Archbishop Viganò Accuses Pope of Lying

ROME, May 28, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — For what appears to be the first time, Pope Francis has openly denied that he knew anything of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s immoral activities, directly contradicting Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s account of their conversation on the subject. 

“I didn’t know anything ... nothing, nothing,” Pope Francis said in a new interview published on Tuesday in Vatican News.

In response, the former apostolic nuncio to the United States has directly accused Pope Francis of lying.

Link...

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Vatican Eager to Canonize Evita and Peronism

"The Vatican has given the green light" - Argentina's CGT union launches a campaign for the canonization of Eva Peron five months before the presidential election.

(Rome) CGT is the largest union in Argentina. For the upcoming May 27th, it has called a nationwide general strike against the government and demands, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, the canonization of Eve "Evita" Peron.

"On its 100th anniversary, the CGT declares Evita the saint of the people."

This is the title of a publication that was presented on Tuesday evening in Calle Azopardo in the historic headquarters of the  Confederación General del Trabajo de la República Argentina (CGT), or General Trade Union Confederation. The presentation in Salon Felipe Vallese kicked off a campaign by the Peronist union to "achieve the canonization of Eva Peron," said Carlin, the country's largest daily newspaper, in yesterday's edition.

Padre Pepe two days ago in the CGT headquarters

The campaign started with the participation of Father Jose Maria Di Paola, better known as "Padre Pepe". The priest is a friend of Pope Francis.

The union representatives announced that they had obtained the approval of the Vatican and the Argentine Bishops' Conference for the campaign.

Argentina's Saint

Argentina has so far had three saints: Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa, José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero and Hector Valdivielso Saez.

Nazaria Ignacia of St. Teresa of Jesus (1889-1942) was born in Spain. In 1906 she moved with her family to Mexico, where she became a nun. In 1925 she founded her own female missionary order in Bolivia, Cruciatarum Ecclesiae Missionariarum. The last years of her life were spent in Argentina, where she created numerous facilities for youth and the poor. In 1992 she was beatified by Pope John Paul II, and canonized in 2018 by Pope Francis

Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero (1840-1914) was an Argentine priest who spent his pastoral life as a country pastor. In autumn 2013 he was beatified and canonised in 2016 by Pope Francis.

The Argentinean Hector Valdivielso Sáez (1910-1934), born in Buenos Aires, entered the Christian Brothers in 1926 and accepted the religious name of Benito of Jesus. For teacher training he was sent in 1929 to religious houses in Spain. When an alliance of Catholic parties became part of a coalition government in 1934, the radical left called for revolution in the style of the Bolshevik October
Revolution of 1917. In Asturias, the Revolutionary Committees of Socialists and Communists

ordered all priests to be arrested as "enemies of the people." Brother Benito of Jesus was also arrested while he was doing retreats. Sentenced to death by a revolutionary court, he was executed on October 9, 1934 along with other prisoners. As one of the martyrs of Turon, he was beatified in 1990 by Pope John Paul II and was the first Argentine to be canonized in 1999. 

Pope Francis added the first two canonizations to this first saint. In addition, Argentina today counts 13 blessed. This includes the controversial beatification of Bishop Enrique Angelelli last April.

"Immortal" Evita

As far as the CGT union is concerned, Eva Peron, the wife of the two-time coup d'état and two-time head of state and government of Argentina, Juan Domingo Peron, should also be elevated to the altars. Eva Peron's "Evita" by Andrew Loyd Webber and Tim Rice, with their hit Do not Cry for Me Argentina, has been "immortalized" since 1976. The main characters of the musical alongside Evita are still her husband Juan Domingo Peron and Che Guevara, the communist revolutionary, guerrilla leader and patron saint of the extreme left and also some parts of the extreme right.

Eva Peron (1919-1952).

"What the Peronist union CGT demands can take years. A canonization process begins in the diocese in which the candidate died," says Clairin, dampening expectations somewhat.

Eva Peron died on July 26, 1952, at the age of only 33, in the Argentine capital, which is why the
Archdiocese of Buenos Aires is responsible for the opening and first phase of the beatification process, which was chaired by Pope Francis from 1998-2013. The Pope is said to have become a convinced Peronist at a young age. When Peron became president for the first time, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was twelve years old.

Last Tuesday night, the entire CGT leadership was present. The campaign for beatification, according to the CGT secretary-general, is intended to be the prelude to a "counter-culture" which "says everything and is always humble.”

"Eva Peron gave her life for a providential mission, the mission to save the dignity of the human person in its transcendent sense. That was the synthesis of a deep faith in her people and in God. "

And further:

"In this deeply Christian, Catholic and humanistic framework, the CGT understands the message and the immense work of Eva Peron."

One wants to compare those who try to gain a hearing "with many words but little knowledge at the lower level" with  market hucksters.

The "canonization" of Peronism

The union also posted a photo showing priest Padre Pepe at the lectern at the CGT union headquarters, along with his campaign launch press release. A logical step, since Padre Pepe is a personal friend of Pope Francis, and the Holy See and, accordingly, the Argentine Episcopal Conference gave the green light to the CGT campaign.

Padre Pepe with Pope Francis in the Vatican.

According to critics, Argentinian Peronism seeks its own canonization and sees it as an opportune moment under Pope Francis and his politicization of the Church. When the Peronists were defeated in the presidential elections of 2015, Francis made no secret of his disappointment and has since then given the elected, non-Peronist head of state Mauricio Macri the cold shoulder. That was "a reason" why Francis as Pope did not visit his homeland, because he did not want to help Macri to a second term by his presence.

At the end of October 2019, the regular elections will take place. In mid-August, the political groups determine their candidates in open primaries. According to polls, neither Macri nor the Peronists can be sure of a victory. However, the Peronists are counting on a return to Casa Rosada, the official residence of the President, from where they have ruled the country 24 out of 36 years since the end of the military dictatorship.

The union CGT

An important role is played by the General Confederation of Trade Unions (CGT), formed in 1930, as in France and Italy, as an alliance of socialists, communists and revolutionary syndicalists. After the 1943 coup d'état, most of the union supported Labor Minister Juan Domingo Peron. When he was dismissed and arrested as a minister in 1945, the CGT called for a general strike. The agitation, in which Eva Peron participated, forced Peron's release.

Padre Pepe with Archbishop Bergoglio (Buenos Aires). We have known each other for a long time.

For the presidential elections of 1946, the union founded the Labor Party (PL) and contributed significantly to Peron's election victory. In return, it received half the mandate of the three-party Peronist coalition, the Speaker of Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the important governorship of the province of Buenos Aires, by far the most important member state. In 1947, the three parties dissolved and joined together under Peron leadership to the Peronist Party (PP), which calls itself today Partido Justicialista (PJ). The CGT was the mainstay of Peronism.

With the fall of Peron in 1955, the Peronist movement was banned. In 1966, leading parts of the union supported the coup d'état without reaching an agreement with the new rulers. Radicalization increased in the late 1960s. Underground organizations emerged on the left bank of Peronism, forcibly overthrowing the government and attempting to put Peron back to power. The best-known guerrilla groups were the Montoneros, the ERP and the Peronist Armed Forces (FAP), which also murdered several CGT trade unionists as traitors, including two secretaries-general in 1970 and 1973 (presidents). Their front page included the journal Cristianismo y Revolucion (Christianity and Revolution), which was published in 1966-1971 in the context of Marxist liberation theology, the left-wing priest movement for the Third World and among other things spokesman of the left-wing revolutionary and guerrilla organizations.

"People's Saint"

In fact, Peron was able to become president and head of government for a second time in 1973, but died the following year. In office until 1976, his second wife, Isabel Peron, who tried to build on the nimbus of Eva Peron, politically, but could not pacify the country, and was dragged down by rampant favoritism and corruption even deeper into the crisis. When the military took power in 1976 in the midst of chaos, the CGT was also persecuted. Several union representatives were arrested, some disappeared in the hands of the military never to return. Through numerous strikes, especially since 1979, the union pushed from the underground to an end to the military dictatorship that came in 1983.

Since its re-establishment, the CGT is again the largest and most influential union in the country, but has had to share its influence with the split-off in 1992, CAT, also a Peronist but leftist, half-sized union.

With the campaign for the beatification of the former Primera Dama (First Lady) of Argentina, the largest trade union in the country is entering unfamiliar uncharted territory.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: ElC / Calrin / Vatican.va (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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Document Involving Bishop’s Crimes Implicates Francis

The document proving that the Vatican had been aware of the sexual wrongdoing of Bishop Zanchetta for years - long before Francis promoted him to the high post in the Vatican.

(Rome) It is not just the case involving former Cardinal McCarrick that has been putting Pope Francis in distress for months. This also applies to the case of the Argentine bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta. Francis is silent and seems to be hoping that the storm may soon abate. He does not give a good example.

So far, the bill has been upheld because the leading mass media are still sparing Francis. Since the fall of January 2018, the fall of the Chilean Bishop Juan Barros Madrid exploded, the image of Francis nevertheless took some damage. Since then, the responsible head of the Church has not been liable for the scandal of sexual abuse by bishops who are close to him. The Barros case was followed by further cases in Chile, in Honduras, then the McCarrick case and the Pennsylvania report in the United States of America.

Through the dossier of the former Apostolic Nuncio in the USA, Carlo Maria Viganò, Francis fell directly into the line of fire. In late August 2018, the archbishop publicly accused him of being informed of McCarrick's sexual misconduct since June 2013, but he nevertheless rehabilitated McCarrick and allowed him influence on bishop appointments in the US and the Vatican China policy.

Last December, another case was added, that of the Argentine bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta. The Argentine newspaper El Tribuno and the international press agency AP are publishing a joint report that the Vatican was already aware of the Bishop's sexual transgressions in 2015 and 2017, but did nothing. On the contrary: Zanchetta, who disappeared overnight from his diocese in the summer of 2017, suddenly reappeared in the Vatican half a year later. Two days after Zanchetta's descent, Pope Francis resigned without giving an explanation to the irritated believers in the diocese of Oran. Moreover, after Zanchetta reappeared in the Vatican, Francis promoted him to a high position in the Apostolic Property Administration (APSA). He still sits there today.

The background of his escape from Argentina was unclear. The reason given was the shattered finances he left behind in his diocese. With this justification, Francis already deposed far less traditional bishops. The "Franciscan friend" Zanchetta (El Tribuno), on the other hand, was promoted and of all people to an office dealing with goods management.

It became known through the El Tribuno and AP reports that the real reason for Zanchetta's disappearance was a gay double life, and the bishop sexually corrupted seminarians of his own seminary.

Since the case of Barroso, Pineda (former Auxiliary Bishop of Tegucigalpa), McCarrick and Zanchetta, there is the question of how Pope Francis keeps himself from covering up sexual misconduct. While publicly denouncing the cover-up as an unacceptable evil, he still owes answers to more questions than any other high dignitary of the Church.

El Tribuno, the daily newspaper on the occasion of the Vatican Abuse Summit, published a document dated April 26, 2016, featuring five high-ranking prelates of the diocese of Oran, including the Vicars General, Chancellor and Rector of the Seminary, and other Monsignori, who informed Pope Francis  about the unacceptable misconduct of their bishop. The five-page document provides detailed information and bears their signatures.

The last page of the document containing five signatures.

Only so much is said: Bishop Zanchetta gave the chancellor on June 21, 2015, the order to publish photos of some events on his mobile phone on the Facebook page of the diocese. On the bishop's mobile phone, the shocked chancellor also found pornographic footage of homosexual acts by adolescents and nude selfies by Bishop Zanchetta, which he had shared with third parties through WhatsApp.

The pictures were saved and the Vicar General informed. Finally, in April of the following year, the five prelates and the chancellor sat down and set out the document they sent to the apostolic nuncio in Argentina, Msgr. Emil Paul Tscherrig.

The subject of the letter was also the authoritative treatment of the bishop with his priests and the financial mismanagement he caused.

Bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta was named Bishop of Oran in 2013 by Pope Francis, although he had previously left a mess in administration and finance as Vicar General in the Diocese of Quilmes.

What credibility can Pope Francis claim for the abuse scandal, as long as he does not answer the questions about his role in those cases?

His refusal to address homosexuality, the main reason for the abuse of minors, raises further questions. Does Francis only want to condemn what is being prosecuted by the secular states, but not what is punishable under Church law? Will he continue to protect homosexuality in the Church?

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: El Tribuno (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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Pope Throws Spotlight on Traditional Female Contemplative Order

Edit: CNN just posted an article wherein it quotes Francis taking responsibility for priests and bishops who've allegedly raped nuns.  We all know what he thinks of contemplative orders, particularly the females. It's not an exaggeration to say they are in the cross-hairs.

For the purposes of this exercise, he's singled out a traditional contemplative female order was suppressed by Benedict XVI.  He excused his predecessor, as if to say, surely he did nothing wrong.  He was a strong leader.   

We'd already covered this, here, here,  and the superior's comment here

One of the commenters said they went on to form a new Society, Sisters of the Morning Star, which was founded in 2014 and has 250 members worldwide.

Photo from article by Marian T. Horvath....

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Francis Signs Unprecedented Document With Sunni Imam

Pope Francis ends his historic visit to Arabia with a Mass - The joint statement was so explosive for Arab relations that their publication was not announced in advance -

correspondent report by Roland Juchem

Abu Dhabi (kath.net/KAP) 120,000 participants from 100 nations, including 4,000 Muslims: The Mass that Pope Francis celebrated on Tuesday morning in Abu Dhabi's stadium is the practical side of what he shared with the Grand Emam, Ahmad Ap-Tayyeb, of Cairo’s  Al-Azhar Mosque the night before, in a landmark document on "Human Brotherhood:” brotherhood, plurality, and lived faith in the peaceful coexistence of one Creator's children.

This religious document has enormous political significance, especially in this part of the world. As clearly as the Grand Imam and the Pope promote freedom of religion, women's rights and sustainability as clearly as they condemn violence and extremism in the name of God, but also anti-religious secularism and amoral individualism, not every ruler or traditionalist preacher wants to hear that, but not only in the Middle East.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) pretend to be patrons and protectors of tolerance and dialogue - also in contrast to their big neighbor Saudi Arabia. The Emirates not only provided the Zayed sports stadium for the Pope's Mass free of charge. No expense or effort was spared for the two-day interfaith conference on "Human Fraternity," and it was a major buzzword for what was said to be "historic gatherings of the world's two most important religious leaders."

"Brother and good friend" is what Francis and al-Tayyeb call each other. The Egyptian has hardly left the pope's side in the past two days. It is their fifth encounter. In his speech, al-Tayyeb calls for Christians to have full citizenship rights in the region. He receives applause just as much as for his criticism of Western caricatures of Muslims.

The Pope, in his subsequent speech, sharply criticizes the war and arms race in the region, but praises the Emirates for granting freedom of worship. However, according to Francis, true freedom of religion is "not limited to the free exercise of religion, but sees in the other one really a brother and a sister ... of the same humanity to whom God grants freedom."

On the evening of the first day, both will receive the Human Fraternity Award, given by Abu Dhabi's ruling family, the Zayed Dynasty. While gentle music and incense flow through the small arena in front of the founder's monument and rain down confetti, the head of the Catholic Church and the head of the main teaching authority of Sunni Islam, sign their joint statement.

This is so explosive - at least in this region - that its publication was not announced in advance. Its signing was not to be jeopardized by any political interference. Together, as well as in each of their denominations, Pope and Grand Imam want to promote peace, dialogue, tolerance and genuine piety, counteract any instrumentalization of religion for hatred and violence, and advocate equal rights for all.

"A justice that applies only to family members, compatriots, and believers of the same faith is a hobbled righteousness that is veiled injustice," the Pope had warned in his speech on Monday night. Even in the tolerant emirates, non-Muslims enjoy worship, but not religious freedom. Every believer is allowed to practice his religion, many in official churches and temples, others - for lack of space - in rented hotel meeting rooms.

Mission and pastoral care among the "others" are prohibited. For Muslims who turn their backs on religion, the death penalty is officially still in force. "You have achieved a lot which is praiseworthy - but all this can be improved," could be summed up with the polite, but certain estimation by the esteemed guest. 

On Monday, when interfaith dialogue took place, Tuesday morning was for Christians in the Middle East. At the Mass with tens of thousands of people in the stadium and tens of thousands more before, Francis gave consolation to the Christians in Arabia, who come from more than 100 different ethnic groups and countries living far from their homeland. He encouraged them and thanked them for living their faith as described in the document signed the day before.

This also corresponds to the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, the Pope said in his sermon - unlike the standards of this world, according to which the rich, powerful and successful are blessed and cheered by the masses. He calls for "serving rather than being served". That sounds a bit different to the tens of thousands of people from abroad who are workers and servants in Arabia and are confronted everywhere with the large, theatrical images of powerful local emirs.

With the largest Christian worship on Arab soil to date, Christians in the Islamic world have been brought to the light of the global public. With the declaration signed by Francis and al-Tayyeb, the Catholic Church and the highest teaching authority of Sunni Islam have set a milestone behind which Christians and Muslims can not easily recede.

Video of the Mass in Abu Dhabi

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Pope Taking Swipe at Legacy of Pope Benedict

Benedict XVI. with Pope Francis

"Two More Threads That Connect Pope Francis With His Predecessor Are Severed"

(Rome) The Italian daily Libero today published the following text, which is reproduced in full.

"The thesis is one of the most serious. This is also shown by the evidence. Pope Francis has a plan to eliminate the legacy and disciples of Benedict XVI. The operation has stirred up the Vatican, which has not by any means significantly opposed the incumbent Pope.

The thesis is voiced by Riccardo Cascioli [chief editor of the Catholic Internet newspaper Nuova Bussola Quotidiana ] in the daily Il Giornale:

"It's just a matter of days and two more threads that connect Pope Francis with his predecessor are severed. More voices are being raised that the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household is being abolished, its incumbent - and at the same time personal secretary to Benedict XVI. - Msgr. Georg Gänswein, and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, established in 1988 for dialogue with the Society of St. Pius X (the Lefebvrians), is today the reference point for the application of Summorum Pontifiicum, the motu proprio of Benedict XVI, with which the Latin Mass in the traditional rite was freed."

These are two decisions of very grave symbolic value, similar to the expulsion of Cardinal Raymond Burke, whom Joseph Ratzinger had called to Rome in 2008 as Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura. In November 2014, he was deposed by Pope Francis, who had already replaced him as a member of the Congregation of Bishops the year before. The same fate befell Cardinal Gerhard Müller.

Now one has arrived at the last link, with Msgr. Gänswein, a person inconvenient to Francis. The abolition of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, with the relocation of duties (appointments and audiences of the Pope) to a section of the Secretariat of State, would allow the Pope to get rid of Gänswein and to justify the operation with the need for a reform of the Curia.

As for the end of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which has been talked about for some time: The consequences are explosive. This would give more weight to those who want to eliminate Summorum Pontificum and Mass in the 'Extraordinary Form' of the one Roman rite whose 'proper form' is the Missal enacted in 1969. This is the next blow against Ratzinger's legacy, which Francis seems to want to eradicate.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Libero (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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Don Nicola Bux: "Pope Francis has an aversion to the Church"

Don Nicola Bux: "the pope can not spread his private ideas instead of the eternally valid Catholic truth." Pope Francis at the General Audience of 2 January 2019.

(Rome) The well-known liturgist Don Nicola Bux is contradicting statements made by Pope Francis at the General Audience on 2 January. In an interview with the daily Quotidiano di Foggia,  the theologian esteemed by Benedict XVI said: "The Pope can not spread his private ideas instead of the eternally valid Catholic truth. The Gospel is not revolutionary".

Don Nicola Bux was one of the advisers who were especially appreciated by Pope Benedict XVI. This is especially true for the liturgical area. Don Bux supported the liturgical renewal, which the German Pope wanted to promote through the recovery of the sacred and the promotion of the traditional Rite.

Under Pope Francis, this changed. Like all the other consultors for the liturgical celebrations of the Pope, Don Bux was no longer confirmed in office. In an interview that Bruno Volpe conducted with him, he commented on Pope Francis' controversial statement on January 4, who two days earlier had stated during the first General Audience of 2019 that the Gospel was "revolutionary."

What was evidently meant to be a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution was supposed to be taken seriously as a statement from the ruling Pope's mouth, however. The statement of the theologian and liturgical expert Don Nicola Bux took it seriously and contradicted it energetically. Here is the full interview:

QF: Don Nicola, is the gospel, as claimed by the pope, revolutionary?

Don Nicola Bux: No. This is a thesis that came into fashion in the 1970s after the publication of a few books, permitting the ideas of '68 and Marxism to shine through. It was intended to make the figure of Jesus more attractive, but has no theological foundation.

QF: Why?

Don Nicola Bux: The Gospel tells us that Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to complete it. A revolution, on the other hand, spares neither the past nor the present. Jesus is one of them, as St. Paul says so beautifully. He unites everything in himself. It is true that it is written in the Secret Revelation that He makes everything new, but this verse is to be read in the sense that He brings everything to perfection.

QF: Better atheists than Christians who hate?

Don Nicola Bux: I think that the problem is that the Pope deviates from the text prepared for him and directs his eyes to the audience. My impression is that certain statements come from a certain complacency, but above all from his aversion to the Church. Pope Francis prefers, instead of a people in the true sense of the word, a vision of the Church as a blurred, undefined people. He does not realize that he is sliding into a contradictory and Peronist perspective, a form of schizophrenia that even clashes with the idea of ​​mercy so much hailed.

QF: Why?

Don Nicola Bux: When I say that someone who hates, that is objectively in a state of sin, does well to stay away from the Church, but at the same time asks divorced men who are remarried by marriage, who are objectively also sinners, in to come to the Church and give them Communion, which is impossible, I find myself this is a contradiction. Both are in a state of sin. But why be strict with those who hate, but merciful with the remarried divorced? Let us return to Peronism. At present, paradoxically, one wants to let in those who are outside but wants to push out those who are inside. Certain statements are dangerous when they fall on weak or less conscious circles, and have devastating consequences. We risk emptying the churches even more.

Q: That means?

Don Nicola Bux: It's a matter of principle. Can the Pope spread his private opinions instead of the everlasting Catholic truth? No. He is not a private doctor, and it is inconceivable to change her at will or to provide versions of her that contradict the Catholic doctrine and beliefs that are not even found in a museum. And there's something else to say about that, too.

QQ: What do you mean?

Don Nicola Bux: If the museums were useless, nobody would visit them. Do you not agree? The Pastors of the Church must always express their faithfulness to the sound and everlasting doctrine and truth without any contamination, and have to preserve it carefully.

Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Quotidiano di Foggia / Vatican.va (Screenshots) 

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

A Pact Between Pope Francis and the Society of Saint Pius X for the Isolation of Tradition?

Is Pope Francis preparing to eliminate the Ecclesia Dei communities with the help of the Society of Saint Pius X. 

(Rome) More and more voices are dealing with the rumors that the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei is about to be dissolved.

The two authors Fabrizio Cannone and Alessandro Rico see it as a papal maneuver to assassinate tradition from behind. Fabrizio Cannone, born in 1974, holds a Doctorate in Church History and Religious Studies, and has written for Corrispondenza Romana, Fides Catholica, Homme Nouveau and numerous other Catholic media. Most recently, he published the book: "The Inconvenient Pope. History and background of the beatification of Pius IX." (1)

Alessandro Rico, born in 1991, studied philosophy at the Sapienza and Political History of Ideas at the LUISS in Rome. In 2017 he published together with Lorenzo Castellani the book "The end of politics? Technocracy, Populism, Multiculturalism". (2) He calls himself a "Catholic, Conservative and Opponent of Political Correctness". Both are close to the Catholic tradition.

Pope Denies Immaculate Conception

(Rome) The bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, has denied the virginity of Mary just before Christmas. But even Pope Francis, who appointed him to this office in March, seems to have his difficulties with the Most Blessed Virgin and Mother of God. In his less-publicized address on December 21 at the Christmas reception for the Holy See and Vatican City staff, the Catholic leader spoke about Mary and Joseph.

Pope Francis de facto denied on this occasion the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, proclaimed in 1854. Mary is revered by the Church as comceived without sin. She was born without the stain of original sin, and remained without sin for the rest of her life. In the Eastern Church, she is addressed with the title of Panagia.

In contrast, Pope Francis said in his speech:

"So who is happy in the crib? The Blessed Mother and St. Joseph are full of joy: they look at the Infant Jesus and are happy because, after a thousand worries, they have received this gift of God with much faith and love. They are 'overflowing' with holiness and therefore with joy. You will say to me, "Of course! It is the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph! 'Yes, but we should not think that it was easy for them: One is not born holy, but they will become it, and so will you.”

"Perhaps the Pope does not know the dogmas of his own Church?" Asks today the Roman website Chiesa e post concilio (Church and the post-counciloar period).

The Bishop of Porto corrected himself two days after his denial of virginity. From Pope Francis six days after that, nothing is known. The Vatican officially published its confusing statement on its website in Italian and English.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican.va (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred velron99@hotmail.com
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Cardinal Zen: "I must choose between rebellion against the Pope, and silence."

"Global Times on the Vatican delegation in the People's Republic of China. Cardinal Zen: "I have to decide".

(Rome / Beijing) Vatican spokesman Greg Burke indirectly confirmed the Vatican operation in the People's Republic of China to force legitimate, faithful bishops to resign, giving way to schismatic, bishops.
 

"Practical steps"

 

On Saturday, December 15, the Global Times, a regime friendly, English-language newspaper in the People's Republic of China, reported the presence of a Vatican delegation in China. This had taken place in the Communist empire because of "practical steps in the implementation of the agreement on the bishops".

 
Last September, for the first time since the Communist takeover in 1949, a bilateral agreement was signed between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China, but its contents are kept secret by both sides. As the Global Times confirmed, this is about episcopal appointments.
 
In 1958, the Communist regime established its own religiously dependent Catholic Church, independent from Rome, the so-called "Patriotic Association," and has since appointed its own bishops without the consent of Rome. These bishops were excommunicated from Rome.
 
Simultaneously with the signing of the secret agreement, Pope Francis lifted the excommunication of these bishops and recognized them as legitimate bishops. The agreement also appears to require that these bishops be appointed and recognized as diocesan bishops by Rome. Since autumn 2017, it is known that the Vatican is urging two faithful bishops to resign to make way for bishops excommunicated so far.
 
Last week, as the newspaper reported, a Vatican delegation was in the "Middle Kingdom" to hold "talks on the implementation of an agreement on the appointment of bishops."These," said a spokesman for the Holy See,  "talks were conducted with both government and church representatives."
 
The spokesperson, according to the article, was Vatican spokesman Greg Burke, who was contacted by the Chinese newspaper last Friday.
 
The newspaper also quoted Wang Meixiu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as saying that the talks were about filling vacant episcopal chairs. 

The "new model"

The Global Times also confirmed that a bishop appointed by the regime is being used by the Vatican as a legitimate diocesan bishop. Underground Bishop Guo Xijin of Mindong accepted the papal call to resign last Friday. He is replaced by the regime's Bishop Zhan Silu.
 
Bishop Guo Xijin was a dialogue partner of the Vatican delegation. He will be, as the Vatican wishes, auxiliary bishop of Bishop Silu in his former diocese. He confirmed this to Global Times after the meeting with the delegation from the Vatican.
 
Global Times presented the unusual resignation and role reversal as a "normal castling," which goes back to "practical", ecclesiastical "necessities."
 
There is talk of a "new model" that, if accepted by both sides "with good will", could be established with regard to episcopal nominations. Should that translate to mean that the diocesan bishops in future come from the Patriotic Association and the auxiliary bishops from the Underground Church?
 
Global Times concludes:

"The Press Office of the Holy See did not respond to questions as to whether the delegation's mission also included discussions on the establishment of diplomatic relations or a possible visit by Pope Francis to China."

Cardinal Zen: "Unacceptable, so I'll be silent from now on"

Meanwhile, Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong and gray eminence of the Chinese Underground Church, commented on recent events. He was disappointed with the monthly Tempi that Rome forces legitimate and faithful bishops to resign to establish bishops who have been unfaithful and have turned away from Rome.

"I have told these two bishops that they should not resign voluntarily so as not to cooperate with evil. But I have also advised them to obey if the Pope orders it, because a pope's command must always be obeyed."

At the beginning of the year, Cardinal Zen experienced the great defeat when it became clear that Pope Francis is against all warnings, for the agreement with Beijing (see also "The problem is who sits in the cage" ). Because of this disappointment, the cardinal reasons, since it is impossible for him because of his office and as a Catholic, to criticize the Pope, he will at last to retire to a monastery and to keep silent.

He said to Tempi :

"There is the problem of the seven bishops excommunicated and pardoned by Francis. So far none of them has been placed at the head of a diocese. If this happens, I will be silent for ever, because that would be unacceptable and would force me to decide to rebel against the Pope or to remain silent. I will be silent."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Global Times / Wikicommons (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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Underground Bishops Expected to Subject Themselves to Communist Ones Favored by Pope as Sign of Obedience

“Gesture of obedience": Archbishop Celli with legitimate bishops of China, who have to resign in favor of bishops who belong to the state.

(Beijing) Two legitimate bishops were called to resign yesterday on behalf of Pope Francis. They have to give way to Patriotic bishops loyal to China’s Communist regime.

Underground Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin was the Bishop of Mindong, officially recognized by Rome. He was rejected by the Communist government in Beijing. At the insistence of Rome, he will now resign to make room for a bishop in the diocese, whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Francis last September. The repeal was a one-sided advance of Rome for the signing of the secret agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China on the same day. The content of the agreement is kept secret in agreement of both sides, but should relate to episcopal appointments.

Pope Francis abolished the excommunication of seven bishops whose episcopal ordination had been ordered by the communist government without the consent of Rome. Part of the agreement seems to be that not only the excommunication should be repealed, but all previously bishops of Rome as diocesan bishops must be used and recognized. In order to make this possible, the Vatican negotiators urged legitimate bishops in the fall of 2017 to renounce their offices. They must subordinate themselves in rank to the bishops who belong to the state and become their suffragan bishops.

Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin was also urged to do so. In the past two years alone, he was arrested twice and taken to an unknown location. A popular method in the People's Republic of China is to exert pressure, intimidate, or subject regime opponents to re-education.

His place as Diocesan Bishop of Mindong will be occupied by Vincent Zhan Silu. This became known yesterday after Bishop Guo gathered his priests in the afternoon to explain the situation to them.

Bishop Guo, who will be Auxiliary Bishop of Mindong in the future, had just returned from a place near Beijing. Curial Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the head of the Vatican delegation that had prepared the agreement and signed it on behalf of the Pope, had sent him there.

Archbishop Celli handed Bishop Guo a letter from Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of Propaganda Fide. In it they asked him to cede the leadership of the diocese to Zhan Silu. Archbishop Celli emphasized to the bishop that Pope Francis awaits his resignation as a "gesture of obedience". It is a "sacrifice for the overall situation of the Chinese Church,” which he has to bring into being.

The news, AsiaNews said, has "saddened" many priests and believers. Until now it was the case that an episcopal bishop, reconciled to Rome and recognized by the Holy See, subordinated himself to the Underground Bishop and became its Auxiliary Bishop. "Now the opposite is the case," says AsiaNews.

In the diocese of Mindong, the vast majority of the faithful and the priests belong to the Underground Church. The Natuonal Patriotic Association has counted at best ten percent of the faithful and 20 percent of the priests. Thanks to the Vatican-Chinese agreement, the state-owned organization is now also in control of the underground church.

The question of who benefits from the agreement does not have to be asked. Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong and gray eminence of the Underground Church said in September. It is the government in Beijing.

Bishop Peter Zhuang Jianjian was also summoned to meet Archbishop Celli. He too will resign "as a papal wish" as Diocesan Bishop of Shantou. His place will be taken over by Bishop Joseph Huang Bingzhang.

The paths approved by Rome  are still a stumbling block for those affected. In order for the legitimate bishops, after their resignation, to become auxiliary bishops of their previous dioceses, they need the approval of the communist government and the bishops' council. They depend on those from whom they have so far been able to stay away from great sacrifices but successfully.

Even before signing, Cardinal Zen said that the Vatican would hand over the faithful underground church to the regime.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: AsiaNews

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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Papal Blessing for Global Migration Pact

Secretary of State Pietro Parolin grants blessing to the Global Migrationspakt in Marrakech on behalf of Pope Francis.

The Global Compact for Migration is signed. Above all, it bears numerous signatures of representatives from countries of origin. Significantly lower are the signatures of representatives of the target countries. In some state chancelleries one is still able to ask the simple question about the cui bono. The Holy See was represented in Marrakesh by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and gave the Pact the blessing of Pope Francis.

In September 2015, Pope Francis was the only representative of religion and thus the recognized highest moral authority in the New York Glass Palace of the United Nations, giving his blessing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Officially: Transformation of Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development). Abortion or not. Last Tuesday, the Secretary of State did the same with the Global Migration Pact in Marrakesh.

The migration compacts represent another step towards globalization and thus the curtailment of state sovereignty. Ornaments or no. What they mean exactly must first be shown, and not just because they have to be put into action. Rather, because terms are out of focus and therefore fluid. That's the intent. Since 2015, this approach has been pre-explored on a grand scale with the fluent synonymisation of refugee and migrant. The text of the treaty seems to be deliberately conceived as work in progress. It is spongy, so that its concrete implementation leaves a wide scope for those who can shape it. These are the ones who wanted the pact. They have given themselves a remarkable instrument in hand.

Vatican announces new commandments and new sins

At the beginning of the week, the Vatican gave the green light to the Global Compact for Migration on behalf of Pope Francis. Specifically, this means the absolutization of migration as a right. In other words, for the Holy See under Francis, migration under all circumstances is always a good thing, and the reception of migrants by the countries of destination under all circumstances and is always a duty.

In terms of religious history and theology, the "Welcome Culture", postulated overnight in 2015, has been elevated to the rank of a commandment by the Holy See and a violation of it to the status of a sin.

The next step will be in a few days, on the 19th of December, before returning to the Glass Palace in New York. There the UN General Assembly will formally decide on the Migration Pact. The result of the vote is already known.

The Vatican is not a member of the UN, which is why the Secretary of State was present with the status of Permanent Observer in the Moroccan metropolis. As such, it can not only attend the UN conferences, but also speak.

What did Cardinal Parolin say in Marrakesh?

He announced that he had already, “initiated the process, in order to find the most efficient ways in which the Catholic Church institutions and Catholic organizations around the world" could benefit from the global pact. What exactly that means, is in view of the matter is in substance less tangible than the more than unclear contract text. More decisive is the declaration of intent, which is an unconditional commitment to the UN migration agenda.

In fact, for more than five years, Pope Francis has been among the most active among the leading contributors to the migration agenda, even though he is not its inventor.

Merkel's Marrakesh message

Next to him, on the political level, is Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her message in Marrakech consisted of three central points:

-Mass migration is a "normal phenomenon”

- if done legally, "it is a positive thing”

- the handling of a "global phenomenon" can not be "entrusted to individual states" but "only to the international community".

Migration is a global phenomenon insofar as it occurs in many countries worldwide. However, this is not a specific case for a global phenomenon because no migration movement takes place globally. Every situation in each country of origin is different, the migrant, smuggler and boat routes are different, the destinations are different and the situation is different and are the motives of each individual migrant.

This refutes the claim that individual countries can not handle the migration. What else?

In reality, Merkel spoke in favor of the disempowerment and disenfranchisement of the sovereign states, which in a central question in general, human movements, would no longer be one, that is, sovereign. From this perspective, the Migration Pact turns out to be a gigantic attempt to enforce global free movement, which would be the first step towards the end of today's states.

Did someone say so? Has anyone so decided, for example, the German Bundestag? No. Through the back door to the democratically legitimized legislative bodies and above all facts concocted contrary to the constitutional obligations. Sovereignty and democracy were apparently in the minds of some rulers yesterday.

The pact is therefore by no means irrelevant, as some commentators try to assure, just because it does not contain concrete measures and is more like a declaration of intent. The meaning lies exactly in this declaration of intent. It reflects what the truly powerful aspire to, and that is alarming.

"Adverse circumstances"

Secretary of State Parolin justified his presence in Marrakesh by pointing out that "more and more people are forced to leave their homes because of adverse factors". The formulation was surprisingly generic. The political arm of Pope Francis, Curial Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, already described "climate change" as a reason for immigration to be recognized. If one takes the disaster-making of the UN prophets of doom at the World Climate Summit in Katowice at their word, such as the UN Socialist Secretary General Antonio Gutierres, then "whole countries" are threatened by climate change so that they would be uninhabitable in the near future. As a precaution, however, he did not give a concrete example of his daring claim.

However, the notice already announces which arguments could be used to justify coming waves of migration.

Cardinal Parolin

Parolin seconded the advocates of the migration agenda in Marrakesh, categorically identifying migration as the "involuntary journey" that "puts migrants and their families in vulnerable situations.” The most common reason for migration, economic migration, is concealed and neatly excluded from all discussions.

As far as Pope Francis is concerned, everyone has a right to go where he wants to go. But the countries of destination have no rights, because they have to absorb and shut up. If you do not, you are guilty. This is the new moral of the new globalist era.

What was blessed in Marrakesh

Secretary of State Parolin has blessed the very nature of the Marrakesh Conference. The goals can be summarized:

-Reduction of sovereignty of states

- “Persuading" public opinion worldwide that migration is an absolute right and always a positive phenomenon

- definitive elimination of any distinction between refugees and economic migrants and between illegal and regular migration

-Compulsion to accept migrants.

In this sense, Secretary of State Parolin in Marrakesh declared migration as a means of "human development.”

As early as July 2017, Sanchez Sorondo, political advisor to Pope Francis, said:

"Humanity is experiencing a magical moment: For the first time, the Magisterium of the Pope and the Magisterium of the United Nations agree.”

Text: Andreas Becker

Image: Nuova Bussola Quotidiana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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