Stained Glass depicting Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) in Mechelen Cathedral, Belgium.
+St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Doctor+
In order to know how to survive something spiritually, we must first know what it is we are expected to survive. In recent blogs we have tried to explain that misinformation, diversion, distraction and deceit are all tools used by those wishing to promote Traditionalism as the surefire solution to the crisis in the Church. The only path Catholics must faithfully follow today was mapped out long ago by the teachings of the Roman Pontiffs until the death of Pope Pius XII, the ecumenical councils and the Sacred Canons. This is what constitutes the Deposit of Faith in the Catholic Church. Unless we adhere strictly to this Deposit as it was bequeathed to the Church; unless we obey the Roman Pontiffs, we are not members of Christ’s Mystical Body the Church. According to these teachings, no one who has ever been ordained or consecrated when the Church is without a true pope — and that rules out everyone today — can convey valid Sacraments. If we seek such persons out for Mass and Sacraments despite these teachings, we are no longer members of the Church.
This leaves only one option open to us — praying at home, availing ourselves of the spiritual substitutes for Penance and Holy Communion, baptizing those newly born and converts to the faith and contracting marriage under Canon 1098. And we must constantly pray and watch. In watching we must study our faith and be on our guard against any innovations. We must especially be on alert for supposed fulfillment of private prophecy reflected in recent events and Scriptural prophecy which has been improperly fitted to some specific occurrence. On the other hand we must recognize the “signs of the times” as Christ advised and not discount the actual fulfillment of Holy Scripture, and this can be a laborious process. Some have become confused regarding what we must believe of faith regarding these signs and what we may consider only as opinion. Below we will try to provide some pointers on this.
Where we stand today in Scriptural prophecy
Unfortunately much of what is contained in Holy Scripture describing the end times is a matter of opinion on the part of those approved commentators writing pre-1959. None of them seem to have anticipated a lengthy interregnum, the extended reign of usurpers in Rome, or the impersonation of valid and licit clergy by Traditionalists. Some hint at this and allow it as a possibility, but only for a brief time. Even such saintly writers as St. Augustine and St. Robert Bellarmine leave it up to those living in these days to determine what has or has not been fulfilled, presumably on the assumption that there will be clergy to guide us, or that God Himself will assist us. Given all this, we must carefully sort out for ourselves the things that we must believe regarding these times and those that we must consider only probable. As we know, we cannot act on a probable opinion regarding eternal salvation, so anything that would possibly involve mortal sin (such as believing a certain personage or event was or was not prophesied in Holy Scripture when this is only probable) is not binding on us.
How do we learn of these things? The theologians and commentators have provided some clues and Holy Scripture itself is sometimes clear on these matters. We have covered this in previous blogs. In some instances the popes have even addressed these things and must be relied upon to guide us. But anything presented here is only this blogger’s interpretation of events and is of far lesser value. The only advantage we do have is one that the commentators noted and granted us gratuitously — we are living in the times they only attempted to anticipate and comment upon. This is why the identification of Paul 6 as the Man of Sin, something first proposed in 1990, has any merit. This because it is solidly based on the definition of the abomination of desolation by Pope Paul IV, and the warning he issued in his 1559 bull (Cum ex Apostolatus Officio) regarding the election of a heretic, apostate or schismatic to the papacy. This is patently obvious, since Paul 6’s abrogation of the Novus Ordo Missae is what drove the remaining faithful to fulfill the prophecy of the scattered flock and leave the Novus Ordo church. And this could only occur once the pastor was struck (Matt. 26:31; Zach.13:7).
As described by St. Bernard Clairvaux and various ecumenical councils, those usurping the papacy are always referred to as antichrists, just not the antichrist. The two things that qualify Paul 6 as the Man of Sin according to Holy Scripture are his usurpation of the papacy and the abrogation of the immemorial Latin Mass of Pope St. Pius V. Pope Paul IV predicted the usurpation, and his bull was later confirmed by Pope St. Pius V. According to Henry Cardinal Manning, “he who withholdeth” is the papacy and it is the unanimous opinion of the Fathers that Antichrist will cause the cessation of the Continual Sacrifice. Catholics must accept this as certain from the Vatican Council: “…No one is permitted to interpret Sacred Scripture itself… contrary to the unanimous agreement of the Fathers” (DZ 1788). So if those today deny that in abrogating the Latin Mass Paul 6 was not the Man of Sin, they are contradicting the teaching of the Vatican Council and the ancient Fathers.
And no obfuscation of this truth by appealing to the fact that the Latin Mass is still celebrated can be taken for anything other than the falsehood that it truly is. Pope Pius XII infallibly decreed in Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis (VAS) that nothing may be changed regarding Canon and papal law during an interregnum and that if such a thing is attempted, it is null, void and invalid. Establish that this interregnum yet exists — which we have — and the 1983 revised Code crumbles into dust, along with any “teachings” promulgated since Pope Pius XII’s death. Now the first law to be changed or ignored was the election of an unworthy (heretical) candidate in John 23. This invalidated the entire election as it is laid out in VAS. And furthermore, Canon 2391 §1 invalidated all future elections held by a college electing an unworthy candidate, with the canon commentary specifically mentioning that this applies to those excommunicated for heresy, apostasy or schism. This coincides with the mention of Can. 188 no. 4 in VAS, automatically also disqualifying electors guilty of heresy, apostasy or schism. And the parent law of Can. 188 no. 4 is none other than Pope Paul IV’s Cum ex Apostolatus Officio.
Since papal teaching and Canon Law upholds the conclusion that Paul 6 was the Son of Perdition, the Antichrist, we can be certain that this was indeed the case. Pope Paul IV explains in his bull how he who withholdeth is taken out of the way (by the election of a heretic, apostate or schismatic) and who the man so elected would be — the abomination of desolation. Paul IV taught: “…It behooves us to give fuller and more diligent thought where the peril is greatest, lest false prophets (or even others possessing secular jurisdiction) wretchedly ensnare simple souls and drag down with themselves to perdition and the ruin of damnation the countless peoples entrusted to their care and government in matters spiritual or temporal; and lest it befall Us to see in the holy place the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, We wish, as much as possible with God’s help, in line with our pastoral duty, to trap the foxes that are busily ravaging the Lord’s vineyard and to drive the wolves from the sheepfolds…” Now this abomination when detected in cardinals or bishops, (addressed in the bull along with a pope), would be heresy proper. But when it involves the Roman Pontiff, who can never be guilty of heresy in his official capacity, it styles him as THE abomination.
Paul 6 and his fellow antichrists
Rev. E.S. Berry, in his The Apocalypse of St. John, 1921, (p. 137) tells us that abominations perpetrated in former times are nothing in comparison to what will occur during Antichrist’s reign: “Such things but faintly foreshadowed the abominations that will desecrate churches in those sorrowful days when Antichrist will seat himself at the altar to be adored as God.” Was not Paul 6 adored as the defender of the Jews, the idol of the liturgical renewal crowd — the people of God — and the darling of the ecumenists? Is it not true that not only did he abrogate the Latin Mass, but that he made a new liturgy his own, with the help of Protestants and even Jews, entitling it the Novus Ordo Missae? And is it not also true that having done that, he was then mentioned in the canon of this sacrilegious mass as a valid pope, there to be worshipped in this new liturgy and adored? And this not only for instituting the new mass but for the changes wrought by the false Vatican 2 council to accommodate the faithless remaining laity and endorse the heresies of Americanism and ecumenism.
Daniel speaks of no other abomination except the Jewish antichrist Antiochus and the sacrilegious sacrifices he demanded of the Chosen People; the two are described together. throughout his book. And it has ever been the unanimous opinion of the Fathers and theologians that this also applies to the reign of Antichrist. So why has the cessation of the Sacrifice in our day been entirely disconnected from the abomination of desolation who forbade it in the first place?! (For further explanation of this term, see the articles HERE and also HERE.) The main objections to Paul 6 as Antichrist are addressed in the second of these two links: that his reign must last only three years and a half. And yet the commentators clarify this by stating that the time limit applies primarily to the height or end of his reign, when actual physical persecution will probably commence. At that same time Antichrist will be at the apex of his ability to deceive and will make it appear that he can and is accomplishing actual feats that he is unable to perform. And these include his claim to be the actual Jewish Messiah heading a newly reorganized “Christian“ church from Solomon’s rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, there to reign; events that now seem close to fulfillment.
It has been explained elsewhere that while Paul 6 was the Man of Sin, he and Roncalli established Antichrist’s system in their Roman successors, a system still in existence today and growing bolder by the minute. This system is the Whore of Babylon and is closely aligned with the New World Order’s political/financial system. Each successor of the Man of Sin corresponds in power and likeness to the original, since Satan, ever jealous of the God who exiled Him and determined to exact retribution, wished to imitate Him as closely as possible. He accomplished this by creating a diabolical papacy with its own succession in opposition to the See of St. Peter and his successors. This may very well have reference to the beast in Apocalypse whose deadly wound was healed, who dies and lives again in each devilish successor. They are Antichrist clones only, not Antichrist proper. Yet they form a perpetual chain and each rules in his own right, in mockery of the popes, creating a sort of diabolical “continual magisterium.” Just as no one else could be St. Peter, the original, no one else could be Paul 6.
Only Christ’s Mystical Body will survive
And yet the evil he began has perfected itself and expanded, until now Satan himself can be more clearly seen in each one of these usurpers. They have been planning their grand finale for decades and it now seems to be at our very doors. The gifts that will be most needed during this final phase of Antichrist’s reign are knowledge and understanding, for he will be at the peak of his ability to deceive even the elect. And this is what the article we have just completed HERE will attempt to provide. The conclusions in this article are very much dependent on the invalid election of John 23 and the identification of Paul 6 as Antichrist. For on these facts hinge whether or not the very idea of the Catholic Church will even survive. I once wrote a book entitled, Will the Catholic Church Survive the Twentieth Century? Of course the Mystical Body will never lose its Divine Head and in that sense the Church will always survive until the consummation. At the time I wrote that first book, I believed a true pope could still be validly elected. Of course today, after long years of study, I must sadly admit this is now impossible.
The answer to the title of that book, then, is that the juridical Church has NOT survived into the 21st century. And yet there are those alive who still know what the Church was and how She taught and functioned, who remember receiving valid Holy Communion and Confession and attending valid Masses. But all that is a memory of the last century. Traditionalists today think they continue the Church but we know this is a lie. And even the externals they think they perpetuate lack the necessary sensus Catholicus, a sense which fades a little more each day with the death of those baptized Catholic who once knew the beauty, the sanctity, the unity of doctrine and Sacraments shared with fellow Catholics that was once the Church. And soon it will all slip away, even the memory of it and the anchor of faith that secured it. Because Satan is not satisfied with simply usurping the papacy and falsifying Sacraments through the Novus Ordo and Traditionalists. His hatred is so great that he is determined to do everything in his power to completely eradicate the Church’s very existence.
How will this happen, you will say. Well it will happen because when something as precious as Christ’s very Spouse on earth is not loved, not defended, not preserved inviolate, not treasured and not obeyed, God rightfully removes it from us. Catholics lost their Church long ago, and sadly they did not really lose it; they assisted in its destruction by their disregard for the pope, their bishops, their adoption of liberalism and their demands for change. And now there is a plan, long in the making, to unite all religions except one under one universal head — and that exception is the Catholic Church. Our religion will be destroyed, discredited and replaced by some yet unknown Protestant hybrid, one that may not even be entirely acceptable to some Protestants. This is not a theory, or an hypothesis but a plan that has been documented and promoted publicly for decades. The only thing preventing its fulfillment was the proper puzzle pieces falling into place and the dying out of those more conservative Catholics and Protestants standing in the way of Satan and his henchmen.
Of course the Novus Ordo and Traditionalism hasn’t been Catholic since the death of Pope Pius XII. And the erosion of the faith has been so complete that little now remains that has not been somehow perverted. Well Satan wants that little and he will have it. They will make it official and the Catholic Church will be no more. The one thing that has aided them more than anything else in this effort is the distrust of and indifference toward the papacy, dating back to the 19th century and beyond. This then became outright defiance, rebellion and insubordination — even subversion and betrayal — in the case of the hierarchy, with the advent of Modernism and ecumenism. And of course it ended with the outright usurpation of the papal throne, and the banishment of any idea of the papacy among the ranks of those claiming to uphold “Tradition.” Then came the financial scandals, the strange liturgical aberrations following Vatican 2, the sex scandals, the heretical teachings of so many usurper “popes.” Each one opened a door, a door that certain Protestants and the secret societies were only too happy to run through.
They gloated over the fact that the false church in Rome now fit the description of the Scarlet Whore in Apocalypse 17 and used their popular publications and broadcasts to good effect to point out the many similarities. Sadder still because so much of it was true, all of course save their horrid blasphemies regarding the Blessed Mother and what once was the Holy Sacrifice; also all those Protestant teachings condemned at the Council of Trent. This then is how the papacy as Antichrist and the Church as pagan Rome was revived in the latter part of the 20th century, after largely dying out in the early 1900s. And what tools did 1950s “Catholics” employ to combat this? Nary a one, because they had none. They were focused on their own needs, not the deadly serious plight of the Church. Their understanding of God only encompassed one side, and that the self-interested side, of their relationship with Him. God is there for us; yes, always. But only if we are fully in union with Him and place Him first in our everyday lives.
