Bishop Kurt Krenn -- "Concern for the Church Determined His Life"

Edit: Today, and its vigil, is a day on which Austria has lost two great patriots and defenders of the Church.  Perhaps it is providential that Bishop Kurt Krenn now shares the day with Dietrich von Hildebrand, who passed away in 1977 on the 26th of January.  He was himself a tireless lion of the Faith, a polarizing figure and wrote:

The drivel of heretics, both priests and laymen, is tolerated; the bishops tacitly acquiesce to the poisoning of the faithful. But they want to silence the faithful believers who take up the cause of orthodoxy. [Thanks to societasregnumchristi.]

(St. Pölten) The Austrian Diocese of Sankt Pölten published an obituary by Bishop Klaus Küng on Former Bishop Kurt Krenn his predecessor, who passed away on Saturday at 20:17 after a long illness at the  age of 78.  Bishop Kurt Krenn was Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Vienna from 1987 to 1991  and from 1991 to 2004 the Diocesan Bishop of St. Pölten. Bishop Krenn, a staunch defender of the Church, then yielded, almost ten years ago, on the 29th of September 2004 when he was informed by the already seriously ill Pope John Paul II, that he wished for his resignation. Krenn obeyed, resigned, and has since led a reclusive life, increasingly marked by the illness of a broken fighter. A courageous warrior, on whom great injustice was inflicted, he was an intrepid Catholic voice that was brought too soon to silence. We document  the opinion of Bishop Klaus Küng on the death of Bishop Kurt Krenn.

"Concern for the Church has Determined his Life"

"Looking back on every life there is light and shadow," said Bishop Küng, "and sometimes it comes  in considering a controversial man  where one has to decide where the light ends and the shadow begins.  Bishop Kurt may have had weaknesses, his appearances and utterances must have irritated some people, yes, annoyed and offended. We also do not forget that his concern  for the Church and Her mission determined his life. In this respect, he can be a role model for each and every one of us."

Kurt Krenn was born on 28 June 1936 in Rannariedl (Upper Austria), the second in a family of six children of the teacher Karl Krenn, who died in the war. He graduated from elementary school in Oberkappel and high school in Schlierbach. In 1954 he entered the seminary Linz and studied theology first at the Philosophical-Theological Educational Institute Linz, then philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University and Canon Law at the Lateran University in Rome.

On 7 October 1962, he was ordained in the Church of St. Ignatius in Rome as a priest. This was followed by studies in Tübingen and Munich, where he worked from 1966 - 1970  as an assistant at the Faculty of Theology. 1970 - 1975 he was a professor of philosophy at the Philosophical-Theological College in Linz and for 3 semesters a lecturer at the Theological College of St. Pölten, 1975, he became appointed a full professor in the Department of "Systematic Theology" at the Faculty of the Catholic Theological Faculty at the University of Regensburg.

"As a professor, he was adored by quite a few," recalls Bishop Küng. "His manner of performance was distinguished by clarity and depth with the special ability to show the big picture as well as with references to  current problems. He had a very good memory and a brilliant  gift for formulation, was  very approachable in conversation, even with ordinary people. He was distinguished by his love for conversation. "

Krenn has eager to help  pastorally during  his time in Regensburg   in his home town, and was also there for the celebration of religious services and issues of special concern such as Pro-Life activities.

When Kurt Krenn was appointed on 3 March as the Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna in 1987, he experienced much resistance from the very beginning in which he did not shrink from confrontation. Entrusted with the fields of art, culture and science, he ably made his views known in lectures, sermons and interviews. "For him it was all about the mission of the Church as the herald of truth for the people of all times, even our time," says Bishop Küng. "Especially engaged, he defended the right to life of every human being from the moment of conception to natural death, trying to use every opportunity to study the role of the family in the development of society and the importance rooted in human nature itself, to explain  established human sexuality and to identify the correct understanding of conscience, especially in its relation to God's Commandments. The discussions, which he engaged, however, were often fierce."

Bishop Krenn's work as diocesan bishop of St. Pölten was then - probably just because of those  previous discussions - "very difficult," says Küng. " Bishop Krenn did  not succeed in defusing the resulting polarization with time. This has unfortunately played a role in reinforcing that over the course of years.. That is why it is still not easy, to do justice to his person, his efforts and his role. Those who knew him well know that he has not suffered just a little from the situation, it also shouldn't be overlooked that in the resulting tensions many others suffered as well. "

Link to Katholisches...

Link to photo of Dietrich von HIldebrand, taken from Legacy Project...

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD

Some Suggestions for the Upcoming Pan-Orthodox Council, Part 2

[The first part of this post can be read here.]

Having cautiously committed itself to further dialogue with Rome, the Pan-Orthodox Council should then make clear that the behavior of certain Popes of recent memory is as much a cause of disunity as what divides the Churches doctrinally. Indeed, full communion is simply impossible until the Eastern Churches clearly see that the Bishop of Rome can be trusted to govern the portion of the Lord’s flock entrusted to his care with diligence, justice, and prudence. To provide the Pope with an opportunity to earn and nourish this trust and to elicit from him the kinds of compromises that full communion will necessarily require, the Pan-Orthodox Council should make the following demands:

1. The Western Church should conform to the Eastern date for the celebration of Easter.

2. Rome must respect that right of her Eastern Rites to ordain married men to the priesthood in every place.

3. Rome must desist from any kind of inter-religious dialogue with non-Christians, including Jews and Muslims, that suggests that the Church does not seek the conversion of non-Christians to explicit faith in Jesus Christ, true God, true man, the prophesied Jewish Messiah, and God the Father’s definitive answer to mankind’s problems.

