Pope Francis and the Chinese Model

'Thou hast given a warning to them that fear thee: that they may flee from before the bow: That thy beloved may be delivered.' ~ Psalm 60

In an article for The Week, columnist Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry last week issued a public lament over the Vatican's once thinly veiled but now revealed plan to officially recognise eight Bishops of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church - those appointed and ordained by the Chinese Government to oversee the 'Chinese version' of the Catholic Church acceptable to the Chinese Communist State.

In the words of Gobry, whose analysis of the situation of the Church in China is both sober and alarming, all that is now needed is the 'final nod' (and dare I say a wink) from Pope Francis and President Xi Jinping for the 'deal' to go ahead.L et us just recall for a moment that this is the China of a one-two child policy, forced abortions, forced sterilisations, a repulsive and diabolical practise of organ harvesting and trafficking, repressive crackdowns on political dissidents and religious freedom, factory-based suicide encouraging slavery, zero working rights and horror upon horror.

Being no expert in the history of diplomatic relations between the massively repressive totalitarian regime in China and the Vatican, I feel somewhat unqualified to write a lengthy post detailing the ins and outs of the somewhat harrowing but compelling and inspiring story of Chinese Catholicism.

However, there are dire consequences of this move, not only for the credibility stock value of the commodity which is Pope Francis, which will take an objective nose dive no matter what the 'investors' say, and also for the Church in China. The reality is, however, that the implications do not, I expect, stop there. Furthermore, the signals coming from Rome, which do not require a thorough knowledge of the Chinese situation, no matter what the 'diplomatic' history - a history marked by persecution and faithful, courageous martyrdom, are not good.

Cardinal Zen makes bold statements on Francis and China

Pope Francis and the 'underground Church'

Let's be clear about the Church and Pope Francis. By capitulating to the tyrannical demands of the Communist Government in China, just one of the growing list of thoroughly nasty regimes with which Pope Francis is willing to open up new avenues of 'dialogue', Francis will be not only sending a signal to China's Catholics unwilling to burn incense before the emperor in remaining loyal to the true Catholic Church, nor merely selling out the Catholic Bishops remaining faithful to the Holy See while risking their own skins, but also sending a wider signal to the Church and the World. This signal should not go unnoticed or remain passed over without comment because it is ground-shaking in enormity.

The horrifying wider signal is this:

Where the Church is oppressed, under siege or in danger, persecuted and faithful, support from Rome will be withdrawn and its oppressors will receive the solidarity that rightfully belongs to the oppressed.

Events since 2013 have shown this to be so. And before we begin to think that this is - under the reign of Francis - a new experience - isn't this just precisely what faithful Catholics are now getting used to?

Papal fidelity: Pope Francis with Fidel Castro

For years, decades in fact, the Catholic Church has been a fortress - a noun that probably conjours up images of nightmarish quality for Pope Francis, against totalitarian regimes and their atheistic ideologies - and not just regimes - but international institutions that seek to overturn Christian morals and supplant them with their own sadistic and malevolent creed. St John Paul II's defence of Christianity against the wiles of many organisations involved in the culture of death spring immediately to mind - as well as his opposition to communism.

Today, however, whether it is Venezuelan dictators, Cuban dictators, Bolivian dictators, Chinese dictators, those in the UN who would wish to dictate from on high to nations on abortion, population, artificial contraception and same-sex marriage, the dictates and demands of the international man-made climate change movement, whoever it may be, it is they who receive 'a fair hearing' and opportunities for 'dialogue' and a 'culture of encounter' with the new regime in the Vatican. Their victims, past, present and future, receive no such solidarity.

We saw this, most vividly at the Synod on the Family and within the pages of the risible document that was its intended result - that those loyal to the Magisterium - to Jesus Christ Himself - have to look elsewhere than Rome - apart from one or two individuals in dicasteries and certainly not the papal office - for moral, doctrinal or even 'diplomatic' support.

Pope Francis blesses Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro

It seems very much that whether you are a faithful Catholic more concerned about the fundamental rights of the unborn in the US than the politically and socially nuanced subject of immigration and climate change, or whether you are a Cuban dissident Catholic on the receiving end of intense Government scrutiny, or a priest or bishop of the underground and faithful Catholic Church in China, or a victim of governmental oppression in a Latin America socialist failed State, or even a priest or layman bewildered by the heretical charge against marriage, the family and the Blessed Sacrament launched by those entrusted with power in Rome itself - whether you are any of these people - you will be left out in the cold by the current 'administration' in the Vatican. Whether you are a priest or Cardinal who favours ad orientem worship or a priest or Cardinal in China under siege for your faith, Rome does not want to know you and your cause is unworthy of support.

The 'underground Church' - the only Church of the future

Need it be mused upon, indeed, that the fate of the true, authentic 'underground Church' in China will become very quickly, under the reign of Pope Francis the fate of the 'underground Church' in Europe and perhaps the world over? Wherever there is injustice and oppression, it seems, whether it be found among the innocent who have offered their lives in holy poverty, chastity or obedience in the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, or whether you campaign for the unborn, or try to defend your nation from the overturning of the definition of marriage, or worshipping within countries oppressed by ideologically driven dictators, the only fraternity you will find is among those who, like you, are on the side of justice and truth, those on the side of Christ. He will be on your side, your refuge is Him.

