Sunday, July 29, 2018

"Gay" Mass in Toronto and Other Catholic Fictions Provoke Protestor

Recently, here in Canada, there has been a controversy over an announcement that Father Rosica (@fatherrosica) of Salt and Light TV would be celebrating a "gay" Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church on Sherbourne St. in Toronto. Saturday evening (yesterday) I showed up with a sign and a script (see full text below) at the aforementioned 7PM Mass.

I didn't attend the Mass but during my time on the sidewalk outside the Church I saw no evidence of Fr. Rosica's presence. One lady was very upset at my message, called me a hateful bigot from the USA and said I was no better than the Danforth shooter. There was no pool close by otherwise I probably would have shared this guy's fate. Thereupon she swatted at my sign and then walloped me in the face. Now I have official standing with the #MeToo movement! A few attendees questioned what I was doing there, some charging me with harassment. One gentleman declared he was going to call the police.  

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Sacrilegious Holy Communion

Start with prayer:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…


"My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you. I ask pardon of you for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you.”

"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly, and I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference with which he himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of his most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of you conversion of poor sinners." (Prayer of the Angel of Peace of Fatima)


Meeting and communing with Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist is said to be the Source and Summit of our Christian life. Why then has it become the greatest opportunity for desecration by vast numbers of Catholics?


Sacrilegious Holy Communion is a scandalous epidemic, a vile evil afflicting the Church and our nation today. It’s killing our families. It’s killing the Church. And it’s killing our nation. It is the worst possible abuse of the sacraments of the Church because it is an actual attack on the Holy Eucharist and upon Jesus Christ Himself.


Nothing corrupts the Church as badly as denial of the truth: sacrilegious Holy Communion is the shocking proof of such denial. Catholics are in possession of the fullness of truth yet so many reject it. It amounts to pure and simple dishonesty by everyday Catholics.


Imagine the man who keeps company with mistresses and prostitutes and yet when he’s out in public with his wife he makes extravagant displays of affection for her. Would you consider this man faithful? What about honest? What about holy? You’d be right if you said that’s outrageous! This man deserves to be exposed as a hypocrite! And as a phony!


Yet that’s exactly what you are about to see today at Mass. The vast majority of Canadian Catholics are shacking-up, viewing pornography, engaging in premarital sex & the hookup culture, supporting homosexuality, same sex marriage, contracepting, divorcing & aborting at the same rate as the rest of our lost society.


Yes, the numbers come from the most reliable sources & they show that Catholics live in the depths of darkness to the same degree as lost sinners! Yet these same renegade Catholics are at Mass today & soon they will be stepping forward to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ…stepping forward with an extravagant display of affection for Our Lord Jesus Christ…yet regularly supporting evils condemned by Jesus Christ and His Holy Church. Does this not prove them to be hypocrites & phonies? But it’s even worse than that.


Catholics receiving Holy Communion must be in a state of grace. It is the law of the Church. If you have unconfessed mortal sin in your life you are placing your soul at great risk. Yet Church sources tell us that 90% of Catholics practice or support some kind of evil condemned by Holy Mother Church. The Church warns them not to receive Holy Communion. Those who are not in a state of grace are unworthy to receive the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. This is basic teaching from the Catechism.
  

Imagine: 90% of all Catholics reject some teaching & law of Christ on what constitutes grave evil yet they insist on the right to the most intimate encounter with the same Jesus Christ. Some of them are here today fully expecting to commune with Our Holy Saviour. Are they not like the man who keeps mistresses and prostitutes but publicly makes extravagant displays of affection for his wife? Imagine the torment that Jesus in the most Holy Eucharist must endure from such hypocritical Catholics!


Have you too, like them, come to torment your Saviour Jesus Christ with your infidelities? Have you come to trample down His teachings and to commit sacrilege? If so, the shocking fact is that, according to St. Paul, you may very well be eating and drinking damnation to your own soul. 


Fellow Catholics I beg of you today: Do not receive the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist unless you have purged your life of all serious sins, those which the Church calls grave or mortal sins. According to the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church, number 916, all grave sin must be confessed to a priest and forsaken in the Sacrament of Confession. This is the law of the Church and applies to every Catholic in the world. 


Church teaching on chastity applies to all Catholics. Chastity demands that Catholics take control of their sexual appetites and behaviour. UNCHASTE CATHOLICS SHOULD NOT APPROACH JESUS IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST. It constitutes sacrilegious Holy Communion. More Catholics go to hell because of sexual sin than any other sin, according to Our Lady of Fatima. 


EVERY Catholic is tempted in some way to violate their chastity through sexual sin. Every Catholic has their own weakness when it comes to sexual sins. EVERY sexual sin can send you to hell if you yield to temptation. The devil doesn’t care which evil takes you to the lake of fire. It could be masturbation, premarital sex or any other kind of sex outside Christian marriage, pornography, contraception, adultery, or sexual fantasies. These are all evils and grave, mortal sins.


Homosexual acts usually involve a combination of these grave sins so they also are dangerous to your soul. Like contraception, homosexual acts are sins against nature and the Church warns that they are intrinsically evil. Like masturbation homosexual acts are said to be gravely disordered acts. All these are sins against chastity. UNCHASTE CATHOLICS SHOULD NOT APPROACH JESUS IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST. It would mean re-crucifying Our Saviour once again. It would be sacrilege. Read your Catechism and discover the truth.


Beware of deadly deceptions! Some people are using the term “gay Catholic.” Would someone identify themselves as “masturbating Catholic” or a “porno Catholic” or “contracepting Catholic” or “adulterous” Catholic? Would they expect you to believe that they are in good standing with the Church and with Jesus Christ? Using the term “gay Catholic” or “LGBT Catholic” also makes no sense. Homosexual acts get no special status when it comes to chastity or to sexual sins named by the Church. These are not gifts from God but rather lies from the menu of hell’s kitchen.


My fellow Catholics take note. I'm sounding an alarm. Look to your souls. You are being led astray. Just as in Jesus time the religious leaders of the day were concerned only with externals and with show. They were concerned more about the opinions and approval of men than of God.


The Church’s greatest goal is the salvation of souls. Jesus Christ established his Church so that poor sinners could find their way to heaven. The greatest danger to our souls today is priests and bishops who are watering down Church teaching. Some may have good intentions but they endanger souls. Some are actual traitors to the Church of Jesus Christ, unbelievers who deceive and agitate for changes in divine teaching. Far too many of them have no concept of helping you get your soul into heaven. 
 

You must take charge of your own spiritual life. Educate yourself, put some serious energy into what it truly means to be a Catholic. There is no better source than the Catechism. And treat it like it was hand delivered to you by Jesus Christ himself, because, in fact, it was the very way that our Saviour chose to get the truth into your hands.


It’s true also that no one can tell you what to believe. If you choose to believe that contraception is not a sin then you are free to choose that path. However that is not what the Catholic Church teaches or believes. Since most all Protestants believe contraception is ok, why not join a group with whom you identify? But to resist and to deny Catholic teaching while still maintaining that you are a good Catholic is simply not honest and it’s contrary to good character. Worse still is to practice or support that evil and then step forward for Holy Communion. It is sacrilege and you place your very soul at risk.


If you wish to identify as a "gay" person and to practice homosexuality that is again a choice you are free to make. The Anglican Church would be happy to accept you as a member. However that is not what the Catholic Church believes. Why not join a group with whom you identify rather than live a lie? Why crucify Jesus afresh in sacrilegious Holy Communion and damn your soul in the process?


Defying Church teaching on a matter as weighty as mortal sin is equivalent to questioning the Twelve Apostles and the very foundation of the Church. It is also equivalent to challenging the Ten Commandments and the Holy Scriptures. For 2000 years the teaching of the Church on marriage, respect for life and sexual sin has been rock solid. Expecting the Church to change Her mind is like waiting for God to declare He was wrong in sending His Son Jesus.


Catholics must be in a state of grace to receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. There must be a serious examination of every aspect of your life in light of what the Church teaches. And there is no mystery about what the Church teaches. Everything you need to understand can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is the official guide to the practice of the Catholic faith. It is a tragic betrayal that the great majority of priests never direct their flocks to the Catechism, especially so when it concerns the Moral Law of God.


It is not enough to say you have a clear conscience. Conscience is not the infallible voice of God! Catholics have been very poorly instructed on the subject of conscience. Your conscience can be dead wrong if it has not been shaped and informed by the law of Christ and His Holy Church.


The precise purpose of the Catechism is to train your conscience so that you can truly follow Jesus Christ. If your conscience is wrongly formed, be very afraid, because your eternal soul is on the line.


But why aren’t our shepherds, our pastors, our priests and our bishops warning us to turn away from evil behaviours lest we condemn ourselves to hell? Do our shepherds not care about our souls? Fellow Catholics, the shocking truth, if you can bear it, is that the tragedy of sacrilegious Holy Communion could never be as widespread as it is had not our priests and bishops mislead us long ago and continued in an actual cover up of the truth. At this stage of time our parishes have been overrun by perversion and devils. Catholic counterfeits occupy the highest offices in not only our parishes but in all strata of our society including the political structure of our nation.


Don’t be a victim! You must save yourself and your families: Know your faith, approach Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist only in a state of grace. Test yourself with a proper Examination of Conscience, one which will remove all your doubts. There’s no excuse for the Catholic to be unsure about his or her worthiness to receive Holy Communion.


Unfortunately Canadian Bishops for at least two generations have produced an exam of conscience which has been stripped of nearly every reference to the moral Law of God. As a result Catholics have been overtaken with immorality and perversion. As our Lord Jesus noted, "A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?”


A great saint of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, declared that the road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops. Our own Canadian Bishops seem not to care or not to believe.


You are the only hope of this present world, this great nation of Canada. You are the light of this world, the salt of this earth, said Jesus Christ. Our nation’s moral character starts here at this parish—with your priest—but he must teach in accord with the Catechism. He cannot avoid the hard truths of the moral law, otherwise souls will perish, marriage and the family will die, babies will be cut to pieces, perversion will overtake society, our civilization will collapse.

Our Popes and Saints have repeatedly said that Satan grows strong in society when Catholics live weak & sinful lives. Yes, sacrilegious Holy Communion is the ultimate proof that the weak & sinful lives of Catholics are leading to dead souls, dead babies & eventually to civil unrest, the breakdown of society and to wars.


It will be your children and grandchildren who must fight and die in these wars. Do not imagine that I am being overly dramatic! History has proved for us that the moral corruption of nations leads to revolutions and wars. Think of the Civil War in the USA over the moral issue of slavery or the genocide of Jews under Hitler.


