Good Catholics, Bad Bishops and Popes: Part II

The conclusion of the essay, with a Biblical model for the faithful remnant. You can read the first part here if you missed it. 

From Catholic Stand

By Unknown Centurion

Resistance of the Faithful Remnant

The Bible provides us with the model of the “faithful remnant”. Through periods of infidelity, idolatry, and indifference to the God who saved them, there always seemed to remain a faithful remnant who did not follow corrupt leaders, pagan neighbors, or the apostate masses. It was because of this small but faithful portion of Israel or Judah that assuaged God’s wrath, led Him to remember His promise, and caused Him to return His Face toward them. Even when the leaders, be it priests, prophets, or kings, turned their backs on God, and caused the people to do likewise, a small remnant remained steadfast, worshipping God as He wanted, while refusing to bend their knee to men or to gods.

Would we not expect the faithful resistance of a latter-day Catholic remnant to the idolatry and apostasy of the religious and political elites and the masses under their influence and control, incline God to return His gaze toward us and purge and purify the Body of Christ, because there are some who continue to work and pray for it, even in the face of persecution? Can an interconnected remnant of modern, faithful Catholics serve as a source of encouragement, support, solidarity, and strength to other Catholics who may feel discouraged, isolated, powerless, or anxious, and a source of fear or restraint to those who want to remake the Church in the fallen image of man?

The first step of such a remnant, as always, is to pray for the conversion of our enemies, giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are merely deceived and not deliberately diabolical. Then, to counter such a scenario, we must pray and sacrifice to discern and carry out the will of God, not foolishly rushing headlong into a fight of our own design and making, creating even more problems and division. For, Jesus is in control of His Church and has a plan for how such enemies within are dealt with, which plan may not involve our impetuous, unwarranted actions.

Our mission is to remain faithful to Him, and the inalterable teachings of His Church, ignoring the punitive edicts and capricious decrees to the contrary. Although we must always recognize a duly elected pope as the undisputed head of the universal Church on earth, we can also be aware that he just might be a man of little faith and post-modern morals in direct opposition to prior popes and the Church’s magisterium and following him could lead us outside of the protection of the Church.

This is the basis of the aptly named “recognize and resist movement”, which has been a part of the Catholic faith since the Middle Ages when sinful Popes ruled in an authoritarian fashion advancing their own interests. The great counter-reformer, Saint Robert Bellarmine, described what this duty to recognize and resist looks like:

As it is lawful to resist a pope if he attacks the body, so it is lawful to resist him if he attacks the soul or afflicts the state, and much more if he seeks to destroy the Church. It is permitted, I say, to resist him by not doing what he commands and by preventing the execution of his will. But it is not lawful to judge him, or to punish him, or to depose him, which alone is the business of a superior. (De Summo Pontifice, lib. II, cap. 29,7).

Thus, it is our duty to resist him, but God’s duty to judge, punish, or remove him.

For we only have a duty to obey our religious authorities if they are acting or speaking consistently with the established teaching of the Church, which is where our duty of obedience is derived. Just as we owe no obedience to an unauthorized, unlawful, or immoral mandate from an executive or bureaucrat who exceeds his authority, we owe no duty of obedience to the flimsy fiats of a bishop or pope, not in continuity with the teaching and tradition of the Church.

When faced with such deviations to the Faith, we can and should petition and plead with them for greater fidelity and orthodoxy, and for the sake of the souls entrusted to them, in an encouraging and charitable spirit of reverence for their office (Canon 212 S3). If these authorities fail to repent and continue down the paved path of perdition, with thousands of souls in their wake, we can also make our fellow Catholics aware, for the good of the Church and the salvation of souls, including the soul of the wayward bishop, priest, or pope.

We should strongly support and encourage the courageous and faithful bishops to speak out in opposition to their erring brother bishops and grant dispensations to their flocks with regard to modern inventions, novel decrees, and retributive restrictions on the full practice of our faith. We are called to both “avoid and expose” and to “recognize and resist” but do so in a spirit of obedience, without calumny, malice, superiority, or rash judgment, for the good of the Church.

Rather than be rigid, resentful, resistors, we must remain joyful warriors and courageous, magnetic, models in the face of this modern martyrdom imposed from within. Such a visible, faithful remnant can and should continue to live their lives consistently with the laws, liturgy, and life of the Church, confident that Christ has not left us orphans, and drawing strength from the Mass, the Sacraments, and the Eucharist, overcoming the unnecessary obstacles and arbitrary restrictions imposed by those at the top.

Remember, neither Christ, His herald John, nor His chosen apostles were in any way connected with the organized religious authorities. In fact, Jesus taught His followers to practice the “avoid and expose” and the “recognize and resist” strategies where He avoided their edicts, exposed their hypocrisy, recognizing their authority, yet resisted them at every turn. If the religious leaders of Jesus’ time were selfless, holy men singularity focused on the right worship of God and the salvation of souls, Jesus too would have obeyed them, praised them, and encouraged others to follow their example.

And let us not forget that immediately following the Ascension, the apostles rejoiced at being punished by the Sanhedrin and refused to obey their decree not to preach in the name of Christ. For God often operates outside of the established channels of authority, especially when it has fallen so far from the ideal upon which they were established.

This is why, sadly, an infinitesimally small number of priests and bishops become saints, especially in the modern and postmodern eras. But we must realize as Jesus taught, that Satan seeks to sift these men like wheat, and it takes a man of great faith and virtue, the prayers of the faithful, and the grace of God, to overcome him and not be ensnared, enslaved, or an ally of the Evil One. The answer is to pray, sacrifice, support, encourage, and charitably correct them.

Our role can never be to demonize, calumnize, scandalize, or cause schism, revolution, or apostasy. For even if or when a less than pious pope is installed at the helm of the Barque of Peter, we must never engage in mutiny or abandon ship. No matter what, we must remain aboard the Ark of Salvation, for Satan’s days are numbered, and he will be defeated.