Pope Benedict Dissolves Dissident Branch of St. John Sisters

(Vatican)  The Secretary of State of the Holy See has announced in a decree of January 10, 2013 that Pope Benedict has abolished the association of the faithful with the name Sisters of St John and of St. Dominick.  This dealt with a dissident branch of the Johannites.  A part of the Soeurs contemplatives de Saint-Jean, the contemplative sisters of St. John, which is a branch of the Johannine Community, had separated themselves from the community.

The contemplative female branch of St. John was founded on the 8th December, 1982 by P. Marie-Dominique Philippe.  The Archbishop of Lyon established it on March 25th, 1994 as a Diocesan Congregation of Right.  It shoujld not be confused with the Apostolic Sisters of St. John, the other female branch of the Community of St. John.

In 2007 the contemplative sisters had 342 members, of which 98 had taken solemn vows and 134 temporary vows.  The order numbers 40 establishments in Europe, America, Africa and Asia.  In the German speaking areas there is one house in Marchegg in Austria.

The decree of dissolution proceeded from years of internal conflicts about the founding charism.  The Church's expected reforms were not accepted by part of the Sisters.  The conflict escalated and led to a break of a  part of the Sisters from the Order. Because of this, the cloister in Marchegg has stood empty since the summer of 2012.  The dissident sisters founded a new order in Spanish Cordoba with the name of the Sisters of St. John and St. Dominick.

On February 24th, 2012 Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Henri Brincard as the Papal delegate for the sisters.  With that the Holy See undertook the direct leadership of the community.  Shortly after the Papal delegate reached his concluding report and was received by the Pope in a personal audience, Pope Benedict XVI dissolved the Sisters of Saint John and St. Dominick because of serious offenses against Church Order "with immediate effect".  The community may not then constitute itself in any new form.

The Johannine Community has published a statement on the decision of the Pope on January 25th:

Given the difficult situation, which is taking place with the community of the Contemplative Sisters of St John, inform you, about the brothers of St John, in accordance with the Superior General of the other two congregations of the family of St. John, that the Holy Father, which wants to preserve the unity of the family of St. John, in an audience transcript tells you that he has decided to dissolve the institution of the "Sisters of Saint John and the Saint Dominic," which was brought into life in June 2012 in Cordoba, Spain. Its members came mostly out of the community of contemplative sisters of St. John. 

The Community of the Brothers of Saint John wants to affirm, through its Superior General, Father Thomas,  in humble obedience, its communion with the Holy Father. The Brothers of St. John in close community of contemplative sisters continue in their prayers. They invite the Oblates and friends of the community to work together with them to trust the Holy Father, united to the intercession of the Virgin Mary.

Link to katholisches...

Byproduct of CINO Education Now Obama's Chief of Staff

*CINO = Catholic in Name Only

Edit: the brother of the troubled former Vicar General of the Archdiocese of St. Paul in Minnesota, the Old Liberal, Father Kevin McDonough, has now been announced as Chief of Staff.

Denis McDonough attended the decadent Monastery school of St. John's University and was the star of John Gagliardi's famed football franchise.  St. John's University is a haven for predators, deviants and worse, dissenters from Catholic teaching.

The nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

For those who don't remember, Father McDonough was identified as a problem in the Archdiocese by local activist Doctor David Pence.  The priest, who was born in Stillwater, Minnesota in a family of 11, went on record as denying a homosexual subculture in the Archdiocese, as it was reported at Lifesitenews.

The priest was subsequently moved from his Vicar General slot down to be the assistant of a small, failing parish in South Minneapolis.

The other brother, William McDonaugh didn't agree with his brother's assessment and lamented that it wasn't more over than it already is.



H/t: DC

The Ecumenical Movement Can Not be a Contract of Mutual Interests

Rome (www.kath.net/as)  The unity of Christians is the privileged medium of the credible presentation of the Faith to those who do not know Christ or those who have already received the Gospel as a priceless gift,  but have forgotten it again.   With these words, Pope Benedict XVI. addressed the Feast of the Conversion of Paul in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Before the Walls to the faithful gathered for the Vespers at the conclusion of the week of prayer for the unity of Christians.

The unity among Christians, says the Pope, is above all a work of the Holy Ghost.  The prayer and the spiritual ecumenism "is formed in the heart of the mission of ecumenism,"  which without faith becomes a kind of contract of common interests.   The preconditions for a mutual brotherhood is in that the communion with the Father.

If the dialog reflects a priority for the Faith,  this is allowed, it opens itself with secure trust in God's work, that the Holy Ghost will lead to full communion.  This permits the acquisition of spiritual riches,, which are present in the various churches and church communities.

In view of a society as it appears today, where the Gospel appears ever less important,  but which is still in need of reconciliation, dialog and mutual understanding, the challenge is there to announce Christ in common and to give the world a shining example in the quest for communion."

The doctrinal question which still divide, "may not be left behind or set aside",  says Benedict XVI.  They must be courageously in a spirit of brotherhood and approached with mutual respect.  Ecumenism carries lasting fruits, if they are accompanied with concrete gestures, which heals the understanding and promotes relations.

The divine gift of unity "is inseparable from that of Faith, and the Faith is inseparable from the personal holiness as well as the search for justice".  Benedict XVI recalled the Christians in India,  who had prepared this years week of prayer, as well as the difficult situations in which they live, to bear witness.

"To go with God" means above all, to enter into the radicalness of the Faith, "like Abraham, we  trust in God and place all of our hope in Him."  At the same time this means that we go beyond limitations, "beyond hatred, of racism and social and religious discrimination, which divides entire societies and damages them."

Link to kath.net...

Vatican Warns Against Aggressive Religious Websites

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council on Social Communications:  "We recommend Catholic websites to have a respectful dialog with others.  Sometimes there are sites which are too aggressive."

Vatican City (kath.net/KNA)  The Vatican has warned Catholic internet sites to represent the faith aggressively.  "We recommend Catholic sites to have a respectful dialog with others.  Sometimes we have too aggressive sites",   said the President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, on Thursday for a press conference in a presentation to the Pontifical Council.  "If we don't ensure a respectful disposition, everything runs falsely," he stressed.

At the same time it's not just for the purpose of recapitulating the Gospel.  "The net is a world occupied by people, and that necessitates a human sensibility."  It isn't sufficient to merely present dogmatic citations.  Just now young people are seeking more more for the meaning of their lives.  This challenge must be met on the internet.  Celli mentioned also that the twitter account of Pope Benedict XVI in Latin has more than 11,000 followers.

Link to kath.net....

Jack Kerouac was Catholic

"I believe in order, tenderness and piety. "

Edit: there's so much about celebrated literary figures confirming our religious feelings.  Many people find so much consolation in actors, punters, gangsters and so on who've changed their ways and admitted they were wrong.

One such figure is Jack Kerouac.  Bad Catholic, who especially likes to report on these sorts of stories about "cool" cultural icons, performed a fairly succinct and detailed summary of Kerouac's emotional and literary attachment to Catholicism. It was especially plain in how he named the beatnik movement as related to "beatific".

There's a great deal to poetic figures and part of their vocation to see and appreciate things with a wonder and conviction which is the polarity and polarization which makes their poetic work a religious experience.

An article in Culture Wars reads:

It may be hoped that Catholicism did more than keep Jack sane. He wrote his editor about "the result of praying to St. Mary to intercede for me to make me stop being a maniacal drunkard." Kerouac continued, "Ever since I instituted the little prayer, I've not been lushing. So far, every prayer addressed to the Holy Mother has been answered."28 He resumed his boyhood habit of praying to St. Thérèse and "the little lamby Jesus", and his diaries are filled with prayers (some for humility) and sketches of the crucified Christ. He never formally returned to the Church and the sacraments, but in the last decade of his life he often slipped into neighborhood churches to light a candle and pray. 

In 1969, the last year of his life, Jack and Gabrielle, and Jack's third wife, Stella, lived in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was a retirement town, and Jack seemed retired, spending most of his time indoors, drinking Johnny Walker Red and reading National Review, the Bible, Pascal, and Voltaire. He was watching television the morning of October 20, eating tuna fish out of the can, sipping whiskey, and scribbling a note. There was a pain in his stomach. He made it to the bathroom in time to vomit a waterfall of blood. His liver, long cirrhotic, had finally hemorrhaged. The blood filled Jack's chest and welled up into his throat. 

He was rushed to St. Anthony's hospital. He remained unconscious while doctors operated on him and pumped thirty pints of blood into his body. He died an alcoholic's death, drowning in his own blood, at 5:30 a.m. the next morning. His body was taken back home for a high mass at St. Jean Baptiste Cathedral in Lowell, where Jack had served as an altar boy. The body in the coffin wore a sports coat and bow tie. The right hand held a rosary.

What is also of note, was his interview with William F. Buckley on the PBS show, Firing Line not long before he died, where he described his understanding, against the press and popular description, which was really more of a statement of Faith, "I believe in oder, tenderness and piety".  Indeed,  he was eager to attack the Communists like Ferlengetti and Ginsberg, from whom he disassociated himself from several times in the interview. Despite being terribly drunk, he has moments of clarity and makes one of the most sartlingly accurate description of the false prophets...

  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Bad Vestments Hit the London Runway

Edit: the show got off with a rousing "hooray" and Julia roamed down the runway with a deep red chasuble. Many bad ideas were born of a desire to be less stuffy.

THESE strutting 'supermodels' are more familiar with the Holy Ghost than Heidi Klum.

They're all real vicars, hand-picked to show off the latest range of ecclesiastical wear at a special clergy catwalk show.

Five trendy revs, including retired Methodist minister Brian Hoare and minister-in-training Beth Allison, flaunted a collection of brightly-coloured cassocks and blinged-up crucifixes aft the event, part of a Christian exhibition in Bristol.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4759497/Vicars-turn-garments-fashionable.html#ixzz2IyWh7CMm

The TFP Processing Against Abortion and Aberrosexualism Attacked by Mob

He pressed them very much to turn in unto him: and when they were come into his house, he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread and they ate: But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house both young and old, all the people together. And they called Lot, and said to him: Where are the men that came in to thee at night? bring them out hither that we may know them. [Genesis 19: 9,10]

Edit: this appeared recently on the  LifeSiteNews, which is nice. The Traditionalist TFP (Tradition Family and Private Property) members stoutly marched through the streets of Curitiba to protest the sin of abortion and aberrosexuality in the state of Parana where they were greeted mostly by friendly, well-wishing people of the town. This abruptly ended as they were attacked by a vulgar crowd of tolerant Leftists who shouted obscenities and spat on them while inciting violence. One of the brave TFP members was struck by an object at one point and had to go to the hopistal.

This video is in Portuguese, but features highlights of the march.  From LifeSiteNews:

Videos of the harassment were filmed by the perpetrators themselves, and two of them found their way onto the blog of Milton Alves, a former communist who is now a member of the socialist Worker's Party that currently holds power at the federal level in Brazil.  Alves acknowledged his presence and expressed his support for the counter-protesters, stating, "I was there and I saw everything. I'm on the side of democracy and against the TFP."

Good News! Abbot Werlen Resigns!

Einsiedeln (kath.net) Martin Werlen, the controversial Abbot of Einsiedeln will resign at the end of 2013. At that time the Cloister of Einsiedeln will get a new abbot. On twitter, Werlen himself described this as "Good News" In the Catholic Church and also in his own cloister itself Abbot Werlen's tenure was controversial.

Recently, Abbot Werlen was concerned because Swiss gas stations are open from 1 to 5am throughout the night offer their entire inventory and not just "items of daily use". There were significant protests from politicians and the Church. Martin Grichting, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Church said that the political positions of the Abbot: "The Church, especially its leadership, should not engage the Faith in politics. We have the task of preaching the Gospel, and not to get involved in politics." The Abbot did not refrain from critical questions. Last November he accepted to return again for an interview with kath.net.

For the Cloister itself the departure of the Abbot itself may be a new beginning. Some brothers were not pleased with the media presence of the Abbot, as kath.net has learned from Church circles in Switzerland.

Link to kath.news....

Albert Camus on the Death of King Louis XVI

Edit: the following is a translation of Camus' account of the execution of King Louis XVI, which wasn't only the murder of the King, but an attempt to destroy God forever and replace it with the general will of the people and Rouseau's Social Conctract. H/t: at vexilla-galliae:

On January 21, with the murder of the King-priest, was consummated what has significantly been called the passionof Louis XVI. It is certainly a crying scandal that the public assassination of a weak but goodhearted man has been presented as a great moment in French history. That scaffold marked no climax—far from it. But the fact remainsthat, by its consequences, the condemnation of the King is at the crux of our contemporary history. It symbolizes thesecularization of our history and the disincarna-tion of the Christian God. Up to now God played a part in historythrough the medium of the kings. But His representative in history has been killed, for there is no longer a king.Therefore there is nothing but a semblance of God, relegated to the heaven of principles.

The revolutionaries may well refer to the Gospel, but in fact they dealt a terrible blow to Christianity, from which ithas not yet recovered. It really seems as if the execution of the King, followed, as we know, by hysterical scenes of suicide and madness, took place in complete awareness of what was being done. Louis XVI seems, sometimes, tohave doubted his divine right, though he systematically rejected any projected legislation which threatened his faith.

But from the moment that he suspected or knew his fate, he seemed to identify himself, as his language betrayed,with his divine mission, so that there would be no possible doubt that the attempt on his person was aimed at the King-Christ, the incarnation of the divinity, and not at the craven flesh of a mere man. His bedside book in the Temple was the Imitation. The calmness and perfection that this man of rather average sensibility displayed during hislast moments, his indifference to everything of this world, and, finally, his brief display of weakness onthe solitary scaffold, so far removed from the people whose ears he had wanted to reach, while the terriblerolling of the drum drowned his voice, give us the right to imagine that it was not Capet who died, butLouis appointed by divine right, and that with him, in a certain manner, died temporal Christianity. To emphasize this sacred bond, his confessor sustained him, in his moment of weakness, by reminding himof his "resemblance" to the God of Sorrows. And Louis XVI recovers himself and speaks in the language of this God: "I shall drink," he says, "the cup to the last dregs." Then he commits himself, trembling, into the hands of an ignoble executioner.

Link to Albert Camus' "The Rebel"....

Order of Friars Minor Meet in Assisi to Elect New Superior

(Assisi)  In the Basilica blessed by St. Francis of Assisi the 200th General Capital of the Order of Friars Minor opened in its home city of Assisi.  99 brothers from all five continents are gathered till the 17th of February to select the 120th Father General.

Every six years, the General Chapter meets in order to talk about the state of the Order, to agree on decisions and select the Father General and the members of the General Council, which will be the leadership of the order till the next General Chapter.

The General Chapter is the most important event within the order.  Since 2007 Father Marco Tasca has served as the 119th Father General of the branch of the Conventual Franciscans, as the Minors are also called, which has formed a branch of the Franciscan family since 1517.   With the election of the 44th Father General, the lesser brothers separated themselves.  The more severe branch with the braun robes,  the Observance, are generally known in the German speaking areas as Franciscans.  The other branch, the Conventuals with the black robes are called "Minoriten" in Germany.

At the General Capital the brothers gather around the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in order to renew the  founder of the spirituality of their Order.



The brothers of the various cloisters spread throughout the world were greeted by the Curator of the Holy Convent of Assisi,  Father Giuseppe Piemonese, of the Bishop of Assisi, Msgr Domenico Sorrentino and the mayor of the city, Claudio Ricci.

"We represent 65 countries", says the departing Father General Marco Tasca.  "In some countries, the Order is just appearing, in others there is a centuries long tradition.  Our religious family numbers 4,300 brothers.  In some states there are hundreds of brothers, in others there are a few dozen."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Wikicommons



Link to Katholisches...

Cardinal Sarah: If "Catholic Charity" Betrays the Church -- Not Everything That Says it's Catholic is Catholic

Edit: you may have seen what this Cardinal has already said about clergy who fail to preach against abortion and aberrosexual marriage.

(Vatican)  With the Motu proprio Intima Ecclesia e natura of the 11th of November, 2012 about the charitable work of the Catholic Church as Pope Benedict was barely recognized by the public, but it set radical interventions against Catholic help organizations in motion, which are Catholic in name, but in word and deed are not. This refers to organizations that help the "non-negotiable values", such as attacking the defense of the family and of life. With the recently held Vatican General Assembly of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which coordinates the charitable work of the Church worldwide, the Pope is asking for the proceedings  to enter a concrete phase.

That Rome is taking this seriously, became clear with the opening speech by Cardinal Robert Sarah, who is chairman of the Council since 2010. The speech was published Osservatore Romano on the 18th January. It is a hard accusation and an unvarnished analysis of the charitable organizations of the Catholic Church. There, the Cardinal said, a "laicizing ethics" [Your Professional Catholics], which is represented by "certain international institutions" and "will be imposed by force through complex political, legal and cultural mechanisms upon cultures and peoples around the world." This would be disclosed "as a negative and destructive view of man and woman."

Catholic organizations have made "secular ethics" their own

These mechanisms were perfectly attuned, wrote the sociologist Massimo Introvigne in an article for La nuova Bussola quotidian. Poor countries that are dependent on the provision of international credits are literally blackmailed. Loans are granted only if the States in return accept a particular ideological agenda. This standard includes the legalization of the killing of unborn children, recognition of homosexual unions and mass dissemination of artificial contraceptives.

Pope Benedict XVI. had denounced this blackmail method during his pastoral visit to Africa. Since his indictment could not penetrate to the global public, an immediate anti-papal campaign had picked a quarrel. The whole issue has been reduced to condoms. Anti-Religious groups flooded the Internet with all possible and unspeakable graphical variants of the subject "and Pope condom" or "condom and church." An objective consideration of the Pope's actual statement did not take place.


Church takes action against Charities that call themselves Catholic, but are not

The whole world imposed the "inhuman contraceptive mentality of the West and the intolerant gender ideology and their disdain of people created in God's image as male and female," said Introvigne. This form of violence must be identified and denounced tirelessly, the sociologist. It would also be possible, if at least the Catholic organizations had shut themselves to this ideology and would reject any collaboration.

Pope Benedict XVI. complained in the Motu proprio Ecclesia intima e natura that the not the case. Thus it was not without a bitter undertone that Cardinal Sarah affirmed the Pope's assertion. Some members of the church who work in the charitable sector would have let themselves be seduced by a "purely secular ethics of worldly charities". And to such an extent that they had abandoned their Catholic identity and made the secular position completely their own. These Catholic in name only associations "pursue the same goals with the same destructive anthropological ambiguous language and the same slogans," the Cardinal said in his speech.

Unfaithfulness to the Magisterium and THe Loss of Faith go hand in hand

The charge is extremely serious. It says that there are Catholic institutions, which collaborated in the destruction of people, mentioned in the Pope's December Christmas message to the Roman Curia, which Benedict XVI described as the most dangerous threat to the Church and humanity. Since these organizations ignore the Church's Magisterium, they lose their faith together with the ability to act for the public good, went the the Pope's warning.

"The history of the West has sufficiently proven the connection between infidelity to the Magisterium and loss of faith," said Cardinal Sarah. According to the Chairman of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the secularization of Catholic charitable organizations has been already more than just a threat.

Catholic institutions have to oppose the culture of death

The danger of this situation is not to be undervalued, said Introvigne. Forces act in the world today, "wishing the death of man, created by God, in order to destroy the miraculous image," said Cardinal Sarah. It was not just about theoretical ideas, but hard, deadly facts. To achieve their goal, these forces would use all means "to globalize the culture of death." As a particularly perfidious example of this, he cited the effort to camouflage the spread of abortion logic as an "aid" to the woman.

The "unacceptable situation" has arisen from the myth that the major international organizations would always have been basically right and had only the good of all in mind.

Breaking the Myth of the "good behavior" of international institutions

It is time to change that, says Introvigne, what the Catholic area always means conversion. "The grace of conversion helps us to overcome this logic and start new in Christ. The prophetic mission of the Christian calls him to bear witness to Christ and the Gospel values. Charity is not a specialization of the Church. It is the life of the body as a whole, it is a universal appeal to live our faith and to help humanity through the Gospel to grow," says Cardinal Sarah, in his opening speech at the plenary session of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.

  Text: La nuova Bussola Quotidiana/Giuseppe Nardi Bild: Cathopedia

Edit:  Here's some of the coverage on Vatican Reports:

Requiem for a Dynasty

Edit: throughout France yesterday and today, there will be Masses said for the repose of the soul of the Martyr King.  It is being organized by various Monarchist associations.  Louis XVI, who was unjustly slain by revolutionaries on January 21st, 1793, will be in the hearts of many Frenchmen as they keep the candles of restoration burning with hope.

But he said, like a martyr:

« Je meurs innocent de tous les crimes qu'on m'impute. Je pardonne aux auteurs de ma mort, et je prie Dieu que le sang que vous allez répandre ne retombe jamais sur la France. »  

"I am innocent of the crimes imputed to me.  I pardon the authors of my death, and pray to God that the blood you shed will not fall on France's soil." 

Seminarians of Tradition Visit Abandoned Monastery of Weigarten

(Weingarten) The Community of the International Seminary of the Old Ritual Society of St. Peter made a visit on the 8th of December for the High Feast of the Immaculate Conception to Abbey Weingarten. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is being celebrated for the intention of the benefactors of the Seminary. The Seminarians received the blessing of a blood reliquary guarded by the monastery since 1094.  It contains some soil stained with the blood of Jesus from Golgotha.

The Benedictine Abbey Weingarten was founded in 1056 as a Royal Abbey.  In 1803 the monastery was abolished by an Imperial Deputation.  However there the Archabbey of Beuron however attempted resettlement.  In 2010 followed the second extinguishment of the monastic community.  Internal conflicts had driven the convent to dissolution.  The monks of Weingarten still living there have found a new cloister.  The most famous among them is the 101 year old Moral and Pastoral theologian Father Anselm Günthör.

The visit of the seminarians of the International Priestly Seminary of Wigratzbad and the celebration of the Old Mass, which is used as a parish church, but which is joined by orphaned monks, has been filled with new life, who carry the seeds of renewal in them.  With that there is a photo gallery which shows also some events taking place during the visit of the seminary community in October to the Church of the former Imperial Abbey Salem and St. Nikolaus Münster of Überlingen.

Link to katholisches....