Athanasius Contra Mundum Interview with Fr. Ioannes Petrus

This was such an excellent talk!

I wanted to just provide the link and a short description so you too can take in this talk.

"Today Fr. Ioannes Petrus re-joins us for a wide-ranging interview which is perhaps the first one I did not script with pre-planned questions. We discuss voting, the trajectory of government in the West, the current Holy Father, the threat of Islam, Immigration and how Christians should respond to the crisis of our times."

He also touches on Savonarola and even defends the Borgias to a point.

Click HERE for the link

Fr. Paul Nicholson on Savonarola and troubles in the Church

It's an oddity, but since people writing about Savonarola is rare I just wanted to put it out there for those interested.

Thanks Father Nicholson

+JMJ+

Michael Davies on Savonarola

+JMJ+

A note on +Marcel Lefebvre and sedes

There are a lot of opinions out there on the SSPX and I am by no means an expert on the subject.  I do believe that the competency for the issue rests with the Ecclesia Dei Commision.

Now having said that...

There are some who will appeal to +Lefebvre and say that he thought the sedevantist proposition was a real possibility to hold to. There is one specific quote used by Sede's to lure trads into their disorder:

"I do not say that the Pope is not the Pope, but I do not say that you cannot say the Pope is not the Pope."

Now this sounds rather damning.  However, the former SSPX seminarian (expelled by Lefebvre before his ordination gives context to the quote:

"(Said at table to fellow clergy, to laughter, for the phrase in French sounds like a tongue twister.)"

In other words this is an informal, off the cuff discussion and seemingly not very serious.  Furthermore it should become obvious that when Fr. Cekeda was expelled as a seminarian (along with others) he was expelled for holding to the sedevacantist position.

+Lefebvre is a very complicated character in Church history.  Some people like to compare him with St. Athanasius, but I think this is more piety than reality.  It is, however, more interesting to look at him along the lines of Friar Savonarola during the Renaissance.

Something you might not know about Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

Girolamo Savonarola

Until about a year ago I was unfamiliar with Pier Frassati, but thanks to Terry for posting on this amazing contemporary man of faith and making me more familiar with him.

With that said many people know that Pier was a third order Dominican, but few people

know where he got his third order name of Girolamo from.  Truth be told Blessed Frassati was a great supporter of the often maligned Friar Girolamo Savonarola who was a constant thorn in the side of corruption in the church at his time including the wrongly maligned (future posts will make this clear) Alexander VI.  Savonarola was burned at the stake but did accept from Pope Alexander VI a plenary indulgence for accepting his fate.  Often times protestants will point at Savonarola as a forbearer of the protestant revolt but this is fanciful thinking.  Savonarola was a Catholic through and through and his work would later form many saintly lives including St. Phillip Neri who was trained by the Friars remaining brothers.

This is what Blessed Pier Frassati said of the Friar:

"I would very much love it if you would take the name of Fra Girolamo, not because it is the name that I have as a son of St. Dominic, but because it recalls a figure who is dear to me and certainly to you as well, since you share my feelings against corrupt morals – Girolamo Savonarola, whose name I most unworthily bear. I am a fervent admirer of this friar, who died at the stake as a saint, I wanted to take him as a model when I became a tertiary, but I am far from imitating him. Think about it and then write to me with your ideas regarding this."

Blessed Frassatis signature with Girolamo used instead of Pier

There was a push for Savonarola’s canonization not to long ago but it would propably be incredibly imprudent to push him through considering some of the things he did were not especially good. 

A HUGE, HUGE thank you to Terry over at Abbe Roads who brought this up a while back!

+JMJ+