1. Archbishop Gaswein had spoken.
Some time ago a heated discussion was started claiming that we have two Popes. Then it became that we do not have a Pope because Pope Francis was not canonically elected, which means we have a ‘sede vacante’. A third opinion was raised that Pope Francis was not the real Pope; that Pope Benedict is still the Pope. This last opinion was just whispered around.
All sides were held by very able lay writers using very good arguments. I could not stay out of a good fight; so I poke my nose into the argument using what I know; little of Scriptures and a little of the Fathers of the Church. My reasoning is simple; if it is according to the teachings of the Catholic Church it is right. If not, then, it is wrong. Narrow minded but it is always right.
As will be noticed, most of the posts in this blog are reflections based on the Sunday Liturgy as interpreted by the Fathers of the Church.
As the lively discussion went and as the erudite analysis flew in the air, I kept to the firm ground of sticking to Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church. And in this discussion pertaining to the two Popes in one, suddenly Archbishop Ganswein spoke and he presented the same identical position that I presented on the topic on the two Popes.
2. Ganswein’s position.
The Archbishop’s position is valuable because this position surely comes from Pope Benedict since Benedict does not have anyone else to talk to except Archbishop Ganswein. So we have a consensus of three.
a. First, Archbishop Ganswein said that Pope Benedict is still the Pope of the Catholic Church. And he presented the same proofs we raised though he did not include the fact that ‘no holy person will ever resign in doing God’s Will.’ Evidently, it was God’s Will that Ratzinger become Pope. and Benedict is holy and, therefore, will not resign doing God’s Will.
Pope Francis is, also, Pope but the two makes two ministries of one Church; the contemplative, referring to Pope Benedict. And the second; an active ministry representing Pope Francis.
The two Popes makes up one Papacy united in collegiality to the college of bishops. This is a new possibility, Ganswein is promoting, for the office of the Papacy.
Archbishop Ganswein showed the physical similarities of the two Popes. Both are addressed as Popes. Both wear white with white skull caps. Both are addressed ‘Your holiness.’ and both live in the Vatican. The bishop worked his hypothesis on these mere physical similarities. The idea, therefore, arose of one body with two heads for the papal office with emphasis on the fact that there is only one Papacy.
Archbishop’s idea is workable if a few kinks can be resolved.
Archbishop Ganswein stopped here. This confused many people. They wondered whether these things are doctrines because the idea of two Pope is alien to Catholic doctrine. Or is he just trying to say something that is leading to a further conclusion which will be completed later on. It seems that the latter is true.
3. Let me repeat my stand on the topic of the two Popes, using once again Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church and see the similarity of our answers. It seems that Ganswein undisclosed conclusion is the conclusion we have made.
My stand is based on the incidents with St. Peter in Acts. There he was acting as a Pope par excellence.
St Peter was at the roof top praying. One day a problem arose with regard to the feeding of the widows. The Greek widows were sort of neglected. And they went to Peter to solve the problem. Now watch St. Peter’s answer. He spoke like a Pope par excellence. He described in a very precise way the job of a Pope.
A. These words are directly from the mouth of the first Pope. St. Peter said; my job as a Pope is to master the Word of God, to pray and to preach the Word of God.
B. What is not the job of the Pope? St. Peter said; it is not our work to wait at table.
C. To whom will waiting at table be given? To reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, filled with Faith and the Holy Spirit.
D. The fruit of this arrangement? The disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in becoming obedient to the Faith.
4. This is clearly the distribution of roles during apostolic times. Two personalities are involved; the Pope, St. Peter. And the deacons.
The Pope sticks to the most important spiritual aspect which is the salvation of souls. This consist in having knowledge and wisdom, both of which are supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, to understand the Word of God. This practically entails learning the Word of God directly from God, as Christ told St. Peter, ‘this can only be taught by My Father in Heaven.’
St. Thomas described this role as having a perfect knowledge of the Word of God. And since this can only come from God, it has to be attained through unceasing contemplative prayer. The important adjectives are ‘unceasing’ and ‘contemplative.’This is the contemplative ministry Archbishop Ganswein was referring to and assigning it to Pope Benedict as present reigning Pope since this is precisely what Pope Benedict is doing right now; living alone like a monk in a monastery inside the Vatican studying the Word of God as he has been doing, praying and preaching in words and in silence as St. Francis did.
The Christian community agreed that St. Peter, the Pope should not be concerned with the corporal works of mercy. That it should be assigned to deacons described as; reputable men, filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and filled with Faith. Note the state of the spiritual life of these deacons. Being filled with the Spirit, this means that they have reached the heights of the supernatural virtue of Charity. And their description overlapped; in that if they were filled with the Spirit, they would naturally have Faith and be reputable men.
Anyway, their work was attending to the Corporal Works of Mercy, which is feeding the Greek widows. It looks like the deacons were over qualified for their jobs. But this is how over demanding God is on His employees. This work is symbolised by Martha, the sister of Mary who symbolised the contemplative life.
So Archbishop’s idea which conformed to Martha and May was a brilliant idea. The presentation of the Bishop’s idea stopped here. As suspected he was trying to make us make our own conclusion by going forward that direction of thinking.
The concern for the corporal works of mercy was assigned to Pope Francis, the active ministry.
Now, let us tread on the area which Archbishop Ganswein avoided but which he wants us to tread on….the conclusion from the above minor (in the syllogism).
5. Conclusions from Archbishop’s syllogism.
The contemplative Pope in the figure of St. Peter, the first Pope.
It is irrefutable that Pope Benedict is living a contemplative life; mastering the Word of God as he had been doing. That he is living a life of unceasing contemplative life as a monk alone in a monastery inside the Vatican and that occasionally he preaches with words and sometimes in silence. In this, Benedict perfectly imitates St. Peter, the first Pope. So, if Pope Benedict is acting like a true Pope, performing the first and highest duty of a Pope, more now than before, then he is, still, the Pope.
The deacons’ role was the performance of the Corporal works of mercy. But note their qualifications. Those Corporal works can be performed by doctors, cooks, nurses, care giver. But that is not enough. In the Catholic Church, those corporal works of mercy must be done with perfect Charity which will require the presence of the Holy Spirit in them. In other words, the work of the deacons must be performed by souls as holy as the Pope himself.
6. Is Pope Francis like the deacons?
In Ganswein’s diarchy the deacons are the figures of the active Pope, Pope Francis. Let us see if Pope Francis is acting like the deacons. The deacons were filled with Faith. Pope Francis has no Faith in that he does not have the four visible signs of the Church mentioned in the Nicene Creed or the expanded 15 Marks of the true Catholic described by the Jesuit St. Robert Bellarmine. The deacons were filled with the Spirit. ‘The Spirit is supposed to teach us all things.’ Pope Francis does not remember any of his theology, any of his psychology, any of his sociology, any of his genetics and any of his science as seen in his statements.
‘The Spirit will remind us all things that Christ taught.’ Pope Francis seems never to have read what Christ said. Let me give just one example, though ‘Milites Christi’ gave a longer list. In one homily at Casa Martha before some cardinals and bishops Pope Francis explained the Gospel on old wine being in old wine skin and new wine being in new wine skin. The Gospel ended by stating that old wine is better. As soon as Pope Francis read those words he said that new wine is better. Immediately contradicting the Words of Christ just read.
Actually that was not ignorance. He was throwing away, just like the whole Vatican bureaucracy, the entire old religion. And introducing his new Protestant religion, the religion of compassion and mercy he concocted in Argentina based on Cardinal Kasper’s Lutheran ‘faith alone.’
‘The deacons were filled with wisdom.’ Pope Francis is a source of confusion because what he says does not make sense. Receiving Holy Communion in the state of Mortal Sin? Living in unbelief? Disobeying the Commands of God and the Tradition of the Catholic Church? Being friendly with all the enemies of the Church while being cruel to those faithful to the Church, like the Franciscans of the Immaculate ? I would never hire a deacon who is like Pope Francis. And I don’t think Pope Benedict can work with someone who practically goes against all the previous Popes.
Archbishop Ganswein’s idea is great. It can work. But it is impossible to work in the present situation because in the present situation everything between the two Popes are contradictory; one, having all the visible signs of the true Church. While the other one does not have a single visible sign of the true Church. The marks of the Church are available for all to see and use for analysis. Try them and you will see what I mean.
