I came across a Facebook post from a traditionalist scholar, and my head exploded. He claimed that the Church’s new lectionary from Pope Paul VI constituted an egregious rupture with tradition because it includes too many Bible readings. Yes, you heard me right. Let me repeat the objection I made on the show. If the shoe were on the other foot, and it was the Traditional Latin Mass that had more Bible readings, trads would be citing this as a virtue. This criticism of Vatican II is utterly without merit and really only serves to undermine the traditionalist movement. Non-trads who are subjected to such inanities are going to ignore the movement and may lose their sympathy for some of the nobler traditionalist goals.
Synodal News Update
I started the show with a news update on post-synodal developments, and I lamented the fact that the Dubia Cardinals continue to be ignored. As I have explained, our schools are in jeopardy if the bishops ignore Dubium #1. I promised on the show to attach the flier I made that contains Dubium #1. So I’m attaching it below with the original explanation for its importance. But first—a picture is worth a thousand words:
Cardinal McElroy: “We know more than God.”
Screenshot—American Cardinal: “We know more than God.”
“The understanding of human nature and moral reality upon which previous declarations of doctrine were made were in fact limited or defective.”—Cardinal McElroy
The Cardinals Have Warned Us!
On my last podcast, which you can see below, I discussed the importance of the “Dubia Cardinals.” They issued a letter to all the faithful warning us that “highly placed prelates” in the Church and the ongoing Synod are contradicting Divine Revelation and that Pope Francis has not corrected these errors. Now that the first session of the Synod has concluded, we can see that the Dubia Cardinals were exactly right. The Church is facing an existential threat from its own shepherds and from the implementation of the present Synod’s goals. What are those goals? Bishop Robert Barron told us when he commented on the Synod’s Final Report:
A final point—and here I find myself in frank disagreement with the final synodal report—has to do with the development of moral teaching in regard to sex. The suggestion is made that advances in our scientific understanding will require a rethinking of our sexual teaching, whose categories are, apparently, inadequate to describe the complexities of human sexuality.
As I have been reporting, this year is the implementation phase of the Synod’s goals. And so we should not be surprised if we see an effort to change Church doctrine on sexual morality since that is what the Synod’s Final Report is calling for. This is exactly what the American Jesuits are up to, as I report on my new podcast show (see below).
The Dubia Cardinals warned us that this is happening. But the faithful are unaware because local bishops and pastors are keeping quiet about this terrible scandal in the Church. That should not come as a surprise to anyone. Keeping the faithful in the dark has been official Church policy here in America for more than fifty years.
You can do something about this. I am attaching a PDF that includes the letter of the Dubia Cardinals to all the faithful. It also includes the first Dubium. CIRCULATE THIS PDF AT YOUR CHURCH! And demand an answer from your pastor, from your bishop, and from the pope.
Thank you,
John Gravino
February 22, 2024
Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle of Jesus Christ
Letter From Dubia Cardinals—Plus PDF to Circulate
Here is a link to the letter from the Dubia Cardinals. The link is a PDF which you can download and print. Give this letter to your pastor, your bishop, and everyone at your church. Demand that they respond to the Dubia Cardinals and condemn the heresy that is spreading through the Church and the Synod.
John Gravino is the author of The Immoral Landscape of the New Atheism, which was the topic of a health and spirituality seminar at Duke Medical School. He continues to explore the intersection of health and religion and the other big questions of life right here at Patheos. You can read more about the author here.
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