Pope Francis and the attempt to destroy the crown jewel of Pope JPII's legacy
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Summary
The John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family was the crown jewel of Pope John Paul III's papal legacy. But in 2017, Pope Francis ordered the institute to be dismantled, and replaced with a new one, in order to accommodate the growing demand for "family values" in the modern world. In this episode, LifeSite's Rome correspondent Diane Montagna tells the story of how this happened.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome to this episode of the John Henry Weston Show, where we will be discussing
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one of the most significant pushbacks to Pope Francis we've seen since the beginning of
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the pontificate, one where it appears Pope Emeritus Benedict himself is also involved.
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Let's begin, as we always do, with the sign of the cross.
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
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On this show, we have discussed numerous confusions coming from the Vatican and even
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Degrading the importance of pro-life issues vis-a-vis immigration inside a papal document.
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The Pope's embracing of homosexual couples rather than lovingly calling them to conversion.
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Papal permission for communion for divorced and remarried couples.
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Papal permission for communion for Protestants.
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Pope Francis' allowance for contraception in grave circumstances such as Zika virus.
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His change of the catechism on the death penalty.
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But there's a new development that has awakened more pushback than we've ever seen before.
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And that is the attempted destruction of what has been called the crown jewel in the legacy
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of Pope St. John Paul II, the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family.
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And that's why today, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to LifeSite's Rome correspondent,
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Diane Montagna, who is covering all these issues from the ground.
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Diane is a veteran Rome correspondent, having worked for the Vatican as a translator, and
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So, Diane, since you're there on the ground in Rome, can you give us, first of all, a
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little bit of the background of this case, and perhaps also the sequential ordering of
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It's important for the viewers to know that this was just days, literally days after Cardinal
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Kefara, who was the cardinal whom Pope John Paul II asked to found the original John Paul
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He actually hadn't, they hadn't had his funeral yet, and so people were still mourning.
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Pope Francis issued a moda propria, effectively, juridically suppressing the John Paul II Institute.
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And replacing it with a new institute, in light of the two family synods that had just
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Well, a moda propria, this would be, this moda propria was in the form of an apostolic letter,
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So, that means that the Pope personally issues this edict or decree to the Church, or to a
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So, that basically, while the sort of founding president has just died, before he's even
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buried, the Pope issues a personal document, basically getting rid of this institute.
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I think that's, I mean, that's what, that's what the facts bear out.
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And what was interesting also about the moda propria, in terms of the rationale for founding
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the new institute, the document says that in light of anthropological and cultural changes,
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it's necessary to, not necessarily leave behind, but in part leave behind former ways,
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former models of pastoral ministry and pastoral mission.
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What's interesting for the viewers to know about that, because not everyone is familiar
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What's interesting is that it was already very, very interdisciplinary, and it drew on
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some of the best faculty from various disciplines, from psychology, from the medical community,
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So, the idea that somehow a new institute needed to be founded in order to expand the mission
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And this also came at a time when the institute was actually very, very fruitful.
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I mean, this wasn't just as good as it is, you know, it wasn't just young students fresh
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out of university who were going to the JP2 Institute.
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You also had doctors, lawyers, psychologists, that is, people who already had a professional
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career, who studied the JP2 in order to better serve families.
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So, that was the original genesis, was the moda propria in September of 2017.
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And so, this is basically a reformulation of something.
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While the founding president has just died, the professors are kind of mourning his death,
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and then it's sort of dismantled under their noses before even they've buried Cardinal
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But then you're saying that they've gone from addressing what, in the words of, you know,
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Cardinal Kafara, and I'm sure you'll get to this at some point, but, you know, with some
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of the most important questions on life and family today, taken from, I would presume,
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things like Familiaris Consortio of John Paul II and things, and then switching them over
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Yes, well, I probably, those who, those who are carrying this out would not say that they're
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necessarily leaving behind, say, foundational documents that JP2 left us with, whether it's
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Familiaris Consortio or Veritati Splendor, that was his document, his encyclical on the
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moral life, whereas Familiaris Consortio was the document on family life.
