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| Francis imposes cognitive dissonance on the flock by abusing his authority! Blind obedience is no virtue. Know what true obedience demands. |
What is it?
Here's a concise definition: "psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously."
Today, many Catholics in the Church live in permanent cognitive dissonance trying to fit square pegs into round holes out of misguided "obedience" to papal pronouncements that overstep the pope's authority. Hey, no matter what the pope or bishops say, they believe, even when we know it to be untrue, obey anyway!
Every bishop who has embraced Amoris Laetitia and Traditionis Custodes and is forcing it on his flock, requires them to live in Catholic cognitive dissonance. The pope and these bishops insist that there is no conflict between the Novus Ordo (NO) and the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) which is patently untrue. The NO is not an organic development of the Mass, but a deviation. They also claim there is no conflict with the perennial teaching that those living in adultery may not receive Communion and the novel "doctrine" that, oops, after all the Church has been wrong for 2000 and they may. Try to get that square peg in the round hole!
Where bishops allow the TLM to continue, it is often with reluctance and the warning that it is only temporary until the misguided members of the flock accept all the "incongruous beliefs" and contradiction. Oh...and don't ask to have a traditional baptism or Confirmation or wedding. The bishop prefers the new and novel watered down versions of the sacraments. Just accept it. Black can be white if you just believe hard enough. [Not only that...but you can save Tinker Bell if you just keep saying over and over again, "I do believe in fairies....I do believe in fairies."]
But the fact remains that there are irreconcilable differences between novelties being taught today and the unchanging tradition of the Catholic church over 2000 years. The pope is the pope; the bishop is the bishop. But they do not have absolute authority. They may not overrule the laws of God and the 2000 year tradition of the Church. They are guardians of the faith not creators of a new unrecognizable faith. They cannot tell you to sin or violate a well-formed conscience.
So, yes, there's a crisis and things are a mess! No doubt about it.
Where bishops allow the TLM to continue, it is often with reluctance and the warning that it is only temporary until the misguided members of the flock accept all the "incongruous beliefs" and contradiction. Oh...and don't ask to have a traditional baptism or Confirmation or wedding. The bishop prefers the new and novel watered down versions of the sacraments. Just accept it. Black can be white if you just believe hard enough. [Not only that...but you can save Tinker Bell if you just keep saying over and over again, "I do believe in fairies....I do believe in fairies."]
But the fact remains that there are irreconcilable differences between novelties being taught today and the unchanging tradition of the Catholic church over 2000 years. The pope is the pope; the bishop is the bishop. But they do not have absolute authority. They may not overrule the laws of God and the 2000 year tradition of the Church. They are guardians of the faith not creators of a new unrecognizable faith. They cannot tell you to sin or violate a well-formed conscience.
So, yes, there's a crisis and things are a mess! No doubt about it.
Does that mean the Holy Spirit has abandoned the Church?
Never! The gates of hell will never prevail even when the doorkeepers have gone over to the enemy and are lowering the drawbridge and opening the gates to welcome in the marauders.
The Church is still the Church even when she is under assault which is nothing new!
Never! The gates of hell will never prevail even when the doorkeepers have gone over to the enemy and are lowering the drawbridge and opening the gates to welcome in the marauders.
The Church is still the Church even when she is under assault which is nothing new!
And by the way: THE POPE IS NOT THE CHURCH! Let me say that again louder: THE POPE IS NOT THE CHURCH!
The Church is not defined by a single pope. Those who want to end the authority of Francis rather than address his errors and call on the ecclesiastical authorities to correct him help the enemy to undermine the faith. Those who believe there has not been a legitimate pope since 1958 must believe that the papacy doesn't matter at all. If we can get along for almost a century without a pope, who needs the papacy at all? [Hmm...that sounds like a Protestants belief to me.]
Yes, we have a bad pope. He will die and face the consequences of his actions. We may get another bad pope because Francis has named so many of the cardinal electors. Nevertheless, many faithful will embrace the truth and keep the faith taught by all the popes before Francis and, ultimately, things will be restored.
This may be the worst period of confusion in the Church; I'm not sure of that. This may be the worst crisis. It is, however, not the only one by a long shot. Read Church history. There have been many crises in the past.
The answer is always the same. Keep the faith as taught by the apostles, the Church Fathers, the Council of Trent, the trusted catechisms (the Didache, the catechism of the Council of Trent, the Baltimore Catechism, etc.). Do not accept novelties that contradict the perennial doctrines of the Church. Doctrine cannot change. Fr. John Hardon defines doctrine in his Pocket Dictionary:
“Any truth taught by the Church as necessary for acceptance by the faithful.”How can something be necessary yesterday and on the chopping block today? It can't. Development of doctrine does not change the doctrine itself. When Pope Pius X lowered the age of First Communion it did not change anything about the sacramental nature. When Confession changed from being a once in a lifetime sacrement to a frequent remedy against sin, the nature of the sacrament was not changed.
If a novel "doctrine" contradicts what the Church taught for 2000 years, it is a lie! Reject it as St. Paul advised:
"Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema." Galatians 1:8-9
Keep the faith!
Where Peter is, there is the Church.
ReplyDeleteSt. Ambrose
I agree, which is why I don't believe sedevacantism is true. I can't believe we haven't had a pope since 1958 when Pope Pius XII died. If that's true, then it seems to me that Christ's promise not to leave us orphaned is not true.
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