40 Defects of the Vatican 2 Religion

The following list of defects of the Vatican 2 religion is in no particular order. These are just the first 40 which came to mind.

 

1. We begin with the 4 marks of the Church, which the Vatican 2 religion has none. It even denies having them as the Catholic Church has defined them as seen in Missing the Marks: The Church of Vatican 2.

2. Not only is the Vatican 2 church a formally divided religion, but it’s The Believe-Whatever-You-Want Religion of Bergoglio. Just about anything and everything is permissible for belief to be part of the religion. 

3. It has heretical and unholy doctrines and practices, which only false religions have.

4. Claims that false religions make up the Church of Christ. In the Balamand statement and in numerous letters and addresses from the Vatican 2 popes, the Eastern Orthodox are considered and called part of the Church of Christ. We see the same with some Protestant religions, such as the Lutherans.

5. It officially teaches that the death penalty is intrinsically evil. As we see in ‘Pope’ Francis’ Heresy on the Death Penalty. It claims this position was not intrinsically evil in the past, which proves the religion is a modernist religion where truth changes over time.

6. It officially approved altar girls. Altar Girls are Impossible for the True Catholic Church and in Altar Girls Revisited to Prove Again Sedevacantism I quickly prove that point again.

7. In 1970, women lectors were approved despite Scripture’s teaching, “Let women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted them to speak, but to be subject, as also the law saith” (I Cor. 14:34). The evil fruit of feminism has taken over the world, because the Vatican 2 religion has incorporated it and doesn’t condemn it. You don’t even find laymen condemning the feminism in their church and world. They ALL go along with it.  

8. Not only are women permitted to hold public offices, but “Pope” Francis actually appoints them for leadership positions in the Vatican.

9. Head coverings are missing from women in church despite the fact that St. Paul specifically says they should be covered in chapter 11 of First Corinthians. 

10. Not only are head covering not required, but clothes aren’t either as seen with a few of “Pope St.” John Paul II’s masses. Apparently, women may go topless, too.

11. Lay men and women are permitted to serve as “Eucharistic Ministers” in mass.

12. There’s widespread effeminacy especially with bishops and priests. All of the Vatican 2 popes, except John Paul II, were effeminate. This is all part of the feminist culture.

13. In Vatican 2, which is supposed to be an ecumenical council, we have intended ambiguity leaving open heretical interpretations. The hierarchy have taken advantage of these ambiguities and the goal is realized. 

14. We have a papal denial of Christ’s literal descent into hell as seen in A Forgotten Heresy of ‘Pope St.’ John Paul II

15. There’s false ecumenism such as the THE DIABOLICAL ASSISI EVENTS. There’s also participation in false worship led by popes who’ve participated in Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Islam, and Lutheranism. This is encouraging false worship and mixing with false worship. All in all, it’s fundamentally the ideals of Freemasonry.

16. The New mass is more like Martin Luther’s and Archbishop Cranmer’s services. This is clearly seen in the Institution Narrative, which was invented by these Protestants.

17. Liturgical abuses such as clown masses, puppet masses, quasi-masses with women running the show are not stopped, punished, or even condemned by the Vatican 2 popes.

18. Communion is permitted to non-Catholics by law.

19. Holy Orders are doubtful as seen in Why Catholics Can’t Accept the New Rite of Holy Orders for Priests and Bishops

20. Extreme Unction is invalid as seen in Extreme Unction VS Vatican 2’s Anointing of the Sick.

21. Marriage has a 6-month prep with classes, but then annulments are handed out like candy.

22. Religious liberty is recognized as a divine right because of the dignity of the human person.

23. Vatican 2’s teaching on religious liberty abolished the Catholic state. The implication is that the Vatican 2 religion is against the existence of the Catholic state.

24. Has taught that the Old Covenant was not revoked and the conversion of Jews is not necessary. 

25. Vatican 2 popes are perverted with washing women’s and tranny’s feet during Lent, appointing and supporting LGBTQ bishops/priests/ideology, and transgenderism. Rainbow flags are already flown in the churches.

26. “Pope” Francis officially declared that God permissively willed the sex of man. The implication is that transgenderism is permissible.

27. Every Vatican 2 pope is canonized. These canonizations are beyond ridiculous.

28. It permits its members who hold high ranking positions such as the US President to openly profess heresy, abortion on demand, homosexuality, transgenderism, Marxism, and Communism. “Pope” Francis praises Biden and Pelosi. 

29. The Vatican 2 religion has a very lax system with only 2 days fasting all year, no ember days, no Lenten fast, and does not encourage or enforce the Friday abstinence. Even at mass, dressing up is rarely practiced as men and women wear jeans, tees, and other casual wear. Churches are used for entertainment and art exhibits (sometimes pornographic.) Most nuns no longer where their habits. There’s widespread laziness among clerics getting the sacraments to the people. 

30. Although popes can be bad, they must be Catholic unlike “Pope” Francis who openly denies Mary’s perfection, openly denies John the Baptist’s knowledge of Christ, and tells children that atheists go to heaven. He even condemns proselytism and calls it a grave sin and pagan. Both John XXIII and Paul VI appointed openly practicing Freemasons in offices. The religion is officially gay and masonic.

31. Vatican 2 denies that the Catholic Church is the only means of salvation.

32. Vatican 2 declared that Muslims worship the same God who will judge us on the last day, when objectively they don’t worship Jesus and it’s impossible to know who or what they worship subjectively.

33. Purgatory is almost forgotten because everybody is treated as going to heaven. Hell is reserved for the really, really bad people. The Fewness of the Saved – Most Christians Go to Hell is a rejected belief.

34. Non-Catholic and Public schools are praised and encouraged despite the true Papal Teaching on Non-Catholic and Public Schools.

35. Vatican 2 popes call into doubt saints and then removed them from the liturgical calendar.

36. Vatican 2 popes venerate arch-heretic Martin Luther. Now there’s a statue of him in the Vatican. Vatican postage stamps give Luther praise for his revolt. The Vatican even celebrates “Reformation Day.”

37. “Pope St.” John Paul II approved heretical Lutheran doctrine of Sola Fide with the approval of the joint declaration, which also implied that the Lutheran religion is part of the Church of Christ.

38. Altar rails are removed from beautiful historic Churches and replaced the high altars with tables.

39. New churches are built ugly as sin – devoid of all holiness – blasphemous architecture, crucifixes, and Stations of the Cross.

40. Most all the members of the Vatican 2 religion love the defects of their religion and hate the traditional teachings and practices of the Church. Vatican 2 apologists rationalize all of it away. 

All in all, I absolutely detest the Vatican 2 religion and all of its evil fruit.

 

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What Membership in the Church Absolutely Requires

Pope Leo XIII declared in Satis Cognitum:

St. Augustine notes that other heresies may spring up, to a single one of which, should any one give his assent, he is by the very fact cut off from Catholic unity. “No one who merely disbelieves in all (these heresies) can for that reason regard himself as a Catholic or call himself one. For there may be or may arise some other heresies, which are not set out in this work of ours, and, if any one holds to one single one of these he is not a Catholic” (S. Augustinus, De Haeresibus, n. 88).

Pro-LGBTQ Bishop John Stowe of the Lexington Diocese of Kentucky is part of the Vatican 2 hierarchy as a whole and is fully supported by Francis. He is “one in faith” with the Vatican 2 church. This same church is united to President Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi who both support the LGBTQ lifestyle and abortion on demand. Membership in the Vatican 2 religion includes radical apostates such as these. Oneness in faith has no real meaning in the Vatican 2 church.

Where’s the unity of faith as defined by the Catholic Church? The Mark of Oneness as the Catholic Church teaches doesn’t exist with the Vatican 2 religion in any sense of the definition. 

Why would membership in the Church be required of men to be saved, if the Catholic Faith isn’t required to be a member?

The entire argument hinges on whether faith is required at all. This is why sedevacantism exists, because we believe it to be absolutely necessary.

Membership and profession of faith can’t be separated. The Vatican 2 profession of faith just means saying “I’m Catholic, Francis is pope, and I only go to mass under Francis’ ordinaries.” It most certainly doesn’t mean that you must believe what the Catholic Church teaches.

Most Vatican 2 Catholics in the US believe in same-sex unions and accept artificial contraception. They reject dogmas knowing they are dogmas, which means they don’t believe in the teaching authority of the Church. This includes some of the hierarchy and they admit as much. The so-called conservative/orthodox hierarchy of the same religion recognizes these heretics as heretics while remaining part of the hierarchy. Yet, Vatican 2 apologists will say that all on both sides of the theological fence profess the Catholic Faith anyway. According to them, professing each and every Catholic doctrine at least implicitly is not necessary for Catholic membership.

The nature of the Catholic Church as a society demands unity in the profession of the same doctrine as presented by Christ, the Apostles, and the teaching office of the Church.

It ultimately means that we publicly declare the belief that all the doctrines, disciplines, laws, and liturgies of the Catholic Church are holy and true. This is what makes the Church One as it is Holy. Anything else is not a profession of the Catholic Faith. [1]

The Vatican 2 hierarchy as a whole does not even profess the necessity of believing in Natural Law. Belief in anything is regarded as professing the faith sufficiently as long as you claim to be Catholic and Francis is pope.

In other words, the Vatican 2 religion is preaching another gospel. There’s no way around it.

If anyone whosoever, even an angel from heaven were to tell us to be union with the Vatican 2 hierarchy, let him be anathema, because it’s another gospel. [2]

Vatican 2 apologists will quote the opinions of theologians as dogmas but reject the teaching of popes such as Pope Leo XIII’s teaching on Catholic unity. The rationalization of Vatican 2 apologists is on another level of cognitive dissonance. They will attack sedevacantism with a vengeance and ignore the gigantic absence of unity of faith as defined as the first mark and article of Catholic Faith within their false religion.

Footnotes:

[1] “What unity of faith does and does not mean.

The essential unity of faith definitely requires that everyone hold each and every doctrine clearly and distinctly presented for belief by the Church’s teaching office; and that everyone hold these truths explicitly or at least implicitly, i.e., by acknowledging the authority of the Church which teaches them.” (Van Noort page 128 Christ’s Church) Van Noort – Christ’s Church : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

[2] “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again: If anyone preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema (Gal. 1:8-9).”

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Papal Teachings Rejected by Pseudo-Traditionalists

Pope Pius IX and the First Vatican Council declared that “in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been preserved untainted, and holy doctrine celebrated.”

 

Pseudo-Trads do not believe the Catholic religion has always been preserved untainted but has been tainted with errors. Check out the Remnant Newspaper website and Tradition in Action website on how the Catholic religion has been tainted with lies, errors, and heresies by the Vatican 2 popes. Vigano admits Vatican 2 is heretical. John Salza has argued against “Fr.” Brian Harrison on canonizations and the Vatican 2 doctrine on religious liberty. Harrison himself has criticized the new teaching on the death penalty and the approval of altar girls. Siscoe has argued that Pope Celestine III approved a law that “contradicts divine revelation” and is “contrary to Divine law.”

 

Pope Pius IX, Quanta Cura:  “And, we cannot pass over in silence the boldness of those who “not enduring sound doctrine” [II Tim. 4:3], contend that “without sin and with no loss of Catholic profession, one can withhold assent and obedience to those judgments and decrees of the Apostolic See, whose object is declared to relate to the general good of the Church and its right and discipline, provided it does not touch dogmas of faith or morals.” There is no one who does not see and understand clearly and openly how opposed this is to the Catholic dogma of the plenary power divinely bestowed on the Roman Pontiff by Christ the Lord Himself of feeding, ruling, and governing the universal Church…Therefore, by our Apostolic authority, we reprobate, proscribe, and condemn all the singular and evil opinions and doctrines severally mentioned in this letter, and will and command that they be thoroughly held by all children of the Catholic Church as reprobated, proscribed and condemned.”

Pseudo-Trads do not believe that withholding assent and obedience to those judgments and decrees of the Apostolic See, whose object is declared to relate to the general good of the Church and its right and discipline, provided it does not touch dogmas of faith or morals, IS A SIN AND THE LOSS OF CATHOLIC PROFESSION. All pseudo-trads withhold assent and obedience to judgments and decrees of the Apostolic See.

 

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos: “11. Furthermore, in this one Church of Christ no man can be or remain who does not accept, recognize and obey the authority and supremacy of Peter and his legitimate successors.”

 

Pseudo-Trads recognize and resist. They don’t obey.

 

 

 

Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi: “For not every sin, however grave it may be, is such as of its own nature to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy.”

 

Pseudo-Trads do not believe the sin of heresy severs from the Body of the Church by its own nature, but rather believe that it is by a judgment from the Church.

 

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum: “The practice of the Church has always been the same, as is shown by the unanimous teaching of the Fathers, who were wont to hold as outside Catholic communion, and alien to the Church, whoever would recede in the least degree from any point of doctrine proposed by her authoritative Magisterium…. St. Augustine notes that other heresies may spring up, to a single one of which, should any one give his assent, he is by the very fact cut off from Catholic unity. “No one who merely disbelieves in all (these heresies) can for that reason regard himself as a Catholic or call himself one. For there may be or may arise some other heresies, which are not set out in this work of ours, and, if any one holds to one single one of these he is not a Catholic”

Pseudo-Trads do not believe that one is cut-off by the very fact of giving assent to heresy, but rather believe it happens by a declaration from the Church or actually joining another religion. Salza and Siscoe have written extensively on how it takes a declared excommunication to rid heretics from the Church. I have emails from Siscoe saying that Biden and Pelosi are members of the Catholic Church. 

 

Pope Eugene IV, Cantate Domino “The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also…heretics and schismatics…” Pope Innocent III, Eius exemplo: “By the heart we believe and by the mouth we confess the one Church, not of heretics, but the Holy Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.”

Pseudo-Trads do not believe all heretics are outside the Church, but rather believe heretics hold offices in the Church such as the papacy. They hold that when the pope is heretical, he remains the true pope until the Church judges and pronounces that he’s not the pope anymore. Vigano believes Catholics can recognize the pope as a heretic. Harrison wrote how heretics can be elected pope. Siscoe has told me over the phone that he privately believes his pope is an apostate.

 

Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas: “Not least among the blessings which have resulted from the public and legitimate honor paid to the Blessed Virgin and the saints is the perfect and perpetual immunity of the Church from error and heresy.”

 

Pseudo-Trads do not believe in the perpetual immunity of the Church from error and heresy or else they wouldn’t have to resist, reject, criticize, and complain about the teachings of Vatican 2, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or any encyclical, apostolic exhortation, etc. by the Vatican 2 popes.

 

Pope Pius XII, Haurietis Aquas: “From what We have so far explained, venerable brethren, it is clear that the faithful must seek from Scripture, tradition and the sacred liturgy as from a deep untainted source, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus if they desire to penetrate its inner nature and by piously meditating on it, receive the nourishment for the fostering and development of their religious fervor.”

Pseudo-Trads do not believe the liturgy is untainted as Scripture and tradition, but rather believe the novus ordo mass is tainted with some error unlike Scripture and Tradition.  

 

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum: “9 For, since Jesus Christ delivered Himself up for the salvation of the human race, and to this end directed all His teaching and commands, so He ordered the Church to strive, by the truth of its doctrine, to sanctify and to save mankind. But faith alone cannot compass so great, excellent, and important an end. There must need be also the fitting and devout worship of God, which is to be found chiefly in the divine Sacrifice and in the dispensation of the Sacraments, as well as salutary laws and discipline. All these must be found in the Church, since it continues the mission of the Saviour for ever. The Church alone offers to the human race that religion – that state of absolute perfection – which He wished, as it were, to be incorporated in it. And it alone supplies those means of salvation which accord with the ordinary counsels of Providence.”

Pseudo-Trads do not believe the Church offers to the human race that religion – that state of absolute perfection since they have to resist, reject, criticize, and/or complain about it as they tell the human race what they believe is the right and Catholic way. 

 

Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos: “Furthermore, the discipline sanctioned by the Church must never be rejected or branded as contrary to certain principles of the natural law. It must never be called crippled, or imperfect or subject to civil authority. In this discipline the administration of sacred rites, standards of morality, and the reckoning of the Church and her ministers are embraced.”

Pseudo-Trads do not believe the disciplines sanctioned by the Church must never be rejected. They reject altar girls, women lectors, and the wide-spread abolition of the Latin Mass by their pope.

 

Pope St. Pius X, Letter to Priests: “When one loves the pope, one does not stop to debate about what he advises or demands, to ask how far the rigorous duty of obedience extends and to mark the limit to this obligation. When one loves the pope, one does not object that he has not spoken clearly enough, as if he were obliged to repeat into the ear of each individual his will, so often clearly expressed, not only viva voce, but also by letters and other public documents; one does not call his orders into doubt on the pretext- easily advanced by whoever does not wish to obey-that they emanate not directly from him, but from his entourage; one does not limit the field in which he can and should exercise his will; one does not oppose to the authority of the pope that of other persons, however learned, who differ in opinion from the pope. Besides however great their knowledge, their holiness is wanting, FOR THERE CAN BE NO HOLINESS WHERE THERE IS DISAGREEMENT WITH THE POPE.” Address to the priest of the Apostolic Union, Nov. 18, 1912 In Acta Apostolicae Sedis 4 [1912] p. 695)

Pseudo-Trads do not believe they must love the pope and obey Church discipline without question, nor do they believe there can be no holiness where there is disagreement with the pope. They disagree with the pope on many things concerning faith and morals.

 

Pope Pius IX and the First Vatican Council:

“‘For the fathers of the Fourth Council of Constantinople, following closely in the footsteps of their predecessors, made this solemn profession: ‘The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true Faith. For it is impossible that the words of our Lord Jesus Christ Who said, ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church’ (Matt. 16:18), should not be verified. And their truth has been proved by the course of history, for in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been kept unsullied, and its teaching kept holy.’ …for they fully realized that this See of St. Peter always remains unimpaired by any error, according to the divine promise of our Lord and Savior made to the prince of his disciples, ‘I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail; and do thou, when once thou has turned again, strengthen thy brethren’ (Luke 22:32)

“‘So, this gift of truth and a never failing faith was divinely conferred upon Peter and his successors in this chair, that they might administer their high duty for the salvation of all; that the entire flock of Christ, turned away by them from the poisonous food of error, might be nourished on the sustenance of heavenly doctrine, that with the occasion of schism removed the whole Church might be saved as one, and relying on her foundation might stay firm against the gates of hell.”

Pseudo-Trads do not believe the pope keeps the Catholic religion unsullied and teaching holy, nor remains unimpaired by any error, nor strengthens his brethren with the Catholic Faith, nor turns the poisonous food of error away from the flock of Christ, nor nourishes the Catholic flock with heavenly doctrine, nor removes all occasion of schism that the Church might be saved as one.

Rather, they believe the pope is the cause of the Church’s passion by attacking tradition with heresy and error. They believe he’s ushering in the gates of hell by not standing firm against it. They write books and articles about how the Catholic Church is supposed to be since their pope is teaching the opposite. The bottom line is that no pseudo-trad believes the Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic in faith. They only say they believe in these papal teachings and four marks of the Church, but it’s an obvious lie by the mere fact they work against the mission of their pope.

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Where the Shepherds and Teachers Are – The Problem with the ‘Home-Alone’ Position – Part III

Home-aloners say that sedevacantist bishops and priests are not good for the Church, because they don’t believe they are sent by the Church. It is their private opinion that it’s not absolutely necessary to have bishops and priests for the Universal Church at large and if it were absolutely necessary, this necessity alone would not qualify for the lawfulness of administering the Sacraments beginning with Holy Orders. Home-aloners believe it is better not to receive the sacraments and attend Holy Mass and receive Christ from Catholic clergy without ordinary jurisdiction in hope that someone (even though no one knows who and where) can rectify this terrible crisis.

I submit this home-alone position is wrong in every respect.

The Necessity of Having Shepherds and Teachers

Vatican I declared: “So then, just as he sent apostles, whom he chose out of the world [39], even as he had been sent by the Father [40], in like manner it was his will that in his Church there should be shepherds and teachers until the end of time.”

Why would it be the will of Christ that in His Church there should be shepherds and teachers until the end of time?

Holy Scripture gives us the answer in Ephesians 4:12:

“11. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Until we all meet into the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ…”

We see clearly the necessity of having shepherds and teachers until the end of time. Men need to be shepherded and taught. Men also need to be nourished. The Holy Eucharist, for instance, most especially perfects us and is the summit of the ministry. “Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you: except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you (John 6:54).”

Rev. Cornelius À Lapide writes in his Biblical Commentary on John 6:54:

So here, Unless ye shall eat, &c., i.e., unless there are some, viz. priests, who take the Sacrament of the Eucharist under both species, ye shall not have life in you. For if there be none such, then there will be none to consecrate the Eucharist, none to administer it, and so the whole fruit of the most Blessed Sacrament would be lost, as Bellarmine observes. For it is the office of priests to consecrate and receive in both kinds, that there may be not only a perfect Sacrament, but also that they may offer the sacrifice. This requires both kinds, both to signify perfect nourishment (for the sacrifice is, as it were, the food of God): and this nourishment consists of food and drink: as also that there may be a perfect representation of the passion and death of Christ. 

Shepherds and teachers provide us with the Eucharist and the other Sacraments. They are for the good of the Church and it is Christ’s will that they exist until the end of time. Therefore, they exist, because it’s necessary that they exist for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,and for the edifying of the body of Christ. To deny these two facts is heresy.

Where the Shepherds and Teachers must be Found

Since no shepherds and teachers holding offices with ordinary jurisdiction can be located nor is there a good explanation as to how they can exist without making the Vatican I teaching essentially meaningless, the only logical meaning of Vatican I is in the general sense for all Catholic clergy who are pastors of souls.

Sedevacantist clergy actually do claim to be the shepherds and teachers, which Vatican I is referring to even though they don’t possess particular offices in the Church. They shepherd and teach through the Holy Mass and Sacraments, making them real shepherds and teachers to the faithful.    

Home-aloners believe that only those holding offices are shepherds and teachers, because ordinarily bishops and priests are holding offices. The theological manuals all point to those who have ordinary jurisdiction as the pastors. Therefore, they conclude that ordinary or delegated jurisdiction is necessarily required absolutely under all conditions to be true pastors. However, home-aloners can’t identify the possible existence of any of these shepherds and teachers with ordinary jurisdiction for the Church.

It’s one thing to be in one particular area and not know what’s going on elsewhere, like the Japanese who had no pastors for hundreds of years, because of the persecution by the Japanese authorities. It’s quite another when we have access to the whole world. We know who’s consecrated who. The best argument a home-aloner could make is that a real pastor exists in some Communist prison somewhere that only his parishioners know about. The problem, however, is the Council was referring to shepherds and teachers, which is the plural of them. That rules out the “bishop in the woods” argument. It would have to be more than one.

The whole point of the Church having shepherds and teachers till the end of time is so they can actually shepherd and teach. If all of them are incapacitated, then what’s the point of having them at all? It’s not good enough to say that some bishops must exist in prison camps or somewhere to keep the Vatican I teaching from failing.

The home-aloner has to appeal to a theory with no evidence to maintain the existence of the Church. The problem is that if the Church exists only in the hope that some bishops exist somewhere even though no one knows where or how, the devil has ultimately won anyway. The gates of hell have prevailed, because the will of Christ and His purpose in having shepherds and teachers are ultimately thwarted. Christ left us shepherds and teachers for the benefit of the whole Church only to be incapacitated and our benefit effectively lost. The Church is effectively incapacitated throughout the whole world, which is exactly opposite to the will of Christ and His promise.

Imagine if Christ sent out the Apostles only to be immediately imprisoned so the Church could never take off. What would be the point of sending them out? How would it benefit the Church? Vatican I is saying that shepherds and teachers will exist till the end of time precisely for the same reason Christ sent out the Apostles, to actually be effective and benefit the Church. Again, the gates of hell have prevailed if the Church is totally incapacitated.

The Lawfulness of Sedevacantist Clergy

The sedevacantist clergy are the answer to Vatican I’s teaching.

In ordinary times, the clergy are sent out by being placed in offices. This is how bishops attain full apostolic succession. The sedevacantist clergy are sent, but not in ordinary fashion, because of the extraordinary circumstances of the Church’s existence. All the normal rules and teachings from the theological manuals only address the Church within the framework of pre-apostasy times. The one thing that we must cling to is the teaching of the Church. It is ultimately the one thing that really matters in matters of faith. All Church teachings must be understood in the correct nuance and applied in the circumstance in which it is addressing. Universal opinions have been wrong before.  

Because Christ wills that there shall be shepherds and teachers till the end of time, they must exist by divine right. No human ecclesiastical law can prevent this right. It is absolutely necessary that shepherds and teachers exist for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ, which is why Jesus wills their existence.

All bishops have the power to consecrate and ordain validly. This power is not hindered by heresy, schism, or vitandus excommunication. However, authorization is needed to consecrate lawfully, whether it be by law or permission from the pope. Sedevacantist Bishop Carmona cites two rules as the foundation for the lawfulness of his consecration as bishop.

He cites Pope Gregory IX who declared in the 4^th Rule of his decretal “On the Rules of Law” “What is not lawful by law, necessity makes lawful.” Pope Gregory IX gave two examples: Working on the Sabbath and breaking a required fast when sick.

Bishop Carmona also cites Rule 88 of Boniface VIII, which expressly states “It is certain that one sins against the rule who adheres to the letter and leaves aside the spirit.” Carmona writes, “Therefore, it is unjust to impute to the legislator a desire to greatly harm the Church during a vacancy of the Holy See by forbidding the ordination of bishops and priests and the administering of the sacraments to the faithful who ask for them. Therefore, in accepting episcopal consecration from Archbishop Thuc, we have relied on these rules, conscious and certain that, given the circumstances in which we live, the consecrations are both valid and licit. We are also conscious and certain that we would have sinned, if by relying on the letter [of the law] we had rejected the consecrations, there being only one Catholic bishop who can now be found to transmit the episcopal succession.”

Bishops Thuc, Carmona, and Zamora did what works for the Church. Divine law and Pope Gregory IX’s decretal give authorization in this time of great tribulation. No theological manual addresses this particular situation. Therefore, to use theological manuals that addresses totally different situations and applying it against sedevacantism is pointless, not to mention, the manuals are offering general opinions anyway.

Before the great apostasy of Vatican 2, the Church was organized perfectly to function and to spread Catholicism. The theological manuals address the framework of the Church in pre-apostasy times ONLY. The Church is in an imperfect form each time a pope dies and in these post-apostasy times, it’s in dire need of a pope and Episcopal offices filled.

What we have today is a Church with no ordinary jurisdiction. However, insofar as individual souls are concerned who attend sedevacantist missions, there’s no substantial difference in having canonical pastors at parishes before the apostasy and our sedevacantist priests in missions and chapels. What we have works and is greatly needed. If fulfills the basic needs of the Church during this crisis and accomplishes the bare minimum that’s required for the Church to exist and function for the good of the Faithful.

Our sedevacantist bishops and priests are not working in an extraordinary mission that works outside the framework of the Church where there exists a pope, his ordinary succession, and bishops with ordinary jurisdiction who are ready and willing to transmit valid orders. Rather, our clergy work in an extraordinary mission that continues the ordinary mission of the Church insofar as possible precisely because these things are wanting. The books don’t cover the extraordinary mission of sedevacantism, but only condemn, and rightly so, those who assume authority apart from the authority of the pope and the ordinary transmission of the faith. 

The home-alone position focuses on the letter of the law and sins against the spirit of the law. It places a private opinion against the only logical answer to Vatican I, and as we will see, the teachings of Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII.

It also implicitly denies that the sacrament of Holy Orders is absolutely necessary for the good of the whole Church, that the Church as a whole needs to be shepherded and taught, and without bishops and priests, there is no Church.

Other Problems with the Home-Alone Position

Staying at home is the antithesis of Catholicism. The Church is sent out. We are sent out after Mass, Ite Missa Est. We don’t stay at home, we go out. If every Catholic stays home, there are no Sacraments except baptism and marriage FOR THE WHOLE WORLD. That’s the foundation of Protestantism.

The home-alone position implies that the principle of perpetual succession of the papacy is over, because relying on God to intervene miraculously means the principle is lost, since it takes God to intervene to fulfil what lacks, viz. the principle. Therefore, it’s heretical on this point alone. The principle of perpetual succession must exist until the end of time, which means there is no need for God to miraculously give us a pope. Vatican I is telling us that Christ placed a built-in means to protect the papacy from such measures.

Also, home-aloners admit that we are in the great apostasy. However, Holy Writ tells us that the great apostasy is part of the reign of Antichrist. The reign of Antichrist is short-lived due to Christ’s return. If we are indeed in the great apostasy, then we are not coming out of it. There’s not going to be anyone to fix the Church save Christ at His Return. Therefore, we can’t stay at home hoping that someone somewhere on earth can rectify this terrible crisis. We must do the best we can and the sedevacantist clergy did just that. They fulfilled having shepherds and teachers for the faithful for the whole Church as Christ willed.

Survival Mode

A dire situation requires dire measures. When a man goes into survival mode, he may have to do things that would be forbidden ordinarily. He may have to eat his dead friends as those Uruguayan rugby players did when they crashed in the Andes Mountains in 1972. He may have to drink his urine as many sailors have done in lifeboats at sea. The body itself will do things to stay alive that it wouldn’t or couldn’t do otherwise.

The point is the Catholic Church is in survival mode, because it’s going through its passion in following Christ. All the powers of hell are assaulting the Church right now. If ever Catholics most needed bishops, priests, the Holy Mass, and the 7 Sacraments, now is the time. “And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world (Matt. 28: 18-20).”

Rev. Cornelius À Lapide explains in his Biblical Commentary that “Christ has willed to abide continually in the Church in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.”

Home-aloners must say that Christ has not willed to abide continually in the Church in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, at least not for the vast, vast majority of Catholics. Practically speaking, Christ has abandoned the Church leaving no clergy for teaching, governing, and sanctifying the Faithful through the Holy Mass and the 7 Sacraments. I will say it a third time, the gates of hell have effectively prevailed if the home-alone position is correct. The Catholic Church simply doesn’t exist except in the hopes and dreams of Catholics. That’s not how the Church exists.

The Principle of the Home-Alone Position is Condemned

Pope Pius IX declared in Etsi Multa: [1] 

Further Heresies

They obstinately reject and oppose the infallible magisterium both of the Roman Pontiff and of the whole Church in teaching matters.  Incredibly, they boldly affirm that the Roman Pontiff and all the bishops, the priests and the people conjoined with him in the unity of faith and communion fell into heresy when they approved and professed the definitions of the Ecumenical Vatican Council. Therefore they deny also the indefectibility of the Church and blasphemously declare that it has perished throughout the world and that its visible Head and the bishops have erred. They assert the necessity of restoring a legitimate episcopacy in the person of their pseudo-bishop, who has entered not by the gate but from elsewhere like a thief or robber and calls the damnation of Christ upon his head.

Yet they do not blush to call themselves Catholics and Old Catholics, while in their doctrine, novelty, and number they show themselves in no way to be either old or Catholic. Certainly the Church rises up with greater right against them than it once did through Augustine against the Donatists. Diffused among all people, the Church was built by Christ the Son of the living God upon the rock, against which the gates of Hell will not prevail, and with which He Himself, to Whom all power in heaven and on earth is given, said He would be with until the consummation of the world. “The Church cries to her Spouse: Why do certain men withdrawing from me murmur against me? Why do these lost men claim that I have perished? Announce to me the length of my days, how long I will be in this world? Tell me on account of those who say: it was and is no longer; on account of those who say: the scriptures have been fulfilled, all nations have believed, but the Church has apostatized and perished from all nations. And He announced and the voice was not vain. What did He announce? ‘Behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world.’ Moved by your voices and your false opinions, it asked of God that He announce to it the length of its days and it found that God said ‘Behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world.’ Here you will say: He spoke about us; we are as we will be until the end of the world. Christ Himself is asked; He says ‘and this gospel will be preached in the whole world, in testimony to all nations, and then will come the end.’ Therefore the Church will be among all nations until the end of the world. Let heretics perish as they are, and let them find that they become what they are not.”

Old Catholics claimed the Roman Pontiff, all bishops, priests, and the people in union with the pope apostatized. They asserted that there were no shepherds and teachers throughout the world. Pope Pius IX condemned the idea that there are no shepherds and teachers throughout the world as heresy, because it’s contrary to Christ’s promise and meaning in Matt. 28:18-20.

When Pope Pius IX said “all nations” that would not mean literally all nations, but in general all nations. The bible says all men have sinned, but all doesn’t mean literally all, but generally all, since Our Lord and our Lady have not sinned.

“We are as we will be” doesn’t mean exactly with a pope and offices filled, but generally with shepherds and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ, because Christ wills it.

Pope Leo XIII declared in Satis Cognitum: “8…But, as we have already said, the Apostolic mission was not destined to die with the Apostles themselves, or to come to an end in the course of time, since it was intended for the people at large and instituted for the salvation of the human race. For Christ commanded His Apostles to preach the “Gospel to every creature, to carry His name to nations and kings, and to be witnesses to him to the ends of the earth.” He further promised to assist them in the fulfilment of their high mission, and that, not for a few years or centuries only, but for all time – “even to the consummation of the world.” [2]

The Apostolic mission is explained by Pope Leo in the same encyclical.

3…The Apostles received a mission to teach by visible and audible signs, and they discharged their mission only by words and acts which certainly appealed to the senses.

4…What did He wish in regard to the Church founded, or about to be founded? This: to transmit to it the same mission and the same mandate which He had received from the Father, that they should be perpetuated. This He clearly resolved to do: this He actually did. “As the Father hath sent me, I also send you” (John xx., 21). “As thou hast sent Me into the world I also have sent them into the world” (John xvii., 18).

But the mission of Christ is to save that which had perished: that is to say, not some nations or peoples, but the whole human race, without distinction of time or place. “The Son of Man came that the world might be saved by Him” (John iii., 17). “For there is no other name under Heaven given to men whereby we must be saved” (Acts iv., 12). The Church, therefore, is bound to communicate without stint to all men, and to transmit through all ages, the salvation effected by Jesus Christ, and the blessings flowing there from. Wherefore, by the will of its Founder, it is necessary that this Church should be one in all lands and at all times. To justify the existence of more than one Church it would be necessary to go outside this world, and to create a new and unheard – of race of men.

8…There must needs be also the fitting and devout worship of God, which is to be found chiefly in the divine Sacrifice and in the dispensation of the Sacraments, as well as salutary laws and discipline. All these must be found in the Church, since it continues the mission of the Savior for ever. 

The Apostolic mission is to save souls, and this comes by correct teaching, the Holy Mass, and the Sacraments, which necessarily means there must be shepherds and teachers for the people at large as Christ willed.

The home-alone position doesn’t fit even remotely with the teachings of Pope Pius IX and Pope Leo XIII, or even Vatican I. 

