http://www.novusordowatch.org/wire/francis-ecuмenism-heretical.htm

UPDATE 26-MAY-2015 10:01 UTC: Given that Francis himself has now used the word “heretical” to refer to his own thought, we are going to see two main reactions to this among people who consider themselves traditional Catholics and yet have until now accepted Francis’ claim to being the Pope: (1) We will see people fall into what we have labeled “Resignationism”, namely the idea that the resignation of Benedict XVI was invalid and he is “still” the true Pope; (2) We will see the heresy being advanced that cardinals can judge a Pope and depose him. Yes, that’s a heresy. The true Catholic position is laid out here, as confirmed by the First Vatican Council.

[Original Post]

Jorge Bergoglio, the leader of the Modernist Vatican II Sect, is just priceless. Just when you thought it was going to be a slow news day, he drops another bombshell. Addressing the people gathered for the “Day for Christian Unity”, sponsored by the Protestant-Ecuмenical John 17 Movement and held on May 23, 2015, in Phoenix, Arizona, “Pope” Francis used the occasion to once again promote his heresy of an “ecuмenism of blood”, but this time in a more obviously pertinacious way than ever before. The following are his words verbatim, as provided by Vatican Radio:


Dear brothers and sisters, division is a wound in the body of the Church of Christ. And we do not want this wound to remain open. Division is the work of the Father of Lies, the Father of Discord, who does everything possible to keep us divided.

Together today, I here in Rome and you over there, we will ask our Father to send the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and to give us the grace to be one, “so that the world may believe”. I feel like saying something that may sound controversial, or even heretical, perhaps. But there is someone who “knows” that, despite our differences, we are one. It is he who is persecuting us. It is he who is persecuting Christians today, he who is anointing us with (the blood of) martyrdom. He knows that Christians are disciples of Christ: that they are one, that they are brothers! He doesn’t care if they are Evangelicals, or Orthodox, Lutherans, Catholics or Apostolic…he doesn’t care! They are Christians. And that blood (of martyrdom) unites. Today, dear brothers and sisters, we are living an “ecuмenism of blood”. This must encourage us to do what we are doing today: to pray, to dialogue together, to shorten the distance between us, to strengthen our bonds of brotherhood.

(“Pope sends greetings for US Christian Unity event”, Vatican Radio, May 24, 2015; underlining added.)


Not only do Francis’ words “sound” heretical, they are heretical. They contradict the teaching of the holy Roman Catholic Church as received from Christ through the Apostles, and as taught faithfully until the death of the last known true Pope, Pius XII, in 1958.

In the snippet of his message to Protestants quoted above, not only does Francis make clear that he believes that Protestants are part of the Body of Christ, that the Church is divided in Faith, and that those who do not share this one Faith are nevertheless “brothers” who are “unified” and true “disciples of Christ”; he is very well aware that this is heresy, for which reason he states right at the beginning that this “may sound … heretical, perhaps”. Note well: Even though he is not saying flat-out that it is heretical, he is nevertheless demonstrating the perverseness of his will — he concedes that it might be heretical, and thus shows himself not to care whether it is or not. In other words, even if it is heresy, this will not stop him from holding his belief and teaching it to the world. Here we have, quite clearly, a pertinacious heretic — no papal pretender of the Vatican II Sect has ever so boldly announced his own heresies!

We are now waiting for people like “Father” Zuhlsdorf, Jimmy Akin, and Tim Haines to “explain” to us how the latest salvo of Bergoglian claptrap is not heretical, is not favorable to heresy, is not erroneous, is not offensive to pious ears. And of course we are waiting on Michael Voris and his Church Disneyland crew to ignore the story, as he has faithfully done throughout his sham “Catholic” enterprise ever since Francis was elected in March 2013.

The Vatican’s YouTube channel has also released a video clip in which Francis is seen reading his message to the American Protestants gathered in Phoenix:


Of course, no such video message was made to appeal to the people of Ireland to vote ‘no’ on same-sex marriage — instead, only crickets.

As for the “ecuмenism of blood” heresy, which contradicts the Council of Florence verbatim, we have blasted Bergoglio for it at length before, and there is no need to repeat all of the arguments here; a link to the original story will suffice:

    Worse than ISIS: Francis’ “Ecuмenism of Blood” is Heretical


It won’t take long for people to figure out that if “all Christians” can be united in a common martyrdom that sends them all equally to Heaven because they are killed by Muslims who “do not care” if they are Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant before killing them, then this must logically also work for anyone else killed by Muslims for their religion, because Muslim jihadists “do not care” if someone is Jєωιѕн, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Hindu, or atheist, either — they only care that you are not a Muslim. So then the logical conclusion of the “Ecuмenism of Blood” is that anyone who is killed for his religious views is united in a common “martyrdom” that sends them to eternal bliss. And thus the Catholic teaching on martyrdom has been entirely subverted, distorted, and ridiculed.

We have contrasted the Vatican II Sect’s heresies on religious unity, ecuмenism, indifferentism, and Modernism with the clear traditional Catholic teachings many times before, and we will do so again. Read the following quotes and ask yourself if the Vatican II Sect still believes or teaches these things — the answer is, “obviously not.” But the Catholic Church cannot fail in her mission — she cannot abandon the True Faith and become a harlot, fornicating with the errors and heresies of the world. The Catholic Church cannot be unfaithful to her Divine Spouse, who has promised to be with her always (see Mt 28:20; cf. Mt 16:18; Jn 14:16; 1 Tim 3:15; 2 Jn 1:9). Pope Pius XI explicitly lauded “the perfect and perpetual immunity of the Church from error and heresy” (Encyclical Quas Primas, n. 22), a description one obviously could never apply to the Modernist Sect now occupying the Vatican structures.

First, let’s have a look at the dogmatic teaching of the Council of Florence under Pope Eugene IV, which decreed infallibly:

[This council] firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jєωs and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart "into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels" [Matt. 25:41], unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.

(Council of Florence, Decree Cantate Domino; Denz. 714; underlining added.)


This Francis clearly does not believe. He believes the contrary, and he does not care.

Pope Pius IX, in his 1868 Apostolic Letter convoking the First Vatican Council, beckoned the erring Protestant sheep to return to the fold of Christ, which, so the Pope emphasized, is one in Faith and government and does not consist of various denominations or parts:

Now, whoever will carefully examine and reflect upon the condition of the various religious societies, divided among themselves, and separated from the Catholic Church, which, from the days of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles has never ceased to exercise, by its lawful pastors, and still continues to exercise, the divine power committed to it by this same Lord; cannot fail to satisfy himself that neither any one of these societies by itself, nor all of them together, can in any manner constitute and be that One Catholic Church which Christ our Lord built, and established, and willed should continue; and that they cannot in any way be said to be branches or parts of that Church, since they are visibly cut off from Catholic unity. For, whereas such societies are destitute of that living authority established by God, which especially teaches men what is of Faith, and what the rule of morals, and directs and guides them in all those things which pertain to eternal salvation, so they have continually varied in their doctrines, and this change and variation is ceaselessly going on among them. Every one must perfectly understand, and clearly and evidently see, that such a state of things is directly opposed to the nature of the Church instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ; for in that Church truth must always continue firm and ever inaccessible to all change, as a deposit given to that Church to be guarded in its integrity, for the guardianship of which the presence and aid of the Holy Ghost have been promised to the Church for ever.

(Pope Pius IX, Apostolic Letter Iam Vos Omnes; underlining added.)


If there is one docuмent that comprehensively refutes the heresy of ecuмenism and its related errors as proposed by the Novus Ordo Church and especially its current leader, “Pope” Francis, it is the encyclical Mortalium Animos of Pope Pius XI, issued in 1928. Be sure to read the entire docuмent — it is not very long —, and you will see that it is diametrically opposed to the teachings and practices of the Modernist Vatican II Sect (which is exactly why they never quote or refer to it in any of their docuмents):


