Theologian rebuts critics of Papal authority, defends Francis

 

Rev. Joseph Leo Iannuzzi is a doctoral alumnus of the Gregorian Pontifical University. He has obtained 5 post-graduate degrees, with studies in medicine, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and theology.  As he explains below, he has written this article in response to those perplexed over recent challenges to the teaching authority of the Pope:
 

"Still, other claimants affirm that Pope Francis may be a "wolf" in sheep’s clothing for the following reasons: He has referred to those in the Church as "wolves"; he appears to deemphasize Church teaching on homosexuality, cohabitation, contraception and liturgical reform; he seems to want to change the doctrine on the indissolulbility of marriage by inviting discussions for divorcees to receive the Sacraments; he seems to support Church leaders who are more progressive than traditional; etc."

 

Can a Pope Become a Heretic?

 

Rev. Joseph L. Iannuzzi, STD, Ph.D.

In recent months the Roman Pontiff’s teaching authority has been openly challenged and his supreme, full and immediate authority questioned. Particular exception has been taken to his non ex cathedra pronouncements in light if modern prophecies which, according to some, has troubled not a few Catholics. As a result, many Catholics have written yours truly, perplexed over this challenge, asking for enlightment in this regard. In reponse, I am providing the faithful with the following article to help dispel any confusion surrounding the Roman Pontiff’s teaching authority, and herewith, a clear answer from Church Tradition and Magisterial documents pertaining to the type of assent required from all the faithful to the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra.

My point of departure is the small movement within the Church that contends that validly elected Roman Pontiffs of the past have made heretical statements and, for this reason, are heretics. By virtue of this contention, they consider it "permissible" to question the teaching authority of our present-day Roman Pontiff Francis. Before elucidating the three major groups associated with this movement, it is noteworthy that among the adherents of this movement, many acknowledge that the Church dogmas of Papal Infallibility, the Immaculate Conception (of Pope Pius IX) and the Assumption (of Pope Pius XII) are an exercise of the charism of papal infallibility ("ex cathedra" pronouncements), and are therefore immune from error. Nevetheless, said adherents contend that "non ex cathedra" papal statements, even on faith and morals issues, are not immune from heresy. The three main groups associated with this movement are the "sede-vacantists", "sede-privationists" and "sede-impeditists".

The Sedeist movement The "sedevacantists" reject the reforms of the Second Vatican Council – in some cases this rejection extends to the validity of all post-Council papal elections, thereby professing that the papal seat (sede) empty (vacante); the "sedeprivationists" contend that the papal seat is occupied, but by a Pope whose pontificate is defective, as he has embraced the heresy of modernism and unless he returns to traditional Catholicism he will not complete the process to attain to the fullness of the papacy; the "sedeimpeditists" do not believe that the papal seat is empty (like the sedevacantists), or that the Pope is in heresy (like the sedeprivationists), but rather that the truly legitimate Pope exits but was impeded by certain forces from taking office. For purposes of brevity, throughout this article I collectively refer to the adherents of this movement as, "sedeists".

For the full article, in pdf format, please go to this link.

Heretics within the Church

Heretics within the Church change Christian liberty into unrestrained license.  The Epistle of St. Jude is a warning to them.

The above is from an introduction to the Epistle of St. Jude in a 1941 Douay-Rheims New Testament from the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. 

This short but timely epistle is about judgment, sin, punishment, infiltrators, sensual men, ungodly sinners, reproof, and being without sin and spotless.  Nothing here about recognizing "elements of sanctification" in sinful lifestyles.

“. . . in the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their own desires in ungodlinesses.” v. 18.  

The Epistle of St. Jude.

[1] Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James: to them that are beloved in God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. [2] Mercy unto you, and peace, and charity be fulfilled. [3] Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.

[4] For certain men are secretly entered in, (who were written of long ago unto this judgment,) ungodly men, turning the grace of our Lord God into riotousness, and denying the only sovereign Ruler, and our Lord Jesus Christ. [5] I will therefore admonish you, though ye once knew all things, that Jesus, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, did afterwards destroy them that believed not: [6] And the angels who kept not their principality, but forsook their own habitation, he hath reserved under darkness in everlasting chains, unto the judgment of the great day.

[7] As Sodom and Gomorrha, and the neighbouring cities, in like manner, having given themselves to fornication, and going after other flesh, were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. [8] In like manner these men also defile the flesh, and despise dominion, and blaspheme majesty. [9] When Michael the archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses, he durst not bring against him the judgment of railing speech, but said: The Lord command thee. [10] But these men blaspheme whatever things they know not: and what things soever they naturally know, like dumb beasts, in these they are corrupted.

