Posted on 07/29/2024 3:47:25 PM PDT by ebb tide
Even those who never would have known the Olympics were taking place in Paris have likely learned of the opening ceremony’s mockery of the Last Supper. The French district of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) denounced the blasphemous scene as a great scandal for many souls:
“No one can ignore the opening ‘ceremony’ of the 2024 Olympics. The whole world saw it and millions of spectators were able to witness the blasphemous parody of the Sacrament.
It is impossible to remain indifferent or passive in the face of this new attack on the rights of Our Lord, true God and true man. Unfortunately, the Church no longer has the power to repress such outrages. The fact remains that our Catholic faith must encourage us to deeply deplore this blasphemous masquerade, which is all the more serious because it was orchestrated to be seen by the entire world. This outrage organized by public authorities is a scandal for a very large number of souls. . . Our prayer must beg divine mercy to spare our country from a punishment that is however deserved. And to repair such execrable blasphemy, our offering will be the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at which we attend, this infinite satisfaction that the divine Priest offered to his Father.”
Many aspects of this denunciation might make little sense to non-Catholics, who do not share our beliefs on the Blessed Sacrament, the sin of blasphemy, and the need to make reparation. Nonetheless, even non-Catholics, such as Jillian Michaels (a “fitness expert” and LGBTQ advocate), condemned the Paris Olympics scandal:
“Dear fellow gays . . . We demand tolerance and respect but then make a mockery of something sacred for over 2 billion Christians. This type of hypocrisy and lack of understanding is a bad look. We get outraged when the extreme right bashes us, but then we do this sh**. What kind of reaction do you think they will have towards the LGBTQ+ community after this. This is NOT how we break down barriers it’s how you build them.”
Given the fact that even non-Catholics who support the LGBTQ movement condemned the scandal, it should come as no surprise that numerous Catholic bishops have added their voices to those of the multitudes who have denounced the blasphemous mockery of the Last Supper, as reported by the National Catholic Register:
“Bishops and prominent prelates from around the world have joined the French Bishops’ Conference and U.S. bishops in criticizing the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony held on July 26 for its depiction of the Last Supper, calling it a deeply deplorable derision of Christianity.”
Even if we think the majority of bishops are profoundly confused by intellect-destroying Modernism, most of them do not appear to be malicious. While their condemnations of the Paris Olympic scandal generally did not match the theological clarity or force we can see from the SSPX’s French district (above), they at least voiced their displeasure at the anti-Christian spectacle.
Unfortunately, the fact that the bishops can condemn the Paris Olympics blasphemy makes it all the more scandalous that many of them generally turn a blind eye to scandals fraudulently carried out in the name of the Catholic Church.
Unfortunately, the fact that the bishops can condemn the Paris Olympics blasphemy makes it all the more scandalous that many of them generally turn a blind eye to scandals fraudulently carried out in the name of the Catholic Church. We must say that such scandals are committed in the name of the Church “fraudulently” because the Catholic Church can never actually be responsible for the acts mentioned below. However, thanks to Francis telling us clearly that his new Synodal Church is different from the Catholic Church, we should not hesitate to attribute the following scandals, among many others, to Francis’s Synodal Church:
Non-Catholics generally would not be offended by most of these scandals, but these sins of the Synodal Church are in fact tremendously worse than the Paris Olympics mockery of the Last Supper. To see this, we can reflect on the key differences between the Paris Olympics scandal and the scandals of Francis’s Synodal Church.
The Role of Those Committing the Scandals. In his Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the following in response to the question of whether the excellence of the person sinning aggravates the sin:
“Isidore says (De Summo Bono ii, 18): ‘A sin is deemed so much the more grievous as the sinner is held to be a more excellent person.’” (First Part of the Second Part, Question 73, Article 10)
As such, we must consider whether the cause of the scandal (i.e., the sinner) appears to have a more worthy position. Although it is the case that many confused people around the world still imagine that the Olympics represents some inherently worthwhile and wholesome endeavor, it has indeed become a highly commercialized and politicized event that generally lacks any of the goodness it once had. Accordingly, relatively few people would look to the Olympics opening ceremony as a guide to how they should order their moral and spiritual lives.
Conversely, the evils committed by Francis’s Synodal Church are falsely attributed to the Catholic Church, causing incalculable scandal because the Church is the earthly representative of God. Accordingly, the scandals of Francis’s Synodal Church are far more grievous than the sin of the Paris Olympics, and therefore call for far greater condemnation and reparation.
Satan no doubt approved of the Paris Olympics scandal but his greatest victories are won by Francis’s Synodal Church.
The Expected Harms. In his Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the following in response to the question of whether sin is aggravated by reason of its causing more harm:
“Augustine says (De Lib. Arb. iii, 14): ‘Since vice is contrary to nature, a vice is the more grievous according as it diminishes the integrity of nature.’ Now the diminution of the integrity of nature is a harm. Therefore a sin is graver according as it does more harm.” (First Part of the Second Part, Question 73, Article 8)
As bad as the Paris Olympics scandal was, it seems fairly certain that few if any people who witnessed it would be persuaded to abandon the Catholic Faith, or even diminish their opinion of it. If anything, the Paris Olympics scandal displayed the wickedness of the woke agenda and made it more likely that honest non-Catholics will recognize that Satan is specifically attacking the Catholic Faith.
Conversely, the evils perpetrated by the Synodal Church cause tremendous harm because they are fraudulently carried out in the name of the Catholic Church. Satan no doubt approved of the Paris Olympics scandal but his greatest victories are won by Francis’s Synodal Church. Accordingly, the scandals of Francis’s Synodal Church are far more grievous than the sin of the Paris Olympics, and therefore call for far greater condemnation and reparation.
The Target or Object of the Sins. In his Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the following in response to the question of whether the gravity of sins varies according to their objects:
“Wherefore a sin which is about the very substance of man, e.g. murder, is graver than a sin which is about external things, e.g. theft; and graver still is a sin committed directly against God, e.g. unbelief, blasphemy, and the like: and in each of these grades of sin, one sin will be graver than another according as it is about a higher or lower principle.” (First Part of the Second Part, Question 73, Article 3)
Although the Paris Olympics scandal offended God because it mocked an important component of our Faith (the Last Supper), Francis’s Synodal Church is infinitely worse because it not only mocks, but seeks to undermine, the entirety of the Faith. Francis’s Synodal Church makes direct attacks on the Mystical Body of Christ by targeting the Faith and, in the case of encouraging sacrilegious Communions, attacks Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Whereas the Paris Olympics scandal was aimed at taunting Christians, Satan uses Francis’s Synodal Church to lead souls to hell and attempt to destroy the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the scandals of Francis’s Synodal Church are far more grievous than the sin of the Paris Olympics, and therefore call for far greater condemnation and reparation.
Why do bishops who condemn the Paris Olympics scandal fail to condemn the far greater scandals of the Synodal Church? For some, it seems that they no longer have the Catholic Faith — neither God nor the saints in Heaven would recognize such bishops as Catholic. Others may still have the Faith but cannot muster the fortitude to condemn the evils of the Synodal Church.
Whatever the reasons for the bishops’ failure to condemn the Synodal Church’s scandals, though, the effects of such sins of omission are the same: God is offended, souls leave the Faith, souls go to Hell, and the world is poisoned by the scandals. We should encourage bishops to return to the true Faith and find the fortitude they lack but, as the SSPX French district’s message indicated, our best recourse is to beg God’s mercy and do what we can to make reparation. Parce, Domine, parce populo tuo: ne in aeternum irascaris nobis. (Spare O Lord, spare Thy people, be not angry with us forever)
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Ping
is there a running list of bishops who said something?
Not to my knowledge. But it seems that all of the pope’s U.S. Frankencardinals (Cupich, Gregory and McElroy) have remained silent so far. Note that none of the above forbid giving Holy Communion to pro-aborts, so sacrilege has never been a concern to any of them.
Stephen Kokx @StephenKokx
“The US State Department had a mole in the Vatican feeding them information about how to interfere with the 1958 conclave so a moderate would be elected. Eventually, Angelo Roncalli emerged victorious. Months later, he announced his intention to hold Vatican II.”
https://x.com/StephenKokx/status/1818127452301820114
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