There is one thing I have noticed so much , especially lately, in Our Holy Mother the Church and in the World and which cheers me enormously. That is that the Truth always seems to get out eventually. No matter that there are hundreds of big lies. No matter how long it takes The Truth always, always seems to get out of the bag and grow legs of its own and run. This is a source of great joy and hope for me. 1 Kings 17:24 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”
One of the books (Serre’s?) on Garabandal very briefly mentions an antipope. I’m sure that @Glenn can shed more light on this.
Hi DeGaulle. I agree with you in part. True, we don't have "the authority to officially decree that a pope has opposed God." This is because we, as lay people, are not "officials" (those holding offices) in the Church. However, it is mistaken to say that we don't have "the authority to publicly declare authoritatively or legitimately that Pope Francis is an anti-pope." Canon 212 gives us this "authority" (because it says we "have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors [our] opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make [our] opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful" in the canon) and the same canon gives us "legitimacy" to do this (because the authority is given in the canon law). This is fact. It is not opinion. Beyond canon 212, the life and actions of St. Catherine of Sienna, a Saint and Doctor of the Church, exemplify the very thing that you say that we cannot do. She publicly declared that a papal claimant was an anti-pope, during his lifetime. It was a major scandal at the time. Here is a description of her involvement (https://www.thoughtco.com/catherine-of-siena-3529726): The Great Schism Gregory died in 1378 and Urban VI was elected the next Pope. However, soon after the election, a group of French cardinals claimed that fear of Italian mobs had influenced their vote and, along with some other cardinals, they elected a different Pope, Clement VII. Urban excommunicated those cardinals and selected new ones to fill their places. Clement and his followers escaped and set up an alternative papacy in Avignon. Clement excommunicated Urban's supporters. Eventually, European rulers were nearly equally divided between support for Clement and support for Urban. Each claimed to be the legitimate Pope and named his counterpart the Antichrist. Into this controversy, called the Great Schism, Catherine threw herself assertively, supporting Pope Urban VI, and writing heavily critical letters to those who supported the Anti-Pope in Avignon. Catherine's involvement did not end the Great Schism (that wouldn't happen until 1413), but she worked hard to unite the faithful. She moved to Rome and preached the need for the opposition in Avignon to reconcile with Urban's papacy.
Psalm 131:1 A song of ascents. Of David. My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. I'm happy to leave it with the Bishops. It's above my pay grade. They're getting very well paid for it; let them do their jobs. I have no wish at all to do their jobs for them.
No, it wasn’t Garabandal. It was the former director of the Marian Movement of Priests. His name was Father Roux. After he wrote that letter about a future antipope / false prophet, he was replaced. The Vatican was in an uproar.
Carol, this explains a lot: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2016/06/one-does-not-have-to-be-antipope-to-be.html
All well and good, but I can tell you one thing, I ain't no saint, never mind one of that stature. [I wish to strongly emphasise that my double-negative is intended for emphasis, as in the blues tradition, rather than a sneaky, epistomological inversion! One can't be too careful these days, one needs to ensure standards are higher than documents issued by the Vatican!]
Yes it does. I know how you feel. It’s difficult to admit Pope Francis is a mirror of our own society. “Mankind has chosen death.” But Our Lady is there to give us hope. Hold on to that Rosary.
I knew Fr Roux through a nun who worked with him--a nun very devoted to the Blessed Mother. She said he was a saint--very holy and very connected to JPII. And JPII told him the Church was heading toward crucifixion just like Jesus. That what happened to Him would happen to her. JPII knew it was his mission to carry this cross (the Church) up Calvary. I've always remembered that. I saw Fr Roux at some retreats at different times. Humble and soft spoken. He was filled with light.
Is there a hypothesis that the papacy is immune from error only when it proclaims a teaching to be followed by the whole Church with the use of excommunication to contraries? as in the proclamations of dogmas and in the various condemnations of communism and Freemasonry?
Hi Luan. Here is the key quote from the Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus from Vatican I (1870): ...when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. There is no explicit mention of "excommunication" in that section of Pastor Aeternus. There are three explicit conditions: 1. He is acting as shepherd and teacher of all Christians (not as a private theologian) 2. He defines a teaching concerning faith or morals (not a matter of Church discipline) 3. that teaching is to be held by the whole Church (not a mere part of the Church)
How fortunate to have met him AED! Last time I was up in Maine, before the pandemic, I wanted to visit him. But we didn’t have the time. I’ve never met him. He is certainly a mystic, and has the gift of healing.
Would it be true to say that a Pope's infallibility rests entirely in conservation, not novelty; reaction rather than innovation?
Yes he is extraordinary. And yet if you didn't know about him you would think he was just a nice kind elderly priest. As far as I know he is still alive and no longer living up in the far north but down in Central MaIne. The nun I spoke of has long since died may God rest her soul. She was a sister if mercy who still wore her habit. She explained (this was back in the 80's ) she did not wish to " modernize". She had a fierce devotion to Our Lady. I pray for her but I don't think I need to.
yes one must be very careful of language here. I often use the blues expressions myself. I love this one: "it don't make no never mind" Now that is a double negative with attitude.
Beautifully defined. He is to conserve faith and tradition and resist novelties and protect from them.
