Thursday 25th April 2024

Home » Our Catholic Faith » Currently Reading:

A Leaven In The World . . . Fr. Weinandy Warns About “Disintegration” of Church

March 5, 2018 Our Catholic Faith No Comments

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK

Fr. Thomas Weinandy is no wacko. That is why the U.S. bishops at one time appointed him to advise them on matters theological. The bishops are famous for avoiding controversy but, now, in our present upside-down reality, controversy has found them. Weinandy has never been considered extreme or unbalanced. Until now.
In the “Amoris Laetitia World” black is white and white is black. And, as Antonio Spadaro (in)famously said, “2+2=5.” Down the rabbit hole we go.
As you may remember, Weinandy stepped down from that USCCB role shortly after speaking out for the first time in an open letter last year in protest at the “chronic” doctrinal confusion caused by the Pope and his advisers. “The USCCB strongly encouraged me to resign,” Weinandy stated at the time.
He is deeply educated and respected, expresses himself without hysterics, and is considered a man of the Church. He remains a member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission.
That is why now, when we have heard from him again on the crisis in the Church, his words of warning are particularly ominous.
He spoke at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney, Australia late last month and his message was stunning because he describes the Church as in the process of breaking up into something unrecognizable from the identity conferred by Christ the Lord at her creation by Him (see p. 7B in this week’s issue).
His speech centered on the four marks of the Church, One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, affirming that they stand or fall based upon our faithful offering and reception of the Most Holy Eucharist.
His speech drew from the Creed and its teaching on these four essential defining characteristics, or marks, conferred upon the Church by her divine Founder and therefore essential to her identity. Weinandy declared that these “four defining ecclesial marks are presently at risk” and the words and actions which put them at risk are coming not only from the Church’s members but “even and regrettably from within Church leadership.”
Weinandy drew from the work of second-century St. Ignatius of Antioch to set the tone for his treatment of the four marks and their threatened status. He said the bishop was “the most prophetically advanced” among others of his time and that his “seven letters” served well for the purpose of the talk as they “embodied the four ecclesial marks.”
St. Ignatius preached that unity was and must be the Church’s “supreme present expression,” in faith seeking unity in God also as its goal. The early bishop emphasized unity with the bishop and with the Church as essential to Christian identity.
Edward Pentin in the National Catholic Register wrote:
“For St. Ignatius, this ecclesial oneness, he (Weinandy) continued, is expressed and enacted within the Eucharist which ‘supremely embodies’ and actualizes most fully the four marks. Therefore only those in a state of grace and ‘co-joined to the Church’ can participate in this ‘supreme sacrament of faith’ and heretics who reject the four marks ‘render themselves incapable of receiving Jesus in communion.’
“With all this in mind, Fr. Weinandy said that for Ignatius heresy is ‘fundamentally destructive’ as it ‘destroys the oneness of the Church.’ It is ‘absolutely detestable’ for the saint, he said, ‘precisely because it abolishes the unity of the Church, and it does so by denying the Church’s one, catholic and apostolic faith.’
“The highly respected American theologian presupposed that Ignatius had never met a heretical bishop as he gives the impression he could never have conceived of one, but were he to have done so, he would have contended he was no longer ‘in union’ with the Church. Based on Ignatius’ teaching, Fr. Weinandy said such a bishop would no longer bear the four marks of the Church and so could not fulfill his ministry as a bishop.
“He therefore believes a ‘robust defense and clear advocacy’ of the four marks is necessary otherwise the Church’s identity ‘will become disordered’ and thus ‘enfeeble’ her ability to proclaim the Gospel. This will not only ‘cause scandal’ but ‘more importantly, demean the Eucharistic liturgy as the supreme enactment’ of the four marks.”
One of the ways in which the Catholicity of the Church is being undermined is as a result of the Pope’s application of synodality, not just to the manner in which bishops come together to discuss the life of the Church, her teachings, and the pastoral care of the faithful, but also now the fact that the teachings themselves are being treated as synodal, or regional, and not Catholic or universal.
“We are presently witnessing the disintegration of the Church’s catholicity, for local churches, both on the diocesan and national level, are often interpreting doctrinal norms and moral precepts in various conflicting and contradictory ways,” according to Weinandy.
The holiness of the Church is under attack by the encouraging of the reception of the Most Holy Eucharist by those not living a holy life. Allowing some faithful to receive who are living in adultery is to treat the holiest gift we have, Christ Himself in the Eucharist, in an unholy way.
When we are not holy, that is, in mortal sin, Christ teaches that we must become holy again through Confession and absolution. This is the meaning of the seven sacraments, one of which is the means of restoring the graces of Baptism and enabling the baptized to return to reception of the Eucharist once again.
God is consistent and so must we also be in receiving the gifts of God.
Pentin also reported:
“He said he hoped that by pinpointing the ‘perilous nature of the crisis’ it would encourage all the faithful ‘to embark on an adequate response.’ That cannot be merely negative, he said, but ‘robustly positive’ by proclaiming ‘the good news of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church’ and defending and promoting ‘a proper knowledge of and love for the Eucharist, for here, as we saw, the four marks of the Church are most fully expressed and abundantly.”
I along with many others have repeatedly asked our bishops to publicly reprimand and stop the scandal of those who are publicly attacking the Lord and the Church by unworthy reception of the Eucharist. True pastoral love would at the same time implore these individuals to cease immediately attacking their own prospects of eternal salvation. Implementation of Amoris Laetitia is being used to publicly encourage unworthy reception and undermines the Church’s witness just as public pro-abortion Catholic politicians do.
Last week Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., publicly declared Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.), a heretic who rejects the four marks of the Church, unfit to receive the Eucharist until he publicly repents of his pro-abortion advocacy and voting record. It’s a start.
Thank you for reading and praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
@MCITLFrAphorism

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Kamala Harris Heads to Arizona to Promote Abortions Up to Birth

Kamala Harris is visiting Arizona today to showcase the Biden-Harris Administration’s radical support of unlimited abortion. “Kamala Harris has become the abortion czar of the Biden Administration,” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee. “Instead of joining with the pro-life movement to build programs and safety nets to help promote real solutions for women and their preborn children, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have engaged in fearmongering and propaganda,” Tobias continue

May Everyone Have a Blessed and Joyful Easter

Is Easter being replaced with the ‘Transgender Day of Visibility’?

Two observances — Easter and the recently contrived “International Transgender Day of Visibility” — fall on Sunday, March 31 this year, causing some to wonder “Is Easter being replaced with the ‘Transgender Day of Visibility?’” It’s a valid question. For more than a few, it certainly will. Others might dismiss this as nothing more than a coincidence. That would be a mistake. On the last day of this month, we will witness a clash of religions as…Continue Reading

Abortion Advocates No Longer Consider It “A Necessary Evil,” They Celebrate Killing Babies

Last week, Kamala Harris became the first vice president in U.S. history to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Though the Democratic party’s support for abortion is nothing new, Harris’ Planned Parenthood appearance does illustrate how that support has become a flagrant celebration of abortion as a public and personal good, essential to both “freedom” and to “healthcare.” At the appearance, Harris proclaimed,  It is only right and fair that people have access…Continue Reading

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)