Defending the Faith Against Present Heresies. A New Book from Arouca

5 Marzo 2021 Pubblicato da Marco Tosatti

Marco Tosatti

Dear friends and enemies of Stilum Curiae, it is with great pleasure that we announce the publication of a very interesting book, in English (we hope it will soon be possible to read it in Italian as well…) edited by Claudio Pierantoni and John Lamont, which collects the main documents sent in recent years to the Pontiff to highlight confused and confusing points of doctrine. Of the book, published by Arouca Press, we publish the introduction, written by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. Enjoy your reading.

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My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Jn 10: 27–30

WHEN WE CONSIDER HOW INCREDIBLE IT would have been, eighty years ago, to even contemplate that it might be necessary for laymen and prelates to defend the Faith against doctrinal deviations promoted by the Vicar of Christ, we must painfully acknowledge that what has happened since then has severely compromised the Holy Church and the Papacy.

Today we find ourselves once again defending the Faith against the highest echelons of the Church, after decades of having to defend it against the errors formulated by no less heterodox car- dinals, bishops, and priests. Those who have denounced their errors have often found themselves alone, and rarely has the Holy See intervened to condemn the “false christs and false prophets” (Mt 24:24). And those who, certain of the impunity guaranteed to them, have advanced their careers and been promoted, are today among the staunchest supporters of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who in turn has risen to the highest throne. Some proudly boast of being the architects of his election at the 2013 Conclave, after a failed attempt at the previous Conclave.

We must therefore ask ourselves, after having read the errors denounced in this volume and the entire conglomeration of official and unofficial interventions, whether the “demythologization of the papacy” desired by the proponents of the “synodal path” is not materializing in the 2013 election and unstoppable demolition project of the Argentinean cardinal. Certainly those who wanted him at the summit of the hierarchy now see some of their most daring plans already implemented: some explicitly and formally,

such as the admission of public adulterers to the sacraments and the condemnation of capital punishment; others implicitly or infor- mally, such as the legitimation of sodomy; and, finally, others such as the ordination of women and the abolition of clerical celibacy, for which the discussion has resumed as if the definitive acts of the Magisterium had no value. This demonstrates, if proof were needed, that the infallible Magisterium of the Church is not seen as having the authority that seems instead to apply absolutely to the controversial documents of the so-called “Conciliar Magisterium.”

In this race towards the abyss, we are faced with what social psychology calls “cognitive dissonance,” i.e., the tension or dis-comfort we feel when faced with two opposing and incompatible ideas. The American social psychologist Leon Festinger (1919–1989) demonstrated that such discomfort leads us to process these beliefs in three ways, in order to reduce the psychological incongruity that this dissonance causes: we change our attitude, change the context, or change behavior.

This phenomenon is also evident in the religious sphere, starting with the Council, which for the first time in the Church’s history introduced elements into doctrine, morals, and the liturgy that were objectively discordant, or at least deliberately highly ambigu- ous, with respect to what the Magisterium had always taught. These elements—an ecumenism in contradiction with the uniqueness of the one true Religion, the theorization of the secular nature of the State in contradiction with the Social Kingship of Christ, col- legiality and synodality in contradiction with the hierarchical and monarchical structure of the Church, the common priesthood of the faithful in contradiction with the ordained ministerial priest- hood, the imposition of Communion in the hand in contradiction with faith in the Real Presence, etc.—have almost instinctively led the faithful to come up with solutions to reduce this cognitive dissonance. This happened—to a much greater extent, yet in a perfectly consistent manner—after the abdication of Benedict XVI and the election of his successor.

On the one hand, as Catholics we believe that the Holy Spirit guarantees the Supreme Pontiff a special assistance, which is expressed in infallibility when, as supreme Pastor of the universal Church, he defines a truth concerning faith or morals and teaches that it is to be believed with religious assent by all the faithful. On the other hand, as people endowed with reason, we note that the holder of the papacy uses his authority for a purpose opposite to that which legitimizes it and for which the special assistance of the Paraclete is guaranteed. The dissonance consists in not being able to explain two opposing and divergent representations—a dissonance the layman tends to eliminate or reduce because it undermines his certainties. Thus, not being able to admit that the pope can assert heresies, the layman is inclined to deny that they are heresies in the name of a changed understanding of doctrine (thus adapting his attitude); to reduce the gravity of the heresy, for example by distinguishing between material and formal heresies (changing the context); or to deny that Bergoglio is pope and that obedience is due to him (changing his behavior).

However, I would like to stress that Catholics have already expe- rienced this cognitive dissonance with the Second Vatican Council and the liturgical reform. After sixty years of unresolved conflicts, the faithful are now used to coming up with their own solutions to a reality that seems impossible to accept in its contradictory nature.

And if social psychology detects the behavior of the individual, Catholic moral theology—and even before that, philosophy and the fundamental principle of non-contradiction—allows us to detect the inconsistency between two opposing concepts and to reject what is manifestly unacceptable, adhering to what is certainly true because it is guaranteed by God’s authority. In essence, a Catholic must understand that this dissonance reveals a real and concrete problem that can be resolved not so much by reformulating or attenuating it to one’s liking, but rather by analyzing it according to the infallible criterion that Saint Vincent of Lérins in his Com- monitorium summed up in the adage: Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est [that which is believed everywhere, always, and by all].

Yet we need only read a commentary on the Book of Revelation or some of the writings of the Church Fathers on the end of the world to understand that the present crisis cannot and must not be interpreted as part of a normal situation, but on the contrary as confirmation of the extraordinary nature of the end times. From this supernatural perspective, and instructed by the words of Sacred Scripture and the messages of the Blessed Virgin and the mystics, we can understand the spiritual dimension of the present events and the reasons for the crisis in the Church and the papacy.

This volume has the merit of drawing together the evidence of apostasy, like the burning coals of which Saint Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Romans (12:19–20). And whoever, for love of the Apostolic See and for the honor of Holy Mother Church, has the courage to denounce false shepherds, will have the consolation of hearing the divine Master call to him: “Well done, good and faith- ful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord” (Mt 25:21). I dare not think of the words that the just Judge will address to those who have betrayed their mandate by deceiving the flock entrusted to them. May this sobering reflection spur us on to beseech from the Holy Spirit the gift of repentance and conversion for those who today seem to want to bring to pass in Rome the terrible visions of the prophet Daniel.

Let us not forget one of the cornerstones of our Faith: the papacy is the infallible garrison against which the gates of hell can never prevail. The horrors and scandals we are witnessing must not cause this certainty to crumble but rather strengthen it, for it is easy to recognize the provident hand of God in crushing victories over the enemy, but it requires Faith and Hope to understand that, in adversity, the Church is tested like gold in the crucible.

+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop

29 November 2020 Dominica I Adventus