Dangers of Latching onto Heroes instead of Principles

JMJ

Here's the pattern:

Knowledgeable person discovers Traditional Catholicism,
They say the 'right' things affirming Traditional Catholic beliefs,
Traditional Catholics latch onto this 'Traditional Catholic Personality',
'Traditional Catholic Personality' deviates in some way,
Traditional Catholics have a variety of responses to the 'deviation'.

Point 5 is where things get interesting in the 'variety' of responses. If the Traditional Catholics don't have a firm basis in their spiritual life and understanding of Catholic Principles - they will be lead by the nose wherever the personality goes.

Examples of this are legion in the history of Traditional Catholicism.

To name a couple we have:

Gerry Matatix,
Michael Voris.

Gerry Matatix made a rainbow transition from protestant to sedevacantist.

Michael Voris made a transition from fallen away Catholic to staunch protector of irrationality. Case in point is his policies to:

Not criticise the Pope under any circumstances (absurd with Pope Francis).
The SSPX must be in schism because PSJP2 said so (even though the 'schismatic act' was ficticious).

I understand that it is nice to have your point of view affirmed by someone outside the 'club'. Which is why Traditional Catholics will hang on every word uttered by 'conservative' (Read: Cardinal Burke) and 'Traditional' prelates (Read: Bishop Schneider).

But what if they make a misstep?

Are they worth following because of a sentimental attachment?

The answer is no. If a person deviates from Catholic Principles, the path they are following does not lead to God and Heaven, it leads to the Devil and Hell.

So what's the lesson?

Don't get attached to 'personalities', get attached to Catholic Principles and then follow them.

If some Catholic Personality, happens to acting along the same lines, then they're in good company.

P^3

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...

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 ...

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

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