Our position of sedevacantist clergy fits and works if interpreted properly. If home-aloners insist that Pope Pius IX and Pope Leo XIII meant bishops with ordinary jurisdiction ONLY, then they must admit that it’s over for Christianity altogether. Either we are right or they must stop being Catholic. There’s no middle ground.

The pseudo-traditionalists that recognize the Vatican 2 popes insist that sedevacantism is wrong, but in doing so they have condemned Christianity, since there’s no possible way the Church is heretical with heretics holding the papacy. Home-aloners are in that same boat. In claiming there are no shepherds and teachers throughout the world, they have condemned Christianity, since there’s no possible way the Church is without them throughout the world. The home-alone position is heretical, plain and simple.

There’s only one solution and that’s the position of the sedevacantist clergy. Bishops Thuc, Carmona, and Zamora saw it plainly. They did what they had to do and by the grace of God, the Church is making it through till the end.

Footnotes

[1] http://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9etsimu.htm

[2] Satis Cognitum – Papal Encyclicals

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Supplied Jurisdiction for Sedevacantist Clergy – The Problem with the ‘Home-Alone’ Position – Part II

This second installment is a defense of the post-Vatican 2 sedevacantist clergy having authority to administer the sacraments, which sedevacantist home-aloners deny. Also included will be two arguments why the home-alone position is problematic.

Before the great apostasy, the Church had customary channels of power and authority, which we now refer to as ordinary times. Formerly, the Church enjoyed normal papal succession, world-wide hierarchy, and ecclesiastical laws, so that everything worked within the framework of the Church’s existence in those times.

The predicament of the great apostasy, however, is an extraordinary phenomenon unprecedented in history. It has affected the Church to such an extent that many laws of the Church can’t apply, can’t be applied, nor can be enforced; an example being the law on papal elections requiring cardinals. See THE CASE THAT PROVES CHURCH LAWS CAN’T ALWAYS APPLY – Revised

Some theologians and canonists have argued this nightmare can’t happen, but obviously that opinion is proven wrong by the very fact it has.

The Catholic Church has gone into what I call survival mode. Some things that would be illicit now become licit as the 4^th rule of Pope Gregory IX lays out:

Propter necessitatem, illicitum efficitur licitum (Necessity makes licit was illicit)

In ordinary times, bishops and priests had ordinary and delegated jurisdiction, which is the power to rule and the authority to administer. In these extraordinary times, the power and authority has taken on a new form due to the circumstances. Therefore, the Church must supply the jurisdiction to stay alive and carry on its mission of saving souls. Exactly how supplied jurisdiction is granted to sedevacantist clergy is the question.

Supplied jurisdiction is when ordinary or delegated jurisdiction is absent and the Church confers it extraordinarily, when it was not bestowed regularly for the purpose of a grave cause and common good of souls.

Since no pope exists, no bishops with ordinary or delegated jurisdiction exist (insofar as we can tell), the Church must carry on lest the gates of hell effectively prevails.

According to the First Vatican Council, just as Peter has by Divine right successors in the primacy, so too, as is natural, the Church has by Divine right to live and carry on its mission of saving souls through the sacraments. What Catholic could deny this fact?

Rev. Ludwig Ott taught in his Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, “The Sacraments are the means appointed by God for the attainment of eternal salvation. Three of them are in the ordinary way of salvation so necessary, that without their use salvation cannot be attained. Thus, for the individual person, Baptism is necessary in this way and after the commission of a grievous sin, Penance is equally necessary, while for the Church in general, the Sacrament of Holy Orders is necessary. The other Sacraments are necessary in so far as salvation cannot be so easily gained without them.” [1] Ott tells us on p. 332, “All the Sacraments of the New Covenant confer sanctifying grace on the receivers. (De fide.)”

No ecclesiastical law could be used to prevent the Church as a whole from carrying on its mission of saving souls through these life-giving sacraments.

Just as doctrine develops over time, so too, ecclesiastical law develops. It is in this development that we discover how our clergy have jurisdiction supplied to them by the Church.

For example, canon law tells us that Confession can only be granted by a priest lacks ordinary or delegated jurisdiction in the case of danger of death.

Can. 882 states: When there is danger of death, any priest, even though not otherwise approved for hearing confessions, may validly and licitly absolve any penitent from whatever sins and censures, including those which are reserved and notorious, even though an approved priest may be present.  But the rules laid down in can. 884 and 2252 must be observed. [2]

Therefore, based on this canon, any priest (including valid non-Catholic priests) can absolve when there is danger of death. Over the years, the application of this canon has developed.

Several canonists such as Rev. Guiseppe d’Annibale and Rev. Matthaeus a Coronata taught that a long-term lack of a confessor may be regarded as equivalent to danger of death for purposes of supplied jurisdiction. It’s an opinion not agreed upon by others. However, I find that d’Annibale and Coronata are applying a fundamental rule of jurisprudence by applying as broad as possible an interpretation on the words of a favorable law. [3]

The novel interpretation by d’Annibale and Coronata demonstrates that the canon does not have to be interpreted absolutely in the strictest sense. If d’Annibale and Coronata are correct, then by this particular canon, the Church supplies jurisdiction to our sedevacantist clergy. Therefore, we have a law that’s lacking an expressed prescription that canonists think is possible and considered within that law.

Where did they get the opinion that a long-term lack of a confessor is equivalent to danger of death? d’Annibale cites two earlier authorities that taught the “in danger of death” law to mean possibly dying without a priest or confessor over a long period of time. A particular auspicious authority we’ll examine is the Doctor of the Church and Patron Saint of Confessors, St. Alphonsus Liquori who taught:

“Is any priest able to absolve from any sins and censures, not only at the point of death, but also in danger of death? This is denied by [various names] but more truly and more commonly affirmed by…The reason for this is that in this matter, the danger is taken for the point, as is clear from…For in such a case, anyone in mortal sin is bound to confess in the same way as if he were at the point of death. This is accepted by…provided that such a danger be so grave that it can scarcely be distinguished with certainty from the point: but, more immediately, it seems to be sufficient that there be prudent fear that death will arise in the danger. Now such a danger is considered to be present in a battle, in a long sea voyage, in a difficult delivery, in a dangerous disease, and similar cases…The same is true of one who is in probable danger of falling into insanity (amentia)…and the same of those who are captives among infidels with small hope of liberty. For it is believed that they will have no other priests in the future.” [4]

It would seem that in battles, long sea voyages, etc. the same priest without ordinary jurisdiction will be present throughout the situation. In such a case, that same priest can absolve a man repeatedly over the duration of war, long sea voyages, etc.

That said, St. Alphonsus then offers another situation that’s related, but not precisely the same as in danger of war, long sea voyage, pandemic, etc. He refers to those who are captives among infidels (not those who are in danger of falling captives). He’s not very clear what this means precisely. However, we can conclude that this particular situation is not exactly a danger of death. It’s a case outside of some immediate danger of death.

It may be that St. Alphonsus intended to mean those who expect to never have a priest again, which is manifestly not the situation where Catholics today have access to a priest regularly.

If we were able to ask St. Alphonsus, what if there was a priest without ordinary jurisdiction made captive himself with small hope of liberty, can he absolve the other captives as long as they are captives, since there’s small hope of liberty?

It’s reasonable to presume that St. Alphonsus would say yes, since it’s the obvious conclusion. That conclusion is precisely the situation Catholics find themselves today. The problem with our situation is that it’s not addressed anywhere, probably because it wasn’t considered possible.

When Rev. Guiseppe d’Annibale explains the law of absolving in danger of death, he lists the different situations in the same order as St. Alphonsus. He even cites St. Alphonsus, because he’s using him as the source. However, when d’Annibale comes to the section of “probable danger of falling into insanity and captives among infidels with small hope of liberty,” he lists it as “Besides, if one is in danger of falling into perpetual insanity, or is in such circumstances that henceforth he is likely not to have a confessor available any more, he is likewise to be regarded as if he were in danger of death.” [5] Interestingly, he doesn’t cite St. Alphonsus, perhaps because he’s already cited him twice, even though Liguori speaks about insanity, but d’Annibale does cite Rev. Leonardo Duardo.

Rev. Leonardo Duardo wrote in Commentaria in Bullam Coenae Domini (1638):

“But that is also to be noted, that if one bound by some censure of our Bull is found in that state, in which if he is not absolved now, it is to be feared as likely, that before death he will not have a Confessor available, as can happen in India, or in some captivity; then I say that he can be absolved by someone other than the Roman Pontiff; because although he is said to be outside the imminent danger of death, still in this matter, and morally speaking, this case is not different from danger of death: all the more, because in such a case, if he were to have access to a confessor he would be bound by divine law to make his confession: as Suarez says in the place cited: as taken from Suarez.” (probably Suarez de pentitentia, disp. 35, sec. 2 & 3) [6]

Duardo and Liguori make the “in danger of death” clause to include in danger of dying without another priest or confessor. It’s technically not “in danger of death” at all. Yet, they include it in the law. These authorities have developed the application of the law to mean something the law doesn’t specifically mention.

Rev. Matthaeus Conte a Coronata, O.F.M. Cap., Institutiones Iuris Canonici, IV. n. 1760 4th edition, published in 1955, writes:

“Danger of death is present for him who is in such circumstances that death is truly and gravely probable, but who also may survive. This situation can arise from various causes, e.g. from illness, injury, difficult childbirth, extreme old age, dangerous journey, imminent battle, surgical operation to be undergone, extreme torture etc.”

“He may be regarded as equal to those in danger of death who is in grave danger of falling into perpetual insanity or who is in such a condition that henceforth he will not have a confessor available anymore.”

Coronata cites d’Annibale as the source demonstrating that he agrees with d’Annibale’s analysis of Duardo and St. Alphonsus. They don’t spend much time on the topic, probably because it’s such a rare situation. Perhaps, they didn’t think an in-depth examination was needed. However, their explanations using confessor rather than priest have connotations that resembles our great apostasy age. As long as Catholics are in a situation where they could die without a confessor, any priest can absolve as many times as needed. It’s the logical extension of Duardo and Liguori’s application.

Duardo and St. Alphonsus are laying out a principle that cases exist outside of immediate danger of death that are equivalent to being in danger of death. They don’t list every possibility, but they came up with something that’s novel and not found elsewhere.

There’s no reason why our scenario can’t be figured into the law and put into practice by our theologians and canonists. d’Annibale and Coronata already point that way.

In his Moral Theology, book 6, n. 560, p. 443, St. Alphonsus Liguori lays out a practical teaching:

“The question is: whether heretics, schismatics, and vitandus excommunicates can absolve a dying man, if no other priest is present.”

“The first opinion says that they can, based on the Council of Trent’s statement that it is ecclesiastical tradition that there’s no reservation [of jurisdiction to absolve] when a man is dying.”

“The second opinion, (which St. Alphonsus agrees), says that such priests can’t validly absolve a dying man because the council wasn’t speaking of priests with no jurisdiction, but of those who lack jurisdiction over reserved cases (that is, reserved to the bishop or the Holy See on account of censure); also because the Council of Trent didn’t make a new law, but only approved the ancient law, which was that priests cut off from the unity of the Church cannot validly absolve under any circumstances.”

“Nevertheless, the Continuator of Tournely says rightly that in such a case, a priest who is a heretic or a vitandus excommunicate, when no other priest is present, may well give conditional absolution to a dying man, because in extreme or urgent necessity according to the common opinion of doctors, as we said n. 482 [citation omitted] … it is licit to follow an opinion that is only slightly probable.” [7]

The Holy Office settled the issue on July 39, 1891, which affirmed the first opinion. However, the relevant part of Liguori’s answer is the last sentence. To follow the opinion of d’Annibale and Coronata is licit.

To follow the opinion of d’Annibale and Coronata is licit. Also, the Church is in urgent necessity of bishops and priests. The fact that we have all of our theologians and canonists presenting the same argument (I would think) makes it at least slightly probable.

I can think of other possible scenarios not addressed by saints or any theologian (that I’ve found). What if a priest shipwrecks on an island where no civilized persons have ever witnessed? Therefore, the likelihood of being rescued is slim to none. The priest converts the natives and baptizes them. However, we are to understand that he can’t administer the other sacraments because of some particular Church law that’s not referring to this particular situation? Is this the will of Christ and His Church? The priest wasn’t technically sent by the ordinary laws of Church, therefore, the poor Catholics are just out of luck until there is imminent danger of death?

Again, the logical conclusion is that “in danger of death” could include dying without a confessor, but if a priest is present, he can absolve as long as necessary. It isn’t specifically mentioned, but it doesn’t need to be. It wasn’t in the books about possibly dying without a priest or confessor years in the future until a theologian and a canonist thought of it years later. St. Alphonsus and Duardo’s scenarios don’t become true for the law, because they thought of it. It was always true. The same thing applies to our situation. The “in danger of death” law provides the means for our sedevacantist clergy.

If home-aloners reject my explanation out of novelty or because it’s not a real danger of death scenario, then they would have to apply that same rule to St. Alphonsus Liguori for the same reasons. Then the argument turns against the Patron Saint of Confessors.

The Council of Trent declared, “For those who after baptism have fallen into sin, the Sacrament of Penance is as necessary unto salvation as is baptism itself for those who have not yet been regenerated” (Sess. XIV, c. 2).

We don’t wait until we’re in imminent danger of death for the Sacrament of Penance. We are not living in ordinary times with ordinary circumstances. We have no recourse to ordinary channels of priests with ordinary and delegated jurisdiction. Yet, we have priests and bishops all around us. There’s a law that lacks an express prescription, which is considered by our theologians and canonists to work for the current situation.

Getting back to the problem with home-aloners, I have a question to ponder:

Is it possible for the Church to unintentionally prohibit the administration of all the sacraments to the whole Church except Baptism and Marriage for a day, a year, 50 years, or indefinitely?

The home-alone position must submit that the Church is withholding and prohibiting the sacraments to the whole Church unintentionally, which is contrary to Christ’s mission of the Church. The Church’s mission can’t become counter-missionary to itself. Would Christ place a time-bomb in the establishment of His Church?

It doesn’t say much for a loving Mother that hinders ALL HER children from living and dying as holy a life as possible to be saved.

Home-aloners necessarily hold that the entire Church is incapacitated and paralyzed from administering the sacraments. It would mean that Christ does not and has not provided the means for the administration of the sacraments to His whole Church. The mission of the Church has come to a screeching halt and the devil has thwarted God’s positive Will for His Church of accomplishing what it was sent out to do.

I submit the gates of hell have prevailed if our clergy are wrong for administering the sacraments. What good is a Church that has been totally incapacitated? It would mean the Church’s mission is effectively over and the devil has won. In my estimation, the home alone position is not just impossible, it’s anti-Catholic.

This all leads to my two final arguments.

Before the great apostasy, there were opinions permitted to be held, which post-apostasy circumstances prove to be false opinions. One such false opinion held by the majority of theologians and canonists is the universal acceptance of the Church guarantees a true pope. At least 5 theologians and canonists disagreed with this opinion and were proven right by the circumstances of the great apostasy. This is one reason why listing a collection of theological opinions proves nothing.

So too, the circumstances of the great apostasy prove that the home-alone opinion of supplied jurisdiction to be false by the mere fact that the Church can’t be counter-missionary to itself and be completely incapacitated to administer the sacraments as a whole. The Church has by Divine right to exist and carry on its mission of saving souls through the sacraments. That Divine right must exist somehow even if it can’t be shown explicitly.

Lastly is the argument of reason: If we consider both the home-alone position and the sedevacantist clergy position as sincere opinions, what are the pros and cons of each position from the viewpoint of being right or wrong?

If the home-aloners are correct and avoided sedevacantist clergy, they have gained nothing, but the fact they followed their conscience, which both sides do anyway. However, if they are wrong:

     1. They lose numerous graces from the sacraments they could have received.

     2. Their chance of losing their souls becomes greater.

     3. Their chance of gaining heaven becomes less.

     4. The probability of having a tougher purgatory becomes greater.

     5. They will not have lived and died in the greatest possible manner.

     6. They will not be as close to Jesus and Mary in life and in death.

     7. Their place in heaven may not reach the heights it could have been.

If our sedevacantist clergy are wrong, we have lost nothing. We died in good faith, but were mistaken. However, if we are right:

     1. We gained numerous graces from the sacraments.

     2. The chance of losing our souls decreases.

     3. The chance of gaining heaven increases.

     4. The probability of having a tough purgatory decreases.

     5. We will have lived and died as holy as possible with the sacraments.

     6. We will be closer to Jesus and Mary in life and in death.

     7. Our place in heaven becomes the highest it could possibly be, because of the sacraments.

The argument from reason demonstrates that the home-alone position gains nothing and stands to lose so much. Our position stands to lose nothing and gains everything. While this argument doesn’t prove which side is right, it does prove which opinion is better.

 

Footnotes:

[1] Rev. Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, pp. 340-341:

The Sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for the salvation of mankind. (De fide.)

As Christ instituted the Sacraments and bound them up with the communication of grace they are necessary to us for the achievement of salvation (necessitate medii), even if not all are necessary for each individual. The efficacious reception of a Sacrament can, in case of necessity, be replaced by the desire for the Sacrament (votum sacramenti) (hypothetical necessity).

The Council of Trent declared against the Reformers who, on the ground of their “sola fides” doctrine, contested the necessity of the Sacraments for salvation: Si quis dixerit sacramenta novae Legis non esse ad salutem necessaria, sed superflua, ct sine eis aut eorum voto per solam fidem homines a Deo gratiam iustificationis adipisci, licet omnia singulis necessaria non sint. A.S. D. 847. In the Middle Ages the necessity of the Sacraments was controverted by the Cathari.

The Sacraments are the means appointed by God for the attainment of eternal salvation. Three of them are in the ordinary way of salvation so necessary, that without their use salvation cannot be attained. Thus, for the individual person, Baptism is necessary in this way and after the commission of a grievous sin, Penance is equally necessary, while for the Church in general, the Sacrament of Holy Orders is necessary. The other Sacraments are necessary in so far as salvation cannot be so easily gained without them. Thus Confirmation is the completion of Baptism, and Extreme Unction is the completion of Penance, while Matrimony is the basis for the preservation of the Church Commonwealth, and the Eucharist is the end (finis) of all the Sacraments. C£ S. the III 6S, 3 and 4.

[2] Rev. Charles Augustine, A Commentary on the New Code of Canon Law, vol. IV, p. 286

[3] “A fundamental rule of jurisprudence is to put as broad as possible an interpretation on the words of a favorable law and to interpret unfavorable laws strictly (e.g., penal laws). (C. 19.)” Moral Theology, Fr. Heribert Jone, p. 23.

[4] Theologia Moralis, Liguori, Bk.6, no. 561, Q.2

[5] Summula theologiae moralis : Giuseppe d’ Annibale : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

[6] Commentaria in bullam S.D.N.D. Pauli Papae V lectam in die Coenae Domini … – Leonardo Duardo (C.R.) – Google Books

[7] https://archive.org/details/theologiamoralis02ligu_0/page/442/mode/2up

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When the Church and World are One

State Street in Chicago in 1903. Picture taken from McMahan Photo Art Gallery & Archive Website. 

The year is 1903. Horse and buggy is the main way of travel. The airplane was just invented in December and could barely fly 15 seconds over a distance of 200 feet. There are no televisions or radios. Electricity and indoor plumbing are extremely rare. Homes won’t have refrigeration for another 10 years. The city of Las Vegas won’t be established for another 2 years and Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma are only territories. The world has not seen the Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of Communism. It has not yet seen the two great World Wars. It has not seen the bomb. The rivers, lakes, and oceans are pristine, because there are no plastics and other modern contaminates to pollute the waters. Lastly, the Catholic Church is flourishing around the world and Pope St. Pius X was just elected Pope.

One would think times were pretty innocent and good, all things considering. Not so according to the newly elected pope and saint. He thought the world was going to hell in a hand-basket. He even suggested that we were entering the end of days.

Read carefully these words of Pope St. Pius X:

“We were terrified beyond all else by the disastrous state of human society today. For who can fail to see that society is at the present time, more than in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deep-rooted malady which, developing every day and eating into its inmost being, is dragging it to destruction? You understand, Venerable Brethren, what this disease is – apostasy from God, than which in truth nothing is more allied with ruin, according to the word of the Prophet: ‘For behold they that go far from Thee shall perish’ (Ps. 1xxii., 17). We saw therefore that, in virtue of the ministry of the Pontificate, which was to be entrusted to Us, We must hasten to find a remedy for this great evil, considering as addressed to Us that Divine command: ‘Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant’ (Jerem. i., 10). But, cognizant of Our weakness, We recoiled in terror from a task as urgent as it is arduous…

When all this is considered there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may be already in the world the ‘Son of Perdition’ of whom the Apostle speaks (II. Thess. ii., 3). Such, in truth, is the audacity and the wrath employed everywhere in persecuting religion, in combating the dogmas of the faith, in brazen effort to uproot and destroy all relations between man and the Divinity! While, on the other hand, and this according to the same apostle is the distinguishing mark of Antichrist, man has with infinite temerity put himself in the place of God, raising himself above all that is called God; in such wise that although he cannot utterly extinguish in himself all knowledge of God, he has contemned God’s majesty and, as it were, made of the universe a temple wherein he himself is to be adored. ‘He sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God’ (II. Thess. ii., 2).

Verily no one of sound mind can doubt the issue of this contest between man and the Most High. Man, abusing his liberty, can violate the right and the majesty of the Creator of the Universe; but the victory will ever be with God – nay, defeat is at hand at the moment when man, under the delusion of his triumph, rises up with most audacity. Of this we are assured in the holy books by God Himself…we must use every means and exert all our energy to bring about the utter disappearance of the enormous and detestable wickedness, so characteristic of our time – the substitution of man for God” (E Supremi).

We should ponder carefully the words of this holy pope and realize that if he saw how bad things were in 1903, what would he say today?

We’ve not seen a true pope in 64 years. We have a hard time figuring out how to explain the difficulty of the Church being virtually wiped off the face of the earth with all the offices vacant and no end in sight. What everybody thinks is the Catholic Church is nothing more than the greatest hypocritical organization of all time, which has been completely united to the world and its standards.

Abominations are viewed as ordinary and praiseworthy aspects of human life. Homosexuality is found as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. “Transgenderism” is everywhere. The Pentagon has recently estimated that over 14,000 military personal identify as transgender. [1] A highly decorated retired US Navy Seal has been identifying as a woman for the past 10 years and is praised for his transition by his fellow Seals. I believe these abominations have feminism as its root.

In 1909, Pope St. Pius X told French Politicians, “Women can never be man’s equal and cannot therefore enjoy equal rights.” [2] This biblical and Catholic teaching is utterly rejected by practically everyone, including traditional Catholics, who will defend voting “conservative” women into high public offices. Who condemns women working in Congress, as prime ministers, judges, police and military officers, etc.? This is one the greatest evils ever and it’s considered good and righteous by virtually everyone.

“Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).

Catholics are in complete denial of the gravity of our situation. Some Catholics have a delusional belief that we’re actually coming out of this mess as we spiral faster and faster to hell. These people don’t think the great falling away really exists except on paper. It’s something that will always exist in the future. According to Pope Pius XI, the heresies of Protestantism was the beginning of the great apostasy of mankind from the Church. 

Most of us are numb to the immorality in our society and deny they are immoralities at all. Catholics are as immodest as the rest of the world as they participate in the very evils the Church has always condemned. The Church is to be counter-cultural, yet you couldn’t distinguish a Catholic from the common heathen.

We all live and eat in luxury. Not even King Henry VIII lived as good as the average citizen. We complain about everything as we fill our belly’s in a climate controlled environment on nice furniture and in the softest clothing.

We have become so soft and pathetic. Never do we take up the Cross of Christ and accept suffering. Very few Catholics truly dispose themselves to imitate Jesus. We cast suffering aside and labor to be comfortable in all things. We care little for eternal truths, but ardently seek continual indulgence of its honors, riches, and pleasures of every kind. We contemn poverty, mortification, and the Cross of Christ. Most of us think we’re following Jesus although we exert much energy in self-love and no virtues.

How many of us “glory in tribulation knowing that tribulation worketh patience” (Rom. 5:3)?

“Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). Can we say that we truly do, when we can’t even go one night without having a nice supper?

St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “And they who are in the flesh, cannot please God…For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live…For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him” (Roman 8:8,13,16-17).

How many of us suffer with Him by imitating His life of meekness, humility, mortification, and submission to God’s Will in order that we may go to heaven?

Not even the scariest prophecies are as scary as the state of our world today. The great falling away is more devastating than any pope or prophet could have imaged.

I don’t know if the following prophecy by St. Antony of the Desert is authentic, but the accuracy is close.

“Men will surrender to the spirit of the age. They will say that if they had lived in our day, Faith would be simple and easy. But in their day, they will say, things are complex; the Church must be brought up to date and made meaningful to the day’s problems. When the Church and the world are one, then those days are at hand because our Divine Master placed a barrier between His things and the things of the world. A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, ‘You are mad, you are not like us”. [3]

My own Catholic brethren think I’m mad for posting “extremist” and unpopular ideas. Yet, they were commonplace when the world was Catholic. The false prophets of the world have steered Catholics away from Catholic thinking.

We’re more concerned about who’s conservative or liberal, democrat or republican. We care more about the latest ballgame winner or what celebrity is sleeping with who than with the four last things; death, judgment, hell, and heaven. The devil’s bread and circuses keep man aloof. His greatest lies are that most people go to heaven, sin is not that bad, and God is not that severe. 

“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved” (Matt. 24:11-13).

We’re in a living nightmare. It’s frightening to think just how many will perish for all eternity. Man is oblivious to his path of destruction. Catholics aren’t far from the rest of mankind.  

“But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth” (Apoc. 3:16).

Fr. Leo Haydock explains this Apocalypse verse in his biblical commentary, “A dreadful reprehension, whatever exposition we follow. According to the common interpretation, by the cold are meant those who are guilty of great sins; by the hot, such as are zealous and fervent in piety and the service of God; by the lukewarm or tepid, they who are slothful, negligent, indolent, as to what regards Christian perfection, the practice of virtue, and an exact observance of what regards the service of God. On this account they are many times guilty in the sight of God of great sins, they forfeit the favour and grace of God, fancying themselves good enough and safe, because they live as others commonly do, and are not guilty of many scandalous and shameful crimes, to which they see others addicted. 

The Church and world are one, because lukewarmness is universal.

 

 

Footnotes:

[1] 14700-Transgender-Troops-.pdf (palmcenter.org)

[2] NYT April 22, 1909

[3] [Disquisition CXIV] Quoted in Voice of Fatima, 23 January 1968

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The Fullness of Antichrist

An ancient coin with the image of Antiochus IV Epiphanes adorned with a fiery diadem.  The Greek inscription reads ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ (King Antiochus, God Manifest, Bearer of Victory). This Old Testament tyrant was an archetype of Antichrist. 

 

Those who follow my website know that I don’t go along to get along. I’ve taken a lot of heat criticizing well-respected bishops and priests for rejecting the 1955 Missal of Pope Pius XII. I take the very unpopular position that women are not permitted by God to hold public office. I don’t agree with St. Robert Bellarmine and most theologians that occult heretics are members of the Body of the Church. [1] I don’t believe a true pope can fall into heresy ever and I don’t hold the common opinion that universal and peaceful acceptance guarantees a true pope.

I reject the Three Days of Darkness prophecy and I’m generally skeptical of apparitions and so-called miracles, exceptions would be Lourdes and Fatima. 

Truth is what matters. It brought me out of the Vatican 2 religion and keeps in the Catholic Church. 

With that being said, the following study on Antichrist is a position that I’ve held for many years. It is my own personal belief only and I’m offering it as an argument against the common opinion of almost every saint and theologian.

When we talk about Antichrist, we generally think of the last days. When and how the end of time will occur is a fascinating question. Even the Apostles’ asked Jesus, “Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world” (Matt. 24:3)?

The Holy Scriptures and the Roman Catechism describe what must take place before the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel will first be preached throughout the whole world (Matt. 24:14, Mark 13:10) followed by a great apostasy and the rise of Antichrist (II Thess. 2:3).

St. John warns: 18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last hour.

Notice the last hour begins with Christ, not at the end of the world. St. John continues:

22 Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denieth the Father, and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. He that confesseth the Son, hath the Father also” (I John 2:18-23)….

“And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God: and this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he cometh, and he is now already in the world. 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome him. Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore of the world they speak, and the world heareth them” (I John 4:3-5).

St. John seems to speak about Antichrist as a singular person and as a collective of men by saying it’s every spirit that makes Antichrist.

The Church has spoken very little of Antichrist. I could only find a few references. None of them say that Antichrist is one person. Most saints and theologians have concluded that Antichrist is one final individual, who stands apart from all the antichrists of history. Fr. Denis Fahey says that it is “certain” that Antichrist will be one man. Cardinal Manning also spoke of the forerunners of Antichrist. He explains how Antichrist reigns as a king and leader of the world.

Cornelius À Lapide explains in his commentary: And now already he [Antichrist] is in the world, not in person, but in spirit; that is to say, in his forerunners. This is what Paul says, “The mystery of iniquity doth already work.” (2 Thess. ii. 7.)

Lapide also explains First John 4:5 that “they” who are of the world are heretics. [2] However, St. John doesn’t refer to just heretics but everyone that desolveth Jesus. Therefore, when Antichrist speaks, the world heareth them.

Cornelius À Lapide says Antichrist is not already in the world “in person, but in spirit.” Haydock’s biblical commentary says the same, “Not in his person, but in his spirit and in his precursors.”

Perhaps, it’s more accurate to say Antichrist had not come in his fullness in St. John’s time. Why can’t all the false christs make up Antichrist? This meaning actually fits what St. John says, “every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God: and this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he cometh, and he is now already in the world.” 

Antichrist is coming and he’s here already. In this understanding, Antichrist in St. John’s day didn’t have all the power given to him by Satan. According to St. John in the Apocalypse, this happens when Satan is released from hell. [3]

St. Augustine speculated that Antichrist was a “mass of men” or the “Roman Empire,” based on the common opinions of his day. [4]

The Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. references St. John to demonstrate that every heretic makes up Antichrist. [5]

The belief that Antichrist is one final individual man comes from an interpretation of St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians chapter 2. This restrictive interpretation doesn’t square well with St. John and particularly the teaching of Pope St. Pius X. I offer the following alternative interpretation. Here’s what St. Paul wrote:

“3 Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,

4 Who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. 5 Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way.

8 And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth; and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, him, 9 Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders. 10 And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish: Because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe a lie” (II Thess. 2:3-10).

In verses 3 and 8, St. Paul says “the man of sin,” and “the son of perdition,” is the same as the “wicked one” who shall be revealed.

The son of perdition is Judas (John 17:12). However, Judas is already dead. We don’t believe in reincarnation because St. Paul condemns it in Hebrews 9:27. Therefore, St. Paul must be referring to the spirit of Judas, which is betrayal.

If St. John can mean “in spirit” when referring to Antichrist being in the world in his day, why can’t St. Paul be referring to a spirit of Judas in “son of perdition?”

We see the same types of allusions elsewhere in Scripture. The “woman” in the Apocalypse can be understood as the Blessed Virgin Mary and/or the Church. The “woman” is not necessarily just one person.

Another allusion is with Our Lord speaking about John the Baptist. Jesus says, “But I say to you, that Elias is already come, and they knew him not” (Matt. 17:12). It wasn’t literally but mystically Elias or the spirit of Elias.  The angel Gabriel had foretold to his father Zacharias, in St. Luke: “And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Lk 1:17).

The spirit of Judas is the spirit of betrayal because Christ shed his blood for the whole world, but man will betray Christ for what He did for them.

A mass of men as Antichrist is supported by Pope St. Pius X’s pivotal teaching in E Supremi, (On the Restoration of All Things in Christ), Oct. 4, 1903:

5. When all this is considered there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may be already in the world the “Son of Perdition” of whom the Apostle speaks (II. Thess. ii., 3). Such, in truth, is the audacity and the wrath employed everywhere in persecuting religion, in combating the dogmas of the faith, in brazen effort to uproot and destroy all relations between man and the Divinity! While, on the other hand, and this according to the same apostle is the distinguishing mark of Antichrist, man has with infinite temerity put himself in the place of God, raising himself above all that is called God; in such wise that although he cannot utterly extinguish in himself all knowledge of God, he has contemned God’s majesty and, as it were, made of the universe a temple wherein he himself is to be adored. “He sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God” (II. Thess. Ii., 2).

Pope St. Pius X declared that man does what the son of perdition (Antichrist) does in the verse that has been widely interpreted as a single person. If man does what Antichrist does, why look to Antichrist as their god if they have already made themselves as God? What’s the purpose of Antichrist? It only makes sense if Antichrist is a mass of men.

There are other reasons to believe that Antichrist is not one individual.

Consider the fact that most people don’t worship God. Yet, we are to believe the whole world (except the elect) will worship one person as their Savior and God. This is extremely far-fetched.

It’s well-known that Christians hold the belief in a final Antichrist. There are plenty of movies and books out there on the subject. If one man were to come on the scene and do super wonders and claim to be Christ, everyone will know that this is the guy to avoid. Don’t worship him, he’s bad news.

People aren’t that stupid. They’re not going to fall for one man being the Savior and God of the world. However, the world of men worshipping themselves as God is more plausible. In fact, it’s already happening and Pope St. Pius X was seeing it in his day.

Every person who makes himself the final arbiter of truth has made himself god. When men decide over and against the Word of God and the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church, they have made themselves the final arbiter of truth. The Christ they claim is not the Christ that is.

Not only is this played out in every non-Catholic religion, but it’s found in the world in general. God has given us the power to share in His creation, but man has taken it upon himself how he will apply and use it. The Natural Law is rejected and replaced for man’s wishes and desires. Artificial contraception is used in order that man can have only the pleasure of the procreative act without God’s intention for it. When the procreative act is procreative, man destroys the life. He has been waging a massive war against the unborn in order that he may be free to live as he wants. Hundreds of millions of babies have been murdered in the name of the rights of man. Now man decides his gender and attempts to change it through chemicals and medical procedures. Man looks to himself and worships.

Jesus didn’t get the whole world to worship Him with all of His signs and miracles but Antichrist does? Men today have seen the great illusionists as Harry Houdini and others. Fantastic wonders would be written off as great illusions. But man has generated fantastic and lying wonders through technology and medicine.  

Men generally hate powerful individuals. They don’t worship them, they despise them. Who’s going to make everybody wonder and be happy when everybody is so diverse in thinking?

Men today are more likely to attribute some powerful fantastic miracle worker as an alien from outer space, but not god to be worshipped.

A single individual Antichrist would be a far more likely scenario in every century before the 20^th century. Man depended on God to make it through life. But man is so technologically advanced today, that he only relies on himself to make it through life.

It would also seem that one man can’t do what Christ couldn’t, especially in a time where people today are more skeptical than ever. Therefore, it must be a collective or unit of men that makes Antichrist. Jesus taught, “He that is not with me, is against me” (Matt. 12:30). We either accept the works of Christ or we take the Mark of the Beast.

Therefore, I think the coming of Antichrist is reference to his fullness thereof. Antichrist has always been in the world to some extent, but his full power doesn’t come until Satan is released to give him that power for the final epic battle of time.

Antichrist in his fullness will be revealed by “power, and signs, and lying wonders.”

Look what man has done in the last 100 years. Man has gone from electricity and the industrial revolution to things he absolutely has no business messing with. He has harnessed nuclear power that can destroy the world a dozen times over. He can manipulate the weather.

Christ once made a great storm cease at the sound of His Voice. Now, man can create the storm.

Man has reached the highest heavens to the lowest depths. He has developed special effects technology such as 3-dimentional holograms and computer generated imagery. Both are so life-like, that it’s difficult to tell what’s real and what’s not. These holograms can even be transmitted from space.

He can do heart transplants and heal many sicknesses. He has cloned animals, plants and himself. He uses Petri dishes and test tubes to help make babies. He has genetically modified most of the foods we eat, and has even genetically modified himself. He uses animals to harvest human organs for transplants. If he’s not already been successful, he’s trying to mix humans with animals to make hybrid creatures. 

Lastly, he puts out false miracles as the Pharaoh’s magicians who were able to replicate the first four of Moses’ miracles. These false miracles were used to keep Pharaoh in his false religion and doubt God. False miracles today, keep people bound in their false religion. The false miracles of Antichrist will be preeminent to those of Pharaoh’s time. If Pharaoh’s magicians could change water into blood, fake priests could make “Eucharistic” hosts bleed.

What greater “power, and signs, and lying wonders,” can there be that man is doing now?

There’s also the power of numbers. A powerful navy in the 1500’s was one of many warships and sailors. Today, one person doesn’t rule the world but rather organizations of powerful people with all the money.

We are at point where we can’t tell who’s telling the truth about anything. Governments and their propaganda media tell you what they want you to know. Medical doctors are diametrically opposed with one another on basic medicine and medical procedures. Lawyers and judges are unjust as hell. Police will oppress the people on the order of their bosses. The military will wage war and kill innocent people out of obedience to senile, ignorant, power hungry, narcissistic, and evil politicians. The bankers always win in the end.

St. John tells us several times that Antichrist will wage a war against the Faithful and overcome them.

“7 And it [the Beast] was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. And power was given him over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth adored him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, which was slain from the beginning of the world” (Apoc. 13:7-8). See also Apoc. 11:7, 12:17, and 19:19.

Antichrist has already overcome. There are no more Christian nations left on earth. [6] The forest of false religions has hidden the true Church making religion look ridiculous. We are at the mercy of the godless rulers who control the government, currency, food, military, law enforcement, and even religion. There’s no where to take refuge but the Hearts of Our Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Christ never said anything about one individual being Antichrist at the end of time. Rather, Jesus tells us, “many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many” (Matt. 24:11). “For there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to you, beforehand” (Matt. 24:24-25).

Why not mention this great individual Antichrist if he were to come? It would seem that one of the great deceptions of Antichrist is that he is unrecognizable. Perhaps everybody will be looking for one man and not see that he’s many.

On the one hand, Our Lord tells us, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor will be” (Matthew 24:21, Mark 13:19).

We have seen the last Catholic nations dissolved after having great power and glory. We have seen the Church practically wiped off the face of the earth after having the Real Presence of Our Lord on every altar around the world. The fear of the Lord is practically absent in every man except the elect reduced down to a remnant. The loss of grace is immense. Jesus tells us, “But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13). He was only speaking to those who have the Faith and to maintain it through the tribulation.

On the other hand, Our Lord tells us, “38 For, as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark, 39 And they did not understand until the flood came and swept them all away; even so will be the coming of the Son of Man”(Matthew 24:38-39).

“26 And as it came to pass in the days of Noe, even so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noe entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, as it came to pass in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, they were buying and selling, they were planting and building; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 In the same wise will it be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17: 26-30).

It appears that the tribulation will only be felt by the faithful Catholics. The rest of the world won’t notice a thing. It will continue down the path of destruction to the fire of hell.

If it’s true that Antichrist is a collective of men, then the world won’t see him, and he will be missed.

Two of the last three things have come to pass, the gospel has been preached to every nation and the great falling away from the Faith is now. Who and where is Antichrist?

St. Paul warned, “That you be not easily moved from your sense, nor be terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed” (II Thess. 2:2-3). Does this mean when the revolt and Antichrist is revealed, we should be terrified as if the day of the Lord were at hand? Should we even know when such a time comes?

Jesus told us, 29. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved. 30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty” (Matt. 24:29-30). “But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand” (Luke 21:28).

According to the previous verses, the tribulation contains the great apostasy and Antichrist’s deception of the world. If we aren’t living during this tribulation now, then how much worse can it be in light of Matt. 24:38-39 and Luke 17:26-30 and what difference would some future Antichrist really make?

For further reading on the subject which includes the identity of the false prophet, the two witnesses, the abomination of desolation, etc., see my book: The Key to the Apocalypse (lulu.com).

 

 

Footnotes:

[1] When defining the Immaculate Conception, Pope Pius IX in Ineffabilis Deus declared: Hence, if anyone shall dare — which God forbid! — to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he has separated from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the penalties established by law if he should are to express in words or writing or by any other outward means the errors he think in his heart.

Pope Pius IX makes the distinction of thinking and publicly expressing what he thinks. Thinking otherwise is occult until manifesting his thinking outwardly. Notice that thinking otherwise and he has separated from the unity of the Church. This is clearly talking about occult heresy, because he goes on with penalties for those who manifest their thinking.

Several respected theologians held that occult heretics are not members of the Church.  

[2] 5. They are of the world, &c. For heretics are not of God but of the world, because they love the riches, honours, and pleasures of the world. Whence worldly people, who care only for what is of the world, gladly hear them. “A heretic,” says S. Augustine (de util. credendi), “is he who for the sake of some temporal advantage, but especially of glory, and the pre-eminence which it gives, either brings forth or follows new and false opinions.” “All heretics,” says Tertullian, “are puffed up, all make profession of science.” “What heretic,” says S. Jerome, “does not swell with pride?” And again, S. Augustine says, “One mother, pride, hath brought forth all heresies, even as our own mother, the Catholic Church, all faithful Christians dispersed throughout the world.” Cornelius À Lapide – The Great Biblical Commentary – I John 4:5

[3] Satan, Antichrist, and ST. MICHAEL | Speray’s Catholicism in a Nutshell (wordpress.com)

[4] Augustine speculated that Antichrist was a mass of men or the Roman Empire by stating, “some think” and “others think.” CHURCH FATHERS: City of God, Book XX (St. Augustine) (newadvent.org)

[5] “This Eutyches must be judged to be extremely destitute of this mystery of the faith. Neither the humility of the mortal life nor the glory of the resurrection has made him recognise our nature in the only-begotten of God. Nor has even the statement of the blessed apostle and evangelist John put fear into him: Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is from God, and every spirit which puts Jesus asunder is not from God, and this is Antichrist.” The Council of Chalcedon – 451 A.D. – Papal Encyclicals

[6] Dignitatis Humanae of Vatican 2 declared: “The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself. (2) This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right.” This religious freedom included, “In addition, religious communities are entitled to teach and give witness to their faith publicly in speech and writing without hindrance.” (DH #4) Vatican 2 is clear that religious liberty is a human right that not even the Church can prohibit. It declared that this “right” be made into constitutional law. The results were dissolving the last Catholic Nations and Catholic Constitutions around the world. The Catholic State is being declared by the Second Vatican Council as a violation of the rights of man. Countries, such as Spain and Colombia, were forced to give up their Catholic constitutions and follow this document.

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Vatican 2’s Protestant Understanding of Unity

Lutherans, Anglicans and Methodists say the Apostles Creed claiming the church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.

Contrary to Catholicism’s definition, oneness or unity simply means the Church made up by believers across denominational lines are united to Christ. There is no formal unity. It doesn’t require a unity of faith in all doctrine, but a merely an acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior with some basic beliefs surrounding Christianity. There’s no definition as to what constitutes what beliefs are necessary. However, if there was a denial of hell, Christ’s divinity, or Trinity, you may not be considered by these particular Protestants as Christians united to Christ.

Vatican 2 redefined the nature of the Church by promulgating this Protestant understanding. The Vatican 2 religion through its popes promote this Protestant understanding in decrees, letters, addresses, and other documents, such as the Balamand Statement and the Joint Declaration with Lutherans.

In Lumen Gentium, Vatican 2 declared:

     “This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic…”

According to same Vatican 2 religion, this Church of Christ is also formally divided and not unified in faith.

In Unitatis Redintegratio, Vatican 2 declared:

     4. “Nevertheless, the divisions among Christians prevent the Church from realizing in practice the fullness of Catholicity proper to her, in those of her sons and daughters who, though attached to her by baptism, are yet separated from full communion with her.  Furthermore, the Church herself finds it more difficult to express in actual life her full Catholicity in all its bearings.”

This statement makes no sense unless Vatican 2 is saying the Eastern Orthodox and Protestants and their false religions make up the Church of Christ. However, the Vatican 2 popes have removed all doubt that this, indeed, is what Vatican 2 means:

In 1972, Paul VI addressed the newly elected Patriarch of Constantinople a telegram saying: “At the moment when you assume a heavy charge in the service of the Church of Christ…” (L’Osservatore Romano, July 27, 1972, p. 12)

In a 2006 Joint Declaration with the Eastern Orthodox, Benedict XVI referred to Patriarch Bartholomew and himself “as Pastors in the Church of Christ.” (www.zenit.org, Zenit news report, Nov. 30, 2006)

The following year in the Common Declaration with the Eastern Orthodox, Benedict XVI referred to Archbishop Chrysostomos II and himself “as Pastors in the Church.”

That same year Benedict XVI’s told the Eastern Orthodox Romanian Patriarchate: “I also wish to express my earnest good wishes for you and your brother Bishops as you guide the Church in this time of transition.”

In a Jan. 22, 2013 L’Osservatore Romano article titled: The divisions among Christians disfigure the face of the Church, it was written that Benedict XVI said, “One of the gravest sins ‘that disfigure the Church’s face’ is the sin ‘against her visible unity’.”

On May 25, 1995, John Paul II, in Ut Unum Sint, n. 59, approved the 1993 Balamand declaration, which declared:

     14. It is in this perspective that the Catholic Churches and the Orthodox Churches recognize each other as Sister Churches, responsible together for maintaining the Church of God in fidelity to the divine purpose, most especially in what concerns unity. According to the words of Pope John Paul II, the ecumenical endeavour of the Sister Churches of East and West, grounded in dialogue and prayer, is the search for perfect and total communion which is neither absorption nor fusion but a meeting in truth and love (cf. Slavorum Apostoli, n. 27).

According to this statement, the visible Church of God is divided and the Eastern Orthodox churches form the one Church of God.

The Nov. 1, 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification  by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church states:

     44. We give thanks to the Lord for this decisive step forward on the way to overcoming the division of the church. We ask the Holy Spirit to lead us further toward that visible unity which is Christ’s will.

Again, we see the rejection of the dogma on the visible unity of the Church and the heresy that Lutherans are part of the Body of Christ the Church. John Paul II approved and blessed the Joint Declaration.

The Vatican 2 religion and popes hold the Protestant-style oneness doctrine opposed to the Catholic definition.

The Catholic doctrine of oneness is so foundational, deviation from it amounts to an avalanche of heresies. The Trinity is one, Christ is one with His Body, and the Church must be one in faith. If it were divided in faith, Christ would be divided with truth, Christ’s prayer for unity would be a failure, the true Church couldn’t be identified because it would not truly exist, the Catholic definition would be false, Scripture and particular I Tim. 3:15 would be a lie, thus making the gates of hell the prevailer of the Church and ultimately proving Christianity a false religion.

