BREAKING: Rorate Caeli – Canonist’s Revolt

22 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by S. Armaticus in Synod of Bishops'

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"theological structuring", ABERRO AGENDA, aberro-sex agenda, Andrea Gagliarducci, Archbihop Victor Manuel Fernandez, Big Gender, Card. Muller, Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, Cardinal Burke, Catholic Church, Ed Peters, Eponymous Flower blog, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, Fr. Z, Francis Effect, Game Theory, Genderism, Great Cardinal, Harvesting the Fruits blog, heretical pope, hippies, Jesuits, John Nash, John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger, latae sententiae, Louie Verrecchio, messeging, Modernists, MondayVatican blog, MSM, narratives, Nash Equilibrium, neo-modernism, Neo-Pagan, new springtime, optics, Pagan Christians, pathological, Polls, Pope Francis, Raymond Burke, risk event, Roman Curia, s Benedict XVI, s Bergoglio, Soap Bubble Papacy™, spirit of Vatican II, SSPX, State of Necessity, supplied jurisdiction, sustainability, Synod 2014, Team Bergoglio, The Ottaviani Intervention, Thomism, Tradition, TransRational, Truth, Vatican, Vatican II

This post that I am reproducing below appeared yesterday on the Rorate Caeli blog. I think it is of huge significance, just as Rorate Caeli suggests. The original can be read here, and I am re-posting this…

FOR THE RECORD

Catholic Divorce – Canonical critiques of annulment reform are piling up: Will the Vatican, the bishops, and the Francis “Amen corner” listen?

T -13: Moving The Goal Posts – Reblog

22 Tuesday Sep 2015

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Today I am re-blogging a post I published at the beginning of June. Since we are under a forthight to the start of the the Stealth Sex Synod of 2015, your humble blogger will be focusing on the TRUE AGENDA of this bi-synod process, i.e. Introducing Gender into the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Code of Canon Law.

The reason that I am reblogging today is due to a very good post on the background of the Moving The Goal Posts post that appeared on the always excellant Dallas Area Catholics blog (see here). These two post, when read together provide very concise and insightful context of where we are today and how we got here.

The Deus Ex Machina Blog

In yesterday’s post, (see here) we provided the background and definitive proof for the hypothesis in which we posited as early as on the 18th of December 2014, that it was the promotion of the aberro-sexual agenda, i.e. all forms of sexual activity that are considered “intrinsically and or morally disordered”, that was the TRUE AGENDA of TEAMFRANCIS at the Secret Synod of 2014. Our hypothesis turned out to be correct and definitively confirmed by the “instigator” of the entire Synod process at the 2014 Consistory, the FrancisCardinal Walter Kasper. It was with a speech at this Consistory that FranCard. Kasper set the process in motion, a speech that laid out what we have labeled as the Bergoglian/Kasperian “theology done on the knees”.

Today we dig a bit deeper into the “closed-door meeting, masterminded by the German bishops’ conference under the leadership of Cardinal Marx”…

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T -17: Cleaning the Slate

18 Friday Sep 2015

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As I was getting ready to write today’s post, I ran through the latest news coming out in the Catholic world, and what did I find? Translations of the latest article written by Antonio Socci, appeared on both the Rorate Caeli blog (see here) as well as the Eponymous Flower blog (see here) appeared yesterday. On an aside, if a news story appears at both of these blogs simultaneously, then you know that it is news.

But back to the matter at hand. Today we will look at a secondary consideration, a minor premise of sorts that is driving the bishop of Rome and his associates, also known as TEAMFRANCIS.

As we have established to date, it is the need for BODIES at the FRANCISEVENTS that is at the crux of the Francis’ problem. As we have explained in our post titled Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting (see here), the Francis pontificate is nothing more than a creation of the Catholic and mainstream MEDIA. Nothing more than a VIRTUAL REALITY. Since the Francis pontificate is a creation of the MEDIA, it is also beholden to that MEDIA for its very survival. For the MEDIA to prop up the Francis pontificate, it needs to be able to keep up appearances (see here) that Francis is, as up to now presented, THE MOST “LUV-ED” POPE, EVAH.

However, the attendance figures for Francis’ general audiences and those attending FRANCISEVENTS on St. Peter’s Square are completely destroying this VIRTUAL REALITY that is the MEDIA created Francis pontificate. The Catholic hierarchy at the Vatican knows this. Actually, it was the Vatican that spilled the beans, so to speak about just this situation this past August. (see here) To capture the essence of the situation, here is the relevant part from the Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting post:

If in turn, the Faithful do not start appearing at the Francis functions, like the one in Philadelphia, then the media, who have been anxious from the beginning to credit Francis for revolutions that never took place or for changes that came to be during his pontificate only thanks to the huge amount of work carried out during the previous pontificates, will not be able to maintain the current narrative.

The above being the case, what can now be observed is Francis pulling out all the stops to make the attendance figures HAPPEN. This is how we describe the situation:

In order to generate “buzz” and get people back into St. Peter’s Square and Francis’ audiences, Francis and his advisors are trying to grovel to a “special interest group” who they seem to think is quite large. This group is the public adulterers. This “special interest” group is needed to put bodies into the Francis events so that the media can continue their artificial narrative of Francis, the popular Pontiff of Mercy.

And with the manner in which the Moto Propio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus was written and promulgated, it would appear that they have to make those ATTENDANCE FIGURES HAPPEN FAST!

The speed with which the Moto Propio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus was written and promulgated, as explained in our last post titled Francis’ Need For Speed (see here) was nothing short of revolutionary in its own right. It was so revolutionary in fact, that it de facto opened the door for ALL Catholic marriages to be considered OBJECTIVELY ANNULLED. With the LEGAL/SUBJECTIVE annulment being a short 30 to 45 days later, If requested, that is. But more on this later.

So this sets the stage for today.

With the advent of the Stealth Sex Synod™ of 2015 coming up in 17 days time, it would appear that the time has come for Francis to MAKE IT HAPPEN. It would appear that the MEDIA, which has “been anxious from the beginning to credit Francis for revolutions that never took place”, needs some evidence that the Catholic Faithful still luv Francis and are only a hop, skip and a jump away from returning to the various FRANCISEVENTS.

On the other hand, if the MEDIA is forced to start portraying the Francis pontificate according to the OBJECTIVE REALITY (attracting less than 20% the attendance figures of the Benedict pontificate in its last year) (see here), not only will the Francis Soap Bubble Papacy™ burst, but with it any support for a SON OF FRANCIS successor that TEAM BERGOLIO (remember them?) are lining up post Francis. (see here – starts at the 17th paragraph)

It is this second consideration, i.e. the survival of the FRANCIS REVOLUTION and what comes after, that the fighting inside the Vatican’s Sacred Walls is all about.

Therefore, there is a NEED FOR SPEED on Francis’ part and not only. The text above clearly demonstrates this point. So it would appear that Francis and his advisors are pulling out all the stops. The NEED FOR SPEED MOTO PROPRIO is just the latest NOVALTY. To be more precise, what TEAMFRANCIS has produced is a catalogue of “causes for annulment” that accurately could be described as a “catch-all”. TEAMFRANCIS appears willing to do anything in order to generate this “immeasurable [number] of unfortunates who might have a declaration of nullity”.

We are talking MILLIONS OF ANULLMENTS!

Which brings us to the “why” and to the Antonio Socci article whose translation appeared on the Rorate Caeli blog. (once again, see here) In the post, we find the following information which quotes an earlier article by Roberto de Mattei:

De Mattei writes: “Cardinal Burke recalled a catastrophic experience. In the United States from July 1971, the so-called Provisional Norms came into effect, which eliminated de facto the obligatory double conforming sentences. The result was that the Episcopal Conference did not negate one single request for dispensation among the hundreds of thousands received, and, in the common perception, this process began to be called “Catholic Divorce”.

There is not the least bit of doubt, that for the purposes of our analysis, the operative phrase is the “hundreds of thousands (of annulments) received”.

