Fr. Tom on Martin Luther and the Dubia

Would the cardinals get an answer if they
nailed the Dubia to the door?

History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes an awful lot. There is an interesting parallel in the way Church leaders dealt with Luther’s Ninty-Five Theses and the way they are dealing with the dubia concerning the ambiguities aroused by teachings of Pope Francis.

God bless you!

In Christ,

Fr. Thomas Collins
Sacred Heart Church
Covington, VA

As we sadly commemorate the 500th Anniversary of Luther’s posting his famous Ninety-Five Theses, we also need to realize that, due to a combination of pride, greed, and political Intrigue, this effort to discern how to more faithfully conform to the truth of the Gospel eventually led to the disintegration of the Western Church into numerous conflicting Christian denominations. More recently, efforts to discern more clearly how to implement the truth of the Gospel in our society have been expressed not in theses posted on a cathedral door, but in dubia presented to the Holy Father. Sadly, just as Luther’s effort to discern the truth more clearly was aborted by pride, greed and intrigue, it seems that current dubia are being ignored or aborted in order to accommodate the demands of those orchestrating the formation of a New World Order.

Yet the urgency of addressing the issues raised by these dubia is just as great, if not greater, than that of addressing Luther’s theses five hundred years ago. As a matter of fact, the dubia raised by various courageous cardinals in recent years point to a number of other issues that need to be clarified, if we expect the New Evangelization to bear lasting fruit. Some of these questions, which regard the nature of the Holy Eucharist, are the following:

• Is the Eucharist merely the source and summit of the Church’s life, or is this Sacred Mystery the source, sustenance and summit of the Church’s life? 

• Is the Blessed Sacrament to be treated as a Person, or merely as a cult object? 

• Is Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament (as I am now present in my office), or is He present as the Blessed Sacrament? 

• Is Jesus equally present as the consecrated hosts in the tabernacle as consecrated hosts at a Mass currently being offered? 

• Is Jesus fully present as small particles of the Eucharist (“crumbs”) as He is present as larger consecrated hosts? 

• If we allow the Real Presence of Jesus as small Eucharistic particles to be disregarded for the sake of the smooth flow of the liturgy, are we also permitted to disregard the Real Presence of Jesus in His Mystical Body (i.e., the poor, in the marginalized, in the infirm and in pre-born babies), in order to accelerate the development of the New World Order? 

• Does the ability of a person, publicly known to be following a sin-seared conscience and seeking to receiving the Eucharistic Christ in the state of serious sin, require a Eucharistic minister to violate his/her own sincere conscience by handing Him over to such a person? 

• Does the Eucharistic Christ desire to give a smiling “thumbs up” to those pro-actively promoting the desecration and destruction of pre-born children through abortion? 

• Is the failure or refusal of a Catholic to participate in Sunday Mass each week without a good reason a serious violation of the Third Commandment? 

• Are those Catholics, who have failed or refused to participate in Sunday Mass, required to repent, confess and be absolved in the Sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving Our Eucharistic Lord? 

Sadly, just as, in the 1500’s, it took the Church over a quarter of a century to address the issues raised by Luther and other Protestant leaders at the Council of Trent, it seems that, even in this age of instant communications, it may take the Vatican just as long to address these and other rather awkward questions – especially since what Pope Paul VI called “the smoke of Satan” (June 29, 1972) has been allowed to seep into and pollute the sanctuary of the Church for well over 45 years. Thank God that His merciful fidelity is always greater than the infidelity of His Chosen People.