Pope Francis: Is He Really an Antipope ...youtube.com
This clip was taken from a recent livestream with Ralph Martin. Watch the full livestream here: hhttps://youtu.be/ZKMuLtMKffk...
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Stop for a moment of silence, ask God what He want you to do next. Make
this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading
anything here or anywhere else on the Internet.
Are Ralph Martin
and Charismatics really bringing a false spirit? I been listening to him
and he appears faithful to the teachings of the Catholic. In fact, I've
learn much about the spiritual teachings of the church doctors and
saints from him. Three popes have acknowledged the movement.
I
really would like it at the very least if someone answered my problem
and Bishop Sheen and Father Hardon's problem with Pentecostals or
Charismatics.
This is my problem. Anyone with some knowledge of
the church fathers of the first centuries until the 1900's knows only
heretical sects were Pentecostals or Charismatics. A good primer is
Monsignor Ronald Knox's "Enthusiasm." A short list of heretical sects
are Mormons, Brethren of the Free Spirit, Ranters, Shakers and First
Century Montanism.
How is glossolia called "speaking in tongues"
of the heretical sects and even pagans up to the First Century the
bibles speaking in tongues?
With Fr. Hardon I say "I personally
believe, latter-day Pentecostalism is in the same essential stream with
Gnosticism, Montanism, and Illuminism, we do not pass moral judgment on
people but prudential judgment on an ideology."
I think
glossolia can be a natural experience that is not harmful. If someone
can show me that Fr. Hardon and I are wrong please do. I do like and
agree that the healing teachings of the movement are helpful and good if
if done with prudential judgment.
According to early church historian Eusebius:
"Their opposition and their recent heresy which has separated them from the
Church arose on the following account…a recent convert, Montanus by name,
through his unquenchable desire for leadership, gave the adversary
opportunity against him. And he became beside himself…in a sort of frenzy
and ecstasy, he raved and began to babble and utter strange things,
prophesying in a manner contrary to the custom of the Church handed down by
tradition from the beginning.
One of the first, and certainly the most notorious of the early "enthusiast"
challenges to Church authority, originated in Phrygia in the last years of
the second century, and centered around the self styled prophet Montanus, who
claimed to be the voice of the newly descended Paraclete, along with his two
"prophetesses" Prisca (or Priscilla) and Maxilla. Montanism's most famous
convert was the great (previously) Catholic apologist Tertullian, who was
apparently swept away by the great eloquence of the prophecies and the
putative holiness of the sect. Tertullian went so far as to write a defense
of the "prophet's" ecstasies, (which has since been lost) entitled "De
Ecstasi", and also described the manner in which the sect differentiated its
own adherents (the "Pneumatoi", "the spiritual" - spirit filled?) from the
Catholics, who were considered as mere "psychici", fleshly minded or
benighted. A rather illuminating thumbnail sketch of Montanus and the
"Cata-Phrygians" (out of Phrygia) as the sect was also known can be gleaned
from the following passage taken from the "Ecclesiastical History" of
Eusebius. (Bk. V, ch. 14. Eusebius is quoting an anonymous writer of the
second century.)"
Archbishop
Fulton Sheen had this to say: “It is their spirit therefore that is
gradually unfolding itself in the Church. That is how we come to a
theological knowledge of the three persons, and when we detach the
spirit from the Church we are very apt to go awry. There just isn’t any
such thing as a charismatic Church. There isn’t any such thing, for
example, as a baptism of the spirit distinct from baptism."
Please
answer how "babbl[ing] and utter strange things, prophesying in a
manner contrary to the custom of the Church handed down by tradition
from the beginning" by Mormon, Montanist, etc... are not heretical using
Catholic Church teaching and church doctors teaching.
Please
don't use possible bible text to answer about tongues, Baptism in the
Holy Spirit, etc.... It is possible these things are good or
indifferent. Please show me how using Catholic Church teaching and
church doctors teaching.
Thanks,
Fred
Bishop Sheen: "There just isn’t any such thing as a Charismatic Church"
-"Archbishop
Fulton Sheen had this to say: “It is their spirit therefore that is
gradually unfolding itself in the Church. That is how we come to a
theological knowledge of the three persons, and when we detach the
spirit from the Church we are very apt to go awry. There just isn’t any
such thing as a charismatic Church. There isn’t any such thing, for
example, as a baptism of the spirit distinct from baptism. That is why
Saint Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians Church, which was the
Church that caused him so much trouble, he when he used the word Baptism
he said: ‘Sure you are Baptized! You are IN Christ!’."
-"Three
popes have acknowledged the movement: Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II,
and Pope Benedict XVI. Pope John Paul stated that the movement was
integral to the renewal of the entire Catholic Church. Both Popes Paul
and Benedict, while acknowledging the good aspects of the movement, at
the same time urge caution to its members to maintain their link to the
Catholic Church."
Evaluation of the Charismatic Movement By Father John A. Hardon, S.J.
http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/HARDONCharismatics.htm
Evaluation of the Charismatic Movement
Pentecostalism; Evaluation a Phenomenon
By Father John A. Hardon, S.J.
Before
entering on the formal presentation, I think it will be useful to first
clarity some possible sources of misunderstanding. The immediate focus
of this study is Pentecostalism.�� It is not directly concerned with the
persons who call themselves Pentecostals or, as some prefer,
Charismatic.
Moreover, the purpose here is to make an
evaluation.� It is not to impart information about Pentecostalism, since
such information is fairly presumed, with all the literature by and
about the movement and, from many people, either personal experience or
direct observation of the movement in action.
Finally, though I
seldom do this when speaking, in this case it may be useful to give a
run-down of �references� about the speaker�s own qualifications in
talking on the subject.
My professional work is teaching
Comparative Religion.� A phenomenon like Pentecostalism, I know has for
years been one of the characteristic features in other religious
cultures, and not only in Protestantism or Roman Catholicism; in fact,
not only in Christianity.
Since the first stirring of
Pentecostalism in Catholic circles, I have been asked to give some
appraisal of it to leaders in the Church who sought counsel on the
question, e.g., Bishop Zaleski as chairman of the American Bishops
Doctrinal Commission and recently the Jesuit Provincial of the Southern
Province, in a three-day private conference in New Orleans.
For
several years I have been counselling persons dedicated to
Pentecostalism, mainly priests, religious, and seminarians.� And on Palm
Sunday of this year I preached at the First Solemn Mass of a priest who
is deeply involved in the movement.
My plan for today�s talk is to cover three areas of the subject, at uneven length, namely:
����� 1.� The Historical Background of the Pentecostal Movement, up to the present.
����� 2.� What are the principal elements of Pentecostalism, as viewed by Roman Catholics dedicated to the movement?
����� 3.� An Evaluation in the form of a Critical Analysis of Pentecostalism as a phenomenon which has developed an Ideology.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The
essentials of the Pentecostalism we know today began with the
Reformation in the sixteenth century as a complement to Biblicism.� The
two together have formed an inseparable duality in historic
Protestantism.
Where the Bible was canonized in the phrase, Sola
Scriptura, as the sole repository of divine revelation; the indwelling
Holy Spirit in the heart of every believer was invoked as the only
criterion for interpreting the Scriptures or even for recognizing their
canonicity.� Thus Sola Scriptura became the basic principle of direction
in the life of some Christians, in place of the professedly divine
guidance by the Spirit residing in the papacy and the Catholic
hierarchy.
Pentecostalism turned sectarian in the nineteenth
century whom groups like the Irvingites, Shakers, and Mormons broke away
from their parent bodies over what they said was indifference in the
established Protestant churches to external manifestations of the
presence in converted believers of the Holy Spirit.
What gave
these sectarian groups theological rootage was the parallel rise of the
Holiness movement among Methodists.� Experience of conversion and an
awareness of the Spirit had always been prominent in Wesleyan thought.�
With the advent of biblical criticism and the solvent of rationalism,
many followers of Wesley fell back almost exclusively on personal
experience as a sign of God�s saving presence.
When some of these Holiness groups affiliated with the Irvingiton and their counterparts, modern Pentecostalism was born.
Some
would date the beginning with 1900, but more accurately, from 1900 on
the Pentecostal movement began its denominational period.� One after
another, new congregations were formed or old ones changed to become
Pentecostal in principle and policy.� By 1971 some 200 distinct
denominations in America qualified as Pentecostals.� While the total is
uncertain, ten million in the US is not too high a figure.� Outside
North America, the largest contingent is in South America, where
Pentecostal missionaries from the States have successfully evangelized
in every country below the Rio Grande. Brazil alone has four million, of
which 1.8 million are mainly converts who were originally baptized
Catholics.
The most recent development in Pentecostalism was the
ecumenical collaboration with Catholic groups in the United States, at
first cautious, then bolder and now becoming a pattern that give rise to
what some call �Catholic Pentecostalism,� but others prefer to say is
�The Pentecostal Movement in the Catholic Church.�
����� From
this point on, my concern will be uniquely with this latest development,
seen through the eyes of its dedicated followers and described by men
and women who believe they are, and wish to remain, loyal Catholics but
honestly believe that a new dimension should be added to the concept of
Catholicism before it was touched by the present outpouring of the
Pentecostal grace of the Spirit.
Main Elements of Pentecostalism
Although
American Catholic involvement in the Pentecostal movement is hardly
five years old (this speech dates back to 1970-1971), a growing body of
literature is accumulating.� Most of it is still descriptive or
historical, but more than a score of monographs and half a dozen books
are frankly theological.� Their authors seriously try to come to grips
with what they call the Charismatic Renewal, and their studies are
couched in formal, even technical language.
There is no doubt
that those who are professed Catholics, and at the same time, committed
to Pentecostalism, want to span both shores.� As they view the
situation, it should be seen from two perspectives: 1) from the
standpoint of Pentecostalism, defining what are its essential features;
and 2) from the side of Catholicism, distinguishing what is different
about Pentecostalism today, compared with other historical types of the
same movement in former times.
Essentials Of Pentecostalism
Writers
of a Catholic persuasion isolate certain elements of Pentecostalism and
identify them as trans-confessional.� They are simply characteristic of
this aspect of Christianity whenever it occurs, whether among Catholics
or Protestants or, in fact, whether before the Reformation or since.
1)
The primary postulate also gives Pentecostalism its name.� Just as on
the first Pentecost in Jerusalem there was an extraordinary decent of
the Holy Spirit and a marvellous effusion of spiritual gifts, so at
different ages in the Church�s history a similar phenomenon occurs. �
It
is generally occasioned by a grave crisis or need in the Church.� God
raises certain charismatic persons to visit them with special graces and
make them the heralds of His mission to the world.� Such were Benedict
and Bruno, Francis and Dominic, Ignatius and Theresa of Avila.
The
present age is such a period, certainly of grave crisis in
Christianity, during which the Holy �Spirit has decided to enter history
in a miraculous way, to raise up once again the leaders of renewal for
the Church and, through the Church, for all mankind.
2) No less
than on Pentecost Sunday, so now the descent of the Spirit becomes
probably� perceptible. This perceptibility shows itself especially in
three ways.
�������������� A) In a personally felt experience of
the Spirit�s presence in the one who receives Him.� The qualities of
this coming are variously described; they cover one or more of the
following internal experiences: deep-felt peace of soul, joyousness of
heart, shedding of worry and anxiety, strong conviction of belief,
devotion to prayer, tranquillity of emotions, sense of spiritual well
being, an ardent piety, and, in general, a feeling of intimacy with the
divine which, it is said, had never or only for sporadic moments been
experienced before.
�������������� B) Along with the internal
phenomena, which themselves partake of the preternatural, are external
manifestations that can be witnessed by others.� Such are speaking in
strange tongues, in gift of prophecy, the power of healing, and, it
would seem, all the gamut of charismata enumerated in the Acts of the
Apostles and the letters of St. Paul.
�������������� C) Capping
the two sets of phenomena, of internal experience and external
manifestation, is the inspiration given by the Spirit to communicate
these gifts to others.� Normally a Spirit filled person is the channel
of this communication; he becomes a messenger of the Spirit to others
and his zeal to act in this missionary role is part of the change that
the divine visitation effects in him.
3) The basic condition
required to receive the charismatic outpouring is openness of faith.�
The only fundamental obstacle is diffidence or distrust of the Spirit to
produce today what He had done in ages past.
If the foregoing
are typical of Pentecostalism in every critical period of Christianity
and the common heritage in Protestant as well as Catholic experience,
certain features are typical of Pentecostalism today.
����� 1)
Present day Charismatic experience is far wider than ever before.� Where
in former days only certain few people received the Pentecostal
outpouring, it is now conferred on thousands, and the conferral has only
started.� It is nothing less than a deluge of preternatural visitation.
�����
2) Consistent with the large numbers is the fact that Pentecostalism,
otherwise than ever before, affects the lettered and unlettered, those
obviously pursuing holiness and the most ordinary people.� Indeed, one
of the truly remarkable facts in that even quite unholy persons may now
suddenly receive the Spirit, provided they open their hearts to Him in
docile confidence and faith.
����� 3) Also, unlike in previous
times, this is a movement.� It is not just a sporadic experience but a
veritable dawn of a new era of the Spirit; such as Christianity had
never known in age past.� It is destined, so it seems to sweep whole
countries and cultures, and promises to effect changes in co-called
institutional Christianity not less dramatic than occurred in Jerusalem
when Peter preached his first sermon in response to the coming of the
Holy Spirit.
����� 4) As might be expected, the Spirit is now to
affect not only individuals or scattered groups here and there.� His
charismatic effusion will remake Christian society.� His gifts are to
recreate and, where needed, create new communities of believers, bound
together by the powerful ties of a common religious experience and
sustained by such solidarity as only a mutually shared contact with the
divine can produce.
����� 5) While there had been Pentecostal
experiences in every stage of Christian history, generally they were
characterized by public phenomena or at least their external
manifestations were highlighted.� Modern Pentecostalism includes these
phenomena, indeed, but, the stress is on the internal gifts received by
the people.� Their deep inside conviction of mind and joy of heart are
paramount.� These, are, of course, no less phenomenal than the physical
gifts of tongues or prophecy or healing of disease.. They, too, partake
of the miraculous.� But they are the interior gifts from the Spirit in
the spirit, and as such, are the main focus of Pentecostalism in today�s
world of doubt and desperation.
Critical Analysis
So far I
have given what might be called an overview of Pentecostalism, with
emphasis on that form which professed Catholics have not only adopted
but which their leaders, priests, religious and the laity, are defining
and defending in a spate of books and periodicals.
I have
witnessed the phenomena they described, read the literature they have
written, spent hours in conference and consultation with those deeply
committed to the movement, conferred at length with specialists in the
psychological sciences who dealt professionally with �Catholic
Pentecostals,� and I have carefully watched the consequences of the
movement for several years.� My growing conclusion is that
Pentecostalism in the Catholic Church is symptomatic of some grave needs
among the faithful that should be met soon and by all effective means
at our disposal.� But I also think that Pentecostalism as an ideology is
not the answer to these needs.� In fact, it may be a serious obstacle,
even a threat, to the authentic renewal in the Spirit inaugurated by the
Second Vatican Council.
My reasons for this two fold judgment
naturally suggest two sets of appraisal: one for considering
Pentecostalism symptomatic and the other for believing it does not meet
the felt needs of the Church today.
Pentecostalism As Symptomatic
It
is not surprising that a phenomenon like Pentecostalism should have
risen to the surface in Catholic circles just at this time.� The
Church�s history has seen similar, if less widely publicized, phenomena
before.
����� 1) The widespread confusion in theology has
simmered down to the faithful and created in the minds of many
uncertainty about even such fundamentals as God�s existence, the
divinity of Christ, and the Real Presence.
Confusion seeks
certitude, and certitude is sough in contact with God.� When this
contact is fostered and sustained by group prayers and joint witness to
the ancient faith it answers to a deep felt human need.� Pentecostalism
in its group prayer situations tries to respond to this often desperate
need.
����� 2) Among the critical causes of confusion, the
Church�s authority is challenged and in some quarters openly denied.�
This creates the corresponding need for some base of religious security
which Pentecostalism offers to give in the interior peace born of union
with the Spirit.
����� 3) Due to many factors, many not
defensible, practices of piety and devotion from regular Novenas, to
statutes, rosaries and religious articles have been dropped or phased
out of use in the lives of thousands of the faithful.� Pentecostalism
serves to fill the devotional vacuum in a way that startles those who
have, mistakenly, come to identify Christianity with theological
cooperation or the bare minimum of external piety.
����� 4) Ours
is in growing measure a prayerless culture.� This has made inroads in
Catholicism. It is a commentary on our age that millions have
substituted work for prayer; and how the balance needs to be
redressed--with Pentecostalism offering one means of restoring the
spirit of prayer.
����� 5) In the same way, religion for too many
had become listless routine, and prayer a lip service or almost vacuous
attendance at the liturgy.� Religion as experience, knowing God and not
only about Him; feeling His presence in one�s innermost being--was
thought either exotic, or psychotic, or presumptuous.� Pentecostalism
promises to give what Christians in our dehumanized Western Society so
strongly crave--intimacy with the Divine.
All of this, and more,
is part of the background which helps explain why such a movement as the
Charismatic came into being.� Its existence is both symptomatic and
imperative that something be done--existence is both symptomatic and
imperative that something be done--and done well--to satisfy the desire
of millions of Christians for peace of mind, security of faith, devotion
in prayer, and a felt realization of union with God.
Pentecostalism, as a mistaken Ideology
�����
The question that still remains, however, is whether the Pentecostal
movement is a valid answer to these recognized needs.� Notice I do not
say that individuals who have entered the movement cannot find many of
their spiritual needs who have entered the movement cannot find many of
their spiritual needs satisfied.� Nor am I saying that group prayer is
not helpful for many people; nor, least of all, that the Holy Spirit has
been inactive during these trying times to confer precisely an
abundance of His sevenfold gifts on those who humbly and in faith invoke
His sanctifying name.�
What I must affirm is that
Pentecostalism is not a mere movement, it is, as the ending �ism�
indicates, an ideology.� And as such it is creating more problems
objectively than it solves subjectively.� In other words, even when it
gives symptomatic relief to some people, it produces a rash of new, and
graver, issues touching on the Catholic faith and its authentic
expression by the faithful.
����� 1) The fundamental problem it
creates is the absolute conviction of devoted Pentecostals that they
have actually received a charismatic visitation of the Holy Spirit.
I
am not here referring to such external phenomena as the gift of
tongues, but of the deeply inward certitude that a person has been the
object of a preternatural infusion, with stress on the infusion of
preternatural insights, i.e., in the cognitive order.
This is an
astounding assertion, and the only thing un-remarkable about it is that
so many Pentecostals are now firmly convinced they have been so
enlighten.
Their books and monographs, lectures and testimonials
simply assume to be incontestable and beyond refutation that they have
been specially illumined by a charism which, they say, is available to
others who are equally disposed to receive it.
But repeated
affirmation is not enough, and even the strongest subjective conviction
is not proof, where a person claims to have been the recipient of such
extraordinary gifts; notably of spiritual knowledge as God conferred in
apostolic times, or gave to His great mystics in different times.
The dilemma this raises can be easily stated:
Either
the Pentecostal experience really confers preternatural insight (at
least among its leaders) .� Or, the experience is quite natural, while
certainly allowing for the normal operations of divine grace.�
Everything which the Pentecostal leadership says suggest that they
consider the experience, and I quote their terms; �preternatural,
special, mystical, charismatic, extraordinary.�
����� 2.� It is
irrelevant to discourse about the charismata in the New Testament, or
theologize about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.� No believing Christian
denies either the charism or the gifts.� The question at stake is not of
faith, about of fact.
Are the so-called charismata truly
charismatic?� If they are, then we stand in the presence of a cosmic
miracle, more stupendous in proportion--by reason of sheer numbers--than
anything the Church has seen, I would say, even in apostolic times.
But
if the experiences are not authentically charismatic, then, again, we
stand in the presence of a growing multitude of persons who believe
themselves charismatically led by the Holy Spirit.� They will make
drastic decisions, institute revolutionary changes, or act in a host of
other ways--firmly convinced they are responding to a special divine
impulse whereas in reality they are acting in response to quite
ordinary, and certainly less infallible, motions of the human spirit.
�����
3.� At this point we could begin a completely separate analysis,
namely, of the accumulating evidence that the impulses which the
Pentecostal leaders consider charismatic are suspiciously very human.�
Their humanity, to use a mild word, is becoming increasingly clear from
the attitudes being assumed towards established principles and practices
in Catholicism.�
Logically, it may be inferred, the Holy Spirit
would not contradict Himself.� We expect Him to support what Catholic
Christianity believes is the fruit of His abiding presence in the Church
of which He is the animating principle of ecclesiastical life.
What
do we find?� In the published statements, and therefore not the casual
remarks of those who are guiding the destiny of the Pentecostal movement
among Catholics, are too many disconcerting positions to be lightly
dismissed by anyone who wants to make an objective appraisal of what is
happening.
I limit myself to only a few crucial issues, each of
which I am sure, will soon have a cluster of consequences in the
practical order:
����� a) The Papacy.� If there is one doctrine
of Catholic Christianity that is challenged today it is the Roman
Primacy.� Yet in hundreds of pages of professional writing about the
charismatic gifts, we find a studied silence--no doubt to avoid offense
to other Pentecostals--about the papacy; and a corresponding silence
about a more loyal attachment to the Holy See.� It is painful to record
but should be said that the pioneer of American Pentecostalism among
Catholics and its publicly take issue with Pope Paul V1 On Humane Vitae
�����
b) The Priesthood and Episcopate.� Running as a thread through
apologists for Catholic Pentecostalism is an almost instinctive
contraposition of, and I quote, �charismatic� and �hierarchical, � or
�spiritual� and �institutional�.� While some commentators state the dual
aspects in the Church and even stress the importance of harmony between
the two, others have begun to opt for a theological position quite at
variance with historic Catholicism.� They suggest that in the New
Testament there was essentially only one sacrament for conferring the
gifts of the Spirit.� Baptism gave a Christian all the essentials of
what later on the �institutional church� developed into separate
functions, namely the diaconate, priesthood and episcopate.
�����
c) Catholic Apostolate.� The heaviest artillery of Pentecostals in the
Catholic camp is levelled at the �ineffectual, irrelevant and
dispirited� form of Christianity prevalent in the Church.� Accordingly,
under the impulse of the Spirit, radical changes are demanded in the
Church�s apostolate.� Old forms of trying to reach the people,
especially the young, should be abandoned.� This applies particularly to
Catholic education.� �In spite of the immense expenditure of money and
human effort being put into parochial schools, �Pentecostals are saying,
�how often do we not hear complaint that a pitifully small proportion
of the students emerge as deeply convinced and committed Christians?� We
can therefore well use some new life in the Church.� �Concretely this
means to enter other kinds of work for the faithful, and not retain
Catholic parochial schools--as more than one teaching order, influenced
by Pentecostalism, has already decided to carry into effect.�
�����
d) The New Spirituality.� Given the posture of Pentecostalism as a
phenomenal downpour of charismatic grace, it is only natural that the
human contribution to the divine effusion is minimized.� Actually
defendants of the movement are careful to explain that a new kind of
spirituality was born with Pentecostalism.
As heretofore taught,
persons aspiring to sanctity were told that recollection had to be
worked at and cultivated.� It meant painstaking effort to keep oneself
in the presence of God and consciously fostering, perhaps through years
of practice, prayerful awareness of God.� The charismatic movement is
actually a discovery that all of this propaedeutics is unnecessary. In
view of its importance, it is worth quoting the new spiritual doctrine
in full:
There is a subtle but very significant difference
between what the presence of God means in the spiritual doctrine that
has long been usual in novitiates, seminaries, and the like, and what it
means for those who have shared the Pentecostal experience.
The
difference can be put bluntly in the following terms: The former put the
accent on the practice, whereas the latter put it on the presence.�
That is to say, the former regard the constant awareness of God�s
presence as a goal to be striven for, but difficult to attain; hence
they exert themselves in recalling over and over that God is here, and
in frequently renewing their intention to turn their thoughts to Him.�
The
latter, on the contrary, seem to start with the experiential awareness
of God�s presence as the root which enlivens and gives its
characteristic notes to all their prayer, love and spirituality.
It
is not too much to call this �instant mysticism�.� And if some
charismatic do not succeed as well (or as soon) as others in this sudden
experience of God which dispenses with the labourious process of
cultivating recollection, it must be put down to a lack of sufficient
docility to the Spirit or, more simply, to the fact that the Holy Spirit
remains master of His gifts and breathes when (and where He wills).
But
the essential dictum stands: those who charismatically experience God,
and they are now numbered in thousands, came by the phenomenon without
having to go through the hard school of mental and ascetical discipline
still taught by an outmoded spirituality.
����� e) Aggressive
Defensiveness.� Having postulated what they call the �Pentecostal
Spirituality,� its proponents defend it not only against present-day
critics of such �cheap grace,� but they anticipate unspoken objections
from the masters of mystical theology.� Among their silent critics, whom
they criticize, is St. John of the Cross.
As elsewhere, so here
is offered a contraposition, the classical doctrine on the charism (or
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit) and the new doctrine of
Pentecostalism.� Again direct quotation will bring out the full
confrontation:
On the practical level, the classical doctrine on the charism has been formed chiefly by St. John of the Cross.
The
stand that he takes is predominantly negative: i.e., a warning against
the harm that comes from rejoicing excessively in the possession of such
gifts.� The one who does so, he says, leaves himself open to deception,
either by the devil or by his own imagination: in relying on these
charism, he� loses some of the merit of faith; and finally, he is
tempted to vainglory.
Similarly when St. John discusses
supernatural communications that come by way of visions or words,
particularly those that are perceived by the imagination or the bodily
senses, he is mainly concerned to warn against the dangers of deception
and excessive attachment.� He condemns the practice of seeking to obtain
information from God through persons favoured with such communications.
Even when God answers the queries that are thus addressed to Him, He
does so out of condescension for our weakness, and not because he is
pleased to be thus questioned.
If there is anywhere that
Pentecostal spirituality seem to conflict with the classical it is here.
Then follow pages of a strong defence of the new positive approach to
charismatic experience, admitting that where conflict exists between
this and the teaching of such mystics as John of the Cross, the main
reason is obvious.� Men like John and women like Theresa of Avila lived
in a former age, when charism were rare and then given only to
individuals.� In our age they are literally an inundation and their
recipients are countless multitudes.
����� f) Religious
Communities.� Not surprisingly, the Pentecostal movement has made some
of its deepest effects of religious communities, of men, but especially
of women.
All problems facing the Church at large affected the
lives of those who, by prior commitment, dedicated themselves to the
pursuit of holiness.
When the charismatic experience offered them
release from anxiety and the hope of a strong sense of God�s
presence----in spite of the turmoil all around----religious took to the
movement on a scale that no one actually knows.� But all estimates
indicated that the number is large.
We are still on our final
analysis and our approach has been to point up the ideology of
Pentecostal leadership, to see whether (and if) it is at variance with
historic Catholicism.
A recently, privately-bound study of a
religious who took to Pentecostalism reveals many things about convents
and cloisters that is common knowledge among the initiated but still
unknown among the faithful at large.
Thematic to this study is
the firm belief that the betenoire of religious life is structure and
institutionalism; that openness to the Spirit along Pentecostal lines
gives best promise for religious in the future.� A few sample statements
indicated the general tenor:
����� We must remember that in order to choose religious life, you must be a misfit.
�����
The danger is that a sacred institution tends to isolate man so he can
stand back and deal with God.� The institution tends to come between man
and God.
����� Religious life is a human institution which God
merely tolerates.� God�s pleasure is the one thing necessary, and God�s
good pleasure is man�s total openness.� It is in this openness that we
find our true identity, but this takes courage.
����� Total
openness takes faith.� Awareness of our true identity implies a life of
faith.� But faith implies doubt.� You can�t have faith without doubt.�
Doubt and faith are two sides of the same thing.� We don�t pray right
because we evade doubt.� And we evade it by regularity and by activism.�
It is in these two ways...by which we justify the self-perpetuation of
our institutions.
While other factors have also been operative,
it was sentiments like these that contributed to the growing tide in
some communities with impatience at the slowness of the institutional
Church to up-date religious life, make it truly open to the Spirit, and
experience the rich depth of internal peace and joy that seemed to be
lacking in �structured community routine.�
It is not a
coincidence that some spokesmen for the charismatic approach to a life
of the evangelical counsels have been most critical of such symbols of
institutionalism as the Sacred Congregation for Religious.� It is not
surprising that some who feel that Rome is archaic or out of touch with
the times should also be most enthusiastic about Pentecostalism.�
Epilogue:
There
are those who say we should just allow the Pentecostal movement to go
and then see what happens.� But that is not in the best tradition of
Christian prudence.� If, as I personally believe, latter-day
Pentecostalism is in the same essential stream with Gnosticism,
Montanism, and Illuminism, we do not pass moral judgment on people but
prudential judgment on an ideology if we say all that I have said in
this lecture.
There are gave needs in the Church today--of which
the gravest is the urgent recovery of prayer across the spectrum of
Catholic living--among bishops, priests, religious and the laity.� But
if prayer and the experience of God�s presence are so ungently needed,
we must use the means that centuries of Christian wisdom have shown are
securely effective to satisfy this need. Pentecostalism is not one of
these means.
Old Post By Fred Martinez
Are
Ralph Martin and Charismatics really bringing a false spirit? I been
listening to him and he appears faithful to the teachings of the
Catholic. In fact, I've learn much about the spiritual teachings of the
church doctors and saints from him.
Rick Salbato, whom many
dislike, but few respond to with reason brings a case against Martin. I
really would like it at the very least if someone answered my problem
(and to a certain extend Bishop Sheen and Father Hardon's problem) with
Pentecostals or Charismatics.
This is my problem. Anyone with
some knowledge of the church fathers of the first centuries until the
1900's knows only heretical sects were Pentecostals or Charismatics. A
good primer is Monsignor Ronald Knox's "Enthusiasm." A short list of
heretical sects are Mormons, Brethren of the Free Spirit, Ranters,
Shakers and First Century Montanism.
According to early church historian Eusebius:
"Their opposition and their recent heresy which has separated them from the
Church arose on the following account…a recent convert, Montanus by name,
through his unquenchable desire for leadership, gave the adversary
opportunity against him. And he became beside himself…in a sort of frenzy
and ecstasy, he raved and began to babble and utter strange things,
prophesying in a manner contrary to the custom of the Church handed down by
tradition from the beginning.
One of the first, and certainly the most notorious of the early "enthusiast"
challenges to Church authority, originated in Phrygia in the last years of
the second century, and centered around the self styled prophet Montanus, who
claimed to be the voice of the newly descended Paraclete, along with his two
"prophetesses" Prisca (or Priscilla) and Maxilla. Montanism's most famous
convert was the great (previously) Catholic apologist Tertullian, who was
apparently swept away by the great eloquence of the prophecies and the
putative holiness of the sect. Tertullian went so far as to write a defense
of the "prophet's" ecstasies, (which has since been lost) entitled "De
Ecstasi", and also described the manner in which the sect differentiated its
own adherents (the "Pneumatoi", "the spiritual" - spirit filled?) from the
Catholics, who were considered as mere "psychici", fleshly minded or
benighted. A rather illuminating thumbnail sketch of Montanus and the
"Cata-Phrygians" (out of Phrygia) as the sect was also known can be gleaned
from the following passage taken from the "Ecclesiastical History" of
Eusebius. (Bk. V, ch. 14. Eusebius is quoting an anonymous writer of the
second century.)"
Please
answer how "babbl[ing] and utter strange things, prophesying in a
manner contrary to the custom of the Church handed down by tradition
from the beginning" by Mormon, Montanist, etc... are not heretical using
Catholic Church teaching and church doctors teaching.
Please
don't use possible bible text to answer about tongues, Baptism in the
Holy Spirit, etc.... It is possible these things are good or
indifferent. Please show me how using Catholic Church teaching and
church doctors teaching.
Thanks,
Fred
Ralph Martin
Brings a False Spirit into the Catholic Church
By Rick Salbato
True
fidelity to the Church requires a firm faith in the Holy Bible and
perfect obedience to the Magisterium, in particular the teaching that no
one who willfully avoids the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, i.e. the One,
True, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus' Most Precious
Blood, can be saved.
True fidelity implies that any Catholic
professing GOD's All Holy Spirit exists outside Christ's Church is a
liar... to be avoided. As proven in Jesus' Crucifixion and Death on
Calvary and manifest in His Most Glorious Resurrection, His Holy Spirit
of Redemption proceeds through His Foundation, His Blood, His Church.
Christ alone died for our sins and opened the gates of Hell. To preach
another gospel is heresy. While our Omnipresent and Omnipotent God's
Grace and Mercy flows abundantly, our Father's Beneficence -- by His
Divine and Almighty Will, and Christ's unforgettable Sacrifice and
commanding words to St. Peter, "You are Peter and upon this rock I will
build MY CHURCH." -- proceed into time through the hallowed sanctity of
His Church, and His Church alone (not Luther, Wyatt or any other man's
words or deeds). Why? Because these false prophets did not die to us
free. "Unless you eat My Body and drink My Blood you will not enter My
Father's House". Christ freely gave us His Most Precious Blood that all
men might come to the knowledge of GOD and be saved. He exists in the
Most Holy Eucharist and sacramental lifeblood of His Church evennd of
time. This is the Good News, our light to the world that should be
proclaimed to all the world in everything we think, say and do. Deo
gratias for the Blood Christ that founded GOD's Church on earth. Deo
gratias for our Unifying Faith.
The greatest contradiction to
Scripture and the Teaching Authority of the Church is that of
"pluralism". The Catholic Charismatic Movement started with the "Spirit"
of Protestantism. Canon Law 1258 forbids Catholics from actively
participating in any way whatsoever in non-Catholic worship or
ceremonies. It is a formal act of apostasy for a Catholic to make an act
of total adherence to a heretical sect. Why? Because "how you pray is
how you believe" (lex orandi, lex credendi).
Nonetheless, that is
how it all started in 1967 at Duquesne University. Four professors had
read and studied the books of the Protestant Pentecostals. They decided
that they wanted this power of the spirit, so they prayed and prayed,
put they could not get it inside the Catholic Church. They decided to go
OUTSIDE to the heretical sect. They called on a Protestant Minister and
within a few days had a group of Pentecostals praying over them. They
were BAPTIZED IN THE SPIRIT. Later that year two Michigan State
graduates, Ralph Martin and Stephen Clark, were baptized in the Spirit
at a Notre Dame University gathering. From there the movement spread
into the Catholic Church. To this day Catholics and Protestants of the
movement still pray together in violation of Canon 1258.
A year
ago we attended a Woman's Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. Some of the
members were from Calvary Chapel, some from Evangelical Churches, some
from Fundamentalist Churches. Father Michael Barry of Riverside led the
prayers. This was not in the Church but in a classroom. No one made the
sign of the cross, but tongues and prophesy were common. Father Barry is
the same priest who passes out Communion to non-Catholics. When
confronted about it, he replies, "Why not? They are Christians."
In
order to accommodate the non-Catholics and Satan, himself, Catholic
Charismatics do not make the sign of the cross before praying, after
praying, or at anytime. They do not use Holy Water. They do not kneel
when praying. They do not use blessed Crucifixes or relics. They do not
conduct their prayer sessions inside a Church where the Blessed
Sacrament exists, except when forced by circumstances.
Since, the
sign of the cross, blessed articles, Holy Water, and the Blessed
Sacrament are instruments against the demonic, one would have to wonder
whose spirit this is anyway.
[Note: In recent years some groups
have taken up these practices; the Rosary, sign of the Cross, etc.
However, this is not the norm, and those who are doing so will find
themselves leaving the Charismatic movement.]
Unity is the
constant work of the members of the Body of Christ, the communion of
Saints, the Church. It is the duty of all Christians to work towards the
common community of God's people. To say that it is all right to belong
to any Christian Church is disunity. It is PLURALISM. It has been
condemned by the Church hundreds of times over the centuries. Unity is
the last will and testament of Christ at the Last Supper (John 17). It
is the prayer and work of the Church in the Twentieth Century. It was
the dream of Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, Vatican II, and Our Holy
Father today. But unity is not accepting all Christians as they are,
anymore than love is accepting what our children do no matter what it
is. Love is a study of truth and morals; and then the correction of sin
and false belief. This kind of love brings unity.
Catholic
Charismatics are filled with the kind of love that hugs each other,
holds hands, and speaks nicely of each other. They even speak nicely of
sinners. Almost never do they practice any of the Spiritual or Corporal
Works of Mercy. Love is a verb, an action, and therefore is something
that we must DO, not something that we FEEL. To feed the hungry, to
admonish the sinner, to forgive, to bear wrongs patiently, this is love.
There is no love in the basic core of the Charismatic Movement.
"NO
LONGER IS IT FASHIONABLE TO SEEK A LOGICAL AND SYSTEMATIC DEFENSE OF
RELIGION. CHARISMATIC SPIRITUALISM IS PREFERRED TO DOGMATIC REASONING."
The words of Pope John Paul II.
This is a great trick of the Demonic,
to make man his own authority as to what is right or wrong; true or
false. To do this, man must think he is getting his inspiration direct
from Heaven. It is the same heresy as the Gnostics of the first century.
It is the same method Satan used to trick Adam and Eve. "You will be
like God, knowing good and evil."
A few year back, locutions
[messages from Heaven] were being sent by the "spirit" all over the
world to the effect that the next Pope would be a Charismatic. His name
was given. At the time we didn't know this man, so we had no way of
testing the locutions. He was a Cardinal. Later we had the misfortune to
meet him. The best way to introduce this future Charismatic pope is the
Mass he conducted in Rome.
This Cardinal was the late Belgian
Cardinal Leo Suenens, the so-called next pope, or so said hundreds of
Charismatic prophets. This is the same Cardinal we personally heard say
that no Catholic need obey the Holy Father's encyclical, Humane Vitae.
This
may, in fact, be the master plan of the Charismatics. We know from St.
Malachy's and Don Bosco's prophesies that the next pope will be one of
the holiest popes in history. Another thing that bothers us is the
prophecy of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. She saw a dark and sinister
church growing inside the Catholic Church. This sinister church grew so
big that it was almost impossible to stop. Nothing in the past 150
years has been that threatening within except the Charismatics, not even
"Call To Action".
Ask a Charismatic what he would prefer, a
prayer meeting or the Mass. Ask what he would do if the Church condemned
the movement. We have asked. They prefer Spiritualism to the Teaching
Authority of the Church, and even to the Sacraments. Does this mean all
Charismatics are bad? Yes! As we stated above, just because good people
are in amongst them, does not make it from God.
How then is Ralph
Martin the one who brought this false spirit of prophesy into the
Catholic Church and can we prove that he is not Catholic? Ralph Martin,
Steve Clark and Kevin Ranaghan worked in the Newman Center of Michigan
State University in East Lansing, Michigan and in the Cursillo Movement.
After Ralph Martin, Kevin Ranaghan and Steve Clark were baptized in the
spirit in 1967 they were fired from the Newman Center when it was found
out that they also were involved with the fundamentalist Protestant
Campus Crusade for Christ. They then formed a prayer group of 12 men
called, the "Word of God" charismatic group. It grew to more than 100
people in only 4 months. They tied in with a Protestant group called,
The Sword of the Spirit. By 1970 they created a real organization with a
corporate structure of leaders and sub-leaders. They became a "Covenant
Christian Community". By 1972 these people had total control of
thousands of members using what they called, "shepherding" but what is
essentially a doctrine of control. The top pope was Clark and today it
is Ralph Martin. Other groups affiliated with Ralph Martin are: "People
of Praise" in South Bend, Ind. headed by Kevin Ranaghan; "The Lamb of
God" community in Baltimore, Md.; "People of Hope" community in Berkeley
Heights, NJ, "Mother of God" community in England, "Servants of Christ
the King" community in Steubenville, Ohio, etc. But the national
headquarters for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is located in South
Bend, Ind. and the international headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium.
The top authority of the groups is called "Unio Crucis" [Union of the
Cross]. Their meetings are secrete and there are never more than 60
members. Their income comes from tithing and from their magazine, "The
Word Among Us". The very title of this magazine is what they are all
about. They get the "Word" directly from God and not from the teaching
authority of the Church. The magazine alone generates from 3 to 5
million a year.
Interesting to note that Father Michael Scanlan,
president of Steubenville University was a founding member of "Servants
of Christ the King" community and has supported the Protestant group
"The Sword of the Spirit". When Bishop Albert H. Ottenweller of
Steubenville saw the cult controls that the leadership had over the
members he ordered Catholics to separate themselves from the
controversial nondenominational evangelical organization, "The Sword of
the Spirit". Bishop Ottenweller then went about trying to clean up the
University and forced Father Michael Scanlan into separating from the
Protestant groups. In order to save face the charismatic group's spin
doctors painted the picture that Michael Scanlan cleaned up the
University. Keep in mind that it is Father Michael Scanlan that promotes
and protects the first marriage of the Marian Movement and the
Charismatic Movement - Medjugorje. Keep in mind also that Ralph Martin
(a pluralist) and Tom Monaghan (an innocent victim) are both on the
board of Steubenville University and both on the board of Fessio's new
radio stations.
Now I am going to make a bold statement. "Call To
Action" (the left) and the Marian Movement both came out of the
Charismatic Movement and both have the same agenda - to lead people away
from the Mass and the Sacraments. "Call To Action" makes no secrete
that they do not believe in the True Presence. What about the
Charismatics and the Marian Movement? First the Charismatics: The
following account of the Mass prayed at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was
printed in the "International Catholic Priests Association" published
in England by Simon Keegan.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Pentecostals'
or 'Charismatics' led by the Belgian Cardinal Leo Suenans, came for a
Eucharistic celebration. In the vast crowd that filled the Basilica, it
was not an uncommon thing to see, what one first thought of as 'white
petals' being scattered among the congregation. Only when I could push
my way nearer, did I realize that they were handfuls of consecrated
Hosts that the Cardinal's 'hench-priests' were scattering among the
crowd, to speed up Communion. They fell on the shoulders of men, on the
dyed and coverless heads of women, and as was inevitable, not a few on
the ground, and were trampled upon by the crowd.
I spoke to a
lady standing near me, who was gobbling a number of them together (the
consecrated Hosts). I asked her where she came from and was she a
Catholic? She came from Egypt, she replied, and in fact had no religious
persuasion, but her feelings are in favor of Mohamedism, to which her
family belonged, but her fiancée was an Anglican, and she found
Pentecostalism Quite exciting."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At
this Mass in Rome was Ralph Martin who prophesied the Second Coming of
Christ in his lifetime speaking from the altar of Peter. In his books
"Is Jesus Coming Soon?" and "The Catholic Church at the End of an Age"
you can read the same heresies.
Ralph Martin brought into the
Church a spirit from outside the Church. This spirit is real. I was a
Charismatic (Read my book "The Tongues of Satan"). But this spirit is
not from God. As the Charismatic movement began to fade they needed a
boost, a Marian boost. Sister Briege McKenna, a leading member of these
charismatic cults prayed with "Father' Tomislav Vlasic, who at the time
was without faculties for conducting another charismatic charism -
"sensitivity training" with young boys and girls. Sister McKenna
prophesies to Vlasic that Mary was going to come into his life. When he
returned to Medjugorje he found out what she meant. Medjugorje has the
same spirit, a spirit that leads people into pluralism and away from the
sacraments. I have four witnesses who lived in Medjugorje that not one
of the seers attends Mass, even on Sunday unless a crowd of pilgrims are
there, and even then they do not go to daily Mass.
The biggest
promoter of Medjugorje in America is Denis Nolan from Notre Dame
University. Denis Nolan has Ralph Martin on his board of advisors,
because Denis Nolan started out in the Charismatic Movement. It was to
Ralph Martin that Denis Nolan complained about Unity Publishing and
threatened to sue us for telling the truth about Medjugorje. He also
promotes Gobbi who prophesied that the real person of the Antichrist
would appear in the year 1998, and that Christ would come on this earth
in the year 2000 to establish his Kingdom on Earth and walk among us.
Now
these people are prophesying the chastisement as though it was Christ's
Second Coming and they are turning every true prophesy up side down. No
greater example of that is there than Garabandal. There are many who
write, fax, call, or e-mail us because of our Testing The Spirit
newsletter and web page www.unitypublishing.com. Even those who do not
believe in any of the other false mystics have a tough time believing
that Garabandal is false because of the signs and wonders around it. And
so rather than getting into Medjugorje or Gobbi or Gino or any of the
other false mystics, its better to just show proof that the main one,
Garabandal, is false.
We could show how the "Virgin" told the
children to not bring to Her blessed rosaries and crosses but only
un-blessed ones so that She could bless them. And then show that even
the Virgin Mother of God cannot bless with a priestly blessing because
the priest is in "persona christi", in the place of Christ, and Mary can
never be in the place of Christ or a priest. We could show that not
even an angel from Heaven can give a priestly blessing but this might
take to much theological explanation. We could also show documented
proof that Conchita stole a Eucharistic Host from the tabernacle of the
Church during the apparitions. We could show proof that the children
went up the mountain to steal apples when the apparitions started. We
could show proof that Padre Pio did not support the apparitions and
never made any statement to Conchita and never sent an clothe to them.
We could show proof that Padre Pio never told Joey Lomangino to go
there. We could show proof that Garabandal has been condemned by sex
local bishops and by Rome four times. We could show how the poor
children have no memory of the apparitions, whatsoever, and only know
what they read about, proving that they were under a hypnotic demonic
trance during that apparitions, and then removed from it, so that an
exorcism could not take place. We could show that the idea of a
"warning" is like the idea of "rapture" and is designed by Satan to
capture people at the moment of death into thinking they are going to be
saved at the last minute in order to keep them from last minute
confessions and repentance. We could prove that Conchita has married a
man with children who was married before and not annulled. All of these
we could prove but all we need to do is give one prophesy of Garabandal
that will prove it false. This prophesy, however, did fool Malachi
Martin.
Quoting from "Marian Apparitions Today - Why So Many?" by
Fr. Edward D. O'Connor, C.S.C., pages 19-20 "In 1962, when Pope John
XXII died, Mary told Conchita that after Paul VI, there would be only
three more popes. When Paul VI died, Mary reiterated that there would be
only two more. After the short reign of John Paul I, Mary confirmed
that John Paul II is the last. She made it plain, however, that this did
not mean that the end of the world was at hand, but only the end of 'an
era."
What we ask is this, "Can the world exist without the
Catholic Church? If the world continued on without the Catholic Church
then the gates of hell have prevailed against her. Can there be a
Catholic Church without a pope? Can this be the last pope? The answer is
"NO!" We are living in the last age on earth, the sixth generation, and
the last generation, the generation of Christ and His Church, the
Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, which is the Catholic Church. Christ said to
Peter and not to the apostles, "I will be with you all days until the
end of the world." The Church teaches two things that destroy both
Sedevacanti and Charismatics, and that is, "Where the pope is there is
the Catholic Church and where the pope is not there is no Catholic
Church." It also teaches that "Where the Holy Spirit is there is the
Catholic Church and where the Holy Spirit is not there is not the
Catholic Church." Sedevacanti can never happen or the gates of Hell will
have prevailed against the Church. "The Broken Chain"??? Never!
This
Sedevacanti leads people to believe in an underground Church "operating
outside the control of the canonical structure of the church", what we
call today "Traditionalists" (not that they are traditional since the
greatest of all traditions is that "where the bishop is there is the
Church, and where the bishop is not, there is not the church ---
whatsoever is done without the bishop is from the devil." -St. Ignatius -
Epistle to the Ephesians.)
So you see, we can't bring ourselves
to accept even those charismatic prayer groups that have orthodox
practices. It has been argued that there are many abuses, but there are
also many Charismatics who pray rosaries, have devotion to the
Eucharist, to Mary, and to the Teaching Authority of the Church. This
may be true, although we have not seen it. Amongst the Arian heretics
there were many who did not know they were not in the Body of Christ,
the Church. There were many Arians who truly did not know they were
praying with heretics. All they knew is that the Bishop and the priests
in their town had changed. There are many Charismatics who are very
innocent of the main thrust of the movement. This does not make the
movement OK or even tolerable in our eyes, anymore than it made the
Arians or Masons tolerable just because the rank and file members are
innocent. It must be tested like any other movement that claims direct
contact with Heaven.
This spirit of Ralph Martin came into the
Church in 1967 and has spread throughout the entire world so that every
formerly humble and innocent Catholic now thinks he or she has had a
direct message from Heaven to do this or that. They do not read orthodox
books anymore, only the messages from this or that seer. They are being
educated in doctrine directly from Heaven, they say. They are being
divided from their priests and bishops, and someday from the next pope,
and then they will be true Gnostics, as they will be outside the Ark of
Salvation, the Catholic Church.
I have spent over 30 years
studying prophecy regarding eschatology (the end times - from now to the
end of the world). It is from the teaching of the Church, the Apostolic
Fathers, the saints of the Church, and Church approved prophets that I
have come to recognize the very false prophets that Queenship promotes.
When
I read books like "THE LAST WORLD WAR & THE END OF TIME", THE FINAL
HOUR", "THE DAY WILL COME". "THE COMING PERSECUTION", "CALL OF THE
AGES", "THE AGE OF ONE FOLD AND ONE SHEPHERD". and the like, I know from
thirty years study that they do not know what they are talking about,
and lack fundamental knowledge about the future.