Cardinal Burke with the FFI in happier days

Now, sadly, is not the time to put not your trust in princes because princes will only fail and disappoint you. But make no mistake...whether it is in China, or whether it be in England, or whether it be Bolivia, the true Church is that Church which does not abandon Jesus Christ and His teachings.

The visible head of that Church we believe to be Pope Francis, but he doesn't have to belong to that Church if he does not want to. If he - and those he has gathered around him, wants to sell out Christ, betray the Faithful, dishonour the Church, abandon the persecuted and cosy up to totalitarian regimes and the advocates of inhuman ideologies, to corrupt politicians and highly paid pawns of the political and economic world, pen lamentable exhortations on 'love' that cast authentic Christian love aside, as well as having fun with Lutherans while those down the road from him try to rebuild after the latest natural disaster to occur in Italy, that's his choice and the choice of those he has around him.

Cardinal Robert Sarah: Deemed so toxic at the CDW he has to be 'contained'

Like all of us, the Pope has been given the ultimate gift of free will to be used for good or for evil. It will help him enormously if he comes to an understanding of the difference between the two and begins to teach it to the Faithful. What use the Pope makes of the power and authority entrusted to him he will have to render an account - as all of us shall - before the Throne of God's Judgement. As Rome begins to prepare for what more and more looks like it is shaping up to be an Extraordinary Year of Doom, let us pray that he, and we, will be ready to give that account and find God's mercy.

'If you don't like my principles, I have others.'

One priest has just discovered, in China on this very day, that the Vatican is none too keen on offending the totalitarian regime in China in a new era of 'dialogue'. Friendly dialogue with ideological, even pathological dictators and tyrants seems to be the order of the day in Rome. Is that simply because Francis is so heavily steeped in the doctrine of unconditional dialogue that he can turn nobody away, or is it because among these figures so often despised by their own people, he finds men of similar opinions or even character to himself? Time, of course, will tell, but let us not fail to recognise the signs of that time.

All this and forced abortion too...

Cardinal Zen has been so bold as to tell the Church in China that if Pope Francis recognises the eight Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association bishops, the Pope should not be followed. One really begins to wonder whether if a Cardinal loyal to Jesus says that, whether he is talking only to Catholics in China, or whether he is, in fact, speaking to the heart of, and indeed speaking on behalf of, every Catholic endeavouring to be faithful to Christ throughout the entire world.

Pray for the authentic, true Church in China and the Church endeavouring, to the great iirritation of those in high authority in the Vatican, to be faithful to Jesus Christ, to His teaching and to His promises, throughout the whole World.

Those New Beatitudes

FOR SHAME!

Norcia has been struck by a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that has flattened homes and made residents homeless, destroying the Monastery of St Benedict and St Scholastica. Keep these distraught people in your prayers and if you are able, donate to their funds for relief.

Having expressed his 'closeness' to the people of Norcia, His Holiness as far as we know still intends to travel to Lund, Sweden, to celebrate the Reformation and will, true to current form, laud and honour the infamous heresiarch Martin Luther, thereby giving a new meaning to the words...

'pastoral'

and

'closeness'.

FOR SHAME!

Let's not let an earthquake in a nearby town to Rome put the breaks on a pointless ecumenical circus in honour of a man who died a public enemy of Christ and His Church. And this is before he has - as I suspect he will, in some form - given the go-ahead for 'inter-communion' with the Lutherans as some kind of 'merciful', 'ecumenical' gesture.

After all, not to give Holy Communion to a Lutheran would be a 'sin against ecumenism', wouldn't it? Not to let those who do not recognise Him under the guise of bread and wine - who are not in Communion with Him or His Church - who have not discerned the Body, therefore eat and drink unto their guilt - would just be 'rigid'. 

Perhaps Pope Francis visit Norcia after the debacle in Lund and the customary multiple pile-up interview on the way home as one of his 'Mercy Friday' gestures and to make reparation for those carbon related eco-sins committed by another wholly unnecessary flight. Why go in person to Lund when you could Shepherd Catholics - your sheep - and send your honorary heretic Cardinal Kasper to go and represent you in Lund?

Be Not Deceiving in Your Receiving

No man, be he lay man, deacon, priest, bishop, cardinal or Pope can receive the Lord Jesus 

and reject His teachings.

Those who reject the Lord's teachings reject the Lord even while receiving Him.

Surely, for this reason do we regard those Communions as sacrilegious in which a person outwardly honours Jesus, but inwardly rejects His commandments.

Why should we be surprised then, when unfaithful Prelates fail to uphold the sublime dignity of the Most Holy Eucharist and fail to discourage those in mortal sin from receiving Him?

