“Through some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.” — Pope St. Paul VI in 1972
The sex-abuse crisis, now in its episcopal phase, is certainly the worst crisis the Church has faced in American history. Internationally, it is probably the worst crisis since the Reformation. Watching bishops in this country attempt to work through the extraordinary mess created by the revelation of the moral squalor that failed to impede Archbishop McCarrick’s rise to the very top of the American hierarchy is as discouraging a spectacle as most Catholics alive today have witnessed regarding episcopal leadership. (The picture of a lecherous, beaming McCarrick in a bathing suit with his arm draped around the waist of his teenage victim is fixed in the mind as the perfect image of the rot.) As Philip Lawler observes in his aptly titled The Smoke of Satan, Catholics in America have no confidence in the bishops – and with very good reason: “The bishops lost our confidence because, as a group, they were – and were shown to be – dishonest.”
A veteran and well-respected journalist, Lawler has for years provided valuable commentary on Catholic matters. He is, moreover, the author of the excellent study The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture (2008), a recent critique of Pope Francis’ papacy in Lost Shepherd, and reliable coverage of the current troubles. In this new book, which is designed to address the current moment, Lawler advances, on the one hand, a penetrating critique and, on the other, a hopeful exhortation. The two sides are summarized at the outset of the book:
To advance through the ranks of the hierarchy in the late twentieth century, clerics were expected to suppress problems rather than confront them, to soothe the faithful rather than rouse them, to conceal problems rather than admit them. In that atmosphere, when bishops learned that priests molested young men, they did their best to “manage” the issue, to keep things running smoothly, above all to avoid calling public attention to the problem. So the abuse continued – just as the theological dissent and the liturgical abuse continued. But finally, as almost always happens, the cover-up failed; the truth of the abuse scandal emerged. Now that the evidence that was suppressed for decades has exploded into public view, the bishops’ neglect – likely too benign a word – is unmistakable.
If the fundamental problem facing the Church is dishonesty – a habit of deliberate ambiguity, a failure to grapple with hard truths – then the solution must be a candid, unapologetic return to the truth: not only in addressing and dealing with the shocking details of clerical abuse, but also in the proclamation of the truths of the Catholic faith. And if the bishops have lost their instinct for that forthright evangelical approach, then it falls upon lay Catholics – in this era, proclaimed by Vatican II as “the age of the laity” – to demand the truth and reclaim the Catholic tradition.
The gross malpractice of the American episcopate identified by Lawler, coupled now with aggressive — and incomprehensible — stonewalling by Pope Francis, means that the current crisis will most likely end in disaster for the hierarchy. As things stand right now, it is hard to see any real reform coming. While Rome takes it nice and easy, however, American prosecutors march ahead. The U.S. Justice Department has commenced a RICO investigation of the Church and a host of state investigations have opened as well. These developments will not go away; in fact, we can expect a steady flow of Pennsylvania-like grand-jury reports detailing clerical corruption in revolting detail and criminal indictments, all of which will continue the destruction of what little remains of the moral authority of the bishops in this country.
Lawler ably depicts the tumult that has brought us to this point. His book provides a larger context for the collapse of episcopal authority. Lawler adverts to the breakdown in sexual morality, in liturgical discipline, and in theological orthodoxy since the Second Vatican Council, all without serious, effective opposition from the hierarchy. (His chapter “A Patrimony Squandered” is a striking overview of this process.) The chaos is all around us, and this unraveling of authority involves more than the failure to confront the clerical penchant for buggery.
And yet for the laity the evangelical mission arising out of the Great Commission continues. This point goes to the second part of Lawler’s book, where he provides a truly indispensable insight:
In more than thirty years as a journalist covering Catholicism, I have found that the most exciting signs of vigorous life in the Church often (I am tempted to say always) come from unexpected directions. Official renewal programs, launched by diocesan committees under the guidance of expensive consultants, begin with great fanfare but end with meager results. Meanwhile, far from the limelight, prayerful Catholic individuals, without formal credentials and without financial support, working alone or in small groups, quietly work wonders.
Lawler’s emphasis on Catholicism’s little platoons of (primarily) laity, is indeed the way forward. The work of restoration on the ground, especially in parishes, is in the hands of committed lay Catholics. Tired of heterodox pabulum being offered in the parish RCIA program? Volunteer to take the program over and teach those eager to enter the Church the fullness of the faith. Complaining about what Bishop Robert Barron calls the “banners and balloons” Catholicism that dominates the parish CCD program? Volunteer to teach in the program and make your teaching Christo-centric. Concerned that the parish marriage preparation program is little more than a secular lifestyle seminar? Volunteer to teach couples seeking to be married in the Church the truth about marriage as the Church teaches. Disheartened by the ignorance of the faith demonstrated by fellow Catholics? Volunteer to start a reading group and read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These are concrete means to reach people directly, face to face, about establishing friendship with Christ. This is the “vigorous life” that Lawler has observed with such hope over recent decades.
Lawler concludes his briskly paced and concise book with specific pieces of advice that he directs to lay Catholics. He advises, in list form, of what to do (e.g., “Pray for Catholics who are no longer practicing their faith, for the disaffected, the alienated, the dissidents. Pray for their return.”) and not do (e.g., “Give priests (or anyone else) new tasks without offering to help. Good priests are already busy; lazy priests are . . . well, lazy. Make it easy for the priest to say yes.”). This is prudent advice at any time but especially our time, when wave after wave of scandal threatens to keep us from our mission of sanctification and evangelization. As Lawler enjoins the laity: Demand the truth and reclaim the Catholic tradition.
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Gregory J. Sullivan is a lawyer in New Jersey and a part-time lecturer in the Department of Politics at Princeton University. He has written for First Things and The Weekly Standard.
In his conversation with journalists on the way back from Egypt, Pope Francis touched on an array of topics, including North Korea, populism and a possible visit from President Donald Trump. While nothing has been […]
Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Oct. 5, 2016. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
CNA Staff, Mar 13, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
March 13 marks the anniversary of the election of Pope Francis as the 266th successor of St. Peter. Here is a timeline of key events during his papacy:
2013
March 13 — About two weeks after Pope Benedict XVI steps down from the papacy, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected pope. He takes the papal name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and proclaims from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Let us begin this journey, the bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another.”
