Takes One to Know One

by Thomas A. Droleskey

Much is being made of the revelation, contained in a book of memoirs about John Paul II written by Benedict XVI, that the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger opposed a performance of the singer Bob Dylan at a World Eucharistic Congress in Bologna, Italy on September 27, 1997. Ratzinger's memoirs reveal that he believed it was wrong of John Paul II to have invited Dylan to perform at the congress, referring to Dylan as a "false prophet." Well, as will be summarized below for yet another time, it takes one to know one. After all, Joseph Ratzinger has long been the false prophet championing the causes of the "Church's official reconciliation with the new era inaugurated in 1789" and ecumenism and religious liberty and episcopal collegiality and the new ecclesiology. Oh, yes, it takes a false prophet frequently to know a false prophet.

Before summarizing the teaching of the false prophet named Joseph Ratzinger, it is important to place his criticism of Bob Dylan's appearance at the 1997 "World Eucharistic Congress" in its proper context. Although some might contend cynically that Ratzinger is attempting to make himself look good in the eyes of "conservative" Catholics wedded to the structures of the counterfeit church of conciliarism and in the eyes of traditionally-minded Catholics who are waiting for the release of the "motu proprio" that will "liberate" the modernized version of the Immemorial Mass of Tradition so that it can offered at any time privately by any priest in the world, one must remember that Joseph Ratzinger is a maze of contradictions. His mind is not Thomistically-trained. He is a disciple of his Hegelian mentor, the late Father Hans Urs von Balthasar, who believed that truth contained within itself the seeds of its own contradiction and that it might be possible to reconcile mutually contradictory statements as both containing "elements" of truth. It would be wrong, therefore, to dismiss Ratzinger's criticism of Bob Dylan as but a politically-based effort to curry favor with "conservative" Catholics as he walks into mosques and calls the "patriarch" of Constantinople a "pastor in the Church of Christ."

No, Joseph Ratzinger has always been a man of refined tastes. He is a concert pianist, evidently spending a good deal of his time as the conciliar pontiff by playing the piano. He has an eye for the "finer" things in life, as exemplified by his attachment to Gucci sunglasses and to other expensive apparel. He does not share the coarseness of the late Karl Wojtyla (John Paul II), who was praised as follows in a report on the nefarious Music Television (MTV) website after his death on April 2, 2005:

Pope John Paul II, who died Saturday of complications caused by a urinary infection, will be remembered as a religious and political figurehead, but the arts and popular culture also played a significant role in his adventurous life.

The pontiff, who was an actor and a playwright in his youth, held annual concerts at the Vatican, quoted Bob Dylan and met with U2 singer Bono about lowering Third World debt.

In 1997, John Paul II invited Dylan to perform for him at the World Eucharistic Congress in Bologna, Italy (see "Bob Dylan Plays For Pope, Delivers Acclaimed New Album"). After the concert, the pope referenced the singer/songwriter's famous song "Blowin' in the Wind," describing Christ as "the road a man must walk down before they call him a man."

Later that year, the pontiff hosted B.B. King at the fifth annual Christmas concert at the Vatican, where the blues legend presented one of his trademark "Lucille" guitars to the Roman Catholic leader (see "B.B. King's 'Lucille' To The Pope After Vatican Concert").

John Paul II then welcomed Ricky Martin, Jewel and British pop star Cleopatra to the concert a year later (see "Jewel, Cleopatra To Play For Pope").

In 1999, the pope met with Bono to discuss his Jubilee 2000 mission, which looked to rich countries to help reduce the debt of the world's poorest countries (see "Bono, Bob Geldof, Others Appeal To Pope For Debt-Dropping Support").

"He's one of the great showmen of the 20th century," Bono said, dubbing him "the first funky pontiff" after their meeting (see "Bono On The Pope: 'The First Funky Pontiff' "). "I told him this and he picked up my wraparound shades and put them on. He's great, such grace and humanity."

John Paul II reportedly stayed in touch with Bono after their meeting, and in May of 2000, joined the Eurythmics, Lou Reed and Andrea Bocelli at a concert in Rome to reduce world debt (see "Eurythmics, Lou Reed, The Pope For Jubilee").

Most recently, in January of 2004 at the Vatican, the pontiff presided over a performance of breakdancers from his home country of Poland who had done charity work for disadvantaged children. John Paul II waved his hand after each dancer and then applauded the group, saying, "For this creative hard work, I bless you from my heart."

The pope also found himself at the center of a pop-culture debate last year when reports surfaced that an unnamed source at the Vatican said the leader liked Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," saying, "It is as it was." But the pontiff's private secretary later insisted he had no comment on the movie.

Of course, the most controversial pop-culture moment involving the pope occurred in 1992, when singer Sinead O'Connor ripped up a picture of John Paul II and said, "Fight the real enemy," after her performance of Bob Marley's "War" (in which she changed the lyric "social injustice" to "sexual abuse") on "Saturday Night Live."

O'Connor eventually apologized to the pope, calling her act "ridiculous." She went on to join the congregation of the controversial Irish Bishop Michael Cox, who eventually ordained the singer as a priest, a move the pope was quoted as calling "bizarre." NBC, which received thousands of complaints (including one from Frank Sinatra, who said he wanted to "punch" O'Connor), was eventually fined $2.5 million by the Federal Communications Commission. The performance was not aired again.

The pope has also been spoofed in pop culture over the years, especially for his Popemobile. Howard Stern arrived at the New York premiere of his 1997 [autobiographical movie, name omitted] film in a Popemobile replica, and the armored vehicle made an appearance on "The Family Guy" cartoon in 1999. Steve Martin also portrayed the pope on "Saturday Night Live" in 1979.

John Paul II was also a successful arts contributor in his own right. In 1994, after his book "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" earned a $6 million publishing deal (with the money going to the church), he became the first pope to become an international best-selling author

 

There is more than a bit of irony in the report that the late Francis Albert Sinatra wanted to punch Sinead O'Connor for tearing up a photograph of John Paul II on Saturday Night Live. Sinatra donated the proceeds of his 1993 album Duets to pro-abortion causes, honoring his late mother, Dolly (Natalie Dolly Garavanta), who was a back-alley butcher of babies in Hoboken. No one in the conciliar hierarchy said word one about this when it became public in 1993. How could they? "The Chairman of the Board" had defended John Paul II against Sinead O'Connor, right? That blunts all other criticism.

Anyhow, Joseph Ratzinger is not as coarse as his predecessor in the conciliar pontificate, which is precisely one of the reasons why he is that much more dangerous to the Faith than John Paul II. Ratzinger is dead-serious about his love of classical music and tasteful aesthetics. He is also dead-serious about propagating the full conciliar agenda that he helped to plan so assiduously in the late-1950s into the early-1960s before the start of the "Second" Vatican Council. A number of these points were summarized in The Energizer Benny and His Enablers:

So much for those who argue that Benedict is not trying to "impose" anything as "binding" upon the Catholic faithful of the world. The Energizer Benny has indeed sought to make such heinous errors as religious liberty and ecumenism binding upon the Catholic faithful, saying that the former is a "novelty" instituted by Our Lord Himself, an assertion that is both heretical and blasphemous, and saying that the former is "not an option" for all people, including Catholics. Benedict means to bind these blasphemous errors upon all Catholics. No Catholic in the structures of the counterfeit church of conciliarism is free to dissent from them. The assertion that "inter-religious" dialogue will realize man's "legitimate aspirations to live in justice and peace" is an affront to the entire missionary work of the Catholic Church prior to 1958, which was centered on the firm proclamation of the truths of the Catholic Faith and calls for those outside of the Church's maternal bosom to convert lest their immortal souls perish for all eternity.

The belief that it is necessary to engage in "inter-religious" dialogue is not only a slap in the face to the work of such great missionaries as Saint Patrick and Saint Boniface and Saint Vincent Ferrer, to name just three of hundreds of thousands of men and women who worked for the conversion of souls to the one and only true Church, the Catholic Church, over the centuries. The belief that it is necessary to engage in "inter-religious" dialogue is an admission that the Catholic Church does not possess in and of herself as a constituent part of her Divine Constitution all of elements of the Deposit of Faith and must, therefore, "discuss" with others as to how best to serve "modern" man and his "modern" needs.

Once again, this is heretical. To the Catholic Church alone has been given by her Divine Bridegroom and Invisible Head, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the totality of Divine Revelation, that is, all of the elements of the Deposit of Faith. The false shepherds of the counterfeit church of conciliarism may have a "need" to engage in "inter-religious dialogue." The Catholic Church has no such need. She alone has the Divine teaching to instruct men in all that pertains to their eternal salvation. She alone has the means to produce authentic peace in the souls of men by imparting unto them the Sanctifying Graces made present by the working of the Holy Ghost through the words and actions of men ordained to the Catholic priesthood, men ordained to image the Chief Priest and Victim of Calvary in all that they do and say.

Ecumenism is closely related to the "new ecclesiology" that has been critiqued so well by His Excellency Bishop Donald Sanborn, the Rector of Most Holy Trinity Seminary in Brooksville, Florida (see: The New Ecclesiology: An Overview and The New Ecclesiology: Documentation)The new ecclesiology contends that the Church of Christ "subsists" in the Catholic Church but it not identical with her. There are other "Christian communities" that constitute authentic means of salvation for their members, each with its own "tradition" that, according to the mind of Joseph Ratzinger, expressed in his infamous Principles of Catholic Theology, must not be "obliterated." Thus, there must be a "search for unity" among the various denominations, one that is conducted along truly Hegelian lines, avoiding "indifferentism" on the one hand, as is alleged, and a "false denominational chauvinism" on the other. In other words, the "search for unity" is founded in the belief that Unity, one of the Four Marks of the Catholic Church, does not exist entirely within her and that the "traditions" of false churches started by heretics and schismatic's must be respected to forge a "unity" that does not exist at the present time.

 

Even when Benedict/Ratzinger is defending the fact that papal primacy was exercised in the first century of the Church there is a not-so-subtly hidden conciliarist agenda at work. Benedict is on record stating that he agrees with John Paul II's statement in Ut Unum Sint, May 25, 1995:

All this however must always be done in communion. When the Catholic Church affirms that the office of the Bishop of Rome corresponds to the will of Christ, she does not separate this office from the mission entrusted to the whole body of Bishops, who are also "vicars and ambassadors of Christ". The Bishop of Rome is a member of the "College", and the Bishops are his brothers in the ministry.

Whatever relates to the unity of all Christian communities clearly forms part of the concerns of the primacy. As Bishop of Rome I am fully aware, as I have reaffirmed in the present Encyclical Letter, that Christ ardently desires the full and visible communion of all those Communities in which, by virtue of God's faithfulness, his Spirit dwells. I am convinced that I have a particular responsibility in this regard, above all in acknowledging the ecumenical aspirations of the majority of the Christian Communities and in heeding the request made of me to find a way of exercising the primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is nonetheless open to a new situation. For a whole millennium Christians were united in "a brotherly fraternal communion of faith and sacramental life ... If disagreements in belief and discipline arose among them, the Roman See acted by common consent as moderator".

In this way the primacy exercised its office of unity. When addressing the Ecumenical Patriarch His Holiness Dimitrios I, I acknowledged my awareness that "for a great variety of reasons, and against the will of all concerned, what should have been a service sometimes manifested itself in a very different light. But ... it is out of a desire to obey the will of Christ truly that I recognize that as Bishop of Rome I am called to exercise that ministry ... I insistently pray the Holy Spirit to shine his light upon us, enlightening all the Pastors and theologians of our Churches, that we may seek—together, of course—the forms in which this ministry may accomplish a service of love recognized by all concerned".

This is an immense task, which we cannot refuse and which I cannot carry out by myself. Could not the real but imperfect communion existing between us persuade Church leaders and their theologians to engage with me in a patient and fraternal dialogue on this subject, a dialogue in which, leaving useless controversies behind, we could listen to one another, keeping before us only the will of Christ for his Church and allowing ourselves to be deeply moved by his plea "that they may all be one ... so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (Jn 17:21)?

 

In other words, John Paul II was commissioning a "search" for how the primacy of the "petrine ministry" could be exercised in a way that corresponded more fully to his conciliarist, revisionist view of how it was exercised in the first centuries of the Catholic Church. Completely agreeing with John Paul II, Benedict believes that the exercise of papal primacy must be "restored" to his own distorted view of what it looked like in the first centuries of the Church. The Vatican Council (1870) said dogmatically that there can be no such change in the exercise of the authority of the papacy:

Wherefore we teach and declare that, by divine ordinance, the Roman church possesses a pre-eminence of ordinary power over every other church, and that this jurisdictional power of the Roman pontiff is both episcopal and immediate. Both clergy and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to this power by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, and this not only in matters concerning faith and morals, but also in those which regard the discipline and government of the church throughout the world.In this way, by unity with the Roman pontiff in communion and in profession of the same faith , the church of Christ becomes one flock under one supreme shepherd. This is the teaching of the catholic truth, and no one can depart from it without endangering his faith and salvation. (Vatican I, Session 4, Chapter 3.2-5)

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So, then, if anyone says that the Roman pontiff has merely an office of supervision and guidance, and not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole church, and this not only in matters of faith and morals, but also in those which concern the discipline and government of the church dispersed throughout the whole world; or that he has only the principal part, but not the absolute fullness, of this supreme power; or that this power of his is not ordinary and immediate both over all and each of the churches and over all and each of the pastors and faithful: let him be anathema. (Vatican I, Session 4, Chapter 3.9)

Undaunted by such things, Joseph Ratzinger agrees completely with John Paul II before him, that there exists a "real but imperfect communion" between the Catholic Church and schismatic and heretical sects and that it is necessary to leave behind "useless controversies," meaning points of the Deposit of Faith that Our Lord has entrusted solely to the Catholic Church, to effect a "perfect" communion among the "churches." Well, there is such a "communion" between the counterfeit church of conciliarism and the sects of Protestantism and Orthodoxy. There is none between the Catholic Church and such sects.

Pope Leo XIII noted this in Satis Cognitum on June 29, 1896:

The Church of Christ, therefore, is one and the same for ever; those who leave it depart from the will and command of Christ, the Lord - leaving the path of salvation they enter on that of perdition. "Whosoever is separated from the Church is united to an adulteress. He has cut himself off from the promises of the Church, and he who leaves the Church of Christ cannot arrive at the rewards of Christ....He who observes not this unity observes not the law of God, holds not the faith of the Father and the Son, clings not to life and salvation" (S. Cyprianus, De Cath. Eccl. Unitate, n. 6).

But He, indeed, Who made this one Church, also gave it unity, that is, He made it such that all who are to belong to it must be united by the closest bonds, so as to form one society, one kingdom, one body - "one body and one spirit as you are called in one hope of your calling (Eph. iv., 4). Jesus Christ, when His death was nigh at hand, declared His will in this matter, and solemnly offered it up, thus addressing His Father: "Not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in Me...that they also may be one in Us...that they may be made perfect in one" John xvii., 20-21 23). Yea, He commanded that this unity should be so closely knit and so perfect amongst His followers that it might, in some measure, shadow forth the union between Himself and His Father: "I pray that they all may be one as Thou Father in Me and I in Thee" (Ibid. 21).

Agreement and union of minds is the necessary foundation of this perfect concord amongst men, from which concurrence of wills and similarity of action are the natural results. Wherefore, in His divine wisdom, He ordained in His Church Unity of Faith; a virtue which is the first of those bonds which unite man to God, and whence we receive the name of the faithful - "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. iv., 5). That is, as there is one Lord and one baptism, so should all Christians, without exception, have but one faith. And so the Apostle St. Paul not merely begs, but entreats and implores Christians to be all of the same mind, and to avoid difference of opinions: "I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms amongst you, and that you be perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment" (I Cor. i., 10). Such passages certainly need no interpreter; they speak clearly enough for themselves. Besides, all who profess Christianity allow that there can be but one faith. It is of the greatest importance and indeed of absolute necessity, as to which many are deceived, that the nature and character of this unity should be recognized. And, as We have already stated, this is not to be ascertained by conjecture, but by the certain knowledge of what was done; that is by seeking for and ascertaining what kind of unity in faith has been commanded by Jesus Christ.

 

Pope Pius IX had written the same thing in an Apostolical Letter, Iam Vos Omnes, September 13, 1868,, addressed specifically to Protestants to exhort them to return unconditionally to the true Faith:

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.

 

Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII did not leave aside "useless controversies," such as the the simple fact that Unity is one of the Four Marks of the Catholic Church and that that Mark has never been lacking in her at any time since was founded upon the Rock of Peter, Pope, by the Son of God made Man in Our Lady's Virginal and Immaculate Womb. Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII insisted on the return of those who are outside of the Catholic Church by means of their converting unconditionally to her maternal bosom.

Pope Pius XI specifically used the phrase "ut unum sint" in Mortalium Animos, January 6, 1928, to explode the way that ecumenists in his day were misusing this text from the Gospel according to Saint John (17:21) to brush aside "useless controversies" and to forge a "unity" that was said to be lacking in the "church:"

