Virginia “Bishops” Capitulate to Culture of Death While Feigning Opposition
The conciliar sect’s “bishops” of Arlington and Richmond—Michael Burbidge and Barry Knestout—issued a Jan. 16 statement condemning a proposed Virginia constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortion as a “fundamental right.” While superficially opposing the measure, their protest lacks the uncompromising clarity demanded by Catholic doctrine and exposes their complicity in the post-conciliar church’s moral collapse. The “bishops” describe the amendment as “extreme” for permitting abortion “at any stage of pregnancy” and eliminating parental consent requirements, yet their response remains embedded in the very theological liberalism that enabled this evil.
Naturalism Masquerading as Moral Outrage
The “bishops'” statement reduces abortion to a policy dispute rather than intrinsic evil (Veritatis Splendor 80), framing objections in secular terms:
“The extreme abortion amendment…would severely jeopardize Virginia’s parental consent law, health and safety standards for women, conscience protections for health care providers, and restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortions.”
This emphasis on “health and safety standards” and fiscal concerns ignores the primacy of eternal salvation. Nowhere do they declare abortion providers and proponents ipso facto excommunicated (Canon 2350 §1 of the 1917 Code) or warn voters that supporting this amendment constitutes formal cooperation in murder (Pius XI, Casti Connubii 64-65). Their silence on damnation for unrepentant abortion advocates mirrors the conciliar sect’s refusal to preach mysterium iniquitatis (2 Thess 2:7).
Theological Vacuum Enables Legislative Barbarism
Burbidge’s call to “pray, fast, and advocate” rings hollow when divorced from the Church’s doctrine of social kingship. Neither “bishop” demands Catholic legislators face canonical penalties for advancing child murder, nor do they invoke Quas Primas’ teaching that “nations…must submit to the rule of Christ” (Pius XI, Quas Primas 18). Their tepid appeal to “religious liberty” contradicts the Syllabus of Errors’ condemnation of the notion that “the Church ought to be separated from the State” (Pius IX, Syllabus 55).
Worse, they promote voting rights for felons while tolerating legislators who facilitate infanticide—a grotesque inversion of justice. The 1917 Code reserves excommunication for abortionists (Canon 2350) but imposes no such penalty for voting fraud, yet these “bishops” prioritize the latter issue.
Mercy Without Repentance: The Conciliar Sect’s Deadly Fraud
Burbidge’s Jan. 15 statement exemplifies the neo-church’s corrosive pseudo-mercy:
“To any man or woman who carries the pain, regret, or sorrow of participation in abortion, know this clearly—you are not alone, and God awaits you with love and mercy.”
This omits the necessity of sacramental confession (Council of Trent, Sess. XIV, Chap. 4) and implies emotional distress, not objective guilt, requires healing. Contrast this with Pius XI’s unambiguous teaching: “Those who hold the reins of government should not forget that it is the duty of public authority by appropriate laws and sanctions to defend the lives of the innocent” (Casti Connubii 66).
Omissions Reveal Conciliar Complicity
The “bishops” remain silent on key issues:
1. No condemnation of “Catholic” legislators supporting the amendment, though St. Pius X mandated that such persons “must be denounced publicly as unworthy of Communion” (Vehementer Nos 8).
2. No call for civil leaders to resist evil, contrary to Pius XII’s command that rulers must “repress the spread of doctrines which…endanger [citizens’] eternal salvation” (Ci Riesce).
3. No admission that the Novus Ordo establishment enabled this crisis by abandoning Quas Primas’ call for “States…to submit to the rule of Christ” (Pius XI, 19).
Symptomatic of Conciliar Apostasy
This feeble protest flows directly from Vatican II’s embrace of religious liberty (Dignitatis Humanae 2) and collegiality. When “bishops” reject their God-given authority to bind legislators under pain of excommunication (Leo XIII, Immortale Dei 13), they reduce themselves to political lobbyists. The amendment’s advancement proves Pius X’s warning: “Modernists completely invert the parts” by making faith subservient to science (Pascendi 36).
Virginia’s descent into infanticide worship confirms the conciliar sect’s bankruptcy. As true shepherds vanish, wolves govern the fold.
Source:
Virginia bishops condemn proposed abortion amendment: ‘We will fight’ (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 18.01.2026