The finish line…. for now

April 19, 2026

As I had written a few weeks ago, we are going to finish up our look at the heresy of Modernism and by that we will be coming to an end of this series on heresies that has lasted the last couple of years. To refresh everyone’s memory, I mentioned that we were going to look at two specific things to see how far the modernist errors have gone in the

Church and in the lives of Catholics. By comparing two distinct instances that look unrelated on the surface, we can see the subtlety of the encroachment of the heresy. Some might say these two instances are unrelated, but I would argue that the two are very clear and related effects of the heresy.

Firstly, we will remind ourselves of the basic tenet of the heresy: The main contention of modernism as such is that the Church and Her teaching are to be examined solely through the subjective lens of the individual and the here and now.

So now we welcome our two elephants in the room – the backlash and disregard of the teachings of the1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae of Pope Paul VI and the push for episcopal consecrations to be done without the approval of the pope by the Society of St. Pius X and its supporters.

As you may or may not remember, the encyclical Humanae vitae is a document that requires the obedience and assent of faith of all Catholics, as it was the pope speaking as the successor of St. Peter and head of the Catholic Church. In it he reiterated (it was not a new teaching) the consistent and constant teaching of the Church. In Humane vitae, Pope Paul VI reiterated and reconfirmed the constant teaching of the Church regarding the condemnation of contraception. Reconfirming the constant teaching of the Church that it was, and is , a grave moral evil that is impermissible for those who wish to follow Christ and as such, its use is against the Faith and is a mortal sin. Pope Paul VI was not creating a new teaching or moral rule, he was reconfirming what had been taught since the beginning and in particular what had been reiterated not long before. In 1930, Pope Pius XI was responding to the Anglican church which at their Lambeth conference that year changed their teaching from condemning to accepting contraception. That in turn led to most other protestant denominations changing their teaching on it as well. The Catholic Church alone held firm as Pope Pius XI firmly rejected that degradation of the Faith and morals. The consequences of the modernist heresy can be seen in the reaction to Pope Paul’s encyclical, less than 40 years after Pope Pius XI. In 1968 there was immediate rebellion and disobedience, being led primarily by those tasked with teaching and leading – bishops, priests, nuns and teachers. An organized dissent was put into place that proclaimed, “we know better” and “the times have changed”. Everything had to be adjusted to fit modern man and his ideas and lifestyle – which is the heresy of Modernism. However, the teaching of the Church has not changed, so what it has declared sinful is still sinful.

How does this connect with the current situation which is the desire to proceed with episcopal consecrations by the Society of St. Pius X you may ask? It is the same thought process as the dissenters against Humanae vitae. Episcopal consecrations require the approval of the pope. End of discussion. He is the successor of Peter and the leader of the Church, the Vicar of Christ. In this situation, the society and its supporters have decided that they know better than the Church and the pope and that – here is where the modernism finds itself – the current situation requires it. Disregard Church teaching, Church law and the authority of the pope because in their estimation, the current times demand that. In my view this is nothing other than modernism in a different hat. While I may not always be thrilled with what happens in the Church or what a particular pope might do or say in his own opinion, I might even disagree with some opinions - but when it comes to Faith and morals – the pope is the Head of the Church and the Vicar of Christ to whom I owe obedience as a Catholic.

So, to close this series, while some may not have liked what has been written or may have considered it overly harsh at times, our goal has always been to love you enough to tell you the truth.

God love you, Fr. Anthony