TIA,

I was reading an article, found here, that reproduced Benedict's homily for the Easter Vigil. What immediately caught my attention was his flagrant denial of the authority of the creation account:

"At the Easter Vigil, the journey along the paths of sacred Scripture begins with the account of creation. This is the liturgy's way of telling us that the creation story is itself a prophecy. It is not information about the external processes by which the cosmos and man himself came into being. The Fathers of the Church were well aware of this. They did not interpret the story as an account of the process of the origins of things, but rather as a pointer towards the essential, towards the true beginning and end of our being. " (Emphases mine.)

"It is not information about the external processes by which the cosmos and man himself came into being."

Let's not play the game of sophists. If the creation account is not "information about the... process by which... man himself came into being," then it is not anything at all; in fact, basing oneself off of Benedict's words, we could easily argue that God (and not Benedict) is a master sophist and deceiver: because the creation account is dictated and authoritatively given. It is not styled as poetic or artistic license, for example. There is no wiggle room. It is either a True and Authentic Account, or else it is a fantastic myth and fable that has its proper categorization in the fabulous myths of the pagans.

I have increasingly noticed this style of Benedict's. He pays homage and lip service to traditional Catholic beliefs, and then proceeds to drive-in a wedge, and finally - and quite unambiguously - makes some authoritative judgment that is patently opposed to the Truths of our Faith - even openly and viciously hostile to the same. It is as if he throws up a dizzying array of flower peddles, then (while the audience is thus captivated by their beautiful appearance) proceeds to lunge a knife into somebody or, as in this case, some fundamental and basic Truth of our Faith.

I hope you will inform your audience about this kind of sophistry and progressivist dance routine. It is extremely dangerous because it appears to be an affirmation of traditional beliefs, but nonetheless is, in fact, a declaration in favor of the progressivist interpretation. There is only One Truth, and it isn't to be found argued and defended in Benedict's sophistic homiletics.

For me, what is perhaps the most offensive and irksome part of Benedict's aforementioned teaching is that he usurps the credit and authority of the Church Fathers, as if they were of the same mind as he is. This is false: the Church Fathers all taught that the Creation account in Genesis is the authoritative written word of God on these matters, and that yes, indeed, it has (as all Scripture has) prophetic undertones. However, to bold-faced lie and declare that the Church Fathers argued that the Creation account was not the literal and authoritative account of God's creation of the universe and of mankind is an act so heinous that I dare say even Martin Luther would have been offended.

     Pax Christi,

     Timothy W. Vickery

TIA,

Regarding the report of the death of Bin Laden, congratulations to our military in harms way and their intelligence support! Both deserve our thanks. Also thank God they did not to have the rug pulled out from under them via the draconian budget cuts of unilateral disarmament.

This was accomplished despite the use of our military as a laboratory for perverse social experiments - the good of the Service be damned, thereby putting our Armed Forces, and, in the process, our national security at extreme risk - by a shameless hypocrite, who takes credit for their actions. He is, otherwise, doing everything that he can to destroy our military and the country from within.

     Gary Morella

Dear Sir,

I cannot figure out the Catholic confusion over Bin Laden. I have been encouraging, helping various family members to become Catholic because of the positive moral influence of the Church, but now I am not so sure. I asked a Catholic family and friends where they believe Bin Laden is today. Some say he is in Heaven, others in Purgatory, none said he is likely in Hell.

I am trying to figure out how the Catholic Church teaching has gone so off the track concerning Islam. Will these two books (In the Murky Waters of Vatican II & A Critical Examination of The Theology of Karl Rahner, S.J.) answer my confusion? If so, may I have a copy, free of charge, please? I am unemployed due to unpaid care given towards senior family members and due to poor health - cancer and degenerative bone disease.

If there is a better book that deals with Catholic views of Islam, may I have a copy of it, please?

     Thank You

     D.M.



TIA responds:

Dear D.M.,

Thank you for letting us know the result of your inquiry and the troubling experience you had regarding the spiritual destiny of Bin Laden.

The books you mentioned do not address Islam. We will be sending you a slightly damaged copy of a booklet TIA carries, which is related to that topic: The Return of the Muslim Threat by A.S. Guimarães. It is not a doctrinal book on the topic, but may give you some arguments for convincing your friends.

As far as sound Catholic doctrine against Islam is concerned, it is good to keep in mind that St. Raymond of Peñafort, General Superior of the Dominicans, asked St. Thomas Aquinas to write a book to convert the followers of Islam. He wrote the Summa against the Gentiles. The English translation of it is online here. You can search in this work the points you need to resolve your doubts.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Dear TIA,

Reading the article "Jewish 'Miracles' and Curses from Heaven", and the statement:

"Some 20 years ago, one of the Sisters, who had translated many of the Founders' works from French into English, told me that after Vatican II, the Sion convents had been instructed to destroy the old translations. They were replaced by new ones, which left out any "negative" things Fr. Alphonse and Fr. Theodore had said about the Jewish religion that might pose obstacles to ecumenism. Also to be deleted from the new translations were any of the Founders' words that referred to the need for Jews to convert to Catholicism. According to her - and she was one of the new translators - there was much to be left out..."

One wonders how much damage this practice has done in other areas, and what the original works look like of Fr. Alphonse and Fr. Theodore.

Certainly, there is a great need for this to be revealed, because precisely what is most likely to be suppressed is often what is most needed to be heard.

     Sincerely,

     J.T.W.

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