The Modernist Pedigree of Francis’s Synod on Synodality, and Its Implications

Quote:“The Tyrrellian Church is as elastic as its dogma. ‘The notion of a complete ecclesiastical organism produced directly by a divine fiat the day of Pentecost’ is pure fantasy. The Church is not an institution like the ecclesiastical empire of the Vatican; she is the life of a people in progress. The inspiration of Christ first set the Church in motion; it is sufficient that she maintain that movement until the end of time. The monarchical, Roman Church must be clearly distinguished from the collective consciousness of the People of God, which is always healthy and robust, and which truly possesses authority and infallibility.”

Quote:“George Tyrrell (1861-1909) was the posthumous son of an Anglican journalist in Dublin. Raised in poverty, he converted in 1879 and joined the Jesuits the following year. . . At that time, the philosophy dominant in Jesuit institutions was a kind of Thomism peculiar to themselves, being mediated through the 16th-century Jesuit philosopher Francisco Suárez. Disagreeing with this stance, Fr Tyrrell came into conflict with other faculty members, and in 1896 was transferred to Farm Street, the celebrated church of his order in London. There he discovered the work of the French philosopher Maurice Blondel, which heavily influenced him. Fr Tyrrell published a book attacking scholasticism in general in 1899. He maintained that the truths of the Faith must be re-expressed in every age – even if that meant contradicting earlier expressions of the Faith. . . His views – similar to those held by a number of Jesuits and Dominicans in particular – were seen as eroding the immutable nature of Catholicism. Fr Tyrrell was asked to recant them in 1906; refusing to do so, he was expelled from the Society of Jesus. The following year, Pope St Pius X in the decree Lamentabili and the encyclical Pascendi condemned these ideas, dubbed ‘Modernism,’ as the 'synthesis of all heresies.’ Fr Tyrrell attacked these documents in the London Times, was excommunicated in 1908, and died in 1909.”

Quote:“A term as abstract or theoretical as synodality has thus begun to be embodied in a concrete experience. From listening to the People of God a progressive appropriation and understanding of synodality ‘from within’ emerges, which does not derive from the enunciation of a principle, a theory or a formula, but develops from a readiness to enter into a dynamic of constructive, respectful and prayerful speaking, listening and dialogue. At the root of this process is the acceptance, both personal and communal, of something that is both a gift and a challenge: to be a Church of sisters and brothers in Christ who listen to one another and who, in so doing, are gradually transformed by the Spirit.”

Quote:“Thanks to the guidance of the Spirit, the People of God, as sharers in the prophetic function of Christ (cf. LG 12), ‘discern the true signs of God's presence and purpose in the events, needs and desires which it shares with the rest of modern humanity’ (GS 11). For this ecclesial task of discernment, the Holy Spirit bestows the sensus fidei, which can be described as ‘the instinctive capacity to discern the new ways that the Lord is revealing to the Church’(Francis, Address for the 50th Anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, 17 October 2015). Discernment commits those who participate in it at a personal level and all participating together at a community level to cultivate dispositions of inner freedom, being open to newness and trusting surrender to God’s will in order to listen to one another so as to hear ‘what the Spirit is saying to the Churches’ (Rev. 2:7)."

Quote:“Philosophical and theological modernism, which Pope Pius X condemned more than a hundred years ago, has been realized in all its devastating consequences in the life of the Church of our day. What’s more, even high-ranking ecclesiastical authorities in our day are promoting this modernism by various statements and official acts.”

Quote:“St. Augustine says that God is so good that He would not permit evil in any way unless He were powerful enough that from each evil He could draw some good (see Enchiridion, 11). Through heresies those who are good and firm Christians are also made manifest, and their faith stands out all the more. . . . And St. Augustine further explained: ‘While the hot restlessness of heretics stirs questions about many articles of the Catholic faith, the necessity of defending them forces us both to investigate them more accurately, to understand them more clearly, and to proclaim them more earnestly; and the question mooted by an adversary becomes the occasion of instruction’  (The City of God, 16:2). The evil ones exist in the Church, says St. Augustine, either so that the faithful may exercise themselves in patience or advance in wisdom (see ibid.).”

• Whereas the Synod asserts that the truths of the Faith can evolve to mean something different from what they have always meant, we affirm that the truths of the Faith are immutable.
  
• Whereas the Synod asserts that the truths of the Faith are known through a process of communal discernment of the People of God, we affirm that the truths of the Faith were given to the Church by God.
  
• Whereas the Synod asserts that “all the baptized” are members of the Synodal Church, we affirm Pope Pius XII’s teaching in Mystici Corporis that “only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith.”
  
• Whereas the Synod promotes the false ecumenism that proliferated after Vatican II, we affirm that the Catholic Church remains the sole ark of salvation.
  
• Whereas the Synod encourages Catholics to “accompany” sinners and their sins, we affirm that true charity consists of teaching souls that we must all strive to overcome our sins if we wish to serve God and save our souls.
  

Pope Francis says deliberately opposing migration ‘is a grave sin’
Opposing migration of any kind 'when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin,' Pope Francis said.



Wiki commons/Unsplash

Quote:It must be said clearly: There are those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants – to repel migrants. And this, when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin.

Quote:But it is not through more restrictive laws, it is not with the militarization of borders, it is not with rejection that we will obtain this result. Instead, we will obtain it by extending safe and legal access routes for migrants, providing refuge for those who flee from war, violence, persecution and various disasters; we will obtain it by promoting in every way a global governance of migration based on justice, fraternity and solidarity. And by joining forces to combat human trafficking, to stop the criminal traffickers who mercilessly exploit the misery of others.

Quote:At the same time, States have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person. Immigrants, moreover, have the duty to integrate into the host Country, respecting its laws and its national identity.

Pope Francis’ letter. Credit: Vatican Media

Archbishop Lefebvre and Conciliar Sacraments – Did he doubt them?
The Church cannot approve rites which are harmful or out of harmony with the faith.
This is precisely what Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre said of the conciliar rites. So how did he resolve the question?



Image: The Tomb of Pope Leo XIII (Fr Lawrence Lew OP) with superimposed image of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Wiki Commons) both under CC 2.0.

Quote:“All these reforms, indeed, have contributed and are still contributing to the destruction of the Church, to the ruin of the priesthood, to the abolition of the Sacrifice of the Mass and of the sacraments…

“It is impossible to modify profoundly the lex orandi without modifying the lex credendi. To the Novus Ordo Missae correspond a new catechism, a new priesthood, new seminaries, a charismatic Pentecostal Church—all things opposed to orthodoxy and the perennial teaching of the Church.

“This Reformation, born of Liberalism and Modernism, is poisoned through and through; it derives from heresy and ends in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical. It is therefore impossible for any conscientious and faithful Catholic to espouse this Reformation or to submit to it in any way whatsoever.

“The only attitude of faithfulness to the Church and Catholic doctrine, in view of our salvation, is a categorical refusal to accept this Reformation.”1

Quote:“The only formulae that infallibly and necessarily contain the essential significance of a sacrament are those which have been canonised by being instituted by Christ and His Church for that purpose.”2

Quote:“… f the rite be changed, with the manifest intention of introducing another rite not approved by the Church and of rejecting what the Church does, and what, by the institution of Christ, belongs to the nature of the Sacrament, then it is clear that not only is the necessary intention wanting to the Sacrament, but that the intention is adverse to and destructive of the Sacrament.”3

Quote:“… in adhering rigidly to the rite handed down to us we can always feel secure; whereas, if we omit or change anything, we may perhaps be abandoning just that element which is essential.”4

Quote:“Where, however, a new liturgical form is introduced and no such canonised formula [“instituted by Christ and His Church”] is employed, there cannot be certainty of its validity until its credentials have been established, and it has been acknowledged, expressly or implicitly, by the universal Church.”5

Quote:“Only the Church as a whole, the Mystical Body of Christ and the guardian of His sacraments, has the power to decide that with final certainty.”6

Quote:“It is at the request of the faithful, attached to Tradition, that I use the old sacramental formula, and also for safety's sake, keeping to formulas which have communicated grace for centuries with certainty.”7 (Emphasis added)

Vatican II and the Deformation of Catholic Consciences

Quote:“No. A man’s conscience is not always necessarily a true conscience. A man can warp his conscience. And just as he can form a wrong judgment in literature, science, economics, business, or sport, so he can form a wrong judgment as to what is correct moral conduct or evil moral conduct. A conscience is right when it is in harmony with God’s law. If it is not in harmony with God’s law, then it is an erroneous conscience. And we know by experience that men have often done evil under the impression that they were right. When conscience is in error, however, so that a man does wrong in good faith, we have to ask whether that man is responsible for his lack of knowledge or not. If he is responsible, because ignorant of things he ought to know or was obliged to know, he cannot be excused from sin.” (Volume 3, question 994)

Quote:“It was for great numbers of Catholics a shattering experience to learn that the bishops were divided — indeed, if the journalists were to be believed, bitterly divided. It was one thing to accept decisions issuing from the successors of the Apostles in all the majesty of their oneness. It was not at all the same thing when the decisions were arrived at by a majority, after — if the journalists were to be believed — lobbying and recriminations not unlike those of politicians anywhere.” (p. 63)

Quote:“The effect of all this is to make the old unquestioning acceptance a great deal harder, especially in a matter like Contraception which can affect people continually, immediately, sometimes agonizingly, as doctrinal teachings do not. Any who are not convinced by the Pope’s utterance on it may feel that their personal decision is for their own conscience to make. And while the Second Vatican Council speaks most lucidly upon the rights of men outside the Church to follow their conscience, I have not found that it discusses the relation of the Catholic conscience to her own teachings or commands if it feels them contrary to it.” (pp. 63-64)

Quote:“On his part, man perceives and acknowledges the imperatives of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all his activity a man is bound to follow his conscience in order that he may come to God, the end and purpose of life. It follows that he is not to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his conscience. Nor, on the other hand, is he to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience, especially in matters religious.”

Quote:“The universal order created by God, whether natural or supernatural, is, in fact, in essential opposition to this statement. God founded the family, civil society, and above all the Church, in order that all men might recognize the truth, be forewarned against error, attain to good, be preserved from scandals and thus reach temporal and eternal happiness.” (Lefebvre, I Accuse the Council, pp. 19-20)

Quote:“This conception of religious liberty derives its origins and form from an opinion which is nowadays widespread among the public, an opinion founded on the primacy of conscience and freedom from all restraint. . . . Conscience cannot be defined without relation to Truth, ordained as it is essentially to that quality. . . . Conscience, liberty, human dignity, only possess rights to the extent to which they are in essential relation with the truth.” (Lefebvre, I Accuse the Council, pp. 24-26)

Quote:“This declaration on religious liberty should be shortened, as several Fathers have already said, in order to avoid the controversial questions and their dangerous consequences. . . . Among the various acts of conscience, the interior acts of religion must be distinguished from the exterior acts, for the external acts can either edify or cause scandal. . . . Attention must be paid to the very grave consequences of this declaration on the right to follow the voice of one’s conscience and act outwardly according to that voice. And, in fact, a religious doctrine logically influences the whole morality. Who can fail to see the innumerable consequences of this order of things? Who will be able to determine the dividing line between good and evil when the criterion of morals in accordance with the Catholic truth revealed by Christ has been set aside?” (Lefebvre, I Accuse the Council, pp. 47-48)

Quote:“Liberty is given to us for the spontaneous observance of divine law. Conscience is natural divine law inscribed in the heart and, after the grace of baptism, is supernatural divine law. . . . It is impossible to speak with veracity of liberty, of conscience, of the dignity of the human person except by reference to divine law. . . . As the Church of Christ alone possesses the fullness and perfection of divine law, natural and supernatural; as she alone has received the mission to teach this law and the means to observe it, it is in her that Jesus Christ, who is our law, is found in reality and truth.” (Lefebvre, I Accuse the Council, p. 64)

Quote:“For a notable number of Council Fathers the teaching and practical applications of the schema are not acceptable in conscience. In fact, the fundamental principle of the schema has remained unchanged despite amendments that have been introduced: that is, the right of error . . . Since the declaration on religious freedom has no dogmatic value, the negative votes of the Council Fathers will constitute a factor of great importance for the future studies of the declaration itself, and particularly for the interpretation to be placed upon it.” (pp. 310-311)

• As we can see from the interventions on the Declaration on Religious Liberty, bishops clashed over how the Council could contradict what the Church had always taught, throwing into question the reality that the Church is the divinely appointed truth-teller.
  
• The Council’s ecumenical push also confused Catholics with its undermining of the reality that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church — if that was no longer the case, why do Catholics have to follow difficult commandments that Protestants neglect?
  
• The debates over contraception added an emotionally-charged component to all of this, and effectively normalized the rejection of Catholic moral teaching. Once one could choose to follow an erroneous conscience over Church teaching in one matter, there was no real barrier to doing similarly on any other matter.
  
• Shortly after the Council, everything about the Church seemed to change: priests got married, nuns left religious practice, the Mass changed, and previously settled teachings were open to discussion. All of this undermined the belief that the Church is the guardian of the immutable truth that God requires us to follow.
  
• Over time, seminaries became increasingly corrupted, leading to poorly formed priests who became the heretical bishops we see today. Once we have openly heretical bishops, then many Catholics find it difficult to believe that they are required to obey the Church’s apparent hierarchy.
  

Quote:“As the Church of Christ alone possesses the fullness and perfection of divine law, natural and supernatural; as she alone has received the mission to teach this law and the means to observe it, it is in her that Jesus Christ, who is our law, is found in reality and truth.”