It’s the Catholic traditions his sect holds in contempt…
Robert Prevost (Leo XIV) Echoes John Paul II:
Church Has ‘Deepest Respect’ For Pagan Traditions
Freedom Under Grace is the title of a book that was just released by Penguin Random House. It is a collection of writings, speeches, and sermons given by the Rev. Robert Francis Prevost (now ‘Pope Leo XIV’) during his time as Prior General of Order of St. Augustine (2001-2013).
The compilation bears the subtitle, “Reflections on the Spiritual Tradition That Formed Me”. The foreword was written by Rev. Joseph Lawrence Farrell, O.S.A., the current Augustinian superior. An Italian edition had already been released by the Vatican Publishing House on May 4 of this year, under the title Liberi sotto la Grazia.
Vatican News writes that the book “brings together the Holy Father’s reflections on the legacy of St. Augustine that have shaped his spirituality and vision for the world.” A report by Crux notes that Prevost’s “writings draw deeply on the teachings of St. Augustine.”
The addresses, writings, and homilies are ordered chronologically, but the book also includes a list of the contents ordered thematically, as follows:
- Prayer, the Interior Life, and the Search for God
- Life in Community
- Social Justice
- Mission and Evangelization
- The Church in the World
- Education
- Leadership
- Unity and Diversity
- Hope
- The Global Church
- Conversion and Renewal
In the present post, we want to take a brief look at something Prevost said in his September 2010 address for the beginning of the Intermediate General Chapter, which was held in Malolos, Philippines. It was the first time that a general chapter of the Augustinians had been held on the Asian continent.
Then-‘Fr.’ Prevost quotes from ‘Pope’ John Paul II‘s post-synodal exhortation on the Church in Asia, of which the following portion is the most egregious:
Asia is also the cradle of the world’s major religions—Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It is the birthplace of many other spiritual traditions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhism and Shintoism. Millions also espouse traditional or tribal religions, with varying degrees of structured ritual and formal religious teaching. The Church has the deepest respect for these traditions and seeks to engage in sincere dialogue with their followers. The religious values they teach await their fulfilment in Jesus Christ.
(Antipope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, n. 6; quoted by Robert F. Prevost, Address of the Prior General at the Beginning of the Intermediate General Chapter, Sep. 2010; in Prevost/Leo XIV, Freedom Under Grace.)
So here John Paul II, and also Bob Prevost by quoting him approvingly, declare that the Vatican II Church “has the deepest respect” for the “spiritual traditions” of Paganism, especially “Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhism and Shintoism”. Good to know!
Let’s have a quick look at what some of those traditions are or entail:
(1) Zoroastrianism
The main god worshipped by Zoroastrians is Ahura Mazda. “Fire (atar) is held by Zoroastrians to be particularly sacred as a symbol of Ahura Mazda himself, serving as a focal point of many ceremonies and rituals, and serving as the basis for Zoroastrian places of worship, which are known as fire temples”, Wikipedia notes. Shown above is a common Zoroastrian symbol known as the ‘Faravahar’, as it is found on the facade of the Fire Temple of Yazd, Iran.
(2) Buddhism
(image credit: Khaled El Adawy / Shutterstock.com)
A shrine/altar to Guan Yin, one of the ‘enlightened’ beings in Buddhism. Food and drink are among typical offerings made to this entity. As a so-called ‘bodhisattva’, Guan Yin is venerated for being “a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or bodhi in order to compassionately help other individuals reach Buddhahood.”
(3) Taoism
Taoism includes a practice called ‘Feng Shui’. It is a form of divination called ‘geomancy’. According to a pre-Vatican II Catholic morality manual (see n. 2284 here), such divination explicitly invokes a demon by means of an irrational medium, such as the luopan/geomantic compass displayed above.
(4) Sikhism
(image credit: GIACOMO MORINI / Shutterstock.com)
The holiest site in Sikhism is the ‘Sri Harmandir Sahib’, or Golden Temple, shown above. It is located in Amritsar, India. The water that surrounds it is known as the ‘Amrit Sarovar’, or Pool of Immortal Nectar. It is used for ritual baths. A Sikh blog explains: “Today the Golden Temple remains the luminous heart of the Sikh world: where kirtan has resonated unbroken for centuries, where langar daily rescinds hunger and hierarchy, and where the Guru Granth Sahib presides not merely as scripture but as eternal living Guru.” Got it?
(5) Shintoism
(image credit: SHISEI / Shutterstock.com)
Adherents of the Shinto religion believe in ‘kami’, which are “deities, divinities, spirits, and mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated” by them. In the photo above, we see Shinto priests in a procession, presumably on their way to worship the kami.
(6) Confucianism
(image credit: Isnany / Shutterstock.com)
‘Ceng Beng’ (or ‘Qingming’) is an annual activity for Confucianists, during which they leave food and drink at the graves of their ancestors so as to ‘provide’ for them. Bon appetit!
(7) Jainism
The above image is an illustration of Mahavir Jayanti, the founder of Jainism. Jains believe in ‘samsara’, which is “mundane existence, a life full of suffering and misery, … considered undesirable and worth renouncing.” The goal of life is to achieve ‘moksha’, the blissful state of being liberated from samsara.
For all of these pagan traditions, the Counterfeit Church of Vatican II currently being run by ‘Pope’ Leo XIV has tremendous respect, admiration, and openness.
For Roman Catholic Tradition (and traditions), by contrast, there is little to no respect.
In fact, in an address given on Sep. 22, 2003, then-Fr. Prevost unceremoniously rejected the idea that a return to Roman Catholic liturgical tradition would be a wise idea to counter the vocations crisis: “The cold and expressionless liturgies of the past, with homilies that do not touch the lived experience of our listeners, provide no meaning and are not a source of inspiration” for the young, he claimed in a speech for the opening of the Meeting of the Augustinian Circumscriptions of Europe (see Freedom Under Grace, p. 95, Kindle edition).
As inconsistent as it may seem at first to esteem pagan traditions while frowning on Catholic Tradition and traditions, it actually makes sense. After all, traditional Roman Catholicism detests paganism and seeks the conversion of those who are unhappily ensnared in it. Therefore, one can only do the one or the other: either venerate Catholic Tradition and reject paganism, or venerate paganism and reject Catholicism.
Remember when ‘Pope’ Francis received 100 Buddhist monks and allowed them to pray over him? This is how it looked and sounded (direct video link here):
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The February 2013 issue of Christian Order had an excellent article on this topic (by an author who is not a sedevacantist):
The only time Francis ever cared about tradition was when it concerned pagan, indigenous, or non-Catholic tradition:
As far as that ‘respect’ for “spiritual traditions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhism and Shintoism” and also for “traditional or tribal religions” (including Voodooism, surely) goes, Fr. Michael Müller (1825-1899) hit the nail on the head when he wrote: “It is impious to say, ‘I respect every religion.’ This is as much as to say: I respect the devil as much as God, vice as much as virtue, falsehood as much as truth, dishonesty as much as honesty, Hell as much as Heaven” (God the Teacher of Mankind: The Church and Her Enemies [New York, NY: Benziger Brothers, 1880], p. 287).
Fr. Muller’s position was not simply an arbitrary opinion he held, it follows directly from the principles of the Gospel and is reflected in the teaching of Pope Leo XIII:
Everyone should avoid familiarity or friendship with anyone suspected of belonging to Masonry or to affiliated groups. Know them by their fruits and avoid them. Every familiarity should be avoided, not only with those impious libertines who openly promote the character of the sect, but also with those who hide under the mask of universal tolerance, respect for all religions, and the craving to reconcile the maxims of the Gospel with those of the revolution. These men seek to reconcile Christ and Belial, the Church of God and the state without God.
(Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Custodi di Quella Fede, n. 15; underlining added.)
Let’s also recall how St. Boniface, Apostle of Germany, respected the culture of the pagans he was evangelizing:
To show the heathens how utterly powerless were the gods in whom they placed their confidence, Boniface felled the oak sacred to the thunder-god Thor, at Geismar, near Fritzlar. He had a chapel built out of the wood and dedicated it to the prince of the Apostles. The heathens were astonished that no thunderbolt from the hand of Thor destroyed the offender, and many were converted. The fall of this oak marked the fall of heathenism.
(Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “St. Boniface”)
This jibes entirely with Divine Revelation. After all, as the Psalmist proclaims: “For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens” (Psalm 95:4-5). And through the mouth of the prophet Ezechiel, the Lord declared: “And I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and I will cleanse you from all your idols” (Ez 36:25).
Imagine if instead of St. Boniface, some post-Vatican II Jesuit, Augustinian, or Dominican ‘missionaries’ had encountered the German heathens back then. How would they have acted?
No doubt they would first have praised them for reverencing the environment and all living beings. They would have told them how Catholics reject nothing that is good and holy about their worship of the oak, and perhaps they would have extolled their sense of celebration and their belief in something greater than themselves. The Novus Ordo ‘missionaries’ would then have explained that Catholics, too, have a deep appreciation for timber and that, although they do not agree in all points of religious doctrine, nevertheless they can work together to promote the dignity of all living organisms. Then they would have emphasized that their human dignity is infinite and inviolable and that on account of it, no one has the right to prevent them from worshipping in accordance with their conscience.
And thus the pagans would have remained pagans, although they would have felt a bit better about themselves and their paganism. That is what the “deepest respect” for heathen traditions accomplishes, and nothing else.
Bob Prevost, Leo XIV, is a man of Vatican II through and through.
Title image source: composite with elements from X (PhilstarNews), Penguin Random House, and Shutterstock (Artistry04/GIACOMO MORINI/Khaled El Adawy/Isnany/Green Ray)
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