
Heresy..?
Apostasy..?

Don’t Make Me Laugh!
Jorge’s “Catechesis
on Saint Joseph”
and the Communion of Saints
(Wednesday,
2 February 2022)
Francis and the Heresy of Universal Salvation
Preface by the
Editor
Father Ludwig Ott, Ph.D., the most
pre-eminent Catholic Dogmatic Theologian of the 20th century, in
his Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, unequivocally
asserts the following:
-
“If a baptized person
deliberately denies or doubts a dogma properly so-called, he is
guilty of the sin of heresy (CIC 1325, Par. 2) and automatically
becomes subject to the punishment of excommunication
(CIC 2314, Par. 1).” … As against Modernism, the Catholic Church
stresses that dogma according to its content is of
truly Divine origin, that is, it is the expression of an objective
truth, and its content is immutable.” (Fundamentals
of Catholic Dogma, Intro. P. 5.)
St. Cyprian
[210 – 258 AD]: “Outside the Church there is no salvation”
(salus extra Ecclesiam non est; Ep. 73,21)
Saint Augustine
himself, most eminent among the Church Fathers, argues in his
Retractions “That ...
those who will be punished in the eternal fire do not return to God,
from whom they detached themselves” (1:7:6).
The logical consequence of “Origen’s theory of apokatastasis (ἀποκατάστασις),
or universal salvation, resulted in Augustine’s indictment of
Origen as ‘the most merciful of all’ in that he even hypothesized
the eschatological salvation of the devil.” De gestis Pelagii
1:3:9
First:
Understanding the Hersey of Indifferentism
Indifferentism is the
heretical belief that there is no difference between
any and all religions inasmuch as each suffices
of itself as a means to redemption and beatitude. In other words,
one religion is as correct and good as any other religion — however
contradictory and antagonistic to every other religion.
This is logically indefensible:
it is a breach of the logical Law of Non-Contradiction: to wit:
contradictory propositions cannot both be true in the same
sense at the same time, e.g. the proposition that “the Holy Eucharist
really IS the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus
Christ” as Catholics maintain, and “the Holy Eucharist
is NOT really the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ”
as Protestants and Pagans maintain, is an incoherent proposition.
Each proposition is categorically a denial and repudiation of the
other. To hold that 1+1=2 and 1+1=5 because we wish it to be so,
does not — and cannot possibly — make it so. They are inherently
contradictory statements. The condemnation of Indifferentism
as a heresy is closely linked to the dogmatic definition that outside
the Church there is no salvation.]
Once we grasp what constitutes
the heresy of Indifferentism, we are in a much better position
to understand its influence on the “Ecumenical” program that Bergoglio
indiscriminately promotes. Consider the following:
In his address, Bergoglio enumerates the acts, choices, and people
that do not — and in his estimation,
cannot — be excluded from salvation:
·
“No one can exclude themselves from the Church, we
are all saved sinners” [every saint was once a sinner,
but having become a saint was saved. This is very different from
a sinner who obstinately remains a sinner]
·
“Nothing and no one can break this bond
[between
Christ and the soul]. Not those who:
·
have denied the Faith
·
who are apostates
·
who are the persecutors of the Church
*
·
who have denied their Baptism:
·
“Are these also at home?’
Yes, these too. All of them.”
·
“The blasphemers,
all of them… the saints, the sinners, all.’”
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2022/documents/20220202-udienza-generale.html
*
[This
assertion results in unacceptable conclusions, for by this line of reasoning,
Judas, Nero, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, to name a few — who detested
and persecuted the Catholic Church, and murdered millions in unspeakable
ways — must now be accounted saints: are we really prepared to
speak of “Saint Adolph Hitler?,” “Saint Josef Stalin?,” “Saint Judas
Iscariot?” Is every child-molester and murderer, and every indescribable
pervert now to be numbered in the Litany of Saints? If “we are
all saved,” ... why not? — ed.]
Bergoglio continues: “What, then, is the “Communion of Saints”?
