He will return with his immense heart, with his heart of fire, his poor man's soul
and his smile. He will return! And the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph!

THE SECRET OF FATIMA,
A RELIABLE SIGN OF HOPE 

The same hold true for our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI as it does for this « Bishop dressed in White » whom Lucy, Francisco and Jacinta saw in a prophetic vision on 13 July 1917, ninety years ago next year. The “Third Secret” depicted him crossing through « a great city half in ruins », which refers to the Pope’s travelling through the world during his apostolic voyages.

He walks « with halting step ». What does this mean? The speech that he gave to the Pontifical University of the Lateran on the occasion of the beginning of the new academic year on Saturday, 21 October will make us understand.

THE MYSTERY OF THE REDEMPTIVE INCARNATION

After the customary courteous greetings, the Pope declared that « A context such as the academic one invites in its peculiar way to enter anew the theme of the crisis of culture and identity, which in these decades dramatically places itself before our eyes. » It may be thought that the Pope is referring to the crisis of Christian civilisation. To remedy it, Benedict XVI gives as the aim of university studies the quest for the full Truth:

« The University is one of the best qualified places to attempt to find opportune ways to exit from this situation. In the University, in fact, the wealth of tradition that remains alive through the centuries is preserved – and especially the Library is an essential means to safeguard the richness of tradition in it – [the occasion for the discourse was the inauguration of the Lateran University’s new library]; and can be illustrated in the fecundity of the truth when it is welcomed in its authenticity with a simple and open mind. In the University the young generations are formed who await a serious, demanding proposal, capable of responding in new contexts to the perennial question on the meaning of our existence. This expectation must not be disappointed. The contemporary context seems to give primacy to an artificial intelligence that becomes ever more dominated by experimental techniques, and in this way forgets that all science must always safeguard man and promote his aspiration for the authentic good. To overrate “doing”, obscuring “being”, does not help to recompose the fundamental balance that everyone needs in order to give their own existence a solid foundation and valid goal. »

This goal is Heaven, it goes without saying.

« Every man, in fact, is called to give meaning to his own actions, above all when this is put in the perspective of a scientific discovery that weakens the very essence of personal life. To let oneself be taken up by the taste for discovery without safeguarding the criteria that come from a more profound vision would be to fall easily into the drama of which an ancient myth speaks: Young Icarus, exhilarated by the flight towards absolute freedom and heedless of the warning of his old father Daedalus, flew ever nearer to the sun, forgetting that the wings with which he flew in the sky were made of wax. His violent fall and death were the price of his illusion. »

In saying this, the Pope was undoubtedly thinking of the souls who fall into Hell.

« In life there are other illusions that one cannot trust without risking disastrous consequences for the existence of one’s self and others. »

These words are valid for temporal life, but even more so for our « own existence » in the beyond and for eternal life.

« The university professor has the duty not only to investigate the truth and to arouse perennial wonder from it, but also to foster its knowledge in every facet and to defend it from reductive and distorted interpretations. To make the theme of truth central is not merely a speculative act, restricted to a small circle of thinkers; on the contrary, it is a vital question in order to give a more profound identity to personal life and to heighten responsibility in social relations. »

Here the Pope invokes the authority of St. Paul who wrote to the Ephesians: « So from now on, there must be no more lies: You must speak the truth to one another, since we are all parts of one another. » (Ep 4.25)

To illustrate the Sovereign Pontiff’s remarks, permit us to cite as an example our scientific translation of the Koran, which was undertaken as disciples of Blessed Father de Foucauld. It broaches « a vital question » for our « social relations » with Muslims.

In the postface of Volume I of this translation, the Abbé de Nantes wrote:

« Indeed, both in the East and the West, Christians, Talmudic Jews and Muslim Arabs will be dumbfounded at the translation that you present to them, as a discovery of the original, authentic text. Yet I read nothing in it that is shocking or disgraceful. On the contrary, in this translation this work regains an almost biblical, even evangelical grandeur that the coarse interpretations of the hadît had concealed and debased. This is what gives rise to the anti-Muslim polemic characterised by disparaging this rival religion to the utmost degree as so much “Arab” ignorance, immorality, sensualism and materialism. »

It must be recognised, in fact, that « ever since Islam posed its vexing question to our Western world, to our Peter the Venerable ( † 1156), as it already had to St. John of Damascus, the study of it has continually been carried out in an indiscrete manner, as irresponsible as it was unscientific.

« Some wanted to prove that this religion was false and, thus, of no value. They succeed only too well in this because the implausibilities, excesses and coarseness of the hadît provided them plenty of matter for controversy, without permitting them to become familiar with the Koran itself. » This is why we undertook this scientific exegesis of the Koran.

« What were you going to discover? I feared that I might see your conclusions agree with theirs and, notwithstanding their scientific character, I would not have considered this indelicate incursion into the religion of others to be legitimate […].

« Now, this man is a religious genius and a man of action or rare power; his work is worthy of being compared to the greatest. » (Brother Bruno Bonnet-Eymard, The Koran, Translation and Systematic Commentary, Vol. I, Postface by the Abbé Georges de Nantes, p. 331)

Yet, in order for the results of our legitimate inquiry to impose themselves on the believers of Islam, as well as on the faithful of the other great religions and on unbelievers themselves, it is nevertheless necessary to draw the lesson honourably and fairly, with a view to reaching the unique and pure Truth to which all are called in order to find ourselves finally united in the same worship and the same love of God who became man. Pure scientific demonstration does not suffice. It is in this vein that the Holy Father continues by exhorting scientists to « come as near as possible to Him who is the goal towards which everything tends »:

« God is the ultimate truth to whom all reason naturally tends, solicited by the desire to totally fulfil the journey assigned to it. God is not an empty word or an abstract hypothesis; on the contrary, He is the foundation upon which to build one’s life. To live in the world veluti si Deus daretur [by taking God’s existence as granted] brings with it the assumption of a responsibility that knows how to be concerned with investigating every feasible route in order to come as near as possible to Him who is the goal towards which everything tends. »

In the past, the Abbé de Nantes powerfully expressed the same truth by showing how « the incoherent history and the mighty ugliness of the moral and religious inventions of the past and present, manifest a loving aspiration of the human soul towards a higher Beauty unattainable by its own inventiveness and strength » until divine Wisdom finally comes to dwell in Israel, « like a dart of light ending in Jesus Christ. » In considering the history of humanity, « the Church has never ceased to admire and to love God at work in the world among nations, coming down and revealing Himself more and more. Just as the shadow increases at the approach of the object, so God created in Israel with ever more precision and perfection the image of wisdom with His own Wisdom, until the final touch when God made a spouse of His own creature in order to create within the Immaculate Virgin the Man-God, His other Self, His Word, His only Son become the Son of man, the son of Mary Mother of God. » (A Mysticism for our Times, CCR n° 116, November 1979, p. 10)

Basing himself on the first Epistle to the Corinthians, in which St. Paul announces that in « the end » Christ « will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. » (1 Co 15.24), the Holy Father continued: « The believer knows that this God has a Face and that once for all, with Jesus Christ, He has drawn near to each man. »

NUPTIAL MYSTERY

But having arrived at this point, the Pope “falters”! Indeed, he adds: « The Second Vatican Council acutely recalled this: “For, by His Incarnation, the Son of God has in some fashion united Himself to every man. »

This proposition has been qualified by the Abbé de Nantes as « a novelty enormous enough to make the stars bray » (CCR n° 254, Jan. 1993, p. 2). In fact, to say that God « has drawn near to each man » by becoming flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is one thing. To say that He « has in some fashion united Himself to every man » is another.

The Abbé de Nantes has demonstrated that this affirmation, taken from Gaudium et Spes, was a heresy that is symmetrical and opposite to that of the Nestorian heresy, without ever obtaining a refutation from Rome or elsewhere, as I recalled in our editorial last November.

Nestorius denied any « communication of idioms », or exchange of proper attributes and operations between the Son of God and the Son of Mary such that he denied the divine Maternity of Mary. The Council of Ephesus condemned him in 431 by proclaiming the Virgin Mary “Mother of God”, Theotokos. Since Mary gave birth to Jesus of Nazareth, She is the Mother of God, because Jesus is the Son of God, God Himself.

The new heresy that the young Archbishop of Krakow introduced at the Second Vatican Council is the opposite of the ancient one and consists in affirming an exorbitant « communication of idioms » between the incarnate Word, the Son of God made man, and every man, as though by the very fact that God became man, man became God!

Catholic truth is altogether different. By His Incarnation, the Son of God is only united to the Immaculate, with whom He was but one flesh for nine months. This is what the Abbé de Nantes calls the « nuptial mystery » of the union of Jesus and Mary, « in the love of whom flow all the energies and strengths of the Creator and the creature ». In order to unite all men to Himself, He had to snatch them away from the Prince of this world by His sacrifice on the Cross, and make Mary the Virgin Mother of a new human race through the ministry of the Apostles: « Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved [by his union with Jesus and Mary]; he who does not believe will be condemned. [that is to say, definitively separated from Jesus and Mary]. » (Mk 16.15-16)

All of this is so true that the first act of Cardinal Ratzinger become Pope Benedict XVI was to strike out this heresy from the Catechism of the Catholic Church where Pope John Paul II had disseminated it here and there, like pellets of poison hidden in the bread of the children.

Now he re-establishes it in this speech at the University of the Lateran, in the same manner, right in the middle of a perfectly Catholic teaching. He in fact continues: « “He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart He loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, He has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin” (Gaudium et Spes, n^o 22). To know Him is to know the full truth, thanks to which one can find freedom: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (Jn 8.32) »

This is really what is called walking « with halting step ». Let us pray for the Holy Father!

THE REPROBATION OF JUDAS

The previous Wednesday, at the General Audience, « concluding our walk through the portrait gallery of the Apostles called directly by Jesus during His earthly life », the Pope arrived at Judas, « the one who has always been named last in the list of the Twelve ». And for good reason! « Already the very name of Judas raises among Christians an instinctive reaction of criticism and condemnation », the Pope said.

After a few scholarly explanations on the meaning of the name “Iscariot” that is added to the name “Judas”, Benedict XVI wondered « how is it that Jesus had chosen this man and trusted him. In fact, although Judas is the group’s bursar, in reality he is called a “thief” (Jn 12.6). The mystery of the choice remains, all the more since Jesus pronounces a very severe judgement on him: "Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed!" (Mt 26.24). »

Here the Pope interrupts the quotation of the « very severe judgement » And he continues: « What is more, it darkens the mystery around his eternal fate, knowing that Judas “filled with remorse, brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood” (Mt 27.3-4). »

Here is the Pope’s conclusion which, I must say, scandalised me: « Even though he went to hang himself, it is not up to us to judge his gesture, substituting ourselves for the infinitely merciful and just God. »

It is not incumbent on us to judge him. Indeed! But Jesus Himself passed a terrible sentence, which the Pope omitted. After having said: « Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed », Jesus added: « Better for that man if he had never been born! » If there had been “mercy” for Judas, and if he were in Purgatory until the end of the world, he would have good reason to rejoice for being born and to thank God eternally! This will be the case for each of us sinners, if God grants us mercy, if we go to Heaven. Therefore, Judas is most certainly in Hell, otherwise Jesus would not have said about him that it would have been better for him never to have been born!

On this point also, the Holy Father seems to us to be walking « with halting step », in accordance with the vision of the “Third Secret”. This is undoubtedly the reason why Our Lady showed Hell to the seers of Fatima. Her purpose was that, in spite of the silences of the hierarchy, we should not doubt the existence of this eternal fire that was prepared for the Devil and the evil angels, and those damned to whom Jesus referred on many occasions, not as unreal creatures, but as real beings whom Lucy, Francisco and Jacinta saw “floating” in this fire, implacably set in the revolt and reprobation that is the retribution of their iniquity.

THE TERROR OF DAMNATION

In 1978, the year of John Paul I’s accession, when treating An Aesthetic Mysticism for our Times the Abbé de Nantes set great store by a German theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and drew inspiration from his masterly work Glory and the Cross (Aubier, 1965-1972).

« It is the honour of our times and the hope of the future that a Catholic theologian should be re-teaching the Church of Christ this sapientia amorosa, sapida scientia, this delectable knowledge and this loving wisdom without which there would no longer be here below any true worshipers of God in spirit and in truth. » (CCR n° 105, December 1978, p. 3)

This judgement applies literally to the delectable teaching that Benedict XVI dispenses to us since his accession. There is nothing surprising in this: Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger were friends.

Alas! When he came to the chapter on « The Affliction of God », when aesthetic mysticism becomes « tragedy », the theologian Urs von Balthasar “falters”:

« The only definitive objection that now remains to our Christian vision of the beauty of this world, the Abbé de Nantes explained, one that appears insurmountable, is irremissible sin, sin unalloyed with mercy, sin finally pitted against God and acting as an obstacle to Him, overshadowing and eternally defying Him.

« Such sin is the history of a drama with a bad ending, which is what we call tragedy.

« As we reach the harbour it seems that nothing escapes the governance of the glory of Jesus Christ and then from the heart of the Gospel itself the most formidable obstacle of all rears its head in the calm, inescapable, firm and definitive words of Our Saviour:

« “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels... And these shall go into everlasting punishment; but the just into life everlasting.” (Mt 25.41-46)

« Then, our Father continued, we have the person of Judas, a man like us, chosen by Jesus to be an Apostle, one of the Twelve. He is part of this beautiful world; he entered into the Kingdom where he was even one of the pillars, close to and familiar with the Source of grace. Yet the Lord pronounced these words for this man who was close to Him, words that billions of men cannot hear without a shudder of horror:

« “Woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed. It were better for him if that man had not been born.” (Mt 26.24; Mk 4.21) »

It is remarkable that Benedict XVI, who evades the difficulty raised by this last sentence of Our Lord, is careful not to lean on John Paul II, his « beloved predecessor ». He did not hesitate to say to Messori: « Even if Christ said of Judas who had just betrayed Him: “It would be better for that man if he had never been born!” this sentence must not be understood as eternal damnation. »

Benedict XVI did not dare to take such an affirmation as his own. This is what is called walking « with halting step ».

What our Father wrote about the theologian von Balthasar applies literally to Pope Ratzinger: « It was not without astonishment, mingled with keen disappointment, that I came across this implicit, strange relaxation of the Faith in Urs von Balthasar. Throughout volumes IV and V of The Glory and the Cross; Theology, there are far too many allusions to Judgement and Hell always in a minimalist sense, for it to be temerarious to think that the author would lead us to conclude that God will save all men in the end. The words of Jesus to the contrary are passed over in silence or else deliberately interpreted as remains of the Old Testament, not to be taken seriously. (Theology 2, p. 108, 442: “For all that remains as figurative speech drawn from the armoury of Old”!) Finally, on the last page of his last book he proposes the account of St. Paul’s Shipwreck as the allegory of our human history, highlighting the Apostle’s words to his companions in distress: “for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but only of the ship.” (Ac 27.22). » (CCR n° 112, p. 21)

« How can these great theologians – I can no longer say these mystics – let go of one end of the chain and so discredit the beauties of Hope by turning them into attitudes of presumption and insolence?

« There would be no suffering in God nor sorrow with regard to His creatures if He could love them content in their absolute revolt, or if ever He decided to gain their repentance by force or surprise. The tragic dimension of this present life would have disappeared together with the tragic dimension of eternal Life. If the good and the bad in the end were merged in the same reward and beatitude it would mean that truth and error, good and bad would be without real difference here and now. There would be no object in the struggle and the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ would be an absurd episode in The Human Comedy. » (ibid.)

We can even imagine the following episode: « On the evening of Good Friday when Jesus had crossed the veil of this life and left the world’s scene behind, He hastened to the underworld with the Good Thief, not wishing to be separated from Him, following close behind. What about the Bad Thief? Did Jesus and the Good Thief come to shake his hand and laugh saying: “Come on now, it is all over, let’s be reconciled!” Inconceivable comedy. » (p. 10)

No! the combat of Christ and the Antichrist is a divine tragedy of love and eternal pain. « I know, I can see the lack of proportion between the Faith that teaches the evil of sin and perpetual Hell, the Faith that totalises the mystery of created being and of its eternal destiny and an aesthetic that fails to find in this the summit of grace and beauty, to which it aspires for its taste of perfect happiness. All I have shown is that if we knew all and were to taste the supreme Divine knowledge of good and evil then there would be nothing more for us to do and nothing to which we might aspire. Now, it is beautiful to hope and to conquer... Furthermore, if we were to hope all and do all to the point of saving all and bringing about the world’s dreamed of perfection, we would no longer love nor pray. Now, it is very beautiful and very good for creatures to love and to pray that the Name of our Heavenly Father be hallowed, that His Kingdom come, that His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. And in Hell? Ah! let us struggle against Hell, but let us not question God about the work of His First and Eternal Sorrow! »

Brother Bruno of Jesus.