Thursday, January 26, 2017

The Pope and the Order of Malta: a Pyrrhic Victory?

Lepanto 1571
[Translation by Rorate] The resignation of Fra Matthew Festing, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, imposed on him by Francis on January 23rd, risks being a Pyrrhic victory for the Pope.

Pope Bergoglio has in fact obtained what he wanted, but had to use force, violating both law and common sense. And this is destined to have serious consequences not only inside the Order of Malta, but among Catholics from all over the world, increasingly perplexed and bewildered about the way Francis is governing the Church.

The Pope knew he hadn’t any legal title to intervene in the internal affairs of a sovereign Order and even less so to demand the resignation of its Grand Master. He knew also the Grand Master himself would not have been able to resist the moral pressure of a request for his resignation, even if illegitimate.


By acting in such a way, Pope Bergoglio has exercised an act of dominion openly in contrast with the spirit of dialogue established as the leit motif during the Year of Mercy. However, what is graver still, is that the intervention took place “to punish” the current in the Order which is the most faithful to the immutable Magisterium of the Church and support instead, the secularist wing, which would like to transform the Knights of Malta into a humanitarian NGO, a distributer of condoms and abortificants “for good reasons”. The next designated victim appears to be the Cardinal Patron, Raymond Leo Burke, who has the dual offence of having defended Catholic Orthodoxy inside the Order and of being one of the four cardinals who criticised the theological and moral errors of the Bergoglian Exhortation, Amoris laetitia.

In his meeting with the Grand Master, Pope Francis announced his intention “to reform” the order, that is to say, the resolve to alter its religious nature, even if it is precisely in the name of Pontifical authority that he wants to start the emancipation of its religious norms and morals. This is a plan for the destruction of the Order, which, naturally, will be able to occur solely by the surrender of the Knights, who unfortunately seem to have lost their militant spirit which distinguished them on the fields of the Crusades and in the waters of Rhodes, Cyprus and Lepanto.

In acting so, however, Pope Bergoglio has lost a lot of credibility not only in the eyes of the Knights, but of an increasing number of the faithful who see the contradiction between his captivating and mellifluous manner of speaking, and his intolerant and threatening way of acting.

From the centre we pass to the periphery, which however, is more important than the centre for Pope Bergoglio. A few days before the Grand Master of the Order of Malta’s resignation, other news along the same lines shook up the Catholic world. Monsignor Rigoberto Corredor Bermùdez, Bishop of Pereira in Colombia, by decree on the 16th of January, suspended a divinis the priest Alberto Uribe Medina, because, according to the communiqué of diocese, he had “voiced publically and privately his rejection of the Holy Father Francis’ doctrinal and pastoral teaching, most of all, as regards marriage and the Eucharist.” The diocesan communiqué adds that as a result of his position, the priest “has separated himself publically from communion with the Pope and the Church.”

Don Uribe therefore, has been accused of being a heretic and schismatic for having rejected Pope Bergoglio’s pastoral indications, which, in the eyes of many cardinals, bishops and theologians have the smell of heresy [about them], precisely for the reason that they appear to be departing from the Catholic faith. Which means that a priest who refuses to administer Holy Communion to the divorced and remarried or to practicing homosexuals is suspended a divinis or excommunicated, while those who reject the Council of Trent and Familiaris Consortio are promoted to bishops, and perhaps nominated cardinals, as probably Mons. Scicluna, Archbishop of Malta is expecting, [he being] one of the two Maltese Bishops who authorized Holy Communion to the divorced and remarried, living together as man and wife. The name of this small Mediterranean island seems however to have a strange tie to Pope Bergoglio’s future, less trouble free than we can possibly imagine.

Who is orthodox today and who is heretical or schismatic? This is the great debate that appears on the horizon. A de facto schism, as the German daily Die Tagespost defined it, that is, a civil war in the Church, which the war going on inside the Order of Malta is only a pale prefiguration of.

See more at: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2017/01/op-ed-francis-destroys-sovereign-order.html#more

Link to book review with photo credit...

19 comments:

David O'Neill said...

A real disgrace the Pope Francis has resorted to virtual blackmail to impose his will illegally on one of the finest Catholic gentleman. The pope should be ashamed!!!

Nicolas Bellord said...

Why did Matthew Festing resign? What was irresistible about the Pope's request?

PaxTecum77 said...

From what I have read and understood, Bergoglio is putting together another plot as he did with the Franciscans of the Immaculate. He has violated the rules and ordinances of the Order of Malta. One by choosing his own hand picked ghoul to run the Order for now. The established rule is that one of the Members of the Order of Malta, and only a member must run the Order until a new Grand Master is chosen. Bergoglio has conducted yet another grave violation. The question being asked is this, Is this the end of the Order of Malta? In an interview last year Archbishop Athanasius said the greatest sin of today is the sin of the anti-Christ and then went on to speak of the errors in the Church today, all of them Bergoglios.
Raymond Cardinal Burke said not too long ago, "If a Pope falls into heresy he is no longer Pope". This I take is official Church teaching. Bergoglio has fallen into heresy with Amoris Laetitia. When will the 4 Cardinals proceed with the correction of Pope Francis. The Cardinals should make clear that Pope Francis has ceased to be Pope and Anathematize this Anti-Christ.

Anonymous said...

After the victory of Lepanto,did Pope St.Pius V lose a major sea battle to Anglican England?
Seems like I've read the Papal states & Spanish Armada tried to invade England and were subsequently crushed.
Anyone know if this is correct or am I 180 degrees off the mark?

Kneeling Catholic said...

on another note, did you see President Trump put in a plug for this Weekend's March for Life?

http://kneelingcatholic.blogspot.com/2017/01/trump-promotes-2017-march-for-life-in.html

Ana Milan said...

If a sovereign state can take over another 'peaceful' sovereign state this should be a matter for the UN. Despots of any colour (religious or secular) must be rigorously dealt with. Italy would certainly have a claim to their 'right' to take over Vatican City of this incident isn't put down immediately & the world would applaud them for doing so.

Anonymous said...

Anyone know if the HBO series "The Young Pope" is worth watching or is it blasphemy & disrespectful toward the Church?
Yes i hold sedevacantist position but still will refuse to watch anything that bashes or blasphemes our Blessed Lord or the Church.
It doesn't matter if Hollywood is bashing the Novus Ordo.In their sick perfectly possessed minds,Hollywood thinks they're bashing & mocking the One True Church.

Anonymous said...

This really doesn't even matter. Until we have am actual military order made up of military knights, priests, and hospitallers, this is all just so many fools wandering around with their capes passing out condoms, same with those silly old fools wearing the feathers and carrying a worthless foil.

Unknown said...

I would say it is the best one can expect from a secular director. Pope Pius XIII is a holy traditionalist pontiff, despite his rude character and crises of faith; he is certainly the "good guy" of the series.
Warning: some sexually provocative (though not explicite) scenes are present in a few episodes.
In any case, it is not any way offensive or intended to be offensive towards the Church.

Unknown said...

I thought the very same thing.
Despite unjust and sacrilegious, it would be a fitting punishment for a man who dares to speak endless and obstinate heresy from the chair of St. Peter, and for his whole claque of papolaters.
Then, in Babylon, they will cry and remember Zion - if sin has not yet hardened their hearts.

Anonymous said...

Chris Ferrara sums it up nicely at Fatima.org. http://fatimaperspectives.com/fe/perspective933.asp

Anonymous said...

There's a Guiseppe Nardi article, difficult to read under Google Translate, but which I hope might appear here on this site, that seems to say that the Pope and his men took this heavy-handed route after realizing that under law, their hands were tied and legally they could do nothing. My guess is that the Pope and his men, after drawing blood this way and tasting it, will use this kind of raw exercise of power more and more. It's the nature of the beast. The seas will only get rougher from here.

Anonymous said...

We Catholics are being psychologically attacked on all sides literally.
The "white nationalist" movement is luring some of us in but its wrong since most of these groups are outwardly pagan and hostile to what they think is Catholicism.They Think the Novus Ordo is Catholicism and then bash it over & over.the unsuspecting novus ordite,being completely clueless of his faith begins to agree.Thus one by one souls are being lost due to error & lack of knowledge.
Remember the book of Hosea "my people will be destroyed due to lack of knowledge"

Anonymous said...

I never thought I would say this, but this "pope" I do think is the anti-Christ. He is destroying the Church,and so many good souls. He and his associates. The only good thing is that according to at least 3 prophecies, the reign of this anti-Christ will be short. Let's prepare for the worst, but pray and hope for the best soon.
Damian Malliapalli

Robbie said...

Jorge Bergoglio, the protestant pope, is advancing on all fronts because he realizes the opposition to him is disorganized, weak, and convictionless. They're simply not cohesive enough to defend every fight Bergoglio has to chosen to prosecute and this will almost certainly result in the complete collapse of the conservative block.

Effectively, Bergoglio and his thugs are going in for the kill shot on traditional Catholicism. The one thing they lack, though, is a head on a pike. The move against Malta solves that because Burke is its patron. By forcing the president to implicate Burke, Jorge is setting the stage to remove Burke's red hat.

Jorge Bergoglio is a disgrace and he will be remembered as the man who irrevocably split the Church. He may well be the last "pope" of the Catholic Church. That said, we should not forget who set the stage for this, Joseph Ratzinger. He decision to resign may be the greatest sin against the Church ever committed.

Making matters worse, now comes word Jorge wants to change the translation of the Mass. Again, advancing on every front.

PaxTecum77 said...

St. Francis of Assisi prophesied that, " A man not canonically elected will be raised to the Pontificate. In those days Christ will not send them a true pastor, but a destroyer". Sister Lucia Dos Santos said that, "The final battle between God and satan will be on marriage and the family". Pope Benedict XVl said after his resignation, "Through a mystical experience God asked me to step down". Pope Benedict XVl has devoted himself to praying for the Church, it has born fruit. I believe his intercession has given strength to the Traditionalist Movement by surrounding Bergoglio the heretic on all sides. Blessed Ann Catherine Emmerich spoke of her vision of the a conflict between two Popes. She speaks of the Pope in red who is not obeyed and living in a different palace. Let us have confidence in God. The victory will be His, we must cooperate by being faithful to the Church. And being faithful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVl. Pope Benedict XVl has left us his writings and speeches, enough to last us several lifetimes.

Jack said...

Fra' Festing's resignation couldn't be required so bluntly by the Pope if he hadn't a heavy file on his desk to force him to comply on the spot.
Certainly Festing is a gentleman, but he is a man who sometimes makes mistakes like all men do. His ennemies inside the Order built the file with full details and placed it in the Pope's hands. There are hearsays of paedophilia cases among British members that Festing mismanaged.
Probably it was enough to threaten Festing of publishing the facts, et voilà. These are the same methods of mafia gangsters, lies and slanders, that were used against the FFI: The Pope's aim was the destruction of this trad order, and he succeeded, even if the Vatican's commissar Fr Volpi (now deceased) who was in charge of carrying out the wreck, was later sentenced before an Italian civil court to reparations for the family of the order's founder.
There were NO APOLOGIES from the Vatican.

Jack said...

Another dramatic quote to recall, that of the Cardinal Ciappi, who had read the true 3rd Secret of Fatima in in the times of John XXIII: "In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy (in the Church) will begin AT THE TOP."

Anonymous said...

Apparently, Bergoglio is on anti-psychotic medication. This needs to be published widely.Kolvenbach SJ warned them he was mentally unstable!