The American Catholic Council (ACC), a dissent group made up of folks from Call to Action, Women's Ordination Council, Voice of the Faithful, Dignity, and an assortment of other disgruntled cafeteria Catholics sent out a press release today. They should have waited until tomorrow since it seems so much like an April Fool's joke.
The release calls for a "day of prayer and fasting" on April 15 (tax day -- was that on purpose?) for their upcoming dissent fest in Detroit on Pentecost weekend. To whom are they praying one might well ask since what they call the "spirit of Vatican II" is actually the spirit of the world. Now who is the spirit of the world, eh? The same evil one who tempted Jesus in the desert.
And evil is exactly what is being perpetrated by ACC under the false teaching of the "spirit of Vatican II." The new translation of the Roman missal is a correction of one of those evils that saw liberals in ICEL (International Commision on English in the Liturgy) watering down the truths of the faith with bad translations that turned the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass into a community supper complete with folk groups and rock and roll bands.
Despite the corrections going on, the grey-haired dissenters are determined to resurrect the dissenting "spirit of Vatican II" to finish the job begun by Martin Luther, Calvin, and the other revolutionaries who wanted a human institution fashioned in the image and likeness of man. We've seen what that dissenting spirit accomplished: downgrading the Blessed Mother, throwing out Latin, implementing a wide range of banal songs for the pray and sway crowd. Perhaps the most egregious evil was raising uninformed individual conscience to the level of papal infallibility: every little heretic a pope in the pew! The rebellious "spirit of Vatican II" is still clearly evident in the blather of these aging cafeteria Catholics who pick and choose the doctrines they like and throw out all the rest. Who is Jesus Christ to tell them what to do anyway? They will continue to do all they can to impose their immorality on the body of Christ.
Among the breakout sessions at ACC is one that explores, among other things, the "experience of women Roman Catholic Priests" (There is no such thing.) and the "experience of CORPUS married Catholic priests." CORPUS is a dissent group of renegade priests with no standing in the Church who left to marry, but want to have their cake and eat it too. Many rent themselves out for weddings and baptisms which are not recognized or recorded by the Church. Their list of concerns is the same old dissent from the 70s Call to Action meeting -- deja vu all over again.
A number of bishops have condemned ACC and we echo their voices. The "spirit of Vatican II" is like the evil spirits who invaded the Freeling home in the film, Poltergeist, and the dissenters are the fellow travellers who want to open the door and let them in.
So, by all means, faithful Catholics, pray and fast on April 15. Make your intention the exorcism of the American Catholic Council and the conversion of those participating in it.
Read more:
Archbishop Condemns Schismatic "American Catholic Council"
They're Back
Evil has crept into the Church community easier since Vatican II. I think Cardinal Bernardin and the seamless garment philosophy played a role as well. I believe that the seamless garment probably did almost as much harm as Vatican II did.
ReplyDeleteVatican II provided an opportunity for those who wanted to remake the Church in the image of the world to do their dirty deeds. Vatican II was distorted and lied about. For example, there was no mandate to use the vernacular. Latin was to have pride of place. But overnight Latin disappeared. The same with the downgrading of Mary. Nowhere did Vatican II urge that Mary (and her statues) be relegated to the basement.
ReplyDeleteIt was an opportunity and there were many unfaithful clerics (and laity in chanceries) ready to capitalize on the confusion to make things up. When I think of some of the garbage going on in CCD programs in the 70s and 80s I cringe.
But times they are a-changin' and I haven't seen butterfly vestments in years. Hopefully never again!
Just as many misinterpreted Vatican II, many misinterpeted Cardinal Bernardin's seamless garment philosophy,also, by ignoring that he included abortion in that philosophy as an evil, too.
ReplyDeleteI think Cardinal Bernardin's "seamless garment" was a deliberate watering down of absolute evils like abortion, linking them with things like capital punishment, which is not always evil, and is not condemned as such by the Church.
ReplyDeleteCardinal Bernardin stated in an address at St. Louis University that, "A consistent ethic of life seeks to present a coherent linkage among a diverse set of issues. It can and should be used to test party platforms, public policies, and political candidates."
It's clear that Bernardin expected the "seamless garment" message to have political implications. And it did, giving cover to people like Ted Kennedy who opposed capital punishment but was a champion of child killing. When "Catholic" voter guides came out he often had a higher "pro-life" rating than real pro-lifers.
In view of Bernardin's history of liberalism, it is hard to imagine that this wasn't deliberate. The USCCB's statements on political responsibility have always been so "nuanced" that people could easily justify voting for a 100% pro-abortion candidate because he had the "right" position on capital punishment.
As far as I know, Cardinal Bernardin never described abortion/euthanasia as disqualifying issues, but they are. How many Catholics would vote for a neo-Nazi? They wouldn't.
Just as they would disqualify a candidate like David Duke, so should they disqualify those like Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and others of their ilk because they advocate child murder. How long would they be in office if they advocated killing two-year-olds?
Mary Ann, you might not believe that the Church doesn't condemn capital punishment but you're wrong...and this comes from someone who supports capital punishment. Pope John Paul II did a magnificent job (and I use that adjective sarcastically) in the type of theological revisionism that would have made the Ministry of Information in Orwell's 1984 proud.
ReplyDeleteDon't believe me? Then read this:
http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=1463.