THE MODERNISTS were crestfallen. Things were not going as well as they had hoped. Their poison was not filtering down to the man-in-the-pew quickly enough. So they invented RENEW.

In order to sell this latest channel of Modernism to the unsuspecting faithful, it must not, at first glance, appear to be heretical. So they mixed heresy and doctrine in equal parts. Quite naturally, heresy is expected to win out. When the proverbial farmer puts 50 healthy apples into a barrel along with 50 rotten apples ... well, you know the rest.

Intelligent Roman Catholics must realize that Modernists, con artists as they are, will frequently mix in the orthodox with the heretical. For example, a Modernist pastor may schedule Benediction and May Crowning, while in his heart affirm no belief in Papal Infallibility nor in the Resurrection of Christ.

In the Archdiocese of Newark, the think tank of Archbishop Peter Gerety drew up the idea of RENEW, modeled after a proven destructive national plan called "Corporate Parish Renewal" (with sinister connections to the infamous Detroit Conference). Briefly, its purpose is to first break down the parish into small cells, and then infect each cell. Most parishioners are innocent. They do not have theological training, nor the acumen, to discern subtle deviations from doctrine. Almost all the gimmicks released by the Chancery Office, while appearing on the surface to all Catholics to have greater piety, have a hidden agenda. The average Catholic cannot detect the hidden agenda. He simply looks up at the priest and assumes that he is relaying what the Vicar of Christ has ordered. Of course, the hidden agenda in RENEW lies in this: A determined effort to convert the parish from orthodoxy to heresy.

All parishes will not be won over; the Modernists will fail here and there. But this fact does not bother them. They will win over most of the parishes; the holdouts will eventually become so isolated as to become ineffectual.

 

Catholic Sensitivity Alerted

Nevertheless, when RENEW was introduced, with slick brochures, bulletin announcements, glowing expectations in the diocesan newspaper, and with special homilies and meetings, our fundamental Catholic instincts should have been ruffled. For two reasons:

1) The symbol—the artistic sign of RENEW is a "Tree"—not the Crucifix, not the Rosary, not one of the richly religious symbols of Catholic tradition ... just a scrawny, vague outline of a tree. Throughout Catholic history, authentic renewal has always been at Calvary, at the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Metaphorically speaking, just about any object from nature can be imaginatively stretched to symbolize something else. But, in this case, the symbol (Tree) has no clear connection with Christ, Divine Founder of the Church, nor any relationship with authentic Catholicism.

2) The title—The word "renew" can apply to any human aspiration, good or bad. Our self-indulgence can be renewed, our secular humanism can be renewed, or properly, faith in the Apostles Creed can be renewed.

For openers then, the symbol (Tree) and title (Renew) betray the aim of RENEW by the deliberate use of ambiguous symbols and terms. The tone is set for the rest of this destructive program. Undoubtedly the essense of RENEW is ambiguity, i.e., avoiding commitment to any revealed doctrine or morality. Everything is wide open. Objective truth becomes unimportant. In true existentialist relativism, RENEW makes no commitment to the Creed (beliefs), to the Code (moral law), or to Cult (divinely instituted Mass and Sacraments). RENEW permits you to go in any direction. If you believe that Christ is the Son of God, OK. If you do not believe, that's OK, too. Do you believe in Adam and Eve? Original sin? It does not matter if you do or do not. How about birth control? Is it a grave sin? Well, that's up to your own private conclusions. You may believe in whatever you wish to believe as long as it brings you psychological fulfillment. Psychological fulfillment is the end-all of this Modernist program. RENEW is completely self-serving, the candy-coated seeking of one's own self-interest. God, as Creator and Lawgiver, who must be worshipped and obeyed, is relegated to second place. Make no mistake about it, in RENEW, the ego comes before God's holy Will.

 

The Use of the Term "Spirit"

Whatever makes you happy, believe it, do it, and attribute your decision to the "Spirit." This is the type of rationalization common to RENEW and other questionable movements. Any devout Catholic should perk up ears of suspicion when the word "holy" is dropped from the phrase "Holy Spirit." It usually becomes a meaningless, ambiguous word.

In Europe, the 18th and 19th century atheists cultivated the term "spirit." All religions require a spirit. So, when they created a new religion, i.e., the worship of man, these non-believers invested the new religion with a "Spirit." Philosophers, like Feuerback, Neitzsche, Hegel in Germany, and Bergson in France, frequently wrote about the "Spirit." Read the early Modernists—Tyrrell, Loisey, Teilhard de Chardin, and the later ones, Rahner and Kung. You will readily see that they have borrowed, line by line, from these European skeptics.

 

Catholic Words with Uncatholic Meanings

The Modernists who are the architects of RENEW, are skillful in their use of Catholic terminology. One of the difficulties in combatting this heresy results from this use, or rather misuse, of words. When the Modernist says "Eucharist" or "Penance" or "sin" he is using Catholic words but not with Catholic meaning. When Pope St. Pius X condemned Modernism (1907), he declared that not only must Catholic doctrine be taught, but emphatically added that it must be taught "in eodem sensu and eadem sententia—in the same sense and meaning" as the Magisterium.

 

Bible vs. Church

To guarantee that participants in RENEW will be able to put whatever meaning they wish onto a Catholic framework, RENEW makes a point to:

1) Study the Bible rather than the defined doctrines of the Church. It is much easier to bend the Sacred Scriptures (as Protestants do) to fit subjective aspirations than to insist on Truth and morality.

2) Fail to distinguish between the ecclesia docens and the ecclesia discens (the teaching Church [i.e., Magisterium] and the learning Church). Everyone is lumped into one great entity, usually referred to as Community. You are the Church. Thus what you say must be true, at least for you. "We are experiencing a church in a period of transition. We must understand that the church is a body and we form it" (Archbishop Gerety on May 22, 1982, at the convention sponsored by the Office of Pastoral Renewal).

 

Parish Technique

Step 1: Ask for special volunteers Look for people who have some degree of leadership qualities. Let's say 20 potential leaders are recruited, who, with the priests or nuns in charge, make up the Core Group.

Step 2: The 20 leaders attend several workshops, run by professional Modernists. Unfortunately a sizeable number of orthodox priests attends these workshops, giving to the program an aura of respectability. The leaders are taught the dynamics of running a small discussion group, and, then stirred up with enthusiasm for a great parish happening.

Step 3: All adults in the parish are asked to sign up and attend a general meeting. With the usual socializing, warm handshaking, hugging, perhaps cocktails, certainly coffee and cake, glowing promises of parish rejuvenation are predicted.

The signees are formed into small cell groups, perhaps with 8 to 12 persons each.

Step 4: At weekly, or twice monthly meetings in the home, the Bible is discussed. Certain passages are recommended by the diocesan RENEW office. Group praying is also included. Good people are thus drawn into the program. It is awkward to offer objections to Bible reading and prayer.

Step 5: The critical step. No matter what belief is held by a member of a cell the leader (or facilitator) has been instructed never to correct or contradict. If a member says, "I do not think that abortion is a sin" or "I feel that Christ intended the Eucharist to be merely a symbol" no one is to override these erroneous beliefs. Each man or woman (according to RENEW) has a right to believe whatever "fulfills" him or her.

 

Options, Options, Options

If a parishioner wishes to hold to the traditional concept of the Church, i.e., a hierarchial/monarchial society founded by Christ, then he is allowed to do so. But, if one's fellow parishioner believes in the radical idea of the Church, namely a church run by parish facilitators, in which everyone is equally a teacher, where the goal of life is to discover self-fulfillment rather than the Holy Will of God, this radical concept should be given time and equal credence.

Pluralism! That's the idea! There is room in the Church (they say) for every opinion under the sun. Whether one believes in Transubstantiation makes no essential difference. Modernists claim that there is no such thing as definitive, finalized doctrine. With ecumenical smiles they caution, "We must not impose our set of dogmas on another." This applies to clearly revealed truth: Angels, Original Sin, Virgin Birth, the Real Resurrection of Christ, Validity of Holy Orders, Indissolubility of Marriage, Existence of Satan and Hell, etc.

Options, Pluralism! As Cole Porter said "Anything goes!" As long as we leave as friends, as long as we fall over each other with handshakes and good humor, all is right with the world.

On the surface, this pluralism has a ring of truth. It all sounds so wonderfully warm and democratic. But it is diabolical error.

A deceptive irreverence drugs the conscience of the faithful. With a veneer of love for all and a tolerance for the opinions of my neighbor, it is no respecter of truth and counter-productive toward Salvation.

Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, entrusted His teachings to His Church for promulgation. If His Way and Truth are optional, then Christ's Church loses its Divine mission. Christ is denied. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (John 8,32).

 

Epistemological Error—Diabolism of RENEW

In RENEW, to leave as friends means: "He is every bit as right as I am." In other words, "If he is pro-abortion, but I am anti-abortion, we are both right." According to right reason, contradictories cannot both be true. Subjective culpability or merit may vary but Veritas remains rigorous and unchangeable. Truths, indeed religious truths, flow from the Divine Essence, which enjoys the perfection of Divine Immutability. RENEW implicitly distorts the nature of God, because it implies that Divinity suffers from the same imperfections as humanity.

The term "Pilgrim Church" is a favorite of the Modernists. While this term may be used legitimately by orthodox Catholics, the heretics take it to mean that the Church is still searching for truth. (Since, as all good Catholics know, the Church is Christ, obviously Christ Jesus is not still searching for truth!)

Most theological aberrations contain underlying philosophical errors. RENEW is no exception. It denies the ability of man to arrive at certitude. Furthermore, no distinction is made between right and wrong, truth and error. Logic is thrown out the window, and with it go the doctrines so precious to Roman Catholics.

 

In the Moral Order

RENEW dwells on the premises of that trendy philosophy called Values Clarification. "No one is right or wrong. Everyone is morally right, as long as each one is honest with his feelings." The Modernists presumptuously hold that man's instincts are right since man does not suffer from a fallen nature. This means no original sin, as well as no effects of original sin, i.e., no inclinations of sin. (The proof? In Modernist parishes, Baptism has ceased to be all that important.)

 

Sex and the Modernists

Modernists have redefined sexuality. They call it "creative growth through integration." The higher law, proceeding from a transcendent God, is ignored. If this or that actions makes you more self-realized, it is thereby good and moral. With this kind of teaching in our schools, it is no wonder our young people, generally, are corrupted. This brand of paganism/hedonism (fostered by the power structure of RENEW) dressed up in Christian clothes was formalized in a book called Human Sexuality by Rev. Ed Kosnick, et al. (Paulist Press). Condemned by the Vatican Congregation on the Doctrine of Faith, it is still on the shelves of most major seminaries in America (including Newark's Immaculate Conception Seminary). This book permits everything, we mean everything—including bestiality. Human Sexuality contradicts whatever is taught by Christ's Church.

 

Former Catholics

To the RENEW founders, these rebellious, suave, smiling Modernists ... no one has a right to tell them that they are wrong, not even Jesus Christ Himself. Let's not kid ourselves. These Modernists are not Catholic. We should refer to them by their correct title: former Catholics, or ex-Catholics. Pope Pius X stated that any priest or bishop who promotes Modernism is ipso facto excommunicated.

Once a parish accepts the RENEW program, mark it as the beginning of the end of Catholicism in that parish. The parish may seem to be thriving, because it has a large congregation to start with and because there are visible structures of brick and mortar ... but the flames of heresy are eating away at the foundations. Little by little, faith and devotion will burn out, Mass attendance will diminish, and the love of the Roman Catholic religion will be replaced by spiritual indifference and the pursuit of pleasure.