March 14 — The day after he begins his pontificate, Pope Francis returns to his hotel to personally pay his hotel bill and collect his luggage.
July 8 — Pope Francis visits Italy’s island of Lampedusa and meets with a group of 50 migrants, most of whom are young men from Somalia and Eritrea. The island, which is about 200 miles off the coast of Tunisia, is a common entry point for migrants who flee parts of Africa and the Middle East to enter Europe. This is the pope’s first pastoral visit outside of Rome and sets the stage for making reaching out to the peripheries a significant focus.
Pope Francis gives the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2, 2013. Elise Harris/CNA.
July 23-28 — Pope Francis visits Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in World Youth Day 2013. More than 3 million people from around the world attend the event.
July 29 — On the return flight from Brazil, Pope Francis gives his first papal news conference and sparks controversy by saying “if a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” The phrase is prompted by a reporter asking the pope a question about priests who have homosexual attraction.
Nov. 24 — Pope Francis publishes his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). The document illustrates the pope’s vision for how to approach evangelization in the modern world.
2014
Feb. 22 — Pope Francis holds his first papal consistory to appoint 19 new cardinals, including ones from countries in the developing world that have never previously been represented in the College of Cardinals, such as Haiti.
March 22 — Pope Francis creates the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The commission works to protect the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults, such as the victims of sexual abuse.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims during his general audience on Nov. 29, 2014. Bohumil Petrik/CNA.
Oct. 5 — The Synod on the Family begins. The bishops discuss a variety of concerns, including single-parent homes, cohabitation, homosexual adoption of children, and interreligious marriages.
Dec. 6 — After facing some pushback for his efforts to reform the Roman Curia, Pope Francis discusses his opinion in an interview with La Nacion, an Argentine news outlet: “Resistance is now evident. And that is a good sign for me, getting the resistance out into the open, no stealthy mumbling when there is disagreement. It’s healthy to get things out into the open, it’s very healthy.”
2015
Jan. 18 — To conclude a trip to Asia, Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Manila, Philippines. Approximately 6 million to 7 million people attend the record-setting Mass, despite heavy rain.
March 23 — Pope Francis visits Naples, Italy, to show the Church’s commitment to helping the fight against corruption and organized crime in the city.
May 24 — To emphasize the Church’s mission to combat global warming and care for the environment, Pope Francis publishes the encyclical Laudato Si’, which urges people to take care of the environment and encourages political action to address climate problems.
Pope Francis at a Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 17, 2015. Bohumil Petrik.
Sept. 19-22 — Pope Francis visits Cuba and meets with Fidel Castro in the first papal visit to the country since Pope John Paul II in 1998. During his homily, Francis discusses the dignity of the human person: “Being a Christian entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it.”
Sept. 22-27 — After departing from Cuba, Pope Francis makes his first papal visit to the United States. In Washington, D.C., he speaks to a joint session of Congress, in which he urges lawmakers to work toward promoting the common good, and canonizes the Franciscan missionary St. Junípero Serra. He also attends the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which focuses on celebrating the gift of the family.
Pope Francis speaks to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24, 2015. . L’Osservatore Romano.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis begins the second Synod on the Family to address issues within the modern family, such as single-parent homes, cohabitation, poverty, and abuse.
Oct. 18 — The pope canonizes St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azélie “Zelie” Guérin. The married couple were parents to five nuns, including St. Therese of Lisieux. They are the first married couple to be canonized together.
Dec. 8 — Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy begins. The year focuses on God’s mercy and forgiveness and people’s redemption from sin. The pope delegates certain priests in each diocese to be Missionaries of Mercy who have the authority to forgive sins that are usually reserved for the Holy See.
2016
March 19 — Pope Francis publishes the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which discusses a wide variety of issues facing the modern family based on discussions from the two synods on the family. The pope garners significant controversy from within the Church for comments he makes in Chapter 8 about Communion for the divorced and remarried.
April 16 — After visiting refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis allows three Muslim refugee families to join him on his flight back to Rome. He says the move was not a political statement.
Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Feb. 24, 2016. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
July 26-31 — Pope Francis visits Krakow, Poland, as part of the World Youth Day festivities. About 3 million young Catholic pilgrims from around the world attend.
Sept. 4 — The pope canonizes St. Teresa of Calcutta, who is also known as Mother Teresa. The saint, a nun from Albania, dedicated her life to missionary and charity work, primarily in India.
Sept. 30-Oct. 2 — Pope Francis visits Georgia and Azerbaijan on his 16th trip outside of Rome since the start of his papacy. His trip focuses on Catholic relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to Amatrice, Italy, to pray for the victims of an earthquake in central Italy that killed nearly 300 people.
2017
May 12-13 — In another papal trip, Francis travels to Fatima, Portugal, to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. May 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition to three children in the city.
July 11 — Pope Francis adds another category of Christian life suitable for the consideration of sainthood: “offering of life.” The category is distinct from martyrdom, which only applies to someone who is killed for his or her faith. The new category applies to those who died prematurely through an offering of their life to God and neighbor.
Pope Francis greets a participant in the World Day of the Poor in Rome, Nov. 16, 2017. L’Osservatore Romano.
Nov. 19 — On the first-ever World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis eats lunch with 4,000 poor and people in need in Rome.
Nov. 27-Dec. 2 — In another trip to Asia, Pope Francis travels to Myanmar and Bangladesh. He visits landmarks and meets with government officials, Catholic clergy, and Buddhist monks. He also preaches the Gospel and promotes peace in the region.
2018
Jan. 15-21 — The pope takes another trip to Latin America, this time visiting Chile and Peru. The pontiff meets with government officials and members of the clergy while urging the faithful to remain close to the clergy and reject secularism. The Chilean visit leads to controversy over Chilean clergy sex abuse scandals.
Aug. 2 — The Vatican formally revises No. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which concerns the death penalty. The previous text suggested the death penalty could be permissible in certain circumstances, but the revision states that the death penalty is “inadmissible.”
Aug. 25 — Archbishop Carlo Viganò, former papal nuncio to the United States, publishes an 11-page letter calling for the resignation of Pope Francis and accusing him and other Vatican officials of covering up sexual abuse including allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The pope initially does not directly respond to the letter, but nine months after its publication he denies having prior knowledge about McCarrick’s conduct.
Aug. 25-26 — Pope Francis visits Dublin, Ireland, to attend the World Meeting of Families. The theme is “the Gospel of family, joy for the world.”
Pope Francis at the 2018 World Meeting of Families in Ireland. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Oct. 3-28 — The Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment takes place. The synod focuses on best practices to teach the faith to young people and to help them discern God’s will.
2019
Jan. 22-27 — The third World Youth Day during Pope Francis’ pontificate takes place during these six days in Panama City, Panama. Young Catholics from around the world gather for the event, with approximately 3 million people in attendance.
Feb. 4 — Pope Francis signs a joint document in with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, titled the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” The document focuses on people of different faiths uniting together to live peacefully and advance a culture of mutual respect.
Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, signed a joint declaration on human fraternity during an interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Feb. 4, 2019. Vatican Media.
Feb. 21-24 — The Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, which is labeled the Vatican Sexual Abuse Summit, takes place. The meeting focuses on sexual abuse scandals in the Church and emphasizes responsibility, accountability, and transparency.
Oct. 6-27 — The Church holds the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, which is also known as the Amazon Synod. The synod is meant to present ways in which the Church can better evangelize the Amazon region but leads to controversy when carved images of a pregnant Amazonian woman, referred to by the pope as Pachamama, are used in several events and displayed in a basilica near the Vatican.
Oct. 13 — St. John Henry Newman, an Anglican convert to Catholicism and a cardinal, is canonized by Pope Francis. Newman’s writings inspired Catholic student associations at nonreligious colleges and universities in the United States and other countries.
2020
March 15 — Pope Francis takes a walking pilgrimage in Rome to the chapel of the crucifix and prays for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crucifix was carried through Rome during the plague of 1522.
March 27 — Pope Francis gives an extraordinary “urbi et orbi” blessing in an empty and rain-covered St. Peter’s Square, praying for the world during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pope Francis venerates the miraculous crucifix of San Marcello al Corso in St. Peter’s Square during his Urbi et Orbi blessing, March 27, 2020. Vatican Media.
2021
March 5-8 — In his first papal trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis becomes the first pope to visit Iraq. On his trip, he signs a joint statement with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemning extremism and promoting peace.
July 3 — Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis, is indicted in a Vatican court for embezzlement, money laundering, and other crimes. The pope gives approval for the indictment.
July 4 — Pope Francis undergoes colon surgery for diverticulitis, a common condition in older people. The Vatican releases a statement that assures the pope “reacted well” to the surgery. Francis is released from the hospital after 10 days.
July 16 — Pope Francis issues a motu proprio titled Traditionis Custodes. The document imposes heavy restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.
Dec. 2-6 — The pope travels to Cyprus and Greece. The trip includes another visit to the Greek island of Lesbos to meet with migrants.
Pope Francis greets His Beatitude Ieronymos II in Athens, Greece on Dec. 5, 2021. Vatican Media
2022
Jan. 11 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to a record store in Rome called StereoSound. The pope, who has an affinity for classical music, blesses the newly renovated store.
March 19 — The pope promulgates Praedicate Evangelium, which reforms the Roman Curia. The reforms emphasize evangelization and establish more opportunities for the laity to be in leadership positions.
May 5 — Pope Francis is seen in a wheelchair for the first time in public and begins to use one more frequently. The pope has been suffering from knee problems for months.
Pope Francis greeted the crowd in a wheelchair at the end of his general audience on Aug. 3, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
July 24-30 — In his first papal visit to Canada, Pope Francis apologizes for the harsh treatment of the indigenous Canadians, saying many Christians and members of the Catholic Church were complicit.
2023
Jan. 31-Feb. 5 — Pope Francis travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. During his visit, the pope condemns political violence in the countries and promotes peace. He also participates in an ecumenical prayer service with Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Moderator of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields.
Pope Francis greets a young boy a Mass in Juba, South Sudan on Feb. 5, 2023. Vatican Media
March 29-April 1 — Pope Francis is hospitalized for a respiratory infection. During his stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, he visits the pediatric cancer ward and baptizes a newborn baby.
April 5 — The pope appears in the Disney documentary “The Pope: Answers,” which is in Spanish, answering six “hot-button” issues from members of Gen Z from various backgrounds. The group discusses immigration, depression, abortion, clergy sexual and psychological abuse, transgenderism, pornography, and loss of faith.
April 28-30 — Pope Francis visits Hungary to meet with government officials, civil society members, bishops, priests, seminarians, Jesuits, consecrated men and women, and pastoral workers. He celebrates Mass on the final day of the trip in Kossuth Lajos Square.
Pope Francis stands on an altar erected outside the Parliament Building in Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos’ Square during a public outdoor Mass on April 30, 2023. Vatican Media
June 7 — The Vatican announces that Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery that afternoon under general anesthesia due to a hernia that is causing painful, recurring, and worsening symptoms. In his general audience that morning before the surgery, Francis says he intends to publish an apostolic letter on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “patroness of the missions,” to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.
June 15 — After successful surgery and a week of recovery, Pope Francis is released from Gemelli Hospital.
Aug. 2-6 — Pope Francis travels to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day 2023, taking place from Aug. 1-6. He meets with Church and civil leaders ahead of presiding at the welcoming Mass and Stations of the Cross. He also hears the confessions of several pilgrims. On Aug. 5, he visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, where he prays the rosary with young people with disabilities. That evening he presides over the vigil and on Sunday, Aug. 6, he celebrates the closing Mass, where he urges the 1.5 million young people present to “be not afraid,” echoing the words of the founder of World Youth Days, St. John Paul II.
Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. Vatican Media.
Aug. 31-Sept. 4 — Pope Francis travels to Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign country. The trip makes Francis the first pope to visit the Asian country that shares a 2,880-mile border with China, its most significant economic partner. Mongolia has a population of about 1,300 Catholics in a country of more than 3 million people.
Pope Francis meets with local priests and religious of Mongolia, which includes only 25 priests (19 religious and six diocesan), 33 women religious, and one bishop — Cardinal Giorgio Marengo — in Ulaanbaatar’s Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul on Sept. 2, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media
Sept. 22-23 — On a two-day trip to Marseille, France, Pope Francis meets with local civil and religious leaders and participates in the Mediterranean Encounter, a gathering of some 120 young people of various creeds with bishops from 30 countries.
Pope Francis asks for a moment of silence at a memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea on the first of a two-day visit to Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. A Camargue cross, which comes from the Camargue area of France, represents the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The three tridents represent faith, the anchor represents hope, and the heart represents charity. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Oct. 4-29 — The Vatican hosts the first of two monthlong global assemblies of the Synod on Synodality, initiated by Pope Francis in 2021 to enhance the communion, participation, and mission of the Church. Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass of the synod at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29. The second and final global assembly will take place at the Vatican in October 2024.
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Vatican Media
Nov. 25 — Pope Francis visits the hospital briefly for precautionary testing after coming down with the flu earlier in the day. Although he still participates in scheduled activities, other officials read his prepared remarks. The Vatican on Nov. 28 cancels the pope’s planned Dec. 1–3 trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech, due to his illness.
Dec. 18 — The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which authorizes nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and couples in “irregular situations.” Various bishops from around the world voice both support for and criticism of the document.
2024
Jan. 4 — Amid widespread backlash to Fiducia Supplicans, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, publishes a five-page press release that refers to Fiducia Supplicans as “perennial doctrine” and underlines that pastoral blessings of couples in irregular situations should not be “an endorsement of the life led by those who request them.”
Jan. 14 — Pope Francis for the first time responds publicly to questions about Fiducia Supplicans in an interview on an Italian television show. The pope underlines that “the Lord blesses everyone” and that a blessing is an invitation to enter into a conversation “to see what the road is that the Lord proposes to them.”
Feb. 11 — In a ceremony attended by Argentine president Javier Milei, Pope Francis canonizes María Antonia of St. Joseph — known affectionately in the pope’s home country as “Mama Antula” — in a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. The president and the former archbishop of Buenos Aires embrace after the ceremony. Pope Francis, who has not returned to his homeland since becoming pope in 2013, has said he wants to visit Argentina in the second half of this year.
Pope Francis meets with Argentina President Javier Milei in a private audience on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Feb. 28 — After canceling audiences the previous Saturday and having an aide read his prepared remarks at his Wednesday audience due to a “mild flu,” Pope Francis visits the hospital for diagnostic tests but returns to the Vatican afterward.
March 2 — Despite having an aide read his speech “because of bronchitis,” the pope presides over the inauguration of the 95th Judicial Year of the Vatican City State and maintains a full schedule.
March 13 — Pope Francis celebrates 11 years as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Francis addresses participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Sept. 27, 2021. / Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Sep 27, 2021 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis decried abortion and euth… […]
19 Comments
One aspect no published author will add to this mix is the WHY. Not the decadence, which is only a manifestation of a darker base thing, but WHY the campaign among some elements of the Church to clearly destroy all for which it has stood.
Is it ONLY idiology, or has their weakness, lust for money, sex, and power left them compromised to outside influences pushing them while gratifying them?
It takes more than idiology to control the Vatican, it takes money, and lots of it, to keep folk toeing a line….and one thing the Vatican is quite competent at, is shady movements of huge amounts of money.
All money scrutiny is now gone with this regime, and already vast sums have been spotted attempting to disappear in its labyrinth, ranging from the Papal Foundation to the 10s of millions mysteriously moved through the Knights of Malta, which money discovered, required the destruction of the Knights as we knew them.
Is all of Germany’s wealth coming to the Vatican only from a state tax, or is more being funneled through them in countless shady sources such as was discovered with the Knights? What other sources, and from whom?
Already, absolutely incomprehensible deals have been made over the Crimean situation, the Chinese Church, and others…not to mention doctrinal and moral issue positively steamrollered through, regardless of protests and even stupidity on the parts of the pushers.
They act not as befuddled tone deaf incompetents, but as under orders agents of destruction, moving in almost desperate haste, while blocking any move into investigations which might uncover moral AND financial compromise.
I have no idea who or how many financial players there are in this attempt to destroy the Church, but Soros, Putin and China certainly come to mind.
It seems many leaders are bought and paid for, and wielding tremendous financial clout within the Vatican among the weak and degenerate.
And nobody ever broaches even the idea, instead, asing me to believe in totally unbelievable incompetence, bungling, and weak theology, which I think is a misdirect from some quite canny players in this game to destroy the Church.
I wanted to add that this is a very old problem, previous papacies have fought, the Soviets bragged of seminarians they placed, and this rot goes back very far indeed.
However, the sex, power, money, Triumvirate is always at play…
And no disrespect to the reviewed author, but volunteering at the parish is not the answer when they have their own way of doing things, which ranges between absolutely ineffective to totally heretical, many positions filled by long term school system employees….trying to make any change at that level is absolutely doomed, and results swiftly in being eased or thrown out. Priests are generally powerless, even if they wanted change, as priests come and go, but the old guard remains.
What the average person CAN do is direct money to where it deserves to go, rather than it be directed by parish, diocese or national conference after those organizations helping themsleves to fund their totally moribund self-replicating selves.
The US faithful provide nearly as much as Germany to the Vatican, and keeping the US Bishops frozen while money still flows is key to current regime plans.
Cut out the skimmers from the top. Donate directly, earmark funds for only explicit uses, and PLEASE stop funding our own enemies, PLEASE. Find your worthy causes and donate, whether parish or diocese or charity, but make sure none of those funds are automatically sent under obligation or even simply misused (ie Papal Foundation) for other untraceable purposes.
We CAN make a difference, but is will NOT be in trying to buck the system locally, where all you can actually do is go somewhere better…
I agree with Bob, speaking as someone who has worked in CCD and has started a Reading Group. I was monitored. The old guard (red guard?) at a parish doesn’t want orthodoxy.
The big bucks are in the estates and they need to be protected, sad to say, from any clergy, bishops or hierarchy here or in Rome from touching them–hence a parallel financial charity etc must be established and run by lay people.
You are right. The “post-Catholic” establishment has taken over the Catholic Church, and engineered the fraudulent election of their own post-Catholic agent to the papacy.
BIG MONEY is the king of their cult, and political influence is their goal. Money is flowing from China (that is how and why McCarrick did the China deal for Francis), and certainly from Islam to “post-Catholic SJ universities,” etc etc.
The “ex-Archbishop of Washington” Donald Wuerl is an arch-lying criminal fraud, a clone of his mentor McCarrick, and as such he is pleasing to the post-Catholic pontiff Francis.
I can only conclude that these men all are either astonished that (or have utter contempt for) Catholics who believe that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, that he came down to us to teach the truth, that he gave us his sacraments to sanctify us, and died to liberate us from our slavery to sin, and rose from the dead to lead us, sanctified, to the The Father of Lights.
And interestingly this Sunday’s Gospel announces End Times. We don’t know when though the times make us wonder. One consoling aspect of Mk 13 is eschatological chronology. Christ warns “this generation” will experience the end though the apocalyptic event referred to was Rome’s cataclysmic destruction of the Jewish nation. The Apostles were convinced [as many are today] that End Times was imminent. Vespasian and son ruthlessly inflicted virtual end times fulfilling Where the Eagles gather there lies the Corpse. Christ’s words frequently have dual meaning the real Apocalypse reserved for a future time. Similar conditions exist today. Flynn quotes Lawler counseling us to pray for the misled. That is a must particularly for those misled who are misleading from the Pontiff to Spadaro to Parolin to Cupich to the pastor preaching heresy. Insofar as “lazy priests” true though underlying the languor is faithlessness. We are all called to pray, sacrifice, even suffer where practicable. The Smoke of Satan is what it is. Evil moral and putrid. Clericalism, sentimentalism are bywords for the entrenched evil within our Church a long time marinating. So we can’t fault the Pontiff for everything yet we can fault him for most. The Church has acquired the pallidness of impending death for which he is responsible. No need recounting the misdeeds we all, that is those who are not snoring know them. A dear friend is suffering depression as many of the faithful show in the pews and on the Internet. My friend believes with the dearth of hierarchy leadership only an Act of God will bring Justice. Faith is confidence in the One we love who will strengthen the beleaguered faithful and see us thru. Faith is an act of love for the Crucified that assures an abundance of good in return. If End Times were at hand this time around it will not be eagles gathered around the Corpse rather vultures. Vultures who have spent a lifetime feeding on the souls they were ordained to feed.
“Lawler’s emphasis on Catholicism’s little platoons of (primarily) laity, is indeed the way forward. The work of restoration on the ground, especially in parishes, is in the hands of committed lay Catholics. Tired of heterodox pabulum being offered in the parish RCIA program? Volunteer to take the program over and teach those eager to enter the Church the fullness of the faith.”
And if the orthodox faithful are shut out of such positions by those who have power in the parish (or the chancery)? What, then, are the faithful to do? What should be done when true reform is stonewalled by those holding authority in the institutional church?
Mary, you are correct. God will use the grassroots, the least influential of all to accomplish His will. But be prepared for and assume pushback. A new pastor and baby-priest associate pastor were just installed in my geographic/childhood parish. When I asked for the Extraordinary Form I was met with a host (pun intended) of reasons why it couldn’t be done. Imagine two priests arguing against the establishment of the EF and with the lamest of excuses. And I even offered to produce a priest who will celebrate the EF. As a retired Marine Corps officer and student of leadership it grieves me to witness the lack of courage. They are afraid to upset the Archbishop. A commanding officer tends to his unit, not his higher up. A C.O. does what’s best for his unit and with courage and conviction. It’s called leadership. Alas I fear we have a pastor whose allegiance and priority are misplaced. This fight for the EF is not over. But it will take us, the rank and file parishioner led by the Holy Spirit to correct what needs correcting.
By quashing the American Catholic bishops’ bid for an independent investigation into the burgeoning sex-abuse scandal, the Vatican has left the US hierarchy in an impossible position. The bishops cannot ease the anger of an enraged laity without appearing disloyal to Rome; they cannot maintain unity among themselves without further alienating their flocks; they cannot restore their own credibility without damaging the credibility of the Holy See.
A cleric’s first loyalty is to Christ, not to any religious superior even if that be the pope. A shepherd’s first responsibility is to do whatever is necessary to protect his flock, not wonder what might please or displease the Vatican. A pope loses his authority to demand obedience once he ignores the cries of the faithful and sends wolves in sheep’s clothing to
devour them.
That only about 40% of the American bishops dared to vote in favor of a proposal to respectfully request Rome to release all relevant documentation on the McCarrick case for the sake of transparency and to better understand what went wrong shows that we have more bureaucratic climbers and scared sycophants in the episcopacy than men of faith with a modicum of courage and focus on true pastoral priorities.
Pope Francis’ much-touted “revolution of mercy” is doomed to fail because #1 it is not fully founded on the truth and because #2 he has entrusted to spiritually corrupt and morally compromised men.
The Church will survive this crisis. We survived the similar sodomy crisis in the Middle Ages that was condemned by St Peter Damian. We survived the Arian heresy. We survived the Reformation (which culminated in Rome getting sacked and burned by the armies of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V). We survived the various invasions of Europe by the Ottoman Empire. We survived both National Socialism and Communism, two anti-religious totalitarian ideologies that tried to destroyed the Church. Remeber Matthew 16:18.
Still, the cost of the current scandal will be great, and we will likely be left with a smaller and poorer Church, as Pope Benedict XVI predicted.
