05-19-2022, 09:57 AM
“Every Catholic can and must resist anyone in the Church who lays hands on his Faith, the Faith of the Eternal Church, upheld by his childhood catechism. The defense of his Faith is the first duty of every Christian, more especially of every priest and bishop. Wherever an order carries with it the danger of corrupting Faith and morals, “disobedience” becomes a grave duty.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, Letter to Friends & Benefactors, no. 9, 1975).
"The principles governing obedience to the Pope's authority are the same as those governing relations between a delegated authority and its subjects. They do not apply to the Divine Authority which is always infallible and indefectible and hence incapable of failing. To the extent that God has communicated His infallibility to the Pope and to the extent that the Pope intends to use this infallibility, which involves four very precise conditions in its exercise, there can be no failure. Outside of these precisely fixed conditions, the authority of the Pope is fallible and so the criteria, which bind us to obedience, apply to his acts. Hence it is not inconceivable that there could be a duty of disobedience with regard to the Pope. The authority, which was granted him, was granted him for precise purposes and in the last resort for the glory of the Holy Trinity, for Our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the salvation of souls. Whatever would be carried out by the Pope in opposition to this purpose would have no legal value and no right to be obeyed, nay, rather, it would oblige us to disobey in order for us to remain obedient to God and faithful to the Church. (Statement, March 1988)
Wed May 18, 2022 [Excerpt]
(LifeSiteNews) – Catholics must reject statements that contradict the faith even if the Pope utters them, Mother Miriam said in a recent episode of LifeSite’s “Mother Miriam Live!”
“When the Pope says what is sinful, what is inaccurate, what is against the faith,” said the Benedictine prioress, “not only do we have the right to not believe, but we should not believe. We must follow God and not men, even when that man is the Holy Father, if he does not speak what is true.”
“The first one we obey is God, always,” Mother Miriam stressed. “And if the Pope teaches something contrary to the Faith or what God has spoken through his Word or in the Natural Law, then we do not obey. We do not obey the Pope.”
The Catholic Church teaches that Christ endows the Roman Pontiff with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals, but that he only exercises infallibility “when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful … he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals,” as declared by the First Vatican Council.
Pope Francis has never made an infallible pronouncement, Mother Miriam noted.
Her comments echo those of St. John Henry Newman, who wrote in his Letter to the Duke of Norfolk that if a Pope prescribed an immoral act, such as lying, “his command would simply go for nothing, as if he had not issued it, because he has no power over the Moral Law.”
Pope Francis wrong on COVID jabs, LGBT
Mother Miriam specifically pointed to Pope Francis’ opinion that COVID-19 vaccination is a “moral duty” and an “act of love.” In a 2020 doctrinal note, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith stated that vaccination is not a “moral obligation,” however.
“So when the Pope says it’s OK to take the vaccine, he went beyond that and said it’s uncharitable not to take it,” Mother Miriam said. “He is wrong in that, he is wrong in other cases.”
“I’m not his judge, but we know the teaching of the Catholic Church.”
She also highlighted a recent message from Pope Francis to LGBT activist Fr. James Martin, SJ, in which the Pope suggested that Catholics who “reject” so-called “LGBT Catholics” belong to a “sect” rather than the Church.
Those remarks are “not true,” Mother Miriam said, pointing out, firstly, that “there’s no such thing as an ‘LGBTQ Catholic.’”
“If you call yourself a Catholic and you are practicing homosexuality or same-sex so-called ‘marriages’ or unions, or if you are active, then you have excommunicated yourself from the Church,” she insisted. “You may be baptized a Catholic, but you are not on your way to heaven and you’re not in good standing with God. You need to repent.”
Mother Miriam added that “those who repent, who live a celibate lifestyle and who honor God, yes, they will be Catholic, but they no longer call themselves ‘LGBTQ’ because they know that that is terribly dishonoring to God.”
“He died for every one of you, everyone. But he will not accept a sinful lifestyle,” she said, stating also that “we can have certain tendencies without labeling ourselves a way that it is not helpful to you, as if God cannot change you or change things around.”
Pope Francis has repeatedly appalled faithful Catholics with his public support of same-sex civil unions, in contradiction to Church teaching, and of the LGBT movement more broadly.
The Argentine Pontiff has sparked controversy with numerous other dubious statements, such as that “the diversity of religions” is “willed by God” and that “apostates” are included in the communion of the saints, as well as with his 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia and the “Pachamama” scandal, among other things.
