Monday, December 27, 2021

Equally Supreme? Vatican II Collegiality And The Destruction Of Papal Authority

 


My Dear Readers: The honor of the last post in the Year of Our Lord 2021 goes to Joanna From Poland as my guest poster. This week, Joanna tackles the heresy most overlooked in the Vatican II sect; collegiality. Thanks to Joanna, I am able to spend time with family and friends at Christmas. Please feel free to comment as always, and I'll be checking in if anyone requests an opinion or answer specifically from me this week. I pray the new year brings great graces to your families and you, my readers, wherever you may reside!  God Bless you all---Introibo

Equally Supreme? Vatican II Collegiality And The Destruction Of Papal Authority

By Joanna From Poland

Among the four heretical doctrines taught by Vatican II, the false notion of collegiality tends to be the one that is discussed least. The other three, namely the new ecclesiology (the Roman Catholic Church is not identical to but merely subsists in the Church of Christ), false ecumenism, and religious liberty have been discussed extensively in the post-Vatican II era by Catholic Traditionalists, both laymen and clerics. However, the issues concerning Church governance, technical though they might seem, are no less perilous to the minds of Catholics, infested with a false understanding of the divine constitution of the Church.

In his article “Vatican II, the Pope and the Mass”, Bp. Donald Sanborn answers the following question:

6. What false doctrine does it [Vatican II] teach concerning collegiality? 

The teaching of Vatican II concerning collegiality alters the monarchical constitution of the Catholic Church, with which she was endowed by the Divine Savior. The doctrine of Vatican II, confirmed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which states that the subject (the possessor) of the supreme authority of the Church is the college of bishops together with the pope, is contrary to the defined doctrine of the Council of Florence and of Vatican I.

Chapter III (On the hierarchical structure of the Church and in particular on the episcopate) of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, promulgated by Paul VI on November 21, 1964, states:

#22 The order of bishops, which succeeds to the college of apostles and gives this apostolic body continued existence, is also the subject of supreme and full power over the universal Church [emphasis mine], provided we understand this body together with its head the Roman Pontiff and never without this head.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law reiterates this erroneous teaching in can. 336:

The college of bishops, whose head is the Supreme Pontiff and whose members are bishops by virtue of sacramental consecration and hierarchical communion with the head and members of the college and in which the apostolic body continues, together with its head and never without this head, is also the subject of supreme and full power [emphasis mine] over the universal Church.

One might think that heresy is too big a word for these, seemingly innocent, passages. After all, both Lumen Gentium and the 1983 Code of Canon Law declare explicitly that bishops exercise their power only with the Supreme Pontiff as their head. Orthodox though it may sound, this is just a cunning stratagem, employed by the Modernists to divert one’s attention from that single yet crucial word, which is falsely applied to the power of the episcopate. The word in question is “supreme." 

It doesn’t take a theologian to explain the basic meaning of that word. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines supreme as being “highest in rank or authority,” “highest in degree or quality," “ultimate, final." Therefore, can supreme, that is highest, or ultimate, authority belong at the same time to two separate entities, that is to the Pope as the Supreme Pontiff, and to the bishops under the auspices of the Pope?

Let us consider the infallible teaching of the Vatican Council in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ Pastor aeternus, promulgated on July 18, 1870. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1911) splendidly expounds the traditional Catholic teaching regarding the power and authority in the Church, infallibly promulgated by Vatican I:

In the Constitution “Pastor Aeternus," cap. 3, the pope is declared to possess ordinary, immediate, and episcopal jurisdiction over all the faithful: 

We teach, moreover, and declare that, by the disposition of God, the Roman Church possesses supreme ordinary authority over all Churches, and that the jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, which is true episcopal jurisdiction is immediate in its character (Enchir., n. 1827).

It is further added that this authority extends to all alike, both pastors and faithful [emphasis mine], whether singly or collectively. An ordinary jurisdiction is one which is exercised by the holder, not by reason of any delegation, but in virtue of the office which he himself holds. All who acknowledge in the pope any primacy of jurisdiction acknowledge that jurisdiction to be ordinary. This point, therefore, does not call for discussion. That the papal authority is likewise immediate has, however, been called in question. Jurisdiction is immediate when its possessor stands in direct relation to those with whose oversight he is charged. If, on the other hand, the supreme authority can only deal directly with the proximate superiors, and not with the subjects save through their intervention, his power is not immediate but mediate. That the pope's jurisdiction is not thus restricted appears from the analysis already given of Christ's words to St. Peter. It has been shown that He conferred on him a primacy over the Church, which is universal in its scope, extending to all the Church's members, and which needs the support of no other power. [emphasis mine] A primacy such as this manifestly gives to him and to his successors a direct authority over all the faithful. This is also implied in the words of the pastoral commission, "Feed my sheep". The shepherd exercises immediate authority over all the sheep of his flock. Every member of the Church has been thus committed to Peter and those who follow him. 

