Francis’ Teachers and the Bigger Picture: What Trads are Missing

It has become fashionable these days for Catholics to jump on the bandwagon of condemning Francis for every nonsensical heresy and scandal that comes forth from his reign. And yet, to still refer to “St. John Paul the Great,” or call Benedict XVI “the trad Pope.” Modernism is crafty that way. They move at a snail’s pace with each successive reign on purpose, because little bombs are planted every step of the way.

Then you have the Traditional Catholics giving a pass for John Paul II and Benedict XVI, arguing perhaps they just did not know better and had good intentions, but sounding the alarm on Francis being a heretic. However, every heresy and scandal you see coming from Francis in regards to Ecumenism and False Religions you will find in abundance from his predecessors. We can not just close our eyes to that reality.

In many ways, I have argued from the beginning that Francis is the least culpable of the pontiffs since Vatican II. The reason for this is because he is the first one since Vatican II to have been trained and ordained exclusively in Vatican II and New Order thinking. The road was paved wide open for him. He is a student, his teachers were John Paul II and Benedict XVI. And there would be no “Synodal Path” if not for the example handed to him by those two figures.

The reality is, unless you can connect those dots, you will always be slightly off in how you process and understand the confusing times we are enduring. And if you are looking to find common ground with other like minded traditional Catholics, the starting point has to begin here. Everything we see today from Francis, everything (from Pachamama, the Abrahamic Family House, Communion for the divorced and remarried, blessings for gay couples, etc.), stems from Vatican II in some way in seed form, and John Paul II and Benedict XVI dedicated their pontificates to enforcing and applying Vatican II.

If you do not see this, mark my words, you will continue being lost in the fog in some way.

And let me be clear here: if your main takeaway from this article is to further debate the identity of the visible leader in Rome (whether Francis is a true pope, or whether Benedict or John Paul were true popes) you are missing the bigger picture. Or as the saying goes, you are missing the forest for the trees. You are missing the tsunami for the ripples. Move beyond this discussion, trust me. At least for now. Because right now, it is not pertinent, and will lead you down rabbit holes that will just serve as distractions.

In a war, when countries align together to tackle a much larger and deadlier enemy, they can not waste time bickering over discrepancies or minor differences. They must be of one mind in order to combat the enemy. The enemy is Infiltrated Modernism. That is the enemy. Anything beyond this is a distraction meant to divide Traditional Catholics. Trust me on this, I have been invested in this spiritual battle for over 2 decades.

Here are some of the things Francis learned from his teachers.

Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) on Ecumenism: The train that took the false religious leaders from the Vatican to Assisi was described by Ratzinger as “a symbol of our pilgrimage in history… Are we not all, perhaps, passengers on the same train?... Is not the fact that the train chose as its destiny peace and justice, and the reconciliation of peoples and religions, a great inspiration and, at the same time, a splendid sign of hope?” Source: Zenit News Report, Feb. 21, 2002.

Ratzinger on lukewarm non-practicing cultural Catholics: “I have nothing against people who, though they never enter a church during the year, go to Christmas Mass, or go on the occasion of some other celebration, because this is also a way of coming close to the light. Therefore, there must be different forms of involvement and participation.” Source: Interview, Oct. 1, 2001.

Ratzinger on whether non-Catholics should be converted, and on calling non-Catholics ‘Christian’: “The new text describes the relationship between the Church and non-Catholic Christians without speaking of ‘membership.’ By shedding this terminological armor, the text acquired a much wider scope… The Catholic has to recognize that his own Church is not yet prepared to accept the phenomenon of multiplicity in unity; he must orient himself toward this reality… Meantime the Catholic Church has no right to absorb other Churches.” Source: Joseph Ratzinger, Theological Highlights of Vatican II, 1966.

Ratzinger on schismatic heretical sects having the Church of Christ present in them, even though they reject the Papacy: “Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the Catholic Church since they do not accept the Catholic doctrine of the Primacy, which, according to the will of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively has and exercises over the entire Church.” Source: Dominus Iesus, Cardinal Ratzinger, approved by John Paul II, Aug. 6, 2000.

Ratzinger on whether the Jews can validly continue to await the coming of the Messiah: In late 2001, the Pontifical Biblical Commission released a book entitled The Jewish People and the Holy Scriptures in the Christian Bible. The book argues that the Jews’ wait for the coming of the Messiah is validated by the Old Testament. Ratzinger wrote the preface for the book.

He also wrote in 2000, “It is of course possible to read the Old Testament so that it is not directed toward Christ; it does not point quite unequivocally to Christ.  And if Jews cannot see the promises as being fulfilled in him, this is not just ill will on their part, but genuinely because of the obscurity of the texts…  There are perfectly good reasons, then, for denying that the Old Testament refers to Christ and for saying, No, that is not what he said.  And there are also good reasons for referring it to him – that is what the dispute between Jews and Christians is about.”

Regarding the Muslims: “Pope Benedict ended a sensitive, fence-mending visit to Turkey on Friday amid praise for visiting Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque and praying there facing toward Mecca ‘like Muslims.’… ‘The Pope's dreaded visit was concluded with a wonderful surprise,’ wrote daily Aksam on its front page.  ‘In Sultan Ahmet Mosque, he turned toward Mecca and prayed like Muslims,’...’” Source: Reuters, December 2006.

Benedict also held more Interfaith services than John Paul II did, and attended more Synagogue Services with rabbis than John Paul II did. He also coauthored the 1993 Decree on Ecumenism and the 1997 Joint Declaration on Justification with the Lutherans, where Martin Luther was exonerated. He also was arm in arm with John Paul II on battling against Archbishop Lefebvre, and was the John Paul’s enforcer through the whole process.

Let us also remember that as Cardinal Ratzinger, he is the one who cowrote the Vatican approved document The Message of Fatima, with its interpretation on the Third Secret being fulfilled with the assassination attempt of John Paul II in 1981, and thus saying the Third Secret had been fulfilled. Of course, years before this, he had said the Third Secret dealt with a massive loss of faith. But The Message of Fatima document was a convenient way to spin the Fatima message so that talks about the Third Secret being focused on apostasy from the top would cease.

This little sampling suffices to demonstrate the inconsistencies of those who consider Benedict a “trad Pope” or those who put hyper focus on Francis while making excuses for his primary influence. It also shows why we must be forged in prayer for the visible leaders of Rome, because as Our Lady warned, the apostasy would begin from the top down. If you are bothered by the errors and scandals of Francis, then connect the dots and see who taught him and formed him.

On a final note, some traditionalists want to band in small cliques and lump every bishop and cardinal under the same umbrella, but the reality is there are forces for good spread in pockets everywhere. Some are closer to seeing the truth for what it is, others still have some steps to go. This is to be expected in a chastisement and crisis. We need to be united in prayer so that we know how to help the 99.9999% of people out there who are knee deep in the New Order and Synodal program, and who are worried about leaving because of “obedience.” That is the bigger picture.

If traditionalists keep bickering over the identity of the visible leaders in Rome, they will stay in their bubble and miss the bigger war waging for souls. If they keep making excuses for Benedict and John Paul but blast Francis for every word he utters, there will always be an inconsistency there that will prevent them from seeing the battle for what it is. If they keep picking apart every little misguided thought from bishops and priests who are beginning to have their eyes opened under the Francis regime, then they will not know how to plant seeds. In an era of apostasy and confusion, so many in the New Order are taking baby steps towards the right direction. Assist them with prayer and by example.

Be patient with those in the New Order; be hardest with ourselves and with those who should know better, meaning those whose eyes have been fully opened to the apostasy. And grow in virtue, otherwise it is all “vanity of vanities,” smoke and mirrors, and you will be a clanging gong and a crashing cymbal that preaches loudly while traversing the wide path to perdition. Pray the Rosary every day for the hierarchy, all of them. And stop offending God through vices, especially sins of the flesh.

Start thinking bigger picture.