5 October 2021

GAMALIEL ...

... or THE REVENGE OF THE TRADDIES?

I feel fairly strongly that, when the long nightmare of Bergoglianity is eventually over, the last thing we want is some sort of revenge culture. The next Roman Pontiff should not be Pope Antifranciscus!

I would rather like the next Roman Pontiff to take the name Gamaliel, in memory of the admirable  Pharisee in Acts 5 who so wisely advised that the followers of the new Christian movement should not be persecuted out of existence: if this thing is of God, he thought, it will prosper.

The Spirit of Gamaliel was very much alive among the Franciscans of the Immaculate before the Vatican's cruel (and continuing) onslaught upon them. The Usus Authenticus was not part of their rule; it spread among them rather like ... well, rather as Christianity spread among that first, Jewish, generation of Christians. But there came the moment when it attracted the notice of the wolves. 

In the next pontificate, I hope for a degree of peace. I long for a Catholic culture in which the Faith is taught firmly but quietly and gently; in which the Holy Spirit is allowed to speak in the hearts of priests and people and religious without the Police hammering at the door. 

I hope for a pontificate in which the pope refrains from giving aircraft interviews; does not give interviews to loose-cannon journalists who don't even take notes; in which papal documents are very much rarer and more careful and are footnoted with sources a decent percentage of which will go back well beyond sixty years.

Hatred should not be given the sort of free rein which it has enjoyed in this pontificate. It should not be made possible for amused young cynics to make collections of the rhetorical excesses used by the pope ... or by anybody else ... to denigrate and humiliate fellow Catholics. Not even fellow clergy!

PF has left nobody in any doubt about whom ... and what ... he loaths, and with what visceral disgust he detests them. We can all, I hope, do without another raging, angry pontificate.

Personally, I would welcome a pontificate in which the Personality Cult of the reigning pope is considerably scaled down. Papal visits may be necessary or useful when there is a crisis of teaching or of communion which needs addressing (one thinks of Germany), but not as a regular institution.

And, in practical terms, we could do with a pope who listens (and even answers dubia!) rather than one whose natural idiom is to rant.

And one who, when he does open his mouth ... tells the truth. Wouldn't that be a treat!

20 comments:

Archimandrite Gregory said...

Seems his influence has even crept into our major patriarchate making him worthy of the title papa wannabe.

Anita Moore said...

Are there any traditions about Gamaliel beyond what is related in Scripture? Did he become a Christian, and does the Church regard him as a saint?

I have been praying the Litany of St. Joseph for the Church Universal before every Sunday Mass ever since we got Pope Francis.

Paulusmaximus said...

If the Church is to recover, the next (orthodox) pontiff will have to show considerable strength of character and resolution. He will, unavoidably, have to confront the numerous peddlers of heresy at all levels that are currently corrupting the Church. If previous popes had been a little less eirenic and more willing to confront error head-on, it is arguable that the current papacy would not have arisen. The pope that we need will generate considerable push-back from liberal prelates, priests and lay people - not to mention the media. He will not be popular!

Anonymous said...

I thought for a long time his flights of fancy in the air are a trifle better than when his feet ore on the ground among the pharisees in Rome

Fr Edward said...

I'm still hoping that Harold Macmillan will be the next Supreme Pontiff.
Macmillan (British Prime Minister 1957-63) would fit the bill splendidly in so many ways, no least in his reading lots of books, especially novels, when in high office.
In his last year as Prime Minister in 1963 he read 119, often noted with comments in his diaries.

I'm always wary of clergymen or politicians who are too busy for reading, especially novels. They are often far too serious, too narrow, and far too boring.
As Macmillan would say, as Prime Minister or Pontiff, there's nothing better than spending the evening with a good Trollope.

coradcorloquitur said...

What a splendid summary of our present nightmare, Father. It's all here, and with Christian honesty and courage. But I disagree that the Faith should be "taught quietly," although I do appreciate what you mean in the present context. Without "triumphalism" (that favorite, and bogus, accusation of the enemies of orthodoxy) perhaps (but why not be triumphant with the great Triumph of Christ the Lord); but with very audible conviction, please.

vetusta ecclesia said...

