Many Catholics today are tainted with Liberalism without even knowing it. To learn the signs, the information below was compiled from the book, "Liberalism Is a Sin" (praised by the Sacred Congregation 1887, English translation imprimatur 1899)Liberalism is the belief that one creed is as good as another, under the false plea of liberty of conscience. It is based on unrestricted exercise of the individual’s reason upon the subject matter of Revelation. The individual or sect interprets as it pleases, rejecting or accepting what it chooses. The origins of Liberalism stem from Protestantism, which rejected the principle of authority in religion. Liberalism leads to the belief that no creed is just as good as any. Religious beliefs or unbelief become mere matters of opinion. Liberalism severs the bond which binds men to God and seeks to build human society on the foundations of man's absolute independence. Liberalism is basically rationalism; the doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of human reason.
In short, Liberalism is the dogmatic affirmation of the absolute independence of the individual and of the social reason. Catholicity is the dogma of the absolute subjection of the individual and of the social order to the revealed law of God. One doctrine is the exact antithesis of the other, so Liberalism and Catholicism are impossible to reconcile in any way.
Causes of Liberalism:- Corrupt morals due to theater, literature, public education etc
- Journalism through the secular press, secret societies, literature, arts, science, politics etc
- General ignorance in matters of religion
- Secular education that removes God
Effects of Liberalism:- Removal of religion from society
- Supremacy of the state
- Marriage sanctioned and legitimized by the state alone
- Divorce laws
- Socialism/Communism
- Unrestricted immorality
Why Liberalism is a mortal sin (if not out of ignorance):
- Violates all of the 10 Commandments
- Within it are comprehended all heresies
- Repudiates dogma altogether and substitutes opinion
- Refuses to acknowledge the authority of the Pope and jurisdiction of Jesus Christ over society
Condemnations:- Liberalism of every degree and all forms has been formally condemned by the Church
- Upon its appearance during the French Revolution, it was condemned by Pius VI (1775-1799)
- Later, Liberalism infected all the countries of Europe. Gregory XVI (1831-46) explicitly condemned Liberalism
- Pope Pius IX (1846-78) later condemned Liberalism multiple times, most notably in the Syllabus of Errors (1864)
- Liberalism was also condemned by Pope Leo XIII, Pope St. Pius X, and Pope Pius XI
3 Types of Liberals:- Extreme Liberals - easily recognized, they do not attempt to deny or conceal their perversity. They are declared enemies of the Pope, priests, and everything ecclesiastical. They are revolutionists, socialists, and anarchists. They glory in living a life devoid of all religion
- Moderate Liberals - just as bad as Extreme Liberals, but take good care not to appear so (making them the most dangerous of the three). Social conventionalities and good manners are everything to them. They do not detest the Pope and may even admire him. They may even admire priests, especially those who have caught the twang of modern progress. They may even go to Church and approach the Sacraments, but their maxim is to live as a Christian in the Church, and to live as the world lives outside the Church. They die with a priest on one side, and infidel literature on the other, and imagine that their Creator will applaud this breadth of mind
- Quasi Liberals (Catholics tainted with Liberalism) - generally good people and sincerely pious; but liberal in everything they say or write. They reason, speak and act as Liberals without knowing it. Their strong point is charity. To smother evil under an abundance of good is their favorite principle. From the Gospel they are careful to cite only positive texts. They save the treasures of their tolerance and charity for the sworn enemies of the Faith, and for the most heroic defenders of the Faith, they have only sarcasm and abusive language. They use hit and run tactics rather than debate
In summary, the extreme Liberal
roars his Liberalism, the moderate Liberal
mouths it, and the tainted Catholic
whispers and sighs it.
Signs that a Catholic is tainted with Liberalism (false Catholicity)- He subjects commands and teachings of the Pope to the scrutiny of his own intellect
- He accepts the magisterium, but not as the sole authorized founder of divine truth, but also of his private judgment
- If he doesn't believe a teaching of the Church, he will say it is "not infallible". If the teaching appears infallible, he will say it must be taken in a very modified sense
- He believes the Church's infallibility may be determined by human science
- He believes no one can impose upon him any belief which his individual judgment does not measure as perfectly rational
- He considers the Church "out of date", with the hope that it will catch up with the modern spirit of progress
- He accepts Revelation based on the "superiority" of his own reason, not on the superiority of God
- He makes excuses or apologizes for the past decisions of the Catholic Church
- He refuses any involved discussion on the subject of Catholicism, or if he appears interested, he will bow out of the discussion before its conclusion (given that Liberalism is derived of nothing but contradictions)
- Following the principle of toleration, he classifies doctrines of enemies of the Church as being due to differences of temperament, education, etc., and concludes that they should be condoned
- He forgets the Divine and supernatural character of the Church and instead looks at it as a simple human institution
- So as not to appear "intolerant", and to appease both sides, he finds it admirable for the private individual to be subject to the law of God, and at the same time believes the state must stand neutral and impartial; a blatant contradiction
- His piety is limited to Pietism, often seen in people who seek in their devotions only the sentimental emotions of which they themselves are able to be the source
- In his desire to appear impartial, he tolerates and even praises books and movies that contain liberal content, or that contain praise of non-Catholic religions or other non-Catholic subjects, just because Catholic content may also be included within (books of such a kind would normally go on the Index of Forbidden Books)
- He keeps company with other people known to be tainted with Liberalism
- He declares that other Catholics do not have the authority to make a moral judgment of heresy or error against other persons or writings. Note: There is a difference between making a personal moral judgment and the Church making an official declaration. It has always been normal procedure in the Catholic Church for moral judgments of the faithful to first ring the warning bell against errors, which later leads to the Church pronouncing the final, decisive and solemn sentence on the matter
- Instead of being appreciative of correction, he calls other Catholics "uncharitable" or “of bad will” if they try to point out any of the above liberal traits in another person
Topic: Signs that a Catholic is tainted with Liberalism (Read 2326 times)