Introductory post: The “Bergoglio-Denzinger” on Francis’ ecumenism of blood May 28, 2015
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, catachesis, disconcerting, episcopate, error, General Catholic, history, Papa, scandals, secularism, SOD, the return, the struggle for the Church, Tradition.trackback
Francis’ recent statement regarding Christian persecution and the “devil-inspired ecumenism of blood,” was not his first foray into the topic. I’d like to introduce you to a significant effort reader D alerted me to, called the “Denzinger-Bergoglio,” a site by some faithful priests, with approval of their bishop(s), who take some of Pope Francis’ statements and then compare them to statements of the traditional Magisterium. The site started in Spanish for a Spanish milieu, but some like-minded priests are translating it into English. The priests of course remain anonymous.
The site takes it’s name from the Denzinger compendium of Catholic belief. What they are doing is comparing many of Pope Francis’ more troubling statements to the established doctrine of the Faith. As a sort of introduction to the site, I excerpt portions of their post on Pope Francis’ previous foray into examining this “ecumenism of blood,” in an interview given with Andrea Tornielli last year AND on other occasions. Since they excerpt Pope Francis’ statements at length, I will take only the highlights from those, and then some of the “responses” from the Church’s perennial belief:
PF: Are you Christian? Boom!……They don’t ask them if they are Pentecostal, Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox… Are they Christians? They kill them because they believe in Christ. This is the ecumenism of blood.
Yes, for me ecumenism is a priority. Today there is an ecumenism of blood. In some countries they kill Christians for wearing a cross or having a Bible and before they kill them they do not ask them whether they are Anglican, Lutheran, Catholic or Orthodox. Their blood is mixed. To those who kill we are Christians. We are united in blood……
“For persecutors, we are not divided; we are not Lutherans, Orthodox, Evangelicals, Catholics…No! We are one in their eyes! For persecutors we are Christians! They are not interested in anything else. This is the ecumenism of blood that we experience today….Spiritual ecumenism and the ecumenism of blood.
“We offer this Mass for our 21 Coptic brothers, slaughtered for the sole reason that they were Christians”. “Let us pray for them, that the Lord welcome them as martyrs, for their families, for my brother Tawadros, who is suffering greatly.”
Now, some of the quotes from the Magisterium:
Council of Florence (Ecumenical XVII)
-Salvation does not Exist Outside of the Church Even for Those who Have Shed their Blood for Christ
Synod of Laodicea (363-364 AD)
-The ‘Martyrs’ of the Heretic are Aliens from God
Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe
-Non-Members of the Catholic Church Cannot be Saved, Even if they Shed Their Blood for the Name of Christ
Saint Cyprian of Carthage
-The Blood Shed by a Schismatic does not Wash Away the Stain of Sin
-The Torments Suffered by a Schismatic do not Serve as a Crown, but rather a Chastisement for his Perfidy
-The Baptism of Blood is Useless to a Heretic
Saint Augustine
-Those who, as Schismatics, do not Lead a Christian Life, do not Die as Martyrs
-Those who Rebel against the Body of Christ cannot presume to be persecuted for His Sake
-If a Schismatic Dies Guilty of Sacrilege how may He be Baptized by his Blood?
-The Same Furnace which Purifies the Martyrs, Reduces Heretics to Ashes
Benedict XIV
-Even if a Heretic Dies for one Article of the True Faith, He may not be Considered a Martyr
For each of the above, D-B then expands on the topic with quotes from the original source. To show you how that works, the bit from the Council of Florence (which, by the way, featured the temporary reunion of the schismatic Orthodox and the presence of Eastern Orthodox bishops) above expands to:
Council of Florence (Ecumenical XVII):
It firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart “into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41), unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fasting, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church. (Denzinger-Hünermann 1351. Council of Florence, Decree in Behalf of the Jacobites, February 4, 1442)
OK, how about that Synod of Laodicea?
Synod of Laodicea (363-364 AD):
Canon 9: The members of the Church are not allowed to meet in the cemeteries, nor attend the so-called martyrs of any of the heretics, for prayer or service. […]
Canon 34: No Christian shall forsake the martyrs of Christ, and turn to false martyrs, for they are aliens from God. Let those, therefore, who go after them, be anathema. (Synod of Laodicea, The Canons, Canon 9/34)
Finally, they add a critically important supplement to the above with resources on so-called invincible ignorance, which has quite often been abused to morph into a kind of catch-all means of salvation for heretics and schismatics. Great stuff:
Saint Thomas Aquinas:
Neither living nor lifeless faith remains in a heretic who disbelieves one article of faith. […] if, of the things taught by the Church, he holds what he chooses to hold, and rejects what he chooses to reject, he no longer adheres to the teaching of the Church as to an infallible rule, but to his own will. […] A heretic does not hold the other articles of faith, about which he does not err, in the same way as one of the faithful does, namely by adhering simply to the Divine Truth, because in order to do so, a man needs the help of the habit of faith; but he holds the things that are of faith, by his own will and judgment. (Saint Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica II-II q. 5, a. 3)
You get the point. You can go to the D-B site to read all the rest of the citations they have.
They do not draw conclusions. They let Catholics, guided by faith and reason, reach their own. I’ll do the same. Note, they have commentary on many of Pope Francis’ voluminous statements. There is quite a bit of analysis there, the site is really a valuable resource.
I will add this, however. While the volume and extent of surprising statements from the papacy has certainly appeared to increase with Pope Francis, in truth, all of the post-conciliar pontiffs, even John Paul I, have made quite similar statements at times. You can even find them occasionally in John XXIII and, more rarely, Pius XII. Some try to use that as evidence of “A ha! See, Pope Francis isn’t doing anything different from them, he must be OK!” I see that continuity, to the degree it exists, less as an explanation and justification of Pope Francis’ words and actions, but more as an indication that the Church has suffered from a severe lack of catechesis and leadership, even at the very top, for decades.
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This is the nub of the matter:
“Let us pray for them, that the Lord welcome them as martyrs …”
Here it is clear that His Holiness says they need prayers to be welcomed as martyrs. IOW, Francis is not stating they are martyrs. Not when he says what I quoted. As no one knows what their thoughts were when Our Lord called them to be part of the one true Church at the hour of their death. So yes, we should pray for them!
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
The good news is that some priests and bishops are doing something about the Francis problem. In these strange time I sometimes wonder if any priests or bishops even believe at all.
This will shed some light on why we are hearing what we are hearing:
http://catholicapologetics.info/modernproblems/vatican2/vatican2.htm
A book worth reading:
http://www.traditioninaction.org/bkreviews/A_023br_CrisisInChurch_Somerville.htm
Another informative read:
Don, I am sorry to say that you are wrong when you say His Holiness does not intend to canonize them by his words. The term “ecumenism of blood” is quite straightforward. That we and other heretics are united in that we shed our blood for Christ is a objectively a heretical statement.
His Holiness’ last statement does not undo what he said previously, because he never retracted it. Yes, we can hope that non-Catholics are saved, but only extraordinarily through God’s mercy. We must pray that God has mercy on them, but we simply must recognize that God deigned to save souls through the Catholic Church, and not another. Shedding blood for Christ, then, can only be for Christ through the Catholic Church.
We must be reminded that during the 15th and 16th centuries, many heretics were put to death by Catholics in England. The heretics thought they confessed Christ, and gladly burned at the stake for that reason. They were not martyrs, but simply disillusioned heretics burning for their vanities and heresies. Shortly after, Henry VIII, Elizabeth and Cromwell put many Catholics to death. These Catholics gladly burned at the stake for the sake of Christ-objectively, they are martyrs.
The pope should instead say: we pray for those who incur death at the hands of the treacherous infidels, that Christ give them His grace and mercy to be converted at that point between life and death. For in these sensitive times, we must remember the promise of martyrdom does not extend outside of the Catholic faith.
Ecumenism by blood was a silly phrase, it does not, however, confer on them a grant of martyrdom. As the later clear statement Francis made. Indeed we should pray they are accepted as martyrs by Our Lord, and that to me is what seems to bother some. And it should not bother them, there are far more serious matters to worry about, including the upcoming Synod. Wringing hands over this is a waste of time.
Don, I agree with you. I listened to the Pope in Spanish in the video. My take on it is not what everyone here seems to have. I pray for all Christians who suffering persecution whether in the middle East or those losing their businesses here.
For sure, it appears that shedding your blood for Christ does not wash away the sin of heresy or the guilt of schism, so celebrating their deaths for Christ is probably not a good idea.
On a more general note, though, it does seem that many Catholics, especially those fortunate enough to attend a more traditional parish, have grown complacent about Christians outside of the Church (except when it comes to criticizing them). Some even seem to speak of their status with glee. We must be careful not to be the sort of people who “tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but … will not lift a finger to move them” (Matthew 23:4). We all could be more active in bringing people into the Church; think of the glorious crowns that await those who have helped bring others to the fullness of truth! For me, the quotes from the saints and councils were more of a clarion call to help others enter or return to the Church than an opportunity to pick apart Pope Francis’s comments. There is much work to be done! What have we done this year — this week, even — to bring our non-Catholic family members, friends, and coworkers to the one, true Faith?