NOTE: This writing will be more understandable having read my previous publications on this subject. [1] I would like to stress once again that I am stating my personal point of view here. Although I know that there are others who share this opinion, I alone am responsible for the text that follows.
Introduction
With what joy I entered the Catholic Church on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in 1980! Three years after my conversion, I had found my way into the Catholic Church, recognising it as the true Church of Christ. The need for the Petrine ministry was very understandable to me. I took great pleasure in the pronouncements of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and had strong confidence in them.
Although there were several questionable points in their Pontificates[2] – especially when viewed in retrospect – and although on a general level I had the impression that the dialogue with other religions was being conducted too openly, these two popes represented the preservation of orthodoxy.
However, one cannot overlook the fact that already at that time there was a strong tendency in the Church, which – perhaps somewhat inaccurately – could be called “modernism”. The representatives of this trend hoped that by adapting itself more to the way the world thought and acted, the Church would become more dynamic. But the two popes mentioned above put the brakes on the development of this trend.
The Pontificate of Francis
This situation changed when Pope Francis was elected Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. Instead of the Petrine ministry remaining a firm rock against the dangerous advance of modernism, the doors were opened to its influence.
Although in the early years I had always defended the present Pope, I began to notice that, little by little, something was changing in the beloved Church of the Lord, and more and more I perceived that these changes were bringing a darkening. When the post-synodal exhortation Amoris Laetitiawas published and the Pope refrained from responding to the Dubia of the four cardinals, it became clear to me that he had embarked on a wrong course. As I wrote in another publication[3], Amoris Laetitia created a crossroads: one had to decide whether to follow the previous doctrinal pronouncements or the new path taken in this Pontificate.
Confusing Vatican pronouncements
Since this process of obscuration is increasing, I have decided to give a clear warning about the developments of the current Pontificate, because they cause great harm to the faithful and to the mission of the Church. As a Catholic, who loves and respects the Petrine ministry, this is not easy for me. But there are circumstances (and unfortunately, they have occurred) in which silence, or even too timid and indirect criticism, favours the powers of darkness, which have acquired massive influence over the hierarchy of the Church.
A mute or complicit episcopate is increasingly blinding
It is alarming to see how few shepherds in the Church hierarchy raise their voice and how the vast majority of bishops and cardinals simply let the Pope continue on his course or even follow him. In this way, they become more and more spiritually blind, so that they will hardly be able to perceive when anti-Christian rulers or the very Antichrist foretold in Scripture will take advantage of the Church to carry out their dark plans. In this context, I would recommend reading my writing entitled “The Great Deception”.[4]
The failure to reject the Abu Dhabi declaration[5], to remain silent or even to defend the public cult to the Pachamama in the Vatican Gardens,[6] the failure to resist the attack on the Traditional Mass,[7] not to denounce as contrary to the doctrine of the Church the Pope’s recent statements on the communion of saints…[8] All this shows that the blindness is quite advanced.
Dangers of the current Pontificate
I see a great danger emanating from the Pontificate of Francis. People are being confused and are less and less able to distinguish what is Catholic from what is not. The ambivalence in the exercise of Francis’ ministry creates a painful situation, which for many of the faithful has become difficult to bear and for some has even become intolerable.
In a certain sense, the ministry that God has entrusted to the Pope is being turned upside down. He, who is called to be a rock (Mt 16:18) and to strengthen his brethren in the faith (Lk 22:32), is allowing himself to be involved in the service of the forces of destruction. From a spiritual point of view, this means that in essential matters the head of the Church is subject to the influence of Lucifer, who has entered into an unhealthy “symbiosis” with human thinking. Precisely because the Pope uses religious language, it is all the more difficult for the faithful to discern things. Nevertheless, it is necessary to do so, if one does not want to be swept up in the maelstrom of error and half-truths, or even be caught up in a kind of negative fascination. Whoever justifies everything the Pope says, without putting it in the balance of truth, contributes to the confusion of the faithful.
One cannot accept an error, nor give obedience to an authority that is misleading, whoever it may be. We are painfully confronted with the fact that the catholicity and universality of the Church are being misused to spread devastating errors, which undermine the authentic faith.
Adequate resistance is therefore needed.
The first means to which we must have recourse is prayer and the path of holiness, with unwavering adherence to the truth as it has been taught and handed down by the Church over the centuries. Whoever undertakes this path is being a support for the Church.
At the same time, we are called to pray for those who, with their errors, endanger their own souls and those of others. But we cannot follow them! Whoever is called to raise his voice, let him take courage and warn others.
The Lord will watch over His own! If the faithful should have to flee for a time into the desert (cf. Rev 12,6), because the Chair of Peter is under the occupation of other powers, then they will be under the special protection of the Virgin Mary.
But it is not only a question of protecting oneself from this “false spirit”; it is also a question of unmasking it and fighting it in the right way.
In any case, no “blind guide of blind ones” (Mt 15,14) is to be followed.
[1]All my writings on the current situation of the Church are published on the Balta-Lelija blog: http://en.elijamission.net/blog/
[2] For example, the inter-religious meeting in Assisi convened by Pope John Paul II in 1986.
[3] “Amoris Laetitia: A difficult issue (Part I)“: http://en.elijamission.net/blog-post/amoris-laetitia-a-difficult-issue-part-i/
“Amoris Laetitia: A difficult issue (Part II)“: http://en.elijamission.net/blog-post/amoris-laetitia-a-difficult-issue-part-ii/
“Amoris Laetitia: A difficult issue (Part III)“: http://en.elijamission.net/blog-post/amoris-laetitia-a-difficult-issue-part-iii/
[4] http://en.elijamission.net/blog-post/the-great-deception/
[5] The “Document on human fraternity for world peace and living together” co-signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb contains a particularly critical statement, which represents a mortal blow to the mission of the Church: “The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colours, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings”.
(https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2019/outside/documents/papa-francesco_20190204_documento-fratellanza-umana.html)
[6] In the framework of the Amazon Synod in October 2019, a religious ceremony took place in the Vatican Gardens, in the presence of Pope Francis and several bishops and cardinals, in which a representation of the Pachamama was venerated. It was carried in procession by two bishops to the Synod Hall and was also placed in front of the Tomb of St. Peter.
[7] On 16 July 2021 Pope Francis issued the Motu Proprio “Traditionis Custodes”, strictly restricting the celebration of the Traditional Mass, which for centuries was the spiritual nourishment of the Catholic faithful and of so many saints. (https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/20210716-motu-proprio-traditionis-custodes.html)
[8] At the general audience on 2 February 2022, Pope Francis made the following statement, which clearly contradicts the doctrine of the Church: “‘Father, let us think about those who have denied the faith, who are apostates, who are the persecutors of the Church, who have denied their baptism: Are these also at home?”. Yes, these too, even the blasphemers, everyone. We are brothers. This is the communion of saints.” (https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2022/documents/20220202-udienza-generale.html)