Holy Orders And Sedevacantism

 

Every once in awhile, I read an article on sedevacantism that leaves me baffled as to where the author gets his information. One such article was written by "Brother"Alexis Bugnolo who declares himself "a Franciscan hermit who observes the Rule of St Francis by private vows with tacit permission of Pope Benedict XVI and written permission of the Congregation for Religious in 2006." Whatever that means. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the Vatican II sect doesn't recognize him, and I have seen no proof of a recognition from the Modernist Congregation of Religious aside from Bugnolo's ipse dixit. Bugnolo recognizes the sect, yet is a sedevacantist of sorts. While he accepts Vatican II and the "popes" from Roncalli to Ratzinger, he believes Ratzinger remained pope until his death on December 31, 2022--thereby disavowing Bergoglio and making him a "Bennyvacantist." 

Then Bugnolo took it upon himself to hold a "conclave" in an airport with about five "electors." Whom did they "elect"? Jorge Bergoglio who then became pope on January 30, 2022. (I couldn't make it up if I tried). Now, he holds Prevost's election as invalid so he's back to his brand of sedevacantism. 

Bugnolo's website fromrome.info carried an article last month entitled "The Heresy of Classical Sedevacantism." He deems the position of those of us who reject Vatican II and all "popes" from Roncalli (or at least Montini) to Prevost as "classical." I label his form of sedevacantism as "Asinine Sedevacantism" (AS). I was wondering what a muddleheaded pseudo-brother thought was "heretical" about classic sedevacantism. As I suspected, the answer was as ridiculous as his "conclave."

Bugnolo writes:

But one of the core theological positions often found with classical Sedevacantism is that the ritual for the consecration of Bishops in the New Rite after Vatican II cannot validly effect the consecration of a Bishop...

He continues:

Their chief motivation for adopting this denial is to justify their conspiracy theories about invalid conclaves and invalid popes. They say, for example, that Pope Benedict XVI could not validly be a pope because he was never validly consecrated as a Bishop, even though his principle consecrator, Msgr. Josef Stangel, was consecrated a Bishop in 1957, in the “Old Rite”.

The rest of the article is an attempt to show the Pauline Rite of episcopal consecration to be valid. Personally, I don't know any sede who adopts sedevacantism on account of an invalid episcopal consecration. Ratzinger was not Catholic and heretics cannot attain to the papacy. Secondly, true sedevacantists are in no need of conspiracy theories (although many abound) to declare the See of Rome vacant. It's based on sound theological principles. 

(See my post: introiboadaltaredei2.blogspot.com/2025/08/conspiracies-traditionalists-and.html). 

So I don't know who "they" are who allegedly think invalid episcopal consecrations validate sedevacantism. Nevertheless, I thought this was a good opportunity to write about the invalidity of the Pauline Rite of episcopal consecration. To be certain, Fr. Anthony Cekada (RIP) wrote a study entitled Absolutely Null and Utterly Void, which remains the gold standard in refuting the validity of Vatican II orders. The remainder of this post will be a recapitulation of the reasons the Pauline Rite is as useless to create a bishop as the Anglican Ordinal. I give full credit to the work of Fr. Cekada, and the myriad sources both in print and online for the material that follows next. I take absolutely no credit for myself, except for condensing the material into a terse and readable form.

The Requirements for Sacramental Validity in Episcopal Consecrations

Episcopal consecrations are essential for the Church to continue. All the sacraments but two (Baptism and Matrimony) require a priest or bishop. Only bishops can ordain men priests and consecrate priests as bishops. If episcopal consecrations are invalid, eventually the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be no more, as would be the case with Holy Orders, Confirmation, Extreme Unction, the Eucharist, and Penance. 

As with all sacraments, there are five requirements for validity, and a substantial change in any one of these will make the sacrament invalid: Administer, Matter, Form, Intention, and there must be no obex (invalidating obstacle) on the part of the recipient. Each will be examined in relation to episcopal consecration.

Administer: Only a validly consecrated bishop can consecrate a priest as a bishop. Three bishops (a principal consecrator, and two co-consecrators) are employed, but only a single bishop as principal consecrator suffices for validity. 

Matter: The imposition of the hands of the bishop on the head of the priest being consecrated.

Form: These are the words that must accompany the matter to effectuate the sacramental sign. Christ specified certain sacraments in a precise manner - in specie.. Such is the case with both Baptism and the Eucharist where He gave the words to be used. With regard to the other sacraments, it is held that He only specified the form in genere - in a general way, leaving to the Apostles and their successors in the One True Church the care and power of determining them more precisely. Pope Pius XII established the words to be used in the Apostolic Constitution Sacramentum Ordinis in 1947. 

Intention: The bishop must have the proper intention. That is, he must intend to do what the Church does in the administration of the sacrament. Intention is usually seen as having both an external and internal aspect. The external intention is provided to the bishop by the rite he uses and it is assumed that he intends what the rite intends. His internal intention is another matter and can never be known with certainty unless he exposes it or makes it known. The Church, recognizing that She can never know the internal intention of the bishop, presumes it is the same as his external intention, (the intention which the traditional rite provides by its very wording) unless he himself informs the Church otherwise. 

No Obex: Only a validly ordained priest who intends to receive consecration to the episcopacy can become a bishop. Females can never validly receive Holy Orders. The attempted consecration of a deacon or a layman is dubious and must be treated as invalid in the practical order. 

(See theologian Pohle, Dogmatic Theology, 8:Part 1, pgs. 1-200 [1915]). 

Comparing the Form of the Traditional Rite and Pauline Rite

In Sacramentum Ordinis, para. #5, Pope Pius XII settled the matter and form for the episcopacy, priesthood, and diaconate definitively. He decreed:

Finally in the Episcopal Consecration, the matter is the imposition of hands which is done by the Bishop consecrator. The form consists of the words of the “Preface,” of which the following are essential and therefore required for validity:

“Comple in Sacerdote tuo ministerii tui summam, et ornamentis totius glorificationis instructum coelestis unguenti rore santifica.”

[“Perfect in Thy priest the fullness of thy ministry and, clothing him in all the ornaments of spiritual glorification, sanctify him with the Heavenly anointing.”]

Montini (Paul VI) issuing his Apostolic Constitution entitled Pontificalis Romani (June 23, 1968) in which he retains the matter - the laying on of hands - but in which he specifies that the form for ordaining bishops is to be:

"et nunc effunde super hunc electum eam virtutem, quae a te est, spiritum principalem, quem dedisti dilecto filio tuo Jesu Christo, quem ipse donavit sanctis apostolis, qui constituerunt ecclesiam per singula loca, ut sanctuarium tuum, in gloriam et laudem indificientem nominis tui" - ["So now pour forth upon this chosen one that power which is from You, the governing Spirit whom You gave to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the Spirit given by him to the holy apostles, who found the Church in every place to be your temple for the unceasing  glory and praise of your name."]

Why change the form of the sacrament when it was already settled? Montini was out to destroy the hierarchy.  There are here two forms, or more precisely two groups of "essential" words wherein the substance of the form is to be found, and both of which are stated to be required for validity. How  can one explain this apparent disparity? The Church has the right to change the wording of the form for Holy Orders, but only in so far as She doesn't change their "substance" or meaning. The problem to be resolved then, is whether both forms mean the same thing. They do not.

Pope Leo XIII and the Theologians on the Form of Holy Orders

In 1896, Pope Leo XIII declared Anglican Orders "absolutely null and utterly void." His Holiness based this decision on a defect of both form and intention--either one would render it invalid. Here, I will only deal with the form. Paragraph #28 states:

The same holds good of episcopal consecration. For to the formula, “Receive the Holy Ghost, " not only were the words “for the office and work of a bishop”, etc. added at a later period, but even these, as we shall presently state, must be understood in a sense different to that which they bear in the Catholic rite. Nor is anything gained by quoting the prayer of the preface, “Almighty God”, since it, in like manner, has been stripped of the words which denote the summum sacerdotium .

It was taught by the pope, and explained by the theologians, that each grade of Holy Orders (deacon, priest, bishop) must (a) univocally state the order being given (deacon, priest, bishop) and (b) the grace of the Holy Ghost. If either is absent, the sacrament is not effectuated. As theologian Semple teaches:

It is not essential to express the word, "deacon," "priest," or "bishop," but the form must at least express some clear equivalent. Thus "the order of the Blessed Stephen" is a clear equivalent of the order of Deacon. It is not essential to express the main power of the priest or the bishop in the form, but if this main power were expressed, it too would be an equivalent. However, it is essential to express either the order or its main power, and if the main power is not only left out, but positively excluded, then the right name, though kept, is not the right name in reality but only a shadow. Now, the main power of a true priest is to offer a true sacrifice, and at least one of the main powers of a bishop is to make priests.

