Rebuttal of Fr. Bento de Sousa

I have drawn up this text in rebuttal of Fr. Bento de Sousa, for Mr. John Meneses to use as a draft for his reply, drawing substantially on the writings of Raymond Taouk and also of Richard Ibranyi. I publish this text with the kind permission of Mr. Meneses

See also Discuss: Has Wojtyla's Church Fallen Away? — Lúcio

1. Catholic Doctrine cannot change in its essentials. That is, a particular aspect of the Faith formally expressed in one manner cannot be so changed as to give a meaning that is openly contradictory and without having first proven that the contradiction does not really exist! ["The (Catholic) faith grew through time but it was not so changed as to become another" — Vatican I Dz. 1800, 1818; also "It is well known that to the Church there belongs no right whatsoever to innovate anything on the substance of the Sacraments" — Pope Saint Pius X, Ex quo nono.]



2. Anyone who diverges from Catholic Doctrine in even one point has total ceased to be Catholic. [Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum: "The Church has always regarded as rebels and expelled from the ranks of her children all who held beliefs on any point of doctrine different from her own" and "Nothing is more dangerous than the heretics who, while conserving almost all the remainder of the Church's teaching intact, corrupt with a single word, like a drop of poison, the purity and simplicity of the faith which we have received through tradition from God and through the Apostles"]

1. Fr. Hans Kung: "(Marcel) Lefebvre has every right to question the (Vatican II) Council�s Declaration on Religious Freedom because Vatican II completely reversed Vatican I�s Position without explanation" —The National Catholic Reporter, October 21, 1977.



2. "One could make an astonishing list for propositions taught yesterday, and the day before in Rome, as the only acceptable ones, and which were eliminated by the Conciliar Fathers" — Cardinal Suenens, interview I.C.I. May 15, 1969



3. "The liturgical revolution is a mistake touching millions of Catholics at the very core of their religious belief. Let me only mention the sudden abolition and indeed, prohibition of the Latin Mass, the transposition of the officiating priest from the front to the back of the alter and the massive assault on a wide variety of forms of popular piety. If a thoroughly malicious sociologist, bent on injuring the Catholic community as much as possible had been able to be advisor to the Church, he could hardly have done a better job" (Dr. Berger, Lutheran sociologist, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Feb, 1979).



4. Doctrinal Changes in Canon Law (As written either by Richard Ibranyi or Raymond Taouk):
   1. Can. 844�4 allows the administration of penance, anointing of the sick and even Holy Communion to non-Catholics who manifest "Catholic faith" in these sacraments. This used to be considered a Mortal sin and was gravely forbidden [CIC (1917) c731�2] because it implicitly denies the dogma "Outside the Church, no salvation."
   
   
   
   2. Can. 1055�1 no longer defines marriage by its primary end, the procreation of Children, (Gen. 1:28) but mentions this only after a secondary end, the good of the spouses. Whence today's annulments fiasco: in the USA, for example, there were 338 annulments accorded in 1968; but there were 59,030 annulments accorded in 1992.
   
   
   
   3. Can. 336 codifies the collegiality of Vatican II: the "College of Bishops," a twentieth-century invention, is now made a permanent subject, together with the Pope, of supreme and full power over the Universal Church. A bishop, moreover, participates in this universal jurisdiction by the mere fact of his consecration (cf c375 �2). This collegiality tampers with the divine constitution of the Church, derogates from the Pope's powers and hampers his government of the Church (as well, indeed, as that of the Bishops in their dioceses.) "Episcopal Conferences" now assume authority, which thus becomes impersonal and unanswerable.



5. Fr. William Jurgens: "At one point in the Church�s history, only a few years before Gregory Nazianz�s present preaching (+380 A.D.), perhaps the number of Catholic bishops in possession of sees, as opposed to Arian bishops in possession of sees, was no greater than something between 1% and 3% of the total. Had doctrine been determined by popularity, today we should all be deniers of Christ and opponents of the Spirit. �In the time of the Emperor Valens (4^th century), Basil was virtually the only orthodox Bishop in all the East who succeeded in retaining charge of his see� If it has no other importance for modern man, a knowledge of the history of Arianism should demonstrate at least that the Catholic Church takes no account of popularity and numbers in shaping and maintaining doctrine: else, we should long since have had to abandon Basil and Hilary and Athanasius and Liberius and Ossius and call ourselves after Arius."



6. "The Church finds herself in an hour of anxiety, a disturbed period of self-criticism, or what would even better be called self-demolition [auto-destruction]. It is an interior upheaval, acute and complicated, which nobody expected after the Council. It is almost as if the Church were attacking itself. We looked forward to a flowering, a serene expansion of conceptions which matured in the great sessions of the Council. But... one must notice above all the sorrowful aspect. It is as if the Church were destroying herself. — Paul VI, December 7, 1968, Address to the Lombard Seminary at Rome. [This was the Modernist Montini in his "Catholic" mode!]



7. "We have the impression that through some cracks in the wall, the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God: it is doubt, uncertainty, questioning, dissatisfaction, and confrontation.... We thought that after the Council a day of sunshine would have dawned for the history of the Church. What dawned, instead, was a day of clouds and storms, of darkness, of searching and uncertainties. — Paul VI, June 29, 1972, Homily during the Mass for Sts. Peter & Paul, On the occasion of the ninth anniversary of his coronation in his response to Vatican II. [More "Catholic" mode!]



8. "There is need to admit realistically and with a deep and sober sensibility that Christians today, for the most part, are dismayed, confused, perplexed and even frustrated; ideas conflicting with revealed and constantly taught Truth have been scattered by handfuls; true and real heresies in the sphere of dogma and morals have been spread, creating doubts, confusions, rebellions; the liturgy has been violated; immersed in intellectual and moral "relativism" and therefore in permissiveness, Christians have been allured by atheism, by agnosticism, by a vaguely moralistic enlightenment, by socialistic Christianity, without defined dogma and without objective morals" — John Paul II, L'Ossevatore Romano, Feb.7,1981. [And this is Wojie-boy in his "Catholic" mode!]



9. Wojie-boy in Modernist mode: "Spouses be mutually subject to each other." The Bible says: "wives be subject to your husbands." JPII has also called for the "equality of spouses with regard to family rights." (The Remnant, June 15, 1998, 2539 Morrison Ave., St. Paul, MN), p. 4.)



10. Wojie-boy in Modernist mode: In his 'encyclical' Ut Unum Sint in paragraph #47, "John-Paul II" calls non-Catholics who have died for their protestant faiths "witnesses." On June 14, 1994, he said in his address to his 'consistory': "There are so many martyrs in the non-Catholic Churches... too many to include in a contemporary perspective." (The Remnant, April 30, 1998, Vol. 31, #7, p. 9. 2539 Morrison Ave. St. Paul, MN)



11. Even while a mere "Cardinal", Wojtyla taught:

    "The new conception of the idea of the people of God has replaced the old truth on the possibility of redemption outside the visible bounds of the Church. This premise shows the attitude of the Church towards the other religions, which is the basis for recognizing values which are spiritual, human and Christian at once, extending to religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism..."

    Taken from Fr. Malinski�s book, p. 189, Mon Ami, Karol Wojtyla. The book is an interview with "Cardinal" Wojtyla in Rome, in 1963. Published by Le Centurion 1980.

I wish you God's blessings in the New Year. Your Christmas card with the picture of Sr. Lucia caught my attention. I read the card and during my prayer I had a desire to write to you.

I am a diocesan priest and have served in various parishes for 44 years. I am on leave and staying at St. Pius X College, Goregaon.

Pope St. Pius X changed the sacramental life of the Church by encouraging the frequent Holy Communion and by permitting our little ones to receive Our Eucharistic Lord. But he was firm in condemning the heresy of modernism in his time. Christian Churches wanted to come under a common umbrella but without unity in faith and authority, so he warned the Catholic Church of the danger.

However in our time the ecumenical movement seeks the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ "that they may all be one, as You Father in Me and I in You." The scandal of division among us is serious sin.

I have found it helpful to read Sacramentum Mundi on Ecumenism and the commentary on the documents of Vatican II to understand the ecumenical movement.

It does not mean a reduced loyalty to the Catholic faith or that the Catholic Church seeks a compromise with other churches to achieve unity. It is a call to pray for unity, which is a gift of God, and to come together in dialogue to understand each other.

One may have different opinions on practical applications, but the blanket statement in the Fatima Crusader about interfaith practices being grave sins is unwarranted.

It is the will of Our Lord Jesus Chirst to pray and work for unity. I recall the touching remark of St. Augustine to those who had separated 'you are our brothers.'

Even the remark of the Patriarch of Lisbon at the Interfaith Seminar must be seen in its context. Sr. Lucia is not a teacher of the faith but an instrument of God called to share her vision which the teaching Church explains as a call for prayer and penance. Sr. Lucia shared her vision when she met the Pope; she has been a loyal daughter of Mother Mary and Mother Church.

The proposal to build a multi-religious shrine at Fatima has become a sore point. But as many Christians and non-Christians have a devotion to Mother Mary, it would be appropriate to give them some space to pray.

You have a different opinion and it will be appreciated if you would write to the secretariat and offer your suggestions.

Let the prayer of Our Lord Jesus Christ be of paramount importance: that they may all be one, as You Father In Me and I in You. This month we have the Christian Unity Week to pray for unity.

May the Good Lord transform our hearts and make us instruments of peace and unity.

sd/-
Fr. Bento de Sousa

St. Pius College
Aarey Road,
Goregaon East, Bombay. 400 063.
Phone: 2874 1217 / 2874 2957 / 2875 1084

6 Jan 2005

Dear Mr. John Menezes,

I wish you God's blessings in the New Year. Your Christmas card with the picture of Sr. Lucia caught my attention. I read the card and during my prayer I had a desire to write to you.

I am a diocesan priest and have served in various parishes for 44 years. I am on leave and staying at St. Pius X College, Goregaon.

Pope St. Pius X changed the sacramental life of the Church by encouraging the frequent Holy Communion and by permitting our little ones to receive Our Eucharistic Lord. But he was firm in condemning the heresy of modernism in his time. Christian Churches wanted to come under a common umbrella but without unity in faith and authority, so he warned the Catholic Church of the danger.

However in our time the ecumenical movement seeks the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ "that they may all be one, as You Father in Me and I in You." The scandal of division among us is serious sin. I have found it helpful to read Sacramentum Mundi on Ecumenism and the commentary on the documents of Vatican II to understand the ecumenical movement. It does not mean a reduced loyalty to the Catholic faith or that the Catholic Church seeks a compromise with other churches to achieve unity. It is a call to pray for unity, which is a gift of God, and to come together in dialogue to understand each other.

One may have different opinions on practical applications, but the blanket statement in the Fatima Crusader about interfaith practices being grave sins is unwarranted. It is the will of Our Lord Jesus Chirst to pray and work for unity. I recall the touching remark of St. Augustine to those who had separated 'you are our brothers.'

Even the remark of the Patriarch of Lisbon at the Interfaith Seminar must be seen in its context. Sr. Lucia is not a teacher of the faith but an instrument of God called to share her vision which the teaching Church explains as a call for prayer and penance. Sr. Lucia shared her vision when she met the Pope; she has been a loyal daughter of Mother Mary and Mother Church.

The proposal to build a multi-religious shrine at Fatima has become a sore point. But as many Christians and non-Christians have a devotion to Mother Mary, it would be appropriate to give them some space to pray. You have a different opinion and it will be appreciated if you would write to the secretariat and offer your suggestions.

Let the prayer of Our Lord Jesus Christ be of paramount importance: that they may all be one, as You Father In Me and I in You. This month we have the Christian Unity Week to pray for unity.

May the Good Lord transform our hearsts and make us instruments of peace and unity.

sd/-
Fr. Bento de Sousa

Appendix I: Spirago-Clarke — Divine Revelation

1. God has in His mercy in the course of ages often revealed himself to men. (Heb. i. 1-2).
   
   God has often communicated to men a knowledge of His perfections, His decrees, and His holy will. Such revelation is called supernatural, as opposed to the natural revelation of Himself that He makes through the external world.



2. God's revelation to man is generally made in the following way: He speaks to individuals and orders them to communicate to their fellow-men the revelation made to them.
   
   Thus God spoke to Abraham, Noe, and Moses. He sent Noe to preach to sinful men before the Flood, He sent Moses to the Israelites when they were oppressed by Pharao. Sometimes God spoke to a number of men who were assembled together, as when He gave the law to the people on Mount Sinai, or when Our Lord was baptized by St. John and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, a voice being heard from heaven: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." Sometimes God revealed Himself through angels, as for instance to Tobias through the archangel Raphael. When God spoke to men, He took the visible form of a man or of an angel, or He spoke from a cloud (as on Sinai), or from a burning bush, as He did to Moses, or amid a bright light from heaven, as to St. Paul, or in the whispering of the wind, as He did to Elias, or by some interior illumination (Deut. ii. 6-8). Those to whom God revealed Himself, and who had to bear witness before others to the divine message, were called messengers from God, and often received from Him the power of working miracles and of prophecy, in proof of their divine mission. (Cf. the miracles of Moses before Pharao, of Elias, the apostles, etc.)



3. Those who were specially intrusted with the communication to men of the divine revelation were the following: the patriarchs, the prophets, Jesus Christ the Son of God (Heb. i. 1), and His apostles.
   
   Revelation is to mankind in general what education is to individual men. Revelation corresponds to the needs of successive stages of human development, to the infancy, childhood, and youth of mankind. The patriarchs, who had more of the nature of children, needed less in the way of precepts, and God dealt with them in more familiar fashion; the people of Israel, in whom, as in the season of youth, self-will and sensuality were strong, had to be trained by strict laws and constant correction; but when mankind had arrived at the period of manhood, then God sent His Son and introduced the law of love (1 Cor. xiii. 11; Gal. iii. 24). Of all those who declared to men the divine revelation, the Son of God was pre-eminently the true witness. He says of Himself, "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, that I should bear testimony to the truth" (John xviii. 37). He was of all witnesses the best, because He alone had seen God (John i. 18). The apostles also had to declare to men the divine revelation. They had to bear witness of what they had seen, and above all of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts x. 39). With the revelation given through Christ and His apostles, the revelation that was given for the instruction of all mankind was concluded.



4. Even since the death of Our Lord and His Apostles God has often revealed Himself to men; yet these subsequent revelations are no continuation of the earlier revelation on which our faith rests.
   
   Instances of these subsequent revelations are the appearances of Our Lord to Blessed Margaret Mary, and of Our Lady at Lourdes. Such revelations must not be too lightly credited, as men are liable to be deceived; yet they must not be rejected without examination. Many of the saints have had such revelations, i.e., St. Francis of Assisi, to whom Our Lord appeared upon the cross, and St. Anthony of Padua, in whose arms the Child Jesus deigned to rest. These private revelations were more especially given to those who were striving after perfection, in order to encourage them to greater perfection still. Yet God sometimes revealed Himself to wicked men, i.e., to Baltassar in the handwriting on the wall (Dan. v. 5, seq.). Hence a private revelation given to any one is not necessarily a mark of holiness. These revelations, moreover, were no further continuation of the revelation intended for the instruction of the whole of mankind, which ended with the death of the last of the apostles; they are rather a confirmation of truths already revealed. Thus Our Lady, when she appeared at Lourdes, proclaimed herself the "Immaculate Conception," so confirming the dogma which Pius IX. had defined four years previously, and the countless miracles and cures that have taken place there have established the truth of the apparition. Yet it is always possible that the malice of the devil may introduce deceptions into private revelations. No one is therefore bound to give to them a firmer belief (even though they have in general been approved by the Church), than he would give to the assertions of an honest and trustworthy man.



5. Revelation was necessary because, in consequence of original sin, man without revelation, has never had a correct knowledge of God and of His will; and also because it was necessary that man should be prepared for the coming of the Redeemer.
   
   The three Wise Men would never have found Christ if He had not revealed Himself to them by means of a star; so mankind would have lived far off from God, and would never have attained to a true knowledge of Him, if He had not revealed Himself to them. As the eye needs light to see things of sense, so human reason, which is the eye of the soul, needs revelation to perceive things divine (St. Augustine). Original sin and the indulgence of the sense had so dimmed human reason that it could no longer recognize God in His works (Wisd. ix. 16). This is proved by the history of paganism. The heathen worshipped countless deities, idols, beasts, and wicked men, and his worship was often immoral and horrible, as in the human sacrifices offered by him. The gods were often the patrons of vice. The greatest men among the heathens approved practices forbidden by the natural law. Thus Cicero approved of suicide, Plato of the exposing to death of those children who were weak or deformed. Their theories when good were at variance with their practice. Socrates denounced polytheism, but before his death told his disciples to sacrifice a cock to Esculapius. Many of the best of the heathens recognized and lamented their ignorance of God. Besides without a previous revelation the Saviour would have been neither known nor honoured as He ought to have been known and honoured; it was fitting that He should be announced beforehand, like a king coming to take possession of his kingdom. We ought indeed to be grateful to God that He has given us the light of revelation, just as a blind man is grateful to the physician who has restored his sight. Yet how many there are who wilfully shut their eyes to the light of revelation even now!

Appendix II:
Sister Lucia dos Santos and the Apparition of Our Lady at Fatima

Appendix III: On Unity

Finding the True Church