If God had truly been first in the lives of Traditionalists, they would have championed the papacy, not made their crusade the loss of the Mass. They depended, however, on those they believed to be leading them to inform them properly; but these men were actually intent on diverting them. Henry Cardinal Manning observes that this diversion tactic was successfully employed by the Protestants and Old Catholics already in the 1800s as one of their “weapons… to fight the Church and destroy it internally.” Quoting the liberal Protestant, Dr. Friedburg, Manning writes: “’One must first attempt to draw off the waters carefully, letting them flow into other channels and conducting them into reservoirs. What remains will then be easily absorbed into the air.’ In other words, dry up the Church, draw from it all intellectual, moral and spiritual influence over the people, paralyze the action of its pastors et cetera… This done, religion will soon evaporate” (The Vatican Decrees and Their Bearing on Civil Allegiance, 1875).
Following their exit from the Vatican 2 church, Catholics were informed that no one could really figure out the problem with the usurper popes and declare them false popes; they were offered mass and sacraments, nothing else. At that time Lefebvre was in the lead, and he cow-towed to Rome until his death. So why not?
Christ is the true head of His Church
Because the papacy was just the visible manifestation of the true head of this Church — Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Redeemer, invisible head of His Mystical Body. The real objective of those aiming to destroy the Church was the destruction of Christ, Himself, that only their perverted image of Him would remain in the minds of those calling themselves Christians. Their war against the papacy is proof of this, which is why they must obliterate it at all costs. It is proof also that the Catholic Church alone is the true Church of Christ on earth — why else would hundreds of years been spent in “an universal and simultaneous conspiracy against it… [by] civil governments, …[who are] now preparing for their own dissolution” (Ibid., Manning). And we are seeing today the end result of what Manning foretold. The Great Apostasy and the arrival of Antichrist had to occur to fulfill Scripture prophecy; it was unavoidable. So also the operation of error to believe lies. But the wholesale reaction of Catholics to this event was entirely avoidable; many could and should have called Traditionalists’ bluff but failed to do so.
They had forgotten, or perhaps they never completely comprehended the fact, that the true head of their Church was Christ Himself; we have discussed this in previous blogs. One must wonder if they never even grasped the reality of Christ’s physical existence on this earth, His commission to St. Peter and all its implications, his dual participation with the pope and only the pope in the Church’s governance. Christ never left His Church; the Church left Him. Catholics in the 1960-70s had a very important job to do and they chose to gratify themselves with externals rather than take up their Cross and follow in Our Lord’s footsteps. If anyone at all was truly interested in “saving souls” — and not just their own, or those of Catholics in general but non-Catholic souls as well — they would have worked as a dedicated group to study the situation and explain from the teachings of the Continual Magisterium, the ecumenical councils and Canon Law precisely what happened to the Church and how it yet exists today. They would have witnessed to the truths of faith they claimed to hold.
Most importantly of all, they would have emphasized the fulfillment of prophecy in the absence of the papacy and insisted on upholding and guarding the teachings found in the Deposit of Faith, issuing from the Roman Pontiffs. They would have created public awareness regarding the changes in the Church and the differences between what passes for the Church in Rome and the unchangeable, irreformable teachings of Christ’s true Church, and not from the standpoint of Traditionalism. They would have insisted that Protestants make the necessary distinction between the church they see ruling from Rome today, and that Church as She rightfully existed up to the death of Pope Pius XII. Their personal example and commitment, given the strength of their convictions and sufficient numbers, would have spoken volumes. And perhaps it could have sufficiently curbed the renewed portrayal of the Church, clear back to its founding, as the spawn of Satan and the deceiver extraordinaire. At any rate, all had the obligation to at least make this concerted effort, regardless of its outcome.
Some did attempt to do so, even though they were long past the point where it could have made a real difference, and God will reward them for their efforts. Life is a continual warfare, and the previous generation of Catholics deserted the battlefield; the culmination of that desertion is looming straight ahead. Several readers have requested that this author provide a more complete timeline for the end times, and this is finally available in the see link provided above. It seems apropos that it be released during Lent, since some commentators on Holy Scripture have suggested that the final act of the Church’s betrayal will occur during the Lenten season. We have tried to prepare readers in advance for the shock they may receive in reading it, but many already know much of what they can expect. May the Holy Ghost guide you and may Christ the King soon come to claim His kingdom!
(See the newly posted Lenten reflections at our spiritual healing page.)
Thank you: In using my Catholic “sense”, after reading the details you included, I find it quite comforting to put my trust and faith in those you bring to my attention in this great article. Pope Pius XII, Pope Paul IV,Pope St. Pius V, St. Bernard Clairvaux, St Robert Bellarmine, St. Augustine, Rev. Berry, Henry Cardinal Manning, the unanimous opinion of the Fathers of the church. I pray that those still involved with the traditional movement sects realize they also fell victim to the ambiguities of those they trusted just as those still involved with the Novus Ordo–“new order” they only left out one critical word–world. May they soon see the errors of their ways during these days of the great Apostasy. Jesus,the way,the truth, and the life, have mercy on us. (Raccolta)
Thank you Joseph. Always appreciate your comments.
Terrific article. Yes, the juridical Church is no longer with us. I used to want to “help save the Church” by trying to locate bishops, get them together, find a way to help restore the papacy. In recent years, where there are no (or just about no) bishops, I have realized that it’s not the duty or job of the laity to fix empty Sees and repair a damaged or broken hierarchy. But, there is still plenty to do — keep the Faith, pray, watch, think, write about this if you have the talent, restore or save or preserve anything of Christendom that you can if you have the means, discuss this with anyone you can, watch, pray, and above all, keep the Faith. There are probably other things, too, but these are probably the most urgent things.
Thank you. Yes, as you will see from past articles here there are no true bishops left (see Episcopacy, current articles page). It is a state the Church could experience only at the very end, when St. Vicorinus said She would be taken away. Somehow we must persevere in times no one has ever seen, but Our Lord will be with us, as He promised.
Years ago I knew a priest, at least I *believed* he was a real priest, whose ordaining bishop had passed away during the robber Council. It had been a heart attack. Upon research, I verified the priest’s story that it had been said at the time that he had passed of a “broken heart”; a local newspaper account in his city had indeed printed this. It makes me wonder how many other bishops passed in this manner, or “suddenly,” during that time. There were so few who even *complained* about what was happening, but to my knowledge none seemed to recognize that it was the great falling away, and attempted to hold fast or do anything about it, which they all had power to do.
In the past, I had always hoped we could put at least three of these surviving bishops in a room to allow them to do what had to be done, and I was always frustrated that none of us laity out here were trying to make that happen. Now, of course, I have no such thoughts. I understand that this is not the job of the laity, and that the time for such action was long past, and that heretical once-bishops are not going to be the key to any “restoration,” anyway. Looking back, I’m glad that such a thing was not attempted, because if these bishops had accepted the apostasy, they would no longer have any authority to do anything, and we wouldn’t *want* them to play a role in this. I was born and raised in the NO, so spent the first two decades of my life bending my knee to that trash, which is bad enough. But who could imagine the Church being restored by bishops who, in the prime of their lives and with all of their training, had still spent 20, 30, 40, 50 years accepting and living with and spreading error and apostasy? It just doesn’t make sense. Nor does it make sense to have anything to do with these men at all.
And all of that said, I still wonder if it’s even possible that any bishops who had been consecrated during the reign of Pius XII are still living. I suppose that they really are all gone, but do we know this for certain? Have all of them passed? Certainly among the apostates and heretics, they have — I think the oldest “bishops” in the NO church were “consecrated” in the 1960s. And if a bishop, recognizing what was happening during the time of J23, had done what had to be done — well, that time is long past. So where else could one be? I don’t believe there are “hidden” bishops out there, like the old talk about there being some behind the Iron Curtain. Maybe at one time, but now? I’ll believe that as much as I’ll believe there is a “hidden” pope somewhere.
Anyway, I deeply appreciate your work. Our perseverance is going to be everything.
Only those bishops approved for consecration by Pope Pius XII were valid bishops. After Oct. 9, 1958, they were not validly consecrated. In his Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis, Pope Pius XII infallibly decrees that if anyone attempts to exercise the jurisdiction of the papacy during an interregnum, even a cardinal, the act is null, void and invalid. “We declare invalid and void any power or jurisdiction pertaining to the Roman Pontiff in his lifetime, which the assembly of Cardinals might decide to exercise (while the Church is without a Pope).” The actual rite of episcopal consecration states that no one can proceed to consecrate without the papal mandate, and this condition applies during the reign of an existing pontiff. ALL the bishops appointed by Pope Pius XII are now deceased as can be seen from this link: https://en.everybodywiki.com/List_of_oldest_living_Catholic_bishops_and_cardinals
The following ancient decree issued by Pope St. Leo I, the Great, proves that from the earliest times, the Church refused to recognize those ordained by bishops who were ordained without the approval of a bishop in communion with the Roman Pontiff. The Catholic Encyclopedia says of Pope St. Leo I: “[Pope St. Leo I, the Great] died 10 November, 461. Leo’s pontificate, next to that of St. Gregory I, is the most significant and important in Christian antiquity.” Pope St. Leo the Great is quoted below, and the author quoting him notes that other popes, not just Pope St. Leo I, taught as he did.
