Church Councils typically define, confirm and further illuminate pre-existing Catholic doctrine.

There are 5 types of councils, Diocesan, National, Ecumenical, Plenary, and Provincial. No council has ever changed Church dogma, nor can it, since dogma was proclaimed by Jesus Christ Himself, Acts 6:12,15,15:6,*Gal 2:2.

An Ecumenical Council is where all the Bishops in the world that are entitled to vote, gather under the presidency of the Pope or his representative. There have been 21 Ecumenical councils in the history of the Church, other important councils called ‘synods’ are marked ‘*‘.

The very first council or meeting of the Apostles and presbyters is recorded in Acts 15, and is called the Council of Jerusalem. Tradition speaks of St. James as being the Bishop of Jerusalem at that time of about 50 AD.

A Church council is usually a reaction as opposed to an action. They are held to define a truth after someone has denied it.

Jesus Christ gave His authority in several verses of Holy Scripture. One example is in Luke 10:16, “He who hears you hears me“. Armed with this authority, Church teaching has been accepted over the centuries. Then along comes someone who denies a certain teaching and therefore there becomes a need for a Church council to react to the denial.

The Council of Ephesus of 431, one such reaction, defined the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Theotokos”, meaning GOD bearer or Mother of GOD. This formal teaching was only done after someone had denied it.

Another example is the reaction of the Council of Trent in 1546 which defined again, the canon of Holy Scripture after seven books were denied by the Protestants in their revolt.

Non-Catholics look at these reactive Church councils as teaching something new, when in fact, all they are doing is defining a truth that has been taught for centuries, without denials.

The written decrees of the various Church Councils provide us with some of the most reliable Magisterial guidance and truth(s).

by Doug Lawrence

Pope’s sometimes act or teach in error.

Bishops sometimes act or teach in error.

Priests and Deacons sometimes act or teach in error.

Lay persons sometimes act or teach in error.

But duly called and properly constituted Church Councils rarely act or teach in error … even the Council infamously known as Vatican II.

Beginning with the 1st century Council of Jerusalem, with the original Apostles in attendance and St. Peter officiating … a pattern (probably borrowed from the practices of the old Levitical Priesthood/Temple Worship System) emerged that would serve the Church well for (at least) the next 21 Councils, and 2000 years.

All the Bishops, along with the Pope, get together.

All the Bishops, along with the Pope, deliberate on the question(s) of the day.

All the Bishops, along with the Pope, agree.
(Unanimous agreement among the Bishops is desired,
but not absolutely necessary.)

The official decree/constitution is set down in writing.

The Pope “signs off” on everything.

Everybody goes home to properly disseminate information on all the latest development(s).

The Church preserves the document(s) in perpetuity.

Because the sacred deposit of faith is “built” much like a brick wall … with interlocking divine truths stacked one on top of another, from the ground, up … with Tradition acting as the mortar … it’s no easy matter for anyone to “slip in” any abject heresy. (Tradition may be defined as the method by which the Holy Spirit infallibly guides the Church, from age to age.)

Heresy and the adoption of illicit practices usually result from later, false interpretations and other types of unfortunate human biases and sin … but because such things fail to fit the established pattern of Catholic truth … they usually stick out like the proverbial “sore thumb” … at least, to those “in the know”.

That’s why it’s important for every Catholic to know the authentic teachings of the Church, along with the genuine Catholic philosophy of life that springs from them.

The Pope, along with the Bishops, received the teaching authority (Magisterium) of their holy offices directly from Jesus Christ:

And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. (Matthew 28:18-20)

You’ll notice that Jesus never specified any particular list of written documents, and he never mentioned the Bible or the Catechism, probably because neither existed at the time. But today, we have the written decrees of 21 Church Councils, the infallible (Ex Cathedra) declarations of at least two Popes, and scores of Papal Bulls, Encyclicals, Catechisms, and other official written works … along with the Bible.

Surprisingly, not all of the Bishops (or even the Pope) agree with all that is contained in the above sources, so many of them seem to think they have the authority to preach a slightly altered Gospel, and practice a slightly altered Divine Liturgy.  And that’s typically where all the trouble begins!

Since the members of the Church’s Magisterium (the Pope and the Bishops) have a sacred duty to practice, preach and teach the authentic Catholic faith, just as they received it from Jesus, the Apostles, the Holy Spirit and the Church, introducing personal novelties and abuses is no small matter.

It’s also worth mentioning that priests, deacons, consecrated religious and catechists operate under the authority of the Pope and the Bishops, so they all have similar obligations and responsibilities.

So what is a faithful Catholic to do when something begins to smell “fishy”?

You could ask your diocesan priest or bishop, but if corruption truly exists there (and when it does, it usually exists on a wide scale) the chances of receiving a proper answer … or any answer at all … may be slim to none. Instead, you simply go back and study/research the applicable Magisterial/Conciliar documents, along with earlier versions of the Catholic Catechism, etc. Once you find what you need, seek out a trustworthy source to help verify what you think you have.

What was true way back then is still true today, and if what is currently being promoted and taught in your diocese fails to match up, there is a problem, indeed!  (Do I have your attention, Rochester, NY and Los Angeles, CA?)

Here’s some links to dependable
Catholic source documents and teachings:

All 21 Church Councils

5 – Catholic Catechisms

Major Papal Encyclicals

The Holy Bible

Other excellent source documents

The only proper way for faithful Catholics to disagree with authentic church teachings.

Jesus is an expert healer of the blind – spiritual and otherwise

by Doug Lawrence

The only proper way for a faithful Catholic to disagree with authentic church teachings is to go to confession, apologize to God, receive absolution, and humbly leave the confessional spiritually renewed, with a firm purpose of amendment.

Next, in order to successfully mend our ways and reform our errant conscience, we undertake a thorough study of the relevant portions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, coupled with a careful review of all related church documents.

This … along with full, faithful and regular participation in all the other work, worship, sacraments and devotions of the Catholic Church, will serve to properly identify and clarify all of the pertinent issues involved.

From that point forward, faith and reason, along with a bit of help from other good, faithful, and well-educated Catholics (educated in authentic, traditional Catholicism … not the new, phony versions) will serve to order the struggle so as to (eventually) properly form the conscience, in the light of all God’s revealed truth.

The process may well take years, but what do we have to do that is more important?

The writings of the Saints confirm that spiritual struggle (always in good faith and always for the right reasons) is probably the very best way of eventually achieving Heaven.

Those who have managed to overcome serious personal shortcomings with the help of God’s grace, know that this is absolutely true … while those who prefer to disagree need only remember that denial is not just a river in Egypt!

Visit the blogroll (links) section of this website for all the necessary Catholic educational resources. Seek out Jesus Christ, the source and summit of our Christian existence, and encounter him regularly and personally, in and through the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Then … expect Jesus to begin to more fully reveal himself … his inestimable love … and his truth … to you … in many wonderful ways.

Today’s question: Why is Christianity the correct religion? Please do not quote the Bible.

Q: Why is Christianity the correct religion? Please do not quote the Bible.

A: There is more evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than virtually any other historical figure who ever lived. The very calendar we use today is based on the approximate year of his birth, and it will end on the very day Jesus chooses to return.

Jesus Christ claimed to be God, and he proved the truth of his claim in many and various ways.

Jesus Christ accomplished what the Hebrew scriptures (not necessarily what the Hebrews themselves) predicted he would accomplish. This includes various types of miracles, and many other events and particular works that were predicted (in writing) from 200 to 6000 years, in advance.

Jesus Christ stated that he would allow himself to be put to death and he would rise again, three days hence. He did just that, in the presence of many eye-witnesses, some of whom were his enemies.

In the 40 day period between his resurrection and his ascension, Jesus was seen by some 500 eye witnesses. Many of these same witnesses preferred to die, rather than deny what/who they had seen.

Many details of Jesus’ earthly life and times were initially faithfully preserved by those who actually knew him, as well as his own family. Later, these factual accounts were reduced to writing. In both instances, people who knew Jesus Christ and the particular details of his life, his death and his resurrection were still alive and available to confirm or deny the truth of the accounts.

This process is the way genuine world history has always been recorded and preserved. It’s how we know about Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, George Washington, and every other historical figure who ever lived.

The government of the United States of America has preserved the history pertaining to George Washington, over a period of the last 230 years. George Washington’s descendants along with various other world governments confirm those historical claims.

The Catholic Church, which was personally founded by Jesus Christ, while he still walked the earth, has been the living eye witness to Jesus Christ, for the last 2000 years. The Catholic Church also constitutes the oldest, longest reigning, continuous government on earth, ante-ceding every existing world system in existence today.

The history of the Catholic Church and the history of those governments confirm both the existence of Jesus Christ as a real historical person, and the unique establishment, growth, universality, hierarchical leadership and holiness of the only Christian Church that Jesus Christ ever founded, for the purpose of our salvation.

As a rational person, you must realize that the existence of the historical Jesus Christ cannot be truthfully denied.

As a human being, who is posited to have an immortal soul, subject to divine judgment, you must study all the historical evidence, all the theology, and all the related philosophy, in order to come to a valid personal conclusion as to whether or not Jesus Christ is the divine person he claimed to be.

At that point, a modicum of faith (faith enlightened by reason … not blind faith) will be required, simply because you will no longer be dealing with the purely natural, but also the supernatural and the infinite, since that is part and parcel of the realm of the eternal, almighty God.

Enlightened by the facts and illuminated by the huge body of authentic systematic Catholic theology and related philosophy, any required “leap” of faith is not nearly as far as many people might think.

To Tell You the Whole Truth (PDF)
A Complete, Concise and Understandable
Basic and Advanced Course In Catholicism.

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Today’s Question: Do you have a favorite prayer?

Question: Do you have a favorite prayer?

Answer: I have a number of “favorite” prayers, but here’s one of the simplest, which has proved to extraordinarily powerful and effective for me, especially in times of crisis:

“Lord, I could use a little help, right now!”

Miracles have sometimes, shortly followed.

This simple but powerful prayer is ALWAYS TRUE
and it also demonstrates TRUE FAITH,
since I wouldn’t have invoked divine assistance,
if I didn’t FULLY BELIEVE that I would RECEIVE IT.

Praise God, I’m NOT superstitious and have absolutely no regard for knocking on wood, “lucky” rabbit’s feet, natural forces, demons, or idols.

Such a prayer also leaves one’s ultimate fate solely in God’s most capable hands; which is where it always is and always should be; no matter what.

Try it. It works!

The pope cannot change fundamental Catholic Church doctrine – so why does he go out of his way to make it look and sound like he’s going to?

St. Peter and St. John at the Beautiful Gate

by Doug Lawrence

Vatican II has already fundamentally changed Catholic Church doctrine, so those who claim the Pope cannot or will not do so are being somewhat disingenuous. Our present pope is the biggest “cheerleader” for Vatican II that the world has ever seen.

A “New Evangelization” is necessary in part, because in the wake of Vatican II, the people who ran (and still run) the Catholic Church led many of the faithful (and most of the known world) into ignorance, confusion and apostasy.

Top Church management is not much better enlightened today, so it’s necessary to question precisely what the “New Evangelizers” are asking faithful Catholics to do, that they haven’t been doing all along.

If they’re asking us to spread a “new” gospel that’s based on “freebies alone” (that’s what it sounds like) then we have a big problem, since the secular governments of the world have learned to inflate their tax rolls and and leverage their currencies in ways that allow them to finance massive wealth transfer/social programs which dwarf anything in that regard that individual Catholics (or Catholic parishes, or national bishops councils, or the Vatican) might be able to offer.

So, in a contest based solely on temporal goodies and give-aways, the New Catholic Evangelization is not only bound to fail – it will fail miserably! The sad record of The Catholic Campaign for Human Development and other high-profile Catholic Charities already provides ample evidence of this. When the Church takes government money, supposedly in order to accomplish charitable things, it invariably becomes subject to that very same secular government and the result is almost always something much less than truly charitable – and also something much, much less than authentically Catholic.

True charity, as it’s faithfully described in the authentic Gospels, is freely sharing the grace and love of God with others – not just by providing a modicum of necessary PHYSICAL GOODS – but also – and principally – making freely available those SPIRITUAL GOODS which ONLY the Catholic Church is capable of providing in UNLIMITED, SUPERNATURAL ABUNDANCE.

Now Peter and John went up into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer. And a certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was carried: whom they laid every day at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, that he might ask alms of them that went into the temple. He, when he had seen Peter and John, about to go into the temple, asked to receive an alms. But Peter with John, fastening his eyes upon him, said:

Look upon us. But he looked earnestly upon them, hoping that he should receive something of them. But Peter said: Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk. And taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up: and forthwith his feet and soles received strength. And he leaping up, stood and walked and went in with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God. And they knew him, that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to him. And as he held Peter and John, all the people ran to them, to the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

But Peter seeing, made answer to the people: Ye men of Israel, why wonder you at this? Or why look you upon us, as if by our strength or power we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom you indeed delivered up and denied before the face of Pilate, when he judged he should be released. But you denied the Holy One and the Just: and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. But the author of life you killed, whom God hath raised from the dead: of which we are witnesses. And in the faith of his name, this man, whom you have seen and known, hath his name strengthened. And the faith which is by him hath given this perfect soundness in the sight of you all.

And now, brethren, I know that you did it through ignorance: as did also your rulers. But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Be penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. That when the times of refreshment shall come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send him who hath been preached unto you, Jesus Christ. Whom heaven indeed must receive, until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the beginning of the world. For Moses said: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: him you shall hear according to all things whatsoever he shall speak to you. And it shall be, that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. And all the prophets, from Samuel and afterwards, who have spoken, have told of these days.

You are the children of the prophets and of the testament which God made to our fathers, saying to Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed. To you first, God, raising up his Son, hath sent him to bless you: that every one may convert himself from his wickedness. (Acts 3:1-26)

We Catholics have no need of any other model or paradigm.  Hence, our reliance on the “Great Commission of Jesus Christ” which explicitly charges Catholics with the duty of continuously, clearly, charitably and unambiguously preaching the divine truth of the authentic Gospels to everyone, without exception – day in and day out – all around the world – as we pray without ceasing!

And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing him they adored: but some doubted. And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. (Matthew 28:16-20)

The post-Vatican II Catholic Church leadership has already reasoned, preached and politically negotiated their way around these explicit commands of Jesus Christ, cleverly inferring that some people have no need of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his Holy Catholic Church. Now, as part of this “New Evangelization” they want us to do the same. That’s certainly new and novel, but it’s also material heresy – and that’s not something that any Catholic should be preaching!

Pope Francis’ attempt at projecting an image of a kinder, gentler, “big tent” modern Catholic Church is something that would be laudable if such had not already been the case since the very beginning, courtesy of its’ divine founder and finisher, Jesus Christ.

If things have gone off the track in recent times, the hierarchy might consider going back to and once again learning to rely on what God has already provided, that which the Catholic Church has always possessed in unlimited, supernatural abundance and which – in every age except perhaps, this present, wicked one – has always proved to be sufficient.

Today’s Catholic Church is whatever “they” say it is … until “they” say it’s something else!

…does the Church consider the Second Vatican Council an ecumenical council? What is the authority attributed to it?

The late Melkite Patriarch Maximos V did not, as seen in 30 Days (no. 2, 1997). Maximos declared it “unthinkable” to treat the second millennium “Councils of the Western Church” (!) as a condition for unity with the Orthodox, “including papal infallibility”(!!). And: “…it must be recognized that all the Councils after the first millennium, including Vatican I and II, cannot be described as ecumenical… . The decisions taken in those assizes cannot regard the Eastern Churches which did not participate in them.”

Read more

Editor’s note: A funny thing happend on the way to Vatican II: A handful of “token” Protestants showed up, but the bulk of the Eastern Orthodox Churches were either never invited or failed to attend. Hence, the “ecumenical” 2nd Vatican Council turned out to be a lot less all-inclusive and all-embracing than many/some/a select few might want you to believe.

Of course, the liberals/modernists who succesfully hijacked the council are still firmly in charge, and if they say the council was ecumenical, then “ecumenical” it must be!

Having succesfully dispensed with truth, it was then a simple matter to go on to redefine and reinterpret the entire Church – making the Mass, Canon Law, the Sacred Deposit of Faith, the Bible, the Sacraments and even the sanctuaries whatever “they” say they are … sort of like the “New Pentecost” of which the last several popes have spoken – but with man, rather than the Holy Spirit, providing the bulk of the inspiration.

