2019: Does Fr. Harrison think Francis's "Authentic Magisterium" Teaching of Communion for those Committing Adultery isn't Heresy? vs. 2025 Fr. Harrison: Open letter urges Pope Leo XIV to correct ‘scandalous incoherence’ in Amoris Laetitia...‘dangerous self-contradiction
Open letter urges Pope Leo XIV to correct ‘scandalous incoherence’ in Amoris Laetitia...
...Open letter urges Pope Leo XIV to correct ‘scandalous incoherence’ in Amoris Laetitia
(OnePeterFive) — Editor’s note: The following is an open letter from Father Brian Harrison, SThD, to Pope Leo XIV on Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, originally published at OnePeterFive on August 12, 2025:
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV
22 July 2025
00120 VATICAN CITY
Europe
Most Holy Father,
I address to you this heartfelt petition regarding an urgent and practically unprecedented problem that Your Holiness has inherited from the previous pontificate. It is one which I and many other Catholics believe lies at the very heart of the mission entrusted to you by Our Lord as the Successor of Blessed Peter: that of guarding and teaching the uncorrupted doctrine of Christ that was “once and all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
1. I refer to the fact that Chapter VIII of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation of 19 March 2016, Amoris Laetitia (AL), teaches doctrines which none of its apologists have succeeded in reconciling persuasively with the bimillennial magisterial tradition of the Catholic Church, derived directly from Sacred Scripture.
2. The most pastorally pressing of these is the permission granted in footnote 351 to AL, article 305, for Holy Communion to be given “in certain cases” to couples living in “an objectively sinful situation,” notably, those who had been validly married but have since divorced and civilly remarried, and continue to live more uxorio. This is not indeed a ‘blanket’ permission for all such persons to receive the Eucharist. But the clear tradition of the Church has been that in no case whatsoever may persons in that situation be given Holy Communion. Therein lies the very troubling contradiction.
3. Those who try to reconcile this teaching with Catholic orthodoxy point out that it is possible to commit what is objectively a mortal sin (“grave matter”), but still be in the state of grace owing to subjective mitigating factors: lack of full consent of the will and/or lack of knowledge that one’s act is gravely immoral. That is true, but beside the point. Pope Francis’s predecessors in the See of Peter were of course well aware of such mitigating factors. But they nonetheless absolutely excluded from Communion anyone living in adultery, precisely because of their objective...
-- Open letter urges Pope Leo XIV to correct ‘scandalous incoherence’ in Amoris Laetitia...[Wow! Even notorious Popesplainer Fr.] Harrison warns that Pope Francis taught a ‘dangerous self-contradiction’ on Communion for the divorced and ‘remarried,’ petitioning Pope Leo to correct the record. [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2025/08/open-letter-urges-pope-leo-xiv-to.html]
The Wanderer's Fr. Brian Harrison issued a attack on the 19 scholar heroes by first presenting a straw man then showing his argument:
"Pope Francis has indeed said some things I believe to be heretical... the heretical doctrine of annihilation... [but] Francis is notorious for frequently speaking 'off the cuff'... [was] he/she accurately reported... [but] supposing... [It's] really heretical opinion... Only if he/she remains stubborn and obstinate can the Church declare him/her to be a formal heretic."
(The Wanderer, "Why I didn't Sign the Open Letter Accusing the Pope of Heresy," May 3, 2019)
It is strange that Harrison says Francis has only "said" some things that may be heretical when he knows the pontiff wrote the Argentine letter that teaches that those committing adultery can receive Communion which was called "authentic magisterium" by the Pope's Vatican and placed in the Holy See's Official Acts of the Apostolic See (AAS).
This means the unorthodox interpretation of Communion for those committing adultery is the official teaching of Francis.
How might Francis and Harrison have known for a long time this teaching is heretical?
First, they just have to read the Ten Commandments. One happens to say that God commands that: "Thou shall not commit adultery."
But, just in case they never heard of the Ten Commandments, way back on December 23, 2016, Dubia Cardinal Walter Brandmuller said:
"Whoever thinks that persistent adultery and reception of Holy Communion are compatible is a heretic and promotes schism."
(LifeSiteNews, "Dubia Cardinal: Anyone who Opens Communion to Adulterers is a Heretic and Promotes Schism," December 23, 2016)
In 2017, Francis made it the official teaching of his papacy that those committing adultery can receive Communion by placing the Argentine letter in the Holy See's AAS.
He did this despite the fact that in 2016 Cardinal Brandmuller said Communion for adulterers is heretical and in that same year three other cardinals joined him to issue the Dubia against Communion for adulterers as well as other issues.
It has now been 957 day since the Dubia was issued.
Many people say Francis never answered the Dubia.
They are wrong.
He answered the Dubia in 2017 when he made the heretical teaching Communion for adulterers his official teaching by placing the Argentine letter in the Holy See's AAS.
Could he have been anymore "obstinate" in heresy than that Fr. Harrison?
You, Fr. Harrison, say the Open Letter is "disrespectful to the Supreme Pontiff."
Like Paul was disrespectful to the first pope, Peter, when he rebuked him.
Like the disrespectful Catholics of the Middle Ages:
"[T]he Sorbonne's Chancellor, Jean Gerson [even] reached the point of threatening [Pope] John XXII with the stake if he didn't make a retraction" of his heretical teaching on the Beatific Vision.
(Rotate Caeli, "Popes who fell into Heresy," January 28, 2015)
They would not be like you Fr. Harrison in thinking it is "disrespectful" to call on the world's bishops to admonish Francis.
Do you believe that Communion for adulterers it is heretical?
Do you believe that the Ten Commandments are infallible teachings?
If you do believe then start acting like St. Paul or the Medieval Chancellor Jean Gerson.
Comments
Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis’s Amoris Laetitia and for the restoration of the Church.
Stop for a moment of silence, ask Jesus Christ what He wants you to do now and next. In this silence remember God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Three Divine Persons yet One God, has an ordered universe where you can know truth and falsehood as well as never forget that He wants you to have eternal happiness with Him as his son or daughter by grace. Make this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading anything here or anywhere else on the Internet.
Conclave Notes:
Has the Trad Media fallen into a COVID-like mass formation with Leo XVI? While it's humorous to see the former anti-Francis Trad pundits suddenly acting like teen age girls infatuated with Leo, it could lead to a Trojan Horse effect
It appears that a group of Bishops or Cardinals needs to give Leo XIV Dubia questions on if he still supports "Invalid and Sacrilegious" Confession
"Prevost’s reported support...allowing divorced & civilly 'remarried'...to receive Holy Communion": “Whoever…helps...promulgation of heresy…is suspected of heresy.” - The Catholic Monitor
-- Open letter urges Pope Leo XIV to correct ‘scandalous incoherence’ in Amoris Laetitia...[Wow! Even notorious Popesplainer Fr.] Harrison warns that Pope Francis taught a ‘dangerous self-contradiction’ on Communion for the divorced and ‘remarried,’ petitioning Pope Leo to correct the record. [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2025/08/open-letter-urges-pope-leo-xiv-to.html]
-- Are the Cardinals who will participate in the upcoming conclave authentically appointed & morally justified in voting, or will the shadow of Francis's possible illegitimacy cast itself over the next papacy? [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2025/04/are-cardinals-who-will-participate-in.html]
-- Pray for the soul of Francis, but now it is time for all the Catholic Cardinals, Bishops & pundits who have been saying that nothing can be addressed until he dies to be held accountable to act [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2025/04/pray-for-soul-of-francis-but-now-it-is.html]
-- 5 Dubia Questions for 1P5's Steve Skojec & All faithful Catholics especially Francis is definitely Pope Cardinals, Bishops & pundits [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/06/5-dubia-questions-for-steve-skojec.html]
-- DEFINE WONDERFUL: An Open Letter to John-Henry Westen, Deacon Fournier and Bishop Strickland [https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2025/07/define-wonderful-open-letter-to-john.html
Francis Notes:
l– 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
– If Francis betrays Benedict XVI & the”Roman Rite Communities” like he betrayed the Chinese Catholics we must respond like St. Athanasius, the Saintly English Bishop Robert Grosseteste & “Eminent Canonists and Theologians” by “Resist[ing]” him: https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/12/if-francis-betrays-benedict-xvi.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.”
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
– Tucker Carlson’s Conservatism Inc. Biden Steal Betrayal is explained by “One of the Greatest Columns ever Written” according to Rush: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/tucker-carlsons-conservatism-inc-biden.html?m=1
– A Hour which will Live in Infamy: 10:01pm November 3, 2020:
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1
What is needed right now to save America from those who would destroy our God given rights is to pray at home or in church and if called to even go to outdoor prayer rallies in every town and city across the United States for God to pour out His grace on our country to save us from those who would use a Reichstag Fire-like incident to destroy our civil liberties. [Is the [J6] DC Capitol Incident Comparable to the Nazi Reichstag Fire Incident where the German People Lost their Civil Liberties?: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-dc-capital-incident-comparable-to.html?m=1 and Epoch Times Show Crossroads on Capitol Incident: “Anitfa ‘Agent Provocateurs‘”:
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1]
Pray an Our Father now for the grace to know God’s Will and to do it.
Pray an Our Father now for America.
Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.