The Dangers of Corrupt Bishops

JMJ

Dr. Shaw has an excellent series called "Corrupt Bishops: Why it is a problem!" (part1, part2, part3).

The whole series is a worth a careful reading. One particular quote jarred my slats with the truth behind it:

One of the distasteful things about the obituaries of Fr Kit Cunningham, the Rosminian who was revealed to have been a paedophile when the ink on these was scarcely dry, was the fact that they showed that he was loved - by his friends - for his vices, not for his virtues. He clearly had a problem with alcohol, for example, and everyone thought it was terribly endearing. It was his vices which drew people in. But you don't draw people in to Christ by your vices. You might draw people to yourself, or even to your little club, your institution, or some favourite ideas, but you don't draw people in to Christ, because it is not in each other's vices that we encounter Christ.

This crisis of the Church is a crisis of leadership, a crisis of Bishops. Let's just not forget that the Pope is also a bishop and also has his burden of responsibility in the cause and solution of this crisis.

This also reminds me of various priests that I've met who have left the SSPX, including Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, and Bishop Williamson: People became attached to them personally.

It does become very much a 'club' and the influence that these charismatic priests and bishops have over them is stunning. So strong is the attachment to their person, that when they do something objectively wrong, their 'club' cannot accept it as a fact. They will defend their belief about the object of their affection (there is no better word) blindly and basically follow them to the ends of the earth.

Just look at those who followed Fr. Urrutigoity around North America and the defense put forth by Bishop Livieres.

The same goes for the supporters of Bishop Williamson and his unapproved trip to South America to confer confirmations. Only a month or two before Bishop de Gallerata was scheduled to go to the same region.

There a quote from a business expert:

"Being charismatic and wrong is a bad combination" Jim Collins

P^2

Comments

A Look Back: A short history of the SSPX

+ JMJ I started a timeline a while back but never finished it. Fortunately, here's one that brings us up to 1994!!! P^3 http://archives.sspx.org/SSPX_FAQs/a_short_history_of_the_sspx-part-1.htm A short history of the SSPX A presentation given by Fr. Ramon Angles in Kansas City, MO, on the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the SSPX and reprinted from the January 1996 issue of The Angelus . Part 1 The history of the Society of St. Pius X begins, of course, in the mind of God. But do not believe that its temporal origin is to be found solely at the time of the post-conciliar crisis. The Society of St. Pius X was made possible ...

Hermeneutic of the Hermeneutic of Continuity - sspx.org

+ JMJ Since I'm looking at the 'four things', I thought this article would be good. Unfortunately, with the new SSPX.org website, I've been unable to locate the original article. This is a copy the I emailed to myself. This is an article that, I believe, was written in response to a conference given by Msgr. Pozzo. P^3

SSPX and the Resistance - A Comparison Of Ecclesiology

Shining the light of Church Teaching on the doctrinal positions of the SSPX and the Resistance. Principles are guides used to aid in decision making. It stands to reason that bad principles will lead to bad decisions. The recent interactions between Rome and the SSPX has challenged a number of closely held cultural assumptions of people in both sides of the disagreement. This has resulted in cultural skirmishes in both Rome and the SSPX. Since it is the smaller of the two, the skirmishes have been more evident within the SSPX. The cultural fault-line that Bishop Fellay crossed appears to be linked to two points of Catholic Doctrine: Ecclesiology and Obedience. The cultural difference of view points is strong enough that it has resulted in the expulsion of a number of members. It should also be noted that some other priests expelled since the beginning of the latest interactions (starting in 2000) held the same view points and have joined with the l...

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3

Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (de fide) - Expanded Listing: Answer for Reader

+ JMJ A reader asked the following question in the 2015 version of the article on the Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (link) : 117: "In the state of fallen nature it is morally impossible for man without Supernatural Revelation, to know easily, with absolute certainty and without admixture of error, all religious and moral truths of the natural order." Where can you find this in the documents of the Church? ( Link to comment ) Here's the reference from Ott: The citation that Ott provided was Denzinger 1786 and the source document is Dogmatic Consitution Concerning the Faith from the First Vatican Council (Papal Encyclicals - link) : Chapter 2 On Revelation, Article 3: It is indeed thanks to this divine revelation , that those matters concerning God, which are not of themselves beyond the scope of human reason, can, even in the present state of the human race, be known by everyone, without difficulty, with firm certitude and with no intermingling of error. Here's ...

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