Learning From the Devil Himself

by Thomas A. Droleskey

True to the false ecumenism that he has long championed, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI has once again called upon leaders of "other religions" (that is, the particular false religions that deny the Sacred Divinity of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ) to make contributions to the building of a "better" world. He even went so far as to say that his false church, which most people think is the Catholic Church and that he is her true Visible Head on earth, wants to "listen" in inter-religious dialogue" to the "spiritual experience" of the world's "other religions" while at the same proclaiming Our Lord as the Redeemer of the world:

The Church shares these observations with other religions. Motivated by charity, she approaches dialogue believing that the true source of freedom is found in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Christians believe it is he who fully discloses the human potential for virtue and goodness, and he who liberates us from sin and darkness. The universality of human experience, which transcends all geographical boundaries and cultural limitations, makes it possible for followers of religions to engage in dialogue so as to grapple with the mystery of life’s joys and sufferings. In this regard, the Church eagerly seeks opportunities to listen to the spiritual experience of other religions. We could say that all religions aim to penetrate the profound meaning of human existence by linking it to an origin or principle outside itself. Religions offer an attempt to understand the cosmos as coming from and returning to this origin or principle. Christians believe that God has revealed this origin and principle in Jesus, whom the Bible refers to as the "Alpha and Omega" (cf. Rev 1:8; 22:1).

My dear friends, I have come to Australia as an ambassador of peace. For this reason, I feel blessed to meet you who likewise share this yearning and the desire to help the world attain it. Our quest for peace goes hand in hand with our search for meaning, for it is in discovering the truth that we find the sure road to peace (cf. Message for World Day of Peace, 2006). Our effort to bring about reconciliation between peoples springs from, and is directed to, that truth which gives purpose to life. Religion offers peace, but more importantly, it arouses within the human spirit a thirst for truth and a hunger for virtue. May we encourage everyone – especially the young – to marvel at the beauty of life, to seek its ultimate meaning, and to strive to realize its sublime potential!

With these sentiments of respect and encouragement, I commend you to the providence of Almighty God, and I assure you of my prayers for you and your loved ones, the members of your communities, and all the citizens of Australia. (Meeting with representatives of other religions in the Chapter Hall of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, July 18, 2008.)

 

The Catholic Church has nothing to learn from the "experience" of false religions, each of which comes the devil and is designed to leads its adherents to Hell for all eternity. The Catholic Church does not have "observations" (!) to make to those who worship at various and sundry altars of the devil and his minions. The Catholic Church has the truths contained in the Deposit of Faith entrusted to her by her Divine Bridegroom and Invisible Head, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for Its infallible safekeeping and eternal explication to proclaim without compromise and without hesitation as she seeks with urgency the unconditional conversion of all men and all nations to her maternal bosom, outside of which there is no salvation.

As has been noted several times on this site in the past year, the great missionaries of the Catholic Church rejected false religions, seeing in them instruments of the devil that had to be eradicated as their adherents were converted. Learning from "spiritual experience" of "other religions indeed.

Is there something incomplete in the Catholic Church that needs to be supplemented with a dose of Hinduism or Buddhism or Jainism? Is there, at this late date in salvation history, something that the Catholic Church does not know--and hence might have rejected prematurely or rashly--about any false religion, each of which has been studied over the years by her scholars? Was Saint John Chrysostom wrong in anything that he wrote in his Eight Homilies Against the Jews? Was Saint Francis Xavier wrong to have condemned the Indians as barbarous people engaged as he encouraged the destruction of their idols (see Letter from India, to the Society of Jesus at Rome, Saint Francis Xavier, Letter on the Missions,  to St. Ignatius de Loyola)? What does the Catholic Church have to learn known about the "spiritual experience" of "other religions" that was not known by Saint Francis Xavier, who spent himself tirelessly for the unconditional conversion of those steeped in paganism?

"Religion offers peace"? Peace? Peace? What kind of peace? Peace? The only kind of authentic peace is that of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, a peace beyond all surpassing which perdures in the souls of those who are in states of Sanctifying Grace:

This peace of Christ, however, surpasses all human understanding -- "the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding" (Philippians iv, 7), and for this very reason dominates our sinful passions and renders such evils as division, strife, and discord, which result solely from the unrestrained desire for earthly possessions, impossible. If the desire for worldly possessions were kept within bounds and the place of honor in our affections given to the things of the spirit, which place undoubtedly they deserve, the peace of Christ would follow immediately, to which would be joined in a natural and happy union, as it were, a higher regard for the value and dignity of human life. Human personality, too, would be raised to a higher level, for man has been ennobled by the Blood of Christ and made kin to God Himself by means of holiness and the bond of brotherly love which unites us closely with Christ, by prayer and by the reception of the Sacraments, means infallibly certain to produce this elevation to and participation in the life of God, by the desire to attain everlasting possession of the glory and happiness of heaven which is held out to all by God as our goal and final reward.

We have already seen and come to the conclusion that the principal cause of the confusion, restlessness, and dangers which are so prominent a characteristic of false peace is the weakening of the binding force of law and lack of respect for authority, effects which logically follow upon denial of the truth that authority comes from God, the Creator and Universal Law-giver.

The only remedy for such state of affairs is the peace of Christ since the peace of Christ is the peace of God, which could not exist if it did not enjoin respect for law, order, and the rights of authority. In the Holy Scriptures We read: "My children, keep discipline in peace." (Ecclesiasticus xli, 17) "Much peace have they that love the law, O Lord." (Psalms cxviii, 165) "He that feareth the commandment, shall dwell in peace." (Proverbs xiii, 13) Jesus Christ very expressly states: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." (Matt. xxii, 21) He even recognized that Pilate possessed authority from on High (John xiv, 11) as he acknowledged that the scribes and Pharisees who though unworthy sat in the chair of Moses (Matt. xxiii, 2) were not without a like authority. In Joseph and Mary, Jesus respected the natural authority of parents and was subject to them for the greater part of His life. (Luke ii, 51) He also taught, by the voice of His Apostle, the same important doctrine: "Let every soul be subject to higher powers: for there is no power but from God." (Romans xiii, 1; cf. also 1 Peter ii, 13, 18)

If we stop to reflect for a moment that these ideals and doctrines of Jesus Christ, for example, his teachings on the necessity and value of the spiritual life, on the dignity and sanctity of human life, on the duty of obedience, on the divine basis of human government, on the sacramental character of matrimony and by consequence the sanctity of family life -- if we stop to reflect, let Us repeat, that these ideals and doctrines of Christ (which are in fact but a portion of the treasury of truth which He left to mankind) were confided by Him to His Church and to her alone for safekeeping, and that He has promised that His aid will never fail her at any time for she is the infallible teacher of His doctrines in every century and before all nations, there is no one who cannot clearly see what a singularly important role the Catholic Church is able to play, and is even called upon to assume, in providing a remedy for the ills which afflict the world today and in leading mankind toward a universal peace.

Because the Church is by divine institution the sole depository and interpreter of the ideals and teachings of Christ, she alone possesses in any complete and true sense the power effectively to combat that materialistic philosophy which has already done and, still threatens, such tremendous harm to the home and to the state. The Church alone can introduce into society and maintain therein the prestige of a true, sound spiritualism, the spiritualism of Christianity which both from the point of view of truth and of its practical value is quite superior to any exclusively philosophical theory. The Church is the teacher and an example of world good-will, for she is able to inculcate and develop in mankind the "true spirit of brotherly love" (St. Augustine, De Moribus Ecclesiae Catholicae, i, 30) and by raising the public estimation of the value and dignity of the individual's soul help thereby to lift us even unto God.

Finally, the Church is able to set both public and private life on the road to righteousness by demanding that everything and all men become obedient to God "Who beholdeth the heart," to His commands, to His laws, to His sanctions. If the teachings of the Church could only penetrate in some such manner as We have described the inner recesses of the consciences of mankind, be they rulers or be they subjects, all eventually would be so apprised of their personal and civic duties and their mutual responsibilities that in a short time "Christ would be all, and in all." (Colossians iii, 11)

Since the Church is the safe and sure guide to conscience, for to her safe-keeping alone there has been confided the doctrines and the promise of the assistance of Christ, she is able not only to bring about at the present hour a peace that is truly the peace of Christ, but can, better than any other agency which We know of, contribute greatly to the securing of the same peace for the future, to the making impossible of war in the future. For the Church teaches (she alone has been given by God the mandate and the right to teach with authority) that not only our acts as individuals but also as groups and as nations must conform to the eternal law of God. In fact, it is much more important that the acts of a nation follow God's law, since on the nation rests a much greater responsibility for the consequences of its acts than on the individual.

When, therefore, governments and nations follow in all their activities, whether they be national or international, the dictates of conscience grounded in the teachings, precepts, and example of Jesus Christ, and which are binding on each and every individual, then only can we have faith in one another's word and trust in the peaceful solution of the difficulties and controversies which may grow out of differences in point of view or from clash of interests. An attempt in this direction has already and is now being made; its results, however, are almost negligible and, especially so, as far as they can be said to affect those major questions which divide seriously and serve to arouse nations one against the other. No merely human institution of today can be as successful in devising a set of international laws which will be in harmony with world conditions as the Middle Ages were in the possession of that true League of Nations, Christianity. It cannot be denied that in the Middle Ages this law was often violated; still it always existed as an ideal, according to which one might judge the acts of nations, and a beacon light calling those who had lost their way back to the safe road.

There exists an institution able to safeguard the sanctity of the law of nations. This institution is a part of every nation; at the same time it is above all nations. She enjoys, too, the highest authority, the fullness of the teaching power of the Apostles. Such an institution is the Church of Christ. She alone is adapted to do this great work, for she is not only divinely commissioned to lead mankind, but moreover, because of her very make-up and the constitution which she possesses, by reason of her age-old traditions and her great prestige, which has not been lessened but has been greatly increased since the close of the War, cannot but succeed in such a venture where others assuredly will fail.

It is apparent from these considerations that true peace, the peace of Christ, is impossible unless we are willing and ready to accept the fundamental principles of Christianity, unless we are willing to observe the teachings and obey the law of Christ, both in public and private life. If this were done, then society being placed at last on a sound foundation, the Church would be able, in the exercise of its divinely given ministry and by means of the teaching authority which results therefrom, to protect all the rights of God over men and nations.

It is possible to sum up all We have said in one word, "the Kingdom of Christ." For Jesus Christ reigns over the minds of individuals by His teachings, in their hearts by His love, in each one's life by the living according to His law and the imitating of His example. Jesus reigns over the family when it, modeled after the holy ideals of the sacrament of matrimony instituted by Christ, maintains unspotted its true character of sanctuary. In such a sanctuary of love, parental authority is fashioned after the authority of God, the Father, from Whom, as a matter of fact, it originates and after which even it is named. (Ephesians iii, 15) The obedience of the children imitates that of the Divine Child of Nazareth, and the whole family life is inspired by the sacred ideals of the Holy Family. Finally, Jesus Christ reigns over society when men recognize and reverence the sovereignty of Christ, when they accept the divine origin and control over all social forces, a recognition which is the basis of the right to command for those in authority and of the duty to obey for those who are subjects, a duty which cannot but ennoble all who live up to its demands. Christ reigns where the position in society which He Himself has assigned to His Church is recognized, for He bestowed on the Church the status and the constitution of a society which, by reason of the perfect ends which it is called upon to attain, must be held to be supreme in its own sphere; He also made her the depository and interpreter of His divine teachings, and, by consequence, the teacher and guide of every other society whatsoever, not of course in the sense that she should abstract in the least from their authority, each in its own sphere supreme, but that she should really perfect their authority, just as divine grace perfects human nature, and should give to them the assistance necessary for men to attain their true final end, eternal happiness, and by that very fact make them the more deserving and certain promoters of their happiness here below.

It is, therefore, a fact which cannot be questioned that the true peace of Christ can only exist in the Kingdom of Christ -- "the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ." It is no less unquestionable that, in doing all we can to bring about the re-establishment of Christ's kingdom, we will be working most effectively toward a lasting world peace. (Pope Pius IX, Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio, December 23, 1922.)

 

No conciliar "pontiff" has spoken thus. The conciliar "pontiffs," including Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, have stated repeatedly that "other religions" can be instruments of producing "peace" in the world. How can false religions that do not have the one and only Deposit of Faith and the one and only Treasury of Divine Grace produce such peace? How is this possible. And how is it possible that such false religions, possessed of one falsehood after another, help to "educate" the young, as Ratzinger/Benedict stated in Australia in his address the leders of "other religions," just as he had done in Washington, District of Columbia, on Thursday, April 17, 2008?

In a like vein, of course, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI spoke to leaders "representing various Christian communities" in Australia on Friday, July 18, 2008:

The road of ecumenism ultimately points towards a common celebration of the Eucharist (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 23-24; 45), which Christ entrusted to his Apostles as the sacrament of the Church’s unity par excellence. Although there are still obstacles to be overcome, we can be sure that a common Eucharist one day would only strengthen our resolve to love and serve one another in imitation of our Lord: for Jesus’ commandment to "do this in memory of me" (Lk 22:19) is intrinsically ordered to his admonition to "wash one another’s feet" (Jn 13:14). For this reason, a candid dialogue concerning the place of the Eucharist – stimulated by a renewed and attentive study of scripture, patristic writings, and documents from across the two millennia of Christian history (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 69-70) – will undoubtedly help to advance the ecumenical movement and unify our witness to the world. (Ecumenical Meeting in the Crypt of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, July 18, 2008.)

 

The "road of ecumenism ultimately points towards a common celebration of the Eucharist"? Nothing about, oh, say, an unconditional conversion to the true Faith? No, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI does not want to see the "structures" and the traditions" of the Protestants disappear. He has made this abundantly clear throughout the course of his priesthood. Indeed, he believes that members of heretical and schismatic sects are "fellow citizens in the household of God" in the spreading of "Christian values," something that is apostasy as this makes absolute adherence to the Deposit of Faith and a member of the Catholic Church in good standing to be unnecessary to do the work of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ:

Every element of the Church’s structure is important, yet all of them would falter and crumble without the cornerstone who is Christ. As “fellow citizens” of the “household of God”, Christians must work together to ensure that the edifice stands strong so that others will be attracted to enter and discover the abundant treasures of grace within. As we promote Christian values, we must not neglect to proclaim their source by giving a common witness to Jesus Christ the Lord. It is he who commissioned the apostles, he whom the prophets preached, and he whom we offer to the world. (Ecumenical Meeting in the Crypt of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, July 18, 2008.)

 

Remember, of course, Ratzinger/Benedict believes that Protestants and the Orthodox are entitled to their own "structures," making it abundantly clear in the process that he rejects most categorically the "ecumenism of the return:"

 

As regards Protestantism, the maximum demand of the Catholic Church would be that the Protestant ecclesiological ministers be regarded as totally invalid and that Protestants be converted to Catholicism; the maximum demand of Protestants, on the other hand, would be that the Catholic Church accept, along with the unconditional acknowledgement of all Protestant ministries, the Protestant concept of ministry and their understanding of the Church and thus, in practice, renounce the apostolic and sacramental structure of the Church, which would mean, in practice, the conversion of Catholics to Protestantism and their acceptance of a multiplicity of distinct community structures as the historical form of the Church. While the first three maximum demands are today rather unanimously rejected by Christian consciousness, the fourth exercises a kind of fascination for it – as it were, a certain conclusiveness that makes it appear to be the real solution to the problem. This is all the more true since there is joined to it the expectation that a Parliament of Churches, a "truly ecumenical council’, could then harmonize this pluralism and promote a Christian unity of action.  That no real union would result from this, but that its very impossibility would become a single common dogma, should convince anyone who examines the suggestion closely that such a way would not bring Church unity but only a final renunciation of it.  As a result, none of the maximum solutions offers any real hope of unity.

.

As a result, none of the maximum solutions offers any real hope of unity. In any event, church unity is not a political problem that can be solved by means of compromise or the weighing of what is regarded as possible or acceptable. What is at stake here is unity of belief, that is, the question of truth, which cannot be the object of political maneuvering. As long as and to the extent that the maximum solution must be regarded as a requirement of truth itself, just so long and to just that extent there will be no other recourse than simply to strive to convert one's partner in the debate. In other words, the claim of truth ought not to be raised where there is not a compelling and indisputable reason for doing so. We may not interpret as truth that which is, in reality, a historical development with a more or less close relationship to truth. Whenever, then, the weight of truth and its incontrovertibility are involved, they must be met by a corresponding sincerity that avoids laying claim to truth prematurely and is ready to search for the inner fullness of truth with the eyes of love. (Joseph Ratzinger, Principles of Catholic Theology, pp. 197-198.)