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They would, they probably would not argue that they were leaving these behind, but that
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Amoris Laetitia and the new mission of the new institute was in continuity with what had
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That would generally, I think, be, be their argument.
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But that in light of these anthropological and cultural changes, we need to expand their
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So I think that would probably be the way that they would, they would argue that.
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We might go back to an important element in terms of the moda propria was that it decreed
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that new statutes needed to be drawn up for the new institute.
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And that's where the crux of, of what we've seen this summer comes.
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Uh, so that was the, the moda propria was issued in September, 2017 in terms of the timeline events,
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this would have to deal with, you know, the, the, the, the, the Rome Institute, um, and it
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would, it would reflect, uh, what was going on in terms of the, the professors and the new
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chancellor and the new president, um, and in the development of those statutes.
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The new chancellor, of course, that, uh, who was appointed by Pope Francis was Archbishop
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Vincenzo Paglia and the, the new president was Pire Angelo, Monsignor Pire Angelo Sequeri.
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Uh, so these two men, the following June, this would be June, 2018, uh, they met with all
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of the professors and they, um, the president, Sequeri, he presented to, at, at the, at the
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order of, of Archbishop Paglia, he presented to the faculty, including the tenured faculty,
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Now these new statutes, um, according to sources would have immediately necessitated that all
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The professors respectfully, but forcefully protested this and they petitioned both Archbishop Paglia,
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as well as Monsignor Sequeri, uh, to be involved in the formulation of the new statutes.
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And they wanted them to be in continuity with those statutes, which, with which John Paul,
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the second had originally established the JP two, if you segue, so that's in June, 2018,
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you segue to, uh, the next year we're in now 2000, 2019 those proposals, I believe it may
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have been at the end of March, um, that I date, I would need to check.
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But the point is, is then in the spring, um, uh, the professors along with Sequeri,
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President Sequeri, um, uh, submitted new statutes that they had worked on jointly.
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Now Archbishop Paglia, along this time, he had been formed step by step that the, that
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the faculty, the tenured professors, along with President Sequeri were reformulating these statutes.
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Um, they were turned in and I believe it was March.
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Um, and then interestingly already, uh, what was happening in February and March that the courses,
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because naturally this is an academic institution, the courses for the following academic year need
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So they had already, uh, requested of the, the professors, all of the professors to, um, submit their proposals
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for courses for the following academic year, that is 2019, 2020.
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So the academic year that we're just about to enter into now, those courses were submitted and actually
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the new curriculum, well, curriculum, the new, um, the new, uh, list of courses was already approved,
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So the professors knew what courses that they were going to be teaching for the, for the fall,
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And students in June that these, this is all public, it's all online.
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Uh, and the students were able to register for courses for the new academic year.
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At the same time, these statutes had, that they were working on together had been given to Archbishop
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Paglia and the professors didn't really hear anything more.
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Uh, now segue to last month to, it was July 18th.
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And the professors learned about the new statutes, um, that they had been approved by
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the Congregation for Education through Archbishop Paglia.
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They only learned about it from the Observatory Romanov.
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That's the, the official or semi-official Vatican newspaper.
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They didn't, and those statutes were not even really, they weren't published in full at that time.
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It was, the news was just put out that the statutes were approved.
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So actually all of the tenured professors and the other professors who have been teaching at the JP2
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Institute, they only found out about that new statutes had been, um, approved through the media.
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A couple of days later, all of the professors, um, received, um, a letter saying that they were
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suspended, um, and, you know, subject to their reappointment in the autumn.
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Um, and then one or two days later, it was, um, uh, where, and this is where a lot of the controversy is,
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is Monsignor Molina, who had served as the president of the Institute from 2006 to, I believe, 2016.
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He held the chair of, uh, fundamental moral theology.