(See Anglican Ordinations, [1906], pg. 153).

The theologian who drafted the Apostolic Constitution Sacramentum Ordinis, Hurth, considers the definition of Pope Pius to be infallible, and has this to say: The words which fully suffice for the power and the grace to be signified are found in the consecratory Preface, whose essential words are those in which the ‘fullness or totality’ of the sacerdotal ministry and the ‘raiment of all glory’ are expressed.

(See Commentary on the Apostolic Constitution Sacramentum Ordinis,” Periodica 37, pg. 26; English translation). 

The Pauline Rite Does NOT Signify What is Necessary

The new form of Montini does not contain a univocal expression of the episcopacy and the grace of the Holy Ghost; the absence of either is a substantial change and invalidating defect. Once more:

So now pour forth upon this chosen one that power which is from You, the governing Spirit whom You gave to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the Spirit given by him to the holy apostles, who found the Church in every place to be your temple for the unceasing  glory and praise of your name.

The phrase "spiritum principalem" ("governing Spirit") is not to be found in any known ordination rite, as can be seen by referring to either Vindication of the Bull 'Apostolic Curae, by the Catholic bishops of England, or Bishop Kendrick's book on The Validity of Anglican Ordinations, both of which list all the known episcopal rites. The phrase is found in only one place in Scripture - Psalm 50, verse 14 - "redde mihi laeitiam salutaris tui et spiritu principali confirma me - restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and strengthen me with a governing (or upright) spirit.." The context is that of David asking God's forgiveness for his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba and the strength to control his passions, and thus can be applied to any individual.

If "governing Spirit" refers to the grace of the Holy Ghost, where is the rank of bishop univocally expressed? If it refers to the order of bishop (never used before) where is the grace of the Holy Ghost expressed? 

Many apologist for the Vatican II sect have tried to analogize to the so-called "Apostolic Tradition of  Hippolytus." Hippolytus was a highly enigmatic person who lived in the third century. He was born about 160 and is thought to have been a disciple of St. Iranaeus. He became a priest under Pope Zephyrinus about the year 198 and won great respect for his learning and eloquence. After having doctrinal differences with the Pope, Hippolytus left Rome, found a bishop to consecrate him, and established a schismatic Church. He was subsequently excommunicated. He drew up his "Apostolic Traditions" while he was outside the Church, presumably to establish a "pontifical" for his schismatic sect. Later, after Maximus became emperor and instituted a new persecution against the Christians, both he and the reigning Pontiff (Pontianus) were arrested and sent to the mines in Sardinia. It was here, just prior to his death, that he became reconciled to the Church. Both he and the pope were martyred together and later canonized. The Hippolytic schism ended with this event.

The text written by Hippolytus as a "Pontifical" for his schismatic sect was named by him "The Apostolic Traditions." According to Professor Burton Scott Easton of Cambridge University, we can summarize what we know of this document in the following words:

The original Greek of the Apostolic tradition has not been recovered, except in small fragments. the Latin is generally trustworthy, but is incomplete. The only other primary version, the Sahidic, is likewise incomplete, and the results of the moderate abilities of its translator have been further confused in later transmission. The Arabic is a secondary text, offering little that the Sahidic does not contain. The only practically complete version, the Ethiopic, is tertiary and is otherwise unreliable. All four of these versions presuppose a common Greek original, in which two different endings have been conflated. The other sources, the Constitutions, the Testament and the Canons are frank revisions, in which the original is often edited out of recognition or even flatly contradicted. Under these conditions the restoration of a really accurate text is manifestly impossible.

(See The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, translated into English with an introduction and notes, [1934]; Emphasis mine). 

Without being sure the words are correct, Montini used them. Clearly we have no exact knowledge of the form that Hippolytus used, and just as clearly, there is no evidence that the form adopted by Paul VI was ever used to consecrate anybody. 

The Nail in the Coffin for the Pauline Rite: Matter and Form are NOT United

Matter and form must be united to produce the sacramental sign. To give an example, a priest cannot pour water over the head of an infant while having a coughing fit, and then say "I baptize thee..." a minute after the water has been poured; the baptism is invalid. 

 In the traditional rite, prior to the imposition of hands - the matter of the rite - the Consecrator took the open book of the Gospels, and saying nothing, laid it upon the neck and the shoulders of the Bishop-elect, so that the printed page touched the neck. One of the chaplains kneeled behind supporting the book until it was given into the hands of the Bishop-elect. After this the consecrator imposed his hands on the head of the ordinand, saying "Receive the Holy Ghost," and then proceeded with a short prayer and the preface which contained the words of the form. There was a moral continuity of action so that the form was not really separated from the matter.

In the new rite the principal consecrator lays his hands upon the bishop-elect in silence. Following this the principal consecrator places the open Book of the Gospels upon the head of the bishop-elect; two deacons, standing at either side of the bishop-elect, hold the Book of the Gospels above his head until the prayer of consecration is completed. Here the continuity of action is discontinuous which is to say that the matter and the form are separated by the imposition of the Gospels over the head of the bishop-elect.

 Matter and Form must be united or concurrent. As theologian Davis teaches:

The matter and form must be united - so far as union is possible - to produce the one external rite, and so to produce a valid Sacrament... However in Holy Orders, ...moral simultaneity is sufficient, that is, these Sacraments are valid though the proximate matter is employed immediately before or after the use of the word. What interval would suffice to render the Sacrament invalid cannot be determined; the interval of the recital of the 'Our Father' appeared sufficient to St. Alphonsus, but in such matters we should not rely on probabilities, we should make sure the matter and form are as united as we can make them. (See Moral and Pastoral Theology, 3:10-11, [1935]). 

Conclusion

The validity of episcopal consecration has nothing to do with sedevacantism, yet it has been shown invalid due to substantial defect of the essential form and the disunity of the matter and form. As of this writing, there remain only nine valid bishops in the Latin Rite of the Vatican II sect. The Modernists have succeeded in destroying the hierarchy in their sect. 

I guess it only makes sense that when you adopt Asinine Sedevacantism, like Alexis Bugnolo, all the rest of theology becomes equally mindless. 

Why The Death Penalty?

 

To My Readers: This week, my good friend Steven Speray, writes about capital punishment, and the teaching of the Church compared to that of the Vatican II sect. Please read Steve's excellent Traditionalist blog, Catholic Top Gun at stevensperay.wordpress.com. Feel free to comment as usual. If you have a specific comment or question for me, I will respond as always, but it may take me a bit longer to do so this week.

God bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo

Why the Death Penalty

By Steven Speray

 Back in 2010, I posted "The Death Penalty for Sodomites" showing how the Church commanded it.

(See stevensperay.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/the-death-penalty-for-sodomites). 

As one example of capital punishment, Pope St. Pius V tells us the purpose of putting Sodomites to death in his constitution Horrendum illud scelus of August 30, 1568: 

“That horrible crime, on account of which corrupt and obscene cities were destroyed by fire through divine condemnation, causes us most bitter sorrow and shocks our mind, impelling us to repress such a crime with the greatest possible zeal…. So that the contagion of such a grave offense may not advance with greater audacity by taking advantage of impunity, which is the greatest incitement to sin…” 

The first reason according to Pope St. Pius V is protecting society from the spread of evil as a deterrent to future crime. He continues… 

“To more severely punish the clerics who are guilty of this nefarious crime and who are not frightened by the death of their souls...let him be immediately delivered to the secular authority to be put to death, as mandated by law as the fitting punishment for laymen who have sunk into this abyss.”  

The second reason is punishment, hence the phrase “capital punishment.” Pope St. Pius X also taught in his Catechism, “It is lawful to kill...when carrying out by order of the Supreme Authority a sentence of death in punishment for a crime.” 

John Paul II taught in his hallmark 1995 encyclical, Evangelium vitae that deterrent and punishment are not legitimate reasons for the death penalty. He wrote: 

“27. In the same perspective there is evidence of a growing public opposition to the death penalty, even when such a penalty is seen as a kind of "legitimate defense" on the part of society. .Modern society in fact has the means of effectively suppressing crime by rendering criminals harmless without definitively denying them the chance to reform.” 

