Latest / Adrian Milag Podcast / DEMONS in MASS SHOOTINGS? 40-Year VICAR GENERAL Reveals SHOCKING TRUTH

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DEMONS in MASS SHOOTINGS? 40-Year VICAR GENERAL Reveals SHOCKING TRUTH · Adrian Milag Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that I was referring, of course, to the terrible shooting in the school up in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that was where a young man who uh, you know, I think was, you know, possessed.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: What I what I saw, you know, killed kids and people and and and did it because he hated the face.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, his personal journals, which I did read, all the ones that I could, uh, show a man very much encircled by evil.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: And people, uh, my my critics would say, well, how can you call him possessed?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're not and you're not officially an action.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Well, of course not.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not, you know, when I call him possessed, I'm not talking about in the canonical sense of deciding whether a person is possessed by evil.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying the common sense portion that this person was functioning on a level where evil was certainly helping to direct him.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: There was just uh a darkness here that we don't even see with some other violent actions.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this was a really bad thing.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: And uh uh we don't often see this uh in our in our culture.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but when it does rise its head in such a visible way, uh, I think most normal people say this isn't just human evil, it's a demonic evil that has surrounded this person.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: Just uh minimize the whole meeting five minutes uh once he?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I I uh I do miss Pope Francis.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: I really enjoyed his outreach to people.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: I thought he was a very merciful and loving man.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I think sometimes the uh what I would call the radical traditionalists didn't like that because they thought he was soft.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: He was not soft on sin at all, but he was merciful to people and understanding of their uh situation in life.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: When he was an archbishop in Buenos Aires, he always would go to the barrios.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, you find people trying to live their Catholic faith in almost impossible situations.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And and yet he went there often.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And when he did that, uh he gave them God's mercy, and I think they came closer to God for that.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I see the same thing happening with Pope Leo, uh, basically because of his time in Peru with uh uh doing his mission work.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's probably carrying on that merciful uh approach of Francis.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's a little bit more organized than Francis was, and so I think he's clearer than Pope Francis was.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I think he's on the same wavelength in the name of the Father and the Father's voice.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Lord our God, we ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon us and help us to discuss our Catholic faith so that everyone who hears this podcast may grow in knowledge and love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, um, Monsignor Eric Barr for our program Story on Catholic.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: What an honor to have you, Monsignor.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you very much.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's an honor to be here.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: I've watched your your podcast before, and uh you do such a good job.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: So oh wow, a little YouTuber like me, uh Vinrich, uh priest like you.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so humbled hearing that, Monsignor.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh do you remember what when was that?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh no, I can't remember I can't remember the exact date.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it was it was a little while ago though.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: So so I haven't I haven't joined in for a month or two.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, thank you, Monse.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I heard that you're almost 40 years in the priesthood.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Or almost 42.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Almost 42 years in the priesthood.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, how was it?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's been spec it's been spectacular.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, I have had I mean there's been challenges, of course, but I would never trade this life for anything else.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: I have had a spectacular, wonderful time.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's everything I expected it to be.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, can you walk us through how your vocation started, Monsignor?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Mine's a little strange one because I actually wanted to be a priest, so they tell me, when I was in fourth grade.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that would be what, eight or nine years old.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I had some wonderful Sisters of Mercy nuns who really fostered that.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll never forget being called in when I was in eighth grade to the principal's office, and she handed me a magazine, a Catholic magazine, and said, You would this would be really good and you'd make a great priest.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I always remembered that.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And uh uh later on in my life, I met her when she was like 95 years old and dying.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I thanked her very much for really being influential in my vocation.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I entered a high school seminary back when I had them, we don't have them anymore, and I enjoyed that also.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I went to college seminary at St.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and got a degree in theology there.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And uh then I took a little bit of time off, and then I entered uh um major seminary at Catholic Theological uh seminary in Washington, D.C.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And uh got my degree there and was ordained in 1984 for the Rockford Diocese.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, what was the turning point that said yes uh to your vocation, Monsignor?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: What when when I what what do you mean when I actually was sure that I was going to be a priest?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do you do you hear the voice of God?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean that uh the I mean No, I think I think that was something that was that was uh constantly going on.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I I never I I never once I once I entered high school seminary, I never really wanted to be anything else.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: There were other things that I would that I liked.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: I liked astronomy and I liked uh English writing and and things like that, but never anything as much as this.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: So and uh for our viewers, uh Monsey, uh about because people um I know this is just a basic question because some people will ask, how you're a priest and a uh monsignor, so how how does it happen to be to become a monsignor?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: How does it the title?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I had been pastor of several parishes uh when the bishop approached me in the year 2000 and asked me, uh well, first of all, told me that I was gonna be a monsignor.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: I was very humbled, and then asked me to be the vicar for clergy, which is uh I'm the guy that takes care of all the priests of the diocese.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it was really humbling.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was only 45 years old, and I took that job and I stayed with that for about 15 years, eventually becoming vicar general, and uh uh and then in 2014, uh I finally left.