According to the traditional calendar, today is the feast of St Telesphorus, who, according to the list of St Irenaeus, was the sixth successor of St Peter and died a martyr’s death. Telesphorus is said to have lived as a hermit on Mount Carmel before his election to the See of Peter. To honour his memory, the following passage from the Letter of St Peter is read:
1 Pe 5:1-4,10-11
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed. Tend the flock of God that is your charge, not by constraint but willingly, not for shameful gain but eagerly, not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you. To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
What a great responsibility the Pastors of the Church have, who are held accountable to God in a special way! They are called to be like the Lord, shepherding in His name the flock entrusted to them, leading them to the springs of salvation, showing them good pastures and protecting them from wolves.
St Telesphorus was a shepherd after God’s own heart, and he fulfilled his mission faithfully until his death. To lay down one’s life for the Lord is a great thing, and the Church rightly celebrates these ardent people as martyrs.
What then is the task of a Pope today? It is no different from the mission entrusted to popes throughout the history of the Church: to defend our holy faith from false doctrine, to proclaim the Gospel authentically, and to remind the faithful vividly of all that the Catholic faith teaches us.
If we ask ourselves whether this task is being fulfilled in the present pontificate, we will unfortunately come to a negative conclusion. What we see is confusion, adaptation to the mentality of the world, statements that contradict previous Church teaching… There is restlessness in parts of the People of God, and not a few of the faithful are questioning or have even lost the natural trust they used to have in the Church hierarchy.
In the face of this situation, it is all the more urgent to listen to those pastors who continue to give the faithful the bread they deserve, who defend the Church’s teaching, who identify the wolves and warn the sheep against them.
Following the statement “Fiducia supplicans” issued by the Vatican on 18 December, which seeks to open the door for priests to bless couples living in sinful relationships, there has been strong opposition from many bishops, especially on the African continent. This shows the serious crisis the Church is going through, especially at the top of its hierarchy.
This is a very difficult situation for the Catholic faithful. But there is no point in closing our eyes to reality. On the contrary, it is all the more important to remain faithful to the Church’s teaching and to the practice that follows from it. In this way we will be able to serve the Church in this “state of emergency” she is going through.
Unfortunately, the declaration “Fiducia supplicans” is not the first and only derailment in the current Pontificate, but represents a new climax. However, it comes on the heels of a series of “wounds” that have been inflicted on the Church. In this context, I recommend listening to the videos I have recorded on what I call “the five wounds of the Church”:
First Wound (Amoris Laetitia):
https://spiritustv.com/watch/lecture-2-first-wound-amoris-laetitia_Aml6ulYsGNi3TGQ.html
Second wound (The Abu Dhabi Declaration):
https://spiritustv.com/watch/lecture-3-second-wound-abu-dhabi-declaration_AbKK1lyshRWj6mu.html
Third wound (The Pachamacult in the Vatikan):
Fourth wound (The struggle against Tradition):
Fifth wound (Unholy alliance of the church with the state):
Thank God, the fear that it is now even intended to bless homosexual couples has awakened some bishops. It is to be hoped that they will stand firm and enter into a process of reflection in order to realise that this latest Vatican statement is not only a mistake, but the consequence of the modernism that has been permeating the Church for some time. Conclusions will also have to be drawn from this realisation.
Praying for the head of the Church is certainly an urgent duty of charity, but the same charity teaches us not to follow the wrong paths, whoever proposes them.
If anyone wishes to study further the erroneous content of “Fiducia supplicans”, I recommend reading the position of Cardinal Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who has done a great service to the Church by explaining with theological expertise the reasons why this statement cannot be followed: https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/muller-fiducia-supplicans-is-self
If you are interested in receiving my views on the crisis in the Church and in the world on a regular basis, and would like to join the spiritual battle against the confusion that is unfortunately taking hold in the Church, please send an e-mail to the following address: balta-lelija@jemael.net
