Saint Pope Pius X on the Doctrine of Modernists (aka liberals, aka progressives)

[livingwordunity]

"Although they express their astonishment that We should number them amongst the enemies of the Church, no one will be reasonably surprised that We should do so, if, leaving out of account the internal disposition of the soul, of which God alone is the Judge, he considers their tenets, their manner of speech, and their action. Nor indeed would he be wrong in regarding them as the most pernicious of all the adversaries of the Church. For, as We have said, they put into operation their designs for her undoing, not from without but from within. Hence, the danger is present almost in the very veins and heart of the Church, whose injury is the more certain from the very fact that their knowledge of her is more intimate. Moreover, they lay the ax not to the branches and shoots, but to the very root, that is, to the faith and its deepest fibers. And once having struck at this root of immortality, they proceed to diffuse poison through the whole tree, so that there is no part of Catholic truth which they leave untouched, none that they do not strive to corrupt. Further, none is more skillful, none more astute than they, in the employment of a thousand noxious devices; for they play the double part of rationalist and Catholic, and this so craftily that they easily lead the unwary into error; and as audacity is their chief characteristic, there is no conclusion of any kind from which they shrink or which they do not thrust forward with pertinacity and assurance To this must be added the fact, which indeed is well calculated to deceive souls, that they lead a life of the greatest activity, of assiduous and ardent application to every branch of learning, and that they possess, as a rule, a reputation for irreproachable morality. Finally, there is the fact which is all but fatal to the hope of cure that their very doctrines have given such a bent to their minds, that they disdain all authority and brook no restraint; and relying upon a false conscience, they attempt to ascribe to a love of truth that which is in reality the result of pride and obstinacy.

Once indeed We had hopes of recalling them to a better mind, and to this end We first of all treated them with kindness as Our children, then with severity; and at last We have had recourse, though with great reluctance, to public reproof. It is known to you, Venerable Brethren, how unavailing have been Our efforts. For a moment they have bowed their head, only to lift it more arrogantly than before. If it were a matter which concerned them alone, We might perhaps have overlooked it; but the security of the Catholic name is at stake. Wherefore We must interrupt a silence which it would be criminal to prolong, that We may point out to the whole Church, as they really are, men who are badly disguised."

Source:
Pascendi Dominici Gregis, On The Doctrine of the Modernists, Encyclical of St. Pope Pius X, September 8, 1907

 

[tqualey]

Hi, Livingwordunity,

Modernism has been very destructive to the Body of Christ. What has been truly distressing has been that many of the U.S. hierarchy has either been directing their attention in other areas for the past 60 years or so indifferent that this summation of all heresies would actually be so destructive - more like unseen termites than a very visible hurricane.

We all have suffered as a result. Fortunately, there are members of the hierarchy who are quite concerned that authentic Catholic teaching actually be spread throughout the world.

Pray for the Church - and all of its members!

God bless

"Although they express their astonishment that We should number them amongst the enemies of the Church, no one will be reasonably surprised that We should do so, if, leaving out of account the internal disposition of the soul, of which God alone is the Judge, he considers their tenets, their manner of speech, and their action. Nor indeed would he be wrong in regarding them as the most pernicious of all the adversaries of the Church. For, as We have said, they put into operation their designs for her undoing, not from without but from within. Hence, the danger is present almost in the very veins and heart of the Church, whose injury is the more certain from the very fact that their knowledge of her is more intimate. Moreover, they lay the ax not to the branches and shoots, but to the very root, that is, to the faith and its deepest fibers. And once having struck at this root of immortality, they proceed to diffuse poison through the whole tree, so that there is no part of Catholic truth which they leave untouched, none that they do not strive to corrupt. Further, none is more skillful, none more astute than they, in the employment of a thousand noxious devices; for they play the double part of rationalist and Catholic, and this so craftily that they easily lead the unwary into error; and as audacity is their chief characteristic, there is no conclusion of any kind from which they shrink or which they do not thrust forward with pertinacity and assurance To this must be added the fact, which indeed is well calculated to deceive souls, that they lead a life of the greatest activity, of assiduous and ardent application to every branch of learning, and that they possess, as a rule, a reputation for irreproachable morality. Finally, there is the fact which is all but fatal to the hope of cure that their very doctrines have given such a bent to their minds, that they disdain all authority and brook no restraint; and relying upon a false conscience, they attempt to ascribe to a love of truth that which is in reality the result of pride and obstinacy.

Once indeed We had hopes of recalling them to a better mind, and to this end We first of all treated them with kindness as Our children, then with severity; and at last We have had recourse, though with great reluctance, to public reproof. It is known to you, Venerable Brethren, how unavailing have been Our efforts. For a moment they have bowed their head, only to lift it more arrogantly than before. If it were a matter which concerned them alone, We might perhaps have overlooked it; but the security of the Catholic name is at stake. Wherefore We must interrupt a silence which it would be criminal to prolong, that We may point out to the whole Church, as they really are, men who are badly disguised."

Source:
Pascendi Dominici Gregis, On The Doctrine of the Modernists, Encyclical of St. Pope Pius X, September 8, 1907

 

[livingwordunity]

Saint Pope Pius X’s words are prophetic to the spiritual battle we face today with “Catholic” liberals fighting a legal battle against the Catholic Church.

 

[LeafByNiggle]

Source:
Pascendi Dominici Gregis, On The Doctrine of the Modernists, Encyclical of St. Pope Pius X, September 8, 1907

If you read the entire text of the encyclical that you have cited you will see that it refers to Modernists as a kind of agnostic philosophy. It is not “aka liberals aka progressives”. It is not exactly addressed at what today we would call the political progressives. Just because the two schools of thought have some elements in common does not justify the sloppy “aka” in the title.

 

[livingwordunity]

If you read the entire text of the encyclical that you have cited you will see that it refers to Modernists as a kind of agnostic philosophy. It is not “aka liberals aka progressives”. It is not exactly addressed at what today we would call the political progressives. Just because the two schools of thought have some elements in common does not justify the sloppy “aka” in the title.

Liberal “Catholics” may call themselves “Catholic”, but in truth they are agnostic or atheist since in rejecting the authority of the Church they are rejecting God since the Church’s authority comes from God.

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people. For among them are those who make their way into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and swayed by various impulses, who will listen to anybody and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” - 2 Timothy 3:1-7

Profligate - “Completely given up to dissipation and licentiousness” - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Licentious - “lacking legal or moral restraints; especially : disregarding sexual restraints” - Meriam-Webster Dictionary

 

[LeafByNiggle]

Liberal “Catholics” may call themselves “Catholic”, but in truth they are agnostic or atheist since in rejecting the authority of the Church they are rejecting God since the Church’s authority comes from God.

That is your opinion. But it is much better to attack specific concepts held by a group of people with which you disagree than to attack the group itself with unsubstantiated claims.

 

[livingwordunity]

That is your opinion. But it is much better to attack specific concepts held by a group of people with which you disagree than to attack the group itself with unsubstantiated claims.

You yourself are being vague in your response to what I said. It’s no secret that liberal “Catholics” despise the Pope. They have many organizations that are dedicated to bashing him. And liberal “Catholics” are currently in a major legal battle against the Church over the HHS mandate. They have sided with Obama over the bishops. Do you disagree that for a Catholic to reject the authority of the Church is to reject God since the authority of the Church comes from God?

 

[LeafByNiggle]

You yourself are being vague in your response to what I said.

Then let me be as clear as I can. I dispute your implication that the encyclical you cited proves something about people today that are classified as liberal or progressive. Your equation of Pope Pius’ “Modernist” with today’s liberals and progressives is unsubstantiated. So far all you have done is repeat the claim with no additional support. If someone is liberal because they believe global warming, for example, should be addressed with governmental action, that does not make them Into what Pope Pius referred to as Modernists in his encyclical. Nor does it make them despise the Pope.

It sounds to me like you just latched on to that encyclical as a springboard for you to push your own particular political view because when I challenged you to go back to that encyclical and show how it applies to everything progressive today you ignored the encyclical and just started talking about what you believe. I don’t particularly care what you personally believe. I do care when you misrepresent what Pope Pius believed.

Do you disagree that for a Catholic to reject the authority of the Church is to reject God since the authority of the Church comes from God?

No.

 

[RobbyS]

Then let me be as clear as I can. I dispute your implication that the encyclical you cited proves something about people today that are classified as liberal or progressive. Your equation of Pope Pius’ “Modernist” with today’s liberals and progressives is unsubstantiated. So far all you have done is repeat the claim with no additional support. If someone is liberal because they believe global warming, for example, should be addressed with governmental action, that does not make them Into what Pope Pius referred to as Modernists in his encyclical. Nor does it make them despise the Pope.

It sounds to me like you just latched on to that encyclical as a springboard for you to push your own particular political view because when I challenged you to go back to that encyclical and show how it applies to everything progressive today you ignored the encyclical and just started talking about what you believe. I don’t particularly care what you personally believe. I do care when you misrepresent what Pope Pius believed.

No.

Jacques Maritain’s The Peasant of the Garonne, which was published in December, 1965, as the Council was ending, pretty much laid out the present situation, as does Dietrich von Hilderbrand’s “trojan Horse in the City of God,”(1967). Not that the parties can be neatly divided,. It is somewhat like the Arian cntroversy. of the 4th century, where Arians and Catholics overlapped withsemi-Arians. Likewise, there really was not clear distinctions between Catholic and Protestant reformers, except on the matter of papal authority, until the Council of Trent ended.

 

[tqualey]

Hi, LeafByNiggle,

I disagree with you on this - Livingwordunity was expressing more then juat an ‘opinion’. Here is a link you may find helpful: newadvent.org/cathen/09212a.htm

In addition to ‘Liberalism’ the term ‘Modernism’ can also be used - not that they mean the same - but the total rejection of the teaching authority of the Catholic Church is the end-point of both groups.

God bless

That is your opinion. But it is much better to attack specific concepts held by a group of people with which you disagree than to attack the group itself with unsubstantiated claims.