(LifeSiteNews) — Joining me on this explosive episode of The John Henry Westen Show, filmed at this year’s Rome Life Forum, is Professor William A. Thomas, a theologian, Mariologist, and former classmate of Pope Leo XIV. We discussed the “Synodal Church,” how it mirrors the Anglican Church and the philosophy of Rousseau, the current crisis of faith, the ambiguity of Pope Francis’ pontificate, and more.
After discussing the disastrous pontificate of Pope Francis, I asked Thomas about one of the most controversial aspects late Argentine pontiff’s legacy, the Synod on Synodality. The professor recalled discussing synodality with another former classmate, Cardinal Mario Grech, a leading cardinal at the synod.
“I said to (Grech), ‘You can’t promote this, because it’s devoid of Christology,’” Thomas said. “As Pope Leo himself said, there’s no template for this, so it’s a very ambiguous, confusing movement within the Church that lacks apostolicity. It doesn’t go back to the Fathers. There’s no place in Scripture (in which) Jesus talks about synodality or the synodal Church.”
Thomas stressed that the synodal church, rather than resembling the Catholic Church, is very similar to the Anglican Church and is based on the anti-Catholic philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
“The synodal Church is the Church of England. It’s not the Catholic Church, which is the one true Church on earth,” the professor said. “When I read … a copy of the final (synod) document in Spanish … I began to see the philosophy behind it was based on the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and he is the father of sentimentalism, and he wrote a book called The Social Contract, and synodality is almost page for page of The Social Contract of Rousseau, who scoops out the entire notion of Christianity in Europe, and prepares Europe for that bloody revolution that we had in France.”
READ: Our Lady’s messages at Fatima, Kibeho give us the antidote to infidelity in the Church today
I jumped in to ask Thomas to explain what sentimentalism is and why it’s problematic for the Church to embrace this philosophy.
“(Sentimentalism) is all about feelings (and) emotions. Somebody says, ‘Oh, this is sinful, this is wrong, this is mortal, this will destroy your soul,’ and so on,” he said. “(But) you cannot say this nowadays, because you will hurt people, you will hurt their sentiment … so anything goes.”
“Well, this is nonsense, and as Saint Paul would say, ‘Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish. That’s exactly what it is, it’s rubbish, and I denounced it right from the beginning, and I told Cardinal Grech this is going nowhere. No bishop who has a spine can accept this. It must stop,” he added.
READ: Meet the Transalpine Redemptorists who called out the ‘Synodal Church’
Thomas underscored that, instead of synodality, the Church really needs a revival of the authentic Catholic faith.
“What the Church needs is a revival movement, a revival through catechesis, a revival through faith in Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of the world, a revival in authentic Marian devotion, a revival in the sacramental life,” he said. “It doesn’t need something … that distracts and takes away the divine into this human sentimentality of listening to one another, of encouraging one another. That is not what Christ had envisaged.”
“The mandate is to go out to the whole world and teach the Good News, tell the Good News that the Redeemer of the world has, in fact, redeemed by His passion and death and resurrection,” he added. “He is resurrected now from the dead, and therefore the gates of Heaven are open to those who follow Him. He is the way, the truth, and the life.”
To hear much more from Professor William A. Thomas, watch my full interview above or by clicking here.
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