2015 Synod Of The Bishops On The [Broken] Family And [The Broken Church] (Revised 11-8-2015)

Fundamental to the family unit is love, not self-love that advances selfish interests but love for each other that is, in essence, love for God.

The Synod of Bishops on the family in 2015 had concluded [1] but not without controversy.  One of them is the ability of divorced Catholics who had remarried outside of the church being able to receive Holy Communion.  "Many hold that it would break with Catholic teaching about the absolute indissolubility of sacramental marriage and the need to receive sacramental Communion while in a state of grace." [2]  Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan is of that camp. [3]  The opposing view was argued by "the German-speaking small group at the Synod of the Family." [4]

This blogger is not concerned so much whether divorced couples and other sinners receiving Holy Communion have love in their hearts for one another within their family units and beyond and for God, and are in a state of grace before God.  Only God knows if they are or not because God sees not only them but also others whose lives they have affected, positively and negatively.  What concerns this blogger is the bigger issue, the beginnings of a split between the traditionalists and the progressives within the church. Without unity on basic Catholic doctrine, the Catholic church could not survive in its current form.

A pope having part of his worldwide team disagreeing with him and going in a separate direction no longer has the authority to speak for the whole Catholic church.  St. Malachy prophesized that Peter the Roman would be the last pope [5].  Cardinal Bergolio, who after becoming pope, named himself Francesco after San Francesco d'Assisi [6], who was known as Francesco di Pietro di Bernadone [7], a Roman.  Thus, the pope sitting at the head of the Catholic church today is Peter the Roman.  His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI who represents the traditionalists, and this pope who represents the progressives, both occupying the Vatican grounds simultaneously, is symbolic of a two-headed church.  Perhaps the lightning that struck the Vatican's dome on the day Pope Benedict XVI resigned was a sign foretelling that the Vatican would be split apart. [8]

Once the Catholic church announces officially its irreconcilable differences, the papacy would be over, and St. Malachy's prophecy would be fulfilled.  The priests in the Vatican would likely be fighting, perhaps even killing, one another for the valuable church assets.  Should the scenario unfold, this pope would literally have to step over dead bodies upon leaving the Vatican, making pope Pius X's 1909 nightmare vision come true [9], thus ending the family of 266 popes [10] beginning with the first, Saint Peter, the Apostle. [11]


[1] http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/october/documents/papa-francesco_20151024_sinodo-conclusione-lavori.html
[2] http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/bishop-robert-barron-to-academics-debate-ross-douthat-dont-dodge-him-31777/
[3] http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/polish-archbishop-unless-we-recognize-sin-christs-incarnation-is-meaningless-39549/
[4] http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/read-todays-report-from-the-german-small-group-at-the-synod-93120/
[5] http://www.bibleprobe.com/last10popes.htm
[6] http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/cardinals-elect-pope-francis-argentinean-jesuit-jorge-mario-bergoglio
[7] http://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Francis-of-Assisi
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4qdo0e8ECE
[9] http://www.bibleprobe.com/last10popes.htm
[10] http://fallibleblogma.com/index.php/how-many-popes-have-there-been/
[11] It would be rather poetic, in a twisted sort of way, for the papacy to begin with Saint Peter, the Apostle, who was crucified under the Roman emperor, Nero and end with Peter the Roman who crucified the Church, in a metaphoric sense.