Father Santiago Martin, Madrid, Spain, is the founder of The Franciscans of Mary which is present in nineteen countries, including Spain, the US, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Poland, Holland and Italy, and Asia. In the homily below which occurred on March 3, 2013 he speaks about the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
Father Santiago Martin
Homily: "Benedict XVI, the Man Who Hinders Them"
March 3, 2013
IMPORTANT NOTE: The WILD VOICE is not responsible for the translation in the video below or the transcription that follows. If you find errors in the translation, please contact us and let us know so that we might correct any mistakes.
Father Martin Santiago, 03/03/13 TRANSCRIPT (translated):
"We are on the third Sunday of Lent naturally I want to make a mediation about the Gospel that I have read but it is evident that we can't take a reflection about the Third Sunday of Lent as we did for the last year. Why? Because the Pope has just resigned. And, logically if we don't take this moment to explain a little and make some catechesis, when are we going to do it? So, you have to be patient because I'm going to do two little homilies – one, about the Gospel, and the other one about the actual situation of the Church. I can't go into each detail. I have already explained in the last conference, not long ago, and it was an hour conference, explaining the most that I can say or the most that I truly know to explain what is going on – what is behind all this. But, at least this short mediation about that…Now, I'd like to talk about the situation that we are living, and I want to start by opening my heart, describing how I feel. I feel very bad. This is the first thing that I want to tell you. It hurts even more, especially watching everybody looking happy all around. What I perceive is that the majority is happy about the resignation, as if the Pope has resigned to a Caribbean beach, or as if the Pope has left in a natural way. Well, listen, he is almost 86. He could have an advanced Parkinson disease, a dementia, Alzheimer;s, he could have a serious kidney problem, which really makes it impossible. But this is not what happened. This has nothing to do with what happened. If the Pope has left because of sheer exhaustion related to age, well, it would be something different, as if the Pope died. That goes with natural law, but this has nothing to do with what happened. The Pope has been crucified for the eight years that he has been leading the Church, and we have seen it. It has been a crucifixion, a martyrdom in front of the eyes of everyone. We, at least me and many others, we have suffered, watching how they go for him – how they overwhelmed him – the enemies from the outside with the collaboration of some enemies which are inside, the garbage of the inside, aerated, promotioned during years from those enemies of the outside. This is what happened. God's people who see how other kill the Pastor and they just don't realize it is terrible. The Pope is a martyr. And, now he didn't come down from the cross. He effectively resigned for the good of the Church. But, the thing is, he has been martyred. This week a Peruvian writer, Vargas Llosa, published an article, in which the content I only half agree with, the title is perfect. I haven't seen a better title to summarize what is happening in the Church now, about what is 'the move' of, what is happening inside, from just a short time ago. He titled his article "The Man Who Hinders Them". Of course, Benedict XVI has been the man in the middle of their ways from the first moment. He has a unique, enormous capacity to define just with a phrase or idea a treatise of theology. When he celebrated the Mass before to start of the conclave two days after he was Pope, he defined the situation of today: 'the dictatorship of relativism'. Not the regular relativism that we know, it's rather a dictatorship now, meaning a real persecution for all those who stand firm saying that truth is objective and lies are objective, meaning the good exists and the bad exists. In any context, they don't want the truth, they want relativism. You can't say abortion is wrong. You can't say killing your mother by euthanasia is wrong. Today, many people can say as much, "I think that could be wrong", because when somebody stays firm and ares to say "That is wrong", that one is persecuted. Because of that, this Pope was like a hindrance for them. Or, don't you remember what happened in 2011 when they, taking advantage of a circumstance which at the end was a lie, they accused him as an accomplice of pedophilia and they constantly pushed him, forcing him to resign – the ferocious advertising campaigns in 2011 of The New York Times, BBC, and allies in Spain. This was horrible. The enemies on the outside and the enemies in the inside which created this Vati-leaks scandal, with their sins, I repeat, promotioned for the outside enemies keeping silence while they were interested, until the moment to put a big light on the garbage. They combined took him to a point to say "I can't anymore". This is so hard and grave that other has to come. This is a tragedy. A resignation of a Pope is a tragedy. This is not a vacation trip. This is a tragedy. They twist his hand and he couldn't anymore. I have had the gift of being a collaborator for him, as I also was for John Paul II. Being with him, as I was with John Paul, I can tell you this very clear. He is a saint. He is a child, a child of 86 years because he is a kid, shy, humble, until you say, oh no enough, also wise, and when you see how they treated him, humiliated him, crushed. What I feel is a deep compassion. I don't know if you saw the scene on Thursday when he was coming out of his apartment. My soul shrank watching how he put his face, about the circumstance, going out from his house, his secretary crying, the driver kneeling down, crying, do you think this is "happy" retired? They went for him until they got him. They twisted his hand. He did it because there was not any other option. But, listen, there is something terrible happening inside the Church and inside the society against the Church, and we all should know about it. If we think we are in an angelical world when all the things happen by chance – this is not true. Here, there is a scheduled plan deliberately against the Church. Cardinals, Bishops, naturally they left him alone. I don't say all of them, but many they left him alone after the incident when the ex communion to a Lefebrian was removed, a denier of the Holocaust. How they crushed him. It was not his fault. They didn't inform him. As he said after in a public letter to Bishops, "I have been alone in this." This is the first thing we have to discern, of course "they", but also us. Priests? Have we been always praying for the Holy Father? The laity? In 2011, when they publicly went for him, crushing him, we, The Franciscans of Mary and a group of lay, paid 6,000 Euros to publish an announcement in the country on ABC in the world and in the Reason, a half-page announcement: "Holy Father we are with you". How many others did something? When the Bishops wanted to help him, he already was crucified. We collected many forms of support in this parish and in the world to send them to the Nuncitures. How many did something? We organized vigils of prayer for the Pope once a month. How many have been doing for the Pope? The big majority saw the crucifixion of this man and have turned their face to the other side. Nobody supported him with prayers or gave their faces to him. And, this is the first thing that we have to do – examination of conscience. Did I defend the Pope in my house when somebody insulted him? In my job, friends? Did I pray for him? Do I know the real meaning behind the fall – for me, for the family, for the Church, for humanity? Then, many people will say "Oh, look, he was just good. He was not attached to the office and he just resigned." This is how many will take it, as an ordinary, common event. The Pope, put by God, can't be alone. He has to be defended with the support of all of us. I repeat, we all have to examine the conscience, asking ourselves how we took it while we watched them crucify this holy martyr."
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW ARTICLES AND VIDEOS
28 comments for “VIDEO: Priest Talks About Forced Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI”