Fact:
- Every Bishop has jurisdiction over the sacraments in his diocese. That means that he has the power to excommunicate anyone in the world and refuse them communion in his diocese on his own authority. For example, Bishop Briand of Quebec excommunicating American priest John Carroll, or, in our own day, Bishop Poprocki excommunicating pro-abort Catholics. This practice is common throughout the history of the Church.
- In times of crisis in Church history, the bishops have relied on confessions of faith to maintain communion with one another and the Holy See. If a bishop refused to confess the Catholic faith, they were excommunicated by another bishop.
- The Declaration of Truths recently published by several bishops condemns forty of the most prominent errors and heresies currently rampant in the Church.
- Every bishop has the power to call a diocesan synod, proclaim the Declaration of Truths for his diocese, and excommunicate all Catholics who will not profess this confession of faith.
Opinion:
The Declaration of Truths is the way forward for the Church precisely because it utilizes Vatican II and the conciliar Magisterium to condemn every error. By using this method, the hermeneutic of continuity is given definite form so that all Catholics can unite—Conservatives and Traditionalists. Every bishop must call a synod, proclaim the Declaration of Truths, and decree excommunication on every Catholic in the world who will not confess it. A simple formula is the following
If anyone will not confess and believe all forty propositions contained in the Declaration of Truths according to the same sense and same understanding that the Church has always held, let him be anathema.
This action will have two salutary effects. First, it will safeguard a bishop’s own diocese from an imposition of error from the Rhine group who currently controls the Vatican (especially with their Amazon Synod). Second, if a significant number of bishops do this, it will force all Catholics and bishops to reveal themselves either as Catholics or heretics. Eventually an Ecumenical Council or Papal Decree could then rule definitively regarding the Declaration, making it binding upon on the faithful.
At this time, this may only be a small number of bishops. But perhaps as things grow worse, a significant number could make a stand.
This may require the laity to move dioceses or take further action. Nevertheless in a time of crisis, desperate times call for desperate measures. These are the days that test men’s souls. These are the days wherein history will remember all courageous men and all cowardly men. Call your own bishop now and find out if he confesses all forty propositions. Share your own facts and opinions below.
Timothy S. Flanders
@meaningofcath
Vatican II taught heresy and must be abrogated. It cannot be used as the way forward. http : //www .traditionalmass .org/issues/
The true way forward is for the Catholic Church to reject the heresies and errors of Vatican II, condemn the modernists, force all to take the oath against Modernism again, restore the Traditional Latin Mass as the primary form of Mass (get rid of the novus ordo entirely), put the SSPX, FSSP, ICKSP, etc in charge of all Diocesan seminaries so they can start training and forming priests and deacons who actually know the Catholic faith. Then in another generation or two the Church would be well on her way to healing and reclaiming her former glory.
My brother Colin,
To a certain extent I agree that your proposal is ideal. From my view, however, I think this a difficult sell if Latin Mass Catholics comprise only about 1% of Catholics. I think it is prudent for Traditionalists and Conservatives to unite against the heretics in the Church and work out the rest later. That is why I believe the Declaration to be a document capable of such unity for such a goal.
in Christ,
Timothy
Ah! Those Medicis, those Borges. Ah! Those errors that lead to the Reformation. It’s obvious that a perfect Church hierarchy came from a pristine dimension where they had never been witness to poor teaching and heretical thoughts; where their teachers were preserved from sin and their perfection made each and every one of their statements a dogma.; when no one sinned for the terror of hell. Ah, anathema. Ah, back to the days where ill-taught would refrain from the Eucharist if they knew what was good for them, go to confession once in their life and serve out life penance (come to think of it Jesus forgave sins without people asking for forgiveness. We should talk to him about that. It’s not proper form!) Ah! The days when we would refrain from baptism until just before death to ensure we stole into heaven (the rules come in handy).
Oh thank you Lord that you came for the sticklers, the fastidious, the lawyers and the righteous.
I hope you caught my sarcasm🤬🤣.
Watch your toes when you get into your whited sepulchre.
My brother Paul,
Please forgive me if I communicated a lack of charity to you due to my own inadequate writing style. If I understand you correctly, a lack of charity is a welcome critique to so called “traditionalists” as I have also argued on this site, and the best of them can admit it.
With respect,
Timothy
This is a terrific idea. I have been thinking of this recently, and I’m glad somebody else thinks the idea is not beyond the pale.
Two important points you mentioned: (1) The bishop is master of his diocese and certainly has the power to force orthodoxy under penalty of excommunication. Unfortunately for the past 100-150 years diocesan bishops have simply begun to think they are vassals of the Roman Curia. Hence they wait for Rome to do something. In this case Rome has already done what they needed to do. The Popes and the Councils have taught the faith, and it’s time for the bishops to enforce it.
(2) It is certainly a good idea for faithful of each diocese to begin pushing for a clear confession of faith. How that will happen is not entirely clear. It could be collecting signatures on a petition. It could be individual meetings with the bishop as small groups. It could be a diocesan-wide lay organization. It could also be an organized financial boycott of the diocese unless the bishop confesses the faith. The latter is what finally moved Bishop Lori to put the disgraced former bishop of Wheeling-Charleston (Bransfield) on canonical sanctions. I firmly believe that money talks when it comes to bishops and that is the way to move them to act.
Hello my brother,
Yes it does seem that money is the most influential thing to many bishops. And I agree with your first point and I believe this “Spirit of Vatican I” is a crucial issue with the current crisis. This, from my view, is really the biggest enemy. I address this here: https://meaningofcatholic.com/2019/06/29/on-the-limits-of-papal-infallibility/
Thanks for your thoughts brother!
Timothy
I have read your piece of 29/6/2019 & hope stirred in my heart that with goodwill a narrow way could be picked through the V2 docs to resurrect the herm. of con. This would avoid much scandal, if it could be done. If there was any official will to do it. How we could get there from here defeats my admittedly short-term imagination. But we must continue to hope patiently in the provision of God. May this Lenten season bear much fruit.
Hello Loelle! Yes I think this declaration does a fine job of trying to work out the hermeneutic of continuity, which should be our goal. It seems that a definitive pronouncement on all these subjects is the only way through this crisis.