+St. Agatho and Bd. Gregory X, Popes+

Additional note on the Mystical Body series

A reader from Africa has forwarded a sermon from Henry Edward Cardinal Manning that I have been trying to locate for several years. It is probably the best illustration of the establishment of the visible and invisible heads of the Mystical Body, as prophesied by the prophets Isaias and Ezekiel, that could be found. Written in 1859, it unquestionably demonstrates, even before the definition of infallibility handed down by the Vatican Council, that there would be a living voice to guide the people until the very consummation of the world. But you say, “We have no pope!” We may not have a pope, yet we have very nearly all that the popes have ever written readily available to us, a virtual treasury of their teachings, including the mandate for the conduct of the Church during an interregnum infallibly delivered by Pope Pius XII. For all who wish to see that this promise was made to us by the very prophet who likewise foretold Christ’s coming and His suffering and death on the Cross, please read this sermon here very carefully. And then dare to state that we can trust the very “opinions” of any other human authority on what must be believed. More on this below.

Where does one find the truth?

Several readers have asked over the past few years for referral to like-minded sites for those who pray at home. While there are a few sites with good resource material for Traditionalists in general that are not objectionable, there are no sites I am aware of that promote the pray-at-home position and at the same time have their theology straight. For this reason I cannot in good conscience refer people to those sites where they may easily encounter errors. Even among those who pray at home and also write blogs or host websites, there is a general tendency to engage in liberal charity that cannot be ignored. This tendency over time, if imbibed often enough by readers, convinces them that one must be sympathetic and indulgent even to those who teach error and that to snub them or renounce those errors is a lack of Catholic charity.

We have discussed this here before, referring readers to Fr. Felix Sarda-Salvany’s Liberalism is a Sin, which is the only known antidote to this syrupy poison that renders so many otherwise commendable articles and treatises dangerous to Catholics. What perhaps needs to be pointed out, however, is that Catholic and Protestant Liberalism is not just an error condemned by the Church; it is the first level of Freemasonry marked by Edith Star Miller, (an American who married into British royalty, Lady Queensborough) on her Masonic pyramid. Lady Queensborough was later murdered in Paris for her expose’ regarding Freemasonry. Directly above this liberalism we find British Israelism, also previously discussed on this site. This is the error that has infested so many among the Traditionalist sect, particularly those of the St. Pius X Society (SSPX) and its related organization, the Knights of St. John Jerusalem.

The idea promoted by certain Traditionalists is that the popes long ago conveyed jurisdiction to this order and therefore that they operate under that jurisdiction. This nonsense was first promoted by Fr. James F. Wathen, O.S.J., (Order of St. John, (Knights) of Jerusalem or the Shickshinny, PA “knights), among several other prominent Traditionalists. Wathen taught in his work defending the order that it was indeed an order initially sanctioned by the Holy See, and that it was specifically given power to institute its own priests and bishops by direct grant of Pope Anastasius IV in 1154. This grant by the pope, however, insists that those clerics admitted to the “order” must be verified as certainly validly ordained. And it ends by decreeing that all these clerics so admitted ultimately must be subject to the Roman Pontiff (Is the Order of St. John Masonic, TAN Books, 1973).   

The Church condemns “Catholic” secret societies

Research into this order, later declared to be fraudulent in a civil court, leads one into the dark recesses of Aryanism and the White Brotherhood. Scary stuff. It also provides links to Mass centers and Traditionalist operations of various stripes and colors and even references the John Birch Society, a right-wing, purportedly anti-Communist group many Traditionalists joined in the early days of the movement. As reported elsewhere, the founder of the Knights was a man also associated with the Priory of Sion, a secret society of “Catholics” which appears to have been headed at one time by none other than Abp. Marcel Lefebvre. The idea of a “Catholic secret society” was floated for several years by many different players in the Traditional movement, including the infamous non-priest Peter Tran Van Khoat, heralded as a true priest and possible “pope-elect” by the Siri idiocy bunch. Plunging head-first into the “Catholic” secret society rabbit hole is a sure ticket to hell. And during the reign of Pope Pius XII, the following statement regarding such societies was released:

“Among the things which are springing up again with renewed vigor and not only in Italy is Freemasonry with its ever-recurring hostility to religion and to the Church. What appears to be a new feature in this Masonic renaissance is the rumors circulating in various social classes that a particular rite of Masonry might no longer be in opposition to the Church whereby even Catholics can enroll at their ease in the sect without fear of excommunication and reproach. Those responsible for propagating these rumors must surely know that nothing has been modified in the Church’s legislation relative to Freemasonry and if they continue this campaign, it can only be in order to profit from the naivete of simple folk. The bishops know that Canon 684 and especially Canon 2335 which excommunicates those who have given their names to Masonry without any distinction between rights are as full in force today as they always have been; all Catholics ought to know this and remember it so as not to fall into this snare and also so as to know how to pass due judgment on the fact that certain simpletons believe they can call themselves both Catholics and Freemasons with impunity. This, I repeat, applies to all Masonic rites, EVEN IF SOME OF THEM IN VARYING CIRCUMSTANCES DECLARED THAT THEY ARE NOT HOSTILE TO THE CHURCH” (Most Reverend Mario Cordovani, Master of the Sacred Palace; printed in Osservatore Romano, March 19, 1950, as quoted by Vicomte Leon de Poncins).

This should be the end to any speculation that such a thing as a Catholic secret society could ever exist. And it also should alert Catholics to the fact that the Church was well aware that organizations such as the Priory of Sion and St. John of Jerusalem were attempting to deceive Catholics into joining their ranks at precisely that point in time when these two organizations were first organizing. Move a little further up the pyramid from British Israelism and we find Pro-Masons “Without the apron.” In other words, Liberal Catholics favoring Masonry who are not actually members are counted by Masons AS MEMBERS. Then there is actual Communism, which most Catholics would assume they could easily avoid. But Communism relies on the process of gradualism, a slow and perhaps imperceptible conditioning process facilitated by the practice of Liberal charity and involvement with Traditional organizations, often founded, at least, by those affiliated with secret societies who believe and promote British Israelism. To make Communism more palatable, its disseminators have devised new variations that appear to be something they aranotin order to better deceive the general populace. It begins with the teachings of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, born in Germany in 1770.

Hegelianism prepares the way

We last encountered Hegel in ours series on education. Award-winning New York state teacher and author, John Gatto, wrote regarding Fabian Socialism in Great Britain: “The puzzling security and prestige enjoyed at the moment by those who speak of globalism and multiculturalism is a direct result of heed paid earlier to Fabian prophecies that a welfare state followed by an intense focus on internationalism would be the mechanism elevating corporate society over political society and is a necessary precursor to utopia… One insightful Hegelianism was that to push ideas efficiently, it was necessary first to co-opt both political left and political right. Adversarial politics competition was a losers’ game… “By infiltrating all major media, by continual low-intensity propaganda, by massive changes in group orientations (accomplished through principles developed in the psychological warfare bureaus of the military) and with the ability, using government intelligence agents and press contacts to induce a succession of crises, they accomplished that astonishing feat… Thus the deliberate creation of crises is an important tool of evolutionary Socialists. Does that let you understand the government school drama a little better or the well-publicized doomsday scenarios of environmentalists?” (The Underground History of American Education, 2001).

So basically Hegel was an evolutionist, believing that nothing actually “is” but only is in the process of perpetually “becoming,” (primitive Modernism). He is best known for his ideas on the philosophia perennis, that “all previous systems of thought — religious, mythological, philosophical — aim at and partially unveil the same doctrine,” the teaching that a grand synthesis of opposing beliefs would culminate in unity and equality,” (What is the Hegelian Dialectic?, by Niki Raapana and Nordica Friedrich, http://nord.twu.net/acl/agenda21.html). Some believe that Hegel’s ideas are essentially Hermetic, with Hermeticism (Rosicrucianism, Alchemy, Theosophy, ESP, New Age thinking, Freemasonic beliefs) constituting a middle position between pantheism (that God, an eternal being is somehow one and the same with the world itself, which is of limited duration) and the Judeo-Christian conception of God. This is why his philosophy also is called “the Third Way.”

Hegel invented the notion of a different sort of dialectic, the term so common to evolving religious and political beliefs first taking center stage in the 1960s during the ecumenical movement. He believed that the only way to “become” was to engage in the expression of one’s thought processes, since these processes infallibly reflected a sort of ingrained wisdom passed on via man’s unconscious from generation to generation. By way of poetic discussion held through written and verbal exchange, Hegel taught that one could reconcile mythology with philosophy and religion to create a “new mythology of reason.” Thus is the perennial philosophy perpetually completed. Thought itself, in other words, “becomes” divine. This process joins all men and all disciplines, then, in a synthesis of experience that would replace the need for religious belief.

God is the world and the world is God; we all are bound up in the same absolute knowing because we are Him. (This is related to a concept some also know as secular humanism.) Hegel’s intent in implementing his dialectic was to initiate constant conflict. The conflict created in these discussions resulted in the continual melding of systems and ideas, whether right or left in origin, (syncretism). And this in turn, he believed, would accomplish the ideal spiritualization and perfection of mankind. While this background information may be difficult to digest and appear to many to be irrelevant, this is far from the truth. It is necessary to understand exactly how dialectic has been employed in the formation and perpetuation of communitarianism in order to appreciate how communitarianism relates to so much of what we see today.

In his encyclical Divini Redemptoris, Pope Pus XI places this process in perspective: “According to this doctrine, there is in the world only one reality — matter — the blind forces of which evolve into plant, animal and man. Even human society is nothing but a phenomenon and form of matter, evolving in the same way. By a law of inexorable necessity and through a perpetual conflict of forces, matter moves toward the final synthesis of a classless society…Communists claim that the conflict which carries the world towards its final synthesis can be accelerated by man. Hence they endeavor to sharpen the antagonisms which arise between the various classes of society. Thus the class struggle with its consequent violent hate and destruction takes on the aspect of a crusade for the progress of humanity.”

Communitarianism = communism

It is easy to see from what has been described so far that communitarianism tallies perfectly with Communist tactics and teaching as outlined by Pope Pius XI. Hegelian philosophy is all about evolving socially; the system engages others in a “mystical” dialectic process of discussion to initiate the conflict necessary for Communism to establish itself. These dialectics, in turn, wear those engaging in them down and confuses them until eventually they arrive at a conclusion reached through a series of surrenders and compromises. This is a Communist war of words, not battlefields. It is a hidden and deceitful form of mind control known as coercive persuasion, engineered to arrive at the desired result without shedding blood. Those who come out on top in this process go on to become the new missionaries for the cause. This is how slowly and for many decades — almost imperceptibly — the United States was absorbed into the anticipated global community governed by Community (communitarian) Law.

Members of the legal community worldwide have worked for years to revise laws of states and regions to conform to Community Law. Yet under the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Criminal Code, communitarian law is not only illegal — it is treason. Why? Because, as Prof. Francis Snyder writes in his “Institutions of the Union and the European Communities,” (Google translation): “Communitarian law…integrates extreme communism with extreme capitalism. It defends the rights of the global ‘collective’ against the rights of the greedy, selfish individuals clinging to their ‘outdated notion’ of independent nations.” In short, then, communitarianism is nothing less than global communism, implemented by dedicated volunteers who agitate ceaselessly for a “communitarian, or communist, system,” (Weekly Worker, Jan. 25, 2001). But who will stand as judge and advocate for us to ensure that the return to common law alleged by those establishing this new world order is not actually contaminated with communitarianism? Is there a way to identify this system at work? According to an article in the Nov. 1998 issue of The Education Reporter, there is.

The Delphi Technique

In her “Using the Delphi Technique to Achieve Consensus,” Lynn Stuter explains how the Hegelian dialectic of “thesis, antithesis synthesis” is set into motion. By the unethical practice of creating tension and friction, change agents or facilitators move two sides towards the middle, making one set of views appear sensible and the other set ridiculous. Eventually this results in a new “thesis,” or melding of views, and the process will be repeated as many times as necessary until the desired result is achieved. “The facilitators or change agents…are hired to direct the meeting to a preset conclusion…to encourage each person in a group to express concerns about the programs, projects, or policies in question. They listen attentively, elicit input from group members, from “task forces,” urge participants to make lists, and in going through these motions, learn about each member of a group. They are trained to identify the “leaders,” the “loud mouths,” the “weak or non-committal members,” and those who are apt to change sides frequently during an argument.

“Using the ‘divide and conquer’ principle, they manipulate one opinion against another, making those who are out of step appear ‘ridiculous, unknowledgeable, inarticulate, or dogmatic.’ They attempt to anger certain participants, thereby accelerating tensions. The facilitators are well trained in psychological manipulation. They are able to predict the reactions of each member in a group. Individuals in opposition to the desired policy or program will be shut out. In her book Educating for the New World Order, author and educator Beverly Eakman makes numerous references to the need of those in power to preserve the illusion that there is ‘community participation in decision-making processes, while in fact lay citizens are being squeezed out.’” The similarity to recent events in this country and even the use of the same language by those agitating for a new thesis are too obvious to even merit comment. Communitarianism is obviously alive and well, even among those Catholics who denounce Communism.

Truth is One

The Delphi Technique has been used repeatedly to squeeze out the common man and move ever closer to certain individuals’ dream of a global community. And its application is not limited to the political sphere — it has been used for decades among Traditionalists and even at times among those who profess to keep the faith at home. Those employing this technique fancy themselves to be clever manipulators able to achieve the melding of different opinions and positions within the Traditionalist spectrum to achieve at least a consensus if not a contrived sort of unity. In order to accomplish this, they must make it appear that all doctrinal differences amount only to a matter of opinion, when nothing could be further from the truth. And yet it takes only ONE denial of faith to lose membership in Christ’s Mystical Body. Examples of these divergences form the faith are legion and have been pointed out on this site for years. Among them are:

— the belief that the pope can become a heretic AS A LEGITIMATELY ELECTED POPE, condemned infallibly by the Vatican Council;

— that bishops can be validly consecrated without papal appointment or approval during an interregnum, condemned infallibly in Mystici Corporis Christi and Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis;

— that epikeia can “supply” jurisdiction during an interregnum, likewise condemned infallibly in Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis;  

— that the Church considers the Jews the primary founders and originators of Freemasonry who are responsible for Her demise, when this has never been taught by the Church;

— that the Church, as She was constituted by Christ, can exist without the pope, when the pope is the head bishop — condemned implicitly in Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis and Pope St. Pius X’s Vacante Sedis Apostolica, a codification of all papal election laws.

And there are many others. But none of the above are up for debate, speculation, can be left to private opinion or are able to be interpreted in any way. Questions on such matters cannot be settled during an interregnum; without a pope there is nothing that can be decided. Traditionalists hate to hear this, but objective truth is one, while error is manifold. And the only source of objective truth left to us on this earth were the Roman Pontiffs. As one reader pointed out recently, there are only two cities — the City of God and the city of Satan. As St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “There are two mystical bodies in this world: The Mystical Body of Christ and the mystical body of the Devil or of the Antichrist. To one or another every man belongs.” St. Augustine writes: “They cannot be at the same time members of Christ and members of a prostitute. Many receive the Body of Christ in the Sacrament, but not in their souls. By failing to receive Christ spiritually and leading bad lives, they reduce the members of Christ, making themselves members of the Devil, so they greatly diminish the Body of Christ.”

St. Louis Grignon de Montfort, in his True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, wrote: “The Most Holy Virgin is called by the Holy Ghost the City of God (Ps. 86:3)… God has set…enmities between Mary and the Devil… between the true children and servants of Mary and the slaves of the Devil. They have no love for each other… The children of Belial have always persecuted those who belong to our Blessed Lady…  [Our Lady’s] humble slaves and her poor children… shall be little and poor in the world’s eyes, abased before all, trodden underfoot and persecuted as the heel is by the other members of the body. But in return for this they shall be rich in the grace of God.” Hail-fellow-well-met may be the norm among attorneys and politicians today, but among Catholics, liberal charity can only be the beginning of that fateful principle of toleration that amounts to indifferentism. And this then leads to the ascent of the pyramid illustrated above, whether those identifying as Catholic realize it or admit it or not.

We were all born to be Soldiers of Christ, not the “woke” variety of soldiers now populating today’s military. True soldiers who believe their primary duty is to rid the earth of all that is inimical to Christ’s teaching will stop at nothing when it comes to defending their faith. As Fr. Sarda says, “Give the enemy no quarter.” We are either with Christ or against Him; we either belong to the City of God or the City of Satan. One denial of a Catholic dogma deprives Catholics of Church membership. And refusing to accept the fact that that we are forbidden, during an interregnum, to decide on matters of faith or those closely connected to it — and not accept those binding teachings and sacred Canons already governing it — is a denial of the supreme jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff as defined at the Vatican Council. It is a denial of everything written by Henry Cardinal Manning written in the sermon mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog.

“The illumination which is diffused throughout the whole body of the Church resides imminently in the episcopate but resides pre-eminently and above all in the chief of Bishops, the Pastor of Pastors, the Vicar of the Incarnate Word himself. Here then we have the fulfillment of the prophecy for what is the Vicar of Jesus Christ but the representative of Jesus Christ — the true, special, personal witness — the very presence, so to speak, of the son of God on earth? And as the prophecy of Isaias was accomplished when the son of God was incarnate rose up in the city of Nazareth, anointed by the Holy Ghost, so His representative and Vicar now stands in the midst of the world, the true special heir of those promises and on his anointed head rest the spirit of God never to depart, and in his mouth the word of God which cannot pass away. He is the oracle, the organ and the living voice through whom the Spirit of God accomplishes to this hour the prophecy of Isaias.

“All doctrines have been disputed, cast out, disfigured in controversy and railed upon; for since Jesus withdrew Himself, and the shame which fell on Him had no longer a divine personal object in the world, never was there anything so railed at as that one, universal faith of the holy Catholic and Roman Church. It bears the shame of Jesus: ‘You shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake’ has been fulfilled in the faith which we believe. And why is it so? Because it speaks in its Master’s name; because it perpetuates His voice; because every article of the Council of Trent is an account of the voice of Jesus. Therefore men gainsay it as they gainsaid Him; but the words of the prophet stand true: ‘My spirit, which is on thee, and my word, which I put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, sayeth the Lord, from henceforth and forever.’

“There is also another truth and it is an awful one — a truth which follows from this so inseparably and by so strong a necessity that I dare not pass it by. If indeed God the Holy Ghost be in the midst of us and if it be God the Holy Ghost that speaks to us through the One, Holy Catholic and Roman Church, then it imposes its doctrines on the consciences of men under pain of eternal death… To disbelieve what the Holy Ghost, through the Church of God has taught, incurs the pain of eternal death for those who, with their eyes open, reject it.”