(…)

That the pope's power is truly episcopal needs no proof. It follows from the fact that he enjoys an ordinary pastoral authority, both legislative and judicial, and immediate in relation to its subjects. Moreover, since this power regards the pastors as well as the faithful [emphasis mine], the pope is rightly termed Pastor pastorum, and Episcopus episcoporum. 

It is frequently objected by writers of the Anglican school that, by declaring the pope to possess an immediate episcopal jurisdiction over all the faithful, the Vatican Council destroyed the authority of the diocesan episcopate. It is further pointed out that St. Gregory the Great expressly repudiated this title (Epistle 7:27 and Epistle 8:30). To this it is replied that no difficulty is involved in the exercise of immediate jurisdiction over the same subjects by two rulers, provided only that these rulers stand in subordination, the one to the other. [emphasis mine] We constantly see the system at work. In an army the regimental officer and the general both possess immediate authority over the soldiers; yet no one maintains that the inferior authority is thereby annulled. The objection lacks all weight. The Vatican Council says most justly (cap. iii): 

This power of the supreme pontiff in no way derogates from the ordinary immediate power of episcopal jurisdiction, in virtue of which the bishops, who, appointed by the Holy Spirit [Acts 20:28], have succeeded to the place of the Apostles as true pastors, feed and rule their several flocks, each the one which has been assigned to him: that power is rather maintained, confirmed and defended by the supreme pastor (Enchir., n. 1828).

The following paragraphs from chapter III (On the power and character of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff) of Pastor aeternus reinforce the Catholic doctrine on the delegation of power in the Church, whereby the bishops are subordinate to the Roman Pontiff in their exercise of authority:

6. Furthermore, it follows from that supreme power which the Roman Pontiff has in governing the whole Church, that he has the right, in the performance of this office of his, to communicate freely with the pastors and flocks of the entire Church, so that they may be taught and guided by him in the way of salvation. [emphasis mine]. 

8. Since the Roman Pontiff, by the divine right of the apostolic primacy, governs the whole Church, we likewise teach and declare that he is the supreme judge of the faithful, and that in all cases which fall under ecclesiastical jurisdiction recourse may be had to his judgment. The sentence of the Apostolic See (than which there is no higher authority) [emphasis mine] is not subject to revision by anyone, nor may anyone lawfully pass judgment thereupon.

Although Pastor aeternus is mostly credited for defining the dogma of papal infallibility, the scope of the entire dogmatic document is, as the title says, the constitution of the Church. In no paragraph is the supreme authority in the Church attributed to both the Pope and the bishops. On the contrary, in the above-quoted paragraph #6 we find a clear refutation of the heretical doctrine of “supreme” authority of the college of bishops in union with the Pope, since it is not only the faithful (“flocks”) but also the episcopate (“pastors”) that are “taught and guided” by the Supreme Pontiff unto salvation. 

This Catholic doctrine, however, has no place in the Vatican II sect. One of the most prominent Novus Ordo heresiarchs in America, “Cardinal” Donald Wuerl in his keynote address at the annual convention of the Canon Law Society of America, October 10, 2016, had this to say about the role of the bishops in relation to the Pope [source: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/on-collegiality-and-synodality-1257]: 

Bishops are not agents of the Pope or servants of the Curia; the Curia is at the service of the Pope as head of the College of Bishops. And while the Pope is the head of the College, he does not govern apart from the bishops but with them. [emphasis mine] In the classic formula, the Church is governed by the bishops cum et sub Petro — “with and under Peter.” The governance of the universal Catholic Church includes both the authority of the College of Bishops and the special authority of the Pope.

The former “archbishop” of Washington continues:

Consequently, there are two loci of supreme authority in the Catholic Church. [emphasis mine] First, there is the supreme authority of the Pope. The College of Bishops, however, is also the ‘bearer of full and supreme power over the universal Church."

I can’t help but wonder whether any of the participants asked Wuerl a simple question: Which of these two centers of power is “more” supreme, and under what circumstances? The answer to that query might probably make for a dozen doctoral theses in the fuzzy Novus Ordo canon law. 

Conclusion

Both Pastor aeternus and Lumen gentium bear the name of a dogmatic constitution; both are concerned with the nature of authority in the Church. However, it is the former that reiterates and strengthens the true Catholic teaching on the supreme power in the Church, while the latter perniciously bestows that same supreme authority (which belongs to the Pope alone) over the bishops who are subject to the successor of Peter, in the name of “collegiality," thus ridiculing the divinely-instituted monarchic constitution of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. 

After all, it was “St.” Montini who paraded in the late 1960s in a wicker tiara, thus mocking the centuries-old Catholic symbol of the three-fold papal power to teach, rule, and sanctify, after having got rid of that reactionary item by donating it to “the poor of the world” a few years earlier [see: https://novusordowatch.org/2019/01/paul6-wears-wicker-tiara/]. 

Interestingly, his abandonment of the papal tiara came just nine days before the promulgation of the heretical Lumen Gentium. Granted, Montini could not renounce what he already did not possess. Nonetheless, his perfidious act of recanting the alleged “human glory and power," done “in the new spirit of the Church purified”[source: nationalshrine.org/blog/a-moment-in-history-the-papal-tiara-at-the-basilica/], was a mockery of true papal authority exercised by legitimate Roman Pontiffs who find the immediate source of their papal power in Jesus Christ. Judas, who hypocritically scolded St. Mary Magdalene for having anointed Christ in anticipation of his burial with mightily expensive oil and thus not helping “the poor,” would indeed be proud of Montinian “charity."


39 comments:

  1. An article from NovusOrdoWatch on the papal monarchy. I think this refutes the heresy of collegiality well:

    https://novusordowatch.org/2021/08/is-pope-absolute-monarch/

    Happy New Year, Introïbo, Joanna and all the readers ! May God bless you and give you healthy body, Faith, Hope and Charity !

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    Replies
    1. Tremendous work by Novus Ordo Watch, indeed! Thank you for the link, and thank you kindly for your wishes, Simon!

      May the Infant Jesus, the Prince of Peace, grant our hearts His Holy Peace amidst the present tribulations, and Holy Perseverance so we may be made worthy of His eternal promises.

      God Bless You All,
      Joanna S.

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  2. Joanna,

    Interesting article, I'd been wondering about collegiality for a while, but brining it up in conversation with Novus Ordites seems too difficult because the phrasing allows for all kinds of alternative interpretations.

    What if one were to object to the claim of heresy by arguing that the college of Bishops, since it's with the Pope as its head, possesses supreme and full power over the Church because, in reality the Pope is the one who possess said power, but if the college of body is acting with the Pope, then it's acting with the same power. Apologies if you addressed this somewhere and it went over my head.

    Granted, such an objection would clearly make the declaration by Lumen Gentium redundant (like a lot Vatican II...) since, of course, it seems one could make a similar statement by claiming (in the sense of the objection) that any single Bishop (forget the college) with the Pope "as his head/leader/etc." possesses full and supreme power over the Church. If this is wrong, then one would have to ask why the principle behind collegiality wouldn't hold with a single Bishop but it would with a college of Bishops. Maybe I'm just rambling nonsense... Thoughts? :)

    God Bless,
    Dapouf

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    1. Dapouf,
      I guess once you open that Pandora's box of Vatican II ecclesiology, any kind of theological error (at the very least) seems to be in perfect communion with this new, fake religion!
      I recall coming across a journal article in Novus Ordo theology, published by one of their "priests", probably, in which the author claimed that it is the people, meaning the "faithful" (can't really use that word with regards to the Novus Ordo, can you) who actually enjoy infallibility "in the Church". Utter madness!

      God Bless,
      Joanna S.

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    2. Joanna,

      The sad part is that stuff like this doesn't surprise me anymore. Although it seems a bit odd that they say this in regards to infallibility, because it seems the modernists would rather destroy the concept as a whole rather than attribute it to places it doesn't belong! I suppose this is another form of destroying it though, one that fits in with their sophistic and cunning tactics.

      God Bless and a Happy New Year,
      Dapouf

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  3. They seem to retain somewhat of the true definition of Papal authority when it comes to suppressing Tradition (and making V2 as it were the only council that counts) but when it comes to experimenting with novelty, then every novus ordo bishop thus inclined becomes his own little pope. Or something. In any case, as is usual for heresy, it doesn't make any sense.

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    1. cairsahr__stjoseph,
      Interesting you say that! Fr DePauw was asked about Collegiality and why he rejected it. In 1965, he explained to the press, "We went from having one pope and 2,500 bishops to having 2,501 'little popes.' "

      God Bless,

      ---Introibo

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    2. On a ship, it is the captain alone who decides the course to be followed and not the captain and the entire crew otherwise it would not make sense. Christ entrusted to Peter alone the running of the ship of the Church. But the V2 sect is a monster with many heads, which explains the current muddle, for example between conservatives and progressives on the subject of the "communion" given or not given to "pro-choice" politicians.

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    3. Speaking of pre-1969 era,ia anyone else sick of reading about the supposed
      "traditional" Eastern Rite Clerics who keep the true Faith Liturgy and Sacraments going yet not 1 single Eastern Rite Bishop or Priest has ever publicly renounced V2 and it's Satabic takeover of Rome?
      God bless -Andrew

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  4. Joanna,

    IMO, nothing more could be added to what you wrote to seal the case against collegiality; your post was excellent.
    Thank you.
    I wish you, ASM, Intro, Lee and all the readers here a very Holy, Blessed and serene Christmas season.
    Let nothing disturb the peace in the hearts of those who believe.

    God's Blessings to all.

    Jannie

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    1. Jannie,
      Thank you! Your comments here have made this blog better and I hope you will continue to comment in 2022!

      God's Blessings on your family and you in 2022,

      ---Introibo

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    2. Jannie,
      it's a pleasure writing for such fine Readers as yourself and all of you, my Dear Friends!

      God Bless You and Yours,
      Joanna S.

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  5. Joanna,

    I'm glad you brought this topic up. The new collegiality taught at Vatican II is a mixture of the heresies of Gallicanism and Febronianism condemned by the Church. Ironically, the very R&R clergy/lay people without even realizing it believe in collegiality as taught by Vatican II, otherwise they wouldn't dismiss their pope on just about everything and refer to what the dubia is going to do about him or what the SSPX bishops say over him. If Francis were pope, he would have Supreme authority over them and nothing they say would trump him.

    I have a close R&R family member who is insistent that only the Church (that is the Bishops or Cardinals) has the authority to determine the current imposter pope as not being the pope through a Council and that sedevacantists like myself have no real authority to dare say one way or another that he is or isn't a pope.

    The problem is how many of the Cardinals or Bishops have to agree to do this? If a dubia only consist of less than a handful of Novus Ordo bishops what are we to make of the rest of the bishop's (which are in the hundreds) decision especially if the majority disagree with those like Vigano, Burke, Schnieder? Does the Church just continue on in heresy and apostasy? Plus Vatican I as quoted in the lovely article above would have no purpose of existence if a pope could be judged by the Church. Pope St. Nicholas, epistle (8), Proposueramus quidem, 865: “… “Neither by Augustus, nor by all the clergy, nor by religious, nor by the people will the judge be judged… ‘The first seat will not be judged by anyone.’”

    The real problem with the Novus Ordo Church is that it is divided and does not have the first mark of Oneness in Faith. You have some people who believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, while others do not and some only believe in the Latin Mass, while others believe only in the New Mass and some believe in the authority of Francis as their pope while other don't pay attention or give a hoot what he says. It lacks the second mark of Holiness both in its government and teachings and therefore cannot sanctify when it does not have sanctity. It's not Catholic and almost every sacrament is invalid. It lacks all Four Marks.

    If the Novus Ordo Church were truly the Catholic Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, then the very gates of Hell that He promised would not have prevailed have already prevailed and this is impossible. Pope Vigilius at the Second Council of Constantinople, in 553 called “the tongues of heretics” the “gates of hell.” Pope St. Leo IX’s, In terra pax hominibus, Sept. 2, 1053, declared to Michael Cerularius that “the gates of Hell” are the “disputations of heretics.”

    Here are two great articles on that very thing:

    http://the-pope.com/gatfhelc.html

    https://stevensperay.wordpress.com/2020/02/12/the-gates-of-hell-and-the-gates-of-the-church-revisited/

    Have a Happy New Year and great work Joanna,

    Lee

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    1. Lee,
      Thank you for sharing the great links!

      God Bless my friend,

      ---Introibo

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    2. Lee,
      can't agree enough! The R&R folks feel free to choose their own substitute "pope" among lay gurus and Novus Ordo clergy of any rank (depending on whoever gets more trad media attention at any given time), yet they are the ones who would yell "Protestants!" at us!

