Special Edition： Cardinals' new declaration corrects rampant confusion in the Church
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Summary
Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Pujac, and Archimand Bishop Schneider have a declaration of truths that corrects many of the most common errors in the Church of our time. They say that the Church is the only religion willed by God, and that Christians are saved by obedience to the Word of God.
Transcript
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Hello, this is John Henry Weston from LifeSite News. Welcome to this special edition of the
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John Henry Weston Show. We're doing a really quick send out of this because there's incredible news
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that I get to share with you this morning. Today was released an amazing declaration of truths by
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Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Pujac, as well as Archbishop, excuse me, Bishop Schneider from
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Kazakhstan, as well also as Archbishop Jan Pavel Lenga, who is the Archbishop Emeritus of Karaganda
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in Kazakhstan, and Archbishop Tomas Peta, who is the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Mary in
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Astana, Kazakhstan, where Bishop Schneider is from, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, whom we all know so
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well and love. They have released an incredible statement, but before we get into that, let's
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start as we always do with the sign of the cross, and this time make it a great thanksgiving for this
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declaration. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, of the Holy Spirit, Amen. I am so happy to tell
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you about this. This is, and I'll read you the title, it's The Church of the Living God, The Pillar and
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Bulwark of the Truth, A Declaration of Truths Relating to Some of the Most Common Errors in the Life of the
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Church of Our Time. And I'm going to give you a really quick summary. The summary goes like this,
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and you're going to stick around for the actual wording because that's coming up, but just listen
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to this summary. This is a declaration declaring the truths on things like evangelization being
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needed for Jews and Muslims and Protestants. Stuff that's never said anymore, but needs to be said.
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Stuff that, like, hell is real and souls, by the way, are not annihilated. They go there.
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Christianity is the only religion willed by God. And you'll notice, of course, these are obvious
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corrections of what Pope Francis has said and written in various places. Many different, not only
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Pope Francis, of course, but Father James Martin, all sorts of prelates, bishops, and so on, who have
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taught things contrary to the faith. And they're being here corrected. Some of the most confusing
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things of our times. The thing like capital punishment, the so-called change in capital
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punishments teaching, all in this declaration. The fact that there has to be an all-male priesthood
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and diaconate. The defense of priestly celibacy. And then, of course, they tackle all of the current
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issues of our time. Abortion, IVF, contraception, euthanasia, divorce, even things like masturbation,
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sex before marriage or outside of marriage, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, even civil unions
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for homosexual couples. Things like the transgender phenomenon. So let's get into it. Let's get into
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the actual wording. So they begin their Declaration of Truths. It's a beautiful document. It's quite
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lengthy. I'm just going to hit the highlights for you. I encourage you to go to LifeSite,
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read the full thing, and also make use of it. Because they call on Catholics all over the world
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to use this Declaration of Truths themselves to not only sign up for it, but they hope it leads to
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confession of the truth. Confession means proclamation of, or speaking of, or saying of
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the truths, especially those truths that are most lacking in our world today. The one where there's
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great confusion on the part of the faithful. And they actually say that not only will they hope,
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will it lead to this, you know, public confession of the truth, but also that it would be a movement,
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they say, of confession of the truth and reparation for widespread apostasy and things like that.
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So let's go to the actual wording. So first of all, or one of the things they say first is whatever
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new insights that may be expressed regarding the deposit of faith, nevertheless, they cannot be contrary
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to what the Church has always proposed in the same dogma, in the same sense, and in the same meaning.
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In other words, the faith doesn't change. Yes, there might be new insights, but the faith doesn't
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change. Also, they say, after the institution of the new and everlasting covenant in Jesus Christ,
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no one may be saved by obedience to the law of Moses alone, without faith in Christ as true God
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and the only Savior of humankind. And of course, that's incredible because it speaks to the need
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for the conversion of the Jews, something that hasn't been talked about in the Church for a long,
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long time. If you recall, in the 60s already, we did away with the traditional prayer for the
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conversion of the Jews, and these truths need to be brought out. But similar with regard to Muslims,
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the Declaration of Truth says this, Muslims and others who lack faith in Jesus Christ,
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God and man, even monotheists cannot give to God the same adoration as Christians do,
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that is to say, supernatural worship in spirit and truth of those who have received the spirit
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of filial adoption. So just incredible truths. These quotations come directly from the document,
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by the way, and he goes on. So with regard to, not he, they go on, of course, spiritual realities,
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again, direct quote, spiritual realities, excuse me, spiritualities and religions that promote
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any kind of idolatry or pantheism cannot be considered either as seeds or as fruits of the
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divine word, since they are deceptions that preclude the evangelization and eternal salvation
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of their adherents. So unbelievable, because so many people, Catholics, prelates even in the Church,
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try to say, oh, in all of these other religions that exist, in any kind of native spirituality that
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seems perhaps in the olden days of the Church, more like some kind of cult worship or some kind
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of even demonic worship, a lot of people try and say, oh no, there's seeds of the faith and all of
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that and lights. They're saying, no, they are deceptions that preclude the evangelization and
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eternal salvation of their adherents. So they talk about a true ecumenism. What is a true ecumenism?
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They define it in the document this way. True ecumenism intends that non-Catholics should enter,
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and what should they enter? The document says the Catholic Church. They also, one of the grave
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confusions, probably underpinning so much of the confusion in the Church today, is this false notion
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that hell either doesn't exist or hell is empty. We addressed that already on one of the episodes
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of the John Henry Weston show, again, another special episode. But they say, and I quote,
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hell exists, and those who are condemned to hell for an unrepented mortal sin are eternally punished
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there by divine justice. They continue, eternally damned human beings will not be annihilated
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since their souls are immortal according to the infallible teaching of the Church.
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Just incredible truths of the faith so often not pronounced, so often not heard, that we
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really need to proclaim. Take on this challenge of confessing these truths, these truths that just
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aren't spoken anywhere. It's now up to us. Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Pujac, and the bishops of Kazakhstan
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are calling us to it. And it's my fervent prayer and hope that many more bishops, prelates, will sign
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on to this declaration, that we'll see a flood of the lay faithful doing that. LifeSite News is
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actually putting out a petition calling on people to sign up to this. Of course, we're unaffiliated with
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it in terms of its official proclamation, other than having it and producing it for you to see.
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But it's so incredible. Let's go on here. They talk about the religion born of faith in Jesus
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Christ, the incarnate Son of God, and the only saviour of humankind, is the only religion positively
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willed by God. Now, you'll remember that in the Abu Dhabi statement, Pope Francis stated that
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talking about other religions being positively willed by God. And the document, this declaration
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of truth, makes it clear that that is false. But also, they say this, the opinion is therefore wrong
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that says that just as God positively wills the diversity of the male and female sexes
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and the diversity of nations, so in the same way, he also wills the diversity of religions.
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So they say again, this opinion is therefore wrong. Just incredible that this is said so clearly
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and plainly for the faithful to see. We have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this
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for years, particularly since the election of Pope Francis, when the confusion reached
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a fever pitch. Let's go on. The gift of free will. Often people say now that free will is
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to decide whatever you want. No, actually, the Declaration of Truth defines it this way.
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The gift of free will, with which God the Creator endowed the human person, grants man the natural
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right to choose only the good and the true. No human person has therefore a natural right
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to offend God in choosing the moral evil of sin, the religious error of idolatry, blasphemy,
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or a false religion. End quote. Going on, the document says, the Declaration of Truth says,
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and I quote, all of the commandments of God are equally just and merciful. The opinion is therefore
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wrong that says that a person is able, by obeying a divine prohibition, for example, the sixth
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commandment not to commit adultery, to sin against God by this act of obedience, or to
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morally harm himself or to sin against another. And of course, that's the answering the confusions
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that come out of Amoris Laetitia, where it talks about how those who are divorced and in
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a second so-called marriage are therefore unable to live as brother and sister because it might
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cause sin and such illicit unions can somehow be willed by God. The Declaration of Truth goes
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on to say, a woman who has conceived a child within her womb is forbidden by natural and
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divine law to kill this human life within her, by herself or by others, whether directly or
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indirectly. And obviously that there is talking about abortion. Goes on, though, to talk about
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other evils related. They say procedures which cause conception to happen outside the womb
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are morally unacceptable since they separate procreation from the fully human context of the
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conjugal act. In other words, IVF, any kind of conception of the child outside of the sexual act
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inside marriage as God intended it, is prohibited, is not allowed. No human being may ever be morally
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justified to kill himself or cause himself to be put to death by others, even if the intention
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is to escape suffering. So in other words, a prohibition on euthanasia. Marriage is by divine
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ordinance and natural law an indissolvable union of one man and one woman. Therefore, of course,
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there's no possibility of divorce. By natural and divine law, no human being may voluntarily
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and without sin exercise his sexual powers outside of a valid marriage. Of course, that then speaks
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against the whole gamut of any kind of sex before marriage or use of pornography or masturbation or any
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kinds of these exercises of the sexual powers outside of marriage. In fact, that section of the
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declaration adds this in these words, it is therefore contrary to Holy Scripture and tradition
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to affirm that conscience can truly and rightly judge that sexual acts between persons who have
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contracted a civil marriage with each other can sometimes be morally right or requested or even
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commanded by God, although one or both persons is sacramentally married to another person.
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So very clear teaching on this, again, clarifying that area in Amoris Laetitia was so very confusing.
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They talk about natural and divine law prohibiting, and I quote,
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any action which either before, at the moment of, or sexual intercourse is specifically intended to
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prevent procreation, whether as an end or as a means. So in other words, a total prohibition on
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contraception. So anyone, and again, I'm quoting, anyone, husband or wife, who has obtained a civil
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divorce from the spouse to whom he or she is validly married and has contracted a civil marriage
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with some other person during the lifetime of his legitimate spouse and who lives in a marital way
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with a civil partner and who chooses to remain in this state, in this state, with full knowledge
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of the nature of the act and with full consent of the will to that act, is in a state of mortal sin
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and therefore cannot receive sanctifying grace and grow in charity. Therefore, these Christians,
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unless they are living as brother and sister, cannot receive Holy Communion. Again, clarifying that
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very confusing section in Amoris Laetitia backed up in the Malta definition, which was then put into
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the Acta Apostolicae Seris, and has created mass confusion in the church. That section should be
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read very carefully and gone over because it's a very well-worded section, too complex here for us
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to unpack in a quick format. So we'll go on. Human loss is the document, or any human power
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whatsoever cannot give two persons of the same sex the right to marry one another or declare two such
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persons to be married, since this is contrary to natural and divine law. Therefore, a complete
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prohibition on same-sex marriage or anything of the sort. In fact, it's not only same-sex marriage,
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but they talk about unions as well. And I quote, unions that have the same name of marriage without
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the reality of it being contrary to natural and divine law are not capable of receiving a blessing
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or the blessing of the church. So all of these places, you know, there's some diocese in Germany now
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that will give homosexual couple blessings. That is not Catholic. And I'll continue.
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The civil power that's talking to governments may not establish civil or legal unions between two
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persons of the same sex that plainly imitate the union of marriage, even if such unions do not
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receive the name of marriage, since such unions would encourage grave sin for the individuals who are
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in them and would be a cause of grave scandal for others. And again, this is a charitable
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definition. These are all words of charity because we know such behaviors are harmful for the human
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body, harmful for the human psyche, but especially from a Catholic perspective, harmful for the soul.
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And we'd never wish that. So the Declaration of Truths goes on. It says,
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The male and female sexes, man and woman, are biological realities created by the wise will of
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God. It is therefore a rebellion against the natural and divine law and a grave sin that a man may attempt
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to become a woman by mutilating himself, or even by simply declaring himself to be such, or that a woman
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may in like manner attempt to become a man, or to hold that the civil authority has the duty or the right
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to act as if such things were or may be possible and legitimate." A perfect answer to the whole
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transgender ideology that we're experiencing right now. Why can't leaders, teachers of the faith,
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just say it? Well, it's been said now by great leaders of the faith and is here all in a document
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for us to use, for us to proclaim as the truth, and for us to also recognize as true, teach our children
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the truths, especially the ones that are most confusing today, which is what this document
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gives us, the truth in all those areas that are most confusing, and also use this as an act of
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reparation for all of the sins against the faith, for the apostasy that we're seeing everywhere.
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Let's continue with the document. In accordance with Holy Scripture and the constant tradition of
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the ordinary universal magisterium, the Church did not err in teaching that the civil power may lawfully
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exercise capital punishment on malefactors, where this is truly necessary to preserve the existence
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or just order of societies. In other words, the so-called change in the Catechism, which now says
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it seems to imply that the Church was wrong before in allowing for capital punishment, is erroneous.
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So let's go on. All authority on earth, as well as in heaven, belongs to Jesus Christ. Therefore,
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civil societies and all other associations of men are subject to his kingship, so that the duty of
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offering God genuine worship concerns men both individually and socially. Therefore, talking about
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the social kingship of Christ, of which we hear almost nothing today. In the most holy sacrament of
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the Eucharist, says the Declaration of Truth, a wonderful change takes place, namely the whole substance of
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bread into the body of Christ, the whole substance of wine into his blood, a change that the Church
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the Catholic Church very fittingly calls transubstantiation. Saying it plain out loud,
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this is no just meal of symbols nonsense, this is the true body and blood of Christ. That's why we can
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come and adore him in the Blessed Sacrament. The Sacrament of Penance, says the document,
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is the only ordinary means by which grave sins committed after baptism may be remitted,
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or that means forgiven. And by divine law, all such sins must be confessed by number and species.
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And so, just a wonderful truth of the grace of the Sacrament of Confession, which is required to get
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rid of mortal sin. By divine law, the confessor may not violate the seal of the Sacrament of Penance for
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any reason whatsoever. No ecclesiastical authority has the power to dispense him from the seal of the
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Sacrament, and the civil power is wholly incompetent to oblige him to do so. In other words, for the
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priest, the seal of confession is sacrosanct. No one can touch it. It doesn't matter. The Pope himself
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can't order a confession to be revealed, nor, of course, can any civil authority. And that's why you
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have great saints like St. John Nupomesini, who is always pictured in windows like this with his
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finger over his mouth, because he died for the seal of confession.
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We're coming now to the end of my little summary of the document. I encourage you, of course, to read
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the whole thing. I'm going to go through these few more points. And please take the time, go to
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LifeSite News, pull the whole document, print it out for your family, and read it, profess it, learn it,
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and love it. This is another quote. According to the constant tradition of the Church, the sacrament
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of the Holy Eucharist may not be given to those who deny any truth of the Catholic faith by formally
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professing their adherence to a heretical or to an officially schismatic Christian community.
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Said plainly, of course, in my own words, the whole idea about communion for Protestants can't be done,
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even if the Pope seemed to suggest that it was possible. It can't be done. It is a violation of
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the sacrament itself, and it doesn't do any favors to those for whom we're proposing it. A couple more
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points before I conclude, and really urge you to go back, get this document printed, and make it part of
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your life. The law by which priests are bound to observe perfect continence in celibacy stems from
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the example of Jesus Christ and belongs to immemorial and apostolic tradition according to the constant
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witness of the Fathers of the Church and the Roman Pontiffs. For this reason, this law should not be
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abolished in the Roman Church through the innovation of an optional priestly celibacy either at the regional
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or universal level. In other words, the whole idea to get rid of priestly celibacy and allow for married
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priests is not the way to go. And another quote, by the will of Christ and the divine constitution of
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the Church, only baptized men may receive the sacrament of orders, whether in the episcopy,
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the episcopacy, the priesthood, or the diaconate. Therefore, the whole idea of female deacons is a no-go.
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With that, I'm going to conclude our short summary of what is in this Declaration of Truths,
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once again encouraging you to sign on to the petition to support it, print it out, learn it,
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love it, teach it to your family, proclaim it to all of your family and friends. And let's give thanks
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to God for Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Pujac, and Bishop Schneider, and the other Kazakhstan bishops for
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putting this out there in the first place. On this, the sort of after the Feast of Pentecost,
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it really seems like the Holy Spirit has come to us, has provided us with the truth. Let's take that
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courage, that strength, the Holy Spirit, and proclaim this truth that we've been given. Let us
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not only sign on to it with our little signatures, let's sign on to it with our lives.
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For LifeSite News, this is John Henry Weston, and may God bless you.