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WITH<\/strong> the controversial events of this week that unfolded in Rome (see The Papacy is Not One Pope<\/em><\/a>), the words have been lingering in my mind once again that all of this is a\u00a0testing<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>of the faithful. I wrote about this in October 2014 shortly after the tendentious Synod on the family (see The Testing<\/em><\/a>). Most important in that writing is the part about Gideon….<\/p>\n I also wrote then as I do now: “what happened in Rome was not a test to see how loyal you are to the Pope, but how much faith you have in Jesus Christ who promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church.” I also said, “if you think that there is confusion now, wait till you see what\u2019s coming…”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE MATCH<\/p>\n A new book called\u00a0Il Papa Dittatore\u00a0<\/em>(The Dictator Pope)<\/em>\u00a0has just been released in English. It is\u00a0<\/em>written under a pseudonymous author who calls himself Marcantonio Colonna. LifeSiteNews, which has notably shifted in the past two years to becoming one of the pseudo-official voices of papal dissent, provides a review of the book, which alleges that Pope Francis is…<\/p>\n …arrogant, dismissive of people, prodigal of bad language and notorious for furious outbursts of temper which are known to everyone from the cardinals to the chauffeurs.<\/strong> \u2014LifeSiteNews<\/a>, December 6th, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Robert Royal,\u00a0editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing<\/em> and papal commentator for EWTN, says:<\/p>\n …the sheer amount of evidence it provides is stunning. About 90 percent of it is simply incontrovertible, and cannot help but clarify who Francis is and what he\u2019s about.<\/strong> \u2014Ibid<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n According to the reviews I’ve read, such as this one from Vatican analyst\u00a0Marco Tosatti:<\/p>\n There is no news of great importance, or extraordinary revelations in “Il Papa Dittatore”; but it certainly is well documented, interesting and valuable… \u2014marcotosatti.com<\/a>, <\/span><\/strong>Nov. 29th, 2017<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n What, then, is the “value” of a book that has no news or revelations of great importance, but is seemingly intended to expose the character flaws of the Vicar of Christ? A book with the intention of presenting a ‘scheming Jorge Bergoglio’ in order to counter the ‘humble Pope Francis’? In the big picture, I don’t know. But those vocal opponents of Pope Francis who have been providing fuel for a schism might have just been handed a match.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A POPE OF THE FLESH<\/p>\n But as one reader said to me, “I don\u2019t doubt a fleshy side to our Pope. People will use the book for sure to prove<\/em> he is dark. But was anything illegal (during the papal election) in terms of canon law? That’s the question. It’s not illegal to have flesh.”<\/p>\n Scandalous? Perhaps. But the history of the Church is, unfortunately, pock-marked by popes who scandalized their office.<\/p>\n The fact that it is Peter who is called the \u201crock\u201d is not due to any achievement on his part or to anything exceptional in his character; it is simply a nomen officii<\/em>, a titled that designates, not a service rendered, but a ministry conferred, a divine election and commission to which no one is entitled solely by virtue of his own character \u2014least of all Simon, who, if we are to judge by his natural character, was anything but a rock<\/strong>. \u2014POPE BENEDICT XIV, from Das neue Volk Gottes, <\/em>p. 80ff\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This is to say that we could have a pope, as we have had in the past<\/a>, who sells his papacy, fathers children, increases his personal wealth, abuses his privileges, and misuses his authority. He could appoint modernists to major posts, Judases to sit at his table<\/a>, and even Lucifer to the Curia. He could dance naked on the Vatican walls, tattoo his face, and project animals onto the facade of St. Peter’s. And all of this would create a ruckus, upheaval, scandal, division, and sorrow upon sorrow. And it would test the faithful<\/em> as to whether or not their faith is in man, or in Jesus Christ. It would test them to wonder if Jesus really meant what He promised\u2014that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n But today’s First Reading confirms Christ’s words to us:<\/p>\n A strong city have we;\u00a0he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.\u00a0Open up the gates\u00a0to let in a nation that is just,\u00a0one that keeps faith.\u00a0A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;\u00a0in peace, for its trust in you.\u00a0Trust in the LORD forever!\u00a0For the LORD is an eternal Rock.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It is a nation that keeps faith<\/em>\u00a0who are safeguarded.\u00a0<\/em> Brothers and sisters, for three years I have tried to point out the middle road between those who are utterly convinced that Pope Francis is a masonic, communist, false prophet and antipope\u2014and those, on the other hand, who will not hear the slightest critique of the Holy Father’s ministry. The middle road is this: to trust that Jesus is still building His Church, even upon a rock that, at times, appears to be more of a stumbling stone. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says that the one who is wise builds his house on rock. And so I ask again: is Jesus a wise builder? Re-read Jesus, the Wise Builder<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n I am not denying that there is a lot at stake today, and it is more than the truth: it is the very unity of the Church itself. It is her unity that, in fact, preserves the truth<\/em>. For if different factions claim to have the truth, then you have war. So what then of the current debate on Communion to the divorced and remarried? The answer is that we must trust Jesus that, in the end, the truth will prevail as it has for 2000 years. Perhaps some should stop viewing the charism of infallibility like a magic wand that makes all questions disappear, but rather as a firm guardrail\u00a0leading up a narrow rocky terrain that safely guides one past the jagged rocks of error.\u00a0In the present situation, a “Peter and Paul” moment may be necessary where, like St. Paul,\u00a0unity was preserved in the midst of filial correction.\u00a0<\/i>Paul, who called Peter a “pillar” of the Church,[1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Gal 2:9<\/span><\/span>\n
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