And here it seems opportune to expound and to refute a certain false opinion, on which this whole question, as well as that complex movement by which non-Catholics seek to bring about the union of the Christian churches depends. For authors who favor this view are accustomed, times almost without number, to bring forward these words of Christ: "That they all may be one.... And there shall be one fold and one shepherd," with this signification however: that Christ Jesus merely expressed a desire and prayer, which still lacks its fulfillment. For they are of the opinion that the unity of faith and government, which is a note of the one true Church of Christ, has hardly up to the present time existed, and does not to-day exist. They consider that this unity may indeed be desired and that it may even be one day attained through the instrumentality of wills directed to a common end, but that meanwhile it can only be regarded as mere ideal. They add that the Church in itself, or of its nature, is divided into sections; that is to say, that it is made up of several churches or distinct communities, which still remain separate, and although having certain articles of doctrine in common, nevertheless disagree concerning the remainder; that these all enjoy the same rights; and that the Church was one and unique from, at the most, the apostolic age until the first Ecumenical Councils. Controversies therefore, they say, and longstanding differences of opinion which keep asunder till the present day the members of the Christian family, must be entirely put aside, and from the remaining doctrines a common form of faith drawn up and proposed for belief, and in the profession of which all may not only know but feel that they are brothers. The manifold churches or communities, if united in some kind of universal federation, would then be in a position to oppose strongly and with success the progress of irreligion. This, Venerable Brethren, is what is commonly said. There are some, indeed, who recognize and affirm that Protestantism, as they call it, has rejected, with a great lack of consideration, certain articles of faith and some external ceremonies, which are, in fact, pleasing and useful, and which the Roman Church still retains. They soon, however, go on to say that that Church also has erred, and corrupted the original religion by adding and proposing for belief certain doctrines which are not only alien to the Gospel, but even repugnant to it. Among the chief of these they number that which concerns the primacy of jurisdiction, which was granted to Peter and to his successors in the See of Rome. Among them there indeed are some, though few, who grant to the Roman Pontiff a primacy of honor or even a certain jurisdiction or power, but this, however, they consider not to arise from the divine law but from the consent of the faithful. Others again, even go so far as to wish the Pontiff Himself to preside over their motley, so to say, assemblies. But, all the same, although many non-Catholics may be found who loudly preach fraternal communion in Christ Jesus, yet you will find none at all to whom it ever occurs to submit to and obey the Vicar of Jesus Christ either in His capacity as a teacher or as a governor. Meanwhile they affirm that they would willingly treat with the Church of Rome, but on equal terms, that is as equals with an equal: but even if they could so act. it does not seem open to doubt that any pact into which they might enter would not compel them to turn from those opinions which are still the reason why they err and stray from the one fold of Christ.

This being so, it is clear that the Apostolic See cannot on any terms take part in their assemblies, nor is it anyway lawful for Catholics either to support or to work for such enterprises; for if they do so they will be giving countenance to a false Christianity, quite alien to the one Church of Christ. Shall We suffer, what would indeed be iniquitous, the truth, and a truth divinely revealed, to be made a subject for compromise? For here there is question of defending revealed truth. Jesus Christ sent His Apostles into the whole world in order that they might permeate all nations with the Gospel faith, and, lest they should err, He willed beforehand that they should be taught by the Holy Ghost: has then this doctrine of the Apostles completely vanished away, or sometimes been obscured, in the Church, whose ruler and defense is God Himself? If our Redeemer plainly said that His Gospel was to continue not only during the times of the Apostles, but also till future ages, is it possible that the object of faith should in the process of time become so obscure and uncertain, that it would be necessary to-day to tolerate opinions which are even incompatible one with another? If this were true, we should have to confess that the coming of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, and the perpetual indwelling of the same Spirit in the Church, and the very preaching of Jesus Christ, have several centuries ago, lost all their efficacy and use, to affirm which would be blasphemy. But the Only-begotten Son of God, when He commanded His representatives to teach all nations, obliged all men to give credence to whatever was made known to them by "witnesses preordained by God," and also confirmed His command with this sanction: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned." These two commands of Christ, which must be fulfilled, the one, namely, to teach, and the other to believe, cannot even be understood, unless the Church proposes a complete and easily understood teaching, and is immune when it thus teaches from all danger of erring. In this matter, those also turn aside from the right path, who think that the deposit of truth such laborious trouble, and with such lengthy study and discussion, that a man's life would hardly suffice to find and take possession of it; as if the most merciful God had spoken through the prophets and His Only-begotten Son merely in order that a few, and those stricken in years, should learn what He had revealed through them, and not that He might inculcate a doctrine of faith and morals, by which man should be guided through the whole course of his moral life. . . .

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. During the lapse of centuries, the mystical Spouse of Christ has never been contaminated, nor can she ever in the future be contaminated, as Cyprian bears witness: "The Bride of Christ cannot be made false to her Spouse: she is incorrupt and modest. She knows but one dwelling, she guards the sanctity of the nuptial chamber chastely and modestly." The same holy Martyr with good reason marveled exceedingly that anyone could believe that "this unity in the Church which arises from a divine foundation, and which is knit together by heavenly sacraments, could be rent and torn asunder by the force of contrary wills." For since the mystical body of Christ, in the same manner as His physical body, is one, compacted and fitly joined together, it were foolish and out of place to say that the mystical body is made up of members which are disunited and scattered abroad: whosoever therefore is not united with the body is no member of it, neither is he in communion with Christ its head.

Furthermore, in this one Church of Christ no man can be or remain who does not accept, recognize and obey the authority and supremacy of Peter and his legitimate successors. Did not the ancestors of those who are now entangled in the errors of Photius and the reformers, obey the Bishop of Rome, the chief shepherd of souls? Alas their children left the home of their fathers, but it did not fall to the ground and perish for ever, for it was supported by God. Let them therefore return to their common Father, who, forgetting the insults previously heaped on the Apostolic See, will receive them in the most loving fashion. For if, as they continually state, they long to be united with Us and ours, why do they not hasten to enter the Church, "the Mother and mistress of all Christ's faithful"? Let them hear Lactantius crying out: "The Catholic Church is alone in keeping the true worship. This is the fount of truth, this the house of Faith, this the temple of God: if any man enter not here, or if any man go forth from it, he is a stranger to the hope of life and salvation. Let none delude himself with obstinate wrangling. For life and salvation are here concerned, which will be lost and entirely destroyed, unless their interests are carefully and assiduously kept in mind."