Those wicked men, be they Priests, Bishops Cardinals or the Pope himself, who receive Jesus while rejecting His teachings deceive not Jesus but they do deceive themselves and they do deceive the people entrusted to them.

Be not deceived.

The Lord Jesus takes up residence and dwells within the hearts and souls of those who accept Him.

In them He finds a home for they truly welcome Him as their King, Lord and Saviour.

Those who reject Jesus Christ profit nothing from receiving His Body and Blood.

It turns to their condemnation.

For those who do not believe Jesus's Teaching. do not believe in God the Son.

Christ and His Law cannot be separated.

If a man accepts Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist but does not accept Jesus Christ's teachings how can the Most High dwell within him? How can the love of God possibly be in him?

Can it be said that a child respects, reveres or loves a Father whose words he despises? Whose discipline he refuses? Whose decrees and precepts he laughs off? Whose customs he finds repugnant?

Do they think they can receive Jesus Christ and reject His infallible words when He Himself is the Word of God?

Do they truly receive Christ who cannot bear His voice, His speech, His teachings, His commandments and His law?

Do they receive the Lord when the doors of these men's hearts and souls are slammed tightly shut in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How can He enter, whose Charity and Truth are refused?

For no good reason do such men hate us.

Such men as this hate us and scorn us.

They exonerate the wicked while they mercilessly persecute the just.

They are without shame.

But we are not ashamed of Jesus Christ. 

In your intent to desecrate and violate His Most Holy Body and Blood you will be met with 

rigid resistance.

We are not ashamed of His Commandments.  

In your intent to desecrate and violate His Church you will be met with 

rigid resistance.

We are not ashamed of His Teachings. 

In your intent to desecrate and violate His Doctrines you will be met with 

rigid resistance.

We will be unyielding. No matter how you insult us, or denigrate us. 

We are not ashamed of Jesus Christ.

We are ashamed of you who outwardly profess Jesus Christ but who inwardly reject Him.

You who are embarrassed of Jesus Christ, we are embarrassed of you!

There are two bodies in this world. 

Only two. 

These are the mystical Body of Christ and the mystical body of Anti-Christ.

Choose today which body you will belong to.

For now these two bodies exist within the same visible Church.

But even now, in the very highest ranks of the Church a great separation is taking place as those who arrogantly promote themselves as 'reformers' seek to usurp the Word of God and place their vain reasoning and foolish imaginings over and above the very words of Our Blessed Saviour Himself.

With subtlety and great cunning they seek to separate the Lord Jesus Christ from His Teachings and thus unveil a new Christ, a false Christ, a counterfeit Christ who receives those who receive Him not, because they do not receive His teachings.

They now call what is just and fitting a scandal and a disgrace and make that which is disgraceful seem laudable by their soft speech.

But their words bring death to souls.

They claim to represent Jesus Christ and for this sublime Office they were called.

But He cannot truly abide in those who refuse to abide in Him.

You may try - and you may well appear to be victorious as you attempt to dissolve not only the teachings of Jesus Christ but the faith and the morals of those in your care.

For good reason do you run to heretics to say, 'We want union with you!'

Since you are disloyal to Christ, since you cannot accept Him or abide His Teaching and since He finds no home in you, then naturally you seek union with others who are not of Christ's flock, those who, just like you, deny that He is Who He Is!

Being unable to attain union with Christ you seek union with heretics.

For like attracts like.

You seek union with heretics because you are heretics.

Should we be surprised that you seek to give the Lord to unrepentant adulterers?

Why should we be surprised?

 When unrepentant adulterers is just what you are!

You who professed to be wedded to the Lord at your Ordination! 

You take other lovers and feel no shame because you have no love for Christ!

You wish to refashion the Church in such a manner as to make it indistinguishable from the Church the Lord Jesus founded. 

Nothing is safe in your hands, be it the Church's doctrines, her Sacred Liturgy or Her Sacraments.

You have set your faces against the Lord and against His children.

You deride as 'rigid' those who remain loyal to the Truth, to Christ and His glorious Martyrs.

You will deceive and fool many in your plans.

But you will by no means succeed in your efforts.

Christ is with His Church and His Church is His Body until the End of Time.

In as much as you feign love for Christ, receive the Body of the Lord but try to deceive Him Whose Body it is, will you find yourself deceived as close as you get to achieving your claimed victory.

Don't you understand?

You have chosen as your master the origin of lies and illusion itself!

For were you the visible Head of the Body of Christ, if you do not accept the teachings of the Lord, if you will not allow yourself to be instructed by Him, then you will discover yourself not only to be not the Head, but not even a part of the Body!

Do you understand what this discovery will mean for you?

And do you think that the Church is decapitated if you discover yourself to be not only not the Head but not even a part of the Body?

No. It cannot be.

Jesus Christ is the Head of His Body the Church.

The Church is never without its true, divine and glorious Head.

And He Himself is Truth.

The overwhelming majority of your venerable and esteemed predecessors,
Bishops, Cardinals, Popes knew and understood that.

When you receive Him, you receive the whole Christ, whole and entire.

You receive not a corpse of a dead man whose words you wish to be forgotten and erased but the Living One, He, the Word of God, Faithful and True!

The Alpha and the Omega! The beginning and the end!

But you cannot receive Him and deny Him entrance at the same time!

For he who denies Him in the company of men will find himself denied in the company of Angels.

You may not know that or understand that today. 

But you will.

Soon.

You are the Father who has been placed in authority over us. 

We pose no danger to you whatsoever. But there is one you must fear and he is purely spiritual.

Power has been given to you for a time and for a season.

But as to whom your Father is?

Know this and mark it well.

It doesn't matter to what rank in the Church you have been raised. 

For every Catholic this remains true for all time:

The Church's infallible doctrines are those of Christ our Lord and Saviour.

He founded the Church and He is its Bridegroom and Lord.

Those who do not believe Jesus's Doctrine. do not believe in Jesus as God the Son.

If you will not submit yourself to the holy Teachings of God the Eternal Son and the Church which He has founded, Whose Teachings are His?

Then you do not believe in Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit, you cannot receive.

And God the Eternal Father, your Father cannot be.

And the end of those who have will not have God for their Father is one of terror and endless torment, eternal anguish and the tremendous horror of separation from the happy company of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother and His Saints.

Do not let this be your fate!

In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, of Most Holy Mary, St Joseph and all the Saints.

 I plead with you.

It is not too late to turn to the Lord!

You may think you have the upper hand over us, but it is not so.

For it is you who are surrounded!

 You think that your enemies are being purged but they are your friends.

Instead, you surround yourself with enemies of your immortal soul!

Your Eternal Salvation!

In the web of illusion and deceit you have spun, care you nothing for this?

For your own sake and for those in your care:

Reject the wiles of the Enemy who is Satan.

Do not allow him to ensnare you!

Beg the Lord to guide your ways!

We have petitioned you. 

We have written to you. 

We have sought your ear and you made it plain that you have no time for us. 

You have made it plain that you consider us beneath contempt.

But we love you! 

Why do we love you?

Because we take Jesus's Teachings seriously and we believe in Him!

And that is why we warn you! 

With one accord, may each one of us turn towards the Lord, rich in mercy and slow to anger because when He comes He will come in great power and might and His recompense He will bring with Him giving to each as their deeds deserve.

Come, Lord Jesus and deliver the people you purchased by your Royal, Precious Blood!

Jesus, I trust in Thee!

Well, at least they weren't rigid...

Of course, we're all looking forward to Obama/Hillary and Putin showing great 'flexibility' in 'shall we or shall we not use an array of nuclear warheads against each other during WW3' and thus ensure the death of millions of civilians.

These moral laws - such an encumbrance when you just want to blow up your enemies countries and allies!

Obama and Putin. 

Come on!

Relax and be FREE! 

Don't be rigid types! Show flexibility and elasticity with the moral law and with human laws like treaties and stuff!

Not to be elastic is worse than the unforgivable sin - the only unforgivable sin - that's right! 

The great sin against ecumenism!

The Pontificate that Won't Stand Up to Scrutiny

As I left a Church a day or two ago, I walked past a copy of a mainstream Catholic newspaper, I think it was The Universe. The headline took me somewhat by surprise. 'Is this really where we have got to?' I thought. The headline went something very much like this:

'POPE FRANCIS CHOOSES MERCY OVER MORALS WITH NEW CARDINAL PICKS'

You can imagine what the rest of the article was like. I thought to myself that there is something deeply wrong with that headline and that such a headline - and it is accurate in its reportage - is a damning indictment of the pontificate of Pope Francis. In a single headline, we can discern the nature of the crisis enveloping the Church from the top downwards.

Has Catholic intellectual life come to such a nadir as this when a Catholic newspaper can publish a news story on the Pope's cardinal picks and fail to see the idiocy being promulgated therein. Mercy over morals. Mercy over morals. Mercy over morals?

Remember folks, you can't have both! When it comes to these qualities of - on the one hand - possessing morals and - on the other hand, possessing mercy a choice simply has to be made. One of them has to be abandoned because, well, aren't these two things just mutually exclusive? Isn't that what the most venerated Catholic Saints and scholars have always held? Isn't that what Jesus Christ taught? Good grief!

Now, I'm no ace theologian. While I've read a little 'City of God' and dipped into the 'Summa', I've no theological credentials to my name, but a smidgen of the sensus fidelium can tell me that there is no conflict between the man who upholds mercy and the man who upholds morality. These are the same man. This Man is Jesus Christ. And the sorry truth of the matter is that Jesus Christ Himself, were He a Bishop instead of the Divine Head of the Church, would very likely be passed over by Francis in his Cardinal picks because He simply wouldn't let go of His 'morals'. The clear inference of the Universe headline - and the clear inference of this papacy - is that mercy is good and, wait for it...

MORALS ARE BAD!

