On December 5th, One Peter Five published an article, the title of which announced a 9 Day Novena for the Conversion of Pope Francis.(...)
The Catholic Encyclopedia’s treatment of the indefectibility of the Church reads:
The gift of indefectibility plainly does not guarantee each several part of the Church against heresy or apostasy … Only to One particular Church is indefectibility assured, viz. to the See of Rome. To Peter, and in him to all his successors in the chief pastorate, Christ committed the task of confirming his brethren in the Faith (Luke 22:32); and thus, to the Roman Church, as Cyprian says, “faithlessness cannot gain access.”
In order to pray the insipid novena for the conversion of Francis, one must first accept that faithlessness has somehow gained access to the Holy See. Impossible!
The novena gets worse as it asks of the Lord: “… grant Pope Francis the grace that he may be converted and strengthen his brethren in the faith, as you promised to the Apostle Peter…”
A well-formed Catholic cannot pray such faithless words, even beyond the idiotic notion that the pope stands in need of conversion to the true faith.
Why?
Because the gifts bestowed upon Peter by Our Lord extend to his successors as well. In other words, if Francis were a true pope, he would already be the beneficiary the promises, and the gifts, bestowed upon Peter by Christ. As taught in the document Pastor Aeternus of Vatican I:
This gift of truth and never-failing faith was therefore divinely conferred on Peter and his successors in this See so that they might discharge their exalted office for the salvation of all, and so that the whole flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the poisonous food of error and be nourished with the sustenance of heavenly doctrine.
This brings us to Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who following his self-requested audience with Francis on January 20, said something very similar to what is stated in the novena.
As reported on X by Diane Montagna, Bishop Schneider issued the following statement:
The Pope showed great cordiality towards me & we spoke about some important themes on the life of the Church. Let us pray for Pope Francis that he might confirm the Church in the Faith.
… that he might confirm the Church in the Faith.
Bishop Schneider is suggesting that, maybe just maybe, if we pray fervently enough, Francis just might defend the true faith. As for the increasingly laughable notion that Bergoglio is pope, Bishop Schneider seems to imagine that Pastor Aeternus of Vatican I (cited above) invoked the word might in that very same sense, as if to say:
Maybe the Successors of Peter will discharge their office for the salvation of all, and maybe they will protect the faithful from error, but then again, maybe they won’t. They might even be the source of the poisonous food of error!
Not even one pre-conciliar theologian of note with whom I am familiar (correct me if I am missing one) ever interpreted Pastor Aeternus to suggest such a thing. The only properly Catholic way to understand “might” in this case is that the gift of truth and never failing faith enables the Successors of Peter to protect the faithful and to teach the true faith unto salvation.
It should go without say that the phrase never failing faith describes exactly what it states, namely, a faith that never fails! Even if one should overlook this, however, what follows in the very next sentence of Pastor Aeternus makes its true meaning entirely obvious. For clarity, I will provide the entire article for context:
This gift of truth and never-failing faith was therefore divinely conferred on Peter and his successors in this See so that they might discharge their exalted office for the salvation of all, and so that the whole flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the poisonous food of error and be nourished with the sustenance of heavenly doctrine. Thus the tendency to schism is removed and the whole Church is preserved in unity, and, resting on its foundation, can stand firm against the gates of Hell. [Emphasis added]
Pay close attention to the beginning of that final sentence: Thus… In other words, in light of what was just stated, therefore, this.
NB: The reason we can be absolutely certain that the true Successors of Peter will never fail to protect the faithful from error and will always nourish them on the true doctrine is because they are the Church’s foundation (“on this Rock I will build my Church”) and Our Lord promised that “the gates of Hell will not prevail” against her.
Stated another way, in order to make good on His promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail, Christ endowed the popes with the gift of truth and never-failing faith, something Jorge Bergoglio simply does not possess.
I’m pleased to assume that Bishop Schneider, as well as the masterminds behind the novena for Bergoglio’s conversion, mean well. That said, their refusal to accept the plain reality that is staring them squarely in the eyes is such that one cannot even pray as they pray without abandoning the Faith!
The harm being done by these people in misleading the naïve is inestimable.
Think about it: What is an innocent person in search of the truth to think when they see influential Catholic personalities, like Peter Kwasniewski and Bishop Athanasius Schneider, insisting with unflappable confidence that Francis is the pope, the Vicar of Christ, the visible head of the Holy Roman Catholic Church on earth, the rule of faith, the proximate source of Catholic unity, etc.?
Could anyone blame such a person for concluding that being Catholic must, at the very least, be compatible with believing as Francis believes, and behaving as Francis behaves?
God forbid anyone should draw such a despicable conclusion!