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Scandal in the True Sense of the Word
It is important to clarify that, whenever we speak on this blog about grave public scandal, we do not mean to be understood merely in the sense of scandalous gossip.Â
Our meaning is rather that conveyed in paragraphs CCC 2284 - 2285 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: ''Scandal is an attitude or behaviour which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbour's tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offence if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offence...
... Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized. It prompted Our Lord to utter this curse: 'Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea' (Mt 18:6; cf. 1 Cor 8:10-13). Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others. Jesus reproaches the scribes and the Pharisees on this account: he likens them to wolves in sheeps clothing.''
That is what we mean whenever we speak on this blog of grave public scandal.
Some Examples...
Some examples have included: Liverpool's Auxiliary Bishop Tom Williams publicly giving Holy Communion with a reassuring ''pat'' on the arm to a homosexualist celebrity, (who had arrived publicly with his male ''partner''), at a televised celebrity funeral Mass; the Headteacher Miss C. Morrow ignoring parental rights and Catholic Truth in order to promote homosexual ideology to the primary school children in her care at Sacred Heart Primary in the Archdiocese of Liverpool; Sr. Mary Rose Fitzsimmons HHS, a self-described ''spiritual director and pastoral worker'' operating in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, signing up to Tina Beattie's letter supporting abortion in Poland; and the public silence of Archbishop McMahon et al in the face of these various happenings also causes scandal, confusion and demotivation amongst the lay faithful.
Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
All of which brings us to the list of new cardinals which was announced by Pope Francis in Rome on Sunday. Although there are, perhaps, a couple of potentially edifying choices amongst the names, there are also some extremely troubling ones.
No, let us more honestly rephrase that in light of the Catechism's teaching which was mentioned above: there are some deeply scandalous names on the list of new cardinals.
Perhaps the report on Gloria TV provided the most succinct description of the names on the list, with the words: ''Among them there is not a single Catholic voice. 3 of the 17 are radical liberals and killers of vocations.''
We at Torch of The Faith have already spoken of 2 of those 3 during the last year or so.
Jozef De Kesel
On 7th November, 2015, we wondered about the possible influence of the so-called St. Gallen mafia, when Pope Francis named the ultra-Modernist Jozef De Kesel to become the new Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels.
We wondered about that St. Gallen connection because the disgraced Cardinal Godfried Daneels had earlier pushed for De Kesel to be his auxiliary-bishop in Brussels in 2002. Then, having been elevated as Bishop of Bruges for five years, De Kesel again found himself being pushed forward by Daneels to become Archbishop of Brussels in 2010. It will be recalled that Daneels was having to step down because of the sex-abuse scandal...
At this point, Pope Benedict XVI instead appointed the more Tradition-friendly Archbishop Leonard. He subsequently became an inspiration to many Catholics, thanks to his faithful defence of marriage, even in the face of horrible attacks from FEMEN prostitutes, and for his cultivation of orthodox vocations. When Archbishop Leonard reached the official retirement age, Pope Francis moved swiftly to replace him with the Modernistic and Daneels-sponsored De Kesel.
Archbishop De Kesel stands in stark contrast to Archbishop Leonard. Indeed, he stands in stark contrast to Catholicism in general...
Perhaps not surprisingly, he supports the giving of Holy Communion to couples who are divorced and have attempted ''re-marriage''.
Even at last November's press conference to announce his elevation as Archbishop of Brussels-Mechelen, De Kesel made Modernistic references on the themes of dissenting clergy, the separation of Church and State, the role of the laity and the issue of homosexuality.Â
This was really nothing new for De Kesel. Even as Bishop of Bruges he had publicly questioned priestly celibacy, suggested women priests as a possibility and supported a Mass for participants in the Brussels homosexualist ''Pride'' march.Â
De Kesel dressed like a layman for one of his press conferences...
Worse still, De Kesel attempted to appoint a priest in Middelkerke - even though that priest had been convicted for sexually molesting a teenaged boy just 5-6 years earlier.
In this can be recognized another common thread with De Kesel's mentor, and favourite of Pope Francis, Cardinal Godfried Daneels. For, as is widely reported, Daneels not only forced a paedophilic ''catechism'' on the schoolchildren of his diocese, firmly trampling on the rights of those parents who resisted, but has even been caught-out trying to cover up child sex abuse by one of his bishops.
No wonder the Catholic faithful are disturbed to hear that De Kesel was quoted, in the 6th November, 2015, edition of Crux, as saying: ''I have much respect for gays... Including their way of living their sexuality.''
It seems that De Kesel has less respect for priestly vocations, especially when he so recently killed off the conservative Fraternity of the Holy Apostles in the Brussels archdiocese earlier this year.
And so, in 2016, a man who clearly has little respect for God's Holy Law, Catholic Tradition, or even a basic acceptance of the natural moral law, is being elevated by Pope Francis to the college of cardinals - the college which wears red to symbolize its readiness to spill its blood in defence of Christ's Church.
That is how low things have fallen in these grim times.
Blase Cupich
Another of the names on Francis' list of new cardinals is Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago.
Again, the Modernist Cupich of Chicago will need no introduction to regular readers. Indeed, his infamous divergence from Catholic Truth on a number of key points is sadly well known throughout the world.
These include: his refusal to implement Canon 915, by not refusing Holy Communion to politicians who promote abortion, or to sexually active homosexuals or fornicators (we doubt he'd use that honest word!); his discouragement of priests wanting to take part in pro-life prayer vigils; and his attempt to relativize abortion among other social problems like joblessness and want.
The New Cardinals and The Compliant Media
Apart from dipping into some of the on-line articles, we haven't bothered reading the mainstream Catholic papers in this country for several years. The reportage on the new cardinals that has been provided by the Catholic Herald could be held up as an example of why we gave up spending our hard-earned spondulix on 'em!
As far as we can see, the Catholic Herald has posted two pieces on this story. The first one, written by a ''staff reporter'' runs with the headline: ''Women priests, politics and Communion: What the Pope's new cardinals believe.'' That title should tell you everything that is wrong with the article's approach; for, aside from issues of politics, the new cardinals should simply believe what the Church has always believed and taught on the matters of women priests and Holy Communion!
And so the article speaks in relativistic terms of Blase Cupich like this: ''Archbishop Cupich's admirers say he is pastorally minded and committed to dialogue. His detractors criticise his stances on the Eucharist and on Catholic moral teaching.''
From a supposedly Catholic paper that kind of relativism dressed up as objectivity is incredible isn't it?
The other article in the Catholic Herald is written by the priest and moral theologian Fr. Alexander Lucie-Smith. Anyone who has read his on-line articles will know that Fr. Lucie-Smith is capable of writing thoughtful, and thought-provoking, contributions for the Catholic Herald.
That being said, his latest piece about the new cardinals stands out for its spectacular omission of any reference to the above Modernists or their distressing track record.
Perhaps this is because Fr. Lucie-Smith's article dedicates so much space to pondering imponderables; like what might have happened if Pope Francis had invested Mr. Justin Welby - Father calls him ''Archbishop Justin Welby'' - with a pallium, or made him a cardinal, during his recent ecumenical visit to Rome.
That Fr. Lucie-Smith, as a priest and moral theologian with a wide audience, should share such far-out day-dreams without also recalling that Mr. Welby not only lacks the grace of Holy Orders, but even has a different religion to ours, should give pause for thought.
We noticed last week that Pope Francis had issued his latest ''prayer intentions'' video for October. In this video, Pope Francis called for journalists to put media ''at the service of encounter''.
Given that the authentic use of media is to further the discovery of objective truth, Pope Francis said something rather unusual during that short video. He said: ''We need information leading to compromise for the good of humanity and the planet.''
Leading to Compromise?
It should get everyone's attention that the internet was officially handed over to the UN at the beginning of this month, that Pope Francis met with Mark Zuckerberg in August, and that Pope Francis is now making such a global call for the media to ''compromise for the good of humanity and the planet''.
This is especially the case given the multiplication of messages in Pope Francis' other monthly videos, promoting a pan-religious paradigm and ''a new economy to bring everyone together''.
Two days ago, the Catholic Herald announced that Mr. Justin Welby will ''preach'' during Vespers at Westminster Catholic Cathedral to close the Year of Mercy on November 13th, 2016.
With the approach of Pope Francis' visit to Lund to celebrate Martin Luther (!), and Fr. Lucie-Smith's day-dreams about Mr. Welby receiving a pallium, we must wonder what other ''compromises'' the media are preparing us for...
