Here We Go: First Time a Cardinal is Charged with “Homophobia” -- Pope-Friend Fernando Sebastián Aguilar Before the Court

(Madrid) Here we go. For the first time in history  a  Cardinal of the Catholic Church is being investigated because of "homophobia". On 6 February the prosecution of Malaga brought charges against the Cardinal appointed by Pope Francis, Archbishop Emeritus of Pamplona, ​​Monsignor Fernando Sebastián Aguilar. The 84 year-old Claretian and friend of the Pope, who will receive the Cardinal’s biretta from his hand in two weeks, had been interviewed shortly after Pope Francis had announced in January his elevation to cardinal status.  On this occasion he was also asked about the journalistic perennial  "homosexuality". The appointed cardinal said here that homosexuality can "be cured by proper treatment".

LGBT Activists Want the Cardinal in prison: Prosecutor “Obeys" Immediately

Cardinal Sebastián Aguilar is called because of his name "the eagle", as his "student" Pope Francis called him, he never had a reputation for as a "conservative". But that does not matter: neither this fact nor his past merits or his age are to protect him from persecution by the gay lobby.

The LGBT activists want to see the old Cardinal in prison. "The prosecution of Malaga obeyed 'immediately  the demands of the homosexual lobby, supported therein by a unanimous decision of the municipal council of Malaga, in which the Christian Democrats of the Partido Popular voted against the old Archbishop,” said the religious sociologist Massimo Introvigne. The Neo-cardinal will be officially ruled against. He faces a prison sentence for breach of the Spanish Anti-Homophobia Law.

Cardinal Gave an Interview to Diario Sur

But what has Archbishop Sebastian perpetrated that is so terrible? In an interview with Diario Sur, the daily newspaper of Malaga, the newly appointed Cardinal was asked on 20  January to comment on the statements of Pope Francis on homosexuality. Specifically, it was about the controversial statement about homosexuals: "Who am I to judge him" Archbishop Sebastian said:

"The Pope accentuates the gestures of respect and appreciation towards all people, but he betrays neither the traditional teaching of the Church nor does  he modify it. It is one thing  to manifest towards a gay man acceptance and affection, it is another to morally justify the exercise of homosexuality. "

He continued: "To a man I can say that he has a deficiency, but that does not mean that I do not appreciate this person or help him. I think this is the position of the Pope. "

"Fix Homosexuality Through Therapy and Normalize"

The journalist asked if the archbishop had brought the word "deficit" of "moral point of view". The neo-Cardinal replied: "Yes. Many get upset about it and do not tolerate it, but with all due respect I say that homosexuality is a deficient form to bring their own sexuality to expression, as this  depends in its structure and purpose to establish reproduction. The homosexuality does not fulfill this purpose, it is false. To say this, is by no means an insult. In our body we have many weaknesses. For example, I have high blood pressure: Should I be upset if you tell me that? This is a deficit that I try to correct as much as possible through its own therapy. Making a homosexual aware of his deficiency  is not an insult, it's a help, because many cases of homosexuality can be remedied and normalized by appropriate treatment. That's not an insult, but appreciation. If a person has a defect, then is the one who tells him that is a true friend. "

Anti-Homophobia Law: Legacy of the Zapatero Government

The gay activists saw the course differently and were immediately angry that the new Cardinal had called homosexuality "a disease", a term which is punishable in the Spanish courts due to the anti-homophobia law. The law against "homophobia" is part of the legacy of Spain, which was left by the Socialist Zapatero government (2004-2011).

The Emeritus Archbishop of Pamplona may be old, but he is not naive. He weighed his words carefully and was careful not to use the word "disease." Literally, the Cardinal spoke not from the fact that a homosexual is "cured", but the fact that he can be "restored".

Since When are Dissidents in  Jail?

It was also explained in a broadcast of the Archdiocese of Malaga, which, rightly points to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “It might have added,  why someone who holds a different opinion on the difficult issue on  the origin of homosexuality, should go to jail, even if  the word  “healing” were avoided, which anyway possesses a variety meanings,“ said Introvigne.

Anyway, the climate has become rough and the opinion police seem omnipresent.  So the Cardinal took advantage in the careful choice of words  of nothing. In Spain the enemy of the Church, Zapatero, no longer rules.  There govern the Christian Democrats of the Partido Popular . But whoever thought that at least where Catholics govern, "homophobia laws against bishops and cardinals are wouldn’t be used  in any case," which is why you can safely leave the Leftists their ideological playing fields when they have such fun with it already, which has now been definitively refuted by the prosecution of Malaga. For the first time  charges have been brought against a Cardinal of the Church, because he has said what the Catholic Church has always taught  on homosexuality and what is part of the truth of faith, which they can not change.

Christian Resistance Should be Organized Before  Dictatorship of Opinion is Established

Perhaps it's the comfortable Christians who think it would already not so bad, should wake up and start with the resistance in the countries where there is no homophobia Act, before they too need to weigh with care every word, and because of a Catholic thought crime, stand trial.

Text: NBQ / Giuseppe Nardi
image: Nuova Bussola Quotidiana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link Katholisches…

AMGD

Bishop Ackermann Sets Himself Openly Against Rome: Sex Before Marriage is Not a Mortal Sin

The Bishop of Trier would completely change sexual ethics of the Catholic Church: New marriage after divorce is no "permanent mortal sin." Homosexuality for the bishop no longer  "unnatural".

