Posted on 03/10/2015 4:31:30 PM PDT by BlatherNaut
Editor’s Note: There has been a tendency among some recent critics of The Remnant to confuse our editorial concern over the troubling pontificate of Pope Francis with expressions of indignation over mere personal effrontery. Nothing could be further from the truth. When we note the fact that the Holy Father, for example, appears to be “scolding” traditional Catholics on something of a regular basis, we are not particularly concerned about his less-than-favorable opinion of us as individuals. We are a remnant, after all, whose stock-in-trade is opinion which tends to struggle against the current.
An attack on traditionalists by the Holy Father does, however, suggest an attack on Tradition itself, on 2000 years of liturgical heritage and the established moral order of Holy Mother Church—the defense of which, no matter how inadequate, is what makes a Catholic a traditionalist.
What is so troubling for many of us is this idea that if Pope Francis is correct in administering these scoldings of Tradition, and if he is right in attempting to establish a new orientation for the Church and the papacy, then it would seem to stand to reason that the Church historically and traditionally was wrong or at least seriously mistaken in both her praxis and teaching for a very long time. By his own admission, Francis is trying to move the Church out of the darkness of her old ways and into the light of modernity. For nearly 2000 years of Church history, no pope ever spoke of such an idea other than to condemn it as patently false.
It is difficult for non-Modernists to reconcile novelty with established Tradition, and so we hope and pray we are dead wrong about Pope Francis, and that we are grossly misunderstanding his agenda. Please, God, let it be so! But this is not about us, so-called “traditionalists” taking umbrage with a perceived insult from the pope. We’re used to the catacombs, and we’ve grown up with the scoldings of post-conciliar Holy Fathers ringing in our ears. But in the dire situation that appears to confront the Church now, as is here intimated by Father Anonymous, we fear that the pontificate of Pope Francis may be setting up to take things to a whole new level, a level no Catholic in history ever imagined possible.
Our fear, then, is for the Church we revere above all else as well as for the hopeless world in which our children will grow up, robbed as it may well be of the moral authority of Holy Mother Church. What will happen to them in the winds that will blow then?
Father Anonymous is not a traditionalist, by the way; he offers the New Mass but, like us, is more than merely apprehensive over the direction in which Francis appears to be taking the Church. If Father’s apprehension makes him a traditionalist, so be it and may God help us all. Pray for Pope Francis and pray that The Remnant's concerns about the present pontificate eventually prove to have been wildly exaggerated. MJM
Editor, The Remnant: I’m reassured to read your articles taking Pope Francis to task for his many attacks on faithful Catholics, while at the same time endorsing the immoral behavior of others.
I am a priest and have been for twenty-five years. I’ve never experienced such a spiritual upheaval in all those years, and, believe me, I have seen what I thought was the worst the Catholic Church had to offer.
Pope Francis’ behavior and his continued off-the-cuff remarks have left me feeling demoralized. I have never experienced such ill-will coming from the Holy See. The confusion the Pope’s remarks is causing among the faithful to whom I minister, and the way his actions are emboldening an already anti-Catholic culture seem to me to have something of the sinister about it. When I look into Pope Francis’ eyes I do not see love and compassion, I see vainglory and cunning.
Now we face the possibility of catastrophe when the Synod reconvenes in Rome this fall. My own archbishop sent out requests for input from parishioners about issues of marriage and family. The questions asked of my parishioners seem leading, as if he’s looking for particular responses to suit a predetermined outcome. I fear, in a way I’ve never feared before, that we’re facing serious doctrinal changes. Although Pope Francis continues to insist that these would only be discipline changes and not doctrinal, my gut tells me that he’s being disingenuous.
All over the world we’re seeing cardinals, archbishops and bishops affirming behaviors which are unequivocally condemned by Popes and Councils in previous centuries. As I listen and watch these events, in my mind, over and over, I hear the phrase, “the smoke of Satan has entered the sanctuary.” Could it be that all that is happening is truly the work of Satan? I’m not ready to affirm that it is, but in my heart I fear that it may be true. If it is then it may also be true that many members of our hierarchy do not belong to Christ.
I’ve had conversations with priest friends about all of this. We are all fearful for what is to come. None of us feels as if we’re standing on doctrinally solid grounds any longer. We all cringe every time Pope Francis steps in front of a group of journalists. What will he say next? How will he berate those who are faithfully serving Christ? How will he beat up on us this time?
One of my priest friends asked me during a conversation what I would do if the Church does formally approve what it previously formally condemned. I had to confess in all honesty that I’d probably have to leave priestly ministry. He admitted that he’d probably have no choice but to do the same.
My deepest fear is that if Pope Francis continues to push the Church toward heresy that we may experience a war among the faithful that would make Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s opposition after Vatican II appear like a simple objection!
I know you’ll understand why I’m not signing my name to this email.
May God preserve His Holy Church from the forces, visible and invisible, within and without, who seek to destroy it. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners!
Father Anonymous
That’s what I see, too. That and the cold ruthlessness of a progressive who has been given power.
I don't buy it. You see what you want to see. I just see the face of a man. He looks kind. Cunning? Vain? Please. Here's a man who refused to live in a palace. Good for him.
I see vindictiveness. He is NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
The pope wants to help the poor and not embrace the worldly things; is that so bad?
You sure don't sound very Christian-like to me. More of a gossip. Aren't you suppossed to love and pray for your pope rather than think of nasty words to call him?
His treatment of Cardinal Burke spectacularly showcased that nasty vindictive streak.
With respect... imagine if the POTUS decided to live in a hotel rather than the White House, consider the security nightmare, the logistics problems etc,. There were permanent residents of the domus martha who had to go find other accommodations. People lost their jobs and homes so the pope could live in the hotel rather than the papal apartments.
It's his decision to make, but prudentially it looks bad when you scratch the surface of it.
These are judgments one is not actually entitled to make.
No need to look into his eyes; his words and actions are sufficient to form objective judgments, which one is certainly entitled to make.
Then form objective judgments, not guesses about the looks of his eyes.
I agree with you.
Regards,
really...
And Judas wanted to help also!!
“Lord should not this woman SELL this OIL!
(Mary was crying and washing Christ’s feet)
“ to GIVE to THE POOR!”
FROM-
King James Bible
This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
JUST LIKE THE DEMON -RATS!!
Do it for the Children!
Do it for the Poor!
Do not Discriminate against sinners- welcome them!
(and their SIN!)
I do not like what the MSM is putting into print
about this man-
At a gathering I was at the other day, someone asked a member of a traditional order what they were thinking in light of recent events, he responded, "we are scared to death".
Why are some truly holy Catholic men afraid of this Pope? Perhaps they see the signs of the times.
Did you read the article? The comment was made by a priest of 25 years who has “never experienced such ill-will coming from the Holy See” and fears the outcome if this Pope “continues to push the Church toward heresy”. Under such conditions, quibbling over the look in his eyes is comparable to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
bump
I'm not saying your anxieties or your judgments are without substance. Far from it. I would just like to see the argument set out on stronger, better terms.
I'll take one Salvatore Cordileone or one Raymond Burke to 100 Anonymous Priests.
A few thoughts on Francis completing ignoring and disregarding any and all teachings on the liturgy from B16.
With Francis leading the church the Traditional Latin Mass is all but dead.
http://www.onepeterfive.com/we-go-forward-in-the-liturgy-when-the-sacred-is-restored/
This past Saturday Pope Francis travelled to the parish of Ognissanti (All Saints) in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the first vernacular Mass celebrated there by Pope Paul VI in 1965. Immediately following the Mass, the Holy Father exited the church to address the faithful gathered in the courtyard:
“Let us thank the Lord for what he has done in his Church in these 50 years of liturgical reform. It was truly a courageous gesture for the Church to draw near to the people of God so that they are able to understand well what they are doing. This is important for us, to follow the Mass in this way. It is not possible to go backwards. We must always go forward. Always forward (applause)! And those who go backward are mistaken…”
Taken at face value, the pope’s words are troubling to say the least and seem unnecessarily provocative. They also appear to dismiss the “reform of the reform” of the Roman Rite sought by his predecessor and embraced by a whole new generation of priests and faithful. The view expressed by Pope Francis seems inconsistent with that of Pope Benedict who (when addressing the world’s bishops upon the release of Summorum Pontificum) said:
“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”
Indeed, rediscovering our rich liturgical tradition, in many ways epitomized by the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, cannot simply be dismissed as going “backwards”. If there is one overriding lesson we should have learned from the papacy of Benedict XVI, it is that the Church is always moving forward-and toward the Lord-when the sacred is restored to the liturgy.
As I read the Holy Father’s comments from Saturday, a variety of images entered my mind. Pictures like the ones below, illustrate better than any words possibly could the liturgical reality of the post-conciliar years, and the possibility of what can be for those who have rediscovered what was lost.
“Let us thank the Lord for what he has done in his Church in these 50 years of liturgical reform…”
“It is not possible to go backwards. We must always go forward. Always forward (applause)! And those who go backward are mistaken…”
We always “go forward” when we restore the sacred to the liturgy.
Perhaps you've failed to consider the fact that a lack of "moral fortitude" is not necessarily behind the priest's choice to remain anonymous.
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