Showing posts with label Benedict XVI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benedict XVI. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Franciscans of the Immaculate Win Important Legal Battle

Franciscan of Immaculate marching for life. New points for victory, but without a rethinking in the Vatican there seem no end to the torments in sight.

(Rome) The Franciscans of the Immaculate, oppressed by the Congregation of Religious with the approval of Pope Francis, have achieved another victory, at least a moral victory, which should more than ever be the occasion of a process of reflection in the Vatican. There aren’t any indications so far.

Despite its young age, the Order, which was not established until the early nineties, stood out for the great number of religious and priestly vocations, even in Europe, where most of the orders are moaning because of a lack of vocations.

Old Rite and missionary - and a thorn in the eye

The secret: As large parts of the Church and also many members of the Order, especially during and after the Council, were enthusiastic about "cutting off old braids" and introducing all sorts of innovations in the name of new "freedoms," from the setting aside of the Order's name to the abandonment of the Order's habit, from the convenient expansion of the cells while at the same time reducing the communal prayer of the hours, two friars minor went the opposite way. They asked to leave the company of their "progressive" confreres and retire to an abandoned monastery and revive it. There, they did not seek to subject their religious rule to an "aggiornamento" but to build on the first Franciscan rule of the order and deepen Marian spirituality.

The two Minorites, Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli and Fr. Gabriele Pellettieri, were joined by others, and they became the founders of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, a Marian and traditional order. As Pope Benedict XVI. freed the Immemorial Rite with the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum and procured a home in the church, the young religious community did not hesitate to follow him in it. The Franciscans of the Immaculate became the first and so far only new religious order, which has returned to the traditional rite, but remained pastoral and bi-ritual. The special charisma that has distinguished the Order from other altruistic communities was its missionary zeal.

Benedict XVI. held his protective hand over the Order, which seemed to become as unique and interesting a model as it was to young members of other orders.

The Commissar 

Then there was the unexpected resignation Benedict XVI. and election of Pope Francis. In the Order, a tiny minority of five disgruntled, liberal brothers had complained because of the change to the Immemorial Rite in the Vatican. Under Benedict XVI. the Congregation of the Religious did not dare to take action. Under Francis, it immediately received the tiny minority's complaint as an opportunity to crack down on the unloved model - and radically.

Order's founder, Father Manelli
Manelli was deposed as Superior General and placed under house arrest. The order's leadership was removed from office, the priests were forbidden to celebrate the Immemorial Rite, and an apostolic commissar was appointed. In contradiction to Summorum Pontificum, each priest had to individually apply for a special permission to celebrate in the forma extraordinaria.

In order to exorcise the Order's charisma, monasteries were closed, its seminary closed and evictions were carried out. The conversion into an Ecclesia Dei community was prohibited as well as the founding of a new order. Bishops were threatened if they accepted Franciscans of the Immaculate who left the Order.

In that summer of 2013, a veritable destructive campaign was kindled. The consequences did not remain: the first was the drying up of the vocations.

No reason

The Summit: To date, the Vatican has not given any reasons for this radical interference, let alone any charges. So far there was no possibility for the Franciscans of Immaculate to defend themselves against the oppressive measures of the papacy or at least to defend themselves. The requests and queries of Fr. Manelli to be received and heard by the Pope were not answered by Francis.

As Commissar, the Congregation of Religious used the Capuchin, Father Fidenzio Volpi. A man who was possessed of no sympathy for the tradition or the Immemorial Rite. Accordingly, he raged against the Order. Unofficially, let it be cryptically hinted that the order was being cleaned up because of "Lefebvrian deviationism." Later, he even claimed that the Order had been put under temporary administration four months after the election of Pope Francis, because it wanted to "overthrow" the Pope. That tradition and the Immemorial Rite is the real enemy became more and more clear, if there was any need for further proof.

In May 2013, founder Manelli celebrated his 80th birthday (see Father Stefano Maria Manelli is 80 - success story of the Franciscans of the Immaculate: Old Rite and Missionary), unaware of what a storm would soon rage over his work. Meanwhile, Fr. Manelli is 85 years old and has been under house arrest for nearly five years, as ordered by the Vatican.

The Book of Slander

By contrast, Commissioner Volpi has been long dead. Today, the second Commissar, who is a bit more reserved than his predecessor, is in office today. Volpi died in the midst of a civil and criminal dispute before Italian courts. The way in front of state courts is at least open to Father Manelli and representatives of the lay organizations affiliated to the Order because the Vatican has no access to it.

The book by Loredana Volpi
Volpi had been condemned by the Italian court for defamation, to payment of damages, the execution of which was prevented by his death.

Loredana Volpi, a niece of the deceased commissar, saw the reputation of her uncle damaged. Together with Mario Castellano, she wrote the book "Truth and Justice for Father Fidenzio Volpi. A dark matter in the pontificate of Pope Francis" (Verità e giustizia per padre Fidenzio Volpi, Una oscura vicenda nel Pontificato di Papa Francesco). Now, she has admitted to accusing the Order of unproven things and writing slander against those in charge of the lay religious organizations.

"While the Acting Administration of the Franciscans of the Immaculate continues in its sixth (!) year, without for the time being, foreseeing a possible solution to this unusual affair, which together with other actions bordering on arbitrariness (see the Order of Malta) like a blemish on this pontificate, has been a important manner of procedure in the indictment and slander-construct that has poisoned this story," said Vatican Marco Tosatti.
Mario Castellano, the co-author with Loredana Volpi, was a consultant to Commissar Volpi. Numerous hints, tips and "recommendations" from Fr. Alfonso Bruno, the main opponent of Fr. Manelli, who became the main beneficiary of the provisional administration of the Order, were probably included in the book.

In each country there are keywords that function as ciphers. If you want to slander someone, it is sufficient to incorporate these keywords and to drop some allusions in the subjunctive. Castellano and Volpi in their book brought the Order and lay organizations into contact with the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia. The mafia is good for slander in Italy.

Loredana Volpi was received in audience, apparently for merit in the struggle against the Franciscans of the Immaculate, even by Pope Francis, to whom she presented a copy of her book.

The Apology


The founders Manelli and Pellettieri
The two authors, however, made a mistake. In their references in the book, they named the leading lay representatives by name. These filed a criminal complaint for defamation. This was to prove the truth, which was obviously not possible. To escape prosecution, Loredana Volpi decided to come to an out of court settlement with the plaintiffs. She undertook to write a letter of apology to be published in the leading daily newspaper of Southern Italy, in Il Mattino, and in the national daily La Repubblica. The left-liberal Repubblica was not the only newspaper to participate in the campaign against the Franciscans of the Immaculate. The ruling may have fallen on it because it is the only newspaper that Pope Francis reads daily, according to his own statement.

However, in order for the message to arrive at the governing pope, who bears the responsibility for the whole case, Volpi must, as she had handed him a book, also make her apologies directly.

Tosatti published excerpts from the letter of apology:

"It is absolutely certain that the statements employed are [...] not justified, being untrue, and for that reason they must be considered absolutely baseless and unjustified. In that sense, I renew to you my formal apology for the unfortunate and unjustified conduct towards you, and I inform you that the present letter will be published in the following ... media organizations and also on the Internet so that it may be widely used to redress the damage caused."
In return, those affected withdrew their ad.

The one most principally responsible is Pope Francis

The incident proves "once more," according to Tosatti, that the whole affair, which brought a most extraordinary, flourishing, young order to the brink of annihilation, is based on a construct of unproven allegations, rumors, baseless allusions, numerous verbal aggressions, and unbelievable slander. In short: it is an intrigue. The intriguers, that's for sure, seem partly personal, but partly ideologically motivated.

The ultimate responsibility for this lies not only with Pope Francis, because he endorsed the interventions of the Congregation of Religious, but above all because he has put both the male and the female branch, which was also placed under provisional administration at a later time, with two separate actions he refused to appeal to the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura against the measures of the Congregation of Religious. Thus, he decided by virtue of his powers as an absolute monarch. Why so much emphasis on an Order with which he had never had direct contact? The ordinary legal process would have clarified the legality and validity of the measures of the  Congregation of Religious and above all revealed what it is all about. That was (and is) precisely, obviously not desired.

Loredana Volpi's apology, according to Marco Tosatti, "casts a heavy shadow on the credibility of the Fronde [faction] of adversaries," arrayed against Father Manelli and his Order.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL / Chiesa e postconcilio / Corrispondenza Romana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Previously Unpublished Texts by Benedict XVI on Human Rights

Former Pope urges in essay 2014: Replacement of human rights for the concept of God "ends in a nihilistic 'right' of man to deny himself"
 
Vatican City (kath.net/KAP) From the perspective of former Pope Benedict XVI. faith in God is the best foundation for the concept of human rights. At the same time, however, he also qualifies these so that man can not and should not reverse them. These are the essential statements of a previously unpublished text by Benedict XVI, which will appear recently in a new book with selected contributions and speeches of the emeritus Pope on the subject of faith and politics. [And a forward by Pope Francis.]

The essay "The Multiplication of Rights and the Destruction of the Legal Concept" was a response Benedict XVI. (2005-2013) penned in autumn 2014 to a book written by the Italian philosopher and politician Marcello Pera. In his book "Church, Human Rights and the Abandonment of God" is about what happens when "the concept of human rights is replaced by the concept of God," wrote Benedict XVI.

He summarizes his analysis of Pera as follows: "The multiplication of rights ... ends in a nihilistic 'right' of man to deny himself," Abortion, suicide and the "production of a human being as a thing" would then be regarded as human rights "which deny him at the same time."

Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI. had already contributed to Pera's books in 2005 and 2009. The now published statement is in the form of a letter to the philosopher and longtime Forza Italia politician. In it, the emeritus Pope initially dealt with the topic of human rights in papal teachings. After their condemnation in the 19th century, the encyclical "Pacem in Terris" by John XXIII. (1958-1963) took a turn.

However, the topic of human rights has become especially important in the thinking of John Paul II (1978-2005). In their obedience to God, the Pope from Poland saw the first Christians' resistance to the claims of absolute power of the Roman Emperor, an early Christian justification of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These in turn were for him, a suitable instrument in the fight against the ideologies of National Socialism and Communism.

The new volume "Freeing Freedom - Faith and Politics in the Third Millennium" [In English, "Faith and Politics" by Ignatius Press] with political texts and speeches by the theologian Joseph Ratzinger and later Pope Benedict XVI. will be released worldwide next Monday (5/14.). In Italy he has been trading since Thursday. The German version is published by Verlag Herder.  The foreword was written by Pope Francis.

Trans Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger: The Church is Internally Divided

"We are concerned with ecumenism, forgetting that the Church has split up within itself and that it extends even into families and communities."

Josef Cardinal Ratzinger in an interview with Guido Horst, October 2003

Link to Katholisches... 

AMDG

Monday, July 17, 2017

"Now There is Even a Pseudo-Ratzinger" -- Sharp Attaks by Ultrabergoglians Against Benedict XVI after Meisner-Requiem

(Rome) Last Saturday the requiem and the funeral of Joachim Cardinal Meisner took place in Cologne. The emeritus Archbishop of Cologne had passed away last July 5th in his 84th year. Benedict XVI Gave greetings to the ceremony, which was read by his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, in Cologne Cathedral. The former Pope's message triggered violent reactions among the Ultrabergoglians.



Cardinal Meisner, who had to witness expulsion from his East German home Silesia as a child, and afterwards more than 40 years of communist dictatorship in Central Germany, is one of the four signatories of Dubia (Doubts) on the controversial post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia by Pope Francis. The four cardinals who addressed five questions to Francis in September 2016 have been regarded as the principal enemy of the papal court and convinced Bergoglians. Undaunted, Cardinal Meisner held fast to the questions which are a critique of the latest developments in the Church. He was "returned home" (Benedict XVI) without receiving from the ruling Pope his answers, and without being received by him in audience, which he had requested along with the other signatories in April.



Convicted shepherds were sought, "who resist the dictatorship of the temporal spirit"



Benedict XVI's greetings were, therefore, particularly badly received in the Pope's circle. The Pope, who had resigned in a surprise in 2013, said in Cologne that the Church "urgently, especially needs  convincted shepherds, who resist the dictatorship of the Zeitgeist, and live and think decisively from the faith."



Benedict XVI did not answer directly to the conflict of the deceased Cardinal with Pope Francis' agenda and the Dubia to Amoris laetitia. Nevertheless, he made every effort to make it clear that he saw Cardinal Meisner as such a "convicted shepherd" who resisted "the dictatorship of the Zeitgeist."



