How Holy Mother Church teaches her children…

What are Catholics Bound to Believe?

These days it is very fashionable — among those who acknowledge Jorge Bergoglio as a valid Pope, yet try to adhere to the immemorial Catholic Faith — to minimize what Catholics are required and permitted to believe by restricting it to those things that were taught by the Church prior to the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, plus a few select doctrines and ideas that they have privately judged to be “in conformity with Tradition”, as their jargon usually goes. As for the rest, that is declared to be either impermissible or at least “utterly non-binding”, to stay with the typical recognize-and-resist lingo, in defiance of the official teaching of the people they claim are the present-day Catholic authorities.… READ MORE

How the Church exercises her Magisterium

What are Catholics Bound to Believe?

Excerpt from Essentials and Non-Essentials of the Catholic Religion
by Rev. Henry George Hughes
(1906)


What are Catholics Bound to Believe?

The general answer to this question may be put thus: Catholics are bound to believe whatever God has revealed and the Church proposes to them as to be believed. That a man is strictly obliged to assent to anything which he is convinced has been revealed by Almighty God need not be said; it needs no proof for those who believe that there is a God and that He has made a revelation to men.… READ MORE

More misleading info from popular R&R icon…

Was Pope John XII “Deposed”?
A Refutation of Prof. Roberto de Mattei

The Italian historian Professor Roberto de Mattei enjoys immense popularity among conservative Novus Ordos and semi-traditionalists because he comes with the pedigree of a being an academic who has taught and written books on ecclesiastical history, and because he continually reassures them through his writings and lectures that their convenient “recognize-and-resist” (R&R) position is the correct alternative to submitting to Circus Bergoglio or rejecting Francis as a false pope.

The Catholic doctrine on the Papacy, however, admits of no such thing as recognizing a Pope as legitimate while refusing submission to him.… READ MORE

What accepting Bergoglio gets you…

OnePeterFive: “We all have to face this fear above all fears: that Catholicism may be wrong”

The web site One Peter Five is a popular destination for recognize-and-resist traditionalists and conservative Novus Ordos who prefer the Traditional Latin Mass, are uneasy with Vatican II, and can’t take Francis’ theological junk anymore — and who, of course, want to find reassurance that they should not be sedevacantists.

The site brands itself as “rebuilding Catholic culture” and “restoring Catholic Tradition”, which makes for a great tagline across its masthead. Unfortunately, One Peter Five’s executive director and editor Steve Skojec apparently thinks he can do either while kicking traditional Catholic theology to the curb.… READ MORE

Fr. Frederick Faber’s warning…

What will make the Antichrist so Deceptive?

Fr. Frederick W. Faber (1814-1863) warned his flock

Although the person of the Antichrist is perhaps not yet in our world, it is clear that the mystery of iniquity that will culminate in his arrival has been at work ever since the fall of Lucifer, and has never been more active than in our own day.

In his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, St. Paul the Apostle warned: “For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Th 2:7).… READ MORE

In light of Catholic teaching on the Papacy, that is…

A Challenge to Recognize-and-Resist Apologists: Is it a Mortal Sin to adhere to Francis’ Teachings?

The altar of the Chair of St. Peter in the Vatican

Day in and day out we hear from the recognizing-and-resisting semi-traditionalists that this or that error of Vatican II or the post-conciliar magisterium is “not binding.” In a recent live interview on YouTube, semi-trad darling John Salza repeated it once again.

For the sake of argument, we will accept that claim precisely as stated: Certain papal teaching is not binding. That means, of course, that it is optional to embrace — take it or leave it.… READ MORE

Borrowing his way out of debt…

Denying the Papacy to affirm Francis is Pope:
John Salza’s Conundrum

Affirming that Jorge Bergoglio (Francis) is a legitimate and valid Roman Pontiff comes at a hefty price: One has to deny the Catholic doctrine on the Papacy in return. Our Francis Papacy Test illustrates this very well, but in this post we wish to focus specifically on something John Salza said in a live interview on YouTube that aired on November 7.

There is a lot that ought to be said about Salza’s claims in the interview, but since he merely made assertions and did not prove anything in the video, we will take the liberty of addressing only one particular issue: the Catholic’s obligation to submit to all papal teaching, not merely that which is infallible or has “always been taught.”… READ MORE

Response to theological sophistry…

Is Francis the Pope?
A Devastating Refutation of Eric Sammons

Is Francis the Pope?

That is the question Eric Sammons asks in a recent article on the One Peter Five web site. Of course even without reading it you already know what his conclusion is; for were it anything other than affirmative, One Peter Five wouldn’t have published it to begin with. To test the merits of the author’s arguments is the purpose of this post.

Sammons’ essay “Is Francis the Pope?”, released on Oct. 29, 2019, follows a common pattern among writers of the recognize-and-resist (aka semi-traditionalist) camp: It’s got plenty to say but is woefully short on documenting assertions made from traditional Catholic teaching.… READ MORE

Walking together – towards hell…

Apostasy Rising: Vatican boldly promotes Evolution of Dogma in wake of Amazon Synod

After a turbulent Pan-Amazon Synod that included open idolatry in addition to the usual errors and heresies, the occupied Vatican clearly feels emboldened to take the next step in its relentless pursuit of apostasy and snuffing out the last remaining vestiges of Catholicism from souls haplessly caught up in its tentacles.

On Oct. 29, two days after the official close of the synod, Vatican Media published an article by Sergio Centofanti, entitled “Development of doctrine is a people that walks together”. As the idiotic title suggests, the content is anything but Catholic; in fact, it is openly Modernist.… READ MORE

Is Francis a “bad father but still your father”?

The “But we’ve had Bad Popes before” Objection

With the recent idolatrous, heretical, and blasphemous circus surrounding the Amazon Synod, Novus Ordo and semi-traditionalist authorities and apologists are once again offering false solutions to their hapless followers, solutions aimed at mostly one thing: the continued acceptance of Jorge Bergoglio (“Pope Francis”) as the Pope of the Catholic Church, no matter how absurd and indefensible the idea may be — for the only truly intolerable view for them is that of Sedevacantism.

One of the most common objections one hears against Sedevacantism is, “But we’ve had bad Popes before” or, “A bad father is still your father!”… READ MORE

Or: How to borrow your way out of debt…

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski on how to be a Catholic in the Vatican II Church

(stock photo)

As we all know, Jorge Bergoglio is making life difficult for those who believe he is the Pope yet also try to practice Catholicism. For this reason, more and more pundits are popping up that try to keep such people from either concluding that Catholicism is false (a noble endeavor, obviously) or from concluding that Francis just isn’t a valid Pope (a not-so-noble endeavor that comes with tragic consequences).

One such popular “answer man” is Dr.… READ MORE

“We are true friends of Pope Francis”…

Creative Fidelity: Burke & Schneider try to justify their “Loyal Opposition”

They prefer pre-Bergoglian Modernism: Mr. Raymond Burke and Mr. Athanasius Schneider

On the second anniversary of that much-hyped but predictably ineffective “Filial Correction”, two of the most outspoken critics of “Pope” Francis in the Novus Ordo hierarchy, “Cardinal” Raymond Burke and “Bishop” Athanasius Schneider, have once again published a document addressing the magisterial errors of their “Pope” and explaining their stance.

On Sep. 24, 2019, Messrs. Burke and Schneider issued a 3-page text entitled “A Clarification about the Meaning of Fidelity to the Supreme Pontiff.”… READ MORE

 October 5 Event in Rome

The True and the False Passion of the Church:

 Comments on a Public Prayer Gathering in Rome against Bergoglianism

In Italy, conservative members of the Vatican II Church are planning a gathering of public prayer for the Church at a location very close to the Vatican. It is scheduled for Oct. 5, the day before the dreaded Amazon Synod begins, and it coincides with a conference announced by Pan-Amazon Synod Watch, “Amazonia: the Stakes”, which will be held on the same day in Rome. October 5 is also the day on which Francis will create the 13 terrifying new “cardinals” that were just announced.… READ MORE

Last part of our massive rebuttal of Andrew Fornak…

Peace in the Crisis?
Catholic Family News Promotes a Dangerous Tranquility
 (PART 3)

by Francis del Sarto

[NOTE: This is Part 3 of a response to a series of articles that the author has since withdrawn and that Catholic Family News has removed from its web site. As a courtesy, we have changed the name of the original author to the pseudonym “Andrew Fornak”.]

CONTINUED FROM PART 2

This analysis is a response to the conclusion of Part II along with Part III of Andrew Fornak’s Catholic Family News article series “Finding Peace in the Crisis”.… READ MORE

Not ‘recognize-and-resist’…

Recognize-and-OBEY is the Traditional Catholic Teaching

The sedevacantist blogger Steven Speray has recently released an important blog post we are happy to republish on this web site, with his permission. It concerns the foundational belief of those who try to be traditional Catholics while believing the “Popes” after Pius XII to be valid and true Vicars of Christ — the so-called “recognize-and-resist” position (R&R).


Pope Pius XI Squashes the Recognize-and-Resist Position

by Steve Speray (Aug. 27, 2019)

Can the faithful recognize and resist the pope? I dealt with this question in a 2015 article. However, I recently stumbled upon some teachings from Pope Pius XI that castigate the recognize-and-resist theology.… READ MORE