"The Confessor is Not a Notary" -- Misunderstandings about the Holy Year of Mercy

(Rome) A remarried divorcee went to confession before Christmas, but the confessor refused him absolution. The incident occurred in the southern Italian city of Bari in the cathedral which is dedicated to St. Nicholas of Myra. The daily La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno printed a letter on 30 December   from the man who described his "disappointment" and demanded the "mercy from Pope Francis" that had been denied him in the "Holy Year of Mercy". Because as the divorced and remarried insisted, "absolution is given to all who confess." A misunderstanding?

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Such a requirement, which presupposes an automatism, was an "absurd claim" says the well-known theologian and liturgist, Msgr. Nicola Bux. "The priest is not a notary." On January 3, the same newspaper published an interview with Msgr. Bux,  who is a priest of the Archdiocese of Bari. The Consultor of Roman dicasteries is the author of numerous internationally acclaimed books. His most recent monograph is entitled: "How to go to the Holy Mass, without losing faith," which has been translated into five languages.

Nicola Bux: "The priest is at the same time judge and psychiatrist.  To "absolve", to "free" and means in concrete terms,  to break the penitent  from his binding to sin. The priest, and not the believer, is to evaluate whether the conditions are met to grant the absolution or not.

Repentance is not enough?

Nicola Bux: The true repentance requires a commitment of the believer to release the connection. In the Gospel Jesus Christ says: go and sin no more. He does not say: Go and continue what suits you.

The priest saw the conditions of which you speak were not met?

Nicola Bux: Obviously. No absolution can be expected when there is no firm intention not to sin again.

And  the Holy Year of Mercy is called into question.

Nicola Bux: These rules recently led to quite a misunderstanding. The rules have not changed, and the priests have to stick to the traditional teaching, all, as well as all judges must abide by the law in the same way without exception. Why do we expect that this concept of course applies to the court, but to be knocked down in the Church?

San Nicola, the Cathedral of Bari

It is clear is which side Don Bux is on.

Nicola Bux: I am of course on the side of Jesus Christ. No one on this earth has the authority to change the rules of his Church. Therefore, the Synod has produced a final document that absolutely nothing changes in terms of the Eucharist and the divorced and remarried.

But many think that Pope Francis intends to change course.

Nicola Bux: Another big misunderstanding. Cardinal Müller, the prefect of the CDF, and thus the guardian of the Catholic faith has said it very clearly: "The doctrine of the Church is not a man-made theory. The Magisterium of the Pope and the bishops is not above the Word of God."

According to the letter from our reader, the priest considers him   an even bigger sinner because he went to Communion, although he is divorced and remarried.

Nicola Bux: And for that we should place the guilt to the priest? It is Jesus Christ who proclaimed the indissolubility of marriage in the Gospel. And St. Paul warns against  receiving the sacrament unworthily. How can one demand access to the Eucharist if he  has left the community and bond with  and formed a bond with another woman? That is a contradiction in terms. And even more contradictions become visible in the letter. 

What do you mean by that?

Nicola Bux: Above all, the starting point. The reader referred to himself on the one hand as a "devout Catholic," but at the same time as a divorced and remarried, who betrays the indissolubility of the marriage bond.  Then he speaks literally of a "whim" that had driven him after 12 years, once again in the confessional.  Catholics are obliged to report to confession at least once a year. So we have to do it with a typical example of a "homegrown Christianity."   If I define what is Catholic, and if so, Church and faith would suit my needs. A phenomenon against which Benedict XVI. had warned emphatically.

One last question: Is not the Holy Door of the Cathedral  a separate, special penitential?

Nicola Bux: This also needs clarity: Sin pulls like a crime, here  a better understanding helps to make a comparison with the criminal law, guilt and punishment. Confession brings the repentant sinner absolution from guilt, but not of the punishment that is to be served in the afterlife on a supernatural level. That is the moment when the Holy Year comes into play, which makes it possible as a special way  to wipe out the penalties, comparable to a complete or partial remission. The gates of mercy in the Church are and will always be open. But on the usual terms. And the priests know that they do not give in and not allow themselves to be intimidated by the prevailing opinions.

Introduction / translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Mil / Arcidiocesi di Bari (screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

LInk to Katholisches...

AMDG

The "Miracle of the Red Thread" -- The Talmud Confirms the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross

The Talmud, next to the Tanach, is considered the normative text in both versions, the Babylonian and Jerusalem, to justify the execution of Jesus,  as an entire counter-narrative, an anti-Gospel and contains a variety vile statements against Christ and Christians. Nevertheless, it also unintentionally confirmed the sacrifice of the Cross of Jesus.

How Many Light Bulbs?

Q. How many Anglo-Catholics does it take to change a light bulb?

A. One to change the light bulb, and two to hold the cope.

Q. How many Latin Massers does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Change?!?!? I don’t read about light bulbs in the Council of Trent!

Q. How many Aristotelians does it take to change a light bulb?

A. As many as the celestial movers, a point the Philosopher unfortunately left unresolved.

Q. How many Calvinists does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Only God knows and as many as God wills.

Q. How many Methodists does it take to change a light bulb?

A. One to change the light bulb, five to set up a committee to discuss a commemorative plaque, and at least two to bring a dish to pass.

Q. How many Prayer-Book Anglicans does it take to change a light bulb?

A. One to change the light bulb and at least two to complain about how much better the last one was.

Q. How many Dominicans does it take to change a light bulb?

A. I answer that the requisite number of Dominicans can be demonstrated in five ways, all of which may be incomprehensible.

Q. How many Eastern Orthodox does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Just like everything else it’s a great mystery, but their beards might have something to do with it.

Q. How many Jehovah Witnesses does it take to change a light bulb?
A. 144,000. All 144,000

(The author invites his readers to add to this list in the comment section.)

The heretic pope

Edit: I'll bet there are more than two. This passage really grabbed my attention:

Monothelitism, prevailed for over forty years in the Byzantine Empire.  At that time the most vigorous defender of the faith was the monk, Maximus, known as the Confessor, who took part in a Synod convoked at the Lateran (649) by Pope Martin (649-655), to condemn Monothelitism. Both the Pope and Maximus were forced into exile. Maximus’s tongue and right hand were cut off as he refused to subscribe to the Monothelite doctrines.  Sophronius, Maximus and Martin are today venerated by the Church as saints for their indomitable resistance to the Monothelite heresy. 

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

December 30, 2015

The case of Pope Honorius is one of the most controversial in the history of the Church. As the Church historian, Emile Amann, rightly notes in the large entry he dedicates to the Question d’Onorius in Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique (vol. VII, coll. 96-132), the problem needs to be treated in an unbiased manner and with the serene impartiality which history owes to past events (col.96).

At the center of the pontificate of Pope Honorius who reigned from 625-638, was the question of Monothelitism, the last of the great Christological heresies.  In order to please the Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius, desirous of guaranteeing religious peace inside his kingdom, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Sergius, sought to find a compromise between Catholic orthodoxy, according to which in Jesus Christ there are two natures in one person, and the Monophysite heresy, which attributed to Christ one person only and one nature only. The result of the compromise was a new heresy, Monothelitism, according to which, the double nature of Christ was moved in His action of one operation only and one will only. This is semi-Monophysitism, but truth is integral or it is not, and a moderate heresy, is always heresy. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, was among those who intervened with the greatest vigor in denouncing the new doctrine which rendered the humanity of Christ futile and led to Monophysitism , condemned by the Council of Chalcedon (451).  

Sergius wrote to Pope Honorius to ask “in future that no-one be permitted to affirm the two operations in Christ Our God” and to receive his support against Sophronius.  Honorius unfortunately assented to the request. In a letter to Sergius he affirmed  that “the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ was one only (unam voluntatem fatemur), for “the fact that our human nature was assumed by the Divinity” and he invited Sophronius to be silent.  The correspondence between Sergius and Honorius is conserved in the acts of VI Ecumenical Council (Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima Collectio, vol. XI, cols. 529-554) and was republished in Latin, Greek and French by Arthur Loth   La cause d’Honorius. Documents originaux avec traduction, notes et conclusion, Victor Palmé, Paris 1870 and in Greek and German by Georg Kreuzer, Die Honoriusfrage im Mittelalter und in der Neuzeit, Anton Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1975).

Read on at Rorate...

AMDG

In 2015 Significantly Fewer People Wanted to See the Pope

The total number of participants at papal events declined over the previous year from 5.9 to 3.2 million.

Vatican City (kath.net/ KAP) In his third year in office, Pope Francis has apparently lost much of his appeal to visitors: 2015 halved the total number of participants at papal events at the Vatican over the previous year from 5.9 to 3.2 million people. This emerges from participant statistics for 2015, published the Vatican on Wednesday. In his first year in office in 2013, approximately 6.6 million participants were registered at his election in March to December.

According to the statistics of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household in 2015 a total of nearly 1.6 million people came to the Angelus prayer with the Pope in St. Peter's Square, 700,000 attended the General Audiences and another 500,000 who attend Mass with the Pope. Francis received 400,000 people in special audiences in the Vatican. The foreign trips of the Pope and his visits to the diocese of Rome are not included in the statistics.

Francis approaches thus   the number of participants for events in papal pontificate of Benedict XVI.  in his last year in office in 2012, with 2.35 million people coming to the audiences, Angelus prayers and Masses. For a general audience the Pope  averaged in 2015  almost 17,000 people. The highest number of participants were reported at a total of 120,000 people General Audiences in October, when the Synod of Bishops in Rome met.

The statistics are based on estimates, the Vatican has said. For access to the St. Peter's Square or in the Paul VI Audience Hall entrance cards are required for general audiences, which are issued free of charge. The people who follow the General Audiences from the areas outside St. Peter's Square are not statistically recorded. Participation in the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square is not regulated.

Kath.net...
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Father Schmidberger Foresees Canonical Recognition of the SSPX

In the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has agreed to extend an indult to the Priests of the Society of St. Pius X, to hear confessions. Former Superior, Father Franz Schmidberger forsees canonical recognition of the Society as well as greater cooperation.  

In a recent interview,  former superior of the Fraternity talks to La Stampa saying, "I trust that in the near future we can find solutions to recover full communion."

According Schmidberger Pope Francis' gesture will not be complete at the end of the Jubilee. "Indeed" - says Schmidberger - "it is hard to imagine that this is limited to the Holy Year, nor do I think this is the limit of the Pope's idea. Perhaps at first other similar gestures are to follow. No doubt - it seems  - the Pope sees in our Fraternity a force that can be of help to, as many have claimed, the new evangelization. Furthermore, our work corresponds in principle to his invitation to the spirit of poverty. In fact we do not receive state subsidies or the Church-tax, but we live only the generosity and sacrifice of the faithful. "

"If the Pope is really thinking of a canonical structure, it will open many doors even wider for our priests than today." "Especially" - concluded the former collaborator of Lefebvre - "we could work together, according to our vocation, to the formation of a new generation of priests filled with a spirit of faith and apostolic zeal."

Source: La Stampa,

http://www.lastampa.it/2015/12/30/vaticaninsider/ita/nel-mondo/giubileo-i-lefebvriani-sulle-confessioni-il-papa-ha-spiazzato-tutti-JsdSyGfAP7APJTyC8L6RaO/pagina.html

AMDG

Politicians and Bishops in the Climate Hype -- Solar Cells Against Global Warming Instead of Prayers for Rain

(Rome) "Smog in Italy", "Poor air in Italy", "air pollution in major Italian cities", "crisis meeting because of smog." The message is also reported thousands of kilometers away from Italy in the world news. It suits well the climate hype that would be hammered into an "infidel" nation. The real emergency  is not the climate and the smog, but the politicians and bishops.

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A commentary by Riccardo Cascioli *

Nothing is more appropriate than the alleged smog emergency to make the bungling politicians and the contradictory nature of the bishops visible.

The politicians

Let's start with the former. What really stands out about the smog in our cities and because of these geographical and meteorological conditions of the air, for example, is currently in the Po Valley, which is something we have previously stated. In summary it can be said that the high Smog rating these days can not wipe out the fact that air pollution has declined steadily for several decades. Although the fine dust values ​​are at the moment over the limits, they are far below the values ​​that were a permanent condition 30 years ago. The current situation is due to exceptional weather conditions and, therefore, represents the exception to the rule. For two months it has not rained and the wind is calm. Therefore, the air is above the cities. That may be neither pleasant nor healthy, but is only a temporary condition that should not be overstated and should certainly not be used as an excuse for extraordinary measures. They will only cost the taxpayers a lot of money without bringing appreciable benefits.

The lies about the air pollution

But what do we see? Instead of mayors, governors and members of the government, explaining to the people based on concrete figures   what is going on, fears are enervated and scaremongering. There are full-bodied declarations, party political polemics and a cheap slugfest with views to the next elections. Then death statistics from air pollution pile into the house and the biggest bungler of all, the five-star comedian [Movimento Cinque Stelle, left-wing populist, Eurosceptic party] writes about the increase in deaths from pollution. In 2015 more than 70,000 people, more than last year, died in Italy. The lie is that it was linked to the air pollution, has been refuted by demographers Giancarlo Blangiardo which has unfortunately not put a stop to them.

The temporary air pollution in the major Italian cities could be compared with that of the early 50s.There were really Smog deaths. If things are really today, as currently claimed by climate hysterics, then perhaps anyone of them should perhaps explain why precisely Milan  has by far  the longest life expectancy in Italy.

Is air pollution good for health? Increased life expectancy in the cities clearly

Maybe we look at the tables of the National Statistical Office: in Italy in 2014, the average life expectancy for men was at 80.3 years, for women 84.9 years. In Milan it is as high as 81.4 years for men and 86.1 years for women. If we draw a historical perspective now, we see that the life expectancy in the past 20 years has risen in Milan for men by as much as seven years and for women by five years. In 1994, it was 74.2 years (men) and 81.3 years (women). Similar is the situation in Turin. For this industrial city the  surveys go back only since 2002. Back then, life expectancy was 77.1 years (men) and 83.1 years (women). Today it is 80.7 years for men and 85.2 years for women. Even Rome has the same development. The life expectancy has risen from 1994 until 2014 for men from 74.4 to 80.8 years and for women of 80.3 to 84.7 years.

Would that  we  thought like   the eco-ideologues, we would have to draw from these figures the conclusion that air pollution is good for the health. In reality, as the mere common sense suggests, things are naturally different in every way. The explanation for the rising life expectancy must be sought elsewhere. But for ecologists and politicians these simple panic messages seem to be a lucrative business when identifying and explaining complex processes that a general improvement in living conditions enabled (economic development, better food supply, better protection against heat and especially cold, access to better medical care etc). This includes new, environmentally friendly technologies, which in turn have improved the air values ​​and therefore our health.

This cycle must be understood that the continuing economic crisis could reverse this trend. The still unexplained increase in deaths in 2015 could be an indication. If this should be, then we would have to answer the call of climate hysterics: "Because of smog ..."

The Church representatives

But we come now to the Church's representatives. Their current silence is suggestive, after an almost ecstatic intoxication at the world climate conference in Paris, where it seemed that the bishops wanted to outdo each other with dramatic statements and appeals. Where are the Monsignori who marched suddenly against climate change, held sermons about the alleged human-inflicted global warming and called on priests to give such sermons? Where are the prelates who spoke of the "last straw" in order to save the world? In those days there was not to be heard a discussion of  Smogalarm, which really has  a lot to do with the climate.  A decent rain or   a strong wind  would suffice and the matter would be downright washed and blown away.

One can also see the positive thing. By their silence they have at least spared us some of those unnecessary CO2 emissions. Perhaps we may even hope that one with some sense is  yet to come and will have put away the ideological phrases in favor of reality.

How would it be, to ask the Lord for rain?

Some rain or wind would be good not only for the residents of big cities, but also for farmers suffering from the drought. But none of the major prelates came to mind, where every simple country priest came immediately to mind earlier: to ask the Lord for rain. The Church even has ts own Masses providing  for such purposes. But who remembers that? These are irrational things for shamans and heathens, will be what many will think of them. It's inconceivable that an enlightened, post-conciliar bishop can believe in such things. For this purpose, he would have to even be aware that God is really the Almighty, as the true Lord of heaven and earth, the true creator of the universe, the earth and of man, a true master of nature, who has the power, as Jesus showed  his disciples several times,  to command the forces of nature.

But even in the Church there is the hybris that everything depends on the people and of what man does. "Only the man can still change," is what it surely must mean. For if a man does nothing, nothing happens. So also many prelates give  money instead for solar panels on the roof of the parish and speaks of a "prophetic" gesture," because that indeed is the the way that alleged  manmade   global warming is to be stopped.  Unfortunately it does not occur to begin a novena to St. Joseph or to celebrate Masses to solicit rain and wind.

* Riccardo Cascioli, chief editor of the Nuova Bussola Quotidiana

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Meteostat (Screenshot)

Trans:Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Pan-Orthodox Council is Endangered? Conflict in Moscow and with Constantinople

Since the Synaxis of 2014, an Agreed Meeting of a Holy and General
Council of Orthodoxy for 2016 is Endangered 

(Moscow) The Roman Curia has officially been a permanent construction site since March 2013. Currently, it's primarily the communication area that's being reorganized. While Rome is being restructured, there was a veritable earthquake in the communication sector of the Moscow Patriarchate.

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In Rome the Pontifical Council for Social Communications headed by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli Curia is pending a change in leadership. Msgr. Celli will be 75 in a few months. His former deputy, the Irish Curial Bishop Paul Tighe has already been appoinnted by Pope Francis in mid-December to the Assistant Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture  under the direction of Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi. The American journalist Greg Burke is the new Vice-Vatican spokesman and deputy of Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi.

In Moscow, at the same time, the two most famous heads of communication  were shown the door.  On December 24, approximately two weeks before  Orthodox Christmas, the Moscow Patriarchate issued the press release no. 98. At the end of a meeting of the Holy Synod, the merger of two previously separate departments of the Synod was announced. The Department for Relations between Church and Society and the Information Department were merged.

The newly created institution is called Department of the Church, Society and the Media. It is led by layman, Vladimir Legoyda who already previously headed the information department and is chief editor of the Orthodox journal "Thomas."

However, Archpriest Vsevolod Tsaplin was shown the door. Since 2009 he was head of the Department for Relations between Church and Society. In this capacity, the Archimandrite was regarded as the main spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church.

Critics of too much dependence of the Church on state power

A few days before him, Sergei Tschapnin, the chief editor of the official press organ of the Moscow Patriarch had already been dismissed. The reason for the dismissal was that  the American website in First Things published an article by him in November, "A Church of Empire". The title could be translated as "state church". Tschapnin expressed himself  very critically of the close association of the Russian Church to the state power.

In an interview with the Catholic News Service Asianews Tschapnin repeated that the main bone of contention justifying Russian military intervention in Syria and Ukraine is that it is a "holy war" for God..

The Orthodox churches are known for the fact that internal conflicts are carried out with rigor. In the current power struggle are Tsaplin and Tschapnin against Patriarch Kirill I and the "foreign minister" of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. Tsaplin complained in his criticism, of authoritarian repression of synodality, which is so characteristic of the Orthodox Church, by the patriarch and the "foreign minister".

 

The Dismissed Santander Archimandrate Tsaplin,
one of the most famous voices of Russian Orthodoxy

Against criticism: cooperation with western stakeholders

Tschapnin repeated his criticism at the Moscow Carnegie Center. Therein his critics see the evidence that the two dismissed workers are collaborating in the new East-West conflict between Moscow and Washington with western stakeholders. The Patriarchate did not justify the dismissal order, but in the reading of subordinate bodies, the dismissal is presented as "self-protection" by the Russian Orthodox Church against a kind of fifth column. Established in 1994, the Carnegie Center in Moscow is an offshoot of the US foreign policy think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Russian government accuses comparable Western institutions of interference in internal Russian affairs.

Points of contention between Moscow and Constantinople endanger convening a Pan Orthodox Council

At the same meeting of the Holy Synod on 24 December,  Metropolitan Hilarion reported that it had come to a time to break the Pan-Orthodox meeting in mid-December in Athens. In the Greek capital, representatives of all recognized Orthodox churches gathered for the preparation of a Pan-Orthodox council. In a dispute over the rules according to which the  Council should take place.  Farthest apart are the positions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Patriarchate of Moscow. Constantinople claims primacy, while the Moscow does not recognize in this form. [Emphasis ours]

The patriarchs and heads of the Orthodox churches had agreed to in March 2014 after many years, to convene a Holy and Great Council of the whole Orthodoxy in Constantinople  in 2016.  The Pan-Orthodox Council is to be held in the Cathedral of St. Irene in Istanbul. The official reason for convening is the situation of Christians in the Middle East and the Ukraine issue. It is also about the recognition of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Equality of all Orthodox Churches has blocked the convocation off a Council for 50 years 

The convening of a Pan-Orthodox Council has been attempted  already for half a century, but failed repeatedly owing to inter-Orthodox  conflicts. In the absence of a generally recognized authority with ​​the outbreak of new conflicts always brought all previous attempts to naught. Central to this is the dispute over the question of what powers the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is entitled to as Primus inter pares. Since all Orthodox Churches are equal and decisions can be adopted unanimously, they block each other from a common approach.

Without an agreement in the current procedural issue,  there will be no Pan-Orthodox Council. Observers already expect   a postponement of the date by a few years, as has been the case for more than half a century.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi 
Image: Asianews

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

French Pastor Threatened by Prefect and Punished by His Bishop -- An Unwanted Truth About the Attacks in Paris

To Contact the Bishop and complain: 

 Mgr Jean-Paul Mathieu 

 7, rue de la Préfecture 88025 Epinal Cedex 

 03 29 82 21 63   

http://www.catholique-vosges.fr/

(Paris) The minister spoke of an inconvenient truth and was punished for it, and not by those who he had criticized, but by his superiors.

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On Sunday, November 29,  Msgr. François Schneider, the pastor of Wisembach in the Lorraine Vosges addressed the bloody bombings  which had 16 had days earlier shocked Paris in his sermon. He also mentioned that "Satan sang" at the concert in the concert hall Bataclan during the time of the attack of Islamic terrorists,  and thus pointed to a link. In the attack 89 concertgoers were killed, hundreds were injured.

Bishop demanded a public apology from the priest

This statement was made immediately by the competent Bishop, Msgr. Jean-Paul Mathieu of Saint Die. This called for the priest to apologize publicly for his statement, and in turn, to do this in a Sunday Mass. A statement, which Msgr. Schneider was to comply with last December 20 at the end of the liturgy. He is to practice "self-criticism" and read a statement, which - according to Riposte Catholique - was drafted by the bishop. In this the priest expressed his regret that there had been outraged media reactions because of his statements to the laity there present.

According to the daily newspaper Vosges Matin the Department Prefect had even threatened the pastor with criminal penalties on the instructions of the French Ministry of the Interior.  The Catholics of Wisembach are appalled at the harshness against the pastor by  the media, authorities and his superiors. "One wants to put a  muzzle on Christianity" said Corrispondenza Romana of their mood.

The pastor also received numerous expressions of solidarity. Parishioners wrote the local newspaper. It says: "He is a good priest, we have always appreciated. What he is going through, in no way changes our attitude towards him. He has been criticized by those who almost never go to Mass. [This is almost always the case that those who are the most ignorant of Catholicism and do not live its precepts feel they have the most right to criticize it and be heard.] "

Lyrics "inspired by Satanism" - parish was ordered "collective transformation"

Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal in Bataclan

Pastor Schneider was also defended by Emmanuel Delhourne, the President of the association "Christians in Politics". "What was said by Msgr. Schneider was the truth. The lyrics of the group Eagles of Death Metal is inspired by Satanism," said Delhourne. The American rock band Eagles of Death Metal was playing on stage when the terrorists struck.

The journalist Yves Daoudel expressed the suspicion that behind the whole affair the government desires to suppress unwanted opinions. Also Riposte Catholique wrote: "The Marxist-Leninist dictatorship does not give up, no matter under what name, till the class enemy is destroyed."

The Vicar General of the Diocese of Saint Die which declared: "Our first goal was that Msgr Schneider makes this declaration.  Now it is only to wait andd  watch the thing to consider further. It is still too early to say anything."  He hinted to the fact that the matter had therefore not yet been completed. It became known that a priest who is active in the field of hard rock music, soon to come after Wisembach to provide the Catholic faithful with a "collective transformation" when it comes to hard rock music. "That the Church has such a penchant for self-destruction, is something that not even their most bitter opponents had dared to hope," said Corrispondenza Romana.

At the time when Islamic terrorists struck the Bataclan, the band played Eagles of Death Metal on stage the song "Kiss the Devil". In the chorus of the song, the words repeated in a penetrating way: "Who'll love the devil? Who'll sing his song? I will love the devil and his song! Who'll kiss the tongue of the devil? I'll kiss the devil on his tongue!."

But this part of the story does not seem to fit into the image of the French government, which is why it  the Prefect makes his threats, to apply pressure to the diocese and the media rushing against a country parson.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Inotos / Corrispondenza Romana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Stray Dog by the Lord

(Brasilia) A photo being passed around in social networking sites has given rise to some emotions in the past few days. A Brazilian pastor published the picture of a stray dog on his Facebook page, "what is commonly called a stray dog ​​here," said the pastor.

The dog somehow got into the parish church of the Brazilian community Aguas de Santa Barbara on the Second Sunday of Advent. In the church there is a replica of the tomb of Christ with a life-size sculpture of the Lord lying in the grave. The dog lay down directly on the figure of Christ and remained there motionless throughout the celebration of Mass.

"It seemed as if he felt safe with Jesus, and as if he would protect the Lord. A moving scene, "Msgr. Jose Edmilson Zanin described the unusual event, "At the sight of this ownerless animal that lives on the street, but found a safe refuge here in the Lord, I was moved with compassion, and I thought: Why can't even we humans, guided by this certainty, always find safety and protection with Jesus." The dog behaved very calmly, without moving around in the Church during the sacred liturgy. "What lessons can animals give us," exclaimed Msgr. Zanin. Meanwhile, several people have reported that they wish to raise the animal.

Aguas de Santa Barbara has more than 5,000 inhabitants. The community is located in the state of Sao Paulo and is part of the Archdiocese of Botucatu.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Secretum Meum Mihi

Trans: vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Israelis Drone the Vatican

[Jerusalem Post] Two Israelis were arrested by Italian police for flying a drone over Vatican city, Italian media reported on Sunday.

Rome Police spotted the suspicious drone over the Tiber River and immediately began looking for the aircraft's operators. Police located two Israelis, ordering them to land the drone and taking them into custody.

http://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Two-Israelis-arrested-for-flying-drone-over-Vatican-438628#article=6017NjgxRjA1OUVEMDQ0QTg2N0QzRTEyQjIxRUY2Njg5RDg=

Franciscan Priest Missing After Returning from Turkey

Communique of the Custody of the Holy Land

As from the morning of 23 December, we have lost all contact with Father Dhiya Azziz ofm, parish priest of Yacoubieh (Syria). Father Dhiya was travelling with a taxi car. There were other passengers with him. He departed from Lattakia early in the morning and was heading for Yacoubieh, most probably passing through Hama, in order to arrive at his parish for the Christmas festivities. He was returning from Turkey, where he had gone to visit the members of his family who live there as refugees after Daesh (ISIS) entered at Karakosh (Iraq), his native town.

The last contact by telephone was registered on 23 December at 9.00 a.m. From that moment nobody knows where he is. He should have arrived at Yacoubieh during the early hours of the afternoon of the same day, 23 December. There is absolutely no news regarding Fr. Dhiya and the other passengers.

We are trying to contact the various factions on the ground in order to understand whether somebody is in a position to give us information. Up till now there have been no results.

It is reasonable to assume that he has been kidnapped by some group. We are doing all that is possible to understand who could have kidnapped him. Unfortunately, the chaotic situation in the Country does not permit us to achieve much.

If we receive other news, we shall communicate it.

We invite all to pray and show solidarity with Father Dhiya, with his parishioners, with his confreres in Syria, with the spiritual leaders and pastors and all those who are still dedicating their lives and energies in that Country to do good to all.

The Custody of the Holy Land

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The Last Arab Christian Prince: "My Great Mission is Raise the Awareness of the West"

The Ghannasid dynasty has ruled a vast territory that included parts of present-day Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan. It was an allied Christian kingdom of the Byzantine Empire. Its importance was vital and contributed to progress to protect and promote trade.The dynasty was overthrown by the Muslims in the seventh century, although its descendants ruled kingdoms until the eighteenth century.

Currently, the heir and head of the royal house is Prince Gharios Gasánida and  Actuall  is confronting this great challenge: to protect millions of persecuted Christians in the areas in which his family ruled.