Dinesh D'Souza Sells His Own Mother, The Church, For a University Post

Editor: We've known the neoconservatives are willing to sell-out for status, money and power. Now Dinesh is demonstrating the fatal susceptibility of the neo-conservative media personality, who shows his moral and doctrinal pliability when there's a plum job at stake.

Perhaps the University didn't require Mr. D'Souza to step on Christ's face for his high-end position, but it's a good possibility he wanted to make it look good for any donors who might have questions about his loyalty to whatever it is they believe there.

Desouza writes:

"I do not describe myself as Catholic today. But I don't want to renounce it either because it's an important part of my background. I'm an American citizen, but I wouldn't reject the Indian label because it's part of my heritage," D'Souza said.

Is he Catholic or not? Howlingly Absurd writes at Angelqueen:

It is disheartening to read the denial of the truth of the Catholic faith by a former Catholic apologist. Someone needs to refute the apostasy in the poisoned ivy here.
Assuming that he is not merely appeasing and submitting to his wife and her religious views.
The Mass and Christ Himself are what he has left behind by leaving the Catholic Church. As well as the full teachings of the Catholic Church.
Sola scriptura is clearly false because the canon of scripture came from the Church and tradition which require reason informed by faith in order to be properly understood by educated Christians. The Catholic chaplains at Princeton and Dartmouth surely would have known that in the 1980s. So should Dinesh.
What a scandal not to teach one's wife and children such truth.
What on earth could have happened ten years ago to walk away from Fr. McCloskey and the truth of the Catholic faith? The truth of the Catholic faith remains the same today as it has for the last two thousand years.
No Protestant woman can make it otherwise. Nor any scandal among the modernists. Nor any neocon seminar.
"Profesor Noll, call your office."

Read further...How D'Souza denies the Catholic Faith

There is a Growing Number of Christians in Arabia

Christian Guest Workers Undercut

Arabia. On the Arabian peninsula the number of christians grows continuously. This was according to the old liberal magazine 'Päpstlichen Missionswerke' in Germany. Apparently, official estimates indicate that around ten percent of the citizens in the Arabian Gulf States are Christian. Actually, according to data from 'Missio' there are considerably more. Many Christians live there as foreign workers.

Original here at kreuz.net...

Liturgy: A Scandalous Photo Speaks 1000 Words

Liturgical Abuses: A Photo is Worth a Thousand Words

Italy. From Friday to Sunday there will be a "Ratznger Schülerkreis" over the supposed "fruitfulness and success of the Second Vatican Council". As the primary speaker, the new President of Christian Unity, Archbishop Kurt Koch, will speak. He is speaking under the title: "The Second Vatican Council between Tradition and Innovation". In a second essay he will mention the Liturgical Constitution of the Second Vatican Council and the devastating post-Conciliar liturgical reform.

Liturgical horror show right here, at kreuz.net...

A German Longing for Sects is Nothing New

A Catholic Confessor-Bishop prepared the old liberals of yesterday an abrupt, but well-earned end.

By Alexander Bauer

[Kreuz.net] Already 200 years ago -- during the so-called Enlightenment -- starstruck, fashionable German Archbishops were infatuated with schism from the Catholic Church.

At a meeting in Bad Ems -- in the modern state of Rheinland-Pfalz -- the Archbishops of Germany declared their indedependence and pastoral authority from the Pope's in 1786.

They insisted in the principle, that every German Bishop with jurisdiction receives his power from God just as the Pope receives his. For this reason, they would not accept Papal regulations for their diocese.

The Archdiocese put the Pope under pressure, to accept the conclusions of the "Emser Punktation". Otherwise they resolved to put their interests with the general German national council.

Indeed, the rpelats broke then with their plans. Really, it was not appealing to other Church respresentatives to fall further into provincialism.


Now The Old Liberal Horn Grumbles

In the year 1818 a robber-synod of a dozen priests from the Westerwald attempt to establish a "liberal Church Constitution" in the Diocese of Limburg.

The Papal Curia were to be kept out of all legal and liturgical matters.

A Diocesan Synod was to ratify these decisions in future.

The provincial pastor even pushed for the abolition "of the standing priestly celibacy because he found himself unqualified for such a difficult and unreasonable."

Such schismatic tendencies were even spread to episcopal circles in the first half of the 19th Century in German speaking areas.


Crushing Defeat

At the same time the movements of the traditionalists and loyalists -- "Ultramontane" -- Catholics ever stronger.

In the year 1842 the Holy Father sent the Ultramontane Confessor-Bishop Peter Josef Blum (+1884) in position.

Under his forty year long, holy leadership, the Diocese found the Catholic Faith and became once again true to the Holy See.


Read further...

Svetlana Medvedeva visits Cannes church where Great Duke Nikolay Romanov is buried

Paris, August 26, Interfax - The Russian President's spouse Svetlana Medvedeva, who came to Cannes in view of the Russian Art Festival, visited local church of Archangel Michael.

It was built in 1894 on donations of Russian community and is one of the oldest Russian Orthodox churches in France.

Medvedeva went down to the crypt where chief commander of Russian Army in World War I Great Duke Nikolay Nikolayevich, elder of Romanovs emigrated from Russia, is buried.


Read further at inter-fax...

Berlusconi Splits Catholic Vote

Berlusconi splits Catholic vote, Catholic journal says Catholic World News August 24, 2010 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has "split the Catholic vote down the middle," a Catholic weekly argues. Famiglia Cristiana, which has been very critical of Berlusconi, noted that his government broke with the long post-war pattern of Italian politics, in which Catholics generally rallied behind the Christian Democrats. With the collapse of that party in scandals, and the rise of Berlusconi, Catholics have not found a new political home. Famiglia Cristiana rapped Berlusconi for his attacks on political opponents.

The magazine recently said in an editorial that the Italian people are worn out by the "duels, insults, and showdowns" that have characterized the current government. Source(s): •Catholic weekly takes another swipe at Berlusconi (ANSA) http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2010/08/24/visualizza_new.html_1790803819.html
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

CNSNews.com Catholic Archbishop of New Orleans ‘Was Not Consulted’ and Won't Attend Obama’s Speech at Local Catholic College

(CNSNews.com) – When President Barack Obama speaks at Xavier University of Louisiana on August 29 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one person who will not be in attendance is New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

In fact, according to a spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, the archbishop wasn’t consulted about the president’s visit to the Catholic university in New Orleans.

“I have spoken with Archbishop Aymond about this and he let me know that he was not consulted about the president's visit to Xavier nor will he attend,” spokeswoman Sarah Comiskey McDonald told CNSNews.com by e-mail.

McDonald did not specifically indicate that the archbishop was protesting Obama’s visit to the Xavier campus--but did indicate that Aymond would be busy that day.

Read further...

Brian Mershon: Bishop Fellay Denies Knowledge of a Motu Proprio Rumour

August 24, 2010—Superior General Bishop Bernard Fellay of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), one of four bishops whose excommunications were lifted by Pope Benedict XVI in January 2009, today categorically denied any knowledge of an alleged special motu proprio being planned by the Holy See for the SSPX as stated recently by SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson. This rumored MP would not require the SSPX to take any sort of oath of acceptance where Vatican II and the New Mass are concerned.

“I’m very annoyed by the whole thing,” said Bishop Fellay. “Bishop Williamson’s statement is an unauthorized statement and is his own personal statement and not that of the Society.”

“It has never been the policy of the Society to base any kind of action or policy on gossip. I have absolutely no knowledge of any motu proprio.”

See the Remnant, ONLINE.

British Prime Minister asked to apologize over IRA priest bombing cover-up | Irish News | IrishCentral

The Irish Central is reporting on a Catholic priest who was responsible for a bombing that happened almost four decades ago. Now people are asking, who will be held responsible for the cover-up, the Catholic Church, again?

Apart from being another angle to attack the Catholic Church, can it also now please act as proof that Marxists (for the IRA was ostensibly, though we know many will vehemently disagree) do indeed infiltrate and have infiltrated the Catholic Church in a significant way. It can be done, it can even be covered up by either the government or certain figures in the Church, although in this case, it's uncertain that it wasn't a bad idea to keep it quiet considering the potentially explosive effect it could have had on Irish society at the time, leading to more unrest and death than before, perhaps what this Marxist Priest was meant to accomplish in the first place; throwing bombs like an anarchist and such.