“To Anastasius of Thessalonica, apostolic vicar in Illyria, the pontiff Saint Leo the Great told him: «Let no bishop be ordained in those churches without your approval: in this way he will take care, to make the choice with maturity, knowing that they have to pass your examination. The metropolitan who, disregarding our mandates, will be ordained without your notice, let him know that WE WILL NOT CONSIDER HIS ORDINATION AS VALID; and he will be responsible before us for the USURPATION HE PRESUMED TO MAKE OF THE HOLY MINISTRY…». Pope Saint Zosimus explained himself in almost the same terms when he created Protoclus of Arles his vicar in France: Similar were the phrases with which Gregory II delegated the power to institute archbishops and bishops to the evangelical workers he sent to Bavaria, France and Germany (74)” (The rights of the Church vindicated against the attacks of Dr. D.F. de P.G. Vigil. by Reverend Fray Pedro Gual, Vol.3, p. 202).
Pope Pius VI wrote in Charitas: “For the right of ordaining bishops belongs only to the Apostolic See, as the Council of Trent declares; it cannot be assumed by any bishop or metropolitan without obliging Us to declare as both schismatic both those who ordain and those who are ordained thus invalidating their future actions” (see Can. 2265 §1 [2-3]).
Pope Pius IX, Etsi multa:
“No one can be considered a bishop who is not linked in communion of faith and love with Peter, upon whom is built the Church of Christ; who does not adhere to the supreme Pastor to whom the sheep of Christ are committed to be pastured; and who is not bound to the confirmer of fraternity which is in the world.”
You are right; the time to remedy this situation has long since passed. We have only to endure the inevitable consequences of a protracted interregnum — the reign of the Wild Beast and triumph of his system.
Here are two excerpts from Satis Cognitum (Leo XIII):
“But since the successor of Peter is one, and those of the Apostles are many, it is necessary to examine into the relations which exist between him and them according to the divine constitution of the Church. Above all things the need of union between the bishops and the successors of Peter is clear and undeniable. This bond once broken, Christians would be separated and scattered, and would in no wise form one body and one flock. “The safety of the Church depends on the dignity of the chief priest, to whom if an extraordinary and supreme power is not given, there are as many schisms to be expected in the Church as there are priests” (S. Hieronymus, Dialog, contra Luciferianos, n. 9).”
“Bishops Separated from Peter and His Successors, Lose All Jurisdiction
15. From this it must be clearly understood that Bishops are deprived of the right and power of ruling, if they deliberately secede from Peter and his successors; because, by this secession, they are separated from the foundation on which the whole edifice must rest. They are therefore outside the edifice itself; and for this very reason they are separated from the fold, whose leader is the Chief Pastor; they are exiled from the Kingdom, the keys of which were given by Christ to Peter alone.”
Some of the other sections of this document discuss:
Human Cooperation; The Church Always Visible; Unity in Faith; The Kind of Unity in Faith Commanded, The Magisterium of the Church to be Perpetual; Every Revealed Truth, Without Exception, Must Be Accepted; The Supreme Authority Founded by Christ; The Universal Jurisdiction of St Peter, etc.
There is no other conclusion that can be made other than what has been made in this article/on this website. It certainly causes us great concern to read the sections in Satis Cognitum regarding the “Perpetual and Visible Magisterium”, but the passages of this document, given to us from a true Pope, describe perfectly the situation in the “Church” today. As much as we feel disturbed we must face the times we are in. I find it very ironic in the Vatican 2 Church, the 33-34 weeks of so called, “Ordinary Time”:
https://www.learnreligions.com/ordinary-time-in-the-catholic-church-542442
I think it is still worthwhile to read and keep abreast with what is going on in the NO Church, with what their “popes” taught/teach, because many answers to our questions lie hidden there. Clearly, there is nothing “ORDINARY” in the fact that the entire Church calendar and cycle of the Church was completely disrupted!, Faith destroyed, children molested, pews emptied, etc. It is very “in your face” the way these “popes” of the NO Church have acted, and what they have changed and disregarded. In that sense, the “Church” appeared to be still visible, because Satan, in his craftiness made it appear that it did by using the vestiges of the True Church. Because he is the counterfeit and “Ape” of God:
“[Satan] will set up a counterchurch which will be the ape of the [Catholic] Church. . . . It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content.”
“In the midst of all his seeming love for humanity and his glib talk of freedom and equality, he will have one great secret which he will tell to no one: he will not believe in God. Because his religion will be brotherhood without the fatherhood of God, he will deceive even the elect. He will set up a counterchurch which will be the ape of the Church, because he, the Devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the Antichrist that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. . . .”
Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
Again, from Satis Cognitum, under the heading: “The Church a Divine Society”
“From this it is easy to see that men can fall away from the unity of the Church by schism, as well as by heresy. “We think that this difference exists between heresy and schism” (writes St. Jerome): “heresy has no perfect dogmatic teaching, whereas schism, through some Episcopal dissent, also separates from the Church” (S. Hieronymus, Comment. in Epist. ad Titum, cap. iii., v. 10-11). In which judgment St. John Chrysostom concurs: “I say and protest (he writes) that it is as wrong to divide the Church as to fall into heresy” (Hom. xi., in Epist. ad Ephes., n. 5). Wherefore as no heresy can ever be justifiable, so in like manner there can be no justification for schism. “There is nothing more grievous than the sacrilege of schism….there can be no just necessity for destroying the unity of the Church” (S. Augustinus, Contra Epistolam Parmeniani, lib. ii., cap. ii., n. 25).”
“For I say to you, that this that is written must yet be fulfilled in me: And with the wicked was he reckoned. For the things concerning me have an end.” St Luke 22:37
“For in those days shall be such tribulations, as were not from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, neither shall be. And unless the Lord had shorted the days, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect which he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.” St Mark 13:19-20
Doesn’t sound like “ordinary time” to me!
Dear Josie,
Thank you for the additional quotes from Satis Cognitum — your comments are always much appreciated.
While I do think it is necessary to be aware of the errors of the Novus Ordo, having once recognized and rejected these errors I do not think it wise to continually keep abreast of all that they say or do, as it is time much better spent in prayer and study of the truth.
The Church did not keep a running list of the errors of the Anglicans, or the Lutherans once they separated from Her; these were condemned at the Council of Trent and by subsequent popes, especially Pope Pius IX in his Syllabus, the Vatican Council and Pope St. Pius X against the Modernists. The Novus Ordo and Traditionalists only repeat these errors and the errors of the Orthodox and Old Catholic schismatics.
If those early Trad writers busy keeping tabs on the usurpers, in their letters and publications, had spent that time instead educating the faithful regarding the teachings of the Popes and ecumenical councils, the necessity of the papacy and the invalidity of Trad pseudo-clergy, we would not have the mass apostasy we see today.
When we peer into the abyss that is the Novus Ordo, too, we always run the risk that the demons in that abyss will somehow draw us over the edge. Let us instead simply acknowledge they lost the faith long ago and continue to faithfully follow what they readily abandoned.
You are right, Teresa, and I agree. I have a loved one (in my household) getting more and more involved in the NO. I believe it is my responsibility to bring awareness of what he is involved in, because otherwise he doesn’t worry at all about it. I certainly keep my research minimal, just enough to hopefully spark some interest for him to look into things for himself. I left 7 years ago, and I keep praying and hoping he will come out to.
Ah, now I see what you are doing. You have to keep up with the garbage to refute it one on one. Gotcha.
Just be careful and wishing you all the best!
Well, there’s no getting around it, then. These facts and others absolutely show it, prove it, and _Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis_ is the final authority; Rome has spoken. And it did so at a pertinent time — it can’t be a coincidence at all that these things came from Pope Pius XII on the eve of the apostasy.
And now, the bishops are gone. The hierarchy is dissolved. The Church is alive, but eclipsed, without pastors, a scattered flock, longsuffering and lost, with bare ruined choirs universally throughout man’s world — a plain, wretched barrenness unimaginable in any day since the formation of the Church, and probably the true unspeakable horror of Fatima’s Secret. The lamps are out.
Even so, I sit in this darkness hardly without hope. There is a reason for all of this and a reason we are all here at this time. But obviously, Traditionalism is an error, not the answer, not Catholic, a trap. By God’s graces I never fell one second for the Lefebvrites or the Thucists, but even the game of looking for “real” priests, ordained back before the dissolution of the hierarchy and somehow still practicing, is not an answer that holds. It certainly never could have been a long-term solution, and its time is also irrefutably up. The idea of an “independent” chapel or an “independent” wandering priest is ridiculous, anyway, and has no equivalent that I have ever found in the history of the Church.
And even if it ever was good for anything, finding a priest to talk to in this mess, it’s almost selfish now — hunting high and low for a man pushing 100 years old to offer a Sunday liturgy for a “private” chapel of a handful of faithful is almost cruel at this point, and the energy and means necessary to maintain these operations with ailing elderly men should certainly be spent doing other things to aid the suffering Church. And there can’t be any “miraculous” cases of younger men ordained “traditionally” by younger bishops, no.
I remember first reading about this trap in Barbara Linaburg’s _Authentic Illusions_, and then in Hutton Gibson’s _The Authority and Jurisdiction of Society of St Pius X_. No matter how “traditional” the rite, if these men were not sent by Christ’s Vicar on Earth, then they were sent by Someone Else. Who sent them? No one we’d want to know. As Gibson writes, these men may quite possibly be priests — but even if they are, they surely aren’t CATHOLIC priests, sent by the Catholic Church.
They say that during the radical changes in the 60s that thousands upon thousands of clerics left the Church. The seminaries and monasteries were emptied out. This is significant in at least two ways: first, many these were probably genuine priests and nuns and monks and seminarians who naturally felt repugnance and alienation from John 23’s satanic organization; and two, many others were probably infiltrators who saw that their job was done. I don’t know if any bishops abandoned their Sees — I’d never heard of that — but again, looking for someone to act now is over a half century too late, and they are all gone, anyway.
I’m not a canonist or theologian and for as much as I know about all of this, I realize that at heart this all remains a great mystery to me, and that I don’t know what’s to come, but I’m watching and wondering, praying and thinking. I am the opposite of hopeless.
Christ was the greatest Speaker of all time. Why did He not just say, “I will be with you all days”? But no, He felt it necessary to qualify this, to add, “even to the consummation of the world.” The “even” is chilling when I think about our predicament. It appears that we are in that “even,” we are living through the the reason for that statement.
Josie, great quotes from our great Holy Father, and nice observation about the so-called “ordinary” time. I have noticed this type of twisted deception and wordtrickery in the NO apparatus often, as well as seeing it in operation in many of the wicked practices and happenings of our day. For instance the big “January 6” ruckus in the United States. I generally do not follow politics at all, but I find it an affront and highly offensive that this wonderful day has become so clouded now, that the very number of the day — January 6 — is a number and a date that is supposed to stir up negative feelings no matter what slot in the political spectrum you sit in, when in fact January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord, should be (and is) a hallowed and wonderful day.
A happy fourth Sunday of Lent to all. May God guide us and give great glory to the everlasting Church.
Wow… the “even.” That is exactly where we are at. And where this goes from here no one knows but it is not to a good place. Spoke to a man recently who said he had heard that the operation they now have in place to bankrupt us all is secretly called “Crucify.” And how fitting it is implemented during Lent! We are reliving Christ’s Passion — can we expect any less??
I keep hearing the verse in Mark 13:26-27: “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds, with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.” I think we all long for that time…
Just a thank you to Josie for her very informative input. And also to “M” for the excellent synopsis in your recent remarks made. So many points you covered so well. Appreciate the assistance in keeping our Catholic sense intact during these days of the great apostasy we are in. May God have mercy on us all. ” From all dangers, deliver us, O Lord” –Raccolta- …Mr Joseph Mecca
Ditto, Joseph. Thanks for commenting!
“Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. For certain men are secretly entered in, (who were written of long ago unto this judgement,) ungodly men, turning the grace of our Lord God into riotousness, and denying the only sovereign Ruler, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:3-4
“But these men blaspheme whatever things they know not: and what things soever they naturally know, like dumb beasts, in these they are corrupted. Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain: and after the error of Balaam they have for reward poured out themselves, and have perished in the contradiction of Core.” Jude 1:10-11 (Haydock notes: “Gone in the way, &c. Heretics follow the way of Cain, by murdering the souls of their brethren: the way of Balaam, by putting a scandal before the people of God, for their own private ends; and the way of Core or Korah, by their opposition to the church governors of divine appointment.”)
“But you, my dearly beloved, be mindful of the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who told you, that in the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their own desires in ungodlinesses. These are they, who separate themselves, sensual men, having not the Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto life everlasting.” Jude 1:17-21 (Haydock notes vs. 17: “But you, my dearly beloved, be mindful, &c. He now exhorts the faithful to remain steadfast in the belief and practice of what they had heard from the apostles, who had also foretold that in aftertimes (lit. in the last time) there should be false teachers, scoffing and ridiculing all revealed truths, abandoning themselves to their passions and lusts; who separate themselves from the Catholic communion by heresies and schisms.”)
“But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?” St Luke 18:8 “I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.” St Jude 1:3 Seems to me we should be leaning pretty heavy on St Jude’s intercession right about now!
“St Jude is the Patron Saint of Hope and impossible causes.”