Why are so many Catholics confused?

In 1986 Pope John Paul II held an Inter faith meeting in Assisi, 

with the idea of dialogue and ecumenism with the other main 

religions of the world; and peace between religions and people.

Peace in the world is something all normal people wish for, 

and dialogue is often crucial to achieve it.

But how did this event look to the average person, how did he 

interpret it? 

I know for myself, that when I saw this on the television, I

was disturbed, I felt betrayed.  I had met Pope John Paul II

myself, in 1983, as he officiated at my wedding (and the 

wedding of 20 other couples) in Saint Peter's Basilica.

 

He was a tremendously charismatic Pope, hugely popular, and 

was declared a Saint not too long after his death.

But this occasion in Assisi truly shocked very many Catholics,

all over the world, they looked on with unbelieving eyes as the

Holy Father seemed to put our faith on the same level as all

the man-made false religions of the world, and paganism.

 

I still do not understand this, but I do know that it served as a decisive 

event for Archbishop Lefebvre to go ahead and consecrate four 

bishops in his SSPX seminar in Écône without having obtained 

permission from The Pope.  

Archbishop Lefebvre was fully aware of what he was doing, 

it was not a rebellious act, it was done in the spirit of a martyr,

he would rather die than to betray The Church.  

He had spent his entire life serving the Church, he was an

old man who knew he had limited time left on earth, he had

an illness that he knew he was not going to recover from, this

was an outstandingly brave act to preserve the liturgy of the old 

Mass and the priesthood as it had been up until the Second 

Vatican Council. 

Pope John Paul II excommunicated Archbishop Lefebvre and

the bishops he had consecrated, but the Archbishop did not

acknowledge it, in order to avoid schism in the Church.

 

Pope John Paul II's  successor  Pope Benedict XVI did a lot

to restore the SSPX fully back into the fold of the Vatican, but

it was left unfinished and vague. In any case, they have continued

ever since, and nobody has been able to stop them. 

Then, under Pope Francis, we saw on October 4th 2019 the 

outrageous scandal of veneration of the pagan symbol 

Pachamama in the Vatican during the synod on the Amazon.

 

 

The sculpture was taken by Catholics and thrown into the river 

 

Tiber as a protest against the open idol worshipping at the heart 

 

of the Catholic Church, but it was later (unfortunately) retrieved. 

Then in 2020 we saw Pope Francis's Encyclical "Fratelli Tutti"

(meaning "all brothers"),

on fraternity and social friendship, basically a political paper 

which advocates no borders and migration, peace and social justice.

Nothing about the Catholic doctrine and it's spiritual teachings and 

uniqueness. 

We need to be aware that since the beginning  of the Church, politics

has always inserted itself, even though the kingdom of God is in total

opposition to earthly kingdoms. Human nature being as it is; fallen, this

is still the case today. 

Due to this there has been several heresies in the history of the Church,

the most well known; Arianism; denying the divinity of Christ and 

Docetism; denying the humanness of Christ, amongst others.

 

There are still many Catholics who thinks that everything the Pope 

says and does is infallible and that he has always right. 

The reality is that Papal infallibility is only when the Pope makes a 

proclamation concerning doctrine, the faith or morals, and in those 

instances he must speak as the Vicar of Christ, (not in the capacity 

as an individual), and he must address the whole Church. 

But of course many Catholics are influenced by the private 

opinions of the Pope, but we need to be aware. Pope Francis 

said we should get the Covid "vaccine", an experimental injection, 

and of which it was subsequently admitted did not protect against 

the disease, and which was also produced from stem cells of aborted 

babies still alive. Just those facts alone ought to be enough for any 

Catholic to not take it, yet the Pope promoted it.

 

As Catholics we ought to only focus on practicing our Faith.

Mass, Confession, Prayer, loving our neighbour, keeping the 

Commandments, practicing the virtues, working on our own 

sanctification.

 

When some Catholics laments today why so many have lost the

faith I would say because of Vatican II, opening the Church up to t

he world to let it in, taking onboard feminism; altargirls (which of 

course was going to lead to the demand for "women priests"), 

Communion in the hand ( The Real Body of Christ handed out like

any other distribution of goods), the use of Eucharistic ministers. 

Only the priest has consecrated hands, only his hands are fit to touch

the Body of Christ and when he gives it out it should go directly into

our mouths, because our hands are not fit to touch Him neither, no 

more than the ministers. That does not mean that the ministers are not

good people!, or that the priest is not a sinner like the rest of us,

but The Body Of Christ is not a symbol, and we are not protestants.

 

Regarding my marriage by Pope John Paul II, people used to be in awe,

and say things like: "Oh my God, you are REALLY married!" 

As a matter of fact, I obtained a Church annulment, declaring it to 

have never been a catholic marriage in the first place.