TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) — The Archbishop of Toronto organized and participated in an indigenous pagan ritual of purification, known as a “smudging” ceremony, in Toronto’s Cathedral of St. Michael on September 30.
The smudging ritual took place directly in front of the main altar just before the beginning of Mass, which was presided over by Cardinal Thomas Collins. Both the ritual and the Mass were intended to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
In the video of the ceremony at the Toronto cathedral, Collins can be seen wafting himself with “sacred smoke” of purification offered him by the indigenous shaman, before ascending to the altar to begin Mass.
The event was reported by the Canadian news agency The Catholic Register: “The Mass began with a smudging ceremony before the altar. Dr. Peter Menzies, Anishawbek from the Sagamok First Nation, said it was an honour to be asked to lead the smudging ceremony at the cathedral.”
“An expert in aboriginal children’s mental health and addictions, Menzies usually treats smudging as part of his personal spiritual practice and does not often receive requests from parishes,” the report continued. “‘When I’m asked, I will do it,’ he told The Catholic Register.”
***MAJOR UPDATE, November 10, 2022*** LifeSiteNews reported the bombshell statement issued by Archbishop Viganò, declaring that members of the “Bergoglian church” are no longer in union with the Church of Christ.
According to Archbishop Viganò:
the visible church, to which the world gives the name of Catholic Church and of which it considers Bergoglio as Pope, is no longer Church...
This statement was long overdue, and Archbishop Viganò is finally sounding the alarm — Pope Francis is leading the Church into something radically different than the Church established by Christ. Pope Francis cannot continue betraying the faithful by abdicating his duty as Universal Shepherd.
The time to redouble our efforts and fervently request that Pope Francis repent and be reconciled with the Church is NOW.
SIGN and SHARE. Defend the Church and demand that Pope Francis faithfully uphold the authentic Catholic faith!
Bishops from across the world have raised concern over Pope Francis' unfaithfulness to the 2,000+ years of Catholic teaching, and the recent statement by Archbishop Viganò is truly the breaking point into a new era for faithful Catholics.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT FROM LIFESITENEWS AND SIGN THIS PETITION TO DEFEND THE CHURCH NOW.
****************
Bishop Joseph Strickland, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Fr. James Altman, and two dozen more faithful Catholic priests & scholars are publicly calling out Pope Francis for his outrageous, dangerous, and heretical teaching concerning reception of Holy Communion.
Pope Francis stated that "faith" is the only requirement for those who wish to receive Holy Communion in his June 29 Apostolic Letter on the liturgy, Desiderio desideravi.
This statement is dangerous because:
- The Council of Trent explicitly anathematized those who make this claim calling it 'heresy'
- Pope Francis omitted the essential step of repentance for sin to worthily receive the Eucharist.
- Pope Francis is thereby allowing the faithful to eat and drink condemnation on themselves, should they receive Holy Communion unworthily
- Pope Francis is supporting moral relativism, eradicating the clear distinction between good and evil
- Pope Francis is eradicating the need for the Sacrament of Confession
- Pope Francis is damaging the teaching office of the Church by sowing doubt and division among faithful Catholics
But there is a way to stop Pope Francis' modernist attack and defend the true Catholic teaching on Holy Communion.
Catholics everywhere must renounce Pope Francis' heresy and uphold the truth: only Baptized Catholics in the state of grace, and therefore free of mortal sin, can receive Holy Communion*.
For those in mortal sin, repentance and absolution must first be sought in the Sacrament of Confession before receiving the Eucharist*.
Pope Francis' statement would mislead many souls, which is why we need your help today to stand with Bishop Strickland, Fr. Altman, Bishop Schneider, and more.
TELL POPE FRANCIS: HOLY COMMUNION CAN ONLY BE RECEIVED IN THE STATE OF GRACE!
The growing list of faithful Catholics who are standing for the truth and bravely resisting Pope Francis' attempt to dilute the Church's moral authority is only growing. This is great news, but the news can't simply stop with you.
You must join the growing list of supporters to but a STOP to Pope Francis' heresy.
WATCH: LifeSiteNews' co-CEO and Editor-in-Chief, John-Henry Westen, fully breaks down the growing list of faithful Catholics choosing to resist Pope Francis' attack on the faith.
Stand with these faithful Catholics: Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop André Gracida, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Bishop Robert Mutsaerts, Father Gerald E. Murray, Father James Altman, Father John Lovell, Professor Claudio Pierantoni, Dr. John Lamont, Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, Professor Anna Silvas, Dr. Anthony Esolen, Professor John Rist, Professor Paolo Pasqualucci, Julia Meloni, George Neumayr, and LifeSite’s John-Henry Westen.
*However, if a Catholic is unable to attend Confession but has a grave reason for receiving the Eucharist (such as a priest who may be required to celebrate Mass at a given time but who is unable to go to Confession), such a person must be confident to the best of his ability that he have perfect contrition for any mortal sins that he may have committed before receiving Holy Communion in an exceptional situation.
MORE INFORMATION:
Full statement by Catholic bishops and scholars correcting Pope Francis' heresy - LifeSiteNews
In his homily, although Collins called the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” “the norm for us all,” he also said the Church should “appreciate and celebrate the traditions of the indigenous peoples,” failing to distinguish those indigenous traditions compatible with the Faith from those that stand contrary to the practice of the Christian religion, such as the worship of the forces of nature, the invocation of the spirits of the dead, and rituals of purification that stand outside the revealed economy of grace.
“Recognizing the centuries of Indigenous contributions to the Church,” the cardinal said, “and honoring indigenous spirituality ought to come naturally to Canadian Catholics… Within the community of the Church, we need to appreciate and celebrate the traditions of the Indigenous peoples, and of every national and cultural community, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the norm for us all.”
Following the lead of the cardinal in the undiscerning adoption of indigenous pagan rituals within the liturgy of the Church, some Catholic laity simply looked on the smudging ceremony as a cultural incorporation on the part of the Church.
READ: Pope Francis’ planned ‘smudging’ ritual in Canada is a formal act of superstition
Maria Lucas, a Metis lawyer with the indigenous law firm Goldblatt Partners LLP, said of the event, “To see the cardinal smudge at the beginning is very meaningful. As an element of our culture incorporated into the liturgy, it is important.”
Other Canadian Catholics denounced the ceremony as “a blasphemous act of wokeness and lip service to the actual suffering and needs of our indigenous communities,” pointing out that while pagan rituals are being adopted by the hierarchy, these same prelates are restricting the offering of the Chruch’s own ancient Apostolic liturgy in the form of the Traditional Latin Mass, which was formalized by St. Gregory the Great and whose oldest parts are traced to the Apostle Peter.
According to one indigenous online source, of which there are many, “Smudging is a ritual way to cleanse a person , place, or an object of negative energies, spirits or influences. The smudging ceremony involves the burning of special, sacred plants and herbal resins, then, either passing an object through the resulting smoke, or fanning the smoke around a person or place. The spirit of the plant then purifies whatever is being smudged.”
In July, Pope Francis took part in a similar smudging ceremony that also invoked the dead by calling on the “circle of spirits.” As LifeSiteNews noted at the time, “to attempt to spiritually ‘purify’ a person or place outside the order of grace established by Christ and His Church in the sacraments and sacred rites of Catholicism, constitutes not only the sin of superstition, but would also entail grave sacrilege, since both a consecrated Church and a consecrated bishop… would be subjected to a pagan ritual of purification and would thereby actually be profaned.”
RELATED
Pope Francis attends Indigenous ‘healing dance’ to ‘Mother Earth’ during Canada trip