Roberto de Mattei: Franciscans of the Immaculata Models in Situation of Liturgical, Theological and Moral Anarchy

(Rome) The measures against the Franciscans of the Immaculate have caused trouble and lively discussions. Katholisches.info is publishing a discussion contribution. The first will be the well-known historian Roberto de Mattei. The March for Life , which was took place with 40,000 participants in Rome in May is largely due to his initiative. On the march, numerous Franciscans of the Immaculate participated, an Order with an apostolate which also includes particularly the defense of unborn life.

The "Causa" Franciscans of the Immaculate

by Roberto de Mattei

The "case" of the Franciscans of the Immaculata is a very serious episode, which is intended to have an effect in the Church that is maybe not anticipated by those who have set about to act imprudently.

The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life (better known as the Congregation for Religious) by  Rodriguez Carballo OFM has overthrown the General Superior of the Franciscans of the Immaculata, and have handed over leadership to an "Apostolic Commissioner," Father Fidenzio Volpi, Capuchin, with its decree of the 11th of July, 2013, signed by Cardinal Prefect Joao Braz de Aviz and Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo.

In order to "cement" the decree, said Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, it received the approbation ex auditu from Pope Francis, to which the brothers have taken every opportunity to appeal to the Apostolic Signatura. [++Burke] The reasons for this condemnation which has its origin in the instigation of a group of dissident brothers to the religious congregation, remains mysterious. According to the decree from the Congregation and the letter of the new Commissioner of the Franciscans, the only charges appear to be a lack of sentire cum Ecclesia and an excessive attachment to the Traditional Roman Rite.

Injustice Against Franciscans of the Immaculate -- Order Surrendered to Progressive Minority

In reality we are faced with a manifest injustice which is being done to the Franciscans of the Immaculate. The Religious Institute founded by Father Stefano Maria Manelli and Father Gabriele Maria Pellettieri is one of the most flourishing that has been established in the Church, both because of the number of vocations and the authenticity of the spiritual life as well as because of the fidelity to doctrine and to Rome. In the situation of liturgical, theological and moral anarchy in which we find ourselves today, the Franciscans of the Immaculate should serve as a model for religious life. The Pope often refers to the need for a simpler and more spartan religious life.

The Franciscans of the Immaculate distinguish themselves just by the rigor and evangelical poverty in which they live, by their Franciscan charism since its inception. Instead of this, the Congregation of Religious is directing in the name of the Pope, to transfer the General Government of management to a minority of rebellious, progressive brothers, to which the neo-Commissioner will rely upon to "normalize" the Order, or in other words, to lead it into that disaster which it has so far escaped, thanks to its loyalty to Church order and the Magisterium.

Cardinal Aviz: Harshness Against Faithful Franciscans - Understanding Heretical Religious Women

But today the bad is rewarded and the good is punished. It is not surprising that it is the same Cardinal, who is taking action against the Franciscans of the Immaculata with an iron fist, who at the same time pleads understanding and dialogue for the heretical and schismatic American Women Religious. Those nuns preach and practice the gender ideology and therefore naturally a dialog must be maintained with them. The Franciscans of the Immaculate preach and practice chastity, penance, and therefore there should be no sympathy for them. This is the sad conclusion which must force itself upon a sober observer.

One of the charges is to be very attached the traditional Mass. But the accusation is just an excuse, because the Franciscans of the Immaculate namely, as the saying goes, are "bi-ritual", that is, they celebrate both the New and the Old Mass, as permitted them by applicable ecclesiastical laws. Given an unjust command, there are some, as you can imagine, who won't refrain from celebrating the traditional Mass, and they do well at this point to resist, because it is not a gesture of rebellion but of obedience. The indults and privileges in favor of the traditional Mass were not abolished and have greater legal force than the decree of a Congregation and even the intentions of a Pope, if they do not find expression in a definite act.

Cardinal Braz de Aviz seems to ignore the existence of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of 7 July 2007, its implementing provisions of the instruction Universae Ecclesiae of 30 April 2011 and which is connected to the CDF Commission Ecclesia Dei entering into their areas of competence by the Congregation of Religious.

Tradition is Increasing in Strength: the Main Reason for Hostility

What is the intention of the highest ecclesiastical authority? Abolish Ecclesia Dei and eliminate the Motu proprio of Benedict XVI.? Then can you say it openly, so that the appropriate conclusions can be drawn. And if it is not so, why will a decree be adopted, which is for the Catholic world, which refers to the tradition of the Church, and is only unnecessarily provocative? This world is in a period of great expansion, especially among the youth, and this is perhaps the main cause for the hostility that is beating upon her today.

And finally, the decree constitutes an abuse of power not only against the Franciscans of the Immaculate and those who are wrongly referred to as Traditionalists, but against every Catholic. Namely, it represents a worrying symptom that loss of legal certainty, which is takes place today within the Church.

The Church is a visible society in which the "force of law and the law" applies (Pius XII., In his speech Dans notre souhait 15 July, 1950). The law defines right and wrong and, as the canonists say, "must be justified in the potestas of the Church, and that is the very being of the Church requires that determines the purposes and limits the scope of action of the hierarchy. Not every act of holy shepherds is, simply because it comes from them, correct. "(Carlos J. Errazuriz, Il diritto e la giustizia nella Chiesa, Giuffré, Milano 2008, p 157).

If the legal certainty is lost, the arbitrariness and the will of the stronger gains the upper hand. So it often happens in society, it can also be done in the church, when the human dimension penetrates in it against the supernatural. But if there is no legal certainty, there is no safe rule of conduct. Everything is left to the discretion of the individual or groups of power and the force with which these lobbies are able to impose their will. Separate from the legal force of presumption and arrogance.

Summorum Pontificum has Greater Legal force Than the Decree of a Congregation

The Church, the mystical body of Christ, is a legal device that is based on the divine law, the trustees and not the creator or men, are the men of the Church. The Church is not Soviet, but a building donated by Jesus Christ, in which the power of the pope and the bishops is exercised in accordance with the traditional laws and forms, all rooted in divine revelation. Today we speak of a more equal and democratic Church, but the power is often exercised in violation of the laws and customs of thousands of years in a very selfish way. If universal laws of the Church exist, such as the Bull of St. Pius V, Quo Primum (1570) and the Motu proprio of Benedict XVI. Summorum Pontificum, there is, in order to change them, a legal act of the same rank is necessary. You can not just look at an older law as waived, except with expressed abrogating document of equivalent scope.

Appeal to Francis: Undo Measures - Dramatic hour, New Storms Are Coming On

To defend justice and truth in the Church, we rely on the voices of jurists, among which there are also some eminent Cardinals,who have ordained Franciscans of the Immaculate to the priesthood in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, and know their exemplary life and their apostolic zeal. We appeal especially to Pope Francis, that he may withdraw the action against the Franciscans of the Immaculate and for their lawful use of the Old Roman Rite.

Whatever decision should ever be made, we can not deny that the hour, in the Church lives today, is dramatic. New storms are on the horizon, and these storms will certainly not be conjured up by neither the Brothers or the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. The love of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church has always driven and drives us to take their defense. The Mother of God, Virgo Fidelis, will show the right way to the conscience of every individual in this difficult situation.

Text: Corrispondenza Romana

translation: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Corrispondenza Romana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD

Where 2 + 2 is still 4 and not 5, Is the Serious Attack Against Tradition

Edit: update from the Franciscans Immaculate themselves, apparently. Others are reading between the tortured explanations and rationalizations to get a clearer picture. Man, all we can say is that it's a good thing that they didn't try to offer a GLBT Puppet Liturgy with Inter-faith Communion. We have also learned, that another mouthpiece has offered at Neoconservative Catholic News Network, an explanation that there are divisive problems within the Monastery. He's deeply concerned about the "Lefebvrist" sentiments of some of the brothers and sisters. For our part, we'll be working on a translation of Roberto de Matthei's take:

(Rome), the Franciscans of the Immaculate are trying to cope with the new situation. To contradict this publicly, is prohibited by the duty of obedience. So from this side, there will be no contradiction heard. The signal that is being sent, from these measures against tradition, is but negative and severe. The well-intentioned or naive attempts at damage control which have just begun, as the scattered opponents of tradition or notorious Pope-idolaters set up smoke candles ("A decree for an internal cleavage of a religious congregation"). Even some in traditional circles are trying to ban their own cares through excuses ("it's not about the Old Mass, it probably applies only to the Order"). But if 2 + 2 is still 4 and not 5, it is the measure of unambiguous clarity. Because the fact is that the decree allows no appeal and that the decision dealing internally with the order to only use the Old Rite was not abrogated by choice, but imposed the New Rite with possible individual exemptions. Imagine the opposite for a better understanding, that Rome would impose the Old Rite instead of constraining the New Rite. Whose incomprehension would then prevail?

Katholisches.info discussion will publish several articles on the topic. The first is by the well-known historian Roberto de Mattei with his contribution, the "Causa" of the Franciscans of the Immaculate ( see article forthcoming) . It will be followed by the traditional blog Cordialter, here:

Ad Deum distillate oculus meus - For the sufferings of Father Manelli

There is much to think about what has happened to the so pious and zealous founder Father Stefano Maria Manelli, a spiritual son of the Congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate founded by St Pio of Pietrelcina. I think that this topic has been talked about in traditional circles for a long time.

Reading the last decree issued to the religious congregation on July 11th, notice that it is not forbidden the brothers to celebrate Holy Mass according to the Old Rite, but it is arranged for them to explicitly seek the competent authorities for permission. [I don't think this is true.] So if in a convent, the brothers should decide to continue to want to celebrate the traditional Mass, it will be sufficient to obtain the consent and all will be well. However, what I would like to know in which ecclesiastical authority they will have to request permission: at the religious congregation, the diocesan Bishop, the Apostolic Commissioner or at the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei? Nothing is written in the Decree.

The currently applicable ecclesiastical law that clarifies the issue, is the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, which allows religious priests also to celebrate the traditional Mass without permission from anyone. Since the restriction of the application of the Motu Proprio Comes from the Congregation of Religious, I suppose it will be the Congregation, the brothers must give approval. I hope that the Franciscans of the Immaculate will not be put off, but make applications to continue to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, especially on Sundays and Holidays. When two or three Sunday Masses are celebrated in one of their churches, I think it will not be a problem, if at least one of these Masses will continue to be celebrated in the Old Rite.

I also hope that someone will continue to celebrate in the monasteries of cloistered nuns of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate more Antiquo Liturgies. If it should not be the brothers who offer it, I hope that at least diocesan priests or priests from other institutions will offer their readiness to do so.

But Father Manelli, how will he have received the news of his dismissal? I think he will do it by the example of his spiritual father, St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, i.e., with Christian resignation. In the difficult moments you can tell if someone really is a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I am convinced that Father Stefano will take this situation as a true Christian and a true follower of St. Francis, of St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe to the Immaculate. It may be that he uses this opportunity to offer up his suffering, so that soon the Dogma of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God can be proclaimed as Co-Redemptrix of humanity and Universal Mediatrix of all Graces.

Text: Cordialiter

Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Franciscans of the Immaculate Translation in English: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD

39 Pilgrims Leaving Shrine of St. Padre Pio Die in Tragic Bus Accident

Rome (kath.net / CBA) A severe bus accident near Naples has claimed at least 39 lives on Sunday night. The coach was on the way back from the Sanctuary of San Pietrelcina according to Italian media.

Giovanni Rotondo in Puglia. There, the group had visited the grave of the popular saint Padre Pio. The authorities are currently trying to identify the victims. There was total of 48 travelers, including many children, who had spent several holidays in Telese in the Benevento region and were on their way back to Naples.

On the highway from Bari to Naples, the driver lost control in front of a traffic jam on the bus. The vehicle broke through the guardrail on a bridge and plunged about 30 meters below. The exact cause is still unclear.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Pozzuoli, Gennaro Pascarella, arrived on Monday morning at the disaster site. During the day, he wants to visit the injured in hospital, according to the newspaper "Il Mattino" (Monday). The group numbered at least 20 people from the Diocese of Pascarella near Naples.

(C) 2013 Catholic News Agency KNA Inc. All rights reserved.

AMGD

Putin Venerates His Patron: Russia to Commemorate Baptism of Russia

Edit: this from Pravda. This move is also being taken with a critical stance toward those countries, like Ukraine, which have crumbled to Western trends attempting to normalize apocalyptic sins:

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit commemorative events in Ukraine dedicated to the celebration of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. The visit will take place on July 27-28. The head of the Department for Relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox community Kirill Frolov shared his comments on Putin's upcoming trip with Pravda.Ru. 

"Vladimir Putin's route coincides with the route of his divine patron, Equal to the Apostles Saint Prince Vladimir. The president will first visit key celebrations. July 27 will be the day for the historic prayer, to be attended by the leaders of all local churches, headed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill. Then Putin will travel to Hersonissos in Sevastopol, where he will worship the shrines associated with the adoption of baptism by his patron, Saint Vladimir. In Sevastopol, Putin will also attend the parade of the Black Sea fleet, which historically guards the frontiers of our Orthodox Fatherland. 

"The Institute of CIS countries held a conference in 2007 on the fate of Sevastopol. Patriarch Kirill took part in the conference too. That was also the time, when the relics of saint righteous warrior Fyodor Ushakov, Russian naval commander and admiral of the Black Sea Fleet were brought to Sevastopol.

Read further...

Also, the Patriarch, Kiril, says that "gays" will destroy humanity and that monks should stay off the internet.  There's also a note of increasing bitterness and frustration towards Pope Francis, and his apparent ambivalence toward moral issues of the day. The Patriarch made these statements about Gomorrism, saying that they are "apocalyptic signs" on July 22nd :

Pope Offers Beach Ball to Our Lady at Santa Maria Maggiore Before WYD

Here's the Report from News.va:

After his arrival at Ciampino airport, the Holy Father chose to stop at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major to offer a brief prayer to the Blessed Virgin for World Youth Day. 

Seeing the Pope as he entered the Basilica, a group of young people approached him and offered him a T-shirt and a ball. Pope Francis later offered the gifts to the Madonna.

This is one of the great churches of Christendom, and recalls a time when it snowed in the summer as a sign of Our Lady's favor.  It was commemorated by the command of St. Pius V in connection with Trent.  Taken from wikipedia's article:

"During the pontificate of Liberius, the Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to the Virgin Mary. They prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman summer, snow fell during the night on the summit of the Esquiline Hill. In obedience to a vision of the Virgin Mary which they had the same night, the couple built a basilica in honour of Mary on the very spot which was covered with snow."

Assassination Attempt on Old Mass: Input by 6 Members -- Pretext?

(Rome) Six out of 800 members of the order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FI) have made a submission to the Roman Congregation for Religious. A small minority. Thus, they protested against the decision of the Order's leadership, to use the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and to remain bi-ritual for the pastoral care of the faithful. Some of the six dissidents are now no longer in the Order, they were excluded because of disobedience and indiscipline. It may be argued that only a pretext was sought for the Congregation of Religious to take action against the exemplary order. The radical intervention shows a dreadful lack of liturgical sensibility. Only such a deficiency may explain a ham fisted methods of this magnitude, which deprives the heart of religious life for four branches with more than 100 monasteries and houses and it seems to be the opinion that the Old Rite being simply replaced by the new is desirable. Upon the disempowerment of the Founder and the imposition of a Commission is expected to prevent a reaction to this by the Order.

  From katholisches...

 Text: Giuseppi Nardi
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

 16 New Novices

There's also a similar case with the Johannites....

AMGD

Second Largest Traditional Order in Ecclesia Dei Banned from Saying Immemorial Mass of All Ages

Update: while it does sadden us to see such heavy-handedness on the part of the Curia, which is frankly happening to other traditional orders, like the Good Shepherd, it doesn't necessarily mean an abrogation of Summorum Pontificum as Vox points out.

Edit:   Is this a sign of things to come?  There are also reports from Mumbai, India that the Traditional Latin Mass will be abolished in that Archdiocese, allegedly because there are no priests proficient in Latin.

As reported by at Sandro Magister and Rorate Caeli, the Mass of All Ages is being forbidden within the tremendously successful Franciscans of the Immaculate.  They are the second largest Society under Ecclesia Dei to offer the Mass of All Ages.  They don't offer it exclusively, and from now on, it appears they may not be allowed to offer it at all as of August 11th:

"In addition to the above, the Holy Father Francis has directed that every religious of the congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate is required to celebrate the liturgy according to the ordinary rite and that, if the occasion should arise, the use of the extraordinary form (Vetus Ordo) must be explicitly authorized by the competent authorities, for every religious and/or community that makes the request.”

It's not known whether giant puppets, bad folk music or Jesuit dance will be required.

There are a couple of things that come to mind in the face of the recent issue with the Franciscans of the Immaculate.  First of all, and most important to our mind, is that, barring any revelations of real wrongdoing on the part of this order, they have had a lot of success and have been growing nearly exponentially in the post-Conciliar age.

