February 19, 2016

Yes, The Pope Said Something Scandalous

So the pope held another interview on a plane. And, unfortunately, he said something scandalous. This is going to be a bit long, but I think it’s needed to make the following points: Yes, what he said is actually scandalous. No, seriously, it is actually scandalous. Just ignoring it is a disservice to souls. Here’s the question and answer from the interview in its entirety: Paloma García Ovejero, Cadena COPE (Spain): Holy Father, for several weeks there’s been a lot of concern in many Latin American countries but also in Europe regarding the Zika virus.

August 6, 2015

Oh, For Offspring's Sake!

As these situations especially affect children, we are aware of a greater urgency to foster a true welcome for these families in our communities. For how can we encourage these parents to raise their children in the Christian life, to give them an example of Christian faith, if we keep them at arm’s length? I am especially grateful to the many pastors, guided by my Predecessors, who have worked diligently to let these families know they are still a part of the Church.

June 22, 2015

Laudato Si and the Thumper Theorem

In the 1942 Disney animated film Bambi, the mother of Thumper makes sure the following lesson is instilled in her son: If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all. This “Thumper Theorem” is useful… right up until the moment when you encounter statements that intentionally obfuscate the truths of the faith, or even seem to savor of heresy. You can’t say anything nice about evil. It’s evil.

July 2, 2014

A Priest Who “Sees the Dead”? Dead Wrong

Over on his blog, Fr. Dwight Longenecker relates how he knew a priest who could see the dead. Not on demand, presumably, but it supposedly did happen this one time. If you have not read the post, well, you’d be better off if you don’t. If you have, know that it has a few dangerous misconceptions in it that I would like to put into perspective below. So What, Objectively, Happened?

June 15, 2014

Spot Modernism #2 - Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences Edition

Fr. Bernard Ardura, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, recently gave an interview about Pope St. Pius X. Let’s see if what he has to say about this great pope is tainted with modernism. Pope Pius X Was a “Reformer” For Modernism During his pontificate he was a very important reformer, but between his reformative activities, he also had to intervene on doctrine-related issues, as he was facing a difficult movement, called modernism.

May 13, 2014

The Hermeneutic of Continuity is Bunk

The hermeneutic of continuity, sometimes called the hermeneutic of reform in continuity, is incoherent. Instead of following this interpretation of Vatican II documents, we should hold the documents to the standard put forth by Catholic Tradition. Definition(s) The hermeneutic of continuity surprisingly admits of two definitions. The Council documents must be understood in the light of Traditional Catholic doctrine. The Council documents already stand in continuity with Traditional Catholic doctrine, and the only way to see it is to apply this hermeneutic.

May 8, 2014

St. John The Evangelist Evangelizes a Youth

From Chapter 23, Book III of Eusebius' Church History: Listen to a tale, which is not a mere tale, but a narrative concerning John the apostle, which has been handed down and treasured up in memory. For when, after the tyrant’s death, he returned from the isle of Patmos to Ephesus, he went away upon their invitation to the neighboring territories of the Gentiles, to appoint bishops in some places, in other places to set in order whole churches, elsewhere to choose to the ministry some one of those that were pointed out by the Spirit.

May 7, 2014

Spot Modernism #1

Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, recently gave an interview to a weekly magazine. Let’s see if we can apply some of the lessons learned from reading Pascendi Dominici Gregis to his statements. “The Church is not timeless” The Church is not timeless, she lives amidst the vicissitudes of history and the Gospel must be known and experienced by people today. We can see that no objective, undying truth of the Church is admitted here.

May 5, 2014

St. Pius X on the Attack

After fleshing out the tactics of the Modernists, Pope St. Pius X outlines a plan of attack for his papacy to combat Modernists. He acknowledges that Pope Leo XIII had fought Modernists, but the Modernists were able to twist the words of the Pontiff and convince others that he really was talking about others, not themselves. But St. Pius X realizes that more efficacious measures are needed. He implores all bishops, pastors of souls, educators and professors of clerics, and in a very special way the superiors of religious communities to help him in taking the following actions:

May 3, 2014

Modernism In Action

After spelling out the causes of Modernism, Pope St. Pius X tackles the tactics of Modernists. He lumps them under two umbrellas: removing obstacles that prevent them from deluding the minds of men, and patiently applying every resource at their disposal. Removing Obstacles There are three large obstacles upon which Modernists wage unrelenting war: the scholastic method of philosophy the authority and tradition of the Church Fathers the magisterium of the Church Scholastic Philosophy Pius X has already mentioned in passing that by abandoning Scholasticism Modernists have left themselves without the tools to defend themselves from ignorance and intellectual error.

April 30, 2014

Causes of Modernism

Moral Causes With an eye to coming up with a suitable remedy for Modernism, Pius X takes up its causes in §40 of Pascendi. He lists three moral causes: one proximate, and two remote. In a series of causal events, where one thing causes the next, the proximate cause is the cause right before the final thing in the chain. So whatever else in the causal chain leads up to Modernism, the nearest and most immediate cause of Modernism is an error of the mind.

April 29, 2014

Modernism, Agnosticism, and Atheism

After defining Modernism as the synthesis of all heresies, Pope St. Pius X turns to discussion of how the agnosticism of the Modernist philosophy leads to atheism. Agnosticism bars man from approaching God through the intellect. Remember, it says that God is completely unknowable from reason. Instead, it proposes that a better way of approaching God is through “a certain sense of the soul and action”. But in reality (not in Modernism), the sense of the soul is the soul’s response to what the intellect or the senses set before it.

April 3, 2014

Modernism Is A System

The first thing that Pope Saint Pius X discusses after laying out the seven personalities of Modernists is to reiterate that Modernism is not a bunch of “scattered and unconnected theories”, but is a complete and integrated system. (§39) When you admit but one principle of Modernism, you cannot help but admit all of the Modernist principles. It is in this section that Pius famously defines Modernism to be “the synthesis of all heresies.

April 1, 2014

April Fool's Day Fathers Lies

Every first day of April, the internet becomes more unreliable than usual as people post falsehoods in the name of humor. Sites that normally traffic in the truth choose to pull a fast one on their readers. At the end of the prank, the reader is supposed to realize that they’ve been duped, and a good laugh is to be had by all. While satire has its place, satire is best presented as satire up front.

March 31, 2014

The Modernist Reformer

The last personality of the Modernist is the Reformer. Pope St. Pius X spends only one section on this personality, and it is basically just a list of everything that the Modernists want to reform: Philosophy, especially in the seminaries Scholastic philosophy ought to be abandoned as too absolutist, in contrast to modern philosophy which is better suited to the times. Theology Rational theology should be based on modern philosophy, and postive theology on the history of dogma.

March 29, 2014

The Modernist Apologist

An apologist for the Church defends Her and Her faith from all who would argue against them. Over the centuries, many sound arguments have been advanced by Catholics to aid in this defense. The Modernist apologist does not use traditional arguments from reliable sources, but instead bases his defense upon the history produced by Modernist historians. He uses two types of arguments: objective and subjective. Objective Approach The objective approach to Modernist apologetics starts from (you guessed it) agnosticism.

March 28, 2014

The Modernist Critic

The Modernist critic synthesizes Modernist history and philosophy to produce his criticism, which ends up butchering Scripture. The critic starts by taking his data from the Modernist historian. (§31) Whatever is left after the historian has made his mark is considered real history; whatever has been explained away is considered the history of faith. So, continuing with the focus on Christ, the critic distinguishes between the Christ who lived in a particular time and place (considered real) and the Christ of faith, who comes from pious meditations of the believer (such a critic would consider the Gospel of St.

March 27, 2014

The Modernist Historian

The Modernist historian does not want to be seen as a philosopher. They want their historical practice to appear objective, untainted by a philosophy. But their historical practice is full of their philosophy, and “their historico-critical conclusions are the natural outcome of their philosophical principles.” (§30) Like the philosopher, the historian starts with agnosticism. Agnosticism means that the Modernist historian removes God from being an actor in history. History deals entirely in phenomena, just like science.