Not even an hour after I posted Slings and Arrows yesterday about endorsers wishing to withdraw their names from this site, I received an email of the same nature by yet another very highly regarded supporter.
Isn’t it amazing how in the scope of just three days I’ve fielded three such entreaties? It’s almost as if some well known “professional Catholic” has taken to slithering through their contact list, agitating every notable figure who ever endorsed this apostolate, urging them to cut bait before their own good names get sullied.
Nah… can’t be. I don’t know anyone that pathetic.
At any rate, I’ve decided to make it easy for all concerned. Unless I’ve inadvertently overlooked someone, I have removed from this site every last endorsement I’ve ever received; every writer, theologian, priest, bishop and cardinal.
Now don’t get me wrong, I remain sincerely grateful for each and every one, but the Church is in crisis; neither I nor the genuinely kind individuals who have supported me over the years need any more distractions than we already have.
Everything I do here, and I am certain that it is not without blemish, is ordered toward serving the Lord by defending His Church and the treasury of the faith entrusted to her. It is not about pleasing even the most highly placed or influential supporter, regardless of my esteem. This work will one day be examined in the pure light of Him who is Truth and Justice and Mercy. He alone is my concern.
Now, with this distraction removed, we can move on to more important conversations. Thanks for bearing with me!
When I first read this, Mr. V, I wept.
The tears are of gratitude to you. Grateful to you for giving me courage. The word martyr means witness. You are a witness to me of what a Catholic man does.
The sin of human respect is a devastating temptation. One that I have battled since coming out of homelessness, succumbing to that temptation here and there, to achieve this, to get that. Because of some very holy priests and sound direction, I’ve been a little better on the road toward witnessing to the Faith, in a horrendously hostile environment.
When I am face again with a similar choice , I will think of you. My Catholic friend. A man of courage. At last. Please pray for my four adult children.
Although I was a bit uncomfortable with one of the postings recently, I just want to give you a huge “thank you!” for your faith and this site. One of the “advantages” of the elevation of Pope Francis is that lines are becoming clearer — who loves the faith as handed down from the Apostles? Who seeks to evangelize a fallen world and who merely wants to carve a niche of “safe Catholicism” therein?
Bravo!
Endorsements can be a distracting humbug.
Our Blessed Lord has said, “I know my own, and mine know me.”
He knows the value of your work, Louie. And so do we.
And He Himself will reward you as He did the holy Patriarch Abraham:
“Ego ero merces tua magna nimis.”
I Myself will be your exceeding great reward.
Now that’s a perk worth any kind of sacrifice!
Your ‘trial’ is a bitter fruit, of the persecution that has been going for the last 50 years. Can you taste their tears, their loneliness, rejection, their sufferings for being ‘hunted like a wild dogs’?. This ‘fear’ made them fearless Soldiers of Christ.
Embrace your trials, and be glad, now is your turn to follow in their footsteps……..for they have followed HIS footsteps, offer it up to God, for all those faithful, that have been despised, condemned, those who in fearless faith have paved the road for you and me, who are still accused of not being Catholic, but rather, Protestant, schismatic…….. (is this a hypocricy at it’s best or what?)……… these so-called Catholics are blind to see, how Protestant they are, they do not understand that God keeps them in blindness for being ‘cowards’ ‘lukewarm’…….they forgot that for centuries the faithful were ALL traditional Catholics, fearing God, rather, then ‘men’. This persecution of traditional Catholics, is a crystal clear picture………these persecutors have a religion of their own, centered on ‘men’ not God!
Instaurare Omnia in Christo!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless you Louie. And “Amen!” to linda stella zentner’s comments. This is what is called “white martyrdom”. I was just wondering the other day how we will ever find our way out of this dark tunnel. It would be absolutely divine and heavenly if Pope Francis were to publicly repent, but that would take a miracle. Pray to Our Blessed Mother the most Holy Virgin Mary. The Rosary is our weapon in these dark days.
Remember, to ask and it shall be given. Whatever you need, please let us know how we can help.
keep saying what needs to be said! we can go a million other places if we want to stick our heads in the sand and believe the hunky dory story….God Bless you abundantly!
God Bless. We should replace the endorsements with prayers to the Immaculate Heart.
Well, your sidebar featured link: “Louie Verrecchio Columns: Catholic Exchange” opens this little surprise: “You 404’d it. Gnarly, dude.”
I sincerely hope the “very highly regarded supporter” wasn’t Card Pell – after the 5 star write-up I just gave him (particularly praising his solid faith and courage). I’d hate to have take back my effusive praise of him.
Some how I was fortunate to stumble upon your column “Game on” and have become an avid reader of your site. You so eloquently verbalize your love for Christ’s Mystical Body and your desire to guard Her teachings. As I read your articles a sense of catharsis fills my soul, knowing there are many of us who suffer financially and socially for the defense of Catholic tradition. Your words express what I feel in the depth of my heart, giving me strength to continue the good fight, you are an inspiration, thank you Louie. May God’s blessing be with you your family through these difficult times, you are in my prayers.
Thank you for still being one of only three places in all of the world where I know I will get the TRUTH!
I hope that your witness will not create too great a hardship for you and your family. I do think you are a “truth teller.” I am 51 and grew up in the post conciliar Church were the “cognitive dissonance” between real Catholicism and what was experienced together with the mass incoherence of everyone in authority resulted in loss of faith for almost everyone I know (brothers, sisters, cousins, school mates). It may be that my unworthiness and sinfulness and awareness that without Him I cannot live and breath has preserved my faith imperfect though it is. A discovery of the Latin Mass has helped immensely. The most helpful thing had been the truth telling of Cardinal Ratzinger starting with the Ratzinger Report in 1982 and culminating in his pontificate and in Summorum Pontificum. Now the incoherence and diabolical disorientation is back in greater force than ever. Your voice with a few others is being heard and is bearing witness. I am not sure what to make of the refusal of other faithful Catholics to hear. I emailed your posting on the religion of man to one of the holiest and most committed layman I know. This guy is a regular lay theologian and life long subscriber to Communio. Yet he merely states that as a Catholic he is serenely confident that Francis will safeguard the deposit of faith. My imprssion is that what he will do is sow total confusion while leaving the defined dogmas alone. This is probably the worst thing that can be done. One will not be able to oppose it, yet it will greatly increase the post conciliar idea that orthodoxy is optional and, in fact, neurotic and ignorant.
Louie I’m a supporter and you’re doing the right thing in unfortunate circumstances. It’s not your fault we’re being attacked.
God love you brother.
That is a wise move, Mr. Verrechio. Many of those endorsers are men of goodwill, but they have other battles to fight. It must have been painful to take them down, but. like tearing off a band-aid, it is best done quickly. Less pain for both yourself and your endorsers. And don’t fall into the temptation to believe that they have turned against you. It is most probably that you are in a position to say that which they dare not.