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He, along with Father Jose Noriega, who had the chair of specific moral theology,
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and was a key person at the JP2, they both received letters saying that they were dismissed,
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that their chairs were eliminated from the new statute, so no more chair of fundamental moral theology,
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as well as no more course of fundamental moral theology, which is quite unbelievable at the JP2
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Institute, that they would have no actual course on fundamental moral theology.
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Also, the chair of, uh, Professor, um, Noriega had been eliminated, and his courses had been eliminated.
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So, you know, in the beginning, to say, um, people were taking issue with saying that these
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Okay, well, technically, maybe they hadn't been fired, um, but they were certainly dismissed.
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Uh, and then a couple of days later, people like Professor Stanislaw Griegel, who was a personal
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and great friend of Pope John Paul II, um, he held a chair, uh, also at the, uh, at the Institute.
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And while that chair, I believe, still remains, um, his courses, which, you know,
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uh, mindful of what, uh, we just said a few minutes ago, the course listing for the new
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academic year had already been approved. And now they were told that in light of these changes,
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basically your course won't be offered anymore. And so, um, we'll, we appreciate your work.
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We'll think about it for the future, but in effect, it's a dismissal.
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Wow. So just to recap, to recap, this, this sounds so unbelievable. It's, it's hard to actually
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imagine. You said that Pope Francis appointed as chancellor of this newly revised Institute,
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if you will, uh, Archbishop Paglia. Isn't that the same Archbishop Paglia who was so controversial,
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uh, back before he even came to Rome, he was the, uh, Archbishop in Terny and he did that,
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uh, horrific mural inside the cathedral there in Terny, which was of our Lord lifting up two
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sort of nets of, uh, men and women, nude who were homosexual and all sorts of things. And
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he's in there too, nude embracing a nude man. Um, he was then brought into Rome and the head of the
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Pontifical Council for the Family. And they introduced at World Youth Day Poland, this horrific,
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um, sex ed program that was explicit and created all sorts of uproar in Poland. The same man was
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then put in charge of the, this is Archbishop Paglia again, put in charge of the Pontifical Academy for
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Life and, uh, reformed the whole thing, kicking out again, doing a very similar thing to what we hear
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here, um, with the, the Institute sort of getting rid of everybody and then bringing back only some and
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getting rid of the most faithful members and then inviting some, uh, actually pro-abortion and,
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and pro-euthanasia members to the Pontifical Academy for Life. And it's the same guy Pope Francis
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puts now in charge of the Institute and he seems to be doing a very similar thing.
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Yeah. Well, and you know, in addition to everything that you've just said, John Henry,
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there's also the fact that, um, Archbishop Paglia doesn't even have a doctorate. And according to these
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new statutes, he was, it gave him a great deal of power over the hiring and firing of new professors.
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Now, one would hope that a chancellor of an institute would actually be a high level academic who could,
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you know, understand the intricacies of academic life and even the basics. Uh, but it seems in this
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case that was all set aside. Um, yes. So, but the, the, the thing about Archbishop Paglia too,
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yes, he's, he's chancellor, but Archbishop Paglia cannot, he could not have accomplished this on his
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own. Uh, the Congregation for Education approved the new statute. So, certainly there are questions,
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um, that, uh, remain there. Uh, there's also the, probably the, one of the main questions and that,
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what is the role that Pope Francis played in this. So far, he's been silent, um, uh, amid a lot, a lot of
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the, the criticism, um, that came after, after this erupted in July. Archbishop Paglia as secretary,
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um, this came out through the Catholic Herald. Um, he told the Catholic Herald that, uh, they were going
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to take the month of August in order to prepare, uh, answers and the response to all of the criticism,
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um, and questions that they've gotten. One would have thought that, you know, to do something this
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big, they would have, they would have known, uh, that there was going to be a fallout from it and
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would have already been prepared. Um, but we'll, we'll see, we'll see what they come up with and how
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they respond in September. It is important though, for the viewers to know, you know, just in terms of the
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way that things work in Rome that, you know, Archbishop Paglia had these, had these statutes
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approved in July. July is generally the month, it's one of the hottest months of the year.
