Saint Peter and Anti-Peter
by Thomas A. Droleskey
Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI is an apostate. He is a betrayer of Christ the King and the Catholic Faith. He is a mortal enemy of the souls redeemed by the shedding of the Most Precious Blood of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How any Catholic can at this late date consider this man a member of the Catholic Church who is faithful to the Deposit of Faith that Our Lord has entrusted exclusively to His Mystical Bride without any shadow of change or obscurity is a great mystery.
Today, the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter in Rome on which we commence the Chair of Unity Octave, is the day after Ratzinger/Benedict once again denied the Catholic Faith by reaffirming adherents of the Talmud in their false religion, daring to state publicly that Catholics and Jews worship the same "Lord." There is a very marked difference between how Saint Peter addressed the Jews on the first Pentecost Sunday and how anti-Peter, Ratzinger/Benedict addressed them yesterday. Just consider these words that the first pope, Saint Peter, addressed to the Jews in Jerusalem shortly after the descent of God the Holy Ghost in tongues of flame upon Our Lady the Apostles in the same Upper Room where Our Lord had instituted the Holy Priesthood and the Eucharist just fifty-three days before:
Ye men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known to you, and with your ears receive my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day:
But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, (saith the Lord,) I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And upon my servants indeed, and upon my handmaids will I pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will shew wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood and fire, and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord come.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him, in the midst of you, as you also know: This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, as it was impossible that he should be holden by it. For David saith concerning him: I foresaw the Lord before my face: because he is at my right hand, that I may not be moved.
For this my heart hath been glad, and any tongue hath rejoiced: moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life: thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Ye men, brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David; that he died, and was buried; and his sepulchre is with us to this present day. Whereas therefore he was a prophet, and knew that God hath sworn to him with an oath, that of the fruit of his loins one should sit upon his throne.
Foreseeing this, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ. For neither was he left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised again, whereof all we are witnesses. Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath poured forth this which you see and hear. For David ascended not into heaven; but he himself said: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy enemies thy footstool.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified. Now when they had heard these things, they had compunction in their heart, and said to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles: What shall we do, men and brethren? But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall call. And with very many other words did he testify and exhort them, saying: Save yourselves from this perverse generation.
They therefore that received his word, were baptized; and there were added in that day about three thousand souls. And they were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: many wonders also and signs were done by the apostles in Jerusalem, and there was great fear in all. And all they that believed, were together, and had all things common. Their possessions and goods they sold, and divided them to all, according as every one had need. (Acts 2: 14-41.)
Anti-Peter, Ratzinger/Benedict, did not exhort the Jews gathered to listen to him at the synagogue in Rome yesterday to convert to the Catholic Faith. As a true progenitor and son of the "Second" Vatican Council, Ratzinger/Benedict hailed the "progress" made what he termed Catholic-Jewish relations in the past forty years. What is "progress" for an apostate Catholic, however, is nothing other than an offense to the true God of Divine Revelation:
When he came among you for the first time, as a Christian and as Pope, my Venerable Predecessor John Paul II, almost 24 years ago, wanted to make a decisive contribution to strengthening the good relations between our two communities, so as to overcome every misconception and prejudice. My visit forms a part of the journey already begun, to confirm and deepen it. With sentiments of heartfelt appreciation, I come among you to express to you the esteem and the affection which the Bishop and the Church of Rome, as well as the entire Catholic Church, have towards this Community and all Jewish communities around the world.
2. The teaching of the Second Vatican Council has represented for Catholics a clear landmark to which constant reference is made in our attitude and our relations with the Jewish people, marking a new and significant stage. The Council gave a strong impetus to our irrevocable commitment to pursue the path of dialogue, fraternity and friendship, a journey which has been deepened and developed in the last forty years, through important steps and significant gestures. Among them, I should mention once again the historic visit by my Venerable Predecessor to this Synagogue on 13 April 1986, the numerous meetings he had with Jewish representatives, both here in Rome and during his Apostolic Visits throughout the world, the Jubilee Pilgrimage which he made to the Holy Land in the year 2000, the various documents of the Holy See which, following the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration Nostra Aetate, have made helpful contributions to the increasingly close relations between Catholics and Jews. I too, in the course of my Pontificate, have wanted to demonstrate my closeness to and my affection for the people of the Covenant. I cherish in my heart each moment of the pilgrimage that I had the joy of making to the Holy Land in May of last year, along with the memories of numerous meetings with Jewish Communities and Organizations, in particular my visits to the Synagogues of Cologne and New York.
