So, in case there was still anyone in the Catholic world who thought that the pope didn’t want to institute a regime of universal sacrilege, we have this announcement from the Vicariate of Rome. The pope is the bishop of Rome, but he mostly acts through his “vicar,” who at this time is Cardinal Agostino Vallini. This gentleman has just issued “guidelines” to order that priests be willing to desecrate the Holy Eucharist.

Holy Communion will now be offered on a “limited” basis to those in the manifest state of the grave sin of adultery and/or fornication.

This is the pope’s diocese and, through his Cardinal vicar, he has authorized the systematic desecration of the Holy Eucharist.

Here is the link to the official Pdf version in Italian.

The moment has finally come.

So, what now?

Someone asked today in a comment under the last piece I did for the Remnant on the schism Bergoglio is fomenting, “How are we in communion with the Vatican?”

I respond:

Unfortunately, the term “the Vatican” is vague and has little relevance. No Catholic has ever been required to be “in communion with the Vatican.”

The question should be, how can we be in communion with a pope who is, as we speak, ordering his priests to desecrate the Holy Eucharist.

Since I wrote the above piece, it has come out officially. The Vicariate of Rome announced this week that the diocese of Rome would be offering Holy Communion in some “limited” cases to those who persist in the manifest grave sin of adultery and/or fornication. This is the pope’s diocese. We have yet to hear from priests in the diocese of Rome who will not participate in the pope’s plan of systematic desecration of the Holy Eucharist. I expect there will be a few, and that news of what will happen to them will leak out through the blogs in the Italian language soon.

What it means for the rest of Christendom that the mother See is leading the Church out of communion with our Lord Jesus Christ, has yet to be definitively determined by the lawful authority. Who that lawful authority may be, since it is the pope who is leading the way to universal sacrilege, is difficult to say. I expect that the only way forward now is one of two routes (or a combination of both):

1. for a bishop or cardinal to publicly challenge the pope on this and to call for him to repent or resign and if he does neither to denounce him as a heretic and schismatic and declare that no faithful Catholic may follow him or

2. for priests who refuse to desecrate the Holy Eucharist to refuse, be expelled from their dioceses and carry on their ministry as “vagus” priests – priests who have no home but who offer the sacraments to the faithful outside the normal structures of the Church.

We’re entering unknown territory. But we have known all along that this is where Bergoglio was leading us. Those priests and bishops who have closed their eyes to this logical result have only themselves to blame if they have failed to make contingency plans.

I would further suggest that the time has come to start contacting our bishops under the provisions of Canon 212, and demanding that they do their duty.

TITLE I.

THE OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS OF ALL THE CHRISTIAN FAITHFUL (Cann. 208 – 223)
…
Can. 212 §1. Conscious of their own responsibility, the Christian faithful are bound to follow with Christian obedience those things which the sacred pastors, inasmuch as they represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or establish as rulers of the Church.

§2. The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.

§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.

Since the pope has ignored all pleas, the next layer of lawful authority is the bishops. The question is upon us; is your own bishop in your own diocese going to “jure,” that is, throw in his lot with this pope’s demands to desecrate the Holy Eucharist and separate himself and his diocese from communion with Christ?

If he does, I would suggest that the next recourse is to the local clergy.

Those wishing to contact their bishops can find the contact information for their diocese at the excellent website Catholic Hierarchy.

We are out of time, and the obligation to act has fallen to those who still have the Faith. The warnings have been given, the letters, public statements and petitions have failed, and this is the result. Those letters and petitions have been addressed to the pope and have assumed his good faith. And he has given his answer: he has called for his priests to be willing to desecrate the holy Eucharist.

The question has to be: “Dear Bishop ____, are you going to follow the example of the pope in his own diocese and order the priests of your diocese to desecrate the Holy Eucharist, or to demand that they be willing to do so should the situation present itself?”

None of them is going to say yes.

But the ones who equivocate, the ones that launch into convoluted, equivocating defences of Francis’ actions and decisions, the ones who try to pretend there isn’t a problem, are giving us a clear answer: they will not defend Christ or His Holy Church.

 

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