Three Reasons the Church’s Enemies Hate The Immaculate Conception

TFP ^ | 12.08.06 | Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

[Coleus]

The following text is adapted from a lecture Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira gave on June 15, 1973.  It has been translated and edited for publication without his revision.  Note, in this text, he uses the words Revolution and Counter-Revolution as he defined them in his book Revolution and Counter-Revolution.  In this sense, the Revolution is a centuries-old process, motivated by pride and sensuality, and therefore egalitarianism and liberalism, that dominates the modern world and seeks to destroy Christian civilization.  Counter-Revolutionaries are those dedicated to defeating this process and defending the rights of God. –Ed.

…One of the truly Counter-Revolutionary acts of Pope Pius IX’s pontificate was the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception. 

There are three reasons the definition of this dogma was especially Counter-Revolutionary and therefore hateful to the enemies of the Church.  

First Reason: An Anti-Egalitarian Dogma
As you know, this dogma teaches that Our Lady was immaculate at her conception, meaning that, at no moment, did she have even the slightest stain of Original Sin. Both she, and naturally Our Lord Jesus Christ, were exempt from that rigid law that subjugates all other descendants of Adam and Eve.  Thus, Our Lady was not subject to the miseries of fallen man.  She did not have bad influences, inclinations and tendencies.  In her, everything moved harmonically towards truth, goodness and therefore God.  In this sense, Our Lady is an example of perfect liberty, meaning that everything her reason, illuminated by Faith, determined as good, her will desired entirely.  She had no interior obstacles to impede her practice of virtue.

Being “full of grace” increased these effects.  Thus, her will advanced with an unimaginable impetus towards everything that was true and good.  Declaring that a mere human creature had this extraordinary privilege makes this dogma fundamentally anti-egalitarian, because it points out an enormous inequality in the work of God.  It demonstrates the total superiority of Our Lady over all other beings.  Thus, its proclamation made Revolutionary egalitarian spirits boil with hatred.

Second Reason: The Unsullied Purity of Our Lady
However, there is a more profound reason why the Revolution hates this dogma.  The Revolution loves evil and is in harmony with those who are bad, and thus tries to find evil in everything.  On the contrary, those who are irreproachable are a cause of intense hatred.  Therefore, the idea that a being could be utterly spotless from the first moment of her existence is abhorrent to Revolutionaries.  For example: Imagine a man who is consumed with impurity.  When besieged by impure inclinations, he is ashamed of his consent to them.  This leaves him depressed and utterly devastated.

Imagine this man considering Our Lady, who, being the personification of transcendental purity, did not have even the least appetite for lust.  He feels hatred and scorn because her virtue smashes his pride.  Furthermore, by declaring Our Lady to be so free from pride, sensuality and the desire for anything Revolutionary, the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception affirmed that she was utterly Counter-Revolutionary.  This only inflamed the Revolutionary hatred of the dogma all the more.

Disputing the Doctrine: A Counter-Revolutionary Struggle

Declaring that Our Lady was so free from pride, sensuality and the desire for anything Revolutionary, affirmed that she was utterly Counter-Revolutionary and inflamed the Revolutionary hatred of the dogma all the more.

For centuries, there were two opposing currents of thought about the Immaculate Conception in the Church.  While it would be an exaggeration to suggest that everyone who fought against the doctrine was acting with Revolutionary intentions; it is a fact that all those who were acting with Revolutionary intentions fought against it.  On the other hand, all those who favored its proclamation, at least on that point, expressed a Counter-Revolutionary attitude. Thus, in some way the fight between the Revolution and Counter-Revolution was present in the fight between these two theological currents.

Third Reason:  The Exercise of Papal Infallibility
There is still another reason this dogma is hateful to Revolutionaries: it was the first dogma proclaimed through Papal Infallibility.  At that time, the dogma of Papal Infallibility had not yet been defined and there was a current in the Church maintaining that the Pope was only infallible when presiding over a council.  Nevertheless, Pius IX invoked Papal Infallibility when he defined the Immaculate Conception after merely consulting some theologians and bishops.   For liberal theologians, this seemed like circular reasoning.  If his infallibility had not been defined, how could he use it?  On the contrary, by using his infallibility, he affirmed that he had it.

This daring affirmation provoked an explosion of indignation among Revolutionaries, but enormous enthusiasm among Counter-Revolutionaries.  In praise of the new dogma, children all over the world were baptized under the name: Conception, Concepcion or Concepta to consecrate them to the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.

Pius IX: Bringing the Fight to the Enemy
It is not surprising that Pius IX so adamantly affirmed Papal Infallibility.  Very different from those who succeeded him, he was ever ready to bring the fight to the enemy.  He did this in Geneva, Switzerland, which then was the breeding ground of Calvinism, which is the most radical form of Protestantism.  When Swiss laws changed to allow a Catholic Cathedral in Geneva, Pius IX ordered that a statue of the Immaculate Conception be placed in the middle of the city, to proclaim this dogma in the place where Calvinists, Lutherans and other Protestants denied it more than anywhere else.  This is an example of Pius IX’s leadership in the fight against the Revolution. It is therefore entirely proper that all Catholics entertain a special affection for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which is so detested by the enemies of the Church today.

To read another commentary on the Immaculate Conception, click here.
To read Fr. Saint-Laurent's commentary on the Immaculate Conception, click here.
To order your free copy of a picture of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, click here.

[Campion]

In the Roman Catholic understanding, it seems that Mary, who according to Roman doctrine had been exempted from the guilt of original sin [the Orthodox do not accept that humans share the guilt of the first sin but, rather, only the consequences] before all eternity, and thus could not have sinned.

It may "seem" that way, but, to the best of my knowledge, that's not what we believe.

It's probably best not to create strawmen by drawing assumptions about what others' doctrine "seems" to say. Better to deal with what they actually do say.

[kawaii]

See post 28.

I posted from the OCA site only to articulate what the Orthodox DO beleive, not so much what the Catholics do or don't.

[trisham]

Here we go, AGAIN.

************

Indeed. The Church had me at: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church". :)

All that it teaches I accept. Some of these discussions are interesting, but in the end, I believe.

[kawaii]

Even the NewAdvent link i posted to you says the Catholics beleive Christ had 2 natures both human and divine.

[little jeremiah]

Thanks for posting this, I will read it in its entirely later today.

I would also add two other reasons, slightly different tone:

1. They hate conception.

2. They hate purity and moral cleanliness of any kind.

[jkl1122]

All that it teaches I accept.

Acts 17:11
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

[Salvation]

** because it is false and that is all the reason I need.**

You are wrong. Why would the Angel Gabriel have addressed Mary in the following way if she were impure?

"Hail, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you.

[stfassisi]

""they won't understand the doctrines of Mary, which are merely recognition of Mary's special place in salvation history that reflects on Christology and Ecclesiology.""



The Mistake they are making is trying to omit Mary from the New Covenant,this can,t be done because Mary, in union with the sacrifice of her Son, offered to the Eternal Father for the salvation of humankind her maternal rights and love. She, by special privilege, is the unique all-holy member of God's people and in her the Church already at its foundation realized itself as the all-resplendent Bride of Jesus Christ

[Religion Moderator]

The language does indeed press the envelope - but that is tolerable on an open thread providing it does not tip over into hate mongering. Jack Chick materials, Jesus-is-Lord.com, Christian Identity (KKK, Aryan nations) anti-Semitic websites and the like are hate mongering and are not allowed on this forum.

[Salvation]

Another hijacked thread.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

[Campion]

Even the NewAdvent link i posted to you says the Catholics beleive Christ had 2 natures both human and divine.

Of course we do. Actually, it's more correct to say he has both human and divine natures; present tense.

Not sure what your point is, sorry.

[AliVeritas]

Amen. We both know sola scriptura isn't in the bible.

I find it hard to believe... how many just throw tradition to the wind and have never delved into the fathers of the church. As if the NT were in the upper room...

[Salvation]

**I would also add two other reasons, slightly different tone:

1. They hate conception.

2. They hate purity and moral cleanliness of any kind.**

You are so right!

[Religion Moderator]

A thread like this one, which is "anti" another confession cannot be "hijacked" - it is open to rebuttal.

[Salvation]

Interesting list of materials there. (I am not aware of many of them.)
Are they basically hate-doctrines? Protestant sites?

I see some as oxymorons. How could KKK be connecting with Christian Identity in any way at all?

[trisham]

It's trying.

[aruanan]

Three Reasons the Church’s Enemies Hate The Immaculate Conception

No, it was simply an ad hoc solution to a non-existent problem, and has itself caused lots of problems in the following centuries.

[kawaii]

You opined to sitetest that the Orthodox understand the Trinity differently...

[adiaireton8]

Campion, I don't have a problem with the term "human person" because I do not see it as necessarily incompatible with "divine person" and/or intrinsically Nestorian. If I had been alive during the life of Christ on earth, and someone had pointed at Christ and asked me: "Is He a human person?" I would (let's say) reply, "Yep." And if they then asked, "Is He a divine person?" I would reply, "Yep." And if they then asked, "Is He two persons?" I would reply, "Nope." If they asked, "How can He be a human person and a divine person, and not be two persons?" I would reply, "Because He is one person with two natures. He is a *divine* person, in fact the Second Person of the Trinity, because of His divine nature. But it is also true that He is a *human* person because of His human nature. By 'human person' I mean that He is truly a person and that He is truly a human, and that His personhood is human in virtue of having a human nature. By saying that He is a 'human person' I do not mean that his personhood is *merely* human."

What do you think about that? Do you think the term 'human person' is innocuous in that sense, but that it is just too intrinsically misleading? :-)

-A8

[aruanan]

Shouldn't there be a reason 4; Because the basis for it wasn't articulated until St Augustine in 300-something, even he advised against using it to state something like the doctrine of Immaculate conception, was debated as recently as the 1200s be renowned Catholic Saints like Thomas Aquinas, and was not even officially made a Roman Catholic teaching until 1854?

That's a good reason.