4. Most importantly, the Pope must realize that the liturgy as celebrated in accordance with most of the reforms authorized after the Second Vatican Council is as much a stumbling block to unity as the doctrines that divide us. The Pan-Orthodox Council thus demands that Rome return to the historic liturgical practices that once prevailed in the universal and undivided Church which Rome either centuries ago or more recently has abandoned, namely:

A) The West should rediscover the practice of fasting and abstinence at various times in the liturgical year; that, as in England, the whole Western Church should return to the laudable custom of meatless Fridays; that all those who have the wherewithal to do so should be encouraged to abstain from all animal products every day of Lent and Advent; and that a more intense period of fasting before the reception of Holy Communion be assiduously observed by all.

B) The West should seriously consider admitting married men to the priesthood.

C) The West must restore the Eastward facing (ad orientem) position of the clergy at all liturgical functions.

D) Only one Mass should be celebrated publicly per day in any given church, that the divine office be celebrated publicly and become once again a daily part of the Church’s life.

E) Only ordained ministers should touch the Consecrated Species except under the rarest of circumstances.

F) The Pan-Orthodox Council affirms the newly found Western practice of permitting Communion under both kinds for the laity and of permitting liturgies celebrated in the vernacular.

5. Finally, Rome should seek to maintain unity with those communities who feel they cannot at present accept the “reformed” liturgy and encourage the public celebration of her unreformed rites.

The careful and informed observer of these suggestions will note the following: 1. Nothing in this list constitutes a change in doctrine. Therefore, no one in Rome can refuse out of hand to consider these demands seriously. 2. If Rome were to concede any of these demands, life in the Roman Church would most probably improve; and, 3. Eastern Orthodox bishops opposed to full communion with Rome should be encouraged to vote for such a resolution, because they could reasonably conclude that if such a resolution passed, Rome would never accede to such demands and thus the path to full communion would be rendered impossible. In this way, the Council could achieve the necessary votes to pass such a resolution.

"Inter-Religious and Intercultural Center" Instead of Seminary of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest

(Alghero) After it was empty and unused for more than 40 years, the traditional  Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest  has  negotiated the purchase the former Papal Seminary from Cuglieri in Alghero. The news made ​​some Sardinian bishops so nervous that they were suddenly active after decades of disinterest. The purchase by the Catholic Canons Regular should be prevented. With success.

The 1990 canonically erected traditional Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest , which also has a German branch wanted the former Papal seminar avail as orden own seminary. The community enjoys many vocations, so that the current seminary in Tuscany has become too small (see report Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest Wants to Assume  Former Papal Seminary Cuglieri ).

Withdrawn From Sale Commitment in Sardinia  Region Again

The former Papal Seminary of Cuglieri had been transferred in 1970 by the bishops of the Mediterranean island to Cagliari.  Since then it has stood empty.  It was erected in 1927 at the expense of the Vatican and were purchased in 1976 by the Region of Sardinia. The region has since seen no use until 2012, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest appeared as an interested party and submitted a bid. 

Initially the region was delighted at the interest and had issued a sales commitment, but this was withdrawn under pressure from the bishops of Alghero and Oristano, again. The two bishops officially spoke out against a traditional  community  and were able to prevail in the Bishops' Conference of the island, although initially other bishops had expressed benevolence.

Bogeyman Tradition - Bishops Wanted to Prevent Establishment

The thwarting of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest by the bishops of the island has now finally succeeded. Last Friday the Sardinia Region and the Chairman of the Sardinian Bishops' Conference signed a common protocol. The former Pontifical Seminary of Cuglieri one of which is to be led by Caritas Sardinia  is going to become an "inter-religious and inter-cultural center" as the press service of the region announced.

The protocol signing was preceded by an agreement between Caritas and the Sardinian Bishops' Conference. The Bishops' Conference announced that the former seminary is for  "humanitarian progress to support the weak  and mercy  to serve as Emeritus of Pope Benedict XVI.  would have desired." [Wouldn't it be great if he publicly repudiated this?]

Instead of Priestly Formation "Interfaith" Integration of Migrants

The head of government of the region, Ugo Cappellacci said on the sidelines of the signing protocol that the buildings
"are now home to major national and international project."  To which what "significant" projects it should be accomplished, was not explained. 

Signatories to the agreement are Prime Minister Ugo Cappellacci for the Region Sardinia, Archbishop Arrigo Miglio of Cagliari as chairman of the Bishops' Conference and Sardinian Andrea Loche, the mayor of Cuglieri.

The "inter-religious and inter-cultural center" is to become a "center of the integration of different peoples, that points to the future, as a symbol that integration is possible. Not by being sufferers, but by being encouraged and built up," said the press release.

The Protocol states that "future activity" to take place in the former seminary  will be especially for "education and research" on the topic of immigrant integration in the context of school-based initiatives. The former Pontifical Seminary of Cuglieri is to be for  "promoting the economic and social development and cooperation between Mediterranean countries and a place of encounter and dialogue".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Cuglieri / ICRSS
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...
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Pope Francis Receives François Hollande -- 10,000 Catholics Ask Pope for "Clear Words"

(Paris / Vatican) On 24 January French President François Hollande was received by Pope Francis in audience. The contrast could not be greater. France's socialist government is in a hard cultural struggle against the non-negotiable principles and thus against the Catholic Church. To be precise, it is a brutal war of extermination with abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage, adoption rights for homosexuals, surrogacy and gender ideology. A group of French Catholics has appealed to Pope Francis. The call has a petition that has been signed within a few days of more than 100,000 Frenchmen. The appeal in full:

Your Holiness,

You have granted the President of the French Republic an audience and will receive him in the coming 24 January  at the Vatican.

