Heretic Excommed. Hilarity Ensues.

I'm going to link to Fr. Zuhlsdorf's account of this in order to keep from linking to whack job publications. Basically, this ex-priest (note: we're using common lingo here; please no emails about indelible marks, etc.), Greg Reynolds, was big into promoting homosexual couples and women priests. This was pretty much a no-brainer since he had resigned from the priesthood a couple of years ago and set up a schismatic congregation on his own in order to draw more souls into the maw of hell.

Now he's been excommed. His response:

“I am very surprised that this order has come under his watch; it seems so inconsistent with everything else he has said and done,” he said.

You can almost hear the Claude Rains in his voice. Mr. Reynolds is shocked (shocked!) that there is Catholicism going on in this establishment.

To show you how senseless this guy is, check out this comment:

Reynolds told (whack job publication) that while he knew the pope had reiterated that the door to women’s ordination was closed, he said his hope was that it didn’t mean the door was locked, “or maybe there is a way in through an open window.” 

So he admits that the Pope said the door was closed, yet he finds this action inconsistent with everything else the Pope has done. Herein lies a wonderful capsule of why the Church is in crisis and how the crisis relates to authority. Why would this man, other than his own delusions, think that there were windows, unlocked doors, chimneys or whatever to sneak his heretical ideas into the Church? Why would he think that this is inconsistent with other stuff Pope Francis has done?

The answer is that the last several decades have seen so little enforcement of the Church's teachings. The "charitable anathema" as Dietrich von Hildebrand called it has fallen by the wayside. And if the Church isn't going to enforce the things that it's saying, it comes off as a tacit admission that there are ways around it. In defense of Pope Francis, he hasn't been in office all that long, so chances are Mr. Reynolds has just been reading the press clippings and not paying attention to much else. However, I don't think there's any doubt that he's been conditioned to doctrinal laxity thanks to the last forty years of unchecked doctrinal havoc.

All that said, we should pray for this guy and all those who have had their ears tickled to buy into his lies. Pray that they have a softening of heart and a penitent soul so that they will return to the Father's House.