The Question of a Heretical Pope


The Question of a Heretical Pope

  Editorial of Le Sel de la terre 109 – Summer 2019

THIS QUESTION is posed more and more in view of the scandals given by the present Pope. A recent example is provided by the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Common Coexistence“, signed in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019, by Pope Francis and the “Great Imam” of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, in which we find the following sentence:

« The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings 1 »

As much as we can attribute the diversity between men and women to the “wise divine Will“, we cannot ascribe it to the diversity of religions whose only cause is the sin of men.

In the editorial of Le Sel de la terre 102, we indicated two initiatives leading to the question of the heresy of the pope:

— On June 29, 2016, forty-five theologians presented a critical study of the exhortation Amoris lætitia to the Dean of the Sacred College, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, where nineteen propositions of the Roman document were censored 2.

— On August 11, 2017, a twenty-five-page letter entitled Correctio filialis de haeresibus propagatis (Filial correction concerning the spread of heresies), dated July 16 and signed by forty clerics and academics, was handed over to the Pope 3.

Other facts have been added to this dossier:

— On March 30 and 31, 2017, a symposium was held at Sceaux (a suburb of Paris) entitled “The Deposition of the Pope: Theological Sources – Canonical Models – Constitutional Issues 4“. About fifteen academics, including ten professors, two doctors and one associate, dealt with the subject 5.

— On March 21 Bishop Schneider published a conference on the “heretical Pope“, where he defends the opinion that in no case does a Pope lose his office because of heresy 6.

— Shortly thereafter, on April 21, about twenty Catholic theologians and academics published an Open Letter to Bishops of the Catholic Church [later designated as the Letter of the Twenty Theologians] asking the bishops to publicly warn Pope Francis of his heretical teachings. If he does not correct himself, they said, the announcement of his heresy by the bishops of the Church will then become a juridical fact, resulting in the pope automatically losing his office 7.

Thus, in view of the aggrevation of the crisis in the Church, a large number of Catholic figures realize that the problem comes from Rome. Although the theology of the present pope is not very different from that of his predecessors, the fact that he derives its moral consequences has shocked the conservative Catholics of the conciliar Church. Whence the accusations of heresy are multiplying.

Let us make two remarks about this:

1. These accusations are partly based on the teaching of the Council and the conciliar Popes. The authors of the latest Open Letter, for example, quote Vatican II and John Paul II in favor of their accusation of heresy against Pope Francis. Therefore, the perpetrators of these accusations have not yet grasped the origin of the evil that the Church suffers: even if they triumph in their enterprise – an unlikely hypothesis – we would be far from the return to a normal situation in the Church. This return cannot forgo condemning the errors of the Council.

2. Moreover, the accusers of the pope are divided on the consequences of their accusations. Does a pope accused and convinced of heresy lose his office?

— Yes, says the Letter of the Twenty Theologians.

— No, replies Bishop Schneider: “The theory – of the deposition of pope or the ipso facto loss of his office for heresy – is only a theological opinion [which is] in practice inapplicable. If applied in practice, it would create a situation similar to that of the Great Schism, which the Church has already disastrously experienced at the end of 14th and at the beginning of 15th century. Therefore we must bear with the situation by protecting ourselves as best we can; it is “the temporal cross of a heretical pope“.

We will simply remark here that the Letter of the Twenty Theologians is in accordance with the teaching of the great majority of theologians, while Bishop Schneider has difficulty in finding authorities on which to rely: the only theologian whom he quotes, Mgr. Zinelli, does not say that Pope can in any case lose his jurisdiction, but simply that if God allows such an evil, he will not lack the means of providing for the situation without jeopardizing the true doctrine of the full and supreme power of the Roman Pontiff 8. Clearly, the theologians cited by the Letter of the Twenty Theologians do not question this true doctrine.

