by Br. Alexis Bugnolo
On June 20, 2021, the friends and acquaintances in life of a great Franciscan, will remember the third anniversary of his passing from this life. His name was Father Angelo Barbin, and having been born on March 20, 1941, during the high tide of World War II, it was his to bitterly experience the downward spiral of the Catholic Church in the 20th century.
He passed at 4 A. M. three years ago.
His funeral was celebrated on June 22, 2018, at the Church of San Daniele, in the Franciscan Convent of Lonigo, in Northern Italy.
He was ordained a priest on May 23, 1968, at Verona, during the turmoil of the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, while the old rite for ordination was still enforce, but the horrid, cobbled on a restaurant napkin, new Mass was being composed. He had the joy in this life to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of his priestly ordination, therefore, just weeks before his own passing, in the 77th year of his life.
So much did he touch the hearts of the faithful, that he was remembered in several TV reports:
Father was known for staying all day long in the Confessional, giving his 100% attention to whoever was confessing, without any worry about the lines waiting. Devoted the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Rosary, and the Divine Mercy, he served others forgetful of his own personal needs.
For this he was sought out for spiritual counsel by the faithful throughout the province of Veneto.
Of many a devout priest, the same could be said, but what brings Friar Angelo to my attention is his honestly in recognizing the truth of the present state of things.
In his interview with Samuel Colombo, a noted Catholic singer and apologist, he went beyond the measure of virtue of what many such devout priests, who are excessively discrete to the point of leading souls astray by their silence.
Here below, if you lick the image, you can see the full interview in the original Italian.
But here are some excerpts, by which to remember this man of God and son of St. Francis:
Samuel Colombo: Can we figure also that this new church which Bergoglio is creating is the same church which Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich prophesied long ago? right? Can you confirm this?
Father Angelo: Certainly, …
Samuel Colombo: But when you say, the Pope, do you do so to recognize Bergoglio as the Pope even though he be a heretic or for you is Benedict XVI the pope?
Father Angelo: Eh, yes, eh.. at Mass I never use the name.
Samuel Colombo: You never say the name of Pope Francis?
Father Angelo: No.
Samuel Colombo: So, you consider Benedict XVI as the pope?
Father Angelo: Eh, yes.
Samuel Colombo: Can you repeat that?
Father Angelo: Certainly.
I will ask for Fr. Barbin’s intercession on behalf of the priests who are even willing to have a discourse about the munus/ministerium evidence and the request for an examination of the evidence.
To that end, here is a quote from one priest’s recent email reply. Help in crafting my reply to him is greatly appreciated. He is a young Dominican who leans traditional and yet…Well, read on to see what he has to say:
Regarding the latter, my concern for you and anyone else who accepts this hypothesis is what it is doing to your faith life. Clearly there are reasons you prefer to believe what is presented below [the munus/ministerium evidence]. Are they good reasons or bad reasons vis-a-vis our faith in Jesus Christ, who is Provident Lord? Only you can discern this, through a deep prayer life and (ideally) a solid spiritual director.
You might respond, “But what about the truth?” As a member of an Order that has as one of its mottos, Veritas, that is a worthy challenge. Again, I would respond:
How can you judge the value of this information with any degree of confidence? (It’s from the internet, right?)
How does any of this information practically help you live your Christian discipleship today?
Since I have no basis on which to judge any of the information you or anyone else presents regarding the legitimacy of Pope Francis, I can reasonably exercise a certain aloofness: towards Pope Francis just as much as towards the hypothesis presented below. And I find that liberating, because now I can focus on living the gospel as a friar and a priest wherever I’m placed for ministry. Any further engagement of the hypothesis below could only detract from living out my vocation at this point in my life, so I remain aloof.
On the other hand, I am encouraged by the notion that in God’s Providence perhaps Pope Francis is doing us a service: https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/08/pope-francis-papacy-diminished/. Quote:
“And the fact that Francis is so wrong on this, as on many other things, will, one hopes, break the exaggerated papal cult once and for all. This period of time in the Church, in which its lay intellectuals and bishops turn almost exclusively to recent papal utterances rather than to Scripture and the doctors of the Church, will one day look very unusual. In God’s permissive will, and in his Providence, Pope Francis is hastening that day.”
This Dominican in my opinion must be suspected of heresy and modernism. Because he denigrates the truth value of objective reality, history and Church law, and reduces it to the level of what I get out of it, spiritually. Disregard his opinion entirely. He is simply a compromiser of the kind lamented of by Our Lady at Akita.
Thank you for your reply, Br Bugnolo. I have disregarded his opinion, but hope to have further discourse with him after he watches Message in a Bottle. Again, I will ask for Fr. Barbin’s intercession for this young priest.