Wednesday 30 November 2016

The Papal Privilege and Erroneous Messages


One can't help noticing...

From various sources it was reported that the responses to the Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia were as follows:

Australian Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, who attended the 2015 Synod of Bishops on the family, said the document “is full of contemplative vistas but also down-to-earth practical wisdom which could come only from long pastoral experience of spouses and their families. It moves constantly between the ideal and the real.”
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin called Amoris Laetitia an “encyclopedic document and, like all encyclopedic documents, much of its most valuable content runs the risk of being bypassed by a preoccupation with one or two of its aspects. It is not just a collection of separated chapters,” Archbishop Martin said in a statement. “There is a unifying thread: The Gospel of the family is challenging and demanding, but … with the grace of God and his mercy, is attainable and fulfilling, enriching and worthwhile.”
Bishop Richard J. Malone said the exhortation invites the Church to heal wounds that families experience because of poverty, human trafficking, immigration, domestic violence and pornography. We also have room to grow and improve and we welcome the Pope’s encouragement for the renewed witness to the truth and beauty of marriage of a more tender closeness and families who are experiencing real difficulties.”

These three prelates are among the others who have condemned perceived errors within the Maria Divine Mercy messages. The Church deserves consistency from Her prelates. It is widely reported that the messages contained within Maria Divine Mercy contain errors which could confuse the faithful and lead the Faithful astray.

In Bishop Andreas Laun, auxiliary bishop of Salzburg, we at least have some consistency in as much as he added his name to a statement signed by other bishops and cardinals defending the Magisterium of the Catholic Church on the Sacraments. Quite possibly, there are other prelates who have defended the Magisterium but who, listed here, condemned Maria Divine Mercy's messages prophesying apostasy, schism and an all out war on Catholic Truth and those who uphold it from the Pope and members of the Hierarchy. Since that signature, however, even this Bishop has fallen silent. Perhaps now he will speak in support of the four Cardinals who seek clarification from the Pope? Right now, every bishop matters! These four Cardinals deserve support because they are acting in the service of Christ and His Church.

Unfortunately, members of the Sacred Hierarchy are making Maria Divine Mercy's prophecies look pretty good and attractive as a navigational tool and spiritual support during this apocalyptic crisis in the Church. The intrinsic power of the MDM messages is not that the messages are believable. It is that the messages were unbelievable but that events make them appear credible, one recent example being the messages that 'many will be stripped of their titles'. Do the Pope and those who offer him advice really wish to fulfill these strange messages and give them credibility? I've always maintained that the greatest promoters of the MDM messages are the Pope and the Hierarchy who at many and varied times confirm the basic premises of these messages by their actions and words.

So on MDM the three prelates listed above acted as follows:

Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, issued a statement condemning Maria Divine Mercy stating that her messages have 'no ecclesiastical approval and many of the texts are in contradiction with Catholic Theology'. His condemnation is binding for the whole Church since he is the Ordinary of the 'seer'.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane upon examination has found the messages to be fraudulent and corrosive of the Christian faith.

Bishop Richard. J. Malone, apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Portland has issued a letter forbidding dissemination of MDM messages in the Diocese.

Of course, two wrongs do not make a right, but it seems just a little unjust to permit error to flourish without any reproach in a papal document while condemning error in the messages of a lay person. The whole Church deserves consistency and Truth. The papal privilege is not the privilege to spread error without censure or at least requests for clarification from the competent authority. If the competent authority is equipped enough to condemn error when it is perceived in the messages of members of the laity, then it, too, is competent and equipped enough to condemn or at least raise questions over errors perceived in the messages - especially Exhortations - of a Pope.

Unfortunately, instead of raising questions, these prelates have publicly lauded the papal document that is much more divisive and more damaging to the unity of the Church than those promoted by the MDM crowd. This document is that which is being forced upon the Faithful with full ecclesiastical approval, containing errors and suggestions which meet the descriptions of 'corrosive of the Christian faith' issued by Archbishop Mark Coleridge or the description, 'in contradiction with Catholic Theology', issued by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. While the competent authority to judge MDM has no qualms with condemning those messages out right in the strongest possible terms, instead of applying the same just criteria to the Exhortation, they have done the opposite and publicly praised it. They must be consistent!

The Exhortation of desolation: Free from error?

If the Truth, divine truth, the Deposit of Faith is not safeguarded, proclaimed and defended by the Pope supported by the Sacred Hierarchy of the Holy Catholic Church, it is a scandal to the Faithful. If the Faithful are not fed Truth by the Sacred Hierarchy and if error is allowed to flourish within the highest ranks of the Hierarchy then can such men really be surprised if Catholics go looking for Truth to be fed by visionaries be they true or false, because at least, in terms of teaching people the most basic truths about sin, salvation and the Sacraments, these people have something substantial to offer? At least these people actually preach a messages which positively believes in the supernatural, not a merely humanistic philosophy like that emanating from Rome. Yes, be they true prophets or false prophets, the greatest recruiters for self-proclaimed prophets are not the prophets and visionaries themselves, but those who fawn over Papal documents containing serious errors and scandalous assertions concerning faith and morals, laud them and then recommend them to the Faithful and who then say nothing in defense of the just when the few just men say that serious errors are contained therein.



