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Against Interfaith Gatherings

Also See: Ecumenism (Topic Page)

"'The Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics. There is but one way in which the unity of Christians may be fostered, and that is by furthering the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it; for from that one true Church they have in the past fallen away." (Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos)

The traditional term for those who "knowingly and willfully help to propagate heresy or who hold comminicatio in sacris ('Catholics actively and publicly joined in divine worship with non-Catholics') with heretics" is "suspect of heresy". (Catholic Dictionary)

"With this object, congresses, meetings and addresses are arranged, attended by a large concourse of hearers, where all without distinction, unbelievers of every kind as well as Christians, even those who unhappily have rejected Christ and denied His divine nature or mission, are invited to join in the discussion. Now such efforts can meet with no kind of approval from Catholics. They presuppose the erroneous view that all religions are more or less good and praiseworthy... Those who hold such a view are not only in error; they distort the true idea of religion, and thus reject it, falling gradually into naturalism and atheism. To favor this opinion, therefore, and to encourage such undertakings is tantamount to abandoning the religion revealed by God." (Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos)

"Can. 1325 § 3 Let Catholics beware lest they have debates or conferences, especially public ones, with non-Catholics without having come to the Holy See or, if the case is urgent, to the local Ordinary." (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Nay, rather, unless forced by necessity to do otherwise, Catholics ought to prefer to associate with Catholics, a course which will be very conducive to the safeguarding of their faith." (Pope Leo XIII, "Longinqua", 1895)

"Do not be yoked with those who are different, with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What accord has Christ with Beliar? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said: 'I will live with them and move among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come forth from them and be separate,' says the Lord, 'and touch nothing unclean; then I will receive you and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me', says the Lord Almighty." (St. Paul, 2 Cor. 6:14-18)

"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach (to you) a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed! Am I now currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ. Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ." (St. Paul, Gal. 1:8-12]

"For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk. Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist. Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense. Anyone who is so "progressive" as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him in your house or even greet him; for whoever greets him shares in his evil works." (St. John, 2 Jn. 1:6-11)

"After a first and second warning, break off contact with a heretic, realizing that such a person is perverted and sinful and stands self-condemned." (St. Paul, Ti. 3:10-11)

Also See: Non-Catholics (Reflections) | Coming Home (Reflections)

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Associations

Can. 215 Christ's faithful may freely establish and direct associations which serve charitable or pious purposes or which foster the Christian vocation in the world, and they may hold meetings to pursue these purposes by common effort. (1983 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 691 § 3 No association is allowed to collect alms, unless permitted by the statues or necessity suggests it, and then with the consent of the Ordinary and following the form prescribed by him. § 4 For the collection of alms outside of [its] territory, there is required the approval of each Ordinary, given in writing. § 5 The association shall give to the local Ordinary an accounting of the offerings and alms from the faithful. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 693 § 1 Non-Catholics and those who belong to condemned sects, or those notoriously under censure, or general public sinners, cannot be validly received [into lay associations]. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 700 Three kinds of associations are distinguished in the Church: third Order seculars, Confraternities, [and] pious unions. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 701 § 1 Among pious associations of laity, the order of precedence is that which follows, with due regard for the prescription of Canon 106, nn. 5-6: 1° Third Orders; 2° Archconfraternities; 3° Confraternities; 4° Primary pious unions; 5° Other pious unions. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 707 § 1 Associations of the faithful that are erected for the exercise of some pious or charitable work come by the name pious union; those that are constituted in the manner of an organic body are called sodalities. § 2 Sodalities erected for the increase of public cult are called by the special name confraternity. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 710 The title or name of the confraternity or pious union should be taken either from an attribute of God, or from the mysteries of Christian religion, or from a feast of the Lord or the Blessed Virgin Mary, or from the Saints, or from a pious work of the sodality. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 720 Sodalities that by law are able to be aggregated to others or with associations of the same kind are called archsodalities or archconfraternities or pious unions, congregations, [or] primary societies. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 721 § 1 No association can validly aggregate itself to another without Apostolic indult. § 2 Archconfraternities and primary unions can only aggregate themselves to archconfraternities and pious unions that are of the same title or end, unless Apostolic indult arranges otherwise. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 725 The title archsodality or archconfraternity or primary union, even if it is merely honorary, can be granted to an association only by the Apostolic See. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Now, with regard to entering societies, extreme care should be taken not to be ensnared by error. And We wish to be understood as referring in a special manner to the working classes, who assuredly have the right to unite in associations for the promotion of their interests; a right acknowledged by the Church and unopposed by nature. But it is very important to take heed with whom they are to associate, lest whilst seeking aid for the improvement of their condition they may be imperiling far weightier interests. The most effectual precaution against this peril is to determine with themselves at no time or in any matter to be parties to the violation of justice. Any society, therefore, which is ruled by and servilely obeys persons who are not steadfast for the right and friendly to religion is capable of being extremely prejudicial to the interests as well of individuals as of the community; beneficial it cannot be. Let this conclusion, therefore, remain firm - to shun not only those associations which have been openly condemned by the judgment of the Church, but those also which, in the opinion of intelligent men, and especially of the bishops, are regarded as suspicious and dangerous." (Pope Leo XIII, "Longinqua", 1895)

