Thus says Dr. Paolo Gulisano, renowned Italian epidemiologist, in an interview given to Church Militant TV. He is quite correct in describing this situation as a "fatal rupture" with the Church's history of standing fast in the face of plagues, wars, earthquakes, etc. He also made plain that no more can the pope utilize his "church is a field hospital" routine.
I am writing this after having just learned that my parish will not be offering the Sacrament of Confession "until further notice". This notice was given after one of the priests felt unwell and got tested for the covid-19 virus. His test results aren't in yet. Certainly we pray that the results are negative and for Father's health in general.
But what about the spiritual health of Catholics in the area? Just what might happen of that one Catholic who's been away from the Sacraments for years, and is now just mustering up what little faith and courage he/she has left to get right with God? Just being away from the Sacraments for years is its own mortal sin, and there are likely others, given that such a soul has had little if any spiritual sustenance. Now he/she cannot go to Confession at my Church, and at too many others. Remember - one mortal sin, if unconfessed, will damn a soul to hell for eternity. If that person makes a Perfect Act of Contrition, he/she might be able to save his/her soul. However, given the shoddy formation that many Catholics have received of late, that is one tenuous "IF". If he/she sees that Catholic priests are afraid of their company, will they be so understandably scandalized that they might never return?
In the Old Testament, we read Ezekiel 3:16-21 has plenty to say about those appointed by God to lead to salvation - and their punishment should they refuse to do so. Consider the disgraceful state of affairs of the US church right now. All of the US dioceses have canceled public Masses. In addition to the denial of Confession, many (not all, at least at the time of this writing) are not offering Last Rights nor are they baptizing babies. Here you have people in their final agonies being deserted by their Church. Frankly, I cannot see how such dereliction of duty isn't its own mortal sin. If so, how can a bishop's order to do that be binding under obedience? Then there are the babies. Let's get real on that. Pope John Paul II voiced the hope that there might be a way that unbaptized babies might be admitted to heaven. However, that is only a hope, not a certitude. We dare not presume that a child, deprived of baptism, will be admitted to the Beatific Vision. There is one glimmer of hope, and parents, take note. In dire straits, any lay person can baptize another. Must it come to that?
Too many clergy are losing sight of their sacerdotal duties in the face of physical disease. They value physical health over spiritual health. I fear that if they persist, they'll literally have hell to pay. Pray for our church and her priests.
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We should not at this point be surprised we have false priests who have run at the first hint of illness for themselves. Our church is full to the brim with false priests, but we KNEW that. If a man became a priest in order to gain access to other men and young boys, if he hates Catholicism and does all he can to diminish it, are we surprised to find he has no charism for the people and is unwilling to spend himself for the flock? We shouldn't be. These men are no more fit for the priesthood than I am, and I am a woman who could have no priestly vocation at all. I have seen posts by "priests" where they express fear and terror. What on earth good is a man like that at all! He is hiding under his bed, trembling, so he is as useless as udders on a bull. But he is there, he draws a salary from our church, he will still get together with his pals, be protected behind chancery or church walls, because this is what the church has been filled with, useless men. We do have some excellent priests, even surely some holy priests, but these are the exception. But look at our useless pope! Useless bishops! Useless Cardinals! That field hospital vaporized like steam from a teapot, in the face of a virus, the pope closed up shop and shut himself behind closed doors. No more "smell of the sheep", and if dopey Catholics don't get that understanding out of this, them human IQ has dropped so significantly they will never get it. He wouldn't even off the Holy Rosary himself when it was live-streamed. He's so obsessed with turning the church into the mundane earthly UN-organization he delegated the job of leading the rosary, lest, God forbid, something think he has any role to offer.
ReplyDeleteNo! Being pope is a job anyone can do! Bring me a woman or a migrant and I will put them on this chair and they will be just as effective as I am! There is no charism, no vocation, this is a job, a career choice.
Right now our Catholic blogosphere has become one of skepticism, and it seems exceedingly foolish. The people need calm, need direction, and it is entirely prudent to just do what seems sensible, quarantine ourselves and wait to see how this develops. Do we want to endanger our good priests by demanding they give us sacraments and hold Mass publicly? Are we incapable of enduring a Lent without public Mass and the sacraments? Can we not exist on faith in God alone for this brief time? We have scripture. We have the Rosary. We even have live-streamed Mass and due to technology, lots of Catholic company! Are we not capable of offering this up to God, and perceiving His special presence in our lives during this time of such great uncertainty, when all seems held in the balance.
God bless and help all who suffer from this illness in one way or another, for leaders who must act, for the souls of those lost, the families who suffer, from those who fear, and grant us wisdom, amen.
As I said in my post, there are those in mortal sin who need to go to confession. That is, in many localities, impossible for the priests aren't hearing them. If they die in that state, hell could well be their eternity. So in answer to your several questions, for many the answer is a resounding "NO".
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