Consequences of Vatican II
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The Strange Papacy of Pope Francis – Part I
The Question of Islam
The Strange Papacy of Pope Francis – Part I Alexandre de Sainte Marie - France Introduction
As a Catholic, to see myself obliged in good conscience to express criticism concerning the Pope constitutes an immense pain, it is truly heartbreaking. I would gladly pass on writing this type of article and would be much happier if things were otherwise.
Unfortunately, it so happens that Francis, after about one year and a half into his pontificate, unquestionably has made uncountable atypical actions and said innumerable things that are troubling at the very least.
The facts are so abundant it is difficult to choose examples, as it is obviously impossible for me to address all of them in the necessarily restrained space of this series. At the same time, it is not easy to choose just a few, since they all have a symbolic aspect that makes them implausible to the attentive observer and symptomatic of an ecclesial crisis without precedence in history.
After careful consideration, I selected five topics that seem to me the most representative of the style that Francis has visibly decided to give the exercise of his apostolic charge. These themes are Islam, Judaism, secularism, homosexuality and Freemasonry. I will develop them in that order, trying to show to what degree they indicate a disturbing anomaly in the exercise of the Papal Magisterium and ecclesial ministry and how they can be the object of a critique understood in the light of the previous Magisterium of the Church.
In the sixth and final part I will briefly present other actions and statements by Francis that will illustrate even more, if possible, the radical heterodoxy of the Bergoglian principles and praxis. To conclude, I will provide a series of links to articles where the reader can verify the accuracy of the facts presented in the body of this series.
I. The Question of Islam
On July 10, 2013, Francis sent greetings and a message of congratulations to the Muslims around the world for the end of Ramadan. The Catholic Church never did this before the Second Vatican Council. The reason is very simple and obvious for any Catholic who has not lost his sensus fidei: the acts of other religions have no supernatural value and they turn their followers away from the only path of salvation, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
How can we not shudder with horror when the Pontiff tells worshippers of Allah that “we are called to respect the religion of others, its teachings, its symbols and its values”?
It is impossible not to see the unbridgeable distance between this statement and what we are taught in the Acts of the Apostles or the Epistles of St. Paul. Indeed, we must respect people, but in no case must we respect false beliefs that deny the Holy Trinity of Divine Persons and the Incarnation of the Word of God. This is untenable in view of Church teaching and Divine Revelation.
On this specific point, we must acknowledge that Francis is not an innovator. Far from that - , he is only continuing the revolutionary line introduced by Vatican II.
The declaration Nostra aetate on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism) states that “the Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy (!!!) in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings …. The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration (!!!) with the followers of other religions, … they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men. ”
How can we “collaborate” with people who actively work to establish beliefs and often morals that are contrary to the Gospel? And how can we not see in this much-acclaimed “dialogue” a deep distortion of the only evangelical attitude, which is to proclaim to the world the Good News of Jesus Christ, who told us plainly our duty as disciples: “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go, and make disciples of 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.” (Matt. 28:18-20)
This notion of “dialogue” with other religions has no scriptural, patristic or magisterial foundation. It is nothing but a trap seeking to lead astray the true missionary spirit, which is to proclaim to men their salvation in Jesus Christ, and not in some utopian “dialogue” between equally placed interlocutors who seek truth together and reciprocally enrich each other.
This innovative conciliar ministry based on a “dialogue” written in a framework of “legitimate pluralism,” “respect” for false religions and “collaboration” with infidels is a trap laid by the perfidious enemy of mankind to neutralize the redemptive work of the Church.
On this note, it suffices to remember that the only instance of true “dialogue” that Scriptures relates to us – and that comes at the beginning so that we may be definitively warned – is the ”dialogue” that Eve entered into with the Serpent in the Garden of Eden and that led to the fall of mankind (Gen 3:1-6).
I could provide interminable a long list of citations from the New Testament, the Church Fathers and the Magisterium of the Church to refute the hoax that pretends that a “sincere respect” should be shown to false religions for their “ways of conduct and life,” as well as “their precepts and teachings.”
While the persons who unfortunately profess these false religions should of course be the object of our respect, charity and mercy, in no case do their false doctrines deserve respect because there is absolutely no element of “holiness” in them. Furthermore, the elements of truth that may exist in them are used in the service of error.
It must be recognized that Francis is perfectly consistent in his message with what the conciliar document says about Muslims, i.e., “The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in himself; merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees.“ (2).
Yet, however sincere in their beliefs and practices Muslims may be, it is absolutely false to say that they “adore the one God” “who has spoken to men,” and that they “take pains to submit themselves to God’s decrees,” etc., for the simple fact that “Allah” is not the true God, that God has not spoken to men through the Koran, and that God’s decrees are not those of Islam. Such language is unprecedented in the history of the Church and contradicts 2,000 years of her previous Magisterium and pastoral teaching.
This heterodox practice had led to the aberrations of the many interfaith meetings at Assisi, where members of different idolatrous “religions” were encouraged to pray to their “gods” for peace in the world. A false peace, of course, because it reviles the only Lord of Peace and Redeemer of mankind, as well as His Church, which is the only Ark of Salvation. It has also led to visits of recent Popes to mosques, synagogues and Protestant temples where, by action and word, they validated these false cults and publicly denigrated the Church of God by criticizing the “intolerant” attitude that she would have shown toward them in the past.
