KEYS TO THE CONCLAVE Michael Bolerjack

Table of Contents The Conclave is Compromised The Bride of Christ Dont Lie To Me Alas, That Great City

The Conclave is Compromised Watching Roger Mahoney take the oath in the Sistine Chapel I was struck by the fact that despite my prayers and the prayers of other Catholics for these cardinals to do well, do Gods will and pick a good Pope, nevertheless, the conclave is compromised. Mahoney participated in the cover-up of the sex abuse by at least one priest in Los Angeles from early in his tenure as leader of the archdiocese there. This became obvious after documents were obtained from the church as part of the settlement with victims, who wanted not only monetary compensation, but the truth as well. What does this mean for the conclave? We need not know now or speculate about the others participating in it, who knew what and when. Perhaps it is enough, and not only symbolically, but really, that one cardinal, who should have recused himself, is present. He should not be there. His presence taints the entire proceeding. But, by analogy, we could say there once was a Judas. Did his presence ruin the whole apostolic college? Apparently not. Perhaps the example then applies always and everywhere, as I believe the gospel does. Some of the bishops are always bad, as in the beginning, and some of the cardinals therefore too. We have the parable of the wheat and the tares, with the bad being left beside the good, till judgment day. Perhaps this is the case in the church and its leadership. But the counterexample to this cannot be found by me. At the end Christ will separate the good from the evil, not till then. We suffer each other now, hoping to correct ourselves and not to judge the other, by gospel principles. This interpretation of the gospel and of mercy and justice has long been taught and I believe was used by criminals in the church to do evil, both in sexual abuse and in other types of corruption, as in the scandals at the Vatican.

How then do we re-interpret the gospel in order to reform the church while not departing from the spirit of what Christ taught? By telling the truth. Truth is the weapon against all that corruption in terms of power and lies, money and sex. Jesus did not back down from a confrontation with the church authorities over anything. And Paul rebuked Peter to his face. This is not about judgment. It is about justice. Justice requires a turn on the part of the church. A repentance. Metanoia is the Greek term in the New Testament. A reversal. The path that took us here has been long, covering centuries. The time now is short. The choice clear, unambiguous. The church needs to go to confession. It can only do this adequately, not by confessing sins to itself, but to another. I do not mean to God. The church needs to go to the world, naked unadorned ashamed sorry honest and tell the whole truth. If not, all will be lost.

The Bride of Christ It is embarrassingly and pathetically apparent that the Catholic Church cannot be the Bride of Christ. That Bride is without spot or wrinkle or blemish. What have we then? We have the Body of Christ, which as in the vision of Anne Catherine Emmerich is torn, gangrenous, diseased, altogether at the point of death. They have re-crucified Christ in the modern world. By they I do not mean capitalists or communists or sinners or the world, I mean the church itself. Christ said, where the body is, there the vultures will gather. Over the corpse, or the body near to dying, the cardinals fight for a share. One will be selected leader of the throng. I think some pray to have the Mind of Christ, but if the Body dies, where can the Mind instantiate itself? The church says the Pope is infallible, has the charism of the Spirit, and thus is guaranteed truth and accuracy in faith and morals, at least. But Benedict obviously had not this charism, nor the Magisterium at large, for the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Soldano, lied during the mass at Easter 2010, in defense of Benedict, by saying the rumors of sexual abuse were petty gossip. Benedict did not demur. The teaching authority of the church is invalid, because of this. The desolation of abomination was set-up in the holy place, on the holiest day of the year, because of this. The church is in danger of damnation because of this, and what led to it, the filth that led to the falsehood. Even Cardinal Schonborn of Vienna lamented Soldanos remarks. But nothing has been done about it. Even today Soldano still lies, referring to the papacy of Benedict as a glittering success, during the mass before the conclave began, when it is obvious that it was a spectacular failure, forcing him to resign. How long will the Catholics of the world tolerate official lies, much less the sexual abuse of children? Even if this rotten body were the Bride, would or should the Groom still have her?

Perhaps she can still be saved, by the Physician Christ, who must cut away the gangrene, the disease, the rotten members, the cancers eating at her, in order to save her, to save this Body being abused. That He may, I pray, but who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been his counselor? To whom more has been given, more will be demanded. The Church had it all, and is in danger of losing it all, forever. The only unpardonable sin, perhaps, is one that is not repented of. If the Church repents, it may be saved, even yet, after all this. Even men on death row have been saved, and we all love a death bed conversion, I hope. The Catholic Church, in this year of faith, need not worry about re-evangelizing territory that has been lost in Europe or America. The Catholic Church must repent and be converted itself.

Dont Lie To Me There is an old blues song, the Rolling Stones did it among others, that goes Theres two things I cant stand, a cheatin woman and a lyin man, dont you lie to me Who is the cheatin woman? The Catholic Church. Who is the lyin man? The Catholic Church. As Bride, she has been treacherous, abusing her own children, betraying her vows, before she even got to the altar. Like Bob Dylan said The grooms still waitin at the altar As man, as lying man, the body of Christ has betrayed the Mind of Christ, living so long in falsehood it no longer recognizes its own culpability. Others go along with this, and what is happening this week in Vatican City. Even the New York Times portrays the conclave as political and runs stories on things like the mysterious secret of the ingredients in the smoke that is used. All eyes turn to the chimney, as CNN says. But The Bible, at the end, says that no one who tells a lie will make it in at the last day. The Book of Revelation reiterates this. It is important. The church admits wrong-doing, four hundred years after the fact, as in the case of Galileo, when all the parties are dead and buried, and it is safe to do so. What about today? Cardinal Soldano, just before the conclave, tells a lie at mass about the papacy of Benedict, calling it a success, when it was so bad he had to just quit, and preaches unity. Dear Catholic Unity. What, then, of purity?

United, the church is bent on destruction, of itself. If there was dissent, the church might be saved. But by preaching unity, and then enforcing it by the threat of excommunication, the church has rid itself of the ones who can purify it, through criticism, leading to correction, amendment. Like a body, the church should be able to fight off this virus of filth and falsehood attacking it, but those able to do so are not allowed to do so. And so the Body of Christ is dying.

Alas, That Great City There has always been some debate on who or what Babylon, that great city is, in the Book of Revelation. Some say ancient Rome. But I believe, it if I may say it, that it is not the City of the World, but the City of God. How can this be? The capital of the City of God is Vatican City State. Some time, probably this week, though it may take longer, smoke will rise from her, as prophesied. In the space of one hour, she, within whom, indeed, is the blood of prophets and of saints, will fall, that is, in the space of time for the round of balloting in the conclave that will elect the last pope that will ever be. After the ballots are counted, they will be burned, in that cursed ancient manner of the Roman Church. We will see the smoke rise from her and know her doom is sealed, that the catholic faith led to the catholic fate, and that they all went down together, every man jack of them. The city was a ship, a body, a bride, a church, the biggest club in the world, the oldest institution, some say, the place they ran to escape, like running into a house on fire for safety. Their leaders knew better, but did not tell them different. As Christ said, they had the keys, but locked away the truth, and would not let others know it. The long, grievous falsehood is almost over. We should cry though, not celebrate, the passing of one who could have saved, not only itself, but the world, if it had done what its founder said. But they mistook even that, thinking they were founded on Peter, instead of on Christ. It may be that Benedict quit abruptly because Christ promised these days would be shortened for the sake of the elect.

God promised Elijah a remnant, and Paul made the same promise, concerning Israel. God has mercy on those He will. God is free. So free, that in the wilderness, on the edge of the Promised Land, He broke His own promise, and said He was doing so, to Israel, who had refused to go in. The Catholic Church had the examples of martyrs and saints. The example and teaching of Christ and the Apostles were given them too. Perhaps most of all they had the example of the Virgin, who said do whatever he tells you. Yet, they exchanged the truth for a lie, and worshipped a man rather than God. They worshipped the works of their hands rather than the Creator. We found the City of God was actually a man-made thing, doomed to fail. It was not the Kingdom of Heaven some said it was. The coming of the latter will not be seen, but the fall of Rome will.