The following comes from an April 16 story on the Catholic News Agency website.
(Coulombe was a writer for one of Cal Catholic’s predecessor newspapers, the Los Angeles Mission.)
As Benedict XVI celebrates his 86th birthday on April 16, the author of a new book on the legacy of the retired pontiff says his humility largely inspired the work.
“I was…fond of Benedict because he was truly humble man,” Charles Coulombe, author of “The Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI,” told CNA April 15.
“He was kind of shy and retiring, but he was willing to re-invigorate the trappings of the papacy, not for his own benefit, but for that of the office. And that’s true humility.”
The book, released in March, discusses the Church and the office of the papacy, gives a biographical sketch of Benedict’s life, and addresses the reforms which the Pope undertook during his pontificate.
“It’s a good, quick introduction to both the Church and the papacy for those who don’t know anything about it, and it will be useful for those trying to figure out the areas in which (Pope Francis’) papacy will be facing challenges,” he said.
The Los Angeles-based author and historian said he was inspired to write it because he considered Benedict to have been “the best Pope I’ve lived under.”
Coulombe is most fond of Benedict because his work seemed particularly to “reflect what people in parishes and dioceses were living through in their Catholic lives.”
While acknowledging that the other Popes, since Paul VI, have had their own strengths and accomplishments, Coulombe says that Benedict’s care for such issues as the appointment of bishops were what “really concretely affects the life of the individual Catholic at the end of the day.”
“Benedict seems to understand that if you’re a believing Catholic, it’s been pretty tough.”
Coulombe described living through a period dominated by the “hermeneutic of rupture” – a view that sees a fundamental break between the Church as it existed before and after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, and of which Benedict spoke of in his first Christmas address to the Roman Curia
He said that the Bishop Emeritus of Rome was the “first authoritative individual” to address that problem “in which the average Catholic lives.”
Benedict’s 2005 Christmas address to the Roman Curia, in which he defined the “hermeneutic of continuity,” is the key to understanding his pontificate, Coulombe said.
Among the four key areas of concern for him was the breach between the Church of the present and that of the past, which Benedict sought to heal with this interpretive lens.
The other three areas which Benedict’s reform focused on, said Coulombe, are a “cleaning house” – or as his wrote in his book, “cleansing of the aberrations that have grown up within her – as well as reunion with other Christian bodies” and “addressing the great powers of this earth on behalf of the faith.”
These are areas in which Benedict began or continued reformation, and much remains for Pope Francis to continue with. “None of the areas Benedict worked in were ‘solved,’” Coulombe said.
As Pope Francis’ pontificate continues, he concluded, “this Pope, and his successor, and his successor, will have to deal with them.”
Coulombe’s new work, released last month, is available in several e-book formats from Diversion Books for $4.99.
To read original story, click here.
“He was kind of shy and retiring,…” I’d say “definitely retired,” though I wonder if Coulombe had a pun in mind.
Yes Benedict earned my love and trust….I really did appreciate him because he did clean house and would of done more had his health not been the factor in slowing him down. God is good and now Pope Francis has a tough job ahead of him and yes we will also expect and pray that he will also continue that good pattern as well for the sake of souls in Christ. Only time will tell….true humility is not what this world expect to see but it’s what is being done to carry on Christ’s mission and what needs to be done and Previous Pope Benedict did it well.
oops typo again…let me clarify true humility is what this world expects and we should all put into practice daily but it must be real….and we do expect to see Christ’s mission to be carried on….Our Pope is not a puppet…I know many eye’s are watching his every move. We should not put on a show to appease the liberals and the bad will. Our prayers continue for God’s will to be done.
Benedict XVI seemed to be trying to undo some of those things that he as a progressive at VII helped put in place.
Will PFI continue down this path????????
In cleaning up the Vatican,don’t throw out the Orthodox with the bath
water.
In his homily at the Vatican boardinghouse a couple of days ago, Pope Francis said this about those who do not want to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit’s efforts to further implement the teachings of VII: “He called Vatican II a great work of the Holy Spirit and said there could be no “turning back the clock.” He went on to discuss the need to follow the Holy Spirit lead to bring about further implimentations. Interesting.
Exactly, Bob One: “smaller, holier Church” (Pope Emeritus). Vatican II has tossed religious responsibility into the laps of each individual, and those who do not want to exercise it are those who, like chaff, shall blow away in the winds of time.
The new Pope may have moved into quarters deemed not to be compromised by spying devices, which obviously may have been part of the system used to gain access to the secret files of Pope Emeritus.
The Catholic Church has been severely damaged by the liberal wolves following Vatican II. Millions of Catholics know nothing of their faith, and what little they profess, is heresy. Demonic prelates such as Mahoney and Gumberton need to be totally silenced for the garbage they preach. God is good, and He will not let His Church fail, nor will He be mocked!. Through Pope Benedict and hopefully through Pope Francis, the Catholic Church can recover the loss of the sacred, and once again preach the true Gospel to all the world
From Vatican Radio, 16 April: Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit pushes people and the Church forward but we resist this and do not want to change. His remarks came during his homily at the Mass on Tuesday morning celebrated at the Santa Marta residence which was dedicated to Benedict XVI in honour of his 86th birthday. Susy Hodges reports:
Text follows:
Pope Francis dedicated Tuesday’s mass to Benedict XVI 16th who turned 86 on this date. “May the Love be with him, comfort him and gave him much consolation,” he said.
Pope Francis’ homily at the mass was centred on the theme of the Holy Spirit and our resistance to it. It took its inspiration from the first reading of the day which was the story of the martyrdom of St. Stephen who described his accusers as stubborn people who were always resisting the Holy Spirit.
Put frankly, the Pope continued, “the Holy Spirit upsets us because it moves us, it makes us walk, it pushes the Church forward.” He said that we wish “to calm down the Holy Spirit, we want to tame it and this is wrong.” Pope Francis said “that’s because the Holy Spirit is the strength of God, it’s what gives us the strength to go forward” but many find this upsetting and prefer the comfort of the familiar.
Nowadays, he went on, “everybody seems happy about the presence of the Holy Spirit but it’s not really the case and there is still that temptation to resist it.” The Pope said one example of this resistance was the Second Vatican council which he called “a beautiful work of the Holy Spirit.” But 50 years later, “have we done everything the Holy Spirit was asking us to do during the Council,” he asked. The answer is “No,” said Pope Francis. “We celebrate this anniversary, we put up a monument but we don’t want it to upset us. We don’t want to change and what’s more there are those who wish to turn the clock back.” This, he went on, “is called stubbornness and wanting to tame the Holy Spirit.”
The Pope said the same thing happens in our personal life. “The Spirit pushes us to take a more evangelical path but we resist this.” He concluded his homily by urging those present not to resist the pull of the Holy Spirit. “Submit to the Holy Spirit,” he said, “which comes from within us and makes go forward along the path of holiness.”
St Paul explains this with great articulation; he should be read over and over and over until his message sinks in.
Pope Benedict XVI will always be known as a great teacher and upholder of the Truth. Wise, humble and authoritive. A great intellect that could write and speak to the masses so that we all could hear and understand–if we were not harden of heart. God Bless Pope Benedict XVI, protector of Christ’s Church.
AMEN Sandra!
Our beloved Pope Benedict Emeritus has left such a wealth of Catholic wisdom and insights that like Saint Thomas Aquinas, it will take many years to fully grasp the incredibly brilliant and lucid writing he’s given the Church. I truly believe he will be designated a Doctor of the Church, Sandra and Abeca, don’t you?
I agree Dana : )
“Among the four key areas of concern for him was the breach between the Church of the present and that of the past, which Benedict sought to heal with this interpretive lens.” I AM GLAD TO SEE IT HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY THE TOP THAT THERE HAS BEEN A BREACH IN THE CHURCH, ONE WHICH HAS CAUSED INNUMERAL BAD FRUITS, THE GREATEST OF THESE IS THE LOSS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH BY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. OUR LORD SAID BY THEIR FRUIT YOU SHALL KNOW THEM.”
The other three areas which Benedict’s reform focused on, said Coulombe, are a “cleaning house” – or as his wrote in his book, “cleansing of the aberrations that have grown up within her – as well as reunion with other Christian bo,dies” and “addressing the great powers of this earth on behalf of the faith.” NO REUNION OR ECUMENISM SHOULD TAKE PLACE WHEN IT MEANS COMPROMISING AND DILUTING THE TRUE ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH AS HAS BEEN DONE BY AND AFTER THE VATICAN II COUNCIL. COMPARE THE NORVUS ORDO SERVICE TO THE LUTHERAN SERVICE, THEY ARE NEARLY IDENTICAL, THEN COMPARE THEM TO THE TLM, THEY ARE COMPLETELY ORTHOGONAL. WHY GET INVOLVED WITH THE PRINICPALITIES OF EVIL GOVERNMENTS AND THEIR EVIL LEADERS ON THIS EARTH? FOR THE SAKE OF SOULS STICK TO THE CONVERSION OF POOR SINNERS TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH.
These are areas in which Benedict began or continued reformation, and much remains for Pope Francis to continue with. “None of the areas Benedict worked in were ‘solved,’” Coulombe said. YES THE EX-POPE WASN’T VERY SUCCESSFUL IN TRYING TO REFORM I.E. TAKE A STEP OR TWO BACK IN THE NOVUS ORDO CHURCH INTO HISTORY WHEN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH BASED ON THE TLM THRIVED. THE EX-POPE WASN’T ABLE TO COMPROMISE WITH THE VERY ROMAN CATHOLIC CONSERVATIVES OF THE SOCIETY OF ST POPE PIUS THE XTH. BEING THAT FRANCIS IST’S RECORD IS LIBERAL AND OPPOSES THE EXTRA-ORDINARY FORM, IT IS DOUBTFUL AT BEST THAT ANY PROGRESS WILL BE MADE IN TRANSFORMING THE CHURCH BACK TO ITS BEGINNINGS. WHERE BY THE WAY IT NEEDS TO GO, I.E. WHERE CHRIST HAD LEFT IT WHEN HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN.
You give the impression that the Catholic Church changed to more resemble the Lutheran, Episcopal, etc. main line church liturgies. The truth is they were like us all the tme, only more “traditional”. They changed some of their liturgies to be more like us after VII. In fact, if you attend their services most have the older traditional liturgy and one to three new liturgies in their hymnals. We haven’t done that because the TLM is considered an extra ordinary form of the Mass, where as they consider the traditional liturgy one of many. Maybe we could learn from them. The last time I saw anything close to the liturgy I grew up with in the 40-60s, was when I attended a Sunday Eucharist service at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco last year. Talk about lace and fancy chasibles. Wow! And, the Mass was almost word for word those of the TLM. Only, the music was much better, especially the sung parts of the Mass.
They were like you, Bob One, faithless, clueless, vainly imagining all the world is one big happy church bound for heaven.
Harvey, you say that Pope Benedict wasn’t able to compromise with the conservatives of the Society of Pope Pius Xth. He was very charitable to this group but many of them didn’t want to compromise with him. The people in the Society are the dissidents, not Pope Benedict. Some of the members of this Society have anti-Semitic views which are not in keeping with current Church teaching. Some of the members of this Society have left it and become reconciled with the Catholic Church.
Harvey PA is correct Pope Benedict did try to work with them….they have free will too…I am grateful that he kept trying and I pray that we continue to pray for them to return home to Rome.
The TLM is not the Church and is thus not guaranteed by Jesus, as is the Church. The V2 changes were made by pre-conciliar bishops. As I continue to harp, and continue to find zero discussion on is the only logical explanation of V2, that its purpose is a culling of faithless robots. This culling is obviously continuing … What a Godsend!!! Get the chaff out of the barn, burn the deadwood. The house cleaning is underway. Catholicism is not an easy ride, and laying all one’s responsibility on bishops is not the ultimate intention of God, which can be found explained throughout the Bible. Sell your responsibility to a bishop or the idea of bishops and you make yourself into a slave. Look at the drivel that many bishops have come up with to exalt themselves in the manner of the three tempations presented to Jesus by Satan. If the bishop is not holy, then your responsibility is not to him, is it? An unholy man has nothing to contribute to the Church no matter if a bishop or cardinal or pope … The only thing an unholy bishop does is destroy the Church … the new Pope is pointing this out. Read his speeches.
