Matt GaspersLast month, Edward Pentin, Rome correspondent for the National Catholic Register, reported on plans for “an international conference to examine ways to resolve the current crisis of division in the Church,” which he said “will take place in Rome in early April”. Yesterday, further details about this historic conference were revealed.
Dr. Roberto de Mattei, in a commentary piece for Corrispondenza Romana (the Italian news agency he directs), revealed both the date and desired purpose of the upcoming conference. Rorate Caeli has provided an English translation:
“On April 7th a conference has been called, which many are still ignoring, but which ought to have as its object the present crisis in the Church. The participation of some cardinals and bishops, and above all Cardinal Zen, would give maximum importance to this conference. We must pray that from the meeting a voice will be raised, full of love for the Church and firm resistance to all the theological, moral and liturgical deviations of the present pontificate, without being under the illusion that the solution is that of insinuating the invalidity of Benedict XVI’s abdication or Pope Francis’ election. Taking refuge in the canonical problem means avoiding debate of the doctrinal problem, which is at the roots of the crisis we are experiencing.” (emphasis added)
Earlier in his report, Dr. de Mattei expounded upon the true nature of resistance, stating:
“‘Resistance’ is not a purely verbal declaration of faith but an act of love towards the Church, which leads to practical consequences. Those who resist are separated from the one who has caused the division in the Church, they criticize him openly, they correct him. In 2017, along these lines they expressed themselves with the Correctio filialis to Pope Francis and the leaflet of the pro-life movement appeared with the title: ‘Faithful to true doctrine, not to pastors who are in error.’
Today, along these same lines lies Cardinal Zen’s stance of no compromise in regard to Pope Francis’ new Ostpolitik towards Communist China. To those who object, and that it is necessary ‘to try to find common ground to bridge the decades-old division between the Vatican and China’, Cardinal Zen replies: ‘But can there ever be anything in “common” with a totalitarian regime? Either you surrender or accept persecution, but remain faithful to yourself (can you imagine an agreement between St. Joseph and Herod?)’. To those who ask him whether he is convinced that the Vatican is selling out the Catholic Church in China, he says: ‘Decidedly, yes. If they are going in the direction that is obvious in everything they have done in recent months and years’.” (emphasis and links added)
It is significant to note that this historic conference in Rome will take place the very same weekend as our own Catholic Family News Conference – “Weapons of Our Warfare” – which has a remarkably similar theme. What is more, Dr. Roberto de Mattei himself will address the CFN Conference – on April 7th, the same date as the Rome conference – on the subject, “Tu es Petrus: True Devotion to the Chair of St. Peter.”
Join us, therefore, in April for the CFN “Weapons of Our Warfare” Conference and hear Dr. de Mattei speak in person, in the midst of what he calls “a dramatic and absolutely unprecedented ‘page’ in the history of the Church.”
