26 January 2017

Diversity (2): AN AGGRESSIVE INSOLENT FACTION

I am sick to death of having my worst fears proved right ... daily. Just a few days ago, I wondered on this blog what Bishop Fellay, of the SSPX, faced with a decision about the offer Rome has left on his desk, must be making of Pope Bergoglio's petulant and vindictive onslaught upon the ancient and venerable Order of Malta and its Grand Master (please remember to pray for him and for the Order). And we all know of the suffering inflicted on the young and vibrant Franciscans of the Immaculate. It seems that whether you are a 'military' order fortified by a centuries-old tradition of Catholic loyalty and service, or are a brand-new group inspired by a new charism of the Holy Spirit, there are people Out There who just can't wait to Get you. I also had reason, a few days ago, to mention the way in which the intransigence of some bigoted Latin bishops in America in the 1930s led to Ruthenian Byzantine Rite communities in the USA departing into schism. Going back earlier, I might have mentioned the damage done to ancient Christian communities in India after their reintegration into the Catholicon.

And now the Parish and Academy and Pastor of our Lady of the Atonement are getting 'the Treatment'. A peaceful, happy, united community whose only sins have been to have a distinctive spirituality and to have flourished and to be financially very sound; to have fed thousands of Catholics with the Sacraments and the Word of God and to have taught generations of children Christianity and Prayer and traditional Catholic culture.

The bully-boy culture which is such an evil corruption in some members of the hierarchy of the Latin Church is all the more unsavoury when its persecuted victims are Christians who have made sacrifices (in some cases, great) to enter into full Communion with the See of S Peter. I once spent a pleasant and instructive afternoon reading through in his Bullarium the wise and sensitive provisions made by Prospero Lambertini, Benedict XIV, for the protection of the diversity represented by Byzantine Rite Christians in unity with Rome. And Benedict XVI did everything he could to defend, by the creation of protected structures, Anglicans returning to the Seat of Unity. Not to mention his careful provisions in Summorum Pontificum for the protection of those who use, or desire to use, the authentic liturgical Patrimony (never abrogated) of the Roman Church. (Needless to say, the Wolves have now got these dispositions in their sights. We were fools if we ever thought they wouldn't.)

But not every Roman Pontiff is endowed with the same clarity of vision and the same plain good sense as the Two Great Benedicts. Nor is every Latin Bishop ... or every Archbishop. It's not so much, nowadays, that they resent 'Eastern Rites'. Painfully, gradually, unwillingly, grudgingly, most of them have finally accepted that the Catholic Church can, in S John Paul's words, be allowed to have Two Lungs. Now, the inclination to 'Give Them a Good Stomping' kicks in mostly with regard to Latin Rite Christians who don't knuckle under to the liturgical monoculture of badly corrupted post-conciliar rites performed in accordance with the silly and illiterate fads of the 1970s.

And, as we are increasingly seeing day by day, any priest who shows any signs doctrinally of resisting the modern equivalent of what Blessed John Henry Newman neatly if ferociously called an Aggressive Insolent Faction, runs the risk (depending on the varying whimsies of different bishops or religious superiors) of being badly beaten up. Don't contradict me because I have been closely associated with victim clergy.

Some of us thought that in joyfully embracing full Unity with the See of S Peter and with the Saints of all the Ages, we would become part of a Catholic whole which was less culturally narrow-minded and parochial than the separated communities we were brought up in; a pluriform and rich family of diversity-within-orthodoxy. As far as this pontificate has, so far, shown itself, how wrong we were. As far as the current management of the Archdiocese of San Antonio is concerned, how wrong we were.

May God soon grant us a pope -- whether Bergoglio or someone else -- who will give us back our joy and gladness, and gently, wisely, guide his Venerable Brethren, starting with the Archbishop of San Antonio, back to understanding the true diversity (always subject to the Church's authentic Magisterium) of many traditions in the One Tradition.

If such welcomed Diversity is not an integral ingredient in what is meant by "Ecumenism", I would like to know what is. Surely "Ecumenism" cannot mean the sort of mind-set which animates the Archbishop of San Antonio. Is the Invitation to Separated Brethren simply a demand "Submit yourselves and come close so that we can kick you"?

The 'case' of our Lady of the Atonement is another litmus paper testing the honesty, or lack of it, with which the Catholic Church professes to engage with the Lord's call to Unity.

22 comments:

JoeTownsend said...

Thank you.

Joshua said...

I grow more and more frightened.

Why, why, did Benedict XVI abandon us to the wolves?

bob said...

Maybe the best Anglican Patrimony was the Freehold

Ana Milan said...

Everything you compile here is absolutely true & has been predicted by Our Lady & mystics of the CC for centuries at regular intervals. The CC is the last bulwark (again as predicted) against Satan & his crew (Modernists) who have destroyed secular order, introduced such evils as abortion, euthanasia, LGBT, bestiality & other deviant 'rights' etc. Nothing is against the Law unless they, the Supremos, say it is. People are paid to create disorder at the whim of their Masters whether within the Church or civil society. Nothing is ever preached about this phenomenon nor indeed about sin as that wouldn't be pc.

There is no God (are we so stupid that we haven't fathomed that ridiculous notion), no Hell, no Sin, nothing but what we experience here on earth & our Masters will always be, as of their right, the ultra wealthy, vilest, brutal inhuman beings that every set foot on this planet. We have been warned but have not sufficiently heeded those warnings - everything is coming true as forecast. The CC has been taken over & is at the mercy of these Satanic individuals in clerical garb. Prayer is our main weapon but we also have the right & ability to tear open their schemes & reveal them to the world. We have Traditional Catholic websites (like yours) to continue revealing the stench of Satan to the world. Christ is still with His Church but we, its members, must fight to the nth degree for Him. This is the centenary year of Fatima - one of the bishops of that time to whom Sr. Lucy spoke & revealed the contents of the Third Secret, has put his name to the Dubia. If we all could have, we would. All we can do now is to insist that continued silence from PF will quickly bring about an Imperfect Council to point its collective finger at PF & tell us not to follow him. That will be what God would want us to do as blasphemy, heresy, vile language, persecution of priests & public slander against Traditional Catholics have nothing to do with Catholicism but comes from Satan.

philipjohnson said...

Fr.I agree with you!.I am 64 yrs of age and a Traditional Catholic.Appalled is an understatement about how i feel about the state of Holy Mother Church during Bergoglios reign of terror.However ,i recall Pope Paul vi in 1972 stating that the Smoke of Satan has entered The Church through its cracks.The Malevolent is present in the Vatican and has been for a long time.This is a great time to be in, at present ,for a True Catholic because we shall witness the downfall of these malefactors in Rome soon.This year will see what i mean,hope,and pray for!God Bless Fr.

austin said...

Indeed. This is why I read this blog site daily.

A masterpiece of saeva indignatio, Father, penetrating right to the living pulp of the decaying tooth. It will hurt because it is true -- or as someone said somewhere, "It is hard to kick against the pricks."

Not that they don't deserve it.

Paul-A. Hardy said...

Even as a Roman Catholic, my parents by reason of racial prejudice saw to it that I was educated in Anglican institutions associated first with the then Protestant Episcopal Church and then the Church of England. That the apartheid policy of the US, especially in the South was rigorously supported by the American Roman Catholic hierarchy until the late fifties of the last century is easily confirmed and I shall not go into the matter. My point is this. During the time of my association with Anglican institutions I found a level of moral seriousness completely absent from what I experienced amongst Catholic priests and bishops. Slavery and segregation was regarded by the majority of Catholic bishops until the second half of the 20th century as a social, not a moral issue. Whilst many Episcopalians supported slavery—indeed Bishop Leonidas Polk— served in the Confederate army— it remained in the Protestant Episcopal Church fundamentally a moral issue. Escaped slaves were housed in Episcopal churches like the Church of the Transfiguration (The Little Church Around the Corner) in New York, whose city council almost joined the Confederacy. Indeed, they were protected there from the Catholic Irish mobs who rioted at the prospect of fighting in the US army during the American Civil War, the war which led to the abolition of slavery. It did not lead to the de-segregation. Herbert Cardinal Vaughn, later Archbishop of Westminster, found the treatment of Black Catholics in the US positively shocking and aided St. Katherine Drexel, a convert, as much as he could in alleviating their condition. The issue of race and slavery was a divinely ordained test for the moral integrity of Xtians in the America, a test which the Roman Catholic Church in these parts, both in North and South America miserably failed.
Given my Catholic experience, I wondered why you and many Anglicans wished to involve themselves in an official way with this decadent and corrupt body. I suppose it was to lend credibility to the ministry your apostolate. I was born into it and like many on the European continent take its corruption for granted. The credibility of the Catholic faith I learned from a child is a spiritual matter. At best, credibility stops at catechesis, which provides an intellectual structure to the psyche that controls our bodies. But as St. Paul says 'the psychic man' (psychikos anthropos) is not open to the Spirit. What goes under the name of Roman Catholicism is almost totally a psychic phenomenon in this sense. It deals in the psychic, manipulates it to gain financial sustenance for its operations, including the support of many of its clergy, whose false vows, taken at the peak of their reproductive years has proven costly. To the psychic man, grace IS costly, which, when one thinks of it, is a contradiction, given what 'grace' means. In any case, what we have in the Diocese of San Antonio is to be expected.
The trials of the Ordinariate will continue until Catholics, real Catholics, I mean, are willing to sacrifice real estate for their faith. One does not have to make this happen but only wait until clarity is vouchsafed from Heaven. Then the path to take will be clear. The Roman Church is already in schism, where the Bishop of Rome stands in this schism remains for the time being unknown . But it seems very likely that he is on the side of the realtors and not of the faith. Along with him is the Bishop of San Antonio. Its just a matter of time before all will become plain. God has been unfolding the pages of this story at an ever increasing speed since Vatican I. The speed has in increased since Vatican II. Until then hold on tight. It will soon become clear: Real Estate or the Faith just as it become clear to those who followed St. Athanasius.

Capt. Morgan said...

Amen!

Banshee said...

The history of sainthood in the Catholic Church is often the history of envious pinheads and superiors trying to destroy the saints. Something about a goodness beyond their grasp or style enrages them, even if they aren't all that bad most of the time, to most people. Everybody gets some martyrdom!

And the same thing applies to programs or parishes that are successful.

I have never been anywhere close to Atonement, but their podcast Bible studies were excellent and taught me a lot. I was sorry to see them disappear from the website.

(And the one where Father accidentally got in the car/truck and drove off, while still recording the podcast, was a classic! Vrooooooooom.....)

Mick Jagger Gathers No Mosque said...

Ecumenism is the Universal Solvent of Tradition and all of the documents of Vatican Two were submerged in this neo-baptism and since then our inertia into Indifferentism has increased in velocity and intensity - -save for the few remaining Trads which the totalitarian revolutionaries must continue to seek out and destroy in their rear guard actions.

More and more men are becoming sickened by the haughty humility of the labile lutheran in the Holy See and one wishes he just does the full doctrinal monty and reveals to even the willfully blind what he truly believes.

Gil Garza said...

My grace is enough for thee, my strength finds its full scope in thy weakness. More than ever, then, I delight to boast of the weaknesses that humiliate me, so that the strength of Christ may enshrine itself in me. I am well content with these humilations of mine, the insults, the hardships, the persecutions, the times of difficulty I undergo for Christ; when I am weakest, then I am strongest of all.

GOR said...

With situations like these (San Antonio, Knights of Malta, Franciscans of the Immaculate…and others) I am embarrassed for my Church – in some of its human elements at least.

It seems that we are now in a virtual Reign of Terror - sparked by the strong-arm tactics emanating from the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Once these are seen at the top, it gives free rein to others to emulate them and they are taking advantage of it. Where is the mercy? The humility? The welcoming and gentleness of Jesus?

It is hardly the way to attract new converts or give comfort to the existing members. If this is what a ‘Year of Mercy’ produces, it would appear that the message was not received or understood.

tradgardmastare said...

This is so upsetting.What can we do but pray for the current occupant of the Chair of Peter. What must the Pope Emeritus make of this all? It must cause him such pain and utter confusion. We live in difficult times.I am surrounded by colleagues who hang on the current Pontiff's every word and put quotes by him on the staffroom noticeboard. I don't know where to begin having a conversation with them about the matters you write of here. It is so vexing to say the very,very least.

Ben.quivenit@gmail.com said...

Dear Father Hunwicke:

Ought Catholics anticipate the Faction's possible future moves; and is forced desecration of the Most Holy Eucharist among the possibilities? Perhaps clergy and laity together can formulate an emergency escape plan, so that priests know that when the Faction's boot comes looking for some necks upon which to step, faithful priests will already have a viable, preplanned option. Laity may be more open to such a plan than some might be tempted to think.


Elisabeth F. said...

Hello -

I'm not good at expressing thoughts by the use of visual images, but what comes to mind is Medusa holding the globe in her hands, watching fireworks celebrating each instance of departure from Truth, unaware of her own hair.
At the same time, perhaps we are getting a reminder that it's not just two lungs, but two lungs comprised of differing lobes.

With regard to not just a lack of papal support for Traditional congregations in favor of pastorally merciful congregations but to actually enabling secular political oppression, one reads the following:

"Q. And will you soon be going to China?

A. As soon as they send me an invitation. They know that. Besides, in China, the churches are packed. In China they can worship freely."

from: http://elpais.com/elpais/2017/01/21/inenglish/1485026427_223988.html

as cited by: http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/fetzen-fliegen/item/3007-the-humble-pope-likens-trump-to-hitler-praises-freedom-of-worship-in-communist-china

However, on a lighter note:
http://thatthebonesyouhavecrushedmaythrill.blogspot.com/2017/01/thats-amoris.html

-For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Anonymous said...

I ask you this Father. Can you think of any reason that a catholic layman can take the present hierarchy to task before either the Signatura or the Rota. You can explain privately if you wish to me mikehurcum1937@google.com. I welcome all hints and tactics but not abuse of any man's soul and will definitely pray as did Moses not for any new thing but the abusers that do not change are sent to a place where they cannot harm my church of my lifetime any more.

Elisabeth F. said...

Hello Joshua and friends -

I don't think for one moment that Pope Benedict abandoned us to the wolves!

Thanks to both him and his predecessor we were gifted with over a quarter century of catechesis and personal examples of what it means to be Catholic, what it means to be holy, and what it means to be a devoted son or daughter of the Church.
We through them know how to be - especially during these days of discord - and we have it easy, especially compared to folks in China and North Korea.

Pope JPIIM in his first audience told us:
"Today we must speak of another virtue, since I have learned from the notes of the late Pontiff that it was his intention to speak not only of the three theological virtues, faith, hope and charity, but also of the four so-called cardinal virtues. John Paul I wished to speak of the "seven lamps" of the Christian life, as Pope John XXIII called them. Well, today I wish to continue this plan, which the late Pope had prepared, and to speak briefly of the virtue of prudence. The ancients spoke a great deal of this virtue. We owe them, for this reason, deep gratitude and thanks. In a certain dimension, they taught us that the value of man must be measured with the yardstick of the moral good which he accomplishes in his life. It is just this that ensures the virtue of prudence first place. The prudent man, who strives for everything that is really good, endeavours to measure every thing, every situation and his whole activity according to the yardstick of moral good. So a prudent man is not one who—as is often meant—is able to wangle things in life and draw the greatest profit from it; but one who is able to construct his whole life according to the voice of upright conscience and according to the requirements of sound morality.
So prudence is the key for the accomplishment of the fundamental task that each of us has received from God. This task is the perfection of man himself. God has given our humanity to each of us. We must meet this task by planning it accordingly.
But the Christian has the right and the duty to look at the virtue of prudence also in another perspective. It is, as it were, the image and likeness of the Providence of God himself in the dimensions of concrete man. For man—as we know from the book of Genesis—was created in the image and likeness of God. And God carries out his plan in the history of creation, and above all in the history of mankind. The purpose of this plan is—as St Thomas teaches—the ultimate good of the universe. The same plan in the history of mankind becomes simply the plan of salvation, the plan that embraces us all. At the central point of its realization is Jesus Christ, in whom was expressed the eternal love and solicitude of God himself, the Father, for the salvation of man. This is at the same time the full expression of Divine Providence.
Well, man who is the image of God, must—as St Thomas again teaches—in some way be providence: but within the proportions of his life. He can take part in this great march of all creatures towards the purpose, which is the good of creation. He must—expressing ourselves even more in the language of faith—take part in the divine plan of salvation. He must march towards salvation, and help others to save themselves. By helping others, he saves himself.
I pray in order that, in this light, those who are listening to me will think now of their own lives. Am I prudent? Do I live consistently and responsibly? Does the programme I am realizing serve the real good? Does it serve the salvation that Christ and the Church want for us?"
http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1978/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_19781025.html

Perhaps reading these words from Grossvater Joseph at the beginning and end of his pontificate may be of help:
http://www.vatican.va/gpII/documents/homily-card-ratzinger_20050408_en.html
http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2013/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20130227.html

Remember: BE NOT AFRAID

-Totus Tuus

Jonathan Cariveau said...

On the supposed begrudging acceptance of Eastern Christianity in the Catholic Church, I, an Eastern Catholic, beg to differ. Latin hierarchs do not respect or accept the East. Ecumenism means "you're alright as you are, but don't you dare bring your filthy ad orientem and that awful liturgical mysticism anywhere near us."

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Anonymous said...

It's a good time to read That Hideous Strength; the Church of N.I.C.E. indeed!

Unknown said...

@pierre, among your many errors, I'll simply point out one: St. Katharine Drexel was not a convert to the faith.