It's actually unheard of.  They're not like any of the decadent, moribund, withering, archaic, folksy, dinosaur Benedictines or other irrelevant societies who cling to fossilized forms of a bygone era of the 1968 as Pope Francis opined at World Youth Day, from CFN:

"The Pelagian solution. This basically appears as a form of restorationism. In dealing with the Church’s problems, a purely disciplinary solution is sought, through the restoration of outdated manners and forms which, even on the cultural level, are no longer meaningful. In Latin America it is usually to be found in small groups, in some new religious congregations, in (exaggerated) tendencies to doctrinal or disciplinary 'safety'. Basically it is static, although it is capable of inversion, in a process of regression. It seeks to 'recover' the lost past."

In a way, it's a good sign that they are being unjustly persecuted, because in the post-Conciliar Church, a sure sign of success is being treated unjustly by one's superiors.   Of course, as one corresponded reports, not even the evil Marciel Maciel's   order, the Legionaries of Christ has been dealt with so roughly.  The Franciscans of the Immaculate are being assigned a governing board and the past leadership, those who have made the order as successful as it is.

Secondly, this is the result of a small clique of embittered hostiles who've been given an ear in Rome, which has provoked this shakeup.  It brings to mind another shakeup more than a decade ago with Protocal 1411, which many predicted back then, would be the end of the FSSP.  Some will remember that a letter was sent from a small number of society members accusing it of being divisive, rigid and so forth, which provoked a ruling down from Rome that despite the Society's original founding charter, that its priests would only say the Mass of All Ages, that this would be overruled and priests of the Society would therto be permitted to say the Bugninine Liturgy.

At present, Father Stefano Maria Manelli, the 80 year old Franciscans of the Immaculate founder, is currently being replaced along with his board while a Capuchin visitor.

The troublemakers are said by a source known to us as being Americans who've been vocally critical of the "Gheradini line" of loyal criticism engaged upon by Immaculate members.

St. Sabina's Erects Shrine to St. Treyvon of the Purple Drank

Edit: today, we are told by a correspondent that St. Sabina's parish, run by the controversial and heterodox Father Michael Pflugger, has created a shrine to the non-Catholic Treyvon Martin,  who was shot and killed by a man defending himself on February 26th of this year.

How will Trey get his Drank on in the Afterlife Without Tussin?

Apart from the obvious objection that Treyvon wasn't Catholic and couldn't be canonized, there seems to be something missing from the altar which attempts to portray the assailant's innocence and goodness with the trademark skittles and watermelon tea.

What is omitted in the usual descriptions of these items is the fact that Treyvon also had Robitussin, an over the counter medicine used for common ailments, but also to make an intoxicating gangster cocktail    known as "lean" or "drank" which makes use of skittles and watermelon tea.

You forgot the tussin!

From the comments on AmericanThinker:

Trayvon, with his hoodie up, grabs two items from the shelves of 7-11.  One is the Skittles.  The other is Arizona Watermelon Fruit Juice Cocktail.  The media avoid the name of the real drink -- possibly because of the racial implications of the word "watermelon," but possibly to avoid probing the real reason for Trayon's trip. 

Trayvon, in fact, had become a devotee of the druggy concoction known as "Lean," also known in southern hip-hop culture as "Sizzurp" and "Purple Drank."  Lean consists of three basic ingredients -- codeine, a soft drink, and candy.  If his Facebook postings are to be believed, Trayvon had been using Lean since at least June 2011.   

On June 27, 2011, Trayvon asks a friend online, "unow a connect for codien?"  He tells the friend that "robitussin nd soda" could make "some fire ass lean."  He says, "I had it before" and that he wants "to make some more."  On the night of February 26, if Brandy had some Robitussin at home, Trayvon had just bought the mixings for one "fire ass lean" cocktail.

Thank goodness that Father Pfleger is in good standing with the Chicago Archdiocese.

Anarchists Attack Cathedral in Chile on the Patronal Feast: Mayor Leads Catholics to Defend it Against Them!

Edit: the coverage from the media was poor on this.

(Santiago de Chile) While Pope Francis met with young people from around the world last night at the Copacabana, the Cathedral Santiago de Chile, was profaned (On his feast, the 25th of July.). The sacrilege took place during the celebration of the Holy Mass by the Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello in honor of St. James the Great, who celebrated the eponymous saint of the Chilean capital.

The 300 participants were anti-clericals from the march against life taking place just then, which was organized by supporters of abortion in Chile's capital. They demand a "right" to be able to kill unborn children. The violent abortion advocates destroyed confessionals, threw pews around, shouted blasphemies, insulted Christians and smeared hate slogans on the walls of the church and its altars, with an almost unsurpassable contempt, "such as if the graves, and the pillars of the cathedral were some minor concrete wall of a railway bridge or an industrial zone underpass" as Matteo Matzuzzi of Il Foglio wrote.

Numerous Mass attendees, among whom was the mayor of Santiago, Tohá Carolina, responded vigorously to the initial shock and drove the attackers out of the way. They formed a human wall around the presbytery and prevented the attackers from entering to the main altar.

The faithful finally succeeded along with the security of the Cathedral to pressure the abortionists out of the cathedral. In front of the bishop's church, the police broke up the demonstration and meanwhile made a number of arrests.

In Chile, there is already campaigning for the presidential elections in the fall. The political left has inscribed their banners with slogans for the legalization of abortion and "gay marriage". The spokesman for the Stalinist [Compared to the DDR of old in Germany], Socialist candidate and current UN Under-Secretary General and UN Women's President, Michelle Bachelet, was already Chilean President from 2006-2010.

The desecration of the cathedral of Chile has shocked Catholics. "But the perpetrators, heralds of death, blasphemers and vandals of the church allowed this because they are Democrats, they are social, for a just world, against this and against that ..." as a Catholic Chilean blogger commented on the raid.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Images: ACIprensa
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Link to katholisches...

For 1500 Days on Death Row -- Asia Bibi Refuses to Convert to Islam

(Islamabad) The now 42-year old Catholic mother has been unjustly accused, since 2009, of insulting Islam. It is a triviality to charge someone and put them in jail for this offense. It may lead to harsh prison sentences. Asia Bibi was sentenced, however, in the first instance by a court, to death. Since then, she is waiting on death row for her appeal.

For 1,500 days Asia Bibi is innocent and in prison. A "wrong" word, refusing to convert to Islam and the trap has snapped shut. Asia Bibi was reported by Muslim women, work colleagues, who were supposed to be friends. But Asia Bibi faces a stigma: she is Christian. The police arrested, allegedly to protect her, because Muslims want to practice their hangman's justice. A more accurate legal review of the indictment did not take place.

The scandal ensures worldwide attention. The Catholic minority minister Shahbaz Bhatti of Pakistan campaigned for her release and was assassinated by Islamists. The Muslim governor of the home province of Asia Bibi, Salmaan Taseer, who fought for the mother and her family, was brutally murdered by Islamists. The murderer was enthusiastically celebrated as a hero of Islam.

A fatwa was issued against Asia Bibi, that requires every Muslim to murder the Catholic. Therefore, the necessary safety precautions make life in prison for the "condemned" even more unbearable. Pope Benedict XVI. appealed to the government and the Pakistani people. Vatican diplomacy tried to reach for extradition for Asia Bibi. This is so that she would be removed as a "bone of contention" from the country, but bringing her to safety. But the Islamists have created a death zone of scorched earth for the Christian. No Pakistani politician dares after the murders to unleash the Islamist "people's anger" on earth. Western governments have kept up with symbolic "pressure" on the government of Pakistan. Pakistan is an important and historic U.S. ally in the region. The neighboring country of Afghanistan could fall into the hands of the Islamists by way of the Asia Bibi case. Thus is the fear in the Western state offices. The strategy is: peace before justice. Asia Bibi has thus become a symbol for hostages, for a country where power is not exercised by the Islamists.

In the first half of June, Asia Bibi was shifted from the high-security prison in Sheikhupura in the women's prison in Multan. For the family members, the trip also means twelve hours for each visit. Rides that always are always made by the family with special precautions to avoid detection, or falling into the hands of Islamists. "It sounds absurd, but the family members are currently living almost a more dangerous life than Asia Bibi behind the terrible prison walls," says a Christian family lawyer. Whoever was able to visit Asia Bibi in the past few months, got to hear the same words: "Please, do everything possible for my freedom. I am strong, but I'm going weaker day by day."

Asia Bibi is far from the only recent case of the tragic Islamist hounding of Christians. The list of persecuted Christians is long and the number of Christians killed grows from year to year. The young Christian Rimsha Masih was eventually acquitted because it could not be proven that the Imam falsified incriminating evidence. A rare stroke of luck, where justice came before Islam. A return to her life was still no longer available for the young girl in Pakistan yet. Islamists do not think much of the state courts. Your judgment is sure, with or without a judge. Rimsha Masih received political asylum in Canada and lives with her family recently in the North American country. However, they are there under false names and with new documents, because Islamists are present almost everywhere.

The fate of Asia Bibi might also threaten two other Christian women and their families. In one place, the southern province of Sindh, a rich Muslim landlord has tried to abduct the Catholic Nazia Masih, to marry her after the forced conversion to Islam. Her family was able to prevent the worst appealing to the local bishop. But Nazia and her aunt, the Catholic nun, Sister Marie Khurshid's lives are in danger. The Islamists have vowed revenge.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Tempi
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Brazilian Bishops' Conference Plays Simon Says in Above Water Choreographed Swimming

Photos of WYD Liturgical Abuse in Milan Erased from Internet: All Good?

(Milan) The photo that documents the liturgical abuse in Milan has now been deleted from the website of the Archdiocese. It was the Holy Mass celebrated by the Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Milan for adolescents of the Diocese prior to their departure for World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. Some teens had been called by the celebrant to be concelebrants at the altar. In the doxology of the Eucharistic Prayer the boys and girls were faced at the same direction as the priests with chalices and ciboria containing the Body and Blood of Christ, elevating them to the faithful. (see separate report).

Since the art historian and expert on sacred art and architecture of the modern era, Pablo Pomar, wrote about the incident, a lot of photos about the liturgical abuses vanished within 24 hours from the Internet. Be it known that some do not see the abuse as such, the gestures they have planned, but actually mean it, yet just do not want to admit it too openly. "They are exploring how far they can go. If there is resistance, the pictures are just hastily deleted. This is not an attitude worthy of a bishop or priest. You better just leave such crap, because they don't need to run for cover after and delete them. They are just too old for such games," said Pomar. It also raises the question of whether you actually believe that a deed is undone just because you delete the associated images from the Internet.

Link to katholisches...

Patheos Blogger Gushes Enthusiastically for Call to Action Import

SPLC Blogger Priest

Edit: What hath Patheos to do with Jerusalem? It's pretty clear to a lot of people out there by now that the Neocatholic crowd, which strikes a conservative front, is deep down, truly hostile to Catholicism and loves to attack personalities while it promotes personalities and anti-Catholic agendas like the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Indeed, this penchant isn't the sole province of Patheos bloggers, but other long-standing termites at work on the Barque of Peter. In light of Catholic Answers' recent attack on "traditionalism", Patheteos Blogger attacks from "Father" Longenecker and here, among others, it is interesting to note what a former Buddhist and exponent of centering prayer has to say about dissidents and their deviant doctrines, which are usually sidestepped or minimized by other Neocatholic bloggers on Patheos and elsewhere. Let us point out, also, as the author does, that the Austrian dissident priest, Helmut Schüller, is in good standing with the Catholic Church while others, like the Society of St. Pius X, are not.    It's a good thing that Patheos bloggers, even if they aren't particularly orthodox, are also, at least, in good standing with the Church!

Thus we address the recent story about the dissident Pastor's Initiative which is headed by a renegade Austrian priest, Father Helmut Schüller, on a Patheos Blog called On the Way [Or "In the Way"?] by Phil Fox Rose. Fox begins by blandly describing the activities and background of the Pastor's Initiative, which is Austria's Call to Action crowd, some of its reasons for being, and even explained that he himself had attended one of these anti-Church conferences. While he goes to great lengths to describe and enthuse about, Schüller's work, particularly his attacks against the authority of the Church, promotion of aberrosexualism and defiance of Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna, he makes his own allegiances much more clear when he later expresses his disappointment at the fact that most of those in attendance are over 60. He laments that Schüller is restricted to speaking at Protestant churches and believes this is a message Catholics need to hear. You will remember that Cardinal Sean of Boston doesn't even want this Austrian carpetbagger around.

Fox enthuses about Cardinal Schönborn's inaction:

Some of this, perhaps, is possible because of Cardinal Schönborn’s open-mindedness – it’s hard to imagine the same being tolerated in most American dioceses. In fact, because it’s been made clear his message is unwelcome and several local bishops have forbidden him to appear on church property, all the venues for Schüller’s American tour are Protestant churches or secular buildings except one, Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, which is hosting him in active defiance of Archbishop Chaput. As Schüller said on Tuesday at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan, this is not a problem for him, but it is a problem for American Catholics. It is not a prohibition of him to speak — he can speak anywhere. It’s really an attempt to prohibit the Catholic laity from listening to his message.

He later expresses his pleasure in the comments to a dissident nun, that there are young people participating in this We Are Church disobedience.

Sr. Christine, I'm delighted to hear about the involvement of young adult Catholics. I was reacting to what I saw at the New York event as well as Fr. Schuller's own remarks on the subject, but it is encouraging to hear that there is a serious young adult component nationally. On the Eucharist without a priest present, I did understand that Fr. Schuller meant using bread previously consecrated by a priest. I intended the term "Eucharist" to refer to the consecrated host, not to the mass, and called it "communion services" elsewhere in the piece. I've changed the wording in that one case to avoid confusion. Thanks for pointing it out. I appreciate your comments. Peace, Phil

Private Mass of Pope Francis: Crucifix and Candles on the Altar

(Rio de Janeiro) The pictures published by the daily newspaper La Informacion  shows Pope Francis at the private celebration of Mass on Tuesday at the residence of Sumaré where the head of the Church lives during his Brazil visit to Rio de Janeiro.  Accion Liturgica drew attention to the candlesticks and a crucifix  that were centrally placed on the altar.

These were corresponding elements of the liturgical renewal during the pontificate of Benedict XVI.,  to clarify that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was never ad populum , but always celebrated ad Deum  even in the Novus Ordo with a Volksaltar [Cramner Table] and and the attitude of the priest executed facing the nave of the church.

The four candles are in accordance with the prescriptions by Saint Pope Pius V in the "Tridentine Mass", according to the old practice  for a private exhibition of a bishop, and in the specific case of the Pope. According to the regulation, the candles are conformed to the crucifix in the middle altar in materials and workmanship.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Accion Liturgica

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches...

Hollande and His Government: "A Troop of Cathophobes"

(Paris) Fabrice Madouas addresses "Catholics on the Black List" in an excellent way, in his published article for "Valeurs Actuelles" about the situation in laicistic [secular] France at a worrying point.

The growing gap between the Catholics and the government can not be explained only by the indifference of the President. From the first day of his term, he placed his seat under the patronage of radical secularist Jules Ferry [1] , whose goal is to organize a "humanity without God and King." This is a reason why Catholics are concerned about his program and are outraged about the humiliation and harassment that the left inflicts on the Church. This strongly suggests that, the government wants confrontation, hoping to mobilize their own camp by it.

Christiane Taubira [2] provided the best example when she received Cardinal Vingt-Trois with casualness, when he wanted to talk to her about the marriage, which bordered on contempt. The deputies of the Left could feel such a hostile environment that they gave him to understand so that the opinion of the Church for them counts for nothing in the debate. This abruptness is not surprising: not a single government minister, says Ayrault of himself, are practicing, only six call themselves believers, including Cecile Duflot.

Last winter, the housing minister had the audacity to publicly comment on the assumption that the Church cares little for the poor, so he threatened to confiscate ecclesiastical buildings to house the homeless. But it's still Vincent Peillon who wins the prize for anti-Church Aggression: In January he contested the existence of Catholic doctrine in question in public debates on gay marriage [aberromarriage]. Cardinal Vingt-Trois reacted strongly: "If not even a discussion is any longer possible, then there is an official state doctrine and the thought police." [On Education Minister Vincent Peillon see separate report .]

Are Catholics become second-class citizens? The question is all the more justified because the government shows a lot more respect to other religions this year took [Interior Minister] Manuel Valls twice breaking bread, taking part in Ramadan. "One way for the Republic, to show their affection to the Muslims of our country," he explained. Also, something never seen by the public authorities, when churches and Christian cemeteries are desecrated, although it concerns more than 80 percent of all anti-religious violence in France.

Text: L'Observateure de la Christianophobia / Giuseppe Nardi
Image: L'Observateure de la Christianophobia
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches..,

Enormous Demand for “Extraordinary” World Youth Day of Tradition in Rio

photo: Rorate Caeli 

(Rio de Janeiro) There is strong participation and interest in Rio the Janeiro in the "extraordinary" World Youth Day 2013 . What is meant by the word game is the Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite and the catechetical tradition. Care for traditional Catholics will be coordinated by the youth organization of Juventutem Niteroi of the Old Ritual Apostolic Administration of St. John Vianney of Campos led by Bishop Rifan. Focus of World Youth Day tradition is the magnificent former Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo da Sé antiga , which is overseen by the Apostolic Administration.

