This article is a set of reflections and observations, rather than a more tightly-argued essay. While it has arisen from my ongoing study of de Mattei and his concept of a “heretic pope,” and addresses certain relevant points, it is supplementary and informal. As a very wise man once asked: If the pope dies and …
... If pow'rs divine behold our human actions (as they do): I doubt not then, but innocence shall make false accusation blush, and tyranny tremble at patience. Hermione in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, 3.2.27 The world is in eclipse. It looks like we have almost entered the stage known as “totality,” in which the whole …
Continue reading Preparation for Tyranny I: Becoming Strong by Rejecting False Hope
This essay consists of two parts: Part I - Review of Baronius Press's edition of the Roman Catechism Part II - The Roman Catechism itself Historical backgroundThe authority of the Roman CatechismClergy and theologians on the CatechismComparison with the modern catechismThe Roman Catechism and the crisis in the ChurchThe nature and structure of this Catechism. …
“How many examples are there in theology of problems that seem unsolvable, simply because they start from badly-posed questions.” Dom Paul Nau OSB[1] This essay continues my response to Professor Roberto de Mattei’s call for Catholics to rally around the Church’s tradition and to form a “new more compact front for orthodoxy.”[2] To this end, …
Continue reading Pope Honorius and Roberto de Mattei IIIa: Magisterial Heresy? The Rule of Faith
One of the great delusions of the modern age is the presumption that human beings today are in some way “better”, more “enlightened”, more “moral” than people in the past, who were were cruel, or ignorant, or incapable of seeing things which are obvious to “modern man”. This attitude reveals itself in the frequent use …
We shall resume our study of Professor Roberto de Mattei’s treatment of Honorius, the so-called “heretic pope” Honorius. I have previously discussed how interpretations of history shape theological principles regarding the crisis in the Church. I hope that this study will, in de Mattei's own words, overcome “the many misunderstandings that often divide the forces …
Continue reading Pope Honorius and Roberto de Mattei – Part II: “Undoubtedly Magisterial Acts”?
In the chaos of the last sixty years, it has become common for Catholics to look for historical precedents for our situation. But in desperation to find some sort of evidence that the Church has experienced such things before, it is tempting for some to allow history to become a sort of “source of theology.” …
Continue reading Pope Honorius and Roberto de Mattei – Part I: The History