I'm So Sorry
JP2 praying to an idol of the Queen of Heaven
It is the second week of March in John Paul II's Jubilee Year 2000. One reads of the Pope's travels or plans in just about every issue of the local newspaper. The aging and quite infirm leader of the Roman Catholic Church continues his travels as he seeks to bring all the world's religions under the umbrella of the Roman Church. This, of course, is the not-so-subtle message of Vatican II: "Forget doctrine. Let's just love one another and Mary will convince the Catholic Jesus to save us all." Not too long ago, the big news was JP2's visit to the Greek Orthodox St. Catherine monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. He had hoped to bring together Christian (read "Catholic"), Jewish and Orthodox officials together in ecumenical embrace during his visit, but that did not come to pass. The Orthodox abbot had requested that JP2 not pray in the monastery's chapel, explaining that would be offensive to those of his faith. The Pope knelt and prayed before the statue of the Greek Orthodox demigoddess anyway, providing an insight into how much attention would be paid to the doctrines of "separated brethren" in the ecumenical paradise Rome envisages. The big news this week centers on the Pope's plans for a special Mass on March 12th, the "Day of Pardon." Indications are that John Paul apparently does not wish to be left behind in the contemporary rush of nations to apologize for atrocities committed in the past. Word is out that JP2 may at least make reference to Catholic actions or inactions during the Holocaust, the Crusades, the Inquisition and in religious wars. There is speculation the Pope may even mention such contemporary Catholic faults as sinning against women and the poor and not protecting unborn children from being aborted. No doubt the Pope's "apology" will be delivered in a sincere and apparently heartfelt manner. He may even honestly believe every word he utters. But will such an apology be meaningful? From the pre-apology publicity issuing forth from Rome, it seems that this "apology" will be more of the same old, equivocable, non-specific garbage we who actually read Rome's publications have grown accustomed to.
In other words, the Pope is going to say something to the effect that the RCC over the centuries has done some bad things, but we're not terribly broken up over it. Another indication of the true depth of RCC's willingness to accept responsilibty for her wrongdoing may be found in a statement made by the Pope during a visit to Brazil in 1997:
Even if the Pope and the College of Cardinals and all the bishops, priests, deacons and nuns throughout the Roman Catholic world honestly and sincerely offered an apology for all the wrongdoing of the Catholic Church over the centuries, what would it mean? Such an apology would be tantamount to a public confession of wrongdoing, not so much on the part of each individual -- though it could be true for some -- but of the entity know as the Roman Catholic Church. The RCC certainly has been anthropomorphized over the centuries, by Catholic and non-Catholic alike, but can an organizational chart be guilty of anything? Are we not talking of the people who constitute the Roman Catholic Church? Some might argue that the Pope, as ruler over the ecclesiastical empire known as the Roman Catholic Church speaks for all its membership. That might work for some things, but I question the validity of an organizational confession and public apology for wrongs committed over 17 centuries. At the very best, it is but symbolic and, at worst, shallow and devoid of meaning for all but the man delivering it - and even that is open to doubt. When I was wearing Catholic chains, what is now referred to as the "Sacrament of Reconciliation" was known as "Confession." In order that one's confession be a good one and result in absolution of the eternal consequences of his sin, according to Romish mythology, certain requirements had to be fulfilled:
The teaching of the RCC when I was young was that in order to obtain absolution, one's confession must be Entire. That means that one could hide no mortal sins, as they were known as in those days. Given Rome's motto, "Semper Eadem," one might reasonably assume that what was once a requirement for Confession remains a requirement in these days of Reconciliation.
It would seem, judging by the words of Bishop Marini quoted above, that the Pope's public confession/apology will not fulfill the requirement of Entirety required for a good confession. Perhaps it will do better when measured against the other standards.
Oops! Looks Like John Paul's confession/apology will also fail to meet the Sincerity requirement for a good confession. There is still hope, though. With all the time and effort being put into it by the pope and all his Vatican helpers, certainly the confession/apology will be clearly stated.
Poor John Paul. All that effort and his public confession/apology fails to meet any of the three requirements for a good confession: entirety, sincerity or clarity. Those are the requirements of the RCC. What does the Lord God have to say about making good wrongs done to others? There were, of course, all manner of specified sacrifices to cover many sins, but some sins carried pre-ordained penalties, such as:
Well, now. How often have we read RCC claims to be fulfilled Judaism? to be the new Israel? If these were true, then a lot of Catholic popes, cardinals, bishops priests, nuns and who knows what are in big trouble over the sins of the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Holocaust, the treatment of orphans in Quebec and elsewhere. Of course, some Catholics might argue that we are living in New Testament times, and I would be the first to agree with that. I would remind them, however, that only God's elect down through the centuries have spared the just consequences of their sins by Grace alone, through Faith alone in Christ alone. Those who worship some pale clone of Christ, through his earth goddess mother, the Queen of Heaven and Earth, must still bear the eternal consequences of their sins. This means that all the public apologies in the world will do nothing to remit a single moment of the eternal suffering that many former popes, cardinals, priests, kings, and Catholic laymen are presently enduring; nor will it remove any eternal consequences for those unsaved alive today. The Pope's apology can save no one. All the absolutions granted by all the priests and bishops throughout the long history of the Roman church will save no one from the eternal flames of the fiery lake. Only faith in Christ, a gift from a merciful God, can bring salvation and forgivenness. Seek Him, while there yet is time.
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