"Now, whosoever of the faithful have piously pondered on all these things must need be inflamed with the charity of Christ in His agony and make a more vehement endeavor to expiate their own faults and those of others, to repair the honor of Christ, and to promote the eternal salvation of souls. And indeed that saying of the Apostle: 'Where sin abounded, grace did more abound' (Romans v, 20) may be used in a manner to describe this present age; for while the wickedness of men has been greatly increased, at the same time, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, a marvelous increase has been made in the number of the faithful of both sexes who with eager mind endeavor to make satisfaction for the many injuries offered to the Divine Heart, nay more they do not hesitate to offer themselves to Christ as victims. For indeed if any one will lovingly dwell on those things of which we have been speaking, and will have them deeply fixed in his mind, it cannot be but he will shrink with horror from all sin as from the greatest evil, and more than this he will yield himself wholly to the will of God, and will strive to repair the injured honor of the Divine Majesty, as well by constantly praying, as by voluntary mortifications, by patiently bearing the afflictions that befall him, and lastly by spending his whole life in this exercise of expiation. And for this reason also there have been established many religious families of men and women whose purpose it is by earnest service, both by day and by night, in some manner to fulfill the office of the Angel consoling Jesus in the garden; hence come certain associations of pious men, approved by the Apostolic See and enriched with indulgences, who take upon themselves this same duty of making expiation, a duty which is to be fulfilled by fitting exercises of devotion and of the virtues; hence lastly, to omit other things, come the devotions and solemn demonstrations for the purpose of making reparation to the offended Divine honor, which are inaugurated everywhere, not only by pious members of the faithful, but by parishes, dioceses and cities." (Pope Pius XI, "Miserentissimus Redemptor", 1928)

Also See: Priests/Vocations (Reflections)

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Modernists & Public Gatherings

Also See: Modernism (Topic Page)

"We have already mentioned congresses and public gatherings as among the means used by the Modernists to propagate and defend their opinions. " (Pope St. Pius X, "Pascendi Dominici Gregis", 1907)

"And here we have already some of the artifices employed by Modernists to exploit their wares. What efforts they make to win new recruits! They seize upon chairs in the seminaries and universities, and gradually make of them chairs of pestilence. From these sacred chairs they scatter, though not always openly, the seeds of their doctrines; they proclaim their teachings without disguise in congresses; they introduce them and make them the vogue in social institutions. Under their own names and under pseudonyms they publish numbers of books, newspapers, reviews, and sometimes one and the same writer adopts a variety of pseudonyms to trap the incautious reader into believing in a whole multitude of Modernist writers - in short they leave nothing untried, in action, discourses, writings, as though there were a frenzy of propaganda upon them." (Pope St. Pius X, "Pascendi Dominici Gregis", 1907)

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Processions / Eucharistic Processions

Also See: Holy Eucharist (Topic Page)

"The holy Synod declares, moreover, that very piously and religiously was this custom introduced into the Church, that this sublime and venerable Sacrament be, with special veneration and solemnity, celebrated, every year, on a certain day, and that a festival; and that it be borne reverently and with honor in processions through the streets, and public places. For it is most just that there be certain appointed holy days, whereon all Christians may, with a special and unusual demonstration, testify that their minds are grateful and thankful to their common Lord and Redeemer for so ineffable and truly divine a benefit, whereby the victory and triumph of His death are represented. And so indeed did it behoove victorious truth to celebrate a triumph over falsehood and heresy, that thus her adversaries, at the sight of so much splendor, and in the midst of so great joy of the universal Church, may either pine away weakened and broken; or, touched with shame and confounded, at length repent." (Council of Trent)

Can. 944 §1 When it can be done in the judgment of the diocesan bishop, a procession through the public streets is to be held as a public witness of veneration toward the Most Holy Eucharist, especially on the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. §2 It is for the diocesan bishop to establish regulations which provide for the participation in and the dignity of processions. (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"We gave audience also to many thousands of the faithful and blessed with Our fatherly blessing large and dignified representations of that immense family 'from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation' as we read in the Book of the Apocalypse, (v, 9) which God has confided to Us. Together with them We were privileged to assist at spectacles which were little short of divine, for We witnessed Our Blessed Redeemer reassume His rightful place as King of all men, of all states, and of all nations when, though hidden behind the veils of the Eucharistic species, He was carried in a magnificent and truly royal triumph of faith through the streets of Our own city, Rome, accompanied by an immense concourse of people representing every nation on earth." (Pope Pius XI, "Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio", 1922)

"Today we wish to glorify in a special way, we wish to adore by a solemn and public act, this Bread and this Chalice, through which we share in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. All that we do: this most holy Sacrifice which we now celebrate and this Eucharistic procession which will then pass through some Roman streets: all this has as its only purpose this: to glorify this Bread and this Chalice, through which the Church shares in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. 'Jerusalem, praise your God'." (Homily of Pope John Paul II, Eucharistic procession from St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major, 1984)

"By reflecting on the mystery, how much one can understand the jealous love with which the Church guards this treasure of inestimable value! And how logical and natural it seems that Christians, during the course of their history, have felt the need to express, even externally, their joy and gratitude for the reality of such a great gift. They have become aware of the fact that the celebration of this divine mystery could not be confined within the walls of a temple, however ample and artistic it might be, but that it was necessary to carry it on the roads of the world, because he who was veiled by the fragile appearance of the Host came on earth precisely to be 'the life of the world' (Jn. 6:51). Thus was born the Corpus Christi procession, which the Church has now celebrated for many centuries with a completely special solemnity and joy. Soon we too will be in procession through the streets of our city. We will wend our way with songs and prayers, carrying with us the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord. We will go among the houses, the schools, the workshops, the stores. We will go where men's lives burn, where their passions stir, where their conflicts explode, where their sufferings are experienced and their hopes blossom. We will go to testify with humble joy that in that little white Host there is the answer to the most worrisome questions, there is comfort for every most torturing pain, there is, in pledge, satisfaction for that burning thirst for happiness and love that each one carries within himself, in the secret of his heart. We will go out through the city, we will pass among the people assailed by thousands of everyday problems, we will go to meet these brothers and sisters of ours and we will show the Sacrament of Christ's presence to all: 'Behold the Bread of Angels, the Bread of Pilgrims, True Bread of Children.'" (Homily of Pope John Paul II, Eucharistic procession from St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major, 1983)

"Now, the Church in the course of centuries has introduced various forms of this worship which are ever increasing in beauty and helpfulness: as, for example, visits of devotion to the tabernacles, even every day; benediction of the Blessed Sacrament; solemn processions, especially at the time of Eucharistic Congress, which pass through cities and villages; and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament publicly exposed. Sometimes these public acts of adoration are of short duration. Sometimes they last for one, several and even for forty hours. In certain places they continue in turn in different churches throughout the year, while elsewhere adoration is perpetual day and night, under the care of religious communities, and the faithful quite often take part in them. These exercises of piety have brought a wonderful increase in faith and supernatural life to the Church militant upon earth and they are reechoed to a certain extent by the Church triumphant in heaven which sings continually a hymn of praise to God and to [Christ] 'who was slain.' Wherefore, the Church not merely approves these pious practices, which in the course of centuries have spread everywhere throughout the world, but makes them her own, as it were, and by her authority commends them. They spring from the inspiration of the liturgy and if they are performed with due propriety and with faith and piety, as the liturgical rules of the Church require, they are undoubtedly of the very greatest assistance in living the life of the liturgy." (Pope Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 1947)

Can. 1290 § 1 By the name of sacred processions is signified those solemn supplications that the faithful populace, led by clerics, make in [some] order from a sacred place to a sacred place, for the excitement of faithful piety, to commemorate the beneficence of God and to give him thanks, and to implore divine help. § 2 They are [called] ordinary that are made on set days during the year according to liturgical books or the custom of churches; [those are called] extraordinary that are indicated for public causes on other days. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

Can. 1295 Ordinaries will take care that from sacred processions there be removed any bad practices, if there are any, and that they proceed in an orderly manner and with modesty and reverence observed by all, as greatly befits pious and religious acts of this sort. (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"In processions outside the church the Ordinary may give permission for a band, provided no profane pieces be executed. It would be desirable in such cases that the band confine itself to accompanying some spiritual canticle sung in Latin or in the vernacular by the singers and the pious associations which take part in the procession." (Pope St. Pius X, "Inter Sollicitudines", 1925)

Also See: Sacraments (Reflections)

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Misc.

"No homage is more agreeable to [the Blessed Virgin Mary], none is sweeter to her than that we should know and really love Jesus Christ. Let then crowds fill the churches - let solemn feasts be celebrated and public rejoicings be made: these are things eminently suited for enlivening our faith. But unless heart and will be added, they will all be empty forms, mere appearances of piety. At such a spectacle, the Virgin, borrowing the words of Jesus Christ, would address us with the just reproach: 'This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me' (Matth. xv., 8)." (Pope St. Pius X, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum", 1904)

"Take special care that as many as possible, not only of the clergy but of the laity and especially those in religious organizations and in the ranks of Catholic Action, take part in monthly days of recollection and in retreats of longer duration made with a view to growing in virtue. As We have previously stated, such spiritual exercises are most useful and even necessary to instill into souls solid virtue, and to strengthen them in sanctity so as to be able to derive from the sacred liturgy more efficacious and abundant benefits." (Pope Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 1947)

"It is well known to Us with what deep interest vast numbers of spectators gaze at television programs of Catholic events. It is obvious, of course, - as We declared a few years ago - that to be present at Mass portrayed by Television is not the same as being actually present at the Divine Sacrifice, as is of obligation on holy days. However, from religious ceremonies, as seen on Television, valuable fruits for the strengthening of the Faith and the renewal of fervor can be obtained by all those who, for some reason, are unable to be actually present; consequently, We are convinced that We may wholeheartedly commend programs of this kind. In each country, it will be for the Bishops to judge of the suitability of televised religious programs, and commit their execution to the established Office, which, of course, as in similar matters, will be active and alert to publish information, to instruct the minds of the audience, and to organize and coordinate everything in a manner in keeping with Christian morals." (Pope Pius XII, "Miranda Prorsus", 1957)

Can. 1369 A person is to be punished with a just penalty, who, at a public event or assembly, or in a published writing, or by otherwise using the means of social communication, utters blasphemy, or gravely harms good morals, or expresses insults or excites hatred or contempt against religion or the Church (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Catholic Action is in effect a social apostolate also, inasmuch as its object is to spread the Kingdom of Jesus Christ not only among individuals, but also in families and in society. It must, therefore, make it a chief aim to train its members with special care and to prepare them to fight the battles of the Lord. This task of formation, now more urgent and indispensable than ever, which must always precede direct action in the field, will assuredly be served by study-circles, conferences, lecture-courses and the various other activities undertaken with a view to making known the Christian solution of the social problem." (Pope Pius XI, "Divini Redemptoris", 1937)

"But some through enthusiasm for an imprudent 'eirenism' seem to consider as an obstacle to the restoration of fraternal union, things founded on the laws and principles given by Christ and likewise on institutions founded by Him, or which are the defense and support of the integrity of the faith, and the removal of which would bring about the union of all, but only to their destruction. These new opinions, whether they originate from a reprehensible desire of novelty or from a laudable motive, are not always advanced in the same degree, with equal clarity nor in the same terms, nor always with unanimous agreement of their authors. Theories that today are put forward rather covertly by some, not without cautions and distinctions, tomorrow are openly and without moderation proclaimed by others more audacious, causing scandal to many, especially among the young clergy and to the detriment of ecclesiastical authority. Though they are usually more cautious in their published works, they express themselves more openly in their writings intended for private circulation and in conferences and lectures. Moreover, these opinions are disseminated not only among members of the clergy and in seminaries and religious institutions, but also among the laity, and especially among those who are engaged in teaching youth. In theology some want to reduce to a minimum the meaning of dogmas; and to free dogma itself from terminology long established in the Church and from philosophical concepts held by Catholic teachers, to bring about a return in the explanation of Catholic doctrine to the way of speaking used in Holy Scripture and by the Fathers of the Church. They cherish the hope that when dogma is stripped of the elements which they hold to be extrinsic to divine revelation, it will compare advantageously with the dogmatic opinions of those who are separated from the unity of the Church and that in this way they will gradually arrive at a mutual assimilation of Catholic dogma with the tenets of the dissidents... Unfortunately these advocates of novelty easily pass from despising scholastic theology to the neglect of and even contempt for the Teaching Authority of the Church itself, which gives such authoritative approval to scholastic theology. This Teaching Authority is represented by them as a hindrance to progress and an obstacle in the way of science. Some non-Catholics consider it as an unjust restraint preventing some more qualified theologians from reforming their subject. And although this sacred Office of Teacher in matters of faith and morals must be the proximate and universal criterion of truth for all theologians, since to it has been entrusted by Christ Our Lord the whole deposit of faith - Sacred Scripture and divine Tradition - to be preserved, guarded and interpreted, still the duty that is incumbent on the faithful to flee also those errors which more or less approach heresy, and accordingly 'to keep also the constitutions and decrees by which such evil opinions are proscribed and forbidden by the Holy See,' is sometimes as little known as if it did not exist. What is expounded in the Encyclical Letters of the Roman Pontiffs concerning the nature and constitution of the Church, is deliberately and habitually neglected by some with the idea of giving force to a certain vague notion which they profess to have found in the ancient Fathers, especially the Greeks." (Pope Pius XII, "Humani Generis", 1950)

"As Our predecessors have many times repeated, let no man think that he may for any reason whatsoever join the Masonic sect, if he values his Catholic name and his eternal salvation as he ought to value them. Let no one be deceived by a pretense of honesty. It may seem to some that Freemasons demand nothing that is openly contrary to religion and morality; but, as the whole principle and object of the sect lies in what is vicious and criminal, to join with these men or in any way to help them cannot be lawful." (Pope Leo XIII, "Humanum Genus", 1884)

[Question:] "Whether the doctrines, which today are called theosophical, can be in harmony with Catholic doctrine; and thus whether it is permitted to join theosophical societies, attend their meetings, and read their books, daily papers, journals, and writings. - Reply: In the negative in all cases." (Reply of the Holy Office, July 18, 1919 A.D.) 

"Every Christian should shun books and journals which distill the poison of impiety and which stir up the fire of unrestrained desires or sensual passions. Groups and reading clubs where the Masonic spirit stalks its [intended victims] should be likewise shunned." (Pope Leo XIII, "Custodi Di Quella Fede", 1892) 

"Can. 2344 Whoever gives injury to the Roman Pontiff, a Cardinal of the H.R.C., a Legate of the Roman Pontiff, to Sacred Roman Congregations, Tribunals of the Apostolic See, and their major Officials, and their own Ordinary by public journals, sermons, or pamphlets whether directly or indirectly, or who excites animosity or odium against their acts, decrees, decisions, or sentences shall be punished by an Ordinary not only at the request of a party but even by office with censures and, or order to accomplish satisfaction, other appropriate penalties and penances for the gravity of the fault and the repair of scandal." (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Books and journals, schools and universities, clubs and theaters, monuments and political discourse, photographs and the fine arts, everything conspires to pervert minds and corrupt hearts." (Pope Leo XIII, "Custodi Di Quella Fede", 1892) 

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