This unmistakable distinction for the man, who, together with three other cardinals, challenged the ruling pope, drove some Bergoglians to be red in the face with anger. This also applies to a further passage in the greeting of Benedict XVI, where he compares the current state of the Church with a boat "almost filled to capsizing". This image was also used in the Missa Pro Eligendo Pontifice of 2005, which preceded the Conclave, where he was elected Pope. Once again, he spoke in 2012 when he blessed the participants in the pilgrimage of the Catholic Action of Italy, who had come to Rome in the year of their faith.


Ultrabergoglians demanded Benedict XVI's silence


Melloni against Benedict XVI.

The reactions could not fail, as some Ultrabergoglians have already bitterly complained to public statements from Benedict XVI in recent months. In connection with a greeting to Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacraments, which was added as an epilogue to his latest book, "Power of Silence", led the rabid frothing of leading progressive representatives, who have been particularly zealous since the election of Francis as pope. Alberto Melloni, the director of the Bologna Progressive School, and Andrea Grillo, influential liturgist in the era of Francis, clearly demanded that Benedict XVI. be silent.

This, however, can not be forbidden, and he gave a greeting to his secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, which he read in Cologne.

Alberto Melloni, head of the School of Bologna, whose main work, the multi-volume history of the Second Vatican Council, was translated into German at the expense of the German Bishops' Conference, made a poll on Twitter. Melloni doubted polemically that the words came from Benedict XVI. He wrote the disparaging tweet,

"There is a Proto-Ratzinger, a Deutero-Ratzinger and now also a pseudo-Ratzinger with negative allusions to the ruling pope."
Melloni's like-minded historian colleague Massimo Faggioli seconded:

"It would be nice to know who wrote the message of Joseph Ratzinger for the funeral of Cardinal Meisner."

Both regard Benedict XVI's words as a criticism of Pope Francis.

The ghostwriters of Francis and the memory gaps of the pope

It is widely known that Benedict XVI personally, as Pope, wrote by hand all the texts which were important to him. Nothing could have changed in this practice of the frequent author. Francis, who has never written a book, knows, however, that he is using documents with the help of ghostwriters. Have the two Bergoglians, Melloni and Faggioli, perhaps, confused Benedict XVI. with Francis?

Their polemic is aimed at Benedict XVI, who has already resigned from the papacy. It may, therefore, be doubted that the two Bergoglians, with their pages, were alluding to Pope Francis. However, on 16 April 2016, on the return flight from Lesbos, a few days after the publication of Amoris laetitia, he had to admit to the question of the journalist Jean-Marie Guénois of Le Figaro that he could not remember exactly what he had put down in the recently published Apostolic Letters.

On the same occasion, instead of responding to the question of Francis Rocca from the Wall Street Journal, Francis referred to his colleagues: "I recommend you to read the presentation given by Cardinal Schönborn, who is a great theologian. He is a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and is well acquainted with the teachings of the Church. In that presentation your question will be answered. Thank you."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Pope's Secretary: "If he had remained Pope, he would not have lived long"



"If he had remained pope, he would not have lived long."
Focus Magazine , No. 26, June 24, 2017, Archbishop Georg Gänswein on Benedict XVI, who was "deeply exhausted" after an eight-year pontificate. Four years and four months have passed since his resignation from office.
Image: Focus (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Monday, March 27, 2017

Program of Contrasts: Francis in Milan -- Benedict's Prayerful Dialog in Rome

(Rome) The pictures of the last 25th March, the Feast of the Annunciation, which show Pope Francis before the Most Blessed Sacrament exposed for him in the Winter Choir (Coro Jemale) of the Cathedral of Milan, sitting without taking off his Pileolus, without prayer, have caused Catholics to show disappointment and horror.

Eucharistic worship is the highest expression of the awesome glorification of God. It happens in every Holy Mass. The Church is also aware of the solemn exposition of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. At the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus' Friday, June 11, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI ended his Year of the Priest. On the evening before, a prayer vigil with Eucharistic worship took place on St. Peter's Square. Benedict XVI had dedicated the entire year to the priesthood, presented the priest of Ars, John Maria Vianney, as a model to every priest. The Pope also introduced the Eucharistic Adoration and the promotion of the Eucharistic Adoration with the spiritual reflections of the French priest. The central aspect of faith is reverence of the saint, in a very special way before the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The images of 10 June 2010 form a contrasting program for believing people. The worshiping dialogue between the Pope and the Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

AMDG

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Benedict XVI's Criticism: Far From an Example, the German Church is a Black Hole

Benedict XVI's criticism of the worldly German church with the faithful
of a "Trade Union Mentality" because there are "too many" employees
of the church (pictured is Cardinal Marx of the German Bishops'
Conference) 
(Rome) "From because good example for the world. The German church is a black hole," was the unflattering judgment of Vaticanist Sandro Magister on the Catholic Church in the Federal Republic of Germany, whose highest representative office is the German Bishops' Conference. The Vatican expert summed up the damning verdict by Benedict XVI. about the German church, which he expresses in the new interview book with Peter Seewald.
In Germany there were some people who have always wanted to destroy him, says Benedict XVI. As an example, the former head of the church was deceitfully accused of anti-semitism by some countrymen when he changed the Good Friday prayer for the Jews.

The interview book, says Magister, was an "accusation" by Benedict XVI. against the German church. He accuses it of being too worldly. He had already hurled charges of worldliness on the 25th September 2011 in Freiburg, and called for a "detachment from the world." Although at that time everyone understood what was meant, an entire church apparatus, including courtiers and minions started to move in order to claim that what was meant what not what was meant, and everything would remain as it is.

"Too many Catholics as Church employees with a Trade Union Mentality"

Secularization is a danger that accompanies the Church constantly. Where it has gone too far, the Church has suffered serious damage in its history. To focus on Germany: The outbreak and even more so, the success of Luther's "Reformation" revolution had largely to do with the secularization [laicization] of the Church and especially with the benefice saturated Prince Archbishop of Mainz, who was at the same time Archbishop of Magdeburg, Elector, Archchancellor of the Empire and Primate Germaniae, in one person, Albrecht of Brandenburg (House of Hohenzollern). By today's standards he would be the President of the German Bishops' Conference .

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

In Freiburg in 2011, Benedict XVI did not mention the church tax system by name. In the interview book he does, probably to prevent a renewed "reinterpretation" of his words. Benedict does not criticize the levy in itself because every baptized person is bound by his means  to contribute to the maintenance of the clergy and to provide support, so that the Church can fulfill its apostolic and charitable tasks. However, Benedict criticized the linking of church tax with excommunication.That is, says the former Pope, untenable.
The result of the church tax system is a highly organized Church, but in the - so the downside - Catholics are often merely employees of the Church and a "trade union mentality" prevails. The Church will no longer be perceived by them from the dimension of faith, but more as an employer, which is  to be criticized as such. The motivation of faith is lacking. Also it becomes an expression of the secularization of Church life.

"Impressive contrast between Benedict's criticism of German Church and Francis' favor for the German Church"

The Church in Germany is, after the government, Germany's second largest employer. The gigantic apparatus has transformed the church into a "secular bureaucracy."   It's a situation that Benedict XVI.  finds tragic.  That much money is not good for the Church is because in the end it is still too little and creates only sarcasm from  intellectual circles.
"It impresses the contrast between this harsh criticism of Benedict XVI. and the favor the same German Church enjoys today from Pope Francis, as if it were the vanguard of the hoped-for renewal of a world Christendom defined by poverty and mercy, while in reality, in front of everyone, it is obvious that the Church is neither poor nor merciful in Germany but - even worse - is smothered by its own apparatus, and especially by the world where many central themes of morality and dogma is on its knees. "
What Magister does not explicitly mention: Currently there are German bishops and subordinate representatives on their knees in "Luther fever." Cardinal Reinhard Marx, President of the German Bishops' Conference, declared Luther a "bombastic figure" while Cardinal Walter Kasper announced: "Luther was right."
Magister explains the German church tax system with its compulsory payments that level the threat of excommunication for non-compliance. The Vatican expert points out that the German Bishops' Conference last year, received more than five times what the Italian Episcopal Conference received through voluntary church donations.

Modern indulgences: disobedience and heresy do not matter, the main thing is that you pay the church tax

Whoever doesn't pay the church tax in Germany will be excluded from the Church. This was confirmed again by the German bishops in  2012. Who does not pay, is excluded from the sacraments.

Of "mercy" says Magister, there  is no trace. In Germany, a considerable part of the church is disobeying doctrine and discipline of the Church. Schismatic and heretical tendencies are tolerated without the slightest suspicon. The remarried divorcees "go unabashedly Communion everywhere, and aberrosexual unions are increasingly being blessed in church."   Excommunication was nowhere mentioned however much it might encourage some. "But woe", if someone does not pay church tax. One could speak of a new "indulgence." The main thing is you pay, then you can do it any way you want, the services of the Church are always available.  Subservience to the zeitgeist prevails accordingly in a deafening silence about the mass murder of unborn children through abortion.
This past July 17  Curial Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the secretary of Benedict XVI., also lamented this contradiction in an interview with the Swabian newspaper .

A lot of money: influence on the many poor diocese and also in Rome

"There is no mention of the influence which the German Church has on many poor dioceses in the southern hemisphere, they support financially," said Magister. The same applies to the Holy See in Rome, who is also a big beneficiary of German monetary flows.
As early as 2011 there the church in Germany was peeved at Benedict XVI.'s critique of the worldliness of their church.  Since he is then no longer Pope, they no longer have to take out all the stops to appease public opinion. This part was adopted at this time by the Jesuit Andreas Batlogg, editor of the Jesuit magazine "Stimmen der Zeit". He said that the interview book by Benedict XVI. "should never have appeared", and Cardinal Marx would do to silence criticism.
The German church knows, so the impression, that a nerve has been struck when one criticizes her luxuriant flowing money.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL / ACIprensa (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Monday, July 4, 2016

Pope Francis' Spectacular Interview: Was Benedict XVI. "The Problem" of the Church?

Pope Francis on "Ultraconservatives" and the "Problem" of
Benedict XVI.

(Rome / Buenos Aires) A spectacular newspaper interview with Pope Francis was published on Sunday in which the Pope uses an unusual dialectic. Is the Catholic Church leader to understand that his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, was a "problem" for the Church?" Indicates Francis in addition that "ultraconservative" Church representatives, according to context meaning the defender of Catholic marriage and morality and the Discipline of the Sacraments, actually "beheaded" include?

Newspaper interviews as a new papal "magisterium"

With his first interview that was published in the leftist daily on October 2013 by La Repubblica, Pope Francis revolutionized the communication policy of the papacy. The atheist from a Masonic Lodge, Eugenio Scalfari, gave it the title: "The Pope: 'Thus, I Will Change the Church'". With Francis a new communication strategy of a pope was introduced. For Pope Francis, interviews are part of the Magisterium: "All the time I submit declarations, keep preaching, and that is teaching," he said in December 2014 in his first interview with a Latin American newspaper, the Argentine La Nacion.

With his recent interview, which was published in Argentina yesterday, again by the daily newspaper La Nacion, Pope Francis continued with his special "magisterium".

The interview has an Argentina focus and addressed recent polemics in the Pope's home country. The Pope has been accused of having a disturbed relationship, since December 2015 with incumbent President Macri. The pope had supported the left-Peronist rival candidate in the election campaign.

The interview was meant to smooth the waves, hence the title: "I have no problem with Macri. He is a noble man. "

The Pope and the "Ultraconservatives", "I want an open Church. They say no to everything "

However, some questions concern the entire Church. So the Pope was asked by Joaquin Morales Solá how he gets along "with the ultra-conservatives in the Church."

The tendentious exaggeration of the term "ultra-conservatives", as it is known by left journalists, was neither corrected nor rejected by the Pope. The Pope responded by implicitly adopting it. In his own words about the "Ultraconservatives":

"They do their job and I do mine. I want an open, understanding Church that accompanies the injured families. They say no to everything. I follow my path, without looking to the left and right. I don't want to behead anybody. That's what I never liked. I repeat: I do not support the conflict.' With a broad smile he concludes: 'nails are pulled by making upward pressure. Or one puts them quietly to the side when they reach retirement age.'"

