Day's Links - 2016-07-04

From Fr. Gary Dickson expressing his displeasure regarding Bergoglio's Islam promotion we have this:

CathNews notes that Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of the Syriac Church has noted that by saying Islam is non-violent Francis is not in tune with the experience of Christians in Syria. Has the Patriarch got it wrong? Have ISIS got themselves all wrong, or is Francis wrong and we are being attacked for religious purposes? I would like to think Francis is right; but he appears to be either incredibly naïve or too PC for the good of his souls and ours. 

My response: It is evident to everyone that Bergoglio is not the sharpest tool in the shed. However, the man is not naive; he is malicious. The man must know what he is doing and for proof of that I submit the fact that he manages to find his way to work every day. True, it is difficult to get lost in the Vatican but I have seen pictures of him taking public transportation in Buenos Aires, and if he was smart enough to do that, he is clearly smart enough to know Islam is a religion of violence, that adultery is against God's laws, and pretty much everything else for which his idolaters excuse him on the basis of ignorance or naivety, or 'good' intentions.

He hates the Catholic Church with a passion of few others. This might seem  strange given one wouldd expect him to be grateful to the Church for feeding and clothing him all during all these years of talentless and faithless non-service, but we have to take him at his words and actions, and in them his unequivocal hate for the Church becomes crystal clear.

Regarding the invitation extended to Muslims to attend Mass by the NOChurch, I can only remark the following: It seems we can always count on NOChurch to turn a tragedy into a travesty and sacrilege. This is what happened after the murder of Fr. Jacues Hamel, whereby Muslims were either invited or invited themselves to church - it doesn't matter which, frankly.

There can be no greater exhibit of the NOChurch apostasy than inviting Muslims to read prayers in church, in many cases the same prayers which have been used as a call to arms before slaughtering Christians over the centuries.

Get out of it while you still can!

On less downbeat news, there is a very interesting talk given by Christopher Ferrara titled "Church Law: What Bishop, Priest and Lay Person Can Do and Must Do About Fatima with Chris Ferrara", by the Fatima Center. The talk is quite long, but it will be some of the quickest 56 minutes  you can spend in front of a screen. Ordinarily listening to a speech for that long would induce boredom, but Christopher Ferrara has a very engaging way of speaking which not only fades time away, but also captivates and helps one remember the highlights.

The main point of his talk is that obedience to talk must come first, before the state and even before churchmen, when these issue unjust commands. Both the state and the Church are perfect societies, insofar as they have within them what is necessary to achieve  what is essential to their functions. In the case of the state, this is the common good whereas for the Church it is the salvation of souls.

He speaks of our duty to oppose unjust laws in the church, that there is obedience and "indiscrete obedience", which St. Thomas Aquinas says is actually sinful, if done against either the common good or the divine law. Popes and doctors of the Church have warned us about this, and so we must not hesitate to point out the failings of a pope who goes against the teachings of the church, much like the "neo-Catholics" as he calls them do. Nor must we fall into the rabbithole of sedevacantism by saying that since the pope favours heresy he is no longer pope. Both popes and doctors of the church have told us that popes can err, and that we must resist, and we must resist precisely because these people would otherwise lead to the damnation of souls.

One example he gave which was very illustrative was this: If a pope was to order that all the marble altars be destroyed within 72 hours, we would obviously think he is crazy and not pay attention to him. How much more then must we resist a pope who says we must destroy the Mass for which these altars were built?

I had not thought to put the issue in such blunt terms, but now that I have heard that analogy I shall not shy away from using it. I would suspect that most people would instinctively say, "No, we must not obey such a ridiculous directive!".

He connects this to the warnings of Fatima, which he says has been reduced to nothing more than self-coaching by those who do not want to give it the importance it is due, since it calls for all of us, including the states and the Church, to do quite a lot. The common good and the salvation of souls depends on us resisting those who would downplay Fatima, including the contentious 3rd Secret, and calling for Fatima to be more widely known and revered.

It is a very educational speech well worth one's precious time.