Model of Conversion: Saint Paul

[As indicated on the home page of this site, here is a link to Hartford's Mark of Apostasy,  a review of the wretched career of the late Father Richard P. McBrien. The commentary written in 2008 will be revised and updated for posting in the current format of this website by late-Tuesday afternoon.]

The great feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle is commemorated today, the Third Sunday after the Epiphany. In light of all that the conciliar "popes" of the past fifty-six years, three months have done and what Jorge Mario Bergoglio continues to do to promote fale ecumenism, which is based of conciliarism's false "new ecclesiology" of "full" and "partial" communion, this is an appropriate time to remember that the counterfeit church of conciliarism's refusal to seek with urgency the unconditional conversion of all non-Catholics to the true Faith, outside of which there is no salvation and without which there can be no true social order, stands in direct contrast to Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's personal intervention to effect the conversion of the fire-breathing hater of Catholics, Saul of Tarsus, who was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians there after having presided over the stoning of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr:

[1] And Saul, as yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, [2] And asked of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues: that if he found any men and women of this way, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. [3] And as he went on his journey, it came to pass that he drew nigh to Damascus; and suddenly a light from heaven shined round about him. [4] And falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? [5] Who said: Who art thou, Lord? And he: I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.

[6] And he trembling and astonished, said: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? [7] And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the city, and there it shall be told thee what thou must do. Now the men who went in company with him, stood amazed, hearing indeed a voice, but seeing no man. [8] And Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. But they leading him by the hands, brought him to Damascus. [9] And he was there three days, without sight, and he did neither eat nor drink. [10] Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision: Ananias. And he said: Behold I am here, Lord.

[11] And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the street that is called Strait, and seek in the house of Judas, one named Saul of Tarsus. For behold he prayeth. [12] (And he saw a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hands upon him, that he might receive his sight.) [13] But Ananias answered: Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints in Jerusalem. [14] And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that invoke thy name. [15] And the Lord said to him: Go thy way; for this man is to me a vessel of election, to carry my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.

[16] For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. [17] And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house. And laying his hands upon him, he said: Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus hath sent me, he that appeared to thee in the way as thou camest; that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. [18] And immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and rising up, he was baptized. [19] And when he had taken meat, he was strengthened. And he was with the disciples that were at Damascus, for some days. [20] And immediately he preached Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.

[21] And all that heard him, were astonished, and said: Is not this he who persecuted in Jerusalem those that called upon this name: and came hither for that intent, that he might carry them bound to the chief priests? [22] But Saul increased much more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt at Damascus, affirming that this is the Christ. [23] And when many days were passed, the Jews consulted together to kill him. [24] But their laying in wait was made known to Saul. And they watched the gates also day and night, that they might kill him. [25] But the disciples taking him in the night, conveyed him away by the wall, letting him down in a basket. (Acts 9: 1-25.)

Our Lord sought the conversion of Saul, who became the great Apostle to the Gentiles.

Did Angelo Roncalli/John XXIII seek the conversion of the Jews?

Did Giovanni Battista Enrinco Antonia Maria/Paul the sick seek the conversion of the Jews?

Did Albino Luciani/John Paul I seek the conversion of the Jews during his thirty-four days as conciliar "pope" in 1978?

Did Karol Josef Wojtyla/John Paul II seek to convert Jews in those occasions he addressed then, including at the Rome Synagogue on April 13, 1986?

Did Joseph Alois Ratzinger/Benedict XVI seek to convert Jews when he spoke to them in three synagogues (Cologne, Germany, New York, New York, Rome, Italy), in Jerusalem and on numerous occasions in the Vatican between April 19, 2005, and February 28, 2013?

Quite the contrary, "Saint John Paul II" told Jews in Mainz, Germany, on November 17, 1980, that the Old Covenant had never been repealed:

“The first dimension of this dialogue, that is, the meeting between the people of the Old Covenant, never revoked by God, and that of the New Covenant, is at the same time a dialogue within our Church, that is to say, between the first and second part of her Bible ... Jews and Christians, as children of Abraham, are called to be a blessing to the world. By committing themselves together for peace and justice among all men and peoples." (Cited by John Vennari in Secret of John Paul II's Success.)

