"The Shepherds Govern the Flock."... Or Do They?

Logo of the 2024 Lutheran Assembly. The synodal way is making us Protestants.

The never-ending synodal process has become a serious trial to those who love the Church. One wonders why the bishops have continued to participate and even wax enthusiastic while these events fulfill the rallying cry of Francis to "make a mess." In view of the confusion and, even questionable doctrinal novelties accompanying the process, one would expect a little hesitancy and even push back from the bishops. But there's been precious little of that from the majority who undermine their own authority as they carry out the Vatican demands to "listen" to the vox populi, especially those who want to turn the Church into another Protestant sect. 

Down the Rabbit Hole: I'm Reading the Final Document from the Synod on Synodality!

Within two paragraphs of starting to read the final document from the Synod on Synodality, I found myself laughing ruefully and shaking my head. Are these folks serious? Pope Francis says we all have to accept the document and the bishops must implement its recommendations because it “participates in the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter....as an authoritative orientation for her life and mission.”

Are We In for an October Surprise at the Synod on Synodality?

Does anyone else find this creepy? Are all those folks going up to St. Peter's
to knock on the door and say, "Trick or Treat?"

The Synod on Synodality seems to have gone low key over the past few months. Some of the most controversial issues were taken off the table and designated to study groups. Does that make you feel relieved? Not me. It takes them away from the public spotlight and lets the assigned committee members, dare I say change agents, work in the dark. The enemy sneaking up on you from behind is always more dangerous than the enemy you face directly. And there are many enemies within the walls of Holy Mother Church!

What's at stake? Plenty! As Jonathan Liedl wrote at the National Catholic Register:

Summary of the Synod part 1 and It's not good! Are We Surprised?

Set up for the Delphi Technique under the eye of the serpent

In an interview with Vatican journalist Edward Pentin, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller gave his assessment of the process and the goal of radicals in the group. Nothing he says is really a surprise in view of the previous synods which all had manipulated outcomes to undermine the faith. This one so obviously used the Delphi Technique that anyone familiar with it could recognize what was happening. More on that later. The cardinal's interview appeared in the National Catholic Register with this introduction:

Ambiguity Goes on with Francis and the Question of Blessing Same-Sex Unions

Wolves are in the sheepfold dressed in clerics, pectoral crosses, and even papal white!

Francis has made it clear from the moment he stepped out on the balcony at St. Peter's that he will do everything he can to advance acceptance of the LGBTQ+ agenda. On his visit to the U.S. in 2015 he held a "private" meeting with a same-sex couple showing great enthusiasm and hugging the two men. It was filmed and widely shared amidst gay euphoria.

Faithful Catholic Women Challenge the Bishops Attending the Synod!

 

As the Synod Begins, A Faithful Shepherd Speaks a Warning!

If you've been watching the reports on the Synod on Synodality, two things are obvious  targets: marriage and the priesthood. First, it's clear that there will be discussions about blessing same-sex unions, a direct attack on marriage and its meaning. Second, women's ordination, an impossibility, is back on the table. It's a direct attack on the priesthood which means a direct attack on the Holy Eucharist, the central tenet of our faith.

Bishop Strickland has been very clear in recent letters about both the sacrament of marriage and the sacrament of ordination. In his letter of September 19, 2023, he specifically linked the discussion of marriage to the Synod which began yesterday:

Another Day Another Dubia -- One More for Francis to Ignore?

Five Cardinals issued a dubia this summer about the upcoming Synod on Synodality which is shaping up to be a terrorist attack on the faith, particularly the priesthood. As scripture says, strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. The initial dubia received a vague and elusive response according to the bishops (reported by LifeSiteNews), so the cardinals wrote a second with the questions reworked to be answered with a simple yes or no. Since the second dubia sent on August 21st received no response, the Cardinals released it to the faithful. I'm reprinting the second dubia followed by their letter to the faithful. But where are the other cardinals? Do we not have even one U.S. cardinal who wants answers to these questions? The synod sessions begin tomorrow. This is a time for prayers and sacrifice for Holy Mother Church. May God protect her from the wolves within. "Woe to the false shepherds."

The Dubia

To his Holiness, Francis, Supreme Pontiff

Most Holy Father,

The Goal of the Synodal Takeover of the Church Is the Corruption of Priests! Thank God for the SSPX!

Remember Good-Bye Good Men, Michael Rose's book about the attack on orthodox men aspiring to the priesthood? Corrupt seminaries welcoming homosexuals bearing nicknames like The Pink Palace (St. Mary's in Baltimore) had gatekeepers to make sure only those who supported women's ordination, homosexuality, changes in moral teaching on sexuality, etc. were accepted. Those "rigid" Catholics, men who loved the faith as taught over the millennia, were blacklisted, excluded, and expelled especially if they had the temerity to tell seminary rectors about being approached by their gay classmates. Actually, sometimes they were approached by faculty. And they often ended up being told they were unfit for the priesthood. 

Part 7: Modernism and the Synod on Synodality - The Beat Goes On! And It's Not Sacred Polyphony!

The Synod on Synodality's General Meeting in October is shaping up to be the equivalent of hard metal rock! You won't hear Gregorian Chant or Sacred Polyphany coming out of the latest blather confab. What you will hear is plenty of modernist jargon about "walking together" and "co-responsibility" with laity (especially women). You'll hear about climate change, ecumenism, dialogue, and inculturation. You'll learn about "discernment, in the wealth of meanings that this term takes on within the different spiritual traditions." You'll hear about "having conversations in the Spirit." What  you won't hear about is the salvation of souls, the obligation to preach the gospel in season and out, the spiritual work of mercy to "admonish the sinner," or any talk of salvation and the real problems facing the Church. If Jesus is mentioned even once, I have yet to find him buried in the blather.

From the Les Femmes Newsletter: Liberty vs. License Part I

Even secular voices recognize that license is accompanied by evil!

Editor's note: This is from the winter issue of the Les Femmes newsletter. Check out past issues at www.lesfemmes-thetruth.org.

LIBERTY VS. LICENSE: THE CRISIS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

The crisis in the Church looms ever larger. With the Synod on Synodality on the horizon, informed Catholics are right to be concerned. Under assault for decades from both inside and outside the Church, the faith has been so undermined that some people have no idea what the faith even is. What a threat to souls! The crux of the matter is the divide between true liberty that frees man to know, love, and serve God versus license that enslaves man to his lower passions transforming him into a creature more like a beast than a human. The challenge for Catholics is to help save souls by waking up as many beasts as possible enabling them to cast off their slavery to sin and embrace truth and virtue and thereby become “free” in the true sense.

Francis, Who Talks about the "God of Surprises," Inflicts His Own Surprise on the Upcoming Synod

Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.

Hey, Bishops! Surprise! 

The pope has chosen pro-sodomy, heterodox priest, Timothy Radcliffe, for your pre-synod retreat in Rome from October 1-3, 2023. Catholic News Agency reports:

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich announced Monday that the October 2023 session of the Synod of Bishops on synodality will begin with a three-day retreat led by a Dominican preacher whose statements on homosexuality have previously sparked controversy.

Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe will lead the Catholic bishops and participants in the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in a retreat near Rome from Oct. 1–3 at the invitation of Pope Francis, according to the cardinal....

Fr. Tom on the Synod on Synodality

These images are praised by the Synod organizers. Note the woman priest's vestments and the pride shirt on the person (man? woman?) in yellow. The "listening Church" is promoting things that would destroy her as Cardinal Mueller warns, calling the Synod a "hostile takeover of the Church!"

Editor's Comment: The next phase of the Synod on Synodality already has its assault team lined up and ready to tear down more Church doctrine. According to LifeSiteNews the 45 page document "to guide the next stage of the Synod on Synodality...calls for more inclusion of the divorced and 're-married,' LGBT groups, and proposes a 'female diaconate.'” Are we surprised that Rome is moving forward with more Church-wrecking schemes? In view of all this, Fr. Collins' article has particular relevance. We need to pray for priests and laity to push back against these assaults on the faith. Let us all consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He is the head of the Church. The pope is only His vicar on earth. When he plays the role of Judas he cannot be obeyed! When will our bishops make a concerted effort to defend the faith and rights of the flock to receive the unadulterated truth rather than a hodgepodge of heresy and dissent?

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Pope Extends the Synod on Synodality....Hmmm.

Why? Because of course!

Well this is interesting. 

Pope Francis Announces Decision to Extend Synod on Synodality to 2024 

One immediately wonders....WHY the extension? Could it be that developments warn the Vatican that things are moving too fast -- that growing opposition indicates the next synodal assault on the faith faces mass resistance? Hmm....

Is it time to back up a step and regroup and let people go back to sleep? Perhaps the other synods deconstructing the faith woke up too many Catholics. Maybe it's time to let the dust settle while the long-term agenda is allowed to simmer quietly for awhile. Whisper campaigns, nibbling at doctrines instead of taking huge bites may be a good temporary strategy.

In the News: Interesting Developments from Jeffrey Sachs and Cardinal Gerhard Muller

Well, this is interesting.... 

• Jeffrey Sachs, no friend of Catholics, is actually exposing the truth about COVID and the NIH constructing viruses that are more lethal to humans -- "dangerous research." Government "creates stories." It doesn't care about the truth. "This is not real investigation." NIH showed "a lot of bad behavior." Fauci "played the bureaucratic heavy." Lancet (medical journal) said that, "There is a pathway that this could have come out of a lab for sure." The "Fauci shop has not told us the truth....We also don't know what other dangerous stuff is going on....nobody knows except the insiders." [Check out the video interview.] 

And what's going on with the latest Synod....you know, the Synod on Synodality with all the input from Catholic laity around the world? 

Fr. Tom Offers Observations on Cultural Problems. Will the Synod on Synodality Address Them?

Several of the traditional homeschooled children who participated in theAll Saints Day parade
 in 2020. Hope for the future! There is only one parish in the Atlanta Archdiocese that offers the extraordinary form, St. Francis de Sales in Mableton, served by the FSSP (See comments)

Editor's comment: Fr. Tom paints a pretty painful view of where we are, particularly with the conditions affecting our children, the hope of the future. But there are a few encouraging signs. 

Fr. Tom Collins: Warnings about the Synodal Process

Editor's comment: Another synod, another scandal. Up to now I haven't said anything about the latest Vatican synod which opened in October. It's clear from past synods that each of these events is just one more opportunity to stir the slop bucket of change. Change the Church. Change the family. Change the worship. 

Been there done that.