CARDINAL LAW RESIGNS FOR THE WRONG REASON By Patricius Anthony
TRADITIO Traditional Roman Catholic Internet Site E-mail: traditio@traditio.com, Web: http://www.traditio.com Copyright 2002 P. Anthony. Reproduction prohibited without authorization.
The beleaguered Pope Paul VI once lamented that the fumes of Satan had entered God's Sanctuary in the aftermath of the "reforms" of Vatican II. The diabolical destruction of Christ's Church continues with more reports of clerical debauchery and what now appears to be a monumental cover-up by the U.S. Catholic hierarchy of these egregious deeds. The most besieged member of this group, Cardinal Bernard Law, disgracefully stepped down from his post as Archbishop of Boston saying, "To all those who have suffered from my shortcomings and mistakes I both apologize and from them beg forgiveness."
As an aside, in nearly all the cases of "fallen" Churchmen, their "apologies" are almost always directed to their fellow man or to "worldly powers." Rarely do they seek "forgiveness" from Almighty God for bringing scandal upon His Holy Church. It is quite ironic in all of this mess that the Vatican has taken next to no disciplinary measures against these officials; yet, it continues to label the heroic Archbishop Lefebvre and traditionalists "schismatic"!
While the Cardinal's resignation may have soothed, somewhat, the wrath of watchdog groups such as Voice of the Faithful and a virulent anti-Catholic press, a more recent "ecumenical" gesture by the prelate is, in the light of eternity, a far more nefarious offense than his negligence in monitoring wayward clerics. On the last Sunday of Pentecost (November 24, 2002), a week before the Holy Season of Advent was to begin, Bernard Cardinal Law, a supposed "vicar" of Christ's Church, participated, from any reasonable standpoint, in an outright heretical action. The Cardinal voluntarily went to, and worshipped in a Muslim temple and enthusiastically spoke about the experience afterwards! The following is a description of the "event" by the Boston Globe:
It was Sunday, and Cardinal Bernard F. Law had come to pray. So, wearing a gold crucifix and a flowing black rope with red trim, Law removed his shoes. Then, as the imam [the leader of prayer in a Moslem mosque] chanted the sunset prayers, the bishop knelt with his forehead just inches from the carpet and offered praise to Allah.
Law did not feel out of place at the Islamic Center of Boston saying that "religious Catholics" and Muslims share more "common ground" than is typically believed. He added: "I feel very much at home with my fellow fundamentalists here."
There is little doubt that Law, or for that matter the Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger, or any other Novus Ordo higher-up would feel "comfortable" in a mosque or any other non-Catholic "house of worship," since for them, nearly every religion, even one that so virulently rejects Christ as God, have "revelation" in their creeds, or "subsist" in the Catholic Church. In the statement announcing his resignation, the Boston archbishop paid homage to his ecumenical efforts: "My gratitude extends as well to so many others with whom I have been associated in serving the common good; these include those from the ecumenical, Jewish, and wider interreligious communities as well as public officials and others in the civil society."
Just as disturbing about Law's "journey to the mountain top" has been the utter lack of outcry from either his fellow clerics, the laity, or associations like Voice of the Faithful. That there would be little outcry over a Roman Catholic cardinal who would publicly worship a religion that has throughout its malevolent history inspired its followers to enslave, murder, and torture Christians, desecrate their sacred shrines and, on several occasions, attempted to overrun portions of Europe, suggests a far sinister Power at work than that of mere mortals. Yet, in the present sex-crazed culture, it should not be altogether surprising that the salacious scandals, many of which have involved "victims" above the "age of consent" and where, in a number of instances, the statute of limitations have lapsed, has evoked greater protest than when a chief prelate of the Catholic Church prostrates himself before Allah!
Except for the waning hours of Maundy Thursday, throughout Good Friday, and possibly during the high-water mark of the Arian crisis, has there been as an encompassing apostasy as presently within the Church. It is abundantly clear for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear the malignant catalyst behind the scandals, cover ups, and heretical actions of an ousted cardinal: the "reforms" of the Second Vatican Council. The much ballyhooed "renewal" inspired by the "spirit" at the Council has, in the retrospect of some 30 years, not been a Holy One.
The extreme gravity of the current situation, therefore, dictates that for Catholics who seek the salvation of their immortal souls (the whole purpose of life), there can be no compromise, involvement or debate with the "Counterfeit Church," as one sage traditional priest has labeled the Novus Ordo. The entire apparatus, its "sacraments," especially the "new mass," is rotten to the core and while it may still masquerade as "Catholic," it has deliberately disobeyed nearly all that its Divine Founder commanded it to do.
The outrageous behavior of the Catholic hierarchy, up to and including its very pinnacle, unthinkable just a half century ago, is now commonplace and the inability of the Faithful to recognize and respond to what is taking place demonstrates just how far the Novus Ordo has triumphed. A full Restoration is possible, but it will more than likely require heavenly intercession. One of the most powerful intermediaries is the Prince of the Heavenly Host, St. Michael the Archangel, who has so effectively dealt with such matters in the past. Catholics should take great solace and counsel in the words of the Angelic Doctor when he spoke of St. Michael: "Michael is the breath of the Redeemer's spirit, who at the End of the World will combat and destroy the Anti-Christ, as he did Lucifer in the beginning." Is it any wonder that the Church is suffering through such a severe crisis because, in part, its new "worship service" dropped the venerable devotion to the one "Who is like unto God."