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Uh, the, the Holy Father would traditionally go on vacation, uh, during that month. So it's a very,
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it's really a low time, not a time when you, um, when you, um, uh, would do something like this
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normally. So yes. Right. And, and what, one of the things you mentioned earlier was about
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how at this time already, when, when this becomes clear, the students have already chosen their
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courses. People are expecting to go into this next calendar school year, uh, with, with, you know,
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their courses chosen, their profs chosen, and then it's all turned around. We have, uh, with us today
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also, uh, one of the former students or one of the current actually, uh, doing his thesis at the,
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at the Institute, uh, who was all set to go and ready. And now his professor has been dismissed.
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We're going to just hear from now, Brian Lima's people would ask me what was, what was the kind
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of environment and the JP two over those two years before, obviously now these, these, uh, statutes
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have been, have been approved to where my, now my thesis director has been dismissed. Um,
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um, and, and, and honestly, it was, if you've seen the Titanic, uh, there's a classic scene of
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the orchestra saying one last time to play and they're, they're playing as they go down. Um,
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you know, and, and, and honestly, it was one of the most tragic events of seeing
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Karno Kofaro, you know, uh, the, the role that he played in his Institute, um, the rock of that. And,
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um, and then slowly seeing the deterioration from within of the, the true legacy that John Paul,
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St. John Paul II has left for all of us to be there. Um, and to be a part of the last class
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that got to receive the formation from these dismissed professors. Um, what an honor, but
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also what a responsibility. Um, Diane, let me, let me go back for a second to, to what you said there.
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Um, we were talking about Archbishop Paglia and how he, when he was the, uh, as he was head of the
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Academy for life, the Pontifical Academy for life. And he did a very similar thing to what he's done
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here with the John Paul II Institute. He sort of fired everyone or got rid of everyone and brought
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back some of the people leaving out the, those actually who are closest to John Paul II, but also
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brought in some new people into the Academy for life who were exactly the opposite of what you'd expect.
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People who were actually pro abortion, pro euthanasia, unbelievable stuff. And you've reported
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that, uh, Paglia and part of the Institute now, um, has done something quite similar to what he did
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Yeah, it's John Henry. So we reported this came out, um, uh, not long after, um, the, the news of the
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dismissals of Monsignor Molina, um, Father Noriega and the suspension of all of the professors. Um,
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we then heard, we confirmed it, uh, with several very, uh, good and informed sources in Rome that, uh,
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Archbishop Paglia, uh, and, uh, President Sequeri, uh, were, uh, had invited, uh, Father Maurizio
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Chiodi to teach at the new Institute. Now that appointment has not been made official yet,
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uh, but the invitation was, was given. Now readers will remember, um, Father Maurizio Chiodi, uh, from
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the, the, uh, 50th anniversary year of Humanae Vitae. Uh, and as you mentioned, John Henry, Father,
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Father Chiodi, he's actually one of the new members of the Pontifical Academy for life.
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Um, but during the 50th anniversary year of Humanae Vitae, one of the Pontifical Universities in Rome
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sponsored a lecture series, um, uh, for the, for the anniversary. And they featured in December of
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that year, um, a lecture by Father Chiodi. Now at that lecture, um, I was in attendance, um,
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um, uh, we translated, um, and published, um, his lecture in full on LifeSite News. Uh, Father Chiodi
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argued on the basis of chapter eight of Amores Laetitia, that under, under certain circumstances,
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um, responsible parenthood might actually require and certainly justify couples, uh, to use contraception,
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which of course is, you know, completely against both the letter and spirit of Humanae Vitae. Um,
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so this same Father Chiodi is now being, uh, was now invited to teach at the new JP2 Institute.
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Uh, to add to all of this, uh, just after we heard the news about the dismissals, um, Father Chiodi
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was featured in an interview with Luciano Moya. He's a, uh, a journalist for Avenire. Avenire, um,
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readers may know is the, uh, the, it's the official newspaper of the Italian bishops.
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This time the, the, uh, the interview was on homosexuality and the church's stance,
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pastoral stance towards, uh, people with same-sex attraction, although this interview termed them
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homosexuals. Um, and certainly, certainly the, the, the church, uh, seeks to bring everyone to Christ.
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Um, so, you know, that being said, in this interview, Father Chiodi argued, um, on, he argued that
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it could be good in certain circumstances for a person with same-sex attraction who is actively
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involved in a homosexual relationship to continue and to be faithful, let's say, to that relationship,
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that that could actually be good for the human person. Now that too is really against, uh, what
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the church would see just in terms of her understanding of the human person, in terms of virtue, and in terms
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of sin. Um, so that, that, that interview with Father Chiodi was featured just days after we heard the,
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the news about the dismissals of, um, of the professors from the JP2. Um, so if Father Chiodi
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is an example of the kind of the professor, uh, and the kind of expansion, uh, that they're looking
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for at the new JP2 Institute, uh, it doesn't bode well. No. Well, let's, let's hear from Brian again.
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Brian, who, uh, was a student at the JP2, uh, was, uh, talked to me about how, uh, you know, this,
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the kernel or the heart, if you will, of the JP2 Institute was really to defend the teaching,
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uh, laid out in Humanae Vitae. And as, uh, he's described it, it is sort of, uh, the crown jewel
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of the legacy of John Paul II. And it's really being undone here with the bringing in of these
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professors. But now the motu propria in these statutes totally makes sense because if the whole
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purpose of the Institute was to defend the teachings of Humanae Vitae, which is obviously
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so foundational to the integral vision of the person and, and who we are as man,
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woman, the definitive understandings of all these, of all these teachings,
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then it totally makes sense to replace with the Moritz Eteza, which is littered with so many errors.
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It's littered with, with, with, with so many theological misambiguities, you know, and,
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and that's now the foundation of Francis's Institute for Marriage and Family.
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So let's go back to Diane Montagna now in Rome. Um, what is happening right now? Uh, is it true
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now that basically, uh, this whole legacy of John Paul II in terms of the John Paul II Institute
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for Marriage and Family is now dead and gone? Is it a done deal? Is there any pushback? What's
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actually happening? Yes, well, that's a very good question, John Henry. And I think it remains to be
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seen, you know, following the dismissals of the, uh, of the, of the professors, um, and the suspension
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of all of the professors. We saw a, um, a considerable pushback, uh, both on the part of students and
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former students, alumni of the Institute, as well as, um, a growing number of academics in the wider
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academic world. Over 250 students and alumni wrote a letter to President Saqueri and to Archbishop
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Paglia, uh, with their concerns about it. And, you know, we have to keep in mind that many of
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these students, especially those students who have, uh, begun the license program, uh, the doctoral
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program, um, many of them are left not knowing their, their, their directors have been dismissed.
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Uh, they really don't, their course listings have been changed and we're already in August and the
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academic year is in, in, enrollment begins later. The academic year generally begins around October,
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but they're really left in the lurch, um, regarding this. Uh, academics have also protested. We had,
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um, 49 academics. Now these, all of these academics, what they held in common
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was they had all contributed to a new dictionary on, I won't get the exact title, uh, but it was on
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human love, sexuality, fecundity that had been published in Italian. It was, uh, published by
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Cantagalli, um, and I think was to be expected also in other languages. All of those professors
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who had contributed to this dictionary, and it's important to remember about this dictionary,
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that the key editor of it, um, and a lot of the publications at the JP II Institute was Father
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Noriega. Father Noriega was dismissed from the Institute, as I said before, in part because his chair
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was eliminated. But another rationale, uh, that was given for his dismissal, that he's also the, uh,
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the superior of a religious community. And according to the new statutes or according to law, that's not,
00:27:22.980
that's not, that's not allowed. Now he had been teaching there since May, perhaps 2008, might not
00:27:29.300
have that date exactly right, but he had been teaching there for a long time. And certainly there are other,
00:27:34.100
um, there are other people who teach at the JP II Institute who hold other careers and have other obligations.
00:27:41.380
Um, but to go back to the, the, the letter, this letter came from 49 academics who had all contributed
00:27:49.540
to this new dictionary, uh, that was very, uh, very, um, very thorough, uh, to carry on the teaching of the church
00:27:57.220
and to be a real resource for people. Uh, so in terms of what's going to happen, um, you know, it's,
00:28:03.780
again, it's, it's summertime in Rome and this was done at a low time. Uh, we have had, um, following a
00:28:12.660
lot of criticism, following some of these initiatives, uh, we had, uh, Archbishop Paglia's secretary
00:28:19.620
come out, uh, and he spoke to the Catholic Herald and said that they were going to take some weeks
00:28:24.660
during August in order to formulate a response to some of the criticisms. One would have thought
00:28:30.660
that to do something this monumental, uh, for something so important and so fruitful in the
00:28:36.100
church as the JP II Institute, that they would have already had a rationale prepared. Uh, so we'll see,
00:28:42.420
we'll wait and see what happens in September. But I, I have it from good sources that there are other
00:28:48.420
initiatives in the works. And, uh, I mean, some observers have said that, um, they very much want
00:28:55.060
the story to die down in the media, but I don't expect that's going to happen. No, certainly not
00:29:00.580
at LifeSite News. In part, in part, if I make it, yes, in part because, um, as I believe it was noted
00:29:07.380
in the letter of the 49 academics, you two, the, the academic world, as I believe Janet Smith said in your,
00:29:14.260
in your, in one of your last episodes, you know, this is not the way that the academic world works.
00:29:20.340
Um, and these are scholars, these are professionals. They've invested a lot of their lives in much of
00:29:26.980
their lives into this. Um, so, and this does not, it looks bad for the Catholic church, uh, to the rest
00:29:34.900
and to the wider academic community. And also in terms of the, the consequences of what this means for
00:29:42.500
the church and for, uh, Catholic academics. Is it now the case that if you're not willing to go beyond
00:29:50.420
what the tradition says about new documents that are coming out from the Vatican, that you'll be
00:29:56.100
punished or that you might lose your position at your Catholic university? Uh, what will it mean for
00:30:01.460
seminaries? Uh, so there are a lot of, um, there are a lot of questions to be answered. And a lot of this
00:30:07.300
story goes beyond the JP2 Institute itself as important, uh, uh, as important as that is.
00:30:13.940
Absolutely. I think one of the things we have to remember is that, you know, with these students
00:30:19.540
who are protesting publicly, they've already invested, as you said, much of their money, time,
00:30:26.180
livelihood. This is their future that they're putting on the line for this. These professors,
00:30:30.660
some of them are at pontifical universities or Catholic universities where they are perhaps themselves in
00:30:35.860
danger, especially ones not tenured yet. So, they're investing a lot in daring to protest
00:30:41.220
against this. We've heard many, uh, of them who are priests who might also be in, in trouble,
00:30:46.180
in trouble, if you will, uh, from their bishops because it appears what's happening is, is quite ruthless.
00:30:52.260
It was, uh, Professor Molina, I believe, in one of the articles, uh, where he described how in the,
00:30:57.620
in the olden days, if you will, when there were, uh, professors at Catholic universities who really did
00:31:03.140
oppose not only the, the, the papal or Vatican teaching, but, but all, all of tradition,
00:31:08.180
they were given an opportunity for redress and there had to be a case before they were dismissed.
