Saints Who Warned us about Roman Catholicism

Sayings of the Holy Fathers about Roman Catholicism 
 
Question: What characterizes the statements of the holy fathers of the Orthodox Church about Roman Catholicism?

Answer: These statements (pre-Vatican Council II) were spoken by the Holy Fathers under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and therefore reflect the true essence of the Roman Catholic faith. They unanimously characterize papism and Roman Catholicism in general as a completely false, heretical faith, divorced from true apostolic Christianity, and they denounce the innovations and new teachings of the Vatican that contradict Divine Revelation.

Question: Which of these sayings are most relevant in our time?

Answer:  For modern times, the most important words are the words of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), revealing mainly the essence of the “spiritual” heritage and “asceticism” of Catholicism, and the statements of the holy St. John of Kronstadt, which comprehensively characterize the papacy of the early 20th century.

St. Photius of Constantinople († 891):

“The Latins not only introduced other iniquities, but reached such an excess of insolence that even in the holy Symbol of Faith, which all council decrees are ordered to keep unchanged, they dared to introduce lies (oh, the tricks of the evil one!), as if The Holy Spirit proceeds not only from the Father, but also from the Son, and thus they distorted the basic dogma of the Holy Trinity.”

St. Gregory Palamas († c. 1360):

“We will not accept you into communion as long as you say that the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son” (The Works of St. Gregory Palamas. vol. 1, Thessaloniki, 1962, p. 26).

St. Mark of Ephesus († 1457):

“We have rejected the Latins from ourselves for no other reason than that they are heretics. Therefore, it is completely wrong to unite with them... The Latins are not only schismatics, but also heretics. The Church was silent about this because their tribe is much larger and stronger than ours.”

“If they (the Latins) have completely deviated, and then in relation to the theology of the Holy Spirit, blasphemy against Whom is the greatest of all dangers, then it is clear that they are heretics, and we cut them off as heretics.”

“So, brothers, flee from Latin innovations and those who introduced them... and bound together in love, gather together into our single head - Christ” [Archim. Ambrose (Pogodin). Saint Mark of Ephesus and the Florentine Union. M., 1994, pp. 333, 355].

St. Theodosius of Pechersk († 1074):

“With the multitude of their heresies they (the Latins) dishonored the whole earth... There is no eternal life in the Latin faith” (N. N. Voeikov. Church, Rus' and Rome. Jordanville, 1983, p. 239) .

St. Maxim the Greek († 1556):

“In my writings I denounce all Latin heresy and all Jewish and pagan blasphemy...” (Works of St. Maxim the Greek in Russian translation. Tver, 1993, p. 7).

St. Paisius (Velichkovsky) (1794) writes about Latinism, pointing out that it broke away from the Church and “fell... into the abyss of heresies and errors... and lies in them without any hope...” And below: the Latins “are not Christians” (Works on the sign of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross. Rk. BAN, 13. 1. 24, ch. 11, l. 39, 88 vol.).

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) († 1867):

“Papism is the name of the heresy that has declared the West, from which various Protestant teachings have sprung, like tree branches. Papism assigns the properties of Christ to the pope and thereby rejects Christ. Some Western writers have made this renunciation almost explicit, saying that it is much less of a sin to renounce Christ than to renounce the Pope. The Pope is the idol of the papists; he is their deity. Because of this terrible error, the grace of God retreated from the papists; they were betrayed to themselves and to Satan - the inventor and father of all heresies, including papism. In this state of darkness they distorted some dogmas and sacraments, and deprived the Divine Liturgy of its essential meaning, throwing out from it the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of the offered bread and wine, in which they are converted into the Body and Blood of Christ... No heresy is expressed so openly and brazenly, showing exorbitant pride, cruel contempt for people and hatred of them" (On heresy and schism. Orthodox Reading. M., 1992, No. 5-6, p. 5).

“Don't play with your salvation; don't play with it! Otherwise you will weep forever. Start reading the New Testament and the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church (not Teresa, not Francis, nor other crazy Western people whom their heretical church presents as saints!), study in the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church how to correctly understand Scripture, and what kind of life, what thoughts and feelings befits a Christian" (Ibid., pp. 485-486).

“The ascetics of the Western Church and its writers about asceticism have received a different direction since the separation of this church from the Eastern Church and its fall into the disastrous darkness of heresies... From this state (of delusion) many books have been written by Western writers. The blind and proud world greedily rushes at them, preaches them mainly as saints and spiritual ones, worthy to stand near the Holy Scriptures... The works of Western writers, written from a state of self-delusion, finding numerous readers, are translated more than once into Russian, and are published and reprinted" (Ibid., pp. 508-510).

“Among other deceptive, pernicious zephyrs, bringing this terrible silence to the heart, this disastrous, disastrous pleasure, it is also brought to him by reading the famous book of Thomas à Kempis, a Western monk who was in demonic delusion, the book The Imitation of Christ [St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). Op. in 7 vols. St. Petersburg, 1886, vol. 4, pp. 453-454].

“As an example of an ascetic book written from a state of delusion called an opinion, one can cite the work of Thomas à Kempis entitled The Imitation of Christ. It breathes refined voluptuousness and arrogance, which in people, blinded and filled with passions, produces pleasure, which they recognize as tasting Divine grace... Like Malpas, Francis d'Assise, Ignatius of Loyola and other ascetics of Latinism (after the fall of Western Churches from the East), recognized in the depths of it as saints” (Ibid., vol. 5, p. 69).

“Under the name of papal propaganda we mean the dissemination of the concept of the pope that the pope wants to instill in humanity about himself, that is, the concept of the supreme, autocratic, unlimited power of the pope over the world. Propaganda, having this goal, pays little attention to the quality of the teachings it spreads; it considers everything that contributes to its goal to be in its favor - even faith in Christ without abandoning faith in idols" (Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 252-253 , note).

St. Ambrose of Optina († 1891):

“The Orthodox Eastern Church, from Apostolic times and to this day, has observed, unchanged and undamaged from innovations, both the teachings of the Gospel and the Apostles, as well as the tradition of the Holy Fathers and the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils... The Roman Church has long deviated into heresy and innovation..."

“The Roman Church... since it does not preserve the holy conciliar and apostolic decrees, but has deviated into innovations and incorrect wisdom, it does not at all belong to the One, Holy and Apostolic Church" (Collected letters of the Optina elder of blessed memory Hieroschemamonk Ambrose to worldly persons, part 1. Sergiev Posad, 1913, pp. 231, 232, 235).

“The truth testifies that the Roman Church fell away from Orthodoxy” (Ibid., p. 234).

Saint Theophan the Recluse († 1894):

“There was one Church on earth with one faith. But temptation came - the pope and his people became carried away by their own wisdom and fell away from the one Church and faith” (Letters to various persons about various subjects of faith and life. M., 1892, p. 45).

“To believe that the Holy Spirit comes from God the Father is an obligatory dogma, but to believe in Latin that He also comes from the Son is a deviation from the Church, a heresy” (Letters on Christian Life. M., 1908, p. 37) .

St. John of Kronstadt († 1908):

“We still all agree and unanimously believe in this Creed and do not add a single iota to it, so as not to lose salvation for a false increase, like Catholics, Lutherans, and Anglicans” (Living Kolos. Extracts from the diary for 1907-1908, St. Petersburg, 1909, p. 4).

“Some would like to unite the Orthodox with Catholics or Lutherans and be one with them - in Christ, one Church, one community of believers! But which of the members of these spoken churches, especially the primates called popes, patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops, and bishops - or priests - will agree to renounce their errors? Nobody. But we cannot agree with their heretical teaching without harming our spiritual salvation... Is it possible to combine the incompatible - a lie with the truth? (Ibid., p. 31).

“The Catholic Jesuits, to please the pope and their selfish lower views and goals, perverted the law of conscience and the law of the Gospel, arguing that to achieve selfish goals or religious goals, Catholics can use all sorts of illegal means; such as killing... and burning Orthodox Christians at the stake” (Ibid., pp. 31-32).

“The words of our Savior Jesus Christ are true: whoever is not with Me is against Me (Matthew 12:30). Catholics, Lutherans and reformers have fallen away from the Church of Christ... they are clearly going against Christ and His Church... they do not respect fasts, they transform the dogmas of faith... They are not with us. They are against us and against Christ” (Ibid., pp. 32-33).

“The popes imagined themselves to be the heads of the Church and its foundation, and even the vicars of Christ, which is absurd and incompatible with anything. And hence all the arrogance of the Roman popes and their long-standing claim to supremacy and unauthorized control of the entire Ecumenical Church. Well, the popes have already created various tricks in their papal church, various false dogmas leading to falsehood both in faith and in life. This is a completely heretical church” (Ibid., p. 35).

“If Jesus Christ had intended to give His Church, upon His ascension into heaven, another head in His place, or a vicar, as the popes say, considering themselves vicars of Christ on earth, then He would have clearly announced this before His ascension, for this is so dogma important for the salvation of human souls; Yes, the apostles would have announced this, or one of them would have called himself a vicegerent. Otherwise, none of them said anything, remembering the words of the Lord: whoever wants to be great among you, let him be your servant (Matthew 20:26); yet you are brothers (Matthew 23:8)” (Ibid., p. 35).

“The papists, recognizing the pope as the head of the church, placed him on the throne instead of Christ and deified him, and put Christ in the background. The Pope was made the vicar of Christ, while Christ remains with us all the days until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). But look how many errors are allowed in the papal (and not Christ’s) faith, strange errors, blasphemous ones - and you will turn away from it with indignation and horror! - Oh, human pride! Oh, satanic pride! The pope seems to be infallible! Oh, Jesuitism! (Ibid., p. 36).

“The one head of the Church, heavenly, earthly, and in the underworld, is Christ God. Can a human pope be the head of the Church that is in heaven? He cannot. And in general, can a pope, a sinful man, be the head of the entire earthly Church and control the fate of the earthly and the hereafter?... Read the history of the popes: what were they like? How many of them were worthy of their seat? And only in the first centuries there were several worthy ones, but in subsequent centuries there were so many unworthy and vicious ones, to the shame of the entire Roman Church! Are these the heads of churches? (Ibid., pp. 37-38).

“Catholics have transformed the teaching of the All-Wise Christ Himself, the heavenly Teacher, without Whom no one knows the Father, but He alone is the Son. Christ says that the Spirit proceeds from the Father, and meanwhile Catholics and Lutherans and Anglicans say that He proceeds from both the Father and the Son. Yes, finally, stop blaspheming the Holy Spirit and making lies against Him: those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this nor in the next age. And you have forgotten the words of the Apostle: if we or an Angel from heaven begin to preach a gospel to you, other than what we preached to you, let him be accursed (Gal. 1:8). Is this a terrible word or not? - Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away (Matt. 24:35)" (Ibid., p. 38 -39).

“The popes and Catholics have rejected this all-giving Blood for the laity and do not give it to them, probably out of economy, so that less wine comes out! And with what frenzied zeal they drag the Orthodox into Catholicism, into their pernicious faith: Protect, Lord, Orthodoxy from fierce Catholicism, in which everything is subject to the arbitrariness of the Pope and the Jesuits” (Ibid., p. 40).

“It is precisely in his dogma of infallibility that the greatest error lies, for the Pope is a sinful man and it will be a disaster if he imagines himself to be infallible. How many great errors, disastrous for human souls, have the Catholic and Papal Church invented in dogmas, in rituals, in canonical rules, in worship, in the deadening, malicious attitudes of Catholics towards the Orthodox, in blasphemies and slander against the Orthodox Church, in curses addressed to the Orthodox Church and to Orthodox Christians! And in all this, the supposedly infallible Pope is to blame, his and the Jesuits’ doctrine, their spirit of lies, double-mindedness and all sorts of wrong means ad maiorem Dei gloriam (to the supposedly greater glory of God)” (St. John of Kronstadt. Christian Philosophy. St. Petersburg 1902, M., 1992, p. 99).

“Hatred of Orthodoxy, fanaticism and persecution of Orthodox Christians, and murders run like a red thread through all centuries of Catholicism. By their fruits you will know them. Is this the spirit commanded to us by Christ? If anyone, then are Catholics, Lutherans, or Reformers, one can say: 'You do not know what spirit you are' (Luke 9:55)” (Ibid., p. 116).

“The pope and the papists became so proud and exalted themselves that they decided to criticize Christ Himself, the very Hypostatic Wisdom of God, and extended their pride (under the pretext of developing dogmas) to the point that they distorted some of His words, commandments, and institutions, which should not be changed until the end of the age, for example, the word about the Holy Spirit, the commandment about the cup of His most pure Blood, which they deprived the laity of, making nothing of the words of the Apostle Paul: 'For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.' "(1 Cor. 11:26); and instead of leavened bread, they use unleavened bread at the liturgy” (Ibid., p. 117).

“Catholics fell away from the head of the entire Church - Christ, choosing an earthly head - a sinning pope” (Ibid., p. 119).

“Come to us, you who call yourselves Catholics, and who condemn us as schismatics, and let us become exalted, look impartially, according to God’s truth, according to God’s qualifications, at your saints, glorified by the Pope, and not by God, and compare them with our saints, whom God Himself witnessed by countless miracles of healing and various consolations of the Orthodox who resorted to them with faith!... How the truth of our faith shines and with its light darkens your faith, darkened by heresies and false wisdom” (Ibid., p. 127).

“Oh, human superstition! Oh, deceit, oh, the intricacy of lies! The papists deprived the laity of the Blood of Christ, shed for cleansing from sins. Oh, headless leadership, acting contrary to the true head - Christ God! (Ibid., p. 157).

Question: Indeed, reading these statements, which quite unequivocally denounce Roman Catholicism as papism - a false, anti-Christian faith incompatible with Orthodoxy, how can one explain that some modern Orthodox theologians, contrary to the words of the saints, claim that Catholics are our brothers in faith, and that the Catholic and Orthodox Churches are sisters, asking whether God’s grace works in Catholicism?

Answer:  According to Divine Revelation, one of the main properties of God is His all-righteousness, therefore the Holy Spirit cannot say one thing to the holy saints of God, and another thing to these theologians. Consequently, their statements show their lack of understanding of the essence of Roman Catholicism and reflect the opinion of their own people, and of the one who carried them away with “philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).