Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 3:02pm

PopeWatch: Fear

Father Z explains why more priests and clerics do not speak out about this mad pontificate:

 

My friend Fr. Ray Blake, PP of Brighton, has a stupendous post today about FEAR.   HERE  He was asked to sign the Correctio Filialis and he writes openly about his fear of reprisals if he does so.

He is right to be afraid.  The question is, how shall we move forward, intelligently, and do the right thing even though we are in peril?

Here is some of Fr. Blake’s piece with my usual additions.

To Sign or Not to Sign

I have been asked to sign the Filial Correction, I signed the letter of the 45 academics and pastors last year, and almost immediately found Cardinal Nichols’ tanks parked on my lawn to inform me of his displeasure, which was quite mild unlike other lay signatories, who were sacked from their jobs in Catholic institutions for their pains, Dr. Josef Seifertis being the most high profile. I admit it, I am afraid to sign and I know other priests who share my fear. Many of those who might have signed have in the last four years have a certain fear about their place in the Church.

Rome and those surrounding the Pontiff have certainly become more vicious in defending him, never ever engaging in intellectual arguments, merely attacking like ravenous wolves or child bullies those who pose questions. The climate is bad throughout the Church, in Rome it is positively toxic. [I can attest that this is true.  Rome is like… a WWI field full of trenches with creeping yellow gas.] Under Francis the Vatican has become a place of fear and arbitrary oppression, there was a public glimpse of that in the sacking of Cdl Mueller by the Pope, and earlier in the dismissal of a couple of priests from the CDF and amongst laymen of Libero Milone, former Auditor General and many others. It is not just in theology that 2+2=5, or whatever number the Pope chooses that day, it extends to morality and ordinary human decency, ultimately it is a serious attack on the rationality of the Catholic faith and intellectual rigour. [In the name of being “pastoral” and “compassionate”.]

The abusive attacks on any one who asks legitimate filial questions or even of people like Cardinal Burke and the other “Dubia Cardinas” or even Cdls Sarah or Mueller  by the likes Austen Ivereigh, Rosica or Spadaro [Wile E., Beans, etc.] merely echo the statements of the notoriously immoderate Cardinal Madriaga the senior member of the Pope’s Council of Nine or the shocking insults always aimed at faithful Catholics by the Pope himself. Let us not even go to the shenanigans and manipulation surrounding the Synod on the Family

The men who rule the Church are not even in the worldly sense good, as the former Prefect of the CDF has said “power has become more important than truth”. It would be easy to dwell on the gay chem-sex parties hosted in the Vatican City itself and the advancement of those with a gay agenda, which produces apparently no reaction, not even a dismissal. In the matter of financial mismanagement and corruption, there appears to be window dressing masking inaction, John Allen seems to think this is the big issue above others. In fact, maybe because Francis centralises and 2+2 = whatever he decides, many of those in Rome suggest things have never been worse, a ‘kingdom of brigands’ as one former Nuncio described it.

Dioceses are not Rome but they do reflect Rome, Cardinals and bishops intimidate clergy and others who are faithful, if Francis has done anything it is to highlight a deep rift in the Church, marked by the quite extraordinary rise of an Ultramontane/Liberal faction against those who are faithful. Many bishops, who are often chosen for not for fidelity to Christ nor depth of learning nor moral fibre, not even their pastoral abilities but for their admin skills are quite happy to side with that faction which has power at the moment, moving Vicar of Bray-like from convinced Wojtylaians to Ratzingerians to Bergoglianians.

[…]

Read the rest over there.

 

Go here to read the rest.  The most underrated virtue for Catholics is courage.  CS Lewis explained it well:

This, indeed, is probably one of the Enemy’s motives for creating a dangerous world – a world in which moral issues really come to the point. He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty, or mercy, which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.

CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Faithful members of the clergy have much to lose in this world if they speak out, and infinitely more in the next if they do not.

