Guest Post: Cardinal Meisner, Pope Benedict and the Leaky Bark of Peter

Benedict XVI: The Bark of Peter is Sinking

By David Martin

The Church continues to lament the passing of Cardinal Meisner of Cologne, who was an outspoken opponent of Amoris Laetita which breaks with tradition by allowing divorced and civilly remarried people to receive Communion. Surprisingly, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sent a letter of tribute to be read at Meisner's funeral on July 15. In the letter he says:

"What particularly impressed me from my last conversations with the now passed Cardinal was the relaxed cheerfulness, the inner joy and the confidence at which he had arrived. We know that this passionate shepherd and pastor found it difficult to leave his post, especially at a time in which the Church stands in particularly pressing need of convincing shepherds who can resist the dictatorship of the spirit of the age and who live and think the faith with determination. However, what moved me all the more was that, in this last period of his life, he learned to let go and to live out of a deep conviction that the Lord does not abandon His Church, even if the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing." https://onepeterfive.com/pope-benedicts-message-funeral-cardinal-meisner-lord-not-abandon-church/

Clearly, Benedict XVI is impressed with Cardinal Meisner's fidelity. What is significant to note in his letter is that he confesses that the Catholic Church today is overrun by pirates and enemies, so much so, that "the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing." It seems he is using Meisner's death as an occasion to bring this essential truth to light for the Church.

Benedict's mention of Meisner as a "passionate shepherd and pastor" who "found it difficult to leave his post" references his decision in 2014 to retire as Archbishop amidst great trials that were plaguing the Church. Clearly, Benedict XVI sees himself in the late cardinal, since he too resigned his post amidst great trials that were plaguing the Vatican. Clearly, he acknowledges that stepping down is not a good thing to do, saying that "the Church stands in particularly pressing need of convincing shepherds who can resist the dictatorship of the spirit of the age and who live and think the faith with determination."

But Meisner and the pope were overwhelmed by undue pressures, especially the latter, who was virtually forced out of office by Vatican bureaucrats who were opposed to Benedict's "reform of the reform." However, the pope did consent to this "dictatorship of the spirit" by yielding to pressures to step down.

We know from Cardinal Danneels of Brussels that he was part of a radical "mafia" reformist group opposed to Benedict XVI. Danneels, known for his support of abortion, LGBTQ rights, gay-marriage, and pornography said in a taped interview in September 2015 that he and several cardinals were part of this "mafia" club which bore the name of St. Gallen. He said the group was calling for drastic changes in the Church, to make it "much more modern," and that the plan all along was to have Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio [Francis] head it. http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-danneels-part-of-mafia-club-opposed-to-benedict-xvi

This infamous clique which is documented in Austen Ivereigh's biography of Pope Francis, The Great Reformer, comprised the key members of the Vatican "gay-lobby" which held the reigns and created much chaos at the October 2014-2015 Synods on the Family. According to some reports, lobby members threatened Pope Benedict with extortion prior to his resignation.

This is credible when we consider that on February 11, 2012, one year to the day before Pope Benedict announced his resignation, it was reported that Benedict XVI was given only one year to live if he didn't resign. Cardinal Paolo Romeo, Archbishop of Palermo, reportedly said these things to a group of people in Beijing toward the end of 2011. According to the report, he "harshly criticized Pope Benedict XVI," and "with self-assurance, as if he knew with precision, Cardinal Romeo announced that the Holy Father would have only twelve months to live." http://fatima.org/news/newsviews/newsviews180214.asp

It appears that Pope Benedict, fearing the chaos that would ensue in the wake of a papal assassination, agreed to resign from his post. Like Cardinal Meisner, he has now "learned to let go and to live out of a deep conviction that the Lord does not abandon His Church," but can he actually say that he harbors a deep conviction that God was pleased with his resignation?

Let us not forget the two shafts of lightning that struck the dome of St. Peter's Basilica just hours after he announced his resignation on February 11, 2013. In hindsight the message becomes clear, seeing that his flight opened the way for the Church's enemies to fully capture and tighten their control of the Vatican, even to the point that homosexuals, population-control advocates, and Talmudic Jews would soon hold key positions in the Vatican's highest pro-life institution, the Pontifical Academy for Life.

The present debacle is the last thing that the pope wanted for the Church, just as the Crucifixion was the last thing that Peter wanted, but Benedict XVI didn't "resist the dictatorship of the spirit" unto martyrdom, but caved in under pressure, a flight that was foreshadowed in his inaugural speech of April 24, 2005, when he said: "Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves."  

However, it could be that Benedict XVI isn't finished with his Petrine mission. Cardinal Meisner's death was obviously a spur for him to say things unprecedented, and we can only pray that accelerating evils in the Church will further spur the pope to take care of some unfinished business while he is still in his wits, namely, to disclose the full text of the Third Secret of Fatima against the wishes of Vatican bureaucrats, and to point out how his being coerced in 2013 testifies to the truth of the Secret that the powers of darkness are now reigning in the Eternal City and throughout the universal Church. 

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Editor's note: For more go to AKA Catholic. Is Benedict a prisoner in the Vatican? 

“The Church stands in particularly pressing need of convincing shepherds who can resist the dictatorship of the spirit of the age and who live and think the faith with determination.”