Bishops - Good And Bad

Let's start with the bad first so that we can end this post on the good side.  The German Bishops' Conference, under Cardinal Reinhard Marx, has formally declared it permissible to commit sacrilege against Holy Communion.  They are allowing Protestant spouse of Catholics to receive Holy Communion "under certain conditions".   Of course sensible people understand that "under certain conditions" is a polite way of saying "allowing the camel's nose to get under the tent".  We know where that leads.  Remember that at the infamous 1930 Lambeth Conference, the Anglican church permitted the use of contraceptives under "limited" circumstances.  Now the Anglicans and many other church bodies brook baby-murder, gay clergy, etc.

No one may permit that kind of sacrilege - ever.  If Cardinal Marx retains his position of influence, we can very well glean the pope's own attitudes towards the Eucharist - and perhaps towards God Himself.

That's the bad news about bad bishops - now for some good news about good bishops.

I've lauded Bishop Thomas Paprocki before on this blog.  He is the bishop of Springfield, IL.  In his diocese resides Senator Dick Durbin, one of the most rabidly pro-abortion faux-katholycs.  Bishop Paprocki recently announced that Durbin was not to be admitted to Holy Communion until he repents of his support of baby-murder. The straw that broke the camel's back appears to be Durbin's vote against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. 

Imagine that!  A bishop obeying Canon 915 and instructing his priests to do the same.  Let us pray that other bishops follow suit and that the wolves at the USCCB learn a thing or two from him.

The Schism In The Church Cannot Be Denied

Crisis Magazine published last week a very thoughtful article by Dennis Prager entitled "Why Judaism And Then Christianity Rejected Homosexuality".  I'd urge all to read it carefully - several times.  I think he's correct about the benefits of instilling Godly discipline of the procreative powers.  One might do well to intersperse that reading with the reading of Humanae Vitae.  One thing we can notice right off the bat is the correlation of the abolition of sexual restraint and the increase of coarseness and even violence in our society.  Interestingly enough, we even notice a proportional increase in the clamoring for governmental intervention in our lives, almost as if we (as a society) both crave the controls from government to replace our own abandoned self-control and the facilitation of hedonism.  That is why the Democrats, the party of baby-slaughter and sodomy, is also the party of socialism.

That article underscores the grave nature of the errors embodied in Amoralis Lamentia, particular Chapter 8 of the thing.  On February 3, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German Bishops' Conference, declared that priests and clergy can conduct "blessing ceremonies" for homosexual couples.  I put "blessing ceremonies" in quotes for it is impossible to bless mortal sin.  The attempt to do so is both blasphemy and sacrilege.  He stated this an in interview during which he also shilled for female deacons and married clergy.  Why didn't he just throw abortion in there for good measure?  Cardinal Marx still retains his position - unlike several faithful priests who were kicked to the curb for upholding the Church's teachings on homosexuality, etc.

Not only does the pope fail to utter one word of correction (let alone rebuke) against this flagrant disobedience to God's commands, but he gives honor to yet another dissident cleric.  Father Jose Tolentino Calaca De Mendonsa (hereafter just called Fr. Tolentino for obvious reasons) is rector of the Cathedral of Lisbon.  He recently wrote the introduction to a book called "Feminist Theology In History".  That book sounds like a hoot, doesn't it?  It's written by a faix-nun who is both pro-abortion and pro-sodomy.   LifeSiteNews has details of the gibberish found in this "introduction".  Now consider that Pope Francis selected Tolentino to preach at his 2018 Lenten retreat.  One can only imagine the kind of poison that will be served to the pope and the others at that retreat - not that they are unaccustomed to this poison for they produce enough of it themselves.

At One Peter Five we read an article entitled "Approval For Blessings Of Homosexual Couples Equivalent To Founding A New Church".  The logic behind that statement is very simple.  In the authentic Church, mortal sin can never be blessed.  To insinuate that such is possible is to concoct an alien moral theology.  It would attempt to redefine moral truths.  In order to do that, it would have to redefine a different deity, for the One True God, immutable as He is, cannot change His word.

So now we see an attempt to deform the Catholic Faith, the One True Church, into something completely alien to the Bride of Christ as He established her.  Is this part and parcel of creating a "one-world religion" for a "new order"?  This is not the first attempt that progressives made towards this goal.  I believe they floated a trial balloon with the issue of capital punishment.  This current pope and many progressives espoused a position to abolish capital punishment altogether - a complete divergence from Church tradition.  Enough people are ambivalent about capital punishment so they weren't alert to the danger this posed to the Deposit of Faith.  Now they are getting more brazen.

Will some of us now take off the rose-colored glasses to admit that this pontificate is dangerous?  In the face of the overwhelming evidence, their denial of the facts can be considered willful - and sinful.  I ask them to please stop being part of the problem and to pray and speak out for the Church.

From The Flighty Interview Department: Pope Says Christians Should Apologize To Gays For Not Coddling Them

Two days ago, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, one of the pope's nine closest advisers, claimed that the Church must apologize to gays because "we've done a lot to marginalize them".  He said that up "until recently, the Church has been very negative about gay people".  Did Marx intend to refute St. Peter Damian, himself a bishop as well as Doctor of the Church, when the latter combated the mortal sin of homosexual conduct in the ranks of the clergy?  Marx has been rather brazen about his attempts to "normalize" that mortal sin.

Yesterday as he was returning to Rome via plane, the pope gave another disastrous interview - by far not his first, but quite likely his worst to date.  When asked about Marx's remarks a day or so earlier, he echoed Marx as he stated that the Church as to say it's "sorry to the gay person" for "discrimination".  Not so. Anyone who engages in mortal sin, particularly unrepented and repeated mortal sin, marginalizes himself and discriminates against himself - in the worst way.  He/she deliberately cuts him/herself off from sanctifying grace and places him/herself in the position of being damned to hell forever.  Only by repentance and the Sacrament of Confession can that person find him/herself back in the friendship of God and in the communion of believers.  Or does the pope suggest that St. Paul should have apologized to that wayward Christian about whom we read in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13?

If there's anything for which the Church should be "apologizing" to gays, perhaps that shortcoming would be the refusal of so many clergy to preach to them that unless they repent they will most likely go to hell.  Perhaps it would be for the coddling of their mortal sin, causing false comfort and complacency as they careen towards eternal perdition.  Four years ago, when Father Marcel Guarnizo was thrown under the bus by the Archdiocese of Washington for denying Holy Communion to a lesbian, Bishop Knestout apologized to her.  For that, I truly believe that Knestout really owes her another, different apology.  He should apologize to her for coddling her mortal sin and for not displaying true pastoral solicitude in his refusal to call her to repentance.  Sadly that won't happen at this time for it seems that the pope has just confirmed Knestout in his cowardly statement to the lesbian.

If this is what the pope calls being "pastoral", we now have a problem of wolves dressed in shepherds' clothing.

Cardinal Marx Outright Shills For Holy Communion For Adulterers And Sodomites

Such was the gist of his "intervention" this past Wednesday. To complete the heretical slop, he also stated that contraception within marriage should be liberalized "to make more room for conscience".  In other words, the clear teachings of Jesus Christ are to be subordinated to the demands of warped consciences.  I saw this news on Church Militant's site and left the following comment.  It is self-explanatory, but knowing CM's reluctance to criticize the doings and sayings of Pope Francis, here's hoping that the comment remains and that they start acknowledging the proverbial "elephant in the living room".   The comment is "If Marx is allowed to remain in his various Church-related roles after this proposal of immorality and heresy, we need to acknowledge that Pope Francis approves of Marx's antics and perhaps even is applauding them.  Let us cease this fear of stating these simple truths, shall we?"

Meanwhile, the bishops from Poland and Africa are having nothing to do with Marx's antics.  Toronto Catholic Witness relates that Archbishop Gadecki refutes the idea of "being pastoral" and he has spoken in the name of all the Polish bishops.  Michael Hichborn of Lepanto Institute asks why such matters of settled doctrine are even being discussed and then answers the question; they are being discussed because Marx et al want to unsettle these doctrines.

We've had de facto schism for some time now.  This sin-nod may well formalize that reality.

Don't Let Papal Visit Distract You From Next Month's Synod

The preparations for the pope's imminent visit are developing into quite a "dog-and-pony" show, with all the tee shirts, caps, cardboard cut-outs, etc.  Lots of excitement is afoot - so much so that many are becoming oblivious to the storm that is about to erupt at the Ordinary Synod of the Family this coming October.

Some of us are raising the alarm.  Ladies and gentlemen, there is real possibility - if not probability - for schism to result from this synod.  This tocsin is also being sounded by Cardinals.  Cardinal Reinhard Marx is on record of favoring the distribution of Holy Communion to divorced and remarried Catholics who have not obtained proper annulments.  Bear in mind that this heretical position is being espoused by the president of the German Catholic Conference and member of Pope Francis' "gang of nine".

Thankfully Marx is being opposed directly by two faithful Cardinals.  Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, called Marx's words "heresy and dangerous schizophrenia".  He made his remarks as he released his book "God Or Nothing - A Conversation About Faith".  His book was presented by Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, who explicitly warned of a schism owing to the antics of German bishops.

There's also heresy from Belgium.  Bishop Johan Bonny (where have we heard that name before?), recently voiced opposition not only to Humanae Vitae, but to natural law itself.  Consider that this heretic will be a sin-nod "father", as well as Bishop Cupich.

As I said, too many well-meaning folks are waxing giddy over the pope's visit.  We need to remain sober and at prayer for the future of the Church and salvation of millions.  I now post a video that suggests this pitting of clerics against each other might well be a fulfillment of the prophesy of Our Lady of Akita.  It also voices many other warnings and alarms regarding the upcoming sin-nod.

Monday's Secret Pow-Wow At The Vatican - A Harbinger Of Schism?

This past Monday, Cardinal Reinhard Marx hosted a closed meeting of various prelates and theologians at the Pontifical Gregorian University, reports Edward Pentin in the National Catholic Register.  This was held as a sort of brainstorming for the next October synod.  Among the "topics" discussed:

• how the Church can "better welcome those in stable same-sex unions"
• to "develop" the Church's teaching on human sexuality
• calling for a "theology of love" as opposed to "theology of the body"
• "the importance of the human sex drive"
• admitting remarried divorcees to Holy Communion (of course!)

One participant said that next October's synod would be a "failure" if it affirmed what the Church has already taught.  If that was the general attitude of all the attendees, perhaps all should be defrocked and/or have their teaching credentials revoked, but I digress.  Among those in attendance was Father Eberhard Schockenhoff, who vociferously opposes Humanae Vitae and favors same-sex relationships.  With that splotch to his name, one must wonder why he would have been included in this pow-wow.  Or maybe we know the reason all too well.

Father Z and One Peter Five both have commentaries on this meeting.  The latter blogger believes this is a harbinger of schism.  I believe he is correct.  Ladies and gentlemen, we need to pray for our Church.  In order to do so, we must cease playing pollyanna and remove our rose-colored glasses.  The rot is within the Vatican itself.

Interesting Definitions Of Dissent And Terrorism

In order for prelates to monkey around with theology, they must first attempt to redefine basic terminology, that is, they must twist the meanings of specific words.  Whoever controls the language controls not only the debate but ultimately the thinking of unsuspecting listeners.  To that end, I write this post to expose some linguistic chicanery.

First we take a look at remarks made by Cardinal Reinhard Marx.  He gave an interview to America magazine two weeks ago.  In it he validated homosexual relationships.  Of course that's impossible since the sin of homosexual conduct is always evil.  But he didn't stop there.  He went on to liken people yearning for traditional mentality with terrorists.  Here's the quote from LifeSiteNews.  "I had a discussion with some of the students, 'Cardinal is it true that the younger people are more traditional?’ And that’s true. But that is not dangerous.  I have no problem with tradition. But we have also the tendencies that the people want to be clear in their positions. Black and white populism is growing in Europe. And that is the beginning, perhaps, of populism, of terrorism, that’s clear.  The atmosphere of reducing the complexity of the world, to give simple answers, to give black and white answers, is growing, and I think that is very dangerous,”

Got that?  If people want the truth of Jesus Christ, that is the "beginning of terrorism.  Let's address this bugaboo regarding "simple answers", shall we?  The truth usually is simple; it may not be easy to implement as it often goes against sinful natures, but the meaning is simple.  Such is God's prohibition against homosexual conduct, for instance.  But progressives often like to make the truth seem more convoluted than it is, to allow themselves an excuse not to conform their lives to it.

Closer to home, we read a blog post by Cardinal Donald Wuerl entitled The Pope, Touchstone Of Faith And Unity.  In the second paragraph, he alludes to "an interview and an article by brother bishops."  Might that brother be - Cardinal Burke?  He voices discontent at those who differ from various popes.  Some things are worth noting.  First, not all examples he cites involve matters of faith and morals.  For instance, there were differences of opinion regarding clerical vesture and proper protocol in crowd situations.   There is also Cardinal Wuerl's own blatant disregard for Canon 915, as he takes it upon himself to aid and abet sacrilegious Holy Communions by dissident Catholics AND punishing priests who uphold the Canon (as happened to Father Guarnizo three years ago).

A key to understanding his blog post might be found in his peculiar definition of dissenters: those who "disagree with the pope because he does not agree with them and therefore follow their position."   Not quite!  Dissenters are those who willfully diverge from the Teachings and Traditions of Holy Mother Church and her Lord Jesus Christ.  These are two very different definitions; there can be congruence between them if the pope is himself faithful to these Traditions of the Church.  But if the pope diverges from the Church's teachings and faithful Catholics call him on it, these Catholics disagree with the pope precisely because in that instance it is the pope who is the dissenter.

So there you have it!  Cardinal Marx calls the yearning for the Church's teachings as "terrorism".  Cardinal Wuerl thinks it is "dissent" to object to papal violations of canon law, tinkering with the sin-nod interim report, etc.  Might it just be part and parcel of the "maturation" that the pope wants to have accomplished before the next synod?

Belgian And German Prelates Promulgate Heresy Unfettered

Last week it was announced that Johan Bonny, Bishop of Antwerp (Belgium) made public his dissidence from Catholic teaching by promulgating his opinion that same-sex couples should be recognized by the Church.  He has gone so far as to hint that these couples should be allowed to adopt children.  This post from Angelqueen has more details.

At the bottom of that post you'll see an equally disgusting quote from the rector of the Catholic University of Leuven, Rik Tors: "Do not underestimate the significance of this. Bonny advocates a change in long-held unshakable principles, something that the dogmatic pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI no bishop could afford to do."

Let's take a look at what Torfs said.  He said that Bonny felt free to mock his own bishop's miter under this pontificate, not being "free" to do so under the previous pontiffs.  There might be truth in that.  Both John Paul II and Benedict XVI upheld the teachings of Jesus Christ and, like true successors to St. Peter, expected the bishops under them to do the same.  I'll emphasize this also; what Torfs stated as being "long-held unshakable principles" are much more than that, as they have originated from God Himself and cannot be flouted without severe consequences, even if those consequences happen only in the afterlife.

The German Bishops' Conference, led by Cardinal Reinhard Marx (a key player in last October's sin-nod) issued an official statement calling for the admission of Catholics who have divorced and remarried without annulment, i.e., those living in adultery (let's call it what it is) to Holy Communion.  In other words, they want to facilitate for those Catholics the sin of sacrilegious Holy Communions.

Vox Cantorus has another quote from Bonny.  Note the theme of allowing polluted secular culture to dictate Church practices - a common theme these days.  The Germans believe they have particular impetus to do so, to increase their revenues from Germany's church-tax.

In September of 2013, the Holy Father excommunicated an Austrilian priest for conducting himself as one after his faculties had been suspended.  They were suspended because he advocated various heretical positions, among them "same-sex marriage".  In light of that, one must wonder why he lets Bonny, Marx et al carry on with their shenanigans while he has sacked Cardinal Burke who is an exemplary champion of the Church.

Cardinal Burke And Archbishop Schneider Warn Of Evils Underlying SinNod Debacle

Cardinal Raymond Burke, now Patron of the Order of Malta, gave an interview to Breitbart News this past Tuesday November 4.  In it he stated that the Church risks schism if bishops are seen as going contrary to the Church's teachings in the month ahead.  No doubt exists in my mind that he is speaking of Cardinals Kasper, Marx, Baldiserri and others who seek to change the Church's teachings on marriage and Holy Communion to a horrible deformation of Christ's authentic commands.  He warned of trying to accommodate the faith to the culture.

By the way - I've reason to believe that Cardinal Kasper will be exercising strong influence over the USCCB meeting that starts tomorrow in Baltimore.  Since he was in the area last Thursday, he may well even be at the meeting - or at least orchestrating things from the background.

The next day Archbishop Athanasius Schneider also gave an interview, echoing many of Burke's concerns.  Rorate Caeli has the entire text of the interview.  He state that during the SinNod there were moments of obvious manipulation and that "the interim report was clearly a prefabricated text with no reference to actual statement of the synod fathers".  I mentioned that in earlier posts.  Consider.  If indeed the SinNod puppet-masters put forth a prefabricated document while holding it out to be a reflection of deliberations that just happened, they were in fact lying to the Church at large.  There's no way to put lipstick on that pig.  Since the pope hand-picked those extra men (including Cardinal Wuerl) to the committee to compose that report, is it not logical to deduce that if the report was prefabricated that happened with the pope's approval if not initiation?

Schneider then called those paragraphs on divorced/remarried people and homosexuality as stemming from a "radical neo-pagan ideology".  He stated that the interim report will remain "a black mark which has stained the honor of the Apostolic See".  While he praises the final report, he also expresses concern that the paragraphs remain in the final report.  I've no doubt that this is being done to keep those topics "on the table" for next year's ordinary synod.

I'd urge study of the remarks of both these men.  Pray for them as well as the Church.  Cardinal Burke has already tasted vengeance for speaking the truth.  Will similar fates await Scheider, Muller, Pell and others?  We will be watching.

Slop From The Synod - The Cutting-Edge Concept Of Graduality!

Before we start, I think I will replace the word "synod" with a more accurate term - "SinNod".  That's precisely what the Pirolas are advocating: giving the nod to mortal sin.  The same can be said of those who want to "soften" language used to accurately describe sin's utter horror.  I cannot take credit for coining this term; I saw this in the comments on one of my colleagues' blog post and I don't remember which.  Anyway, let's proceed with some lunacy disclosed today.

On Monday, Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary opined that it's "unrealistic" to expect immediate acceptance of the Church's teaching on birth control.  Furthermore, he stated that Humanae Vitae "must be considered in light of the law of graduality."   Hmmm!  The "law of graduality"!  My goodness!  I never knew there was such a law!  Apparently neither does the spell-checker in my blogging software, for it keeps putting those red squiggly lines under the word "graduality".

But I suppose the good cardinal does have a point!  After all, Humanae Vitae was just promulgated a mere 46 years ago!  My goodness!  We can't rush things, now, can we?  Why, no wonder our bishops and priests have been mum about Humanae Vitae in the pulpits these past few decades!  The "law of graduality" demanded that they suck their thumbs instead of trying to prevent so many of their congregations from committing mortal sin and placing their souls in grave jeopardy.

Moving further down the article, we see that this double-talk is really a (not so) clever maneuver to introduce the pernicious idea of allowing Catholics in adulterous situations to receive Holy Communion.  Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich admitted so much when he spoke of "divorced and civilly remarried Catholics..who have not obtained annulments from their first sacramental marriages".  That phrase in quotes is a tad incorrect.   An annulment doesn't dissolve a valid Catholic marriage.  It is a declaration that the marriage never was valid; that's why the process is rather rigorous.  The truth must be obtained and acknowledged.  If a Catholic is "civilly married" to another and is still in a valid Catholic marriage, he/she is committing adultery and cannot receive Holy Communion in that state of mortal sin.  That has been the teaching of Christ for the past 2000 years.  This "law of graduality", as coined by these bishops, is nothing but denial of Jesus' clear teaching regarding marriage to please certain elements of their congregations.  They are not acting as bishops but panderers and enablers of mortal sin.

Yes, this is a SinNod.