Astonishingly, Pope Francis made a direct connection between "Ultraconservatives" and "heads." He said he's never "chopped off anyone's head" because that still doesn't appeal to him. At the same time, the Church leader actually suggested that "ultra-conservatives" were actually "beheaded." And by that the Pope does not mean any special marginal groups, but apparently, high-ranking employees of the Roman Curia.

Resignation of Benedict XVI. "Has made all the problems of the church visible"

Another question from the interview which took place on the June 28th relates to the health of Benedict. Pope Francis confirmed his reply that there actually was no compelling health reason for the resignation:

"He has problems in moving, but his head and his memory are perfectly intact."

Simultaneously Francis presented, however, that the resignation was clearly Pope Benedict XVI's "last act of government." Recently, there were discussions after a lecture by Curial Archbishop Georg Gänswein about a type of dual papal authority in an "almost common" exercise of the papacy by an "active" and a "contemplative" Pope.

Pope Francis said of Pope Benedict XVI. for La Nacion: "He was a revolutionary. In the meeting with the cardinals just before the conclave of May 2013, he told us that one of us will be the next pope, and he did not know his name. His behavior was impeccable. His resignation made visible all of the problems of the Church. His resignation had nothing to do with the personal. It was a governmental action, his last governmental action."

Pope Benedict XVI. a "revolutionary"? The statement made with the excessively used word "revolution" which seems to be meant as a compliment, but is rather outlandish in characterizing the German pope.

On the other hand, the statement, Pope Benedict XVI. has "made visible all the problems of the Church" with his resignation is truly noteworthy. In connection with the next statement, his resignation had "nothing to do with anything personal," but was a "governmental action", Pope Francis himself opens the floodgates to new speculation that Benedict XVI. may have been pressured to vacate the Chair of Peter in order to eliminate "all the problems of the Church."

Does Pope Francis himself adopt the opinion as it was represented in 2012 by the late Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini? He even demanded the resignation of Benedict XVI. shortly before his death, because he saw in the German pope a "problem" for the Church, rather even, "the problem."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: La Nacion (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Benedict Expresses Himself in Writing Again

According to Italian media reports, he has written a dedication in a book with contributions in honor of Cardinal Giacomo Biffi.

Rome (kath.net/KNA) Emeritus Benedict XVI. (2005-2013) is reported to be writing again: According to Italian media reports, on Wednesday, he has written a dedication in a book with contributions in honor of Cardinal Giacomo Biffi (1928-2015) the former Archbishop of Bologna.

Since his resignation in late February 2013, Benedict XVI has expressed himself only rarely in public. Recently, there was an interview published in March with him, in which he first expressed himself to Pope Francis.


According to an anecdote that circulated in the Italian media, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had allegedly given Biffi his vote during the papal conclave in 2005.

Biffi was an "exemplary pastor of the Church of God in stormy times" and a "man of extraordinary courage without fear, of being popular or unpopular" which the media is quoting from the text of the Pope Emeritus. He expressed his wish that the Church would never be lacking in "people of his human greatness." The book with the Latin title "Ubi fides ibi libertas" ( "Where faith is, there is freedom") was presented on Tuesday in Bologna.

Biffi was from 1985-2003 Archbishop of Bologna. In the College of Cardinals and in the Italian Episcopal Conference, he was one of the spokesmen of the conservative wing.

According to an anecdote Biffi had expressed his astonishment to a Cardinal seated beside him In the papal conclave in 2005 at the fact that he received a single vote in each ballot. He is quoted as saying: 'If I find out who has the nerve to choose me, I promise, he gets a beating."  The addressed Cardinal had the. answered him that it obviously was Ratzinger who chose him and he therefore would have to deliver the Pope a beating.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. is greeted by Pope Francis and passes through a second the Holy Door.


http://kath.net/news/55577




Monday, September 21, 2015

Words of Consecration: "For All" in Cuba, "For Many" in the USA -- Pope Francis and Both-And

Edit: maybe the First World doesn't deserve as much of the new mercy?
(Havana / Washington) Did Christ shed his blood "for all" or  "for many"? Pope Francis celebrated the first Mass of his pastoral visit to America on Sunday at the Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana, and demonstrated there  that he takes a both-and   on the issue of the words of consecration. With that he doesn't exactly reverse the efforts of his predecessor, Benedict XVI. for a liturgical renewal, but freezes halfway.
Overall, the Pope will celebrate seven Masses in Cuba and in the United States. The words of consecration are, however, not to be identical.
The celebrations take place in Spanish and English as well - at least partially - and the Eucharistic Prayer in the language of the Church, Latin.

Words of consecration are not identical

"If you look at the words of consecration at all these Masses, you will find that you are not the same," said the Vatican expert Sandro Magister.
The first Mass in Revolution Square with the oversized Che Guevara-representation in the back, is something the Castro regime places such great importance during Pope's Visit. Pope Francis celebrated the Mass on Sunday entirely in Spanish. Before half a million faithful, the Pope at the consecration of the wine into the blood of Christ, spoke the words "por vosotros y por todos los hombres para el Perdón de los pecados", literally, "for you and for all men for the forgiveness of sins."
The Mass   Francis celebrated also on Monday, 21 September in Holguin and on Tuesday in Santiago de Cuba, were also completely in Spanish.The words of consecration, however, vary somewhat. Instead of "por vosotros" the Church leader used "por ustedes" (polite form) will tell, while the remaining words of consecration were said as in Havana.

Another Country, same language, other words of consecration

Then Pope Francis travels from the Caribbean island to the American mainland and will celebrate his first Mass in the US federal capital Washington. Despite the change of states he will celebrate this Sacrifice of the Mass in Spanish, the native language of a rapidly growing number of US citizens. The words of consecration were spoken - unlike Cuba - not  "por todos los hombres" but "por muchos" for many.
So it will be the case with the three other Holy Masses in the US, where the Pope will address the Eucharistic Prayer in Latin: "pro vobis et pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum" for you and for many. In the US,  "for all" is not to be heard.

"What can be made of this vacillation between 'for all' and, for many'?"

Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
"What can be made of this wavering between the" "close to the words of consecration in the US?" For all "in Cuba and" for many, wondered last Saturday Sandro Magister.
"It can be concluded that the long-standing question that Benedict XVI. finally concluded in  2012  making a definitive and unified worldwide solution is left in limbo by Pope Francis," said the Vatican expert.
The original words of consecration by Benedict XVI., the faithfully arranged transmission of the words of consecration in the vernacular languages, ​​is based directly on the official Latin formula. Because of persistent resistance of some bishops' conferences Benedict XVI. wrote on 14 April 2012 in order to overcome it, a letter to all the bishops. The "pro multis" of the Roman canon should be uniformly applied instead of the hasty translations in the course of the liturgical reform 1965/1969 in the vernaculars. Thus, the German pope wanted to counteract a misleading teaching of  universal salvation that was gaining ground among Catholics.He wrote the letter in German, with which he made it clear where the greatest resistance was situated.

"New Mercy" versus Words of Consecration?

The statement of Benedict XVI. is valid for the whole Church. As Pope Benedict resigned, some of the Bishops' Conferences, including the Italian and German, were yet delinquent and had not made a new edition of the Missal. The correction of the formula "for all", which had been naturalized after the Second Vatican Council, through the faithful rendering "for many" is seen by many as a "restriction" of "mercy".
"With the inauguration of Francis, the idea has spread that this diction [for all] corresponds more to the universal expansion of compassion, which is constantly being preached by the new pope," said Magister.
As it seems,  the Argentine Pope is representing on this point "no strict position" (Magister) and also does not seem interested in trying to enforce a certain position. His position is rather a both-and, by using both the one and the other diction "even with this trip to Cuba and the United States."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Nuova Bussola Quotidiana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Cardinal Kasper: Francis was an "Intelligent Conservative" -- Synod 2015 Will Bring a "Broad Consensus"

Walter Kasper: Francis Pope is an "intelligent conservative"
(Rome) The Cardinals Walter Kasper and Francesco Coccopalmerio are certain:  a "broad consensus" will be found In the Synod of Bishops in 2015 on the family.
The two Cardinals took part yesterday at an event titled: "With Pope Francis on the Synodal Way of the Family. A Test of the Reform Papacy." An event  for the "reformers"  themselves For the German Cardinal, Pope Francis  is an "intelligent conservative."  Invited were the Cenacle of  Friends of Francis (Cenacolo di Amici Francesco), who appeared for the first time in public. The meeting took place in the Catholic Russian Ecumenical Centre in Rome (Centro Russia Ecumenica).
The Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, which will take place in October 2015 in connection with the Extraordinary Synod last October will bring a broad consensus "on all points". The German Cardinal Walter Kasper is convinced of  the voice of approval for the remarried divorcees to communion. Of the same view is also the Italian Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, the President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts . The admirers of the late Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini and the German theologian, know each other well. Coccopalmerio has been a member since 2007 of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity .

Pope Francis is an "Intelligent Conservative" - ​​The Gospel is a "Process"

At the meeting, both cardinals also responded favorably to the synod, which was attended by both. Cardinal Coccopalmerio ex-officio, and Cardinal Kasper on personal appointment by Pope Francis.
"How can one describe Pope Francis?"  Cardinal Kasper asked in his speech. "I would say that an intelligent conservative is a good description for him. Paul VI. and John XXIII., were also conservatives, but intelligent, because they knew that the gospel isn't like a precious object behind a glass case of a museum, but must be passed on from generation to generation, it is a process."

Benedict XVI. and his "less intelligent followers"

Cardinal Kasper took the opportunity before the like-minded audience handing out a swipe against his opponents. Benedict XVI., the German theologian, had also already been "open" in any case "something more than his less intelligent followers".
Kasper was very pleased about the really "free" discussion at the Synod. "This in not to the detriment of the Church, which is not a totalitarian institution. I am sure that we will end up with a broad consensus." What this "broad consensus" said the cardinal, who is of the party in question, clearly between the lines.
In the circle of "friends of Francis" also Pope Francis' "big speech" he addressed to  the Marxist "popular movements", is  "open in the most unexpected of ways."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Benedict XVI: "When There is No Struggle, There is no Christendom"

(Ferrara) on the anniversary of his renunciation the newspaper La Voce di Romagna in Rimini  announced on 10 February  a visit to Benedict XVI. On 5 February   "the great Ratzinger", as the newspaper said,  received two long-time personal friends: the fighting Archbishop Monsignor Luigi Negri of Ferrara and Professor Marco Ferrini.  Archbishop Negri is President and Professor Ferrini is Director General of the International John Paul II Foundation for the Social Doctrine of the Church .
"Benedict XVI. received us in the Vatican in the monastery Mater Ecclesia.  We spent 40 minutes together. We found him very alert and present  for his 87 years, " said Marco Ferrini.
About the interview, he said: "We told him that we have regained, thanks to the Magisterium of John Paul II and his continuity between faith and culture,  with the social and political commitment, certainly with some concern because there is a return to some sort of dualism in a part Church, which wants to lead the Church into a position of self-exclusion. Benedict XVI. told us then:  "All dualism in Christianity is negative." He spoke to us of the difficult conditions under which the Church is today and always, suffering more virulent attacks from the world.  And he said that the  Church has always fought and will always fight.  The hostility of the world is one of its essential characteristics, such as the Lord had promised. ,Benedict XVI. said  to us, 'If there is no struggle, there is no Christianity.' "
The newspaper said that Ferrini was as stirred as Archbishop Negri to be able to see Benedict XVI.  again and how impressed they were "about his unbroken spiritual depth and his great gentleness."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Papa Benedetto Blog
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI., the "Lobby" and Their Destructive Mischief



(Paris) The French magazine Catholica had a conversation with the priest Ariel Gualdo di Stefano Levi, a Jewish convert who became a Catholic priest. The conversation had been already published last 28th of June in number 120 of the magazine. Nevertheless, take a look at what Levi di Gualdo has to say, he who is known for his direct and unvarnished analysis. The conversation was about how a lobby, says Levi di Gualdo, often triggered aggressive and oppressive media campaigns against the Pope during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.. Since the surrender of the German Pope, however, complete silence prevails. The lobby seems to have reached their goal and may, as the priests of the diocese of Rome, continue undisturbed in their decomposing mischief.

In the years after the Second Vatican Council, says Levi di Gualdo, there has been a return to the situation that prevailed before the Council of Trent. A situation which is characterized by decay and worrying infighting. The resignation of Benedict XVI. represented an unprecedented event, the culmination of a crisis which coincided with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Council. No coincidence, as the priest says. Especially when you consider that this Council actually was meant to rejuvenate the Church institutions and wanted to give believers new vigor. The resignation of Benedict XVI. remains hard to decipher. Many would, in this connection with unruliness, because many tensions and power struggles have become gradually visible, says Catholica.

Among the authors who comment on the situation of the Church, is counted the Roman priest Ariel Levi Stefano di Gualdo "because of his clear language." He is the author of several books. Including a book about the "Zionist Century" and the 2012 published memoir "And Satan Made ​​Himself Triune" against the "satanic triad" of relativism, individualism and disobedience (see separate report from "Egomaniacal" Council for Homosexualization of the Church - Ariel Levi di Gualdos ). In 2013 a pamphlet by him appeared between the resignation of Benedict XVI. and the election of Pope Francis, called "Quanta cura in Cordibus Nostris. An encyclical in the form of a motu proprio" on the Pontificate of the Pope named Benedict XVII. In the "Encyclical" Ariel Levi di Gualdo outlined the principles that would be necessary for a fundamental renewal of the Church in his view.

Catholica: In your latest book you write about the role of certain Roman dicastries behind many serious scandals. Could you explain this situation in more detail and especially explain where the lack of some curial services is troubling and where are the compromises?

Levi di Gualdo: In this book I explain that we have indeed made the Second Vatican Council, but are then returned to the practice over the years in the period before the Council of Trent, with all their corrupt machinations, their moral decay and their concern for internal power struggles. Now that for half-a-century dialogue and collegiality has been discussed ad nauseum, previously unknown forms of clericalism and authoritarianism have occurred. The progressive master of dialogue and collegiality uses aggression and coercion against anyone who is not as "religiously correct" as he thinks. One can always ridicule the dogmas of faith, can always deconstruct it according to an anthropocentric logic, but woe to those who criticized the "holy" and "infallible" character of the Magisterium of some theologians, who are imbued with Hegelianism and the theology of Karl Rahner, a thinking that leads them to the side of modernism and heterodoxies of any kind: this one is ostracized by the united cliques in both the Roman Curia and in the Pontifical Universities.

It should be added that since 1970, homosexual clergy were admitted whose number has grown considerably over the years by cooption. Today they form a veritable mafia style lobby, powerful and ready to destroy anyone who gets in the way.

There are processes in view for the revaluation of values ​​ - the good is made into evil, virtue is wrong and vice is vice versa - that are so advanced that sound doctrine is converted into heterodoxy, if any of these clergy will be revealed to the competent authority with evidence and witnesses, the sentencing of one of them would be enough to jeopardize their whole system. So you saw in many cases that innocent people were punished and excluded, and the guilty who were protected, even though they themselves were guilty of serious moral transgressions. If it proved to be opportune to remove someone from the Roman Curia, they were taken by the bishops and protected in the dioceses which have formed influential circles, mainly surrounded by homosexuals. Again, this system is as corrupt, as it is impossible to do otherwise, because if a culprit is punished, he would take revenge and carry away all the other members of the mafia in his downfall. One must therefore protect him, no matter what the cost. The overall impression is of a contradiction in the government of the Church: that is evident in the proposals of some Prelates.

Catholica: What do you think are the reasons that restrict the freedom of ecclesiastical authority in this way?

Levi di Gualdo: It is paradoxical that the appointment of people just increased during the pontificate of "theologian Pope" in key positions of Church leadership, who are in stark contrast to the theological premises of Benedict XVI: prelates of dubious theology or a weak profile given the current challenges of the new evangelization. A common set of attributes characterizes it: behind an outward humility lies a preference, but is a preference for their own person but not the Church. I do not know how you will assess this pontificate in a few decades so glowing with its teaching, which is contradicted by the presence of such persons.

Currently, however, I wonder how the hidden influence of some could be so powerful (in the style of power brokers) works to make our Peter so powerless, to be a sailor without a crew in a leaky ship sailing through the stormy waves and winds.

But it is certain that in the Gospel there can be no room for misunderstanding: God will not judge us by our words, but by the wisdom of our works (Matt. 11:19). We will have to answer for ourselves before God for the talents He has given us, and possibly also for the talent that we have buried for fear of thieves (Matt. 25:14 ff). I believe that the Pope has a talent from God as sovereign that is both difficult but also precious and fruitful to use: "You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church." A talent that requires that the person receiving it, has to engage in particular for the fact that "the gates of Hell will not prevail against it" (Mt 16:18).

Without a doubt, the historians, when they study this pontificate, which took place in such a difficult and painful era, deep in this context of decadence that weighs on the church, will provide evidence that Benedict was trying with great effort, in the best sense, to act for the Church of Christ, in the context of what was allowed him to do in the circumstances. The masses will surely not shout upon his death, "Santo Subito". But it is likely that not in a few decades he will be called "Santo sicuro" and will certainly be canonized [...].

Text / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Fides et Forma Trans from German: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com Link to Katholisches... Here's another translation from the original French Rorate...

Saturday, March 9, 2013

High Prelate in Lebanon Urges Conclave to Re-Elect Pope Benedict XVI.


Edit: much has been bandied about in recent times about Benedict XVI’s daring move. Encouragingly, a few of the German journalists have been very sympathetic to him. Not only does this journalist see the potential for a long-term gain, but he cites an unnamed Prelate from Lebanon who, like us, believes that the Pope could and should be re-elected again.  Here’s the article which was captured by Kath.net.

A high prelate from Lebanon has proposed recently that the cardinals in the conclave should best of Benedict XVI. but simply choose again. - By Paul Badde / The World

Vatican (kath.net / DieWelt) Rain in Rome. The conclave will commence on the 12th of March, according to the latest leak in the Vatican. 115 [114] Cardinals from around the world will then begin to choose the successor to Benedict XVI.. Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman had promised the message only for Friday evening at 19.00 clock. On Thursday, the last Cardinal had arrived from Vietnam. The rest of the international college had been in the days before in intensive regular plenary sessions in the Nervi Hall and in numerous meetings in the palaces and in the corridors of the Vatican, as in many places around St. Peter's the profile of a successor is exchanged - and the tasks that will fall upon the poor man.