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."

 

There was no talk of "searching for unity" from any pope prior to the dawn of the diabolical illusion of the counterfeit church of conciliarsm, which has the external appearances of the Catholic Faith as it smashes, deconstructs, distorts, revises and actually apologizes for the authentic doctrine and history of the Catholic Church while imposing novelties that were condemned repeatedly prior to the rise to power of Angelo Cardinal Roncalli on October 28, 1958. The Catholic Church has always sought the conversion of non-Catholics to her maternal bosom. The false prophets of conciliarism, however, believe that they can dispense with anything in the past that contradicts their spirit of novelty and innovation, especially as it relates to the rejection of the God-given mission to seek with urgency the unconditional conversion of all men to the one, true Church, the Catholic Church, as part of the "new ecclesiology" critiqued so well by His Excellency Bishop Donald Sanborn (The New Ecclesiology: An Overview and Communion: Ratzingers's Ecumenical One-World Church).

Yes, it takes a false prophet to know a false prophet in many instances. The false prophets of the counterfeit church of conciliarism are fulfilling this scene described by the Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich in a vision on September 12, 1820:

"I saw a strange church being built against every rule. . . No angels were supervising th building operations. In that church, nothing came from high above. . . There was only division and chaos. It is probably a church of human creation, following the latest fashion, as well a the new heterodox church of Rome, which seems of the same kind. . .

"I saw again the strange big church was being built there (in Rome). There was nothing holy in it. I saw this just as I saw a movement led by Ecclesiastics to which contributed angels, saints and other Christians. But there (in the strange big church) all the work was being done mechanically (i.e. according to set rules and formulae). Everything was being done according to human reason. . .

"I saw all sorts of people, things, doctrines, and opinions. There was something proud, presumptuous, and violent about it, and they seemed to be very successful. I did not see a single Angel nor a single saint helping in the work. But far away in the background, I saw the seat of a cruel people armed with spears, and I saw a laughing figure which said: 'Do built it as solid as you can; we will put it to the ground.'" (Quoted in Yves Dupont, Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement, TAN Books and Publishers, p. 61.)

 

Sister Jeanne le Royer, a Sister of the Nativity, confided in 1790 some her own revelations to a Father Genet:

"When the reign of Antichrist draws near, a false religion will appear which will deny the unity of God and will oppose the Church. Errors will cause ravages as never before." (Quoted in Yves Dupont, Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement, TAN Books and Publishers, p. 58.)

 

We are witnessing, therefore, a trick of the devil play out before our very eyes. Men who appear to be bishops go through the motions of offering what purports to be the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as dancers dressed in tight-fitting costumes gyrate in disordered mannerisms (see Mahony, Roger, 2007 Religious Education Conference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exeJwY1FD4Q&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fclosedcafeteria%2Eblogspo t%2Ecom%2). This scene is an illusion of Catholicism. Men who think they are cardinals, and are thus in "full communion" with Benedict XVI and his false prophecies of conciliarism, engage in a massive exercise of community self-congratulations in the context of something that is supposed to be "sacred" but is actually from Hell itself. The Catholic Church cannot be the author of the strange doctrines and the blasphemies emanating from the conciliar church.

Saint Athanasius, writing in his biography of St. Antony of the Desert, warned us quite specifically about the phantoms that the devil and his minions like to use to throw us into states of disarray as we forget the simple fact that none of what is emanating from the counterfeit church of conciliarism is from God and that to waste a moment's effort trying to convince "nice conciliarists" in Rome that the "bad conciliarists" in local chancery offices must be removed. The "bad conciliarists" are doing what they are doing with the full and active support of the "nice conciliarists" in the Roman dicasteries now under Modernist control. Any effort to appeal to these spiritual robber barons for "relief" from that which has been unleashed by the forces of conciliarism itself is a waste of time and actually winds up deceiving good Catholics that they can "do" something about blasphemies from come from the devil and will only be vanquished when the Triumph of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary is effected.

