13 June 2016

Requiescant in pace

Those who died in the most truly appalling events at Orlando ... may they, through the all-atoning Sacrifice of our most sweet Redeemer and our suffrages, have remission of their sins: we pray this for them as we pray it for all the departed, since as Christians we believe that anyone who claims to be without sin is deceiving himself and the Truth is not in him. This, of course, goes equally for popes and for rent-boys and for you and for me.

Humanly, we may surely hope that many of those killed in a situation which prima facie may have been at least a proximate occasion of mortal sin, may, through their own ignorance, not have had that full knowledge and consent which would render their deeds and intentions as lethal subjectively as they are objectively. It is a sobering thought that it may be easier for us, who are instructed Catholics, to go to Hell than it is for the uninstructed.

And we pray for the wounded; for the families, friends, survivors, witnesses of those who died. Perhaps a particular prayer is appropriate for those who were not aware that their sons or daughters were being drawn into intrinsically disordered actions: parents for whom the horror of so dreadful a bereavement may even be  increased by that realisation.

And I think we need to be aware that the Hierarchs of the Spirit of this Age will use this fearful atrocity for their own purposes. Treating the victims of a deranged murderer as martyrs for a noble cause is likely to become a stock element in the perverted parody of the moral high ground which the Powers of Evil seek to inculcate. And it will become part of a campaign which, if it succeeds, will lead to the increasingly violent persecution of anybody who articulates the teaching of Scripture and of the Catholic Church (Catechism paragraphs 2357 and following).

18 comments:

Highland Cathedral said...

As might be expected that is exactly what the Independent is doing: exploiting a sad occasion for the purpose of promoting the LGBT agenda.
"This continues to ignore the violence we face on a daily basis – whether that is the trans woman of colour raped and left for dead, the gay man beaten to a pulp, or the structural failings of the state that leave LGBTQ teenagers with no basic sexual education ashamed and suicidal."
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/orlando-shooting-attack-gay-nightclub-lgbt-club-pulse-florida-mass-us-a7078341.html

Ana Milan said...

Well said Father.

mark wauck said...

Amen!

Liam Ronan said...

From a sudden violent, unexpected, unprovided, and unshriven death, O Lord deliver us!

May God have Mercy on their souls, even that of their murderer.

The following is worth recalling too, I believe:

"According to WHO, every year in the world there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day.

In the USA, where nearly half of pregnancies are unintended and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion [1] , there are over 3,000 abortions per day. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies in the USA (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion. [2]"

http://www.worldometers.info/abortions/

"Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked?...

I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if ten should be found there? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.

And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place." Genesis 18:22, 32-33

Can 10 righteous men be found these days in all the earth? Pray earnestly for all. Pray the rosary.

Mick Jagger Gathers No Mosque said...


Muhammad, the perfect man, in Islam, taught this:

“If you find anyone doing as Lot’s people did, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.” (Abu Dawud 38:4447) And: “Stone the upper and the lower, stone them both.” (Ibn Majah 3:20:2562)

Far from being an aberrant madman,this Jihadist is a Saint in Islam for he actualised the commands of Mahomet, the perfect man in Islam.

Yes, this is morally evil and absurd but much of what Mahometansism is is evil and absurd and we must speak the truth about Mahomet and his evil doctrines or the west will continue to be morally complicit in Mahometan murders.

dk pintar said...

I find your posting quite un-Christian and condescending.
Your hurt the families of those murdered, the survivors and their families.
Most of all you hurt your fellow human being.

umblepie said...


Thank you Father, for this balanced and sobering post.

John (Ad Orientem) said...

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts. -Proverbs 21:2

May their memory be eternal.

William said...

@dk pintar: I find it hard to believe you actually read the post at all. Are you willing to give any substance what you say you "find"? Fr H's post is truly Christian, truly compassionate, and truly realistic. What more do you want?

mwidunn said...

Humanly, we may surely hope that many of those killed in a situation which prima facie may have been at least a proximate occasion of mortal sin, may, through their own ignorance, not have had that full knowledge and consent which would render their deeds and intentions as lethal subjectively as they are objectively.