                                              Last Judgment - Pieter Bruegel the Elder

[11] Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain: and after the error of Balaam they have for reward poured out themselves, and have perished in the contradiction of Core. [12] These are spots in their banquets, feasting together without fear, feeding themselves, clouds without water, which are carried about by winds, trees of the autumn, unfruitful, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, [13] Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own confusion; wandering stars, to whom the storm of darkness is reserved for ever.

[14] Now of these Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying: Behold, the Lord cometh with thousands of his saints, [15] To execute judgment upon all, and to reprove all the ungodly for all the works of their ungodliness, whereby they have done ungodly, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against God. [16] These are murmurers, full of complaints, walking according to their own desires, and their mouth speaketh proud things, admiring persons for gain' s sake.

[17] But you, my dearly beloved, be mindful of the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, [18] Who told you, that in the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their own desires in ungodlinesses. [19] These are they, who separate themselves, sensual men, having not the Spirit. [20] But you, my beloved, building yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, [21] Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto life everlasting.

[22] And some indeed reprove, being judged: [23] But others save, pulling them out of the fire. And on others have mercy, in fear, hating also the spotted garment which is carnal. [24] Now to him who is able to preserve you without sin, and to present you spotless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, [25] To the only God our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and magnificence, empire and power, before all ages, and now, and for all ages of ages. Amen.

Online Douay-Rheims Bible: http://www.drbo.org/chapter/72001.htm

Conversion in Reverse

Book review of Dr. Thomas Droleskey's Conversion in Reverse: How the Ethos of Americanism Converted Catholics (volume 1).
   
     This is a thorough and brilliant survey of Christianity from its beginnings, through the Middle Ages, and up to and including the Protestant Revolution in Europe against the Roman Catholic Church. But its primary thesis is to show how Protestantism in the American Colonies and in the nascent United States adversely affected the way Catholics viewed and practiced their own religion in the new nation. In order to survive in a pluralist society as the minority religion, American Catholics learned that practicing a "private" non-confrontational, non-proselytizing faith allowed them gain acceptance and to prosper economically. They began to assume as valid the false idea of separation of Church and State, and a religious freedom based on the concept that the Catholic Church is just one of many co-existing religions, rather than the one true religion founded by Jesus Christ. Thus, they rejected or neglected the doctrine of the Social Kingship of Christ, whereby the Church as the mystical body of Christ, must nourish and guide governmental institutions according to gospel and Church teaching. This is essentially the heresy of "Americanism," condemned in particular by Pope Leo XIII.
     So instead of Catholics converting Protestant Americans, they converted Catholics to their pluralism, hence the title of the book. A secondary and underlying thesis is the author's rejection of Vatican II, and that modernist Vatican II Catholicism is not true Roman Catholicism. Though many of the topics dealt with are complex, the author's writing and presentation are straightforward, making the book a pleasant and even easy read. Excerpts from primary sources and Papal writings are frequently quoted, to prove and document Droleskey's points. This 300 page book is printed on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, which would be the equivalent to a 500 page standard book.

"Walk cheerfully!" Practical advice from St. Padre Pio.

Almost everyone knows that "pray, hope, and don't worry" is attributed to St. Pio, but some of his other spiritual gems are not so well known:

Duty before everything else, even something holy.

Whenever necessary you must look without seeing, and see without thinking about it.

If Jesus reveals Himself, thank Him; if He hides Himself thank Him also.  All is a pleasantry of His love.

Always do a little work.  Work, therefore, and though you keep on advancing slowly, you will nevertheless go a long way.

When there is not time for both, meditation is to be preferred to vocal prayer, because it is more fruitful.

Despise your temptations and do not dwell on them.

Ahead! Courage!  In the spiritual life he who does not advance goes backward. 

Don't draw back, and worse still, don't stop going up the Calvary of life.  Jesus will extend His hand to steady you.

Walk in the way of the Lord with simplicity and do not torment your spirit.

Only one thing is necessary: to lift up your spirit and love God.

The time best spent is that which is spent for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Often kiss Jesus with affection and you will recompense Him for the sacrilegious kiss of the unfaithful Apostle, Judas.

The devil is like a rabid dog tied to a chain; beyond the length of the chain he cannot seize anyone.  And you, keep at a distance. 

That which proceeds from God begins with a salutary fear and finishes with peace of mind.  That which comes from Satan begins with calmness and ends in storm, indifference and apathy.

If you want to assist at Mass with devotion and with fruit, think of the Sorrowful Mother at the feet of Calvary.

Let us bind ourselves rightly to the  Sorrowful Heart of our heavenly Mother and reflect on its boundless grief and how precious is our soul.

Be firm in your resolutions; stay in the ship in which I placed you and let the storm come.  Long live Jesus! You will not perish.

Walk amid wind and waves, but with Jesus.  If fear strongly grips you, exclaim with St. Peter: "O Lord, save me!"  He will extend His hand to you.  Seize it firmly and walk cheerfully.

All of the above are from the booklet "Padre Pio Counsels," edited by Fr. Alessio Parente.

For more about St. Padre Pio visit www.sanpadrepio.com.

Pope Innocent III calls for a crusade against the "perfidious Saracens"

With the Bull Quia maior Pope Innocent III proclaimed the Fifth Crusade in 1213.

"For how can a man be said to love his neighbor as himself, in obedience to God's command, when, knowing that his brothers, who are Christians in faith and in name, are held in the hands of the perfidious Saracens. . . does not do something effective to liberate them."

Following are excerpts from Quia maior:

Because at this time there is a more compelling urgency than there has ever been before to help the Holy Land in her great need and because we hope that the aid sent to her will be greater than that which has ever reached her before, listen when, again taking up the old cry, we cry to you.  We cry on behalf of him who when dying cried with a loud voice on the cross, becoming obedient to God the Father unto the death of the cross, crying out so that he might snatch us from the crucifixion of eternal death.  He also cries out with his own voice and says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me," as if to say, to put it more plainly, "If anyone wishes to follow me to the crown, let him also follow me to the battle, which is now proposed as a test for all men."

Oh, how much good has already come from this cause!  How many men, converted to penance, have delivered themselves up to the service of the Crucified One in order to liberate the Holy Land and have won a crown of glory as if they had suffered the agony of martyrdom, men who perhaps might have died in their wicked ways, ensnared in carnal pleasures and worldly enticements!  This is the ancient device of Jesus Christ which he has deigned to renew in these times for the salvation of his faithful.

For how can a man be said to love his neighbor as himself, in obedience to God's command, when, knowing that his brothers, who are Christians in faith and in name, are held in the hands of the perfidious Saracens in dire imprisonment and are weighed down by the yoke of most heavy slavery, he does not do something effective to liberate them, thereby transgressing the command of that natural law which the Lord gave in the gospel, "Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them?"  Or perhaps you do not know that many thousands of Christians are being held in slavery and imprisonment in their hands, tortured by countless torments?

We are sure that, since we ought to put much more trust in divine mercy than in human power, we ought to fight such a conflict not so much with physical arms as with spiritual ones.

Fasting and almsgiving should be joined to prayer, so that with these wings the prayer itself may fly more easily and quickly to the most loving ears of God, who will mercifully listen to us at the appointed time.  And every day during the celebrations of Mass . . . the priest who is celebrating must chant this prayer over the altar:
  "God, who disposes all things with marvelous providence, we humbly beseech thee to snatch from  the hands of the enemies of the cross the land which thine only-begotten son consecrated with his own blood and to restore it to Christian worship by mercifully directing in the way of eternal salvation the vows of the faithful here present, made for its liberation, through the same Christ Our Lord."


The full text of Quia maior can be read here.

A citizen's prayer to St. Michael Archangel

Years ago I clipped this prayer out of a collection of prayers to St. Michael.  I keep it near my desk and pray it often.

"Please protect us, St. Michael the Archangel, against violence, murder and robbery.  In your goodness preserve us today from all the malice of sinful and wicked men.  In your sleepless vigilance watch over the safety and welfare of our homes, and keep guard over our possessions.  Ever hold in your special care, most triumphant St. Michael, the forces of public order against the crimes of evil men, and defend all honest citizens in time of peril.  We ask this of you through Christ, our Lord.  Amen."

The Divine Indwelling in Mary

"The divine indwelling in Mary" is the title of a section of a doctoral dissertation by Rev. Joseph Iannuzzi, granted by the Gregorian Pontifical University Faculty of Theology and authorized by the Holy See.  Fr. Iannuzzi, who has given permission for it to be presented below, has been awarded five post-graduate degrees.  This particular dissertation has recently been published as The Gift of Living in the Divine Will in the Writings of Luisa Piccarreta, by St. Andrew's Productions.

                                            ----------------------------------------------

In her dictations to Luisa, Mary explains how she continuously bilocated her soul among the three divine Persons, whose Divine Will continuously operated within her to form in her God’s «full, complete and perfect life»:

As I took possession of the Kingdom of the Divine Will, its steps within me ended and its full, complete and perfect full life began within my soul […] My Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit longed for me to be in their arms to enjoy their little daughter […] They felt the power and the strength of their Divine Will emerging from me and rendering us inseparable^[i] […]  

I brought myself into the arms of the divinity […] They awaited me and rejoiced in seeing me, and loved me so much that upon my arrival they poured out into my soul more seas of love and sanctity^[ii].

The Divine Will of the three divine Persons continuously engaged in Mary, established in her soul its indwelling^[iii]. To Luisa Mary reveals that immediately after her Immaculate Conception the three divine Persons poured themselves out on her. God the Father poured out in her his power, the Son, his wisdom and the Holy Spirit, his love^[iv]. The indwelling in Mary of the three divine Persons, whose one operation maintained the continuity of her divine acts and established within her the Divine Kingdom, was a phenomenon that Adam forfeited with sin. Because she lived in this Divine Kingdom and knew no sin^[v], Mary’s life in the Divine Will and its effects over the entire human race and creation far surpassed those of Adam and, as noted, of all other creatures combined^[vi]. As in prelapsarian Adam, so in Mary God’s indwelling empowered both her body and soul^[vii]. In examining the singular role of her Immaculate Conception and perfect obedience to the Divine Will that rendered continuous her divine acts, Mary emerges from Luisa’s text as the first human creature from conception to «live in the Divine Will», and she constitutes the paradigm of perfect and complete cooperation with the Divine Will.

 

Notes

---

[i] L. PICCARRETA, BVM, day 7.

[ii] L. PICCARRETA, BVM, day 8.

[iii] L. PICCARRETA, XV, December 8, 1922: «It was the power of Our [Triune] Will operating in her [Mary] that, while dominating her, made her the possessor of God himself […] We could see Our divine qualities in her, and the reflections of Our sanctity, divine manners, love, power and all else flow over her like waves. Our Will, which is the center of all of these reflections [...] made itself the crown and bulwark of the divinity dwelling within her [...] We confirmed in her all graces and all gifts to make her surpass all other souls combined».

[iv] L. PICCARRETA, BVM, day 2 (Mary reveals to Luisa): «As soon as the Divine Fiat poured itself over my human seed to prevent the sad effects of sin, the divinity smiled and rejoiced in seeing that my seed was a pure and holy human seed, just like the one that came forth from God’s creative hands at man’s creation. So the Divine Fiat took the second step in Me by carrying my human seed that it had purified and sanctified before the divinity. It did this in order for the divinity to pour itself forth in torrents upon my lowliness in the act of my [Immaculate] Conception. Recognizing in me its beautiful and pure creative work, the divinity smiled with satisfaction and, wanting to rejoice with me, the heavenly Father poured forth upon me seas of power; the Son, seas of wisdom; the Holy Spirit, seas of love. So I was conceived in the never-ending light of the Divine Will. Amidst these divine seas that my lowliness could not contain I, in exchange, formed the highest waves of homage I could by loving and glorifying the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

«The divinity unceasingly gazed upon me and, as if not to be outdone by me in love, while smiling and imparting divine touches, it inundated me with yet more seas that so adorned me, that no sooner was my little humanity formed, than I acquired the enchanting virtue of enrapturing my Creator [...]».

[v] L. PICCARRETA, XVIII, November 12, 1925: «A Virgin was needed, conceived without Original Sin, innocent and holy, enriched by God with all graces, who possessed all the good acts accomplished during the previous four thousand years, and who covered them with her innocence, sanctity and purity. By this means the divinity would see the good acts of all [souls] through the [divine] acts of this innocent and holy soul, who not only embraced all the acts of the ancients, but surpassed them all with her own [divine] acts. Thus she obtained the descent of the [eternal] Word to earth».

[vi] L. PICCARRETA, XIX, May 31, 1926: «Her smallest acts done in the unity of this light were superior to the greatest acts and to all the acts of all souls combined. That is why when compared to the acts of the Holy Queen, the sacrifices, works and love of all other souls can be called little flames before the sun, or little drops of water before the sea». Cf. also ID., XVII, May 1, 1925.

[vii] L. PICCARRETA, XXXIV, March 1, 1926.