Ah yes. A pontificate that allows the HS to speak rather than as a rubber stamp for what the Pope has decided. After “ discernment”, of course.

Funny how discernment always validates what the discerner wanted in the first place.

And a pontificate that can read all the signs of the times, not just the ones that point in a preferred direction

Cogito said...

Padre - "from your mouth to God's ear."

Cherub said...

It is rare that I disagree with Father Hunwicke but on this occasion I do. In this article, he says "I long for a Catholic culture in which the Faith is taught firmly but quietly and gently." I agree that The Faith should be taught firmly. But we live in a time when the Church has failed to pass on the true Faith to its members. That has been the fault of the bishops and Catholic education authorities as well as many priests. So I want the Faith taught not only firmly but boldly, loudly, and energetically. And then let the cards fall where they may. As for repealing Francis' false teachings (such as Holy Communion for public officials who promote and vote for anti-life legislation and for couples living in irregular unions) and his unnecessary persecution of those who choose to worship according to the norma of the 1962 Missal. Such repeals cannot come quickly enough. The sooner those declarations of war are rescinded and we return to the peaceful times when the old Mass could be freely celebrated the better.

PM said...

'I long for a Catholic culture in which the Faith is taught firmly but quietly and gently; in which the Holy Spirit is allowed to speak in the hearts of priests and people and religious without the Police hammering at the door.'

Which is what we had (notwithstanding the decades of vilification against him) under Benedict XVI. He deserves to be canonised one day as a Doctor of the Church.

Sprouting Thomas said...

Be mine empire, as it ought of right,
Sweet, easy, pleasant, gentle, meek and light.

John Patrick said...

Regarding what Equusasinus.net said, it is interesting that wanting to worship as the Church did for 1500 years or so before 1970 and teaching what the Church Fathers taught during that same period is now considered "rebellion" and "individualism".

The Saint Bede Studio said...

Equusasinus.net wrote concerning Father Hunwicke :
"You lead so many astray and I find it painful to watch."
Perhaps Father does lead some people astray, I myself have rarely observed this. What concerns me much more, however, is the scandal of the Bishop of Rome leading astray the poor sheep entrusted to his care. It also concerns me that so many ("ordinary Catholics"?) are prepared to allow this scandal to continue without comment.

May God preserve us in this troubling time.

Scribe said...

If God in His mercy calls Pope Francis to Himself soon, will that mean that Benedict XVI will automatically be Pope again? But if Francis is going to be around ad multos annos, perhaps Benedict's friends could carefully and lovingly re-house him somewhere in Avignon, where, who knows, he might, er...

PM said...

I suspect he would not, Scribe, out of conviction. But in any case, although he is (thankfully) still lucid he is now so frail physically that he cannot stand for long enough to offer the Mass.

Grant Milburn said...

According to the Wikipedia article on Gamaliel, he is held in high regard in the Mishnah, and is venerated as a Saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, following a tradition that he became a secret Christian.

Johnjohn said...

That was simply excellent, nothing more to say.

frjustin said...

I would rather like the next Roman Pontiff to take the name Gamaliel, in memory of the admirable Pharisee in Acts 5 who so wisely advised that the followers of the new Christian movement should not be persecuted out of existence: if this thing is of God, he thought, it will prosper.

According to Diane Montagna's extraordinary report, there is a like-minded American bishop who made a similar response in the questionnaire prior to TC. She quotes the unnamed bishop as responding to question 9 as follows:

I think this is the best approach to use about the use of EF: the school of Gamaliel: “If this activity is of human origin, it will be destroyed, but if it comes from God, you will not be able to defeat them; do not find yourselves fighting against God” (Acts 5:38-39) (idem).

https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/5633-traditionis-custodes-separating-fact-from-fiction



Unknown said...

St Gamaliel is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology as a Saint of the Church along with his son St. Abibon.

Banshee said...

St. Augustine writes all about the discovery of the relics of St. Stephen in the same burial place as the bones of St. Gamaliel and his family, by way of visions telling how to find them. He also describes the relic tour that ensued in the Roman world, not long before the Vandals came and messed everything up. It's in Book 22, chapter 8 of The City of God.