And here it seems opportune to expound and to refute a certain false opinion, on which this whole question, as well as that complex movement by which non-Catholics seek to bring about the union of the Christian churches depends. For authors who favor this view are accustomed, times almost without number, to bring forward these words of Christ: “That they all may be one.... And there shall be one fold and one shepherd” [Jn 17:21; Jn 10:16]; with this signification however: that Christ Jesus merely expressed a desire and prayer, which still lacks its fulfillment. For they are of the opinion that the unity of faith and government, which is a note of the one true Church of Christ, has hardly up to the present time existed, and does not to-day exist. They consider that this unity may indeed be desired and that it may even be one day attained through the instrumentality of wills directed to a common end, but that meanwhile it can only be regarded as mere ideal. They add that the Church in itself, or of its nature, is divided into sections; that is to say, that it is made up of several churches or distinct communities, which still remain separate, and although having certain articles of doctrine in common, nevertheless disagree concerning the remainder; that these all enjoy the same rights; and that the Church was one and unique from, at the most, the apostolic age until the first Ecuмenical Councils. Controversies therefore, they say, and longstanding differences of opinion which keep asunder till the present day the members of the Christian family, must be entirely put aside, and from the remaining doctrines a common form of faith drawn up and proposed for belief, and in the profession of which all may not only know but feel that they are brothers. The manifold churches or communities, if united in some kind of universal federation, would then be in a position to oppose strongly and with success the progress of irreligion. This, Venerable Brethren, is what is commonly said….

This being so, it is clear that the Apostolic See cannot on any terms take part in their assemblies, nor is it anyway lawful for Catholics either to support or to work for such enterprises; for if they do so they will be giving countenance to a false Christianity, quite alien to the one Church of Christ. Shall We suffer, what would indeed be iniquitous, the truth, and a truth divinely revealed, to be made a subject for compromise? For here there is question of defending revealed truth. Jesus Christ sent His Apostles into the whole world in order that they might permeate all nations with the Gospel faith, and, lest they should err, He willed beforehand that they should be taught by the Holy Ghost [Jn 16:13]: has then this doctrine of the Apostles completely vanished away, or sometimes been obscured, in the Church, whose ruler and defense is God Himself? If our Redeemer plainly said that His Gospel was to continue not only during the times of the Apostles, but also till future ages, is it possible that the object of faith should in the process of time become so obscure and uncertain, that it would be necessary to-day to tolerate opinions which are even incompatible one with another? If this were true, we should have to confess that the coming of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, and the perpetual indwelling of the same Spirit in the Church, and the very preaching of Jesus Christ, have several centuries ago, lost all their efficacy and use, to affirm which would be blasphemy. But the Only-begotten Son of God, when He commanded His representatives to teach all nations, obliged all men to give credence to whatever was made known to them by “witnesses preordained by God” [Acts 10:41], and also confirmed His command with this sanction: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned” [Mk 16:16]. These two commands of Christ, which must be fulfilled, the one, namely, to teach, and the other to believe, cannot even be understood, unless the Church proposes a complete and easily understood teaching, and is immune when it thus teaches from all danger of erring….

(Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Mortalium Animos, nn. 7-8; underlining added.)


Finally, Pope Pius XII made clear that one can never engage in ecuмenism under the pretext that somehow “what unites us is greater than what divides us”. Rather:

Even on the plea of promoting unity it is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma; for, as the Patriarch of Alexandria warns us, 'although the desire of peace is a noble and excellent thing, yet we must not for its sake neglect the virtue of loyalty in Christ.' Consequently, the much desired return of erring sons to true and genuine unity in Christ will not be furthered by exclusive concentration on those doctrines which all, or most, communities glorying in the Christian name accept in common. The only successful method will be that which bases harmony and agreement among Christ's faithful ones upon all the truths, and the whole of the truths, which God has revealed.

(Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Orientalis Ecclesiae, n. 16; underlining added.)


The following is a list of links to other magisterial docuмents issued by the true Popes on the same question of ecuмenism and religious unity — read them carefully, for they are refreshingly clear and beautiful and stand in such stark contrast to the Modernist-Masonic drivel that has come from the Novus Ordo Vatican since John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council:

    Pope Pius IX, Encyclical Quanto Conficiamur Moerore (1863)
    Pope Pius IX, Instruction to Anglican Puseyites on True Religious Unity (1865)
    Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae (1894)
    Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical  Satis Cognitum on the Unity of the Church (1896)
    Pope St. Pius X, Letter Our Apostolic Mandate on Society and Interreligious Cooperation (1910)
    Pope Pius XII, Canonical Warning on Attending Ecuмenical Gatherings (1948)
    Pope Pius XII, Instruction on the Ecuмenical Movement (1949)


francis-robison-high-five.jpg

Francis with Protestant James Robison at the Vatican on June 24, 2014


Having dealt with the Vatican II Church long enough, we already know the kind of excuses that will be made by Francis apologists like Patrick Madrid, Tim Haines, Jimmy Akin, Dwight Longenecker, and others. They will say that we have twisted his words — that Francis did not say, “I feel like saying something heretical” but only, “I feel like saying something that may sound heretical, perhaps.” Anticipating this very objection, let us respond to it right here and now:

The hair-splitting distinction here is frivolous — Francis has, by virtue of his putative office, a strict obligation in justice to convey not only no heresy but not even the appearance of heresy, lest anyone should be scandalized or misled. Just as Christians persecuted by pagan Rome were not allowed to even give the appearance of sacrificing incense to an idol, even if they didn’t actually do it, neither is a man allowed to give the appearance of endorsing heresy, lest he commit the grave sin of scandal, especially if he holds, supposedly, the highest teaching position in the Catholic Church.

“Scandal” is defined as any word or deed that either is evil or has the appearance of evil and is the cause of another’s spiritual ruin, regardless of whether the other actually commits a sin or not. The 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia has a good article explaining the sin of scandal: CLICK HERE.

Francis may say that he only believed his words “may” “perhaps” “sound” heretical, but what he is doing here is nothing but a classic case of leaving room for plausible deniability — it is a sneaky way out for him in case anyone wants to nail him down for pertinacity. Pope Pius VI saw this being done at the robber synod of Pistoia in the late 18th century, and would have none of it. He scolded the innovators and exposed their scheming, which, the Pope said…

...cannot be excused in the way that one sees it being done, under the erroneous pretext that the seemingly shocking affirmations in one place are further developed along orthodox lines in other places, and even in yet other places corrected; as if allowing for the possibility of either affirming or denying the statement, or of leaving it up to the personal inclinations of the individual – such has always been the fraudulent and daring method used by innovators to establish error. It allows for both the possibility of promoting error and of excusing it.

(Pope Pius VI, Bull Auctorem Fidei, introd.)


The same Pius VI also called to mind the tactics of the heretic Nestorius, who…

...expressed himself in a plethora of words, mixing true things with others that were obscure; mixing at times one with the other in such a way that he was also able to confess those things which were denied while at the same time possessing a basis for denying those very sentences which he confessed.


Could you imagine what Pope Pius VI would say today about Francis?! Francis’ heresies make Nestorianism look like child’s play.

Once again, Bergoglio’s been busted! Yes, there will always be useful iditios in his church who will clean up after him and make all the excuses needed to keep the charade going, but we appeal to all people of good will who are still in possession of their faculties to please finally open their eyes and no longer deny the obvious! The situation is dire — we don’t need any more pseudo-theological shysterism to keep the idea alive that the Vatican II Sect is the Catholic Church and its head the Pope.

Francis is not the Pope! The true Catholic Church has been in eclipse since the death of Pius XII, and the sooner people finally accept this frightening reality, the better. Yes, frightening it is, but reality does not care what we think about it. God will grant us all the graces we need to make it through these difficult times, into which He has seen fit to place us, in His infinitely benevolent providence. See our helpful article “Now What?” for information on where to go from here.

Whether or not Bergoglio thought his words might only sound heretical, the fact is that they are heretical. Here is the hireling, nay the wolf, posing as the shepherd, leading souls to eternal ruin, and he doesn’t care.

Do you?

He sure pushes the limits with his statement, but for the sake of accuracy, the translation is incorrect. He clearly says "maybe a heresy, I don't know"- "quizás una herejía, no sé". The rendering: "or even heretical, perhaps" is not an accurate translation by no means. The "I don't know" is all one needs to affirm material heresy.

Thank you for that.

Many years ago in the village of Plantees, France, there lived a farmer named Pierre Port-Combet, who used to work on Sundays and Feast Days. At one time he had been a Catholic, but he had fallen away from the truth Faith and joined a Protestant religion called Calvinism. He had a great dislike for Catholics and anything about the Catholic Faith.

Pierre had married a devout Catholic woman named Jeanne. They had six children and Jeanne tried to raise them as good Catholics. But even though Pierre had made a vow to allow his wife to raise their children as Catholics, he gradually led their six children into the Calvinist religion! Jeanne was broken hearted about this because it meant that her husband and children were in great danger of loosing their souls. And since Pierre would not listen to her pleadings, the best she could do was to go to Mass, pray, and make sacrifices.

This area of France was very Catholic at the time. There was a law that all people should not work on Sundays and on special Holy Days, so that they could go to Mass and spend the rest of the day in prayer and holy reading. But Pierre loved to break this law, especially on Our Lady's Feast Days, because he did not like the Catholic religion!

On March 25, 1649, the Feast of the Annunciation, Pierre showed his dislike for the Catholic Church by working near a road where villagers could see him, as they traveled on their way to Mass. He pretended to work, by using his knife to cut into a willow tree, which grew beside the road. But as soon as he cut into the willow, the tree bled! Pierre was shocked as the blood flowed out of the tree and splashed onto his hands and arms. At first Pierre thought he was wounded, but finding that he was not injured, he stabbed the willow tree another time, and again the tree bled!

Around this time, Pierre's wife passed by on her way to church. Seeing that her husband's arms were covered with blood, she rushed over to help him. While she was looking for the wound, Pierre tried to explain to his wife what had just taken place. Jeanne tried to calm her husband and cut the tree with his knife, but nothing happened. When Pierre noticed that no blood came from the tree, he grabbed the knife from his wife and cut off a willow branch. The blood came gushing out of the tree!

By now Pierre was terribly frightened! He called to Louis, a neighbour who was just passing by, and begged him to come and see what happened. But when Louis took the knife and tried to cut the tree, no blood came out. As the other villagers passed by they began to realize that the blood from the tree was a warning from God to Pierre, so that he would come back to the Catholic Faith and not work on Sundays.

Before long, Pierre was brought to court for working on this special Feast Day and he had to pay a fine. And when the Bishop heard about the miracle of the bleeding willow tree, he ordered some priests to look into the matter. Pierre and others who saw the miracle were questioned. In the end it was decided that this miracle was a stern warning from God to Pierre, so that he would mend his ways!

Pierre had a change of heart and realizing that he was wrong, he would often go to pray near the willow tree. But when some of his Calvinist friends saw him, they threatened to hurt him if he left the Calvinist religion. Because of this Pierre refused to go back to the Catholic Church.

Heaven was watching over Pierre and after seven years, on March 25, 1656, Our Lady appeared to him. On that day, Pierre was working in the field and saw a Lady standing far away on a little hill. The Lady wore a white dress, a blue mantle and had a black veil over her head, which partly covered her face. As the Lady came toward Pierre, she suddenly picked up speed and in a flash, she stood beside him. With her beautiful, sweet voice, the Lady spoke to Pierre, "God be with you my friend!"

For a moment, Pierre stood in amazement. The Lady spoke again, "What is being said about this devotion? Do many people come?"

Pierre replied, "Yes many people come,"

Then the Lady said, "Where does that heretic live who cut the willow tree? Does he not want to be converted?"

Pierre mumbled an answer. The Lady became more serious, "Do you think that I do not know that you are the heretic? Realize that your end is at hand. If you do not return to the True Faith, you will be cast into Hell! But if you change your beliefs, I shall protect you before God. Tell people to pray that they may gain the good graces which, God in His mercy has offered to them."

Pierre was filled with sorrow and shame and moved away from the Lady. Suddenly realizing that he was being rude, Pierre stepped closer to her, but she had moved away and was already near the little hill. He ran after her begging, "Please stop and listen to me. I want to apologize to you and I want you to help me!"

The Lady stopped and turned. By the time Pierre caught up to her, she was floating in the air and was already disappearing from sight. Suddenly, Pierre realized that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared to him! He fell to his knees and cried buckets of tears, "Jesus and Mary I promise you that I will change my life and become a good Catholic. I am sorry for what I have done and I beg you please, to help me change my life…"

On August 14, 1656, Pierre became very sick. An Augustinian priest came to hear his confession and accepted him back into the Catholic Church. Pierre received Holy Communion the next day on the Feast of the Assumption. After Pierre returned to the Catholic Faith, many others followed him. His son and five daughters came back to the Catholic Church as well as many Calvinists and Protestants. Five weeks later on September 8, 1656, Pierre died and was buried under the miraculous willow tree, just as he had asked.

