The False Charge of Private Interpretation--Again!

I have been having a charitable discussion with one Mr. Peter Gaffney (readers should refer to my post of 6/10/10). Mr. Gaffney has responded with a comment accusing us Traditionalists of "private interpretation." I have already dealt with this fallacy in my post of 6/5/10, and I would kindly ask all readers, including Mr. Gaffney, to please refer to it. However, I will respond to what Mr. Gaffney wrote point by point.

He writes: "You have no authority to interpret Sacred Tradition."

Response: You're correct, I don't. However, the Church does. As I wrote previously, Traditionalists are not in the business of judging and deposing popes with private interpretations. We look at reality (contradictions in the teachings of Vatican II with prior teaching as defined by the Church and Her appointed theologians and canonists), tries to explain it (true authority can't give evil/errors), and act accordingly (get out/keep out of the false sect of Vatican II and join/remain with the Remnant Church--the Traditionalists). No private interpretations, just public determinations.


He writes: "Martin Luther could not prefer his interpretation of the 'black and white' of Scripture and you can not pile up citation after citation to provide the clothing of office which you lack"



Response: Mr. Gaffney's argument misses the point repeatedly made that this is not MY INTERPRETATION! It is that of the CHURCH! Mr. Gaffney seems to think that unless you are a pope or bishop you can not discern the teaching of the Magisterium. Why else would the Church solemnly approve tomes on dogmatic theology, moral theology, and canon law if not to explain to the faithful exactly what She wants them to believe? Why require all priests to be taught and tested on these tomes before they can graduate from the seminary and be ordained to the priesthood?



Can you imagine if Ratzinger ("Pope" Benedict XVI) were to say, "Mary was not taken body and soul into Heaven", or "abortion is not murder" that any informed Catholic would not be able to immediately draw upon all the official teachings of the Church and determine that he was teaching error? Or do you (like many others) fall into papolatry? This is the un-catholic doctrine that the pope is a little god who can say "black is now white" and it becomes so! Taking the hypothetical one step further, Ratzinger says, "Your citations on the Church's past teachings on abortion are mistaken. You only think they teach it is murder, but only I have the authority to interpret Sacred Tradition, and I tell you they really teach that abortion is not sinful, not murder, but perfectly moral." Would any sane person accept this nonsense? We can never know what the Church teaches as one so-called pope says one thing, the next contradicts the last one and so on. The whole purpose of having a Magisterium is to have a clear authority so we can always know exactly what the Church teaches in all essential matters of Faith and Morals! Papolatry would leave us in a state of agnosticism where we can never be sure of what anything means because it is always subject to change, embellishment, or abolition. Interestingly, the "conservatives" of the Vatican II sect have swallowed a chief doctrine of Modernism hook, line and sinker!



Do not counter with "the Holy Ghost would not permit this to happen to a pope." You would have said the same thing ten years ago if I proposed that the pope could do away with the words of consecration to effectuate Transubstantiation in the Mass---but this is EXACTLY what happened in 2001! (See my post of 6/10/10). It IS TRUE that the Pope can not teach error when exercising his Petrine Office. However, the Church teaches that a pope can fall into heresy as a private theologian and lose his office. So, in one sense Mr. Gaffney is correct, the Holy Ghost would not permit the POPE to teach heresy, yet heresy has been taught, so it could not come from a True Pope. Therefore, Ratzinger, as a private theologian, fell into heresy and lost his office.

Finally, he writes: "Vatican II sect--how convenient. How many sects of Traditionalists are there?"

Response: An argument that is very glib, but doesn't get you very far. I have demonstrated by logical argumentation that Vatican II set up a false religion based on the heresy of Modernism. It is "counterfeit Catholicism." Traditionalists agree on all defined matters of Faith and Morals as taught by the Church pre-Vatican II. We disagree on issues novel to the terrible times in which we live (e.g. how to proceed in the absence of a pope for many years). But, as Scripture tells us, "when the Shepard is struck, the sheep are scattered." It is to be expected that this will occur when people disagree and we have no supreme authority to "kick it upstairs" and make a binding determination.

In the case of the Vatican II sect, you supposedly have a supreme authority, but like Anglicans, have three divisions: a high church, broad church, and low church. The high Vatican II division doesn't like Vatican II yet tries to live in a state of contradiction, unable to reconcile the changes with perennial teaching, yet accept Ratzinger as pope, ignore the illogic of their position, and content themselves with traditional trappings (e.g. Society of St. Peter,Motu Mass parishes, etc). The broad Vatican II division likes Vatican II, but not alleged "abuses" (e.g. "Clown masses' for kids, etc). The low Vatican II division thinks the Council wasn't heretical enough (!) and clamor for woman "priests", abortion "rights", etc. If Ratzinger were truly pope, why the divisions? They did not exist before--you obeyed or were excommunicated. The fact of the matter is Ratzinger will tolerate, indeed accept, ANYTHING, as long as you submit to the heretical teachings of his ecumenical one-world religion.

Mr. Gaffney I pray that like the women who went to see Our Lord on Easter morning, you will realize that what the angel told them applies to your sect, "You're looking for the Lord, but He is not here." More disturbing than the vacant see of Peter, is the vacant tabernacles of Vatican II which contain mere bread. For the love of God and His Blessed Mother, may your eyes be opened and convert!