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The Ignorant Advice
of Colin
Donovan
by Christopher A. Ferrara
 On the website
of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) you will find a battery of
“experts” who are ready to give their “expert” opinions on
all manner of theological subjects. Unlike this column, which deals in facts
and views, whose authority is no greater than this columnist’s ability to
persuade, EWTN’s “experts” purport to give binding advice on
what Catholics must do and say about this or that particular matter
pertaining to the Faith.
One of
EWTN’s “experts” is a fellow named Colin Donovan, S.T.L. (S.T.L.
stands for Licentiate in Sacred Theology, a degree Father Gruner earned with
high honors at the Pontifical college in Rome known as the Angelicum, back in
the 1970s). Donovan offers advice to the public on the extremely narrow
theological speciality of “General Questions Not Covered Elsewhere.”
The advice of Colin Donovan, S.T.L., on what one should think of Father
Nicholas Gruner, S.T.L. is a prime example of why the Internet is often the
least reliable source of information, despite the very impressive appearance of
some of the websites which deliver this bad information to an unsuspecting
public. Here a few samples from Donovan’s “expert” appraisal of
Father Gruner:
“[Father
Gruner] has gone so far as charging a conspiracy between Pope John XXIII and
the Soviet government not to attack communism in exchange for the participation
of Russian Orthodox observers at the Second Vatican Council.” Mr. Donovan
seems unaware that the Vatican-Moscow Agreement, by which the Second Vatican
Council was constrained to silence on communism in exchange for the attendance
of two Russian Orthodox (i.e. KGB) observers, is an established historical fact
attested to in all its details by Msgr. Roche, the personal secretary of
Cardinal Tisserant, who negotiated the agreement for the Vatican.
There must be a
dozen books documenting the existence of the agreement and its strict
enforcement during the Council, including Msgr. Roche’s biography of
Tisserant. In short, on this point “expert” Donovan is a complete
ignoramus.
Donovan’s
ignorance extends to canon law as well. Look at this: “Thus it is that
today Fr. Gruner, who previously simply pushed his opinion on Fatima as he was
free to do, is now engaged in a schismatic campaign of resistance to the Pope.
Catholics who follow his lead of material disobedience to the Pope could find
themselves in formal schism from the Church and excommunicated. This is because
in the human will it is not very far from whining and complaining about what
you don't like about the Church and this pontificate to formally (that is, with
full moral culpability) breaking communion with Peter, especially when you have
taken the first step of material resistance to papal authority.”
This is a truly
amazing jumble of disconnected concepts. According to Donovan, anyone who
follows Father Gruner in his alleged material disobedience to the Pope
could find himself in formal schism, and then
excommunicated—without even realizing it, and without even a
pronouncement by Church authorities! Zounds! Because, you see, whoever
complains about the state of the Church today is not very far from breaking
communion with Peter, since (as we all know) whining and complaining are
the first step of material resistance to papal authority.
Anyone who knows
a lick of canon law would wince and then laugh at Donovan’s
“advice.” For one thing, there is no such thing as the canonical
offense of “material disobedience” or “material resistance”
to the Pope. One either disobeys the Pope or one does not; one either resists
him or one does not. What papal command has Father Gruner disobeyed or
resisted? Donovan does not specify any—because there are none.
What is more,
how can a member of the faithful who “follows” Father Gruner in his
(non-existent) “material disobedience” to unspecified (and
non-existent) papal commands become a formal schismatic and
be excommunicated, when Father Gruner himself is neither a schismatic nor
excommunicated, but only “materially” disobedient? Oy, what a mess.
This
is the sort of nonsense the Fatima revisionists are peddling in an effort to
prevent anyone from listening to Father Gruner’s common-sensical views on
the Message of Fatima. In essence, Donovan’s “expert” advice is
that anyone who listens to Father Gruner will soon cease to be a member of the
Catholic Church.
Donovan preys on
the fears of the ill-informed in the same manner the Soviets preyed on the
fears of the Russian people in declaring some enemy of the state an un-person.
Meanwhile, Russia, and the rest of the world, are hurtling toward hell in a
handbasket, while Donovan and his accomplices assure us that Our Lady’s
requests at Fatima have been heeded.
Mr. Donovan, you
know nothing. Take down your “expert” shingle, please, and let people
think for themselves. I will have more to say about EWTN’s dubious
“experts” in future columns.
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