Thursday, October 26, 2017

Catholic writer pens explosive letter to Priests


In September of this year, James Larson, author of the web site The War Against Being, sent the following letter to the Bishop and 73 Priests of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota.  To date, only one has responded, in an attempt to rebut Larson's conclusions.  The letter is part of a larger and far-ranging article he has written and posted on his web site, entitled "Our Hope: Fatima, and What Remains of True Catholic Intelligence."  In this article he presents what he considers the major foundational heresy in Pope Francis' Amoris Laetitia, a heresy which the authors of the recent Correctio Filialis completely failed to address and include in their list of seven heresies in the Pope's Apostolic Exhortation.  Larson's letter to the priests is presented as a preamble in order to "flesh-out" the issues he will discuss in his article.


Dear Father,

The Catholic Church teaches that to knowingly or culpably deny even one doctrine of the Catholic Faith is to lose sanctifying grace (and thus charity, or the state of being in God’s friendship), and to fall into mortal sin.  And, of course, to commit even one grave moral sin results in the same loss. The Council of Trent solemnly declares:

“In opposition also to the subtle wits of certain men, who, by pleasing speeches and good words, seduce the hearts of the innocent, it is to be maintained, that the received grace of Justification is lost, not only by infidelity whereby even faith itself is lost, but also by any other mortal sin whatever, though faith be not lost; thus defending the doctrine of the divine law, which excludes from the kingdom of God not only the unbelieving, but the faithful also (who are) fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, liars with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, railers, extortioners, and all others who commit deadly sins; from which, with the help of divine grace, they can refrain, and on account of which they are separated from the grace of Christ.” (Session VI, chapter XV).

 According to Pew Research Polls (and basically verified by other polls), we have the following statistics in regard to the acceptance of serious mortal sins among American Catholics: 50% of American Catholics believe that abortion should be legal in “most or all cases” (and surely a much higher percentage believe it should be legal in at least the “hard” cases such as “life of the mother”, rape, and incest), 70% believe gay marriage “should be accepted by society” (this figure is up 12% in just the past 10 years), 89% believe that artificial contraception is morally acceptable or not a moral issue at all, 85% believe it is acceptable for unmarried couples to live together outside of marriage, 76% believe that unmarried, co-cohabiting couples should be allowed to receive Holy Communion,  and over 60 % believe that divorced and remarried couples (without an annulment) should be allowed to receive Holy Communion (this last statistic may have grown significantly since the data collected here came before the apparent endorsement of such a practice in certain instances by Pope Francis in “Amoris Laetitia”, and before being put into practice by a significant number of bishops), .  All this would make it almost certain that over 80 % of Catholics in this country embrace at least one of these errors (and this without even considering infallible dogmatic teachings of the Faith such as Transubstantiation, Original Sin, Mary’s Perpetual Virginity, the Immaculate Conception, etc.).  Such rejection of Catholic beliefs might be somewhat lower in rural areas, but I severely doubt if there is a 10% difference.

Holy Scripture and the Church also teach that anyone who receives Holy Communion while being in mortal sin not only commits sacrilege (“guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord”), but also “eateth and drinketh judgment to himself” (1 Cor. 11: 27-29). What duty, therefore, can be more incumbent upon every priest in this present age of apostasy from Catholic Truth than that of very carefully explaining from the pulpit the nature of both mortal sin and Eucharistic sacrilege, of being very specific in regard to the sins enumerated above, and declaring emphatically that anyone who commits these sins, or denies these teachings of Christ and His Church, must not receive Holy Communion? To be silent in regard to this obligation entails not only complicity in “re-crucifying” Christ, but also amounts to confirming the vast majority of Catholics in mortal sin. This is not charity or mercy towards souls.

Of course, any priest who would fulfill this obligation would almost certainly and immediately begin losing many parishioners, and this translates into a large loss of revenues. It is necessary first of all, therefore, that a priest who is to be faithful in preaching these truths makes the fundamental choice of serving God rather than Mammon. 

Even more important, however, is the question as to whether priests are willing to follow Christ and be a sign of contradiction to “the world, the flesh, and the devil”, or whether they choose to abet, especially through their silence, the descent of the Church into the cesspool of this modern world.    The latter, of course, is precisely the course upon which the priesthood almost universally embarked after Vatican II – which every Sunday found the priest in the pulpit preaching about love, mercy, and forgiveness, while the vast majority of the faithful were amalgamating their faith to the world and succumbing to mortal sins which destroy their life in God. We also cannot fail to note that this silence rebounded upon the priesthood itself with a huge loss of vocations, desertions from the priesthood, and the descent of many into every conceivable form of “filth”.  As Jesus said to his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men.” (Mt. 5:13).

Our individual churches have largely become temples of massive sacrilege, and this despite all the gentle sentiments that each week waft forth from the pulpit. It is here, in the pulpit, where the local priest must take his stand either for Belial or Christ: “He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.” (Mt. 12:30). It is here where he succumbs to silence, or speaks the Word of Truth which is the life of Christ and the only light by which he and all his flock may be drawn out from all the evils of this modern world.

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43 comments:

  1. Excellent Larson article. I was absorbed in following his thoughts, and learned things -- had to read a few sentences twice to be sure I understood what he exactly meant. Then I realized he had Popes Francis and Emeritus Benedict XVI in the same camps, and he was even disillusioned with The Filial Correction, discussions of which I watched on internet but have not read, yet. His knowledge is impressive and I have felt, myself, many of the things he brings up, "reductive science" for one big thing. And yet I have thought at times in the past that our religion has evolved over the centuries as theologians came along and shaped it for us with new ideas, and humanity has evolved in their wider, and deeper, thinking, in ideas, to the point of extremities, and we're going over the edge of a cliff in certain madness. Yet 'thought' is a winding road that goes round and round and never comes to final conclusions. I have forever pondered the words of Jesus, the Son of God, as he was dying. "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they are doing?" So were they forgiven? Without repentence? I'm not taking a stance...just pondering again. I am a Traditionalist, or a conservative, whatever, yet I ask, could Francis be trying to save the souls of God's children by saying Come on home, all is forgiven? Yet I find reason in Larson's explications. And then he comes to Fatima! And Poland. This was a most interesting event. They, with Pope JPII, were the inception of bringing down their Communism, and all that followed. We want God, they chanted when JPII visited. With the Rosary, as the faith of the Polish people showed a few days ago, whatever should be, will be. As you can tell, I really enjoyed the article and the spiritual searching it brings on.

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  2. That was quite a tiresome tirade. Every serious Catholic knows that what you say is indeed the case. Consider that the mass of souls will surely be damned (massa damnata). Aye....So? The question is persuasion of Sunday Catholics, not cramming all that down their throats. We priests must imitate Christ's mode of presentation and preaching. Education is something that the monks and nuns used to do. They are mostly gone. Now its up to the laity. Don't put everything on us priests. We offer the sacrifice. Education is your responsibility now because we must do meetings and pastoral care and many other things. You must know nothing of preaching to families, so you should not speak on that subject.

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    1. Really Fr. Potter? Tiresome tirade? What this writer wrote is spot on identifying a SERIOUS problem in the Church and you who Our Lord put in charge of His flock are trying to pass off your responsibilities to others so you can go balance the books? The pulpit can reach so many more souls than I can as a lay person so please do your part as I try to do mine. When Our Lord told the people "unless you eat of My Body and drink of My Blood you shall not have Life in you" and they began to walk away do you really think the apostles told Our Lord not to "cram" all that down their throats? C'mon, do your job which is to save souls, and get some parishioners to balance the books. To all you priests, do what Our Lord told Peter, "feed My sheep."

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    2. Excellent response Fr. Education is certainly our responsibility and so many lay people keep firing off at Bishops and clergy, without realising that they need to take personal responsibility for the new evangelisation, which includes the catechising of all in the pews.

