"Catastrophe" in the Vatican in Rome, catastrophe in the Beehive in Wellington.
The “religious and moral crisis” that followed Vatican II was a worse chastisement than the two world wars and led logically to the “catastrophe” of Pope Francis’ pontificate, says Italian historian and author Roberto de Mattei.
Professor Roberto de Mattei |
"I hold, with all respect for the office which he holds, that the pontificate of Pope Francis has proven to be a catastrophe for the Church," Professor de Mattei said during a question-and-answer session on day two of the virtual Rome Life Forum.
Meanwhile, here in Godzone as it was once called, back in the innocent '50s, we have the catastrophe of eight weeks or whatever without Holy Mass and the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
That is "a worse chastisement" for New Zealand than even the Abortion Legislation Act which was hustled into our history on the Vigil of the Feast of the Annunciation.
And Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's make-believe 'pandemic' horror story of COVID-19 pales into insignificance in comparison with both - but perhaps not so, the fall-out of same which in economic and social terms remains to be seen.
Of course you must have faith in God to see things quite that way. In the words of Father Palko SSPX in his Ascension Thursday sermon, "If you be raised up and resurrected with Jesus Christ, keep your minds on the things of Heaven" (Col 3:1).
Faith in "the things which are above" seems to be conspicuously lacking. Our bishops (pictured, on a Vatican junket, aka an ad limina meeting) seem to be keeping their minds on the things of this world, seeing "a significant challenge" in limiting Mass numbers to fewer than 100. They "would not wish to ask faith leaders to hold more services, overburdening those that already put unceasing energy into providing pastoral support to their communities."
Oh, spare me. Hands up anyone who's witnessed 'unceasing energy' from their PPs lately. Just what have they been doing? And if they do indeed have 'unceasing energy' then it won't run out while taking bookings for Mass. In my own parish, the first Mass in over eight weeks last Thursday was attended by just five people and one of those was from out of town.
In the Beehive, in Parliament in Wellington we have a Prime Minister who flatly contradicts her own police force over the interpretation of this rushed, wrong, evil law.
"Police confirmed they would be approaching potential breaches of Alert Level 2 in places of worship with "empathy and sensitivity".
While gatherings of more than 10 people were not allowed, religious worship can now include larger congregations as long as groups of 10 or less remained 2 metres apart from others. Appropriate contact tracing systems were also required."
That's Mr Plod's story. His employer the Prime Minister and her side-kicks Bloomfield and Robertson have other ideas. (By the way, can anyone identify the comic character that Robertson looks like? I can't and it bothers me.)
"We do not want gatherings of more than 10
people. Most churches and religious organisations wouldn't be able to fulfil
any requirement [for that]." (Robertson). Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield
reminded people the maximum group number was 10 for now - and this included
church and faith-based gatherings."
Our bishops daringly "urge you (the PM) to consider
raising the number allowed to gather for faith services to at least 100. We were disappointed with the earlier decision that this was limited to 10,
considering the lack of similar restrictions on restaurants, bars, clubs and
brothels, which operate under circumstances somewhat more difficult for
contact tracing and distancing" (what exquisite tact!)
"We do recognise however that faith communities
have certainly had time to prepare and consider how to hold services that meet
health guidelines."
But no can do. Too hard. "Less than 100 people would pose a significant challenge to our large, diverse
communities where there is certainly space for 100 people or more with
distancing. Limits of 20 or 50 people would mean turning even more people
away ...
"Further, we would not wish to ask faith leaders to hold more services,
overburdening those that already put unceasing energy into providing pastoral
support to their communities."
Then the Bishops grow bold. "We note today conflicting guidance from the NZ Police and the Ministry of
Health. The Police at 8.25 am issued guidelines dated 20 May, which say a church
service is not a “gathering” if groups of 10 are seated more than 2m apart from
each other.
"The Ministry issued a statement at 1pm reiterating advice that
gatherings are limited to 10 people. We urge the government to ensure advice is
clear and consistent in order that our leadership may be the same."
The Bishops are too modest. Their leadership has been clearly and consistently non-existent.
The upshot of this is, for just one example, in Taupo a priest refuses to give Communion even to just a few faithful parishioners. And why not, you ask? Because if anyone caught 'the virus' he would be arrested. Faithful parishioners said no one needed to know and Father said "that would be dishonest".
To refuse the Body of Christ to the faithful for fear of arrest is simply cowardly. Countless saints, including Ss Peter and Paul, obeyed "God rather than man" and were arrested for it. What an honour!
And to give Holy Communion without anyone else knowing is not 'dishonest'; in this persecution it would simply be prudent.
In 2000 years, how many times have the faithful been given Communion secretly? This priest, and his bishops, needs to be reminded of the Irish Rock Masses, and of priests hidden in holes in the wall during the terrible Elizabethan persecution so that 'no one would know' they were there, and of the underground Catholics in China betrayed by this pope who can't always openly receive Communion - or of Bishop Athanasius Schneider as a boy in the Soviet Union, when his family left town in the dark every Sunday morning to go 100 miles by train to receive Communion, returning home once again under cover of darkness.
To refuse the Body of Christ to the faithful for fear of arrest is simply cowardly. Countless saints, including Ss Peter and Paul, obeyed "God rather than man" and were arrested for it. What an honour!
And to give Holy Communion without anyone else knowing is not 'dishonest'; in this persecution it would simply be prudent.
In 2000 years, how many times have the faithful been given Communion secretly? This priest, and his bishops, needs to be reminded of the Irish Rock Masses, and of priests hidden in holes in the wall during the terrible Elizabethan persecution so that 'no one would know' they were there, and of the underground Catholics in China betrayed by this pope who can't always openly receive Communion - or of Bishop Athanasius Schneider as a boy in the Soviet Union, when his family left town in the dark every Sunday morning to go 100 miles by train to receive Communion, returning home once again under cover of darkness.
The same Taupo priest then tried the 'Amazon' trick used as a pretext for female deacons, the old saw of 'the days when people lived in remote places and never saw a priest for months'.
People then didn't see a priest for months because there weren't any to see. Come to think of it, there aren't any to see now. They're there all right, but they're not to be seen.
As a reader of this blog comments: "I can see that should the government stick to allowing small increments of up to 50 people only, that the NZ Church will not be allowing any Masses simply because bishops would deem priests to be over-worked or that the process of arranging Masses under these restrictions would not be worthwhile.
"At least Brian Tamaki's fine effort motivated the bishops to make some effort at the last minute before Monday."
John-Henry Westen, co-founder and
editor in chief of LifeSiteNews also referred to the confusion caused by Pope
Francis when asked at the Rome Life Forum if he wasn’t afraid of being condemned by God for speaking out
against the current pontiff.
“I would be afraid of condemnation
by God if I didn't speak my concerns about the pope,” replied Westen, adding
that Canon 212 in the Code of Canon Law says the faithful have the right and
even the duty to tell pastors their opinions on matters pertaining to the good
of the Church.
“And I do this with love for the
faith, and indeed love for the pope, whom I pray for every single day. And it’s
out of concern for the pope’s own soul,” said Westen, who gave a talk on “The Pontificate of Pope
Francis: why should we expect a divine intervention today.”
Westen related how the “confusing
and even erroneous public statements of Pope Francis” have caused the older of
his eight children suffering, citing as an example his daughter calling him
from college when the Holy Father’s statement that “cohabitation is real
marriage and has the grace of real marriage due to fidelity” went viral in
2016.
“I’m duty-bound as a father to
correct the pope when he says things that are contrary to the faith publicly,”
said Westen. “Or was I supposed to lie to my daughter? Or was I supposed to
distort the truth? That’s impossible.”
Westen believes the coronavirus is a
chastisement that has the loss of public Mass as its “essence” and that it will
“get quite a bit worse before it gets better” so that people, particularly in
the Church, “may recognize the need for repentance.”
“There is a grave need for the
faithful to rediscover reverence at Mass with proper disposition for Holy Communion.
There are today countless sacrilegious receptions of Holy Communion,” he said.
Our Lady at Fatima warned “entire
nations will be annihilated,” and “we have to pray earnestly it doesn’t come to
that,” Westen added.
De Mattei expressed similar
thoughts, noting in response to questions that “as with all of the punishments
of God,” the pandemic is, “in my opinion, a great act of mercy.”
“The thing to fear above all is a
situation of even greater confusion within the Church, in which even the best
Catholics will risk losing their balance,” he said. “I believe we must make an
effort to raise our gaze to God rather than lose ourselves in the labyrinth of
the tactics of men.”
It is God “and not a man who will
save the Church,” but Catholics can “collaborate” with Him by forming a
“Catholic army” that is “small, humble, but faithful” and “distinguishes itself
for the integrity of the faith and the purity of virtue,” de Mattei said.
“Whatever happens is willed or
permitted by God. So we must always welcome His will with joy without ever
renouncing the fight for His honour,” he added.
“Our joy is in the fight.”
Therefore, if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above; where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: Col 3:1
Bob Gill says:
ReplyDeleteYes, we do have to wonder what our parish priests have been doing since lockdown. I know in St Joseph’s Dannevirke I have not been aware of our parish priest’s presence at all, though I see he signed the register on one day since our church was re-opened. I did read on Friday he was due to do Reconciliation on Saturday, now we have permission to re-open on that day too.
On the whole, the NZ bishops have squandered a valuable opportunity to demonstrate to the government how well we can arrange things in the churches on a small scale. As well as the Catholic community’s thoughts, surely the government will be thinking:
• Why have the bishops re-opened churches daily for a couple of hours or so only (and excluded Sunday, the Lord ’s Day) – without explanation?
• Why are the priests not participating with parishioners while churches are open – without explanation?
• Why are priests not offering any services for parishioners, apart from Reconciliation (which priests can do with minimum body movement) – without explanation?
If the Church had demonstrated to government how easily they could have carried out church activities with small groups of 10, don’t you think that would have increased our chances of being allowed to handle greater numbers?