The World Over January 26, 2023 | NEW BOOK BY BENEDICT XVI: Fr. Gerald Murray with Raymond Arroyo

This week an unexpected new

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by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI entitled What is Christianity? was published posthumously. It is currently only in Italian, but in it the late ponif examines the current state of the Church and makes some surprising observations as the current Pope sits down for an interview. with the Associated Press with analysis of all these stories and more. I am joined by canon lawyer, priest of the Archdiocese of New York, Father Gerald Murray, Father, thank you for being here. I want to start with the

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of the late Pope Benedict. Now look, the deal was. it could only be published after his death because, and I'm paraphrasing here in his words, there would be a titanic reaction because of what happened when he published that book with Cardinal Sarah about priestly celibacy that he claims he didn't want to expose himself or Christianity through that posthumous book, the classic Benedict, uh, his thoughts on the moment of the release of this book, well, this is the fruit of 10 years of prayer and study.

Remember he said he wanted to write after leaving the pontificate, so here we are. I'm going to look at those writings, one of them was already published in the German magazine which was his Reflections on the Sexual Abuse Crisis, so I'm looking forward to the other essays, but it's very thoughtful of you to wait until after his death to publish them because now there is no longer the idea that you know that there is a conflict here between the former Pope and the Pope now this is simply his Reflections uh that is left for the whole church to meditate here is something that Benedict writes and it is about of the rupture in seminary formation after Vatican II, he writes, in several seminaries homosexual clubs were formed that more or less openly and clearly transformed the climate of the seminaries.

A bishop who had previously been an erector had allowed pornographic films to be shown to seminarians, allegedly with the intention. to thus empower them to resist against behavior contrary to the faith, he goes on to write that in many seminaries of the time his own books like Rotzinger were considered harmful literature and seminarians caught reading them were actually considered unfit Father Jerry, what do you say about the The bishops in charge of these seminaries and dioceses and their belief in the teaching and good practice of the church, that is an accurate accusation and that happened, it was a famous case in the United States.

I was Bishop Ken Utner, uh, and at the time this was first revealed, uh. you know it was Rome looked at it again and then they finally approved it, but I think it was a mistake to show pornography to seminarians should immediately disqualify you from being rector of a seminary let alone bishop of a diocese and then gay clubs, huh? We know that people have same sex attraction, same sex attraction is not suitable according to the Vatican to become priests and the reason is that their effective life has such deficiencies and represents a temptation for them and for others in the Seminary and we have seen how many cases do we have that have been reported in the last 20 years of priests who became active homosexuals and it started in the Seminary?

This is not a good thing for the church. It needs to be uprooted. People have homosexual attraction. It needs pastoral care. they care but they don't need to be priests Pope Benedict also addresses the current state of the West I want your reaction to this, he says that the modern Western

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state, on the one hand, sees itself as a great power of tolerance that breaks with the foolish and pre-rational traditions of all religions, furthermore, with its radical manipulation of man and twisting of the sexes through gender ideology, is particularly opposed to Christianity, Father Jerry, um, this Pope, Pope Benedict spoke so many times of the dictatorship of relativism, uh, your reaction.

To this, which touches on the same issue, absolutely the case, remember, when the Obama administration tried to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide abortion coverage in the health care plan they gave to their employees, it was the use of the power of the government to force people to Reject their religion. Similar things happen all the time. Catholicism is called intolerance because of our teaching on sexual immorality. No, in a free society, religious people enjoy the same rights as non-religious people and should not be subject to government pressure. We see that All the time it's a big problem now this transgender thing of trying to force Catholic schools and others through different laws and regulations to participate in things that are immoral and make no sense, so p is a prophet.

Pope Benedict was definitely a prophet, er, Benedict XVI. He also addresses the politicization that he believes is operating in the church today, writing, in fact, today, the church has largely been seen only as a kind of political apparatus, in fact, it is spoken of only using political categories and that is true even for bishops who formulate their ideas about the Church of Tomorrow largely almost exclusively in political terms now Father Jerry uh this could apply to what we are seeing now in the Synod on synodality and certainly the Synod ongoing in Germany, it is very true, you know Bishop Batzing, who was the president of the bishops conference, because he wants a new type of Catholicism, a different Catholicism, let's wait a minute, if Catholicisms are the true faith that gave us Jesus Christ, which is, so we don't need a new version of that. be more faithful to the existing version no, political categories arise all the time when people are faithful to the doctrine they are labeled as rigid and uncompromising conservatives who are basically attached to things of the past because they are afraid of new things, this is a nuisance.

