And the Beat Goes On (And On and On)

by Thomas A. Droleskey

Conciliarism continues to demonstrate its utter lack of relationship to the Catholic Faith. Conciliarists use positivism to assert things as belonging to the Faith when they originate from the devil and lead to Hell for all eternity. The apologists of the conciliarists use self-delusion to deny the plain evidence that God puts before their eyes each and every day, hoping against hope that we are just one papal pronouncement or one episcopal appointment away from "turning the corner" and getting rid of liturgical abuses and doctrinal dissenters. What the apologists of conciliarism do not want to recognize is that it is conciliarism itself that has generated the liturgical abuse par excellence, the Novus Ordo Missae, and spawns countless examples of dissent from matters contained in the Deposit of Faith, including the denial of the necessity of the confessionally Catholic State and the necessity of urgently seeking the conversion of all men to the Catholic Faith before they die.

No matter how futile it might be to convince the apologists of conciliarism that their defense of the indefensible enables the conciliarists to further harm souls in many nefarious ways, it is still nevertheless important to make an effort, mindful that there might be one or two readers who will examine the evidence dispassionately and thus come to reject conciliarism and all of its novelties and errors completely and without any exception, taking flight to the underground to hear the Mass of all ages and to be fed by the fullness of the Catholic Faith. The extent of the apostasy is such that anyone who comes face to face with the truth of our situation must prayerfully consider whether those who foment and/or endorse things inimical to the Faith are in league with God or with the devil.

Pope Benedict XVI, who is indeed paving the way for a One World Religion, although it will not be labeled as such, encouraged a German lander (the equivalent of an American state) to provide religious instruction to archenemies of the Faith, Mohammedans:

Jun. 12 (CWNews.com) - During a June 12 meeting with the president-minister of North Rhine Westphalia, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) voiced his support for the proposition that Muslim students in German should receive education in the Islamic faith, according to the visiting German leader.

After his private audience with the Holy Father, Jürgen Rüttgers told the Italian Ansa news service that he had spoken to the pontiff about his state's religious-education policies. The Pope, he said, indicated that he thought: "Muslim children should receive religious instruction."

As the popes have taught traditionally, the civil state may have to tolerate certain evils, such as the existence of false religions within their midst. No one can be coerced into converting to the true Faith. While Holy Mother Church has the divinely appointed mission of inviting all men into her ranks so that they can have the possibility of being saved by cooperating with the graces won for them by the shedding of her Divine Bridegroom's Most Precious Blood on the wood of the Holy Cross, she cannot force anyone to join her. The civil state cannot coerce anyone into being Catholic.

On the contrary, however, the civil state is not to subsidize or in any way promote false religions or false beliefs. The civil state has the obligation to confess the true religion, namely, Catholicism, and to favor it alone. It is a sin against God, Who has created the Catholic Church and has ordained that all men and all nations confess the true Faith publicly, and against the common good for the civil state to promote false religions or false beliefs and/or to place them on a level of equality with Catholicism.

Pope Leo XIII pointed this out in Libertas, 1888:

The Church most earnestly desires that the Christian teaching, of which We have given an outline, should penetrate every rank of society in reality and in practice; for it would be of the greatest efficacy in healing the evils of our day, which are neither few nor slight, and are the offspring in great part of the false liberty which is so much extolled, and in which the germs of safety and glory were supposed to be contained. The hope has been disappointed by the result. The fruit, instead of being sweet and wholesome, has proved cankered and bitter. If, then, a remedy is desired, let it be sought for in a restoration of sound doctrine, from which alone the preservation of order and, as a consequence, the defense of true liberty can be confidently expected.

Yet, with the discernment of a true mother, the Church weighs the great burden of human weakness, and well knows the course down which the minds and actions of men are in this our age being borne. For this reason, while not conceding any right to anything save what is true and honest, she does not forbid public authority to tolerate what is at variance with truth and justice, for the sake of avoiding some greater evil, or of obtaining or preserving some greater good. God Himself in His providence, though infinitely good and powerful, permits evil to exist in the world, partly that greater good may not be impeded, and partly that greater evil may not ensue. In the government of States it is not forbidden to imitate the Ruler of the world; and, as the authority of man is powerless to prevent every evil, it has (as St. Augustine says) to overlook and leave unpunished many things which are punished, and rightly, by Divine Providence. But if, in such circumstances, for the sake of the common good (and this is the only legitimate reason), human law may or even should tolerate evil, it may not and should not approve or desire evil for its own sake; for evil of itself, being a privation of good, is opposed to the common welfare which every legislator is bound to desire and defend to the best of his ability. In this, human law must endeavor to imitate God, who, as St. Thomas teaches, in allowing evil to exist in the world, "neither wills evil to be done, nor wills it not to be done, but wills only to permit it to be done; and this is good.'' This saying of the Angelic Doctor contains briefly the whole doctrine of the permission of evil.

But, to judge aright, we must acknowledge that, the more a State is driven to tolerate evil, the further is it from perfection; and that the tolerance of evil which is dictated by political prudence should be strictly confined to the limits which its justifying cause, the public welfare, requires. Wherefore, if such tolerance would be injurious to the public welfare, and entail greater evils on the State, it would not be lawful; for in such case the motive of good is wanting. And although in the extraordinary condition of these times the Church usually acquiesces in certain modern liberties, not because she prefers them in themselves, but because she judges it expedient to permit them, she would in happier times exercise her own liberty; and, by persuasion, exhortation, and entreaty would endeavor, as she is bound, to fulfill the duty assigned to her by God of providing for the eternal salvation of mankind. One thing, however, remains always true -- that the liberty which is claimed for all to do all things is not, as We have often said, of itself desirable, inasmuch as it is contrary to reason that error and truth should have equal rights.

And as to tolerance, it is surprising how far removed from the equity and prudence of the Church are those who profess what is called liberalism. For, in allowing that boundless license of which We have spoken, they exceed all limits, and end at last by making no apparent distinction between truth and error, honesty and dishonesty. And because the Church, the pillar and ground of truth, and the unerring teacher of morals, is forced utterly to reprobate and condemn tolerance of such an abandoned and criminal character, they calumniate her as being wanting in patience and gentleness, and thus fail to see that, in so doing, they impute to her as a fault what is in reality a matter for commendation. But, in spite of all this show of tolerance, it very often happens that, while they profess themselves ready to lavish liberty on all in the greatest profusion, they are utterly intolerant toward the Catholic Church, by refusing to allow her the liberty of being herself free.

This constant teaching of the Catholic Church is contradicted by Benedict XVI's desire for the state to permit the teaching of a false religion, Mohammedanism, in its "schools," which are nothing more than instruments of secular propaganda. The civil state has an obligation to promote only the true religion in give to the true God the recognition that is His due alone and in order to promote its own authentic common good. Pope Pius XI spoke of this directly in his encyclical letter on The Christian Education of Youth, Divini Illius Magistri, December 21, 1929:

Whoever refuses to admit these principles, and hence to apply them to education, must necessarily deny that Christ has founded His Church for the eternal salvation of mankind, and maintain instead that civil society and the State are not subject to God and to His law, natural and divine. Such a doctrine is manifestly impious, contrary to right reason, and, especially in this matter of education, extremely harmful to the proper training of youth, and disastrous as well for civil society as for the well-being of all mankind. On the other hand from the application of these principles, there inevitably result immense advantages for the right formation of citizens. This is abundantly proved by the history of every age. Tertullian in his Apologeticus could throw down a challenge to the enemies of the Church in the early days of Christianity, just as St. Augustine did in his; and we today can repeat with him: " Let those who declare the teaching of Christ to be opposed to the welfare of the State, furnish us with an army of soldiers such as Christ says soldiers ought to be; let them give us subjects, husbands, wives, parents, children, masters, servants, kings, judges, taxpayers and tax gatherers who live up to the teachings of Christ; and then let them dare assert that Christian doctrine is harmful to the State. Rather let them not hesitate one moment to acclaim that doctrine, rightly observed, the greatest safeguard of the State."

While treating of education, it is not out of place to show here how an ecclesiastical writer, who flourished in more recent times, during the Renaissance, the holy and learned Cardinal Silvio Antoniano, to whom the cause of Christian education is greatly indebted, has set forth most clearly this well established point of Catholic doctrine. He had been a disciple of that wonderful educator of youth, St. Philip Neri; he was teacher and Latin secretary to St. Charles Borromeo, and it was at the latter's suggestion and under his inspiration that he wrote his splendid treatise on The Christian Education of Youth. In it he argues as follows: "The more closely the temporal power of a nation aligns itself with the spiritual, and the more it fosters and promotes the latter, by so much the more it contributes to the conservation of the commonwealth. For it is the aim of the ecclesiastical authority by the use of spiritual means, to form good Christians in accordance with its own particular end and object; and in doing this it helps at the same time to form good citizens, and prepares them to meet their obligations as members of a civil society. This follows of necessity because in the City of God, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, a good citizen and an upright man are absolutely one and the same thing. How grave therefore is the error of those who separate things so closely united, and who think that they can produce good citizens by ways and methods other than those which make for the formation of good Christians. For, let human prudence say what it likes and reason as it pleases, it is impossible to produce true temporal peace and tranquillity by things repugnant or opposed to the peace and happiness of eternity."

A civil state that supports the education of children in a false religion, namely, Mohammedanism, is dooming itself to confusion, disarray, and violence. As we know, of course, American public schooling promotes all manner of false secular religions (feminism, environmentalism, moral relativism, legal and philosophical positivism, pluralism, egalitarianism, religious indifferentism, deconstructionism, communism, socialism, globalism, utilitarianism, nihilism, homosexualism). Granted. We are talking here, however, about a pope's contradiction of the consistent teaching of the Church that forbids the civil state to promote the teaching of false religions. Yes, the civil state may have to tolerate the existence of such a false religion within its midst. It must not, however, promote it in any way. Any Catholic who states that it is permissible for the civil state to give aid and comfort to a false religion has deviated from the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church. Conciliarism is thus at odds with the patrimony of the Church.

Pope Leo, writing in Libertas, elaborated upon themes that he had discussed in Immortale Dei three years earlier--and which he would reiterate throughout the remaining fifteen year of his pontificate:

A like judgment must be passed upon what is called liberty of teaching. There can be no doubt that truth alone should imbue the minds of men, for in it are found the well-being, the end, and the perfection of every intelligent nature; and therefore nothing but truth should be taught both to the ignorant and to the educated, so as to bring knowledge to those who have it not, and to preserve it in those who possess it. For this reason it is plainly the duty of all who teach to banish error from the mind, and by sure safeguards to close the entry to all false convictions. From this it follows, as is evident, that the liberty of which We have been speaking is greatly opposed to reason, and tends absolutely to pervert men's minds, in as much as it claims for itself the right of teaching whatever it pleases -- a liberty which the State cannot grant without failing in its duty. And the more so because the authority of teachers has great weight with their hearers, who can rarely decide for themselves as to the truth or falsehood of the instruction given to them.

Wherefore, this liberty, also, in order that it may deserve the name, must be kept within certain limits, lest the office of teaching be turned with impunity into an instrument of corruption. Now, truth, which should be the only subject matter of those who teach, is of two kinds: natural and supernatural. Of natural truths, such as the principles of nature and whatever is derived from them immediately by our reason, there is a kind of common patrimony in the human race. On this, as on a firm basis, morality, justice, religion, and the very bonds of human society rest: and to allow people to go unharmed who violate or destroy it would be most impious, most foolish, and most inhuman.

But with no less religious care must we preserve that great and sacred treasure of the truths which God Himself has taught us. By many and convincing arguments, often used by defenders of Christianity, certain leading truths have been laid down: namely, that some things have been revealed by God; that the Only begotten Son of God was made flesh, to bear witness to the truth; that a perfect society was founded by Him -- the Church, namely, of which He is the head, and with which He has promised to abide till the end of the world. To this society He entrusted all the truths which He had taught, in order that it might keep and guard them and with lawful authority explain them; and at the same time He commanded all nations to hear the voice of the Church, as if it were His own, threatening those who would not hear it with everlasting perdition. Thus, it is manifest that man's best and surest teacher is God, the Source and Principle of all truth; and the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the true Light which enlightens every man, and to whose teaching all must submit: "And they shall all be taught of God."

In faith and in the teaching of morality, God Himself made the Church a partaker of His divine authority, and through His heavenly gift she cannot be deceived. She is therefore the greatest and most reliable teacher of mankind, and in her swells an inviolable right to teach them. Sustained by the truth received from her divine Founder, the Church has ever sought to fulfill holily the mission entrusted to her by God; unconquered by the difficulties on all sides surrounding her, she has never ceased to assert her liberty of teaching, and in this way the wretched superstition of paganism being dispelled, the wide world was renewed unto Christian wisdom. Now, reason itself clearly teaches that the truths of divine revelation and those of nature cannot really be opposed to one another, and that whatever is at variance with them must necessarily be false. Therefore, the divine teaching of the Church, so far from being an obstacle to the pursuit of learning and the progress of science, or in any way retarding the advance of civilization, in reality brings to them the sure guidance of shining light. And for the same reason it is of no small advantage for the perfecting of human liberty, since our Savior Jesus Christ has said that by truth is man made free: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Therefore, there is no reason why genuine liberty should grow indignant, or true science feel aggrieved, at having to bear the just and necessary restraint of laws by which, in the judgment of the Church and of reason itself, human teaching has to be controlled.

28. The Church, indeed -- as facts have everywhere proved -- looks chiefly and above all to the defense of the Christian faith, while careful at the same time to foster and promote every kind of human learning. For learning is in itself good, and praiseworthy, and desirable; and further, all erudition which is the outgrowth of sound reason, and in conformity with the truth of things, serves not a little to confirm what we believe on the authority of God. The Church, truly, to our great benefit, has carefully preserved the monuments of ancient wisdom; has opened everywhere homes of science, and has urged on intellectual progress by fostering most diligently the arts by which the culture of our age is so much advanced. Lastly, we must not forget that a vast field lies freely open to man's industry and genius, containing all those things which have no necessary connection with Christian faith and morals, or as to which the Church, exercising no authority, leaves the judgment of the learned free and unconstrained.

From all this may be understood the nature and character of that liberty which the followers of liberalism so eagerly advocate and proclaim. On the one hand, they demand for themselves and for the State a license which opens the way to every perversity of opinion; and on the other, they hamper the Church in divers ways, restricting her liberty within narrowest limits, although from her teaching not only is there nothing to be feared, but in every respect very much to be gained.

Another liberty is widely advocated, namely, liberty of conscience. If by this is meant that everyone may, as he chooses, worship God or not, it is sufficiently refuted by the arguments already adduced. But it may also be taken to mean that every man in the State may follow the will of God and, from a consciousness of duty and free from every obstacle, obey His commands. This, indeed, is true liberty, a liberty worthy of the sons of God, which nobly maintains the dignity of man and is stronger than all violence or wrong -- a liberty which the Church has always desired and held most dear. This is the kind of liberty the Apostles claimed for themselves with intrepid constancy, which the apologists of Christianity confirmed by their writings, and which the martyrs in vast numbers consecrated by their blood. And deservedly so; for this Christian liberty bears witness to the absolute and most just dominion of God over man, and to the chief and supreme duty of man toward God. It has nothing in common with a seditious and rebellious mind; and in no tittle derogates from obedience to public authority; for the right to command and to require obedience exists only so far as it is in accordance with the authority of God, and is within the measure that He has laid down. But when anything is commanded which is plainly at variance with the will of God, there is a wide departure from this divinely constituted order, and at the same time a direct conflict with divine authority; therefore, it is right not to obey.

By the patrons of liberalism, however, who make the State absolute and omnipotent, and proclaim that man should live altogether independently of God, the liberty of which We speak, which goes hand in hand with virtue and religion, is not admitted; and whatever is done for its preservation is accounted an injury and an offense against the State. Indeed, if what they say were really true, there would be no tyranny, no matter how monstrous, which we should not be bound to endure and submit to.

The Church most earnestly desires that the Christian teaching, of which We have given an outline, should penetrate every rank of society in reality and in practice; for it would be of the greatest efficacy in healing the evils of our day, which are neither few nor slight, and are the offspring in great part of the false liberty which is so much extolled, and in which the germs of safety and glory were supposed to be contained. The hope has been disappointed by the result. The fruit, instead of being sweet and wholesome, has proved cankered and bitter. If, then, a remedy is desired, let it be sought for in a restoration of sound doctrine, from which alone the preservation of order and, as a consequence, the defense of true liberty can be confidently expected.

These passages are body blows to the scions of conciliarism. They are also body blows to those who trust in the ability of secular political philosophies and/or organizations to promote the American concept of "civil liberty," divorced, obviously, from its attachment to the Deposit of Faith that the God-Man, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, entrusted to the Catholic Church alone. No one has the right to promote error. The civil state has the obligation to root out and to censor error. As Saint Louis IX wrote to his son Philip:

Work to remove all error from your land, particularly blasphemies and heresies.

Why does the civil state have this obligation? Glad you asked. The answer is quite simple. The civil state has this obligation because those who can blaspheme God and/or put into question the Revelation He has entrusted to the Catholic Church are ultimately more dangerous to the common good of society than those who commit crimes against property and persons. Mind you, crimes against property and persons should be prosecuted according to the circumstances in which they were committed. Crimes against God and His truths, however, are greater in the hierarchy of evils, posing a threat to the welfare of society inasmuch as such crimes make it more possible for individual souls to rebel with impunity against God and to embrace lives of licentiousness, thereby creating havoc in their own lives and in the large life of society itself.

Writing in Immortale Dei, November 1, 1885, Pope Leo XIII condemned religious indifferentism, noting that it leads to atheism as the lowest common denominator in society, and explained the obligation of the civil state to banish error and the license of opinion from its midst:

To hold, therefore, that there is no difference in matters of religion between forms that are unlike each other, and even contrary to each other, most clearly leads in the end to the rejection of all religion in both theory and practice. And this is the same thing as atheism, however it may differ from it in name. Men who really believe in the existence of God must, in order to be consistent with themselves and to avoid absurd conclusions, understand that differing modes of divine worship involving dissimilarity and conflict even on most important points cannot all be equally probable, equally good, and equally acceptable to God.

So, too, the liberty of thinking, and of publishing, whatsoever each one likes, without any hindrance, is not in itself an advantage over which society can wisely rejoice. On the contrary, it is the fountain-head and origin of many evils. Liberty is a power perfecting man, and hence should have truth and goodness for its object. But the character of goodness and truth cannot be changed at option. These remain ever one and the same, and are no less unchangeable than nature itself. If the mind assents to false opinions, and the will chooses and follows after what is wrong, neither can attain its native fullness, but both must fall from their native dignity into an abyss of corruption. Whatever, therefore, is opposed to virtue and truth may not rightly be brought temptingly before the eye of man, much less sanctioned by the favor and protection of the law. A well-spent life is the only way to heaven, whither all are bound, and on this account the State is acting against the laws and dictates of nature whenever it permits the license of opinion and of action to lead minds astray from truth and souls away from the practice of virtue. To exclude the Church, founded by God Himself, from life, from laws, from the education of youth, from domestic society is a grave and fatal error. A State from which religion is banished can never be well regulated; and already perhaps more than is desirable is known of the nature and tendency of the so-called civil philosophy of life and morals. The Church of Christ is the true and sole teacher of virtue and guardian of morals. She it is who preserves in their purity the principles from which duties flow, and, by setting forth most urgent reasons for virtuous life, bids us not only to turn away from wicked deeds, but even to curb all movements of the mind that are opposed to reason, even though they be not carried out in action.

Benedict XVI views this consistent teaching of the Church through the Hegelian lens of his late mentor, Father Hans Urs von Balthasar, believing that he can ignore this teaching quite blithely and contradict it entirely in light of the needs of "modern" man and of the necessity of reconciling the Church to the "principles of 1789." These great encyclical letters, which inventing nothing as they merely reiterated articles contained in the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church and are thus clothed with the mantle of infallibility, are brushed aside as though they never existed. Indeed, one of the great sins for a conciliarist is for anyone even to mention these encyclical letters as they have been superceded, as they see it, by the documents of the non-dogmatic Second Vatican Council. Here again there is is great irony: men such as the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who do not believe that the New and Eternal Covenant instituted by Our Lord at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday and ratified as He offered Himself up to the Father in Spirit and in Truth on the wood of the Holy Cross on Good Friday superceded the Mosaic Covenant believe that the Second Vatican Council has superceded practically everything before 1958 (note the qualification: I said practically; yes, there are occasional references to preconciliar encyclical letters, especially those dealing with devotional matters).

Pope Leo XIII, writing in Libertas, elaborated on some of the themes he had outlined in Immortale Dei, stressing the fact that the civil state must recognize Catholicism as the true religion, something that Benedict XVI has rejected on many occasions, including in Deus Caritas Est. Pope Leo used Libertas to condemn once again that notion of civil liberty that considers it necessary to do the very thing that Benedict extols, namely, the separation of Church and State along the lines of the American Constitution:

To make this more evident, the growth of liberty ascribed to our age must be considered apart in its various details. And, first, let us examine that liberty in individuals which is so opposed to the virtue of religion, namely, the liberty of worship, as it is called. This is based on the principle that every man is free to profess as he may choose any religion or none.

But, assuredly, of all the duties which man has to fulfill, that, without doubt, is the chiefest and holiest which commands him to worship God with devotion and piety. This follows of necessity from the truth that we are ever in the power of God, are ever guided by His will and providence, and, having come forth from Him, must return to Him. Add to which, no true virtue can exist without religion, for moral virtue is concerned with those things which lead to God as man's supreme and ultimate good; and therefore religion, which (as St. Thomas says) "performs those actions which are directly and immediately ordained for the divine honor," rules and tempers all virtues. And if it be asked which of the many conflicting religions it is necessary to adopt, reason and the natural law unhesitatingly tell us to practice that one which God enjoins, and which men can easily recognize by certain exterior notes, whereby Divine Providence has willed that it should be distinguished, because, in a matter of such moment, the most terrible loss would be the consequence of error. Wherefore, when a liberty such as We have described is offered to man, the power is given him to pervert or abandon with impunity the most sacred of duties, and to exchange the unchangeable good for evil; which, as We have said, is no liberty, but its degradation, and the abject submission of the soul to sin.

This kind of liberty, if considered in relation to the State, clearly implies that there is no reason why the State should offer any homage to God, or should desire any public recognition of Him; that no one form of worship is to be preferred to another, but that all stand on an equal footing, no account being taken of the religion of the people, even if they profess the Catholic faith. But, to justify this, it must needs be taken as true that the State has no duties toward God, or that such duties, if they exist, can be abandoned with impunity, both of which assertions are manifestly false. For it cannot be doubted but that, by the will of God, men are united in civil society; whether its component parts be considered; or its form, which implies authority; or the object of its existence; or the abundance of the vast services which it renders to man. God it is who has made man for society, and has placed him in the company of others like himself, so that what was wanting to his nature, and beyond his attainment if left to his own resources, he might obtain by association with others. Wherefore, civil society must acknowledge God as its Founder and Parent, and must obey and reverence His power and authority. justice therefore forbids, and reason itself forbids, the State to be godless; or to adopt a line of action which would end in godlessness -- namely, to treat the various religions (as they call them) alike, and to bestow upon them promiscuously equal rights and privileges. Since, then, the profession of one religion is necessary in the State, that religion must be professed which alone is true, and which can be recognized without difficulty, especially in Catholic States, because the marks of truth are, as it were, engraven upon it. This religion, therefore, the rulers of the State must preserve and protect, if they would provide -- as they should do -- with prudence and usefulness for the good of the community. For public authority exists for the welfare of those whom it governs; and, although its proximate end is to lead men to the prosperity found in this life, yet, in so doing, it ought not to diminish, but rather to increase, man's capability of attaining to the supreme good in which his everlasting happiness consists: which never can be attained if religion be disregarded.

All this, however, We have explained more fully elsewhere. We now only wish to add the remark that liberty of so false a nature is greatly hurtful to the true liberty of both rulers and their subjects. Religion, of its essence, is wonderfully helpful to the State. For, since it derives the prime origin of all power directly from God Himself, with grave authority it charges rulers to be mindful of their duty, to govern without injustice or severity, to rule their people kindly and with almost paternal charity; it admonishes subjects to be obedient to lawful authority, as to the ministers of God; and it binds them to their rulers, not merely by obedience, but by reverence and affection, forbidding all seditions and venturesome enterprises calculated to disturb public order and tranquillity, and cause greater restrictions to be put upon the liberty of the people. We need not mention how greatly religion conduces to pure morals, and pure morals to liberty. Reason shows, and history confirms the fact, that the higher the morality of States, the greater are the liberty and wealth and power which they enjoy.

To be sure, the Church has since the Protestant Revolt conceded the practical reality of the world in which she has found herself, recognizing that various stripes Protestantism had become the state religion of various states in Europe. In recognizing this, however, the Church never gave up her efforts to pray for the conversion of Protestants (look at the efforts of Saint Peter Canisius and Saint Francis de Sales), nor did she ever sacrifice the principle that the civil state must, ideally, recognize the Catholic Church as the one and only true Church. This teaching has been denied, both de facto and de jure, in the past forty years. Thus, what a scandal it has been, therefore, for the Church to voluntarily renounce her status as the official religion of the state, as happened on February 11, 1984, when Pope John Paul II made a new Concordat with the Republic of Italy, superceding (there's that word again) the 1929 Concordat that Benito Mussolini made, in behalf of the Kingdom of Italy, with Pope Pius XI, guaranteeing Catholicism as the state religion of Italy, which also stripped the City of Rome of its status as a "holy city." This is a concrete instance of the consistent teaching of the Church being stood on its head in order to embrace the Judeo-Masonic notion of the secular state. Far from reiterating the consistent teaching of the Church, you see, conciliarism denies the teaching both in theory and in practice, embracing a concept that many Catholics in Spain and Italy and Germany and Mexico and elsewhere shed their blood to resist!

Pope Gregory XVI, writing in Mirari Vos, August 15, 1832, put the madness of the separation of Church and State, embraced by conciliarists in the name of a "healthy laicism" or a "healthy secularity," in its proper perspective, calling upon Our Lady to crush these heresies:

Nor can We predict happier times for religion and government from the plans of those who desire vehemently to separate the Church from the state, and to break the mutual concord between temporal authority and the priesthood. It is certain that that concord which always was favorable and beneficial for the sacred and the civil order is feared by the shameless lovers of liberty.

But for the other painful causes We are concerned about, you should recall that certain societies and assemblages seem to draw up a battle line together with the followers of every false religion and cult. They feign piety for religion; but they are driven by a passion for promoting novelties and sedition everywhere. They preach liberty of every sort; they stir up disturbances in sacred and civil affairs, and pluck authority to pieces.

We write these things to you with grieving mind but trusting in Him who commands the winds and makes them still. Take up the shield of faith and fight the battles of the Lord vigorously. You especially must stand as a wall against every height which raises itself against the knowledge of God. Unsheath the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and may those who hunger after justice receive bread from you. Having been called so that you might be diligent cultivators in the vineyard of the Lord, do this one thing, and labor in it together, so that every root of bitterness may be removed from your field, all seeds of vice destroyed, and a happy crop of virtues may take root and grow. The first to be embraced with paternal affection are those who apply themselves to the sacred sciences and to philosophical studies. For them may you be exhorter and supporter, lest trusting only in their own talents and strength, they may imprudently wander away from the path of truth onto the road of the impious. Let them remember that God is the guide to wisdom and the director of the wise. It is impossible to know God without God who teaches men to know Himself by His word. It is the proud, or rather foolish, men who examine the mysteries of faith which surpass all understanding with the faculties of the human mind, and rely on human reason which by the condition of man's nature, is weak and infirm.

May Our dear sons in Christ, the princes, support these Our desires for the welfare of Church and State with their resources and authority. May they understand that they received their authority not only for the government of the world, but especially for the defense of the Church. They should diligently consider that whatever work they do for the welfare of the Church accrues to their rule and peace. Indeed let them persuade themselves that they owe more to the cause of the faith than to their kingdom. Let them consider it something very great for themselves as We say with Pope St. Leo, "if in addition to their royal diadem the crown of faith may be added." Placed as if they were parents and teachers of the people, they will bring them true peace and tranquility, if they take special care that religion and piety remain safe. God, after all, calls Himself "King of kings and Lord of lords."

That all of this may come to pass prosperously and happily, let Us raise Our eyes and hands to the most holy Virgin Mary, who alone crushes all heresies, and is Our greatest reliance and the whole reason for Our hope.  May she implore by her patronage a successful outcome for Our plans and actions. Let Us humbly ask of the Prince of the Apostles, Peter and his co-apostle Paul that all of you may stand as a wall lest a foundation be laid other than that which has already been laid. Relying on this happy hope, We trust that the Author and Crown of Our faith Jesus Christ will console Us in all these Our tribulations. We lovingly impart the apostolic benediction to you, venerable brothers, and to the sheep committed to your care as a sign of heavenly aid.

Make no mistake about it: the denial of the Social Reign of Christ the King by the popes of conciliarism is one of the greatest triumphs of the enemies of the Church. The enemies of Our Lord and His Holy Church have gotten men who claim to exercise ecclesiastical power to do their bidding for them without a shot being fired, thus making a mockery of the martyrdom of those who resisted the efforts of Protestant and social revolutionaries from the Sixteenth Century forward to attack with violence the rights of the true Church. It is absolutely necessary for the propagators of Modernity to use their like-minded Modernist friends to promote a "healthy laicism" so that the triumph of pluralism may appear to be irreversible, thus deterring efforts to convert men and their nations to Catholicism. Here is where, ladies and gentlemen, the related heresies of religious liberty and ecumenism converge to conspire against the rights of Christ the King in nations collectively and against the good of souls individually.

As the late William C. Koneazny, who died two years ago yesterday, June 16, 2004, noted, "In the end Our Lady will come and throw the bums out." Yes, as Pope Gregory XVI wrote some eighty-five years before Our Lady appeared to Jacinta and Francisco Marto and to their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, Our Lady will indeed conquer the heresies and the heretics of the moment. The Triumph of her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart will be made complete. We need to concentrate, therefore, on the sanctification of our souls as we embrace the fullness of the Catholic Faith, including the Social Reign of Christ the King and the necessity of seeking the conversion of all men and their nations to the true Faith, by taking refuge in the catacombs as we flee from conciliarism and exclaim with Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro and the Cristeros, Viva Cristo Rey!

Vivat Christus Rex!

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 Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Jerome, pray for us.

Saint Athanasius, pray for us.

Saint Margaret of Scotland, pray for us.

Saint Augustine, pray for us.

Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

Saint Francis de Sales, pray for us.

Saint Peter Canisius, pray for us.

Saint Ignatius Loyola, pray for us.

Saint Francis Xavier, pray for us.

Saint Vincent Ferrer, pray for us.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, pray for us.

Saint Claude de la Colombiere, pray for us.

Saint Peter Julian Eymard, pray for us.

Saint Lucy, pray for us.

Saint Agnes, pray for us.

Saint Agatha, pray for us.

Saint Bridget of Sweden, pray for us.

Saint Louis IX, King of France, pray for us.

Saint Genevieve, pray for us.

Saint Joan of Arc, pray for us.

Saint Edward the Confessor, pray for us.

Saint Stephen of Hungary, pray for us.

Saint Casimir, pray for us.

Saint Catherine of Sweden, pray for us.

Saint Philomena, pray for us.

Saint John of the Cross, pray for us.

Saint John Bosco, pray for us.

Saint John Mary Vianney, pray for us.

Pope Saint Pius V, pray for us.

Pope Saint Pius X, pray for us.

Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us.

Saint Therese Lisieux, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette Soubirous, pray for us.

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, pray for us.

Blessed Pauline Jaricot, pray for us.

Blessed Francisco, pray for us.

Blessed Jacinta, pray for us.

Sister Lucia, pray for us.

The Longer Version of the Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer, composed by Pope Leo XIII, 1888

O glorious Archangel Saint Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of evil.  Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.  Fight this day the battle of our Lord, together with  the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in heaven.  That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels.  Behold this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage.  Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the Name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay, and cast into eternal perdition, souls destined for the crown of eternal glory.  That wicked dragon pours out. as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.  These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on Her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck the sheep may be scattered.  Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory.  They venerate thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious powers of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude.  Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church.  Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations.  Amen.

Verse: Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.

Response: The Lion of the Tribe of Juda has conquered the root of David.

Verse: Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.

Response: As we have hoped in Thee.

Verse: O Lord hear my prayer.

Response: And let my cry come unto Thee.

Verse: Let us pray.  O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy Name, and as suppliants, we implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin, immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel Saint Michael, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of our souls. 

Response:  Amen.  

A Prayer in Preparation for the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O most holy Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore Thee, I love Thee and with a lively sorrow for my sins, I offer Thee this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to Thy will. Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in Thee and for Thee. Protect me in the midst of danger; comfort me in my afflictions; give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, Thy blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Within Thy Heart I place my every care. In every need let me come to Thee with humble trust saying, Heart of Jesus help me. 

 

Merciful Jesus, I consecrate myself today and always to Thy Most Sacred Heart. 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus I implore, that I may ever love Thee more and more. 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee.

 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! 

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Thy love for me. 

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine. 

Sacred Heart of Jesus Thy Kingdom Come. 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, convert sinners, save the dying, deliver the Holy Souls in Purgatory.