1. We have discussed three marks of the Church.
These are three marks according to St. Robert Bellarmine on whose ecclesiology ‘Lumen Gentium’ was based. And his 15 marks are simply an expansion of the classical four marks of the Church which we recite in the Nicene Creed during Sunday Mass. For all Catholic Sunday Mass goers these signs are very familiar; One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. And, of course, those who celebrate the Mass should be very acquainted with these signs. But very few know the expanded 15 signs enumerated by St. Robert Bellarmine, a Jesuit saint and doctor of the Church. Not even most of the Jesuits today. I don’t blame them. Bellarmine’s works are still in its original Latin and is only being translated recently. Fortunately the latest translation begun with his ‘de controversiis’
This book deals with the most important current topics the Church needs to answer. Which is the true Catholic Church? Who are inside the Church. Questions about the Papacy. When is the election of a Pope invalid.
St. Robert’s reasoning is simple. If you have the signs, you are a true Catholic and the priests and bishops in your parish or diocese are truly priests and bishops. On the other hand, if you do not have the signs then even the priests and bishops who lead you are probably not true priests and bishops because they are not even Catholics. The same reasoning goes with the Pope. If the Pope does not have the visible signs of the Catholic Church, then he is not a pope, he is not even a bishop because he is not even a Christian. A non- Catholic cannot be the head of the Catholic Church. See, how important these issues raised by St. Bellarmine in the 1500 are? With the protestant reform the world became confused; who is going to be saved and who will not be saved. Everybody thought everybody will be saved….. like now.
The Marks of the true Church describe, first and foremost, the Catholic community. The signs are easier to see if the community have them It , also, describes the individual true Catholic. But this is more difficult to do but it is possible. We started with the three Marks that describes the true Church but which can easily describe, also, an individual Catholic.
It is possible for the whole parish or diocese to have none of the visible signs of Catholicity. But it can happen that their priest and bishop have the signs. Example would be St. John Vianney and his parish of Ars. Vianney had all the signs of Catholicity but his Parish, though devout, did not show all the signs.
So it becomes important for all of us to know the Marks of the true Catholic Church, understand St. Robert Bellarmine’s explanation of each and, then, find out if we, if our parish, if our diocese are Catholics. And we can go as high as finding out if the Pope is Catholic or not. Since these signs are visible to all and we have had in our history more than 40 fake Catholic popes.
2. Why did we start with these three signs; antiquated, apostolicity, and possessed with the gift of prophecy? Because these signs can be detected, not only in the true Christian community, but even in individual true Catholics. The other signs are difficult and tedious to use for analysis but we shall eventually discuss them. For now, we shall begin with the signs that can be applied to communities and to individuals so we can analyze ourselves and some individuals around us like our parish priest and diocesan bishops. At your leisure you can use these signs to analyze practically every body else, your husband, your wife, your children, your neighbor…… because they are visible and natural signs discernible by all men.
3. Let us jump to the 14th Mark of the Church according to Bellarmine.
He wrote; the fourteeth Mark of the true Church is the unhappy death of those who oppose the true Church; after which God casts them into the fire. “All you nations praise His people, for he avenges the blood of his servants, and brings retribution upon their enemies.” Any one who oppose the Church, in some way, die an unhappy death and is thrown to hell.
The Fathers of the Church has a whole volumn describing the awful death of those who raised their hands against the Church or His Faithful. This is followed by eternal fire. Thus Bellarmine mentioned the miserable death of Pharoah for persecuting the Jews, the image of the early Church. He, also, described the awful deaths of Dathan and Abiron, the first schismatics. Then there was Jezebel, Antiochus and Pilate who killed himself. Bellarmine recalled Herod, Herodias, Nero, Domitian who all met dreadful deaths
Bellarmine, also, mentioned Heresiarchs like Simon Magus, Manes, Montanus, Arius, Julian, Valens, Nestorius, the Emperor Anastasius. Martin Luther, Zwingly, Calvin…..who all died dreadfully with Calvin invoking demons, blaspheming and cursing before he died.
4. St. Paul opposed the Church.
Paul was struck by a lightning that should have killed him and send him to hell. Fortunately, God had other plans in mind.
Paul, why does thou persecutest Me? Who are you, Lord? I am Christ whom thou persecutest.’ St. Paul could not persecute Christ because Christ was long dead and arisen already. He was persecuting the true Church, the Christian community. the Mystical Body of Christ. Clearly what you do to the true Christian community you do it to Christ. Imagine with the prevalent ignorance of the signs of the true Church, more clearly described by St. Robert Bellarmine, everybody could be opposing the Church, destined for an awful death and the eternal fires of hell…..yet believe they are doing God’s work.
Because of the confederacy of evil mentioned by John Newman, the whole world, pagan, christians and even Catholics are, in some way, opposing the Church. Obamacare in the US is practically abolishing the Catholic Church in the public square. State legislations on same sex marriage, abortion, family planning, euthanasia are all attacks on the Church. And there is the false accusations we read in the news made by gay bishops on good bishops and priest around the world, as in the case of Bishop Livieres and Bishop Thorne.
Let us take two much publicized examples. The case of the Franciscans of the Immaculate and the Lefebvre group.
A commissar appointed by Pope Francis who, evidently from the news, did not exhibit any visible sign of Catholicity, begun destroying the Franciscans who were showing at least a few signs of Catholicity, by closing their convents and seminaries, putting under house arrest their superior and founder, dismissing the Franciscan priest, and threatening whoever benevolent bishop would incardinate them. He was worst than Henry the VIII who at least did not threaten bishops who incardinated priest fleeing irrational wrath.
Well, the commissar suddenly got sick and died. With the above accomplishments published in his name, with his sudden illness and unexplained death on one side; and the description of the life of the Franciscans published in media on the other side……… it is difficult not to see in the commissar’s seemingly untimely death an example of what happens to those who oppose the Church. His Salesian successor better watch out. Being a Salesian, he knows nothing about Franciscans and could easily oppose the Franciscan way of life. He should better, instead, contemplate and preach St. Francis’ treatise ‘On the Love of God’. Since we live in an era prophesied by Christ as devoid of Charity.
Here, we have a ridiculous situation where a man who, as seen in media, does not have a single visible sign of the true Church, reforming an order who have more visible signs than he. He ended up deforming the order. The same thing is happening with their sister counterpart. That the Franciscan sisters who know the Catholic counsels of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience are being reformed by a nun whose known quality is addressing the United Nations on ‘sexual aberrations.’ Also, appointed by Pope Francis. Again, some one without any published visible sign of Catholicity judging another who have signs.
Remember these signs are visible, tangible signs which all men can know. So we should be able to follow this discussion.
Let us go to the Lefebvre group. They have some visible signs of Catholicity describe by St. Bellarmine. They do not have all. That is why they are considered as schismatics. But they have more visible signs of Catholicity than the Vatican who had declared them schismatics. The last 2014 Bishop’s Synod in the Vatican was more schismatic than the Lefebvre group, as can be seen in almost all the headlines describing that meeting.
5. The total confusion.
Today, there is near total confusion. If most people do not know the 15 marks of the Church, then most do not know where the Church is. If most do not know where the Church is, most do not know who is leading the world? Guess who? Yes, you are right. The devil. Today, he is totally in charged because the men of the Church had abandoned their role, as prophesied in the first readings these past masses prior to the feast of Mt. Carmel. Lucifer is the caused of the confusion and we are the confused.
Today, Popes opposed bishops, bishops opposed Popes, bishops opposed other bishops, bishops gang up on priests. priests opposed lay people and lay people disobey priests…… and all unite together to oppose the true Church of Christ, as John Newman wrote in his ‘confederacy of evil.’ When will these all end? In our dreadful death and our being cast into hell? Can you blame me in insisting on this topic. And forcing all to answer these questions?
Yet, the solution to this confusion is so simple. It is in 15 very short phrases described as St. Robert Bellarmine’s ‘de notis Ecclesiae.’ We have tackled four visible signs of the true Church. I have done so because it is my obligation to the One who will judge me, the One who will dictate the way I will die and who has the power to kill both my body and my soul. I have no other reason.
Conclusion. So whom am I to judge if one is a Catholic or not? I can only judge if I have mastered the 15 marks of the Church by Robert Bellarmine. If I have not mastered them, or worst, if I do not know them……and as a consequence oppose God’s community….then God will judge me as one destined to an awful death to be cast to eternal flames. And who is to blame? My slothfulness in learning the easy, visible Marks of the true Church..