With faith and hope, we turn to you, Your Holiness, to ask you to kindly to make known to  Monsieur François Hollande  to address the deep unease and growing concern of many French Catholics.

Because  French Catholics,  who  have demonstrated en masse  in order to express their rejection of the so-called Mariage pour tous-law, an unjust law that arbitrarily deprives the child of his right to have  a father and a mother  discomfort, and the gate that has opened  the door for the commercialization of the human body have  not been heard by Monsieur François Hollande. These rallies, although peaceful, have been suppressed by unworthy methods, such as, among others, we have even been charged under the lamented European Union and its resolution No. 1947.

Unhappy because the French Catholics have been the object of a media smear campaign of rare hardness for the last  year. The Church desecrations have multiplied in recent years, especially by Femen , a group of radical feminists. This profanation has been hardly found any response in the media. No member of the government or the responsible politicians of the ruling majority considered it necessary to condemn this desecration, which deeply hurt us, and not even a word of solidarity was pronounced. The ads were allowed to be posted. Many French Catholics can not help but to draw a comparison to the strict, unanimous and legitimate reactions against those responsible when other religious communities are under attack in France.

Unhappy finally, because no longer lett the ridicule, the teasing and the attacks on  the highest places can't even be counted.  On a  large national radio station, the Minister of Labor made a joke about the Holy Eucharist ​​a few months ago, declaring, among other things: "We don't make any  invocations. We are not at the Mass, to pray. We are acting."  On social networks, the parliamentary staff of a socialist senator and cosigner of the gay marriage law, for the crowd to be fired upon, who were demonstrating against the Lex Taubira  and this senator still received the full support,  Such examples like this are unfortunately,  very many. French Catholics are tired of being a religious group that can be disparaged with impunity.

There is worry because these attacks against Catholics are a large step backwards in  fundamental and human rights, which is fostered by the Government through the promotion and blows the culture of death.

Last July  the National Assembly (lower house of parliament) established the conditions for research on human embryos. The French Catholics affirm their rejection of an idea of the child, where the child doesn't have any rights outside of his parents plans for him.

Recently, the offense of "obstruction of abortion" on the mere expression of criticism in the killing of unborn children was extended. French Catholics to be denied in this way, in violation of the freedom of expression, which was previously a basic pillar of our democracy, to express their opposition to abortion and abortion policy in the future.

The government lays the foundations to bring a bill to a vote, legalizing euthanasia. To this end, many were members of the National Ethics Committee of Monsieur François Hollande included, which today has no religious members.

Finally, the education minister, who is actively promoting gender theory at the schools said, without any ifs and buts according to his will: "We need the Catholic religion to be replaced by a republican religion" and "any  qualifications by  the student must be torn out by the roots" including the familial bond. In this way, the educational rights of parents to educate their children according to their beliefs is threatened.

Your Holiness will naturally find better words than we do, to bring our discomfort on the topics expressed here. However, we ask with confidence and gratitude, that you will officially pronounce to Monsieur François Hollande during his visit this coming 24 January, the terrible concern of many French Catholics. It is an honor for us to be able to say with the greatest respect, to be the humble servant of Your Holiness.

A Group of French Catholics

Translation into German: Giuseppe Nardi according to the statement by  Abbé Pierre Laurent Cabantous
image: Wikicommons / tempos (assembly)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Katholisches...
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Some Suggestions for the Upcoming Pan-Orthodox Council, Part 1

Word is beginning to spread that the Eastern Orthodox are going to have a worldwide, Pan-Orthodox Council in 2015. Contrary to what our detractors probably think, we at the EF have always been firm supporters of authentic ecumenical (i.e. inter-Christian) dialogue whereby, by prayer, fasting, and thoughtful theological exchange, all those who glory in the name of Christian might gradually grow together into that full, visible, and canonical unity so ardently desired for the Church by her Divine Founder, but contrary to what we could have possibly hoped for, none of us ever imagined that the Eastern Orthodox would convene such a council in our own lifetime. We thought perhaps that a single, autocephalous Orthodox jurisdiction would form in the United States, but never a world-wide pan-Orthodox council of all the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

It goes without saying that such events are very, very rare. Because the Orthodox are not agreed among themselves as to which was the last universally binding council, their theologians will either point to Nicea II (787) or Constantinople V (1351) as the last time authoritative representatives of their churches assembled to address matters of doctrine. Indeed, some might say that if there is no Roman Emperor or Czar to convene a council, it can only be pan-Orthodox, not ecumenical. 

Because no representative of either of the major Patriarchates has so far indicated what would be on the Council’s agenda, and no blogger has made any serious proposals for discussion, although we at the EF are not Eastern Orthodox, in the spirit of fraternal love and charity, we believe the following could make a serious contribution to the quest for unity between our respective Churches.

1. The question of the calendar should be permanently resolved.

2. The Council should commit its constituent Churches to pursue communion with Rome cautiously, first by affirming the following:

A) The Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church are an important historic reality that need not impede the path to unity and towards which the Eastern Orthodox Churches intend no animosity.

B) Rome is to be commended for encouraging de-Latinization among her Eastern Rites.

C) Rome is to ensure that the FIlioque not be recited in liturgical celebrations outside the Roman Rite in accordance with the sound practice of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

3. The Pan-Orthodox Council should commit its constituent Churches:

A) To working with the papacy to re-evangelize Europe, to fight the onslaught of the totalitarian secularist state, and to defend the rights of Christians in the Muslim world;

B) Not to re-baptize, re-chrismate, or re-ordain Christians for any reason who have already received these sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church (i.e. to condemn with the Western Church the Donatist heresy);

C) To continue the work happily begun by the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, and to encourage it to face with courage whatever may be dividing the Churches in the theology of Augustine of Hippo or Anselm of Canterbury, and in the decrees of the First Vatican Council.

To be continued… [Edit: Part 2 can be read here.]

Aberrosexual "Secret Society" in the Vatican? Colonel Elmar Mäder Describes Security Risk

(Vatican) The gay lobby outside and inside the Vatican is getting the headlines again. On 6 June 2013 it was Pope Francis himself who spoke of a homo-lobby in the Vatican. Now it is the retired Colonel Elmar Mäder, who was the commander of the Swiss Guard from 2002 to 2008.

In June of the previous year Pope Francis received the board members of the Latin American and Caribbean Conference of Religious CLAR  in audience. From participants a memory log of the Pope's statements was published subsequently without consultation.

"And, yes .. it is difficult. In the curia there are also holy men, really, there are holy people. There is talk of a gay lobby, and it's true, it's there ... We have to see what we can do. Pray for me ... that I should make as few mistakes as possible. "

"Homo network in the Vatican"

Last Sunday the article appeared in the weekly newspaper  Switzerland on Sunday,  "Ex-Guard Chief Warns of a Secret Society." This contained the published testimony of the former Guards Commandant Elmar Mäder.  The 51-year-old Mäder knows the Vatica very well. Initially he was four years from 1998, the Vice-Commander, then six years commander of the Swiss Guard. The scandal and horror stories that are often told about the Vatican, he denied: these "cock and bull stories obviously lack any factual basis." The existence of a homo-lobby in the Vatican, he does not deny, however: "The claim that there is a gay network, I can not refute. My experience speaks for the existence of such."

From Mäder is said that he expressly warned his young guards against certain clergy and intervened against homo-machinations directly and in writing to the Curia. This had contributed to his departure as a commander.[!]

"To work in an environment where the large majority of men are unmarried is, per se, a magnet for homosexuals, whether they seek consciously or unconsciously to follow an urge,"   said Switzerland on Sunday  citing the Colonel. "The Roman Curia is certainly the type of such an environment. Just as it comes as little surprise that pedophiles can be found in many   environments with children such as schools or sports clubs," says Maeder.

"Gay Lobby" as a "Secret Society"

The former Guard Commander sees the existence of the homo lobby in the Vatican as a danger to the security of the Pope. "I have also learned that many homosexuals tend to be more loyal to each other than to other persons or institutions. If this loyalty goes so far that it is a network or even a kind of secret society, I would not tolerate it in my area of responsibility. In the Vatican,  people who make decisions now seem to think alike."

Had Pope Francis spoken of a "gay lobby",  Colonel Mäder speaks of a homosexual "secret society".

Maeder's statements are consistent with those of a former Swiss guard in the previous week in Switzerland on Sunday of having reported experiencing personally  overtures by a representative of the State Secretariat and a Cardinal years ago.

The spokesman of the Swiss Guard, Urs Breitenmoser, tried to smooth the waves in a first reaction   after  Mäder's statements: "votes on a homo-network in the Vatican are not our problem. The concerns of our men are exclusively of a religious and military nature. "

Round-Up of Aberrosexual-associations Against Colonel Mäder

Mäder's statements caused  homo-associations to a gather in a sweeping blow to the plan, they polemicized against the former Guards Commander. Except for provocations and propaganda, however, little was heard.  In a flood of words, the homosexuals categorically stifled all objections as victims of  "homophobes". The Chairman of the homo-association Equality compared Mäder's statements about homosexuals to the Nazi persecution of Jews and accused Mäder of being "homophobic" like  Russia's President  Vladimir Putin.

The key question remains: What's with this gay lobby in the Vatican itself? Their existence was confirmed by the words of Pope Francis from the highest authority. Colonel Mäder speaks of a "danger" and "security risk".

Pope Francis: "Gay Lobby" Ricca-appointment, Controversial Statement on Homosexuality

Just a few days after the encounter with the CLAR representatives Pope Francis appointed Msgr. Battista Ricca, the Director of the guest house Santa Marta, his personal representative and House Prelate of the Vatican bank IOR. The  pederastic [One of his victims was an underage prostitute. This is invariably overlooked.] past of the Monsignor was uncovered by Sandro Magister. Nevertheless, Pope Francis never wavered on the appointment.

But there were more problems for Ricca when he was attacked in a cruising ground that year, and soon after firemen had to rescue him from a broken lift, in which he was trapped with a youth [!] known by local police. The weekly news magazine L’Espresso claims that Msgr Ricca was able to get the position as IoR prelate because the supposedly powerful “gay lobby” in the Vatican airbrushed his colourful CV.

On the flight back from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro Pope Francis was asked about his statement about the existence of a homo-lobby. The Pope then tried to downplay his statement without taking it back. He differentiated between homosexuals and the lobby. Among the homosexuals, it fell apparently  to refer to  Msgr Ricca, without mentioning him by name, with the controversial sentence: "Who am I to judge him."  The gay lobby, however, he condemned. However, only because it was a  lobby since the formation of lobbies is "always bad".

When visiting the Salesian parish of Sacred Heart in Rome   Pope Francis assured on Sunday: "He will also forgive sins even those which it would require trucks to transport them. But if we do not call the wounds by name, they can not heal. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: tempos / Wikicommons
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
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Gänswein: Commission Will Exonerate Tebartz-van Elst

Prefect of the Papal Household, "I do believe that the investigation will clear up allegations of wasting money, non-communication and skipping of controlling bodies in favor of the bishop" - Cardinal Lehmann: "media campaign."

Regensburg (kath.net / KNA) The Prefect of the Papal Household, Archbishop George Gänswein (photo), expects the exoneration of Limburg's Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst by the Episcopal Conference Commission. "I do believe that the investigation will clear up allegations of a waste of money, non-communication and skipping of controlling bodies in favor of the bishop," Gänswein said in an interview with the online edition of the "Mittelbayerischen Zeitung" in Regensburg.

The result must then be submitted to the Congregation for Bishops in Rome, continued the private secretary of Benedict XVI. "Only then, and after careful consideration, the Holy Father will himself make the decision."

Gänswein took part on Sunday in the celebration of the 90th birthday of Georg Ratzinger in Regensburg, representing the emeritus pope. "For him, it was comforting that I have come to his side. But it is also naturally a bit difficult for him." Benedict XVI. will no longer journey to Regensburg, not even secretly, says Gänswein. "After so many years of experience, I think that's impossible."

Georg Ratzinger turned 90 years old on 15 January. Today he celebrated Mass  along with his brother in Rome, who is four years younger. On Sunday in Regensburg, a Pontifical Mass in his honor was held in the cathedral. There, the Cathedral Choir led by the former Director of Music for one of his own compositions on the Mass "L'Anno Santo". On Saturday they had surprised the former Director of Music with a serenade outside his home. Georg Ratzinger headed the world-famous choir from 1964 to 1994.

Cardinal Lehmann took a position in the CBA interview about Tebartz van Elst and replied that after a visit with Pope Francis, the matter should be made clear as soon as possible, so that it should not endanger the Church's spirit of optimism. Because the process fosters mistrust and a hostile sentiment against the Church.

"I told him that I think the Limburg Bishop is a very intelligent, well educated, communicative and polite man, of whom I have never experienced anything of wasteful swank," said Lehmann as to his view of the Pope's audience, however, a certain policy of secrecy is said to have burdened the process, and. «a media campaign has stoked it." 90th birthday of Monsignor Georg Ratzinger - With Curia Archbishop Georg Gänswein and Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer - Celebration in Regensburg Pontifical Mass in Regensburg Cathedral in honor of Domkapellmeister em.

Georg Ratzinger (C) 2013 Catholic News Agency KNA GmbH. All rights reserved. Archbishop Gänswein Photo (c) Paul Badde

"The Catholic Church is the Enemy" The Dictatorship of Relativism -- Document of the International Theological Commission

(Rome) on 16 January 2014   the Pontifical International Theological Commission published an extensive and remarkable document  "The Triune God, Unity of People. Christian Monotheism Against Violence ".  [It's not finished being translated] It is the result of five years of work that has been reviewed and approved by the Prefect of the CDF, the Cardinal designate Gerhard Ludwig Müller. "I'm afraid to make a reliable forecast, if I assume that this long and complex document finds few readers, and low media coverage and therefore will soon be forgotten," said the religious sociologist Massimo Introvigne. "This is bad: because this great work, desired and ordered by Benedict XVI.  and now completed under Pope Francis, is of really remarkable quality, which answers and denounces point by point the  unprecedented aggression against the Church by the prevailing anti-clerical culture ," said Introvigne.

"Catholic Christianity" is the "intransigent obstacle"  in this fight. The document describes the Catholic church as an enemy of the prevailing secular current, setting the tone with dogged, influential forces. This is not only in universities, but also in much of the media.

How should the church be destroyed? By making her responsible for all the worst atrocities in history. Blame is their absolute truth claim, which is guaranteed by God the Creator. A truth that can be known by reason and by the nature. This Catholic rejection of relativism and monotheism are to blame for bigotry and intolerance.

Because of their Claim to Truth, the Church is to Blame for all the Crimes of Humanity

A total relativism, says the document, seeking  for a unity of thinking, which each and everyone would have to submit. A thinking that leads to the dictatorship of relativism that attacks anyone who thinks that there is the truth. The truth is instead referred to "explicitly as a radical threat to the autonomy of the subject" and an opening to freedom. This was especially so because everyone is entitled to objective and universal truth that applies to everyone and is accessible to the human mind, is immediately challenged with an exclusive claim by a subject or group. This would, according to critics, lead to the justification of hegemony over man,   that it does not give. Truth is thus brought in inseparable connection to power, so they each claim and it is seen as a template for conflict and violence between people.

For the dictatorship of relativism, the Church was the main responsible for this violence because it teaches monotheism.But if there is only one God, then there is only one truth. If there is, however, different gods, then there are also different truths. Only the polytheism guarantee relativism. The new ideology thus represents a radical reversal compared to the previous history of religion represents, and the secular, the previously considered monotheism as progress towards polytheism. This "reversal of the modern frame is unexpected: now monotheism is considered archaic and despotic, polytheism as creative and tolerant."

Commission rejects Equating  Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Certainly Christians have succumbed to the temptation of violence over the course  of history,  but significantly less than others, and especially far less than the anti-Christian ideologies. However, to make the Christians but also responsible for the massacres that were committed by other religions, harkens back to either category, which has been discussed by the history of religion for some time: the category of the "three great monotheistic religions." Although this expresses some truth, but treats Judaism, Islam and Christianity as a whole, although they represent three totally different realities. However, the dictatorship of relativism sums it under the heading of "monotheism". Even Islamist suicide bombers can then be dialectically pushed to Christianity.

It belongs to the special merits of the new document to reject the generalized classification of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as the big three "monotheistic religions".It's particularly meritorious, because an undifferentiated equation is also common in parts of the Catholic world.

The purpose behind why the new radical secularism picks this reworked old theory is not inter-religious dialogue, which it was originally intended, but to attack religion, whose main purpose again,  is the attack against Christianity and to be exact, the attack against the Catholic Church. "We can not but hide the fact that in an intellectually relevant part of our western society, the aggressiveness with which this 'theorem' is put forward, is mainly focused on a radical indictment of Christianity," says the document. "The systematic identification of Catholic Christianity as an entrenched obstacle in the fight against monotheism," the widespread religious violence in the world leave, despite not a little remarkable.

Refutes Allegations of Relativists Point by Point

The document has refuted point by point the accusations of the relativists. This includes the interpretation of some warlike and bloody events of the Old Testament, for which the proof is provided that they fit into a specific historical context, are to be read as metaphors for the struggle against the devil and moral evil, and especially that they were then overcome by the message of the Gospel. In a not very easy to read part of the document, which follows the Magisterium of Benedict XVI., it is pointed out that in Christianity, a distinction between religion and politics was permitted for the first time in history, so that the autonomy of politics is established and overcame the temptation of theocracy. 

The document also rejects the claim that polytheism is tolerant. In the cultural climate of polytheist religions, the most horrible massacres against the followers of other religions were committed. The equation of polytheism with tolerance sounds downright foolish. Even "the polytheistic religion of the Roman Empire, despite the extraordinary modernity of its understanding of citizenship  and its multi-ethnic and multi-religious figure, persecuted Christianity with specific hardness, which had made itself guilty  of only refusing the adulation of the emperor as a divine figure."  The Christian response was the nonviolent witness and the willingness to accept martyrdom, as the document recalls.

Modern violent ideologies are the polytheism of today

A fortiori the modern ideologies were bearers "of a growing and worrying lifestyle and behaviors," which are characterized by "spontaneous, immediate and destructive" force. A violence that is self-conscious of their less and less and even "ethically justified" by law and approved. The ideologies, especially the destructive 20th Century, represent, in fact, the new polytheism, in which "the man who is disposed to the good Creator God hostile in his possession" as He "to become a" perverse God "is who misuses his power over his fellow man. From the polytheism of the Nazi double of the "perverse God," is the result of original sin does not bode well for the peaceful coexistence of people can come, as the document notes.

The Goal is the Elimination of God and the Denial of Freedom in the Name of Freedom

The aggression against the Catholic Church and Christians is based on the "prejudice that is typical of the rationalist model, according to which there is also an existential and social level, only one form to affirm the truth: the denial of freedom or the elimination of the opponent. "It derives a target of eliminating God from and sometimes ingratiating, sometimes violent enforcement of atheism, including the consequent denial of freedom.

The removal of God on the basis of a "naturalistic" reason, often combined with a "biological" solution of human freedom. According to this perspective, our brains have only thought of God. A process that is associated with a particular "stage of evolution".

Eliminate Religion as a "Pathology" to Make Room for the "Perverse God"

The religion is therefore a pathology, that must be purged. The future that is formed by the ideologies of humanity, is a future of violence and death. "Today we live in," concludes the document, "a time of persecution" of the Church. This persecution must be borne, in anticipation of the "hoped-for conversion for all." For the patience to endure this tribulation, we are indebted to many brothers and sisters who are already suffering because of their Christian faith. They give the decisive answer to the question of the meaning of Christian mission for all. They are already opening the way with their courage  to a different future in the relationship between religion and violence among people. The document refers to the need, to call upon  the Virgin Mary to intercede in a special way, as she is the indispensable guardian of the new time and its spiritual fruits.

The German translation of the document is currently only available to the introduction. The overall translation is soon to be submitted.

Text: NBQ / Giuseppe Nardi
image: archdiocese of Cologne
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches....
AMGD

Priest and President of the Rotary Club Rhön Presents a Cheque to a Forbidden Organization

15 January 2014 15:59 | Message to the Editor

The Fulda professor of Pastoral Theology and Homiletics Dr. Richard Hartmann has in his capacity as President of the Rotary Club Rhön, presented the President of the Regional Group of Donum Vitae, Ms. Hohmann, a check for 3.000, - €, reports Osthessen-News. 

So it is that the elected representative of the Catholic Church has supported a group officially banned by the church.

Heinz Josef Algermissen, Bishop of Fulda, has been a member of Rotary International for a long time.

In the so-called service clubs, including Rotary International is one, there is a strict duty of confidentiality about memberships and internals.