The reason that we are treating it as a SECONDARY CONSIDERATION is that this “FLOW” will not materialize before the Stealth Sex Synod™ of 2015, but only after the moto proprio goes into effect. Which also explains the short vacatio legis. But I digress…

To support that which is written above please consider the following passage from the Socci article:

That Christ wanted an “immeasurable” number of annulments is completely unheard of. Yet it is now clear that the goal of the Motu Proprio is large-scale divorce – much quicker, cheaper and easier than State divorce (there are already those who are trying to figure out whether divorce is [more] convenient through priests).

“That Christ wanted an “immeasurable” number of annulments is completely unheard of” is definitely a OBJECTIVELY TRUE statement, but it is also an OBJECTIVELY TRUE statement that the bishop of Rome and the rest of TEAMFRANCIS desperately needs those “immeasurable” number of annulments to become an OBJECTIVE REALITY.

If in turn, the Faithful do not start appearing at the FRANCISEVENTS, like the one in Philadelphia, then the MEDIA, who have been anxious from the beginning to credit Francis for “revolutions that never took place or for changes that came to be during his pontificate only thanks to the huge amount of work carried out during the previous pontificates”, will not be able to maintain the current narrative.

And as we know from past experience, like in the US in the 1970’s as described by Cardinal Burke, they won’t.

Concluding today, what we see from the information above is just another confirmation of our hypothesis that the Francis pontificate is what we termed The Soap Bubble Papacy™. We have established that there can be no other reason for Francis wanting to GENERATE “immeasurable” number of annulments other than wanting to pander to the public adulterers, or what he and TEAMFRANCIS think is a large population of potential “ATTENDIES”.

Or so the thinking of TEAMFRANCIS goes.

The reason that we designated the situation with the writing and promulgation of the Moto Propio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus as a SECONDARY CONSIDERATION (minor premise) is that it will not generate the crowds needed at the FRANCISEVENTS in short order. Since the NEED FOR SPEED MOTO PROPRIO will only come into effect this December, it will take time for these public adulterers to apply for their FRANCISQUICKY. Then they will have to wait for the 30 to 45 day processing time.

However, this does not mean that the FRANCISQUICKY will not have an immediate impact. The immediate impact will be had at the Stealth Sex Synod™ of 2015. By promulgating the NEED FOR SPEED MOTO PROPRIO, what Francis has done is effectively made the communion of serial adulterers a non-issue. The reason for this is that through this unilateral papal act, and the wide catalogue of causes for the FRANCISQUICKY, especially the last cause listed, i.e. “ETC…”, any German who is presently a serial adulterer can regulate his “irregular status”, with his bishop’s consent, as early as January of 2016.

With this new state of affairs, what Francis has done is to eliminate two of the three contentious issues (including the concubinage issue, since all marriages can be easily annulled) from the Stealth Sex Synod™ discussion. This frees up the calendar for the synod bishops to take up the TRUE AGENDA behind the entire bi-synodal process (see here), i.e.

The INTRODUCTION OF THE GENDER IDEOLOGY INTO THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE CODE OF CANON LAW.

T -19: Francis’ Need For Speed

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by S. Armaticus in Synod of Bishops'

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"theological structuring", ABERRO AGENDA, aberro-sex agenda, Andrea Gagliarducci, Archbihop Victor Manuel Fernandez, Big Gender, Card. Muller, Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, Cardinal Burke, Catholic Church, Ed Peters, Eponymous Flower blog, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, Fr. Z, Francis Effect, Game Theory, Genderism, Great Cardinal, Harvesting the Fruits blog, heretical pope, hippies, Jesuits, John Nash, John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger, latae sententiae, Louie Verrecchio, messeging, Modernists, MondayVatican blog, MSM, narratives, Nash Equilibrium, neo-modernism, Neo-Pagan, new springtime, Novus Ordo Watch, optics, Pagan Christians, pathological, Polls, Pope Francis, Raymond Burke, risk event, Roman Curia, s Benedict XVI, s Bergoglio, Soap Bubble Papacy™, spirit of Vatican II, SSPX, State of Necessity, supplied jurisdiction, sustainability, Synod 2014, Team Bergoglio, The Ottaviani Intervention, Thomism, Tradition, TransRational, Truth, Vatican, Vatican II

Today we pick up where we left off in yesterday’s post. If you recall dear reader, in our previous post titled Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting, we laid out the arguments for what is behind the CIVIL WAR that is raging behind the Sacred Vatican Walls. On an aside, I would also like to mention that other commentators “on all things Vatican”, are also using the term CIVIL WAR. Remember where you read about it first!

But back to the subject at hand. As you recall, we left off yesterday’s post explaining the two FORCES driving the TRUE AGENDA behind the upcoming Stealth Sex Synod™ of Bishops of 2015 and more importantly, the entire Francis pontificate. We explained these FORCES as follows: (see here)

The Francis pontificate “has been until now more a media papacy than a real one”. This situation is creating problems since “the media have been anxious from the beginning to credit Francis for revolutions that never took place or for changes that came to be during his pontificate only thanks to the huge amount of work carried out during the previous pontificates”.

On the other hand, the Francis pontificate has become very unpopular in REAL TERMS among the Catholic Faithful. This last OBJECTIVE FACT can be observed through the attendance figures of the FAITHFUL, who come to the various FRANCISEVENTS. Figures obtained from various independent sources indicate that the Francis pontificate is approximately 20% as popular as the previous Benedict XVI pontificate. This OBJECTIVE FACT has been confirmed by official Vatican figures. (see here) This OBJECTIVE REALITY is causing much consternation for the media and in turn for FRANCIS’ MEDIA OPERATION. Please recall that Francis abandoned the Curia reform in early April and instead created a MEDIA COMMISSION. (see here)

It is with respect to this above described situation, that the proper context of the release of the Moto Propio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus needs to be understood.

With respect to the specifics, please recall that background to the release of the this moto proprio that we have outlined in the previous post titled Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting. Furthermore, the following observations need to be taken into account when assessing this BIGGER PICTURE. Below I provide two commentaries via the Fr. Z blog:

Kurt Martens, canonist and professor of Canon Law at the Catholic University of America had the following to say about this MP: (see here)

The changes move the church away from a set of 18th-century safeguards meant to make sure that the annulment process wasn’t subject to abuse, Martens said. (…) “Sometimes you want to go so quickly, you miss elements and make mistakes. Procedure law takes time to unfold.”

Furthermore:

Martens said the way Francis changed the annulment process was unusual, because he did not go through the Synod on the Family, as expected, in October. (…)“It’s a bit strange and even a sign of contradiction that a pope who is big on consultation and collegiality seems to forget that on something like this. It’s highly unusual for legislation like this to get through that way.”

Notice the importance of the “SPEED” element to the detriment of all else, including making mistakes. Think about it for a second, we are talking about the annulment of the Sacrament of Marriage.

In turn, canonist Edward Peters had these observations. (see here)

At the pope’s request, a tiny group of experts, most from just one country, developed these new canons and explanations in a very short time.

Simply amazing! But I digress again…

I find, however, the implications of some of these norms for marriage law in general, and for diocesan bishops in particular, stunning, and I join Dr. Kurt Martens of CUA in wondering how bishops must feel at having such significant burdens thrust on them just in time for Christmas with, as far as one can see, virtually no prior consultation.

First, and most importantly, the vacatio legis (a delay period before new laws go into effect per Canon 8) indicated for Mitis should be extended from this December until well into next year at the very least. If, as some assert, Francis’ annulment reforms are the most significant in the last three hundred years, a considerably longer period than three months is needed to prepare for them

Second, a much wider consultation about annulment reform should be conducted, a consultation that would involve, at a minimum, many identified diocesan bishops (identified precisely so observers could forward remarks to them) and canonists from several countries, especially from countries with extensive tribunal operational experience.

But other aspects of Mitis, especially the fast-track annulment option, need, I suggest, considerably more study. I only hope sufficient time is accorded the wider Church to make such studies feasible.

When looking at the above comments, one is again struck by the: NEED FOR SPEED. Hence the title of this post. But I digress… So the logical next question is: why the NEED FOR SPEED?

The most likely answer and the one provided by our Peirce/Ockham pragmatic methodology (see here) is the one provided in yesterday’s post. Once again, here is the relevent passage:

Numquam Ponenda est Pluralitas Sine Necessitate!

However, upon further analysis, i.e. further iterations of our Peirce/Ockham pragmatic model, your humble blogger has uncovered another element behind the TEAMFRANCIS strategy with respect to the promulgation and form of the Moto Proprio Mitis Iudex. This lead came via an article published by L’Osservatore written by the Dean of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto. (see here)

First of all, what we have in this article is confirmation that it is exactly this issue, i.e. the need to put bodies into FRANCISEVENTS that is the PRIME motivation behind the NEED FOR SPEED Moto Proprio. In the article, the following is the relevant passage from Msgr. Pinto:

So, with this fundamental law, Francis makes a real beginning to his reform: by putting the poor at the center, that is, the divorced and remarried, considered set apart and distant, and asking bishops for a true and proper metànoia. That is to say, a “conversion”, a change of mentality which convinces and sustains them in following the invitation of Christ, present in their brother, the Bishop of Rome, to pass from the restricted number of a few thousand annulments to that immeasurable [number] of unfortunates who might have a declaration of nullity — because of evident absence of faith as a bridge to knowledge and thus to the free will [necessary] to give sacramental consent — but are left on the outside by the current system.

What is simply amazing about the above passage, for our purposes here, is the part which indicates that Francis want’s not just a “restricted number of a few thousand” annulments, but annuments for the “immeasurable [number] of unfortunates who might have a declaration of nullity”.

And just in case there are no immeasurable [number] of unfortunates presently in need of a FRANCISANNULMENT, Francis is willing to help his co-religionists out. One manner in which Francis wants to GENERATE this new immeasurable [number] of unfortunates is by CREATING a NOVELTY so that those “unfortunate” bishops can really crank up the volume. Yes sports fans, did you know that now you could get a quicky Catholic ~~divorce~~ annulment simply by claiming to your local ordinary the following:

because of evident absence of faith as a bridge to knowledge and thus to the free will [necessary] to give sacramental consent

But that’s not all. Just in case a local ordinary would consult his Catholic Church Catechism or Code of Canon Law to determine what exactly constitutes the “absence of faith”, he will not be able to find this term since…. it does not exist.

But mayhem is assured, if not intended!

Even if Francis can’t get those Faithful back to the FRANCISEVENTS, he no doubt will try to get those immeasurable [number] of unfortunates who might have a declaration of nullity into the local bishops chancellories. Give them some work to do for a change, aye? Which appears to be the second FORCE driving this NEED FOR SPEED Moto Proprio. But more about this in tomorrow’s post.

I will finish here since I am running long. Without belaboring the point, here is the post from Ed Peter’s blog In the Light of the Law A Canon Lawyer’s Blog (see here) that is a must read. What is key in terms of this post, is all the forms that the cause for a quicky annulment can take. This is where I will pick up tomorrow.

Concluding, the situation that we find ourselves in is as follows: Francis, whose popularity is waning among the Catholic Faithful is desperate to find a way to get those same FAITHFUL to start coming again to his FRANCISEVENTS. The reason that Francis needs bodies at the FRANCISEVENTS is that his papacy is a VIRTUAL PAPACY, i.e. one that has been until now more a media papacy than a real one. The media is anxious for ~~revolution~~ “reform”, otherwise it will pull the plug on the Francis pontificate. One can say that the media is very anxious by looking at the breakneck speed with which TEAMFRANCIS has produced and promulgated the Moto Proprio Mitis Iudex.

Therefore, there is a NEED FOR SPEED on Francis’ part. The text above clearly demonstrates this point. So it would appear that Francis and his advisors are pulling out all the stops. They have created a catalogue of “causes for annulment” that are very wide. They appear to be willing to do anything in order to generate this “immeasurable [number] of unfortunates who might have a declaration of nullity”.

And they need to do it fast.

Very fast.

T -20: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

15 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by S. Armaticus in Synod of Bishops'

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"theological structuring", ABERRO AGENDA, aberro-sex agenda, Andrea Gagliarducci, Archbihop Victor Manuel Fernandez, Big Gender, Card. Muller, Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, Cardinal Burke, Catholic Church, Eponymous Flower blog, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, Francis Effect, Game Theory, Genderism, Great Cardinal, Harvesting the Fruits blog, heretical pope, hippies, Jesuits, John Nash, John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger, latae sententiae, Louie Verrecchio, messeging, Modernists, MondayVatican blog, MSM, narratives, Nash Equilibrium, neo-modernism, Neo-Pagan, new springtime, Novus Ordo Watch, optics, Pagan Christians, pathological, Polls, Pope Francis, Raymond Burke, risk event, Roman Curia, s Benedict XVI, s Bergoglio, Soap Bubble Papacy™, spirit of Vatican II, SSPX, State of Necessity, supplied jurisdiction, sustainability, Synod 2014, Team Bergoglio, The Ottaviani Intervention, Thomism, Tradition, TransRational, Truth, Vatican, Vatican II

In our last post, I re-published a translation of the Die Welt article that was authored by Julius Muller-Meiningen and appeared on September 10, 2015. Today we will put it into context, in order to assess its significance.

First some background to set the stage. The present Civil War began at the Secret Synod of Bishops of 2014. I laid out the case in the post titled It’s Civil War, I Tell You! (see here). We left off that post with the following final thoughts:

So just to sum up. Francis and the Curia, which serves as a proxy for the Synod Bishops and the Catholic “establishment” in general, are engaged in a “civil war” behind the Sacred Vatican Walls. The Curia, led by Card. Muller has effectively stripped Francis of his teaching office. Documents produced by Francis need to be accepted by the “theological structurer” at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

This is where we pick up today.

The significance of the Die Welt article is that it demonstrates the correctness of our analysis, while also illustrating the lengths to which Francis will go to circumvent the “normal” Vatican curial process to try to force his agenda on the Catholic Magisterium.

With respect to what is written above, what is important to understand is the “bunker” mentality that presently exists in Francis’ circle of associates, a.k.a. TEAMFRANCIS. Here is the relevent passage:

The main accusations [against Francis] are that the Pope bypassed the committees that are in charge of this matter that is of such fundamental importance to the church, and that he has introduced de facto “Catholic divorce”.

What is of relevance here is that the “theological structurer” has been circumvented. As explained in our post titled Theological Structuring? Francis Don’t Need No Stinking Theological Structuring! from the 16th of May 2015 (see here), Cardinal Gerhard Muller, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith “created” a new and novel function at the CDF known as “theological structuring”. As explained in our post, the reason behind this new “functionality” was due to the theological mess that was the “encyclical” (see here) Laudato Si, a testament to the glaring incompetence and heterodoxy of Francis and his “theological” advisers.

The manner in which Francis circumvented the “theological structuring” facility of the CDF is through:

A commission put together by the Pope, which had been ordered to keep silent, quietly drafted the [new] legislation.

In Edward Pentin’s article that we featured in our post titled A New Ottaviani Intervention? (see here) we find the following detail:

Instead, the papal commission that drafted the motu proprio had been ordered to keep silent throughout the drafting process, probably to avoid the reforms being thwarted by the CDF and others in the curia.

But just in case, a “double secret” hedge was instituted:

But the report also alleges that even the commission did not see the final draft…

In other words, the commission could not be trusted either. Be that as it may, word did get out of the intentions of publishing the moto proprio. Further we read that:

…an Italian cardinal along with two others “fiercely” tried to prevent the motu proprio being published before the synod but without success.

And just to finish the story, the atmosphere behind the Sacred Vatican Walls must have been very heated since:

Some prelates even feel physical aggression coming up against the Pontiff, and they’re even willing to say so under cover of anonymity [<– this last sentence has since been removed from the German original, without acknowledgment —Transl., 12-SEP-15].

What this means is that those prelates who intervened against the “super secret moto proprio” were threatened with physical violence. Hence our title of this post and the above clip.

So this is the background. But what is still needed is a logical explanation for why all of this has come to pass.

To understand the “why” of the above, two additional pieces of information are required. The first thing here that must be understood is the OBJECTIVE FACT that the Francis pontificate is “petering out”. No pun intended. We have documented just this phenomenon in a series of posts, the last ones titled Francis Effect Upgraded To Francis Disaster (see here) and The Setting Sun (see here). In this first post we wrote the following:

Please notice that the drop during the attendance at the Vespers with altar boys in 2015 was a negative 82% (- 82%) {(50,000-9,000)/50,000}. In the post titled Only 9,000 Gather With Francis For Ash Wednesday’s Angelus, the number of attendance in the last year of Benedict XVI’s reign was given as: “A measly 50,000 Faithful showed up for B XVI last Ash Wednesday”. Again we see this proportion of Faithful attending Francis events versus Benedict events of 9,000 and 50,000 respectively. Therefore, the attendance figures for the Vespers event confirms the attendance figures for the Ash Wednesday Angelus. The further significance of these two independent and unrelated data points, data points that provide almost identical attendance figures and by extension the same proportions, is not without significance. What we could be dealing with here is a quantitative representation of the destruction that Francis has wrought on Catholic Church as an institution in just two short years of his reign.

Since the above was posted on the 6th of August 2015, we have further confirmation of what we call the REAL FRANCIS EFFECT. In a post titled Philadelphia hotels slashing prices for pope’s visit (see here), we find the following information:

About 3,000 of the 11,200 rooms in the city’s downtown were still available two weeks away from the pontiff’s Sept. 26 arrival, said Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association.

Hotels were slashing rates, skipping minimum stay requirements and tossing in extras like subway tokens and bags full of Philadelphia-centric snacks to lure guests for the two-day visit.

“In some cases, it’s actually more affordable now than during a large, citywide convention,” Grose said. “It varies on what’s going on in the city, but I can assure you the rates I’m seeing now are very competitive.”

Further in the article, we read the following:

SEPTA, the regional transit agency, said it sold just 60,000 passes for special commuter trains to the outdoor Mass – about 115,000 fewer than expected. About 1,100 buses have registered to bring people to papal events. Organizers had predicted 5,000 buses would sign up.

Notice how the proportions resemble those from the above Francis Effect Upgraded To Francis Disaster post. Outdoor mass is 34% of that expected (60,000/175,000) while the “buses” figure is at 22% (1100/5000) or in line with the percentages coming to Francis functions in Rome when compared to the numbers seen when Benedict occupied the Throne of St. Peter. So the REAL FRANCIS EFFECT has been spotted in Philadelphia.

To add insult to injury, in a post titled Pope Francis: Has the Time of the Cross Come? from the 24th of August of this year (see here), Andrea Gagliarducci has written the following text:

Fr. Ostojic (Ed note: Francis’ former confessor) words were prophetic, as Pope Francis’ pontificate has been until now more a media papacy than a real one, a papacy full of difficulties, and even of contradictions, but certainly in many cases over-interpreted. In the end the media have been anxious from the beginning to credit Francis for revolutions that never took place or for changes that came to be during his pontificate only thanks to the huge amount of work carried out during the previous pontificates.

The significance of the above text is this: when Vatican watchers such as Andrea Gagliarducci are openly writing that the Francis papacy “has been until now more of a media papacy than a real one”, they must feel very confident that their sources “will not protest”, and cut them off from the “inside scoop”.

On a related topic, what we are seeing is what we termed The Soap Bubble Papacy™ being systematically deflated.

Which brings us to the second underlying issue that is critical in order to understand the tense situation behind the Sacred Vatican Walls, the issue that is destroying the Francis pontificate. This is the issue of the national episcopate conferences and by extension the bi-synod bishops that are overwhelmingly in opposition to Francis. This issue we explained thoroughly in our post titled Francis’ Nash Equilibrium (see here) and Taking The Nash Equilibrium Out For A Spin (see here).

Without running too long, summing up the situation at present, what we have seen is the following: The REAL FRANCIS EFFECT is destroying the Francis Soap Bubble Papacy™ since it is providing OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE that Francis is not very well liked by the Catholic Faithful in general.

If in turn, the Faithful do not start appearing at the Francis functions, like the one in Philadelphia, then the media, who have been anxious from the beginning to credit Francis for revolutions that never took place or for changes that came to be during his pontificate only thanks to the huge amount of work carried out during the previous pontificates, will not be able to maintain the current narrative.

And if Francis looses the media, this papacy is no more. A dead parrot! (please see here)

Which is why TEAMFRANCIS is so anxious to do something, anything to pander to any group that they think is represented in large enough numbers in the Catholic Church, which they think can keep the Soap Bubble Papacy™ inflated for just a little while longer.

The entire Homo-Agenda is riding on it! (see here)

And from what is written in the Julius Muller-Meiningen article, it would appear as if they have even resorted to threatening the Curia staff with physical violence, in order to get their way.

Major Development – The Revolt Against Francis

14 Monday Sep 2015

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The below is the translation of the Die Welt article that was authored by Julius Muller-Meiningen and appeared on September 10, 2015. I will have more to say about this in a followup post. I am re-posting the translated version from the Novus Ordo Watch website without comment…

FOR THE RECORD

Revolt Against Francis

High-ranking Vatican clerics are rebelling against Francis’ most recent decision regarding marriage annulments. They are accusing him of giving up an important dogma.

by Julius Müller-Meiningen

They’ve had enough. In three weeks’ time, the Catholic bishops of the world will meet in synod to deliberate about the future course of their church. In Rome, the clergy will encounter an apparatus that is dead set against the Pope, definitively. A dossier is being circulated in the halls of the curia, which has been made available to The Christian and the World of DIE ZEIT [weekly journal included in ZEIT], which systematically lists the alleged sins of the Pope. “Francis has taken off his mask”, a high-ranking Vatican cleric says. Some prelates even feel physical aggression coming up against the Pontiff, and they’re even willing to say so under cover of anonymity [<– this last sentence has since been removed from the German original, without acknowledgment —Transl., 12-SEP-15].

The trigger for what one can confidently call the preparations for an organized resistance against Francis, was the most recent decree of the 78-year-old Argentinian. With the document he published last Tuesday [Sep. 8], which enables simpler and faster annulments of marriages in church, he set the Church before a fait accompli. Mitis Iudex Dominus is the title of the edict, which is supposed to be in reference to Jesus the meek Judge. But within the curia, the meekness that Francis wants to show the faithful who find themselves in conflict with ecclesiastical norms, is out of the question. A number of monsignors who are officially in charge of directing the affairs of the church at large, are beside themselves.

This is manifest in an incisively-worded dossier that has recently been disseminated throughout the most important offices of the Vatican, including the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Secretariat of State. In it, the decree for the simplication of marriage annulments is juridically picked apart. The main accusations [against Francis] are that the Pope bypassed the committees that are in charge of this matter that is of such fundamental importance to the church, and that he has introduced de facto “Catholic divorce”. The report, which is several pages long, speaks of “unsettling developments” and argues that Francis “circumvented” the regulated process for changing legislation for the universal church. Most of the safeguards found in matrimonial annulment trials were deliberately “eliminated”, the report claims.

The importance of matrimony, especially the question how to deal with divorced spouses who marry again [sic], is at the epicenter of the debate about the future direction of the church. The indissolubility of marriage is the dogma conservative clerics stick to. “Divorce the Catholic way”, enabled by the Pope, would mean the worst-case scenario for the guardians [sic] of doctrine such as the German Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller. On his desk, too, is found the inofficial bill of indictment against Francis. Muller and his friends, who are spread throughout the curia, fear that the entire edifice will collapse if one of its foundations is removed. In their view, this is a matter of the very continuation of the true Catholic Church.

The introduction of a speedy process for discerning the nullity of marriages under the supervision of the [local] bishop is of particular concern to the Pope’s critics. From their point-of-view, a lot of controverial theological problems were ignored by Francis. Thus in the decree are found several extremely vague reasons that suffice for getting a speedy trial started, such as “lack of faith” or other motives that are not clearly defined. If, as is feared by the Pope’s opponents, this should now lead to a flood of annulments, the problem of admitting remarried divorcees to the sacraments, which has long affected the church, would be practically eliminated. From now on they would be able to simply exit their Catholic marriage, supposedly contracted in perpetuity, without a problem. Per papal decree.

The synod, set to begin October 4, is thus in danger of being turned into a merry-go-round of debate. The Pope — such is the tenor — makes his decisions according to his own pleasure anyway. He didn’t stick to the regular process of changing legislation, according to the seven-page document. The bishops’ conferences as well as all curial offices were bypassed, including the Vatican’s own canon lawyers.

A commission put together by the Pope, which had been ordered to keep silent, quietly drafted the [new] legislation. Otherwise it would presumably have been crushed and prevented by the curial apparatus. Although there were loud protests at the previous synod last fall against the idea of a speedy process for determining the nullity of a marriage under the supervision of the [local] bishop, it nevertheless is now a part of church law — even before the synod could take up the matter once more.

Does the Pope want to impose his long-predetermined course of action with all his might? In the most important offices of the curia, the doubts have long turned into certainty. Many of the faithful, however, will be cheering.

[Julius Muller-Meiningen, “Aufstand gegen Franziskus”, Zeit Online, Sep. 10, 2015; translated by Novus Ordo Watch]

T -21: A “New” Ottaviani Intervention?

14 Monday Sep 2015

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Today I am reposting an article written by Edward Pentin and published in the National Catholic Register on the 11th of September 2015. I will re-publish and added [comments] and emphasis. The hope is to provide context for the information contained in the post. Furthermore, I am publishing this post: (see original here)

FOR THE RECORD

Pope Attacked Over Motu Proprio; Cardinal Kasper Reasserts His Proposal

Reports have emerged that a seven-page dossier, obtained by the German newspaper Die Zeit, [A “new” Ottoviani Intervention?] is circulating around the curia in which senior Vatican officials have voiced discontent with the recent change in Church law on annulments, and an absence of consultation over the matter. (translated version via Vox Cantoris by way of NovusOrdo Watch – see here)

On Tuesday, the Pope made sweeping reforms to make the process of obtaining a declaration of nullity simpler, quicker and cheaper.

According to Die Zeit, the officials juridically “picked apart” the Pope’s motu proprio (papal decree) on annulment reform, accuse the Holy Father of giving up an important dogma, and assert that he has introduced de facto “Catholic divorce”.

Further concerns mentioned in the document are that, despite the gravity of the issue, no dicasteries, including apparently the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as well as bishops conferences, were consulted about the decision — a claim the Register has had confirmed by numerous sources. [Here we are dealing with the CDF and the “theological structuring” facility – see here] The dossier says usual legislative channels have been “undermined” as “none of the planned steps of a legislative procedure have been followed.” [We have confirmation of the CIVIL WAR behind the Sacred Vatican Walls]

Critics say this goes against the Pope’s calls for synodality and collegiality, and resembles an ecclesialized “Führerprinzip”, ruling from the top down, by decree and without any consultation or any checks.

Instead, the papal commission that drafted the motu proprio had been ordered to keep silent throughout the drafting process, probably to avoid the reforms being thwarted by the CDF and others in the curia. [i.e. “theological structuring”] But the report also alleges that even the commission did not see the final draft [in other words, could not be trusted. This means that Francis’ “parallel curia”, most likely archbishop Fernandez played a role. see here], and that an Italian cardinal along with two others “fiercely” tried to prevent the motu proprio being published before the synod but without success. [Most likely a diversionary tactic. We have established that it is the change of doctrine w/r/t aberro-sexuality that is the TRUE AGENDA of the Synod. This early and rapid release of the annulment Moto Proprio is intended to distract through Hagan Lio]

The Register has learned via other sources that this decision and others are effectively isolating the CDF and that the Pope is steadily making their work superfluous. [Once again, Francis don’t need no stinking “theological structuring”]

The report also voices concern that the motu proprio will lead to a flood of annulments and that from now on, couples would be able to simply exit their Catholic marriage without a problem.

“A number of monsignors who are officially in charge of directing the affairs of the Church at large, are beside themselves” and feel obligated to “speak up”, according to Die Zeit. They are also concerned about the “extremely vague” language used in the motu proprio, especially the reasons for a speedy trial, such as “lack of faith” [Just think about this justification for a second. If the parties experience a “lack of faith”, then why would they even bother with the annulment process in the Church in the first place. The short answer is that they “wouldn’t”. Therefore, this is not an OBJECTIVLY REAL reason. In other words, just another HIDDEN AGENDA.] or other motives that are not clearly defined.

Although the need to streamline the annulments process gained a two-thirds consensus at last year’s synod, the report also points out that synod fathers loudly protested against the idea of a speedy process for determining the nullity of a marriage under the supervision of the local bishop. Now it is Church law, even before the synod could discuss it. [Time to ditch the Verrecchian “pseudo sacral homopoetic prose”, yes? see here]

We hope to look into these claims in more detail in the near future.

Meanwhile, in a fresh interview, Cardinal Walter Kasper has returned to pushing forward his proposal for readmitting Catholics to Holy Communion, saying he is “confident” that a “broad consensus” can be found. [Sure. More diversion?]

He also said in the Sept. 11 interview with Vatican Insider that it’s “necessary to wisely build” such a consensus over the proposal.

The cardinal’s comments come a few days after many felt Pope Francis’ annulment reform upended the Kasper proposal by offering a compromise to both sides. [OBJECTIVELY TRUE statement, but it doesn’t really matter since “linguistic structuralism” is all the rage behind the Sacred Vatican Walls. (see here) But more about this in a subsequent post]

Kasper’s remarks, however, show his determination to reassert his proposal which consists of allowing civilly remarried divorcees receive Holy Communion after a penitential period. It also proposes that readmittance can take place after “an honest judgment of the person concerned about his own personal situation” and support from the sacramental confessor. The process would be overseen by the local bishop.

Widely supported by the German hierarchy, the proposal has been firmly rejected by prominent theologians and Church leaders as a serious abuse of the sacraments of the Eucharist, marriage and penance. It also failed to reach a two-thirds majority at the previous synod in October, although the Pope insisted it remain in the list of propositions to be discussed for the forthcoming synod next month.

Cardinal Kasper’s comments come as tensions rise ahead of the Ordinary Synod on the Family in October. Yesterday, it emerged that 50 concerned theologians have appealed to Pope Francis to uphold the teachings of Humanae Vitae (Bl. Paul VI’s encyclical banning contraception) and Veritatis Splendor (Pope St. John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical underlining the Church’s moral teaching).

The signatories, who include Jesuit Father Kevin Flannery, professor of moral philosophy professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and philosophy Professor Robert Spaemann, a close ally of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, argue that a specific paragraph in the Instrumentum Laboris (working document) for the synod is gravely flawed, effectively emptying Humanae Vitae of its central teaching.

Update 12 Sept: Some additions to the text and improvements to the translation have since been inserted in this post.

Final thought. Notice that publicly, the heretics are speaking about annulments and communion for the public adulterers and concubinage. But when they meet behind closed doors, like at the parallel secret synod (see here), they and their friendly media speak almost exclusively about aberro-sexuality and the HOMO AGENDA.

So the takeaway question is this: Which of the three issues do you think is behind the TRUE AGENDA driving the Stealth Sex Synod of 2015?

T -24: “Voting With The Pope” Explained

11 Friday Sep 2015

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In the previous post titled Francis’ Nash Equilibrium (see here), your humble blogger demonstrated that a Nash Equilibrium existed in a prospective STRATEGY that could be executed at the Stealth Sex Synod™ of 2015, a STRATEGY that would entail the following elements:

• First of all, a midterm report will not be released.
• The plan is for the Synod to carry out discussions mostly in “small groups” (circuli minores) without a general discussion.
• No final report or post-synodal apostolic exhortation is foreseen at the moment, at least according to recent rumors.
• In the end, the reports of the small groups would be put in the Pope’s hands, and the Pope would then give a final address.

