The opponents of Pope Francis have repeatedly used a particular severe distortion of Church history as an argument against the Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops who support him. They also use this argument to attack the Second Vatican Council and the Popes and Bishops since that time. Their accusation is that the Popes since Vatican II, especially Pope Francis, and the body of Bishops also since the Council, are and have been thoroughly corrupt and are not to be trusted by the faithful on doctrine and discipline. They accuse the successors of Peter and the successors of the other Apostles (i.e. the Apostolic College and its Head, the Roman Pontiff) of being continuously for many years a Pornocracy.

They attempt to support this claim about the current state of the Church by describing in a severely distorted manner various historical events in the Church. Such an argument concludes that the Church fell into a “pornocracy”, in which the Pope or the body of Bishops and the Pope became corrupt and therefore not to be trusted as Shepherds of the flock of Jesus Christ. This claim about the Church in the past is then used to conclude that the Church currently is led by a pornocracy.

This accusation is contrary to the promise and prayer of Jesus in the Gospels. This accusation is contrary to the direct teaching of Christ, the Son of God. This accusation is contrary to the ancient constant teaching of the Church — of Popes, Councils, Fathers, Doctors and Saints — on the indefectibility of the Church, the charism of truth and never-failing faith of the Roman Pontiff, and the fundamental immutable character of the Church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. The same accusation is inherently a rejection of the entirety of the authority of the Church, in multiple time periods including the present time. Therefore, this accusation, that the Church was previously and currently is led by a Pornocracy, is both schismatic and heretical.

The marks of the Church are essential inseparable characteristics. They have been, are, and always will be present in full in the Church on earth continuously without fail at any time:

Catholic Encyclopedia: “The marks of the Church are certain unmistakeable signs, or distinctive characteristics which render the Church easily recognizable to all, and clearly distinguish it from every other religious society, especially from those which claim to be Christian in doctrine and origin. That such external signs are necessary to the true Church is plain from the aim and the purpose which Christ had in view when He made His revelation and founded a Church. The purpose of the redemption was the salvation of men. Hence, Christ made known the truths which men must heed and obey. He established a Church to which He committed the care and the exposition of these truths, and, consequently He made it obligatory on all men that they should know and hear it (Matthew 18:17). It is obvious that this Church, which takes the place of Christ, and is to carry on His work by gathering men into its fold and saving their souls, must be evidently discernible to all. There must be no doubt as to which is the true Church of Christ, the one which has received, and has preserved intact the Revelation which He gave it for man’s salvation. Were it otherwise the purpose of the Redemption would be frustrated, the blood of the Saviour shed in vain, and man’s eternal destination at the mercy of chance. Without doubt, therefore, Christ, the all-wise legislator, impressed upon His Church some distinctive external marks by which, with the use of ordinary diligence, all can distinguish the real Church from the false, the society of truth from the ranks of error. These marks flow from the very essence of the Church; they are properties inseparable from its nature and manifestive of its character, and, in their Christian and proper sense, can be found in no other institution. In the Formula of the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381), four marks of the Church are mentioned — unity, sanctity, Catholicity, Apostolicity — which are believed by most theologians to be exclusively the marks of the True Church.” [1]

The accusation that the Church ever was, is now, or ever will be anything contrary to those four marks is a severe heresy which seeks to destroy the Catholic Faith, leaving those who fall into this grave error like sheep without true Shepherds. The Lord Jesus established His Church with Peter and each of his successors as both the visible Head and foundational Rock which keeps the Church indefectible and therefore never-failing.

[Luke]
{22:32} But I have prayed for you, so that your faith may not fail, and so that you, once converted, may confirm your brothers.”

First Vatican Council, Pastor Aeternus, 4, 6-7:
“Indeed, their apostolic teaching was embraced by all the venerable fathers and reverenced and followed by all the holy orthodox doctors, for they knew very well that this See of St. Peter always remains unblemished by any error, in accordance with the divine promise of our Lord and Savior to the prince of his disciples: ‘I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren’ [Lk 22:32].

