ASK FATHER: “I utterly reject Bergoglio, so ... “

https://wdtprs.com/2019/11/ask-father-i-utterly-reject-bergoglio-so-how-can-i-remain-a-catholic-fr-zs-rant-and-beatdown/

ASK FATHER: “I utterly reject Bergoglio, so how can I remain a Catholic?” Fr. Z’s rant and beatdown.

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

Now, to the point: How can I remain a Catholic when I UTTERLY reject Jorge Bergoglio as a false prophet of the devil? I can in no way continue to acknowledge him during Mass. Going to TLM doesn’t alleviate my doubts. My conscience absolutely forbids me from ever again listening to or acknowledging that man.

This is quite a dilemma for me. I am seriously considering heading to the Orthdox Church or finding a conservative evangelical church.

Hmmm. That seems like a “No” vote for Bergoglio.

I am not going to get into the arguments for or against Francis as pope or antipope. For what I have to say to the idea of leaving the Church because of him, one way or another, I don’t have to get into that controversy.

Why? Holy Catholic Church is indefectible. This is one of the three attributes of the Church, along with authority and infallibility.

Your question holds two possible implications. First, “I don’t like Bergoglio, so I’m going somewhere else.” That’s just whining, like a kid who doesn’t like broccoli and goes hungry.

Otherwise, your implication is that if Francis isn’t really the pope, the Vicar of Christ, then somehow the Church is now defective and you might as well go some place else.

No. And NO! And HELL NO!

If we believe Christ’s promises – and I sure do – then we hold that the Church will not fail even to the end of the world when He returns to take all things to Himself and submit them to the Father.

The Petrine Ministry is part of the fabric of the Church as the Lord designed. Somehow, until the ending of the world, the Church – and hence the papacy – cannot fail, even though we don’t know how.

As necessary as the papacy is, a pope is Christ’s VICAR, not Christ himself. As the sardonic Latin acrostic puts it, a VICARIUS is Vir Inutilis Carens Auctoritate Rare Intelligentiae Umbra Superioris, that is, “A useless man, lacking authority, rarely of intelligence, the shadow of his superior.” That’s every pope, compared to Christ.

It is dangerous to place too much emphasis on any pope.

Look, friend, popes come and popes go. There have been long periods of time between popes. There have been long periods of time when there was terrible confusion about who was the real pope. Even saints got it wrong and backed the wrong guy. For centuries people had no idea who the pope was, even his name, and they lived good Catholic lives, minding their own business and trying to be holy in their vocations.

Popes can be good. Popes can be bad. Popes can have short or long pontificates. Popes can be talented or doddering. Popes can be charming or jerks. Popes can be holy of sinful. Popes can be important or insignificant.

Only one this is clear about popes, and the Romans get this right: Muore un papa se ne fa un altro… A pope dies, you make another. We make another until Christ returns. Somehow that’s the way Church will always be even if we don’t like the choice.

As for your chicken-livered notion about going outside the Church, I’ll offer what Lumen gentium 14 teaches:

14. This Sacred Council wishes to turn its attention firstly to the Catholic faithful. Basing itself upon Sacred Scripture and Tradition, it teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the Church. Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved.

Refuse to enter or refuse to remain in the Church knowing that the Catholic Church is necessary? Bad odds.

These are hard times. Confusing. Fearful. Dangerous. But these are the times into which God called us to live. That means he offers us the graces we will need to live our vocations well. It could be that you have to completely tune out of the larger churchy news and put your nose to your personal grindstone and live your vocation well.

God didn’t call us into existence at random, but rather with a plan and a purpose for every one of us. He called YOU, friend, into this life HERE and NOW, not at some other time and place. These are the circumstances of our lives. We are the soldiers of the Church Militant God wants NOW. Are you suffering? Embrace it. Offer it in reparation. Are you afraid? Throw yourself at the feet of the Mother of God and beg her protective mantle. Clasp onto St. Joseph, Defender of the Church.

Fast. Give alms. Pray. But don’t be a coward.

Either pick up your Cross and your sword and get your ass back to the lines or go crawling off somewhere. We’ll do your duty along with our own. Run for the hills. Good luck with that.

I will not run.

 

“A pope dies, you make another”

Indeed

 

'Hmmm. That seems like a “No” vote for Bergoglio.'

Fr Z is a fun guy

The Pope's Pope, he's not running for President. Thank God.

 

Change that to:
I utterly reject Bergoglio, because I am Catholic, and he is not.

+

 

I would encourage this person to read (or re-read) lives of Saints.

Our Church is so vastly rich with wonderful, uplifting, encouraging Saintly examples - who also (often) faced unpleasant or outright terrible trials.

My current focus are Saints of the High Middle Ages (roughly 1100 to 1400).

Of course, being new, nearly all IS new to me. And what a feast!

But I'm certain that cradle Catholics, for whom "lives of Saints" might be rather familiar, can also reap new insights and blessings.

 

People were always running away from Jesus, even the Apostles. its so much better to run towards Him..and His Church. The One True Church is not found by shopping about. If we are in it we need to stay. Let others take to their heels.

 

I like Fr. Z

 

https://onepeterfive.com/dear-jorge-mario-bergoglio/

Dear Jorge Mario Bergoglio
Stefanie Nicholas November 27, 2019 0 Comments

Dear Jorge Mario Bergoglio,

It feels odd to address a public letter to a superior in this way, but be assured, I mean no disrespect in omitting “Holy Father” or “Pope Francis.” On the contrary, I address you by name because it reminds me of your humanity, awash as I am in a sea of bad news, my hope at times hanging by a thread. It reminds me that you were created in the image of God, adopted into His family by your baptism, redeemed by the death of His only begotten Son.

It reminds me that you were born in Argentina, in December of 1936, to Catholic parents who assuredly loved you very much. I think of you as a little baby, all small and new. I imagine your mother picking you up, holding you close, enjoying the tininess of your lower back beneath her sturdy fingers, the soft rhythm of your breathing. I imagine your father looking in on you asleep, little eyelashes on plump soft cheeks, whispering “Jorge” to you, pride and finality in his voice as he got used to the sound of your name. You were a miracle then. A new life. A hope.

It must seem an odd thing for me to think of you in this way, but there’s a reason for it. It’s hard for me ever to hope to understand you more conventionally, to figure out what makes you tick. You lived the equivalent of my entire lifetime in an era and place completely incomprehensible to me. There’s an ocean between me and you in so many ways…but especially in the faith we both share in name. There’s the Catholicism I came to believe in, the gift of faith given to me so inexplicably in 2018…and then there’s the Catholicism you believe in. Did you always believe in this same false gospel? Or did you start with only a drop of Modernist poison, fed to you for years and years until you forgot some childlike, genuine faith you once had? I don’t know, but I suspect it’s the latter. That makes me so deeply sad for you. You are not the cause of this, not really. You are only an outcome. But I know one thing: these Catholicisms we believe are not the same. They are an ocean apart. We are an ocean apart.

I am sure you can guess at the doctrinal disagreements we have. There are so many, and at the same time, there is really only one that matters to me now, at least in this letter. I believe that the Church cannot contradict herself. You believe she can. There is no middle space between these views. There is only one that can be right. I know that to argue with you is futile. So many have tried. So many bishops, so many priests, so many theologians, so many brilliant men. Even cardinals, who went so far as to present to you dubia. You ignored even that.

I am nobody, Jorge, but I think I’m everybody, too. At least, I’m a great many people — a great many simple Catholics, who go to Mass on Sundays, and pray the rosary, and try to love their neighbor. People who don’t want to be enemies of the pope, people who don’t want to rebel against anybody. We’re stranded, the tide is rising, and we are afraid. Can’t you see that? Can’t you feel even a little compassion for us?

Changing the Church would not break your faith. For you, Church teaching is a set of ideas like any other. I will assume the very best of you and say that perhaps you truly do think that Jesus Christ wants these changes you are working for. I’m sure that as a priest, as a confessor, you have heard the pain of real people in a way that I can scarcely conceive of. Maybe it gets to you; maybe it weighs you down in such a way that you feel compelled to act, to relieve the suffering you see. Maybe you want to make a way for these people, these people who are divorced and remarried, or who are struggling with same-sex attraction and don’t think they can stay chaste.

But the suffering that you want to heal will not go away, Jorge. It will only be replaced by something else, the only suffering that we should truly hate and fear as Christians. By changing the Church, you would cause suffering that is pointless. You would cause suffering that cannot be offered to God, suffering that would not stand at the foot of the cross — suffering that would only be useful to the devil. You see, for me, changing the Church is not about what I want, not about a set of ideas to argue on merit. Do I believe that you can really do it? No. I don’t think so. But if you could? If you somehow did? If some promise of the Church was fully and completely contradicted, continually, with no amendment, with no intervention from God to put it right?

I think I would lose my faith in God. I think many of us would. I pray, I beg of Jesus to save us from this horror, this possibility itself, but sometimes, I am afraid. I don’t think about this very much. Most of us don’t. We go about our lives, we pray, we go to Mass, we live. But at night sometimes, I have to face this thing. We all have to face this thing.

We all have to face this fear above all fears: that Catholicism may be wrong, and that you, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, may be the one to prove it. The possibility of accepting a life devoid of objective, knowable truth, of an unchanging moral code, of the beauty of our Holy Mother Church…I lived that life for a long time. I don’t know what would happen to me if I had to face it again. You may find that immature. Perhaps even some people reading this letter would refuse to admit ever fearing such things. I’m not sure I believe them. I think we’ve all felt this way in the dark.

Do you know what it would mean for us, us simple Catholics, to lose faith in God, Jorge? Do you understand? Do you understand that that suffering would be infinitely greater than the suffering of a woman who must live as sister and brother with her unlawful husband, or of a young man with same-sex attractions who must fall asleep alone, longing for a romantic connection that he cannot have? This is not to demean the suffering of these people. No. It is to remind you that their suffering ends. Their suffering, if they are faithful, will lead them to Heaven.

