Papal address of June 24, 1939…
Pope Pius XII Against Modern Errors on the Church
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One of the main services Novus Ordo Watch tries to render to the public is the making available of, or raising awareness concerning, Catholic magisterial texts that are not widely known or have not before been published online in English. There is a wealth of pre-Vatican II papal teaching ‘on the books’ that, unfortunately, is largely unknown even to traditional Catholics; thus we are trying to do our part to help remedy this situation. Thankfully, with recent advances in technology, discovering, translating, and spreading it has become easier and easier.
One such hardly-known magisterial nugget is a magnificent address given by Pope Pius XII to ecclesiastical students and seminarians in Rome on June 24, 1939 — only about three-and-a-half months after his election to the Papacy. Published in the official Acta Apostolicae Sedis (Acts of the Apostolic See), it bears the title Sollemnis Conventus and is of some length, but it is a joy to read and contains important teachings.
Among the passages that are of the greatest interest to our times we may perhaps number the following (interspersed with some brief remarks by us):
However, no individual should presume to act as a teacher in the Church (cf. Benedict XV [Ad Beatissimi, n. 22], AAS, VI, 1914, p. 576), nor should anyone demand more from others than what is required by the Church, the universal teacher and mother of all (cf. Pius XI [Studiorum Ducem, n. 30], AAS, XV, 1923, p. 324).
Note well, Dr. Peter Kwasniewski and all you other self-appointed recognize-and-resist ‘defenders of the Faith’ who defiantly oppose the very magisterium of the men you claim have been valid Popes of the Catholic Church in the last six decades!
It is also essential that you present the truth in a manner that is clearly understood and appreciated, always employing language that is precise and unambiguous, while avoiding unnecessary and harmful changes of expression that could easily distort the substance of the truth. This has always been the practice and usage of the Catholic Church.
Here Pius XII is condemning what would turn out to be the hallmark of Vatican II and post-conciliar theology: deliberate obfuscation, ambiguity, and vagueness so as to create confusion and doubt and allow heresy and other doctrinal poison to enter by this means. The last six decades have borne this out.
Even the discipline of canon law is oriented toward the salvation of souls, and all its norms and laws are ultimately directed toward the goal of enabling men to live and die in the sanctifying grace of God.
Here Pius XII is reminding us of the ultimate purpose for the Church’s laws: the salvation of souls. To that end, the Church teaches that her own universal laws are infallibly safe:
The universal disciplines and ecclesiastical laws of the Vatican II Church, on the other hand, are not only not safe, they are sometimes even downright heretical, sacrilegious, or harmful in some other way. Examples include ‘Pope’ Paul VI’s permission to assist actively at the Masses of the Eastern Orthodox religion, the 1983 Code of Canon Law‘s permission for baptized non-Catholics to receive Catholic sacraments in some circumstances, and the 1993 Ecumenical Directory‘s legislation that Catholic churches and even sacred vessels may be lent to Protestants for their liturgical ceremonies (see n. 137).
Lastly, Pius XII also explains the importance of loyal adherence to the Pope, and he repudiates the idea of distinguishing the ‘juridical Church’ from the ‘Church of love’:
Finally, if you wish to grow in the love of Christ, you must cultivate filial obedience, trust, and love for the Vicar of Jesus Christ. For in him, you show reverence and obedience to Christ; in him Christ Himself is with you. It is a grave error to separate the juridical Church from the Church of charity. No; the same Church juridically established with the Pope at its head, is the Church of Christ, the Church of divine charity, the universal family of Christians.
During the false pontificate of Jorge Bergoglio (‘Pope Francis’), it became popular for recognize-and-resist apologists to distinguish an ‘official’ Church, which no longer holds the Faith, from the ‘faithful’ Church, to which they (of course) belong — all the while insisting that the hierarchy of the official Church is the legitimate Roman Catholic hierarchy.
The American publication The Remnant has been at the forefront of this schizophrenic ecclesiology for quite some time. Here are some examples:
- True Catholic Church or Diabolical Counter-Church? Analyzing The Remnant’s Absurd Theology
- Denouncing “Newchurch”: Another Theological Train Wreck from ‘The Remnant’
- Video: A Critique of the False Recognize-and-Resist Ecclesiology of Michael Matt and ‘The Remnant’
Thus far our exposition of, and commentary on, various excerpts from Pope Pius XII’s eloquent and edifying address given on June 24, 1939, now available in English online. Please be sure to read the full text here:
The address Sollemnis Conventus was given almost exactly four years before the release of the same Pope’s majestic encyclical letter on the Church, Mystici Corporis Christi. In it, Pius XII declares:
…We deplore and condemn the pernicious error of those who dream of an imaginary Church, a kind of society that finds its origin and growth in charity, to which, somewhat contemptuously, they oppose another, which they call juridical. But this distinction which they introduce is false: for they fail to understand that the reason which led our Divine Redeemer to give to the community of man He founded the constitution of a Society, perfect of its kind and containing all the juridical and social elements — namely, that He might perpetuate on earth the saving work of Redemption — was also the reason why He willed it to be enriched with the heavenly gifts of the Paraclete. The Eternal Father indeed willed it to be the “kingdom of the Son of his predilection” [Col 1:13]; but it was to be a real kingdom, in which all believers should make Him the entire offering of their intellect and will, and humbly and obediently model themselves on Him, Who for our sake “was made obedient unto death” [Phil 2:8]. There can, then, be no real opposition or conflict between the invisible mission of the Holy Spirit and the juridical commission of Ruler and Teacher received from Christ, since they mutually complement and perfect each other — as do the body and soul in man — and proceed from our one Redeemer who not only said as He breathed on the Apostles “Receive ye the Holy Spirit” [Jn 20:22], but also clearly commanded: “As the Father hath sent me, I also send you” [Jn 20:21]; and again: “He that heareth you heareth me” [Lk 10:16].
(Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Mystici Corporis, n. 65; underlining added)
This puts more nails in the coffin of recognize-and-resist traditionalism, which posits the idea of a defected Church whose ‘real’ teachings are accepted, defended, and preserved only by (at least certain) traditionalists, who pray for the conversion of the Pope and the Apostolic See back to Catholicism. What madness!
As for us sedevacantists, it puts us before a great mystery, but one that does not cancel out Faith but only challenges it to become even stronger: “For we walk by faith, and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7).
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