The Cardinals themselves can not say a word, since they all had to swear before the plenum individually to strict secrecy. No wonder since the rumor mill has not churned this much in years. What became known before the imposition of the embargo on information was this: all the guests from the five continents in Rome will finally find out exactly what has happened in the last few months at the Vatican. The Cardinal Julián Herranz (82) from Spain, Jozef Tomko (89) from Slovakia and southern Italian Salvatore De Giorgi (82) who meticulously investigated the background of the vanished documents, which disappeared from the Pope’s table, on behalf of Pope Benedict, are therefore now already considered as the secret kingmakers.

Certainly, the three have, in any case, run more than one cardinal from the race. Since they meet in individual meetings with their brothers, their findings are by all means, no secret. The 300-page dossier, in which they have recorded the findings and results of their investigations is true only available to the next pope. However, many details of their investigations have obviously long since made themselves known already in the corridors of the Vatican - where many initiates don’t need their own investigations, to see the conditions in the image, which normally do not penetrate through the walls of the Vatican to the outside.

"The Curia has killed Benedict XVI.” is therefore not an unusual assessment these days in the alleys and streets surrounding St. Peter's. The future Pope must “clean from the ground up” in the Curia, confided the American Archbishop Charles Chaput (66) on Thursday for the Roman newspaper "Il Messaggero". This “pressing task" requires an energy that Benedict XVI. obviously could have managed, and therefore logically waived his office. He's made a mark on many by diverse calculations and plans toward this last step of his official resignation, although this was not only a personal option for himself, by an opportunity, which he saw bound in principle with this office for a long time.

"If the pope can see that he is absolutely unable, then surely he would resign," Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger has entrusted the chief editor, John Schießl, since 11 March 2002 of the Munich church newspaper. His step on 11 February sprang not only from his own personal well-being, but his understanding of the ministry of the Petrine ministry as a whole. Not all in the Catholic Church agree with this understanding of office, not even among the cardinals.

As opposed to the conclave of 2005, in which Joseph Ratzinger had been by far the best-known face, there're no clear favorites for the succession and also no clear camp between conservatives and progressives. This time the Cardinals from around the world are united and separated, especially on the question of how much they agree on this spectacular last step of Benedict XVI - or how much they reject it. Only after the election of a successor can the complex meaning of the resignation be therefore ascertained.

With his last step the pope was also playing his game va banque with the Holy Spirit. For his successor could again thwart all decrees, for which he has staked his future - or else he could connect him to an unprecedented double pontificate, as long as "Benedictus XVI. Emeritus” is still alive. Until this election but now especially the pundits and Pope-ologists like David Berger [likes to bathe in urine] have the floor, which claims to offer currently much sought after interviewees for "gay cliques and networks pink" in the Vatican. The network and server to Saint Peter then crash every few minutes, with the incredible amounts of data that are in beamed these days around the world to and from Rome. Meanwhile, journalists are already more numerous here than in the death of John Paul II. Its own media center had to be set up because the Sala Stampa’s emergency requirements are nowhere near enough.

The Sistine Chapel was already closed on Tuesday to begin the technical preparation for the conclave. With the seats, setting up the furnace in which the ballots are burned, the careful search for possible bugs and the like. The room must also be made electronically completely sterile, so not a cardinal can’t be tweeting the news about the new pope before the rise of white smoke outside.

A high prelate from Lebanon has recently proposed, it would be best if the cardinals in the conclave should elect Benedict XVI. again. Then there would be in the church a few less problems. This election of Benedict, he would necessarily accept and return immediately from Castel Gandolfo to Rome - as Peter when he was on the run from the burning of Rome, he met Jesus on the Via Appia, who only asked him: "Quo vadis?" Where are you going? After his return Benedict XVI. could immediately clamp down like never before. With such a mandate of the election of the frail old man would be the most powerful Pope of the history of the Church.

  Link to kath.net...

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Words of Praise from Russian Orthodox Leaders for Benedict XVI

Kyrill I: In the “difficult situation”, in which western Christianity today finds itself, the Pope “courageously” defends the positions and moral values of his church.

Moscow(kath.net/KNA) The Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kyrill I, has recently found words of praise for Pope Benedict XVI.. In the “difficult situation” in which western Christianity finds itself, the Pope has defended “courageously” the positions and moral values of his church said Kyrill II according to church reports of Sunday evening during a meeting with the new Russian Ambassador to the Holy See, Alexander Awdrejew. Without these positions the Church would not be able to endure any longer and be transformed into a “mixture of various Christian organizations”.

The Patriarch stresses at the same time the stand points of the Russian Orthodox and the Catholic Church agree in the “most significant questions of the past”. Both churches should continue to work together, so that the Christian message as much in the East as also in the West will be convincingly preached. Kremlin Chief, Vladimir Putin had named the former Russian Culture Minister Awdejew as Ambassador of to the Holy See in January.

Since the election of Benedict XVI., the diplomatic and ecumenical relations between the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Church have been remarkably improved. According to the political change of 1989, the Moscow Patriarchate reproached Rome for building of Catholic church structures in the states of the earlier Soviet Union, to serve to proselytize their faithful. The Patriarchate consider the Federation States as the canonical territory of Orthodoxy.

 Link to kath.net…


Also a Russian Orthodox theologian has his own words of praise for Pope Benedict:

Russian scholar praises Benedict XVI, slams John Paul II

Moscow, February 12, Interfax - Outgoing Pope Benedict XVI "has been able to strengthen the Catholic Church and improve relations with" the Russian Orthodox Church, a Russian religious scholar said.

"His decision to resign deserves respect. He has been a powerful leader, and would be able to continue his mission successfully if it weren't for his age," Roman Silantyev told Interfax-Religion.

Benedict took charge of what was "a church that had been seriously weakend by his predecessor," Silantyev said.

"John Paul II wanted to be liked by everyone, and as a result he did huge harm to the Catholics, turning millions of people away from his Church. His tenure saw mass-scale closures or conversions of Catholic Churches in Europe. Seminaries with histories spanning many centuries lost their students, and orphanages in Third World countries became the main source of new clergy," the scholar said.

During Benedict's tenure, "the useless 'thrust toward the East' [alleged proselytism by Uniates], which was taking up huge resources, has come to an end, there has been an improvement in relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has proved to be the Vatican's main ally in asserting the Christian way of life in the European Union," Silantyev said.

Benedict "hasn't had the idee fixe of coming to Moscow because he has repeatedly met with the incumbent Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia anyway," he said.

"It appears to be most likely that an Italian cardinal will be elected to this post," Silantyev said.