Let's take a deep breath. We have been warned over and over by Our Lady that we are entering a time of great deception and apostasy. By God's grace, I will stay in the boat with Peter and cling to the promise of Jesus regarding his rock. St. Catherine of Siena is my patron, and she stood with more than one Peter who disappointed her. But she supported him, exhorted him, loved him and prayed for him. I will do the same.
The enemy of our souls will gleefully take us out of the Church. It matters not to him if we exit stage left, with the cafeteria catholics, or stage right, with the committed rosary praying, daily Mass crowd who allow themselves to be deceived that the gates of hell have indeed prevailed against the Church.
We do have to be careful here padraig. Manifest heretics cannot be Pope, so if one holds that the current Pope is a heretic, it puts the Faithful in an untenable position. From HAS ANY POPE BEEN GUILTY OF HERESY? Warren H Carroll It is vitally important always to remember that the Pope has two kinds of authority, magisterial (when he is speaking ex cathedra, that is, in a way intended to be binding on the faithful), in which he is infallible; and administrative, as head of the Church appointed by Christ to govern it (which would include excommunications). The Pope is not infallible when exercising his governing authority, but still must be obeyed when he does so, as long as his orders apply clearly to the Church rather than to temporal affairs... ...I deny that any Pope was ever a heretic, have researched each case where that is claimed, and will be glad to answer and refute any claim that any Pope ever committed himself or called upon the faithful to hold any heretical belief. While this Pope seems to be behind the liberal machinations of the recent Synod, it cannot be proven and he has not made any public statements that could be pointed to as heretical, and therefore a formal charge of heresy cannot presently be brought. Here is the case I feel is the "safest" mental reservation for the distraught Faithful: Since a Pope is protected from manifest heresy by the Holy Spirit, it is a dangerous thing to state a Pope is a heretic, because if true that Pope ceases to be Pope, and we have a case of sedecavantism. On the other hand, everyone knows that public stories of an assassination plot circulated in the MSM in February 2012: Pope could be the victim of assassination plot within a year, claims senior Vatican cardinal http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ms-senior-Vatican-cardinal.html#ixzz3GYjBoWDd A senior Vatican cardinal has sensationally claimed Pope Benedict XVI could be ‘the victim of an assassination plot’ within the next 12 months, it emerged today. When did Pope Benedict XVI announce his resignation? Within 12 months. There is a theory in Italian circles that Pope Benedict resigned, not in fear for his life due to this assassination plot, but out of fear for the chaos in the Church and loss of souls that would occur should the plot be carried out. In other words, he resigned to stop the plot. However, by Church law, any Papal resignation under coercion is void. If a Pope resigns due to threats of death, his resignation is null. However Pope Benedict himself maintains his resignation was a free choice, and I believe him. However, if he freely chose to resign due to the consequences his assassination would have caused the Church, and thus to avoid those consequences, his resignation is still technically one that occurred under coercion. If his resignation occurred under coercion, any coercion, then his resignation is not valid, and he is still the Pope. In which case the present occupant is not a heretic on the Throne of Peter, which the Holy Spirit cannot allow. He is simply an anti-pope. I say this with fear and trembling and only out of conjecture, and only because it is better for the Faithful to believe we have an anti-Pope pushing a progressive heretical agenda than to believe the gates of Hell have prevailed and a validly elected Pope is actually a heretic, as the latter proposition is far more horrifying. We've had many anti-Popes in the past, but we've NEVER had a heretical pope. Which scenario better fits the body of Catholic prophecy as we know it, a validly elected yet heretical Pope on the Throne of Peter, or an anti-Pope on the Throne of Peter? (And if the current occupant of the Throne is an anti-Pope, then its the next validly elected Pope who will Consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, not this current occupant.) Again, all this is conjecture on my part. Until it is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Pope Francis is a formal heretic, none of this conjecture applies and I still believe Pope Francis is the validly elected Pope.
I think the words Cardinal Pell who I would say is a fairly "conservative" or orthodox cardinal and who was actually elevated by a Pope Francis and asked to serve on a working group of the Synod are very important: "Our task now is to ask people to pause, to pray, to catch their breath, to realize there's going to be no abandonment of Catholic doctrine, and to work to diminish the divisions and to prevent any radicalization of different factions or points of view" http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1404281.htm
Once the progressives set their mind to something, they will not be dissuaded. This battle is not over, it has only just begun: Pope faces key test with vote on divorcees, gays ...This synod will be followed by a year of consultations, and a follow-up questionnaire will be sent out to dioceses around the world. A second, larger synod will then be held in October 2015. After that, the results will be handed to the Argentinian pope, who will have the final say in outlining the Church's stance on family matters. Adolfo Nicolas, superior general of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits -- to which Francis belongs -- told the I.Media religious news agency to watch for a possible "revolution" a year from now. Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, an ally of the pope, said there was no turning back. "There have been two steps forward, there may be one step backwards, but certainly not two."
