An Open Letter to Confused Canonists

[thesmellypocket 1859]

DISCLAIMER.

 

I, PIUS, previously Malgath in my heathen life, do humbly present this lowly petition to the Cardinals, Bishops and Priests of our Holy Mother, the Church. I do so to beseech and beg of you to avert what I believe to be the truly awful course which you seem to be embarking on. I must mention, I have been these past few years in the desert in rigorous prayer and fasting. My only real link with the outside world is his Excellency, Bishop Benedict of the Friars, who visits me to hear my Confession and gives me the latest theses and letters written by the Church. Therefore, I may falsely reckon events in some places, yet the core of what I write is true, and rooted in all the virtues, which are to be found in God, our sole Good.

 

My sole concern is for us to avoid Schism, and for us to be one Church, as God intended. Most of you have not seen war and Schism, for it is now a lifetime since the Civil War. However, for my kind and I, this war barely happened yesterday. The memory of the savagery of those days sticks well in my mind, and if this letter should halt your actions and cause you to once again embrace one another as brothers, I should have cause to praise God without ceasing. Now, I believe both sides are well-intentioned but show a serious error: on the side of the Prelates of the Church, it is lack of charity and consideration for Fr. Boniface. For his part, Fr. Boniface shows a lack of obedience and should at once cease his publications if ordered to by either his Bishop or the Pontiff. The reasoning thereof, I will explain here.

 

THE LETTER BEGINS.

 

I.On Holy Obedience and Avoiding Schism.

 

Saintly Nuns Exercise Holy Obedience to their Superior. They may be his superior in virtue, but, as Scripture says, that is not theirs’ to judge.

 

“Thou hast betrayed Man with thy wrath...But thou dost remain My Prophet...For thou art their Lord.”-Gospel 4:53-58.

 

Dear Canonist soul, 

 

That the clergy suffer from the rot of corruption and wordiness, and that this is partly the result of over-involvement in Imperial Government, is clear for all to see. Fr. Boniface was wholly right to point this out. But consider this. For as I quoted above from the Scriptures, it is written that even though Owyn had committed the greatest of sins, he remained the Lord of those set under him, and continued in the Prophetic Office given him by God. Why does God do this? He Himself gives the reason: “That My Word be kept.” (4:57) God knows the course of events infinitely better than we do, and knows what is best for us better than we ourselves, for not only does He know all things, but He made us for the purpose of experiencing His ecstatic love. Therefore, God is totally good, and is also in total control. 

 

Now that the Priesthood receives their office from God through the Prophets is easily provable from the Scriptures. We know that the High Priests kept the Canon faithfully as charged by Exalted Owyn (Gospel 5:3), and we also know that Exalted Godfrey made Canonism the official religion of the Orenian Empire. Hence, the authority of the priests, and, in particular, the High Pontiff, comes from God. God knew that corrupt men would become Pontiffs, let alone Bishops and Priests. And yet he allowed it. Why? Because He Himself knows the reason, that His Word may be kept. 

 

Hence it is that a man retains his office and authority in spite of whatever sin he may commit. Fr. Boniface should respect that authority. His Holiness should at once send a clear letter ordering Fr. Boniface to stop his writings, and Fr. Boniface should, at once, obey. For whatever the Father should think of this order or its moral character, the authority is binding whatever, because God has ordained it, and God knows all things. What the Pontiff may or may not have done is irrelevant. What office he holds entirely is. 

 

And as for the meddling King of Haense trying to induce Fr. Boniface to disobey and raise his banner against his own High Priest, I have only this to say: most noble Father, totally rebuke and ignore him. Your obedience is to the Pontiff. Do not allow yourself to be propped up as a puppet by secular powers, for indeed, the certain result of that course of action is schism, error and chaos. 

 

Imitate Daniel VI of Blessed memory, who brought an end to the terrible Schism, or, if not him, Pope Saint Daniel the Reader and Blessed Olivier de Savoie, of whose holiness God has witnessed by raising them to our altars. For those two men worked at any cost for unity in the Church. 

 

Obedience seems to be a forgotten virtue, and, if you should disobey when you think yourself in the right, you both cease to be obedient, and cease to exercise virtue, for indeed, as it is written: “Thou shalt not judge thy own virtue, be it great or small, for all fall short of Me.” (Virtue 7:8.) And in another place, the Scriptures say: “For I have ordered thy station and birth, and I have established an order of things.” (Virtue 6:6) Now I shall say that men are justified in disobedience only when it should contradict an higher obedience. So that if the Pontiff were to order you to, God forbid, blaspheme, or fornicate, or steal from an old lady, et cetera, you should not obey insofar as it disobeys the Moral Law. (Or that goes against the Dogmas of the Church – if a superior should order you to embrace a heresy, e.g. polytheism, or that the Scriptures are not inerrant, etc.) But in matters where he does have jurisdiction – like censuring your writings, he is entirely at liberty, and you entirely in submission. For indeed, Owyn was a murderer and a kinslayer, and full of wrath, yet he now has an abode with our father, Horen. Therefore, it is not right, when ordered by a superior, to say “I cannot obey him! He is a kinslayer! Corrupt!” You must remember that God does not repent of what He has done, for as the Psalms of our Pontifical Office, compiled by Ven. Humbert, say: “Deus autem noster in caelo: omnia quaecumque voluit, fecit.” (“But our God is in heaven: He hath done all things, whatsoever He willed.”) He would remain thy Lord in any case as the Scriptures say, and hence it would be proper to obey him.

 

II.On Charity.

 

Saint Kristoff sacrificed his life for Acolytes. Their superior in rank, he sacrificed himself for the sake of those under him. Superiors should imitate his tender Charity.

 

Hence, since superiors have so rigid a control over their inferiors, they should 1)recognise they can never be worthy of such an office; 2)exercise it with utmost Charity and consideration. Superiors, then, must be sparring with the rod, treating those under him as alike to his children, and carrying his office with a complete and selfless love. As it was written of Blessed Olivier de Savoie “A largesse universal, like the sun, his liberal eye doth given to every-one.” (Chronicle of Savoy, 1.17.) ‘Liberal’ does not refer to a political ideology, but was translated from the Flexio “liberalitas.” That word means the exercise of Caritas, or Charity. And as men holy men and women have taken as their motto: “Deus Caritas Est.” “God is Charity.” Charity is not only a selfless love, it is a self-giving one. Superiors, therefore, should censure only when necessary, and give themselves entirely to the loving service of them that are under them.

 

Superiors of the Church, therefore, should not be quick to attack those under them as heretics, modernists, or whatever it be. Instead, they should at first approach the issue in private, and, assuming the inferior to be a better man that himself, should make a diligent inquiry. If this finds against him, he should rebuke him – firstly in private. Then the superior should go to his superior. And if it should go to the highest authority, then, and only then, should there be anathematising. And before this point, at every single possible opportunity there should be given a chance for the inferior to recant. And there should be a charitable attempt at reconciliation. 

 

As for the people, surely from what I have written, you can all see how great is the weight upon religious superiors. Therefore, pray without ceasing for your superiors. If you never do this, you cannot blame anyone when the Church is full of iniquitous priests and Bishops. Find a discreet Confessor whom you can trust, and be like a little child with him, obeying him in the spiritual advice he should give.

 

III.Proposed Course of Action.

 

The Holy Council of Ves. Blessed Daniel VI brought an end to the wretched Schism threatening the Church.

 

The Church, then, must advance in a spirit of Charity. I have said it before, that if God is Charity, to show Charity is to be like unto God. Not in power, but in mercy, His greatest attribute. Now you must needs all pray together, asking God to illuminate your intelligence, and you must seek to be reconciled. Fr. Boniface and his followers must be obedient, whereas his superiors must be charitable. If this is the course of action we choose, this issue shall be an example of the highest virtue in the history books: “WHEN CHARITY SAVED THE CHURCH”, and not one of infamy and horror.

 

I will end on this note: God is in control. All of you must remember that. We must not seek to be rebels or tyrants. We must remember that we have a merciful God, and that He orders everything, and that we should accept everything with resignation. It is all according to His plan. Hence it is that we must live life as driftwood, living in Charity, acts of mercy, prayer and tenderness, and not worrying about anything.

 

Friends. Pray, hope, and worry not.

 

Bye, and God love you,

 

Pius of Sutica. 

 

Blessed High Pontiff Daniel VI, pray for us.

 

P.S. I should add, that God could have bestowed the Prophet hood on the most virtuous of men. Think of the great Saints in our history. He could have chosen a chivalric hero like St. Edmund, a model Bishop like St. Kristoff, or a mark of liberality like St. Tobias. Yet He chose a bigot, full of imperfections and evils, and stuck by him even after he had sinned gravely. What manner of lesson was God teaching us? Surely, of holy obedience. It is impossible for someone who does not exercise obedience, firstly to God and then to the superiors He has appointed, to advance in the spiritual life. I do not mean to slander Exalted Owyn, for God exalted him and made him into the legendary hero he turned out to be. But he was not always like that: God made him that way through a gradual inculcation of virtue.

[ReveredOwl 5639]

“A lack of charity is not the only issue that envelopes the church though.” said Boniface after reading the letter. “Furthermore, GOD has ordained the church to spread his will and teachings, not to be a tool for political purposes and the greedy and if such is the case it is our moral duty to point it out.” 

[VIROS 2915]

James II displays the work to his Curia eagerly. “This is surely a seminal work on the nature of holy obedience. While I disagree with Pius that our Church is rife with corruption, it is has always been true that, by nature of our imperfection, we descendants often fall short of GOD. Pius’ response acknowledges these failings while defending the spiritual unity of the Church, which is always our chief concern. And I am happy to see a man of such devotion acknowledge the moral failings of the prophets; only GOD is perfect, and even the Exalted fall short of Him. To acknowledge this is to elevate GOD’s most important trait: His utter uniqueness in perfection and power.”

[thesmellypocket 1859]

43 minutes ago, ReveredOwl said:

“A lack of charity is not the only issue that envelopes the church though.” said Boniface after reading the letter. “Furthermore, GOD has ordained the church to spread his will and teachings, not to be a tool for political purposes and the greedy and if such is the case it is our moral duty to point it out.” 

((OOC question: you say this publicly, would my char know you said this and be able to reply? 

24 minutes ago, VIROS said:

James II displays the work to his Curia eagerly. “This is surely a seminal work on the nature of holy obedience. While I disagree with Pius that our Church is rife with corruption, it is has always been true that, by nature of our imperfection, we descendants often fall short of GOD. Pius’ response acknowledges these failings while defending the spiritual unity of the Church, which is always our chief concern. And I am happy to see a man of such devotion acknowledge the moral failings of the prophets; only GOD is perfect, and even the Exalted fall short of Him. To acknowledge this is to elevate GOD’s most important trait: His utter uniqueness in perfection and power.”

"I am totally humbled by your kind  condescension in praising my effort, Holy Father," writes Pius in a tender letter thanking the Pontiff for his kind words.

 

"I consider Father Boniface to be a very great theological writer and shepherd. His work on war, urging restraint during the War of the Emperors, moves my heart to this day,  and will continue to affect men so long as tender, courageous and true words have a power to move men's hearts. It was actually part of my conversion to the Faith. Hence, I desire out of charity to advise and console him, and would consider it a great tragedy were he to forget this important virtue," he adds.

[ReveredOwl 5639]

50 minutes ago, thesmellypocket said:

(OOC question: you say this publicly, would my char know you said this and be able to reply? 

((you can reply))

[CrownedLime747 162]

Lajos reads the work with intrigue. “What a wonderful piece of work, although I disagree with his statement that the Church is full of corruption.”

[thesmellypocket 1859]

11 hours ago, ReveredOwl said:

“A lack of charity is not the only issue that envelopes the church though.” said Boniface after reading the letter. “Furthermore, GOD has ordained the church to spread his will and teachings, not to be a tool for political purposes and the greedy and if such is the case it is our moral duty to point it out.” 

Pius of Sutica writes an addendum to his letter, called “IN REPLY TO CERTAIN CONCERNS OF FR. BONIFACE.”

 

‘Friends,

 

I was gratified last month to receive a public reply from Fr. Boniface, a reply which was relayed to me by His Excellency, Bishop Benedict. It is my understanding that he said 1)Lack of Caritas is not the only issue facing the Church and 2)that it is always a moral duty to point out corrupt and worldly behaviour from the hierarchy. I will reply directly to him.

 

To the first point, I would say that all problems in the WORLD are caused by a lack of Charity. For indeed, if all peoples loved God and each other perfectly and with a self-giving love, life should merely be a tranquil journey to our heavenly home. If we all had perfect Charity, there would be no corruption, disobedience or heresy. I fear you have misunderstood my point, perhaps I did not make myself clear. My point was that you should try to reconcile with the Pontiff, but that he should not censure you or treat you badly, but like his own dear son should embrace you, for indeed, for what other reason is the High Pontiff known by the title of “Holy Father” popularly given him by the faithful? You should try to seek a common understanding: pray and fast together, and end this series of polemical writings against one another.  Since that you are bound by a real and God-given authority to obey the Pontiff, he should use his authority considerately and in a spirit of Charity, or self-giving love, seeing those under him with the same tender care as he would his own children.

 

To the second point, I say this: it may be your view that it is your moral duty to point out these problems, but you entirely misunderstood my point. Even if it is, you are bound in obedience to the Pontiff and your Bishop, whatever your subjective appraisal of the state of the Church. For Mankind was still bound to Exalted Owyn after his fall into grave sin, and so, if the Pontiff should ask you to stop writing, you should stop, for to not write does not expressly contradict the Moral Law or the Rule of Faith. To be disobedient goes against your Vows and morals directly and in an objective way. The Moral Law compels you to obey, not to disobey. The ends never justify the means. The Scroll of Virtue does not argue for some kind of consequential moral system, and such a system would be immoral.

 

A further suggestion which I would make toward both you and His Holiness would be this. Perhaps he should take you as his Confessor and spiritual director. Then he might be able to show you what Holy Obedience means in the spiritual life by showing it himself, for surely, by his words in reaction to this letter, he clearly grasps the meaning of this virtue.

 

I believe your problem proceeds from your failure to distinguish office from person. This distinction is clearly rooted in Scripture and the historical Faith. As I have demonstrated, Owyn remained God’s Prophet even when he had sinned gravely, hence it is that there is a distinction made between office and person. Now in your essay against the infallibility of the Pontiff you argued that a mere man cannot be infallible. But even we who believe in infallibility do not hold that a man alone can be infallible. It would be ludicrous to argue that the Pontiff was infallible in predicting the weather or the outcome of a Ponceball match. 

 

But in his office of Pontiff, regardless of his moral and intellectual faults, he is endowed with such a thing. For indeed, under a formative document called The Church of the Canon published by the High Pontiff Tobias I, under “Dogma” it is written the High Pontiff is infallible in matters of theology. This means that, in ordinary matters, he is just like the rest of us, but that God preserves him from error insofar as he pronounces a Dogmatic statement regarding the Faith explicitly invoking his infallible office. Hence, one can hate one’s Bishop as a corrupt man, but you may despise him as a man, while obeying him as Bishop.

 

Thus closes my response to the good Father.

 

God love you,

 

Pius.’

 

’P.S. I do think that Fr. Boniface fails to reckon this. Even if it were licit to remain in disobedience (It is not), he would still be really making the situation worse. For indeed, has not His Majesty, the King of Haense, raised his banner in favour of his crusade? If we do not tie each other up in obedience and unity and charity with one another, we will be easily divisible, and then we really will be corrupt echoes of the emperors and kings of this world, for we will not speak with a single voice, but we tossed to and fro by competing factions. Hence it is that the maintenance of unity and obedience, if he wishes to make the clergy less political and worldly, should be his primary concern, and not something to be pushed aside as a triviality, when it is, I have shown, a key moral tenant of any man, let alone a clergyman.’