ADVENT PASTORAL LETTER , 2008

Dearly Beloved in Christ,

If there had been doubts among us, our recent national elections have proved conclusively that America continues on a slide into moral decadence from which we will probably not recover for many decades.

That moral lapse did not start two years ago with the thrust of the campaign.  We can trace it, I think, to that war cry of Vatican Council II: Aggiornamento!  In the name of up-dating and modernizing, we became witnesses to what Pope Paul VI would eventually admit is the “auto demolition of the Church.”

The ripple effect of that demolition invaded every facet of our culture, but perhaps no more acutely than in America's schools.  For more than half a century now, our youth have been held captive in colleges and universities under the influence of professors and instructors devoid almost entirely of any hint of morality,  Those are the same professors who have “educated” the teachers of our primary and secondary schools.  Nor has the damage been confined there.  It has filtered into our nations Catholic and other private institutions of learning, because most of these institutions have been aligning themselves with the public schools, lest they feel “left out” of anything they presume to be good in public education.  This is, in fact, why so many decent parents all over this country have opted for home schooling their children.  They have been attempting to keep their children pure and unscathed from the slime that pervades American education, in general.  Indeed, enough testing results prove that the home schooled students have statistically far exceeded the academic successes of their counterparts in public education.

There was a common belief during the Reformation that if the holy sacrifice of the Mass could be destroyed, the Church herself could be destroyed.  Fortunately, the Church was possessed at that time of a leader, in the person of Pope Saint Pius V, who was able to strengthen the Mass for more than four centuries.  Nevertheless, the forces of darkness have not relented.  That same unbroken intention to destroy the Mass and the Church has remained at the heart of the remnant of the Reformation these more than four hundred fifty years.

The thrust reached it apex, not really during Vatican Council II, but in the aftermath of that Council, through the machinations of unscrupulous and conniving men who created their own “mass,” thereby effectually destroying so much decency in the Church.  Of course, we all know that the Church cannot be destroyed; our Lord has warranted that.  But He has never promised that we cannot come very close to the kind of demolition spoken of by Pope Paul VI.

Look at the mess we are in:  Thanks to school administrators and the courts too many of our children look like bums going to school, and they look no better at wakes, funerals, weddings and graduation ceremonies.  Many adults have also succumbed to that same slovenliness.  They have made their bodies temples of the devil, with extensive tattoos and body piercing, the irony of which is that the cross - the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, with its many variations, has become something of a focal point in such mutilations!  Our literature and motion pictures are over-run with filth and depravity of every kind.  Our elected officials wallow in rhetoric that comes directly from the Brave New World.  Some Americans naively envision good times ahead, thanks to the recent advancement of “big brother.”

Are you concerned?  We all should be.  What should we do?  We must pray, of course.  We must look into our own hearts , examine our own consciences, and ask ourselves where WE went wrong, and then DO something about it.  We much encourage much more home schooling.  We must attempt to cleanse our entire school system of every ill-suited instructor, by electing only decent, morally upright persons responsible for every facet of education.  We must become active in the political party of our choice - no one party can be blamed for the mess we are in- and that just might cost us some money,  We must pray that better priests and bishops will be found to replace the perverts and whitened sepulchers that have guided the Church too long.  We must be role models for our children and every other human being we influence.  We must strengthen our faith through prayer, fasting, more frequent attendance at Mass and the Sacraments, and by a return to good sound Catholic reading in all areas.  We must not let up on our guard to be true children of God - true Catholics - in a world on the verge of total moral and spiritual collapse.

With every good wish and prayerful blessing to you and yours, and wishing you each a most holy and joyful Christmas Season, I am faithfully yours in Christ,

+  John J. Humphreys

The Most Reverend John. J. Humphreys, Titular Archbishop of Cær-Glow