Ancient Prison Becomes Catholic Church

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Tradition holds that St. Peter was jailed in Rome's maximum security Mamertine Prison before he was crucified upside down and buried on the hill where St. Peter's Basilica was later built.

And now after recent excavations in Rome's oldest prison, archaeologists say they have uncovered evidence that, while not providing direct proof, does support that belief.

The prison, which lies beneath the Church of St. Joseph of the Carpenters facing the Roman Forum, was closed for the past year as experts dug up old floors and picked away plaster.

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Archbishop of Zaragosa Presides Over Traditional Burial

Fides et Ratio

At 9:41 AM, by Isaac García Expósito

Archbishop Manuel Ureña Pastor, Archbishop of Zaragoza, presided over a solemn funeral, which was conducted entirely in Latin and the ancient liturgical books in the Parish of Épila. This beautiful memorial service was fully justified by the beauty of the temple and the historic nature of the event.

During a restoration, the remains of the family of the Count of Aranda, who have rested in the church of Épila since 1745 - had to be moved. The entire ceremony was done using traditional ritual, with ornaments in black, and sung in Latin (De profundis, Domine Deliver me, In Paradisum, Ego sum, etc.).

Monsignor Ureña also gave a great reflection on the meaning of death and Christian hope. It was very well received by the faithful who packed the church.

The stupid prejudices of the past decades are abandoned and the liturgical heritage of the Catholic Church is used again and is supported enthusiastically by the faithful.

Link to original ...Fides et Ratio (more photos)

Catholic priest found dead in Mexico :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Catholic priest found dead in Mexico :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Bishop Mixa Pipes Up

German Media Mafia: "Sadly, the media only partly reports the truth, when they are not reporting in a contrived manner".

[kreuz.net] On July 27th the user 'Miriam' published a letter to the dismissed Bishop of Aubsburg, Msgr Walter Mixa on the Social Networking Site, 'kathspace.com'

'Miriam' reports: "A little while ago there was an address where someone could write Bishop Mixa to congratulate him on his fortieth jubilee as a priest."

That's what she did: "Today I found in my mailbox a letter from Bishop Mixa."


Augsburg, in July 2010

Bishop em. Dr. Walter Mixa

Dear Frau Frie...

may God heartily reward you for your congratulation on my fortieth priestly jubilee and especially for the prayers in what has been for me a very trying time!

The past weeks were personally very difficult to endure; this was only possible through the prayers of many true believers and through the tangible help of God.

The media have only report part of the truth, when they haven't just reported in a contrived manner and thereby not only knowingly damage my own person, but also the reputation of the Church.

We are here in a time, in which we must be afraid as Christians, must show and live in faith in the help of God in the truth of the love of God in Jesus Christ.

Only through Jesus Christ, through his human trials, through his bitter suffering and death on the Cross and through his Resurrection could we find in various situations of our life a true help and power for our existence in life and in death.

As a community of Catholic Christians we must be supported and stand together in the truth of our traditional Faith and in the celebration of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist!

With all good wishes and tender blessings I am,

Dr. Walter Mixa
Bishop em. of Augsburg

The thank you letter contained the following text:

Lord Jesus Christ,
You Shepherd and Head of Your Church, stand by our Bishop
with the power of Your Blessing,
that he will be inflamed with zeal,
to us an example through his transforming,
to us borne through his love,
to us strengthened by his patience,
to us held in the joy of the Holy Ghost,
to us we receive knowledge from his teaching,
and he unites us to be Your Holy People
and to acclaim at the Liturgy
in the spirit and in the truth

Johann Maria Sailer

I ask for your prayer
for your support
in my service.

Your Bishop +Walter

Father Peter Williams Says Eucharistic Adoration is Cause of Increased Vocations in St. Paul Seminary

A surprisingly positive article at NPR about the St. Paul Seminary. Not even a peep about anything negative, unless you consider the byline to the story that "economy doesn't give boost to seminary students this year". Father Williams says it's the Eucharistic Adoration instead.

St. Paul, Minn. — A couple dozen seminarians and nuns bend their heads in prayer during Mass at the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity. It's on the campus of the University of St. Thomas.

The school has defied national trends for Catholic seminaries with its recent spike in enrollment. Officials say point blank: the economy is not a factor. They cite some distinctly non-economic drivers for the boost, including what one official called "increased Eucharistic adoration."

Father Peter Williams deals with potential seminarians. He says he has fielded the occasional inquiry about priesthood from men battered by the recession. Some lost jobs, some went through bankruptcy. Williams says that can raise some questions about admitting people.

Link to NPR article....

Bulgarian Assasin Unit "Service 7" Set to Kill Political Opponents

Some will certainly recall Ali Agca, who attempted to assassinate John Paul II in 1979, and his alleged connection to Bulgarian Secret Service.

[novinite.com] A secret Bulgarian unit known as "Service 7" was set up to "execute death sentences" on opponents to the Communist regime, secret files show.

One of the executioners, code-named "Piccadilly" is said to be the agent who carried out London's notorious killing of Georgi Markov in 1978 by using an umbrella to stab a poison filled pellet into the Bulgarian writer's leg.

The existence of the death squad, long denied by former officials, came to light after Alexenia Dimitrova, a Bulgarian journalist, discovered files accidentally released by Bulgaria's intelligence service had released under a new law declassifying former state security archives.

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Ecusa To Develop Gay Rite

Follow it here at the "Acts of Apostasy" blog.

Nuns With Music Deal Get Death Threats

PARIS

[Reuters] Benedictine nuns from a secluded convent in southern France have received death threats after winning a deal aimed at creating a chart-topping album, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The nuns from the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation near Avignon had their prayers answered last week after beating 70 other religious orders from North America and Africa to the deal with Universal Music.

The sisters, whose album is set to be released in November, put a clip of their Gregorian chants online, but realized on Tuesday a raft of death threats had been put at the bottom of the clip, La Provence reported on its website.\

Link, Free Republic...

Working Mothers Still Need to Feel Guilty

The Washington Post attempts to becalm womens' fears about working as they disseminate their propaganda about the alleged viability of working women. After going on for a few paragraphs citing a 115-page study about how working motherhood doesn't impede child development, the article contradicts itself toward the end:

[Washington Post] The study, "First-Year Maternal Employment and Child Development in the First 7 Years," reaffirms the now-established point that women who work full time in the first year of motherhood risk mild developmental harm to their children. Part-time employment has no negative effect, nor does it matter whether a mother works full time after the first year.

The reason may be that a mother with a full-time job cannot provide an infant "the kinds of intensive interaction that babies require," needs that diminish in the toddler years, Brooks-Gunn said. High-quality child care, too, is hard to find for an infant. She and co-author Jane Waldfogel experienced those issues firsthand, having both worked full time with infant children. They wrote the paper with researcher Wen-Jui Han.

Link to Washington Post Article...

Bishop Finn in the War on Porn

Bishop Finn in the War on Porn

Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be Jesuits

Don

Fordham University on the Eve of St. Ignatius' Feast

Here's a Fordham blog about the Jesuit "movement." It addresses St. Ignatius' feast which is tomorrow, but it also addresses social-justice and feminist issues.

July 31st is the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit movement within Catholicism. Who are the Jesuits? Many people don’t fully understand what the Jesuits do or who they are or what they believe in. The Jesuits, or Society of Jesus, was founded by Loyola, a priest and theologian in Spain, during the Counter-Reformation, a response of the Catholic church to the advent of Protestantism. The Jesuits are principally known today for their deep devotion to education (many schools, including Fordham, are Jesuit schools) and missionary work around the world.

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Knights Say They Can't Oust Pro-Abort Members, But Pro-Life Members, Yes

Editor: That's right, you knew these guys were phony from the start.

Pro-Life Catholics Should Picket Knights of Columbus Convention

Contact: Kenneth M. Fisher, 714-491-2284, 714-260-3821 cell, crcoa@dslextreme.com

ANAHEIM, July 30 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pro-life Catholics in the Washington, D.C., area should picket the 2010 Knights of Columbus annual convention this August 3-5 over the group's refusal to expel pro-abortion politicians, says Kenneth M. Fisher, founder and chairman of Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.

"Pro-life Catholics should make sure that every Knight at the convention knows that the leaders of the Order have refused, in writing, to stop harboring pro-abortion politicians in the Knights," says the Southern California-based Fisher. He cited a letter that the Knights' Supreme Counsel and General Advocate, John A. Marrella, wrote to Massachusetts State Deputy William F. Donovan on April 15.

Fisher points out that in the letter, Marrella warned that "subordinate councils" must leave the disciplining of pro-abortion Knights up to the Supreme Council -- yet at the same time, Marrella also wrote, "If the public figure's bishop has not excommunicated him for his public positions on issues relating to matters of faith and morals, it would be highly inappropriate for the Knights of Columbus to do so."

"So the Supreme Council is insisting that nobody in the 1.4 million-strong order can do anything at all about the pro-abortion politicians right in their midst," says Fisher. "That is preposterous. Besides, expelling a member is not 'excommunicating' him -- and you can bet the Knights would rightly kick out racists and criminals

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Protestant Youth Director at Hearing in Hannover for Child Abuse

A north German news service reports the following on a Protestant youth director.

Youth Worker to Court for Abuse

[NDR]A former volunteer youth-group minister from a Protestant church in Hannover has had to answer before the District Court. The prosecution accuses him of the sexual abuse of four boys in 15 cases. According to allegations, the defendant is said to have made the boys docile with gifts. The attacks are said to have occured between 1993 and 2008. The youngest victim was said to be nine at the time of the crimes and the eldest was 15 years old. The 45 year-old defendant announced that he wanted to comment on the allegations. The hearing is to continue on August 3rd.

Evangelical Church of Germany Reacted Immediately

On learning of the incidents of volunteer youth workers, the perpetrator was immediately relieved of his duties. [Took you long enough] The baker had met the children at his work as director of a youth-group called "Christian Youth Society of Hannover". The defendant has been in custody since February.

Original...

Another Christian Abducted in Iraq

A 50-year-old man was taken last night from his office. Crime is up in the city because of the power vacuum in the country. For the past four months, politicians have failed to form a government. For Christians, it is a time of martyrdom.

Kirkuk (AsiaNews) – A group of armed men abducted a Chaldean Christian man last night in Kirkuk. Local sources told AsiaNews that Yonan (Jonas ) Daniel Mammo, 50, was closing his office in the Almas neighbourhood when three armed individuals got out of a BMW and took him.

Mammo is married and has two daughters. He is not a rich man but works at an exchange control office. After he was abducted, he called his wife by phone, saying that he had been taken. Since then, there have been no news from him. Many believe he was kidnapped for ransom.

Mgr Louis Sako (pictured), Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk, has contacted other religious leaders in the city and the government.

Violence against Christians in particular and the population in general are becoming increasingly frequent across the country as a result of a power vacuum. Four months since parliamentary election, Iraq’s political parties have not yet been able to form a government.

“The country is in the dark,” a source told AsiaNews, “and in such a situation groups of plunderers and criminals get stronger more and more.”

Last week, a Turkmen colonel and his son were killed downtown. “For Iraqi Christians,” the source said, “bearing witness means martyrdom”.

Link to original... Asia News.

Israel threatens to cut off water supply to Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) – The Churches of Jerusalem are perplexed and concerned by the municipal authorities threat to cut off water supplies to the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. Since water supplies were first operational in the area, successive governments have always provided access to the Holy Sepulchre free of charge as a public service to the pilgrims and act of courtesy to the religious, Catholic and non-Catholic, who custody the sanctuary.

So did the British government in the Holy Land (1917-1948), the Jordanian (1948-1967) and so far the Israelis. But now Israeli municipal authorities have stepped up pressure and threats to cut off water supplies unless a tax is paid, not only in future but also for all water supplied since 1967.

The revelations were made to AsiaNews by sources in the Basilica, who prefer not to be identified in the hope that the city authorities will have a change of heart. The curious fact is that the payment requests are directed to a nonexistent entity, "the church of the Holy Sepulchre." An administration that does not exist, since the ancient basilica is governed by a special, internationally recognized, legal regime, known as the "Status quo". The "Status quo" means that the spaces, time, and functions are divided between the Catholic Church, represented by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and several groups of non-Catholic monks, primarily Greek and Armenian but also to a lesser extent, Copts, Ethiopian and Syrian Orthodox.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Israel-threatens-to-cut-off-water-supply-to-Church-of-the-Holy-Sepulchre-19074.html

Les Intransigents Closed Down By Wordpress

As Wessex says:

It is to expected that the elites and the status-quo would eventually look at any medium that draws a crowd if they perceive it to be a threat. We see it in all areas of life if we look hard enough. Money of course talks and the powerful know its capability.

Here is a translation about what's going on with the site:

Hello everyone,

Many of you have to contact us for more surprises on this Friday, July 16, that the online newspaper hardliners has been censured by his hosting Wordpress. After two and a half years of work and more than 160,000 visits per month, the motivation for this sudden action is explained by the convergence of various elements:

Complaints association leaders hate extremists or individuals, filed shortly organizations "vigilance" on the Internet and government institutions to silence us or put us on trial, have continued to increase, especially in recent weeks. What hitherto was not a problem in itself and made us laugh even more because we do not fear the threats and other intimidation (quite the contrary) ...

Wordpress has recently had to clean pressure the U.S. government for a case of "abuse" in relation to legislation (particularly in relation to piracy) . Tens of thousands of blogs protected by the host would then undergo a purge. Suffice to say that after being threatened by Joe Biden, Cheney, the host should be held in tile and instead consider the very large number of international complaints although it has long been protected for reasons we do not develop here.

Recent articles about us in Le Monde, Le Figaro or Le Post, have probably given more credence to these complaints.

We welcome our enemies who, after our two and a half years of intensive work, are finally getting to something. Their efforts will be obviously futile. We intend to come back strong! We guarantee that every blows we receive will only strengthen us! Hardliners, soon it will be even better!

We will now take a short time off to prepare the ground and provide maximum opportunities for our side to have a robust tool that will, again, as long as possible. We must see with whom we work this time for something good that will guarantee a maximum of roadblocks to our enemies. We have several ideas in heads. In any case, it will not blogspot. Perhaps a return on Wordpress if we manage to re-negotiate with them because, after all, they protected us well so far. We'll see.

We thank all those who have followed and supported during this first great adventure for two and a half years. We had fun! But there is still much work to do, although the virus "intransigent" has already contaminated the canvas Catholic politicized and opened the eyes of many. We repeat: the fruits of our work which we are most happy is the fact that we were the intermediate conversions of God. Conversions with good training that go with it most of the reason for our work.

We regret nothing, we take everything.

The struggle continues.

May the Peace of God be with you
El Cristero, July 17, 2010

Link to translation at Ignis Ardens, here.

Even a Dead Lefebvrist Can't Hope for the Clemency of an Old Liberal

He desired that a Priest of the Society of Pius X would say a Requiem in his parish church. Had he been protestant, he would have had no problem.

[Kreuz.net] In the middle of July François died in the village of Troistorrents in the southwest of Switzerland.

Troistorrents is a 4000-soul community in the extreme west of the southwest Swiss Canton of Wallis.

The deceased had lived his entire life in the village. He was an adherent of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X.

Troistorrents is located 44k west of Ecône, where the french speaking Pius seminary is located.

As a relative of the village priest, Fr. Philippe Aymon, a priest of the Society asked for him to open the church doors for the celebration of a Requiem, which he refused to do.

This was reported by the Swiss paper 'Le Matin'.

Pastor Aymon unacrimoniously told the paper: "The adherents of Ecône may not use any Catholic Church."

This was not his decision: "This is a directive of the Archdiocese!"

The village belongs to the small Diocese of Sitten. The current old-liberal Bishop Norbert Brunner is also the president of the Swiss Bishop's Conference.

The family has no bitterness for him, explains Fr. Aymon: "I had the son of the deceased on the telephone. He was very respectful."

Because of the Bishop's absence due to vacation, Pastor von Sierre and Fr. Robert Zuber, further information.

Fr. Zuber gave a more complete explanation: "In the early nineties when I was pastor in Val d'Anniviers, I recall, that there were two burials for adherents of Ecône."

Actually, these adherents, who participated in the burial, were supposedly behaving "very poorly and had no respect for the things and for the property" of the church -- said the minister: "I believe, that this directive touches on that time."

Since the doors of Troistorrents are closed, the Requiem will be read on the next to the last Monday by Society Priest François Udressy in Ecône.

In the obituary for the deceased it reads:

"Because of the refusal of the Diocese, the Church of Troistorrents to open, where the deceased was Baptized, Confirmed, received his first Communion, was married and had participated in all of the burials of the town, the burial Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, July 20th at 3 O'Clock in the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Ecône."

Link to original...

US Rabbis Dub Isreali Judiciary the Court of Sodom

MEDIA ADVISORY, July 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- In advance of the July 29th homosexual parade scheduled to begin in a religious neighborhood in Jerusalem and conclude with a reception at the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman for the 850 plus members of the 70-year-old Rabbinical Alliance of America, issued the following statement:

For years now the imperial judiciary of Israel has demonstrated a clear bias against things and people religious and the traditional values and heritage of a Jewish people described in the Torah (Bible) as a "Nation of Priests and a Holy People". The Israeli Government aided by a socially libertine Supreme Court, which may be to the left of Elena Kagan, constantly denigrates the religious sensibilities and faith concerns of not only traditional Jews worldwide but global inter-religious faith communities that consider Israel to be the "Holy Land not the Homo Land".

Most recently the mayor of Tel Aviv joined the Israeli Minister of Tourism to announce the funding of an initial 6-month outreach effort to attract homosexual tourists from France and Germany. So while the Torah state in Leviticus 18:22-30: "Let not the land vomit you out for having contaminated it" (with these abominations)..., the Israeli officials import as much deviance and immorality as they can, worldwide.

http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/458814536.html
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USCCB Concerned about Media and Blogs that Assume the Role of the Magisterium

Editor: Well, there is a vacuum.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The month after a New Orleans summit between bishops and Catholic media professionals, a Webinar examined the role of Catholic media outlets and the links between them and the bishops, who are quite often the publishers of locally produced Catholic newspapers and broadcast programming.

The July 28 Webinar, "Faithful Catholic Media: Continuing the Conversation," jointly sponsored by the Catholic Press Association and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was intended as a follow-up to the summit, held as part of the Catholic Media Convention in New Orleans in early June.

"The bishops don't have all the answers," said Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications, during the Webinar. But he focused on three aspects of Catholic media, which he said makes it unique.

One is that Catholic media "can help Catholics -- and everyone -- understand what is happening in our world and in our church from a Catholic perspective," Bishop Zavala said. "What does it mean to be holding one's iPhone in one hand and the Gospel in the other? ... This is a vital role that only Catholic media can fulfill."

Card. Zen: not true that “Beijing really wants Bishops appointed by the Pope”

by Card. Joseph Zen Zekiun, sdb

There is still a long way to go in relations between Beijing and the Holy See on the appointment of bishops, which is not the result of an "agreement" but a "tug of war." The test of communion with the pope lies in the boycott of the Assembly of Representatives of Chinese Catholics. The tenacious cardinal of Hong Kong responds to an article by Gianni Valente of "30 Days".

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Gianni Valente, (once?) my friend, writes again on 30 Days (2010 No. 5) about the Church in China. I admire his interest for this Church so dear to us and his zeal in bringing it to the attention of his readers. I am sorry to say, however, that I cannot agree with the way he sees things in that very complex situation.

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Bomb Blast at Church in Ukraine Kills 1

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A bomb blast Wednesday at a southern Orthodox church in Ukraine has killed one person and wounded eight, officials said

A homemade explosive device detonated near the entrance to the church, in the southern city of Zaporozhye, Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Yulia Barysheva told The Associated Press. She said nine people had been wounded, one gravely. A duty nurse at a Zaporozhye hospital, Irina Sergeyenko, later said one blast victim had died.

The blast comes on the day the former Soviet nation marks the anniversary of its conversion to Christianity in 988 AD.

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Anne Rice Breaks With Christianity, Again. This Time by Facebook

Anne Rice Breaks Up With Christianity via Facebook

Wednesday July 28, 2010
Link to Original

Well, some stars like Amanda Bynes use technology like Twitter to tell the world they are retiring. Some stars like Kelsey Grammar announce the end of his marriage. But today Anne Rice became the first pop culture figure I know that decided to break up with Christians, and she did it using facebook.

On her official website she posted the following announcement via her facebook feed this afternoon:"I quit being a Christian. I'm out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of ...Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."

I am not sure what sparked this outburst or if it is just a rant that will later be tempered with something else a little less emotional. I know that she has long spoken out in interviews that she struggles with some of the Catholic Church's stands on issues . But she has also eloquently spoken out about her deep spiritual need for Christ.

Read further at original...

Damian Thompson's Newfound Animus Against the Tribe

Did someone put a gun to Thompson's head to write this one? Has he finally had enough? More important, will he apologize to those he's accused of anti-Semitism in the past now he's taken the plunge?

Stephen Pollard, the brilliant editor of the Jewish Chronicle, described this as “pure, unrelenting unadulterated anti-Jewish bigotry,” on the part of Ms Patterson and indeed some of its undertones are disturbing. But monosyllabic terseness towards goyim? I’ve experienced it, and it’s maddening.

Calling Mr. Pollard brilliant isn't going to excuse you for agreeing with someone who's been branded by one of the chosen as an anti-Jewish bigot, Damian. Oh no, now Damian's going to face what Pat Buchanan has called the grapeshot of an anti-Semitism charge. Will he survive?

Since he's been so eager to launch such attacks in the past against fellow Catholics --whether he agrees they're Catholic or not-- it will be interesting to see how he fares in this newly discovered streak of frankness and honesty about Judaism. Now he will be painted with the same brush as Mel Gibson, whom he accused of anti-Semitism earlier in the month, and Bishop Williamson about whom he has almost nary a kind word.

It will be interesting to see if the anenome of liberal jounralism stings one of its long-time resident clown fish.


Read this...

Priest Founder of "Miles Jesu" Under Investigation by Apostolic Visitor

Editor: It has come to light that a community known as Miles Jesu (you can read their official statement, here) , founded in 1964 has collectively come to grips with its founder, Fr. Alfonso Durán, who is being accused of disciplinary irregularities and abuse of the membership. The Institute has been under investigation since 2007 by Cardinal Ruini. The official communique from the order on its website doesn't mention precisely what the priest is being accused of, but he is apparently relieved because of "serious mental and physical" infirmities.

Half a century might not be a long time for a religious society of any kind, especially not one identifying itself as an ecclesial family of religious life. Despite its short life, it has missions throughout the world including the Ukraine.

They look like Opus Dei and they incorporate that novel idea in religious life of a lay association. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, great devotion to Our Lady is emphasized as well as a great deal of appreciation for the Holy Father, all good things to be sure. Being founded in Phoenix, Arizona, its founder was also prominent in the Cursillo movement. Among its more encouraging efforts is the canonization of Queen Isabella of Spain.

Fr. Alfonso Durán was a Claretian priest from Madrid, Spain.

Dissident Irish Clergy Conveniently Form Themselves in Anti-Catholic Band

Editor: Since they are putting their names in a hat, it ought to make discipline a more convenient issue. You could take it on a case by case basis, but such open dissent against your employer shouldn't be allowed.

New priests' reform movement launched
Date:
29 Jul 2010

Garry O'Sullivan and Michael Kelly

A new priests' movement is being planned to push for a reformation within Irish Catholicism, The Irish Catholic has learned. The push, which will include a call for the Church to re-evaluate its teaching on sexuality as well as ''an equal place for women in all areas of Church life'' is the brainchild of three prominent priests.

In a statement to The Irish Catholic, the three, Fr Tony Flannery, Fr Brendan Hoban and Fr Sean McDonagh said ''the consensus was that, due to the diversity of opinion among priests, it would be impossible to represent all clergy.

''A more manageable and targeted approach would be to draft a set of aims or guidelines for such an association and monitor the response,'' it said.

Read further...

h/t: St. Adamnan's

When will the Church of England face up to the abuse I suffered in their care?

Editor: Stories like this should continue to help more people point, not to the failure of the institutions themselves, but to the sinfulness of men in general, especially when they have turned their backs on the moral absolutes and belief in the transcendent mystery of the Decalogue.

David Cohen
27.07.10
London Evening Standard


Campaign: Teresa Cooper has been fighting for justice for 18 years, but so far has only been given an out-of-court settlement without apology

A while ago, as Teresa Cooper watched the Archbishop of Canterbury delivering a televised address, she began to shake uncontrollably.

“I saw him say that the Catholic Church in Ireland had lost all credibility' because of their attempts to sweep child abuse under the carpet, and I thought that if he was brave enough to be so outspoken about the Catholics, surely he was going to apologise for what happened to me in his Church, too.”

At the time, Teresa, 43, was just days away from meeting the Archbishop's deputies. They would agree to pay her substantial damages for her claims of having been forcibly drugged, abused and sexually assaulted as a teenager in a children's home run by the Church of England in the Eighties.

Editor: this study suggests that Catholic priests are just as likely as anyone else in the population to commit sex abuse.

Link to original...

h/t: St. Adamnan's Diary

Indian Christians protest at attack on Catholic professor

Thousands of Christians in India's southern state of Kerala have held a silent protest march in the town of Thodupuzha after attackers severed the arm of a Roman Catholic professor because of an alleged insult to Islam, reports Ecumenical News International.

"We are anguished over the fact there seems to be a deep-rooted conspiracy behind this diabolical act," the Rev. Mathew Kochupurackal, chancellor of the Catholic diocese of Kothamangalam, to which the professor and his college belong, told ENInews.

Kochupurackal said that the 17 July silent march represented concern that key suspects are still at large despite the attack having taken place in broad daylight.

Read Further...

School pays $35K to teen over same-sex prom date ban

A school district has agreed to pay over $35,000 to a teenager whose insistence on bringing a same-sex partner to her high school prom prompted the district to cancel the event. The district also agreed to follow a "non-discrimination" policy regarding teens who call themselves homosexual, a move the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called precedent-setting, reports Kathleen Gilbert, LifeSiteNews.com.

Constance McMillen has won acclaim from the homosexualist movement after suing the Itawamba County School District over the affair. The school had warned McMillen not to follow through with plans to dress in a tuxedo and bring a female partner to the dance; when McMillen insisted, the school cancelled the whole affair

Read further...

Anglicans expect exodus to Catholic church | National Catholic Reporter

LONDON -- The largest Anglo-Catholic group in the Church of England is expecting an exodus of thousands of Anglicans to Catholicism after a decision to ordain women as bishops without sufficient concessions to traditionalists.

The Church of England's General Synod on Saturday (July 10) rejected a compromise proposal by its top two bishops that would have allowed individual congregations to “opt out” of having women bishops. The vote came after nearly 12 hours of debate.

The move was an embarrassing setback for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and his chief deputy, Archbishop of York John Sentamu, who had hoped to head off a defection of traditionalists over the issue of women bishops.

The rejection of the two archbishops' plan effectively leaves the church on the same path to the eventual consecration of women bishops -- but not until 2014 as “the earliest possible time.”

Anglicans expect exodus to Catholic church | National Catholic Reporter

Cardinal Danneels has got his computer back

Cardinal Danneels has got his computer back

Will the Media Keep Covering For Polanski? New Allegations Surface of Bestial Evil.

Editor: This really is graphic, but it's credible and is the second such accusation. The woman was 21 when Polanski drugged and raped her. The other victim was 16.

The entertainment and news media covered for Polanski as did the Judiciary of a civilized European country which refused to extradite Polanski to the USA where he still faces charges for the rape of a 13 year old girl.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/27/edith-vogelhut-roman-pola_n_661194.html
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Holy See Sends 1st Nuncio to Russia

Relations Upgraded to Full Diplomatic Ties

VATICAN CITY, JULY 27, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Archbishop Antonio Mennini, until now the Pope's representative to the Russian Federation, is now the Holy See's first apostolic nuncio to the country, the Vatican is reporting.

The archbishop presented his letters of credence to Foreign Affairs Minister Sergej Lavrov on July 15 in a ceremony that was followed by a "cordial" meeting, reported the Vatican press office.

Last December, Benedict XVI and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to upgrade relations between the two sides to full diplomatic ties, which raises the level of representation to apostolic nuncio and embassy.

http://www.zenit.org/article-30013?l=english

Clarification: Disgraced David Berger Does Not Teach at Angelicum

He teaches at the Pontifical Institute of St. Thomas Aquinas which is an Opus Dei School with some Dominican and Jesuit members.

See, it's sometimes difficult to detect a homosexual on the hiring process, after all, most people aren't in the dark about the sinful nature of such behavior. It's one thing to have hired someone in error, and it's another thing to do something about it when found out. These guys at the Institute of St. Thomas Aquinas did something!

As far as kreuz.net tells us, David Berger is still employed at the Gymnasium in neoconservative Archbishop Meisner's Cologne Archdiocese where he can probably offer his students some greater understanding how to contradict Catholic teaching and legitimize homosexual behavior.

There are photos of David Berger's facebook page where he is a member of "Gay Games", here.

Correction: We might say this school is really run by Opus Dei, but in actuality, it is a Pontifical School and therefore isn't the property of an individual order, but of the Vatican itself.

Love-Parade in Duisberg Ends in Tears

Editor: So far, there hasn't been a lot of coverage of this event in the USA and little mention was made of the explicit and decadent nature of the event, except on some conservative German Catholic news blogs, but there are others who see it correctly, as Kathnet reports:

[Kath.net] "Welcome to the sexiest party in the world!" wrote "Bild" still on 23 July, the day before the Love-Parade in Duisburg. Instead of sexiness, journalists are coming to describe it in terms of biblical decine after the mass panic with 19 dead and hundreds of injured. "Hell at the Love-Parade", wrote the Wochenzeitung Die Zeit.

And Evan Herman, christian publicist and television moderator, felt herself reminded of "Sodom and Gomorrha." The Old Testament history (Genisis 19:28) went that God destroyed both cities because of the sinful deeds of their inhabitants; only Lot and his daughter were saved in the minute.

ABC reduces what is a moral issue into a mere question of public safety and proper crowd control. Nothing is mentioned of the deplorable intent of the event as being the "Sexiest Party in the World".

[ABC]German state authorities on Wednesday accused the organizer of last weekend's Love Parade techno festival of major security breaches which may have led to the crush that killed 21 people and injured more than 500.

The organizer's security officials failed to properly control the entrance area where the victims were crushed, according to North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Ralf Jaeger and the state's chief police controller Dieter Wehe.

"Security did not fulfill its duty," Wehe said while presenting the key findings of a preliminary police investigation at a news conference.

Read further...

Correction: One of the injured has since died, so the death-toll is now 20.

A JOHN KNOX lookalike is to welcome the Pope to Scotland.

There's no mention of irony or satire, considering that the Scottish government itself isn't bothering to celebrate the 450th Anniversary of the Protestant Revolt.

[Daily Record, Scotland] The actor has been hired by the Catholic Church to play the leader of Scotland's Protestant Reformation in a pageant of the country's historical figures.

The 25 characters will parade in front of the pontiff's Popemobile on Princes Street, Edinburgh, during his visit in September.

Knox's surprise inclusion by Catholic Church leaders follows accusations that this year's 450th anniversary of the Reformation is being ignored by the Scottish Government.

Read further...

Lord Patten: Papal visit to UK might surprise critics :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Lord Patten: Papal visit to UK might surprise critics :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Vatican Enforces Stricter Dresscode

Many people will undoubtedly love this new level of modesty.

Jul 27, 2010

Tourists in skimpy summer clothing were being told to cover up before entering Vatican City today.

The ban had previously applied only to St Peter's Basilica but guards manning the official entry point into the tiny, walled state begun pulling visitors aside overnight for sporting "inappropriate" attire, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The new decree, particularly targeting those in shorts and shoulder-revealing shirts, sent several tourists trudging off to local stores to buy shawls, scarves and pairs of trousers.

Read further...

Government of Brazil proposes legalizing abortion in Latin America :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Government of Brazil proposes legalizing abortion in Latin America :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Baghdad bishop dies after lifetime of serving the Church :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Baghdad bishop dies after lifetime of serving the Church :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Leo XIII Decried Socialism, 150 Years Later The USCCB Embraces It

July 26, 2010 - Dr. Jeffrey Mirus, founder of the excellent CatholicCulture.org, was surprised by the “bitterness” he found from readers responding to the Bishops’ support of extended unemployment benefits last week. He presses the need for some “cautions” and “perspective” particularly when we begin to denounce the Bishops as socialists. He insists that we be ‘very careful in using this term” and not resort to “inaccurate name-calling.” Why are the bishops not socialists? According to Mirus it is because they never have advocated the state ownership of private means of production.

This incomplete defense is followed by a lengthy and abstract discussion on balancing solidarity and subsidiarity, building “intermediary” institutions, correcting the tax structure, pursuing the “twin goals of stimulating the production or wealth and preventing the marginalization of those who fall behind;” and patient acceptance with the way things are until something better can be created. “Conservative Catholics need to recognize that it is not wrong in Catholic social theory to engage government in fostering the economic common good. ” Here we must wonder where a conservative may disagree. Would they be against the ‘economic common good,” or just against re-distributionist confiscation and its uniformly negative results?

This familiar lullaby is epidemic in faithful Catholic intellectual circles. It grows mainly out of pride and a misunderstanding of the social justice writing of Leo XIII, Chesterton, and the Distributists. Such destructive thinking needs to be addressed as it runs contrary to natural law and the laws of God. Furthermore the Bishops, as they manifest culturally and politically via the USCCB, are not only socialists, but function regularly as statist agents. They do not shout for socialism; they just enact it and applaud its ongoing construction. They should be assessed not by what they advocate, but by what they achieve and destroy.

Read further...

Papal visit: where are the three 'disappeared' Oratorians, ask parishioners

Papal visit: where are the three 'disappeared' Oratorians, ask parishioners

Mother Teresa Cathedral in Kosovo

David Berger Banished from the Papal Academy of Thomas Aquinas

After his "Outing" as a Homosexual and his denial of Church teaching on Homosexuality a letter of the Academy President followed: "With deep pain" and horror to review Professor Berger's past "opinions".

Rome (Kath.net) The theologian David Berger (42) was dismissed from the faculty of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Any further activity there at the institution would be denied, in the view of "some points of Church teaching" which he does not assent to. This was reported by Frankfurter Rundshau. The certified theologian and special expert on the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas is primarily employed as a Gymnasium (College Preparatory School) teacher in Germany.

Berger is thought to be a "conservative" theologian and was also the Publisher and Chief Director of a Theological Periodical. He has resigned from this office already, which he made known earlier in the last April in the Frankfurter Rundschau as a homosexual. In the article he spoke of "laughably, bigoted" position in the Catholic Church toward Homosexuality and that his opinions on the theology of Thomas allowed a positive appraisal of homosexuality.

"With deep regret" and horror, the transformation and the past "opinions" of Professor Berger had to be examined, wrote Academy President Lluis Clavell, who belongs to Opus Dei, in a letter to Berger.

For the Frankfurter Rundschau, criticized Berger, that before his termination no one responsible for the Thomas-Akademie had inquired of him, if he also practiced homosexuality. Actually, this is specifically condemned by Church teaching. Berger himself had taken no position on this for the Frankfurter Rundschau.

Over to the original...

Christians Are Being Marginalized.

[Unbelieveable] Premier is inviting Christians to sign the "I am a Christian" declaration at www.iamachristian.org.uk and stand up for their Christian faith. It's in response to the fact that over 100,000 have downloaded the National Secular Society's "Debaptism" certificate, renouncing childhood baptismal vows.

There have been a number of stories that suggest Christians are being restricted form being open about their Christian faith in the public arena, and now the National Secular Society is urging that hospital chaplains should not be funded by the NHS.

Premier's CEO Peter Kerridge explains why he believes the campaign will encourage Christian to be bold in their faith. Terry Sanderson of the National Secular Society explains why they want to take Christian influence out of the public sphere, while Andrea Williams of Christian Concern for Our Nation explains why she believes the rights of Christians are being challenged.

Sign the declaration at www.iamachristian.org.uk

For Terry Sanderson see www.secularism.org.uk

Listen here...

Byelorussian Priest Urges the Faith Handed Down by the Apostles at Ecumenical Gathering

Editor: this Orthodox prelate makes an appeal to the Faith handed down to the Apostles as a delegate to an ecumenical gathering. His impassioned call for the Faith handed down by the Apostles and his condemnation of the craving of many to usher in a new paganism was well received by all.



h/t: young fogey

Benedict XVI underscores religious, human and social richness of grandparents :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Benedict XVI underscores religious, human and social richness of grandparents :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Cloistered French nuns to make Gregorian chant album for Universal Music :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Cloistered French nuns to make Gregorian chant album for Universal Music :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Pro-Lifers Confront "Catholic" Hospital With Abortionist

DURANGO, Colo., July 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- LifeGuard will hold a press conference on Thursday, July 29, to divulge the details of the ongoing relationship between Catholic hospital Mercy Regional Medical Center and abortion provider Grossman.

"A Catholic Hospital that grants full privileges to a Doctor who brutally murders babies every week is NOT a Catholic Hospital," stated Joe Scheidler, National Director of the Pro-Life Action League. "Mercy Regional can no longer ignore this issue. We hope to send a clear message -- we want Dr. Grossman out of there."

Speakers will include Joe Scheidler, National Director of the Pro-Life Action League, Father Fessio, founder of Ignatius Press, Walter Hoye, Founder of the California Civil Rights Foundation, Gualberto Garcia-Jones of Personhood Colorado, and Dan Anguis, LifeGuard Director. These national leaders will explain the serious breach of directive 45 of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Services, which states in part, "Catholic health care institutions need to be concerned about the danger of scandal in any association with abortion providers."

Read further...

Unicef Sexualizing Children

San Salvador, El Salvador (CNA) -- Salvadoran columnist Julia Regina de Cardenal has denounced UNICEF for sponsoring a television program that promotes unethical behavior and promiscuity to children.

“Why are international organizations obsessed with investing such sums of money to pervert our children?” she asked in a column for the Salvadoran daily, Hoy. As an example, Cardenal pointed to the money spent on advertising during a television program that “promotes promiscuity, prostitution as a way of earning a living for young women, homosexuality and all forms of sexual disorder.”

“The grim message to teens is that sex is a game that must be experienced in the search for pleasure, without any concern for the consequences of physical, psychological, mental, spiritual, social and cultural health,” she warned.

Read further...

h/t: Barb Kralis

The Balance After Three Years of Motu Proprio: Mass Locations Grow by 480%

More than twenty groups in Germany have requested an old Mass and receive from their old liberal Bishops not even one word. Actually, the Motu Proprio paves the way.


[Kreuz.net]The locations, where the old rite is usually celebrated, have increased 480 % since the Motu Proprio 'Summorum Pontificum'. This is according to the director of the German Lay Society 'Pro Missa Tridentina', Monika Rheinschmitt.

In June 2007 there were in total 35 locations, where the Old Mass was regularly said in the German speaking areas.

Three years after, on the beginning of July 2010, there were 203 Mass locations.


Mass Locations Divided by Country

In Germany there are 138 Mass locations where the Old Rite is regularly heard.

Only in 49 locations is there a regular Sunday Mass. In 24 of them the feast days are also served.

In 26 locations there are one to three Sunday Masses per month.

In 63 locations the priest only celebrates the old Mass on workdays.

In Austria there are only 28 Mass locations.

11 old Masses are regularly celebrated on Sunday, and seven also on feast days.

Of four Mass locations there are one to two Sunday Masses per month, in thirteen are only workday Masses.

In the confessional areas in the much smaller Switzerland there are 39 Mass locations.

In 21 Mass locations the priest celebrates the Mass every Sunday and 13 also feast days.

In four Mass locations there are one to two Sunday Masses per month.

In fourteen Mass locations the priest celebrates the Mass only on work days in the Old Rite.


As Usual: Bishops against the Old Mass

On a number of Mass locations the Old Rite must be reestablished again. For example is the town of Altötting where the celebrant has died.

In the last year some have dwindled and new Mass locations have quickly balanced the scales.

Anyway, Frau Rheinschmitt has in no way spoken of a "overabundance of demand".

Because: "There are more than 20 groups of traditional faithful known to us, who are desirous for a regular celebration of the Sacraments according to the 1962 Missal and have made requests of their pastors and respective Bishops -- but till now have either received no answer or a refusal."

The old Mass has a value in itself -- Frau Rheinschmitt stresses: "It will be especially poignant how thoroughly great, beautiful, sublime and sometimes even strange is the majesty of God."

The Church has developed and protected liturgical forms over the centuries, to help the believer to honor the triune God.

Frau Rheinschmitt also has made a graphic, which shows, how the old Masses are distributed throughout the German Diocese.

Little Understanding, Much Hate

Frau Rheinschmitt is certain that the anxiety toward the Traditionalists in some parishes is fading.

They enjoy the rich treasure of their own Church tradition.

In other locations the Traditionalists were always still, "thwarted, ignored, their proposals fought or answered in an unfriendly way."

Frau Rheinschmitt named examples:

The Traditionalists in Freiburg wanted every Sunday to have an Old Mass. Actually, they only may have Mass bi-weekly.

On short notice Prelate Alwin Renker declared -- the rector of the Church, where the old Mass in Freiburg will be celebrated -- on the 4th of July, that he, his housekeeper and sacristan will be on vacation traveling and therefore won't be able to say the old Mass on July 18th.

Actually, Prelate Renker isn't even the celebrant of the old Mass.

The coming date for the old Mass in Freiburg is still not known.

As a second example, Frau Rheinschmitt cited the example of the scandal in Weiden in the diocese of Regensburg.

There the Traditionalists, despite affirmation from Rome and a promise from Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller of Regensburg, who have waited for over a year to have the approval for a second Sunday Mass in the Month.


Many Larger Cities Still Without Old Mass

Frau Rheinschmitt observes finally, that in the German speaking areas there are still Churches which lack a regular Sunday Mass in the old Rite.

As an example Frau Rheinschmitt cited the city of Freiburg, Heidelberg, Konstanz, Ulm, Tübingen [No big surprise here], Reutlingen, Würzburg, Freising, Passau, Limburg, Speyer, Essen, Dortmund, Kassel, Hildescheim, Leipzig and Dresden.

One problem is that in the Chancery, "it is not well-received, when younger priests show interest in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite or even celebrate it."

Conclusion: "There still remains a lot to do for next year."

Link to original...

Thomas Molnar, RIP

Thomas Molnar was one of the great ones alongside Dietrich von Hildebrand, Eric Kuehnelt-Leddihn and John Lukacs. Here's the link to the Society of Bonaventure where we found it, here.

Given the scale of his achievement, I can only touch on one aspect of Molnar’s thought. He was a preeminent chronicler and analyst of the ideological trends and deceptions of the current age. In conducting his dissections, Thomas Molnar drew primarily on Thomism, on the thought of the French right and on his immense knowledge of European literature, philosophy and history. In The Two Faces of American Foreign Policy (1962) he described the dangers of the recurrent American temptation to ideology in foreign affairs forty years before the march into Iraq squarely raised this issue. In The Decline of the Intellectual (1961; perhaps his magnum opus), he analyzed “global ideology” decades before globalization became the mantra of every corporation and government on earth. In The Counter-Revolution (1969) we find an extremely perceptive (and harshly critical) analysis of Vatican II and the papacy of Paul VI. Molnar had reached the latter conclusion only after some hesitation: in Ecumenism or New Reformation?(1968) he had still recommended rallying to the papacy as the cure for the present disorders in the Church.

Later, Molnar spelled out the dangers of the Neuhaus/Novak/First Things ideology 25 years before the bankruptcy of the “neocon” movement’s political, economic and ecclesiastical policies. Need I say that he likewise clearly foresaw the ignominious end of the National Review crowd as a claque of the establishment they had once opposed? Indeed, Molnar, generally speaking, was a critic of the “American conservative movement” and considered it a failure.

Modern Art is a Terroist Organization Says Hungarian Art Historian

[Kreuznet] FOCUS: "Herr Kishon, in your book you reveal a 'fundamentalist organization' by the name of Modern Art, which has established a 'brilliant, planned population stupification' on the scene -- and don't you clearly mean this satirically?"

Kishon: "I almost always think satirically, whether I want to or not, but this time I mean it as a serious fact -- about one of the successful business organizations in the world. I don't want to step too closely to these highly skilled, icy sharks of our time, but various terror organizations work very similarly."

The Budapest born Satirist, Goldsmith and Art Historian, Ephraim Kishon Hoffman (+2005) in an Intervew with the German boulevard magazine 'Focus' from the year 1995.

Original here..

39 New Priests for the Old Mass This Year

[Germany, Kreuz] This year 39 traditional priests began holy orders. 24 new priestws belong to the Society of Saint Pius X and 15 to other traditional societies. For the Society of Pius X, 8 priests were ordained on June 19 in Winona in the USA, three on June 26th in Zaitzkofen in Bavaria and nine on June 29th in Econe in Switzerland. Four others will still be ordained at the end of this year. The traditional society 'Institute of Christ the King' ordained three priests in Florence. For the Priestly Society of St. Peter four priests were ordained in Wigratzbad in Bavaria and six in May in the USA. One priest is being ordained from the Institute of the Good Shepherd in Bordeux, France.


Original...

The New Mass Takes a Bath in Germany

[Kreuz.net/Allmendingen, Schwabia] The regional 'Schwabian Times' reports that a Liturgy was held at the local pool in Allmendingen on June 10th. The pastor, Father Gunther Gerlach was presiding.

Allmendingen is a 4,500-soul-community around 25km westerly of Ulm in the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.

The Liturgy happened on Saturday in the so-called Wald Free Pool of Allmendingen.

The priest stood on the pool's edge in Alb and Stole. There was a super table with a blue table cloth, which the Times called an "Altar".

Cloistered Nuns in Bikini?

Thanks to the heat and the rain in the bathing area, many people took part in the event.

The supper table stood along the longside of the pool and the faithful sat on beer stools on the opposite and connecting sides.

Among the participants there were Cloistered Nuns.

Others present sat in swimclothes -- with bikinis and bathing shorts -- some with their feet dangling at the edge of the pool in the water.

Other bathing guests followed the event from bathtowels on the grass.

The ministers came in their robes, but barefoot.

For the Entrance: "Pack My Swim Shorts!"

As an entrance, the community sang, "Pack My Swim Shorts", a hit from the 50s in Germany.

Otherwise the children and youth choir was there to entertain the community.


More children swam during the liturgical comedy in the pool directly between the "altar" and visitors.

The idea for this Liturgical scandal came from the self-styled Family Liturgy Team of the Parish.

In all of the songs, texts and in the preaching of Father Gerlach the theme of "water" was employed.

At the song, "A Ship, that means community" the children released paper mache boats in the water.

Read original here... kreuz.net...

Attacker of Traditional Priest in Fulda is Caught

[Fulda, Germany from Kreuz.net] A priest who offered the Immemorial Mass in Fulda is in a natural comma still, a month after the brutal robbery and assault he endured in June. Father Aloysius Winter (78) was in the Fulda Theological faculty and is in stable condition but can not talk.

The suspect has been captured and detectives find the DNA evidence against him to be solid. Father had helped the drug-addicted perpetrator previously.

Original..

Atheist Humanists Annoyed That Freemasons Are Invited to EU Atheist Summit in October

Atheist Humanists Annoyed That Freemasons Are Invited to EU Atheist Summit in October

"Anglican Catholic Church of Canada" Votes to Unite With Rome

The Dean's Report on Synod 2010

The Eighth Provincial Synod and Thirteenth Diocesan Synod of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada were held simultaneously at the Rosemary Heights Retreat Centre in Surrey, B.C., July 12 to 16, 2010.

In attendance were the Canadian House of Bishops (Bishop Peter Wilkinson, Metropolitan and Bishop Ordinary; Bishop Craig Botterill, Suffragan for Atlantic Canada and Chancellor; Bishop Carl Reid, Suffragan for Central Canada and Apostolic Commissary; Bishop Robert Mercer, Assistant Bishop; along with the TAC Primate, Archbishop John Hepworth); eighteen members of the House of Clergy; and thirty members of the House of Laity; together with a number of observers and guests. The first evening began with Evensong, dinner, and then a wine and cheese reception hosted by the ACCC Parishes of the Lower Mainland.

While there was ample time for fellowship, much of our time was dedicated to the business of Synod. The Synod delegates received an address from the Primate, Archbishop John Hepworth, on the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, together with a discussion of the various issues involved and a time frame for the implementation of a proposed Ordinariate for Canada (as well as other Provinces within the Traditional Anglican Communion).

Read further...

Decline and fall of Christian Democracy in Germany

Decline and fall of Christian Democracy in Germany

Modernist Benedictines Are Afraid of Sacramentals

Editor: The modernist Monastery's new blog entry written by Father Ruff reveals an unsteady and uncertain hand. He says that the more conservative, new upcoming clergy are afraid and sneers about what he believes is a costume party, really and truly misjudging the motives of traditionalist clergy and their laity. If anyone is afraid, it's Father Ruff. Why is Father Ruff afraid? Probably because he knows that if he entered a debate with anyone, like say, Father Z at www.wdtprs.com, he'd be shown up for what he is.

Could it be that the Abbey to which he belongs has an average age well into the 60s and doesn't attract any new vocations? The devil fears Holy things, like birettas, Catholic practices and Sacramentals, Rosaries, ancient practices, because they remind him of his fall and Christ's saving power. Do progressive Catholics fear those traditional things because they are reminded of what they've lost or never had in the first place? Father Ruff's condescending string of untrue statements do more than show fear, they show real insecurity.

Actually, St John's is afraid enough to admit they were wrong in shuffling homosexual predators around and protecting them, giving them an opportunity to strike again. They're so afraid that they're destroying records related to the accused pederasts in their community.

If anyone is afraid, it would be the modernists at St John's Abbey. They're afraid of getting out of their social-justice ghetto, worried about their depleting power and aging population. It takes a while sometimes for corrupt regimes to be overthrown by the oppressed and the "silly season" of the last 40 or so years in the desert for American Catholicism is drawing to a close.

Here's the blog in its entirety with some commentary in brackets:

[Pray, Tell]Many of the old things are back now: pre-Vatican II Mass, fiddle-back vestments, cappa magnas, birettas, Communion on the tongue, and so forth. Seminarians and young priests – in Roman collar, of course –go for traditional liturgical ceremonial. The Vatican takeover of English translations from national bishops’ conferences is nearly complete. Meanwhile, it looks like the Pope and the Holy See are planning to sit out the sex abuse crisis without admitting any fault or instituting any real reforms. [Those who really want the Church to legitimize an illicit lifestyle choice, or wish the Catholic Church weren't really Catholic like to talk about how it really hasn't done anything to curtail the abuse. Indeed, this Abbey, once the largest in the world, is responsible for more than its share of stonewalling and ignoring the real solution to the problem. But has the Vatican really ignored the problem?]

I bet your friends too are talking about this. What are they saying? In some circles, all this demonstrates a faith-filled, self-confident refortification of the Roman Church. The Church is finding its Catholic identity again, even in the face of strong secular headwinds. There is a new seriousness about liturgy after what Fr. Neuhaus liked to call “the silly season.” Slowly but surely the Church is becoming the Church again, after several decades of confusion and mistaken implementation of the Second Vatican Council. Let the media say what they will: we don’t expect to be understood or affirmed by the world as we calmly go about our divine mission. While the goal is not to drive anyone away, at least those who leave will be leaving The Real Thing. People are ready for a “smaller, purer” Church.

I know a few people who take a rather different view. A prominent liturgist recently said this about Vatican officials: “They’re a bunch of thugs, Anthony, they’re nothing but thugs, and in a world of rapid internet communication, they can’t get away with it much longer. It can’t last.” [The Unitarians would be glad to have him But why won't it last? It doesn't matter who asks Father Ruff, he won't answer because he's afraid to debate.] Another prominent liturgist recently said over coffee, “It’s the last gasp of Europe’s last functioning absolute monarchy, and its days are numbered.” [Heresy] According to these folks, the conservative element in the Church, including at central headquarters, is basically overcome by fear: fear of the modern world, fear of diversity, fear of theological inquiry, fear of dialogue with the laity, fear of sexuality, fear of what Vatican II wrought. [If anyone's afraid, it's St John's Abbey at Collegevile, the place is rapidly becoming a convalescent home with a few younger social workers who are deeply committed to social-justice but probably can't tell you the six precepts of the Church or the 10 Commandments without looking them up] Vatican officials and conservative liturgists and young clergy are fleeing what is threatening to them. [They seem to be growing while you are dying out. If you're not afraid, you should be concerned about whether or not you'll be living in the streets at some point when the Abbey goes out of business.] The liturgy is becoming a lovely place to pretend, an escape into a more comfortable past. [You clearly don't know any Traditional clergy]For these folks, the liturgical silly season is just beginning, and all the lace and frills from auntie’s attic is rather embarrassing. Such as this may last for some time – we may have many years yet to endure – but eventually it will collapse. [Any bets on how long it takes this blog to die off?]

If you want to read more about the Faithful Refortification view, check out the comments which will surely appear below in short order. If you want more on the Fearful Fleeing view, there are two intriguing articles by Eugene Cullen Kennedy in the NCRep. A few weeks ago Kennedy compared the reappearing fiddle-back vestments to the antiquated Victorian frock coats which King George required of parliamentarians in the early twentieth century. King George, like Emperor Wilhelm and Czar Nicholas, “struggled to restore monarchical structures that were being swept away by the incoming tide of modern times.” This week Kennedy compares the Vatican bureaucracy in 2010 to the French bureaucracy under Petain after Paris fell to the Germans. “Everyone would carry on as usual in this case study of a collapsing government living on the fumes of long gone glory. Still, its marshals and generals donned their uniforms and pinned on their sashes and medals to hold military reviews and to welcome the war correspondents with bands and receptions, a final costume party for men who reassured themselves by exercising the last fine grains of power in their finely gloved hands.”

This is fascinating. People look at the same phenomena, all of them deeply concerned about the Church’s faithfulness and evangelical witness, and take such different views of what is going on. Is it faithful refortification or fearful fleeing? Pray Tell takes no position on such things. We haven’t really thought about it, as you’ll surely believe. No, we’re enjoying our late summer reading various books about various other topics. [You should probably start paying attention to the effect your "seamless garment" theology is having on the future of your community, your souls and those of the people you claim to serve.]

awr

Link to blog...

China Says Vatican Controls Cuba

Editor: Communists are mentally unhealthy; they are obsessed by the Vatican and its armored divisions.

Ye Xiaowen, the religious affairs minister, lashes out against an imaginary power grab on the part of the Vatican, and rejects any sort of openness, precisely while a Chinese delegation is meeting with the secretariat of state in Rome.

Rome (AsiaNews) - "The Vatican presents itself to us with a double face": while it is seeking diplomatic relations with Beijing, in reality it wants to return to "the control and management of the Catholic Church in China".

And again: "the Vatican hates socialism", but for it, opening the doors of China "is among the most important missions of the 'strategy of the new millennium' for the Catholic Church", a means of acquiring political power and becoming once again "the Centre of the world". At this point, "Cuba is administrated by them [by the Vatican]. Vietnam is administered by them. Among the socialist countries, only China has continued to ignore them".

Read further at Asia News..

Santiago de Compostela Celebrates the Feast of St. James

In total to the end of the "Holy Year" an estimated ten million people will have visited the city.


Madrid (kath.net/KNA) In Santiago de Compostela ten thousand people celebrated the Feast of St. Jakob (James). The Spanish King, Juan Carlos, held his traditional speech on the day of the Spanish Patron Saint. The Archbishop of Santiago, Julian Barrio Barrio, celebrated the central Liturgy in the Cathedral.

Pope Benedict XVI sent greetings from Castelgandalfo to the assembled pilgrims. Pop musicians Sting and Mike Oldfield gave concerts in the early evening at the place of pilgrimage.

The celebration was the highpoint of the current "Holy Year". This has been celebrated since the 12th Century continuously when the feast of St. Jakob's falls on the 25th of July falls on a Sunday. The next time will be in 2021 -- before 1993, 1999 and 2004.

Juan Carlos asked St. Jakob for help and assistance in current difficulties. He mentioned among others the financial crisis and the barbarity of terrorism. Archbishop Barrio prayed for among others for the governing powers and the pursuit of the common good and the ethical and moral renewal of society.

Pope Benedict XVI announced he wanted to conclude the pilgrimage in Santiago in November. He intends to step in the "path of our life" in the footsteps of the Apostles establishing a sign of Faith, Hope and Love. Benedict XVI wants to visit for his second Spanish visit near Santiago de Compostela and nearby Barcelona on the 6th and 7th of November.

For "Xacebo 2010" the Spanish Tourism Authority and the Pilgrimage Bureau in Santiago de Compostela figure new record numbers. In total, by year end, about 10 Million people will have visited the city. 240,000 of this number are also pilgrims, who take at the least the traditional last 100 kilometers on foot, alternatively, the last 200km distance covered by bicycle. The last highest estimate was 180,000 pilgrims in the "Holy Year" of 2004.

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CCCR Billboard Campaign and Parish Presence in St. Paul and Minneapolis

[St. Paul- Minneapolis, USA] The Catholic Campaign for Church Reform has been active in the Archdiocese for a while, it features Michael Bayly and others and has a stock presence in the more liberal parishes like, Our Lady of Grace, where dissident, pederastic and homosexual promoters are normatively presented. They've managed to get together some money for a billboard campaign, but Archbishop Nienstedt has already said that they are not associated with the Archdiocese as Orate Fratres blogreports:

The billboard proclaiming a September, 18th, 2010, "Synod of the Baptized" stands just off a major throughfare leading to the archdiocese-a mere 3 miles away.

The church reform group responsible for purchasing the billboard ad is the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform. A local coalition of long-frustrated individuals belonging to various national dissident organizations now banded together. Their ultimate goal is to create greater schism within the church as they organize for what their calling the American Catholic Council to be held in Detroit, Michigan, in 2012.

Archbishop Nienstedt has previously found it necessary to warn the Catholic faithful concerning CCCR and the organizations' non-affiliation with the Archdiocese of Mpls/St.Paul or the universal Roman Catholic Church. He had this to say about the group back in 2007:

Last year, we looked at Our Lady of Grace and a defensive Dennis McGrath passed the buck then. Is it possible that Archbishop Nienstedt will close these parishes down? Certainly, Our Lady of Grace would not be a significant architectural loss if it were closed.

"Women" Up in Arms About Latest Vatican Document

ANALYSIS: The Vatican must no longer be granted immunity from equality legislation, in the name of liberty, equality, and even the Gospel, writes MARY CONDREN

THE VATICAN’S recent Normae de Gravioribus Delictis document prescribes automatic excommunication for anyone involved in the ordination of a woman. In according greater penalties to those who “attempted” women’s ordination than to clerics who abused children, it has further shocked many loyal Irish Catholics, prompting them to inquire about the theological reasons why the Roman Catholic Church objects to women’s ordination.

A Vatican document issued in 1976 set out some of these arguments clearly.

1. That incarnation took place in the male sex and therefore women were excluded from the priesthood

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Diocese Expresses Concern Over Jackson Labs

Editor: Whatever happened to that part about gaining the whole world and losing the soul? Ave supporters seem content to broke unsavory and contradictory associations for an allegedly superior "Catholic" education. In their quest for these accolades, are they willing to challenge the local ordinary whose job it is to be a guardian of orthdoxy in his See?

Friday, July 23, 2010

AveWatch is reporting that the Catholic Diocese of Venice, which covers Collier County and Ave Maria Town, is planning on issuing a statement in its parishes and diocesan newspaper, expressing concern about the Jackson Labs plan. Here is an excerpt from the statement: Jackson Laboratory's purported association with and openness to human embryonic stem cell research causes the Diocese of Venice concern. Of particular note is a public statement made by the company that they are, "not willing to rule out doing human embryonic stem cell research" (Naples Daily News, April 10, 2010). ...... While encouraging and supporting biomedical research which respects innocent human life and advances the common good and in keeping fully with the Teachings of the Catholic Church, the Diocese of Venice has ethical and moral concerns as regards the potential activities at the proposed Jackson Laboratory facility. Economic growth and development are not the only components which impact the life of a community. An organization which truly respects the rights of all human beings could and should "rule out" human embryonic stem cell research. This is precisely because it involves the destruction of innocent human life and consequently, affects the community. Without such an understanding, the plan of Jackson Laboratory, as it has been reported, presents difficulty for the Diocese of Venice in Florida. It's good to see the Diocese raising concerns. Fumed by Thales at 7:47 AM. 9 puffs of smoke. Diocese of Venice Expresses Concern Over Ave Maria Jackson Laboratory »

Thu, July 22nd, 2010 - 8:35 pm EST

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Address for this article: http://avewatch.com/?p=1444 - View date: 07-25-2010

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following statement was released today by the Catholic Church's Diocese of Venice (Florida). Tom Monaghan's Ave Maria Town and University are located in the Diocese. ********** While the Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida is aware of the potential economic benefits of any company coming to the region, there are other questions which have a profound moral and ethical impact that must also be considered. Indeed, moral and ethical questions are at the very core of what constitutes truly authentic human and economic development. Authentic human and economic development, in keeping with the Teachings of the Catholic Church, highlights not only the 'wants' of life, but more profoundly, the 'oughts.' This is also the case with regard to The Jackson Laboratory's proposal to operate in Collier County. Jackson Laboratory's purported association with and openness to human embryonic stem cell research causes the Diocese of Venice concern. Of particular note is a public statement made by the company that they are, "not willing to rule out doing human embryonic stem cell research" (Naples Daily News, April 10, 2010).

People knowledgeable of stem cell research and therapy are aware that adult stem cell research has led to more medical advances and promise than that of human embryonic stem cell studies. The Catholic Church does support research using adult stem cells taken from a variety of sources. However, as is well known, since work on human embryonic stem cells involves the destruction of innocent human life, the Church does not approve of such research. While encouraging and supporting biomedical research which respects innocent human life and advances the common good and in keeping fully with the Teachings of the Catholic Church, the Diocese of Venice has ethical and moral concerns as regards the potential activities at the proposed Jackson Laboratory facility. Economic growth and development are not the only components which impact the life of a community. An organization which truly respects the rights of all human beings could and should "rule out" human embryonic stem cell research. This is precisely because it involves the destruction of innocent human life and consequently, affects the community. Without such an understanding, the plan of Jackson Laboratory, as it has been reported, presents difficulty for the Diocese of Venice in Florida. Sincerely, Bob Reddy Diocese of Venice in Florida Communications Department 941-486-4701 ***

[END OF STATEMENT]*** According to a National Catholic Bioethics Center analysis done for Ave Maria developer Tom Monaghan, the contraception and human embryonic stem cell work of Jackson Laboratory presents "no moral obstacle" because "it is impossible to cooperate with an evil that is not taking place" at Jackson. Ave Maria School of Law's President and Dean, Eugene Milhizer, endorsed Jackson Laboratory's practices as "consistent with the Catholic Church's teaching on different life issues" (audio).

Ave Maria University President Nick Healy, who just returned from a trip to Jackson's headquarters in Maine, was quoted in the Naples Daily News as saying "If they [Jackson] were to locate here [in Ave Maria district] I think there would be very considerable benefits to the entire area. They will bring well-paying jobs and so on. It will help real estate in the town." (4/10/2010) In May, two months after the Ave Maria Jackson Laboratory deal was announced, a Florida Weekly magazine reporter asked if anyone had requested that the Laboratory refrain from research offensive to Catholics within the planned Ave Maria district facility. The Jackson official stated that nobody had asked for any such assurance (audio). http://avewatch.com/?p=1444
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Hans Küng’s Malthusian Moment

by Samuel Gregg D.Phil.

[Acton Institute] In April, the world received yet another global missive from the 82-year-old Swiss theologian, Fr. Hans Küng. Perhaps the world's most famous Catholic dissenter from Catholic teaching, Fr. Küng's "open letter" to the world's Catholic bishops contained his usual critique of the papacy and his now-tediously familiar prescriptions for changing the Catholic Church.

Almost 31 years ago, Rome and Germany's Catholic bishops stripped Küng of his license to teach as a Catholic theologian because, by Küng's own admission, he does not believe in some central tenets of the Catholic faith. Some would say Rome's action was merely an exercise in ensuring truth in advertizing. This has not stopped Küng, however, from continuing to exhort Catholicism to adopt the path followed by many mainline Protestant confessions in the West since the 1960s. As George Weigel has noted, Küng's letter is full of misrepresentations and shoddy logic. Moreover, Küng seems oblivious to the sociological fact that those Christian communities which have embraced paths similar to that which he advocates for Catholicism are in a state of terminal collapse. Devoid of doctrinal coherence, they are often led by clerics for whom God's existence and Christ's Divinity are open questions, whose conception of morality is as relativistic as your average lefty-secularist, but who purport to know with absolute certainty that the world is headed for a climate change-driven apocalypse.

Read further:

http://www.acton.org/commentary/587_hans_kungs_malthusian_moment.php
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Muslims Rioting in France: Mainstream Media Fail

Al Jazeera has reported that the police are receiving automatic weapons fire, and the BBC is whitewashing the thing as well, showing white bystanders watching the thing going on since July 17th.

Rioters were protesting a man who was shot by police when he was evading arrest in Grenoble.



Information from Maid of Albion and Atlas Shrugs.

Father Greeley Health Update

Wishing Father Greeley a swift recovery and the good of his soul.

Health update 03/17/10 from downtown Chicago
Father Andrew Greeley and family wish to express their profound gratitude to all who have kept him in their prayers. On his behalf, we ask for your continued prayers for him and for all victims of traumatic brain injury and their families.

We express our thanks to the skilled medical personnel, caregivers, and rehabilitation therapists who have cared for and encouraged him during this difficult time. We will continue to work so that, in spite of his injury, he can enjoy a quality of life in keeping with his imagination, intelligence, and service to his Church and community.

Through the years, we have observed first hand his deep commitment to his friends, academic colleagues, readers, fellow priests, and parishioners. We know that Fr. Greeley blesses you for your concern. Happy Easter to all!

http://www.agreeley.com/

New Belgian bishops' spokesman argues same-sex 'marriage,' women priests

Editor: there's often a real divide between the spokesmen and the men they claim to work for.

Friday, July 23, 2010

[Rorate Caeli] André Bishop Joseph Leonard and the Episcopal Conference of Belgium has appointed Jürgen Mettepenningen as their spokesman, effective August 1, according to Osservatore Vaticano.

Mettepenningen, who has earned a doctorate in theology from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven), has written in a published book that:

1. The Church has opened the priesthood to women; 2. The Church must recognize same-sex "marriage" and is currently discriminating against them by not recognizing it; and 3. "Considering that the phrases used during the celebration of the Eucharist must be refreshed, he justifies this position by the fact that we cannot, in his words, 'preach a message of life in a dead language.'"

Rorate Caeli...here.

Study Linking Child Abuse to Homosexuality Causes Uproar

A recent study and survey, linking childhood abuse and homosexuality, have the medical community – and gay activists – in an uproar.

Researchers from the University of Otago found that homosexual identity and tendencies are linked to a higher likelihood of negative childhood experiences.

However, psychologist Dr. Bill Maier said it’s important to understand that the research is correlation, not causation.

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Priest Romance Novelist Recovers From Head Injury: Chicago Boy's Club

Father Greeley says that Cardinal Bernardine was at least as heterosexual as he is, but will Father Greeley have the Windy City Gay Men's Chorus come play at his wake?

[Renew America] As Father Andrew Greeley continues to recover from a serious head injury suffered earlier this month, I thought I'd feature images from two of his (out-of-print) non-fiction books — Confessions of a Parish Priest (paperback edition), from 1986 and 1987; and Furthermore! Memories of a Parish Priest, from 1999 and 2000.

Interestingly, in Confessions (page 131), Father Greeley made some rather keen observations about a certain segment of the clergy — observations that proved all too accurate a decade-and-a-half later.

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h/t: pewsitter