H.H. Pius VI
H.H. Paul VI
Posted on 12/31/2010 1:13:04 PM PST by NYer
A new Dark Age on the horizon?
Catholics, Protestants, Agnostics... the vast majority of conservatives of every stripe would agree with this almost non-reported speech made by Pope Benedict XVI on 20 December, 2010.
In a speech to Papal representatives from all over the world, the Pope spoke in the context of a the near total collapse in the Western world of any moral consensus rooted in Christian ethics and heritage.
In comments aimed directly at the secularization and abandonment of God by the West, Benedict stunned those in a attendance when he stated;
"Alexis de Tocqueville, in his day, observed that democracy in America had become possible and had worked because there existed a fundamental moral consensus which, transcending individual denominations, united everyone.
Only if there is such a consensus on the essentials can constitutions and law function. This fundamental consensus derived from the Christian heritage is at risk wherever its place, the place of moral reasoning, is taken by the purely instrumental rationality of which I spoke earlier.
In reality, this makes reason blind to what is essential. To resist this eclipse of reason and to preserve its capacity for seeing the essential, for seeing God and man, for seeing what is good and what is true, is the common interest that must unite all people of good will. The very future of the world is at stake."
And another shot across the bow of Western civilization's growing quest for instant gratification, His Holiness stated;
"No pleasure is ever enough, and the excess of deceiving intoxication becomes a violence that tears whole regions apart – and all this in the name of a fatal misunderstanding of freedom which actually undermines man’s freedom and ultimately destroys it."
Benedict even forcefully spoke of the destruction from within that has polluted the Catholic Church since the implementation of the "spirit of Vatican II" and the abandonment of moral absolutes by many, many Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals;
"In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children.
This, however, was part of a fundamental perversion of the concept of ethos. It was maintained – even within the realm of Catholic theology – that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a “better than” and a “worse than”. Nothing is good or bad in itself.
Everything depends on the circumstances and on the end in view. Anything can be good or also bad, depending upon purposes and circumstances. Morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist.
The effects of such theories are evident today."
The Dark Age on the horizon will follow the Fall of America due to spiritual and moral decay and rot from within: Decadence.
The only thing that can save the world from the impending Dark Age is a spiritual and moral renaissance in the United States.
The American people can lead the world into the American Dream: peace, liberty, justice, and prosperity for all of the people of the world. The question is: Will they? or Do they have the will?
Dissent will be progressively seduced, persuaded, coerced, intimidated, marginalized, and eliminated.
Wow, you manage to insinuate yourself into every thread that mentions Cathicism, don’t you? You should get back on you meds.
Catholicism, that is. And, “youR meds.”
Catholic hating never takes a day off.
I’m not Catholic nor any flavor of Christian but I like this Pope. Time after time he is clear, concise and cuts right to the bottom line with no sugar coating. Although citing Alexis de Tocqueville does have a certain sweetness to it.
Five years later Cardinal Montini was Pope Pius VI and "the Catholic Church began a massive community organizing drive in the United States.
------------- Uh, That would be Pope Paul VI not Pope Pius VI.
For what it's worth, the problem is that bishops traditionally have a LOT more autonomy than a corporate manager or head of division. They can't just be fired, and the Pope can't just tell them to shape up or ship out.
And America has been a problem for years and years, because of the strong strain of Nativist anti-Catholicism and the nature of presidential politics. Al Smith was reviled for being supposedly subordinate to the Pope and the Vatican's tool, thus unfit to be president. Kennedy practically had to swear on a stack of Masonic Landmarks that he wouldn't govern like a Catholic.
So the popes have been reluctant to interfere with the bishops in the U.S., and far too many of those bishops took the easy road and went with the "Spirit of the Age" (and some of them were recommended by a very liberal Archbishop, who was seeking to 'reform' the Church into something much more protestant and trendy). Mostly the bishops wound up in the heterodox trap, but for some of them that led directly to the homosexual trap. Some bishops covered up the homosexual molestation because they, themselves, were homosexual and were subject to blackmail and bribery.
When then-Cardinal Ratzinger decreed that ALL sexual abuse cases were to be reported directly to Rome, that was a major change in church governance. And when he was elected pope, the lavender mafia shook in their expensive Italian shoes.
We hold to the promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church. Somebody like Pope St. Pius X or Pope Benedict is sent by the Holy Spirit to straighten out the fallible human beings that govern her.
“We hold to the promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church. Somebody like Pope St. Pius X or Pope Benedict is sent by the Holy Spirit to straighten out the fallible human beings that govern her. “
Amen. Thank you for that.
You are correct. My bad. Thanks for the correction.
Pope Paul VI is what I meant to write.
H.H. Pius VI
H.H. Paul VI
Fer sure. But something about how the same provocateurs, unbiden, appear to lay in wait for an opportunity to make themselves obnoxious and unwanted is a seasonal eye-opener.
Placemark for pingout.
I have to object to the blogger’s (Kevin Whiteman’s) characterization of the emerging age of vandals as “Dark Ages”. The Pope did not use it (I hope, at least, that he didn’t), and the phrase is an ignorant slur of the Middle Ages, the times of true enlightenment and individual freedom the likes of which humanity has not seen since.
>> Morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist.
Benedict could pass for a FReeper. Good stuff.
Glad I'm not the only one to notice this. I am constantly astounded when freepers who have not posted in a long time suddenly surface with the sole purpose of attacking the Catholic Church in one form or another. I believe this stems from fear which in turn comes from ignorance.
Happy New Year!
Rejoice!
This is huge.
***
Truly this man has the words of life. Let those who have ears, hear. The rest exclude themselves and are basically a pain in the @ss.
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