| Editor: Brother Bruno Bonnet-Eymard | N° 111– December 2011 |
|
THE APPEAL FROM THE POPE TO THE POPE
« Vade post me Satana, scandalum es mihi : quia non sapis ea quæ Dei sunt, sed ea quæ hominum. » (Mt 16:18 and 23)
It is rare, indeed unprecedented, that a Liber Accusationis intended to open a trial for heresy be addressed to the tribunal of the Holy Office against a pope or a prefect of a Roman Congregation, because grounds are generally lacking. Nevertheless, Fr. de Nantes thought that such a case presented itself during the pontificate of Paul VI and, accordingly wrote his first Book of Accusation against the Person of the Pope; in it, he happily acknowledged that almost never, in twenty centuries of her history, had cases of heresy arisen at the summit of the Church. So much was this the case that the way to deal with such an astonishing disorder was scarcely specified in Law.
If, however, some upright and competent man found himself obliged in conscience to refuse the teaching of the reigning Pope, or of the Council, as being proposed outside the norms of infallibility, on the one hand, and on the other, as contrary on important points to the Ordinary Magisterium that conveys the Church’s tradition, it would be his duty, for the good of the Church and the honour of God, to expound his conviction. This he would do, not to render a judgement nor to lay claim to any authority whatsoever, but to introduce this cause of a trial for heresy that the infallible Authority of the successor of Peter, Vicar of Jesus Christ and supreme Head of the Church, could thus settle infallibly, bringing back the concord, the unity and the peace that had been temporarily disturbed.
Thus it was that our Father believed that he had done his duty four successive times, during his first trial in 1968-1969, then by presenting three Books of Accusation, in 1973, 1983 and 1993. It seemed to him that there would be a dereliction of duty on the part of the sovereign Authority if it postponed beyond thirty days – unless he abandoned his complaint – the opening of a trial of such great importance, or an act of perfidy if it considered the matter closed. It seemed to him, however, that there would be just as serious a failure on the part of the plaintiff if he left his accusation pending, either on grounds of personal interest, or under threats of retaliation, intimidation or sanctions of whatever kind, at the risk of allowing the evil that was its object to continue. As heirs and successors of our Father, our duty is thus to persist, under the guarantee of the just and holy Law of the Church, in this triple, nay quadruple accusation without fearing any threat, until a judgement has been passed.