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Holy
Cross Seminary
Most
Asked Questions About the Society of Saint Pius X
Question
7: But shouldn't we be following
Pope John Paul II?
This Pope arouses various
sympathies, some Catholics lauding his stand on moral issues or
that of women priests, others scandalized at the encouragement he
gives all "religions" and his preaching based on the dignity
of man. How are we to understand him?
In
the opening address1
of his pontificate, Pope John Paul II declared that his first aim
would be to promote and implement the decrees of Vatican II and
to bring to light all it contained implicitly. He says the 1983
Code of Canon Law is an effort to put conciliar doctrine, and
especially its new ecclesiology, into canonical language.2
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is likewise an effort
to renew the life of the Church as desired and begun by Vatican
II.3 Look at the references
in any of his encyclicals; see the preponderance of the Second Vatican
Council and its teachings. The gravity of this situation lies in
the fact that Vatican II actually favors heresy (QUESTION
6).4
Moreover,
with the prolongation of his reign and the prolificacy of his writings
and discourses, however, it has become ever more clear that Pope
John Paul II is preaching a new religion, a humanism, a gospel of
the intrinsic goodness of man, thanks to Gods becoming man, with
the implied consequence of the salvation of all men. His starting
point is Vatican II (Gaudium et Spes, §22):
Human
nature, by the very fact that it was assumed, not absorbed, in him,
has been raised in us also to a dignity beyond compare. For, by
his incarnation, he, the son of God, has in a certain way united
himself with each man.
The
Pope is constantly basing his teaching on these lines of Vatican
II5 using them to illustrate
this novel doctrine of universal salvation.6
Actions
speak louder than words. Pope John Paul II preached in a Lutheran
church (Dec. 11, 1983); recited psalms with Jews while visiting
the synagogue of Rome (Apr. 13, 1986); invited Catholics and Jews
to prepare together for the coming of the Messiah (June 24, 1986);
engaged in dialogues with the high priests and witch doctors of
Voodoo (Feb. 4, 1993); took part in Animist rites in the "Sacred
Forest" in Togo (Aug. 8, 1985); had the sacred Tilac put on
his forehead by a priestess of Shiva in Bombay (Feb.2, 1986); and
invited representatives of the "main religions" (about
130 came) to Assisi to pray for peace (Oct. 27, 1986). Everywhere
and with all he praises the "values" of these false religions
but fails to tell them that they and their people must convert if
they want to be saved.
Therefore,
both in word and deed, he is preaching that all men of whatever
creed are acceptable to God, which is contrary to Catholic dogma
(Principle
2).
In
this we cannot follow this Pope's ideas but must hold fast to the
doctrine constantly taught by the Church of all time.
BUT
HOW ARE WE TO JUDGE HIM?
- It is not
for us to judge his culpability in the destruction of the
Church, more devastating now than in any previous pontificate
(with the probable exception of Pope Paul Vis). Only God can so
judge him,
- nor is it
for us to judge him juridically—the Pope has no superior
on earth—or to declare unquestionably null all his acts,
- but we must
make a judgment of his words and actions inasmuch as they
affect our eternal salvation, as our Savior said:
Beware
of false prophets who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know
them (Mt. 7:15).
We
are not to cooperate blindly in the destruction of the Church by
tolerating the implementation of a new religion or by not doing
what we can to defend our Catholic faith. Archbishop Lefebvre was
surely our model here.
The
Church is in crisis. If the Pope really wants the aid of heaven,
he has only to do what God wants. A good first step would be to
take seriously all three parts of the secret of Our Lady of Fatima,
and consecrate Russia as She has requested. But how can he, when
he pretends that the "fall of Communism" in the USSR is
the fulfillment of Our Lady's promises and the hope of world peace?7
BUT
ISN'T HE INFALLIBLE WHEN IMPOSING TEACHING ON THE CHURCH
(e.g., the teaching understood by the 1983 Code of Canon Law)?
The
Pope is infallible primarily in matters of faith and morals, and
secondarily in matters of discipline (legislation for the Universal
Church, canonizations, etc.) to the extent that these involve
faith and morals (cf. Principle 4), and then only when imposing
for all time a definitive teaching.
Now
"infallible" means immutable and irreformable (Principle
6), but, the hallmark of the conciliar Popes, like the Modernists,8
is a spirit of evolution.9
To what extent can such minds want irreformably to define or absolutely
to impose? They do not and, in fact, "they cannot..."
(Archbishop Lefebvre, Ecône, June 12, 1984). Cf. QUESTION
15, n.3.
For
Pope John Paul II, this is evident by his understanding of his own
authority as presented in Ut Unum Sint (May 25, 1995). After
summarizing the traditional teaching on the Petrine office (§§90-94)
he goes on to wonder how to exercise the primacy in the new situation
of recognition of other Christians as being in partial communion
with the Catholic Church (§95); how it may "accomplish a service
of love recognized by all" (ibid.),and whether we could
get together with non-Catholics to learn from them on this score
(§96). This is confirmed by his acceptance of the new collegial
understanding of authority (1983 Code of Canon Law, canons
331, 336).
1.
Acta Apostolicae Sedis (LXX) p.920ff.
2.
Sacrae Disciplinae Leges Qan. 25, 1983).
3.
FideiDepositum(Oct. 11, 1992).
4.
N.B.: Certain theologians (De Lubac, Von Baltasar, Congar) have
been named cardinals by Pope John Paul II for die very teachings
that saw diem reprimanded by die pre-conciliar magisterium.
5.
By way of example: Redemptor Hominis, §§8,13,18; Evangelium
Vitae, §§2,104; Tertio Millennia Adventente, §4; Sign
of Contradiction, Karol Wojtyla. Geoffrey Chapman, p. 10Iff.
6.
Pope John Paul H's Theological Journey to the Prayer Meeting
of Religions in Assisi: Pan I, pp.78-95 (Appendix
II).
7.
Fatima: Tragedy and Triumph, Fr. Francis de Marie des Anges.
Immaculate Heart Press, pp.209-217.
8.
Pascendi, §26.
9.
From Pope John XXIIFs aggiornamento (updating} to Pope John
Paul's "adaptive renewal" cf., Pope John's Council,
p.8; Pope John Paul II's Theological Journey to the Prayer
Meeting of Religions in Assist: Part I, pp.15-19 (see Appendix
II).
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