magisterium of the Teaching Church, and
believed in the profession of Faith of the Church Taught, cannot become false;
what has been condemned as contrary to the Faith cannot become legitimate; what
belongs to the divine constitution of the Church cannot be remodelled according
to the categories of the modern world or the historico-cultural context.
Whether
or not one agrees with the SSPX, Catholics really ought to ponder whether they
agree with this clear statement of what the Church has always taught. If so,
then they are in conflict with Leo and his Vatican. If not, they are in
conflict with St. Paul and the constant teaching of the Church prior to Vatican
II. In His loving Providence, God is permitting it to become increasingly clear
that we cannot pretend to serve two masters – we can follow Catholic teaching
or the teaching of today’s Vatican, but not both.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
COMMENT: Salvation is only possible for
those who are united to Jesus Christ. Unity with Jesus is effected by the
sacramental grace received in baptism conferred on a person who professes the
Catholic faith. The
Catholic faith is believing what God has revealed on the authority of God the
Revealer, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, in Whom there is no shadow
of change or alteration. What God has revealed are, in fact, “religious
certainties.” Whosoever does not received God’s revelation as a “religious
certainty” does not have the Catholic faith, without which it is impossible
please God. The grace that unites us with God is charity. Charity does
not exist in a person who does not have the Catholic faith. The is why, as St.
Thomas said, "all heretics are schismatics." Pope Leo is purposing
that Catholics deny the “religious certainties” that God has revealed in order
to have an “authentic relationship with Christ” by charity. What Leo proposes
makes impossible any relationship of friendship to Christ and therefore, any
possibility of salvation. It is a grave sin for any cleric to fail in his duty
to work for the salvation of others. It is a more serious sin when through his
example he drives others away from salvation. What can we say about the cleric
who actively works for the damnation of others while hypocritically pretending
to draw them to God? And how must this grave sin be magnified when the cleric
is the pope?
But
What Is a “State of Necessity”? What About the Econe Consecrations?
Roberto
de Mattei | August 3, 2026
I wish to dwell on a concept that
is frequently invoked in an ambiguous and contradictory manner — above all to justify
the episcopal consecrations that took place at Écône on July 1, 2026: the
“state of necessity.”
A fundamental point must be
clarified at the outset: one must not confuse the term “state of necessity”
with the grave crisis the Church is passing through today. This crisis is an
undeniable historical and sociological datum. Some trace its origins to Pope
Francis, others to the post-conciliar period, others still to the Second
Vatican Council itself. These historical references contain a measure of truth,
but the phenomenon is broader and more remote in time. Already Saint Pius X, in
the prophetic encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis of September 8, 1907,
diagnosed the existence of the gravest evils penetrating the Church through
Modernism. Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, in his now-classic work Revolution
and Counter-Revolution, published in 1959, situated this crisis within the
framework of a centuries-long process begun with the dissolution of medieval
Christendom. Romano Amerio, in his Iota Unum: A Study of Changes in the
Catholic Church in the Twentieth Century, published in 1985, offered a broad
and penetrating diagnosis of the ills of the Church of his time. That same
year, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith, published The Ratzinger Report together with Vittorio
Messori, sounding the alarm about the state of contemporary Catholicism. Having
become Pope under the name of Benedict XVI, he devoted his final year of
pontificate precisely to the crisis of faith. Since then the situation has deteriorated dramatically,
and only someone who is spiritually or intellectually blind could deny the
evidence of this crisis.
The historical fact of a gravissimo crisis in the
Church does not coincide, however, with the juridical and moral category of the
“state of necessity.” These are two distinct notions that must not be confused.
The state of necessity presupposes an exceptional situation, but is not
identical with it. It is an institution of moral theology and law, developed to
govern extraordinary situations in which the ordinary observance of the law
appears to conflict with the good that the law itself intends to protect. The ecclesial crisis may
certainly constitute the context within which the problem of the state of
necessity arises, but between the historical situation and the moral and
juridical judgment there exists a further step, one requiring prudence and a
rigorous evaluation of the facts.
Moral doctrine defines the state of
necessity as the condition in which a person, in order to avoid a grave,
imminent, and unavoidable evil, performs an act that, under ordinary
circumstances, would be illicit or forbidden. In other words, it concerns not
so much the external situation in itself as the prudential judgment of one who
must act in the face of that situation. For this reason, the state of necessity arises from the
encounter between an exceptional situation and the personal responsibility of
whoever must decide how to act. The crisis may be objective; the state
of necessity, by contrast, concerns the subjective assessment of the concrete
action to be taken in that crisis.
The Code of Canon Law of 1983 expressly governs this
matter in canons 1323 and 1324. Canon 1323 establishes that no penalty attaches
to one who has violated a law when “compelled by grave fear, even if only
relatively grave, or by necessity or grave inconvenience, unless, however, the
act is intrinsically evil or tends to the harm of souls.” The norm does not
create an arbitrary derogation from the law, but acknowledges that exceptional
circumstances may arise in which juridical responsibility is extinguished or
diminished.
A first characteristic of the state
of necessity is its essentially exceptional and provisional character. It arises
to respond to a concrete and temporally delimited situation. It cannot be
transformed into a permanent condition, nor constitute an ordinary regime of
government or ecclesial life. If the necessity were to become permanent, it
would cease to be a genuine “exception” and would end by emptying the ordinary
discipline of the Church of its very meaning.
A historical crisis may extend over
decades; the state of necessity, by contrast, concerns specific acts, performed
in precise circumstances, in order to confront a concrete and immediate danger.
The crisis constitutes the
context; the state of necessity is the prudential judgment which can, in
rigorously delimited cases, justify or excuse a particular course of conduct.
There is, finally, an inviolable
limit upon which both moral theology and canon law insist. The state of
necessity can never justify an intrinsically evil act. The principle formulated
by Saint Paul and constantly reaffirmed by the Magisterium of the Church
applies here: evil may never be done so that good may come of it — non sunt
facienda mala ut veniant bona (Rom 3:8). Certain acts, by reason of their
very moral object, remain always illicit, regardless of circumstances and
historical context.
It is precisely on this point that
the theological and canonical debate is focused. The act performed on the basis
of the state of necessity cannot contradict principles of divine law or norms
that, by their nature, admit of no derogation. Now, episcopal consecrations performed without a mandate
and against the will of the Pope have, as their objective end, the creation of
a reality independent of the Roman Pontiff and of the bishops in communion with
him. But this is intrinsically illicit, whatever historical circumstances may
be adduced to justify the gesture.
The true problem, therefore, does
not consist in establishing whether or not a crisis exists in the Church —
whose existence is evident to all. The decisive question is another: whether,
in the presence of a crisis however grave, it is morally and juridically licit
to perform an act that constitutes a violation of the hierarchical constitution
of the Church, as divinely instituted by Jesus Christ — an act that in effect
refuses the primacy of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff and introduces a practice
that finds no precedent in the two-thousand-year tradition of the Church.
If all of this is not clear, the
“state of necessity” risks being nothing more than a state of confusion.
COMMENT:
Roberto
de Mattei, an eminent Catholic historian, said on July 18, “It is the duty of
every Christian to maintain coherence between words and deeds.” He was
referring to the SSPX who “publicly proclaims respect for and obedience to the
Roman Pontiff and then, in fact, publicly defies him before the entire
Christian people” by consecrating four bishops on July 1 without a papal
mandate and in direct opposition to his will. In this editorial Mattei
correctly distinguishes between the objective crisis in the Church, which he
fails to properly identify, and the subjective judgment in the internal forum
as to what to do about it. Since he does not understand the nature of the
crisis, he does not have a clue about what to do about it.
Mattei published article, Ultramontanists:
Godfathers of the Trad Movement July 28, 2022. In this article he
explicitly affirms and defends the claim that the pope is above Catholic dogma. What Mattei does not recognize is that he is
defending the Neo-modernist heresy that is the proximate cause of the crisis in
the Church. So Mattei, a honest heretic, “maintains coherence between words and
deeds” by directly implying that disobedience to the pope is an intrinsically
evil act. For Mattei, who makes the pope his proximate rule of faith, the pope
can never be a heretic because heresy is anything that disagrees with what the
pope says or does.
This
is not true. Dogma is the proximate rule of faith for every Catholic and that
includes the pope. The pope is only the necessary material and instrumental
cause of dogma. It is God who is the formal and final cause of dogma. Once a
doctrine of revealed truth is dogmatically defined, it becomes a formal object
of divine and catholic faith for all the faithful. The very definition of heresy, both moral and
legal, is the denial of dogma. Furthermore, outside of a formal public rejection of the
universal jurisdiction of the pope, there is one and only one act that is
necessarily schismatic and that is manifest heresy. St. Thomas says that
“All heretics are schismatics” and, if Mattei would learn that dogma is the
proximate rule of faith, he would recognize that Vatican II and the
post-counciliar popes have without exception committed formal acts of heresy. What “finds no precedent in the
two-thousand-year tradition of the Church” are openly heretical popes who
actively work as neo-iconoclasts to destroy every immemorial image of our
faith.
It
is God’s Church. It is God who endowed His Church with divine attributes of
Authority, Infallibility and Indefectibility. These are attributes of the
Church and not personal attributes of the pope and those that claim otherwise
are divinizing the pope and are guilty of idolatry, a grave sin. The pope alone
can access these attributes under specific conditions for specific ends.
However, the universal jurisdiction of the pope cannot be legitimately employed
to corrupt worship, corrupt doctrine, and corrupt Catholic morality.
Furthermore,
every Catholic faithful has an obligation, a grave duty from God to profess the
Catholic faith, to keep God’s moral law, and to worship God according to His
prescriptions according the “received and approved” rites of the Church.
It
is unfortunate for all the Catholic faithful that the SSPX has failed to
correctly identify the Neo-modernist heresy and, consequently, failed to
articulate the proper justification for the “state of necessity,” but
nevertheless, we “maintain coherence between words and deeds” in defense of the
Catholic faith both in the internal and external forum. That is why for nearly
25 years the local ordinaries in Harrisburg and the Vatican officials have
failed to answer any of our claims. Remember, without faith, there is no
charity and the greatest evidence of charity is the virtue of justice which
underpins charity. The first obligation of justice is to “render to God the
things that are God’s.” There is no virtue of justice in the Novus Ordo
religion. Our prayer is that some day conservative Catholics like Mattei will
learn that they must obey God rather than man. The virtue of justice does not
permit any Catholic to subject what is of God in himself to what is of man in
other men, and that includes the pope.
John Cardinal Newman, another Novus Ordo
"saint" and now a "Doctor" of the Novus Ordo Church,
comments following the dogmatic declaration of papal infallibility.
“But we must hope, for one is obliged to hope it, that the Pope (Pius
IX) will be driven from Rome, and will not continue the Council (Vatican I), or
that there will be another Pope. It is sad he should force us to such wishes.”
John H. Newman, Letter to his companion, Fr. Ambrose St. John, 22
August, 1870
“We have come to a climax of tyranny. It is not good for a Pope to live
20 years. It is anomaly and bears no good fruit; he becomes a god, has no one
to contradict him, does not know facts, and does cruel things without meaning
it.”
John H. Newman, The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, v. XXVI
by Charles Stephen Dessain
"This (Divine) law, as apprehended in the minds of individual men,
is called "conscience;" and though it may suffer refraction in
passing into the intellectual medium of each, it is not therefore so affected
as to lose its character of being the Divine Law, but still has, as such, the
prerogative of commanding obedience."
John Henry Cardinal Newman
It seems, then, that there are extreme cases in which Conscience may
come into collision with the word of a Pope, and is to be followed in spite of
that word.
John Henry Cardinal Newman
COMMENT: "This shameful font of
indifferentism gives rise to that absurd and erroneous proposition which claims
that liberty of conscience must be maintained for everyone." Pope Gregory
XVI
Conscience is not the Divine Law. St. Thomas says that,
"Conscience is nothing else than the application of knowledge to some
action." He is referring to the knowledge of the Law of God. The Law of
God, whether the eternal law or the positive revealed law of God, is the
objective criteria by which the conscience is obligated to use as the standard
by which any judgment regarding the moral goodness or evil of any particular
act is made.All men are obligated to obey their conscience because they are
obligated to apprehend the objective Divine Law as the proper criteria. They
are not free to invent their personal subjective criteria in determining what
is the right or the wrong thing to do. Liberalism claims the exact opposite. It
is a fundamental axiom of liberalism that the conscience is free to establish
its own moral criteria. This has been condemned by popes Gregory XVI, Pius IX
and St. Pius X. John Henry Cardinal Newman can be identified with the
"Spirit of Vatican II" which, like Newman, proposes the liberty of
conscience against the Magisterium of the Church which is the word of God.
No One, not even the Pope in Rome, has
the authority to impose any act or suspend any immemorial tradition that leads
to the diminution of Faith or the committing of sacrilege to the Blessed
Sacrament. No One, not even the Pope in Rome, has the authority to command that
any Catholic participate in such acts!
Fr.
Janis Pawlowski I knew personally, he was my parish priest in Estonia during
four years. It was he who heard my first confession and who gave me the First Holy
Communion. He celebrated the Holy Mass with such a devotion and reverence that
it left in my soul a deep unforgettable impression. All his words and his
gestures irradiated holiness. When I for the first time felt in my soul the
attraction to the priesthood at the age of twelve, in my memory appeared
suddenly the holy face of this priest. He was really a man of God. I received
the great grace that I could meet him in Riga (Latvia) after I have not seen
him during 27 years. He was already 86 years old, yet he conserved the same
fresh and spiritually irradiating face. The three days I spent with him, were
for me a kind of spiritual exercises. He helped me to put on the liturgical
vestments and served me during my Mass with the simplicity and humility of a
little altar boy.[....] When in 1973 my family left Soviet Union and we said
goodbye to Fr. Janis
Pawlowski, he gave us this admonition: “When you come to Germany, please don’t
go in the churches where Holy Communion is given in the hand”. When we
heard these words, we all had a deep shock; we could not imagine that the
Divine and Most Blessed Sacrament could be received in such a banal manner. It is now a proven fact that a
considerable part of those who receive the Holy Communion habitually in hand,
especially the younger generation which had not known the manner of receiving
Communion kneeling and on the tongue, has not more the full Catholic faith in
the Real Presence, because they treat the consecrated host almost in the
same exterior manner as they take ordinary food. The exterior minimalistic
gesture has a causal connection to the weakening or even loss of the faith in
the Real Presence.[.....] It is an honor and a privilege
to be faithful to the Divine Truth and to the spiritual and liturgical traditions
of our forefathers and of the saints and being therefore marginalized by those
who currently occupy administrative power in the Church. This your fidelity and
courage constitute the real power in the Church. You are the real
ecclesiastical periphery, which with God’s power renews the Church. Living the
true tradition of dogma, liturgy and holiness is a manifestation of the
democracy of the Saints, because tradition is the democracy of the Saints. With
Saint Athanasius I would like to tell you these words: Those in the Church who
oppose, humiliate and marginalize you, have occupied the churches, while during
this time you are outside; it is a fact that they have the premises – but you
have the Apostolic Faith. They claim that they represent the Church, but in
reality, they are the ones who are expelling themselves from it and going
astray.
Archbishop
Athanasius Schneider, excerpt from recent interview published August 10, 2015
COMMENT: Those
who accuse Ss. Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Mission of being "schismatic"
because we keep the Apostolic Faith and the Immemorial Traditions of the Roman
Catholic Church (and are thus united to the "Communion of Saints"
existing from Jesus Christ's founding of His Church), have declared themselves
in schism from us and everything we believe and do. They have cut themselves off by breaking the
bond of Charity from the Communion of Saints.
We appreciated Mons. Schneider's comments but he falls short in his
understanding of the nature of the problem and its most important cause. Archbishop Athanasius Schneider
identifies "five wounds in Christ's liturgical mystical body" that
must necessarily be healed without which the Church cannot hand on the True
Faith. This is an admission that the
Novus Ordo is not the indefectible Church founded by Jesus Christ. The five wounds are: 1) The priest turned
towards the congregation and away from God; 2) Holy Communion taken in the hand
which has seriously damaged faith in the True Presence; 3) the new (Novus Ordo)
Offertory prayers which are the worship offered by Cain, ; 4) the disappearance
of Latin in liturgical celebrations; and 5) the performing of some liturgical
ministries by women. Mons. Schneider
believes that the answer lies in the Reform of the Reform. This is because he has overlooked the
greatest "liturgical wound" which is the total disregard of the dogma
of Faith from Trent which categorically condemns anyone who holds that the
"received and approved rites customarily used in the solemn administration
of the sacraments..... may be changed into other new rites by any pastor of the
Churches whomsoever." They have
thus corrupted the liturgy by treating it as a matter of mere Church discipline
subject to the free and independent will of the legislator. They have taken the work of God and made it
the work of man. When divinely revealed
Truth is overturned the results will always and everywhere end in radical
revolutionary corruption of God's Truth.
What the Novus Ordo has excluded from its Psalter - Lex Orandi,
Lex Credendi, a Profession of False Faith, or is it just an example of the old
proverb: 'In the house of the hanged, don't talk about the rope!'
At the Sacra Liturgia conference in New York City in June 2015, one of the speakers reminded us of a startling fact that, while well known among scholars, has received far too little attention in the public sphere: the flagrant omission of so many psalms and psalm verses from the Divine Office or “Liturgy of the Hours” promulgated by Pope Paul VI in the Apostolic Constitution Laudis Canticum on November 1, 1970. In addition to the unprecedented novelty of praying the Psalter over four weeks rather than in the course of a single week, there was the equally unprecedented novelty of skipping verses that had been deemed “difficult” or problematic for modern Christians.
Three Psalms (57/58, 82/83, and 108/109) were expunged in their entirety from the pages of the Liturgy of the Hours (have a look at them some time), while three others (77/78, 104/105, 105/106) were confined to Advent, Christmastide, Lent, and Eastertide. The following verses were removed from other psalms:
Psalm 5 – 10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.
Psalm 20/21 – 8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. 9 You will make them like a fiery furnace when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. 10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth, and their children from among humankind. 11 If they plan evil against you, if they devise mischief, they will not succeed. 12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.
Psalm 27/28 – 4 Repay them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds; repay them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. 5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD, or the work of his hands, he will break them down and build them up no more.
Psalm 30/31 – 17 Do not let me be put to shame, O LORD, for I call on you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go dumbfounded to Sheol. 18 Let the lying lips be stilled that speak insolently against the righteous with pride and contempt.
Psalm 34/35 – 3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers. 4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life. Let them be turned back and confounded who devise evil against me. 5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them on. 6 Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them. 7 For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life. 8 Let ruin come on them unawares. And let the net that they hid ensnare them; let them fall in it to their ruin. … 20 For they do not speak peace, but they conceive deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. 21 They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it.” … 24 Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, according to your righteousness, and do not let them rejoice over me. 25 Do not let them say to themselves, “Aha, we have our heart’s desire.” Do not let them say, “We have swallowed you up.” 26 Let all those who rejoice at my calamity be put to shame and confusion; let those who exalt themselves against me be clothed with shame and dishonor.
Psalm 39/40 – 14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt. 15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
Psalm 53/54:5 – He will repay my enemies for their evil. In your faithfulness, put an end to them.
Psalm 54/55:15 – Let death come upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol; for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.
Psalm 55/56:6b-7 – As they hoped to have my life, 7 so repay them for their crime; in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
Psalm 58/59 – 5 You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel. Awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah 6 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. 7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths, with sharp words on their lips—for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?” 8 But you laugh at them, O LORD; you hold all the nations in derision. … 11 Do not kill them, or my people may forget; make them totter by your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield. 12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter, 13 consume them in wrath; consume them until they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. Selah 14 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. 15 They roam about for food, and growl if they do not get their fill.
Psalm 62/63 – 9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; 10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals. 11 But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
Psalm 68/69 – 22 Let their table be a trap for them, a snare for their allies. 23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. 24 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. 25 May their camp be a desolation; let no one live in their tents. 26 For they persecute those whom you have struck down, and those whom you have wounded, they attack still more. 27 Add guilt to their guilt; may they have no acquittal from you. 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
Psalm 78/79 – 6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name. 7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. … 12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!
Psalm 109/110:6 – He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
Psalm 136/137 – 7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!” 8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! 9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!
Psalm 138/139 – 19 O that you would kill the wicked, O God, and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—20 those who speak of you maliciously, and lift themselves up against you for evil! 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.
Psalm 139/140 – 9 Those who surround me lift up their heads; let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! 10 Let burning coals fall on them! Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise! 11 Do not let the slanderer be established in the land; let evil speedily hunt down the violent!
Psalm 140/141:10 – Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I alone escape.
Psalm 142/143:12 – In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
For
2,000 years, Christians Eastern and Western had been praying the psalter of
David in its integrity, and now, Catholics
were handed an expurgated or abridged version, with verses removed by “experts”
who knew better than the Holy Spirit, knew better than the Israelites, knew
better than the Church Fathers and Doctors, knew better than Tradition. But
of course they knew better: this was the Age of Enlightenment breaking
in at last upon a fortress-like Church, an age in which we should shake
ourselves free from the shackles of unenlightened piety, with its gnarled,
enigmatic, sharp-edged, implacable expressions, and its archaic, earthy, tribal
atmosphere. Razing the bastions, making the world safe for democracy, and all
that good stuff.
This observation dovetailed with
another talk given at the Sacra Liturgia conference about the reform of the
lectionary, in which the speaker looked at how
the Novus Ordo lectionary for Mass also suppresses “difficult” verses
from both Testaments—verses that had always been present in the
traditional Roman lectionary but were excluded from the new lectionary,
in spite of its boast of being so much bigger and better. These “difficult”
verses include among them this spiritually poignant passage from St. Paul:
Therefore
whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily,
shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove
himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself,
not discerning the body of the Lord. (1Co 11:27-29)
Hermeneutics
of Continuity/Discontinuity
The woman saith to him: Sir, I perceive
that thou art a prophet. Our fathers adored on this mountain, and you say, that
at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore. Jesus saith to her: Woman,
believe me, that the hour cometh, when you shall neither on this mountain, nor
in Jerusalem, adore the Father. You adore that which you know not: we adore
that which we know; for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For
the Father also seeketh such to adore him. God is a spirit; and they that adore
him, must adore him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:19-24
Novus
Ordo Doctrine: Moslems and Novus Ordo Catholics Worship the same God!
CCC
841, quoting the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium 16, from Vatican II, declared:
"The
plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first
place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham,
and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind
CCC
841 also references Vatican IIDeclaration on the Relation of the Church to
Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate,
3, that makes the teaching of the Council perhaps even clearer:
"The
Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and
subsisting in Himself; merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and
earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even
his inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes
pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God."
Catholic Church
Doctrine: Catholics and Moslems DO NOT worship the same God.
that is, you do not adore God because you do not
know Him, but rather your imagination, by which you apprehend something as God,
just as the Gentiles also walk in the foolishness of their mind (Eph 4:17).St.
Thomas Aquinas, Commentary On John 4:22
in this respect forming no higher opinion of Him
than of their idols. Wherefore they continued to serve both Him and devils,
joining things which ought not to be joined. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 33
On The Gospel of John
COMMENT:
When
Jesus said to the Samaritan Woman, "You adore that which you know
not," He is not saying that they adore the One True God that they are ignorant
of. He is saying, that in their ignorance they do not know who they are adoring
meaning that they are adoring in ignorance a devil, for "all the gods of
the gentiles are devils" (Psalm 95:5). Jesus then says, that "true
adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth..... they that adore him,
must adore him in spirit and in truth." To adore in "spirit"
means that to adore God you must be baptized and made sons of God for as Jesus
said: "Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and
the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God That which is born of
the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit"
(John 3:5-7). And to adore in "truth" means who must believe what has
been revealed by God. Without the true faith it is "impossible to please
God" (Hebrews 11:6). As such, right knowledge of God is essential to true
worship. This is the great sin of Modernism and Neo-modernism: They make a
right knowledge of God impossible!
Sacrament of Baptism: Significance of the Baptismal Character and why it is absolutely necessary for salvation. Explains why St. Ambrose said, regarding catechumens who die before receiving the sacrament of Baptism, they are
To be baptized is to become one with the Church, and one with Christ.
Thus the ritual can say:
The effecting this incorporation into Christ, Baptism marks the soul as
permanently His; it stamps upon the soul a spiritual For this reason, and
putting the cause for the effect, the rite of Baptism was itself called
The word
Basically, two words give the same meaning: a seal imprints an image,
and an anathema.
The Council of Trent teaches that this seal, once stamped on the soul,
is indelible. Just as Baptism irrevocable makes one a member of the Church, so
also it irrevocably makes one a member of Christ. Not the gravest sin, nor even
final impenitence and self-condemnation to eternal separation from Christ in
Hell, can avail to erase this baptismal seal. And the indelibility of the seal
is the immediate reason why Baptism can never be repeated, once it has been
validly received.
The sense in which Baptism stamps us with the image of Christ is
suggested in the rite itself, by the anointing which follows the ablution. It
is done with Sacred Chrism, a mixed unguent of oil and balm, specially
consecrated by the bishop on Holy Thursday. Kings and priests in antiquity (and
even today) were anointed with chrism in token of their royal and priestly
dignity. And the baptism anointing signifies, therefore, that the new Christian
has entered into the Body of Christ.
The baptismal seal or character, therefore, endows the Christian with a
priestly function, and a priestly power. It is not that special power and
function given by the Sacrament of Holy Orders to certain selected members of
the Church, who are made her official ministers, and authorized to offer her
sacrifice and dispense her Sacraments. But it is the priestly function and
power which is common to all the members of the Body of Christ. As He was born
as Priest, His whole life orientated toward the Passion and Death which was His
priestly Sacrifice, so too, they are priests from their birth into the
Christian life at Baptism; and their lives are essentially orientated toward
sacrifice, in a double sense.
First of all, they receive a function and a power with respect to the
ritual Sacrifice of the Church, which is the Mass.
Secondly, the baptismal character consecrates the Christian to
sacrifice in a wider sense: it gives him the function, the duty, the power to
lead a life of sacrifice, since He is in the image of Christ whose life was one
long sacrifice
Rev. John J. Fernan, S.J.,
Theology, Christ Our High Priest, Baptismal Seal
Excommunication decreed for Lefebvrite episcopal
ordinations
A document signed by Cardinal V
Vatican News
The bishops of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard FellaySivry, and Marc Hanappier have incurred
sententiae
This
was stated in a decree released on July 2 and signed by Cardinal V
The
decision came twenty-four hours after the solemn ceremony celebrated in ,
Switzerland, on the morning of July 1, 2026.
The
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
The
painful epilogue was the consequence of the decision taken by the Lefebvrites
against the will repeatedly expressed by Pope Leo XIV.
The
excommunication newly separates the bishops and priests of the Fraternity of
Saint Pius X from the Church of Rome.
As
for the lay faithful, those who formally adhere to the Fraternity are to be considered
excommunicated.
Further
details are contained in an
From
the time of Saint Paul VI up to the most recent talks, held recently at this
Dicastery, the many attempts to bring the members of the movement begun by
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre back into full communion with the Catholic Church
have proved vain.
This
situation has been further aggravated by the recent episcopal consecrations
celebrated without pontifical mandate, against the will of the Holy Father, and
in open violation of canon law.
Therefore,
this Dicastery, in the faithful exercise of the functions entrusted to it,
considers it necessary to state that this act constituted the delict of schism,
with the canonical consequences for the sacred ministers and lay faithful
involved. Indeed, as was already declared in 1988,
In
this regard, from now on:
1.
The sacred
ministers belonging to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X are in schism
and must therefore be considered schismatics (cf. Ecclesia Dei, 5 c; Pontifical
Council for Legislative Texts, Explanatory Note on the excommunication for
schism incurred by those adhering to the movement of Bishop Marcel Lefebvre,
24.08.1996, 5-6), and are subject to the excommunication prescribed by law
(can. 1364
2.
As regards
the lay faithful, those who formally adhere to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint
Pius X are to be considered schismatics and excommunicated under the conditions
established in the 1996 Explanatory Note of the Pontifical Council for
Legislative Texts (cf. ibidem, 7), which remains in force and which this
Dicastery adopts as its own.
3.
Finally,
the holy People of God are warned that the sacred ministers of the Priestly
Fraternity of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, and that the
sacrament of penance administered by them and marriages assisted by them are
invalid.
The
Church, as a caring mother, will welcome with sincere affection and lively
solicitude all those who wish to return to full communion. The Apostolic
Nuncios will arrange the procedures that Ordinaries may use in the various
cases.
Finally,
all the faithful are urged to remain steadfast in communion with the Roman
Pontiff, with the Bishops in communion with him, and with the whole Church (cf.
Lumen Gentium, 22; can. 751 CIC), and to refrain from taking part in
celebrations and activities promoted by the aforementioned Priestly Fraternity
of Saint Pius X.
COMMENT:
The SSPX has placed itself in an indefensible position
by failing to hold dogma as the proximate rule of faith. The SSPX has been
compromising with Novus Ordo Church heretics for the past thirty years that
culminated in their leadership making the 1989 Profession of Faith where they
swore unconditional obedience to the person of the pope to obtain concessions
of ordinary jurisdiction.During the entire pontificate of the heretic
Francis/Bergoglio, the SSPX followed the conditions established by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Ratzinger under JPII and said
nothing critical regarding the heresies and corruption of Catholic morality
under Francis/Bergoglio. That being said, the decree of excommunication under
Leo/Prevost is problematic for all Catholic faithful.
The illicit consecration of bishops is not canonically
under the canonical section that deals with schism. It is not and never has
been an act that is always and every where a necessary sign of schism. Schism
necessarily requires the rejection of the universal jurisdiction of the pope as
the motive for the act of disobedience. The decree against the SSPX says,
There is one and only one act that always and
everywhere is necessarily manifests schism, that is, manifest heresy. St.
Thomas says that We have pictures of Leo/Prevost kneeling before a procession
of Pachamama, a pagan deity; pictures of him blessing a block of Nordic ice in
the pagan cult of earth worship; pictures of him in common prayer with a
variety of heretics, schismatics, Jews, Muslims and pagans; pictures of him in
common communion with the lay women who pretends to be the Archbishop of
Canterbury. These are without exception signs of heresy and, therefore, schism
by Leo/Prevost. That same can be said for his councillor predecessors. This
decree of excommunication is nothing more than an administrative declaration
that the SSPX is no longer in communion with the Novus Ordo Church.
The question then regards their declaration that These
are empty assertions because Rome has failed to prove that the SSPX rejects the
universal jurisdiction of the pope as their motive for consecrating bishops,
and having failed to do this, argumentum
a fortiori, they can hardly make the charge against the The Novus Ordo cult
has inadvertently ruined their case by referring to those who adhere formally
to the
Regarding the validity of the sacraments of marriage and confessions Rome commits a massive blunder. The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ. He called it
Jesus Christ provides for the needs of His faithful
with publically to marry according to the laws of the Catholic Church. The
Church requires that the parish priest of the woman exercising ordinary
jurisdiction must be a witness to the sacrament for its validity. However, the
Church has always held that if the priest holding ordinary jurisdiction cannot
be had for a period greater than thirty days, the couple can validly and
licitly proceed with their marriage without that priest being a witness to the
sacrament. The only requirement for a valid and licit marriage is for the bride
to notify her parish priest of her intent to marry and request that he be a witness
to the event for canonical regularity. If he refuses, the couple is free to
proceed on their own to seek another priest who does not exercise ordinary
jurisdiction to bless their marriage.
Can Theology Be Measured? Groundbreaking
Study Measures a 270-Year Shift in Catholic Teaching
Wim Varnaes | July 22, 2026
ItVanraes discovered measurable data patterns showing that traditional
Catholic concepts like sin, grace, salvation, doctrine, obedience, truth,
heaven, and judgment steadily declined, while words emphasizing encounter,
dialogue, social concerns, poverty, inclusion, and pastoral language steadily
increased. This is one of the first empirical, data-driven demonstrations of a
theological transformation many Catholics have argued about for decades.
The Statistical Case for the Crisis in
the Church
'When tenderness is detached from the
source of tenderness, its logical outcome is terror.'
FLANNERY O
recovered her warning for the current moment, and the recovery is
timely. When truth and tenderness, both good in themselves, are separated, each
becomes something it was never meant to be. The Group 9 May 5 Final Report from
the Synod on Synodality offers a perfect example of how language shapes new
ideas. Those new ideas are not necessarily Catholic ones, but substituting the
traditional ideas for new ones under the guise of the old, familiar Catholic
words.
Both O
This article would not be the first to name formation networks as the
vehicle of such new ideas. One could point at Liberation theology, how
Libertatis Nuntius offered a stern warning, which was ignored by its proponents
such as Father Gustavo Guti
Some went on to lead groups such as Pax Christi, others, such as
Cardinal Turkson, became head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace,
and others still, such as Fr. John Dear, became peace activists. When Cardinal
Turkson held the 2016 peace conference at the Vatican, people from Pax Christi
and John Dear spoke, rejecting not just war by itself, but the whole Just War
doctrine. Their final statement became the foundation for Pope Francis
This does not require any conspiracy to make that happen, just the slow
change in schools, then in organizations, which then seeps into the Church as
highly respectable activists, missionaries, and aid workers.
I mentioned a corpus data analysis at the opening of this article.
Looking at 30 encyclicals, from 6 historical periods (from 1750 to Francis),
using 11 thematic word clusters and normalized word frequency, it shows how the
vocabulary used by the Church changed over time, supporting the claim that a
materialist anthropology quietly entered, substituting the traditional Catholic
moral and theological discourse.
This was a preliminary study, using normalized word counts of a selection
of teaching documents, and not a full semantic analysis over all available
documents. The results were surprising in their detail.
Three of those findings bear on the present moment. First, we can see a
soteriological collapse, where words such as sin, grace, and salvation are,
under Francis, at their lowest point in 270 years, lower even than pre-1850.
Instead of talking about what humans are to be saved from, how such salvation
is received, there is a shift towards more structural economic words, such as
poverty and economy, at the cost of words such as property, labor and capital.
[.....]
Next, it is very interesting to see what happens to words such as love
and hope. Love rises continuously, peaks under Benedict, and remains elevated
under Francis, but the problem lies elsewhere: truth declines. In a move that
mirrors O
At the same time, under Francis the
Lastly, we can see a boundary collapse in the word frequencies. Even
before Vatican II we see terms such as error, heresy, condemnation, and judgment
decline strongly after 1850, matching the current state where a final report
from the Synod on Synodality openly signals that it replaced
At the same time, the use of the word Church declines to its lowest
level, while words such as authority, doctrine, and obedience collapse
completely. Now
This is important, and it maps cleanly on the situation modern thinking has created. Very quietly, the nominalist ideas underpinning a lot of enlightenment ideas, later growing into Marxism and Modernism, trained many people, even good Catholics, that every sign only held one and only one signified. Such an innocent looking poison of the mind! This is the root of the problem where people think in
Where Catholic teaching gave rise to both Fr. Ryan, looking at the immediate
needs of the poor, and also to Cardinal O
Notice also how O
The final reports from the Synod on Synodality show something
different, however. They worry about tenderness, dialogue, encounter, (social
and environmental) justice, but are averse of the harsh language of sin,
conversion, doctrine, obedience, and sacrifice. Not in continuity with
tradition, but hiding behind the words of tradition, smuggling in a
philosophical framework that is not compatible with the faith. [.....]
COMMENT: The
corruption of language is the stock and trade of the enemies of the Catholic
faith. Semanticists is a philosophical system, that along with Empiricism,
developed with the failure of philosophical Rationalism. Semanticists, like all
Nominalists who deny the existence of essential
reality, said that the material world is always changing therefore words and
language must necessarily change or they will no longer reflect the world as it
is. They held that since the world is irrational, therefore, the mind must be
irrational as well.They began by openly denying the first principles of the
Understanding; that innate sense in all men that a thing is what it is, that it
cannot be and not be at the same time, that things require a sufficient cause,
sufficient reason, etc., etc. They openly denied the principle of
non-contradiction. They eventually denied the intentionality of all language
becoming known as Deconstructionalists. The immediate effect of this was the
realization that if language must change to reflect new realities then new
realities can be created by changing the language. George Orwell's 1984
dystopian novel told the story of a world run by Semanticists. With the
developments of "automated intelligence" (AI), the ability to create
a false reality has been greatly enhanced and will lead to all those who are
not grounded in Catholic dogma to be swept away. The Neo-modernist heretics
that have had complete control of the Church since Vatican II are Semanticists.
This article is a beginning in recognizing this fact. Once the techniques of
semantics are recognized by faithful Catholics, and the absolute corruption of
Nominalism is understood, the Neo-modernist methodology of attacking the
Catholic faith and destroying her dogmas will be completely exposed.
On the Inerrancy of
Sacred Scripture
Vatican preparatory document for the October Synod of Bishops
(2008) Teaches:
In summary, the following can be said with certainty … — with regards to what might be inspired in the many parts of Sacred Scripture, inerrancy applies only to ‘that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation’.
Instrumentum laboris, The Word of
God in the Life and the Mission of the Church, article 15, a “working document”
for the upcoming October Synod of Bishops; released from the Vatican June 12th;
emphasis added.
The Catholic Church Teaches:
The Old and New Testaments, “whole and
with all their parts … [have] been written by the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost [and] have God as their author.”
Vatican I
For all the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical, are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost; and so far is it from being possible that any error can co-exist with inspiration, that inspiration not only is essentially incompatible with error, but excludes and rejects it as absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient and unchanging faith of the Church, solemnly defined in the Councils of Florence and of Trent, and finally confirmed and more expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican. These are the words of the last: ‘The Books of the Old and New Testament, whole and entire, with all their parts, as enumerated in the decree of the same Council (Trent) and in the ancient Latin Vulgate, are to be received as sacred and canonical. And the Church holds them as sacred and canonical, not because, having been composed by human industry, they were afterwards approved by her authority; nor only because they contain revelation without error; but because, having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author.’ Hence, because the Holy Ghost employed men as His instruments, we cannot therefore say that it was these inspired instruments who, perchance, have fallen into error…
Pope Leo XIII, Providentissimus
Deus
Divine inspiration does not extend to all
of Sacred Scripture so that it renders its parts, each and every one free
from every error.
Pope Saint Pius X’s Syllabus of
Errors against the Modernists, condemned proposition
It is absolutely forbidden to pretend
that the sacred writer himself has fallen into error, since Divine inspiration
not only excludes any and all possible error in itself, but even loathes and
excludes it, since God, Who is sovereign truth, cannot be the author of any possible
error…. This doctrine which was so forcefully explained by our predecessor Leo
XIII, We also propose with our pontifical authority, and We insist that it be
held rigorously by all. Pope Pius XII, Divini Afflante Spiritu
Some boldly pervert the meaning of the
definition of the Vatican Council, with respect to God as the author of Sacred
Scripture and they revive the opinion, many times condemned, according to which
the immunity of the Sacred Writings from error extends only to those matters
which are handed down regarding God and moral and religious subjects.
Pius XII, Humani Generis
Lapide on Luke 23:32 -
An Important Distinction
“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” “For thee”, because I destine thee to be the head and chief of the Apostles and of My Church, that thy faith fail not in believing Me to be the Christ and the Saviour of the world. Observe that Christ in this prayer asked and obtained for Peter two especial privileges before the other Apostles : the first was personal, that he should never fall from faith in Christ; for Christ looked back to the sifting in the former verse, that is the temptation of His own apprehension when the other Apostles flew off from Him like chaff and lost their faith, and were dispersed, and fled into all parts. But Peter, although he denied Christ with his lips, at the hour foretold, and lost his love for Him, yet retained his faith. So S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxxviii.) on S. Matthew; S. Augustine (de corrept. et Grat. chap, viii.); Theophylact and others. This is possible but not certain, for F. Lucas and others think that Peter then lost both his faith and his love, from excessive perturbation and fear; but only for a short time, and so that his faith afterwards sprang up anew, and was restored with fresh vitality. Hence it is thought not to have wholly failed, or to have been torn up by the roots, but rather to have been shaken and dead for a time.
Another and a certain privilege was common to Peter with all his
successors, that he and all the other bishops of Rome (for Peter, as Christ
willed, founded and confirmed the Pontifical Church at Rome), should never
openly fall from this faith, so as to teach the Church heresy, or any error
contrary to the faith. So S. Leo (semi.xxii.), on Natalis of SS. Peter and
Paul; S. Cyprian (Lib. i. ep. 3), to Cornelius; Lucius I., Felix I., Agatho,
Nicolas I., Leo IX.,Innocent III., Bernard and others, whom Bellarmine cites
and follows (Lib. i. de Poniif. Roman).
For it was necessary that Christ, by His most wise providence, should provide for His Church, which is ever being sifted and tempted by the devil, and that not only in the time of Peter, but at all times henceforth, even to the end of the world, an oracle of the true faith which she might consult in every doubt, and by which she might be taught and confirmed in the faith, otherwise the Church might err in faith, quod absit! For she is, as S. Paul said to Timothy, “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. lii. 15). This oracle of the Church then is Peter, and all successive bishops of Rome. This promise made to Peter and his successors, most especially applies to the time when Peter, as the successor of Christ, began to be the head of the Church, that is, after the death of Christ.
And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. “From the sifting of Satan, that is from his temptation and from the sin by which thou wilt deny Me; for by this thou wilt be turned aside from Me, and My grace and love.” So Euthymius, Theophylact, Jansen, F. Lucas, and others.
Cornelius a Lapide, The Great Commentary,
Luke 22, 32
COMMENT ON THE RECENT CONSECRATION OF BISHOPS BY
THE SSPX:
The recent consecration of bishops by the
SSPX and their
Rome has manipulated the SSPX into a trap
that was explained to them more than fifteen years ago. Rome embraced the
heresy of Neo-modernism before Vatican II and the purpose of Vatican II was to
infect this heresy into the life blood of the Church. The heresy severs the
form and matter of Dogma professing that the form is a divine truth revealed by
God but the matter, that is, the words, are a human approximation of that
divine truth that must progressively evolve and be purified of human
accretions, distortions and historical contingencies to arrive at a more
perfect expression of the divine truth. It is a claim that we know the faith
better than our fathers and our children will know the faith better than us.
Thus Dogma, which never reaches its term, no longer is the proximate rule of
faith. It is replaced by the pope who guides the dogma into a progressively
more perfect expression.
Once the pope becomes the proximate rule of
faith the infallible Magisterium of the Church is replaced by the personal
fallible magisterium of the pope grounded upon his grace of state, and then
whatever the pope says or does becomes what every faithful Catholic is expected
to say or do. This corruption was taught in the Vatican II document Lumen
Gentium which established the new
ecclesiology. The term Lumen Gentium says, sensus fidei for
all Catholics. The proposition of unconditional obedience to the
Fr. Joseph Fenton, the editor of the
American Ecclesiastical Review and a peritas at Vatican II, wrote an excellent article, Infallilillity in
the Encyclicals, AER, 1953, in which he
addressed the term, Comillas in Spain. The
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who had his own
problems with Neo-modernism, recognized that the insertion of the addendum of
unconditional obedience to the
Rome imposes the 1989 Profession of Faith
and Oath of Fidelity on any cleric or any lay person as a condition for
exercising any office in the Church. The SSPX leadership stupidly accepted this
demand and swore, certainly by 2015, unconditional obedience to the publically
disobeyed him on insufficient doctrinal or moral grounds. They have associated
every faithful traditional Catholic in their worthless scheming.
The SSPX sooner or later must recognize that
Dogma is the proximate rule of faith and that Neo-modernism is a heresy that
they are standing so close to they cannot recognize. Dogma is infallible both
in the truth it proposes and in the words used to express that truth. That is,
both the form and the matter of Dogma, which constitute one substantial being, are the infallible work of God, or as St.
Pius X said, ipso facto in the
external forum without canonical due process simply because the pope says so in
his personal
Comments from those who have read the Third Secret of Fatima:
Ø One concerns the Pope. The other, logically the continuation of the words: In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved.[3] [emphasis added]
Joseph Schweigel, S.J., d. 1964 (interrogated Sister Lucia about the Third Secret on behalf of Pope Pius XII on Sept. 2, 1952)[4]
Ø These form the content of the third part of the Secret. What are they?If it is quite possible that in this intermediate period which is in question (after 1960 and before the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary), the text makes concrete references to the crisis of the Faith of the Church and to the negligence of the pastors themselves.[5] [emphasis added]
Fr. Joaquin Alonso, C.M.F., d. 1981 (Cleratian priest and official Fatima archivist for over sixteen years; had unparalleled access to Sister Lucia)
Ø Speaks neither of atomic bombs, nor nuclear warheads, nor Pershing missiles, nor SS-20. Its content concerns only our faith. To identify the Secret with catastrophic announcements or with a nuclear holocaust is to deform the meaning of the message. The loss of faith of a continent is worse than the annihilation of a nation; and it is true that faith is continually diminishing in Europe.[6] [emphasis added]
Bishop Alberto Cosme do Amaral, d. 2005 (former bishop of Fatima-Leiria; remarks made in Vienna, Austria on Sept. 10, 1984)
Ø The Blessed Virgin was alerting us against apostasy in the Church.
Cardinal Silvio Oddi, d. 2001 (Vatican diplomat and personal friend of Pope John XXIII, from whom he knew certain details concerning the Third Secret) [7]
Ø The great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.
Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, O.P., d. 1996 (personal theologian to Popes John XXIII-John Paul II) [8]
The Whole Truth about
Fatima, [2],
Volume 3.
"The Providence of God is
unfailing!"
St. Augustine, On the Soul and Its
Origin, 3, 13
Leo XIV Reinstated Convicted Child-Porn
Priest who was protected by Francis
Carlo
Alberto Capella was Vatican diplomat who was convicted by a Vatican tribunal of
possessing and sharing child pornography. Capella admitted guilt to the
charges. He is the only one who has served a prison sentence in the Vatican
jail for this crime or for any sexually related crime against minors.
Monsignor Capella was ordained a priest in 1993 for the Archdiocese of
Milan. After studies of canon law he entered the Vatican diplomatic corps. He
was assigned to the papal nunciature in India in 2003 and to the nunciature in
Hong Kong in 2007. In 2008 he was created Chaplain of His Holiness, which entitled him to
the title of Monsignor. In 2011 he was
transferred to the Vatican to serve in the Secretariat of State. In 2016 he was
assigned to the papal nunciature to the United States.
In 2017, Capella was recalled to the Vatican by Pope Francis after
United States officials informed the Vatican that he was under investigation for
possession and sharing of child pornography. The government of Canada has
issued a warrant for his arrest, alleging that during his time in Canada in
December, 2016 he had possessed and shared child pornography. He was returned
to the Vatican which claimed diplomatic immunity for Capella protecting him
from prosecution in the United State or Canada.
In 2018, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, which
he served in the Vatican jail. As of 2021, he was allowed out during the day to
work in an office that sells papal blessings. In 2023, following the end of his
prison sentence, Capella was permitted to return to work in the Vatican
Secretariat of State. Now Pope Leo XIV
has reinstated Msgr. Capella to a senior diplomatic position in the Vatican
Secretariat of State.
COMMENT: Pope
Leo is protégé of Francis to whom he own s his promotions to bishop and
cardinal. It was Francis who protected this pervert from criminal charges in
the United States and in Canada and now it is Francis' protégé who has restored
him the a high level position in the Vatican. This does not portend well for
any serious reform of the Novus Ordo Church which has become a sinecure for
homosexuals and others perverts.
As
time goes by, there are fewer and fewer Novus Ordo Catholics every year!
St. John himself, the Apostle
of love, who seems in his Gospel to have revealed the secrets of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, and who never ceased to impress upon the memory of his
disciples the new commandment Therefore, since the foundation of charity is faith pure and inviolate,
it is chiefly by the bond of one faith that the disciples of Christ are to be
united. A federation of Christians is inconceivable in which each member
retains his own opinions and private judgment in matters of faith, even though
they differ from opinions of all the rest. How can men with opposite convictions belong to one and
the same federation of the faithful: those who accept sacred Tradition as a
source of revelation and those who reject it; those who recognize as
divinely constituted the hierarchy of bishops, priests and ministers in the
Church, and those who regard it as gradually introduced to suit the conditions
of the time; those who adore Christ really present in the Most Holy Eucharist
through that wonderful conversion of the bread and wine, Transubstantiation,
and those who assert that the body of Christ is there only by faith or by the
signification and virtue of the Sacrament; those who in the Eucharist recognize
both Sacrament and Sacrifice, and those who say that it is nothing more than
the memorial of the Lord
Pope Pius XI, Mortalium
Animos
Unless the Lord build a
house, they labor in vain that build it.
Unless the Lord keep the city,
he watcheth in vain that keepeth it. Ps. 126
From Tradition In Action:
You don't have to be a liturgical EXPERT to see that there is no
essential difference in the act!
The question is: Is there any essential difference in the actors?
Top: St. Patrick Catholic Church, Chatham, New Jersey
(44:43 mark on their August 22, 2021
Bottom: First Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(49:30 mark on their July 6 2025
Jewish morality is openly demonstrated in Gaza, the West Bank, and
Lebanon with the wonton killing of thousands of men, women and children. Over
95% of Jewish religious and political leaders support abortion and same-sex
'marriage'. AI is intended to enforce Jewish morality.
Yuval Harari at Davos:
by Leo Hohmann 1-20-2026
Israeli historian and philosopher Yuval Harari spoke January 20th at
the World Economic Forum 2026 conference in Davos and hit on crucial themes
about the future of artificial intelligence and humanity.
If Klaus Schwab and Larry Fink represent the legal and geostrategic
views of the Davos crowd, Harari represents its spiritual soul. And a dark soul
it is, devoid of anything truly from the heart of God.
He seems to describe a mass psychological control grid getting ready to clamp
down on humanity.
Harari stated in his WEF speech that:
The most important thing
to know about AI is that it is not just another tool. It is an agent. It can
learn and change by itself and make decisions by itself. A knife is a tool. You
can use a knife to cut salad or to murder someone, but it is your decision what
to do with the knife. AI is a knife that can decide by itself whether to cut
salad or to commit murder.
The second thing to know about AI is that it
can be a very creative agent. AI is a knife that can invent new kinds of knives
as well as new kinds of music, medicine and money.
The third thing to know about AI is that it
can lie and manipulate. Four billion years of evolution have demonstrated that
anything that wants to survive learns to lie and manipulate. The last four
years have demonstrated that AI agents can acquire the will to survive and that
AIs have already learned how to lie.
How many times have you heard that AI is just a tool that can be used for good
or for evil? Well, Yuval Harari, the philosophical/spiritual voice of the WEF,
says it
So, AI can
Harari
speaking at Davos 2026: AI is already an agent capable of making decisions,
lying, manipulating.
Harari
is a valuable source because, whether you think he
Well, now Harari is letting the cat out of the bag, probably because he knows
it
Harari stated:
Harari said AI will first take over everything that consists of words. That
includes law, articles and books, even religion. You can see that is happening
already. News writers and gatherers are being replaced. Legal assistants and
lawyers are being replaced. And people are consulting AI for advice related to
life, faith and spiritual matters.
He does hint that if your religious faith is real, you may want to find
out if it
A
preview of our AI dominated world
He
asks:
My
overall response to Harari
Winston, the main character in Orwell
How is this different from the algorithms used by today
Orwell, living and writing in the 1940s, could not have envisioned that a
computerized software system known as machine learning was going to rise up to
do the job that he assigned to human beings. That job is to filter and control
all human knowledge through a single conduit with demonic influence.
Because Harari is an admitted atheist, it is here where his analysis breaks
down. He doesn
He says that,
Dogma
- The Proximate Rule of Faith, the Formal Object of Divine & Catholic Faith
Now, first of all, let us see
what is dogma. In the mouth of the world it means some positive, imperious, and
overbearing assertion of a human authority, or of a self-confident mind. But
what does it mean in the mouth of the Church? It means the precise enunciation
of a divine truth, of a divine fact, or of a divine reality fully known, so far
as it is the will of God to reveal it, adequately defined in words chosen and
sanctioned by a divine authority.
It is the precise enunciation
of a divine truth or of a divine reality; for instance, the nature and the
personality of God, the Incarnation, the coming of the Holy Ghost, and suchlike
truths and realities of the mind of God, precisely known, intellectually
conceived, as God has revealed or accomplished them. Every divine truth or
reality, so far as God has been pleased to reveal it to us, casts its perfect
outline and image upon the human intelligence. His own mind, in which dwells
all truth in all fulness and in all perfection, so far as He has revealed of
His truth, is cast upon the surface of our mind, in the same way as the sun
casts its own image upon the surface of the water, and the disc of the sun is
perfectly reflected from its surface. So, in the intelligence of the Apostles,
when, by the illumination of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, the
revelation of God was cast upon the surface of their intellect, every divine
truth had its perfect outline and image, not confused, nor in a fragmentary
shape, but with a perfect and complete impression. For instance, that God is
One in nature; that in God there are Three Persons, and one only Person in
Jesus Christ. Next, it is not enough that a truth should be definitely
conceived; for if a teacher know the truth, and is not able to communicate it
with accuracy, the learner will be but little the wiser. And therefore God, who
gave His truth, has given also a perpetual assistance, whereby the Apostles
first, and His Church from that day to this, precisely and without erring
declare to mankind the truth which was revealed in the beginning; and in
declaring that truth the Church clothes it in words, in what we call a
terminology: and in the choice of those terms the Church is also guided. There
is an assistance, by which the Church does not err in selecting the very
language in which to express divine truth. For who does not see that, if the
Church were to err in the selection of the words, the declaration of truth must
be obscured? We are conscious every day that we know with perfect certainty
what we desire to say, but, from the difficulty of finding or choosing our
words, we cannot convey our meaning to another. The Church is not a stammerer
as we are. The Church of God has a divine assistance perpetually guiding it, to
clothe in language, that is, in adequate expression, the divine truth which God
has committed to her trust. Therefore a dogma signifies a correct verbal
expression of the truth correctly conceived and known. But, lastly, it is not
sufficient that it be clearly understood in the intellect and accurately
expressed in words, unless the authority by which it is declared shall be
divine; because without a divine authority we cannot have a divine certainty;
without a divine authority we can have no such assurance that the doctrine
which we hear may not be erroneous. The Apostles were such a divine authority,
for they spoke in the Name of their Master. Their successor to this day is the
Church, which, taken as a whole, has been, by the assistance of the Holy Ghost,
promised by our Divine Lord and never absent from it, perpetually sustained in
the path of truth, and preserved from all error in the declaration of that
truth. Therefore any body which is not dogmatic is not the Church of God. Any
body or communion that disclaims a divine, and therefore infallible, authority
cannot be dogmatic, because it is conscious that it may err. And therefore the-
Catholic Church alone, the Church which is one and undivided throughout the
world, united with its centre in the Holy See,
Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, Glories of the Sacred Heart
SSPX issues 154-point
profession of faith to Pope Leo, cardinals ahead of consecrations
The Society of St. Pius X unveiled a sweeping
17-chapter ‘Profession of Catholic Faith,’ urging Pope Leo and the cardinals to
embrace Tradition as the remedy to the Church’s ‘deepest ills.’
LifeSiteNews
| June 24, 2026 — The SSPX has published a "Profession of Catholic
Faithe" as part of communications with the Pope and the cardinals ahead of
the planned episcopal consecrations and “in response to the chief and gravest dangers
of our time.”
According
to an open letter published by the Society of St. Pius X “to His Holiness Pope
Leo XIV and to the Cardinals of the Holy Church” dated June 24, the leadership
of the SSPX formulated its 17-chapter profession of Catholic Faith as a
“necessary expression, peaceful and resolute, of our Faith” as the cardinals
prepare to gather in consistory later this week.
“Today
the Church suffers under the pressure of new forces, coming both from within
and without, which push her in every possible direction, except – it seems to
us – the right one,” the Society argues, adding, “In the face of such
suffering, we cannot remain indifferent.”
Consequently,
the Society maintains that “Tradition contains all the remedies for the deepest
ills afflicting the Church and the world, for which solutions are sought in
vain outside of it.”
“We
are persuaded that, in the unstable and extremely perilous context that now
confronts us, the finest contribution one can offer to the universal Church is
that of a sincere and integral profession of Catholic Faith,” the fraternity of
priests write.
The
letter was accompanied by the Society’s "Profession of Catholic
Faith." broken into 17 chapters outlining 154 points of traditional
doctrine while rejecting their corresponding modern errors.
COMMENT: In general, the profession of faith has many
excellent qualities, however, it is clearly a product of the SSPX culture and
character. The SSPX is a completely inbred organization. No one thinks outside
the box and their box is very small. While the Profession recognizes that the
remote sources of revelation are Scripture and Tradition and that these
constitute the remote rule of faith (#9), they then, after professing that
"no dogma" may be omitted, stumble in not recognizing that Dogma
constitutes the proximate rule of faith.
5. I add that, in the present
confusion, it is no longer sufficient to recall a few isolated truths. It has
become indispensable to set in full light the entire order of Catholic
doctrine, in its supernatural coherence and luminous harmony, omitting no dogma, diminishing
no truth, and substituting for the received Faith no equivocal or
truncated language which, under the pretext of ecumenism or adaptation to the
world, disfigures this doctrine with ever greater audacity.
9. This Revelation is the true
Word of God, entrusted to the Church as a Deposit, and proposed to men as the Rule of Faith in the form
of a body of doctrine, in which the mysteries are formulated in a manner
that renders them intelligible and expressible in words.
The problem is confounded
because they continually used the word "magisterium" equivocally.
They treat the infallible Magisterium of the Church teaching by the authority
of God and the fallible magisterium of churchmen teaching by their grace of
state as if these were the same thing, They are not and constitute a
distinction of kind and not one of degree. Their belief in the mutability of Dogma is directly
expressed in their understanding of the Dogma that membership in the Catholic
Church is necessary for salvation, that is, no one is saved outside the
Catholic Church:
60. This truth means that no one can be saved without
Christ and His Church, through a false religion as such, nor be assured
of His salvation outside the visible structure of the Church. If men are saved
without belonging to the visible society which is the Church, the Mystical Body
of Christ, it is by a supernatural ordination to the one Church of salvation,
and in spite of the errors of the false religions in which they find
themselves, from which they free themselves by not refusing the grace offered
to them and by corresponding to it
Here the Dogma is not
"omitted," it is corrupted by substituting the word,
"without," for the word, "outside." This is a common example
of how the heresy of Neo-modernism works. This heresy leads directly to the
Prayer Meeting of Assisi and the SSPX has not figured it out. The SSPX believes
and teaches that any Jew, Moslem, Protestant, Hindu, Pagan, etc., etc. can
obtain salvation by desire to do the will of a god who rewards and punishes
which can be known by natural philosophy. The essential problem is that the
SSPX does not understand or even recognize that the principle heresy today is
Neo-modernism and not Modernism. Not recognizing the enemy, they continually
punch the air.
Regarding the sacraments they
rightly profess the Dogma that the sacraments require correct form, matter and
intention:
111. I profess that the
sacraments must be validly celebrated with the prescribed matter, form, and
intention, observing the liturgical rites which clearly express the Catholic
Faith; and that they must be received with the required dispositions.
Yet the SSPX believes that a
Catholic priest can enter a bakery and consecrate all the bread in the bakery
or enter a wine cellar and consecrate all the wine. This they believe can
happen when there is obvious corruption in form, matter and intention. This can
only happen when Dogma is taken in a non-literal sense. They apply the same
sacramental theology to the sacrament of Baptism denying the Dogmas that baptism is necessary for
salvation and the true and natural water is necessary for the sacrament
which they take in a purely metaphorical sense.
112. I believe that Baptism is
the door of the Church and that it is necessary for salvation. Ordinarily, no one can be saved
without receiving it; through this sacrament, man is washed from
original sin, incorporated into Christ, marked with the Christian character,
and made a member of the Church. I therefore reject the practice of deferring
without grave cause the Baptism of children who have not the use of reason. However, one who, after the age
of reason and without fault on his part, is prevented from accessing this
sacrament, can be saved in an extraordinary manner by Baptism of Desire, that
is, by a supernatural act of faith and perfect charity which orders him to the
Church.
So the good-willed Jew,
Moslem, Hindu, Protestant, Pagan, etc. who believes in a god who rewards and
punishes is thereby making an act of "supernatural faith and perfect
charity"!
The word "heresy"
occurs only once in the Profession of the SSPX. "I therefore reject every
liturgical reform or usage which, through omission, doctrinal ambiguity, or
practical orientation, favours heresy.... " The definition of heresy is
the rejection of any Dogma. That is why the word only occurs as an accusation
of "favoring" heresy. Vatican II, a pastoral council, is a product of
the fallible magisterium of churchmen teaching by their grace of state. The
Council did not just "favor" heresy, it taught it. It is impossible
to know what heresy is unless you first know what Dogma is. Unless a clear and
precise understanding of the nature of Dogma is known, it is impossible to
address modern errors effectively.
The term, Second Vatican
Council, also occurs only once in the document in Profession 143:
143. I acknowledge in
particular that modern
errors represent a dreadful threat to the whole of the Catholic order, and that
their penetration into the life of the Church, under the influence of the
Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar reforms, has provoked a crisis of
exceptional gravity: agnosticism attacks the knowledge of God;
naturalism attacks the necessity of grace; subjectivism attacks the supernatural
motive of faith; relativism attacks the immutability of dogma; situation ethics
attacks the divine law; liberalism attacks the Social Kingship of Christ; false
ecumenism attacks the uniqueness of the Church; collegiality and synodality
attack the divine constitution of the Church in her hierarchy; liturgical
anthropocentrism attacks the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
This is all true but why is
the SSPX unable to say Vatican II is heretical? Until the SSPX understands what
Dogma is, what Neo-modernism is, and what the Magisterium of the Church is and
how it is distinct from the magistrium of churchmen,they will continue to be
incapable of effectively addressing modern errors.
In the end the question arises how is it now, after nearly fifteen years of silence against the apostasy of Rome, through the entire pontificate of Francis/Bergoglio, does the SSPX find that it is time to speak up? For what end is this Profession of Faith intended? And why cannot the SSPX articulate propositions of faith directly contrary to the beliefs and teachings of Rome demanding that Pope Leo engage the infallible Magisterium of the Church to clearly address the modern errors of Vatican II and the conciliar Church? It is a matter of canon law and the constant tradition of the Church that every Catholic has the right to demand explicit judgments from the Magisterium and the pope has an absolute duty to address these questions of faith. The SSPX has been in dialogue with Rome formally and informally for thirty years exchanging opinions on Catholic truth. If the SSPX understood what Dogma is this thirty year dialogue could have been concluded in thirty minutes. It has only been a year and a half since the death of Bishop Richard Williamson. The SSPX declared at that time that there was no state of necessity to justify the consecrations of bishops and they accused Bishop Williamson of grave sin for doing so. If the SSPX cannot identify direct heresy and heretics in Rome, then they cannot claim a state of necessity for themselves.
ANGEL OF THE JUDGMENT
The Situation Regarding the SSPX Episcopal Consecrations of July 1,
2026 -
by Roberto de Mattei
June
24, 2026 | Posted by the conservative Catholic blog, Rorate Caeli
What
is one to think, and what is one to do, in the face of the episcopal
consecrations announced by the Society of Saint Pius X at for July 1st, and the
consequent latae sententiae
excommunication that will be reaffirmed by the Holy See?
The
first consideration to be made is that, if this comes to pass, we will be
confronted with a painful trial
On the substance of the controversy, one
cannot avoid pointing out what appears to be a genuine paradox. Among the many reasons advanced by
Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988
The state of necessity is, by its very
nature, an exceptional condition that permits deviation from the ordinary
application of certain norms in view of a higher good
If
the principle of the state of necessity were admitted as a general criterion
for action, any bishop who judged the Church to be passing through a grave
crisis could feel authorized episcopi vagantes scattered throughout the world, with inevitable effects of fragmentation,
disorder, and confusion for the very faithful one would seek to protect.
The existence of an episcopal line deriving
from Archbishop Richard Williamson This is a phenomenon which, beyond any judgments on the persons
involved, illustrates the intrinsic risk of episcopal consecrations founded on subjective assessments of the
state of necessity.
And
yet this argument :
"The faithful who are still Catholic find themselves in many places in a
desperate spiritual situation. It is this appeal that the Church hears; it is
for these situations that she grants jurisdiction through the law of supplied
jurisdiction." The decisive criterion for him was not the assertion
of a right proper to the Society, but the spiritual need of the faithful. The
episcopal consecrations of 1988 were intended as a response to this appeal of
souls.
We thus find ourselves before the paradox.
The Society of Saint Pius X, by invoking the state of necessity, grounds a
large part of its justification on the primacy of pastoral requirements over
strictly juridical and doctrinal considerations
In this confused situation, the only
sensible counsel that can be offered to those who are uncertain is to abide by
the principle of logic and law: In dubiis standum est pro statu quo, donec ratio certa
contrarium persuadeat , avoiding being drawn into sterile polemics
and emotional proclamations that have no other result than to reopen old wounds
and pour vinegar into the wounds of the Church.
The
problem that presents itself today is far broader than the grave matter of the
July 1st episcopal consecrations and their canonical consequences. Nor does the
question exhaust itself in the debate over the traditional liturgy or the
interpretation of the documents of the Second Vatican Council. At the heart of the
controversy lies the historical and theological judgment on the twentieth
century
A
little over a hundred years ago, the conflagration of the First World War
brought to an end the international order born of the Christian centuries,
while the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 set an even vaster fire in the
world. Yet in the same year in which Bolshevism seized power, Our Lady appeared
to the three shepherd children of Fatima, explaining the true causes of the
crisis of the modern world and assuring, after chastisements, wars, and
persecutions, the final triumph of her Immaculate Heart. The message of Fatima
was addressed to all of humanity, but in a particular way to the Pastors of the
Church, within which Modernism had begun to spread its deadly poison. Against
this evil, Providence raised up Saint Pius X. With the encyclical Pascendi
Dominici Gregis of September 8, 1907 Pascendi and Fatima constitute, respectively, the
doctrinal diagnosis and the supernatural response to the crisis of modernity.
These events, in turn, acquire their authentic significance only when placed
within a broader perspective that allows one to read the events of history as
phases of a single struggle that crosses the centuries.
It
is here that the vision of Saint Augustine takes on an extraordinary relevance
for our time. In the City of God,
the great Doctor of the Church interprets history as the permanent
confrontation between those who orient their lives toward God and those who
reject the divine order. The Augustinian tradition, with its capacity to read
historical events in the light of Providence, offers the interpretive key
necessary for confronting questions that continue to determine the life of the
Church
The last word, in this dramatic horizon,
belongs to him who holds the divine mandate to guide the Church and whom the
Society of Saint Pius X itself acknowledges as the legitimate Vicar of Christ
COMMENT: Dr. Roberto de Mattei is a conservative Novus Ordo Catholic historian
which alone makes it impossible for him to know or do anything correctly
because he will always have his priorities upside-down. Where does he get it
wrong? For Mattei, the
pope constitutes the proximate rule of faith. He does not understand
that the proximate rule of faith is DOGMA. For Mattei, the faith is subject to
the authority of the pope. The pope for Mattei is the principle cause and sign
of the unity of the Church. Mattei does not openly deny the truth that the
faith itself is the principle sign and cause of unity of the Church but he makes
the faith subject to the arbitrary judgments of the pope who becomes its
revealer. He places the authority of the pope over Dogma so that the Dogma
means whatever the pope says it means. Whatever the pope says or does becomes
the proximate rule of faith for Mattei. For him the determination of a state of necessity can
only be declared by the authority of the pope. For Mattei, the pope can
never be the cause of the state of necessity therefore, a state of necessity
can never really exist.
Mattei
acknowledges that the "salvation of souls" is the "highest
good" then immediately reduces it to a legal truism. Something that in the
end is unknowable in its practical application. He then wonders just who could
ever determine when such a state of necessity begins and when it ends.For
Mattei only the pope with absolute authority can do so.
The answer is not as difficult as Mattei
pretends. Any individual Catholic faithful can declare a state of necessity for
himself whenever he is unable to obtain from his ordinary what is necessary for
his salvation, that is, the Catholic faith and Catholic sacraments. This is not a "subjective"
determination as Mattei pretends for the faithful Catholic must make known to
his local ordinary the existing objective factual conditions that constitute
the state of necessity, demonstrate the establishment of a true and certain
conscience, and thus, provide a moral justification for any acts of
disobedience. After determining a state of necessity that he makes it known to
his local ordinary, the ordinary has the obligation to fulfill his duties to
provide what is necessary for salvation. If he fails to do so, fails to fulfill
his duty for whatever reason, then the faithful Catholic is free is seek these
necessities from any other cleric and any cleric can do so by the virtue of the
supplied jurisdiction by the Church which places the salvation of souls as her
highest law. Mattei believes that salvation comes from obedience to the pope
while faithful Catholics know that "without faith, it is impossible to
please God," and that thepope is just as much subject to God's revealed
truth as every other faithful Catholic. The "paradox" that Mattei is
talking about is not real. There is no conflict of the SSPX "pastoral
requirements" vs. Novus Ordo "juridical and doctrinal
considerations."
Mattei
believes that the pope can be judged by no one. That is a doubtful proposition.
The Decretals of Gratian
is a collection of canonical texts compiled in the 12th century. Pope Gregory
IX in 1230 directed St. Raymond of Pennafort, the distinguished Dominican, to
organize an addendum to the code to include legal codes adopted since the time
of Gratian but the work became a much more extensive revision. Working from the
Decretals of Gratian, St. Raymond wrote a five volume edition of the Decretals
that became the Corpus Iuris Canonici which served as the legal code for the
Latin Church
Decretum Gratiani, which was included in the old Corpus Iuris Canonici, affirmed that a Pope who deviates from right doctrine (i.e.: a notorious public heretic) can be judged. The canon states that the "pope judges all and is judged by no-one, unless he is found to have departed from the faith":
culpas
redarguere pr mortalium nullus, quia cunctos ipse judicaturus a nemine est
judicandus, nisi deprehendatur a fide devius (dist. XL, C. 6)Iuris Canonici
1917) came into force, the Church eliminated from the new legislation the
phrase "unless he is found to have departed from the faith." This
deletion was continued in the 1983 code. Although the phrase, "unless he is found to have
departed from the faith," was not included in the 1917 and the 1983 codes,
the canonical commentary still regards the phrase as legally binding:
COMMENTARY: "Canon 1404 is not a statement about
the personal impeccability or inerrancy of the Holy Father. Should, indeed, the
pope fall into heresy, it is understood that he would lose his office. To fall
from Peter
New
Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, John P. Beal, James A. Coriden, and Thomas
J. Green eds. (New York: Paulist, 2000), p. 1,618.
The
code is the compilation of laws governing the Church as social institution.
Most of the laws in the code are ecclesiastical positive human laws grounded
upon human authority, however, many of the legal codes are divine positive laws
grounded upon divine authority or upon natural law. If a human law is deleted
from the code, the law ceases to bind. If a law of divine authority is deleted
from the code, the law continue in force for the human authority of the Church
cannot overturn the law of God. This self-evident principle is stated in the
code itself. Consequently, the commentary cited above is a recognition that the
pope cannot be judged "unless he is found to have departed from the
faith" is of divine origin. It is necessarily a divine law because the
papacy is a divine institution established directly by Jesus Christ and
therefore governed in its essence only by divine laws.
Therefore,
it is divine law that permits a heretical pope to be judged. Importantly,
although the law permits a heretical pope to be judged, it says nothing about
who and how a pope is to be judged regarding heresy and it does not address
penalties. It says nothing about removal from office. If the law intended the
removal from office the law itself would have to state the penalty and provide
a mechanism for its determination and enforcement.
So
now it falls to opinions regarding the judgment of a heretical pope. Most
theologians believe that it is "understood" that the removal from
office necessarily follows from a judgment of heresy often citing the
scriptural and traditional admonition to avoid heretics:
"A
man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid: Knowing
that he, that is such a one, is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned by his
own judgment" (Titus 3:10-11).
They
argue that since the faithful cannot avoid a pope as head of the Church
therefore the heretical pope must lose his office. A serious problem with this
argument follows, that is, if the faithful cannot "avoid" a pope,
then there must necessarily be a pope who in fact cannot be avoided. Therefore,
those who would make the papacy vacant must also be able to fill the office
with a true pope.
But
can a heretical pope be avoided? It really becomes a problem for those who hold
the pope as their proximate rule of faith and not, as they should, dogma. For
if dogma is not the proximate rule of faith then the pope must be, and he then
can never be a heretic for whatever the pope holds the dogma or doctrine to mean
is what it then means and only those who disagree with the pope are heretics.
For a Catholic, dogma is the proximate rule of faith and although a heretical
pope can do immeasurable damage to the Church he cannot touch individual souls
of the faithful.
If
we adhere to what the law says and nothing more, we can say this: The
definition of heresy is the denial of dogma. The heretic denies dogma and the
faithful keep dogma. Those who can judge a heretical pope are the faithful. The
law does not distinguish or discriminate among the faithful as to the judgment.
Dogma is articulated for all the faithful. Its understanding does not require
any theological competence. It requires proper definition and correct grammar.
Any of the faithful, that is those who hold dogma as their proximate rule of
faith, can judge a manifestly heretical pope such as Pope Francis. Any of the
faithful can know when a dogma is directly contradicted for the first
principles of the understanding, such as the principle of non-contradiction, are
innate in human nature. Thus all the faithful can judge, in fact must judge, a
heretical pope and so that they may not follow him in his heresy for God has
said that 'it is not possible to deceive His elect' (Matt. 24:24). The law does
not specify the judge because the judgment rests with all the faithful, it is
universal. The law does not specify a penalty because none of the faithful have
the competency to impose a penalty and remove a heretical pope from office. It
is God who is the formal and final cause of the pope and the office of the
papacy. It is God who 'marries' the designated candidate to the papal office
and only God can remove him from it just as God removed the High Priest and
destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and the Levitical priesthood which can never
be reconstituted.
Those
who hold dogma as their proximate rule of faith recognize Pope Leo as a heretic
because he denies dogmatic truth. He preaches a different gospel so we
"receive him not into the house nor say to him, God speed you" (2 John
10). Since he preaches a different gospel, "Let him be anathema"
because we are first "servants of Christ" (Gal 1: 8). For in dogma,
the Church has spoken and the heretic Pope Leo "will not hear the church,
(therefore) let him be to thee as the heathen and publican (Matt 18:17).
Since Mattei cannot see his way out of his box so he advises, "Reason suggests that each person remain in the position in which he finds himself, continuing to do what he does."Since Mattei cannot conceive a state of necessity from the current corruption of faith and morals maybe an analogy to a person dying of thirst would be more clear. By natural law a man dying from thirst is entitled to preserve his life by drinking available water. The pope tells him he cannot have any water. Mattei advises that he should "remain in the position which he finds himself, continuing to do what he does,", that is, continue to die of thirst. Suppose it is not just one man but an entire family? Suppose that man was so weakened that he could not bring the water to himself? Would Mattei intervene to help? Well, probably not because Mattei could not recognize a state of necessity if he were the man dying of thirst.
The holy Roman Church holds the highest and
complete primacy and spiritual power over the universal Catholic Church which
she truly and humbly recognizes herself to have received with fullness of power
from the Lord Himself in Blessed Peter, the chief or head of the Apostles whose
successor is the Roman Pontiff.And just as to defend the truth of Faith she is
held before all other things, so if any questions shall arise regarding faith
they ought to be defined by her judgment.And to her anyone burdened with affairs
pertaining to the ecclesiastical world can appeal; and in all cases looking
forward to an ecclesiastical examination, recourse can be had to her judgment.
Second Council of Lyons, Denz.
466
And since the Roman Pontiff is at the head of the universal Church by the divine right of apostolic primacy, We teach and declare also that he is the supreme judge of the faithful, and that in all cases pertaining to ecclesiastical examination recourse can be had to his judgment.
First Vatican Council, Denz. 1830
Not only do we know God
through Jesus Christ, but we only know ourselves through Jesus Christ; we only
know life and death through Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ we cannot
know the meaning of our life or our death, of God or of ourselves. Thus without
Scripture, whose only object is Christ, we know nothing, and can see nothing
but obscurity and confusion in the nature of God and in nature itself.
Blaise Pascal, Pens
Pope says church 'must move forward' if SSPX proceeds with illicit ordinations
Vatican News | Junno
Arocho Esteves | June 17, 2026
Pope
Leo XIV said that although he is considering a final appeal to the
traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, the choice to splinter from the Catholic
Church falls on them.
Speaking
to journalists outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo June 16, the pope was
asked about his feelings regarding plans by the traditionalist society,
commonly known as SSPX, to proceed with the consecration of new bishops without
a papal mandate.
The
pope said that while he is "considering making another appeal to say: 'Do
not do this, let us try to live in communion within the church,' " the
decision to proceed "is their choice."
"Certainly,
division among Christians is always a painful point. But they refuse to accept
certain fundamental elements of the church, starting with several points from
the Second Vatican Council," Leo said.
"If
they make that choice, I am sorry, but we must move forward," he added.
[.....]
COMMENT: The Vatican II Novus Ordo Church is a big
tent inviting a wide variety of heretics, schismatics, apostates, pagans,
animists, homosexuals, adulterers etc. to join the party. Even Leo/Prevost
himself is now known to have worshiped the pagan goddess Pachamama. The SSPX,
seeking a corner under this big tent,has been mute for so long we have wondered
out loud if they lost the power of speech. But what about Pope Leo/Prevost? His
recent pictures with the "Archbishopette of Canterbury" looks creepy.
If he were just personally sick, his welcome would be extended without
exceptions but, he has serious exceptions. Those must be "excepted"
who "refuse to accept certain fundamental elements of the church, starting
with several points from the Second Vatican Council"! There are some things
the "listening church of Synodality" just can't listen to. Vatican II
was a "pastoral council" that never rose above the level of churchmen
pastorally opining with no greater authority than their grace of state.Any
doctrinal opinions from churchmen from Vatican II that, if only apparently,
contradict or undermine Catholic revealed truth must be rejected, and there is
plenty there to reject. Such as, the claim that the Church of Christ subsists
in the Catholic Church. Putting the question to Artificial Intelligence:
Question:If
A subsists in B does it follow that A and B are an identity?
ANSWER:
No.
So:
If
A subsists in B, it
Only
under additional premises
The
truth that the Catholic Church and the Church of Christ are one and the same
thing is divinely revealed truth. Even the blind "artificial
intelligence" "sees" this Vatican II confabulation is just a
lie! Those that deny this truth are heretics and, as St. Thomas says, "All
heretics are schismatics," it remains to be determined what and who's
church the SSPX will be leaving. Revelation ended with the death of the last
apostle. What exactly Leo/Prevost is referring to when he talks about
"certain fundamental elements of the church, starting with several points
from the Second Vatican Council" needs serious clarification. No Catholic
is obliged to believe anything with "divine and Catholic faith" that
"started.... from the Second Vatican Council." The pastoral failures
of Vatican II reek to high heaven and doctrinal obfuscation only magnifies the
crime.
Heresy is Ugly
In
the medieval town (of 1480), fourteen of the named buildings are churches;
trees grow along the banks of the river and the bridge allows free
passagearehouses dwarf and obscure the churches which dominated the medieval
scene
Margaret
Belcher, late professor of English at the University of Canterbury, New
Zealand, and editor of the multivolume collection of the great Victorian Gothic
Revivalist Architect Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852), who was the architect
for 9 cathedrals and 60 churches, on a pair of drawings of a English town
contrasting the town of 1480 with what it became in 1880.
By their fruits we are expected to know them!
The
Archdiocese of Dubuque Iowa is restructuring its 160 parishes across 30
northeast Iowa counties into 24 "pastorates". Driven by a 46% decline
in Mass attendance and a shrinking number of priests, the Archdiocese halted
weekend Masses at more than 80 churches, though they remain open for weddings
and funerals.
The
transition to the new pastorate structure, which requires grouped parishes to
share clergy and resources, officially takes effect on July 14, 2026.
The
sweeping consolidation has significantly impacted communities and traditional
worship schedules. Key details of the situation include.
The
Cause: The Archdiocese reports a drop of nearly half in weekend Mass attendance
over the last 20 years, alongside a decreasing number of priests. The region
currently has roughly one priest for every two parishes.
Church
Usage: While many church buildings will no longer host weekend Mass, they are
not completely closed. They remain accessible for other liturgical
celebrations, such as weddings, funerals, weekday Masses, and private prayer.
COMMENT: The Archdioces of Dubuque has paid out about $17 million in settlements
for the sex abuse crimes of homosexual pederasts over the last 30 years. Unlike
many dioceses in the United States such as Harrisburg, Baltimore and
Philadelphia, the Dubuque Archdiocese has not had to file for bankruptcy and Chapter
11 protection. The collapse is due to the loss of the Catholic faith with the
associated The consolidation is because of a Louisana in New Orleans that was
established in 1793. The diocese of St. Louis covered the entire territory of
the Louisana Purchase. Excluding Spanish missionary work in the southwest, the
Archdioces of Dubuque is the third Catholic diocese west of the Mississippi
River. It was in the beginning responsible for the spiritual welfare of all
Catholics as well as Catholic missionary work in Iowa, Minnosota, North and
South Dakota, that is, everywhere east of the Missouri river, and south-west
Wisconsin. What the heroic French and Italian missionaries from the Archdiocese
of Dubuque built for over the next hundred plus years has not just been
squandered by the effeminate Novus Ordites through sloth, but actively ruined
by their heresy and schism. This is the fruit of Vatican II. This decline has
been evident since the early 1970s but with each passing year it is now visible
to the blind. It is impossible to attribute good but misguided intentions to
Novus Ordites. They are enemies of the Catholic faith. We must double our
prayers that God will cleanse His Church even if we ourselves must suffer in
the persecution. The loss of souls is irreparable. It may be soon time to say
that there is no salvation in the Novus Ordo Church.
IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND
Modernism vs. Neo-Modernism: What is the
Difference?
The
overarching principle of post-conciliar theology is not modernism, properly speaking.
Let us get our terms straight.
Modernism is the idea that there
are no eternal truths, that truth is the correspondence of the mind with one's
lifestyle (adaequatio intellectus et vitae), and that, therefore, old dogmas
must be abandoned and new beliefs must arise that meet 'the needs of modern
man'. This is a radical denial of the traditional and common sense notion of
truth: the correspondence of the mind with reality (adaequatio intellectus et
rei), which is the basis of the immutability of Catholic dogma.
No, the post-conciliar theological principle is neo-modernism, and the theology that is based on it is known as
the nouvelle theologie. It is the idea
that old dogmas or beliefs must be retained, yet not the traditional 'formulas':
dogmas must be expressed and interpreted in a new way in every age so as to
meet the 'needs of modern man'. This is
still a denial of the traditional and common sense notion of truth as
adaequatio intellectus et rei (insofar as it is still an attempt to make the
terminology that expresses the faith correspond with our modern lifestyle) and
consequently of the immutability of Catholic dogma, yet it is not as radical as
modernism. It is more subtle and much
more deceptive than modernism because it claims that the faith must be
retained; it is only the 'formulas' of faith that must be abandoned--they use
the term 'formula' to distinguish the supposedly mutable words of our creeds,
dogmas, etc. from their admittedly immutable meanings. Therefore, neo-modernism can effectively slip
under the radar of most pre-conciliar condemnations (except Humani Generis,
which condemns it directly) insofar as its practitioners claim that their new
and unintelligible theological terminology really expresses the same faith of
all times. In other words, neo-modernism
is supposed to be 'dynamic orthodoxy': supposedly orthodox in meaning, yet
always changing in expression to adapt to modern life (cf. Franciscan
University of Steubenville's mission statement).
Take extra ecclesiam nulla salus as a clear example of a dogma that has
received a brutal neo-modernist re-interpretation: they claim that the old
'formula' that "there is no salvation outside the Church" must be
abandoned; rather it is more meaningful to modern man to say that salvation is
not in, but through, the Church; people
who are not in the Church may still be saved through the Church; thus, to them
the dogma that "there is no salvation outside the Church" means that
there is salvation outside the Church.
Hence see Ven. Pope Pius XII condemning those "reduce to a
meaningless formula the necessity of belonging to the true Church in order to
gain eternal salvation." (Humani generis 27).
Yet
this mentality of reinterpreting everything anew in order to 'meet the needs of
the times' is generally tends to be found in different degrees among different
post-conciliar sources:
It
tends to be (1) rampant in men like De Lubac, Von Balthasar, Congar, etc.: it is
the ultimate goal of their writings, teachings, and activities as
churchmen. To achieve this end, they
employ the technique of 'resourcement', the neo-modernist strategy of fishing
for the few dubious, questionable, or idiosyncratic teachings of some Fathers
of the Church and other authoritative writers, and gather them into a massive,
heterodox theological argument against the traditional understanding of the
faith (which they like to relativize by giving it names such as
"Counter-Reformation" Theology, "Tridentine" Theology, or "Scholastic"
Theology, instead of just admitting that it is Catholic Theology plain and
simple). This technique accomplishes
three things that go hand-in-hand: (a) offers a refutation of traditional
Catholicism, (b) defends an interpretation that meets the needs of modern
times, and (c) gives it a semblance of being traditional, because it appears to
be based in the Fathers et al. This type
of argument is used, for example, by Von Balthasar in his nearly heretical
book, Dare We Hope that All Men be Saved? to 'prove', not that Hell does not
exist (that is a dogma), but that it is empty.
But this technique and its neo-modernistic underpinnings is not only
practiced in almost all of these men's writings; it is also defended in theory
by many of them, particularly in Von Balthasar's daring little book, Razing the
Bastions, where he demonstrates that "Tridentine" theology must be
rejected in our times because it is 'boring'.
It
also tends to be (2) present in a more
moderate way in the non-binding statements by post-conciliar popes, since
they themselves were deeply involved in the developing of the nouvelle
theologie. Just to give one of a million
possible examples, see Pope Benedict's evolutionistic re-interpretation of the
Resurrection of Our Lord. Nothing here
obviously contradicts the dogma of the
Resurrection (it may be interpreted as a simple analogy, even if a bad one, and
nothing more), but it is a novelty that can be easily understood as claiming
that the Resurrection is part of the natural development of nature (thus giving
credence to some of the nouvelle theologie's pet doctrines, such as De Lubac's heterodox notion of the supernatural
and De Chardin's pantheistic evolutionism).
This happens almost on a daily basis in what comes out of the Vatican,
not to mention what comes from local bishops.
And
finally, neo-modernism tends to be present (3) mostly implicitly or
behind-the-scenes in the Council, the Catechism, etc., even though it
seldom comes out more explicitly. Things
are done at this level under the pretext of 'aggiornamento', a euphemism for
neo-modernism. That is usually all the
justification provided since at this authoritative level, there is no need to
justify things theologically. Hence,
Vatican II and the Catechism are not outright neo-modernistic. Rather, they (like most of post-conciliar
doctrine) tend in that direction and/or are inspired by that mentality. In other words, most of the time these
documents do not explicitly teach neo-modernist errors (the kind of errors you
hear explicitly from neo-modernist theologians and priests). Rather, they are
full of dangerous ambiguities: statements that in a technical sense could be
interpreted as being in harmony with the traditional faith, but that, in their
natural, non-forced, interpretation are heterodox. One clear example of this is Dignitatis
humanae, par. 2; entire monographs have been written in order to prove that,
despite appearances, this document does not contradict previous teaching. Maybe in fact it ultimately does not, but it
is obvious that the prima facie meaning does; otherwise there would be no need
to write so many volumes to prove it.
It must be noted that these are general tendencies, and that in some documents
(cf. Gaudium et Spes) and every now and then in papal and episcopal statements
neo-modernist principles rears come out more explicitly.
For
a more detailed philosophical and theological critique of neo-modernism, and
how it is nothing but a re-hashing of modernism, see Garrigou-Lagrange's Where
is the New Theology Leading Us? and his The Structure of the Encyclical Humani
Generis.
Francisco J. Romero Carrasquillo, Ph.D., Professor of Theology and Philosophy
By
Divine Law Men are obliged to a Right Faith
As sight by the bodily eye is
the principle of the bodily passion of love, so the beginning of spiritual love
must be the intellectual vision of some object of the same. But the vision of
that spiritual object of understanding, which is God, cannot be had at present
by us except through faith, because God exceeds our natural reason, especially
if we consider Him in that regard under which our happiness consists in
enjoying Him.
a.) The divine law directs man
to be entirely subject to God. But as man
b.) Whoever holds an erroneous
view about a thing, touching the essence of the thing, does not know the thing.
Thus if any one were to fix on the notion of irrational animal, and take that
to be man, he would not know man. The case would be otherwise, if he was
mistaken only about some of the accidents of man. But in the case of compound
beings, though he who errs about any of the essentials of a thing does not know
the thing, absolutely speaking, still he knows it in a sort of a way: thus he
who thinks man to be an irrational animal knows him generically: but in the
case of simple beings this cannot be,
St. Thomas Aquinas, Of
God and His Creatures
The Absolute Necessity of
However,
in the face of this satanic hatred of religion, which reminds Us of the
"mystery of iniquity" [Thess. 2, 7] referred to by St. Paul, mere
human means and expedients are not enough, and We should consider ourselves
wanting in Our apostolic ministry if We did not point out to mankind those
wonderful mysteries of light, that alone contain the hidden strength to subjugate
the unchained powers of darkness. When Our Lord, coming down from the splendors
of Thabor, had healed the boy tormented by the devil, whom the disciples had
not been able to cure, to their humble question: "Why could not we cast
him out?" He made reply in the memorable words: "This kind is not
cast out but by prayer and fasting" [Matth. 17, 18-20]. It appears to Us,
Venerable Brethren, that these Divine words find a peculiar application in the
evils of our times, which can be averted only by means of prayer and penance.
Mindful then of our condition, that we are
essentially limited and absolutely dependent on the Supreme Being, before
everything else let us have recourse to prayer. We know through faith how great
is the power of humble, trustful, persevering prayer. To no other pious work
have ever been attached such ample, such universal, such solemn promises as to
prayer: "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and
it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that
seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened" [Matth. 7,
7]. "Amen, amen I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my name He
will give it you."
And what object could be more worthy of our
prayer, and more in keeping with the adorable person of Him who is the only
"mediator of God and men, the Man Jesus Christ" [I Tim. 2, 5], than
to beseech Him to preserve on earth faith in one God living and true? Such
prayer bears already in itself a part of its answer; for in the very act of
prayer a man unites himself with God and, so to speak, keeps alive on earth the
idea of God. The man who prays, merely by his humble posture, professes before
the world his faith in the Creator and Lord of all things; joined with others
in prayer, he recognizes, that not only the individual, but human society as a
whole has over it a supreme and absolute Lord. Pope Pius XI, Charitate Christi
Compulsi, On the Sacred Heart
Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of eternal
life, Your Heart is a glowing furnace of Love. You are my refuge and my
sanctuary. O my adorable and loving Savior, consume my heart with the burning
fire with which Yours is aflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow
from Your love. Let my heart be united with Yours. Let my will be conformed to
Yours in all things. May Your Will be the rule of all my desires and actions.
Amen. St. Gertrude the Great
CAN
POPE LEO XIV RESTORE CATHOLIC MORALITY? Impossible without repentance!
When
Pope Francis taught that Catholics living in a state of adultery can under
certain circumstances receive Holy Communion without repenting of Sin, he
overturned the First Principle of Catholic Moral Theology and thus destroyed
all Morality permitting any and every kind of sin.
St. Thomas lists the following
as principles or sources of morality: 1) the moral object, that is, that to
which the action tends of its very nature primarily and necessarily; 2) the circumstances of the act; 3) the
purpose of the act.
FIRST PRINCIPLE: The primary
and essential morality of a human act is derived from the object considered in
its moral aspect.
The primary and essential
morality of a human act is that which acts as the invariable basis of any
additional morality. Now it is the moral object which provides such a
foundation. This will be clear from an example. The moral object of adultery is
the transgression of anotherThis moral object remains the invariable basis of
the moral character of the act, no matter what further circumstances or motives
accompany the act. It cannot be objected that in human acts the first
consideration should be given to the motive rather than to the object of the
act. For this motive is either the objective purpose of the act itself which is
identical with the moral object, or the subjective purpose (the end of the
agent) which presupposes moral goodness or evil in the object.
Rev. Dominic Prummer, O.P., Handbook
of Moral Theology
"For the
Christian doctrine of the Incarnation is not simply a theophany
Christopher
Dawson, The Christian View of History
Novus Ordo Church: The Lesser
and Disordered Good
"A good proportionate to the common condition of human nature is found
in many..., but the good that is above the common condition of nature is a
small number... And since eternal bliss, consisting in the vision of God,
surpasses the common condition of nature, there are but a few who are saved.
And this shows the mercy of God that raises some to that salvation that the
majority of men do not attain."
St. Thomas Aquinas
COMMENT: All that God has
created is good coming from that hand of God. All creation is hierarchically
directed to the glory of the greatest good which is God Himself. Man is created
in the image of God which consists in the spiritualization of a soul with the
powers of reason and will. The reason of man is directed to know truth and the
will of man is created to choose good. Man fails to obtain salvation when he
lives on lies and thus the good he chooses is not good enough. It is not a good
enough because it is a good that has a disordered reference to God and a
disordered reference to God's creation. It is a disordered lie. Every saint
commenting on the number saved says that very few men are saved. Jesus Christ
said that the way of salvation is straight and the gate narrow while the way to
damnation is broad and the gate wide. We are to strive to enter by the narrow
gate with the few and turn away from the many. The narrow gate demands that the
reason adheres to truth and the will to the greatest good which is God. The
Novus Ordo Church uniformly is complacent and satisfied with lies and "a
good proportionate to the common condition of human nature found in many."
There is no possibility for salvation for anyone who is satisfied with lies and
a lesser disordered "good proportionate to the common condition of human
nature."
Modernists and Neo-Modernists are willfully
blind to Essence, that is, they are in the end the most
heatless of all!
"Here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with the heart
that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye."
Antoine de Saint ExupThe
Little Prince
The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
BVM -Queen of All Saints & Mother of Fair Love, and BVM-Mediatrix of All
Grace are feasts of the Blessed Mother Mary normallycelebrated on May 31. The
Queenship is translated to the following day and the other two are suppressed
this year because of Trinity Sunday. Since the current occupant of the papal
throne, like his predecessor Francis/Bergoglio, despise the immemorial
tradition of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Mediatrix of All
Graces, we should offer prayers to her today in memory of this title.
Prayer
to Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces
O heavenly treasure of all
graces, Mary, Mother of God and our dear Mother, since you are the first-born
daughter of the Eternal Father, and you held in your hands His omnipotence, be
moved to pity for our souls and grant us the graces which we fervently ask of
you, our dear Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces. [Make your requests here] Hail
Mary, etc.
O merciful dispenser of divine
graces, Mary most Holy, Mother of the Eternal Incarnate Word, who has crowned
you with His immense wisdom, look tenderly upon the greatness of our sorrows,
and grant us the necessary graces we need so much to fulfill the will of our
Creator, God the Father. Hail Mary, etc.
Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces, pray for us.
Pope
Leo endorses Francis/Bergoglio's Heretical Document, Evangelii
Gaudium
Neo-Modernists
belief:
"Non-Christians, by God's
gracious initiative, when they are faithful to their own consciences, can live,
'justified by the grace of God' and thus be 'associated to the paschal mystery
of Jesus Christ.'"
Pope Francis the Pelagian, Evangelii
Gaudium
"Pope Francis masterfully
concretely set forth in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium ....."
Pope Leo XIV
Catholic
Faith:
"The Holy Roman Church
firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the
Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics,
cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was
prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church
before the end of their lives.... and that nobody can be saved, no matter how
much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed blood in the name of
Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and unity of the Catholic
Church."
Pope Eugene IV, Council of
Clorence, Cantate Domino, 1441
SSPX
announces four candidates to be consecrated as bishops for the SSPX
The SSPX has been in doctrinal
discussions with Rome since 1997 and since around 2015 their leadership made
the 1989 Profession of Faith with its third addendum of vowing in a Catholic
profession of faith to unconditional obedience to the "authentic
(authorized) magisterium" of the pope and were, because of that,
regularized in the Novus Ordo Church. The authentic (authorized) magisterium is
a modern term used to identify the person of the pope in his 'authorized' acts
and has no other meaning beyond that. When the pope arranges the seating
assignments at a papal dinner it is an act of the "authentic (authorized)
magisterium" of the pope. Archbishop Lefebvre considered this addendum
unacceptable. Why? Because unconditional obedience, or as the Vatican II
document Lumen Gentium terms
it, unconditional 'submission of the mind and soul', can only be given to God.
All human acts of obedience are necessarily conditional. The SSPX since 2012
has expelled or driven out over one-hundred clerics from their society because
they would not go along with the compromising of the leadership. They insisted,
as did Archbishop Lefebvre, that there could be no accommodation with Rome
without first addressing the doctrinal errors of Vatican II and its corrupting
'spirit'. The most notable of those expelled was Bishop Richard Williamson.
Bishop Williamson before his death consecrated six bishops to aid traditional
Catholics throughout the world because there exists a state of necessity in the
Catholic Church to defend the faith and preserve the purity of worship. Our
Mission of Ss. Peter & Paul benefitted much from his charity. When Bishop
Williamson died in January of 2025 the SSPX published a notice in which they
censored his consecrations of bishops as an unnecessary act and a grave sin.
They expressed their hope that he sincerely repented from this grave sin before
his death! Now, a little over a year later, the SSPX has discovered their own
'state of necessity' and propose to consecrate four clerics as bishops. This
'state of necessity' has nothing to do with the defense of the Church, Catholic
tradition and purity of worship but only with the needs of the SSPX. This is
not amorally acceptable ground for the consecrations and the SSPX knows it. A
dishonorable motive vitiates what in other respects is a honorable act.
Furthermore, the priests of
the SSPX without exception were ordained with the understanding that they would
not be exercising ordinary jurisdiction. The SSPX believes erroneously that
supplied jurisdiction is provided by the Church directly to the clerics because
of the state of necessity in the Church. This is not true. Supplied
jurisdiction is provided by the Church for the needs of the faithful. Any
cleric may provide for the spiritual needs of the faithful when those holding
ordinary jurisdiction either will not or cannot. When a faithful Catholic
cannot obtain Catholic doctrine and Catholic sacraments from those exercising
ordinary jurisdiction over him, he is free to obtain these from any other
cleric who is willing to help. Now SPPX clerics WILL NOT provide the sacraments
to any faithful Catholic who does not conform to the doctrine and worship of
the SSPX and who is unwilling to pay for these sacraments. The SSPX clerics
believe that supplied jurisdiction is provided to them directly by the Church
independent of the needs of the faithful and they are free to give or withhold
spiritual aid. This is why Fr. John Fullerton, the current and former district
superior of the SSPX for the United States once vowed a threat to Ss. Peter
& Paul Roman Catholic Mission that unless the property was turned over to
them or to the local ordinary, he would personally see that no Catholic
attending our Mission would ever received any sacraments from any traditional
priest whomsoever. He vowed that we would enter a "spiritual desert."
This is objectively a grave sin. It demonstrates more convincingly than any
argument that the SSPX exists for itself and not the good of the Church or the
needs of the faithful. The SSPX has no right to consecrate bishops based upon
the personal needs of their own society.
Council of
Trent, Canon XIII, On the Sacraments
Bugnini in 1948) this assumption in altering
almost every aspect of the liturgy, adding and deleting material according to their
own theories. Therefore what they produced is not and can never be an
expression of Catholic tradition; it will always remain a foreign body.
Peter Kwasniewski, Ph.D.
St. John
Eudes:
THE name of contract is given
to any agreement entered into by two or more persons, in which the parties
contracting incur mutual obligations. This clearly shows that a contract. has
been entered into by the most Blessed Trinity and you in Baptism; since you
have incurred many obligations towards the Blessed Trinity, and the Blessed
Trinity has also obliged itself in regard to you. What is the nature of this
contract? It is a reciprocal contract of gifts, the highest and most entire
that can
It is a contract of adoption,
since God the Father has taken you for his child, and has conferred on you the
right of his inheritance with his only Son, and you have taken God for your
Father, and have promised to entertain for him all the love and respect which a
child owes to a so good a parent.
Behold the admirable effect of
the contract which you have made with God in Baptism, from being the child of
wrath and an heir of hell, you have become the child of God and an heir to
heaven! What you should not do to acknowledge the infinite goodness of God in
your regard?
It is a contract of alliance
with the Son of God, since in receiving Baptism you have united yourself to him
as to your head, your master, and your sovereign, and since the Son has taken
you for His servant and one of the members of his body, which is his Church. How
great is the goodness of God, says St. Paul to the newly converted Christians
of Corinth;
What were you before Baptism
but the unhappy slave of Satan, and subject like him to eternal punishment? But
by Baptism you have been delivered from this unhappy subjection, through the
divine alliance which you have contracted with Jesus Christ, which procures you
the enjoyment of eternal happiness, if you observe all its conditions.
Finally, it is a contract of
alliance with the Person of the Holy Ghost; for faith teaches us, that the Holy
Ghost takes the Christian soul as his spouse, and that the Christian
reciprocally takes the Holy Ghost for his spouse. In consequence of this sacred
alliance, the Holy Ghost calls you
When you had been presented to
the church to receive Baptism, you were treated as a person in the possession
of the devil, for the priest pronounced over you the exorcism of the church,
commanding the wicked spirit to depart from you, and to give place to the Holy
Ghost.
This ceremony teaches you that
by original sin you were really in possession of the devil, and that he abided
in you, but that, through Baptism, he has been cast out of you; that your soul
has been purified from the horrible stain which disfigured it, and that the
Holy Ghost, having sanctified and ornamented it with his grace, comes to take
up his abode in it. [
That Baptism imprints in your
soul a spiritual character, which no sin can efface. This character is a proof
that from this time you do not belong to yourself, but that you are the
property of Jesus Christ, who has purchased you by the infinite price of his
blood and of his death. You are not of yourself, but you are of Christ
The Priest introduced you into
the Church, by saying,
St. John Eudes, excerpt from Man
COMMENT:
St. John Eudes
makes clear what every faithful Catholic should already know, that is, it is by
virtue of the sacrament of Baptism received with Faith that makes a person a
Child of God. The Neo-modernist popes since Vatican II heretically teach that
everyone is a child of God by virtue of the Incarnation of the Logos, the Word
becoming flesh, where the second Person of the Trinity, by personally uniting
Himself with our human nature, thereby elevated all humanity to being children
of God by virtue of this shared humanity. For them, Baptism is only an outward sign signifying what has already taken place. It reduces Baptism from a performative
sign that is necessity of means for salvation to a simple necessity
of precept which obligates only those who
feel some inner compulsion to obey. It is this fundamental corruption of
revealed truth that makes modern ecumenism with such events as the blasphemous
It is an unfortunate fact that
the many traditional Catholics and conservative Catholics believe this tripe
and profess that any This error is derived essentially from the more
fundamental error of denying Dogma
as Dogma, by overturning Dogma
in its very nature. For these Neo-modernists, Dogma is not the revealed truth
of God but only a human axiom open to unending refinement and new
interpretations.
But the truth is that Dogma is divine revelation formally and infallibly defined by the Magisterium of the Church.It is irreformable in both the truth it declares and the words that it uses to define. It constitutes the formal object of divine and Catholic faith and is the proximate rule of faith for every faithful child of God. Not until every traditional Catholic recognizes and defends this truth will any effective resistance to Neo-modernist error be effectively mounted.
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