Michael Matt in Rome attends another Vatican press conference and challenges a Synodal Father on the question of whether the Synodal Church still believes it is necessary for anyone to become a Catholic.

Plus, Michael attends the launch of Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s new catechism.

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Some surprising good news out of Rome: A Synod father stands with Latin Mass Catholics and totally undermines the foundations of Traditionis Custodes.

Michael J. Matt covers today’s Synod press conference, in which several Synod officials attempt to explain what “synodality” means.

“Living Tradition bobs along like a cork through the stream of evolving dogma. What a pleasant euphemism for the old heresy of dogmatic historicism.” (Fr. Dominique Bourmaud, One Hundred Years of Modernism)

New from Remnant TV...

In this episode of The Remnant Underground, Michael Matt wonders what is going to happen to the Palestinian Christians as 1.1 million Palestinians are told to evacuate their homes. Will the last Christians finally be driven out of the land of Christ’s birth?

Pope Francis promotes another Jesuit heretic to a prestigious curial position, as Archbishop Cordileone’s biggest critic is honored with a private audience. Whoopi Goldberg meets with Francis, thanks him on behalf of her gay friends, and then explains to the ladies of “The View” why the Latin Mass had to go. Just a coincidence, or is this is a SYNODAL moment?

Although baptized, we still fall ill. Although baptized, we feel the relentless attacks of concupiscence. Although baptized, we suffer the vicissitudes of a life subjected to sin. And, most importantly, although baptized, we are subject to death. If Adam and Eve, before the fall, were not touched by any of the evils of this life, how can we say that, through the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, “We are somewhat already in Paradise”? It is time to answer, as much as possible, this challenging question.

In order to do this, we need to reflect, using as vivid and expressive imagery as possible, on the human condition before the fall, so that we can contemplate our situation after the fall. Only when these aspects are clarified, can we revisit the topic of Holy Baptism and discuss the effects it has on those saved “by the laver of regeneration” (Titus 3:5).

Pius XII’s Humani Generis from 1950 was the last major encyclical warning Catholics about the dangers facing the Church prior to Vatican II. In it, he denounced what he termed the “imprudent zeal for souls” that led some Catholics to question the necessity of belonging to the Catholic Church:

“Some say they are not bound by the doctrine, explained in Our Encyclical Letter of a few years ago, and based on the Sources of Revelation, which teaches that the Mystical Body of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church are one and the same thing. Some reduce to a meaningless formula the necessity of belonging to the true Church in order to gain eternal salvation. Others finally belittle the reasonable character of the credibility of Christian faith. These and like errors, it is clear, have crept in among certain of Our sons who are deceived by imprudent zeal for souls or by false science.”

To someone not initiated into the symbolic universe of the Roman Catholic Church, the liturgy, the Sacraments, and the interior of a church building mean nothing. Invisible to physical eyes, their profound and coherent meanings remain inaccessible. Comparing this situation to a foreign language doesn’t help because someone seeing a page written in, let’s say, Japanese, knows for sure that there is a language he does not understand. Yet, it is a language that, even if not comprehended, is rich with meanings. In the case of the sacred symbols, however, a profane observer sees only elements made from familiar materials: water, oil, fire, bread, wine, etc. These are things he could even use without realizing he is committing sacrilege because all of these are commonplace in the profane context of our everyday lives. So, an observer whose mind is not attuned to perceive their meanings will see nothing more than that. The only intelligible things, partially, to an accidental participant in a Sacrament or the celebration of the Holy Liturgy, would be the words spoken by the celebrants of the sacred mysteries. But even those words do not fully reveal their meanings.

At this point in Francis’s Synod on Synodality, most rational Catholics who have paid attention have seen enough to know that it is a deliberate attack from hell on the Catholic Church. In hindsight, this ought to have been clear from Francis’s opening address of the Synod over two years ago, when he announced his intention to create a different church:

“Father Congar, of blessed memory, once said: ‘There is no need to create another Church, but to create a different Church’ (True and False Reform in the Church). That is the challenge. For a ‘different Church,’ a Church open to the newness that God wants to suggest, let us with greater fervour and frequency invoke the Holy Spirit and humbly listen to him, journeying together as he, the source of communion and mission, desires: with docility and courage.”

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This edition of The Remnant Underground comes straight from London, England, where Michael Matt addresses the Family Life International Conference. In this important talk, Michael leans heavily on his own upbringing to share ideas on how to raise Christocentric children in a Christophobic world.

Of course, nobody likes to be told how to raise their children, and so Michael goes out of his way NOT to do that. He simply shares 10 points on what worked for his wife and him as they raised their seven children in the traditional Catholic Faith.

This one should be shared far and wide, but especially with adult children, grandchildren, and anyone just starting out in married life.  Michael goes into detail on what parents can do with iPhones, television, pop music, movies, education, and friends that do not share our family’s Christian values.

“Faith of our Fathers! Holy Faith! We will be true to thee till death.” (Faith of Our Fathers, Fr. Frederick William Faber)

The sign of Jonah

The confrontations of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the priests became all the more intense as His earthly life approached its end. After presenting Him as a dangerous sorcerer who performed exorcisms with the help of demons (Luke 11:15), they began to continuously tempt Him with questions designed to give his adversaries the opportunity to incriminate Him. Mockingly, they even asked Him for miracles: “Master, we would see a sign from thee.” (Matthew 12:38) However, knowing the hardness of their hearts, the Savior only offered them one sign: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.” (Matthew 12:39)