Trier (kath.net)  Catholics who hold to the teaching of the Catholic Church, currently have it  difficult and can expect no support from their pastors in Germany. Several German-speaking bishops have, it appears, firmly resolved to remake the moral teaching of the Catholic Church again. Compared to the Rhein Main Presse  the Bishop of Trier, Stephan Ackermann said, now that it no longer fits the times when "a new marriage after divorce is regarded as permanent state of mortal sin". 

When it comes to birth control, the Bishop then pled ignorance and even said: "The distinction of natural and artificial contraception is also somehow artificial.  I'm afraid that no one understandsit any more.." Ackermann  would naturally make large concessions also the subject of "homosexuality". "Based on the Holy Scriptures, which referred to it as a wicked aberration [See Gen 19, 1-29, Romans 1:24-27, 1 Corinthians 6:10;. 1 Tim 1,10], the Church's tradition has always declared  'that homosexual acts are disordered,'" as  it is stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For Ackermann, obviously, this is an outdated idea. To the newspaper, he says, despite this clear finding of the Church, "the Christian image of man is based on the polarity of the sexes, but we can not just say that homosexuality is unnatural" What the Catholic Church really says on this subject: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P85.HTM

QUOTE from the HOLY SCRIPTURE:  For this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections. For their women have changed the natural use into that use which is against nature. And, in like manner, the men also, leaving the natural use of the women, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is filthy, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error.(Romans 1:26-27. 

Link to kath.net...

Cardinal Burke Will Celebrate Mass of All Ages in Colombia for Catholic Lawyers

At the Catholic University of Bogota, Colombia, there will be a celebration sponsored by the World Congress of Catholic Lawyers.  On Friday, the 7th of February, at 6:30pm, His Eminence, Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura will celebrate Holy Mass in the Immemorial Roman Rite. 

Thanks to Secretum Meum Mihi and Accion Liturgica...

Liturgy Wars, Part 1

Fr. Hunwicke, God bless him, has brought something hideous to our attention here and here. Fr. Michael J. Butler, a "liturgist" (falsely so called) of the diocese of Brentwood, UK, has decided to spew some oral diarrhea about the new translation of the missal in The Tablet. Because said periodical is more cheap and money pinching than even The New York Times, one cannot read his errors on The Tablet's website without spending an obscene amount of money, but you can read (probably illegally) his excrement here. Going so far as to call the new translation's imposition upon the clergy "illegal," he advocates that priests simply disobey and return to the old "translation" (again, falsely so called) that smells as bad as the shag carpet that his ilk put into churches in the '70s to cover up beautiful mosaics. Fr. Hunwicke has suggested that those of us opposed to this kind of insubordination and disorderliness, be we traditionalists or reform-of-the-reform types, need to man up and join ranks to oppose Fr. Butler's emetic and the liberal activism that undergirds it. We at the EF would go so far as to invite even the charismatic and pentecostal types (à la Steubenville) to join us in raising the alarm. If the liberals will not obey and conform to the new translations, they are in no rationally consistent position to criticize the "disobedient" (falsely so called yet again) celebration of the old Latin Mass, and apparently they need to be reminded of the fact.

So people, freak out, break the occasional piece of stuff you don't really need, get angry, and make some demands. If Fr. Butler will not retract his views and mop up the mess, the priests and laity of his diocese are more than justified in speaking out and refusing to obey his diktats. What is more, if he will not retract, he deserves a good public shaming and contempt for leading people into de facto schism. King Baby needs to be dethroned, and it is high time we throw over the high chair.

The Gravedigger of the Church

Some demands of the German bishops, but also the reaction of Cardinal Schönborn on the occasion of the ad limina visit of the Austrian bishops, the task of the foundation as well as the meaning of the supernatural life of the Church.

Rome ad limina visit of the Austrian episcopate, 2014.[Bildschirmcopie ORF / ZIB]

The Foundation: natural law and divine law

All matters, marriage and the family and in a wider sense including ethics, belong in the area of ​​natural law and therefore also apply to non-Catholics and even the unbaptized.

Thus, the indissolubility of marriage, for example, anchored in natural law and not even a specific feature of the Catholic Church, such as Pope Pius IX. noted at the time (1864).

How much more are Catholics  who are also bound by  revelation and the Divine Law.

Also, the questions on the orderly transmission of human life at the latest by the encyclical Humanae Vitae of Pope Paul VI. (1968) definitively magisterial, so it would not have questionnaires or  still require a special debate.

The German Bishops' Demands: Theoretical Undermining the Natural Law

Therefore, when the German bishops demand, citing the result of the "questionnaires" in their dioceses, to question the attitude of the Church with regard to premarital cohabitation, birth control, remarried divorcees, and even homosexuals, not to be "unnatural", and so they replace natural law by the "explicit outreach" for mortal sins.

Cardinal Schönborn's Demand: Practical Disobedience and Creeping Protestantization

Although Cardinal Schönborn notes that for the doctrine of the Church, nothing will change. For him it's all about how to deal with "situations of failure."

But in practice the result is the same as the German bishops: They want - to put it in the words of Bishop Krenn in his opinion on Maria-Troster Declaration - an erroneous, deviation of conscience from the teachings of the Church  to grant a certain universality.

Thus,  this episcopate moves in the footsteps of the reformer Martin Luther, who put his ego and his personal opinion above doctrine and tradition.

The result was not only a schism with devastating consequences, but the reduction of the Church to a humane society without supernatural character.

Link to Kreuz.net...

UN Demands the Church Alter its Teachings, Including on Abortion

The Vatican defends itself against criticism of the UN Children's Rights Committee (UNCRC) on the ways the Catholic Church treats the sexual abuse of minors.

