A Tale of Two Benedicts and One Francis

by Thomas A. Droleskey

It was the best of times, the establishment of Western monasticism by Saint Benedict of Nursia.

It is the worst of times, signified by the apostasies and blasphemies and sacrileges of a false "pope" named Benedict XVI, from April 19, 2005, to February 28, 2013, and of one man who has blasphemous taken the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

This is thus a tale of two Benedicts and one Francis.

The first Benedict, who attended to the building up of Christendom, Saint Benedict of Nursia, loved the true God of Divine Revelation and hated even the symbols of false religions. His destruction of the idols in the Temple of Apollo on Monte Cassino, which angered the devil, was praised by Pope Saint Gregory the Great and Pope Pius XII, who quoted from the Pope Saint Gregory's biography of Saint Benedict in Fulgens Radiatur, March 21, 1947:

The castle called Cassino is situated upon the side of a high mountain which riseth in the air about three miles so that it seemed to touch the very heavens. On Monte Cassino stood an old temple where Apollo was worshiped by the foolish country people, according to the custom of the ancient heathen. Round about it, likewise grew groves, in which even until that time, the mad multitude of infidels offered their idolatrous sacrifices. The man of God, coming to that place, broke down the idol, overthrew the altar, burnt the groves and of the temple made a chapel of St. Martin; and where the profane altar had stood, he built a chapel of St. John and, by continual preaching converted many of the people thereabout.

But the old enemy, not bearing this silently, did present himself in the sight of the Father and with great cries complained of the violence he suffered, in so much that the brethren heard him, though they could see nothing. For, as the venerable Father told his disciples, the wicked fiend represented himself to his sight all on fire and, with flaming mouth and flashing eyes, seemed to rage against him. And they they all heard what he said, for first he called him by name, and when the make of God would make no answer, he fell to reviling him. And whereas before he cried, "Benedict, Benedict," and saw he could get no answer, then he cried, "Maledict, not Benedict, what hast thou to do with me, and why dost thou persecute me?" (Pope Saint Gregory the Great, The Life of Saint Benedict, republished by TAN Books and Publishers in 1995, pp. 24-25.)

Then it was that this holy man saw that the time, ordained by God's providence, had come for him to found a family of religious men and to mold them to the perfection of the Gospels. He began under most favorable auspices. "For in those parts he had gathered together a great many in the service of God, so that by the assistance of Our Lord Jesus Christ he built there 12 monasteries, in each of which he put 12 monks with their Superiors, and retained a few with himself whom he thought to instruct further".

But while things started very favorably, as We said, and yielded rich and salutary results, promising still greater in the future, Our saint with the greatest grief of soul, saw a storm breaking over the growing harvest, which an envious spirit had provoked and desires of earthly gain had stirred up. Since Benedict was prompted by divine and not human counsel, and feared lest the envy which had been aroused mainly against himself should wrongfully recoil on his followers, "he let envy take its course, and after he had disposed of the oratories and other buildings -- leaving in them a competent number of brethren with superiors -- he took with him a few monks and went to another place". Trusting in God and relying on His ever present help, he went south and arrived at a fort "called Cassino situated on the side of a high mountain . . .; on this stood an old temple where Apollo was worshipped by the foolish country people, according to the custom of the ancient heathens. Around it likewise grew groves, in which even till that time the mad multitude of infidels used to offer their idolatrous sacrifices. The man of God coming to that place broke the idol, overthrew the altar, burned the groves, and of the temple of Apollo made a chapel of St. Martin. Where the profane altar had stood he built a chapel of St. John; and by continual preaching he converted many of the people thereabout".

Cassino, as all know, was the chief dwelling place and the main theater of the Holy Patriarch's virtue and sanctity. From the summit of this mountain, while practically on all sides ignorance and the darkness of vice kept trying to overshadow and envelop everything, a new light shone, kindled by the teaching and civilization of old and further enriched by the precepts of Christianity; it illumined the wandering peoples and nations, recalled them to truth and directed them along the right path. Thus indeed it may be rightly asserted that the holy monastery built there was a haven and shelter of highest learning and of all the virtues, and in those very troubled times was, "as it were, a pillar of the Church and a bulwark of the faith". (Pope Pius XII, Fulgens Radiatur, March 21, 1947.)

 

Thus is it was in the better time of Catholicism that true popes praised Saint Benedict for the destruction of idols and their temples, knowing that they were places of devil worship that God Himself wanted to be eliminated.

The other Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, has kind words for false religions, esteems their symbols with his priestly hands, enters their temples and calls them sacred places. He even went so far ten years ago in God and the World to denounce "Christian hotheads and fanatics who destroyed temples, who were unable to see paganism as anything more than idolatry that had to be radically eliminated."

The two Benedicts cannot be reconciled on this point.

Saint Benedict of Nursia sought to eliminate false worship and its temples.

Benedict XVI has sought to praise them, explaining that it is the "peaceful coexistence of religions" that constitutes "peace" in the world:

VATICAN CITY, 17 DEC 2009 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, the Holy Father received the Letters of Credence of eight new ambassadors to the Holy See: Hans Klingenberg of Denmark; Francis K. Butagira of Uganda; Suleiman Mohamad Mustafa of Sudan; Elkanah Odembo of Kenya; Mukhtar B. Tileuberdi of Kazakhstan; Abdul Hannan of Bangladesh; Alpo Rusi of Finland, and Einars Semanis of Latvia.

Addressing the diplomats as a group, the Pope referred to the need for "a just relationship between human beings and the creation in which they live and work" In this context, he underlined the need for "environmental responsibility" because "the continual degradation of the environment constitutes a direct threat to man's survival and his development, and threatens peace among individuals and peoples".

Benedict XVI encouraged the political authorities of the countries the ambassadors represent, and those of all nations, "not only to increase their efforts in favour of environmental protection but also - since the problem cannot be faced only at the national level - to produce proposals and provide encouragement in order to reach vital international agreements that may prove useful and just for all sides".

After then highlighting the importance of "converting or modifying the current development model of our societies", the Pope pointed out that "the Church proposes that this profound change ... be guided by the notion of the integral development of the human person".

"If it is true", said the Holy Father, "that over history religions have often been a factor of conflict, it is also nonetheless true that religions lived according to their profound essence have been, and still are, a force for reconciliation and peace. At this moment in history religions must, through open and sincere dialogue, seek the path of purification in order to conform ever more closely to their true vocation".

"Peaceful coexistence of different religions in each nation is sometimes difficult", he continued. "More than a political problem, this co-existence is a religious problem which lies within the bosom of each one of those traditions. Believers are called to ask God about His will concerning each human situation".

"For people of faith or people of good will, the resolution of human conflicts and the delicate coexistence of different religious expressions can be transformed into an opportunity for human coexistence within a social order full of goodness and wisdom, the origin and impulse of which lies in God. Such coexistence, respecting the nature of things and the inherent wisdom that comes from God, is called peace", said Pope Benedict.

"The peace we so long for will not come into being save by the joint action of individuals, who discover the true nature of God, and of leaders of civil and religious society who - respecting the dignity and faith of all people - know how to give religion its noble and authentic role in creating and perfecting the human person. This overall reworking, at once temporal and spiritual, will enable a new beginning towards the peace that God wishes to be universal". (RELIGIONS ARE A FORCE FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION .)

 

As noted in today's original commentary, Another Day In The Life Of An Antichrist, the man named Francis about whom the world is all agog at this time has committed numerous acts of apostasy and has spoken blasphemously and committed sacrileges by entering to temples of false worship and esteeming the adherents of false religions, disregarding open support given by some of their leaders to the chemical and surgical assassination of children and to special "rights" for those engaged in perverse sins against the Sixth and Ninth Commandments. Jorge Mario Bergoglio/Francis praised false religions just yesterday in a manner identical to His Apostateness, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Antipope Emeritus did throughout his own false "pontificate," something that was chronicled in endless numbers of articles on this website.

Yes, the tale of two Benedicts and one Francis is a tale of contrasts. T

he first, Saint Benedict of Nursia, hated false religions. The second, Benedict XVI, never accepted and his successor, Francis, does not accept the truth that each false religion is from the devil and was condemned by King David himself in Psalm 95, verse 5:

For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens. (Psalm 95: 5)

 

Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI believed that "peace" is the result of the "coexistence" of false religions with the true religion? So does Jorge Mario Bergoglio/Francis. They believe in heresy. They have made a mockery of the teaching that the Prince of Peace Himself has given to Holy Mother Church to proclaim Him and His true religion alone as the only path to peace in human souls and thus of an authentic peace in the world. Ratzinger/Benedict and Bergoglio/Francis stand condemned by not only by the example of Saint Benedict of Nursia but by numerous papal teachings, including the following:

Everyone should avoid familiarity or friendship with anyone suspected of belonging to masonry or to affiliated groups. Know them by their fruits and avoid them. Every familiarity should be avoided, not only with those impious libertines who openly promote the character of the sect, but also with those who hide under the mask of universal tolerance, respect for all religions, and the craving to reconcile the maxims of the Gospel with those of the revolution. These men seek to reconcile Christ and Belial, the Church of God and the state without God. (Pope Leo XIII, Custodi di Quella Fede, December 8, 1892.)