 Tuesday, 23rd

July 15:00: Sung Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite [Immemorial Mass of All Ages]

Wednesday, 24th July

9:30:Catechism by His Excellency Dom Fernando Areas Rifan
10:00: Sung Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite
18:00: Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Traditional Latin Mass (Celebrant: Dom Fernando Areas Rifan)

Thursday, 25th of July

9:30: Catechism by Dom Fernando Areas Rifan
10:00: Sung Mass in the Immemorial Mass of All Ages
15:00: Sung Mass in the Immemorial Mass of All Ages

Friday, 26th of July

9:30: Catechism by Dom Fernando Areas Rifan
10:00: Sung Mass in the Immemorial Mass of All Ages
15:00: Sung Mass in the Immemorial Mass of All Ages

 For traditional priests, who are traveling to World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, there is the possibility, to celebrate Holy Mass in the Traditional Rite.

 Link to katholisches...

Child Sexual Abuse Every Day in the Green Commune

Edit: here's a summary from the German newspaper from Kreuz.net on conditions in a Child Commune by a Green Executive Memeber. [Photo: 'Die Welt'.]  No wonder the Greens, including Volker Beck, have been trying to distance themselves from this.

Green Molester-Commune

In a former school camp on the Dachsberg near Kamp-Lintfort close to the Dutch border, the Alternative-Left rehearsed the sexual revolution with daily child abuse.

The head of "Community of Life" was the late architect Hermann Meer.

He was a member of the State Executive Committee [Landesvorstand] of the Greens in North Rhine-Westphalia from 1980.

The Commune belonged outwardly to Emmaus Community that relied on the selfless Frenchman, Father Pierre. They had nothing in common besides this.

They played the social reformers, were anti-authoritarian, non-violent and sexually liberated. Esoteric, self-awareness troops and primal scream therapy were at a premium. A perfect example of the left hippie generation.

Here also prominent "Greens" met on the way to "anti-nuclear demonstrations."

The Child Molester Reality

Hermann "Meer, wore his pedophilia openly for  show. Since there was no secret of it, but it was even advertised. Even the Greek philosophers had had their sexual pleasure with boys and dealing with their students. These were sentences that were commonplace for me,  facts so to speak, since no one had objected." Says an abuse victim for  "Die Welt".

Relevant articles were always articles tried out for size. And images of David Hamilton's "Bilitis", "latent pedophile" soft porn, who reported the sexual experiences of a 13 year old.

"Green" -Executive Hermann Heer- a Gay Pedophile

In contrast to the child abuse commune of Otto Muehl in Austrian Burgenland,  the 60-year-old pervert Meer was exclusive to boys.

The sexual assaults took place daily. Even guest children were not spared.

Police Sought Child Molester

Meer was not an isolated case. Thus, a child molester sought by the police, who sympathized with the RAF [Rote Armee Fraktion], lived at the Commune.  His preference for children was well-known in the Commune - the younger, the better: those at ten years of age were quite to his sexual tastes.

"Children and Youth Congress" of the "Green"

On the 24th  and 25th of September, 1983  the "Greens" in the child abuse commune were directed to form a "Children and Youth Congress".

Of the party: the occupants of the Commune "City Slickers" from Nuremberg. Their main demand was the legalization of child abuse.

They discussed whether the statute should be at age six, eight or twelve years.

This "Congress" was organized by Werner Vogel, since 1980 a member of the NRW state board of the "Greens".  As these moved in 1983 to the Bundestag, he delivered the first speech of a "Green" in the Bundestag. It was his Nazi past which ended his career, not his perversions.

Working Group "Gays and Pedophiles"

The "Groundwork"  was determined on the 9th of March 1985, in the electoral program of the "Green" in NRW.

The election was lost, the pederasts were still to be  suffered for some years by the "Greens"

Fund for the Victims of the "Greens"?

Now one asks himself: Where's the fund for the victims of the "Greens" for those who were defiled by the party functionaries of the "Greens"?

Link to Kreuz.net....

Daily Sexual Abuse at Green Commune in Die Welt in German.

Edit: Here's an excerpt from a kreuz.net article on the Green's pedophilia past in June which featured a speech by Dr. Erika Steinbach in the Bundestag  in 2010 on the hypocritical position of the "Greens" on child abuse.

In an interview by "Deutschlandfunk" on the 1st of April, 2011, Erika Steinbach, a Conservative German politician, aptly described the Greens:  "The Greens have appointed a Foreign Minister, who had a violent past" -- and further:  "They have a stately number of proponents of pedophilia in their ranks, including Volker Beck at certain times.

Note: Volker Beck has won the support of the German Bishops to go on a hunt for Kreuz.net recently, when the Traditionalist website came under attack after stating that a decadent German comedian was in hell.  The German Bishops has the most revolutionary Bishop's conference in the world.

Translation: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

The Kidnapped Bishops: Three Months and No Word

Wikicommons.

Edit: just a word from Notes on Orthodoxy:

by Claire Lesegretain

In the absence of proof of their death, it is not possible to confirm that they were killed by their kidnappers.

But we can wonder why international authorities, who are in contact with the Syrian rebels, are not demanding proof that they are alive or evidence that negotiations are ongoing.

This past Monday, July 22, made three months that we are without any news of Bishop Paul Yazigi, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, and Bishop John Ibrahim, Syriac Orthodox bishop of the same city. “We have no information,” confirms Mgr Pascal Gollnisch, director of Œuvre d’Orient, who emphasizes the urgency and seriousness of this question. “Since seizing bishops demonstrates that priests and faithful are no longer safe in Syria, it threatens all the Christians of this country,” he says.

