It can be a grave sin of omission to be silent when one should speak out - including in public! And yes, you may lose much for standing up for Truth.
As I write this in October 2015, we are in the middle of the Ordinary Synod on the Family, which is taking part in the Vatican. It follows on from last year's Extraordinary Synod, which was one of the most shameful events in the history of the Catholic Church. It would have been even more deplorable if that great Cardinal George Pell hadn't bashed his rugby playing fist on the table telling the synod mafia to "stop manipulating the synod!". His intervention prevented total disaster and chaos. The ecclesiastical blows were well and truly punching on all fronts last year, and Cardinal Kasper was seen shouting at Cardinal Burke. Cardinal Kasper of the German faction is pushing a heretical agenda, while Cardinal Burke is standing up for perennial teaching.
It later emerged that the Synod was most likely pre-rigged according to EWTN's veteran journalist Edward Pentin - see his online book - now the top seller in the Catholic section.
This year's synod is starting to resemble a pantomime except no one is laughing but many are weeping. Many clergy and laity alike are feeling extremely perturbed and confused by the proceedings, which seem to change daily according to the whims of the very slick and quietly spoken Italian Father Lombardi.
This synod is meant to be about families, and how to pass on the authentic Catholic Faith. But has there been anything on the family? In short No. But there are clearly lobbies with different 'agendas' - the gay lobby, and those pushing for communion for public adulterers. These lobbies seem to stem very much from the West, and in particular Germany, where there is a church tax making the Catholic church there terribly rich - but the churches are largely empty. The German hierarchy seem to think they need to ditch all the teachings in order to fill the pews. Martin Luther would be proud of them.
Other heresies being proposed are things like devolving bishops conferences, so that they can each decide their own solutions to problems, which would naturally touch on doctrine. But this would make them no different from protestant communities. If this were to happen, the Catholic Church would cease to be universal. Other ridiculous ideas are to change language, so that words like "indissoluble" become "faithful" - sorry but the 2 terms mean entirely different things. This is a very clever tactic used by progressives, to enable behaviour change.
The root of the problem of this year's Synod is the working document, called the Instrumentum Laboris. Veteran pro-lifer John Smeaton of SPUC has taken this document apart, and gave an excellent interview on GloriaTV about why this document is flawed. He says the use of ambiguous language is of concern, together with proposals which are frankly not Catholic. I would urge you to watch this interview. John is in Rome for the duration of the Synod, representing a new umbrella organisation called, "Voice of the Family". He goes so far as to say, that the working document is a danger to families, and to the unborn.
So what are faithful practising Catholics to do when confronted by this sort of shenanigans in the Church?
Do we just lie back, and think of the Vatican? Just sit in our comfy zones, heads in sand and all that? St Thomas Aquinas - angelic Doctor of the Church does not agree with this attitude at all!
in St Thomas' huge work called the Summa Theologica, point no 33 says,
"Fraternal Correction, including that of prelates (i.e. clergy) by their subjects is a precept of charity. If the Faith were in danger, a subject (i.e. a lay person) ought to rebuke his prelate - even publicly." The implication is that to do and say nothing is a sin of omission.
There is a famous saying - I forget who said it. It goes something like this - "It only takes good men to do nothing, for evil to triumph". The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a list of sins of omission - and this includes the sin of silence when one should speak out.
At last year's synod, Bishop Schneider of Kazakstan thanked Catholic bloggers for exposing the machinations.
So Catholics - and I address especially those from conservative groups - you have the right and duty to speak out when the Faith is being attacked. Certain groups (like Opus Dei) hold a position of 'never criticising' the hierarchy (I would agree with this when the Church is behaving normally. But the Church has NOT been behaving normally since the close of Vatican 2). We are in emergency times in the Catholic Church, where there has been tremendous confusion since 1965. One only has to look at the lapsation rate of Catholic school leavers, currently at 96%. Has silence got anywhere? - has Church of Nice made many converts? NO and NO. We need to get back to Church of Truth, and bin the Church of Nice, with its touchy feely happy clappy nonsense!
The Code of Canon Law also says the laity have the right to challenge clergy if the Faith is in danger, as John Smeaton stated in his recent interview.
I saw this in action on Twitter a few days ago, where that towering prince Cardinal Wilfrid Napier challenged Father Thomas Rosica publicy. (Father Rosica is a synod organiser, who has a certain 'agenda'). Cardinal Napier says Twitter is the most important platform for getting information on what is happening in the Catholic Church.
There are some truly excellent blogs out there and I will name just a few.
Father Ray Blake's
Fathers Tomlinson and Hunwicke of the Ordinariate
1 Peter 5
Edward Pentin for the National Catholic Register
Vox Cantoris
Mark Lambert's
Deacon Donnelly for Catholic Voice Ireland
Rorate Caeli
Eponymous Flower
Fr Dickson's
Lifesite news
Voice of the Family
Catholic Family News
Eccles - biting satire and wit
Laurence England
Louie Verrecchio - razor sharp insight
Arm yourselves spiritually with frequent sacraments, the daily rosary and the wearing of the brown scapular of Carmel.
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