The same applies to the notion of Fraternity which they found on the love of common interest or, beyond all philosophies and religions, on the mere notion of humanity, thus embracing with an equal love and tolerance all human beings and their miseries, whether these are intellectual, moral, or physical and temporal. But Catholic doctrine tells us that the primary duty of charity does not lie in the toleration of false ideas, however sincere they may be, nor in the theoretical or practical indifference towards the errors and vices in which we see our brethren plunged, but in the zeal for their intellectual and moral improvement as well as for their material well-being. Catholic doctrine further tells us that love for our neighbor flows from our love for God, Who is Father to all, and goal of the whole human family; and in Jesus Christ whose members we are, to the point that in doing good to others we are doing good to Jesus Christ Himself. Any other kind of love is sheer illusion, sterile and fleeting.

Indeed, we have the human experience of pagan and secular societies of ages past to show that concern for common interests or affinities of nature weigh very little against the passions and wild desires of the heart. No, Venerable Brethren, there is no genuine fraternity outside Christian charity. Through the love of God and His Son Jesus Christ Our Saviour, Christian charity embraces all men, comforts all, and leads all to the same faith and same heavenly happiness. . . .

Here we have, founded by Catholics, an inter-denominational association that is to work for the reform of civilization, an undertaking which is above all religious in character; for there is no true civilization without a moral civilization, and no true moral civilization without the true religion: it is a proven truth, a historical fact. The new Sillonists cannot pretend that they are merely working on “the ground of practical realities” where differences of belief do not matter. Their leader is so conscious of the influence which the convictions of the mind have upon the result of the action, that he invites them, whatever religion they may belong to, “to provide on the ground of practical realities, the proof of the excellence of their personal convictions.” And with good reason: indeed, all practical results reflect the nature of one’s religious convictions, just as the limbs of a man down to his finger-tips, owe their very shape to the principle of life that dwells in his body.  (Pope Saint Pius X, Notre Charge Apostolique, August 15, 1910.)

 

Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI has gone into three synagogues. He has said, most blasphemously, that "Jews and Christians pray to the same Lord. Jorge Mario Bergoglio/Francis did the same as the conciliar "archbishop" of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on numerous occasions. "Cardinal" Bergoglio was effusive in his praise of the Talmudists.

Ratzinger/Benedict dared to inside of two mosques and spoke outside of another, taking off his shoes at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 30, 2006, and assuming the Mohammedan "prayer" position as he turned in the direction of Mecca at the behest of his Mohammedan host. His curial officials issue an annual "Happy Diwali" to Hindus (see Message to the Hindus on the Feast of Diwali) and an annual "Happy Vesakh" message to Buddhists (see CHRISTIANS AND BUDDHISTS: CARING FOR THE PLANET EARTH). Ratzinger/Benedict has called a mountain in Japan, Mount Hiei, upon which the Tendei sect of the Buddhist devil worshipers gained its first stronghold:

To Venerable KAHJUN HANDA

I am glad to greet you and all the religious leaders gathered on the occasion of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Religious Summit Meeting on Mount Hiei. I wish also to convey my best wishes to Venerable Eshin Watanabe, and to recall your distinguished predecessor as Supreme Head of the Tendai Buddhist Denomination, Venerable Etai Yamada. It was he who, having participated in the Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi on that memorable day of 27 October 1986, initiated the "Religious Summit Meeting" on Mount Hiei in Kyoto in order to keep the flame of the spirit of Assisi burning. I am also happy that Cardinal Paul Poupard, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, is able to take part in this meeting.

From the supernatural perspective we come to understand that peace is both a gift from God and an obligation for every individual. Indeed the world’s cry for peace, echoed by families and communities throughout the globe, is at once both a prayer to God and an appeal to every brother and sister of our human family. As you assemble on the sacred Mount Hiei, representing different religions, I assure you of my spiritual closeness. May your prayers and cooperation fill you with God’s peace and strengthen your resolve to witness to the reason of peace which overcomes the irrationality of violence!

Upon you all I invoke an abundance of divine blessings of inspiration, harmony and joy. From the Vatican, 23 June 2007 (Letter for the Twentieth Anniversary of the Religious Summit.

 

Saint Benedict of Nursia would have said or done none of these things. He belonged to a different religion than Benedict XVI and Francis. Saint Benedict of Nursia was a Catholic. Benedict XVI and Francis are disciples of exponents of conciliarism, a branch of the New World Order and its dogmas of "diversity," "tolerance," "religious liberty," and "separation of Church and State." It doesn't get much clearer. The contrast is very sharp.

All of this came to mind three years ago as a result of an incredibly delusional interview given at that time by Ratzinger/Benedict's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., about how the false "pontiff" has not participated in the "culture of silence" (Benedict Against Culture of Silence) that characterized the reaction of the conciliar "bishops" in Ireland to the scandals caused by perverted priests and presbyters. Lombardi's exercise in positivism, of which he is a grand master of the highest order, was not only laughable on its face in the context of the scandals that Ratzinger/Benedict did indeed help to keep quiet (see Always Evading Root Causes), it is also laughable when one considers Ratzinger/Benedict expects silence, which betokens consent, of course, from those in the Motu communities who might have a thought or two left in their skulls to speak out in defense of the honor and majesty and glory of God that he, Ratzinger/Benedict has blasphemed so frequently and so boldly and that Bergoglio/Francis continues with reckless abandon.

Silence in the face of public offenses given to the Most Blessed Trinity by Ratzinger/Benedict and now Bergoglio/Francis has become a regular part of the behavior of the the leaders of the Society of Saint Pius X, who have become what they once opposed by keeping as discreet a silence about "papal" "indiscretions" as the leaders of the community they used bash all of the time in the 1990s, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. And Ratzinger/Benedict expected that this silence on all things conciliar from the leaders of the Society of Saint Pius X  so that they could take their place at the conciliar "market place of beliefs," if you will, along with the Anglo-Catholics," who have been permitted to keep liturgical rites deemed heretical by Pope Saint Pius V in Regnans in Excelsis, March 5, 1570, and all of the other disparate "movements" within the conciliar tent.

Contrary to the laughable contention made by Father Federico Lombardi that his boss has been opposed to a culture of silence about perverted priests and presbyters, Ratzinger/Benedict demanded silence as the price of admission to what Bishop Bernard Fellay, the Superior-General of the Society of Saint Pius X, once called the "conciliar zoo."

Ah, that was in 2004. The blasphemer named Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II was in charge of the counterfeit church of conciliarism then. The anti-Saint Benedict, Benedict XVI, gave the conciliar church Summorum Pontificum on July 7, 2007, doing so only as a means of "toleration" in order to "pacify spirits. I understand. Things are different. How silly of me. That Bishop Fellay gave any credence at all during the recently suspended "discussions" between the Society of Saint Pius X and conciliar apparatchiks to the legitimacy of spiritual robber barons who served under the anti-Saint Benedict, Benedict XVI, and who serve now under Bergoglio/Francis demonstrates yet again the utter intellectually bankruptcy of the Gallicanism that is at the root of the fallacious ecclesiology of the Society of Saint Pius X.

It is useful once again to remind one and all that no one can remain silent in the face of blasphemies uttered against God as have been uttered by the other Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and successor named Francis, blasphemies that Saint Benedict of Nursia would have never tolerated at all in his holy life of prayer and work:

 

But it is vain for them to adopt the name of catholic, as they do not oppose these blasphemies: they must believe them, if they can listen so patiently to such words. (Pope Saint Leo the Great, Epistle XIV, To Anastasius, Bishop of Thessalonica, St. Leo the Great | Letters 1-59 )

As we pray our Rosaries today, let us remember that we must make reparation for our own sins and those of others, especially for those of the conciliarists that have so offended Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and so wounded and confused the souls for whom shed every single drop of His Most Precious Blood. May we use this Passiontide that is now upon us to intensify our own prayers and penances and good works, giving all freely to Our Lord's Most Sacred Heart through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, making sure to keep Our Lady's Fatima Message in our own homes, enthroned as they should be to the these twin hearts of matchless love, as best we can during this era of apostasy and betrayal.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary will indeed triumph in the end.  The lords of Modernity and of Modernism will be converted or vanquished. May we ask Our Lady to send us all the graces that we need to persevere until the end of our own lives, begging also the help of her Most Chaste Spouse, Saint Joseph, who has himself been blasphemed in recent days by a pro-abortion "Catholic" who remains in perfectly good standing in the counterfeit church of conciliarism, a place where Saint Benedict of Nursia would be considered a "hothead" and an "intolerant reactionary" rather than a faithful disciple of Christ the King.

Vivat Christus Rex! Viva Cristo Rey!

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, pray for us.

Saint Benedict, pray for us.

Saint Scholastica, pray for us.

Saint Maurus, pray for us.

Saint Augustine of Cantebury, pray for us.

Pope Saint Gregory the Great, pray for us.

Saint Hildegard, pray for us.

Saint Gertrude the Great, pray for us.

See also: A Litany of Saints