Gratifying, Yet Sobering: Reflecting Upon a Romanist Conference

A Review of 1996 Midwest Catholic Conference, South Bend, Indiana

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the 1996 Midwest Catholic Conference near the campus of Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. The theme of the Conference was "Converting America to the Catholic Faith." Guest speakers included Father John O'Conner, Gary Potter, Gerry Matatics and John Vennari. John Vennari is the editor of Catholic Family News, and Gerry Matatics is a well known Roman Catholic apologist.

Although I did not attend each and every lecture, I attended the most significant discourses. However, before getting into specifics, we should take notice that this group of Roman Catholics is comprised of perhaps the most conservative Romanists in the country. This proved to be gratifying and sobering all at the same time. We are always gratified to encounter sincere Roman Catholics who really believe in the Council of Trent and are as aghast at the ecumenical movement as we are. It is refreshing to hear an actual defense of historic Romanism after suffering through modern Catholics and their smorgasbord approach to their own religion. But we are always sobered in our encounter with real Romanists as well. The experience immediately throws us back to the 16th century and we begin to get an idea of the way things really were at the height of the Protestant Reformation.

The Roots of Barbarism

The first lecture, which I attended, proved to set the tone for the entire Roman Catholic mission. Gary Potter, a free lance writer and popular Romanist speaker, focused the audience's attention on the Protestant Reformation. According to Potter, it was the individualism of the Reformers that usurped the authority of the Catholic Church which was the beginning of the end for Christian civilization. His thesis was that individual salvation lead to revolutionary ideas. In his eyes, the West was lost the minute individuals began to think that they could have a relationship with God apart from the Roman Catholic religion. Mr. Potter feels that salvation is only possible within Romanism. He feels that Christ established the Roman Catholic church and through it alone is the grace of salvation forthcoming.

It is the consistent underlying premise of Rome that Jesus came to give mankind a grace-dispensing system. According to Rome, all graces that lead to salvation come through the one and only Roman Catholic religion, which they are convinced was established by Jesus Christ. Equally important and invariable within this premise is the Romanist conviction that God makes His people subjectively holy [with their consent through the sacraments] in order to justify them.

Given this commitment to the absolute necessity of man's personal holiness as the ground of justification, and the unwavering belief that grace is dispensed through the Romanist religion, it is no wonder that Potter can say that outside the Romanist religion there can be no salvation. Mr. Potter says of Romanism what the Christian says of Christ. We believe that outside of Christ [being in Christ by faith alone] there is no salvation. According to Potter, it is not enough that God wants us to be in Heaven [Romanist assumption] but that we must be holy to enter. How do we get holy enough? For Mr Potter and the rest of these Roman Catholics, there is only one way. It is through the Romanist religion.

We could not disagree with Mr. Potter more! The Protestant Reformation served to obliterate the blockade to God which was established by Roman Catholicism. Luther did not hate the Word of God nor did he hate the Body of Christ. Luther was concerned that the decadence of the Romish religion had severed Christ from His people. The Roman Catholic religion had taken Mr. Potter's assumption [no salvation outside the Catholic religion] and blocked all access to God. Indulgences were sold for time off in Purgatory. Penance and suffering were offered to the hopeful for their personal holiness. Luther began the task, so despised by Mr. Potter, of lifting from the weary shoulders of the faithful the awful Romish burden of auto soterism (self salvation). Luther exposed Romanism as a man-made system run amuck! Step by step the Reformers liberated themselves from guilt and fear of the Romish prelates and experienced the life-changing Gospel of the Grace of God found only in the finished work of Christ. Indulgences were at the heart of Luther's protest. But fundamentally, indulgences represent the aforementioned mindset of the Roman Catholic. If Christ established a 'system' of achieving salvation through His grace, dispensed through religious priests and Sacramentals, as well as giving Christ-like authority to the Papacy, then indulgences are not surprising. Indulgences are nothing more than the continual outworking of the Romanist assumption that Christ left them with the task of getting people to Heaven. Indulgences are Rome's answer to this monumental task, and they have not gone away. They cannot be left out of the system:

"Question 135 of the Catechism used in the Belgian dioceses asks the question, 'What is an indulgence?' and gives the answer: 'An indulgence is the pardon given by Holy Church of the temporal penalties which are our lot here below or in purgatory, after we have received the pardon of our sins." Question 136 asks, 'How can we earn indulgences?' and answers, 'To earn an indulgence, a person must be in a state of grace and fulfil the conditions taught by Holy Church.'" [1]

Mr. Potter's answer to Barbarism is to bring Western civilization back under the authority of the Roman Catholic religion. Then and then only, says he, will the world escape its current Barbarism. We believe Barbarism first takes its shape in the specter of a man-made religion controlling the population through the manipulation of the Gospel of Christ. God forbid that we should ever surrender the Gospel to such tyranny again.

Give Us the Old!

Another speaker at this conference was John Vennari, the editor of Catholic Family News. Mr. Vennari spoke on two extremely interesting subjects. The first was the place of the New Catholic Catechism in the life of the Roman Catholic. He entitled his speech, "Is the New Catechism source of hope?" His answer was essentially, 'No!' It was interesting to hear a Roman Catholic be so critical of one of their own documents. Mr. Vennari told the audience that the New Catechism was full of ecumenism and had as its back drop Vatican II rather than the Council of Trent. The audience was told to distance itself from the New Catechism and stick with the old. Mr. Vennari was certain that the new added nothing of value to the old and subverted Catholicism with its decidedly ecumenical stance.

At this juncture it seems appropriate to ask how the standard Romanist belief in authoritarian control of their religion is not compromised by directing practicing Romanists to ignore most of the New Catechism. The New Catholic Catechism comes with the highest endorsement from both the Pope and the Magisterium:

"The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved June 25th last and the publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition, and the Church's Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion."[2]

Given this endorsement, how then can it be the object of criticism and scorn by those who hold dogmatically and tenaciously to the Council of Trent which states unambiguously:

"Lastly, the holy council declares that each and all of the things which under whatever clauses and words have been established in this holy council in the matter of reform of morals and ecclesiastical discipline, under the supreme pontiffs Paul III and Julius III, of happy memory, as well as under the most blessed Pius IV, have been so decreed that in these matters the authority of the Apostolic See is understood to be intact."[3] (emphasis added).

Trent says the Apostolic See is boss. Mr. Vennari proclaims that the New Catechism is to be judged by individual Catholics to see if it is not dangerous to the true Roman Catholic religion. We see here the blatant contradiction of the Romanist religion. Any movement away from what is perceived to be taught in the earlier Councils is here castigated by an individual Catholic. But the early Councils, a.) allow for liberty in the promulgation of new ideas providing the authority comes from the Magisterium, and b.) forbid individual dissent from the teaching of the Magisterium. Mr. Vennari does not have the right to question the New Catechism since its "new" ideas come from the Magisterium which reserves this privilege. Also, the Council of Trent does not give Mr. Vennari the right to defend it against the current Magisterium. Mr. Vennari attempts to defend the Magisterium by attacking the Magisterium. In this case, who are we to believe? It appears to us that the whole concept of received truth and obedience to the "Mother Church" is forsaken when the individual [we hear Luther's snicker] is allowed to throw down the teaching of the latest Magisterium. Especially when the one throwing it down has nothing to go on other than a private opinion that the current Magisterium does not follow the teachings of the previous Council. How ironic, that the ones vilifying the New Catechism are doing so on the basis that it violates the spirit of Trent. Yet, Trent expressly forbids such resistance against the Magisterium! Christians who start different Churches on the basis of conflicting doctrine in interpreting the Word of God have nothing on the Romanists who have a party spirit over the meaning of their own early councils.

A Plan for the Nation

Perhaps the most interesting lecture of all was Mr. Vennari's second lecture, entitled: "Catholicizing a Nation: The Six Points of Father Dennis Fahey." Mr. Vennari devoted one session to a re-presentation of a theme first expressed by a popular Roman Catholic priest of this Century, now deceased. Regardless of the source, the title: "Catholicizing a Nation" is most intriguing to us. Borrowing concepts from Fehey's book, Kingship of Christ and the Reorganization of Society, Mr. Vennari presents a 6 point plan for the Catholicizing of America. The first point, not surprisingly, is to have the government recognize the Romanist religion as the one true church. The second point is to recognize that the Romanist religion is the guardian of morals and values. The government should look to Rome for guidance in the development of law. The third point is the unity and sanctity of marriage. The family unit is indispensable to the development of a permeated Catholic environment. The fourth point is the education of the America's youth of the Mystical Body of Christ as existing in the Romanist religion. This is the source of grace for salvation. The fifth point is the protection of private property against the intrusion of the state either through unfair and aggressive taxation or social policies which prevent land ownership. The sixth point is the use of money to promote an agricultural and industrial society.

In these six points, we see the long arm of Rome. Initially, we are not offended by the last four points. However, after considering the source and the motive, we become suspicious. But first things first. History teaches us when 'King Jesus' is elevated by man who then claims the power to interpret all that 'King Jesus' would have us believe and do, it is time for believers to prepare for suffering. We have seen this Rex is Lex [king is law]mentality in the monarchies of Europe and the devastation it has caused. Informed by the "ethical" arm of the Romanist religion, European monarchs justified their actions as sanctioned by God through approval of Rome. The Puritan Christians fled such abuse and established colonies in America vowing 'Never again.' We echo their defiance.

But, what about private property, the sanctity of marriage and an agricultural/industrial nation? How does this play into the hands of Rome? Our answer is that it does not if Rome is in the minority and is just one voice among many crying out for the rights of all peoples. But I heard a different voice at this conference. I heard the voice of the Romanist 'King Jesus' who would determine the viability of a marriage by law and force if necessary. I heard the voice of enforcement through the laws of the land that legislate Romanist religious principles. I heard in the background the voices of economic persecution in the name of Jesus for those who refuse to adhere to the implications of Romanist religious practices. We believe that Rome recognizes the danger of the secular state drowning out the voice of Rome. The enemy now is the state. However, we believe the greater enemy will be a state in search of an identity. An identity that is exclusively Romanistic sounds the death knell for Christian liberty. We understand Rome to be posturing for freedom from the government in order to have more control over its adherents. This is Rome's battle. We do not believe that Rome can Catholicize America unless Rome absorbs Evangelicalism. In this case, the true believer faces the darkest days yet ever on our American soil. May God in His mercy grant us resolve to stand against Rome and those who champion their false hope.

[1] T. VanHuysse, The Gift of Grace, (Evangelical Press, 1992), pg. 74
[2] The 1994 Catholic Catechism, pg. 5, Introduction, (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1994)
[3] Schroeder, The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, (Tan Books, 1978) pg. 253