***Will Humanae Vitae Survive this Pope?
According to historian Robert de Mattei, Pope Francis has formed a commission to “re-interpret” Pope Paul VI’s encyclical upholding Church teaching against artificial birth control in the light of Francis’ disastrous apostolic letter, Amoris Laetitia (AL). Despite the fact that the ill effects predicted in the encyclical came to pass, the group is to restudy the issue and review archival documents including the birth control commission’s recommendation to approve contraception. De Mattei writes that, “On the subject of contraception, Paul VI expressed himself in Humanæ Vitæ (HV), in a manner which theologians judge as infallible and thus unmodifiable, not because the document in itself had the requisites of infallibility, but because it reaffirms a doctrine always proposed by the perennial Magisterium of the Church ….[Many theologians] explain how the doctrine of Humanæ Vitæ needs to be considered infallible, not in virtue of the act of its promulgation, but because it confirms the ordinary, universal Magisterim of Popes and the Bishops of the world. Monsignor Gilfredo Marengo, the prelate Pope Francis has entrusted with the task of reinterpreting HV, belongs, on the other hand, to the category of prelates who are convinced they are able to reconcile the irreconcilable. In September 2015, commenting in Vatican Insider on the work of the Synod on the Family, he suggested “abandoning a conception of the doctrinal patrimony of the Church as a closed system, impermeable to questions and provocations of the here and now, in which the Christian community is called to justify its faith, through its proclamation and testimony.”
***Francis & the Hermeneutic of Rupture! Since Francis began his pontificate in 2013 he has advanced a hermeneutic of rupture. (Hermeneutic is Greek for “interpreter” an hermeneuticsis is the art of finding Scripture’s true meaning.) Pope Benedict XVI called for a hermeneutic of continuity in harmony with the past in both doctrine and Tradition. But for at least two centuries, modernists and dissenters have opted to ditch doctrine and Tradition in exchange for progressive interpretations that “re-form” the Church according to liberal ideas. The Battle over HV in the 1960s illustrates the rupture. Dissenting theologians led by Charlie Curran attacked the perennial teachings on sexual morality. The battle continues today and is escalating since the release of AL. It now appears that Francis is planning to reinterpret HV on the 50th anniversary of its release, July 25, 2018. What will the “reinterpretation” involve? If the past is prologue to the future, it won’t be good news for orthodoxy.
***Satan’s Troops Want Contraception!
And they are working hard to get it. Start with the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research, a think tank “promoting gender equality and shared decision making in the Church.” Last September they presented a statement to the U.N. promoting contraception and urging pressure
on the Church to change her teaching. Among the signatories are many of the long-toothed dissenters from the 1960s including Charlie Curran, Gregory Baum, Sidney Callahan, and others affiliated with organizations that work to undermine sexual ethics, promote female ordination, and change the structure of the Church.
The good news: The same day Wijngaards released their statement, a group of Catholic Ph.D.s published an Affirmation of the Church’s Teaching on the Gift of Sexuality which has been signed by over 500 academics and others defending the authentic doctrine of the Catholic faith. Read it at http://trs.cua.edu/humanae-vitae/.
***While We’re Speaking of Human Life... Among the new members Pope Francis named to the Pontifical Academy for Life is University of Oxford Professor Nigel Biggar, an Anglican Minister who favors abortion. LifeSiteNews reporter, Pete Baklinski, writes, “The appointment of an academic who supports legal abortion to the Academy founded in 1994 by St. Pope John Paul II comes as a shock, especially given the Academy’s head, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, recently assuring…new members would be ‘truly representative of all who value life at all its stages.’” As of October 2016, members no longer must sign the Declaration of the Servants of Life to uphold Church teaching on life. http://www.academiavita.org/about_us_declaration.php
The document recognizes that every member of the human species is a person regardless of stage of life. Biggar, on the other hand, stated in 2011 that the baby in the womb is “not…the same kind of thing as an adult or a mature human being” and need not receive “quite the same treatment.” So how should they be treated? Like vegetables? Experimental rats? He also says that not all abortion is the same as murder. How does he figure out which are?
A second newly appointed member of the Academy, Rabbi Avraham Steinberg, approves of abortion in some cases. He says the “embryo” before 40 days lacks the “full status” of a human being. He also favors embryonic stem cell research and genetic screening to avoid conditions like Tay-sachs. What an irony that a Jew, presumably mindful of the Reich’s policy that Jews of any age lacked “full status” as human beings, should take such a position!
***Euthanasia Advocate also Named Vatican Head of the Academy, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, was quick to respond to criticism over Biggar’s appointment claiming he will not participate in abortion discussions – that he was chosen for his opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide. That would sound good except for the appointment of Fr. Maurizio Chiodi, a proponent of euthanasia. The blog, Rorate Caeli described him as “a theologian of the Northern Italian Theological Faculty of Milan, [who] has joined Italian euthanasia activists in supporting a bill that would legalize physician assisted suicide and/or euthanasia in certain cases….Fr. Chiodi also opposes the Church's perennial teaching on contraception. So will Fr. Chiodi not participate in the Academy’s discussions on euthanasia? This doesn’t pass the smell test.
***Gay Events for June in NYC Diocese! June may be the month celebrating the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but for some disordered Catholic churches in New York City, it’s all about gay pride. St. Francis of Assisi once again celebrated with their “weekend of inclusion and prayer.” The LGBT “ministry” at St. Francis is notorious for hosting events at gay bars and prominently displaying the rainbow flag, the sign of gay activism, in the sanctuary. The Gay Fellowship of Blessed Sacrament scheduled a gay dance party fundraiser to benefit, among other groups, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. The dance was being held in the parish hall. (The head of the BS fellowship, John Gasdaska, “married” his same-sex lover in 2016.) Out at St. Paul scheduled a Pride Mass June 22nd opposite the historic Stonewall Inn, scene of the 1969 violent Stonewall Riots when gays attacked police during a raid at the gay bar. The date is the traditional solemnity of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). It is ironic to think that the feast day celebrating Christ saying, “This is my BODY given up for you,” is being desecrated by those who say, “This is MY body and I’ll do whatever I want with it.” These aren’t the only churches in the New York archdiocese scandalizing the community with their affirmation of immoral homosexual acts. St. Francis de Sales and Church of the Ascension also sport gay ministries that are in conflict with Church teaching.
***Satan Fuels Liberal Hate and Violence!
Remember the old saying, “The devil made me do it.” Well, he doesn’t. The devil can never override our free will. But he can tempt us to do it and he can certainly prod our dispositions to evil, especially when we weaken our intellect and will with sinful habits.
The devil also has helpers and one group working every month to bolster his evil are covens of witches. No joke! They began in February invoking Satan to bind President Trump and all his supporters. Have you noticed the increase in liberal violence and hate since the inauguration. It reached a crescendo in June with the Kathy Griffin beheading photo, the Central Park Julius Caesar Trump assassination and, finally, the shooting in Alexandria at the baseball field. Since the person most seriously injured, Congressman Steve Scalise, is the most pro-Trump member of Congress, one wonders if the witches’ curse played a part. Was James Hodgkinson, the gunman, spurred on by satanic activity promoted by the witches’ spells as he pursued his mission to kill as many Republicans as possible? And what evil will come next? A Democrat strategist in New Jersey, James Devine, reacted to the Alexandria park shooting by tweeting #Hunt RepublicanCongressmen and #HuntRepublicans. After criticism, he doubled down justifying his call to violence and blaming Republicans. It’s always somebody else’s fault with liberals. But Devine’s getting his 15 minutes of fame which may be what he was after. In response to this evil it’s important to pray the St. Michael prayer often throughout the day especially for President Trump, his staff and administration, and conservative politicians targeted for violence by the inflammatory rhetoric of Democrats and their mainstream media allies.
***A “God-Incident” for Steve Scalise! There’s no such thing as coincidence in the Catholic life, so it was no surprise to find that Congressman Scalise’s associate pastor was in D.C. the day of the shooting. Fr. Hedrick rushed to the hospital after calling Scalise’s wife in Louisiana to assure her he would be there. Read about it on the blog and praise God for His Provident care for the congressman and his family. It is reminiscent of the shooting of Pope John Paul II. See: https://lesfemmes-thetruth.blogspot.com/2017/06/catholic-steve-scalise-watched-over-by.html