A COURAGEOUS ARCHBISHOP SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER

A COURAGEOUS ARCHBISHOP SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER

Most every internal crisis in the history of the Church has been due to the failing of faith and courage on the part of Her bishops. The Arian crisis is the most notable example, when most of the bishops feared both the temporal and ecclesiastical powers and not only denied the doctrine of the Trinity but attacked those who defended it. St. Athanasius, a bishop of the time, stood firm on Catholic doctrine and was illegally deposed from his office.  Besides this he was exiled from his diocese 5 different times over a 46 year period.  He was also falsely accused in civil court of a terrible crime – Moreover his life was endangered by his enemies. But he did not yield, no matter what calumny and dangers he had to face.

There has arisen in our time another bishop in the tradition of St. Athanasius: Archbishop Jan Pawel Lenga, emeritus bishop of Kazakhstan. He has raised his voice, denouncing the corruption and cowardice that has spread from Rome through the dioceses of the world, where many bishops are more afraid of offending the Vatican bureaucrats than they are of offending God. His open letter is a battle cry and a banner under which bishops, priests and laity can rally in defense of the Faith, which is under attack in those very precincts from which the Church is governed and bishops are named.

This letter is shocking, for we so seldom hear the truth spoken plainly these days. But it is also uplifting, for it frees the truth from the silence imposed on it by those members of the hierarchy who bow to the world and to their superiors, who are in thrall to worldly powers and profane ideologies. Please, read this letter, provided through Rorate Coeli.  Let it be a clarion call to all who love the Faith. Now is the time to stand firm and join our voices to that of this fearless prelate.