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Dear Bishops:
We trusted you. We served at your parishes and sat on your committees. We answered your appeals for money. We defended you, even when it was difficult. We said nothing when you felt the need to adopt virtually all of the secular social justice issues of the day, issuing statements about temporal matters outside of your divine mandate, while ignoring far greater issues of eternal life and death, for which you are responsible.
We stood by you when you allowed liturgical laxity and innovation. We believed you when you said the casual, congregation-centered Masses were just as reverent as the Traditional Latin Masses. We accepted your decisions even when the only disciplinary measures you employed were against orthodox priests. We made excuses for you thinking you were so busy overseeing your bureaucracy and attending meetings that you had no time to teach, sanctify or govern.
Lack of Remorse
We even turned the other way when rumors of scandal were whispered about, unwilling to believe them. Then after widespread scandals you participated in or allowed to continue through your silence, there was no repentance, no transparency, no resignations, no purification.
Your collective dishonesty and unwillingness to root out homosexuals, the morally compromised, the pampered, and those who do not believe in the supernatural, have pushed even your biggest supporters to never again be fooled by your lies and hypocrisy.
You are hiding behind lawyers and insurance companies, protecting your dwindling assets that we and our ancestors paid for. Yet even bankruptcy is no excuse for not doing what is right.
We no longer trust you because the dioceses and parishes are run by the same people who were directly involved in the clerical conspiracy of silence. In nearly three years since the McCarrick scandal, which was not an isolated event, you have not cleaned house, nor demonstrated any appetite to deal with the structural secrecy and systemic sodomy within your ranks, while calling out the so-called structural and systemic sins out in the world.
Sadly, too many of your brother bishops have become mere managers, relying on fallen human wisdom and human solutions, rather than tapping into the supernatural power of the office of Bishop and the infinite grace-giving weapons to which you have been entrusted.
When we finally begged you, in the face of a pandemic, to keep our Churches open and the sacraments safe and available, you shamefully shut off the spigot of divine graces, agreeing with the government, not God, that the Church is non-essential.
Your attempts to curry favor with the left who seek to remake you in their image is not merely short-sighted, but suicidal. In doing so, you’ve entirely lost the center to the right of a deeply divided Church who are the most faithful and engaged Catholics, who actually go to Mass, and who would have been your most ardent supporters, as they always have been. Now, our trust is not in you but in God alone.
Our Hope is in God
Put not your trust in princes: In the children of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish. Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God (Psalm 146:2-5).
Many are learning the faith for themselves, often for the first time, because you didn’t do your job in the first place to catechize and pass on the faith. We, who take no oath of loyalty to you, are obedient to the true, timeless teachings of the Church, not your modernist interpretations and secular social justice slant.
We don’t have to put up with a watered-down brand of “catholicism” anymore, for we can seek out and support the holy, joyful, orthodox pockets of the faith. If enough of us attend and encourage reverent liturgies, these parishes will flourish while the ad-libbing, no kneeling parishes will die on the vine.
We see this pattern with the rapid rise of vibrant, orthodox religious orders centered on the Eucharist, in comparison to those older orders who jettisoned their habits, along with their belief in Jesus, are rapidly becoming extinct.
Besides, in times when the Bride of Christ is so weakened, we need the supernatural big guns which are reverent and awe-inspiring Masses, well-understood, well-celebrated, and with at least some of the sacred language reserved for God. Aside from a much-needed increased supernatural power, parishes, priests and even the bishops will take notice as these flourishing orthodox parishes become authentic Catholic communities, beacons of hope, and emblems of the Catholic resistance.
Being counter-cultural is not enough – we must, at times, even be counter to the bureaucratic Church. This means we must think, speak, pray and act according to the established rituals, traditions, and teachings of our Catholic Faith, not according to the irrational and immoral politically correct mantras of the age, some of which subsist within the Church.