Sorry but we have been down this road several times. Pope a Emeritus Benedict is not a liar which is what this article would essentially be accusing him of. He said: "I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," he said. "And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff." In an interview a year later, he absolutely refuted any coercion in his resignation: "There is absolutely no doubt regarding the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry," said the former pontiff in remarks published Wednesday by the Vatican Insider. "The only condition for the validity of my resignation is the complete freedom of my decision. Speculation regarding its validity is simply absurd."
No. Not at all. He has no bigger fan than I. But I already stated my post was simply conjecture, a mental reservation that is safer than concluding a Pope is a heretic, so I'm not going to argue this point.
The same can be said for the enemy - he has set his mind and also will not be dissuaded. But he has already been defeated at the foot of the cross, along with all of those who serve him wittingly or unwittingly. Our job is to man our posts, keep the faith and rejoice because our redemption draws near.
Oh Elisa! That is SUCH A GREAT PICTURE! Its how I have been feeling for years until my recent surgery. Now I feel like this: ESPECIALLY since I read the Holy Father's speech today along with Mark Mallett's comments!!
No, no Padraig. Quit reading the crap on the media! Read Mark Mallett's writing tonight! Read what the Holy Father said in his speech today! I sent it to you!!!! Is that the speech of a heretic? or of a beautiful Holy Father? Satan is spinning everything. Be at peace brother! http://www.markmallett.com/blog/steady-as-she-goes/ GET BACK ON THE BARQUE OF PETER!!!! [/quote]
And the rock stands. Brilliant! from our dear, dear Holy Father Pope Francis-- Dear Eminences, Beatitudes, Excellencies, Brothers and Sisters, With a heart full of appreciation and gratitude I want to thank, along with you, the Lord who has accompanied and guided us in the past days, with the light of the Holy Spirit. From the heart I thank Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod, Bishop Fabio Fabene, under-secretary, and with them I thank the Relators, Cardinal Peter Erdo, who has worked so much in these days of family mourning, and the Special Secretary Bishop Bruno Forte, the three President delegates, the transcribers, the consultors, the translators and the unknown workers, all those who have worked with true fidelity and total dedication behind the scenes and without rest. Thank you so much from the heart. I thank all of you as well, dear Synod fathers, Fraternal Delegates, Auditors, and Assessors, for your active and fruitful participation. I will keep you in prayer asking the Lord to reward you with the abundance of His gifts of grace! I can happily say that – with a spirit of collegiality and of synodality – we have truly lived the experience of “Synod,” a path of solidarity, a “journey together.” And it has been “a journey” – and like every journey there were moments of running fast, as if wanting to conquer time and reach the goal as soon as possible; other moments of fatigue, as if wanting to say “enough”; other moments of enthusiasm and ardour. There were moments of profound consolation listening to the testimony of true pastors, who wisely carry in their hearts the joys and the tears of their faithful people. Moments of consolation and grace and comfort hearing the testimonies of the families who have participated in the Synod and have shared with us the beauty and the joy of their married life. A journey where the stronger feel compelled to help the less strong, where the more experienced are led to serve others, even through confrontations. And since it is a journey of human beings, with the consolations there were also moments of desolation, of tensions and temptations, of which a few possibilities could be mentioned: - One, a temptation to hostile inflexibility, that is, wanting to close oneself within the written word, (the letter) and not allowing oneself to be surprised by God, by the God of surprises, (the spirit); within the law, within the certitude of what we know and not of what we still need to learn and to achieve. From the time of Christ, it is the temptation of the zealous, of the scrupulous, of the solicitous and of the so-called – today – “traditionalists” and also of the intellectuals. - The temptation to a destructive tendency to goodness [it. buonismo], that in the name of a deceptive mercy binds the wounds without first curing them and treating them; that treats the symptoms and not the causes and the roots. It is the temptation of the “do-gooders,” of the fearful, and also of the so-called “progressives and liberals.” - The temptation to transform stones into bread to break the long, heavy, and painful fast (cf. Lk 4:1-4); and also to transform the bread into a stone and cast it against the sinners, the weak, and the sick (cf Jn 8:7), that is, to transform it into unbearable burdens (Lk 11:46). - The temptation to come down off the Cross, to please the people, and not stay there, in order to fulfil the will of the Father; to bow down to a worldly spirit instead of purifying it and bending it to the Spirit of God. - The temptation to neglect the “depositum fidei” [the deposit of faith], not thinking of themselves as guardians but as owners or masters [of it]; or, on the other hand, the temptation to neglect reality, making use of meticulous language and a language of smoothing to say so many things and to say nothing! They call them “byzantinisms,” I think, these things… continued below--
Dear brothers and sisters, the temptations must not frighten or disconcert us, or even discourage us, because no disciple is greater than his master; so if Jesus Himself was tempted – and even called Beelzebul (cf. Mt 12:24) – His disciples should not expect better treatment. Personally I would be very worried and saddened if it were not for these temptations and these animated discussions; this movement of the spirits, as St Ignatius called it (Spiritual Exercises, 6), if all were in a state of agreement, or silent in a false and quietist peace. Instead, I have seen and I have heard – with joy and appreciation – speeches and interventions full of faith, of pastoral and doctrinal zeal, of wisdom, of frankness and of courage: and of parrhesia. And I have felt that what was set before our eyes was the good of the Church, of families, and the “supreme law,” the “good of souls” (cf. Can. 1752). And this always – we have said it here, in the Hall – without ever putting into question the fundamental truths of the Sacrament of marriage: the indissolubility, the unity, the faithfulness, the fruitfulness, that openness to life (cf. Cann. 1055, 1056; and Gaudium et spes, 48). And this is the Church, the vineyard of the Lord, the fertile Mother and the caring Teacher, who is not afraid to roll up her sleeves to pour oil and wine on people’s wound; who doesn’t see humanity as a house of glass to judge or categorize people. This is the Church, One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and composed of sinners, needful of God’s mercy. This is the Church, the true bride of Christ, who seeks to be faithful to her spouse and to her doctrine. It is the Church that is not afraid to eat and drink with prostitutes and publicans. The Church that has the doors wide open to receive the needy, the penitent, and not only the just or those who believe they are perfect! The Church that is not ashamed of the fallen brother and pretends not to see him, but on the contrary feels involved and almost obliged to lift him up and to encourage him to take up the journey again and accompany him toward a definitive encounter with her Spouse, in the heavenly Jerusalem. The is the Church, our Mother! And when the Church, in the variety of her charisms, expresses herself in communion, she cannot err: it is the beauty and the strength of the sensus fidei, of that supernatural sense of the faith which is bestowed by the Holy Spirit so that, together, we can all enter into the heart of the Gospel and learn to follow Jesus in our life. And this should never be seen as a source of confusion and discord. Many commentators, or people who talk, have imagined that they see a disputatious Church where one part is against the other, doubting even the Holy Spirit, the true promoter and guarantor of the unity and harmony of the Church – the Holy Spirit who throughout history has always guided the barque, through her Ministers, even when the sea was rough and choppy, and the ministers unfaithful and sinners. And, as I have dared to tell you , [as] I told you from the beginning of the Synod, it was necessary to live through all this with tranquillity, and with interior peace, so that the Synod would take place cum Petro and sub Petro (with Peter and under Peter), and the presence of the Pope is the guarantee of it all. We will speak a little bit about the Pope, now, in relation to the Bishops [laughing]. So, the duty of the Pope is that of guaranteeing the unity of the Church; it is that of reminding the faithful of their duty to faithfully follow the Gospel of Christ; it is that of reminding the pastors that their first duty is to nourish the flock – to nourish the flock – that the Lord has entrusted to them, and to seek to welcome – with fatherly care and mercy, and without false fears – the lost sheep. I made a mistake here. I said welcome: [rather] to go out and find them. His duty is to remind everyone that authority in the Church is a service, as Pope Benedict XVI clearly explained, with words I cite verbatim: “The Church is called and commits herself to exercise this kind of authority which is service and exercises it not in her own name, but in the name of Jesus Christ… through the Pastors of the Church, in fact: it is he who guides, protects and corrects them, because he loves them deeply. But the Lord Jesus, the supreme Shepherd of our souls, has willed that the Apostolic College, today the Bishops, in communion with the Successor of Peter… to participate in his mission of taking care of God's People, of educating them in the faith and of guiding, inspiring and sustaining the Christian community, or, as the Council puts it, ‘to see to it... that each member of the faithful shall be