We all know there are numerous models of unity and you know that the Catholic Church also has as her goal the full visible unity of the disciples of Christ, as defined by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council in its various Documents (cf. Lumen Gentium, nn. 8, 13; Unitatis Redintegratio, nn. 2, 4, etc.). This unity, we are convinced, indeed subsists in the Catholic Church, without the possibility of ever being lost (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 4); the Church in fact has not totally disappeared from the world.

On the other hand, 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!

It does not mean uniformity in all expressions of theology and spirituality, in liturgical forms and in discipline. Unity in multiplicity, and multiplicity in unity:  in my Homily for the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul on 29 June last, I insisted that full unity and true catholicity in the original sense of the word go together. As a necessary condition for the achievement of this coexistence, the commitment to unity must be constantly purified and renewed; it must constantly grow and mature. (Benedict XVI, Ecumenical meeting at the Archbishopric of Cologne English, August 19, 2005.)

 

There comes a point when pointing all of this out gets a little tiresome. Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI believes that the constant teaching of the Catholic Church to seek with urgency the unconditional conversion of all men to her maternal bosom was conditioned by the "historical circumstances" in which that teaching was explicated. It is by the use of his Hegelian-Modernist-New Theology view of dogmatic truth, which is at the foundation of all that believes (which is why he has as incomplete an understanding of Our Lord and His Revelation as, say, a "patriarch" of the schismatic and heretical Orthodox Church), that Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI can dismiss the following statements of perennial Catholic truth:

It is for this reason that so many who do not share “the communion and the truth of the Catholic Church” must make use of the occasion of the Council, by the means of the Catholic Church, which received in Her bosom their ancestors, proposes [further] demonstration of profound unity and of firm vital force; hear the requirements [demands] of her heart, they must engage themselves to leave this state that does not guarantee for them the security of salvation. She does not hesitate to raise to the Lord of mercy most fervent prayers to tear down of the walls of division, to dissipate the haze of errors, and lead them back within holy Mother Church, where their Ancestors found salutary pastures of life; where, in an exclusive way, is conserved and transmitted whole the doctrine of Jesus Christ and wherein is dispensed the mysteries of heavenly grace.

It is therefore by force of the right of Our supreme Apostolic ministry, entrusted to us by the same Christ the Lord, which, having to carry out with [supreme] participation all the duties of the good Shepherd and to follow and embrace with paternal love all the men of the world, we send this Letter of Ours to all the Christians from whom We are separated, with which we exhort them warmly and beseech them with insistence to hasten to return to the one fold of Christ; we desire in fact from the depths of the heart their salvation in Christ Jesus, and we fear having to render an account one day to Him, Our Judge, if, through some possibility, we have not pointed out and prepared the way for them to attain eternal salvation. In all Our prayers and supplications, with thankfulness, day and night we never omit to ask for them, with humble insistence, from the eternal Shepherd of souls the abundance of goods and heavenly graces. And since, if also, we fulfill in the earth the office of vicar, with all our heart we await with open arms the return of the wayward sons to the Catholic Church, in order to receive them with infinite fondness into the house of the Heavenly Father and to enrich them with its inexhaustible treasures. By our greatest wish for the return to the truth and the communion with the Catholic Church, upon which depends not only the salvation of all of them, but above all also of the whole Christian society: the entire world in fact cannot enjoy true peace if it is not of one fold and one shepherd. (Pope Pius IX, Iam Vos Omnes, September 13, 1868.)

So, Venerable Brethren, it is clear why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics: for the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it. To the one true Church of Christ, we say, which is visible to all, and which is to remain, according to the will of its Author, exactly the same as He instituted it. . . .

Let, therefore, the separated children draw nigh to the Apostolic See, set up in the City which Peter and Paul, the Princes of the Apostles, consecrated by their blood; to that See, We repeat, which is "the root and womb whence the Church of God springs," not with the intention and the hope that "the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" will cast aside the integrity of the faith and tolerate their errors, but, on the contrary, that they themselves submit to its teaching and government. Would that it were Our happy lot to do that which so many of Our predecessors could not, to embrace with fatherly affection those children, whose unhappy separation from Us We now bewail. Would that God our Savior, "Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," would hear us when We humbly beg that He would deign to recall all who stray to the unity of the Church! In this most important undertaking We ask and wish that others should ask the prayers of Blessed Mary the Virgin, Mother of divine grace, victorious over all heresies and Help of Christians, that She may implore for Us the speedy coming of the much hoped-for day, when all men shall hear the voice of Her divine Son, and shall be "careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, January 6, 1928.)

A. The spirit of Christ, which dictated the Holy Scriptures, and the spirit which animates and guides the Church of Christ, and teaches her all truth, is the same; and therefore in all ages her conduct on this point has been uniformly the same as what the Holy Scripture teaches. She has constantly forbidden her children to hold any communication, in religious matters, with those who are separated from her communion; and this she has sometimes done under the most severe penalties. In the apostolical canons, which are of very ancient standing, and for the most part handed down from the apostolical age, it is thus decreed: "If any bishop, or priest, or deacon, shall join in prayers with heretics, let him be suspended from Communion". (Can. 44)

Also, "If any clergyman or laic shall go into the synagogue of the Jews, or the meetings of heretics, to join in prayer with them, let him be deposed, and deprived of communion". (Can. 63)

So also, in one of her most respected councils, held in the year 398, at which the great St. Augustine was present, she speaks thus: "None must either pray or sing psalms with heretics; and whosoever shall communicate with those who are cut off from the Communion of the Church, whether clergyman or laic, let him be excommunicated". (Coun. Carth. iv. 72 and 73)

The same is her language in all ages; and in this she shows herself to be the true mother, who will not suffer her children to be divided. She knows her heavenly spouse has declared that "no man can serve two masters; we cannot serve God and Mammon;" and therefore she must either have them to be hers entirely, or she cannot acknowledge them as such. She knows His holy apostle has protested that there can be no "participation, no fellowship, no concord, no pact, no agreement between the faithful and the unbeliever;" and therefore she never can allow any of her faithful children to have any religious communication with those of a false religion and corrupted Faith. (The Laws of God Forbidding All Communication in Religion With Those of a False Religion.)

 

There is nothing to be "negotiated," only Divine Truths to be accepted. Period. Alas, at this late date, how many times can this be pointed out to those who are not as yet convinced that the counterfeit church of conciliarism and its false "pontiffs" continue to defy God as the eternal good of souls is betrayed time and time and time again?

The false "pontiff's" addresses to leaders of "Christian communities" and to leaders of "other religions" occurred, of course, during the "rock" and "rap" filled jamboree of paganism known as "World Youth Day 2008" in Sydney, Australia. Ratzinger/Benedict's simulations of the Protestant and Novus Ordo service included the "for you and for all" formula for the alleged consecration of the wine in the chalice into the Most Precious Blood of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as well as the distribution of Holy Communion on the tongue to those who desired to receive in this manner from his hands while they kneeled. Organizers of "World Youth Day 2008" made it known in advance that Ratzinger/Benedict that he would indeed distribute what purports to be Holy Communion in the Novus Ordo service in the hand and to those standing if this was the preference of the recipient. In other words, like almost everything else in the synthetic world of syntheses that is the counterfeit church of conciliarism, everything was a matter of preference.

Additionally, as has been discussed on this site a few weeks ago, the "enacting" of the Stations of the Cross featured non-traditional stations designed to appeal to the sensibilities to adherents to the diabolical Talmud:

Station 1: The Last Supper with a special appearance by the Benedict XVI, St Mary's Cathedral
Performance by St Mary's Cathedral choir

Station 2: The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane where Christ prepares for his death
The Domain

Station 3: Jesus before the Sanhedrin
The Art Gallery of NSW

Station 4: Jesus before Pontius Pilate
Sydney Opera House

Station 5: Jesus is whipped and crowned
Sydney Opera House Forecourt

Station 6:Jesus carries his Cross
Sydney Opera House Forecourt

Station 7: Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene

onboard a floating pontoon
Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour

Station 8: Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem
Barangaroo, Centre Stage

Station 9: Jesus is stripped and nailed
Barangaroo North Stage

Station 10: Jesus and the Good Thief
Barangaroo North Stage

Station 11: Jesus speaks to Mary and John
Barangaroo North Stage

Station 12: Jesus dies on the cross
Barangaroo North Stage

Station 13:The body of Jesus is brought down from the Cross
Barangaroo North Stage

Everything is subject to change in the counterfeit church of conciliarism. This is not the first time that the Way of the Cross has been altered. Novel "stations" were a regular feature of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II's "pontificate" as he processed (or, as he got older, at least announced) the stations at the Coliseum each Good Friday (I was there on, Good Friday, April 14, 1995;  a Moravian "nun" composed one set of the stations for use by John Paul II one Good Friday, possibly the one in 1995). As Pope Saint Pius X noted in Pascendi Dominci Gregis, September 8, 1907:

It remains for Us now to say a few words about the Modernist as reformer. From all that has preceded, it is abundantly clear how great and how eager is the passion of such men for innovation. In all Catholicism there is absolutely nothing on which it does not fasten.

 

And while there were, unlike Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI's visit to the United States of America, several public references to the Mother God (and one address, the Angelus message of Sunday, July 20, 2008, discussing Our Lady's role in the economy of salvation), there were no references, at least not in the official texts of the various "World Youth Day 2008" "papal" addresses and "homilies" found on the conciliar Vatican's website, to Our Lady's Most Holy Rosary, no exhortations to the young Catholics of the world attached to the conciliar structures and assembled in Sydney, Australia (or watching worldwide via television or the internet), to pray Our Lady's Most Holy Rosary. This speaks for itself.

All of the verbiage, much of it repetitive, is of little, if any, value. The Most Precious Blood of the Divine Redeemer is of infinite value. We must beg that that Its infinite merits be applied onto our own undeserving souls as we offer up our acts of reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, from Which that Blood originated and into Which It flowed to be regenerated prior to Its outpouring on the wood of the Holy Cross. We must help to make reparation for our own sins and those of the whole world. Words are useless. We must pray, pray, pray, pray, as Father Faber made clear in All for Jesus:

Now, let us look at the interests of Jesus. Let us take a view of the whole Church, which is His Spouse. Look first into Heaven, the Church Triumphant. It is the interest of Jesus that the glory of the most Holy Trinity should be increased in every possible manner and at every hour of the night and day; and this glory, which is called God's accidental glory, is increased by every good work, word and thought, every correspondence to grace, every resistance to temptation, every act of worship, every Sacrament rightly administered or humbly received, every act of homage and love to Mary, every invocation of the Saints, every bead of the Rosary, every Sign of the Cross, every drop of holy water, every pain patiently endured, every hash judgment meekly borne, every good wish, though it end only with the wishing, and never sees fulfillment--provided there be a devout intention along with all these things, and they are done in union with the merits of our sweet Lord. Every hour, at least so we trust, a new soul lands in Heaven from Purgatory or from earth, and begins its eternity of rapture and of praise. Each soul that swells the throng of worshippers, each silent voice added to the angelic choirs, is an increase to the glory of God; and so it is in the interest of Jesus to make these arrivals more frequent, and that they should bring more merits and higher degrees of love with them when they come. Even in Heaven the Confraternity [of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus] has work to do and power to do it. Heaven is one of our offices, and there is much business to be dispatched in its beautiful courts, business for the interests of Jesus, business which He has at heart, and therefore, which it behooves us to have in hand. (Father Frederick Faber, All For Jesus, published originally in 1854 and republished by TAN Books and Publishers, pp. 4-6.)

 

Let us be of strong heart and unite our hearts to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, praying as many Rosaries each day as the duties of our states-in-life permit. Let us not listen to the devil's minions in false religions, including the false religion of conciliarism, which is such a diabolical combination of truth and error. Let us listen only to the voice of the Divine Redeemer as It is expressed by the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, praying fervently that a least a few souls will be able to hear that same Voice and respond thereto as the sheep of His, the Good Shepherd's, One True Sheepfold.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

Viva Cristo Rey!

Isn't it time to pray a Rosary now

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 Praxedes, pray for us.

See also: A Litany of Saints