The Indefectible Church

The Church is indefectible; She can never go astray or lead astray. The teaching of our Lord that even the gates of Hell cannot prevail over the Church means that even during the worst persecution of the Church at the time of the Antichrist, the Church will not go astray and will not lead astray.

The one holy Catholic Church is Apostolic. She is the Church led by the successors of Peter and the successors of the other Apostles. For the Church to remain indefectible, the successors of Peter must also be indefectible. And that is the dogma of the ordinary universal Magisterium as well as of the First Vatican Council. No Pope can teach grave error under his non-infallible Magisterium; no Pope can teach any error under his infallible Magisterium. As for Ecumenical Councils, every definitive teaching of the Council, approved by the Pope is infallible, even when it is not a Canon with attached anathema, or a formal definition. For the teachings of Ecumenical Councils, being the teaching of the Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops, is always definitively taught. Popes and Councils can never teach grave error, for then the Church would not be indefectible.

Every valid Pope is indefectible. Every Ecumenical Council is indefectible. The body of Bishops dispersed in the world, but remaining in communion with the Roman Pontiffs and the Ecumenical Councils, and especially in communion with the current Roman Pontiff, are indefectible. For if the body of Bishops, or the Pope, or an Ecumenical Council were ever to teach grave error or lead astray in any way, the Church would not be indefectible.

Every Pope has the charism of truth and of never-failing faith. For Jesus promised that Peter and his successors would never fail in faith (Lk 22:32). This was interpreted infallibly by Vatican I as the charism of never-failing faith. And what does our Lord say after promising that every Pope would be unfailing in faith? Jesus then teaches that the successor of Peter will confirm their brethren in faith, meaning that the body of Bishops, who are successors to the other Apostles, have the same charism of truth and of never-failing faith, but only as a body, and only when they remain in communion with the Roman Pontiff.

Any teaching or commentary contrary to the above teachings constitutes heresy and schism. And references to the End Times cannot change the above dogma on the indefectibility of the Church. Whoever claims that the Antichrist will prevail over the Church is calling Jesus a liar and a fraud. For the Lord promised that the gates of Hell will not prevail over the Church, and the religion of the Antichrist is certainly one type of gate to Hell.

Neither is it possible for the Antichrist or his false prophet, or anyone who is a foreshadowing of these persons to become Roman Pontiff. The valid Roman Pontiff is the Pope accepted by the body of Bishops. They can never go astray following a false head, and so Pope Francis and every other Pope accepted by the body of the successors to the Apostles is and are necessary valid Popes, not antipopes.

The faithful are required to accept each and every Roman Pontiff as Teacher and Shepherd over our minds and hearts, over our bodies and souls. The faithful are required to believe every infallible teaching under pain of heresy and automatic excommunication, and to believe every non-infallible teaching with religious submission of will and intellect. The extent of errors possible in non-infallible teaches is limited; no grave errors have ever been found in any teaching of the non-infallible Papal Magisterium nor in any non-infallible teaching of the body of Bishops, affirmed by the Pope.

La Salette

At La Salette, the Blessed Virgin Mary gave Melanie 33 secrets, and she gave Maximin 10 secrets. These messages are clearly about the End Times. But we must always interpret any private revelations as faithful children of the Church and of the Lord Jesus — believing every teaching of the Ecumenical Councils and every dogma and well-established doctrine.

28. ‘Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the antichrist.’

The 28th secret of Melanie [from my translation here] states that “Rome” will lose the Faith. This cannot mean that the Church would lose the Faith, nor that the Pope would lose the Faith, nor that the body of Bishops would lose the Faith, as all this is contrary to the dogma of the indefectibility of the Church and the dogma of the never-failing faith of the Roman Pontiff, and the teaching of our Lord in Luke 22:32.

What it does mean is that the city of Rome, which has been a predominantly Roman Catholic city for centuries, since the early Church, will lose the Catholic Faith. Most of the residents of Rome will reject Christianity and accept the Antichrist. Then Rome, the city, becomes the seat of the Antichrist in the sense that it becomes the center of authority for the Antichrist’s false religion.

The Antichrist will wish to destroy the true Church, not become its Pope. He seeks to make Rome the center of authority for his false religion, and Jerusalem the center of worship for his false religion, so as to fight against the true Church, and against the other religions of his time, Judaism and Islam. For Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all claim Jerusalem as a holy city. So the Antichrist “sits in the temple of God, presenting himself as if he were God.” (2 Thess 2:4), which is in Jerusalem.

What happens to Vatican City and the Roman Pontiff during that time?

[Daniel]
{9:26} And after sixty-two weeks of years, the Christ leader will be slain. And the people who have denied him will not be his. And the people, when their leader arrives, will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will be devastation, and, after the end of the war, the desolation will be set up.
{9:27} But he will confirm a covenant with many for one week of years; and for half of the week of years, victim and sacrifice will nearly cease; but there will be in the temple the abomination of desolation. And the desolation will continue even to the consummation and the end.”

Roman Pontiff will be killed, for he is the leader of the Christians. And many Christians will leave the Church to follow the Antichrist. For the people who deny Christ and His Vicar are not of the Catholic Christian Church; they leave the true Church to join the Antichrist’s false Church. Then the City and the Sanctuary — referring to Vatican City and the holy places of Vatican City and Rome — will be destroyed by the people who follow the Antichrist.

Therefore, the Antichrist does not become Pope, and the true Church is forced out of Rome, while Vatican City and the main places of worship in Vatican City and Rome (Sistine chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, etc.) are destroyed. This clearly indicates that the Holy See is not the See of the Antichrist. Rather, the Pope is killed and the places belonging to the Catholic Church in that place are destroyed.

The saying that Rome will lose the Faith and become the Seat of the Antichrist does not allow for any accusation to be made against any current or future Pope, nor against the body of Bishops, nor against the Catholic Church. Those who use eschatology to make such accusations are guilty of heresy against the dogma of the indefectibility of the Church, heresy against the never-failing faith of the Pope, and schism for rejecting the authority of the Church.

OnePeterFive

At OnePeterFive, Mary Hansen wrote a post suggesting, but not openly stating, that Pope Francis is associated with the Antichrist, and that the Holy See has lost the Faith. She quotes La Salette, then Scripture.

“– Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist.

St. Paul spoke of such things: “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you and they will not spare the flock (Acts 20:29). “And from your own group men will come forward perverting the truth.” (Acts 20:30).

Are we in the time of the Anti-Christ? No one knows for sure. But as for the savage wolves perverting doctrine? Well-Is this not taking place before our very eyes?” [Mary Hansen writing at OnePeterFive]

No one knows for sure if we are in the time of the Antichrist? ROTFL! Here’s what the time of the Antichrist is like, according to Sacred Scripture:

[2 Thessalonians 2]
{2:1} But we ask you, brothers, concerning the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering to him,
{2:2} that you not be readily disturbed or terrified in your minds, by any spirit, or word, or epistle, supposedly sent from us, claiming that the day of the Lord is close by.
{2:3} Let no one deceive you in any way. For this cannot be, unless the apostasy will have arrived first, and the man of sin will have been revealed, the son of perdition,
{2:4} who is an adversary to, and who is lifted up above, all that is called God or that is worshipped, so much so that he sits in the temple of God, presenting himself as if he were God.
{2:5} Do you not recall that, when I was still with you, I told you these things?
{2:6} And now you know what it is that holds him back, so that he may be revealed in his own time.
{2:7} For the mystery of iniquity is already at work. And only one now holds back, and will continue to hold back, until he is taken from our midst.
{2:8} And then that iniquitous one shall be revealed, the one whom the Lord Jesus shall bring to ruin with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy at the brightness of his return:
{2:9} him whose advent is accompanied by the works of Satan, with every kind of power and signs and false miracles,

Paul says, Do not be deceived, brother Bishops (and brothers and sisters in the Faith), and let no one disturb you — such as by claiming that the Pope and the Bishops will become evil, that the Pope will be the Antichrist or the false prophet, and that the Church will defect (go astray). Then Paul says that “the apostasy will have arrived first.” So Scripture clearly warns us that many Catholic Christians will apostatize; they will reject the Catholic Faith. This cannot be used to make accusations that a Pope or Council or a Pope and the body of Bishops following him have committed apostasy, or heresy, or idolatry. Rather, it clearly proposes that members of the Church go astray. For the Lord teaches us that the Church is indefectible and that the Pope has a never-failing faith, as do the Bishops in communion with him.

The Antichrist will not arrive in secret. He will not secretly control things from behind the scenes, as some conspiracy theories claim. If now is the time of the Antichrist, when did he sit in the temple of God and proclaim himself to be God? I don’t recall that news story, do you? We are also taught that the arrival of the Antichrist, his “advent is accompanied by the works of Satan, with every kind of power and signs and false miracles”. When did a leader in the world perform false miracles and claim to be God? It hasn’t happened yet, clearly.

What holds back the Antichrist? The Roman Pontiff and the Eucharist. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist and the Vicar of Christ are what, figuratively speaking, prevent the Antichrist from arriving in our time. In the time of the Antichrist, hundreds of years from now, the true Pope will be killed, Vatican City and its holy places will be destroyed, and the Eucharist will be replaced with the abomination of desolation, which is not only an invalid Eucharist, but also one of the false and perverse “sacraments” of the Antichrist. That has not happened yet.

The Antichrist will control nearly the whole world, militarily and politically, while claiming to be god and while performing false miracles. Mary Hansen says: “Are we in the time of the Anti-Christ? No one knows for sure.” Really? No one knows if the Antichrist has taken over the whole world, controls all the militaries and governments of the world, performs false miracles, and sits in the temple of God, claiming to be God?

The Antichrist is in some ways the perverse version of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ. Just as the Return of Jesus Christ will be seen by the whole world, so also the advent of the Antichrist will be known by the whole world.

But perhaps we are in the time just before those events. Is that not possible? No, it is not possible. For as our Lady taught us at La Salette — a new favorite private revelation, adopted and then perverted by the papal accusers — before the Antichrist, there will occur certain events. (The following are from the secrets to Melanie.)

10. ‘May the Pope keep himself on guard against the performers of miracles, because the time has come when the most astonishing wonders will take place on the earth and in the air.’

Notice that the Roman Pontiff is a good person, whom the Blessed Virgin Mary is advising. This occurs throughout these secrets. When did the “most astonishing wonders take place on the earth and in the air?” That hasn’t happened yet.

13. ‘The Vicar of my Son will have much to suffer, because for a time the Church will be delivered over to great persecutions: this will be the time of darkness; the Church will have a frightful crisis.’

Again, the Pope remains faithful to the Son of God and Son of Mary. The Church suffers persecutions, but She does not suffer a loss of Faith.

Then, at the end of the first part of the tribulation (called the lesser tribulation), these events happen:

20. ‘At the first stroke of His lightning sword, the mountains and the whole of nature will tremble with terror, because the disorders and the crimes of men pierce the vault of the heavens. Paris will be burned and Marseilles engulfed; several great cities will be shaken and engulfed by earthquakes: it will be believed that all is lost: only homicides will be seen, only the noise of weapons and blasphemies will be heard. The just will suffer much; their prayers, their penances and their tears will climb even up to heaven and all the people of God will ask for forgiveness and mercy, and will ask for my help and my intercession. Then Jesus Christ by an act of His justice and of His great mercy for the just, will command to His angels that all His enemies be put to death. All at once the persecutors of the Church of Jesus Christ and all men devoted to sin will perish, and the earth will become like a desert. Then peace, the reconciliation of God with men will be made; Jesus Christ will be served, adored and glorified; charity will flower everywhere. The new kings will be the right arm of the holy Church, which will be strong, humble, pious, poor, zealous and imitator of the virtues of Jesus Christ. The Gospel will be preached everywhere and men will make great progress in the faith, because there will be unity among the workers of Jesus Christ and because men will live in the fear of God.’

But they have not happened yet. When did Jesus Christ put to death all His enemies on earth? It hasn’t happened yet. Afterward, there will be a time of peace and holiness, which hasn’t happened yet. And then, long after that time, the Antichrist arrives.

21. ‘This peace among men will not be long; 25 years of abundant harvests will make them forget that the sins of men are the cause of all the pains which come upon the earth.’

So, after the end of the first part of the tribulation, there is 25 years of peace and “abundant harvests” (and therefore generally good events on earth). But as sin returns gradually to the world, so does suffering increase.

22. ‘A forerunner of the antichrist with his troops from several nations will fight against the true Christ, the only Savior of the world; he will spill much blood, and will want to annihilate the worship of God in order to make himself be looked upon as a God.’

Next there is a forerunner of the Antichrist. Therefore, not only have the previous events we discussed above not happened yet, subsequently there is only a forerunner of the Antichrist. The Antichrist himself is further into the future from all these events, which have not happened yet. This forerunner has not arrived yet. And this occurs after the first part of the tribulation and after its subsequent 25 years of peace.

23. ‘The earth will be struck all kinds of plagues [in addition to pestilence and famine which will be general]; there will be wars until the last war, which will then be made by the ten kings of the antichrist, which kings will have all one same design and will be the only ones who will rule the world.

Many different sufferings will afflict the world, AFTER all of the above described events. So we have the first part of the tribulation, which has not yet begun, and that includes many events and severe afflictions for the world. Then 25 years of peace. Then a long slow return to sinfulness and increases in sufferings in the world, then a forerunner to the Antichrist. And what happens after all this, and after many different kinds of “plagues” (meaning sufferings in general)? There will be many different wars, and finally the last war, which establishes ten kings ruling over the whole world.

These ten kings “will be the only ones who will rule the world.” They are called “of the Antichrist” because he will be born in their kingdom, during their reign, and he will rise to power within this kingdom of the ten kings. But not yet. First, the ten kings rule the whole world for at least a few generations, as proven by the events in Daniel chapter 11.

Is the world ruled by ten kings only yet? No. Clearly not. So the Antichrist is not in the world today, and his reign is in the very distant future. Very many events must occur first, including the rise of fall of successive kingdoms, many different afflictions for the Church and the world, the first part of the tribulation, the time of peace afterward, a gradual increase in sin in the world, and the establishment of the kingdom of the ten kings.

Hansen: “Are we in the time of the Anti-Christ? No one knows for sure.”

Wrong. We are not anywhere near the time of the Antichrist. The papal accusers make these suggestions to cause the weak in faith to distrust Pope Francis, distrust the body of Bishops, distrust past and future Popes and Councils — so that they can have power over the Church instead of the Shepherds appointed by Christ.
[Luke]
{20:13} Then the lord of the vineyard said: ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps when they have seen him, they will respect him.’
{20:14} And when the settlers had seen him, they discussed it among themselves, saying: ‘This one is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’
{20:15} And forcing him outside of the vineyard, they killed him. What, then, will the lord of the vineyard do to them?”

The settlers who rented the vineyard, i.e. who were put in charge of the vineyard temporarily, rejected the Son of God. And they did so knowingly. Some of the Jewish leaders who rejected Christ knew He was the long-awaited Messiah. And they had him put to death anyway, because they wanted “the inheritance”. In other words, they wanted the role of leadership and teaching that He arrived to take.

Similarly today, the papal accusers viciously attack the Popes and the body of Bishops and the Ecumenical Councils so that they can figuratively kill these sources of leadership and teaching in the Church. They want that inheritance for themselves. The papal accusers want to be the leaders and teachers in the Church. If the faithful believe what the Popes and Bishops and Ecumenical Councils teach, then the papal accusers will be nothing but followers.

And the situation arose because certain conservative Catholics were teaching one version of the Faith. And then Vatican II and the Popes from that time began to correct certain errors. Rather than admit that they had long been teaching and living by an incorrect version of the Faith, they rebelled against Church authority and rejected the Shepherds of the Church and their teachings.

But he ferocity of their attacks is quite surprising. There seems to be no accusation they would be unwilling to make against any Pope, Council or Bishop. They openly hate the teaching authority itself of the Church. They speak as if their own understanding could never err on doctrine or discipline. But never do they submit to Church authority in any matter. Sometimes, just by chance, their own understanding agrees with a teaching of the Church. But they never accept teaching or correction. For they have exalted themselves above all that is called true religion, have made themselves an adversary to the true Faith, which worships the one true God, and they speak to the whole world presenting themselves as if they were gods, knowing the truths of faith and morals with absolute certitude and overseeing the whole Church and its Magisterium.

{2:4} who is an adversary to, and who is lifted up above, all that is called God or that is worshipped, so much so that he sits in the temple of God, presenting himself as if he were God.

Pope Francis has the charism of truth and of never-failing faith. None of his teachings under the Magisterium are grave errors. He represents Christ. He teaches through the Holy Spirit. And yet the papal accusers never cease to express malice and hatred toward him.

But do not be deceived. The End Times is not a means to accuse Pope Francis, the Bishops, or the Church of teaching grave error, nor of leading the faithful astray. During the End Times, the Church will continue to be the sole Ark of Salvation, and the only safe harbor in the storm. Never at any time, has or will the Church be ruled by evil persons, nor by the Antichrist or the false prophet. Every successor of Peter has the charism of truth and of never-failing faith. And the Church, founded on Peter and his successors, is indefectible.

“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you and they will not spare the flock (Acts 20:29).
“And from your own group men will come forward perverting the truth.” (Acts 20:30).

Who are the savage wolves who will not spare the flock (Acts 20:29)?? They are those very same persons who attack the Church, the Vicar of Christ, and the successors of the Apostles. They are recognized because they pervert the Truth. They come from “your own group”, meaning from among Catholics. And they pervert the truth by rejecting the teachings of Popes and Councils. The papal accusers fit these warnings very well

Hansen wrote: “Are we in the time of the Anti-Christ? No one knows for sure. But as for the savage wolves perverting doctrine? Well-Is this not taking place before our very eyes?”

We are not in the time of the Antichrist, as is clearly known by reading what Mary said at La Salette. And the papal accusers are the savage wolves. For they pervert the doctrines of the Church and they savagely attack the Vicars of Christ and the successors of the Apostles. Since the Church is Apostolic, the truth is from the successors of the Apostles, not from those who reject their authority and who make savage accusations against the Apostles of today.

Ronald L. Conte Jr.