Vatican Radio announced on January 25 that Francis and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) will hold a joint ecumenical commemoration of the "Reformation" on October 31, 2016, in Lund, Sweden. The event will attempt to showcase "the gifts of the Reformation" while lamenting centuries of division over it. The inter-religious conference will also include a "Common Prayer" service which is based on a Catholic-Lutheran liturgical guide published recently by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation.
The October 2016 meeting comes in anticipation of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation that Catholics and Lutherans will jointly celebrate in 2017, under the title, "Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation." That Catholics and Protestants will jointly commemorate a rebellion that was deliberately begun to destroy the Catholic Faith is certainly no small news. Conniving with Luther's revolt is something that was started by the German Alliance at Vatican II, and now we see it coming to a head.
The worst of it is that this is being advanced under the illusion of divine guidance. The Church's mission is being cast aside in the name of God and replaced with "dialogue," which is nothing more than a denial of the Faith and a willingness to be subverted with error. Christ never once "dialogued" with the people, but rather instructed them on the path of salvation, and this in turn is what He commissioned His priestly representatives to do. (Matthew 28:19,20) The Church's mission from the beginning is to instruct the world on salvation and to extend the riches of Christ to all peoples, that they might leave their particular miseries, idols, and creeds, and be converted to the Catholic Faith.
But now Rome is denying its mission and consorting with the enemies of the Faith in order to gain their gifts and their thirty pieces of silver. This is what the new dialogue of "mercy" boils down to—a stab in the back. The Son of Man is again betrayed with a kiss. What Jesus told Saul at Damascus He now says to our Jesuit pope: "Francis, Francis, why do you persecute Me?"
Catholics the world over were bewildered by a sermon delivered by Francis on January 18, in which he all but excommunicated Christians "who obstinately cling to what has always been done and who do not allow others to change." He condemned Catholics who are of "closed heart" and who resist "change," calling them "obstinate rebels" and "idolaters." To think that we're "idolaters" for adoring the True God and for not allowing ourselves to be led by false spirits and deities that our forefathers knew not!
This is precisely the change that Francis advocates, namely, the spirit of Vatican II, the Charismatics, ecumenism, environmentalism, and now this latest move to be one with Lutherans in a joint-commemoration which will attempt to showcase the so-called "gifts of the Reformation."
Has our dear Holy Father forgotten that Martin Luther was a blasphemer and heretic who taught that Jesus was an adulterer and who dubbed the Sacrifice of the Mass "sacrilegious and abominable?" Thanks to Luther and his rampage, a better part of Europe was led into apostasy. The man was a theological crackpot who rejected six books of the Bible and who preached that Jesus died on the cross so that man can sin freely without the fear of eternal punishment. Consider Luther’s own words:
“Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly... No sin will separate us from the Christ, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day.” (From Luther’s letter to Philip Melanchthon, August 1, 1521, LW Vol. 48, pp. 281-282)
Should the Vatican hierarchy be commemorating the work of such a man? Did they forget that Martin Luther was rightfully excommunicated by Leo X in January 1521? How is it that Rome is now finding common ground with apostates who look to Luther as their mentor?
Under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit the Council of Trent condemned Luther and his Reformation and decreed that those who hold to its errors are now an anathema, which means it's no longer a consideration. The Reformation is now a dead issue, forever placed in the tomb, which means Catholics may no longer consider or reevaluate its precepts.
How is it that Rome will now dignify the work of one whom the Church officially holds to be an enemy of the Christian Faith?
David Martin is the former moderator for St. Michaels Radio which is the one radio program of our time specializing in Catholic prophecy. He has also authored numerous articles on the Church and the Papacy which have appeared on various blogs and websites.
David presently resides in Los Angeles, California where for thirty years he has coordinated a Catholic ministry. He is a daily communicant in his parish church and strongly supports Benedict XVI’s aspiration to see the Traditional Latin Mass returned to every Catholic parish of the world.
