St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

This is no longer the case today. Catholics divorce and remarry at about the same rate as the general population, contracept at about the same rate as the general population, abort their pre-born children at about the same rate as the general population. In 1965 (the final year of the Second Vatican Council) Catholics attended at least Sunday Mass at the rate of about 80%. Today, barely 25% make it to church once a week and this number continues to sink.

What was unthinkable to Catholics 40 years ago is the norm today. Below are just some of the highlights of what has always been valid and true, what we have lost and what must be regained. In the balance hang our immortal souls.

Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (Outside of the Catholic Church, there is no salvation)

This infallibly proclaimed dogma of the Church, once understood by every Catholic eighth grade student, has now been relegated as no longer true or valid. It is not politically correct. However, the truth never changes. Christ said "...he that believeth not shall be condemned" (Mark 16:15)

"...none of those who are not within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but Jews, heretics and schismatics can ever be partakers of eternal life... no one,... not even if he were to shed his blood for Christ's sake, can he be saved unless he abide in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church." - Infallible ex cathedra definition of Pope Eugene IV, 1441 (Council of Florence)

Once a pope infallibly proclaims a dogma that is the end of all discussion and debate on the topic. To do so is sinful and to teach otherwise is heretical. All dogmas become a required belief for all Catholics throughout the world from that moment onward.

Now this dogma does not say that all Catholics automatically go to Heaven. That is not at all what is meant by this proclamation. There is still a Hell, and those who die with unconfessed Mortal Sins upon their souls are relegated to an eternity of abject horror.

But what this dogma does say, is that because the Catholic Church is the One True Church established by Christ Himself, and because only the Catholic Church can offer the valid Sacraments as given to us by Christ, in particular Confession and the Holy Eucharist, without these Sacraments it is impossible to achieve Heaven. Only those souls who die in the state of grace have any hope of an eternity in Heaven. The only source of these graces is through the Catholic Church.

For anyone to ignore this factual statement (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus) meant for all mankind, not just Catholics, is the height of pride and stupidity. Christ gives us the freedom of will to chose or not chose Him. As Christ clearly understood, He came so that many may be saved, not that all may be saved. Christ knows that not everyone will seek an eternity with Him. The choice is up to each one of us as to which path we choose, either Heaven or Hell. The only way to achieve Heaven is through the Catholic Church.

"I am the Lord Thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before Me"

As demonstrated above with the infallibly proclaimed dogma: "No salvation outside of the Catholic Church", it is clear then that there is but One True Church, which makes all other "religions" false religions.

If you follow this logic to the next step, this means that Catholics may not participate in the "religious" services of non-Catholics. To do so is to commit a Mortal Sin against the First Commandment. Your physical presence at one of these ceremonies is testimony of your blurring the lines between obedience and disobedience of the First Commandment. It matters not what is in your "heart" for your presence alone is enough.

This means that Catholics may not attend non-Catholic weddings, funerals, baptisms, worship services, prayer meetings, etc. This may seem harsh, especially when it involves family members. But the simple question is this: do I obey God or not. Because the non-Catholic has chosen a path that takes him away from Christ and His Church does not mean you have to make the same mistake. His error does not have to be your error.

In the early Church there were Roman Emperors who tried to convince Christians that they could both worship Jesus and the Roman gods. They were told that all they had to do was put just a single grain of incense into the fire in honor of the false gods and they would be free to return home. Many a Catholic refused to offer even this small and seemingly insignificant token, choosing instead certain death rather than deny God. They chose to leave behind spouses, parents and children rather than deny God. The early Church was built on the blood of the martyrs.

For Catholics today to so cavalierly dispense of the tremendous sacrifice of our ancestors by attending non-Catholic services denies the service due to God and their disregard of the privilege we have today of openly professing and practicing our Catholic Faith. We are called to practice our Faith at every opportunity.

The Indissolvability of Marriage

Matrimony, as are all of the seven Sacraments, is instituted by Christ Himself. Thus Divine Law governs all the Sacraments. The Catholic Church is the protector of these seven gems, and is obliged to correctly define and defend the Sacraments from abuse and misinterpretation.

But as illustrated above, in the past 40 years detractors within the Church have deliberately allowed abuses to multiply. The teachings of the Church are still intact, but those in power choose to ignore them completely or promote a heretical new religion that is as different as day is to night. This especially applies to the Sacrament of Matrimony.

Moses faced many trials with the Judeans during their exile in the desert. One of these tests came when the Israelites clamored to be allowed to divorce their wives. Moses, being subject to human frailty, gave in to their pressures and allowed divorce. Thus Mosaic Law allowed for the deliberate dissolution of valid marriages.

With the arrival of Christ, He set about to clearly and permanently claim what God had commanded from the very beginning: the bond of a valid sacramental marriage lasts until death. Period. "What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder" Matthew 19:6.

A valid marriage is simple to identify and effect: both parties must willing wish to marry of their own free will, they may not be within three degrees of kindred (third degree cousins), they must be baptized Christians and they must consummate the marriage. Once all of these conditions are met, the marriage is valid and permanent.

Catholic marriages further require several months of marriage preparation, that the Sacrament be performed as part of a Nuptial Mass and said by a priest in a Church.

But what we see today are valid marriages granted a decree of "annulment" by the Church in numbers that are just staggering. In 1965, the Church granted just 338 decrees of annulment worldwide. In 1998, 50, 498 decrees of annulment were granted just for the United States alone. Something is seriously wrong. Catholic annulment is now jokingly called "Catholic Divorce". The once scrupulously guarded Sacrament of Matrimony is now treated with banal dishonesty. The marriage vow can be broken just for the asking.

There are legitimate reasons that a marriage may be annulled, but they are very specific and very rare. One of these valid reasons for annulment is called the "Pauline Privilege", as grated by St. Paul. He decreed that if an un-baptized man and woman marry, then later one of them coverts to Christianity and is baptized, and then the non-Christian impedes the practice of the Catholic Faith by the Catholic partner either morally or physically, (and all of these facts can be proved) then the couple may divorce and the Catholic may remarry within the Catholic Church.

Either Catholics are entering into invalid marriages (highly doubtful considering that the definition of a valid marriage is clear and easily proved) or Rome has corrupted the annulment process. Considering the number of other abuses emanating from Rome, it is clear we are witnessing the abuse of the annulment process.

Just as the ancient Israelites clamored for divorce and got it, modern Catholics too call for the same. Sadly, Rome has caved in just as Moses did.

But this does not change the fact that a valid sacramental marriage remains valid until the death of one spouse. Just as Rome has clearly stated that the Church does not have the authority to ordain women as priests, so too Rome cannot nullify a valid marriage. There are limits to Rome's authority. Annulment, incidentally, is not an infallible act of the Church and is subject to human error.

The risk to Catholics who divorce, are granted a dubious decree of annulment and remarry, or for Catholics who marry an "annulled" Catholic, is to place their immortal soul at peril. Divorce is a Mortal Sin. To divorce a spouse is to break the solemn vow made before God and man, that each partner takes exclusively their spouse until death do them part. They make a public lie of this public oath.

Thus the divorced Catholic becomes an adulterer and their new "spouse" commits fornication. The "marriage" is a bed of sin.

Furthermore, these couples bring scandal to their families. Scandal is the sin of saying or doing something that may induce others into sin. Catholics with a valid marriage who divorce, get the marriage "annulled" and remarry, say to others that they can do the same thing. They lead others to sin by their example.

"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery" - Matthew 19:9

The Immorality of Artificial Contraption

The Church has dealt with the issue of contraception since its beginnings and has consistently taught against the use of any means of artificial contraception. The early Church Fathers, including St. Augustine, were very clear on this matter, as have saints, popes and councils down through the centuries: the use of any artificial means to prevent conception is a moral evil. This includes voluntary sterilization.

Artificial contraception is a direct sin against God's command to Adam and Eve to "...go forth, be fruitful and multiply."

There is also the direct link between artificial contraception and abortion: the contraceptive mentality led us to the abortive mentality. We did not arrive at the horror of abortion today without first paving the way through ignoring the wisdom of the ages regarding contraception. Once this path was cleared, it was not long after that abortion became "legal." In 1930 the Anglican Council at Lamberth allowed married couples to use artificial contraception. This was the first major "Christian" denomination to do so, with others following suit. A mere forty years later and abortion is now the law of the land.

Catholics couples have been mislead to believe that if they form a "conscience" on the issue of artificial contraception, and decide for themselves that they may contracept, commit no sin. This is false teaching and one that has been perpetrated by heretics. Church teaching on this topic is final and no one may contradict what has been officially pronounced. Forming a "conscience" about contraception does not free one from the obligation of obedience.

Couples who contracept, whether they know it or not, not only violate God's law, they contribute to the abortion mentality so prevalent today. The preventable baby led the way to the disposable baby.

Contraception too is often called a worse sin than abortion, in that a new immortal soul, intended by God to be created, is prevented from even being created. This soul, which has the opportunity of an eternity in Heaven, is never even allowed to exist.

Human beings possess a power not even the most majestic angles in Heaven are allowed to participate in, the power to create new human life in conjunction with the creation of an immortal soul by God. This creative gift is not to be toyed with, not without considerable consequences to the entire human race and our immortal souls.

The only method allowed to avoid pregnancy is Natural Family Planning (NFP) and then only for limited periods of time during a family crisis (health, economics, etc.) NFP may not be used as a means of preventing conception to limit family size on an ongoing basis. It is to be used only in rare instances and then for short-term use only.

Until the direct link between the contraceptive mentality and the abortive mentality is clearly understood, we will continue to see the slaughter of innocent babies. The two are inexorably linked.

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