Fr. Hesse: Questions and Answers on Tradition (Audio + Video Footage)

A conversation with Fr. Hesse from October 2002.

Notable parts and quotes of Fr. Hesse in this talk:

Commentary of Fr. Hesse on the (then recent) “canonization” of Josemaría Escrivá during the same week it took place. Regarding this issue of doubtful modern beatifications and canonizations, I highly recommend this list of articles by the SSPX: http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/list-doubts-canonizations-3960

Canon Hesse was asked if Pope John Paul II was a heretic and he answers.

“Innocent III said, reminding his successors in the papacy: ‘Don’t ever think that because you cannot be judged by men, that that is a sort of relief to you. The less a man is judged by men, the more he will be judged by God!’”

“Who's going to listen to the present pope anyway? The liberals don't listen to him because he's too conservative. The Opus Dei doesn't listen to him because it's more powerful than the pope anyway. The Jewish Masonry – the B'nai B'rith – the brothers of the covenant – are not going to listen to the Pope because they tell the pope what to do anyway. That's what Cardinal Ciappi said on his deathbed. I'm quoting Cardinal Ciappi. Don't sue me for that. I mean they're not listening to the pope anyway. The liberals don't listen because he's too conservative. We cannot listen because we know he's wrong.”

Fr. Hesse talks about what Fr. Malachi Martin told him about a line in the Church-approved apparition of La Salette that was universally censured that foretells “two worm-ridden popes.” Fr. Hesse discusses which of the recent Popes he thinks are most likely these two worm-ridden popes.

Fr. Hesse discusses phenomenology (a philosophy Pope John Paul II heavily subscribed to).

Fr. Hesse talks about collegiality (in terms of the college of bishops).

“[What if all of you were machine-gunned down?] Who of you would go to Heaven, who of you would go to Purgatory, and who of you would go to Hell? This is the only interesting question in life: the only interesting question in life.”

Fr. Gregory Hesse, S.T.D., J.C.D., S.T.L., J.C.L., Canon Lawyer, Doctor of Thomistic Theology, lifelong friend and personal secretary of Cardinal Stickler at the Vatican from 1986-1988 has provided us with many talks and conferences where he gives a no-nonsense, intelligent, learned, and witty exposition and explanation of relevant topics facing contemporary faithful Catholics. Fr. Hesse got to know approximately 45 cardinals while studying and working in Rome for 15 years and he has an uncanny and substantial knowledge of many things. You would be hard-pressed to find another theologian quite like him.

Canon Hesse was related to the Hapsburg royal bloodline. He was born in Vienna in 1952, ordained by Cardinal Marella in St. Peter's Basilica on November 21, 1981, and earned doctorates in Canon Law and Theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. He worked as a personal secretary of Cardinal Stickler at the Vatican from 1986 to 1988. He passed away on January 25, 2006. You would be hard-pressed to find another theologian quite like him. A breath of fresh air in today’s widespread climate of many weak, ignorant, and naive clerics and theologians, he was affectionately called by several of his friends during his life “the bull in the china shop.” His example, testimony, and insights no doubt played and will play an important role in Catholic thought and development. Listen to find out why.

You can download the free MP3 of all of Fr. Hesse’s talks to listen to on your computer or portable audio devices at: https://archive.org/details/FatherHesse
That link includes 33 talks totaling 38 hours, 50 minutes of audio.
You can also download them here: https://mega.nz/folder/7h52AYBY#6bmPr3KwWvgvsB2yBV7fkg

This video and all the remastered audio files at the above link have been professionally touched up to remove as much background noise, pops, crackles, and other audio imperfections as possible. Because the original recordings were done on cassette tapes with less-than-ideal audio equipment, there are a certain amount of audio artifacts and tape hiss that were not possible to entirely remove. However, the remastered audio files are significantly better than the originals.