timely citation, Padraig. Good to be reminded of these things. I've thought for awhile that the Church is enduring a kind of recreation of the Passion of Christ and perhaps we are in the "chapter" with Judas. Think what lovely things lie ahead. Sigh.
We are according to Catholic Prophecy at the start of the start of a very long road. I think in order fro evil to be defeated it first needs to be exposed. The Holy Spirit seems to be doing this both within the Church and without the Church at the present time. Exposing the Judas's so to speak. I think wiki leaks is a good example for instance with Hilary Rodham Clinton for instance. I reminds me of the days of Clerical Abuse Crisis (which is of course still ongoing). People were not allowed any longer to keep secrets. The evil that men did was exposed to the world . The Children of the Dark could no longer do cover ups, even though for instance Cardinals and Archbishops and others tried to bury the truth. I don;t think this is an accident. No more secrets. I think Donald Trump was right the other day when he said that you can;t keep secrets if you use a computer, I can see why he avoids them. But it is much , much more than that. We seem to be in a pre period of the Illumination of Conscience and the Light of the Holy Spirit seems to be firing down on Earth unburying what is buried. All around the world this is happening , including the Vatican. No more dirty, terrible secrets, no more lies. Wonderful. Thank you Holy Spirit.
Here for instance is an example of a dirty little secret being revealed from the Vatican courtesy of a link on Spirit Daily: http://catholiccitizens.org/news/69393/pope-orders-cardinal-muller-dismiss-three-cdf-priests/ Pope Orders Cardinal Müller to Dismiss Three CDF Priests 01/02/2017 at 3:41 PM Posted by Mary Anne Hackett By Maike Hickson, January 2, 2017 Marco Tosatti, the well-informed and well-respected Italian Vatican specialist, has just revealed another quite troubling development in Rome. On 26 December, Tosatti reports on his own website Stilum Curiae that Pope Francis had just ordered the Prefect of one Vatican dicastery to dismiss three of his priests from their duties in their congregation. My own research has shown that this incident occurred at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), and that it was Cardinal Gerhard Müller himself who now has to obey these peremptory new orders. Additionally, I was able to discover that the three priests involved are, respectively, of a Slovakian-American, French, and Mexican nationality. (One of my sources is a friend of one of these three theologians.) However, the last of these three might now, after all, be able to remain a little longer in his current position at the Congregation. Let us now consider some of the specific details of what Marco Tosatti himself has perceptively gathered for us. He starts his article with a reference to Pope Francis’ usual rebuke of the Roman Curia at his Christmas address to the Curia and detects the pope’s obvious anger in his words and gestures. When looking over to the Curia itself, however, Tosatti perceives something else than a reciprocal anger to be present among the curial members: “It is not about their resistance, but about their fear, their discontent, and a kind of feeling that belongs to another context altogether.” Tosatti then refers to a credible source who told him several recent episodes occurring at the Vatican. Two of them appear to be of great importance and might also give us some additional glimpses into Pope Francis’ own authoritarian methods as well as his somewhat indirect way of ruling the Church. But, we should now first concentrate on the new personnel matter at the Congregation for Doctrine, which Tosatti himself says is “decisively sadder.” Here is Tosatti’s report: The head of a dicastery has received the order to remove three of his employees (all of whom have worked there for a long time), and it was without any explanation. He [the Prefect] received these official letters: “….I request that you please dismiss ….” The order was: send him [each of them] back into his diocese of origin or to the Religious Family to which he belongs. He [the Prefect of the Congregation] was very perplexed because it was about three excellent priests who are among the most capable professionally. He first avoided obeying and several times asked for an audience with the pope. He had to wait because that meeting was postponed several times. Finally, he was received in an audience. And he said: “Your Holiness, I have received these letters, but I did not do anything because these persons are among the best of my dicastery… what did they do?” The answer was, as follows: “And I am the pope, I do not need to give reasons for any of my decisions. I have decided that they have to leave and they have to leave.” He got up and stretched out his hand in order to indicate that the audience was at an end. On 31 December, two of the three [men] will leave the dicastery in which they have worked for years, and without knowing the why. For the third, there seems to be a certain delay. But then, there is another implication which, if true, would be even more unpleasant. One of the two had freely spoken about certain decisions of the pope – perhaps a little bit too much. A certain person – a friend of a close collaborator of the pope – heard this disclosure and passed it on. The victim received then a very harsh telephone call from Number One [i.e., the pope]. And then soon came the dismissal.” [emphasis added] In this passage, Tosatti piercingly speaks about an “autocratic fever that seems to have broken out in the Vatican.” [my emphasis] And he concludes his report with the following words: Thus it is not so astonishing when the atmosphere behind the walls and in the palaces is not really serene. And one may now ask oneself what kind of credit this fact gives altogether to all the elaborate and sustained fanfare about mercy. [my emphasis] Thus Tosatti adds another piece of the puzzle concerning Pope Francis’ manner and methods of governance through which he seemingly aims at removing – or marginalizing – orthodox prelates, priests, and laymen from positions of formative influence in the Vatican. Moreover, with specific regard of the Congregation for Doctrine, another source had told me the following, more than a month ago: One source in Rome says that all those who work for the Holy See are afraid to talk about anything for fear of being chopped because of the presence of informants everywhere. He compared it to Stalinist Russia. He said two priest friends of his, good men, have been fired from the CDF because they were accused of being critical of Pope Francis. This same Rome source, who is personally very honest and well informed, reports that these two priests here mentioned (who do not seem to be the same ones who are involved in the recent three personnel cases) fear that they will not be the only ones to be removed. They see their own removal to be just the beginning of a “massive overhaul” [my emphasis] within the Doctrine Congregation, “not unlike what happened recently to Cardinal Sarah’s Divine Worship Congregation.” (Here we might be reminded of the fact that it was Marco Tosatti himself who had earlier called these recent changes at the Congregation for Divine Worship a “Purge.”) We have also recently reported about the pope’s earlier decision to remove the members of the Pontifical Academy of Life, which is widely known for its strong stance in defense of human life. Here is what one well-informed source had reported to me then about this incident: At the end of 2016 the Pontifical Academy for Life was closed and all its members dismissed. The Academy will be reconstituted in 2017 with new statutes and the Academy will be repopulated. The process for naming new members of the Academy is not known. We also have repeatedly reported on the atmosphere of fear that now increasingly permeates the Vatican, as did a recent report from the co-founder of LifeSiteNews. During this forthcoming year of 2017 – the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima – may the Blessed Mother increasingly be our help and our trustworthy refuge. May she help us with those graces we shall need to defend the truth more fully and to manifest Christ’s love, as well, even in the face of fear.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/climate-of-fear-in-the-vatican-is-very-real Climate of fear in Vatican is very real amoris laetitia , cardinal cupich , catholic moral teachings , dubia , fidelity , four cardinals letter , pope francis December 16, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Our Nov. 16-23 visit to Rome was the most dramatic of many such twice-per-year work trips we have taken there during the past 10 years. After meeting with cardinals, bishops and other Vatican agency and dicastery staff, John-Henry Westen, our new Rome reporter, Jan Bentz, and I saw a consistent pattern of widespread anxiety and very real fear among faithful Church servants. We have never encountered this before. Many were afraid of being removed from their positions, fired from their jobs in Vatican agencies or of encountering severe public or private reprimands and personal accusations from those around the pope or even from Francis himself. They are also fearful and anxious about the great damage being done to the Church and being helpless to stop it. Near the end of our visit, one very high-level cleric confirmed our observations. He added, “One can sense the fear. It is tangible.” Another, who has always been willing to discuss difficult situations, immediately told us that he would not talk, even off the record, in confidence, about any of the current controversies. We were told not to ask him any questions about these things. By the end of that visit we were able to broach one of the controversies and the important information unknown to him was appreciated. From left to right, LifeSite Editor-in-Chief/co-founder John-Henry Westen, Rome correspondent Jan Bentz and LifeSite president/co-founder Steve Jalsevac during Nov. 16-23 visit to Rome. St. Peter’s is in background. LifeSiteNews The release of the dubia letter by the now known to be six brave cardinals, quietly supported by at least 20 to 30 other cardinals, has clearly sparked a heightened atmosphere of intimidation and fear in the Vatican. On Nov. 23 LSN journalist Pete Baklinski reported that Bishop Athanasius Schneider said he had “great astonishment" for what he called the “unusually violent and intolerant” nature of the backlash, adding that such reaction runs contrary to the Pope’s call for “dialogue and acceptance of a legitimate plurality of opinions.” The Francis papacy has created a radically different climate in Rome from that of Pope St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, under whom Rome was a vastly more welcoming place for Catholic Culture of Life warriors such as ourselves. Another Nov. 23 story reported that Cardinals Burke and Pell were officially removed from the Congregation for Divine Worship and that “the office's membership was recently gutted, with numerous progressives appointed as replacements.” This has effectively left the strongly orthodox Cardinal Sarah, the congregation’s head, a neutralized, silenced figurehead. Cardinal Ouellet, head of the Congregation of Bishops, has also been left with little real authority, with progressive, Francis-appointed underlings now having the greater say on who becomes a bishop. The bishops being appointed now are generally tending to be of the most radically liberal views, such as now Cardinals Cupich and Farell and San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy. And of course, Cardinal Pell has been prevented from continuing his greatly needed reforms of Vatican financial institutions and procedures still rife with corruption (that information comes from an impeccable source). The Academy for Life, originally personally founded by Pope St. John Paul II and the also saintly Dr. Jerome Lejeune, has been drastically changed and Kasperite bishop, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, has been chosen by Pope Francis to be the new head. The original requirement by St. John Paul II and Dr Lejeune that members must sign a declaration that they uphold the Church’s pro-life teachings has been removed, the mandate of the Academy has been changed to a seamless-garment type that will now include a focus on the environment. The life-long memberships of the many distinquished original members of the Academy have been revoked. It is likely no coincidence that this was done considering that a significant number of those original members, dear friends of John Paul II and Dr Lejeune, have been among the severest and more capable lay critics of Pope Francis. Claire Chretien reported on Nov. 23 that Pope Francis has praised the 1960s German moral theologian Bernard Häring, one of the most prominent dissenters from Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, for his new morality, which the pope said helped “moral theology to flourish.” Can you imagine the impact of that act by Francis on all those in the Vatican curia and agencies, and on pastors around the world, who were all taught to strongly defend Humanae Vitae by St. Pope John Paul II and Benedict? What will happen to them now, in the current climate of severe intimidation, if they continue what was natural to them for decades in union with the Catholic magisterial teaching on the issue of contraception – teaching going back to the very beginning of the Church? In his editorial in the upcoming December issue of LifeSite's Faithful Insight magazine, John-Henry Westen relates more of what we discovered. “… Catholic universities in Rome are watched and professors’ lectures screened to ensure they fall in line with a liberal interpretation of Amoris Laetitia. Clerics are reported to superiors if they are overheard expressing concerns about Pope Francis. Many are afraid to speak openly, even though in the past they were always very willing. Vatican reporters told us they were warned numerous times not to report on the dubia.” It is as though Catholic Rome has turned into a type of Church police state because of what is seen to be a great threat from the dubia letter to certain agendas.
In a December 13 article on OnePeterFive, Vatican commentator Maike Hickson stated, “I have heard reports that the Vatican is like an occupied state. Certain sources I’ve spoken with have a fear that communications with Vatican officials are being monitored; some have even reported suspicious anomalies in their telephone conversations in which, after a dropped call, the audio of the last moments of their conversation has played over and over again on a loop, as though they are hearing a recording. Some individuals who work within the Vatican are advising their contacts on the outside not to share sensitive information via email or their Vatican-issued cell phones. [emphasis added]” Hickson goes on to quote respected Vatican correspondent Ed Pentin’s response to a question in an extensive interview in Reginamag.com titled, “Is there a reign of terror in the Vatican?” Pentin responded, “The Pope’s reaction, of going so far as to question the [four] cardinals’ mental state, has been read as a manifestation of his own anger at having his agenda taken off course. And instead of taking the four cardinals at their word (they have said they are acting primarily out of charity towards the Holy Father, justice and deep pastoral concern), they are seen as adversaries. I understand he has also been working behind the scenes to ensure his agenda is not thwarted. From strategically placed articles in L’Osservatore Romano to equivocations from those who publicly criticized the dubia when asked if the Pope had asked them to do so, Francis has been acting, as one observer put it, like a “behind-the-scenes political lobbyist.” In the three weeks after the dubia were published, the Pope gave three interviews to the world’s media, each of them aimed at legitimizing his position while denigrating his critics. Lastly, it’s important to point out that simply by matching facts with words coming from the Pope and his allies, it’s clear there is significant lying and deceit taking place, as well as calumnies and the besmirching of reputations of those labeled to be “on the right” just because they are publicly critical of Amoris Laetitia, or merely report on such criticism. It genuinely pains me to say all this, because as a Catholic journalist one doesn’t wish in any way to diminish the Petrine Office, but I feel I have an obligation to report the facts on what is happening. [my emphasis].” These are strong words from this always top-notch Vatican reporter who is normally soft-spoken and very mild-mannered. Pope Francis was mostly very sombre during the November consistory. Steve Jalsevac/LifeSIte In another LifeSite article, we reported Bishop Athanasius’ assessment of the deterioration of the situation in Rome, “The reaction to the dubia is a proof of the climate in which we actually live in the Church right now,” Bishop Schneider said. “We live in a climate of threats and of denial of dialogue towards a specific group.” Schneider went on to say that “dialogue seems to be accepted only if you think like everyone else – that is practically like a regime.” Schneider brought up his experience in Russia, where he was born in the time of the Soviet Union. His parents were sent by Stalin to work camps, or “Gulags,” after the Second World War. “If you didn’t follow the line of the party, or you questioned it, you couldn’t even ask. That is for me a very clear parallel to what is happening now in the reactions to the dubia – questions – of the Cardinals.” At a small press scrum with Cardinal Cupich at the North American College immediately after the consistory, there was an incident related to my question to Cupich on behalf of LifeSite. After the newly installed cardinal’s unsatisfactory answers to two questions from Ed Pentin, I was given the nod. While briefly prefacing my question, I was suddenly harshly interrupted by a Vatican press official demanding, “Ask the question!” Considering that the preface was brief, the question was about to be asked and there were only a handful of media persons in the room, the interruption was totally uncalled for. Small press scrum with Cardinal Cupich after recent consistory. Steve Jalsevac is first person in photo on the right. John-Henry Westen was standing next to him. John-Henry Westen/LifeSite I immediately asked the question regarding the animosity that respectful questioners of Francis have been enduring and to which the cardinal astonishingly responded by denying any knowledge of such a thing occurring. Then, when John-Henry Westen put up his hand to ask a question, a spontaneous rule was announced by the press official. He refused to allow John-Henry’s question saying that only one question was permitted from each agency. That sudden ruling caused an uncomfortable stir among the several other media representatives. Four in a row were now also not permitted to ask their questions because of the new rule. When the last one was denied, Cardinal Cupich said, “Why not, since yours is a friendly question?” And so that softball question was permitted. The growing hostility to faithful media who dare to simply question with respect the actions or statements of those around Pope Francis or of the pope himself was especially highlighted in a December 7 Reuters report. Reuters stated, "Using precise psychological terms,” Pope Francis “said scandal-mongering media risked falling prey to coprophilia, or arousal from excrement, and consumers of these media risked coprophagia, or eating excrement.” So now, if the translation is correct, as most of these usually are, if we dare to see and report what are obviously newsworthy developments that do not reflect well on the pope or his close collaborators, we are “scandal-mongering,” “eating excrement” and being sexually aroused by this excrement of reporting uncomfortable truth. How can a pope, the Vicar of Christ, make such vile accusations? Whatever happened to, “Who am I to judge?” This article could go on and on, with many more examples, such as our report that retired Roman Catholic Greek bishop Frangiskos Papamanolis ripped the four cardinals for committing the sins of “apostasy” and “scandal,” saying they receive Holy Communion “sacrilegiously” for raising concerns about the pope’s document. Then there was very liberal Cardinal Cupich's response that the four holy cardinals are "in need of conversion". Every day it seems there is more and worse hostility being orchestrated against any who would dare to respectfully support the faithful dubia cardinals, who would dare to respectfully question statements and actions of Pope Francis, and who would dare to mention the crystal clear teachings of Christ’s moral absolutes, wonderfully and thoroughly expounded by Pope St. John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio and Veritatis Splendor. IMPORTANT: To respectfully express your support for the 4 cardinals' letter to Pope Francis asking for clarity on Amoris Laetitia, sign the petition. Click here. We have to wonder where all of this is going. It is deeply, deeply concerning. The common phrase we kept hearing that week in Rome is that there is a “war” going on in the Church – a war of the "The Spirit of Vatican II" progressives against the orthodox Catholics. One person after another shockingly used that word. I have never experienced anything like this in my lifetime and I am sure most, if not all regular LifeSite readers, can say the same thing.
MV: Sono questi i tempi in cui vi sono i "pastori idoli" di cui già ho parlato conseguenza, in fondo, degli errori di tutti. Perché se i cristiani fossero quali dovrebbero essere, potenti ed umili che siano, non avverrebbero abusi e intromissioni, e non verrebbe provocato il castigo di Dio che ritira la sua luce a coloro che l’hanno respinta. Nei secoli passati, da quegli errori sono venuti gli antipapi e gli scismi, i quali, tanto gli uni che gli altri, hanno diviso le coscienze in due campi opposti provocando rovine incalcolabili d’anime. Nei secoli futuri, quegli stessi errori sapranno provocare l’Errore, ossia l’Abominio nella casa di Dio, segno precursore della fine del mondo. In che consisterà? Quando avverrà? Ciò non vi necessita di saperlo. Vi dico solo che da un clero troppo cultore di razionalismo e troppo al servizio del potere politico, non può che fatalmente venire un periodo molto oscuro per la Chiesa. View attachment 5932
I thought that the item below is a suitable response to the lifesitenews items. There is hope for those journalists after all... Pope: Complaining to God and fighting with him is a form of praying At today’s General Audience Francis said “faith is not just silence that accepts all without answering back, hope is not a certainty that safeguards you from doubt and uncertainty” Pubblicato il 28/12/2016 Ultima modifica il 28/12/2016 alle ore 15:59 IACOPO SCARAMUZZI VATICAN CITY Complaining to the Lord is a form of praying. This was Abraham’s lesson, which the Pope reminded faithful of at the last General Audience of 2016, underlining that “so often, hope is hidden in the dark but helps us go on”. “Faith is also fighting with God, showing him our bitterness without any pious pretence,” because, Francis said continuing a series of catecheses on Christian hope, “faith is not just silence that accepts all without answering back, hope is not a certainty that safeguards you from doubt and uncertainty”. Abraham, “believed, maintaining a steadfast hope against all hope, thus becoming the father of many peoples,” St. Paul wrote in reference “to the faith with which Abraham believed in the word of God,” the Pope added, “who promised him a son. This really was hoping “against all hope” as what the Lord had announced was highly unlikely given that the elderly man was almost 100 and his wife infertile. There was no way out but God said there was so he believed Him”. Trusting in this promise, Abraham “sets on his way, agrees to leave his homeland and become a foreigner, hoping in this “impossible son which God was supposedly going to give him even though Sarah’s womb was as good as dead. Abraham believes, his faith opens up to a seemingly unreasonable hope; it, Francis said, is the capacity to go beyond human reasoning, beyond worldly wisdom and prudence, beyond what is normally considered good sense and to believe in the impossible. Hope opens new horizons, it gives us the ability to dream the unimaginable. Hope allows us to enter the darkness of an uncertain future so that we may walk in the light. The virtue of hope that fills us with strength is beautiful.” At the same time, hope “is a difficult path,” Francis emphasised “and the moment comes when Abraham too feels discouraged. He trusts, he leaves his home, his land, his friends; he leaves and finally reaches the country God told him to go to, after a long time. At that time,” the Pope pointed out, “travelling wasn’t like it is now that we have aeroplanes, in 12 hours you’re there: it took months and even years, but there was no sign of a son, Sarah’s womb remained closed in its sterility. And Abraham, I wouldn’t say loses hope,” the Pope said, but he complains to the Lord. This is what we learn from our father Abraham: complaining to the Lord is a form of praying. Sometimes,” Francis underlined, “I hear people in the confessional tell me ‘I complained to the Lord…”, complain away! He is the father!” In the Bible, the Lord, in the face of Abraham’s complaints, comforts him and tells him: “Look at the sky and count the stars, see if you can count how many there are. This will be the size of your lineage.” And Abraham “believed in the Lord once again”. The Pope dwelled on this scene further. It “unfolds at night time, when it is dark outside but Abraham’s heart is also filled with the darkness of disappointment, discouragement and the difficulty of hoping in something impossible. The Patriarch is getting on and it seems it’s too late to have a son so a servant will have to inherit all. Abraham addresses the Lord but although God is there present and talking to him, it is as if he has grown distant and not kept his word. Abraham feels lonely, he is old and tired, death is around the corner. How can he go on hoping? And yet, this very act of complaining is a form of faith. It is a prayer. Despite everything, Abraham continues to believe in God, hoping that something could still happen. Otherwise, why address the Lord, complain to him and remind him of his promises? “Faith,” Francis said, “is not just silence that accepts all without answering back, hope is not a certainty that safeguards you from doubt and uncertainty. So often, hope is hidden in the dark but helps us go on. Faith is also fighting with God, showing him our bitterness, without “pious” pretence. ‘I got angry with God and I said this, that and the other to him…’ But He is the Father” He understood you! Go in peace,” the Pope continued, re-enacting a conversation he had with a faithful who in the confessional told him he felt guilty about protesting to God. “We must have this courage,” the Pope went on to say amid applause from faithful. “And hope is also about not being afraid to see reality for what it is and accepting the contradictions. Thus, Abraham, in his faith, turns to God asking him to help him go on hoping. It’s interesting, he asks God to help him go on hoping, a prayer for hope. And the Lord answers by repeating his unlikely promise: the heir will not be a servant but a son born to Abraham, born from Him. Nothing has changed as far as God is concerned. He reiterates what He has already said and does not offer Abraham any reassuring excuses. His only certainty is trusting the word of the Lord and continue hoping. That sign that God sends Abraham is a request to continue believing and hoping: ‘Look at the sky and count the stars. That will be the size of your lineage.” This is “the faith, this is the path of hope each of us must follow,” the Pope said. “If the only possibility we have left is to look at the stars then it’s time to trust God. Nothing is more beautiful than that. Hope does not disappoint.” http://www.lastampa.it/2016/12/28/v...of-praying-RPYOntXHIj8FBHh4Yy9ObL/pagina.html
And for those who still love and respect our Holy Father, here is a nicely put together little 3 minute video of the main events of 2016:
Thats great. I am pleased all my complaining about the Holy father is considered prayer. And public prayer counts as double.
I think that all people here love and respect him. Who doesn't, should leave Christian forum. We only hate sin of adultery. If somebody commits adultery with man, is guilty once. If he receives the Holy Communion, is guilty twice. But if an authority allows its undermen to commit such sins, he is guilty three times and is greater adulterer then previous man. Although he is fleshly "pure", he commits adultery with Satan. Therefore if current pope is pure, he should say yes and no regarding the sin. This is his greatest problem.
I think of the scripture "what you speak in the dark will be heard in the light". Masks are coming off of every one and every thing . We are watching the narrow grow yet more narrow and difficult . Thsee things that are happening are a win no wing I think
Yikes, Padraig. I tried to reply to your excellent response to me but used my tablet and boy did it scramble. What I was trying to say is that I think the narrow way grows yet narrower and more hazardous for all of us. A great sifting or winnowing is taking place and it just demands such sober watchfulness and prayerfulness lest we be deceived. I see so clearly now what Jesus warned of--"even the elect would be deceived." These things from the Vatican are so troubling. I have the greatest regard for Bishop Schneider and Cardinal Burke and the other Cardinals. This is real courage, for which they took the red hat in the first place. I mentioned in another post that my confessor--a very holy priest from Eastern Europe who knew the bad old days of Communism said that wht is going on right now is a purification that God is permitting but will nto allow to stand.
You are both very wise this is concisely and precisely what is occurring. ..an astonishing working of the Holy Spirit. A few see this; most don't.
I have started listening to the Bernard Janzen interviews with Fr. Malachi Martin that you recommended. I'm amazed at his assessment of what was happening in the Church even back then. It's all coming into the light now. He had the measure of Cardinal Kasper as well as the state of the Church in Latin America. According to Fr. Martin, the Church was in such a bad state when St. John Paul ascended to the papacy that the Pope didn't think any human could sort it out and expected Our Lady to intervene. He said that even then, the modernists were trying to get the Pope to resign. They succeeded with his successor. What a pity Pope Benedict didn't have the confidence to wait them out.
Padraig, This is from Bishop Anthanasius Shneider as quoted on the Rorate Caeli blog today: "“We cannot make our subjection to the Vicar of Christ dependent upon the person of the pope; this would not be faith. You cannot say that “I don’t believe in this pope, I don’t submit, I am going to wait until one comes along that I like.” This is not Catholic, it is not supernatural; it is human. It is a lack of supernaturality and trust in Divine Providence, that God is the one who guides the Church."
This is how I see it; I am Catholic! Which means:........ I follow the directions of the canonically elected pope who has been given his authority from Jesus! I am honoured! Because I have the truths handed down through 2000 years of magisterial teachings! These truths are made clearer through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit over time. And, Jesus actually leads His church! I am privileged Because I receive Our Lords Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in Holy Communion I have recourse to the sacrament of Confession when I sin. I am united to all other members of this Holy Catholic Church in the communion of saints! I am empowered Because the Holy Spirit lives in the church and little me has so much power in the Church, because I have recourse to the Holy Spirit! I can pray with and for my church! I can attend mass where I join Jesus to pray for my church and it's leaders! I can sacrifice with Jesus and bring about supernatural change! I am secure Because Jesus said the gates of Hell shall not prevail against His Church. I say Alleluia!! Alleluia!!