I remind you that reception of the Holy Eucharist is the ultimate statement that you are of one mind and heart with Jesus Christ and His Church. But for so many Catholics it’s just an automatic ritual, a force of habit, a conscience soother, a feel good treat. What else could it be but a rubber stamp, a stamp of approval for those 90% of Catholics who are ruled by grave evils and mortal sins condemned by the Church? 


Which evils, you may ask? Which mortal sins? The most obvious, the most blatant ones are abortion, contraception, pornography, pre-marital sex, co-habitation, masturbation, divorce & remarriage, homosexuality, same sex marriage, gender ideology, IVF, euthanasia, etc. Do you dare to step forward when you know very well that you practice and/or defend what the Church calls evil? If so, you have been blinded to the great danger that threatens your soul!


Sacrilegious Holy Communion is an epidemic in Canada. Don’t be a part of it! Don’t trample the blood of Christ by violating the law of Christ! Don’t damn your soul through mortal sin and sacrilege!


The Eucharist is not a reward for attending Mass. Again, it is the Supreme sign of your unity, your oneness, with Christ—and with Christ’s Church. Many Catholics never consider this; instead they act as though the Eucharist is an automatic gift for the baptized. NO, NO, NO! Think about it: How many Catholics should be in the Communion line when most all of them practice or support the evil of contraception? 


Why do Catholics who support grave evils think they will be OK on judgment day? Do they think that being a baptized Catholic gives them a free pass? Do they think purgatory will cleanse even the mortal sins of their flesh so they can eventually get into heaven? The devil is ever so delighted to know he has infiltrated society by deceiving yet another Catholic.


We have a full blown crisis in the Catholic Church today. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: If ye love me, keep my commandments. He is our Beloved; we owe Him the deepest respect and the truest worship. If His commandments are forgotten today by Catholics approaching the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, a red alert must be sounded. Absolutely nothing can override the commandments of Christ. Not the Sacraments, not social justice, not even kindness so called can displace the holy law of Christ, which is also the holy Doctrine of the Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ deserves our entire obedience!


Sacrilegious Holy Communion is not simply a danger to the soul of the Catholic committing the sacrilege. It goes far beyond a grave personal sin. It provokes the great tragedy of SCANDAL which affects a multitude of other Christians. Faithful Catholics who witness the sacrilege and understand the depth of outrage against Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist are shocked and horrified at the spectacle! So much so that some lose heart over time and fall away from the practice of the faith. In this way those who commit sacrilege in Holy Communion add to their crime the downfall of their fellow Catholic.


But not only fellow Catholics are scandalized at the lack of reverence. Non-Catholic Christians who live serious Christian lives see the behaviour of the renegade Catholic and are thoroughly appalled, especially by many high profile public persons such as Justin Trudeau who claim to be devout Catholics.


Another great saint of the Church, St. John Vianney, painted for us a shocking picture of what sacrilege is. He said:  
"You are going to trample on the adorable Blood of Jesus Christ; you are going to sell your God like Judas sold Him to His executioners, and tomorrow you will go to Holy Communion, where you will proceed to crucify Him. What horror! What abomination! Go on, vile Judas, go to the holy table, go and give death to your God and your Saviour! Let your conscience cry out, only try to stifle its remorse as much as you can." 
 Hear then the voice of Judas, the Catholic who picks and chooses what he believes: “God gave me a mind and a heart to reach conclusions that benefit my fellow man. Catholic doctrine that is opposite to that doesn’t interest me.”

Here's another Judas excuse: "I take what I believe and leave the rest. I’m a faithful Catholic who knows up from down. After all, it’s between me and my Lord."


In Canada the Catholic religion has disintegrated into the most disgraceful display of dishonesty and ignorance imaginable. From bishops downward to priests and then the rank and file Catholic we see the same sickness & corruption of the faith. The proof of it is no more evident than in the sacrilegious reception of Holy Communion.


The starting point for our healing, as well as for that of our families and the nation, is for each one to live out an authentic Catholic life, living in a state of grace, ready at any time to worthily receive Jesus Christ in the most Holy Eucharist.


Seek out the truth. You’ll find it in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in the age old Tradition of Holy Mother Church. In these days of crisis it is the only sure way to keep your soul out of hell.


For those Catholics who are living out a truly faithful life in accord with the law of Christ, I urge you to make reparations for those who blaspheme God through sacrilegious Holy Communion.


At Fatima, the angel of Portugal said to Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta:

 "Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make reparation for their crimes and console your God."

 Our Lady later told the children that many souls go to hell because there is no one to make reparation for them.


Mass is about to begin and so I end with a prayer for help:


St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.



 

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Catholic Priests Inflict Pain and Agony on Millions

How Dare They? Toxic Masculinity in Roman Collars.
Did you hear about the four Catholic priests who attended the Trump rally in Montana right after the fourth of July? My gosh, the temerity of them! The gall! Priests having the hutzpah to go out in public actually dressed as priests inflicting pain and agony on millions and millions of leftist Catholics and their allied bishops and Chancery staffs...

Tuesday, April 03, 2018

Canada's Bishops Beguiled In The Wake Of Vatican II

In a previous post I covered the subject of a 1958 document produced by the Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops, a pastoral letter entitled "The Family In Canada," wherein we see that the Church's teaching concerning contraception was being upheld and unabashedly promoted by the Bishops. Yet by 1968 we stand amazed, puzzling: What invasion of thought and spirit so beguiled these shepherds in that short span of years?
This statement by the Bishops deserves to be revisited in 2018 if for no other reason than to support the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae. That encyclical remains "ground zero" for the current Catholic Church crisis since it served as a magnet for the heresy and hatred for tradition which was metastasizing in the Church in the wake of modernism. The vast rebellion that followed vented its fury on the person of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, laying waste to altar, liturgy and doctrine in order to beat into the ground all that was holy and true. The results have been catastrophic: a pervasive culture of sacrilege and profanation, measured daily in the multiple millions and never challenged by Canada's Bishops.  [SOURCE]
The letter appearing below was crafted by Monsignor Vincent Foy as a response to the article "Humanae Vitae Confusae" by Father Leo Walsh C.S.B., "professor emeritus of moral theology of the University of St. Michael’s College Faculty of Theology" in Toronto, Canada. Father Walsh is a member of the staff of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute. Msgr. Foy's letter explains much of what happened in the ten year span referenced above.

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Father Leo Walsh and “Humanae Vitae Confusae”

by Monsignor Vincent N. Foy

In the September 2008 issue of “Bioethics Matters” is an article entitled “Humanae Vitae Confusae” by Father Leo Walsh, C.S.B.. It is written for the 40th Anniversary of the publication of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical “Humanae Vitae” of July 25, 1968. Father Walsh, professor emeritus of moral theology of the University of St. Michael’s College Faculty of Theology, is a member of the staff of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute.

The article is well named. It succeeds in hiding the encyclical in a smog of questions and doubts. It considers Humanae Vitae from the aspect of problem rather than solution.

A Confusing Label

We are told that the teaching of Humanae Vitae is very weighty teaching, but not infallible. This opinion of Father Walsh is gratuitously asserted. There are other opinions.

Some have argued that the doctrine against contraception has been infallibly proclaimed. Notable in this regard is the monumental work of Father Ermengildo Lio, reportedly one of the authors of Humanae Vitae: “Humanae Vitae e Infallibilita.” He believes that the language of Humanae Vitae, invoking the authority of Christ meant that the Pope made a solemn definition of Church doctrine. Pope John Paul II expressed thanks for this book, which has been defended by others, e.g. Father Brian Harrison.

Many believe that, whether the doctrine of Humanae Vitae has been infallibly defined, it is infallibly taught. Perhaps the best presentation of this conclusion in English is “The Teaching of Humanae Vitae: A Defence,” by John C. Ford, S.J.; Germain Grisez; Joseph Boyle, John Finnis and William E. May (Ignatius Press, 1988).

What is relevant is that the teaching of the Church against contraception bound the consciences of Catholics in past centuries regardless of the absence of modern insights. It binds today regardless of any particular theological label, whether it is infallibly defined, infallibly taught or authoritatively proclaimed by the ordinary magisterium. It binds because it is given to us by Peter’s successor with Christ’s authority (cf. Humanae Vitae, n. 6).

What is the duty of theologians on this matter? They are to give the example of loyal assent both internal and external to the Magisterium’s teaching in the areas of both dogma and morality (cf. the encyclical Veritatis Splendor, n. 110).

The Disconnect

As Father Walsh points out, there is a large disconnect between Church teaching on artificial birth control and the practice of Catholic couples. According to one survey, conducted by MacLeans magazine in 1993, 91% of Catholics approve of contraception. It is not likely that the statistics are any better today. Father Walsh also points out that there are far reaching consequences of this disconnect.

Why do so many Catholic couples act contrary to Church teaching? Fr. Walsh says there are different reasons. He proposes three:

1. “It may be that a couple has considered the whole question, has studied prayerfully the whole question, has studied prayerfully the teaching of the Church, has read theological opinion on the matter, and has come to the conclusion that the teaching is either wrong or incomplete.”

In all my pastoral experience I never met such a couple, and, if they do exist, they are very rare. They do not help explain the 90% disconnect.

2. “It may be that a couple has tried to live by the teaching but has found that they do not have the moral strength to do so.”

Such a couple apparently accepts the Church’s teaching, but do not use adequate means of grace. If so they are in sin. They do not explain the 90% disconnect.

3. “It may be that a couple has not thought much about the
matter at all. It is taken for granted that nowadays couples practise birth control. It is not a matter of morality.”

This may be for some a cause of disconnect, but it is a remote cause, not a proximate one and does not explain the disconnect.

The reason for the disconnect is not only that Church teaching was not generally taught, but that the teaching was undermined by silence, error and dissent. There was a massive betrayal of the Church, Pope and Catholics. Here we list only part of that betrayal in Canada.

Before the encyclical Humanae Vitae of 1968

1. In 1964 the errors of Father Louis Janssens of Belgium, Fr. Schillebeeckx of Holland, and others spread like an Aids virus through academic circles of many countries, including Canada.

2. A book was published by Herder and Herder in 1964 called “Contraception and Holiness”. It presented itself as a “balanced and perceptive declaration of Christian dissent.” Among the contributors were three professors of St. Michael’s College in Toronto: Gregory Baum, O.S.A., Stanley Kutz, C.S.B., and Leslie Dewart.

3. At the third session of Vatican II on Oct. 29, 1964, Cardinal Leger of Montreal advocated that fecundity should be a duty pertaining to the state of matrimony as a whole rather than the individual act.

4. Gregory Baum was a catalyst of dissent in Canada and elsewhere, through interviews, tapes and articles. An interview with Gregory Baum was printed in the Toronto Globe and Mail for April 9, 1966. It was entitled “Catholics May Use Contraceptives Now.”

5. In some dioceses, such as Toronto, London, Ottawa and Sault Ste. Marie, confessional norms were given contrary to Church teaching.

After Humanae Vitae

1. After Humanae Vitae was published on July 24, 1968, Canadian papers contained scores of comments, most of them derogatory. Fr. Edward Sheridan, S.J., said: “It [Humanae Vitae] did not necessarily demand absolute obedience”. Gregory Baum said Catholics had the right to dissent.

2. In support of a group of dissenters based at St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Fr. Walter Principe, C.S.B., professor and writer for the Canadian Bishops, said: “For some Catholics the proper conduct of their family life can mean using other forms of birth control than the rhythm method” (Toronto Globe and Mail. Aug. 6, 1968).

3. On a CBC coast to coast television program on Aug. 18, 1968, Father Edward Sheridan S.J., Father Robert Crooker C.S.B., and Father Walter Principe C.S.B., attacked the encyclical.

4. In August 1968, Archbishop Plourde of Ottawa issued a pastoral statement. He said individuals have the right to “reach a judgement different from that of the Holy Father.”

5. Early in Sept., 1968 I spoke on the encyclical at a Serra Club meeting. I was cross-questioned with evident hostility by two priest-professors of St. Michael’s College.

6. Pressure groups sprang up calling for "freedom of conscience”. Among them were the Western Canadian Conference of Priests, the Catholic Physicians Guild of Manitoba, Catholics in Dialogue, the Canadian Institute of Theology and 58 “intellectuals” of St. Francis Xavier University.

7. Fifteen directors of the departments at the CCCB signed a statement calling for a “Vatican II Approach.” They said that a large number of Canadian priests were agonizing “in acute crisis of conscience.” I never met one such priest.

The Winnipeg Statement and After

The Canadian bishops met at Winnipeg in September of 1968. In the name of the Holy Father in August 1968, Cardinal Cicognani, Secretary of State, had asked them to stand firm with the Holy Father in his presentation of Church teaching in Humanae Vitae. Instead, they issued a disastrous commentary called the Winnipeg Statement. They said that in some circumstances Catholic couples could be safely assured that “whoever chooses that course which seems right to him does so in good conscience” (n. 26).

A fair assessment of the Winnipeg Statement was given by Dale Francis of the U.S. newspaper Twin Circle on Oct. 29, 1968: “The practical consequence has been that it has been interpreted as virtually negating the Pope’s proscription of contraceptives.”

Thousands of Catholic couples have justified their use of contraceptives by referring to the Winnipeg Statement:

1. The Winnipeg Statement was carried around the world by many vehicles e.g. Time magazine, The Tablet, America, Commonweal and Catholic Mind. Bishop Bushwell of Pueblo cited the Canadian Bishops to support his thesis “Dissent Not Disloyalty” (Commonweal, Nov. 15, 1968).

2. Education was quickly infected. Two of the seven priests dismissed from St. John Vianney Seminary in Buffalo for dissent from Humanae Vitae were welcomed into St. Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto.

3. Douglas Roche, who was with the Western Catholic Reporter at the time of the Winnipeg meeting. He wrote a book entitled “The Catholic Revolution”. In the second edition, 1969, he quoted from the Winnipeg Statement to show “How dissent and loyalty can co-exist within Catholicism.” In truth, dissent is an act of profound disloyalty.

4. Perhaps the most damaging of all texts was “Christ Among Us” by Father Anthony Wilhelm, C.S.P.. I have seen stacks of this text in Canadian Catholics rectories. By the time Cardinal Ratzinger asked Bishop Gerety of Newark to withdraw his Imprimatur on Feb. 28, 1984, 1,500,000 copies had been sold throughout the world. From the time of its second edition, over 300,000 copies quoted the Winnipeg statement to support dissent from Humanae Vitae.

5. Other texts carried the life and soul-destroying Winnipeg message, e.g. “Married in the Lord” by Father Michael Prieur, “New Hope for Divorced Catholics” by Father Barry Brunsman, “Catholics Ask” by Father O’Shea, and the marriage preparation course “Mosaic”, published by Novalis.

6. In 1980 the CCCB published a working paper on Marriage and Family. It gave us 190 pages of a general plan to promote Faith “In and Through the Family”. There is no mention of Humanae Vitae. It depends largely on theological opinion, often dissenting, e.g. Schillebeeckx, Rahner, Fuchs, Boff, and others. The text confirms the Winnipeg Statement by recommending marriage preparation courses which confirm it e.g. “Mosaic” and “Good News for Married Love.”

7. In response to the synod on the Family, the CCCB published a Working Paper “Responsible Procreation”, in 1983. It refers to Familaris Consortio only once. It follows the syncretic approach of quoting from dissenting theologians e.g. Curran, Rahner, Shannon, H¬ring, as well as some orthodox sources. It creates an impression of uncertainty and confusion. It criticises that attitude which would make of the prohibition of contraception “a sort of article of faith in dogma so that there is an end to all discussion and private or public questioning.” In conclusion, it says “To state that it is possible for everyone to carry out this law (against contraception) would risk creating in the faithful a feeling of despair and guilt” (p.52).

8. Articles appeared in Catholic periodicals spreading the moral relativism of the Winnipeg Statement. Examples are: Humanae Vitae – Une question ouverte” (L’Eglise Canadienne, 11, 12, 1980) and “Aids, Condoms, and the Church” by Fr. Bela Somfai, S.J. (Compass, November, 1987).

9. While Humanae Vitae was attacked and more and more Catholics were contracepting, shepherds and pulpits were silent. Confessionals were deserted.

Much more could be added. I think one need look no further for the reason for the disconnect between Catholic teaching and Catholic practise – Catholic teaching was not taught. Because of the new defective catechism series, Come to the Father, Catholics did not have a solid foundation for their faith.

Conscience

In the treatment of conscience there is much that is confused and confusing in “Humanae Vitae Confusae”.

We are told that Canada’s bishops, from their first response to Humanae Vitae, rightly recognised the primacy of conscience. In fact, in their Winnipeg Statement of 1968 the Canadian Bishops wrongly affirmed the primacy of the subjective conscience, the root error of Protestantism. They said that in some circumstances couples could use those means of contraception which seemed right to them.

Vatican II was careful to avoid the error of the primacy of the subjective conscience. Cardinal Felici explained how an attempt to avoid the subjective primacy of conscience was made in the evolution of the text of Vatican II. The expression “conscience to be enlightened by the divine law” was replaced by the more precise “conscience to be conformed to the divine law” (L’Osservatore Romano, Oct. 29, 1968, p.6).

We read in Vatican II: “When there is a question of harmonizing conjugal love with the responsible transmission of life, the moral; aspect of any procedure – must be determined by objective standards – relying on this principle, sons of the Church may not undertake methods of regulating procreation which are found blameworthy by the teaching authority of the Church in its unfolding of the divine law” (Vatican II, The Church in the Modern World, n. 50). “Conscience ought to be conformed to the law of God in light of the teaching authority of the Church” (ibid.).

Father Walsh tells us that a good conscience can be in error. If it is in error it is not a good conscience. Conscience is not a source of truth. As Msgr. Cormac Burke has said, truth is independent of conscience but conscience is not independent of truth. A good conscience is informed and then conformed. Otherwise the conscience is deformed, with the consequences inherent in objective evil.

A great theologian of the last century wrote: “It is nonsense for a Catholic to set up in opposition to the authority of the Encyclical (Humanae Vitae) the authority of his own personal conscience” (Cardinal P. Journet, “The Light of the Encyclical”, L’Osservatore Romano, Oct. 10, 1968, p. 10). It is nonsense, but still repeated, with disastrous results. Father Walsh recognises this when he says “Where erroneous conscience is widespread harm is widespread.” That is the situation today.

Confusion by hypothesis

A considerable part of the article is about hypothetical suppositions.

We are told of the negative effects if there is no intrinsic connection between the unitive and generative dimension of the act of intercourse. Some of these is that the claim that extra-marital relations (fornication and adultery) and homosexual genital expression are immoral cannot be easily maintained. There could be no argument from authority or from intrinsic reasons. Other consequences are detailed.

Other hypothetical questions are asked e.g. “Is the Church correct?” and “Might it be that the Church is indeed wrong about sexuality generally?” More questions are raised.

It is difficult to justify the raising of such hypothetical matters when the questions have already been answered by the Church with the authority of Christ. That was precisely the reason for Humanae Vitae. As the Pope said “We now intend by virtue of the mandate extended to us by Christ, to give our reply to these grave questions” (Humanae Vitae n.6).

End note

In evaluating the article by Father Leo Walsh C.S.B. it is good to recall the words of Pope John Paul II, which leave no room for confusion. Speaking of the Church’s teaching against contraception he said: “It is not, in fact, a doctrine invented by man; it was stamped in the very nature of the human person by God the creator’s hand and confirmed by Him in revelation. Calling it into question, therefore, is equivalent to refusing God Himself the obedience of our intelligence” (Nov. 12, 1988).

Perhaps more relevant still are the words of Pope Paul VI to priests: “Your first task – especially in the case of those who teach moral theology – is to explain the Church’s teaching on marriage without ambiguity” (Humanae Vitae n.25).

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Contraception Is Ground Zero For The Spiritual Battle of Our Day

If you are a regular visitor to this blog this Michael Voris video will be unsurprising. It appears to be from a talk that Michael gave just this week so it includes some very interesting up to date data and perspective. Behold, this topic explains so much of our current #CatholicChurchCrisis.


Friday, March 09, 2018

In Pre-Vatican II Canada, What Were Catholic Bishops Thinking About Contraception?

Pope Pius XII (left) dies in 1958, succeeded by Pope John XXIII
In this pre-Vatican II document from 1958 produced by the Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops we see that the Church's teaching concerning contraception was being upheld and unabashedly promoted by the Bishops. It is unclear what prompted the Bishops to issue their pastoral letter entitled "The Family In Canada" but the general sense of the letter is that pressures seemed to be mounting against family and marriage and great concern was felt by the Bishops.

For historical context, it's worth noting that Pope Pius XII had died just a month prior to the release of this letter (although clearly that event was unrelated to the pastoral letter).

Keep in mind this document was compiled less than four years before Vatican II and a full ten years before Pope Paul VI's encyclical entitled "Humanae Vitae." Note that the language used concerning "artificial birth prevention" and divorce is striking and unequivocal in terms of support of official Church teaching, whereas in the aftermath of Vatican II, what was striking was a spirit of change and liberality.

Another remarkable aspect of the pastoral letter "The Family In Canada" is that there is no mention whatever of abortion. Of course abortion was in all respects illegal at that time (1958) but imagine, if you can, a society and social setting where abortion is so uncontroversially evil and criminal that it is rightly consigned to the same status and category as a grievous crime, unworthy of the attention of the faithful, even in an address on the family. Now imagine only seven or eight years hence the same Bishops resigned to a softening of law on the "complex" subject of abortion. Mind boggling. What invasion of thought and spirit so beguiled these shepherds in that short span of years?

This statement by the Bishops deserves to be revisited in 2018 if for no other reason than to support the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae. That encyclical remains "ground zero" for the current Catholic Church crisis since it served as a magnet for the heresy and hatred for tradition which was metastasizing in the Church in the wake of modernism. The vast rebellion that followed vented its fury on the person of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, laying waste to altar, liturgy and doctrine in order to beat into the ground all that was holy and true. The results have been catastrophic: a pervasive culture of sacrilege and profanation, measured daily in the multiple millions and never challenged by Canada's Bishops.

[For further overall context, see my posting from 2013 entitled How Catholic Bishops in Canada Privatized Contraception, Divorce and Abortion.]

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The Family In Canada




Author -The Administrative Board, Canadian Catholic Conference, Nov. 13, 1958

At a time when Christian teaching on marriage is being assailed and family life undermined, we re-affirm emphatically the Church’s' constant teaching that marriage was instituted by God. The inclination to marry was implanted in man's nature by his Creator; forthright divine teaching confirmed the inclination of human nature; and Christ not only renewed the original decree of God but raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, thereby giving husband and wife the means to attain holiness in the married state. Furthermore, the first man and woman received an explicit divine command that their permanent union should be the natural beginning of the human race. Thus the family has its origin in God, and the begetting of children is both the primary purpose and the first blessing of marriage.

Many consequences flow from this. First, God's plan concerning marriage and the family cannot be changed at the whim or even by the formal decree of individuals or societies. Second, the entire range of human relationships must be ordered to respect the nature of marriage and promote the welfare of the family. The chief reason why the Church is concerned for problems of economic and social life is that disorders in these fields imperil the welfare of the family. To enable the family to attain its destiny, the Church has repeatedly em­phasized the need for a program of social reconstruction. History shows that  no  civilization  has  long  endured without a vigorous family life, and that one of the first symptoms of the decay of a civilization is the disintegration of its family life, marked by a loss of respect for marriage,  an increase in divorce and the refusal of married couples to have children.


I— Flagrant Sins against Nature


This refusal too often leads them to prevent conception by artificial means. Such actions are sinful because they interfere with the functioning of a natural faculty. To frustrate these powers of nature is a serious matter; serious, indeed, because the conception of every human being involves the creation of a spiritual, immortal soul. For this reason the Church reaffirms its teaching, based on the law of God and of nature, that artificial birth prevention is sinful under any circumstances. As for divorce, it harms human welfare, being contrary to human nature, which tends towards a permanent union bringing security to husband and wife, children and society as a whole. Proof of this is that divorce, while seeming to solve a marital problem, almost invariably causes a host of new problems and evils, individual and social. Marriage is by nature indissoluble, in the sense that it cannot be dissolved by any merely human authority. Indissolubility is of the essence of marriage and an integral part of its constitution. Divorce, by weakening its foundation, places the whole structure of family life—and therefore of society—in peril of collapse.

Thus, divorce and artificial birth-prevention are flagrant sins against God’s plan for marriage and the family. They are also sins against human nature. Men and women are more tempted to sin in these ways as the difficulties of marriage and family life become excessively burdensome. Weak, misguided couples turn from the personal sacrifices required for domestic peace and the proper rearing of families; in divorce and birth-prevention they seek false solutions to their difficulties. All this emphasizes the need for promoting legitimate ways of mitigating or eliminating the difficulties which tempt men and women to sin against God’s plan. It makes clear the need for formal programs or pre-marital and marital instruction to teach young couples the true nature of marriage and the family.


II— Housing Shortage


Here in Canada one of the foremost difficulties confronting families is insufficient and inadequate housing. The Federal Minister of Labour has noted that many are living in houses which "no Canadian should be living in".[i] Serious evils follow from this: the family is divided by the fact that many mothers think they are obliged to work outside the home.  Poor housing has been identified as a major cause of delinquency on the part of all members of the family. It causes parents to place unnatural curbs on the growth of families. It takes a heavy toll by robbing the family of opportunities for developing and expressing the talents of its members. The real adequacy even of many new houses is open to question. Planners and builders appear to have been caught unprepared by the development in urban settings of larger families with greater need for more space, both in their houses and outside them.


III— Rights and Duties of Mothers


The regrettable spectacle of the mother working outside her home is a consequence of this housing problem and the economic difficulties of families. A recent survey of working women in Canada showed that one in four spoke of working to help pay for her home.  This was more than twice the number who mentioned all other specific material objectives combined.[ii] of other reasons given, "the great majority of the women interviewed felt that their families' economic position was such that unless they were prepared to forego all but necessities, they were obliged to work for pay.”[iii] 

Mention  of these facts is not intended as indiscriminate criticism of working women because, as Pope Pius XII has noted, it is useless to urge a woman  to return  to the  home "while conditions prevail which  constrain her to remain away from it.”[iv] The attack must be directed against the causes which, by taking mothers out of their homes, notably contribute to a breakdown of family life. The working mother cannot make her full and proper contribution towards satisfying the family's many other needs. She cannot be the leader she should be in the family's physical, spiritual, intellectual and moral education. Not infrequently her own moral integrity is endangered. But even in homes where the mother does not go out to work, the traditional family structure is endangered. Pope Pius XII has observed:

The daughter of the worldly woman, who sees all housekeeping left in  the  hands of  paid  help  and her mother fussing with frivolous occupations and futile amusements, will follow her ex­ ample, will want to be emancipated as soon as possible and in the words of a very tragic phrase 'to live her own life'. How could she conceive a desire to become one day a true lady…the mother of a happy, prosperous, worthy family?[v]

IV— Rights and Duties of Fathers


We have spoken of the abuses which follow from a neglect or distortion of the true role of motherhood. It must not however, be thought that women alone are blameworthy. In many instances, the mother is forced into the circumstances we have deplored. In others, it is the husband who fails to fulfil his family responsibilities. The father, as head of the family, has the right and the duty to provide for his family. Poor wages or unemployment leaves many fathers unable to do this properly.  All the resources of private and public institutions must therefore be directed to the urgent task of guaranteeing fathers a wage sufficient to meet adequately the normal domestic needs of their families as they arise.[vi]Beyond this social aspect of the problem, it is a man's duty to work industriously and to manage his affairs thriftily, so that all possible opportunities can be turned to the advantage of his family. Bad management, extravagant habits and irresponsible behaviour on the part of some men contribute to their families' sufferings.

Another factor undermining the welfare of families is the failure of many fathers to be leaders in their own homes. The shorter working week should provide opportunity for better mutual knowledge and familiarity of parents and children. Unfortunately, the opportunities which the shorter work week should provide are often lost through the second-job practice commonly known as “moonlighting”. Whether adopted out of necessity or in a mistaken appreciation of need, this practice not only affects the family adversely but emphasizes defects in the economic structure, as political, industrial and labour leaders have noted. The father should strive to be an understanding guide and friend, a loved and trusted parent to his children, a model of constancy and virtue especially to his sons, an example to be admired and followed. Thus, in harmonious co­ operation with the mother, the father must provide leadership in home education.


V— Research Needed


There is evidence of a great need for research into all social factors affecting the Canadian family. Many organizations are looking for something to do. One thing they could do is harness the talent in every community and encourages trained leaders in research projects. Again, universities annually require of their students thousands of term papers and theses.  The fact that few students are assigned to study and explore actual social conditions in Canada is reflected in the general lack of research material.


VI— Role of the State


Given the duty of fathers and mothers to improve the way they fulfil their roles, and the need for industry, labour unions, universities and all manner of voluntary and formal associations to do more for families—there remains a great and vital service to be performed by public authority  at every level of government. This, however, must be done in a manner consonant with human dignity. Family allowances in Canada are an example of the state's awareness of its duty to aid families. But families should also be assisted indirectly by efforts aimed at stabilizing the economy so that earnings and savings retain their real worth in goods and services, and by other means, the complexities of which cannot be treated here. Trade, monetary and taxation policies, legislative programs and public projects of all kinds have their effects, sooner or later, on the life of every Canadian family.

Since this is so, we urge government at every level to give high priority to the good of the family, in determining or implementing social policy and to recognize and respect the fact that the family has sacred rights prior and superior to any other institution, including the state itself. Thus aided and protected, families will be better able to model themselves according to the Christian ideal, becoming
…true centres of holiness,  where  the Lord is present with His graces;  where the members pray together, attend Holy Mass together and receive the sacraments together; where God's law is scrupulously obeyed; where every member works earnestly towards perfection, aided by those means which family life itself provides through the fulfilment of its own  duties; where the minds of children  worthy of the Church are formed; where love and affection animate parents and children alike; where the eyes of God rest gently, knowing that His Holy and adorable will is constantly fulfilled.[vii]





[i] Cf. Toronto Star, Sept. 9, 1958, p. 12.


[ii] Married Women Working for Pay, Dept. of Labour Publication, Ottawa, 1958, p.40.


[iii] Ibid., page 76.


[iv] Pius XII, The Duties of Women in Social and Political Life, Address to Italian Women, Rome, Oct. 21, 1945; English version in Catholic Mind, N.Y., 1945, vol. 43, p. 711.


[v] Ibid., p. 710.


[vi] Pius XII, Encyclical Letter on 150th Anniversary of Hierarchy established in U.S.A., Nov. 1, 1939, in The Papal Encyclicals, edit. Claudia Carlen, IHM (Wilmington, N.C., McGrath Publishing, 1981), IV, n. 6, p. 184.



[vii] Pius XII, Address to Spanish Family Clubs, Aug. 13, 1958, Osservatore Romano, Vatican, Aug. 14, 1958.