The suffering you are causing? The chaos, the lack of clarity…the souls who are losing Christ because of you? Their suffering will never end. Their suffering will lead them to Hell, where the worm dieth not, where they will face eternal separation from God. Despite those fears I have at night, I know that Catholicism, the real Catholicism, is true. Jesus Christ is Lord. I have to stay strong, and I have to help others to stay strong. I have to hold on to the Faith. It’s all that matters. If I have my faith, no other suffering can ever be pointless. Because of these facts, I have to oppose your actions. It is my moral duty.

But to grab hold of the hand of Christ, I have to reach across this vast ocean to you. Jorge, I have to love you. I don’t believe that I will ever be saved if I don’t. I don’t know why God is letting you hurt us like this. I don’t know why God is letting so many souls be lost. But I do know that this isn’t over. I know that hope remains, and I will do things that foster that hope. I will think of you in a human way, as more than just a bad pope who is destroying the Church. I will think of you as a child, as an infant Jorge Mario Bergoglio, because for some reason, to see you this way in my imagination makes me weep — gives me this melancholy, human feeling, where I remember that even my worst enemies began their life in the beauty of innocence. It allows me to pray for you in love, when love feels otherwise impossible.

I will pray for you that when you die, you will die as a child, in the arms of Jesus and Mary. That much I can do. I hope our prayers are enough.

 

She gets it.

I can honestly say the same.

My daily crosses are offered that none of my family be lost, that priests live lives of holiness and exemplary witness to the Gospel and bring home many souls to Christ’s sheepfold, that the Church be purified and restored, and that the pope repent, believe and be saved, and barring that, that he and his heterodox agenda may be confounded.

I am honestly at a loss as to what else I can do right now.

 

I really like the drawing of everyone carrying their cross, even the little boy. That is just what Jesus calls us to do. I mustn't let pride get in the way of being on the boat that is headed between the two pillars. If the Orthodox will join us, that will give us huge momentum. Please LORD, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

 

Beautifully put BrianK. I feel the same way. I have utterly rejected Bergoglio and have found peace.

 

Very apropos Scripture
Thank you

 

Yes Brian. Me too. I can only do what I can do. Pray, offer ,live in hope ,receive the Sacraments. Make hours of Adoration. Her letter makes me so immeasurably sad. Her pain and the pain of all Catholics who are trying to live true Catholic lives really haunts me. "How long oh Lord..."
May these sufferings embraced for the love of Christ by all Catholics bring many many conversions and saved souls!

 

I think I have sidestepped him. Always trying to get around him and avoid too much contact. That is how I maintain charity and can pray for him. If I all ow myself to really think about what he is doing and has done I might not keep that charity which is binding on me. Probably a coward's way out but I keep thinking God has permitted this. I must cope as best I can and not lose my peace.

 

I’ve taken the “I have to love him (i.e., pray for his salvation), but I don’t have to like him” approach.

For my personal sanity and peace, I ignore everything he says/does unless it’s so egregious it needs to be actively opposed.

Others on social media can bring that to my attention quite adequately, I might add. I don’t need to go searching for these occasions.

 

Certainly, we must pray for him, for his conversion. That is love - wanting him to be in heaven, too.

But, if St Paul were here now, what do you think he would say to him?
And to us?

Gal 1:7-8
Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.
8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!
9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!

Romans 16:17-18
17Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.
18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

2 Cor 11:4
4For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily.

+

 

I felt so sad when I read the letter, just as I was sad seeing the poor Amazonian people being exploited at the sham Synod.

What she said about the Pope believing he can ease people's suffering by changing the Church makes a lot of sense. The priest at last Sunday's Mass reminded us that Jesus didn't come to abolish suffering but to give it meaning. Catholics (at least those with faith) have always understood that. Perhaps it wasn't taught in the seminary in Argentina.

Despite my faith having been shaken over recent decades, especially over the past six years, I'm still Catholic enough to believe it possible for Peter to recover and strengthen his brothers.

"Simon, Simon! Look, Satan has got his wish to sift you all like wheat; but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail, and once you have recovered, you in your turn must strengthen your brothers"​

What's the use praying if we don't have faith that our prayers will be answered, so I trust that God will answer our prayers in His time. We need to be careful not to think that by praying we can impose our will on God. And we need to remember to begin our prayers by thanking God for blessings bestowed on us.

 

I totally agree,Dolours. Very well said.

 

I have persons close to me who love the Lord and the Church, who look at Frances' decisions as a change in methodology, a ruffling of feathers, but ultimately not changing the essence of what and who the Church is. So while I trust these insightful, loving individuals in other ways, I can't do so when I hold it all up to what the Church has always taught. Am I wavering? No.

Here is my choice. I will teach what the Church has always taught. I will teach that our praxis must always conform to that teaching.

Example: I am the Lord your God. You shall have no strange gods before Me. Praxis: Don't bow before idols.

If someone says, "But Pope Francis... I'll simply ask, "Do you agree with my decision to be obedient to my example or not? If someone decides to do differently I will ask, "Apart from Francis, "What was your motivation to change?" I will not allow "because Francis said so" to end the discussion.

In the meantime, with Dolours, I trust that God will answer our prayers in His time. Jesus I trust in You!