Furthermore, the Church has not failed to deplore the failings of her sons and daughters, begging forgiveness for all that could in any way have contributed to the scourge of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism (cf. Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, 16 March 1998). May these wounds be healed forever! The heartfelt prayer which Pope John Paul II offered at the Western Wall on 26 March 2000 comes back to my mind, and it calls forth a profound echo in our hearts: “God of our Fathers, you chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your Name to the nations: we are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant.” (Ratzinger at Rome synagogue: ‘May these wounds be healed forever!’ )
Dialogue? The Catholic Church has no need to engage in any kind of "dialogue" to learn anything about any false religion. There is nothing lacking in her Divine Constitution. She is complete in and of herself in everything that pertains to the salvation of men. She has nothing to "learn" from "discussions" with those who are non-Catholics. Her mission is to proclaim the Gospel of her Divine Founder and Invisible Head as she seeks with urgency the unconditional conversion of everyone who is outside of her own maternal bosom.
Dialogue? Behold the fruitless results of this "dialogue" with adherents of the Talmud in the past forty years as the conciliar "popes" have, with a few exceptions here and there, bent over backward to provide Jews with "input" on various decisions that have been undertaken by the conciliar authorities, who have been acting, albeit falsely, in the name of the Catholic Church.
People of the Covenant? What Covenant? The Mosaic Covenant has been superseded by the New and Eternal Covenant that Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ instituted at the Last Supper and that He ratified by the shedding of every single drop of His Most Precious Blood on the wood of the Holy Cross on Good Friday. The curtain in the Temple in Jerusalem was torn in two from top to bottom as Our Lord breathed His last breath, signifying an end to the Mosaic Covenant. The destruction of that Temple and of the city of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. was the definitive public judgment of the invalidity of the Mosaic Covenant following the proclamation of the Gospel after Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension to the Father's right hand in glory and the descent of God the Holy Ghost on Pentecost Sunday, thus beginning the missionary work of Holy Mother Church.
People of the Covenant. Once again, my friends, let us turn to the words of Pope Saint Pius X:
POPE: We are unable to favor this movement [of Zionism]. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem—but we could never sanction it. The ground of Jerusalem, if it were not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church I cannot answer you otherwise. The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people.
HERZL: [The conflict between Rome and Jerusalem, represented by the one and the other of us, was once again under way. At the outset I tried to be conciliatory. I said my little piece. . . . It didn’t greatly impress him. Jerusalem was not to be placed in Jewish hands.] And its present status, Holy Father?
POPE: I know, it is disagreeable to see the Turks in possession of our Holy Places. We simply have to put up with it. But to sanction the Jewish wish to occupy these sites, that we cannot do.
HERZL: [I said that we based our movement solely on the sufferings of the Jews, and wished to put aside all religious issues].
POPE: Yes, but we, but I as the head of the Catholic Church, cannot do this. One of two things will likely happen. Either the Jews will retain their ancient faith and continue to await the Messiah whom we believe has already appeared—in which case they are denying the divinity of Jesus and we cannot assist them. Or else they will go there with no religion whatever, and then we can have nothing at all to do with them. The Jewish faith was the foundation of our own, but it has been superceded by the teachings of Christ, and we cannot admit that it still enjoys any validity. The Jews who should have been the first to acknowledge Jesus Christ have not done so to this day.
People of the Covenant? The Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, must have failed the Catholic Church as the Fathers of the Council of Florence made this solemn proclamation that was promulgated by Pope Eugene IV on February 4, 1442:
It [the Holy Roman Church] firmly believes, professes, and teaches that the matter pertaining to the law of the Old Testament, of the Mosaic law, which are divided into ceremonies, sacred rites, sacrifices, and sacraments, because they were established to signify something in the future, although they were suited to the divine worship at that time, after our Lord's coming had been signified by them, ceased, and the sacraments of the New Testament began; and that whoever, even after the passion, placed hope in these matters of the law and submitted himself to them as necessary for salvation, as if faith in Christ could not save without them, sinned mortally. Yet it does not deny that after the passion of Christ up to the promulgation of the Gospel they could have been observed until they were believed to be in no way necessary for salvation; but after the promulgation of the Gospel it asserts that they cannot be observed without the loss of eternal salvation. All, therefore, who after that time observe circumcision and the Sabbath and the other requirements of the law, it declares alien to the Christian faith and not in the least fit to participate in eternal salvation, unless someday they recover from these errors. Therefore, it commands all who glory in the name of Christian, at whatever time, before or after baptism, to cease entirely from circumcision, since, whether or not one places hope in it, it cannot be observed at all without the loss of eternal salvation. Regarding children, indeed, because of danger of death, which can often take place, when no help can be brought to them by another remedy than through the sacrament of baptism, through which they are snatched from the domination of the Devil and adopted among the sons of God, it advises that holy baptism ought not to be deferred for forty or eighty days, or any time according to the observance of certain people, but it should be conferred as soon as it can be done conveniently, but so ,that, when danger of death is imminent, they be baptized in the form of the Church, early without delay, even by a layman or woman, if a priest should be lacking, just as is contained more fully in the decree of the Armenians. . . .
It firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart "into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels" [Matt. 25:41], unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church. (Pope Eugene IV, Cantate Domino, Council of Florence, February 4, 1442.)
Is this what Ratzinger/Benedict is, yet again, apologizing for as "anti-Semitic" or anti-Jewish behavior on the part of Catholics? The Catholic Church wills the good of all people, including the Jews, the ultimate expression of which is the salvation of their immortal souls. She does, however, hate all false religions, and in this sense she is indeed and must ever be "anti-Jewish" as she is anti-Protestant and anti-Mohammedan and anti-Buddhist and anti-Hindu and anti-every other false religion. Harsh? Get over the squeamishness and sentimentality born of Judeo-Masonic naturalism.
God hates all false religions. He loathes them. He wants them eradicated from the face of this earth as their adherents are converted to the true Faith. The Catholic Church, ever faithful to Him as she is guided by Him infallibly, must hate what he hates: sin and error and falsehood. This is not an option for a Catholic. We must hate sin in our own lives. We must seek to root it out as we cooperate with the graces won for us by Our Lord on the wood of the Holy Cross that flow into our hearts and souls through the loving hands of Our Lady, the Mediatrix of All Graces. We must hate the spread of sin in the world under cover of the civil law and in the midst of popular culture. We must make no conscious compromise with error or falsehood. We must be earnest about planting seeds for the conversion of all non-Catholics to the true Faith, outside of which there is no salvation and without with there can be no true social order.
True to his apostate beliefs, Ratzinger/Benedict yesterday called upon the memory of the "Shoah" to invoke his own false church's solicitude for the "faith of Israel."
3. The passage of time allows us to recognize in the Twentieth Century a truly tragic period for humanity: ferocious wars that sowed destruction, death and suffering like never before; frightening ideologies, rooted in the idolatry of man, of race, and of the State, which led to brother killing brother. The singular and deeply disturbing drama of the Shoah represents, as it were, the most extreme point on the path of hatred that begins when man forgets his Creator and places himself at the centre of the universe. As I noted during my visit of 28 May 2006 to the Auschwitz Concentration camp, which is still profoundly impressed upon my memory, “the rulers of the Third Reich wanted to crush the entire Jewish people”, and, essentially, “by wiping out this people, they intended to kill the God who called Abraham, who spoke on Sinai and laid down principles to serve as a guide for mankind, principles that remain eternally valid” (Discourse at Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp: The Teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, II, 1 [2006], p.727). (Ratzinger at Rome synagogue: ‘May these wounds be healed forever!’ )
"The singular and deeply disturbing drama of the Shoah represents, as it were the most extreme point on the path of hatred that begins when man forgets his Creator and places himself at the centre of the universe." "Singular" drama of the "Shoah." No, the greatest crime ever committed was that of Deicide.
"Singular drama of the Shoah"? No, the most extreme path of hatred was that which was imposed upon the God-Man, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as He was put to death by our sins. The Jews of His time showed Him that they knew full Who He was, God in the very flesh, and they hated Him, shouting out the following to the political coward named Pontius Pilate, who wanted to maintain his position in Roman governance by appeasing the shouts of the crowd calling out for the Blood of the Divine Redeemer to be shed:
And the governor answering, said to them: Whether will you of the two to be released unto you? But they said, Barabbas. Pilate saith to them: What shall I do then with Jesus that is called Christ? They say all: Let him be crucified. The governor said to them: Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying: Let him be crucified. And Pilate seeing that he prevailed nothing, but that rather a tumult was made; taking water washed his hands before the people, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this just man; look you to it. And the whole people answering, said: His blood be upon us and our children. (Matthew 27: 21-25.)
The Jews of Our Lord's time knew what they were doing. They did not care. Their descendants have not cared as they persecuted the Church in her infancy, willingly pointing out Catholics who were hiding in various places from the Roman authorities in order to curry favor with those authorities after they had been dispersed from the Holy Land in 70 A.D. Over thirteen million Catholics were killed by Roman authorities and their minions in their occupied lands between 67 A.D. and 313 A.D., and Jews played a role in seeking to kill the true Faith and those who adhered to it once and for all during this period of the Church's infancy.
Indeed, it was the Judeo-Masonic warfare against the Catholic Faith and the Social Reign of Christ the King in the centuries following the Protestant Revolt and the rise of naturalistic philosophies and ideologies that made possible the rise of anti-Theistic regimes such as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Nazi Germany, both of which were founded in an belief that the spread of their respective statist ideologies could improve the world. The Jewish warfare against the Faith was, therefore, in very large measure responsible for the letting loose of demonic forces that resulted in the crimes committed by agents of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. It was the Judeo-Masonic effort to kill off Christ the King once and for all that brought out the crimes of the Twentieth Century, which are as of yet ongoing in the Twenty-first Century as innocent babies are put to deaths in their mothers' wombs around the world, both by surgical and chemical means, under cover of the civil law to this very day.
Ratzinger/Benedict's efforts yesterday to defend Pope Pius XII's "wartime record" without referring to him, a truly shameful act of cowardice in and of itself, was incomplete and shallow:
Here in this place, how could we not remember the Roman Jews who were snatched from their homes, before these very walls, and who with tremendous brutality were killed at Auschwitz? How could one ever forget their faces, their names, their tears, the desperation faced by these men, women and children? The extermination of the people of the Covenant of Moses, at first announced, then systematically programmed and put into practice in Europe under the Nazi regime, on that day tragically reached as far as Rome. Unfortunately, many remained indifferent, but many, including Italian Catholics, sustained by their faith and by Christian teaching, reacted with courage, often at risk of their lives, opening their arms to assist the Jewish fugitives who were being hunted down, and earning perennial gratitude. The Apostolic See itself provided assistance, often in a hidden and discreet way.
The memory of these events compels us to strengthen the bonds that unite us so that our mutual understanding, respect and acceptance may always increase. (Ratzinger at Rome synagogue: ‘May these wounds be healed forever!’ )
"A hidden and discreet way"? This is a lie. Adolf Hitler knew that Pope Pius XII was seeking to rescue the Jews of Europe, which is why he, Hitler, had plans to kidnap or kill the pontiff and to place a puppet "pope" on the Throne of Saint Peter. Although Ratzinger/Benedict has spoken of Pope Pius XII's efforts in other forums, he had an opportunity yesterday to remind the Jews gathered there that our last true pope's efforts were so courageous that they inspired one of Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni's own predecessors as the Grand Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, to convert to the Catholic Faith on February 13, 1945, as he took the baptismal name of Eugenio Maria in honor of Pope Pius XII himself.
The evidence is clear. Pope Pius XII's efforts were both bold and courageous:
Pope Pius XII was not a German collaborator nor was he pro-Nazi. Neither was he inactive nor silent. As a member of the Catholic Church, I resent the blatant accusations against the diplomacy of the Pope and the Church during World War II. This is not only indecent journalism but it also an injustice toward a man who saved more Jews than any other person, including Oscar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg. Unfortunately even in the new Holocaust Museum at Battery Park in New York City the Pope is unjustly criticized. It is historically inaccurate to charge him with "silence."
Should the media be allowed to perpetuate such falsehoods? Documents prove that these misrepresentations are untrue. Pius XII spoke out as much as he could, and was able to do more with actions than with words. To the very end, he was convinced that, should he denounce Hitler publicly, there would be retaliation. And there was. Whenever protests were made, treatment of prisoners worsened immediately. Robert Kempner, the American who served as deputy chief of the Nuremburg war-crimes tribunal, wrote: "All the arguments and writings eventually used by the Catholic Church against Hitler only provoked suicide; the execution of Jews was followed by that of Catholic priests."
Pius XII—through his public discourses, his appeals to governments, and his secret diplomacy—was engaged more than any other individual in the effort to curb the war and rebuild the peace. Documents show that Pius XII was in contact with the German generals who sought to overthrow Hitler. Documents also show that the Jewish community received enormous help: Pius XII’s personal funds ransomed Jews from Nazis. Papal representatives in Croatia, Hungary, and Romania intervened to stop deportations. The Pope called for a peace conference involving Italy, France, England, Germany, and Poland in 1939, in a last-minute bid to avert bloodshed.
An interesting document is the testimony of Albert Einstein who, disenchanted by the silence of universities and editors of newspapers, stated in Time magazine (December 23, 1940): "Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. …The Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom." Indeed, executing the directives of Pope Pius XII, religious men and women opened their doors to save the Jews.
Never were the Jews and the Vatican so close as during World War II. The Vatican was the only place on the continent where they had any friends. Pope Pius XII’s response to the plight of the Jews was to save as many as possible. Yet little has been done to stop the criticism of Pius XII that began in 1963, when Rolf Hochhuth portrayed him as a Nazi collaborator in the play "The Deputy." In contrast to the image suggested by this play, Vatican records indicate that the Church operated an underground railroad that rescued 800,000 European Jews from the Holocaust. After a careful study of available documents, whoever is interested in the truth will no longer condemn the actions of Pope Pius XII’s words and the Catholic Church during this tragic period.
An honest evaluation of Pope Pius XII’s words and actions will exonerate him from false accusations and show that he has been unjustly maligned. The Pope neither favored nor was favored by the Nazis. The day after his election (March 3, 1939), the Nazi newspaper, Berliner Morganpost stated its position clearly: "the election of Cardinal Pacelli is not accepted with favor in Germany because he was always opposed to Nazism."
The New York Times editorial (December 25, 1942) was specific: "The voice of Pius XII is a lonely voice in the silence and darkness enveloping Europe this Christmas...He is about the only ruler left on the Continent of Europe who dares to raise his voice at all." The Pope’s Christmas message was also interpreted in the Gestapo report: "in a manner never known before...the Pope has repudiated the National Socialist New European Order [Nazism]. It is true, the Pope does not refer to the National Socialists in Germany by name, but his speech is one long attack on everything we stand for. …Here he is clearly speaking on behalf of the Jews." Perhaps the rest of the world should interpret the Pope’s words as they were meant and, undoubtedly, correctly understood by the Nazis, i.e.: POPE PIUS XII WAS ALWAYS OPPOSED TO NAZISM.
The Jewish Community publicly acknowledged the wisdom of Pope Pius XII’s diplomacy. In September 1945, Dr. Joseph Nathan—who represented the Hebrew Commission—stated "Above all, we acknowledge the Supreme Pontiff and the religious men and women who, executing the directives of the Holy Father, recognized the persecuted as their brothers and, with great abnegation, hastened to help them, disregarding the terrible dangers to which they were exposed." In 1958, at the death of Pope Pius XII, Golda Meir sent an eloquent message: "We share in the grief of humanity. …When fearful martyrdom came to our people, the voice of the Pope was raised for its victims. The life of our times was enriched by a voice speaking out about great moral truths above the tumult of daily conflict. We mourn a great servant of peace." (The Truth About Pope Pius XII.)
What did the Freemason Franklin Delano Roosevelt say publicly about the fate of the Jews in Europe during World War II? What did the Freemason Winston Churchill say about the fate of the Jews in Europe during World War II? Pope Pius XII acted decisively, and his actions spoke all the way to Berlin. "Hidden and discreet"? Go tell that to Adolf Hitler or to Herbert Kappler, who converted to the Faith in 1959 because of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty's pastoral solicitude for his soul after his capture following the Allied liberation of Rome on June 6, 1944. Both of these men knew that Pope Pius XII was their enemy. No, Ratzinger/Benedict must downplay Pope Pius XII's efforts in front of those who are offended by the mere mention of his name. Truth be told, of course, some adherents of the Talmud hate Pope Pius XII and seek to defame his memory precisely because of the conversion of Eugenio Maria Zolli.
The heart of Ratzinger/Benedict's apostasy yesterday is to be found in the reiteration of the assertion that he made nine years ago that a "Jewish interpretation of the Bible is a possible one:"
4. Our closeness and spiritual fraternity find in the Holy Bible – in Hebrew Sifre Qodesh or “Book of Holiness” – their most stable and lasting foundation, which constantly reminds us of our common roots, our history and the rich spiritual patrimony that we share. It is in pondering her own mystery that the Church, the People of God of the New Covenant, discovers her own profound bond with the Jews, who were chosen by the Lord before all others to receive his word (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 839). “The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God’s revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews ‘belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs and of their race, according to the flesh is the Christ’ (Rom 9:4-5), ‘for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable!’ (Rom 11:29)” (Ibid).
5. Many lessons may be learned from our common heritage derived from the Law and the Prophets. I would like to recall some of them: first of all, the solidarity which binds the Church to the Jewish people “at the level of their spiritual identity”, which offers Christians the opportunity to promote “a renewed respect for the Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament” (cf. Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Jewish people and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, 2001, pp.12 and 55); the centrality of the Decalogue as a common ethical message of permanent value for Israel, for the Church, for non-believers and for all of humanity; the task of preparing or ushering in the Kingdom of the Most High in the “care for creation” entrusted by God to man for him to cultivate and to care for responsibly (cf. Gen 2:15). (Ratzinger at Rome synagogue: ‘May these wounds be healed forever!’ )
Apostasy. The "Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament" is blasphemous in that it denies that God the Holy Ghost, who inspired the words of Sacred Scripture, including the Old Testament, directed the human authors to write the books of the Old Testament with clarity so that they pointed unequivocally to the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity in Our Lady's Virginal and Immaculate Womb by His own power. And what in the world is "Israel"? The country? A way of referring to Talmudic Judaism? If it is the latter, Ratzinger/Benedict once again reaffirmed the validity of a false religion that is hateful in the eyes of God and that has the power to sanctify or save not one human being on the face of this earth.
Ratzinger/Benedict spent much time discussing the Ten Commandments as the foundation of a "mutual respect" between Catholics and Jews, forgetting to mention the inconvenient little fact that those Ten Commandments have been entrusted by Our Lord to the Catholic Church for their eternal safekeeping and infallible explication. The Catholic Church alone is the sole repository of the Ten Commandments. It is by her teaching authority alone that we know what these commandments are and it is by her sanctifying offices that are given the supernatural means (Sanctifying Grace) to keep them. Indeed, Ratzinger/Benedict had some nerve referring to the Ten Commandments as he violated the First and Second Commandments just by stepping foot in the synagogue in Rome yesterday!
6. In particular, the Decalogue – the “Ten Words” or Ten Commandments (cf. Ex 20:1-17; Dt 5:1-21) – which comes from the Torah of Moses, is a shining light for ethical principles, hope and dialogue, a guiding star of faith and morals for the people of God, and it also enlightens and guides the path of Christians. It constitutes a beacon and a norm of life in justice and love, a “great ethical code” for all humanity. The “Ten Commandments” shed light on good and evil, on truth and falsehood, on justice and injustice, and they match the criteria of every human person’s right conscience. Jesus himself recalled this frequently, underlining the need for active commitment in living the way of the Commandments: “If you wish to enter into life, observe the Commandments” (Mt 19:17). From this perspective, there are several possible areas of cooperation and witness. I would like to recall three that are especially important for our time.
The “Ten Commandments” require that we recognize the one Lord, against the temptation to construct other idols, to make golden calves. In our world there are many who do not know God or who consider him superfluous, without relevance for their lives; hence, other new gods have been fabricated to whom man bows down. Reawakening in our society openness to the transcendent dimension, witnessing to the one God, is a precious service which Jews and Christians can offer together. (Ratzinger at Rome synagogue: ‘May these wounds be healed forever!’ )
"The one Lord"? Yes, Who is the one Lord? The Most Blessed Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Jews and other non-Catholics do not worship the same "Lord." Protestants, most of whom eschew the Sign of the Cross, do not worship the true God of Divine Revelation as He has revealed Himself to us through His true Church that Our Lord Himself founded upon the Rock of Peter, the Pope. Jews and Christians cannot together "reawaken" in "our society openness to the transcendent dimension, witnessing to the one God" as they do not believe in the same God of Divine Revelation, the God Who has entered human history to redeem us on the wood of the Holy Cross and who has given us but one means of salvation, the Catholic Church, to instruct us and to sanctify us unto eternity. The Jews have a golden calf of their own: their false religion, which is hideous in the sight of the true God of Divine Revelation. How can they make God known to the "world" when they do not know Him themselves?
Ratzinger/Benedict went on to discourse on the Ten Commandments to the Jews in his hearing yesterday as though there was no such thing as the liberal or "reformed" branches of Talmudic Judaism that support baby-killing and perversity. Indeed, Ratzinger/Benedict himself has not considered support for baby-killing or perversity to be an impediment to the bestowing of "papal" knighthood and "papal" medals upon pro-abortion, pro-perversity Talmudic rabbis, making these words utterly meaningless, especially when one considers the simple fact that Jews are not supposed to "bear witness" to the "ethnical norms" of their false religion, they are supposed to bear witness to the truths of the Catholic Faith after they have been baptized as members of the true Church:
The “Ten Commandments” call us to respect life and to protect it against every injustice and abuse, recognizing the worth of each human person, created in the image and likeness of God. How often, in every part of the world, near and far, the dignity, the freedom and the rights of human beings are trampled upon! Bearing witness together to the supreme value of life against all selfishness, is an important contribution to a new world where justice and peace reign, a world marked by that “shalom” which the lawgivers, the prophets and the sages of Israel longed to see.
The “Ten Commandments” call us to preserve and to promote the sanctity of the family, in which the personal and reciprocal, faithful and definitive “Yes” of man and woman makes room for the future, for the authentic humanity of each, and makes them open, at the same time, to the gift of new life. To witness that the family continues to be the essential cell of society and the basic environment in which human virtues are learned and practised is a precious service offered in the construction of a world with a more human face. (Ratzinger at Rome synagogue: ‘May these wounds be healed forever!’ )
Ratzinger/Benedict continued his reaffirmation of Talmudic Judaism and of the lie that Jews and Catholics worship the same "Lord" in the final few paragraphs of the presentation that he delivered yesterday:
7. As Moses taught in the Shema (cf. Dt 6:5; Lev 19:34) – and as Jesus reaffirms in the Gospel (cf. Mk 12:19-31), all of the Commandments are summed up in the love of God and loving-kindness towards one’s neighbour. This Rule urges Jews and Christians to exercise, in our time, a special generosity towards the poor, towards women and children, strangers, the sick, the weak and the needy. In the Jewish tradition there is a wonderful saying of the Fathers of Israel: “Simon the Just often said: The world is founded on three things: the Torah, worship, and acts of mercy” (Avoth 1:2). In exercising justice and mercy, Jews and Christians are called to announce and to bear witness to the coming Kingdom of the Most High, for which we pray and work in hope each day.
8. On this path we can walk together, aware of the differences that exist between us, but also aware of the fact that when we succeed in uniting our hearts and our hands in response to the Lord’s call, his light comes closer and shines on all the peoples of the world. The progress made in the last forty years by the International Committee for Catholic-Jewish Relations and, in more recent years, by the Mixed Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and of the Holy See, are a sign of our common will to continue an open and sincere dialogue. Tomorrow here in Rome, in fact, the Mixed Commission will hold its ninth meeting, on “Catholic and Jewish Teaching on Creation and the Environment”; we wish them a profitable dialogue on such a timely and important theme.
9. Christians and Jews share to a great extent a common spiritual patrimony, they pray to the same Lord, they have the same roots, and yet they often remain unknown to each other. It is our duty, in response to God’s call, to strive to keep open the space for dialogue, for reciprocal respect, for growth in friendship, for a common witness in the face of the challenges of our time, which invite us to cooperate for the good of humanity in this world created by God, the Omnipotent and Merciful. (Ratzinger at Rome synagogue: ‘May these wounds be healed forever!’ )
"The word is founded on three things: the Torah, worship, and acts of mercy." The world is founded on the totality of the Divine Revelation that Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church and on nothing else She alone offers the only worship that is pleasing to the Most Blessed Trinity, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the unbloody re-presentation of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's Sacrifice of Himself to His Co-Equal and Co-Eternal Father on the wood of the Holy Cross in atonement for our sins.
"Jews and Christians are called to announce and to bear witness to the coming Kingdom of the Most High, for which we pray and work in hope each day"? This makes it appear as though that Jews indeed are justified in waiting for what they believe is the First Coming of the Messiah in time, which Jews believe will be His one and only coming. This kind of talk represents "progress" all right, the "progress" of sending souls on a path straight to Hell as Catholics and non-Catholics alike are convinced that the efforts of Saint Peter and the other Apostles to covert the Jews were either wrong or have become "outdated" as a result of the "Shoah" and the "Second" Vatican Council's response to it.
"Reciprocal respect"? "Dialogue." Let us turn once again to Saint John Chrysostom, whose feast we will celebrate in nine days:
Let that be your judgment about the synagogue, too. For they brought the books of Moses and the prophets along with them into the synagogue, not to honor them but to outrage them with dishonor. When they say that Moses and the prophets knew not Christ and said nothing about his coming, what greater outrage could they do to those holy men than to accuse them of failing to recognize their Master, than to say that those saintly prophets are partners of their impiety? And so it is that we must hate both them and their synagogue all the more because of their offensive treatment of those holy men." (Saint John Chrysostom, Fourth Century, A.D., Saint John Chrysostom: Eight Homilies Against the Jews.)
Many, I know, respect the Jews and think that their present way of life is a venerable one. This is why I hasten to uproot and tear out this deadly opinion. I said that the synagogue is no better than a theater and I bring forward a prophet as my witness. Surely the Jews are not more deserving of belief than their prophets. "You had a harlot's brow; you became shameless before all". Where a harlot has set herself up, that place is a brothel. But the synagogue is not only a brothel and a theater; it also is a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts. Jeremiah said: "Your house has become for me the den of a hyena". He does not simply say "of wild beast", but "of a filthy wild beast", and again: "I have abandoned my house, I have cast off my inheritance". But when God forsakes a people, what hope of salvation is left? When God forsakes a place, that place becomes the dwelling of demons.
(2) But at any rate the Jews say that they, too, adore God. God forbid that I say that. No Jew adores God! Who says so? The Son of God says so. For he said: "If you were to know my Father, you would also know me. But you neither know me nor do you know my Father". Could I produce a witness more trustworthy than the Son of God?
(3) If, then, the Jews fail to know the Father, if they crucified the Son, if they thrust off the help of the Spirit, who should not make bold to declare plainly that the synagogue is a dwelling of demons? God is not worshipped there. Heaven forbid! From now on it remains a place of idolatry. But still some people pay it honor as a holy place. (Saint John Chrysostom: Eight Homilies Against the Jews)
Take a look at these words and compare them to those of Ratzinger/Benedict. These few paragraphs from Saint John Chrysostom are about as cogent a rebuttal to Ratzinger/Benedict's apostate words and actions as one is every going to find. Who pays synagogues honor as holy places? Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, that's who. He is an apostate. He is a true anti-Semite as he is content to leave people steeped in a dead, superseded religion in their false beliefs until the moments of their deaths, showing that he is their enemy unto eternity, not their friend as he is opposing that which can effect their salvation, namely, their conversion to the true Faith.
Alas, Catholics have become so accustomed to apostasy that they do not even blink when a putative "pope" violates the First and Second Commandments by entering into a synagogue, no less entering into that place of false worship without exhorting anyone that they need to the convert to the true Faith to save their immortal souls. Gone from the Catholic consciousness of most baptized Catholics are the truths written by Bishop George Hay over 200 years ago now::
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) (Bishop George Hay, (The Laws of God Forbidding All Communication in Religion With Those of a False Religion.)
Perhaps I missed something. Maybe these parting words of the false "pontiff" yesterday contained a "hidden" and "discreet" message exhorting the Jews to convert?
10. Finally, I offer a particular reflection on this, our city of Rome, where, for nearly two millennia, as Pope John Paul II said, the Catholic Community with its Bishop and the Jewish Community with its Chief Rabbi have lived side by side. May this proximity be animated by a growing fraternal love, expressed also in closer cooperation, so that we may offer a valid contribution to solving the problems and difficulties that we still face.
I beg from the Lord the precious gift of peace in the world, above all in the Holy Land. During my pilgrimage there last May, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, I prayed to Him who can do all things, asking: “Send your peace upon this Holy Land, upon the Middle East, upon the entire human family; stir the hearts of those who call upon your name, to walk humbly in the path of justice and compassion” (Prayer at the Western Wall of Jerusalem, 12 May 2009).
I give thanks and praise to God once again for this encounter, asking him to strengthen our fraternal bonds and to deepen our mutual understanding. (
Solve problems and difficulties? It is impossible to do that unless one has the spirit of the aforementioned Pope Saint Pius X, who wrote the following in Notre Charge Apostolique, August 15, 1910:
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. (Pope Saint Pius X, Notre Charge Apostolique, August 15, 1910.)
No, Venerable Brethren, We must repeat with the utmost energy in these times of social and intellectual anarchy when everyone takes it upon himself to teach as a teacher and lawmaker - the City cannot be built otherwise than as God has built it; society cannot be setup unless the Church lays the foundations and supervises the work; no, civilization is not something yet to be found, nor is the New City to be built on hazy notions; it has been in existence and still is: it is Christian civilization, it is the Catholic City. It has only to be set up and restored continually against the unremitting attacks of insane dreamers, rebels and miscreants. omnia instaurare in Christo. (Pope Saint Pius X, Notre Charge Apostolique, August 15, 1910.)
Oh, by the way, did I tell you that Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI is an apostate, that he is a betrayer of Christ the King and the Catholic Faith, that he is a mortal enemy of the souls redeemed by the shedding of the Most Precious Blood of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Have I told you that lately?
This is, of course, a chastisement for our sins, for our own infidelities, for our own lukewarmness, for our own lack of steadfastness in prayer, especially to the Mother of God, who was not mentioned at all by Ratzinger/Benedict yesterday in his address to the Jews. We need to pray many Rosaries of reparation now that these additional offenses have been given to God the false "pontiff." We need, therefore, to make much reparation for these sins as we seek always to make reparation for our own sins as we entrust to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary the need of the present moment.
We must, of course, continue to remember that this is the time that God has appointed from all eternity for us to be alive. He has work for us to do. Let us do this work with courage and valor as we never count the cost of being humiliated for the sake of defending the integrity of Faith, as we never cease our prayers for the conversion of all people, including those who adhere to the Talmud and Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and his fellow conciliarists, to the true Church, outside of which there is no salvation and without which there can be no true social order.
Viva Cristo Rey! Vivat Christus Rex!
Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph soon!
