CATHOLICISM MOCKED AND CATHOLICS ARE SCANDALIZED
Catholicism mocked and Catholics are scandalized
by Jesse Romero 2025
Many lay Catholics were scandalized and had a visceral reaction when they saw 3 Catholics Priest being prayed over by Rodney Howard Brown, a Pentecostal prosperity preacher at a Pentecostal service in Florida (it’s on
youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2lBaaLQaMY). The Priest apparently falls backwards and lays there, what Pentecostals call ‘slaying in the spirit’ or ‘resting in the spirit.’ Thousands of protestant attendees were laughing uncontrollably, it sounded diabolic as Rodney Howard Brown paced back and forth like a lionwho had just killed his prey. Lay Catholics watched in sadness, this charade that tries to pass off as a genuine religious service based on the Gospel, the ‘sensus fidei’ (sense of the faith) told us Catholics that what we just saw was modernist heterodoxy, it was shameful and disgraceful and demeaned the dignity of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Modernism
A theory about the origin and nature of Christianity, first developed into a system by George Tyrrell (1861-1909), Lucien Laberthonnière (1860-1932), and Alfred Loisy (1857-1940). According to Modernism, religion is essentially a matter of experience, personal and collective…In Modernist terms, a natural instinct belonging to the emotions, a "feeling for the divine" that cannot be expressed in words or doctrinal propositions...Modernism was condemned by Pope St. Pius X in two formal documents, Lamentabili and Pascendi, both published in1907. (Etym. Latin modernus, belonging to the present fashion).
Protestantism, most especially Pentecostalism is classic modernism. Modernism – conforms reality to the individual, traditionalism conforms the individual to reality. The heresy of modernism has affected many Charismatic Catholics; they have lost their piety and reverence for God’s authoritystructure which comes through the Magisterium of the Church. Modernism has also destroyed their understanding of spiritual Patriarchy and Holy Orders.
Clergy fall into modernism as a result of ‘curiosity’ and ‘pride.’ Pope Gregory XVI wrote: “A lamentable spectacle is that presented by the aberrations of human reason when it yields to the spirit of novelty, when against the warning of the Apostle, it seeks to know beyond what it is meant to know, and when, relying too much on itself, it thinks it can find find the truth outside the church wherein truth is found without the slightest shadow of error. It is pride which exercises an incomparably greater sway over the soul to blind it and plunge it
into error” (A Catechism of Modernism; p.120-121).
Priest are officers in the Church Militant
Christ uniquely equipped “the Twelve” (that is, the apostles) to continue these three duties of teaching, exorcising, and healing, in what eventually became known as the threefold munera proper to the ordained priesthood. A munus is a duty, office, or obligation, and Christ imposed this threefold duty upon the hierarchy of the Church—bishops and priests—to bring about the Kingdom of God, often amidst diabolic resistance. Jesus gave them jurisdictional authority over evil spirits as part of the threefold munera (means: "duties," or "obligations") of the ordained priesthood: “He summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal [the sick]” (Lk 9:1). This authority was “handed down” (the Latin traditio comes from the verb meaning “to hand down, deliver, entrust, or transmit”) to their successor-bishops in a seamless line extending even to today’s bishops
who are descendants of “the Twelve.” Thus, the Twelve became the Eleven when Judas killed himself, but he was immediately replaced after the resurrection of Jesus. Peter commanded that “may another take his office” (in Greek, his episcope) at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (see Acts 1:15–26) while they awaited the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The demon knows this fact far better than we do: the local bishop is a prince of the apostles and has jurisdictional authority in his diocese. The bishop shares that power and authority, by the
laying of hands in ordination, with his priests, they now have ‘Holy Orders.’ Authority is not attained bycharism or special training but rather by office, such as priest, head of household, property owner, et cetera.
Protestant Pastors do NOT have ‘Holy Orders’
According to Catholic teaching, Protestant ministers do not have valid apostolic succession or holy orders. The Catholic Church holds that apostolic succession—the uninterrupted transmission of spiritual authority from the apostles through an unbroken line of bishops—is a fundamental aspect of valid ordination. No protestant denomination has apostolic succession apostolic authority, as a result, the Catholic Church does not recognize Protestant ministers as validly ordained ministers of the gospel.
CCC 817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions
appeared, and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church…”
CCC 838 Those who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.” This is a reference to protestants.
The Catholic Church has been entrusted with the fullness of faith and “is the all-embracing means of salvation”(Decree on Ecumenism 3).
Protestant denominations as such, “though we believe them to be deficient in some respects” (ibid 3), moreover, “our separated brethren whether as individuals or communities are not blessed with that unity which Jesus Christ”(Ibid) proclaimed and prayed for (cf. John 17:20-26).
We are called the “Church Militant,” that is title and description of the Catholic Church on earth. A Catholic Priest is a commissioned officer of Christ in the Church Militant. A lay person is a ‘soldier of Christ’ (cf. 2 Tim 2:3). A Catholic Priest prays with the full weight of the institutional Church behind him and the full authority of Christ the King. The Protestant Minister is like a mercenary, he is a hireling, he farms himself out to whoever will hire him. The protestant minister is not a commissioned officer in the Church Militant, he is more like a
High School ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) student who has not even entered basic boot camp training. It is important for those in the Priestly ministry to be aware of the “chain of command” and to stick to it with a holy attentiveness. Protestant ministers are NOT in the chain of command. The protestant minister may have some power because he is baptized and he prays in the name of “Jesus” (in imitation of Catholic clergy for 2000 years) but he has no institutional authority, he is on his own. A Protestant Ministers prayers may bring emotional relief but not full liberation and healing because he does not possess the full authority of Christ, he does not have ‘Holy Orders’,nor can he confer the sacraments which is what ultimately heals the soul. We proclaim this at Mass when we say pray right before we receive Holy Communion: “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed” (cf. Matt 8:8). Protestant denominations DO NOT have the sacrament of confession and holy communion which brings healing to the soul and sometimes to the body. A Protestant Pastor is not an officer in the true Church, he is a hired mercenary that may have some level of success from reading Catholic sources and imitating Catholic practices and prayers. Whatever efficacy and
power a protestant may have in healing and deliverance ministry derives from the capital they have borrowed, received, plagiarized, stolen from Catholicism.
A Catholic Priest has spiritual authority over a protestant Pastor, a protestant Pastor does not have spiritual authority over a Catholic Priest. Finally, you have to be veeeeeeeeeeeery careful who lays hands over your head, this is a very serious action, the person laying hands on you can transfer his negative spiritual junk over to you by the laying on of hands.
The reason protestants believe that they all have the authority to pray, heal and cast out demons from anyone is because right at the Protestant Reformation they rejected the; authority; structure God established through the clergy, we call it 'Holy Orders.' Actually Father Frank Cicero should have prayed and laid hands over Rodney Howard Brown, thus healing and liberating him from the ‘spirit of heresy, schism, and rebellion.’
Should Catholics participate in Protestant services
St Thomas Aquinas; Summa Theologica (II-II, Q. 12, A. 2): “To join in worship with those who are outside the true faith is a grave sin, for it gives occasion to scandal and may lead to the perversion of faith."
In Volume I of his Handbook of Moral Theology (1891) (Section on the First Commandment, concerning sins against religion), Prümmer discusses the obligations of Catholics to avoid participation in non-Catholic worship. He explicitly states (paraphrased for clarity, based on the English edition, p. 146): "It is forbidden for Catholics to take an active part in the worship or prayers of non-Catholics, as this could give the appearance of approving their errors or suggesting that all religions are equally valid. Such participation is a sin against the virtue of religion, as it risks scandal and indifferentism."
1917 Code of Canon Law, promulgated under Pope Benedict XV. Canon 1258 explicitly states: "It is not licit for the faithful to assist in any active manner, or to take part in the sacred services of non-Catholics. Passive presence at such ceremonies is only permissible for a grave reason, with the approval of the ecclesiastical authority, and then only if there is no danger of scandal or perversion of faith."
Pope Pius XI’s 1928 encyclical Mortalium Animos reinforces this by condemning participation in ecumenical gatherings that could imply equality between Catholic and non-Catholic worship, stating: "It is clear why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics: for the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ."
Pope Pius XII 1949 (Holy Office) Decree on Ecumenism - this instruction clarifies the Church’s stance on ecumenical activities, which were beginning to emerge. It reiterates that Catholics may not actively participate in non-Catholic worship, stating: "Mixed gatherings of Catholics and non-Catholics for the purpose of religious discussions or worship are not permitted unless approved by the competent ecclesiastical authority and only under conditions that avoid the danger of indifferentism or scandal."
Rules on Laying on of Hands based on Scripture & Tradition
I have looked up every bible verse in a Concordance and verified that the only people that lay hands upon other people are the Patriarchs or the Fathers of the house. You will never find one lay person laying hands on another lay person in prayer. You will never find an inferior praying over a superior, eg. You will never see a son praying over their father or a student praying over the teacher.
1. From: Unger’s Bible Dictionary:
HANDS, LAYING ON OF. This occurs in Scripture as a patriarchal usage, as with Jacob’s laying his hands upon the heads of Joseph’s children (Gen. 48:14). It also occurs in later times, as when Jesus placed His hands upon children presented to Him for His blessing (Matt. 19:15). The laying on of hands formed part of the ceremony observed at the appointment and consecration of persons, such as of Joshua by Moses (Num 27:18–23; Deut. 34:9). It sometimes attended the healing of persons by a prophet, although in one instance (2
Kings 4:34) Elisha placed his hands upon the hands of the child. In the gospel age the action was, undoubtedly, used in connection with the bestowal of supernatural gifts, or the miraculous effects of the Holy Spirit (Mark 5:23, 41; 7:32), although our Lord extended His hands over the apostles when blessing them at the Mount of Olives (Luke 24:50). The apostles laid their hands upon the sick and healed them (Matt. 9:18; Mark 6:5, 13, etc.), and at times also laid their hands upon the baptized, that they might receive the special gifts of the Spirit (Acts 8:15–18; 19:6). A quite natural extension of this practice was to apply it to those who were set apart to the sacred office in the church—the men already possessed of delegated power and authority proceeding, like Moses in respect to Joshua, to put some of their own honor upon those chosen to the same responsible and dignified position (14:3; 1 Tim. 4:14). “Not that the mere act could confer any special spiritual power, but it was employed as a fit and appropriate symbol to denote their full and formal consent to the bestowal of the divine gift; and, being accompanied by prayer to Him who alone can really bestow it, might ordinarily be regarded as a sign that the communication had actually taken place.”
Ecclesiastical Uses. In the rites of the early church the laying on of hands was used in confirmation, which generally was an accompaniment of baptism and symbolized the reception of the Holy Spirit. It was also practiced in ordination (which see). In the modern church Roman Catholics use the laying on of hands in the ceremonies that precede extreme unction, in ordination, and in confirmation (in both of which services it has received a sacramental efficacy). In the mass, previous to the consecration of the elements, the priest extends his hands over the people in blessing. The Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal churches employ it as a symbolical act in baptism and confirmation. The Methodist, the Presbyterian, and the Congregational churches employ it only in ordination.
2. In addition go to the online Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org), the article is called “Imposition of Hands” and you will find out that what I am saying is true, the ‘laying on of hands’ is a Priestly action or an action from an Israelite father to his son, not lay person to lay person.
3. Dr Scott Hahn in his Catholic Bible Dictionary says the same thing about “laying on of hands.” You will find Religious Leaders in both the Old and New Testament along with fathers of a family praying over someone under their authority as the raise their right hand in prayer. This custom from scripture carries into tradition and the practice of the Church.
*Lay people laying their hands on the heads of other lay people have no basis in Sacred Scripture or Sacred Tradition. This is the action of a Priest or of a father over his domestic church, you open yourself to diabolic retaliation by stepping outside your lane of authority.
Acts 19:14 – shows us an example of demonic retaliation. The seven sons of Sceva began performing an exorcism in ‘Jesus name’, they were not disciples of Our Lord, they just wanted to test if there was power to drive out demons ‘in Jesus name.’ They got attacked and beat up. Why? They had no authority by natural law or divine positive law over this possessed person. This is a classic case of retaliation that serves as a warning to therest of us.
Pentecostalism gave birth to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
The Charismatic model is new, it started with the protestant Pentecostals around 1901 in Topeka Kansas by Charles Parhan (he was a sodomite and a freemason) at the Bethel College and Bible School. The Pentecostal movement also “started with the Azusa Street Revival, beginning in the spring of 1906, largely spawned the worldwide Pentecostal movement. It commenced in a former African Methodist Episcopal church building located at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California. The primary leader was evangelist William J.
Seymour, who came to Los Angeles from Mississippi to preach the apostolic faith, a teaching that combined the baptism of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues (glossalalia), such as was experienced in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2” Azusa Street Revival (1906-1909) • (blackpast.org). Protestant Pentecostals over emphasize the belief that God wants to heal everyone, they do this because they have no doctrine of 'redemptive suffering' and they have no understanding of 'redemptive suffering.' They also don't
have a ‘ministerial priesthood’ so everybody is laying hands and praying over other people for healing and deliverance. All of these disordered highly charged emotional practices has spilled into the Catholic Church. When someone of weak or tepid faith goes to a protestant healing service, or a Catholic healing service or a Catholic Healing Mass and they get prayed over and don't get healed it scandalizes these neophytes and it can (and often does) shipwreck their faith. They walk away saying God didn’t heal me because I’m not worthy
enough, or I don’t have enough faith, or I’m not a real Christian or worse, God doesn’t love me. Many people that don’t receive a healing at these events commit spiritual suicide, they walk away from God, faith and the Church. The carrot that is dangled before simple pious Catholics is that if you come to a Pentecostal service or a Healing Mass you will be healed, this appeals to their lower faculties (their emotions and passions). As Catholics we go to Holy Mass primarily for the healing of our soul and to offer ourselves to God as a living
sacrifice (cf. Romans 12:1-2), to fulfill the 3rd commandment because “it is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation” (Eucharist Prayer), we don’t attend Mass to get something from God. The Lord has already given us the greatest gift possible, His death on the cross as payment for our sins. Our sins offend a Holy God, it offends his holy justice, this requires a holy payment, Our Lord Jesus Christ paid the price for us with His holy sacrifice on Calvary for our sins. Here are the facts, our body will get sick, get old and die, the healing of the body will occur perfectly at the resurrection at the end of time when God raises up our lowly bodies from the tomb.
Root problems in Protestant Pentecostalism
In 1971, Cardinal Timothy Manning of Los Angeles saw fit to issue a pastoral letter clearly warning Catholics of "excessive emotionalism, credulity, and sought-after charismatic displays (which) question the genuineness of the activity of the Spirit (in baptism of water) and open the devotion to people of peripheral stability." Recently, in his General Audience, February 28, the Holy Father Pope Paul VI singled out for criticism those who esteem "the charismatic elements of religion over the so-called institutional ones." He went on to rebuke those who: engage in the search... for spiritual facts in which there enters an indefinable and extraneous energy which, to a certain extent, persuades the one who experiences it that he is in communication with God, or more generically with the Divine, with the Spirit, indeterminately. What do we say about this? We say that this tendency is very risky, because it advances into a field in which auto-suggestion, or the influence of imponderable physical causes, can lead to spiritual error… The possibility of spiritual delusion in seeking to
make grace sensibly felt is obviously very real…http://www.jameslikoudispage.com/Doctrine/pentecon.htm.
*1st Problem: many Pentecostals and charismatics speak about “baptism in the Holy Spirit” as synonymous with “do you now speak in tongues?”
*2nd Problem: many Pentecostals and charismatics seek mystical phenomena and spiritual consolation. The danger with this type of spirituality is that the devil can imitate mystical phenomena according to the Doctors of the Church (St Teresa of Avila, St Ignatius of Loyola and St John of the Cross).
*3rd Problem: the Charismatic Renewals roots are based in Protestantism. They look generally to:
a. the Bible Alone,
b. Me and the Holy Spirit alone,
c. My private interpretation based on my experiences and feelings alone.
These are the heretical teachings and core beliefs of Martin Luther, he was an excommunicated Catholic Priest who married a nun. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is modernism plain and simple. The charismatic renewal gives participants a passionate subjective experience of the Holy Spirit which may or may not be authentic.
*4th Problem: St Mark 8:11-13 (RSV) “The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, to test him. [12] And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." [13] And he left them, and getting into the boat again he departed to the other side.
*2 Corinthians 5:7 “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”
In other words, the Catholic masters of the spiritual life openly contradict the new Pentecostals spirituality's emphasis on seeking visible signs of God's Presence and action. http://www.jameslikoudispage.com/Doctrine/pentecon.htm .
Is being “slain in the spirit” consistent with a biblical worldview?
Posted by Christian Research Institute | Dec 29, 2010
Today thousands of people are routinely being “slain in the spirit” in the name of a fashionable and palpable demonstration of Holy Ghost power. However, the phenomenon not only is conspicuous by its absence in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles but is generally inconsistent with a biblical worldview.
First, as aptly noted by pro-Pentecostal sources such as the Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (DPCM) (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988) - Furthermore, the experience of being “slain in the spirit” can be attributed to mere human manipulation. According to the DPCM, “in addition to God, the source of the experience can be a purely human response to autosuggestion, group ‘peer pressure,’ or simply a desire to experience the phenomenon” (p. 789). Cynics may write off the use of altered states of consciousness, peer pressure, expectations, and suggestive powers as mere socio-psychological manipulation, but Christians must perceive an even more significant threat—these techniques are fertile soil for satanic and spiritual deception. Not all that glitters is gold.
Finally, the “slain in the spirit” phenomenon has more in common with occultism than with a biblical worldview. As popular “slain in the spirit” practitioner Francis MacNutt (ex-Catholic Priest) candidly confesses in his book: ‘Overcome by the Spirit’(1990), the phenomenon is externally similar to “manifestations of voodoo and other magic rites” and is “found today among different sects in the Orient as well as among primitive tribes of Africa and Latin America.” In sharp contrast to falling backward (being ‘slain in the spirit’), Sacred Scripture makes it clear that as Christians we must be “self-controlled and alert” (1 Peter 5:8) rather than being in an altered state of consciousness or “slain in the spirit.” Remember, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is “self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23) not lose control and fall backwards and laugh uncontrollably. Sacred Scripture also states: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8–9). In Acts 5:5-11 – there is an example of being ‘slain in the Spirit,’ it means that God kills you for lying (like he did to Annanias and Saphira). *Slay (dictionary.com) – murder, to kill by violence.
Conclusion
Kennedy Hall writes: Like all Catholics of good will, those who seemingly find a home in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal are looking for God and trying to find the peace of soul they desire so badly. “For You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You,” says Saint Augustine. But, there is no rest to be found in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal because there is no stability. The Renewal is based on experience and consolation, so after that initial emotional outburst or seeming influx of grace that many speak of, there is a need to continually chase after more and more consolation. It is impossible to recreate that first harrowing experience of being “Baptized in the Spirit,” accompanied by weeping and feelings of elation, so Charismatics must find other ways to fuel that fire. This is why the Charismatic Renewal is filled with endless conferences, events, and revivals. This is why Charismatics are often obsessed with reading new supposed messages from Heaven or hearing “anointed” preachers’ prophecies about this or that moment of
grace or chastisement to come. They need signs and wonders that they can feel with their touch and see with their eyes. “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign” (Matthew 16:4). Charismatics need new experiences and new feelings of God’s grace in their lives, or they feel abandoned. Sadly, I have seen this occur in so many in my personal life. The type of spirituality that develops from the Charismatic Renewal milieu is manic and chaotic, with so many practitioners struggling to “feel” God the way they thought they once did when they were first introduced to the movement. In addition, because the spiritual guidance given to Charismatics is often so flawed, they live in a constant state of “discernment” about what is and what is not the will of God. “Is God telling me to buy this dog? Or, maybe the Lord is telling me I should get two dogs, or maybe a cat…” By adopting the errors of Pentecostalism, Charismatics have made themselves the creators of their own spiritual tradition, and are left groping in the darkness of an unknown spiritual world without the
wisdom of so many centuries of saints and theologians. It is a desperate place to be in, and it must be utterly exhausting.
Will of God
*Romans 12:2 “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the ‘will of God’, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”
*1 Thessalonians 4:3 “This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality…”
*1 Timothy 2:3-4 “This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. ” Achieved thru a life of faith, prayer and obedience.
*John 6:40 (NAB) “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life.” (FAITH)
*1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (PRAYER)
*1 Peter 2:15 “For it is God's will that by doing right you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”(OBEDIENCE)