Wouldn’t that be one hell of a turn for a Catholic “ecumenical” council to take?

Is the pope Catholic?

The Faith, the Truth, is no longer clear, no longer the possession of the ordinary holy believer in the pew but is something handed down from the specialist Cardinal or Archbishop or Pope or theologian.

We cannot compromise with the Truth, if we are to be taken seriously as witnesses to the Truth. We cannot compromise with the Truth if we are to be credible witnesses. There can be no worthwhile evangelisation unless it begins and ends in Truth and unless the evangelisers are believable.

Personally, I believe that the ‘misson’ of the Second Vatican Council was to find a way to express the Truth in the modern world, however in the interpretation of the Council’s teaching a fracture was introduced between the Church’s practice and prayer, and the Church’s belief.

The fracture meant the Church lost its credibility, hence our churches emptied. We became seen as ‘hypocritical’. We lost the sense of ‘noble simplicity’ which comes from the basic premise of the Catholic Church that Jesus Christ is God, God founded the Church and promises to be with it until the end of time, hence you can -and must- trust the Catholic Church, the Church ceased to be immediately intelligible, the greater Truth was obscured by lesser truths.

In practice it meant that theology, and everything else, including liturgy, became the realm of the specialist…

Read more from Fr. Ray Blake

Editor’s note: Our dioceses are staffed with many of these “specialists” – people who went off to Catholic-in-name-only universities, learned one of several new and different, thoroughly fractured versions of the Catholic faith (often from Protestant or radical, nominally Catholic teachers) and then returned to wreak havock on the faith of the people.

I attended a Bible study conducted by one such as this. 

According to my prestigously degreed instructor, the Gospel writers had “put words in the mouth” of Jesus, our Savior – words which he had likely never, ever spoken.

To find out what Jesus actually said I would need to consult the “Q” source – a totally theoretical and non-existent “document” which allegedly contained all the “authentic sayings of Jesus” – from which all the Gospels were (supposedly) derived.

The Blessed Virgin Mary was virgin no longer – but simply a “young girl”.  “Full of grace” was “out”. Mary had merely “found favor with the Lord.”

Henceforth, only the passages of scripture that (arguably) dealt specifically with matters of salvation would be considered inerrant. (The Holy Spirit had evidently taken a day off – or three – when he was inspiring the sacred writers!)

I soon found it necessary to ask precisely what had happened over the last forty years to cause the entirety of the Sacred Scriptures (and supposedly, their official interpretation) to so drastically change? But no facts were forthcoming. No detailed answer was provided.

A “common core” of modernist heresies

There were no new discoveries – no additional archeological discoveries, no new books, no new divine revelation. This is what is taught at university, these days – and this is what was now passing for “official” Catholic “truth”.

The pastor was OK with it. The other attendees uttered not a word of protest, and the bishop could see no real issue. Didn’t I know that the  USCCB approved, New American (Catholic) Bible, said pretty much all the same things?

In his article, Father Blake hit things right on the head: The unchanging, irrevocable truths of the Catholic Church have, for many, many years now, been obscured by the vain (and probably illegal) actions of the prideful and sinful clerics who continue to dominate it. The result is a Catholic faith that has been fractured – wrecked – almost beyond recognition.

Is modernist Catholic doctrine based on settled misunderstandings of the truth of things?

Although it is very difficult for those who see Catholicism through political lenses to grasp this, popes are not like presidents or state governors, and doctrine is not like public policy. Which means that a change of papal “administration” does not—indeed cannot—mean a change of Catholic “views.” Doctrine, as the Church understands it, is not a matter of anyone’s “views,” but of settled understandings of the truth of things.

Nor are popes free agents who govern by the seat of their pants, if you‘ll permit the phrase. Prior to the completion of Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Pope Paul VI proposed adding to that seminal document a sentence stating that the pope is “accountable to the Lord alone”—an effort, I suspect, to protect papal authority and freedom of action from potential civil or ecclesiastical encroachments. But the council’s Theological Commission rejected Pope Paul’s proposed amendment, noting that “the Roman Pontiff is . . . bound to revelation itself, to the fundamental structure of the Church, to the sacraments, to the definitions of earlier Councils, and (to) other obligations too numerous to mention.”

Those “other obligations” include honoring the truth of things built into the world and into us. At an academic conference years ago, a distinguished Catholic philosopher remarked (perhaps hyperbolically) that “If the pope said that ‘2+2 = 5,’ I’d believe him.” An even more distinguished Catholic philosopher gave the correct, and far more Catholic, response: “If the Holy Father said that ‘2+2 = 5,’ I would say publicly, ‘Perhaps I have misunderstood His Holiness’s meaning.’ Privately, I would pray for his sanity.”

Read more

Father Pavone: The pro-life message will not harm our children. What will harm them, however, is the “pro-choice” mentality…

He points out that, while parents are the primary educators of their children, they have an obligation not to withhold important truths from their children — including the truth about abortion. He shares:

I know of another case in which parental permission was obtained for all the students in the class, except one, to see a photo of an aborted baby. After school the student whose parents had denied permission insisted that her friend let her see the picture. On returning home she passionately challenged her mom, “Why did you not want me to see what is really happening to these babies! Why was I not allowed to see the truth?”

Just growing up in a society where he or she could have been aborted — where value is placed on lives based on wantedness or so-called unwantedness– Fr. Pavone notes, has been shown to have a psychological impact on the young generations. This is one reason why it is particularly important to be open about  abortion with our children.

Read more

Does Satan Really Exist?

Some Catholics maybe surprised in this day and age, that the existence of evil, the devil as well as hell, are all truths of our Catholic Faith. All one has to do is pick up a copy of the Catechism and look it up and you will find that the Church officially teaches – from paragraph #1033 through paragraph #1037 – that evil does exist, that there is a person, a fallen Angel to be exact, who wants nothing more than to destroy humanity and if that is not possible then at least to get as many people away from God, away from salvation to spend eternity in hell with him.

Pope Paul IV, taught that “evil is not merely a lack of something, but an effective agent, a living spiritual being, perverted and perverting.   A terrible reality – mysterious and frightening – who goes about acting in a way contrary to the teaching of the Bible and the Church.”

Of course there is the New Testament, which alone refers to the devil and his wickedness nearly 300 times as a warning to us of his presence and activity in our world.

This leads us to the Gospels, where Jesus talks more about the devil and evil then anything else except His divinity.

Read more

Submitted by Jola S.

Related links:

1. Satan Never Looks Like Satan
2. Pope Francis: Where There Is Calumny, There Is Satan Himself!
3. Satan Is Real and Alive!

You are of your father the devil: and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning: and he stood not in the truth, because truth is not in him.

Yesterday, while Texas pro-lifers were singing, “Amazing Grace” abortion backers began chanting “Hail, Satan!” 

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil: and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning: and he stood not in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.

Text, photos, video

The truth about Planned Parenthood, Wendy Davis and the State of Texas

Davis got pregnant at 18. She gave birth to her daughter at 19. She apparently wasn’t exercising “family planning services” at that time, and thank goodness she didn’t utilize the “service” she is so relentlessly defending today: abortion.

And she’s now made SB#5, a ban on late-term abortions after 5 months of pregnancy, her political football. Despite the horrors of late-term abortionists like Gosnell and Karpen, Davis is heralded for her pink Mizuno sneakers instead protecting women and children from the crimson-stained floors, toilets and drains of back-alley abortionists.

Mizuno, by the way, is enjoying all of the publicity, claiming it has no corporate policy about the issue they can’t even mention, by word, in their press release. If Ms. Davis were defending traditional marriage or filibustering a pro-abortion law, I highly doubt Mizuno would be so enthusiastic or vague about their convictions. Don’t expect mainstream media to point out such obvious inconsistency.

Link

Biblical Warning

(2 Timothy 4:1-5) I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming and his kingdom: (2) Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. (3) For there shall be a time when they will not endure sound doctrine but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears: (4) And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. (5) But be thou vigilant, labor in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry. Be sober.

Submitted by Bob Stanley, The Catholic Treasure Chest

Pope (perhaps unwittingly) defines the main reason for the failures of the compromised post-Vatican II Church

“Hypocrisy is the very language of corruption. And when Jesus speaks to his disciples, he says: ‘let your language be,’ Yes, yes! No, no ‘. Hypocrisy is not a language of truth, because the truth is never given alone. Never! It is always given with love! There is no truth without love. Love is the first truth. If there is no love, there is no truth. They want a truth enslaved to their interests. There is a love, of sorts: it is love of self, love for oneself. That narcissist idolatry that leads them to betray others, that leads them to abuse of trust. “

Pope Francis continued, what looks like a “persuasive language,” instead leads to “errors, to lies.” Then with a hint of irony, he noted that those who now approached Jesus and “seem so amiable in their language, are the same people who will go to fetch him on Thursday evening in the Garden of Olives, and will bring him to Pilate on Friday.” Instead, Jesus asks exactly the opposite of those who follow him, a language of “yes is yes, no is no,” a “language of truth and love”

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Cardinal Kasper admits many Vatican II documents were “compromised”

Editor’s note: Fifty years of bad catechesis, corruption and abuse – simply because the leaders of the Catholic Church couldn’t keep from playing politics with God’s honest truth.

Indifference is corrosive to the true faith.

The first aspect of indifferentism is the idea that all the Christian denominations–for that matter all the different religions–are pretty much the same. You know the schtick–”We are all following different paths up the same mountain. You choose your path I choose mine.” The unique claims to Catholic truth have been watered down or denied completely. So if we have been telling our kids for the last fifty years that all the other Christian denominations are pretty much the same we should be surprised when they quite happily marry a Methodist or tootle off to the community church or join the Episcopalians?

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Church Councils typically define, confirm and further illuminate pre-existing Catholic doctrine.

There are 5 types of councils, Diocesan, National, Ecumenical, Plenary, and Provincial. No council has ever changed Church dogma, nor can it, since dogma was proclaimed by Jesus Christ Himself, Acts 6:12,15,15:6,*Gal 2:2.

An Ecumenical Council is where all the Bishops in the world that are entitled to vote, gather under the presidency of the Pope or his representative. There have been 21 Ecumenical councils in the history of the Church, other important councils called ‘synods’ are marked ‘*‘.

The very first council or meeting of the Apostles and presbyters is recorded in Acts 15, and is called the Council of Jerusalem. Tradition speaks of St. James as being the Bishop of Jerusalem at that time of about 50 AD.

A Church council is usually a reaction as opposed to an action. They are held to define a truth after someone has denied it.

Jesus Christ gave His authority in several verses of Holy Scripture. One example is in Luke 10:16, “He who hears you hears me“. Armed with this authority, Church teaching has been accepted over the centuries. Then along comes someone who denies a certain teaching and therefore there becomes a need for a Church council to react to the denial.

The Council of Ephesus of 431, one such reaction, defined the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Theotokos”, meaning GOD bearer or Mother of GOD. This formal teaching was only done after someone had denied it.

Another example is the reaction of the Council of Trent in 1546 which defined again, the canon of Holy Scripture after seven books were denied by the Protestants in their revolt.

Non-Catholics look at these reactive Church councils as teaching something new, when in fact, all they are doing is defining a truth that has been taught for centuries, without denials.

On Papalotry

Belief and Obedience

My great teacher, Dietrich von Hildebrande wrote four outstanding books on the present crisis in the Church. Recently, his latest book, The Charitable Anathema was published. I wish we could mail a copy to Rome. A chapter in this book contains one of the most important lectures he ever gave to the Roman Forum. It concerns the difference between belief and obedience. He called it the critical difference. It was masterful.
The point is this: if there is a problem on a question of truth, and there’s a big dispute, and finally Rome speaks (invoking its infallible authority) and says, “This statement must be believed de fide”. Then this is the end of the dispute. Roma locuta causa finita. Rome has spoken, the case is finished. That is the end of it. Therefore, we owe assent of belief to statements of truth.

However, practical decisions of Churchmen, even the highest authorities; the Pope, bishops, priests are something quite different. We do not say, for example, that a command of a Pope or decision of a Pope to call a council is true or not. We can say that it is wise or not … it is opportune or not. Such a decision in no way asks us to assent to its truth. It asks us to obey the command or commands that pertain to us. This is what von Hildebrande meant by difference between belief and obedience. And we Catholics are never obliged to believe that a given command, or given decision of anyone, including the Pope, is necessarily that of the Holy Ghost.

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Submitted by Mark H.