Jesus himself clearly taught the indefectibility of the Church, founded on the Rock that is Peter and his successors.
[Matthew]
{16:18} And I say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.
{16:19} And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound, even in heaven. And whatever you shall release on earth shall be released, even in heaven.”
The Church cannot go astray. The Church cannot be taken over by Satan, or by the Antichrist, or by any evil person or group. The Pope can never fall into apostasy, heresy, or schism. The office of the Pope can never be taken over or occupied by the Antichrist, or Satan, or any evil person. Even though each Pope is a sinner, and the degree of holiness varies from one Pope to another, God never permits evil to rule over his Church.
The teaching of the Pope, of each Ecumenical Council, and of the body of Bishops dispersed through the world yet united to the Pope, cannot lead us away from the path of salvation. Each Pope is able to teach infallibly. Each Ecumenical Council is able to teach infallibly. And the body of Bishops dispersed through the world but united to the Pope is also able to teach infallibly (by the ordinary and universal Magisterium).
The indefectibility of the Church is taught by Jesus in Sacred Scripture, and also by the ordinary and universal Magisterium. The Church has always taught that the teachings of the Magisterium are guided by the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus promised:
[John]
{14:25} These things I have spoken to you, while abiding with you.
{14:26} But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will suggest to you everything whatsoever that I have said to you.
Whoever rejects the indefectibility of the Church, rejects the teaching of Christ.
Yet there are today many claimed private revelations, supposedly from Heaven, which seek to draw the members of the Church away from Her. They do this by sensationalist false claims and fear-mongering. They claim that one Pope or another is (or will be) an evil antipope or an apostate; some even claim that the Pope will be the Antichrist. They claim that the Church will be taken over by the Antichrist, or by Satan, or by some evil conspiracy-theory group like the masons or the illuminati. They claim that the Pope will teach heresies.
In sum total, these claimed private revelations are utterly rejecting and contradicting the teaching of Jesus and the constant teaching of His Church that the Church, with the Pope as Her head, are indefectible. The Church is the body of Christ. Whoever claims that the Church or Her head the Pope has gone astray or has been taken over by evil thereby claims the same about Christ himself. But certainly the body of Christ cannot become evil, just as Christ cannot become evil.
One such claimed private revelation is called “The Warning Second Coming”. The alleged messages are issued by a false prophetess who has chosen a self-exalting pseudonym: Maria Divine Mercy. She claims that the faithful should reject the Pope and the Church, and then follow her and her messages instead. But she is not willing to put her real name on her claims.
Recently, her identity was discovered. Her real name is Mary Carberry from Malahide, Co. Dublin, Ireland. She still does business under her maiden name Mary McGovern. She runs a PR firm called McGovern PR.
Her messages openly reject Pope Francis as the Vicar of Christ. Her messages refer to the Pope after Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, as: “imposter”, “the beast”, “the new false Pope”, “the False Prophet”, and “a dictator of lies” who is “in league with the anti-christ”. Her messages also claim that the Cardinals who elected Pope Francis “are wolves in sheep’s clothing and are members of the secret Masonic and evil group led by Satan.”
What kind of idiot would believe this claim about the Pope and the Cardinals who elected the Pope? These Cardinals are, for the most part, the same ones who elected Pope Benedict XVI. They were each chosen by either Pope John Paul II, soon to be canonized a Saint, or by Pope Benedict XVI. Do you really think that Pope Saint John Paul II chose a group of evil men, who are wolves in sheep’s clothing, and who are secret masons led by Satan? It’s like the messages of MDM are an IQ test, to see if you are stupid enough to believe a set of ridiculous claims.
And now the antipapal and anti-Church content of these messages has reached a new height. MDM now claims that the “Church will become the seat of the antichrist,” and that “heresies…will spring from within the Church”, and that the Church “will house the throne upon which will sit the antichrist” (message of 29 Oct 2013). “My Church will fall away from the True Faith” (message of 30 Oct 2013).
These claims about the Church are directly contrary to the teaching of Jesus and the constant teaching of the Holy Spirit through the Roman Catholic Magisterium that the Church is indefectible. The Pope and the Church can never fall into heresy or teach heresies. If there is any conflict between the teaching of the Church and that of a claimed visionary, the faithful must always side with the Pope and the Church.
Maria Divine Mercy (Mary McGovern Carberry) is leading many souls away from the Church, so that they believe no one but her and follow no one but her. She is essentially offering herself as a replacement for the Pope and her messages as a replacement for the teachings of the Magisterium. The purpose of the antipapal and anti-Church content of her messages is to tear away as many members of the Church as possible from faith in the Pope and the Church, so that they will follow MDM instead.
by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.
the reproach of Christ 