“This gift [Latin: charisma] 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.”

Every successor of Peter has this charism of truth and never-failing faith. This teaching has been the constant teaching of the Magisterium since ancient times, and was confirmed by the First Vatican Council as the dogmatic teaching of the Church.

Then, just as Pope Pius XII taught, “Christ and His Vicar constitute one only Head” of the one Church [Mystical Body of Christ, 40]. The Pope and the body of Bishops led by him and teaching with him can never become corrupt in doctrine or discipline. For the Church is the body of Christ, with Christ as its eternal Head. But the Church does not have two heads, like a monster, but “one only Head”, which is Christ and His Vicar, who are mystically united in leading the Church.

And since the Church is always One, always Holy, always Catholic (universal), and always Apostolic, it is impossible for any successor of Peter, in his leadership of the Church and his exercise of the Keys of Peter, to be correctly called in any sense the leader of a pornocracy. No valid Pope, regardless of his alleged personal sins, can ever fail in faith. No valid Pope can ever teach or impose grave error on the Church in doctrine or discipline. Each valid Pope has the same papal charisms as every other Pope, including the charism of truth and never-failing faith. And the Holy Spirit guarantees that the body of Bishops will always support the true Roman Pontiff — otherwise the Church would no longer be one and apostolic, if the body of Bishops or the Pope, or indeed the Pope and the Bishops together, ever became corrupt in their decisions of doctrine and discipline.

Then, too, the claim is false and heretical that the Pope, or the body of Bishops with him, can err to any extent, except when exercising infallibility. Such a plan would leave the Ark of Salvation to be guided into many grave errors, so as to run aground or crash upon rocks, again and again, except when infallibility is used. Such is not the teaching of Christ, who said that the gates of Hell would never prevail over the Church. The Church has always taught that these words of Jesus refer to the indefectibility of the Church. The Ark of Salvation is always guided aright, for the sake of the salvation of the Elect. The Church is always the body of Christ, and so She can never be lead by a pornocracy; that is a blasphemous accusation against Christ and the Holy Spirit.

For as Vatican I taught: “1. The Son of God, redeemer of the human race, our Lord Jesus Christ, promised, when about to return to his heavenly Father, that he would be with this Church militant upon earth all days even to the end of the world. Hence never at any time has he ceased to stand by his beloved bride, assisting her when she teaches, blessing her in her labors and bringing her help when she is in danger.” [Dei Filius, Introduction, 1]

The accusation against the Church that She has repeatedly (or ever) fallen into such grave errors on doctrine and discipline by the Pope and/or the body of Bishops that Her leadership should be termed a pornocracy is a direct thorough rejection of the teaching of Christ in the Gospels and its constant interpretation by the Church in every age. It is a direct rejection of the infallible teaching of the ordinary universal Magisterium, as well as the teaching of the First Vatican Council.

In addition, the canonization of Saints by the Roman Pontiff falls under the secondary objects of Papal Infallibility, and so cannot be said to have canonized a Pope who was supposedly the leader of a pornocracy in the Church. Popes John 23, Paul VI, John Paul II and other Popes during alleged past times of “pornocracy” are canonized Saints. This further refutes the wicked attack on the Church by those who use a distorted explanation of historical events as a way to reject the authority, teaching and decisions on discipline of Popes, Councils, and the body of Bishops.

As faithful Catholics, we must always stand on faith and accept what Christ and His Church teach, in opposition to any type of argument from alleged historical events or supposedly-reasonable scholarship. Otherwise, the reasonings of fallen sinners would lead us away from the true Faith. So we must never follow an ideology or a subculture within the Church instead of the teachings of Peter and his successors, along with the other successors of the Apostles. Then if any Bishop, calling himself a successor of the Apostles, stands in opposition to any Pope, or in opposition to the body of Bishops led by the Pope, such a Bishop has lost his jurisdiction, just as Pope Leo XII taught in Satis Cognitum, n. 15. It is never faithful to follow a few Bishops in opposition to the Pope and the body of Bishops led by him. Your own assessment of any Pontificate or time period in the Church or set of decisions on doctrine or discipline is fallible to any extent. By comparison, the Roman Pontiff, and the body of Bishops led by him, is always protected from grave error in what is non-infallible, and always protected from all error in what is infallible. The Bishops have this charism only as a body, not as individuals or small groups, and the Roman Pontiff has the charism individually.

