Pope Saint Pius V condemned the vice of Homosexuality both among the clergy and the laity

 

Pope condemns ‘horrendous crime’ of sodomy, hands guilty clerics to secular authorities

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The year was 1568, but the situation in the Catholic Church was uncomfortably similar to our own.

LifeSiteNews – The year was 1568, but the situation in the Catholic Church was uncomfortably similar to our own. After many decades of corruption and moral decadence, the Church faced the scandal of a clergy who were widely reputed to be involved in the “horrendous crime” of sodomy. When the saintly Pope Pius V was elected in in 1566, he decided to act.  

Since the middle of the 15th century, the papacy had been mired in almost continuous scandal as wealthy and powerful Italian families vied for control of the Holy See and the lucrative benefices it controlled. The mentality and behavior of the pontiffs was ostentatiously worldly, and they became infamous throughout Europe for their nepotistic exploitation of ecclesiastical and governmental offices. Their spending on expensive art and frivolous entertainments brought the papacy close to bankruptcy. Some were even credibly accused of bribing the cardinals to secure their election, and of selling cardinal appointments.

This atmosphere of moral mediocrity and laxity was accompanied by an increasing problem with sexual immorality among the clergy, and particularly the practice of sodomy.

The problem even seemed to have reached the papacy during the wretched pontificate of Julius III, who in 1550 appointed a teenage boy of uncertain parentage as his “cardinal nephew,” giving him powers roughly equivalent to today’s Cardinal Secretary of State, one of the highest positions in the Vatican.

The young Cardinal Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte, who had no formal education and was completely unfit for his post, was strongly rumored to share the pope’s bed, and his strange appointment and relationship with the pontiff were openly derided in Rome. Following the death of his papal patron in 1555, Innocenzo was accused of both rape and murder, and suffered multiple banishments to monasteries. He died in isolation and obscurity, having never achieved social acceptance from the other cardinals.

Pope Pius V immediately sought to address the crisis upon his accession to the papal throne. In 1566, the year of his election, he issued a reform bull, Cum primum, which sought to suppress clerical vice, including sodomy. In paragraph 11, the bull stated, “If anyone perpetrates the nefarious crime against nature, because of which the wrath of God came up on the children of unbelief, they are to be turned over to the secular court, and if they are a cleric, they are to be stripped of all [clerical] order and to be subjected to a similar penalty.” However, this provision appears not to have had the effect desired by the pontiff.

Two years later, Pope Pius V issued a new decree directed solely against the practice of sodomy among the clergy. It was titled Horrendum illud scelus – “That horrendous crime,” for which the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God.

“That horrendous crime, for which polluted and filthy cities were burned by the frightful judgment of God, pains Us most bitterly, and gravely stirs our soul, so that, insofar as it is possible, we might strive to crush it,” wrote Pius.

Pius noted that the Third Lateran Council (1179) had decreed that those clerics guilty of sodomy, the crime for which “the wrath of God came upon the children of unbelief,” were to be confined in monasteries or be removed from the clerical order altogether. However, the pope expressed his concern that such a penalty was too mild, particularly for those who “do not fear the death of the soul.”

“Lest the contagion of such a disgrace, from the hope of impunity – which is the greatest incentive to sin – strengthen in boldness, we have decided that the clerics who are guilty of this nefarious crime are to be more gravely punished, so that the avenger of the civil laws, the secular sword, might certainly deter those who do not fear the death of the soul,” wrote Pius.

He therefore decreed that “any and all priests and other secular and regular Clergy of whatever grade and dignity who practice such a dire sin we deprive of every clerical privilege, and of every Ecclesiastical office, dignity, and benefit, by the authority of the present canon,” and added that  they should then be “handed over to the secular power, which may exact from them that same punishment that is received by laity who have fallen into this ruin, which is found to be constituted in legitimate ordinances.”

At that time, the “legitimate ordinances” of many jurisdictions in Europe decreed death, castration, or forfeiture of one’s property for the crime of sodomy.

(We read in Romans 1:32 that God punishes with eternal death both those who commit the sin of homosexuality, as well as those who condone it and incite others to commit this grave mortal sin. We read in Scripture in the Book of Jude 1:7 that God punished by destroying these five cities with fire, leaving them as a warning to future generations of eternal Punishment, which will also be received by all those who persist in practicing the sin of homosexuality or any sexual perversion.)

Pius V’s decree was the latest of a long line of canons and decrees issued by the Catholic Church to penalize sexual immorality, both among the clergy and the laity. Since the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church had provided various penalties for those clerics and religious who committed homosexual acts and other crimes of sexual perversion. Early canon law required those guilty of such acts to do long penances while under an interdict from receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion. Some canons specified that penance be performed in a monastery, while others mentioned degradation from the clerical state.

In 1049, in response to a letter from St. Peter Damian alerting him to an epidemic of sodomy among priests and monks, Pope St. Leo IX responded with a letter condemning the behavior and determining that the worst perpetrators must be removed from the clerical state, while others must do penances in accordance with the traditional canons.

In the thirteenth century an ecumenical council took up the issue. The Third Lateran Council (1179) decreed: “Let all who are found guilty of that unnatural vice for which the wrath of God came down upon the sons of disobedience and destroyed the five cities with fire, if they are clerics be expelled from the clergy or confined in monasteries to do penance; if they are laymen they are to incur excommunication and be completely separated from the society of the faithful.”

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Pope Saint Pius V decreed in perpetuity his apostolic constitution against clergy, both regular and secular, guilty of the heinous crime of sodomy, making it clear that it can never be revoked.

Saint Pius V we ask you for the conversion of all young people who have fallen into the abominable vice of homosexuality, so that they repent, change their lives and be saved.

Saint Pius V we beg you to protect our homes and keep us free from all mortal sin.

                                                

Utinam dirigantur viae meae ad custodiendas iustificationes tuas

Seifert: Francis' Monstrosities Destroy Faith And Morals

 

Gloria TV News

Francis is destroying the foundations of faith and morals, writes Austrian philosopher Josef Seifert, who currently teaches at Munich University, in an Open Letter to the Cardinals sent on 2 May (English text below).

Seifert does not understand how all the cardinals except the Dubia cardinals simply remain silent on the problem of Francis. Seifert's examples:

- his assertion that God positively wills the diversity of religions (Abu Dhabi Declaration);

- his support of homosex concubinates;

- his denial of the existence of acts that are always and everywhere evil, e.g. adultery (Amoris Laetitia);

- his false teaching on the death penalty (CCC);

- his claim that hell is empty;

- his claim that the souls of mortal sinners are "destroyed" after death (also claimed by Jehovah's Witnesses).

"As far as I know, there has never been a pope in Church history who has claimed similar monstrosities," Seifert explains. He would expect that all cardinals would write to Francis like one man and demand that he retract the apostate Abu Dhabi Declaration.

In reality, they do not defend the faith, but silence critics, Seifert adds.

Open Letter to all Cardinals of the Holy Catholic Church (which is also addressed to all Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops who have a high co-responsibility).

April 30 Feast of St. Catherine of Siena

Eminences, Revered Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops of the Catholic Church,

I wrote the following letter two and a half years ago to a cardinal with whom I have been on friendly terms for years and who, shortly before that, like many other bishops and cardinals, said in an interview, which was also published, that criticism of Pope Francis is a great evil that should be eradicated. The cardinal addressed answered my letter extremely affectionately, but to my knowledge no action has been taken.

In view of the death of Pope Benedict XVI and the news that Pope Francis has already signed a letter of resignation from his office to take effect in the event of a significant deterioration in his health, and therefore in view of a conclave that may soon be convened, I think that the contents of this letter concern all cardinals and also archbishops and bishops. Therefore, I address this letter, from which I have removed all signs as to which Cardinal it was originally written, as an open letter to all Cardinals, indeed to all who bear responsibility in various degrees in the Church. May the Holy Spirit grant that all the contents of this letter, which correspond to the truth and God's will, may be fruitful for the good of St. Church and many souls, and that not a word in it may harm the Church, the Bride of Christ. I choose the feast of St. Catherine of Siena for its publication because she uniquely combined the most intimate reverence for the Pope as Vicar of Christ on earth with an unsparing criticism of two very different Popes. Now to the text of the letter, which each of you may read as addressed personally to him.

Eminence, Reverend Cardinal ...

I must confess that I am concerned and saddened by a statement allegedly coming from you about criticism of Pope Francis. You said in an interview, if the media are to be trusted, that criticisms of the Pope are a "decidedly negative phenomenon that should be eradicated as soon as possible" and you stress that the Pope is "the Pope and guarantor of the Catholic faith".

How can you say that criticism of the pope is an evil? Didn't the apostle Paul already criticize the first pope Peter strongly and publicly? Did not St. Catherine of Siena criticize two popes even more harshly?

You don't seem to understand why many Catholics can criticize Pope Francis, even though he is "the Pope". Conversely, I don't understand how, to all appearances, all the cardinals except the four Dubia cardinals remain silent and do not ask critical questions of the pope. For there is much that Pope Francis says and does that should elicit not only critical questions but also loving criticism. Let us remember the Declaration on the Fraternity of All People signed by Pope Francis together with Grand Imam Ahmad Mohammad Al-Tayyeb, which states:

"The pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, sex, ethnicity and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings." (Even more annoying is the English version: "The pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings.")

Wouldn't it be a heresy and a terrible confusion to claim that God - just as he willed the difference of the two sexes - i.e. with his positive will - also directly willed the difference of religions and thus all idolatry and heresies? Yes, isn't the Abu Dhabi Declaration far worse than heresy, namely apostasy? How can God, with His positive creative will, have wanted religions that reject Jesus' divinity, deny the Most Holy Trinity, reject baptism and all sacraments and the priesthood? Or how could He even have wanted polytheism or the cult of the idol Baal or Pachamama? Doesn't this totally contradict the message of the prophet Elijah and all other prophets and the words of Jesus?

Shouldn't all of you cardinals and bishops speak your firm "non possumus" when Francis demands that this "document" be the basis for the formation of priests in all seminaries and theological faculties?

God cannot have ever directly and positively willed or approved even heretical Christian confessions, rather than merely allowing them, since these deny pillars of the biblical and Catholic faith such as the biblical teaching that our eternal salvation is not wrought by God's grace alone, but requires our free cooperation and good works. How then can he, with his direct and positive will, want religions that reject the whole foundation of the Christian faith and Christ himself?

True as it is in itself "that the pope is the pope and guarantor of the faith," this statement cannot be applied to a pope who signed the Abu Dhabi Declaration and spread it around the world, and who has said and done many other things contrary to the consistent teaching of the Church.

His statement that one should promote civil alliances/civil unions of homosexuals directly contradicts the clear statements of the Church's Magisterium (cf. the considerations on the drafts of a legal recognition of cohabitation between homosexual persons of June 3, 2003, published under the pontificate of St. Pope John Paul II), but above all the Holy Scripture and the entire Church tradition! Shouldn't all of you Cardinals, as Bishop Athanasius Schneider did wonderfully, perform a true act of love for the Pope and express this publicly and as clearly as he did, with all due clarity?

Pope Francis - I say this with a bleeding heart - is not the "guarantor of the faith", but is constantly increasingly destroying the foundations of faith and morals with this and many other statements and pronouncements. As far as I know, there has never been a Pope in the history of the Church who has asserted similar monstrosities? How should I answer a dear and deeply believing Lutheran friend, for whose conversion I have been praying for years, when he writes to me that with this Abu Dhabi Declaration the Catholic Church has left the soil of Christianity?

Is it not clear that a next Pope must condemn as apostate this Abu Dhabi teaching that Francis sends to all seminaries of priests and Catholic faculties? How can the Church justify anathematizing Pope Honorius for an infinitely lesser deviation from the Faith and condemning him if she does not condemn such outrageous statements? Wouldn't all the cardinals have to write to the Pope like one man and ask him to withdraw this apostatic declaration?

Must you cardinals not tremble before the moment when Christ will ask you how you could fulfill Jesus' solemn missionary mandate if you did not protest against the Abu Dhabi Declaration, which says the diametrical opposite of Jesus' words?

"Last of all, as the eleven sat at meat, he manifested himself ... And he said unto them: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:14).

How could you all also remain silent on the more than justified dubia of Cardinal Caffarra - who still called me on the eve of his death and to whom I had to promise to continue defending the truth - and of the other three cardinals after Amoris Laetitia, or even criticize these dubia? Of the cardinals, only the four dubia cardinals have formulated polite questions about the moral-theological heresy in Amoris Laetitia of denying implicit intrinsically bad actions. The splendor of the good and the existence always and everywhere (ut in omnibus) of bad acts has been recognized as a cornerstone of all ethics since Socrates and was taught by St. Pope John Paul II as the immovable ground of ethics and Church moral teachings.

Should not all the Cardinals have agreed with Cardinal Carlo Caffarra and the other three Dubia Cardinals and demanded this clarification, thereby helping the Pope to proclaim the truth? Should not all the cardinals have stood up like one man and supported the fraterna correctio that Cardinal Burke announced but never carried out?

Just because the announcement of Cardinal Burke that the 4 cardinals will practice a "correctio fraterna" on the pope in case of the pope's silence on this central moral question, but this fraterna correctio has not been done now for years neither on the part of Cardinal Burke nor on the part of other cardinals, a few laymen and priests have criticized this perversion of doctrine in various declarations and have, so to speak, stepped into the breach for you cardinals to defend the truth and the depositum fidei, as laymen have already done in the face of the Arian heresy, which Pope Liberius and the majority of the bishops were soft on, along with St. Athanasius and other few still faithful cardinals. Athanasius and other few bishops who remained faithful.

But instead of us miseri laici (us miserable laity), as (then still Monsignor) Carlo Caffarra called me in affectionate humor (with a true core), is it not incumbent on you, cardinals who should be ready to give their blood for the true faith, to raise your voice against the heresies of which critics of the Pope have proved that Pope Francis has committed a number of them or at least suggested them? Instead of a prohibition against criticizing statements of the Pope, is there not rather a commandment of fraternal or filial rebuke?

And now you raise your voice not for defensio fidei, but to silence these critics, indeed to want to "eradicate" all criticism?

Wouldn't all cardinals have to protest in many other cases, e.g. when the Pope arbitrarily introduces a theologically and ecclesiastically wrong change into the Catholic Catechism, which contradicts the clear words of God in the Holy Scripture (already in the Book of Genesis) and many doctrinal statements of popes about the death penalty formulated in uninterrupted tradition and also historical facts, or when - against many forceful words of Jesus and dogmas of the Catholic Church - he talks about empty hell or even, like Jehovah's Witnesses, claims that the souls of incurable sinners do not go to hell but are destroyed?

Dear friend, this scenario of a Pope who denied the existence of the one true Church and the faith in unam sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam, if not explicitly then certainly implicitly in Abu Dhabi, and behaves as lord over the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Church, and so many silent Cardinals, is an annoyance to many believers like me, endangers our faith, and causes immeasurable harm to the Church and souls.

I ask you, however, to raise your voice for the unvarnished truth and also to move other cardinals to speak the truth opportune-importune, even if this might reveal the terrible crisis and schism in the Church in the midst of which we find ourselves and even if some pusillae animae might mistakenly see in it a scandalum.

This is not a cultural issue of a Latin American pope. It is not a question of taste, style or temperament. No, it is the yes or no to Christ who told us to preach the Gospel to all people and nations; whoever believes in him will be saved, but whoever does not believe in him will be condemned? Can the Pope de facto abrogate this missionary mandate through the Abu Dhabi Declaration?

Can he appoint and even personally honor and award moral theologians who contradict the core of biblical and Church moral teaching and the encyclicals Humanae Vitae, Evangelium Vitae and Veritatis Splendor to the Pontifical Academy for Life? How can you cardinals (and especially you, who for many years worked under St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI served the Church so faithfully) remain silent on this and many other "desolations of the sanctuary" instead of doing much more than the critical laity and theologians to do everything possible to proclaim those many truths of the faith that the Pope openly or tacitly contradicts by words and also deeds (such as the celebration of the Reformation, the erection of the statue of Luther in the Vatican, the stamp celebrating the Reformation, the Pacha Mama cult in the Vatican Gardens and St. Peter's Basilica, etc.), and to implore him to find the sure compass of his doctrine only in the truth of the Holy Scripture and the unchanging dogmas of the Church, and not to allow himself to change even one iota of them, let alone the substance of the faith?

In deep sorrow for the many wounds of the Church, the Bride of Christ, and in love for Jesus and for the Church founded by Him on the rock of Peter

In Christ
Your Joseph

P.S.: I hope from the depths of my soul for your response in word and deed, which would be an act of love for Jesus, for Mary, for the Most Holy Trinity, for the Church, for the soul of the Pope and for many other souls. With St. John Paul I call out to you: corraggio! Fight courageously and without reserve for the truth, for Christ and the Church, and for the souls, including those of Pope Francis, and for the unity of all Christians, which is only possible in the truth!

Deeply united to You in Christ,
Your Joseph

Professor Dr.phil. habil. Dr. h.c. Josef M. Seifert, currently teaching philosophy at the LMU, the University of Munich.

Fr. Robert Altier: This Is a Battle Between Good and Evil

These judges who they violate the Constitution they are substituting the Law to become law themselves. This abuse of power by those judges who make unconstitutional laws are creating tyrannical states where the constitutional rights of the rest of the citizens are violated. These judges who are abusing power to do what they want against the Constitution are separating and becoming independent from the United States, these states are disunited by authoritarian judges who abusing power want to impose fabricated tyrannical anti-constitutional pseudo-laws.

 The same phenomenon that we see at the civil level can be seen in the imposture of Bergoglio's despotic pseudo-religion. He is like one of those authoritarian tyrannical judges who, abusing power, wants to substitute the Law of God for his depraved whim to favor abortion and homosexuality, defying the Laws of God and the Laws of the Church. Bergoglio is the leader of the left that rebels against God. He is the main conspirator against God and against the Church. We have seen this tyrannical agenda advance in the anti-Christian government of Obama and Biden supported by Bergoglio.

St. Joseph the Worker, Patron saint against Communism and Socialism

“It is, then, true that the condition of the lowly has nothing shameful in it, and the work of the laborer is not only not dishonoring, but can, if virtue be joined to it, be singularly ennobled.” ~ Pope Leo XIII (Quamquam pluries)

Pope Pius XII placed before the faithful the example of St. Joseph the Worker, true model of all workers.

[As] the Vicar of Christ, we wish to reaffirm highly, on this day of May 1 … the dignity of work, and [to] inspire social life and laws, based on a fair share of rights and duties … [We have determined to] establish the liturgical feast of St. Joseph the Worker, assigning it precisely on the 1st of May … because the humble craftsman of Nazareth not only personifies before God and the Holy Church the dignity of the worker of the arm but [he] is also always the provident guardian of you and your families," Pope Pius XII said in a speech delivered in St. Peter's Square on May 1, 1955.

Pope Pius XII said: Saint Joseph is the best protector to help you in your life, to penetrate the spirit of the Gospel.

CatholicCompany.com

St. Joseph’s May 1st feast day was a response to a Communist celebration.

In 1955, a huge swath of the world lay under the evil shadow of Communism.

Among the efforts of Pope Pius XII to counter the evil effects of Communism’s atheistic ideology was the institution of a new feast in honor of St. Joseph the Worker. Pius XII placed it on May 1st, the same day that the Communists held their “May Day” celebration: an anti-religious, secular commemoration of labor.

Lenin and his fellow communists viewed work in purely materialistic terms

To counter the communist view, Pope Pius XII placed before the faithful the example of St. Joseph the Worker, true model of all workers. Unlike the Communists—who viewed work in purely materialistic terms and cut God right out of the equation—St. Joseph’s work had a supremely spiritual dimension.

St. Joseph did his work, quite literally, for God. As a carpenter in Nazareth, he worked in order to support the Child Jesus and His Mother Mary. Jesus learned the carpenter’s trade from St. Joseph and worked for the majority of His life as a carpenter Himself. The life of the Holy Family shows us the value, beauty, and sanctity of work.

St. Joseph the Worker is the patron saint of all workers, especially husbands and fathers who get up and go to work every day to support the family they love and cherish.

In 1949 Pope Pius XII  issued the Decree Against Communism which excommunicated all Catholics collaborating with Communist organizations.

Saint Joseph was declared by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 patron against communism and moral laxity.

 Pope Pius XI entrusted the cause against Communism to St. Joseph.

Divini Redemptoris is an anti-communist encyclical issued by Pope Pius XI

81. To hasten the advent of that "peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ"[48] so ardently desired by all, We place the vast campaign of the Church against world Communism under the standard of St. Joseph, her mighty Protector. He belongs to the working-class, and he bore the burdens of poverty for himself and the Holy Family, whose tender and vigilant head he was. To him was entrusted the Divine Child when Herod loosed his assassins against Him. In a life of faithful performance of everyday duties, he left an example for all those who must gain their bread by the toil of their hands. He won for himself the title of "The Just," serving thus as a living model of that Christian justice which should reign in social life.

Pope Pius XII, “Prayer to St. Joseph, Model of Workers”

O Glorious Patriarch, St. Joseph, humble and just artisan of Nazareth, thou hast given to all Christians and particularly to us an example of a perfect life through diligent labor and admirable union with Jesus and Mary. Assist us in our daily work in order that we, Catholic artisans, may also see in it an effective means of glorifying God, of sanctifying ourselves, and of being a useful member in the society in which we live. These should be the highest ideals for all our actions.

O Dearest Protector, obtain for us from the Lord humility and simplicity of heart; love for our work and kindness toward our fellow-laborers; conformity to God’s will in the unavoidable trials of this life together with joy in bearing them; recognition of our specific social mission and a sense of responsibility; the spirit and discipline of prayer; docility and respectfulness toward superiors; the spirit of brotherhood [and sisterhood] towards our equals; charity and indulgence with our dependents.

Accompany us in times of prosperity when the opportunity is given for an honest enjoyment of the fruits of our labors; sustain us in our hours of sadness, when Heaven seems to be shut in our regard, and even the very tools with which our hands toil appear to rebel against us.

Grant that, in imitation of thee, we may keep our eyes fixed on our Mother, Mary, thy dearest Spouse, who, as she spun silently in the corner of thy shop, would let her sweetest smile course over her lips. Besides, may we never take our eyes off Jesus, who was busily occupied with thee at the carpenter’s bench, in order that we in like manner may lead on earth a peaceful and holy life, a prelude to the life of eternal happiness that awaits us in Heaven forever and ever. Amen.

Furthermore, Pope St. Pius X composed a Prayer to Saint Joseph the Worker for the sanctification of labor. 

O Glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations, to work with gratitude and joy, in a spirit of penance for the remission of my sins, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God, to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties, to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, having always death before my eyes and the account that I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thine example, O Patriarch, St. Joseph. Such shall be my motto in life and in death. Amen.