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D r a g n e t
SEND UP WHITE SMOKE, PLEASE
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This Rock
Volume 4, Number 12
 December 1993 
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We know about sedevacantists, who profess
to be Catholic but insist that there is no valid pope; they say the
chair of Peter is empty. Sedevacantist traditionalist groups have
tricked thousands of well-meaning Catholics out of full communion
and into little schisms. The threat they pose is real and identifiable.
But what do you call folks who say the chair of Peter is not empty,
but that someone other than John Paul II is sitting in it?
We'll call them wrong, and they're the latest entry into the ranks
of more-Catholic-than-thou sects that advance the centuries-old line
that they, regardless of appearances, bear the fullness of
Catholic truth. Perhaps it is the romance of being a remnant, the
attraction of some secret knowledge challenging the status quo, and
perceived persecution that give these groups their enthusiastic if
small followings.
"I finally found the true Vicar of Christ!" writes Fr.
Daniel E. Jones of Westcliffe, Colorado in a "December 1993
Christmas Letter" sent to readers of his Sangre de Cristo
Newsnotes. The real pope, it appears, is Fr. John Gregory
XVII, who "has been the visible head of Christ's Church
since 1968!" What evidence is there for this conclusion? "It
all has to do with the prophecies in the Apocalypse, with the prophecies
and secrets of La Salette and Fatima!" Further proof comes from
Nostradamus, who "spoke of there being two popes in our time
(one chosen by the bishops without faith, and the other appointed
directly by Jesus)."
Apparently this true pope, having for 25 years been hidden and silenced
by persecution, is soon to be revealed to the world and will lead
the Church through a period of chastisement that will include "a
huge earthquake to be experience[d] over the entire earth, lasting
10 minutes ... [a] big financial collapse . . . [and a] big
war."
Fundamentalists tend to attack the Church as a whole and sedevacantists
focus on "conciliar" Catholics, but Fr. Jones feels compelled
to teach all Christendom a lesson: "God wants order and unity
in His Church. That is why he gave it a visible head. Non-Catholic
Christians, you are going to have to deal with this issue. Catholics
of the apostate Roman Catholic Novus Ordo Church, events will more
and more show you that `Rome has lost the faith and become the seat
of Antichrist' as foretold by our Lady of La Salette. Sedevacantist
traditional Catholics, know that God has not left His Church without
a visible shepherd .... your ranks are so divided, unless you
get off your high-horses and humble yourselves, you are liable to
miss the boat (the Ark of Salvation)."
What is wrong with all this?
For starters, an unresolved peculiarity. Fr. Jones claims to have
found the real pope, but only "after years of searching."
Yet he says the pope he found has been the "visible" head
of the Church for 25 years. If he has been visible, why has no one
seen him, and why did it take Fr. Jones so long to find him? Doesn't
this unseen visibility suggest the man is a phony?
Especially troublesome is Fr. Jones' dependence on private revelation.
A good axiom to keep in mind is that God never uses private revelation
to disclose information vital to the salvation of the Church in general.
The identity of the true pope would seem to fall into this category,
since we rely on popes to safeguard Catholic teaching.
Another problem is Fr. Jones's odd interpretations of and false details
about well-known and approved revelations such as Fatima and La Salette.
For example, he appropriates the third secret of Fatima, claiming
that it supports his cause. But there is no evidence at all
for this. After all, none of us really knows what the third secret
is, and anyone who claims to (other than Pope John Paul II and Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger) is only speculating.
Fr. Jones claims that Melanie Calvat, one of the
two young seers at La Salette, "spent her whole life . . . working
to establish the Order of the Mother of God," the rule for which
"was approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1879" and of which "Pope"
John Gregory XVII is now superior general (thus the connection between
him and La Salette). All this seems to be false. Historical accounts
agree that Melanie spent her years after the apparition wandering
about Europe, several times trying to enter religious communities,
but in each case being deemed unfit for community life. She neither
joined nor founded any order, and she died a holy death in 1904.
So far as our research has been able to determine, if the Order of
the Mother of God exists, it never was approved by Leo XIII and is
not recognized by the Vatican now. If it exists at all, it would appear
to be a rogue order and may have been established recently.
As Ronald Knox observed in Enthusiasm, you go astray
when you think yourself part of a remnant, one of the few blessed
with secret knowledge. But the true Church is not thus. To be Catholic
is to confess and strive to live the most public and accessible of
faiths and the clearest and plainest of revelations, and it is to
do so with humility and with submission toward authority.
God's authority rests today where it has always, in the universal,
visible Church, not in shadows or cryptic prophecies. Use Nostradamus
to bet on the Super Bowl if you wish, but leave the Church to the
authority of the apostles and their successors.
On the inside front cover you'll find an
advertisement for our Catholic Answers Holy Land Pilgrimage,
scheduled for August 31 through September 9, 1994. Perhaps you've
seen notices for other pilgrimages in your diocesan newspaper. The
notices say that Fr. So-and-So, who is from your own diocese, will
be your spiritual guide as you visit this, that, and the other site
in the Holy Land.
Those pilgrimages are good, but in most cases Fr. So-and-So knows
as little about the Holy Land as do the rest of the pilgrims, and
the whole trip is usually more a sightseeing tour than a religious
and intellectual experience. This is where our pilgrimage will differ.
You'll be under the care of people who really know the Holy Land and
the faith, and there will be lots for your brain, not just your eyes.
If you join us, you'll be joining the majority of the Catholic Answers
staff. We'll all fly over together. Our staffers will board a transcontinental
flight in Los Angeles. If we don't meet you at LAX, we'll meet you
and the other pilgrims in New York, where we'll board a plane for
Tel Aviv. (For a few hours this will be the most apologetical plane
in the world.)
With us will be Catholic Answers' good friend Fr. Mitch Pacwa,
S.J. You already know Fr. Pacwa from his regular appearances on
EWTN, where he has hosted several series, or from his frequent speaking
engagements. He is an expert in Semitic languages (he teaches Hebrew
at Loyola University in Chicago), and he is one of just a few non-Israelis
to have been certified by the Israeli government as an official tour
guide. Fr. Pacwa has been to the Holy Land often, and his knowledge
of it is extensive. (Fr. So-and-So just can't compare.)
Your knowledge will be fairly extensive too, even before you board
the plane, because Catholic Answers will provide you with special
literature that will let you steal a march on other pilgrims. It makes
no sense to begin learning about the Holy Land only once you get there.
To make your pilgrimage as worthwhile as possible, you'll need to
have a fair bit of knowledge in advance. Yes, before you go you'll
pick up a travel guide at your local bookstore, but we'll give you
material you otherwise won't be able to find. We've chosen to visit
sites that are important for their apologetical value, and we'll make
sure you're up to speed about them.
Among the special treats on our pilgrimage will be a private audience
with Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and
two special talks, one on the papacy and one on the Bible,
prepared especially for our pilgrimage by our staffers. We will end
our stay in the Holy Land with an unforgettable and joyous evening
of "Catholic Trivia," scripted by Catholic Answers.
We don't expect to be able to offer this kind of pilgrimage again
for many years, so we suggest you call us for reservation information
soon, before all the places have been taken.
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