The full text is available on the Vatican website in Italian and German. Here are is the relevant passages in these two languages, including a paragraph not cited by Mr. Vennari:

Non si tratta soltanto della correzione di una falsa visuale religiosa del popolo ebraico, che nel corso della storia fu in parte concausa di misconoscimenti e persecuzioni, ma prima di tutto del dialogo tra le due religioni, che - con l’islam - poterono donare al mondo la fede nel Dio unico e ineffabile che ci parla, e lo vogliono servire a nome di tutto ii mondo.

La prima dimensione di questo dialogo, cioè l’incontro tra il popolo di Dio del Vecchio Testamento, da Dio mai denunziato (cf. Rm 11,29), e quello del Nuovo Testamento, è allo stesso tempo un dialogo all’interno della nostra Chiesa, per così dire tra la prima e la seconda parte della sua Bibbia. In proposito dicono le direttive per l’applicazione della dichiarazione conciliare “Nostra Aetate”: “Ci si sforzerà di comprendere meglio tutto ciò che nell’Antico Testamento conserva un valore proprio e perpetuo..., poiché questo valore non è stato obliterato dall’ulteriore interpretazione del Nuovo Testamento, la quale al contrario ha dato all’Antico il suo significato più compiuto, cosicché reciprocamente il Nuovo riceve dall’Antico luce e spiegazione” (Nostra Aetate, II) (Meeting with the representatives of the Hebrew community, Mainz, Germany, 17 November 1980, Italian)

Dabei geht es nicht nur um die Berichtigung einer falschen religiösen Sicht des Judenvolkes, welche die Verkennungen und Verfolgungen im Lauf der Geschichte zum Teil mitverursachte, sondern vor allem um den Dialog zwischen den zwei Religionen, die - mit dem Islam - der Welt den Glauben an den einen, unaussprechlichen, uns ansprechenden Gott schenken durften und stellvertretend für die ganze Welt ihm dienen wollen.

Die erste Dimension dieses Dialogs, nämlich die Begegnung zwischen dem Gottesvolk des von Gott nie gekündigten Alten Bundes, ist zugleich ein Dialog innerhalb unserer Kirche, gleichsam zwischen dem ersten und zweiten Teil ihrer Bibel. Hierzu sagen die Richtlinien für die Durchführung der Konzilserklärung ”Nostra aetate“: ”Man muß bemüht sein, besser zu verstehen, was im Alten Testament von eigenem und bleibendem Wert ist..., da dies durch die spätere Interpretation im Licht des Neuen Testaments, die ihm seinen vollen Sinn gibt, nicht entwertet wird, so daß sich vielmehr eine gegenseitige Beleuchtung und Ausdeutung ergibt“. (Meeting with the representatives of the Hebrew community, Mainz, Germany, 17 November 1980, German.)

Courtesy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has been strutting around the world as “Pope Francis” since March 13, 2013, “Saint John Paul II’s” “teaching” that the Old Covenant had never been repealed, part of what Joseph Alois Ratzinger/Benedict XVI called on December 22, 2005, “new way of thinking about the faith of Israel,” is now part of the official teaching of the counterfeit church of conciliarism:

247. We hold the Jewish people in special regard because their covenant with God has never been revoked, for “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29). The Church, which shares with Jews an important part of the sacred Scriptures, looks upon the people of the covenant and their faith as one of the sacred roots of her own Christian identity (cf. Rom 11:16-18). As Christians, we cannot consider Judaism as a foreign religion; nor do we include the Jews among those called to turn from idols and to serve the true God (cf. 1 Thes 1:9). With them, we believe in the one God who acts in history, and with them we accept his revealed word.

248. Dialogue and friendship with the children of Israel are part of the life of Jesus’ disciples. The friendship which has grown between us makes us bitterly and sincerely regret the terrible persecutions which they have endured, and continue to endure, especially those that have involved Christians.

249. God continues to work among the people of the Old Covenant and to bring forth treasures of wisdom which flow from their encounter with his word. For this reason, the Church also is enriched when she receives the values of Judaism. While it is true that certain Christian beliefs are unacceptable to Judaism, and that the Church cannot refrain from proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Messiah, there exists as well a rich complementarity which allows us to read the texts of the Hebrew Scriptures together and to help one another to mine the riches of God’s word. We can also share many ethical convictions and a common concern for justice and the development of peoples. (Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Evangelii Gaudium, November 26, 2013.)

There is no need to belabor once again the material covered in Perpetual Immunity of the Church from Error and Heresy. Heresy is heresy, and the Catholic Church can never spotted by anything approaching heresy, no less be headed by a true pope who inserts such a heretical statement in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ sought to convert Saul, the fire-breathing Jewish hater of His own Most Holy Name who presided over the stoning of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr. The conciliar “popes” believe that it is “proselytizing” for Catholics to do now what Our Lord Himself did with Saint Paul the Apostle as He effected His conversion to become the Apostle to the Gentiles.

It was just last evening, January 24, 2015, the Feast of Saint Timothy, the Bergoglio, the man who has prayed with Talmudic rabbis from the blasphemous Talmud and who has told a seemingly endless procession of Protestant “ministers” that he has no intention of seeking their conversion, that “interreligious dialogue” involves a “sincere listening” to others:

On his way from Judea to Galilee, Jesus passes through Samaria.  He has no problem dealing with Samaritans, who were considered by the Jews to be heretics, schismatics, separated.  His attitude tells us that encounter with those who are different from ourselves can make us grow.

Weary from his journey, Jesus does not hesitate to ask the Samaritan woman for something to drink.  His thirst, however, is much more than physical: it is also a thirst for encounter, a desire to enter into dialogue with that woman and to invite her to make a journey of interior conversion.  Jesus is patient, respectful of the person before him, and gradually reveals himself to her.  His example encourages us to seek a serene encounter with others.  To understand one another, and to grow in charity and truth, we need to pause, to accept and listen to one another.  In this way, we already begin to experience unity. (Bergolgio Concludes Week of False Ecumenism, which he denies is syncretism even though it is.)

In other words, anyone who thinks that Jews, Mohammedans, Protestants, the Orthodox or pagans such as the Hindus or Buddhists are "heretics, schismatics or separated" do not have the "inclusivity" that Our Lord showed by letting the Samartian woman approach Him at all, no less to speak with her. This reprehensible reading of the Gospel according to Saint John is a total distortion of its true meaning as the Samaritan woman was being drawn to belief in Our Lord as the Divine Messias, He Who was to institute a true worship for all men and their nations through His Catholic Church, outside of which there is no salvtion. He was inviting her into this true Church, which was not yet justified by His Redemptive Act on the wood of the Holy Cross that obliterated the Mosaic Covenant, just as He called Saul of Tarsus to be the Apostle to the Gentiles and just as He called us unto Himself in the baptismal font.

Indeed, Father George Leo Haydock explained in his commentary on John 4: 20 that the Samaritans had defected from Judaism before the Nativity of Our Lord in Bethlehem just as the Protestants had defected from Catholicism in the Sixteenth Century.

Ver. 20. Our fathers adored on this mountain, &c. She means Jacob and the ancient patriarchs, whom the Samaritans called their fathers; and by the mountain, that of Garizim, where the Samaritans had built a temple, and where they would have all persons adore, and not at Jerusalem; now she had a curiosity to hear what Christ would say of these two temples, and of the different worship of the Jews and of the Samaritans. (Witham) --- Sichem was at the foot of Mount Garizim. The Samaritans supposed the patriarchs had exercised their religious acts on this mountain. (Bible de Vence) --- Josephus (Antiquities, lib. xiii. chap. 6.) gives the dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans. Both parties referred themselves to the arbitration of king Ptolemy Philometer, who gave judgment in favour of the Jews, upon their stating the antiquity of their temple, and the uninterrupted succession of the priesthood, officiating there throughout all ages. In this controversy, the intelligent reader will see some resemblance to that which subsists between Catholics and Protestants. See Dr. Kellison's Survey of the New Religion, p. 129. --- The woman in this place must mean offering sacrifice, for adoration was never limited to any particular place. It is clear from 3 Kings ix. 3. from 2 Paralipomenon vii. 12. that God had chosen the temple of Jerusalem; but the Samaritans rejected all the books of Scripture, except the Pentateuch of Moses. The schism was begun by Manasses, a fugitive priest, that he might hold his unlawful wife thereby, and obtain superiority in schism; which he could not do whilst he remained in the unity of his brethren. How forcibly do these circumstances remind us of a much later promoter of schism, king Henry VIII. It is true the Protestants appeal to the primitive Christians, as the Samaritans appealed to the patriarchs, but in the argument both must stand or fall by the incontrovertible proof of continual succession. (Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, John: 4.)

