Vatican Does Not Expect a Capitulation from the SSPX

Commission "Ecclesia Dei" -Secretary Pozzo: There is "no doubt" that the teachings of Vatican II have a different binding, depending on the nature of the document. SSPX could expect to return with personal prelature

Vatican (kath.net/RV/red) Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei' has said in an interview with the French magazine 'Famille Chrétienne' that the Vatican will require no capitulation from the controversial SSPX Pius X. This was reported by "Vatican Radio". "The Holy See invites the SSPX to take its side into the framework of doctrinal issues, insofar as they are essential for a permanent attachment to the faith and to Catholic teaching and tradition," said Pozzo. Currently, there are obviously continuing talks with the SSPX. The Secretary of the Pontifical Commission then stressed: "The reservations of the SSPX over some aspects and formulations of the Second Vatican Council and to some of the reforms carried out that do not concern non-negotiable dogmatic and doctrinal issues may be simultaneously further studied and developed."

With that Pozzo signaled that the SSPX could retain some peculiarities when they have been inserted back into the large frame of the Catholic Church. There is "no doubt" that the teachings of Vatican II have different bindingness, depending on the nature of the document. "The Constitutions of the Church on Revelation, Lumen Gentium and Dei Verbum, have the character of doctrinal pronouncements; the explanations of religious freedom and non-Christian religions as well as the ecumenical decree, on the other hand, have less authority and less bindingness."

The CDF has presented the SSPX in 2011, with a "Doctrinal Statement."; this they should sign if they want a full return to the Catholic Church. Pozzo let them know in case of a reconciliation with Rome the SSPX could expect the status of a personal prelature. He also confirmed that the Vatican - as during the pontificate of Benedict XVI. - insists on unchanged clarity on the part of the SSPX. The conversation between the Prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Bishop Bernard Fellay went well according to Pozzo.

Link to Kath.net.. AMGD

"We Will Always Reply to Those Who Question Us About the Reasons For Our Fidelity to Tradition"

 

October 3, 2014 16:02 |  

Cardinal and Bishop Fellay Müller

(Menzingen)  Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (SSPX) has today addressed the press service of the SSPX  about the meeting on 23 September 2014, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller. In some ways there is nothing new to report, "the doctrinal differences" would continue, says  Fellay. This had already emerged in the context of formal talks between the SSPX theologians and a delegation of the CDF in the years 2009-2011, which led to the rejection on the part of the SSPX of   the signing of the doctrinal preamble.

At the same time the situation had also changed. So there is a new pope and a new Prefect of the Congregation. The conclusion of the talk  two and a half weeks ago makes it clear "that neither they nor we want a break in relations". Both sides also insisted  "on the fact that the doctrinal issues must be resolved before a canonical recognition". Because of the ambiguities in the doctrinal preamble it is impossible for the SSPX, however, to sign.

Fellay also pointed to the "intensification of the Church Crisis"t, which was initiated by Walter Cardinal Kasper. To the concerns expressed by a number of cardinals in criticism of Kasper Fellay said: "Since the criticism of the two Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci in the Short Critical Examination of the New Ordo Missæ in 1969, Rome has never seen the like. But what has not changed is that the Roman authorities take no account of our criticisms of the Council, because they seem to them secondary or even to be illusory in view of the acute problems that arise in the Church today. These leaders recognize the crisis, which has rocked the Church up to the highest level  - even among the cardinals. But they do not see that the Council could be the disproportionate or even the main cause of this crisis. "

Cardinal Kasper had proposed in his speech on the occasion of the consistory in February, "to do again what has already been done at the Council, namely to reaffirm Catholic doctrine, but at the same time,  offer an opening for the care of souls." This idea confirmed by the Cardinal is more widespread, such as in interviews: "He recalled that the doctrine could not change in the theory, but he also introduces the idea that there would be situations in concrete reality, where the doctrine can not be applied." For the SSPX Kasper is not the cause of this evil: "For our part we accuse  the council of making this artificial distinction between doctrine and pastoral care before, because the care of souls must necessarily flow from  doctrine. Due to various openings in the pastoral area, major changes were introduced in the Church and  her teaching was affected thereby.  This took place during and after the Council, and we denounce the same strategy, which today is applied to marriage morality. "Nevertheless, it was in the Conciliar texts," where there were major changes" in terms of doctrine, such as religious freedom, ecumenism and collegiality .

As to the question whether the recent discussions were good,   the dialogue from 2009 to 2011 have brought nothing, Fellay said, but that they wanted to follow the example of the founder of the Society, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, "who has never refused the invitations the Roman authorities. We always reply to those who question us about the reasons of our faith. We can not escape this obligation, and we do it in the spirit and with the commitments that have been defined by the last General Chapter. "Tradition is the answer to the current crisis," said the Superior General.

Text: Benedict M. Buerger
Image: forum Lefebvristes.fr

Talks Between Rome and the SSPX Resume

Bishop Fellay in Rome

(Rome) In the late morning of the day the meeting between  the Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith,  Cardinal Gerhard Müller and the Superior General of the SSPX, Bishop Fellay, was held in Rome. For the first time Cardinal Müller and Bishop Fellay had personally met since the former Bishop of Regensburg had been appointed early summer 2012 to be Prefect of the CDF. 

Since the election of Pope Francis there have been no lack of voices that take a hard line in Rome  and say  they  want the bishops and priests of the SSPX  to be excommunicated. Pope Francis did not follow this "advice". The talks between the SSPX and Rome were resumed today instead.

The statement published by the Vatican press office did not appear  in different languages, but in German. The following translation leans closely as possible to the relevant Italian text.

"On the morning of Tuesday 23 September from 11 am to 1 pm, a cordial meeting took place at the premises of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, between Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society of St. Pius X. The meeting was also attended by Archbishops Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.I., secretary of the same Congregation, Joseph Augustine Di Noia, O.P., adjunct secretary and Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, along with two assistants from the Society of St. Pius X, Rev. Niklaus Pfluger and Rev. Alain-Marc Nély.

During the meeting, various problems of a doctrinal and canonical nature were examined, and it was decided to proceed gradually and over a reasonable period of time in order to overcome difficulties and with a view to the envisioned full reconciliation.

Two aspects of the Declaration catches your eye. First, the emphasis that the encounter in a "warm climate" was held. A formulation that sounds very strong in German translation, in the flowery Italian language however, still would allow some increase of opportunities, but overall indicated a positive indication. Secondly, the content of the last sentence is most important, which shows that the direct communication between Rome and Econe are open again. That did not seem self-evident recently. 

The official statement of the General House of the SSPX in Menzingen largely corresponds to the wording of the Vatican. In addition, next to the "doctrinal and canonical problems" it said that the "current situation of the Church" was addressed. The explanation of the SSPX is reluctant to state a desired objective and speaks of "continuing to clarify the remaining controversial points."

A Brief Review

In spring 2012, the impression was generally accepted in the months previous on the part of the SSPX,  the impression that Rome accepted the arguments put forward in requests for changes to the "Doctrinal Preamble", whose adoption should form the basis for the canonical recognition. Then in May the General Assembly of the Congregation came together and annulled the results obtained. On June 13, 2012, Bishop Fellay thought to travel to Rome and return with the canonical recognition of the SSPX. Instead, it was Cardinal William Levada,  then Prefect of the CDF who didn't present the agreed text of the Doctrinal Preamble, but  the original version again, before the talks began. An unacceptable situation, which ended with an inconclusive departure of the Superior General of the SSPX. Because the turnaround came so unexpectedly, Bishop Fellay asked a few days later, expressly and in writing with Benedict XVI. according to whether it really is also the desire of the Pope. As this was confirmed on June 30, there was a hiatus. 

Some circles in Rome wanted to pass the buck to  the SSPX  for the failure of the talks and wanted from Bishop Fellay a written negative answer to the "preamble". When the SSPX, who felt betrayed in their view, was not to fall into this trap,  yet in the meantime there came into office, and thus not concerned with the new faith discussions, Müller, Prefect of the CDF who issued the Society  an ultimatum early in early 2013.

In one of his last decisions  Pope Benedict XVI. lifted the ultimatum, however, shortly before his resignation. The whole question therefore remained unanswered. The unification efforts of 2005, initiated by the German Pope, which should have resulted in a canonical recognition of the Society were placed on ice.

With the election of Pope Francis, the conditions seemed even less certain than ever of being able for the failed talks to productively resume. After one and a half years of official hiatus, the talks were resumed in a surprisingly benevolent climate today.

It is clear that there were voices in the Vatican, after the successful prevention of an agreement by the Plenary Assembly of the Congregation, the resignation of Benedict XVI. and the election of Pope Francis, to take the opportunity to draw a sharp line and say to adopt a Decree of Excommunication for the bishops and all the priests of the SSPX. An option that has been suggested to Pope Francis that the Argentine Pope, despite his barely manageable aversion to tradition and the traditional rite, did not own.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vatican Insider
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMGD

Pope Receives Ecclesia Dei Secretary Pozzo Shortly Before the Meeting With Cardinal Müller and Bishop Fellay

(Vatican) Pope Francis has received Curia Archbishop Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei in audience on 18 September.

There is nothing at present of the content of the meeting between the Pope and the Titular Archbishop of Bagnoregio on Lake Bolsena, north of Rome. The audience took place a few days before the meeting announced for September 21  between Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation, and Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X. Both the Holy See and the SSPX confirmed the upcoming meeting,  but didn't give an exact date. Officially there was talk of a date in "near future".

The Commission Ecclesia Dei is part of the CDF. Its President is Cardinal Müller. He is one of the nine outstanding Cardinals, including some heads of departments of the Roman Curia, who came in these days with two international publications in defense of Catholic teaching on marriage against the theses of Cardinal Walter Kasper to the public.

Cardinal Kasper responded, insulted and is hiding behind Pope Francis. Everything he did, "is agreed to by the Pope."

Bishop Fellay had said last April to Kasper's theses: "We can not to wait until the Synod meets in the autumn in its  devastated spirit, which Cardinal Kasper wants to give it, without raising our voices. (...) A Pastoral, which suggests the express teaching of Christ about the indissolubility of marriage is not merciful, but insults God  Who imparts His grace sufficiently to everyone; moreover they are cruel towards   souls, who are in difficult situations and receive that Grace which they need to live a Christian life and to grow in virtue, even to heroism "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: SSPX / Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link ...

AMDG

[Update] Lombardi Confirms Meeting Between Bishop Fellay and Cardinal Müller

Edit: As reported by Rorate, and the "Resistance" among other, there will be a meeting between Bishop Fellay and Cardinal Muller. Since then we found this update by Katholisches:

[Update 17:00] The meeting between Cardinal and Bishop Fellay Müller has now been confirmed by Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.   It has already been reported by Vatican Radio. Curiously, the message category was assigned "ecumenism" on the website of the Vatican radio station.

National Pilgrimage of the German District of the Society of St. Pius X to Fulda to Renew the Consecration of Germany to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

For the 11th  year, the German District of the  Society of St. Pius X. has organized its a pilgrimage to Fulda for the 6 and 7 September. It was introduced in 2004 for the annual renewal and the consecration of Germany to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which was completed in 1954 for the first time in Fulda by the bishops of Germany.

This year's pilgrimage takes as  its subject the life of the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist, against the background of the  100. anniversary of the death of the great Eucharistic Pope Pius X.

The pilgrimage begins on September 6 at noon at 12.30 in the center of Fulda in front  of the castle with a Marian procession through the city and surrounding area.

The venue of the two-day prayer meeting is the ballroom of the old Orangerie, in the castle garden (Maritim Hotel). There, a first solemn High Mass in the traditional Latin Rite will be celebrated on Sat evening at  6:30. At night the members of the Catholic youth movement  will hold a prayer vigil before the altar, which is built in the Orangerie.

On Sunday morning at 8:00  the day's program begins with a talk on the pilgrimage theme, which is followed by a solemn Pontifical High Mass at 9:30, which will be said by the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay. 

The grand finale is the prayer of Consecration to Mary, as the   pilgrims who come from all parts of Germany will again commend their fatherland to  Maria.

It is an open event for all Christians who want to endorse the concerns of pilgrimage. There are about 800 people expected for the Mary procession, for the High Mass on Sunday morning, there will be up to 1000 participants from all over Germany.

For more information: www.deutschlandweihe.de

Text: PM / LS
Image: Pilgrimage Office

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

The Society of St. Pius X Nears 600 Priests

Edit: from the Society's US Site featuring the ordination of 7 new priests and 5 deacons.  There were over 1,000 laity in attendance for this glorious event.  The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few, and in a Church which has become a vocational desert in the years following the New Springtime, there are oases.

As of Friday, June 13th, the Society of St. Pius X has 12 reasons for rejoicing. For on that day, in continuance of the SSPX's mission to form priests, Bishop Bernard Fellay ordained 7 new alter Christi and 5 deacons at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, Minnesota.

The seminary has published on its website not only a gallery of images of the ordinations, but also a list of the First Masses that the newly-ordained priests will be offering. Also available via DICI is an audio recording of Bishop Fellay's ordination sermon.

For our part, we offer a photo gallery of Bishop Fellay while at Winona, which can be viewed below.
Please keep these new priests and deacons of the Roman Catholic Church in your prayers, that they may faithfully serve their Divine Master in His vineyard for the salvation of souls.

 Edit: also, in Zaitzkofen/Oberpfalz. On Saturday, the 28th of June, Bishop Tissier de Mallerais will ordain five priests and three deacons.  The ceremony will begin in the castle garden at 9 in the morning. In addition to those named above, Bishop de Galarreta will ordain eight seminarians and a religious to the grace of the priesthood and seven others to the rank of deacons of Holy Mother the Church in Ecône. This will bring the society in the near future to more than 600 priests.

Katholisches...

Pope Has Read Archbishop Lefebvre’s Biography, And Liked It

From Rorate Caeli:

With the current pope, as he is a practical man, he looks at people. What a person thinks, what he believes, is at the end a matter of indifference to him. What matters is that this person be sympathetic in his view, that he seems correct to him, one may say it like this.

And therefore he read twice Bp. Tissier de Mallerais' book on Abp. Lefebvre, and this book pleased him; he is against all that we represent, but, as a life, it pleased him. When, as a Cardinal, he was in South America, the District Superior [Fr. Christian Bouchacourt] came to ask him for an administrative favor with no relation to the Church; a visa problem, of permanent residency. The Argentine government, which is very leftwing, makes use of the concordat that was established to protect the Church to bother us quite seriously, and tells us, "you say you are Catholic, it is thus necessary for you to have the signature of the bishop in order to reside in the country." The District Superior therefore went to him to present the problem: there was an easy solution, and that would be to declare ourselves an independent church [before Civil Law], but we did not want to do it because we are Catholic. And the Cardinal told us, "no, no, you are Catholic, that is evident; I will help you;" he wrote a letter in our favor to the government, that is so leftwing that they managed to find a opposing letter by the nuncio. Therefore, a 0-0 tie. Now he is the pope, and our lawyer had the opportunity of having a meeting with the Pope. He told him that the problem was still going on with the Society, and asked him to please designate a bishop in Argentina with whom we could sort out this problem. The Pope told him, "Yes, and this bishop is myself, I promised to help, and I will do it."

I am still waiting for it, but anyway he said it, just as he said that, "those people there, they think I will excommunicate them, but they are mistaken;" he said something else that was very interesting: "I will not condemn them, and I will not stop anyone from visiting them [lit. 'd'aller chez eux'.]" Once again, I will wait to see. 

[Source: French District of the SSPX]

Official SSPX Comment on Future Interactions with Rome

Avoiding a false spirit of resistance

April 02, 2014 

District of the USA

Certainly there is a crisis in the Church, but how should we go about resisting it? What is the Catholic spirit for such circumstances and how has this been consistently practiced by the SSPX in recent years?

In the image above, Archbishop Lefebvre ascends the steps into St. Peter's Basilica during the Credo Pilgrimage of 1975.

We are happy to feature another editorial of Fr. Michel Simoulin from the April issue of Le Seignadou (The Sign of God), newsletter of the SSPX's priory in Montreal de l'Aude, France. [see the last editorial: Why I love the SSPX]

Editorial

The great question that we, and above all our superiors, have to face is doubtless the following, as a friend so well put it:

Is there no danger for the Faith if we accept to place ourselves under an authority, be it a Pope or a bishop, that for the last 50 years has worked unfailingly for the destruction of this Faith, without first coming to terms on the doctrinal questions at stake?"

The first answer is obviously: of course, the danger is great and real, we are all aware of this, and we have always said so and even insisted upon it. It is easy to refer to all the studies we have done on the Council, the New Catechism,John XXIII and John Paul II, for example. It is very obvious that if no “agreement” has yet been concluded, as Bishop Fellay so clearly explained, it is precisely because we do not wish to submit unconditionally to an authority without being sure that it wishes our good and will allow us to continue serving the Tradition of the Church without forcing us to accept Vatican II unconditionally.

Pope Has Interest in Resolving SSPX Situation

Edit: With an excommunication!!!  Just kidding.   Jeff Cullbreath suggested this a few days ago.  The meeting was short but cordial.  So, the reconciliation isn't dead after all as so many from various points of view have wished for and reported.

Rorate has learned and can exclusively confirm that Bishop Bernard Fellay, the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (Fraternité Sacerdotale Saint Pie X - FSSPX / SSPX), was received by Pope Francis in the Domus Sanctae Marthae sometime in the past few months. In order to protect our sources, we cannot detail the date and persons involved in the meeting, but only generally locate it in time - if the current pontificate so far can be divided into two halves, the meeting took place in the second half.

We can also add as part of this exclusive information that it was not a merely fortuitous event - that is to say, many off-the-record meetings with His Holiness have taken place since his election precisely because his being at Saint Martha's House make him much more accessible and available than many previous pontiffs. No, that was not the case at all - the pope was previously duly informed and duly met Bishop Fellay. The meeting was apparently short and cordial.

The Pope has a true interest in resolving this situation, it seems to be understood by our sources.

Link ...

Cardinal Kasper Answers Critics of His Lecture: SSPX German District

[PIus.info]  There has been global criticism among faithful, conservative and traditional Catholics about the pastoral lecture of  divorced and "remarried" by Walter Cardinal Kasper, the Cardinal replied yesterday with a half-page letter to the editor in the "Tagespost" on some of these criticisms.

The crucial passage from the letter to the editor refers to his proposal to allow "remarried" divorced to the sacrament of penance, the Cardinal writes in the letter.

"The decisive statement in this presentation is: 'Penance and the Sacrament of Penance are the way to connect both aspects. Commitment to the word of the Lord, and the never-ending mercy of God' (p. 65) It turns to the question  which has not been answered by the critics: Are you allowed to refuse absolution in such a situation in which the penitent has repented and testified honestly and in good will with their best efforts to live by faith? Is it not possible with God that someone could fall into a hole from which there is no way out? If that is impossible with God, then why not in the Church ...? "

Cardinal's sentences clearly demonstrated an awareness of precisely the crucial point of the whole discussion. Of course, the Church has never denied absolution to a man who has "repented honestly and testified in good will with their best efforts to live by faith." Yet the question here is, what it means, that the penitent has repented honestly? For sincere repentance it means  that he separates himself from sin and possesses  a firm resolve  never to repeat the sin, which without the help and grace of God is not possible of course.

However, this means with respect to the divorced and "remarried" that the partners decide to separate or if this is for important reasons (e.g. due to the children) is not possible, to refrain from the conjugal act in the future and to live together as brothers and sister. This is exactly what the Church has recommended for centuries for people living in such a situation. Cardinal Kasper, however, would like to eliminate this clear and visible sign of remorse and repentance, and it is based in substantial part of the criticism of his lecture, which he never responded to in his letter to the editors at any point.

Link to Pius.info... 

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Official Statement by SSPX to Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller's Charge of Schism

Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, soon to be a cardinal of the Catholic Church and Prefect of the Congregation of the Faith, announced on 22 December 2013 during an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, in which he claimed that it would a "sacramental de facto excommunication" continues for the SSPX  "due to their schism".

To this false claim, the Society of St. Pius X. clarifies its position:

This statement by Archbishop Müller is nothing new;  it repeats what he already said in October 2012, in the interview that he granted to the German radio network NDR:  “From a pastoral perspective, the door is still open,” while clarifying:  “No compromise is possible on the level of the Catholic faith, in particular as it was correctly formulated by the Second Vatican Council.  Vatican II is not in contradiction with the whole of the Church’s tradition;  strictly speaking it is opposed to certain erroneous interpretations of the Catholic faith.  We cannot negotiate the Catholic faith;  no compromise is possible.”  And he insisted:  “The Society of St Pius X knows the requirements that it must accept.  I think that from now on there will be no new discussions.”  Quite obviously, the Society of St Pius X denies no article of the Creed and professes the entire Catholic faith;  to call this into question is to make a false accusation.  It only opposes all the novelties which have been altering the Catholic faith for the last fifty years.

Argentine Catholics Defend Cathedral From Feminist Attack -- Pope Francis Burned in Effigy

Edit: the videos are horrific.  Our subtitle would read, "The Rage of Sodom".



(Buenos Aires) Under the name of National Women's Meeting radical Church opponents, women as well as men stormed a Catholic church.

From the 23rd-25th November, in San Juan de Cuyo, Argentina, the feminist-leftist 28 Encuentro Nacional de Mujeres took place. Hordes of lesbians, abortion advocates, other feminists and their male peers bellowed noisy and anti-Catholic slogans drawing through the city. Over the past few years, these extremist gatherings have degenerated into violent attacks against Catholic institutions. The feminist hordes  have descended for years especially on Catholic churches.

Because Church-hostile feminists wanted to storm the church, 1500 young Catholics formed a human shield around the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista (John the Baptist)to prevent about 7000 antagonists from storming the Archdiocesan Church. Catholic institutions were daubed with slogans such as "Burn the Churches Down" or "Fire the Churches." The courageous Catholics, who though hemmed in, opposed the vile mob by praying, were insulted with slogans not reproducible here.

In the reports of young Catholics who defended the Church, according to their impression, it was a "satanic attack" "demonic figures repeatedly" are seen as part of an "anti-Christian world revolution." In one place the extremists lit a big fire and burned Pope Francis in effigy, as they danced around the fire.

Also, Pagina Catolica had called in advance to defend the Cathedral of San Juan. The same Catholic Internet initiative, which had asked for protest against the profanation of the Cathedral of Buenos Aires by a syncretistic Jewish-interfaith "memorial liturgy". In a statement describing the feminist aggression Pagina Catolica wrote: "On the other hand, we are aware: Even if the desecration of the church in San Juan could be prevented this time, we must not forget that it is the cathedral recently had not fared well when she was profaned, with the approval of Archbishop Alfonso Delgado, allowed celebration of a memorial liturgy for Kristallnacht 'on 12 November."

For incomprehensible urge of some Argentine bishops to host syncretic "commemorative liturgies" because of the Kristallnacht of 1938 in the German Reich, see separate reports: Young Catholics protest against "misuse" of the Cathedral of Buenos Aires for Jewish "commemorative liturgy" and the report of an alleged, but never confirmed by Rome, the "condemned" of young Catholics by Pope Francis, Pope Francis Condemned the Catholic Protest Against Syncretistic "Commemorative Liturgy" in Buenos Aires? A Riddle.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Pagina Catolica
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com





Link to Katholisches...



AMGD

Did Pope Francis Condemn the Catholic Protest Against a Syncretistic "Memorial Liturgy" in Buenos Aires? A Riddle.

(Rome / Buenos Aires ) there is currently quite a mystery to an alleged condemnation. Pope Francis is supposed to have  "condemned the interference in a memorial service in Buenos Aires commemorating the 1938 November Pogrom" to a representative of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) which the Catholic press agency reported in German-speaking countries, citing the World Jewish Congress. Young Catholics protested on 12 November in Buenos Aires with a statement against the profanation of the cathedral by a syncretistic Jewish-interfaith "memorial liturgy" (see separate report Young Catholics protest against "misuse" of the Cathedral of Buenos Aires to Jewish "commemorative liturgy" ). On the part of the Vatican, however, there is not even any confirmation of these declarations, even an acknowledgment of the audience.

According to the World Jewish Congress on Tuesday Pope Francis received Claudio Epelman from the Latin American Jewish Congress (LAJC).  Epelman was participating at a meeting of the International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz (KAICIID) on Monday and Tuesday in Vienna.

According to the World Jewish Congress, the Pope told to Epelman: "aggression can not be an act of faith." A statement that the WJC placed on its website described the "vociferous protest," meaning the Rosary in Buenos Aires. In addition, the WJC said the Pope affirmed that Christians "must not preach intolerance" and such "militancy must be overcome." The World Jewish Congress reaffirmed its opinion that the "followers of the SSPX" had acted to "disturb" the memorial.

Claudio Epelman, has been "friends" with Bergoglio since his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and praised the clear words of the Pope in the past condemned anti-Semitism, says the WJC.

So far the description only comes from the World Jewish Congress on its website. The message was only accepted in the Catholic area of the Catholic media in the German language, as well as of the German editors of Vatican Radio. Other editors of Vatican Radio have not accepted the message, neither the Italian or Spanish-speaking Catholic media. Also Pagina Catolica, which had called the protest against the Jewish-interfaith "worship", yet knows nothing of a statement of the Pope regarding the incident in the cathedral.

On the official website of the Vatican there is no indication of an audience. Epelman is neither included in the audience list, nor is there from any confirmation that the Holy See had an audience and even less of a statement about the contents. According to the Vatican, Epelman was received by Pope Francis, along with other religious leaders shortly after the conclave on 20 March as a member of the delegation of the World Jewish Congress on 2 September ( see separate report ).

As LAJC-General, Epelman had condemned the protest and the prayer of the young Catholics last week. He spoke of an expression of "fundamentalism and intolerance." He accused the young Catholics of the "fanaticism" and accused them of wanting to have prevented the "memory of the murder of six million Jews," and that they would "deny the existence of others." However, the declaration of the young Catholics was te exact opposite.

Archbishop Poli With Other Confessions and Religious
 Representativesat the Jewish Inter-religious Memorial Liturgy

The incident made clear that in addition to political and religious complexes within the Catholic Church there seems to be some confusion. Likewise, that between religions, despite the officially maintained dialogue, there is little mutual understanding. Amazingly, the Jewish side, where at least a certain astonishment would be expected on why a Jewish commemoration with a "worship" takes place in of all things in a Catholic context, must immediately assume anti-Semitism, while the young Catholics are not concerned with a Jewish, but a Catholic question. It was not about the non-Catholic "guests" who came to the cathedral, but the Catholic Archbishop, who presented the cathedral for a non-Catholic event. The young Catholics had previously asked the Archbishop unsuccessfully in writing and with a public appeal, to not open the church for a non-Catholic "liturgy". The incident reveals a lack of willingness to dialogue by the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, facing the faithful. He also demonstrated unwillingness to address the Catholic and non-Catholic participants of the "memorial service" to acknowledge the written statement distributed to the attention of young Catholics. The "memory" of 12 November also raises the question of whether the officially maintained upper-level inter-religious dialogue is on the right track in the details. Even so it is astonishing, is the reflex with which the German-speaking Catholic media immediately adopted the ultimately anti-Catholic message of the World Jewish Congress. A reflex that perhaps would require an inquiry.

Maybe tomorrow you can learn from the mouth of Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi more about the alleged statements by Pope Francis' Claudio Epelman, if an audience had ever taken place.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Photo: Info Catolica
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
  Link to katholisches....
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Mario Palmaro on the Criticism of Pope Francis, the Society of St. Pius X, the Situation of the Church and his Illness

(Bologna) on All Saints Francis Pope grabbed the phone and called one of his harshest critics, the legal philosopher Mario Palmaro. The occasion was his criticism, but also a serious disease that weighs Palmaro down. A few days prior to the call ( see separate report ),  an interview with Mario Palmaro was published for the weekly newspaper for pastoral matters "Settimana” run by the Order of the Society of the Heart of Jesus, or Dehonians as they are popularly known. The Order and its publications represent a progressive spearhead in Italy, the more astonishing it is that and interview with a representative of the “other side” was published from this newspaper. This explains the introduction, the interview prefaced the Dehonian Priest Prezzi Lorenzo, editor of Dehonian Paper, "Testimoni". The first publication was in “Settimana", # 38 of 27 October 2013. Here is the full interview in English (From Nardi’s Italian-German translation). The intertitles were given by the Journal of Dehonians.

The Testimony of the Traditionalists - Interview with Professor Mario Palmer

Perhaps our readers will be amazed both by the interlocutor as well as about the contents of this interview. The lawyer and bioethicist Mario Palmaro belongs to the realm of traditionalist Catholics. As for what concerns the responses, it would be faster if we say what we share than to say what we do not share. It seems nevertheless appropriate to give to some other ecclesiastical sensibility to the word because, first, the dialogue requires its practical application within the Church and outside, so that the parts of the truth of the other will not be lost, because in the moment, when institutional discussions falter, the communities of faith must accept all. Palmaro, together with Alessandro Gnocchi wrote an article entitled: "The Pope Does not Like Us." We and the Christian people like him a lot. Nevertheless, and this counts, is the view of common faith and pietas before the trials in a life, which he writes about in his last response. (-Lorenzo Press)

The Lefebvrians Missed Opportunity

Professor Palmaro, you (and the Church world that you represent in some way) rightly supported the attempt by Benedict XVI., to bring the "schismatic" Lefebvrian movement back into the comunio. But when the General Chapter refused to give the invitation of the Holy See a positive response in May 2012, then what attitude you have taken? How do you judge the attitude of that movement now?

Although I never followed it, I had the good fortune a few years ago closely to get to know the Fraternity of St. Pius X founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Together with the journalist Alessandro Gnocchi, I made the decision to go himself to see with my own eyes this world and then to describe in two books and some articles. I must say that many prejudices I harbored, proved to be unfounded. I have met many good priests, sisters and brothers who are facing a serious Catholic life and are equipped with a cordial and open humanity. I also was very favorably surprised by Msgr Bernard Fellay, the bishop at the head of the SSPX, a good man of great faith. We discovered a world of laymen and priests who pray each day for the Pope, even though they decided to take a critical position, particularly in the area of ​​liturgy, ecumenism and religious freedom. We saw a lot of young people, many vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and we saw a lot of "normal" Catholic families who frequent the Society. Priests in his cassock pass through Paris and are approached by people on the street, they ask for words of comfort and hope.

We know very well the diversity of the contemporary church in the world, that is the fact that today when someone says to be Catholic, it does not mean that he follows the same doctrine. The heterodoxy is widespread and there are sisters, priests, bishops, theologians who openly attack or deny parts of Catholic doctrine. For this reason, we asked ourselves: How can it be that in the church is room for everyone, except for those in all our Catholic brothers who are absolutely loyal to the 20 of 21 Councils that have taken place in the history of Catholicism?

As we wrote the first book, the news came that Benedict XVI. had lifted the excommunications: a historic decision. There remained the question of the canonical recognition of the Society. Pope Benedict attached great importance to this reconciliation, which has not initially specified. I am of the opinion that in the pontificate of Benedict XVI. there was an historic opportunity for the full reconciliation and that it is really a pity that this train was allowed to pass.

I have always been of the opinion that the SSPX must do everything humanly possible for their canonical recognition, but add that it follow that Rome offer clear guarantees of respect and freedom to Bishop Fellay and his faithful, especially with regard to the celebration of Vetus Ordo and as for the doctrine taught at the seminaries of the Society, which is the Catholic doctrine of all time.

Defensive Aggression

The full support by Benedict XVI. now does not seem to apply to Pope Francis. If one accepts the Popes, or “chooses” one for themselves? What represents the papacy today?

Whether people "like” the pope is completely irrelevant in the two thousand year old logic of the Church: the Pope is the Vicar of Christ on earth and must please our Lord. This means that the exercise of his authority is not absolute, but subordinate to the doctrine of Christ, which is found in the Catholic Church, in Her tradition, and is nourished by the life of grace through the sacraments. This means that the Catholics may be critical of the Pope himself and criticize under the condition that this is done out of love for the truth and that the tradition, the Magisterium is used as a standard gauge. A pope who would contradict a predecessor in matters of faith and morals should be criticized without doubt. We must be against both the secular logic and suspicious of a pope, assessed according to the good pleasure of the democratic majority, as well as to the temptation of a papolatry, according to a "the Pope is always right". In addition, we are accustomed for decades to criticize destructively dozens of popes of the past, by applying the small historiographical seriousness of the day. So there is no apparent reason why the reigning popes should be immune from all forms of criticism. When Boniface VIII and Pius V is evaluated, why doesn’t that also go for Paul VI. or Francis?

On websites and in magazines that are particularly connected to (recent) tradition, a very aggressive statement is frequently observed. Is that true? What determines this? How do you assess that?

The attitude of some of the individuals or groups connected to tradition is a serious problem and can not be denied. One explanation advanced is that truth without love is a betrayal of truth. Christ is our way, our truth and our life, so we have to take Him as a model, who was unbeatable in the truth, always inflexible, and in love. I think the world of tradition is sometimes pointed and polemical for three reasons: First, because of a certain syndrome of isolation that they can be suspicious and resentful, and it is also expressed by problematic personalities; Second, because of the sincere scandal, the specific directions of contemporary Catholicism provokes in those who know the doctrine of the Popes and the Church well up to the Second Vatican Council; Third, because of the lack of love that is shown by the official catholicity towards these brothers on the day, who are entitled with a contemptuous tone as "traditionalists" or " Lefebvrians”, in which one forgets, that in the Church they are definitely much closer than any other Christian denomination, or even any other religion. For the official Catholic media this reality of hundreds of priests and seminarians isn’t worth devoting a line, while devoting entire pages to some thinkers who have not once said anything remotely Catholic.

Against Modernism

As you commented, the Vatican statement for the Franciscans of the Immaculate, they demanded the right to conscientious objection of religious against these liturgical arrangements. How is religious obedience applicable to the spiritual family? How would a conscientious objection be classified in the tradition of the Syllabus?

The matter of the Franciscans of the Immaculate in my opinion is very sad. There is a definite measure for provisional administration of Rome, which was met with unusual haste, and also inexplicable severity. Since I know this good religious family, I consider this decision to be completely unwarranted and I have submitted along with other scholars a kind of appeal to the Vatican. I am reminding with succinctness in mind that this measure “dismissed” the founder and prohibits the celebration of the Holy Mass in the Old Rite for all the priests of the Congregation and this is in open contradiction to what the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI. had mandated. You rightly suggest: the resistance to the lawful authority always provides problems for the instruction of Christians, more so if he is a member of a religious family. Still, in this case there are obviously unacceptable aspects and I am of the opinion that the priests should continue to celebrate among the Franciscans of the Immaculate Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form, in the Vetus Ordo, thereby ensuring that bi-rituality should, to the extent I know, be practiced by the brothers. I would add that everything else is as nice, to have to apprehend, how to go with the thousand of a thousand problems and rebellions that shake Church, a Church in which congregations are in glorious dissolution for lack of vocations, one then goes to beat Franciscans of the Immaculate, who have many vocations around the world.

What do you think are the most obvious boundaries of the Catholic "Council"-sensitivity (or "liberal" sensibility, if you prefer)? What are its most visible weaknesses?

The basic problem is in my view the relationship with the world, which is characterized by an attitude of subservience and dependence, almost as if the Church would have to adjust to the whims of the people, as we know, however, that it is the person who is the shall adjust the sake of Christ the King, and the history of the universe. When Saint Pius X. sternly rebuked Modernism, he wanted to beat this deadly temptation for the catholicity of changing doctrine to satisfy the spirit of the world. Since humanity is in the clutches of a process of dissolution that was unleashed by the French Revolution and has continued with the modern and the postmodern, the Church is challenged more than ever today, to resist the spirit of the world. There have been many decisions undertaken in the Church during the last 50 years, however, there are symptoms of resilience: the liturgical reform has constructed a Mass for today's sensibility by the destruction of a rite in force for centuries by an entirely on the word, of the assembly and the was created to trade orientation on participation and pushed back the centrality of the victim; the insistence on a universal priesthood, which emptied the ordained priesthood and led to depress generations of priests and a unprecedented crisis of vocations; the Church's architecture has produced anti-liturgical monster, the de facto abolition of the last things, but where the question of the salvation of souls (and the threat of eternal damnation) this is the only supernatural argument that distinguishes the Church from a philanthropic organization; and so on.

Be Holy

The believers are united in essence, but differ on the issues discussed. But all are called to respect and to accompany those who are marked by suffering and burdens of life. How does one's spiritual sensitivity when suffering - as it happens to you - encounters the violence of our days?

The first thing, is a disease that shocks us, that it falls on us without notice and at a time we do not determine. We are at the mercy of events and can do nothing but to accept it. The serious illness forces us to be aware that we are truly mortal. Even if death is the safest thing in the world, modern man tends to live as he would never die. By disease he understood for the first time that the lifetime is below a breath of wind. You can feel with chagrin, that that masterpiece of holiness God desires could never be managed. One sensesa deep desire for the good, that you would be able to do, or to avoid the evil that you want to have been able to avoid. You look at the cross and understand that this is the heart of faith, that without sacrifice catholicity does not exist. Then you thank God that he made you Catholic, a "very small" Catholic, a sinner, but the Church has a caring mother.

The disease is therefore a time of grace, but often the vice and meannesses remains which has been with us for a lifetime, or even worse. It is as if the agony would have been applied and you fight the destiny of the soul, for their own salvation nobody can be sure.

On the other hand, through the disease I was able to get to know an impressive number of people who want good for me and pray for me, families who pray in the evening with the rosary with their children for my recovery, and I have no words to describe the beauty of this experience. It is a preview of God's love in eternity. The biggest pain I feel, is the idea of ​​having to leave this world. I like it so much, that is so tragic but at the same time so beautiful, to let go of so many friends, my relatives, and especially to leave behind my wife and my children, who are still children. Sometimes I imagine how my house, my empty office and life will go, even if I am no more. It is a painful, but very realistic idea. It makes me understand that I was an unprofitable servant, and I am, and that all the books I have written, all the lectures I held and the articles I have written, are ultimately only straw.

But I hope for a merciful Lord and that other parts of my work, my aspirations and my struggles to pick up and carry on, to continue the eternal duel.

Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Concilio e Postconcilio
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches…
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Facts About the Intervention in Buenos Aires

Edit: because most of the other reportage is so woefully inaccurate and frankly spiteful, and that if you google this story, this is nowhere in sight, it seemed appropriate to post this link and a brief excerpt. Unless we demonstrate our love for the truth with a public witness and fight for it, it can't be worth much.  Our unwillingness to do things like this, in our opinion, is why we've lost so much in the past, and there's a long tradition of this sort of thing in Argentina where the Church was once much more healthy than it is today.

In reaction to some inaccurate reporting by the Associated Press on a demonstration during an ecumenical inter-religious event in the Catholic cathedral of Buenos Aires in Argentina, SSPX.ORG interviewed Fr. Christian Bouchacourt, District Superior of South America, to offer some clarifications on the matter, which we make available here.

Demonstration in Buenos Aires Catholic cathedral — the facts

The Jewish community has played an important part in Buenos Aires since the city’s foundation. In 2012, Cardinal Bergoglio (now Pope Francis), hosted in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires an inter-religious prayer ceremony that includes representatives of the Jewish community as well as Methodist, Lutheran and Presbyterian churches to commemorate the 1938 Kristallnacht and the deportment of Jews into concentration camps. During the first ceremony held in the Catholic cathedral and organized by the Jewish group, B’nai, B’rith, Rabbi Alejandro Avruj joined the ceremonies, lighting the menorah with Bergoglio and presenting him with a siddur.

The Argentina cathedral once again hosted the inter-religious ceremony on Tuesday, November 12th, during which a small group of around 50 Catholics prayed the Rosary before the evening’s ecumenical event began. One of the men also took the opportunity to use an open microphone to denounce the inter-religious act in a Catholic cathedral.

Link to Society Site...

Faithful Catholics Oppose "Interfaith" Desecration in Argentina

Heroes! 

Edit: is there some reason why these sorts of events have to take place in sacred spaces when they could easily take place outside of the confines of Catholic churches.  Catholic laymen with any integrity and courage are bound to do something.  The group was led by the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Ultra-traditionalist Roman Catholics have openly challenged Pope Francis by disrupting one of his favorite events, an interfaith ceremony in the Metropolitan Cathedral meant to promote religious harmony on the anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust.

The annual gathering of Catholics, Jews and Protestants marks Kristallnacht, the Nazi-led mob violence in 1938 when about 1,000 Jewish synagogues were burned and thousands of Jews were forced into concentration camps, launching the genocide that killed 6 million Jews. Before he assumed the papacy, Buenos Aires Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio and his good friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka led the ceremony every year.

A small group disrupted Tuesday night's ceremony by shouting the rosary and the "Our Father" prayer, and spreading pamphlets saying that "followers of false gods must be kept out of the sacred temple."

Link to yahoo..

Priebke's Coffin Spat Upon -- Hate Must Have Limits, But Catholic Subservience Also

Edit: never mind that the celebrant, Father Abrahamowicz, is a convert from Judaism himself, and not in good standing with the SSPX, but they are supporting Father's decision to bury Priebke anyway. Indeed, Abrahamowicz says Priebke wasn't a National Socialist, either.

Must the SSPX be one of the few forces left in the world to combat these villains?



(Rome) The ugly face of hatred was extremely visible during the death and burial of Erich Priebke. Revenge and hatred to be driven as far as to deny the enemy a grave, does not honor the victims of the enemy. Especially when it has nothing to do with justice.

The pictures with kicks and punches against the coffin containing the Pribke's body, which was spat on, are just plain disgusting. They show the grimace of a world without mercy and forgiveness, a world without Christ and without Christianity. That this ugly face appeared around one of the most important Christian acts, a funeral, therefore, seems to be a coincidence. Before the parade of right-wing groups that could exploit Priebke's funeral, perhaps, they wanted to preserve "the memory of the victims, the families of the victims" and anti-fascist society. What came instead were violent left-wing extremists and the eternal mob that longs to this day after crucifixion.

"Moralizing in Top Form" of the Media

Numerous journalists ran to moralize in top form, but the Nazis could arise once again, almost 70 years after the war, to be defeated. At least in their minds. The opportunities have become scarce. Priebke had to be 100 years old to once again offer the crowd of leftist swells this special kick.

Spiegel and the ORF were outraged about the SSPX, who agreed to hold the funeral Mass for Priebke. Thus, says Austrian state radio and the Hamburg weekly magazine, this only confirms the already known affinity between SSPX and the extremist right. That the SSPX had only buried Priebke, therefore, because the responsible parish priest had not complied with (from the Bishop of Rome himself? From the Pope ) to be excused from his obligation from above or could not fulfill, there was simply a dereliction.

Noteworthy is the phenomenon that the moral radicalism is gaining impetus with temporal distance from the events and generational change to those personally unaffected. As Kappler, the commander of the hostages died, from 1944 to 1978, he could be buried in peace and public. Now that a subordinate has died, this is no longer possible in 2013. The tentacled and spewing demonstrators and the perpetrators of violence in Albano Laziale were born after 1945. The stylized media of 2013 and any political bullies can be drawn even to a funeral to "fight the right". Sophocles' Antigone dealt already 500 years before Christ with the moral question of denying someone a grave.

Civilized Society Refuses Burial to the Dead: How Could This Happen?

The question is not, how can there be a Catholic funeral for someone like Erich Priebke. The question must be: How could it happen that a civilized society that the authorities, intellectuals and media put the legality of the funeral of a person in question? Truly no benefit, much more irreverence. However, as reverent as is the Catholic Church in the face of this, which understands the drama of the moment of death and accompanies it. At least then, if they do not exclude themselves out of concern for political correctness.

An Austrian Catholic website went wrote because of the funeral of Priebke an excessively entitled "The Rampage of the SSPX." Just as hatred should have limits, even Catholic genuflections should have limits. The opposite of a rampage is the case, as the official explanation of the SSPX shows: "A Christian who has been baptized and has received the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist, has, whatever may be his fault and his sins forever, if he dies reconciled to God and the Church, the right to the celebration of Holy Mass and burial. With this declaration we reaffirm our rejection of any form of anti-Semitism or racial hatred, but also all other forms of hatred. The Catholic religion is for mercy and forgiveness." 

Where Diocese Has Failed, the SSPX has Fulfilled Their Priestly Duty

The Society priests bore due respect, that at least they have complied with the priestly duty and did what was supposed to be self-evident. The SSPX knew that their readiness would only expose them to new criticism. It certainly would have been wiser and more selfish to give up. Despite the risks involved, they have fulfilled their priestly obligation without respect of persons. This honors and shames the diocese of Rome and its bishop.

And all of us had signed the guest book: not to spit on a dead man, because we all have a rendezvous with death in front of us and it would be better if everyone were to worry about how he pleads with his Creator. And each of us has to hope that he finds a priest who hears his confession, gives him Extreme Unction and Holy Communion and buries him. Because of the disturbing decision of the "Ordinary" of the Diocese of Rome is what calls this security into question. If Priebke is denied for reasons of political expediency today what every Catholic deserves, then tomorrow others could be denied for reasons not very different from other such "opportunities". Political correctness is a pennon in the wind, that constantly blows in direction of the wind.

The Ugly Images of Hate

The funeral Mass at the Priory of St. Pius X should take place without media publicity, but be open to the public. But the left mayor of the city made known the time and place, and found himself before the Priorate to cheer on the counter-demonstrators. After protesters tried to storm the site, access was blocked off.

The video shows how a left-wing extremist mob attacked the priest Don Curzio Nitoglio who wanted to enter the priory of the SSPX. The protesters thought he was the celebrant. The heinous insults that were hurled at him, can not be reproduced here. A document of sacrilegious shame. Also belonging to the images of hate, of the hostages who were shot in the Ardeatine caves, is also the 35 German soldiers and Italian victims killed in the bombing by communist partisans.



Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Tempi (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMGD