RCF Membership Grows,
New Chapters Form

By Arthur J. Brew

SPRINGFIELD, Ill - In less than a year, a Midwestern lay initiative, loyal to the Holy Father and the Magisterium, has spread around the world, enrolling more than 2,000 members in 48 states and four foreign countries.

The Roman Catholic Faithful, the brainchild of Stephen Brady and a few friends, has waged a no-holds-barred war against the increasingly vocal dissidents who are sowing discord and confusion in the Catholic Church.

"We object to individuals or groups of individuals being allowed access to Catholic schools, churches, and Church property to promote any belief, teaching, or idea contrary to Catholic teaching as defined by the Holy Father and the Magisterium. We expect every Catholic priest to follow the disciplines of the Church as he promised to do. We expect every bishop to do all he can to safeguard the souls of our children by exercising his authority to ensure proper teaching within Catholic schools and parish religion programs.

"We object to any priest treating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as his personal possession by adding, changing, or removing any part of the Mass on his own authority. We object to the forced sex education of our children. When we walk into a Roman Catholic church or school, we expect true Catholicism! Is that too much to ask for?"

Roman Catholic Faithful makes no secret of its desire to do battle with such dissident groups as Call to Action and similar organizations.

"Call to Action," says Brady, "is just a new name for old heresies. If the Church were ever to allow women to enter the priesthood and to allow the use of contraception as CTA demands, the Catholic Church would be no more. We have to wonder why these 'Catholics' work so hard to destroy the Church from within. They could surely find another Christian church to meet their needs.

"As Catholics, we have silently stood by as spectators, watching our Church and country slowly decay. We have the Truth, and we have the responsibility to profess it."

Another concern of RCF is the plight of orthodox priests who find themselves a minority throughout the country, and, not infrequently, out of favor with their modernist bishops.

"All across the country," RCF claims, "orthodox priests are being persecuted by their bishops. They have the information we need. Too many of our bishops have been shamefully silent. Not only are they not defending the faith, they provide a forum to those who wish to deny the authority of the Pope and the teachings of the Church."

Brady plans an extensive national speaking tour next year and hopes to see an RCF affiliate in each diocese in the country. "When the modernist bishops see what a group of God-loving, cross-carrying, insignificant Catholics can do, they will run for cover when we come their way," he predicts.

"Our desire is that all will come back to the true Church, but that will never happen if no one defends the teaching of the true Church. It is up to the laity."

Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., prominent author, lecturer, and theologian, has echoed Brady's call to arms.

"The reasons for the need of the laity's involvement," Fr. Hardon said recently, "are obvious - the complete secularization of society - the breakdown of family life. Our country is the most unstable nation in the whole world. We have the highest divorce rate of any country, and contraception and sterilization are on a scale unknown since the dawn of Christianity. Closed novitiates with few or no vocations. The devastation of the Catholic priesthood - and so the dreary litany could go on.

"These factors point up the existence of a large-scale, deep, heartfelt need. That need is for the faithful to become involved as they've never been before in the history of the Church to restore the faith."

For additional information, write or call
Roman Catholic Faithful,
P.O. Box 109
Petersburg, IL 62675
phone 217-632-5920; fax 217-632-7054.

From the 12/5/1996 issue of The Wanderer, published by The Wanderer Press, 201 Ohio Street, St. Paul, MN 55107. One year, $40, six months, $25. Canada and foreign add $10.