The Church's Problems Explained In 18 Minutes And 25 Seconds

Check this out:



I just saw this over at Fr. Z's place. The conversation doesn't last all that long, but it encapsulates pretty much all the Church's problems. Notice how the priest is approached with all these claims about how the Church is wrong, about how Vatican II is getting ignored, how the laity are who decides what is right and wrong, etc.

Then notice how quickly the dissenters here flee from the discussion when he brings up inconvenient things like facts. Sure, they are more than willing to bring up the sex abuse scandal, Vatican II, and so forth, but the moment the priest begins to refute them, they quickly announce that they "aren't here to talk about those things, even though they brought them up in the first place.

What you have, though, is the whole gauntlet of nausea-inducing crap that one might expect from the LWRC itself, which all culminates in this nice lady's announcement that there isn't just "one Truth" but instead a whole hosts of Truths depending on who you talk to. In other words, Truth is dependent on me.

Of course, the main spokeswoman here proclaims her authority to speak about things because she has a bunch of theology degrees while simultaneously declining to answer any of the priests questions because she "isn't prepared or trained to do so." Here's a suggestion for anyone in this kind of situation. Don't bring stuff up and portray yourself as knowledgeable about it, whether it's Vatican II or fixing cars, unless you are prepared to either (a) defend what you are saying or (b) admit that you might be wrong. Notice that at no point does she concede that she might be wrong. She's ignorant of the topics, but she is secure in her ignorance that she's right.

How bizarre. It reminded of something a wise man once said:

With all this in mind, one understands how it is that the Modernists express astonishment when they are reprimanded or punished. What is imputed to them as a fault they regard as a sacred duty. Being in intimate contact with consciences they know better than anybody else, and certainly better than the ecclesiastical authority, what needs exist - nay, they embody them, so to speak, in themselves. Having a voice and a pen they use both publicly, for this is their duty. Let authority rebuke them as much as it pleases - they have their own conscience on their side and an intimate experience which tells them with certainty that what they deserve is not blame but praise.


Pope St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis

This priest deserves our prayers and praise for handling this the way he did. He certainly didn't seem to know this was coming. In the face of an ambush, he met the enemy with charity and good will. He didn't get rattled, and once he hit his stride, the enemies knew they were outmatched.

Bravo, Father! Keep up the good fight!