Fr. Fais, the parish priest from the nearby town of Vinay, helped a lady to buy the field where Pierre had spoken to Our Lady. In time the chapel of Our Lady of Good Meeting was built on the spot where Our Lady had spoken to Pierre. Soon, a large church was built over the spot of the miraculous tree, and named in honour of Our Lady of the Willow. Some good person also carved a statue of Our Lady similar to the way Pierre had described the Blessed Virgin Mary. When this statue was placed in the church, many people came to honour Our Lady of the Willow.

But alas, because of the sinfulness of man, this beautiful shrine did not last and was ruined by members of the horrible French Revolution. These wicked men took the statue of Our Lady of the Willow and chopped it to pieces! Oh, what a terrible way to treat Our Lady's image! However, all was not lost! A good lady gathered up the pieces of the statue and hid them until the French Revolution was over. A piece of the willow tree was also saved from the hands of these wicked men.

After the horrible French Revolution, people came again to honour Our Lady of the Willow at this sacred spot. The statue of Our Lady was repaired and in time the shrine was placed in the hands of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Now some priests were caring for the shrine and could help the many people who came there.

In 1856, two hundred years after the apparition of Our Lady to Pierre, Blessed Pope Pius IX decreed that the statue of Our Lady should be crowned on September 8 of that year. More than 30,000 people were present at the shrine for the crowning of Our Lady of the Willow, and at least four hundred priests were also present at the ceremony. And this same Pope ordered that another crowning should take place in 1873!

On March 17, 1924, Pope Pius XI declared that Our Lady of the Willow Church was now a minor basilica. Here the statue of Our Lady of the Willow is venerated. A box containing a piece of the old willow tree lies under her altar and Pierre's grave is at the foot of the altar.

Many people come to honour Our Lady of the Willow at this shrine and many have left little plaques in thanksgiving to Our Lady, for some special grace which she has given them. Also more than a hundred miracles are reported to have taken place at this shrine. Thank-you Jesus and Mary for your great mercies.

http://www.christorchaos.com/IfYouDoNotReturntotheTrueFaithYouWillBeCastIntoHell.html

Father Maximilian Kolbe, S.J., knew that Our Lady was an enemy of the sort of false ecuмenism being promoted in his own day, the sort of false ecuмenism that is so near and dear to the heart of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI:

Except that your own ecclesiology, LoT, is what leads directly to this false ecuмenism.

But the key is in the term "sounds".  He doesn't care if it SOUNDS heretical.

Regardless, his proposition that God doesn't care whether martyrs are Catholic or not is a direct contradiction of Cantate Domino.

http://www.novusordowatch.org/wire/ecuмenism-of-blood-isis.htm


This post is not going to make us a lot of friends, but we’ll publish it anyway, since our desire is to serve and please God, not man (cf. Gal 1:10).

We have all heard about the horrific murders of men, women, and children by the ISIS terrorists. The barbarism of these people is beyond comprehension — they are clearly tools of the devil. In response to the most recent video that shows the beheading of 21 Egyptian men for professing belief in Christ, “His Holiness” Francis made a statement on February 16, 2015. As it is very brief, we reproduce the entire news clip from Vatican Radio below:

Pope Francis on Monday denounced the murder of 21 Coptic Christians by ISIL militants in Libya. The Islamist terrorist organization released a video of the killings on Sunday.

Speaking in Spanish to an ecuмenical delegation from the Church of Scotland, the Holy Father noted those killed only said “Jesus help me.”

“They were killed simply for the fact they were Christians,” Pope Francis said.

“The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard,” said the Pope.  It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ.''

Pope Francis said that in remembering these brothers and sisters who have been murdered simply for confessing Christ, Christians should encourage one another in the ecuмenical goal, noting the “ecuмenism of blood.”

“The martyrs belong to all Christians,” he said.

(“Pope Francis: The blood of murdered Copts a ‘witness that cries out’”, Vatican Radio, Feb. 16, 2015)


“Pope” Francis has promoted his idea of an “ecuмenism of blood” before, but it is absolutely clear and unmistakable heresy — in direct contradiction to an infallible dogma proclaimed by Pope Eugene IV at the Council of Florence in the fifteenth century:

[This council] firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jєωs and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart "into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels" [Matt. 25:41], unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.

(Council of Florence, Decree Cantate Domino; Denz. 714; underlining added.)


This absolutely, definitively, and infallibly excludes any possibility of an “ecuмenism of blood.” No one dying for the name of Jesus Christ can attain to eternal life unless he is joined to the Catholic Church, either as a formal member, or, if invincible ignorance should prevent his becoming a member, through the genuine virtues of Faith, hope, and charity, the latter of which, to be true charity, must animate the sincere desire to enter the Catholic Church, even if this desire be only implicit.

As the great anti-Modernist Mgr. Joseph Clifford Fenton explains:

…the forgiveness of sin and the infusion of the life of grace is available by the power of Christ only “within” His kingdom, His Mystical Body, which, in this period of the New Testament [i.e., as opposed to the time of the Old Covenant —NOW], is the visible Catholic Church.

…Now, while it is possible to have a desire to be within the Church, and, indeed even to be a member of the Church, without having the love of charity for God, it is quite impossible to have charity without being within the true Church, at least by an implicit desire to dwell in it. The love of charity is, by its very nature, a sovereign affection.

…The love of charity is essentially something in the line of intention rather than of mere velleity. The man who loves God with the true affection of charity actually intends, insofar as it is possible for him to do so, to do the will of God. It is definitely the will of God that all men should enter and live within the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. It is impossible for a man who really loves God with the affection of divine charity not to be within the Church as a member or at least to desire with a sincere and effective, even though perhaps only an implicit, intention to enter this company.

Hence, if a man is not “within” the Church at least by a sincere desire or affection, he has not the genuine love of charity for God.

(Mgr. Joseph C. Fenton, The Catholic Church and Salvation [Westminster: The Newman Press, 1958], pp. 38-40.)


This scenario, under which someone who objectively professes heresy but is subjectively not guilty of the sin of heresy and instead possesses the love of charity and genuinely seeks to believe all that God has revealed, is killed for professing Christ, is known as the Baptism of Blood. (The term ‘baptism’ here is to be understood loosely, as it merely produces the grace of regeneration, not the sacramental character [indelible mark], and many who profess heresy but are not subjectively guilty of the sin of heresy already received a valid sacramental baptism in their own church. Cf. Pietro Parente, Dictionary of Dogmatic Theology, s.v. “Baptism”.)

It is possible, therefore, that those poor ISIS victims were indeed saved. However, the Baptism of Blood is infinitely far removed from the heretical notion of an “ecuмenism of blood” pushed by Francis, which holds that Catholics and heretics are spiritually and/or theologically united by being killed for professing allegiance to Christ. If this were so, then it would mean that the motive of the killer can cause religious unity between Catholics and Protestants, two religions that are exclusive of each other because their claims are mutually exclusive and per se irreconcilable. It would also mean that the Body of Christ has not “one Faith” (Eph 4:5) but several different faiths which contradict one another. The unity of the Church would be destroyed; but: “I believe in … one holy Catholic and apostolic Church” (Nicene Creed).

Furthermore, whereas in a baptism of blood the martyr dies within the Catholic Church of our Lord and any adherence to heresy which may exist would be entirely accidental and not intended (i.e. not pertinacious), in Francis’ proposed “ecuмenism of blood” anyone who professes allegiance to Christ is per se considered united to the Church, regardless of any attachment to heresy or a false religion. This is clearly condemned by the decree of the Council of Florence, quoted above.

To put it succinctly: In the baptism of blood, being united to the Catholic Church is a necessary precondition for one's martyrdom to lead to salvation; whereas in the ecuмenism of blood, unity with the Catholic Church is, at best, the inevitable consequence of the martyrdom. This would then make any and all martyrs ipso facto into Catholics, and one might as well include Muslims then, too, for there is no theologically satisfactory reason why if a Protestant who dies for his faith goes to Heaven, this couldn’t also be affirmed of a Muslim dying for his religion. The inevitable result of this is indifferentism, the idea that it ultimately doesn’t matter what religion you profess. Indifferentism was sternly condemned by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors (1864).

And thus we see that an “Ecuмenism of Blood” is an absurdity, simply the latest in Modernist-indifferentist hogwash dressed up as Catholic theology and foisted upon an unsuspecting populace by the enemies of the true Catholic Faith. Beware of the Modernists, who cleverly seek to eliminate all distinction between true religion and false religion (cf. 2 Cor 6:14; Gal 1:8-9), when for 2,000 years Catholics went to the most cruel deaths rather than admit even the slightest alteration to the true doctrine. In the 1500s, the Catholic Church was willing to see the entire nation of England defect into schism and heresy, and people like St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More to be martyred, rather than so much as grant a fake marriage annulment or compromise on her doctrine by one iota. How things have changed!

Some more words of clarification are in order.

We understand that in the face of these horrific acts perpetrated by ISIS, many people think theological disputes between Catholics and Protestants are mere trifles by comparison and so view Francis’ “ecuмenism of blood” as a great and charitable approach to bring Catholics and Protestants together in the face of such a terrifying threat. The truth, however, is very different.

Our Blessed Lord counseled us to fear not him who can kill the body, but him who can kill the soul: “And I say to you, my friends: Be not afraid of them who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will shew you whom you shall fear: fear ye him, who after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear him” (Lk 12:4-5). These are the very words of God Himself — truer ones have never been spoken. “But God is true; and every man a liar…” (Rom 3:4).

The atrocities committed by ISIS are indeed cruel, but heresy is an infinitely greater danger, because heresy attacks and destroys the soul: “Whosoever revolteth, and continueth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God” (2 Jn 1:9). Pope Clement XIII taught likewise: “Meanwhile the matter is such that diabolical error, when it has artfully colored its lies, easily clothes itself in the likeness of truth while very brief additions or changes corrupt the meaning of expressions; and confession, which usually works salvation, sometimes, with a slight change, inches toward death” (Clement XIII, Encyclical In Dominico Agro, n. 2).

What this means in practice is that Francis is to be feared much more than ISIS. Islamist terrorists can harm the body but the body alone — Francis, as a Modernist apostate, papal impostor, and spiritual terrorist, has power to send souls to an eternity of hellfire, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished” (Mk 9:43). The jihadi terrorist presents himself clearly as a threat to your bodily well-being, and once he has killed you, his terror is forever over. But the Modernist “Pope” presents himself as an “angel of light” (cf. 2 Cor 11:14), as a kind and benevolent spiritual guide, poisoning your soul gradually so you won’t notice. He is therefore the much greater danger and thus much more to be feared. “[T]he moderate [Modernist] is the real Satanic type; his is the masked evil” (Fr. Felix Sarda y Salvany, Liberalism is a Sin, Ch. 16).

Francis’ use of the slaughter of Egyptian Copts to promote his heresy of an ecuмenism of blood is shameful and diabolical. Francis’ message here is ultimately that Christ’s Truth does not matter, that the Church consists of many different faiths, that heresy is no obstacle to salvation, and that in the end, none of this “doctrinal stuff” is of any significance. Apparently, Saints Thomas More and John Fisher were just idiots for going to their deaths over such “squabbles.” Francis is essentially spitting Christ in His holy Face, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6) and who must be worshipped “in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:23). Gone is the “one Faith” proclaimed by St. Paul (Eph 4:5).

“Pope” Francis leads souls astray in the most devious and clever manner possible: with words that sound comforting and sweet but which in reality are but a cloak for the most destructive poison (see another example here).

Even if you, dear reader, are not in agreement with us on this point and believe that Francis’ Ecuмenism of Blood is a great and noble concept, please recognize at least one thing: that what Francis preaches is contradicted by the teaching of the Council of Florence, as we showed above. And yet, the Cathoilc Church teaches that the dogmas of her Faith cannot change, cannot “develop” under the pretext of a “deeper understanding”:

…[T]hat understanding of its sacred dogmas must be perpetually retained, which Holy Mother Church has once declared; and there must never be recession from that meaning under the specious name of a deeper understanding…. “Therefore . . . let the understanding, the knowledge, and wisdom of individuals as of all, of one man as of the whole Church, grow and progress strongly with the passage of the ages and the centuries; but let it be solely in its own genus, namely in the same dogma, with the same sense and the same understanding.”

(First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Filius, Ch. 4; Denz. 1800)


The religion promoted by Francis is not the Catholic religion of old. The man is not a Catholic, and he therefore cannot be the head of the Catholic Church.

Fear him, for he leads souls to hell.