The Church Must be Free From Moralism and Ideology

Francis Pearl of the day: The ideologues end up being talentless intellectuals, moralists without goodness. Purity of heart is simple and leads to the path of repentance. Call to Prayer for the Church. By Armin Schwibach

Rome (kath.net / as) The Word of God must be humbly accepted, because it is a word of love. Only then it can enter into the hearts of people and change their lives. With these words Pope Francis turned in his homily for the Mass on Friday of the third week of Easter, to the congregation in the Vatican Guest House "Domus Sanctae Marthae". In the Eucharist, some employees of the Vatican printing press and the newspaper "L'Osservatore Romano" participated.

The Conversion of St. Paul and the discourse of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum were based on the readings of the day (Acts 9:1 to 20; Jn 6:52 to 59) the center of the short homily the pope concentrated on the speech of Jesus: Jesus speaking to Saul, who persecuted him, he spoke to Ananias, whom He would call to take Saul, and he was also speaking to the teachers of the law. To them he said: "Who does not eat my flesh and drink my blood, which will not be saved."

The voice of Jesus "goes through our mind and reaches the heart. For Jesus seeks our repentance." Paul and Ananias replied, astonished, but with an open heart. They "respond like the big history of salvation, like Jeremiah, Isaiah. Moses also had his difficulties, 'Lord, I do not understand it, talking about how I should go unto the Egyptians, and tell them that?' And Mary, 'sir, but I'm not married!' This is the response of humility, the response of those who accept the Word of God with the heart. The teachers of the law, however only answer with their heads. You do not know that the word of God goes to the heart, they know nothing of repentance."

But who are those that respond only from the head? Francis said: "These are the great ideologues. The word Jesus goes to the heart because it is the word of love, the beautiful word that love brings, which can love us. The ideologues who "cut the path" even the path of beauty. And they discussed sharply among themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' All of it: a problem of the understanding! And if the ideology feeds into the Church, when the ideology enters into the understanding of the Gospel, it understands nothing. "

There were dealing with those people who follow the "path of duty": "this is the moralism of people, who claim to realize the Gospel only in what they have understood by the mind." Thus, they are not engaged "on the path of repentance, Jesus invites them to take that way".

More than that: "On the path of duty, they load everything onto the shoulders of the faithful. The ideologies distort the gospel. Each ideological interpretation which may come from each side, is a distortion of the Gospel. And these ideologues - we have seen in the history of the Church - they then end up to being talentless intellectuals, moralists without goodness. And we don’t really talk about beauty, because we do not understand it.“

The road of love, however, "the road of the Gospel is simple: it is the path understood by the saints."

"The Saints put the Church ahead!”, said Francis at the end of his sermon: "The road of conversion, the road of humility, of love, of the heart, the beauty of the road ... Let us pray to the Lord for the Church today: Lord deliver them from any ideological interpretation and open the heart of the Church, our Mother Church, and for the simple Gospel, for that pure Gospel that speaks to us of love, that brings love and is so beautiful! And it also makes us beautiful, we, with the beauty of holiness. Today we want to pray for the Church!".

Link to kath.net...

Priest Shortage is Not the Fault of the Council -- The Cause is Older, Virtual Council Led to Outbreak

(Rome) "The decline in priestly vocations, which followed the Second Vatican Council, is attributable in no way the Council nor its partly dubious reception. It is necessary to recognize that the crisis had been that there were deeper and older roots” and that the conciliar reforms have likely curbed the destructive consequences. This was written by Mauro Cardinal Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy in the new book Presbytero Ordinis 50 years later. It is the first volume in a new series of books on the Council documents that the traditional Catholic publisher Cantagalli (Italy) has presented on the occasion of the 50 years since the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

The Cardinal, again recovering, then takes up that contradiction between the "real" and "virtual" council, which Pope Benedict XVI. stressed shortly before his resignation. The real council as an expression of the church is tangible in the Council documents and only there, the virtual council, however, is in an artificial world of expectations, interpretations and projections of the people’s own thoughts of that time and the post-conciliar period. According to Cardinal Piacenza these parallel perceptions of the council have been made apparent during and after the Council, the crisis of the priesthood, of the tens of thousands of priests who abandoned their priesthood and by the continuing lack of vocations, whose causes then are already traced to the time before the council.

In a New Book Series Cardinals Conciliar Documents Before - start priests decree by Cardinal Piacenza

Each volume of the new series is dedicated to a document of the Council and is published by a cardinal. That of Cardinal Piacenza (216 pages) contains the conciliar document to the ordained priesthood in Latin and Italian, the comments to be presented by the editor. The series is not aimed at a specialist audience, but to a broad readership. The publisher writes that it "will look to the teachings of the Council documents themselves, by dispensing ideological or special interpretations" of it. It is hoped that the publisher "to help the youth" to discover the "big event, which had marked the history of the Church of the 20th century” and “without adopting a one sided treatment of its legacy.” In view of the "not so young", the publisher hopes that this “will renew the joy of experiencing new enthusiasm and missionary zeal of the conciliar years.”

As far as the publisher publisher. In its commentary on the Council document, which deals with the priesthood, Cardinal Piacenza writes: "If sociologists and religious historians stress that the loss of priests, and the decline in priestly vocations which followed the Ecumenical Vatican Council II, know nothing like this in the history of the Church, not even when you compare it with the Lutheran "Reformation", then this is not due to the council in any way, nor its partially ambiguous reception. "the roots of the crisis of vocations and thus the crisis of the priesthood are older. "The reforms of the Council and also Presbytero Ordinis have curbed the destructive impact," said the cardinal.

Conciliar decree "in full compliance with all the Church's tradition"

The Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy noted then that in an analysis of the Conciliar Decree it is clear "that the teaching there presented both the sacramental and from the pastoral point of view in full compliance with the entire tradition of the Church and with the dogmatically important councils, including that of Trent, and offered a profile of the priestly identity, which is completely rooted in the sacrament of Holy Orders and is entirely dependent on this, as also touches on the mission."

Piacenza writes in his analysis that “especially in the first decades immediately after the release of Presbytero Ordinis, new forms of exercise of the priestly office were sought, which would correspond more to the needs of contemporary culture and are more efficient from the missionary point of view. This search, however, had not a little one-sided result in the hearts and minds of those addressed that would allow that secular standards enter into the horizon of faith, and thereby took newly evangelized world again to recover with a completely secular faith, often entire communities. “

Toward every reform “the criterion must stand measured above all others: is the salvation of souls"

The cardinal affirmed that "every authentic renewal in the Church is not possible without the fundamental contribution of the priests. So it is true that the Holy Spirit is free to form the new face of the Bride of Christ in every era, especially as He gives saints, women and men who are fully satisfied by Christ and therefore are able through their own lives to evangelize and renew the Church and the world, so it does not apply equally, that the priests in their daily and concrete exercise modify their pastoral office for the holy people of God, which is the highest authority demonstrated by the universal Church and in Her as a way of necessary renewal. In this it is not an easy task, says Cardinal Piacenza, “the criterion being measured always above all others: is the salvation of souls. In any reform and its implementation, a key question must always be clear and decisive: Does it help the faith? Does it promote a greater attachment to Christ? “

And Cardinal Piacenza continued: "If this simple and direct criterion would always been applied, there would be neither dangerous, unfounded distortions of doctrine nor nostalgic hardening of questionable missionary benefit."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Opus Dei Translation: Tancred

Link to Katholisches...

Boy Scouts About to Cave in to Homoheresy

Edit: The Eye Witness made some trenchant observations, and it looks like this is what the Boy Scouts are in for.  We wonder, will there be special badges and Scout manuals celebrating perversity?

(Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America on Friday moved to partially lift its long-standing ban on gays, with a decision that would allow openly gay youth members but continue to bar gay adults in one of the largest youth serving organizations in America.

If the resolution is approved in a nationwide vote in May, "no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone," Deron Smith, the organization's spokesman, told Reuters.

The report found religious groups linked to the Scouts were concerned with homosexual adult leaders not with youth and concluded "a change in the membership policy specific to youth only would be consistent with the religious beliefs of the BSA's major chartered organizations."

Gay rights groups want the ban lifted for youth and adults and the proposal immediately drew criticism.

Link to Reuters…

Contacts:

Donor-advised funds, charitable trusts, bequests, and other types of major gifts for Scouting:

Stacy Huff, director, stacy.huff@scouting.org 

Colin V. French, director of administration, colin.french@scouting.org 

Victor Korelstein, major gifts director, victor.korelstein@scouting.org 

Dustin Farris, major gifts director, dustin.farris@scouting.org 

Chris Blum, major gifts director, chris.blum@scouting.org 

Drew Glassford, major gifts director, drew.glassford@scouting.org 

Chris Redo, major gifts director, chris.redo@scouting.org 

Diane Smith, donor relations specialist, diane.smith@scouting.org 

Robin Kresge, administrative assistant, robin.kresge@scouting.org 

Boy Scouts of America
National Council
P.O. Box 152079
Irving, Texas 75015-2079

Phone

972-580-2000

Fatima and the Third Secret -- Why is Pope Francis Having the 97 Year Old Secretary of John XXIII Come to Rome?

(Rome) Is there a Marian reading of recent church events? Antonio Socci focuses on this question in the news daily Libero (April 14). Pope Benedict XVI., who sees his powers dwindling  and does not feel strong enough to face the challenges of the time announced his resignation on the 11th February, taking place on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes,.

His successor, Francis is elected on March 13 , a date that commemorates the apparitions of Fatima. In the small Portuguese city, the Mother of God appeared between the 13th of May and 13th of October on the 13th of each month before three children. The 13th Day of each month is Fatima Day in  Catholic piety  and thus is a Marian date.

Sister Lucia of the Immaculate Heart,  which was the religious name of one of the children, wrote down the Third Secret of Fatima in 1944 after much reluctance. Only when she was stopped from writing expressly by her bishop, she got the call. The minutes were kept by the Bishop of Leiria, since 1957 and they are located in the archives of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith in Rome. Each newly elected Pope is shown the content of the the Third Secret by the time of his inauguration.  Only in 2000, did Pope John Paul II  order the publication of the secret to counteract speculation about a near end of the world or a third world war.

Much has been puzzled about the Third Secret of Fatima, about "a Bishop dressed in White”, which was written of by the Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the three seers: "We had the idea that it was the Holy Father.” 

Pope John Paul II referred to the prophecy when he and the then Secretary of the Congregation, now the Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, made to reveal the third secret in the Holy Year in 2000 by the then Prefect of the Congregation of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. In the belief, which was granted to the shepherd children by Our Lady, they saw that the white-robed Bishop is killed by soldiers. In 1981, a few months after the assassination attempt on John Paul II by the Soviet hired assassin Ali Agca, Cardinal Ratzinger, the previous Prefect of the CDF, Franjo Cardinal Seper, had made a connection between the vision and  the Pope surviving the severe injuries inflicted by the attack . The attack was on May 13th was committed on the day of Fatima. The Pope ascribed his salvation to the Mother of God.

Early on, however, there were doubts whether the publication was complete. Due to past testimony of several top church officials, several lines seem to have continued to be kept secret. However, doubts were also placed on the interpretation. Among others, it was the Austrian Bishop Kurt Krenn of Sankt Pölten, who publicly reported a little later about such doubts of Joseph Ratzinger. The Prefect of the CDF had therefore been of the opinion that the prophecy was not referring to the assassination, but had a far greater dimension. One dimension that concerns the whole Church, as well as the popular intuition showing in the murder of the other bishops, priests and lay Catholics. So the Third Secret concerns future events that have yet to occur.

Recently, the question is raised whether the words referred to the resigned Pope or to his successor, who likes to call himself "Bishop of Rome".

Francis saw how Pope John Paul II had a special devotion to Mary. The Mother of God is Francis' first "escape" from the Vatican on the day after his election, when he went to venerate the icon in the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and also prayed at the grave of Pope St. Pius V.  In his first Angelus in St. Peter's Square, he mentioned Fatima.  About two weeks ago  Pope Francis surprisingly called  Archbishop Loris Capovilla.  The now over 97 year old, retired Curial Archbishop was the first secretary of Pope John XXIII from 1958 to 1963.  On Easter Monday, the 1st of April, the phone rang. The Pope was personally at the other end and told Capovilla  he wanted to meet with him. The Monsignor promises soon to come to Rome, where he has not been any more since the beatification of John XXIII on 3 September 2000.

The reason it is said that the old prelate was to be placated, that  the Pope wanted to say thank you for a brochure that Monsignor Capovilla had written for the Year of Faith and Cardinal Comastri had given to the Pope. The Pope’s call merely to say thanks for a brochure was not convincing in the least for a set of Vatikanisten.

Capovilla was the last topic of conversation, because he talked about a memorandum that Benedict XVI. had written for his successor. The Vatican denied the allusion. At the meeting of the two Popes in Castel Gandolfo, in any case, a box full of documents and a large, sealed envelope was seen.

"Why has the Pope contrived to want to see  the former secretary of Pope Roncalli in the first month of his pontificate and at he exclusion of the public? What was so urgent?” asked Antonio Socci.

On the 7th of April the Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Jose Policarpo of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, of which he is chairman, announced that Pope Francis had asked the patriarch to consecrate his pontificate of Our Lady of Fatima. The consecration will be on 13 May, taking place on the 96th Anniversary of the apparition.

Is Pope Francis talking with Archbishop Capovilla about the Third Secret of Fatima? He, therefore, is making him come to Rome, as the timing of the announcement made shortly after he consecrated  as his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima suggests? What does the Pope think or know related to the prophecy and the future of the Church? What must we expect?

Text: Martha Weinzl
Picture: Fatima

Translation: Tancred

Link to Katholisches… 

Additional background on Antonio Socci’s work…and Cadinal Capovilla...

Hans Küng Hopes for Rehabilitation

Hans Küng hofft auf Rehabilitation

(Hannover) The Tübingen Theologin and church critic Hans Küng hopes to be rehabilitated by Pope Francis. “It would be a sing for many, that injustice can be made good”, said the 85 year old for Hannoverschen Allgemeinen Zeitung on Thursday. He hopes that this “will still happen in my lifetime.” The German Bishops’ Conference had withdrawn Küng’s ecclesiastical permission to teach in 1979. He denied, among other thins, the Dogma of Papal infallibility. Küng is the president of the foundation Weltethos, which he recently resigned for reasons of age.

From Katholisches...

Photo credit...

France Braces for New Demonstrations Against Aberromarriage on Sunday

The Das christliche Konzept der Menschenwürde sei in Frankreich nicht mehr als ethische Referenz anerkannt, sagte der Pariser Erzbischof, Kardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, bei der Frühjahrsvollversammlung der französischen Bischofskonferenz

Paris (kath.net/KNA) according to the President of the French Bishop's Conference, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois (Foto), Christendom has lost its spiritual dimension. The Christian concept of human worth is now recognized as nothing more than an ethical reference, said the French Archbishop in connection with the the Spring Convocation of French Bishops on Tuesday in Paris. As an example he described the planned introduction of same-sex marriage and of the adoption right for homosexuals, whose backers advocate not recognizing the difference of the sexes.


Vingt-Trois called upon French Christians to actively address their faith in daily life and to change society in this way long term. The various month long demonstrations of different social groups against "homosexual marriage" was described by the Cardinal as "the echo of our point of view". The bishops are meeting till Thursday.

From Wednesday the French National Assembly are deliberating in a second address about the controversial legal project for the legalization of same-sex marriage. The independent association "manif pour tous" has renewed in the meantime it's calls for a demonstration against "homo-marriage" on Sunday in Paris.

On Friday the French Senate had consented in its first deliberation in any case to adopt more alterations to the legislative text. Already since the middle of February the French National Assembly had drafted in its first deliberation passing with a large majority. Then when both parliamentary chambers have agreed to the entire text, then it can go into power. According to the wish of Socialist President Francois Hollande the new regulations will go into effect in the first half of 2013.

Séance d'ouverture de la CEF - Discours d´ouverture de l´assemblée, prononcée par le Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Président

From the “Egomenical” Council to the Homosexualization of the Church -- Ariel Levi di Gualdos

 (Rome) He is young and combative, his life was a struggle between Judaism and Christianity, he decided for Jesus Christ and became a Catholic priest. The talk is of Ariel Gualdo di Stefano Levi, born in 1963. He is a student of the Jesuit Peter Gumpel, a priest of the Diocese of Rome and has the fire of a convert. He is the author of several books and editor of the theological journal series Fides Quaerens Intelletcum. In 2007 Erbe Amare, il secolo del sionismo (Bitter Herbs: The Zionist Century) appeared, 2009 Nada te turbe, 2011 E Satana si fece Trino relativismo, individualismo, disobbedienza. Analisi sulla Chiesa del terzo millenio (And the devil makes ​​himself triune. Relativism, individualism, disobedience: An Analysis of the Church of the third millennium).

The Priest and Jewish convert's writings to provoke

Each of his works is like a cold shower and a heated provocation at the same time. It is this emotional roller coaster Levi di Gualdo wants to achieve in his readers. A tepid middle ground does not exist for him. The most recent book, The Devil Made Himself Triune is a razor-sharp polemic from the priest and theologian, as it is explained in the subtitle. In order to tap the full meaning of the title, it is necessary to resort to the Church Fathers. St. Jerome and St. Augustine described the devil as a monkey god. A monkey aping God to turn things upside down and create a parallel perception to reality.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is dedicated to the free loyalty and obedience to the Church. The Second Vatican Council was “deformed by the post-conciliar theologians into a egomaniacal Council" and abused as an instrument of apostasy and rebellion within the Church. The neologism of "ecumenical" and "egomaniacal" gives you an idea of ​​Levi di Gualdos militancy.

An Absolutist Mind at all Times is Characteristic of Apostates

Substantiated without circumlocution and with plenty of buttressing, the author assails the progressives in the Church who pretend to be an army of priest and theologian rebels, who are always have their mouths open and are ready at any time to demand "more collegiality and democracy" but to have built true dictatorships in the church at the same time.  "The hegemonic and absolutist mind is not something typically conservative, but rather of the apostates of all time, who gave rise to the worst forms of the suppression of freedom of thought and made the dominant opinion into a forced unity.”

This small army of dilapidated priests in jeans and tie theologians, who have neared to the people of the church, have initiated forms of clericalism, as they had never been before. The consequences were that "after decades of theological and liturgical scurrility, oddities, the churches of the West are half empty, and the crisis of credibility weighs like an executioner's ax on the clergy." The presumption of this modern clericalism was to reduce to the author, God, to an object, which one could impose one's will. "This fact leads to the denial of God as a God who is no longer recognized as the Lord of life and history.”

Bultmann to Ravasi - Is the condemnation of Modernism by Pius X no longer valid?

As an example, the author draws the chapter "From Bultmann to Gianfranco Ravasi," the world of ideas published by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture an "autopsy". Here Levi di Gualdo raises the question of whether the contents of the Encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, with Pope St. Pius X. Modernism condemning it as a synthesis of all heresies would still be valid today. The question is of crucial importance, since many of the Pius X theses condemned today the basis of numerous published theological writings expected to be learned in the theological faculties and seminaries. "The question that arises is: This happens because of the changing historical circumstances that the validity of those condemnations is extinguished, or is it because the soldiers have risen from the belly of the Trojan horse and now frolic inside the walls?”

Levi di Gualdo maintains that Cardinal Ravasi illustrated in the preface to the first, the Italian edition of the first volume of the work, "Jesus of Nazareth" by Pope Benedict XVI. that the use of “real” instead of “historic” is able to contradict what the Pope says in the book. The author sees this as "the usual word game” used by Bultmann and the thesis of the reality of the myth. "A thesis in the preface to the book of Benedict XVI. hurled like a ripe tomato against a white wall. “

Psychological Homosexualization the Church an Epidemic Evil

The second chapter of the book is devoted to the psychological homosexualization the Church, which accounts for the author and held to be far more serious than the pedophilia scandal. In Church history it was made an unprecedented phenomenon in the last decades. Homosexuals have created an internal Church lobby, which they operate with mafia-like methods. This lobby has created a form of clerical Pornokratie and has a negative effect on the life and institutions of the Church. "The request from the Holy See for years has forcefully imposed, not to ordain candidates with open or latent homosexual tendencies, that is simply ignored by many dioceses in which they act contrary to Roman directives. You can not have peace of mind, when severely limited to strict public statements, while a homosexual priest then increases his, in the same proportion as the bishops increase who march parallel to the ideological advance of homosexualization, proceeding in concert with a latent homosexual psychology. Or to put it more bluntly: some seminarians in the seminaries formed "religious brotherhoods” during in the 70s and 80s are today bishops, and no sooner had it, than they have to be first surrounded with like-minded subjects who systematically are placed in all key positions in the diocese, including seminaries where they mutually protect each other and reproduce.”

Rome must remove Homo-bishops - to Crush the Snake's Head

Ariel Levi di Gualdo assesses the decision "to be moved to concrete action: removal of the bishops from their diocese who promote and propagate homosexuals to the sanctuary.” It means that the Church “is to be cleaned of this dangerous homosexual decadent disease," says the Roman priest. "In various dioceses in which homosexuality has come to power, today the heterosexual candidates are excluded from the ordination. If they are already priests, they are discriminated against and discharged by a homosexual lobby. Appeals and recommendations at this point are no longer sufficient, readiness must be to cut the snake off at the head.” The author himself doesn’t lack a sense of humor in this subject. “In view of a blatant case", but this by no means was even a single case where in a diocese "in the last 20 years, eight of ten ordained priests" had “evident operational errors”, then “it suddenly struck me," and I said to the bishop, "he would have rather been consecrated as the prioress of the Discalced Carmelite nuns, as the Reverend Mother was the last man in the clergy of his diocese.”

The third chapter is devoted to the freedom of free choice of the people for good or evil, will be discussed soon.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Fides et Forma
Translation: Tancred

SSPX Reaffirms its Wish to Continue to Criticize Vatican II and the New Mass

Edit: The Society of St. Pius X and its Superior, Bishop Bernard Fellay, are reconfirming their allegiance to the spiritual legacy of their founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in their willingness to continue reaffirming the timeless traditions and dogmas of the Church and resisting those things which they say are inconsistent with it, like Religious Liberty, False Ecumenism and Collegiality. Bishop Fellay also identifies two Romes, which may as well refer to two parties working against each other during the discussions on the side of Rome.

The following letter, which comes from DICI, the Society of St. Pius X’s website, is going to reiterate the Society’s notion that the agreement they were expected, but not prepared, to sign is not something which they can accept. If you recall, the Society was being prepared to be brought into the official structure of the Church without the rigid and draconian restrictions on their religious liberty. As of present date, the CDF and the parities who have drafted the most recent Preamble for their signature, demand a level of obedience they expect from no other part of the Church at present date. We don’t know what this means, or if this is going to be accepted by those responsible in the Vatican for this reconciliation. Here’s an excerpt of the letter from Bishop Fellay:

Letter to Friends and Benefactors (April 2013)

15-04-2013

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

It has been quite a long time now that this letter has kept you waiting, and it is with joy, in this Easter season, that we would like to take our bearings and to present a few reflections on the situation of the Church.

As you know, the Society found itself in a delicate position during most of the year 2012, following the final approach of Benedict XVI in attempting to normalize our situation. The difficulties resulted, on the one hand, from requirements that accompanied the Roman proposal—to which we could not and still cannot subscribe—and, on the other hand, from a lack of clarity on the part of the Holy See that did not allow us to know precisely the will of the Holy Father or what he was ready to concede to us. The trouble caused by these uncertainties vanished as of June 13, 2012, with a clear confirmation, on the 30th of the same month, by a letter from Benedict XVI himself clearly and unambiguously spelling out the conditions that were being imposed on us for a canonical normalization.

These conditions are of a doctrinal nature; they entail the total acceptance of the Second Vatican Council and of the Mass of Paul VI. And so, as Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, Vice President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, wrote in a letter addressed to the members of the Society of Saint Pius X at the end of last year, on the doctrinal level we are still at the point where we started out in the 1970’s. Unfortunately we can only agree with this observation by the Roman authorities and acknowledge the current relevance of the analysis by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of our Society, which was unwavering in the decades following the Council, until his death. His very accurate insight, which is at the same time theological and practical, is still valid today, fifty years after the start of the Council.

And also:

“Compelled by the facts, it is necessary to conclude that the Council has favored, inconceivably, the diffusion of liberal errors. Faith, morals, and ecclesiastical discipline have been shaken to their foundations according to the predictions of all the popes. "

  Link to DICI….

Muslims Want to Use Hagia Sophia in Trebizond as a Mosque

Currently being considered is how to hide the Christian frescoes with curtains in the church of Trabzon (13th century) during Islamic religious services because of the ban on images in Islam.

Istanbul (kath.net / CBA / red) The authorities in Trabzon in northeast Turkey, want to share an old Byzantine church for Islamic worship. Currently being given is how they could disguise the Christian frescoes in the Hagia Sophia of Trabzon during Islamic worship because of the ban on images of carpets, Turkish media reported on Monday.

Much like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, it was built in the 13th century in Trabzon as a church, and was later converted into a mosque and finally declared a museum. In the case of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, the authorities have in recent years repeatedly rejected the demand of Islamic groups seeking permission for Islamic services in the sacred building.

In 2006, an Italian priest Father Andrea Santoro, was murdered in another church in Trabzon. He was praying, kneeling on Sunday in his church, as the 16-year-old student, OUzhan Adkin, shot and killed him with two bullets from behind. As the bullets penetrated the priest’s back, Akdin had exclaimed loudly, "Allahu Akbar," "God is great", kath.net reported . Santoro's mother forgave the murderer of her son. The killer appears to be still serving his 18-year prison sentence for "premeditated murder”.

Link to kath.net...

Pope: Some Want to Turn Clock Back to 1968?

Edit: he's definitely referring to those who wish to turn back the clock to 1968. Obviously, if Vatican II has taught us anything of history it's that the Church is ancient, but ever young and always reforming. The following is from Radio Vatican:

Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit pushes people and the Church forward but we resist this and do not want to change. His remarks came during his homily at the Mass on Tuesday morning celebrated at the Santa Marta residence which was dedicated to Benedict XVI in honour of his 86th birthday. Susy Hodges reports:

Text follows:
Pope Francis dedicated Tuesday's mass to Benedict XVI 16th who turned 86 on this date. “May the Love be with him, comfort him and gave him much consolation,” he said.

Pope Francis’ homily at the mass was centred on the theme of the Holy Spirit and our resistance to it. It took its inspiration from the first reading of the day which was the story of the martyrdom of St. Stephen who described his accusers as stubborn people who were always resisting the Holy Spirit.

Put frankly, the Pope continued, “the Holy Spirit upsets us because it moves us, it makes us walk, it pushes the Church forward.” He said that we wish “to calm down the Holy Spirit, we want to tame it and this is wrong.” Pope Francis said “that’s because the Holy Spirit is the strength of God, it’s what gives us the strength to go forward” but many find this upsetting and prefer the comfort of the familiar.

Nowadays, he went on, “everybody seems happy about the presence of the Holy Spirit but it’s not really the case and there is still that temptation to resist it.” The Pope said one example of this resistance was the Second Vatican council which he called “a beautiful work of the Holy Spirit.” But 50 years later, “have we done everything the Holy Spirit was asking us to do during the Council,” he asked. The answer is “No,” said Pope Francis. “We celebrate this anniversary, we put up a monument but we don’t want it to upset us. We don’t want to change and what’s more there are those who wish to turn the clock back.” This, he went on, “is called stubbornness and wanting to tame the Holy Spirit.”
The Pope said the same thing happens in our personal life. “The Spirit pushes us to take a more evangelical path but we resist this.” He concluded his homily by urging those present not to resist the pull of the Holy Spirit. “Submit to the Holy Spirit,” he said, “which comes from within us and makes go forward along the path of holiness.”

http://en.radiovaticana.va/m_articolo.asp?c=683419

Link to photo site...

Pope Condemns Calumny: Victims of Persecution by the Sanhedrin Yesterday and Today

Protomartyr

Edit: in today’s address, the Holy Father addresses one of the first victims of the Sanhedrin’s persecution of Catholics, St. Stephen, protomartyr and the sin of calumny, as if he could be addressing the false accusations of anti-Semitism. It’s interesting that there are many who wring their hands over these allegations, when a Christian is martyred every five to ten minutes for his faith, where Muslims are baptized in secrecy. Indeed, it’s very hard not to take the Holy Father’s words in any but the most encouraging ways. Here they are from Zenit:

[Zenit]Drawing from the First Reading account of Stephen, the first martyr, being dragged before the Sanhedrin, Pope Francis today strongly condemned the sin of calumny.

At his customary morning Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Holy Father noted that Stephen was accused of "false witness," and that his enemies chose "the path of calumny.”

Vatican Radio reported on the Holy Father's homily, noting that Francis described calumny as worse than sin and a direct expression of Satan.

"We are all sinners; all of us. We all commit sins. But calumny is something else. It is of course a sin, too, but it is something more. Calumny aims to destroy the work of God, and calumny comes from a very evil thing: it is born of hatred. And hate is the work of Satan. Calumny destroys the work of God in people, in their souls. Calumny uses lies to get ahead. And let us be in no doubt, eh?: Where there is calumny, there is Satan himself," he said.

Link to Zenit…

 It’s persecution like this which not only brings to mind martyrs of the past, the very first martyrs who fell victim to the Sanhedrin, but those martyrs of the recent past:



And it so happens that even the leadership of the Church raises a hand against its own champions, in order to shame them and destroy them if possible in an autolesionistic festering. How obedient and eager to serve Roman Catholic Faithful was back in 1997 when Father Paul Marx was unjustly accused of hating Jews:

We reject in the strongest possible terms any suggestion that HLI is anti-Semitic. The allegations of "bigotry" and "anti-Semitism," made by members of the chancery staff and by the news media against HLI are serious and defamatory.

We are deeply saddened that Archbishop Harry Flynn has reneged on his previous commitment to HLI and to Father Paul Marx to celebrate the opening Mass of our international conference of pro-life leaders.

We hold Archbishop Flynn in highest regard. Even as recently as February 24, 1997, we received a warm letter of welcome from him, which included high praise for Fr. Marx. Therefore, we wholeheartedly believe that his actions today are out of character and that he has been ill-advised and ill-served by members of his staff.

Furthermore, we deplore the manner in which this matter has been handled. Since November, we have repeatedly contacted the chancery to request a meeting between the Archbishop and any one of the members of our Board of Directors, all Catholic priests. These requests were repeatedly denied.

Then, upon receipt of false, inflammatory and defamatory information about HLI, rather than communicate directly with our office, the chancery communicated with us through the media, with a story that appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Holy Thursday, casting aspersions on the integrity of Fr. Marx and HLI. This news report went statewide. Continuously, our requests to speak with the Archbishop have been denied.

At the same time however, it is evident that a "dialogue" has been conducted between members of the chancery bureaucracy and groups that oppose HLI and the pro-life cause. It is emphatically clear that such groups have an agenda of their own which has nothing to do with "interfaith cooperation." Has ecumenism come to mean abandoning one's own to the lies and calumny of the pro-abortion opposition?

One only need to examine the past — the HLI 1995 World Conference in Montreal for example — to see the well-orchestrated campaign against HLI, which has as its genesis a 1994 report about HLI by Planned Parenthood.

The charge of anti-Semitism is a smokescreen to hide the real agenda of the Culture of Death that HLI meets at World Conferences: Planned Parenthood, the Fight the Right Coalition, Refuse and Resist, Love and Rage, radical feminists, radical gay activists and anarchists.

The Archbishop has been deceived.

PRO-LIFE RABBI REFUTES HLI's JEWISH CRITICS

Front Royal, VA — Rabbi Yehuda Levin, Jewish Advisor to Human Life International expressed his extreme dismay at allegations of anti-Semitism made by the American Jewish Congress against HLI Founder and Chairman, Father Paul Marx.

"I've been involved with Father Marx in furthering protection for unborn Jewish babies in Israel and North America for more than ten years. Father Marx is providing seed money to mobilize public support for Jewish pro-life efforts. What kind of Anti-Semite does this?" said Levin.

Rabbi Levin pointed out the close working relationship that Fr. Marx has with other Jewish leaders such as Midge Dector, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Norman Kurland and Dr. Judith Reisman. He also noted that for the past two years Fr. Marx has spearheaded interfaith cooperation with the Jewish community by signing the Judeo Christian Pro-Life Alliance, a document that binds both groups to work on behalf of the unborn of all faiths: Jewish, Christian or Muslim.

"I agree with my Jewish colleague Midge Dector, former contributing editor to Commentary magazine, that 'the charge of anti-Semitism has become, alas, a sinfully cheapened currency, and we feel that it is long since time to put a stop to its...tendentious circulation.'"

"Many secular Jews tend to be overwhelmingly liberal, even supporting abortion on demand. Why else would B'nai Brith or the American Jewish Congress or other such organizations not take a stand on saving the lives of pre-born babies, Jewish or non-Jewish" Levin added.

Rabbi Levin concluded with an invitation to members of the American Jewish Congress to join Human Life International's efforts to protect unborn Jewish babies and support their mothers.

Link to source at Roman Catholic Faithful…

 Image taken from here...

Kasper: “No Synodal Form of Church Leadership"

Edit: now that there’s been a change of management. Cardinal Kasper feels free reign to speak his mind.
“The world Church can’t be led in a Eurocentric way any more.” This is what the German Curial Cardinal Walter Kasper said in an interview with “Corriere della Sera”, that was published this Sunday. In a “globalized and complex world collegiality is the right direction”, said the former leader of Vatican Ecumenism. It is also important for the Pope, that he governs and has the last word. “But it is important that he has well informed advisors about him, who represent the entire world.” The Curia needs reform, “in order to become more efficient” [Less Catholic, he means.] That Pope Francis has chosen eight Cardinals to advice means “no synodal form of government as it is understood by the Orthodox”, specified Cardinal Kasper.

Link to Radiovaticana.va...

No Exaggerated Skepticism Toward the Bible

Archbishop Mueller said, as the Pope received the Biblical Commission, that a Fundamentalist understanding of the Bible as false as skepticism.

Vatican City (www.kath.net/ CBA) Catholic Biblical scholars may, according to the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Doctrine, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, not fall into a skepticism which questions all biblical statements. Such an attitude was necessary in order to overcome as a fundamentalist understanding of the Bible, he said on Friday upon the event of the reception of the Pontifical Biblical Commission by Pope Francis. The panel was convened from Monday to Friday at the Vatican for this year's General Assembly. The theme was "Inspiration and Truth of the Bible." Mueller is also President of the Biblical Commission.

Today's exegesis is being challenged by historical science, to judge biblical stories alone on the scale of their historicity, explained Müller. The other challenge for today's biblical scholarship exists in the numerous biblical depictions of violence. Many Christian readers were confused and helpless by their reading. At the same time, these texts would offer non-Christian readers an opportunity to brand Christianity as a violent religion, said the prefect of the CDF. Francis Pope has urged Catholic biblical scholars to be faithful to the Church in his speech.

Link to kath.net...

Amid Calls for Civil War, France is in Turmoil over Government Attack on Marriage

Edit: I just repeated the narrative on Galliawatch below. Amid the calls for civil war and Frigid Barjot now allowing protesters to call for the resignation of France’s President Hollande and the socialist government, there is a tumult that’s shaking all of France. Such is the French people's frustration with a government which refuses to listen to the voice of the people, as they continue to shove something down their throats they clearly don’t want. The police have also gotten more violent as they have in the past, even resorted to using tear gas against pensioners and little children. The events of the past weeks have also been intensified as the French media attacks the Grand Rabbi of France for some minor delicts (if we were to judge him by the same standards as Martin Luther King is generally judged) which seem motivated by the current campaign to show displeasure at any disapproval for the current campaign to destroy marriage.  Here is the report:

[Galliawatch] The Senate passed the bill on "marriage for everyone", i.e., gay marriage and adoption. The country is in an uproar. The bill now goes back to the National Assembly. I am referring you to Le Salon Beige for the photos. I'll try to have a coherent post up by tomorrow.



Click here for a series of photos of today's protest in Lyon (above). The photos can be enlarged by clicking. The police were taken by surprise by this spontaneous outburst of dissent directed at the government and the Senate, on the part of hundreds of citizens of Lyon.

In Paris, near the Luxembourg Gardens, where the Senate is located, thousands (some say 7500) protested. Below, the mayor of Montfermeil, Xavier Lemoine (in the tricolor scarf), carries a long banner that reads "Don't touch marriage. Take care of unemployment." Lemoine has said he will refuse to perform a parody of the traditional marriage ceremony. Click here for much more.

Below:

"Only one solution, dissolution".

Below, Frigide Barjot. Her tone was tougher than usual. She is quoted by Le Salon Beige:

"Hollande wants blood, he will have it! Everyone is furious. We are living in a dictatorship. (…) If there are cries for Hollande to resign tonight, unlike the other times, I will not prevent the slogans."

Apparently a deal was cut between the Socialist Party and Sarkozy's UMP party to accelerate the voting process. UMP deputy Philippe Gosselin declared:

"By accelerating the legislative procedure to escape the demonstration against 'marriage for everyone', scheduled for May 26, the president and his majority are readying for the worst: this is an incitement to civil war."

 Below, the "Hommen", a male parody of the Femen, create a fiery spectacle:

 

Below, Boulevard Saint Germain and the heart of the Latin Quarter.



Below, the police line up with tear gas.

Below, "a victim of Manuel Gaz' police force", according to Le Salon Beige. He's obviously seriously injured. LSB is calling Interior Minister Manuel Valls "Manuel Gaz"



The next Manif Pour Tous has been moved up to May 5 from May 26. This is an obvious response to the calendar changes made by the government.

I'm stopping at this point because the events are too turbulent to properly analyze in one post. But it is clear that this whole protest movement has gone far beyond the issue of gay marriage, although that is still the major focus. The various scandals in the government, the stubborn refusal by the government to listen to the people, and the economy are putting incredible pressure on François Hollande who seems to be inanimate at this point.

(One last note on another topic, the grand rabbi of France Gilles Bernheim has resigned amidst another scandal of lying and plagiarizing. I will try to have more details soon.)

Events are stampeding through the streets of France. The more Hollande resists, the more determined they become.

After Criticizing Islam and Sodom Courageous Austrian Pastor Fully Back on Duty

Edit: we’d noted earlier that a priest in the Austrian Diocese of Graz had been disciplined for doing his job. This interesting story comes in connection with another howling indecency by the Austrian Bishops in their approval for civil unions. Of course, there are at least three sources indicating that even the Pope himself may have approved of such a thing.

(Graz) The regular pastor, the Reverend Charles Tropper, who was dismissed for criticizing aberrosexuality and Islam from the Austrian Diocese Graz-Seckau (Styria) can now fully exercise again the priestly ministry in his parish of Veit am Vogau. At the end of August this year, however, he will be retired. This was announced this Thursday by Vicar General Henry Schnuderl. The pastor was, according to Schnuderl, guilty of making "terrible simplifications” and having an "uncultured style". Pastor Tropper had been secluded during the Holy Week and the Easter season under a sermon ban. Tropper was accentuated his position in a letter to the parish about Gomorrism and Islam. A homo-association made charges against the priest and had been ruled by the prosecution, after a preliminary inquiry, to be without substance. The Diocese, however, was called to intervene “in the necessity, of boundaries”. Link to katholisches...

New Group for “Summorum Pontificum” in Sorentino Italy

Edit: here is the following report from Missa in Latino with contact information for the local chapter. Young people have responded generously and organized to celebrate the Immemorial Mass of All Ages. Google translate:



Sorrento: formation of a stable group of faithful of "Summorum Pontificum."

Some young people of the beautiful city of Sorrento sent us this news to raise awareness of the future "stable group" of faithful aimed at the celebration of the Traditional Mass in the ancient Roman Rite according to the Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum" by Benedict XVI.

We support them with our prayers this holy initiative that demonstrates once again that young people want to approach more and more to the ancient liturgy as a means of personal sanctification.

AC
"Even in Sorrento is reviving interest in the Traditional Mass!

A consensus is forming a group of believers of all ages, but especially young people and up to forty years (and therefore have never seen the Mass 'in Latin' but show a particular interest!) Ready to propose a more authentic faith in application of the Motu Proprio 'Summorum Pontificum' of Pope Benedict XVI, who liberalized the traditional Mass. About the Archdiocese of Sorrento-Castellammare di Stabia is interested in participating in these celebrations, please contact us at e-mail:

missagregorianasurrentum@yahoo.it .

The dates, times and venue of the celebrations are still to be determined.

Stand up, do not be afraid, because as Jesus tells us: "you vos manseritis in sermon meo, real discipuli mei et Eritis cognoscetis veritatem et veritas vos liberabit" (Jn 8:31-32).

The truth set you free! In Jesu et Mariae cordibus! The faithful of the stable group "Summorum Pontificum" Sorrento "

France: Calls to Dissolve National Assembly at Scandal Ridden Socialist Government

The furor (see English-language video above) over the revelations of the offshore bank accounts of former Socialist budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac, now banned from the Party, has produced a tidal wave of articles, speculation, recriminations against the government, calls for the resignation of the prime minister and, from Marine Le Pen, repeated calls for the dissolution of the National Assembly. In a brief video at Nations Presse, she commented on François Hollande's television appearance on April 10 during which he denounced the deeds of Cahuzac as an outrage to the entire nation. This was Hollande's second address to the nation in one week:

"He reiterated his desire to fight against tax havens, but you have the feeling that you've heard this speech fifteen times already. I'm surprised because I thought that at the G20 Summit on April 2, 2009, he had declared the end of tax havens. And now I see that in reality that was never done! When there is a rupture of confidence in the men who are leading us, when there is a total rupture of confidence as is the case with the political and economic policies that are being followed, then it is time to dissolve the National Assembly. But that was not the decision made by the president. I am sorry, because there too it was a measure that was, I believe, expected by the French people!”

Back on April 3, 2013, when the public was still reeling from this explosive scandal of tax evasion and lying, Gilbert Collard, deputy from le Gard, who ran on Marine Le Pen's coalition party in June 2012, commented on the responsibility of the government to step down. In the video below, the reporter asks him if he feels, as Marine Le Pen does, that the National Assembly should be dissolved and that the government should resign. He responds:

"The situation is no longer manageable, the government is dysfunctional, the government no longer governs, the president no longer presides, the National Assembly is monolithic - one side systematically says yes, the other side systematically says no. We must arrive at a process that defines our policies."

Link to Gallia Watch….

Vatican Downplays Expectation of a Papal Visit on Reformation 2017

Cardinal: Francis has been no response to the invitation EKD

Rome (kath.net / idea ) The expectation that Pope Francis is to come to the 500-year anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 in Germany has been downplayed by the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch. The Pope had given no reply to the invitation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany Council Chairman, President i.R. Nikolaus Schneider (Berlin), said the Swiss Cardinal in an interview with Vatican Radio. In a private audience on 8 April Schneider had invited the head of the Roman Catholic Church, to participate in Wittenberg in the events commemorating the theses of the reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) 31 October 1517. The Vatican sees, among other things, no reason to “celebrate" the Reformation, its following schism and the religious wars of the 16th and 17th Centuries, but wishes only “recollect” it.

Schneider: It's about a Feast for Christ

The ELCG Council stressed that it was not the anniversary of the Reformation to go about celebrating "the birth of the Protestant church." Luther did not want to found a new church, but to reform the Catholic. It would also not hide the dark side of the Reformation and the Reformer. Rather, the anniversary should be designed as a Christian festival that every Christian can celebrate.

Koch: the Vatican is not a contact person for the ELCG

Koch also pointed out to Vatican Radio different responsibilities. The Vatican is not the actual contact person for the ELCG, but the German Bishops' Conference. Lutheranism, by contrast, has a “worldwide presence," said Koch. The Vatican engages in theological conversations especially with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). They had agreed together in the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in1999. Koch himself took part last November while participating in the General Synod of the United Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) Timmendorfer Strand in Luebeck, but not at the subsequent ELCG Synod. The Lutheran Evangelical Church doesn’t understand itself as an autonomous church, but as a community of 20, United and Reformed churches.

Paper completed on Reformation Commemoration

As Koch said in the current interview further in view of discussions between the Catholic and the Lutheran church, the competent International Commission has prepared a document to commemorate 2017th year of the Reformation. It is expressed in the English title "From Conflict to Communion" (From Conflict to Community). The paper is finished, but is to be released only after the German translation is complete. Worldwide, the Roman Catholic Church has about 1.2 billion members. The number of Lutherans is [merely] about 74 million, which includes nearly 71 million to the LWF member churches.

Pope Francis receives EKD Church President Nikolaus Schneider - Pope meets with Francis first Protestant leader (Rome Reports)

Mellow Out Subcaths: Making Unfounded Accusations of Anti-Semitism

Edit: Seems to us that Subcaths can’t help themselves. We’ve already determined that they can’t be Vatican II, really, because they’re against free speech, and really despise Catholics who are exercising their rights as adults to have an opinion. They have to use their paid positions of authority to shout down people who have true and legitimate concerns about what’s happening within the Church and hierarchy.

These anti-Catholic bigots have launched an attack on Catholics in recent days by misrepresenting them, accusing them of committing crimes punishable in highly advanced and profoundly moral countries like Germany, France, Denmark and Holland. Let’s say never again, and speak out whenever you see a friend exhibiting this hateful bigotry and call them out on their anti-Catholic bigotry. When they’re not busy ignoring the wholesale and unavanged slaughter of Catholics worldwide in places like Indonesia and Nigeria, they’re attempting to pull a diversionary maneuver on concerned Catholics by slandering them.

On a slightly more serious note, in the last few days there has been a mounting campaign of character assassination by the approved bloggers of the National Catholic Register, book end to the National Catholic Reporter, being launched against certain persons because of a report against Marcelo González, an Argentine Catholic who’d made a report, later confirmed and apologized about by Father Ray Blake and the hermeneutic of continuity blog , on traditional blog Rorate Caeli.

Apologies are not forthcoming from other bloggers, however, who have not only refused to apologize, but have piled on further accusations as well against Mr. González in particular, and Traditionalists in general. Initially, a woman named Dawn Eden (Goldstein), is maintaining the familiar libel against Traditionalists and politically unprogressive individuals in general, as “Holocaust Deniers”. Not only did she cast some unfair accusations about Rorate’s coverage of the issue, and mistakenly associated them with the SSPX, but hadn’t even read the original document she’d used to accuse Mr. Gonzalez of being evil in its original language, since she doesn’t speak Spanish and read a google translation instead.

Furthermore, a hysterical Simcha Fisher utters a demand that there ought to be some kind of public outcry against the evils of anti-Semitism. We’ve noted in the past here on this blog that it’s difficult, if impossible, in great part because official mouthpieces don’t help much, that violations of Catholic doctrine, liturgical rubrics, veritable insults against Christ Himself, go unpunished and unanswered by those in positions of authority time and time again, while faithful priests are punished in turn, sometimes at the urging of people like NCR and Patheos bloggers. We expect that even if there is an official concern about unfounded charges of anti-Semitism by Neoconservative journalists, we’re not sure how they would enforce a principle which isn’t part of the deposit of faith or if a canonical proceeding could handle such a thing. In any event, many real violations of doctrine take place virtually every day and go unpunished, so we can’t imagine how this charge of anti-semitism could be enforced even if it were the problem the often emotive Simcha Fisher insists it is. .

If you wish to complain about the rude and frankly, libelous behavior of bloggers in various states of employment with the Catholic Church, we’d invite you to contact EWTN and National Catholic Register to lodge your complaints. (800) 421-3230.

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