Do all Francis Catholics believe Francis is not Promoting Heresy & Sacrilege in allowing Communion for Adulterers? & Is Communion for Adulterers a "Sinful... Liturgical Abuse"?
Fr. Z, Fr. John Zuhlsorf, in his post "What's the truth about
SSPX?" gave a strong defense of the Society of St. Puis X against
apparently Francis traditionalists... who
asked him:
"Is it sinful to go to an SSPX Mass?"
He answered:
"Frankly, yes it would be sinful to go to their [SSPX] Masses out of
sheer desire to hurt local parishes or priests or you hate the local
bishop, or Pope, or some aspect of the Church, blah, blah blah. Frankly,
yes, it would be sinful to attend a parish where there are liturgical
abuses that you happen to know are abuses but you like those abuses and
you don't care about authority..."
"... They are clearly not Protestant, who are heretics."
I have a some questions for Fr. Z.
Does he think Communion for adulterers is a "liturgical abuse" and
therefore it is "sinful to attend a parish [or a Catholic church] where
there are liturgical abuses" like this happening?
Does he think a Pope who teaches Communion for adulterers as his
"authentic magisterium" which is placed in the Holy See's Official Acts
of the Apostolic See is "clearly... [not a] heretic"?
Does he think it is sinful or hateful to hate the heresy, but love the
heretic by giving him a correction such as St. Paul did with St. Peter
and which Cardinal Raymond Burke implied he would give to Francis? - The Catholic Monitor [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/04/does-fr-z-think-communion-for.html]
Last year, I asked a conservative Catholic with apparently a post graduated degree to PLEASE answer yes or no to the two following questions:
This educated Catholic asked me to show her where Francis said adulterers could receive Communion.
This is for all Catholics like her (who read the so-called journalism of the vast majority of the "Catholic media") who don't seem to know what is going on with Francis:
- [2017] Pope’s Letter on Argentinian Communion Guidelines for Remarried Given Official Status
A letter from Pope Francis praising episcopal guidelines that would allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion in some cases while living in a state of objective grave sin has now been added to the official acts of the Apostolic See [AAS], conferring official status on what was formerly considered by many to be merely private communication — and raising the stakes on the Amoris Laetitia debate significantly.
Of the guidelines issued by the bishops
of the Buenos Aires region that would open “the possibility of access to
the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist” in “complex
circumstances” where “limitations that lessen the responsibility and
guilt” of couples who will not make the commitment to “live in
continence” despite living in an objectively adulterous situation, the
pope said in his letter that “The document is very good and completely
explains the meaning of chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia. There are no
other interpretations.”
In August of this year, this letter was
added to the Vatican website as a papal document available for public
reference. Concerns were raised that what had previously been viewed as
only private correspondence — and thus, completely outside the realm of
papal magisterium — was being given the appearance of an official papal
act. [https://catholictruthscotland.com/2017/12/03/concern-over-pope-francis-grows-schism-looms-cardinals-must-act/]
- LifeSiteNews, "Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial
weight behind communion for adulterers," December 4, 2017:
The AAS guidelines explicitly allows "sexually active adulterous couples
facing 'complex circumstances' to 'access the sacraments of
Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'"
- On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:
"The AAS statement... establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia
has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense."
- On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:
"Francis' heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the
Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters
magisterial documents."
Sadly,
Francis's concept of sin appears to be contrary to "the Sixth
Commandment and to Saint Paul’s prohibition outlined in 1 Cor. 11:27-30"
and the infallible Council of Trent.
Dr. Luca Gili, a professor of philosophy at the University of Quebec in Montreal, told LifeSiteNews:
“By saying that ‘there is no other interpretation’ [to [the
Argentinian] guidelines that appear to blatantly approve Communion for
adulterers], the pope is stating that he is (magisterially) proposing a
doctrine which is contrary to the Sixth Commandment and to Saint
Paul’s prohibition outlined in 1 Cor. 11:27-30."
Dr. Gili in speaking of heresy said:
“Any denial of a divinely revealed truth is (material) heresy,
according to the definition of heresy in CIC 751. In conclusion, the
pope is (allegedly) teaching a plain heresy.”
[https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.lifesitenews.com/mobile/news/pope-francis-supporters-demand-faithful-catholics-accept-communion-for-adul#ampshare=https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-supporters-demand-faithful-catholics-accept-communion-for-adul]
The Argentinian Bishops Guidelines says couples in adulterous second
marriages not living in continence in "other more complex
circumstances... Amoris Laetitia opens up the possibility of access
to... the Eucharist." (Aleteia.org, September 13, 2016)
Francis's letter to the Argentinian Bishops on their guidelines says
there is "no other interpretation." (Aleteia.org, September 13, 2016)
In simple words, Francis is officially saying couples committing the
grave sin of the sexual act of adultery can receive Holy Communion with
the excuse of "complex circumstances" which is against God's Divine Law
and Revelation as taught be the infallible Council of Trent:
Trent's decree on justification: "If
anyone says that the commandments of God are, even for one that is
justified and constituted in grace, impossible to observe, let him be
anathema."
Versus
Amoris Laetitia, 301: Hence it is can no longer simply be said that all
those in any “irregular” situation are living in a state of mortal
sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace. More is involved here than
mere ignorance of the rule. A subject may know full well the rule, yet
have great difficulty in understanding “its inherent values”, or be in
a concrete situation which does not allow him or her to act
differently and decide otherwise without further sin.'
[http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2016/04/22/five-serious-problems-with-chapter-8-of-amoris-laetitia/]
On January 2, Vatican expert Edward Pentin reported that Francis's
president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts Cardinal
Francesco Coccopalmerio unwittingly said that the official endorsement
of the Argentine directive of Amoris Laetitia contradicted
the infallible doctrine of Trent:
"In comments to the Register
last month, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio insisted the Francis’s
official endorsement of an Argentine directive on the issue did not
contradict canon law."
"The president of the Pontifical Council
for Legislative Texts said it is true that 'divorced and remarried (or
cohabiting) cannot be admitted to Holy Communion because they are ‘in
manifest grave sin.'”"
"But he added that there are 'divorced
and remarried (or cohabiting) who have the intention to change their
condition but cannot. Therefore such faithful are only in objective sin,
not subjective sin, precisely because they have the intention to
change, even if they cannot. This intention makes a difference!”
He further noted that the relevant canon, number 915, states that Holy
Communion cannot be allowed if the person remains “obstinately
persevering” in grave sin. The word “obstinate” means “without any
intention to change,” Cardinal Coccopalmerio said, “so these faithful
can be admitted to Holy Communion because they have the intention to
leave the condition of sin and therefore they are not in sin.'”
"He added that the “doctrine of sincere repentance” which contains the
purpose of changing one's condition of life as a necessary requisite to
be admitted to the sacrament of Penance 'is respected' because the
faithful in such hypothesised situations 'are conscious, have
conviction, of the situation of objective sin in which they currently
find themselves.' They also 'have the purpose of changing their
condition of life, even if, at this moment, they are not able to
implement their purpose.'”
"'The cardinal added that the
doctrine of 'sanctifying grace as a necessary requisite to be admitted
to the sacrament of the Eucharist is also respected' because the
faithful in this case 'haven’t yet arrived at a real change of life
because of the impossibility of doing so, but have the intention of
implementing this change.'”
"He said it is 'precisely this
theological element that allows absolution and access to the Eucharist,
always — we repeat — in the presence of an impossibility to
immediately change the condition of sin.'”
[http://m.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/three-bishops-issue-profession-of-truth-about-sacramental-marriage#.Wkx_mDWIbqA]
The Cardinal in the above statement said it is impossible to "change
the condition of sin" which is another way of saying Amoris Laetitia's
"in concrete situations which does not allow him or her to decide
otherwise."
Trent said "If anyone says that the commandments of
God are, even for one that is justified and constituted in grace,
impossible to observe, let him be anathema."
Coccopalmerio's
above statement of the Francis's understanding of sin is important
because he was Francis's selected Vatican official who stated:
"While the content of the pope's letter
itself does not contain teachings on faith and morals, it does point
toward the interpretations of the Argentine bishops and confirms them
as authentically reflecting his own mind." [https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/12/05/pope-francis-makes-his-letter-argentine-bishops-amoris-laetitia-part-official]
As stated by Francis's own selected Vatican official Coccopalmerio to explain the pontiff's authentic interpretation:
The Francis's Amoris Laetitia appears to have fallen into the heresies
of Martin Luther and situation ethics which are condemned by Trent and
Veritatis Splendor.
"Lutherans and Catholics, Protestants, all of us agree on the doctrine of justification. On this point, which is very important, he did not err." (patheos.com/blog/scotticalt, "Pope Francis is Wrong about Luther and Justification," April 5, 2017)
The evidence shows that the Francis’s intimate friend and ghostwriter Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernandez did a "cut and paste" from his ten year old anti-John Paul II tracts which made up some of the most controversial parts of the papal document according to a May 25 article of The Spectator.
Francis' friend, The Spectator said, is seen as "a joke figure" in terms of his reputation as a theologian who wrote a silly book called “Heal me with your mouth. The art of kissing.”
All these revelations came from Vatican expert Sandro Magister's blog. Magister said Pope John Paul II condemned the situational ethics of "theologians" like Fernandez in his important and magisterial encyclical ‘Veritatis Splendor.’ [http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351303?eng=y&refresh_ce ]
The Vatican expert in the article showed how the intimate a friend of Francis then Archbishop Bergoglio was his protege:
"Partly on account of those two articles, the congregation for Catholic education blocked the candidacy of Fernández as rector of the Universidad Católica Argentina, only to have to give in later, in 2009, to then-archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who fought tooth and nail to clear the way for the promotion of his protege."
The Catholic Herald quoted a passage from Fernandez's situational ethics articles which were "consciously echoed" in Amoris Laetitia’s paragraph 301:
“A subject may know full well the rule, yet have great difficulty in understanding ‘its inherent values’, or be in a concrete situation which does not allow him or her to act differently and decide otherwise without further sin.”
This passage according to the Catholic Herald may be directly counter to defined Catholic doctrine:
"This paragraph of the exhortation has been criticised by theologians including E. Christian Brugger, who argued that it apparently goes against Church teaching: 'This seems to contradict the defined doctrine in Trent on Justification, canon 18: 'If any one says the commandments of God are impossible to keep, even by a person who is justified and constituted in grace: let him be anathema.'”
First Things, in "Francis's Argentine Letter And The Proper Response " by Elliott Milco, says the exact same thing about Francis's letter which endorses the Argentine norms.
America's most influential journal of religion and public life, First Things' Deputy Editor Milco says:
"The Church teaches and has always taught, from St. Paul to the Council of Trent and beyond, that grace strengthens and liberates us from the bonds of sin, and that while we may never, in the present life, be perfectly free from the inclination to do wrong, it is possible through grace to keep the commandments."
"This doctrine was given force of law in Trent's decree on justification: 'If anyone says that the commandments of God are, even for one that is justified and constituted in grace, impossible to observe, let him be anathema.'"
"'The same decree explains that 'God does not command impossibilities, but by commanding admonishes you to do what you can and to pray for what you cannot, and aids you that you may be able.'"
"The real problem with the Argentine norms is their deviation from this larger and more fundamental principle: that grace truly sanctifies and liberates, and that baptized Christians are always free to fulfill the moral law, even when they fail to do so. Jesus Christ holds us to this standard in the Gospel. It is presumptuous of Francis—however benign his intentions—to decide that his version of 'mercy' trumps that given by God himself."
Brugger and Milco are not speaking about the Kasper proposal, but the Catholic doctrine of infused grace which was denied by Martin Luther and the other "reformers"
On that other issue, Fr. Raymond de Sousa's article "What Argentina's 'Amoris Laetitia' Guidelines Really Mean" in the National Catholic Register tries to make the case that the Kasper proposal in it's totality actually suffered a lose despite media hype claiming otherwise and despite Francis's efforts to implement the total proposal.
De Sousa tries to makes the case that the Argentine norms is not mistaken because it could be treated in pre-Amoris Laetitia "standard principles of moral theology and confessional practice, analogous to the the moral culpability of contraception when the spouses do not agree."
On this separate issue from the topic of grace, Brugger in the Catholic World Report with the article "The Catholic Conscience, the Argentine Bishops, and "Amoris Laetitia" destroys the De Sousa attempt to justify the Argentine norms by using Pope John Paul II's Veritatis Splendor that shows it creates a "destructive dichotomy, that which separates faith from morality."
He demonstrates that the only solution to the problematic Argentine norms is to form consciences not create loopholes so persons can sin in invincible ignorance.
Be that as it may, the point is that the Kasper proposal isn't the issue here, but Amoris Laetitia and the Argentine norms apparent denial of a defined doctrine of the Council of Trent on grace which the "reformers" denied.
The "reformers" idea of imputed grace saw man as "totally depraved" and corrupt who even after justification was not infused with grace and truly changed on the inside.
Luther's image of imputed grace was that of man as a pile of dung covered with snow.
Man isn't changed on the inside (he is still a pile of dung), but "justified" man is covered with grace (snow) while not being changed on the inside.
As Milco said Trent's doctrine on infused grace says "that graces truly sanctifies and liberates, and that baptized Christians are always free to fulfill the moral law, even when they fail to do so."
It is a very big and scary moment in Church history when it appears that the Vatican is openingly teaching error that is anathema by the infallible Trent:
Moral Theologian Dr. E. Christian Brugger, on April 22, wrote Amoris Leatitia (A.L.) in 301 is "inconsistent with the teaching of Trent on grace."
Brugger then writes that it appears that Canon 18 of Trent, which is infallible doctrine, gives an anathema to Pope Francis's 301 teaching on grace.
Pray a Our Father now for the Dubia Cardinals to issue the correction.
ENDNOTES:
Francis Notes:
- Doctor
of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt
the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church
in such a situation:
"[T]he Pope... WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See."
(The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306)
Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said "the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church."
[https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]
- "If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?": http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html
- "Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?": http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html
-
LifeSiteNews, "Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial
weight behind communion for adulterers," December 4, 2017:
The AAS guidelines explicitly allows "sexually active adulterous
couples facing 'complex circumstances' to 'access the sacraments of
Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'"
- On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:
"The AAS statement... establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia
has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense."
- On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:
"Francis' heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to
the Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters
magisterial documents."
- [2017] Pope’s Letter on Argentinian Communion Guidelines for Remarried Given Official Status
A letter from Pope Francis praising episcopal guidelines that would allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion in some cases while living in a state of objective grave sin has now been added to the official acts of the Apostolic See [AAS], conferring official status on what was formerly considered by many to be merely private communication — and raising the stakes on the Amoris Laetitia debate significantly.
Of the guidelines issued by the bishops
of the Buenos Aires region that would open “the possibility of access to
the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist” in “complex
circumstances” where “limitations that lessen the responsibility and
guilt” of couples who will not make the commitment to “live in
continence” despite living in an objectively adulterous situation, the
pope said in his letter that “The document is very good and completely
explains the meaning of chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia. There are no
other interpretations.”
In August of this year, this letter was
added to the Vatican website as a papal document available for public
reference. Concerns were raised that what had previously been viewed as
only private correspondence — and thus, completely outside the realm of
papal magisterium — was being given the appearance of an official papal
act. [https://catholictruthscotland.com/2017/12/03/concern-over-pope-francis-grows-schism-looms-cardinals-must-act/]
Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.
Election Notes:
- Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: "212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted...Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden" [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]
- Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times "Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003": http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1]
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