This essay by Fr. Joachim Heimerl was originally written in German. It has been translated and published with the permission of Fr. Heimerl.
(LifeSiteNews) — “Dell’ odio i tristi frutti.” Anyone who loves opera knows these words. They are taken from the prologue of Leoncavallo’s “I Pagliacci,” in which flaming jealousy first leads to fiery hatred and then to double murder.
However, the “sad fruits of hatred” are not only found in the opera but everywhere in the world, and the “Pagliacci” quote could also describe the current situation of the Church. Whoever hears it automatically thinks of the Lord’s greater words: “By their fruits you shall know them” (Mt 7:16), and indeed, the fruits of demonic self-hatred can be seen throughout the Church; they are the fruits of hatred of everything that is Catholic and perhaps even of hatred of God.
It is true, we live in sad times: Supernatural faith has been extinguished up to the highest ecclesiastical circles and has given way to a new atheism that seeks an unholy connection to the world and its ideas.
The consequences of this are terrible because they would mean the end of the Church and the papacy: where supernatural faith is absent, the pope becomes a mere dictator who only sets a political direction; God himself is just an empty formula.
The beginnings of this development go back a long way: they start with what Pope John XXIII called “aggiornamento” in 1962, the adaptation of the Church to modern times.
This went terribly wrong, and it had to; the Church is not a product that can be cleverly placed on the market and adapted to the times. Jesus Christ did not do this either, on the contrary, and St. Paul admonishes the Romans: “Do not conform to this world” (Rom. 12:2).
Anyone who does not believe in this principle no longer believes in anything at all – just like a large number of the highest prelates: Their faith has evaporated before everyone’s eyes and now only consists of a hollow belief in “climate change” mitigation and pointless church reform. The faithful, however, sense that they are only receiving stones instead of bread from these people (Luke 11:11); their exodus from the Church can no longer be stopped.
Sixty years after John XXIII, the bad seed has sprouted and threatens to choke the wheat, only now the “aggiornamento” has turned into a synodal madness that wants to destroy the Church once and for all.
Cardinal Gerhard Müller has aptly called this a “hostile takeover.” Catholicism is to be gutted, and this is precisely the plan of the current “Synod on Synodality”: They want to make the Church “fit for the future” by destroying its identity.
But please, who destroys something they love? Only hatred destroys, and hatred of Catholicism is now destroying the Church from within.
That is why this development also began in the innermost and holiest part of the Church, namely with the hatred of the liturgy that had been handed down for at least 1,500 years, which Paul VI replaced with a semi-Protestant Mass in 1970.
This process was unprecedented, and no other religion has ever allowed itself such an intrusion into its cult. But, as always, it got worse: in the meantime, the followers of the traditional Mass are being downright persecuted and insulted as “inidietrists” or “schismatics.” This was seen in drastic fashion at the funeral of the retired Bishop of Chur, Msgr. Vitus Huonder, who was buried by the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X.
It is obvious: there is no greater hatred in the Church than hatred of the traditional Mass, but the question remains as to why that is.
One might answer: because the lie hates the truth and the darkness hates the light, and surely this is the mysterious root of what is currently happening in the Church.
To put it more simply: the “old” Mass is incompatible with everything that has begun since the “aggiornamento” of John XXIII and that Francis now wants to complete. The point is to bury the “old Church” alongside the “old” Mass so that the true Church can be replaced by a new church.
The fact that this new church has lost its faith in God has long since been made visible in the conversion of its altars: they are no longer oriented towards God but only towards the people. This says it all: the “aggiornamento” has opened the door to ecclesiastical atheism, and with it began the “hostile takeover” that we are now experiencing to its full extent.
This takeover is only possible if one deeply despises the faith, and it only appears to be supposedly “Catholic” if one first destroys what is truly Catholic. Let me put it this way: hatred of the traditional Mass is not only hatred of Catholicism, it is above all the precondition for synodal “church reform.” Or could you imagine a Solemn High Mass with the female “deacons” that Francis and his synod so long for? Hardly!
The ultimate goal of this great work of destruction can already be seen in Germany, and it is only for this reason that Francis is giving the ex-Catholic bishops free reign there.
The little skirmishes between the Curia and the Germans are just a ruse. The real battle plan looks different: Rome will not stop the decisions of the German “Synodal Way”; instead, they will be exported from Germany to Rome and paid for in cash by the rich Germans. Yes, it is as Jesus said: “You will recognize them by their fruits!” And these fruits stink to high heaven!
Sometimes, you wish the final curtain would fall, and all this would just be a tragic opera. Nevertheless, faith teaches us to be confident: the time of confusion and apostasy will end. Then, the Church will return to the true Catholic faith – and to the traditional liturgy. Frankly, it has no other choice; people are now fleeing in droves and going to where the “old Mass” is celebrated.
The great Pope Benedict XVI recognized this prophetically, and the good fruits of his pontificate will stand the test of time, even if people want to destroy them now.
The sad fruits of hatred, on the other hand, have no chance. This is shown warningly and cruelly in “I Pagliacci” – and the Bible shows it too. Certainly, “I Pagliacci” may be a gloomy opera about fools. Nevertheless, the tragic main character, Canio, recognizes himself at the end. He realizes that his hatred is poisoning his heart and bears harrowing witness to this in the famous aria “Vesti la giubba.” Such self-awareness is currently a long way off in the Church.