Sunday 18 September 2016

A New Faith? Update Catechism #1735

I have heard some harsh remarks about Pope Francis, especially since the publication of Amoris Laetitia (following which I actually heard him described as ‘evil’). But the real culprit is Satan, with whom it is characteristic to take a truth and distort it so as to achieve a bad end. He did this in the Garden of Eden when he distorted the truth of man made in the image and likeness of God so as to turn man from God to self: “God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes shall be opened and you shall be like gods, knowing good from evil” (Gen.3v4-5). This is also his tactic today: to mix the light of truth with the darkness of lies in such a way as to achieve the colour grey: the grey fog of relativism in which souls literally lose their way to heaven. In seminary there were a number of students who could be heard to say ‘grey is the devil’s favourite colour’. Today Satan distorts ‘do not judge’ (which concerns not judging people) into not judging actions and situations; a distortion for which Pope Francis might be said to have fallen. Sadly, this distortion advances the work of the father of lies, rather than the work of the Holy Spirit.

Pope Francis has often spoken of the God of Surprises, wherein we are asked to be surprised by new ideas and new ways; ways which take us out of the certainties of The Faith into the enemy’s ‘grey areas’. One can only echo St Paul who said, “I fear that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes preaching a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you are all too willing to listen” (2 Cor.11:3, 4).

Has Pope Francis has fallen for the devil’s tactic? Many might say yes, because while he obviously cares for those in difficult circumstances and seeks to help them while seeking to leave doctrine intact, he has also indicated that we can at times ignore Doctrine by admitting to Holy Communion those who are objectively in grave sin (adultery). Such a practice [1] exposes the Blessed Sacrament to sacrilege, [2] exposes souls to the possibility of dying in mortal sin, and [3] brings the Church to a state of self-contradiction wherein practice runs contrary to belief. Catholics see this as a dangerous situation, for it allows pastoral practice to be divorced from the truths of The Faith (no pun intended). Pope Francis, by referring to a ‘God of Surprises’ and ‘grey areas’, has left himself open to being described dangerous to souls, for by placing his pastoral directives over and above the words the Lord in Scripture and Tradition, we are led away from Catholicism to a new faith which might be called ‘Francisism’. 

We will need a strong Pope after Francis; one who is unafraid to see the good in what Francis has achieved as well as the errors he has made, so that he may affirm the former and anathematise the latter. Many admit to being disorientated and disturbed by Pope Francis, but we have to remember that Francis cannot re-write 2,000 years of doctrine and practice: a pope is infallible only in defending the known truth; he is not divinely inspired so as to add to it, abandon it or in any way alter it. We should remember that at the end of the day, if Francis can go against 2,000 years of Catholicism, a successor can go against (#) years of ‘Francisism’.

I have been asked, do we ignore #1735 of the Catechism by refusing Holy Communion to those in adulterous situations? The answer is no; article #1735 says "Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors",  and refers to ones culpability before God; it does not mean the Church can support an on-going situation that objectively contravenes Divine Truth/Divine Law. The Church cannot put herself in opposition to such Laws/Truths as found in the 6th Commandment and Matthew 19v9.  It is scandalous for anyone to attempt to overrule or even simply ignore the teaching of God-made-man.

18 comments:

  1. Well said once again, Father. We apparently live in a secular, ever more grey world it seems. Those in high places in Rome appear to smile and run right along with it, despite the 2,000 years of Truth and Christ's own words..they are, in effect, running not so much with the world, but away from Christ Himself. It is sad..

    I wrote this commentary on the matter a few days ago, for what it's worth: https://hector1088.blogspot.com/2016/09/a-commentary-on-things-past-and-present.html

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    1. Thank you, David.
      I think we have now stepped over the line from Catholicism into Francisism, or perhaps more correctly Bergoglisim, since Francis is the name of a great saint.
      God Bless.

