Letter To Bergoglio (Updated)

Catholic Men United For Christ has a letter on its website addressed to the pope and the bishops of the United States that can be signed digitally, quoted below [1]:

September 5, 2018

Dear Holy Father and Bishops of the United States:

As Catholic laymen, we are faithful husbands, fathers, business leaders, lawyers, tradesmen, medical doctors, professors, teachers, artists, and leaders of Catholic lay apostolates. But most fundamentally, we are men in love with Christ and His Church, and it is for this reason that we beseech you to purge the corruption which has so grotesquely disfigured the face of Christ’s Bride. The present scandals have placed our wives, sisters, brothers, and children in danger. Therefore, echoing the words St. Catherine of Siena addressed to Pope Gregory XI, we beseech you to “sleep no longer, and raise the standard [of Christ] courageously.” The Church needs purification, and by virtue of your offices as our shepherds, no one is more qualified to bring about this purification than yourselves. We beg you to do so without a moment’s delay.

Taking courage from St. Paul, and knowing that “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rm 5:20), we are appalled by the recent abuses. We have read of the allegations against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick; the grand jury report regarding the Church in Pennsylvania; the horrific abuse in Honduras and Chile; and the rampant reports of clerical homosexual activity, pedophilia, and ephebophilia throughout the global presbytery. Most recently, we have read Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s testimony alleging that bishops in senior leadership positions within both the Holy See and the United States have covered up sexual abuse, evidencing widespread and systemic corruption throughout the Church’s hierarchy.

Holy Father, we come to you for answers. You personally have been faced with allegations. These allegations have been leveled by a high-ranking church official, Archbishop Viganò. Further, many bishops in the United States have publicly stated that they believe these allegations should be investigated. We implore you to address them. Specifically, we request that you answer the questions posed by our sisters in their letter to you, issued on August 30, 2018.

Moreover, regardless of the veracity of Archbishop Viganò’s allegations, our concerns about corruption remain. Your Holiness, Your Eminences, and Your Excellencies: Amidst widespread global abuse, coverups, and hierarchical failure, what are you doing and what will you do to protect the people of God? We urge you to answer this simple question because the cost of the episcopal corruption is catastrophic. At present, many families are reluctant to send their sons to seminary. Efforts at evangelization have been crippled. And distrust from donors jeopardizes the Church’s ability to serve the poor, promote environmental stewardship, and carry out works of mercy. One Catholic mother has said that this crisis will either reinvigorate the Church or cause an exodus. We beg you to encourage reinvigoration through radical purification, realizing that you are at risk of losing credibility in the eyes of millions of Catholics.

Holy Father, we are personally committed to our own purity and the purification of the Church. We are reminded of the words of our Lord in John 8:7: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” All sin, including our own, weakens the Church. As men, we must all have the strength to seek the Lord’s healing. For this reason, we will begin with ourselves, examining our own consciences and renewing our own commitment to chastity. We will work to build up our own families, especially our sons, and our own communities. Further, the signers of this letter commit to serious and difficult fasting for the next seventeen Fridays, beginning this Friday, September 7 through the end of the calendar year. We will not relent. We will embrace suffering as penance for our own sins and the sins of the Church. We desire nothing more than to become saints amidst scandal.

Holy Father and Bishops of the United States, we plead for justice for the victims of abuse. We add our voices to those of the bishops who have called for an investigation of the Church hierarchy, both in our own country and in the Vatican. This investigation should be carried out by faithful lay men and women. Further, we encourage other groups to make their voices heard by writing more letters of this nature.

Finally, we praise our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His abundant mercy founded the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We affirm our hope for the future of the Church. We ask you to be courageous and not afraid. We affirm our affection and gratitude for the holy priests and bishops who have served us faithfully as stewards of the mysteries of Christ. The Church’s history has seen many seasons. Nevertheless, after the dark season of winter comes spring, and we pray that the difficulties of the present time will be surpassed by the victories to come. Trusting in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have full confidence that the light of the Holy Trinity will break through this present darkness revealing the full beauty of our beloved Church.

We promise our lives, our talents, and our resources for the purification and renewal of the Catholic Church. Relying on the intercession of the Blessed Mother, we will fight for this cause to the very end.

Your sons and brothers in Christ,

This blogger hesitated in signing the letter.  Under the contact tab, he submitted his concerns, subjected to a limit of 800 characters:

Dear Sirs,

I am Catholic but am neither a scholar nor an expert in Catholicism or in theology.  I was planning to sign the letter but something troubles me.  I quote: “… echoing the words St. Catherine of Siena addressed to Pope Gregory XI, we beseech you to ‘sleep no longer, and raise the standard [of Christ] courageously.’”

Is Christ’s standard not a perfect standard that man ought not to raise, lower or change in any way?  In other words, in order that man finds it necessary to alter Christ’s standard, must man not think that the standard set by Christ was subpar, that he is superior to Christ and that he is the one to correct, perfect and/or complete Christ’s teachings?  Is man so blinded by pride that even in the face of Christ, his humility remains elusive?

Please edify. Thanks.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

An Update - September 7, 2018

A reply was received:

We do not intend to change "Christ's standard in any way."  The sentence implies sort-of "raising the banner of Christ," as THE standard for all men. 

In Jesus, 

Catholic Men United

My reply --

Catholic Men United:

Thank you for your reply.

Why "sort-of" imply and create an ambiguity when a point can be expressed clearly?

Wouldn't this be a slight improvement (even though imperfect still):  "We beseech you to 'sleep no longer,' echoing the words St. Catherine of Siena addressed to Pope Gregory XI, and to ask all Catholics to live up to the standard set by Christ."?

I do not expect Catholic Men United to change its letter.  The above is merely a comment.

Peace in Christ.

[1] https://catholicmenunited.org/#sign, accessed September 6, 2018, at approximately 16:10 PST.

Splitting Hairs

Below are two paragraphs excerpted from an article published by Catholic News Agency  on September 3, 2018, entitled Benedict, Viganò, Francis, and McCarrick: Where things stand on nuncio’s allegations [1]:

While Viganò has claimed that Benedict imposed “canonical sanctions” on McCarrick, Pentin reported a source close to Benedict telling him that, as far as the former pope could remember, “the instruction was essentially that McCarrick should keep a ‘low profile.’ There was ‘no formal decree, just a private request.’"

Pentin, who broke the story of Viganò’s testimonial, had reported in his initial coverage of the memo that a source told him the former pope remembered issuing restrictions of some kind, but could not remember exactly how the matter was handled. His Aug. 31 report elaborated, with a source saying that McCarrick might have been the recipient of a “private request.”

Whether words spoken by a pope are meant to be a "request" of some sort, or have the force of a "canonical sanction" amounts to splitting hairs.  When a pope speaks, he speaks on behalf of Peter, the Apostle, appointed by Christ Himself to be the rock of His Church, unless of course, a pope takes on the form of a two-headed snake and speak out of both mouths in order to mislead.

Here, Benedict XVI, had allegedly "forgotten" (equivalent in meaning to "as far as one can remember") what he had precisely told McCarrick regarding a matter with such gravity.  Who is he kidding?  Is he suffering from Alzheimer's disease?  Or is he senile?  This blogger believes that Benedict XVI is as mentally sharp now as he was before he resigned as pope.

Is Benedict XVI scared of embarrassing Bergoglio?  After all Benedict XVI is living in comfortable surroundings under Bergolio's acquiescence, or perhaps more like an uneasy but tolerated acquiescence, who has the power to make his life miserable, or even end it surreptitiously and murderously (metaphorically speaking, or could even be literally).  If an unexpected death were to happen for real, the public would not know for sure if it was a result of natural causes.  Autopsies are done perfunctorily at best [3].  After all this is the Vatican, where secrets remain confidential and where the pope can be judge, jury and executioner if he wanted to since nobody is above him except God.

National Catholic Register’s Edward Pentin relied on hearsay in his reporting.  According to the article cited [3]:

Pentin reported a source close to Benedict telling him that, as far as the former pope could remember, “the instruction was essentially that McCarrick should keep a ‘low profile.’ There was ‘no formal decree, just a private request.’"

Is it possible that Edward Pentin could be fearing for his life just as Benedict XVI could be fearing for his, and therefore he is walking back ever so gingerly on his earlier report?  According to the article cited [4]:

Pentin, who broke the story of Viganò’s testimonial, had reported in his initial coverage of the memo that a source told him the former pope remembered issuing restrictions of some kind, but could not remember exactly how the matter was handled. His Aug. 31 report elaborated, with a source saying that McCarrick might have been the recipient of a “private request.”

All of this imagined fantasy could be a start for a Dan Brown-like fiction.  Sometimes fiction is not far from reality.  All truths will be known, if not in this life then surely after it.  There is nowhere to hide in the presence of God.

