Rev. J.L, Iannuzzi, STL, S.Th.D.
After requests of the faithful, I am offering below a theological response to the latest alleged message of February 2023(1) from an “anonymous translator” to a so-called “sister” Benedicta (bereft of any recognition of the Church) and, is directed against the Vicar of Christ whom the Church teaches is endowed with “supreme, (2) full and immediate” authority.(3) I wish to ask in advance pardon for any typos, as I write in haste. After having reviewed said alleged message, I wish to emphasize the following. First, the content of said alleged message contradicts Church doctrine, and is reminiscent of the ecclesiastically condemned tiny group of “sede-vacantists” who claim there is no Pope guiding the Church.(4)
Indeed the alleged ‘sister’ falsely asserts that Pope Benedict came back from the dead to tell her that the Church now is presently popeless; that he has selected her (the self-proclaimed ‘sister’) to be his sole mouthpiece on earth so that he, the last true Pope,(5) may guide it from above through her alleged oracles bereft of any ecclesial counsel or guidance; that his personal secretary Georg Gänswein and Pope Francis conspired to and succeeded in silencing(6) and murdering him;(7) that the Church imposed surgery on St. Pope John Paul II to remove his voice;(8) that the Church is bereft of the guidance of the Holy Spirit and inundated with Freemasons(9) who control its every move; that said masons – not the consistory of Cardinals that was witnessed live on international TV – elected Francis whom she heretically claims is not a Pope; that Pope Francis had him locked up in solitary confinement with a guard, and yet bizarrely Benedict was somehow able to be aware of everything going on in the church around him; that he “condemns” Pope Francis’ teachings that “propagate grave errors” and that have “desecrated” the throne of Peter; that he, the only Pope guiding from above the popeless Church on earth through the alleged ‘sister,’ is permitted to violate the sacred seal of Confession (Canon Law 983.1-2 and the Catholic Catechism 2490, 1388.2 impose an ipso facto excommunication on the mortal sin and criminal act of said violation) by revealing to her things told to him in Confession by Pope Francis, e.g., that “he wanted to completely destroy the church.”
It is evident that this false vision of Feb. 2023 emerges from an individual who is bereft of mental balance, proper ecclesial guidance and theological and spiritual formation. Moreover it is evident that this individual is the victim of promptings from a deceiving spirit that afflicts the mind under the guise of the alleged locutions that St. John of the Cross alerts us to.(10) This false Feb. 2023 is in its source diabolical, and is to be shunned in toto. For it misleads the flock with pernicious errors, heretical and schismatic in nature, whilst exhorting them to disobey the Church’s age-old and unchanging doctrine of allegiance to the validly elected and present-day Vicar of Christ and the bishops in union with him.(11) St. Faustina wrote, “Satan can even clothe himself in a cloak of humility, but he does not know how to wear the cloak of obedience” (Diary of the Divine Mercy, 939).
The aforementioned false message of the alleged ‘sister’ of Feb. 2023 contradicts the many public affirmations by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in support his successor Pope Francis. During a Vatican celebration for the 65th anniversary of Pope Benedict’s priestly ordination June 28, 2016, the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI expressed his sincere gratefulness to Pope Francis, saying that his goodness “from the first moment of your election, in every moment of my life here, touches me deeply.”
In commenting on the Church’s senus fidelium Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI stated, “Today…it is particularly important to explain the criteria that make it possible to distinguish the authentic sensus fidelium from its counterfeit. It is certainly not a kind of public ecclesial opinion and invoking it in order to contest the teachings of the Magisterium would be unthinkable, since the sensus fidei cannot be authentically developed in believers, except to the extent in which they fully participate in the life of the Church, and this demands responsible adherence to the Magisterium, to the deposit of faith.” It is unfortunate that when Pope Francis explicates along with the bishops Magisterial teachings, there almost immediately emerge attempts to supersede them and the apostolic depositum fidei, accompanied by false alleged messages, like the one of Feb. 2023 exhorting the flock to abandon the Vicar of Christ and the Magisterium. I encourage you to avoid such dividers and remain loyal to the three pillars of the Church that appeared in St. Don Bosco’s vision: the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary and the Vicar of Christ.
Rev. Joseph Leo Iannuzzi is a doctoral alumnus of the Gregorian Pontifical University. He has obtained 5 post-graduate degrees, with studies in medicine, music, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and theology. As a young medical student, Joseph traveled to a Marian shrine in 1988 where he was inspired to enter the seminary. In 1991 he obtained a Ph.B. in Philosophy and was awarded the Kilburn Award. While assigned for 15 years in Italy, Rev. Iannuzzi studied Italian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and other languages. He also obtained an STB, M. Div., STL and STD, Ph.D. in Theology, with specialization in patristics, dogmatics and mysticism.
He has authored over 20 publications and has translated numerous works on mystical and dogmatic theology. Fr. Joseph is presently the Theological Consultant (peritus) in the Cause of Beatification of several Catholic mystics.
ENDNOTES
2 The 1st Vatican Council (1869-1870) declares, “That which our Blessed Lord... established in the blessed Apostle Peter, for the continual salvation and permanent benefit of the Church, must of necessity remain forever, by Christ’s authority, in the Church which, founded as it is upon a rock, will stand firm until the end of time... Blessed Peter... received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ... to this day and forever he (Christ) lives and presides and exercises judgment in his successors... whoever succeeds to the chair of Peter obtains... the primacy of Peter over the whole Church. So that what the truth has ordained stands firm, and blessed Peter perseveres in the rock-like strength he was granted, and does not abandon the guidance of the Church which he once received...
To him (the Roman Pontiff), in blessed Peter, full power has been given by our Lord Jesus Christ to tend, to rule and govern the universal Church... Both clergy and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, both singly and collective, are bound to submit to this power by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, and this not only in matters concerning faith and morals, but also in those which regard the discipline and government of the Church throughout the world... he is the supreme judge of the faithful...
The Roman Pontiff possesses... the supreme power of teaching... that saying of our Lord Jesus Christ, ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church’, cannot fail of its effect... the Catholic religion has always been preserved unblemished...” (Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Vatican Council I, vol. II, op. cit., pp. cap. II-IV, pp. 813-815).
3 Ibid., p. 923.
4 The “sedevacantists” reject the reforms of the Second Vatican Council – in some cases this rejection extends to the validity of all post-Council papal elections, thereby professing that the papal seat (sede) is empty (vacante). Indeed the alleged ‘sister’ claims the papal throne has been vacant since Pope Benedict XVI. She rashly asserts in Feb. 2023 that Pope Benedict XVI came back from the dead to tell her, “This is my public confession. I, Benedict XVI, Vicar of Christ, the last and legitimate successor of the Apostle Peter…”
5 She claims Benedict told her, “This is my public confession. I, Benedict XVI, Vicar of Christ, the last and legitimate successor of the Apostle Peter…” And she has Benedict confounding Latin with English when she awkwardly states, “He looked at me, smiled and said, ‘Laudetur Jesus Christ’, instead of the grammatically correct liturgical expression, “Laudetur Jesus Christus’”.
6 She claims Benedict said, “My enemies… say among themselves: we have finally silenced him. His vote had harmed our interests.”
7 She claims that Benedict appearing from the dead asserted, “The person responsible for shortening those days was my jailer. My seemingly loyal secretary Gänswein. This task had been entrusted to him, and he had to fulfill it without leaving the slightest suspicion of murder. The day before my death, my secretary received a phone call. It was Francis, and he said this phrase, “It’s time,” and he hung up. I had heard it because he was near me and I thought I was asleep. I did not resist my executioner. I waited patiently for my end.”
8 The alleged sister claims, “John Paul II had undergone surgery on his neck with the sole purpose of silencing him and thus worsening his health, to prevent him from making decisions…” Contrary to this rubbish is the fact that the Vatican reported on 24 Feb 2005 that Pope John Paul II underwent a successful tracheotomy operation tonight to ease his breathing problems. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the tracheotomy - a procedure in which a hole is made in the throat and a tube is inserted to assist breathing - was completed in "a positive way" and lasted 30 minutes. Navarro-Valls said the pope had been informed of his situation and gave approval for the operation.
The Pope returned to hospital in Rome earlier today having suffered a relapse two weeks after being treated for the flu and breathing difficulties.
9 She states, “Freemasonry, which was predominant in the college of cardinals and in the various dicasteries, had spread its tentacles through alliances not only within the Vatican, but also outside it.”
10 St. John of the Cross writes that there are three types of “locutions”: Successive, formal and substantial.
A) Successive locutions are words of knowledge that may be received by anyone when their “spirit is recollected and attentively absorbed in some consideration received.” It is noteworthy that this locution, John adds, “always occurs” when the spirit if recollected and absorbed in God. John affirms, that in these locutions “there is actually no deception of the intellect, yet there can be and frequently is deception in the formal words and statements the intellect deduces from it. The light is often so delicate and spiritual that the intellect does not succeed in being completely informed by it; it is the intellect that forms the statements of its own power… The desire for such locutions and attachment to them will cause these persons to answer themselves and think that God is responding… The benefit to be gained from a successive locution will not come from focusing one’s attention on it… the benefit will be received by refusing to focus the intellect on what is communicated… and centering the will on God in love” (chapter 29, art. 1: The Ascent of Mount Carmel).
B) Formal locutions “is produced in the spirit without the use of the senses. It comes independently of whether the spirit is recollected or not.” Unlike successive locutions that are caused by the recollected spirit itself, formal locutions often occur without any recollection. They are often like ideas spoken to the spirit, as though one person were speaking to another. Successive locutions do not move the spirit as much as formal ones do… A person should pay no more attention to all these formal locutions than to the other kind (successive), for besides occupying the spirit with matters irrelevant to faith… they will make one an easy victim for the devil’s deceits. At times one can hardly discern the locutions spoken by the good spirit or those coming from the bad spirit. Nevertheless, these locutions should be manifested to a mature confessor or to a discreet wise person who will give instructions and counsel and consider the appropriate thing to do” (chapter 30, arts. 1-5, Ascent of Mount Carmel).
C) Substantial locutions: While these also formal inasmuch as “they are impressed very formally into the soul, they nevertheless are different in that their effect is vital and substantial. For example, if our Lord should say formally to the soul, ‘Be good,’ it would immediately be substantially good; or if he should say, ‘Love me,’ it would without delay at once have and experience within itself the substance of the love of God; or if he should say to a soul in much fear, ‘Do not fear,’ it would without delay feel great fortitude and tranquility… A locution of this sort does more good for a person than a lifetime of deeds” (chapter 31, art. 1, Ascent of Mount Carmel).
11 With respect to the type of obedience the faithful are to render to the Vicar of Christ, I refer you to a free download publication, “Can the Pope Become a Heretic?” https://www.ltdw.org/other-publications.html