Vatican City / Geneva (kath.net / CBA / red) The Vatican is defending itself against criticism of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on the role of the Catholic Church in the sexual abuse of minors. Some of the claims published by the Committee in Geneva   were interfering in the Church's teaching about the dignity of man and the freedom of religion, said the Vatican press office. Details are not mentioned.  The Holy See recognizes its commitment to defend the rights of the child in accordance with the religious and moral values of Catholic doctrine in the agreement signed by it and the UN Children's Convention.

The Vatican representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi,  expressed the suspicion in an interview with Vatican Radio that the opinion of the Committee of the report on the most recent child report  had been prepared in the Holy See before the inspection. The assessment was not at the height of the current situation. It did not take into account the measures that would have long since been taken by both the Vatican and the National Episcopal Conferences on the Protection of Minors against abuse.   Therefore  the Committee to the United Nations is doing a disservice, said the Vatican diplomat.

The UN Committee had criticized that most recent child protection report of the Holy See to be insufficient on Wednesday.  Some necessary measures were missing so far, said the UN experts in their report. They complained that in practice sex offenders could remain unpunished in the Catholic Church. The Committee requested the Holy See to to bring the canon law in accordance with the UN Convention on the protection of children.

 Certain provisions of the Catholic Church law did not correspond to the demands of Child Protection Convention. This concerns in particular the right of children to protection from discrimination, violence and all forms of sexual abuse. The Holy See must ensure that ecclesiastical laws are adjusted to provisions  the Convention. In addition, the UNCRC demanded further information on the extent to which clergymen were obliged at all levels, to report cases of abuse to state authorities.

The Holy See has undergone as a signatory to the Child Protection Convention for the first time a regular evaluation by the UNCRC. On 16 January discussed the UN Committee and the Vatican's representative in Geneva open questions, among others, to child pornography, measures against sexual abuse and discrimination against girls. P. Bernd Hagenkord, director of Vatican Radio in German, has pointed out in the afternoon in an article for Vatican Radio that the UN paper claims that the Church's teaching on homosexuality contributes to social stigma. In paragraphs 25-27 according to Hagenkord, he  insinuates more than is proven that church doctrine leads to violence and discrimination. The same will be said about the gender debate, the Church represent here a doctrine of the distinction between male and female, the way they would represent lead to discrimination.

 The UN paper becomes absurd  then at point 55 on the subject of abortion. There the Church is even asked to change the doctrine of the Church. The Church should allow that under certain circumstances abortion is permitted. Then the Church will even be asked to read the Bible in "prescribed manner". The UN wants to dictate how biblical texts are to be interpreted. (C) 2013 Catholic News Agency KNA GmbH. All rights reserved

Link to kath.net...

How to Recongize The First Signs That Your Child Might be a Traditional Catholic

Edit: this appeared on katholisches.info this morning.  It was pretty good so we thought we'd post it.  They got it from chiesa e postconcilio.

500,000 Protest the Gender Ideology of Hollande's Socialist Government in Paris

(Paris) Last Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Europe against family hostility, "gay marriage" and the business of surrogacy. The French civil rights movement Manif pour tous had called for rallies. In Paris alone more than half a million citizens took to the streets to protest against the new social order of the left-wing government of Hollande with its  aberrosexual  and gender ideology.

Many journalists and media who have committed to the mainstream left, get worked in a furious rage in the face of such unexpected resistance to "progress" and "modernity". This includes Stefano Montefiori, the correspondent of the Corriere della Sera. In Manif pour tous rallies whole families go on the road, Father, mother and children. Ordinary families without affected implementation and redefinition of nature through the ideological lens. But for journalist Montefiori, he creates from the peaceful rally participants, children included,  a dark heap of "integralist Catholics", and a gang of homophobic Nazis who demonstrate "against the system, the Modern and the Jews." In such a hodgepodge of arbitrary ingredients, you can easily imagine how Montefiore, must have foamed at the mouth,  observing the mass inflow to the rallies. 

Citizens Protest Against Homosexualization and Genderisation by the School

Half a million ordinary citizens demonstrated  in Paris against the policies of President Hollande, to allow Lesbians (solo or in  double packs) access to artificial insemination in order to gain and thus the thus bring children into the world, robbing them from the outset of a father. They protested against the approval of surrogacy and thus the uterus business.  Feminists always demand in the context of abortion: "Get out of my uterus". The unborn child is for them is nothing. But in the context of surrogacy, where the uterus is exploited as a business transaction, the feminists are silent. Manif pour tous therefore considers them "hypocritical" from the start. And finally, the citizens of Paris demonstrated, but also in Lyon, against the new " ABCs of Equality"  of laïcité, with which the Hollande government wants to introduce a new state ideology in schools.

The Pink Lenses  of Hollandists in the Media

For Montefiori, the protest of Manif pour tous is an expression of the "old France", which will be overcome by the new progressive ideology of Jacobinism. The Corriere della Sera made ​​itself the mouthpiece of the French government to promote abortion and homosexualization and to disseminate the gender ideology, but at the same time is never tired of denying all this. They adopt a law that every unborn child can be killed at will of the mother, but but it denies that they promote abortion. They adopt the law that legalizes "gay marriage" and enables aberrosexuals the adoption of children, but it denies that it promotes aberrosexuality. It already prescribes in kindergarten such books as " Father Wearing a Skirt" or "Bill's New Skirt " but it denies promoting gender ideology.

Minister of Education of France Peillon Senior Teacher of Aberro and Gender Ideology

Minister of Education Vincent Peillon sent a circular letter on 4 Januar to all school principals, to support the project  " Ligne Azure" in the classroom. It says: "Heterosexuality is not the only way" with the "invitation" to all the children, to perform a test to "choose"  their own sex. But no, that is, says the socialist government in France and so says the Corriere correspondent Stefano Montefiori, not a  "gender ideology" at all.

