Catholic Fairy Tales – #36

00:00:00] Hello, Twitter folks. Well, son of a gun. Hello, Twitter folks. Welcome to this Spaces session. Just give me a second because I was in the middle of talking to my Locals followers. Just give me a second. We’re going to start in just a minute. I’m going to talk about the Pope as a heretic and other Catholic fairy tales.

[00:00:18] So just give me a second as I complete, as I finished this thought I was sharing with my followers on Locals. So anyway, the Rupnick and Archbishop Vigano thing, those are two different situations. Two completely, there’s nothing to compare or contrast them. Nothing. So I compare and contrasting apples and elephants.

[00:00:34] Archbishop Viganò was guilty of a canonical crime. What happened to him is what happens to people who are guilty of canonical crimes. People are charged with canonical crimes and tried for canonical crimes when it is alleged that they have committed canonical crimes. So if you commit a canonical crime, you will be charged for a canonical crime.

[00:00:56] You will receive the penalty for guilt of a canonical crime. It’s just that simple. I think, uh, the church is being, I wouldn’t say tolerant, but overly patient or dragging its feet with regard to Father Rupnick. I do not think he should still be a priest. If he is allowed to remain a priest, I think, um, he should spend the rest of his days in prayer and penance.

[00:01:24] I do not think he should be incardinated in another diocese and, and serving in active ministry. Okay. [00:01:30] Yes, I agree with all of that. But that has nothing to do What Father Rupnik is accused of doing, and likely guilty of doing, that’s my opinion. In fact, I don’t even think it’s an opinion. I think that’s a fact.

[00:01:43] But let me not overstep. What Father Rupnik is alleged, probably guilty, of doing is a crime. It’s a, it’s a, it’s a What would you call that? A civil crime? A human crime? What would you call that? I don’t know. What would you It’s a crime, but it’s not a canonical crime. A canonical crime is something different.

[00:02:00] And so, he’s being investigated. Hopefully, he will be tried and he will receive the, the sentence or the consequence of the crime he has committed. Just as Archbishop Vigano committed a canonical crime, was tried, found guilty, and received the penalty for his canonical crime. These are two different things.

[00:02:22] And frankly, I think it’s a little dishonest for Dr. Marshall. To pretend like those two things can be compared or even contrasted. Well, I guess they can be contrasted, but they can’t, but they can’t be compared. So, enough said about that. Once again, let me start some music. Hello and welcome to those of you catching me on Twitter.

[00:02:42] You’re probably catching me on demand because as I’m speaking these words, there is nobody in the Twitter spaces session. But, uh, that’s alright. Thank you for joining me. Anyway. Catching me live, catching me on demand, catching me at all like, like a bad cold. Thank you for joining me again. Today I’m talking about [00:03:00] There we go.

[00:03:02] Today I’m talking about the Pope is a heretic and other Catholic fairy tales. Things that, nonsense that’s, that’s running wild in the Catholic world, that is really just fairy tales. There’s nothing true or real or factual about it. Just a few points I’m going to touch on. I’m also simulcasting this to to my Locals community.

[00:03:29] Again, thank you for joining me on Locals. And if you’re not joining me on Locals, please do so. CatholicExperience. Locals. com. You can join for free. And if you like what you catch, you can pay five bucks a month and get some extra content. Speaking of that, before I get into Uh, this, uh, the topic today, I do want to say I’m in the middle of pre production of the next episode in my series on Aquinas Five Ways.

[00:03:58] I’m in the middle of that. Hopefully I’ll get to recording that tomorrow, Sunday, August 18th, 2024. Uh, the next, so that episode will be the, uh, Aquinas argument from gradation. And as part of that, I’m also going to be talking about the Great Chain of Being. Because those two things are, are, one is related to the other.

[00:04:25] That will be for subscribers only. The next episode in my series on Aquinas Five [00:04:30]Ways, The Argument from Gradation. Okay? For paid members only of my Locals community for five bucks a month. You also get some free content as a free member of my locals community So I really encourage you I strongly encourage you to join me there catholicexperience.

[00:04:45] locals. com Let’s talk about some of these Some of these catholic fairy tales the first one i’m going to get into is pope francis is a heretic If I’m a good podcaster, I would save that for last, because that’s probably the most significant one, and probably the one you are most interested in, so a good producer would save that for last and string you along.

[00:05:08] But I also know that most of you will not watch or listen to this whole thing. And I also know, Hey, two people just joined me. Hello. Welcome Catholic Ellis and Matthew. I don’t know who the Matthew is, but welcome and thank you for joining me. Most of you are going to want to catch that piece. Pope Francis is a heretic.

[00:05:26] What do I have to say about that in response to that? What do I think about that? Most of you are really are listening to this to get to that. So I’m going to put that up front. If I were a really good producer, I would put that last and get to the other ones first, but you see, I’m a nice guy. I’m Mr. Nice guy.

[00:05:42] Okay. I’m really sick and tired of hearing Pope Francis is a heretic, but I accept it. I accept that there are people who think that Pope Francis is a heretic. I accept it because people have free minds and they have the authority of conscience, which I’m [00:06:00] going to get into that too a little bit later on.

[00:06:02] People have a freedom of conscience, they have an authority of conscience, they have free minds. I accept that there are people who think Pope Francis is a heretic. Okay. Okay. Okay. But then, when I say, show me the heresy, you damn well better show me a heresy, because now you’ve entered the arena. You’ve entered the arena by saying Pope Francis is a heretic.

