What Is True Liberty?

Liberty

Converted

True Christianity

Ravi Zacharias Sex Scandal Shocks Protestant World (Catholic Analysis)

Great video!… I pray that Protestants will be guided by the Holy Spirit, and embrace Traditional Catholicism, which is True-Christianity.

Anti-Socialist

What is the ‘wonder’ in Revelation 17?

Thauma

Claims

Biden "HHS Nominee" Xavier Becerra Could Not Name A Single Abortion Restriction He Would Support - video

Xavier Becerra is a hypocrite... He claims to believe that "Black Lives Matter", however he refuses to protect unborn black people in their mother's womb and women who are pregnant with black babies who die from "botched" surgical abortions and abortion pills.

Simon Turac

“If the pope is the head leader of all, what do I make of his acceptance of gays?” [ANSWERED]

Isaiah

If

The Bible Proves The Papacy

Francis is not a pope but an apostate antipope.  This is explained in our material.  The current situation in Rome was prophesied. See this video, among others on our site: https://endtimes.video/apocalypse-now-in-the-vatican/ God wants you to become a traditional Catholic.  It's the one true faith necessary for salvation.  Our material explains how to do that.

“How do I know whether a priest is valid or not?”

India

Hello.  We're glad you are looking at the material.  'Priests' ordained in the New Rite of Ordination (promulgated by Antipope Paul VI in 1968) are not validly ordained.  You can read about that here: The New Rite of Ordination is Invalid.

Series

John Paul II Taught That Man Is The Truth

Dear Brothers:

Thank you so very much for your series on John Paul 2.  MHFM was the first (and perhaps only) organization to identify John Paul II as the Antichrist, and probably still is -- even though you have proven this fact beyond any shadow of a doubt.  With trembling, I can recall being in the Vatican II Sect where neither I nor anyone I knew of could figure out what John Paul II was actually saying.  But unfortunately, so many didn't care what they saw him saying and doing.   They weren't really troubled by it.  They either just shrugged it off and ignored it.  Or, they implied that he was an "intellectual" of some sort - as almost all false traditionalists would do, including the SSPX (no doubt because these proud heretics imagined themselves to be "intellectuals" as well).  They would even write and publish commentaries on JP2's writings - without ever reaching the correct conclusions!!  And the conclusions are horrifying.

But the worse thing of all was when people tried to defend the Antichrist and, by all sorts of mental gymnastics, would explain his words as if they were consistent with Catholic teaching.  All I can say is:  Thank God for MHFM!

Lee Ann

Comment

John Paul II Taught That Man Is The Truth

Brothers, these are fantastic videos…

Anthony Olenski

Can two baptized heretics have a valid marriage? Yes, but...

Marriage

No, you are wrong.  Non-Catholics (whether baptized or unbaptized) who were not baptized into the Catholic Church are not bound to the Catholic form of marriage.  Thus, when they contract marriage among themselves it is valid.  That is specified in the 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canon 1099.3).  Two baptized heretics (who were never baptized into the Catholic Church) would also have a sacramental marriage (although it would be contracted in sin).

Comment

Rush Limbaugh Did Not Go To Heaven

God bless you MHFM!  Thank you for this!

Corina Avelar

After

Apocalypse Now In The Vatican

Great video. After watching some of these videos, a lot of things make more sense.

Brandon Martinez

Was

Exactly Why Joe Biden Is Not A Catholic

First off I love your guys videos they’ve helped me a lot. I was a Protestant Seminarian…

T M C

Astounding, Rebellion

Comment

The middle-aged man claiming to be a "transgender woman" praised for joining a female college BB team

Sick pervert.

Mike

Children

Propaganda video indoctrinates children to see population control activist Bill Gates as a hero

It's disgusting. The evil cabal are working overtime to kill as many people as possible. It is noteworthy that all three of the synoptic Gospels include Jesus' warning about scandalizing the youth.

Mt. 18:6: "But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea."

Francis

The First Epistle Of John Also Refutes Protestantism

Society

America’s Fall To Communism (2021) – Documentary

Dear MHFM

Your new video “America’s Fall to Communism” is outstanding.  What most secular people fail to understand is that the destruction of society is taking place through impurity viewed on the Internet.  

Thank you for all your hard work and continued guidance.  

MG

Detroit

1 John, Salvation

Basically every book of the New Testament warns justified believers that if they commit certain sins they will not be saved.  So, the New Testament directly contradicts your understanding of 'assurance' and salvation over and over again.  There can be a 'confidence' (1 John 5:14), however, about being in God's grace if one keeps the commandments, etc.  That's why 1 John repeatedly warns the already-justified believers about committing sins, apostasy, etc. (e.g. 1 John 2:24-26; 3:6-7; 5:16; and more).

Watch this video and you will see your false view of salvation totally refuted:

https://endtimes.video/fake-christians-bible/

Relations of Origin

Essence and Relation

Sweden

Vatican requests "dioceses" to not apply ashes to the forehead due to COVID hoax - 24 second video

...the world has gone mad. I live in Sweden and everything is streaming, on line and what not, except for going about outside, for shopping and having coffee…

Lena Burh

Invincible Ignorance? - St. Robert Bellarmine (Powerful New Quotes)

The King James Translation And John 3:36

Here’s what the Greek which St. John actually wrote says:

“ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τoν υἱoν ἔχει ζωήν αἰώνιον· ὁ δε ἀπειθῶν τῷ υἱῷ, οὐκ ὄψεται ζωήν, ἀλλ’ ἡ ὀργη τοῦ Θεοῦ μένει ἐπ’ αὐτόν.”

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life, and he who disobeys the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Notice that St. John uses a participle of the verb πιστεύω in the first part of the verse, which says “he who believes” or “the one believing” (ὁ πιστεύων).  However, in the second half of the verse, which is translated in our video as “he who disobeys” or “the one disobeying”, St. John uses a participle of a different verb.  He uses “ὁ δε ἀπειθῶν”.  ἀπειθῶν is a participle of ἀπειθέω.

ἀπειθέω is primarily defined as to refuse to obey, be uncompliant, disloyal, etc.  In fact, in the King James Version, that verb ἀπειθέω is translated as ‘disobey’ or ‘disobedient’ in the following verses: Romans 2:8; Romans 10:21; 1 Peter 2:8; 1 Peter 3:1; 1 Peter 3:20; and 1 Peter 4:17.

If St. John had intended to repeat the exact same thought of believing in both parts of the verse, then he could have contrasted ὁ πιστεύων (the one believing) with ὁ ἀπιστέων (the one not believing).  But he uses a different verb, ἀπειθέω, in the second half of the verse.  This emphasizes that one must comply with and obey Jesus to be saved – a truth taught throughout the New Testament (Hebrews 5:9, etc.).  So, the question is, what carries more authority: the words that St. John actually wrote or the words of Anglicans in 17th century England?  For a Christian, the answer is obvious.  It’s the former.  But to a King James Only cultist, the answer is the latter.  You should watch this video.  It has a section refuting and exposing the absurd position of King James Onlyism.

The 'LGBTQ' Movement's Use Of The Rainbow - A Sign Of The End Times

MHFM: Yes, we believe so.  It’s as if they are trying to shield themselves from destruction under the cover of the rainbow (the sign of the promise that God would never destroy the entire world again through a flood), when God says: Okay, I can just destroy the world in another way (e.g. by fire).  Scripture specifically tells us that the end is associated with a destruction by fire.

2 Peter 3:7- "But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly."

The fact that the rainbow is being used in connection with a totally abominable movement and abominable activity that has gone mainstream and been embraced across the world (the ‘LGBTQ’ movement), activity for which God is known to destroy and eliminate through fire (e.g. Sodom and Gomorrah), is another indication of where we are in the End Times - that is, the time shortly before God will destroy and cleanse the Earth by fire.

Jude 1:6-7- "And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."

How To Overcome Mortal Sin

I am 23 years… I really need your help and guidance for praying the rosary. I pray but it's not on daily basis but whenever I pray I find obstacles in prayers. I get different thoughts accompanied with it which really hurts me. Please help.

[Name not given]

MHFM: Are you committing mortal sin?

Yes. I have also tried to resist it but I fail. Please tell me how I can resist from committing mortal sin. I cannot confess my sins to priest here because all of them here are invalid. Please help me.

MHFM: Your struggle to pray is obviously connected to your commission of mortal sin. You are giving your soul to the Devil.

St. Bruno (c. 1070): “He has a demon within him who persists in any grave sin.”

You need to cut off the occasion of sin. Jesus provided the answer to your question here:

Jesus said: “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30)

Thus, if it's your computer or your phone or your internet access or something else that’s the occasion of your sin, get rid of it. Cut it out of your life. Note: people should be able to use the aforementioned things without a problem, but those who are falling into mortal sin need to get rid of them or drastically change or restrict their use of them (if such things are in fact the occasion of their mortal sin). Mortal sins that are putting multitudes on the path to Hell, and destroying lives, include fornication, looking at pornography, masturbation, giving full consent to impure thoughts, etc. Removing the occasion of your sin from your life is something that you can do. If you don't do that, you will perish; for, given your current spiritual state, if you continue to put yourself in the occasion that has been connected to your sin you will fall.

Out of sight, out of mind, is a true statement.

Matthew 6:22-23- “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!"

If you get rid of what's providing the opportunity for that sin - if you get it out of your sight - you will think about it less frequently or perhaps soon not at all. As a consequence, you should be able to avoid the sin.

Also, you should be praying the Rosary each day and the Hail Mary frequently --- soon you should be praying 15 decades each day and the Hail Mary frequently. That's very important. Further, you should not go to confession until you have changed and you are resolved to not commit the sin anymore. One must have the firm purpose of amendment prior to going to confession.

Moreover, the next time you get into a hot shower, and it's too hot, and you quickly turn it down because you can't bear it, think about burning in a scorching lake of fire for all eternity. Think about how you will handle that, because that's where you are headed unless you change.

Revelation 21:8- “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

How to Pray the Rosary [PDF]

THE HAIL MARY PRAYER

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

PRAYER TO ST. MICHAEL

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and the snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the divine power of God, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander now throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Death and the Journey into Hell (3rd edition) (video)

The False Translation Of Pope Leo XIII's Iucunda Semper On the Matter Of "Co-Redemptrix"

Contrary to what many assert, Pope Leo XIII does not call Mary 'Co-Redemptrix' in his encyclical Iucunda Semper Expectatione of 1894.

THE FALSE TRANSLATION OF IUCUNDA SEMPER EXPECTATIONE OF POPE LEO XIII

OBJECTION- In his Sept. 8, 1894, encyclical Iucunda Semper Expectatione, Pope Leo XIII stated:

Pope Leo XIII, Iucunda Semper Expectatione (#2), Sept. 8, 1894: “The recourse we have to Mary in prayer follows upon the office she continuously fills by the side of the throne of God as Mediatrix of Divine grace; being by worthiness and by merit most acceptable to Him, and, therefore, surpassing in power all the angels and saints in Heaven.  Now, this merciful office of hers, perhaps, appears in no other form of prayer so manifestly as it does in the Rosary.  For in the Rosary all the part that Mary took as our co-Redemptress comes to us, as it were, set forth, and in such wise as though the facts were even then taking place; and this with much profit to our piety, whether in the contemplation of the succeeding sacred mysteries, or in the prayers which we speak and repeat with the lips."

ANSWER- No, that is not what he said.  The translation above, which is commonly cited, is a false translation.  Here's the Latin of the passage:

LATIN: "Quod Mariae praesidium orando quaerimus, hoc sane, tamquam in fundamento, in munere nititur conciliandae nobis divinae gratiae, quo ipsa continenter fungitur apud Deum, dignitate et meritis acceptissima, longeque Caelitibus sanctis omnibus potentia antecellens.  Hoc vero munus in nullo fortasse orandi modo tam patet expressum quam in Rosario: in quo partes quae fuerunt Virginis ad salutem hominum procurandam sic recurrunt, quasi praesenti effectu explicatae: id quod habet eximium pietatis emolumentum, sive sacris mysteriis contemplandum succedentibus, sive precibus ore pio iterandis…"

A proper translation of this is as follows:

"As for the assistance of Mary that we seek in prayer, that of course is based as though on its foundation on the office of procuring divine grace for us, (an office) which she herself continually performs before God, (being) by reason of (her) dignity and merits most acceptable (to Him), and far surpassing all the holy residents of Heaven in (her) power.  Now this office is perhaps in no manner of prayer so patently expressed as in the Rosary: in which the parts that were of the Virgin for the procurement of men’s salvation recur in such a way as though unfolding with present effect: something that holds exceptional devotional benefit, whether through the sacred mysteries as they succeed each other for our contemplation or through the prayers to be repeated with devout lips..."

As this correct translation shows, Pope Leo XIII does not call Mary the 'Co-Redemptress' in this encyclical.

The dogmatic definitions below prove that the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ alone is our Redeemer and that He alone redeemed us.  Mary is thus not to be considered or called 'Co-Redemptrix'.  For a full treatment of this matter, see this article: Mary is not the Co-Redeemer (Co-Redemptrix).

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino” 1441, ex cathedra: “The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes, and teaches that no one conceived of man and woman was ever freed of the domination of the Devil, except through the faith of the mediator between God and men, our Lord Jesus Christ; He who was conceived without sin, was born and died, ALONE BY HIS OWN DEATH LAID LOW THE ENEMY OF THE HUMAN RACE BY DESTROYING OUR SINS, and opened the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven, which the first man by his own sin had lost…” (Denz. 711)

Pope Pius IV, Council of Trent, Sess. 25, On Invocation, Veneration and Relics of Saints, and on Sacred Images, ex cathedra: “… the saints, who reign with Christ, offer up their prayers to God for men; and that it is good and useful to invoke them suppliantly and, in order to obtain favors from God through His Son JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, WHO ALONE IS OUR REDEEMER and Savior… And they must also teach that images of Christ, the virgin mother of God and the other saints should be set up and kept… But if anyone should teach or maintain anything contrary to these decrees, let him be anathema.” (Denz. 984)

Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part III: The Decalogue – First Commandment – Thou Shalt not Have Strange Gods, etc. – Objections Answered: “True, there is but one Mediator, Christ the Lord, who alone has reconciled us to the heavenly Father through His blood, and who, having obtained eternal redemption, and having entered once into the holies, ceases not to intercede for us.”

Brother Michael Dimond and Brother Peter Dimond on Coast To Coast AM

On early Feb. 8, 2017, Bro. Michael Dimond and Bro. Peter Dimond appeared on Coast to Coast AM (the largest overnight radio program in North America).  Bro. Michael and Bro. Peter were supposed to be on the program for two hours, from 3 to 5 AM; but George Noory decided that it had to end after one hour.  Apparently he couldn’t handle hearing any more of the message.

Woman heard voice warning of 'Evil' in John Paul II

Dear Brothers,

I have just discovered your website, and your words ring true in my heart.

In 1999, Pope John Paul II came to my city.  I gathered with the crowds to see him pass by in his pope mobile near the Basilica. It seemed an historical day even though I was not Catholic.  I was really the last person in line before his procession ended.  As he came down the street and when he came in front of me, our eyes met.  Immediately I heard in my heart a voice that said "Evil".  I was horrified!  I thought surely the word must have been referencing me, certainly not the Pope! I shrunk backwards, and was distraught for weeks. My prayer since has been that God would reveal to me the meaning of that horrible experience. 

In the meantime my heart is being called to the Catholic Church (which has been so confusing to me after my experience).  I'm currently in RCIA with an eager heart to learn, but the classes lack real substantial education and enthusiasm.  Again I have assumed that the problem has been me and a wrong attitude.

Then I found your website! You have answered my question regarding the Pope, and perhaps even why RCIA seems so difficult as a post Vatican II church.

Your input would be so greatly appreciated. Should I try to find a Latin rite church instead? I think there are 1 or 2 in the city.  I truly believe I am to become Catholic but my journey has been discouraging.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to your answer… I have already viewed the justification video as well as the 3rd secret of Fatima.  Frightening and well done…

Vicki

Vicki,

That's an interesting story.  We’re very glad that you came across the material and that you are looking at it.  You prayed to find the truth about that experience, and you found our material.  God led you to our website because it contains the truth about Antipope John Paul II and the traditional Catholic faith (the one true faith of Christ which is necessary for salvation).  Antipope John Paul II was indeed evil and much more, as the material covers (see below).  He was not a valid pope, but an antipope.  It's crucial to make that distinction.  The Catholic faith is the true faith, and it is necessary for salvation.  However, to be a true Catholic one must be a traditional Catholic.  The material explains exactly how to do that: Steps for those converting or coming from the Novus Ordo.

Before converting, one must be convinced on the issues.  You should not remain in RCIA.  RCIA is for initiation into the post-Vatican II sect, which is not the Catholic Church (even though it purports to be).  We are in the prophesied Great Apostasy, as our material covers in detail.  Also, you should not go to a 'Latin Rite' Church.  You should stay at home on Sundays, learn the faith and the true positions from the material.  The principles are covered in our 'where to receive sacraments' file.  When you are convinced, you should follow the steps to convert; and then we can help you with how to receive baptism, a valid confession, etc.

Also, it's very important to pray the Rosary each day and the Hail Mary frequently.  That will give you necessary graces to convert and embrace the truth.  Eventually people should be praying 15 decades of the Rosary each day and the Hail Mary frequently.  We hope you continue to look at the material, become fully convinced, and follow through with the conversion process.

Sincerely,

MHFM

Here are some important materials about Antipope John Paul II:

“Saint” John Paul II Exposed (video)

Babylon Has Fallen, Fallen!!  (video)

The Antichrist Revealed: The Beast that Was, and Is Not, Has Returned

“Saint” John Paul II’s Heresies (video)

John Paul II (manifest heretic who claimed to be pope 1978-2005) [section]

Beware Of Heretical Priests Who Take The Sedevacantist Position But Deny The Salvation Dogma

Poland, Heretical Sede Priests

Dear Brothers,

I am from Poland and I'm professing the traditional integral catholic faith. I'm watching your videos and I'm reading your articles very often and I'm promoting your great work here in Poland.

I have three questions for you in connection with receiving sacraments from one priest.

We have one traditionally ordained priest in Poland, who celebrates the traditional latin mass exclusively. After he graduated from the SSPX seminary he then was ordained by the SSPX bishop. He left the SSPX voluntarily because he is sedevacantist and he claims that it was very uncomfortable for him to be privately sedevacantist and act in a non-sedevacantist community, although he knew that the SSPX has a number of priests who are privately sedevacantists.

After he left the SSPX he - if I'm correct – received conditional baptism and conditional confirmation from sedevacantist bishop Olivarec. He was probably also conditionally ordained by this bishop.

This priest celebrates mass in his own apartment and has nothing to do with the SSPX anymore.

The problem is that I asked him in private conversation if he believes in baptism of desire, baptism of blood and salvation of non-catholics through invincible ignorance. Then he answered that he never examined those issues closer from theological standpoint but… also said that baptism of desire and salvation through invincible ignorance in exceptional cases because of God’s mercy also seems to be in accordance with catholic teaching.

… This priest cooperates with bishop Donald Sanborn, for example bishop Sanborn was his guest when he arrived from the US to eastern and central-eastern Europe.

I received communion from this priest twice in this year… Summarizing, he is a traditionally ordained priest who celebrates traditional latin mass and he is commonly known in Poland for his sedevacantist position but he privately claims (as far as I know - only privately) – although he said he never examined those issues closer – that BOD, BOB and salvation through invincible ignorance in exceptional cases are rather in conformity with Church's teaching.  I have questions for you in connection with this case:

1) Can I receive communion from this priest?

2) Am I allowed to be married by this priest?

3) Can I help him materially?

Please, answer me as fast as you can because this problem is crucial for my salvation and also for the salvation of many other Poles.

Yours sincerely, Daniel

MHFM: We’re glad that you are promoting the material.  The answer to your questions would be ‘no’ to all three.  The priest you mention is in heresy, and he’s associated with the imposing heretic Sanborn.  So, you should not receive Communion from him; no one should be married in front of him; and of course you should not help him materially at all.  (There are certain sacraments one may receive from certain undeclared heretics who claim to be Catholic, but one must not receive sacraments from a heretical priest who imposes his heresy upon you.  The principles on this matter are covered in our Where To Receive Sacraments file.)  Even though Sanborn holds some true positions, he is sadly a heretic and an imposing one.  To this day, Sanborn actually condemns adherence to the Church’s dogmatic teaching on water baptism – the position repeated in all papal encyclicals on the issue – as “mortally sinful”!  That is truly outrageous, heretical, and disgusting.  He is a total heretic who condemns the words and teaching of Jesus Christ, the popes, and the councils as “mortally sinful”.

Pope Eugene IV, The Council of Florence, “Exultate Deo,” Nov. 22, 1439:  “Holy baptism, which is the gateway to the spiritual life, holds the first place among all the sacraments; through it we are made members of Christ and of the body of the Church.  And since death entered the universe through the first man, ‘unless we are born again of water and the Spirit, we cannot,’ as the Truth says, ‘enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5].  The matter of this sacrament is real and natural water.”

Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi (# 22), June 29, 1943, addressed to the universal Church: “Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have received the laver of regeneration and profess the true faith…”

Notice that Pius XII officially teaches that if you have not received water baptism, you cannot be considered a member of the Catholic Church.  That’s the exact same doctrine that we find in the infallible teaching of the councils.  We see it repeated in the official teaching of the Magisterium after Trent and Vatican I.  We don’t find baptism of desire or blood.

Pope Pius XII Mediator Dei (#47), Nov. 20, 1947, addressed to the universal Church, referring to the Sacrament of Baptism: “… the washing of baptism distinguishes and separates all Christians [christianos omnes] from the rest whom this stream of atonement has not washed and who are not members of Christ…”

Pius XII specifically teaches that the Sacrament of Baptism distinguishes and separates all Christians (christianos omnes) from the rest.  It distinguishes the baptized from non-Christians in the same way that the priest is distinguished from the rest of the faithful by the reception of the Sacrament of Order.  According to the Magisterium, you cannot be a Christian without the Sacrament of Baptism; and only Christians are saved, as the Church dogmatically teaches.  Hence, the exact same doctrine that we find in the infallible teaching of the councils is repeated here, in the official teaching of the Magisterium after Trent and Vatican I.  We don’t find baptism of desire or blood.  This is the position that heretical sedevacantist priests not only reject, but call mortally sinful.

Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas (#15), Dec. 11, 1925, addressed to the universal Church, concerning entrance into the Kingdom of God: “Which Kingdom indeed is set forth in the Gospels as one into which men prepare to enter by doing penance but are unable to enter except through faith and baptism, which, although it is an external rite, nevertheless signifies and effects an interior regeneration.”

Sanborn also adheres to the utterly modernist denial of the salvation dogma that was rampant in the years before Vatican II.  He is a modernist, but he doesn’t even realize it.  Heretics like Sanborn and the priest you mention actually profess the heresy that pagans, Jews, Muslims, etc. can be saved without the Catholic faith, if such pagans, Jews, Muslims, etc. believe that God exists and is a rewarder.   That is the opposite of the Church’s profession at the Council of Florence, etc.  People who cling to such a position are not real Catholics.  They would even apply their heresy to Jews, Muslims, etc. who reject Christ!  Sanborn told someone we know that a rabbi who rejects Christ can be saved.  In this video you can see the absolute proof and documentation that Sanborn and similar priests hold that pagans, idolaters, Jews, etc. can be saved without the Catholic faith.  They do not profess the Church’s teaching on salvation.  They are not real Catholics.

We hope that you can give some of the information we have published on the salvation issue to the priest you mentioned, so that he can look at it and hopefully change his position.

The truth is that almost all the priests, sedevacantist or otherwise, do not profess the Catholic faith on salvation.  Some people are deceived by those priests because they are ‘traditional’ in numerous ways and they reject Vatican II.  But that’s not good enough to be a Catholic.  To be a Catholic you can’t just be liturgically traditional, accept some teachings of the Church, and reject the Vatican II sect.  No, you must profess the Catholic faith whole and entire.  You must profess all of the dogmas of the faith, including the Church’s teaching on salvation.  (Sanborn also accepts and promotes the sinful birth control method of NFP.)

Since the aforementioned priests and groups do not adhere to the Church’s dogmatic teaching on salvation, they are, in a real way, comparable to the schismatic ‘Orthodox’.  The ‘Orthodox’ accept some elements of Catholic Tradition, but they don’t have the true faith because they dissent from various teachings of the Church.  Even though the priests you mentioned accept more elements of the Catholic faith, they are still not real Catholics, as they dissent from the Church's dogma, and God's revelation, on salvation.  They are actually a deception.  To be Catholic you must profess belief in all Catholic dogmas.  To dissent from even one destroys faith and one’s relationship with God.  In fact, almost 100% of the people who attend the chapels of such priests agree with or accept the heresy that Jews who reject Christ can be saved.  They don’t have the true faith, and they don’t please God.  They are fake ‘Catholics’.  In fact, we recently corresponded with another such heretic, who shares the position of the aforementioned priests.  She pretended to be a traditional Catholic and claimed to be a sedevacantist.  However, when asked about Fr. Denis Fahey’s heretical statement that Jews who reject Christ can be in the state of grace, she responded by arguing that it’s not contrary to the teaching of the Council of Florence!  Such a person is a liar, a heretic, and a false ‘Catholic’ devoid of the true faith of Jesus Christ.  A person like that cannot please God and is on the road to Hell.  That’s the case with the heretical priests you mention and those who cling to their positions.

That’s why this battle for the faith in the end-times is not just about rejecting the Vatican II sect, the end-times Counter Church, and an obvious apostate like Francis.  No, it’s also about the entire Catholic faith, and in a special way the Church’s dogmatic teaching on the necessity of the Catholic faith and Baptism.  The pathetic and wicked apostates of the CMRI are a prime example of how priests of the aforementioned groups have no faith.   They all believe that Jews, Muslims, etc., even those who reject Christ, can be saved.  They reject the Church's necessity and they are not remotely true believers, as the following information sent to us by a reader further illustrates.  Those who support or follow such unbelievers will be condemned.

Dear MHFM,

The email from Steven really touched my heart.  It’s sad when dying family members turn a deaf ear to the truth regarding the state of their souls.

It’s the same with my family.  Most are Protestant.  They refuse to believe there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church…

I once discussed this with a CMRI priest and to my utter shock he told me he does not evangelize outside of his church family.  If he encounters someone who is not Catholic he prays for them, but says nothing about the need to convert to the True Faith... As for Mother Teresa, two CMRI priests made known to me the need to pray for the repose of her soul.   Just plain bad will...

Your web-site has been a blessing.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!.

Toni

Mother Teresa said that she loved all religions.  So, they believe that one can love idolatry, love the rejection of Christ, love false ecumenism, etc. and go to Heaven.  That’s diabolical.  Someone who believes that does not have a faith that can please God.  Since he doesn't believe that the Catholic faith is necessary, it's also not a surprise that the CMRI priest doesn't evangelize outside of his “church family”.  Their heresy corrupts everything about their spiritual lives.  The faithlessness of the aforementioned priests and groups is also reflected in the fact that many of them, if not almost all of them, don't believe we are in the last days, despite the overwhelming evidence and the significance of the current crisis.  Apparently they think we could have another 100 or 200 years of antipopes!  They are truly blind and faithless individuals.  Here are some important materials on the matter of the Church's teaching on salvation and Baptism, which is so frequently denied in these last days:

The Best Argument Against “Baptism of Desire” (article & video)

The Latin Text of the Oldest Surviving Papal Decree Rejects “Baptism of Desire” (article & video)

Outside The Catholic Church There Is Absolutely No Salvation (book)

Debate: Do ‘Baptism of Desire’ Traditionalist Priests Believe Souls Can Be Saved in False Religions? (video)

The Revealing Heresies in Msgr. Van Noort’s Pre-Vatican II Dogmatic Theology Manual (article)

Yes, the Apostasy Began Before Vatican II (article)

APPENDIX

Pope Clement V, The Council of Vienne, 1311-1312: “Besides, only one baptism regenerating all who are baptized in Christ must be faithfully confessed by all just as ‘one God and one faith’ [Eph. 4:5], which celebrated in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit we believe to be the perfect remedy for salvation for both adults and children.”

Pope Eugene IV, The Council of Florence, “Exultate Deo,” Nov. 22, 1439: “Holy baptism, which is the gateway to the spiritual life, holds the first place among all the sacraments; through it we are made members of Christ and of the body of the Church. And since death entered the universe through the first man, ‘unless we are born again of water and the Spirit, we cannot,’ as the Truth says, ‘enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5]. The matter of this sacrament is real and natural water.”

Pope Paul III, The Council of Trent, Can. 2 on the Sacrament of Baptism, Sess. 7, 1547: “Si quis dixerit, aquam veram et naturalem non esse de necessitate baptismi, atque ideo verba illa Domini nostri Iesu Christi: ‘Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto’ [Io 3, 5] ad metaphoram aliquam detorserit: A.S.”

“If anyone should say that real and natural water is not necessary for baptism, and on that account should distort those words of Our Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit’ [John 3:5], into some metaphor: let him be anathema.”

Pope Paul III, The Council of Trent, Can. 5 on the Sacrament of Baptism, Sess. 7, 1547: “If anyone says that baptism [the sacrament] is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation: let him be anathema.”

THE ‘CATHOLIC FAITH’, NOT JUST A ‘SUPERNATURAL’ FAITH, IS REQUIRED FOR SALVATION

Pope Paul III, Council of Trent, Sess. 5, On Original Sin: “… our Catholic faith, without which it is impossible to please God…”

Pope Pius IX, Vatican Council I, Session 2, Profession of Faith, 1870: “This true Catholic faith, outside of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly hold…”

Pope Paul III, Sublimus Deus, May 29, 1537: “The sublime God so loved the human race that He created man in such wise that he might participate, not only in the good that other creatures enjoy, but endowed him with capacity to attain to the inaccessible and invisible Supreme Good and behold it face to face; and since man, according to the testimony of the sacred scriptures, has been created to enjoy eternal life and happiness, which none may obtain save through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary that he should possess the nature and faculties enabling him to receive that faith; and that whoever is thus endowed should be capable of receiving that same faith. Nor is it credible that any one should possess so little understanding as to desire the faith and yet be destitute of the most necessary faculty to enable him to receive it. Hence Christ, who is the Truth itself, that has never failed and can never fail, said to the preachers of the faith whom He chose for that office 'Go ye and teach all nations.' He said all, without exception, for all are capable of receiving the doctrines of the faith…By virtue of Our apostolic authority We define and declare by these present letters… that the said Indians and other peoples should be converted to the faith of Jesus Christ by preaching the word of God and by the example of good and holy living.”

Council of Trent, Sess. 6, Chap. 3: “But though He died for all, yet all do not receive the benefit of His death, but those only to whom the merit of His passion is communicated; because as truly as men would not be born unjust, if they were not born through propagation of the seed of Adam, since by that propagation they contract through him, when they are conceived, injustice as their own, SO UNLESS THEY WERE BORN AGAIN IN CHRIST THEY WOULD NEVER BE JUSTIFIED, since by that new birth through the merit of His passion the grace by which they become just is bestowed upon them.”

Heretics who write on this matter often ignore the dogma that one must have THE CATHOLIC FAITH to be saved.  Remember, the Church doesn’t merely declare that one must be inside the Church to be saved.  It also declares that one must have the Catholic faith to be saved.  The two truths are inseparable, of course, but examining each aspect of this dogma becomes important when refuting heretics.  The supporters of BOD in our day ignore the dogma that one must have THE CATHOLIC FAITH to be saved simply because it’s impossible to twist their heretical view into language that comports with the dogma that no one is saved without the Catholic faith.  After all, how can one who is a ‘pagan’ (who doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ and the Trinity) also have the Catholic faith?  How can a pagan and a Catholic both be in the one Church? – the one Church, which, by definition, only has ONE FAITH AND ONE LORD?  It doesn’t make any sense.  So, the BOD heretics typically avoid the dogmatic pronouncements which declare that one must have the Catholic faith to be saved.  They also avoid the related dogma that one must be “born again in Christ” to be saved, for it’s absurd to argue that a person who is still a pagan or a Jew has been “born again in Christ”.  They thus prefer the language that one must merely have ‘supernatural faith’ to be saved.

‘TRADITIONAL’ AND SEDEVACANTIST PRIESTS EMPHASIZE ‘SUPERNATURAL’ FAITH AND DENY CATHOLIC DOGMA ON THE NECESSITY OF ‘CATHOLIC’ FAITH 

On this point it’s very interesting to consider the comments of sedevacantist priests Anthony Cekada and Donald Sanborn.  In a theological discussion some months ago, they were asked whether an atheist can be saved.  The person who posed the question pointed out that their view on ‘baptism of desire’, ignorance, salvation, etc., according to some critics, requires them to believe that an atheist can be saved.  Sanborn, with Cekada agreeing, objected.  He asserted that an atheist cannot be saved because one must have ‘supernatural faith’ to be saved, and ‘supernatural faith’ absolutely requires, at the bare minimum, belief in God and that He’s a rewarder.  Sanborn emphasized that belief in those two dogmas (the existence of God and that He’s a rewarder) is what’s absolutely necessary for salvation, for without such belief an act of faith cannot be made.

So, according to them, the requirement to have ‘supernatural’ faith (a belief that God exists and that He is a rewarder) would exclude an atheist.  But notice what such an assertion reveals.  It reveals that their position does not exclude Jews, Muslims and many others from salvation: for Jews, Muslims and many other non-Catholics claim to believe that God exists and that He’s a rewarder.

In short, their position on ‘supernatural’ faith denies the dogma that ‘Catholic’ faith is what’s absolutely necessary for salvation.  They thus depart from the revelation of Jesus Christ and the dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church on salvation.

The Son of God became man in order to redeem the world and reveal the Catholic faith.  The faith Jesus Christ came to reveal (the ‘Catholic’ or ‘universal’ Christian faith) is not merely a belief that 1) God exists and 2) that He’s a rewarder.  No, those truths were known in the Old Testament.  The Catholic faith, which the Lord Jesus Christ came to reveal, of course includes those truths (Hebrews 11:6).  But it also includes, in terms of its simplest components, a belief in Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity.  If someone who wishes to be saved doesn’t know Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity, he cannot have the Catholic faith.  That’s made clear in the dogmatic Athanasian Creed.

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Sess. 8, Nov. 22, 1439, ex cathedra: “Whoever wishes to be saved, needs above all to hold the Catholic faith; unless each one preserves this whole and inviolate, he will without a doubt perish in eternity.  But the Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in unity; neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance; for there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit, their glory is equal, their majesty coeternal…and in this Trinity there is nothing first or later, nothing greater or less, but all three persons are coeternal and coequal with one another, so that in every respect, as has already been said above, both unity in Trinity, and Trinity in unity must be worshipped.  Therefore let him who wishes to be saved, think thus concerning the Trinity.  But it is necessary for eternal salvation that he faithfully believe also in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ…the Son of God is God and man…This is the Catholic faith; unless each one believes this faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved…”

As we can see, the dogmatic teaching of the Church is not, as Sanborn, Cekada and countless other heretics teach, that one must simply believe that God exists and that He’s a rewarder.  No, a person who wishes to be saved must know Jesus Christ and believe in the Holy Trinity in order to have the Catholic faith and be saved.

John 17:3: “Now this is life everlasting, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

John 14:6: “Jesus saith to them: I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No man cometh to the Father, but by me.”

Pope Paul III, Sublimus Dei, May 29, 1537: “The sublime God so loved the human race that He created man in such wise that he might participate, not only in the good that other creatures enjoy, but endowed him with capacity to attain to the inaccessible and invisible Supreme Good and behold it face to face; and since man, according to the testimony of the sacred scriptures, has been created to enjoy eternal life and happiness, which none may obtain save through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary that he should possess the nature and faculties enabling him to receive that faith; and that whoever is thus endowed should be capable of receiving that same faith. Nor is it credible that any one should possess so little understanding as to desire the faith and yet be destitute of the most necessary faculty to enable him to receive it. Hence Christ, who is the Truth itself, that has never failed and can never fail, said to the preachers of the faith whom He chose for that office ‘Go ye and teach all nations.’ He said all, without exception, for all are capable of receiving the doctrines of the faith… By virtue of Our apostolic authority We define and declare by these present letters… that the said Indians and other peoples should be converted to the faith of Jesus Christ by preaching the word of God and by the example of good and holy living.”

They deny that dogma.  They are modernists.  (In fact, both of those men still actually condemn adherence to the Church’s dogmatic teaching, that no one can be saved without the Sacrament of Baptism, as “mortally sinful”.  That’s a further illustration of their heretical audacity.  The fact that the Catholic Church dogmatically teaches that no one is saved without rebirth of water and the Spirit in the Sacrament of Baptism is proven by the words of Jesus Christ, the Council of Florence, and numerous other things.)

The truth is that the Catholic faith (true, supernatural, saving faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity) is actually only received at Baptism, as the Church has always taught.  That’s how one is saved “through the faith.”  That’s why no one can be saved without Baptism.

Pope St. Damasus I, Council of Rome, 382, Canon 24:

“Haec ergo est salus christianorum, ut credentes Trinitati, id est Patri et Fllio et Spiritui Sancto,(et) baptizati in ea, veram solam unam divinitatem et potentiam, maiestatem et substantiam eiusdem esse sine dubio credamus.

“This then is the salvation of Christians, that believing in the Trinity, that is, in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, and baptized in it, we believe without doubt that there is only one true divinity and power, majesty and substance of the same.” (Denz. 82)

Colossians 2:12- “… having been buried with him in baptism, by which you were also raised with him through the faith [διὰ τῆς πίστεως]…”

Galatians 3:26-27- “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through the faith [διὰ τῆς πίστεως].  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Furthermore, in Van Noort's heretical book it is taught that a man could love God with “his whole heart”, and want to do everything required for salvation, and still be left in ignorance of Christ.  The notion that God would leave such a person in ignorance of Christ and the essential truths of the Catholic faith is contrary to the explicit teaching of Jesus Christ, as well as the position of the fathers and doctors of the Church:

John 10:14: “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me.”

John 10:16: “And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.”

John 18:37: “Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”

'Gay' Supporter of Bishop Richard Williamson Writes In

[THIS MAN POSTED A COMMENT ON OUR ARTICLE, Does God Create Homosexuals? BELOW IS OUR RESPONSE]

You are lying, that is not and never has been the teaching of Mother Church. I remember being different from other boys as far back as age 3...

I am a Catholic and I accept whole and undefiled the doctrines of the Church. I identify with the Resistance of Bishop Williamson. So you cannot claim I am a Modernist, I am simply saying you are not accepting the true Catholic teaching on same sex attraction. It is not because of my sins, but original sin and our fallen nature and race that I have the attractions I have. I remember as a child, saying so many times to God, that He needed to fix my broken sexuality, because I couldn't. No matter how much fasting, how many Rosaries, how many Confessions and Communions, no matter how much penance, nothing changed. I always was attracted to girls as well, but I always liked other boys as well. Christ gave this to me as a cross to take up daily.

The Holy Catholic Church was founded by Christ not as a prison of persecution, but a hospital for the broken men and women. Christ is our loving God and Saviour because we are not perfect, yet He loves us beyond the comprehension of man. It may condemn an action or heresy, but will never turn someone away who seeks Christ. His religion is the largest worldwide source of relief for the poor, the hungry, the sick, and repentant. It opens up the doors of unending compassion, for sinners of all kind, for single mothers, widows, orphans, married and divorced. For gay, for straight and for bi for the lonely and for sinners of all kind; her mission is the same. It is that of Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, Eternal King of the Ages, as she is His Mystical Bride made up of the Mystical Body. Her mission is to save souls. The Church teaches that although it is not of the Natural order that one is homosexual it is not a sin in itself, for one cannot sin if he has not done anything wrong. We are called to a life of celibacy and to be holy, just as all Christians are called to be holy. That is okay, because in reality what people long for is not sex, but love - to love and to be loved, it whatever form. Sexual love is just one form of love, but agape, love love on God can give is so much greater.

I don't want to sound as if I'm not making Holy Mother Church's teachings clear that sexual actions outside of a true marriage between man and woman are sinful, but rather I am also professing that with the Holy Church has always believed. That all people are children of the living God and He loves us all for whoever He made us to be. And that we all will be happiest and holiest when serving Him in the lifestyle He has by Divine Wisdom called us to. Because the Church is not for the Saint but the sinner. Those that are gay, are no different that those who are straight, we are all called to chastity and sexual purity. We all must unite ourselves the Christ and His cross, like Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows. St. Paul said in Scripture, I hath been crucified with Christ: now I liveth not, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loveth me, and gave Himself for me.” He is doing what all are called to do by Our Blessed Divine Lord, “Then Jesus saith unto his disciples: If any man wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.”

Joseph Isaiah

MHFM: Joseph, your letter is a prime example of why you remain afflicted with a perverted same-sex 'attraction'.  You are lying to yourself and rejecting the truth.  Our position is very clear: same-sex attraction is not natural.  It is the result of sin and a rejection of God, as Romans 1 teaches (see below).  You make reference to some alleged ‘Catholic teaching’ which you believe contradicts our position.  You believe this ‘teaching’ declares that there is nothing perverted about men being attracted to men, and women being attracted to women, but you cite nothing of course.  That's because no such teaching exists.

You also state: “I identify with the Resistance of Bishop Williamson.  So you cannot claim I am a Modernist…”  This is an example of how you are quite deceived.  Identifying with the false resistance of Bishop Richard Williamson doesn’t prove you are not a modernist.  On the contrary, it actually proves that your positions are heretical and schismatic, and that you are following a modernist.  Richard Williamson is a modernist, a heretic, and a schismatic.  He is not a true Catholic.  You really need to watch this video: The Truth About The SSPX, The SSPX-MC, And Similar Groups (video).  It proves that the 'Resistance' you are embracing is not Catholic.

You should also see this file on him: Williamson, Bishop Richard of the SSPX: a schismatic and a wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

Among other things, Richard Williamson holds that one may attend the invalid, non-Catholic New Mass.  He declared that the notorious idolater and apostate Antipope John Paul II was a “good man”.  He declared that the notorious apostate Benedict XVI is “in good faith”.   He denies the dogma Outside the Church There Is No Salvation, as all priests ordained by the SSPX do.  He, in fact, holds that Jews, Muslims, etc. can be saved without the Catholic faith, contrary to the dogmatic teaching of the Council of Florence.  He therefore does not profess the Catholic Church's teaching on salvation.  In addition to being heretical, his positions are TOTALLY SCHISMATIC and involve a rejection of papal infallibility.  He does not have the true faith.  His positions are a rejection of Catholic truth about the Papacy.  The 'Resistance' is false and schismatic.  Those who obstinately follow him or embrace his positions do not have the true faith.  To obstinately embrace his positions, or those of the 'Resistance', is to be the equivalent of the schismatic ‘Old Catholics’ or the Eastern ‘Orthodox’.  You need to reject his false positions and embrace the true Catholic faith, as covered in our material.  Once you do that and get into the state of grace, then you can and will be delivered from your perverted inclinations.

You also profess heresy when you state that “all people are children of the living God”.  No, all people are not children of God.  It is only through the true faith of Jesus Christ that one becomes a child of God.  “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, to them he gave the right to become children of God…” (John 1:12)  Those outside the true Church aren’t children of God.  Since you don’t have the true faith at this time, and you are deceiving yourself on these matters, you can’t see the truth about your spiritual situation.

Even though you don’t say it explicitly, you imply that you were ‘gay’ from your earliest years, even from the age of three.  We doubt you have such memories from that age.  Homosexuals deceive themselves and frequently lie.  But even if one were, for the sake of argument, to accept your claim to have been a conscious homosexual from the age of three, we would respond thus: if you claim to have been conscious of such things from the age of three, that suggests that you reached the age of reason at the age of three.  Well, as soon as one arrives at the age of reason, he can reject the truth.  He can resist or reject God and sin mortally.  Deliverance to unnatural attractions can be the result of such a rejection of God, even from an early age.  Some people are just not of the truth. Some people just refuse to have God in their knowledge (Romans 1:28), and they make that decision early on.  St. Thomas explains that as soon as a person reaches the age of reason, he can direct himself to the proper end or he can refuse to do so.  If he chooses to do the latter, he sins mortally.  Since you claim to have possessed such an understanding of yourself and your activity from the age of three, then you could have refused to have God in your knowledge and rejected the proper end at that age.  That could be why you have same-sex ‘attraction’, and had it from a very early age.  But it’s more likely that you rejected God and the truth a number of years later than you describe, and that resulted in your perverted inclinations.  

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Pt. I-II, Question 89, A.6: “Now the first thing that occurs to a man to think about then [when he reaches the age of reason] is to deliberate about himself... whereas if he does not then direct himself to the due end, and as far as he is capable of discretion at that particular age, he will sin mortally, for not doing that which is in his power to do.”

You were given over to homosexuality as a result of your resistance to the truth.  You can be delivered from it when you actually become a real Catholic.  Our material covers the true positions, and it explains how to become a true Catholic.  But don’t expect to be delivered from your perverted inclinations while you are following a schismatic false resistance that denies papal infallibility, among other things.  You will only be delivered if and when you embrace the true faith and get into the state of grace.  We hope you embrace the true faith.  When you do, the true power of God's grace will be available to you.  Until then, your prayers (and the other acts you mention) won't be efficacious.  It's necessary for your salvation to embrace the true faith.

Romans 1- “Because that, when they knew God, they have not glorified him as God, or given thanks; but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened… who changed the truth of God into a lie; and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections. For their women have changed the natural use into that use which is against nature. And, in like manner, the men also, leaving the natural use of the women, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is filthy, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error… they who do such things, are worthy of death; and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them.”

Sister Lucia of Fatima To Fr. Fuentes, 1957: “Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Holy Rosary.  She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary.  There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.”

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Did The Catholic Church Teach The Earth Is Flat?

‘Eucharistic Miracles’ in the New Mass? No.

... Greetings. I am a nineteen year old student from Sheffield, North England, studying at the University of Sheffield. I am a practicing Catholic, having begun my conversion from unbelief about two and a half years ago. I began watching your videos not so long after having begun my conversion, while I was still at a Novus Ordo church. I began by watching, if I remember correctly, the video comparing Benedict XVI and Alexander VI, and found it shocking. I moved onto your videos concerning salvation, and the errors of Vatican II and scandals of the Vatican II sect. Thank you for your work: I have found it most compelling and edifying.

I do have a few vexing questions I'd like to ask, though, before I would feel comfortable in fully accepting your positions...

[For example]: the invalidity of the Novus Ordo 'priesthood' and the invalidity of the New Mass. I would reject ordinations in the New Rite utterly if there weren't any apparent 'Eucharistic miracles', as there reportedly have been in a number of New Masses. We have the examples of Salt Lake and Buenos Aires. What would be the explanation for such happenings?

That's all I have for now. I hope you can find the time to respond.

God bless,

Joseph S. Clarke

MHFM: We’re glad that you came across the material.  People should be convinced of the positions we hold because they are based upon and proven by the teaching of the Church and the revelation of Jesus Christ.  If you sincerely pray 15 decades of the Rosary each day and the Hail Mary frequently, and continue to look at the material, we believe you will become convinced of the positions.

To your question: With regard to so-called ‘Eucharist miracles’ at the New Mass, the answer is that there aren’t any.  The few that have been reported are definitely false signs and wonders of the Devil or simply false reports.  As an example of some of the false reports, a Novus Ordo publication stated:

Other recent reports of bleeding hosts have turned out to be false.  For instance, last May, several blogs showed a photograph of a bleeding host at St. Patrick Church in Rochelle, Ill.  At least one report even claimed the host had turned to flesh and blood.  The pastor, Father Johnson Lopez, confirmed to the Register that it was only bacteria.  “I truly believe in miracles, and an extraordinary miracle of the Eucharist would be a blessing for our community, but there was no miracle,” he said. (National Catholic Reporter)

Those that are not false reports are certainly false signs.  Sacred Scripture specifically warns us that such false signs and wonders will happen in the final days.  See 2 Thess. 2:9 and Matthew 24:24.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12: “Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying.  That all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity.”

Matthew 24:24-25: “Then if any man shall say to you: Lo here is Christ, or there, do not believe him.  For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.  Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.  If therefore they shall say to you: Behold He is in the desert, go ye not out: Behold He is in the closets, believe it not.”

Moreover, our recent video on Magicians is very important to consider in this regard.  It proves that the Devil is capable of working major false signs.

The Devil can only do what God permits him to do, but God sometimes allows him to perform lying wonders to deceive people.  In fact, as the Magicians video shows, in many cases the signs worked by modern magicians are similar to those reported in the places you mention.  Satan can’t turn bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, but he can make bread appear to bleed with regular blood as part of a false sign.  We also learn this from the story of the Exodus.

Exodus 7:19-22- “And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded: and lifting up the rod, he struck the water of the river before Pharao and his servants: and it was turned into blood.  And the fishes that were in the river died… And the magicians of the Egyptians with their enchantments did in like manner; and Pharao’s heart was hardened…”

That’s why one must always assess and judge these matters not by alleged signs and wonders, but by the teaching of Jesus Christ and His Church.  The teaching of the Magisterium must always be our guide.  It gives us the answer.  According to the Church’s teaching, the New Mass is certainly a false and invalid service because it lacks a valid form.  The New Rite of Ordination is also absolutely invalid based on Catholic teaching.  The evidence against both is overwhelming and irrefutable.  Moreover, the fruits of the New Mass are undeniably rotten and wicked.  Even without considering the dogmatic evidence against the validity of the New Mass, when one thinks of all its rotten fruits and of all the souls being led into sin there, does it make any sense that God would work a miracle at the New Mass?  No, it doesn’t.

God doesn’t work miracles to confirm people on a path to sin and Hell.  Rather, in this time of apostasy God has allowed the Devil, as a punishment for sin and unbelief, to work numerous false signs that mislead those who receive not the love of the truth.  Receiving not the love of the truth means resisting the true revelation of Jesus Christ and the teaching of the Magisterium.  It means not judging all things by that teaching and rule.  People who are not guided by the Magisterium are inclined to strange voices, to false doctrines, and to lying signs.  When they resist what God has revealed and His Church has taught, sometimes God will give them over, in a powerful way, to be convinced by (or subjected to) the aforementioned deceptions as a punishment for their dishonesty and unbelief.

Another example of lying signs would be the many false apparitions that have occurred all over the Vatican II sect (the end-times Counter Church) during this apocalyptic period.  Some of those false apparitions contain blatant heresies.  They have been used to defend or support absurd notions, such as that people who promote false ecumenism and idolatry are good and should be followed.  They are deceptions from Satan, just like any claim that there is a miracle in the New ‘Mass’.  The New Mass is a false and invalid service.  It is actually an abomination, and it must be avoided under pain of grave sin.

Do You Evangelize?

An Astounding Fraud In The 'Traditional Catholic Movement' Exposed - TradCatKnight (Eric Gajewski)

This is an extremely interesting and shocking new video.  It totally exposes one of the biggest frauds we’ve ever seen in the ‘traditional Catholic movement’.  It exposes a false traditionalist heretic and liar named Eric Gajewski (a.k.a. TradCatKnight).  Gajewski is a false traditionalist who constantly claims to have the most followed traditional Catholic apostolate in the world, but his claim is totally false.  The reality is that his alleged ‘following’ is almost totally fake.  He buys fake followers, fake ‘likes’, fake comments, and more all to prop up his elaborate deception.  Indeed, the level of his fraud and deception is astounding.  This is a must-see video for anyone familiar with the aforementioned individual.  It shows again that the Devil is active, and is working to mislead people.  He uses heretics and wicked people.

The Best Bible Passage to Refute Once Saved Always Saved and Faith Alone

The Bible Proves The Papacy

This is one of the most important videos we have ever produced.  Among other things, it covers a new biblical proof of the Papacy that is of great significance.

1 Timothy 2:15 Confounds Protestants

Dear Brothers, I had a discussion which didn't end well with a protestant who happens to be my roommate for a period of 3 weeks. It concerned family planning. He holds that artificial family planning is not sinful. He also said that "it is sinful to give birth when you know you cannot take care of the child".  It’s obvious he failed to realize that it is God who opens and shuts the womb and that a woman shall be saved "THROUGH" child bearing, even when I tried to prove that from Scripture.  He lost complete trust in God and fails to realize the sinfulness of his position.  When I brought up 1 Tim. 2:15, his version (the King James version) read: "she shall be saved 'IN' child bearing" instead of "THROUGH" child bearing.  He argued that the verse teaches that a woman will be saved from death when giving birth if she perseveres in faith, love sanctification & sobriety (i.e. when IN is used).  I told him that it may be a mistranslation in his version.  I tried to give him example of some mistranslations in the KJV, like the one of John 3:36, but he wouldn't accept that because I could not provide the Greek version to prove that it is "THROUGH" not "IN".  That is why I need your help on this.  Looking forward to your response. May God bless your work.

PHILIP MONDAY

BRO. PETER DIMOND

Referring to “woman” (as mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:14), the Greek text for 1 Timothy 2:15 says “σωθήσεται” (she will be saved) “διά” (through/by means of) “τῆς τεκνογονίας” (the childbearing).  In this verse “διά” clearly means “through” or “by means of.”

1 Timothy 2:15- “Yet she [the woman] will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”

The Textus Receptus, the Greek text upon which the King James Bible was based, says the same.

1 Timothy 2:15, Textus Receptus: “σωθήσεται δὲ διὰ τῆς τεκνογονίας ἐὰν μείνωσιν ἐν πίστει καὶ ἀγάπῃ καὶ ἁγιασμῷ μετὰ σωφροσύνης.”

Therefore, the Greek text clearly says that the woman will be saved “through” or “by means of” childbearing. (By the way, the English translation of 1 Tim. 2:15 in the King James Bible, which has “saved in childbearing,” was not necessarily a mistranslation.  That’s because, as someone else pointed out, in the English used at the time the King James Bible was written, the preposition “in” had a wider application than it does in English today.  At that time, the preposition “in” was commonly used to mean “by” or “by means of.”  Regardless, the original Greek of 1 Timothy 2:15 says that “she will be saved through childbearing.”)

Obviously, this verse refutes Protestant theology in a number of ways.  Many Protestants even admit that it’s an extremely difficult verse for them to understand.  When confronted with 1 Tim. 2:15 in a debate, one Protestant did not even attempt to explain it.  He simply said that “it’s quite mysterious.”  Another well-known Protestant named William D. Mounce stated concerning the verse: “V 15 is certainly one of the strangest verses in the New Testament.”  (Pastoral Epistles, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000, 143.)

They find it troubling, mysterious, and strange simply because it completely contradicts their false theology.  First, by teaching that a woman must continue in faith and holiness to be saved, it clearly teaches that someone who has the faith (i.e. a justified Christian) could lose salvation.  That refutes the idea of once saved always saved.  Second, by teaching that a woman’s actions will be a factor in whether she attains salvation (and therefore whether she maintains justification), the verse refutes the idea of justification by faith alone.

The Bible teaches that women are saved through childbearing because, for most women, fulfilling their state of life as wives and mothers, in accordance with the true faith, is what they must do in order to be saved.  By fulfilling their state of life they will be saved – “if they continue in [true] faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”  The verse also emphasizes the importance of being open to children – a powerful reminder of how God condemns all forms of birth control.  That vexes Protestants as well, for almost all modern Protestants accept or practice some form of birth control.  Protestants’ acceptance of birth control is another clear proof that they don’t have the true Christian faith.  Here are two videos which demonstrate how both the Bible and the Catholic Church forbid all forms of birth control under pain of mortal sin.

Birth Control is Condemned in the Bible (video)

Natural Family Planning: A Birth Control Deception (video)

Since the person with whom you are conversing seems to be inclined to King James Onlyism, he should definitely see this video.  It covers a number of very important matters relevant to the history of the King James Bible, Bible translations, and the text of Scripture.

Is the King James Bible Infallible? (video)

Here are some other relevant videos.

Protestants Err on “The Golden Chain of Redemption” (video)

The Key to John 3:16 – An important Video Refuting the Protestant Position on Justification (video)

Justification Debate with a Reformed Protestant  (video)

Can a Christian Lose Salvation? – 1 Corinthians (video)

www.vaticancatholic.com

Do Animals go to Heaven?

The following article is our personal opinion on this subject. If there is a decision by the Magisterium in the future on this issue, or one from the past we have overlooked, we subject ourselves to it. Based upon papal teachings that MHFM has researched, we are not aware of any magisterial teaching on whether any animals can go to Heaven. It is our opinion that, at the very least, certain animals do go to Heaven.

In Apocalypse 19, we are given a vision of Heaven. Jesus Christ is seen on a horse and the armies of the Word of God follow Christ on horses.

Apocalypse 19:11-17- “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and with justice doth he judge and fight. And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many diadems, and he had a name written, which no man knoweth but himself. And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood; and his name is called, THE WORD OF GOD. And the armies that are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean…. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that did fly through the midst of heaven: Come, gather yourselves together to the great supper of God.”

The word translated as “Heaven” in many passages of the New Testament, including Apoc. 19:11, is from the Greek word ouranos. It can refer to the sky or the region in which God dwells. The context of this chapter, which speaks of God sitting on His throne (Apoc. 19:4), makes it clear that “Heaven” in this passage refers to the region in which God dwells. St. John describes the opening of God’s region, as Christ comes to Earth. Animals are said to be there, with Christ and His armies riding on horses.

One might assert that the horses on which Christ and His armies ride are simply symbolic. But would God give us a symbolic picture of animals in Heaven, if the very concept of animals in the next world is repugnant to the ultimate reality? Moreover, the supposition that these descriptions are purely symbolic is no more definitive than the position that they provide us with an actual picture of what will occur.

The early Church father St. Irenaeus (2nd century) seemed to believe that the description of Apoc. 19 constitutes an actual representation of the future reality.

St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book IV, Chap. 20, #11, A.D. 180: “And again, he says, speaking of this very same Lamb: And behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness does He judge and make war… And the armies of heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in pure white linen. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword… And He has upon His vesture and upon His thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:11-17). Thus does the Word of God always preserve the outlines, as it were, of things to come, and points out to men the various forms (species), as it were, of the dispensations of the Father, teaching us the things pertaining to God.”[1]

The Lord Jesus Christ stated: “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?” (Luke 12:6)

Apocalypse 5:13: “And every creature, which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them: I heard all saying: To him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honor, and glory, and power, for ever and ever.”

St. Francis Paola (1416-1507) was one of the greatest miracle workers in the history of the Catholic Church. He had a special interest in animals. He had a pet lamb and a pet fish. He raised his pet fish to life after it had been killed, cooked and smashed to pieces by another priest.

“Francis had a favorite trout that he called ‘Antonella.’ One day one of the priests, who provided religious services, saw the trout swimming about in his pool. To him it was just a delicious dish, so he caught it and took it home, tossing it into the frying pan. Francis missed ‘Antonella’ and realized what had happened. He asked one of his followers to go to the priest to get it back. The priest, annoyed by this great concern for a mere fish, threw the cooked trout on the ground, shattering it into several pieces. The hermit sent by Francis gathered up the broken pieces in his hands and brought them back to Francis. Francis placed the pieces back in the pool and, looking up to Heaven, praying, said: ‘Antonella, in the name of Charity, return to life.’ The trout immediately became whole and swam joyously around his pool as if nothing had happened. The friars and the workers who witnessed this miracle were deeply impressed at the saint’s amazing powers.”[2]

St. Francis also raised his pet lamb, Martinello, from the dead after it had been eaten by workmen.

“Being in need of food, the workmen caught and slaughtered Francis’ pet lamb, Martinello, roasting it in their lime kiln. They were eating when the Saint approached them, looking for his lamb. They told him they had eaten it, having no other food. He asked what they had done with the fleece and the bones. They told him they had thrown them into the furnace. Francis walked over to the furnace, looked into the fire and called ‘Martinello, come out!’ The lamb jumped out, completely untouched, bleating happily on seeing his master.”[3]

It’s noteworthy that St. Francis Paola called the animals by their names even after their lives had ended. He apparently believed they continued to exist after their deaths.

Blessed Martin De Porres (1579-1639) was a saintly brother of the Dominican Order. He was beatified in the 19th century. He also had a special interest in animals. After a dog had been uncharitably killed by its master, Martin raised the dog from the dead. He also spoke to the dog and instructed it not to return to its ungrateful master.

“The procurator of the convent had a dog that served him faithfully for eighteen years. But now, as the animal was old and loathsome, he ordered him to be cast out. However, the faithful beast always came back, looking for his master. Then orders were given that the dog be taken off some distance and killed. This was done, and Blessed Martin on discovering such ingratitude, as it seemed in his eyes, was moved to compassion and asked that the dead dog be carried to his cell. He then sought out the procurator and said to him: ‘My Father, why did you order them to kill that animal? Is that the reward you give him after he has served you for so many years?’ Then shutting himself up in the cell where the dead animal had been placed, Martin knelt for some time in prayer, begging God to restore life to the unfortunate animal if He so willed, and God did not turn a deaf ear to this humble petition. On the following day Martin’s brethren saw him leave his cell, accompanied by the faithful dog, alive and perfectly well. While feeding him in the kitchen, Martin was heard to utter these words of sober advice to the dog: ‘Now, be sure not to return to your ungrateful master’s service, for you have experienced only too clearly how little your long years of faithful service have been appreciated.’ It is said that the dog survived for many years, but that he always followed Martin’s warning, fleeing from his old master whenever he saw him approach.”[4]

In another case, rats were causing problems for a man Blessed Martin had assisted. The problem increased to the point that rats began to invade the sacristy. Martin thought the problem could be solved without killing the rats, but the man decided to set traps. After a rat was caught in one of the traps, Martin urged that it not be destroyed. Instead, Martin spoke to the rat. He told the rat that he and his companions should leave the monastery and go to the garden. To the amazement of many, the rats obeyed.

“When Martin saw the little prisoner, his heart was touched and he would not permit its destruction. Instead, he gave him [the rat] his liberty, saying: ‘Go along, little brother, and tell your companions not to do any more harm. Tell your whole tribe to vacate this holy monastery and to go back into the garden, where I will bring you food each day.’ To the astonishment of all, the mice and rats came flocking out of the convent, finding a refuge in an old shed; and there Martin saw to it that they were provided with daily sustenance.”[5]

The interactions of St. Francis of Assisi with animals are well-chronicled. One of the most famous stories concerns St. Francis and the wolf. A large wolf was terrifying the people of Gubbio. The wolf devoured people and animals. Despite warnings to avoid him, St. Francis decided to approach the wolf, as many watched from a distance.

“The wolf, seeing all this multitude, ran towards Saint Francis with his jaws wide open. As he approached, the saint, making the sign of the cross, cried out: “Come hither, brother wolf; I command thee, in the name of Christ, neither to harm me nor anybody else.” Marvelous to tell, no sooner had Saint Francis made the sign of the cross, than the terrible wolf, closing his jaws, stopped running, and coming up to Saint Francis, lay down at his feet as meekly as a lamb.

And the saint thus addressed him: “Brother wolf, thou hast done much evil in this land, destroying and killing the creatures of God without his permission; yea, not animals only hast thou destroyed, but thou hast even dared to devour men, made after the image of God; for which thing thou art worthy of being hanged like a robber and a murderer. All men cry out against thee, the dogs pursue thee, and all the inhabitants of this city are thy enemies; but I will make peace between them and thee, O brother wolf, if so be thou no more offend them, and they shall forgive thee all thy past offences, and neither men nor dogs shall pursue thee anymore.”

Having listened to these words, the wolf bowed his head, and, by the movements of his body, his tail, and his eyes, made signs that he agreed to what Saint Francis said.

On this Saint Francis added: “As thou art willing to make this peace, I promise thee that thou shalt be fed every day by the inhabitants of this land so long as thou shalt live among them; thou shalt no longer suffer hunger, as it is hunger which has made thee do so much evil; but if I obtain all this for thee, thou must promise, on thy side, never again to attack any animal or any human being; dost thou make this promise?” Then the wolf, bowing his head, made a sign that he consented.

Said Saint Francis again: “Brother wolf, wilt thou pledge thy faith that I may trust to this thy promise?” and putting out his hand he received the pledge of the wolf; for the latter lifted up his paw and placed it familiarly in the hand of Saint Francis, giving him thereby the only pledge which was in his power.

Then said Saint Francis, addressing him again: “Brother wolf, I command thee, in the name of Christ, to follow me immediately, without hesitation or doubting, that we may go together to ratify this peace which we have concluded in the name of God”; and the wolf, obeying him, walked by his side as meekly as a lamb, to the great astonishment of all the people.

Now, the news of this most wonderful miracle spreading quickly through the town, all the inhabitants, both men and women, small and great, young and old, flocked to the market-place to see Saint Francis and the wolf… Then all the people promised with one voice to feed the wolf to the end of his days… Then Saint Francis continued: “Brother wolf, as thou gavest me a pledge of this thy promise when we were outside the town, so now I will that thou renew it in the sight of all this people, and assure me that I have done well to promise in thy name”; and the wolf lifting up his paw placed it in the hand of Saint Francis.”[6]

A mysterious dog also played a role in the life of St. John Bosco.

“God gave to Saint John Bosco a mysterious dog that became the protector of this great saint for much of his life. Where the dog came from and where it went was of no consequence to the saint; he genuinely accepted the friendship of the dog as part of divine providence.

Saint John Bosco did so much good saving the young boys of his time that I am sure it was the influence of the devil that riled up people against him, sometimes to the point that jealousy and hatred led men to try to kill the saint on more than one occasion. It was in response to that danger that a huge gray dog appeared one day when Saint John Bosco was being threatened by murderers. The dog, fearsome to behold, was described as a German shepherd standing three feet tall. Grigio, as he was named by Saint John Bosco, would always appear where trouble waited for the saint. When these ne’er-do-wells finally stopped trying to hurt Saint John Bosco, the dog disappeared. He appeared only one other time, when the saint was lost, to lead him safely to a Salesian home.”[7]

St. Paul of the Cross (d. 1775) once rebuked a farmer who uttered blasphemies in frustration at his oxen. Upset by the admonition, the farmer pointed his gun at St. Paul. “More horrified at the blasphemies than he was at his present danger, the Saint held up the crucifix he always wore around his neck and announced fearlessly, ‘Since you will not respect this crucifix, these oxen will.’ As though they understood, the oxen immediately fell to their knees.”[8] Afterwards the farmer repented.

In the life of St. Anthony of Padua (d. 1231) we read that many heretics resided at Rimini. “But they, not only consenting not to his holy words, but even, like hardened and obstinate sinners, refusing to hearken unto him, the Saint one day, by divine inspiration, went forth to the banks of the river close beside the sea; and, standing thus upon the shore betwixt sea and stream, he began to speak in the guise of a sermon in the name of God unto the fishes. ‘Hear the word of God, ye fishes of the sea and of the stream, since heretics and infidels are loathe to listen to it.’ And having uttered these words, suddenly there came toward him so great a multitude of fishes – great, small, and middle-sized – as had never been seen in that sea or in that stream… all turned their heads out of the water, and all turned attentively toward the face of Anthony.”[9]

In the life of St. Anthony of Padua, we also learn that an Albigensian heretic challenged Catholic teaching on the Eucharist. As a test, the two men agreed to allow the heretic’s mule to choose between its typical food and the Eucharist. The mule was deprived of food for three days. After three days, in the presence of a great crowd, the heretic attempted to feed the mule oats and hay, while St. Anthony held the consecrated Host before the animal. The mule ignored the food, and fell to its knees before the Blessed Sacrament. As a result, the unbelievers were thrown into great confusion and some of them were converted.[10]

Consider the following story from the Old Testament Book of Numbers, Chapter 22:21-35:

“Balaam arose in the morning, and saddling his went with them.  And God was angry. And an angel of the Lord stood in the way against Balaam, who sat on the , and had two servants with him.  The seeing the angel standing in the way, with a drawn sword, turned herself out of the way, and went into the field.  And when Balaam beat her, and had a mind to bring her again to the way, the angel stood in a narrow place between two walls, wherewith the vineyards were enclosed.  And the seeing him, thrust herself close to the wall, and bruised the foot of the rider.  But he beat her again: And nevertheless the angel going on to a narrow place, where there was no way to turn aside either to the right hand or to the left, stood to meet him.  And when the saw the angel standing, she fell under the feet of the rider: who being angry beat her sides more vehemently with a staff.  And the Lord opened the mouth of the , and she said: What have I done to thee?  Why strikest thou me, lo, now this third time?  Balaam answered: Because thou hast deserved it, and hast served me ill: I would I had a sword that I might kill thee.  The said: Am not I thy beast, on which thou hast been always accustomed to ride until this present day?  Tell me if I ever did the like thing to thee.  But he said: Never.  Forthwith the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel standing in the way with a drawn sword, and he worshipped him falling flat on the ground.  And the angel said to him: Why beatest thou thy these three times?  I am come to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse, and contrary to me:  And unless the had turned out of the way, giving place to me who stood against thee, I had slain thee, and she should have lived.  Balaam said: I have sinned, not knowing that thou didst stand against me: and now if it displease thee that I go, I will return.  The angel said: Go with these men, and see thou speak no other thing than what I shall command thee.  He went therefore with the princes.”

This passage tells us that an animal could see an angel and was given the ability to speak. When the angel finally appeared to Balaam, he rebuked him for beating the animal. The angel also said that he almost killed Balaam and spared the animal. Balaam had to have his eyes opened in order to see the angel, but the animal did not.

It was based on the reasoning of St. Thomas Aquinas that many Catholics came to think that animals do not possess souls that exist after their deaths. While St. Thomas’ views are always worthy of consideration, they are not infallible or definitive. In some cases, his views have been rejected by the Magisterium. St. Thomas taught that the human embryo proceeded through three stages of soul. He believed that the embryo began with the vegetative soul (anima vegetabilis , which he believed plants possess), then proceeded to the sensitive soul (anima sensitiva, which he believed animals possess), and, after 40 or 80 days, God infused the rational or intellectual soul (anima intellectiva, the human soul).

As the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia article on “Soul” explains:

“St. Thomas’s doctrine is … In the first stage of embryonic development, the vital principle has merely vegetative powers; then a sensitive soul comes into being, educed from the evolving potencies of the organism — later yet, this is replaced by the perfect rational soul, which is essentially immaterial and so postulates a special creative act. Many modern theologians have abandoned this last point of St. Thomas's teaching, and maintain that a fully rational soul is infused into the embryo at the first moment of its existence.”[11]

In other words, those who claim to adhere to St. Thomas’ view on animation and ensoulment must believe that an embryo begins with a plant soul; it is then replaced by an animal soul, which in turn is replaced by the infusion of the human (rational) soul 40 or 80 days after the initial formation of the embryo. St. Thomas also taught that the soul of Mary did incur the stain of original sin – an idea contradicted by later infallible teaching on the Immaculate Conception.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Pt. III, Q. 27, A. 2, Reply to Objection 2: “If the soul of the Blessed Virgin had never incurred the stain of original sin, this would be derogatory to the dignity of Christ, by reason of His being the universal Saviour of all. Consequently after Christ, who, as the universal Saviour of all, needed not to be saved, the purity of the Blessed Virgin holds the highest place.”[12]

As an aside, while we’ve mentioned St. Thomas’ erroneous view on the Immaculate Conception in the past (and this quote in particular), it’s remarkable that many in the traditional movement, including prominent individuals and priests, after being presented with this evidence still wrongly and dishonestly insist that St. Thomas did not contradict the Immaculate Conception! To put it simply, St. Thomas’ views on the soul are not infallible.

While we are not asserting that animals possess rational or intellectual souls (or that they can experience the Beatific Vision) – these are unique to human beings, who alone are created in the image of God – we do not agree with the assertion that the souls of all animals are necessarily mortal and cannot continue after death.  We believe that, at least with some animals, they have souls/spirits that can experience Heaven in a manner proper to an animal.

Anyone who has been around certain animals knows that certain animals demonstrate individuality, an ability to learn and reason, and even personalities. Two animals of the same species will have different proclivities and interests. Their mode of operation is not completely instinctive or based purely on sensory response and reaction. For example, some cats are very curious, while others are not. Some dogs like a certain activity, while others do not. St. Gregory Nazianzen said the following about animals.

St. Gregory Nazianzen, Second Theological Oration (Oration 28), #’s 23-26, A.D. 381: “Shall I reckon up for you the differences of the other animals, both from us and from each other – differences of nature, and of production, and of region, and of temper, and as it were of social life? How is it that some are gregarious and others solitary, some herbivorous and others carnivorous, some fierce and others tame, some fond of man and domesticated, others untamable and free? And some we might call bordering on reason and power of learning, while others are altogether destitute of reason… some strong, others weak, some apt at self-defense, others timid and crafty… some attached to one spot, some amphibious; some delight in beauty and others are unadorned… Is this not the clearest proof of the majestic working of God?”[13]

In the original paradise (prior to the fall of Adam and Eve), God created the whales, the birds, and every moving creature on earth and in the sea. Having placed animals of all kinds in the original, uncursed and sinless paradise, “God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:25).

Before Adam and Eve’s capitulation to the serpent brought sin and death into the world, God brought all beasts of the Earth and the fowls of the air to Adam so that he could name them.

Genesis 2:19- “And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name.”

When God destroyed the Earth at the time of Noah, all things “wherein there is the breath of life” died (Gen. 7:22). The same word for the souls or breath of life of animals is used to describe the soul of man, even though man’s soul is very different from that of animals.

The flood of Noah’s day is described by St. Peter as the end of the original world: “And [God] spared not the original world” (2 Peter 2:5). Yet, when God warned Noah about what he must do to successfully transition from the original world, through the flood, to the new, God also told him to bring animals into the Ark.

Genesis 7:1-5- “And the Lord said to him: Go in thou and all thy house into the ark: for thee I have seen just before me in this generation. Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and the female. But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and the female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the male and the female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth. For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy every substance that I have made, from the face of the earth. And Noe did all things which the Lord had commanded him… And of beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every thing that moveth upon the earth, two and two went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noe. And after the seven days were passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.”

God wanted the animals from “the original world” to be present in the next world, and He commanded Noah to go to extraordinary lengths to make it happen.

After the flood, God established His covenant with Noah and with all the animals/creatures on Earth.

Genesis 9:11-17- “I will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh shall be no more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither shall there be from henceforth a flood to waste the earth. And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations. I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me, and between the earth. And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds: And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.

And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth. And God said to Noe: This shall be the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh upon the earth.”

The Haydock commentary on Genesis 9:10 acknowledges that God made His covenant also with the animals.

God created animals for the original, spiritually pristine Earth. Is it unthinkable that He would have animals in the new Heaven and the new Earth at the end of time? In fact, the Apocalypse clearly portrays the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as the restoration of the original paradise on Earth.

The first Earth featured the “the tree of life… in the midst of paradise” (Genesis 2:9). The Apocalypse repeatedly tells us that Christ will restore the tree of life.

Apocalypse 22:2- “In the midst of the street thereof, and on both sides of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruits every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

Doesn’t it seem consistent that as there were animals of various kinds in the original paradise, there will be animals in the new paradise – in the new Heaven and new Earth? In this regard we should consider a prophecy of Isaiah.

Isaiah 65 contains a prophecy about the new Heaven and the new Earth. While a similar prophecy made in Isaiah chapter 11:1-9 finds fulfillment in the coming of Christ and the establishment of the New Covenant Church, the passage in Isaiah 65 seems to have application to the end of time, the Second Coming of Christ and the Apocalypse. Numerous early Church fathers applied Isaiah 65 to the end of time, including St. Justin Martyr.

The prophecy of Isaiah 65 is relevant to this topic because it says that in the new Heaven and new Earth, “the wolves and the lambs feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent [shall eat] earth as bread. They shall not hurt or maltreat each other on the holy mountain…”

Here are the comments of St. Justin Martyr (A.D. 100-165) on the prophecy of Isaiah 65.

St. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, Chap. 81, 2nd century:

CHAPTER LXXXI -- HE ENDEAVOURS TO PROVE THIS OPINION FROM ISAIAH AND THE APOCALYPSE.

“For Isaiah spake thus concerning this space of a thousand years: 'For there shall be the new heaven and the new earth… For according to the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people… Then shall the wolves and the lambs feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent [shall eat] earth as bread. They shall not hurt or maltreat each other on the holy mountain, i saith the Lord.' Now we have understood that the expression used among these words, 'According to the days of the tree [of life] shall be the days of my people; the works of their toil shall abound' obscurely predicts a thousand years… And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all men would likewise take place.’”[14]

We are told that in the new Heaven and the New Earth, the lion, the ox and other animals will live in harmony. Some might argue that this is a metaphor for how Christ’s elect will be comprised of people with different temperaments. Individuals of all types will have found conversion and peace with their incorporation into Christ. However, that is not certain. This passage could speak to the actual working of the future Heaven and Earth. The statement in Isaiah 65:19, that there will be no more “weeping” or “crying” in the new Heaven and Earth, closely parallels Apocalypse 21:4:

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.”

This strongly suggests that the prophecy of Isaiah 65, concerning the lion, ox, etc. has application to the new Heaven and the new Earth at the end of time. Other than the dogmas of divine revelation, which tell us how humans are to get to Heaven and which humans will be excluded, we know very little about what Heaven actually is or will be like.

1 Cor. 2:9- “But, as it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.”

In fact, in the original paradise, animals did not kill or eat each other. In God’s original design, the herbs and the trees which bear seed were the food or “meat” of both man and land creatures (Gen. 1:29-30). It was only after the sin of Adam, the changes in the Earth that resulted from the flood, the introduction of various seasons, and the consequent reduction of the tree and herb supply at various times of the year, that animals became carnivores. There is a fascinating lecture on this point by a professor of zoology. He explains that creatures we typically consider hunters and carnivores were not so from the beginning. He shows how their natural equipment is perfectly consistent with this conclusion and an original design as vegetarians.[15]

Therefore, if animals lived in peaceful harmony in the original paradise, it would make sense that they would do so in the new Heaven and the new Earth. The words of Isaiah, which foretell such a situation, would thus be consistent with a more literal understanding of the prophecy. But even if one grants that the description in Isaiah 65 is a symbol or a metaphor, one must ask once again why God would provide us with a symbol of animals in the new Heaven and new Earth if the concept is repugnant to reality.

Of course it needs to be affirmed that the worship of animals is an abominable heresy that plagued people in the Old Testament and still exists among some today. Animals are not God, and they are different from human beings. They do not possess rational souls. However, they have the special form of existence which God gave them; and it’s simply remarkable to consider the amazing abilities and characteristics they continually display. These abilities clearly disprove the assertion that animals are simply beings that function only on instinct and sensory response.

For example, there is an amazing YouTube video called, Hero Dog Tries to Help Wounded Dog – Chile.[16] It has been viewed almost two million times. In an attempt to cross a busy highway, a dog was hit by a car and left helpless in the midst of heavy oncoming traffic. A second dog some distance away spotted him. The second dog decided to venture into heavy traffic and save the wounded one. The second dog evaded oncoming cars, grabbed the wounded dog with its teeth and paws, and pulled it inch by inch to safety on the side of the road. The wounded dog survived. The footage is simply incredible. Stories of this type could be multiplied many times.

There is a fascinating three-part video series called Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution. This video series, which we sell on our online store, is an astounding documentary about the full capabilities of God’s creatures.

“There are animals that save human beings; animals that manifest extraordinary courage; animals that exhibit an uncanny ability to show emotion, and even to cry, animals that can communicate, some with hierarchical methods and some with sign language; animals that know when a tornado or an earthquake is coming; animals that can smell cancer, drugs, termites…”[17]

“John and Michele Helfrich of Justin, Texas, had a bovine longhorn calf named Beanie that watched John repair a water line that had sprung a leak. To repair the pipe he first had to dig a trench on both sides of the pipe. The heifer stood beside him the entire day, observing his actions. Then, to his amazement, when he started filling the trench back in, she would stand beside him and push the dirt in. Finally, he jumped in the trench, and when he did, Beanie jumped in with him and started stomping the dirt down. When he got back out to shove more dirt in, she would get out and push the dirt with her head.”[18]

“A young girl was abducted by a stranger in a van, driven about twelve miles away, and held captive in the van on a deserted road. It was later learned that the van did not stop once while traveling from the point of abduction to the deserted road twelve miles away.

Several hours after the abduction, the local authorities gave their bloodhound a piece of the child’s clothing for reference and put the dog on the trail. It took several more hours, but the dog led police on foot down the same twelve miles of highway transited by the van, off the same exit ramp, and down the same deserted road. The bloodhound led them right to the van and the victim was rescued unharmed.”[19]

“Mrs. Jensen stayed with the mare and her foal all day long. That evening, the baby horse simply stopped breathing. At that instant, the Jensen’s five other horses, which had over the past few hours gathered themselves as close to the barn as possible, reared up on their hind legs and gave several piercing screams. They could not have seen the foal because it was in the barn when it died – yet they knew. It was an experience Mrs. Jensen will never forget and, in this earthly life, she will never fully understand.”[20]

“A farmer in Australia who suffered serious head injuries after being struck by a falling tree branch was rescued by a partially blind kangaroo who was hailed as a hero. Lulu the kangaroo banged on the door of the family’s home in Morwell, Gippsland in southeast Australia after discovering the farmer lying unconscious in a field.”[21]

By playing music from a harp, animals have seen dramatic health benefits.[22] One music therapist decided to find out how other creatures might respond to music. “She decided to conduct an experiment at a small dairy farm in Sidney, Indiana, where forty-two Holsteins [cows] who had never been exposed to music were treated to measured doses of Classical, Hard Rock, and Country & Western over a thirteen-day period. The results suggested that cows are a sophisticated audience. Milk production rose almost six percent when classical music was being aired (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in C Major) but fell by the same amount when the stereo played the rock band Kiss.”[23]

A Personal Story

We would like to share a personal story. For many years the monastery had a small dog. Around 2003 or 2004, the dog was suffering from old age and had cataracts in her eye. She was very weak and almost blind. The dog was clearly near the end of its life. We decided that it was best to have the dog put to sleep (something that’s morally permissible with animals but not with humans). On the very day we reached the decision, that the dog would sadly have to be put to sleep, we discovered that the dog was spending her time in the monastery’s chapel, on the floor, in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament. The chapel is accessible from one of the rooms. Prior to that day, the dog never slept at length in the chapel. We do not believe it’s an accident or merely a coincidence that, just before the dog’s life had ended, something drew her into the presence of the One who created her. In fact, when she was picked up to be taken away for the last time of her life, she was picked up from the chapel floor. Something motivated her, in her weakest hour and when she was near her end, to enter the presence of God.

Equally interesting is the fact that the same thing occurred with one of our cats. We currently have two cats. In the Spring of 2008, one of our cats became extremely ill with a stomach infection and would not stop vomiting for an extended period of time. We thought it was probable that the cat would die. As the cat was suffering and in clearly the worst hours of its life, the cat spent almost all day sleeping on the floor of the chapel, just as the dog had years before. When healthy, the cat would very rarely wander into the chapel for short periods of time; but the cat would not sleep there at length, and it certainly would not spend most or all of the day in the chapel. Yet, when it was about to die, the cat spent basically the entire day in the chapel, right near the Blessed Sacrament, for a period of several days. We do not believe it was an accident that in its extreme sickness, the cat entered into the presence of God. Thank God, the cat eventually recovered and is in excellent health today.

In closing, the message of the Gospel and God’s redemption is for human beings, not animals. All animals are innocent. God decided to be born around innocent animals instead of human beings. Animals were required in the Old Testament for a sacrifice covering sin because they are sinless creatures, as well as to destroy the Israelites’ evil propensity to worship animals.

It is our opinion that at least some animals continue to exist after their lives on Earth, as part of God’s design.

Job 12:10- “[The Lord] In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.”

Hosea 2:18- “And in that day I will make a covenant with them, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the air, and with the creeping things of the earth: and I will destroy the bow, and the sword, and war out of the land: and I will make them sleep secure.”

Colossians 1:17- “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Proverbs 12:10- “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 14-15- “All things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven… I have learned that all the works which God hath made, continue forever: we cannot add anything, nor take away from those things which God hath made that he may be feared. That which hath been made, the same continueth: the things that shall be, have already been: and God restoreth that which is past.”

© Copyright 2012: Most Holy Family Monastery.

NOTES:

Where To Receive Sacraments

THE QUESTION OF WHERE TO RECEIVE SACRAMENTS IN OUR TIME

QUICK INTRODUCTION AND UPDATE ON THE CURRENT SITUATION

The Vatican II sect under Antipope Francis is becoming more notorious (and basically openly Protestant) by the day. In fact, it looks poised to openly repudiate Catholic teaching against divorce and remarriage. Moreover, the “canonization” of Antipope John Paul II is a major development. (The Vatican II sect will celebrate Antipope John Paul II’s “feast day” on Oct. 22.) As this video explains, in the aftermath of the “canonization,” essentially everyone in full communion with the Vatican II sect is now, in reality, an idolater. As a consequence, in many cases the few validly ordained priests who acknowledge the antipope, who may previously have been options for receiving Communion, are becoming off-limits for Communion. As we’ve repeatedly mentioned, for some time the number of options for Communion has been quickly diminishing. At this point there are almost no options for receiving Communion. That’s simply an unfortunate consequence of the final stage of the Great Apostasy. In case people haven’t figured it out yet, we are in the last days and the deepest part of the Great Apostasy. Those who aren’t convinced of that should see our video. As Our Lady of La Salette said concerning these times: “… only faith will survive.”

The guidelines and points below are of course relevant to priests who operate in “full communion” with Antipope Francis. Sadly, however, the independent priests don’t offer many alternatives. The independent groups and priests who acknowledge Antipope Francis (e.g., the priests of the SSPX and similar groups) are becoming ever more schismatic as a result of an obstinate and prolonged adherence to false positions. And most of the sedevacantist priests (who claim to reject Antipope Francis and the Vatican II sect) hold that souls can be saved in false religions, and condemn the Church’s dogmatic teaching on the necessity of Baptism for salvation as “mortally sinful.” They are horrible and imposing heretics who must not be approached for any sacraments at all. That leaves a Catholic in a situation with almost no options for receiving Communion. (*An imposing heretic, by the way, is a priest who either requires someone to adhere to his false positions, or holds that the true position on a topic is mortally sinful or heretical. For more on that matter, see the guidelines below.)

We are frequently and understandably asked the important question about where people may receive sacraments in this time of the Great Apostasy. As we’ve pointed out for years, it’s a fluid situation. The answer depends upon what priests say and do; what positions they take; how notorious certain priests become; events that occur in the Vatican II sect; etc. The situation in the 1980s was not necessarily the same as the situation in the 1970s, and the situation in the 2000s was not necessarily the same as the situation in the 1990s. In light of the current “ecclesiastical situation” (i.e., the general situation with priests purporting to be Catholic in our day), recent events, and how clear the true positions should be for people at this stage, below are bullet-points with our advice on where one may or may not receive sacraments at the current time.

The reader will notice that one of the most important updates is: AT THIS TIME, IN THE YEAR 2014, AT LEAST IN THIS COUNTRY, WE ARE NOT AWARE OF ANY CHURCH A CATHOLIC SHOULD ATTEND ON SATURDAY OR SUNDAY IN ORDER TO RECEIVE COMMUNION. PEOPLE SHOULD STAY HOME ON SUNDAY AND PRAY 15 DECADES OF THE ROSARY. THAT’S BECAUSE ESSENTIALLY ALL THE PRIESTS ARE CLEAR HERETICS AND THEY GIVE SERMONS OR TALKS ON THOSE DAYS. WE DON’T BELIEVE PEOPLE SHOULD RECEIVE THE SACRAMENT FROM THEM DURING A MASS AT WHICH THEY GIVE A SERMON. HOWEVER, THERE ARE STILL SOME OPTIONS FOR RECEIVING CERTAIN SACRAMENTS (ESPECIALLY CONFESSION), AS EXPLAINED BELOW.

• It’s of course crucial for people to be sure they have been validly baptized. If there is any doubt about how a baptism was performed (either because it was done in a Protestant sect or questionably in the Novus Ordo), a conditional baptism should be performed following the steps in this file: The Steps to convert to the traditional Catholic faith and for those leaving the New Mass – Baptism and Conditional Baptism – the Council of Trent’s Profession of Faith for Converts. We generally recommend a conditional baptism for those coming out of the Novus Ordo or converting from Protestantism. Anyone who would do it properly could perform it, as the 'steps to convert' file explains.

• Before making a confession or receiving a sacrament, one must reach the point where one believes in all Catholic dogmas, is committed never to attend the New Mass again, rejects the Vatican II antipopes and the Vatican II sect, believes in Outside the Church There is No Salvation without exception (no “baptism of desire,” no salvation for those “invincibly ignorant” of the Catholic faith), rejects NFP, won’t support any heretical priests, etc.

SIMPLIFIED GUIDELINES ON RECEIVING SACRAMENTS IN THE CURRENT SITUATION

• Don’t ever attend the New Mass for any reason, of course. It’s invalid and non-Catholic. It must always be avoided under pain of grave sin.

• One must not financially support, in any way, any priest or group that holds false positions. We are not aware of any priests, groups or religious communities in the world (besides our monastery) holding the correct positions in a public, clear and uncompromising way.

• Don’t go to any church in this country (“traditional” or otherwise) for Sunday or Saturday Masses, since basically all the priests are heretics and the heretics give sermons or talks on those days. People should stay home on Sunday and pray 15 decades of the Rosary. (This generally applies to other countries as well.)

• Consistent with the above: don’t go to any Sunday or Saturday Masses of the Society of St. Pius X. Don’t go to any “Masses” of the FSSP or similar groups. (Those groups also cannot be considered to have valid priests, as they utilize “bishops” consecrated in the doubtful New Rite of Consecration.) Don’t go to any Indult Masses or Latin Masses offered in the “diocese”. Don't go to any Sunday or Saturday liturgies of priests in the Eastern Rite. Don’t go to any Sunday or Saturday Masses of priests of the CMRI or similar priests and groups who hold heresy on the salvation dogma, as those heretics frequently give sermons on those days. Sedevacantist priests who condemn the true position on water baptism (i.e., the denial of “baptism of desire”) as either heretical or mortally sinful – and that would include most sedevacantist priests in our day – are imposing heretics. They aren’t an option for any sacrament whatsoever. They should be completely avoided.

• If a priest is a heretic, but is not imposing – and that might apply to a small number of independent or sedevacantist priests – it’s possible that he might still be an option for Communion if he’s somewhat close to our positions on the Counter Church. However, one should not receive Communion from him during his Sunday or Saturday Mass, for he might give a sermon or a talk during that Mass. If he meets the criteria for receiving Communion (and that would be rare), one should only receive Communion from him on a different day of the week. If he only gives Communion on Sunday, then one should simply go without Communion. As stated above, an imposing heretic is a priest who either requires someone to adhere to his false positions, or holds that the true position on a topic is mortally sinful or heretical. In the rare case just described, in which a priest might meet the criteria to be an option for Communion (but only on a day on which he does not give a sermon), to find out if he's an imposing heretic, you can call him up and tell him what your positions are - e.g., that you are a sedevacantist and reject “baptism of desire” - and see how he reacts. This kind of discussion would be necessary when considering a priest (in the rare situation just described) for Communion. However, when going to confession only to a validly ordained Novus Ordo priest or to an Eastern Rite priest, such a discussion about the issues (to find out if the priest is imposing) would not be necessary prior to making the confession (unless the issues were to come up), as explained below.

• Don’t receive Communion from (or be present at the Mass of) any priest who accepts Antipope John Paul II as a “saint.” That essentially means that almost all priests who accept Antipope Francis should not be approached for Communion. It’s possible that there might be very rare exceptions to this principle (e.g., non-imposing independent priests who reject much of the Counter Church and the “canonization” of John Paul II, but still absurdly accept Antipope Francis); however, even in those cases, one should not receive Communion from them at their Sunday or Saturday Masses. Likewise, with an independent or Eastern Rite priest who doesn’t accept John Paul II as a “saint,” in order to be approached for Communion he would also have to reject false ecumenism and hold that the Eastern schismatics should be converted to the Catholic faith. (He would not have to hold the correct position on water baptism and the salvation dogma, as many priests before Vatican II were in heresy on that point. But he could not impose his false position on true Catholics or consider the true position heretical or mortally sinful.)

• There are still more options for Confession, and it’s crucial that people who have mortal sins that need to be confessed find a priest from whom they can receive absolution. Options for Confession include: an old Novus Ordo priest ordained before 1968, who says: “I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”; a priest ordained in the Eastern Rite; a non-imposing independent “traditional” priest; etc.

• The New Rite of Ordination is invalid. It was instituted by the Vatican II sect on June 18, 1968. Almost all diocesan (i.e., non-independent, non-Eastern Rite priests) ordained since that time were ordained in it. Since “priests” ordained in the New Rite of Ordination are invalid, any mortal sins confessed to such “priests” must be confessed again to a valid priest, once a person is prepared for confession.

• To investigate potential options for confession, people can also look in their telephone books for “Catholic church” or “Eastern Catholic church” or “Byzantine Catholic church” (not “Orthodox”) listings in cities or towns in their area. Looking up those churches, and calling them, might aid in a search for validly ordained priests (either ordained in the Eastern Rite or before 1968) to whom one might go to confession. Note: when going to confession only to an old Novus Ordo priest (ordained in the traditional rite) or to an Eastern Rite priest, one doesn't need to get into the details of one's position or discuss the various theological issues (to find out if he's imposing) prior to making the confession (unless the issues were to come up). At some point, however, one should send him or give him the information from our website or material (e.g., a DVD) covering the true positions people need to take and what has happened.

• There is of course no obligation to attend Sunday Mass when there isn’t a fully Catholic option in one’s area. Therefore, there is no obligation to attend Sunday Mass in our day because basically all the priests are heretics.

• People should pray 15 decades of the Rosary each day.

• We also encourage true Catholics who are presumably in the state of grace to make spiritual Communions.

• Although these guidelines should answer most questions on this matter, people who have further questions can call us at 585-567-4433 and someone can help you.

THEOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

So, to put it simply: there are more options for confession (although they are also becoming harder to find), but very few options for receiving Communion. People should stay home on Sundays and pray 15 decades of the Rosary. If people are holding and practicing the true Catholic faith without compromise, working to spread it, fulfilling their state in life, etc., and have successfully confessed all grave sins (if there were any) committed in their life after baptism to a validly ordained priest, they can feel confident that they are in the state of grace, even though they may not have anywhere to receive Communion.

The reason there is more latitude in approaching someone for confession than for Communion is twofold: 1) making a confession and receiving absolution doesn’t entail showing up at the heretic’s Mass or liturgy; and 2) for most people (and obviously for those who may have grave sins to confess), there is a greater necessity to receive absolution. Hence, a priest who is not an option for Communion could still be an option for confession, if he’s validly ordained, uses the proper form, and does not impose his false views upon you.

By the way, what radical schismatics and “no jurisdiction” schismatics don’t understand about God and this matter is that the issue of where it’s permissible to receive sacraments in this unprecedented crisis and apostasy is not one governed by dogmatic decrees. It’s not a dogmatic issue. It is, rather, an issue that involves making prudential decisions and judgments about the current situation, and applying Catholic principles to this crisis. Moreover, when dealing with matters of ecclesiastical law and how to act in a crisis, the principle that “necessity makes licit that which is illicit” (as long as the faith is not denied) is important to understand and keep in mind. It’s why people could receive sacraments from priests they normally would not approach if they had other options. However, at this point the Vatican II sect is so notorious, the independent priests are so schismatic, and the sedevacantist priests (for the most part) are so openly heretical on the salvation issue, that we believe the above guidelines (with many fewer options for Communion) are the correct ones.

STAYING HOME ON SUNDAY SHOULD NOT DIMINISH ONE’S ZEAL OR HAMPER ONE’S PRACTICE OF THE FAITH AT ALL

The fact that (at least in this country, and generally speaking in other countries) people should be staying home on Sunday should not in any way diminish their zeal for practicing the Catholic faith. It should not lessen people’s enthusiasm for praying, living the life of grace each day, saving their soul and that of others, evangelizing, spreading the faith, growing in their relationship with God, etc. On the contrary, a recognition of where we are in history should spur people to a more aggressive pursuit of spiritual perfection, as well as the desire to practice and spread the faith so that as many souls as possible can be saved in the short time left. Moreover, while God allows the darkness of the world to be ever greater, He counteracts that by making even more powerful graces available for those who practice and live the faith without compromise, and take advantage of the extra power given to the Rosary, the Hail Mary, etc. in our day.

People who think that the Catholic faith ceases to be practiced when there’s nowhere to attend Mass or receive sacraments on Sunday either aren’t Catholic or have an inadequate understanding of the faith. The Catholic faith is lived day in and day out. In fact, the reason so many people have followed heretical groups to their perdition is that their entire “faith” and “relationship with God” is defined by where they go on Sunday. They are purely “Sunday Catholics,” which means that they are not genuine Catholics at all.

Are Catholic Statues Idolatrous?

vaticancatholic.com

… I recently read some of the post in your website and I have started it when I found a video in YouTube entitled Is the World about to End? And after that I tried to read interesting topics on your site. By the way, I was raised as a Catholic when I was young but I am not sure what kind I belong to since I’ve read that there's a traditional and new one (I am not that familiar with all the technicalities, sorry about that). Again, I was raised as a Catholic but I’ve been missing church masses for some reasons. One of the reasons is the one I am about to tell you. Anyway, I have written this, and I've been meaning to ask this particular question to any Catholic member since it has been a looming over me for a very long time - is there any passage in the Bible that pertains to adoration (I'm not sure of the word I’ve use because I don't want to use the word worship) of religious images and sculptures. Do you have any video on it that clearly answers and explain this one?

Most of the Catholic churches I've been to in our country have this, on varying sizes and kinds.

I have this feeling inside me, that it is wrong, and most of the times it really creeps me out especially the big ones. It felt like believing in these man-made statues is like idolatry stated in Exodus. Many people go to them, kneel and pray for them, take care and dress them, and wipe their towels over them as if it would perform a miracle of some sorts. Most of the Catholics said it is mere representation of whom we pray for but (I would contest) Jesus did not bow his head to any statues just to pray to our Father or any man before him, so why do people need to do it now. It felt like this practice has been misleading us. Correct me if I am wrong to think of this matter.

My mother has few of these statues at home (Sto. Ninos, Mother Mary) and lately it bothers me… I hope you could clarify to me about your stand on religious images and statues, looking forward to it.

Thank you very much. God Bless.

Sincerely yours, Rheyan L

MHFM: We’re glad that you came across the material. No, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is completely Christian. However, Jesus Christ is not present in the Novus Ordo, as our material explains. Your problem on the issue arises because you are not convinced of Catholic teaching on the Eucharist. A properly consecrated Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. That’s very clear from the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Bible (see John chapter 6). It was held by the entire early Church. Therefore, the Eucharist should be adored. Your position is inconsistent with that truth of Christianity. You need to see our book, The Bible Proves the Teachings of the Catholic Church. It has a section on the overwhelming biblical proof for Catholic teaching on the Eucharist.

With regard to images and statues, your position is not correct.

First, what God forbids and condemns is the adoration of statues/images themselves, and the making of statues/images of idols and false gods.

Deuteronomy 5:8-9- “You shall not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any things, that are in heaven above, or that are in the earth beneath, or that abide in the waters under the earth. You shall not adore them, and you shall not serve them.…”

Notice that God says: you shall not adore them or serve them. That’s the key. He forbids making statues or images to adore them or to adore idols, creatures, false gods, etc. But He does not forbid using religious statues or images in His true faith and religion. In fact, He commanded religious statues to be made for his temple and they are approved in numerous places in the Bible.

Exodus 25:18-19- “And you shalt make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt you make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on the two ends thereof.”

God specifically commands the making of two statues of cherubim. Cherubim are angels. This obviously refutes the idea that making statues or using religious images is forbidden. Such an idea is a total misrepresentation of the teaching of Sacred Scripture, which forbids them with reference to the idolatrous adoration of creatures, idols and false gods. Other passages in the Bible where we see references to God’s command to make statues for true religious purposes are: Exodus 26:1; 1 Kings 6 (3 Kings 6 in some versions); and 1 Kings 7:25-36 (3 Kings 7:25-36 in some versions).

We also find God commanding the use of an image to cure people – an image which, at first thought, some would find surprising. God commanded Moses to make an image of a serpent for the people to look upon and be healed.

Numbers 21:8- “And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live.”

Third, when Catholics honor an image, trust is not placed in the image itself. Rather, we honor the one represented by the image by means of the image.

Council of Trent, Sess. 25, Decree on Sacred Images: “Moreover, that the images of Christ, of the Virgin Mother of God, and of the other saints are to be placed and retained especially in the churches, and that due honor and veneration is to be given them; not, however, that any divinity or virtue is believed to be in them by reason of which they are to be venerated, or that something is to be asked of them, or that trust is to be placed in images, as was done of old by the Gentiles who placed their hope in idols; but because the honor which is shown them is referred to the prototypes which they represent, so that by means of the images which we kiss and before which we uncover the head and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ and venerate the saints whose likeness they bear. That is what was defined by the decrees of the councils, especially of the Second Council of Nicaea, against the opponents of images.”

The Bible also teaches that even the relics of saintly people are venerated and can be miraculous. See Acts chapter 19:11-12 concerning the miraculous handkerchiefs of St. Paul, and 2 Kings 2:13-14 concerning the miraculous cloak of Elijah.

Acts 19:11-12- “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”

2 Kings 2:13-14- “He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.  Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it… When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.”

So, the Catholic position on the proper use of religious images, statues and relics is not contrary to the Bible.  It is the truly biblical view.

Moreover, you mention that you were raised a ‘Catholic.’ You were actually raised in the Vatican II sect. That’s not the true Catholic Church. It doesn’t teach or represent the true Catholic faith. Its New Masses are invalid and the sect is empty. That’s a big reason why you and so many others were not inclined to be more interested in what it has to ‘offer.’ It’s crucial that you consult the material on our site, pray 15 decades of the Rosary each day, and take the steps to embrace the traditional Catholic faith.

For more, see our book The Bible Proves the Teachings of the Catholic Church, our Refuting Protestantism section and our future materials on these matters.

www.vaticancatholic.com

The Catechism of Trent and “Baptism of Desire”

ANSWER- The objection is false, for many reasons. This section will examine the matter in detail and it will prove that the supporters of “baptism of desire” (BOD) are quite wrong. The following points, among others, will be demonstrated in this section:

1) The paragraph cited above is not part of the official teaching which the Catechism of Trent identified as the body of doctrine to be communicated by pastors to the faithful. This point is crucial and is overlooked by “baptism of desire” supporters, as we will see. They fail to recognize this fact because a) very few of them have actually read the Catechism of Trent and b) they don’t understand the Magisterium.

2) The Catechism of Trent (also called The Roman Catechism) consisted of information given to parish priests. It is not infallible in every paragraph, but only in those points of doctrine to be passed along to all the faithful. Those points are infallible because they represent what the Church has always taught on those matters.

3) The Catechism of Trent’s official teaching on Baptism, which it identifies as the truth to be passed along to the faithful, doesn’t include “baptism of desire”. Rather, it contradicts it.

4) Popes approved and recommended the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas in the same way they approved and recommended the Catechism of Trent. Yet, St. Thomas’ Summa Theologiae contains false doctrine on the Immaculate Conception. Nevertheless, popes continued to approve the Summa Theologiae after the Immaculate Conception was defined in 1854, without ever correcting the false position – a position that became heretical after 1854. Their approbation of the book was a general one. It didn’t mean that everything in the book was correct or could be followed absolutely.

5) The one paragraph BOD supporters cite on this matter is not infallible, is not part of the official teaching of the Catechism to be communicated to the faithful, and is filled with problems.

6) The one paragraph BOD supporters cite on this matter contradicts the much more authoritative teaching of numerous papal decrees of the highest authority on the exact same topic: i.e., on the delay in baptizing adult converts until Paschal time, and the teaching that those who desire baptism, but die without it, are lost.

7) The Catechism of Trent itself defers to the Council of Florence and specifically to its Decree Exultate Deo. That infallible decree contradicts “baptism of desire.” St. Alphonsus also teaches that the Council of Florence has a greater authority than the Catechism of Trent, and that Florence’s teaching can prove what the teaching of the Catechism of Trent cannot.

NOT EVERY PARAGRAPH OF THE CATECHISM OF TRENT WAS PROMULGATED INFALLIBLY

The Council of Trent closed on Dec. 4, 1563. The Catechism of Trent was still being worked on in 1564 and it wasn’t finally published until 1566. The Catechism of Trent is not the Council of Trent. It is not infallible in every paragraph, but only in those points of doctrine to be passed along to all the faithful; for those matters represent what the Church has always taught.

Even the introduction to the popular Tan Books’ translation of the Catechism of Trent has a quote from Dr. John Hagan, who admits that “its teaching is not infallible.” The Catechism of Trent is more than 500 pages long in a common English version. It was worked on by a variety of theologians.

Catechism of the Council of Trent- Fifteenth printing, TAN Books, Introduction XXXVI: “Official documents have occasionally been issued by Popes to explain certain points of Catholic teaching to individuals, or to local Christian communities; whereas the Roman Catechism comprises practically the whole body of Christian doctrine… Its teaching is not infallible; but it holds a place between approved catechisms and what is de fide.”

THE CATECHISM OF TRENT DID NOT BIND THE ENTIRE CHURCH TO EVERYTHING IN IT; IT WAS INFORMATION GIVEN TO PARISH PRIESTS

The official title of the Catechism makes it clear that it’s addressed to parish priests, not to all the faithful or to all the bishops: “Catechismus ex decreto Concilii Tridentini ad parochos” (Catechism by Decree of the Council of Trent for Parish Priests). The Church’s teaching is infallible on faith and morals when it applies to and is binding upon all Christians (Vatican I). The Catechism of Trent does not meet that criterion of infallibility for every paragraph of its teaching. It was not addressed to all the faithful. In fact, it wasn’t even addressed to all priests, but to parish priests. Not all priests are parish priests.

THE CATECHISM OF TRENT SAYS THAT THE SOUL IS NOT INFUSED INTO THE EMBRYO AT THE MOMENT OF CONCEPTION

Catechism of the Council of Trent, Article III, “By the Holy Ghost,” p. 43: “But what surpasses the order of nature and human comprehension is, that as soon as the Blessed Virgin assented to the announcement of the Angel in these words, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word, the most sacred body of Christ was formed, and to it was united a rational soul enjoying the use of reason; and thus in the same instant of time He was perfect God and perfect man. That this was the astonishing and admirable work of the Holy Ghost cannot be doubted; for according to the order of nature the rational soul is united to the body only after a certain lapse of time.”

The Catechism states that the rational soul is only united to the body after a certain lapse of time. According to the Catechism, an embryo is not a human being when it comes into existence at the time of fertilization or conception. On this point the Catechism is following the position of St. Thomas and many scholastic theologians. They taught that the rational soul is not infused into the embryo until approximately 40 or 80 days after conception.

St. Thomas taught that the human embryo proceeded through three stages of soul. He believed that the embryo began with the vegetative soul (anima vegetabilis, which he believed plants possess), then proceeded to the sensitive soul (anima sensitiva, which he believed animals possess), and, after 40 or 80 days, God infused the rational or intellectual soul (anima intellectiva, the human soul). He also taught that men receive a soul approximately 40 days after conception, but women 80 days after conception. DNA, however, informs us that there is no difference between men and women in terms of when they acquire the biological characteristics of a human being. Since DNA shows that the biological characteristics of a human being are present from fertilization/conception, the position of delayed ensoulment (as taught by St. Thomas and the Catechism of Trent) is generally rejected by the pro-life movement in our day.

The 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia admits that by the early 20th century, many theologians had come to reject the opinion of St. Thomas on when the rational soul is infused into the embryo. Since the Catechism of Trent expressed the same view, they necessarily contradicted its teaching on that point as well.

The 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia article on “Soul” explains: “St. Thomas’s doctrine is … In the first stage of embryonic development, the vital principle has merely vegetative powers; then a sensitive soul comes into being, educed from the evolving potencies of the organism — later yet, this is replaced by the perfect rational soul, which is essentially immaterial and so postulates a special creative act. Many modern theologians have abandoned this last point of St. Thomas's teaching, and maintain that a fully rational soul is infused into the embryo at the first moment of its existence.”

Anyone who cites the Catechism of Trent as if it’s infallible in every paragraph should be asked the following question: do you agree with its teaching that the embryo is not a human being from the moment of fertilization or conception? Even if one holds that the embryo is not human until weeks or months after fertilization/conception, there’s a problem with the Catechism’s paragraph on this point. It’s that when speaking of the human body, the Catechism says that the “rational soul is united to the body only after a certain lapse of time.” That means that, according to the Catechism, a human body can exist for weeks before a soul is infused. That’s not correct. It’s a defined dogma that the rational soul is the form of the human body. This was defined by the Council of Vienne.

Pope Clement V, Council of Vienne, Decree #1, 1311-1312: “In order that all may know the truth of the faith in its purity and all error may be excluded, we define that anyone who presumes henceforth to assert, defend or hold stubbornly that the rational or intellectual soul is not the form of the human body of itself and essentially, is to be considered a heretic.”

This dogma means that the rational soul is what makes the human body what it is. Since the soul is the form of the human body, there cannot be a true living human body that does not have a true rational soul infused into it. Yet, the Catechism indicates that the human body exists for a certain period of time prior to the infusion of the rational soul. That’s not correct. The human body cannot exist until there is a rational soul. Prior to the infusion of the rational soul, the embryo would not be a human body, but a plant or animal body containing a plant or animal soul. Thus, the articulation of the Catechism on this point is simply wrong. It’s another example of how its teaching is not infallible in every paragraph. A human body cannot exist for a period of time prior to the infusion of the rational soul.

THE KEY DISTINCTION THAT IS OVERLOOKED BY SUPPORTERS OF “BAPTISM OF DESIRE”: NOT EVERYTHING IN THE CATECHISM IS IDENTIFIED AS PART OF THE BODY OF DOCTRINE TO BE COMMUNICATED TO THE FAITHFUL – ONLY CERTAIN THINGS ARE

Very few people who comment on the Catechism of Trent (and its teaching of Baptism) have actually read or studied the entire Catechism. When you actually read or study the entire Catechism of Trent, you recognize that it’s written and formulated in such a way that ONLY CERTAIN POINTS OF DOCTRINE are specified by the Catechism as points of doctrine that can, must or should be communicated by pastors to the faithful. Let me repeat that: ONLY CERTAIN POINTS OF DOCTRINE are specified by the Catechism as matters that can, must or should be communicated by pastors to the faithful. Not everything in the Catechism is to be communicated to the faithful.

To put it another way: the Catechism of Trent is a manual for parish priests. It’s over 500 pages long in a common English version. Those 500-plus pages contain a great deal of information, but only certain points in the Catechism are specified as what the pastors are necessarily to teach and say to the faithful. There are many things in the Catechism that don’t fall into that category.

PROOF THAT NOT EVERYTHING IN THE CATECHISM WAS TO BE PASSED ALONG TO THE FAITHFUL

Here are just a few quotes which prove that not everything in the Catechism of Trent was part of the body of doctrine that can, must or should be communicated to the faithful. I could give dozens of other examples.

Catechism of Trent, “Suffered under Pontius Pilate”: “Furthermore, the pastor should not omit the historical part of this Article, which has been so carefully set forth by the holy Evangelists…”

Here we see the Catechism informing the pastor that he should not omit this particular point. That’s because within the vast amount of information in the Catechism, there are things in the Catechism that the pastor could omit. Not every line or paragraph in the Catechism is to be communicated to the faithful.

Catechism of Trent, on Taking God’s name in vain: “The above observation should strongly convince the pastor that on this point it is not enough to speak in general terms…”

Here the Catechism is confirming that there are certain things that must be said to the faithful. Certain things cannot be passed over. But not everything in the Catechism necessarily falls into that category. The sentence above would of course make no sense if everything in the Catechism were automatically intended for the faithful or to be given to the faithful.

Catechism of Trent, on “Life Everlasting”: “The faithful, therefore, are to be informed that the words, life everlasting, signify not only continuance of existence…”

Here again it’s identifying a point that is to be communicated to the faithful, but not everything in the Catechism falls into that category.

Catechism of Trent, Opening Words of the Lord’s Prayer, on Angels “The pastor need do no more than depict the Angel lighting up the darkness of the prison, touching Peter's side and awakening him from his sleep.”

Here again we see that not everything in the Catechism needs to be passed along to the faithful.

MORE PROOF THAT ONLY CERTAIN THINGS IN THE CATECHISM WERE SPECIFED AS POINTS TO BE TAUGHT TO THE FAITHFUL; OTHER THINGS CAN BE OMITTED

Catechism of Trent, on the Eucharist: “It must be taught, then, that to priests alone has been given power to consecrate and administer to the faithful, the Holy Eucharist.”

Catechism of Trent, “Deliver us from Evil,”: “It cannot be necessary to remind the faithful of the numerous evils and calamities to which we are exposed…”

Catechism of Trent, “on the forgiveness of sins”: “On this point of doctrine, then, it is the duty of the pastor to teach that, not only is forgiveness of sins to be found in the Catholic Church...”

Catechism of Trent, on Indissolubility: “The pastor should not here omit the salutary admonition of St. Augustine…”

Catechism of Trent, on the Creed, “Almighty”: “The pastor should point out the propriety and wisdom of having omitted all other names of God in the Creed, and of having proposed to us only that of Almighty as the object of our belief.”

Catechism of Trent, on the Effects of the Eucharist: “As, however, no language can convey an adequate idea of its utility and fruits, pastors must be content to treat of one or two points…”

This clearly shows that only certain things in the Catechism will be passed along to the faithful.

Catechism of Trent, Article II: “Wherefore, the pastor should not omit to remind the faithful that the guilt and punishment of original sin were not confined to Adam…”

Catechism of Trent, On the Creed, “On the Trinity”: “… let the pastor teach that the terms nature and person used to express this mystery should be most scrupulously retained; and let the faithful know that unity belongs to essence, and distinction to persons.”

Catechism of Trent, “Thy Will Be Done,” “Though the faithful are not to be left in ignorance of the import of this Petition, yet in this connection many questions concerning the will of God may be passed over which are discussed at great length and with much utility by scholastic doctors.”

The facts above establish without any doubt that within the Catechism of Trent’s 500-plus pages of information, only certain points of doctrine are identified by the Catechism as part of the body of doctrine that can, must or should be communicated to the faithful. That’s how the Catechism is written and set up. Many other examples could be given to further prove the point. The Catechism is telling the pastors that you need to tell them this; you must not forget that; you should not omit this; but it’s not necessary to say this; etc. It makes these statements throughout the entire Catechism because not everything in the Catechism is for the faithful. It’s information given to the parish priest. Only certain portions of that information are identified as what must or should be inculcated by the pastors.

ACCORDING TO THE CATECHISM OF TRENT, OUR POSITION ON BAPTISM IS THE TEACHING OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND IS WHAT MUST BE COMMUNICATED TO THE FAITHFUL, NOT “BAPTISM OF DESIRE”

When we consult the Catechism’s teaching on Baptism, guess what we find? The one paragraph that supporters of “baptism of desire” cite is NOT specified or identified as the doctrine that the pastors are to teach to the faithful. There is nothing in it which specifies that what it says there is to be taught to the faithful. Rather, it is simply information (fallible and inaccurate information) given to the parish priests. Yes, it’s possible that within the Catechism’s hundreds of paragraphs, there can be found some inaccurate information and certain fallible opinions of men. But the official teaching the Catechism specifies as what the faithful are to be taught is reflective of sound Catholic truth, as we will see.

The doctrine on Baptism, which the Catechism does specify and single out as the doctrine on Baptism to be communicated to all the faithful, is precisely the opposite of “baptism of desire.” It is that no one can enter Heaven without being born again of water and the Spirit in the Sacrament of Baptism, and that no one can be inside the Catholic Church without having received the Sacrament of Baptism. That’s what the Catechism says pastors are to teach the faithful.

WHEN YOU CONSULT THESE QUOTES, NOTICE THAT THERE IS A SPECIFIC MENTION OF HOW THIS IS THE DOCTRINE PASTORS ARE TO TEACH THE FAITHFUL

Catechism of the Council of Trent, “Matter of Baptism - Fitness,” p. 165: “Upon this subject pastors can teach in the first place that water, which is always at hand and within the reach of all, was the fittest matter of a Sacrament which is necessary to all for salvation.”

According to the Catechism, what is to be communicated to the faithful by pastors is that the Sacrament of Baptism is necessary to all for salvation. It even emphasizes that no one can be saved without water baptism by stating: “water, which is always at hand and within the reach of all”. That contradicts “baptism of desire.” “Baptism of desire” is not a sacrament, as its supporters admit. It is based on the idea that water is not “within the reach of all.” Yet, the Catechism says that what pastors can teach is that the Sacrament is necessary to all for salvation. That is what the Catholic Church has always taught and what the dogmatic teaching of the Church declares. The official teaching of the Catechism, to be passed along to the faithful, is not “baptism of desire” but contrary to it. Here’s another example.

Catechism of the Council of Trent, “On Baptism – Necessity of Baptism,” pp. 176-177: “If the knowledge of what has been hitherto explained be, as it is, of highest importance to the faithful, it is no less important to them to learn that THE LAW OF BAPTISM, AS ESTABLISHED BY OUR LORD, EXTENDS TO ALL, so that unless they are regenerated to God through the grace of Baptism, be their parents Christians or infidels, they are born to eternal misery and destruction. Pastors, therefore, should often explain these words of the Gospel: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (Jn. 3:5).”

Notice the references to “it is no less important to them to learn”, and “Pastors, therefore, should…” Again, we see that this is the doctrine pastors are to teach. In this paragraph the Catechism of Trent officially teaches that the law of Baptism applies to all. It also declares that unless people are regenerated through water baptism they go to destruction, as Jesus taught in John 3:5.

According to the Catechism, this is what pastors are to communicate to the faithful. This is the dogmatic teaching of the Church. It’s the only thing we ever find in any infallible pronouncement. Those who teach that it’s possible to be saved without water baptism are contradicting what the Catechism says pastors are to teach. Let’s look at another example.

Catechism of the Council of Trent, “Baptism made obligatory after Christ’s Resurrection,” p. 171: “Holy writers are unanimous in saying that after the Resurrection of our Lord, when He gave His Apostles the command to go and teach all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, the law of Baptism became obligatory on all who were to be saved… Hence we can have no doubt that the words of the Saviour: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, refer also to the same time which was to follow after His Passion. If, then, pastors explain these truths accurately, there can be no doubt that the faithful will recognize the high dignity of this Sacrament.”

Here the Catechism states that holy writers are unanimous in teaching that after the Resurrection, the law of Baptism became obligatory on all; and that, after that time, no one can enter Heaven without being born again of water and the Spirit, as Jesus taught in John 3:5. That completely refutes the argument supporters of “baptism of desire” base on the alleged authority of a consensus among theologians; for it declares that all theologians (even those who did not remain consistent with themselves on this issue) articulated a position which contradicts “baptism of desire”: i.e., that no one can enter Heaven without water baptism, based on John 3:5. That is the position Catholic writers have unanimously taught.

According to the Catechism, the doctrine to be communicated by pastors to the faithful is the position that after the Resurrection, no one enters Heaven without rebirth of water and the Holy Ghost.

It is absolutely true that the official teaching of the Catechism of Trent, to be communicated to the faithful, is not “baptism of desire” but contrary to it. And there’s more.

THE CATECHISM ALSO SAYS PASTORS ARE TO TEACH THAT ALL IN THE CHURCH ARE “MEMBERS”; THAT ALL ARE PART OF THE “BODY”; AND THAT ALL HAVE BEEN REGENERATED IN THE “SACRAMENT”

This passage is of particular interest; for in it the Catechism identifies the true teaching, WHICH PASTORS MUST COMMUNICATE AND PASS ALONG TO THE FAITHFUL, as:

• All in the Church are “members”;
• All in the Church are part of the “Body”;
• All in the Church have been regenerated in the same sacrament of faith/baptism.

All these points contradict the false theory of “baptism of desire” and the position of all its defenders. Proponents of “baptism of desire” claim that people can be inside the Church without being “members”; that people can be in the soul of the Church without being in the “Body”; and, most importantly for this point, that people can be inside the Church without having received THE SACRAMENT. The Catechism of Trent contradicts them on all three points and says that the following position is what pastors are to teach.

Catechism of Trent, on the  “Our Father,” p. 510: “There is but one God, the Father and Lord of all; and consequently we have all the same nobility of spiritual birth, all the same dignity, all the same glory of race; for all have been regenerated by the same Spirit through the same Sacrament of faith, and have been made children of God and co-heirs to the same inheritance. The wealthy and great have not one Christ for their God; the poor and lowly, another; they are not initiated by different Sacraments; nor can they expect a different inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. We are all brethren and, as the Apostle says in his Epistle to the Ephesians: We are members of Christ’s body [Ephesians 5:30], of his flesh and of his bones. This is a truth which the same Apostle thus expresses in his Epistle to the Galatians: You are the children of God, by faith in Jesus Christ; for as many of you as have been baptised in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Greek nor Jew, neither bond nor free, neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Now this is a point which calls for accuracy on the part of the pastor of souls, and one on which he should purposely dwell at considerable length; for it is a subject that is calculated both to strengthen and animate the poor and lowly…”

Therefore, it is contrary to the official teaching of the Catechism – which it says is to be passed along to the faithful – to assert that people can be inside the Catholic Church without the Sacrament of Baptism. People who teach “baptism of desire,” therefore, do not pass along what the Catechism says is to be passed along to the faithful.

THUS, WHEN SUBSEQUENT PAPAL STATEMENTS ENCOURAGE OR APPROVE CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION BASED ON THE CATECHISM OF TRENT, THAT DOESN’T FAVOR “BAPTISM OF DESIRE”, BUT CONTRADICTS IT

The points covered above concern the key distinction on this matter: what the Catechism says is to be passed along to the faithful. These points become especially relevant when considering papal statements made about the Catechism. For example, defenders of “baptism of desire” (who typically ignore the arguments which refute their position) assert that papal statements after Trent approved or encouraged catechetical instruction based on the Catechism of Trent.

In his encyclical Acerbo Nimis, Pope Pius X stated the following.

Pope Pius X, Acerbo Nimis (#24), April 15, 1905: “The catechetical instruction shall be based on the Catechism of the Council of Trent; and the matter is to be divided in such a way that in the space of four or five years, treatment will be given to the Apostles' Creed, the Sacraments, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer and the Precepts of the Church.”

Yes, and what does the Catechism of Trent state is to be communicated to the faithful on Baptism? As proven above, the teaching of the Catechism of Trent, identified as the doctrine to be communicated to the faithful, is:

1) The Sacrament of Baptism, administered in water, which is within the reach of all, is necessary to all for salvation;

2) The law of Baptism extends to all, so that unless people are regenerated through water and the Spirit in the Sacrament, as Jesus says, they go to destruction;

3) Holy writers are unanimous in teaching that after the Resurrection the law of Baptism became obligatory on all who were to be saved; so that unless they are reborn of water and the Spirit, as Jesus says, they cannot enter the Kingdom of God;

4) All people in the Church have been regenerated in the same “sacrament”.

These are the points pastors are to teach on Baptism. If pastors follow the official teaching of the Catechism, they contradict “baptism of desire.” The one paragraph cited in the objection, which expresses the idea that someone can be saved by a desire for baptism, was NOT one of the points of doctrine the Catechism says is to be communicated to the faithful. It’s also filled with problems, as we will see.

“BAPTISM OF DESIRE” ADVOCATES ARE ALSO WRONG ABOUT POPE CLEMENT XIII'S ENCYCLICAL IN DOMINICO AGRO

In an argument that’s similar to the one that concerns Acerbo Nimis, BOD advocates will sometimes cite Pope Clement XIII’s encyclical In Dominico Agro.

Pope Clement XIII, In Dominico Agro (#4), June 14, 1761: “As our predecessors understood that that holy meeting of the universal Church was so prudent in judgment and so moderate that it abstained from condemning ideas which authorities among Church scholars supported, they wanted another work prepared with the agreement of that holy council which would cover the entire teaching which the faithful should know and which would be far removed from any error. They printed and distributed this book under the title of The Roman Catechism. In it they compiled the teaching which is common to the whole Church and which is far removed from every danger of error, and they proposed to transmit it openly to the faithful in very eloquent words according to the precept of Christ the Lord who told the apostles to proclaim in the light what He had said in the dark and to proclaim from the rooftops what they heard in secret.”

Clement XIII says that the Council of Trent “wanted” a Catechism “which would cover the entire teaching which the faithful should know and which would be far removed from any error.” Supporters of BOD argue that this supports the claim that “baptism of desire” is infallible. They are quite wrong.

First, Clement refers to “the entire teaching which the faithful should know”. As established above, “baptism of desire” is not part of the teaching the Catechism says “the faithful should know.” That’s the key point. Hence, the premise of the argument advanced by supporters of BOD is false. “Baptism of desire” is simply not the official teaching of the Catechism which it says is to be passed along to the faithful. The importance of what the Catechism says is to be “communicated to the faithful” is also clear from his next paragraph.

Pope Clement XIII, In Dominico Agro (#5), June 14, 1761: “Therefore, in case the Church should be deceived and wander after the flocks of the companions who are themselves wanderers and unsettled with no certainty of truth, who are always learning but never arriving at the knowledge of truth, they proposed that only what is necessary and very useful for salvation be clearly and plainly explained in the Roman Catechism and communicated to the faithful.”

As proven above, the only teaching on Baptism which the Catechism of Trent says pastors are to communicate to the faithful is:

Catechism of the Council of Trent, “Matter of Baptism - Fitness,” p. 165: “Upon this subject pastors can teach in the first place that water, which is always at hand and within the reach of all, was the fittest matter of a Sacrament which is necessary to all for salvation.”

And this:

Catechism of the Council of Trent, “On Baptism – Necessity of Baptism,” pp. 176-177: “If the knowledge of what has been hitherto explained be, as it is, of highest importance to the faithful, it is no less important to them to learn that THE LAW OF BAPTISM, AS ESTABLISHED BY OUR LORD, EXTENDS TO ALL, so that unless they are regenerated to God through the grace of Baptism, be their parents Christians or infidels, they are born to eternal misery and destruction. Pastors, therefore, should often explain these words of the Gospel: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (Jn. 3:5).”

And this:

Catechism of the Council of Trent, “Baptism made obligatory after Christ’s Resurrection,” p. 171: “Holy writers are unanimous in saying that after the Resurrection of our Lord, when He gave His Apostles the command to go and teach all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, the law of Baptism became obligatory on all who were to be saved… Hence we can have no doubt that the words of the Saviour: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, refer also to the same time which was to follow after His Passion. If, then, pastors explain these truths accurately, there can be no doubt that the faithful will recognise the high dignity of this Sacrament.”

And this:

Catechism of Trent, on the ‘Our Father,’ p. 510: “… we have all the same nobility of spiritual birth, all the same dignity, all the same glory of race; for all have been regenerated by the same Spirit through the same Sacrament of faith, and have been made children of God and co-heirs to the same inheritance… Now this is a point which calls for accuracy on the part of the pastor of souls, and one on which he should purposely dwell at considerable length; for it is a subject that is calculated both to strengthen and animate the poor and lowly…”

Second, Clement states that in the Catechism, “they compiled the teaching which is common to the whole Church and which is far removed from any error.” The Catechism contains many points of doctrine that constitute the teaching common to the whole Church. That teaching is far removed from error. That doesn’t mean that every paragraph in the 500-plus pages of information falls into that category. Indeed, as we will see, similar things were stated about St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae. Yet, supporters of “baptism of desire” must concede that the Summa contains some errors (e.g., the error on the Immaculate Conception).

So, Clement XIII’s encyclical does not provide any support for the false doctrine of “baptism of desire.” Rather, it highlights the key distinction explained above: what’s crucial in considering the Catechism’s teaching are the parts it identifies as what must be “communicated to the faithful.” That position is that no one can be saved without water baptism.

POPES RECOMMENDED ST. THOMAS’ SUMMA THEOLOGIAE IN THE SAME WAY THEY RECOMMENDED THE CATECHISM OF TRENT

In his Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas taught that Mary was not immaculately conceived. Here’s the proof.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS’ SUMMA THEOLOGIAE CONTAINS BLATANT ERROR ON THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae Pt. III, Q. 27, A. 2, Reply to Objection 2: “If the soul of the Blessed Virgin had never incurred the stain of original sin, this would be derogatory to the dignity of Christ, by reason of His being the universal Savior of all.”

Even though the teaching of the Summa Theologiae contradicts the truth about the Immaculate Conception, it was approved and recommended by numerous popes. It was also placed on the altar at the Council of Trent. How could popes repeatedly approve and recommend a book that contains such a blatantly false teaching on the Immaculate Conception? Does that mean that they were approving, recommending and using a “heretical” book? No. That’s because in substance (on the whole) the teaching of the Summa Theologiae is Catholic and sound, even though there are a few points or paragraphs that aren’t correct. The papal approval does not mean that St. Thomas taught infallibly or correctly in every paragraph of the Summa Theologiae, but rather that his teaching in the book in general is Catholic. Moreover, everything in it must be subjected to proclamations of greater weight.

In response to these points about the Summa, one supporter of “baptism of desire” – a man I debated once, but who backed out of a subsequent debate because he knew he couldn’t defend his position – made the following argument: well, St. Thomas made his error on the Immaculate Conception before the Immaculate Conception was defined as a dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Therefore, his error on that point in the Summa Theologiae is irrelevant.

That argument is, one must say, pathetic. The doctrine St. Thomas put forward in the Summa Theologiae on the Immaculate Conception is FALSE. If the approbation given to a book by pope after pope after pope necessarily means that the Magisterium endorses the teaching of that book as true in every paragraph, that principle would have held true throughout all of Church history. Therefore, by repeatedly approving and recommending his book, the Magisterium would have been endorsing as correct St. Thomas’ false teaching on the Immaculate Conception, even before it was solemnly defined in 1854. But we know the Magisterium did not endorse that false view. That proves that popes can repeatedly approve, utilize and recommend a book as Catholic, even though the book contains certain points or paragraphs that are wrong and should not be followed. Their approval for the book is legitimate because the book’s teaching in general is Catholic, even though it might contain some errors or false ideas.

Furthermore, the aforementioned argument is obliterated by the fact that popes gave the same kind of approval and recommendation to the Summa Theologiae after the Immaculate Conception was defined in 1854! Here are a few examples.

POPES ALSO APPROVED THE SUMMA THEOLOGIAE WITHOUT QUALIFICATION AFTER 1854

In his 1899 document Depuis le jour, Pope Leo XIII praises and recommends the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas in the same way that he recommends the Catechism of Trent.

Pope Leo XIII, Depuis le jour (#’s 22-23), Sept. 8, 1899: “Is it necessary to add that the book par excellence in which students may with most profit study scholastic theology is the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas? It is our wish, therefore, that professors be sure to explain to all their pupils its method, as well as the principal articles relating to Catholic faith.

We recommend equally that all seminarians have in their hands, and frequently peruse, that golden book known as the Catechism of the Council of Trent, or Roman Catechism, dedicated to all priests invested with the pastoral office (Catechismus ad Parochos). Noted both for the abundance and accuracy of its teaching and for elegance of style, this catechism is a precious summary of the whole of theology, dogmatic and moral.”

Well, does the Summa Theologiae have heresy? After 1854 – and Pope Leo XIII published Depuis le jour in 1899 – St. Thomas’ view on the Immaculate Conception would not only be erroneous, but heretical.

So, what exactly does Pope Leo XIII’s praise for (and approval of) the Summa Theologiae mean? Does it mean that every paragraph or article in the Summa is infallible or can be followed? No. It means that in general the book is Catholic. It does not mean that of the thousands of paragraphs, there aren’t a few that are wrong or less than perfectly in accord with Catholic doctrine. In the same way, the Catechism of Trent in general is sound; but that doesn’t mean that in the over 500 pages of information, there isn’t one or a few paragraphs that are incorrect. And, as I’ve proven, the official teaching of the Catechism, which it says is to be communicated to the faithful, is absolutely correct. It is that no one can be saved without the Sacrament of Baptism; and that no one can be in the Church without the Sacrament of Baptism.

Here are some more examples of emphatic papal approval for the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas. Yet, this approval does not demonstrate that his teaching was correct or can be followed in every case.

Pope St. Pius V said St. Thomas was “the most certain rule of Christian doctrine by which he enlightened the Apostolic Church in answering conclusively numberless errors… which illumination has often been evident in the past and recently stood forth prominently in the decrees of the Council of Trent.”

So, Pius V says that he’s “the most certain rule”; yet, there are points of the teaching of St. Thomas that CANNOT be held by a Catholic.

Pope Leo XIII, Aeterni Patris, August 4, 1879:“But the chief and special glory of Thomas, one which he has shared with none of the Catholic Doctors, is that the Fathers of Trent made it part of the order of conclave to lay upon the altar, together with sacred Scripture and the decrees of the supreme Pontiffs, the Summa of Thomas Aquinas, whence to seek counsel, reason, and inspiration.”

Pope Benedict XIII wrote to the Order of Preachers that they should “pursue with energy your Doctor’s works, more brilliant than the sun and written without the shadow of error. These works made the Church illustrious with wonderful erudition, since they march ahead and proceed with unimpeded step, protecting and vindicating by the surest rule of Christian doctrine, the truth of our holy religion.”

Pope Benedict XV stated that “the eminent commendations of Thomas Aquinas by the Holy See no longer permit a Catholic to doubt that he was divinely raised up that the Church might have a master whose doctrine should be followed in a special way at all times.”

The BOD heretics do not understand Catholic teaching. They approach both magisterial teaching and dogmatic teaching from a man-centered perspective, rather than from a God-centered one. Faced with the facts above, their principles would force them to reason thus: since popes repeatedly approved St. Thomas and the Summa Theologiae, both before and after 1854, his teaching on the Immaculate Conception is consistent with the definition of the Immaculate Conception.

But that would be a disastrous conclusion. His teaching on the Immaculate Conception is not consistent with Ineffabilis Deus of Pope Pius IX. The approbation popes gave to the Summa Theologiae and to his work was a general one. It doesn’t mean that everything he taught is correct. None of the statements which approved his work were infallible declarations that everything in the Summa Theologiae or the teaching of St. Thomas is correct. The same is true of the Catechism of Trent. It would be possible for a pope to issue an infallible declaration that a particular work is absolutely and completely correct in every part, but no such declaration was made about the Summa Theologiae or the Catechism of Trent.

POPE PIUS X ALSO IMPOSED THE USE OF THE SUMMA THEOLOGIAE ON HIGHER SCHOOLS IN ITALY, WITHOUT CORRECTING ITS FALSE TEACHING ON THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

“Shortly before his death, viz., in June, 1914, Pope Pius X issued a document imposing the obligation of using the Summa of St. Thomas as the text-book in all higher schools in Italy and the adjacent islands which enjoyed the privilege of conferring academic degrees in theology.” (Daniel Joseph Kennedy, the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, II. Specimen Pages from the Summa, pp. 3-4.)

How could Pope Pius X impose the obligation of using the Summa as the text-book in 1914, when St. Thomas teaches contrary to the Immaculate Conception in the Summa? Pope Pius X never ordered the Summa’s error on the Immaculate Conception to be expunged. In fact, when approving or recommending the Summa, none of the popes bothered to correct St. Thomas’ mistake on the Immaculate Conception. So, how is it possible that they approved and recommended it? It’s possible because they gave it a general approbation. They didn’t issue an infallible declaration that everything in it is correct.

These facts completely refute the argument advanced by supporters of “baptism of desire,” according to which a papal recommendation or approval of the Catechism of Trent necessarily means that everything in it is correct. They are totally wrong.

THEY TRUST IN MAN RATHER THAN IN GOD AND THE OFFICE OF THE PAPACY

There’s an interesting dynamic at work when obstinate supporters of “baptism of desire” approach these matters. While their rhetoric might give the appearance of devotion to Catholic teaching, it’s simply a deception. Their alleged devotion to selective passages in a catechism or in the teaching of a theologian does not spring from belief in the teaching of the Catholic Church. It is, rather, purely the product of their trust in man. They simply cannot bring themselves to believe that a book or work used or produced by men they admire was not corrected in every possible way by those men. They have the utmost confidence in man and in his fallible works, even though the Church does not teach that God always protects men in such works. And while they have such confidence in the fallible teaching and actions of men, they lack a similar belief in the infallibly-protected teachings of God and His Church. They are devoid of supernatural faith in God and a real belief in papal infallibility as a charism given uniquely to St. Peter and his successors. Their approach is a clear mark of bad will.

Jeremiah 17:5- “Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.”

If the obstinate proponents of “baptism of desire” believed in God, they would focus on what the Magisterium clearly teaches. They would adhere to what the infallibly-protected proclamations of God’s Church directly proclaim on the matter. The papacy and the dogmas unerringly define the rule of Catholic faith.  The rule of faith is not decided by theologians or fallible books.

If they had fidelity to papal teaching, they would then see that the Magisterium has never taught “baptism of desire”, or that anyone can be saved without the Catholic faith, or that anyone can be saved without actual membership in the Church. They would realize that while God protects every inch and paragraph of such proclamations, the same protection is not granted to every paragraph of the teaching of catechisms, theologians, etc. Men can be mistaken and overlook things in a book, as the facts about the Summa Theologiae prove. The teachings of the Chair of St. Peter cannot be mistaken, and that protection was not granted to everyone.

To ignore that the promise of infallibility was uniquely given to St. Peter and his successors, and not to other members of the Church (see Luke 22:31-32), is to fail to understand the very foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ upon St. Peter.

THE NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WITH THE ONE PARAGRAPH IN THE CATECHISM OF TRENT THAT “BAPTISM OF DESIRE” ADVOCATES CITE

Let’s now consider the numerous problems in the one paragraph in the Catechism typically cited by supporters of “baptism of desire.” The paragraph is completely inaccurate and contains numerous errors. It is actually a theological travesty: an editor who inserted his own opinion into the text and fell into numerous errors as a result.

Catechism of the Council of Trent, “Ordinarily They Are Not Baptized At Once,” p. 179: “But though these things may be thus, nevertheless to this class [or kind] of men [persons], the Church has not been accustomed to give the Sacrament of Baptism at once, but has arranged that it should be deferred to a fixed time. Nor does this delay have connected with it the danger, as indeed threatens in the case of children, as stated above; for those who are endowed with the use of reason, the design and plan of receiving Baptism, and repentance for a badly led life, would be sufficient to grace and justification, if some unexpected event hinders so that they are unable to be washed by the saving water. On the contrary, this delay is seen to carry with it certain advantages.”

First, this paragraph is not infallible. It is contrary to the dogmatic teaching of the Church on the necessity of rebirth of water and the Spirit. It is also contrary to the official teaching of the Catechism on Baptism, as explained above.

Second, and this is key, the paragraph doesn’t state anywhere (nor does the lead up to the paragraph) that what is articulated here is to be passed along to the faithful. The above paragraph is thus not the teaching on Baptism which the Catechism identifies as the doctrine to be taught to the faithful. It is, rather, an explanation for the priests for why Baptism is delayed in the case of adults. The explanation is wrong, as I will definitely prove by citing much more authoritative papal teaching which contradicts it on precisely the same issue. But herein we find the key distinction: the Catechism can indeed err in an explanation it gives to the parish priests; but its official teaching of Baptism, which it says is the doctrine to be taught to the faithful, is correct. Its official teaching on Baptism, which it says is to be passed along to the faithful, is that no one can be saved without the Sacrament of Baptism.

Catechism of the Council of Trent, “Matter of Baptism - Fitness,” p. 165: “Upon this subject pastors can teach in the first place that water, which is always at hand and within the reach of all, was the fittest matter of a Sacrament which is necessary to all for salvation.”

Third, the aforementioned paragraph states that some “unexpected event” can make it impossible for someone to receive the saving water. The notion that there are “unexpected events” that can make it impossible for someone to receive Baptism is contrary to Catholic teaching and God’s providence.

Pope Pius IX, Vatican Council I, Sess. 3, Chap. 1, On God the creator of all things: “EVERYTHING THAT GOD HAS BROUGHT INTO BEING HE PROTECTS AND GOVERNS BY HIS PROVIDENCE, which reaches from one end of the earth to the other and orders all things well. All things are open and laid bare before His eyes, even those which will be brought about by the free activity of creatures.”

Pope Paul III, Council of Trent, Session 6, Chap. 11 on Justification, ex cathedra: “... no one should make use of that rash statement forbidden under anathema by the Fathers, that the commandments of God are impossible to observe for a man who is justified. FOR GOD DOES NOT COMMAND IMPOSSIBILITIES, but by commanding admonishes you both to do what you can do, and to pray for what you cannot do…”

It’s not a surprise that the Catechism makes the aforementioned error when attempting to explain the idea of “baptism of desire.” When people articulate or defend a false doctrine, they will always be inconsistent and make numerous mistakes. In fact, the Catechism’s teaching on “unexpected” events making it impossible to receive Baptism contradicts its own teaching.

Catechism of Trent, on Transubstantiation: “The pastor should remember first of all to prepare and fortify his hearers by reminding them that no word shall be impossible with God.”

Fourth, it should also be noted that the aforementioned passage states that the person must have a “design and plan of receiving Baptism” to be saved. None of the modern-day defenders of “baptism of desire” believe that one must have a design of receiving Baptism to be saved. They believe that pagans, Jews, Muslims, etc. can be saved without the Catholic faith, belief in Christ or a design of receiving Baptism.

THE CATECHISM’S PARAGRAPH ON THE DELAY IN BAPTIZING ADULT CONVERTS IS DEFINITIVELY REFUTED BY THE HIGHEST TEACHING OF THE APOSTOLIC SEE ON THE EXACT SAME ISSUE

Fifth, the Catechism’s information about the “delay” in baptizing adult converts is completely and totally wrong. It is contradicted and refuted by the teaching of numerous popes in authoritative documents of the Apostolic See. The Catechism claims that the baptism of adults can be delayed because they can be saved without the saving font, by the design and plan to receive Baptism. Yet, the Church teaches exactly the opposite.

In A.D. 385 Pope St. Siricius issued a Decree to Himerius. It is the oldest surviving papal decree in history. The Decree to Himerius is promulgated with Siricius’ full papal authority. In it he repeatedly invokes the highest authority of the office of St. Peter. He states that his Decree is binding upon all the churches, all the bishops and all the priests. A decree on Church law cannot be any more authoritative than Pope St. Siricius’ Decree to Himerius. Here’s what he says.

Pope St. Siricius, Decree to Himerius, A.D. 385:

LATIN: “Sicut sacram ergo paschalem reverentiam in nullo dicimus esse minuendam, ita infantibus qui necdum loqui poterunt per aetatem vel his, quibus in qualibet necessitate opus fuerit sacra unda baptismatis, omni volumus celeritate succurri, ne ad nostrarum perniciem tendat animarum, si negato desiderantibus fonte salutari exiens unusquisque de saeculo et regnum perdat et vitam.”

“Therefore just as we say that the holy paschal observance is in no way to be diminished, we also say that to infants who will not yet be able to speak on account of their age or to those who in any necessity will need the holy stream of baptism, we wish succor to be brought with all celerity, lest it should tend to the perdition of our souls if the saving font be denied to those desiring it and every single one of them exiting this world lose both the Kingdom and life.”

“Quicumque etiam discrimen naufragii, hostilitatis incursum, obsidionis ambiguum vel cuiuslibet corporalis aegritudinis desperationem inciderint, et sibi unico credulitatis auxilio poposcerint subveniri, eodem quo poscunt momento temporis expetitae regenerationis praemia consequantur. Hactenus erratum in hac parte sufficiat; nunc praefatam regulam omnes teneant sacerdotes, qui nolunt ab apostolicae petrae, super quam Christus universalem construxit Ecclesiam, soliditate divelli.”

“Whoever should fall into the peril of shipwreck, the incursion of an enemy, the uncertainty of a siege or the desperation of any bodily sickness, and should beg to be relieved by the unique help of faith, let them obtain the rewards of the much sought-after regeneration in the same moment of time in which they beg for it. Let the previous error in this matter be enough; [but] now let all priests maintain the aforesaid rule, who do not want to be torn from the solidity of the apostolic rock upon which Christ constructed His universal Church.”

As we can see, he authoritatively teaches that even if those adult catechumens who desired Baptism died before receiving it, they could not be saved. That completely and totally rejects the idea of “baptism of desire.” He also teaches that the Sacrament of Baptism is the only way for them to be saved, and that if there is any danger they should be baptized at once. Those who teach that people desiring water baptism can be saved without receiving it contradict the rule of Catholic faith. Those who teach that there is a way to be saved besides receiving the saving font of water baptism contradict the rule of Catholic faith.

As the Pope’s Decree proclaims, receiving water baptism is the unico credulitatis auxilio (the unique help of faith). Unico, which is a form of unicus, means unique, one-and-only, peerless, unparalleled. There can be no alternatives, no other kinds of baptism. According to the Catholic faith, receiving water baptism is the unique (the only) way to be saved, for infants, for those who desire it or happen to be in any kind of predicament, necessity, illness, etc. That’s the teaching of Pope St. Siricius.

In this very context, the Pope speaks about the custom of delaying adult baptisms until Paschal time. Paschal time is when the Resurrection is celebrated. Since Baptism is the rising from the state of condemnation to new life in Christ (see Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:3-4; etc.), it became customary to celebrate the baptism of adult converts at Paschal time, after the unbaptized catechumens had undergone a period of testing and instruction in preparation for the Christian life. As this decree and others clearly prove, the custom of delaying adult baptisms until Paschal time was not incompatible with the position – and the Church’s infallible teaching – that all those preparing for baptism would indeed be lost if they died before receiving it. No one can be saved without Baptism, as Jesus declared in John 3:5 and the Church infallibly teaches. God can and will keep good-willed and sincere souls alive until Baptism. He is in control.

The practice of baptizing adult converts at Paschal time – and the custom of an extended catechumenate – was a disciplinary one. It was not a requirement of Apostolic Tradition, as we see in Acts chapter 8. There we read that Philip baptized the Eunuch of Candace after a very brief discussion of the basics of the Christian faith.

So, while declaring that the holy Paschal observance is to be continued, Siricius adds that if these unbaptized catechumens find themselves in any necessity at all, they are to be baptized with all celerity, that is, with all swiftness or right away. He then explains why he’s insistent on this point. He declares that they must be baptized right away in any kind of necessity, “lest it should tend to the perdition of our souls if the saving font be denied to those desiring it and every single one of them exiting this world lose both the Kingdom and life.” The Pope teaches that all those who desire water baptism, but die without receiving, will not be saved. That refutes the idea of “baptism of desire.” For a full discussion of Siricius’ decree, and how it completely refutes “baptism of desire,” see our video on that matter: The Latin Text of the Oldest Surviving Papal Decree Rejects “Baptism of Desire”.

Pope St. Siricius’ Decree proves that the Catechism of Trent’s explanation for the delay in baptizing adult converts is simply wrong. It was not part of the official teaching the Catechism says is to be communicated to the faithful.

In the following two statements, Pope St. Leo the Great repeated, in very similar language, the same teaching that we find in the Decree of Siricius. Therefore, he also refutes “baptism of desire” and the Catechism of Trent’s erroneous paragraph.

Pope St. Leo the Great, Letter 166, Oct. 24, 458, #1: “For at the instance of certain brethren we have discovered that some of the prisoners of war, on their free return to their own homes, such to wit as went into captivity at an age when they could have no sure knowledge of anything, crave the healing waters of baptism, but in the ignorance of infancy cannot remember whether they have received the mystery and rites of baptism, and that therefore in this uncertainty of defective recollection their souls are brought into jeopardy, so long as under a show of caution they are denied a grace, which is withheld, because it is thought to have been bestowed.... Consequently the same things, which have come into our mind by the Divine inspiration, have received the assent and confirmation of a large number of the brethren. And so we are bound before all things to take heed lest, while we hold fast to a certain show of caution, we incur a loss of souls who are to be regenerated. For who is so given over to suspicions as to decide that to be true which without any evidence he suspects by mere guesswork? And so wherever the man himself who is anxious for the new birth does not recollect his baptism, and no one can bear witness about him being unaware of his consecration to God, there is no possibility for sin to creep in, seeing that, so far as their knowledge goes, neither the bestower or receiver of the consecration is guilty… And so, whenever such a case occurs, first sift it by careful investigation, and spend a considerable time, unless his last end is near, in inquiring whether there be absolutely no one who by his testimony can assist the other's ignorance. And when it is established that the man who requires the sacrament of baptism is prevented by a mere baseless suspicion, let him come boldly to obtain the grace, of which he is conscious of no trace in himself. Nor need we fear thus to open the door of salvation which has not been shown to have been entered before.”

Notice that in this passage he teaches that people who were to be regenerated (unbaptized catechumens) will lose their souls if they don’t receive water baptism. There is no “baptism of desire.” Receiving the Sacrament of Baptism is the only way to be saved. That’s the teaching of the Apostolic See. The quote below articulates the same position.

Pope St. Leo the Great, Letter 16, Oct. 21, 447, #6: “Wherefore, as it is quite clear that these two seasons [Easter and Pentecost] of which we have been speaking are the rightful ones for baptizing the chosen in Church, we admonish you, beloved, not to add other days to this observance. Because, although there are other festivals also to which much reverence is due in God's honour, yet we must rationally guard this principal and greatest sacrament as a deep mystery and not part of the ordinary routine: not, however, prohibiting the license to succor those who are in danger by administering baptism to them at any time. For while we put off the vows of those who are not pressed by ill health and live in peaceful security to those two closely connected and cognate festivals, we do not at any time refuse this which is the only safeguard of true salvation to anyone in peril of death, in the crisis of a siege, in the distress of persecution, in the terror of shipwreck.”

As we can see, receiving water baptism is the only way to be saved.

SUMMARY OF THE FALSE PARAGRAPH

So, for the following reasons, the Catechism of Trent’s one paragraph, which expresses the idea that one can be justified and saved by the design and plan to receive Baptism, does not demonstrate that the Church taught “baptism of desire”:

1) The paragraph was not even part of the official teaching of the Catechism to be passed along to the faithful, and it was not infallible;

2) It has improper theological terminology about unexpected events making it impossible for someone to reach Baptism;

3) It contradicts the express (and much more authoritative) teaching of the Apostolic See on the very same issue: the delay in baptizing adult converts (see Siricius and Leo the Great above);

4) It contradicts the dogmatic teaching of the Church and the declarations of the Apostolic See on the Sacrament of Baptism, and that no one desiring water baptism can be saved without it;

5) It contradicts its own official teaching.

Is it possible that within the Catechism’s 500-plus pages of information, there is some information given to the parish priests that is not correct? Yes, as proven above. That’s clearly the case with the aforementioned paragraph in the Catechism. Yet, in those points of doctrine which the Catechism says are to be passed along to the faithful, it faithfully represents the teaching of the Catholic Church. There it declares that the faithful are to be taught that no one can be saved or be in the Church without the Sacrament of Baptism.

God allows errors to be taught by fallible men and in fallible sources because, as Scripture teaches, there must be false doctrines.

1 Cor. 11:19: “For there must be also heresies: that they also, who are approved, may be manifest among you.”

Water baptism is the only way to be saved. That’s the dogmatic teaching of the Church.

Pope Clement V, The Council of Vienne, 1311-1312: “Besides, only one baptism regenerating all who are baptized in Christ must be faithfully confessed by all just as ‘one God and one faith’ [Eph. 4:5], which celebrated in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit we believe to be the perfect remedy for salvation for both adults and children.”

Whether infant or adult, God will keep any person of good will alive long enough to receive the Sacrament of Baptism.

St. Augustine, Against Julian, Book 5, Chap. 4: “Of the number of the elect and predestined, even those who have led the very worst kind of life are led to repentance through the goodness of God… Not one of them perishes, regardless of his age at death; never be it said that a man predestined to life would be permitted to end his life without the sacrament of the Mediator [Baptism]. Because of these men, our Lord says: ‘This is the will of him who sent me, the Father, that I should lose nothing of what he has given me.’”

THE CATECHISM OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT DEFERS TO THE COUNCIL OF FLORENCE’S DECREE EXULTATE DEO

To complete the refutation of this objection, it’s important to note that the Catechism of Trent repeatedly makes reference to the Council of Florence. In fact, it refers specifically to the Council of Florence’s bull Exultate Deo.

In these passages notice that the Catechism refers to the teaching of the bull Exultate Deo as a “definition” and that which “no one can doubt.” The Catechism of Trent thus defers to the teaching of the bull Exultate Deo and considers it infallible. The Catechism itself recognizes the teaching of Exultate Deo as having an authority that’s higher than its own.

Catechism of the Council of Trent, “Penance – the Necessity of Confession,” p. 282: “Justly, then, do those most holy men, our Fathers, proclaim, that by the keys of the Church the gate of Heaven is thrown open, a truth which no one can doubt since the Council of Florence has decreed that the effect of Penance is absolution from sin.”

The place where the Council of Florence “decreed” the effect of Penance was in the bull Exultate Deo.  Concerning that bull, the Catechism also states:

Catechism of Trent, on the Form of Baptism: “It appears, however, from the decision and definition of the Council of Florence [Exultate Deo], that those who use this form administer the Sacraments validly, because the words sufficiently express what is essential to the validity of Baptism, that is, the ablution which then takes place.”

And what teaching do we find in the bull Exultate Deo on the necessity of Baptism – the same teaching that’s found in every dogmatic and magisterial pronouncement on the issue? The teaching of the Council of Florence, to which the Catechism of Trent itself defers, is that no one can enter Heaven without the Sacrament of Baptism.

Pope Eugene IV, The Council of Florence, Exultate Deo, Nov. 22, 1439:“Holy baptism, which is the gateway to the spiritual life, holds the first place among all the sacraments; through it we are made members of Christ and of the body of the Church. And since death entered the universe through the first man, ‘unless we are born again of water and the Spirit, we cannot,’ as the Truth says, ‘enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5]. The matter of this sacrament is real and natural water.”

“Baptism of desire” is not consistent with that teaching.

ST. ALPHONSUS ALSO TEACHES THAT THE COUNCIL OF FLORENCE’S DECREE EXULTATE DEO HAS A GREATER AUTHORITY THAN THE CATECHISM OF TRENT, AND THAT ITS TEACHING CAN PROVE WHAT THE CATECHISM’S TEACHING CANNOT

It’s also very interesting that St. Alphonsus Liguori, in History of Heresies, refers to the teaching of the bull Exultate Deo. He gives the teaching of the Council of Florence in the bull Exultate Deo an authority higher than the Roman Catechism. Consider his words.

St. Alphonsus, History of Heresies, on Confirmation, #8: “However, it is more commonly held that balsam is necessary for the validity of the sacrament: this is taught by Bellarmine, Gonet, the author of the Theology of Perigord, by Concina, and others, along with St. Thomas and the Roman Catechism. It is proved from the Council of Florence, in which it was stated that the matter of confirmation is chrism, composed of oil and balsam [Decree to the Armenians, on the sacraments].”

Referring to the position that balsam is required in Confirmation, St. Alphonsus references Bellarmine, St. Thomas and the Roman Catechism (i.e., the Catechism of Trent). Yet, he only says that the position is “proved” from the Council of Florence. The part of Florence to which he refers is the bull Exultate Deo. Clearly, according to St. Alphonsus, the Council of Florence’s bull Exultate Deo has an authority that the Roman Catechism does not. Its teaching can prove what the Roman Catechism cannot.

The teaching of the Council of Florence’s bull Exultate Deo is that no one enters Heaven without the Sacrament of Baptism.

For all of the reasons we’ve covered, the objection advanced by supporters of “baptism of desire” from the Catechism of Trent holds no merit.

The infallible teaching of the Catholic Church is that there is only one way for people to be saved: to be reborn of water and the Holy Ghost in the Sacrament of Baptism, as Jesus taught in John 3:5. Even those who desire water baptism, and find themselves in an accident, will lose the Kingdom and life if they depart life without the saving water (Pope St. Siricius). However, the all-powerful and just God can and will keep all His elect alive to receive the unique help of faith. To obstinately teach anything else in the face of these facts is to contradict and deny the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church.

Pope Eugene IV, The Council of Florence, Exultate Deo, Nov. 22, 1439: “Holy baptism, which is the gateway to the spiritual life, holds the first place among all the sacraments; through it we are made members of Christ and of the body of the Church. And since death entered the universe through the first man, ‘unless we are born again of water and the Spirit, we cannot,’ as the Truth says, ‘enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5]. The matter of this sacrament is real and natural water.”

Pope Paul III, The Council of Trent, Can. 5 on the Sacrament of Baptism, Sess. 7, 1547: “If anyone says that baptism [the sacrament] is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation: let him be anathema.”

Pope Clement V, The Council of Vienne, 1311-1312: “Besides, one baptism regenerating all who are baptized in Christ must be faithfully confessed by all just as ‘one God and one faith’ [Eph. 4:5], which celebrated in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit we believe to be the perfect remedy for salvation for both adults and children.”

Pope Clement V, The Council of Vienne, 1311-1312: “But since one is the universal Church, of regulars and seculars, of prelates and subjects, of exempt and non-exempt, outside of which absolutely (omnino) no one (nullus) is saved (salvatur), one is the Lord, one is the Faith and one is the baptism of all.”

Pope St. Siricius, Decree to Himerius, A.D. 385: “Therefore just as we say that the holy paschal observance is in no way to be diminished, we also say that to infants who will not yet be able to speak on account of their age or to those who in any necessity will need the holy stream of baptism, we wish succor to be brought with all celerity, lest it should tend to the perdition of our souls if the saving font be denied to those desiring it and every single one of them exiting this world lose both the Kingdom and life.  Whoever should fall into the peril of shipwreck, the incursion of an enemy, the uncertainty of a siege or the desperation of any bodily sickness, and should beg to be relieved by the unique help of faith, let them obtain the rewards of the much sought-after regeneration in the same moment of time in which they beg for it. Let the previous error in this matter be enough; [but] now let all priests maintain the aforesaid rule, who do not want to be torn from the solidity of the apostolic rock upon which Christ constructed His universal Church.”

Can a Christian Lose Salvation? - 1 Corinthians

Was Vatican II Infallible?

ARTICLE:

WAS VATICAN II INFALLIBLE?

BRO. PETER DIMOND

SECTIONS COVERED:

-INTRODUCTION

-JOHN XXIII’S OPENING SPEECH AT VATICAN II, OCT. 11, 1962

-JOHN XXIII SAYS THAT VATICAN II WILL BE AN ACT OF THE UNFAILING MAGISTERIUM

-JOHN XXIII SAYS THAT VATICAN II WILL BE THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MAGISTERIUM

-JOHN XXIII SAYS THAT VATICAN II WILL BE A DOCTRINAL COUNCIL

-COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS AND LIES REFUTED

-JOHN XXIII DECLARES THAT VATICAN II’S PRINCIPAL DUTY WILL BE TO DEAL WITH, TRACE OUT, EXPOUND, AND PRESENT CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE

-“PASTORAL” - VATICAN I CONNECTED PAPAL INFALLIBILITY WITH A POPE’S “SUPREME PASTORAL OFFICE”

-ANTIPOPE PAUL VI REFERS TO VATICAN II’S TASK OF DEALING WITH AND DEFINING DOCTRINE

-THE THEOLOGICAL NOTE ATTACHED TO LUMEN GENTIUM FURTHER DISPROVES THEIR POSITION

-REFUTING THE OBJECTION FROM PAUL VI’S DEC. 7, 1965, SPEECH

-THE DEATH-BLOW: VATICAN II, WHILE PURPORTING TO BE MAGISTERIAL, FORMALLY “DECLARED” THAT ITS FALSE TEACHING ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IS CONTAINED IN “DIVINE REVELATION” – THE VERY ACT  WHICH LEO XIII TEACHES WOULD NECESSARILY BE INFALLIBLE AND PROTECTED

-PAUL VI’S DEC. 7, 1965, SPEECH IS NOT AN ACT OF THE COUNCIL

-PAUL VI’S SPEECH, BESIDES NOT BEING AN ACT OF THE COUNCIL, DOES NOT SAY THAT VATICAN II WAS NOT INFALLIBLE OR BINDING, BUT ACTUALLY INDICATES THE OPPOSITE

-WHY THE COUNCIL OF NICEA WAS INFALLIBLE – COMPARED WITH VATICAN II

-PAPAL PRIMACY AT THE COUNCIL OF NICEA

-ANTIPOPE PAUL VI’S CONFIRMATION OF EACH DOCUMENT OF THE COUNCIL ENDS ANY DEBATE

-PAUL VI REFERS TO VATICAN II AS A SOLEMN DECLARATION

-PAUL VI DENOUNCES LEFEBVRE AND LEFEBVRISTS FOR SAYING THAT VATICAN II WAS NOT BINDING

-BENEDICT XVI REPEATEDLY REFERS TO THE BINDING NATURE OF VATICAN II

-APPENDIX –  PAPAL TEACHING ON HOW THE MAGISTERIUM AND THE CHURCH ARE FREE FROM ERROR

-LINKS TO MATERIALS ON THE HERESIES AND FALSE DOCTRINES TAUGHT BY VATICAN II

It is widely recognized by those who claim to be conservative or traditional Catholics that Vatican II taught errors and false doctrines.  However, many of those people hold that Vatican II’s false doctrines do not pose problems for the legitimacy of John XXIII, Paul VI, etc.; for, according to them, the teaching of Vatican II was supposedly never made binding by the Vatican II “popes.”  In this article we will address this issue and refute widespread misconceptions that exist on this matter.  Our article and book dealt with this topic in detail.  Those materials contain numerous revealing facts.  However, this article contains numerous very important new quotes and points, including with regard to John XXIII’s opening speech at Vatican II.

On Oct. 11, 1962, John XXIII gave the speech that opened the Second Vatican Council.  The speech is a crucial component of how many so-called traditionalists who accept the Vatican II “popes” as true popes, but have problems with the post-Vatican II Church and the teaching of Vatican II, explain their position.  This article will closely examine John XXIII’s speech.  False information about what John XXIII said has been disseminated for years in so-called traditionalist newspapers, publications, and magazines.  As a result, countless souls have failed to see the true nature of the current crisis in the post-Vatican II period.

The question is: did John XXIII’s opening speech state that Vatican II would not be a doctrinal, dogmatic, magisterial or infallible council, but only a “pastoral” one?  Does his speech allow the so-called traditionalists to reject Vatican II as erroneous or heretical, and yet accept the men who implemented and promulgated it (i.e., John XXIII, Paul VI, etc.) as true popes?  Let’s examine the evidence.  (Later on we will consider the manner in which Paul VI confirmed Vatican II.)  Before we consider the speech, keep in mind that John XXIII was an antipope.  Our material proves that he was a manifest heretic and a Freemason.  Since John XXIII was not a Catholic, he was ineligible to become pope.  There is also evidence that he wasn’t even canonically elected in the 1958 conclave, but rather obtained the election by fraud after someone else had already been elected.  That’s in addition to his ineligibility for the office.  When one considers the evidence that the Vatican II sect lacks the characteristics of the Catholic Church and represents a revolution against authentic Catholicism - a fact which has only become more clear each day under Francis -  it makes sense that the line of Vatican II antipopes began with a fraudulent election in 1958.

Since the Vatican II claimants to the Papacy were not true popes but antipopes, any attempts they made to bind Vatican II and other false teachings do not – let me repeat, do not – impact or invalidate Catholic teaching on papal infallibility or Christ’s promises to the Church; for their actions were those of invalid usurpers who never sat in the Chair of St. Peter.  Their false reigns were the fulfillment of the prophesied end-times apostasy and deception.  However, for those who do recognize John XXIII, Paul VI, etc. as true popes, as some false traditionalists still do, the facts we will now cover definitely impact their position.  These facts show that their position on Vatican II is incompatible with Catholic teaching on papal infallibility.

JOHN XXIII’S OPENING SPEECH AT VATICAN II, OCT. 11, 1962

Let’s now consider some key sections of John XXIII’s opening speech at Vatican II, in Latin and English.  The Latin text of the speech is available here, on the Vatican’s website: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/speeches/1962/documents/hf_j-xxiii_spe_19621011_opening-council_lt.html.  In consulting a key portion of the Latin text, and comparing it to a typical online English translation, I noticed that while the general point I’m going to be making can be proven from all English versions of the speech, the typical online translation was insufficiently faithful to the Latin original in important areas.  I asked Timothy Johnson (an expert in Latin and Ancient Greek) to provide a more accurate translation of key portions of the speech and he did so.  The following translation he provided is the most literal translation available of these sections.  Let’s consider some of the crucial paragraphs and refute the false traditionalist myths about the speech.

Let’s begin in paragraph #2.

“2.  Recentissimus humilisque eiusdem Principis Apostolorum Successor, qui vos alloquitur, amplissisimum hunc Coetum indicens, id sibi proposuit, ut iterum Magisterium Ecclesiasticum, numquam deficiens et ad finem usque temporum perseverans, affirmaretur; quod quidem Magisterium rationem habens errorum, necessitatum, rerum opportunarum nostrae aetatis, per hoc ipsum Concilium omnibus hominibus, quotquot in orbe terrarum sunt, extraordinario modo, in praesenti exhibetur.”

JOHN XXIII SAYS THAT VATICAN II WILL BE AN ACT OF THE UNFAILING MAGISTERIUM

John XXIII says:

“The most recent and lowly successor of the same Prince of the Apostles who is addressing you, in convoking this most imposing Assembly, has proposed this for himself, that the Ecclesiastical Magisterium, never failing and persevering even to the end of the times, be once again affirmed; which selfsame Magisterium, taking account of the errors, necessities and opportunities of our age, is, by means of this very Council, being presented to all men, as many as be in the world, in extraordinary form at the present time.”

John XXIII states that in convoking Vatican II, he proposed for himself that the Ecclesiastical Magisterium, which is never failing, is affirmed.  He thus identifies Vatican II as an act of the Magisterium.  In fact, he identifies Vatican II as an act of the unfailing (and therefore infallible) Magisterium.  So much for the myth that John XXIII stated that Vatican II would not be infallible.  The truth is the opposite.  He states that it will enact the unfailing Magisterium.  The unfailing Magisterium is infallible because if it could teach error or be deceived, it would not be unfailing or indefectible.  It’s interesting that the words John XXIII uses here are almost identical to the words Vatican I used to describe papal infallibility.  To express the infallibility of popes when speaking from the Chair of St. Peter, Vatican I stated:

Pope Pius IX, Vatican Council I, Session 4, Chap. 4, 1870 A.D.- “So, this charism of truth and a never failing faith was divinely conferred upon Peter and his successors in this Chair...”

“Hoc igitur veritatis et fidei nunquam deficientis charisma Petro eiusque in hac cathedra successoribus divinitus collatum est…”

Vatican I describes the infallibility of the Chair of St. Peter as a gift or charism of truth and a never failing faith.  The words it used for “never failing” are “nunquam deficientis.”  That’s the very same statement that John XXIII makes to describe the alleged “magisterial” authority of Vatican II.  John XXIII says “numquam deficiens.”  The only difference between the two statements is that John XXIII’s deficiens is the present active participle of deficio in the nominative form, whereas Vatican I’s deficientis is the present active participle of the same verb in the genitive form.  Deficientis agrees with fidei.  (Also, numquam is an alternate spelling of nunquam.)  So, Vatican I and John XXIII’s speech to open the Second Vatican Council use the same language.  They both refer to the unfailing Magisterium of popes in the Chair of St. Peter.  John XXIII says that Vatican II will exercise and represent that unfailing (and therefore infallible) Magisterium.

JOHN XXIII SAYS THAT VATICAN II WILL BE THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MAGISTERIUM

John XXIII also says that the Magisterium, by means of this very Council or through this very Council (per hoc ipsum Concilium), is being presented to the world extraordinario modo (that is, in extraordinary form).

“2.  Recentissimus humilisque eiusdem Principis Apostolorum Successor, qui vos alloquitur, amplissisimum hunc Coetum indicens, id sibi proposuit, ut iterum Magisterium Ecclesiasticum, numquam deficiens et ad finem usque temporum perseverans, affirmaretur; quod quidem Magisterium rationem habens errorum, necessitatum, rerum opportunarum nostrae aetatis, per hoc ipsum Concilium omnibus hominibus, quotquot in orbe terrarum sunt, extraordinario modo, in praesenti exhibetur.”

“The most recent and lowly successor of the same Prince of the Apostles who is addressing you, in convoking this most imposing Assembly, has proposed this for himself, that the Ecclesiastical Magisterium, never failing and persevering even to the end of the times, be once again affirmed; which selfsame Magisterium, taking account of the errors, necessities and opportunities of our age, is, by means of this very Council, being presented to all men, as many as be in the world, in extraordinary form at the present time.”

In this passage extraordinario modo is an ablative of manner.  It describes the manner in which the Magisterium is being exhibited or presented to the whole world by means of this Council (Vatican II).  Thus, according to John XXIII’s opening speech, Vatican II would be act of the infallible extraordinary Magisterium.  As we can see, the facts about what John XXIII actually said in the speech are just the opposite of what false traditionalists have been telling people for years.

One should also keep in mind that while not everything a pope writes, approves or promulgates is magisterial, if something on faith or morals is indeed authoritatively taught by the Magisterium to the entire world, it is by that very fact infallible.  The Magisterium cannot commit itself to that which is false (see the Appendix for numerous papal quotes on this matter).

Pope Pius XI, Divini Illius Magistri (#16-18), Dec. 31, 1929: “Upon this magisterial office Christ conferred infallibility, together with the command to teach His doctrine… Hence it is that in this proper object of her mission, that is, in faith and morals, God Himself has made the Church a sharer in the divine magisterium and, by a special privilege, granted her immunity from error.”

Pope Leo XIII also teaches:

Pope Leo XIII, Caritatis Studium (#6), July 25, 1898: “…. a living, perpetual magisterium was necessary in the Church from the beginning, which, by the command of Christ himself, should besides teaching other wholesome doctrines, give an authoritative explanation of Holy Writ, and which being directed and safeguarded by Christ himself, could by no means commit itself to erroneous teaching… For Christ when He gave the keys to Peter, gave him at the same time the power to govern those who were charged with the ministry of the word: ‘Confirm thy Brethren’ (Luke xxii. 32).  And since the faithful must learn from the ‘magisterium’ of the Church whatever pertains to the salvation of their souls, it follows that they must also learn from it the true meaning of Scripture.”

Since Vatican II purported to be magisterial – and, in fact, an act of the unfailing Magisterium – either it is infallible in all of its teaching on faith, morals and the understanding of Scripture, or the men who organized and confirmed it were not true popes but antipopes.  The truth is clearly the latter.

Continuing with John XXIII’s opening speech, he speaks of Vatican II in the context of ecumenical councils.  He then says: “Testimonies of this Extraordinary Magisterium of the Church – that is, of its universal Synods – come constantly before Our eyes.”  Since John XXIII identifies Vatican II as one of those universal Synods, he therefore once again identifies Vatican II as the testimony of the extraordinary Magisterium of the Church.  The extraordinary Magisterium of the Church is infallible.

“2. Hanc coniunctionem cum Christo eiusque Ecclesia Concilia Oecumenica, quotiescumque ea celebrari contingit, sollemni quodam modo praedicant et veritatis lucem quoquoversus emittunt, vitam singulorum hominum, domestici convictus, societatis in rectas semitas dirigunt, spirituales vires excitant atque stabiliunt, ad vera et sempiterna bona continenter animos erigunt.  Testimonia extraordinarii huius Magisterii Ecclesiae, scilicet universalium Synodorum, ob oculos Nostros versantur, dum varias hominum aetates per haec viginti saecula christiani aevi intuemur. Quae documenta pluribus magnique ponderis voluminibus continentur ac veluti sacer thesaurus sunt aestimanda, qui in tabulariis Urbis Romae ac totius orbis terrarum celebratissimis bibliothecis est reconditus.”

“It is this union between Christ and His Church that Ecumenical Councils proclaim in a certain solemn manner every time they happen to be celebrated; and they radiate the light of truth in all directions; they direct the life of individual men, of home-life and society along straight paths; they awaken and fortify spiritual energies; and they continually raise minds to the true and eternal good.  Testimonies of this Extraordinary Magisterium of the Church – that is, of its universal Synods – come constantly before Our eyes as We scan the various ages of man over these twenty centuries of the Christian era. These documents are contained in several volumes of great weight, and they are to be esteemed as a kind of sacred thesaurus, which is stored away in the archives of the City of Rome and in the most renowned libraries of the entire world.”

JOHN XXIII SAYS THAT VATICAN II WILL BE A DOCTRINAL COUNCIL

In paragraph #5 of his opening speech, John XXIII discusses the principal or chief duty of the Council.  Does he say that Vatican II will merely be a pastoral council that won’t deal with doctrine, as the false traditionalists have told so many?  No, not at all.

“Praecipuum Concilii munus: doctrina tuenda ac promovenda

The Principal Duty of the Council: defending and promoting doctrine

5.  Quod Concilii Oecumenici maxime interest, hoc est, ut sacrum christianae doctrinae depositum efficaciore ratione custodiatur atque proponatur.

What especially interests the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be more effectively guarded and presented.”

He says this: “The principal duty of the Council: defending and promoting doctrine.”  According to John XXIII, the main purpose of the Council was to deal with doctrine.  He then says: “What especially interests the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be more effectively guarded and presented.”  Are people beginning to see how false traditionalists have misled the world about this speech and what it contains?  The Council will concern Catholic doctrine, according to John XXIII.

In #6, he says:

“6. Hisce positis, satis manifestae sunt, Venerabiles Fratres, partes quae, ad doctrinam quod attinet, Concilio Oecumenico sunt demandatae.”

“These things having been established, sufficiently has been manifested, Venerable Brothers, the role that has been entrusted to the Ecumenical Council in regard to what pertains to doctrine.”

“Scilicet Concilium Oecumenicum primum et vicesimum - quod efficaci magnique aestimando auxilio utitur eorum, qui scientia sacrarum disciplinarum, apostolatus exercendi resque recto ordine agendi excellunt - integram, non imminutam, non detortam tradere vult doctrinam catholicam, quae, licet inter difficultates et contentiones, veluti patrimonium commune hominum evasit. Hoc non omnibus quidem gratum est, tamen cunctis, qui bona voluntate sunt praediti, quasi paratus thesaurus uberrimus proponitur.”

“Namely, that the twenty-first Ecumenical Council – which utilizes the effective and highly-prized assistance of those who excel in their knowledge of the sacred disciplines, of the practice of the apostolate, and of the correct way of doing things – wishes to hand down Catholic doctrine (in an) integral, undiminished and undistorted (manner), (doctrine) which, although surrounded by difficulties and contentions, has effectively ended up as the common heritage of mankind.”

As we can see, Vatican II was intended to be a doctrinal council.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS AND LIES REFUTED

The facts we’ve covered thus far are clear.  However, let’s now address the part of the speech that false traditionalists frequently misuse and misquote.  The truth is that almost none of them have any idea what the speech (or the following part of the speech) actually said.  They simply circulate and repeat myths and legends on the matter.  As we will see, the following section of John XXIII’s speech does not support their position but contradicts it.  This section of the speech is also found in paragraph #6.  It’s important to quote a number of sentences from this paragraph.

“6… Neque opus nostrum, quasi ad finem primarium, eo spectat, ut de quibusdam capitibus praecipuis doctrinae ecclesiasticae disceptetur, atque adeo fusius repetantur ea, quae Patres ac theologi veteres et recentiores tradiderunt, et quae a vobis non ignorari sed in mentibus vestris inhaerere merito putamus.

Etenim ad huiusmodi tantum disputationes habendas non opus erat, ut Concilium Oecumenicum indiceretur. Verumtamen in praesenti oportet ut universa doctrina christiana, nulla parte inde detracta, hic temporibus nostris ab omnibus accipiatur novo studio, mentibus serenis atque pacatis, tradita accurata illa ratione verba concipiendi et in formam redigendi, quae ex actis Concilii Tridentini et Vaticani Primi praesertim elucet; oportet ut, quemadmodum cuncti sinceri rei christianae, catholicae, apostolicae fautores vehementer exoptant, eadem doctrina amplius et altius cognoscatur eaque plenius animi imbuantur atque formentur; oportet ut haec doctrina certa et immutabilis, cui fidele obsequium est praestandum, ea ratione pervestigetur et exponatur, quam tempora postulant nostra. Est enim aliud ipsum depositum Fidei, seu veritates, quae veneranda doctrina nostra continentur, aliud modus, quo eaedem enuntiantur, eodem tamen sensu eademque sententia. Huic quippe modo plurimum tribuendum erit et patienter, si opus fuerit, in eo elaborandum; scilicet eae inducendae erunt rationes res exponendi, quae cum magisterio, cuius indoles praesertim pastoralis est, magis congruant.”

JOHN XXIII DECLARES THAT VATICAN II’S PRINCIPAL DUTY WILL BE TO DEAL WITH, TRACE OUT, EXPOUND, AND PRESENT CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE

John XXIII says:

“Nor does our work focus on the following as though it were a primary end: namely, that a discussion should take place about certain special articles of Church teaching or that there should be a more extensive review of those points which the Fathers and theologians, both ancient and more recent, have handed down (to us), and which, we rightly think, are not unknown to you but are firmly embedded in your minds.  For there was no need that an Ecumenical Council be proclaimed for disputations solely of this kind.  What is, however, needed at the present time is that Christian doctrine in its entirety, without any part removed therefrom, should here and now in our times be received by all men with new zeal, with serene and tranquil minds – (a doctrine) handed down by that precise manner of conceiving and drawing up words which especially shines forth from the Acts of the Council Trent and Vatican I.  What is needed – as all sincere supporters of matters Christian, Catholic and apostolic eagerly crave – is that this same doctrine be more widely and deeply known and that minds be more fully imbued and formed by it.  What is needed is that this certain and immutable doctrine, to which faithful obedience is owed, be traced out and expounded with that reasonableness which our times demand.  For the Deposit of Faith itself or the truths contained by our venerable doctrine are one thing, but the manner in which they are enunciated (albeit with the same sense and the same meaning) is another.  It is precisely to this latter manner that the majority (of our attention) will have to be given; and, if need arise, it will have to be patiently exerted therein.  In other words, there will need to be introduced those methods of explaining things which are more in keeping with a Magisterium whose native character is primarily pastoral.”

As a careful reading of this paragraph shows, John XXIII does not say that Vatican II would not be doctrinal or infallible.  He actually says the opposite.  He says that Vatican II – whose primary task is to deal with doctrine, as he already told us – will concern itself with the manner in which Church doctrine is expounded.  The manner or way in which Church doctrine is expounded is inseparable from doctrine itself.  (Vatican I declared that we must believe Church doctrine exactly as it has been declared or expounded by the Church.)  The following line in the paragraph captures the essence of his point.  “What is needed is that this certain and immutable doctrine, to which faithful obedience is owed, be traced out and expounded with that reasonableness which our times demand.” 

“PASTORAL” - VATICAN I CONNECTED PAPAL INFALLIBILITY WITH A POPE’S “SUPREME PASTORAL OFFICE”

According to John XXIII, Vatican II will expound and trace out Church doctrine, which the faithful must obey; but it will do so “with that reasonableness which our times demand.”  In other words, it will present doctrine in a way that heretics such as Antipope John XXIII deemed more friendly, modern, and pastoral.  Of course, that does not mean that the Council will not deal with doctrine.  It means that it will deal with doctrine.  Something can be both doctrinal and pastoral.  The two are not mutually exclusive.  On the contrary, that which is doctrinal accompanies that which is pastoral.  A pope’s pastoral office, for example, involves the power to teach faith and morals.  Vatican I even stated that the dogmatic definition of papal infallibility was made precisely to clarify that the Son of God connected an infallible teaching power on faith and morals “with the supreme pastoral office” (“cum summo pastorali officio” –Vatican I, Pastor Aeternus, Chap. 4, Denz. 1838).

Moreover, concerning the enunciation of the truths of the Deposit of Faith, John XXIII says: “It is precisely to this” that the majority of our attention will have to be given.  Once again, the Council will deal with the enunciation of what it considers to be truths of faith.

In fact, in the one line of the speech that false traditionalists like to use, the point is confirmed.  They rarely quote what John XXIII actually said, and it’s not a surprise why.  They prefer, instead, to give their inaccurate summary of it.  The line says: “In other words, there will need to be introduced those methods of explaining things which are more in keeping with a Magisterium whose native character is primarily pastoral.”

John XXIII refers to methods of explaining things.  What things?  As he already told us, the things to be explained are matters of Church doctrine.  He referred to them as matters of “Christian doctrine” to which “faithful obedience is owed.”  In this line he also says that Vatican II will represent the Magisterium: “in keeping with a Magisterium whose native character is primarily pastoral.”  The Magisterium is infallible, as we already covered.

Therefore, this line by itself demonstrates that Vatican II will concern itself with explaining Church doctrine.  It will be binding and magisterial – that is to say, infallible.  When John XXIII says that Vatican II will use methods of explaining the doctrine (which people must obey) in keeping with a Magisterium whose native character is primarily pastoral, he means that Vatican II will employ methods of formulating Church doctrine that modernists such as John XXIII deemed more palatable to modern man.  They will consequently be considered more friendly or “pastoral.”  The reference to “pastoral” is thus to how the Church’s doctrine is being presented.  It concerns doctrine and how it is expounded.  It does not mean that the Council will not deal with doctrine or that it will not be magisterial or infallible.

The fact that Vatican II did deal extensively with matters of Church doctrine is obvious from the Council’s documents.  They deal at length with matters of doctrine.  Lumen Gentium is even called the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, and Dei Verbum is called the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.  The problem is that Vatican II contains numerous heresies and false doctrines.  It was a wicked council.  It teaches the following heresies: that Protestants and schismatics who reject Catholic teaching are in the Body of Christ; that Jews are not to be considered rejected by God, even though they reject Christ and His Church; that Islam and other non-Christian religions are to be esteemed; that non-Catholics may lawfully receive Holy Communion; that non-Catholic religions are means of salvation; that non-Catholics are martyrs; that it’s good to participate in non-Catholic worship; that Muslims worship the one true God; that states lack the authority to prevent the public expression of false religions; and much more.  Vatican II definitely dealt with doctrine, but it taught falsely on doctrine and the results were disastrous and demonic.  That’s because it was a false, revolutionary, anti-Council run by heretics.  It was convoked by an antipope and confirmed by an antipope.  It initiated a theological revolution and a Counter Church.

Let’s now summarize the facts we’ve covered about John XXIII’s opening speech at Vatican II.

• John XXIII’s opening speech repeatedly states that Vatican II will be an act of the Magisterium.
• It states that Vatican II will be an act of the unfailing and therefore infallible Magisterium.
• It states that Vatican II will enact the Extraordinary Magisterium.
• It states that Vatican II’s principal duty will be to deal with doctrine.
• It states that Vatican II will expound and trace out, in a manner they consider reasonable or pastoral for our times, Church teaching to which faithful obedience is owed.

There’s simply no doubt that if John XXIII was a true pope (and he definitely wasn’t), Vatican II was intended to be an ecumenical council.  It was intended to operate magisterially and infallibly, with binding doctrinal teaching on faith and morals, just as previous ecumenical councils did.  Its authority and scope would be the same as a typical ecumenical council.  It would simply deal with doctrine in a way the leaders of Vatican II deemed appealing to modern man.

ANTIPOPE PAUL VI REFERS TO VATICAN II’S TASK OF DEALING WITH AND DEFINING DOCTRINE

By the way, during Vatican II, Antipope Paul VI, the man who confirmed Vatican II, wrote an encyclical called Ecclesiam Suam.  It was addressed to the entire Church.  In #30 of Ecclesiam Suam, Paul VI stated this:

Antipope Paul VI, Ecclesiam Suam (# 30), Aug. 6, 1964: “It is precisely because the Second Vatican Council has the task of dealing once more with the doctrine de Ecclesia (of the Church) and of defining it, that it has been called the continuation and complement of the First Vatican Council.”

From these facts we can see just how wrong the false traditionalists are on this matter.  They have deceived countless souls about John XXIII’s speech and the authority of Vatican II.  It’s obvious why.  Their false position on the authority that was intended for Vatican II is an integral component of their false position on the legitimacy of John XXIII, Paul VI, etc.  This is especially true of the Society of St. Pius X and its supporters, among whom myths about Vatican II run rampant.  Their false position on Vatican II has been embraced by other groups as well.  It’s held even by many who attend the New ‘Mass’ or an Indult ‘Mass’.  It is promoted by some supporters of the Fraternity of St. Peter and like-minded groups.  It is widely embraced and promoted because anyone who is even slightly conservative recognizes that Vatican II was a rotten tree that brought forth rotten fruit.  Hence, the assertion that Vatican II was not binding is central to their explanation of how they can possibly reject Vatican II in whole or in part while adhering to the men who implemented and promulgated it.

We hope people consider these facts and embrace the correct position: that all the Vatican II claimants to the Papacy (John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis) are not true popes but heretical, non-Catholic antipopes.  That’s the true position.  That’s the Catholic position.  That’s the only theologically consistent position.

So far we’ve dealt primarily with John XXIII’s opening speech and the false claims people make about it.  Although his opening speech is perhaps the most common objection people raise on the issue of Vatican II’s alleged non-binding nature, there are other objections they advance on this matter.  A careful examination of each one, however, only further proves their position to be false.  In fact, to illustrate the point, let’s consider and refute another objection they advance.

THE THEOLOGICAL NOTE ATTACHED TO LUMEN GENTIUM FURTHER DISPROVES THEIR POSITION

Some false traditionalists cite the theological note, dated to 1964, which was attached to the document Lumen Gentium.  This note, by the way, applied to the document Lumen Gentium, not to all Vatican II documents.  A careful examination of the note only further refutes the false traditionalists’ claims.  That’s because the note shows that the antipopes made Vatican II binding and an act of the Magisterium.  If the theological note were applied generally to Vatican II, it would require people, for example, to accept Vatican II’s false teaching on religious liberty.   Here’s what it says:

“Taking into account conciliar custom and the pastoral aim of the present Council, this Sacred Synod defines as binding on the Church only those matters of faith or morals which it openly declares as such.  THE OTHER MATTERS WHICH THE SACRED SYNOD PUTS FORWARD AS THE TEACHING OF THE SUPREME MAGISTERIUM OF THE CHURCH, EACH AND EVERY MEMBER OF CHRIST’S FAITHFUL MUST ACCEPT AND EMBRACE ACCORDING TO THE MIND OF THE SACRED SYNOD ITSELF, WHICH IS CLEAR EITHER FROM THE SUBJECT MATTER OR FROM ITS MANNER OF SPEAKING, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE NORMS OF THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION.”

According to the theological note, people must accept the teaching of Vatican II (which it calls the teaching of the supreme Magisterium) according to the mind of the Synod itself.  That mind or intention, it says, is clear from the subject matter or the manner in which the Synod speaks on a topic.  Well, everything in Vatican II was solemnly approved by Antipope Paul VI as binding, as we will see.  Moreover, there are numerous places in Vatican II where the Synod (the Vatican II Robbers’ Synod) sets forth what it considers to be the teaching of the supreme Magisterium in language that is binding.  For instance, in #9 of its heretical Declaration on Religious Liberty, Vatican II states:

#9.  “Quae de iure hominis ad libertatem religiosam declarat haec Vaticana Synodus, fundamentum habent in dignitate personae, cuius exigentiae rationi humanae plenius innotuerunt per saeculorum experientiam. Immo haec doctrina de libertate radices habet in divina Revelatione, quapropter eo magis a Christianis sancte servanda est.”

Vatican II document, Dignitatis Humanae (# 9): “The things which this Vatican Synod declares concerning the right of man to religious liberty, have their foundation in the dignity of the person, whose needs have become more fully known to human reason through the experience of the ages.  In fact, this doctrine on liberty has its roots in divine Revelation; with all the more reason, therefore, it is to be preserved sacredly by Christians.”

Remember, according to the theological note, one must accept Vatican II according to the mind of the Synod itself, which is clear from the subject matter or what it says.  Here Vatican II declares that its (false) teaching on religious liberty is rooted in divine Revelation and is on that account to be preserved sacredly by Christians.  In the Latin servanda est (meaning “is to be preserved”) is a gerundive agreeing with doctrina.  The Council is thus directly stating that its doctrine (doctrina) concerning religious liberty (which it says comes from divine Revelation) “is to be preserved” (servanda est) sacredly by Christians.  That means that each and every person who accepts Paul VI must accept Vatican II’s teaching on religious liberty as sacred and rooted in divine Revelation; for that is the mind of this Synod, which is clear from what it said.  And there’s more:

#12 “Ecclesia igitur, evangelicae veritati fidelis, viam Christi et Apostolorum sequitur quando rationem libertatis religiosae tamquam dignitati hominis et Dei revelationi consonam agnoscit eamque fovet…”

Vatican II document, Dignitatis Humanae (# 12): “The Church therefore, faithful to the truth of the Gospel, follows the way of Christ and the Apostles when it acknowledges the principle of religious liberty as in accord with human dignity and the revelation of God, and when it promotes it…”

Those who accept Antipope Paul VI as a pope are bound to accept Vatican II’s heretical teaching on religious liberty as 1) faithful to the truth of the Gospel; 2) following the way of Christ and the Apostles; and 3) in accord with the revelation of God; for that is the mind of the Synod, which is clear from what it says.   As we can see, bringing up the theological note does not help the false traditionalists.  It only further destroys their position by proving they are bound to the false teachings of Vatican II.  Other examples could be given.

REFUTING THE OBJECTION FROM PAUL VI’S DEC. 7, 1965, SPEECH

In fact, let’s examine another popular objection false traditionalists raise on this issue.  They like to quote a speech that Paul VI gave during the last general meeting of Vatican II, on Dec. 7, 1965.  They think the speech proves that Vatican II did not make any extraordinary dogmatic pronouncements, and therefore that Vatican II’s false teaching on various topics could not have been promulgated in what would be an infallible or binding way.  But they are quite wrong, for several reasons.  The facts in this section will thoroughly refute their claims on this matter.

Paul VI, Last General Meeting of Vatican II, Dec. 7, 1965: “But one thing must be noted here, namely, that the teaching authority of the Church, even though not wishing to issue extraordinary dogmatic pronouncements, has made thoroughly known its authoritative teaching on a number of questions which today weigh upon man's conscience and activity, descending, so to speak, into a dialogue with him, but ever preserving its own authority and force…”

First, as we already saw, John XXIII convoked Vatican II to be an ecumenical council.  He stated that Vatican II would be an act of the unfailing Magisterium and would present the Magisterium “in extraordinary form”.  And that is exactly how Paul VI confirmed Vatican II in the official acts of the Council, as we will see.

Second, even if one supposed, for the sake of argument, that Paul VI’s remarks on that particular day (which weren’t even an act of the Council) proved that Vatican II did not attempt any extraordinary dogmatic definitions, that would not prove that Vatican II was not promulgated with what would be the infallible authority of the Magisterium if Paul VI had been the pope.  The reason is that, in addition to the solemn or extraordinary Magisterium, the teaching of the ordinary and universal Magisterium is infallible, as Vatican I declared.  Vatican II identified its own teaching as that of the supreme Magisterium, as we already saw.  Vatican II was also undoubtedly universal, as it purported to be an ecumenical council and it applied to the entire Church.  Whether the Magisterium teaches in an extraordinary fashion or in its ordinary and universal Magisterium or in what is simply identified as the authoritative teaching of “the Magisterium” to the entire world, it is infallible.  As we already demonstrated from the teaching of Pope Pius XI in Divini Illius Magistri and Pope Leo XIII in Caritatis Studium, the authoritative teaching of the Catholic Magisterium to the entire world on faith or morals cannot be false, regardless of whether that teaching is called the extraordinary Magisterium, the supreme Magisterium, the ordinary and universal Magisterium, the unfailing Magisterium or simply “the Magisterium.”  Indeed, in his encyclical Providentissimus Deus #17, Pope Leo XIII refers to the infallible Magisterium of the Church as “the proper Magisterium.”

Pope Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus (#17), Nov. 18, 1893: “To prove, to expound, to illustrate Catholic doctrine by the legitimate and skilful interpretation of the Bible, is much; but there is a second part of the subject of equal importance and equal difficulty - the maintenance in the strongest possible way of its full authority. This cannot be done completely or satisfactorily except by means of the living and proper magisterium of the Church.  The Church, ‘by reason of her wonderful propagation, her distinguished sanctity and inexhaustible fecundity in good, her Catholic unity, and her unshaken stability, is herself a great and perpetual motive of credibility, and an unassailable testimony to her own divine mission.’  But since the divine and infallible magisterium of the Church rests also on the authority of Holy Scripture, the first thing to be done is to vindicate the trustworthiness of the sacred records at least as human documents, from which can be clearly proved, as from primitive and authentic testimony, the divinity and the mission of Christ our Lord, the institution of a hierarchical Church and the primacy of Peter and his successors.”

Vatican II without any doubt purported to be the authoritative teaching of the Catholic Magisterium to the entire world on matters of faith and morals.  Since its teaching was false and heretical, the men who implemented and promulgated it could not have been true popes.  In fact, in Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Satis Cognitum, there’s a very interesting point in this regard.  Pope Leo XIII describes the infallible Magisterium of the Church as the “living, authoritative and permanent Magisterium.”  He also says:

THE DEATH-BLOW: VATICAN II, WHILE PURPORTING TO BE MAGISTERIAL, FORMALLY “DECLARED” THAT ITS FALSE TEACHING ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IS CONTAINED IN “DIVINE REVELATION” – THE VERY ACT  WHICH LEO XIII TEACHES WOULD NECESSARILY BE INFALLIBLE AND PROTECTED

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum (#9), June 29, 1896: “Wherefore, as appears from what has been said, Christ instituted in the Church a living, authoritative and permanent Magisterium, which by His own power He strengthened, by the Spirit of truth He taught, and by miracles He confirmed… As often, therefore, as it is declared on the authority of this teaching that this or that is contained in the deposit of divine revelation, it must be believed by everyone as true. If it could in any way be false, an evident contradiction follows; for then God Himself would be the author of error in man.”

Leo XIII teaches that as often as it is declared that something is contained in divine revelation, it is infallible and must be accepted.  Notice the amazing specificity with which Pope Leo XIII’s description of an infallible teaching of the Magisterium matches the language used in Vatican II’s heretical declaration on religious liberty.  As we quoted already, #9 of the heretical Declaration on Religious Liberty states:

Vatican II document, Dignitatis Humanae (# 9): “The things which this Vatican Synod declares [declarat] concerning the right of man to religious liberty, have their foundation in the dignity of the person, whose needs have become more fully known to human reason through the experience of the ages.  In fact, this doctrine [doctrina] on liberty has its roots in divine Revelation; with all the more reason, therefore, it is to be preserved [servanda est] sacredly by Christians.”

In #12 of that document, Vatican II also declared that its doctrine on religious liberty is faithful to the truth of the Gospel, follows the way of Christ and the Apostles, and is in accord with the revelation of God.

Vatican II document, Dignitatis Humanae (# 12): “The Church therefore, faithful to the truth of the Gospel, follows the way of Christ and the Apostles when it acknowledges the principle of religious liberty as in accord with human dignity and the revelation of God, and when it promotes it…”

Vatican II thus attempts to do exactly what Pope Leo XIII says the Magisterium does when it teaches infallibly.

COMPARISON

To state that a teaching declared in this way by a true pope and the Magisterium could be false is to state that God is the author of error.  It is heresy.  Therefore, it’s simply a fact that according to the teaching of Pope Leo XIII in Satis Cognitum, all who hold that Paul VI was the pope CANNOT consistently hold that Vatican II’s teaching on religious liberty was false.  When they assert that it was false and obstinately maintain that Paul VI was the pope, they assert that God is the author of error.  However, know that Vatican II’s teaching on religious liberty (and other matters) was indeed false.  That proves that Paul VI was not the pope.  Vatican II “declares” that its doctrine on religious liberty is rooted “in divine Revelation” and for that reason “is to be preserved sacredly by Christians.”  Leo XIII taught that “as often” as the Magisterium declares that something is contained in divine revelation, it is infallible and must be believed by everyone as true!

PAUL VI’S DEC. 7, 1965, SPEECH IS NOT AN ACT OF THE COUNCIL

The third and perhaps most important point to make in regard to Paul VI’s Dec. 7, 1965, speech is that it’s not even one of the official acts of Vatican II.  It thus holds no weight in a theological analysis of the authority that Vatican II intended to exercise in its official Acts.  Vatican II promulgated Constitutions, Declarations and Decrees.  That was confirmed in Paul VI’s Apostolic Brief In Spiritu Sancto, which officially closed the Council on Dec. 8, 1965.  The Constitutions, Declarations and Decrees of Vatican II (i.e., the 16 documents of the Council) determine the authority that Vatican II intended to enact; and, as we will see, the language contained in those official Acts of the Council – all of which Paul VI made his own by solemn approval and promulgation – without any question would have fulfilled the requirements for infallible teaching to the entire Church if Paul VI had been the pope.  Those Acts were approved as solemnly and authoritatively as popes approved infallible decrees at true ecumenical councils, as we will see.  It is simply impossible for a true pope to have promulgated Vatican II’s false teaching on faith and morals to the entire Church with the solemn and binding language that Paul VI did.

PAUL VI'S SPEECH, BESIDES NOT BEING AN ACT OF THE COUNCIL, DOES NOT SAY THAT VATICAN II WAS NOT INFALLIBLE OR BINDING, BUT ACTUALLY INDICATES THE OPPOSITE

Furthermore, in the aforementioned speech on Dec. 7, 1965 (which wasn’t even an act of the Council), Paul VI does not even say that Vatican II was not infallible or binding.  In that speech, however, he does say that Vatican II contained “authoritative teaching,” condemned errors, and passed down the Church’s doctrine.

Paul VI, Last General Meeting of Vatican II, Dec. 7, 1965: Vatican II “has made thoroughly known its authoritative teaching on a number of questions which today weigh upon man's conscience and activity…”

Paul VI, Last General Meeting of Vatican II, Dec. 7, 1965: “Errors were condemned, indeed, because charity demanded this no less than did truth…”

Paul VI, Last General Meeting of Vatican II, Dec. 7, 1965: “This council hands over to posterity not only the image of the Church but also the patrimony of her doctrine and of her commandments, the ‘deposit’ received from Christ and meditated upon through centuries, lived and expressed now and clarified in so many of its parts, settled and arranged in its integrity.”

He also quotes John XXIII’s opening speech, which declared that Vatican II dealt with doctrine.  But the speech holds no weight anyway.  The actual Acts of Vatican II are what must be considered.

WHY THE COUNCIL OF NICEA ACTED INFALLIBLY– COMPARED WITH VATICAN II

It must also be understood that when an ecumenical council meets, it already bears a solemn and universal character by virtue of the nature of the gathering.  The only thing an ecumenical council lacks for its official teaching on faith or morals to be infallible and binding on the universal Church is the official confirmation of the teaching on faith or morals by the pope.  That’s why, for example, the short statement of faith at the Council of Nicea in 325 is considered dogmatic and infallible, even though Pope St. Sylvester (the pope who reigned at the time) is not known to have issued any papal bull confirming it.  Pope St. Sylvester did not attend the Council of Nicea, and there’s no known decree from Sylvester confirming the Council of Nicea in extraordinary language or even in his own words.  Pope St. Sylvester did confirm the Council of Nicea’s statement of faith, but he only did so via his legates: the Roman priests, Vito and Vincent.  The basic and simple confirmation Pope St. Sylvester gave to the Council of Nicea via his representatives was all that was necessary for the Ecumenical Council’s statement of faith to be considered authoritative, binding, and infallible for the universal Church.  That’s because the setting in which it was given (an ecumenical council) already bore a universal character by virtue of the nature of the assembly.  It simply awaited the papal confirmation of its acts on faith.

PAPAL PRIMACY AT THE COUNCIL OF NICEA

By the way, it’s also interesting to note the following about papal primacy at the Council of Nicea.  The proceedings of the Council of Nicea were led by a Western cleric named Hosius of Cordova.  Many believe Hosius served in that capacity on behalf of the pope.  Gelasius of Cyzicus, who was a 5^th century historian and priest in the Eastern part of the Church, spoke of "Hosius holding the place of Sylvester, the Bishop of great Rome, together with the Roman presbyters Vito and Vincent."  As the presiding officer at Nicea, the signature of Hosius is the first to appear on the list of those who signed the Council of Nicea.  Hosius’ signature is immediately followed by the signatures of the pope’s representatives, the Roman priests, Vito and Vincent.  The names of Vito and Vincent thus appear before all the patriarchs and bishops at Nicea, just below the name of Hosius, the Council’s presiding officer.  The fact that the signatures of the pope’s representatives, the Roman priests, appear before the signatures of the various patriarchs and bishops is a striking example of how the primacy and authority of the bishop of Rome (the pope) was recognized at the Council of Nicea and in the ancient Christian Church.

Pope St. Sylvester’s simple confirmation of Nicea via his legates demonstrates that when you have an ecumenical council officially teaching on faith or morals to the entire Church, that teaching is binding and infallible if confirmed by a pope - period.   That’s because the gathering at an ecumenical council already bears an official and universal character.  It simply awaits papal confirmation.  When one considers the manner in which Paul VI confirmed Vatican II and its teaching on faith and morals, it’s not only clear that Paul VI officially and authoritatively confirmed the teaching of Vatican II, but he confirmed it with solemn language.  Indeed, the language he used to confirm and promulgate the Acts of Vatican II is on a par with the language of the most celebrated ecumenical and dogmatic councils in Church history.  It is thus theologically absurd for people to maintain that Paul VI was the pope, as Sylvester was, but that the acts of this alleged ecumenical council (Vatican II) dealing with faith and morals were not infallible, binding and authoritative.

ANTIPOPE PAUL VI’S CONFIRMATION OF EACH DOCUMENT OF THE COUNCIL ENDS ANY DEBATE

Perhaps the single most important fact to consider on this issue is the manner in which Antipope Paul VI confirmed Vatican II.  Each document of Vatican II begins this way:

“PAUL, BISHOP, SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD, TOGETHER WITH THE FATHERS OF THE SACRED COUNCIL FOR EVERLASTING MEMORY.”

This language is typical of dogmatic decrees at ecumenical councils.  It corresponds to how Pope Eugene IV began the 11^th session of the dogmatic Council of Florence.  He stated: “Eugene, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for an everlasting record.”  It corresponds to how Pope Leo X began the 8^th session of the dogmatic 5^th Lateran Council, and how Pope Pius IX began the 3rd session of the dogmatic First Vatican Council.

Each document of Vatican II ends this way:

 “EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THE THINGS SET FORTH IN THIS DECREE HAS WON THE CONSENT OF THE FATHERS.  WE, TOO, BY THE APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY CONFERRED ON US BY CHRIST, JOIN WITH THE VENERABLE FATHERS IN APPROVING, DECREEING, AND ESTABLISHING THESE THINGS IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WE DIRECT THAT WHAT HAS THUS BEEN ENACTED IN SYNOD BE PUBLISHED TO GOD’S GLORY... I, PAUL, BISHOP OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.”

Antipope Paul VI invokes his so-called “apostolic authority” to authoritatively approve, decree, and establish everything set forth in each document of Vatican II.  If he had been the pope, this would definitely qualify as solemn dogmatic language.  In fact, the language Antipope Paul VI uses here exceeds, in terms of its solemnity, the approval that early popes gave to the Councils of Nicea, Ephesus, and others.  If false traditionalists deny that this is infallible language, they must deny that the early councils were infallible.

Moreover, in regard to the aforementioned theological note, Paul VI’s declaration at the beginning and end of every Vatican II document definitely indicates, by “its manner of speaking,” “in accordance with the norms of theological interpretation” (that is, paralleling past dogmatic decrees), that he is enacting the supreme Magisterium of the Church (if he had been the pope).

PAUL VI REFERS TO VATICAN II AS A SOLEMN DECLARATION

In fact, it’s interesting to note that Paul VI referred to Vatican II’s blasphemous teaching that Muslims, together with Catholics, worship the one true God as a solemn declaration.

Antipope Paul VI, Address, Dec. 2, 1977: “… the Moslems profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day, as the Second Vatican Council solemnly declared.”

Antipope Paul VI also solemnly closed Vatican II on Dec. 8, 1965, by again declaring, with his so-called “apostolic authority”, that everything established in the Council “is to be religiously observed by all the faithful.”

Antipope Paul VI, “Papal” Brief declaring Council Closed, Dec. 8, 1965:

“At last all which regards the holy Ecumenical Council has, with the help of God, been accomplished and ALL THE CONSTITUTIONS, DECREES, DECLARATIONS, AND VOTES HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY THE DELIBERATION OF THE SYNOD AND PROMULGATED BY US.  Therefore, we decided to close for all intents and purposes, WITH OUR APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY, this same Ecumenical Council called by our predecessor, Pope John XXIII, which opened October 11, 1962, and which was continued by us after his death.  WE DECIDE, MOREOVER, THAT ALL THAT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED SYNODALLY IS TO BE RELIGIOUSLY OBSERVED BY ALL THE FAITHFUL, for the glory of God and the dignity of the Church… WE HAVE APPROVED AND ESTABLISHED THESE THINGS, DECREEING THAT THE PRESENT LETTERS ARE AND REMAIN STABLE AND VALID, AND ARE TO HAVE LEGAL EFFECTIVENESS, so that they be disseminated and obtain full and complete effect, and so that they may be fully convalidated by those whom they concern or may concern now and in the future; and so that, as it be judged and described, ALL EFFORTS CONTRARY TO THESE THINGS BY WHOEVER OR WHATEVER AUTHORITY, KNOWINGLY OR IN IGNORANCE, BE INVALID AND WORTHLESS FROM NOW ON.  Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, under the [seal of the] ring of the fisherman, December 8… the year 1965, the third year of our Pontificate.”

When Vatican II was officially closed on Dec. 8, 1965, its “authority” was finalized at that point.  Therefore, if Paul VI was the pope (and he definitely wasn’t), then the Gates of Hell would have prevailed against the Catholic Church on Dec. 8, 1965 as a consequence of his solemn approval of each document of Vatican II.  Whether or not they want to admit it, those who obstinately accept the Vatican II antipopes hold that the Gates of Hell prevailed against the Catholic Church on Dec. 8, 1965.  They hold that the papal magisterium can authoritatively commit itself to false teachings, and declare that those false teachings are “rooted in divine revelation”.  That is heresy.  They are contradicting Catholic teaching on papal infallibility and indefectibility.

Furthermore, since the teaching of the Magisterium is “irreformable” according to Vatican I, statements made about Vatican II’s authority after the Council was promulgated, approved, and closed by Paul VI on Dec. 8, 1965 would not determine its authority.  Strictly speaking, such statements aren’t even relevant to Vatican II’s authority in comparison to the facts we’ve covered.  However, when we consider what the antipopes and leaders of the Counter Church stated after Vatican II, it only further confirms that Vatican II is definitely considered binding and magisterial by the Vatican II Counter Church.  Some false traditionalists, for example, will cite a Jan. 12, 1966 General Audience of Paul VI.  This speech was given after the Council.  It is therefore comparatively insignificant to many facts we’ve covered.  However, a careful consideration of the speech completely refutes their view; for in the General Audience Paul VI states that the teaching of Vatican II “has to be accepted” and constitutes the teaching of “the supreme Ordinary Magisterium”.  The supreme Ordinary Magisterium is binding and infallible.

PAUL VI DENOUNCES LEFEBVRE AND LEFEBVRISTS FOR SAYING THAT VATICAN II WAS NOT BINDING

There are many other quotations one could bring forward to prove that Vatican II is considered binding and magisterial by the Vatican II Church.  For example, in a May 24, 1976 Address, Antipope Paul VI denounced the idea, adopted by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and his supporters, that the Second Vatican Council was not binding.  He even said that the consequence of such an attitude or position is that people place themselves outside his “Church”.

Antipope Paul VI, Address, May 24, 1976: “And the fact is all the more serious in that the opposition of which we are speaking is not only encouraged by some priests, but is led by a prelate, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who nevertheless still has our respect.
“It is so painful to take note of this: but how can we not see in such an attitude – whatever may be these people’s intentions – the placing of themselves outside obedience and communion with the Successor of Peter and therefore outside the Church?  For this, unfortunately, is the logical consequence, when, that is, it is held as preferable to disobey with the pretext of preserving one’s faith intact, and of working in one’s way for the preservation of the Catholic Church, while at the same time refusing to give her effective obedience.  And this is said openly.  It is even affirmed that the Second Vatican Council is not binding: that the faith would also be in danger because of the reforms and post-conciliar directives, that one has the duty to disobey in order to preserve certain traditions.  What traditions?  It is for this group, not the Pope, not the College of Bishops, not the Ecumenical Council, to decide which among the innumerable traditions must be considered as the norm of faith!  As you see, Venerable Brothers, such an attitude sets itself up as a judge of that divine will which placed Peter and his lawful successors at the head of the Church to confirm the brethren in the faith, and to feed the universal flock, and which established him as the guarantor and custodian of the deposit of faith…
   “The adoption of the new Ordo Missae is certainly not left to the free choice of priests or faithful.  The instruction of 14 June 1971 has provided, with the authorization of the Ordinary, for the celebration of the Mass in the old form only by aged and infirm priests, who offer the divine Sacrifice sine populo.  The new Ordo was promulgated to take the place of the old, after mature deliberation, following upon the requests of the Second Vatican Council.  In no different way did our holy predecessor Pius V make obligatory the Missal reformed under his authority, following the Council of Trent…
“We have called the attention of Archbishop Lefebvre to the seriousness of his behavior, the irregularity of his principal present initiatives, the inconsistency and often falsity of the doctrinal positions on which he bases this behavior and these initiatives, and the damage that accrues to the entire Church because of them.” (L’Osservatore Romano, June 3, 1976, p. 2.)

That’s also why, in the recent negotiations with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) during the reign of Antipope Benedict XVI, it was made clear that the SSPX will not be fully accepted by the Counter Church without a recognition of Vatican II and its teaching.  The Note from the Secretary of State of the Vatican, dated February 4, 2009, and published in the Vatican’s newspaper, is an example of the point.  It stated:

“A full recognition of the Second Vatican Council and the Magisterium of Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI himself is an indispensable condition for any future recognition of the Society of Saint Pius X…”

In his comments on Jan. 28, 2009, following his General Audience, Benedict XVI also spoke of the SSPX and the necessity for them to accept Vatican II.  He said he hopes that the SSPX will “complete the necessary steps to achieve full communion with the Church, thus witnessing true fidelity to, and true recognition of, the Magisterium and the authority of the Pope and the Second Vatican Council.”  (L’ Osservatore Romano, February 4, 2009, p. 9.)

BENEDICT XVI REFERS TO THE BINDING NATURE OF VATICAN II

In his book, The Ratzinger Report, he also stated:

“Cardinal” Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI), The Ratzinger Report, 1985, p. 28: “It is likewise impossible to decide in favor of Trent and Vatican I, but against Vatican II.  Whoever denies Vatican II denies the authority that upholds the other two councils and thereby detaches them from their foundation.  And this applies to the so-called ‘traditionalism’, also in its extreme forms.”

In his 2010 book, Light of the World, Benedict XVI promoted the completely heretical teaching of Vatican II that schismatic “Orthodox” sects, which reject the Papacy, are in the Church of Christ.  Contrary to dozens of magisterial pronouncements, including dogmatic statements made by the First Vatican Council, Vatican II teaches that schismatic communities that reject the Papacy and papal infallibility are “true particular churches” (that is, individual churches within the Church of Christ).  In his book Light of the World, Benedict XVI not only agreed with and endorsed that heretical teaching (p. 89), but he also explicitly stated that it’s binding (p. 96).  He even indicated that it’s irreformable with his statement that he would have no authority to alter it.

Benedict XVI, Light of the World, 2010, p. 89: “… what I defended was the heritage of the Second Vatican Council and of the entire history of the Church.  The passage [from Dominus Iesus] means that the Eastern Churches [i.e., the “Orthodox”] are genuine particular churches, although they are not in communion with the Pope.  In this sense, unity with the Pope is not constitutive for the particular church.”

Benedict XVI, Light of the World, 2010, pp. 94-96: “Q.  Is it really true that the Pope does not regard Protestants as a Church, but, unlike the Eastern Church, only as an ecclesial community?  This distinction strikes many as demeaning.  A.  The word ‘ecclesial community’ is a term employed by the Second Vatican Council.  The Council applied a very simple rule in these matters.  A Church in the proper sense, as we understand it, exists where the episcopal office, as the sacramental expression of apostolic succession, is present –which also implies the existence of the Eucharist as a sacrament that is dispensed by the bishop and the priest.  If this is not the case, then we are dealing with the emergence of another model, a new way of understanding what a church is, which at Vatican II we designated by the term ‘ecclesiastical community.’  The word was intended to indicate that such communities embody a different mode of being a church.  As they themselves insist, it is precisely not the same mode in which the Churches of the great tradition of antiquity are Churches, but is based on a new understanding, according to which a church consists, not in the institution, but in the dynamism of the Word that gathers people into a congregation… Q.  And not even a Pope can offer an alternative definition of a Church?  A.  No.  He has no authority over that.  The Second Vatican Council is binding on him.”

With that statement, he was referring to the teaching of Vatican II: that schismatic sects which reject the Papacy are true particular churches (that is, individual churches within the Church of Christ).

Many other statements from Antipopes Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI prove that they consider Vatican II to be binding and magisterial.

Those who ignore or deny the force of these facts – and instead convince themselves that the Vatican II “popes” did not attempt to use the authority of the Catholic Magisterium to promulgate the teachings of Vatican II – are simply living in a fantasy world.

There’s no way around it: the Vatican II antipopes attempted to use the authority of the Catholic Church and the papal magisterium (which is infallible) to promulgate the false teachings of Vatican II.  That proves without any doubt that they did not possess the authority of the Catholic Church and the papal magisterium because they were antipopes.

Those who obstinately accept the Vatican II “popes” in the face of the facts contradict Catholic teaching.  They deny papal infallibility and acknowledge heretics as Catholics.  People need to embrace the true position, which includes rejecting Vatican II as a false council and rejecting all the Vatican II claimants to the Papacy as antipopes.

APPENDIX -  PAPAL TEACHING ON HOW THE MAGISTERIUM AND THE CHURCH ARE FREE FROM ERROR

Pope Pius XI, Divini Illius Magistri (#18), Dec. 31, 1929: “… God Himself made the Church a sharer in the divine magisterium and by His divine benefit unable to be mistaken.”

LATIN: “… divini magisterii Ecclesiam fecit Deus ipse participem eamdemque divino eius beneficio falli nesciam.”

Pope Pius XI, Divini Illius Magistri (#16), Dec. 31, 1929: “To this magisterium Christ the Lord imparted immunity from error...”

LATIN: “Huic magisterio Christus Dominus erroris immunitatem impertivit…”

Pope Gregory XVI, Commissum Divinitus (# 4), May 17, 1835: “… the Church has, by its divine institution, the power of the magisterium to teach and define matters of faith and morals and to interpret the Holy Scriptures without danger of error.”

Pope Leo XIII, Caritatis Studium (#6) July 25, 1898: The Magisterium “could by no means commit itself to erroneous teaching.”

Pope Pius X, Editae Saepe (#8), May 26, 1910: “… only a miracle of that divine power could preserve the Church… from blemish in the holiness of Her doctrine…”

Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas (#22), Dec. 11, 1925: “… the perfect and perpetual immunity of the Church from error and heresy.”

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum (# 9), June 29, 1896: “The practice of the Church has always been the same, and that with the consenting judgment [i.e. consensus] of the holy fathers who certainly were accustomed to hold as having no part of Catholic communion and as banished from the Church whoever had departed in even the least way from the doctrine proposed by the authentic magisterium.”

LATIN: “Idem semper Ecclesiae mos, idque sanctorum patrum consentiente iudicio: qui scilicet communionis catholicae expertem et ab Ecclesia extorrem habere consueverunt,quicumque a doctrina authentico magisterio proposita vel minimum discessisset.”

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos (# 10), Jan. 6, 1928: “During the lapse of centuries, the mystical Spouse of Christ has never been contaminated, nor can she ever in the future be contaminated, as Cyprian bears witness: ‘The Bride of Christ cannot be made false to her Spouse: she is incorrupt and modest. She knows but one dwelling, she guards the sanctity of the nuptial chamber chastely and modestly.”

Pope Hadrian I, Second Council of Nicaea, 787: “… Christ our God, when He took for His Bride His Holy Catholic Church, having no blemish or wrinkle, promised he would guard her and assured his holy disciples saying, I am with you every day until the consummation of the world.”

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Session 9, March 23, 1440: “…the Spouse of Christ is uncontaminated and modest, knowing only one home, and she guards the sanctity of their marriage bed with chaste modesty.”

LINKS TO MATERIALS ON THE HERESIES AND FALSE TEACHINGS IN VATICAN II:

Vatican II’s Protestant Heresy (video) 

Vatican II’s Jewish Heresy (video)

Vatican II’s Intercommunion Heresy (video)

Debate: Busting Myths About Vatican II's "Infallibility"  (video)

The Heresies in Vatican II  (section)

1 hour 48 minute must-see video: Is the World about to End? (2nd Edition)