Here’s the article at LifeSiteNews: ‘Catholics’ film predicts Rome will suppress the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Note that I did not see the film; I’m commenting based on the description given in the LSN article. Also, the LSN article title is misleading, see below.

The main problem with the film is that it predicts the Pope and the body of Bishops will all go astray from the true Faith. This is not possible. Neither the Roman Pontiff, no matter who he is, nor the Bishops as a body, can defect from the true Faith, as the Church is not only indefectible, but also apostolic.

The Roman Pontiffs, as the successors of Peter, are each the Rock on which the Church is founded, and each is the visible head of the Church, during their pontificates. Then Christ and His Vicar (the Pope) constitute one only Head and one only Rock of the one Church. Also, each Pope has the papal charisms, including the charism of truth and never-failing faith. Since the faith of each Pope cannot fail, and since the Pope has a mystical unity with Christ as one Head and one Rock of the Church, therefore the Pope cannot go astray or lead astray from the true Faith, not even when teaching or ruling non-infallibly.

Then, as Luke 22:32 also teaches, in the very words of Christ to Peter, this gift of never-failing faith allows the Pope to confirm his brethren, the Bishops, in the Faith. Therefore, the body of Bishops participates in the charism of truth and never-failing faith, only as a body (not individually) led by the Pope, so much so that they can never go astray, nor lead astray, from the true Faith. The teachings of Vatican I and Vatican II make this clear, along with the ancient and constant teaching of the Church on the Roman Pontiff.

And since neither the Roman Pontiff by himself, not the body of Bishops as a body, can go astray or lead astray, no Ecumenical Council can go astray or lead astray. Every Ecumenical Council is the body of Bishops gathered under the authority of the Roman Pontiff. Nothing is “of a Council” unless approved by the Roman Pontiff. So a future Ecumenical Council cannot lead astray, and it is false, schismatic, and heretical to claim that any past Ecumenical Council led the faithful astray.

The film treats the Latin Mass as if it were indispensable to the Faith, and it treats the predicted suppression of the Latin Mass as a sign that the Pope and Bishops have gone astray. But this is not a correct understanding of Catholicism. The valid suppression of the Latin Mass is possible, as nothing in the Faith itself requires the Mass to be said in Latin. Nothing in Tradition or Scripture requires that the Mass be said with the priest facing away from the people or in Latin. That particular form of the Mass (called the traditional Latin Mass) is dispensable. Consider, for example, that all the disciplines of the Old Testament, written into Sacred Scripture, were dispensed by Christ and His Church (animal sacrifices, dietary rules, etc.). The lessons they teach and the spiritual meaning of those passages of Scripture remain true. But those disciplines are no longer in force. The Latin Mass is not written into Sacred Scripture. But like all discipline, it is changeable and dispensable.

The film predicts that the Pope and Bishops and the vast majority of the Church worldwide will reject the Sacrament of Confession, and reject transubstantiation and the Real Presence in the Eucharist. The film also predicts that the Pope and Bishops will accept a “one world religion”, that merges all religions into one thing, causing many Catholic teachings to be abandoned. An Ecumenical Council is hypothesized in the film, called “Vatican IV”, which also goes astray from the true Faith.

The film then portrays the Latin Mass Catholics as the only ones who remain true to the Catholic Faith, while the rest of the Church goes astray with the Pope and the Bishops. The message of the film appears to be that the traditionalist Catholics are the guardians of Tradition, Scripture, and the true Faith in doctrine and discipline, while the Popes and the body of Bishops, successors to the apostles, are likely to go astray. How likely? The film claims that certain passages of Scripture, such as Daniel 9:27 and the Book of Revelation predict such an apostasy by the successors to the Apostles (the Pope and Bishops).

I want my readers to understand that the dogmas of the Church, including on the indefectibility of the Church, the apostolic nature of the Church, the papal charisms, the participation of the Bishops in these charisms and in the very nature of the Church, all prove that such a future is not possible. God is not unfaithful. The Lord Jesus did not lie to us. Jesus taught that the gates of Hell will never prevail over the Church, that the Church is founded on Peter and his successors, and that Peter and his successors will confirm their brethren, the Bishops, in the true Faith.

{16:18} And I say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.
{16:19} And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound, even in heaven. And whatever you shall release on earth shall be released, even in heaven.”

{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.”

The faith of Peter and his successors will never fail. The faith of the body of Bishops, as a body led by the Pope, can never fail also, as they are confirmed in the true faith by each successive Pope. And the Church is indefectible, so that the gates of Hell can never prevail over it. This indefectibility is secured by the Rock on which the Church is founded, which is Christ and His Vicar. Therefore, the Roman Pontiff exercises the authority of Christ, and whatever he decides for the Church on earth is confirmed in heaven. And those who oppose the Pope and the body of Bishops are not the “most faithful” opposing grave errors; instead, they are heretics opposing the Vicar of Christ and successors to the Apostles.

As for the film’s presentation of private interpretations of Scripture and of certain private revelations, these cannot withstand the authoritative interpretation of Tradition and Scripture given by the Magisterium. Any private interpretation or prediction must be false, if it contradicts the constant teaching of the Church and the Church’s own authoritative interpretation of Scripture.

Notice what the film proposes. The Latin Mass Catholics are the only ones who retain the true Faith, while the Pope, the Bishops, the Ecumenical Councils, and the rest of the clergy and laity all go astray. Then the Latin Mass is treated as the reason for their self-assessed faithfulness. The Latin Mass itself is holy and good. However, some persons have turned it into an idol to be worshipped, so much so that they think that faithfulness itself comes from this exterior form. This idea is Pharisaical. Attending the holy Latin Mass, while harboring schism, heresy, and also malice toward the Roman Pontiff is like a white-washed tomb.

Christ did not teach the necessity of the Latin Mass. Jesus did not institute the Mass in immutable specifics. He established the Mass, but He gave the Pope and Bishops the authority to govern the particulars of the form of the Mass. Jesus did not found His Church on a group of Latin Mass disciples, nor did Jesus require the use of Latin. As for the only Mass said by Christ in person, the Last Supper, it was not said with the celebrant, the Lord Himself, standing with His back to the Apostles.

The article on this film also gives the impression that, even today, the Pope and the body of Bishops have gone astray from the true Faith, while only the Latin Mass Catholics have remained faithful. Such a claim implies the rejection of multiple dogmas on the indefectibility of the Church and the charisms given to the Pope and to the body of Bishops led by the Pope.

Ronald L Conte Jr