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: That usually you only stay in that position about six years, but they asked me to stay on.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: So uh then I took another parish, a big parish, in 2016, excuse me, 2014.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so what's the main difference, uh Monsignor, about a priest and a monsignor?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh a cardinal is to a bishop, like a Monsignor is to a priest.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, a Monsignor is an honorary title.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you're technically a member of the papal household.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, technically the Pope, he's the one that appoints you, and he could have control of you if he wanted.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Usually they keep you in the parish.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but uh uh so so they uh the Pope uh you know responds to the bishop's request and appoints you Monsignor.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it's like I said, it's an honorary title of respect, so it gives you a little bit more uh institutional authority without the power.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: So only the bishop can give you the power to to uh uh govern.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh and the bishop did give me that, but and I didn't have to be a Monsignor to be vicar for clergy.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: But he, you know, Pope wanted to honor that, and I really appreciated that.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really not that big of a deal.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: People sometimes say, oh, you know, I'm sorry I called you father.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always a father, you know, that doesn't that doesn't bother me, you know.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: But uh uh so you could call me anything like that.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's not that's not a problem.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: We don't lord it over people or anything like that, but it's an honor.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: What has been the biggest change you observe in the church?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, actually, the biggest change has occurred just in the last year and a half.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: I know you would probably think I was in a pre-shortage, but we've always had a pre-shortage, okay?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: And people might say, well, the sexual abuse crisis.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: I was heavily involved in in helping to fix that problem, and that was a huge crisis, but we pretty well solved most of that.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: But I think the biggest thing that's changed in the last year and a half has been the change in the Catholic people, especially with Generation Z.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: I've spent most of my priesthood defending the Catholic faith with other Catholics, you know, who have problems with Catholicism.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now there's a large number of Generation Z, the young people from you know what, 15 to 35, uh they will come to you and they will say, What does the Catholic Church teach about this and how do I live it?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Very positive.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just such a new experience for me.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I I really think that's a good sign for the church that we're beginning to enter a time where the where where the church's beliefs and views uh are are more accepted.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if if not accepted, there are these people are at least trying to understand why we say what we do.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a good starting point.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I also saw that numbers in uh Fox News.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um I mean, there are number of growth.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean number growing at the people coming to church.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in in my area here, it's moderate.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: In in a city like New York, they're experiencing tremendous uh mass attendance numbers.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Here we we are experiencing that too.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: But COVID hurt us so badly that we're just kind of recovering from that and getting our population back.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And uh again, though, I do think there is a revival going on.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I think it's really just starting to take off.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, why there are so many Gen Z that are coming to church right now?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, because secularism doesn't answer their problems.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: The the Gen Z seeks transcendence, and secularism can't give it that.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: And and and they can't find it anywhere.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: So they like to go to uh to church that especially to a church that has tradition, that has a liturgy.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this revival is happening an awfully lot with Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, somewhat evangelicals, but not so much, because evangelicals really have nothing transcendent about their worship except music.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, their their uh sanctuaries don't are not called that, and and there's basically stages.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox, that's not true.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that sense of beauty and and transcendence, I think really helps uh the young get in touch with God.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not something we did.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's something God did, because we're just as surprised as everybody else that that's happening.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: And as a retarded priest who remain active in writings and presentation, what uh motivates you to continue sharing the orthodox teachings of the church, especially in today's cultural climate?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, sure.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, I'm I'm trained as a theologian and I love to teach.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think I have a good reputation of teaching, so I spend a lot of time teaching about the basics of our faith.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh and I think I make it uh understandable for our modern age and concrete in their daily practice of their lives.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, I enjoy that.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: That gives me energy and it really helps restore my own prayer life.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, and I and I love to preach.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't think we have a lot of good preaching in our church, a lot of just kind of uh what would we say, kind of banal statements and you know, love your neighbor, do this.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing that really challenges people.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm much more of a challenger.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: So once in a while I get in trouble for that.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: But by and large, I think people, you know, whether they always agree with me or not in my homilies are at least happy to know what I was trying to say uh about the Catholic faith.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a good thing.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: Do you follow Pope Francis?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh just uh minimize the whole meeting, five minutes, uh Muncie.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: I don't, but I uh I do miss Pope Francis.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: I really enjoyed his outreach to people.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: I thought he was a very merciful and loving man.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I think sometimes the uh what I would call the radical traditionalists didn't like that because they thought he was soft.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: He was not soft on sin at all, but he was merciful to people and understanding of their uh situation in life.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: When he was an archbishop in Buenos Aires, he always would go to the barrios.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, you find people trying to live their Catholic faith in almost impossible situations.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: And and yet he went there often.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: And when he did that, uh he gave them God's mercy, and I think they came closer to God for that.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now I see the same thing happening with Pope Leo, uh, basically because of his time in Peru with uh uh doing his mission work.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's probably carrying on that merciful uh approach of Francis.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's a little bit more organized than Francis was, and so I think he's clearer than Pope Francis was.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I think he's on the same wavelength of trying to be a real pontifex, trying to be a real bridge builder, uh, not only between religions, but also between people who may not understand what Catholicism is and how we're trying to bring Christ to people.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um speaking of uh that, um uh I saw in the all all all over in the social media that Pop Leo refused to pray uh with uh Imam in a Hagyasopiyya.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: So is it the right interpretation on that?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: That was a good that was a good decision.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and and the reason is this uh I think we probably can pray with Moslems, people who follow the Islamic faith, but for him to do that in the mosque, given the times that we're living in, would look like a uh what what what we say, an approval of uh Islamic theology and Islamic faith.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And and he didn't want to do that.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think that was the right decision to do at that moment, yes.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: So that is accurately right, uh Monsignor, that he refused to yes, they asked him to pray, and he said, Oh, thank you, but no, okay.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: So he was very gentle about it, but you know, it was it was not oh I got afraid of it.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Well, no, thanks, okay.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: And they and they went on.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: It was very, you know, it was not a big deal at the time.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: So some people make it a big deal afterward, but it wasn't.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: And uh you commented on violent incidents like shootings uh showing potential demonic influences.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: So what specific sign from what do you think uh that's well that I was referring, of course, to the terrible shooting in the school up in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that was where a young man who uh you know, I think was you know possessed, uh what I what I saw, you know, killed kids and people and and and did it because he hated the faith.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, his personal journals, which I did read, all the ones that I could, uh, show a man very much encircled by evil.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: And and people, uh my my critics would say, well, how can you call him possessed?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're not and you're not officially an exorcist.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Well, of course not.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not, you know, when I call him possessed, I'm not talking about in in the canonical sense of deciding whether a person is possessed by evil.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying the common sense portion that this person was functioning on a level where evil was certainly helping to direct him.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: There was just uh a darkness here that we don't even see with some other violent actions.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this was a really bad thing.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: And uh uh I we don't often see this uh in our in our culture.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but when it does uh rise its head in such a visible way, uh I think most normal people say this isn't just human evil, it's a demonic evil that has surrounded this person and manifested itself.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: Are you convinced, Monsi, that it is increasing right now in our society, this uh demonic influence?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, I'm not sure it's increasing, but what it is increasing is its manifestation in the public sphere.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think I think the devil's always been there and has always tried to, you know, tempt people and move them away from God.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: But most of the time, that's in pretty much in the silence of people's own hearts.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the public doesn't usually see that.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're seeing the public manifestation of it more, okay?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think that means that the devil is more active.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: I just think we're seeing more of what's actually happening.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: How's the situation right now?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this woke ideology or is it better now?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, compared to before?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think it is.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think uh, you know, anything you say about Trump is going to be controversial.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: But but from my from my standpoint, uh you know, he in a rocky and rough way really promotes the faith.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think we have not had such a friend of Christianity in the presidency ever.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so he's done a lot of things legally to help release some of the uh secular pressure on uh Catholics and and their practice in the public sphere.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think that's good.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Trump is a conservative, you know, liberal Christians or Catholics uh do not like his quote social justice record.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they think he's tremendously harsh on immigrants, uh you know, and they think he's you know evil about that.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I take a little different, you know, view of that.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: I uh you know, I find him uh addressing issues in that area that haven't been addressed before.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: And as an expert in Celtic spirituality, what timeless lesson from ancient Celtic saints and practices can modern Catholics apply to spiritual warfare and holiness?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: My uh I love Celtic spirituality.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an Irishman and I spent much of my middle age from 30 to 50 going to Ireland and seeking out the old uh Celtic sites, uh saints and everything else like that.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: And what I found with them is again a very common sense, practical uh expression of Christianity.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: It recognized that there was good and evil in the world, it confronted evil, did not excuse it or did not pretend it didn't exist.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: It simply confronted it, was not afraid of it, and knew that Christianity was more powerful than evil.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that gave Celtic spirituality a tremendous positive outlook.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why it was able to be really basically re-Christianize Europe in the 800s, and uh and it still plays a big force today.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, like in my preaching, Celtic spirituality focuses on living your faith every day in every moment of the day, consciously.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the one of the things the the the Irish, the Scottish, the Welsh really had a good handle on was the Trinity.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And everything they did during the day was in the name of the Trinity.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: They knew that God was imminent, not far away like God is for the Muslims, you know, because the Muslims cannot really contact God, he's too far away.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Same with the Jews, Christians, not so much, because we have a God who is very imminent and with us, whom we can recognize and even call friend.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: And Celtic spirituality really focuses in on that as well as the presence of God in nature.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, give an example of a saint that uh we we know that our popular devotional okay.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, of course, there's St.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Patrick, you know, I think everybody knows St.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Patrick, and and uh uh he basically Christianized Ireland, you know, without a single martyr.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that amazing?