Yes, this idiocy is going out to the parishes via the Catholic press. By this simple but so far successful employment of cynical propaganda the character of, hmm, let's see, among others Cardinal Raymond Burke, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Cardinal Robert Sarah, the editorial team of Asia News and anyone who stubbornly remains loyal to Jesus Christ is being denigrated. These are people who still believe that, shock horror, morals are, in fact, good.

Growing opposition to and criticism of Pope Francis's pontificate is now being peddled by Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli as evidence of a club within the Church who are simply against Francis for the sake of it. Despite a wealth of evidence stacked up against him in papal pronouncements, interviews, off the cuff decisions and now an exhortation, Tornielli insists that the entrenched views of those Catholics who appeal to Rome for clarification or who insist on the perennial teachings on the Church are just resentful people who fail to see the enormous good Francis is doing for the Church.

For argument's sake, however, let's assume that, for instance, a Cardinal Blaise Cupich is the model of every Cardinal in the Church, one who, in the image of Francis himself chooses 'mercy over morals'. What kind of a Church aside from one sidelined into the gutter of popular culture is it that proclaims mercy at the expense - or instead of - morals? What does that Church look like? What does that Church have to say to a drug dealer or a human trafficker? What does that Church that chooses mercy over - or instead of - morals say to a pornographer, murderer or terrorist? What does that Church have to say to a pederast or someone who covers up pederasty for the sake of a quiet life? To anyone bound up in a lifestyle of mortal sin, what does that Church have to say? Quite simply, nothing, because of Her Founder, that Church is truly embarrassed. Yes, in the name of mercy, it is He Himself, the Lord Jesus, who is abandoned!

It seems to me that indeed what some will argue is a Pope advocating for a Church that sees not in terms of black or white but in many shades of grey will quickly become a Church of darkness. Why? Because Jesus Christ is Light. He is the Light of the World. His Morality shines a light into not just the darkest recesses of our hearts, our hearts which are dulled by sin - yes, sin, that dirty word! - but also into the darkest recesses of the Church. Shades of grey, like so many clouds that, when they accumulate during a storm can form a thick darkness that blots out the Sun, can act as cover for a great deal. It is the Church that refuses light, that fears the Light, the Truth, that covers the tracks of abuse and attempts to silence victims of that abuse.

'Mercy over morals.' My oh my. Who would have thought that after the years of championing the culture of life over the culture of death, the Catholic Church from the top could offer the World such a pathetic motif as that, and a Pope who played the pied piper for every rogue and criminal on the face of the Earth. Mercy over morals. Mercy over morals. What sweet music to the ears of the amoral, to those who find that Morality itself is a sworn enemy, an adversary, one who must be overcome, slain, like an innocent Lamb upon a Sacrificial Altar!

In Praise of Luther, the Great!

I can see why His Holiness would want to spend time with Lutherans and venerate him just a little. After all, Luther Vandross was a pioneer of classic 80s soul music, music which brought many people together in the bars, the pubs and clubs. A lot of us remember the ups and downs of the 80s and Luther was there, often in the background, on the radio, on Top of the Pops, singing his soul music always with a smile. His Holiness is right to highlight his impact on Western culture and his artistic contribution to society. I am sure all the Lutherans went home very happy from their meeting with the Pope, knowing that Mr Vandross's musical contribution had received recognition from the highest levels of the Church.

Just Another Day at the Vatican

Just in time for Christmas, the chocolate Luther. 

Can't wait for the chocolate Calvin. The sheer indulgence of it!

Chocolate Calvin filled with delicious liqueur!

Martin Luther said, 'Destroy the Mass, you destroy the Church!'

He seems like a credible role model for the tragic trajectory of this papacy.

Potentially.

But what's with the scarves?

"No. I don't know what happened to your Luther statue."

It probably really is best Benedict XVI stepped aside from this whole 2017 Reformation party. I don't think he could have brought himself to get terribly excited by it.

God help us.

Declaration of Fidelity

If you have not already seen it and signed it, you can sign this important declaration of fidelity to the Church's unchangeable teaching on marriage and her uninterrupted discipline on the Sacraments here.

Who Will Rise Up for Him Against the Evildoers?

Recently, it was made public that priests and theologians wrote to every Cardinal in the Church to press Pope Francis to clarify his position on those parts of Amoris Laetitia which have potential to mislead the Faithful into error. This is the latest major initiative aimed at seeking clarification from the Pope, undertaken privately but made public.

At considerable risk to themselves, this request was made by persons of good will towards the Pope and in good faith. Since then, Fr Hunwicke has made it quite clear that the response to this letter from certain quarters has been one of intimidation. This is very distressing and alarming not merely because of the intimidation itself but because the intimidation is being applied before the 'new policy' or 'direction' has even been 'rolled out'.

If priests and theologians experience some kind of censure or reproach now, what kind of pressures might be applied when the Bergoglian rock of pastoral devastation starts careering down the hill with - as we know such things do - ever-increasing velocity?