The Church is one in faith or else Christ is not Lord.

What I find astounding is how pseudo-traditionalist “Catholics” hold to the same heretical principle of oneness as Vatican 2 and Protestantism. They claim to hold the oneness dogma, while outwardly being divided in faith with Vatican 2 and their pope. What blindness! 

For further reading see That They May Be One (Ut Unum Sint) 

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35 Proofs of Protestantism in the Vatican 2 Religion

Protestantism originated with ex-Catholic monk Martin Luther, who protested against Catholicism. He didn’t completely reject all the doctrines of Catholicism, but he did reject some of them.

Protestantism rapidly expanded into splinter groups and has since moved much further left in doctrine and practice than when Luther first broke away. It eventually led to the French Revolution to the Bolshevik Revolution. Its final end is Antichrist and the worship of self. Man becomes the final arbiter of truth.

Pope Pius XI declared on Jan. 26, 1923:

Like those brilliant examples of Christian perfection and wisdom to whom We have just referred, he seemed to have been sent especially by God to contend against the heresies begotten by the Reformation. It is in these heresies that we discover the beginnings of that apostasy of mankind from the Church, the sad and disastrous effects of which are deplored, even to the present hour, by every fair mind. (Rerum Omnium Perturbationem – St. Francis De Sales)

If Protestantism is the beginning of the great apostasy foretold in Scripture, then the culmination of it is the Vatican praising, promoting, and promulgating Protestantism, which has ultimately led the Vatican into supporting Communism, Earth Worship, and Satanism.

When we Catholics denounce the Vatican 2 popes and religion as being not Catholic, we get accused of being Protestant by those of the Vatican 2 religion that support Protestantism and its disastrous effects.

The following 35 bullet points are a small example of the Protestantism in the Vatican 2 religion.

THE PRAISING OF PROTESTANTISM AND ITS FOUNDER

1. The Vatican’s Veneration of Arch-Heretic Martin Luther with a statue of him in the Vatican. [1] 

2. The Vatican released a stamp in honor of Martin Luther on the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Revolt on Oct. 31, 2017. [2]

3. In 1983, John Paul II went to the Lutheran church in Rome for the 500^th anniversary of Luther’s birth in his honor. [3]

4. On March 14, 2010, in the same Lutheran church in Rome, Benedict XVI preached on the anniversary of the joint declaration on justification with Luther’s heresy. [4]

5. On September 23, 2011, Benedict XVI presented Martin Luther as model for Catholics when he met with the Lutheran council in Erfurt, Germany, celebrated an ecumenical service in the chapel of the Lutheran monastery of St. Augustine, bowed towards their empty altar, and prayed alongside a woman bishop. [5]

6. Vatican claims Catholics can now recognize Martin Luther as a “Witness to the Gospel.” [6]

7. Francis celebrated the Protestant Revolt with the Lutherans in Sweden in 2016. [7]

8. My local priest told us that when he was in the novus ordo seminary, there was talk about canonizing Martin Luther. Tradition in Action asked the question: Will Luther Be the Next Canonized Saint? by Atila Sinke Guimaraes (traditioninaction.org)

THE PROMOTION OF PROTESTANT WORSHIP AND IMITATING IT

9. The Novus Ordo Missae (new mass) promulgated by Paul VI was concocted by 6 Protestants, which resembles both Luther’s and Cramner’s services. [8] Paul VI publicly thanked them for their assistance in re-editing in a new manner liturgical texts … so that the lex orandi (the law of prayer) conformed better with the lex credendi (the law of belief). [9]

10. In the Novus Ordo Missae, as in the Lutheran service, the words of Consecration – the very heart of the Traditional Rite – are now part of what is called the “Institution Narrative,” an expression not found in the traditional Missals of the Church. This change makes the priest a narrator rather than another Christ who acts “in the Person of Christ” when consecrating the bread and wine for a valid Eucharist.

11. In the new rite of Holy Orders, which is the sacrament of the priesthood, Paul VI changed the form to mirror the invalid Anglican orders. Thus the new rite of Paul VI is at best a doubtful sacrament making novus ordo bishops and priests doubtful. [10]

12. John Paul II allowed the creation of the Anglican Use form of the Latin Rite, which incorporates the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. 

13. On October 4, 2003 at the Vatican, John Paul II kisses the hand of Rowan Williams (traditioninaction.org) head of the Anglican sect and recognizing the fake bishop and apostate religion.

14. We see the John Paul II, Bendict XVI, and Francis promoting Protestant worship and other false religious worship in THE DIABOLICAL ASSISI EVENTS.

15. Benedict XVI declared: “It is our fervent hope that the Anglican Communion will remain grounded in the Gospels and the Apostolic Tradition which form our common patrimony… The world needs our witness… May the Lord continue to bless you and your family, and may he strengthen you in your ministry to the Anglican Communion!” (L’Osservatore Romano, Nov. 29, 2006, p. 6, Benedict XVI, Address to Anglican “Archbishop of Canterbury,” on Nov. 23, 2006)

16. When addressing Protestants at World Youth Day, on August 19, 2005, Benedict XVI stated: “And we now ask: What does it mean to restore the unity of all Christians?… this unity does not mean what could be called ecumenism of the return: that is, to deny and to reject one’s own faith history. Absolutely not!” (L’Osservatore Romano, August 24, 2005, p. 8)

17. “It means that the Catholic does not insist on the dissolution of the Protestant confessions and the demolishing of their churches but hopes, rather, that they will be strengthened in their confessions and in their ecclesial reality.” (Ratzinger, Principles of Catholic Theology, 1982, p. 202)

18. When the Pastor couldn’t make it: Francis reveals he once led a Lutheran Service

19. “Pope” Francis says he used to Preach at Presbyterian Church in Buenos Aires

20. Francis’ Double Standard: Traditional Latin Mass forbidden, Anglican Service is fine

21. Profanation in Rome: Anglican Liturgy celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica

22. Francis: Lutherans are “Members of one and the same Mystical Body of Christ” as Catholics

23 More “Papal” Heresy: Francis the Lutheran denies Catholic Dogma on Merit

24. Francis: “I like the Lutherans who follow the True Faith of Jesus Christ”

25. On May 9, 2015, at the Vatican, Francis receives a blessing from about 100 Protestant Pentecostal ministers from around the world. [11]

26. Francis Receives “Blessing” from Archlayman of Canterbury

THE PROMULGATION OF PROTESTANT HERESIES AS CATHOLIC DOCTRINE

27. Benedict XVI professed a Protestant understanding of the atonement in his book “Jesus of Nazereth” who quotes a majority of Protestant theologians as supporting cast. [12]

28. Francis drops another Heresy Bomb: “Friendship with Jesus cannot be broken”

29. “My Brother Bishop” — Francis Greets Anglican-Pentecostal Heretic

30. Invalid Resignation or Invalid Election? Benedict XVI’s Denial of the Dogma of Papal Primacy

31. The Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches

32. Francis denounces Apologetics, Seeking Conversion of Protestants

33. On religious liberty, Vatican 2 declared: “The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself. (2) This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right.” Yet, in the Bull Exsurge Domine, June 15, 1520 by Pope Leo X, #33, condemned Luther for saying that it’s against the Spirit to burn a heretic. Vatican 2 actually sides with Luther against Pope Leo X’s condemnation. It would be against the Spirit to burn a heretic if man has a God-given civil right to religious liberty because of the dignity of the human person. The last 2 Catholic constitutions left in the world were dissolved after Vatican 2’s declaration. [13]

34. On the four marks of the Church, Vatican 2 redefined the nature of the Church and declared the Protestant understanding of One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. [14]

35. The Vatican declared that Protestant religions, such as Lutheranism, make up the Church of Christ. Thus, Protestantism makes up the Ark of Salvation. [15]

 

Footnotes

[1] The Vatican’s Veneration of Arch-Heretic Martin Luther

[2] Vatican releases Postage Stamp honoring Martin Luther – Novus Ordo Watch

[3] Luther: No, Absolutely No – Plinio Correa de Oliveira (traditioninaction.org)

POPE PRAISES LUTHER IN AN APPEAL FOR UNITY ON PROTEST ANNIVERSARY – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

[4] Benedict XVI at the Evangelical Lutheran church in Rome (traditioninaction.org)

[5] In Erfurt Benedict presents Luther as a model for Catholics (traditioninaction.org)

[6] Vatican: Catholics can now recognize Martin Luther as a “Witness to the Gospel” – Novus Ordo Watch

[7] Francis celebrates Reformation with Lutherans in Sweden: Full Coverage – Novus Ordo Watch

[8] Pope Paul VI poses with the six Protestants who helped to write the Novus Ordo Mass – New Mass @ TraditionInAction.org

[9] (Fr. Rama Coomaraswamy, The Problems with the New Mass, TAN Books p. 24)

[10] Why Catholics Can’t Accept the New Rite of Holy Orders for Priests and Bishops

[11] Pope receives ‘blessing’ from Protestants ministers (traditioninaction.org)

[12] Dr. Robert Sungenis’ Recent Review of Benedict XVI’s “Jesus of Nazareth” | Speray’s Catholicism in a Nutshell (wordpress.com)

[13] Religious Liberty and the Dignity of the Human Person

[14] Why Sedevacantism? And Missing the Marks: The Church of Vatican 2

[15] That They May Be One (Ut Unum Sint)

 

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Pseudo-Traditionalists – Rejecting I Tim. 3:15

Since the Protestant Revolt, a particular Scripture verse has been used to counter the Protestant sola scriptura argument. Nowadays, this same verse is rejected by the pseudo-traditionalists in union with the Vatican 2 popes.

St. Paul to St. Timothy:

But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (I Tim. 3:15).

Fr. Leo Haydock writes in his commentary: Ver. 15. By the promises of Christ to direct his Church by the infallible spirit of truth; (see John xvi. 7. Mat. xxviii. 20. &c. Wi.) and therefore, the Church of the living God can never uphold error, nor bring in corruptions, superstition, or idolatry. Ch. — That the Church, the pillar and ground of truth, is to be conducted by the constant superintendence and guidance of the Holy Spirit into all truth to the consummation of days, every one whose mind is not strangely prejudiced may easily discover in various places of the inspired writings.

Yet, pseudo-traditionalists argue that the Catholic Church upholds error and brings in corruptions of all types.

The Remnant Newspaper  published an article by Robert Siscoe arguing that Pope Celestine III taught heresy by law.

Tradition in Action devotes most of its website denouncing the errors of Vatican 2, its popes, and the new mass.

Christopher Ferrara’s “Great Facade” attacks Vatican 2, its popes, and the new mass as novelty that contradicts past teaching.  

The Catholic Family News writes about resisting the errors of Vatican 2, its popes, and the new mass.

Archbishop Viganò criticizes Vatican 2 as erroneous, leading Catholics into schism, and creating a false church alongside the true Church.  He, also, says a pope can be a heretic.

The list goes on and on, but this can only mean these pseudo-traditionalists believe the Church is not the pillar and foundation of truth.

For every error they claim comes from the Church, an equal and opposite error is professed by them. For example, when they claim the Vatican 2 teaching on religious liberty is false or the new mass is harmful, it necessarily means the Church is the source of corruption and error, which is itself heresy and contrary to First Timothy 3:15.

If, however, they deny these things came from the Church, but only from a Vatican 2 pope, it necessarily means the First Vatican Council’s definition of the pope is false; another pseudo-traditionalist heresy.

It’s impossible for one to say the Catholic Church or pope promulgates error and heresy without himself disseminating error and heresy. Pseudo-traditionalists are as equally erroneous and heretical as their pope and religion.

“In the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” there’s no need to attack, resist, or criticize councils, papal teaching, and liturgies. 

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