Monday, October 28, 2013

Pope Francis: Hermeneutic of Continuity? A Refutation of Tom Hoopes...



This is a response to an article recently posted on Catholic Vote.
All of my comments are in red. Most, worth noting, are not my own comments at all…simply presentation of hundreds of years of infallible Church teaching. The original author’s comments, Mr. Tom Hoopes, are in the grey.

Pope Francis made the same point in his interview with America: “During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says.”
To test the “Pope Francis wows with the Catechism” theory, I looked at some of the other “shocking” Francis comments to see if I could find them in the big green book. Here are a few of them.
What he needs to understand, first and foremost, is that the new Catechism in itself is flawed. It has many ambiguities and/or direct contradictions with previously propagated tradition. So with that being said, I will refute these each with previous papal teaching and we can, in the very least, ask ourselves why century old teaching was suddenly changed and seen as obsolete/no longer relevant or valid.

1. The Freedom of Man
 “Each one of us has his/her own vision of the Good or even of Evil. We must encourage him/her to move toward that which he/she sees as the Good.”
That’s the proper translation, we learn via Simcha Fisher, of the previously reported quote from the La Repubblica interview: “[E]veryone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them.”
That may sound  relativistic to our ears … but the radical freedom of man, and the trust that God can guide it, is central to Article 6 of Part Three of the Catechism, on the Moral Conscience. One key paragraph:
1778 “Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right.”

Leo XIII, Libertas Praestantissumum, 1888, #30
Another liberty is widely advocated, namely, liberty of conscience. If by this is meant that everyone may, as he chooses, worship God or not, it is sufficiently refuted by the arguments already adduced. But it may also be taken to mean that every man in the State may follow the will of God (good) and, from a consciousness of duty and free from every obstacle, obey His commands. This, indeed, is true liberty, a liberty worthy of the sons of God...the kind of liberty the Apostles claimed for themselves with intrepid constancy...which the martyrs in vast numbers consecrated by their blood.
>> What is crucial to note here is that Leo, echoing the same words since Trent and well before, is saying that the idea that all men are free/ought to be free to worship (or not worship) however they please is a fallacy. This does not mean that men can be coerced to be Catholic. Not at all. When Leo condemns said unrestricted liberty of conscience/religion, he is saying that with respect to the public square (not privately). Indeed, the only true freedom is that which comes from being within the bosom of Holy Mother Church because it is Christ alone and the Truth who He is that “sets us free.” (Jn 8:32). Also crucial here is that Leo clearly states that the will of God is what is good…not the will of the man or his flawed/malformed conscience. It does not matter which translation of what is presented above is used, both are patently wrong. We absolutely must NOT encourage others to move toward their own personal “vision of the Good.” Why? Because there are many, many (most) people whose visions are severely skewed. This is why abortion is legal, contraception, porn, prostitution, premarital fornication, divorce and remarriage, homosexual unions, etc. etc. etc. Leo saw all this coming in a big time way. Popular sovereignty is sufficiently refuted by Matthew 7: Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!
Most people are wrong. Plain and simple what this is saying. Most follow the skewed, malformed conscience rather than infallible Holy Mother Church.
More quotes:
Leo XIII, Libertas Praestantissumum, 1888, #16
...when duty and conscience cease to appeal to them, there will be nothing to hold them back but force, which of itself alone is powerless to keep their covetousness in check.
1 Corinthians 4:4
For I am not conscious to myself of any thing, yet am I not hereby justified; but he that judgeth me, is the Lord. (DRB) / It is true that my conscience does not reproach me, but that is not enough to justify me: it is the Lord who is my judge. (NAB)
Pope Pius IX, The Syllabus of Errors, 1864, #15
Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true – CONDEMNED
Pope Pius IX, The Syllabus of Errors, 1864, #77
In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship – CONDEMNED
Pope Pius IX, The Syllabus of Errors, 1864, #55
The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church – CONDEMNED
Pope Paul VI, Ecclesiam Suam, 1964, #104
[Atheists] are quick to make use of sentiments and expressions found in our Gospel, referring to the brotherhood of man, mutual aid, and human compassion. Shall we not one day be able to lead them back to the Christian sources of these moral values?
>> This one is VERY worth pointing out because it is becoming more and more evident that Francis is even contradicting his post-conciliar predecessors. He has no desire to convert atheists. He, in his own words, just wants to “go out and meet them where they are.”
Pope Leo XIII, Inscrutabili Dei Consilio, 1878, #5
if any one of sound mind compare the age in which We live, so hostile to religion and to the Church of Christ, with those happy times when the Church was revered as a mother by the nations, beyond all question he will see that our epoch is rushing wildly along the straight road to destruction...while in those times which most abounded in excellent institutions, peaceful life, wealth, and prosperity the people showed themselves most obedient to the Church's rule and laws.
My personal favorite quote:
Leo XIII, Tametsi Futura Prospicientibus , 1900, #13
The world has heard enough of the so-called "rights of man." Let it hear something of the rights of God.

2. Infallible Flock?
“And all the faithful, considered as a whole, are infallible in matters of belief, and the people display this infallibilitas in credendo, this infallibility in believing, through a supernatural sense of the faith of all the people walking together.”
Thus said the Pope in his America interview. I checked him in the Catechism, and found this:
889 In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a “supernatural sense of faith” the People of God, under the guidance of the Church’s living Magisterium, “unfailingly adheres to this faith.
Pope Benedict is a good guy to talk to if you’re concerned about the sensum fidelis(also, Lumen Gentium 12).
>> Refer, first of all, back to Matthew 7 and also to Matthew 16:18. Christ setup the Church on Peter, not on the entire populous of baptized believers. We don’t need to look any further than the First Vatican Council.
>> Collegiality, which is the root of this evolving notion of the infallibility of the entire body of the Church, destroys the unity of the Church. This is precisely why Pope Benedict, on more than one occasion, admitted that he had no power outside of the four walls of his Vatican apartment. Just stop and look at all the chaos and scandal in the Church. One surely cannot be so naïve as to think that Benedict or John Paul II did not know anything about all the problems (liturgical abuses, pederasty, homosexuality, etc.). They knew…they just couldn’t do anything about it because the stigma of collegiality had already taken over. No longer a monarch, the Pope has no say unless some bogus collaboration of Episcopal synods has unanimously agreed on something. The USCCB has disobeyed Rome in the past, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. All kinds of other CCB’s in other countries have done much worse.  Just take a look at this:

Nowhere in Church history has there ever been a teaching that the entirety of the “people of God” are infallible.
The infallibility of the papacy, however, has been clearly defined:
First Vatican Council, Session 4, Chapter 4, #7,9
7. This gift of truth and never-failing faith was therefore divinely conferred on Peter and his successors in this See so that they might discharge their exalted office for the salvation of all, and so that the whole flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the poisonous food of error and be nourished with the sustenance of heavenly doctrine. Thus the tendency to schism is removed and the whole Church is preserved in unity, and, resting on its foundation, can stand firm against the gates of hell.
9. …we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman Pontiff (not the collectivity of bishops and/or faithful) speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the Church, irreformable.
So then, should anyone, which God forbid, have the temerity to reject this definition of ours: let him be anathema.
>> More can be found at the link below by Fr. Peter Scott with the problems in Collegiality:
>> Finally, a note on this idea that the People of God are infallible “in believing, through a supernatural sense of the faith of all the people walking together.”
Pope St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, #22
According to the principles of the Modernists, [the Sacred Books] may be rightly described as a collection of experiences...it is all mere juggling of words. For if we take the Bible, according to the tenets of agnosticism, to be a human work, made by men for men...what room is there left in it for inspiration?
>> In a roundabout way, Pope Francis is suggesting a measure of existentialism, that life is about experiences and that truth is measured insofar as it is experienced by the masses together. This is entirely false. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Alpha and Omega. God from God, light from light. Independent of man and before all ages, before man.

3. Proclaim Jesus, Not “Small Minded Rules”*
“The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules.* The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all.”
That last sentence is almost a pastoral mission statement of Pope Francis, and his emphasis on mercy has caused great consternation to some. They worry that mercy becomes “indifference to sin” in practice. That is a debate in the Church that has raged in from the Prodigal Son’s older brother to the Kurt Waldheim controversy to today.
But Francis is of course absolutely right that the Church is here to proclaim Jesus above all, never the rules above Jesus. The whole Catechism section on evangelization is helpful. I’ll give you just the first words of each paragraph here:
·         425 The transmission of the Christian faith consists primarily in proclaiming Jesus Christ in order to lead others to faith in him. … 
·         426 “At the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son from the Father …
·         427 In catechesis “Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God,. . . is taught – everything else is taught with reference to him  …
·         428 Whoever is called “to teach Christ” must first seek “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus”; he must suffer “the loss of all things. . .” in order to “gain Christ and be found in him”…
·         429 From this loving knowledge of Christ springs the desire to proclaim him, to “evangelize”, and to lead others to the “yes” of faith in Jesus Christ ….
*It is important to note that this is a separate part of the interview from his discussion of teaching about abortion, contraception and marriage in context. Those are not “small minded rules” to Francis, as evidenced by his words the day after the interview was published: “Each child that is unborn, but is unjustly condemned to be aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ.”
** And while we’re on the “small-minded rules”, the Wheat & Weeds blog’s indefatigable attention to Pope Benedict is paying off. Wheat & Weeds uncorked this great old Benedict quote to show that anyone mad at Francis should have been mad already:
Said Benedict: “We should not allow our faith to be drained by too many discussions of multiple, minor details, but rather, should always keep our eyes in the first place on the greatness of Christianity.
“I remember, when I used go to Germany in the 1980s and ’90s, that I was asked to give interviews and I always knew the questions in advance. They concerned the ordination of women, contraception, abortion and other such constantly recurring problems.
“If we let ourselves be drawn into these discussions, the Church is then identified with certain commandments or prohibitions; we give the impression that we are moralists with a few somewhat antiquated convictions, and not even a hint of the true greatness of the faith appears. I therefore consider it essential always to highlight the greatness of our faith – a commitment from which we must not allow such situations to divert us.”
 “Francis is of course absolutely right that the Church is here to proclaim Jesus above all, never the rules above Jesus.”
>> Can not everybody see what a silly statement this is? Are we to believe that one can separate the Law from the Lawgiver? The truth from the Truth? Can light be separated from light? “Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:13)
Let’s just turn to John 14 to see how big of a deal Jesus’ “rules” were:
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father: and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
>> IF WE DO NOT KEEP CHRIST’S COMMANDS, WE DO NOT LOVE HIM. Jesus Christ has NOT “saved you” if you persist in sin. And ignorance of what is truly right or wrong is not sufficient to save you unless you are completely and utterly invincible…and I would venture to say that nobody in the first world, with internet, television, books, etc. can be considered so invincible.
>> Let’s see what Pope Eugene IV said at the Council of Florence about the role of the Supreme Shepherd and his DUTY to proclaim the “rules”:
Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, 1435. Session 22
He should not aim at gain, but cherishing all with paternal charity he should esteem them not as subjects but as sons and daughters. Since he has charge of their spiritual and temporal well-being, he must watch to get rid of all factions and seditious groups...which breed destruction to both souls and bodies...he should appoint cardinals or prelates of untarnished reputation who will seek not financial gain but justice and peace for their subjects.
>> How about Pope Pius XII, a little more recent?
Menti Nostrae - Thoughts for the Clergy of the World (1950) #63,89
63. Let your apostolic zeal shine with benign charity. If it be necessary -- and it is everyone's duty -- to fight error and repel vice, the soul of the priest must be ever open to compassion. Error must be fought with all our might, but the brother who errs must be loved intensely and brought to salvation… he who to please men would gloss over their evil inclinations or be indulgent about their incorrect ways of thinking or acting, thereby prejudicing Christian teaching and integrity of morals, would be betraying his ministry.
89. It must be added that the priest who is the "salt of the earth" and "the light of the world" must labor mightily for the defense of the Faith by preaching the Gospel and confuting the doctrinal errors opposed to it which are disseminated today among the people by every possible means. But these errors cannot be efficaciously fought if the unassailable principles of Catholic philosophy and theology are not thoroughly known.
>> Indeed, there is no spreading or defense of the Gospel without Christ’s Commands from the Gospel.
>> To quote His Exellency Bishop Bernard Fellay, “Pope Francis has made it known from early on, almost immediately, that he wanted to be different.” But Pope Pius XII made it know that there ought to be no room for “uniqueness” in the life of a Pope:
Ad Sinarum Gentem - On the Supranationality of the Church (1954) #18,20-21
18. The holy pastors, therefore, are not the inventors and the composers of this gospel, but only its authorized custodians and its divinely constituted heralds…[We] ought to repeat the words of Jesus Christ: "My teaching is not my own, but his who sent me" (John 7. 16)...We are not teachers of a doctrine invented by the human mind. But our conscience obliges us to embrace and follow what Jesus Christ Himself taught, and what He solemnly commanded His Apostles and their successors to teach.
20. Being most certain that this doctrine (whose integrity We must defend with the help of the Holy Ghost) has been divinely revealed, We repeat these words of the Apostle of the Gentiles: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you other than that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1.8)
21. You can easily see, Venerable Brothers and beloved sons, why he cannot be considered a Catholic or bear the name of Catholic who professes or teaches differently from what We have up to this point briefly explained.
Pope Leo XIII, Inimica Vis, 1892, #7
Sufficiently weighty are the words of Our predecessor Felix III in this regard. "An error which is not resisted is approved; a truth which is not defended is suppressed.... He who does not oppose an evident crime is open to the suspicion of secret complicity." (Pope St. Felix III - “Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it, and, indeed, to neglect to confound evil men—when we can do it—is no less a sin than to encourage them.”)
Pope Leo I
He that sees another in error, and endeavors not to correct it. testifies himself to he in error.
Pope Julius III, Council of Trent, Session XIII, 1551, Ch. VIII
It is not enough to declare the truth unless errors be exposed and repudiated.
>> How about more from Sacred Scripture?
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, both are abominable before God. (Prov 17:15).
For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice. (John 18:37)

4. Love, not Legalism
“If the Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear and safe, then he will find nothing. Tradition and memory of the past must help us to have the courage to open up new areas to God. Those who today always look for disciplinarian solutions, those who long for an exaggerated doctrinal ‘security,’ those who stubbornly try to recover a past that no longer exists­—they have a static and inward-directed view of things. In this way, faith becomes an ideology among other ideologies.”
Rejecting ideology, even religious ideology, is another central teaching of Francis. And it’s a critically important teaching for our time, which turns everything into ideology. It is also a teaching of the Catechism.
1972 The New Law is called a law of love because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit, rather than from fear; a law of grace, because it confers the strength of grace to act, by means of faith and the sacraments; a law of freedom, because it sets us free from the ritual and juridical observances of the Old Law, inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of charity and, finally, lets us pass from the condition of a servant who “does not know what his master is doing” to that of a friend of Christ – “For all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” – or even to the status of son and heir.
And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. (Luke 1:50, Magnificat)
>> The quotation at the end from the Catechism, #1972, is talking specifically about the OLD LAW. That which was abnegated, made obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). Ironically, the Catechism is saying this, yet the last 5 Popes still claim that the Old Covenant of the Jewish people is still valid and was never rendered obsolete. They still praise them for their practice of the Old Law, for circumcisions and Bar Mitzvah’s, etc.
That could be treated in an entirely different response, but just Google something like “Pope sends his warm wishes to Rabbi” and you’ll find plenty.
Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, 1896, #9
It is then undoubtedly the office of the church to guard Christian doctrine and to propagate it in its integrity and purity.
Pope Pius IX, The Syllabus of Errors, 1864, #5
Divine revelation is imperfect, and therefore subject to a continual and indefinite progress, corresponding with the advancement of human reason – CONDEMNED
>> We of COURSE absolutely do have “doctrinal security.” We do not long for it. We have it. Infallibly handed down through the ages. If Pope Francis is rejecting this notion, he is anathema of his own accord and “already condemned by his own judgment.” (Titus 3:10-11).
Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, 1928, #6,8
The Church of Christ not only exists to-day and always, but is also exactly the same as it was in the time of the Apostles...If our Redeemer plainly said that His Gospel was to continue not only during the times of the Apostles, but also till future ages, is it possible that the object of faith should in the process of time become so obscure and uncertain, that it would be necessary to-day to tolerate opinions which are even incompatible one with another?
Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis, 1950, #15
[Modernists] assert that when Catholic doctrine has been reduced to this condition, a way will be found to satisfy modern needs, that will permit of dogma being expressed also by the concepts of modern philosophy.
Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, 1896, #9
Origen writes: "As often as the heretics allege the possession of the canonical scriptures, to which all Christians give unanimous assent, they seem to say: `Behold the word of truth is in the houses.' But we should believe them not and abandon not the primary and ecclesiastical tradition. We should believe not otherwise than has been handed down by the tradition of the Church of God"
Pope St. Pius X, The Oath Against Modernism, 1910
I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously.
Pope Pius IX, The Syllabus of Errors, 1864, #80
The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization – CONDEMNED
Pope St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907, #13
Dogma is not only able, but ought to evolve and to be changed. This is strongly affirmed by the Modernists...Blind that they are, and leaders of the blind, inflated with a boastful science, they have reached that pitch of folly where they pervert the eternal concept of truth and the true nature of the religious sentiment.
Pope St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907, #17
Gregory IX., addressed to some theologians of his time: "Some among you, inflated like bladders with the spirit of vanity strive by profane novelties to cross the boundaries fixed by the Fathers, twisting the sense of the heavenly pages . . .to the philosophical teaching of the rationals, not for the profit of their hearer but to make a show of science . . . these, seduced by strange and eccentric doctrines, make the head of the tail and force the queen to serve the servant."
Pope St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907, #26
Evolution in the Church itself is fed by the need of accommodating itself to historical conditions and of harmonizing itself with existing forms of society. Such is religious evolution in detail. And here, before proceeding further, we would have you note well this whole theory of necessities and needs, for it is at the root of the entire system of the Modernists, and it is upon it that they will erect that famous method of theirs called the historical.
>> Finally, the Oath of the Pope as detailed in the Council of Florence:
Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, 1435. Session 22
I will firmly believe and hold the catholic faith, according to the tradition of the apostles, of general councils and of other holy fathers...and to defend and preach it to the point of death and the shedding of my blood...I promise also to labour faithfully for the defence of the catholic faith, the extirpation of heresies and errors, the reform of morals and the peace of the Christian people.


5. The Changeable Church?
“Human self-understanding changes with time, and so also human consciousness deepens. Let us think of when slavery was accepted or the death penalty was allowed without any problem. So we grow in the understanding of the truth. Exegetes and theologians help the church to mature in her own judgment. Even the other sciences and their development help the church in its growth in understanding. There are ecclesiastical rules and precepts that were once effective, but now they have lost value or meaning.”
Pope Francis’ words here might seem to be a rebuke of dogma, but they are in fact a mainstream expression of the Catholic belief in the development of Christian doctrine.
>> There is a big difference between “development” and “evolution of” or “changing of.” Hence this ongoing debate of hermeneutic of rupture vs continuity. Again, same quotes:
Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, 1896, #9
It is then undoubtedly the office of the church to guard Christian doctrine and to propagate it in its integrity and purity.
Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis, 1950, #15
[Modernists] assert that when Catholic doctrine has been reduced to this condition, a way will be found to satisfy modern needs, that will permit of dogma being expressed also by the concepts of modern philosophy.
Pius IX, First Vatican Council, Session 3, Chapter 4, #9
Hence all faithful Christians are forbidden to defend as the legitimate conclusions of science those opinions which are known to be contrary to the doctrine of faith, particularly if they have been condemned by the Church...errors which wear the deceptive appearance of truth.
Pope St. Pius X, The Oath Against Modernism, 1910
I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously.
Pope Julius III, Council of Trent, Session XIII, 1551, Ch. VIII
it is not enough to declare the truth unless errors be exposed and repudiated, it has seemed good to the holy council to subjoin these canons, so that, the Catholic doctrine being already known, all may understand also what are the heresies which they ought to guard against and avoid.
If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him, God speed you. (2 John 1:10)
Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, 1896, #9
Irenaeus too says: "The doctrine of the Apostles is the true faith...which is known to us through the Episcopal succession...which has reached even unto our age by the very fact that the Scriptures have been zealously guarded and fully interpreted."

As the Catechism puts it:
94 Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the life of the Church:
·         “through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts”; it is in particular “theological research [which] deepens knowledge of revealed truth”.
·         “from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which [believers] experience”, the sacred Scriptures “grow with the one who reads them.”
·         “from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth”.
Pius IX, First Vatican Council, Session 4, Chapter 4, Pastor Aeternus
"The Holy Spirit was not promised to the successor of Peter that by the revelation of the Holy Spirit they might disclose new doctrine, but that by His help they might guard sacredly the revelation transmitted through the Apostles and the deposit of Faith, and might faithfully set it forth."
Pius IX, First Vatican Council, Session 3, Chapter 4, #3
If anyone says that it is possible that at some time, given the advancement of knowledge, a sense may be assigned to the dogmas propounded by the Church which is different from that which the Church has understood and understands: let him be anathema.
Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis, 1950, #15
[Modernists] hold that the mysteries of faith are never expressed by truly adequate concepts but only by approximate and ever changeable notions…
Pope Pius X, Lamentabile, The Errors of the Modernists, 1907, #54
The dogmas, the sacraments, the hierarchy, as far as pertains both to the notion and to the reality, are nothing but interpretations and the evolution of Christian intelligence, which have increased and perfected the little germ latent in the Gospel. – Condemned
Pius IX, First Vatican Council, Session 3, Chapter 4, #14
[the] meaning of the sacred dogmas is ever to be maintained which has once been declared by Holy mother Church, and there must never be any abandonment of this sense under the pretext or in the name of a more profound understanding.
Pope St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907, #28
Pius IX wrote: These enemies of divine revelation extol human progress to the skies, and with rash and sacrilegious daring would have it introduced into the Catholic religion as if this religion were not the work of God but of man, or some kind of philosophical discovery susceptible of perfection by human efforts...Divine revelation is imperfect, and therefore subject to continual and indefinite progress, corresponding with the progress of human reason.

So there it is, a few Catechism lessons from Pope Francis.
I know that listening to Pope Francis can make us uncomfortable. I like how Phil Lawler put it: “Yes, the Pope makes me uncomfortable. As well he should.”
Speaking to the theologians at Benedictine College I know that some of them appreciated the precision of theological language they got from Pope Benedict. But they also appreciate the pastoral lessons they get from Pope Francis.
Both are in the Catechism.

Please join me in praying for the Holy Father, Pope Francis, that he may turn the ship around and begin to restore the Church to her former glory, which can only be done by correcting the errors of the last half century once and for all.

Friday, October 4, 2013

By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them - Round 2

Does this fruit look ROTTEN or Nourishing?

120,000 converts in 1950
75,000 in 2012.
(Rate based on population is down 75%)

1994 - 80.000 Adult Baptisms
2012 - 43,000 Adult Baptisms
(46% decline)

1962 - 1.3 million infant baptisms
2012 - Less than 800,000
(40% decrease)

In 2011:
- 19% of Catholics identified as highly committed
- 67% moderately committed
- 14% low level commitment
Of the 19% "highly committed"
- 60% support birth control
- 33% support abortion
- 50% say going to Mass each Sunday is not necessary
- 50% say getting married in the Catholic Church is not necessary
- 50% say divorce and remarriage is acceptable
- 50% say women priests should be okay
- 66% say you can disagree with Church teaching and still be a good Catholic

60% of American Catholics believe abortion is okay
66% of these above believe it's a question of personal choice / individual conscience
53% of that 60% believe that sex outside of marriage is acceptable
63% of Americans believe the Magisterium is wrong about the necessity of the Sacraments
50% of American Catholics do not believe Christ is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament
77% of American Catholics say going to weekly mass is not necessary
57% of American Catholics say they can disagree with the Church's position Same Sex Unions and still be good Catholics
70% of American Catholics say the Vatican does not play an important role in their identity as Catholics

In the United States (all people):
1970 - 10.6 marriages per 1,000 people
2010 - 6.8 marriages per 1,000 people
(36% decline)
1970 - 400,000 Catholic weddings
2010 - 180,000 Catholic weddings
(55% decline)

Number of First Holy Communions:
- 2001: 900,000
- 2012: 800,000

EDUCATION

1947: 1653 Catholic HS in US
2012: 731 Catholic HS in US
(56% drop)

1947: 698,032 Catholic HS Students
2012: 327,000 Catholic HS Students
(54% drop)

1965: 153 Catholic HS Students per 10k Catholics
2012: 48 Catholic HS Students per 10k Catholics
(69% drop)

1966: 10,550 Parochial Grade Schools (with nuns teaching)
2012: 5,378 Parochial Grade Schools (no nuns)

1963: 4,500,000 Parochial Grade School Students
2012: 1,382,000 Parochial Grade School Students

1966: 12,373 Priests Teaching in Catholic Schools
2012: 1,199 Priests Teaching in Catholic Schools
(90% decrease)

1959: 43,000 Lay People Teaching
2012: 162,000 Lay People Teaching
(370% increase)

1967: 6,000 Brothers Teaching in Catholic Schools
2012: 698 Brothers Teaching in Catholic Schools
(88% drop)

1964: 104,000 Nuns Teaching in Catholic Schools
2012: 4,000 Nuns Teaching in Catholic Schools
(96% decrease)

1966: 309 Catholic Universities
2012: 233 Catholic Universities
(25% drop)

Support of Same Sex Unions:
2001: 40% of Catholics
2012: 54% of Catholics

Support of Abortion legal in all/most cases:
2012: 54% of white Catholics

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2013-10-01

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Dialogue with Islam: Our Call of Alarm

Comments in green are my own comments/additions.


August 07, 2013 District of the US

We make available here an article of Fr. Regis de Cacqueray, District Superior of France, which was published on August 6 and comments on the message of Pope Francis for the conclusion of the Muslim Ramadan. We are grateful to the French District website, La Porte Latine for allowing us to reproduce this text in English.

For the end of Ramadan and Id al-Fitr, Pope Francis signed with his own hand, on July 10, a message of good wishes [see text below] to the Muslims, to be published on August 2, 2013.

For centuries, after the example of Our Lord, Catholics have been called to show their charity towards their neighbors; this charity is expressed by the most ardent and noble desire, that of seeing them one day receive the greatest of gifts: becoming sons and daughters of Jesus Christ by the grace of baptism. It would thus be a lack of esteem for our neighbor not to hope with all our heart that he may resolutely abandon the obstacles that draw him away from Christ and the Holy Church instituted by Him. Man-made religions, such as Buddhism, Islam or Talmudic Judaism, are among the foremost of these obstacles.

And yet, since Vatican II and its declaration, Nostra Aetate, these obstacles have suddenly come to be seen as worthy of esteem, even as vehicles of grace. While in reality they keep souls from finding the truth and adhering to Christ, the only way of salvation, a good number of pastors now encourage interest in these spiritual systems, and invite non-Christians to deepen their own beliefs. In some cases, they even encourage them to remain in their errors!

When the popes, by their acts, such as kissing the Koran (Pope John Paul II, below), or by their writings, such as wishing them a happy feast of Id al-Fitr (each of the last 3 popes), encourage the Muslims in the practice of Islam, we cannot but be devastated! In doing this they seem to lose sight of souls’ need to leave these paths that do not and can never lead to their salvation.



This attitude is the very opposite of that of St. Francis of Assisi when he met Sultan Al Malik Al Kamil: he gave proof of a demanding charity towards him, showing that he truly understood the man, but desiring only one thing: that his soul might go to Jesus Christ and abandon Islam. He neither insulted nor assaulted him. But neither did he give way. He told him straightforwardly:
If you wish to convert to Christ, and your people with you, I will most gladly remain among you out of love for Him. If you are hesitant about abandoning the law of Mohammed for the faith of Christ, order an immense fire to be lit; I will enter into it with your priests and you will see which is the surer and holier of the two creeds, and which one you must follow.

On April 3, 1991, John Paul II sent a message to the Muslims for the end of Ramadan. This August 2, his successor Francis imitated him. These acts are justified by the new practice of friendship inherited from the Council. This practice wishes to respond to the desire of entertaining peaceful relations in the zones of coexistence. But how can we not see that in the regions where Christians and Muslims live, the Christians are never the ones persecuting? How can we not notice that in our Western lands, it is the mosques that are being built and the churches that are being destroyed? How can we not observe that where Islam advances, it is to the detriment of our sanctuaries and calvaries? Is not this growth thanks to an irenicism that has refused prudence and embraced unconsciousness?

Fr. De Foucauld, who lived in contact with the Muslims and whose love for these men knew no bounds, was always lucid in distrusting their erroneous beliefs.[1] Speaking of the Muslims of North Africa, he said:
They can fight with great courage for France, out of a sentiment of honor, a warlike character, a solidarity, a fidelity to their given word, like the mercenaries of the 16th and 17th centuries, but generally speaking, besides some exceptions, as long as they remain Muslim, they will not be French; they will wait more or less patiently for the day of the medhi, when they will drive France to submission.

Why should this realistic warning from the holy missionary come to be seen as an exaggerated judgment and a fearful proof of his animosity?

For the love of God, for the love of souls, we pray that the Church’s authorities, and in particular the Sovereign Pontiff, may return to that clear language that consists in showing one’s love for one’s neighbor, but never showing esteem for the errors that can keep him far from God.
As the Apostle of the Gentiles warning St. Peter, we desire in our modest turn to send out a cry of alarm to his successor. May he strengthen souls with the charity of the missionary spirit that can only open a dialogue with the one single idea of resolutely leading souls to Jesus Christ.
There only is their good. There only is their salvation.

Suresnes, August 6, 2013, feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.[2]

~ Fr. Regis de Cacqueray, District Superior of France




Message of Pope Francis on August 2, 2013, for the end of Ramadan

To Muslims throughout the World: It gives me great pleasure to greet you as you celebrate ‘Id al-Fitr’, so concluding the month of Ramadan, dedicated mainly to fasting, prayer and almsgiving. It is a tradition by now that, on this occasion, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sends you a message of good wishes, together with a proposed theme for common reflection.

This year, the first of my Pontificate, I have decided to sign this traditional message myself and to send it to you, dear friends, as an expression of esteem and friendship for all Muslims, especially those who are religious leaders (aka those certainly NOT in a state of invincible ignorance). As you all know, when the Cardinals elected me as Bishop of Rome and Universal Pastor of the Catholic Church, I chose the name of “Francis”, a very famous saint who loved God and every human being deeply, to the point of being called “universal brother”. He loved, helped and served the needy, the sick and the poor; he also cared greatly for creation. I am aware that family and social dimensions enjoy a particular prominence for Muslims during this period, and it is worth noting that there are certain parallels in each of these areas with Christian faith and practice.

This year, the theme on which I would like to reflect with you and with all who will read this message is one that concerns both Muslims and Christians: Promoting Mutual Respect through Education. This year’s theme is intended to underline the importance of education in the way we understand each other, built upon the foundation of mutual respect.

Pope Leo XIII, Custodi di Quella Fede, 1892, #15

"Everyone should avoid familiarity or friendship with anyone suspected of belonging to masonry or to affiliated groups. Know them by their fruits and avoid them. Every familiarity should be avoided, not only with those impious libertines who openly promote the character of the sect, but also with those who hide under the mask of universal tolerance, respect for all religions, and the craving to reconcile the maxims of the Gospel with those of the revolution. These men seek to reconcile Christ and Belial, the Church of God and the state without God." 

“Respect” means an attitude of kindness towards people for whom we have consideration and esteem. “Mutual” means that this is not a one-way process, but something shared by both sides. What we are called to respect in each person is first of all his life, his physical integrity, his dignity and the rights deriving from that dignity, his reputation, his property, his ethnic and cultural identity, his ideas and his political choices. We are therefore called to think, speak and write respectfully of the other, not only in his presence, but always and everywhere, avoiding unfair criticism or defamation. Families, schools, religious teaching and all forms of media have a role to play in achieving this goal.

Turning to mutual respect in interreligious relations, especially between Christians and Muslims, we are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values

"Tolerance applies only to persons, but never to principles. Intolerance applies only to principles, but never to persons...We must be tolerant to the erring, because ignorance may have led them astray; but we must be intolerant to the error, because Truth is not our making, but God's." - Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, 1928, #10

"The union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it... whosoever therefore is not united with the body is no member of it, neither is he in communion with Christ its head." 

Particular respect is due to religious leaders and to places of worship. How painful are attacks on one or other of these! It is clear that, when we show respect for the religion of our neighbors or when we offer them our good wishes on the occasion of a religious celebration, we simply seek to share their joy, without making reference to the content of their religious convictions.

Pope Julius III, Council of Trent, Session XIII, 1551, Ch. VIII

"It is not enough to declare the truth unless errors be exposed and repudiated, it has seemed good to the holy council to subjoin these canons, so that, the Catholic doctrine being already known, all may understand also what are the heresies which they ought to guard against and avoid."

Regarding the education of Muslim and Christian youth, we have to bring up our young people to think and speak respectfully of other religions and their followers, and to avoid ridiculing or denigrating their convictions and practices. We all know that mutual respect is fundamental in any human relationship, especially among people who profess religious belief. In this way, sincere and lasting friendship can grow. 

When I received the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See on March 22, 2013, I said: "It is not possible to establish true links with God, while ignoring other people. Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam. At the Mass marking the beginning of my ministry, I greatly appreciated the presence of so many civil and religious leaders from the Islamic world." 

Pope St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907, #14

"Here it is well to note at once that, given this doctrine of experience united with the other doctrine of symbolism, every religion, even that of paganism, must be held to be true...And with what right will Modernists deny the truth of an experience affirmed by a follower of Islam? With what right can they claim true experiences for Catholics alone? Indeed Modernists do not deny but actually admit, some confusedly, others in the most open manner, that all religions are true...the most that Modernists can maintain is that the Catholic has more truth because it is more living." 

Matthew 12:30
He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth.
1 John 2:22
Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denieth the Father, and the Son.
2 John 1:10

If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him, God speed you.
Jn 18:37
For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.

With these words, I wished to emphasize once more the great importance of dialogue and cooperation among believers, in particular Christians and Muslims, and the need for it to be enhanced. With these sentiments, I reiterate my hope that all Christians and Muslims may be true promoters of mutual respect and friendship, in particular through education.

Finally, I send you my prayerful good wishes, that your lives may glorify the Almighty and give joy to those around you. Happy Feast to you all!

From the Vatican,
July 10, 2013
Francis

Pope Pius IX, The Syllabus of Errors, 1864, #15
Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true - CONDEMNED

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, 1928, #2
" ...[some] hold it for certain that men destitute of all religious sense are very rarely to be found, they seem to have founded on that belief a hope that the nations, although they differ among themselves in certain religious matters, will without much difficulty come to agree as brethren in professing certain doctrines, which form as it were a common basis of the spiritual life. 
For which reason conventions, meetings and addresses are frequently arranged by these persons, at which a large number of listeners are present, and at which all without distinction are invited to join in the discussion, both infidels of every kind, and Christians, even those who have unhappily fallen away from Christ or who with obstinacy and pertinacity deny His divine nature and mission. 
Certainly such attempts can nowise be approved by Catholics, founded as they are on that false opinion which considers all religions to be more or less good and praiseworthy, since they all in different ways manifest and signify that sense which is inborn in us all, and by which we are led to God and to the obedient acknowledgment of His rule. Not only are those who hold this opinion in error and deceived, but also in distorting the idea of true religion they reject it, and little by little. turn aside to naturalism and atheism, as it is called; from which it clearly follows that one who supports those who hold these theories and attempt to realize them, is altogether abandoning the divinely revealed religion.

http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/dialogue-islam-our-call-alarm-2316