“Once a Catholic Always a Catholic”? Not Necessarily.
Many Catholics casually say the following line to ex-Catholics in order to get them back into a Church building: "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic." It sounds welcoming, but it's theologically wrong. This is because the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and the Church Fathers, St. Thomas Aquinas and the Popes all taught: A bad Catholic never ceases to be a Catholic, provided his failure be not faith-based but morality-based (and also provided those moral failures be not excommunicable.) On the other hand, a baptized person who has purposely rejected even one tenet of the traditional Catholic faith is a heretic who is no longer Catholic. Furthermore, a baptized person who has purposely rejected Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the world is now an apostate and even farther outside the Church. A heretic maintains the character of baptism, [...]
RCT 52: The Validity of the Sacraments.
The Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT) p.161-164. The Sacraments, ep. 4. -STV: https://spiritustv.com/@padreperegrino -Donate: https://www.padreperegrino.org/donate/ -Telegram: https://t.me/padreperegrino
Should Chaste Gay Men Be Catholic Priests?
And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed You.” And He said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”—Lk 18:28-30. Notice the title of this article is slightly different from this question: "Should non-chaste gay men be priests?" To the latter question, leftists would reply "yes." Of course, both neo-con non-trad Catholics as well as traditional Catholics would reply "no" to that question. But now we get to the title of this article: "Should chaste gay men be priests?" Some neo-con non-trads would actually answer "yes" to that question. Because conservatives are divided on that [...]
The Duty of the Pro-Life Rescuer
The following was written from inside a Connecticut prison during January 2025 by Will Goodman (top left, currently a political prisoner in the United States for his peaceful pro-life work inside pre-born children killing-centers.) Pro-life rescuers experience a variety of criticisms & compliments. Some in the movement suggest: "you could do more for the babies if you didn't go on the property," or "I would support you if you took a strictly legal approach." While others reply to rescuers: "what you do is amazing," or "you are a hero for your sacrifice!" To be honest, I am uncomfortable with both replies to rescue. Even though these words are well-intentioned, I honestly think they miss the point. Rescuers simply view their mission as a duty to their fellow man in extreme danger & as an act of obedience to a divine [...]
VLX 162: Mt 27:35-37. “My Love is Crucified.”
-STV: https://spiritustv.com/@padreperegrino -Donate: https://www.padreperegrino.org/donate/ -Telegram: https://t.me/padreperegrino Gospel: “And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over Him there. And over His head they put the charge against Him, which read, ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.’”
St. Ignatius’ Rules For Discernment
Although I have written and podcasted many times about St. Ignatius’ rules of discernment, I have never listed all of his rules without commentary. They are quite digestible as you can see from the length of this short article. Thousands of books have been written on his rules. But taken alone, the following list is just the "raw-materials" of all discernment. (Discernment is simply the telling of good from bad, and making decisions in life.) Although dry at first glance, these bullet points have become the most pure “raw materials” of the interior life. Notwithstanding what the modernist Jesuits have done with them, keep in mind that the old-school Popes have stated that St. Ignatius’ spiritual exercises and rules of discernment are the gold-standards in decision-making for the Christian. The following are taken from The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, [...]
Is There a Scriptural Basis for Annulments?
Dico autem vobis quia quicumque dimiserit uxorem suam, nisi ob fornicationem (πορνείᾳ) et aliam duxerit, moechatur. Et qui dimissam duxerit, moechatur.—Our Lord Jesus Christ in St. Matthew 19:9. Before we look at the above translations of Sacred Scripture, we must look at some definitions and statistics. First of all, there are three tiers of marriage: Civil Marriage—this is any couple married in a fashion that is recognized by the country in which they live. Due to the rejection of the Natural Law in the United States, you can now "marry" another person of the opposite sex, the same sex, your pet, or even yourself. Some Western countries are even considering incestuous relationships as being legal and binding civil marriages. Thus, there's an extremely low bar to effect a "civil marriage." Natural Marriage—this happens when a man and a woman [...]
Holy Face Devotion with Fr. Carney
Fr. Lawrence Carney teaches us about reparation and love of the Holy Face from St. Veronica on the Sixth Station of the Cross to Sister Mary of St. Peter in the 19th century. Fr. Carney’s books and talks can be found on https://www.martinians.org.
Are Muslims Converting En Masse?
p/c NYT and Jose Sachin on X New Orleans was the target of Muslim terrorism New Year's Eve, just two nights ago, as seen in the news above. At least ten people were killed and over 30 were injured. As this was on Bourbon Street, no one is considering the revelers to be Christian martyrs. But it's a grim reminder that a Muslim (according to the Quran) gets brownie points for killing infidels. Muslims kill many Christian all over Africa, the Middle-East and the Far East every day. Their blood is bearing fruit. Perhaps the actual Muslim terrorists are not converting, but other more moderate Muslims across the globe may be converting due to the Christian martyrs. As Tertullian said: "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church." Every 2 hours, a Nigerian Christian is killed for [...]
Biden and Thomas on the Natural Law
Recently, I watched an excellent documentary called Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words. That movie includes the 1991 Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings where Clarence Thomas had to defend himself against the false-accusations of Anita Hill in regards to verbal sexual harassment. Most people in the 1990s were fascinated by the racy language surrounding things like "Long Dong Silver" and other odd statements from Hill. But what I found most interesting in the movie was that the then-Senator Joe Biden tried to hang Clarence Thomas on these false-accusations mainly because the Democrats were afraid Thomas was going to vote against abortion if he were elected to the Supreme Court. Their fears proved correct on Justice Thomas being pro-life. But today's article is not about the overturning of Roe Vs. Wade. Back to the 1991 confirmation hearings: Despite the obvious [...]