Catholic Bishops issue definitive 40 point document: “Declaration of the truths relating to some of the most common errors in the life of the Church of our time”

Editors note: Other than being a good (but not by any means perfect) teaching document, it also addresses a great many of the controversial and confusing things Pope Francis has said, and so far, adamantly refused to clarify.

“The Church of the living God – the pillar and the bulwark
of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15)

 

Declaration of the truths
relating to some of the most common errors
in the life of the Church of our time

The Fundamentals of Faith

1. The right meaning of the expressions ‘living tradition,’
‘living Magisterium,’ ‘hermeneutic of continuity,’ and
‘development of doctrine’ includes the truth that
whatever new insights may be expressed regarding
the deposit of faith, nevertheless they cannot be
contrary to what the Church has always proposed
in the same dogma, in the same sense, and in
the same meaning (see First Vatican Council,
Dei Filius, sess. 3, c. 4: “in eodem dogmate,
eodem sensu, eademque sententia”).

2. “The meaning of dogmatic formulas remains
ever true and constant in the Church,
even when it is expressed with greater clarity
or more developed. The faithful therefore
must shun the opinion, first, that dogmatic
formulas (or some category of them)
cannot signify truth in a determinate way,
but can only offer changeable approximations
to it, which to a certain extent distort
or alter it; secondly, that these formulas
signify the truth only in an indeterminate way,
this truth being like a goal that is
constantly being sought by means
of such approximations. Those who hold
such an opinion do not avoid dogmatic relativism
and they corrupt the concept of the Church’s
infallibility relative to the truth to be taught
or held in a determinate way.
” (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Declaration “Mysterium Ecclesiae” in defense
of the Catholic doctrine on the Church
against certain errors of the present day, 5).

Read the entire document (PDF format)

Read a comprehensive critique of the document here

Notre Dame Conflagration – Unique, Totally Gratuitous Opportunity for SSPX To Step Up

By Doug Lawrence

Probably the only thing more destructive than the recent Notre Dame Cathedral conflagration will be the proposed effort at rebuilding it and likely, re-purposing it, as a modern, multi-faith worship/welcome center, pretty much destroying any true sense of the original and authentic, Roman Catholic faith Tradition.

This is not to say that there has been much of that original Tradition in evidence there, for the last fifty years, or so. The fact that only a handful of broadcasters, politicians, Catholic Church officials, and Catholics, in general, have even mentioned Jesus Christ or the Blessed Virgin Mary, when speaking about it, provides ample evidence that what was once a revered “House of God” is now viewed as little more than another “cultural asset” of the state.

It turns out that the Notre Dame Cathedral isn’t even owned by the Catholic Church anymore and hasn’t been, for quite some time.

Perhaps now is the time for all of that to change. That’s where the SSPX (The Society of Saint Pius X) comes in – the group of conservative bishops and priests that rejected the Vatican II reformation, were excommunicated – then re-communicated – and now – are negotiating with the Vatican to be fully repatriated.

The SSPX people are originally from France, so they ought to have at least a few influential, political backers, still holding out, somewhere, in France’s “deep state” liberal government. Maybe they could even forge an alliance with the “Yellow Vest” people? Stranger things have happened, in service of God.

The plan is so simple that even a child could understand it: Purchase the ruined Cathedral from the French government, for say, one € (Euro) or whatever it takes; direct and supervise the entire rebuilding effort, according to the authentic Catholic Tradition i.e. classically beautiful architecture, artwork and statuary, faithfully reproduced in all the doctrine, worship and other activities taking place there – including the Mass of the Ages; raise all the necessary restoration funds; operate the Cathedral, going forward, without the need for any state funding, and most importantly – PROVIDE THE INITIAL “SPARK” THAT WILL REVITALIZE not only the old Notre Dame Cathedral, but also PARIS, FRANCE, EUROPE, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH and eventually, the WHOLE WORLD!

There’s more than a billion (alleged) Catholics throughout the world. Three “bucks” a piece ought to cover the entire “tab” – plus an ongoing, regular offering, to cover necessary future expenses and maintenance. Even if, as many suspect, only about ten percent of those professing to be Catholic actually are, thirty “bucks” a piece would not be too much to ask. Every Catholic in the world could contribute, according to his/her means and capacity.

What role (official and/or unofficial) should the (thoroughly corrupt) Vatican play in all this? ABSOLUTELY NONE! “Grass roots” Catholics should pay for it all and the SSPX should rise to the occasion – by the grace and power of God – and “get ‘er done”!

This, ladies and gentlemen, was the sum total of my Good Friday meditations on the Passion of Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord and Savior. What better day than Easter Sunday, for a “New Beginning”?

Please pass this around, if you think it has merit. 

Seen today at Father Z’s Blog, in the comment box

…We are sinners who need hard and fast rules. I can attest to this personally.

I became pregnant at a very difficult time in our married life. I would certainly have had an abortion had I not converted to Catholicism a couple of years previously.

Our daughter, the light of our lives, owes her life to the Catholic Church, whose precepts REPLACED the conscience I had formed whilst immersed in the culture of death.

Deo gratias.

Link

 

A reflection on all that we Catholics once owned, by right, that has now been almost totally misappropriated, by scoundrels

In light of the unfolding (or perhaps one should say unraveling) of Pope Francis’s pontificate, we should revisit words once spoken by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, predating and anticipating Summorum—words that now have an alarming portentousness:

I am of the opinion, to be sure, that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It’s impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it suddenly declares that what until now was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden, and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent. Can it be trusted any more about anything else? Won’t it proscribe tomorrow what it prescribes today? (Salt of the Earth, 1997)

He has asked a question to which, so far, no honest answer has been given by the Church’s leaders. The reason is not hard to see. Ratzinger dared to say that the Church’s very being had been called into question when Paul VI declared the old Mass forbidden—which in fact he repeatedly did, in response to attempts to maintain a liturgy the Church had celebrated for 500 years, and in its essentials, for 1,000 years, and in the core of it, for 1,500 years. The longing for this treasure of faith was mocked, stepped on, suppressed, treated as a form of disobedience, arrogance, or neurosis. And the haunting question rises up: “Can the Church be trusted any more about anything else? Won’t it proscribe tomorrow what it prescribes today?”

If Paul VI in 1969 can abolish the oldest liturgical rite of Christendom and replace it with a new-fangled rite fashioned by committee according to modern ideas, with the two rites having very little in common when one looks at their details, why can’t Francis today modify the Ten Commandments or the Gospels? They, too, are awfully old, rejected by vast numbers of people as irrelevant to modern times, extremely provocative, and rather narrow in their fixation on obeying God or else. Don’t we need to update and modernize the whole of Christianity? If we can do this with what is our holiest and highest possession, namely the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we can do it across the board, top to bottom. What is permitted, what is forbidden, what is to be construed as good, what is to be rejected as evil, is simply up to the will of the reigning pontiff.

Read more at Life Site News

QUESTION: Christians, If god didn’t sacrifice himself to himself to bypass a rule he made, then what did he do exactly?

ANSWER:

Jesus resolved a “structural” problem that occurred as a result of Adam being swindled out of his God given earthly dominion by Satan, the devil.

As a result of Adam’s fall from grace, Satan managed to enslave Adam and all of his offspring under an evil dominion, based on the power of death.

God permitted such a thing because Adam was properly and completely educated (warned in advance) by God and should have known better. Once Adam lost everything to Satan, there was no (natural) way of reversing (restoring) things. Hence, God stepped up to right the wrong.

True God and true man, Jesus is the sinless, fully authorized and fully qualified “kinsman redeemer” – the only one who has the supernatural power, as well as the “natural right” to step in and redeem mankind from perpetual slavery to Satan, sin and death. But it would not be easy and it would not be accomplished the way most would expect.

Because Jesus is God – and because Jesus is also a sinless man, Satan had absolutely no power (the power of death or otherwise) over Jesus – so Satan and his minions (the corrupt Jews and the pagan Romans of the time) had absolutely no authority to put Jesus to death.

They went ahead and crucified him anyway, even though they should have known better. They had been warned, all the way back in Genesis 3:15.

Jesus permitted it to happen, since when Jesus died on the cross, Satan’s evil dominion over mankind and the earth was forfeit and mankind now had a (perfect and sinless) new leader – the resurrected Jesus Christ, the Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords – the one who Satan had absolutely no power over.

Now, all power on earth and in heaven (as well as everywhere else) was awarded to the New Adam – the resurrected Jesus Christ – fully God and fully man – who had effectively “crushed the head of the serpent” – freeing mankind from the power of perpetual death and hell – just as he promised, so long ago – and who, by his glorious resurrection, proved all that I claim here and more.

God the Father was pleased, freely bestowing grace, peace, divine adoption, protection from eternal death and much, much more, on all who choose to swear faithful allegiance to his divine son, Jesus – something that is typically accomplished through water baptism, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as well as through faithful membership and regular, consistent participation in the work, worship, sacraments and devotions of the only Church that Jesus Christ ever personally founded, authorized, empowered and perpetually guaranteed, for the purpose of our salvation – the Holy Catholic Church.

Asked and answered on Yahoo Answers

Real, holy, just, powerful and perfect feminism. Nothing like what we all too often encounter today.

With the Blessed Mother, it isn’t, “Hold my beer…”, it’s, “Hold My Baby….” handing off the baby Jesus to a nearby angel, the Blessed Virgin Mary contends with and handily defeats the devil, according to God’s grace. Illumination taken from the Taymouth Hours, circa ARSH 1325.  Courtesy of Ann Barnhardt’s Catholic Website. Enjoy!

What every Christian should understand about the great Feast of Pentecost

… the Jewish Feast of Pentecost—which literally means “Fifty”, taken from the fifty days counted after Passover—was the Jewish liturgical celebration of the Giving of the Law at Sinai.  If one makes a careful count of the passing of time in the Book of Exodus, one discovers that the Sinai theophany (appearance of God) occurs exactly fifty days after the Israelites departed from Egypt.  So, Pentecost was not only an agricultural festival celebrating the end of the harvest, but also a sacred historical memorial of the day of the establishment of the Old Covenant.

This parallel and its significance is missed by modern readers, but not by ancient Jewish readers of Acts!  At Sinai the Law was given in a fearsome storm, and on tablets of stone.  At Pentecost, there is a “peaceful storm” of the Spirit (the rushing wind, the lightning-like tongues of flame) and the giving of the Law on the Heart.

As St. Thomas says in his treatment of the Old Law in the Summa, “the law of the New Covenant is nothing other than the Holy Spirit.”  The Spirit is the Law written on the heart promised with the New Covenant…

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