Benedict XVI’s Incredible Heresies on “the Orthodox”: He Teaches That Schism Is Holiness

By Bro. Michael Dimond, O.S.B. Read more of Benedict XVI’s Recent Heresies

Benedict XVI’s November 14, 2012 Letter to the “newly elected Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church”:

“To His Holiness Tawadros II

Pope of Alexandria

Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark

It is with fraternal joy that I send greetings to Your Holiness on the happy occasion of your enthronement as Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark. To my Venerable Brother Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, I have entrusted the task of conveying these greetings to you, together with assurances of my closeness in prayer as you assume the high office of chief shepherd of the Coptic Orthodox Church. May the Almighty grant Your Holiness abundant spiritual gifts to strengthen you in your new ministry, as you guide the clergy and laity along the paths of holiness, for the good of your people and the peace and harmony of the whole of society.

My thoughts turn at this time to your venerable predecessor, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, whose long and devoted service to the Lord will surely continue to inspire you and all the faithful… Your Holiness, I pray that the Holy Spirit will sustain you in your ministry, so that the flock entrusted to your care may experience the teaching of the Good Shepherd… Conscious of the great challenges which accompany the spiritual and pastoral ministry that Your Holiness is about to undertake, I assure you of my prayers and personal good wishes. With fraternal esteem and affection I implore God’s blessings upon you and upon all the faithful entrusted to your care. From the Vatican, 14 November 2012

Benedict PP. XVI”[1]

The adherents of the “Orthodox” sects reject Papal Infallibility and Papal Primacy. The Catholic Church has always considered them schismatics and on the road to everlasting damnation. Yet, as he has done for years, Benedict XVI lavishes endless praises upon schismatic “Orthodox” leaders.

Benedict XVI teaches formal heresy a number of times in this letter. He teaches formal heresy by stating that schismatics can follow the “paths of holiness” without the Catholic faith and outside the Church. Specifically, Benedict XVI says that by taking this role as a schismatic leader, the schismatic will “guide the clergy and laity along the paths of holiness”! It’s a dogma that men cannot please God, be holy or have sins forgiven without the Catholic faith or outside the Church (Trent; Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam; etc.). According to the apostate Benedict XVI, schism equates to holiness.

Benedict XVI also teaches formal heresy by repeatedly referring to the schismatic leader as “pope” and the true jurisdictional leader of the true Church in his area. According to the apostate Benedict XVI, the schismatic legitimately occupies “the See of St. Mark”. This heresy was condemned in, among others things, Leo XIII’s encyclical Satis Cognitum, which teaches that all such bishops are outside the Church and consequently cannot rule in it. As he does with other schismatics, Benedict XVI also calls this schismatic leader “Holiness”.

Benedict XVI also teaches formal heresy by stating that the deceased schismatic leader, “Pope Shenouda”, was devoted to the Lord, had a flock of faithful entrusted to him, and that his life continues to inspire them. This is a blatant denial of the dogma that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church (extra ecclesiam nulla salus). Benedict XVI also states that the recently deceased schismatic leader is “venerable”.

Among Benedict XVI’s other blasphemies, he asserts that holding a prominent role in a schismatic church is a “high office”. He also declares that the new office of schismatic leadership is a “pastoral ministry”. He prays that the Holy Spirit (The Spirit of Truth) will “sustain” the schismatic leader in his office of promoting schism! He also declares the adherents of schism (“the Orthodox”) to be “the faithful” of God’s Church. As usual, Benedict XVI also mentions his “esteem” for the schismatic leader. Benedict XVI then declares that souls were “entrusted” by God to follow (and be spiritually directed by) this newly-installed schismatic leader. Benedict XVI is nothing more than a complete schismatic antipope posing as a Catholic pope.

Benedict XVI’s January 25, 2013 Address to “Orthodox” and “Catholic” members of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between “the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches”:

“Your Eminences,

Your Excellencies,

Dear Brothers in Christ,

It is with joy in the Lord that I welcome you, the members of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Through you I extend fraternal greetings to the heads of all the Oriental Orthodox Churches… Before all else I would like to recall with appreciation the memory of His Holiness Shenounda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, who died recently. I also remember with gratitude His Holiness Abouna Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church, who last year hosted the Ninth Meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I was saddened, too, to learn of the death of the Most Reverend Mikhael Al-Jamil… I join you in prayer for the eternal rest of these dedicated servants of the Lord… May the example and intercession of the countless martyrs and saints who down the ages have borne courageous witness to Christ in all our Churches, sustain and strengthen all of us…”[2]

Here, Benedict XVI denies extra ecclesiam nulla salus again by teaching that notorious heretics and schismatics can have eternal rest. Benedict XVI also declares the “holy Orthodox” schismatic leaders to be the jurisdictional leaders of the true Church, wherever in the world they have established schismatic churches. He also says that deceased leaders of schismatic churches were “dedicated servants of the Lord”. He then declares that schismatic churches have “countless martyrs and saints” and that they “sustain and strengthen all of us”. What a heretic!

Benedict XVI’s December 6, 2012 Telegram on hearing the news of the death of Greek-“Orthodox” Ignace IV Hazim “Patriarch of Antioch and All the East”. The Telegram was sent to the “Orthodox” H.E. Metropolitan Spyridon of Heliopolis:

“Your Eminence, I have just learned with sadness that the Lord has called H.B. Ignace IV Hazim, Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, to him. I offer to you, to the Holy Synod and to all the members of the Church my deepest condolences and I assure you of my union in prayer with those who are mourning their father and pastor. In the course of his long life of service to the Gospel, the late Patriarch offered a luminous witness of faith and charity, working with dedication to spiritually uplift the flock which had been entrusted to him and for the great cause of reconciliation of peace among men… I assure you of my prayers for the suffering faithful of your Church and for peace in the region, and reaffirming all my participation, I beg you, Your Eminence, to accept the expression of my sincerest wishes in Christ. From the Vatican, 6 December 2012

Benedict PP. XVI”[3]

Benedict XVI also calls the schismatic leader “Your Eminence”. Historically, the title “Your Eminence” has been an honorary title given to cardinals of the Catholic Church. Benedict XVI teaches formal heresy again by denying extra ecclesiam nulla salus: he teaches that the non-Catholic leader died and went to the Lord. He then declares that the recently-deceased schismatic was the leader of the true Church in Antioch “and All the East”!

Benedict XVI then asserts that this schismatic leader was duly ordained by God to be a “spiritual father and pastor” of people, even though he was a schismatic! To be a “pastor” in the true Church is to hold an office of jurisdictional authority. This proves, once again, that Benedict XVI believes a schismatic has jurisdictional authority over the true Church of Jesus Christ.

He then commits formal heresy by stating that this Papacy-rejecting heretic and schismatic was a “luminous witness of faith” who spiritually uplifted the flock.

Benedict XVI also mutilates the Gospel by stating that the schismatic lived a “long life of service to the Gospel,” even though the schismatic denied the Gospel (e.g., Mt. 16:18-19). Benedict caps of his heretical telegram by once again declaring the “Orthodox” to be the faithful of the true Church.

Benedict XVI’s November 14, 2012 Message to the “Orthodox Archbishop” of Constantinople:

“To His Holiness

Batholomasios I

Archbishop of Constantinople

Ecumenical Patriarch

Enlivened by sentiments of deep joy and brotherly closeness, I would like today to make my own this desire which St. Paul expressed to the Christian community of Ephesus, in order to present to you, Your Holiness, to the Members of the Holy Synod, to the clergy and to all the faithful gathered together on this Feast Day to celebrate the great Solemnity of St. Andrew. Following the Apostle’s example, as your brother in the faith, I too ‘bow my knees before the Father’ (Eph 3:14) to ask him to grant that you ‘be strengthened with might through his Spirit’ (v. 16), and, ‘to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge’ (v. 19). The exchange of Delegations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople, which takes place every year on the occasion of the respective patronal feasts of St. Andrew and Paul in Rome, is a tangible testimony of the bond of brotherly closeness that unites us…

Your Holiness, I wish at this moment to renew to you the expression of my deep gratitude for the words you spoke at the end of the celebration for the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Year of Faith, which was held in Rome in October. Through these words you were able to interpret the sentiments of everyone present. I cherish vivid memories of your visit to Rome for this occasion, during which we had the opportunity to renew our ties of sincere and genuine friendship.

This sincere friendship which has been born between us – with a great common vision of the responsibilities to which we are called as Christians and as Pastors of the flock that God has entrusted to us – is the reason for the great hope that an ever closer collaboration will develop in the urgent task of giving fresh vigor to our witness to the Gospel Message in today’s world. In addition, I warmly thank you, Your Holiness, and the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for sending a Fraternal Delegate to take part in the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme: ‘The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith’. We have long been in full agreement with Your Holiness on the most urgent challenge today: how to bring the proclamation of God’s merciful love to the people of our time… Your Holiness in the divine Liturgy which you have celebrated today in honor of St. Andrew, Patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, you prayed ‘for peace throughout the world, for the prosperity of the Holy Churches of God and for the union of all’. I join in your prayer with all the Catholic brothers and sisters… With these sentiments of sincere affection in Christ the Lord, I renew my warm good wishes and exchange with Your Holiness a Brotherly embrace. From the Vatican, 23 November 2012

Benedict PP. XVI”[4]

Benedict XVI declares the schismatic non-Catholic leader to be an “Archbishop”, which is a jurisdictional title given only to Catholic bishops by popes. Benedict XVI teaches formal heresy again by stating that souls were “entrusted” to the schismatic leader by God’s providence. It’s heresy to teach that God entrusts a flock to a schismatic and heretical leader who is outside the Church.

Benedict XVI is himself a schismatic leader. Thus, when he thinks of another schismatic leader, it fills him with “deep joy and brotherly closeness”. Benedict XVI states that the “Orthodox” schismatic leader is “Holiness”. Benedict XVI is also “united” to the schismatic and remains his “brother in the faith”. Take note of how Benedict XVI gushes with joy when he recalls the schismatic leader’s visit to Rome. He also says the schismatic leader is a “Pastor” of the true church. That’s formal heresy. Benedict XVI concludes by uniting his prayer to the schismatic leader’s prayer.

As many of you know, the heretical promotion of schism and schismatic leaders by Benedict XVI and the Vatican II sect has been occurring for quite some time. The recent antipopes have displayed this type of heresy for decades. That’s why it’s a joke when ignorant and bad-willed “Catholics” say: “Are you in union with the Rome/the Catholic Church?”… as if not being in union with Rome or the papacy means something to Benedict XVI. These recent examples of Benedict XVI’s promotion of schism clearly show, once again, that not being in union with a “Catholic Pope” or the “Catholic Church” means absolutely nothing to the schismatic Benedict XVI.

Therefore, the next time someone falsely accuses you of not being in union with the Catholic Church (simply because you correctly reject Benedict XVI as a wicked non-Catholic antipope), shove a copy of Benedict XVI’s most recent promotion of schism right back in their heretical faces. Benedict XVI constantly makes a mockery of being in union with the Papacy and the Catholic Church. The almost universal bad will that exists among mankind is the reason most “Catholics” don’t realize this. Those who continue to defend Benedict XVI as a Catholic Pope, after seeing the evidence which proves he’s a heretic and an antipope, will find themselves in Hell for all eternity.

Benedict XVI’s Recent Heresies

The Heresies of Benedict XVI file

Endnotes:

[1] L’ Osservatore Romano, November 21, 2012, p. 6

[2] L’ Osservatore Romano, January 30, 2013, p. 5.

[3] L’ Osservatore Romano, December 12, 2012, p. 4.

[4] L’ Osservatore Romano, December 5, 2012, p. 7.