Thursday, October 3, 2024

Catholic...but not Roman

Roman Catholicism of the past millennium can't be reconciled with the Faith of the Apostles, earlier true Popes, or the Scriptures as taught by the Fathers.  Several posts on this blog demonstrate that a counterfeit Roman Catholic church was established in the 11th century by heretics,  justified by forged documents, and held together by worldly militancy.  Today, many quotes are taken out of context by papal apologists, in order to promote false papal claims.  Some Latin translations of the early Church Fathers even admit to altering texts, in order to conform with later papal teaching!  In other words, they admittedly added "Filioque", and other heretical terms, to the writings of the Fathers "to reflect the proper theology"!  (See below.)  "The papacy" is especially based on the false application of one scripture passage:  Matthew 16:18-19.  Contrary to the teaching and practice of the early Popes, Rome's primacy morphed into a despotic papal supremacy, infallibility and indefectibility, all of which are heretical.  There are hundreds of forgeries and falsifications pertaining to papal prerogatives and other doctrines: 

Most  Roman Catholics are aware of the Great East-West Schism of 1054, but they are unaware that, after almost 200 years of sin and scandal within the Roman See, the French monk Hildebrand (later Antipope Gregory VII) managed to attain a certain influence over the Popes through blackmail and violence, starting with the manipulation of Pope Leo IX (1049-1054). Hildebrand, with C. Humbert, contributed to the east-west Schism in 1054. Hildebrand was caught lying by Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV (1042-1055), who compelled him to swear an oath to have nothing to do with the governance of the Church, and especially never to become Pope!  Nevertheless, after Pope Leo IX's death, Hildebrand colluded with an Italian (Jewish) banking family, Pierleone, in order to gain control of the papacy behind the scenes. With the death of the Emperor in 1055, Hildebrand then considered himself free from his public oath, and thus free to openly pursue the coveted papal throne, procuring and maintaining it through murder, deception, blackmail and militant force.

For a detailed history, see:

"Who Invented the Roman Catholic Church" playlist, NFTU: True Orthodox News and Apologetics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbXwo0gYwaQ&list=PL7g13PP_xaL7svkyJteyH9dsfjpj2apmg
Part I: addresses how the west was Orthodox
Part II: how western Bishops opposed, and deposed, Gregory VII (the Sarabaite monk Hildebrand)
Part III: how Hildebrand stole the Orthodox papacy

The third and worst kind of monk are the Sarabaites, who have never been tried under any Rule, nor by the experience of a master. ~ St. Benedict

Roman Catholics are rarely told that western bishops rejected the usurpation of Hildebrand (Gregory VII) and his "reforms", as well as his successors into the next century.  They are unaware that the Latin bishops condemned Gregory VII at the Synod of Brixen:  "...Not only Rome, indeed, but the whole Roman world bears witness that he was not chosen by God but that he forced his way most impudently by violence, fraud and bribery...most brazen Hildebrand, who preaches sacrilege and arson, who defends perjury and homicide, who questions the catholic and apostolic faith concerning the body and blood of our Lord, who is an ancient disciple of the heretic Berengar, a manifest believer in dreams and divinations, a necromancer, dealing in the spirit of prophecy and therefore a wanderer from the true faith..."  

"Synod of Brixen, 1080"
https://thecatholiccottage.blogspot.com/2024/08/synod-of-brixen-1080.html 

"Dictatus Papae, 1087"
https://thecatholiccottage.blogspot.com/2024/08/dictatus-papae-1087.html

What was Hildebrand's solution?  Some dissenting Bishops and priests were replaced, as was the case in England after the Norman Conquest (1066).  And eventually, vacant bishops' Sees were filled only with those who approved of the "Reforms". 

Creed:  “I believe in...one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church...”

That faith is catholic which has been held by all everywhere at all times. It was given in its entirety by Jesus Christ to all the Apostles, the first bishops of the Church, not only to St. Peter.  St. Peter was pre-eminent because he was first to declare the truth about Christ.  He was first among his fellow Apostles, not above them.  When Christ declared that Peter's faith would not fail, He was both prophesying Peter's denial of Him, as well as the grace that would be given him, personally, to repent.  But it's pointless to talk of the true nature of Roman primacy when Rome doesn't profess the Faith of the Apostles.  Rome fell away, but the entire Church did not fall away.  Jesus Christ promised to be with, not only St. Peter, but with all His Apostles until the end of the world:

Matt. 28:20  Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you [plural]: and behold I am with you [plural] all days, even to the consummation of the world.

Num. 23:19  God is not a man, that He should lie, nor as the son of man, that He should be changed. Hath He said then, and will He not do? Hath He spoken, and will He not fulfill?

All the words of Jesus are true; all scriptures must be taken into account, not only Matt. 16:18.  The idea that Christ abandoned His Church for a thousand years, or even fifty years, as a punishment for men's sins, is heretical because it's contrary to the scriptures, tradition, and the very purpose of the Church: 

John 3:16-17  For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.  For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him. 

Rom. 5:6-10  For why did Christ, when as yet we were weak, according to the time, die for the ungodly?  For scarce for a just man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man some one would dare to die.  But God commendeth his charity towards us; because when as yet we were sinners, according to the time Christ died for us; much more therefore, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him.  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Col. 1:24  ...His body, which is the church.

Eph. 5:29  For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church.

Ultimately, Roman Catholicism has only one doctrine:  that the Pope, as the Vicar of Christ, is the source of the Church's unity, infallibility and indefectibility.  As such, doctrines develop according to his dictate.  But doctrinal development is heretical.  See:
"St. Vincent of Lerins or Manning?"
Pope St. Gregory the Great, in his letters (which were too well-known to falsify), teaches us that "the papacy" is a satanic lie:  
"Pope St. Gregory the Great Refuses the Title 'Universal'"
Epistle 18, To John of Constantinople (St. John the Faster):  Certainly Peter, the first of the apostles, himself a member of the holy and universal Church, Paul, Andrew, John, — what were they but heads of particular communities? And yet all were members under one Head...not one of them has wished himself to be called universal. 
Letter 33, to Mauricius Augustus:  Now I confidently say that whosoever calls himself, or desires to be called, Universal Priest, is in his elation the precursor of Antichrist, because he proudly puts himself above all others. 
The fact that Popes Liberius - 4th century, Zosimus - 5th century, Vigilius - 6th century, and Honorius - 7th century were found guilty of heresy in the west, betrays the lie that the Church considered Popes to be indefectible sources of truth.  Even the Eastern Patriarchs' finding Pope Nicholas guilty of heresy in the 9th century was not objected to on the grounds that a pope was infallible or indefectible!  Besides this, the clear signs to all the faithful that Rome fell away from the unity of faith was its change of the Creed and the Sacraments.  The first change, the use of unleavened bread, distorts eucharistic theology:
"Not Dead Bread"
In spite of modern wafer defenders' attempts to rewrite history with fictitious anecdotes claiming unleavened bread had always been used in the Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory, it was the forced use of Jewish azymes in Byzantine Roman churches that led to the east-west Schism of 1054.

The second change, to the Creed, had been forbidden by several Councils, as well as anathematized by true Popes:  
"Three Shields"
If we are going to profess a catholic and apostolic Church, we must be faithful to the Apostles and their successors, the true Popes and holy Patriarchs, not the apostate antipopes who came later.  The Faith professed in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is perfectly complete.  This was expressly stated by the Ecumenical Councils, through which the Holy Spirit guides the Church:
Council of Chalcedon, 451, Session II, Acts:  "No one makes a new exposition [Creed], nor do we attempt or presume to do so. For it was the fathers who taught; what they expounded is preserved in writing, and we cannot go beyond it...
We will not produce a written exposition [Creed]. There is a canon which declares that what has already been expounded [The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed] is sufficient. The Canon forbids the making of another exposition. Let the [will] of the fathers prevail.
When we study the writings of the Fathers in order to determined the truth, it eventually becomes clear that the translations we have are not completely reliable.  Most of us don't know Latin or Greek that well, and, as shown in my posts, writings have been tampered with over the centuries.  If even the scripture translations themselves have been adulterated by the enemies of Christ, why would we think other writings are sacrosanct?  When even Catholic theologians admit their own translations of the ancient writings of both Latin and Greek Fathers have been altered "to fit with correct theology", it should be obvious that it is Roman Catholic theology that has changed.  
"The Pseudo-Athanasian Creed"
The heresy introduced through tampering with the Creed is the Filioque addition.
"43 Filioque Forgeries"
"The Holy Spirit Proceeds from the Father"

Simply put, the heretical addition says the Holy Spirit proceeds [eternally] from the Father and His Son.  God's one divine Nature is shared by each of the three Persons of the Trinity.   The distinction among Persons is:  the Father is Cause; the Son is begotten; the Spirit proceeds.  Rome came to reject any real distinction between God's Nature, Operation, and Persons, which is contrary to the Third and Sixth Ecumenical Councils.  To make both the Father and Son Cause (even caused cause) gives a similar quality to them that is not shared by the Holy Spirit.  Thus, in their theology which conflates Nature and Person, they have created a two-headed god.  That two Persons share something the third does not is contrary to what God has revealed, and to what has always been taught by the Church.  It is heretical.

In response to Rome's heresy, the Orthodox Synod of Blachernae gave the true teaching regarding the Filioque:  

"Synod of Blachernae, 1285"
6. To the same, who contend that the unique essence and divinity of the Father and the Son is the Cause of the Spirit’s existence – an idea which no one who has ever had it in his mind has either expressed or considered making public:  For the common essence and nature is not the Cause of the Hypostasis; nor does this common essence ever generate or project that which is undivided...the indivisible Essence always projects something indivisible...
#8. To the same, who stoutly maintain that the Father by virtue of the nature  - not by virtue of the Hypostasis – is the Holy Spirit’s Cause:  The result is that they necessarily proclaim the Son as Cause of the Spirit, since the Son has the same nature as the Father.  At the same time, they fail to see the absurdity that results from this.  For it is necessary first that the Spirit be the Cause of Someone, for the simple reason that He has the same Nature as the Father.  Secondly, the number of the Cause increases, since as many Hypostases as share in Nature must, likewise, share in Causality.  Thirdly, the common Essence and Nature is transformed into the Cause of the Hypostasis, which all logic – and along with this, nature itself - prohibits.  To these, who believe in such things strange and alien to truth, we pronounce the above-recorded resolution and judgment, we cut them off from the membership of the orthodox, and we banish them from the flock of the Church of God.
It does not really matter how many false documents are disseminated.  The Church is not made of paper.  It is a living Body, guided by the Holy Spirit through teaching bishops and priests.  Christian truth has always been there, plainly in the world.  We just refused to look at it.  There is no secret gnosis; no thousand years of a church without members; no trick or test of faithfulness to a translated memory of the true church; no rare decoding book to be found on archive.org.  Salvation does not depend on our discovery of which ancient Pope was true or false, either.  It depends on our discovery of the Truth.  When we know the truth, we will know who has been faithful to it.  Jesus Christ is the Head of His Church, which is why it cannot fail, and will fulfil its purpose until Christ's return:  the salvation and sanctification of men.
1 Tim. 2:3-4  ...God our Saviour, Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 
The truth has always been there, but Roman Catholics are either too proud, or too brainwashed through a false fear of committing mortal sin by reading Orthodox materials, to see it.  

Pride:  that a man has been wrong his whole life, that the "Church" with all its saints and miracles has been counterfeit for a thousand years, and that his own Baptism is graceless, is an extremely large pill to swallow.  

Fear:  that upon pain of eternal damnation we must not read non-Catholic books, we must believe everything the popes teach as coming from God, and we must not trust in our own understanding.  How is one to overcome such fear, especially when it is backed up by so many (false, satanic) miracles and visions of heaven, hell and "purgatory"?   
Matt. 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.
Sin in general, which is self-love, and which we are all guilty of, very often blinds us.  Only the grace of the merciful God can save us.  Let us have persevering supplication and a willingness to give up all for the love of Christ.

The vileness and blatant apostasy of the post-Vatican II antipopes is a blessing in disguise, for men are much less likely to doubt those who have an appearance of holiness.

Faithful bishops have always existed, and will remain until Christ's return, being integral to His Church.  Orthodoxy, meaning true belief and true praise.  The faithful Church in the east, that came to be held with contempt by the apostate west, is still the catholic Church, for she has not changed.  She has kept the catholic faith and tradition.

One could say the Great Apostasy began with the fall of the Roman See, since half the Church fell away with it.  But within the Orthodox Church, the Apostasy more or less began in the 1920's, with the infiltration of the enemy into positions of authority, just as it had been with Rome.  

