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MIND CONTROL Mary Ann Collins (A
Former Catholic Nun) January 2002 |
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The Catholic Church
claims that it has the right to control how Catholics think. According to “The
Catholic Encyclopedia,” a person’s religious belief is “outside the realm of
free private judgment”. [Note 1 gives a link to this article.] According to Canon Law
(the official laws governing the Roman Catholic Church), Catholics are
required to submit their minds and wills to any declaration concerning faith
or morals which is made by the Pope or by a church council. They are also
required to avoid anything that disagrees with such declarations. And they
can be coerced if they don’t comply. [Note 2] The Catholic Church
teaches that only the Magisterium of the Church (the Pope and the bishops in
communion with him) has the right to interpret Scripture. People like us are
not allowed to interpret Scripture for ourselves. We have to check it out
with Church authorities. [Note 3] Catholicism teaches that
Catholics are supposed to “receive with docility” any directives given to
them by Catholic Church authorities. [Note 4] According to “Webster’s
Dictionary,” “docile” means “disposed to be taught; tractable; as, a docile
child”. “Tractable” means “capable of being easily led, taught, or
controlled; docile.” This sounds like young
children who accept without question whatever their parents tell them. In
fact, I believe that is precisely what Jesus warned us against when He told
us to “Call no man father”. (Matthew 23:9) In contrast, the Bible commends
the people of Berea because they “searched the Scriptures daily” in order to “see
whether these things were so”. (Acts 17:10-11) God wants His people to check
things out for themselves, using Scripture as their yardstick. On December 8, 1854, Pope
Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The Pope
said that if anybody “dares” to even think anything contrary to this dogma,
then that disagreement will shipwreck their faith, cut them off from the
Church, and make them become “condemned”. And if anybody in any way outwardly
expresses their disagreement, then they are subject to “penalties established
by law”. [Note 5 gives a link to this papal bull.] The Pope’s reference to
legal penalties is significant because a man had been executed for heresy 28
years before this papal bull was issued. In 1826, a Spanish schoolmaster was
hanged because he substituted the phrase “Praise be to God” in place of “Ave
Maria” (“Hail Mary”) during school prayers. [Note 6] In 1962, Malta (a small
island near Sicily) had a democratic election. The Catholic Church strongly
opposed the Labour Party candidate (Mintoff). Maltese Catholics who voted for
the Malta Labour Party were placed under interdict. It became a mortal sin to
vote for Mintoff . Catholics who voted for Mintoff were banned from church
life and the sacraments. They were denied a Christian burial. Instead, they
were buried in an “unconsecrated” section of the cemetery which was called “the
rubbish dump,” implying that the soul of the dead person was damned. A
citizen of Malta recounts, The Catholic Church used the pulpit, the confessional, the
media and even public meetings in its vigorous campaign. I asked my father
about his experience. When he went to confession, the priest asked him how he
intended to vote in the general election and refused to give him absolution.
[Note 8 links to this article.] For more information
about these things, please see my two articles entitled “Spiritual
Intimidation,” and “Ecumenism and the Council of Trent”. USING THIS ARTICLE You have my permission to
copy this article, in whole or in part. You have my permission to quote from
it. You have my permission to post it on your web site and to link to it. You
have my permission to incorporate the entire article, or portions of it, into
publications of your own. You have my permission to sell it for profit. I do
not want any fees or royalties or financial remuneration of any kind
NOTES 1. “Inquisition” in “The
Catholic Encyclopedia” (1913 edition), Volume 8. This article is available
on-line. The quotation is from the second paragraph of the article. The
Office of the Inquisition is an ecclesiastical institution for suppressing
heresy. It is a permanent office with headquarters in Rome (described on
pages 1 and 23-24 of my print-out). http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08026a.htm For a Protestant
perspective on the Inquisition, you can go to the following article. It is on
the web site of Bart Brewer, who is a former Catholic priest. http://mtc.org/~bart/inquis.htm 2. Canons 752, 1311, and
1312 in “Code of Canon Law,” Latin English edition, New English Translation
(Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America, 1988), pages 247 and 409. 3. “The Catechism of the
Catholic Church,” Paragraphs 85, 100, 891, and 2051. The “Catechism”
summarizes the essential and basic teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. It
was approved by Pope John Paul II in 1992 and the English translation was
released in 1994. The latest English edition was printed in 2000. It is
available on-line, with a search engine. http://www.christusrex.org/www2/kerygma/ccc/searchcat.html http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm This second address didn’t
always work for me. If you have a problem with it, then go to http://www.scborromeo.org
and click under “Must Know” where it says “The Catechism of the Catholic
Church”. 4. “Catechism of the
Catholic Church,”Paragraphs 87, 1310, and 2037. 5. “Ineffabilis Deus” (“Apostolic
Constitution on the Immaculate Conception”). Encyclical of Pope Pius IX
issued December 8, 1854. Near the end of this papal bull there is a section
entitled “The Definition”. The statements that I described are in the last
paragraph of that section. Following are links to two web sites which quote
this bull in its entirety. http://www.newadvent.org/docs/pi09id.htm http://www.geocities.com/papalencyclicals/Pius09/p9ineff.htm 6. Paul Johnson, “A
History of Christianity” (New York: Simon & Schuster, a Touchstone Book,
1995), page 308. Paul Johnson is a prominent historian and a Catholic. 7. Following is a link to
an article on the Vatican’s web site. [Click on “Profile”.] http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/index.htm The Vatican web site is
slow and it doesn’t always come up. You can also find information about the
change of name of the Office of the Inquisition at the following sites: http://www.geocities.com/iberianinquisition/office.html http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Student_Work/Trial96/breu/timeline.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1251000/1251677.stm 8. Joe Mizzi, “Liberty of
Conscience”. On-line article by a citizen of Malta. http://www.justforcatholics.org/a76.htm Also see Dr. Mark F.
Montebello, “Civil Rights in Malta’s Post-Colonial Age,” Part III, “Independence
According to the British,” first subheading, “The Most Shameful Episode”. The
http://www.maltamag.com/features/civil_rights3.html |
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