As in all other things, Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s “interpretation,” such as it is, of Sacred Scripture is completely Modernist. This wretched little blasphemer cares nothing about Catholic doctrine. All that matters to him is the pure emotional of sentimentality.

Alas, simply declaring those who do not believe in Our Lord as He has revealed Himself to be exclusively through His true Church that He founded upon the Rock of Peter, the Pope, to be “our brothers” runs contrary to what the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, Who is immutable, guided Holy Mother Church to teach for over nineteen hundred years prior to the appearance of the corpulent Angelo Roncalli on the balcony of the Basilica of Saint Peter on October 29, 1958, the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, to begin the current line of antipopes:

Agreement and union of minds is the necessary foundation of this perfect concord amongst men, from which concurrence of wills and similarity of action are the natural results. Wherefore, in His divine wisdom, He ordained in His Church Unity of Faith; a virtue which is the first of those bonds which unite man to God, and whence we receive the name of the faithful - "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. iv., 5). That is, as there is one Lord and one baptism, so should all Christians, without exception, have but one faith. And so the Apostle St. Paul not merely begs, but entreats and implores Christians to be all of the same mind, and to avoid difference of opinions: "I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms amongst you, and that you be perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment" (I Cor. i., 10). Such passages certainly need no interpreter; they speak clearly enough for themselves. Besides, all who profess Christianity allow that there can be but one faith. It is of the greatest importance and indeed of absolute necessity, as to which many are deceived, that the nature and character of this unity should be recognized. And, as We have already stated, this is not to be ascertained by conjecture, but by the certain knowledge of what was done; that is by seeking for and ascertaining what kind of unity in faith has been commanded by Jesus Christ. (Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, June 29, 1896.)

Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed. "For in one spirit" says the Apostle, "were we all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free." As therefore in the true Christian community there is only one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one Baptism, so there can be only one faith. And therefore, if a man refuse to hear the Church, let him be considered - so the Lord commands - as a heathen and a publican. It follows that those who are divided in faith or government cannot be living in the unity of such a Body, nor can they be living the life of its one Divine Spirit. (Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, June 29, 1943.)

For the conciliar “popes,” though, “ecumenical dialogue” is all about “learning” from schismatic and heretical sects and infidels even though there is nothing of the knowledge of these false religions that is lacking in the Divine Constitution of Holy Mother Church. Holy Mother Church has instructed unbelievers and heretics and schismatics to convert them.

Indeed, as noted just two months before he announced his pending resignation from the conciliar "Petrine Ministry, that is, in December of 2012, Joseph Alois Ratzinger/Benedict VI reminded his followers in the counterfeit church of conciliarism that the goal of false ecumenism's "dialogue" is not conversion:

These rules are correct, but in the way they are formulated here I still find them too superficial. True, dialogue does not aim at conversion, but at better mutual understanding – that is correct. But all the same, the search for knowledge and understanding always has to involve drawing closer to the truth. Both sides in this piece-by-piece approach to truth are therefore on the path that leads forward and towards greater commonality, brought about by the oneness of the truth. As far as preserving identity is concerned, it would be too little for the Christian, so to speak, to assert his identity in a such a way that he effectively blocks the path to truth. Then his Christianity would appear as something arbitrary, merely propositional. He would seem not to reckon with the possibility that religion has to do with truth. On the contrary, I would say that the Christian can afford to be supremely confident, yes, fundamentally certain that he can venture freely into the open sea of the truth, without having to fear for his Christian identity. To be sure, we do not possess the truth, the truth possesses us: Christ, who is the truth, has taken us by the hand, and we know that his hand is holding us securely on the path of our quest for knowledge. Being inwardly held by the hand of Christ makes us free and keeps us safe: free – because if we are held by him, we can enter openly and fearlessly into any dialogue; safe – because he does not let go of us, unless we cut ourselves off from him. At one with him, we stand in the light of truth. (Apostate Provides Christmas greetings to the members of the Occupy Vatican Movement.)

"True, dialogue does not aim at conversion, but better mutual understanding"?

Well, this may be true for the apostates of conciliarism as it invented the madness called "dialogue" and made it the "precondition" for "peace and justice" in the world, thereby flushing the true teaching of the Catholic Church down the Orwellian memory hole.

For the Catholic Church, however, conversion has been her mission from the beginning. Just two quick examples out of so many that could be provided:

"It is for this reason that so many who do not share 'the communion and the truth of the Catholic Church' must make use of the occasion of the Council, by the means of the Catholic Church, which received in Her bosom their ancestors, proposes [further] demonstration of profound unity and of firm vital force; hear the requirements [demands] of her heart, they must engage themselves to leave this state that does not guarantee for them the security of salvation. She does not hesitate to raise to the Lord of mercy most fervent prayers to tear down of the walls of division, to dissipate the haze of errors, and lead them back within holy Mother Church, where their Ancestors found salutary pastures of life; where, in an exclusive way, is conserved and transmitted whole the doctrine of Jesus Christ and wherein is dispensed the mysteries of heavenly grace.

"It is therefore by force of the right of Our supreme Apostolic ministry, entrusted to us by the same Christ the Lord, which, having to carry out with [supreme] participation all the duties of the good Shepherd and to follow and embrace with paternal love all the men of the world, we send this Letter of Ours to all the Christians from whom We are separated, with which we exhort them warmly and beseech them with insistence to hasten to return to the one fold of Christ; we desire in fact from the depths of the heart their salvation in Christ Jesus, and we fear having to render an account one day to Him, Our Judge, if, through some possibility, we have not pointed out and prepared the way for them to attain eternal salvation. In all Our prayers and supplications, with thankfulness, day and night we never omit to ask for them, with humble insistence, from the eternal Shepherd of souls the abundance of goods and heavenly graces. And since, if also, we fulfill in the earth the office of vicar, with all our heart we await with open arms the return of the wayward sons to the Catholic Church, in order to receive them with infinite fondness into the house of the Heavenly Father and to enrich them with its inexhaustible treasures. By our greatest wish for the return to the truth and the communion with the Catholic Church, upon which depends not only the salvation of all of them, but above all also of the whole Christian society: the entire world in fact cannot enjoy true peace if it is not of one fold and one shepherd." (Pope Pius IX, Iam Vos Omnes, September 13, 1868.)

"So, Venerable Brethren, it is clear why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics: for the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it. To the one true Church of Christ, we say, which is visible to all, and which is to remain, according to the will of its Author, exactly the same as He instituted it. . . .  Let, therefore, the separated children draw nigh to the Apostolic See, set up in the City which Peter and Paul, the Princes of the Apostles, consecrated by their blood; to that See, We repeat, which is 'the root and womb whence the Church of God springs,' not with the intention and the hope that 'the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth' will cast aside the integrity of the faith and tolerate their errors, but, on the contrary, that they themselves submit to its teaching and government. Would that it were Our happy lot to do that which so many of Our predecessors could not, to embrace with fatherly affection those children, whose unhappy separation from Us We now bewail. Would that God our Savior, "Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," would hear us when We humbly beg that He would deign to recall all who stray to the unity of the Church! In this most important undertaking We ask and wish that others should ask the prayers of Blessed Mary the Virgin, Mother of divine grace, victorious over all heresies and Help of Christians, that She may implore for Us the speedy coming of the much hoped-for day, when all men shall hear the voice of Her divine Son, and shall be 'careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.'" (Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, January 6, 1928.)

It was one hundred eleven ago yesterday, January 25, the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle, that Pope Saint Pius X did that which the conciliar "popes" teach must do not be done as he sought the conversion of the founder of international Zionism, Theodore Herzl:

POPE: We are unable to favor this movement [of Zionism]. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem—but we could never sanction it. The ground of Jerusalem, if it were not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church I cannot answer you otherwise. The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people.

HERZL: [The conflict between Rome and Jerusalem, represented by the one and the other of us, was once again under way. At the outset I tried to be conciliatory. I said my little piece. . . . It didn’t greatly impress him. Jerusalem was not to be placed in Jewish hands.] And its present status, Holy Father?

POPE: I know, it is disagreeable to see the Turks in possession of our Holy Places. We simply have to put up with it. But to sanction the Jewish wish to occupy these sites, that we cannot do.

HERZL: [I said that we based our movement solely on the sufferings of the Jews, and wished to put aside all religious issues].

POPE: Yes, but we, but I as the head of the Catholic Church, cannot do this. One of two things will likely happen. Either the Jews will retain their ancient faith and continue to await the Messiah whom we believe has already appeared—in which case they are denying the divinity of Jesus and we cannot assist them. Or else they will go there with no religion whatever, and then we can have nothing at all to do with them. The Jewish faith was the foundation of our own, but it has been superceded by the teachings of Christ, and we cannot admit that it still enjoys any validity. The Jews who should have been the first to acknowledge Jesus Christ have not done so to this day.

HERZL: [It was on the tip of my tongue to remark, “It happens in every family: no one believes in his own relative.” But, instead, I said:] Terror and persecution were not precisely the best means for converting the Jews. [His reply had an element of grandeur in its simplicity:]

POPE: Our Lord came without power. He came in peace. He persecuted no one. He was abandoned even by his apostles. It was only later that he attained stature. It took three centuries for the Church to evolve. The Jews therefore had plenty of time in which to accept his divinity without duress or pressure. But they chose not to do so, and they have not done it yet.

HERZL: But, Holy Father, the Jews are in a terrible plight. I do not know if Your Holiness is aware of the full extent of their tragedy. We need a land for these harried people.

POPE: Must it be Jerusalem?

HERZL: We are not asking for Jerusalem, but for Palestine—for only the secular land.

POPE: We cannot be in favor of it.

[Editor Lowenthal interjects here] Here unrelenting replacement theology is plainly upheld as the norm of the Roman Catholic Church. Further, this confession, along with the whole tone of the Pope in his meeting with Herzl, indicates the perpetuation of a doctrinal emphasis that has resulted in centuries of degrading behavior toward the Jews. However, this response has the “grandeur” of total avoidance of that which Herzl had intimated, namely that the abusive reputation of Roman Catholicism toward the Jews was unlikely to foster conversion. Further, if, “It took three centuries for the Church to evolve,” it was that very same period of time that it took for the Church to consolidate and launch its thrust of anti-Semitism through the following centuries.

HERZL: Does Your Holiness know the situation of the Jews?

POPE: Yes, from my days in Mantua, where there are Jews. I have always been in friendly relations with Jews. Only the other evening two Jews were here to see me. There are other bonds than those of religion: social intercourse, for example, and philanthropy. Such bonds we do not refuse to maintain with the Jews. Indeed we also pray for them, that their spirit see the light. This very day the Church is celebrating the feast of an unbeliever who became converted in a miraculous manner—on the road to Damascus. And so if you come to Palestine and settle your people there, we will be ready with churches and priests to baptize all of you. (Marvin Lowenthal, The Diaries of Theodore Herzl.)

All right. All right. You want one more example?

Just one more contrast that is pertinent to yesterday's feast, the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle, without reprising the example of Our Lady converted Alphonse Ratisbonne by appearing to him in the Church San Andrea della Fratte on January 20, 1842, in the image of the Miraculous Medal that he wore as a dare from his friend, Baron de Bussieres, a zealous Catholic convert from Protestantism, to bring him into the Church.

Sure.

Let's turn yet again to the Mother of God herself, who sought the conversion of Pierre Port-Combet on March 25, 1656:

Then the Lady said, "Where does that heretic live who cut the willow tree? Does he not want to be converted?"

Pierre [Port-Combet, who had become a Calvinist] mumbled an answer. The Lady became more serious, "Do you think that I do not know that you are the heretic? Realize that your end is at hand. If you do not return to the True Faith, you will be cast into Hell! But if you change your beliefs, I shall protect you before God. Tell people to pray that they may gain the good graces which, God in His mercy has offered to them."

Pierre was filled with sorrow and shame and moved away from the Lady. Suddenly realizing that he was being rude, Pierre stepped closer to her, but she had moved away and was already near the little hill. He ran after her begging, "Please stop and listen to me. I want to apologize to you and I want you to help me!"

The Lady stopped and turned. By the time Pierre caught up to her, she was floating in the air and was already disappearing from sight. Suddenly, Pierre realized that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared to him! He fell to his knees and cried buckets of tears, "Jesus and Mary I promise you that I will change my life and become a good Catholic. I am sorry for what I have done and I beg you please, to help me change my life…"

On August 14, 1656, Pierre became very sick. An Augustinian priest came to hear his confession and accepted him back into the Catholic Church. Pierre received Holy Communion the next day on the Feast of the Assumption. After Pierre returned to the Catholic Faith, many others followed him. His son and five daughters came back to the Catholic Church as well as many Calvinists and Protestants. Five weeks later on September 8, 1656, Pierre died and was buried under the miraculous willow tree, just as he had asked. (Our Lady of the Willow Tree.)

 

The Catholic Church, the spotless Mystical Bride of Our Lord Jesus Christ, is incapable of giving us error:

As for the rest, We greatly deplore the fact that, where the ravings of human reason extend, there is somebody who studies new things and strives to know more than is necessary, against the advice of the apostle. There you will find someone who is overconfident in seeking the truth outside the Catholic Church, in which it can be found without even a light tarnish of error. Therefore, the Church is called, and is indeed, a pillar and foundation of truth. You correctly understand, venerable brothers, that We speak here also of that erroneous philosophical system which was recently brought in and is clearly to be condemned. This system, which comes from the contemptible and unrestrained desire for innovation, does not seek truth where it stands in the received and holy apostolic inheritance. Rather, other empty doctrines, futile and uncertain doctrines not approved by the Church, are adopted. Only the most conceited men wrongly think that these teachings can sustain and support that truth. (Pope Gregory XVI, Singulari Nos, May 25, 1834.)

Just as Christianity cannot penetrate into the soul without making it better, so it cannot enter into public life without establishing order. With the idea of a God Who governs all, Who is infinitely wise, good, and just, the idea of duty seizes upon the consciences of men.  It assuages sorrow, it calms hatred, it engenders heroes. If it has transformed pagan society--and that transformation was a veritable resurrection--for barbarism disappeared in proportion as Christianity extended its sway, so, after the terrible shocks which unbelief has given to the world in our days, it will be able to put that world again on the true road, and bring back to order the states and peoples of modern times. But the return of Christianity will not be efficacious and complete if it does not restore the world to a sincere love of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. In the Catholic Church Christianity is Incarnate. It identifies itself with that perfect, spiritual, and, in its own order, sovereign society, which is the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ and which has for Its visible head the Roman Pontiff, successor of the Prince of the Apostles. It is the continuation of the mission of the Savior, the daughter and the heiress of His Redemption.  It has preached the Gospel, and has defended it at the price of its blood, and strong in the Divine assistance and of that immortality which has been promised it, it makes no terms with error but remains faithful to the commands which It has received, to carry the doctrine of Jesus Christ to the uttermost limits of the world and to the end of time, and to protect it in its inviolable integrity. Legitimate dispenser of the teachings of the Gospel It does not reveal itself only as the consoler and Redeemer of souls, but It is still more the internal source of justice and charity, and the propagator as well as the guardian of true liberty, and of that equality which alone is possible here below. In applying the doctrine of its Divine Founder, It maintains a wise equilibrium and marks the true limits between the rights and privileges of society. The equality which it proclaims does not destroy the distinction between the different social classes  It keeps them intact, as nature itself demands, in order to oppose the anarchy of reason emancipated from Faith, and abandoned to its own devices. The liberty which it gives in no wise conflicts with the rights of truth, because those rights are superior to the demands of liberty.  Not does it infringe upon the rights of justice, because those rights are superior to the claims of mere numbers or power. Nor does it assail the rights of God because they are superior to the rights of humanity. (Pope Leo XIII, A Review of His Pontificate, March 19, 1902.)

 

The Catholic Church, guided infallibly by the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, cannot and does not give us teachings that are unclear or murky or ambiguous:

For the teaching authority of the Church, which in the divine wisdom was constituted on earth in order that revealed doctrines might remain intact for ever, and that they might be brought with ease and security to the knowledge of men, and which is daily exercised through the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops who are in communion with him, has also the office of defining, when it sees fit, any truth with solemn rites and decrees, whenever this is necessary either to oppose the errors or the attacks of heretics, or more clearly and in greater detail to stamp the minds of the faithful with the articles of sacred doctrine which have been explained. (Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, January 6, 1928.)

 

Those who defect knowingly from the Faith in one thing defect from It in Its entirely and thus fall from the bosom of the Church no matter what they might seek to "declare" by whatever nonexistent "authority" within the Catholic Church that they simply do not possess because they are not Catholics:

The Church, founded on these principles and mindful of her office, has done nothing with greater zeal and endeavour than she has displayed in guarding the integrity of the faith. Hence she regarded as rebels and expelled from the ranks of her children all who held beliefs on any point of doctrine different from her own. The Arians, the Montanists, the Novatians, the Quartodecimans, the Eutychians, did not certainly reject all Catholic doctrine: they abandoned only a certain portion of it. Still who does not know that they were declared heretics and banished from the bosom of the Church? In like manner were condemned all authors of heretical tenets who followed them in subsequent ages. "There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the whole cycle of doctrine, and yet by one word, as with a drop of poison, infect the real and simple faith taught by our Lord and handed down by Apostolic tradition" (Auctor Tract. de Fide Orthodoxa contra Arianos).

The practice of the Church has always been the same, as is shown by the unanimous teaching of the Fathers, who were wont to hold as outside Catholic communion, and alien to the Church, whoever would recede in the least degree from any point of doctrine proposed by her authoritative Magisterium. Epiphanius, Augustine, Theodore :, drew up a long list of the heresies of their times. St. Augustine notes that other heresies may spring up, to a single one of which, should any one give his assent, he is by the very fact cut off from Catholic unity. "No one who merely disbelieves in all (these heresies) can for that reason regard himself as a Catholic or call himself one. For there may be or may arise some other heresies, which are not set out in this work of ours, and, if any one holds to one single one of these he is not a Catholic" (S. Augustinus, De Haeresibus, n. 88).

The need of this divinely instituted means for the preservation of unity, about which we speak is urged by St. Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians. In this he first admonishes them to preserve with every care concord of minds: "Solicitous to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. iv., 3, et seq.). And as souls cannot be perfectly united in charity unless minds agree in faith, he wishes all to hold the same faith: "One Lord, one faith," and this so perfectly one as to prevent all danger of error: "that henceforth we be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive" (Eph. iv., 14): and this he teaches is to be observed, not for a time only - "but until we all meet in the unity of faith...unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ" (13). But, in what has Christ placed the primary principle, and the means of preserving this unity? In that - "He gave some Apostles - and other some pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (11-12). (Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, June 29, 1896.)

Saint Paul the Apostle is a model of conversion.

In imitation of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, who prayed for the conversion of his persecutor, Saul of Tarsus, Catholics seek and pray with urgency for the conversion of all non-Catholics to the true Faith. They do not give an appearance or impression, whether by omission or commission, that false religions are esteemed by the true God of Divine Revelation, the Most Blessed Trinity, or that they can play a role in the building of a "better" world.

Catholicism bears fruit from God the Holy Ghost.

Conciliarism bears fruit from the adversary.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio and his band of conciliar revolutionaries are models of apostasy.

The apostasy what was instituted under Pope Saint Pius X as the Chair of Unity Octave on December 27, 1909, and propagted anew by Pope Benedict XV contained the following intentions:

January 18: For the return of the "other sheep" to the One Fold of our Lord Jesus Christ.

January 19: For the return of the Eastern Orthodox Christians to communion with the Apostolic See.

January 20: For the return of the Anglicans to the authority of the Vicar of Christ.

January 21: For the return of all Protestants throughout the world to the unity of the Catholic Church.

January 22: That Christians in America may be one, in union with the Chair of Saint Peter.

January 23: That lapsed Catholics will return to the Sacraments of the Church.

January 24: That the Jewish people will be converted to the Catholic Faith.

January 25: That missionary zeal will conquer the world for Christ.

The Chair of Unity Octave had to be dumped in favor of what is called "The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Octave" by Giovanni Antonio Enrico Maria Montini/Paul VI (I do use the Roman numerals for this sick man now and again) in 1966 as such intentions had become "out of date." Montini's "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" as fluid as his Protestant and Judeo-Masonic Novus Ordo litugical service. The themes for the eight days vary from year to year and are decided upon jointly by the "Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity" and the "Faith and Order Commission" of the pro-abortion pro-perversity, pro-Communist World Council of Churches. This year's themes revolved around entirely around the Samaritan woman at the well. Take a look at the "themes" if you do not believe me: Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches. Although the themes are established by the heretics in Rome in their like number in Geneva, Switzerland.

Conversion is a dirty word in movement of false ecumenism.

Our Lord, however, Ascended into Heaven atop Mount Thabor by commanding His Apostles as follows: 

[16] And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. [17] And seeing him they adored: but some doubted. [18] And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. [19] Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. (Matthew 28: 16-20.)

Enough.

Remember to pray your Rosaries. Be devoted to Saint Joseph, the Patron of the Universal Church and the Protector of the Faithful, and to Saints Peter and Paul, both of whom sought the conversion of their own Jewish people and of the Gentiles.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph soon.

Viva Cristo Rey! Vivat Christus Rex!

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saints Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, pray for us.

Saint Polycarp, pray for us.