Today, the True Orthodox often attribute the passage "he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way"  (2 Thes. 2:7) to the Royal Tsar Martyr Nicholas II.   The assassination of the last Orthodox Emperor, by the Christ-hating Bolsheviks in Russia, opened the way for apostates to overtake the Church with impunity.  Inside Russia, a catacomb Church was formed.  Outside, the heresy of Ecumenism has spread since the 1920's like a gangrenous infection.  Ecumenism in the modern sense is the idea that the Church consists of various branches of Christianity.  This pan-heresy, ultimately in which all religions are accepted as true, is the precursor to Antichrist's one world religion.  Most "World" Orthodox today are now under ecumenist (heretical) Patriarchs and Bishops.  This ecumenism became official in 1965 with the mutual embrace, and lifting of anathemas, between "Pope" Paul VI and the Patriarch of Constantinople.  The heresy began with a schism, starting in Greece in 1924, with a "new" calendar being implemented.   This departure from the Church's ecclesiastical calendar was used to promote false unity with Catholics and Protestants.  See:

There are many "True Orthodox" around the world, who oppose ecumenism and the new calendar.  But, sadly, most of these groups have fallen into other modern heresies, mainly "Cyprianism" and "Name Worship".   

Cyprianism is named for the late Met. Cyprian of Fili.  This heresy says that heretics, not yet condemned by name, are still part of the Church, which is divided between "healthy" and "sick" members.  But simply put, heretics are not part of the Church.  It reminds me of the "traditional Catholic" SSPX sect, which 'accepts' the current pope until he is condemned by an RC Council. 

Name-Worship was condemned as heretical by the Constantinopolitan and Russian patriarchal synods in 1913, as well as the Patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria.  Basically, a gnostic movement developed among a faction of monks on Mt. Athos.  This movement believed the name of God is God Himself.  But an appellation is not part of a person, human or divine.  

There are other heresies floating around, as well, such as the "eternal church" heresy.  St. Basil the Great (Canon 1) warns that, whenever schism occurs, heresy is soon to follow.  

The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true faith and in no way to deviate from the established doctrine of the Fathers. ~ Pope Hormisdas, 515 

So, where is the Church with the faith of St. Peter today?

1 Tim. 3:15  ...the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Where is the Church with the life-giving Sacraments?

John 3:5  Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

John 1:13  Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 Cor. 12-13  For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made to drink.

John 6:54  Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you.

I Cor. 11:26  For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until He come.

UPDATE December, 2025:  

I've had many disappointing encounters with "true" Orthodox synods that turned out to be false, either because they hold heresies, because they've lied about being excommunicated or deposed, or because their predecessors had not repented from the heresy they held.   I've finally found the synod of bishops and priests who have remained faithful!  I recommend the True Orthodox Church of Greece, under the omophorion of His Beatitude Stephanos, Archbishop Of Athens and All  Greece.  In addition to its large presence in Greece and Cyprus, it has parishes in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Cameroon, United States and Canada:

For North America:

True Orthodox Church of Greece
Sacred Association of the Clergy in the United States and Canada
https://www.gocinna.com/

(I believe Rev. Fr. Neophytos of Quebec is serving all the North American parishes at this time.  America has suffered the loss (not from the jab!) of two bishops and a priest in the past few years.)

Cathedral Church of the Holy Protection of the Mother of God 
26-37 12th Street 
Astoria, NY 11102-3723 
Tel. (718) 626-7719

Greek Orthodox Church of Holy Trinity 
2502 North 28th Place, Phoenix, AZ 85008

Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity 
1565 Boul. Cure Labelle 
Chomedey, Laval, Quebec, H7V-2W5, CANADA 
Tel. (450) 682-8855

Orthodox Church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross 
618 Birchmount Rd 
Scarborough Ontario M1K 1P9, CANADA
Tel. (647) 345-6657

For Europe:

Le Site des Vrais Chrétiens Orthodoxes (VCO)
(The Site of the True Orthodox Christians - French Speaking)
http://orthodoxievco.net/

Ermitage S' Etiene (Hermitage of Saint Stephen)
66 500 Prades, Clara, FRANCE
ἀ. Archimandrite Fr. Cassian Braun
(61) 680-4541

Fr. Cassian also serves:

Church of Saints Fanourios and Ireneos 
Dominikanenlaan 73, 3600 Genk, Belgium 
Tel. (89) 303-735, (499) 719-139

Chapelle de St. Maurice. 
Chemin des Vergers 9 1907 Saxon (Valais)
Tel. (27) 744-3626

~~~


In conclusion, the prophetic prediction of Pope St. Gregory the Great, "whosoever calls himself Universal Priest is in his elation the precursor of Antichrist," has come to pass.  Rome, the First See, has fallen long ago.  The remaining "World Orthodox" Patriarchates, have now fallen away from the one, true Church into varying forms of Ecumenism, the doctrine of Antichrist, leaving only a faithful remnant.

Apoc. 18:2-4  Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen; and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird:  Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her...  Go out from her, my people; that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. 
"Bishop Paul: My Exodus"

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)