Leading Catholic philosopher, Dr. Joseph Siefert, has issued a warning of a possible collapse of the Catholic Church in many countries, although this will ultimately be defeated by the forces of good, as “the truth itself has told us that the gates of hell will not ever prevail against the Church.” So true. However, in the short term there will be much misery to many, due to the undermining influence of Pope Francis; that has been the way of history.
The errors are not just based upon political doctrine, such as mass immigration, but the failure to defend more moral truths, especially relating to sexuality and the gender agenda, which the present Pope is incredibly soft on. In particular, Dr Siefert is critical of the Catholic cardinals, who with a few exceptions have not stood up to the theological undermining that has occurred with this Pope. They have surrendered to the shadows of the times.
“A leading Catholic philosopher has warned that if cardinals do not address the “tremendous crisis” currently in the Catholic Church, then he predicts the “terrible danger of a complete collapse of the Catholic Church in many countries.”
“I see a terrible danger of a complete collapse of the Catholic Church in many countries, and indeed of its total destruction in some areas of the world,” said Seifert, adding that he knew such an eventuality would not be possible “because the truth itself has told us that the gates of hell will not ever prevail against the Church.”
Dr. Joseph Siefert — the prominent philosophy professor and intimate friend of Pope John Paul II — made the comments recently when speaking to Vatican journalist Edward Pentin about a crisis within the Catholic Church that he described as permeating the highest levels of the hierarchy.
Following the publication of Pope Francis’ 2016 text Amoris Laetitia, Francis “started to throw doubts on, or even to deny, the essential contents of Holy Scripture and Church teaching,” said Seifert.
Siefert’s condemnation of Francis’ actions relates to the promotion of errors regarding the family and human life, which he said had found renewed motivation following Amoris Laetitia.
Paul VI had resisted “tremendous pressure” to follow the Anglicans’ example in allowing contraception, and “the Holy Spirit prevented this,” said Seifert, which led to Humanae Vitae. But with Francis’ Amoris Laetitia, Seifert argued that the work of Humanae Vitae is under attack.
“It became incomprehensible to me that none of the cardinals, besides the four dubia cardinals, spoke out clearly against such errors and of obscuring Catholic teaching,” stated Seifert.
Therefore, as in the Arian Crisis, when one bishop, Saint Athanasius, and many laymen, rushed to the defense of truth, it was necessary that even miseri laici [us miserable laity] stood up for the truth.
His comments came as an addendum to a recently released letter, written and sent privately to a cardinal over two years ago, but only publicly issued on April 30. In the letter, Seifert criticized the as-yet unnamed cardinal for describing criticisms of Pope Francis as “a great evil that should be eradicated.”
In that text, Seifert called on the cardinals to publicly respond to Pope Francis’ various actions such as the Abu Dhabi text and his repeated comments in favor of same-sex unions. “Must you cardinals not tremble before the moment when Christ will ask you how you could fulfill Jesus’ solemn missionary mandate if you did not protest against the Abu Dhabi Declaration, which says the diametrical opposite of Jesus’ words?” he wrote.”