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, no one had to die for the faith to take all those pagans and make them Christian.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then there was, of course, Saint Bridget, who was a contemporary of his, and she was, oh my gosh, uh people forget what it was like to be a saint back then.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: St.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Bridget was so strong and powerful.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: She went around the countryside on a chariot.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: They rode chariots back then, and she confronted kings when they were unjust, she helped the poor and healed the sick.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, miracles for Celtic saints were very visible to people, and people expected them to be able to do that.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And just like Jesus said, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move a mountain.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: The Celtic Saints believed that.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's why they were so able to do miracles and show the visible power of Christianity in that culture.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: And let's now talk about uh church leadership and uh crisis in our church right now.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: And from your from your leadership as a bigger general, so what do what do you identify as the core uh crisis facing the church right now?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I have three things to say about that.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: They all work together in saying that we do not have the courage to practice our faith like we should.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: First, I start with the laity.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: The laity uh are wonderful people, but they have accepted what they think is the virtue called tolerance, which means we have to just agree that all things are equal and equally valuable.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: And our truth is as good as somebody else's truth.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, the Catholic Church is nice, but there are many other churches.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: And they don't really believe, I think, that there is one faith, one baptism, and one our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: So part of our job is to remind them of the uniqueness of their Catholic faith and their baptism.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Calling.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: They're a little weak on that.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: The priests and the deacons, uh, I find them uh reticent to really teach the Catholic faith.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: We're really uh you know, when else can you teach most of the people except from the homily?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: And and and and they don't most priests don't preach very well, and and they need to get better at that.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: And and because they're weak in that, and because they don't have a lot of courage to preach the truth because their words are going to get in trouble, you know, I think I think they miss the opportunity to make folks stronger.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: As for the bishops, uh most most people's individual bishops are are good men, but they are not always picked to stand out as speakers of the faith.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you look in our country, we have Bishop Barron.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, oh my gosh, he's like a new Fulton sheen, you know, and and there are maybe five to ten other bishops who are like him.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: The rest of them are kind of administrative.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're you're not gonna get a lot of of uh unique common sense courage.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get a lot of of uh re-speaking Catholic doctrine, but not necessarily in ways that people understand.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I think the individual bishops could be stronger in their preaching of the Catholic faith, they're shepherding the people.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: And as for our our conference of Catholic bishops, uh, you know, people need to know that the conference of Catholic bishops is not a canonical thing that that Rome needs to pay attention to.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: But what happens with the with the Conference of Bishops is they have a uh a bureaucracy, which always works in the conference building.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: They're pretty liberal and they do much of the research for the bishop's statements.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the bishops have the final say on it, but when the bishops come together as a group and and issue the final statements, a lot of times it really lurches off to the left.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: So for instance, they gave a recent statement on immigration.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there are two pillars of immigration.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: One is that a government has the right to regulate immigration, and the other pillar is that all immigrants must be treated as children of God and treated with human dignity.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you've got to hold both of those and juggle both of them at the same time.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in the latest bishop statement, they really kind of forgot the government stuff and just talked about the immigration part and you know, basically said, you know, things that were not consistent with our traditional Catholic doctrine.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean they're heretical or anything like that.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's just they focused on one end way too much.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: And they got into trouble with that from some Catholics, including me.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was my I mean we fortunately we get to still say our opinion.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: They never issued a similar statement with President Biden when he, you know, he really put forth a Catholic faith that was really wrong.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was pro-ortion, he was everything else like that.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: And the bishops never said anything about that.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh, you know, that looks a little hypocritical and a little political.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: So they have to be careful not to be political and be really, really strong on applying church doctrine to our life today.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's a longer question answered than you wanted, but that's what I have.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, but it's beautiful, Monty.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, how about the issue in climate change?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: How how do you see these things up?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm glad you mentioned that.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, Greta Thunberger's not going to be a saint of the Catholic Church.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, she's way too off the uh off the rails on climate change.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: But we have to remember that Catholics, I think, are really the first to be pro-environment.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, our theology is very pro-environment.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we're not going to make human beings simply part of the circle of life.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we believe in the biblical thing that that that human beings have been given stewardship over the earth and that we must take care of it.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we we must treasure it, and we must make sure that the gifts that we've been given by God and this beautiful, uh, the beautiful nature that we have, you know, is preserved.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Climate change, the way it's talked about in the second sphere, has become its own religion.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's wrong.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: And and so you know, I steer away from talking about, you know, that I'm a climate change proponent.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an environmental proponent.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I believe we have to preserve the environment, but we don't do that at the expense of humanity.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, we do that in a cooperative way so humanity can cooperate with with uh with nature.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: But we're not, you know, the whales are not the equal to us, and you know, the the beautiful eagles are not the equal to us.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: We are the stewards of them.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: And and and as God acts to us, so we should act to nature.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's what being a steward means.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I see some comments because climate change has been part of globalist agenda, Monsi.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, globalism, of course, is a political phenomenon.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the that's the uh uh quite worthy idea that we are all one family, but in practice it doesn't work out that way because when globalism is practiced, it tends to smooth out what makes all nations unique.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a bad thing, especially for the United States.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: It means we can't lead and and and we can't promote our values, and and we have to, you know, kind of dumb down and water down our values uh so that everybody can kind of agree.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we know from how the United Nations puts that, that that it's a worthy idea, but in practice, we haven't found a way to make it work.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: And in your writings on threats to the faith, what single error or ideology, such as relativism or secularism, do you believe is most spiritually damaging to Catholics right now?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, you know, relativism is we've talked about it just a little bit before, is kind of saying, you know, well, my truth is my truth, but your truth is your truth, and my morality is my morality, and your morality is yours.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: And if we differ, that's okay.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's bad.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: Secularism seeks to deny religion its proper place in the public sphere.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: But I think the worst thing is what Pope St.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: John Paul II and Pope Benedict talked about, and that is nihilism or nihilism, the nothingness that affects the human spirit.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if if you've ever talked to somebody who believes in nothing, it's like talking to a black hole.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they they suck all the life from everything around them.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we've seen in Europe until this revival in France, which has been amazing.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're beginning to see in the United States, where now the the polls say that only 49% of our people think religion is a part of their everyday experience.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's down from 66% five years ago.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: So nihilism is, I think, the worst thing that our faith has to has to uh go against.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: But again, if we just preach what we know and preach it well, it's easy to defeat because nihilism doesn't believe in anything.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: And and they don't replace that absence with anything.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and so Christianity can come in and say, this is a better way, try it and see if it's okay.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: We won't force them, but we really would encourage them to try, and we're pretty confident they might find it very helpful again.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: How about Monsignor the those clergy promoting same-sex um attraction or the church is of course not going to approve of same-sex marriage.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a reason for that.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: First, I want to talk about that.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Is you know, marriage, it's very clear for a hundred thousand years what that is.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it's it's a union between a man and a woman, and from that comes a family through the procreative aspect and the unitive aspect of love.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Same-sex quote marriage can't do that.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't deny that there's a relationship between two people of the same sex who want to live together and spend their lives together, but it's not a marriage, and they can't call it that.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: And and so we have this kind of in-between thing of blessing same-sex unions.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, Pope Francis got into a little bit of trouble because he said you can bless you know two people without blessing their union.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: And and some people say that's a distinction without a difference, and they don't like it.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: But Pope Francis, I think, advanced our honoring and and and of the dignity of those people.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: As a pastor, of course I had gay people in my parish.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: I never ostracized them, I always welcomed them.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: And just as I didn't from the pulpit point out individuals and say, you're in an invalid marriage or you're living with your girlfriend, I wasn't gonna shout them down either.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was just glad they were there and hoping that the grace of being in church would help them along the way.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: Life is messy and people are at different stages.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things, again, that I think Pope Francis did very well was say, you gotta love people where they're at, and judging them harshly is not gonna bring them closer to you or to God.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: Does that help a little bit?
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Is that that does that clarify some things?
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, what can you say about the uh the bishop in Germany, uh, once you what a mess.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Even Pope Leo, when he was on the plane a couple days ago, said, you know, the synodal way, which I'm a little suspicious of the synodal way.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't really know what that means or if I like it, but even you know, Pope Leo, who who you know has worked much more closely with it, said the synodal way in Germany isn't working.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: What what what the German bishops want to do is wrong.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it is wrong because what what meant not all of them, but what many of them want to do is not Catholic.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's like Martin Luther has kind of possessed them, and and they're not going to win.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: They're not, but they are certainly confusing the faithful.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and it is the danger, by the way.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we can't just ignore it, we gotta address it.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh, do you think it can cause Kissim um Monsi?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, it may cause a small one, but not a big one.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Germany has always been a hotbed of theological debate and and and and argument, and of course, that's where the Reformation began.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: I can see uh some Catholics leaving, but but some German Catholics, and maybe even some Northern European ones, but not many, because there's no really charismatic figure in that German bishop's conference on that side at least that can really draw people away.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I I just don't I just don't think people are that stupid, really.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: And let's talk about some uh confusion that we see right now.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's um uh some people said that there are some amid confusion from some Vatican documents on morality and doctrine.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: What guidance from the catechism or saints would you offer to Catholics right now?
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well Cardinal Fernandez, who's the uh head of the Dicaster, the doctor of the faith, um has you know he he's I I wouldn't say he's uh uh uh well like a like a cowboy in in in doctrine because he's very smart.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: But he sometimes frames things that that people aren't used to.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think he's gonna have to be a little bit more careful about that.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because in Vatican documents, what you want is clarity, and so you know, you want people to say, yeah, that's the Catholic faith, it it conforms with the catechism.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you've looked at the catechism, don't you fight's the catechism?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's not like a novel, so you can get bored with it, you know, but but it is easy really to understand.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I mean, I really I read it, I know clearly what the Catholic teaching is.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you have to explain that to people, but you can't change it.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: And and and and so Vatican documents need to uh to be, I think, a lot clearer in order for people to be accepting of them.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: Especially in the recent um DDF document about co-redemtrix months.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you know, I again don't you wish all languages had the same words that to explain stuff?
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because really what the church was basically saying is that you know, many popes and many theologians have used the title co-redemtrix and mediatrix for Mary.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: And as long as you understand that correctly, that makes sense.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is, and I understand this clearly as a pastor, is the laity are not theologians, and they sometimes use those words to mean something they can't.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: They cannot elevate Mary to an equal level with Jesus.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: She did not equally redeem the human race.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, she she she brought us Jesus, and in that responsibility, in that in that sense, she's she's you know a cooperator with Christ, but it's only Christ who saves.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: And anytime you use the co-redemptrix title or mediatrix to weaken that idea, then you're using it wrong.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the Vatican was correct that at this time we have to be cautious about using it in public discourse.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think they're absolutely correct.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: I've often thought that in the past.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: I find sometimes, like, for instance, I love the the appearance of Mary at Fatima, but I find some Fatima people who love them to be very, very radical in what they say.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: They almost make Mary into a warrior goddess.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: And and that Mary would be appalled by that.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not, I think, true to the Fatima uh message.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: So so I think we I I can see why the Vatican was concerned about that.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I I think it would be wrong for for uh uh people to assume that the Vatican condemned everybody who used that title.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: They just asked us because it's so hard to explain in short form, you know, that we not use it in public discourse or in teaching.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: I also see some um article that Gardner Fernandez uh says that um for those people who understand it, they can use it.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, did he clarify?
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he kind of he kind of said he issued a correction and and said that for people who understand it that way, maybe you can use it.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: But but but but again, he he basically said it's just difficult to do that on an off-the-cuff way.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, like I would never use it in a homily because you can't explain it long enough or decent enough in a homily.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: But you you know, uh if you've got time to explain it to people, you probably would be able to explain it correctly, that they could understand it.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I see Monsi that there are some Protestants that misunderstood the documents that the Vatican has changed our I mean, the Catholic they change our views regarding Yeah, yeah.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: The evangelicals thought, well, you know, we've been saying this forever, and the Catholics have finally agreed.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: No, we haven't changed our teaching at all.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they dismiss Mary as nothing, you know, it's just terrible what they do.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they just think she's just another woman, she was just a vessel, and and and it's so disrespectful.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and I think that I think that was a little ideology entering their public comments on it.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: And Monsignor, as a seasoned boys in Catholic media and now exploring podcasts to spread the faith, what do you see as the church's biggest missteph in evangelization?
