The article that appeared in this space on April 25 deserves further development. There are three presuppositions that served as the foundation of that article, and as time passes, it allows for additional reflection.
The first assumption was that the reader would interpret that the mystical Catholic Church has not abandoned Joe Biden. That is, not the Bride of Christ, established by the Messiah and grown by the Apostles and martyrs. It is the human aspect, the spiderweb of people, that is derelict of duty, as parents who never discipline their unruly children, risk their ruin and endangerment. To eliminate any risk of being overly provocative or reductive, let us be precise; it is not the Barque of Peter which fails humanity, it is humanity which fails humanity.
The second assumption that this article made was that the Church is correct in all that She teaches. That She is the vessel of God on earth and that what She professes is always good and holy. Her dogmas and tenets are divinely inspired and that when humans stray from that Deposit of Faith, they sin, a concept which is, in fact, real and consequential. The burden of sin is borne by humanity when it separates itself from God and His Church, and the effects of sin are not only the separation of ourselves from God, but also the jeopardizing of our souls. Just like good parents who discipline their children do so to protect them from existential harm, the Church, in all her parts, exists for no other reasons but to grant access to God and to tether us to His truth – for our own good. This presumption is based squarely upon the final entry of the Code of Canon Law of 1983, which states that the Supreme Law of the Church is the salvation of souls.
The final assumption of the April article was the premise that priests, bishops and cardinals actually share all the above beliefs regarding the teachings of Holy Mother Church. That they believe, for example, that the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ are contained in the Eucharist. After all, either it is or it isn’t. There is no middle ground or third option. The inference is that if they believe the above, they would take tangible and necessary measures to safeguard the Eucharist which is the Source and Summit of the Faith. Furthermore, as shepherds, they would protect each of those who hope to unworthily receive the Eucharist, thereby ensuring that It not turn to their judgment and condemnation, but that It, through the mercy of God, become a safeguard and remedy, both for soul and body. As Paul exhorts us, “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.” [1 Corinthians 11:29] By extension, we assume the same would apply to other aspects of the Faith.
If the shepherds don’t believe, then this is a completely different story, and they are in the wrong line of work. But if they truly believe, as assumed, then it is scandalous that they permit what they do. The proof is there to be witnessed. For a generation, they have allowed Catholic politicians to take license with Church teachings. Their handling of John Kerry, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and the Kennedys – behavior so conspicuously allowed by the Church bureaucracy – is a violation of their mandate so egregious that it creates an environment in which it is easy to assume that their Bishops don’t take their jobs seriously.
In mathematics, a geometric proof uses given statements, facts, deduction and logic, to scrutinize a given principle before a premise is accepted. All of these arguments, together with their reasons, are used to determine a proof. The purpose of previous articles here was to employ that same method to contrast the generally understood mandate of the shepherds with their language and actions. The result of that analysis leads the reader to the conclusion that if bishops believe, then they are horrible at their jobs. The old joke, “Is the Pope Catholic?” used to be a turn of phrase to answer and somewhat ridicule the posing of an absurd question. What about now? If good bishops believe what they claim to believe, how can they be so deferential? For their own sakes, for the safeguarding and propagation of the Faith, and for the good of believers, why let their sheep mess around with wolves? As does the good parent, the good shepherd keeps us from error, even if it means that they are unyielding.
After all, wouldn’t a Muslim cleric be bold and strict? Or would they be as laisse faire and deferential to misguided members of their faith? Would they be rigid or pastoral? Biden’s blessing of himself at the abortion rally was sacrilegious, but less so than receiving the Eucharist in an unprepared state. No Islamic claims are so bold as to profess the existence of the physical presence of Allah. If they did, one can make the well-informed assumption that Muslim clerics would crawl over glass to preserve and protect their god from the infidel or even the compromised believer of Islam. Meanwhile, the behavior of many Catholic bishops calls into question whether they have become feckless and anodyne in defense of their faith, or if they never truly believed and are willingly allowing the Church, and the souls in their charge, to come crashing down around them. These are the deep questions that their behavior merits.
This article was written by Louis Biad, a contributor to Catholics for Catholics.
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