A Reflection on Apostasy

The Diocese Report/DRBlog ^ | Wednesday, August 14, 2002 | Brian Mershon

[narses]

A Reflection on Apostasy

by Brian Mershon

As a Father of four who struggles continually to try to raise his children in a Catholic culture by homeschooling them who surrounds ourselves with other friends of like mind in this anti-culture of death, I was shocked to received a phone call from a friend in Boston yesterday on a business trip. Just for some short background, he and I as well as a couple of other friends have been discussing the prudence and actual applications of Bishops and even the Pope regarding ecumenical ventures and inter-religious dialogue, especially in comparison to what is actually authorized by Vatican II. This conversation that we have struggled with, and continue to struggle with, entails each of us trying to keep each other on the straight and narrow path of obedience to in faith and morals to the Magisterium. We have read the Vatican II documents on the topic and they appear to be much more measured and "conservative" if you will in their applications than any of the practical gatherings that our U.S. Bishops, the Pope at the two Assissi events, and even Cardinal Arinze with the Buddhists and Hindus, have managed to undertake.

Please understand we are dealing with complex problems, and aside from one of us who is completing his master's in theology, we are mere laymen who have read a lot, and are formed in our faith through reading, prayer and the sacraments, perhaps in a deeper stage than most 20 or 30-something year-old Catholic men in the U.S. today. In other words, our lifestyles and interests are not typical of today's Catholic man.

With that being said, we struggle with obedience to the magisterium of the Church and in wanting to not to exercise private judgment, however, when Cardinal Kasper, who has had his theological bouts with Cardinal Ratzinger, is appointed a cardinal by the Pope and put in charge of "Christian Unity," and further has stated (paraphrased) that the return of confessional Christians to Catholicism is "an outdated concept" and not in keeping with the theology of Vatican II, even those Catholics who are not of the "traditionalist" mindset should have cause for concern to at least question what it is exactly Cardinal Kasper (whom the Pope appointed) has in mind. Now, back to the story of my friend in Boston.

He called me from the airport and had the Boston Globe in his hand, and sputtered, "Did you read this in the Boston Globe today?!!" Being the person who ordinarily sends out articles on topics of the Church to a rather large e-mail list, I assumed he had wandered upon another Priestly scandal story.

"No. What is it?" I enquired. We got cut off, and while he was calling me back, I quickly pulled up the Boston Globe on the web, and there it was staring me in the face with the headline... "Catholics Reject Evangelization of Jews." Well, being a former reporter myself who nows deals with the media professionally, I decided to read the article and figure out what kind of misrepresentation on Church teaching the Globe was printing today. After reading the story, it appeared the headline was accurate, so quickly I went to the U.S. Bishops' website and pulled up the "commentary" on the reflection on some dialogue that had apparently been taking place between some Catholic Bishops (particularly Cardinal Keeler, whom certain homeschooling organizations have relied upon over the years as their representative to Rome--YIKES!) and prominent Jewish leaders in the U.S.

Sure enough, there it was, from our "bishops" the second paragraph states: "Citing the growing respect for the Jewish tradition that has unfolded since the Second Vatican Council, and the deepening Catholic appreciation of the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people," the Catholic portion of the Reflections says that "campaigns that target Jews for conversion to Christianity are no longer theologically acceptable in the Catholic Church." http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2002/02-154.htm . Lots of footnotes, selectively pulled from writings of John Paul II, Vatican II, and of course, Cardinal Kasper. Now, without getting into the history of the claims of individuals within the Church of allegedly forcibly coercing Jews against their will, could this story really be true? My friend called back and we read parts of the article and reflection aloud.

"Steve," I said. "This is the evidence of the apostasy. Our bishops, (at least those who are in accord with this document) have said that Jesus Christ came to earth, was crucified by Jews through a gentile (Roman) political court and leader, and now, it really doesn't matter if the Jews become Catholic because, according to the document, both Jews and Christians are equal in God's eyes." In other words, Jesus Christ came and died on the cross, but did not redeem Israel because Israel did not need redeeming! "Tell that to the Israelites destroyed in the Temple!" said another friend of mine.

Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal, Executive Director of the National Council of Synagogues, said: "The joint Catholic-Jewish statement on mission is yet another step in turning a new page in the often stormy relationship between the Jewish people and the Roman Catholic Church. Neither faith group believes that we should missionize among the other in order to save souls via conversion. Quite the contrary: we believe both faith groups are beloved of God and assured of His grace. The joint mission statement has articulated a new goal, namely the healing of a sick world and the imperative to repair the damage we humans have caused to God's creations. We believe we are partners in bringing blessings to all humankind for this is god's will."

Steve, on the other end of the phone, was dumbfounded. "I guess this means this battle that faithful lay Catholics face is going to get quite ugly and more difficult if this is what our bishops really think," he said. Silence on both ends...

Ladies and gentlemen, the statement agreed upon by the U.S. Bishops committee and certain Jewish organizations is nothing short of denial of Jesus Christ for salvation and the necessity of his Church as the mediator of salvation. The statement by the Rabbi above, as wonderfully ecumenical and politically correct and harmless as it sounds, is nothing by reformulated Freemasonic principles, condemned multiple times by the Church. This battle for our true Faith has crossed the boundaries of sanity, and it is my hope and belief that the differences between technique and understanding that exists between "traditionalist" and "conservative" Catholics of the Steubenville variety will be resolved and overlooked so that the laymen can collectively struggle protect the Faith itself as at the times of the Arian crisis, along with those Priests and Bishops who still believe in the Great Commission and of the Church's necessity for salvation, and bond together to point out these errors, these heresies... this apostasy to the Bishops themselves.

While many even "traditionalist" Catholics did not like nor appreciate the "We Resist You to Your Face" manifesto that came from some prominent layment directed toward Rome a year or so ago, we lay Catholics must defend our Faith, the entire deposit, against Bishops who no longer believe it is our duty as baptized Catholics to become saints ourselves, and just as importantly, to lead others to holiness through the Church that only the Apostolic Roman Church can provide through the sacraments and prayer. Cardinal Keeler and any other bishops who believe we must no longer evangelize non-Christians must be publicly rebuked by the faithful flock. It is our duty!

Sister Lucia and the apparitions of Fatima warned of this apostasy. It is time for good-hearted laymen to rise up and call for a restoration of traditional Catholicism to all corners and parishes throughout the world!

"Neither faith group believes that we should missionize among the other in order to save souls via conversion. Quite the contrary: we believe both faith groups are beloved of God and assured of His grace." You have got to be kidding me. Forcible conversions against someone's will? Of course not! The Church has never taught in its magisterial capacity that this was acceptable practice. But, "both faith froups are beloved of God and assured of His grace?" What about the prayers at every single Mass in the pre-Vatican II rite that were specifically for the conversions of the Jewish people? Were we really wrong all those years? Were we? Or perhaps are the Bishops wrong now?

Finally, as depressing and "negative" as this may be, it may be time to take Pope Paul VI's warning to heart:

"The tail of the devil is functioning in the disintegration of the Catholic world. The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading throughout the world and into the highest levels within the Church." Pope Paul VI, October 13, 1977, Address on the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Fatima Apparitions.

posted by Brian Barcaro 8/14/2002 01:06:45 PM

[babyface00]

I certainly agree that members of the RC church haven't always acted godly, but I find it hard to understand how a "broken" RC church jibes with Jesus promises regarding his church and him being with it always (unfortunately, most of us Catholics don't have the Bible memorized, so I can't quote the verse verbatim). I don't look to the priestly hierarchy so much as to the faithful. If the RC church was broken so badly that it needed to be essentially abolished (maybe marginalized is a better word?), lets say sometime before the first Inquisition, that means the faithful were essentially out of luck for 500 years until the Reformation. That's a lot of generations.

If the faithful during that time period didn't need the/a church, then why did Jesus have to come and establish it in the first place? It seems that he could have just sent a couple of prophets and steered the Jews in the right direction and been done with it. Jesus' teachings didn't toss out the OT as much as supplement it.

Seems to me that the only major church other than RC that doesn't leave Christians out in the cold for half a millenium is the Orthodox church.

I'm not saying that this makes Protestant churches invalid somehow. Its just that, the more I've learned about Orthodoxy, the more I wonder about the impetus behind the Reformation. Orthodoxy didn't have the supposed baggage of the RC church. Why didn't the reformers look in that direction first before forming the myriad flavors of Christianity we have now? Perhaps the RC church was wrong on a couple of points, besides the fact that it has certainly changed and incorporated much of what the reformers wanted, what Protestantism has resulted in is a spectrum of faiths that is so broad as to be nearly meaningless, with no flavor being able to really assert the truthfulness of its beliefs. The only thing they seem to agree on is that Jesus existed and the RC church is wrong on just about everything. ; )

[ultima ratio]

I don't see much difference between the many variations of Protestantism and what's coming out of Rome today.
Rome has watered-down the faith so much since Vatican II that I don't see that it matters either way, whatever religion you belong to. This is why I am a traditional Catholic and attend an SSPX Mass. It is a refuge from the Modernist storms, adamantly committed to holding onto the ancient faith as taught by the apostles--and to an authentic Catholic sacramental life in all its integrity. If you've got kids and want to raise them as true Catholics, it's one of the few games in town.

[babyface00]

What's SSPX? Is that a pre-Vatican mass (I was born after Vatican II)

[Campion]

That is the "trigger" that Jesus is waiting for before He chooses to return.

Do you seriously think that God sits in heaven waiting for people (any group of people) to do something (anything) in order for him to bring the age to its consummation? As though the realization of prophecy were conditioned on human choices?

Incidentally (and I know this won't come as a shock to you, because, as an ex-Catholic, you know more about Catholicism than any Catholic, including the Pope), traditional Catholic eschatology also believes that the conversion of the Jews (some? all?) will precede the Second Coming. (See Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma) Not that it is somehow "necessary" for the Second Coming, or that God is "waiting" for that to happen, but simply because it is prophesied to happen that way.

[Campion]

Just what command tells us to follow the church? Follow Christ.

Jesus' commands, as well as Paul's, tell us to follow the church. In fact, Jesus says flatly that one who refuses to follow the church should be treated as a Gentile or a tax collector.

[Campion]

Ex-Catholic, now a Bible-believing follower of Jesus Christ.

Every faithful Catholic is a Bible-believing follower of Jesus Christ. It is an insult and a slander for you to say otherwise. Be warned: Jesus will not appreciate you spreading falsehood against his children.

[Chemnitz]

That is what I have been trying to tell Lutherans, who love their synods far more than the Christian faith Christ died to give us. One Lutheran pastor cannot leave his apostate synod because of all the glorious buildings and agencies created with so many dollars. So people are grateful for the visible (money, buildings, power structures) and despise the invisible Word of preaching and teaching.

[AnalogReigns]

If the RC church was broken so badly that it needed to be essentially abolished (maybe marginalized is a better word?), lets say sometime before the first Inquisition, that means the faithful were essentially out of luck for 500 years until the Reformation. That's a lot of generations.

Except for some of the most anti-intellectual and rabidly narrow Protestants, I don't know of any--certainly within leadership-- who think the RC church was invalidly corrupt for 500 years. The view of the reformers--and thoughtful modern evangelical scholars--is that through a slow process various traditions and scholastic explanations the Roman Church had obscured the good news of simple faith in the work of Christ--upon which the Church was founded. Again the evidence is that Luther, the other early reformers and even Calvin--did not seek to split the Church wide open...and even when the Roman hierarchy made a break official each sought to establish one Church...mainly on national (or at least regional) lines. Without the political/social/religious monopoly though, that the medieval Roman Church was--other splits became, in my opinion, inevitable.

The simple reason they didn't look to the Eastern Orthodox is that those people were Greek...and had had a separate culture, language and religion for hundreds of years. The reformers had also been steeped with teaching that these were not true Christians either..., in any event they sought to create a pure church within their own cultural sphere.

One of the key principles coming from the reformers though is that the real Church--those whose faith is true and will remain forever--is never really fully humanly known. We all know Jesus' story about the wheat and the tares for example...grain and weeds growing in the same field...which He said we are NOT to try to weed out! With this in mind, in a way Jesus' true followers are hidden or invisible--and other than just within a human organization. Correct me if I'm wrong but both Roman and Orthodox leaders officially excommunicated each other (and their respective bodies) at the time of the schism. Of course we don't believe now that such made one body (or the other) all go to hell--but that was the position at time...

I don't think its hard to believe that the risen Christ has seen to it that there are faithful followers of His within all (small "o") orthodox denominations... and that human organizations are secondary to how people exercise His love in their lives toward each other. His kingdom--and the true one Church universal--are nothing less.

Human organizations are surely necessary...and have certainly been split by sin (on all sides...) however He will unify us all soon, I am convinced... I suspect various kinds of people have been reached by (and in spite of) such schisms...that had the Church been uniform, would have otherwise been missed.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (St. Paul in Romans 8:28)

[berned]

Do you seriously think that God sits in heaven waiting for people (any group of people) to do something (anything) in order for him to bring the age to its consummation? As though the realization of prophecy were conditioned on human choices?

Campion, THIS is what I wrote (and Believe)...That is the "trigger" that Jesus is waiting for before HE CHOOSES to return.

Here is a verse from Matthew 23 where Jesus plainly states that He will not return until Israel accepts Him as their Messiah.

37"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.38And now look, your house is left to you, empty and desolate.39For I tell you this, you (ISRAEL) will never see me again until you say, `Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'" .

Why, Campion, do you continually misrepresent what others say, in order to "debate" with people? I don't understand why you continually do that. I try to choose my words in these posts with lawyerly precision, because I know RCC spin-doctors like you and allend and sinkspur will try to parse and spin every word I write to suit your needs. The fact that you have to distort what I say in order to participate in a debate speaks volumes about the weakness of your arguments.

[ultima ratio]

SSPX is a priestly fraternity which keeps to the customs and beliefs of the Catholic Church before it was hijacked by liberals. Check their many websites to learn more about them. They offer the traditional Mass exactly as it was offered up until 1970.

[berned]

The GREATER, more significant question, btw, in light of the verses I posted from Matthew 23 is:

WHY is the Vatican actively TELLING the Jews that they need not EVER say "Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord"?

What is the Vatican's hidden agenda that impels them, out of nowhere, to proclaim that Israel need never make that confession of faith in Jesus?

[RedBloodedAmerican]

I've had two friends who are Pastors, and one Rabbi, "run off", or "voted out" because they loved their buildings more than the gospel. Oh well.

[semaj]

"It's the only church other than RC who can claim any historical ancestry to the early church."

Could you please explain to me what the historical ancestry of the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Church has to do with God's plan of salvation?

[NYer]

"Catholics Reject Evangelization of Jews."

Judging from the posts so far, the usual catholic bashers have wasted no time stepping forward, bibles swinging!

Here, however, is a novel concept for the more open minded christians. Consider that the Jews are now self evangelizing. The group, Jews for Jesus has come a long way since they were first organized.

Our Mission Statement

We exist to make the messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to our Jewish people worldwide.

Summary Description

Jews for Jesus is one of the most extensive evangelistic outreaches to Jewish people in the world today. Using contemporary themes and issues, Jews for Jesus presents the message that Jesus is the Messiah to Jewish population in urban areas. Their web site has now branched into two - for Believers and for Non Believers . With the conversion of their own, they are now looking to bring their message to the christian communities.

http://www.jfjonline.org/pastors/pastorsmain.htm