Confusion abounds. Let’s see if we can’t help clear things up a bit.

Apparently it is being argued that Peter’s denial of Our Lord Jesus Christ during His Sorrowful Passion is somehow proof that “the Pope can be an apostate.”

Oy… 🤦🏻‍♀️

The Pope is Christ’s VICAR on earth, and the visible head and principal of unity of the Church Militant.

So far so good?

So, therefore, two things:

Christ had no need of a VICAR while He was CORPOREALLY PRESENT ON EARTH, which He was until the Ascension, forty days after the Resurrection.

Further, the Petrine promise in Matthew 16 is in the FUTURE tense. Will build. Will give. Shalt bind.

Why? Because, as we all know, the Church was “born” at Pentecost, in the Upper Room, ten days after the Ascension. Since the Church Militant didn’t exist until Pentecost, there was no way that Peter could have been its visible head before it existed.

So, as we can clearly see from just obvious logic which is accessible to all, when Peter denied Our Lord after the Last Supper (out of cowardice, let it be mentioned), that was fully fifty-three days before Peter possessed the MUNUS of the Papacy, bestowed upon him by Our Lord, one can safely assume, at the same time as the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles and Mary, and the tongues of fire appeared and the Church Militant was brought into existence.

So no, Peter was not an apostate, or anything even close, while he was the Pope. Obviously.🤦🏻‍♀️

I hope this helps.

Pray for Pope Benedict, the one and only living Pope whether he likes it or not, the Papacy, and Holy Mother Church.

UPDATE: Eagle-eyed readers jogged my memory of this post from last year about a super-cool rare image of the “birth of the Church from the side of Christ Crucified.” Excellent catch!!

Imbued with ominous meaning and significance in ARSH 2020, wouldn’t you say?

This quote is from “Jesus of Nazareth”, page 38, published in ARSH 2007.

“If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is Love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.”

I wrote the text up on the form, and the young dude looked at it and started typing stoically.

The list price was $20. When I went to pay, the young dude said, “For you, for THIS: $15.” And smiled. Broadly. We shook hands and I wished him a good day.

Ann:

As laudable as is the effort to engage the Trad Inc. (TM) crowd in rational discussion, they will never respond to such entreaties.  Having gotten their collective internet tit caught in a wringer backing the wrong horse long after it became clear that there was at LEAST a prima facie case to be made that Benedict’s resignation was invalid, they have had no choice but to quadruple down on content-free ad hominem invective to save face, not scare the baby, and keep the bucks coming in.  To paraphrase Tacitus, error, once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity.

Cynical?  You bet I am.

V/R,

P

Oh, wait.

I’m jus’ gonna leave this here. 3 June, ARSH 2011. And yes, the room still smelled of bacon….

I was cc’d this letter to Christopher Ferrara just now. It speaks for itself, and ever so eloquently. My thanks to the author. -AB

---

Chris,

I don’t need to remind you, I hope, how much I have enjoyed your writing and various conversations with you over the years, even where we disagree. I’ve also had a few friendly disagreements with Ann over time. 

I have hesitated for days to write this, but  it won’t stop nagging at me, so I’ll nag you. I strongly suspect Ann is exactly right about Benedict still being Pope. I have strongly suspected it since the first time she said it;  her argument rings true. It was cogent and clear from the start, highly compelling, and – so far as I could tell – flawless in logic and supporting factual base. It has only gotten stronger over time as further corroboration comes in. What is more, every single Trad I have spoken with on the topic (admittedly only a few) as well as my local Novus Ordo priest, who doesn’t know us from Adam, believes it is true. It’s like being in the crowd in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

But of course Ann might be wrong. We all make mistakes. 

If she is wrong, her argument deserves a point for point refutation in a very serious brief. It is the contrary opposite of some frivolous emotional argument predicated on revulsion for Bergoglio or something of the sort (understandable as that would be.) It is, at least facially, a rigorously rational argument and as such, worthy of real refutation on its merits, if it be nevertheless false or invalid.

But it is not of course the argument that deserves refutation; it is Ann, and it is those who find it compelling, like me. You are several others I love and admire keep insisting that she’s wrong, but I have yet to find someone who will actually explain why, exactly.

Instead you breezily proffered this, with no supporting authority: We have no competence to assemble “data sets” and declare that the Chair of Peter is vacant.

Just tactically, if you are in the right, this is devastating to your position. Forget about the failure to support it. This is much worse: it is impossible to have read anything Ann has written on the subject and conclude that she “declares” that “the Chair of Peter is vacant.” If you cannot even accurately characterize her central thesis, which she has howled aloud to the four winds for nearly 4 years now, it is impossible to take seriously anything you say by way of refutation. 

In charity, I am sure you were just speaking carelessly, since I am wholly unwilling to ascribe bad faith to you, which is what would be in evidence if you said that after reflection. This suggests that you really have never bothered to look seriously at what she says, and are sort of just brushing it away as you would a pesky fly because you are assuming it’s just some kooky idea unworthy of attention. So I just want to add my voice asking you please to take it seriously and, if she is wrong, show us how. Show us exactly how, because it seems absolutely sound to me.