We should encourage the good parishes and orthodox priests while avoiding the bad parishes. We must demand transparency, honesty, fidelity, courage, holiness, and if they refuse, we as children of the light must shine a disinfecting spotlight on what they prefer to remain in the darkness.
We must engage in what C.S. Lewis called for, a “great campaign of sabotage” against the cowardly and compromised clerics who have caused this Great Apostasy and continue to preside over the decline of the Church with an indifferent, hopeless, hospice mentality.
A Campaign of Sabotage
This strategy begins with prayer, followed by awareness and resistance in accordance with the will of God. This also means calling you and your brother bishops to be faithful to Christ and reminding you of the eternal consequences of your failure to do so. It means praising you when you do the right thing and letting you and others know when you fail to do so, in accordance with Canon 212:
In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they possess, they have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to other Christian faithful, with due regard for the integrity of faith and morals and reverence toward their pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons.
This must, of course, be accomplished first by charitably and respectfully informing the Bishop, followed by non-scandalous modern means of communications with the faithful.
It means supporting solid religious ministries and organizations, while avoiding those who have abandoned the faith and Christ, letting them know why they don’t deserve our support. It may even mean to refuse to obey the bishop’s compromises with the world.
Such sabotage could even involve the purchasing of closed parishes and staffing them with solid, sidelined, or retired priests. It could mean gathering an army of warriors who pray at your chanceries and residences, attending your meetings and ceremonies not to intimidate, but to peacefully pray, to encourage, and to let you know there are thousands more out there who will not simply sit back and accept this disastrous course.
If you won’t be the courageous guardians of the Body of Christ you were ordained to be, then we will. If you refuse to be the generals we need in this spiritual and material battle for souls, then step aside and let someone, who believes in the supernatural, and is willing to assemble an army of the entire Church Militant, utilizing all of the spiritual weapons in the Church’s arsenal, take over.
If you fail to do the one job you have been given by Christ because you fear the social and mainstream media and the loss of your popularity, then we will be the faithful, outspoken, happy warriors to encourage you and hold you to account when no one else will. We will be the united voice of tradition and sacred order amidst the heterodoxy and chaos, the powerful right flank of the Church, and the pillars of iron to stand firm when you get wobbly. This assembled army of orthodoxy and charity will no longer be dismissed and demonized by you as disorganized dissenters or random, right-wing, rad-trads.
We will stand up to these secular forces, having your back if and when you decide to join in the fight. If you are merely motivated by fear, not righteousness, then maybe you will fear us more than you fear the spirit of the age. If you are motivated by perishable things such as wealth, prestige, or comfort, these can and likely will be taken away, and you may soon experience poverty, disgrace, and discomfort.
You have clearly demonstrated that you can’t or won’t clean up your own mess. Though there are some holy bishops and many solid priests there is no comprehensive plan or even an appetite to address the widespread evil which subsists within your hierarchy. Since you’ve proven, time and again, you can’t police yourselves, then the laity must. The good priests and bishops will likely appreciate the cover and gladly welcome such a unified effort to turn over the tables they desperately wish they could. These holy and courageous clerics can even be an integral part of this necessary purification and renewal, along with other lay diocesan or parish employees who have access to the dark and dirty secrets the Church still insists on hiding.
With the anonymous reporting provisions, whistleblower protection, and the hidden help of those loyal to God not men, you and your brother bishops will finally be forced to address this ongoing evil, to repent, to show contrition, to call for prayer and sacrifice, to be transparent, to remove bad actors, and even to resign if need be. The Church in the current clerical culture of conspiracy and concealment will only be cleansed when devout, orthodox, members of the ministerial and common priesthood team up on the side of Jesus to expose the enemies and cowards within, motivated not by career advancement or settling of scores, but for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Please understand, we are not in opposition to the Church we love; we are in opposition to the cowardly men who lead it, and the unfaithful functionaries who, by their secularism, sins, and secrecy have all but shipwrecked the Ark of Salvation. We are not just content to complain; we are committed to doing everything in our power, by prayer and sacrifice, by word and action, to restore the Kingdom of God for Christ.
We will get engaged as you have never seen before. The laity will rise up to save the Church, as Archbishop Fulton Sheen predicted and as Apostolicam Actuositatem envisioned, with all the zeal and the courage of Apostolic times. We will even teach, train, and give to the Church our sons and daughters as priests, religious, and laymen and women, to finish the job we have started, purifying the Church.
We, having been awakened from our slumber, see much more clearly and are assembling an army of devout, Catholics to answer the divine mandate, when you, and other Church leaders have abdicated yours. When your soul and mine are in eternal jeopardy, not to mention the thousands of souls who have left the Church and remain outside of a state of grace, niceties cannot control.
Prepare for a new era.
By: Unknown Centurion
56 thoughts on “Never Again! An Open Letter to our Bishops”
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SOS Anyone here remember the Morse Code SOS. I do.
Anyway, many many years ago, I was a soldier, aka foot soldier, aka grunt. At that time, for a period of time, my home was in a war zone.
One of my memories (funny now) was going to the john (shit house) or latrine (to be proper) and taking my weapon(s) with me. Yes, sitting on the toilet with a rifle – locked and loaded. Everyday, toilet paper (actually 80 grit sand paper) and a rifle and side arm. After awhile I would comically amuse myself wondering what was more important…
Now here comes the horror… this was burned into my memory forever..
While manning a perimeter bunker in daylight, I was watching where the enemy would be attacking from. My eyes were affixed for any moment, My ears listened carefully for the sound of any movement.
Then at about 50 or more yards out in distance, I noticed a person wearing a white shirts and black pants, walking DIRECTLY towards me..
I said, What the f***. ( ya cant trust anybody these days especially back then) I aimed my weapon, a powerful rifle with powerful ammunition.
I know he seen me. I know… But he kept on walking towards me. My eyes were scanning him for a weapon or a bomb. It was terribly hot outside.
I couldn’t see a weapon, he kept walking towards me, I yelled at him to stop, shouting in several languages. He would slow down a bit but kept walking.
I aimed my weapon at his center mass and put him center in the weapons sights and and and I couldn’t pull the trigger.
Now, The only thing between me and him is a big mound of sandbags. So I took out my handgun and warned him not too come any closer.. He understood!
I’m thinking what do I do now.. I have a prisoner!
He spoke english well. And he asked me ” what religion I was?” I told him a “a catholic”.
Well make a long story short, this young gentleman, native to the country I was in, showed me the most beautiful bible I had ever seen. It was huge in size, and filled with beautiful pictures of saints, moses, Jesus Mary etc.
I gave him my stateside address and he sent me one… I still have it today…
HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT!
Our Bishops should be like that young gentleman…
Yes. “Love God with your whole heart, your whole mind, and your whole strength,” not “get woke and follow society”.
“Never Again”? Meaning “Ah, the good old days. We will never see their like again”? Or “The followers of Jesus must get His message (teachings) to the world as it is and will be, using all the grace-filled means that He, His Father, and The Holy Spirit have given to them” i.e., Do what is truly necessary for the task.
‘Unknown Centurion’ is right on the money. Look for a similar argument, in extended form, in my book, ‘Contagious Faith,’ due out this month.
I truly appreciate the affirmation. I love your courageous and compassionate writing. I hope many will buy your book which I’m sure, like your articles, captures the prophetic sense of urgency that few, including many prelates and priests, fail to grasp, in this culture of comfort, chaos, and inverted truth.
I actually have a book coming out later this year (under this same pseudonym), with the hope that many like-minded bishops, priests and lay can gather an army to unite against a common enemy in this two-realm war for souls and the soul of the Church.
Deus Vult
I’ll look for it.