led in the Holy Spirit to the full development of his own vocation in accordance with Gospel preaching, and to sincere and active charity’ and to exercise that liberty with which Christ has set us free (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, 6)… and it is through us,” Pope Benedict continues, “that the Lord reaches souls, instructs, guards and guides them. St Augustine, in his Commentary on the Gospel of St John, says: ‘let it therefore be a commitment of love to feed the flock of the Lord’ (cf. 123, 5); this is the supreme rule of conduct for the ministers of God, an unconditional love, like that of the Good Shepherd, full of joy, given to all, attentive to those close to us and solicitous for those who are distant (cf. St Augustine, Discourse 340, 1; Discourse 46, 15), gentle towards the weakest, the little ones, the simple, the sinners, to manifest the infinite mercy of God with the reassuring words of hope (cf. ibid., Epistle, 95, 1).” So, the Church is Christ’s – she is His bride – and all the bishops, in communion with the Successor of Peter, have the task and the duty of guarding her and serving her, not as masters but as servants. The Pope, in this context, is not the supreme lord but rather the supreme servant – the “servant of the servants of God”; the guarantor of the obedience and the conformity of the Church to the will of God, to the Gospel of Christ, and to the Tradition of the Church, putting aside every personal whim, despite being – by the will of Christ Himself – the “supreme Pastor and Teacher of all the faithful” (Can. 749) and despite enjoying “supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church” (cf. Cann. 331-334). Dear brothers and sisters, now we still have one year to mature, with true spiritual discernment, the proposed ideas and to find concrete solutions to so many difficulties and innumerable challenges that families must confront; to give answers to the many discouragements that surround and suffocate families. One year to work on the “Synodal Relatio” which is the faithful and clear summary of everything that has been said and discussed in this hall and in the small groups. It is presented to the Episcopal Conferences as “lineamenta” [guidelines]. May the Lord accompany us, and guide us in this journey for the glory of His Name, with the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Saint Joseph. And please, do not forget to pray for me! Thank you! [The Te Deum was sung, and Benediction given.] Thank you, and rest well, eh?
Apologies , I read this. Our Pope is a great man. I put my foot in mouth. Sigh. I was very wrong. Just goes to show. I think I will have to lock my mouth for a month. I see now why Our Lady did not want me to open the forum till the 21st so I would have time to consider and not make this mistake. I hope she will forgive me. I must go and pray to her.
A dreadful mistake, I am deeply sorry to everyone on board. But especial deep sorrow for having offended our Holy Father. Sigh. What a smuck.
I'm thanking God that He gave you such a gift of humility, Padraig. I was frightened you might jump ship, and take others with you. All I could think was, "If Padraig falls overboard, what hope is there for the rest of us?" This should serve as a warning to us all - these are perilous times, and none of us have immunity from being deceived, except for the grace of God. Who knows? Maybe you were meant to have a moment of blindness, as a cautionary tale. (It could have been much worse...Think about poor Hosea - God made him take a prostitute for his wife to teach Israel a lesson.) I plan to hide under our Mother's skirts for the duration.
You are right Kathy, at least such falls can lead to humble pie and I like to eat as much of that as I can get. Still it was a very serious error indeed and indeed sinful. I must pray about it to Our Lady and see if she will teach me any lessons from it all. I must also pray at mass for all good Catholics everywhere who are deceived by all the strange goings on as I was.
I am so glad this board is open. I missed it so much and had to just keep praying to Saint Anthony for everyone without being clear to him what I was asking for. I read this whole thread. I did not read anything about the synod while it was on as I did not understand it well. The only thing I know is that Christ told us that hell will not prevail against the church. I always understood that to mean that Christ was the church and the church as Christ so he was saying that hell will never prevail against himself. I believe that and never worry about the church really. I know there will be heresy and a lot of trouble in it because of sin but it will not win in the end. I am much more worried about the 26 of October. I have been praying a lot to God and our Blessed Mother not to have anything happen before the 24 of October, for my own selfish reasons. I think they may have answered me yet again. Padraig I can almost hear our Blessed Mother saying because you opened the board early something along the line of ...will he never do what I tell him I think she understands though that some of us really needed you to do this. I will remind her at Mass this morning anyway,