"Under the premise of this secrecy is there not the substantial risk  that an organization insinuates itself in the Church, which has expressly excluded the religious from their program, e.g. the appointment of bishops and the spiritual orientation," asks the Zusammenschluss Papstreuer Vereinigungen.. [Consortium of Associations Loyal to Rome]

A Google search shows, incidentally, that many bishops are moved to  cultivate association with Rotary Clubs. The question is asked: who influences whom. Are the Rotarians becoming Catholic, or the bishops Rotarians? 

Text: Linus Schneider

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

French Education Minister Visits Kindergarten to Tell Boys They Can Be Girls: Man Dumps Tons of Manure in Front of Parliament

(Paris), France's Minister is going to kindergartens  in order to explain to the boys that they should play with dolls and the girls that they want to play with the beginning of the program of "ABCs of Equality" . This is an attempt to work "against gender stereotypes" in the age group of three to six year old children. Minister of Education Vincent Peillon and women's rights minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem form  the ideological spearhead of the socialist government, who are going to kindergartens to start yet another  new government program.

The fight against "gender stereotypes" is officially underway in France. In order to put  the ideological re-education in effect, it already starts with small children in preschool. The state takes over the education of children and wants to start as soon as possible with a one-sided indoctrination. The program is based on   gender ideology, which states that  the biological sex is not decisive, but the perceived gender. The left-liberal "liberation struggle" will "liberate" man and woman allegedly from  socially "enforced" gender roles.

Book Recommendation: "Father Wearing a Skirt"

The socialist government program aims to "educate for a culture of equality between the sexes" and  "eliminate prejudices and stereotypes that can be the basis for discrimination."

The government has set up a special website to spread among the teachers "appropriate" instructional material for the support of the ideological perspective of the Socialist Party (PS). The largest teachers' union, which belongs to the left trade union cartel, supports the government and recommends that the teaching staff to use books that are "deconstructing gender stereotypes".  For that reason, books are recommended like "I Have Two Dads Who Love Each Other" or "Father Wearing a Skirt".

Minister Peillon (see separate report France: Jewish Education Minister: "We need to replace Catholic Religion by a Republican Religion" ) and Minister Vallaud-Belkacem (see separate report France: Website of the Government for Abortion and Against Pro-Lifers [German]) are both socialists and firmly anchored in the Masonic network  (see report Hollande's "Charter of Laïcité" Identical with Masonic Proposal - Pure Coincidence ). The two Ministers continued their "struggle" in kindergarten on Monday  "against all forms of self-censorship" and continued by holding highly charged ideological speeches to children aged 3-6 years: "both boys and girls can play with toy cars." Or: "Today, there are many women who make war and are therefore called soldiers." Or, "Are they only reserved to be dancing girls? Can a woman be a bricklayer? Can a boy play with dolls?"  Of course, the minister told the children and encouraged them explicitly to do so.

Euthanasia, abortion, divorce

The fight against "gender stereotypes" is not the only ideological battle front of  Francois Hollande's government.On the day after his two ministers marched out for the first time out in a kindergarten ideologically to coerce infants, the President announced a plan to introduce euthanasia. For the next 13 February, the socialist ruling party summoned their senators to discuss for the introduction of a bill for a "dignified death".

The abortion law will again be debated in the French parliament on January 20th. The government also wants to raise the unpunished killing of unborn children to a "human rights like the others."  According to the Estrela Report, which failed two times at the level in the European Parliament, France's Socialists want to continue the way single-handedly.

Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, is the originatress of the famous-infamous Loi Taubira "Marriage pour tous" , in which "gay marriage" was legalized in 2013, according to the journalist and author Sophie Coignard of the female Grand Lodge 'Grande Loge Féminine de France' (GLFF). A year ago Taubira issued instructions to immediately recognize that children born  abroad  to surrogate mothers are French citizens. A first step towards the legalization of surrogacy which is banned in France surrogacy, which is urged by aberrosexualist organizations. The atheist from French Guiana will now impose the quick divorce as well. If a divorce is based on consensus, they will in future be recognized by court clerks with an informal act.

Protest Against Government Policy

"The killing of an unborn child will be reduced to a trivial solution, to which one could have access at any time," said Archbishop André Cardinal Vingt-Trois of Paris, criticizing the new abortion plans of the government. Regarding the express divorce, he said: "This is a serious way to conceal the harmful consequences for society. Because people are acting as if there were no consequences."

Meanwhile   a man unloaded several tons of manure to protest against President Francois Hollande outside Parliament in Paris. On 2 February the civil rights movement Manif pour tous is back on the streets in Paris to protest against government policies.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Tempi

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...
AMGD

Catholic Moral Teaching? The German Collision Course Between Bishops and Professors

(Bonn) German moral and pastoral theologians spring to the side of Zollitsch and Marx in their struggle against Catholic moral teaching. In the course of the confrontation of the  German bishops with Rome, the bishops had been defeated. Despite the "wish" of a group of bishops expressed to Pope Francis, not to raise Gerhard Ludwig Müller  Prefect of the Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith to Cardinal, the German Prefect will obtain his biretta on 22  February.

"The church needs to change its stance on sexual morality. The year is 2014 AD.  It's been  years since we entered the third millennium. It's really impossible that Rome still thinks of celibacy and marriage as alternatives that give meaning to life. "In short, old habits are finally halted,  its necessary to turn to the new,  to the moderns, what people want and do anyway.  These and others like them voice  the black and white  opinion of leading representatives of the Association of German Moral Theologians and the Conference of the German-speaking Pastoral Theologians (Use of inclusive language to include women). 

In the first case it is according to its own definition a  congregation of those teaching at German universities and research-and emeritus professors of moral theology. In the second, it includes the same faculty members of the departments of Pastoral Theology from all over German-speaking countries, including the Netherlands.

"Collective Answer" German Moral and Pastoral Theologians Conform in Line with Zollitsch & Marx

"20 moral and pastoral theologians" replied jointly to the Roman questionnaire on the preparatory document of the Synod of Bishops on the topic of family. Involved are moral and pastoral theologians from various universities. emeritus professors of Münster, Mainz, Graz, Benediktbeuren, Tilburg, Dortmund, as well as the promoters of school sex education John Gründel (Munich) and Hans Kramer (Bochum). Among the resources is to be found the Viennese moral theologian Gunter Prüller-Jagenteufel , who is married to the director of the Pastoral Office of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Veronika Prüller-Jagenteufel,  as well as Eberhard Schockenhoff of Freiburg in Breisgau, the Jesuit Josef Schuster of St. Georgen. More surprising in this circle is the pastoral theologian and Cistercian Norbert Stigler of the University of Heiligenkreuz [They're supposed to be good...] near Vienna.

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

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

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

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

Austria: More Leaving Church Under Pope Francis Than Under Benedict XVI

(Vienna) in Austria in 2013, there were more than leaving the church than in 2012. Nearly 55,000 Catholics have left the Catholic Church as a corporate body under public law. Thus more Austrians left the Church in the first year of the pontificate of Pope Francis, than in the last year of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. The church leaders wonder about this phenomenon, which they had not expected.

"We would have expected better numbers," said the Bishop of Linz Vicar William Viehböck. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. there was  relief heard from not a few official church authorities in Austria. The reasons are to be sought in the different understanding of the Church. The election of Pope Francis was greeted with cheers. Since then everything will "different" and "better". But the harsh reality has caught up to the diocese now.

No "Bergoglio Effect" -Church Leaders Puzzle

After the election of the new Pope a "a palpable mood swing" had occurred,  says Viehböck. The "mood" does not seem to be of the desired type. A "mood" seems to be no solid foundation for the Church. At the management level, one tries to maintain optimism and push the "Bergoglio effect" to the next year. Negative events would prove to act  even "faster" than positive, says Vicar Viehböck consolingly.

The increase in leaving the Church does not fit the image. It dampens the alleged "change of mood". By leaving the numbers regularly leaving the Church  seen driven by   progressive church policy   in recent years. The withdrawals were attributed to real and fictitious scandals or  the "conservatives" were blamed. Once the fault was because Bishop Kurt Krenn was appointed Bishop of Sankt Pölten, then the alleged "abuse scandal" of Vienna's Archbishop Cardinal Hans Hermann Gröer or because Pope Benedict XVI. wanted to appoint the "hardliner" Pastor Gerhard Maria Wagner as Auxiliary Bishop of Linz.

Numbers of People Leaving Church Exploited by  Progressive Church Policy

The new figures refute this transparent, but black and white image, thanks to support of the media. In recent years  leaving the church had been interpreted by "appointed" sides as an "outcry" against "the log jam" and "backwardness", yet there is currently a conspicuous silence. Church districts which are faithful have been demanding a fact-based analysis for years.  The individualization and dissolution of Church affiliation will be only be promoted rather than stopped by the progressive agenda with destruction of the liturgy, attenuated evangelization efforts and a staff that is no longer really Catholic, but speak in the name of the Church in public.

The increase in withdrawals is 4.8 percent. The percentage of Catholics in Austria's population has thus declined   to a record low. From a Church perspective an exit from the Church is not possible. Through a serious act that violates church doctrine and order, believers can suffer excommunication and therefore the exclusion from the ecclesial community. [Especially if they don't want to support the Liberal Tax-Church regime with its poorly managed healthcare facilities, liturgical abuses and shoddy catechesis.] This need not be explicitly imposed, but occurs automatically upon the act.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Catholic Church in Austria

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Did German Bishops Recently Attempt to Prevent Müller's Appointment as Cardinal? German Press Calls him the "New Ottaviani"

One or more German bishops may have until recently tried to sway Francis' sentiment against the appointment of Prefect of the Congregation of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller as cardinal, reports the "Passau Neue Presse"

Vatican (kath.net) According to the "Passau Neue Presse" one or more German bishops had last attempted to sway Francis' sentiment against appointing the CDF Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller a cardinal. The "Passau Neue Presse" relies for this proposition on "information from Church circles". Pope Francis had overruled these objections against Archbishop Müller. The elevation to cardinal should, therefore, be taken as a direction decision of the Pope.

The Pope is supposed to have been presented two newspaper publications in which Müller was evaluated rather negatively. On the one hand this was an article in the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit", in which the Archbishop has been called "the most stubborn adversary" of Pope Francis. On the other hand, a contribution by Hans Küng in the "Passau Neue Presse", in which Müller was referred to as a "new Cardinal Ottaviani," who feels called to, "impose his conservative opinion of the faith on the Pope, the Council and to the whole Church."

Link to kath.net...

True Story: Bishop Threatens Priest Who Exposes Aberrosexual Colleagues

Edit: in the following Voris thing, there are no names mentioned, although some are alluded to.   One thing is for sure, it's the diocese where no virtue goes unpunished.  It sounds all-too-familiar.