British Prime Minister asked to apologize over IRA priest bombing cover-up | Irish News | IrishCentral

Men Whose Lives Define the Public Life, Virtue, Sanity and Sanctity

Editor: History has given us many figures from whom to draw strength, they encourage us from the pages of history like a brave captain in the middle of a fight. Sometimes they fall, sometimes they get up again and sometimes their selfless gift of self rings through the history like the tolling of the Angelus Bell, bringing us to prayers of thanksgiving; yes, prudence and courage go together to make the cynic doubt his hard heart at last.

[FT.com] Tony Abbott’s risk-averse and tightly managed poll campaign has not only elevated him from his status as an underdog, but Australia’s opposition leader is now within striking distance of a victory at this weekend’s election.

Dubbed the “mad monk” because of his period studying to be a Roman Catholic priest, the 53-year-old leader of the centre-right coalition is on a final blitz among marginal seats that will determine whether he can defeat Julia Gillard’s first-term Labor government.

On Thursday, Mr Abbott dismissed as Labor party propaganda opinion polls that found the government could win the popular vote but lose the election on the back of a rout in New South Wales and Queensland marginal seats.

Read further, here.



Marco Fidel Suárez

Like Tony Abbott, the President of Columbia, was nicknamed with the epithet "Monk". He was a poet and a deep Catholic thinker. Overcoming the stigma and challenge of illegitimacy, he went on to become President of Columbia, and founder of the Columbian Airforce, who gave some substance to the old Columbian saying that "most of our presidents have been poets, not soldiers".



Lou Tseng-Tsiang

Another monastic, indeed hermetic, figure of political life in the turn of the last century was this great Chinese scholar, intellectual, poet and statesman, Lou Tseng-Tsiang. After an eventful public career he joined the Monastery of Sint Andres in Bruges, Belgium. He was later raised to the title of Abbot by Pius XII. He is famous for having said:


Europe's strength is found not in her armaments, nor in her knowledge — it is found in her religion [...]. Observe the Christian faith. When you have grasped its heart and its strength, take them and give them to China.




Gabriel Garcia Moreno

Much has been written about him, for he did many good things, most notably he forgave the Freemasons who slew him even as he was at the altar. Writing earlier to Pius IX, he prepared himself for death:

I wish to obtain your blessing before that day, so that I may have the strength and light which I need so much in order to be unto the end a faithful son of our Redeemer, and a loyal and obedient servant of His Infallible Vicar. Now that the Masonic Lodges of the neighboring countries, instigated by Germany, are vomiting against me all sorts of atrocious insults and horrible calumnies, now that the Lodges are secretly arranging for my assassination, I have more need than ever of the divine protection so that I may live and die in defense of our holy religion and the beloved republic which I am called once more to rule.

It's indeed interesting that this great man was a victim of the Kulturkampf in Germany. He loved the Church, his family and country. He was truly a most royal son of God's holy Church and it would be hard indeed to meet a man as single-minded
and good in any age.




President Ngo Dinh Diem

Another untimely and most Catholic victim who loved his country and went to his death defending her from the Communists, President Ngo Dihn Diem was murdered ironically by the machinations of the Kennedy Whitehouse in a coup accomplished by Cabot Lodge. Every Vietnamese knows about this tragedy, and even the Communists in Hanoi were astonished at the stupidity exhibited on behalf of American Foreign Policy. It's especially interesting that his murder was accomplished on the pretext of a lack of cultural sensitivity, a charge which has brought down many conservative, reactionary and religious leaders of the 20th Century.

Dedicated to a great Caudillo from Columbia whose inspiration this was.

Catholic, Russian Orthodox Churches Embrace

Cardinal and Metropolitan Show Will for Unity at Rimini Meeting

ROME, AUG. 24, 2010 (Zenit.org).- High-ranking representatives of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches embraced on Monday in a moment reflecting a will for unity between the two Churches.

A photo of the embrace between Cardinal Peter Erdo and Metropolitan Filaret was printed with the title "Europe's Brothers."

The embrace between the two high-level representatives was a highlight of the 31st Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, an annual event sponsored by the Catholic Communion and Liberation Movement in Rimini, Italy.

The cardinal and metropolitan made their embrace of unity as they joined in a debate on the topic "Can An Educated Man, a European of Our Days, Actually Believe in the Divinity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ?"

Read further...

Is Catholic Answers More Catholic Than the Pope?

Link, here.

'We Want to Be Reminded That Sometimes Sacrifice is Necessary'

The Bishops Ackermann and Genn have unveiled a memorial plaque for two Martyr Priest of the Nazi times -- they refused to give Hermann Goering the Hitler salute.

Nickenich/Wassenach (kath.net/Diocese of Trier) For two priests, who were brought to the concentration camp Dachau -- Johannes Schulz and Joseph Zilliken -- the Trier Bishop Stephan Ackerman and the Bishop of Muenster, Felix Genn, unveiled the commemorative plaque on Saturday.

The Nickenicher Priest Schulz and his colleague who was active in Wassenach had refused to give Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering the Hitler salute. They were imprisoned for this reason. Both died in 1942 in the concentration camp Dachau. The priests had already been under surveillance since the mid-thirties. The commemorative plaque is located at the Hotel Waldfrieden between Maria Laach and Wassenach.

Bishop Ackermann, who grew up in Nickenich, said, it is important, to remember and recall a culture, to continue working, in order to care for it and forge on. Finally, there are after 70 years following the event fewer and fewer witnesses, "to whom we can listen". He thanked those, who'd conceived the initiative, that now a commemorative plaque can recall the "Marytr Priests". The plaque does not disturb the charm of the place, which witnessed such "dramatic history" , rather it could be a way, that such things are prevented from happening again.

He and Bishop Genn were filled with gratitude in the unveiling and blessing of the tablet, that both priests had witnessed for the faith, said Ackermann. "We want to be reminded that moral courage, bravery and somtimes a readiness to sacrifice are necessary." The Wassenach native, Bishop Genn blessed the plaque after the unveiling.

At the beginning of the celebration, the Nickenicher Pastor Norbert Missong, alongside representatives of politics, Church and society as well as members of Pastor Schulz's family were greeted and he emphasized, that the 27th of May 1940 was an "essential moment of resistance." "Here the pastors had the courage to recognize, that man owes more duty to God than he owes to man." The commemorative plaque is a challenge to each individual, what he is ready to bring for the Faith.

Original, here...

Foto: (c) www.etm-medienbuero.de

Leading London parish replaces sung Latin with Filipino folk music. And its Magic Circle PP is set to be a bishop

Leading London parish replaces sung Latin with Filipino folk music. And its Magic Circle PP is set to be a bishop

Whereabouts of missing Islamic media executives unknown - Dagestani law enforcement authorities

Makhachkala, August 23, Interfax - So far the Dagestani law enforcement authorities are unaware of the whereabouts of head of Hudamedia Abubakr Rizvanov and his deputy Timur Kurbanmagomedov who went missing last Friday, head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters in Dagestan Vyacheslav Shanshin and Dagestani Interior Minister Abdurashid Magomedov said in Makhachkala on Saturday.

The Hudamedia managers disappeared in Makhachkala in the evening of August 20. The relatives of the missing men first contacted journalists and human rights campaigners and did not report to the police before Saturday evening.

"Yesterday my husband reported to all three city district police departments," Kurbanmagomedov's mother told Interfax.

The families told journalists that as far as they know their missing relatives are at the building of the Dagestani Interior Ministry's Counter-Extremism Center (CEC).

After the meeting with the Dagestani president today, the local FSB chief and interior minister were asked by journalists whether Kurbanmagomedov and Rizvan were detained by their employees and held at the CEC building. Both officials denied it.

"The head of this agency [CEC] told me that he was contacted by the missing men's relatives yesterday. He suggested that they personally inspect the building and see for themselves that they are not there. My personal opinion - and that is the position of the entire Interior Ministry of Dagestan - is that kidnapping is the most abhorrent crime," Interior Minister Magomedov said.

Cross Appears in Sky At Lubyanka Prayer Service

Moscow, August 23, Interfax - Cross made of clouds appeared for several minutes in the sky above the Lubyanka Square in Moscow during a prayer service to the Solovki new martyrs last Sunday.

"It was seen by all the people, who attended the Solovki Candle action on the eve of the Solovki new martyrs and confessors commemoration day and numerous police officers who guarded Lubyanka Square," action organizer Pavel Illarionov told Interfax-Religion on Monday.

He reminded that the goal of the prayerful meeting was to obtain permission of Moscow and Russian authorities on setting up a commemorative cross near the Solovki Stone and building an Orthodox chapel to commemorate victims killed in repressions of the 20th century.

Read further... Interfax.

A Destroyer of the Faith Leaves the Curia

"Porous, ambiguous, deceptive", the famous Mainz Canon Lawyer, Father Georg May, let loose a scathing condemnation on the departing president of the Vatican Office for Unity.

[kreuz.net] "In the era of Kasper the extraction of the knowledge of the faith from Catholic Christians was expedited."

Mainz canon lawyer, Father Georg May, said this for the Catholic Monthly 'Kirchliche Umschau' about the newly President Emeritus of the Papal Office for Unity, Walter Cardinal Kasper (77).

The unrestrained ecumenism tore apart all the boundaries: "The people didn't know truth from error, or to distinguish the Church of Christ from schism."

Father May did not blame this entirely on Cardinal Kasper. Actually, he accused him of not having done anything to oppose this development.

Cardinal Kasper had not been qualified for transfer to that office.

He worked for false principles, that there are more commonalities with the protestants than things that separate us.

Fr. May contradicted that: "The opposite is the case."

The protestant theology is "almost in every way an unceasing opposition to Catholic Faith and moral teaching."

The Faith Distorted and Falsified

The third edition of the standard work 'Lexikons fuer Theologie und Kirche', which today's Cardinal Kasper had circulated in the years 1993 to 2001, Father May indicted as a danger for Theology and Church:

"Here the Catholic Faith in numerous places was distorted, falsified and deficiently represented."

The actual articles for the elucidation of the Faith were "porous, ambiguous and deceptive".

Even the moral teaching was "twisted, falsified and brought close to protestantic views."

The most recent history of the Church in an accompanying work was "progressivistically assigned".

Falsely Distorted

On the suggestion that today's Cardinal Kasper was promoted by the famous Catholic Theologian Leo Cardinal Scheffzczyk (+2005) in Tubingen, Father May exclaimed:

"As Cardinal Kasper was promoted, the Church showed immediately then the first twitches of disaster, that would break over it."

Today's Cardinal Kasper was completely gliding on the Progressive channel.

He followed exegetes, "who had not learned the bible methodically, and in whose hands the Gospel was transformed into a novelistic tale. "

Cardinal Kasper had worked to "loosen the Dogma" -- cited Father May the convert and Indologue Paul Hacker (+1979).

For example Father may mentioned the fact, that the Cardinal had portrayed the teaching on Christ's divinity and humanity as overreaching":

"It is too little, when Walter Casper merely says that the death of Jesus is, >>the consequence of his act<<".

This Theology is incapable of securing young people in their Faith.


Illusions About Successor

Father May is enthusiastic about Cardinal Kasper's successor, Msgr Kurt Koch (60).

He is is supposedly in opposition to the Princes of the Church, a pastor.

Also, he has no illusions about hostility to the Church -- especially in Switzerland:

"If he will be able to ward off the pressures of unteachable ecumenists, remains to be seen."

Father May holds it to be a first duty to diminish ecumenism.

Next time: abyssal opposition desperate the Church from the Protestants.


© Bild: gemeinfrei

England, The Pope and Marriage

y Genevieve Pollock

LONDON, AUG. 23, 2010 (Zenit.org).- England, the destination of Benedict XVI's Sept. 16-19 trip, is the geopolitical epicenter of the culture of death, says Edmund Adamus, but it is also the "Dowry of Mary."

Adamus, director of Pastoral Affairs for the Diocese of Westminster, explained to ZENIT how England's unique Christian heritage and its present vanguard anti-Catholic culture make it a highly significant place for the Pope's upcoming visit.

Adamus noted that marriage has been a focal point in both the original evangelization of the nation and the present cultural wars.

Read further... Zenit.

Klosterneuburger Marginalien: Oh My Childe, Veil Thine Eyes, For This Brilliance Thou Canst Not Endure

Klosterneuburger Marginalien: Bedecke Deine Augen, mein Kind!

EWTN Host to Discuss Theology of the Body

CatholicAnchor.org

On Wednesday, Aug. 25, 6 p.m., there will be a presentation on Theology of the Body and art, titled, “The Naked Truth,” by Father Thomas Loya of the Tabor Institute. Father Loya is apstor of Annunciation Byzantine Catholic parish in Homer Glen, Illinois, as well as the host of two Internet radio programs, “A Body of Truth” and “Light of the East,” which can be heard on EWTN radio affiliates in more than 60 cities across the U.S. The talk will be followed by a potluck. The event takes place at St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church, 2200 Arctic Boulevard. For more information, email ntaboutu@yahoo.com or call (218) 839-5366.

Father Loya is also kicking off this year’s Theology and Brew

in Anchorage at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26, at Snow Goose Restaurant, 717 West 3rd Avenue. The first presentation, titled, “Who is Man for Woman and Who is Woman for Man?,” is an exploration of Pope John Paul II’s teachings on the Theology of the Body. After Father Loya’s presentation at Theology and Brew, he will lead a weekend retreat based on the Theology of the Body at the Eagle River Nature Center. For more information, contact Jen Bergman at ntaboutu@yahoo.com or (218) 839-5366.
August 19th, 2010 | Category: Alaska News, Church History, Family, Marriage, Priests, Pro-life issues, Sacraments, Vocations

Link to Catholic Anchor...

Open Letter to Cardinal O'Malley and Archdiocesean Leaders

The Boston Globe covered the blog today in their report: “Archdiocese limits access to critics’ blogs.” If you have not yet read our original post on this topic from late last week, please take a moment to read it for the relevant background.

The Globe story is balanced and accurately portrays the current situation—except for the archdiocese’s spin about their response to this blog. The archdiocese may have invited a conversation with other blogs, but no one from the archdiocese has responded to a single one of our emails. And we do not know what Terry Donilon means by his unsubstantiated comment, “We are concerned about the harm caused…by unfounded claims on the blogs.’’ Our blog has carefully documented everything we have published and have not heard anyone complain that a post here was “unfounded” in two months. (Terry, are these posts about the conflicts of interest in how you and the Chancellor were hired examples of “unfounded claims”?) We will send a message to ask specifically which claims on this blog the archdiocese feels are “unfounded.”

Please read further...

Priest says prayed for Sarkozy heart attack over Roma | World | Reuters

Socialists are not above mimicking charitable compassion for the disadvantaged, making an appeal to the underdog who's so popular to so many and winning popular support for their other schemes. They'll commit crimes, lie and wish ill upon a man just because he's done something that Central Committee doesn't like.


Priest says prayed for Sarkozy heart attack over Roma | World | Reuters

Bishop Wiliamson Says "Motu Propio" to Accept SSPX Coming

And this is what he said:

The rumour from Rome is precisely that he is thinking of a “Motu Proprio” which would accept the SSPX “back into the Church” once and for all, yet require from the SSPX no explicit acceptance of Vatican II or the New Mass, but only, for instance, the acceptance of John-Paul II’s 1992 “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, which is substantially modernist but in a quiet way. Thus the SSPX would not appear to its followers to be accepting the Council or the New Mass, yet it would be softly, softly, beginning to go along with the substance of neo-modernism.

Read further:

The Appeal of the Ecumenical Tree: Archbishop Zollitsc at Taizé

France: The ecumenical center Taizé is supposedly the source for hope and peace in Europe. This was according to Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg on Sautrday upon a visit to Taizé. The ecumenical Community has a "special appeal" especially for the youth. They supposedly learn Holy Scripture better and apply it to their lives.

Link to kreuz original...

99 Percent of Music Chart Hit Acts are “Soft Porn” Says Music Industry Giant

By Hilary White

LONDON, August 20, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – While religious leaders have been warning about the moral effects of the modern pop music scene for decades, now even some leaders of the industry are expressing their concern. Today record producer Mike Stock told British media that he believes children are being “sexualized” by popular culture.

“The music industry has gone too far. It's not about me being old fashioned. It's about keeping values that are important in the modern world. These days you can't watch modern stars - like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga - with a two-year-old.”

“Ninety-nine per cent of the charts is R 'n' B and 99 per cent of that is soft pornography,” he added.

Read further at Lifesite...

Gay bar proposed next to Ground Zero Mosque - View From Baja Arizona

Gay bar proposed next to Ground Zero Mosque - View From Baja Arizona

Restore-DC-Catholicism: Catholic Charities Centennial Gathering - Dissent ...

Restore-DC-Catholicism: Catholic Charities Centennial Gathering - Dissent ...: "On the back page of the August 19th issue of the Catholic Standard is a full-page advertisement for the Catholic Charities Centennial Gather..."

Father Martin SJ at America Promotes Homosexuality, Again.

We pointed out that it was strange that a very liberal parish in Minnesota was promoting heretical books by people like America's Father James Martin SJ and others, like one priest who advocates getting naked with other men on a retreat.

Father Martin had previously made similar comments, when he said he wanted more homosexuals in the priesthood, thus displaying his penchant for homosexuality and backpedaled on those comments, but is back again as he levels his guns on radio talk-show hostess Laura Schlesinger, who recently resigned from her position owing to accusations about racial insensitivity.

Another one of America's editors was forced to resign a few years ago. This forces a new and interesting question, is there anyone in the Jesuit Order you can trust to accurately represent the Catholic Church's teachings on a widely disseminated public platform like the decrepit but allegedly Catholic America Magazine? Father Editor bristles indignantly as he writes:

Dr. Laura Schlessinger's announcement yesterday that she is quitting her radio show called to mind this clever response to her occasional fundamentalist readings of the Old Testament, particularly when it came to homosexuality. This letter, which has been widely circulated on the web since it first appeared in 2000 (despite difficulties in ascertaining its origin) is a healthy antidote to Scriptural literalism of any sort. [Now he's written, "end of debate"]

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of Menstrual uncleanliness – Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Read the entire article here at, America....

H/t: Pewsitter.

Interview with Sten Sandmark

08-22-2010

On July 30, 2006, Sten Sandmark, a Swedish Lutheran pastor, abjured Protestantism in the church of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet, in Paris (France).
Ordained priest after 4 years of seminary studies in Zaitzkofen, he celebrated, on Sunday, August 15, in the same church, his firts solemn mass.

Interview with Sten Sandmark from DICI on Vimeo.

Skateboarding priest becomes a hit online | CatholicHerald.co.uk

He draws his inspiration from Dom Bosco.


Skateboarding priest becomes a hit online | CatholicHerald.co.uk

41 Percent of Russians Against Abortion

Russia. [kreuz.net] 41 percent of the Russians want the inhuman law, that allows abortion in Russia, corrected. This figure is a result of a poll by the public opinion institute 'Levada'. In Russia there are one million registered abortions a year. In the past, the parliament has recommended better legal protection for unborn children.

Poem

Editor: a poem from Pius Blog:


UPDATED CHURCH

Latin's gone,
Peace is too,
Singin' and shoutin'
From every pew.

Altar's turned round,
Priest is too,
Commentator's shoutin'
Page twenty-two.

Communion rail's gone,
Stand up straight,
Kneeling suddenly
Went out of date.

Processions are forming
In every aisle,
Salvation organized
Single file.

Rosary's out,
Psalms are in,
Hardly ever hear
A word against sin.

Listen to the Lector,
Hear how he reads.
Please stop rattlin'
Those Rosary beads!

Father's looking puzzled,
Doesn't know his part,
Used to know the whole Mass
In Latin by heart.

I hope all the changes
Are just about done,
And that they won't drop Bingo
Before I've won.


I found this poem printed in a book on the history of Sacred Heart Parish in Aberdeen, SD. The editor comments, "This ditty, composed by some anonymous bard, came to our attention recently. While we may not agree with its contents, we feel that it does have a message that is pertinent to our time."

Conversion Diary: Interview with an exorcist, Part II

Conversion Diary: Interview with an exorcist, Part II: "You asked, Fr. Thomas Euteneuer answers! Here's Part II to our interview about exorcism and his new book, Exorcism and the Church Militant. ..."

Iraqi bishop says U.S. betrayed country, Christians suffer most | National Catholic Reporter

Iraqi bishop says U.S. betrayed country, Christians suffer most | National Catholic Reporter

Communist Newspaper Editor Converts to Catholicism

On the feast of the Assumption on Sunday, let me relate the story of Douglas Hyde, a statesman, who was a dedicated communist and former editor of Britain’s communist paper.

Douglas Hyde was converted to Catholicism through the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

* * *

As the editor of their communist paper, he began to read all about the Catholic Church with the avowed intention of tearing it down in his writings.

But something happened as he tried to gather more weapons to destroy the church. The more he read, the more intellectually convinced he became of its truthfulness and origin as a divine institution.

* * *

But he could not yet bring himself to believe. Something was holding him back.

Link to Word Alive...

Vicar Plans to Marry Another Man, UK

Some Anglicans say this is an abomination, as it was covered, here.

Read further here, in a British tabloid, the Sun.uk.

Elderly American Journalist Tells Irish Church What to Do

After surviving 800 years of English occupation, the Irish are undergoing another form of oppression.


The journalist and writer, 80 year old American, Blair Kaiser, who once admitted to having illicit dreams about Father Malachi Martin, is telling the Bishops of Ireland what to do. Since writing his novel entitled, "Cardinal Mahony" about a Cardinal who's kidnapped by liberation theologians, tried and sentenced to enjoy life and becomes an advocate for liberation theology, he's insisted on writing about Church affairs. It's hard to see why this book hasn't become a best seller since it has endorsements from Cardinal Bernardin shill, Eugene Kennedy and trendy tabletista, Robert Mickens.

Blair Kaiser, an American who lives in New York is still very liberal with his advice to Ireland:

"I have every reason to believe that you can take back your church -- your church, not the Pope's church, your church -- not the bishops' church", said Mr Blair Kaiser who recommended that Irish Catholics create a "autochthonous" or local and from-the-ground-up church.

Read at Irish Independent, here...

Claimant to the Russian Throne Sues to Get Kremlin Back

(Aug. 18) -- Descendants of Russia's first ruling dynasty have gone to court to reclaim their ancestral lands – specifically, the Kremlin.

On Monday, the Moscow Arbitration Court decided the case will be heard Oct. 18. The plaintiff is the Princes' Foundation for the Advancement of Religious and National Consensus, founded in May 2009 by Valery Kubarev, who traces his lineage to the Rurik dynasty. It was under the reign of Rurik grand princes, Kubarev claims, that the Kremlin was constructed.

According to its website, the foundation seeks "usage rights" to the Kremlin "in perpetuity."

A descendant of the Rurik dynasty is suing for "usage rights" to the Kremlin, saying his ancestors built the historic complex.
Although the foundation's audacious claim seems to have little chance of succeeding, the suit arises as the Russian government is returning numerous buildings and other property to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Read Further...

Archdiocesan spokesman accuses Mexico City mayor of causing more harm than drug cartels :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Archdiocesan spokesman accuses Mexico City mayor of causing more harm than drug cartels :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Brazilian presidential candidate: Abortion should be available to women 'in despair' :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Brazilian presidential candidate: Abortion should be available to women 'in despair' :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Commemoration of Solovki Concentration Campi

Moscow, August 22, Interfax - A prayerful standing will take place in Moscow near the Solovki Stone this Sunday at 6 p.m. on the eve of the Solovki New Martyrs and Confessors feast, organizers told an Interfax-Religion correspondent.

This year it has been 90 years since the Arkhangelsk Province Executive Committee on May 26, 1920, set up a concentration camp of the province subjection in the Solovki Islands, the forerunner of the notorious SLON. The great Russian shrine became a terrible place of sufferings and executions for many years.

Participants in the action urge the authorities to allow them setting up a Solovki cross on Lubyanka Square and building a memorial church-chapel to commemorate dozens of thousands Solovki victims killed in years of repression.

Interfax....

St. Petersburg Priest Decorated for His Fidelity to Duty

20 August 2010, 14:13
St. Petersburg priest decorated with war order for his fidelity to duty in "hot spots"

St. Petersburg, August 20, Interfax - Troops Commander of the Leningrad military district Lieutenant General Nikolay Bogdanovsky decorated priest Dmitry Vasilenkov and his assistant Alexander Nazarov with Orders of Courage.

Since 2005 Father Dmitry and Nazarov have visited these regions ten times and with risk to their lives conducted spiritual work among soldiers of special divisions.

Fr. Dmitry, in spite of the received wound, in future is not going to refuse trips to the North Caucasus, where he baptized over 800 soldiers and officers.

Interfax...

Milwaukee Graduating Seminary Class Large

By Sarah J. Worthman

Church officials are hoping an increase in the number of priests graduating from the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s St. Francis de Sales Seminary will help slow Milwaukee’s growing priest shortage. But it might not be enough as priests ordained during the 1960s and 1970s, when the church experienced tremendous growth, begin to retire.

The Archdiocese, which spans 210 parishes in ten counties in Southeastern Wisconsin, greeted the ordination of six seminary graduates last year as the sudden reversal of a long drought. It was the largest class to graduate in 17 years. Previous classes produced just one or even no new priests.

This year, the seminary ordained almost as many new clergy for the Archdiocese. Five graduates were ordained. Father Don Hying, seminary rector, says he expects six ordinations next year, then five and potentially a record seven in 2013. They would be arriving just in time, as retirements continue to drive down the ranks of clergy in Milwaukee and around the country.

Link to original...

Hungarian Priest Skateboards in Robe

A priest from Hungary is a good skater -- and is presenting the good news to the yout and You-tube users.

Redics [kath.net] A Hungarian Priest puts on his skateboard-arts for the attention of children, youth and recently Youtube Users. Report from news.at.

[Father] Zoltan Lendvai from Redics is shown in the video, as he spun around in Talar in front of a group of youth. He began with the sign of the cross and described visually to them what he was doing -- what he was saying is not apparent in the video, but it may have well involved a subject filled with spiritual content.

USCCB Approves New Translations

U.S. Adaptations to Mass Prayers Also Approved
Parish Education Efforts Urged To Precede Implementation
Resources Available Through USCCB

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Francis George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has announced that the full text of the English-language translation of the Roman Missal, Third Edition, has been issued for the dioceses of the United States of America.

The text was approved by the Vatican, and the approval was accompanied by a June 23 letter from Cardinal Llovera Antonio Cañizares, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The Congregation also provided guidelines for publication.

In addition, on July 24, the Vatican gave approval for several adaptations, including additional prayers for the Penitential Act at Mass and the Renewal of Baptismal Promises on Easter Sunday. Also approved are texts of prayers for feasts specific to the United States such as Thanksgiving, Independence Day and the observances of feasts for saints such as Damien of Molokai, Katharine Drexel, and Elizabeth Ann Seton. The Vatican also approved the Mass for Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life, which can be celebrated on January 22.

Read further at USCCB...

Bishop planning response to priest who said Catholics don’t have to obey Pope :: EWTN News

Bishop planning response to priest who said Catholics don’t have to obey Pope :: EWTN News

Duke of Parma-Bourbon Has Died

Editor: We try as best we can to grieve with Catholic Spain at the loss of one of its sons, whose troubled history has come to an end as he goes to his particular judgement like all men must.

The Duke is a claimant to the throne of Spain now held by King Juan Carlos. Like Prince Norodom Sihanouk, he was one of those quixotic legitimist leaders who sided with the Communists. After reading his life story, you can come to understand the grudge that is held by many Traditionalists against Franco for choosing a man for King who had neither the legitimate birth-rite, nor the requisite devotion to Dios, Fueros, Patria y Rey! (God, Property, Country and King)


After Franco rejected his claims to the Spanish Throne and instead chose Juan Carlos as his successor, he then sided with the Titois Maoists and broke away from the Traditional Carlism supported by his mother and brother, Don Henry Sixto.


His funeral Mass will be at the Basilica Magistrale Costantiniana della Steccata in Parma



Here is the official statement of the Traditionalist Communion (from which he split by joining with the Communists) courtesy of Embajador as follows:

1. Don Carlos Hugo became, in the 60s, a real hope for many Spanish Carlist. But that hope was thwarted when Don Carlos Hugo, adopting a political position incompatible with orthodoxy Carlist condensed in the motto "God - Country - Charters - King, led a major ideological shift that he never wanted to rectify. This fact, together with others who would be complex to summarize, provoked a serious crisis in the Carlismo that began to be surpassed in 1986, thanks to the reconstitution of the Carlist Traditionalist Communion. At present there is no political link between the Carlist Communion and organized in this family Bourbon Parma.

2. At the time of death there is no opponents. The political distance as described above does not prevent the Carlist, personally, and under some emotional, join the Bourbon-Parma family in pain for this loss by raising prayers for the repose of the deceased.

3. Being responsible for the Traditionalist Communion reaffirm, once again, our beliefs monarchical and loyalists. We believe that the traditional Catholic monarchy is the political regime is best for Spain. But we can not recognize the legitimacy of those who have manipulated the institution of monarchy by putting it in the service of revolution. Consequently, the current dynastic orphans suffer along with all the Spanish does not relieve us of the duty to work for a traditional society, so that one day, when God wills, it is possible a traditional king. A social and political task call all the Spanish of goodwill.

Facade and belfry of Parma Cathedral. Photo Creative Commons License poluz.

Photo of Hugo Bourbon, Embajador en El Enfierno.

England: Prayer Marathon For the Pope

Many people in England have decided to undertake a great project, to prepare for the Pope's visit with prayer.

London [kath.net] Bad premonitions and threats against the upcoming papal visit have proven enough on the English side: some want to make provocative gifts to him like imprisonment or law suits.

But there is naturally also another side of joyful expectation for Benedict, as Radio Vatican reports. Many people in England have proposed an enormous project. Initiated by "Aid to the Church in Need" (ACN), the English branch of "Church in Need". A chain reaction of the spiritual preparation one might say. ACN speaker Terry Murphy:

"It appears to be a common spirit, that the people pray and expect great things. It will be often said, that there is a lot of antipathy against the Pope's visit. But in my opinion, I haven't seen any of that. I have only seen great anticipation."

The preparation project for the Pope's visit will include a Rosary "prayer marathon" an countless Eucharistic holy hours.

Lawyer for Cardinal Danneels goes ballistic

Lawyer for Cardinal Danneels goes ballistic

Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit: Jesuit Historian On French Cardinal

Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit: Jesuit Historian On French Cardinal

Support the Remnant and Latin Mass Magazine

Author: Michael J. Matt POSTED: Thursday Aug. 12, 2010
Editor, The Remnant
______________________

Dear Fellow Catholic:

With each passing day the vindication of the traditionalist cause becomes abundantly obvious to more Catholics around the world. At the same time laws and prejudices against traditional Catholicism are taking a toll on the ability of Catholic publishers to freely defend Church teaching in the public square, while frequent hikes in the cost of postage and newsprint have already rendered many publishers incapable of keeping their doors open.

Now more than ever, Catholics must come to the aid of the Catholic press so as to keep the Catholic voice strong and outspoken in the war against secularism and militant Christophobia. But this last line of defense is in danger of disappearing altogether in the not too distant future, especially as a “free” Internet presents a wide range of temporary alternatives.

That the Internet will remain free of government regulation in the days to come is highly unlikely. We are already being silenced! The RemnantOnline, like many other pro-life and pro-family websites, is being blocked in libraries and work places all across the country and in Europe because its uncompromising defense of Catholic moral teaching has caused it to be flagged a “hate site.” And this is only the beginning.

http://www.remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/2010-0731-latin-mass-magazine-remnant-campaign.htm

Mexican Clergy Being Trained to Perform Exorcisms

MEXICO CITY – Mexico's Catholic Church is training clerics and believers to be exorcists so that they will not fall victim to evil, as well as to be therapists so they can treat people with neuroses and depression.

Mexico's City's auxiliary archbishop, Florencio Armando Colin, told Efe that the training is being carried out in response to the existing demand in church parishes from people who believe that they are possessed or are feeling the symptoms of depression.

"Many believers come to the parishes who seem to be possessed, but they are not. They simply come with that harmful burden that pervades their personal, psychological, moral (and religious) life," he said.

Read fruther:

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=363620&CategoryId=14091
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Vodnjan priest has expelled 6,000 scantily-clad tourists - General News - Croatian Times Online News - English Newspaper

Editor: there are few who will see the "me" in this ruling. The clothing is the extension of the self, and it's understandable that those who wear immodest dress would feel accused and affronted in the deepest part of their beings.

Vodnjan priest has expelled 6,000 scantily-clad tourists - General News - Croatian Times Online News - English Newspaper

The English martyr hanged at the age of 80 | CatholicHerald.co.uk

The English martyr hanged at the age of 80 | CatholicHerald.co.uk

The Soutane is A Sign of the Avant-garde of the New Clergy

Editor: The Soutane is a prayer.

An outer sign of the inner decay of the Presbyterium

Father Hendrick Jole in Interview: The Soutane is the sure sign of the avant-garde of the new clergy.

[kreuz.net] "I decided some years ago to wear the soutane," says the Mainz Priest, Father Hendrick Jolie, on Monday in an interview with Linz website, 'kath.net'.

Father Jolie sees the priestly robe in connection with Benedict XVI's approach to the "hermeneutic of continuity":

"The Pope maintains with this formula that there are not "two Churches" -- one before and one after the Council, rather one Roman Catholic Church."

That is also the reason, according to Father Jolie, why Benedict XVI. has rehabilitated the Old Mass and has explained the Council in the light of Tradition.

He quotes the Pope: "What was holy to previous generations, remains for Holy and great for us as well."

Father Jolie forsees the conclusion in that: "In the sense of the Hermeneutic of the continuity the Soutane is neither pre- or post-Conciliar."


One must take insults in stride

The Soutane is much more suitable -- "and it is shown itself to be very practical" -- to afford the opportunity, to make the spiritual stand out visibly in public.

It makes the man also more concerned, that the Priest is "other":

"That is often lumped together as being "reactionary" or "conservative", and I take that in stride."

Actually: "Priests, who observe with Pope Benedict the hermeneutic of continuity are neither conservative nor progressive."

Father Jolie sees in them the avant-garde of the new clergy.

A sad sign of disobedience

The Clergyman points out that the law of the Church requires that a priest is obligated (duty bound) to wear priestly clothing:

"For that reason there is a sad sign of disobedience and the disunity of the clergy, if the priest ignores this duty."

That is for Father Jolie an outer sign of the decay of the presbyterium.

For: "Wherever priests are not in unity with each other, they fail also to be united with their flocks.

Original, krez.net...here


© Photo: Nick in exsilio, CC

Boston Archdiocese Blocks Catholic Blog

Something seems to be going on in the Boston Archdiocese that ought to be concerning to all Catholics (Boston-area and beyond), anyone who values freedom of speech, and Catholic bloggers across the country.  Maybe it is all coincidence.  You can decide for yourself. Things have been pretty predictable on this Catholic blog since we started it in June. Traffic has grown by leaps and bounds, but we started noticing something unusual for the first time late last week.  Daytime traffic to the blog and visits from the Archdiocese of Boston in Braintree suddenly plummeted, and evening traffic from random ISPs suddenly picked up.  It happened shortly after we published "Caritas Coincidences"  which revealed an array of additional conflicts of interest and coincidental political contributions–all publicly available information–that would cause even more people to start questioning the deal to sell Caritas Christi to Cerberus. (That transaction is undergoing review by the Attorney General, and public participation–including offering input–has been invited by the state and is a protected right). 

By coincidence, at about the same time, we started getting reports from multiple sources and channels that the Archdiocese had blocked access to the Boston Catholic Insider blog from within the Pastoral Center.  We published Caritas Coincidences: Part 2–with more information readily available to the general public–and got more confirmations that the site was being blocked. 

What exactly is going on?  Here is what we can tell you beyond those reports. A  number of local people go to 12:05pm Mass at the Pastoral Center, and coincidentally, the other day a faithful Catholic was there in Braintree for Mass and went on one of the public Internet terminals in the lobby to catch-up on the latest from Boston Catholic Insider.  (We are flattered that the blog is daily reading for many people around the Archdiocese and beyond). 

They got back a message from an Internet content filter saying the following:  "Content blocked by your organization.  Reason: This Websense category is filtered." They brought a friend back for Mass yesterday and by coincidence, when they were trying to get their daily fix of Boston Catholic Insider, they got the same message. Click on the picture to the right to see the message.

Read more:

http://bostoncatholicinsider.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/boston-archdiocese-blocks-catholic-blog/#comments
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Pelosi Wants NY Mosque Opponents Investigated

In an op/ed piece by Penny Young Nance of FoxNews.com, she reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling for an investigation into those who oppose a mosque to be built at Ground Zero. As Nance puts it, "For Ms. Pelosi it seems there is nothing the government shouldn't investigate, control or inject itself into as long as it serves the interests of liberal elites."

Never mind that the overwhelming majority of 9/11 victim families opposes building the mosque so close to such hallowed ground. Ms. Pelosi evidently believes these families have formed some kind of vast right wing conspiracy to inflict sensitivity upon those who would kow-tow to a controversial Muslim cleric.

Read further:

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-raleigh/pelosi-calls-for-investigating-those-opposition-to-the-mosque-at-ground-zero
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Conference About the Future of Thomism in Poland

By Fr. Bernhard Blankenhorn, OP
DSPT Alumnus, 2006

The Thomist tradition that lies at the heart of the DSPT identity is over 700 years old. The vibrancy of this age-old school of thought was evident in Warsaw, Poland in early July. Over seventy Dominican friars gathered there for a three-day conference, entitled Dominicans and the Challenge of Thomism xlink. The brethren, most of them young, came from Canada, the USA, Nigeria, Ireland, Great Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, the Ukraine, Poland, Australia, Vietnam and Taiwan. Four DSPT professors and two alumni (pictured below) were among the participants: Fr. Richard Schenk, OP, Fr. Michael Sherwin, OP, Fr. Anselm Ramelow, OP, Fr. Michael Dodds, OP, Fr. Bernhard Blankenhorn, OP, and Fr. Bryan Kromholtz, OP.

DSPT Professors and Alumni at Dominicans and the Challenge of Thomism conference, Warsaw, Poland

Read further...

Business Interests Are Often the Vanguard of An Advancing Army: Afghanistan

Afghan, Tajik and Pakistani Leaders Meet in Russia

MOSCOW — Twenty years after the last Russian soldier walked out of Afghanistan, Moscow is gingerly pushing its way back into the country with business deals and diplomacy, and promises of closer ties to come.

Russia is eager to cooperate on economic matters in part by reviving Soviet-era public works, its president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said Wednesday during a summit meeting with the leaders of Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, the second such four-way meeting organized by Russia in the past year.

In fact, Russia has already begun a broad push into Afghan deal-making, negotiating to refurbish more than 140 Soviet-era installations, like hydroelectric stations, bridges, wells and irrigation systems, in deals that could be worth more than $1 billion. A Russian helicopter company, Vertikal-T, has contracts with NATO and the Afghan government to fly Mi-26 heavy-lift helicopters throughout the country.

Read further...

Future of Russia is impossible without renewal of national self-identification - Patriarch Kirill

Pskov, August 18, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia believes the future of Russia depends on solid national self-identification based on Orthodox tradition.

"Today it's impossible for our Motherland to move further without renewal of our faith, our national self-identification, renewal of our shared spiritual system of values and shared responsibility of people for the country, Motherland, our children, for the future," the Patriarch said on Wednesday speaking to five thousand Pskov residents gathered at the Oktyabrskaya Square in the city center.

He stressed that foundation of Russian solidarity is not an ideology, but the Orthodox faith that "besides high and saving spiritual ideas, brings powerful ethic norms forming national character."

Read further...

Mexican Judges Bribed for Homosexual Ruling

GUADALAJARA, August 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Guadalajara yesterday told reporters that the Cardinal Archbishop of that city has proof to back up his contention that the justices of the Supreme Court were in some way "fed" by backers of homosexual "marriage" and adoption in order to gain their votes in favor of the policies.

Responding to threats from Mexico City Governor Marcel Ebrard to file charges against Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez for "moral damage," archdiocesan spokesman Antonio Gutiérrez Montaño expressed little concern, and said that the archbishop would prove his charges if necessary.

"Mr. Ebrard has the liberty to proceed as he wishes," said Gutiérrez Montaño to the Mexican newspaper Milenio, reportedly adding that if a lawsuit were filed, the cardinal would reveal the proof he has for his statement, and "will not retract nor apologize" for what he has said.

Read further...

Being a Polish missionary in Scandinavia

[Sunday Catholic Weekly] Rev. Msgr. Ireneusz Skubis talks to Fr Leszek Kapusta, CSsR, a Redemptorist working in Denmark.

Rev. Msgr Ireneusz Skubis: – You have been realising your priesthood in special missions...

Fr Leszek Kapusta, CSsR: – For over 23 years I worked mostly in South America; I worked 15 years in Bolivia. I finished my studies in moral theology in Madrid. For almost five years I have been working in Copenhagen, Denmark, at first ministering among Spanish-speaking people and for three years working with Poles.

– What is the Polish community like in Denmark and how have you been working with them?

– Denmark is relatively close to us because we are neighbours through the Baltic Sea and that’s why there are numerous Polish people there. They came to Denmark in various times: at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 21st century; after World War II, during the ‘Solidarity’ times; the recent Polish immigrants came to work here. Today there are over 20,000 Poles in Denmark, most of them living in Copenhagen and in the vicinity as well as in other big cities like Odense or Aalborg. This is my first ministry among the Polish people and I am satisfied with this work very much.

Read further here...

Baptist's Relics Deliver Jump in Church Attendance in Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, clerics and government officials have high religious—and economic—hopes for a recent discovery: fragments of what some believe to be the remains of John the Baptist. 

By Joe Parkinson  SOZOPOL, Bulgaria—Archaeologists and clerics here say they have unearthed bones belonging to John the Baptist, an itinerant preacher revered by many Christians as the last of the Old Testament prophets. Bulgaria's government is looking to the discovery for salvation—of a financial sort.

The remains, including a skull fragment and a tooth, were uncovered last month during the excavation of a fourth-century monastery on St. Ivan Island, off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. They were in a sealed reliquary buried next to a tiny urn inscribed with St. John's name and his birth date.

Read further:

http://mobile2.wsj.com/device/article.php?CALL_URL=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704216804575423673016971944.html?
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Dominicans accept first vows from novices in biggest class in decades

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Statistics show a drastic fall in the number of people entering religious life since the 1960s, yet, the Dominican Province of St. Joseph accepted first vows Aug. 7 from 21 novices -- the province's largest novitiate class since 1966. Father Bill Garrot is the province's outgoing vocations director -- and the man who the current vocations director appointed this summer, Father Benedict Croell, said played a key role in the "harvest" that yielded the 21 novices. In response to dismal novitiate numbers, in 2003 the province decided to hire Father Garrot as a full-time vocations director to engage in more rigorous recruitment efforts than a part-time director could. Before Father Garrot was hired, the province had suffered through "chaotic period" from 1993 to 2002, where the province transitioned between three or four different vocations directors and novitiate numbers were about five per year. "This kind of woke everybody up," Father Garrot said in an interview with Catholic News Service in Washington at the New York-based province's House of Studies. Father Garrot said those numbers rose to about eight to 10 a year during his time at the province, from 2003 to 2010. The 2009 novice class had 11 men in it, a total almost doubled in 2010. "Stability in a vocation program does matter. I was appointed as a full-time vocations director, but not many diocese or religious orders seem to have the luxury of appointing a man to do full-time recruitment work," he said.

Read further...

Benedict XVI affirms first communion for children at age of reason :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Benedict XVI affirms first communion for children at age of reason :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Pious Russians Pray For Rain: Dramatic Storms End Draught

Editor: Since praying for rain for the last few weeks, the terrible drought and wildfires will be brought to a close, none too late for the people of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Hopefully, it will help save at least part of Russia's harvest which will be severely hurt by this summer's meterological extremes.

Read further at interfax, here...

Russia 's record-breaking heatwave looks set to come to a dramatic end, with a severe storm now heading for Moscow after battering St Petersburg.

[Pravda] Nearly 100,000 people around St Petersburg were left without power, rail services were halted and trees felled amid high winds and heavy rains. Moscow is expected to be hit later. Temperatures there dropped to 25C on Monday after nearing 40C for weeks, BBC News says.

The storms yesterday in four regions, including the Leningrad region around St. Petersburg, packed winds as high as 30 meters per second (67 mph), the Emergency Situations Ministry said on its website today. Almost 79,000 people still had no electricity at 6 a.m. local time, and all customers should have power back by 8 p.m., the ministry said.

Read the rest here, at Pravda...

Fallout Continues from ELCA’s Gay Clergy Decision as Lutheran Churches Leave

CHICAGO, August 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The departure of several more congregations in central Illinois from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has once again highlighted how the denomination’s decision to approve active homosexual clergy has triggered a slow, steady bleeding of congregations.

One year ago this month at its national convention, the ELCA voted "to open the ministry of the church to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed relationships."

The policy change was decided by more than 100 votes – 559 in favor to 451 against; but since the vote the ELCA has both dropped in members and congregations.

Read further...

Bishop Richard Josef Werberberger Has Passed

+Werberberger was a Benedictine of Kremsmunster and Bishop of the Diocese Barreiras in Brazil.


Linz [kath.net/pm] The Benedictine Bishop Richard Josef Weberberger was born on September 5, 1939 in Bad Leonfelden, grew in Gaspoltshofen, and attendex the Gynasium Kremsmunster, left the Stift and went to Salzburg and Rome. AFter his preistly ordination in 1964 he was the cooperator in Kremsunster and Sattledt, Chaplain of the Benedictine Sisters in Steinerkirchen and religious and philosophy instructor at the Gymnasium in Kremsunster and in Schlierbach.

P. Rochard Weberberger OSB left for Brazil in 1974 and was a pastor in the city of Barrereis. In May 1979 he was the Bishop of the newly created Diocese of Barreiras and on 11 July 1979 he entered the office as the first Bishop of Barreiras. For 12 years he was the member and standing advisor of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference (CNBB) and from 1998 to 2003 President of the regional Bishops' Conference of the Northeast.

He was an honorary citizen of several cities and of the State of Bahia. In 1999 he was honored in the Land of Upper Austria with its human rights prize. In 2009 Bishop Weberberger celebrated in Stift Kremsunster his 30 year Bishop's anniversary and received a great golden plaque with a star for service to the Republic of Austria. In May 2010 he became seriously ill and was hospitalized in Linz.

Link to kath.net...

Guidance; When a Priest Engages in Public Sin

ROME, AUG. 17, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.Q: May you please help me to answer these delicate questions? When a priest is in grave sin and publicly known to be in mortal sin (drunk often; with women, etc.) and the bishop allows him to say Mass publicly, what does canon law say about this? Or, if a priest has even impregnated a woman and then encouraged her to get an abortion (a reality for us here), shouldn't that priest have sanctions put on him rather than letting him celebrate Mass publicly? If the bishop says he is not to judge the priests, then who should? -- K.G., Sudan

A: These are indeed delicate questions and sad ones to answer. I am not a canonist and so cannot answer regarding the intricacies of the canonical process. However, I can offer some moral pointers with respect to the sacraments.

A priest who falls into grave sin, just like any member of the faithful, should seek sacramental reconciliation as soon as possible. Meanwhile, he should abstain as far as possible from celebrating the sacraments.

Read further... Zenit...

Liberal Nuns Cash in on Disintegration of Catholic Education

Sisters who sold Loretto High for $7.75 million can begin spending, appellate court rules


[California Catholic Daily] Attorneys for the Diocese of Sacramento and seven donors to the now defunct Loretto High School are mulling whether to appeal an unfavorable ruling in a dispute over $7.75 million the sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary received when they sold the campus last year.

Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto joined seven other plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an order of women religious that ran Loretto High School for 54 years before announcing that the girls’ college-prep school would close its doors for good in June 2009. The sisters cited declining enrollment and financial hardship.

At issue is an estimated $4.5 million donated to the school from a 2001-2002 fundraising drive. The money was used to double the size of the campus, construct a new science building, a performing arts center, visual arts studios, a swimming complex, an athletic field, additional parking and for renovations of some of the already existing school buildings.

Read further at California Catholic Daily ...

Now Clarence Thomas' wife goes public against Obama

Now Clarence Thomas' wife goes public against Obama

This man is VERY cross that the Pope is paying a state visit to Britain

This man is VERY cross that the Pope is paying a state visit to Britain

Christian and Muslim groups denounce 'burn Quran' initiative

Christian and Muslim groups denounce 'burn Quran' initiative

Texas Priest Father Rodriguez Does a Great Job on ABC TV

Father Michael Rodriguez of San Juan Bautista Church thoroughly answers charges related to his strident, but necessary teaching on homosexual, with clarity and charity. It's impossible not to see this man speak and not be convinced of his genuine concern for the salvation of souls and his love for the Church.

See it here, link to ABC.

El Paso article, here.

h/t to TC at FE.

eucharistandmission: CARDINAL RATZINGER AFFIRMED IN THE CATECHISM THE RIGORIST INTERPRETATION OF THE DOGMA EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS?-1

eucharistandmission: CARDINAL RATZINGER AFFIRMED IN THE CATECHISM THE RIGORIST INTERPRETATION OF THE DOGMA EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS?-1

San Salvador's Archbishop Thinks Archbishop Romero to be Beatified

The Archbishop of San Salvador wants to avoid instrumentalizing or politicizing the deceased, in order to make the beatification process of the current Congregation in Rome easier.

The Archbishop of San Salvator, Jose Luis Escobar Alas, awaits an upcoming beatification of the murdered Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero (1917-1980). The Archbishop said this on Sunday in San Salvador at a Press conference on the 93rd Birthday of his predecessor murdered 30 years ago. Archbishop Escobar wants to avoid instrumentaliziing or politicizing the death, in order to make the job of the current Congregation in Rome more difficult. [Hence why it stalled out the first time.] "We will pray to God, that Archbishop Romero will soon be beatified," said ++Escobar to the website "Terra".

Romero was murdered in 1980 during a service. For his protest against oppression and exploitation and as a voice of the poor, he was well-known throughout Central America. The back ground of the murder is still not widely known today. The suspected wire puller was never apprehended.

According to reports from an independent "truth commission", which attempted to uncover crimes committed during the Civil War in El Salvador, Robert D'Aubuisson, Major of the Salvadoran Army and Chief of the suspected death squads, was the primary instigator of the murder. Later he founded the conservative right "ARENA" -Party and ran unsuccessfully for the office of President. He died in 1992 of cancer. Pope John Paul II. visited Romero's grave in the Cathedral of San Salvador.

The advocates for this will want to de-emphasize the political and military nature of ++Romero's activities which led to his assassination, but it's unavoidable that his motives were not the defense of the Catholic Faith, but in defense of a political programme being promoted by the Soviet Union.

In any event, even John Paul II stopped short of beatifying or honoring the Archbishop owing to the controversial nature of this prelate in his own country, by members of the Church who viewed Romero's meddling in politics as unproductive and even supportive of the Marxists who were building "base communities" and pushing for greater centralization of the economy (against the best interests of the country as it turned out).

Of course, US Catholic is wild about +Romero's beatification, as they probably feel it will give more fuel for their social-justice and anti-Church initiatives.

Cardinal Schönborn Praises Medjugorje, Again

A Morsel For the Stupid Neoconservatives

Austria. [kreuz.net] This Sunday Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna praised the false Marian apparition site, Medjugorje in the boulevard magazine 'Krone'. The Cardinal recalled his then meeting with the youth that are there every summer. The young people could not see much in the village besides the stony ground and supposed poverty. But they sense: "Mary is near them".

Link to original...

The Krone's late editor, Hans Dichant, and the publication itself has been very ++Schönborn friendly, despite its advertisements for prostitutes and pornographic content. The Cardinal eulogized him at his funeral and presided over the Mass.

It's a very evil magazine, see for yourself. It has an entire section featuring extremely indecent pinup photos.

Also, Cardinal Schönborn will be attending this years Ratzinger Schulkreis as reported by Dici to discuss the "hermeneutic of continuity.

H/t: Tom

The Vortex: The Jews

It Was the Rosary: Mainz Priest Talks About Vocation

The mixed marriage of parents of the well-known Mainz Priest, Father Hendrick Jolie, produced an alienation from religion in his family. But suddenly, everything changed and nothing was the same as it was.

[kreuz.net] I was not "unpious" as a young person, explained the well-known Mainz Priest, Father Hendrick Jolie, in an interview today with the Linz site 'kath.net'.

The clergyman came from a mixed marriage. "It created a kind of distance from the Church," according to him.

Then suddenly came the change: "the transformation of my Father's conversion in the 80s had deeply influenced me."

The future priest started to pose new questions: "how can a man, who is the business manager of a large convenience store chain standing in the middle of the profane world, suddenly become so pious? Why did he pray the rosary and go to Holy Mass [sic] so often?"

The example of the Father spurred the son: "I began in any case, to regularly pray the Rosary."

Because of that the life of the future Priest changed in a few months "fundamentally":

"I gave up my original career plans and entered the seminary in 1985."

Fr. Jolie didn't have a doubt: "Today I am absolutely sure, that I have the Rosary to thank for my vocation."


Read original, here....

Conversion Diary: Interview with an exorcist, Part I - The diary of a former atheist

Conversion Diary: Interview with an exorcist, Part I - The diary of a former atheist

The Relics of St. John the Baptist Are Authentic

[Standart, Bulgaria] The relics of John the Baptist recently discovered in the Black Sea town of Sozopol are authentic, declared Vatican expert Michael Hesseman, according to Minister of Diaspora historian Bozhidar Dimitrov. Mayor of Sozopol, Dr. of History Panayot Reizi handed over the reliquary to Father Ivan of the local St. George church. Yesterday, thousands of laymen gathered in town to see the valuable reliquary encased in gold and silver, a gift from PM Boyko Borisov. The relics of John the Baptist were moved to the reliquary lined with red velvet and further on will be kept in it.
“The relics have already worked the first miracle – they made Finance Minister Simeon Djankov to allot money for further research and excavations on the Sveti Ivan and Sveti Kirik islands near Sozopol,” Minister Dimitrov jokingly commented. He added that he was sure the investment would pay off as crowds of pilgrims were expected in Sozopol.

Elena Dimitrova

Link to original...

Liberal Feeding Frenzy on Laura Schlesinger for Explaining Racial Slur

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Sr. Jeannine Gramick claims disconnect between laity and bishops, says half of priests are homosexual :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Sr. Jeannine Gramick claims disconnect between laity and bishops, says half of priests are homosexual :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Why Rome scorns resignations, and a great week for wonks | National Catholic Reporter

Why Rome scorns resignations, and a great week for wonks | National Catholic Reporter

h/t: Stella Borealis