This not our church. Christ is the founder, following the revelation of God through the ages. Care for the widow, orphans and outcasts of society. Throughout history from the Patriarchs to Jesus, that has been the call of God. Let God be the Judge, and let us all face that judgement when God calls us.
There are two Great Commandments. The first one is the most important (Matthew 22:38).
Responding to AN ORDINARY PAPIST, if my comments upon hospice mentality were offensive because you have participated in “genuine” hospice care…I apologize! I stated “many” procedures, not all, can be evil. Poor phrasing on my part…. To clarify, hospice care can be conducted properly…which includes the easing any extraordinary or extreme suffering of those approaching the end of life. But, I have personally experienced such uncharitable care toward many relatives and friends. And this situation is not just recent, my wife has even went to a parish program a few years ago where a good, very knowledgeable Sister outlined and educated all who attended about common abuses. I realize that a blanket statement is incorrect but, at least where I live, and from those I have talked to in other parts of the country…there can be abuse that definitely occurs. For example, morphine is often given almost as soon as hospice care has been begun and becomes continuous, the dying person is so drugged up that there is no communicating about God, or his mercy, or to have opportunities to reflect and even ask for forgiveness to God or loved ones, much less being able to say I am thirsty or hungry. When notified hospice has been called…it is usually pretty darn quick before they pass. Why is that so consistent…at least in the majority of cases I am aware of? And, the experiences I described are by no means mine only… . So, again, if you provided proper care, I apologize! Also, my comment was initially related to the failing leadership of the Church as the original post described….and with the clarity in which it was described….stimulated my own frustrations and wounds in the Church I love so much!!
I’m sorry you have experienced what I’m sure occurs but the extent of this abuse is unknowable. I also think that you maybe blending procedures that mimic assisted suicide which is most likely a misconception. From my experience most families wait until the patient is well into transition; the average Hospice stay is a few weeks as opposed to the eligible limit which is 6 months. Yes, if someone is put on Hospice within a week or so of passing, morphine is usually started. It is up to the patient to communicate their need for relief, pain thresholds vary, those who can’t relate severity are examined and Rx’d based on obvious medical signs; organs are shutting down and pain may be understood to be ever present. One of the unmentionables for a volunteer is not to invoke God. That is
for the chaplain (part of our team) or family to undertake. Ironically, in all my time with patients we very rarely talked about dying. We celebrated their life and I can say without doubt that Hospice is I the most humbling, sacred and privileged service one can ever experience. You live in them for a while, and they, long after their passing, live in your
memory forever.
I have had the same experiences with hospice/nursing homes. Most recently, my 90 yr old aunt was found to have advanced cancer of the spine and was admitted to the hospital. I spoke with her on the phone and she said that she wasn’t in pain. She was in good spirits and perfectly coherent. Her daughter had made no arrangements for a priest to visit her so I contacted a young priest and asked him to see that she receive Last Rights. When I spoke with him later, he was puzzled by my request because my aunt seemed fine. Within a week, after being moved to a “nursing home”, my aunt was unconscious and never regained it due to “needing” morphine. She was dead shortly after my mother visited her. Her daughter apologized to my mother for the rundown appearance of the nursing home and assured her that the “care” was excellent. Draw your own conclusions- I certainly did.
Excellent letter and I note two effects of the situations mentioned therein. First, some of our clerics, by their actions and speaking, lead the faithful astray, especially those of us who are not theologians. Second, those of us who struggle to live according to traditional church teaching are becoming undeservedly self righteous because we are starting to regard ourselves at a higher level of sanctity than those who claim greater wisdom in these matters. Would that we all pray with humility for greater wisdom.
I agree with your second point. There are too many Parisienne in the church, proclaiming their righteousness and forgetting that man was not made for the Sabbath…The Catholic church has always displayed diversity from cloistered religious orders to those devoted to serving the poor. There is nothing wrong with you preferring a folk mass and I attending a Latin mass, they are both vehicle for us to receive the body and blood of Jesus. I am trying to remove the splinter from my own eye first.
Computer auto corrected Parisienne, should be Pharisees.
Thanks for the lively conversation. If I may respond to a few of the thoughtful comments.
To Donald Link:
True. There is a tendency to succumb to pride and a sense of superiority when those ordained and entrusted to catechize, and to safeguard and disseminate the merits of Christ’s sacrifice, fail to do so. It is a source of struggle which I succumb to far too often, failing to be such a “son of the light” or a happy warrior. It is likely the reason far too many practicing Catholics who believe and live in accordance with Church teaching can be too easily marginalized and demonized as prideful, negative, rad-trads virtually devoid of joy and Christian charity. The devil is the only one who benefits by these unnecessary divisions within the Church, as he turns the strengths of some (zeal, courage, obedience, reverence, etc.) into weaknesses and turns logical allies into enemies, enabling the Evil One to continue to gain ground with no united defense to oppose him. I realize that sometimes my tone may be too harsh or my message may be too unconventional, too urgent, and too unpalatable to many, yet in times such as these, we can’t keep following the same losing, everyone gets a trophy playbook. Though we cannot engage in sinful means, we do need to wake many of the episcopal overseers of our decline and demise from their self-induced spiritual slumber. In reading the Acts of the Apostles at Mass these days, as wrong as the Sanhedrin was following the resurrection, at least they tried to do something to address the loss of many of the practitioners of their faith. And when Jesus saw the corruption of His Father’s House, He didn’t care about niceties; He turned over tables, made a whip and drove them out. If Jesus had such zeal for His Father’s House, mostly over unfavorable monetary exchange rates, how much more so does He desire a purification of His Church when the corruption and cowardice is so much worse and so widespread? Notice how He didn’t just let it all go, and say well their Temple will be destroyed in 40 years anyway. Rather, He took matters into His own hands and His followers did likewise, opting to obey God over the religious leaders of Jerusalem.
To JoeJoeMcgee:
While I do agree that our universal Church has room for many different kinds of approved liturgies, and that going to a one-size fits all approach would result in a Mass Exodus we cannot afford, and could not recover from, just because all Masses are valid and confect and distribute the Body and Blood of Christ, that doesn’t mean that all Masses are equal. A puppet Mass celebrated by a glib, ad-libbing priest in clown makeup and ragged vestments is not as efficacious as a reverent Ad Orientem Mass celebrated by a holy Bishop with a thousand good Catholics fully participating. For though the merits Christ accomplished for our salvation on the Cross are infinite, their effects, as applied to us at Mass are not. Whether, how, and how often we participate at Mass which is the same saving sacrifice, is how we can make the application of Christ’s merits more complete. By our presence, participation, sanctity, reverence, understanding, and that of the celebrant determines how many or how few of the infinite merits available at every Mass are applied to souls. If more of us approach with the proper, humble, holy, awe-filled, disposition, in a state of grace and a desire to do God’s will, offering ourselves and participating in the sacred sacrifice with understanding and charity, the more graces, blessings and spiritual benefits would be applied to us and to others. Perhaps the reason why the Church is in this current condition is because the Mass, which is the source of the Church’s power (CCC 1074) is so poorly and casually celebrated, attended, participated in, and understood.
Finally, to all, and ending on a more joyful note, does anyone see the hidden humor of God in the exchange between Christopher and Pete Socks?
Christopher: “Socks are to be hung by the toes”
Pete Socks: “That doesn’t happen here”
And to think, I was feeling kinda bad about my exchange with Christopher until I saw that one.
The source of the Church’s power is the Holy Spirit. The 120 “were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1). There is no mention of the Mass.
“The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord …” – Proverbs 9:10a; and we can’t have that fear, or have it well, if we are ignorant of Scripture (what the Lord wants for us and from us all, including the clergy) because that makes us ignorant of the Lord.
Just because someone is ordained does not mean they have greater wisdom than every layperson, and that is obvious when any of them shows what their heart believes (with their words) and the fruits of their character with their actions – What the heart believes the mouth speaks and by their fruits you will know them.
We are warned in both testaments to be on guard against false teachers and the only way we can arm ourselves to do that properly is to prayerfully and faithfully live in God’s will through His Holy Word (and do so with others who do the same).
We follow God not men, like Peter told the Sanhedrin, and even he (the first Pope) wasn’t above or beyond reproach when he hypocritically didn’t practice his own teaching about the inconsequential nature of circumcision. Paul called him out on that, as any brother or sister in the family should, and Peter repented and didn’t chuck a fit about it.
Church governance applies to everyone, especially those with the most influence, and until that gets reclaimed (like it used to be in the first two centuries) we will likely continue to struggle and fail in many ways until it is. The clergy is not God, and they should never be treated as such in any way!
In Christ,
Andrew
It was extremely well thought out and written. Instead of the false “spirit” of Vatican II…it sounded like the Holy Spirit giving inspiration to the Church Militant on earth!! It contained the clarity and charitable mentality of a zealous lover of Holy Mother Church!!
One phase nailed the whole, pathetic attitude of the present and all-encompassing Eunuch Leadership Approach (ELA)….”to preside over the decline….with a HOSPICE MENTALITY”!!!!!
I cannot think of a better description…. if one is aware of the evil practices of many hospice procedures: drug them up, cut off water and nutrition, and speed their demise!! All done with a misplaced compassion and a total ignorance of the dignity of life, of the value of suffering, of purgatory, and of a selfless service for the good (both temporal and eternal) of others!!
Such an evil mentality continues to be mindlessly carried out as the Church dies evidently…. until there is no one left.
It gave me hope, it gave me inspiration!! There really is a remnant faithful today who would readily embrace these “marching orders”!!
Having spent five years as a Hospice volunteer, I couldn’t imagine a more false and unjust
portrayal for end of life care. Yet, even though you obviously know nothing about this corporeal work of mercy, even if you were my patient spouting these ugly febrile emotions, I would show the same caring love as the next soul on my rounds, about to meet their Creator
Every day, surrender to Jesus through Mary and Joseph, asking Jesus to take care of everything, then ask Mary and Joseph to guide us. They will. Who would have ever thought the way to win a war is by first surrendering?
Thanks for the kind and thoughtful comments. God be praised.
Now lets unite together and create a movement.
If I can briefly respond to both Susie and Christopher. Susie, completely agree with the De Montfort approach. He, and a few others, prophesied an end times army (Apparition of La Salette, St. Francis de Paola, etc.) a latter-day band of warrior monks consecrated to Our Lady, and centered on and inextricably connected to the Eucharist Heart of Christ . I disagree, however, in that when souls are being lost by the hundreds of thousands, we can’t afford to sit on our hands and wait. We can and must pray and fight for these souls and the true, unadulterated faith, when no one else will, trusting that God does turn His face toward His people when even a small and faithful remnant repents and seeks to do His will.
To Christopher, I disagree with your points, except perhaps as to the manner in which your grandma did the laundry – not exactly sure. I’m more concerned about the six plus Catholics who leave the Faith for every one who joins it, and the single-digit post-Covid Mass attendance, than the imaginary lost kid standing between a priest and a stranger, who just so happened to read this article. Same for the make-believe straw man who just needs “comfort” – seems to me making this a low-bar, low-risk, low reward, comfortable faith that demands little is what got us into this hopeless, hospice situation where the Body of Christ is hemorrhaging souls. We must take up our crosses, not our comfort blankets or bears. Sorry it’s not as eloquent as Philip’s response which I thought was right on.
Levate Vexillum
You create a movement alright.
Never again – until the next time. Thanks for trying though.
The best thing my cradle Catholic husband does is remind me that humans are not the real church even though ‘they’ keep telling us that.
Thanks be to God.
Christ is the Head of the Body.
He knows those who are parts of His Body even though we may not know.
These Catholic Stand Authors should spend more time spreading the Gospel, than trying to generate ratings for their website. The New York Times, Boston Globe, and the Washington Post has obviously had an influence on their writing – not Jesus. Build up, don’t tear down.
The fact is, if a child is standing on a street corner, and he has a choice of running to either a Priest or a Stranger, statistically, he would be 100 times safer by choosing the Priest. Yet, by the innuendo and suggestions of this piece, that same child will now instead run to the stranger. Or how about the guy that needs comfort, and clicks on this new-found “Catholic” website, and he reads this about “systemic sodomy”, “campaign of sabotage”…etc…etc? Hey, way to go! You (plural) just lost him – he’s now going elsewhere. You are responsible. All for what? A few more clicks? Explain that to Peter. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Dear Christopher,
Its not about pleasing man, our “neighbor” but fidelity and devotion to the fullness of the Truth rooted in the Thrice Holy God, the Blessed Trinity.
Seeking human respect at the expense of the truth never transforms anyone, let alone a congregation, a nation, and culture.
The sheep know the true shepherd and hear His voice. While these sound like platitudes, what really kills the spirit like a hefty dose of novocaine are often abused and deceptive notions about judgmentalism and divisiveness. The great apostle, St. Paul called the first chosen vicar of Christ to task for straying from Christ’s gospel and the King of Kings himself with righteous anger drove out the profane, material worldliness polluting the house of God. Be careful what you accept and swallow and consider seriously what the conciliar fathers respectfully acknowledged in Lumen Gentium as the “sensus fidelium”. Our unity is not in following errant, worldly bishops but in resolutely grounding ourselves in the fullness of the faith, the pillars being holy scripture and holy magisterial Tradition handed down faithfully for 2,000 years. Blessings of the Easter season. +++
Grandma has rules for hanging laundry:
1) The clothesline must be wiped down before hanging the laundry on it.
2) Socks are to be hung by the toes.
3) Sheets are hung on the outer edges of the lines and intimates and unmentionables in the middle.
…etc.
That doesn’t happen here. Visit Patheos for that kind of tactic where authors are paid for clicks.
Shame is for the bishops who caved to Caesar. Shame is for the bishops who are deaf mutes in the face of Martin, SJ and his companions.
Shame is for those who pay the fraud known a Wuerl and his friend McCarrick.
God bless holy Benedict.
Nicely done. It reminds me of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” How a vain Emperor who gets exposed before his subjects and his subjects go along with it. Unlike the fable, your subjects are called to hold our Church leaders to the truth no matter the recipient.
A ‘tour de force’ manifesto that should be mailed to every bishop. Then, copies should be made and distributed among all Church-gojng Catholics.
Why does the author single out gay priests? Isn’t it just as morally reprehensible when heterosexual predator priests molest and rape young girls? How is that not equally offensive and devastating?
Its young boys being molested by a homosexual lust that needs to be kept out of the chastity of priesthood.Much rarer are hetersexual attacks.
In order to have all of the zeal and the courage of Apostolic times, we need to get back to the theological priorities of the Apostolic times.
We know what they are because they are put forward in the New Testament.
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The author talks about assembling an army and doing the things the bishops won’t do. Yes, that’s necessary, especially for fathers to provide the Faith to their families.
But two things. First, St Louis de Montfort told us how to be in the Church’s army. We do it by making our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. Mary will use those of us consecrated to her, in her army, as she sees fit.
And second, speaking of the Blessed Mother, we already know who the victor will be – again, Jesus, through Mary. We won’t be the ones to save the Church. We’ll do our part, but it will be the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Just keep in mind that if you need to write something like this to your bishop, then it’s already too late for him. Our bishops have lost the ability to see what’s going on. A letter from any of us won’t suddenly bring the bishops out of their stupor and turn them into true leaders. I could have written this letter while my kids were growing up, and my oldest just turned 34. When the Triumph comes, I expect the slate to be wiped clean and new men with special grace will be put in their place. I hope I live to see that happen. May the Triumph come soon!
Well said susie
Dear Susie,
“A letter from any of us won’t suddenly bring the bishops out of their stupor and turn them into true leaders” – Please don’t promote this lie of inaction that you have chosen to embrace and please also don’t make oracle-like statements that come across like you are the almighty who knows the future outcomes of any specific action.
We are called to be faithful sons and daughters of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are not called to play the assertive assumption game or the “what/if” game when it comes to faithfully living out our walk with Him and others. It’s absolutely clear in Scripture and in the Catechism that we are to do what we can to correct a brother or sister when they are in error or serious sin. That is not limited to brothers and sisters of the laity either.
So, whether or not a letter to a Bishop will be “the one and only thing (so-to-speak)” to get his attention and bring him back from his bad behavior is not up to you, me, or anyone else to decide. It’s also not up to you to discourage another brother or sister in Christ from doing what is right by the Lord and the other person; especially one within the family.
Admonishing a sinner is a spiritual work of mercy that no one is excluded from, and it takes a great deal of faith and courage to do that with anyone; especially someone in the clergy who has authority over us and may think they’re above reproach. Please remember that, and repent in your heart for what you said about this, because it’s not indicative of a sister in the family to put another member down for doing, or wanting to do, what’s right.
You are being saved (sanctified) to be better than that, and you will be if you surrender and cooperate with Jesus and His revealed will!
In Christ,
Andrew
Susie: Do you have any Biblical reference for making a consecration to Jesus through Mary? Jesus is part of the Godhead and requires latria consecration or entrustment. Mary cannot be given latria consecration.
Congrats to Unknown Centurion on this succinct and concise masterpiece…a modern day “Common Sense”- (Thomas Paine). There are many Catholics that don’t know what to make of our Church leadership. They feel guilty or uncharitable questioning the Bishops’ poor decisions. This article provides a framework to charitably question/challenge/respond to our Bishops. Not only does it give orthodox clergy “cover”, but it gives the laity a context to rise up – because we will not and can not allow the Church to continue its descent on our watch. Evil prevails when good men fail to act.
Amen. Sign me up.
I’m curious to know how many ‘divisions’ of righteous orthodox Catholics will participate in
what appears to be an internal schism. The only way it would seem to work is if each diocese
elects its own bishops; or impeaches the ones who are suspect.
There are zero division in the Church. There is only unity in the body of Christ. It is the Adversary, the Accuser, the Father of Lies who tries to create division within the Church, and those who follow him with pride and arrogance put their salvation at stake. You will know them by their fruits because satan is incapable of imitating humility.
Unfortunately there are divisions within the Church. This is because Diablo, the divider, has infiltrated, even (or especially) within her highest ranks, as Pope Paul VI has rightly said. There are, in fact, many deep divisions: between politically liberal and conservative Catholics, orthodox and heterodox Catholics, social justice and pro-life Catholics, Latin and Folk Mass Catholics, institutional and Spirit-led Catholics, cowardly and courageous Catholics, status quo and on-fire Catholics, fallen-away and practicing Catholics, and perhaps the greatest, consequential chasm, between those who believe in the supernatural, miracles, the power of the Mass and the Sacraments and those who don’t. Thankfully, God is in charge of His Church and there will be no true schism unless God wills it, or we fail to do our part. I advocate no schism, but unity in the mission given to all Christians by Christ. And I don’t believe that making the Church more democratic, with elections and impeachments, would be any better for the Church than it is for the country, especially in such times of secularism, revolution, irrationality, and immorality.
This is a magnificent well written and straight to the point letter. Congratulations!!!
We the laity should start to organize to save our church as the author of this wonderful article states.
AMEN !!
Right on!