-****-

On December 30, ARSH 2017 Chris Ferrara posted an essay titled “Not Fair, Mr. Keating” at Fátima Perspectives. LINK HERE.

Paragraph 12:

Finally, no traditionalist I would consider a colleague has ever declared that Francis is an anti-Pope (in the sense that he was not validly elected, although he acts like one), that the See of Peter is vacant, or that Benedict is still the Pope.  These are straw men.

Fr. Nicholas Gruner was the founder of the organization that Chris Ferrara has dedicated a massive amount of his working life to: The Fátima Center. Fr. Nicholas Gruner was Chris Ferrara’s spiritual father, it is no risk to say. The word “disciple” could very appropriately be used to describe to closeness and intertwinedness of Chris Ferrara to Fr. Nicholas Gruner.

Fr. Nicholas Gruner openly, publicly declared that Pope Benedict’s attempted resignation was canonically invalid per Canon 332.2. Fr. Nicholas Gruner commemorated Pope Benedict at the Te Igitur. This video, scrubbed from the Fatima Center’s own YouTube channel, almost certainly with Ferrara’s involvement, proves this beyond any shadow of a doubt.

And yet, unbelievably, Counselor Ferrara stated in writing on 30 December, ARSH 2017 that “no Traditionalist I would consider a colleague has ever declared” “that Benedict is still the Pope.”

Folks, this is a lie. PERIOD.

I post this to point up the fact there is is something very, very, VERY wrong amongst the professional Traditional Catholic partisans who absolutely insist that “Francis is Pope, so shut up, Stupid!”

Lying is a big deal, and when you catch people lying you need to acknowledge it for the extremely grave matter that it is. For me personally, I have learned over the past seven years that it is extremely important to NOT associate with and, when necessary, even denounce people that one discovers to be liars. Chris Ferrara is not the first person that has been irrefutably demonstrated to me to be a liar in the Trad Inc. milieu.

There is absolutely no way to spin or engage in lawyerly doublespeak to make Ferrara’s written statement above anything than what it is: a full-blown boldfaced lie.

I will not be having anything to do with Mr. Ferrara henceforth, should on the off-chance our paths happen to cross. I do not associate with and certainly do not fraternize with people I know to be dishonest.

Pray for Pope Benedict, the one and only living Pope whether he likes it or not, the Papacy, and Holy Mother Church.

People are wondering why Chris Ferrara of the Fatima Center and long-time columnist for the Remnant Newspaper would admit to privately suspecting that Pope Benedict’s resignation was invalid, and yet at the same time be so publicly strident that “Francis” is Pope.  And, yes, I stand ONE THOUSAND PERCENT behind what I said on Episode #101 of the Barnhardt Podcast at about the 23:00 mark.  On the evening of 28 June, ARSH 2016, Chris Ferrara said TO MY FACE with Mike Matt of the Remnant standing there, “We all think you’re probably right.”  That was a pretty amazing thing for Chris to have said, and I will never forget it.  Also, contrary to Chris’ words HERE I had met, spoken, and eaten meals with Chris several times previous to that in ARSH 2013 and ARSH 2014, most notably at the restaurant “da Roberto” on the Borgo Pio in Rome immediately after Bergoglio’s “faux-election” on the evening of 13 March, ARSH 2013.  I had a piece of lasagna.  So, his memory is a little spotty, it seems.

Here’s the context that explains why Chris might be caught between the two positions:  Chris Ferrara’s spiritual father, Fr. Nicholas Gruner, the founder of the Fatima Center, was TOTALLY BiP (BiP stands for “Benedict is Pope”) very early on in the Bergoglian Antipapacy.  Fr. Nicholas Gruner was a canonist who honed in on Canon 332.2 and the MUNUS-MINISTERIUM distinction.  Sadly, Fr. Gruner died suddenly of a heart attack in ARSH 2015, over a year before +Georg Gänswein gave his watershed speech at the Gregorian in Rome which was the main impetus for my “BiPping” in June of ARSH 2016.  And, yes, Fr. Nicholas Gruner commemorated Pope Benedict at the Te Igitur when he offered the Holy Sacrifice.

Do I have proof of this?  Yes, I absolutely do.  Here is a video that was originally posted on the Fatima Center’s YouTube channel, but was PULLED by the Fatima Center leadership.  Somehow, Louie Verrecchio managed to get his hands on a version of it and posted this excerpt to his Vimeo Channel for posterity. This is Fr. Gruner on 14 November, ARSH 2014.  Fr. Gruner explicitly discusses the canonical invalidity of Pope Benedict’s attempted resignation at the 5:00 mark.  He mis-speaks at one point when he says “2012” instead of “2013” as the date of Pope Benedict’s attempted resignation.

So, I think this makes it VERY clear why Chris Ferrara might be “torn” on the question of Pope Benedict’s resignation.  His own beloved spiritual father and founder of the Fatima Center, Fr. Nicholas Gruner, a canonist, was 100% BiP, while on the other hand Chris Ferrara’s colleagues and associates in the “professional Trad Catholic” world are strident “shut-up-stupid-Fwanciss-is-Pope!” partisans.

Let me conclude with one of Fr. Gruner’s favorite quotes from Pope St. Gregory the Great:

“It is better that scandals arise than that the truth be suppressed.”

Reprinted in full. This is terrifying.

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January 30, 2020

Saint John Bosco

Dear Friends,

We are all still in the throes of suffering the great shock of Father Evan Harkins’ recent and unexpected passing. It is especially true that those of us who knew Father well simply cannot get our heads around this tragedy. It came out of nowhere, and happened to one of the finest, holiest, most gentle and humble priests we know. Everything seemed perfectly normal in Father’s life. He offered Masses at the parish and heard confessions that weekend. We are left scratching our heads; how on earth could this have happened, but especially to someone like Father Harkins? It just doesn’t add up. It simply doesn’t make sense.

Father had been close to our community even since he was a seminarian. Over the past nine and a half years, he has offered Mass for us more times than I can count. He arranged and attended a monthly priest gathering at our retreat house, and he was just on a private retreat here at our monastery last week. After speaking with our chaplain who was with him, and also to his mother, with whom Father was very close, there are certain details that I feel compelled to bring to you in order to try to bring some peace, understanding and closure to this tragic event – for our community, for brother priests and seminarians, for his family, his parishioners past and present, and everyone who knew and loved Father.

After attending an event at Good Counsel in early January, Father felt very ill. He felt so sick to his stomach that he stopped at a hospital, as he didn’t think he could make it back to St. Joseph. He was prescribed a medication to help alleviate the pain and nausea. A couple of weeks after that, he relayed to his mother that he had begun suffering from certain panic and anxieties over things that would never had bothered him before. The Sisters who interacted with him at the retreat house could sense that he just wasn’t himself, as did our chaplain who was able to speak to him at greater length.

While we don’t know for sure what exactly was happening in Father’s mind, I can only relate our own experiences with the same type of drug prescribed to Father — serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

I myself had an experience that I will never forget, and it was absolutely terrifying. I took the pill at night, and could not sleep, finding that I was losing all control of my thoughts and emotions. It was as though my mind and body had been completely hijacked. Needless to say, I stopped taking the drug immediately.

Another Sister was given a prescription for her stomach trouble. The doctor prescribed a drug that was normally used for depression and anxiety, but also used for stomach problems. When I found her the next morning in a fetal position, sobbing and convulsing, I threw away the rest of the bottle.

Yet another Sister fell into deep depression after being prescribed an anti-depressant for the relief of headaches. After she had been taking it a couple of days, she felt so depressed and suicidal, she walked out of the monastery down the road, with the overwhelming yearning to just end her life. It was truly a miracle she came back, through the intercession of St. Benedict, and when I learned what was going inside of her, I immediately dumped those pills too. The suicidal thoughts went away after the pills had run their course.

While not specifically the same drug as what Father had been prescribed, all of the above interfered with neurotransmitters, which are chemical signals to the brain. Though the Sisters had only taken minimal doses, Father had been on the drug for three weeks. While there is no doubt that these drugs certainly can and do help people, it is also very true that the same drugs can make certain people literally lose control of their minds. Also, Father did not grow up taking any kind of medications, which perhaps made him even more sensitive to the negative effects of the drug.

Father Harkins left his retreat early without explanation. I learned afterwards that he just couldn’t handle the panicky feelings and anxiety he was experiencing. He also had had a very bad nightmare while here. While Father may have felt some stress and anxiety before January, I do know, as we all do, that he would not, could not have ended his life on this account. He clearly began to experience feelings he never had before once he started taking this drug. And this awareness likely caused him even more anxiety, not knowing how to cope with such overwhelming feelings, producing a snowball effect. He was not making a connection with the medication, that it could be the source of these attacks. And here we are now, so many broken hearts, striving to cope with the absolute worst outcome of side effects of prescription drugs.

I hope and pray that these words can in some way to help souls understand how something like this could happen to someone like Father Harkins, and ease the tremendous pain of it all. In addition, perhaps it can also act as a warning to be very careful with regard to pharmaceuticals. One person can have such a diametrically opposed reaction to another when taking the same drug.

Please feel free to pass this message on to anyone who knew and loved Father. I believe with all my heart that the good God Who knows all things, will take all these circumstances into account, and grant Divine Mercy to Father and to all of us. We will continue to pray very earnestly with all our hearts, and entrust everything to the Immaculate Heart of Our Mother, knowing she will intercede for Father and for us all.

In her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart,

Mother Cecilia, abbess

Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles