On the occasion of the funeral of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush on December 6, 2018, the world was graphically shown the difference between the true Catholic faith and the heretical Protestant knockoffs, including the New Order (Novus Ordo) sect. In fact, this was not really a religious funeral, but a secular government meeting that happened to be held in a church building.This brought to mind Hilaire Belloc's remarks on William Laud in Characters of the Reformation:The funeral services were conducted by an heretical Protestant sect, the Episcopalians. Although some conservative Episcopalian sects have more "smells and bells" -- that is the derisive term by which the more Puritanical describe the Catholic liturgy --, the sect to which George H.W. Bush belonged seems to have been on the decidedly "liberal" side: a Neo-Protestant, Evangelical sect, which has no real funeral liturgy, just some readings from a Modernist version of the Bible and an incessant number of eulogies.
The words of Scripture read were taken from an ugly, Modernist vulgar-tongued version of the Bible. The Episcopalians, even on this highly formal occasion, did not use their venerable King James Version, let alone the Catholic Church's sublime, stately, incomparable Latin.
Indeed, the eulogies were endless. Now we see firsthand why the Catholic Church does not permit eulogies at a funeral. There were no eulogies at President John Kennedy's funeral in 1963, for example. What presumption! The Episcopalians apparently regard man as the judge, not God. The carillon at the cathedral was pealing in joy at a "saint" bound for Heaven, not tolling in mourning and humility at a soul bound for God's judgment.
The Apostles Creed teaches: Inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos [Thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead]. Catholic dogma, coming directly from Scripture, accordingly teaches that God judges each soul at death (the Particular Judgment). The Bush funeral was, for the presumptuous Episcopalians, a "done deal." Man, not God, was the judge, and Bush passed in the eyes of man.
Thus, the funeral was a virtual apotheosis into Heaven. This is the Protestant and Newchurch heresy of "Universal Salvation." The color was the white of a pre-judged saint, not the black of humility before the judgment of God. What does the Lord say: "Nor do I judge according to the look of man; for man seeth those things that appear; but the Lord beholdeth the heart" (1 Kings 16:7/DRV). The Episcopalians have no idea what occult sins Bush may have had, what the actual state of his soul was at death, and what penance may have remained. That is why God, Who sees the heart, is the final judge, not man, who should refrain from judgment.
But at the same time Laud is a still more striking example of the way in which the Reformation had made the Protestant attitude of mind unescapable for those who had broken away from Catholic unity. In other words, the interest of his career lies in this —that in spite of certain sympathies with Catholic tradition and in spite of their recovering certain sides of the general European culture, the Protestants throughout Europe and even in England (where Catholicism was still so strong), were condemned to be the victims of the original violent rebellion which had taken place in their lathers' time.I think the post at Traditio Fathers is completely correct in saying that the Bush funeral was a manifestation of a state religion, hitchhiking on certain Protestant forms. However, there is a great deal of scriptural authority for the view that the appropriate response to a state religion can be martyrdom. It's worth noting the mainstream media consensus that the one public figure who seemed uncomfortable at the solemnities for George XLI was Donald Trump.In the case of Laud, and of England in general, this was particularly striking because the force which made against their returning to Catholic unity was the force of nationalism; that is, the claim of lay society and its Prince (or King) to independence from the general moral unity of Christendom and the West. All of this is summed up of course in the refusal to accept Papal Supremacy. (p 173)
Trump, at least at Christmas and Easter, does attend an Episcopalian parish in Palm Beach, FL. I would guess that he must George XLI's strain of Episcopalianism less seriously than the Bush family -- indeed, at the Christmas Eve 2016 midnight mass, the Palm Beach Episcopalians gave Trump a standing ovation when he came in. A different crowd, it would seem.