And of course, said Laura Slimani, the new chairman of the youth organization of the Socialist Party (PS) Young Socialists never even said last Saturday: "Yes, the differences between men and women are constructed, but gender exists and yes, we will learn it in the schools " (see video below). [Will look for English]

Protest Against Forced Sexualization and Ideology Through the School

But you won't   read from Montefiori,  why thousands of French parents  did not send their children to school to keep up with the scheduled monthly  Journée de l'Ecole de Retrait  to protest against the homosexualization and genderisation of their children through state coercion last January 27th.

Montefiori was silent about the clear line of Frigid Barjot, the initiator of Manif pour tous and Ludovine de La Rochere, the current chairman of the civil rights movement. Both emphasize appreciation of homosexuals as human beings and respect. Their struggle is but directed against a political agenda against the family and thus aimed to destroy the basis of the community. One of the speakers of Manif pour tous is incidentally the aberrosexual Jean-Pierre Delaume-Myard who makes no ideology of his personal sexual orientation and therefore is against the legalization of "gay marriage". In the ideologically confused head of  the Hollandist Montefiori, it is likely he is in reality a closeted homophobe. 

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Manif pour tous

Franciscans of the Immaculate Exonerated: Correction of Commissar Volpi After Notification by Manelli Family

Edit: now give us our Order back.  Also related is Rorate's post on their bad arithmetic. 

(Rome) The Apostolic Commissioner Father Fidenzio Volpi OFM Cap has published a correction. In it, he explains that the family of the religious founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, Father Stefano Maria Manelli,  has "absolutely nothing" to do with any possession or orders of transfer for  the  real estate of the Order. This had been maintained in recent months, according to which the the Order was placed under provisional commissioner, by the official Internet site of the Order  www.immacolata.com. Father Alfonso Maria Bruno, who was appointed by Commissioner Volpi after  the expulsion of the leadership of the Order, to name him as the most powerful man in the Order. The lawyer for the family Manelli had threatened criminal penalties, and requires clarification from Commissioner Volpi. This is now acknowledged that it was a libel, which was published by "someone" on the Internet platform.

To date, no reasons for the provisional administration of the Order have been announced, because the openly published reasons: maintenance of the traditional rite, numerous vocations, critical examination of the Second Vatican Council, the development in the Church since then, the unabridged explanation of the faith, and strict observance of the rules of the order, are clearly not offenses.

Instead, the claim was brought into the world from the environs of Father Alfonso Bruno, that Father Manelli had to overwrite the Order property to his family members and thus gave the impression that the superior had possibly stolen from his own religious order. Apart from the fact that the alleged transactions had taken place only after the beginning of the provisional administration, which gives more the impression of a mediated response, but could not be a reason for the provisional administration, it has now turned out to be slander, as Commissioner Volpi confirmed himself.

At the request of the prosecutor of the Manelli family, the false claim has now been deleted from the internet site of the Order managed by Father Alfonso Bruno. Instead, the complete correspondence between the Manelli family lawyer and Commissioner Volpi has been published at the request of Manelli family.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Messa in Latino

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Katholisches...

AMGD

Mass Demonstrations in France Against Same-Sex Marriage: French Government Declaring War on Catholics

On Sunday, tens of thousands took to the streets in the French capital of Paris and Lyon to demonstrate against the equality of same-sex partnerships and in support of their view of traditional family values. Conservatives from all over France participated. Here are photos from Salon Beige, courtesy of Tiberge.

The mass demonstrations, typically ignored in the rest of international news, attracted the attention of the French Interior Minister, Manuel Valls, who compared the Catholics well represented in the demonstrations, with Muslim fundamentalists, from the Tablet.

Mr Valls, who ten days ago accompanied President François Hollande to the Vatican, told fellow Socialist lawmakers that “extreme right-wing Catholics” opposed gay marriage, legalised last year, and current plans to make access to abortion easier. 

This Catholic far Right, which he did not define more clearly, had found allies among political conservatives, he said in an apparent reference to the hundreds of thousands who marched against same-sex marriage last year. 

“We must wage combat because there is a danger,” he told the meeting reviewing the current state of France’s trademark secular system of laïcité.

German news reports "tens of thousands" of protesters in the streets.

Bishop Tebartz-van Elst Often Back in His Diocese of Limburg

The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported, citing "Church circles" remaining anonymous  that the Bishop of Limburg  residing more often in his diocese again. UPDATE: Opinion of the diocese

Limburg (kath.net) According to the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAS), the Limburg Bishop Franz-Josef Tebartz van Elst  (photo) is back in his diocese on a regular  basis. The bishop, who had been temporarily relieved of his residence obligation by the Pope Francis, apparently spends at least several days every month  in the Episcopal House [Palace] of the Diocese of Limburg. The FAS has received this information from unnamed "church circles".  

Tebartz van Elst's driver cooks for him at his official residence, apparently he also celebrates  Holy Mass occasionally in the Bishop's Chapel, says the FAS.

The FAS also pointed out that the presence of the Bishop of Limburg  "is critically eyed in German church circles", [a good sign] since they are concerned  that Tebartz van Elst will have "influence on official business". The FAS wrote, but without any reference to sources: "In fact, he issues instructions to the new Vicar General. Wolfgang Rösch, who officially leads the diocese, in the background." 