      God Bless You,
      Joanna S.

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    3. Also, thank you so much for quoting Pope St, Leo IX! I got this wonderful quote stuck in my mind but couldn't find the author. Now, that's something the R&R crowd should learn by heart (and take to heart, too!).

      God Bless,
      Joanna S.

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  6. How fitting that "Montini who paraded in the late 1960s in a wicker tiara" shows himself to be a blatant fake by wearing "wicker". He shows himself to be nothing more than a imposter by wearing such. A fake tiara for a fake Pope, how fitting!!
    Happy New Year,
    JoAnn

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    1. Joann,
      Happy New Year! I wish you God's blessings and much happiness in 2022!

      God Bless,

      ---Introibo

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    2. Wicker man is meant to be burnt alive according to Wicca.
      God bless -Andrew

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    3. Andrew,
      Lol!! Wicker man and all his cohorts belong in Wicca.
      JoAnn

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    4. I take it as a passive sign from Bishop Montini maybe I'm wrong.
      Happy New Year -Andrew

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    5. Andrew,
      I take it as a blatant sign from Montini to the world. A fake Tiara for a fake Pope. In any event, whether a passive or blatant sign, how appropriate!!
      Happy New Year,
      JoAnn

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    6. JoAnn and Andrew,
      photos such as these are priceless, they document the true Vatican II spirit, the one of mocking all things Catholic.

      Happy and Blessed New Year, my friends!

      God Bless You and Yours,
      Joanna S.

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    7. Happy Blessed New Year & Epiphany Joanna JoAnn Introibo and everyone else who reads these words.
      You have a kind warm Soul Joanna S.
      I've read your comments and it's uplifting to see that Catholics like you exist.
      JoAnn I like reading your comments because me and you have severely disagreed yet you routinely finish with forgiving kind words.

      God bless I wish everyone blessings and graces. -Andrew

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  7. Pray for a relative who is depressed.

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    1. Will do my friend.
      God bless -Andrew

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    2. I'm keeping your family member in my prayers.

      God Bless You and Yours, and may Our Lady of Consolation intercede for you, your relative in need, and us all,
      Joanna S.

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    3. @anon10:29
      Prayers for your depressed relative, my friend.

      God Bless,

      ---Introibo

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  8. I was introduced to your blog courtesy of Novus Ordo Watch, and as always, great work!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. UncompromisingPurity,
      how wonderful! So glad to welcome a new Reader and Commenter. I hope you're staying for good, my friend!

      God Bless,
      Joanna S.

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    2. Uncompromising Purity,
      Thank you for reading and please continue to do so---we write the Uncompromising Truth!

      God Bless,

      ---Introibo

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  9. Happy New Year to you Introibo, your family and all your readers!

    God Bless,
    Paweł

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    1. Also for Joanna S. I wish you all the best and God's abundant graces in the New Year. May the Catholic faith and morality be reborn in our country as soon as possible. May Our Lady, Queen of Poland give us perseverance in the faith of our fathers.

      God Bless,
      Paweł

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    2. Pawel,
      Happy New Year! May 2022 be filled with God's graces for you and your family. Please keep me in your prayers.

      God Bless,

      ---Introibo

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  10. Thank you kindly, Paweł!
    May we contribute to the restoration of the true Catholic Faith in our country by our prayers and good works. There's indeed much to be done, and with Our Lady Immaculate on our side we shall succeed!

    God Bless you and your loved ones,
    Joanna S.

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  11. May the true saints of Poland intercede for this country destroyed by the modernism of "Saint" John Paul the Great Apostate.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thank you, Simon!
      The devastation brought about by Wojtyła and his minions gets worse and worse with each passing year.
      We need the apostolic zeal and self-forgetful charity of St. Andrew Bobola, the purity of St. Stanislaus Kostka, the patron saint of youth, and the true devotion to the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar and to Our Lady for which St. Hyacinth, the first Pole to join the Dominicans, was renowned. Orate pro nobis!

      God Bless,
      Joanna S.

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    2. Poland must have a good amount of devout fervent devoted Catholics because Satan has attacked that Country with unrelenting ferocity for over 3 centuries.
      Will pray 1 decade of the Holy Rosary a few times pr week for Poland and Europa. God bless -Andrew

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    3. Thank you, Andrew! Your prayers are very much appreciated!

      God Bless,
      Joanna S.

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