Church On a Precipice – Part II

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa – profaned

 

If you live in a time that no man will give you good counsel,
nor any man give you good example,
when you shall see virtue punished and vice rewarded…
stand fast, and firmly stick to God upon pain of life…
— Saint Thomas More,
beheaded in 1535 for defending marriage
The Life of Thomas More: A Biography by William Roper

 

 

ONE of the greatest gifts Jesus left His Church was the grace of infallibility. If Jesus said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32), then it is imperative that every generation know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what the truth is. Otherwise, one could take a lie for truth and fall into slavery. For…

…everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. (John 8:34)

Hence, our spiritual freedom is intrinsic to knowing the truth, which is why Jesus promised, “When He comes, the Spirit of truth, He will guide you to all truth.” ^[1]John 16:13 Despite the flaws of the individual members of the Catholic Faith over two millennia and even the moral failures of Peter’s successors, our Sacred Tradition reveals that the teachings of  Christ have been accurately preserved for over 2000 years. It is one of the surest signs of Christ’s providential hand upon His Bride.

 

A New Precipice

Yet there were times in our history when the truth seemed to be teetering on a precipice — when even a majority of bishops moved in the direction of error (such as the Arian heresy). Today, we stand again at the edge of another dangerous cliff where it is not just one doctrine at stake, but the very foundations of Truth.^[2]While the truth will be infallibly preserved until the end of time, that does not mean it will remain known and practiced everywhere. Tradition tells us, in fact, that in the last times, it will be preserved by virtually a remnant; cf. The Coming Refuges & Solitudes It is a danger that Pope Francis rightly identified in a speech at the synod on the family:

The temptation to a destructive tendency to goodness, that in the name of a deceptive mercy binds the wounds without first curing them and treating them; that treats the symptoms and not the causes and the roots. It is the temptation of the “do-gooders,” of the fearful, and also of the so-called “progressives and liberals.” 

He went further, warning of the…

The temptation to come down off the Cross, to please the people, and not stay there, in order to fulfil the will of the Father; to bow down to a worldly spirit instead of purifying it and bending it to the Spirit of God.—cf. The Five Corrections

That was the synod that produced the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which ironically, was accused of lending to that very spirit of progressivism that seeks to secularize the sacrament of marriage and relativize human sexuality (see The Anti-Mercy). Whether or not one agrees with those theologians who believe this document contains error, one has to admit that since that synod, there has been a landslide of moral relativism, notably in the hierarchy. 

Today, we have entire bishops’ conferences attempting to promote heterodox teachings,^[3]eg. German bishops, cf. catholicnewsagency.com priests conducting “Pride Masses”,^[4]cf. here, here, here and here and, in truth, a pope who has become increasingly obscure on some of the most serious moral issues of our times. This is something Catholics aren’t used to, especially after the theologically precise pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

 

He Said What?

In his biography on Francis, journalist Austen Ivereigh wrote:  

[Francis] told a Catholic gay activist, a former theology professor named Marcelo Márquez, that he favored gay rights as well as legal recognition for civil unions, which gay couples could also access. But he was utterly opposed to any attempt to redefine marriage in law. ‘He wanted to defend marriage but without wounding anybody’s dignity or reinforcing their exclusion,’ says a close collaborator of the cardinal’s. ‘He favored the greatest possible legal inclusion of gay people and their human rights expressed in law, but would never compromise the uniqueness of marriage as being between a man and a woman for the good of children’.” —The Great Reformer, 2015; (p. 312)

As I noted in The Body, Breaking, the Pope seemed to clearly stake this position. While there is much in Ivereigh’s account of Francis that is laudable, there is also much that is bewildering since the Magisterium has already affirmed that “legal recognition of homosexual unions would obscure certain basic moral values and cause a devaluation of the institution of marriage.”^[5]Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons; n. 5, 6, 10 Nonetheless, it’s this vacuum of clarity that is being filled by “progressives and liberals,” such as the controversial Fr. James Martin^[6]see Trent Horn’s critique of Fr. James Martin’s positions here who told the world:

If Fr. Martin was wrong, the Vatican did little to clear the air.^[7]cf. The Body, Breaking This left the faithful grappling, not so much with the truth (for the authentic magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church remain clear) but with a new wave of seemingly papal-endorsed liberalism that is eclipsing the truth and sweeping through our pews.

In 2005, I wrote of this coming moral tsunami that is now here (cf. Persecution!… and the Moral Tsunami) being followed by a dangerous second wave (cf. Spiritual Tsunami). What makes this such a painful trial is that this deception is finding momentum within the hierarchy itself…^[8]cf. When the Stars Fall

Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers…   —CCC, n.675

 

The Anti-Mercy

Francis has insisted from the beginning of his papacy that the Church get off of its haunches, come out from behind closed doors and reach out to the peripheries of society. 

…all of us are asked to obey His call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the “peripheries” in need of the light of the Gospel. —POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 20

From this exhortation emerged his theme of the “art of accompaniment”^[9]n. 169, Evangelium Gaudium whereby “spiritual accompaniment must lead others ever closer to God, in whom we attain true freedom.”^[10]n. 170, Evangelium Gaudium Amen to that. There is nothing novel in those words; Jesus spent time with souls, He dialogued, He answered the questions of those thirsting for truth, and He touched and healed the social outcasts. Indeed, Jesus ate with “tax collectors and prostitutes”^[11]cf. Matt 21:32, Matt 9:10

But Our Lord did not steal nor sleep with them. 

Herein lies the dangerous sophistry being employed by some bishops that have turned accompaniment into a dark art: it is the novelty that the Church is welcoming, open, and accompanying — but without calling all who enter her doors to turn away from sin in order to be saved. Indeed, Christ’s own proclamation “Repent and believe in the Gospel”^[12]Mark 1:15 has frequently been usurped by “Be welcome and stay as you are!”  

In Lisbon last week, the Holy Father repeatedly emphasized a “welcoming” message:

In one of the most iconic moments coming out of World Youth Day, Pope Francis called on the hundreds of thousands gathered before him to yell back at him that the Catholic Church is for “todos, todos, todos” — everyone, everyone, everyone. “The Lord is clear,” the pope insisted on Sunday. “The sick, the elderly, the young, old, ugly, beautiful, good and bad.” —August 7, 2023, ABC News

Again, nothing new. The Church exists as the “sacrament of salvation”:^[13]CCC, n. 849; n. 845: “To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son’s Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is “the world reconciled.” She is that barque which “in the full sail of the Lord’s cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world.” According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah’s ark, which alone saves from the flood. Her baptismal font is filled with holy water for the lost; Her confessionals are opened for the sinner; Her teachings are made known for the weary; Her Sacred Food is offered for the weak.

Yes, the Church is open to everyone — but Heaven is only open to the repentant. 

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)

Thus, the Church welcomes all who are struggling with lust in order to liberate them. She welcomes all who are broken in order to restore them. She welcomes all in dysfunction in order to reorder them — all according to God’s Word. 

…indeed [Christ’s] purpose was not merely to confirm the world in its worldliness and to be its companion, leaving it completely unchanged. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, September 25th, 2011; www.chiesa.com

Conversion must follow baptism in order to be saved; holiness must follow conversion in order to be admitted into Heaven — even if that requires the purification of Purgatory.

Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit… Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away. (Acts 2:38, 3:19)  

In order that His mission be fruitful in the souls of individuals, Jesus declared that the Church must teach the nations “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”^[14]Matt 28:20 Hence,

…the Church… no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a “sign of contradiction.” …It could never be right for her to declare lawful what is in fact unlawful, since that, by its very nature, is always opposed to the true good of man.  —POPE PAUL VI, Humanae Vitae, n. 18

 

The Cliff’s Edge

On the return flight from Lisbon, a reporter asked the Pope:

Holy Father, in Lisbon you told us that in the Church there is room for “everyone, everyone, everyone”. The Church is open for everyone, but at the same time not everyone has the same rights and opportunities, in the sense that, for example, women and homosexuals cannot receive all the sacraments. Holy Father, how do you explain this inconsistency between an “open Church” and “a Church not equal for all?”

Francis replied:

You asked me a question on two different angles. The Church is open for all, then there are rules that regulate life within the Church. And someone who is inside is [so] in accordance with the rules… What you are saying is a very simplistic way of speaking: “One cannot receive the sacraments”. That does not mean that the Church is closed. Each person encounters God in his or her own way, within the Church, and the Church is mother and guide (for) each person along his or her own way. For this reason, I don’t like to say: let everyone come, but then you, do this, and you, do that… Everyone. Thereafter, each person in prayer, in interior dialogue, and in pastoral dialogue with pastoral workers, seeks the way to go forward. For this reason, to ask the question: “What about homosexuals?…” No: everyone… One of the important things in the work of ministry is to accompany people step after step on their way towards maturity…. The Church is a mother; she accepts everyone, and each person makes his or her own way forward within the Church, without making a fuss, and this is very important. — In-flight Press Conference, August 6, 2023

Rather than attempt to parse the words of the Pope and what he means by “rules”, what he means by seeking the way forward without making a fuss, etc. — let us simply repeat what the Church has believed and taught for 2000 years. To accompany someone “step after step on their way towards maturity” does not mean affirming them in sin, telling them only that “God loves as you are.” The first step in Christian maturity is to reject sin. And neither is this a subjective process. “Conscience is not an independent and exclusive capacity to decide what is good and what is evil,” taught John Paul II.^[15]Dominum et Vivificantem, n. 443 Nor is it bargaining with God as Augustine once did: “Give me chastity and continence, but not just yet!”

Such understanding never means compromising and falsifying the standard of good and evil in order to adapt it to particular circumstances. It is quite human for the sinner to acknowledge his weakness and to ask mercy for his failings; what is unacceptable is the attitude of one who makes his own weakness the criterion of the truth about the good, so that he can feel self-justified, without even the need to have recourse to God and his mercy. —POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II, Veritatis Splendor, n. 104; vatican.va

In the parable of the great feast, the king welcomes “everyone” to enter. 

Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find. 

But there is a condition in order to remain at table: repentance.^[16]In fact, the condition is really holiness in the context of the eternal banquet.

When the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ (Matt 22:9, 11-12)

Hence, we know we are standing on a precipice when the newly appointed Prefect to oversee the highest doctrinal office in the Church is not only openly speaking about the possibility of blessing homosexual unions but of the notion that the meaning of doctrine can change (see The Last Standing).^[17]cf. National Catholic Register, July 6, 2023 This is startling, coming from the man who is charged with maintaining the doctrine of the Faith. As his predecessor stated:

…as the Church’s one and only indivisible magisterium, the pope and the bishops in union with him carry the gravest responsibility that no ambiguous sign or unclear teaching comes from them, confusing the faithful or lulling them into a false sense of security. —Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; First Things, April 20th, 2018

Cardinal Raymond Burke is likewise warning against this reckless language that is giving certain words new meaning without reference to Sacred Tradition.

Over the past few years, certain words, for example, ‘pastoral,’ ‘mercy,’ ‘listening,’ ‘discernment,’ ‘accompaniment,’ and ‘integration’ have been applied to the Church in a kind of magical way, that is, without clear definition but as the slogans of an ideology replacing what is irreplaceable for us: the constant doctrine and discipline of the Church… The perspective of eternal life is eclipsed in favor of a kind of popular view of the Church in which all should feel ‘at home,’ even if their daily living is an open contradiction to the truth and love of Christ. —August 10, 2023; lifesitenews.com

Bishops, he warned, are betraying Apostolic Tradition.

Cardinal Müller went so far as to say that if the “Synod on Synodality” succeeds, it will be “the end of the Church.”

The basis of the Church is the word of God as a revelation … not our strange reflections. … This [agenda] is a system of self-revelation. This occupation of the Catholic Church is a hostile takeover of the Church of Jesus Christ. —Cardinal Gerhard Müller, October 7, 2022; National Catholic Register

This is The Hour of Judas and those of us who think we are standing must be careful, lest we fall.^[18]cf. 1 Cor 10:12 The deception is so powerful now, so broad, that Catholic institutions, universities, grade schools, and even pulpits have fallen into apostasy. And St. Paul tells us what comes next when rebellion becomes nearly universal (cf. 2 Thess 2:3-4), as restated by St. John Henry Newman:

Satan may adopt the more alarming weapons of deceit
— he may hide himself —
he may attempt to seduce us in little things,
and so to move the Church,
not all at once, but by little and little
from her true position.
…It is his policy to split us up and divide us, to dislodge us
gradually from our rock of strength.
And if there is to be a persecution, perhaps it will be then;
then, perhaps, when we are all of us
in all parts of Christendom so divided,
and so reduced, so full of schism, so close upon heresy.
When we have cast ourselves upon the world and
depend for protection upon it,
and have given up our independence and our strength,
then [Antichrist] will burst upon us in fury
as far as God allows him.  

Sermon IV: The Persecution of Antichrist

 

Related Reading

Political Correctness and the Great Apostasy

Compromise: The Great Apostasy

 

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