I get some silly comments on my blog but one of the silliest and most patently absurd is this:
Really? Is this commenter in her right mind? Some comments make me shake my head ruefully; some make me laugh. This did both. It also made me deeply concerned because it is a dangerous belief. One who believes the pope "can never mislead you spiritually" turns the pope into Christ Himself, an idol to be worshiped. The term for such a belief is papolatry (worship of the pope) or neo-ultramontanism, the belief that the pope is infallible in every single teaching about faith and morals and not just the very limited instances when he declares a teaching ex cathedra. Hence, Pope Francis's teaching that couples living in adultery can receive the sacraments of Confession and Eucharist without repentance becomes the new doctrine in violation of two thousand years of Catholic faith.
The statement is so patently absurd, it's hard to believe the writer herself believes it. I'm not surprised she didn't sign her name, but commented anonymously. As Forest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does" and this comment is indeed a stupid one that defies reason. Put her in the corner with a dunce cap!
Now let's just look at one current situation that illustrates the idiocy of her statement. The backlash against Traditionis Custodes (TC) is growing. Canon lawyer, Gerald Murray, says it should go into the shredder. Bishop Athanasius Schneider and Cardinal Raymond Burke both call for it to be rescinded. Even the secular press has criticized it. A number of bishops continue to allow the Latin Mass to be celebrated as before TC without change. Even some of those bishops, however, have gradually tightened the noose by forbidding the TLM during the Easter Triduum and forbidding confirmations using the old rite. Are they protecting themselves from papal backlash? This is exactly why the SSPX is needed.
Cardinal Gerhard Mueller in a pithy statement criticizing TC wrote, “instead of appreciating the smell of the sheep, the shepherd [Pope Francis] here hits them hard with his crook.” He went on, writing that TC calls for “a sterile uniformity in the external liturgical form.” [Source] To be fully transparent, I want to point out that Cardinal Mueller has condemned the SSPX consecration of the bishops, but he also recognizes that, "The clear intent [of TC] is to condemn the Extraordinary Form to extinction in the long run." EXTINCTION! That statement, it seems to me, supports the argument of necessity set forth by the Society.
Clearly, TC is a prime example of a pope misleading the faithful spiritually. Pope Benedict said the traditional Latin Mass (TLM) was never, and could not, be abrogated. Again, Francis misled the faithful. So did Cardinal Fernandez when he said nothing in Vatican II could be changed or corrected. Bishop Schneider disputed his interpretation.
There are plenty of other examples of popes and members of the hierarchy misleading the faithful. Did I mention the German bishops and their synodal path of heresy? And let me point out again the infamous footnote in Amoris Laetitia that said couples in adulterous marriages could receive Communion. The error was magnified by the letter of the Argentina bishops which adopted the error and was affirmed by Francis. How many couples now violate the sixth commandment by going to the Communion rail while continuing to live in objective mortal sin? Hey, the pope and their bishops said it was A-okay and the pope can never be wrong in matters of faith and morals.
Is that not an example of "misleading the flock spiritually?" How many Catholic couples will wallow in mortal sin endangering their very salvation because the bishop said their sin wasn't a sin based on the teaching of Pope Francis? It reminds me of priests telling Catholics in the confessional they could practice contraception, a sin that is the gateway to abortion. And I won't even begin to go into the swamp of LGBTQIXYZ scandals.
And then there is what I think of as the modern golden calf episode in Exodus. How many faithful were misled spiritually during the Amazon synod by the honor given to Pachamama by Pope Francis? How many agreed with the pope's apology when the idol was taken and thrown into the river? How many were happy to see Pope Francis accept the plant representing the goddess and place it on the altar of St. Peter's? How many new age Catholics were supported in their Gaia worship and happily donned their crystals in honor of Mother Earth?
One would have to be like the three monkeys: deaf, dumb, and blind, to make the absurd statement that "the pope can never mislead one spiritually."
I am on retreat this week. I wrote this before I left and committed to praying for all those who comment on my blog, especially those who seem to have tossed their reason into the Tiber along with Pachamama. May we all listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, especially those living in the land of cognitive dissonance and doublethink convincing themselves that two contradictory things can be held and believed at the same time.
Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful. Give us all your gifts and fruits and make us true warriors for truth as we fight for the fiath in the Church Militant.
Lord Jesus, Sovereign King, have mercy on us.
O Mary, dressed in battle array, lead the army of the Church Militant to fight the enemies of your Son.
St. Joseph, guardian of the Church and Pillar of Families, pray for us.
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