On 31 January I appeared on Taylor Marshall’s show to speak on the much vexed question of St. Robert Bellarmine’s teaching in On the Roman Pontiff, book 2, ch. 30, as well as teaching from other works of St. Robert that make his teaching on this point rather clear. I read through the entire chapter, explaining the various points according to St. Robert’s ecclesiology, adding what he says in other works. Join us for a fantastic discussion on the topic:
Relevant citations:
On the Roman Pontiff, book 2, ch. 30; book 4, ch. 1-5; 22 On Councils, book 1 ch. 9; ch. 21.
We are joined again by Fr. Chad Ripperger, who has taken a break from his busy schedule and writing projects (which is one of the reasons it has been so long since we’ve had him on). Today, we’re talking about the state of Theology today, how modernism has affected it (properly what modernism is), how it has affected the laity, and how many errors are made in Theology. With that, he gets into what Theology properly is, and how it differs from knowledge of Catechism, and specific areas where people make mistakes. The discussion is wide ranging and fascinating form A-Z. Lastly, why it is that theological science and formation proper is necessary, even though many theologians today say heterodox things.
Condemnation of Universalism from the 2nd Council of Constantinople:
If anyone says or thinks that the punishment of demons and of impious men is only temporary, and will one day have an end, and that a restoration (ἀποκατάστασις) will take place of demons and of impious men, let him be anathema.
Anathema to Origen and to that Adamantius, who set forth these opinions together with his nefarious and execrable and wicked doctrine and to whomsoever there is who thinks thus, or defends these opinions, or in any way hereafter at any time shall presume to protect them.
In regard to Quod a Nobis, in the interview I said “St. Pius V made wholesale changes in the breviary” I meant St. Pius X, in his encyclical Divino Afflatu.
Trent, Session 21 ch. 2 [I said 23rd by mistake in the recording]:
It furthermore declares, that this power has ever been in the Church, that, in the dispensation of the sacraments, their substance being untouched, it may ordain,–or change, what things soever it may judge most expedient, for the profit of those who receive, or for the veneration of the said sacraments, according to the difference of circumstances, times, and places. And this the Apostle seems not obscurely to have intimated, when he says; Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. And indeed it is sufficiently manifest that he himself exercised this power,- as in many other things, so in regard of this very sacrament; when, after having ordained certain things touching the use thereof, he says; The rest I will set in order when I come. Wherefore, holy Mother Church, knowing this her authority in the administration of the sacraments, although the use of both species has,–from the beginning of the Christian religion, not been unfrequent, yet, in progress of time, that custom having been already very widely changed,–she, induced by weighty and just reasons,- has approved of this custom of communicating under one species, and decreed that it was to be held as a law; which it is not lawful to reprobate, or to change at plea sure, without the authority of the Church itself.
We are joined today by Fr. Chad Ripperger, PhD, to answer objections to his teachings on the obligations of women to work at home, binding prayers, generational spirits, canon law on his book, etc. We also address objections in favor evolution stemming from modern Thomists, that St. Thomas teaches creation was accomplished with primary causes, as well as the sedi-privationalist argument of infallible security which stems into Amoris Laetitia. We also cover clerical celibacy and the consequences of changing this discipline. Join us for another intellectually stimulating hour.
Feminism, Women & the Natural Order
Prümmer on the obligation of wives to remain at home:
“1. Vir et mulier pares sunt quantum ad substantiam naturae humanae, quantum ad animam, quantum ad substantiam naturae humanae, quantum ad animam, quantum ad gratiam et gloriam obtinendam; idcirco S. Paulus dicit: ‘[In Christo enim] non est masculus, neque femina.’ (Gal. 3:28) Quamobrem Ecclesia Catholica numquam desiit docere, mulierem non esse ancillam, sed sociam viri.
2. Quamvis ordinarie mulier sit debilior viro quantum ad vires corporis et intellectus, tamen haud paucae existunt mulieres vlaentes eadem opera (saltem faciliora) peragere, quae viri praestant. Per se igitur nihil obstat, quominus mulieribus capacibus haec opera et munia committantur. Hinc e.g. nihil obstat, ne mulieribus aptis committatur munus medici, advocati, magistri, etc.
