(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s episode of The Bishop Strickland Show, Bishop Joseph Strickland discusses Cardinal Kevin Farrell’s revelations about preparing a document that would allow for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia’s apparent support for euthanasia, and more.
Late last month Farrell, head of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, announced he was preparing a document that would allow divorced and remarried Catholics receive Holy Communion, contrary to the Church’s teaching.
Referencing LifeSite’s coverage of the document, Bishop Strickland remarked that “the greatest charity is the truth. There’s nothing pastoral about changing teachings to make it easier for people. And ultimately, I mean, it’s just devastating for people’s lives. It is devastating for the Church. This document, if it comes out [as LifeSite described it], it needs to be opposed.”
“I don’t care who [the document is] coming from,” he continued. “It’s not the truth. And if the Vatican is misled, bishops and faithful Catholics who know the truth need to stand up and say, ‘No, we won’t accept it,’ because … more and more, I think there’s certain people that seem to think that, ‘Well, you know, people don’t know anything. We can tell them anything we want. We can change whatever. We can just distort, and reshape, and erase this, and fill it in with that.’ The truth is the truth. And people have got to hold on to the truth, and I don’t care who says a false message. It’s a false message. And we’ve got to say no. We follow the truth of Jesus Christ. He said if you love Him, follow [His] commandments.”
Bishop Strickland also discussed the new Nefarious movie, which depicts a criminal on death row possessed by a demon, saying that “I think it’s an excellent depiction of the reality of evil. The reality of Satan’s power in the world. Christ has conquered him, and we always have to remember that, but Satan still roams as the Saint Michael prayer says, and his demons roam the world, as Saint Peter says, looking for someone to devour. And this film really depicts that truth very clearly, rather disturbingly.”
“I would say every priest needs to see it to be aware of the evil that’s real in the world and of harming people and misguiding people,” His Excellency continued. “One thing that I would say, I don’t see it as entertainment. It’s part of a very serious spiritual information that we need.”
The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) has described assisted suicide as sometimes being the “greatest common good concretely possible” contrary to the Catholic Church’s strenuous condemnation of the practice.
This betrayal of the Catholic faith by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia is not for the first time, with the PAV repeatedly causing scandal under his watch by:
- recently appointing a notorious pro-abortion atheist to the organization
- claiming contraception and artificial insemination are sometimes acceptable
- insisting that priests could accompany people through assisted-suicide, and
- that Italy’s pro-abortion law is a “pillar” of the country’s social life.
SIGN: Pope Francis must remove Abp. Paglia from the Pontifical Academy for Life
“Personally, I would not practice suicide assistance,” Archbishop Paglia told an Italian journalism conference last week, “but I understand that legal mediation may be the greatest common good concretely possible under the conditions we find ourselves in.”
Accepting an anti-life Italian court ruling that specified when assisted-suicide is permitted, the archbishop claimed “it is not to be ruled out that in our society a legal mediation is feasible that would allow assistance to suicide under the conditions specified by Constitutional Court Sentence 242/2019…”
From the outset of his presentation in Perugia, Paglia also undermined the authority of the Catholic Church on matters of faith and morals, stating: “First of all, I would like to clarify that the Catholic Church is not that it has a ready-made, prepackaged package of truths, as if it were a dispenser of truth pills.”
SIGN: Abp. Paglia must be removed from the Pontifical Academy for Life
The PAV issued a statement on Monday trying to clarify the archbishop’s remarks, insisting that Paglia “reiterates his ‘no’ towards euthanasia and assisted suicide, in full adherence to the Magisterium”.
However, far from denouncing Paglia’s words, the PAV unsurprisingly supported its president. Referencing the Italian court ruling which partially decriminalized euthanasia by outlining exceptions to its illegality, the PAV stated it was in the context of this ruling that Paglia had made his comments.
In this precise and specific context, Msgr. Paglia explained that in his opinion a ‘legal mediation’ (certainly not a moral one) in the direction indicated by the Sentence is possible, maintaining the crime and the conditions under which it is decriminalized, as the same Constitutional Court has asked Parliament to legislate.
The PAV’s fudging of the issue was met with consternation from several Catholic commentators, with liturgist Matthew Hazell, who had highlighted Paglia’s original comments, asking “How hard is it for the @PontAcadLife to just say ‘sorry’ for scandalising the faithful? Indeed, how hard is it to actually adhere to the teaching of the Church on life issues? Are you so incapable of reading the signs of the times & interpreting them in the light of the Gospel?”
The Pontifical Academy for Life has tried & failed to explain @monspaglia‘s remarks. Paglia had spoken about the “accompaniment” needed for the dying, saying “in this context, it is not to be ruled out that in our society a legal mediation is feasible …” https://t.co/C3LU601aA2
— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) April 24, 2023
Sorry guys, not good enough. Nowhere near good enough.
Archbishop Paglia’s “opinion” on the possibility of “juridical mediation” regarding euthanasia is still contrary to the Catholic faith, as has been explained already. https://t.co/qMATq0UZrL pic.twitter.com/W8s4zLvkj7— Matthew Hazell (@M_P_Hazell) April 24, 2023
Archbishop Paglia’s comments about assisted suicide being “feasible” are wrong and harmful. It’s the kind of “crack in the wall” that opponents of human life will run with to promote their agenda. The teaching of the Church is clear: Euthanasia is “morally unacceptable.” Period.
— Bishop Thomas Tobin (@ThomasJTobin1) April 24, 2023
SIGN: Abp. Paglia’s presidency of the Pontifical Academy for Life is untenable
It’s vital that the Church and PAV push back against the culture of death, rather than trying to accommodate it and accept a world that where the vulnerable are helped to kill themselves.
Be part of pushing back against the tide and making it clear that there is no room for confusion or betrayal when it comes to the sanctity of human life and the infallibilty of Catholic teaching on the matter.
SIGN AND SHARE THE PETITION WITH FRIENDS & FAMILY
MORE INFORMATION:
Abp. Paglia defends assisted-suicide as ‘greatest common good possible’ for dying people – LifeSiteNews
Linking the film with the formation of priests at seminaries regarding spiritual warfare and the demonic, Bishop Strickland said: “They need some basics in the reality of evil, and certainly as this movie really points to, certainly psychological things are real, and all of that, but it acknowledges that evil is real as well … The formation to just be aware of that as a priest. I mean, every priest doesn’t need to be an exorcist, but every priest does need a basic level of awareness.”
Later in the episode, Bishop Strickland briefly discussed Archbishop Paglia’s remarks in which he claimed that laws protecting euthanasia “may be the greatest common good concretely possible under the conditions we find ourselves in.”
Reacting to Paglia’s remarks, Bishop Strickland said “we need to speak out against any false pronouncements, especially from people in significant positions, because it gives people license to do what they’re already inclined to do.”
“We’re all inclined to take the easier path, the more pleasurable path,” he continued. “Whatever this world says is good, we’re inclined to do that. But the Gospel very clearly tells us we’re meant to seek what is above, not what is below. And these kind of false teachings just encourage people to say, ‘Oh, well, if life gets too rough, I’ll just euthanize myself. Or if it’s too tough keeping up with some elderly person or some person that’s disabled in some way, ‘Oh, well, we’ll just help them go ahead and die more quickly. It’ll make it easier.’ It’s just evil and we’ve got to speak against it.”
For this and more, tune in to this week’s episode of The Bishop Strickland Show.
To watch all previous episodes of The Bishop Strickland Show, click here to visit LifeSite’s Rumble page dedicated to The Bishop Strickland Show.