The [“updated”] Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms:
“The Communion of Saints IS the Church” (no. 946 — present edition.):
“After confessing “the holy catholic Church,” the Apostles’
Creed adds “the communion of saints.” In a certain sense this article
is a further explanation of the preceding: “What is the Church if
not the assembly of all the saints?” The Communion of Saints is
the Church. [CCC] 945”
[This is incorrect:
according to Saint Robert Bellarmine, The Church (Ecclesia)
“is a body of men united together by the profession
of the same Christian Faith, and by participation in the
same sacraments, under the governance of lawful
pastors, more especially of the Roman Pontiff, the sole
vicar of Christ on earth” (Coetus hominum ejusdem Christianæ
fidei professione, et eorumdem sacramentorum communione
colligatus, sub regimine legitimorum pastorum et præcipue
unius Christi in Terris vicarii Romani Pontificis.”
— Bellarmine, De Eccl., III, ii, 9);] — ed.]
To the Contrary:
Mirari
Vos: On Liberalism and Religious Indifferentism
-
“The admonition of
Pope Agatho [is this]: “nothing of the things appointed ought
to be diminished; nothing changed; nothing added; but they must
be preserved both as regards expression and meaning.”[6] Therefore
may the unity which is built upon the See of Peter as on a sure
foundation stand firm. May it be for all a wall and a security,
a safe port, and a treasury of countless blessings.[7] To check
the audacity of those who attempt to infringe upon the rights
of this Holy See or to sever the union of the churches with
the See of Peter, instill in your people a zealous confidence
in the papacy and sincere veneration for it. As St. Cyprian
wrote: “He who abandons the See of Peter on which the Church
was founded, falsely believes himself to be a part of the Church.”[8]
(Pope Gregory XVI - 1832, Mirari Vos — On
Liberalism and Religious Indifferentism. 2
... In these evil and dangerous times, the shepherds must never
neglect their duty; they must never be so overcome by fear that
they abandon the sheep. Let them never neglect the flock and
become sluggish from idleness and apathy. (Ibid 6.)
Mystici Corporis Christi :
Encyclical of Pope Pius XII on the Mystical Body of Christ
-
22. Actually
only those are to be included as members of the Church who have
been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not
been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity
of the Body ... if a man refuse to hear the Church, let him
be considered — so the Lord commands — as a heathen and a publican.
It follows that those who are divided in faith or government
cannot be living in the unity of such a Body —
-
... for not every
sin, however grave it may be, is such as of its own nature
to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or
heresy or apostasy. (22.18)
Pope Leo XII
(Ubi Primum #14, May 5, 1824):
“It is impossible
for the most true God, who is Truth itself, the best, the wisest
Provider, and the Rewarder of good men, to approve all sects
who profess false teachings which are often inconsistent with
one another and contradictory, and to confer eternal rewards
on their members ... This is why we profess that there is no
salvation outside the Church.”
St. Thomas
(II-II:11:1)
defines heresy as:
-
“a species of infidelity
in men who, having professed the faith of Christ, corrupt
its dogmas ... There are, therefore, two ways of deviating
from Christianity: the one by refusing to believe in Christ
Himself, which is the way of infidelity, common to Pagans and
Jews;
the other by restricting belief to certain points of Christ’s
doctrine selected and fashioned at pleasure, which is the way
of heretics.
-
The subject-matter
of both faith and heresy is, therefore, the deposit of the faith,
that is, the sum total of truths revealed in Scripture and Tradition
as proposed to our belief by the Church. The believer accepts
the whole deposit as proposed by the Church; the heretic
accepts only such parts of it as commend themselves to his own
approval.”
-
The heretic who
is aware that his belief is at odds with Catholic teaching and
yet continues to cling to his belief pertinaciously is a formal
heretic. This sort of heresy is sinful because in this case
the heretic knowingly holds an opinion that … “is destructive
of the virtue of Christian faith ... disturbs the unity, and
challenges the Divine authority, of the Church” and “strikes
at the very source of faith.” 3
Canon
Law:
-
“Without prejudice
to the prescript of can. 194.1, n. 2, an apostate from the faith,
a heretic, or a schismatic incurs a latae sententiae
excommunication” 4
-
The penalty for a
baptized Catholic above the age of 18 who obstinately, publicly,
and voluntarily manifests his or her adherence to an objective
heresy is automatic excommunication (“latae sententiae”)
according to Can. 1364 par.1 CIC.
-
Religious Indifferentism
The term given, in general, to all those theories, which, for
one reason or another, deny that it is the duty of man to
worship God by believing and practicing the one true religion.
5
If He [God] revealed a religion, reason certainly tells us
that such a religion must be true, and all others that disagree
with it false, and that He desires men to embrace it; otherwise,
why should He have given any revelation at all?
-
“In the Catholic Church,
[Indifferentism is] the [heretical] belief that one religion
is as good as another, and that all religions are equally efficacious
and sufficient means to salvation, is believed to be false.
One argument the Church advances is that that nobody believes
that a religion based on human sacrifice and the subjugation
of rivals is as good, true, and beautiful as one based on heroic
love of God and neighbor. The condemnation of indifferentism
as a heresy is closely linked to the dogmatic definition
that outside the Church there is no salvation.” 6
Thus far we have
argued merely from the canons of reason — that is
to say, we have prescinded from the most Primary Sources that exceed
the limitations of reason: to wit, the unimpeachable canon of
Sacred Scripture itself.
The Heresy of Universal Salvation Summarized
-
Bergoglio:
“No one can exclude themselves from the Church ... The
blasphemers, all of them… the saints, the sinners,
all.”
-
Jesus Christ and His Apostles:
Saint Matthew
7.21-23
“Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven: but he that
doth the will of my Father who is in Heaven, he shall enter
into the kingdom of Heaven. Many will say to me in that
day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and
cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy
name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.”
Saint Matthew 25:31-46 (the Eschatological Discourse):
“And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and
all the angels with him, then shall He sit upon the seat
of His majesty. And all nations shall be gathered together
before Him, and He shall separate them one from another,
as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: And
He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats
on his left. Then shall the King say to them that shall
be on His right hand: Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess
you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I was
thirsty, and you gave Me to drink; I was a stranger, and
you took Me in: Naked, and you covered Me: sick, and you
visited Me: I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then shall
the just answer Him, saying: Lord, when did we see Thee
hungry, and fed Thee; thirsty, and gave Thee drink? And
when did we see Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked,
and covered Thee? Or when did we see Thee sick or in prison,
and came to Thee? And the King answering, shall say to them:
Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these
My least brethren, you did it to Me.
Then He shall say to them also that shall be on His left
hand: Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire
which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For
I was hungry, and you gave Me not to eat: I was thirsty,
and you gave Me not to drink. I was a stranger, and you
took Me not in: naked, and you covered Me not: sick and
in prison, and you did not visit Me. Then they also shall
answer Him, saying: Lord, when did we see Thee hungry, or
thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison,
and did not minister to Thee? Then He shall answer them,
saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to
one of these least, neither did you do it to Me. And
these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the
just, into life everlasting.”
Saint John 13.26-27
“Jesus answered: He it is to whom I shall reach bread dipped.
And when He had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot,
the son of Simon. And after the morsel, Satan entered
into him.”
Saint Luke 12:5
“I will show you whom you shall fear: fear ye Him, who after
He hath killed, hath power to cast into Hell. Yea,
I say to you, fear Him.”
Saint Luke 13:23-28
“And a certain man said to Him: Lord, are they few that
are saved? But He said to them: Strive to enter by the narrow
gate; for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter, and
shall not be able. But when the master of the house
shall be gone in, and shall shut the door, you shall begin
to stand without, and knock at the door, saying: Lord, open
to us. And He answering, shall say to you: I know you
not, whence you are. Then you shall begin to say:
We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught
in our streets. And He shall say to you: I know you not,
whence you are: depart from He, all ye workers of iniquity.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall
see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in
the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out...”
Saint Mark 9:41-47
“And whosoever shall scandalize one of these little
ones that believe in Me; it were better for him that a millstone
were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
And if thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off: it is better
for thee to enter into life, maimed, than having two
hands to go into hell, into unquenchable fire: Where their
worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And
if thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off. It is better for
thee to enter lame into life everlasting, than having two
feet, to be cast into the hell of unquenchable fire:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished.
