From the Editor's Desk...

By Michael J. Matt

The Remnant in Rome

Remnant TV was in Rome this past week covering the Vatican’s clerical sexual abuse summit on the "protection of minors". It seemed a dismal assignment, to be sure, but the reason it was necessary for The Remnant to be in the Eternal City was so we could throw in with our traditional Catholic allies in Rome who’d organized an act of formal resistance to the Vatican sham summit.

Going in, we all knew that the ultimate goal of the summit was to establish child abuse—not rampant homosexuality in the priesthood—as the main cause of a crisis in the Catholic Church which now rivals that of the Protestant Revolt. (Remnant TV coverage of this event as well as the Vatican summit itself, can be found on The Remnant’s YouTube channel: YouTube.com/ TheRemnantVideo) The Remnant was honored to join Professor Roberto de Mattei’s Acies Ordinata—a title taken from the Song of Songs for Our Lady who will lead her faithful army in battle against the enemies of Her Son—in making a dramatic "Stop the Silence" demonstration on the eve of the Vatican summit that had already attracted massive media attention, similar to that on hand for the last conclave. And so, with the Associated Press, ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX, etc., in the wings, a remnant

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of believers put on a demonstration in defense of truth that was reported all around the world just one day prior to the start of the Vatican summit.

Strategically speaking, it was positively inspired!

In the Piazza San Silvestro, very near to the Vatican, Catholic activists from Italy, Poland, France, Canada, the United States, Germany, Estonia, England and many other countries— literally a remnant of the believers of Christendom—came together, rosaries in hand, and for more than an hour stood in silent witness to the fact that the Vatican is still involved in a coverup, still leading the flock astray.

I was proud to stand with these faithful men and women for one hour, in formation, police guarding the perimeter, media people coming and going, snapping photos of Catholics who will not go along with the Modernist madness any longer, who are resisting the Vatican and who are refusing to leave the battlefield.

From a statement by the organizers of the demonstration: "The event is intended to be a public profession of the Catholic faith and an attempt to break down, through the weapon of silence, the wall of silence of the Pastors of the Church in the face of an unprecedented doctrinal and moral crisis."

And afterwards, during a press conference organized by the coalition, God in His Providence gave us the opportunity to address the Associated Press, ABC News, NBC, Vatican journalists, the Tablet and many others, all of whom seemed intrigued by the fact that Catholics had come to Rome to ask the Vatican become Catholic again.

Eight representatives, including your editor, addressed the press. Here is the transcript of my statement, read to the assembled representatives of the mainstream media:

The Vatican’s Clericalism and the Abuse Crisis

By Michael J. Matt Editor of The Remnant, USA Catholics in my country were disappointed in the August 20, 2018 "Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to the People of God," in which the Pontiff attaches blame for the clerical sexual abuse crisis to what he calls "clericalism".

Our first concern is that the term itself lacks universally accepted definition.

Clericalism can mean a disordered attitude toward clergy whereby lay Catholics make a general assumption of the moral superiority of priests.

Pope Francis contends that clericalism is when "Clerics feel they are superior, [and when] they are far from the people."

But even Francis notes that clericalism can be "fostered by priests themselves or by lay persons". Lay persons, in other words, can fall into clericalism.

So, if the crisis is to be confronted, will the Vatican hold the people guilty of clericalism, or the priests?

Already, the sheep are confused by a lack of clarity.

Certainly, in one sense, "clericalism" appears to be the very thing in which the Vatican itself is engaging when, in the face of this crisis, even the Pope abuses his power as head of the Church by attempting to discredit the "Great Accuser"—Archbishop Vigano—who is now in hiding and whose relevant testimony will not be granted a hearing at this Summit Meeting.

In addition, key ecclesial figures— personally involved in abuse and cover-up—have been promoted by Pope Francis in the past, e.g., the former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels who was caught on tape attempting to cover up abuse and yet nevertheless appeared on the loggia when Francis was selected to become pope, and later personally chosen by Pope Francis to attend the Synod on the Family.

Again, this seems like clericalism at the highest levels.

The other concern with Francis’s citing of "clericalism" is that in its essence it seems designed to avoid addressing the root cause of the crisis, which is homosexuality in the priesthood.

From the John Jay report, we know that 81 percent of the victims of clerical sexual abuse are males between the ages of 14 to 17. This is a male-on-male crime, with the most high-profile cases involving bishops sexually abusing seminarians and young priests.

Two words were conspicuous by their absence from the Pope’s August 20th Letter: "Homosexuality" and "Bishop".

The people of God cannot end the crisis in the priesthood. The people of God cannot stop the cover-up.

American Catholics agree with Cardinal Burke, who on two separate occasions has insisted that only the Pope can address the negligence and misconduct of bishops: "It is the Roman Pontiff, the Holy Father, who has the responsibility to discipline these situations and it is he who needs to take action following the procedures that are given in the Church’s discipline. This is what will address the situation effectively."

We call upon Francis to use his authority to address the crisis with papal action rather than words.

The Vatican in Twilight

On the first day of RTV shooting in Rome, we encountered a group of high school kids on holiday, walking along the Borgo Pio. I couldn’t help but to think how tragic it all is, how scandalous, that the children of the world who once regarded the Catholic priest as a veritable symbol of trust—so near to the heart of Western Civilization that for a millennium they’d referred to him as "Father"—now must witness the successors of the apostles meeting with the pope to try to find a way to stop priests from attacking children. Could there be a more Luciferian plan of attack for the destruction of Christ’s Church?

Some anti-Catholic critics say: "Yes, well, and so it’s always been. This is nothing new." But that is the Devil talking. It was not always this way.

Certainly, there have always been sinners, even in the priesthood, even in Rome—but not like this.

This is the handiwork of the Modernist Revolution!

The Church of Vatican II emasculated the priesthood. The Church of Vatican II turned the Altar of Sacrifice into a protestantized supper table. The Church of Vatican II has brought this crisis of Faith and Morality upon itself. This is what the Revolution of Vatican II was all about—the destruction of priesthood, the destruction of Faith, the eradication of Sacrifice.

But somehow seeing it all come crashing down before our eyes, as we saw in Rome last week, gives one confidence that God has not abandoned His Church.

If there was one thing we learned at the Vatican summit on clerical sexual abuse, it’s that the wheels are coming off the Church of Vatican II.

Perhaps now, finally, the real work of Catholic restoration—based on a return to sacred Tradition—can begin in earnest.

The survivors of spiritual abuse have work to do. We cannot break the covenant with God even if and when the Pope and his Bishops do. We cannot walk off the battlefield just because they have.

God is intervening. The Summit on clerical sexual abuse did not go the Vatican’s way. I’ve covered several major Vatican events (including the last two conclaves) and I’ve never seen the press more skeptical than they were at this event.

CNN’s Delia Gallagher, for example, asked questions every day that were not only probing but downright confrontational, at one point even demanding to know why the press should believe Cupich and O’Malley this time when the last time around it was the "reassuring face" of Cardinal McCarrick who assured the press that the Vatican could be trusted to do the right thing.

Hard-hitting questions on homosexuality and the coverup were raised during the Vatican press briefings by vaticanista Sandro Magister, LifeSite’s Diane Montagna, ABC News, and on Sunday, the last day of the Summit, Argentine journalist Inés San Martin of Crux, who

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Acies Ordinata Press Conference in Rome, February 22, 2019

From the Editor's Desk . . .

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caused Malta’s Archbishop Charles Scicluna some anxiety when she asked:

"We know that there’s a bishop in Argentina, Zanchetta, who had gay porn in his phone involving young people. How can we believe that this is in fact, you know, the last time we’re going to hear ‘no more coverup’ when, at the end of the day, Pope Francis covered up for someone in Argentina who had gay porn involving minors? I mean, can we actually believe that this is going to change now?"

In reply, Archbishop Scicluna nearly gave away the show when he stammered: "Well I’ll quote what the Holy Father said this morning about the law. About the case, I’m not, I’m not, you know, I’m not authori[zed]… I mean, yeah."

Not "authorized"? What an odd word choice by a spokesman for a Vatican summit that had spent four days touting its undying commitment to transparency. Very early on, by the way, it seemed that somebody had put Cardinal Cupich on a leash. The man who was supposed to be leading the summit, appeared at only one of the press briefings. I felt he was conspicuous by his absence, almost as if someone realized the Cardinal-Archbishop of Chicago was not the man for the job, given how the press was out for blood.

Cupich doesn’t even speak Italian and because he was constantly taking his headset off and on to hear the translators, he eventually knocked off his own red hat—which I thought offered a pretty plausible "path forward" for him.

In other words, at this Vatican summit I certainly did not see the raw power of the Revolution with which we’ve all grown up. Instead, I saw the bumbling incompetence of men who appeared out of touch with reality. I saw an opponent at the mercy of the press, too.

At least in potential, I saw the end of Pope Francis and the fall of the Revolution of Vatican II. The media, the victims’ groups, the traditionalists—all united in decrying the incompetence and duplicity of the Church of Accompaniment. Somewhere along the line, I began to see a massive opportunity for the Traditional Catholic counterrevolution.

I returned home from Rome feeling confident that this is far from over. God works though his people, and, at the moment, Traditionalists are rising while Modernists are exposed and fading away.

In Rome last week, I believe we all witnessed the beginning of the end of the Modernist reign of terror. ■