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's in the missionary area.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know that some of our missionaries, I don't know how many, but enough that we have to comment on it, have not made a convert in years in the mission lands that they then had.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: How can that be?
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: We just celebrated the feast of St.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: Francis Xavier, who was fantastic in converting people.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: And and we do not seem to have that same desire to do that.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: And again, that's a relativistic idea.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know that, because well, we can't impose their our our religion on theirs and and we have to respect them.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, we're not gonna force them to believe, but we are gonna let them hear the truth.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: And and we need to do that, and we need to do that with love, but we need to do it courageously so that people can see boy, these folks are are really you know attracted to the faith and proud of their faith, and they have an image of God that we don't have and we'd like to know more about it.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm not seeing a lot of that in mission work right now.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: And and and and that, so that's you know, that's kind of a shot at the missionaries, but it goes also to us in our daily lives too.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: We have, you know, you can't harangue people about the faith.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot of parents coming to me, their kids no longer practice the faith.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: What do we do, father?
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: What do we do?
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: And and I said, Well, you don't yell at them.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: Once upon a time, you could do that, and that would make a difference.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: But if you yell at them now, they'll just dismiss you instead by your actions and by your own testimony to what the faith means to you.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, you still talk to your kids about the faith, but you talk about what it means to you and how you love to have them have that again, and how it guided your parenting of them.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think in the end that's gonna have much more effect on the kids who have walked away from the faith.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: And and and hopefully we can bring them back.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: But again, that's an aggressive, muscular Christianity, and we've got to get that back.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: And young people often cite irrelevant irrelevance as a reason for leaving the church from your perspective on youth ministry and cultural ship, where did uh we falter and how can we reclaim them through authentic sacrament and truth?
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's true.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh in the old in my day when I was young, I had a lot of parish priests who were terrible preachers and it could make mass very boring.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: I still went to mass because I knew it was receiving the Eucharist.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: But now we live in a world where liturgy has to be entertainment.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: And if I'm not entertained, then it's not worthwhile.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's the that's the uh uh promise of evangelicalism.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: They every week it's a it's uh it's a show.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: And and one of the weaknesses of evangelical Christianity is every week's got to be a better show, or people leave.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: And and Catholics don't think that way.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're not into that.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: Our liturgy is is into giving people transcendence.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: And and if kids or young people think that is irrelevant, what we need to do, and I think it's been working, uh, is once again give a uh a showing of what the Eucharist really is.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: You in in our country, we just finished the National Youth Conference and recently too the another Eucharistic Congress, and the young have been gloming on to Eucharistic procession and adoration and things like that.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that's been very effective.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: In New York, every once in a while, uh St.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: Patrick's Cathedral decides to have a Eucharistic procession in Times Square, and they get hundreds and hundreds of people joining them.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_00: Great witness, and and I think it it it's helped galvanize what's bringing more New Yorkers to the church.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I think this this focus on the Eucharist will take away some of that irrelevant idea.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: But again, in order for the kids or young people to not find religion irrelevant, they have to want God, they have to know they're missing God.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: And many kids don't even know they're missing God because they've grown up in a culture, even sometimes a Catholic culture, that doesn't emphasize that.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, they have to want God, and and if they don't, that's the problem.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we've got to start even more basic with them to show them what they're missing.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: And you mentioned Eucharist.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: Why do you think Eucharist and confession is our central weapons in the spiritual battles of our era right now?
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because I think they're the sacraments that most clearly communicate two great characteristics of God, namely his transcendence and wonder and fatherliness and friendship for the Eucharist, and from the from confession, the sacrament of penance, the forgiveness.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: There is always a second chance.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: Always.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: You are never thrown out.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a good thing in our day and age, and it's very attractive to people.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, is it true, uh Monsi, uh, that there are also growing trends uh of our young people that are attracting to the traditional Latin mass?
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, I you you know, I think I think sometimes the media misrepresents that.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: There are young people and adults uh who love the Latin Mass, but that is never going to be a majority of people.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we have the Latin Mass in our diocese.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we get perhaps maybe 300 people a weekend, and it's a very positive and great community.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great parish.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I think most of us really respect that.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_00: And once in a while we'll go, you know, the laity will go and and and partake in it, but they don't want it to take the place of the mass that they have.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I think what's what what what what the media find very interesting about it is the intensity, the joyfulness, and and the you know, excitement uh that that comes from people expressing their faith through the Latin mass.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_00: Because there aren't many places that have it, they're always overflowing in numbers.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it kind of can give you the idea that it's everywhere.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's not.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: But uh on the other hand, we don't want to just say to those people, well, you can't have this.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we don't want to just say, well, it's not gonna happen anymore.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think that'd be way too extreme.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think uh Pope Lee will deal with the the traditionist custodes?
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I I do.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's gonna uphold it, but I think he's gonna make exceptions.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think he's going to allow, I think he's gonna probably allow what we do in our diocese.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: We've got one major center and it works fine.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: And and and so your your bishop is okay with uh I mean DLM.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean he'll celebrate confirmation down there, he'll do all that.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, yeah, that's fine for him.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_01: I know this is a controversial.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_01: What can you say about SSPX?
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, uh probably not a lot.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because uh, you know, they they need to they need to regularize their their their union with with with the Catholic Church.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_00: And once that happens, I think we can say a lot more about them.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, I'm just not a big fan of disobedience to the Pope and and public contradiction of some of the things of the Catholic faith.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that many, many of the priests in the SSPX are faithful.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but but uh we need to regularize their situation with us.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: But canonically, those who are attending their TLM is I mean, what's your standpoint as theologian on that, uh Monsi?
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't think I can really comment really authoritatively on that because I don't know the details on that.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have an SSPS church near us.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: So so I've not had to you know enter into that dialogue and talk about it.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I so I that's one area where I don't have a I can't give you a really you know solid answer.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because there are some questions that uh asking if uh if you are uh do your Sunday obligation if you attend their T Lemmas?
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I see those questions everywhere.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I I I I I I I would have difficulty recommending people that that that that satisfies.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure I could agree with that.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_01: What essential truth or warning from scripture like the parable of the prodigal son or the call to repentance do you most need to hear for their soul's sake?
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, as much as I stress mercy, we also have to stress responsibility.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: And and and I think you have to pair the prodigal son with the parables of Jesus saying, you know, that uh you have to be firm and ready and watchful in your faith.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's the advent message because you never know when the Lord will come.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: So trust in the mercy of God, but don't give up on the truths of the faith.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: Don't say, well, God, and it's a sin of presumption.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, God can forgive me no matter what I do.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: But uh can't do that.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_00: We just know that if we fail, God will forgive me.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's the mercy part.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: But the responsibility part is to be watchful, ready, and prepared.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that means being close to your faith and being able to recognize the signs of the times, what's going on, and how much God is needed, and to be able and prepared to act for that.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I find, I don't know if it's true in your country, but in our country, uh, it's becoming again much more uh uh popular to do the prayer of St.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: Michael after Mass.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we do that everywhere here in this diocese.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: Some dioceses don't, but we do.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a great prayer to call people to action.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I love it.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's well done.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_00: Pope Leo the 13th did a great job in in uh uh writing that, and uh and I think that's a good call to action for Catholics too.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think people like that, they say that robustly at Mass.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I in some churches here they also pray uh Saint Michael, but um yeah, there are some here uh who prayed after the mass.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_01: A very powerful prayer.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it is.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: Your experience as a priest, uh 42 years.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what can you say about the power of Saint Michael?
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that prayer, uh based on your witnessing witnessing.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there have been a there have been a couple times that that I have you know managed to be in the presence of or interacted with what I would consider to be demonic evil.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_00: And Saint Michael is very helpful in reminding me that that there's there's more than one supernatural proponent of of uh goodness, and one of them is St.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: Michael, and he's far able to handle the demonic.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great, he's a great uh comrade to have and help in faith.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: I write books and I write novels.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and one of my fantasy novels that I write is say Michael is a major character.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I just love him.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I think I think we have to rick kind of recapitulate and and uh get that devotion back so that we know that we too are called, you know, to fight evil.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, there's the when I used to teach kids, one of the ways I would teach them about Jesus is talk about Superman because I don't know if you know it, but Superman is very much he's got very similar patterns to Jesus Christ.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: He's got secret identity, he's got special powers, he was sent by his father, you know.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: So there's all sorts of kids that never know that, and they love that because they're really into superheroes, and that's a great way to introduce them to the power of the only superhero who lives in our reality, Jesus Christ.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: And and and and and they like that.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_00: So again, I'm talking about a robustness of faith in a way that young people and older people can uh can deal with that to help reactivate their faith.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_01: With all the crisis, chaos that the church uh faced, uh Munsi.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_01: So what what message of hope will you give to those Catholics who are who have been discouraged or uh amidst all this scandal?
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can't get discouraged.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the church is made up of sinners.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: That means sinners are in all aspects of Catholic life.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: We are not uh Francis was great to say we are uh the old uh church fathers line, we are a hospital for sinners, not uh uh hotel for saints.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so we have to expect that in our church-lived experience, there will be scandal, even from some of our leaders and and from laity in that.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that's part of the fallen nature of human beings.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_00: But the one thing about Jesus Christ is, you know, when He when He started His kingdom with us, which is ever growing, he said his His kingdom will last forever, his church will last forever.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_00: So despite anything that people see, you know, I still think the church is the most trustworthy institution in the world.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: And we could feel confident that we're on the right path by being in it.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_00: And and and to be discouraged, to be without hope is not the mark of a Christian.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_00: Christians always have hope.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's what Advent is for us.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it is a hopeful season that despite the darkness we see, God is still present and he's already won.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the evil hasn't recognized that yet.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_00: I used a good example, you know, uh in World War II, well, World War II was won in 1944 on the beaches of Normandy, but Nazism didn't realize that.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_00: The war went on for another year, but it had already lost.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_00: Nazism had already lost.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_00: But think of the damage it did in that year a lot.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, evil has already lost, but it still can do damage, and that's our job to make sure that we minimize that or take it away.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a job that you can only do if you have hope.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and uh maybe uh before we wrap up, Monsey, and what's your um what can you say about the persecution of uh Christian and Catholics in Nigeria right now?
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, isn't that isn't that horrific?
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact that the world is ignoring it, and I mean we even have the Secretary of State of the Vatican, who was almost Cope, say that, oh, this isn't really a religious thing, it's more of a cultural thing.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no, no.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is, you know, this is a uh a threat to Catholics, particularly.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_00: And all these Catholics that are being killed are martyrs for the faith.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, the uh the blood of the martyrs is the seat of the faith.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's what you know the church fathers used to say.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_00: And and the courage of the Nigerians should give us all courage too, but it should also galvanize us to help stop that persecution because it's not just in Nigeria, it's in Somalia, it's in China, particularly China.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we've you know, that's such a bad place for Christians, and and they they they struggle so hard to keep their faith alive.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world today, and uh by far.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we have to recognize that and and also say what it really is.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's a persecution, not a cultural struggle.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's a persecution of our beliefs and of our faith, and that can't stand.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_00: We have to fight that.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: We continue to pray for them and for prayer, of course.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, prayer, of course, is going to be our basic weapon because most of us can't run into Nigeria and protect the Nigerian Catholics.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_00: But we have Nigerian priests in our diocese, and and you know, they of course are very worried they have relatives there, and and the you know, Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa, and we and they're almost equally divided between Moslems and Christians, and so it's going to be a very difficult struggle, but but prayer is how we help them and give them the strength to resist and to you know uh you know produce as good Catholics.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_01: And Monsignor, what is the most important to you in being Catholic?
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_00: In being Catholic, my relationship with God, because I can't do anything without my relationship with God.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh he, you know, my savior Jesus Christ, he's he's Lord of my life.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_00: And if I don't have a pipeline to him, which for me is personal prayer in the Eucharist, you know, and confession, you know, then I feel lost and alone, and and my spirit is just sapped.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_00: God has seen me through so many difficulties, and and I am absolutely confident that he will stay with me.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_00: So my relationship with God, my relationship with Jesus, and the understanding that the Holy Spirit lives in my heart, that's my most important thing about being Catholic.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, absolutely.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's very powerful.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_01: And where can our viewers follow your talks and writings, uh, Monsey?
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, uh, I'm on TikTok a lot as uh um Monsignor Msgr Eric, the Catholic storyteller.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so you could find me there.
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm on Facebook as uh Monsignor Eric Barr.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_00: You can find me there and on Instagram.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh those are the basic places, Tales of Connor Archer.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_00: You can see the you can see the poster behind me right there, talesofconnor archer.com.
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so it's talesofconnor, c O N L R Archer.com.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh they'll find it.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good website, it really is beautiful.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_01: What is your most best-selling book that have you ever written?
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that I've ever done is my second book uh called Skellig after the Skellig Islands in Ireland, S-K-E-L-L-I-G.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and that's a novel.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's been my bestseller, you know, by far.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's nice.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_01: And Monsi, I enjoy a lot uh our conversation.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_01: I did too.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_00: This was great.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've had so much fun talking to you, and then I really I'll pray for your ministry because I know you do so much good.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, just know that I'll keep thinking of you.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if ever I can be of help or service to you again, just give me a call, okay?
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_01: And let's keep in touch.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_01: And before we say goodbye, can you leave us with a prayer and a blessing?
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um may Almighty God see us throughout each day and each night, placing in our hearts the love of his son Jesus Christ with the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_00: And in the name of the Trinity, I bless all of you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_00: God be with you always.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, and rest assured also of our prayers.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_00: I need I need them, so please do that.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and regards to our uh to our Filipino community and your uh clergy friends.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_01: I will say Filipino clergy friends there.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're great.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_01: I enjoy them.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, well guys, thank you so much.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, and God bless your uh upcoming mass uh right now.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm off to the uh to the nursing home, so you take good care, okay?
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Bonsi.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_00: God bless.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to have early access?
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_01: You could be the first to watch the interviews I've done with guests on our program Historian Catholico.
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_01: You can do that, my fellow believers, by joining my Patreon group in conducting interviews with various guests here in the Philippines and abroad.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't been able to edit and upload them right away.
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_01: I still have a lot of backlog because I'm a one-man team.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_01: So most of the time I'm really the one editing.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, I edit all the interviews and vlogs on this channel.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_01: As much as I want to upload them right after the interview, I can't do that because we need to edit and enhance the interview by adding slides and information that are very relevant and will be more helpful to you.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_01: You can access it by joining my Patreon group.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_01: Once I finish the interview, I immediately upload previews to our Patreon group.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's a recorded interview.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, my fellow believers, by joining our Patreon group, you also help me in our online evangelization.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know what we are doing is not free.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_01: We have costs, what we use, transportation to go to those I interview face to face, etc.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_01: In due time, I'm planning to build a studio, a home studio.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_01: The cost is really significant and will be spent here.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, my fellow believers, by joining my Patreon group, you will help me improve and make our online evangelization better and continue further.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_01: Not only will you get early access, but you will also help me in our online evangelization.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_01: In a way, you will be my partner in doing this.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't have the gifts in what I do, in speaking, interviewing, but you have the capacity to help me in this mission, it will definitely improve.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_01: Let's partner.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_01: I will do the inviting, interviewing, but at the same time, the Lord knows that you help me and you've been partnering with me in this mission.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, my fellow believers, to join our Patreon group, I will put the link where you can access this Patreon group.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_01: It has a cost, a small fee, you just need to pay, but the spiritual benefit for you will be overwhelmingly abundant.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_01: Bless.