OBAMA ANTI-CATHOLIC RIPS VATICAN
April 14, 2010
Harry Knox, an Obama appointee to the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, gave instructions today to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's number-two man.
"As pastor," Knox said of the Vatican secretary of state, "he should be spending night and day seeking to heal the wounds inflicted by the Church on the victims of pedophile priests." Knox, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, also accused Cardinal Bertone of "diverting attention away from decades of Vatican cover-ups of pedophile behavior."
Replying is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:
Harry Knox has a long and ugly history of bashing the pope, disparaging the Knights of Columbus, lecturing priests, etc. Now he is back telling Cardinal Bertone what to say and how to do his job. All this from a man who is not only not Catholic, but was rejected for ordination by the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ because of his homosexual lifestyle.
The fact is that there is an undeniable link between the growth of homosexuals in the priesthood and the incidence of sex abuse (see our home page for more information). It is high time we had an honest discussion about this issue.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration must decide whether it can continue to defend Harry Knox. We previously called on Knox to be ousted. We do so again today.
Link to original...
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Osservatore Romano was Bad in 1966 Too!
From reading the following article by CNS, it looks like Osservatore Romano was bad in 1966 too. They employed much the same mealy, non-commital language then as they do today.
Read article...
In an effort to show that the L’Osservatore Romano had never been part of the wave of contempt and condemnation that swept across America and other parts of the world in 1966 when John Lennon remarked that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, the paper reprinted an article it ran Aug. 14, 1966 — the same month Lennon’s quip was taken out of context by an American teen magazine and sparked protests nationwide
Read article...
George Weigel: It's a Crisis of Fidelity
Repetition is the mother of studies, but this shouldn't require some compromised Ivy League professional mouthpiece to get the message across, but that fits in with the cool medium of television.
Liberals are to Blame for the "Crisis" II
You'd think an Oxbridge aesthete would know the difference between a pederast and a paedophile, but since when has John Cornwell been interested in educating anyone, really?
Through his barely concealed contempt for the Blessed Sacrament, "Eucharistic wafer (which Catholics believe to be the "body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ") should be exposed for adoration in hundreds of churches across Ireland." and his previous authorings which include the deceptive and deceptively entitled propaganda piece, "Hitler's Pope", John Cornwell manages to convict himself of being urbane and sophisticated, but decidedly anti-Catholic.
It's understandable that a perverse Oxbridge, anti-clerical old failed seminarian, harbors personal hatred for the Catholic Faith. This doesn't prevent Corwell's prescriptive nature to offer friendly hints and suggestions about how the Pope should reform the priesthood.
It's apparent that Cromwell is embarrassed for the Pope, whose early devotion to Cardinal Newman he has some respect for, whose choice for a model of the Priesthood is none other than a "half-literate" French secular priest. The Devil himself hated the Cure and it's easy to see why. Literally hundreds of thousands of people flocked to his confessional from thousands of miles away to find spiritual relief and joy.
As celebrated as Cardinal Newman was by "men of letters" and the successes of the world, he didn't have the world beating a path to his door. In fact, many of Newman's disciples were censured or condemned.
One point can be made on Cromwell's behalf is that he really does get the Holy Father, even if he himself doesn't agree, that Liberals are the cause of the problem. After all, the deceitful Don of Jesus College is himself a Liberal. Why should we expect a scorpion not to sting?
Link to new statesman...
Through his barely concealed contempt for the Blessed Sacrament, "Eucharistic wafer (which Catholics believe to be the "body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ") should be exposed for adoration in hundreds of churches across Ireland." and his previous authorings which include the deceptive and deceptively entitled propaganda piece, "Hitler's Pope", John Cornwell manages to convict himself of being urbane and sophisticated, but decidedly anti-Catholic.
It's understandable that a perverse Oxbridge, anti-clerical old failed seminarian, harbors personal hatred for the Catholic Faith. This doesn't prevent Corwell's prescriptive nature to offer friendly hints and suggestions about how the Pope should reform the priesthood.
It's apparent that Cromwell is embarrassed for the Pope, whose early devotion to Cardinal Newman he has some respect for, whose choice for a model of the Priesthood is none other than a "half-literate" French secular priest. The Devil himself hated the Cure and it's easy to see why. Literally hundreds of thousands of people flocked to his confessional from thousands of miles away to find spiritual relief and joy.
As celebrated as Cardinal Newman was by "men of letters" and the successes of the world, he didn't have the world beating a path to his door. In fact, many of Newman's disciples were censured or condemned.
One point can be made on Cromwell's behalf is that he really does get the Holy Father, even if he himself doesn't agree, that Liberals are the cause of the problem. After all, the deceitful Don of Jesus College is himself a Liberal. Why should we expect a scorpion not to sting?
Twenty years ago Benedict said that the answer to the tide of secularism was for the faithful, loyal, orthodox remnant of the Catholic Church to retreat into a metaphorical catacomb. Catholicism would survive by ridding itself of dissidents and retiring to a defensive position of spiritual and doctrinal integrity: he called these future Catholic survivors the "salt of the earth".
Link to new statesman...
Whistleblower Priest Reprimanded by His Bishop
The last Bishop Fr. Scahill engaged, resigned not too long afterward, with good reason, he was a liberal who defended a pederastic homosexual. Fr. Scahill is also a liberal and as one of his sheep remarked, "a heretic". We're inclined to believe such heartfelt declamations from the nave since they address a man who refuses to admit the true provenance of this media generated brouhaha in the first place. It's liberalism. The same kind of liberalism that would encourage this would-be Emile Zola to accuse his boss, the Pope, in the tribunal of the mob in the first place. Never mind that Father doesn't seem to be aware of or concerned about the details of 1985.
Notice, Father Scahill nowhere puts the blame where it belongs. It's the liberalism that allows monsters like this to go without punishment in the first place and it's liberalism which put them in the positions they enjoyed and it's liberalism, again, which is using them to destroy the Catholic Church.
Liberalism is the mistaken idea that one religion is as good as the next and that the truths religions generally propose for people's belief are a matter of indifference. A liberal doesn't believe Catholicism is true, but he may find "truth" in it and enjoy some of its ceremonies and culture, but he will scoff at miracles and indeed, it's moral admonitions.
George Orwell marked well the dishonesty of his clerical liberal friends who pretended to be Catholic and played a double game for their public, and this was in the 30s. We expect with great confidence that showboats like Pfleger and Scahill are in that sect.
Short article Continues...
Notice, Father Scahill nowhere puts the blame where it belongs. It's the liberalism that allows monsters like this to go without punishment in the first place and it's liberalism which put them in the positions they enjoyed and it's liberalism, again, which is using them to destroy the Catholic Church.
Liberalism is the mistaken idea that one religion is as good as the next and that the truths religions generally propose for people's belief are a matter of indifference. A liberal doesn't believe Catholicism is true, but he may find "truth" in it and enjoy some of its ceremonies and culture, but he will scoff at miracles and indeed, it's moral admonitions.
George Orwell marked well the dishonesty of his clerical liberal friends who pretended to be Catholic and played a double game for their public, and this was in the 30s. We expect with great confidence that showboats like Pfleger and Scahill are in that sect.
EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. (RNS) Less than 24 hours after calling for Pope Benedict XVI to step down, a Massachusetts priest has been rebuked by his local bishop.
A longtime critic of how the church has handled the sexual abuse crisis, the Rev. James J. Scahill delivered four sermons over the weekend suggesting that the 82-year old pope should take greater responsibility for solving the church's clergy abuse problems or resign.
The sermons, delivered from the pulpit at St. Michael's Catholic Church, made Scahill one of the first priests in the nation to call for the pope's departure.
Short article Continues...
The Reform of the Liturgy and the Catholic Church (Part I)
Martin Mosebach is a noted writer, dramatist and commentator on religion in Germany. He writes for the European.
A Conversation with Martin Mosebach
The discussion was led by Alexander Goerlach.
From The European
The European: Personally, how do you assess the five years in which Benedict XVI has been in Office?
English Translation by: Hugh of Cluny Blog, h/t: Father Thomas ONODA
Mosebach: Benedict XVI has set for himself the most difficult mission. He wants to heal the evil consequences of the Church’s Revolution of 68 in a non-revolutionary manner. This pope is precisely not a papal dictator. He relies on the strength of the better argument and hopes that the nature of the Church will overcome that which is inappropriate to her if certain minimal assistance is provided. This plan is so subtle that it can be neither presented in official explanations nor understood by an almost unimaginably coarsened press. It is a plan that will show its effects only in the future – probably only with clarity after the death of the Pope. But already now we can recognize the courage with which the pope establishes reconciliation beyond the narrow limits of the canon law (through the integration of the Patriotic church in China; in relation to Russian and Greek Orthodoxy) or by his novel fusion of traditional and enlightened biblical theology that leads us out of the dead end of rationalistic bible criticism.
The European: Don’t we also have to prepare for cases of abuse in Catholic institutions in other countries? In your view how should Pope Benedict react to them?
Mosebach: The Church of course always has to be prepared for the fact that individual educators will sexually abuse students in her schools and boarding schools. That’s the nature of things. Wherever children are instructed, personalities with pedophile inclinations are always found. We have to ask ourselves, however, why just in the years immediately following the Second Vatican council the sexual crimes of priests occurred so frequently. There is no way of avoiding the bitter realization: the experiment of “aggiornamento”, the assimilation of the Church to the secularized world, has failed in a terrible way. After the Second Vatican Council, most priests dropped their clerical garb, ceased celebrating the mass daily and did not pray the breviary daily any more. The post-conciliar theology did everything in its power to make people forget the traditional image of the priest. All the institutions were called into question which had given the priest aid in his difficult and solitary life. Should we be astonished if many priests in these years could no longer view themselves as priests in the traditional manner? The clerical discipline that was deliberately eliminated had been largely formulated by the Council of Trent. At that time the mission was likewise to resist the corruption of the clergy and to reawaken the consciousness of the sanctity of the priesthood. It is nice that the leaders of the church ask the victims of abuse for forgiveness but it will be still more important if they tighten the reins of discipline in the sense of the Council of Trent and return to a priesthood of the Catholic Tradition.
The European: How will the Catholic Church look which Benedict will eventually leave behind him?
Mosebach: One would wish that this Pope might perceive himself the first manifestations of a healing of the Church. But this Pope is so modest and lacking in vanity that he hardly would view any such glimmerings as the result of his own actions. I believe that he wants to spare his successor thankless yet necessary labors by assuming them himself. Hopefully this successor will utilize the great opportunity that Benedict has created for him.
The European: The “Reform of the Liturgy” has fundamentally changed the Catholic Church – in what way?
Mosebach: The interventions of Paul VI in a liturgy over 1500 years old are called only “reform of the liturgy.” In reality it was a revolution that was not authorized by the instruction of the Second Vatican Council, to “gently” review the liturgical books. The “liturgical reform” centered upon man a celebration that had been orientated for the last two thousand years to the adoration of God. It undermined the priesthood and largely obscured the doctrine of the Church on the sacraments.
The European: In the late sixties there were many upheavals: the Cultural Revolution in China, the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, the student riots here at home, the Vietnam War – and the Second Vatican Council. Can we name all these upheavals in the same breath?
Mosebach: 1968 is, in my opinion, a phenomenon that is still not sufficiently understood. Here in Germany we like to occupy ourselves in this context with happy memories of communes and battles over the right interpretation of Marx. In reality, 1968 is an “axial year” in history with anti-traditionalist movements in the entire world that are only in appearance fully separate from each other. I am convinced that, when sufficient distance exists, the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the Roman Liturgical Reform will be understood to be closely connected.
The European: Pope Benedict XVI participated in this upheaval as a theologian of the Council. How do you experience today his commitment to revive individual liturgical elements of the pre-conciliar Church?
Mosebach: Benedict XVI views as one of his main tasks making the essence of the Church more clearly visible – for Catholics and then also for non-Catholics. The Pope knows that the Church is indissolubly bound to her Tradition. Church and revolution are irreconcilable contradictions. He attempts to intervene where the image of the Church has been distorted through a radical break with the past. Now the Church, like its Founder, has exactly two natures: historical and timeless. She cannot forget from where she came and cannot forget where she is going. Especially the Church in the West has problems with this. She has neither any sense for her historical organic evolution nor for her life in eternity.
http://hughofcluny.blogspot.com/2010/04/reform-of-liturgy-and-catholic-church.html
The European: The reintroduction of the old rite allowed again the petition for the conversion of the Jews, as it was in use prior to the Council. Was that the right step?
Mosebach: When the organic liturgy was permitted again (which had been suppressed, very often violently, under Paul VI) so also was the petition for the conversion of the Jews once again admitted into the official liturgical books of the Church. It dates from early Christianity and forms part of the Good Friday petitions. This early Christian petition, based on wording of the Apostle Paul, contains the wording that God might liberate the Jews from “their blindness” and “lift the veil from their hearts.” These expressions appeared to the Pope to permit the misunderstanding of contempt for the Jews because of recent history. Therefore he intervened when the traditional rite was authorized again and ordered a new formulation in the old rite. It also asks God to lead the Jews to Jesus Christ, but excludes the interpretation of contempt for them. The Pope has been condemned because he permits praying for the conversion of the Jews to Jesus Christ at all. But can the Church of the Jews Peter and Paul be expected to renounce such an intention?
The European: How do you assess the relationship of the Pope to the Jews and Israel?
Mosebach: Benedict XVI is probably the first pope since Peter to understand Christianity so closely from out of Judaism. His book on Jesus reveals in many passages the attempt to read the New Testament with the eyes of the Old Testament. The relationship of the Pope to Jewry is not superficial, political or a mere liking derived from a trendy philosemitism but is theological and rooted in faith. One has at times the impression that if Benedict were not a Christian he would be a Jew. To accuse this Pope of anti-Semitism betrays an ignorance and incompetence that should exclude one from public discourse.
The European: The controversy surrounding the FSSPX has yielded no visible success for the Vatican up till now. In your view what does this group bring to the Catholic Church other than its love for the old liturgy?
Mosebach: Other than the old liturgy? What is there more important for the Church than the liturgy? The liturgy is the body of the Church. It is faith made visible. If the liturgy falls ill, so does the entire Church. That is not a merely a hypothesis but a description of the current situation. One can’t present it drastically enough: the crisis of the Church has made possible that her greatest treasure, her Arcanum, was swept out of the center to the periphery. The FSSPX and especially its founder, Archbishop Lefebvre, are due the historical glory to have preserved for decades and kept alive this most important gift. Therefore the Church owes the FSSPX above all gratitude. Part of this gratitude is to work to lead the FSSPX out of all kinds of confusion and radicalization.
The European: The FSSPX don’t appear to be heading towards Rome.
Mosebach: In the discussions with the FSSPX what is important is the patient labor of persuasion, as is appropriate in spiritual questions. The discussions appear to be proceeding in a very good atmosphere. If one day it is successful in integrating once again the FSSPX in the full unity of the Church, the papacy of Benedict XVI would have obtained a success whose importance exceeds by far the number of FSSPX members.
The European: Christianity is one of the foundations of Europe. In the future will it still be relevant for the continent?
Mosebach: Christianity is the foundation of Europe – I don’t see any other. All intellectual movements of modern times, even when they opposed Christianity, owe their origins to it. We have also received ancient philosophy and art from the arms of Christianity. If European society should turn away totally from Christianity, it would mean nothing less than it would deny its very self. What one doesn’t know or want to know nevertheless exists. Repression cannot be the basis for a hopeful future.
The European: You were in Turkey for a while. Would Turkey enrich the European Union as a full member or is it difficult to integrate a land dominated by Islam into the Western community of values?
Mosebach: You surely understand that I cannot give you a political or legal answer. I can only see that Turkey – especially the anti-Islamic, modernizing Turkey - has had enormous difficulties with its Christian European minorities. Until the 1950’s there was still a Greek-dominated Constantinople. But living together with Christians was intolerable for the modern Turks so they put an end to it. Now they seem to find desirable drawing near to Europe because of economic concerns without, however, rethinking in their internal politics the battle against Christians. I believe that we are very far removed from what you call “integration into the Western community of values.”
A Conversation with Martin Mosebach
The discussion was led by Alexander Goerlach.
From The European
The European: Personally, how do you assess the five years in which Benedict XVI has been in Office?
English Translation by: Hugh of Cluny Blog, h/t: Father Thomas ONODA
Mosebach: Benedict XVI has set for himself the most difficult mission. He wants to heal the evil consequences of the Church’s Revolution of 68 in a non-revolutionary manner. This pope is precisely not a papal dictator. He relies on the strength of the better argument and hopes that the nature of the Church will overcome that which is inappropriate to her if certain minimal assistance is provided. This plan is so subtle that it can be neither presented in official explanations nor understood by an almost unimaginably coarsened press. It is a plan that will show its effects only in the future – probably only with clarity after the death of the Pope. But already now we can recognize the courage with which the pope establishes reconciliation beyond the narrow limits of the canon law (through the integration of the Patriotic church in China; in relation to Russian and Greek Orthodoxy) or by his novel fusion of traditional and enlightened biblical theology that leads us out of the dead end of rationalistic bible criticism.
The European: Don’t we also have to prepare for cases of abuse in Catholic institutions in other countries? In your view how should Pope Benedict react to them?
Mosebach: The Church of course always has to be prepared for the fact that individual educators will sexually abuse students in her schools and boarding schools. That’s the nature of things. Wherever children are instructed, personalities with pedophile inclinations are always found. We have to ask ourselves, however, why just in the years immediately following the Second Vatican council the sexual crimes of priests occurred so frequently. There is no way of avoiding the bitter realization: the experiment of “aggiornamento”, the assimilation of the Church to the secularized world, has failed in a terrible way. After the Second Vatican Council, most priests dropped their clerical garb, ceased celebrating the mass daily and did not pray the breviary daily any more. The post-conciliar theology did everything in its power to make people forget the traditional image of the priest. All the institutions were called into question which had given the priest aid in his difficult and solitary life. Should we be astonished if many priests in these years could no longer view themselves as priests in the traditional manner? The clerical discipline that was deliberately eliminated had been largely formulated by the Council of Trent. At that time the mission was likewise to resist the corruption of the clergy and to reawaken the consciousness of the sanctity of the priesthood. It is nice that the leaders of the church ask the victims of abuse for forgiveness but it will be still more important if they tighten the reins of discipline in the sense of the Council of Trent and return to a priesthood of the Catholic Tradition.
The European: How will the Catholic Church look which Benedict will eventually leave behind him?
Mosebach: One would wish that this Pope might perceive himself the first manifestations of a healing of the Church. But this Pope is so modest and lacking in vanity that he hardly would view any such glimmerings as the result of his own actions. I believe that he wants to spare his successor thankless yet necessary labors by assuming them himself. Hopefully this successor will utilize the great opportunity that Benedict has created for him.
The European: The “Reform of the Liturgy” has fundamentally changed the Catholic Church – in what way?
Mosebach: The interventions of Paul VI in a liturgy over 1500 years old are called only “reform of the liturgy.” In reality it was a revolution that was not authorized by the instruction of the Second Vatican Council, to “gently” review the liturgical books. The “liturgical reform” centered upon man a celebration that had been orientated for the last two thousand years to the adoration of God. It undermined the priesthood and largely obscured the doctrine of the Church on the sacraments.
The European: In the late sixties there were many upheavals: the Cultural Revolution in China, the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, the student riots here at home, the Vietnam War – and the Second Vatican Council. Can we name all these upheavals in the same breath?
Mosebach: 1968 is, in my opinion, a phenomenon that is still not sufficiently understood. Here in Germany we like to occupy ourselves in this context with happy memories of communes and battles over the right interpretation of Marx. In reality, 1968 is an “axial year” in history with anti-traditionalist movements in the entire world that are only in appearance fully separate from each other. I am convinced that, when sufficient distance exists, the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the Roman Liturgical Reform will be understood to be closely connected.
The European: Pope Benedict XVI participated in this upheaval as a theologian of the Council. How do you experience today his commitment to revive individual liturgical elements of the pre-conciliar Church?
Mosebach: Benedict XVI views as one of his main tasks making the essence of the Church more clearly visible – for Catholics and then also for non-Catholics. The Pope knows that the Church is indissolubly bound to her Tradition. Church and revolution are irreconcilable contradictions. He attempts to intervene where the image of the Church has been distorted through a radical break with the past. Now the Church, like its Founder, has exactly two natures: historical and timeless. She cannot forget from where she came and cannot forget where she is going. Especially the Church in the West has problems with this. She has neither any sense for her historical organic evolution nor for her life in eternity.
http://hughofcluny.blogspot.com/2010/04/reform-of-liturgy-and-catholic-church.html
The European: The reintroduction of the old rite allowed again the petition for the conversion of the Jews, as it was in use prior to the Council. Was that the right step?
Mosebach: When the organic liturgy was permitted again (which had been suppressed, very often violently, under Paul VI) so also was the petition for the conversion of the Jews once again admitted into the official liturgical books of the Church. It dates from early Christianity and forms part of the Good Friday petitions. This early Christian petition, based on wording of the Apostle Paul, contains the wording that God might liberate the Jews from “their blindness” and “lift the veil from their hearts.” These expressions appeared to the Pope to permit the misunderstanding of contempt for the Jews because of recent history. Therefore he intervened when the traditional rite was authorized again and ordered a new formulation in the old rite. It also asks God to lead the Jews to Jesus Christ, but excludes the interpretation of contempt for them. The Pope has been condemned because he permits praying for the conversion of the Jews to Jesus Christ at all. But can the Church of the Jews Peter and Paul be expected to renounce such an intention?
The European: How do you assess the relationship of the Pope to the Jews and Israel?
Mosebach: Benedict XVI is probably the first pope since Peter to understand Christianity so closely from out of Judaism. His book on Jesus reveals in many passages the attempt to read the New Testament with the eyes of the Old Testament. The relationship of the Pope to Jewry is not superficial, political or a mere liking derived from a trendy philosemitism but is theological and rooted in faith. One has at times the impression that if Benedict were not a Christian he would be a Jew. To accuse this Pope of anti-Semitism betrays an ignorance and incompetence that should exclude one from public discourse.
The European: The controversy surrounding the FSSPX has yielded no visible success for the Vatican up till now. In your view what does this group bring to the Catholic Church other than its love for the old liturgy?
Mosebach: Other than the old liturgy? What is there more important for the Church than the liturgy? The liturgy is the body of the Church. It is faith made visible. If the liturgy falls ill, so does the entire Church. That is not a merely a hypothesis but a description of the current situation. One can’t present it drastically enough: the crisis of the Church has made possible that her greatest treasure, her Arcanum, was swept out of the center to the periphery. The FSSPX and especially its founder, Archbishop Lefebvre, are due the historical glory to have preserved for decades and kept alive this most important gift. Therefore the Church owes the FSSPX above all gratitude. Part of this gratitude is to work to lead the FSSPX out of all kinds of confusion and radicalization.
The European: The FSSPX don’t appear to be heading towards Rome.
Mosebach: In the discussions with the FSSPX what is important is the patient labor of persuasion, as is appropriate in spiritual questions. The discussions appear to be proceeding in a very good atmosphere. If one day it is successful in integrating once again the FSSPX in the full unity of the Church, the papacy of Benedict XVI would have obtained a success whose importance exceeds by far the number of FSSPX members.
The European: Christianity is one of the foundations of Europe. In the future will it still be relevant for the continent?
Mosebach: Christianity is the foundation of Europe – I don’t see any other. All intellectual movements of modern times, even when they opposed Christianity, owe their origins to it. We have also received ancient philosophy and art from the arms of Christianity. If European society should turn away totally from Christianity, it would mean nothing less than it would deny its very self. What one doesn’t know or want to know nevertheless exists. Repression cannot be the basis for a hopeful future.
The European: You were in Turkey for a while. Would Turkey enrich the European Union as a full member or is it difficult to integrate a land dominated by Islam into the Western community of values?
Mosebach: You surely understand that I cannot give you a political or legal answer. I can only see that Turkey – especially the anti-Islamic, modernizing Turkey - has had enormous difficulties with its Christian European minorities. Until the 1950’s there was still a Greek-dominated Constantinople. But living together with Christians was intolerable for the modern Turks so they put an end to it. Now they seem to find desirable drawing near to Europe because of economic concerns without, however, rethinking in their internal politics the battle against Christians. I believe that we are very far removed from what you call “integration into the Western community of values.”
"Österreich" is being Sued By Scandaldiocese Linz
‚Österreich’ had reported a bribery scandal back in 2009 against Bishop Ludwig Scharz of Linz and his former Press Secretary Kaineder.
Linz (kath.net) The Diocese of Linz is suing the newspaper 'Österreich’' for for legal omission. This was reported in the newspaper "Standard". Österreich had accused the Diocese of Linz in 2009 of a "Bribery Scandal", where bishop Ludwig Schwarz received 50,000 Euro from "Action Kirchentreu", so that he could give it to his then Press Secretary Ferdinand Kaineder.
You'll remember this man as being one of Father Wagner's persecutors and here.
Linz (kath.net) The Diocese of Linz is suing the newspaper 'Österreich’' for for legal omission. This was reported in the newspaper "Standard". Österreich had accused the Diocese of Linz in 2009 of a "Bribery Scandal", where bishop Ludwig Schwarz received 50,000 Euro from "Action Kirchentreu", so that he could give it to his then Press Secretary Ferdinand Kaineder.
You'll remember this man as being one of Father Wagner's persecutors and here.
Another Homosexual Bishop for Episcopal Church in USA?
In Utah no less?
Link to original...
The Episcopal Diocese of Utah has chosen four priests to stand for election as its next bishop, including an openly gay canon from the Episcopal Diocese of California.
Announced Friday, the four candidates will vie to succeed current Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish , who since 1996 has served as the tenth Episcopal bishop of Utah and the denomination's first woman bishop west of the Potomac.
Though relatively small – emcompassing some 25 congregations and representing about 5,000 Episcopalian – the diocese will likely draw the attention of Anglicans worldwide as it has paved a way for the Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe to become the denomination’s third openly gay bishop.
Link to original...
Father Johnn Trigilio Critcizes 'US Catholic'
'How ironic that the same crowd which lambasted and chastised traditional Catholics for their affection for the 'old' Mass (the Traditional Latin Mass, or more accurately, the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite) these past 45 years are now themselves nostalgic for their beloved 'folk' Mass.
'Yet, it is not nostalgia to reinvent, redefine or rewrite history. Pope Benedict XVI made it clear that the extraordinary form was never invalidated nor abolished. The ordinary form (alias Novus Ordo or Vatican II vernacular Mass) has been normative since 1970 but the Tridentine rite (or Traditional Latin Mass) has been, remains and will always be valid and licit for Catholic worship. The so-called 'folk' Masses, or what the author calls 'alternative, progressive Masses,' were never normative. Many were in fact illicit as they did not conform to the rubrics of the General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) of the 'new' Mass of 1970.
Link to source...
'Yet, it is not nostalgia to reinvent, redefine or rewrite history. Pope Benedict XVI made it clear that the extraordinary form was never invalidated nor abolished. The ordinary form (alias Novus Ordo or Vatican II vernacular Mass) has been normative since 1970 but the Tridentine rite (or Traditional Latin Mass) has been, remains and will always be valid and licit for Catholic worship. The so-called 'folk' Masses, or what the author calls 'alternative, progressive Masses,' were never normative. Many were in fact illicit as they did not conform to the rubrics of the General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) of the 'new' Mass of 1970.
Link to source...
Bishop Williamson not Coming to the Show Trial in Germany
Earlier last month, a report (reproduced below) appeared in Dici describing the situation that was to take place in the court in German for the showtrial. The trial is on the 16th and the Bishop won't be there, as kreuznet says:
Pius X Bishop isn't coming
Germany. Bishop Richard Williamson isn't coming on Friday to Regensburg, in order to participate in the hearing which is according to German law, legal. This was according to German Attorney Matthias Lossman who spoke to the News Service 'ddp". Bishop Williamson's reasons will be revealed by Lossmann in the proceedings on Friday. There will "only be a pair of legal questions" - says Lossmann.
Pius X Bishop isn't coming
Germany. Bishop Richard Williamson isn't coming on Friday to Regensburg, in order to participate in the hearing which is according to German law, legal. This was according to German Attorney Matthias Lossman who spoke to the News Service 'ddp". Bishop Williamson's reasons will be revealed by Lossmann in the proceedings on Friday. There will "only be a pair of legal questions" - says Lossmann.
A spokesman of the court of Ratisbonne announced on 27 January that Bishop Richard Williamson will be tried on 16 April 2010 in Germany. According to France Presse, an official demand for his appearance has been sent to the British bishop’s residence in London.
The proceedings brought against Bishop Williamson are for “incitement of racial hatred”, after the words he spoke in Ratisbonne about the Holocaust and which were broadcasted on the Swedish television channel SVT on 21 January 2009. The bishop disputed the charges made against him and did not follow the simplified procedure which would have enabled the case to come to a close after paying a fine of 12,000 Euros. The spokesman also specified on 9 November 2009 that the bishop was not required to be physically present at his trial, and that he could be represented by another. (DICI n°209 du 06/02/10 – Sources: AFP/sources privées)
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
"New Morality" at the root of the priestly abuse crisis?
Doug Lawrence wrote:A big step in the propagandizing of the ‘new morality’ was marked by the appearance in June, 1977, of the book Human Sexuality, published under the auspices of the Catholic Theological Society of America. This book has the form of a ‘report’ to the CTSA, but its contents are intended for maximum diffusion among Catholics, as is obvious both from the manner of publication and from the admission in the Forward to the book that it is aimed “at a wider public of interested persons.”
The revolutionary character of this report is obvious from the affirmations it embodies, such as the following:
a) that no physical expression of sexuality is in itself “morally wrong or perverse” (H.S., p. 110); consequently:
b) that even those sexual practices which people have up to now considered deviant do not clearly produce evil consequences either for the individual or for society (H.S., p. 77);
c) that the use of contraceptives is “wholesome and moral” whenever it helps couples to build “a community of love” for one another (H.S., p. 127);
d) that deliberate masturbation (even after unresisted indulgence in erotic imagery) is never a serious sin and can be an act of virtue (H.S., pp. 220, 227);
e) that fornication and adultery are in themselves morally good experiences (H.S., pp. 154-158, 178-179);
f) that ‘living together,’ ’swinging,’ and communal sex are not morally unacceptable (H.S., pp. 151-152);
g) that Jesus was indeed opposed to the exploitation of women by men, but He did not prohibit self-liberating, other-enriching forms of prostitution, fornication, or adultery, joyously performed, as long as there was genuine concern for possible third parties involved (H.S., pp. 20-22, 30-31, 96);
h) that homosexuals have a moral right to homosexual activity and to homosexual self-expression in the eyes of civil society (H.S., pp. l98, 214);
i) that it is both harmful and unprofessional to ‘moralize’ with children who have the habit of sexual intercourse with animals (H.S., pp. 229-230);
j) that fetishism and transvestism are a physiological and therefore not a moral problem (H.S., pp. 230-231);
k) that the only presently effective treatment for transsexualism is a sex-change operation coupled with hormone treatments and supportive counseling (H.S., p. 233);
1) that even hard-core pornography is not immoral for adults except to the extent that it may exploit persons by reducing them to objects to be used (H.S., pp. 235-237);
m) that obscene words formerly not used in decent conversation are now just part of the common vocabulary (H.S., p. 235).
cf Doug Lawrence Blog...
Obama's Ambassador to the Vatican Brings Modernist Pottery
A lot of these Catholic Colleges host non-Catholic "artists" who add to the wordly prestige of the institution.
Kathleen Norris is one storyteller who talks about the Modernist Monastery in Collegeville. Her husband was the "artist" in residence at St. Catherine's College in St. Paul. Unlike his wife, the aging and now deceased hippie had very little good to say about the Catholic Church, but again, it's about worldly chic.
Speaking of wordly chic, another creature of St. John's, Obama's ambassador to the Vatican, brought three pieces valued in the thousands of dollars range, for a display in the Vatican.
To paraphrase St. Augustine, you can find everything at St. John's, alleluias, interesting people, culture, up-to-date thinking, modern architecture, social justice, modern facilities, you can find everything there, except salvation.
Read further...
Kathleen Norris is one storyteller who talks about the Modernist Monastery in Collegeville. Her husband was the "artist" in residence at St. Catherine's College in St. Paul. Unlike his wife, the aging and now deceased hippie had very little good to say about the Catholic Church, but again, it's about worldly chic.
Speaking of wordly chic, another creature of St. John's, Obama's ambassador to the Vatican, brought three pieces valued in the thousands of dollars range, for a display in the Vatican.
To paraphrase St. Augustine, you can find everything at St. John's, alleluias, interesting people, culture, up-to-date thinking, modern architecture, social justice, modern facilities, you can find everything there, except salvation.
COLLEGEVILLE — Richard Bresnahan never imagined when he was creating his pottery pieces that one day his art would be on display at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Vatican City.
The artist-in-residence at St. John's Pottery Studio at St. John's University lent three of his creations to the residence of Miguel Díaz, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. Díaz was a professor of theology at the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University before he was sworn in as an ambassador Aug. 21.
"Historically, the artists that have been represented at exhibitions that have been organized by the State Department have been primarily East and West coasts artists," said Bresnahan, a graduate of St. John's University in Collegeville. The 56-year-old lives in Avon Township.
Read further...
Motu Proprio has Helped the SSPX to Grow
In this interview by Michael Matt at the Remnant, we learn from the American District Superior of the SSPX, Father Rostand, that there has been tremendous growth as a result of the Motu Proprio for the Society. There are many priests in the establishment who are very supportive of the SSPX but many Bishops remain hostile both to the implementation of Motu Proprio. He cites the statistic that 34% of Novus Ordo Catholics would like to go regularly to a Traditional Latin Mass and there is a similiar figure in France, yet Archbishop Vingt-Trois insists, quite deceitfully inmho, that there "is no demand".
Read the article...
So, “are things progressing for the Society of Saint Pius X?” Yes, absolutely. The number of faithful in the chapels is increasing, the Society now numbers 77 priests in this District, about 80 seminarians are studying for the priesthood, 13 new priests were ordained at Winona last year, and 11 should be in June 2010. To give an idea of the growth, Saint Mary's had over a hundred baptisms last year, The Immaculate Conception church in Post-Falls around seventy-five.
Read the article...
Some Jews are Still Going on about Good Friday Prayer
Some Jews are never happy. Would they like it if Catholic authorities censored their "sacred" texts? The fact of the matter is is that most Jews coulnd't care less. It's only the press who erroneously reports these "controversies" because they need to sell advertising space and appease their masters. Still, the prayer asks God for the conversion of the Jews. That's unacceptable to them. Sure beats what's in the Talmud where you can justify just about any crime committed against the perfidious Goyim.
I think Goldblog has it right, but in case they keep it up, there should be some major press releases entitled, "Cardinal Lehmen disappointed with Jews: 'We've been saddened by the Jews. The Jewish sacred books encouraged especially by extremist ultra-Orthodox Jews, need serious revision to keep pace with the advances made by Nostra Aetate and an apology for all the Christians they've killed since stoning St. Stephen and the Ukranian Holodomor, would be a welcome new vista of honesty in this dialogue of double-standards'".
But just look at the comments below the article, if you think that's whiney, the comments are screaming for the blood of Catholics. It's enough to make you believe that the blood libel wasn't just a myth concocted by anti-semites in the 20th Century to justify its various pogroms.
h/t: Durandal
I think Goldblog has it right, but in case they keep it up, there should be some major press releases entitled, "Cardinal Lehmen disappointed with Jews: 'We've been saddened by the Jews. The Jewish sacred books encouraged especially by extremist ultra-Orthodox Jews, need serious revision to keep pace with the advances made by Nostra Aetate and an apology for all the Christians they've killed since stoning St. Stephen and the Ukranian Holodomor, would be a welcome new vista of honesty in this dialogue of double-standards'".
But just look at the comments below the article, if you think that's whiney, the comments are screaming for the blood of Catholics. It's enough to make you believe that the blood libel wasn't just a myth concocted by anti-semites in the 20th Century to justify its various pogroms.
ROME – On Good Friday, two days before Easter, a prayer titled “Let us Pray for the Conversion of the Jews” was recited in Latin by traditionalist Catholic congregations in Italy, plus 16 sections of the Society of Saint Pius X.
The ultra-conservative society, whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI last year, has yet to be fully reintegrated into the Catholic Church, because of its refusal to accept the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
In 2007, in an effort to bring the traditionalist elements of the Church back into the fold, Benedict issued a “Motu Proprio” declaration allowing wider use of the 1962, pre-Vatican II Roman Missal containing this prayer, which was previously restricted to small groups. Three years ago only 30 Italian churches were affected by that decision, as opposed to the 118 that regularly use the liturgy today.
h/t: Durandal
Jeff Anderson Flailing in the Waves
Jeff Anderson, the mid-range litigator from the Land O' Lakes, has used all of his evil power to obtain the assistance of Pinch Sulzberger's scandal rag, the NYTs, to publish libelous stories about the Pope. Now he's engaging in a bit of historical wishful thinking, but he's been enriched by colluding with homosexuals in the Church who deceitully were ordained despite Its existing rules against ordaining homosexuals, and no one can take that away from him, not yet, but will he take it with him when he goes to meet his maker?
Sure the money helps Jeff Anderson's ACLU enterprise and his promotion of various Democratic causes, while he simultaneously attacks one of the last remaining bastions of tradition left in the world.
The citation from the following article taken from his website gets at one of the principle reasons behind his "crusade". He's not so much concerned about his abuse victims (well, the money's always nice), but about a forlorn political agenda to destroy the Catholic Church.
The Germans have a saying, "he who eats Pope dies". Jeff Anderson is getting old, let's see how he ends up. Interestingly, some of his foremost potential allies are disassociating themselves from him. Could it be that his inept and hubris tic attack on the Holy See is threatening to discredit the very movements he promotes.
He is certainly feeling the heat. How now, diplomatic history?
How about the dark side of your soul, Jeff?
Link to original...
Sure the money helps Jeff Anderson's ACLU enterprise and his promotion of various Democratic causes, while he simultaneously attacks one of the last remaining bastions of tradition left in the world.
The citation from the following article taken from his website gets at one of the principle reasons behind his "crusade". He's not so much concerned about his abuse victims (well, the money's always nice), but about a forlorn political agenda to destroy the Catholic Church.
The Germans have a saying, "he who eats Pope dies". Jeff Anderson is getting old, let's see how he ends up. Interestingly, some of his foremost potential allies are disassociating themselves from him. Could it be that his inept and hubris tic attack on the Holy See is threatening to discredit the very movements he promotes.
He is certainly feeling the heat. How now, diplomatic history?
For decades the strange practice of treating the Catholic Church as a state has been bad for women's equality, gay rights and reproductive freedom. The Holy See's fictive statehood allows it to promote its retrograde views on gender and sex in diplomatic settings and during treaty negotiations.
Now, the unfolding sexual abuse scandal reveals another dark side of the Holy See's claim to statehood: the extraordinary immunities claimed by the pope in the face of conspiracy accusations that span the globe.
How about the dark side of your soul, Jeff?
Link to original...
Derschowitz Defends the Pope
Good will like this is humbling.
In Defense of the Pope
Even America Magazine is making some declarations on the extremely incompetent hitpiece between paid attorney, Jeff Anderson and New York Times, and giving liberals some much deserved criticism as well.
Having criticized particular Catholic cardinals for blaming everything–including the Church’s sex scandal–on “the Jews”, let me now come to the defense of the Pope and of the Church itself on this issue. To begin with, this is an extraordinarily complex problem, because the Church has at least five important traditions that make it difficult to move quickly and aggressively in response to complaints of abuse.
The first tradition involves confidentiality, particularly not exclusively the confidentiality of the priest with regard to the penitent. But there is also a wider spread tradition of confidentiality within the Church hierarchy itself.
Second, there is the tradition of forgiveness. Those of us outside the Church often think, perhaps, that the Church goes too far in forgiving. I was shocked when the previous Pope immediately forgave the man who tried to assassinate him. But this episode and other demonstrate that the tradition of forgiveness is all too real.
In Defense of the Pope
Even America Magazine is making some declarations on the extremely incompetent hitpiece between paid attorney, Jeff Anderson and New York Times, and giving liberals some much deserved criticism as well.
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