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| Synod of Doom |
In his piece THE CASE OF THE DUAL PAPACY—"DEUX PAPES
VERMOULU", Father Paul Kramer writes: “By Catholic standards,
Bergoglio is a heathen—an unbeliever, an infidel. Such a one, even if he had
been canonically elected, such a one is to be "cast out and trampled
underfoot by men", according to Innocent III (Sermo IV)".
Now that the man has
manifested himself more openly, can Catholics finally recognise his true
(albeit veiled) identity?
The evil Synod, of more
than 300 bishops and delegates is due to end
on Saturday (today) afternoon after participants vote on more than 1,300
proposed changes to the Synod’s final report. While the advisory body does not have
the power to alter church doctrine, there is great anticipation on the kind of
language the document will use to discuss the most contentious issues. The “pope”,
who is the final arbiter on any change and who has called for a “more merciful
and inclusive church”, can use the material to write his own document, known as
an "apostolic exhortation".
“Bishop” Lucas Van Looy of
Ghent, Belgium, seen as a progressive, told reporters he hoped the synod would
lead to "the end of judging people, the end of a church that casts
judgment over every situation". Another progressive, “Cardinal” Reinhard
Marx of Germany, lamented that some bishops still saw the church "as a
castle surrounded by enemies that has to be defended". Bergoglio called
the two-part meeting—the first session took place a year ago. He will preside
at a “Mass” in St. Peter's Basilica to close the gathering ceremonially on
Sunday and his homily there could give further indications of his thinking.
LifeSiteNews reporter
John Henry-Westen has just completed his good work of covering the evil Synod,
and is flying home from Rome. For him, it is now clear—at last!—that “Pope Francis’ encouragement of airing heresy
is severing the Church”!
Hear him:
I’m writing this while flying
home from Rome currently after an exhausting nine days of covering the Synod on
the Family for LifeSiteNews and working with Voice of the
Family to assist Synod Fathers in their task to defend
the teaching of the Church. The work is grueling -- sometimes twenty-hour
days with very little time for anything but prayer and work. And prayer is a
definite part of the work. A regular regimen of Mass and rosaries to implore
the help of the Almighty and the assistance of the saints are not an option in
this battle, which is more spiritual than anything else.
The stakes are incredibly high;
they literally portend a major schism in the Catholic Church. The reality
is, despite the presentation of non-negativity and fraternity inside the Synod
hall, or aula as it is called, those upholding orthodoxy have been fighting a
pitched battle with powerful foes openly proposing heresy with not a word of
correction from Pope Francis.
The heart of the hero-faction of
this year’s Synod has shifted from the Africans last year to the Eastern
Europeans. They have spoken out, naming bluntly the evils
being proposed by cardinals and bishops as having been inspired by the devil. But a powerful cardinal shot back by
accusing faithful bishops of bringing “division,” the hallmark of Satan, he
said. Interestingly, when Archbishop Tomash Peta referred to
the “smoke of Satan” entering the Church through the Synod’s heretical
proposals he was being deadly serious. When Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schonborn
retorted with his “smoke of Satan” rejoinder he paused for laughter at his
Kazakhstan counterpart’s expense.
The most vociferous of the
heretics at the Synod and those wielding the most power and meting out
punishment are the Western Europeans with assistance from liberal Americans.
German Cardinal Walter Kasper it seems has taken a back seat to Cardinal
Reinhard Marx, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, who with his
intervention, published on the conference website,
spells out his anti-Catholic proposal to allow Holy Communion to couples
remarried after having left “canonically valid” marriages while their former
spouses are still living. Even the escape hatch of the new couple living in
continence as “brother and sister” was ruled out: Cardinal Marx said, “The advice
to refrain from sexual acts in the new relationship not only appears
unrealistic to many. It is also questionable whether sexual actions can be
judged independent of the lived context.”
The Americans are split down the
middle at the Synod with the appointees by Pope Francis touting heresy and
shutting down those who were elected by their brother bishops in America to
attend. Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich suggested
openly to the media that even active homosexual couples could be given Holy
Communion. Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl just completed a media tour using harsh language to put
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput in his place.
As for the Canadians, there are
three who have garnered much attention. The heroic act of Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins as
one of the thirteen Cardinals to sign on to the letter to the Pope expressing grave concern about
manipulation at the Synod caused him much suffering. I met him at a restaurant
and he looked very tired. I expressed a simple thanks and offered him prayers
on behalf of life and family activists. Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher planted
himself firmly in the progressive camp along with Fr. Thomas Rosica early on in the
proceedings.
All the while Pope Francis has
presided in silence, never correcting the heresies but in his private homilies
in Casa Santa Marta denouncing again and again those “doctors of the law” who
lack mercy and whose “self-righteous attitude” betrays them as Pharisees.
The bombshell of the Synod came
Saturday when, apart from the Synod itself, the pope presided at a celebration
commemorating the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI establishing the modern
Synod of Bishops. He used the opportunity to speak of a “decentralization” of the Catholic Church.
Ironically he used and cited the Church’s strictest teaching on papal
authority to enforce a change which is being interpreted as divesting the
papacy of that very authority. The Christ-appointed
authority of the Rock of Peter is unique to the
Catholic Church and was given only to Peter (the Pope) to guarantee its unity
and fidelity.
There’s hardly any other way to
interpret what’s happening now in Rome. Prior to the Synod we had Cardinal
Marx, one of the pope’s nine top advising cardinals, openly say that the German
Church was “not a subsidiary of Rome” and that it
would go ahead with its proposal to give Holy Communion to remarried divorcees.
He’s spelled it out as direct heresy at the Synod with no objection from
the pope. And Pope Francis has ordered decentralization.
What is it exactly that bishops
conferences are unable to do now other than alter Church teaching? As Cardinal Arinze told me in my
interview with him in Rome, they can do just about anything except change faith
and morals, and if we’re changing that we’re no longer Catholic.
All the old errors of the 60s
seem to have come back to haunt us. By gently chiding them rather than stamping
them out and disciplining or ousting their proponents, we now have seven new
evil spirits along with the first infesting the Church. There are surely
harder times coming with even greater confusion in the Church.
While the picture may seem bleak,
we have no cause for worry. We believe Christ’s promise that the gates of
hell will not prevail against His Church. Moreover, a great hope was instilled
in me during my brief journey to the heart of the battle. It was a hope
which came from witnessing and working with God’s littlest ones; with those
clergy and laity, young and old, ready and willing to lay down their lives for
the faith. These are regular heroes ready to forgo fame and fortune,
prestige and honor, to be faithful to the teachings of Christ in good times and
in bad. These are the little ones who form the "calcaneum
Mariae" or the heel of Mary which is predicted in Genesis 3:15 to crush
the head of the serpent.
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