Already, it appears that 'The Joy of Love' will be adopted, in all likelihood, by an unknown number of Argentine Bishops in what Pope Francis has described as the only possible interpretation of it for in his words, 'there are no other interpreations'. We can be sure that what takes place in Buenos Aires will not stay in Buenos Aires. Placing to one side for a moment the huge number of sacrilegious Communions and spiritual entropy which will be the natural result of the 'only possible interpretation' of the Pope's Exhortation, we must realise now how remarkably vulnerable are those priests - especially priests - who have made a stand in defence of Christ's own teaching and who will refuse to simply adopt the new thinking, if, indeed, it can even be called 'thinking'. For should not the new approach rather be called unthinking, careless, thoughtless or reckless? Worse, is it calculated?

Either way, this catastrophic move by the Pope not only endorses sacrilege. It does not only place souls at grave risk and lay waste to the teaching of Christ and the Pope's predecessors. It does not only light the touchpaper on the break-up of the Catholic Church into differing regions and national Churches. It also will inevitably inflict upon priests censure for doing the Lord's will. It has the potential to both empty seminaries and throttle the Priesthood.

Bishops and Cardinals, should any of you read this, and I know its unlikely...

It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to remind those set over us in authority who are Successors of the Apostles, not mere place men, that a concerted effort was made by the lay faithful for you to make your displeasure publicly felt at second stage of the Synod on the Family. For since March 17th 2013, yes just four days after his election to the Chair of Peter, Pope Francis has set out his programme of destructive 'reform' of the Catholic Church causing rising consternation ever since. The laity - and I among them - requested in the form of a petition that you leave the Synod Hall so that you would not lend legitimacy to the expensive charade of which you were a part.

We knew very well that the Pope was using you and the entire Synod process in order to lend an air of false collegiality to his own plans for the wholesale destruction of the Christian order, affecting the Sacraments, violating the sanctity of Marriage, placing the Family in jeopardy and promoting the desecration of the Holy Eucharist. Quite simply the Synod was a manipulation from beginning to end. We took a fair bit of criticism from others for that stance, but we knew very well that you were being played. We anticipated that the Synod was an exercise in garnering the kind of official-sounding semi-consent with caveats necessary for the Church to be raped. We knew that your views were not required, your presence only a fig-leaf covering the naked ambition - the ambition of which even he himself has obliquely spoken - of the Pope to radically alter the Church's teachings via 'pastoral practise' under the guise of pastoral mercy.

There is no point in saying we told you so, but...

Now behold how potentially defenseless are Christ's priests in the coming battle and how very vulnerable they are if law breaks down and is 'pastorally' dissolved from the top down. Yes, like many of you, we too have hoped and prayed most earnestly that the Pope will renege on his systematic programme aimed at laying the axe to the very foundations of the Catholic Church but most of us have realised long ago that this is a hope in vain. The Pope as of yesterday, but, in reality long before, stands in direct opposition to Jesus Christ. That's the situation. It is completely understandable that Cardinals and Bishops called to defend Christ's flock and the whole truth of the Gospel decided to postpone the battle, but not understandable that you would be so naive as to think the battle could be anything but postponed or that the Exhortation would be anything but a clever manipulation of the Church's Law, though, of course, nobody could have foreseen the whole strategy finding its most destructive element in a single footnote. Yes, the battle was postponed at the Synod but it could not be postponed indefinitely. That battle is now here, in your face, whether we like it or not.

For truly, the question the lay faithful asked at the Synod on the Family was really this: Who will rise up for Jesus Christ against the evildoers who eat up his people like so much bread?

That was why we asked you to leave the Synod Hall, not as an act of rebellion against the authority of the Pope but as an act of fidelity to Jesus Christ and His Gospel because we knew another opportunity may not arise. Letters, petitions, words, interviews...sorry, but the 'reformers' are laughing! They thinks they hold all the cards but are you not Apostles of Jesus Christ the Lord? Has power and authority not been given to you, Bishops and Cardinals?

Please in the name of all that is holy, I beg you, Bishops and Cardinals, fight for Jesus Christ and for the Truth. Pope Francis has made plain his intent to endorse, from the highest office of the Catholic Church, the violation of the holy doctrines of the Church, the teaching of Christ Himself, the Most Holy Eucharist, Marriage and the Family. He must be stopped from demolishing the Church. You must challenge him and challenge him publicly. You, alone, have the authority to do this. Those who are of Christ's flock will support you in this. The Eucharist must be defended. Marriage must be defended. Priests must be defended. Every Christian family needs you to speak out forcefully and to act to defend the Church. Every priest looking over his shoulder at his Ordinary will thank you. Every married person who takes the Gospel seriously will thank you. Will not Jesus Christ the Lord Himself thank you?!

At the stage at which we now are, with a perfect opportunity sadly missed at the Synod and disappearing into the horizon of history, as a lay man, I know not any longer what I seek Bishops and Cardinals to do or say, but know that the only thing the destroyers will take seriously is visible, audible defenders of Christ and His Bride who really mean it and whose respect for God is greater than their respect for men.

Please make known your opposition to the Pope's latest and most devastating assault on the Catholic Faith now. It is opposed by the Church Triumphant, be sure of this. It must be opposed by the Church Militant. You may not have been looking for this war but this war will find you. May it not find you hunkering down and pretending it is all going to go away. You may feel and say that the very last thing you wish to do is to damage the fragile unity of the Church but that unity is under massive assault from within, from the top. You must fight for Our Lord! You can now either defend the Church or desert Her in Her time of need. There is no middle ground. Those caught in no man's land will be spiritually annihilated for choosing comfort rather than Christ. If a hundred Bishops come forward to defend Christ we will be grateful. If fifty Bishops come forward to defend Christ we will be grateful. If ten come forward, we will be grateful. If just one comes forward to defend Christ, we will still be grateful.  We pray that you will do and say what you must to honour your duty to Christ, to His Priests and to the millions of souls in the care of the Church. It is easy for me to say it. It is harder for you to do, but for this reason were you born, to bear witness to the Truth and everyone on the side of the Truth listens to His Voice, for His Voice is clear and rings louder than peals of thunder...

For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. They say to him: Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put away? He saith to them: Because Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.

Bishops and Cardinals can no longer simply watch and pass over Pope Francis's aggressive mutilation of the Gospel as if by doing so safeguards the unity of the Catholic Church when Pope Francis has, in an astonishing manner, declared war on the Deposit of Faith he was appointed to serve, preserve and uphold as the Vicar of Christ on Earth.

May the Lord give Bishops and Cardinals the strength and resolve to do whatever they can, with the authority given to them by Christ, to safeguard the Deposit of Faith first neglected, then denied, then tossed aside and now thrown into the gutter by the occupant of the Chair of Peter.

If the Successor of St Peter cannot bring himself to confirm and strengthen the brethren in anything but falsehood and error (and climate change), then you must confirm and strengthen the brethren in the Holy Faith. In order to do so, you must be heard clearly and loudly, over the howling of the wolves that threaten to tear Christ's flock, Christ's Church and Christ's priests to pieces.

Pray, pray, pray for those charged with such a grave and solemn duty in the Catholic Church that with wisdom and fortitude they will foster the unity of the Church in Christ in one Faith, one Lord and one Baptism. If our Shepherds do not confront and resist evil, we can be certain that evil will overtake them and Shepherds are never overtaken alone.

Pope Francis Has Definitely Responded to Petitions and Letters from Concerned Catholics

The Holy Name of Mary

So if an army of Bishops and Cardinals could rise up in one voice and oppose this as soon as possible, that would be just great.

The USA has just commemorated September 11th.

Have we just had our September 12th?

A Collection of Thoughts on St Teresa of Kolkata Which Descends into Rant

Saints inhabit their age but they do not linger there. St Teresa's life is timeless. She'll always be relevant.

We can, I fear, thank God that St Teresa of Calcutta never had a blog or a Facebook account. That is not to say that these things, when used well are a waste of time, but Saints of contemplation and action don't need social media. Saints are saints in deed.

Mother Teresa seems to still have the capacity to cause a lot of people to fall over each other. Traditionalists say she was not traditional enough and criticise her for unorthodox sounding statements on inter-faith issues. Atheists just plain hate her because she was a nun who preached about Jesus Christ in word and deed.  You could say atheists hate St Teresa of Calcutta in the same way they hate the Church or even God Himself.

Mother's big idea was in fact very simple and she maintained that what drove her mission was Matthew 25. That's pretty traditional. Matthew 25 deals with the Last Judgment. If you're going to have a mission statement, that's not a bad starting place to begin a mission. We can glean from this alone some important truths about her life.

Firstly, Mother Teresa both feared God and loved God. She took Jesus's words very seriously indeed. She clearly feared being consigned with the goats. She knew Jesus meant what He said about death and Judgement. She clearly loved Christ in the Eucharist, spending hours alone with Him. How many Catholics nowadays believe that stuff?

An image of Mother Teresa alone tells an accurate story of this nun who, in fact, refused to conform her life to her age both in the Church and the world. Notice that Mother Teresa wore a habit. Around her neck and clasped in her hands was the Cross. One attached to her habit and one a Rosary in her hands. Yes, Mother was a nun of the habit and the Rosary. During the 1980s these visible signs of religious life were not common at all with so many nuns discarding both their habits and their Rosaries in preference of yoga and jeans and a gospel of self-fulfilment. In terms of evangelisation, a habit really helps a nun. It identifies her as being dead to the world and alive to Christ, her spouse. Of course, this would be counter-productive if her life was marked by a lack of Christian virtue and charity. Of course, the opposite is the case. The reality is that her compassion and heroism puts the great majority of us to shame. Quite honestly the words 'Mother Teresa' make us feel generally guilty. That's because whether you're a traddie or not, the likelihood is that however holy you might be, you're almost certainly not as holy as Mother Teresa. You almost certainly make compromises with the World that Mother never would. You almost certainly have stored somewhere treasure on Earth that will pass, that Mother would never accept for herself. Her one treasure was Jesus Christ.

Mother Teresa's life pointed very explicitly to Jesus Christ. The charge that she was indifferent to other religions would be very valid had Mother Teresa ever stopped talking about Jesus and Mary, something she never did. The name of Jesus was never far from her lips. More than this she showed very clearly that Jesus Christ makes the difference in a religious life. Divine love made flesh enabled her to become an embodiment of divine love made flesh. Our religion is incarnational. No other religion can do that because no other religion believes that divine love was made flesh in Jesus Christ. No Hindu can replicate Christ's selfless love because no Hindu believes in Christ. Mother was never ashamed to speak of Jesus but wanted her life to be a witness to His love. She let her light shine and her light was Jesus, the Light of the World. How many 'liberal' nuns talk about Jesus and Mary? How many 'liberal' nuns talk about abortion?

The very words 'Mother Teresa' continue to embody selflessness and self-denial, love and compassion - a stubborn refusal to accept the horrendous poverty and evil surrounding her. In terms of iconography she became as powerful as other women of history but in an entirely different way.

Mother Teresa was a very radical and exciting vision of womanhood. First, she refused romantic love, she was an attractive youth. She took Jesus for her spouse. This is the same attitude taken by the early Christian female martyrs. Is that not traditional enough for traditionalists? It is that kind of thing that really angers the Devil and the atheists.

She rejected and trampled upon the world and saw in its glories so much rubbish. That sounds pretty traditional.

Almost alone, she single-handedly challenged governments to respond to her life, on poverty and abortion. Of course, they could not handle her challenge. She - with St John Paul II - was deemed to be a huge threat to the established order of the world and the ideological tyranny that was engulfing it.

She promoted and frequented the Sacrament of Penance. Her life was deeply penitential. That sounds pretty traditional.

She honoured the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and saw it for what it is, the Most Holy Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary, made present on the Altar. She attended that Mass, I believe, every single day that God gave her to.

She considered nothing to belong to her but everything belonging to God, most of all, her time. She considered time as precious, for the glory of God. She didn't kick back, take a day off, get a four pack of beer and watch the football.

Mother Teresa gave up all her possessions to conform her life to the same pattern of life as Christ. Is that not traditional enough for traditionalists? That's what St Francis did. That's what the Apostles did.

Mother Teresa spoke up in defence of the family. If Mother was still speaking now on Earth, do we really think there is any doubt as to how she would answer to a question on her thoughts about the Kasper proposal adopted so keenly by Pope Francis? She defended the unborn as often as she could. Do we have any doubt as to how she would respond - with delight or abject horror - to the idea that the Pope feels 'gratified' by the UN development goals which include access to abortion and artificial contraception? You can almost hear her condemnation of this from Heaven! Pope Francis can thank his lucky stars that this Saint is in Heaven - rather than speaking now on Earth, for what an earthquake that would be among the College of Cardinals.

I could write so much more but as well as the unsurprising hatred expressed towards this brave, heroic, incredible woman, deeply in love with Christ, from atheists, I have seen some very dismissive things written of her by traditionalist Catholics. I do understand their reasons in what appears to be some sketchy ecumenical ideas, but the manner in which they do so seems so arrogant in dismissing both her life and her message. I am reminded of the two thieves on the Cross. To her critics: Have you no fear of God? Have you no thought that it is very likely indeed that she is on the other side of the veil of this life to answer your arrogance and that her defender and avenger is very likely Christ the Lord? 

May the Lord rebuke you who mock her! Imitate her for one day. See if you can! Sell everything you own and give it to the poor. See if you can! Be holy and humble of heart. See if you can! Become famous not for your fine sounding words but for your deeds, for only for loving the poor and dying and for doing good while wearing the sign of your Christian identity. See if you can! Speak to every single person you meet about Jesus. See if you can! Be considered a fool for Christ. See if you can! Put every single person you meet above yourself and your own needs. See if you can! Allow Christ to transform your life into a living witness to the love of God so that every person you meet believes they are in the presence of a living Saint, someone who loves the other person with Christ-like tenderness. See if you can! Then, when you have done all that, maybe, just maybe you can reproach Mother for some things you would do or say very differently, but be very careful, along that road, the royal road of the Cross, you might fall and give way to any number of temptations since the Devil sees you as a signal threat to his domain and his power over souls.

Our new Saint may be a very 'Vatican II' Saint, but she's also a Saint who continues through her words and her deeds to rebuke the spirit of that Council that has seen the Eucharist neglected and unloved, the habit thrown away, the religious life trivialised, true prayer discarded, sacrifice and self-denial exchanged for self-indulgence and almost every modern relativistic belief surrendered to in exchange for the narrow road and the Gospel of Our Lord.

May she intercede for the Church and for our torn and tattered world today from her place in Heaven, where I fully believe she is, with St John Paul II. May their prayers help to defend the Family, Marriage, the Blessed Sacrament from defilement and sacrilege, the unborn, the poor, the outcast and the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church!