I find it interesting that those who claim that Church teaching as it was anywhere from 60 to several hundred years ago is binding but later development and teaching are to be ignored are rather selective in what history they preach.
I recall from a biography of St. Bernard of Clairveax that he convinced his brother to leave his wife and two kids to become a monk. That one detail disturbed me so much that I had to talk to a theologian about it. He agreed that just because a saint said or did something doesn't mean it was right, and then he told me something I didn't know--that marriage was not defined as a sacrament until well into the Middle Ages (I don't know when exactly, but sometime after St. Bernard I guess--so he would not have known that he was breaking up a sacramental union). You couldn't dream of someone nowadays arguing that marriage is not a sacrament because it wasn't historically thought so in the church.
About the demons, I just shake my head and say, who cares whether or not demons are organized? You shouldn't be teaching people about them at all besides to say that they're evil and tricky and avoid them. You shouldn't want to know more about them. You know how C.S. Lewis says that the two ways the devil draws people in us by either convincing them that he doesn't exist, or by stoking a lurid fascination with him in them? It's very obvious to me anyway the lurid fascination. It can't be fruitful.
More and more, I think it is so dangerous for a priest to be Catholic celebrity. Not to say it's all bad (I do appreciate Fr. Mike Schmitz etc), but I think the fame and adulation can really go to someone's head in the worst way. It's bad enough to have the humility to admit you're wrong or accept censure from your proper authorities when nobody is watching, but when you have a fan base trusting every word you say and reassuring you how right (and even persecuted) you are? I can't imagine.
Good response Mike, anyone that spends 5 minutes in trad circles knows about weird stuff like this, and it does a lot of damage, it’s big in charismatic circles as well, and it preys on people with mental health issues
I need you to dive deeper into the lesbian issue, man. I'm a devout, faithful, practicing Roman Catholic. I'm also celibate, and a butch lesbian. And I'm not possessed by a demon because I wear camo and think girls with curly hair are pretty.
Seriously, it seemed so odd to me that out of his "5 Generals" three out of those five were in charge of gay people, and two out of those three were in charge of lesbians specifically. Like, what gives? I'll admit I found it a little insulting, considering the way that I've had to wrestle with my sexuality in light of my faith and try to make sense of it. Claiming I'm a demoniac is not helpful when the majority of this community (especially gay Catholics trying to be faithful to the Church) struggle with shame and self-hatred.
Why is Ripperger so hung up on gay women in particular? Methinks it has something to do with his emphasis on patriarchal gender roles. If I spend my life protecting and providing for another woman I love (even if that love is 100% chaste and godly), then I'm still not in "my place" as a woman, which in his mind is submitting to a man.
I am just trying to expose some very unhealthy corners of Catholic pop culture, and I agree that he's hung up on this to the point of absurdity.
I would love to publish an article about Fr Ripperger's views on sexuality, gender, and women more generally, because his views are extremely problematic, but I can't do it myself. At least not until I've had a long time to detox.
I haven’t done a deep-dive into much of his work, and what I’ve come across didn’t bother me. But I will say that something I’m always concerned about is when theologians focus on their area of study without integrating it into other dogmatic truths that tenuously nuance, limit and clarify things more properly. It’s a point Newman makes well.
I’ve also witnessed amongst popular exorcists a type of abuse of the rite, where they divulge “compelling” with the name of Jesus various pious theological claims about Latin, Mary, or whatever from demons. “They have to tell the truth because of the name of Jesus” but it seems clear to me, but maybe I’m wrong, that the only question to be asked during the rite is the name. Curiosity, and speculative theology are not virtuous acts, during the rite. If one invokes the name of the Lord with disobedience and vice, I’m not convinced that the name of Christ is said with any authority, but perhaps in vain.
Anyways, I’m no demonologist. But those are flags of concern for me.
That's ok, champ, I got a bit of it from others on your so-called "SmartCatholics Group!"... and you make up for it with your steady flow of far flung vitriol towards faithful Catholics (including those mentioned above, in my previous response) in other areas.
You'd do well to actually consider "and" engage the "actual" arguments and viewpoints of these faithful Catholics you consistently target, rather than cherry-picking certain things they say/do, take them out of context, and creating exaggerated negative caricatures all the time... it's bad enough when protestants (and those of other religions / no faith at all) do this to us!
You state, "I find it extremely frustrating when someone claims to have thoroughly debunked an article I wrote, while not landing a single punch and misrepresenting my arguments. I continue to stand by every word I wrote."
I'd posit that that's precisely the sentiment that so many have with you, your liberal (far-left?) ideologies, and constant hyper-ventilation with invective-ridden hit pieces you consistently put out against faithful conservative (that you often attempt to slur as "far right", "dangerous", "bizarre", "fundamentalist" and "conspiracy theorist") Catholics.