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    3. Well Father you cost the loss of one soul..what then off yours..Will it be required of you?

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    4. John Paul October 28 2017

      James Lawson was correct on every aspect of our catholic faith. All you have to do is read about Our Lady of Fatima and you can see we are on the road to Hell. Why did she give us the Fatima prayer save us from the fires of Hell.

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    5. The Church has published the catechism, and urges everyone to read it, to study it and to follow it; it is the role of the family to teach their children to practice the faith. While it is the clergy's role to remind the laity (the percent that come to mass) to follow Church teaching, it is really up to the laity to reach out to Catholics who are not going to church in the first place. In fact, Archbishop Fulton J Sheen puts the task of evangelization on the shoulders of the laity. Here is his talk: http://www.americancatholictruthsociety.com/sheen/27Confirmation.mp3

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    6. It is the role of the Church to teach this - I NEVER her homilies about the Ten Commandments, mortal sins, abortion, adultery, living together, etc. All I hear is we should allow illegal immigration, repairs to the Church, etc.

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    7. Father's model certainly has been the one we have experienced raising our 4 children in Sacramento. Truly abysmal education -- crappy catechesis dictated by the diocese, no money other than what parent's donate, old volunteer ladies, like me, running high school youth programs, andvirtually no young adult programs. Father, since you guys are in control, why don't you spell this out for everyone and set up a lay organization at the diocesan and parish level to care for our youth and young adults. Cuz right now, you guys are still in charge and are doing a poor job.

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    8. Father with all do respect your first duty is to your sheep. You misconstrue power you have with your bishops demands. And,for the love of God, stand WITH your faithful parishioners when your bishop teaches social justice a d calls it evangelization. God bless

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    9. With all due respect Father, this is your job just as much as it is anyone's. When the Shepherds no longer tend the flock, do you expect the sheep to feed themselves?

      By the way, I am blessed to belong to a parish where the priests take this solemn obligation of teaching God's Truth to their parishioners very seriously. This includes throwing theological and doctrinal "fastballs" when and where needed. We are all much better for it. Perhaps you should consider doing the same.

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  3. + Bravo! So well stated! Now, will the prelates and others read this and take seriously the words?
    We pray they will see light of Truth. God bless James Lawson! +

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    1. Don't be ridiculous, the Priests who should read this won't and those who will read it will close eyes and ears so it will go away. In my Parish it is by one get them in and get them out as fast as possible, and if the Mass is longer than 20 minutes there are complaints.

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  4. I only want to reply on one thing. If a person knows in his or her heart that their first marriage was a mistake and their second marriage bears fruit and is full of life do they need the "church' to annul this and then can receive communion? Or can they in good unbiased clear conscience know that they would be annulled and receive without an official annulment? How many anullment requests are denied? Any? Great grace comes from receiving the Lord in communion. If a remarried person hungers for the Eucharist should they be denied because of a technicality? If any person receives the Eucharist just as a social gesture then why receive? This is deeper than meets the eye!

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    1. My heart goes out to you. The Eucharist is our Gift from Jesus but you must be in the state of Grace to receive Him. Let God decide if your first marriage was a mistake, because if you decide then you are committing the sin of pride. Talk to someone in the office of your Bishop, then you will know for sure. You don't want to commit a Sacriledge.

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  5. I don't blame Mr. Lawson one bit for penning that letter. He loves Christ church and very worried, as we all should be, as to where this is all going. These days I'm equally appalled at what we see happening. I mean, now Catholics are even celebrating the "reformation"? we have priest saying the "reformation" is a "gift"from the holy spirit? I even know why the writer feels emeritus Benedict and Francis being from the same camp. Certainly Saint Pope John Paul II was far more ill than Benedict when Benedict relinquished his post or abandonment of his flock?God will decide I guess. Honestly, I've yet to think of any reason why someone would have to receive communion while being divorced and re-married without an annulment. Only made worse by the public shamming and anti-christian treatment by "good" priest like Father Sarah, Cardinal Burke and former Keeper of the Doctrine of the faith Gerhard Mueller. All this while "gay" orgies are playing out a stones throw away from the popes personal secretary. You will recognize them by their fruits. Is Blase Cupich good fruit? Fr. Martin? Roseca? Dolan? Wuerl? and on and on we can go. And here we are near 600 theologians and five Cardinals,five?why such a low number? I'll tell you why - because exactly what this gentlemen says is true. They've chosen the world over their flock. It happens everyday in the secular world. The squeaky wheel doesn't get the grease, it gets replaced. Good for Mr. Larson . Unfortunately, I think we are soon going to see a schism which will be most unfortunate, but there may not be any choice. Many of these priest are simply using the church, but have lost their belief in supernatural faith

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  6. This should be required reading for every priest and deacon, but alas, he correctly identifies the main reason it never will be: loss of revenue.....
    The purification will come and how few of us - faithful and priests alike - will be left in a True, purified Church? Sigh.....

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  7. "The Catholic Church teaches that to knowingly or culpably deny even one doctrine of the Catholic Faith is to lose sanctifying grace (and thus charity, or the state of being in God’s friendship), and to fall into mortal sin. And, of course, to commit even one grave moral sin results in the same loss."

    Riddle me this. Isn't the main trust of Pope Francis' reform to let pastors try to discern who is ignorant or not culpable for their sins admittance to Holy Communion. The very thing that is being disputed is whether there should be a discipline for communion that is pessimistic or optimistic. Unless you are suggesting that the vast majority of Catholics are culpable and therefore doomed?

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  8. I found Jeannette's comment to be inspiring in today's world Much Confusion in our church and world -- The Evil one is the father of confusion! Mary tells us that her Immaculate Heart will Triumph, TOTUS TUUS!

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  9. Anonymous wonders why such a low number of the clergy have joined the signers. My guess is a fear of reprisals by those in the chain of command in the hierarchy.

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  10. The Church is shrinking in the U.S. and will continue to do so until it is a shell of its former self. I came back to the Church 15 years ago, am a weekly attendee and have yet to hear ANYTHING or very little about sin or salvation. However we have a really nice gymnasium ( no school though) and our pastors have been to Europe at least twenty times since I've been here. Blasé Cupich just sold the parking lot across from Holy Name Cathedral for 110 million dollars. The clergy sex abuse scandal is the gift that keeps on giving. I think we're closing in on 4 BILLION dollars paid out already. The Church has lost almost all of its relevance in this country and many others. It seems more a social club when there is nothing better to do. Do heaven and hell exist anymore? If you went to my church, you really would not know because you never hear them mentioned. I go to mass mostly at a monastery close to my house now. God help us...Please.

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    1. Dear Anonymous,
      You made me chuckle. Are you from the North East by chance? In he South East the Catholic Church is my no means shrinking! Lots of "open to life" families, converts, and reverts. It is a beautiful. The new priests seem to be braver at speaking the truth out of love and fear of losing souls.
      As far as education...home schooling in very, very common.

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    2. Keep chuckling, you're gonna need it.

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  11. Maybe it is up to the laity. However, when weeks after weeks go by when major disruptions in the Church have happened...and all we here from the pulpit are cushy homilies about finding God will going for a bike ride--we want to know...WHEN are you going to even minimally address these things? Not even a basic moral teaching?

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  12. Amen! I never felt comfortable with Pope Francis, to me it feels he ignores the teachings of Jesus all for the sake of getting people back to the church. WE NEED TO BE BRAVE AND BOLD AND STICK TO THE TEACHING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. The world is a huge sewer we need to cling to Jesus.

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  13. Jesus left his Mystical Body in the hands of very human hands, like us. Over nearly 2000 years there have been many scandals, bad popes, etc., etc., but faith and moral teaching has stayed the same. The Holy Spirit is in charge. Prayers to Him and St Michael are what we need along with true faith.

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  14. people in this country receive communion without confession

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    1. Let's error on the side of Chistian charity. There is absolutely no way to know if people receive communion without confession. The Church teaches a Catholic must confess at least once a year during Eastertide and any other time when needed. How can anyone know the state of soul of another Catholic?

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  15. "Good cop - Bad cop" you know how it works. I think God sends us both. Those like Lawson are the "tough guys" and those like Fr. Potter are the "nice guys". There's a time for each, Solomon said.

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  16. Luke 6:37 “Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:41-42 “ Why do you look at the speck of dust in your brother’s eye and oh no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother,’Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when you fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

    There has always been sin in the church. The trouble with pointing it out in others is spelled out abundantly in scripture. We must learn to love and forgive, and not condemn.
    We are all sinners and there is no exception. We sinners must love one another as Christ has loved us.

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    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  17. What is the faith? At this time, we have so many versions from our leaders we can believe anything. If you don't believe me, just read Amoris Laetitia which tells you to follow your conscience. God forbid they try to form it. Also, our church is a global political gov't. Too many are indoctrinating our youth into global socialism. Our Church is more about poverty than about sin. Could it be because they collect billions in our tax dollars for poverty programs? Money is their god and you know what Jesus said, "YOu can't serve God and Mammon."

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  18. I am a deacon in the Holy Roman Catholic Church, having been ordained 32 years this year. I have preached many times on contraception, abortion, and the works of Satan and his cohorts. Let me say that no matter how the homilist approaches the above subjects, they are not well received by the faithful. People complain to the pastor or the bishop many times when these issues are raised. Seriously, they write letters to the pastor or the bishop telling them that they come to church to hear good news, and that there’s bad news everywhere in the media. They don’t want to hear about Satan and the Church’s teachings on contraception.
    The last time I preached about the evils of contraception, and told the congregation about the pill being an abortifacient, I received a scathing email telling me I didn’t know what I was talking about. The same thing has occurred when talking about Satan and his desire to see humanity suffer, and his desire to see the extinction of humanity. Even when I chronicle the rising number of parishioners who come to me with problems of strange occurrences in their lives or the lives in their or someone else’s families, it is hard to make them believe that demonic oppression, vexations, spells, and curses can be the causative items that might really be present and are increasing in number because many people have embraced the idols of power, possessions, and prestige. Flirtations with the occult pose extreme dangers that many refuse to acknowledge. This stuff has found its way into day care, schools, and entertainment venues.
    A large percentage of Catholics have their collective heads in the sand as do many priests who in many cases fear a shrinking attendance in the parish. One of the problems with that type of thinking, is that the attendance is already shrinking just as it already has throughout Europe and many other first world countries.
    This is where our deacons, who for the most part are not on the Church’s payroll, can and should have a deeper role to play in stimulating conversion. We are in the marketplace and of the marketplace. We’re not on the payroll of the parish, but we earn a living in the marketplace while many of us raise families.
    To make this a little more succinct, our Christians must become a people that are more deeply involved in prayer and fasting; then, the Mathew 25 exhortations will blossom as a result of our deepening friendship with the Members of the Holy Trinity and the Holy Family. Our spirits and souls will begin a melding process with our God, and the Peace of Christ will create a new tranquility in our hearts. If we can’t or won’t develop this beautiful intimacy with Jesus and His Mother, Mary, then, we can’t expect to call ourselves obedient children of Mother Church, the Church being the Body of Christ.

    Deacon †ed

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    1. Dear Deacon Ted,

      You may receive one scathing email but you do not know how many people listened and paid attention to you speaking the truth. The head can only be pulled out of the sand by those speaking the truth.

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    2. Wow. You speak the truth. I am aware of many around me who are “under a spell”. They are so oppressed by the evil one that they are unable to discern that they are even in this state. We live in a time where many do not want to take responsibility because this demands change....work....and they are not willing to dedicate themselves to it. Even on Facebook, people are attacking one another if someone posts a “negative” news item. They scream, “hey, go somewhere else with that negativity because we are here to have fun.” Massive denial, massive addiction, massive oppression and massive states of being a victim reign powerfully. In short, a perfect recipe for a spiritual storm of oppressiveness by Satan. We need to wake up and become a spiritually conscientious people and get our heads out of the sand.

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  19. We do need to hear hard talks on love of enemies and of family members and just anyone, but also the tough love of Christ, whose love may involve a corrective chastisement. As a fan of GK Chesterton, I would like to hear sermons about approved miracles and messages from heavenly hosts, as we really need a lot more awe and wonder and don't get that with the kitschy church art, architecture and music and the familiarities that abuse the host of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb and his guests. For the sake of a probably mostly lukewarm and sophistic doubting congregation, more emphasis on those science has found not to be a hoax or natural causes. I think that would make people more receptive to hearing the hard truths, but the hard truths need teaching at times, as well. The altar rails need replacing and the art, architecture and music need to reflect, more, that of at least EWTN's liturgies--you know, the actual kind Vatican 2 prescribed it's proponents almost never seemed to care for.
    I have heard sermons on such things as abortion and that is good, but it needs inspirational messages as long as the latter supports the former.

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  20. I go to Mass in St. Anna and Holdingford, and I believe that most in these parishes are going down swinging with the Church.

    Which priest in the St. Cloud Diocese responded to this letter?

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  21. People are sinners. But Christ came for sinners and tells us not to worry. So why worry? Be thankful.

    Pope Francis is a "heretic." But Christ told St Peter and the apostles, "he who hears you hears Me." Francis, then, articulates Christ's teaching. So why worry? Be thankful.

    In days of yore, being "more Catholic than the pope," was considered a joke. It still is. So why worry? Be "less" Catholic.

    We shouldn't be worried about other people's sins or the pope's "heresies," so much as our own sins and heresies. In these these there may be legitimate cause for worry.

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  22. Before Jesus comes again, the apostasy comes first. We happen to be living in this time of apostasy so make the best of it by praying and fasting for those who don't believe in God so that maybe the days ahead won't be as bad as they could because you answered the inspiration to pray and fast.

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  23. The Catholic Churches worst enemy is Catholics...we continue to criticize and grumble. Remember Jesus said the gates of he'll shall not prevail..We have had bad popes and we have had good popes,the church survived. We have had bad priests and we have had good priests and the church survived. We have had bad nuns and we have had good nuns and the church survived. Mother Mary tells us to fast and pray and repent. Are we doing what she said? We could listen to the MOTHER of GOD and watch what happens. God said it I believe it that settles it.

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  24. Sadly the vast majority of young to middle-age people themselves are no longer aware of the Teaching of the Catholic Church and ignorant of the laws of God and the consequences of not living by those Laws.
    So if you leave the situation to the laity it is the blind leading the blind and what then for future generations?
    Wether Priests like it or not, wether they accept it or not....it is THEIR role and No 1 DUTY to fearlessly proclaim the Teachings of the Gospels and explain and emphasise what abiding by the laws of God require.....and to give the GOOD NEWSW that it is by Confession that we are set free and recieve Graces and strength.
    Also....to boldly bring back teachings to restore respect for all that is MOST SACRED ....like again all should recieve Holy Communion on the tongue etc...etc...

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  25. I think that it is time for the priests to go out like the apostles and do some serious missionary work within their own parishes, because they need to bring back the sheep to the fold. And that includes visiting every single family that is or (used to be) in their parish.

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  26. Interesting idea.... Sharing an article about the magnificent Duomo in Florence in http://stenote.blogspot.com/2018/01/florence-at-piazza-del-duomo.html
    Watch the video in youtube https://youtu.be/OVEs_zYK_FQ

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