In his stunning 6,000-word letter on the sexual abuse crisis, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said something of great importance that was actually missed by most. In my special of The John Henry Weston Show, I talk about it and how it is linked to Pope Francis and Protestantism.
00:01:12.000First off, every sincere Catholic looks forward to the unification of Christians in answer to the prayer of Christ himself.
00:01:20.000We see recorded in John 17, 22, where Christ prays to his eternal Father for the future Christians.
00:01:28.000And he says, Father, that they may be one, as we also are one.
00:01:32.000That oneness has no room for differences in fundamental beliefs such as the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, confession, and the intercession of Our Lady.
00:01:42.000Yet, tragically, there have been splits in the Church which have caused many to be deprived of the fullness of the truth.
00:01:50.000In the times of Pope St. John Paul II, there began a revival of Catholic faith among our separated brethren, in converts like Scott and Kimberly Hahn,
00:02:02.000and the work of organizations like Catholic Answers that built up those converts to bring thousands back to the fullness of faith, to the sacraments, to Our Lady.
00:02:13.000My own wife is among that number, and celebrating 20 years as a Catholic this year.
00:02:19.000Pope Francis' approach to the question of those Christians who lack the fullness of faith has been very confusing.
00:02:26.000His frequent talk against proselytism only makes sense if you understand proselytism to mean to force or pressure someone to convert.
00:02:36.000However, from his statements and actions on the subject, it's still confusing even with that interpretation.
00:02:43.000In October 2013, in an interview with La Repubblica, he said,
00:03:22.000Let the theologians study abstract realities of theology. But what should I do with a friend, neighbor, an Orthodox person? Be open, be a friend. But should I make efforts to convert him or her? This is a very grave sin against ecumenism, proselytism. We should never proselytize the Orthodox. They are our brothers and sisters, disciples of Jesus Christ. End quote.
00:03:50.000And during a Q&A session at a meeting with Lutherans and Catholics in the Vatican on October the 13th, 2016, the Pope responded to a question from a girl who asked about trying to convert her friends. And I quote, he said,
00:04:03.000That's what the Pope said. Now, hopefully the Pope only means not to proselytize in the sense that we shouldn't try to force or pressure someone into accepting the faith.
00:04:22.000However, in practice, the Pope himself, at least while he was Cardinal Bergoglio, has gone to the extreme of suggesting that someone who was wanting to convert to the Catholic faith remain Protestant, and had a very tragic result.
00:04:37.000The story is actually recounted in the best-known biography of Pope Francis, that of Austin Ivory. In the 2014 book, The Great Reformer, we learn that Tony Palmer, an Anglican clergyman and longtime friend of Pope Francis, spoke to the then Cardinal Bergoglio wanting to become Catholic. Palmer described the then Cardinal's response as this.
00:05:00.000Bergoglio told me that we need to have bridge builders. He counseled me not to take the step because, he said, it looked like I was choosing a side and would cease to be a bridge builder.
00:05:15.000Now, tragically, Tony Palmer died in a motorcycle accident without ever entering the Catholic Church.
00:05:21.000The story is actually retold by Austin Ivory in covering the tragic death of Palmer, writing in the Boston Globe.
00:05:30.000At one point, when Palmer was tired of living on the frontier and wanted to become Catholic, Bergoglio advised him against conversion for the sake of mission.
00:05:40.000We need to have bridge builders, the Cardinal told him, end quote.
00:05:46.000But the story only starts there and gets more and more confusing.
00:05:51.000In late 2016, Pope Francis traveled to Sweden to assist in the launch of a year-long commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing of his 95 Theses to the door of the castle in Wittenberg on October 31st, 1517,
00:06:08.000officially launching the Protestant split away from the Catholic Church.
00:06:12.000In a lead-up event to the Vatican on October 13th, the Pope received a group of 1,000 Lutherans and Catholics from Germany in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall and addressed them from the stage where there was a statue of Luther erected.
00:06:27.000Luther was excommunicated, and his theses were rejected by Pope Leo X in 1520.
00:06:33.000This split in Christianity was the second major break-off after the Orthodox split in the 11th century.
00:06:40.000Adding to the confusion, the Pope was photographed meeting with and embracing the head of the Church of Sweden when he went there, a female Archbishop, Antje Jakilin.
00:06:51.000The Lutheran Church of Sweden, to which Pope Francis went for the celebration, accepts contraception, abortion, homosexuality, and female clergy,
00:06:59.000all of which are strictly and unalterably forbidden in the Catholic Church.
00:07:04.000In a joint document issued by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches, Luther was actually called a witness to the Gospel.
00:07:14.000Catholics are now able to hear Luther's challenge for the Church of today, recognizing him as a witness to the Gospel."
00:07:23.000Later, in 2017, the Vatican issued a stamp depicting Luther under the cross where Our Lady is traditionally depicted.
00:07:30.000You can see it here. A description of the stamp reads,
00:07:33.000"...the background shows the timeless view of the city of Wittenberg, where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in 1517, launching the Protestant Reformation."
00:07:45.000And now we come to the heart of the issue.
00:07:49.000Although for many of you it will be obvious that non-Catholic Protestants should not be given Holy Communion,
00:07:55.000let's quickly review some of the reasons why.
00:07:58.000St. Paul teaches in Corinthians 11, 27-29, this,
00:08:03.000"...therefore whoever shall eat this bread or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.
00:08:10.000Let every man examine himself before eating of the bread and drinking of the cup.
00:08:14.000For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself, not recognizing the body of the Lord."
00:08:21.000Most Protestant denominations don't recognize the Eucharist as the actual body of the Lord, but regard it as a symbol.
00:08:28.000In the case of some Lutherans, they believe in a sort of fleeting presence of Christ,
00:08:33.000where during his service Christ is somehow present, but then absent himself.
00:08:38.000Thus, the concept of things like adoration of the Blessed Sacrament makes no sense whatsoever.
00:08:44.000In a very real sense, they don't recognize the body of the Lord, in the words of St. Paul.
00:08:50.000Canon law is also clear on this point.
00:08:56.000"...if the danger of death is present or other grave necessity in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or the conference of bishops,
00:09:04.000Catholic ministers may licitly administer these sacraments to other Christians who do not have full communion with the Catholic Church,
00:09:11.000who cannot approach a minister of their own community, and on their own ask for it, provided they manifest Catholic faith in these sacraments and are properly disposed."
00:09:21.000So, the requirements that are laid out in canon law are these.
00:09:26.000One, they must be in danger of death or some other grave necessity.
00:09:29.000Two, they must be unable to approach a minister of their own faith and must approach the Catholic themselves.
00:09:34.000They must show Catholic faith in the sacraments.
00:09:37.000In other words, they must believe the Catholic teaching on the sacraments.
00:09:41.000Four, they must be in a proper disposition, which means free from mortal sin.
00:09:48.000And how do you do that without confession?
00:09:51.000Of course, there is a perfect act of contrition, but it's difficult to come by, to say the least.
00:09:57.000Now, the biggest pushers of Holy Communion for Protestants in the Catholic Church have been the liberal German bishops.
00:10:04.000The leading prelate on the left pushing the agenda is Cardinal Walter Casper, who has pitched the idea for decades, meeting with refusal from Popes John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
00:10:18.000However, it was Pope Francis himself who opened up the question again when he opined on the subject during a visit to a Lutheran Church in Rome in 2015.
00:10:29.000Here, in this video footage, you will see the Pope is asked by a Lutheran woman whose husband is Catholic if she can't receive communion with her husband at the Catholic Mass.
00:10:39.000Pope Francis appears to suggest that if she is comfortable in her conscience receiving the Holy Eucharist, she should feel free to go ahead.
00:10:49.000Speak with the Lord and move forward, I dare not say more.
00:10:53.000And do you notice the great theologian Pope Francis refers to that's in attendance there is none other than Cardinal Casper himself, the lead pusher of communion for Protestants.
00:11:05.000This talk of Francis launched a long debate among high-ranking Catholic clergy.
00:11:11.000In fact, the head of the Vatican's dicastery dealing with the sacraments, Cardinal Robert Serra, corrected the Pope pretty much head on in an interview in which he said,
00:11:21.000Inter-communion is not permitted between Catholics and non-Catholics. You must confess the Catholic faith. A non-Catholic cannot receive communion. That's very, very clear. It's not a matter of following your conscience. End quote.
00:11:33.000The German bishops pushed more and more for allowing inter-communion in the years after Pope Francis' 2015 Address. Going so far, in fact, as to vote for the proposal at their bishops' conference in February 2018.
00:11:47.000Seven German bishops wrote to the Pope to protest that vote. Cardinal Raymond Burke and Cardinal Gerhard Miller and many other bishops issued statements countering the proposal,
00:11:58.000when in May of 2018 it became clear that Pope Francis would not clear up the confusion on the matter,
00:12:04.000Cardinal William Jacob Eich, Archbishop of Utrecht in the Netherlands, issued a statement saying,
00:12:10.000Pope Francis' failure to give German bishops proper directives based on the clear doctrine and practice of the Church points to a drift toward apostasy from the truth.
00:12:20.000At one point, it appeared that the Vatican had rejected the German bishops' proposal for allowing Holy Communion for non-Catholic spouses,
00:12:27.000a letter issued by the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith took issue with a document of the German bishops' conference allowing for inter-communion.
00:12:37.000But despite the appeals for clarity, the seeming Vatican clampdown, the Pope actually announced his decision to allow individual bishops to decide on the matter for themselves.
00:12:49.000The Pope's surprise announcement actually came while he was on a plane in an interview.
00:12:54.000He suggested that the only reason why the German bishops' document was not approved in the first place is because it suggested a law for the whole country or church,
00:13:04.000while canon law insisted that the individual bishops decide themselves.
00:13:08.000So, subsequently, several German bishops praised the Pope's approval and have publicly announced the allowance of Protestant inter-communion in their dioceses.
00:13:17.000And this brings us back to the beginning.
00:13:20.000As you recall, our motto at LifeSite is caritas and veritate, love and truth.
00:13:24.000How can it be love to deny someone Holy Communion?
00:13:28.000Well, it's the Holy Bible itself that tells us this very plainly.
00:13:32.000St. Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians that I mentioned earlier,
00:13:36.000Therefore, whoever shall eat this bread or drink this chalice of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.
00:13:45.000Let every man examine himself before eating of the bread and drinking of the cup,
00:13:48.000For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself, not recognizing the body of the Lord.
00:13:57.000Why would we want our brothers and sisters to be eating and drinking judgment unto themselves?