On May 27, 2015, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who is widely considered to be among the cream of the crop of so-called “conservative bishops” in the United States (and likely a future cardinal), delivered an address at the annual convocation of priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Even though it was intended for an audience of American clerics, the content of that address is noteworthy for the degree to which it reflects the prevailing mindset of modern day churchmen in Rome; so much so, in fact, that a condensed version of its text was published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
Below are some excerpts that aptly reveal the nature of the crisis that currently plagues the Church; a case of ecclesial amnesia wherein our leaders have largely forgotten, not only who they are, but also the identity of Holy Mother Church herself.
Pope Francis stirs the hearts of a great many Catholics, and his visit will create an opportunity to renew the local Church … But material health means nothing for a Church, unless it sets the stage for something more important: renewing the heart and spirit.
That is the issue before us in the months and years ahead: How can we help that deeper renewal to happen?
Setting aside for the present discussion the conveniently overlooked fact that Pope Francis, more than anything else, stirs division and confusion, one finds in Archbishop Chaput’s words the impoverished post-conciliar mindset wherein the Church is viewed almost exclusively as a human institution; one that is ever in need of some ill-defined “renewal.”
Gone are the days when our bishops, much less our popes, plainly speak of the Holy Catholic Church as being, first and foremost, that “perfect society, founded by Christ, with the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding mankind to eternal bliss” (cf Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas).
Likewise, these men no longer seem to believe, much less are they willing to preach, that this “perfect society, far excelling every other, is enjoined by her Founder that for the salvation of mankind she is to contend ‘as an army drawn up in battle array’” (cf Pope Leo XIII, Sapientiae Christianae).
This ecclesial awareness either altogether gone or duly ignored, all that remains to be preached is an organization made up of imperfect human beings not unlike those who have yet to enter her.
That is why men like Archbishop Chaput falsely imagine that the Church’s material resources have meaning only insofar as they serve the ambiguous cause of perpetual internal “renewal.”
In the process, the primary duties of the bishop (and by extension his priests); namely, that of teaching, sanctifying and governing God’s people unto salvation – activities ordered toward accomplishing the mission of the Church such as it was given to her by Christ the King – take a back seat to far more earthbound endeavors.
Archbishop Chaput, for example, attempted to explain how this elusive “deeper renewal” can be accomplished by sharing the preliminary results of research conducted on behalf of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Not surprisingly based upon what has been said thus far, the research project he described sounds more like a “customer satisfaction” survey proper to a secular organization interested in recruiting and retaining members than the self-evaluation of a Church divinely instituted to convert the world to Christ.
Over the past year, the national Barna Research Group did a demographic and attitude study of Catholics across the five Pennsylvania counties of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. They interviewed — in depth — more than 400 parishioners. Barna also talked with 30 key archdiocesan stakeholders; in other words, major contributors, senior pastors and key pastoral staff.
According to Archbishop Chaput, a person need only attend Mass at least once a month and go to confession just once a year in order to qualify for the survey.
As for self-described Catholics who did not meet that threshold:
Barna tried to get as much information as possible about why they left or were alienated from the Church.
Notice the shift in mindset…
In healthier times, our shepherds and their priests understood well that they share “in Christ’s power to deliver souls from the bondage of sin” and their “one aim and most ardent desire is to win or to secure souls for Christ (Pope St. Pius X, Haerent Animo).
They also understood that those lost sheep who rejected the call to enter and to remain in the solitary Ark of Salvation, the Holy Catholic Church, were guilty of rejecting Jesus Christ Himself. As such, they understood that the need exists to continually call the lost to conversion, while condemning whatever errors they may have embraced along the way.
Today, our shepherds give every indication of being consumed with concern for how they may have “alienated” those who chose to depart from the fold, as if the need for conversion is entirely their own.
Now, don’t get me wrong; the majority of shepherds of today are most certainly in need of conversion given that so many rarely if ever preach the fullness of Christian truth with conviction and clarity.
What they apparently fail to realize, however, is that it is precisely because they have been adapting the message of salvation to the sensibilities of the world for the last fifty-plus years that the visible structures of the Catholic Church have been crumbling right before their very eyes; searching for ways to fine tune it further by surveying the opinions of the lost sheep promises only more of the same.
Our Blessed Lord didn’t solicit the feelings of those who walked away from Him (see, for example, the Bread of Life discourse in John 6); rather, He always and everywhere preached the unadulterated truth in love, and so it was always perfectly clear that the need for change rested in the hearts of the people, not in the methods of the Preacher.
At any rate, the research data shared by Archbishop Chaput is rather telling just the same.
Nearly 80 percent feel their pastor is hard-working; 74 percent see their pastor as a genuine spiritual leader; 73 percent see him as caring and generous; 69 percent see the pastor as widely available to his people; and 63 percent rate him as “excellent” in his priestly service. Along with Catholic education and the social services of the Church, our priests are admired and genuinely loved by our laypeople.
In all of this, Archbishop Chaput sees reason for encouragement; I, on the other hand, see irrefutable evidence of a Church that has lost its way.
By sidling up to the world and coddling to the sensibilities of the worldly in the post-conciliar years, the Catholic Church has been reduced in large part to a cult of personality; both globally thanks to the pope-as-rock-star phenomenon ushered in by John Paul the Great Ecumenist, as well as in the local parishes for any number of reasons, not the least of which concerns the protestantization of the Mass.
In truth, it matters not one whit whether or not the faithful think that Father works hard, as if there is any value in him working harder to appear to be working hard.
As for the laity’s perception of their pastor’s credibility as a “spiritual leader,” the focus should be precisely where Pope St. Pius X put it; namely, on the sanctity of the priest. In other words, to the degree that the priest is conformed in all things to Christ to Whom he is ontologically configured, the less he has to worry about appearances and opinions.
In the misguided Church of today, by contrast, “the customer is always right” mentality has taken hold.
Instead of asking “How can we be more like Christ in our preaching, teaching, condemnations, and rulings,” the leaders of today are more apt to ask, “How can we better satisfy our consumers?”
And what are these consumers looking to obtain?
For one thing, according to Archbishop Chaput, “Catholic education and the social services of the Church.”
That, apparently, is just the beginning of what the Christo-consumer of today desires most.
On the other hand, a much lower number of parishioners see their parish as a welcoming place; or as spiritually healthy; or as offering strong homilies; or as having good financial management and transparency.
At this, the path to “renewal” is becoming clearer:
We need more “welcoming” parishes that cater to the feelings of their parishioners (and one shudders to think what that might mean in this age of depravity), better homilies (which makes sense given that the New Mass was deliberately molded in the image and likeness of a protestant service) and, of course, we need to open the books to the “stockholders.”
Based upon the findings discussed thus far (and some others I will not cite here), Archbishop Chaput contends that “the lesson is clear.”
The Church of most U.S. priests’ childhood — the parish life we all once fell in love with — is ending. And it is not coming back, at least not in our lifetimes. American culture has changed drastically in the years since many of my brother clergy were ordained. But the thinking of those of us who are pastors, both bishops and priests, often has not.
It is an odd moment for U.S. Catholics. Compared to the past, we still have ample material resources; more people and more infrastructure than St. John Neumann, the fourth bishop of Philadelphia who created the American parish school system, could ever have imagined. But the moral riptide in today’s daily life – the secularized culture that shapes all of us – is also something that Neumann could never foresee.
How far we have fallen from the Church Militant described by Pope Leo XIII as “enjoined by her Founder that for the salvation of mankind she is to contend as an army drawn up in battle array!”
Keep in mind, the days-gone-by lamented by Archbishop Chaput were ever but a shadow of those that were illumined by the Church in the centuries before the Council opened her windows to the world; that is why men like Archbishop Chaput are better known as a “neo-conservative.”
You see, what men such as these ultimately seek to conserve is but a fifty-some-year old novelty wherein, far from being she who shapes secular culture as she rightly passes judgment on the affairs of individuals, societies and States relative to their duty to Almighty God, even at the risk of her leaders’ martyrdom, the Barque of St. Peter is imagined to be shaped by the secularized culture.
“So, what is to be done,” Archbishop Chaput asks rhetorically?
We can start by understanding that the Church 20 years from now — even here in Philadelphia, which values tradition so highly — will be smaller, less wealthy, less influential and probably less free to do her work than at any time in the last century. For believers, our job, starting now, is to make sure she is also more zealous, more faithful and better led.
Don’t be fooled by the call for leadership that is more zealous and faithful.
Little evidence exists that the content of the more zealous faith that Archbishop Chaput has in mind is synonymous with that which comes to us from the Apostles; the same that animated the justifiably triumphalistic conviction among ordinary Catholics concerning the Holy Catholic Church’s exalted identity, her Divine endowment with all that is necessary to carry out her salvific mission, and the unique role of the sacred hierarchy in securing souls for Christ.
As it is, Archbishop Caput seems resigned to bleaker days ahead.
The Church will be very vulnerable to government interference in those of her ministries which fall outside of her core worship functions, such as her social service agencies and educational institutions.
These are sobering facts. But if we priests are who we claim to be – men ordained to serve our people in the person of Jesus Christ – they really should not distress us. This is what priests were called by God to do: to lead, to serve and to strengthen God’s people.
Uh, no, Excellency, let’s not beat around the bush here; men are ordained to the priesthood, and others consecrated as bishops, to win souls for Christ.
Apparently lost on Archbishop Chaput is the post-conciliar hierarchy’s complicity in the matter of government interference; namely, by practically inviting the State to neglect its duty to acknowledge and serve Christ the King by their failure to clearly preach His Sovereign rights, as well as those of His Church.
With all of this having been said, at last we arrive at the all-too-predictable words of wisdom imparted to the priests of Philadelphia from the lips of their spiritual father:
A good priest loves his parishioners. He listens to their counsel, respects their abilities and adjusts his life to the needs of those he serves. He treats them as equals. He keeps them fully and honestly informed. And he also learns to live with their criticism, and to genuinely share his leadership without giving up his authority as a pastor. It can be done. Many priests already do it.
To bolster his point, Archbishop Chaput quoted Benedict the Abdicator:
He said that “[The Church needs] a change of mindset, particularly concerning laypeople. They must no longer be viewed as ‘collaborators’ of the clergy, but truly recognized as ‘co-responsible’ for the Church’s being and action — thereby fostering the consolidation of a mature and committed laity.”
Imagine a husband and father taking the same pathetic approach:
Children must be truly recognized as ‘co-responsible’ for the family’s being and action… A good father loves his children. He listens to their counsel … He treats them as equals. He keeps them fully and honestly informed. And he also learns to live with their criticism, and to genuinely share his leadership without giving up his authority as a father.
Can there be any doubt that a household such as this is a household in disarray; its children destined to be devoured by the forces of evil at the hands of he who prowls about the world seeking the ruin of souls?
And so it is in the Church today.
“Pope Francis stirs the hearts of a great many Catholics, and his visit will create an opportunity to renew the local Church … ”
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Corrected text:
“Pope Francis DISTURBS the hearts of a great many Catholics, and his visit will create an opportunity to “MAKE A MESS” in the local church – AS PER HIS REQUEST IN WYD ’13…”
Talk about reading “between the lines”…!
🙂
“Do not imagine that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have come to bring a sword, not peace.” Matthew 10:34
Oh Louie! This is terrible. I can’t help thinking of little Jacinta when she talked about the many poor souls falling into Hell…she, innocent little darling that she was, cried many tears because it was so horrible…we here in our home are downcast these days.
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I find it very hard to trust that God sees all, hears all, knows all, and has a Master Plan. I know this in my mind but my heart is in anguish over the danger souls are in. It’s hard to believe that many souls take the easy way and end up down that slippery slope right into the jaws of Satan.
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Prayer, fasting, almsgiving. Jesus, have pity on us.
Chaput is a (homosexual) outsider (predator) sent to Philadelphia to implement the next phase of VCII (Dolan and O’Malley are doing the same in NY & Boston) agenda which is to close the ethnic parishes to which some Catholics still felt a strong attachment. After announcing that people could keep their parishes if they were healthy he merged the Irish (St. Augustine), Italian (Our Lady of Mt Carmel) and the Polish Church (Sacred Heart) at the Sacred Heart property because it had a better parking lot even though attendance and finances were better at Mt. Carmel (almost a million dollars in savings (which kaput (no doubt) pocketed for the enrichment of the fairy collective)). Mt Carmel was just getting ready to have their annual feast in honor of Our Lady when Kaput announced the parish was closed – the 3 day Festa and procession were reduced to one day (parishioners didn’t even want that) and this year it won’t be held at all (end street processions w/statues of saints NOW!). Supposedly there would be a mass at the parish at least once a week, but you can see the last mass was in January at their The-Bridgeport-Feast facebook page. The priest put in charge of the merged parishes is seriously overweight and in poor health (to say the least), but, of course, in a survey no one is going to criticize a priest–they will more easily criticize “the parish”.
http://www.olmcchurch.net/church-bulletin/
http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2014/06/03/king_of_prussia_courier/news/doc538daad1aaf5d364782400.txt
The kicker is that even the polish church the supposed “winner” of this consolidation was told it had to take down it’s polish banners and lose it’s ethnic character (get rid of those statues!) because now it is a consolidated parish serving the Irish and Italians (not that the Italians or Irish asked that this be done). I cannot tell you how many people have stopped going to Mass all together because of Kaput (just like when PaulSick and his faggot cohorts changed all the sacraments and parish activities). Others have started going to the Greek Orthodox Church.
You can also research what Kaput has done w/Catholic Schools (closed & further laicized) and Nursing homes (sold them) [the Social Services] in Philadelphia — start w/Crud Allen NCR 9/14/12 Interview: “Chaput in Philly swims against ‘nostalgia and red ink'”
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Kaput, Allen, Obama & Team B bring on the wrath of God w/their “non-traditional” shenanigans in September in the (Greek) city of “brotherly love”. Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
Dear Louie,
How lacking in passion this Archbishop seems. How sad for all those priests under men like him -not being reminded that God will keep every one of His promises, including those in the Book of Revelations, leading the armies of the Saints in the ultimate routing of all His enemies in the end. Instead he wastes time bemoaning the images of defeat Satan loves to plant in the minds of God’s distracted Faithful, as if the Almighty is incapable of raising up even one more “good” old fashioned parish on the face of this earth, and planting it in Philly.
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And by what stretch of the imagination a person who deliberately misses Mass on 3 of 4 Sundays a month, to be considered a practicing Catholic? These self deceptions and distortions in studies and surveys certainly can’t lead to clear assessments of parish-related problems. If he thinks that way, it’s no wonder he’s willing to also turn a blind eye to the havoc this Pope has been wreaking, and to the truth of what St. Pius X said about the primary importance of the sanctity of the priest. Thanks for the passion of your own plea for sanity in this matter, Louie. And please keep them coming, no matter how many of these voices try to drown you out. Christ, Our King, WILL be made manifest, to all, in the end.
God Bless.
I checked out the Allen interview from 2012. When asked about whether, if he had been archbishop instead of Bevilacqua in years past, he would do things differently, Chaput replied, “Those were different times, and things are different from the way they were ten and twenty years ago.”
But the abuse problems and the bishops’ refusal to deal with them were reported in the Wanderer starting at least 30 years ago, in the early 1980s. And the numerous lawsuits have shown that the bishops knew what really was going on, as did the religious orders.
Anybody remember Bishop Untener, and the perversion he taught at St. John’s Seminary in Michigan as its rector beginning in 1977, even showing homosexual pornographic films, something the laity complained about at the time, BEFORE John Paul II appointed him bishop of Saginaw in 1980? He remained bishop until his death in 2004.
According to the Chaput’s of the world, a priest is simply the guy who is supposed to play the nicest in satan’s sand-pit. This is pathetic stuff from a so-called ‘Archbishop’.
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Today’s wolves in sheep’s clothing “invite the State to neglect its duty to acknowledge and serve Christ the King by their failure to clearly preach His Sovereign rights, as well as those of His Church.” These ‘churchmen’ ignore that God Almighty through His revealed Truths, His Church and Apostolic Priesthood requires that poor nations and poors souls convert = conforming to what God requires. Instead the Novus Ordo Vatican II Secessionists (the Chaputs) seek to confirm those nations and souls in error.
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Pope Leo XIII:Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae January 22, 1899, ON AMERICANISM To Our Beloved Son, James Cardinal Gibbons, Cardinal Priest of the Title Sancta Maria, Beyond the Tiber, Archbishop of Baltimore: “…We, therefore, on account of our apostolic office, having to guard the integrity of the faith and the security of the faithful, are desirous of writing to you more at length concerning this whole matter. The underlying principle of these new opinions (like Chaput’s) is that, in order to more easily attract those who differ from her, the Church should shape her teachings more in accord with the spirit of the age and relax some of her ancient severity and make some concessions to new opinions. Many think that these concessions should be made not only in regard to ways of living, but even in regard to doctrines which belong to the deposit of the faith. They contend that it would be opportune, in order to gain those who differ from us, to omit certain points of her teaching which are of lesser importance, and to tone down the meaning which the Church has always attached to them. It does not need many words, beloved son, to prove the falsity of these ideas if the nature and origin of the doctrine which the Church proposes are recalled to mind. The Vatican Council says concerning this point: “For the doctrine of faith which God has revealed has not been proposed, like a philosophical invention to be perfected by human ingenuity, but has been delivered as a divine deposit to the Spouse of Christ to be faithfully kept and infallibly declared. Hence that meaning of the sacred dogmas is perpetually to be retained which our Holy Mother, the Church, has once declared, nor is that meaning ever to be departed from under the pretense or pretext of a deeper comprehension of them.” We cannot consider as altogether blameless the silence which purposely leads to the omission or neglect of some of the principles of Christian doctrine, for all the principles come from the same Author and Master, “the Only Begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father.” They are adapted to all times and all nations, as is clearly seen from the words of our Lord to His apostles: “Going, therefore, teach all nations; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all days, even to the end of the world.”
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St Robert Bellarmine: “[I]t would be the most miserable condition of the Church, if she should be compelled to recognize a wolf, manifestly prowling, for a shepherd.” Indeed, it would and, for far too many, is.
I have had first-hand experience with Chaput on a professional and spiritual level. It involved extremely sensitive spiritual matters of the highest level, involving deliverance and exorcism ministry, and consequentially, affected every aspect of the lives of the Faithful in the Archdiocese of Denver. He demonstrated to me at that time, that he did not consider his role as spiritual leader to be one that is firmly emplaced in the spiritual realm. What do I mean by that? I mean that he did not see the role of an Archbishop to be one where he would operate on higher spiritual levels, engaged is spiritual warfare, with angelic assistance, under the mantle of the Blessed Mother, or protected by the Holy Spirit. He was willing to relinquish the battlefield to Satan, without a struggle, because he thought it suited his “idea of his pastoral role”. Really? Really? At a time when Satan is triumphant in every aspect of human existence? I submit to all of you that Chaput is supposed to be one of the “best” Bishops we have in the U.S., at least in the assessment of many Catholic journalists, theologians and writers. Well, in reality, we are a leaderless flock in America as it stands right now. If we don’t see at least ONE Bishop step forward in the next 6 months and call out Francis for what he really is, the False Prophet, then we will have a VERY difficult ride through the Great Apostasy and Tribulation. That means WE will have to speak out publicly in our parishes and communities. We are being CALLED to do it! Now! Because it seems no member of the Clergy will…
PS. The Bellarmine quote is from “On the Roman Pontiff, Bk. II, Ch. 30”.
FrDuffy,
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No – no member of the hierarchy in the entire universal church is willing to admit that the “Emperor has no clothes”. Not even Bp Athanasius Schneider, arguably the most orthodox bishop other than the SSPX or the personal prelature in Brazil where Bishop de Castro Meyer was bishop (Set up by JP2) is willing to explicitly call out “heresy” with regards to Bergoglio, stating that “the holy see is judged by no one”…but that doesn’t mean we can’t – and indeed should – judge objective external facts!!!
If Bergoglio (God forbid) were to one day stand in the loggia of St Peter’s and declare that the most Blessed Trinity doesn’t exist – people like Bp Schneider would stay mute on the grounds that they can’t judge the Holy See???
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“His responsibility, it must be to God. He has his conscience. In the Church there is a principle: Prima sedes a nemine judicatur. The first see can be judged by no one. It is this which I must follow. Perhaps after his pontificate there could be judgments about his behavior. But today he is our pope, the Vicar of Christ, and just like each one of us, he must one day render accounts to God, including about this synod, according to his conscience.”
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Is this merely an excuse to avoid coming to hard conclusions and the very thorny and cross-ridden path that such facts would inevitably lead to?
Several Bishops already have – Dolan, Sanborn, Parvunas etc.
dear Peter–I hope you’re wearing your knee guards and construction helmet as you mention the names of these holy men here. Methinks you are subject to being pummeled with a caps lock repudiation! Bless your heart.
dear salvemur,
as you point to: “We cannot consider as altogether blameless the silence which purposely leads to the omission or neglect of some of the principles of Christian doctrine, ——-.” One of the many tactics of the Modernists, omission- along with mixing just a teensy weensy bit of heresy- amidst that which sounds orthodox.
Hey de Maria. A complicit silence? I reckon. Another brilliant quote from an authentic Vicar of Christ: “Although they [modernist ‘Catholic’ enemies of Christ] express their astonishment that We should number them amongst the enemies of the Church, no one will be reasonably surprised that We should do so, if, leaving out of account the internal disposition of the soul, of which God alone is the Judge, he considers their tenets, their manner of speech, and their action. Nor indeed would he be wrong in regarding them as the most pernicious of all the adversaries of the Church.” Pope Saint Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis.
– It is fashionable today[…] to judge, criticize and get rid of everything that doesn’t sound modern, novel, or subversive. […] And the poor Catholic is bewildered hearing so much bitterness from the mouths of little sacristy-communists, hearing in many ways, how everything is outmoded. […].
– […]The only effect of their social action in the end, is to break up, throw out , destroy and raze to the ground to make way – for whom? We need only look at who is holding the cord of this devastation. We say and we fear no contradiction – [it is]for the Antichrist. The Antichrist for us, is anyone who stands for a society in opposition to God or even one simply without Him. And whoever aligns with these people, or lends a hand and obeys them, makes way for the Antichrist, even if unwittingly.
– When a priest is corrupted, he becomes the worst and the speediest agent for social decay.
(Cardinal Ottaviani. From Lynda’s link.)
“Chaput is a (homosexual) outsider (predator) sent to Philadelphia.” ????
Hey, beat upon Archbishop Chaput accurately, all you want, but don’t call him a homo. That is totally uncalled for — or if you have evidence, tell all, and compound your slander with detraction.
Lynda,
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Some pretty sobering quotes, thanks for sharing.
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/06/reflections-from-cardinal-alfredo.html
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“Unfortunately the world has become so pagan that some of its materialistic influence has infiltrated into Catholic consciences.”
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Young traditional catholics of today are like clean fish immersed in a tank of filthy polluted water and then taken out of the tank every now and then in order to be rinsed and clean.
Perhaps it may sound like a silly analogy but there is profound truth here – barring a miracle from God it is nigh impossible to not be polluted by the corruption surrounding us, even for those holding fast to tradition.
I’m not sure who it was who said, “The world changes, and we change along with it.” – there is much truth to this.
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“Our thoughts are veiled in sadness when we envisage the many souls poisoned or contaminated by the oozing filth of so much obscene literature; in so many the light of faith is obscured by the murky darkness of books written by atheists. In addition, there is much vacillation also in literature, even if not obscene or blasphemous, which plants doubt, uncertainty, confusion and sets minds in new ways which are not those of the Lord. ”
I remember years ago when the Harry Potter books were coming out reading how some parents of kids who went to SSPX schools were allowing their children to read this poison!!!
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This quote by Card Ottaviani sums up all of his other ones:
“Nowadays almost everyone knows how to read but hardly anyone knows how to think.”
This is another BIG LIE: that things have changed so we must ‘do’ Church differently. BIG LIE. The human condition never changes no matter what the surface ‘noise’. We are still born with Original Sin. We still must be baptized to restore sanctifying grace (lost by Adam and Eve). We must still acknowledge our sins and have them absolved by a priest. We must still fight our tendencies to sin again. We must still use the tried and true methods laid down by hundreds of holy people before us.
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When we hear Princes of the Church repeating this LIE it feeds the meme and becomes ‘the new truth.’ Diabolical disorientation.
One true indicator of the health of any parish is the length of the line for Confession.
In conversation with my pastor this morning I mentioned that we here in our household are feeling quite sorrowful at the state of our world and our Church. He suggested that we are entering into a new Dark Age and that this may last for generations. There will be pockets of Faith dotted around the world and God will raise up again a great Saint to begin the reform. Many hold this view, and hope to be part of that ‘remnant.’
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Father suggested reading about the history of the Church in those far away Dark Ages. I can recommend a book: The Church in the Dark Ages by H. Daniel Rops. His first few pages, describing the state of the world at the collapse of the Roman Empire and the destruction of civilization by the Vandals, sounds very familiar.
“…this [the new Dark Age] may last for generations.”?
I’m really surprised at that statement. Under the current direction and at the current rate, the world is hardly going to survive for that long, as we rush at break-neck speed towards the abyss.
Think about it – in TWENTY YEARS from 1950-1970 Western Christendom was virtually wiped out, and the world is going to survive “for generations”, before God intervenes?
No – we are going to see God intervening, and much sooner than that.
As I have commented before, I believe that the social acceptance & promotion, nay LEGALISATION, of sodomy enshrined in the laws of more and more countries around the world is the final straw before God intervenes to cleanse this wicked world.
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A propos, I posted this link in a previous post, but here it is again for those who missed it:
“Fatima, Noah and Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ ”
http://www.lepantoinstitute.org/faith-and-life/fatima-noah-and-same-sex-marriage/
Louie, this latest commentary is very disheartening—mainly because it is too true. Many “lapsed” Catholics say they have not left the church–the church left them! There is many a truth in this statement. I am blessed to have a TLM in my area–what would I do if I didn’t???? It appears that the postconciliar church is like the branch which has separated itself from the vine. The modernist magisterium has separated itself from Christ. Sadly, Bergoglio hates the papacy, but loves being the Pope. How many clergy hate the Holy Priesthood, but love being priests because of the power they feel OVER the people, not holy power FOR the people, helping them get into heaven. Lord, have mercy!
I’m sure this is well known to most readers by now, but Bergoglio’s encyclical on ecology has been leaked and already available online (now the Vatican is coming up with the excuse that “it’s not the final version -we’ll have to wait till Thursday” lol yeah right, maybe they’ll tweak it here and there for pretense)
http://speciali.espresso.repubblica.it/pdf/laudato_si.pdf
A quick glance through the references showed – you guessed it – zero citations to the pre-conciliar magisterium.
And the brilliant “coup de grace” through the “canonization” of “St” JP II “The Great” is bearing it’s wonderful (ehem ROTTEN) fruits: plenty of citations from the “Canonized” pontiff. After all, if he’s a saint, his teachings are more to be admired and respected than ever, right?
This is what the “canonization only means he’s in heaven” folks never “got”:
Now that he’s canonized, his teachings are elevated to a higher, more elevated level by the conciliar church – and it makes NO SENSE to admit he’s a saint, and not follow through with his teachings (including the totally uncatholic JP2 style “ecumenism”).
“It appears that the postconciliar church is like the branch which has separated itself from the vine.”
I feel the same… It is withering away and drying, like all the sects that have broken off from the Church, being deprived as it is of the life and grace giving sap that flows out of the vine of Our Lord, His Mystical Body.
“… and hope to be part of that ‘remnant.’”
Join us sedes and you will be! 🙂
“It appears that the postconciliar church is like the branch which has separated itself from the vine.”
Sure is ! You know what to do. 🙂
ENCYCLICAL POEM
Here is an alternative environmental reflection…with reference to roses, skies, snow, sea and trees…
I see his blood upon the rose
I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice—and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words.
All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.
Joseph Mary Plunkett
Agree. To proclaim a public unrepentant sinner on the scale of Wojtyla a saint, is to scorn the very revealed truth of what sanctity is. Wojtyla’s utter perversion of the first and second commandments under the banner of his papal claim is world-wide evil – and he never publicly recanted. Therefore, those who consider him ‘saintly’ are complicit, even indirectly, in the evil he wrought. God isn’t mocked, but Wojtyla certainly thought he could get away with such constant world-wide mockery of his Creator.
“…it’s no wonder he’s willing to also turn a blind eye to the havoc this Pope has been wreaking, and to the truth of what St. Pius X said about the primary importance of the sanctity of the priest. ”
When one believes in universal salvation, everyone is already perfectly holy. The concept of degrees of sanctity is a foreign concept to the “New Orientation”…and probably down right offensive.
From a time when Irishmen feared God, and put Him at the centre of their lives. Joseph Mary Plunkett was executed for his role in the 1916 Rising and his being one of the eight signatories of the Proclamation. If such men were living today, they would be rising up against the tyrannical and unGodly rulers in Ireland, the EU, the UN, etc., and certainly not cooperating with them.
Thanks to Rorate Caeli. If what Cardinal Ottaviani said in January 1953 was true of the evil having infiltrated the Church, how many times more is it the case today??
There are many who say such things privately but fail to oppose the public evil publicly. They cooperate by their culpable silence, their egregious failure to defend the Faith and moral law.
Beautiful, Ever mindful.
Thank you.
From Mr. Verrecchio’s post:
“…….Church is viewed almost exclusively as a human institution; one that is ever in need of some ill-defined “renewal.”
—————————
“Church’s material resources have meaning only insofar as they serve the ambiguous cause of perpetual internal “renewal.””
——————–
Dear Mr. V,
Thank you for the PHYSICAL sigh of relief I was able to breathe when I read your words above and recognized the way this word “renewal” has been taken over and repackaged by the enemies of the Church. I had not recognized it, but only knew that the word itself had given me anxiety when I heard (or read) ‘them’ utter it, and I had not realized why.
Every now and then I have to literally stop reading something that you have written long enough to realize that that part of my brain had been yet under the ‘mind control’ of the enemy. I then have to stop and ‘recapture’ my brain from the enemy (redefine terms with their proper and true Catholic definitions) and then resume my life. You have assisted me in the take-over many a times. This was one of those times. Thanks, again!
—————-
Coming out of the NO ‘matrix’ is not easy …… and not for the faint of heart.
“The members of the Church, due to the effects of original sin and actual sin, are always in need of reform. The Church’s teaching, however, is from God. Not one iota is to be changed or considered in need of reform.”
————Alice von Hildebrand in interview with Traditional Latin Mass Magazine
Summer 2001
Absolutely! Haleuja! Amen!
“Coming out of the NO ‘matrix’ is not easy …… and not for the faint of heart.”
Sure ain’t!
But it’s the right thing to do!
Who really, seriously believes this is the Catholic Church?
“As for the faithful who knelt for Communion at the inauguration last Saturday, they were “shamelessly” asked by their new bishop, said Fratres in Unum , to stand up and receive Hand Communion. “Excellency, are you not ashamed to begin your episcopal ministry in this historic diocese by such an embarrassing disregard of the law of the Church, which assures the faithful that right?” The Canon Law explicitly provides oral communion as the full and actual form of the reception of Communion while Communion in the hand had been authorized only in the post-conciliar period as an exception.” http://eponymousflower.blogspot.com/2015/06/new-bishop-insults-faithful-who-receive.html
“…[JP2] never publicly recanted .”
EXACTLY!
This is what these folks DON’T GET! They will even go so far as to compare the life-long sinner St Dismas, the good thief, to the Polish pontiff!!! It takes your breath away… To compare the man – the only man – who PUBLICLY defended Christ on the Cross during his agony and repented of his sins, mentioned in SACRED SCRIPTURE, to JP2 – who they admit did indeed cause grave scandal during his pontificate, but who they know never publicly recanted of his heresies/errors and never apologized for his immense scandals, is an exercise in the most absurd and ridiculous logic.
–
“Therefore, those who consider him ‘saintly’ are complicit, even indirectly, in the evil he wrought.”
I agree… And it is hardly surprising then, that a very prominent trad blog (whose name I will omit), that is fond every now and then of splashing the ridiculous “St” label in front of the Polish pontiff’s name, was conspicuously silent about the Bergoglian “…what I am about to say may be heresy.” scandal/fiasco.
–
I will admit it – I am actually relieved that thus far I have not heard Mr Verrechio (or Catholic Family News) use this label that is most offensive to pious ears: “St JP II”.
“JP2 – who they admit did indeed cause grave scandal during his pontificate, but who they know never publicly recanted of his heresies/errors and never apologized for his immense scandals…”
Why just pick on poor old “St.”JPII?
All his conciliar mates have done the same and Jorge still is!
Hey, my dear salvemur (& all,)
I meant to say earlier – John Vennari told me the Catholic Family News Conference 2015 will not be available on YouTube. I couldn’t find 2014 CFN Conference on YT, but here’s a link to the playlist of the CFN Conference 2013 You Tube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSRUj6UG9W4&list=PLtLZ3BcBezkK_QUvWqLvEl-4uBDNHpGjI
Because JP II is being used as a most effective battering ram to force the conciliar errors down the throats of good-willed but gullible catholics on account of his alleged “sanctity”.
–
And because, as Salvemur above notes:
“Therefore, those who consider him ‘saintly’ are complicit, even indirectly, in the evil he wrought.”
It is a duty to defend the true Catholic understanding of sainthood.
“Therefore, those who consider him ‘saintly’ are complicit, even indirectly, in the evil he wrought.”
Absolutely!
Same way as those who consider the NO to be Catholic are complicit, even indirectly, in the evil it wroughts.
—-
“It is a duty to defend the true Catholic understanding of sainthood.”
Absolutely!
It is a duty to defend the true Catholic Faith.
Great quote Salvemur. Thanks.
Gloria tv. reported today (-still based on the leaked version of the encyclical)
“Among others, the text quotes the heterodox Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin… and the Sufi- Ali Al-Khawwas whom the encyclical calls “a spiritual master”.
Teilhard is a familiar red-flag name to us. Sufism was something new–but is apparently as old as Islam.
___
Said to be “the mystical aspect of the Islamic religion”, [insert OCCULT-ALERT here]
with “powerful amassing power” for “rallying its followers to a certain cause”–given credit for making possible the Crusades in the 11th c. and battles with Western colonial powers in the 18th to 19th centuries.
___
Within the organizational structure, Sufism regulates the different obligations individuals have with one another- world-wide; practicing a kind of Islam PLUS.
-Not in conflict, as Sunis are, it survived empires and grew, with its stated aim: “to experience the state of the humankind as it was first created by God” [in direct contact with God.]
===============
“And he to whom this meeting does not happen, has not done a large amount of sending prayers and greetings upon the Messenger of Allah-the amount large enough for him to reach this station.” “And I heard my master ALI AL KHAWWAS say: “The servant does not reach perfection in the station of gnosis until he can meet with the Messenger of Allah- whenever he wants.”
===============
“A Sufi is free to keep his worldly occupation, as has Ali al-Khawwas (poet)” “However, he must follow the guidance of a master of the domain of knowledge (khalifa) as such experience cannot be obtained through book learning.”
–“Beginning as “the Prophet’s Companions who started to pay attention to their souls”, Sufiyya broke away from the rest in the 6th century and developed into Sufism. In 1295,the doctrine formalised, but was not outlawed even after Ottoman takeover ( mid-14th cen.) and thus became one of the Three Islamic doctrines to remain legal in the Empire, along with Sunnism and Folk cult. It continues to play an important political role.
===============
Quote from Sufi Khawwas (Essential Sufism):
“What is done for you – allow it to be done. What you must do yourself – make sure you do it.
===============
With ISIS still in the news and gaining power, it’s possible people continue to worry about world domination in the name of Allah being the goal of Islamic jihad. But will they think to connect the dots between — What is done for you – allow it to be done” and the latest ramblings of a disoriented “Bishop in white” who insists the whole world join him in urging the creation of a New World-Power –in order to save our otherwise doomed- planet from the ravages of man-made climate change? What timing.
It was interesting to watch the Gloria.tv video:
https://www.gloria.tv/media/pBdDh68odZ6
The news outlet group’s contempt and outright mockery of the new encyclical was more than palpable. Bravo!
This is the take of the “La Repubblica” newspaper on the so called “encyclical” (if it can be called that):
“the encyclical is new in three respects”:
1. For its simple and sometimes simplistic style.
2. For quoting non-Catholic sources.
3. For the non-religious way of thinking and arguing.
–
Get ready for the Oktober Sin-Nod folks! We’re just getting warmed up!
😉
can I safely say-“pun intended?”–dear In Hoc
Sufism with its diabolic hedonistic naturalism is used as a basis for much of the Westernised New Age paganism. It underlies the big hest sellers such as Paulo Coehlo. (He’s probably another favourite corrupting writer of the pope’s.)
Thanks for the great analysis, as usual. I pretty much ignore Chaput anymore. He’s really no different than all the other Modernist pseudo-Bishops out there, as far as I’m concerned.
TRUE OR FALSE???
I have noticed a tendency to label an individual modernistic, and yet when looking up what they actually say, the teaching appears Orthodox…
How many of these eight comments are true??
1)
Catholics need to wake up from the illusion that the America we now live in – not the America of our nostalgia or imagination or best ideals, but the real America we live in here and now – is somehow friendly to our faith. What we’re watching emerge in this country is a new kind of paganism, an atheism with air-conditioning and digital TV. And it is neither tolerant nor morally neutral.
–Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
2)
Asking a Christian to keep his religion out of the public square is like asking a married man to act single in public.
–Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
3)
As individuals, we can claim to believe whatever we want. We can posture, and rationalize our choices, and make alibis with each other all day long — but no excuse for our lack of honesty and zeal will work with the God who made us. God knows our hearts better than we do. If we don’t conform our hearts and actions to the faith we claim to believe, we’re only fooling ourselves.
–Archbishop Charles Chaput
4)
We’re at a time for the Church in our country when some Catholics — too many — are discovering that they’ve gradually become non-Catholics who happen to go to Mass. That’s sad and difficult, and a judgment on a generation of Catholic leadership. But it may be exactly the moment of truth the Church needs.
— Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
5)
It is ironic. Many of us spend a good deal of our lives accumulating stuff. What the “stuff” is will differ from person to person. Yet at the end of our lives, it’s all finally the same junk. It piles up in bookcases, in garages, in boxes in the attic, in the secret places of our souls. As life’s evening sets in, we see the need to begin to detach. The things we’ve accumulated are distractions. They should become less and less important. We need to strip them away–the layers of our life–until, at the very end, all that is left is God and us. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Thus, I suspect that poster–“Whoever dies with the most toys, wins”–should really read, “Whoever dies with no toys, wins.”
–Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
6)
If we really believe that abortion is an intimate act of violence – and of course, it is – then we can’t aim at anything less than ending abortion. It doesn’t matter that some abortions have always occurred, or that some will always occur. If we really believe that abortion kills a developing, unborn human life, then we can never be satisfied with mere ‘reductions’ in the body count.
— Archbishop Charles Chaput
7)
The time for easy Christianity is over. In fact, it never really existed. We’re blessed to be rid of the illusion. We need to be more zealous in our faith, not more discreet; clearer in our convictions, not muddier; and more Catholic, not less.
— Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Render Unto Caesar
8)
What needs to be done by Catholics today for their country? The answer is: Don’t lie. If we say we’re Catholic, we need to prove it. America’s public life needs people willing to stand alone, without apologies, for the truth of the Catholic faith and the common human values it defends. One person can make a difference – if that individual has a faith he or she is willing to suffer for.
-Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Render Unto Caesar
EM, the modernist strives against the ‘imposition’ of God’s laws, against the ‘imposition’ of His revealed Truths and His Church to found a ‘reality’ more ‘suitable’ to ‘human values’. The quotes above from Chaput fit neatly into this modernist mindset despite his obvious distaste for child murder. Chaput sees the “truth of the Catholic faith” as having worth because of the “common human values it defends”. “We’re at a time for the Church in our country when some Catholics — too many — are discovering that they’ve gradually become non-Catholics who happen to go to Mass.” This has happened because the mass they go to and the New Order religion they worship in is not the Holy Roman Catholic Church. It is the New Order Church. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” The ‘poor in spirit’ means the ‘humble of mind and heart’. It refers to the virtue of humility which is the good ground for the other virtues to take root in. Chaput’s application of it is completely material.
Thanks, de Maria.
EM,
–
The teachings of modernists must be taken AS A WHOLE, IN CONTEXT. This is very, very important. It serves no good to quote snippets of quotes (however good and orthodox sounding they may be), which for starters, may have a different meaning to a modernist than to a traditional catholic.
–
“… in their books you find some things which might well be expressed by a Catholic, but in the next page you find other things which might have been dictated by a rationalist.”
Pascendi Dominici Gregis, St Pius X
http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_19070908_pascendi-dominici-gregis.html
Very disappointed in Abp Chaput. I remember when was in Denver during the Democratic Convention of ’04. He was not invited, as is usual, to give a blessing. He warned the usual suspects complicit in the promotion of abortion and other public scandals not to present themselves for Holy Communion in his church. He spoke out in the public square and wrote “Render Unto Caesar” about ‘serving the nation by living our Catholic beliefs in political life’. Then we were talking about abortion, stem cell research and euthanasia.
The issues facing our culture now are so massive and evil- how to describe it??
Chaput has obviously fallen overboard. That first quote is nothing to me. Trying to
find meaning in it is like grasping jello.
Everything I once counted on is gone. ‘Well there is always the Church’ I would tell myself when it was looking bad. I feel like I’m on my own now.
The really ridiculous thing is that Chaput probably paid a fortune for the survey! Here in New York we had some outsiders ‘organize’ & facilitate the closings of churches & parishes using parishioners to collaborate in the process called”Making All Things New” Hahaha1 i called it “Making All Things Closed”. These consultants in NY probably cost a fortune, too. It’s just like sending priests with sex problems to – of all things!- therapy! What a bad joke…