NOBILE TO PG AND VIGANÒ: PRAYER, YES, BUT ALSO ACTION…
20 Giugno 2020 Pubblicato da Marco Tosatti Lascia il tuo commento --




 

Marco Tosatti

Dear friends and enemies of Stilum Cuariae, Agostino Nobile saw the appeal-request made by Pezzo Grosso to Archbishop Viganò, and read, in addition to the archbishop’s reply, the comments that appeared on the blog. And he wrote this reflection, which we offer for your judgment and discussion. Enjoy your reading.

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                                                         Catholics: Prayer Does Not Exclude Action

After the “Appeal to the Church and to the world” by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò for Catholics to rise up, “Pezzo Grosso” asks what we Catholics need to do in a more concrete way, “just limit ourselves to praying, crying, and trying not to worry?” In his answer, Bishop Viganò, recalling, among other things, the words of Jesus Christ, could not have been any clearer: “Let your speech be: Yes, yes or No, no. The rest comes from the Evil One. ” According to this, it is evident that he is implying that Catholics must learn to speak clearly and get to what matters without being ambivalent as the church of today seems to be. We must be afraid of God, not of those who challenge him.

The current situation in which we find ourselves in is more critical than those that our ancestors have faced for centuries with Islam and other heresies, as men of the Church have now become the Antagonists. The weapons used today are different and not as obvious but more pernicious because they kill the faith and divide the Catholic people.



So how do we as Catholics defend ourselves ? Is prayer enough?
Let’s learn from history. I will show you the consequences of prayer without action versus prayer with action.

Prayer without action.
On May 29, 1453 Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman army of Muhammad II. It was the end of the Byzantine empire. Despite the military contribution offered by the Genovese soldier of fortune Giovanni Giustiniani Longo, who found himself fighting with 5/7 thousand men, nothing was possible against the army of Muhammad II consisting of 160 thousand men (some sources speak of 700 thousand fighters). The jealousies, envies and betrayals of European sovereigns prevented Pope Nicholas V from gathering a fleet of fighters to help Constantinople. The rich city of Bisazio was conquered thanks to a Hungarian engineer who, behind a very lavish engagement, made terrifying bombs for the Ottomans capable of launching balls made of granite weighing 500 kilograms. The massacres of Muslims was unprecedented. The streets had become rivers of blood. A part of the population took refuge in the basilica of Santa Sofia, trusting in an ancient prophecy according to which, if enemies ever invaded the city, an angel would descend from Paradise which would not allow him to enter the cathedral. Men, women and children were impaled, skinned alive and crucified. The little boys were emasculated for the pleasure of the new rulers, while the survivors ended up in slave markets. Churches reduced to warehouses, where religious were tortured and slaughtered. The nuns were,raped, gutted, trampled to death by horses, while the young women, religious or otherwise, were sold as slaves.

Prayer with action.
The Ottoman Empire, not satisfied with having canceled Byzantium forever, continued its devastating march over Europe. After invading Belgrade and Hungary, Muslims marched to Vienna. It was Pope Innocent XI who in 1683 commissioned Father Marco d’Aviano to recreate the Holy League of the Christian nations. Deep envy made Father Marco’s mission particularly difficult, but his faith and charisma rewarded him. The kingdoms of Spain, Portugal, Poland and the republics of Florence, Venice and Genoa sent aid and considerable military contingents. Only Louis XIV, who hoped for the Ottomans to defeat Austria to increase France’s prestige in Europe, refused the alliance, even trying to make it fail. Many Frenchmen, however, joined the Holy League and reached Vienna.The Ottoman siege of Vienna began on July 14, 1683. Father Marco celebrated a mass on the hill overlooking Vienna, in the camp set up on the Kahlenberg (Bald Mountain). At his side of the altar were John III Sobieski, king of Poland, and Charles of Lorraine. Once the rite was over, the friar gave one of his memorable sermons invoking the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Between the 11th and 12th of September, the Holy League under the leadership of John III forced the retreat of the Ottoman army.

There are also historical facts such as those mentioned in Christianity when the Church faced the heretics who surrounded the Catholics or the European sovereigns who sought to subdue the papacy. Diplomacy was often enough, but when it failed, the popes were forced to ask the sovereigns close to the Church for help, even through difficult compromises, to fight enemies with weapons.

Therefore, history teaches us that without an appropriate defense to the offense, Christianity would have been extinct for centuries. Obviously, today it is not a question of taking to the streets with tanks, but of using courageously and without hesitation concepts and words that deny this new church and the media.

Before suggesting some ideas on how to deal with the current situation in practice, it is necessary to know the methods of those who fight against the Church willed by God.

Reading the docuмents of the Masonic Lodges, we learn that for more than a century Freemasons were busy designing a Freemason Pope or someone who shared their ideas. They were patiently waiting in the shadows until Vatican II, eventually getting to realize their dream in 2013.

Although Monsignor Viganò urges Catholics not to keep silent, some readers who have commented on the letter insist on limiting themselves to prayer. But Jesus did not say to the apostles “now stay at home praying and I will do the rest”. Rather, He urged them to “go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ” In order to advance his plan for the world, God uses the action of men, even at the cost of their lives: “if one comes to me and does not love me more than he loves his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple “(Lk 14:26).

I know that these words, to put it mildly, will disturb some Catholics, but if the Gospel is not fully accepted, one remains a livingroom Catholic. T. S. Eliot, defines this human typology as Catholics with a “hygienic morality”, which translated means never putting your well-being at risk.

Among the comments in regards to the letter of Archbishop Viganò, there are those disappointed people who ask for a practical and feasible solution. But Viganò is a churchman, not a media or military strategist.

So what do we do? First of all, we should note the causes that have led to this new church. Very briefly and humbly I will try to make a small contribution based on my personal experience to better explain why we have this new church.

My conversion from agnosticism to Christ, began in the mid-eighties. At age thirty I was like a newborn child to Catholicism, and perhaps it was precisely this unique situation of mine that led me to see more clearly the doctrinal inconsistencies that hovered among the religious. Later, I enrolled in the Theological Faculty of Central Italy. The teachers, who were so woefully historically and theologically ignorant, served up an abundance of Protestant theology dishes, with desserts heavily sprinkled with Islam and Buddhism. To make a long story short, the following year I threw in the towel as I could not be part of, or stomach such a perversion of Catholic truth.

It must be noted, in light of all this, that it was no accident or oversight of the Holy Spirit that Bergoglio was chosen but perhaps if the Holy Sprit gave a little push for Bergoglio to be chosen, he did it so that the Catholic people would see the Judases behind this.

Sadly, I don’t remember meeting a priest who has ever read an apologetics book written in the last half century. Indeed, they often view these books with particular contempt. It would be enough to go and see what they actually sell in Catholic bookstores to show you why there is such ignorance, distortion and an outright rejection of true Catholic doctrine.

Since lies seem to circulate not only in theological institutions, in schools and in the media, religious and faithful should read, together with the mystics and fathers of the Church, the apologists, primarily Vittorio Messori, to understand of what vital importance the Church has been over the centuries. In fact, I think that faith should be nourished by reason (St. Thomas docet)Yet there seems to be an obsessive need these days to apologize for the church.

Civil rights, respect for all human beings from birth to natural death, would not exist without the Church. Artistic beauty, music, book form, science, medicine, architecture, etc. are all gifts from the Church that have allowed the West and the world at large to develop and advance as never seen before in history.

Once the apologetic brain food has been assimilated, the Catholic should, as the first Christians did with pagans, revitalize our Catholic faith by going into churches to encourage priests and faithful to read books on apologetics. But it may be enough just to organize meetings or prayer groups to share the beauty and logic of our faith.

It is not that easy for a priest who has been steeped in “Protestant” schools of thought,who only reads communist newspapers and considers the news to be gospel, to be brought to reason. He represents the most contradictory yet all too common a figure in our society. Unconsciously, or perhaps not, priests work and work to bring down the Church. It is as if a soccer player paid by Juventus, who arrives on the field , always runs towards the Juventus goal and keeps kicking the ball into his own goal …

However, I take courage in the fact that the ways of the Lord are infinite. Perhaps if we try to communicate calmly in the presence of the faithful, we may have a chance. When I was in Italy I did it and the results were good. Generally I presented myself as someone wayward who was asking to be enlightened on matters of faith …

The priest must understand that Protestantism will lead him straight to bankruptcy, “professionally” and economically, because the Catholic churches will close like the Protestant churches of northern Europe. Unless, of course he wants to grow a beard and dress up as an Imam as he will
find plenty of mosques open.

If Masons have had to wait over a century to reach their goals, Catholics must not think of changing the world in one day. But if they are prepared and the majority of the priests in the world wake up to the faith armed with reason, in a few years we would finally have a Catholic people sufficiently ready and prepared enough to identify the politicians who defend life and Christianity (Trump docet.) and support them. On the contrary, far too many Catholics, who are morally bankrupt due to a profound lack of Knowledge of their Catholic faith, vote for parties and politicians that promote the most horrendous act that a mother can commit, the killing of the unborn child she carries in her womb.

In addition to helping Catholics learn their faith, and getting the young single Catholics ready and prepared for their mission of evangelizing , what can still be done?

A TV network?

Blogs and radios are doing a commendable job, but it is the TV that enters all the houses and brings the family’s entertainment par excellence.

In recent years, religious sects have increased the number of faithful through the TV networks they have, as in the case of the Pentecostals, by subtracting a few hundred million faithful from the Catholic world. In Brazil alone, Catholicism, which stood at 80/90%, has fallen to 64% of the population.

In Italy there is a TV2000 network, but the results of it have been pitiful at best. Catholics could finance a TV network, perhaps diverting Saint Peter’s Pence to funding it. The programming can consist of Tridentine masses, talk shows, constructive films and theater, history and apologetics programs, biographies of saints and conversion stories, classical and sacred music, without forgetting some good rock and pop music , ballets and musicals.

Blogs and radios, Catholic or otherwise, may begin to spread the initiative by starting to contact technicians with expertise and experience in television.

These are some ideas to resurrect, revitalize and evangelize Catholics of today. We, clergy and lay people alike,who have the truth of the Catholic faith founded by Christ himself, must start somewhere to teach it in its entirety and pass it on as we are losing another generation to the ideologies of other religions and philosophies and we simply cannot afford to keep going down this path or we will have only ourselves to blame.

Agostino Nobile

(Co-translator Joy Paulson)

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