The reason that this strategy contains a Nash Equilibrium is due to the observation that no player has anything to gain by changing the strategy (as per outlined above) and if any player changed the strategy, a worse result (payout matrix) would occur for that player.

Therefore, the Nash Equilibrium was defined as:

TEAMFRANCIS can do no better than executing a strategy that produces no OFFICIAL SYNOD DOCUMENTS, since any DOCUMENT that would arise and would designate a “change in doctrine” would be voted down by the Synod. TEAMFRANCIS needs a change of doctrine.

TEAMORTHODOXY can do no better likewise since if it tries to force the Synod to issue a formal DOCUMENT and then proceeds to vote down the “heterodox/heretical” passages, this will create a situation whereby the pope will have been defeated in a vote by the Synod of Bishops. This will weaken the Petrine Office since it will demonstrate that the pope and bishops are not united in questions of faith and morals.

While the situation for the TEAMFRANCIS side of the STRATEGY is very well understood, the situation for the TEAMORTHODOXY side is less so. As a matter of fact, your humble blogger received a comment to this effect. The comment was made by DJR and is as follows:

Why would Pope Francis lose if the proposals of TeamFrancis are voted down, and how would the authority of the Petrine Office suffer in such a scenario?
We saw last year that voting on the inclusion of certain paragraphs in the final documentation was meaningless, as Pope Francis overruled the vote and had the rejected paragraphs inserted anyway.

That doesn’t seem like a loss to me at all. If anything, it demonstrates the pope’s unchecked power.

This is a very good question, and it was actually the subject matter of the next post in this Nash Equilibrium series. Therefore, I will use DJR’s comment as a lead in and try to explain why the above explanation of the issue for TEAMORTHODOXY is a TRUE STATEMENT and more importantly, a proper concern for the forces that have been termed as TEAMORTHODOXY.

To begin with, the reason that the opposing force to TEAMFRANCIS have been designated as TEAMORTHODOXY is that these individuals represent more than just “an interest in a specific outcome” at the Stealth Sex Synod of Bishops.

As I mentioned over the course of the last three posts, after Francis’ ~~declaration of war on~~ Christmas message to the Roman Curia, a CIVIL WAR broken out behind the Sacred Vatican Walls. This CIVIL WAR was and is being fought on various fronts. The most obvious is the doctrinal front at the Synod of Bishops.

But the individual battles of the CIVIL WAR span much more than just this one battle. For example, the battles also entails Collegiality itself, or the proper place of this “SYNOD” novelty in the governance of the Church. This NOVELTY created during the Second Vatican Council (Lumen Gentium Chap. III) could have a direct impact with respect to the “management” of the Catholic Church and its teaching office. If we recall, Francis claimed that he wants a more democratic church, and that he wants the synod to be “developed” into what can be termed as a “second branch of government” of the Holy See.

Given the above, it is with a certain level of “curiosity” that we observed how Francis completely disregarded what the Secret Synod of 2014 had to say on the subject of The Three Paragraphs (see here), and had those paragraphs that were voted down by the Synod Bishops after the mid-term Relatio, inserted into the Final Relatio. (see here)

What is important to understand from the above episode, is the Francis consciously strives to debase the power of the Petrine Office. By setting up a synodal structure, a structure he wants to make permanent (see here), Francis is in fact setting up a competing “branch of the Holy See”, he hopes that this branch will develop into a counterweight to the Petrine Office in the years ahead.

Here we need to mention the words of the titular bishop of Tiburnia, Victor Manual Fernandez who provided us with key to understanding this process. (see here) Once again, according to Francis via his closest and most trusted accomplice and ghostwriter: “But Catholics, reading the Gospel, know that Christ assured special guidance and enlightenment for the pope and bishops all together, but not for a prefect or another structure.” AND “Gathered around the pope, in a theological sense, is the College of Bishops in order to serve the people.”

But just in case the above is insufficient and does not meet the preponderance of evidence threshold, so to drive the point home, Francis has taken other actions in order to undermine and devalue the Petrine Office. Among the most blatant have been:

Complete disregard for convention, i.e. no mozzetta, no red shoes, not using his papal title pp. when signing documents, not wanting to be called pope, but rather bishop of Rome,
Not residing in the papal apartment but in a larger residence occupying an entire floor at Domus Sanctae Marthae,
Attempting to make the Vatican II novelty synod of bishops into a permanent fixture with legislative powers,
Disregarding the Curia with respect to contents of formal speeches and documents. This gave rise to the “theological structuring” functionality (see here)
And the list goes on…..

With respect to the orthodox bishops, the problem that Francis is facing is that the bishops, as per their representatives at the Secret Synod of 2014, continue to see the Petrine Office in its proper context. In other words, they see the synod as a consultative body.

They were shocked when Francis had the “voted down” paragraphs inserted into the Final Relatio, but were even more shocked when he ordered that the vote count on those respective paragraphs be revealed.

The main reason that the bishops were stunned at the release of the vote count is because not all the bishops voted according to their “sensus ecclesiae”, but rather were voting “with the pope”. Now in normal times, “voting with the pope” would be the same as voting with a “sensus ecclesiae”. But as we know sports fans, these ain’t normal times. But I digress…

This concept of “voting with the pope” is an OBJECTIVE REALITY and a long-held Catholic tradition. (see here) The reason for the “voting with the pope” tradition is that it is based on Catholic magisterial teaching. Here is how one source defines the Magisterium: (see here)

By the Magisterium we mean the teaching office of the Church. It consists of the Pope and Bishops. Christ promised to protect the teaching of the Church : “He who hears you, hears me; he who rejects you rejects me, he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me” (Luke 10. 16). Now of course the promise of Christ cannot fail: hence when the Church presents some doctrine as definitive or final, it comes under this protection, it cannot be in error; in other words, it is infallible. This is true even if the Church does not use the solemn ceremony of definition. The day-to-day teaching of the Church throughout the world, when the Bishops are in union with each other and with the Pope, and present something as definitive, this is infallible.

Therefore, from the above, it is an ex post facto REALITY that for an orthodox Catholic bishop, he has a huge problem with the concept of not “voting with the pope”. Therefore, in questionable situations, the pope is always given the benefit of the doubt. On an aside, this is why we observed the large number of votes for the heretical documents at the Second Vatican Council. As per Card. Kasper, heretical concepts were incorporated into the text with Catholic teaching. Sometimes into the same sentences. (see here) But I digress… The fact that this orthodox bishop has to not “vote with the pope” must be the more problematic when he observes that Francis himself doesn’t give a rats rear end about the tradition of “voting with the pope”.

Furthermore, from his side of the fence, the orthodox bishop does not consider Francis as a Vatican strongman or even a modern-day oracle of Delphi. He is “just” the successor of St. Peter. And the Church that he “overseas” is not his Church, but the Church of Our Lord. It must be a psychologically devastating situation to be in, when this bishop sees how Francis is “putting a sledgehammer” to the Petrine Office. A good example of just this is in the video above, at the 26:00 minute mark when Card. Burke speaks about being in conflict with a fellow cardinal.

I will end on this note. Just to sum up the above. Every bishop always wants to “vote with the pope”. To not “vote with the pope“, the bishop needs good cause. All benefits of doubt must go to the pontiff. When the Faithful observe bishops not voting with the pope, it depreciates the Petrine Office by undermining its authority. The continuous depreciation of the Petrine Office will have a direct impact on future pontiffs. And since the Catholic Church is Our Lord’s Church and will be with us until the second coming, it is very logical to understand that a bishop, when placed in a situation of not “voting with a pope” or not voting, would choose the latter.

T -25: Taking The Nash Equilibrium Out For A Spin

10 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by S. Armaticus in Synod of Bishops'

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Yesterday, we examined a prospective STRATEGY that Francis and his supporters, which we collectively labeled TEAMFRANCIS, could execute at the upcoming Stealth Sex Synod™ of Bishops of 2015. We came to the conclusion that this STRATEGY provides for TEAMFRANCIS an acceptable SOLUTION. Furthermore, this SOLUTION would also be acceptable to the forces lined up against TEAMFRANCIS. These forces we designated as TEAMORTHODOXY. The basis upon which we made this determination was on a Game Theory simulation in which a Nash Equilibrium was identified, which we explained summing up our post.

For the sake of positive reinforcement, it is worth our time here to restate this STRATEGY and the resulting SOLUTION that generated the Nash Equilibrium.

According to Andrea Gagliarducci in his post titled Pope Francis: What is his Pontificate’s Upcoming Agenda?(see here), the following are the relevant data points that define the situation on the ground: (comments added)

Due to the fact that the “Bishops’ conferences from all over the world are electing representatives to the 2015 Synod, and a first glance at the list of participants shows that the majority of the bishops chosen by the conferences are followers of Church doctrine, (TEAMORTHODOXY) rather than adapters (TEAMFRANCIS)”.

(Furthermore TEAMFRANCIS has) ” failed to win over the Synod of Bishops to their positions, and this is the reason the General Secretary of the Synod considered changing the rules.”

Therefore, the following rules changes will be the basis for the STRATEGY that TEAMFRANCIS will execute at the upcoming Stealth Sex Synod™ of 2015:

• First of all, a midterm report will not be released.

• The plan is for the Synod to carry out discussions mostly in “small groups” (circuli minores) without a general discussion.

• No final report or post-synodal apostolic exhortation is foreseen at the moment, at least according to recent rumors.

• In the end, the reports of the small groups would be put in the Pope’s hands, and the Pope would then give a final address.

The reason why the above STRATEGY we consider to be viable strategy has been determined through a Game Theory simulation. We have established ceteris paribus, that a Nash Equilibrium exists in this STRATEGY. A Nash Equilibrium is defined as a state where no player has anything to gain by changing the strategy (as per outlined above) and if any player changed the strategy, a worse result (payout matrix) would occur for that player.

The Nash Equilibrium can be defined as follows:

TEAMFRANCIS can do no better than executing a strategy that produces no OFFICIAL SYNOD DOCUMENTS, since any DOCUMENT that would arise and would designate a “change in doctrine” would be voted down by the Synod. TEAMFRANCIS needs a change of doctrine.

TEAMORTHODOXY can do no better likewise since if it tries to force the Synod to issue a formal DOCUMENT and then proceeds to vote down the “heterodox/heretical” passages, this will create a situation whereby the pope will have been defeated in a vote by the Synod of Bishops. This will weaken the Petrine Office since it will demonstrate that the pope and bishops are not united in questions of faith and morals.

These above two “strategies” constitute a Nash Equilibrium (NE).

Taking the above defined NE as our base case scenario, what this blogger will do now is see how the NE will be effected if one loosens the assumptions on which it was constructed. Please keep in mind, the “reality of the Nash equilibrium of a game can be tested using experimental economics method”, i.e. loosening the assumptions of the base case scenario.

One assumption that serves as the basis for our NE is that both sides assume that if there was to be a vote at the Synod of Bishops, the TEAMORTHODOXY side would have a majority.

Let’s relax this assumption, i.e. TEAMFRANCIS determines that it has “bought off” enough African bishops in such a large enough number, that TEAMFRANCIS assumes that they might be able to win a vote.

If this was the case, then it could be in the best interest (maximization of the payout matrix) for TEAMFRANCIS try to produce a DOCUMENT and attempt to hold a vote on that DOCUMENT.

Therefore, if we begin to observe that information starts appearing about a formal interim Relatio DOCUMENT and/or final Relatio DOCUMENT will be written, the simple explanation is that TEAMFRANCIS thinks that they have the votes. Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate. (see here)

A second scenario can arise by assuming that TEAMFRANCIS thinks that they can “stack the deck” with TEAMFRANICS members in one of the circuli minores (small groups). Since the discussions will be held mostly in “small groups” (circuli minores) without a general discussion, the chances are better for one of these circuli minors to be stacked with TEAMFRANCIS members. In this case, the appearance of information that the Synod rules will be changed to introduced majority voting would imply that TEAM FRANCIS intends to hold a vote inside these small groups. This “circuli minores vote” can then be claimed to represent (a proxy) the position of the entire Synod of Bishops. This “voted on and passed document” would then be handed to Francis for his concluding FRANCISSPEECH. This would in turn allow TEAMFRANCIS to obtain a better outcome in the Game simulation at the expense of TEAMORTHODOXY, disturbing our original Nash Equilibrium.

And just to for the sake of balance, if the Synod Secretariat changes the rules for majority voting, and votes takes place in the circuli minores on a simple majority basis, TEAMORTHODOXY can counter TEAMFRANCIS’ move by introducing a “document” with the “intrinsic disorder” language in one of the “unstacked” circuli. A positive vote would reinforce Catholic doctrine’s foundation in natural law and natural moral law. This would negate any “creative interpretation” that TEAMFRANCIS would want to put on the FRANCISSPEECH at a later date.

On an aside. The above scenario is the reason why it is of the utmost importance to define the TRUE AGENDA of the Stealth Sex Synod™. (see here) If our assumption is correct and the TRUE AGENDA behind the calling of this Synod is the introduction of Gender Ideology into Catholic doctrinal teaching (see here), the simple introducing of these two words, i.e. “intrinsically disordered” into a Synod DOCUMENT or “document”, will short-circuit the entire TEAMFRANCIS bi-synod excercise and reaffirm Catholic teaching with respect to faith and morals.

I will conclude here.

What is important for the Catholic Faithful is to be cognizant of the state of play behind the Sacred Vatican Walls as represented by this base case scenario. If you dear reader understand the base case scenario, you will be in a better position to understand the information that will be coming out in the upcoming 25 days leading up to the Stealth Sex Synod™ and the subsequent three weeks, week number three being the most important. With the above described “framework” at hand, you dear reader will be in a better position to assess any new information will be emanating from the respective sides and better assess the TRUE state of play that is taking place at the Stealth Sex Synod™ of 2015.

Having a better understanding of what is playing out behind the Sacred Vatican Walls in turn, should reduce the unnecessary level of anxiety or despondence that you might have acquired during this exhausting bi-Synod process and even during this ordeal that is the Francis papacy.

T -26: Francis’ Nash Equilibrium

09 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by S. Armaticus in Synod of Bishops'

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Yesterday’s post contained a synopsis of the TRAIN WRECK that is the Francis pontificate. We explained how Francis created a crisis after a crushing defeat that he and his forces of heresy, collectively known as TEAMFRANCIS suffered at the Secret Synod of Bishops of 2014, by instructing the Synod bishops’ conferences to disregard doctrine at the upcoming Stealth Sex Synod of 2015. Here is the passage from the MondayVatican post titled Pope Francis beyond the crisis. Waiting to appoint new cardinals from the 15th of December 2014. (see here) (emphasis added)

In the middle [Ed.: of the week], the guidelines (Lineamenta) of the 2015 synod have been released. The guidelines include the synod’s final report as it is (with all of its controversies) and a series of 46 final considerations. […] Id est, not to go back from the “pastoral turn” and to avoid “a mere application of doctrine to pastoral work,” taking into account that the synod’s path has been now traced.

At this point two things need to be mentioned, i.e. that this post was published on the Monday preceding the ~~act of war declared on the~~ Christmas message to the Roman Curia of the 22nd of December 2014 AND the old and wise expression about speaking too soon.

And as we have explained in yesterday’s post titled It’s Civil War, I Tell You! (see here), a CIVIL WAR ensued.

A CIVIL WAR that Francis and his supporters, collectively known as TEAMFRANCIS managed to lose.

The reason that TEAMFRANCIS has lost this CIVIL WAR is because of the “push back” of the Church episcopate conferences. To be more precise, the reason that TEAMFRANCIS has lost this Synod battle of the CIVIL WAR is that the overwhelming majority of the delegates to the upcoming Stealth Sex Synod of 2015 will be “followers of Church doctrine” and not heretics.

The basis upon which we can make the above claim is the following: the DOCTRINE OF FRANCISCHURCH. One needs to understand the “doctrine” of FrancisChurch. One of its practitioners, Archbishop Victor Manual Fernandez has provided us with insights in the interview that we provided in our post The Loose Canon (see here). Here is the relevant part for our discussion:

But Catholics, reading the Gospel, know that Christ assured special guidance and enlightenment for the pope and bishops all together, but not for a prefect or another structure.

And this:

Gathered around the pope, in a theological sense, is the College of Bishops in order to serve the people.”

What the above is saying is that if Francis calls a Synod, and the Synod votes on something, anything, regardless of whether it is heretical or not, according to FrancisChurch “doctrine”, it becomes the “c”atholic doctrine.

Actually, it gets better. Francis doesn’t really need “the bishops” for the small stuff because:

“No, there’s no turning back. If and when Francis is no longer pope, his legacy will remain strong. For example, the pope is convinced that the things he’s already written or said cannot be condemned as an error. Therefore, in the future anyone can repeat those things without fear of being sanctioned.

But once again, and I emphasize, for doctrinal matters, the threshold is: Christ assured special guidance and enlightenment for the pope and bishops all together.

I could go on, but the above serves our purpose. On an aside, we have labeled the above musings as the Buenos Aires Theological School.

Which brings us to the bullet points that we have extracted from the MondayVatican blog titled Pope Francis: What is his Pontificate’s Upcoming Agenda? (see here) Here are the individual data points that I extracted from the MondayVatican post along with commentary:

• In the meantime, maneuvers behind the scenes have already begun.

They have been ongoing since the end of the Secret Synod of 2014.

• Bishops’ conferences from all over the world are electing representatives to the 2015 Synod, and a first glance at the list of participants shows that the majority of the bishops chosen by the conferences are followers of Church doctrine, rather than adapters.

Understanding this is key. If you recall dear reader, after the Secret Synod of 2014, there were voices who noted that The Three Paragraphs (see here) that did not get the 2/3 needed to pass still got a simple majority. And even FrancisBishops who would be appointed by Francis to the Stealth Sex Synod of 2015 were putting out this narrative (see here). Therefore, it is correct to assume that at this upcoming Synod, the rules would be changed for simple majority voting.

However, from the data point above, it would appear that TEAMFRANCIS does not even “reasonably” expect to have a simple majority, since the bishop delegates are overwhelming orthodox. Therefore, changing rules to a simple majority voting is not enough.

• The General Secretariat of the Synod also worked to change the Synod’s rules.

And it is to counteract this situation presented in the above point (not being able to get a simple majority) that the changes to Synod rules are being designed.

• However, the adapters have failed to win over the Synod of Bishops to their positions, and this is the reason the General Secretary of the Synod considered changing the rules.

Confirmation of the above.

• Some well-informed people say that the 2015 Synod will be completely different from any other.

Yes, this is going to be a FRANCISSYNOD. Besides, FRANCISCHURCH don’t do “small-minded rules”… or “rules” of any kind to be more exact.

• First of all, a midterm report will not be released.

No paper trail to document the defeat of TEAMFRANCIS. But this does not mean that “final” reports are not now in the process of being written.

• Avoiding the release of a midterm report would mean eliminating any possibility of discussion. The plan is for the Synod to carry out discussions mostly in “small groups” (circuli minores) without a general discussion.

No general discussion is good since it would only lead to reinforcement of the defeat of TEAMFRANCIS. It would also allow the collective Synod to know what the individual groups are doing. This is no doubt being done so that TEAMFRANCIS is not faced with another uprising like the “Familiaris Consortio Thursday/ Blue Thursday” uprising at the Secret Synod of 2014 (see here). Small groups, led by FRANCISBISHOPS should be easier to control (see here and here), or so the theory goes.

• In the end, the reports of the small groups would be put in the Pope’s hands, and the Pope would then give a final address.

These “reports” are most likely already written, just like the mid-term Relatio at the Secret Synod of 2014.

• No final report or post-synodal apostolic exhortation is foreseen at the moment, at least according to recent rumors.

Here again, no final DOCUMENT to confirm the defeat of TEAMFRANCIS. No document that could be used to confirm that the bi-Synod of Francis RESTATED CATHOLIC DOCTRINE.

Furthermore, since there will be no documents produces that “border” on doctrine, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the “theological structurer” will not be necessary. (see here)

• In this way the adapters hope to convince the Pope to employ vague language so they can eventually exploit his words.

The only “RECORD” of this FRANCISABORTIONSYNOD will be a FRANCISSPEECH. In other words, the Catholic bishops and heretics can return back to their countries and carry on as before. Like the old saying goes: He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.

• True, Pope Francis links this theme with the “theology of people,” and asks priests and theologians to listen to the people because the people’s questions are able to create new theological pathways: popular piety is important to Pope Francis.

So the priests will be listening, and carrying on as before.

• However, in addressing the issue this way, the Pope risks the possibility that his words will be manipulated. So his final address at next month’s Synod will be important, as any vagueness in his language might be exploited.

The other side of this argument is that Francis’ words are meaningless anyways. He doesn’t even have control over his teaching office due to the advent of “theological sructuring”. Furthermore, since Francis continuously states that he “is a loyal son of the Catholic Church“, the forces of orthodoxy can use this ~~musing~~ statement to counter any heretical interpretations from the post-synodal FRANCISSPEECH that might arise at a later date. They will simply revert back to “reading Francis through Benedict”, like the good Bishop of Kalisz (see here).

• There are not just disciplinary issues at stake. The question of access to sacramental Communion for the divorced and remarried is probably a Trojan horse intended to get the Synod to introduce radical theological changes.

Correct observation. The reason that there will not be any DOCUMENTS produced is that the issues discussed at the Synod will be doctrinal in nature. The only way in which FRANCIS and TEAMFRANCIS can extract themselves out of this bad situation is by not producing any tangible evidence of its existence.

Which brings us to the Nash Equilibrium. Without going too far into detail, a Nash Equilibrium is defined as follows: (see here) [emphasis added]

In game theory, the Nash equilibrium is a solution concept of a non-cooperative game involving two or more players, in which each player is assumed to know the equilibrium strategies of the other players, and no player has anything to gain by changing only their own strategy.^[1] If each player has chosen a strategy and no player can benefit by changing strategies while the other players keep theirs unchanged, then the current set of strategy choices and the corresponding payoffs constitutes a Nash equilibrium. The reality of the Nash equilibrium of a game can be tested using experimental economics method.

The corresponding situation that has developed at the Stealth Sex Synod™ is one of a “non-cooperative game” involving two sides. Each side knows the strategies of the other AND no player has anything to gain by changing the strategy. The reason that no player has anything to gain by changing the strategy (as per outlined above) is that if any player changed the strategy, a worse result (payout matrix) would occur for that player.

To be more precise:

If TEAMFRANCIS changed the above strategy, their proposals would get voted down at the Synod and the Synod would confirm the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Since TEAMFRANCIS needs to change “doctrine”, they would be worse off.

If TEAMORTHODOXY changed strategy, i.e. say…demanded a vote, it would then need to vote down the proposals of TEAMFRANCIS. This would in turn create a situation in which Francis (and all subsequent popes) would lose, thereby reducing the authority of the Petrine Office. Please recall, the Catholic Church is a monarchy. Monarchs don’t lose votes, especially if the monarch is the vicar of Christ on Earth.

Therefore, the best possible result is for the above described STRATEGY to be executed at the upcoming Stealth Sex Synod™ of 2015.

And the reason that the above is the case is as simple as this: the above STRATEGY extracted from the Andrea Gagliarducci MondayVatican post, represents the Nash Equilibrium between the two opposite sides.

Further thought, the Nash Equilibrium in and of itself, exists since it is a part of creation that is comprised of omnium et invisibilium, i.e. “all thing’s (…) invisible”. Just like Catholics have been reciting and singing at mass for two thousand years.

Credo in unum Deum,
Patrem omnipotentem,
Factorem caeli et terrae,
visibilium omnium et invisibilium. (see here)

Does anyone need anymore proof?