Pope Francis is, also, Pope but the two makes two ministries of one Church; the contemplative, referring to Pope Benedict. And the second; an active ministry representing Pope Francis.
The two Popes makes up one Papacy united in collegiality to the college of bishops. This is a new possibility, Ganswein is promoting, for the office of the Papacy.
Archbishop Ganswein showed the physical similarities of the two Popes. Both are addressed as Popes. Both wear white with white skull caps. Both are addressed ‘Your holiness.’ and both live in the Vatican. The bishop worked his hypothesis on these mere physical similarities. The idea, therefore, arose of one body with two heads for the papal office with emphasis on the fact that there is only one Papacy.
Archbishop’s idea is workable if a few kinks can be resolved.
Archbishop Ganswein stopped here. This confused many people. They wondered whether these things are doctrines because the idea of two Pope is alien to Catholic doctrine. Or is he just trying to say something that is leading to a further conclusion which will be completed later on. It seems that the latter is true.
3. Let me repeat my stand on the topic of the two Popes, using once again Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church and see the similarity of our answers. It seems that Ganswein undisclosed conclusion is the conclusion we have made.
My stand is based on the incidents with St. Peter in Acts. There he was acting as a Pope par excellence.
St Peter was at the roof top praying. One day a problem arose with regard to the feeding of the widows. The Greek widows were sort of neglected. And they went to Peter to solve the problem. Now watch St. Peter’s answer. He spoke like a Pope par excellence. He described in a very precise way the job of a Pope.
A. These words are directly from the mouth of the first Pope. St. Peter said; my job as a Pope is to master the Word of God, to pray and to preach the Word of God.
B. What is not the job of the Pope? St. Peter said; it is not our work to wait at table.
C. To whom will waiting at table be given? To reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, filled with Faith and the Holy Spirit.
D. The fruit of this arrangement? The disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in becoming obedient to the Faith.
4. This is clearly the distribution of roles during apostolic times. Two personalities are involved; the Pope, St. Peter. And the deacons.
The Pope sticks to the most important spiritual aspect which is the salvation of souls. This consist in having knowledge and wisdom, both of which are supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, to understand the Word of God. This practically entails learning the Word of God directly from God, as Christ told St. Peter, ‘this can only be taught by My Father in Heaven.’
St. Thomas described this role as having a perfect knowledge of the Word of God. And since this can only come from God, it has to be attained through unceasing contemplative prayer. The important adjectives are ‘unceasing’ and ‘contemplative.’This is the contemplative ministry Archbishop Ganswein was referring to and assigning it to Pope Benedict as present reigning Pope since this is precisely what Pope Benedict is doing right now; living alone like a monk in a monastery inside the Vatican studying the Word of God as he has been doing, praying and preaching in words and in silence as St. Francis did.
The Christian community agreed that St. Peter, the Pope should not be concerned with the corporal works of mercy. That it should be assigned to deacons described as; reputable men, filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and filled with Faith. Note the state of the spiritual life of these deacons. Being filled with the Spirit, this means that they have reached the heights of the supernatural virtue of Charity. And their description overlapped; in that if they were filled with the Spirit, they would naturally have Faith and be reputable men.
Anyway, their work was attending to the Corporal Works of Mercy, which is feeding the Greek widows. It looks like the deacons were over qualified for their jobs. But this is how over demanding God is on His employees. This work is symbolised by Martha, the sister of Mary who symbolised the contemplative life.
So Archbishop’s idea which conformed to Martha and May was a brilliant idea. The presentation of the Bishop’s idea stopped here. As suspected he was trying to make us make our own conclusion by going forward that direction of thinking.
The concern for the corporal works of mercy was assigned to Pope Francis, the active ministry.
Now, let us tread on the area which Archbishop Ganswein avoided but which he wants us to tread on….the conclusion from the above minor (in the syllogism).
5. Conclusions from Archbishop’s syllogism.
The contemplative Pope in the figure of St. Peter, the first Pope.
It is irrefutable that Pope Benedict is living a contemplative life; mastering the Word of God as he had been doing. That he is living a life of unceasing contemplative life as a monk alone in a monastery inside the Vatican and that occasionally he preaches with words and sometimes in silence. In this, Benedict perfectly imitates St. Peter, the first Pope. So, if Pope Benedict is acting like a true Pope, performing the first and highest duty of a Pope, more now than before, then he is, still, the Pope.
The deacons’ role was the performance of the Corporal works of mercy. But note their qualifications. Those Corporal works can be performed by doctors, cooks, nurses, care giver. But that is not enough. In the Catholic Church, those corporal works of mercy must be done with perfect Charity which will require the presence of the Holy Spirit in them. In other words, the work of the deacons must be performed by souls as holy as the Pope himself.
6. Is Pope Francis like the deacons?
In Ganswein’s diarchy the deacons are the figures of the active Pope, Pope Francis. Let us see if Pope Francis is acting like the deacons. The deacons were filled with Faith. Pope Francis has no Faith in that he does not have the four visible signs of the Church mentioned in the Nicene Creed or the expanded 15 Marks of the true Catholic described by the Jesuit St. Robert Bellarmine. The deacons were filled with the Spirit. ‘The Spirit is supposed to teach us all things.’ Pope Francis does not remember any of his theology, any of his psychology, any of his sociology, any of his genetics and any of his science as seen in his statements.
‘The Spirit will remind us all things that Christ taught.’ Pope Francis seems never to have read what Christ said. Let me give just one example, though ‘Milites Christi’ gave a longer list. In one homily at Casa Martha before some cardinals and bishops Pope Francis explained the Gospel on old wine being in old wine skin and new wine being in new wine skin. The Gospel ended by stating that old wine is better. As soon as Pope Francis read those words he said that new wine is better. Immediately contradicting the Words of Christ just read.
Actually that was not ignorance. He was throwing away, just like the whole Vatican bureaucracy, the entire old religion. And introducing his new Protestant religion, the religion of compassion and mercy he concocted in Argentina based on Cardinal Kasper’s Lutheran ‘faith alone.’
‘The deacons were filled with wisdom.’ Pope Francis is a source of confusion because what he says does not make sense. Receiving Holy Communion in the state of Mortal Sin? Living in unbelief? Disobeying the Commands of God and the Tradition of the Catholic Church? Being friendly with all the enemies of the Church while being cruel to those faithful to the Church, like the Franciscans of the Immaculate ? I would never hire a deacon who is like Pope Francis. And I don’t think Pope Benedict can work with someone who practically goes against all the previous Popes.
Archbishop Ganswein’s idea is great. It can work. But it is impossible to work in the present situation because in the present situation everything between the two Popes are contradictory; one, having all the visible signs of the true Church. While the other one does not have a single visible sign of the true Church. The marks of the Church are available for all to see and use for analysis. Try them and you will see what I mean.
7. With the perfect arrangement of a praying Pope and deacons busy with serving at table, what was the result? ‘The disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in becoming obedient to the Faith.’
Today, what is the result of this diarchy of two Popes? The lost of countless bishops, priests, religious and laymen from the Faith. The Catholic Church seems to have ceased to exist. What increased within the Church? Adulterer, homos, lesbians, pagans, heretics, apostates, unbelievers, traitors, child molesters, bishops and cardinals. Not a very bright picture.
8. So following the idea of Archbishop Ganswein, what do we really have? A true Pope in the image of St. Peter, the first Pope. And probably an anti-pope, who immediately adapted the wrong concept of mercy Pope John Paul II exhorted us to beware. With the disciples of this Protestant sect in the world increasing greatly in becoming disobedient to the commands of God.
Again, what happened is that we have a true Pope. Then some cardinals, following their hidden evil agenda, hired one among themselves as a deacon. And the deacon took over and ruled the Church according to his own private beliefs. (Hmmm….just like the workers of the vineyard who killed the heir and took over the vineyard?)
The first steps in Archbishop Ganswein’s proposal was brilliant but if we continue his trend of reasoning we would end in concluding that we, still, do not have two Popes; which is the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church. What we have is a true Pope and a deacon who thinks he is a pope as had happened many, many, many times in the history of the Church. If it happened more than 40 times before, why not now when the weather is perfect.