NEVER ATTACK A PRIEST

Jan. 4, 2012 - Distributing pamphlets with the title NEVER ATTACK A PRIEST in Minglanilla these days is troublesome.  This otherwise silent and patient Parish of the Immaculate Heart has been experiencing giant airwaves one in December last year and just this morning courtesy of Commentator Bobbytrap Nalzaro.

Who said “Never Attack a Priest?”

The following is a document copied from AQ.org on the purported revelations of Jesus Christ to a certain Mutter Vogel, bearing similar messages of that pamphlet Never Attack A Priest which was handed to me by a good friend:

"One should NEVER attack a priest, even when he's in error, rather one should pray and do penance that I'll grant him My grace again.  He alone fully represents Me, even when he doesn't live after My example!" 
(page 29, Mutter Vogel's Worldwide Love, St. Grignion Publishing House, Altoting, South Germany (29. 6. 1929)). 

When a Priest falls we should extend him a helping hand THROUGH PRAYER AND NOT THROUGH ATTACKS! "   I myself will be his judge, NO ONE BUT I!" 
"Whoever voices judgment over a priest has voiced it over Me; child, never let a Priest be attacked, take up his defense. 
" (Feast of Christ the King 1937) 


"Child, Never judge your confessor, rather pray much for him and offer every Thursday, through the hands of My blessed Mother, Holy Communion (for Him) 
(18.6. 1939)&nsp; 


"Never again accept an out-of-the-way word about a Priest, and speak no unkind word (about them) EVEN IF IT WERE TRUE!  Every Priest is My Vicar and My heart will be sickened and insulted because of it!   If you hear a judgment (against a Priest) pray a Hail Mary." (28. 6. 1939) 

"If you see a Priest who celebrates the Holy Mass unworthily then say nothing about him, rather tell it to Me alone!  I stand beside him on the altar!" "Oh pray much for My priests, that they'll love purity above all, that they'll celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with pure hands and heart. 
Certainly the Holy Sacrifice is one and the same even when it is celebrated by an unworthy priest, but the graces called down upon the people is not the same!" (28. 2. 1938) 

Relax and Be Informed.

The preceding is a private revelation with many inspirational messages. “When the Church approves private revelations, she declares only that there is nothing in them contrary to faith or good morals, and that they may be read without danger or even with profit; no obligation is thereby imposed on the faithful to believe them.” (from the New Advent Org.)

There is not much known about Mutter Vogel except that she lived in Germany, possibly a Nun, and that her ‘revelations’ have never been approved by the Church.  

A Devil’s Handiwork?

The devil is a master of illusion so we can expect something heretical in a hundred good things he says.  This is true to Mutter Vogel’s ‘revelation’ notably the part that says:  “Certainly the Holy Sacrifice is one and the same even when it's celebrated by an unworthy priest, but the graces called down upon the people is not the same!" 

The Church teaches that “from the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and His Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister.  Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.”

So We Can Criticize a Priest After All!

“Never speaking against a priest is an ingrained part of Catholicism” but “never criticize cannot mean never admonish or correct”.   There is a good reason to keep our priests and bishops more accountable these days as we cannot allow more predators to live in our midst.

“The Church's tradition teaches that Catholics can, and sometimes must rebuke or criticize the clergy- whether they are a priest, bishop, or pope if they teach heresy, disregard the rubrics and texts of the Mass and other Sacraments, are known to be sinning, etc. This is true today, more than ever- with the sex abuse scandal, rampant liturgical abuse, and false teaching and preaching.”

Criticizing priests is not something new.  St. Paul rebuked St. Peter who was the head of the Apostles in public:

However, when Cephas came to Antioch, then I did oppose him to his face since he was manifestly in the wrong (Gal. 2:11 NJB).

Especially for Bobbytrap Nalzaro

Yes, we can criticize a priest when it means sharing the Truth and in Love (Eph. 4:15 NJB) with courtesy and respect and a clear conscience (1 Peter 3:16 NJB), sharing with him, not with someone else, unless refraining from sharing would cause scandal or harm.

 "One who does not abstain from vain, idle, or sinful discourses, and who approaches Holy Communion without repentance, is like a person who gathers a heap of stones at the threshold of his door to throw at his guest when he comes to visit him, or beats him cruelly on the head with a rod." (Part of the Revelations of Our Lord to St. Gertrude the Great)