Some Hidden Insight from Tacitus

While I tend to shy away from anything pagan (sorry I keep missing your homilies, Ms. DeRycke) I do see the value in quoting a famous Roman, Tacitus. Although he was pagan, his writings are often very sharp-witted, and speak to the same truths which spoke to his audiences in the first century AD.

One such quote is as follows: "Et quibus inimicus de erat per amicis oppressi." Translated into English, it stands, "And those for whom an enemy was lacking, they were crushed by their friends."

What does this mean for us? Well, it has to do with the upcoming convocation for priests and administraitors (tm). Many, many priests with whom I have spoken, even the more dissident and disloyal ones, have expressed a longing for the fraternal bonds of the priesthood. Many dioceses tout the priesthood as "the greatest fraternity on Earth." Alright. Fine - but this does not speak to what it actually means to be a priest, why they should have fraternal bonds, or anything along those lines.

Our priests, in addition to not having a net of support (or even a solitary thread of support for that matter), have to worry about the persistent politicking of the contemporary Church. There is no need for the politicking - the Holy Spirit has raised up for us a holy Pope, Benedict. For this reason, all Catholics are called to follow him with faith and without dissension. However, those priests who actually read the requests from the Vatican and attempt to enact them, are frequently seized upon by liberals, within the Church and outside it. I ask you - would a priest have the liberty to start facing ad orientem and to do so without any questions from Buffalo Road? I tend to doubt that he would. Just look at how the diocese treats those few priests who dare to stick by the teachings of Rome - they are either sent to failing parishes, parishes that are about to cluster/close, hospitals, colleges, and old-folks homes. While these are all ministries that must be maintained by the Church, an interesting trend emerges. If one looks at the parishes with the highest income, these parishes also have liberal pastors who, if they're not openly schismatic, permit such things to occur as liturgical dance, puppet-show homilies, lay preaching, etc.

How "fraternal" is this? It's not fraternal - it's favoritism, and we all know who the "favorites" are. Priests should not have enemies in their midst - only friends. Only "fratres."

However, Tacitus warns us - friends can be our downfall as well. How many times have we seen decent people betrayed by the ignorant and erring? And how many times have we seen an individual pose as a friend, only to emerge as a "delator," an informer. A priest once told me that there is an immense fear in the heart of most diocesan priests, that they will be "informed" upon by a peer for being "too orthodox." Another told me that he has "encountered too many snakes in the grass" to unfurl the banners of Truth.

What a disgusting and heinous crime it is, that a priest's word is now held as equal to a Joan's or a Nancy's. Priests have authority from God. It is not to be subverted by anyone, even brother priests and bishops. Our holy priests have been castrated by liberalism and bound by feminism. Enough. This is not the way God made His Church.