Notes on Arab Orthodoxy: The Kidnapped Bishops: Three Months and No Word

Archbishop Negri: Laws Against Homophobia Recall Fascism

(Rome) Archbishop Luigi Negri of Ferrara warns of the proposed law against homophobia. The bill recalls fascism and the "dark times of state ideology." In all European countries there are attempts to limit religious and free speech rights on behalf of alleged "protection" of and "discrimination" against homosexuals [aberrosexuals]. There is no broad discussion of the introduction of the new law. All are apathetic. The Christians must defend themselves and take up the fight for freedom of expression and freedom of religion, otherwise there may be sudden and bad awakening. The negative consequences are already visible in the UK and France. "The priests and bishops, who quote St. Paul in Holy Mass, could be charged," Archbishop Negri told the weekly magazine Tempi.

"In defending a certain lifestyle and its supporters, but especially those who theoretically confess homosexuality and practice it in society, the state discriminates in a serious and irreparable manner against other opinions and lifestyles," said the Archbishop, as Pope Benedict XVI. had personally called upon the 2012 Synod of Bishops.

Ideological Law

The law against homophobia, for which there is no objective necessity and that will soon be discussed by Parliament, will introduce, after "70 years since end of fascism a thought crime, and awakes dark, long subdued and times always believed to be over, back to life. Times in which the State identified ideological positions which it forcibly introduced and sacrificed all opinons which did not quite match."

"Our nation is at risk of losing those basic freedoms of speech, freedom of choice, freedom of choice and freedom that form the core of the secular state," said Archbishop Negri.

Priest Persecution

"Whoever will continue to draw attention to the great heterosexual tradition of the West, which can be found in the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and in the practice of the Christian life through so many centuries, a great and informative powerful testimony, is in danger of being persecuted, if he expresses his beliefs publicly," said the Archbishop. "The priests and the bishops who quote excerpts from Paul's Epistles during the public liturgical celebrations, which relate to the moral standards on gay [aberrosexual] positions, or recite from the Catechism of the Catholic Church or quote parts of the Church's social doctrine, could be brought to the authorities," warned Archbishop Negri.

Defend Freedom

Christianity, says Negri, should not forget what Pope John Paul II asked in the encyclical Centesimus Annus: always to defend freedom. Because "every time we strive to secure our freedom, we defend the freedom of all, and every time we lose our freedom or it is limited, it is lost or restricted for all," said Negri.

"Over the past three years, more than 100,000 Christians have been killed because of disregard for the freedom of conscience, and in almost all countries of the world. Is it possible that the 'defense of homosexuality' is in comparison, more important than this specific problem and more important than the freedom of conscience?" said Luigi Negri, the Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Tempi
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Link to Katholisches...

Liturgical Relativism: Liturgy Coordinator Addresses Liturgical Abuse by Milan's Auxiliary Bishop

Liturgical Horror

Edit: a few days ago a liturgical abuse was occasioned by the Auxiliary Bishop of Milan in the wake of World Youth Day.

(Milan) The liturgical trampling underfoot by the Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Milan, Monsignor Mario Delpini, at a Mass which was said for young Catholics before their departure for the World Youth Day in 2013 leading to Rio de Janeiro, has caused a stir ( see separate report in Italian...). During the doxology of the Eucharistic Prayer he allowed young people at the altar to act as priests and face the faithful holding the chalice with the blood of Christ and the ciborium with the body of Christ at the Volksaltar [Cramner Table for the initiated] during the elevation. The traditional website Messa in Latino urges addressing Don Pierantonio Tremolada, to protest to the liturgical representative of the Archdiocese, and so did Msgr. Tremolda himself, the New Testament exegete, which in addition to his role as liturgical officer is also rector for the formation of permanent deacons Archdiocese of Milan, has now answered. Here is the response of Bishop Tremolada and the reaction to it from Messa in Latino:

Dear Editor, 

I am absolutely convinced that the gesture had on the photo that you submit as evidence the intention 'to give young people the feeling during the week of World Youth Day to be actors the (as the Pope yesterday [Monday] said .) "We are not, moreover, certain that it was decided by His Excellency, Mgr Delpini: it is not always the decision by the head celebrant as to the liturgical gestures, sometimes they are enacted at the last moment on the instructions of others. 

What is absolutely certain is that no one wanted to be disrespectful in any way to the Eucharist. I would add in this context that I am affected by the sentence at the end of your e-mail and regret it: words such as "do the Mass" do not seem to me to do justice to the height of the Eucharistic Mystery, which you want to safeguard. Be assured in any case, that the whole purpose on our side is a given, that our young people have a high regard for the what we consider to be the heart not only of the priestly ministry, but the whole life of the Church. 

Sincerely, 

Don Pierantonio Tremolada

The reaction of Messa in Latino to Msgr Tremolada:

Dear Don Pierantonio, 

Thanks for the kind reply. 

Two small observations: although we understand the meaning of your implementations, we don't share them completely: the fact that the "Presider" [1] receives all of the instructions as to liturgical gestures, it also follows that it is neither an excuse nor a mitigating circumstance. If the celebrant detects errors and illegalities in the instructions he received, he could waylay their execution. 

Secondly, you complain legitimately that what I have written in the phrase "do the Mass" is not appropriate. Completely justifiable. It was the formulation of an adolescent. However, we have emphasized that the prescribed gestures of a bishop especially during Holy Mass at its height and were appropriate. And even less worthy were those gestures set during the same Mass by adolescents.  

Perhaps it would be appropriate to direct attention from the "words" to focus on the "deeds". 

I request the permission to publish your email with the answer to our mail on our blog. If you do not agree, we will not publish. 

Again with warm regards and best wishes for the summer time, I thank you for the constructive discussions

See You Soon,

For the editors of Messa in Latino

1. i the original „President“: Don Tremolada used the formulation "presidente", president, hence the reason for the  quotation marks in the answer. [↩]