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Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Friday, September 29, AD 2017 3:41am

Fear rules, sin enters in.

“Faithful members of the clergy have much to lose in this world if they speak out, and infinitely more in the next if they do not.”

Fearing God is healthy.
Fearing men, superiors especially, is a contagion that ruins lives. It will weaken the Body of Christ. It must stop.

Clean your house dear Jesus Christ.
Create for us a clean heart and a clean Church!

bob kurland
Admin
Friday, September 29, AD 2017 4:47am

And here’s another C.S. Lewis quote about fear (from “Out of the Silent Planet”):
“‘Yes,’ said Oyarsa, ‘but one thing we left behind us on the harandra: fear. And with fear, murder and rebellion. The weakest of my people does not fear death. It is the Bent One, the lord of your world, who wastes your lives and befouls them with flying from what you know will overtake you in the end. If you were subjects of Maleldil you would have peace.’ ”

Art Deco
Art Deco
Friday, September 29, AD 2017 5:04am

If he has a decent successor, that successor will have to clean out the corruption and that means sacking people and disciplining them in various ways. Discipline you need in an organization. The problem with Frankenchurch is that it is abusively applied to people who won’t go along with his poisonous and silly agenda. All the evidence indicates the Pope’s a thoroughgoing prat, so the purging will be directed at anyone who isn’t corruptible and anyone whose intellect and fund of knowledge embarrasses Pope Blurt.

#Injelitance

Art Deco
Art Deco
Friday, September 29, AD 2017 5:18am

Keep in mind Andrew Greeley made vituperative attacks on the hierarchy for decades (betwixt and between his attacks on the priest corps and Republican politicians). Absolutely nothing was done to him. His 1986 memoirs have an extended beef against Cdl. Bernardin for refusing to assign him any parish ministry, the one thing he wanted he couldn’t have. Just reading his memoirs, you can see Cdl. Bernardin had excellent reasons for not wanting Fr. Greeley to deal with other priests on a day-to-day basis, because he’d been such an irritant to so many of them, and, indeed, just about anyone who ever got close to him for any length of time.

ken
ken
Friday, September 29, AD 2017 7:07am

Art Deco said, “Absolutely nothing was done to him.”
Did you see how he lived out his last few years? And the accident days after his dear Obama was elected?

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Friday, September 29, AD 2017 7:09am

“Pope Blurt.”

Thanks for the smile Art.
Prayers for him will not be made in vain.
I’m trusting in Jesus to “help” with his discernment.
Pope Blurt…:)

Don L
Don L
Friday, September 29, AD 2017 7:16am

Many years ago, off of northern Japan riding out a hurricane (typhoon over there) I stood watch on the 07 level (about 15 stories up) as the ship swayed precariously from port to starboard, and massive waves rolled up over the flight deck of the nearly 3 football fields long aircraft carrier, I understood abject fear, but also a strange awe at the mighty power of God, realizing that only He could calm that storm..
I sense the same thing happening now inside God’s Church, also knowing that only He can calm this diabolical storm.
Sometimes, nothing but prayer will work. This appears to be one of them.

Mary De Voe
Friday, September 29, AD 2017 10:11am

In the next post one can find the Prayer to Saint Michael, the remedy for fear

Art Deco
Art Deco
Friday, September 29, AD 2017 1:28pm

Did you see how he lived out his last few years? And the accident days after his dear Obama was elected?

Yessss. I’ve had occasion to wonder if God was shouting at us. His family did not know how much he understood of what he appeared to be reading. Many years ago, Richard John Neuhaus said that ‘ere he had anything published, he tried to ask himself ‘what if this were the last thing I ever said?’ It would be good to get into the habit of doing that.

Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd
Saturday, September 30, AD 2017 1:39am

Christ was an outsider speaking against the corrupt churchmen of His time. So must it be with us. The protests against the Vatican II Church and especially Pope Francis must come from the laity has it has so far. Expect nothing from the clergy and you will not be disappointed.

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