[   0 →    4]  TrapCast Express
[   4 →   15]  TrapCast Express, it's Wednesday, November 15th, 2023.
[  15 →   29]  At this point, everybody knows that this past Saturday, Jorge Bergoglio, the Argentinian squatter in the Vatican Guesthouse, formerly known by his stage name, Pope Francis,
[  29 →   35]  fired the Diocesan Bishop of Tyler in Texas, Joseph Strickland.
[  35 →   46]  The Vatican Press Office published its news bulletin just after noon Rome time on November 11th, and it included this line, quote,
[  46 →   56]  The Holy Father has removed Bishop Joseph E. Strickland from the pastoral care of the Diocese of Tyler, United States of America,
[  56 →   59]  and has appointed Bishop Joe Vasquez.
[  59 →   68]  of Austin as Apostolic Administrator of the same Diocese, rendering it sede vacante, unquote.
[  69 →   76]  Now, declaring a bishop removed is an extremely rare and unusual step for the Vatican II Church.
[  77 →   86]  A quick Google search of the Vatican Press Office's website turns up only one other time that a bishop was reported to have been removed,
[  86 →   88]  and that was last year.
[  89 →   89]  By Francis.
[  90 →   92]  But more on that in a moment.
[  93 →   97]  No reason was given as to why Strickland had been removed.
[  97 →  106]  In an interview given the same day, Strickland said he had been asked to resign on November 9th, but without any reasons given.
[ 107 →  108]  He refused.
[ 108 →  110]  Two days later, Francis removed him.
[ 111 →  116]  The typical retirement age for a Novus Ordo bishop is 75.
[ 117 →  118]  Strickland is only 65.
[ 119 →  125]  Now, of course it doesn't take much to figure out why the Vatican would want Strickland gone.
[ 125 →  135]  Although he is very much a man of Vatican II, he had simply become too outspoken a critic of Francis' antics and doctrinal aberrations,
[ 135 →  138]  and he was increasing in popularity.
[ 138 →  145]  In the last few years he even started speaking positively about the traditional Latin Mass,
[ 145 →  147]  which Francis is trying to phase out.
[ 147 →  148]  Now, it would stand to reason that the Vatican is in a state of deep decay, because Francis is the author of the physical aptitude, but also the absolute evaluate of my own mind.
[ 148 →  148]  Now, it would stand to reason that the Vatican is in a state of deep decline, but also the absolute evaluate of my mind.
[ 148 →  154]  stand to reason that if there was clear evidence of serious wrongdoing by Strickland in the Tyler
[ 154 →  161]  Diocese, you know, the kind that would actually warrant firing him, we would have heard about it.
[ 162 →  166]  Don't you think Francis would love to expose before the whole world
[ 166 →  171]  what the evil conservative Joe Strickland has done to his diocese?
[ 171 →  180]  The fact that silence is being kept suggests, it doesn't prove, but it suggests that no good
[ 180 →  187]  reasons exist. Now, of course, you can look at this from another angle and say that if we assume
[ 187 →  194]  Francis is Pope, as Strickland believes him to be, then this is simply a Pope getting rid of a bishop
[ 194 →  200]  who is not sufficiently loyal to him. Okay, fair enough. But then,
[ 201 →  207]  this thing isn't so much about personal loyalty to Bergoglio as it is about removing obstacles
[ 207 →  214]  that stand in the way of the globalist progressive ideological agenda Francis wants to see implemented.
[ 216 →  222]  See, many of the German Novos Ordo bishops, for example, are technically not loyal to Francis
[ 222 →  230]  either. They're uber-progressives. And yet, he doesn't lift a finger to discipline them. Why?
[ 230 →  231]  Well, he doesn't lift a finger to discipline them. Why?
[ 231 →  237]  Because their dissent favors the progressive revolution and the globalist agenda.
[ 237 →  244]  They're simply going too far too fast. Conservative dissent, on the other hand,
[ 244 →  251]  hampers the Bergoglian ideology. And therefore, it is only against the conservatives that the fake
[ 251 →  260]  Pope takes action. Actually, there is one exception. There is one exception that Francis makes to that
[ 260 →  260]  rule. And that is the fact that Francis is a conservative. And that is the fact that Francis is a conservative.
[ 260 →  268]  And that is Athanasius Schneider, the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Maria Santissima in Astana,
[ 268 →  275]  Kazakhstan. Schneider can pretty much do and say whatever he likes. He's definitely been more
[ 275 →  282]  critical of Francis than Strickland has. Schneider even just published his own traditionalist
[ 282 →  288]  catechism now, which contradicts the magisterium of Francis on certain points. More on that in a
[ 288 →  289]  future podcast.
[ 289 →  298]  Nothing ever happens to Schneider. And that is very odd. Maybe we'll explore that a little bit
[ 298 →  305]  more in a future podcast or blog post. So Strickland was asked to resign without
[ 305 →  312]  explanation, and he refused. Then he was removed without explanation long before the usual
[ 312 →  319]  retirement age of 75. This does sound familiar, doesn't it? Oh, yes.
[ 319 →  329]  The case of Daniel Fernandez Torres of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. On March 9, 2022, Crux reported,
[ 329 →  329]  quote,
[ 349 →  357]  Fernandez Torres, who led the diocese for 12 years, opposed vaccination against COVID-19
[ 357 →  362]  and freely signed religious exemptions for people who didn't want to be vaccinated.
[ 363 →  370]  Fernandez Torres was also accused of refusing to transfer seminarians from his diocese to the new
[ 370 →  377]  interdiocesan seminary of Puerto Rico, and he was the only prelate not signing several statements
[ 377 →  379]  made by the bishops' congress. He was also accused of not signing several statements made by the
[ 379 →  385]  bishops' congress, including a national ban on the Tridentine Mass following Pope Francis'
[ 385 →  392]  motu proprio Tradiciones Custodes that limits the use of the traditional Latin liturgy.
[ 392 →  398]  The bishop also voiced his opposition to a bill that would have banned conversion therapy
[ 398 →  408]  for homosexuals, unquote. Now look, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what message is being
[ 408 →  409]  sent by Francis. He was also accused of not signing several statements made by the bishops'
[ 409 →  409]  congress, unquote. Now look, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what message is being sent by
[ 409 →  410]  Francis. He was also accused of not signing several statements made by the bishops' congress,
[ 410 →  410]  unquote. Now look, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what message is being sent by Francis.
[ 410 →  417]  If you oppose or fail to implement the Bergolian agenda, your days as a bishop are numbered.
[ 418 →  423]  Or at least you'll have to live in constant unease because you could be removed tomorrow
[ 423 →  429]  and without warning. There is no canonical trial in which you can defend yourself.
[ 430 →  434]  There doesn't need to be, since you're not actually being accused of anything.
[ 435 →  438]  You're just gone. It's pretty clever.
[ 439 →  444]  communists have a saying, punish one, teach a thousand. That's what's going on here.
[ 445 →  452]  By the way, supporters of Bishop Fernandez Torres collected 30,000 signatures demanding that their
[ 452 →  459]  bishop be reinstated. A committee was created for that purpose, and they attempted to get a private
[ 459 →  467]  audience with Francis. Without success, of course. The merciful master of dialogue in the Vatican's
[ 467 →  473]  Casa Santa Marta is simply not interested in listening, in building bridges, or in
[ 473 →  481]  including the marginalized. Those buzzwords are only acceptable in favor of the Bergolian
[ 481 →  488]  Revolution, never against it. A similar case took place in Argentina, France's home country,
[ 488 →  496]  in 2020. The Bishop of San Luis, Pedro Daniel Martinez Perea, was asked to resign
[ 496 →  497]  at age 60.
[ 497 →  504]  64. Unlike Strickland and Fernandez Torres, however, Martinez Perea did, as requested.
[ 504 →  511]  He resigned. The very same day that Francis accepted the resignation, he also appointed
[ 511 →  519]  the replacement, Bishop Gabriel Bernardo Barba. Now that guy is a man totally after Bergoglio's
[ 519 →  526]  heart. For his installation mass as bishop, a so-called transgender woman got to read one of
[ 526 →  532]  the bidding prayers in the sanctuary. We're talking about a man who claims to be a woman
[ 532 →  540]  and dresses accordingly. However, that's nothing compared to what just happened at the San Luis
[ 540 →  548]  Cathedral this past October 27th. Bishop Barba hosted an inter-religious prayer for peace meeting
[ 548 →  555]  there. Representatives of other religions in attendance included someone from the Bahá'í religion,
[ 555 →  563]  various Protestants, a Jew, and a Mormon. At the end of the prayer meeting, Barba gave a blessing
[ 563 →  569]  to them all, and it was a most unusual one. He said, and this is a quote,
[ 570 →  577]  The Lord be with you. May the Lord bless us and protect us from all evil, in the name of the
[ 577 →  585]  Father and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Unquote. Yep, you heard that right. He said,
[ 585 →  593]  in the name of the Father and of the Holy Spirit. He deliberately left out and of the Son. Jesus
[ 593 →  600]  Christ, the Prince of Peace and Savior of the world, was not welcome at Bishop Barba's
[ 600 →  607]  syncretistic interfaith prayer gathering. Now obviously, Barba has nothing to fear from
[ 607 →  614]  Bergoglio. That much is clear. He was most probably in favor of the COVID shots, and Bergoglio preaches
[ 615 →  622]  that other religions are also valid ways of coming to God. So where's the problem? All right, so maybe
[ 622 →  628]  Barba was pushing the envelope a bit, but hey, it's a push in the right direction. It's a push
[ 628 →  635]  in the direction that Bergoglio wants. Well, with all of that, the people of Tyler, Texas,
[ 635 →  641]  had better brace themselves, because no doubt Francis will send them a very special bishop,
[ 641 →  644]  a veritable clone of himself.
[ 645 →  651]  Perhaps one to heal the community. Let's pray that they will come to understand very soon
[ 651 →  656]  that their diocese isn't the only see that's currently vacant.
[ 658 →  663]  Now the reactions to the Strickland drama have been pretty predictable. Write down
[ 663 →  670]  ideological slash theological lines in the Vatican II church. Those to the left are
[ 670 →  674]  generally welcoming and defending the Strickland removal.
[ 675 →  680]  Whereas those to the right are dismayed by it and condemning it. Especially, of course,
[ 681 →  687]  the so-called recognize and resist traditionalists. Those who recognize Francis as a valid pope,
[ 687 →  695]  but resist him in whatever they believe goes contrary to pre-Vatican II teaching and practice.
[ 696 →  701]  And though this may seem like a reasonable, justifiable approach at first sight,
[ 701 →  704]  it actually destroys the traditional Catholic teaching,
[ 705 →  711]  on the powers of the pope and the divine assistance promised to every valid successor
[ 711 →  717]  of St. Peter. I'm going to put a link in the show notes to where you can read some of the
[ 717 →  723]  many magisterial proclamations by the popes throughout church history regarding the
[ 723 →  728]  authority and prerogatives of the pope for those who are not yet familiar with them.
[ 729 →  735]  So now let's go ahead and take a closer look at some of the reactions of the recognizing
[ 735 →  740]  and resistors. It didn't take long for the news about the Strickland removal to spread
[ 740 →  745]  when Michael Matt, the editor of The Remnant, declared on his website and on Twitter,
[ 746 →  746]  quote,
[ 747 →  751]  This is total war. Francis is a clear and present danger,
[ 752 →  756]  not only to Catholics the world over, but also to the whole world itself.
[ 757 →  763]  It appears now that he is actively trying to bury fidelity to the church of Jesus Christ.
[ 763 →  765]  If this is so,
[ 765 →  773]  let him be anathema. Unquote. Now see, this is exactly what I mean. Because people like
[ 773 →  779]  Michael Matt categorically refuse to question the legitimacy of Francis as a valid pope,
[ 779 →  784]  he ends up saying such absurd things that are harmful to Catholic doctrine.
[ 785 →  791]  Because nothing quite says, I believe in the traditional Catholic teaching on the papacy,
[ 791 →  794]  quite as much as anathematizing a pope
[ 794 →  795]  and declaring him a pope.
[ 795 →  798]  Declaring him to be a danger to the faith and to souls, right?
[ 799 →  805]  The award for dumbest possible headline on the Strickland saga goes to Brian McCall,
[ 805 →  809]  the editor of Catholic Family News. He wrote, quote,
[ 809 →  816]  The dictator pope strikes again. Francis claims he deposed Bishop Strickland. Unquote.
[ 817 →  825]  Congratulations, Mr. McCall. So, Francis merely claimed he removed Strickland from office,
[ 825 →  833]  huh? No, he actually did it. See, in the Catholic Church, a pope has that kind of power.
[ 833 →  841]  Not that Francis is pope, but McCall believes him to be. A pope has immediate and universal
[ 841 →  848]  jurisdiction over every single Catholic. If he wants to remove a particular bishop from office,
[ 848 →  854]  he can do that. That's not to say that it's necessarily wise,
[ 854 →  861]  or morally justified. Certainly, a pope could sin by removing a bishop, for example,
[ 861 →  866]  if doing so were to cause great scandal or other spiritual harm to the flock.
[ 868 →  874]  However, if a pope decrees that a bishop is no longer the bishop of a diocese, that's it.
[ 875 →  882]  He's removed. There is no higher authority that first needs to approve, much less a lower one.
[ 882 →  884]  That is not how it works.
[ 884 →  890]  Not how McCall sees it, though, calling Francis' action both illicit and invalid.
[ 890 →  897]  Let's see if McCall can quote a single theological manual or canon law book from before Vatican II
[ 897 →  902]  that states that if a pope were to remove a bishop without just cause,
[ 902 →  906]  this would render the papal act invalid. Good luck.
[ 907 →  912]  It also makes no sense on the practical level because it would effectively mean that
[ 912 →  913]  all papal actions like that,
[ 914 →  919]  are merely provisional until they've been ratified by someone else.
[ 920 →  926]  So, what does McCall suggest since he claims the removal of Strickland was invalid?
[ 926 →  932]  Well, he counsels Bishop Strickland to continue on, to simply ignore his removal,
[ 932 →  939]  as if it hadn't happened. But that is not very smart of Mr. McCall to say,
[ 939 →  943]  because take a look at what Pope Pius IX said in his incestuous,
[ 944 →  947]  cyclical Quartus Supra of 1873.
[ 948 →  948]  Quote,
[ 948 →  955]  The Jansenist heretics dared to teach such doctrines as that an excommunication
[ 955 →  960]  pronounced by a lawful prelate could be ignored on a pretext of injustice.
[ 961 →  967]  Each person should perform, as they said, his own particular duty despite an excommunication.
[ 968 →  973]  Our predecessor of happy memory, Clement XI, in his Constitution Unigenity,
[ 974 →  980]  against the heirs of Quesnel, forbade and condemned statements of this kind.
[ 981 →  982]  Unquote.
[ 983 →  989]  Notice that by saying the removal of Strickland was not just illicit but also invalid,
[ 990 →  995]  that is, that it had no legal effect, so that Strickland is still the lawful Bishop of Tyler,
[ 995 → 1001]  such a statement by McCall is precisely what the First Vatican Council condemns
[1001 → 1003]  in the dogmatic constitution, Pastor Aeternum,
[1004 → 1005]  Chapter 3.
[1006 → 1006]  Quote,
[1007 → 1025]  You can find that in Denzinger, number 1831.
[1026 → 1031]  It is odd, very odd, that the editor-in-chief of Catholic Family News,
[1031 → 1034]  which holds itself up as a flagship of tradition,
[1034 → 1038]  traditional Catholicism, and calls itself 100% Catholic,
[1039 → 1043]  that such a man can say something so contrary to Catholic tradition.
[1044 → 1050]  We find this problem again and again among the recognize-and-resist traditionalists.
[1050 → 1054]  Their adherence to tradition is only partial and very selective.
[1055 → 1060]  They embrace tradition only until it conflicts with their insistent belief
[1060 → 1062]  that Bergoglio is a valid pope.
[1062 → 1064]  Then tradition,
[1064 → 1065]  goes out the window.
[1066 → 1069]  See, we call them semi-traditionalists for a reason.
[1070 → 1073]  Some may consider this just an annoying moniker,
[1073 → 1075]  but it accurately reflects reality.
[1076 → 1078]  They're traditional only up to a point.
[1079 → 1081]  And of course, that is an absurdity.
[1082 → 1085]  Because tradition is Catholicism.
[1085 → 1088]  And you cannot be Catholic only up to a point.
[1089 → 1092]  You are either Catholic or you are not.
[1093 → 1094]  As Pope Benedict,
[1094 → 1097]  the 15th wrote in his 1914 encyclical,
[1097 → 1100]  Ad Beatissimi, paragraph 24,
[1100 → 1119]  Lastly, of course, we also need to take a look at the reaction of Dr. Peter Kwasniewski,
[1120 → 1123]  the influential semi-trad writer and lecturer.
[1123 → 1126]  He, too, has called for resistance.
[1126 → 1129]  On Twitter, he published a thread entitled
[1129 → 1136]  Reasons Why a Bishop Unjustly Deposed Should Resist and Remain in His Office.
[1137 → 1142]  Yeah, what an incredibly traditional Catholic thing to do, right?
[1142 → 1147]  Defy a papal decision by acting as if it had never been issued.
[1148 → 1151]  Ah, but Kwasniewski brings up historical precedent
[1151 → 1153]  in the case of the Catholic Church.
[1153 → 1156]  Of the Canadian Bishop Isidore Borecki,
[1156 → 1161]  who refused to retire in 1986 when he was 75.
[1162 → 1166]  Yeah, well, except that simply pointing out that such a thing has happened before
[1166 → 1171]  doesn't mean it was licit for the bishop to be acting in this way.
[1172 → 1177]  Which is kind of what Kwasniewski is saying about Francis' decision to remove Strickland, right?
[1178 → 1181]  Just because he did it doesn't mean it was right.
[1183 → 1187]  Now, Kwasniewski does make a theological argument of sorts,
[1187 → 1191]  but the only authoritative source he quotes to back up his case
[1191 → 1194]  is the Second Vatican Council.
[1195 → 1196]  Can you believe that?
[1196 → 1203]  So Vatican II suddenly becomes reliable, authoritative, and binding Catholic teaching
[1203 → 1208]  when what it says lends itself to supporting the semi-trad argument.
[1209 → 1210]  Funny how that works.
[1212 → 1213]  By contrast,
[1213 → 1217]  Kwasniewski could have referred to Pope Pius IX's apostolic letter
[1217 → 1221]  Multiplicus Inter of 1851,
[1221 → 1227]  in which he excoriates the Peruvian author Francisco de Paula González Vigil
[1227 → 1229]  for, among other things,
[1230 → 1234]  striving to induce those who hold the helm of public affairs
[1234 → 1238]  to not obey the Roman pontiff in those matters
[1238 → 1243]  that relate to the appointment of episcopates and of bishops.
[1243 → 1247]  And for claiming, with unspeakable daring,
[1247 → 1250]  that the Roman pontiffs and ecumenical councils
[1250 → 1254]  have become detached from the limits of their power.
[1254 → 1255]  Sound familiar?
[1257 → 1261]  The late Sedevacantist priest Father Anthony Ciccata used to say
[1261 → 1267]  that the recognize-and-resist traditionalists are really all Sedevacantists.
[1268 → 1269]  They just don't know it yet.
[1270 → 1273]  Now, that was not just a rhetorical quip of his,
[1273 → 1276]  it actually reflects a very important truth.
[1277 → 1280]  In the real Roman Catholic religion,
[1280 → 1282]  the Pope is the vicar of Christ,
[1282 → 1284]  the visible head of the Church,
[1284 → 1287]  the rock against which the gates of hell will not prevail.
[1288 → 1290]  He is the principle of unity,
[1290 → 1292]  the teacher and father of all Christians,
[1293 → 1297]  the visible shepherd of the flock of Christ that is still on this earth.
[1298 → 1301]  What he binds is bound even in heaven.
[1301 → 1302]  What he looses,
[1303 → 1305]  is loosed even in heaven.
[1306 → 1308]  As Pope Pius XII said,
[1308 → 1311]  the Pope is the messenger of truth and justice,
[1312 → 1314]  the principle of the unity of the Church.
[1314 → 1318]  His voice denounces errors, idolatries, superstitions.
[1319 → 1321]  He condemns iniquities.
[1321 → 1324]  He makes charity and virtue loved.
[1325 → 1327]  For the recognize-and-resisters,
[1327 → 1329]  Francis is none of those things.
[1330 → 1332]  Well, they may pay lip service to some of them,
[1332 → 1333]  but,
[1333 → 1334]  in actuality,
[1334 → 1337]  they know that Francis doesn't fit the bill here,
[1337 → 1338]  because they act accordingly.
[1340 → 1341]  In other words,
[1341 → 1344]  although they reject Sedevacantism verbally,
[1344 → 1345]  by their actions,
[1345 → 1349]  they are very much testifying that we have no Pope.
[1350 → 1354]  Because the caricature of the papacy that they are now painting,
[1354 → 1357]  where you have to tune in to the right podcast
[1357 → 1359]  or subscribe to the right newspaper
[1359 → 1362]  to determine if what the Pope teaches is safe for you to accept,
[1363 → 1366]  or where a bishop should first check with a liturgical scholar
[1366 → 1370]  to determine if he should comply with his removal from office by the Pope,
[1371 → 1375]  that caricature of the papacy is precisely that,
[1375 → 1376]  a caricature.
[1377 → 1379]  Peter Kwasniewski calls it
[1379 → 1386]  So, in a sense, even the Semitrads are admitting
[1386 → 1388]  that Bergoglio is not a Pope.
[1389 → 1392]  Not a Pope according to the pre-Vatican II doctrine,
[1392 → 1394]  on the papacy.
[1395 → 1399]  But that is the only kind of papacy there is.
[1400 → 1403]  So, Father Ciccata was right.
[1403 → 1405]  They are all Sedevacantists.
[1406 → 1408]  They just don't know it yet.
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