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Deacon_Augustine • 7 years ago

"Honest, everyday Catholics wishing to be faithful and obedient do not know what to do or whose lead to follow."

It is sad and tragic that the papacy has become so debased, abused and brought into disrepute. But the simple answer for all Catholics is this: "Don't follow men who don't follow Christ."

It is the saints who are our role-models - not the clergy. Some of the clergy have been saints, but many have not. If we follow the example of the saints and hold fast to the doctrine "delivered once to the saints", then we can be confident that we are following Our Lord. Nothing else really matters. All the others can go and Gen 1,28 themselves.

Michael • 7 years ago

Those "honest, everyday Catholics" need to learn the Church's teachings themselves, and to not expect others to simply tell them. The Baltimore Catechism is a good place to start, because it's simple and comprehensive. They can't stop there though. Beyond that, I'd recommend scripture study with the Haydock Bible Commentary. I also would suggest frequently consulting Denzinger and the Modern Catholic Dictionary.

Catholic_Mom_of_6 • 7 years ago

But those honest, everyday Catholics have, for fifty years, had those resources moved from eyesight and conscious thought. It's those of us who are willing to be inconvenienced that know these truths. Our honest, everyday Catholic friends are almost universally shocked to learn what the Church has always taught. At best, their response is along the line of, "Oh...I think I remember learning that..."

Christopher • 7 years ago

Dear Deacon Augustine, Yes agreed the Saints set the example, the fruit of their lives by entering heaven has been revealed, the evidence is there that they endured until the end.

The Saints even though as humans they each have their own different personalities they all tended to follow the same path of Mass, Confession, Prayer, Adoration, Last Rites there are exceptions such as Saint Dismas.

The Virgin Mary also made it clear at Fatima, if we want to participate in the battle against that scumbag satan to follow the same path.

In my mind what may have been an error in hindsight within the church may have been the "Father Bob" syndrome where the relationship between the lay people became too familiar with the parish priest this over familiarity seems to lead towards some quite disastrous consequences.

Guest • 7 years ago
Margaret • 7 years ago

Thank you for the Bugs Bunny cartoon. I remember watching that in reruns when I was a kid. I always liked the ones from the 30s and 40s. (Same goes for Tom and Jerry.)

Sending you a hug now. 😊

Guest • 7 years ago
Margaret • 7 years ago

I was thinking along the lines of the plot of The Emperor's New Clothes, and TCs are like the little child who speaks the truth.

ACOG • 7 years ago

People can only use their Conscience, if it has been properly formed by holy traditional Apostolic Catholic teachings, not with modern novelties. Kyrie eleison...

LB236 • 7 years ago

But . . . But . . .

"Invincible ignorance trumps all! You can't commit a mortal sin if your conscience tells you it's not a mortal sin, even if your pastor tells you it is (how dare he!).

"And . . . And accompaniment! Pastoralnessness . . . or something like that! Because expecting people to actually follow what Christ said on adultery . . . Well, that's awfully Pharisaical of you, don't you know?

"Oh, and . . . MERCY!!!!"

(sarcasm off)

ACOG • 7 years ago

PS I've been officially removed from LSN because I put Kyrie eleison at the end of my posts cuz I'm too Catholic. What I don't understand is why do they put Catholic articles on their site? And why can't Catholics post there? Kyrie eleison.

Al The Silent Crusader • 7 years ago

Take heart, my friend, LSN also banned me a few weeks ago for being too Catholic:-)

Ana Milan • 7 years ago

On the other hand they are the only Catholic site I am aware of that holds an Annual Retreat & starts each day with collective prayer. " It takes a small army!" It would, of course, be better if they were entirely Catholic & I think I read something was under construction at LSN to make a dedicated Catholic site as part of their set-up. I hope they do as we need more Traditional Catholic websites to offset the many anti-Catholic, political & social ones promoting the heresies emanating from this Papacy.

Tester • 7 years ago

What is LSN? Sorry, a bit dumb down here!

Ana Milan • 7 years ago

LifeSiteNews.

Really? I've posted things there that are far stronger than a simple Kyrie Eleison and never been banned... the same can't be said for CM though.

ACOG • 7 years ago

Another time before this, I was threatened because I was too "harsh and mean" in my posts etc. Oh well.

MarcAlcan • 7 years ago

As Luther said: Sin boldly.

Mommamia1 • 7 years ago

Mary Un-doer of Knots please undo the Francis knots!

FreemenRtrue • 7 years ago

It's more than a little ironic that a Jesuit heretic wants to use the authority of the Papacy to undermine the authority of the Papacy. Ol' Scratch has a hell of a sense of humor.

Tester • 7 years ago

The Jesuits! As soon as we heard the pope was a Jesuit we knew it was going to the gutter.

Dafalax • 7 years ago

I think it's presumptuous to assume all these people in mortally sinful situations are genuinely seeking the true and right thing to do. First of all, it doesn't really help them to get out of the sinful situation. Secondly, if they're anything like me, what they're actually seeking is a way to do what they want. We need something objective outside ourselves to tell us when we're being selfish morons.
Anyways, this was a good read. It's nice having someone break down the finer points of bureaucratic theology.

Fr. RP • 7 years ago

It is indeed heartening to see the excellent articles coming forth that clearly and concisely refute the situation ethics presented in Amoris Laetitia (and many other instances of the current papacy) and the preposterous claims that one must give assent to them in order to be a Faithful Catholic.

Let us Hope and Pray that many more will join the fray and defend the Faith and the Faithful from these serious and soul threatening errors.

Carl E. Olson gives and excellent commentary on Schmitz's NYT article:http://www.catholicworldrep...

Long-Skirts • 7 years ago

THE
KNEELERS

We are St. Joan,
Philomena, Campion
The Faith in its whole
Is what we do champion.

We are St. Margaret,
Pearl of York
Where the bowels of the Faith
They tried to torque.

We are Sir More,
That's Thomas the Saint
Whose reputation
They could not taint.

We are vocations
Large families and kneeling
Adoring His presence
It's not just a feeling.

We are descendents
Of Tradition and beggin'
To stop all the men
Who are turning us pagan!

We are the poor,
Uneducated ones
But in faith well-informed
The heretic shuns

And when we are told,
“A little Bread…less or more.”
Forever Roman Catholic
We kneel and adore!

"and the gates of hell shall not prevail"

https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

Margaret • 7 years ago

Inspiring, Long-Skirts. (Btw, are you in the picture and if so, which one?)

Long-Skirts • 7 years ago

No, I'm not in this picture, Margaret, these are the new postulants, novices and Sisters of a new Order that Bishop Fellay started in Africa. Very holy women. "Oh, Lord, grant us holy religious vocations." God bless.

Llámame Jorge • 7 years ago

"The hallmark of this papacy — the legacy that Francis will leave behind — is one of confusion and discord. He is a bringer of chaos."

My teaching is very clear.

"The debate rages on in many corners of the Catholic world about whether he’s even a legitimate pope at all."

I can say this because it is my church.

I don't dare to say anything more.

Michael • 7 years ago

We must learn and follow the Church's teachings ourselves, and we must understand it more deeply than "the pope said so."

Years ago, I noticed that certain people seemed to focus very heavily on the writings of Pope John Paul II. Everything they had to say was approached through the lens of John Paul II's writings. I get it, he had profound things to say, but he wasn't the be-all-end-all of everything Catholic.

A century ago, it is likely that few Catholics even knew what the Pope looked like. Two centuries ago, most Catholics probably didn't even know his name. Maybe, in having a Pope who's not so great, some of them will consider the situation honestly, without false piety, and realize that the Pope really isn't as important as they had once thought. Maybe the insanity that's going on right now, as much as I can't stand it, will serve to shake at least some people free of their inordinate esteem for the person of the Pope.

davend • 7 years ago

But don't you think people will (rightly or wrongly) use: "the Pope said it's ok" to get what they want?

Michael • 7 years ago

Of course they will. The appropriate response to someone using the pope's statements to defend their dissidence might well be "who cares."

What the pope has to say really isn't that important, at least not most of the time. It would be better to counteract what the pope says using this approach than to either try (in vain) to spin what he says into something perfectly reasonable or to try and say he's not really the pope or whatever because he said something wrong.

davend • 7 years ago

Oh, in this case I think what the Pope has to say is very important. When one looks at the way things actually work in parish life, there's really no workable comeback to "the Pope says it's OK."

Two2trees • 7 years ago

The Pope cannot contradict Jesus or revise His words. When he does, the faithful are not only not obliged to obey, they are not able to.

davend • 7 years ago

So do you think what the Pope has advocated for in Argentina contradicts Jesus or not?

Two2trees • 7 years ago

It appears to.

davend • 7 years ago

So then the Pope CAN contradict Jesus.

Two2trees • 7 years ago

If a mathematician were to say that 1 + 1=5, would that be math? And would he be speaking as a mathematician?

So actually, no. He can't. A person who is the Pope can, but only as himself, not as the Pope. The trouble is that many people don't under the distinction.

Ichbins • 7 years ago

"Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them."
--
I am not a learned person, but to me, this sounds like the notion of everyone having the right to set up their own little kingdom inside their conscience in which they themselves can reign like a god.
Why doesn't the pope -- of all people -- say that everyone "must choose to follow the good and fight evil" according to the example of Jesus? Follow Jesus, not yourself. Seek first the kingdom of God, not your own kingdom.
For me, pope Francis refers far too seldom to Jesus, and he talks far too much about what he himself thinks.

LB236 • 7 years ago

Hmm . . . That sounds an awful lot like this:

Human reason, without any reference whatsoever to God, is the sole arbiter of truth and falsehood, and of good and evil; it is law to itself, and suffices, by its natural force, to secure the welfare of men and of nations.

Pius IX condemned this notion in Maximae quidem and restated his condemnation in his Syllabus of Errors. So what does that tell us about Francis?

Wisdom is a Tree of Life • 7 years ago

Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)
Sola Fide (Faith Alone)

AND NOW

Sola Conscientia (Conscience Alone)

I see the progression of Luther's theology in Jorge's theology.

AND THE FREAK SHOW IS ON: OCT., 31, 2016

Sunisyde • 7 years ago

Many Catholics I know including myself are disappointed in this Pope but not surprised because from the beginning of his Papacy, he already was coming out with un-Catholic remarks and doing thing's that were on the boarder of Apostasy. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when Barak Hussein Obama and Francis met in the Vatican for about an hour to know what exactly they both discussed...??

davend • 7 years ago

Why people can't see that this is a horse that's already left the barn is really beyond me; no amount of theologizing and article writing is going to reverse course now.

A) MANY priests already admit divorced and remarried Catholics to Holy Communion though some "process of conscience"; this has been going on for decades. B) Now these under-the-table practices have been given legitimacy and even endorsement from the Pope. C) people who are interested in such a process are, via the controversy, learning more about it. D) Bishops will be less and less able to resist over time. At a simple, pastoral, practical level, it's REALLY difficult to counter, "but, the Pope says it's OK" (and he did, let's face it)—no matter what standing you happen to have in the Church. And once ingrained, this will be something very difficult for a future Pope to root out, assuming a future Pope even tries to do so.

NCEsposito • 7 years ago

It is perfectly fine to acknowledge the truth that what Pope Francis is doing is causing grave harm to the church. That can't be denied. But I see it as rather important that we do not judge Francis, that he is purposely partaking in this destruction with full knowledge of what he is doing. We don't know his heart. The possibility that he is well-meaning but very poorly formed in the faith, should not be dismissed out of hand. He is the first Pope to have been ordained a priest after the council in 1969 and was formed in the priesthood at the time when the confusion and upheaval of nearly all things authentically Catholic began in earnest. If were are speaking of his faults and errors and not fervently praying for him, then we are fools. Peter is weak and needs constant help of the prayers and sacrifices of the faithful, least he continue on this path of harming the Church.

Catholic_Mom_of_6 • 7 years ago

<<sigh>>
Remember when following Church teaching meant being able to rely on authentic interpretation and clear explanation from the pope? Who knew, at the time, that those were the good old days.

Two2trees • 7 years ago

The essence of Satan's desire is that man subjectively discern knowledge of good and evil rather than recieve it - the forbidden of the two trees. In our fallen state private discernment is sometimes unavoidable, but it cannot contradict received knowledge. The subjectivists meet objective truth and say that the knowledge of good and evil determined by imperfect intellect can be compared to Truth received.

And, I think, that's it. The essence of protestantism declares that received truth must be filtered through the subjective. That's the essence of what Bergoglio and his legion teach.

susanna • 7 years ago

As an aside, can you imagine polling the popularity of St. Peter? (Wow, Peter slipped in the polls since he had that row with Paul.)

Well yeah it fits in a church where no one reverences the Blessed Sacrament, bows at "the Word was made flesh" or when receiving communion. But let's wear red on Pentecost mouseketeers!

Oremus • 7 years ago

Steve, thank you for this and many other excellent articles. What I hope that 1P5 and other good Catholic sites will do is to STOP showing pictures of this pope. I don't like to look at his pictures, as well as pictures of some other public figures, notably the current president and wife, and a former president and wife, now currently trying to re-enter the White House. None of them need the publicity. I know many other ordinary citizens like myself who feel the same way. Spare us!

We had a picture of Pope Francis in our house awhile ago. The picture is now hidden behind pages of coupons.

@FMShyanguya • 7 years ago

Cf. Pro Domine et Ecclesia et Pontifice contra #AmorisLaetitia; Petitions: To the Pope; To all Catholic Cardinals; To all Catholic Bishops
*
Not exhaustive. Updated whenever The WAR comes across articles that it deems articulate well the arguments against AL using Church Teaching.

@FMShyanguya • 7 years ago

Pro Domine et Ecclesia contra #AmorisLaetitia; Petitions: To the Pope; To all Catholic Bishops – THE WAR https://t.co/F9n4w4BQVG

— F M Shyanguya (@TheWarOurTime) July 17, 2016
ebergerud • 7 years ago

I agree Francis has done damage. But in the last 2,000 years weak popes are certainly not unknown. The Church Universal continues to grow - if in areas outside of Europe - and the faithful must believe that the Truth will out. GK Chesterton once commented “On five occasions in history the Church has gone to the dogs, but on each occasion, it was the dogs that died.” Let us all pray that the Francis papacy is the sixth and that it will again be the dogs that suffer. And pray remember that contemporary secularism creates social road kill on an industrial scale. When the Church returns to the true and the beautiful, it will be there as a counter-cultural beacon for the millions in the West that will need it.