And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out. It is better
for thee with one eye to enter into the kingdom of God,
than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished.”
(Saint Paul) I Cor. 6:9-10
“Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the
kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor liers with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers,
nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God.”
(Saint Paul) Galatians 5:19-21
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcrafts,
enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions,
sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such
like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to
you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the
kingdom of God.”
(Saint Paul) Ephesians 5:5
“For know you this and understand, that no fornicator,
or unclean, or covetous person (which is a serving of
idols), hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and
of God.”
(Saint Paul) Philippians 3:18-19
“For many walk, of whom I have told you often (and now
tell you weeping), that they are enemies of the cross
of Christ; whose end is destruction”
2 Saint Peter 2:4-10
“For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but
delivered them, drawn down by infernal ropes to the lower
hell, unto torments, to be reserved unto judgment: And
spared not the original world, but preserved Noe, the eighth
person, the preacher of justice, bringing in the flood upon
the world of the ungodly. And reducing the cities of the
Sodomites, and of the Gomorrhites, into ashes, condemned
them to be overthrown, making them an example to those that
should after act wickedly. And delivered just Lot, oppressed
by the injustice and lewd conversation of the wicked. For
in sight and hearing he was just: dwelling among them, who
from day to day vexed the just soul with unjust works.
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly from temptation,
but to reserve the unjust unto the day
of judgment to be tormented. And especially them
who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and
despise government, audacious, self willed, they fear
not to bring in sects, blaspheming.”
Apocalypse 21:8
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable,
and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters,
and all liars, they shall have their portion in the
pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second
death.”
Apocalypse 22:13-15
“I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning
and the End. Blessed are they that wash their robes in the
blood of the Lamb: that they may have a right to the tree
of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
Without [outside] are dogs, and sorcerers, and unchaste,
and murderers, and servers of idols, and every one that
loveth and maketh a lie.”
The above citations
from Holy Scripture are by no means exhaustive — nor are
the arguments from discursive reason compendious. Each, however,
suffices to demonstrate the rationally flawed, theologically inconsistent,
and formally heretical propositions put forth by Francis
(Bergoglio) in a failed attempt to bring the specious documents
resulting from the calamitous convocation (Vatican II) to mature,
albeit illogical, realization in the formerly (pre-Vatican II)
condemned and heretical notion of “Ecumenism” first promoted
by 1,213 Protestant theologians in the early 20th century at
the Assembly Hall of the United Free Church of Scotland in
Edinburgh in 1910.
“Ecumenism”, together
with the reciprocal notion of Universal Salvation, was
never a Catholic doctrine,
let alone a mandate — until Vatican beginning 1962
and presently culminating in the incoherent person of Jorge Bergoglio
(Francis) — as its most vigorous and vociferous proponent. (Deus,
miserere nobis!)
Geoffrey K. Mondello
Editor
Boston Catholic Journal
_________________________________________
1
https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/are-the-baltimore-catechism-and-catechism-of-the-catholic-church-the-same/15337
2
https://www.papalencyclicals.net/Greg16/g16mirar.htm
3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresy_in_the_Catholic_Church
4 https://www.canonlaw.info/blogarch08.htm
5 https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07759a.htm
6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indifferentism
Also see: “The Devil’s
Redemption: A New History and Interpretation of Christian Universalism”
by scholar Michael McClymond
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/march-web-only/michael-mcclymond-devils-redemption-universalism.html
(“The more robust arguments for universalism hold that God’s purposes
in creating the world will fail if even one intelligent creature should
finally be separated from God. This line of reasoning implies that not
only human sinners but also fallen angels [demons] will finally be saved.
The title of my book, The Devil’s Redemption, is an allusion
to that idea ... Universalism is theologically untrue and pastorally
unhelpful.”)
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Comments? Write us:
editor@boston-catholic-journal.com

Totally
Faithful to the Sacred Deposit of Faith entrusted
to the Holy See in Rome
“Scio
opera tua ... quia modicum habes virtutem, et servasti verbum
Meum, nec non negasti Nomen Meum”
“I
know your works ... that you have but little power, and
yet you have kept My word, and have not denied My Name.”
(Apocalypse 3.8)
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