This initiative of the 20 theologians has been criticized for being imprudent. We will readily admit that it is unlikely to lead to the deposition of the Pope. But it seems to us at least to have a twofold merit, on the one hand of recalling the traditional doctrine of the theologians on the question of a heretical pope, a little known doctrine, and, on the other hand, to indicate the immense danger to the Church of a Pope who spreads heresy: the current crisis in the Church has no other cause than the situation in Rome.

Once again, it is clear that the best solution is the one advocated by Msgr. Lefebvre in the last years of his life, when he understood that the seriousness of the situation in Rome obliged him :

— to do episcopal consecrations without the consent of the Pope ;

— and to wait for the Roman authorities to profess again the truly Catholic faith before placing himself and the Society under their immediate jurisdiction.




1https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2019/outside/documents/papa-francesco_20190204_documento-fratellanza-umana.html

2 See: fsspx.news/en/content/23941

3 A site has been specially created: www.correctiofilialis.org where this text can be found in various languages.

4 — Organized jointly by the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, the University of Auvergne, and the University Paris-Sud – Paris-Saclay as well as the laboratory Law & Religious Societies, the Michel de l’Hospital Center and the Institute of Juridical and Philosophical Sciences of the Sorbonne. The proceedings of this symposium should be published soon, which will enable us to report more precisely on them.

5— We are awaiting the publication of the Acts to report on it.

6 — Article published on March 21, 2019, by fr.news, available on Gloria.tv.

7 — www.lifesitenews.com/news/prominent-clergy-scholars-accuse-pope-francis-of-heresy-in-open-letter Among the authors of this Letter, we notice Professor Paolo Pasqualucci (several of whose texts Le Sel de la terre has published) and two Dominicans, Fathers Thomas Crean and Aidan Nichols. As of May 21, 70 new people had signed the Letter.

8 —MANSI52, col. 1109.

Consecration to the Most Holy Virgin


Consecration to the Most Holy Virgin

General ideas about the True Devotion or Holy Slavery to Jesus through Mary

According to Saint Lewis-Mary Grignion-de-Montfort

By Fr Gabriel DENIS

1) What is the purpose of this devotion?

The purpose of this devotion is to establish the absolute reign of the Blessed Virgin in our hearts, in order to make prevail in them the perfectly incarnated Wisdom, Jesus, Christ the King:

“If, then, we establish solid devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only to establish more perfectly devotion to Jesus Christ, and to provide an easy and secure means for finding Jesus Christ. If devotion to Our Lady removed us from Jesus Christ, we should have to reject it as an illusion of the devil; but so far from this being the case, devotion to Our Lady is, on the contrary, necessary for us, as I have already shown, and will show still further hereafter, as a means of finding Jesus Christ perfectly, of loving Him tenderly, and of serving Him faithfully†(Saint Lewis-Mary Grignion-de-Montfort).

2) What does this devotion consist of?

It consists of:

1) giving yourself entirely to the Blessed Virgin to be wholly with Jesus Christ through her;

2) to live habitually and always in a complete, whole, and perfect dependence of her will, following the example of the Son of God in Nazareth.

3) Why dedicate yourself to the Blessed Virgin?

We thus devote ourselves to the Blessed Virgin:

1) to imitate the dependence of Jesus who, in order to save us, wanted to be subject to Mary for thirty years;

2) to recognize the rights of the Holy Virgin, who, being Mother of God, has power over all creatures;

3) to receive more graces, because with Mary being in charge of applying to us the merits of the Redemption, we will be all the more favored, living more subject and more united to the divine Mother.

4) How should you give your whole self and practice this absolute dependence to the Most Holy Virgin?

We must choose a remarkable day to give her, in an act of solemn consecration:

1) our body ;

2) our soul;

3) our earthly goods;

4) our spiritual goods ;

5) all the value of our good past, present and future deeds.

By virtue of this consecration and to live habitually in her dependence, we must do all our actions through Her, with Her, in Her and for Her, so that we always look at Her as acting together with us, and to destine to Her all the good that we can do.

5) What does it mean to act through Mary, with Mary, in Mary and for Mary?

— To act “through Mary†is never to go to our Lord without going through Her, to let yourself be led in all things by Her spirit;

— “with Mary†is to take the Holy Virgin as the model of all that one has to do, and endeavor to imitate Her;

— “in Mary†is staying within the beautiful Heart of Mary with complacency, remaining in peace, relying on Her with confidence, taking refuge in Her, and losing yourself without reservation;

— “for Mary†is doing all actions for Her, for Her profit and glory, in order to do them more surely for the glory of God.

6) How does this consecration differ from those that are made on the occasion of Baptism and in the Congregations of the Children of Mary?

On the occasion of Baptism and in the Congregations of Children of Mary, one is placed under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, as a child under the tutelage of his mother, or as someone poor under the protection of someone rich, in order to have a greater part of their kindness, favors, and love; but one does not sacrifice, for that, neither the value of one’s acts, nor the liberty to rely on yourself.

Here, on the contrary, by giving everything entirely to the Blessed Virgin, for no longer do we belong to ourselves, we abandon at the same time all the rights we naturally have from our good works. She can, therefore, dispose of them as She wills, as She deems fit, without intending anything but the honor of living in her dependence as slaves by love, in order to be by it slaves of Jesus; hence this title given by the Blessed Father Montfort to this devotion: Slavery of Jesus in Mary.

7) In what sense should we consider this abandonment of all our rights to the Blessed Virgin?

To clearly understand the answer to this question, it must be remembered that each of our works, made in a state of grace and by reasons of faith contains:

1) a satisfactory (atoning) or impetratory (begging) value that we can communicate to others, and which serves, to compensate for the penalty due to sin or to obtain some benefit particular;

2) a meritorious value which is our own, that we do not share with anyone, and which brings to our soul an increase of graces and merits.

Now, by this voluntary abandonment we make of all our rights, the Blessed Virgin becomes absolute headmistress: 1) of all of the satisfactory (atoning) and impetratory (begging) value of our good works, so She can apply them how She wants, as She pleases, according to the greatest glory of God;

2) of all their meritorious value, that is, to say of the graces of our merits. But because these graces and those merits of our own are incommunicable, She will want to guard them preciously, like a beautiful and rich treasure, to grant us enjoyment at the great day of eternity.

8) How can we help our parents, friends, and benefactors, both alive and deceased, if we are not free to dispose the value of our good works in favor of who we want?

Far from opposing that we come to the aid of those who are dear to us, or who commend themselves to us, this devotion authorizes us, on the contrary, to pray for them with more confidence than ever:

“Just as well as a rich person,†says the saint of Montfort, “who, wanting to show his esteem for a great prince, gives his entire fortune to him. Would not that man have greater confidence in asking the prince to help one of his friends who needed assistance? Indeed the prince would only be too happy to have such an opportunity of proving his gratitude to one who had sacrificed all that he possessed to enrich him, thereby impoverishing himself to do him honour. The same must be said of our Lord and our Lady.â€

For those consecrated as slaves, it is of their kindness and power never to be outdone in gratitude.

While the application of our good works does not depend anymore on our will, Jesus and Mary “will assist, of our humble and submissive commendation, of our small spiritual merit, or by other ways, our parents, friends and benefactors†alive and dead, when they will be in need. It is even a duty of justice and charity that they will recognize and fulfill better than us.

9) What are the main benefits we find for ourselves in the slavery of Jesus in Mary?

We, being stripped of all that we have to give it to the Most Holy Virgin, are right to believe:

1) That the good Mother, having accepted our offering, is obliged at the same time to consider us always as her good, to protect us and defend us against our enemies, to give us the ways of salvation, and to obtain for us all of the graces we need in life;

2) That our good works, passing by her hands before arriving at God, are purified, augmented, embellished with its virtues, and presented by Herself to Jesus Christ, they will be favorably welcomed, and thus make them more meritorious in His eyes:

3) That, being shown to be generous and selfless, parting with our own goods to put them back in Her hands, she acquits our debts towards God in this life and will not permit that we stay a long time to suffer in Purgatory after our death.

Also, in the slavery of Jesus through Mary, a fervent, animated soul of special love for the Most Holy Virgin, arrives more surely and more promptly to a perfect sanctification than by any other spiritual way. “Show me a new road to go to Jesus Christ,†says the saint of Montfort, “pave it with all the merits of the saints, adorn it with their heroic virtues, illuminate and enhance it with the splendor and beauty of the angels, have all the angels and saints there to guide and protect those who wish to follow it. Give me such a road and truly, truly, I boldly say, and I am telling the truth, that instead of this road, perfect though it be, I would still choose the immaculate way of Mary. It is a way, a road without stain or spot, without original sin or actual sin, without shadow or darkness.â€

10) What are the obligations of this devotion?

To be a slave to Jesus in Mary:

1) We must have made our consecration;

2) By virtue of this consecration, one must seek to live according to her spirit, that is to say, in union with Mary.

The act of consecration is a contract that always lasts unless it is formally retracted. The saint of Montfort asks us to renew it frequently, even if it is brief.

To help us do our consecration well and to live united with Mary, he also shows us a few particular external and internal practices.

11) Does this devotion oblige under pain of sin?

It does not oblige under pain of sin, but one could find in their negligence a lack of conformity to grace. It is a great medium of salvation and of perfection that we must neither despise should nor neglect.

12) What are the external practices of this devotion?

These practices are:

1) To prepare for the consecration in offering to God, for thirty days, one’s prayers, meditations and good works, with intention and in following way: twelve days to purge the spirit of the world, six days to get the knowledge of oneself, six days to get to know the Blessed Virgin, and six days to get to know Jesus Christ. This preparation completed, the consecration is done pronouncing the formula composed by the saint of Montfort himself 1;

2) To renew each year the act of consecration, after preparing for three weeks in the same way as the first time. This preparation can coincide with the month of May; it would be an excellent exercise for the month of Mary;

3) To make a small offering to the Holy Virgin, the day of the first consecration and the day of the renovation, as a mark of universal dependency towards Mary;

4) To recite every day some prayer in honor of the Most Holy Virgin; for example, the Magnificat, a chaplet, or the Holy Rosary, especially the Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin, praying three times one Pater, four Aves, and 1 Glory Be.

5) To devoutly celebrate the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin, particularly the Annunciation, the main festival of the present devotion.

13) What are the interior practices?

These practices are:

1) Offering to Our Lord Jesus Christ, every morning, by the hands of his Holy Mother, all of our thoughts, desires, words, and actions, by pronouncing these words or other similar ones: “I am all yours, and all that I have, I offer to you, my kind Jesus, by Mary, your Most Holy Mother†or “I give myself up, I give myself entirely to you, my dear Mother.â€

2) To live all day in union with Mary, seeking to act everywhere and always through Her, with Her, in Her, and for Her, as it was explained above (fifth question). For this, in the course of the day, do all works habitually with this thought: “My good mother, act in me…speak in me…work in me.†All this is to be done peacefully, gently, without effort, without restraint, but also with fidelity and perseverance.

14) What are the fruits of this devotion?

Souls who know how to enter the spirit of this devotion are happy, a thousand times happy. They find their consolation invoking and blessing Mary as their powerful Queen; their pleasure to obey their dear Headmistress without delay. They discover in contemplation of her virtues a ravishing beauty and, in the imitation of her, strength and incomparable joy. They live in their Mother’s company with the trust and abandonment of a child. They draw from the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin (becoming for them the conduit of all graces) such a great abundance of goods that they withdraw fast from sin to live fully according to God. It is Jesus and Mary who reign in their hearts and they do not delay not to reign there perfectly.

God alone!

Translation by J.F.

1 — You will find it in his « Treatise of the true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary ».