I’m stopped at a diner in rural Illinois en route to Sr. Wilhelmina’s childhood city, St. Louis. I’m happy to report that the local diner Old Route 66 Family Restaurant in Dwight, IL has excellent signature hot sauce.
Pilgrimage to Sr. Wilhelmina has begun!
***DONATE*** to help raise the funds for the film: https://t.co/kHccvsNkre
See locations and schedule: https://t.co/MtZiLPZnN1 pic.twitter.com/kFzxq3Ho7U
— OnePeterFive (@OnePeterFive) October 9, 2023
I haven’t been able to find the final fate of her parish church, the historic Black Catholic parish of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, which appears to be demolished. But hopefully the diocese can tell me something. St. Louis has a fascinating history within Christendom of the Americas, something we highlight today on the day of Thanksgiving for Columbus, but we’ll cover that more tomorrow. Reminder to DONATE to the fund for Sr. Wilhelmina’s docudrama:
“From Another Spirit”
Meanwhile, the synod in Rome is continuing, “hand in hand,” …to wherever it is they are going.
Said Cardinal Besungu:
Synodality is a new way for the Church to walk together, hand in hand, towards the shore where the Lord awaits us.
I’m sorry, what?
Diane Montagna asked one of the most important questions: “How is this assembly discerning whether something comes from the Holy Spirit or from another spirit?”
That is really the question isn’t it?
As Cardinal Zen remarked “I see clearly a whole plan of manipulation.”
“I see clearly a whole plan of manipulation.”
-Confessor of the Faith, Cardinal Zen https://t.co/4i7YonFG4T
— OnePeterFive (@OnePeterFive) October 6, 2023
The whole thing has the same model as modern Liberalism. From the American Revolution to the French, to their ugly daughters Communism and Feminism, it’s the same old thing: a bunch of elites figure out how they can whip up the mob using vague slogans, and they use it to generate a mass movement. After this gets going and has some momentum, the emotional appeal becomes an appeal to heaven, and the zeitgeist which is the product of social engineering becomes a divine oracle, which the demons exploit:
[At the American Revolution], Thomas Paine exuded with enthusiasm that the blood that had been spilled had “contributed more to enlighten the world and diffuse a spirit of freedom and liberality among mankind than any human event (if this may be called one) that ever preceded it.”[1]
This is their model for synodality: modern Liberalism. Modern “democracy.” This is how they manipulated St. John Paul II. And the cunning nature of the thing is that there is a true Greek ressourcement to be had (and this is why the Trad critique of Vatican II is often weak!), but the neo-Modernists use this to promote their own ends. And that’s why we need to be innocent as doves and cunning as serpents.
Roman Priests United Against their Bishop, Pope Francis
Our Romanitas correspondent Vincenzo Randazzo spoke to an interesting source in one of the priests of the Roman diocese:
A sad unity among Roman priests, who disagree on so much, find common ground in their disapproval of their bishop, the Pope. A seasoned pastor from Rome expressed deep concerns over Pope Francis’s recent decisions, suggesting even that the Pope’s advancing age might be affecting his judgment.
He describes an unprecedented unity among Roman priests, both conservative and liberal. However, this unity is unfortunately rooted in their shared disapproval of the Pope and his actions, particularly the controversial appointment of Michele Di Tolve from Milan as the rector of the seminary. “Is there no priest in Rome who can take on this position? To us, it feels like a slight. It’s a sad situation I’ve never experienced in my 35 years as a priest.”
Preferring anonymity for understandable reasons, he asserted that many priests feel slighted and less respected under the current leadership. “We expressed to our bishop how his letter to us, for example, seemed distasteful and accusatory. His response was, ‘Well, that letter was really meant for all priests around the world,’ to which we, his priests, respond, ‘Why then did you address it to us?’ It’s chaos.” I asked him about Pope Francis having a messy style, if we can use the “make a mess” quote from early in Francis’ pontificate to understand his actions. His response, “I understand the ‘hagan lio’ idea, but God took chaos and made order.”
When asked if he has a sense of how common this attitude is among priests in Rome, “I think the majority of priests here disapprove; this papacy is a disaster. it’s sad.”
This echoes what the Holy Father’s own close ally said, in a secret memo:
Commentators of every school, if for different reasons, with the possible exception of Father Spadaro, SJ, agree that this pontificate is a disaster in many or most respects; a catastrophe… Previously it was: “Roma locuta. Causa finita est.” Today it is: “Roma loquitur. Confusio augetur.”
As Trads this makes us hopeful, except for the fact that the reality is something that makes the angels weep.
What will become of the next conclave? We have seen the Holy Father appointing his allies in all the powerful positions and stacking the college of cardinals with the likes of Tucho “Heal Me with your Mouth” Fernández. But what will happen when so many sectors are united against Pope Francis and his allies?
An extremely bitter civil war and protracted conclave.
What would happen if we have an extended sedevacante as a result? Who knows but God?
I was thinking last night about Sr. Wilhelmina’s unconquered smile and her hopeful wit. I’m so thankful for what her life teaches us in this time: that theological hope is as unconquerable as the dead body of Jesus Christ in the tomb.
VIVA CHRISTO REY! 🙂
T. S. Flanders
Editor
Columbus Day / Our Lady of the Pillar
[1] Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 13, 1783 in T. S. Flanders, City of God vs. City of Man (Our Lady of Victory Press, 2021), 297.