Bergoglio must know that man was made in the image of God.  In other words, one can look at man and one will have a bit of an idea of God could be like.  Since man seeks truth, so does God.  Since man can be merciful, so can God.  Since man can and will mete out justice, so can and will God.  The fact that Lucifer is now Satan is evidence that God's mercy has its limits.  This blogger's advice to Bergoglio and his hand-picked supporters and all those who reject God by their gravely sinful actions and their deliberate lies and who are unrepentant: be very, very afraid.


[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/benedict-vigan-francis-and-mccarrick-where-things-stand-on-nuncios-allegations-42199
[2] https://opentabernacle.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/autopsy-on-archbishop-accused-of-sexual-abuse-coordinated-by-the-same-man-who-performed-the-disputed-autopsy-on-two-murdered-swiss-guards/
[3] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/benedict-vigan-francis-and-mccarrick-where-things-stand-on-nuncios-allegations-42199
[4] Ibid.

Words Of A Concert Pianist

The words quoted below are profound [1]:

"It is not a profession to be a pianist and musician. It is a philosophy, a conception of life that cannot be based on good intentions or natural talent. First and foremost there must be a spirit of sacrifice." - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli 

These words, when extrapolated, extend to all professions and all walks of life.  Life is indeed a philosophy, one that ought not to be based solely on one's innate abilities, translated into observable good deeds and published words, however well-intentioned.  As Maestro Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli said, a "spirit of sacrifice" must be "first and foremost," otherwise (conjecturing further) any performance, any action taken, any word spoken and any body of work, notable or not, would merely be an exercise in vanity.

This is perhaps a good example of Maestro Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's spirit of sacrifice: he played a sonata written by a relatively unknown composer, Baldassare Galuppi, Sonata No. 5 in C major, not to showcase his exceptional God-given talents but to bring them to bear on a humble piece of composition to showcase it. [2]

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli was remembered by John Bell Young in an essay entitled THE MAN WHO WOULD BE SCARBO: REMEMBERING ARTURO BENEDETTI MICHELANGELI  [3].

What is Scarbo?  "Gaspard de la nuit: Trois poèmes pour piano d'après Aloysius Bertrand is a suite of piano pieces by Ravel, written in 1908. It has 3 movements, each based on a poem by Aloysius Bertrand. It premiered in 1909. The work is famous for its difficulty, and Scarbo is considered one of the most difficult solo piano pieces ever written." [4]

You Tube has a performance of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit by Maestro Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli in 1960 in Prague, and in 1987 at the Vatican. [5]


[1] https://www.azquotes.com/author/33809-Arturo_Benedetti_Michelangeli
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRVg_qqcRSw
[3] https://www.forte-piano-pianissimo.com/MichelangeliMonograph.html
[4] https://musopen.org/music/4693-gaspard-de-la-nuit/
[5] 1960 (no advertisement):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTxX2WYYblo&t=853s; 1987 (with advertisement):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1NkdnilwQk

Tip Of The Iceberg: The United States Catholic Church Sex Scandals

Bergoglio should be afraid, very afraid, so should Cardinals, Archbishops, bishops and priests who were and are part of the sex scandals themseles and who have participated and are participating in the cover-up.

Sex scandals inside the Catholic Church that had been uncovered elsewhere in the world would make news but soon the news would soon be forgotten just like the weather forecast from a few days before.  The dirt on the sex scandals that had been uncovered within the United States is not so easily swept under the proverbial rug.

Despite having political problems, the United States is largely unashamed and unafraid of scandals, and Americans have both the resources and the determination get to the bottom of them, those that are within its jurisdiction.  Since these scandals had taken place and are taking place within the state, it is the state that would exercise jurisdiction over them.  Every state within the United States is basically a sovereign [1] and is not subject to the dictates of the Holy See.  Of all people, Donald William Wuerl should know.  It was not to his boss, Bergoglio, at the Vatican that he ran to when evidence showed that he had lied, it was under a law firm, Jones Day, that he ducked, to seek protection. [2]

Sex scandals inside the Catholic Church are neither confined within the State of Pennsylvania nor to the east coast of the United States.  Such cases are probably in all 50 states.  In the Midwest, the Attorney General's office in the State of Nebraska is beginning its investigation of sex scandals. [3]  In the south, "[a] Texas priest [who has been] accused of molesting teens and stealing from his parish has gone missing." [4]  On the west coast, Dan Noyes of abc7news  reported on August 20, 2018,  that "[he] contacted California Attorney General Xavier Becerra's press office to see if he would begin a similar investigation [to the one that took place in Pennsylvania], given the long history of abuse in the Catholic church in this state. Here's the answer: ‘Thank you for your inquiry. To protect its integrity, we can't comment on, even to confirm or deny, a potential or ongoing investigation.’" [5]

Time will tell if State Attorney General offices across the United States are on the side of sexual victims of the Catholic Church or on the side of the corrupted Vatican that would likely do everything in its power to hang on to its moral authority despite its proven hypocrisy.