Because the world is moving away from the death penalty, John Paul 2 would have liked to see his counterfeit religion lead the way in opposition to the death penalty. Capital punishment is already rare. He continued… 

“56. This is the context in which to place the problem of the death penalty. On this matter there is a growing tendency, both in the Church and in civil society, to demand that it be applied in a very limited way or even that it be abolished completely. The problem must be viewed in the context of a system of penal justice ever more in line with human dignity and thus, in the end, with God’s plan for man and society. The primary purpose of the punishment which society inflicts is “to redress the disorder caused by the offence”. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2266.] Public authority must redress the violation of personal and social rights by imposing on the offender an adequate punishment for the crime, as a condition for the offender to regain the exercise of his or her freedom. In this way authority also fulfils the purpose of defending public order and ensuring people’s safety, while at the same time offering the offender an incentive and help to change his or her behaviour and be rehabilitated. [Cf. ibid.] 

It is clear that, for these purposes to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.”

The impostor pope Francis took it to the next level. He declared the death penalty is “contrary to the Gospel,” “is an inhuman measure,” “is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and the dignity of the person” stressing that “here we are not in the presence of any contradiction with past teaching,” that this, “law of progress” he said, “appertains to the peculiar condition of the truth revealed in its being transmitted by the church, and does not at all signify a change of doctrine. One cannot conserve the doctrine without making it progress, nor can one bind it to a rigid and immutable reading without humiliating the Holy Spirit.” [1] 

In “Why Sedevacantism” (See stevensperay.wordpress.com/why-sedevacantism) I showed that if Vatican 2 is correct that “religious communities are entitled to teach and give witness to their faith publicly in speech and writing without hindrance” [DH 4] then Martin Luther would have been right when he declared “that heretics be burned is against the will of the Spirit” and Pope Leo X and his papal bull condemning Luther’s teaching would be erroneous. 

On Aug. 2, 2018, the Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, the impostor pope Francis officially recognized Martin Luther’s teaching as orthodoxy by ordering the Catechism of the Catholic Church to be changed on capital punishment. [2] (Catechism change and the Letter from the CDF.) 

It really is astounding how Protestant Rome is becoming. One of the doctrines held by the earliest Protestants (Anabaptists) was the unlawfulness of capital punishment. In De Laicis, St. Robert Bellarmine called this a “chief heretical belief” of the Protestant sects. [3] 

St. Alphonsus Liguori taught, “It is lawful to put a man to death by public authority: it is even a duty of princes and of judges to condemn to death criminals who deserve it; and it is the duty of the officers of justice to execute the sentence; God himself wishes malefactors to be punished.” [4] 

Again, we see St. Alphonsus Liquori explain that it’s the just punishment for certain crimes. 

The Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent declared, “Execution Of Criminals: Another kind of lawful slaying belongs to the civil authorities, to whom is entrusted power of life and death, by the legal and judicious exercise of which they punish the guilty and protect the innocent. The just use of this power, far from involving the crime of murder, is an act of paramount obedience to this Commandment which prohibits murder. The end of the Commandment¬ is the preservation and security of human life. Now the punishments inflicted by the civil authority, which is the legitimate avenger of crime, naturally tend to this end, since they give security to life by repressing outrage and violence. Hence these words of David: In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land, that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.” [5] 

On July 3, 1907, Pope St. Pius X condemned as an error of the Modernist in Lamentabili, “53. The organic constitution of the Church is not immutable; but Christian society, just as human society, is subject to perpetual evolution.”  

This modernist error is witnessed on one level in the teachings of the impostor popes John Paul 2 and Francis concerning capital punishment. 

Think about what Pope St. Pius V said concerning sodomy to what we have now. Sexual deviancy was once considered a crime so awful that the Church thought capital punishment was a fitting punishment. Now the abominations of the LGBTQ community are protected under the law and the Vatican 2 religion condemns the death penalty for anyone and everyone including serial killers, child kidnapping sex traffickers, and other global terrorists.

 However, we have good news found in some US states where legislation is being passed and/or introduced that would allow the death penalty for child sexual abuse. [6] Gov. DeSantis urged the bill in Florida and the bill’s spon­sor and for­mer pros­e­cu­tor Senator Jonathan Martin told his col­leagues, ​“The most seri­ous crime like sex­u­al bat­tery on a child needs the most seri­ous pun­ish­ment and the most seri­ous penal­ty and the most serious deterrent.” 

It’s a good thing when the devils running the Vatican 2 religion are ignored and rejected on this point. Unfortunately, it’s a little too late for any real hope especially when the Catholic faith is viewed through the teaching lens of an ape church masquerading as the Catholic Church and most people could care less anyway.

 Footnotes:

[1] https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/10/11/pope-francis-death-penalty-contrary-gospel

 [2] The Death Penalty

“2267. Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.

Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state.

Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.

Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”, [1] and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.
_______________________________________
[1] FRANCIS, Address to Participants in the Meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, 11 October 2017: L’Osservatore Romano, 13 October 2017, 5.”

“CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
Letter to the Bishops regarding the new revision of number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the death penalty

1. The Holy Father Pope Francis, in his Discourse on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of the Apostolic Constitution Fidei depositum, by which John Paul II promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church, asked that the teaching on the death penalty be reformulated so as to better reflect the development of the doctrine on this point that has taken place in recent times.[1] This development centers principally on the clearer awareness of the Church for the respect due to every human life. Along this line, John Paul II affirmed: “Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity, and God himself pledges to guarantee this.”[2]
2. It is in the same light that one should understand the attitude towards the death penalty that is expressed ever more widely in the teaching of pastors and in the sensibility of the people of God. If, in fact, the political and social situation of the past made the death penalty an acceptable means for the protection of the common good, today the increasing understanding that the dignity of a person is not lost even after committing the most serious crimes, the deepened understanding of the significance of penal sanctions applied by the State, and the development of more efficacious detention systems that guarantee the due protection of citizens have given rise to a new awareness that recognizes the inadmissibility of the death penalty and, therefore, calling for its abolition.
3. In this development, the teaching of the Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitæ of John Paul II is of great importance. The Holy Father enumerated among the signs of hope for a new culture of life “a growing public opposition to the death penalty, even when such a penalty is seen as a kind of ‘legitimate defense’ on the part of society. Modern society in fact has the means of effectively suppressing crime by rendering criminals harmless without definitively denying them the chance to reform.”[3] The teaching of Evangelium vitæ was then included in the editio typica of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In it, the death penalty is not presented as a proportionate penalty for the gravity of the crime, but it can be justified if it is “the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor,” even if in reality “cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender today are very rare, if not practically non-existent” (n. 2267).
4. John Paul II also intervened on other occasions against the death penalty, appealing both to respect for the dignity of the person as well as to the means that today’s society possesses to defend itself from criminals. Thus, in the Christmas Message of 1998, he wished “the world the consensus concerning the need for urgent and adequate measures … to end the death penalty.”[4] The following month in the United States, he repeated, “A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.”[5]
5. The motivation to be committed to the abolition of the death penalty was continued with the subsequent Pontiffs. Benedict XVI recalled “the attention of society’s leaders to the need to make every effort to eliminate the death penalty.”[6] He later wished a group of the faithful that “your deliberations will encourage the political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty and to continue the substantive progress made in conforming penal law both to the human dignity of prisoners and the effective maintenance of public order.”[7]
6. In this same prospective, Pope Francis has reaffirmed that “today capital punishment is unacceptable, however serious the condemned’s crime may have been.”[8] The death penalty, regardless of the means of execution, “entails cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment.”[9] Furthermore, it is to be rejected “due to the defective selectivity of the criminal justice system and in the face of the possibility of judicial error.”[10] It is in this light that Pope Francis has asked for a revision of the formulation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the death penalty in a manner that affirms that “no matter how serious the crime that has been committed, the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and the dignity of the person.”[11]
7. The new revision of number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, approved by Pope Francis, situates itself in continuity with the preceding Magisterium while bringing forth a coherent development of Catholic doctrine.[12] The new text, following the footsteps of the teaching of John Paul II in Evangelium vitæ, affirms that ending the life of a criminal as punishment for a crime is inadmissible because it attacks the dignity of the person, a dignity that is not lost even after having committed the most serious crimes. This conclusion is reached taking into account the new understanding of penal sanctions applied by the modern State, which should be oriented above all to the rehabilitation and social reintegration of the criminal. Finally, given that modern society possesses more efficient detention systems, the death penalty becomes unnecessary as protection for the life of innocent people. Certainly, it remains the duty of public authorities to defend the life of citizens, as has always been taught by the Magisterium and is confirmed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church in numbers 2265 and 2266.
8. All of this shows that the new formulation of number 2267 of the Catechism expresses an authentic development of doctrine that is not in contradiction with the prior teachings of the Magisterium. These teachings, in fact, can be explained in the light of the primary responsibility of the public authority to protect the common good in a social context in which the penal sanctions were understood differently, and had developed in an environment in which it was more difficult to guarantee that the criminal could not repeat his crime.
9. The new revision affirms that the understanding of the inadmissibility of the death penalty grew “in the light of the Gospel.”[13] The Gospel, in fact, helps to understand better the order of creation that the Son of God assumed, purified, and brought to fulfillment. It also invites us to the mercy and patience of the Lord that gives to each person the time to convert oneself.
10. The new formulation of number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church desires to give energy to a movement towards a decisive commitment to favor a mentality that recognizes the dignity of every human life and, in respectful dialogue with civil authorities, to encourage the creation of conditions that allow for the elimination of the death penalty where it is still in effect.
The Sovereign Pontiff Francis, in the Audience granted to the undersigned Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 28 June 2018, has approved the present Letter, adopted in the Ordinary Session of this Congregation on 13 June 2018, and ordered its publication.
Rome, from the Office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1 August 2018, Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori.
Luis F. Card. Ladaria, S.I.
Prefect
X Giacomo Morandi
Titular Archbishop of Cerveteri
Secretary

 [3] St. Robert Bellarmine, De Laicis, “Among the chief heretical beliefs of the Anabaptists and Antitrinitarians of our time there is one that says that it is not lawful for Christians to hold magistracy and that among Christians there must not be power of capital punishment, etc., in any government, tribunal, or court.” (p. 5)

[4] St. Alphonsus Liguori (Instructions for the People on the Ten Commandments and on the Sacraments) https://archive.org/stream/alphonsusworks15liguuoft#page/n467/mode/1up

[5] http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/trent/tcomm05.htm

[6] Death Penalty for Child Sexual Abuse that Does Not Result in Death | Death Penalty Information Center

Prescribing The Occult

 

His name is Dr. Joseph Mercola, a physician who has made well over $100 million dollars selling dietary supplements. He is also the author of  books on wellness and COVID. Mercola (b. 1954) is part of the modern Wellness Movement, defined as "a global trend that promotes holistic health and well-being through lifestyle changes, preventative measures, and self-care practices. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, and encourages individuals to take an active role in maintaining their overall well-being." (See globalwellnessinstitute.org; Emphasis mine).

A darling among social and political conservatives, Mercola is known for opposing the COVID vaccine, and his rants against conventional medicine. He is targeted by many for exaggerated claims about the efficacy of various supplements and alleged conspiracies around COVID-19. Whatever one may think of Joseph Mercola, this post will not discuss his wellness claims. 

The truth about Mercola sounds like something out of a movie, yet it is true. The multimillionaire physician makes his decisions based on consultations with “a collective source energy aimed at bringing self-awareness to Earth," named Bahlon and is channeled through a psychic medium. 

The story is as weird and disturbing as it sounds. This post will serve as yet another example of how deep the occult explosion after Vatican II goes. (This post is a compilation of all the information I have gathered from multiple sources. I take no credit for the information presented.---Introibo). 

Dr. Mercola: Advocating Occult Practices

Dr. Mercola has advocated for occult practices (with zero scientific support) as a means of getting/staying healthy. Two are very troubling:

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or "Tapping"

Here's how this pseudo-scientific and occult practice allegedly "works:"

Emotional freedom technique (EFT) is a method some people use to help manage emotions and troubling thoughts. They may also use it to lower their stress and anxiety. For example, EFT may help calm you if you're feeling angry. Or it may help ease your thoughts if you're worried about something.

EFT is also called tapping. This is because to do EFT, you tap your fingertips on certain points on your hand, head, and torso. The points you tap on for EFT are like those used in acupuncture, Opens dialog.

Experts don't agree on how well EFT works. And it shouldn't replace going to see a health professional for serious issues like depression and trauma.

How to do EFT

You can do EFT, or tapping, whenever you feel upset. You may find that it helps you feel better.

To do EFT, follow these steps.

1. Think of an issue that's bothering you.

This could be any issue. For example, it could be something you're feeling anxious or sad about.

2. Measure how your issue makes you feel.

Rate how bad you feel on a scale from 0 to 10. A score of 0 means you don't feel bad at all. But a score of 10 means you feel as bad as possible. Write down this number.

3. Create a statement that describes your issue, followed by a statement of self-acceptance.

For example, you could say, "Even though I feel anxious about work tomorrow, I deeply and completely accept myself." Or you could say, "Even though my partner broke up with me, I deeply and completely accept myself."

4. Tap repeatedly on the edge of your palm, below your little finger.

While you tap, say your statement out loud 3 times.

5. Now tap on the rest of the points on your body, one at a time.

While you tap, state your issue over and over. For example, you might repeat "anxious about test" or "we broke up." Tap on each point in this order.

a. Tap on the top, center of your head.

b. Tap on the inside edge of one eyebrow.

c. Tap next to the outside edge of one eye.

d. Tap on the bone underneath one eye.

e. Tap between your nose and your upper lip.

f. Tap between your lower lip and your chin.

g. Tap beneath one collarbone (find the notch beneath the inside edge of the collarbone).

h. Tap under one armpit (about 4 inches below the armpit).

i. Stop and remeasure how you feel about your issue.

j. Repeat the steps if needed.

k. Tap until you can give your issue a lower number, or until you feel better.

(See healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health-wellness/health-encyclopedia/he.emotional-freedom-technique-eft.acl9225).

This technique is based on the false and occult ideas of "chakras" called "energy meridians." Notice how it is related to acupuncture:  The points you tap on for EFT are like those used in acupuncture (See above).

Acupuncture is a method of applying stimulation to specific points on the body. Based on the occultic religion of Taoism, acupuncturists claim to be able to stimulate the flow of ki/chi energy through alleged invisible channels or “meridians” in the body (much like "chakras"). When body organs or systems are supposedly deficient in a proper supply of chi energy, imbalance is allegedly produced, resulting in disease. Restoring the flow of  energy through the meridians is believed to revitalize the body organs and systems, thereby curing illness and maintaining health.

Some scientists have claimed that acupuncture is effective for certain ailments and that it works on the basis of as yet unknown principles. However, the latest scientific research is not supportive; studies have yet to demonstrate acupuncture’s effectiveness. For example, an exhaustive analysis of research published in The Clinical Journal of Pain (June 1991) concluded that acupuncture was at best a powerful placebo (See also Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 1990, Vol. 43, pp. 1191-99). When Western scientists attempt to separate acupuncture from its underlying occultic philosophy or practice and merely engage in an unspecific needle stimulation, these methods tend to lose their efficacy.

In 2014, when pharmacologist David Colquhoun at University College London was asked, "Why is it so hard to figure out whether acupuncture works or not?" He responded, "There is a lot of money at stake for those who sell acupuncture—and a certain amount of fascination with New Age thinking. There are excellent controls such as retractable needles. Almost all experiments show no difference between real and sham acupuncture." (See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/5-scientists-weigh-in-on-acupuncture/). 

Classical acupuncture involves the practice of an ancient pagan medicine inseparably tied to Taoism. In addition, Eastern meditative programs or other occultic practices may be used in conjunction with acupuncture therapy. I was witness to an acupuncture session where the "practitioner" was assisted by four others whose collective job was to "impose their hands over the patient" (much like a bishop at Confirmation imposes hands over all those to be confirmed) and were saying "whoosh!" over and over while the needles were being put in the person's back. Afterwards, I asked what they were doing and I was told they were "projecting their chi energy into the patient for maximal healing." Someone actually paid for this garbage. 

EFT is just as bad. According to EFT founder Gary Craig, EFT is an "emotional version of acupuncture" wherein certain meridian points are stimulated by tapping on them with the fingertips. "This addresses a new cause for emotional issues (unbalanced energy meridians)" he says, but neglects to add that there is no known anatomical or histological basis for the existence of these meridians.

Any healing that may take place as a result of these treatments comes from traditional cognitive components such as the placebo effect, and distraction from negative thoughts. 

Earthing

What is Earthing? According to health.clevelandclinic.org/earthing:

“Earthing is about having direct skin contact with the surface of the Earth, whether it’s your bare feet, your hands or other parts of your body,” Dr. Albers explains. The theory is that when we physically connect with the ground, its electrical energy rebalances our own. Proponents believe that the rise in chronic illnesses can be attributed, in part, to our footwear.

“They point out that we've just recently started wearing shoes with rubber soles, which don’t conduct electricity,” she continues. “So, part of the argument is that we've removed that contact from the Earth, which is making us unwell.”

Modern earthing is a new(ish) twist on a widespread belief in the healing potential of the Earth. Practitioners of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy of reflexology sometimes walk barefoot to stimulate the flow of energy (qi) throughout the body. Being barefoot is also a feature of many indigenous cultures around the world — and several religions require devotees to remove their shoes to pray or enter a place of worship.

So, these ideas have been “in the air,” in one form or another, for a long time. But the specific practice of earthing has been having a moment since 2022, when it became a hot topic on social media.

Once more, the occult "chi" or "ki" "life force" is invoked as in EFT and acupuncture. The same source readily admits Earthing is not supported by solid evidence:

Unfortunately, you don’t have to spend too much time researching earthing to start finding unscientific (and even dangerous) claims about it. In some cases, those claims could have catastrophic effects. For example, some claim earthing can prevent or treat COVID-19, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and diabetes, among other conditions.

Just like you do when you’re walking barefoot on the ground, Dr. Albers recommends treading carefully when learning about earthing.

Does the lack of solid research mean you have to give up on earthing? Nope! While the specific medical claims connected to the practice are unproven, there is a substantial body of research suggesting that getting fresh air is good for us — no matter how we go about it

The author of the article sees nothing wrong with the use of occult practices/ideas. If you want fresh air, go outside and get fresh air. Walk barefoot in Central Park (if you dare), but there's no "qi/chi/ki" that's healing you. How much scientific research proves the existence of qi? Zero. 

Both of these pseudo-scientific, occult practices have been lauded and promoted by Dr. Mercola.

Meet "Bahlon"

From "Bahlon's" website:

Ever hear of channeling? Or Light Language?

Meet BAHLON an ancient and wise high-vibration entity from the Causal Plane channeled by Master Trance Channel Kai Clay.

The messages and healing energy shared during their packed group events are always uplifting, are often staggeringly predictive—filled with the Divine healing energy of Universal love, hope and healing.  

And now sometimes when available, his 10 year-old daughter Sera joins with Bahlon to share full conversations in Light Language (and interpret these in English for all) followed by Light Language meditations so powerful many say they can “feel it in the bones of every past life, present and future life.”

An experience with Bahlon is much more than just astonishingly accurate answers! Bahlon is known to activate clarity, highly attuned and very precise actions to take, spiritual development, incredible synchronicities, and provides life-changing beneficial impacts.

Bahlon offers guidance so precise and uplifting, you will want to join in every week (and MANY do!).

Bahlon supports individuals from all over the world in all walks of life. Business leaders, parents, healers, celebrities, doctors and even Buddhist monks who regularly book sessions with Bahlon

(See bahlon.com/about). 

Christopher Johnson, aka Kai Clay, claims to channel Bahlon. How he came to do this is never explained. What I found highly unsettling was a short video of a testimonial from a middle aged woman and her teenage daughter (looks about 14). The woman is a "single mother" who doesn't want to expose her child to bad influences. She gets her parenting advice from Bahlon and arranges for her daughter to meet with the entity alone (all is done via Zoom online) and get advice. This mother is unfit to raise plants, let alone a daughter (God pity her).

In another video I watched, Clay comes online and "puts himself in a trance" almost instantly, by closing his eyes. You then hear him laugh twice and speak monotone--"Bahlon" is now speaking through him. It looks like a charlatan at work. Even if  chicanery, consulting Bahlon is mortally sinful, and opens the person to encounters from demons. According to theologian Jone, "Spiritism claims to be able to communicate with the spirit world and endeavors to establish such commerce with it. Although spiritism is for the most part fraud, still the intention alone to enter into communication with spirits is gravely sinful. Therefore, it is mortally sinful to conduct a spiritistic seance or to act as a medium." (See Moral Theology, pg. 100; Emphasis mine).

As I've written before, mediums are condemned by both the Bible and Church teaching. "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD; because of these same detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you." (See Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Emphasis mine.) Lest anyone object Bahlon is a "high vibration entity," if it comes from the spiritual plane, it can ONLY be demonic as no such vibrational entities exist. Even to attempt communication is mortally sinful for both medium and participants. 

Mercola Does The Bidding of Bahlon

Here is Mercola's disturbing relationship with Clay/Bahlon:

Famous for courting controversy, Dr. Joseph Mercola now plans to guide his followers and “billions around the world” to a “new paradigm of how to increase joy in their life” with help from the same psychic whose advice appears to have led him to fire his top executives last month.

That’s according to a video and article from the doctor that was given to SupplySide Supplement Journal by a Mercola employee who said the content is planned for release in Mercola’s newsletters. SupplySide Supplement Journal was given credentials to access the content on a Mercola webpage. The company's head of marketing did not immediately respond to an email from a reporter for this story whether or when the company planned to release the article.

In the article, Mercola described his consultations with “a collective source energy aimed at bringing self-awareness to Earth,” whom he referred to as “Bahlon.” Mercola fired CEO Steve Rye; Chief Business Officer Ryan Boland; and Chief Editor Janet Selvig, Mercola’s sister, Feb. 7, as detailed in a SupplySide Supplement Journal exclusive Feb 13.

Mercola has not responded to requests for comment and offered no public response to the Feb. 13 article.

In Mercola’s article, which had not been published as of March 1, the doctor promised to release videos of his conversations with Clay/Bahlon in order to share “the universality of Bahlon’s wisdom.”

“I’ve come to understand Bahlon as a high-vibrational entity seeking to uplift humanity through messages of love, hope and healing,” the doctor wrote.

Mercola went on to describe “a blending of optimal biology and eternal energy” and noted that “according to Bahlon, the energy produced in your mitochondria is identical to the energy that created the material universe.”

The article included these quotes from Clay as Bahlon: “Trust is intrinsic. Confidence is action. [It’s] difficult to have confidence if you don't have trust. But you can muster confidence even when you don't entirely trust yourself because confidence is situational. Trust is systemic.”

In his article, Mercola declared “initial skepticism,” but went on to note that “after months of daily conversations, I can now attest to the authenticity and wisdom of Bahlon's insights.” Later, Mercola admonished his followers, “Be discerning with information sources — Avoid seeking advice from untrustworthy sources, as bad information typically brings nothing but chaos and confusion.”

(Oh, the sheer irony!)

(See https://www.supplysidesj.com/supplements/dr-mercola-allegedly-plans-to-introduce-psychic-advisor-to-followers-; Emphasis mine).

It gets worse. It appears Bahlon has a problem with anything called "Catholic," including the Vatican II sect.

Top executives at Mercola, the brand founded by controversial Covid anti-vax figure Dr. Joseph Mercola, were terminated last week without notice, and evidence has surfaced that the doctor is taking direction from a man who claims to channel the voice of an “ancient and wise high-vibration entity from the causal plane.”

An email that appears to be written by Mercola and shared with a reporter for this story also includes language suggesting the firings were related to the executives’ religious beliefs. Mercola did not respond to repeated requests for comment...

In hours of video discovered online, Mercola converses with a man going by the name Kai Clay who speaks as though he is the voice of the entity, referred to as “Bahlon.” Clay, with his eyes closed as if in trance, talks with Mercola about his business and spiritual matters in a rambling conversation that the doctor claims will be the basis of a series of books he plans to publish. In a video of Mercola that was shared with the brand’s employees Feb. 12, the doctor described a 12-book series as “a new beginning for the company” and declared that “my new goal is to reach billions, literally billions, around the world with a new paradigm of how to increase joy in their life.”

The Feb. 12 video came five days after three top executives — CEO Steve Rye; Chief Business Officer Ryan Boland; and Chief Editor Janet Selvig, Mercola’s sister — received termination letters signed by a Laura Berry, who had not worked at the company before but claimed in the letter she was the new Mercola CEO. In the Feb. 12 video, Mercola announced he will visit the offices on Feb. 14 with “my new CEO who's a brilliant, unbelievable woman who's going to take us to the next level,” but offers no name. He also promises a “surprise guest” who will be the company’s chief operating officer...

Mercola's sister believes her brother is being duped and confronted him:

Selvig said her brother was very dismissive of her concerns and defended his work with Clay. “He thinks the book is going to save the world,” Selvig said. “He believes that he's [Mercola] a god and he's been reincarnated. And he even referred to himself as the new Jesus.”

On Feb. 2, Selvig was shown an email sent to a coworker from Mercola’s address announcing the doctor’s intention to fire Selvig, Rye, Boland and a fourth executive. The email offered the CEO spot to a different Mercola team member who later turned down the position. The email went on to explain “reasons for the mutiny,” describing the Catholic church as a “global cabal” that controls “50% of the world’s worth” and “created all the pain that most people experience.”

The email added that Rye, Boland, Selvig and the fourth executive have “strong commitments to the Catholic church.” “The group I am now working with is committed to liberating their wealth and control back to the people and give them back their freedom. I hope you will join me in this noble anti crusade against them,” the email reads.

(See https://www.supplysidesj.com/market-trends-analysis/dr-mercola-consulted-with-psychic-before-axing-top-executives; Emphasis mine). 

Other Disturbing Views of Mercola

Online videos were obtained and leaked by those who worked for Mercola. I watched some of them. In the videos, Mercola:

• claims he blows CO2 (carbon dioxide) up his anus and that of his dog for optimal health
• wants all veterinarians to be killed
• calls for violence against Catholics
• says his next book will be “bigger than the Bible” and will make him “the next Jesus"

One video may be accessed through this article:\

mom.com/news/influential-anti-vaxxer-mercola-parents-trust-gets-advice-from-spirit

Conclusion

Dr. Joseph Mercola is a quack, peddling false "wellness" pseudoscience, some of which is purely occult, like EFT and Earthing. He takes advice from an "entity" named Bahlon who is channeled through a medium Kai Clay, a man with no discernable credentials in any respected field. As a result of his conversations with Bahlon, Mercola has made major business decisions, has hatred for Catholics (I would imagine Vatican II sect and Traditionalist), wants veterinarians murdered, and claims he will become the "next Jesus." 

Is Bahlon a demon, or is Clay one of the most impressive charlatans around having duped Mercola? In either case, consulting a medium/channeler is mortally sinful. Even if fraud, such activity can open the door to real demons. Stay away from Mercola and anything he sells; the profits will be used to push his occultism and Bahlon. I have often said there is an Occult Invasion after Vatican II. There's no room to doubt it.  

Contending For The Faith---Part 43

 

In St. Jude 1:3, we read, "Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." [Emphasis mine]. Contending For The Faith is a series of posts dedicated to apologetics (i.e.,  the intellectual defense of the truth of the Traditional Catholic Faith) to be published the first Monday of each month.  This is the next installment.

Sadly, in this time of Great Apostasy, the faith is under attack like never before, and many Traditionalists don't know their faith well enough to defend it. Remember the words of our first pope, "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." (1Peter 3:16). There are five (5) categories of attacks that will be dealt with in these posts. Attacks against:

• The existence and attributes of God
• The truth of the One True Church established by Christ for the salvation of all 
• The truth of a particular dogma or doctrine of the Church
• The truth of Catholic moral teaching
• The truth of the sedevacantist position as the only Catholic solution to what has happened since Vatican II 

In addition, controversial topics touching on the Faith will sometimes be featured, so that the problem and possible solutions may be better understood. If anyone had suggestions for topics that would fall into any of these categories, you may post them in the comments. I cannot guarantee a post on each one, but each will be carefully considered.

Trans-ing Children to Death

On August 27, 2025, Robert Westman went to Annunciation School's church in Minneapolis (Vatican II sect) and shot through the windows. Two children aged eight and ten were killed in the attack and at least 17 other victims -- 14 children and 3 adults -- were injured before Westman turned the gun on himself, according to authorities. Robert had his name changed to Robin and "identified as female." This was done with permission of his mother, Mary, who signed to allow it when Westman was 17 years old.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said during a press conference Wednesday, “anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity” and urged people to instead honor the children who were harmed.

The Westmans appear to have had close ties to Annunciation. O’Hara said in an interview on CNN Thursday morning that Westman both attended school at Annunciation and was a parishioner there.

(See https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/08/28/annunciation-shooter-appeared-to-have-fascination-with-mass-killings). 

Mayor Frey has it all wrong. Anyone who doesn't stop "transgender" insanity has lost their faith (if they ever had it) and their marbles--just like the "trans-people" themselves. If we want to honor the children harmed, we will begin by stopping the brainwashing of children and enabling perverse mental illness.

This post will show just how dangerous the LGBTQIA+ perversion is as it threatens us all. 

WARNING! This post contains some discussion of abuse and sensitive matters that some may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised---Introibo

(N.B.  This post is a compilation of all the resources, both online and print, which I used in my research. I take no credit for any of the information herein. All I did was condense the information into a terse and readable post---Introibo).

What is "Gender Theory"?

Gender dysphoria is defined as the condition of feeling one's emotional and psychological identity as male or female to be opposite to one's biological sex. It is a mental disorder which we are being asked to accept as normal, while those who oppose it are to be considered bigoted (at best) or having a neurosis or "phobia" (at worst). Children and adults who suffer from gender dysphoria deserve our sympathy and professional help to get better. Now, gender dysphoria has morphed into something to be encouraged and celebrated as "transgenderism."

To understand trans-insanity," one must first understand gender theory. It is the false and unscientific idea that each person is made up of different aspects of each gender. It is broken down as follows:

• Sex has to do with the body/biology (genitals, chromosomes, etc.)

• Gender Identity concerns the "self-awareness" of who you are "in your head"

• Gender Expression is how someone presents themselves to others in terms of clothes, actions, mannerisms, etc.

• Attraction is who or what someone is attracted to sexually; men, women, even animals (beastiality)

Allegedly, everyone has a gender identity which may or may not conform with their biological sex. 

The Four Falsehoods of Gender Theory

1. Binary is bad.

The claim: There are more than two genders. 

The truth: God created male and female--period. It is the very basis of the sodomites' "LGBT" label. Lesbians are women attracted to other women. "Gays" are men attracted to other men. Bisexuals are men or women attracted to both men and women. Transgenders are men or women who want to live as the opposite sex. 

2. Gender is a spectrum.

The claim: There are many different genders on a whole spectrum of identity.

The truth: There are many different ways we express masculinity and femininity because we are all different people. That doesn't imply there are roughly seven billion different genders. The reality remains that we are male or female. According to ABC News, there are 58 genders (See eroscoaching.com/2017/06/58-gender-options/). Does anyone even know what "Two-Spirit" means and how it differs from being "Genderqueer" or "Neutrois"? Sheer insanity.

3. Man and Woman are merely "social constructs"

The claim: The social roles of men and women differ according to time, place, and culture. There is nothing objective about those terms.

The truth: Social roles may change, but sexual differentiation is based on biological facts, not social constructs.

4. Gender identity is separate from biological sex.

The claim: How we live our lives is independent from our genitalia.

The truth: A comprehensive survey of the scientific evidence was published in 2016 in The New Atlantis. It discussed over 200 peer-reviewed studies in the biological, psychological, and social sciences. It concluded: 

The hypothesis that gender identity is an innate, fixed property of human beings that is independent of biological sex--that a person might be "a man trapped in a woman's body," or a "woman trapped in a man's body"---is not supported by scientific evidence. (See Meyer and McHugh, "Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences," The New Atlantic: A Journal of Technology & Society, 50, Fall 2016, pg. 8; Emphasis mine).

The Invented Vocabulary of a Warped Ideology

The following words and phrases are made up by gender theorists to make them sound as if what they are peddling is real instead of jabberwocky. 

Assigned at Birth: This made up phrase refers to the sex given on a person's birth certificate. It's as if some nurse puts a label in an arbitrary and capricious manner on a baby. The obvious attempt is to, once more, dissociate biological sex from gender. To label a child with male genitalia as a boy and female genitalia as a girl is biologically factual regardless of what that child may "feel like" in the future. Only in rare instances of a child born with a true intersex condition, having genitals of an ambiguous nature, would the term really apply.

Cisgender: "Cis" means "on the same side" implying that your gender lines up with your biological sex and plays into the lie that they can be separated. If anyone asks me if I'm cisgender, I always reply, "No, I'm a man." 

Preferred Gender Pronouns (PGPs) and Gender Neutral Pronouns (GNPs): This allows men who consider themselves women to call themselves "she" and "her" while women who think they are men can call themselves "he" and "his." Gender neutral pronouns such as "they" and "them"  are also used. About a year ago, I was reading an article in the New York Times. A trans-pervert was stopped from going somewhere and it read, "They were refused entry." As someone who reads English it was confusing because I thought several people were prevented from going some place when it was just one person. There are also made up pronouns like ze (pronounced "ZEE") and hir (pronounced "HEAR.").

Transphobic: A fictitious mental disorder by which people who don't believe there are 58 genders and you can "pick your pronouns" are thereby psychologically unsound, hateful, and bigoted. It is a way to bully Christians and those with traditional values not to speak out or else they will face consequences.  

Some Inherent Contradictions in Gender Theory: 

• Gender Theorists want gender dysphoria not regarded as a mental illness, but as something to be celebrated. This includes "transition surgery" at a time when insurance and health professionals should concentrate on cancer, heart disease, COVID, and never on unnecessary surgery to further the cause of mental and/or moral problems

• Gender Theorists insist that "gender is fluid," yet once you have surgery the damage is done permanently--there is no "going back." How is this "fluid"?

• The idea of "gender fluidity" being natural, goes contrary to surgical intervention. It doesn't "just happen naturally" as is claimed

Gender Theory's Origin: Perversion and Marxism

There are ten (10) individuals who made Gender Theory a force in modern society. I want to cite E.S. Williams, Lessons in Depravity, [2003],for much of the information in this section. 

1. Karl Ulrichs (1825-1895)

A nineteenth century German jurist and sodomite who campaigned for "homosexual rights." He advanced an esoteric and occult idea that homosexuality was innate because there was a female soul trapped in a man's body and vice-versa for lesbians. The term “Uranian” had been coined in the 1860s by the German Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, who used “Uranian” (frequently Germanised as Urning) to signify those who experienced “a congenital reversal of sexual feeling”. “Uranian” was also a term much used in astrological and esoteric circles – usually in reference to the planet Uranus, which was associated with “awakening the soul from lethargy, and bringing it into strange conditions and hazardous enterprises”. Esoterically, at the time, the influence of Uranus was very much bound up with the idea that human culture was entering a New Age.(See http://enfolding.org/occult-gender-regimes-reincarnation-and-uranian-souls-in-the-nineteenth-century/; Emphasis mine). 

2. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

The so-called "Father of Psychoanalysis," was an Austrian atheist who denied children had a latency period but were sexual from birth. God was a projection for the need of a father-figure, and shame regarding sex acts of any persuasion were not healthy. Freud's Projection Theory commits the genetic fallacy in logic. This occurs when you try to discredit an idea based on its origin. Even if belief in God came from an unconscious desire for a father-figure, this doesn't prove God non-existent. Perhaps the very reason we have such a desire is because Our Creator made it innate within us to seek Him out. But was Freud a man who "had it all together" and was a convinced atheist? Dr. Paul Vitz, a former professor of psychology at New York University, and a former atheist himself, gives us some insight into Freud in his book Sigmund Freud's Christian Unconscious. [1988]

Here are some interesting facts on the "Father of Psychotherapy:"

• Freud was very interested in occult phenomena such as telepathy and poltergeists

• On Saturday evenings, he would frequently play tarock - a form of a tarot card game associated with the Jewish Kabbala

• In 1937, when he was urged to flee Nazism, he responded that his real enemy was the Roman Catholic Church

• Was a cocaine addict and his excuse was  "I was making frequent use of cocaine to reduce some troublesome nasal swellings." 

• The Catholic psychiatrist Gregory Zilboorg concluded: "Religion was, for Freud, a field of which he knew very little and which moreover seems to have been the very center of his inner conflicts, conflicts that were never resolved."

(See also The Freudian Fallacy: Freud and Cocaine by E M Thornton [1986]).

3. Magnus Hirschfeld (1894-1956)

Hirschfeld was a sodomite doctor and activist. He founded the Institute for Sexual Science at Berlin in 1919. He oversaw the first "sex reassignment surgeries." The most famous was that of Einar Wegener portrayed in the 2015 movie The Danish Girl. Hirschfeld believed all people were a mixture of male and female. In 1930, he gave the first scientific lecture on "transsexualism."

4. Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956)

Alfred Charles Kinsey, was raised the son of a strict Methodist Sunday School teacher. He went to Bowdoin College where he majored in zoology, and developed a fascination with insects. He continued his studies at Harvard after graduation. He eventually severed all ties with his parents, and declared himself an atheist. Some of his biographers portray him as shy and disinterested in sex, but later biographers unearthed Kinsey's personal correspondence, wherein it was revealed he was a bisexual with a strong sexual desire for young boys.

His career as a "sexpert" began when the Association of Women Students at Indiana University (where he taught zoology/biology) asked him to teach a marriage course on human sexuality for engaged and married students. Kinsey went to great lengths to keep his personal dark predilections a secret. When Ralph Voris, one of his best friends, died, Kinsey drove from Indiana to Ohio with his wife Clara. He had a wife and kids as a "cover" for his deviance. Once in Ohio, he removed correspondence from Voris' office in which Kinsey brags to Voris about his collection of "gorgeous" photos of homosexual men. 

  Kinsey revolutionized the world with the publication of his books Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (published in 1948 and 1953, respectively). It was based on 350 questions on a questionnaire that asked such things as when (not if ) the interviewees had participated in sado-masochism, homosexual acts, pedophilia, and bestiality. His assistants, Clyde Martin, Paul Gebhard, and Wardell Pomeroy, were all required to be filmed performing sex acts with others either at the university or in the attic of the Kinsey home. The questions were so sick, that most of the respondents were either those who engaged in unnatural sex acts or were incarcerated sex offenders. The peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet decried the research as having "questioned an unrepresentative proportion of prison inmates and sex offenders in a survey of normal sexual behavior." In a 1992 telephone interview, Paul Gebhard, one of Kinsey's assistants, admitted that some of the men interviewed were convicted pedophiles.

 As a result of his pseudo-scientific research, the American public began to see homosexuality and pornography as normal. Kinsey believed no sex act was unnatural, nothing was off-limits, and you could define your sexuality any way you wanted. He even approved of beastiality.

5. Harry Benjamin (1885-1986)

Benjamin was an associate of Kinsey. In 1966, he wrote the first textbook on transsexualism. In the book, he argued that Darwinian evolution proved gender fluidity, and pioneered the idea that if someone thought they were the wrong sex, the body should be made to align to the thoughts rather than helping them mentally so their mind would conform to objective biological reality. Benjamin (like Kinsey) endorsed a book by their friend Rene Guyon, The Ethics of Sexual Acts, [1948], which advocated pedophilia and its decriminalization. 

6. Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957)

An Austrian medical doctor and psychoanalyst, Reich taught that suffering and cruelty in society are due to Christian morality. In his 1933 book, The Mass Psychology of Fascism, he argued that fascism arose from sexual oppression. He was pressured to leave Catholic Austria and came to the United States where he promoted sex education for children, so they could become sexually active and "liberated." In the 1940s he promoted divorce, contraception, abortion, and promiscuity. He eventually settled in Arizona where he came to believe that the planet was under attack by UFOs and his father was an extraterrestrial. 

7. John Money (1921-2006)

A psychiatry professor, Money campaigned to legalize pedophilia and the "freedom to change gender." He co-founded the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic. His most famous case involved David Reimer, whose circumcision had gone wrong. Money pressured the boy's parents to agree to an experimental surgery in order to "change the little boy into a girl." Money wanted to prove gender is all about socialization and not biology. Since David had a twin brother named Brian, if David (now called Brenda) could be successfully raised as a girl, while twin brother Brian would be a boy, his theory would be vindicated. 

It would be later revealed that Money forced the two children to engage in incestuous acts with each other while he photographed them. When David found out the truth about being a boy, he wanted to transition back. Not being able to do so, he tragically committed suicide at age 38. As a result of the abuse, Brian became a drug addict and died from an overdose at age 36. (See David van Gend, Stealing from a Child: The Injustice of "Marriage Equality."[2016], pgs. 152-153). 

8. Robert Stoller (1924-1991)

A Professor of  Psychiatry at UCLA, Stoller presented his ideas that gender and biological sex are distinct and separate in his influential book Sex and Gender (1968). He denied that there was any distinction between normal and perverted sex; the only thing that is wrong is to infringe on the rights of other people. 

9. Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937)

An Italian Marxist, Gramsci believed in the complete overthrow of Christian morals in society. Complete license to act as you wish (especially in sexual matters) was of paramount importance, and must only be curtailed when absolutely necessary by the State. You achieve this by distancing youself from the label of Marxism, and use the language of "equality" and "freedom."

10. Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979)

Marcuse was a Marxist philosopher and sociologist. His lasting and destructive legacy was destroying any confidence in objective truth. He achieved this by claiming words don't actually mean anything; they are just tools to achieve what the writer or speaker wants. It is often called "critical theory" and has had great success. 

The evil influence of these characters, exacerbated by the Great Apostasy of Vatican II, has brought society to a place where one can say with a straight face, "A man can be a woman and a woman can be a man."

Transgenderism is Based on the Heresy of Gnosticism

Gnosticism flourished during the second century and taught that the material world is bad and dominated by evil and ignorance, but the spirit world is good. Since a good God could not have created an evil world, Gnostics taught that the world must have been created by a flawed "God." Yet within this corrupt world remains a spiritual component, fragments of the true and good God.

In the Gnostic view, there is a true, ultimate and transcendent God, who is beyond all created universes and who never created anything in the sense in which the word "create" is ordinarily understood. While this True God did not fashion or create anything, He (or, It) "emanated" or brought forth from within Himself the substance of all there is in all the worlds, visible and invisible. In a certain sense, it may therefore be true to say that all is God, for all consists of the substance of God. By the same token, it must also be recognized that many portions of the original divine essence have been projected so far from their source that they underwent unwholesome changes in the process. To worship the cosmos, or nature, or embodied creatures is thus tantamount to worshiping alienated and corrupt portions of the emanated divine essence. (See http://gnosis.org/gnintro.htm). 

This distorted worldview had a profound impact on how Gnostics perceived the human person. They believed most people possess a "divine spark," a piece of the true God, within them. However, this spark is trapped within a corrupt body, which few people recognize, and as a result, live in ignorance and attachment to the material world. A person can achieve salvation, however, by attaining secret knowledge of his or her true self and eventually leaving the prison of the body at death (If a person fails to become sufficiently enlightened, this spark again becomes imprisoned in another body.)

Some Gnostics were pagan, but many others combined it with Christianity and considered themselves to be higher and more enlightened Catholics. These "Gnostic Catholics" denied the Incarnation of Christ. After all, how could a good God possess an evil body? Instead of salvation coming through Christ's death on the cross, they taught it came through attaining secret spiritual knowledge, or "gnosis." Gnostics, therefore, would agree that what you think and feel is more real and important than your material body, and determines what's "real."

Dr. Deanna Adkins, a professor at Duke University School of Medicine and the director of the Duke Center for Child and Adolescent Gender Care (which opened in 2015), has stated, "From a medical perspective, the appropriate determinant of sex is gender identity." Does this rule apply to all mammalian species? Why should sex be determined differently in humans than in other mammals? If medical science holds that gender identity determines sex in humans, what does this mean for the use of medicinal agents that have different effects on males and females? Does the proper dosage of medicine depend on the patient’s sex or gender identity?

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines "gender identity" as “a person's internal sense of being male, female, or something else." This clearly indicates there is more than just "male and female." There are (literally) bathroom signs which read "Whichever" and show a half-male, half-female body as shown at the top of this post. The APA still classifies Gender Dysphoria (or "GD")---formerly Gender Identity Disorder (or "GID")--- as a mental disorder. Yet they tow the line of the "LGBT" activists and promote it. These LGBT perverts used massive PR and political pressure to have the APA remove homosexuality as a mental disorder. Can the removal of GID/GD as disorders be far behind? We've come a long way---away from sanity, morality, and the One True Faith. 

Transgnders are Prone to Violence

Transgender Mental Problems

• People with gender dysphoria or transgender identities are more likely than the general public to engage in high-risk behaviors, which may result from or contribute to psychological disorders (or both). Some of the high-risk behavior is directly related to their desire to change sex. For example, some people who identify as transgender self-mutilate or undergo procedures in non-medical settings. (See Janice Raymond, The Transgender Empire: The Making of the She-Male, [1979], pgs. 34-35). 
• High rates of suicide exist even among those who have already received gender reassignment surgery, which suggests that suicidal tendencies result from an underlying pathology. Ironically, some argue suicide is a reason for reassignment surgery.

According to the pro-sodomite Human Rights Campaign:

More than half of transgender male teens who participated in the survey reported attempting suicide in their lifetime, while 29.9 percent of transgender female teens said they attempted suicide. Among non-binary youth, 41.8 percent of respondents stated that they had attempted suicide at some point in their lives. (See https://www.hrc.org/news/new-study-reveals-shocking-rates-of-attempted-suicide-among-trans-adolescen).

A psychologically healthy person accepts the reality of his or her sexual identity. Grief and anger over one’s genetic makeup signal mental health problems that can and should be addressed through psychological counseling. The academic literature includes some clinical accounts of successful efforts to overcome gender identity problems. Decades ago, there were already findings pointing “to the possibility of psychosocial intervention as an alternative to surgery in the treatment of transsexualism.” (See David H. Barlow, Gene G. Abel, Edward B. Blanchard, “Gender Identity Change in Transsexuals,” Archives of General Psychiatry 36 [1979]). 

Trans-Mass Shooters

The Westman mass shooting is the fifth such crime perpetrated by a “transgender” since 2018.

• On March 27, 2023, 28-year-old “trans man” Aiden Hale, who was born Audrey Elizabeth, murdered three nine-year-olds and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.
• On November 19-20, 2022, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, who called himself “non-binary,” murdered five and wounded 25 others at a mass shooting at the Club Q bar for homosexuals in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 
• On May 7, 2019, 16-year-old “trans boy” Alec McKinney and an accomplice murdered one and wounded eight students at the STEM School Highlands Ranch in Douglas County, Colorado.
• On September 20, 2018, “trans woman” Snochia Moseley, 26, murdered four and wounded three people at the Rite Aid Distribution Center in Aberdeen, Maryland, before killing himself.
• Police stopped a massacre by a “trans man” in 2024 when they arrested Alex Ye, given name Andrea, who planned mass shootings at a high school and elementary school in Montgomery County, Maryland. Ye, 18, had written a 129-page manifesto that included the tale of a fictional “transgender” bullied into a mass shooting. In May, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison but will serve only one. 

Public Schools: Promoting Mental Illness and the Violence That Follows

Students—especially young ones—look up to their teachers. Teachers know everything and are never mistaken. When classrooms are decorated with trans posters, rainbow flags, and slogans,6 it shapes students’ attitudes. One California teacher packed up the American flag in her classroom; it made her feel uncomfortable. After a student asked to which flag he should pledge allegiance, she suggested the gay pride and trans flag. (See nypost.com/2021/08/30/ca-teacher-encouraged-students-to-pledge-gay-pride-flag-video)

When an elementary school teacher displays a “pride library” in his class, with rainbow banners and books about changing pronouns, students perceive his wishes, what he hopes they’ll believe Speaking of books, entire sections of school libraries feature transgender content. The Los Angeles Unified School District received “an enormous donation of LGBTQIA-themed books” from Open Books (previously called Gender nation), an organization that celebrates transgender identities in children.

Haim Ginott, a famed child psychologist, said, “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.” Parents should know that everything your child sees and hears shapes his/her  heart, mind, and soul. Activist “educators” know that. From the youngest age, children absorb beliefs about transgenderism in their classrooms, their books, from the Disney Channel, even from their Legos.

(See cnn.com/style/article/lego-lgbtq-set-pride-intl-scli).

The bombardment of falsehoods without opportunity to question is called indoctrination.

The Vatican II Sect Supports Trans-Insanity

Bergoglio (Francis) began the full promotion of perversion, and now Prevost (Leo XIV) continues his legacy. Prevost will not rescind one iota from the "blessing" of same-sex couples and has not renounced anything his predecessor in the Vatican II sect began. To remind everyone how bad Bergoglio really was, consider:

The Vatican has announced sweeping new policies welcoming transgender people in the church’s sacramental life, further reflecting Pope Francis’ pastoral focus on LGBTQ people.

In October, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández signed a statement, with the approval of Pope Francis, affirming that transgender people can be baptized, become official godparents, and act as a witness for weddings in the Catholic faith. That statement was made public this week, by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and can be found here. In the last year alone, the Pope has taken many steps towards the inclusion of  the LGBTQ+ community in opposition to the Catholic community of the U.S which has continually rejected such progression.

The response came as a result of what’s known as a Catholic dubia on the matter, questions brought before the pope and the appropriate Vatican office that seek a simple “yes” or “no” response in order to clarify disputed matters of Catholic teaching and practice.

GLAAD President & CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, expressed GLAAD’s support for such inclusive steps forward: “Pope Francis’ latest LGBTQ affirmation sends an unequivocal message to political and cultural leaders around the world to end their persecution and exclusion of transgender people. Pope Francis is continuing to break down barriers that have kept LGBTQ Catholics away from full participation as members of the Roman Catholic Church and is instead calling on global leaders to create welcoming spaces for LGBTQ people.” (See GLAAD [Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Deformation] glaad.org/pope-francis-calls-for-the-inclusion-of-trans-people-in-catholic-practices).

Conclusion

Transgender children are in need of mental help, not surgical mutilation or affirmation of their illness. Education and the Vatican II sect embrace trans-insanity and promote it. Westman was failed by both (and his mother). The result was a Vatican II sect school shooting. Until gender theory is banned universally, and "transgender" children are treated for their gender dysphoria, we can expect more tragedies like Minneapolis. May God and the Blessed Virgin Mary help us.