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Fr . Hewko: Ambiguous Language is the Devil's Quicksand - Stone - 12-10-2020
Ambiguous Language - The Devil's Quicksand
by Fr. David Hewko
by Fr. David Hewko
"And the Light shineth in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it" (St. Jn. I:5).
When the Divine Saviour stood surrounded by the pharasaical pack of wolves as they tried to catch Him in His speech, Our Lord answered them, "If I say the truth to you, why do you not believe Me?...I speak to you, and you believe not: the works that I do in the name of My Father, they give testimony of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep" (St. Jn. X:25). St. Paul calls Our Lord "Splendor Gloriae";The Brightness of the Father's Glory" (Heb. I:3) in Whom "there is no change, nor shadow of alteration," nor confusion. The Holy Ghost relegates the state of confusion to the enemies of God "who loveth and maketh a lie" as a punishment for obstinately refusing the Light of the Truth (Apoc. XXI).
"Ambiguous" means something that can be interpreted in two ways. When such language is used in matters of the Faith it causes immense confusion! St. Pius X in his Encyclical "Pascendi" exposes the tactic of the Modernist clergy who resort to ambiguous language in order to introduce their wicked novelties. He condemns such deliberate craftiness meant to muddle the meaning of any doctrine, or worse,lead to the loss of Faith!
Such deviant tactics triumphed in all the documents of Vatican II, as Abp. Lefebvre himself witnessed and Michael Davies treated in his "Liturgical Timebombs." Abp. Lefebvre refers to this during the course of the Liberal Council when the Modernist, Schillebeeckx himself, wrote, "We know very well what we are doing in having EQUIVOCAL PHRASES in the schemas of the Council. We shall proceed from there AFTER the Council" [Emphasis mine]. Recently an arch-Modernist, Cardinal Kasper, testified to this deliberate use of double speech in the Council documents. He said, "In many places the [Council Fathers] had to find COMPROMISE FORMULAS, in which, often the positions of the majority are located immediately next to those of the minority, designed to delimit them. Thus, the Conciliar texts themselves have a huge potential for conflict, open the door to a selective reception IN EITHER DIRECTION" [Emphasis mine].
Ambiguous language is the friendly atmosphere for heresies and Modernism ("the synthesis of all heresies" - St. Pius X) to take root and grow. That is why the Catholic Church in Her Tradition vigorously defends Scholasticism, St. Thomas Aquinas' philosophy and theology, and the "unevolving" language of Latin. For clergy, faithful to Tradition, clarity of doctrine is crucial in this Combat for the Faith and nothing can be more repulsive and abhorrent to the Catholic mind than the use of ambiguous language. It has no place in the writings, documents or sermons of any Catholic, especially priests and bishops,....and popes!
St. Athanasius saw the entire Catholic Faith hinge on one Greek dipthong! The entire future of the survival of the Catholic Faith hung on two letters! "Homoousion" meant: "Christ is of ONE SUBSTANCE with the Father" (i.e.: "Consubstantial"); and the heretical: "Homoiousion" of Fr. Arius could be interpreted in two different ways, Catholic or heretical. Either "Christ is of ONE SUBSTANCE, or, of LIKE SUBSTANCE with the Father." How many Martyrs died to defend the Truth of the clear Catholic doctrine of "Homoousion"! Words, like the glass that holds the wine, hold the meaning of things. If the glass is shattered or cracked, the wine is lost. So too, misuse of words can shatter or change the meanings of words.
Let us come to the facts of the present crisis in Tradition. At the time of the Second Vatican Council, the Liberals had to invent loopholes in the documents to attain their desire for the Church to compromise and "be accepted" by the world. Is it no less true that Liberal minds in Tradition wanted to compromise clarity of language in order to"become more acceptable" by the Conciliar Church? It became official in July, 2012 with a whole new orientation towards "normalization" with Modernist Rome. Ignoring the warnings and direction of the Founder (who has the special grace of state as "Founder"!), the Society of St. Pius X leaders had to re-define "conversion of Rome", make a false separation between "principles of prudence" and "principles of the Faith" in applying the questions of canonical normalization with Modernist Rome, and utilize ambiguous language to advance their goals. To demonstate this, try figuring out what some of these quoted texts and interviews actually mean:
1. "Many things which we would have condemned as being from the Council are in fact not from the Council, but the common understanding of it.... The Council is presenting a religious liberty which is in fact a very, very limited one. A very limited one. It would mean our talks with Rome, they clearly said that to mean that there would be a right to error or right to choose each religion, is false." (Superior General CNS Interview May 2012).
2. "As for the Council, when they asked me the question, 'Does Vatican II belong to Tradition?'" I answered, "I would like to hope that that is the case." (Superior General, DICI 6-8-12)
[align=justify][color=#1b1919][size=medium]3. "Tradition is the LIVING transmission of revelation "usque ad nos" and the Church in it's doctrine, in its life and in its liturgy perpetuates and transmits to all generations what this is and what She believes. Tradition PROGRESSES in the Church with the assistance of the Holy Ghost, not as a contrary novelty, but through a better understanding of the Deposit of the Faith" (Doctrinal Preamble, III, [Emphasis mine]
4."The entire tradition of Catholic Faith must be the criterion and guide in understanding the teaching of the, SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, which, in turn, ENLIGHTENS - in other words DEEPENS and subsequently makes explicit - certain aspects of the life and doctrine of the Church implicitly present within itself or NOT YET CONCEPTUALLY FORMULATED" ( Doctrinal Preamble, III, 4). [Emphasis mine]
5."We declare that we recognize the validity of the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments...LEGITIMATELY promulgated by Popes Paul VI and John-Paul II" (Doctrinal Preamble III,7) [Emphasis mine].
