Every Pope knows that he lives and works in an historical context. Unlike the rest of us, his daily duties and administrative tasks – both large and small - will fill the pages of history books that future scholars, and even subsequent Pontiffs, may consult for guidance and direction. One would think that this Scholar- Pope, Benedict XVI, must himself be an historian at heart who is sensitive to his place in history.
He has certainly suggested that when he publicly pondered, not without significant controversy, the words of an ancient Byzantine ruler who asked what had Islam brought to humankind beside Jihad. The Holy Father was right to ask the question in today’s historical context and his essential point, despite typical Muslim overreaction, was worthy of consideration.
Notwithstanding that flap, history is a resource that could serve our Pope again at this time. I believe the Holy Father should consider the convictions and methods of yet another towering figure of the past who had the right idea of how to lead in a crisis, indeed in a war, and especially when his subordinates were not supporting the mission. Only our Lord Jesus Christ has had more written about Him than the American war time leader I have in mind.
Let there be no mistake – Pope Benedict is the leader of a Church in crisis. With all due respect to the Holy Father, I think he would benefit from considering how our 16th President handled some very familiar personnel problems in the midst of another great crisis.
The Catholic Church is, in fact, in a war for the souls of its current children and for future generations with its enemies assailing it from both outside and inside its walls. Although Matthew 16:18 assures us that the “gates of Hell shall not prevail” in the enemy’s attempted destruction of this Church Christ Himself founded, the fear is for the eternal loss of the countless souls that the Church is unable to save in the midst of the ongoing battles and internal treason.
Easily researched statistics prove that the Church has, since the close of the Second Vatican Council, obviously lost much of its previous ability, credibility and resolve to lead human kind to eternal salvation. The Modernist takeover of the Church’s sacramental life has predictably put the Church in a liturgical tailspin and few Catholics today have even the basic catechetical knowledge, much less the sanctifying grace, that Catholics in ages past have relied on to keep lit that flame of faith in their communities, in their homes, and in their own hearts. The dispatches from the front –where we all live – are quite bleak and the progressive enemy is on the march.
Not since Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War has a “Commander in Chief” been so poorly served by the leaders he, and his predecessor, had appointed to help serve and save the institution which he was elected to lead. Lincoln’s chronic burden during the Civil War was to find a general he could count on to embrace the President’s sense of the mission and continually take the fight to the enemy.
The President himself, like the Pope, could not be on every field of battle but, with the right supreme general officer diligently guiding subordinate officers with the troops in the field, and tending to the proper tactics and details, the tide of victory could be changed.
Lincoln was not afraid to dump a General who was not getting the job done for the Union army. First there was General Irvin McDowell, he was replaced by George B. McClellan, then came John Pope, then McClellan again, to be followed by Ambrose E. Burnside, Joseph Hooker, George G. Meade, and then, finally, Ulysses S. Grant.
The President was forced to make these changes after witnessing insubordination, ineffectiveness and, at times, total incompetence. The Pope today must know the feeling. Fortunately for the President, and the United States of America, Lincoln was able to settle on one man who accepted the mission with the resolve to see the job to the end. The rest, as they say, is history.
Rome correspondent Hilary White, writing for LifeSiteNews.com, reported on February 5, 2010, that Scottish bishops, in town for their “ad limina” visit with the Holy Father, received “another stern talking to” by the Pope. The news from the front was that the battle for souls was not going well in Scotland. In the same week the bishops of England and Wales were also told that they must “grapple” with the “increasing tide of secularism”.
Apparently, the fight for the faith was not going any better in England and Wales than it was in Scotland. Of course, those of us who follow these stories know that we could add many more countries to this sad list of nations where the Catholic faith was being drowned out by you-name-it. In this real world war it is difficult to find a country where the armies of the Pope are advancing in victory.
The Pope specifically told the Scottish bishops: ”Pastors of the Church, therefore, must continually call the faithful to complete fidelity to the Church’s Magisterium, while at the same time upholding and defending the Church’s right to live freely in society according to her beliefs.” ( At this point one could go on for pages to explore how the post-conciliar Church through its Modernist-inspired documents, dissenting theologians, formerly “Catholic” Universities, gay-dominated seminaries and new-age religious communities, have certainly failed to maintain “complete fidelity to the Church’s Magisterium” as the Magisterium’s teachings were well settled and understood prior to Vatican II.)
Be that as it may, in his meeting with these failing ecclesiastical generals, Benedict showed his understandable displeasure by omitting the usual expressions of happy collegiality when he reminded the bishops of the link between the world’s dioceses and the seat of the Church’s authority in Rome – the See of Peter.
When Lincoln was frustrated by General McClellan’s failure to march his enormous army into battle, the President famously wrote the General: “Since you are not using your army right now, do you mind if I borrow it for a time?” Sounding a little like a frustrated President Lincoln speaking to a general who was not getting with the program, the Pope spoke of the connection each bishop has with the Successor of Peter as “the reality that lies at the heart of every Catholic diocese”. The Pope reminded the bishops that “pastoral initiatives that take due account of this essential dimension bring authentic renewal.” Translation: do not ignore the Pontifical Commander in Chief’s agenda and replace it with your own contrary programs.
Much has been written about the debate concerning the three options describing the authority of the Pope vis-à-vis the College of Bishops as debated with Lumen Gentium at the Second Vatican Council. In my book Cleansing Fire – Welcome to the New Spring Time, I have considered this topic in some detail (see pages 331-333). However, no one knows this controversy better than the former Father Joseph Ratzinger – a peritus or advisor with Modernists Hans Kung and Karl Rahner at Vatican II - long before he became Pope Benedict XVI.
Perhaps Pope Ratzinger now regrets the boulders he helped set in motion at the Council which tended to roll through and crush the well established and generally recognized authority of the Pope to control and reduce the mischief which dissenting theologians and bishops spread by disregarding the tradition-supporting leadership of Rome. But the real point here is that these same uncooperative bishops were appointed by either Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI himself – both enthusiastic supporters of Vatican II.
Unfortunately, these same bishops, confidently appointed by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI, are obviously not leading the troops of the Church where their elected leader wants them to go. Just another “stern talking to” by the Pope will apparently not get these bishops to respect the Pope’s wishes. Perhaps the Pope should ask himself, then: WWLD –“what would Lincoln do?” If these bishops do not know how to fight for the faith by now – or if they haven’t the stomach for the fight in any case – why are they still in command in the field? The Church’s mission is now at stake. The eternal destination of the souls of future generations is at stake! The Holy Father has really one option – force some episcopal retirements.
Is the preservation of the faith in the 21st century worth the forced retirement of even a large number of bad bishops? If a corporation can close a plant and lay off a thousand hardworking men and women to preserve mere profit, why should not this Pope replace a thousand bad bishops with a thousand hand-picked faithful new ones to preserve the Catholic Church? In response to such poor performance or serious treachery by the notorious Bishops in any and every diocese throughout the world, the Pope can and must sacrifice collegiality for competence, treachery for Tradition, failure for faith.
On page 686 of my book Cleansing Fire - Welcome to the New Springtime, I even suggest the provisions of Canon Law that the Pope can cite to back him up when he makes the right choice to start printing episcopal pink slips by the gross. Perhaps he can even start a fast track training program for future bishops by admitting all of those good men denied entrance into the pathetic, heterodox seminaries run by the feminist nuns with the active gay agendas.
Lincoln would not hesitate to fire those dysfunctional subordinates who failed to do their job and all he had to do was win a war and save the union before the next election. What would he have done if he was fighting for the eternal life of his citizens? This Pope has tried to reason with his bishops and convince them to do the right thing for the Church. The time has come for this Pope to consider which bishops are really not on his side – and act accordingly!
Peter B. Kelly is an attorney and the author of the novel Cleansing Fire.
Info: www.cleansingfire-thenovel.com
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