Your Catholic
Rights and Obligations
Explained in
this Letter to Our Bishop
To: His Excellency
[Deleted]
Bishop of [Deleted]
5-31-1998
From: Rick Salbato
Managing Editor, Unity Publishing
Your Excellency,
Due to working full time in a secular job with a lot of overtime lately,
and able only to come to the office on Sundays to take care of our apostolate,
I am remiss in not responding to your last letter. I also learned (after the
fact) that Network 5 International has sent some faxes to you.
My reason for writing (which doesn't need a response) is to create a
more harmonious relationship between what I consider a patriarchal relationship
of father and son. This patriarchal system (chain of command) is what I have
tried to preserve over the past thirty years, even to the point of going to
jail for a year fighting for my rights as a father. It would be a contradiction
to fight for my rights as a father and not fight for the rights of mothers, of
police officers, of judges, of presidents, of kings, of priests, of bishops,
and of Popes. The entire social order depends on this patriarchal system of
order; and is, in fact, what creates a society that runs smoothly with the most
happiness for the most people. My attitude about patriarchal systems does not
mean that I do not leave room of just criticism of children to fathers and even
of Catholics to the Pope, when it is not a matter of faith or morals. My
children were very open in there criticism of me, when they felt I was wrong. I
listened and accepted their remarks with patience and harity,
sometimes learning a great deal from them. This
did not take away their obligation to obey me in all things except sin, which I
enforced and insisted on.
Obedience
First
It is from this rock (obedience to the chain of command) that Unity
Publishing and Catholic Cult Watch builds all our investigations. I learned
from
Recently I saw you for the first time standing with Father Sweeney and
then attended your Mass and the Confirmation of a couple hundred children. I
could not help being impressed with your softness and love for children.
Looking at your stature with white hair and white robes, it was as if God was
saying to me, "There is your father. There is where your obedience
rests." Truthfully, I was not unhappy about that thought. You are the
direct descendent of the Apostles through the Holy Spirit with sole
geographical authority over God's lambs. If you are my father
and I am your son (new to your house), you should know me and I you.
It's easy to know me. I am very open about my beliefs, weaknesses, and
ideas. I am always offering to dialogue with those who disagree with me. I am
willing to debate with anyone, anywhere, anytime, but few take my offer.
Because they do not take up my offer, I have resorted to putting all in books,
booklets, and tapes. If I cannot talk face to face with people as I would like,
I write long letters.
As a son talking to his father, I would like to present my ideas about
obedience, and why Catholics (like Mother Angelica) have failed to understand
this. All quotes are from Dietrich von Hildebrand, who Pope Pius XII called
"the 20th Century doctor of the Church" and received an
award from Pope Paul VI for his writing. All quotes are from Dietrich von
Hildebrand.
Hierarchy of
Obedience
My attitude about obedience is divided in two categories and one
subdivision. The first category is - absolute theological authority on faith
and morals. In this I must give my whole heart, my whole soul, and my whole
mind in complete consent. I cannot be a cafeteria Catholic. To fail on one
point of the theological law of faith and morals, is to fail on all the laws of
God. Not even a clear conscience can save me from the wrath of God.
(Reference - "The Splendor of Truth" Pope
"Our belief in the
teachings of the Church de fide
must be an absolute and unconditional one, but we should not imagine that our
fidelity to the Church's theoretical authority is satisfied merely by
acceptance of ex cathedra
pronouncements. We also must adhere wholeheartedly to teachings of the Church
in matters of morality, even if they are not defined ex cathedra. The teachings of the encyclical Humanae Vitae, for example, is binding because its content has always
been part of the teaching of the Church; in it we are confronted with the
theoretical authority of the Church embodied in the tradition of the ordinary Magisterium. It is not a mere practical commandment of the
Church, like the commandment to go to church on Sunday."
The second category is the practical decisions of the Pope and the
Church. In this case I must also obey, providing they do not contradict the
first category; but ----- even though I must obey, I do not have to accept with
my whole heart, soul, and mind. In fact, I am free to speak against the decisions
of even the Pope in practical maters, although I am not free to disobey them.
"Though we must obey
such a practical decision, we must not approve it; nay, we must even pray for
its revocation, and , in full respect, strive with all legitimate measures to
persuade the Holy Father of its danger, all the whole proclaiming
wholeheartedly: Credo in unam sanctam catholicam
et apostolicam ecclesiam!"
Free to
Disagree with Pope
Two such practical decisions allowed by the Holy Father that I feel free
to speak out against are: "Communion in the Hand" and "Standing
for Communion". I am not free, however, to disobey; and therefore, I stand
for Communion wherever it is done by directive of the local bishop.
The subdivision in my ideas about obedience is obeying the higher
authority. If, even in practical decisions of the Church, a lower authority was
to advocate something against the practical teachings of the higher authority,
I would obey the higher authority. For instance, suppose you told all your
pastors to allow me to place a sign in the back of all the Churches stating
"Be Silent In Church - My House Is A House Of
Prayer", but a pastor refused to do so. I, in turn, would put up the sign
anyway, after first trying to convince the pastor to allow it. In doing so I
would be violating the lower authority (a canon law that required permission
from the pastor) in order to obey the higher authority, the bishop. This does
not imply, however, that because the pastor was wrong on this one point, his
authority is done away with, anymore than a father's authority is done away
with simply because he has a weakness (even sin) in some point.
Are All
Right?
Good Catholics, failing to grasp the importance and subtleties of
obedience, have given it up all together (the liberals) or confused it to the
point they obey no-one accept the Pope (the conservatives). This has come about
because of a historical chain of events that most people do not see connected.
At the turn of the Century, Edger Cayce found a way to mix Gnosticism with
"There should be room in the Church for many ideas. There should be
room for dissent and disagreement. We should love those who we do not agree
with. There should never be anger about anything. It is not important to be
right. It's more important to get along. Accept people as they are. A child has
the same rights as a parent. Women have the same rights as men. Priests have
the same rights as Bishops."
Enforced
Authority
All of this sounds good and has been accepted by the vast majority of
Americans, Catholic and non-Catholic. But the result is acceptance of
homosexuality, and the destruction of the patriarchal system established by God
to the point that even those in authority have lost all authority (as in the
case of fathers) or are afraid to enforce that authority (as in the case of the
Pope and the bishops). Authority without enforcement is no authority at all.
This has happened to fathers and mothers through secular law. It has almost
happened to policemen through many laws. Stripped of all enforcement powers,
husbands can no longer hold a family together, and only 34% of marriages
survive today in America. Stripped of all enforcement powers, mothers and
schoolteachers have lost all authority and the results are on television
everyday. But the sad thing is that the Pope and bishops have not been stripped
of their power of enforcement, they just gave it up without a fight.
"Ours is, I believe,
the period of the greatest crisis the Church has ever faced, a period in which
the anathema has become unpopular and is unfortunately considered as
incompatible with charity, in which authority is discredited and many prelates
do not use their authority to discipline priests who are teaching heresies. In
such a period, every faithful Catholic who is fully devoted to
The concept of obedience has been: destroyed by secular laws with the
excuse of creating equality, destroyed by toleration, destroyed by a false
concept of love (meaning acceptance instead of doing good), destroyed by those
in authority who do not use enforcement. Again - authority
without enforcement is no authority at all.
"
"No!"
"
"No!"
Authority without enforcement is no authority at all.
The feminists (an acceptable name for Sophists) have convinced almost
every bishop that if they cannot become priests, they should be allowed to hold
positions of the highest authority they can as a pay-back. This has happened
all across the nation as women are running the parishes and the chancellery
offices in the highest positions even when they were not the best qualified. Female
affirmative action will destroy the Church in this country.
Which Bishop to Obey
This brings us to the people we are fighting. They
do not believe in obedience to bishops, because the bishops do not believe in
obedience to bishops. When a bishop in
This toleration of disobedience by those in authority is our biggest
thorn. The biggest reason we have not already won this war, is toleration
and disobedience by those in authority. What do I hope from you? Respect
for the rights of other bishops and obedience to the Holy Father!
Protecting the Honor and Reputation of Our Lady
Protecting Our Lord in the Eucharist
Protecting the Patriarchal Church
Rick Salbato
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