This is what Saint Athanasius wrote of the phantoms of the devil, which should not disturb us in the slightest as we take refuge in the catacombs without for one moment giving any shred of legitimacy to the counterfeit church of conciliarism and its "hierarchy" and blasphemies and novelties:

Since Our Lord lived, the enemy is fallen, and his powers have lost their strength. Therefore, though he can do nothing, nevertheless, like a fallen tyrant, he does not rest, but threatens, though it would be but words. Let each of you think of that, and he can despise the demons. If they were tried to such bodies as we are, they might then say, "We cannot find me who hide, but if we do find them, we hurt them." And we in that case might escape them by hiding and locking doors against them. But since they are not so, but can enter where doors are locked, and since they are found in all the air, they and their chief, the devil, and since they are evil-willed and ready to hurt--and as Our Lord said: the father of evil, the devil, is a murderer from the beginning (John 8::44)--and nevertheless, we live and carry on our life in defiance of them, it is evident that they have no power. Place does not hinder them from plotting; and they do not see us friendly to them, that they should spare us; and they have no love of justice that they should amend. On the contrary, they are wicked and desire nothing so much as to injure those who seek virtue and honor God. The reason they do nothing is because they can do nothing, except threaten; if they could, they would not wait, but would do the evil at once, since their will is quite ready for it, especially against us. Look: here we are now gathered and talking against them; and they know that, as we advance, they grow weak. If, then, they had power, they would not have let one of us Christians live, for the service of God is an abomination to the sinner. As they can do nothing, they rather injure themselves in this, for they cannot do aught of what they threaten.

Again, this must be remembered, to end all fear of them. If any power belonged to them, they would not come in a crowd, nor cause phantoms, nor use devices and appearances; it would be enough that one alone should come and do what he could and would. Anyone who really has power does not destroy with phantoms nor frighten with crowds, but uses his power at once as he wills. But the demons, who have no power, play as on a stage, changing their forms and frightening children by the look of numbers and by their shapes; for all of which they are the more to be despised as powerless. The real angel who was sent by God against the Assyrians needed not crowds, nor visible phantoms, nor clangings, nor clappings, but quietly used his power and destroyed a hundred and eighty-five thousand of them. Whereas helpless demons like these try to frighten, if only by shadows.

Now if anyone thinks of the case of Job and asks, "Why then did the devil go forth and do everything against him--strip him of his possessions, destroy his children and strike him with a grievous ulcer?" let such a lone know that it was not the devil who had power, but God who gave Job into his hands to be tried. Because he had no power to do anything, he asked and received, and did it. Herein, therefore, is the more reason to despise the enemy, that though he desired, he was powerless against one just man. Had he had power, he would not have asked for it. He asked, not once, but a second time; plainly he is weak and helpless. And little wonder he was powerless against Job, when he could not destroy even his beasts unless God had permitted. Not even against swine has he power, for as it is written in the Gospel: They entreated the Lord saying: Suffer us to depart into the swine. (Mark 5:12) If they have no power over swine, much less have they over men made in the likeness of God.

God only must we fear, then; these creatures we must despise and nowise fear. Indeed, the more they do, the more effort we must make on our way in defiance of them. For the great weapon against them is a right life and confidence in God. For they dread the ascetics' fasting, watching, prayers, meekness, peacefulness, their scorn of wealth and vainglory, their humility, love of the poor, alms-deeds, their mildness, and most all, their devotion to Christ. That is why they do all they can that there may be none to trample on them; for they knew that the grace that the Saviour gave to His faithful against them when he said: Behold I have given you power to trample on serpents and scorpions and on all the strength of the enemy (Luke 10:19) (Saint Athanasius, Saint Antony of the Desert, TAN Books and Publishers, pp. 35-38.)

 

Quite powerful, wouldn't you say?

We are living through an illusion of the devil's making. We must pray to Our Lady, however, for the graces to see clearly that the counterfeit church of conciliarism is an illusion from the devil and resolve to have nothing to do with it, yes, even if the bauble of a "liberation" for the Modernized version of the Immemorial Mass of Tradition is dangled before your very eyes to make you forget the novelties of conciliarism's false doctrines and the blasphemies and sacrileges of what purports to be "worship" in the context of the Novus Ordo Missae are from Hell and can be given no quarter whatsoever by any believing Catholic. So what if Joseph Ratzinger understands Bob Dylan to be a false prophet? So what? We must recognize that he, Joseph Ratzinger, is a false prophet. And while we must pray for him and his other conciliarists, we must understand that the novelties and errors being propagated in the name of the Catholic Church are not from the Catholic Church and are thus not of God. That which is not of God is, of course, only from Hell.

Sister Jeanne le Royer had a vision of the problems we would be facing:

"One night I saw a number of ecclesiastics. Their haughtiness and air of severity seemed to demand the respect of all. The forced the faithful to follow them. But God commanded me to oppose them: 'They no loner have the right to speak in my name.' Jesus told me: "It is against My wish that they carry out a mandate for which they are no longer worthy.'

"I saw a great power rise up against the Church. It plundered, devastated, and threw into confusion and disorder the vine of the Lord, having it trampled underfoot by the people and holding it up to ridicule by all nations. Having vivified celibacy and oppressed the priesthood, it had the effrontery to confiscate the Church's property and to arrogate to itself the powers of the Holy Father, whose person and whose laws it held in contempt." (Yves Dupont, Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement, TAN Books and Publishers, pp. 53-54.)

 

Ultimately, however, we know that the phantoms of the present moment will be vanquished by the the direct intervention of the Mother of God herself. We must, therefore, find a safe place in the catacombs to sanctify and to save our souls, defending the fullness of the Catholic Faith without compromise and lifting high the banner of Christ the King of Mary our Immaculate Queen that has been ripped down by the conciliar revolutionaries, men and women who have contempt for these words of Pope Leo XIII in Custodi Di Quella Fede:

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

 

Joseph Ratzinger has contempt for these words. He seeks to reconcile the "maxims of the Gospel with those of the revolution." He is doing, therefore, the bidding of Belial. He is every bit as much a false prophet as the false prophet he denounced privately to John Paul II, Bob Dylan, only more dangerous and sinister because of the appearance of refinement and the accoutrements of an office he does truly possess. Remember this and remember it well: this "refined" apostate gave his personal seal of approval for the world premiere of The Nativity Story, which blasphemes Our Lord and His Most Blessed Mother, the Paul VI Audience Hall on Sunday, November 26, 2006. (See: Easy for Blasphemers to Endorse Blasphemy,  Preserved from All Sin, Filled with All Grace, Conciliarism's Blindness Inducing Acid) Bob Dylan has nothing on Joseph Ratzinger when it comes to being a false prophet.

All the more reason for us, ladies and gentlemen, to intensify our own prayers and fastings and penances this Lent, offering up everything do and suffer in this passing, mortal vale of tears to the Blessed Trinity through Our Lady's Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, making sure to pray as many Rosaries each day as our states-in-life permit. Saint Dominic used the Rosary to vanquish the Albigenses. We can use it in our own day to vanquish the Modernists as they propagate false teachings and countenance endless abominations in what purports to be Catholic worship.

Accusing ourselves weekly in the Sacred Tribunal of Penance, recognizing that our own sins wounded Our Lord once in time and wound His Mystical Body today, therefore, may it be our privilege to plant a few seeds before we die that might result, please God and by the intercession of His Most Blessed Mother, in the restoration of the Church and thus of Christendom for the greater honor and glory of God and for the sanctification and salvation of the souls for whom He shed every single drop of His Most Precious Blood on the wood of the Holy Cross.

 

Viva Cristo Rey!

 

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Jude, pray for us.

Saint John the Beloved, pray for us.

Saint Frances of Rome, pray for us.

Saint John Bosco, pray for us.

Saint Dominic Savio, pray for us.

Saint John of God, pray for us.

Saint  Scholastica, pray for us.

Saint Benedict, pray for us.

Saint Anthony of Padua, pray for us.

Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

Saint Bonaventure, pray for us.

Saint Augustine, pray for us.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.

Saint Francis Xavier, pray for us.

Saint Peter Damian, pray for us.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for us.

Saint Lucy, pray for us.

Saint Monica, pray for us.

Saint Agatha, pray for us.

Saint Philomena, pray for us.

Saint Cecilia, pray for us.

Saint John Mary Vianney, pray for us.

Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us.

Saint Vincent Ferrer, pray for us.

Saint Athanasius, pray for us.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, pray for us.

Saint Isaac Jogues, pray for us.

Saint Rene Goupil, pray for us.

Saint John Lalonde, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel Lalemont, pray for us.

Saint Noel Chabanel, pray for us.

Saint Charles Garnier, pray for us.

Saint Anthony Daniel, pray for us.

Saint John DeBrebeuf, pray for us.

Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, pray for us.

Saint Dominic, pray for us.

Saint Hyacinth, pray for us.

Saint Basil, pray for us.

Saint Vincent Ferrer, pray for us.

Saint Sebastian, pray for us.

Saint Tarcisius, pray for us.

Saint Bridget of Sweden, pray for us.

Saint Gerard Majella, pray for us.

Saint John of the Cross, pray for us.

Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette Soubirous, pray for us.

Saint Genevieve, pray for us.

Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us.

Pope Saint Pius X, pray for us

Pope Saint Pius V, pray for us.

Saint Rita of Cascia, pray for us.

Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich, pray for us.

Venerable Pauline Jaricot, pray for us.

Father Miguel Augustin Pro, pray for us.

Francisco Marto, pray for us.

Jacinta Marto, pray for us.

Juan Diego, 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.