Letter from the Devil on the Assisi gatherings

[DustinsDad]

(continued from above…)

The twisting and taking out of context the words of Pope Pius IX’s words is nothing new…folks jumped on it way back when he was still alive. And the pope responded:“in our times, many of the enemies of the Catholic Faith direct their efforts towards placing every monstrous opinion on the same level with the doctrine of Christ, or confounding it therewith; and so they try more and more to propagate that impious system of the indifference of religions. But quite recently — we shudder to say — certain men have not hesitated to slander us by saying that we share in their folly, favor that most wicked system, and think so benevolently of every class of mankind as to suppose that not only the sons of the Church, but that the rest also, however alienated from Catholic unity they may remain, are alike in the way of salvation, and may arrive at everlasting life. We are at a loss, from horror, to find words to express our detestation of this new and atrocious injustice that is done us.
“We love, indeed, all mankind with the inmost affection of our heart, yet not otherwise than in the love of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, Who came to seek and to save that which had perished, Who died for all, Who wills all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth; Who, therefore, sent His disciples into the whole world to preach the Gospel to every creature, proclaiming that those who should believe and be baptized should be saved, but that those who should not believe should be condemned.
“Let those, therefore, who wish to be saved, come to the pillar and the ground of Faith, which is the Church; let them come to the true Church of Christ, which, in her bishops and in the Roman Pontiff, the chief head of all, has the succession of apostolical authority which has never been interrupted, which has never counted anything of greater importance than to preach, and by all means to keep and defend the doctrine proclaimed by the Apostles at Christ’s command.”
(Pope Pius IX, Allocution to the Cardinals held on December 17, 1847)

You see, Pope Pius IX knew that there were people of good will who were ignorant of Christ and the necessity of being incorporated into Her. His response, the response of the Church from day one, has been to go out and clearly and explicitly call them home to the One True Church…however “offensive” this endevour may be.

We’ve got it easy nowadays…we’ll be ostracized, folks will just call you a rigid, old fasioned radical traditionalist, or a “Feeyenite”, or a schismatic, or a heretic, whatever. So what! In yesteryear, it might have meant a lion gets to have us for dinner. We don’t know how good we’ve got it.

That’s all for now,

DustinsDad

 

[DustinsDad]

Oops…didn’t catch it in time to edit, but the above…

“You see, Pope Pius IX knew that there were people of good will who were ignorant of Christ and the necessity of being incorporated into Her.”

Should read…

“You see, Pope Pius IX knew that there were people of good will who were ignorant of Christ and His Church and the necessity of being incorporated into Her.”

Sorry.

DD

 

[DustinsDad]

Okay, not let’s briefly look at the atticle in cited in the OP…(Demon to a fellow demon) “I am very happy that you took my advice. Your patient is now leaning toward Radical Traditionalism. And I know what will make him cross that line! One word: Assisi. When someone hears that word, they usually think of that stupid hippy Francis. “Make me a channel of your peace.” Yuck! But we can redefine Assisi.” Here in the first paragraph, the author already puts something ridculous in there - portraying the historical “hippy” revision of St. Francis as authentic. The author here actually thinks this historical revision is the correct one, and that this non-judgemental hippy type St. Francis is what has the devil so upset. But is this the case? Is this the real St. Francis?
St. Francis:

Whence all who saw the Lord Jesus according to the Humanity and both did not see and believe according to the spirit and the Divinity, that He Himself is the true Son of God, have been damned; so even now all who see the Sacrament, which is sanctified by the words of the Lord upon the altar by the hand of the priest in the form of bread and wine, and do not see and believe according to the spirit and the Divinity, that this is truly the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, have been damned, since the Most High Himself testifies, who said: “This is My Body and” My “Blood of the New Testament [which is poured forth on behalf of the many]” (Mt 14:22,24); and “He who eats” My Flesh “and drinks” My Blood, “has life eternal” (cf. Jn 6:55). Whence of the Spirit of the Lord, who dwells in His faithful, is he who receives the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord. All others, who do not share this same Spirit and presume to receive Him, eat and drink “judgement upon themselves” (cf. 1 Cor. 11:29).
St. Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, Chapter 1,

Hmmmmm. So much for the hippy peacenick St. Francis.

More from the article…
You see, the Enemy’s Vicar has done something which is very controversial. He invited unbelievers to pray with him! This sickens me. Why would non-Christians being invited to pray to false gods sicken the devil? Now, if they were invited to pray to the One True God, I can see why that would sicken the devil - but being invited to pray to false gods? No, that’d obviously make the devil very happy. Seems the author is inverting reality here.

Further, maybe this author ought to check with the Mark Shea. In this article you cite, Shea writes
"(the) Pope says no we’re not praying together, everybody go to your own corner and pray according to the dictates of your conscience."
Yet in the OP article, the author writes
“he (the pope) invited unbelievers to pray with him.”

Good grief. If even the Assisi apologists can’t get their story straight regarding this event - how are we supposed to?

Y’all need to get your story straight. Then let’s talk.

DustinsDad

 

[stmaria]

=Mickey Jackson;3612402] We’ve been trying for 1500 years to evangelize the Muslims through polemics, and such methods have quite obviously failed. That’s not to denigrate our ancestors in the Faith, but simply to acknowledge that there are other approaches to spreading the Gospel. What John Paul II was doing was rooted in the Dominican approach to apologetics, which essentially says, “Let’s start from where we agree, and move from there.” It’s a slow process, but a fruitful one, as St. Dominic could attest.

May Saint John Baptist protect Islam.!

How many of you will pray with me to protect Islam.?

 

[JReducation]

Yes but he didn’t protect the Church when it was being attacked by modernism, liberalism, religious indifferentism, false ecumenism, and false notions of religious liberty and collegiality, etc. In fact he helped many of these things spread through the Church by his own actions and his non-condemnatory approach to such heresies (reading my sig line would be good here). I understand you have an emotional affection for a very loving and caring Pope, but when all is said and done, his Pontificate must be compared to the great Popes of the past. I don’t know how anyone remotely unbiased could objectively think he should be canonized after making such an assessment. I realize this is unpopular, but I won’t apologize for stating what needs to be said.

First you have to read what you wrote. You’re agreeing that this is a very loving man. Our holiness is based on how much we have loved. Can you find one example where John Paul II acted as an unloving man?

Next, you say that we must compare his ponticate to that of other popes. That is not how the Church canonizes saints. It is not a matter of comparing the candidate for canonization with a previous saint. To canonize someone you examine his faith, his prayer, his charity, his compassion and his fidelity to Christ in whatever sphere of society the person may find themselves.

There is no requirement that saints be sinless or that they be popular, not even that they make choices that are accepted by the Church. Many saints were very unpopular and made very unpopular choices.

The Redemptorists dismissed their founder from their community because he was obnoxious. However, St. Alphonse Ligouri ended up a saint and a Doctor of the Church. St. Teresa of Avila was taken before the Inquisition and ended up becoming a saint and a Doctor of the Church. Mother Teresa said, “What matters is that a Christian be a good Christian, a Jew a good Jew, a Muslim a good Muslim and a Hindu a good Hindu.” She named all of her religious houses after virtues that were common to Hinduism and Catholicism, not after saints as is customary for religious houses. She is now Blessed and on the fast track to canonization.

St. Francis of Assisi gave away the missal and chalice of his friary to a poor woman who had no food so that she could sell it. Until these items were replaced the brothers had to walk into town for mass. He was declared the Mirror of Perfection at his canonization.

Basically, the Church declares a person a saint because she is certain that this person is in Heaven after studying this person’s spirituality. If you read John Paul’s biographies and writings you’ll have to show sinfulness, serious and unredeemable sinfulness in the man to deny him canonization.

Also, remember that canonization is based on reason, not emotion for or against. The decision to canonize is based on faith enlightend by reason. The question that is put before the committee who studies a person’s life is, “Can we reasonably believe that this person is in Heaven?” If the answer is “Yes,” then it goes to the Pope for his final approval.

You can choose to deny that John Paul II is a candidate for canonization. However, the first person who will oppose you will be Benedict XVI. “Today, John Paul the Great is looking down upon us from the window of Heaven and blessing us.” These were his words at John Paul’s funeral. He constantly recalls him as John Paul the Great.

Let’s say that the Church does canonize John Paul II. Are you going to deny the validity of the canonization?

You mentioned St. Francis. I’m afraid that you do not know our Holy Father very well. Our Holy Father left us a mandate in his rule, his testament and his teachings that we are to love, honor and obey the Pope without question. He also taught us that when it comes to matters of sin, the only person responsible for your sin is you, not the Pope or your spouse or someone else. Francis taught us responsibility for our own moral choices.

Even if what you say is true, that John Paul led the Church to commit all of these sins, Our Holy Father would disagree with you. He would say that the only person responsible for your sin is you. And he would encourage you to continue to love and see the Pope through one lense, the Vicar of Christ.

I believe that you and many must study this man’s mysticism before you make such a serious moral error as to say that he is not deserving of canonization.

You are doing is passing judgement on his soul and convicting him of not being worthy of being counted among the saints. That’s a more serious sin than any of the sins that you have attributed to John Paul II.

Should we also mention that the only person who can make the judgement for canonization or against is the Pope and that the laity’s voice has no say in the matter, except when the entire Church acclaims someone as saint.

JR

JR

 

[Mickey_Jackson]

May Saint John Baptist protect Islam.!

How many of you will pray with me to protect Islam.?

I’m quite certain that John Paul II did more to increase respect for the Church in the Muslim world than anyone on this forum combined. It is largely due to his efforts, and the continuation thereof under Benedict XVI, that the first Catholic churches are opening in several Arab nations.

Dustinsdad, I’m working on my responses to your arguments and will be back soon…

 

[Matt33]

May Saint John Baptist protect Islam.!

How many of you will pray with me to protect Islam.?

???

 

[JReducation]

May Saint John Baptist protect Islam.!

How many of you will pray with me to protect Islam.?

I don’t think any religion needs to be protected. But if you want, I will join you in prayer that St. John Baptist protect Muslims.

So many of them are suffering innocently under this terrible conflict between the radical Muslim groups and the materialistic Western world.

When to forces antagoinize each other just for their own interests, innocent people are going to suffer and die. They deserve our prayers that God will spare them from such suffering and from being caught in the middle of something that most of these people are not responsible for.

May St. John Baptist protect Muslims and all innocent people in this terrible crisis between East and West, especially those who are most vulnerable.

JR

 

[stmaria]

=JReducation;3635522]I don’t think any religion needs to be protected. But if you want, I will join you in prayer that St. John Baptist protect Muslims

.
That is not my prayer JR. I said may John the Baptist protect ISLAM.

May St. John Baptist protect Muslims and all innocent people in this terrible crisis between East and West, especially those who are most vulnerable.

Wrong prayer JR. Will you pray with me that John the Baptist protect the false religion of **ISLAM.? **The religion the denies the divinity of Christ, rejects the Trinity and the resurrection of Our Savior.
WIll you pray with me?

 

[DustinsDad]

(Continued from above)

It is good that with the new approach (which is a prudential decision), then Cardinal Ratzinger makes clear the authentic intention behind it is not to relativize truth - and yet points out the relativation is occuring nonetheless. And impressions and opinions were being adopted within Holy Mother Church that, as he says, causes faith to “be left behind.” He even pointed this out in his recent trip, as Pope Benedict XVI, to the U.S.
For Christians to accept this faulty line of reasoning would lead to the notion that there is little need to emphasize objective truth in the presentation of the Christian faith, for one need but follow his or her own conscience and choose a community that best suits his or her individual tastes. The result is seen in the continual proliferation of communities which often eschew institutional structures and minimize the importance of doctrinal content for Christian living.

Even within the ecumenical movement, Christians may be reluctant to assert the role of doctrine for fear that it would only exacerbate rather than heal the wounds of division. Yet a clear, convincing testimony to the salvation wrought for us in Christ Jesus has to be based upon the notion of normative apostolic teaching: a teaching which indeed underlies the inspired word of God and sustains the sacramental life of Christians today.
origin.ewtn.com/USPapalVisit08/words/Ecumenical.asp
Perhaps, despite the best of intentions, Pope Pius XI was right about approaches.
Is it not right, it is often repeated, indeed, even consonant with duty, that all who invoke the name of Christ should abstain from mutual reproaches and at long last be united in mutual charity?..But in reality beneath these enticing words and blandishments lies hid a most grave error, by which the foundations of the Catholic faith are completely destroyed.
Pope Pius XI, Martalium Animos fisheaters.com/mortaliumanimos.html

And perhaps now Pope Benedict XVI is beginning to see it and is faced with some mighty challenges - how to turn change course when ecumania is running full steam ahead, amidst the cheers and clapping of a religiously indifferent world and even finding support in the Church? Hmmmm.

The problem, the difficulty, is changing course against the tide of a world that loved the “new approach”, using it to validate their own rejection of Truth, a secular (dare I say modernistic and masonic) western word that rejects Truth and its clear proclamation, enemies of the Church (within and without) who reject Truth and its clear proclamation, and otherwise faithful Catholics, who in their emotional bond and love for Pope John Paul II, want to defend anything and everything he did - and see such a “change in course” as a rejection of him personally and a rejection of Vatican II itself.

Yep. Confusion is the rule of the day. Pray for Pope Benedict XVI. He’s got a tough row to hoe.

Peace in Christ,

DustinsDad

 

[JReducation]

.
That is not my prayer JR. I said may John the Baptist protect ISLAM.

Wrong prayer JR. Will you pray with me that John the Baptist protect the false religion of **ISLAM.? **The religion the denies the divinity of Christ, rejects the Trinity and the resurrection of Our Savior.
WIll you pray with me?

One does not pray for ideals, relgious or otherwise. One prays for people. For example, we do not pray for Catholicism. Look at the Liturgy of the Hours in Evening Prayer. Everyday we pray for the Church, we pray for people of faith, we pray for believers and unbelievers. The Liturgy of the Hours is our model or prayer. There is no prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours for Cahtolicism or for Christianity.

We must pray as the Official Prayer of the Church prays.

I will join you in praying for Muslims, Jews, Christians and whomever else you want to pray for. This is the way that the Church prays.

JR

 

[jam070406]

One does not pray for ideals, relgious or otherwise. One prays for people. For example, we do not pray for Catholicism. Look at the Liturgy of the Hours in Evening Prayer. Everyday we pray for the Church, we pray for people of faith, we pray for believers and unbelievers. The Liturgy of the Hours is our model or prayer. There is no prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours for Cahtolicism or for Christianity.

We must pray as the Official Prayer of the Church prays.

I will join you in praying for Muslims, Jews, Christians and whomever else you want to pray for. This is the way that the Church prays.

JR

Friday May 2nd. (feast of St. Athanasius)

Opening Prayer:

Father,
you raised up Saint Athanasius
to be an outstanding defender
of the truth of Christ’s divinty.
By his teaching and protection
may we grow in your knowledge and love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

 

[JReducation]

Friday May 2nd. (feast of St. Athanasius)

Opening Prayer:

Father,
you raised up Saint Athanasius
to be an outstanding defender
of the truth of Christ’s divinty.
By his teaching and protection
may we grow in your knowledge and love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Bold is mine.

This is an excellent example of how the Church prays. Notice that we pray for the people, not for Christianity.

The prayer asks that the people may grow in knowledge and love.

Thanks for sharing this.

JR

 

[jam070406]

Bold is mine.

This is an excellent example of how the Church prays. Notice that we pray for the people, not for Christianity.

The prayer asks that the people may grow in knowledge and love.

Thanks for sharing this.

JR

Yes and notice the knowledge we are praying for to grow in, that which St. Athanasius preached and defended, Christ’s divinity.
What protection are we praying for in this prayer? Protection from what? hmmmm, false beliefs such as Islam that deny Christ’s divinty perhaps?

So we pray in the liturgy to St. Athanasius to protect us from false religions (such as Islam) and to grow in St. Athanasius’s teaching.
And JPII prays to St. John the Baptist to protect Islam, a false religion that denies Christ’s divinty???
hmmmmmm… quite strange.

 

[stmaria]

One does not pray for ideals, relgious or otherwise. One prays for people. For example, we do not pray for Catholicism. Look at the Liturgy of the Hours in Evening Prayer. Everyday we pray for the Church, we pray for people of faith, we pray for believers and unbelievers. The Liturgy of the Hours is our model or prayer. There is no prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours for Cahtolicism or for Christianity.

We must pray as the Official Prayer of the Church prays.

I will join you in praying for Muslims, Jews, Christians and whomever else you want to pray for. This is the way that the Church prays.

JR

I agree. Yet Pope John Paul II said that he prays that John the Baptist protect Islam, a false religion. Protect it from what? I find it an odd thing to say. Dialogue yes, pandering, no.

VISIT TO WADI AL-KHARRAR
PRAYER OF THE HOLY FATHER
Tuesday, 21 March 2000
“May Saint John Baptist protect Islam and all the people of Jordan, and all who participated in this celebration, a memorable celebration. I’m very grateful to all of you.” vatican.edu/holy_father/john_paul_ii/travels/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20000321_wadi-al-kharrar_en.html

I am all in favor of dialogue with all religions, even atheists. But the truth must always be presented not only in words but in example.
In my opinion kissing the Quran was a mistake. It elevated that book to that of Holy Scripture. Praying for the protection of Islam was a mistake. It elevated a false religion. Inviting false religions to pray for peace at Assisi was a mistake. It gave the appearance of putting truth and falsehhood on the same level.
In my opinion Pope John Paul made some mistakes. I love and respect him in spite of those. But let’s not repeat these mistakes. For Catholics to say over and over that protestants have a ‘means of salvation’ without saying that the Holy Spirit will, in ways unknown to us, use those meager means to bring them back to the One True Church is misleading and uncharitable toward those separated from the Church and who believe that they can continue to believe in their false teachings and be saved.
Saying that one only needs to be a good Muslim, a good Jew or a good Hindu is enough for salvation goes against the traditional teachings of the Church and the words of Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 “ I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me”

UBI PRIMUM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XII
MAY 5, 1824
14……. It is impossible for the most true God, who is Truth Itself, the best, the wisest Provider, and the Rewarder of good men, to approve all sects who profess false teachings which are often inconsistent with one another and contradictory, and to confer eternal rewards on their members…. This is why we profess that there is no salvation outside the Church. "

Pius XII on ecumenical dialogue.
"Catholic doctrine is to be presented and explained: by no means is it permitted to pass over in silence or to veil in ambiguous terms the Catholic truth regarding the nature and way of justification, the constitution of the Church, the primacy of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, and the only true union by the return of the dissidents to the one true Church of Christ. It should be made clear to them that, in returning to the Church, they will lose nothing of that good which by the grace of God has hitherto been implanted in them.”

 

[stmaria]

[No message]

 

[JReducation]

Yes and notice the knowledge we are praying for to grow in, that which St. Athanasius preached and defended, Christ’s divinity.
What protection are we praying for in this prayer? Protection from what? hmmmm, false beliefs such as Islam that deny Christ’s divinty perhaps?

So we pray in the liturgy to St. Athanasius to protect us from false religions (such as Islam) and to grow in St. Athanasius’s teaching.
And JPII prays to St. John the Baptist to protect Islam, a false religion that denies Christ’s divinty???
hmmmmmm… quite strange.

We do pray that we will be guided to truth as St. Athanasius was guided.

However, be careful, we do not pray to St. Athanasius in the Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the Hours is like the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of th Eucharist. The prayer is always directed to God, not the saints.

As to whether or no Pope John Paul prayed for Islam one has to examine two things. First, it was not a liturgical prayer. It was a personal Prayer. He is not praying as the Church.

Second, when judging personal prayer, you have to get the (name removed by moderator)ut of the individual’s spiritual director or the person’s spiritual writings to know what the intent is.

If you read Pope John Paul’s personal writings and the writings of his Spiritual Director and his Secretary, it becomes very clear that he uses the term Islam interchangeable with the term Muslim. He does this consistently in his writings, his dicussions and his private conversations. The insight that we gleam from these other sources tell us that he is really concerned with the people of Islam, not the teachings of Islam.

Also, reading his works, his journals and those of his closest friends you will see that he is very clever in identifying those elements of Islam that flow from Catholicism and he venerates them, because they are Catholic beliefs that Islam preservec. He does not venerate what Islam added, only what they kept from the Judeo-Christian faith.

I would recommend that you read the following:

John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father by Peggy Noonan

Pope John Paul II: In My Own Words by Pope John Paul II

A Life with Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz

Miracles of John Paul II by Pawel Zuchniewicz

These will give the reader some insight into the mysticism of this man of God.

JR

 

[Jeanette_L]

Second, when judging personal prayer, you have to get the (name removed by moderator)ut of the individual’s spiritual director or the person’s spiritual writings to know what the intent is.

If you read Pope John Paul’s personal writings and the writings of his Spiritual Director and his Secretary, it becomes very clear that he uses the term Islam interchangeable with the term Muslim. He does this consistently in his writings, his dicussions and his private conversations. The insight that we gleam from these other sources tell us that he is really concerned with the people of Islam, not the teachings of Islam.

Also, reading his works, his journals and those of his closest friends you will see that he is very clever in identifying those elements of Islam that flow from Catholicism and he venerates them, because they are Catholic beliefs that Islam preservec. He does not venerate what Islam added, only what they kept from the Judeo-Christian faith.

JR

I thought this was fairly obvious anyway, as any reasonable mind cannot pray for a philosophy (religion), but only for people, this is just logical.

I can’t for the life of me understand why so many here are having such a difficult time with the Pope praying for a whole group of people, this is part of his ministry as the Vicor of Christ, is it not?

 

[JReducation]

I thought this was fairly obvious anyway, as any reasonable mind cannot pray for a philosophy (religion), but only for people, this is just logical.

I can’t for the life of me understand why so many here are having such a difficult time with the Pope praying for a whole group of people, this is part of his ministry as the Vicor of Christ, is it not?

I think that’s how he got his title Papa. He’s the Dad.

Good dads have a tendency to worry about all of their children and try to keep them close to home as much as possible.

JR

 

[DustinsDad]

…Second, when judging personal prayer, you have to get the (name removed by moderator)ut of the individual’s spiritual director or the person’s spiritual writings to know what the intent is.

It wasn’t a personal prayer, it was a public prayer. He prayed it publicly - and millions upon millions heard it, read it, and gasped. It’s a shame too, because the other portion of that address was very good.

Even if the intentions were all good - the scandal that ensued occurred because of the words themselves - and precisely because the words themselves transmit the (false) information that the Church doesn’t believe what it has infallibly claimed to believe since day one.

And little by little, these words a a plentitude of other words and actions that do the same thing eventually corrupt the faith in many people…good intentions notwithstanding.

Case in point - then Cardinal Ratzinger in 1988 addressing the bishops of Chile regarding the SSPX. Here he defends the pope and Assisi precisely because of the intentions he personally knew the pope to have. "Aside from the liturgical questions, the central points of conflict at present are Lefebvre’s attack on the decree which deals with religious liberty, and on the so-called spirit of Assisi. Here is where Lefebvre fixes the boundaries between his position and that of the Catholic Church today.
"I need hardly say in so many words that what he is saying on these points is unacceptable. Here we do not wish to consider his errors, rather we want to ask ourselves where there is lack of clarity in ourselves. For Lefebvre what is at stake is the warfare against ideological liberalism, against the relativization of truth. Obviously we are not in agreement with him that – understood according to the Pope’s intentions – the text of the Council or the prayer of Assisi were relativizing.

So for so good for you, right. Right. But read on. Cardinal Ratzinger goes on to point out the pastoral nature of the Council, and yet the many ruptures going on - in the liturgy, in the grave deriliction of duty within the episcopy for failing to discipline catholic educators promulgating heresy (ahem). and finally to this error…"The ‘truth’ is thought to be a claim that is too exalted, a ‘triumphalism’ that cannot be permitted any longer. You see this attitude plainly in the crisis that troubles the missionary ideal and missionary practice. If we do not point to the truth in announcing our faith, and if this truth is no longer essential for the salvation of Man, then the missions lose their meaning. In effect the conclusion has been drawn, and it has been drawn today, that in the future we need only seek that Christians should be good Christians, Moslems good Moslems, Hindus good Hindus, and so forth. If it comes to that, how are we to know when one is a ‘good’ Christian, or a ‘good’ Moslem?
"The idea that all religions are – if you talk seriously – only symbols of what ultimately is incomprehensible is rapidly gaining ground in theology, and has already penetrated into liturgical practice. When things get to this point, faith is left behind. So in this matter also there is every motive to return to the right path.
Keep in mind again, then Cardinal Ratzinger is here describing an erroneous mindset - one that comes from “misreading” Assisi (and as a sidenote, if you read Pascendi, you’ll find he’s describing modernism’s theology to a T). Yet what he describes above* IS* what you are promoting - almost verbetum. So even if you agree with Assisi - are you not agreeing with it for the wrong reasons?

I gather, that little by little, now Pope Benedict XVI, is trying to “return to the right path.” It’s got to be tough for him, seeing all this unfold in the wake of VII, a council he - like Pope John Paul II - was such big part of, and it such a big part of their lives. I think he’s still struggling with it all - and facing obstacles at every turn. Even from otherwise faithful catholics who celebrate - with all good intentions - prudential errors of the late Pope John Paul II.

Peace in Christ,

DustinsDad