00:31:14.100
Yet here, these faithful professors who were trying to sort of interpret Pope Francis in a way that's
00:31:21.700
sort of in line with Catholic tradition are immediately dismissed as if, you know, there, there's,
00:31:27.780
there's no ability to try and interpret, uh, Amoris Laetitia, let's say, in a Catholic-sounding
00:31:34.980
way. No, you have to go with this sort of stamped interpretation that it appears, at least from what
00:31:41.940
Pope Francis has said and done with regard to stamping it in the Acta Apostoli Que Seris,
00:31:47.060
as we mentioned at the top of the program, uh, needs to be the only interpretation. In fact, that's what he
00:31:52.740
said, uh, Pope Francis, that is, said it, it was the only interpretation and it appears here that these, uh,
00:31:59.860
these professors are being dismissed without any chance for redress, um, whereas even in the past with
00:32:05.860
those professors who were really off the page in terms of Catholic thought, they were given much, much
00:32:10.740
more leeway to argue their cases before they were dismissal. Yes, that's what, uh, that was the point that
00:32:16.500
Monsignor Molina made in the first interview that he gave to the Italian press that we then published in full.
00:32:23.220
He looked back at many of the, many people, many professors who openly, um, who openly went against
00:32:30.580
the Church's teaching, and at least in that case, they were given a process by the Congregation for
00:32:35.620
the Doctrine of the Faith, they were given an opportunity to, to respond to concerns, but in this
00:32:42.580
case, they are being punished, it seems, and what seems to have been revealed, they're being punished for
00:32:49.140
interpreting, uh, Amores Laetitia in line with the Church's tradition. Um, so, yes, it's really quite
00:32:57.300
serious, and again, uh, this has wider consequences for Catholic academic communities, uh, potentially for
00:33:05.300
seminaries and for the Church. Absolutely. And it appears we've saved some of the best for last,
00:33:11.220
because I want to address really probably one of the key things that's happened, which to this point
00:33:16.980
hasn't happened before. And that's why, at the beginning of the program, I talked about how
00:33:20.980
this might be something brand new. This might be so important a development that it's got, as you said,
00:33:27.140
more academics, more people awake and protesting against these changes than we've ever seen before.
00:33:34.180
But there's a new element, and that new element is with Pope Benedict. Why don't you explain for our
00:33:39.860
viewers what that's all about? Oh, well, yes, uh, so, Pope Benedict, uh, of course, Pope Benedict, uh,
00:33:46.180
the viewer, it'll be important for the viewers to know that Pope Benedict and Monsignor, well, Pope Benedict
00:33:52.020
himself has a very long history with the JP II Institute, of course. He was, when it was founded,
00:33:57.940
he would have been the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, um, under Pope John
00:34:03.540
Paul II. Um, he has a long and fruitful relationship with the Institute, uh, and with Monsignor Molina,
00:34:12.260
who served as president for a decade. Uh, so after all of this happened in this July, on August 1st,
00:34:19.380
um, Pope Benedict met privately with Monsignor Molina. Uh, uh, I believe it was CNA who reported on it.
00:34:28.100
And, uh, they, they, they published both a photo and some comments about the meeting. Now it's
00:34:35.540
important for the viewers to know that generally that would, if a photo is issued from the Vatican,
00:34:40.980
or if comments from such a meeting were made, that's done with the approval of both parties.
00:34:46.580
Um, and the comments, um, the comments, what was key in the comments, I think that it was
00:34:52.420
Pope Benedict who initiated the private meeting with Monsignor Molina.
00:34:57.940
And that they discussed at length, uh, what had happened with the JP II Institute.
00:35:02.980
And at the end of the conversation, he gave Monsignor Molina his blessing, um, and, um, and
00:35:10.660
promised solidarity, uh, with him, uh, as this unfolds.
00:35:15.300
That, that's amazing to understand the gravity here. This is really the first time, uh, Pope Benedict
00:35:24.180
has sort of inserted himself in a way into a debate where it's going on with Pope Francis
00:35:29.700
directly. And yes, it's mild, or might appear mild, but there's actually quite, quite something.
00:35:36.260
To allow for a photo with the dismissed professor, to allow it to be known that he supports him,
00:35:43.460
that he gave him his blessing is a, is a very strong, even though it might not appear so.
