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Monday, November 8, 2021

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church

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The Babylonian Captivity of the Church

In order for the confection of the Holy Eucharist to be valid, there must be proper matter, proper form, and proper intent. (The priest must also be properly ordained.) Many Catholics may be surprised to learn that it is far from guaranteed that all, or even any, of these requirements will be met at a given Novus Ordo Mass.

For example, “proper matter” refers to the bread, wine, and water used to confect the Holy Eucharist. Canon 924 provides that the bread must be made of wheat. Canon 926 provides that the bread must be unleavened. Canon 927 forbids consecrating just one species without the other.  Canon 924 also provides that the wine must be natural and unspoiled.

 

 

We have all heard horror stories about priests who defy these basic and simple canons. Some priests, apparently, have attempted to confect “cakes and cookies”. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope John Paul II released, in 2004, Redemptionis Sacramentum to counter the widespread abuse of the liturgy, including the introduction of matter entirely improper to confecting the Holy Eucharist. 

We have witnessed the extraordinary sight of the Supreme Legislator of the Catholic Church, the Pope himself, meeting with, and appearing to sanction in their sinfulness, American politicians who have displayed a hardened, obstinate, and decades-long defiance of, contempt for, and active militancy against several of the teachings of the Church.

Abuses of form may be even more common than abuses of matter. Abuses of form can occur when the priest deviates from the rubrics, whether on purpose—such as when he introduces novelties to the Mass—or out of simple human error, usually forgetting a prayer or transposing words. Not all deviations from form invalidate consecration. But many do. I have witnessed many abuses of form at Novus Ordo Masses, from innocent omissions of prayers (for which the priest later apologized after realizing his mistake) to egregious alterations of the liturgy to make it more palatable to modern sensibilities. This is to say nothing of the clanging of drums and guitars during the liturgy and the holding and shaking of hands and so forth among the laity, as though the congregation were all running for elected office during Mass.

I wonder how many of those abuses of matter and form invalidated the consecration. Others still attending Novus Ordo Masses would do well to wonder, too.

But while abuses of matter and form are, sadly, far from rare (this is to say nothing of validity of priestly ordination—a whole other can of worms), abuses of intent are probably the most common of all.

Anecdotal evidence would seem to confirm what widespread liturgical abuse makes plain: many priests do not intend to confect the Eucharist as the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. It must be borne in mind, of course, that the priest is not a god. Ex opere operato. It is true, as St. Thomas Aquinas writes, that the sinfulness of the minister does not invalidate the sacrament he performs. But the condition for this failsafe is that the priest must intend to “do what the Church does,” that is, to confect the Eucharist as the Church understands it. (Cf. Council of Trent, Seventh Session, “On the Sacraments in General,” Canon XI: “If any one saith, that, in ministers, when they effect, and confer the sacraments, there is not required the intention at least of doing what the Church does; let him be anathema.”) 

According to Biden, Pope Francis instructed him to go on receiving Communion at Mass.

The intent of a priest is, of course, an interior question. While many priests would appear to have at best a weak belief in the Real Presence, priests do not make declarations about this in public. In most cases. It is rare, perhaps unheard of, for a priest to declare openly that he does not intend to “do what the Church does” and confect the Eucharist.

Until recently, that is. In recent weeks, we have witnessed the extraordinary sight of the Supreme Legislator of the Catholic Church, the Pope himself, meeting with, and appearing to sanction in their sinfulness, American politicians who have displayed a hardened, obstinate, and decades-long defiance of, contempt for, and active militancy against several of the teachings of the Church. In October of 2021, for instance, Pope Francis met, in the inner chamber of the Vatican, with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, and later with Joseph Biden, the “president” of the United States. Both Pelosi and Biden declare themselves to be Catholics, and the propagandist American media duly describes them as “devout”.

Other devout Catholics disagree. When Francis met with Pelosi, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was leading many of the faithful in a prayer and fasting campaign to soften Pelosi’s heart, as she has been trying to codify Roe v. Wade and open wide the floodgates of infanticide in the United States (although they have stood open almost completely for nearly fifty years already). When Francis met with Biden, he was coordinating with Pelosi to effect this perfection of genocide. Pelosi and Biden also have publicly and persistently declared their support for, and have worked to bring about the furtherance of: sodomy; the mutilation of human persons in accordance with gender ideology; and the invasion of their country and the pillaging of communities and of the public fisc by the invaders, among other outrages. The mere presence of these “Catholic” politicians in any church is cause for grave scandal.

It would appear that Pope Francis has given the papal approval to manifest sacrilege against the Holy Eucharist... When Biden presents himself for Holy Communion, he does so with the murders of more than sixty million innocent people on his conscience, and with the bloodlust in his heart for countless millions more.

But it just got a lot worse. According to Biden, Pope Francis instructed him to go on receiving Communion at Mass. The Vatican has so far remained silent on Biden’s statement, but silence here is more than enough. If the statement were false, then the Pope would be bound by the laws and tradition of the Church, and above all by the Holiness of God Himself, to denounce the falsehood as causing scandal and leading the faithful astray, sowing division and distrust, and in general doing the work of the devil in God’s Church. Qui tacet consentire videtur. It would appear that Pope Francis has given the papal approval to manifest sacrilege against the Holy Eucharist. When Biden presents himself for Holy Communion, he does so with the murders of more than sixty million innocent people on his conscience, and with the bloodlust in his heart for countless millions more. Pelosi is the same. They are hardly alone in this.

Nor is this the first time that the insistence of murderous sociopaths on receiving Holy Communion has caused a problem for the Catholic Church in the United States. Many bishops, in fact, have been trying for decades to resolve this pressing question.

On October 28, 2021, Raymond Cardinal Burke released a document on the application of Canon 915, on the administering of the Holy Eucharist to politicians who defy the teachings of the Church. Cardinal Burke recalls that in Denver, in June of 2004, then-Archbishop Burke had joined his brother bishops in part to discuss the application of Canon 915. Cardinal Burke’s entire document is well worth reading, but this paragraph stands out.

The discussion during the meeting in June of 2004 was difficult and intense. Without going into the details of the discussion, there seemingly was no consensus among the Bishops, even though there was among some of the most influential Bishops the desire to avoid any intervention with Catholic politicians who, according to the discipline of can. 915, should not be admitted to receive Holy Communion. Ultimately, the President, the then Bishop Wilton Gregory of the Diocese of Belleville, remanded the matter to a Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians under the chairmanship of the then Cardinal Theodore McCarrick who was clearly opposed to the application of can. 915 in the case of Catholic politicians supporting procured abortion and other practices which gravely violate the moral law. The Task Force was comprised of a group of bishops with mixed views on the subject. In any case, with time, the Task Force was forgotten, and the critical issue was left unaddressed by the Conference of Bishops. When Bishop Gregory announced the Task Force, the Bishop sitting next to me observed that we could now be certain that the issue would not be addressed.

If a priest and his bishop do not both declare that they will apply Canon 915 and then actually apply it to exclude anyone who obstinately rejects the teachings of the Church, then any consecration that priest or bishop might attempt is sacrilegious and invalid.

Here we see what is causing the holdup. Cardinal Burke’s reasoning is loving, prudential, wise, and deeply informed by his duty before God. By contrast, Wilton Gregory is among the most anti-Catholic bishops in the United States. Gregory’s opposition to the application of Canon 915 could possibly stem from Gregory’s fondness for Democrat ideology. If Gregory were to apply Canon 915, the consciences of his Washington congregation might be pricked, and the entire federal edifice could collapse—greatly endangering Gregory’s political and financial position. Theodore McCarrick’s opposition to Canon 915 needs no explanation.

It is because there are two kinds of bishops in America—Catholic, and Newchurch—that the unholy outrages against Our Lord and His Church continue.

And not only in America. Newchurch Pope Francis’ recent sanctioning of politicians leading the biggest hate group in American history, the Democrat Party (which brought you chattel slavery, eugenics, forced sterilizations, ten-Holocausts’-worth of abortions, quack doctors and their Guadalajara-style transgender surgeries, the inner-city plantation, the destruction of marriage, the depopulation vaccine, celebration of Hezbollah, and the Ku Klux Klan), makes the question of Canon 915 even more pressing than ever. Between the Democrat takeover of the American bishopric and the coordinated destruction of the faith among American Catholics, the clock on Newchurch has run out. The Church in America must choose, between Democrat hate and God. There is no way out. Choose one, and choose now.

Any priest who confects the Eucharist intending to desecrate Our Lord manifests not only defect of intention but sacrilege and heresy.

Because any priest who confects the Eucharist intending to administer the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord to a Democrat—which is not a political party but a hate group—does not seek to “do what the Church does.” Any priest who confects the Eucharist intending to desecrate Our Lord manifests not only defect of intention but sacrilege and heresy. Such a priest invalidates the consecration while imperiling the souls of all the laity who take part in the desecration, whether knowingly or not.

Call your bishop’s office today. Ask your bishop if he will apply Canon 915 in his diocese. If he will not, or if he prevaricates or says he must ask Rome or must assemble another “Task Force” to study the problem, then you must not receive the Sacrament of Communion from any priest under that bishop’s authority. That bishop is a fraud. That bishop’s diocese is a spiritual wasteland, and the devil is the only metaphysician in charge of the flock there.

The top bishop, Pope Francis, has forced the moment to its crisis. It is now not just a matter of internal intention but outward signification. If a priest confects the Eucharist and administers the Blessed Sacrament to anyone who has not repented of his or her association with the Democrat hate group—including by voting for Democrats—then that priest has declared himself, outright, to be in defiance of doing what the Church does. He is an impostor, and the Mass he celebrates is the work of the devil himself.

If you are still going to Novus Ordo Masses, you no longer need to wonder whether the consecration of the Eucharist is valid. If a priest and his bishop do not both declare that they will apply Canon 915 and then actually apply it to exclude anyone who obstinately rejects the teachings of the Church, then any consecration that priest or bishop might attempt is sacrilegious and invalid. No Catholic should set foot in any church where such outrages are performed.

Including the churches under the control of the Bishop of Rome.

We are in the age of the Babylonian captivity of the Church. Francis is antichrist. Canon 915 is one way to cleanse the churches of Francis’ malign influence and to restore our Holy Faith.

 

Watch the Latest from RTV:  THE GREAT REJECT: Will Democrats Go Down with the Ship?

 

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Last modified on Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Jason Morgan | Remnant Correspondent, TOKYO

Jason Morgan is an associate professor at Reitaku University in Chiba, Japan, where he teaches language, history, and philosophy. He specializes in Japanese legal history. He’s published four books in Japanese and two book-length Japanese-to-English translations. His work has also appeared at Japan Forward, New Oxford Review, Crisis, Modern Age, University BookmanChronicles, and Clarion Review.