In order for the message of the Gospel to be credible, error must be opposed and challenged, whether it comes from the laity, or comes from the Pope himself, perhaps with the due deference with which that Office demands, but nevertheless, opposed. The Pope himself is not served by obsequious prelates who overlook elements within his documents which could cause the little ones to stumble. Are such men working in the service of the Truth Himself if they do not speak up? The most controversial element of the MDM messages is that Pope Francis is the False Prophet of Revelation working within the Church to dismantle it and create a new One World Religion which forgets Jesus Christ and condones sin. If the Pope and Cardinals and Bishops want to lay those messages to rest, they have the power to do just that. They can turn around, repent, stop working towards the destruction of Christian morals and worship and serve God instead of promoting error and condoning or excusing sin in the service of God's chief adversary. Quite frankly, just condemning MDM seems a little pointless, if you're content to just go ahead and fulfill the general content of the messages yourself regardless. I assume that having condemned these apocalyptic messages, these prelates have actually read them?

Such behaviour only serves to break down trust in the Sacred Hierarchy only for that trust to go towards others who have not been appointed as Shepherds of the Faithful, but who are deemed by those faithful trustworthy enough to feed them, lest they starve to death in a spiritual wasteland! It costs the ecclesiastical careers of prelates nothing to condemn error when it is perceived in the work of a member of the laity. That is easy pickings indeed. In terms of prestige, title, ecclesiastical career, rank, status, privilege, it may cost the four Cardinals everything, if not their lives to bring to the Faithful's attention errors contained within Amoris Laetitia on which they only seek clarity. Canon law allows them to do what they have done. Justice demands that what they have done is not belittled or condemned, since they act in good faith. Their motives are not sinister nor should they be presumed as such without firm, concrete evidence. They simply ask Pope Francis to clarify that which appears at odds with the perennial faith within his own document. It is no threat to the Supreme Pontiff's authority for them to do that. Simply answering the dubia will put many minds at rest and confirm his brethren in that faith which he has received to be defended and proclaimed.

May Bishops and Cardinals be bold and come forward in defense of the One True Faith and those remaining Cardinals and Bishops who are brave enough to defend it when it seems to be at risk of violation by the Successor of St Peter.

13 comments:

Left-footer said...

Yes indeed. Thank you, and God bless!

c matt said...

Pope Francis is the False Prophet of Revelation working within the Church to dismantle it and create a new One World Religion which forgets Jesus Christ and condones sin.

Maybe MDM is simply a matter of a stopped clock being right twice a day.

Unknown said...

Excellent piece, the best I've seen since Francis has published the exhortation. You make an excellent point about these so called servants of God who condemn the Messages on the one hand, but on the other accept the error in AL without question. And if Francis does indeed strip them of their titles, the messages appear more and more to contain Truth. Remember what Gamiel said of the "new" Christianity movement back in the first century, "If God is behind it it will succeed; if not it will fall apart on its own..". Thus far it appears that the clock has begun ticking...

Mark Thomas said...

We have to trust God who, in turn, has built His True Church, upon Saint Peter. God has blessed us with His great gift, the Papacy.

We have to have confidence in God's Truth, as expressed in the ancient Creed of Pope Saint Hormisdas, which the Church has expressed in Her solemn documents.

"In the Apostolic See the Catholic Religion has always been preserved immaculate." — From the Formula (Creed) of Pope Saint Hormisdas, 529 A.D.

We have to have confidence in the fact that one Cardinal and bishop after another has declared that Amoris Laetitia is orthodox.

The following is just a short list of holy bishops who have declared that Amoris Laetitia is a beautiful, orthodox Apostolic Exhortation:

The holy bishops of Poland, Alberta (Canada), Costa Rica, Cardinal Sarah, Cardinal Müller, Archbishop Chaput, Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop Cordelione, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, England...on and on the list goes.

As Jesus Christ teaches, when we hear Pope Francis' voice, we hear Jesus Christ's voice. Jesus has authorized Pope Francis (as well as bishops in communion with the Pope) to teach, govern, and sanctify the Holy People of God.

Let us remain attached to the Vicar of Christ, Pope Francis, as well as the Blessed Virgin Mary, and, for those of us in the Western Church, the Traditional Latin Mass (or any authorized liturgy of one's preference).

(I prefer the TLM.)

As long as we remain attached to the Roman Pontiff, Pope Francis, we will not fall into schism and heresy.

Pax.

Mark Thomas

Deacon Augustine said...

@ Mark Thomas. I don't know if I've lost my sense of humour or not, but is that list of bishops meant to be sarcastic?

Barbara Jensen said...

You bring up a very good point, Bones, with your reference to Maria Divine Mercy. Not only have the heretical-approving prelates of Amoris Laetitia, whom you mentioned, dismissed her with their condemnations, they have not told us in specifics what exactly is heretical in her works. I do not want to hear from any layman who already 'knows' that she is false. I want to hear from the prelates who condemned her exactly and specifically what is erroneous in her messages. I am not talking about accuracy of predictions for that is inevitable with mystical phenomena. God does not have to conform to our literal interpretations and expectations. However, this inability to be specific regarding MDM is the same cancerous root in Amoris Laetitia. Ambiguity is the common characteristic of those who affirm Bergoglio while he handily trashes the Church. How well did MDM predict what is happening right before our eyes. Thanks for focusing the light on this.

Nic said...

Deacon Augustine, just read your comment, after I said the same thing about this gentleman on the post below. It is a very strange mode of expression to refer "The holy bishops of...".

Mark Thomas said...

Deacon Augustine, what is your bishop's stance on Amoris Laetitia?

My bishop declared that Amoris Laetitia is orthodox. My bishop is in communion with the Vicar of Christ, His Holiness Pope Francis. In turn, as my bishop possesses God-given authority to teach, govern and sanctify me, I accept my bishop's authoritative declaration on Amoris Laetitia.

God's holy Magisterium is beautiful. God has authorized Pope Francis and the bishops in communion with him to teach, govern, and sanctify the Holy People of God. Therefore, as long as we remain attached to the God's Magisterium, we will be safe from schism and heresy as we will be feed God's Truth.

Peace be with you, Deacon Augustine.

Pax.

Mark Thomas


Please pray for our imprisoned sister (as well as her family) in Jesus Christ, Asia Bibi.

Anonymous said...

A Pope can be a God's gift, can be a punishment, or God can tolerate him.....at your choice, the second is mine.

Deusaderit said...

Hmmmm. I have never seen a 'pastoral advisory' a a comment posted in a corner of a diocesan website be an official magesterial condemnation, unless there has been a thorough and lengthy clerical review of the seer and his messages. Which ALWAYS takes years. Fatima took over 30 years and there was a cosmic-level miracle that 70,000 people saw!
Besides, I can't say I could ever be much of a fan of the brand of "orthodox" teachings that Diarmuid Martin propounds when he states his opinions that 'hell does not exist' and various other of his heretical meanderings such as this. Thank goodness I do not live in Dublin. (BTW ... how does anyone know where this women lives? It is a mere assumption that she is in Dublin, thus Martins comments could be simply another 'opinion'.)

So, while withholding any judgement on this or any other seer, I must say that so far, from those I have read, these messages have been pretty much spot on - especially since the abrupt 'resignation' of Pope BenedictXVI. Most of the Catholic orthodox world has been calling out in astonishment and dismay each confusing, double-speak statements and heretical actions of this man. My question is: Has anyone else been following the extremely strange behavior in this bizarre papacy? Celebrating in person the Protestant Revolution! The Masonic lodges celebrating his election! Man of the year for the flagship Gay magazine, the Blade! Etc etc.

So- does no one else read what shenanigans went on before the election of this Francis? Here is an sample: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-danneels-admits-being-part-of-clerical-mafia-that-plotted-francis.

This bothers many of us deeply .... and if Daneels' revelations are true, (& no one appears to want to deny it) then Bergoglio's is NOT a canonical election. Remnant newspaper, One Peter Five, Lifesite News, etc. (-this just mentioning a few) have all blogged on his unhinged actions for quite a while now.

Sorry folks, but MDM /False Prophet Bergoglio predictions notwithstanding, many are watching in absolute horror day-by-day as this 'pope' and his Masonic buddies dismantle our beloved Church.

Mary Kay said...

I want to address Mark Thomas, that in these confusing times (or any other) we must go back to the basics. What was said in the 10 Commandments? What did Our Lord say in regard to those commandments? If anyone is arguing in opposition to them, that person has put himself in a position of needing to defend himself, even if he is in the highest human office. Can he defend his position? That is the question put forth by the four cardinals. Please don't disregard their honest question.

Mark Thomas said...

Mary Kay, in "these confusing times (or any other)," the One True Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church teaches the following: We must remain attached to the Vicar of Christ.

Jesus Christ teaches that he who hears the Roman Pontiff hears Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As long as we do that, we will not fall into schism/heresy.

The Catholic Church teaches that we must remain attached to the Pope, as he has received from God full and supreme power to teach, govern, and sanctify us.

The First Vatican Council teaches the following:

"And it was to Peter alone that Jesus, after his resurrection, confided the jurisdiction of Supreme Pastor and ruler of his whole fold, saying: "Feed my lambs, feed my sheep".

"For this reason it has always been necessary "for every Church — that is to say the faithful throughout the world — to be in agreement with [the Roman Church] because of its pre-eminent authority."

"In the Apostolic See the Catholic Religion has always been preserved immaculate."
===================================================================================

Therefore, Mary Kay, as long as we submit to God's Teaching Authority, God's Magisterium — that is, His Holiness Pope Francis and bishops in communion with Pope Francis — then we will receive God's Truth.

Mary Kay, the One True Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church assures us that that is true.

Pax.

Mark Thomas

DonnaLiane said...

If the stopped clock is right only twice a day, have you read the contents? More like second to minute frighteningly accurate. The same cardinals passing judgement support abberant homosexual. behaviour. Qualified to discern the truth but willing? Well...

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