Those of us who believe in the truth want to preserve what God gave us but it is not out of fear, the only fear we have is losing faith or being unfaithful to God but we are not afraid to deal with new questions, in fact that is one of the great things. about Pope Benedict, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, and I'm thinking deep down, that they faced modern questions openly, think about the catechism of the Catholic church, so this is where people who use political categories are really misinterpreting the nature of faith Benedict also addresses the church that suffers today um and well, I will read this to you and I will tell you who I thought of while reading this uh it is very important to contrast the lies and half-truths of the Devil with the whole truth yeah sin and evil are in the church but even today there is also the holy church that is indestructible even today there are many men who humbly believe, suffer and love and in whom the true God, the god who loves, shows himself to us even today God has his Witnesses Martyrs in the

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we just have to be attentive to see and hear them uh father I couldn't help but think of Cardinal Joseph Zen uh when I read this uh who I'm going to talk about a little later but his thoughts yes, I mean, we have martyrs, we have people who are faithful and are in jail right now, particularly in red China, uh, because they are faithful to the Catholic faith, this has been witnessed in Africa, Asia, we have different martyrs, uh, all over the world. world there are priests uh I'm being murdered in Nigeria uh by Islamic forces that are radical and hateful no and then at the ordinary level so many bishops and priests who remain faithful to the tradition of the church unlike the majority of the German hierarchy they' No They are interested in rejecting Christ's teachings on sexuality and creation, they want to defend the faith at this time.

Our bishops are going through a Eucharistic revival in the United States and I applaud them because we need to better love the gifts God gave us and not throw away God's teachings. in the trash under the claim that we are irrelevant unless we adopt modern errors. I want to move on to some other stories before we run out of time and it's very much related to what Sandra Magister revealed this week that it was in fact the late Cardinal George Pell, who wrote that anonymous memo under the pseudonym that we explicitly criticize. to the father of Pope Francis' pontificate, Jerry, is so surprising and what the tenor of Pell's memo tells us about the seriousness of the situation.

There were some who said this couldn't be done. He would be pale, he would never do this, he would never say anything. You know so directly about the pontificate of the current Pope or the way he ruled the church. The thoughts of him when he realized and read who the real author of this memo was. If I. Trust Santo Magister, he said that friend gave him the document, so I think that's what happened. Cardinal Pell did not have anyone to publish it under his name, but he wanted the message to go out and you know that Pope Francis just gave a long interview to the AP in which he said that he appreciates the criticism, that he appreciates that the people he knows reveal what What do they think, and let's say this, Cardinal Pell expressed things that many other bishops, priests and even cardinals have said.

I think about the dubia cardinals who didn't say anything except ask questions and they were turned away, they weren't even given the door, you know, they were shown the entrance to the Vatican Palace to talk to the Pope, so I would say they know that if there is dissatisfaction in an organization, the worst. What you do is try to clamp down and pretend that everything is fine, the best thing you can do is deal with the criticism and you know, as far as this idea goes, that this has been a catastrophic pontificate, well, let's discuss it based on facts, not in the idea that although you cannot insult anyone, you cannot attack the Pope by questioning anything he does, you know, that is not the attitude of a mature person and dealing with problems, and we have serious problems in the church that you mentioned, I mentioned the German bishops, this is leading.

I'm crazy, these bishops are trying to destroy Catholicism in their country and the Vatican better trample on them because otherwise they are going to use their power and money to afflict another religion on Christians in Germany. This is very, very bad, yes, well, later. the harmful Revelations uh of archbishop weapon Swain Benedict secretary the pel memo and now the new book of Pope Benedict The posthumous book Pope Francis gave an interview this week to the Associated Press is Nicole Winfield now in it he touches on a variety of topics um I was fascinated at the moment of this father, it seems that the Pope is trying to take control of the narrative again because over the last few weeks, you have voices from the grave coming out and some living, you know, posing challenges to the way that he has been governing and leading the church in certain areas, not the Pope himself or the office, but the decisions made.

In this interview he talks about sonataway homosexuality. I'm going to put this on the screen. I'll read it to you. This is a bit of that interview that the Pope offered, saying that we are all children of God and God loves us just as we are and for the strength that each of us has to fight for our dignity, being homosexual is not a crime, it is not a crime. Yes, but it is a good sin, yes, but let's first make the distinction between sin and crime, but it is also a sin to lack charity and one another, so what about each man and woman should have a window in their life where they can turn? their hope and where they can see the Dignity of God and being homosexual is not a crime it is a human condition father surely homosexuality is not a crime but then the Pope says that it is a sin which is not exactly what the church teaches clarify that yes there is imprecise language here and confusion sodomy is a sin the misuse of the sexual organs to seek venereal pleasure in a way that is not the natural relationship between a husband and wife, that is sin, it is clearly taught in the Bible in natural law.

Sodomy is a mortal sin. Now laws against sodomy are designed to warn people against committing that sin and to protect society where, if that sin were tolerated, it could become widespread. You know, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible is a warning. Unfortunately, now the Pope is becoming an advocate for the decriminalization of anti-sodomy laws and it is hard to believe that we would say that in that same interview he quotes him as saying that he knows that African bishops are against changing those laws. . He said they have to go through a conversion process and I am shaking my head, people have to go through conversion of those who want to commit sodomy, not the bishops who tell them this is a sin, it is wrong and the state should not legitimize it.

Do you know the basis on which sodomy would be decriminalized? Do people have the right to commit sodomy? Is this somehow now a human right? That's what the left claims. The Catholic Church does not say that. And now what happens to people who are dedicated to prostitution? I'm going to say, well, I don't like being stigmatized by laws that criminalize prostate registration. Incest is illegal. People might say, well, that's consensual between adults. Why can't they do it? There is a lot of confusion here. You know, I've worked with. courage over the years and one of the most discouraging things courage members talk about is when the hierarchy does not teach the truth of aclear and understandable way.

I mean, who's going to be happy with this decriminalization of sodomy? It's not that people support the Church. teaching that they are stunned, the Pope if anything should say that laws that lead people to dissent should never become law, uh, Father Jerry, I have to move on to another important moment here from this interview with AP where the Pope talked about the Synod, the next Synod that has really been dominating the news cycle in Catholicism for several years, said that the German experience is not helpful because it is not a synod, it is not a serious synodal path, it is a so-called synodopath, but not one with the entire people of God but one made by the elites but the Germans the cenottle experience is beginning or has begun in the bishoprics like all the other Sinners with the people of God and it is advancing here the danger is that something very very ideological is sneak in when ideology gets involved in church processes the Holy Spirit goes home because ideology defeats the Holy Spirit father, the Pope again seems to denounce the German sonata style, but he continues, what effect will those words have both in the style of the German sonata as at the next synod in Rome?

Well again this is baffling and disconcerting if the Pope is against the Germans he dismissed it as an elitist ideological activity he should have shut it down the German bishops owe him the same obedience as any other bishop if this is really that bad and harms the church It should have been closed no, I wish it was closed because it is heading in a terrible direction. Basically, the Synod in Germany is the method of the senators, unlike the Synod on synodality, which is difficult to distinguish, but the sin of the method in Germany is basically a revolutionary movement to keep Catholic teaching unchanged. about morals, anthropology and the sacraments and they are pushing for ordinations of women, so it is a horrible movement and the majority of bishops in Germany have supported it.

This is an indictment of Vatican inaction. It's one thing to tell German businesses. I don't like what you're doing is anything other than saying stop doing it and the German Synod on Signalism the separate process if that's going to happen they should close this other one because you know, the warnings about your elitist group of ideologues are They laugh at that. Batsing has already said that they are going to form their committee of senators to begin a synodal consultation. They want to have a kind of permanent Parliament in which the lady would be on equal footing with the bishops to tell the people what to do.

This is horrible, but this is what is happening. Well, Father, I have to say that as I was reading those comments from the Pope I thought: wait a minute, the sonal method adopted in Rome has also been controlled and the documents created by a small elite group of carefully selected people are not like that. The whole church participated in this. I know there was the pro forma oh gopol. Every diocese, literally infinitesimal percentages of people participated in that synodal way at the diocesan level, so the whole game is like the German Synodal Path and you get the Feeling that the ideology that the Pope governs and that he is concerned about in Germany as well could be reaching global synodal form.

I mean, Bishop McElroy here in the United States, Cardinal McElroy, said one of the most difficult challenges they're going to have. in this synodal mode in Rome it is about female ordination uh really uh there is nothing difficult about that it has already been answered if you try to invalidly ordain a woman you are excommunicated uh that is the teaching of the church that is canon law you cannot change the nature of the sacraments because they are gifts from Christ to his church Bishops and Cardinals who say this is a problem they are the problem for saying the problem is the rebellious element in the church that wants to overthrow Catholicism and replace it with a man- did religion, uh, this is disconcerting to hear cardinals say that they do not accept what canon law said John Paul II, Benedict Paul VI and all the popes before them.

Pope Francis also said in a recent interview that women can be ordained, so this is ridiculous to keep bringing this up, yes, talking about the Synod. Pope Francis has appointed a well-known pro-Lgbt priest to lead a retreat for bishops before the start of the Senate's next phase on birth. English Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe is expected to lead a three-day retreat in October to kick off the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican. What do you think about this appointment and what message does that send when you appoint someone who has publicly criticized the church's teachings on homosexual activity and that the church considers it gravely sinful and immoral for a person who disagrees with that to now go to instruct all participants in the Synod in the spiritual life.

You have made a terrible decision and this is truly scandalous. Why can not we? get a preacher who simply teaches that the faith has been handed down from the apostles, including this controversial topic. You know, we've been discussing this for about a year, Raymond on TV with the Papal Posse and the only thing we talked about on every show was homosexuality as if this is the most important issue in the life of the church, it's not. , has been made that way by those who want to change the teachings of the church, most Christians, passive, specifically, calmly accept the fact that sodomy is a mortal sin and do not question it. that's because that's what God teaches uh finally Pope Francis said in an AP interview that he was surprised and I want your reaction to this this is a story that we've been covering that he was surprised by the father rupnick scandal now this was the Jesuit who was invited by the Pope to preach a Lenten retreat after being excommunicated over accusations of sexual and religious abuse by nine, I believe, religious sisters.

He says the Pope had nothing to do with the way he handled himself. Your reaction, well, you know he was excommunicated. because he had acquitted an accomplice and a basin, technically speaking it means he had sexual relations with a religious sister and then gave her absolution, he was excommunicated, somehow that excommunication was revoked in the rapid pace of less than a month, uh, and then he was accused a second time, but this time it was sexually abusing nine nuns and what's going on here, the Pope says he wasn't involved in anything, wait a minute, Nick was there at your retreat in the Vatican, between You guys, you know you didn't do it.

I didn't hesitate to bring to the Holy Father an acquaintance, uh, let's be frank, the guy is a rapist of nuns, who is a guy to give him a spiritual lecture in the Vatican and didn't the Pope think that basically all of these things could come out? the light and It would be shameful, you know, Rupnick has not been defrocked from the priesthood. It is incredible that this man is still exercising the priestly mission in public. I know he's under restrictions, but he ignored them for a long time. He sends a terrible message to the world. when evil and unscrupulous priests take advantage of nuns, the priests basically hover over it and then the hierarchy isn't too concerned and then you know that the statute of limitations that is regularly set aside wasn't the case, therefore it came out unpunished. -free because he committed these sins, you know, a long time ago, big deal, the character should the Pope lift those sins a while ago, should the Pope lift that statute of limitations and allow rupnik to be tried in the Vatican in Rubnik should be child tomorrow, they have enough. evidence to convict this guy and expel him based on what I know in public and I'm sure your files have a lot more information if the only nun who made public a letter about what happened to her if her testimony was read in the Court album didn't is there any way for Rupnick to get out of this, this makes us look ridiculous when personal friends of important people, including the Pope, can somehow float above the law and then his victims are basically, you know you have to keep quiet because Lo I'm sorry, the statute of limitations is in effect, no, they deserve their day in court.

Hmm, heartbreaking story, father, we'll leave it there. You can find Father Jerry's comment at catholicthing.org, thank you Father Jerry, thank you Raymond.