By Judie Brown
Just when we think we have seen it all, the pope and his men surprise us yet again. First on the plate are the actions of Archbishop Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, who recently opined that the Latin Mass, which is the traditional Mass we all once attended, is problematic because, among other things, “the Tridentine Missal considered the priest alone as celebrant.”
But the truth is that the priest is always the main celebrant. If not, the Mass is not valid. But as we know, there are prelates in the Church who find anything remotely honoring tradition as simply out of step with modernity!
But Roche is not alone. The pope himself was reported to have said that “hell is a state, it is a state of the heart, of the soul, of a posture.”
However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is not subject to interpretation by secular media, is clear: “The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell.”
The Holy Father has also recently removed Puerto Rico’s bishop, Fernandez Torres, without explanation. Thankfully Torres is truly a man of God who has said that he feels “blessed to suffer persecution.” This is admirable, of course, but the real question is why Pope Francis removed him.
One news report suggests that the pope acted to remove Bishop Torres because the bishop opposed vaccine mandates, but we have not been able to determine what doctrine of Church teaching would come into play when the question is whether or not to support vaccine mandates.
What we have found is that Bishop Torres confirmed the right of Catholics to conscientiously object to the vaccines, saying, “It is possible for a faithful Catholic to have conscientious objection to the supposed obligatory nature of the vaccine against Covid-19.”
The removal of this faithful bishop brings to mind the ongoing scandal of Cardinal Robert McElroy, who has become an apologist for defiant Catholic homosexuals who refuse to adhere to Church teaching. The cardinal has said that Catholic teaching on the grave nature of “all sexual sins” is a 17th-century innovation!
McElroy, who is spreading error, has not been removed by the pope. And while this is sad, we note that other Catholics are taking issue with McElroy. In fact, one of them wrote that McElroy failed to mention the words spoken by Christ Himself, “I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell” (Matthew 5:28-30).
The insanity cited here is not created by the Church but rather by those within the Church who have abused their station, ignored Truth, and chosen instead to appease the world. Such contradictory attitudes of prelates like Roche and McElroy when compared to the actions of holy men like Bishop Torres remind us in a very real way that human beings, especially those who wear clerical garb, are capable of error—error that misleads souls in ways we cannot comprehend.
Let us pray for every man ordained to the Catholic priesthood, asking the Lord to protect the preachers of truth and correct those who are in error. The world waxes cold to the idea of truth, yet Christ did not come to teach what the world wants to hear, but rather to convert human beings to His lifegiving words of Truth.
Pray for an end to Catholic insanity.