00:35:48.180
It's actually a very strong statement all by itself. So we are seeing some movement in this
00:35:53.940
sphere that we've never, ever seen before. And so we'll see what comes of this. Um, Diane,
00:36:00.260
with regard to, uh, hope for the future, uh, what might you say to, uh, give us some closing words?
00:36:07.300
Oh, uh, closing words, you know, in all of this, I, um, I was, I was thinking of Cardinal
00:36:13.300
Caffara. Of course, when the Modo Proprio is, we said it at the beginning of our conversation,
00:36:17.780
John Henry, the Modo Proprio, uh, that got this all started was, was signed, um, just days after
00:36:24.420
Cardinal Caffara's death and before he was even buried. Um, I had the honor,
00:36:30.100
uh, of interviewing Cardinal Caffara a couple of months before his death. It took place at the
00:36:35.940
Rome Life Forum in Rome. And, uh, the, within the, within the interview, we were talking about the,
00:36:43.860
the letter that Sister Lucia, who your, your viewers will know as one of the three Fatima
00:36:49.300
visionaries, a letter that, uh, she had written to Cardinal Caffara, uh, back in the, in the,
00:36:55.940
the early days of the Institute. I believe that Cardinal Caffara had written to Sister Lucia
00:37:01.460
simply to ask for her prayers because the Institute, he said, was going through trials,
00:37:06.820
both from those inside and outside the church that didn't want it. Um, and he said he didn't
00:37:12.900
expect to hear back from her, but, uh, but she wrote and she said these words. I'll just,
00:37:18.900
I'll just, um, she said to him, Father, a time will come when the decisive battle between the
00:37:25.460
Kingdom of Christ and Satan will be over marriage and family. And those who will work for the good
00:37:31.700
of the family will experience persecution and tribulation, but do not be afraid because Our Lady
00:37:38.500
has already crushed his head. And then in the May 2017 interview that I did with Cardinal Caffara,
00:37:46.180
he said that her letter, quote, remained engraved on my heart and amid all the difficulties we have
00:37:51.860
encountered. And there have been so, so many, these words have always given me great strength.
00:37:59.060
But then the Cardinal said to me, I asked if he thought that the, if Sister Lucia's words were
00:38:04.820
prophetic. And he said to me, what Sister Lucia wrote to me is being fulfilled today. So I think we
00:38:12.020
really need to, we need to cling to prayer. Uh, we need to turn to Our Lady. Prayer is more powerful
00:38:18.260
than anything and any powers in this earth. Uh, and so we, I think we need to really remain hopeful.
00:38:24.820
Uh, uh, pray for the professors of the Institute, pray for Archbishop Paglia, pray for Monsignor
00:38:31.860
Sequeri, pray very much for Pope Francis and for all of those involved, um, that, um,
00:38:38.740
that something can be done because there's still time. Amen. Amen. And let's, uh, let's take a look
00:38:45.380
at what Brian had to say in terms of being hopeful and really standing up for the truth.
00:38:50.340
Even in my last semester there, there was an event that wasn't publicized by the Institute,
00:38:56.340
but yet was one of the most highly attended, uh, events. And it was, it was a dissertation
00:39:02.900
that was presented as a book, uh, talking about the, um, these letters that were recently published
00:39:09.060
about Pope St. John Paul II, reaffirming that, um, basically humana vitae can never change.
00:39:16.660
But it was in there that Monsignor Molina revealed that this is where the whole perspective of what's
00:39:25.300
going on in the JP2 now, it totally clicked for me because he said that in the constitution that
00:39:31.780
St. John Paul II vision, in his vision of what he founded this school on, the sole purpose of this
00:39:38.020
Institute was to defend the teachings of humana vitae. The future is bleak for that Institute,
00:39:45.620
but the future is so bright for the true Institute of what St. John Paul II, which is in
00:39:52.020
here and in here of all the students that have come before me. And now is the time to rise.
00:39:58.740
And Diane, I wanted to thank you for being with us on this episode of the John Henry Weston show.