“Faithful Catholics are beginning to realize Pope Francis no longer represents merely a change of emphasis in papal teaching” (Phillip Lawyer Lost Shepherd). Misunderstanding the limits of papal teaching is dividing the Church. I wish to comment here on what those limits are. There is clarification in the Doctrinal Commentary to Ad Tuendam Fidem. The Doctrinal Commentary [written by then CDF Prefect Cardinal Ratzinger and ratified by John Paul II] states in Prop 1 The Deposit of the Faith is inviolable. Any doctrine related to Prop 1 is covered in Prop 2. Such binding doctrine must be solemnly pronounced by the Pontiff to the Universal Church. Or it may be proposed as binding apart from solemn pronouncement in the form of Sententia Definitive Tenenda, a definitively held statement. That complies with this passage from a Robert Siscoe article in The Remnant: “Msgr. Van Noort defines infallibility as ‘the privilege by which the teaching office of the Church, through the assistance of the Holy Ghost, is preserved immune from error when it defines a doctrine of faith or morals.’ Note the word define. Infallibility only applies in the case of doctrines that have been defined, or definitive proposed by the Church, either by a solemn decree, or by the force of the ordinary and universal Magisterium” (Siscoe). The salient point is that the errors attributed to Amoris Laetitia and other remarks, statements by Pope Francis, the two letters pertaining to the Maltese Bishops’ request for affirmation on communion for D&R included in the Acta Apostolica Sedis are not infallible nor binding despite the proposal by Vatican Secretary of State Parolin that they are. The reason is that nothing in the letters is presented as Sententia Definitive Tenenda. They are simply oblique references open to opinion. The mistake of many laity, clergy is that they consider these errors binding. Insofar as their being owed a form of religious assent they do not comply with Lumen Gentium 25 [ A Judgment that manifests his mind and will by his manner of speaking, character of the documents, frequent repetition of the doctrine ]. Finally a word on an increasingly mistaken opinion that fault lies with Vat I and papal infallibility. The limits of authentic papal teaching shows the problem is not the Chair of Peter. Rather the Occupant.
Our Lady of La Salette, France in 1846 has warned of and predicted this sexual abuse crisis that we are now in. Our Lady states: “Priests, my Son’s ministers, priests, by their evil life, by their irreverence’s and their impiety in celebrating the holy mysteries, love of money, love of honor and pleasures, priests have become sewers of impurity. Yes, priests call forth vengeance, and vengeance is suspended over their heads. Woe to priests, and to persons consecrated to God, who by their infidelities and their evil life are crucifying my son anew! The sins of persons consecrated to God cry to heaven and call for vengeance, and now here is vengeance at their very doors, for no longer is anyone found to beg mercy and pardon for the people; there are no more generous souls, there is now no one worthy of offering the spotless Victim to the Eternal on the world’s behalf.”
“The chiefs, the leaders of the people of God have neglected prayer and penance, and the devil has bedimmed their intelligence. They have become wandering stars which the old devil will drag along with his tail to make them perish. God will allow the old serpent to cause divisions among those who reign, in every society and in every family. Physical and moral agonies will be suffered. God will abandon mankind to itself and will send punishments which will follow one after the other for more than thirty-five years. “ (starting in the year 2000?)
Sister Agnes Sasagawa at Japan, in 1973 claimed that Mary said to her: “The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres… the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God…”
A spiritual storm is growing with intensity. Pope John Paul II had visions of the future while convalescing after an attempt on his life and was aware of a great storm on the horizon. He stated: “Precisely at the end of the second millennium, there accumulates on the horizon of all mankind enormously threatening clouds, and darkness falls upon mankind.” An awakening is coming!! Pope John Paul talked about the Lamb (Jesus Christ), who is the only one able to open up the seven seals: “That scroll contains the whole series of divine decrees that must be accomplished in human history to make perfect justice prevail. If the scroll remains sealed, these decrees can be neither known nor implemented, and wickedness will continue to spread and oppress believers. Hence, the need for authoritative intervention: it would be made by the slain and risen Lamb…to take the scroll and to open its seals.”
According to prophecies, this age is “coming to a close”, after 10 events unfold that Mary, Mother of Jesus has predicted, at some major apparition sites throughout the world. This information also comes from canonized saint’s prophecies. A book and web site called, “After The Warning To 2038”, has many prophecies from credible, Catholic sources that are predicting many more future events. This is not the end. There is a 6th Church age of peace to unfold after this chaotic time. There are 7 ages for the Church.
Watching bishops in this country attempt to work through the extraordinary mess created by the revelation of the moral squalor that failed to impede Archbishop McCarrick’s rise to the very top of the American hierarchy is as discouraging a spectacle as most Catholics alive today have witnessed regarding episcopal leadership. (The picture of a lecherous, beaming McCarrick in a bathing suit with his arm draped around the waist of his teenage victim is fixed in the mind as the perfect image of the rot.) As Philip Lawler observes in his aptly titled The Smoke of Satan, Catholics in America have no confidence in the bishops – and with very good reason: “The bishops lost our confidence because, as a group, they were – and were shown to be – dishonest.”
One aspect no published author will add to this mix is the WHY. Not the decadence, which is only a manifestation of a darker base thing, but WHY the campaign among some elements of the Church to clearly destroy all for which it has stood.
Is it ONLY idiology, or has their weakness, lust for money, sex, and power left them compromised to outside influences pushing them while gratifying them?
It takes more than idiology to control the Vatican, it takes money, and lots of it, to keep folk toeing a line….and one thing the Vatican is quite competent at, is shady movements of huge amounts of money.
All money scrutiny is now gone with this regime, and already vast sums have been spotted attempting to disappear in its labyrinth, ranging from the Papal Foundation to the 10s of millions mysteriously moved through the Knights of Malta, which money discovered, required the destruction of the Knights as we knew them.
Is all of Germany’s wealth coming to the Vatican only from a state tax, or is more being funneled through them in countless shady sources such as was discovered with the Knights? What other sources, and from whom?
Already, absolutely incomprehensible deals have been made over the Crimean situation, the Chinese Church, and others…not to mention doctrinal and moral issue positively steamrollered through, regardless of protests and even stupidity on the parts of the pushers.
They act not as befuddled tone deaf incompetents, but as under orders agents of destruction, moving in almost desperate haste, while blocking any move into investigations which might uncover moral AND financial compromise.
I have no idea who or how many financial players there are in this attempt to destroy the Church, but Soros, Putin and China certainly come to mind.
It seems many leaders are bought and paid for, and wielding tremendous financial clout within the Vatican among the weak and degenerate.
And nobody ever broaches even the idea, instead, asing me to believe in totally unbelievable incompetence, bungling, and weak theology, which I think is a misdirect from some quite canny players in this game to destroy the Church.
