“By the pricking of my thumbs…”

Posted on 25 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At LifeSite there is an interview with Peter Kwasniewski.  He opines that the decentralization of authority in liturgical matters could recreate an environment in the Church much like the 70’s.

Of course that would accelerate the growth of desire for traditional forms.  Younger Catholics don’t have the baggage of the 70’s.  Nor do they pine for those halcyon days of protests, revolt against authority and Vatican II.

The latest move of Pope Francis with Magnum principium was a harbinger.  His Holiness seems to be lining up pretty closely with the will of the wealthy German bishops conference.  If that is indeed the case, then we are in for a rough ride, quod Deus avertat.

Now we wait for the next portent in this series of signs of the times.

As I put on my haruspex cap and slit the belly of this bull, one such portent could be a project to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem or, in a less apocalyptic way, a change of personnel in, say, the Office of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations.

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Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged , ,
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“The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church, even to its summit.”

Posted on 25 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Hunwicke has posted at his blog, inter alia, a stunning quote of Paul VI:

“The tail of the Devil is functioning in the disintegration of the Catholic world. The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church, even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the Faith, is spreading throughout the world and into the highest levels within the Church”.

He also reminds people of Card. Burke’s great talk at Buckfast Abbey, which I posted about HERE.

Posted in The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged , , ,
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Expert canonist Ed Peters explains the sit to Matthew Boudway (Nihil habens) re: Fr. Murray

Posted on 25 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This is something that every parish priest and seminarian should read and commit to memory.

It is at the heart of many controversies (not excluding the mendacity of the Left trying to edge out the Truth with innuendo and ambiguity).

From canonist Ed Peters… who doesn’t have a combox:

Boudway vs. Murray is not even close

October 25, 2017

The nonchalance with which some non-canonists try to argue canon law with canon lawyers these days verges on the remarkable. But, folks, these aren’t fair fights; [I take fair warning, though I do my best when I do and I bend to expertise.] they are scarcely even interesting. The latest example is Matthew Boudway over at Commonweal.[See my post on the new catholic Red Guards.]

Somehow Boudway has gotten it into his head that Fr. Gerald Murray (J.C.D., Gregorian University, 1998) thinks that the Catholic Church holds that “all valid marriages are indissoluble” even though the Code of Canon Law (which apparently Boudway looked at the other day) indicates a few instances wherein valid marriages can be dissolved (i.e., the papal dissolution of non-consummated sacramental marriages and of certain non-sacramental marriages per Canon 1142 and the Pauline Privilege dissolution of marriage per Canons 1143-1147). Thinking he has fingered a truth that Murray should find inconvenient, Boudway wonders why Murray (who opposes the assault on the Church’s teaching on marriage being conducted under cover of Amoris laetitia) is not embarrassed by these supposed examples of “the Catholic Church … condoning a narrow category of adultery for much of its history.”

Yes, it’s embarrassing, alright. For Boudway.

I’ll do this quickly.

The Catholic Church does not teach that “all valid marriages are indissoluble”. She teaches, more precisely than Boudway grasps, that all valid marriages are ‘intrinsically indissoluble’ (not a happy adjective, but one that trained canonists understand in this context) meaning that the parties to a valid marriage (be it natural, merely sacramental, or sacramental and consummated) cannot dissolve it. There are no exceptions to the intrinsic indissolubility of marriage. None.

The notion of intrinsic indissolubility leaves open the possibility, however, that an ‘extrinsic’ power might, might, under certain, unusual-to-rare, circumstances be able to dissolve a valid marriage (say a pope with regard to non-sacramental marriage between a baptized and a non-baptized party); that a subsequent marriage might dissolve a non-sacramental marriage between two non-baptized persons (the Pauline Privilege); or even that a sacramental but non-consummated marriage could be dissolved by papal act (the ‘Petrine Privilege’). But these cases are not “exceptions” to some ‘rule’ whereby all valid marriages are supposedly ‘extrinsically‘ indissoluble because such a rule does not exist.

What rule does exist, as Murray knows, and as the Church has held since her inception, is the rule now set out in Canon 1141 (but incredibly not cited by Boudway!) that: “A marriage that is ratified [i.e., between two baptized parties] and consummated [i.e., the conjugal act has taken place between the spouses] can be dissolved by no human power (i.e., not a pope, not the state, and not the parties) and by no cause, except death” (my emphasis). Period. End of discussion.

In short: Valid, consummated marriage between two baptized peopleis (intrinsically and extrinsically) indissoluble (see Canon 1056) except by death; persons in such marriages attempting other marriages enter a state of “public and permanent adultery” (CCC 2384) and thus may not be admitted to holy Communion (Canon 915).

Fr. Murray understands this perfectly and proclaims it faithfully.

Game. Set. Match.

Read that again, and remember it.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged , , , , , ,
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Cri de Coeur from a Catholic married couple. Wherein Fr. Z rants from his heart.

Posted on 24 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’m tired of the whine from certain homosexualists and their agenda, to the detriment of concerns of people to adhere to God’s plan and nature and many other serious concerns which we face as a Church and society.

I was alerted today to a post at the blog of a priest, Fr. David Nix.  He posted an “Open Letter” to priests written by a married couple… a real married couple.  I reproduce it here.  My emphases.

Open Letter to our spiritual Fathers

Dear Fr. ___________,

I am so very thankful that you have given your life to be our spiritual father. I am grateful for the gifts you make available to us in the sacraments. We know you work tirelessly to keep everything balanced and running smoothly. For that, we are thankful. But we have to be honest and share our concerns and frustrations: We have heard more about the LGBTQ community and the acceptance of that more than we have ever heard about our own marriage.

Father, we struggle with communication, we struggle with infertility, we struggle with forgiveness over infidelity, we struggle with finances, we struggle with contraception and Natural Family Planning, we struggle with in-laws, we struggle with so much and yet feel so alone.

Please Father, give us some hope and encouragement; let us know what we are supposed to do. Please don’t have your answer be “you can get an annulment.” We don’t want to get out of our marriage; we just need you to let us know that sacrifice and suffering are part of marriage. Most of us have not heard what God’s plan for marriage is, yet we have heard that everyone is arguing about what constitutes a sacramental marriage.

It feels like we have been abandoned and left to figure it out in our own. As we strive to live God’s plan, we are burdened with what the society tells us. The culture screams its message, but the silence of the Church is at times louder than the screams.

Help us Father—for we know not what to do.

Love and blessings,
Your Sons and Daughters

We are entering into a dire stage of spiritual warfare over souls.

War is by nature messy and chaotic.  It is easy for officers to get distracted by tactics on a hill and lose sight of strategy on a front.  We priests and bishops must stay clear-eyed, smart, and faithful for everyone’s sake.

However, we need the support of lay people.  We need you to encourage and to fast and pray for us.  You have to make acts of reparation for our faults and defects.

In this coming battle, we priests will grow weary under the assaults from the agents of Hell and their earthly operatives.  So will you.

In this coming battle, the Church’s perennial teaching and the sacraments will be for us priests like the stone upon which Moses sat during the battle against the Amalekites, while you good lay people must stay on either side of us, like Aaron and Hur, holding up our weary arms so that the sword of Joshua shall prevail.

According to Sr. Lucia, the visionary of Fatima, Our Lady foretold that

“final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about marriage and the family. Do not be afraid, … because anyone who works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue.”

Married couples.  Listen up.

It is not possible to squeeze everything into a blog post, or even a book, but here are a few words from my heart and experience.

First, please know that we priests understand that you face problems every day that might make a lot of us priests curl up in ball in a dark room.  However, you have the vocation to face those problems as married Catholics.  Just as we priests must call upon the graces that come from Holy Orders when we are in the thick of it, so to must you call upon the graces that come from matrimony and confirmation.

You have difficulties.  These difficulties are your road to heaven.   Remember always that your primary calling as married Catholics is to help your spouses get to heaven.  Hence, you must chose daily to embrace the life of your spouse with charity, the sacrificial love which seeks, first, the true good of the other.  This is what Christ modeled for his Spouse the Church while enduring His Passion and death.  Embrace the pains and make the choice for sacrificial love. To love is to choose.  Choose to love. You can choose love even when feelings or appetites or temptations push and pull.

Choose, as a couple, to love God more than you love each other.  Only when God is the true king of your two hearts, can your one married heart beat properly.  Only when you love God first, can you love and treat each other and your children properly.

Stay close to the sacraments.  That means that you have to make good and regular examinations of your consciences and then GO TO CONFESSION.  Go together.  Go separately.  GO!  Don’t allow mortal sin to cloud your intellect and weaken your will or give a chink for the Devil to pry at.  Hence, also use sacramentals.  The Devil really hates them.

Make your home, however grand or humble, into your “domestic church”.  Just as a church should be filled with beautiful reminders of heaven and the saints and angels, so too should your home.  Just as a church should be filled with prayer, so too should your dwelling place. Traditionally, church buildings will have over their doors inscriptions like, “House of God and Gate of Heaven”.  This, too, is your ideal. Pray at meals.  Pray when you rise and rest.  Especially say the Rosary together, perhaps holding hands.  The other side of prayer is silence.  

Be humble in consideration of your vocations and your own human abilities.  However, be confident that, as the Father’s adopted chosen children in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the Trinity whose love your lives reflect will give you every grace you need to fulfill your vocations in obedience to His commands and the commandments of the Church.  God’s commands and will are not mere “ideals”, which some today falsely claim cannot be attained by everyone.  They can be and are realized, and have always been attained through the millennia, by people just like you.  God doesn’t impose anything that is impossible.

Finally, some quick points.

We could all avoid a lot of sins and a lot of conflict by keeping our mouths shut more often.  Weigh your words.

Be cheerful.  Joy is a Fruit of the Holy Spirit.  When you cannot detect or show joy, that’s probably a sign that you have spiritual maintenance to do.  This joy is not the blithering gaiety of the foolish: risus abundant in ore stultorum.

Speak well of and kindly to each other.

Read Scripture.  Read especially Ephesians about spouses.  Pay close attention to Paul’s wise admonition, “Let not the sun go down upon your anger.”

Ask your Guardian angels to help you in every conflict.

In charity, you must strive always make the sacrifice needed for the other’s true good.

Thank God – on your knees – for the gift of the vocation of marriage.  Really.  Get down on your knees and say, “Thank you, God, for giving me my vocation and my spouse.”  Never forget that you two are one flesh now.  You are you and you are also “we”.

Be who are are, and never think again about being anything else until the day you draw your last breath.

Eat meals together, at a table.  Talk.  And then let there be silences.

When you look at your spouse and at your children, consciously remind yourself that each one is a gift.  And if you do not, in sorrow, have children, remind yourself that God knows you better than you know yourselves and that He doesn’t allow burdens without giving the strength to bear them.  You may have another path when it comes to children.

Anything worth doing well in life requires suffering, patience and practice.  You have to practice being married, by living marriage.  You will be under attack, so you must plan your tactics for when you being to suffer, and you will suffer.  Embrace your crosses.

Listen to the good advice of older people.

When real trials come or sudden frustrations strike, say what Job said and say it with a smile: “Blessed be the name of the Lord!”

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Hard-Identity Catholicism, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , , ,
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Fishwrap (@NCRonline) commits another error in their work to smear Bp. Morlino (@MadisonDiocese)

Posted on 24 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At Fishwrap (aka National Sodomitic Reporter) there is a “news” piece about the coverage … a news piece about the coverage… sheesh… which was given to a post at the notoriously liberal liturgy blog Pray Tell, which incorrectly attributed to Bp. Robert Morlino of Madison, some notes sent by the Vicar General to priests of the same diocese in a regular Saturday communication.

Pray Tell did this in order to smear the bishop.

They later corrected their post, but the damage was done to the Bishop’s reputation and to the truth.  Homosexualist activist Jesuit James Martin and other promoters of deviant sex such as DignityUSA and New Ways Ministry picked up the false version of the story.

In so targeting Bp. Morlino for ridicule and slander from their constituencies, they accomplished the work of committed cadres in the new catholic Red Guards.  It matters not a whit that they correct their stories or not: their deeper purpose was already achieved.

Circling back to the coverage in the Fishwrap, which never loses an opportunity to promote disordered acts, I took note of this paragraph in particular:

Both sets of directives [from Madison and from Springfield] cite Canon 1184 from the Code of Canon Law, which says that “manifest sinners” whose funeral would cause “public scandal of the faithful” should be denied ecclesiastical funerals “unless they gave some signs of repentance before death.”

That isn’t accurate either.

Canon 1184 really says that these people, unless they repent, MUST be deprived ecclesiastical funerals.

Not “should”… “must“.

The Diocese of Madison, in fact, has a careful and gentle approach to these situations.  That’s lost on the haters, of course.  They have their agenda, and it isn’t charity.

Posted in Biased Media Coverage, Canon Law, Green Inkers, Liberals | Tagged , , , , ,
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War, described.

Posted on 24 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

You might want to pause in your busy busy day to visit First Things and read a piece by Italian vaticanista Marco Tosatti.

THE WAR AGAINST CARDINAL SARAH

Do you want to know the sort of man Card. Sarah really is?

US HERE – UK HERE

UPDATE:

At LifeSite there is a piece about the lib “feeding frenzy” surrounding Card. Sarah.

You all should read and reread my post about the new lib Red Guards.  HERE

The LifeSite piece names some names:

[…]

Liberal Catholics and the news sources they controlled smelled blood and immediately struck out at the Cardinal.

Joining in the feeding frenzy was Vatican communications consultant Fr. Thomas Rosica, who ripped Sarah for pushing a “personal agenda,” even though Cardinal Sarah was simply doing his job. Vatican adviser and Jesuit priest James Martin called the Pope’s move an “extraordinary … public rebuke.”

Commonweal contributing editor Massimo Faggioli said he didn’t “remember a cardinal prefect in the Roman Curia in need of such public and constant corrections.” La Croix editor Robert Mickens likely spoke on behalf of all when he wondered “why doesn’t Pope Francis just remove Cdl Sarah from his post?”

[…]

Because he has boldly spoken the truths of the Catholic faith, Cardinal Sarah is now treated as one of the most dangerous men in Christendom.

His critics have outlined their fears of what would happen to the new “openness” in the Church if Sarah were to become the next pope.

[…]

 

Posted in The Drill | Tagged ,
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ASK FATHER: Can a Permanent Deacon perform a Baptism according to the Old Rite?

Posted on 24 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a permanent deacon…

QUAERITUR:

Can a Permanent Deacon perform a Baptism according to the Old Rite? I would be using the booklet entitled “Baptism” published by Angelus Press.

My old pastor, the late Msgr. Richard Schuler, used to tell a story about the furor and cross looks he kicked up when he asked – as a transitional deacon – to baptize a relative at his home parish.  The old pastor didn’t like the idea at all, but grudgingly conceded.

However… a deacon is a deacon is a deacon.  It matters not if one is a permanent or transitional deacon in this matter.

Back in the day, the deacon was the extraordinary minister of solemn baptism.   He had to have permission from the local ordinary or the local pastor to do it.

Therefore, the pastor of the parish can let you, as a deacon, baptize in the newer form or in the older form.

That said: You MUST have the pastor or some other priest (or a bishop) ahead of time, exorcise and bless the salt with the older, traditional rite, and then exorcise the bless water to be used in the baptism in the older, traditional rite.

Also, I would make sure to know the rite inside and out, forward and backward, and be able to read it properly, understanding also that water must flow on the head.

Finally, when I consider both the newer and the traditional rite of baptism, with the exorcisms and so forth, I would choose the older, traditional form every time… if baptism could be repeated… which, of course, it can’t be.  And I would have it done by a priest or a bishop.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged , ,
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Our new ‘catholic Cultural Revolution’s Red Guard. Their cadres and their tactics.

Posted on 23 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

1968 – “The 3 July and 24 July proclamations are Chairman Mao’s great strategic plans! Unite with forces that can be united with to strike surely, accurately and relentlessly at the handful of class enemies.”

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Mao and other leaders signaled to the masses, such as gangs of students, whom they should target for attack and public abuse.  Quickly the mobs, led by party cadres, began to conduct purges of “enemies of the people”.  In those dark days even the slightest suggestion that you were a counter-revolutionary, a foreign agent, an intellectual or a capitalist roader (e.g., anyone whom you don’t like), could result in your being condemned in a public mob trial, physically abused and humiliated, exiled to hard labor, or thrown out of a high window.  Children learned to tattle on parents and neighbors and turn them in to the Red Guards for “struggle sessions”.   Forgetting or misquoting a slogan from the Little Red Book, could instantly result in your dwelling being trashed, your head shaved, a sign strung around your neck as for hours you performed kowtow to the People begging their forgiveness.

At rallies of the Red Guard, Lin Biao urged the mob to destroy the Four Olds: traditional customs, culture, habits and ideas.  What those were, exactly, was hard to specify, but they enthusiastically wrecked havoc, destroyed and assaulted.

In a letter to his infamous wife, Mao wrote in 1966 of his determination to create “great disorder under heaven” in order to achieve “great order under heaven” down the line.  Hence, he and the high leaders gave vague signals about whom and what traditional things and thoughts to target, and the mob did the rest.

Something of the same dynamic is rising in the catholic Left.

The new catholic Left cadres have received signals from on high and they are now starting to target anyone whom they deem might not tow their party line.  They are whistling and pointing to Enemies of the People.

A perfect example of this can be found today in the synergy of a liberal liturgy blog, Pray Tell, and homosexualist activist Jesuit Fr. James Martin.

Complete with laudatory showcasing of Martin Luther.

Pray Tell, on 22 October, posted about the content of a communication sent from the office of the Vicar General in the Diocese of Madison to all the priests of the diocese.  Each Saturday, the VG’s office sends a kind of “saddle bag” of useful information to the clergy.  The VG’s saddle bag of 21 October contained the VG’s thoughts about funeral rites for those in same-sex relationships.  Apparently, a disgruntled Madison priest sent it to a sympathetic Pray Tell.

Today, homosexualist activist James Martin opened fire against Bp. Morlino on Twitter, picking up from Pray Tell.

Martin post 5 TWEETS about this.  Here is the first.

It should be made clear that this first tweet attack on Bp. Morlino, is not accurate.  The thing Pray Tell picked up was a communication from the Vicar General’s office, not from the Bishop.  It was not a statement of diocesan policy.  Clearly, there cannot be a “one size fits all” policy for complicated situations.  What the communication said is that each situation had to be thought through “thoroughly and prudently” and that they could consult with the Bishop.

It is disturbing that a priest of the diocese would so betray his bishop in this manner, but this is a fallen world.  That’s bad, but oh well.

What is more disturbing is the trend building among the catholic Left, of building an Enemies List.  It’s downright evil.

So, James Martin, SJ, smeared Bp. Morlino – in public – and with something inaccurate.  Now watch the black and chilling sleet of hatred that he initiated… on purpose.

I suspect the Jesuit doesn’t care, because his task was fulfilled.

Like a zealous cadre who is “on message” about destroying the Four Olds, Martin worked in conjunction with a liberal blog to signal an “Enemy of the People” to the mobs.

As you read blogs or watch Twitter, watch for this phenomenon, the pattern of, first, an accusation (even with something untrue or inaccurate) from one of the cadres of the chaos (e.g., James Martin SJ, Antonio Spadaro SJ, Thomas Rosica CSB, Michael Sean Winters, Robert Mickens, Gerard O’Connell, Joshua McElwee, Andrea Grillo, Austen Ivereigh, Massimo Faggioli, etc., and entire publications  general such as Fishwrap, The Tablet (aka “The Bitter Pill” now pro-abortion), Jesuit-run Amerika, Commonweal, La Croix, etc.), followed by the echo-chamber of hate and division.

And please don’t even try to tell me to tone down the rhetoric.  Not today.

 

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, "How To..." - Practical Notes, B as in B. S as in S., Biased Media Coverage, Dogs and Fleas, Green Inkers, Si vis pacem para bellum!, The Coming Storm | Tagged , , , ,
28 Comments

ASK FATHER: Irreverent priest at a funeral Mass.

Posted on 23 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From an upset reader…

QUAERITUR:

I went to a funeral Mass and the priest was not reverent of the person who passed. He rapped his knuckles on the coffin numerous times. He paraphrased the readings and the consecration. He reprimanded a lady who knelt for receiving Communion. and afterwards brushed his hands instead of washing his hands. These are a few of the things I caught.

Does this Mass count? I couldn’t follow the Mass and it felt more like an entertainment show than a Mass. And yes, the tabernacle was on the side in its own little room so it wouldn’t compete with the star of the show…the priest. Does this Mass count? Should I write a letter to the priest? I can’t write to the Cardinal since its ___. I doubt he will do anything.

First, how terrible.   This should never happen.

Does this Mass “count”?  I’m not sure what you are asking.  It could be that you mean was it “valid”.  If there were so many abuses that it wasn’t a Mass (unlikely) then, no it didn’t “count”.  If there was an invalid consecration for some reason (unlikely) them no, it didn’t “count”.

However, even if that Mass was valid, what you describe is inexcusable.

And, yes, you can still write to your bishop (whom you say is a Cardinal).   It is often better to work up the chain, as it were: first, priest, then bishop, then the Vatican.  However, it may be that, for some reason, you can’t write to that priest.

Should write to anyone, keep copies of correspondence.  If you write to the bishop/Cardinal, send a copy of the letter also to the Apostolic Nuncio and to the Congregation for Divine Worship.

Of course it is hard to prove what you observed and a single letter can’t be decisive.  However, it may be that this is not an isolated incident and that that priest has a file filled with this sort of thing.

Before writing, see my

The above link, by the way, is always on the blog.  You can find it quickly at the very bottom in a list of links or do a CTRL+F with the search word “tips”.

Finally, pray for that priest.  Determine some act of reparation for his irreverence and offense and then carry it out, asking God to forgive him and to help him amend his ways.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box |
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More about #indefectibility – Wherein Fr. Z rants about Popes, Councils, Priests.

Posted on 23 October 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’ve had a lot of notes from people about a post from yesterday.

I have, once again today, prayed the prayer I mentioned.  I am going to make this part of my routine for the foreseeable future.

Also, in regard to indefectibility, it may be that some of you have not thought about this since basic catechism.  It may be that some of you have never heard of this (including seminarians… HEY!  SEMINARIANS!  Get a copy of the mighty Baltimore Catechism [US HERE] or the mickle Penny Catechism [UK HERE] and memorize stuff!  If nothing else, you will gain a grasp on how people you meet used to learn their Catholic Faith.  And I’ll bet there are a whole lot of priests out there who don’t know what I’m about to write.  I’d be interested in feedback from seminarians and priests about this… which will be entirely confidential and anonymized. Click HERE)

Indefectibility is one of the three attributes of the Church.

The Church’s three attributes are authority, infallibility, and indefectibility.  The three attributes are not to be confused with her four marks (unity, holiness, catholicity, apostolicity).  An attribute is a quality or characteristic.  A mark is a sign that allows something to be distinguished from others.

The attribute of authority means that the Church can exact obedience from her subjects, just as parents can from their children.  The attribute of infallibility means that the Church cannot err when it teaches concerning faith or morals.

The attribute of indefectibility, on the other hand, is the quality of unfailingness in the Church, her constitution and ministration, promised by Jesus Christ in the words “Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew 28:20).

The Church’s members may err or fail, but the Church cannot.

Holy Catholic Church’s indefectibility is proven through history by her nearly 2000 year endurance through the most terrible external trials and dangers, threats from without by states, and so forth, and through internal attacks and dangers from incompetence or wickedness of pontificates and heretics or from human indifference or carelessness.  The Church has endured through everything, negative external and internal influences, and has remained the privileged and dependable channel of supernatural life and of grace. God protects the Church through special assistance.

We know by faith and by reason that the Church is indefectible, but how this works is a matter of speculation.

Hence, I am able to repeat with confidence what I have written and said many times.

There have been really important Ecumenical Councils and other Councils that were not terribly important.  Frankly, I hold Vatican II not to be very important when compared to monumentally significant Councils such as Chalcedon or Trent. There have been really important Pontificates and some that were not.  Some were long and some were short.  Some were good and some were bad.  Most were tiny blips on the long arc of the Church’s history.  Some were bigger blips.  Popes come and go.  Romans, who have a special perspective on Popes, have a proverb: “Morto un papa, se ne fa un altro… When a Pope dies, ya make another.”  All these things and people come and go, but the Church remains, with her three attributes, including indefectibility.

Our Savior knew that – in our times – right NOW – we would need the Church just as much as the men and women in the age of martyrs needed her. Therefore, the same Church endures and cannot be turned to sand no matter what we human beings do.

If you are irritated about something going on right now, something manifestly stupid, wicked, or just ill-conceived but well-intentioned missteps in judgment, examine your own consciences and then …

… GO TO CONFESSION.

That’s what I do.

And I must repeat, form groups – base communities – study your catechisms and don’t let your priests off the hook.  They are obliged by their vocations both to know the content of the Faith, the fides quae creditur, and also to believe, teach and defend the Faith.

If they don’t, they are culpable before man and God.

If priests or bishops neglect this aspect of their divinely given vocations – knowing, believing, teaching and defending the Catholic Faith – they are guilty of a terrible sin and they put themselves at risk of eternal damnation.

If an ophthalmologist somehow managed to act as an eye doctor without knowing much about the eye, he would be a bad ophthalmologist.  He would be guilty for inflicting bad treatments that harmed people.  If he once knew his art but he doesn’t keep his knowledge fresh and doesn’t keep up with new developments, he would similarly be a bad doctor.  Moreover, he may not claim innocence by virtue of his ignorance because he has the obligation by his profession to know certain things.

The same is true for the priest, and with even more serious consequences because he touches souls, not just eyes, which Our Lord Himself indicated are dispensable in regard to getting to Heaven.  If it is important that an ophthalmologist be diligent in tending and maintaining his professional abilities, it is even more important that the priest tend and maintain those things which pertain to his vocation, for which he is responsible before his Judge, the High Priest, the King of Fearful Majesty.

It is possible that the priest or the bishop simply isn’t very smart.  How they come to be ordained is another matter.  Nevertheless, they are still obliged to do their best and try to learn, teach and defend the Catholic Faith.  They are not off the hook.  We must be patient with them and helpful, while they must be earnest and humble.  This also means that those priests who are brighter have an even greater obligation, since more is expected from those who have more received.

Finally, I think we will all agree that everyone should be versed in the basics of our Catholic Faith and that resources such as the old school-age catechisms are gems.

Let’s find ways to encourage each other to make either new reviews or fresh discoveries.
And if you sense that you may have some weak spots, shore them up.  Don’t be that gal who hasn’t looked at the basics since her last day of Catholic school or CCD or RCIA.

Baltimore Catechism [US HERE]
Penny Catechism [UK HERE]

Here endeth the rant.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Seminarians and Seminaries, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , ,
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