"Later times were to behold wicked men..."

THE 1984 ROMAN CATECHISM | 1984 | Robert I. Bradley, S.J. and Eugene Kevane

[Dennis Paul Morony]

P. 97 THE NINTH ARTICLE (of the Apostles' Creed)

"..Later times were to behold wicked men, imitative as the ape that would like to pass for a human being, who arrogate to themselves exclusively the name of Catholic;"

[Dennis Paul Morony]

This part of the Apostles' Creed begins with "I believe .. the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints."

In the instructions that follow, the text emphaizes the need for careful explanation of this part of the Creed, for:

"As St. Augustine observes, commenting on Ps 30, the prophets spoke more plainly and explicitly of the Church than of Christ.

"For they foresaw that a much greater number may err and be deceived regarding the Church than on the mystery of the incarnation.

"Later times were to behold wicked men, imitative as the ape that would like to pass for a human being, who arrogate to themselves exclusively the name of Catholic; with shameless effrontery, they assert that the Catholic Church is to be found only with them."

All this being said, is there REALLY such a big gap between the two schismatic extremes (at least in behavior and speech) in the Catholic Church today?

Because while to our "left" we can count on the likes of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, who do we have to our "right?"?

To our "right," might we not have that New Advent Blog report on Bishop Bernard Fellay's so-called "Great Leap Backward" speech reported on October 16, 2006? That shows, if he was quoted correctly, that Bishop Fellay thinks the Chinese Communists have a deep theological insight into current Catholic Church affairs?

This is just my own knee-jerk opinion, but for me, anyway, this 1984 Roman Catechism, that includes a presentation by Silvio Cardinal Oddi, (the then)"Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy," really rocks.

Whether it's the plain speech with which it deals with the Death Penalty, or here, with what seems to be the topic of schismatic Bishops.

Dennis