[1] https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1231&context=law_lawreview
[2] https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2018/08/15/as-sexual-abuse-scandals-mount-dc-cardinal-turns-to-jones-day/?slreturn=20180803021339
[3] https://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/nebraska-ag-s-office-interviews-men-alleging-abuse-by-lincoln/article_6b124866-e5f2-537d-a6bd-e2a0d9b2b067.html
[4] https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article217011675.html
[5] https://abc7news.com/religion/will-calif-officials-investigate-catholic-church-sex-scandal/4010096/

Catholic Gardens

Imagine having Catholic gardens without fences everywhere around the world where people could enter into and spend time with God in silent prayer day and/or night without fear of danger.  Gardens of Eden they are not, nor are they reminiscent of Monet's Garden at Giverny [1], nor the grounds of Peterhof in Saint Petersburg [2].  Rather, these gardens ought to be intimate, simple and low-maintenance without ponds and bridges, fountains and palaces and an abundance of blossoms that distract from the tranquility and peace that they are intended to provide.  In each, a crucifix and a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary would be present.

Trimming of trees, manicuring the bushes, maintenance of sprinklers and weeding would be done by volunteers.  A collection box to pay for water will be inside the Catholic church nearest to the garden.  Solar-powered landscaping lights and maintenance parts will come from donors.

A sheltered traditional Nativity scene would be placed in every garden during Christmas.  Trees and shrubs would be decorated using donated solar-powered Christmas lights.

When there can be someone in attendance at all times to accompany the Body of Christ placed within a monstrance, Eucharistic Adoration would be possible inside a garden.

Finally, there would just be some draconian rules that need to be observed:  no smoking, no pets, no food, no drinks, no music, no telephone and other sounds, no talking, no whispering, no crying children, no coughing and no saying the rosary out loud.  After all, these Catholic gardens are places where people go to be with God, to be at peace without distraction.



[1] Photograph of Monet's garden below is from http://giverny-france.com/ (this is picture number 9 counting from left to right, down on the third row):

[2] Photograph of Peterhof's Grand Cascade below is from https://en.peterhofmuseum.ru/multimedia (click on Peterhof on the left, and under Peterhof, click on Grand Cascade, go to number 10 of 50):

Joy And Torment

In between eternal joy and eternal torment is life, with its ups and downs.  None of its ups is comparable to eternal joy and none of its downs is comparable to eternal torment.

Everyone’s life is unique with unique challenges.  The rich ones are not exempt from torment and certainly cannot buy their way out of the worst of it, nor are the poor ones blessed with constant joy when they do not have the minimum amount of food and creature comfort that only those with some means can afford.

Torment is the result of Original Sin and its manifestations. When torment is accepted with this understanding and humility, it begins to wash away Sin's derivatives but not Original Sin. Original Sin is indelibly embedded in every sinner that only Christ was able to take away, which He did by His suffering and His resurrection.  Therefore, man needs only be concerned with his own sins, not the Sin of his first parents, Eve and Adam.

When man refuses to accept the pains of his torments and commits suicide, thinking that he has ended all sufferings would find out that the thought that compelled him to end his own life was a Satanic temptation that opens the door to Hell. God gave man his life and it is for God, not man, to end it.

Therefore suicide, assisted-suicide, along with capital punishment, murder and euthanasia are Satan's ways to steal from God what belongs to God which is life by ending it with a sinister form of death that is not natural.  Those who advocate such forms of death or participates directly and indirectly in them are under Satan's influence.  Torment could very well be their eternity.

Of all the creatures, Satan understands torment most of all because It is engaged in a war against God that It cannot win. For this reason, Its torment is eternal.  Since misery loves company (as the saying goes), therefore Satan wants to ruin as many souls as It can so that they will end up in Hell to accompany It.

Life is punctuated with bouts of torment, and Satan is there with Its temptations to help man to numb the pain and to forget about it temporarily.  Wanting a quick fix, man indulges in drugs, alcohol, sex and other vices that eventually defeats the man then ruins his soul, unless he turns to God for help in his battle against Satan.

God is not here to take away man's pains since the pains of torment are reminders of man's own selfish and sinful existence.  By recognizing them as such, and enduring them with humility, man is transformed and perfected ever so gradually.  This transformation, however, will not turn a sinful man into a saint overnight but it is progress nonetheless, nor will it replace man’s torment with lasting joy.

Joy does not come easily for this blogger.  As he begins to age and to experience more and more intense difficult periods in his life, as he is being forced to no longer live in his dreams, as he begins to see more and more of the truths and the pretenses, while his romantic side had dissipated ever so imperceptibly, he is hardly able to imagine joy and express it.

He now experiences joy vicariously through the joy of others or so it seems.  Ironically, he finds this joy mainly in music composed by Ludwig van Beethoven who was tormented by what this blogger believes to be agonizing tensions between his personality and physical limitations on the one hand and his God-given musical genius on the other.

Joy, in the music of Beethoven, is not always apparent. Beethoven's joy seemed elusive.  In some of his compositions, his joy appeared to be shrouded in a mist of sadness, if not completely blotted out by his wrath.  Perhaps this joy, as it shined through a diaphanous veil of deep sorrow, was the true joy of the spirit that Beethoven presented to God through his music, that the listener can only share a moment of with his eyes closed.

An expression of Beethoven’s quiet and unspoken joy, tinged with sadness and resignation but cradled by a sense of interior peace, was revealed in depth by members of the Lindsay String Quartet in their performance of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130, Movement V: Cavatina. [1]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC26f1XBKjQ

What Was The Beginning Like?

God made the Garden of Eden for Adam.  Every part of Eden was perfect for Adam down to the minutest of details.  Adam whom God made in His own image was therefore perfect in every way, and Adam conformed his own free will to the Will of God.

What it might have been like to live as Adam during this time one can only imagine, when Adam was alone with God.  He was cared for and loved by God and lived every moment with complete fulfillment.  Adam knew that he was perfect in every way.  Unlike the mythological Narcissus, Adam did not need to gaze into a pond to see that he was.

Was Adam lonely being the only human?  This blogger cannot imagine how he could be with God as his companion at all times.  Yet, God decided that he needed someone that shared his constitution since God cannot make Adam God because God is the One and Only, "the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End." [1]

Before God created a companion for Adam, Adam would wake up every morning full of vigor.  He would be embraced by perfect weather without the need for clothing.  He would see Mother Nature change before his eyes, with no two moments ever the same, capturing his imagination and taking it beyond his limits, for such is the miracle of God's creations.

Adam would eat when he was hungry but not the Forbidden Fruit.  Since he was perfect, he would eat precisely the right foods and precisely the right quantity of each that his body needed.  With this perfect match, all of what he ate would be consumed entirely by his flesh to produce energy without any waste whatsoever.

God gave Adam everything he needed to sustain his life and left nothing out.  Adam was worry-free.  There were no diseases and disease-carrying vermin to ruin his perfect health.

Before Adam was given the Forbidden Fruit to eat, he would not age and die.  Being young forever, there was no incentive for Adam to reproduce since he would never become old and feeble, needing someone to take care of him.  He left everything in God's hands.

Eden is what every man desires.  It was real estate set in timeless idyll having an ideal climate that was constant, and having fertile soil for different kinds of vegetation that would produce a variety of new fresh fruits, herbs and vegetables daily for Adam so that he would never have to search for them.

If there is one word to encapsulate Adam's life, it would be contentment.

In a way, Adam was the first hermit, a monk living alone, who was (and is) close to God, literally and spiritually, and who was filled with gratitude for his gift of life in the flesh every waking moment.  What a life he had!

When God introduced the woman, Adam was merely amused and curious.  She was something new in his life, but not something he had ever desired.  This woman was not created to have sexual relations with Adam and to procreate but as Adam's platonic companion in the Garden of Eden, subordinated to him.

Sadly, this woman did not like what she was created for and was neither faithful to God nor loyal to Adam.  Satan knew this and approached her, seduced her and she gave herself over to the creature.  Satan did not just appear when she was made.  It was always around but never dared to show Itself to Adam to ask him to eat the Forbidden Fruit because It would be unequivocally rejected.  Satan, being proud, could not take a rejection, let alone from a human who was in so many ways inferior in intellect, strength, endurance and appearance to what It used to be, God's most beautiful angel, Lucifer.

What happened next ended the Beginning God created and now utopia exists only in man's imagination.


[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+21%3A6&version=NIV