Catholic World Report has yet again published an article which is heretical and schismatic. The article is titled “When Harlots Ruled the Church”. Almost the entirely of the article is an attack on the indefectibility, unity, and holiness of the Church in one or two past time periods. Then our souls are struck with these two claims:

Catholic World Report: “Here a scandal, there a scandal, and pretty soon you’re talking real depravity. As the Church shudders almost daily from new stories of corruption, the faithful wonder if this is the worst ecclesiastical era ever.”

“My purpose in writing this essay was to argue that a Church that survived the Age of Lead and Iron can survive whatever horrors our present era inflicts.”

These sentences wickedly accuse the present-day Church of being a pornocracy, without any evidence, argument, or examples. The opponents of Pope Francis know that their audience has already rejected the Pope and almost all Bishops in their authority itself, their teachings, and their decisions on discipline. So they do not bother with theological arguments. They ignore the teachings of the Church and the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels. They simply tell their audience what they wish to hear, with unskilled sophistry replacing any attempt to address the theological implications of their accusatory claims.

The Church is the body of Christ, with Christ as Her eternal Head and the Holy Spirit as the soul of the Church. The accusation of a pornocracy against the Church is therefore indirect blasphemy, severe heresy, and severe schism. The goal of these authors (such as are also found at OnePeterFive) is to transfer the leadership role of the Church from the successors of Peter and the successors of the other Apostles, to an unfaithful group of heretics and schismatics, so that the latter can rule over the faithful instead of the successors to the Apostles, instead of the Holy Spirit, instead of Christ. They attack every decision of the Church throughout history, if it is contrary to their own understanding, ideas, or preferences for discipline, so as to leave nothing of Church doctrine and discipline except what they themselves have approved. Then they attempt to claim that their own errors are the true faith. In this way, they attempt to replace not only the Pope and Bishops, but the Lord Jesus Christ himself. For they act as if they were above the entire Church, above every Pope, Bishops, Council, above Tradition and Scripture to judge their meaning, and above the Magisterium.

We need not delve into each accusation against Pope Francis, other recent Popes, Vatican II, also Vatican I, and past Popes and Councils as well. We stand on faith in Christ and His teachings and His Church, which He never abandons to corruption, grave error, and the like. We know by faith that the gates of Hell can never prevail over the Church. But the accusation of one or more pornocracies in the Church is a direct rejection of that teaching by Christ, which is also the constant infallible teaching of the Church. Their claims about Church history are distorted, and one can read a faithful interpretation in Saint Robert Bellarmine, as he goes through many different accusations against past Popes, including during the time period of an alleged pornocracy.

More Reading here.

[John]
{6:61} Therefore, many of his disciples, upon hearing this, said: “This saying is difficult,” and, “Who is able to listen to it?”
{6:62} But Jesus, knowing within himself that his disciples were murmuring about this, said to them: “Does this offend you?
{6:63} Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending to where he was before?
{6:64} It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh does not offer anything of benefit. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
{6:65} But there are some among you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who were unbelieving and which one would betray him.
{6:66} And so he said, “For this reason, I said to you that no one is able to come to me, unless it has been given to him by my Father.”
{6:67} After this, many of his disciples went back, and they no longer walked with him.
{6:68} Therefore, Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
{6:69} Then Simon Peter answered him: “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
{6:70} And we have believed, and we recognize that you are the Christ, the Son of God.”

Ronald L Conte Jr

Endnotes:
1. Callan, C. (1912). Unity (as a Mark of the Church). In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved September 1, 2023 from New Advent: Link