A recent example of this new poisonous, syncretistic, and relativist ecumenical mentality, solemnly condemned by Pius XI in his encyclical Mortalium animos in 1928, took place on January 19, 2014 on the occasion of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Francis spoke to a group of young refugees at the parish hall of Rome’s Sacred Heart Basilica, telling them that they should share their pain with one another, then added, “you who are Christian, [share] with the Bible, and you who are Muslim, with the Koran. The faith that your parents instilled in you will help you move forward” (3).
This new conciliar praxis is literally scandalous for two reasons: first, it undermines the faith of believers confronted by all these false religions validated by their pastors; second, it undermines any chance of converting those without faith, who are confirmed in their errors by the very people who should help them escape them by announcing to them the good news of salvation, brought by the One who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6).
To be continued
Benedict admits a new orientation based on the French Revolution entered the Church at the Council
The facts are so abundant it is difficult to choose examples, as it is obviously impossible for me to address all of them in the necessarily restrained space of this series. At the same time, it is not easy to choose just a few, since they all have a symbolic aspect that makes them implausible to the attentive observer and symptomatic of an ecclesial crisis without precedence in history.
After careful consideration, I selected five topics that seem to me the most representative of the style that Francis has visibly decided to give the exercise of his apostolic charge. These themes are Islam, Judaism, secularism, homosexuality and Freemasonry. I will develop them in that order, trying to show to what degree they indicate a disturbing anomaly in the exercise of the Papal Magisterium and ecclesial ministry and how they can be the object of a critique understood in the light of the previous Magisterium of the Church.
In the sixth and final part I will briefly present other actions and statements by Francis that will illustrate even more, if possible, the radical heterodoxy of the Bergoglian principles and praxis. To conclude, I will provide a series of links to articles where the reader can verify the accuracy of the facts presented in the body of this series.
I. The Question of Islam
On July 10, 2013, Francis sent greetings and a message of congratulations to the Muslims around the world for the end of Ramadan. The Catholic Church never did this before the Second Vatican Council. The reason is very simple and obvious for any Catholic who has not lost his sensus fidei: the acts of other religions have no supernatural value and they turn their followers away from the only path of salvation, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
How can we not shudder with horror when the Pontiff tells worshippers of Allah that “we are called to respect the religion of others, its teachings, its symbols and its values”?
Benedict admits a new orientation based on the French Revolution entered the Church at the Council
On this specific point, we must acknowledge that Francis is not an innovator. Far from that - , he is only continuing the revolutionary line introduced by Vatican II.
The declaration Nostra aetate on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism) states that “the Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy (!!!) in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings …. The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration (!!!) with the followers of other religions, … they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men. ”
How can we “collaborate” with people who actively work to establish beliefs and often morals that are contrary to the Gospel? And how can we not see in this much-acclaimed “dialogue” a deep distortion of the only evangelical attitude, which is to proclaim to the world the Good News of Jesus Christ, who told us plainly our duty as disciples: “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go, and make disciples of 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.” (Matt. 28:18-20)
This notion of “dialogue” with other religions has no scriptural, patristic or magisterial foundation. It is nothing but a trap seeking to lead astray the true missionary spirit, which is to proclaim to men their salvation in Jesus Christ, and not in some utopian “dialogue” between equally placed interlocutors who seek truth together and reciprocally enrich each other.
Benedict admits a new orientation based on the French Revolution entered the Church at the Council
On this note, it suffices to remember that the only instance of true “dialogue” that Scriptures relates to us – and that comes at the beginning so that we may be definitively warned – is the ”dialogue” that Eve entered into with the Serpent in the Garden of Eden and that led to the fall of mankind (Gen 3:1-6).
I could provide interminable a long list of citations from the New Testament, the Church Fathers and the Magisterium of the Church to refute the hoax that pretends that a “sincere respect” should be shown to false religions for their “ways of conduct and life,” as well as “their precepts and teachings.”
While the persons who unfortunately profess these false religions should of course be the object of our respect, charity and mercy, in no case do their false doctrines deserve respect because there is absolutely no element of “holiness” in them. Furthermore, the elements of truth that may exist in them are used in the service of error.
It must be recognized that Francis is perfectly consistent in his message with what the conciliar document says about Muslims, i.e., “The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in himself; merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees.“ (2).
Yet, however sincere in their beliefs and practices Muslims may be, it is absolutely false to say that they “adore the one God” “who has spoken to men,” and that they “take pains to submit themselves to God’s decrees,” etc., for the simple fact that “Allah” is not the true God, that God has not spoken to men through the Koran, and that God’s decrees are not those of Islam. Such language is unprecedented in the history of the Church and contradicts 2,000 years of her previous Magisterium and pastoral teaching.
Benedict admits a new orientation based on the French Revolution entered the Church at the Council
A recent example of this new poisonous, syncretistic, and relativist ecumenical mentality, solemnly condemned by Pius XI in his encyclical Mortalium animos in 1928, took place on January 19, 2014 on the occasion of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Francis spoke to a group of young refugees at the parish hall of Rome’s Sacred Heart Basilica, telling them that they should share their pain with one another, then added, “you who are Christian, [share] with the Bible, and you who are Muslim, with the Koran. The faith that your parents instilled in you will help you move forward” (3).
This new conciliar praxis is literally scandalous for two reasons: first, it undermines the faith of believers confronted by all these false religions validated by their pastors; second, it undermines any chance of converting those without faith, who are confirmed in their errors by the very people who should help them escape them by announcing to them the good news of salvation, brought by the One who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6).
To be continued
- Nostra Aetate, §2,
- Ibid. §3
- Words from Pope Francis given at Sacred Heart parish in Rome, 19 January 2014
Posted August 29, 2014
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