Thursday 14 May 2020

This is just what we need, and should expect, from church leaders, concerning the birdemic

Kudos to the group of Roman Catholic Cardinals and an Archbishop (with many other signatories) who have produced a statement concerning the birdemic which is exactly what is most needed.

This is solid evidence that real Christianity remains active and effective (if not dominant) within the Roman Catholic Church; and puts to shame the other major Christian denominations who have failed to make similar statements (who have indeed actively colluded-with the global powers of anti-Christian materialism).

Excerpts:

The facts have shown that, under the pretext of the [birdemic], the inalienable rights of citizens have in many cases been violated and their fundamental freedoms, including the exercise of freedom of worship, expression and movement, have been disproportionately and unjustifiably restricted. Public health must not, and cannot, become an alibi for infringing on the rights of millions of people around the world, let alone for depriving the civil authority of its duty to act wisely for the common good.

We also ask government leaders to ensure that forms of control over people, whether through tracking systems or any other form of location-finding, are rigorously avoided. The fight against [the birdemic], however serious, must not be the pretext for supporting the hidden intentions of supranational bodies that have very strong commercial and political interests in this plan. In particular, citizens must be given the opportunity to refuse these restrictions on personal freedom, without any penalty whatsoever being imposed on those who do not wish to use vaccines, contact tracking or any other similar tool. Let us also consider the blatant contradiction of those who pursue policies of drastic population control and at the same time present themselves as the savior of humanity, without any political or social legitimacy.

Finally, as Pastors responsible for the flock of Christ, let us remember that the Church firmly asserts her autonomy to govern, worship, and teach. This autonomy and freedom are an innate right that Our Lord Jesus Christ has given her for the pursuit of her proper ends. For this reason, as Pastors we firmly assert the right to decide autonomously on the celebration of Mass and the Sacraments, just as we claim absolute autonomy in matters falling within our immediate jurisdiction, such as liturgical norms and ways of administering Communion and the Sacraments. The State has no right to interfere, for any reason whatsoever, in the sovereignty of the Church. Ecclesiastical authorities have never refused to collaborate with the State, but such collaboration does not authorize civil authorities to impose any sort of ban or restriction on public worship or the exercise of priestly ministry. The rights of God and of the faithful are the supreme law of the Church, which she neither intends to, nor can, abdicate. We ask that restrictions on the celebration of public ceremonies be removed.

16 comments:

David Earle said...

This is very nice to see.

Adil said...

Taking a stance against pharmaceuticals and secularism will probably sound too backwards and scare away most modern Catholics.

Bruce Charlton said...

@I - It is.

@E - This is what Christian leadership is supposed to do; not pander to the corrupt majority at a time of a truly massive, demonic blow against Christianity.

Brief Outlines said...

at last...

Stephen Macdonald said...

Cardinal Sarah is a ray of sunlight in an otherwise largely benighted Catholic Church. You certainly will not hear such words from the current Bishop of Rome.

TonguelessYoungMan said...

Perhaps I missed something, but I am curious why you refer to it as the "birdemic"?

Gary said...

What a well-written, clear, balanced, honest piece. Thank you for sharing.

I´ve already started sharing it with family and friends here where I live, in Brazil. Although it is a very religious (catholic, christian) part of the world, people are as in thrall to the violently mendacious media as anywhere else, with all that that implies.

Having the authority of archbishops, bishops and technical experts subscribing to a piece such as this is very good marketing, which is arguably where we (independent truthseekers) are weakest and thus open to being discredited and dismissed very easily by those who are not interested enough in the truth-at-all-costs to pursue it with vigor and integrity.

I´m not sure it is really OUR task to be focus on marekting, particularly when even the best marketers need a product which is in principle desirable (and what market is there, has there ever been, for hard truth as such?), but if this helps dull the effect of the media message even on some people, then it will have served a worthy purpose.


Anonymous said...

Good to see this also taken up for reprint at Anglican Ink!

You might, however, want to stroll over there and encourage the commenters to hover over "the birdemic" in the first paragraph and follow the link - and go on following the links within blogposts, here - or even to say something explicit about the (as it seems to me) fairly mythopoeic wordplay with 'Covid' and 'Corvid'.

In this useful follow-up, Archbishop ViganĂ² speaks of "almost 40,000" additional signatories, though as of 12 May on the official site there is now only the message "In order to guarantee the privacy of signatories and the protection of data, the complete listing is not available anymore":

https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/archbishop-vigano-plans-for-a-new-world-order-must-be-unmasked-understood-and-revealed

David Llewellyn Dodds

Joseph A. said...

I knew it would be good when I saw Sarah was involved. He's pretty solid. Remarkably so. I wonder if Africa once again will safeguard the Western Church.

Bruce Charlton said...

TYM follow the link...

Bruce Charlton said...

@ DLD. It seems AI did not include that link. I sent an explanatory comment but it seems to be absent. Either way, my earlier repost at AI has been in the top four viewed pieces for a couple of weeks, whether in spite of, or because, the (unexplained) usage of birdemic in the title and text.

Bruce Charlton said...

@Nova I don't have much knowledge of the RCC internal politics; but it sems that the 'things coming to a point' phenomenon applies there too: the Bishops and Cardinals seem to be divided ever more sharply into a majority of liberalising, politically-orientated, corrupt, dishonest and cowardly; and a minority of traditionalist, spiritually-orientated, principled, honest and brave. It seems to be ever easier to tell them apart.

Adil said...

"Let us not allow centuries of Christian civilization to be erased under the pretext of a virus, and an odious technological tyranny to be established, in which nameless and faceless people can decide the fate of the world by confining us to a virtual reality."

This will trigger a lot of Borgs and Orchs. But it is pretty fantastic coming from an official institution. The church is of course the only place such a thing should and could come from. The last thing the Borg wants is to 'insert Christ' into the 'biological machine' of the human being. Because Christ involves the horrifying prospect of God having a face, implying personal accountability and making your own moral decisions! If you secretly serve the faceless Devil, it is a horrifying thought indeed.

Anonymous said...

Dear Bruce,

I'm glad to see your comment - and a couple others - now up at Anglican Unscripted with an elucidating link! How could I have forgotten the title James Nguyen's 'classic', having more than once enjoyed watching a lengthy video digest-review of it as "The Best Worst Movie Ever"?

Good to find AI readers have been paying attention - such cross-connexions to new readerships are worthwhile! (I'm behind on watching recent Anglican Unscripted episodes, so I don't know if the specific 'matters' concerned have been taken up there, too...)

As readers can follow in Paul Smeaton's reporting, there've been attempts at stirring up distracting kerfuffle about Cardinal Sarah so belatedly deciding it was prudent to withdraw his signature that the version with it had already gone out under embargo, but Cardinal Sarah nonetheless still publicly said, "From a personal point of view, I [...] share some questions or preoccupations raised regarding restrictions on fundamental freedom".

Meanwhile, another of the signatories, Cardinal Zen, has followed up with a contribution to an International Catholic Legislators Network video conference, of which "heavily edited" selections are available as text online, linked here:

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cdl-zen-condemns-globalization-chinas-encroachment-on-other-nations

I have not yet encountered any prominent Anglican or Orthodox (arch)bishops anywhere in the world saying anything of force and clarity comparable to this Appeal - can we hope some have (but it's being successfully ignored) or, if not, some may take courage and do so?

David Llewellyn Dodds

Joseph A. said...

Not from a bishop, but we tend to value Athonite monks more than bishops, anyway -- here is a sensible letter from Priestmonk Euthymius of Mt. Athos.

https://orthodoxethos.com/post/the-coronavirus-crisis-letter-from-the-holy-mountain

Bruce Charlton said...

@Joseph - That's a wise and beautiful letter, thank you: I'll do a post on it.