I wanted to add that this is a very old problem, previous papacies have fought, the Soviets bragged of seminarians they placed, and this rot goes back very far indeed.
However, the sex, power, money, Triumvirate is always at play…
And no disrespect to the reviewed author, but volunteering at the parish is not the answer when they have their own way of doing things, which ranges between absolutely ineffective to totally heretical, many positions filled by long term school system employees….trying to make any change at that level is absolutely doomed, and results swiftly in being eased or thrown out. Priests are generally powerless, even if they wanted change, as priests come and go, but the old guard remains.
What the average person CAN do is direct money to where it deserves to go, rather than it be directed by parish, diocese or national conference after those organizations helping themsleves to fund their totally moribund self-replicating selves.
The US faithful provide nearly as much as Germany to the Vatican, and keeping the US Bishops frozen while money still flows is key to current regime plans.
Cut out the skimmers from the top. Donate directly, earmark funds for only explicit uses, and PLEASE stop funding our own enemies, PLEASE. Find your worthy causes and donate, whether parish or diocese or charity, but make sure none of those funds are automatically sent under obligation or even simply misused (ie Papal Foundation) for other untraceable purposes.
We CAN make a difference, but is will NOT be in trying to buck the system locally, where all you can actually do is go somewhere better…
I agree with Bob, speaking as someone who has worked in CCD and has started a Reading Group. I was monitored. The old guard (red guard?) at a parish doesn’t want orthodoxy.
The big bucks are in the estates and they need to be protected, sad to say, from any clergy, bishops or hierarchy here or in Rome from touching them–hence a parallel financial charity etc must be established and run by lay people.
Thank you. This review is so good that if it were published elsewhere, I would be sending its URL to Carl E. Olson.
Bob:
You are right. The “post-Catholic” establishment has taken over the Catholic Church, and engineered the fraudulent election of their own post-Catholic agent to the papacy.
BIG MONEY is the king of their cult, and political influence is their goal. Money is flowing from China (that is how and why McCarrick did the China deal for Francis), and certainly from Islam to “post-Catholic SJ universities,” etc etc.
The “ex-Archbishop of Washington” Donald Wuerl is an arch-lying criminal fraud, a clone of his mentor McCarrick, and as such he is pleasing to the post-Catholic pontiff Francis.
I can only conclude that these men all are either astonished that (or have utter contempt for) Catholics who believe that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, that he came down to us to teach the truth, that he gave us his sacraments to sanctify us, and died to liberate us from our slavery to sin, and rose from the dead to lead us, sanctified, to the The Father of Lights.
And interestingly this Sunday’s Gospel announces End Times. We don’t know when though the times make us wonder. One consoling aspect of Mk 13 is eschatological chronology. Christ warns “this generation” will experience the end though the apocalyptic event referred to was Rome’s cataclysmic destruction of the Jewish nation. The Apostles were convinced [as many are today] that End Times was imminent. Vespasian and son ruthlessly inflicted virtual end times fulfilling Where the Eagles gather there lies the Corpse. Christ’s words frequently have dual meaning the real Apocalypse reserved for a future time. Similar conditions exist today. Flynn quotes Lawler counseling us to pray for the misled. That is a must particularly for those misled who are misleading from the Pontiff to Spadaro to Parolin to Cupich to the pastor preaching heresy. Insofar as “lazy priests” true though underlying the languor is faithlessness. We are all called to pray, sacrifice, even suffer where practicable. The Smoke of Satan is what it is. Evil moral and putrid. Clericalism, sentimentalism are bywords for the entrenched evil within our Church a long time marinating. So we can’t fault the Pontiff for everything yet we can fault him for most. The Church has acquired the pallidness of impending death for which he is responsible. No need recounting the misdeeds we all, that is those who are not snoring know them. A dear friend is suffering depression as many of the faithful show in the pews and on the Internet. My friend believes with the dearth of hierarchy leadership only an Act of God will bring Justice. Faith is confidence in the One we love who will strengthen the beleaguered faithful and see us thru. Faith is an act of love for the Crucified that assures an abundance of good in return. If End Times were at hand this time around it will not be eagles gathered around the Corpse rather vultures. Vultures who have spent a lifetime feeding on the souls they were ordained to feed.
Pardon the error I meant quote author Sullivan not Flynn.
“Lawler’s emphasis on Catholicism’s little platoons of (primarily) laity, is indeed the way forward. The work of restoration on the ground, especially in parishes, is in the hands of committed lay Catholics. Tired of heterodox pabulum being offered in the parish RCIA program? Volunteer to take the program over and teach those eager to enter the Church the fullness of the faith.”
And if the orthodox faithful are shut out of such positions by those who have power in the parish (or the chancery)? What, then, are the faithful to do? What should be done when true reform is stonewalled by those holding authority in the institutional church?
Go under the radar and do amazing things in small groups anyway.
Yes, each one of us can do work in our parish and we MUST!
Mary, you are correct. God will use the grassroots, the least influential of all to accomplish His will. But be prepared for and assume pushback. A new pastor and baby-priest associate pastor were just installed in my geographic/childhood parish. When I asked for the Extraordinary Form I was met with a host (pun intended) of reasons why it couldn’t be done. Imagine two priests arguing against the establishment of the EF and with the lamest of excuses. And I even offered to produce a priest who will celebrate the EF. As a retired Marine Corps officer and student of leadership it grieves me to witness the lack of courage. They are afraid to upset the Archbishop. A commanding officer tends to his unit, not his higher up. A C.O. does what’s best for his unit and with courage and conviction. It’s called leadership. Alas I fear we have a pastor whose allegiance and priority are misplaced. This fight for the EF is not over. But it will take us, the rank and file parishioner led by the Holy Spirit to correct what needs correcting.
Christ referred to Peter as both “The Rock” (Matt. 16:18) and Satan (Matt. 16:23). Food for thought.
From “The Vatican Intervention in Baltimore”, by Philip Lawler:
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/11/the-vatican-intervention-in-baltimore
By quashing the American Catholic bishops’ bid for an independent investigation into the burgeoning sex-abuse scandal, the Vatican has left the US hierarchy in an impossible position. The bishops cannot ease the anger of an enraged laity without appearing disloyal to Rome; they cannot maintain unity among themselves without further alienating their flocks; they cannot restore their own credibility without damaging the credibility of the Holy See.
A cleric’s first loyalty is to Christ, not to any religious superior even if that be the pope. A shepherd’s first responsibility is to do whatever is necessary to protect his flock, not wonder what might please or displease the Vatican. A pope loses his authority to demand obedience once he ignores the cries of the faithful and sends wolves in sheep’s clothing to
devour them.
That only about 40% of the American bishops dared to vote in favor of a proposal to respectfully request Rome to release all relevant documentation on the McCarrick case for the sake of transparency and to better understand what went wrong shows that we have more bureaucratic climbers and scared sycophants in the episcopacy than men of faith with a modicum of courage and focus on true pastoral priorities.
Pope Francis’ much-touted “revolution of mercy” is doomed to fail because #1 it is not fully founded on the truth and because #2 he has entrusted to spiritually corrupt and morally compromised men.
The Church will survive this crisis. We survived the similar sodomy crisis in the Middle Ages that was condemned by St Peter Damian. We survived the Arian heresy. We survived the Reformation (which culminated in Rome getting sacked and burned by the armies of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V). We survived the various invasions of Europe by the Ottoman Empire. We survived both National Socialism and Communism, two anti-religious totalitarian ideologies that tried to destroyed the Church. Remeber Matthew 16:18.
Still, the cost of the current scandal will be great, and we will likely be left with a smaller and poorer Church, as Pope Benedict XVI predicted.
For those unfamiliar with the work of St. Peter Damian:
http://iteadthomam.com/BOG_ROR/
“Faithful Catholics are beginning to realize Pope Francis no longer represents merely a change of emphasis in papal teaching” (Phillip Lawyer Lost Shepherd). Misunderstanding the limits of papal teaching is dividing the Church. I wish to comment here on what those limits are. There is clarification in the Doctrinal Commentary to Ad Tuendam Fidem. The Doctrinal Commentary [written by then CDF Prefect Cardinal Ratzinger and ratified by John Paul II] states in Prop 1 The Deposit of the Faith is inviolable. Any doctrine related to Prop 1 is covered in Prop 2. Such binding doctrine must be solemnly pronounced by the Pontiff to the Universal Church. Or it may be proposed as binding apart from solemn pronouncement in the form of Sententia Definitive Tenenda, a definitively held statement. That complies with this passage from a Robert Siscoe article in The Remnant: “Msgr. Van Noort defines infallibility as ‘the privilege by which the teaching office of the Church, through the assistance of the Holy Ghost, is preserved immune from error when it defines a doctrine of faith or morals.’ Note the word define. Infallibility only applies in the case of doctrines that have been defined, or definitive proposed by the Church, either by a solemn decree, or by the force of the ordinary and universal Magisterium” (Siscoe). The salient point is that the errors attributed to Amoris Laetitia and other remarks, statements by Pope Francis, the two letters pertaining to the Maltese Bishops’ request for affirmation on communion for D&R included in the Acta Apostolica Sedis are not infallible nor binding despite the proposal by Vatican Secretary of State Parolin that they are. The reason is that nothing in the letters is presented as Sententia Definitive Tenenda. They are simply oblique references open to opinion. The mistake of many laity, clergy is that they consider these errors binding. Insofar as their being owed a form of religious assent they do not comply with Lumen Gentium 25 [ A Judgment that manifests his mind and will by his manner of speaking, character of the documents, frequent repetition of the doctrine ]. Finally a word on an increasingly mistaken opinion that fault lies with Vat I and papal infallibility. The limits of authentic papal teaching shows the problem is not the Chair of Peter. Rather the Occupant.
Our Lady of La Salette, France in 1846 has warned of and predicted this sexual abuse crisis that we are now in. Our Lady states: “Priests, my Son’s ministers, priests, by their evil life, by their irreverence’s and their impiety in celebrating the holy mysteries, love of money, love of honor and pleasures, priests have become sewers of impurity. Yes, priests call forth vengeance, and vengeance is suspended over their heads. Woe to priests, and to persons consecrated to God, who by their infidelities and their evil life are crucifying my son anew! The sins of persons consecrated to God cry to heaven and call for vengeance, and now here is vengeance at their very doors, for no longer is anyone found to beg mercy and pardon for the people; there are no more generous souls, there is now no one worthy of offering the spotless Victim to the Eternal on the world’s behalf.”
“The chiefs, the leaders of the people of God have neglected prayer and penance, and the devil has bedimmed their intelligence. They have become wandering stars which the old devil will drag along with his tail to make them perish. God will allow the old serpent to cause divisions among those who reign, in every society and in every family. Physical and moral agonies will be suffered. God will abandon mankind to itself and will send punishments which will follow one after the other for more than thirty-five years. “ (starting in the year 2000?)
Sister Agnes Sasagawa at Japan, in 1973 claimed that Mary said to her: “The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres… the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God…”
A spiritual storm is growing with intensity. Pope John Paul II had visions of the future while convalescing after an attempt on his life and was aware of a great storm on the horizon. He stated: “Precisely at the end of the second millennium, there accumulates on the horizon of all mankind enormously threatening clouds, and darkness falls upon mankind.” An awakening is coming!! Pope John Paul talked about the Lamb (Jesus Christ), who is the only one able to open up the seven seals: “That scroll contains the whole series of divine decrees that must be accomplished in human history to make perfect justice prevail. If the scroll remains sealed, these decrees can be neither known nor implemented, and wickedness will continue to spread and oppress believers. Hence, the need for authoritative intervention: it would be made by the slain and risen Lamb…to take the scroll and to open its seals.”
According to prophecies, this age is “coming to a close”, after 10 events unfold that Mary, Mother of Jesus has predicted, at some major apparition sites throughout the world. This information also comes from canonized saint’s prophecies. A book and web site called, “After The Warning To 2038”, has many prophecies from credible, Catholic sources that are predicting many more future events. This is not the end. There is a 6th Church age of peace to unfold after this chaotic time. There are 7 ages for the Church.