I'll sign off on the following point - you put at the top of your poor attempt of an adequate rebuttal to Hichborn (as a sub-heading) the question, "Why do I even bother?"
I suggest you keep that thought, since you ain't an exorcist (Fr. Ripperger is), and science and cosmology really don't seem to be strengths of yours (although they are for those you attack on these topics, eg. Sungenis, Kolbe Centre). No mate, you should leave such things to the big boys who can adequately handle them.
Let's hope this is an opportunity for you to hit the pause button, and be big enough to read what these other folk "actually" say/state - in full, and in context - and stop deriding faithful Catholics who "dare" to faithfully uphold the Catholic faith in a way that isn't in perfect lock-stop with your own left-leaning personal beliefs and interpretations.
You "did" cherry-pick, including on the occasions where you actually decided to provide context, ie. yes you "did" provide "some" context when it suited, but didn't in other areas, which Hichborn rightly called you out for.
Your far-left liberal canards and innuendos against faithful Catholic sons of The Church (eg. constant accusations of such faithful Catholics as somehow being "fundamentalist", "conspiracy theorist", "radical", "bizarre", "dangerous", etc.) really has worn thin, and is only seen as cheap attempts to discredit faithful Catholics who "dare" to hold traditional Catholic positions that "dare" to not align with your own interpretations, so continually flogging and flinging such adjectives doesn't make them somehow true - whether that be in relation to Fr. Ripperger, Hichborn, Sungenis (who it seems you've only got ad hominem attacks against, at best), or anyone else for that matter.
Neither Eric Sammons, nor his audience (or anyone else for that matter) should wait for you to put your, "... finishing touches on my latest article about celebrity exorcist Fr. Chad Ripperger’s UFO theories and young Earth creationism" - that fact is that you published that article as it was. Any further edits - whether they were indeed actually going to happen, or whether triggered by such a rightful expectation for you retract it - are secondary.
I expect push-back on this far-left-wing, radicalised, so-called "Catholic" substack of yours (if it even makes it in to comments section without being censored/deleted altogether), since so many of your followers are birds of the same feather, but I posit my response all the same.
I wish to speak from my experience of watching Fr. Ripperger's videos and getting help through his Deliverance Prayers. I love the Latin Mass and attend when I am able but do am not a "Trad Catholic". What I am is an orthodox Catholic, someone who believes in all the teachings on faith and morals of the Church (at least I strive to believe and I strive to live them out). There was a time I needed help with deliverance and a priest who was knowledgeable referred me to a lay couple who prayed for me using the deliverance prayers Fr. Ripperger has gathered. I found them very, very helpful, not only for my spiritual life but for my mental health. I continue to pray with them on my own. I have also found his videos very helpful. It is not just the message but the effect on me spiritually. I find a big increase in calm and hope after listening to them. Outwardly, he often has a hard message, but I find him to be a deeply kind teacher. His message to me seems to be all about helping people to remove barriers to having a loving, intimate relationship with God and let that pour out for others in our lives who need it. But this love needs to be grounded in some difficult truths about the great spiritual crisis of our times and sometimes this teaching needs to be delivered with some tough love rather than with comfy caresses. I very much appreciate the work Fr. Ripperger has been doing. He is a great gift to our Church and to our nation because he is bringing a lot of people more deeply into the gifts of Spirit Jesus and our Blessed mother want to give us.
Sorry Mike. You are either Catholic or you aren't. Using language in your article like "far right Catholic YouTubers", is disingenuous. To be Catholic, is to be Catholic. Stop using bs language that politicians use to divide the population when speaking about the Catholic Church.
Would you prefer that I call them far-right anti-Catholic YouTubers? Presumably they are baptized Catholic and have not been formally excommunicated. But their message is anti-Catholic.
Probably. Shifting gears is something I struggle with. I have serious issues with ADHD hyperfocus.
I guess the thing is that when I can't stop thinking about something, I can either think about it and get nothing done, or I can try to turn my ruminations into something sort of productive and write about it.
Your question "why do I even bother" is a good one. This kind of one-upmanship is unproductive, imprudent and self-serving. It's Lent- just let it go already.
Someone published an article about something I wrote on a bigger platform than I have and was being shared widely. That article contained numerous false statements and assumptions about me and what I wrote.
My response was certainly justified, the only question is whether I should have taken the time to do it. 90% of the time, I do "let it go." But Hichborn and Ripperger don't "let it go." Ripperger will continue to spread errors and lies and conspiracy theories until someone in authority does something about him.
I find it interesting that those who claim that Church teaching as it was anywhere from 60 to several hundred years ago is binding but later development and teaching are to be ignored are rather selective in what history they preach.
I recall from a biography of St. Bernard of Clairveax that he convinced his brother to leave his wife and two kids to become a monk. That one detail disturbed me so much that I had to talk to a theologian about it. He agreed that just because a saint said or did something doesn't mean it was right, and then he told me something I didn't know--that marriage was not defined as a sacrament until well into the Middle Ages (I don't know when exactly, but sometime after St. Bernard I guess--so he would not have known that he was breaking up a sacramental union). You couldn't dream of someone nowadays arguing that marriage is not a sacrament because it wasn't historically thought so in the church.
About the demons, I just shake my head and say, who cares whether or not demons are organized? You shouldn't be teaching people about them at all besides to say that they're evil and tricky and avoid them. You shouldn't want to know more about them. You know how C.S. Lewis says that the two ways the devil draws people in us by either convincing them that he doesn't exist, or by stoking a lurid fascination with him in them? It's very obvious to me anyway the lurid fascination. It can't be fruitful.
More and more, I think it is so dangerous for a priest to be Catholic celebrity. Not to say it's all bad (I do appreciate Fr. Mike Schmitz etc), but I think the fame and adulation can really go to someone's head in the worst way. It's bad enough to have the humility to admit you're wrong or accept censure from your proper authorities when nobody is watching, but when you have a fan base trusting every word you say and reassuring you how right (and even persecuted) you are? I can't imagine.
Good response Mike, anyone that spends 5 minutes in trad circles knows about weird stuff like this, and it does a lot of damage, it’s big in charismatic circles as well, and it preys on people with mental health issues
I need you to dive deeper into the lesbian issue, man. I'm a devout, faithful, practicing Roman Catholic. I'm also celibate, and a butch lesbian. And I'm not possessed by a demon because I wear camo and think girls with curly hair are pretty.
Seriously, it seemed so odd to me that out of his "5 Generals" three out of those five were in charge of gay people, and two out of those three were in charge of lesbians specifically. Like, what gives? I'll admit I found it a little insulting, considering the way that I've had to wrestle with my sexuality in light of my faith and try to make sense of it. Claiming I'm a demoniac is not helpful when the majority of this community (especially gay Catholics trying to be faithful to the Church) struggle with shame and self-hatred.
Why is Ripperger so hung up on gay women in particular? Methinks it has something to do with his emphasis on patriarchal gender roles. If I spend my life protecting and providing for another woman I love (even if that love is 100% chaste and godly), then I'm still not in "my place" as a woman, which in his mind is submitting to a man.
Just my two cents.
I am just trying to expose some very unhealthy corners of Catholic pop culture, and I agree that he's hung up on this to the point of absurdity.
I would love to publish an article about Fr Ripperger's views on sexuality, gender, and women more generally, because his views are extremely problematic, but I can't do it myself. At least not until I've had a long time to detox.
I haven’t done a deep-dive into much of his work, and what I’ve come across didn’t bother me. But I will say that something I’m always concerned about is when theologians focus on their area of study without integrating it into other dogmatic truths that tenuously nuance, limit and clarify things more properly. It’s a point Newman makes well.
I’ve also witnessed amongst popular exorcists a type of abuse of the rite, where they divulge “compelling” with the name of Jesus various pious theological claims about Latin, Mary, or whatever from demons. “They have to tell the truth because of the name of Jesus” but it seems clear to me, but maybe I’m wrong, that the only question to be asked during the rite is the name. Curiosity, and speculative theology are not virtuous acts, during the rite. If one invokes the name of the Lord with disobedience and vice, I’m not convinced that the name of Christ is said with any authority, but perhaps in vain.
Anyways, I’m no demonologist. But those are flags of concern for me.
That's ok, champ, I got a bit of it from others on your so-called "SmartCatholics Group!"... and you make up for it with your steady flow of far flung vitriol towards faithful Catholics (including those mentioned above, in my previous response) in other areas.
You'd do well to actually consider "and" engage the "actual" arguments and viewpoints of these faithful Catholics you consistently target, rather than cherry-picking certain things they say/do, take them out of context, and creating exaggerated negative caricatures all the time... it's bad enough when protestants (and those of other religions / no faith at all) do this to us!
You state, "I find it extremely frustrating when someone claims to have thoroughly debunked an article I wrote, while not landing a single punch and misrepresenting my arguments. I continue to stand by every word I wrote."
I'd posit that that's precisely the sentiment that so many have with you, your liberal (far-left?) ideologies, and constant hyper-ventilation with invective-ridden hit pieces you consistently put out against faithful conservative (that you often attempt to slur as "far right", "dangerous", "bizarre", "fundamentalist" and "conspiracy theorist") Catholics.
I'll sign off on the following point - you put at the top of your poor attempt of an adequate rebuttal to Hichborn (as a sub-heading) the question, "Why do I even bother?"
I suggest you keep that thought, since you ain't an exorcist (Fr. Ripperger is), and science and cosmology really don't seem to be strengths of yours (although they are for those you attack on these topics, eg. Sungenis, Kolbe Centre). No mate, you should leave such things to the big boys who can adequately handle them.
Let's hope this is an opportunity for you to hit the pause button, and be big enough to read what these other folk "actually" say/state - in full, and in context - and stop deriding faithful Catholics who "dare" to faithfully uphold the Catholic faith in a way that isn't in perfect lock-stop with your own left-leaning personal beliefs and interpretations.
Pax...
I can’t even begin to process all the nuances that are being stated here.
All I know is that when I started praying, “Deliverance Prayers for the Laity”
Things changed in my life for the better.
No, Mike - Hichborn's article was fair.
You "did" cherry-pick, including on the occasions where you actually decided to provide context, ie. yes you "did" provide "some" context when it suited, but didn't in other areas, which Hichborn rightly called you out for.
Your far-left liberal canards and innuendos against faithful Catholic sons of The Church (eg. constant accusations of such faithful Catholics as somehow being "fundamentalist", "conspiracy theorist", "radical", "bizarre", "dangerous", etc.) really has worn thin, and is only seen as cheap attempts to discredit faithful Catholics who "dare" to hold traditional Catholic positions that "dare" to not align with your own interpretations, so continually flogging and flinging such adjectives doesn't make them somehow true - whether that be in relation to Fr. Ripperger, Hichborn, Sungenis (who it seems you've only got ad hominem attacks against, at best), or anyone else for that matter.
Neither Eric Sammons, nor his audience (or anyone else for that matter) should wait for you to put your, "... finishing touches on my latest article about celebrity exorcist Fr. Chad Ripperger’s UFO theories and young Earth creationism" - that fact is that you published that article as it was. Any further edits - whether they were indeed actually going to happen, or whether triggered by such a rightful expectation for you retract it - are secondary.
I expect push-back on this far-left-wing, radicalised, so-called "Catholic" substack of yours (if it even makes it in to comments section without being censored/deleted altogether), since so many of your followers are birds of the same feather, but I posit my response all the same.
Pax...
Sorry about the lack of pushback and censorship, chief.
I wish to speak from my experience of watching Fr. Ripperger's videos and getting help through his Deliverance Prayers. I love the Latin Mass and attend when I am able but do am not a "Trad Catholic". What I am is an orthodox Catholic, someone who believes in all the teachings on faith and morals of the Church (at least I strive to believe and I strive to live them out). There was a time I needed help with deliverance and a priest who was knowledgeable referred me to a lay couple who prayed for me using the deliverance prayers Fr. Ripperger has gathered. I found them very, very helpful, not only for my spiritual life but for my mental health. I continue to pray with them on my own. I have also found his videos very helpful. It is not just the message but the effect on me spiritually. I find a big increase in calm and hope after listening to them. Outwardly, he often has a hard message, but I find him to be a deeply kind teacher. His message to me seems to be all about helping people to remove barriers to having a loving, intimate relationship with God and let that pour out for others in our lives who need it. But this love needs to be grounded in some difficult truths about the great spiritual crisis of our times and sometimes this teaching needs to be delivered with some tough love rather than with comfy caresses. I very much appreciate the work Fr. Ripperger has been doing. He is a great gift to our Church and to our nation because he is bringing a lot of people more deeply into the gifts of Spirit Jesus and our Blessed mother want to give us.
Sorry Mike. You are either Catholic or you aren't. Using language in your article like "far right Catholic YouTubers", is disingenuous. To be Catholic, is to be Catholic. Stop using bs language that politicians use to divide the population when speaking about the Catholic Church.
Would you prefer that I call them far-right anti-Catholic YouTubers? Presumably they are baptized Catholic and have not been formally excommunicated. But their message is anti-Catholic.
You probably think Netanyahu and Israel still have a biblical claim to "the promised land."
You're a divider. Division is from Lucifer.
You're not very smart, are you?
Mike, c'mon. Don't wrestle with pigs! You both get dirty, and the pig will like it
Probably. Shifting gears is something I struggle with. I have serious issues with ADHD hyperfocus.
I guess the thing is that when I can't stop thinking about something, I can either think about it and get nothing done, or I can try to turn my ruminations into something sort of productive and write about it.
Your question "why do I even bother" is a good one. This kind of one-upmanship is unproductive, imprudent and self-serving. It's Lent- just let it go already.
Anne, it's not "one-upmanship."
Someone published an article about something I wrote on a bigger platform than I have and was being shared widely. That article contained numerous false statements and assumptions about me and what I wrote.
My response was certainly justified, the only question is whether I should have taken the time to do it. 90% of the time, I do "let it go." But Hichborn and Ripperger don't "let it go." Ripperger will continue to spread errors and lies and conspiracy theories until someone in authority does something about him.