Finally,
however, I picked up a book, "TRAIL, TRIBULATION & TRIUMPH" by
Desmond A. Birch, only to prove that it also was as wrong as these other
authors. I could not put it down. I read it over and over. Desmond A.
Birch put together a masterpiece. Utilizing Scripture, Tradition, the
Saints, the Fathers of the Church, and Church approved Prophets, Desmond
systematically proved with heavy documentation what I have been saying
for 20 years, that the Antichrist and the Second Coming of Christ cannot
happen in my lifetime or my children's lifetime. Trial, Tribulation
& Triumph is my 30 years knowledge packed into one book.
The
errors of the new (so-called) prophets fit into a common theme ( whether
knowingly or not) that will prepare uncausious Catholics into accepting
the Antichrist as the real Christ, and into thinking that the mystics
hold a higher place in authority than the bishops, scripture, tradition,
and the fathers of the Church. We want you to know if you do not
already know why false mystics like the seers of Medjugorje or
Garabandal are so dangerous to the Church and to souls. The fact we know
what the future holds for us. We just do not know when and where. If we
know, Satan knows. In the last chapter of a book I wrote called
"Apparitions - True or False" I said:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We
know that Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is not coming soon. Why? Because we
know that some things have to happen first. We know that Our Lord, Jesus
Christ, will not set up a Kingdom on Earth. Why? Because we know that
the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth is the Church. And we know from the Bible
that when He comes He will not set His foot on this earth.
What has
to happen first? First there must be a "Chastisement of the Earth" in
order to bring about one Christian Kingdom and one Church on Earth. We
know that this chastisement will last from four to seven years. We know
that during the chastisement there will be two very important people, a
very holy king, called the "Monarch" and a very holy Pope, a Pope who
will be elected outside of Rome in a very fast way, almost certainly the
next Pope, "The Glory of the Olive".
We know that after the
chastisement there will be only twenty-five percent of the world left,
and it will take seven years to bury the dead. We know that the good and
the bad will survive. But we also know that the bad will be converted
by the Monarch and the Holy Pope.
We know that those who survive
the chastisement will have a period of peace that will be without work
or needs. We also know that in the first part of this peace everyone
will be holy. But we also know that in the second half of this peace
faith will fade and become lax.
After this period of peace on
earth (we think it will not last more than forty or fifty years) the
Antichrist will come. Henoch and Elias will come (maybe even Saint John,
the Apostle). The Antichrist will be born in the ruins of Babylon
between the two great rivers. He will be born of a Jewish prostitute and
a Catholic Bishop. She will pretend to be a virgin. The Child will be
able to talk the minute he comes out of the womb. He will appear to be
holy, gentle, kind, mild, and charismatic. He will look like Christ, act
like Christ, and talk like Christ. He will perform many miracles (or at
least what appear to be miracles), and many will follow him. He will
convert the Jews first, then the Moslems, and then many Catholics. There
will be no other Christian religions on earth at that time.
After
converting the Jews and Moslems into one religion, he will rebuild the
Temple of Solomon. There he will place himself on a seat in the Holy of
Holies and proclaim himself the Son of God. He will cause a great famine
over the whole earth, so that no one will have the food he needs. But
then he will promise that whosoever comes to the Temple and has his or
her hand and forehead marked with his mark will receive all the food he
needs for the rest of his life. He will have to go to war against Egypt,
Libya, and Africa, but after that all the secular world will come to
his side, and he will rule the world. He will outlaw the Continual
Sacrifice, the Mass. (Daniel 8:11)
The Pope (whose name will be
Peter the Second) and those who refuse to be marked with his mark will
go into hiding. Those who cannot hide will be martyred. More Catholics
will be martyred during this time than all the two-thousand-year history
of the Kingdom put together.
In the last year of his
three-and-one-half-year control of the world, he will kill Henoch and
Elias and place their bodies in public display in front of the Temple.
After the third day, they will come to life and ascend into heaven body
and soul by the Power of God.
This will so anger the Antichrist
that he will promise the whole world that he, too, will ascend into
heaven and bring them back to earth. And on the prescribed day he will
ascend up into the sky. However, Christ will strike him dead (as He did
to Simon Magus) and he will fall to the earth.
All the people
will be very happy because the Antichrist is dead. They will be so happy
that they will have parties and celebrations. They will have marriages
and will give their children in marriages. And then forty-five days
after the death of the Antichrist, there will be a great sign in the
sky-The Cross with Christ crucified. All the Jews, who have survived,
will see and know that they crucified Him, but it will be too late.
Christ
will appear in all his glory with all His Heavenly Hosts, and in the
twinkling of an eye, half the people of the world will disappear into
Hell. Those remaining will be lifted up body and soul towards Christ,
who will remain in the sky. All those in Purgatory will ascend first.
All the bodies of those who died from Adam to the time of the Antichrist
will come up out of the earth and join their souls in the heavens. All
this will take place as those remaining at the end ascend body and soul
towards Christ.
Then Christ will wipe away the earth, purgatory, the heavens, and the stars with the movement of his hand. Amen!
How
do we know all this? We know it from the Bible: regarding the
chastisement, Isaias 24, Ezechiel 39, Daniel 7, Joel 3, and Zachariea 13
and 14; regarding the Antichrist, Dan. 7,8 and 10, Matt. 24, Rev. 20,
John 5; regarding the Second Coming of Christ, Matt. 24 and 25, Mark 13,
Luke 12 and 21, 1 Cor. 15, 1 Thess. 2, 3, 4 and 5, 2 Peter 3, Rev. 1
and 3, Dan. 12, and Joel 2. We know it from the disciples of the
Apostles, like Justin Martyr, Ignatius, Iranaeus, and Clement of Rome
who learned from the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John. We know it from the
disciples of the disciples of the Apostles like Hippolytus, Cyprian,
Augustine and Jerome. We know it from the prophets who have been
approved by the Church and by the miracles and prophesies that have
already come to pass as listed in the section on prophets.
Now,
this is very, very important what we are about to say. If we know this,
Satan knows this. Let us repeat that, if we know this, Satan knows this.
Let us repeat that again, if we know this, Satan knows this."
Remember,
the demons recognized Christ before His followers did. Why? The demons
are masters of Scripture. They used Scripture to tempt Christ. They used
Scripture to crucify Christ. Simon Magus used scripture to crucify
Peter and Paul. Demons know what is going to happen better than we do.
In order to counteract the Will of God, they have to make their own
plans.
If God is going to chastise the world, the demons know
they cannot stop it, but they can confuse people in such a way as to
think they will escape it by such stupid things as "rapture" or prophets
who say that if you go to this or that hill you will escape, or by
claiming that God will give signs before the chastisement, or whatever.
Demons
know that a very holy Monarch will come into the world to save the
world in the last days of the chastisement. What is their plan? To claim
him as the Beast of Revelation! The demons know that a very, very holy
Pope will come to save the Church. What is their plan? To claim him to
be the Antichrist!
Why would demons have apparitions, locutions,
ecstasies, visions, etc., that cause people to be converted, to be more
holy, to pray more, to give up sin, to even give up drugs and alcohol?
More than just winning souls, Satan wants to mock and stop God. He can
mock God by having very holy people worship a false God or a false Mary.
He can stop God (or at least slow Him down) by confusing the prophesies
that truly come from God.
Some apparitions we have followed for
years and years without seeing anything that we could attribute to the
demons. Everything seemed so holy to us. Then suddenly a message would
come through that would say that the next Pope would be the Antichrist,
and we would know that it was not of God. Or one message would say that
the Antichrist was already alive, and we would know that it was not of
God. Or even that Christ was already on the earth!
All false
apparitions of this Century have the same thing in common: They all want
to divide the faithful from their bishops. Once they are successful in
dividing the faithful from their bishops (by telling them to trust only
in the Pope of Rome or the message of the seer), then suddenly a message
will come "FROM HEAVEN" that the Pope of Rome is the Antichrist. Who
will these faithful, being led astray, be able to turn to then? Only the
seers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We
are running out of time and they (the false mystics) are winning. I
communicate with a man, Carlos Evaristo, who lives across the street
from Lucia of Fatima and audio tapes all her public conversations. I
communicate with Mr. Francis Fukushima, the translator to Sr. Agnes
Sasagawa of Akita, Japan. We are running out of time. My best estimate
is that everything will start happening on April 1, 1999.
We have
been shut off from all Catholic Newsmedia for attacking the likes of
Medjugorje, Gobbi, Gino, and Garabandal. The supporters of these mystics
have gotten to all the major news outlets of the country and have
blackballed us so that we cannot get the message out. The traditional
Catholic outlets we can get into, like the Wanderer, where we have an ad
almost every week. But the National Catholic Register has gone over to
Medjugorje. EWTN has gone Med. Fessio and Terry Barber were just afraid
to say anything against Med since 80% of the American Catholics believe
in it or one of the other false apparitions. Now to make matters worse,
Fessio has had to compromise in order to get the money he needed to buy
the radio stations across the country. We are very much in favor of
these stations and what Fessio is doing, and we are especially glad that
it is Fessio doing it instead of the far right or the far left. But
Fessio does not know that he brought into his camp the very man who
brought into the Church this false spirit that has spread throughout the
Church since 1967.
Fessio is a very good man, but because we
cannot compromise on matters of faith, we have alienated my relationship
from him. Fessio promotes all the writings of von Balthasar and 90% of
these are good; however, Balthasar fell into two heresies, an ignorant
Christ and that all men might be saved including Satan. Because we could
not leave that rest we have lost a good friend. The second thing that
Fessio did was allow Ralph Martin into his operation - meaning his radio
stations. Fessio was probably forced to take in Ralph Martin because
Ralph Martin has a strong relationship with Tom Monaghan - Domino Pizza.
Fessio needed hundreds of millions of dollars to get these radio
stations. Tom Monaghan's group "Legatus" an international organization
of CEO's, was the only group that could come up with that much money.
Even this group and Tom Monaghan are innocent victims of this
infiltration. Ralph Martin stands for everything that we are against,
and in fact, it was he who brought into the Catholic Church the spirit
of false prophecy. This spirit has gone from outside the Church through
the laying on of hands to inside the Church and has spread like a cancer
throughout the Body of Christ making almost every innocent Catholic
think they have a Gnostic direct revelation from God that is infallible.
If anyone except a bishop tries to lay hands on you or "slay" you in
the spirit, run like hell away from him. This spirit is not from God.
Protecting the Honor and Reputation of Our Lady
Rick Salbato
Managing Editor and President
Unity Publishing, Inc.
http://www.unitypublishing.com/feb7_99.html
Comments
As an opening comment, a person whose practices are not in accord with
Church teaching would not receive the endorsement of ecclesiastical
authorites.
The faculty of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome recently granted Dr. Martin a doctorate in sacred theology. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI recently appointed Dr. Martin as a consultor to the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. I trust them that Dr. Martin is in full communion and accord with the Catholic Church.
As to your specific issue:
Please answer how "babbl[ing] and utter strange things, prophesying in a manner contrary to the custom of the Church handed down by tradition from the beginning" by Mormon, Montanist, etc... are not heretical using Catholic Church teaching and church doctors teaching.
Assuming that Dr. Martin has at times received gifts of the Spirit which produce such practices, you should judge Dr. Martin by his fidelity to the Magesterium and to the Doctors of the Church, whose wisdom he has written about so well in his recent publications.
Blessed John Paul II was a great supporter of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal:
He said:
"...Today it is a fact of the Church’s life that many vocations arise and blossom in the heart of the various Movements and Associations. I wish to encourage you to give close attention within the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to this particular mode of God’s love for his People. The prayerful response of your members and associates to this grace will be a further, explicit sign of the Renewal’s sharing in the life and mission of the Church, the visible body of Christ (Cf. 1Cor. 12: 27)."
from: ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II TO THE LEADERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL
Castel Gandolfo
Saturday, 18 September 1993
I'm not an educated Catholic scholar, just a Catholic who is faithful to the Church and the teachings of its Magisterium as confirmed by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI and all the sucessors of St. Peter who preceded him.
Respectfully, if I have to choose between Pope Benedict or Mr. Salbato to discern whether Dr. Martin's teachings and practices are in accord with Church teaching I will err on the side of following the Holy Father.
The faculty of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome recently granted Dr. Martin a doctorate in sacred theology. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI recently appointed Dr. Martin as a consultor to the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. I trust them that Dr. Martin is in full communion and accord with the Catholic Church.
As to your specific issue:
Please answer how "babbl[ing] and utter strange things, prophesying in a manner contrary to the custom of the Church handed down by tradition from the beginning" by Mormon, Montanist, etc... are not heretical using Catholic Church teaching and church doctors teaching.
Assuming that Dr. Martin has at times received gifts of the Spirit which produce such practices, you should judge Dr. Martin by his fidelity to the Magesterium and to the Doctors of the Church, whose wisdom he has written about so well in his recent publications.
Blessed John Paul II was a great supporter of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal:
He said:
"...Today it is a fact of the Church’s life that many vocations arise and blossom in the heart of the various Movements and Associations. I wish to encourage you to give close attention within the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to this particular mode of God’s love for his People. The prayerful response of your members and associates to this grace will be a further, explicit sign of the Renewal’s sharing in the life and mission of the Church, the visible body of Christ (Cf. 1Cor. 12: 27)."
from: ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II TO THE LEADERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL
Castel Gandolfo
Saturday, 18 September 1993
I'm not an educated Catholic scholar, just a Catholic who is faithful to the Church and the teachings of its Magisterium as confirmed by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI and all the sucessors of St. Peter who preceded him.
Respectfully, if I have to choose between Pope Benedict or Mr. Salbato to discern whether Dr. Martin's teachings and practices are in accord with Church teaching I will err on the side of following the Holy Father.
Colin,
Respectfully, I would say back to you if I have to choose between Pope Benedict or Dr. Martin
to discern whether Fr Hardon, Bishop Sheen and Mr. Salbato's teachings and practices are in accord with Church teaching I will err on the side of following the Holy Father.
I posted some problems from Fr Hardon and Bishop Sheen which they had in this regard. Please answer mine and their exact problems since the Pope hasn't spoken on these exact problems to my knowledge.
Quote Dr. Martin or any other Catholic loyal to the Church and Holy Father.
Respectfully, I would say back to you if I have to choose between Pope Benedict or Dr. Martin
to discern whether Fr Hardon, Bishop Sheen and Mr. Salbato's teachings and practices are in accord with Church teaching I will err on the side of following the Holy Father.
I posted some problems from Fr Hardon and Bishop Sheen which they had in this regard. Please answer mine and their exact problems since the Pope hasn't spoken on these exact problems to my knowledge.
Quote Dr. Martin or any other Catholic loyal to the Church and Holy Father.
Sorry William Malecki not Colin.
God love you,
Fred
God love you,
Fred
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fred,
While in the process of being led back to the Catholic Church from being a person who thought you could be Catholic without going to Church or following the Holy Father, I saw Ralph Martin on TV. I did not know who he was at the time. Is there I way that I can share this experience privately with you? There were two other times that I ran across him in person that I would like to share with you. This took place between 2000 and 2003. I thought that I was the only person who didn't take Ralph Martin at face value. Della
While in the process of being led back to the Catholic Church from being a person who thought you could be Catholic without going to Church or following the Holy Father, I saw Ralph Martin on TV. I did not know who he was at the time. Is there I way that I can share this experience privately with you? There were two other times that I ran across him in person that I would like to share with you. This took place between 2000 and 2003. I thought that I was the only person who didn't take Ralph Martin at face value. Della
Dear Colin L
Please show where Fr Hardon or Bisphop Sheen or anyone else has stated misunderstandings of the history of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
Please be give exact quotes.
Please quote Church Fathers or church documents other than the heretic Montanus writings on the problems that Fr Hardon or Bisphop Sheen present.
Thanks,
Fred
Please show where Fr Hardon or Bisphop Sheen or anyone else has stated misunderstandings of the history of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
Please be give exact quotes.
Please quote Church Fathers or church documents other than the heretic Montanus writings on the problems that Fr Hardon or Bisphop Sheen present.
Thanks,
Fred
You can email me...
Fred
You might want to read "Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Spirit" which is a scholarly examination of the charisms in the Scripture and the early church. It is written by Fr. Kilian McDonnell, OSB and Fr. George Montague. Fr. Kilian was one of the founding members of the Catholic-Pentecostal dialogue that the Vatican established many years ago. Fr. George is a Bible scholar. They provide ample evidence for the presence and esteem for the charisms for the first 400+ years of the Church, despite the excesses of Montanism. The article you quote is based on a number of misunderstandings of the history of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
Colin LaVergne