As we pointed out in our first «Ad Rem», a group of traditionalists have been officially told by the Holy See that they may engage in “a serious and constructive critique” of the Second Vatican Council. As part of our own serious and constructive critique, we would like to note that, in the aftermath of Vatican II, ecumenism has replaced the apostolic labor of converting non-Catholics, while religious liberty has replaced the notion that Our Lord Jesus Christ the King must rule in the State as well as the Church.
A bizarre and apparently false report about SSPX and Rome was circulated by the French newspaper, Le Figaro. Reuters later carried their own version of it. Two brief paragraphs are worth quoting, inasmuch as they put the above claim into perspective:
“The traditionalists also reject the Council decision that the Church, which long saw itself as the only path to salvation, should respect and work together with other faiths.
“Echoing this, a senior SSPX official sparked controversy last year by urging the Pope to tell Jews and followers of other religions to convert from their ‘false systems’ to Catholicism.”
Secular journalists generally get very little right about religion. However, they do traffic in perceptions, and perceptions are very important. Regardless of the fine distinctions some are capable of making, what Reuters reported is what most people think, namely that the Catholic Church used to consider herself the unique ark of salvation; but now, having been updated, she is a kinder gentler Church, more accepting of other faiths and willing to “work together” with them for the common good of humanity. The Catholic Church, so the perception goes, no longer considers herself necessary for the salvation of individuals or for the true welfare of the State.
Several recent news stories show that this perception is more than just a journalistic oversimplification:
Story: An October 16 CNS story spoke of Cardinal Bertone, the new Vatican Secretary of State, denying that there is a “clash of civilizations” between Christianity and Islam:
“Squelching notions of a ‘clash of civilizations,’ the Italian cardinal pointed to the ‘centuries and centuries of peaceful coexistence’ among different religious groups — ‘for example in Iraq.’”
The piece goes on to cite how Catholics and Moslems can work together “to restore appreciation for the dignity of human life.”
«Ad Rem» Comments: Does not the dignity of human life truly consist in our being called to be God’s children? The Moslems, who deny that God is our Father, deny the more fundamental doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation, without which divine sonship is meaningless. While some natural law principles are certainly within their grasp — although their history shows they have difficulty grasping them — the followers of “the Prophet” cannot know the true dignity of man, since man was created for a supernatural end that they deny.
Story: On October 12, the Holy Father met with ADL national director Abe Foxman, an apostate from the Catholic religion. The article on the ADL’s web site, which cites Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate, says that the Council, “stressed the religious bond shared by Jews and Catholics, and reaffirmed the eternal covenant between God and the People of Israel.”
«Ad Rem» Comments: The covenant with Abraham passed into the Mystical Body of Christ, the Catholic Church. This is the teaching of the Catholic Church, following the Apostle St. Paul. There are not two side by side covenants, an “A” plan and a “B” plan. The New Law of Christ superseded the Old Law. While Jews and liberal Christians deride this as “supersessionism” and “replacement theology,” once again, St. Paul is quite clear on on the point, as I showed in my article on the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Story: Meanwhile, ecumenism with the Russian Orthodox, which has been rapidly accelerating in recent months, hit an internecine Orthodox snag. The ninth meeting of the Catholic-Orthodox theological commission put forward a statement that offended the Russians because of the importance it gave to the See of Constantinople:
“That statement said that after the schism of the 11th century it became impossible to hold an ecumenical council including all Christian leaders, but the separated churches ‘continued to hold “general” councils, gathering together the bishops of local churches in communion with the See of Rome and the See of Constantinople.’” (from CWN)
The Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion raised a serious objection because the Russian Orthodox Church didn’t care to take a back seat to the Greeks. He thought it made the Patriarch of Constantinople something of an “Orthodox Pope.”
«Ad Rem» Comments: Frighteningly, Cardinal Kasper, the head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, seemed to have no problem with what the commission proposed. In making a false distinction between a “general” and an “ecumenical” council, the statement implicitly, but clearly denies the ecumenical character of the fourteen ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church that were held since the schism of 1054!
Lately, the Holy Father has been concerned with Western secularism, terrorism, the Middle East situation, and the Christian heritage of Europe. The message of Fatima is closely related to his concerns, and so are the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus and the social Kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Rianjo, Spain, in 1931, Sister Lucy was praying for the conversion of Europe, Portugal, Spain, Russia, and the world. Our Lord spoke to her, saying:
“You console Me a great deal by asking Me for the conversion of those poor nations. Ask it also of My Mother…” He went on to teach her two prayers, which can be found here.
It was on this same occasion that Our Lord uttered that terrible prophesy concerning the “delay” of the Consecration of Russia:
“Make it known to My ministers that given they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My command, that they will follow him into misfortune. It will never be too late to have recourse to Jesus and Mary.”
We pray that the Holy Father will have the grace to reorient the Church back to tradition, sound dogma, and the manifest will of Heaven as revealed in the Fatima messages. Until we convert Moslems, Jews, Western Secularists, and Russians, they will be our undoing. Worse, the enemies, whom we should love enough to convert, will go to hell if they die outside the Church.
And nobody’s warning them.