3. Principalis scopus naturalis, propter quem Deus creavit mulierem, est, ut illa sit in adiutorium viri (Gen. 2:18). Ideo Deus prius creavit Adam et deinde Evam, quam fecit ex costa Adae; non autem prius fecit Evam, neque desumpsit Adam ex substantia Evae. Quae quidem videntur esse signa manifesta, mulierem debere subdi viro. Accedit quod Deus tum in Vetere tum in Novo Testamento exclusit mulieres ab officio sacerdotali; quod iterum satis clare demonstrat, Deum nolle concedere mulieri omnimodam aequalitatem cum viro in omnibus muneribus. Ergo emancipatio radicalis mulierum et omnimoda aequiparatio inter virum et mulierem videtur esse contra intentionem Creatoris. 4. Officium principale mulieris est procurare bonum familiae domesticae. Familia enim est fundamentum totius societatis humanae. Iamvero sine efficaci adiutorio mulieris bonum familiae vix est possible. Ergo talis emancipatio mulierum, qualis illas e sinu familiae nimis evellit, aut viris vitam familialem valde difficilem reddit, est moraliter mala, et etiam pro bono sociali nociva. (my emphasis) Manuale Theologiae Moralis, vol. II; n. 593; translation in the audio. Donum Vitæ – Children have a right to be raised by both parents Pope Francis: Children have a right to both parents CDF document on Exorcism (1995, not ’94) Manuale Exorcismorum (Mechlen, 1618)
Conference on Generational Spirits part 123 The 6th Generation
Scripture verses defending binding even by laity:
Revelation 20:2; Tobit 3:17; Mark 3:27; 2 Peter
Gabriel Amorth: An Exorcist tells his story Deliverance Prayers
Canon 873 §3: Books of prayers for the public or private use of the faithful are not to be published without the permission of the local ordinary. Minor Exorcisms (which does have an imprimatur) The Metaphysics of Evolution
Fabian Revol, Le Temps de la Création. Les Éditions du Cerf. Paris. 2015
St. Thomas teaches creation happened by primary sources: De Potentia. q, 3, a. 4. See also ST I, 45, 5; 65, 3; 90, 3; SCg II, 20 & 21; II Sent d.1, q. 1, a3; De Veritate 5, 9.
St. Thomas treated days of creation as 24 hours; I, Q 74 ad 7: The words “one day” are used when day is first instituted, to denote that one day is made up of twenty-four hours. Hence, by mentioning “one,” the measure of a natural day is fixed. Another reason may be to signify that a day is completed by the return of the sun to the point from which it commenced its course. And yet another, because at the completion of a week of seven days, the first day returns which is one with the eighth day.
Lateran IV on period of time of creation: Deus…creator omnium visibilium et invisibilium, spiritualium et corporalium: qui sua omnipotenti virtute simul ab initio temporis utramque de nihilo condidit creaturam, spiritualem et corporalem, angelicam videlicet et mundanam: ac deinde humanam, quasi communem ex spiritu et corpore constitutam.
God…creator of all visible and invisible things, of the spiritual and of the corporal; who by His own omnipotent power at once from the beginning of time created each creature from nothing, spiritual and corporal, namely, angelic and mundane, and finally the human, constituted as it were, alike of the spirit and the body (D.428). Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique (DTC) (sous la direction de A.Vacant et E. Mangenot, Paris, Letouzey, 1903, Art. Ange, col 1269,1270): “It seems clear that the text [of Lateran IV] affirms the simultaneity of the two creations—[those of the spiritual and corporeal creatures]—and most theologians interpret it that way. Indeed, many of them, like Suarez in De Angelis and also it would seem Cardinal Mazzella in De Deo Creante regard those who contest this simultaneity of creation as ‘temerarious’. ” Pontifical Biblical Commission’s 1909 response on the literal sense of Genesis (I misspoke during the interview and had said 1911. That is the year one of the best handguns ever made was manufactured and I confused that venerable date) Amoris Lætitia German Bishops on giving communion to the divorce and remarried Statement of the Bishops of Kazakhstan against Amoris Lætitia Maltese Bishops promoting communion for the divorced and remarried Cardinal Franzelin De Divina Tradition in English (Franzelin) Monsignor Clifford Fenton
Vatican II on Obsequium Religiosum: Lumen Gentium 25 The Binding Force of Tradition Magisterial Authority Letter to the Argentine Bishops’ Conference by Pope Francis confirming communion for the Divorced and Remarried Protestant clergy abusing children Rabbis that have abused children Islamic clergy abusing children NB: Pointing this out is not to attack Protestants, Jews and Muslims, but to show the problem is not celibacy, but rather that we have a sick culture and sick people get into positions of authority, no only in the Catholic Church, not only in protestant churches, but also in other religions, not to mention government and that you are 14x more likely to be sexually abused by a government worker in a school or hospital, in foster care or in some other government facility than you are either by a Catholic priest or a minister of any religion.
The following is an interview I gave on Reconquest with Br. Andre Marie, on St. Robert Bellarmine’s work on Purgatory which I translated last year. Unfortunately I did not make my own recording so I only have the goo-tube version to share.
The book was too much to cover in a simple interview, thus instead we focused on the apologetic arguments and St. Robert Bellarmine’s Scriptural Exegesis which makes this book one of the best treatises I have seen on the subject anywhere.
While we did not delve into the whole book; the second section which we did not cover moves away from the arguments of Purgatory’s existence to it’s incidental details, some of which are dogmatic and some of which are merely speculative. You can see all of that if you purchase St. Robert Bellarmine’s On Purgatoryhere.
On 23 March I was on Reconquest! with Br. Andre Marie, MICM of the St. Benedict Center in New Hampshire to talk about the life and holiness of St. Robert Bellarmine. The first segment is a summary by Brother André, and in the rest of the show I join him to talk about his life, his holiness, the life of churchmen in the 16th century, and how Bellarmine, being full of holiness and love for the poor, excelled as a cardinal and as a scholar.
NB: I am preparing to release volume 2 of On the Roman Pontiff, which contains books 3-5. I am currently taking pre-orders discounted $6 from what the retail price will be. If you would like to pre-order, you can do so here and I will notify you when it is ready to ship.
For some time the question of the loss of papal office has been of interest to certain segments of Traditionalism. One of the many “Francis-effects” we could speak of, however, is that this question has gone mainstream due to the Pontiff’s many gaffes or statements that at least leave one scratching their head to figure it out, even amongst some conservatives who are not Traditionalists. In fact, Francis’ papacy is causing a lot of discussion on a lot of issues regarding the Papacy as such, and in particular in the conservative world, as can be seen from Antionio Socci, a conservative, non-Trad Medjugorie devotee, who questions Francis’ election and even published a book on the subject. Now I’m not saying Francis is a heretic or not really the Pope, even though I can properly say I am perplexed and often annoyed when he says nearly anything. Regardless of what I think, this is becoming an increasingly discussed issue.
So, in order to add something positive to the question, I have provided Suarez’s assessment of the loss of Papal office, which will be an interesting addition to the more generally known opinion of his Jesuit confrere St. Robert Bellarmine. Continue reading →
This is one of the main reasons I have not posted anything in so long, the need to get the first book of the Bellarmine project complete! After going through all of my editor’s corrections, I had to do another read through, which takes a lot of time. Basically I am doing the work that in a traditional publishing company would be done by 5 or six different people, not just the translating, but post editing, corrections, cover, layout, and marketing. Now I am working on completing his Septuagesima Sermons, and then back to De Romano Pontifice. In the meantime I hope to return to semi-regular posting. Enjoy!
St. Robert Bellarmine was not only the most prolific apologist of the 17th century, but of all time! Yet the loss of Latinity has relegated his valuable work to obscurity. Here at Mediatrix Press, we have proposed to change that.
The Immaculate Conception was formally declared as a dogma of the faith by Bl. Pope Pius IX in 1854 by a Solemn Definition with his document “Ineffabilis Deus“. Some people have gotten the idea that this came out of the blue, as it were, and elevated an old dispute into an article of faith, or created the liturgical celebration of it. This is actually not the case. Continue reading →
In case anyone is wondering why I am not posting more regularly, it is because I have been hard at work on translating De Romano Pontifice. Today I am sharing an update, which I already placed on the go-fund me site, which is the full preface to the work.
It is still a work in progress, and the punctuation will be off, since when translating its natural to render the punctuation as you see it, then go back later and fix it. This isn’t so much to establish that I can do it for anyone I’m hoping will donate, as to give a preview of the work for those who have already donated (although if someone is on the fence about donating, I hope this convinces him of the former). You can read the preface here.
On 23 March I was on 
Athanasius Contra Mundum 