Spoken like a true Calvinist. What store-front church do you attend anyway? Your rhetoric is from Jack Chick.
DETROIT, April 16, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A retired auxiliary bishop in Detroit has publicly rebuked his archbishop, urging Catholics who support same-sex “marriage” to continue receiving Communion.
Four days after Archbishop Allen Vigneron told the faithful that Catholics who back same-sex “marriage” should stop receiving Communion, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton went to the press to lodge his opposition. “Don’t stop going to communion. You’re okay,” he told Fox News.
Please Google: The Message of Our Lady of Akita
Approved by Bishop Ito
Bishop John Ito, on April 22, 1984, after eight years of investigating the Akita apparitions and after consulting with the Holy See (including Cardinal Ratzinger), approved the messages of Our Lady of Akita. He authorized, throughout his entire diocese, the veneration of our Holy Mother of Akita. A dossier was turned over to Cardinal Ratzinger at the Vatican who, after studying it for himself, reaffirmed that the events were credible and reliable and worthy of belief by all Catholics. Howard Dee, former Philippine ambassador to the Vatican, said in a 1998 interview with Inside the Vatican magazine: “Bishop Ito [the local bishop, now deceased] was certain Akita was an extension of Fatima, and Cardinal Ratzinger personally confirmed to me that these two messages, of Fatima and Akita, are essentially the same.” Part of the Akita message reads: “The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops.”
Thank you Catherine for letting us know…this is horrible this Bishop is truly a misguided soul and harming Christ’s flock.
“For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and take away drink from the thirsty.” Isaiah 32:6
You are welcome Abeca!
Pope Benedict did much to get rid of the “filth” within the Church.
His Moto Proprio’s and statements can be found on the Vatican web site and the internet.
God Bless Him, and the Church.
Sandra, Obviously you have not read all of the ex-pope’s books, some of which he has viewpoints that are counter to traditional Roman Catholic Church teaching i.e., heretical. Go ahead and read a few of his books and find out for yourself. Bob One, You’ve spoken like a true protestant and have a confused perspective. No that protestants didn’t imitate V2, they in fact provided advisors to the V2 Council to breach the TLM and choreograph the new norvus ordo service which imitated the Lutheran service. Sorry, that the truth hurts, but be courageous and check out the facts. I to for years as a V2 Church member was surprised to see how the Lutheran’s changed and imitated the modern catholics, in reality with a little courage I investigated and learned the “bitter truth in fact the opposite had happened. Mark from PA the truth of the matter is the Vatican wanted to accept the SSPX back into communion with the V2 Church on the condition that the SSPX would accept all of the breached doctrine, laws, sacraments, and practices approved and implemented by V2 Council. The SSPX had the opposite in mind, to convince the Vatican that the breach brought on by the V2 Council was wrong and that the Vatican needed to return to the way it was for nearly 2,000 years. All of the bad fruits of the V2 Council pointed that it’s changes led to the loss of the Roman Catholic Faith in millions upon millions of souls. Check out the facts at Georgetown University’s (formerly catholic college) website. The two sides could not close the giant chasm between them. The true Roman Catholic Faith preserved by the SSPX can not be compromised. Abeca, It would be better for us to pray that the SSPX and Vatican do God’s holy will, that way we know the right-way i.e., God’s Way/Will is done, as Christ taught us in the Our Father. Skai, I am dumbfounded by your confusion, but that is not your fault. Where is the true catholic faith taught in the V2 church anylonger? Anne, What facts do you have to defend your position that Benedict did much to get rid of the filth within the church? Did he fire cdl Mahoney or any of the bad California bishops? How about any of the bad American, German, or other bishops? How about any pedophile bishops and priests, or bad nuns that support same-sex marriage and abortion? Finally, in last sunday’s sermon our priest opened my eyes that Holy Mother the Church has had its enemies not just on the outside of the Church, but on the inside of the Church since Christ founded it. Yes on the inside, Judas was an enemy who sold our Lord for 30 pieces of silver. Forty anti-popes existed in the early Church history. During the reign of Pope SAINT Pius the Vth, the modernists/liberals were out to change the Church back then. He was criticized for his actions to shut them down. After his reign, the modernists/liberals/progressives persevered and grew around the two world wars when the wars were the center of world attention. The time was ripe for them to implement the V2 Council. As our Lord had said, “by their fruits you shall know them”. Only people in their late 50’s can recall what Holy Mother the Church was like before the V2 Council, for everyone else, the changes were so radical and protestant, the traditional Roman Catholic Church is a foreign religion. May God bless everyone to have the courage and seek the one truth, God’s truth!
Harv, baby, your dumbfoundedness is not due to any confusion on my part, but on your part. Your sly trick of puffing yourself up is noticeable in your unfounded accusation that the Pope Emeritus has written heretical material. Prove it.
Harv, dude, you’re criticizing various people without demonstrating why, and at the same time admitting that only this past week you discovered that enemies of the Church are inside as well as outside! No wonder you say you are dumbfounded.
“40 anti-popes”? You know this for a fact, Harv?
Harvey, you speak of, “The true Roman Catholic faith preserved by the SSPX.” What of those that follow what they consider to be the true Roman Catholic faith headed by Pope Francis I in Rome? Some of the views of people in the SSPX, for example their views on Jewish people, are out of line with most mainstream Catholics. I can respect their love of Latin and the traditional Mass but some of their other views are problematic.
The papacy is guaranteed, not the SSPX.
It is an error to believe that the problems in the Church are fruits of Vatican II. Pope Paul VI “Smoke of Satan” homily is on the web. (well, at least a synopsis of it) His explanation was that Satan was trying to stifle the fruits of Vatican II.
k, name one good fruit of Vatican II.
Bible reading.
The Gospel of Luke Chapter 18 6:14
6] And the Lord said: Hear what the unjust judge saith. [7] And will not God revenge his elect who cry to him day and night: and will he have patience in their regard? [8] I say to you, that he will quickly revenge them. *But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?* [9] And to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others, he spoke also this parable: [10] Two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
[11] The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican. [12] I fast twice in a week: I give tithes of all that I possess. [13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: O God, be merciful to me a sinner. [14] I say to you, this man went down into his house justified rather than the other: because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.
Yes! Absolutely. The Lord sees all. The Lord is watching you. He sees you when your sleeping. He knows when your awake. He sees you when you psychologically abuse an older woman. And when you smear a man long associated with defending the faith and who works closely with this website.
Skusem me for a correction, in my last comment on 18 April, 11:37 pm I meant to say Pope SAINT Pius the Xth, not Vth. Also ever notice how hard it has been for Holy Mother the Church to declare a Catholic, even a pope a saint, at least until after the breach when the rigorous standards were relaxed significantly by JP2? Prior to that one of many breaches in Church Law, proceedings, sacraments, doctrine, and practices it was difficult for a holy person to be declared a saint as the credibility of Holy Mother the Church was at stake if she had mistakenly declared someone in purgatory a saint. Holy Mother the Church would have been the laughing stock of the other religions, and we Catholics wouldn’t then be so rest assured a saint was truly a saint. Note also that there are perhaps many more saints in Heaven than Holy Mother the Church has declared, it is just that we don’t know whom they are. Also note that by Holy Mother the Church declaring a person a saint doesn’t automatically open the doors to the gates of Heaven to that person. On the contrary God decides and Holy Mother the Church so declares sainthood when it is proven without a doubt that by miracles and other standards that the person is certainly without a doubt in Heaven. At least that is the way it used to be before the breach with V2. In the last 500 years only two pontiffs have been declared saints by Holy Mother the Church: Pope SAINT Pius the Vth, and Pope SAINT Pius the Xth, both very stronger defenders of the ancient Roman Catholic Faith who fought modernism/liberalism. It is not that the other pontiffs in between haven’t entered through the gates of Heaven because many were obviously very holy men; however there has been no assurance by meeting the sainthood standards set by Holy Mother the Church for good reason.
Harv, what would your religious expression consist of if you used the type of language that people use daily in the normal course of their lives, like at work, in school, at the store, on vacation, in restaurants, fixing the house plumbing, and so forth, instead of religious language?
Hi Skai, In your last question regarding my religious expression, what are you driving at? I am not sure whether you are looking for a simple American mid-western english or some lengthy description. I do prefer to speak articulately. Your Harv baby introduction in an earlier address gave me the perception of Mae West. Hopefully your not that type. By now I hope you’ve done a little self-research and confirmed that there were actually 40 anti-popes in the dimmer periods of our Roman Catholic Church history. It was hard for me to accept too; however history can’t be changed, except for liberals trying to twist the truth and make it something that it truly wasn’t for an undiclosed reason. If you haven’t been successful, look up the 1967 National Catholic Almanac, pp. 182-183. I am not the type that pulls sly tricks as you state, regarding BXVIth. He was a leading modernist theologian at Vatican II, and left a long paper trail of his errors. He was the chief architect of a new theology of the Church which posits a “People of God” and a “Church of Christ” not identical with the Roman Catholic Church — a Super-Church or a Frankenchurch created from “elements” of the true Church that are possessed either fully (by Catholics) or parially (by heretics and schismatics). His quotes here are just a few and their sources: 1) ‘Schismatic bodies are “particular Churches” united to the Catholic Church by “close bonds.”‘ – 1992 CDF Letter on Communion, pg 17. 2) ‘The universal church is the “body of [particular] churches.”‘ – ibid, pg 8. 3) “Schismatic churches have a “wounded” existence.’ – ibid, pg 17. 4) ‘The “universal Church becomes present in them [the particular churches] in all her essential elements.” – ibid, pg 17. 5) ‘The Church of Christ is “present and operative” in churches that reject the papacy.’ – The 1983 Code of Canon Land and the 2000 Declaration Dominus Jesus, pg 17. 6) ‘One becomes a member of the “People of God” by baptism.’ – 1997 Catechism 782. 7) ‘ This whole People of God participates in the office of Christ.’ – ibid, 783. 8) ‘Christ’s Body, the Church, is “wounded.” – ibid, 817. 9) ‘Christ’s Spirit uses schismatic and heretical bodies as “means of salvation.” – ibid, 819. 10) ‘Each “particular Church” is “Catholic.” but some are “fully Catholic.” – ibid, 832, 834. These teachings are contrary to an article of divine and Catholic faith: “I believe in one Church.” “One” in the Creed refers to that property of the Church by which she is “undivided in herself and separated from any other” in faith, discipline and worship. His teachings are also contrary to the teaching of the Church Fathers and the universal ordinary magisterium that heretics are “outside Catholic communion and alien to the Church.” per Pope Leo the XIIIth. ________ Mark from PA, It is a wrong perception to believe those that those like the SSPX or another traditional Roman Catholic organization that think negatively of the Jews. They don’t, it is a deception by the modernists, to make the traditionalists look bad. In reality, the traditional Roman Catholics love the Jews and pray for their conversions to Roman Catholicism for their salvation. That is a sure example of true love for the Jewish souls. Unfortunately most mainstream Catholics according to statistics do not participate regularly in receiving and corresponding in the Churches sacraments and religious practices, at best just 25% of them do. Many do not know their Roman Catholic faith, nor ancient history, nor recent history of the last 60 years. So why should traditionalists worry about not being part of the mainstream Vatican II Catholic bandwagon? We should not be slothful with our Roman Catholic Faith and history but vigorously and devotedly learn it and become a part of it for the glorification of God, the sake of our souls, for the preservation of the true Roman Catholic Faith that it will be handed down for generations to come. May God bless everyone!
Hey, Harv, first of all, it’s Skai hi, instead of Hi Skai. Also, Harv, since you apparently hang with the literary criticism crowd, you never will be able to understand plain language. I did myself go through a period where I used arcane forms of writing, and found that it is boring to all concerned and conveys nothing. I once had an argument with a Stanford English lit grad who insisted that Hemingway was a low class writer, while I championed him along with Tolstoi and Jack London (I through London into it simply to through this effete dude off balance, which effort was successful). My main English lit prof at Univ of Calif back in the day had commanded an infantry company in the Pacific theater for four years … He wore a beret around campus and his main objective was to teach us to communicate. My rhetoric prof dropped into France the eve of D Day with the 82nd … He also tried hard to teach me to speak clearly. Decades later they would probably go back in the grade records and change them to “A” for me. Harv, it’s a life or death struggle, no matter whether spiritual or foot on the ground … Communicating is what is important, not demonstrating some remote educational ivory tower. Jesus was not one of those, and for a reason. St Paul was as educated as any man and yet he got down to effective language. Same with St Thomas Aquinas, whose language is simple and makes his subtle theology comprehensible. Try it.
Harv, the style “Harv Baby” is not the way Mae West spoke, but a very common colloquialism used by Jews, many of whom I grew up with. This little revelation kinda puts the kiboosh on your claim that SSPX loves the Jews, doesn’t it?
HARVEY, your post was interesting and I particularly like your documentation. I am not understanding, though, how you are interpreting the meaning of the things you quoted.
When the Church declares someone to be a Saint, we can take it to the bank that the person’s Soul is in Heaven. Mt 16:18-19.
This also includes legitimate indulgences – plenary and partial.
There have been 267 Popes (including Pope Francis), with the first being St. Peter.
Of the 267 Popes – 78 are canonized saints, 11 more are beautified which is one more step to sainthood, so approx. 32 percent of the papacy has been very good. Of all the rest, “only 12 are considered morally evil and corrupt scoundrels”.
“No Pope in 2000 years has formally and officially taught an error of faith or morals to the universal Church. Individually, some may have been poor or inadequate theologians or philosophers, and some nay have had erroneous ideas about science. That has nothing to do with Papal infallibility, however, because the main objective is to preserve the integrity of Catholic faith for all the members at all times and in all places.”
“An immoral pope can sin like any man and will answer to God for his evil deeds. However as supreme head of the church, the pope retains his infallibility on matters of faith and morals as long as he remains Pope.”
(See “CATHOLICISM for DUMMIES” by Frs. Trigilio and Beighenti, which also has a Nihil Obstat by the Vatican’s Censor Librorum, and also an Imprimatur by the Vatican’s Vicar General/Moderator of the Curia.)
Jesus, himself picked 12 imperfect sinners to be his Apostles.
The apostles were repentant sinners, which is perfect, not imperfect.
Skai, Sorry, but No it Doesn’t. Like all of us, your small sphere of experience, communications, and paradigms does not define the rest of the world. Please don’t brand the good souls in the SSPX with your prejudices, that are especially not fitting. I am not a member of the SSPX as they have no Church nearby; however I have serveral good friends who are and they are all very kind-hearted people and very good Roman Catholics who do know the Roman Catholic faith and attend the TLM weekly, go to confession regularly, are blessed to have the seven sacraments available to them as Christ taught them, pray daily, and try to live up to Christ’s examples in the Gospels. They do not treat nor think of the Jews in the way you seem to negatively label them. They completely understand that it wasn’t that generation of the Jews and Romans that crucified our Lord putting Him to death on His holy cross; rather, they completely understand that we the people in the world for all generations did so by our sins against the Blessed Trinity. It has been taught over and over again by Holy Mother the Church in Her doctrine that Christ died for Our Sins, not because of the Jews and Romans. Why should they be prejudice against the Jews? Jesus Himself was Jewish, the Chosen People. The good SSPX people know that better than most christians. It has been my experience that those liberals and press that like to insert the race card to attack conservatives, they the liberals and the main-stream press are the biggest racists of all. We all need to pray that God will restore His Roman Catholic Church, and that we will all follow His Way to find it and reach Heaven.
Very good, Harv. Now all you have to do is read what Catherine posted which is pretty much what Pope Francis has said in reference to the bishops, namely that they should practice what they preach. Harv, what is it that you are preaching, and are you practicing it?