"The principles governing obedience to the Pope's authority are the same as those governing relations between a delegated authority and its subjects. They do not apply to the Divine Authority which is always infallible and indefectible and hence incapable of failing. To the extent that God has communicated His infallibility to the Pope and to the extent that the Pope intends to use this infallibility, which involves four very precise conditions in its exercise, there can be no failure. Outside of these precisely fixed conditions, the authority of the Pope is fallible and so the criteria, which bind us to obedience, apply to his acts. Hence it is not inconceivable that there could be a duty of disobedience with regard to the Pope. The authority, which was granted him, was granted him for precise purposes and in the last resort for the glory of the Holy Trinity, for Our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the salvation of souls. Whatever would be carried out by the Pope in opposition to this purpose would have no legal value and no right to be obeyed, nay, rather, it would oblige us to disobey in order for us to remain obedient to God and faithful to the Church. (Statement, March 1988)
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Mother Miriam: Catholics cannot obey false, ‘sinful’ statements of the Pope
Pope Francis has made remarks on several topics, including on LGBT issues, that Catholics can’t accept, Mother Miriam said.
![[Image: Screen-Shot-2022-05-18-at-6.44.52-PM-810x500.png]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-18-at-6.44.52-PM-810x500.png)
Pope Francis in the 2020 documentary “Francesco,”
Pope Francis has made remarks on several topics, including on LGBT issues, that Catholics can’t accept, Mother Miriam said.
![[Image: Screen-Shot-2022-05-18-at-6.44.52-PM-810x500.png]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-18-at-6.44.52-PM-810x500.png)
Pope Francis in the 2020 documentary “Francesco,”
in which he expressed support for same-sex civil unions in violation of Catholic teaching
Wed May 18, 2022 [Excerpt]
(LifeSiteNews) – Catholics must reject statements that contradict the faith even if the Pope utters them, Mother Miriam said in a recent episode of LifeSite’s “Mother Miriam Live!”
“When the Pope says what is sinful, what is inaccurate, what is against the faith,” said the Benedictine prioress, “not only do we have the right to not believe, but we should not believe. We must follow God and not men, even when that man is the Holy Father, if he does not speak what is true.”
“The first one we obey is God, always,” Mother Miriam stressed. “And if the Pope teaches something contrary to the Faith or what God has spoken through his Word or in the Natural Law, then we do not obey. We do not obey the Pope.”
The Catholic Church teaches that Christ endows the Roman Pontiff with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals, but that he only exercises infallibility “when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful … he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals,” as declared by the First Vatican Council.
Pope Francis has never made an infallible pronouncement, Mother Miriam noted.
Her comments echo those of St. John Henry Newman, who wrote in his Letter to the Duke of Norfolk that if a Pope prescribed an immoral act, such as lying, “his command would simply go for nothing, as if he had not issued it, because he has no power over the Moral Law.”
Pope Francis wrong on COVID jabs, LGBT
Mother Miriam specifically pointed to Pope Francis’ opinion that COVID-19 vaccination is a “moral duty” and an “act of love.” In a 2020 doctrinal note, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith stated that vaccination is not a “moral obligation,” however.
“So when the Pope says it’s OK to take the vaccine, he went beyond that and said it’s uncharitable not to take it,” Mother Miriam said. “He is wrong in that, he is wrong in other cases.”
“I’m not his judge, but we know the teaching of the Catholic Church.”
She also highlighted a recent message from Pope Francis to LGBT activist Fr. James Martin, SJ, in which the Pope suggested that Catholics who “reject” so-called “LGBT Catholics” belong to a “sect” rather than the Church.
Those remarks are “not true,” Mother Miriam said, pointing out, firstly, that “there’s no such thing as an ‘LGBTQ Catholic.’”
“If you call yourself a Catholic and you are practicing homosexuality or same-sex so-called ‘marriages’ or unions, or if you are active, then you have excommunicated yourself from the Church,” she insisted. “You may be baptized a Catholic, but you are not on your way to heaven and you’re not in good standing with God. You need to repent.”
Mother Miriam added that “those who repent, who live a celibate lifestyle and who honor God, yes, they will be Catholic, but they no longer call themselves ‘LGBTQ’ because they know that that is terribly dishonoring to God.”
“He died for every one of you, everyone. But he will not accept a sinful lifestyle,” she said, stating also that “we can have certain tendencies without labeling ourselves a way that it is not helpful to you, as if God cannot change you or change things around.”
Pope Francis has repeatedly appalled faithful Catholics with his public support of same-sex civil unions, in contradiction to Church teaching, and of the LGBT movement more broadly.
The Argentine Pontiff has sparked controversy with numerous other dubious statements, such as that “the diversity of religions” is “willed by God” and that “apostates” are included in the communion of the saints, as well as with his 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia and the “Pachamama” scandal, among other things.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre