Some Comments on
the Recent Limbo Fiasco
-A review of the article by
the false traditionalist “Fr.” Brian Harrison, as well as his astounding
omission on the baptism of desire issue-
By Bro. Peter Dimond,
O.S.B.
IN THIS ARTICLE:
-SOME COMMENTS ON “FR.” HARRISON’S
ARTICLE ON THE RECENT LIMBO FIASCO
-FALSE TRADITIONALISTS HIDE
THE TRUTH
-“FR.” HARRISON’S
ASTOUNDING OMISSION REGARDING BAPTISM OF DESIRE
Reports have
recently surfaced that the Vatican may be issuing a document which states that
all those who die unbaptized before attaining the use of reason go to
heaven. This really wouldn’t be a
surprise, since the Vatican II “Bishops” (including Benedict XVI) basically
believe in universal salvation. The
Vatican II sect holds that basically everyone goes to heaven, with the possible
exception of mass murderers, anti-semites and radical traditionalists. Nevertheless, if such a document is issued by
the Vatican, it will constitute quite a
heresy and an embarrassment for those false traditionalists who are loudly
asserting that the Vatican II sect is not formally heretical.
In a recent article
carried on a number of false traditionalist websites, “Fr.” Brian Harrison (a
pathetic defender of Vatican II and the Vatican II Antipopes) expressed his
embarrassment. I want to make a few
comments on his article. I also want to
comment on a letter-version of his article.
This letter (which was forwarded to us) contains a number of revealing
statements which were not in the article that was carried on the false traditionalist
websites:
“Fr.”
Brian Harrison, Letter:
“Dear
Catholic friends: It seems virtually
certain that a new Instruction from the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will very shortly be
released, "eliminating" Limbo as a possibility for infants, and
teaching that all those who die unbaptized before attaining the use of reason
will in any case reach Heaven - the beatific vision. I will be so bold as to offer a few
theological and pastoral comments: 1)
This is going to be an Instruction of the CDF… By definition, even if receiving
Pope Benedict's most formal approval, this will still be a non-infallible
(non-ex-cathedra) statement of the magisterium. So it will still leave us with
our existing lack of complete certainty as to the destiny of such infants.
2) Not only that, but this document of a Vatican Congregation will have LESS
authority than the 1588 Constitution on abortion personally signed by Pope
Sixtus V, which flatly contradicts what Abp. Levada is apparently going to tell
us… The magisterium undermines its own
credibility when it contradicts itself, even in non-infallible teachings.
3)
Perhaps the most perilous feature of an Instruction "assuring" us
that all infants who die unbaptized reach Heaven in any case is that it will
inevitably lead many to become more indifferent about the need to baptise
infants. Already many Catholic parents are tardy in having their chidren [sic]
baptized, and a papal assurance that baptism is not in case necessary for their
salvation, should they die prematurely and unexpectedly, will obviously
accentuate this tendency….
4)
What of the timing? One remembers how the 1986 papally convoked interreligious
gathering at Assisi was a significant factor in provoking Archbishop Lebevre
[sic] into carrying out his illicit 1988 episcopal consecrations. Now, at a
time when that rupture has still not been healed, and when in fact radical traditionalism and
sedevacantism appear to be growing, will this Instruction not just add more
fuel to the flames? Will it not provoke
further alienation and lack of confidence among those Catholic brethren who
think the Vatican has been taken over by modernist heretics?
With all due respect for the
See of Peter, it honestly seems to me that it would have been far more prudent
for the magisterium to say nothing more on this topic, and thus "let
sleeping dogs lie"….”
MHFM: Harrison’s
embarrassment in light of this new development exudes from his words, for he is
in communion with the Vatican II heretics, and has repeatedly attempted to
defend them from the charge of heresy against all comers. But this limbo fiasco is so blatantly
heretical that even he cannot come up with any cleverly dishonest explanations
or devilish subterfuges to justify it.
He simply expresses his profound embarrassment, and his regret that the
Vatican decided to reveal what it really believes on this topic.
“Fr.” Harrison
admits that sedevacantism is growing, and he fears that this new Vatican
document will add more fuel to the flames.
He asks if the new document will not further provoke the reaction that
the Vatican “has been taken over by modernist heretics.” I would
think so! Give me a break, the dogma
that infants cannot be saved without the Sacrament of Baptism was one of the
most prominent in the early Church. Pope
St. Innocent and St. Augustine expressed it thus:
Pope
St. Innocent, 414: “But that which Your
Fraternity asserts the Pelagians preach, that even without the grace of Baptism
infants are able to be endowed with the rewards of eternal life, is quite
idiotic.” (Jurgens, The Faith of the
Early Fathers, Vol. 3: 2016.)
