The True and the False Passion of the Church: Comments on a Public Prayer Event against Bergoglianism

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.

The veteran Vatican journalist Marco Tosatti advertised the campaign on his web site on Sep. 6 by posting a letter (in Italian) from one “Fr. Giuseppe” sharing information about the gathering. Life Site has posted this English translation:

Dear Tosatti,

On October 5, 2019 at 2:30 p.m., a gathering of public prayer for the Church will be held in Largo Giovanni XIII [sic — should say XXIII], Rome. This powerful gesture comes in response to a common sentiment: The Church is going through her Passion.

This Passion dates back well before 2013, as Benedict XVI himself has said on several occasions. The last two years of his pontificate were also a time of intense suffering for believers; the obstacles placed along his path by open or hidden enemies were evident to all.

Yet Benedict somehow acted as a dam (perhaps, in some way, he is still doing so today), but after his resignation the flood arrived.

Today this is clear to everyone, but it took time to become aware of it. In April 2018, I decided to go to a conference in Rome titled “Catholic Church, where are you going?” held in honor of [deceased] Cardinal Carlo Caffarra. Only a few people from my prayer group came with me, and yet the success of that event convinced me that something was starting to happen.

When, on the other hand, I announced the October 5 meeting to my prayer group, in approximately the same words used by those who had first spoken to me about it (“The time has come for public prayer, offered with a supernatural vision and spirit, because the Church belongs to God and not to men…”), they answered me with one voice: “We will be there!”

Nothing more really needs to be said. Over time the need for a more powerful act on the human and religious level, and one more effective than the “usual” conference, has matured in the hearts of many people. Therefore, we will do so, knowing that the Lord “needs” us, and everyone, to save his barque [the Church]. I also invite your readers to mobilize. We will give all believers a sign of hope, by praying to Our Lady for our beloved Church.

Thank you for hosting my letter,

Fr. Giuseppe

(Translation by Diane Montagna; in “Catholics to gather near Vatican next month to pray for Church in her hour of crisis”, Life Site, Sep. 6, 2019.)

A Facebook page for this endeavor has also been created, and there a more detailed flyer (in English) has been posted there (click on image for larger version):

Taking the advertisement at face value, and leaving aside for the moment that this is done by people who are looking not for pre-1959 Catholicism but for the pre-2013 Novus Ordo religion, one can at least recognize the apparent good will behind the effort. These people mean to be good Catholics, and in all their confusion they’re at least doing something, and it’s something that in itself can never be wrong: They’re crying out to God for supernatural help, however misguided some of their ideas or principles may be. Alas, the fact that they chose as the location for their event the Largo Giovanni XXIII — an open square named after “Pope” John XXIII, the Modernist who started the whole mess — does not bode well.

There is one detail mentioned in the letter about the prayer event that deserves particular attention. The author notes that there is a “common sentiment: The Church is going through her Passion.”

This notion of a Mystical Passion of the Church seems to have been gaining more and more popularity among Novus Ordos and semi-traditionalists as of late, probably because they see it as a spiritual and apocalyptic concept that allows for the current state of affairs under “Pope” Francis, Jorge Bergoglio. Because of this, it will probably soon begin to be used by bloggers and other commentators in place of the hackneyed phrases “smoke of Satan” and “diabolical disorientation”, both of which have long passed their sell-by dates.

It is of the utmost importance, therefore, that we nip any false ideas about an Ecclesiastical Passion in the bud so as to keep people from remaining trapped inside the loathsome Vatican II religion, thinking that because of this Passion they can or must continue to accept Francis as a true Pope while rejecting the religion he stands for and teaches to his followers.

As we have touched upon this topic a few times before on this web site, we would first like to refer interested readers to the following material already published:

The concept of a kind of Passion of the Mystical Body of Christ was explicitly taught by Pope Pius XII in his encyclical letter on the Church:

From the outset it should be noted that the society established by the Redeemer of the human race resembles its divine Founder who was persecuted, calumniated and tortured by those very men whom He had undertaken to save. We do not deny, rather from a heart filled with gratitude to God We admit, that even in our turbulent times there are many who, though outside the fold of Jesus Christ, look to the Church as the only haven of salvation; but We are also aware that the Church of God not only is despised and hated maliciously by those who shut their eyes to the light of Christian wisdom and miserably return to the teachings, customs and practices of ancient paganism, but is ignored, neglected, and even at times looked upon as irksome by many Christians who are allured by specious error or caught in the meshes of the world’s corruption. In obedience, therefore, Venerable Brethren, to the voice of Our conscience and in compliance with the wishes of many, We will set forth before the eyes of all and extol the beauty, the praises, and the glory of Mother Church to whom, after God, we owe everything.

(Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Mystici Corporis, n. 3)

The Pope here is clearly and rightly drawing an analogy between the Catholic Church and the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the Son of God was persecuted and had to endure the greatest sufferings, so it must be for the Church, His Mystical Body. In other words, like her Divine Lord, the Church is the victim of the Passion, not the perpetrator. She suffers the Passion; she does not inflict it.

Yet, who or what is responsible for this great apostasy currently afflicting souls under the banner of Catholicism? It is the “Popes” after Pius XII (i.e. since 1958) and the strange New Church they have concocted!

If we want to look for a label Divine Revelation ascribes to the power that perennially persecutes the Church, there is one that stands out: Antichrist. St. John the Apostle warned the faithful directly: “…Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us.…” (1 Jn 2:18-19). It is interesting that St. John states that “they went out from us”, i.e. they were once part of the True Church but then defected into heresy or apostasy. And St. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, pointed out that this persecuting power is the “operation of error” that God would send “to believe lying: that all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity” (2 Thess 2:10-11).

Is it too difficult to see that the “operation of error” is the false Vatican II Church, which seeks to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect (cf. Mt 24:24)? Certainly, the “operation of error” can never be the true Catholic Church herself, for she is supernaturally assisted by God and miraculously preserved by Him, for His glory and the salvation of souls:

In fact, only a miracle of that divine power could preserve the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, from blemish in the holiness of Her doctrine, law, and end in the midst of the flood of corruption and lapses of her members. Her doctrine, law and end have produced an abundant harvest. The faith and holiness of her children have brought forth the most salutary fruits. Here is another proof of her divine life: in spite of a great number of pernicious opinions and great variety of errors (as well as the vast army of rebels) the Church remains immutable and constant, “as the pillar and foundation of truth”, in professing one identical doctrine, in receiving the same Sacraments, in her divine constitution, government, and morality….

(Pope St. Pius X, Encyclical Editae Saepe, n. 8; underlining added.)

Our Blessed Lord has given His Church this protection especially through one man — one office — that He endowed with an unfailing Faith: the Pope (cf. Lk 22:32-32; Mt 16:18). He is the Vicar of Christ, the successor of St. Peter, and his faith “so far neither has failed, nor up to the end will fail” (Pope St. Leo IX, Apostolic Letter In Terra Pax; Denz. 351).

Thus it is precisely through her true Popes that the Church is safely guarded from error and heresy until the end of time:

From these events men should realize that all attempts to overthrow the “House of God” are in vain. For this is the Church founded on Peter, “Rock,” not merely in name but in truth. Against this “the gates of hell will not prevail” [Mt 16:18] “for it is founded on a rock” [Mt 7:25; Lk 6:48]. There has never been an enemy of the Christian religion who was not simultaneously at wicked war with the See of Peter, since while this See remained strong the survival of the Christian religion was assured. As St. Irenaeus proclaims openly to all, “by the order and succession of the Roman pontiffs the tradition from the Apostles in the Church and the proclamation of the truth has come down to us. And this is the fullest demonstration that it is the one and the same life-giving faith which has been preserved in the Church until now since the time of the Apostles and has been handed on in truth” [Adversus haereses, bk. 3, chap. 3].

(Pope Pius VII, Encyclical Diu Satis, n. 6; underlining added.)

Pope Leo XII made clear that human weakness cannot vitiate Christ’s promises in a true Pope, that “his high rank does not fail even in an unworthy heir” (Encyclical Ubi Primum, n. 22).

Pope Leo XIII summed it up succinctly when he taught that “the strong and effective instrument of salvation is none other than the Roman Pontificate” (Allocution for the 25th Anniversary of his Election, Feb. 20, 1903; excerpted in Papal Teachings: The Church, n. 653).

The traditional Catholic teaching, then, is that the Pope is the guarantor of orthodoxy, and therefore he can never be its ruin!

If, therefore, the Catholic Church is undergoing her Passion today — and there can be no doubt that this is so — then the perpetrator is most definitely not a true Pope but an impostor! The true Pope must be the victim of the persecution, not its chief protagonist! The Pope is the Vicar of Jesus Christ, not of Judas Iscariot!

Just as our Blessed Lord died as a result of His Sacred Passion, only to rise again gloriously a few days later, so in the Passion of the Mystical Body the Pope is taken away for a short time: “Then Jesus said to them: All you shall be scandalized in me this night. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed” (Mt 26:31; cf. Zac 13:7).

That the Pope himself would be taken out of the way for a while was prophesied in 2 Thess 2:3-7:

Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way.

In 1861, Cardinal Henry Edward Manning explained at length what Catholic Tradition says about the end of days, about the persecution of the Church, about the Great Apostasy, and about the role of the Pope on the one hand and that of the Antichrist on the other. Readers who have not already done so are strongly encouraged to read the post we have published presenting salient excerpts of Cardinal Manning’s lectures on this topic:

The Pope and the Antichrist: Cardinal Manning explains the coming Great Apostasy

The Passion of the Church is a most intriguing topic, but it is important to understand what it is and isn’t, so we are not misled, in accordance with St. Paul’s warning: “Let no man deceive you by any means…” (2 Th 2:3).

In short: The true Passion of the Church consists of Catholics, including the Pope, being betrayed, persecuted, humiliated, scourged, calumniated, tortured, and/or killed by the enemies of Christ, His Church, and His Vicar; the false “Passion of the Church” would have the Church herself defect and poison and persecute her own children, with the “Pope” leading the charge. The Church would thus have been derailed from her divine mission, and Christ’s promises would have been made void. That is blasphemy and most certainly not compatible with traditional Catholic doctrine!

Returning one more time to the scheduled prayer gathering on Oct. 5: The day prior to this event, a number of conservative and semi-traditionalist talking heads will come together for a livestreamed round-table discussion in Rome, sponsored by Voice of the Family. With his recently-released book Infiltration — of which we will post a substantial critique soon –, Taylor Marshall naturally assured himself a spot at that table. Other participants include John-Henry Westen, Roberto de Mattei, Michael Matt, and Michael Voris, among others. It may be surmised that, while they will be addressing “critical questions for the Church” and exchange all kinds of ideas, the one thing they will all agree on is that Francis is Pope — at least until “Cardinal” Burke tells them otherwise. Thus they will once again be rejecting from the outset the only key that can unravel the whole mess.

By the way: We Sedevacantists, too, must never fail to give prayer its proper place. It is not enough to expose, complain about, or suffer the tragic state of Holy Mother Church, we must also actively pray for God to hasten to bring it to an end and restore the Church to her rightful glory. Recall how, when St. Peter was imprisoned, an angel came to free him from his chains. However, this did not happen without the intercessory prayer of the Church: “Peter therefore was kept in prison. But prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him” (Acts 12:5).

Why don’t we likewise engage in “prayer … without ceasing”, for the Mystical Passion of the Church to come to an end? One effective way to do that is for people to join the perpetual Rosary novena that asks God to provide us with a true Pope. Sign up here and join other Sedevacantists around the world in prayer for a true Pope.

And may God hasten the demise of this abominable “Church of Darkness” that has spread itself like a cancer over the dome of St. Peter’s!

Image source: shutterstock.com / own creation, spoof of Dunkin Donuts / facebook.com
License: paid / fair use / fair use

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The True and the False Passion of the Church: Comments on a Public Prayer Event against Bergoglianism