From the environs of the bishop it is also to be learned that he  continues to strive for his full reinstatement to Limburg. In this he will be assisted by the Archbishops of the Curia Gerhard Ludwig Müller and Georg Gänswein and who also had actually become very cautiously positive for the Limburg Bishop.  Gänswein, Prefect of the Papal Household, had also said to "Mittelbayrischen Zeitung"   in mid-January that the Commission of Inquiry will exonerate  Tebartz van Elst  kath.net has reported . 

The Limburg Bishop had also received support from Cardinal Walter Brandmüller in Rome. In an article in the "Daily Post" of last Friday, Brandmüller blamed the difficulties in the diocese of Limburg not of the current bishop, but his predecessor, Bishop Franz Kamphaus. This one is said to essentially support an "anti-Roman sentiment" that has spread in the diocese. Kamphaus has defended, for example, the Church advising consent to abortion  to pregnant women against the Vatican. 

Brandmüller had been quoted in the "Daily Mail": "There can be no doubt that this attitude of a bishop will have destructive consequences for the relationship of the faithful of the diocese of Limburg to the Magisterium of the  church - and the  successor of Franz Kamphaus." 

And this was Brandmüller's diagnosis on the events in Limburg for the "Daily Mail": "But what had happened in Limburg, was basically nothing more than the transfer of the partnership model, the form of government of modern democracy, to the Church. Such attempts at transmission  - and that is secularization in the proper sense  - have been made ​​several times in history and each time has done damage. The Church is, after all, neither monarchy [?] nor dictatorship, nor aristocratic republic or corporate state - it is simply the "Church", though in this world, but not of this world. It is a mystery of faith and follows her own, her own law legislated by  Jesus Christ." 

In the mean time now  an article by the "Focus" with news from Rome has become public, after which the results of the investigation conducted by the Church will be shown to have largely exonerated Bishop Tebarz-van Elst. "Focus" has  also reported that the diocese of Limburg may even be disolved by Roman considerations, as kath.net has reported .

 UPDATE: Statement of the Diocese of Limburg: The Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter van Elst Tebartz regularly stays in his diocese. A report of the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAS) confirmed by Diocese Spokesman Stephan Fast on Sunday for the Catholic News Agency (KNA). The bishop among other things, being criticized the way he managed and because of the cost of a construction project on the Limburg Cathedral Hill, has returned briefly to Limburg  for "personal reasons". 

But this was neither an interdict nor libelous because he lived "neither in exile nor in restriction", even if it the Pope had granted an break at the end of October for an indefinite period  outside his diocese. FAS further reports that Tebartz van Elst imparts instructions to the new Vicar General Wolfgang Rösch, who leads the ongoing administration of the diocese during the absence of the bishop. To that, KNA was quick to reply that of course Rösch is in contact with the bishop, but is "solely and exclusively" accountable to the Vatican."

Foto Bischof Tebartz-van Elst: (c) Bistum Limburg

Pastor Removes "Volksaltar" From His Church -- The Reaction

(Rome) A pastor has spectacularly restored his parish church which dates from the 18th Century, and then removed the "volksaltar." In architectural, aesthetic, and especially liturgical respects, he reasoned that it was  a mandatory step.  Because of the Church's climate, however, it is an almost "revolutionary," courageous step.

The Italian Archdiocese of Modena in the Po Valley was rocked by a major earthquake in 2012. Two priests died in their churches under the cascading debris. The pastor of the parish of San Michele Arcangelo of Montale Rangone, is Canon Andrea Gianelli,  who restored his parish superlatively and removed  the people's altar on this occasion. The priest, who had been ordained in 1970, is said to have been encouraged  by Pope Benedict XVI. for some time as concerns liturgical questions. The restoration of the earthquake-damaged church would then have been an occasion for him  to act.

Oreientation "mandatory" coram Deo

The intrepid and well-known in his diocesan priest had sent the church newspaper of his archdiocese, the reasons for his decision,which was printed in its entirety on 15 December 2013. The pastor explained how it is generally understood that the priest prays in persona Christi at the altar "and sacrifices, as Jesus Himself would offer sacrifice to God the Father. Thus, the attitude of prayer also changes physically, because it occurs in a direct relationship to God. Even the people pray, but not directly, but through the ordained priest, who says the Eucharistic Prayer alone for this reason. The people hear him and are  united with him in the end by the Amen. The people worship and unites with  his sacrifice, but also his joys in the sacrifice of Christ, but this part of the Mass is essential priestly. It follows necessarily that all are oriented towards the Lord. Not surprisingly, it is called in response to the invitation to lift up our hearts: We lift them up to the Lord."

No Obligation For "People's Altar"

Canon Gianelli then illustrated, referring to Pope Benedict XVI.,  that the direction of prayer for the Church was always East from the beginning, "which is almost 1950 years long," which speaks of an "authentic tradition." "It is a mistake to think that Jesus had looked at the Last Supper toward the apostles, as if he were sitting in their midst. The famous Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, which many artists have followed, mediated a false picture of those events as studies clearly. "The Second Vatican Council doesn't say anything about a people's altar and a prayer towards the people," just as much as it says  that the Latin language of the Church was abolished, but rather put it specifically states that it is to be preserved." The Congregation for Divine Worship made ​​it clear in a document of 2000 that there is no compulsion or obligation to prepare a "people's altar".

Church Newspaper: Is a Change of Practice "Opportune"?

However, the church newspaper added a comment. It was the decision of the canon, who was consecrated in  1970, which not only wasn't criticized, but expressly praised. In praising, it was acknowledged that in his reasoning for the three places of celebration in the Novus Ordo  (chair, lectern, altar), but also his emphasis that the Eucharistic Prayer is a prayer direction and in a double sense is "oriented."

The church newspaper described the decision as "totally permissible and lawful" because they have violated neither a legal nor a liturgical provision. However, the diocesan paper then raised the question whether it was "opportune," to celebrate coram Deo  after celebrating "50 years" facing the people.  For a justification, the church paper said that with a celebration ad populum, the Eucharist can be "observed."

"Unfounded Rationalization"

"The reasoning is completely baseless," said Messa in Latino , "because 50 years is not a  sufficient span of time for the Church  to derive a liturgical customary law.  In addition, the reason for the direction of prayer is not the Eucharist, which is also observed in the traditional form, but turning to God, the sacrificial character instead of the character of a meal, the symbolic meaning of the altar cross, the priest and the people are facing and not facing each other, in order to face the East  of the returning Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. "

In addition, they are astonished at the sudden reverence for the Holy Eucharist, "since otherwise there is  heard no criticism, however, that  the tabernacle is not relegated to a few churches, new and old,  in dark, secluded corners," said Messa in Latino . "The laudable example of Canon Gianelli shows that even priests ordained in the New Rite and celebrating a life in the New Rite have been able to identify and rethink undesirable developments through their involvement with the liturgy."

"Will the Ordinary accept the pastor's step?" Asked Messa in Latino . The faithful have accepted him. The removal of the  volksaltar  has,  says canon Gianelli, been the occasion in his parish for some discussion. He had, however, explained his decision in detail and the believers seem to have understood it.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Messa in Latino
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Katholisches...
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"Council of Trent Has Complete Validity" -- "Luther Rehabilitation Impossible": Cardinal Eijk and Ecumenism

Update: thanks to the kind reader who alerted us to the Vatican Insider article from which this is taken.  Apparently now, the Cardinal is saying that he was't quoted directly,  The following was included:

Sparks flew as a result, with an open letter being sent by the Rev. Arjen Plaisier (spokesman for the Synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands) to Cardinal Eijk, who refused to answer for or discuss phrases which he had never used. He also said that the Dutch Catholic Church’s ecumenical office or the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity may begin discussing some of the phrasings used in the Council of Trent. The Archbishop of Utrecht stressed his adherence to the ecumenical path followed by the Church and that he fully backed the Pope’s efforts in this field.

(Amsterdam) Violent polemics were triggered in the Netherlands with the words of the Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk. Here, the Cardinal had only reminded what is self-evident. He said in an interview during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that the Council of Trent still has full force and effect.   Because this self-evident fact has been very little heard any more in the past few decades, it is supposed to have caused a scandal that has provoked fierce reactions toward Protestant as well as Catholic-ecumenical circles.

"Condemnation of Those Who Reject the Teachings of the Council, Have Full Force and Effect"

During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Calvinist  Reformatorisch Dagblad  published an interview with Cardinal Eijk, which was taken up by the daily newspaper Trouw on 20 January. Within, the Archbishop of Utrecht said that "the doctrine and the condemnations of the Council of Trent are still in full force."  The newspaper wrote: "Cardinal Eijk is explicit in this respect: The Council of Trent's teachings are still perfectly valid. This also applies to convictions which were adopted against those who reject the Council's teachings. Like the Protestants."

The title and the editorial part of the interview had not been seen and approved in advance by the Cardinal. The interview itself was, however, released by the Archbishop for reprinting. It was also published on the website of the Dutch Bishops' Conference.

"Council of Trent Proves the Church's Ability at Self-Reform"

Cardinal Eijk stressed in an interview that the Council of Trent a sign of "the ability of the Roman Catholic Church for self-reform", thanks to the "guidance of the Holy Spirit." The Council of Trent, said the Archbishop of Utrecht, put and end to the many abuses which had crept in the late Middle Ages in the Church,  such as simony, an understanding of the pastoral office, which contradicted the biblical understanding. But it put an end was put to the fundamental  lack of discipline of the clergy and in the monasteries: "When all decrees were implemented [the Council],  order was restored  in the Church,"  said the cardinal.

The Council of Trent also helped to define some "truths of faith" precisely related to the errors of the Reformation. The cardinal affirmed that these provisions continue to have perfect validity "such as transubstantiation and the essence of the Eucharistic Sacrament."

"Many Have a False Picture of the Catholic Church and false Image of God"

Cardinal Eijk said the condemnations and excommunications apply to those who "knowingly and voluntarily" reject the Church's teaching. "In some ways, it is a theoretical question. Many people have a false image of the Catholic Church because they were brought up that way. Or they have a false image of God. But they can not be held personally liable.The condemnations of Trent does not mean that someone is condemned for all eternity by God. God judges each individual, a person can not do that."

Rehabilitation of  Luther is not Possible

Finally, Cardinal Eijk rejected the desired Lutherans'  "rehabilitation" of Martin Luther: "For major issues he had deviated from Church doctrine. And this doctrine remains as it is." For this reason, the differences are given unchanged, which makes   a "rehabilitation" impossible.

The Cardinal took advantage of the interview for a positive evaluation of the Church's renewal  by the Counter-Reformation, which the Holy Spirit knitted performed by the self-cleaning of the Church thorough the Council of Trent and its decrees, the complete validity of the doctrine of the Council of Trent, especially with regard to the Eucharist. Also with regard to the convictions, he reminded them that they apply in the matter, but do not automatically apply to the individual person.  They presuppose a conscious rejection of the Catholic doctrine.

Criticism by Protestants and Catholic Ecumenists

The interview sparked a storm of negative reactions that mainly came from the ecumenical field. Also from Catholics. The overall tenor was that it was considered "inappropriate" that the Cardinal  recalled things that "separate and don't unify"   in the Week of Prayer. Then there was a series of statements attributed to the Cardinal which were placed in the mouth, which he had not at all taken.

Arjen Plaisir, the speaker of the Synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands wrote an open letter to Cardinal Eijk.In his response, the Archbishop of Utrecht said that certain formulations of the Council of Trent could be spoken in the  limits by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. He stands for the ecumenical journey and supports all the efforts of the pope in this direction.

 Interview Reproduced Correctly

Emiel Hakkenes, the editorial director of religion and philosophy for the daily newspaper Trouw confirmed to Vatican Insider that the content of the interview given by Cardinal Eljik was   entirely correct. [!] The editors have asked for Protestant representatives to give their opinion. The chief editor of the Reformatorisch Dagblad announced that the interview was presented to the Cardinal before the publication and expressly approved of it.

In order to address   the question raised by Cardinal Eijk, the document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith  was issued in 2000 clarifying the Declaration Dominus Iesus on the uniqueness and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church's binding position. A clarification to the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification had been signed on  Reformation Day in 1999  by the then chairman of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Chairman of the Lutheran World Federation and the World Council of Methodist Churches.

The responses to the interview with Cardinal Eijk laid bare how little the Catholic doctrine is known publicly and also among the Protestant interlocutors. Not least because it has been so little stressed from the Catholic side.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

Gulls and Ravens Hunt the Pope's Doves -- Of Signs and Symbols

(Vatican) Last Sunday, 26 January, Pope Francis released two doves at the Angelus in St. Peter's Square. A tradition. Since Paul VI, is that every year on the last Sunday in January a meeting with Catholic Action will take place.  The Vaticanist Antonio Margheriti Martino watched the scene, which was brought to his attention by a reader.  At first he took the hint to be exaggerated, but "if I want to read the incident symbolically, he has alerted me to something." Here is his report:

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Gulls and Ravens Kill the Pigeons of the Pope: Ominous Foreshadowing?

The walls of the Apostolic Palace with the apartments of the Pope, his home, are blessed by the centuries-long presence of the Vicar of Christ, those men with such responsibility, that they are not enviable. Walls which know the history of the world by the sighs of the Popes. The walls, which we can rightly assume that they are specially protected because they involve Peter himself.

But these walls have grown like any other walls this year.  The grace seems to have left them, together with the Pope. The Vicar of Christ no longer lives there and the animals seem to sense it and so we have witnessed a sad scene that provoked horror and tears among the people in the square.

Doves as a Symbol of Peace

Italian TV showed the pictures in direct transmission, the annual flight of white doves as a symbol of peace, who rise from the window for the Angelus prayer in the Pope's apartment. Or rather we should say today, from the window, which once belonged to the apartment of the Pope, but, as we know, is now abandoned and uninhabited. But we are doing this just once more as if it were all normal. The white dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. So the peace symbol has  very special significance so from a Christian point of view.

Hollande: "I Surely Didn't Ask the Pope for Forgiveness" -- Abortion not a Topic

27 January 2014 12:56 | 

(Vatican / Paris)  Corresponding to diplomatic custom little was made known officially about the content of the meeting of French President Francois Hollande and Pope Francis. Details were reported in the meantime by Dominique Quinio, the chief editor of the Catholic newspaper La Croix . Quinio was a member of the French delegation that accompanied President Hollande in the Vatican. The delegation did not participate in the actual conversation between the Pope and Hollande. "Hollande  said to us in the delegation that  he had surely not asked the Pope for forgiveness," said the La Croix -print manager. Quinio nor could conjecture, if the killing of unborn children was the topic of conversation. 

According to Dominique Quinio it was an encounter in a "warm atmosphere when you considered that on fundamental issues such as marriage and adoption rights for gays, abortion and end of life, the positions are incompatible." Quinio was one of ten people in his entourage who were allowed to follow Hollande's reception in the Vatican. In an interview with the Corriere della Sera  she named some details of the meeting, about which the content so far has been very little known.

Was the Killing of Unborn Children an issue?

The meeting had been highly anticipated because the contrasts between church and state have been scarcely, as radically  visible  since the Socialist electoral victory in France in May 2012.   France Catholics foremost of all looked eagerly to Rome. More than 110,000 had turned in an appeal to Pope Francis and requested clear words from him.  Last year, millions of French people had gone against the intention of the government's legalization of "gay marriage" on the streets. They expected a signal of support from Rome.

The topic of abortion should have been the subject of the conversation. This was indicated in the official note from the Vatican. The Corriere della Sera reported this: "Also, according to close presidential circles   it seems that the two Francis' have addressed the topic of abortion".

Minimum Expectations

But Dominique Quinio is dismissive: "Hollande and Pope Francis had only vaguely and generally 'indicated to  the dignity of human life' at the end of the conversation. Abortion was not a topic. . "For the rest, no one had expected to be able to convince the other," said Quinio. "I do not think that the meeting with the Pope is sufficient to overcome the divorce that has taken place in France between  Catholic opinion and Hollande. The prevailing impression that the government has regularly adopted positions   and within a short period of time that contradict our values ​​and perspectives. Gay marriage, a further liberalization of abortion, the legalization of euthanasia, which  has alienated Hollande from the Catholic electorate that surprisingly elected him in part and was surprised by it."

The  warden of   the Elysée Palace had wanted to put a gesture of "attention" and "respect" towards the Catholics, "with a view to the upcoming regional, local and European elections," said Quinio. "Immediately after the meeting with the Pope, Hollande put us turned by the delegation, in order to make a point,    had  certainly not asked  the Pope for forgiveness. Literally, he added: 'I am come as  head of state who meets another head of state.' "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Wikicommons / tempos (assembly)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

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Meeting of Pope Francis and Hollande: What Was Discussed?

(Vatican) On Friday  French President François Hollande paid the leader of the Catholic Church visit. Little was known about the contents of the conversation between  Pope Francis and the neo-Jacobins in the Elysee Palace. For 35 minutes the French socialist leader spoke with Pope Francis, which was then followed by a conversation with the new Monsignor Pietro Parolin Vatican Secretary of State and "foreign minister" Monsignor Dominique Mamberti. It was the first such meeting for Hollande since his election as head of state in May 2012. What did the two heads of state talk about and especially how did they talk about it?

"Cordial talks," Content  Only Summarily Known

In a close and diplomatically written communiqués by the Press Office of the Holy See from early Friday afternoon it is being described as a "cordial discussions."  It contains  the emphasis of "good relations" between France and the Holy See and the mutual commitment to a regular dialogue between the state and the Catholic Church. Similarly,there is the willingness to work constructively on issues of common interest.

According to Vatican, "the defense and promotion of" human dignity, respect for religious communities, bioethics, the family and the protection of places of worship were  questions addressed during the interview.  Furthermore, international issues were the subject of the meeting: poverty, development aid, immigration and the environment. In particular, the situation in the Middle East and some parts of Africa was discussed and the hope was expressed   that peaceful social coexistence could be restored through dialogue and participation of all sections of society with the same respect and equal rights for all, especially the ethnic and religious minorities  Such was the statement of the Vatican.

Hollande: France "Defends Religious Freedom Everywhere"

François Hollande later gave a statement to the press  to the Institut français near Piazza Navona. He apparently asked the Vatican to receive an opposition "Syrian coalition." "The Geneva Conference should concentrate on the transition process. We must do everything possible to stop the fighting and to strengthen the humanitarian mission." The French President insisted, with the Pope, that he has shared the "same concern as the Pope" for the Christian minority in the Middle East. France is committed to ensuring that the Christians of the Orient remain where they have always lived and not go their way into exile because of the struggles taking place. The Christians of the Orient everywhere must be supported and protected."  Hollande also took claim that France "everywhere defends freedom of religion ", as it is the "homeland of the freedom of conscience" and they defend against any anti-religious act." The host at the Élysée Palace also announced that he has spoken with Pope Francis on  "climate change", because France had planned a conference on the topic in Paris for the coming year. He confirmed that Pope Bergoglio is preparing a text on the subject of environment.

 There was no posititon taken on Hollande, to criticize his private life and his relationship with the actress Julie Gayet and with his official partner Valerie Trierweiler, which deal with the crisis of the media, especially in France. The Catholic French newspaper La Vie wrote shortly before Hollande's visit to the Vatican that  "a Superstar Pope receives a president who is at the low point of his popularity."

French Catholics Waiting in Vain for a Public Signal

French Catholics have waited anxiously for what would be said during the visit regarding the hard-fought Kulturkampf by the Hollande government. In France, the socialist government operates a socio-political revolution by the promotion of homosexuality through the "gay marriage" ( Mariage pour tous ) and the gender ideology and through an open struggle for the elimination of the Catholic Church from public life.  But the Vatican did  not  enact any position, certainly not toward Hollande. The president presented himself as a defender of religious freedom, which was felt to be open mockery by  Catholics in France. In Comuniques of the Holy See, the socio-political and bioethical conflict are summarily listed without addressing the content thereon. Hollande didn't really  mention it. The contrasts in the Syrian conflict were not mentioned by both sides. The Vatican violently criticized last fall  Hollande's determination to intervene in Syria to support the U.S. military in favor of the rebels.

Appeal of 110,000 Catholics Heard?

Before the meeting, more than 110,000 French Catholics appealed to Pope Francis, to bring "clear words", to the anti-Catholic Kulturkampf of the neo-Jacobin government and to renew criticism of the promotion of abortion, euthanasia, surrogacy and homosexuality (see separate report Pope Francis receives François Hollande - 100,000 Catholics ask pope to "clear language" ). A few days earlier, the most active apostolic nuncio to France, Archbishop Luigi Ventura,  conveyed a message of greeting from the Pope to the participants of this year's March for life in Paris. A posture that could not but go unnoticed in the Elysee Palace.

President Hollande brought the French priest Georges Vandenbeusch in his delegation to  the Vatican. The priest was kidnapped in Cameroon and held for several weeks. He had been released because of the diplomatic efforts of France recently. The encounter between Vandenbeusch and the Pope had been a particularly heartfelt during the audience, as the Pope embraced Vandenbeusch  spontaneously.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls, the "hard fist" against Catholic opposition to the Vatican

Part of Hollande's delegation was also France's Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who  brought to life the Catholic civil rights movement Manif pour tous,  is blamed for the hard fist used against opponents of left-liberal restructuring of society (see report France Approves Gay "Marriage" - Make Catholic Rallies of Secularism  and Left Iritability: Another Arresting the Peaceful "Veilleurs" whose "Weapon" is Freedom of Speech and the Rosary  and  Violence of the French government and Police Against "Gay Marriage" Opponents Brought to UN Human Rights Council ). The civil rights movement was also present in Rome. They "welcomed" the French president with a huge banner similar to the logo  logo Manif pour tous in the Piazza del Popolo, near the Vatican. For the second February they are planning to return to the streets with simultaneous rallies in Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Warsaw, Rome, Bucharest and Lyon.

Hollande gave the Pope a book on Saint Francis of Assisi: "This is also your patron," joked the Pope.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vatican Insider / tempos

Link to Katholisches...

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