What the "heretics" in America can expect from the papists.
The following was read as early as 1853 in the Shepherd of the Valley, the organ of the Archbishop of St. Louis, Mo.:
"We admit that the Roman Catholic Church is intolerant, that is, that it does everything in its power to eradicate error and sin. But this intolerance of hers necessarily follows from her infallibility. She alone has the right to be intolerant, because she alone is and has the truth. Heresy, according to her laws, is a sin deserving death. The Church tolerates heretics when and where she is compelled to do so, but she mortally hates them and expends all her powers to bring about their destruction. When one day the Catholics will have an immense majority, which will certainly be the case, although only after a long time, then the religious freedom of this republic will have come to an end. Our enemies say so, and we believe it. Our enemies know it, that we are no better than our Church, and as to the latter, its history is openly laid out before them. They know how the Roman Church dealt with heretics in the Middle Ages, and what it still does with them nowadays wherever it has the power to do so. We do not in any way deny these historical facts, or blame the saints and princes of the church for having done and approved such things. Heresy is a mortal sin, which kills the soul and plunges the whole man, body and soul, into hell. It is also a highly contagious and infinitely propagating disease, which endangers the temporal and eternal welfare of countless generations to come. Therefore truly Christian princes will root out heresy in their lands, and Christian states will, if they can, drive it out of their domains. And if we now refrain from <p. 35> persecuting the heretics here, it is only because we are too weak to do so, and believe thereby to do more harm than good to the Church we serve."
The French Catholic popular newspaper L'Univers wrote:
"We only regret that Jan Hus was not burned sooner, and Martin Luther was not also burned, that the princes of that time were not so wise as to begin a crusade against Protestantism! A heretic used to be handed over to the authorities to be put to death; nothing seems to us more natural and necessary than that; more than 100,000 people perished by [John] Wycliff’s heresy, still more by [Jan] Hus's; we stand, after three centuries, on the eve of the beginning again." (Protest. Reply, p. 261.)
The famous [Marquis de] Lafayette († 1834), highly honored by all Americans, once said:
"If the liberties of the American people are ever destroyed, they will fall at the hands of the Roman clergy." (Luth. Stand., 1875. p. 243.)
America now also has a Cardinal, a Roman dignitary who immediately succeeds the Pope in rank. The infallible Pius IX has bestowed this distinction on the previous Archbishop of New York, Mr. [John] McCloskey, and he was publicly installed as such with great pomp on April 27th of last year. To learn what the Roman Pontiff, the pretended Lord of the World, demands and desires from this high servant, one need only read the oath which every Cardinal has to take before he receives the red hat, the sign of his dignity. Here is what he must swear [as of 1876, now amended here]:
"I ________, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, vow and swear that from now until the end of my life I will be faithful to St. Peter, the Holy Apostolic Church at Rome, and our most Holy Lord the Pope, and the successors of the same, canonically and legally elected; That I will never give my advice, consent, or assistance to anything contrary to the Pontifical Majesty, and will never knowingly transgress or publish advice, admonitions, or instructions of the Apostolic See given to me in confidence; and that I will render every assistance in defense of the Papacy at Rome and the Regatta of St. Peter. That I will dutifully and for the sake of honor proclaim and defend the messages and decrees of the Holy Apostolic See in all churches, monasteries, and charitable institutions subject to me, and support papal nuncios and legates when they come, as long as they stay, and when they go, with cordiality and reverence, and that I will resist and fight to the death all who should undertake anything against them; that I will endeavor in every way and by every means to increase, fortify, and promote the rights, honors, privileges, and prestige of the Holy Bishop of Rome, the Pope our Lord."
It concludes, "that I will seek out, fight, and persecute heretics, schismatics, and adversaries against our Holy Lord the Pope with all my power and with all my means." (Prot. Reply, pp. 180-181)
[Some of the phrasing is omitted in the current version of this oath according to the Vatican website. But who knows what goes on behind closed doors, because they “will never … transgress or publish advice, admonitions, or instructions of the Apostolic See given to me in confidence.”]
In Hungary to this day all who convert from the Protestant to the Catholic Church must take the following terrible oath: "We swear, as long as there is a drop of blood in our veins, to persecute that accursed Protestant doctrine in every way, secretly and openly, by force and cunning, by word and deed, not excepting the sword."
Dr. Luther said, "Many complain of this, and think that I am too vehement and hasty against the papacy; but I complain that I am, alas, much too mild. But I would that I could speak vain thunderbolts against the papacy, and that every word were a thunderbolt." (XXII, 1350, #63 .)
The Puritans also recognized in the Pope the Antichrist. In their "Confession of Faith," signed at Boston, May 2, 1680, it is said, Chap. 26, § 4.
"There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ; neither can the Pope in any way be the head of it, but he is Antichrist, the man of sin, and the son of perdition, who exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and against all that is called God, whom the Lord shall destroy with the glory of his coming." (Mather's History II, 176.)
Six of the currently eight SCOTUS justices are self-declared Roman Catholics as is the President of the United States and the Speaker of the House.
ReplyDeleteSorry to take so long in posting this very pertinent and eye-opening fact. America seems totally oblivious to this threat, but it is real.
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