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  2. Father, first of all, I just want to let you know that two of the three theology books that you recommended in a prior post (the two by F. Sheed), were delivered. I am looking forward to reading them, especially the one entitled "Theology and Sanity". I am still awaiting delivery of the one by Ott.

    Regarding your last paragraph, I disagree with you regarding part about the 'good' that Francis has achieved. I'm afraid I cannot see any, to be frank. Regarding the AL, I could only see that as a cake, with very poisonous raisins or nuts in it. A few to be sure, in the footnotes, but why would I, in my right mind, offer such a cake to the people for whom I am responsible in the sight of God. If any parent did that - in a physical sense, they would be jailed. Pope Francis, in my view, in doing is playing Russian Roulette with souls who may "ingest" and follow the AL ...

    If you are able to point out specifics of his pontificate that have achieved any good, I'd be grateful.Having said that, I spend 10 minutes every day especially praying for Pope Francis because he has a huge responsibility on his shoulders whether he is aware of it or not, and right now, IMO, he is shirking that responsibility big time.

    Back to regarding the 'good' that Francis has done. Some years ago, I read Karl Adam's "The Spirit of Catholicism". Karl Adam as you probably know was a pre-Vatican II theologian. I have since misplaced that book, but a few pieces I recall. One is why the Catholic Church comes down hard - one may say brutally- on error, even that of her beloved sons....I think Adam mentioned Origen as a beloved son, to my recollection.

    Karl Adam wrote (my paraphrase and my understanding of what he wrote) that after the Church comes down hard on the error, and after a while, when danger of assimilation of that error has passed, the Church, in Her wisdom, then takes in what was good and true proposed by those people She had condemned, and
    makes it part of her teaching.

    In summary, my understanding is the Church in the past condemned error, even if it were a tiny part of the vast good that was being proposed. Once danger of that error was past, then she took in the good that was proposed. In this way, she safeguarded revelation, and the deposit of Faith, yet incorporated continually what was good and true.

    I can't help wondering why that Mode of Operation was discarded. To me, it's a good one. ...

    I loved Benedict XVI's books (except for this last one, which I will not buy from the reviews from Traditional and Orthodox Catholics). However, even when I read Cardinal Ratzinger/Benedict's books, I was a bit taken aback when he mentioned Origen in a good light, without mentioning 1) that Origen had been chastised by the Church, and 2) why, given that he (Benedict) was talking about him (Origen) in a positive way. I have no problem with Origen spoken about in a positive way, given what I understood (above) of Karl Adam wrote. Once the danger of the error that Origen had proposed was past, okay to acknowledge the good he had proposed. But be clear about it.

    Personally, I think our Beloved Church has been hijacked by Vatican II, and the cost has been great. ..in my city, another convent is now closing down. These good sisters, the youngest who is 73 and the oldest 104yrs old, were faithful/obedient to Vatican II's interpretation. One sister, a good friend of mine, told me she struggled to overcome her prior training to embrace Vatican II, but she did. She, and the others in her order, are now overseeing the last breath/death of their particular order (a diocesan order).

    If we look at the fruits of Vatican II, and judge it by what the Church has always taught, can we honestly say that it was good? Pope Francis seems to think so, and unfortunately, to my deep dismay, so apparently has Benedict XVI... the result of which is Bergoglism

    Sorry, this has become a rant; please feel free to not publish, or to edit it severely.

    God bless,

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    1. Thank you, GC.
      It isn't a rant; it is very interesting!
      God Bless.

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  3. Father,
    The use of the term 'Satan' is surely anathema, as deemed by the E&W Bishops' Conference, these days?

    In my prayers.

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  4. It is very difficult, as a lay person, to be able to tell what to believe or to do. Catholicism is supposed to be a very "authoritarian" religion—not "do-it-yourself-ism", but we lay people have to follow what our Bishop's teach us because they are the successors of the Apostles. On the one hand, one will have a very different experience of the Church if your Bishop is (say) Athanasius Schneider vs. (say) Walter Kasper. On the other hand, Bishops are supposed to only transmit the received teachings of the Apostles and not monkey around with it. Yet on the third hand, us layfolk don't have the training or the authority to "make the call" when a Bishop has overstepped his authority and gone beyond the received teachings or is only making some particularly subtle point. Which brings us right back to step one (you have to follow your Bishop) and how they seems to be teaching contradictory things. All of this makes me depressed and rather dizzy.

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  5. " It is scandalous for anyone to attempt to overrule or even simply ignore the teaching of God-made-man."

    From your mouth to Pope Francis' ears.

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    1. One hopes the word of the Lord will reach the ears of the Pope through his bishops. It is the Bishops who need to defend the Faith and call Francis to order, as Paul did with Peter, but there is an extreme liberal tendency within the episcopate who disempower those who would be faithful, and who defend their liberalism, their putting aside the word of the Lord, as 'pastoral care' -as though Our lord was lacking in pastoral care and sensitivity.
      God Bless.

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  6. We are all in difficult circumstances. Each has a different Cross (or Crosses ) to carry.

    One thing that will surprise many if not the majority of Catholics today is that we must keep God's Commandments.

    That means amongst many other things that divorced and re-married Catholics, actively sexual, are in a state of mortal sin and that if they knowingly receive Holy Communion, they commit a further mortal sin.

    God bless!

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    1. One cannot help but recall the oft-repeated line that for today's Catholics (including, it seems, Pope, bishops and priests) that there are no Ten Commandments, only Ten Suggestions.
      God Bless.

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  7. Well said. Jesus Christ didn't mince words and was quite clear in how we are expected to live on this earth in order to be with him when we die. So no human, be it pope bishop priest or lay person should change any of his words or teachings and adapt them to fit man rather than man adapt to fit God. It comes down to a simple choice for the divorced and remarried. Do I love God more and live my life the way he has asked me to and continue to receive the sacraments or do I love myself more that I choose another husband/wife.

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  8. Re CCC #1735, this is also misapplied in Amoris Laetitia which hints that lack of culpability can be grounds for permitting public permanent adulterers to be admitted to the sacraments. This is effectively what the pope has endorsed with his letter to the Bishops of Buenos Aires.

    This is of course erroneous as CCC #1735 is referring to the internal forum in the Sacrament of Penance when judgement of culpability is made "post factum". What the Kasperite use of #1735 is attempting to achieve is that it should be applied to sins which the penitent actually intends to commit in the future as well. This is a sacreligious abuse of the Sacrament of Penance and the people who are advocating it should be hauled over the coals - irrespective of their ecclesiastical rank.

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    1. Thank you D A,
      Indeed, this is the problem: 1735 is being abused; it is not applicable to on-going situations contrary to the law of God as a 'get-out clause'.
      God Bless.

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  9. Thank you DA and Father. These blogs and comments are so useful, because they provide Catholics who are serious about their faith with answers to the current chaos emanating from the Catholic Hierarchy.

    It gives us (me at least)tools for discussion when these subjects are brought up in my circle. While I have no clout compared to the hierarchy, I can at least provide food/truth for thought ...

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    1. Dear G.C.,
      I am glad you find the posts and comments useful. It is exactly what was intended!
      God Bless you.

      Delete
  10. Father Dixon, we are deeply disturbed regarding the Pope's judgement and guidance. Particularly concerned about his decision regarding abortion. There are many babies aborted for 'social' reasons such as a baby being an unwanted accident. Thou shalt NOT kill is a commandment. What is going on. Forgiveness is God's gift but though shalt not kill is God's command.

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  11. Where can we run to, where can we find true priests of God who are willing to stand up and be counted for the faith the true faith of our fathers. Everything is chaos and against the truth, lies and untruths. God help us all. God bless you Fr Dixon priest of God.

    ReplyDelete

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