6."Concerning the reply I sent to Rome...from what I gather from private sources, I have the impression it is acceptable. Amongst ourselves, I think it will have to be explained properly because there are (in this document) expressions or declarations which are so very much on a tight rope that if you do not have a positive mind or if you are wearing black or pink glasses, YOU WILL SEE IT AS ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. So we shall have to properly explain that this letter changes absolutely nothing of our position. But, if one wants to read the letter in a crooked way, it will be possible to understand this letter the wrong way"(SSPX Superior General, Birgnoles, May 2012 - Nouvelles de Chretiente no. 135).
7. "It should be noted, by the way, that we have not sought a practical agreement. That is untrue. We have not refused 'a priori', to consider, as you ask, the Pope's offer. For the common good of the Society, we should prefer by far the current solution of an intermediary 'status quo', but clearly, Rome is not going to tolerate it any longer" (Superior General & Two Assistants, letter dated April 14, 2012). N.B.: The Doctrinal Preamble for a practical agreement was sent the next day!
How is it possible that those trained to refute Modernism and denounce the tactics of the modernists could possibly resort to using those very same means to attain their new goal; to be "recognized as we are" and have "justice done" to unjust penalties? What happened to the primacy of THE FAITH? Whatever happened to "no agreement until Rome converts to Tradition"? What happened to Abp. Lefebvre's proof for the moment of Rome's conversion, namely, the professing of all the papal teachings and condemnations from the Council of Trent down to Pius XII's "Humani Generis"? A few "crumbs of acknowledgement" to some aspects of Tradition are far from proofs of Rome's conversion! "Summorum Pontificum" and the so called "lifting" of excommunications that never existed, are mere tactics and maneuvers, as Abp. Lefebvre himself named other supposed moves on the part of the Holy See, and are none other than attempts to swing the SSPX into the Conciliar Church. Again and again, the proof is in the consequences of all the Traditional Catholic communities that made agreements with Rome. The proof lies in the Roman authorities unwavering adherence to Vatican II!
Have the men of Tradition forgotten the Divine Words of the only Savior; "Take up your cross daily and follow Me?" Have the defenders of the Deposit of Faith grown weary in the long battle?
"When those chosen to defend the Faith don't want to carry this cross, and choose to exchange resistance and self-sacrifice for compromise and "recognition" in the name of a "utopian unity", then, what happens to Truth? What happens to the only True Faith? What happens to the souls?
"The Doctrinal Preamble of April 15, 2012, OFFICIALLY signed and submitted to Rome by the Society superiors, is a testimony of the willingness to surrender the Fight for the Faith through explicit expressions of ambiguity. This ambiguity (similar to the practice of freemasons, moranos and enemy infiltrators) justifies the SSPX Resistance! The facts speak for themselves. Ever since the General Chapter Statement & 6 Conditions, the Letter of Response to the 3 Bishops (April 14, 2012), and the notorious Doctrinal Preamble, there has been a weakening of doctrine, loss of souls and confusion. The crisis becomes more severe. Clarification becomes essential!" (Dom Daniel Joaquim Maria de Santana, FBVM).
"Affirm the Truth!" the Archbishop used to tell the young priests. Why? Because, as Bishop Williamson used to say, "The Truth stands on its own." St. John calls it "the victory which overcometh the world, our Faith!" (1 Jn. V:4) It is not ours to change or modernize, nor does it come from us, but it is the Sacred Deposit that must be handed down from generation to generation ("tradere" means "to hand down", in Latin, from which "tradition" is derived). Is this not the glory of Catholic Tradition, that, like it's sacred Founder Himself, is always the same, victorious over devils and men, over heresies, and always beautiful? "Jesus Christ, yesterday, and today; and the same forever!" (Heb XIII:8)
"It is on the battlefield of Doctrine that the battles are won or lost, and what decides the future," said the great Cardinal Pie of Poitiers. If the Society recovers its former clear defense of Catholic doctrine, which, in turn, demands the public rejection and repudiation of the compromising language used in recent documents and interviews, then God may let the "pilot light" carry on. If not, it will continue the path of compromise towards the open jaws of Conciliar modernism and "official recognition" at the price of the unambiguous Truth and countless souls! What then? ...Our Lord put it this way, "I say to you, that if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out!" (St. Lk. XIX: 40) The Faith will be kept, even if its reduced to a handful!
Let the great Abp. Lefebvre have the final word about liberals and their love of ambiguous words - the Devil's quicksand!
"Catholic liberals have kept on saying that their will for Tradition is equivalent to that of most intransigent persons. The compromise they have sought is not theoretical but practical....They always come back to this reasoning. They are telling us: 'See, we are shepherds. We accept the reality, we are concrete people, we are practical!' But what is this practice? The practice is the implementation of principles with the help of the virtue of prudence, it is nothing other than that.
"What is the practice when the principles are missing?...'Yes, yes, yes, we agree, we share the same Credo, et cetera. Yes, but when we find ourselves in the world, then one must adjust oneself to the level of the others, one must live with the others, if not, you will never convert others.' To say this is a total error!...Popes have perceived the danger of those Catholics that are elusive because they claim, when one wants to corner them: 'No, no, I agree.' But afterwards, they come to terms with the enemies of the Church...they are traitors...more dreadful than avowed enemies...they divide the minds, destroy unity, weaken strengths that, instead, should be all together coordinated against the enemy...You will be told that it is you who cause division, but it is not possible to divide when one abides in the Truth...those who divide are those who try to diminish the Truth in order to find agreement with everyone...Those who have it wrong must convert to the Truth and should not try to find common grounds between Truth and error..." (Abp. Lefebvre, Spiritual Conference, Econe, Jan. 1974).
Source: The Recusant