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!

A CARDINAL SPEAKS OUT!

On the eve of his eightieth birthday, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi has published his “Mémoires et Récits” entitled “Memorie e digressioni di un italiano cardinale” Memoirs and Digressions of an Italian Cardinal (Cantagalli, Sienne, 640 pages). The former Archbishop of Bologna relates his life, from his birth in a working-class district of Milan to his ordination, then his life as a professor of theology, parish priest, bishop and finally cardinal. The ideas of Cardinal Biffi spring without restraint from each of the 640 pages of this book, formulating surprising, sometimes serious, reservations on the present evolution of the Church, in the form of “recollections” tinged with irony. They sometime take the turn of a settling of scores, for example, against Cardinal Martini and Cardinal Tettamanzi. Certain pages, however, very damaging for the Second Vatican Council, take the turn of a “Liber accusationis”, to the point of putting the beatification of John XXIII into question. These memories give an authoritative view that is far from generally accepted ideas. Nevertheless it is also captivating reading and we are enchanted from the first pages by a brilliant, always sober writing, which goes to what is most important..

JOHN XXIII FALSE PROPHET

« Pope John XXIII died on the solemnity of Pentecost, 3 June 1963. I, too, mourned for him, because I had an unshakeable admiration for him. I was fascinated by his actions “pushing the envelope”, and rejoiced in his frequently surprising words and his spontaneous interjections. There were just a few statements of his that I found puzzling. These were precisely the ones that won over hearts and minds more than any others, because they seemed consistent with men’s instinctive aspirations.

« There was, for example, his judgment of reproof on the “prophets of doom”.

« The expression became, and remained, extremely popular, and naturally so: people do not like party poopers; they prefer those who promise good times over those who advance fears and reservations. I, too, admired the courage and drive, during the last years of his life, of this “youthful” successor of Peter.

« I recall, however, that a sense of perplexity seized me almost immediately. In the history of Revelation, the true prophets were the ones who usually announced chastisements and calamities, as in Isaiah (chapter 24), Jeremiah (chapter 4), and Ezekiel (chapters 4-11).

« Jesus himself, in chapter 24 of the Gospel of Matthew, would have to be counted among the “prophets of doom”: his proclamation of future triumphs and impending joys do not usually relate to existence here on earth, but rather to “eternal life” and the “Kingdom of Heaven”.

« The people in the Bible who usually proclaim the imminence of tranquil and serene times are, instead, the false prophets (cf. chapter 13 of the Book of Ezekiel).

« The statement from John XXIII is explained by his state of mind at the time, but it should not be made absolute. On the contrary, it would be well to listen also to those who have some reason to alert their brothers, preparing them for possible trials, and those who believe it is opportune to issue calls for prudence and vigilance.

« “We must look more at what unites us than at what divides”. This statement, too - which today is often repeated and greatly appreciated, almost as the golden rule of “dialogue” - comes to us from the Roncalli era, and communicates to us its atmosphere.

« This is a practical principle of evident good sense, which should be kept in mind in situations of simple coexistence and for decisions on minor everyday matters.

« It becomes absurd and disastrous, however, in its consequences if it is applied in the great issues of life, and especially in religious matters. For example, using this aphorism is appropriate for maintaining neighbourly terms in a condominium or for insuring rapid effectiveness in a municipal council. But we are heading for big problems if we draw inspiration from it in our evangelical witnessing before the world, our ecumenical commitment or our dialogue with non-believers. In virtue of this principle, Christ could become the first and the most illustrious victim of the dialogue with non-Christian religions. Our Lord Jesus said referring to Himself, but it is one of His phrases that we tend to censure: “I came to bring division.” (Lk 12.51)

« For important matters, there can only be one rule: above all, we ought to focus on what is determinant, substantial and true, whether it divides us or unites us.

« “We must make the distinction between error and the person who is wrong”: this is another maxim that belongs to the moral heritage of John XXIII and that also influenced Catholicism in the following years.

« The idea couldn’t be more true and it draws its force from the teaching of the Gospel itself: error can only be reprimanded, detested, and fought by the disciples of Him who is the Truth. The person who is wrong, on the other hand, is always, in his inalienable humanity, a living image, even if it is only outlined, of the incarnate Son of God. Thus, he must be respected, loved and assisted as much as possible.

« I could not forget, however, when reflecting on this sentence, that the historic wisdom of the Church never reduced the condemnation of error to a pure and ineffective abstraction.

« It is necessary to warn the Christian people and protect it from the person who in fact, spreads error, without ceasing to seek his true good and without judging the subjective responsibility of anyone, which God alone knows.

« On this matter, Jesus gave a precise directive to the heads of the Church: the person who causes scandal by his behaviour and by his doctrine and who does not let himself be convinced by the personal warning or by the more solemn reprobation of the Church, “treat him like a pagan and a publican” (cf. Mt 18.17); thus foreseeing and ordering the institution of excommunication. » (p. 177-179)

THE SNARES OF VATICAN II

« Pope John XXIII had set as the work and objective of the Council, the “internal renewal of the Church”. It was an expression more pertinent than the term “aggiornamento” (updating) – another Roncallian word – which nevertheless had unmerited success. It was certainly not the Sovereign Pontiff’s intention, but “aggiornamento” conveyed the idea that the “holy nation” had set as its objective to seek to comply not with the eternal plan of the Father and with His will of salvation (as it had always felt obliged to do during its attempts at just “reform”), but rather with “today” (with temporal and earthly history). Thus, he gave the impression of yielding to “chronolatry”, to use a reproachful term coined later on by Jacques Mauritain. »

« John XXIII dreamed of a Council that would bring about the renewal of the Church not through condemnations but through the “medicine of mercy”. By refraining from condemning errors, the Council would by the very fact avoid formulating definitive, restrictive teaching for everyone. As it turned out, the Council always held fast to this initial guidance.

« The primary and total reason for these indications was the declared intention of longing for a “pastoral Council”. Everyone, in the Vatican and elsewhere, seemed content and satisfied with this term.

« As for me, from my distant nook, I felt a certain disquiet starting in me despite myself. The concept seemed ambiguous to me and I found somewhat suspect the emphasis with which a “being pastoral” was attributed to the Council that was under way. Perhaps they wanted to say implicitly that the previous Councils did not have the intention of being “pastoral” or that they had not been sufficiently?

« Was it not important from a pastoral point of view to clearly explain that Jesus of Nazareth is God and consubstantial with the Father, as was established by the Council of Nicaea? To point out the reality of the Eucharistic presence and the sacrificial nature of the Mass, as was done at the Council of Trent? To present the primacy of Peter in all its value and all its implications, as was taught by the First Vatican Council?

« We can understand that the avowed goal was above all to study the best means and the most effective instruments for reaching the heart of man, without reducing a positive outlook towards the traditional Magisterium of the Church.

« Nevertheless, we would risk forgetting that the first and irreplaceable “mercy” for lost humanity is, according to what is clearly taught in the Revelation, the “mercy of the truth”. A mercy that cannot be exercised without the explicit, firm and constant condemnation of every distortion and every alteration of the “deposit” of the Faith that must be preserved.

« Someone might even imprudently think that the redeeming of the sons of Adam would depend more on our talents of flattery and persuasion than on the strategy that was planned by the Father for our salvation before all the ages, totally centred on the paschal event and on its announcement – an announcement “not in the persuasive words of human wisdom” (Cf. 1 Co 2.4). During the postconciliar period, that was more than just a danger. » (pp. 183-184)

A CRIMINAL SILENCE

« Communism: the Council did not mention it. If we go attentively through the systematic index, we are struck by this categorical silence. Communism was assuredly the most imposing, the most durable, and the most vigorous historical phenomenon of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, the Council, which proposed a Constitution on the Church and the Contemporary World, does not speak about it.

« From its triumph in Russia in 1917, Communism had already succeeded in a half-century in causing several hundred million deaths, victims of terror of the masses and of the most inhuman repressions. The Council does not speak about it.

« Communism, and it was the first time in the history of human foolishness, had practically imposed on the populations that it had subjugated, an atheism that constituted a sort of official philosophy and, paradoxically, a sort of “state religion”. The Council, which nevertheless studied the case of the atheists, does not speak about it.

« In the same years when the conciliar meetings were taking place, the Communist prisons were still the place of unspeakable suffering and humiliations inflicted on countless “witnesses of the Faith”: bishops, priests, laymen who firmly believed in Christ. The Council does not speak about it.

« We are far from the alleged silences concerning the criminal aberrations of Nazism, for which even certain Catholics, including some of the participants in the Council, criticised Pius XII later on! » (p. 184-186)

THE SCANDAL OF THE “PLEAS FOR PARDON”

« On 7 July 1997, John Paul II very kindly invited me to lunch. He extended the invitation to the master of ceremonies of my archdiocese, Fr. Roberto Parisini, who accompanied me and who therefore remains the precious witness to the episode.

« Somewhere in the course of the meal, the Holy Father said to me: “Did you see that we have changed the sentence in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millenio Adveniente?”

« The draft, which had been sent before publication to the cardinals included this expression: “The Church recognises as her own the sins of her sons.” This expression, as I had pointed out with respectful frankness, was unacceptable. In the final text, the reasoning had changed as follows: “The Church still recognises as her own her sinful sons.” The Pope was anxious to remind me about it at this moment, knowing that he would please me.

« I replied by expressing my profound gratitude and by manifesting my full satisfaction from a theological point of view. I thought it necessary, however, to add a reservation of a pastoral nature. According to me, the unprecedented initiative of asking pardon for the errors and incoherencies of past centuries would scandalise the “little ones”, the favourites of the Lord Jesus (cf. Mt 11.25). The faithful, in fact, not really knowing how to make theological distinctions, would see their serene adhesion to the mystery of the Church – which is, all the professions of faith tell us, essentially a mystery of holiness – perturbed by these self-accusations.

« The Pope then replied to me literally: “Yes, that is true. I will have to think about it.” Unfortunately, he did not think about it enough. » (p. 536)

ADDRESS TO BENEDICT XVI

Finally, here is the speech that Cardinal Biffi gave in camera to the Conclave for the benefit of the one who would be chosen pope, on Friday, 15 April 2005, four days before the election of Benedict XVI:

« After having listened to the sound, timely, and passionate speeches that have followed one another here, I would like to express to the future Pope (who is listening to me) all my solidarity, my understanding and a little of my fraternal compassion. I would, however, also like to advise him not to concern himself too much with what he has heard here and not to be too frightened. The Lord Jesus will not ask him to resolve all the problems of the world. He will ask him to love Him with an extraordinary love: “Do you love Me more than these others do?” (Cf. Jn 21.15) In a comic strip that comes to us from Argentina, Mafalda, I found a few years ago a sentence that springs to mind at the moment: “I understood, this terrible and perspicacious little girl said, the world is full of problemologists, but solutionologists are rare.”

« I would like to tell the future Pope to pay attention to all the problems. But before that, and even more so, to realise the state of confusion and disorientation that presently afflicts the people of God, how misled they are, and above all the “little ones”.

« A few days ago, I saw on television an elderly, devout religious sister who responded to the interviewer this way: “This pope, who has died, was great above all because he taught us that all religions are equal”. I do not know whether John Paul II would have been very pleased by this sort of elegy. »

Undoubtedly it would not have pleased him. How can it be denied, however, that this religious sister drew the consequences from the “spirit of Assisi”, which also inspired the Interfaith Day in Naples, on 21 October 2007? All of Benedict XVI’s verbal denials will not change the fact. We are still, and more than ever, in this « state of confusion, disorientation (your Eminence, Sister Lucy used to say diabolical disorientation), and disorder that presently afflicts the people of God, and above all the “little ones”… »

To merely content oneself to deplore it in an ironical tone, without begging the Pope to put an end to it by condemnations in due form, as the Church has always done, of the doctrines as well as of the persons who support them, really resembles a mere poetical retraction which, on the part of a cardinal, is a failure of due courage.

« Finally, I would like to point out to the new Pope the incredible affair of the declaration Dominus Jesus: a document that was explicitly shared and approved by John Paul II, a document for which I am eager to thank greatly Cardinal Ratzinger. Never, in the two thousand years from Peter’s discourse after Pentecost, was the need felt to recall this truth: Jesus is the unique and indispensable Saviour of all. This truth is, as it were, the minimum degree of the Faith. It is the primordial certainty; it is for believers the simplest and most essential fact. Never in two thousand years was a doubt cast on it, not even during the Arianism crisis or at the time of the derailment of the Protestant Reformation. The fact that it was necessary to recall this truth at our epoch shows to what point the situation is grave today. Nevertheless, this document, which recalls the primary, the simplest, and the most essential certainty was contested. It was contested at all levels. At all levels of pastoral action, of the teaching of theology and of the hierarchy

« It was related to me that a good Catholic had suggested to his parish priest to make a presentation of the declaration Dominus Jesus to the parish community. The parish priest, who is moreover an excellent and well-intentioned priest, replied to him: “Let it go. It is a document that causes division”. “A document that causes division.” What a discovery! Jesus Himself said: “I came to bring division.” (Lk 12.51) Too many of Jesus’ words, however, find themselves censured by Christianity; at least by the part that can’t stop blabbing. » (pp. 614-615)

Our only regret is that this cardinal waited until he was in retirement before speaking! Yet what support it has brought in extremis to the whole work of our Father, the essential themes of which can be found throughout these pages.

May we be permitted to add to this indictment an exhibit.

THE SCANDAL OF THE BEATIFICATION OF MOTHER TERESA

Pope John Paul II was so eager to raise her to the altars that he did not hesitate to abolish all the waiting periods wisely imposed by the Church, and scrupulously applied in the case of Lucy of Fatima...

Today, the imprudence is plain for all to see because of the publication of Mother Teresa’s letters, which reveal that she had lost the Faith. All her admirers endeavour to tone down the scandal by speaking of a “spiritual night”, and by comparing it with this alleged “night of the Faith”, to the trail experienced by St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus during the eighteen months that preceded her death on 30 September 1987, a hundred years before that of Mother Teresa (3 July 1997).

St. Pius X accused the Christian Democrats from the Sillon of « bringing Socialism in their train, their eyes fixed on a chimera » for « their ideal being akin to that of the Revolution, they are not afraid of drawing blasphemous comparisons between the Gospel and the Revolution. And they cannot be excused on account of confusion or writing in too great a hurry. »

The same can be said of the comparisons that the devotees of Teresa of Calcutta with Thérèse of Lisieux, whom St. Pius X called « the greatest saint of modern times »

The former embodies the darkness that covers today the Faith of the Church and plunges the entire world into what Sister Lucy calls « a diabolical disorientation ». We do not write this affirmation without having given it proper consideration. A text, written as a prayer, describes with remarkable force the darkness into which Mother Teresa entered by her own fault, in 1957, and out of which she never came until her death in 1997. This text is dated from 3 July 1959, the year that John XXIII convened the Council. That same year, John XXIII read the Third Secret of Fatima and resolutely turned his back on this light, plunging the Church by this very fact into pitch-black darkness that has only grown darker until today

« Lord, my God, who am I for You to have abandoned me? The child of Your love – and who has now become the most detested – the one whom You have rejected, not desired, not loved. I call out, I cling, I want – and there is No One to answer – no one to whom I may cling – no, No One. – Alone. The obscurity is too dark – and I am alone. – Not desired, abandoned. – The solitude of the heart that desires love is unbearable. – Where is my faith? – Even deep down, there, there is nothing but the void and obscurity. – My God – How painful is this unknown distress. It makes me suffer unrelentingly. – I believe in nothing – I dare not utter the words and the thoughts that jostle each other in my heart – and make me suffer a terrible agony. So many unanswerable questions live in me – I am afraid of discovering them – for fear of blasphemy. – If God exists, may He pardon me. – To believe that EVERY WISH will BE FULFILLED in Paradise with Jesus. – When I try to raise my thoughts to Paradise – there is such a void that these thoughts come back like sharp-edged knives and wound my soul. – Love – the word – evokes nothing. – I am told that God loves me – and yet obscurity, coldness and the void are a reality so great that nothing touches my soul. Before beginning to work (Editor’s note: for the beginning of her mission in India), I experienced such a union – love – faith – confidence – prayer – sacrifice. – Did I make a mistake in blindly abandoning myself to the call of the Sacred Heart? » (La Croix, 29-30 September 2007)

Let us listen now to St. Thérèse:

« At that time, I possessed a faith so vivid and clear, that the thought of Heaven was all my happiness. I could not believe that godless people existed who had no faith. I thought they were speaking contrary to their thinking by denying the existence of Heaven, of the beautiful Heaven where God Himself would be their eternal reward (Gn 15.1).

« In the joyful days of Easter, Jesus made me feel that there really are souls without faith, who, through abuse of grace, have lost this precious treasure [this is exactly the case for Mother Teresa!], the source of all true and pure joys. He permitted my soul to be invaded by the thickest of darkness and allowed the thought of Heaven, always so sweet for me, to become an occasion of combat and torment… This trial did not last merely for a few days or weeks. I have been suffering for months; it would only end at the hour chosen by the Good God and… this hour has not yet come…

« I wish I could express what I feel, but alas! I think that it is impossible. One would have to pass through this dark tunnel to understand its blackness. I will, however, try to explain it by means of a comparison. Let me suppose that I had been born in a land of thick fogs, and had never seen the pleasant aspect of nature, bathed, transfigured by brilliant sunshine; although I had heard of these wonders from my early youth, and knew that the country wherein I dwelt was not my real home, there was another land, that I should always look forward to. (He 11.13-16).

« Now this is not a fable, invented by an inhabitant of the sad country where I am; it is the solemn truth, for the King of that sunlit country dwelt for thirty-three years in the land of darkness (Jn 1.5; 9-10), and alas! the darkness did not understand that this Divine King was the Light of the World... Dear Lord, Your child has understood Your Divine Light; she asks that You pardon her brethren, and is willing to eat the bread of sorrow as long as You may wish (Ps 127.2) and she will not leave this table of bitterness where poor sinners take their food before the day that You will have decided. May she not, however, say in her own name, and in the name of her brethren? Have pity on us Lord, for we are poor sinners! (Mt 9.10-11, Lk 18.13) O Lord, send us away justified… May all those who are not enlightened by the luminous torch of the Faith come to see it shine in the end… O Jesus, if it is necessary that the table sullied by them be purified by one soul who loves You, I truly wish to eat the bread of affliction alone at that table until it please You to introduce me into Your Kingdom of light. The only grace I ask of You is never to offend You…

« My beloved Mother [Agnes, prioress], what I write to you lacks coherence; my little story that resembled a fairy tale has suddenly turned into a prayer, I do not know what interest you will find in reading all these confused and poorly expressed thoughts. After all, Mother, I am not writing to produce literature but out of obedience. If I bore you, at least you will see that your child has shown good will. I will thus without discouraging myself continue my little comparison from where I left off. I said that the certainty of going one day far from the sad and dark land had been given to me from my childhood; not only did I believe because of what I heard people more knowledgeable than myself say, but also I felt aspirations for a more beautiful region in the bottom of my heart. Just as the genius of Christopher Columbus made him sense that there existed a new world, when no one had thought of it, thus I felt that another earth would one day serve me as a stable dwelling (Hb 13.14).

« Suddenly, however, the fog that surrounds me becomes thicker. It penetrates my soul and envelops it in such a way that I am no longer able to find in it the so sweet image of my Country – all has disappeared! When my heart, weary of the enveloping darkness, tries to find some rest and strength in the thought of an everlasting life to come, my anguish only increases. It seems to me that the darkness itself, borrowing the voice of the unbeliever, cries mockingly : “You dream of a land of light and fragrance, you believe that the Creator of these wonders will be for ever yours, you think to escape one day from the mists in which you now languish. Hope on! Hope on! Look forward to death! It will give you, not what you hope for, but a night darker still, the night of utter nothingness.”

« Beloved Mother, the picture that I wanted to give you of the darkness that obscures my soul is as imperfect as a first rough outline is from the model; yet I do not want to write more, I would fear to blaspheme... I even fear that I may have said too much… Ah, may Jesus forgive me if I have caused Him pain [and not « if He exists »!] but He knows that whilst enjoying no delight in the faith, I at least try to do its works. I believe that I have made more acts of faith in a year than in the whole of my life. Whenever the combat is renewed and my enemy comes to provoke me, I behave bravely. Knowing that it is cowardly to fight a duel, I turn my back on the enemy without deigning to look him in the face. Instead, I run towards my Jesus and I tell Him that I am ready to shed my blood to the very last drop in order to confess that there is a Heaven. I tell Him that I am happy not to enjoy this beautiful Heaven here on earth so that He may open it to poor unbelievers for all eternity. Despite this trial, which deprives me of all enjoyment, I can nevertheless exclaim: “Lord, You fill me with joy through everything You do.” (Ps 91 / 92.5) For is there a greater joy than that of suffering for Your love?… The more intimate suffering is, the less it shows to the eyes of creatures, and the more it pleases You, O my God! If, per impossibile, however, You Yourself should ignore my suffering, I would still be happy to have it if I could use it to prevent or to repair a single sin against the Faith…

« My Beloved Mother, perhaps it seems to you that I am exaggerating my trial. In fact, if you judge according to the feelings that I express in the little poems that I have composed this year, you must think that I am a soul replete with consolations and for whom the veil of the faith is almost torn, and yet… it is no longer a veil for me, it is a wall that rises up to the heavens and covers the starry sky… When I sing the happiness of Heaven, the eternal possession of God, I feel no joy, for I am simply singing what i want to believe. Sometimes, it is true, a very small ray of sunshine comes to illuminate my darkness, then the trial ceases for an instant, but then the memory of this ray, instead of causing me joy, makes my darkness even more pitch-black.

« O my Mother, never before have I felt how much the Lord is gentle and merciful (Ps 103.6). [compare this with: « Did I make a mistake in blindly abandoning myself to the call of the Sacred Heart? »] He only sent me this trial when I had the strength to bear it. Earlier, I rather think that it would have plunged me into discouragement… Now it removes all the natural satisfaction that I could have found in the desire that I had of Heaven… Beloved Mother, it seems to me now that nothing can prevent me from soaring, for I no longer have great desires other than that of loving to the point of dying of love. » (The Story of a Soul, Manuscript C, 1897)

Simple common sense demands this conclusion: while the saint from Lisieux multiplied acts of faith – « I believe that I have made more acts of faith in a year than in the whole of my life » – the apostate from Calcutta multiplied acts of idolatry. It suffices to see her praying in a pagoda before the statue of Buddha (photos and account in He is Risen n° 15, Nov. 2003). The case is closed!

Brother Bruno of Jesus.