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Pope to Doctrinally Dissenting Catholics:
Love It or Leave It
Pope
Benedict XVI is a hard man to classify. Often characterized as a
retiring scholar given to carefully nuanced statements, he repeatedly
rattles the curial Romanita with a Teutonic bluntness.
A case in point is the Pope's Aug. 28 Angelus address on Judas' betrayal of Christ. (See: "Pope suggests it's best to be 'honest' and leave the Church if you don't believe: HLI priest".)
The Holy Father examines the motivation of Judas, concluding that he
remained with Christ long after he had ceased to believe. Noting that
such false allegiance is the "mark of the devil," the Pope tells us that
Judas' reason for remaining was rooted in a "secret intention of taking
vengeance on the Master."
Drawing
a general lesson from the particular instance, the Pope lays down the
principle that when faith has departed from the individual, it is best
for the individual to depart from the faith. In other words, if you
don't believe in Catholic dogma, stop pretending to be Catholic. Be
honest: leave the Church.
The
Pope is calling on all modern Judases who remain nominally Catholic for
the sake of "taking vengeance" on the Church to have the courage of
their lack of conviction and acknowledge they are no longer Catholic,
i.e. they reject the defined truths to which all Catholics are obliged
to give assent if they are to remain Catholic.
In his latest book, False Friends of Fatima,
Christopher A. Ferrara agrees wholeheartedly with the principle
enunciated by the Holy Father, as he explained during his talk at the Fatima: Your Last Chance! conference in Rome. (See: "Meet the False Friends of Fatima".)
For
more than a half-century, "progressive" Church officials who want to
jettison traditional doctrine in favor of a false ecumenism have been
waging a war on the Message of Fatima. These "false friends" praise
Fatima as an exhortation to prayer and holiness, then distort the
message to suit their new ecclesiology, which does not include the
Church's sole divinely given mission: convert all souls to the Catholic
Faith.
The
Message of Fatima requires very specific actions by the Pope and the
bishops that we are assured will result in very specific results: the
conversion of Russia to the Catholic Faith and world peace. (See: Fatima Essentials: The Requests.)
That neither of these promises has been realized should be sufficient
proof that Our Lady's requests have not been honored. Yet, the "false
friends" claim otherwise.
The
war against the Message of Fatima is unending. One of the popular
figures on EWTN has used his television celebrity to further the
distortions of the Vatican Secretary of State by writing a book titled Fatima for Today.
A more honest title would have been, "Fatima Was Yesterday." But
honesty is not valued in this campaign of distortion. (See: "Fatima For Today: A Response".)
The
apostles were the first bishops of the Church, and one of the 12 was a
traitor. Judas pretended to believe when he did not. And he waited for
an opportune moment to betray Our Lord. There is a line of "Catholic"
bishops descended from Judas. They no longer hold to the Faith of our
fathers, which means the Message of Fatima is anathema to them. And they
and their allies can be counted on to oppose obedience to Our Lady of
Fatima's requests that the Pope and the bishops consecrate Russia to Her
Immaculate Heart. So far, they have succeeded. (See: "Meet the False Friends of Fatima".)
But we know they will fail in the end, for we have Our Lady's promise of Her certain triumph. (See the Heaven's Peace Plan
web site.) Meanwhile, we must do all we can to hasten the moment of
that triumph, for Our Lady has enlisted us as Her soldiers in this great
and holy cause. Let us do all we can, knowing that the false friends of
Fatima will be exposed, and the true friends of Fatima will be
victorious in the end. (See: Fatima Essentials: What You Can Do.)
Faith Must Come First, Pope Says
In
his September 2 Angelus address, Pope Benedict warned against allowing
the Faith to become a "secondary custom" in our lives. (See: "Pope: Christians also likely to relegate religion to 'secondary habit'".)
The warning is especially apropos in the United States, where there is
tremendous social pressure to keep one's religious beliefs in one's
pocket, so to speak.
The
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken the unusual step
of opposing the Obama administration's insistence that Catholic
institutions provide contraceptive and abortifacient drugs as part of
the healthcare packages for their employees. It is unusual because the
USCCB is generally in lockstep with the Democratic Party on social
issues. It is likely that USCCB members are taking a stand on the issue
with a certain amount of regret and reluctance. Some bishops have of
phobia of seeming too religious.
But
the Church's opposition has been softened by Timothy Cardinal Dolan's
inviting Obama to the Al Smith Dinner in New York. What's more, Cardinal
Dolan agreed to offer a prayer at the Democratic National Convention.
Despite disclaimers that this represents no endorsement of the party
platform, which supports abortion and same-sex marriage, it certainly
makes such issues appear secondary to "civility." (See: "Cardinal Timothy Dolan asks candidates to sign civility pledge".)
This
civility, of which Cardinal Dolan has appointed himself the public
champion, seems very much akin to the toleration that John Locke
proposed should be granted to all religions, except Catholicism, because
the Catholic Faith's claim to be the one true faith places it beyond
the pale of toleration.
And
such an emphasis on civility as the primary public virtue cannot help
but relegate truth to a secondary position. Whatever the issue, be it
the murder of the unborn or the "marriage" of homosexuals, politeness
must come first. That this position has been widely accepted by many
Church officials is repeatedly demonstrated. (See: "Crossing the Threshold of Tolerance".)
There
is a price to be paid for offending powerful people, and Our Lord paid
that price on Calvary. But it has always fallen to the Church to speak
truth to power. Now is the time for the Church to speak up. And the most
effective way of doing that is to obey Our Lady of Fatima.
One
thing that prevents the Pope and the bishops from consecrating Russia
to the Immaculate Heart is the fear of offending Russia. Again, civility
must be observed, according to certain Vatican bureaucrats, and Fatima
represents a breach in civility. Fatima also represents our only hope
for world peace. Perhaps it's time for our Church leaders to become a
bit unmannerly.
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