When Apostates Are Two of a Kind
by Thomas A. Droleskey
Apostates think alike. The look alike They walk alike. At times they even talk alike. You can lose you mind when apostates are two of a kind. (Patty Duke, call your office. Yes, my good and very few readers, I did watch an awful lot of television in the 1950s and 1960s and 1970s until Ironside ended its run on the National Broadcasting Company on Thursday, January 16, 1975.)
Consider the simple fact that the non-"archbishop" of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, gave an address two days ago at the Pontifical University of the Gregorianum (the Jesuit university) in Rome that cited the "new ecclesiology" promoted by two of the "Second" Vatican Council's leading revolutionaries, Johannes "Cardinal" Willebrands of The Netherlands and Yves "Cardinal" Congar, O.P., that has been promoted so very enthusiastically in the "scholarly" work of Father Joseph Ratzinger and in the latter's false "pontificate" as Benedict XVI. Rowan Williams' description of the "new ecclesiology" promoted by Willebrands, who died in 2006, and Congar, who died in 1995, is very accurate as it describes the heart and soul of conciliarism's view of "the Church of Christ:"
One of the most fascinating aspects of the journals written during the Second Vatican Council by figures like Willebrands and Congar is the record of a struggle for what I shall call a genuinely theological doctrine of the Church. Part of what Vatican II turned away from is a way of talking about the Church as primarily an institution existing because of divine decree, governed by prescription from the Lord, faithfully administering the sacraments ordained by him for the salvation of souls – 'an external, visible society, whose members, under a hierarchical authority headed by the pope, constitute with him one visible body, tending to the same spiritual and supernatural end, i.e., sanctification of souls and their eternal happiness' (Pietro Palazzini, s.v. 'Church (Society)' in the Dictionary of Moral Theology, ed. F. Roberti and P. Palazzini, originally published in 1957). But what is missing from this account is any real explication of how the nature and character and even polity of the Church are grounded in and shaped by the nature of God and of God's incarnation in history. A theological understanding of the Church would be one that makes this connection.
A striking feature of the current Harvesting the Fruits document from the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity under the name of our greatly loved and respected friend Walter Kasper, is the integral connection between what is said about the nature of God and what is said about the Church, its mission and its ministry. All these dialogues, it appears, have been deeply influenced by the new style in ecclesiology rooted in Vatican II and the work of Willebrands and his colleagues – and it is worth mentioning the way in which this new style is paralleled in other ecumenical dialogues, notably the Anglican-Orthodox document on The Church of the Triune God.
In broad outline, the picture is something like this. God is eternally a life of threefold communion; and if human persons are to be reconciled to God and restored to the capacity for which they were made, they must be included in that life of communion. The incarnation of God the Son recreates in human persons the possibility of filial relation with the Father, standing in the place of Christ and praying his prayer; and only the Holy Spirit, which animates and directs the entire human identity of the Incarnate Word, can create that filial reality in us. To be restored to life with God is to be incorporated into Jesus Christ by the Spirit; but because the gift of the Spirit is what takes away mutual fear and hostility and the shutting-up of human selves against each other, it is inseparably and necessarily a gift of mutual human communion also. The sacramental life and the communal disciplines of the Church exist to serve and witness to this dual fact of communion, with the Father and with all believers. To take only one of the countless formulations referred to in the Harvesting document, in this case from the 1993 Lutheran-Catholic statement on Church and Justification (#6), 'According to the witness of the New Testament, our salvation, the justification of sinners and the existence of the church are indissolubly linked with the triune God and are founded in him alone.'
So there is a clear line of connection between fundamental doctrinal commitments (the doctrines of the creed concerning the Trinity and the Incarnation) and issues around the shape and mission of the Church. The former lead into the latter; the latter only make sense against the background of the former. But what are the implications of this for our continuing ecumenical engagement? In what follows, I shall suggest some possible lines of further enquiry. But I also want to put a bit of a challenge to some trends across the board in current thinking, trends that might encourage us to adjust our expectations downwards in ecumenical dialogue, given the apparent lack of progress towards institutional or organisational unity. I do so in the hope that if we can recognise the remarkable degree to which what we could call Willebrands' legacy in ecclesiology has triumphed in the life of the dialogues, this may yet stir us to new insights and possibilities. (Rowan Williams at the Gregorianum)
Rowan Williams, a layman dressed up in clerical garb who serves as the head of a false religion, the Anglican sect, understands the mind of Johannes Willebrands, a true bishop, and Yves Congar, a true priest, very well, which is to say that he understand the mind of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI very well. The unfortunate truth, however, for Rowan Williams and Ratzinger/Benedict and the late Johannes Willebrands and Yves Congar is that their notion of the "Church of Christ" has been condemned by the authority of the Catholic Church:
Weigh carefully in your minds and before God the nature of Our request. It is not for any human motive, but impelled by Divine Charity and a desire for the salvation of all, that We advise the reconciliation and union with the Church of Rome; and We mean a perfect and complete union, such as could not subsist in any way if nothing else was brought about but a certain kind of agreement in the Tenets of Belief and an intercourse of Fraternal love. The True Union between Christians is that which Jesus Christ, the Author of the Church, instituted and desired, and which consists in a Unity of Faith and Unity of Government. (Pope Leo XIII, Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae, June 20, 1894.)
Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed. "For in one spirit" says the Apostle, "were we all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free." As therefore in the true Christian community there is only one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one Baptism, so there can be only one faith. And therefore, if a man refuse to hear the Church, let him be considered - so the Lord commands - as a heathen and a publican. It follows that those who are divided in faith or government cannot be living in the unity of such a Body, nor can they be living the life of its one Divine Spirit. (Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, June 29, 1943.)
This is a far cry from the "new ecclesiology" that was extolled two days ago at the Pontifical University of the Gregorianum by Rowan Williams that is put into practice every day in a concrete way by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI.
Rowan Williams' distinction" between "fundamental" and "non-fundamental" doctrines was, of course, condemned by Pope Pius XI in Mortalium Animos, January 6, 1928:
Besides this, in connection with things which must be believed, it is nowise licit to use that distinction which some have seen fit to introduce between those articles of faith which are fundamental and those which are not fundamental, as they say, as if the former are to be accepted by all, while the latter may be left to the free assent of the faithful: for the supernatural virtue of faith has a formal cause, namely the authority of God revealing, and this is patient of no such distinction. For this reason it is that all who are truly Christ's believe, for example, the Conception of the Mother of God without stain of original sin with the same faith as they believe the mystery of the August Trinity, and the Incarnation of our Lord just as they do the infallible teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, according to the sense in which it was defined by the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican. Are these truths not equally certain, or not equally to be believed, because the Church has solemnly sanctioned and defined them, some in one age and some in another, even in those times immediately before our own? Has not God revealed them all? For the teaching authority of the Church, which in the divine wisdom was constituted on earth in order that revealed doctrines might remain intact for ever, and that they might be brought with ease and security to the knowledge of men, and which is daily exercised through the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops who are in communion with him, has also the office of defining, when it sees fit, any truth with solemn rites and decrees, whenever this is necessary either to oppose the errors or the attacks of heretics, or more clearly and in greater detail to stamp the minds of the faithful with the articles of sacred doctrine which have been explained. But in the use of this extraordinary teaching authority no newly invented matter is brought in, nor is anything new added to the number of those truths which are at least implicitly contained in the deposit of Revelation, divinely handed down to the Church: only those which are made clear which perhaps may still seem obscure to some, or that which some have previously called into question is declared to be of faith.
The layman posing as the "archbishop" of Canterbury is, of course, desperate to put a good face on the difficulties within his own "Worldwide Anglican Communion" as Ratzinger/Benedict is making it possible for disaffected Anglicans to shift their allegiances from one part of the One World Ecumenical Church to another (see
Defaming The English Martyrs and
Still Defaming The English Martyrs). Williams is trying to demonstrate that there exists, despite the difficulties between the Anglican and conciliar sects, a common kinship in an acceptance of the "new ecclesiology" that was advanced by the late Johannes Willebrands and Yves Congar.
The layman Rowan Williams, although obviously not happy about the defection of some of his sect's adherents and taking a firm stand in defense of "priestesses" within its ranks, is very happy that the conciliar Vatican will permit his disaffected Anglicans to retain their heretical liturgical rites that were condemned by Pope Saint Pius V in Regnans Excelsis, March 5, 1570:
The recent announcement of an Apostolic Constitution making provision for former Anglicans shows some marks of the recognition that diversity of ethos does not in itself compromise the unity of the Catholic Church, even within the bounds of the historic Western patriarchate. But it should be obvious that it does not seek to do what we have been sketching: it does not build in any formal recognition of existing ministries or units of oversight or methods of independent decision-making, but remains at the level of spiritual and liturgical culture, as we might say. As such, it is an imaginative pastoral response to the needs of some; but it does not break any fresh ecclesiological ground. It remains to be seen whether the flexibility suggested in the Constitution might ever lead to something less like a 'chaplaincy' and more like a church gathered around a bishop. (Rowan Williams at the Gregorianum)
That Ratzinger/Benedict and his fellow German, Walter "Cardinal" Kasper, the President of the "Pontifical" Council for Promoting Christian Unity, accept the"Church of England" as a legitimate ecclesiastical body that is a "partner in dialogue" with the counterfeit church of conciliarism. is itself indicative of the falsehoods of the "new ecclesiology." Indeed, Ratzinger/Benedict and Rowan Williams met at the Vatican earlier today, Saturday, November 21, 2009, and pledged, according to a statement released today, anew to to seek "closer relations." Here is the statement released by the conciliar Vatican after the meeting
This morning His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI received in private audience His Grace Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury.
In the course of the cordial discussions attention turned to the challenges facing all Christian communities at the beginning of this millennium, and to the need to promote forms of collaboration and shared witness in facing these challenges.
The discussions also focused on recent events affecting relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, reiterating the shared will to continue and to consolidate the ecumenical relationship between Catholics and Anglicans, and recalling how, over coming days, the commission entrusted with preparing the third phase of international theological dialogue between the parties (ARCIC) is due to meet. (Statement of the Conciliar Vatican)
In other words, of course, there is no urgent necessity for any member of the "worldwide Anglican Communion" to convert to what they think is the Catholic Church as such conversion is a matter of personal preference and not a matter of absolute necessity for one who is outside the pale of Holy Mother Church to save his immortal soul. "Shared witness"? Ah, yes, apostates think alike, they look alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike. You could lose your mind when apostates are two of a kind. "Shared witness"? Didn't I cover this two days ago in Still Coming to the Rescue?
This absurdity is indeed part of the chastisement that we are suffering as a result of the failure of either Pope Pius XI or Pope Pius XII to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with all of the world's bishops. Modernism is being permitted to have its temporary triumph as the errors of Russia, which are the anti-Incarnational errors of Modernity, spread their poisons on an almost unchecked basis.
We must, of course, remember that our sins are so very responsible for the state of the Church Militant and the state of the world-at-large. Many of us are more responsible than others for the confusion that exists among Catholics and for the proliferation of sin under cover of the civil law and in every aspect of popular culture. We must be truly sorry for our sins, resolving to live more and more penitentially in reparation for them after we receive the healing balm of absolution for them from a true bishop or a true priest in the Sacred Tribunal of Penance.
None of us knows how our least Venial Sins wounded Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in His Sacred Humanity during His Passion and Death. None of us knows how our least Venial Sins caused Our Lady's Immaculate Heart to suffer as It was pierced through and through with those Seven Swords of Sorrow.
Although it is true, as I noted twenty-five months ago, that sinners deal with other sinners, meaning that it may be necessary on occasion for each of us, sinners through we may be, to remonstrate with our fellow sinners, we must be brutally honest with ourselves in recognizing the horror of our own sins as we express our gratitude for the tender mercies of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus that are bestowed upon us so freely, so gratuitously so that we might grow in sanctity. God is so very generous to us erring sinners, fashioning each cross that we encounter in our daily lives so that we can give honor and glory to Him through the Immaculate Heart of Mary as we seek to make reparation for our sins and those of the whole world. How very grateful we must be to Him, therefore, when the misunderstandings, disagreements, quarrels, estrangements, humiliations and other sufferings that divide families and friends in this time of apostasy and betrayal are visited upon us as each of these sufferings is the means chosen by God for us to give glory to Him as we seek to sanctify and save our immortal souls as the slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
We must die to self more and more each day of our lives. Saints Joachim and Anne, keeping the pledge that they had made to God before their blessed daughter, Our Lady, was born, died to self when they presented their daughter, she who was destined to be the very Mother of God, in the temple on this day when she was three years of age. Our Lady lived in the temple from that time forward as she, who had been filled with grace from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception, studied and prayed, demonstrating her holy obedience and humility as she did so. Although Saints Joachim and Anne missed their daughter, they loved God above all else. They were willing to die to self to keep the pledge that they had made to Him. They, who had suffered for so long under what was considered to be the curse of childlessness, knew that fidelity to God mattered more than all earthly attachments, including that to the daughter who was destined to make them known as the parents of the Mother of God and the grandparents of the Divine Redeemer, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Saint Germanus wrote the following about this great feast day, which we must celebrate with joy and gratitude for having been given the Queen of Heaven and Earth to be our own heavenly Mother and intercessor:
Hail, holy throne of God, divine sanctuary, house of glory, jewel most fair, chosen treasure house, and mercy seat for the whole world, heaven showing forth the glory of God. Purest Virgin, worthy of all praise, sanctuary dedicated to God and raised above all human condition, virgin soil, unplowed field, flourishing vine, fountain pouring out waters, virgin bearing a child, mother without knowing man, hidden treasure of innocence, ornament of sanctity, by your most acceptable prayers, strong with the authority of motherhood, to our Lord and God, Creator of all, your Son who was born of you without a father, steer the ship of the Church and bring it to a quiet harbor.
One of our prayers every day should be to ask Our Lady to present us to her Divine Son as her own at the moment of our deaths just as she was presented by her own parents in the temple this day to signify that she belonged to God and was to serve Him more purely and more perfectly as the fairest flower of our race. Our Lady will help us to remain faithful to God as we eschew all human respect and all earthly attachments, preferring to die for the truth rather than to surrender to emotionalism or sentimentality irrationality, each of which are at the heart of the errors of Modernity, including those of Protestantism, and of Modernism in the counterfeit church of conciliarism. Although we must pray for all and will their good, we must have the detachment exhibited by Saint Joachim and Anne in preferring the love of God to the comfort provided by any creature. The salvation of our souls is more important than earthly attachments or one moment's worth of human respect.
The conciliarists, of course, are intent on showing their "respect" for the errors of Protestantism as they promote their own multiple and most manifest errors (Refusing To Take Ratzinger At His Word). It cannot be that way with us. We must show forth our love for God and to the truth, of which He is the Author and Protector, even this means estrangement, at least temporarily, from the creatures of this passing, mortal vale of tears, remembering that we are not one whit better than anyone else (indeed, we are, if we are honest with ourselves, far, far worst than most--something that is certainly true in my own case as I hope to live long enough to make reparation for each of my many sins) and that we must pray for a happy reconciliation at the Last Day at the General Judgment of the Living and the Dead if the difficulties of the present time are not resolved neatly in this life.
Oh, my friends, how we must pray and make sacrifices to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, spending time on our knees in earnest and humble prayer before His Real Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament and praying as many Rosaries each day as the duties of our states-in-life permit. The traps that are being laid to ensnare souls are truly preternatural in origin. We must take refuge in the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary as we beg to be the beneficiaries of the Mercy that flows forth from the Most Sacred heart of her Divine Son, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in order to make reparation for our own sins and those of the whole world.
The final victory belongs to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We can help to bring about this victory by our daily fidelity to Our Lady's Fatima Message. What are we waiting for?
Viva Cristo Rey!
Isn't it time to pray a Rosary now
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.