St. Augustine, Letter
to Jerome, 415: “Anyone who would
say that even infants who pass from this life without participation in the
Sacrament [of Baptism] shall be made alive in Christ truly goes counter to
the preaching of the Apostle and condemns the whole Church, where there
is great haste in baptizing infants because it is believed without doubt that
there is no other way at all in which they can be made alive in Christ.” (Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 3:1439)
Infants who die without baptism (and thus in the state of original sin
only) descend to hell, but to a place where there is no fire. This is the infallible teaching of the
Catholic Church.
Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence,
“Letentur coeli,” Sess. 6, July 6, 1439, ex
cathedra: “We define also that… the
souls of those who depart this life in actual mortal sin, or in
original sin alone, go straightaway to hell, but to undergo punishments
of different kinds.” (Denz.
693)
Pope Pius VI, Auctorem
fidei, Aug. 28, 1794:
“26. The doctrine which rejects as a Pelagian
fable, that place of the lower regions (which the faithful generally designate
by the name of the limbo of the children) in which the souls of those departing
with the sole guilt of original sin are punished with the punishment of the
condemned, exclusive of the punishment of fire, just as if, by this very
fact, that these who remove the punishment of fire introduced that middle place
and state free of guilt and of punishment between the kingdom of God and
eternal damnation, such as that about which the Pelagians idly talk” – Condemned
as false, rash, injurious to Catholic schools. (Denz. 1596)
Here Pope Pius VI
condemns the idea of some theologians that infants who die in original sin
suffer the fires of Hell. At the same
time, he confirms that these infants do go to a part of the lower regions
(i.e., Hell) called the limbo of the children.
They do not go to Heaven, but to a place in Hell where there is no
fire. This is perfectly in accord with
all of the other solemn definitions of the Church, which teach that infants who
die without water baptism descend into Hell, but suffer a punishment different
from those who die in mortal sin. Their
punishment is eternal separation from God.
The idea that
infants can be saved without the Sacrament of Baptism – since they are in a
state of original sin – has been specifically anathematized.
Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Session
11, Feb. 4, 1442, ex cathedra: “Regarding children, indeed,
because of danger of death, which can often take place, when no help can
be brought to them by another remedy than through the sacrament of baptism,
through which they are snatched from the domination of the Devil [original
sin] and adopted among the sons of God, it advises that holy baptism ought
not be deferred for forty or eighty days, or any time according to the
observance of certain people…” (Denz.
712)
Pope Eugene IV here defines infallibly that there is no other
remedy for infants to be snatched away from the dominion of the devil
(i.e., original sin) other than the Sacrament of Baptism. This means that anyone who obstinately teaches that infants can
be saved without receiving the Sacrament of Baptism is a heretic, for he is
teaching that there is another remedy for original sin in
children other than the Sacrament of Baptism.
Pope Martin V, Council of Constance, Session
15, July 6, 1415 - Condemning the articles of John Wyclif - Proposition 6: “Those who
claim that the children of the faithful dying without sacramental baptism will
not be saved, are stupid and presumptuous in saying this.”- Condemned
(Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Vol. 1, p. 422.)
This is a fascinating proposition from The
Council of Constance.
Unfortunately, this proposition is not found in Denzinger, which only
contains some of the Council’s decrees, but it is found in a full collection of
the Council of Constance. The
arch-heretic John Wyclif was proposing that those (such as ourselves) are
stupid for teaching that infants who die without sacramental (i.e. water)
baptism cannot possibly be saved. He
was anathematized for this assertion.
Pope St. Zosimus, The Council of Carthage,
Canon on Sin and Grace, 417 A.D.- “It has been decided likewise that if
anyone says that for this reason the Lord said: ‘In my Father’s house
there are many mansions’ [John 14:2]: that it might be understood that
in the kingdom of heaven there will be some middle place or some place anywhere
where the blessed infants live who departed from this life without baptism,
without which they cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven, which is life
eternal, let him be anathema.” (Denzinger 102, authentic addition to Can.
2.)
Pope Paul III, The Council of Trent, On
Original Sin, Session V, ex cathedra: “If anyone says that recently born babies
should not be baptized even if they have been born to baptized parents; or
says that they are indeed baptized for the remission of sins, but incur no
trace of the original sin of Adam needing to be cleansed by the laver of
rebirth for them to obtain eternal life, with the necessary consequence
that in their case there is being understood a form of baptism for the
remission of sins which is not true, but false: let him be anathema.” (Denz. 791)
This means that anyone who asserts that infants don’t need the “laver of
rebirth” (water baptism) to attain eternal life is teaching heresy. Thus,
the document alleged to be coming soon from the Vatican, asserting that all who
die as unbaptized infants go to heaven, is blatantly heretical. As St. Augustine said, it “condemns the whole
Church” and the entire history of the Church.
FALSE TRADITIONALISTS
HIDE THE TRUTH
But what is very interesting is that the important statement of “Fr.” Harrison, expressing his regret about
this new manifest heresy emanating from the Vatican II sect, namely, “when in fact radical
traditionalism and sedevacantism appear to be growing, will this Instruction
not just add more fuel to the flames? Will it not
provoke further alienation and lack of confidence among those Catholic brethren
who think the Vatican has been taken over by modernist heretics?” – was not included in the article
published on the websites of Seattle
Catholic and The Remnant.
Hmmm… I believe it’s obvious that the reason they didn’t include these
words is that they didn’t want people concluding exactly what “Fr.” Harrison
fears they would conclude: the Vatican has been taken over by Modernist
heretics – which any reasonable person could see, but which Harrison and the
editors of these websites are too spiritually blinded and dishonest to see
themselves. So, chalk this up as another
confirmation of the sedevacantist position.
The failure to
include this portion of Harrison’s
comments in the article on these websites reminds me of the very interesting
fact that when Antipope Benedict XVI went to the Synagogue, and took active
part in Jewish worship, the Seattle Catholic website didn’t even provide a single link mentioning it! This is a false traditionalist website which specializes in news links about
such matters, but it very carefully avoided telling the people that Benedict
XVI went to the Synagogue! It (or
rather, its heretical and dishonest editor) hid this truth from the people
because he didn’t want people to see that Benedict XVI is an antichrist
apostate. He didn’t want people to see
that his false traditionalist position, which maintains hope for the antichrist
Vatican II sect, is a complete fraud, and that his “Pope” doesn’t even believe
in Jesus Christ. This is a good example
of the profound bad will and dishonesty of this crowd.
“FR.”
HARRISON’S ASTOUNDING OMISSION REGARDING BAPTISM OF DESIRE
In the course of contradicting the Vatican’s totally heretical position
on unbaptized infants, “Fr.” Harrison makes reference to a number of Papal and
Magisterial pronouncements. He also
makes one of the most dishonest omissions that you will ever see from a
“traditionalist” “priest.” I will quote
him and then make some comments:
“Fr.” Brian
Harrison, “Can Limbo Be Abolished?”:
“…it
appears that the only papal statement expressly mentioning the destiny of aborted
infants is that of Pope Sixtus V, whose
Constitution Effrænatam of 29 October 1588 not only abstains from
raising any hopes that they may attain the beatific vision, but positively
affirms that they do not attain it!... three times in the one
paragraph, in different ways, the Pope [Sixtus V] affirms that aborted babies
are excluded from the beatific vision…
This conclusion is
reinforced when we consider other magisterial teachings on unbaptized infants. As early as 385, Pope St. Siricius, writing
to Bishop Himerius, showed that he felt gravely bound in conscience, for the
sake of his own salvation, to warn the latter to insist on the baptism
of infants as well as adults in his diocese, “ . . . lest Our own soul be in
danger if, as a result of being denied the saving font, . . . each one of them,
on leaving the world, loses both [eternal] life and the kingdom” (“. . .
ne ad nostrarum perniciem tendat animarum, si negato . . . fonte salutari
exiens unusquisque de saeculo et regnum perdat et vitam” (DS 184, my
translation, not found in earlier editions of Denzinger).”
MHFM: First, “Fr.”
Harrison notes that Pope Sixtus V expressly stated that aborted infants cannot
be saved. “Fr.” Harrison also admits
that the teaching of Sixtus V constitutes the teaching of the Magisterium. Thus, “Fr.” Harrison admits that his
heretical sect contradicts the teaching of the Magisterium.
Second, “Fr.”
Harrison quotes Pope St. Siricius on the necessity of baptism (385). Harrison quotes a sentence from Siricius’s
letter to Himerius. I had a section on
this letter in my book, Outside the
Catholic Church There is Absolutely No Salvation. Harrison gives the Latin, and his own English
translation, but he also uses an ellipsis (…) to remove part of the
sentence. Why? Well, here is what Pope St. Siricius says:
Pope St. Siricius, 385, [Concerning
the necessity of baptism] “Therefore just as we declare that respect for the
Easter sacrifice [Paschal time] should not be lessened in the case of any
person, in like manner we wish help to
be brought with all speed to children who because of their age cannot yet
speak, and to those who in any emergency are in need of the water of holy
baptism, lest it should lead to the destruction of our souls if, by refusing
the water of salvation to those who desire it, each of them, when taking leave
of this world, should lose both the kingdom and life. Indeed whoever suffers the peril of
shipwreck, an enemy attack, the danger of siege or desperation resulting from
some bodily infirmity, and so asks for
what in their faith is their only help, let them receive at the moment of their request the reward of
regeneration that they beg for. This
much should suffice for my digression on this subject; now let all priests who
do not wish to be wrenched from the firmly-fixed rock of the apostles, on which
Christ built his universal church, hold fast to the aforesaid rule.” (Latin found in Denzinger-Schonmetzer,
Latin Edition, 1962, no. 184; an English Translation found in The
Christian Faith, Sixth Revised and Enlarged Edition,
Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 1996, p. 540.)
I hope that the baptism of desire advocates read this one very
carefully. The Pope declares that the
man who begs for regeneration and desires water baptism is still denied heaven
if he dies without it! This quotation
from Pope St. Siricius is striking in that it again clearly shows how the early
Church rejected belief in the concept of baptism of desire. The Pope begins by affirming that the
observance of Paschal time should not be relaxed. (He is referring to the fact that Baptisms
were historically performed during Paschal time.) After
affirming that this tradition should be maintained, the Pope warns that infants
and those in any necessity or danger should be baptized immediately, lest those
who desire baptism die and are “deprived of the Kingdom and life” for not
having received water baptism which they desired. This is a clear rejection of the idea of
baptism of desire.
This point is made again by the Pope in the second half of the quotation,
where he says that when those unbaptized persons “ask for what in their
faith is their only help, let them receive at the very moment of
their request the reward of regeneration they beg for.” This means that receiving water Baptism
is the only help to salvation for such persons who earnestly desire to
receive Baptism. There is no help to
salvation for such persons in their desire or martyrdom, but only in receiving
the Sacrament of Baptism.
But here’s the
bombshell: Harrison quotes from a sentence in this letter. In fact, he
quotes from the sentence which makes reference to the concept of desire,
but he removes just one word. Here again
is Harrison’s treatment of the issue:
“Fr.”
Brian Harrison, “Could Limbo Be Abolished?”: “As early as 385, Pope St.
Siricius, writing to Bishop Himerius, showed that he felt gravely bound in
conscience, for the sake of his own salvation, to warn the latter to
insist on the baptism of infants as well as adults in his diocese, " ... lest
Our own soul be in danger if, as a result being denied the saving font, ...
each one of them, on leaving the world, loses both [eternal] life and the
kingdom" ("... ne ad nostrarum perniciem tendat animarum, si
negato ... fonte salutari exiens
unusquisque de saeculo et regnum perdat et vitam" (DS 184, my
translation, not found in earlier editions of Denzinger).”
I want to show you
the Latin quoted by Harrison next to the actual Latin text:
Latin
quoted by Harrison: (“. . . ne ad
nostrarum perniciem tendat animarum, si negato . . . fonte salutari exiens
unusquisque de saeculo et regnum perdat et vitam”
Actual
Latin text: “…ne ad nostrarum perniciem
tendat animaram, si negato desiderantibus
fonte salutari exiens unusquisque de saeculo et regnum perdat et vitam”
Both are exactly
the same, except for one word. “Fr.” Harrison uses AN ELLIPSIS (…) TO REMOVE
JUST ONE WORD! He uses an ellipsis (…)
to remove the word “desiderantibus” from Pope St. Siricius’s statement. The word desiderantibus
means “to those desiring.” Desiderantibus is, as a professional
Latinist confirmed for me, the dative masculine plural of the present
participle of the verb “desidero,” which means “I desire.” “Fr.”
Brian Harrison removed this single word – and hid this truth from the people –
because it clearly shows that Pope St. Siricius declared that even those who
died desiring water baptism were deprived of the Kingdom and life! This is bad, very bad. In fact, there is
only one word that describes how bad and dishonest his removal of this one word
is: evil.
All of this shows us again the dishonesty and the bad will of the
false traditionalists. Their dishonesty
(hatred of the truth) is why God has sent them the operation of error, to
believe in the Vatican II deception, reject the salvation dogma and accept
modernist heretics.
2 Thess. 2:10-12 “…because
they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore
God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying. That all may
be judged who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity."