+Wuerl Chancery Issues Cowardly Apology in Face of Media Frenzy

Edit:  the days when the American Church could be counted upon to withstand public opinion seem far away.  Many prelates will use public opinion to their advantage, but when it really comes to defending the Sanctity of the things they're sworn to defend, they cower like hirelings before the baying of the wolves that are threatening the flock.

Here's how it's going to play itself out, more or less: the next step will be to summon Father Guanizo for a meeting where he will be expected to apologize, and he'll be expected to undergo counselling as well while the Diocese considers his suitability for future ministry.

“You brought your politics, not your God into that Church yesterday, and you will pay dearly on the day of judgment for judging me,” she wrote in a letter to Guarnizo. “I will pray for your soul, but first I will do everything in my power to see that you are removed from parish life so that you will not be permitted to harm any more families.”

Late Tuesday, Johnson received a letter of apology from the Rev. Barry Knestout, one of the archdiocese’s highest-ranking administrators, who said the lack of “kindness” she and her family received “is a cause of great concern and personal regret to me.”

“I am sorry that what should have been a celebration of your mother’s life, in light of her faith in Jesus Christ, was overshadowed by a lack of pastoral sensitivity,” Knestout wrote. “I hope that healing and reconciliation with the Church might be possible for you and any others who were affected by this experience. In the meantime, I will offer Mass for the happy repose of your mother’s soul. May God bring you and your family comfort in your grief and hope in the Resurrection.”

Johnson called the letter “comforting” and said she greatly appreciates the apology. But, she added, “I will not be satisfied” until Guarnizo is removed.

The priest’s action has also triggered an uproar among gay rights activists and enlivened some religious conservatives. It came just days after the Maryland Senateapproved legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in the state; Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is expected to sign it this week.

Link to D.C....

H/t Religion News Roundup....

German Catholicism -- the Old Liberals of Yesteryear

The object is derived from the same pattern:  One talks about "reform" -- and really wants to ditch religion.  The end result is dissolution.

Silesian Apostasy-Priest and Nationalist
Johannes Ronge (+1887)

(kreuznet)  German Catholicism was a phenomenon of the 19th century.  It was also called the German Catholic movement.

Since the middle of the 1840s the movement was active in the German Federation.

"Rigid and Reactionary"
"

The German Catholics did not want to follow the faith of the Church any longer.

They considered these to be "rigid and reactionary".

The initial event of their rise was a protest against the display of the Holy Robe by Bishop Wilhelm Arnoldi (+1864) in Trier.

This happened in 1844.

Nationalism Instead of Religion

The German Catholic Movement was affected by the ideology of Social Liberalism and German Nationalism.

After the collapse of the nationalistic March Revolution in 1848/49, they were initially thrown in the crate by the anti-nationalistic Principalities.

German Catholicism formed itself together with the originally protestant Lichtfreunden [Friends of Light] in a "Free Religion Movement".  This finally disintegrated.

The Back Ground

After the coronation of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (+1861) in Prussia, the Kulturkamp [cultural war against Catholicism] and the persecution of Catholics ceased.

The most visible expression of this was the allowance of Trier's pilgrimage to the "Holy Robe".

It was an indescribable success.

Within fifty days, half a million pilgrims drew near the reliquary.

A Luther too Late

The Silesian apostasy-priest and Nationalist, Johannes Ronge (+1887), protested with a public outcry against this "charade".

That was an opportunity for him to turn against the allegedly "tyrannical power of the Roman hierarchy."

Ronge fell into the role of a second Martin Luther in the eyes of Catholics.  He found, none the less, an echo chamber in the anti-Church media.

Modern to the Death

The movement initiated by Ronge contrived to make the overwrought Protestantism new.

It subjected Biblical exegesis to a rationalist ideology, which it asserted absolutistically as the only norm.

He rejected the Catholic Magisterium and Papal Primacy.

Naturally he disparaged the language of the Church, the veneration of Saints, Penance [Confession], and above all, celibacy and the traditional form of the Liturgy.

It was merely baptism and the "Meal" which he recognized as Sacraments.

He also opposed the Church's practice regarding mixed marriages.

A New Morality

Under Ronges' leadership the last German Catholic Council too place in Leipzig in 1845.

It was organized  by the soon to be hung Nationalist, Robert Blum (+1848) from Vienna.

Blum was a media boss and a skirt chaser, who impregnated many women and left them in the lurch.

And then the Spirit Left

The center of German Catholicism were the industrial regions in Silesia and Saxony as well as in Rhineland.

In 1847 there were around 250 communities with about 60,000 members, a quarter of whom were former protestants.

The German Catholic Movement was not religiously oriented, rather it was a religious breakaway movement.  It would only last for a few years.

Link to original...

Will Cardinal Wuerl Suspend Courageous Priest?

Update: the Diocese has apologized to this woman who attempted to commit an act of sacrilege and has publicly thrown its priest to the wolves in one sense.  Disciplinary actions are sure to follow since the perpetrator now wants to inflict harm on the man just doing his job.  Hey, if you don't agree with the Church's teaching, don't believe it and don't expect its ministers to act in a way that aids and abets your errors.

Here's the pathetic response from ++Wuerl's anemic chancery:

Late Tuesday, Johnson received a letter of apology from the Rev. Barry Knestout, one of the archdiocese’s highest-ranking administrators, who said the lack of “kindness” she and her family received “is a cause of great concern and personal regret to me.”

“I am sorry that what should have been a celebration of your mother’s life, in light of her faith in Jesus Christ, was overshadowed by a lack of pastoral sensitivity,” Knestout wrote. “I hope that healing and reconciliation with the Church might be possible for you and any others who were affected by this experience. In the meantime, I will offer Mass for the happy repose of your mother’s soul. May God bring you and your family comfort in your grief and hope in the Resurrection.”

Edit: This is about denying communion to those who cause scandal. It's the right of a priest and an obligation to do it. It's what Cardinal Wuerl has been urged to do.

Well, another priest who is presenting the authentic but non-PC teaching on the sin that cries out will in all likelihood be punished. You'll remember the great Father Gomez who was recently suspended for telling it like it is, or the Linz Pastor, Father Skoblicki, who was hounded from his post just for being offensive to a few people who rarely went to church and the Austrian media.

 Not surprisingly, this particular priest may find himself punished in turn.  He is of the Archdiocese of Washington D.C..  The See of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who may be overseeing disciplinary action against him for being culturally insensitive to a scandalous woman whom the priest had the courage to publicly chastise.

Cardinal Wuerl has himself been a scandal in the past, and seems eager to add further wounds to the body of Christ by giving tacit approval to behavior well outside of Catholic moral teaching.

Why is the priest allowing "lay eulogies" anyway? And why would he be suspended for doing the job many Bishops have been refusing to do for more than half a century with respect to pro-abort and Liberal politicians? Surely, this priest should be able to find a home in a Diocese that's not so hostile to the practice of the Catholic Faith in the event that the ensuing media storm extracts action from Cardinal Wuerl to act on behalf of the Zeitgest?

The following excerpt of an article from USCatholic underscores the confusion.  The public scandal caused by a homosexual couple living in sin certainly does constitute scandal.  Not sure how a priest doing his job causes scandal, but USCatholic thinks so.  On the other hand, where does this writer's expertise lie, save perhaps in suffering from a disordered state himself?

Predictably, the anti-Catholic and inaptly named USCatholic is "shocked" by such "callous" behavior.

We're still shocked they're still allowed to describe themselves as Catholic. Isn't that false advertising?

From the category of "you cannot be serious": A priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, Rev. Marcel Guarnizo, has,according to the Washington Post, denied communion to woman at her mother's funeral because she is a lesbian and living with a woman. He informed her of that in the communion line. He also left the altar when she delivered the post-communion eulogy for her mother.

What? Now Catholic women who are lesbian cannot even be heard in church? So far the best the archdiocese has done is restate its policy that denying someone communion should be explained in a private, pastoral setting. What it doesn't say is that it is up to the conscience of the communicant whether to present herself for communion and, as a general rule, the minister offering communion is not to question that judgment, except in cases of scandal. I hardly think that a daughter wanting to receive communion at her mother's funeral--not even at a regular Sunday Mass--would cause such a scandal. Nor does living with a woman rise to "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin," in the proper understanding of canon 915. (Ask any canonist.) This priest's behavior, on the other hand, has scandalized Catholics the world over.

What we are witnessing can only be described as the small-minded behavior of people that don't even understand Catholic history or tradition, the intricacies of canon law--including and especially canon 915 (and the linked commentator doesn't get it either)--and the rights of the faithful, or even the demands of charity. The fact that a man who could so callously display his disdain for one of the baptized daughters of the church is even ordained is breathtaking.

Link to USCatholic...

Swiss Bishop Creates Two Traditional Parishes

Bishop Vitus Huonder

Both Mass centers have existed since the 70s. They are the only blooms on the Diocese of Chur's withering tree.

(kreuz.net) Since Monday morning it's official. On the 22nd February, Bishop Vitus Huonder of Chur erected two traditional personal parishes.

The Diocese published this information in a broadcast.

The Bishop described the two parishes as "two living centers for pastoral care." The various modern parishes of the Diocese of Church which have been ruined by Old Liberals are without exception, clinically dead.

The Old Mass has Been Celebrated Here for 35 Years


The first traditional personal parish is located at the Immaculata-Marienkapelle in the 1600 population vicinity of Oberarth in central Switzerland.

Oberarth belongs to the 11,000 population community of Arth, fifty kilometers southerly of Zurich.

The Bishop of Church had already allowed the celebration of the Old Mass in the eyar 1977. Since 1999 it has been offered daily.

A Living Community


On Sunday in Oberarth there are two Holy Masses celebrated.


Additionally, there are confession times and spiritual counselling, which are in high demand.

For pastoral activity, there is also Catechism for school children, devotions, baptisms, sick calls, burials, pilgrimages and spiritual exercises.

The new parish is called Maria Immmaculata.

The first Pastor is the Chur Canon Martin Burgi. [He has some say in who the Bishop will be]

First Beginnings in 1971 

The second perosnal parish is located in an area of the city of Zurich.

Since 1971 there was an old Mass in Herz Jesus Parish Church in Zurich-Oerlikon celebrated every Sunday evening.

The organizers of the liturgy was the Lay Organization 'Una Voce'. They requested various priests for pastoral services.

Society of St. Peter Takes Over

In April 1998 a pastoral center was taken over by the traditional Society of St. Peter.

Till 2005, workday Masses have been taking place in an improvised chapel in a nearby store.

This place was given up, when the possibility presented itself, to celebrate two workday Masses in the church of St. Josef in Zurich.

No Certain Church 

Once in a each month, in the 8,000 population community of Egg -- forty kilometers south of Zurich -- one workday Mass takes place in the old Rite.

Since 2002, the church in the Zurich suburban communities Birmensdorf and Uitikon have been available for the celebration of Holy Week.

The Christmas has been celebrated for several years in the crypt of the Church of St. Gallus in the Zurich-Schwamendingen.

Peter Martin Ramm is the Pastor 

The personal parish has been consecrated as St. Maximilan Kolbe. The first Pastor is FSSP Priest Martin Ramm.[Asked for by the Bishop himself]

The location of the new personal parish is in the Zurich suburb of Thalwil.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter have their branch there.

The "Sects in the Church" are the Old Liberals 

The Bishop stressed that it is "an act of righteousness", "that the faithful no longer left in a canonically unclear provisorium.

Msgr Huonder confessed, to "understand well" some of the obstacles against the erection of these personal parishes.

This fear has been cultivated above all by the Old Liberals, who have operated within the Church of Christ for years like a sect.

Link to original...

Photo: © Pressebild

Flawed YouCat Youth Catechism by Flawed Cardinal Selling Well

Edit: The Catechism published by the German Bishops' pornography distributor, Weltbild, seems to be enjoying a great deal of popularity despite questions about its truthfulness to Catholic teaching. It is the brainchild of Cardinal Schoenborn.

Best selling Catholic book worldwide?

New Youth Catechism

The following comes from a February 23 story by the Catholic News Agency 

The co-creator of the Church’s catechism for young people has revealed that it's now the top selling Catholic book in the world. 

“The latest figures show that Youcat has sold 1.7 million copies worldwide. It’s been a great success in nearly every country where it has been published,” said German publisher Bernard Meuser in a Feb. 23 interview with the Catholic News Agency. 

“For example, it is number one in Spain, number one in America, and number one in Germany along with the Pope’s latest book.” 

Link to article...

H/t: Stella Borealis....

Bishop Schneider Pontifical High Mass in the Immemorial Rite

Edit: Like heaven on earth.  No abuses, no irreverence.  This is quite literally, the school of virtue.  You could never mistake this for a Calvinist Liturgy.

Mel Gibson's Upcoming "Berserker" and "Maccabees" Will be Catholic Films

Saint Olaf II, Martyr

Edit: There's an old platitude that to know history is to be Catholic, and so Mel Gibson is taking on two historical projects guaranteed to treat Christian themes.

On the one hand, you're bound to see the heroic resistance of the Christians as the terrible Vikings come down and destroy their world.  Perhaps we will hear of the brave resistance of Alfred the Great and how he magnanimously introduced the Vikings he conquered into his household?

Perhaps he'll tell the story of the conversion of St. Olaf who went down fighting gloriously at the Battle of Skittelstad on July 29th 1030 and accomplished more as a martyred Saint, than a great but merely heroic epitome of valor, to win over his battle hearty people to the true religion of peace.

Our speculations aside, it's clear that the Viking film is going to be made, it's going to be called "Berserker" [Literally, bare shirt fighter].  He looks determined to make it.

Despite his efforts to make a film about the scirptural story of Maccabees , there are many who look in askance at the effort.  They view it cynically as an attempt to coddle Jewish sensibilities in the wake of his "tirade".  In reality, Maccabees is a Catholic story which should cause modern Jews, and not a few Catholics,  to reconsider what they believe.  It is a story of how God used a small band of Jews to liberate Palestine in one of the most amazing upsets in history.

Don't look for it in a protestant Bible, unless it says "apocrypha" included.  Also, it's not really Apocrypha, it's part of the Biblical Canon and the reservations of a few biblical scholars and Protestants should not stop you from meditating on how it points to Catholic teachings like purgatory.

"2 Maccabees 12:46: "Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from sin."


If you're a Catholic, you should expect to see a lot of Catholic references in both films.  Mel's trying to make up for his failings by doing good works, like helping Whitney Houston with her addictions, which earned him some admiration and gratitude from the family who invited him to her funeral in Newark, New Jersey.

Whatever he decides to do with these complimentary and beautiful subjects, they will be two things:  great stories,  Catholic stories.

The following is an interview and it was well done:

Los Angeles Times] Reserved and reflective, Mel Gibson came to the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood to celebrate the legacy of his “Mad Max” films but, of course, the 56-year-old star’s recent career calamities were the silent passenger that accompanied him during the trip down memory lane.
Thirty-three years have passed since ”Mad Max” exploded on the scene with a high concept and a low budget (about $400,000) and began the minting of an international movie star. Sitting in the dark with the time-capsule moment, Gibson found it hard to recognize his 21-year-old self up on the screen. “I thought,” he said, “it was one of my kids.”
Above, you can watch the full video from the American Cinematheque event where I interviewed Gibson about the career-launching franchise and you’ll hear that the conversation veered off at times to his filmmaking future, the TMZ era and the emotional wear and tear of recent seasons. There was also a lot of applause — and two standing ovations — from the sell-out crowd. And, for that, the two-time Oscar winner seemed truly thankful.

Watch video, here....

Elvis' Old Friend Returns to Holywood a Witness of Religious Life

Edit:  She looks terribly refined in that garment, a sign of contradiction.   The secret is that there is an entire universe in the cloister, a beautiful halo of stars about the house at night and incredible wonders in a life lived with childlike purity.


Perhaps sister will inspire more young women to evaluate their course in life and embark on an adventure most men would be too timorous to undertake themselves.

Of course, the habit works on a lot of different levels, there's a level of wonder and a reflection on what it means, it's a prayer.
If you plan to watch the Oscars this Sunday, keep your eye out for Dolores Hart, the 1960s starlet who starred opposite Montgomery Clift, Robert Wagner, and Elvis Presley — twice.
She’ll be easy to spot: just look for the cheerful-looking woman in the nun’s habit. That’s because Hart, who famously shared one of Presley's first on-screen kisses, is now Mother Prioress Dolores, Benedictine nun. Her unusual life story, from the glitz of Tinseltown to a cloistered convent in Connecticut, where she now lives, is the topic of a new HBO documentary, “God Is The Bigger Elvis.”
 Hart, now 73, grew up in Chicago and got her start in acting at the age of 19 locking lips with Elvis as one of his love interests in the 1957 movie, "Loving You." She went on to star in a series of high-profile movies and Broadway productions, and was nominated for a Tony Award in in 1959. She also got engaged to Don Robinson, a Los Angeles architect.

Link to original...

Photo:

© 2012 MSNBC Interactive.  Reprints

The Future of the Church -- The 25 Youngest Cardinals of the Catholic Church

(Vatican) [Katholisches] By this weekend the fourth Consistorium of the Pontificate of Benedict XVI will have taken place.  The Pope raised then  22 Church representatives to the position of Cardinal.  18 of the Cardinals created on 18 February 2012 have still not reached their 80th year and would be able to belong to a Conclave to elect the next Pope.


The Spanish Vaticanist Francisco Jose Fernandez de la Cigona posted a list of the 20 youngest Cardinals in the Church Senate,  it was here widened to include 25 of the youngest Cardinals and with corrections and above all some completion.  Among the 25 bearers of the purple, there are two Italians, but three US- Americans, two Poles, two Brazilians and four Cardinals from the German speaking areas (two of the Bundesrepublic of Germany, one Austrian and a Swiss).  The two from Germany are at the same time the youngest Cardinals of the Holy College.  The Viennese Archbishop Cardinal Christoph von Schönborn is the only one who belongs to an order. [Dominican]

Parenthesis will appear at the end of each short biography of the church-political considerations of Fernández de la Cigoña , which for various reasons are not his own.   My own observations will follow in parenthesis.  [Ours will follow in brackets in red: Tancred]

1.  The "Benjamin" of the College of Cardinals is the German Rainer Maria Woelki  (55) , Archbishop of Berlin, born 1956,  ordained on 1985 as a priest of the Archdiocese of Cologne, in 2003 was made the titualar Bishop of Scampa and Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne by John Paul II,  by Pope Benedict XVI. he was named in Juli 2011 to the Archdiocese of Berlin, in February 2012 was raised to the rank of Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. (conservative) [neo-conservative]

2. Also the second youngest Cardinal is Reinhard Marx a German (58),  Archbisop of Munich and Freising, ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Paderborn, 1996 by Pope John Paul II, as the titular Bishop of Petina and Auxiliary Bishop of Paderborn, called  by John Paul II as Bishop of Trier  and in 2007 to be the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, in November 2010 by Benedict XVI as Cardinal. 9conservative) [Old Liberal]

3. The third youngest in the Sacred College is the Hollander, Willem Jacobus Eijk (55), Archbishop of Utrecht, ordained a priest for the Diocese of Roermond in 1985, 1999 by Pope John Paul II as Bishop of Groningen, by Pope Benedict XVI in December 2007 as Archbishop of Utrecht, in February 2012 called to the College of Cardinals by Benedict XVI. (conservative)

4. Peter Erdo (59), Hungary, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest,  ordained a priest in 1975 for the Archdiocese of Estergom-Budapest, named in 1999 by John Paul II as titular bishop of Puppi and Auxiliary Bishop of Zekesfehevar, by John Paul II in 2002 to Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and in OCtobert 2003, elevated to Cardinal.  He was an elector at the Conclave of 2005 at which Pope Benedcit XVI was elected. (conservative)

5. Philippe Xavier Ignace Barbarin (61), French, Archbishop of Lyon, in 1977  ordained a priest of the Diocese of Creteil, in 1998 he was made Bishop of Moulins by Pope John Paul II, in 2002 he was Archbishop of Lyon and in 2003 was raised to Cardinal.  He was an elector in the Conclave of 005 at which Pope Benedict XVI was elected  (weakly conservative)

6. Kurt Koch (61)  Swiss, Curial Cardinal, ordained in 1982 as a priest for the Diocese of Basel, in 1995 he was made Bishop of Basel by John Paul II, in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI as President of the Papal Council for the Promotion of Unity among Christians in the Roman Curia, in 2010 he was promoted to the rank of Curial Bishop and in November 2010 to Cardinal (conservative)

7. Timothy Micheal Dolan (62) US-American, Archbishop of New York, ordained to the priesthood in 1976 in the Archdiocese of St. Louis (Missouri), in 2001 Pope John Paul II, named him titular bishop of Natchesium and Auxiliary of the Archdiocese of St. Louis (Missouri), in 2002 he was made Archbishop of Milwaukee (Wisconsin), in February 2009 Pope Benedict XVI made him Archbishop of New York and in February 2012 he was made Cardinal (conservative)

8.  Kazimierz Nycz (62) Pole, Archbishop of Warsaw, in 1973 he was made a priest of the Archdiocese of Krakow, in 1988 made titular Bishop of Villa Regis and Auxiliary Bishop of Krakow by Pope John Paull II, then in 2004 was made Bishop of von Koeslin-Kolberg, in March 2007 he was made Archbishop of Warsaw by Pope Benedict XVI. and in November 2010 raised to Cardinal. (conservative0

9. Odilo Scherer (62), Brazilian, Archbishop of Sao Paulo,  in 1976 he was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Todedo (Parana), in 2001 he was made titular Bishop of Novi and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo, in March 2007, Pope Benedict XVI eleved him to to be Archbishop of Sao Paulo and in November 2007 raised him to Cardinal.

10.  Daniel Nicholas Di Nardo (62), US American, Archbishop of Galveston , in 1977 he was ordained priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) and in 1997 made Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Sioux City (Iowa), in 1998 there Diocesan Bishop, in 2004 was made Bishop Coadjutor of the Archdiocese of  Galveston-Houston (Texas),  in 2006 Pope Benedict made him the Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and in November 2007 made him a Cardinal.  (Conservative)

11. Josip Bozanic (62), Croatian, Archbishop of Zagreb, in 1975 he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Krk, in 1989 Pope John Paul II named him Bishop  coadjutor of the Diocese of Krk, in the same year he became the Diocesan Bishop,  in 1997 he was called to be Archishop of Zagreb and raised to Cardinal in 2003.   Cardinal Bozanic was a Papal elector in the Concclave of 2005, where Pope Benedict XVI. was elected.


12. José Francisco Robles Ortega,  Mexican, Archbishop of Guadalajara, in 1976 he was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Autlan, in 1991 he was made titular Bishop of Bosse and Auxiliary of Touluca, in 1996 was named Bishop of Toluca and in 2003 named as Archbishop of Monterrey (Neuvo Leon), in November of 2007 Pope Benedict XVI raised him to Cardinal and in February 2011 was named Archbishop of Guadalajara. (Conservative)

13.  Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson (63), Ghanese, Curial Cardinal, in 1975 he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cape Coast, in 1992 Pope John Paul II named him the Archbishop of Cape Coast and in 2003 he was raised to Cardinal, in 2009 Pope Benedict XVI made him President of the Papal Council for Justice and Peace in the Roman Curia.  Cardinal Turkson was a Papal elector in the Conclave of 2005 at which Pope Benedict VI was elected. (no opinion)

14.  Raymond Leo Burke (63) US-American, ordained a priest in 1975 for the  Diocese of La Crosse (Wisconsin), named Bishop of Lacrosse by Pope John Paul II of LLacrosse and in 2003 called to be Archbishop of St. Louis (Missouri), in November 2008 Pope Benedict XVI called him to become Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the Roman Curia, and in November 2010 he was raised to Cardinal. (conservative) traditionally inclined.

15. Albert Malcom Ranjith Patabendige Don (64) Singhalese, in 1975  was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Colombo, in 1991 was named titular Bishop of Cabarsussi and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Colombo by Pope John Paul II, in 1995 he was named Bishop of Ratnapura and 001 as Official for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Roman Curia, in 2004 made Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia and to East Timor, in December 2005 Pope Benedict XVI named him as Secretary for the Congregation of Rites and the Sacraments in the Roman Curia, in June of 2009 he was named Archbishop of Colombo and in November 2010 raised to Cardinal. (Conservative) traditionally inclined.

16.  Joao Braz de Aviz (64) Brazilian, Curial Cardinal, in 1972 was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Apucarana (Panama), in 1994 was made titular Bishop of Flenculeta and Auxiliary Bishop of The Archdiocese of Vitoria (Espirito Santo), in 1998 he was named the Bishop of Ponta Grossa (Parana< in 2002 as Archbishop of Maringa (Parana) and 2004 as Archbishop of Brasilia, in Jannuary 2011 as Prefect of the Congregation for the Institute of Consecrated Life and for the Society of Apostolic Life in the Roman Curia by Pope Benedict and was elevated to Cardinal in 2012. (no opinion)

17.  Giuseppe Betori (64),  Italian, Archbishop of Florence, ordained a priest in 1970 in the Diocese of Foligno, then as Secretary of the Italian Bishop Conference by Pope John Paul II.  Then in 2001 aas titular Bishop of Falerone, he was then named as Archbishop of Florence by Pope Benedict XVI and in February elevated to the rank of Cardinal. (conservative)

18.  Thomas Christopher Collins (65) Canadian, Archbishop of Toronto,  ordained in 1973 to the priesthood for the Diocese of Hamilton (Ontario), in 1997 he was made Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of St. Paul in Alberta by John Paul II, then in 1997 he was made Diocesan Bishop there, in 1999 was made Coadjutor of Edmonton (Alberta), in the same year was made Archbishop, in December 2006, he was  named Archbishop of Toronto and in February 2012 was raised to Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.. (no opinion)

19.  Fernando Filoni (65), Italian, Curial Cardinal, 1970 ordained as a priest for the Diocesee of Nardo, in 2001 was made titular Bishop of Voltumum and Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq and in Jordanian by John Paul II,  he was then named as Nuncio to the Philippines by Pope Benedict XVI, and in June 2007 as substitute of the Secretary of State in the Roman Curia, in May 2011 as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples he was named and in February 2012 raised to Cardinal. (no opinion)

20. Antonio Canizares Llovera (65), Spaniard, Curial Cardinal, in 1970 he was ordained to the preisthood in the Archdiocese of Valencia, in 1992 was ordained the Bishop of  Avila by Pope John Paul II, in 1996 he was named Archbishop of Granada and in 2002 as Archbishop of Toledo, in March of 2006 Pope Benedict XVI raised him to the rank of Cardinal and in December 2008 he became Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Rites and Sacraments in the Roman Curia. (Conservative)

21. Vinko Puljic (66) Croatian,  Archbishop of Vrhbosna (Sarajevo), ordained a priestst in 1970 for the Diocese of Banjaluka, in 1990 was made Archbishop of Vrhbosna (Sarajevo) and in 1994 na raised to Cardinal.  Cardinal Puljic was an elector in the Conclave of 2006 where Pope Bnenedict XVI was elected.

22. Stanislaw Rylko (66), Pole, Curial Cardinal, in 1969 he was ordained a priest in theArchbiocese of Krakow in Poland, in 1995 Pope John Paul II made him titular Bishop of Novica and he was named as Secretary to the Papal Council for the Laity to the Roman Curia, in 2003 he was named to be President of the Papal Council for Laity, in November 2007 Pope Benedict made him Cardinal.

23. Robert Sarah (66) Guinea, Curial Cardinal, in 1969 was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Conarky, in 1979 named at Archbishop of Conarky by Pope John Paul II, in 2001 as Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Roman Curia, in October 2010 as the President of the Papal Council Cor Unum by Pope Benedict XVI, and in 2010 was raised to Cardinal.

24. George Alencherry (66) Indian Indian, Senior Archbishop of Emakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabar Church, he was ordained a priest in 1972 in the syro-malabar Archbdiocese of Changanacherry, in 1996 Pope John Paul II named him to the syro-Malabar Dioceser of Thuchalay, in May 22011 was elected the Senior Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Church and confirmed by Pope Bnenedict XVI, and in February 2012 was raised to Cardinal.

25. Christoph Graf Schönborn OP (67), Austrian, in 1970 was ordained to the priesthood in the Dominican Order, in 1991 was made titular Bishop of Sutrium and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Vienna,  in 1995 he was made Archbishop Coadjutor of Vienna, in the same year he was then made Archbishop, in 1998 he was elevated to the rank of Cardinal.  Cardinal Schönborn was an elector at the Conclave of 2005 at which Pope Benedict XVI had been elected.

Text: Ciguena-torre/Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Vatican Insider


Link to katholsches...

Why is Catholic Insider Supporting Austrian Dissidents?

Edit: Catholic Insider is an internet blog started by Vaticanist Andrea Tornielli.  It seems to take a more conservative position with respect to most things and is very hostile to the FSSPX.  Now it's giving an unchallenged hearing to Austrian dissidents, chipping away at the Sacrament of Marriage.  Giving air to a dissident theologian, Father Eberhard Schockendorf, an instructor of Moral Theology in Salzburg,  who belongs to the ultra-Liberal "Austrian Catholic Action", Tornielli helps to take a few shots at the indissoluble Sacrament of marriage.

"Divorced and remarried persons are entitled to receive communion." At the seminar in Salzburg by Austrian Catholic Action, the German theologianEberhard Schockenhoff, a professor of moral theology at the University of Freiburg, has launched an appeal for a "theological re-evaluation " of divorced and remarried persons and a new way to interact with them by the Church. According to Schockenhoff, the Catholic news agency Adista reports, the Church must emphasize its readiness for reconciliation in the spirit of the biblical sources and the practice of the early Church, breaking away from an attitude of "moral condemnation" that provokes in the interested parties a "painful feeling of exclusion".

Focusing on the pain and alienation people feel is no excuse to change the nature of a Sacrament with respect to the reception of Holy Communion, but it can become a means through which to legitimate divorce.

Such rationales often form attacks on Catholic Sacraments.  These are things such as the personal shame involved, how difficult it is and that it constitutes a "pastoral" problem.

It is in fact the "pastoral" problem which has involved attacks on other Catholic doctrines, like sexual affairs, homosexuality and women priests.

Anything, including the murder of unborn babies, can be justified by such approaches, but Tornielli is more interested in pointing out that this dissident priest has written a book on the subject and he claims that Pope Benedict has even considered this to be an open question.  The question is also handled by another fallacious course of reasoning, by an appeal to archaism/  Tornielli continues:

Secondly, there is no reason that bars this step, either in the Scriptures or in the practice of the early Church. The reference to Jesus' words on the indissolubility of marriage before God, says the theologian, cannot simply be treated as a canonical norm, [How else are canonical norms developed if not out of the Fathers, Scripture and Tradition?] while in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and in the writings of St. Paul there would be "counter-tendencies" and "exceptional circumstances" in which divorce could be tolerated. And if the indissolubility of marriage remains "the only valid yardstick," this does not mean, Schockenhoff argues, that from a biblical point of view there cannot be "emergency situations" as an exception to this standard.

This "flexibility in rigor" [Tornielli is concerned with rigour, is he?] also characterized the practice of the early centuries of the Church. Similar positions were expressed, the German theologian points out, by Joseph Ratzinger who, in a 1972 essay, wrote that underneath or within the classical magisterium "there has always been, in practical ministry, a more elastic practice that has never been regarded as entirely consistent with the true faith of the Church, but that has never been totally ruled out"; regulated admission to the sacraments of the persons concerned, Ratzinger said, "is fully in line with the tradition of the Church."

The Holy Father may have written that questionable statement before he was Pope, but that doesn't mean he still subscribes to those opinions, nor does it mean that he's going to bulldoze over two thousand years of consistent tradition with regard to the Sacrament of Marriage in order to satisfy a small group of elderly dissidents in Austria and their disobedient leaders.

German Court OKs Insulting the Catholic Church

Edit: This is bad law any way it's sliced.  The can't honestly throw this case out and charge Bishop Williamson for the same thing later on.  Can they?  Perhaps this is the future of German justice in a land that sends millions of its children to certain death every year in abortuaries?

The Catholic Church may be referred to as a "Child F... sect"  --  Update:  Contact date Berlin Federal Court-- Berlin-Tiergarten and State Prosecutor


Berlin (kath.net/idea)  The Catholic church may now be referred to as a "Child F... sect".  That is the conclusion of the Federal Court in Berlin-Tiergarten.  The State Prosecutor had filed a complaint against Jörg Kantel, the author of the weblog, "Schockwellenreiter", because he leveled  an insult  of denominations, religious societies and communal world views (Para 166 StGB).  Kanthel had entitled an entry on the 29th of June 2011 as "Kinder f.... sect" where he described Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne as the head of the "Kinder f... sect".  He pled freedom of opinion and the press.  The standing judge refused the opening of main proceedings.   The statement was not meant to disturb the public peace because,  "in fact substantial discussions in public on the theme of abuse in the Catholic Church". Because the prosecutor lodged no appeal of the non-opening decision, this is final.  KATH.NET has asked the German Bishops' Conference for an opinion and will continue to report.

Link to kath.net...

Berlin Prosecutor's Site...

E-mail poststelle@sta.berlin.de

Imam Thinks Israel Should not Exist: Banned in Vienna!

Edit: it's not like the Immam is singing the praises of Medjugorje, promoting women priests or displaying blasphemous portraits at the Cathedral bookstore or anything. In any event, Cardinal Christoph von Schönborn had to move quickly to protect the reputation of his predecessor's masterwork of false irenicism.

He thinks the death penalty for adultery is justified, and denies that the State of Israel has a right to exist. [Gasp]  Update:  Only after media reports did Cardinal Schönborn forbid further entrance of radical preacher at Church Institute.

Vienna (kath.net) He thinks that the death penalty for adultery is justified.  He denies that the State of Israel has a right to exist. He is promoting the re-establishment of the Caliphate in the Islamic world.   And Shaker Assem, speaker of the Panislamic "Hizb ut-Tahir" (Party of Freedom), which planned a Califate conference for the 10th of March ("Die Presse", reports),  regularly preaches on Friday in the Islamic prayer center of the Viennese Afro-Asiatic Institute (AAI).   "Die Presse" news reported this on Friday.  The Institute was founded by Cardinal König as a "political development house of education"  and is according to the times an ecclesiastical foundation, which is supported by means from the Archdiocese of Vienna.

For AAI- business manager, Nikolaus Heger this is a "difficult situation",  over which there has been much discussion.  Assem is also a good "dialog partner", who  seeks discussion and disputation.  "If you were to pole Muslims, you would find many who do not believe Israel should exist."  Exactly for this reason, it is important to draw people like him into the dialogue, Hegner says.

Update on Friday:  The controversial Caliphate preacher Shaker Assem may not lead the Friday prayer of the Viennese Afro-Asiatic Institute (AAI).  The Archdiocese of Vienna reported this on Friday in a communique.  Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has come to this decision as the protector of the Institute founded by Cardinal Franz König with AAI- business leader Nikolaus Heger. "The Archdiocse must generate clarity over the situation, especially when the State authorities have not yet evaluated Imam Assem as a hate preacher," it reads.

More from Die Presse...

From kathnet...

Islamic States Condemn Attacks Against Churches in Israel

Edit: Israeli settlers have often been hostile to Christians living in Palestine in the past and many Christians have fled the Middle East to escape the violence coming from all sides in the conflict.

General Secretary of the Union of 57 Islamic States, Ihsangoglu, weighed sharp criticisms.

Riad (kath.net/KAP) The organization for Islamic Collaboration  (OIC) have roundly condemned the anti-Christian defacement of a Church in Jerusalem and are holding Israel responsible.  The attack against Church property occurred in succession with other attacks of Israeli extremists against Christian and Muslim property, explained the General Secretary of the Union of 57 Islamic States, the Turkish historian Ekmeleddin Ihsangoglu, on Wednesday in the Saudi Jeddah.

The international community must protect the holy places and put pressure on Israel, in order to bring an end to such activities and enforce the adherence to International Law, says Ihsanoglu.  Previous attacks by the radical Islamic Hamas against Christian and Islamic structures were condemned.  The occurrence is a witness of an "Israeli racism, which is established against a Palestinian presence in Jerusalem, whether it is Islamic or Christian."

On Monday anti-Christian slogans were discovered  on a Baptist church in the center of Jerusalem.  Additionally, three cars parked there had their tires slashed.  According to media reports the things that are on the church, things like curses against Jesus and his Mother Mary, and also "Death to Christendom" and "We will crucify you".

Two weeks previously there were threatening slogans written in Hebrew on the Greek Orthodox Holy Cross Monastery near the Israeli Parliament.

Link to kath.net...

Liturgical Abuse: Mardigras Mass in Germany

Edit: Ochsenhausen (Oberschwaben) A reader of piusbruderschaft.de sent a video he took with his camera to them. It follows a request by the German District of the SSPX for a halt to these blashemous and disrespectful practices of "Fools' Masses" or Mardigras Masses.

There is a five minute film below with some poor sound and visual quality, but it shows you the basic story. Mardigras (Fasching) Liturgies are extremely popular in some parts of Germany it seems. In point of fact, often playing the fool, many Secular and Order priests actually contradict the Second Vatican Council's decree on the Liturgy especially in so far as it specifically states that neither priests nor even bishops may alter its decrees and make changes.  Don't forget, rules don't apply to them (Liberals), they can do whatever they want.

The pastor, Dean Sigmund Schaenzel, presided over the liturgical abuse in a part of Germany called Schabia. He only uses the ambo once a year, and this year he threw flowers from it and the manuscript for his speach. The theme of this Mass, which included "schunkling" by the laity, which is a Doctor Seuss kind of thing where people link arms and sway back and forth to the music, alternating directions between rows.  It's really neat.  The theme for the Mass reads, "fall out of the frame". Everything about it is demeaning and whatever the intentions of the priest, these things clearly demean the Sacraments and make a mockery of the Vatican Council itself.

Holy Father to Priests: Do Not Accommodate the Opinions of the World!

Edit: we used the Douay Rheims translation.  It's interesting to see the Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, standing next to the Holy Father and bowing for the blessing in the most child-like way. The speech is a beautiful Lenten meditation which restates the humble truth about the first of all virtues.


Benedict XVI: there is need in the Church for the humility to accept also small roles.  Humility is the first virtue, which offers freedom in truth. translation from report Armin Schwibach.

Rome (kath.net/as) Every year at the beginning of Lent, Pope Benedict XVI meets with the clergy of his Diocese on this Thursday morning.  Also this year the meeting takes place in the audience hall of "Paul VI" at the desire of the priests in the framework of "lection Divina" rather than a free speech.  The "lectio" is inspired by a section from a letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians (Eph 4: 1-16)

I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called:  With all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity. Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 One body and one Spirit: as you are called in one hope of your calling.

 One Lord, one faith, one baptism.  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.  But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ.  Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive: he gave gifts to men.  Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens: that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors: For the perfecting of the saints, for the word of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. 

Until we all meet into the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ:  That henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive.  But doing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in him who is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in charity. [Douay-Rheims]

The great suffering, which has been endured by the Church in Europe and in the West, consists in a lack of vocations, said Benedict XVI.  The Lord therefore calls everyone.  For that it is necessary to hear this call.  The natural disposition of a priest is to be humble, mild and big hearted, because: "If I am humble, then I will also have the freedom to oppose myself to the prevailing thinking."  This humility empowers the priest to seek the truth.  Therefore it would e necessary to accept small roles in the Church, have have, however, great value in the eyes of God.

"I must accept my small position in the Church",  said the Pope.  The vain ostentation of those who do not teach this, finally oppose Him himself, and causes unhappiness.  The humility on the other hand leads, not to walk into appearances, but in deeds, "what God had considered for me and what for me is the part of Christian realism".  False humility on the other hand leads to the destruction of the unity of the Church.  To respect yourself and the other are two things which belong together. It is in that which consists the "great harmony of the Church and creation: that every one else is as the other."

The humble man obtains the freedom, in the name of truth to meet with those who are related to him.  The opposite of  humility -- the pride -- is then the root of all sins, which consist, in a desire to  stay in the midst of the world.  Christian being means, to resist this temptation,  to have humility before all others means a life lived in truth, which says:  "Only in my smallness can I be great".

Another great problem in the Church in today's times consists in "religious Analphabetism".  It is necessary to include  the content of the Faith,  the Pope cautioned, this is "not in the sense of a parcel of Dogmas."  Most of all, it must be done so that the priest can renew and make enable himself to meet Christ.

Many describe themselves as "worldly Catholics", in so far as they may have emancipated themselves from the Magisterium of the Church.   Actually, however, this is not the outcome of a "worldly Faith", rather a dependence upon the world.  True emancipation means much more, said Benedict XVI, pointedly, "free yourself from this dictatorship of opinion and believe in the Son of God".  Only in this way "is one able to find an answer to the challenges of our time."

Link to kath.net...

80 Percent of United Arab Emirate's Population is Foreign

The bell in the Catholic Church of St. Mary's in Dubai was founded by the then ruler, Sheikh Rashid Bin Said Al Maktoum.  by Abdullah Leonard Borek.

(kreuz.net)  The United Arab Emirates is a land with five million inhabitants on the easterly coast of the Arab peninsula.

To better understand the situation this land finds itself it should be known that about eighty percent of the people living in the country aren't native.

They come from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

From those who come from these lands, the majority living there are Christians.  There are no native Christians.

There are no Church domes


In the United Arab Emirates, as also in other Gulf states, Christians and other religious minorities can practice their religion unhindered.

The State  permits the teaching of the Christian religion in areas determined by law, in so far as they do not interfere with public interest or offend morality.

There are limitations respective of the public display of religious symbols

Otherwise churches may not have copper domes, mostly to exclude them from being compared to Mosques.

The State Helps


On the other hand, church communities  thoroughly enjoy the good will of the state.

This is shown for example in the properties put made available for church construction.

The bells of the Catholic Church of St. Mary in Dubai was founded in 1966 by the then ruder, Sheikh Rashid Bin Said Al Maktoum.

The Christians -- especially those from ethnically defined churches -- are generally not so well off as guest workers from the Indian subcontinent.

It is the case that these communities are not very often capable of the financial means to build their own churches.

They arrange things with established communities,  who posse their own churches.

German Supreme Court Acquits Bishop Williamson of Sedition

Update: In well over a month, the paranoid  Regensburg Chief prosecutor, Wolfhard Meindl, will continue a second complaint against Bishop Richard Williamson.  This was threatened by the 'Katholschen Nachrictenagentur' [KNA].  The complaint will involve again the supposed sedition.  It still allows, however, new charges in the same case.  Do German courts really allow double jeopardy?


Edit: apparently the Black Scare is being checked in Germany's highest court somewhat as Bishop Williamson is acquitted of sedition. It wasn't clear that he had intended his remarks for a wider audience in Germany.

Bishop Williamson at Pilgrimage
 in Fulda, 2006

The German muzzle-justice system, condemned throughout the world, must save what there is to save.  They have given the brave British have given absolute justice.

(kreuznet, Munich) The Supreme Court in Nürnberg have discontinued legal proceedings against British Hero Bishop Richard Williamson.

This was reported by the Court's press office on Wednesday.

Msgr Williamson had -- supposedly-- effected only an act of preparation.

It is being handled as "a (still) not punishable conduct" -- says the press office.

In order for a charge of sedition, Msgr Williamson would have had to express himself in public or to a gathering.

The criminal division stressed that the judgment does not testify that the historical inquiries are legal in muzzle-Germany.

The German Media Bosses are the Seditious Ones


The Regensburg Court did not specify in its verdict in which manner and where exactly in Germany the Bishop's interview had been published.

The evidence, therefore the facts of the case, were not adequately demonstrated.

It says only, that Msgr Williamson had to have understood that the interview also concerned Germany .  (Despite it being in English]


On the contrary, it was never explained, how and where there was any exception to giving a public interview for broadcast in Germany.

The Media Bosses Are Blamed


The State Prosecutor could, given the same facts of the case still make formal charges.

Then the whole case could be rolled out again.

The blameworthy German media bosses are interpreting the free speech as a "error of proceedure".

Muzzle-Justice From the Pressure of the Media Bosses


Regensburg Court had charged Bishop Williamson with a fine of 10,000 Euro.

The State Court confirmed the judgment and lowered the fine to 6,500 Euro.


Link to original...

Have the Plans for the Tower of Babel Been Discovered?

The scientific magazine, 'Geo' sees evidence -- Biblical Archaeologist Peter van der Veen: No, there is no  knowledge about the biblical Tower.

Hamburg/Schorndorf (kath.net/idea)  First, a contemporary building plan for the biblical tower of Babel has been discovered.  The scientific magazine 'Geo' (Hamburg) reports that the Babylonian ruler Nebukadnezar II (604-562 B.C.) had tried to rebuild the fallen tower.  An inscription from a stele gives information about the construction workers:  "I was mobilized from all lands everywhere, every man and every ruler."

This points to evidence that there could have been a Babylonian confusion of langauges, as it says in Genesis, written in the 1st Book of Moses, Chapter 11.  The tower is said to have a lateral length of 91.5 meters and had been about 90 meters tall.

At the top of the seven story of the building works (in Babylonian 'Ziggurat') there is to have been a Temple for the main deity of Babylon, Marduk.  The stele is in the possession of the Norwegian businessman Martin Schøyen.  Although its existence has long been known, the inscription was only officially published in the past year.

Biblical Archaeology:  No new knowledge

This revelation contains no new knowledge about the biblical tower, says Archaeologist Peter van der Veen (Schorndorf near Stuttgart).  He published a doctoral dissertation about biblical archaeology at the University of Mainz.

Structures of the kind described by Moses, were already present three millennia before Christ.  According to ancient sources, the Akkadian King Scharkalischarri around 2,200 B.C. is to have rebuilt a tower that was destroyed earlier.

Also known are towers from the time of the King Hammurabi of Babylon, in the 18th century before Christ, who was famous for his legislation.  This is probably the tower which Moses in the 15th century probably knew about, and came to his idea to write about the beginnings of humanity, said
Van der Veen.

The tower of Nebukadnezar, who lived 900 years later, could not have been the precursor of the biblical tower.  Nebukadnezar tried to copy one of these earlier towers in order to put himself at the stature of Hammurabi.

The evidence on the stele indicates, that the Babylonian stele, that the Babylonian ruler took many captives in war from numerous lands and used them as forced labor.  "There was certainly here a great  variety of languages being spoken.  They had nothing to do with Moses' account, which pointed to the confusion of languages denoting God's punishment for human arrogance,"  said van der Veen.

Link to original...

Pope's Homily: The Ashes Bring the Cosmos into the Liturgy

Pope Benedict XVI led a procession on Wednesday afternoon, from the church of St. Anselm to the Church of St. Sabina on the Aventine hill in Rome, where he celebrated Mass and distributed ashes to the faithful at the beginning of Lent.

Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and penance on which we begin a new journey towards the Easter of Resurrection, the journey of Lent. I would like to reflect on the liturgical sign of the ashes, a material sign, a natural element that, in the Liturgy, becomes a sacred symbol, so important on this day that marks the start of our Lenten journey. In ancient times, in the Jewish culture, it was common to sprinkle one’s head with ashes as a sign of penance, and to dress in sack-cloth and rags. For us Christians, there is this one moment which has important symbolic and spiritual relevance.

Ashes are the material sign that brings the cosmos into the Liturgy. The most important signs are those of the Sacraments: water, oil, bread and wine, which become true sacramental elements through which we communicate the Grace of Christ who comes among us. The ashes are not a sacramental sign, but they are linked with prayer and the sanctification of the Christian people. Before the ashes are placed on our heads, they are blessed according to two possible formulae: in the first they are called “austere symbols”, in the second, we invoke a blessing directly upon them, referring to the text in the Book of Genesis which can also accompany the imposition of the ashes: “Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return”.


Link to Santa Sabina....

Umberto Eco's New Book

Edit: Umberto Eco writes books Dan Brown only dreams he can write.  The title of Eco's new book points to a polarity in Europe during the 19th Century as one world attempts to destroy another.  

The Bohemian National Graveyards are places where "freethinkers" are buried.  In the history of American history, it underscores a divide which existed in the Czech immigrant community and back home.  Many Czechs did not want to be identified as Roman Catholic, and so they were buried in separate cemeteries.  The organization still exists today.

Umberto Eco's  touches on this polarity existent in the Europe of the 20th Century, and if his past books are any indication of this present book, it will be a book to the further disadvantage of Catholicism.

The highly anticipated, controversial novel, sold in more than forty countries Nineteenth-century Europe—from Turin to Prague to Paris—abounds with the ghastly and the mysterious. Conspiracies rule history. Jesuits plot against Freemasons. [As if Freemasons didn't plot against Jesuits] Italian republicans strangle priests with their own intestines. French criminals plan bombings by day and celebrate Black Masses at night. Every nation has its own secret service, perpetrating forgeries, plots, and massacres. From the unification of Italy to the Paris Commune to the Dreyfus Affair to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Europe is in tumult and everyone needs a scapegoat. But what if, behind all of these conspiracies both real and imagined, lay one lone man? What if that evil genius created its most infamous document? Eco takes his readers on an unforgettable journey through the underbelly of world-shattering events. Eco at his most exciting, a book immediately hailed as a masterpiece.

Link to Amazon.com...

Cardinal Cottier Sees the Anger of Satan in Vaticanleaks

As regards self-destructive powers in the Church and in the Vatican:  Satan is angry, because the Church is alive. A further chapter of "Vatican Leaks" turns. by Armin Schwibach

Rome (kath.net/as)  "Benedict XVI is the structural pillar":  the newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference, "Avvenire" entitled its interview on the 21st of February with the former theologian of the Papal House, George Cardinal Cottier (90).  In his address before the Consistory last week the Cardinal expressed himself on the most recent scandal in the wake of "leaks", through a confidential document from various posts of the Roman Curia were to the outside.


Although it seemed that the problems were solved primarily by the security services of the Vatican, the problem and those responsible have been identified, and the story of "Vatican Leaks" will have a sequen this Wednesday on the 22nd of February.  The TV channel "La7", which three weeks ago had broken the story of a letter with revelations of the former Secretary of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, and today's Nuncio to the United States, Carlo Maria Vigano', and his criticism of "corruptoin", he ascribed in the Vatican, will now interview one of the moles in the Vatican.


As far as this, the mole has also to disclose the motives of the "spies" and their number, which is given  in total about 20. What is clearly brought to the fore is that this is not the result of a "media campaign" but that the colleagues of the Pope in the Curia break their oaths of office and wage their own campaigns in the media.[!]  Why is this happening?  From anger or tedium, this is what the "mole" says in an interview with the show "Gli INtoccabili" (The Untouchables).


Probably it goes perhaps something more of what Cardinal Cottier pointed out in his interview with "Avvenire".  Benedict XVI does not allow himself to be daunted by the thunder storm and flood, which has the intention to shake the Church, because: he knows that the foundation will outlast the superficiality of this aspect.  Cottier had already considered the events of the last weeks during the days of the Consistorium and has contended with other Cardinals about it.


On this he has observed that he had not been the only one to have had these thoughts:  "In the past travails around the Church the work of Satan can be seen.  In the sense:  If the Church were only asleep in mediocrity or only concerned with intrigues and rivalries, the devil would not have much to do with it.  If he is interested in causing much disruption, that means that there is a vitaility in the Church, which Satan wants to oppose.  And this vitality is the power of the Faith, it is the Christian life, which advances all over the world these days."


Link to original...kath.net...

Polish Conference President: Freemasonry Without and Divisions Within the Church

The President of the Polish Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Jozef Michalik:  "We are seeing how the Church is being targeted, as various libertarian, atheistic and Free masonic circles are attacking."


Przemysl (kath.net/KNA)  Poland's Catholic Church is being driven to the wall, in the opinion of the president of its Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Jozef Michalik. "We are seeing how the Church is being targeted, as various libertarian, atheistic and Freemasonic circles are attacking," said a critical Michalik in a Pastoral Letter for Lent this Monday.


Even the "government institutions", which are actually promoting pluralism in the media, have finally "discriminated" against a Catholic television station. Michalik said, with a glance at the denial of a digital license for "Trwam", the TV broadcaster of the conservative "Radio Maryja", that the conscience of the nation is becoming focused. There are attacks on the Catholics that do not fall on liberal TV broadcasters and print media.


Much more dangerous in the Archbishop's estimation are "divisions within the Church".  Spiritual superiors and even Bishops have refused to obey.  Michalike did not name names in his pastoral letter.  The text should be available at a reading in the coming Sunday at Liturgies in the southeast Polish Diocese of Przemysl.


A spectacle concerns perhaps the Priest Piotr Natanek from the Diocese of Krakow.  He campaigned massively for the introduction as Jesus as King of Poland and called upon, despite warnings from the Catholic Church leaders, "the Knights of Christ the King".  The Krakow Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz had forbidden Natanek,  to celebrate Masses any longer or hear confessions.


The denial of a digital frequency for "Trwam"  has strained the relationship for weeks between the Church and the conservative-liberal government.  More than a million Poles signed, according to the TV broadcaster, a letter of protest to the Broadcasting Authority.  They refused the license because of the supposed financial instability of the broadcaster.  The membrs of the Broadcasting Authority are responsible to both chambers of Parliament and the State President.  Besides "Trwam" four other TV broadcasters with licenses have failed
.

Link to kath.net...