[00:06:21] Fine. Show me the heresy. And if you can show me one, I will receive it and accept it and say, you know what, you’re right. Let me tell you where I stand about Pope, with Pope Francis, just, just so that you know that what I’m saying comes from honesty. And integrity, not just, you know, blind obedience, which blind obedience is not always a bad thing, but I want you to understand something.

[00:06:44] I’m not a great fan of Pope Francis. I am not a great fan of Pope Francis. Mainly because I don’t like his style. That’s all it is. I just don’t like his style. There are people who are fanatic about his style. God bless them. God bless them. I do not like his style. So I am not a great fan of Pope Francis.

[00:07:07] Let me give you an analog. Moral theology is a bit of a, I guess, a hobby for me. I’m more into, I guess, theology as a whole. Moral theology, more of a hobby. It’s a little too dense for me sometimes. I don’t have a great mind for that specific discipline in theology. But I’m [00:07:30]intrigued by it. So it’s kind of a hobby for me.

[00:07:33] It has been for years, reading about moral theology, reading, uh, some things the saints have written, reading things by moral theologians, I’ve attended a couple of talks, things like that. I’ve, I’ve questioned moral theologians, um, you know, to help me to understand things, you know, back and forth Q and A kind of thing.

[00:07:52] There are moral theologians who I’m not great fans of, not because they are bad moral theologians, just because I don’t like their style. I think they’re boring writers. I think they’re boring speakers, or this is one you might relate to, I think they focus too much on one thing instead of a corresponding thing.

[00:08:13] Where I, my style, is to focus on that corresponding thing. For example, some moral theologians, some theologians, let’s make it theology, some theologians may focus heavily on mercy. My style is to focus on justice. That’s just my style. A theologian may talk about the mercy of God, the mercy of Jesus, the love of God, and all that is true.

[00:08:41] And then he may mention on the side, you know, things like law, covenant, justice, he may mention that as an aside. Where my style would be there, to focus on the establishment, right, truth, and then to bring in, to include. [00:09:00] Mercy. Because mercy happens because there is truth. Mercy happens because there is truth.

[00:09:06] It’s not the other way around. Well, truth happens because there is mercy. No. Mercy happens because there is truth. So you have to emphasize, you have to focus on truth. You have to focus on the justice of God. And then weave into it the mercy of God. Because mercy is meaningless without justice. Can you focus on one more than the other?

[00:09:30] You could. I don’t think it’s an effective teaching tool. In some ways, it may even, it may even do harm. With, in certain disciplines, it may do harm to focus on one in an, in an imbalanced way over the, a corresponding thing. Some moral theologians do that, and it kind of gets under my skin. Without focus on a topic.

[00:09:59] Let’s say it’s, um, I don’t know, let’s say it’s conscience since, since conscience is going to be part of part of this episode. They focus on the authority of conscience, but they either they don’t include or they just barely include the corresponding fact that as part of the authority of conscience, we, we also have to obey the authority of our conscience.

[00:10:22] So when our conscience tells us, I feel like doing X is okay, but the church does say [00:10:30] that doing X is wrong. Well, we have to obey our conscience too. When our conscience prods us and tells us there may be some information we’re not get, we’re not considering. In obedience to conscience, we have to go and look for that information.

[00:10:46] I think doing X is perfectly morally okay. Well, the church, and then your conscience says, well, but we do know the church says it’s wrong. In obedience to your conscience, you have to look into what the church teaches and why it teaches that. Some moral theologians, when they talk about something like conscience, they will focus on the authority of conscience over that of doctrine, believe it or not, but they will not talk about how we also have an obligation to follow our conscience in honest and open consideration of the authority of the church.

[00:11:23] It’s a matter of style. That’s all. It’s only a matter of style. So I’m not a great fan of Pope Francis because I just don’t like his style. I don’t like how he communicates. I don’t think he’s a bad theologian. I also don’t think he’s a brilliant theologian. I think he’s a normal theologian. I don’t want to say adequate because that almost sounds like, you know, you’d, you’d pick up his theology in a discount store.

[00:11:46] It’s not like that. I just think he’s a normal theologian. That’s all I don’t think he’s a great theologian. I don’t think he’s a bad theologian or a subpar theologian But I don’t think he’s a great you understand where i’m coming from. [00:12:00] Okay now That’s where I stand on pope francis Not a great fan But it’s it’s not because I think he’s a bad theologian because I don’t And it’s not because I think um He’s a bad pastor because I don’t I just don’t like his style that having been said I hear a lot that the Pope is a heretic, and then when I say, okay, tell me when and where and how he has taught heresy, or to just put it, simply show me the heresy.

[00:12:32] Show me the heresy and I’ll stand by your side. Usually there’s no response. Well, maybe half the time there’s no response, and then half the time the response is something that isn’t actually a heresy, for example. The Pope is a heretic. Okay, show me the heresy. He changed church teaching on the death penalty.

[00:12:50] No, he did not. No, he did not. No, he did not. What the Pope put forward about the death penalty is classical Catholic theology going back at least to St. Augustine. That is not a change of doctrine. That is not a heresy. Well, Pope Francis said this. Okay, that is also not a heresy. Thank you. Well, Pope Francis gave his opinion on this and I don’t like it.

[00:13:17] That is also not a heresy. Well, Pope Francis is doing the Synod. That is not a heresy. Well, the Synod wants to ordain women. Well, that is also not a heresy. Also, it’s debatable whether [00:13:30] the Synod is going to even consider ordaining women, but considering things is not a heresy. Considering things is not a heresy.

[00:13:41] Asking uncomfortable questions is not a heresy. Those are not heresies. So I say again, show me the heresy. Time and again they cannot, and they do not.

[00:13:57] Let’s talk about, just for a second, what a heresy is. A heresy is a deliberate and obstinate denial of a truth that must be believed by divine or by, in the Catholic faith. A deliberate and obstinate denial of a truth or of a core doctrine of the faith. Okay. This refers to doctrines that have been officially defined by the Catholic Church as necessary for belief.

[00:14:29] Fratello e fratelli, you do not have to wear a scapula. Oh, heresy! That’s not a heresy because a scapula is not necessary for salvation. It’s not part of divine revelation. You see, it also has to be deliberate and obstinate, not just a slip up, not just a misunderstanding. Or a bad communication, or bad rep or even bad representation of what the church teaches.

[00:14:56] It has to be deliberate and obstinate. [00:15:00] It has to be a rejection or denial of a core doctrine of the faith. For instance, you may believe that the bod that the Eucharist is the body of Christ, or you can believe that it is not the body of Christ. That is a heresy. That is a heresy. Now, someone would say, well, actually, Holy Father, the church teaches authoritatively that the Eucharist is the body of Christ.

[00:15:25] And then the Holy Father says, oh, I guess I knew that, but I forgot. Yes, you’re right. I’m wrong. The Eucharist is the body of Christ. Well, that’s not heresy. That’s a slip up. That’s a mistake, right? That’s not a heresy. It has to be deliberate, deliberate, obstinate, a rejection or denial of a core doctrine of the faith.

[00:15:43] Jesus Christ was God and man. That’s a core doctrine of the faith. You have to believe that. If you do not, if you do not, it may or may not be a heresy, because it may be ignorance. It may be a mistake. It may be misinformation that you received from someone else. That doesn’t make you a heretic. But if you believe it, obstinately, deliberately, now it’s a heresy.

[00:16:09] You see? Time and again, I ask people who claim the Pope is a heretic, and he preaches heresy, and he teaches heresy. I’m not making any of that up. I’ve heard all of those. He’s a heretic, he preaches heresy, he teaches heresy. Okay, show me the heresy. Half the time, they say nothing in response, because they have nothing.

[00:16:27] And the other half of the time, what they say is [00:16:30] actually, actually doesn’t fit the definition of a heresy, in form or character, or nature.

[00:16:40] My friends, you may not like the Pope’s style. I have news for you. I don’t either. But he is the Pope. He is the Pope. You may not like his style. I don’t either. That doesn’t mean he’s a heretic. Sometimes you may disagree with what the Pope teaches. Now, you can disagree all the time with what he says, like in a press conference.

[00:17:07] Which I do, on occasion. I disagree with things that he says. Just, things that he says off the cuff. That’s okay. But that doesn’t make him a heretic either. You understand? You may not like his theology. That’s okay. It still doesn’t make him a heretic. I have yet to hear the Pope offer theology that isn’t Catholic.

[00:17:28] I have yet to hear that. If you have an example, I am listening. It’s been years where I’ve left that invitation out there. No one has taken me up on it. If you have heard him say, if you have heard him voice theology that is not Catholic theology, tell me what it is. I’m listening. Please don’t come to me with the famous, he changed church teaching on the death penalty.

[00:17:54] Brothers and sisters, don’t do that to yourselves because you will not like the response that you get. And I’m [00:18:00] sorry if I’m sounding uncharitable. I really am sorry if I’m sounding uncharitable. But the bottom line for me is this. When news came out of the so called change, which wasn’t a change, in Catholic teaching on the death penalty, it was not a change.

[00:18:14] And I was actually very shocked that so many people thought that it was. I was very shocked that Catholic commentators and Catholic communicators We’re saying that this is a change of church teaching. I was totally shocked, because I always knew that that was what the church taught. Whatever. So please, please, please, don’t, don’t come to me with, he changed church teaching on the death penalty.

[00:18:38] Please don’t, because you’re not, you’re not gonna like the response. Not that I’m gonna be mean, or nasty, or call you stupid. I don’t mean anything like that. That’s really not my style. So that’s the first Catholic fairy tale. The Pope is a heretic. No, he is not. And if you think that he is, Hey, drop a comment.

[00:18:57] I’m listening. But please really make the argument. Really make your case. Because I promise you, I will make mine. The next one. Actually, the next two I’m going to roll into one Catholic fairy tale. But it’s really two. Traditionalism or Progressivism is pure Catholicism. Wrong. Now I will treat them separately.

[00:19:24] Let’s start with Progressivism. My friends, progressivism actually [00:19:30] is Catholic, but hear me out as I tell you this. Progressivism actually is Catholic. A lot of people don’t know this, but I’m sure many more people know it than I’m aware of, than I am aware of. Progressivism is not movement away from a truth.

[00:19:47] That’s what progressives have made it today. Historically, and I’m going back hundreds of years, not just over the past few decades, hundreds of years, progressivism, in fact, I want to say, I don’t think the Fathers ever used the word progressive, but their theological methodology was progressivism. Here’s what progressivism actually is.

[00:20:14] First, Whatever you know, progressivism to be or whatever you think you know it to be, throw that out of your mind for a second. Pretend you’ve never heard the word before. Okay. Progressivism is not detachment from the truth. It’s progress. In truth, it is progress in the truth. What we know about the Trinity today.

[00:20:43] Is progressive compared to what we knew about the Trinity in 34 ad. We didn’t de depart from what we knew in 34 ad, but we have deepened our understanding of it. That’s progression, that’s [00:21:00] progressiveness. You see the progress word in there? That’s, I’ll give you another example. Here’s a.

[00:21:13] Augustine’s theology on the sexual act, the marital act, the carnal act, was that it was strictly for procreation. I kind of have a feeling that he is misrepresented when we say that, but I really can’t get into his theology right now. But he’s popularly known, and maybe to some degree it’s true, that he taught that the sexual act was strictly for procreation.

[00:21:43] To be progressive in The theology related to the sexual act, we now believe, well we now believe what has always been true, it’s just that we now know this to be true, that the sexual act is both unitive and procreative. It’s not only procreative, it’s not just for, um, making babies. There is also a unit a natural unitive component to the marital act to the sexual act That has always been true Even before we knew that that has always been true now Augustine taught it was procreative later on I think it comes from Aquinas actually, but I I think it even predates Aquinas, but whatever later on by [00:22:30] the time we get to Aquinas We progress into the sexual act is both unitive and procreative We have not abandoned the procreative component.

[00:22:42] We’ve maintained that truth, but we’ve progressed deeper into the truth. It’s not just procreative, it’s also unitive. It has a unitive component. And when you remove one, you do harm. When you willfully remove one of those components, you do harm. That’s progressivism. We don’t abandon the truth, we deepen our understanding of it.

[00:23:12] That’s what progressivism is. Today, and I can tell you, this started, um, in the early 70s. Liberals in and out of the church, because liberals in theological circles did this, and liberals in secular political circles did this, they hijacked the word progressive, because traditionally, Progressivism was a highly respected disposition of thought.

[00:23:42] Progressivism was. They hijacked it and said, I’m progressive too, and why can’t women be priests? That’s progress. That’s progressivism. I’m oversimplifying it a little bit just to make it clear, but the liberals in the [00:24:00] world and in the church hijacked that word. Remolded it, refashioned it, redefined it, reclassified it, and turned it into the so called progressivism we know today.

[00:24:15] Where it’s not just a deeper understanding of truth, it’s completely jumping the rails off of the truth, away from the truth, to something that we like better. That’s what progressivism is today. But understand this, when we think of progressivism that way We believe, we are believing in a Frankenstein, we’re not believing in a real thing.

[00:24:39] Because that’s not, what people see as progressivism today is not progressivism. Because progressivism maintains the truth, but deepens an understanding of it. Progressivism today is a total abandonment of truth, if that’s what we feel like doing. Okay, so what we see as progressivism today is actually a Frankenstein.

[00:25:02] It’s not really progressivism. It’s just what people are calling progressivism. Now let’s get back to the fairy tale. Progressivism is pure Catholicism. Well, in a way it is, but not the way they think progressivism is. It is, it’s very Catholic always to ask questions, to explore the truth so that we can more deeply [00:25:30] understand the truth.

[00:25:31] Not so that we can change it, but so that we can more deeply understand it. That is very traditionally, lowercase t, Catholic. Traditionally, lowercase t, Catholic. But the way the liberals in the church see that word, that is not Catholic. Well, you know, the spirit of Vatican II, the spirit of Vatican II.

[00:25:56] Nonsense. There is no such thing as the spirit of Vatican II. You’d be more honest with yourself by calling it the spirit of heresy or the spirit of apostasy because when you do something that is contrary to Vatican II, contrary to the church, contrary to church teaching, that’s not the spirit of Vatican II.

[00:26:16] That’s the unholy spirit of Satan. It’s the spirit of apostasy. May or may not be actual apostasy. It depends on what it is and depends on what you’re doing with it. But it is not the spirit of anything Catholic. And that’s just the bottom line. Progressivism is Catholicism. Nope, I’m sorry, it is not. It used to be, before the liberals hijacked that word, it used to be, it ain’t anymore.

[00:26:40] That’s a fairy tale. What about traditionalism? Well, traditionalism at least, well, which kind of traditionalism are we talking about?

[00:26:53] For the purposes of this explanation, I’ll just say ordinary, ordinary old traditionalism. But there are at least [00:27:00] three degrees of traditionalism. Let’s just talk about the first degree. Which is basically, um, constituted by things like, um, I like the traditional Latin mass. I like the old trappings, liturgical trappings.

[00:27:16] I like, I like using the old words for things. I like to say lauds and matins. I like to say matins. I like to say Holy Ghost, which, don’t get me started on that one. Um, and I like the traditional Latin Mass. I like to receive Communion on the tongue. I like to receive Communion while I’m kneeling down. Or as I, I like to receive Communion kneeling down and on the tongue.

[00:27:45] Not only do I like these things, but I prioritize them. I only ever go to a traditional Latin mass. I only ever receive communion kneeling down and on my tongue. I only ever say Holy Ghost. I only ever read the Douay Rheims version of the Bible. Again, don’t get me started on that.

[00:28:07] Alright, so, that’s ordinary old traditionalism. We’re not talking about radical traditionalism, and we’re not talking about Sedevacantism, which is traditionalism also, but it’s a Completely extreme version of it. So we’re not talking about Sedevacantism. We’re not talking about radical traditionalism.

[00:28:25] We’re just talking about ordinary, all traditionalism. [00:28:30] That’s still Catholic. But is it pure Catholicism? I wouldn’t say it’s I wouldn’t say it’s wrong to say that, but I will say it’s imprecise, and therefore it’s incorrect. It’s not wrong. It’s not morally wrong, or even factually It’s just factually imprecise and therefore incorrect.

[00:28:55] There is a purity to Catholicism, and it is not, it is not expressed in what we today call Traditionalism. It is expressed in Apostolic Tradition, capital T Tradition. Let me repeat and clarify. The purity of Catholicism is expressed in sacred tradition, not in lowercase t, traditionalism. Does that mean going to a traditional Latin Mass is un Catholic?

[00:29:33] Absolutely not. I am not saying that. I am not saying that any of the things that Ordinary all traditionalists do is not Catholic. I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is, it is not necessarily the purity of the Catholic faith or the purity of Catholicity or the purity of expression of what Catholicism is.

[00:29:51] It is not. It is Catholic, but it is not Catholicism in its pure expression. Because the church had none [00:30:00] of those things in 34 AD. And if you’re going to tell me, as a traditionalist, that you embody the true and pure Catholic faith, whereas the apostles in 34 AD did not, well, have fun making that case. And of course, I don’t think any traditionalist would attempt to make that case.

[00:30:23] Right? But then why do so many, and very many do, not all of them do, but very many do, Will assert either explicitly or strongly implicitly, they will strongly imply that because they’re traditionalists they are more purely Catholic. My friends, that is a fairy tale. It is not true. There is no truth to it.

[00:30:46] Yes, it is Catholicism. It is not Catholicism in its purest form.

[00:30:53] So what is Catholicism in its purest form? It’s a term I don’t really feel comfortable with, you know, pure or purest. But I would say, if you are faithful to apostolic tradition, if you are faithful to everything the church teaches, and if you are faithfully applying gospel principles, and obviously following the commandments, but that’s kind of part of the game, right?

[00:31:23] I would say That’s, I guess, Catholicism in its purest form, with one additional component. [00:31:30] What do you do to serve others?

[00:31:34] What do you do to serve others? Because you haven’t got Catholicism in its purest form, unless you have that component. You have to have all the other ones I said, plus that one. Gospel principles. Um, adherence to church doctrine. Amen. Amen. Obedience to the magisterium. Yes, even the Pope, even Pope Francis.

[00:31:58] Adherence to sacred tradition. You have to have all those components, but also, do you, do you devote your life to the service of others? If you fail in that, if you don’t really spend much time serving others, I am not saying you’re not Catholic. What I’m saying is, it’s not Catholicism in its purest form, until you are serving others.

[00:32:21] Then it’s Catholicism in its purest form. But to say that progressivism is pure Catholicism, after all, look at how progressive Jesus was. Nonsense. And I’m trying very hard not to use the term BS. Which I’ve been using a little, a little, a little too much lately. Look at Jesus. He was progressive. Nonsense.

[00:32:42] Fairy tale. And they all lived miserably ever after. Traditionalism is the purest form of Catholicism. That’s why everything I say, I’m going to chant. And everywhere I can get away with it, I’m going to say something in Latin. That is not Catholicism in [00:33:00] its purest form. And brothers and sisters, please hear me.

[00:33:05] I was studying Latin on my own at 13. What were you doing at 13? Reading comic books? Hmm? Tch. I cut my teeth on the Douay Rheims version of the Bible. It’s sitting right over there. It belonged to my great grandparents. Okay? I think I was 12 when I started reading the Bible, and it was that version of the Bible.

[00:33:23] So, please don’t tell me. Please don’t tell me how special Latin is. Please don’t. I don’t need the lecture. Don’t tell me how valuable you find the Douay Rheims version of the Bible. Because frankly, I don’t care. I was reading it when I was 12. What were you doing when you were 12? Playing with G. I. Joes? I don’t need the lecture.

[00:33:43] You can give me a lecture, I’m just not going to listen to it. I don’t need the lecture. Because where were y’all when you were 12 and 13? I’m not saying I’m, I’m St. Augustine. I am not saying I’m St. Thomas Aquinas. I’m not saying I’m St. anybody. All I’m saying is the things that traditionalists value about traditionalism, I see the value of those things.

[00:34:06] I truly do. Ugh. I just had an experience this past weekend, but I think I’m going to share that with my followers on locals because my followers on Twitter just won’t respect it. I’d rather share it with people who are actually interested in the things that I’m sharing instead of people who are just coming upon it randomly.

[00:34:25] But I just experienced something just this past weekend that just reminded me of my youth and [00:34:30] and how I value like the Things that I’ve always talked about in my podcast. I value the trappings. I value Latin I was studying it on my own when I was a kid because I felt like I was missing out You know and I wanted to understand Latin and how it functioned and and how it’s used in the church Uh, so I value the trappings in the Latin, and I see the value of the Dewey Wren version, although it, uh, now that I’m more educated in scripture, I do find that a little bit limiting, but it’s okay.

[00:34:59] If that’s the version you like, God bless you, read it. That’s fine. That’s fine. Because God knows there’s lots and lots of worse versions of translations of the Bible. God knows. So. My point is, just this past weekend, I was reminded Of my, my, my affection for things that traditionalists hold dear. The difference is I don’t feel less Catholic without those things.

[00:35:27] I don’t, I don’t feel abandoned because those things are not an ordinary part of my Catholic experience. I don’t feel like the church is crumbling. I, I just don’t. I don’t feel what many traditionalists feel and therefore I don’t feel the need to run and hide in a traditional Latin mass community, whether it’s in a TLM [00:36:00] parish or TLM communities on the internet or clubs, whatever.

[00:36:07] So when I say don’t lecture me, here’s all I’m saying, I get everything you’re about to say. I already get it. And I’ve gotten it for many, many decades, well not many, many, but I’ve gotten it for many decades. I get it. I get it. Please don’t tell me a Latin is special because, yeah, I get it. My problem is, traditionalists take it too far.

[00:36:28] Take it way, way, way too far. Okay, the last one. This is an important one, it’s also kind of a dense one. The last fairy tale. Conscience trumps church teaching. Thanks for listening. Now folks, welcome to Stephen, uh, it looks like Kand, who just joined me in this Twitter space. God bless you, Stephen. Kando or Kandu it looks like.

[00:36:54] God bless you, Stephen. Thank you for joining me. And God bless those who you care about, by the way. And that goes for everybody who’s listening to this. God bless you and God bless those you care about. Conscience is a big one. This is often overplayed even by the Pope. Yes, even by the Pope. Well, I think the Pope misrepresents it.

[00:37:13] I think the Pope understands conscience and the theology around that, but I think he misrepresents it, which is very easy to do. And it’s still not a heresy. It’s very easy to misrepresent it. Now, I wrote, I was going to say a little something, but it was not little. It [00:37:30] was very, very expansive. An article on conscience.

[00:37:36] It was called all about conscience. It is available only to paid members of my locals community, but here’s what I’m going to do. I think for the next, maybe for the next few days, I’m going to unlock that and make that available to everyone on locals for at least a few days. Okay. If you follow me on local you and I mean paid or free members of locals catholicexperience.

[00:38:03] locals. com I’ll make it available to everybody there It’s you don’t have to worry about memorizing the title when I post this edited version on locals I’m going to include this link in the show notes a link to this article all about conscience And it may surprise and shock you what some people think about conscience Let me, I’m going to say, uh, recite this quote, and I’m going to ask if you know who said this.

[00:38:30] Let me just find it. All right, check this out. Who said this? Over the Pope, as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there still stands one’s own conscience. Get this. Which must be obeyed before all else, if necessary, even against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority. Who said that the conscience must be obeyed even above [00:39:00] ecclesiastical authority?

[00:39:02] Can you guess who said it? If you guessed Joseph Ratzinger, the future Benedict XVI, you are correct. You mean Pope Fr You mean Benedict XVI? Or, Joseph Ratzinger said The authority of conscience trumps the authority of the church. Yes. And no, here’s the trouble As I said at the top of this broadcast following First of all, let’s establish this and this is going to make a lot more sense when you read that article Which was quite long but pretty thorough pretty damn thorough pretty well researched and well cited again.

[00:39:38] I will make it available Um to everybody By everybody, I mean paid and free members of my local community. Okay now The, uh, the conscience has an authority which we must follow and which no one, no one, not even the church, can hinder. Not even the church, you understand? No one can hinder the authority of our conscience.

[00:40:02] Not the church, not the government, not even us. Why? Because the conscience is how we seek, find, and follow God. So it must be left unhindered. It must be, as a rule, it must be left unhindered. That, however, does not, it does not liquidate a [00:40:30] person’s obligation to also follow their conscience. Here’s what I mean by that.

[00:40:35] If my conscience tells me that missing mass on Sunday is okay because I just don’t feel like going, well, I’m free to follow my conscience. But if my conscience prod pokes at me and says, uh, I don’t think the church teaches that. I have a duty to follow my conscience and examine and explore that. What does the church teach?

[00:41:00] In other words, how might that play out practically? I would probably have to go and ask a priest. Listen, Father so and so, I just didn’t feel like going to church and I felt that was okay. Did I commit a sin? Father so and so will be like, that’s technically a sin because And then he explains why we have a duty to go to mass and he explains that sometimes we’re not able to go to mass because we can’t, literally we can’t make it, people are sick, uh, they can’t get through the snow, whatever.

[00:41:29] He goes through the whole thorough explanation. Now the person’s conscience is well informed. Now, they have a duty to follow their conscience, they have a duty to obey their conscience, which now tells them, You better get your lazy ass up and go to mass. You see how that works? They have a duty now to follow their informed conscience.

[00:41:53] The trouble is, while we have a responsibility and a duty to follow our conscience, [00:42:00] most consciences are grossly uninformed or ill informed. The duty to follow our conscience does not mean we can do whatever we feel is right. It doesn’t really mean that. Because conscience is not about a feeling. Thank you for listening.

[00:42:14] Conscience is an illumination of the mind. The emotions get involved a little bit. The emotions lend definition to our interpretation of conscience. But really, it’s an intellectual faculty or facility. It’s an intellectual facility. And grace illuminates the mind. And grace, which illuminates the mind, also strengthens the will so that we’re able to follow our conscience, even if deep down we really would rather not.

[00:42:41] Thank you very much. I would rather not have to go to Mass, for instance, but I know that I have to, and so I will. Well, you know, authority of conscience. People can just do what they feel is right. That is a fairy tale. Fairy tale. It is not truth. It is not fact. It is not reality. It is a fairy tale. I don’t care if Pope Francis appears to have said it, which it could be interpreted that way, but It could be interpreted that way, that Pope Francis has said that.

[00:43:14] For instance, let me give you a quote from 2020. Freedom of conscience, always and everywhere, must be respected. Well, it could appear that Pope Francis is saying, whatever you feel is right, do. But that’s not what he’s saying. Freedom of conscience, always and everywhere, must be [00:43:30] respected. But that is, that is not Pope Francis saying, whatever you feel is right, do that.

[00:43:37] He, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s a, it’s a fragmented quote, but it’s another example of why I don’t like the Pope’s style. Because to just drop it there, very dangerous. That’s very dangerous to just drop it there. Again, it’s just a quote segment. But still, in the whole general audience in 2020, it was just a, it was just a disaster of a communication, what he said.

[00:44:02] Anyway. The idea that we can do whatever we feel like because authority has a conscience, sorry, conscience has an authority is a fairy tale. Because the conscience knows that we have to seek out all of the facts. We have to give consideration to all of the facts, especially if a source of the facts has competency in the facts.

[00:44:27] So, Joe the barber telling me it’s okay to miss mass? Well, Joe the barber has no competency. The, the priest at the local parish, he has competency because he’s a priest. He knows the faith. He knows the theology. He knows the scripture. He can make a complete argument. So I, in obedience to my conscience, that’s where I have to go to get the facts.

[00:44:52] And then I take in the facts and then the facts inform my conscience. And then I have a duty to follow my [00:45:00] conscience and to do what is right. What I come to know is right. What I come to understand is the right thing to do. When we say people have to follow their conscience and we do not also say, but their conscience has to be well informed.

[00:45:15] Now they have to follow their conscience anyway, even if their conscience is uninformed because that’s just, that’s an ecosystem an outside agency cannot get involved with, right? I don’t know how well or, or poorly your conscience is informed. I don’t know why it’s informed or misinformed the way it is.

[00:45:37] I can’t get into those weeds because I can’t read your mind. But what I can do is say, yes, you have to follow your conscience, but your conscience has to be empowered. Otherwise, you’re following a zombie. You’re following a zombie. And no one will ever say that following a zombie is a good idea. Or that following a car being driven by a blind person is a good idea.

[00:46:03] No one would say that. And so following a conscience that is ill informed, under informed, or just plain old uninformed, that is also not a good idea. Doing what you feel is right. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. Don’t do what you feel is right. Do what you know is right. Do what you Well, I know that going to mass is right, but I just feel like I shouldn’t have [00:46:30] to do that.

[00:46:30] You see the difference? Now you’re doing what you feel is right. Even though you know better.

[00:46:40] So which is it? If I feel something is right, even though I know something is wrong, well, which one do I follow? Well, conscience is not an emotion. Conscience is in your intellect. So if you know it’s right, It doesn’t give a damn what you feel like. You have to do what you know is right. That is following your conscience.

[00:46:59] What you know to be right. You understand? Conscience trumps church teaching. That is a fairy tale. That is a Catholic fairy tale. So there you have it. We’ve covered Pope Francis is a heretic. That’s a fairy tale. Traditionalism or progressivism is true. Catholicism. Those are two separate fairy tales that I treat it as one.

[00:47:24] And then conscience Trump’s church teaching is also a fairy tale. Before I head out of here, let me top off with this last announcement, which you might’ve heard me talk about in bits and pieces here and there. I’ve stepped away, largely stepped away from the public podcast because Um, I finally have a new job, thanks be to God.

[00:47:45] The new job started a lot sooner than it was supposed to, thanks be to God. But now I don’t really have a lot of time to devote to the public podcast. But, I don’t want to stop communicating with, with, with you. [00:48:00] I don’t want to stop doing podcasty things. It’s in my DNA. I’ve been doing, and I’m not exaggerating, I’ve been doing this on some level.

[00:48:10] since I was very young because I have a big mouth and a hyperactive brain. I’m not the smartest person in the world. I’m one of the dumbest people in the world, but, but, and that I really believe that I’m really not that bright, but what skill I have, I have pretty strongly. And it’s just in my DNA. I have a big mouth.

[00:48:34] I have a hyperactive head and I have to communicate the truth. I have a mind that wants to know it, wants to understand it fundamentally, and wants to talk about it, and wants to defend it when it’s challenged. So, rather than step away, and also, I have a will and desire to help God and the church to make sense.

[00:48:55] And that is sincere and genuine. That is sincere and genuine, that is not marketing speak. So I don’t want to step away from the, from the work of this apostolate. So I’m still here and there doing things on Twitter. I’m still posting, publishing things to locals, but I won’t be publishing things as frequently to the public podcast.

[00:49:20] Okay. You’ll see things pop up on there here and there, but mostly what you’re going to get from me will be on Twitter slash X and on my locals community, catholicexperience. [00:49:30]locals. com. So I haven’t died. I haven’t gone away. I’m God willing, I’m not going away, but if you like what I do. Please follow me on x at for the queen BVM and follow me on my at my locals community Catholic experience that locals calm Some stuff is going to be for paid Members only five bucks a month and some stuff is going to be for everybody whether you’re a paid member or a free member on Locals, okay, so you’re getting something good There oh some put this very simply for you being Capital B being right being who God made you to be is about being holy.

[00:50:11] Holy. Prioritize holiness. Orthodoxy is important, and as I always say, orthodoxy is indispensable. But it is not enough. At judgment, God is not going to ask how orthodox you were in life. He will not ask how traditional were you in life. Thank you. God is going to assess your holiness. Your holiness is what’s going to get you through those gates.

[00:50:44] You will be, uh, questioned. I don’t know because I haven’t gone through judgment yet, but how you lived your life is all going to come to bear. The good things you’ve done, the bad things you’ve done, the amount and level at which you [00:51:00] tried your hardest. All of those things are going to come into play. But it’s going to come down to how holy you are.

[00:51:07] Let me give you an example Something that I liked about boxing when I was boxing Is and I always put it this way everything counts Every punch to the face that you’ve ever taken Every droplet of sweat that you spent in the gym Every moment of pain that you that you experienced while you were training every second of exhaustion That you persevered in your training and in previous fights.

[00:51:37] Every knockdown that you dished out or suffered. Every swing of your fist in the ring or in the gym. Everything when you step into the ring for your next fight. Everything that came before that moment counts. It counts. It contributes to the whole of who just stepped into that ring. Every moment. Every moment.

[00:52:04] It all constitutes who you are when you step into that ring. Even if you’ve lost in the past. Even if you’ve been knocked down in prior fights. Even if you tried your damnedest in the gym and you just couldn’t make your goals. On this day, or on that day, or at all. It all counts. Your successes. Your failures.

[00:52:28] Your rising. [00:52:30] Your falling. The good and the bad of the whole experience of a fighter, all of it, all of it, steps into that ring and then your opponent has to face it and he has to face it all. And the reverse is true. You have to face all of his too.

[00:52:52] The Catholic experience is like that. At the end, listen, the goal is judgment, right? Not for judgment’s sake. Because, but because following judgment is heaven, hell or purgatory, right? Or, or really ultimately heaven or hell is purgatory is temporary. Judgment, heaven, hell. That’s, that’s what we’re oriented toward.

[00:53:16] But here, what I tell you, when you stand before Jesus, it’s like a fighter going into that ring. Everything you have done in this life is going to come to bear. Everything is going to count. Your sins. Your vices, things that you couldn’t get rid of, vices that you couldn’t get rid of, but struggled with, vices that you couldn’t get rid of, and you didn’t want to get rid of them.

[00:53:42] You know what’s also going to step in there? All of your effort, all of your trying like hell and trying and trying and trying and failing and failing and trying and failing, all that is going to stand before Jesus too. All of your successes will stand before Jesus, and believe me, they’re going to glow even more brightly than your failures.[00:54:00]

[00:54:01] All of your effort, all of your successes, all, every, each and every one of your confessions. Every time you went into confession, all of that is going to stand before Jesus. Every prayer, every good work, every smile that you gave to someone who needed it. Every moment you spent giving an ear to someone who needed to bend it.

[00:54:25] Being a friend and brother or sister to someone who needed you. To be that for them in that moment. Everything that you have done, every effort that you have spent, every failure that becomes blood on your hands, and every confession that washes it clean, but you still face Jesus with the stains on your hands, right?

[00:54:51] That all comes before Jesus and it all counts. Yes, the setbacks are there, but also the comebacks are there. It all counts when you face all of it counts He’s not just going to call out your failures or your shortcomings or vices you couldn’t overcome Because it all counts So what all counts is also your efforts your intent your will your desire how hard you try it and how long you were trying So damn damn hard So damn hard People often look with great [00:55:30] admiration at You At military, uh, not just officers, but also enlisted people, people in the military who have medals on their chest.

[00:55:38] We often look at them with great admiration, because medals tell others things that we’ve achieved, glories we’ve won. But let me tell you something. Medals also speak to a pain they’ve endured. Do you understand this? Medals tell a story of glories we’ve achieved. Stories we’ve written in our military career, but each of those stories has pain with it.

[00:56:06] Each of those medals have scars that come with it. You understand? And that’s what the judgment will be like. We bring with, as I say, everything counts, just like in boxing. Everything counts. It all matters. We bring our failures, our shortcomings. We bring our crap and our garbage. Jesus, I just couldn’t get rid of this.

[00:56:31] Jesus, I wanted to get rid of this, but I just couldn’t. Jesus, I wanted to get rid of this, but I couldn’t get rid of it all. Jesus, there was this, but as much as I wanted to hate it, I couldn’t hate it enough to get rid of it. Right? We’re all gonna have those. We’re gonna have those scars. The blood stained hands.

[00:56:52] But, we’re also bringing to Jesus our efforts. Our glories, [00:57:00] which we win. Because of his help. And so I think he smiles on those a little bit more than he frowns on our failures. I really do. But what he will not do is ask you how orthodox you were. How traditional you were. He’s not going to ask. He’s not going to care.

[00:57:20] Those are human constructs and half of them, half of them, Or make believe. The other half are real, but they’re still human constructs. They’re for our benefit. Orthodoxy, for instance, is for our benefit. But he’s not going to ask how Orthodox you were. He’s going to ask, how holy are you now? The whole of who you are.

[00:57:38] Everything you bring before me now. You’re rising, you’re falling, your successes, your failures. How holy are you now? You’re not going to know that answer, but he is. I would like to think that when we stand before him, each and all of us, he’s We’re going to be pleasantly surprised by what he has to tell us.

[00:57:56] Following that question, how holy are you as you stand before me now?

[00:58:05] Holiness is the point, my friends, not orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is indispensable, but remember to be holy and be saints. I’ve been the Catholic Adventurer. Thank you for joining me. God bless you. God be with you all. Bye [00:58:30] bye.