Really? Really? Is such a comment really necessary in the face of an act of unmitigated evil?

Even the Samaritan felt compassion in his heart for the despised Judean, treating and bandaging his wounds (cf. Lk 10:33-34). But, you . . .

Jesus says: "Go and learn the meaning of the words: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'"

If such a cold, shriveled heart is the fruit of celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass, then I'll take the Novus Ordo any day of the week.



Jacobi said...

They were not martyrs and the murderer was not deranged . A persecution of Christians is coming in any case – particularly if we meekly allow it!

Liam Ronan said...

@mwidunn,

You are being grossly unfair. Please re-read what Father has actually written on this subject,

Father wrote: "It is a sobering thought that it may be easier for us, who are instructed Catholics, to go to Hell than it is for the uninstructed."

If I am not mistaken, Father, if anything did not impute grave sin to anyone. Rather, Father suggested (I believe) this passage from scripture which touches on guilt and invincible ignorance:

"The lord of that servant will come in the day that he hopeth not, and at the hour that he knoweth not, and shall separate (literally 'cut him to pieces') him, and shall appoint him his portion with unbelievers.

And that servant who knew the will of his lord, and prepared not himself, and did not according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.

And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more. I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?" Luke 12: 46-49

OreamnosAmericanus said...

My problem is not with Father Hunwicke's remarks, which are perfectly orthodox and true to Catholic tradition. My problem is not even with the Catholic moral theology behind it, with which I do not agree but whose inner coherence I understand and respect.

My problem is with the Catholic Church's current indiscriminate love affair with Third World immigration, including a blind refusal to recognize Islam's irredeemable incompatibility with even a post-Christendom Western world. THAT is what enrages me at momens like this. Not only the Pope --although his grandstanding and blathering makes him an especially egregious case of gross imprudence-- but the whole Church's bizarre "social justice" mantra, when its results put Christian people at risk and the already shrinking Christian faith in a perilous position. Without complicity in the larger suicidal policies of the Western countries in this matter, this Islamic jihadi could not have perpetrated the bloody slaughter that he did. I hold the Church partly responsible for THAT and all the other depredations which the Third World savages have committed, and will continue to commit, on our people.

Every fool in the West who thinks that Muslims can be tamed ought to pray to St Pius V for illumination.

Highland Cathedral said...

It gets even worse. Some people are blaming Christians for the murders in Orlando:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/the-aclu-says-christians-caused-the-orlando-shooting-57439/

Highland Cathedral said...

And the BBC are getting into the act. Tonight the BBC Scotland politics programme is investigating whether, in the aftermath of Orlanda, "gay equality" should be "actively promoted in Scotland's schools".

Liam Ronan said...

@DrAndroSF,

I understand your sentiments and agree with you in many respects. Europe and the United States seem to be on a course of unrestricted auto-demolition fuelled oddly enough by what I take to be a collective self-loathing based om a neurotic social guilt.

We disregard our own counsel.

"One has to have a clear understanding that it (Islam) is not simply a denomination that can be included in the free realm of pluralistic society." - Pope Benedict XVI

Liam Ronan said...

@DrAndroSF,

As my earlier observation in respect of your remarks was rather brief, and as I take it you are genuinely interested in what the Catholic Church teaches vis-a-vis immigration and all matters touching thereon, I refer you to the relevant entries in the Catechism of the Catholic Church addressing the duties of a State towards its citizens.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church 1897 thru 1927, Part Three 'Life in Christ', Section One 'Man's Vocation: Life in the Spirit', Chapter Two 'The Human Communion', Article Two 'Participation in Social Life', Section I 'Authority' and Section II 'The Common Good' (link below)

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a2.htm

You may judge for yourself whether the Church has failed to intelligently practice what She preaches.

God bless. We are all in the same boat.

Highland Cathedral said...

Here's a report on the Kaye Adams programme on BBC Scotland:
https://theweeflea.com/2016/06/15/call-kaye-but-dont-challenge-the-status-quo/comment-page-1/#comment-8973