Pope Francis and Vatican Speaker Lombardi: "I'm Running Behind and Trying Not to Wreck Anything"

Deny Everything!

(Vatican) Pope Francis' controversial call to  an Argentine who is civilly married  to a man  already married in the Church, continues to provide for discussions. Officially, the phone call was not confirmed with Jaqueline Lisboa Sabetta until today, but was also not denied.  Indirectly, it has been confirmed by Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi on April 24. To the content of the conversation, which was only made public by Lisboa Sabetta's husband - straightway -  the Vatican did not want to take a position.  [We translated the bottom one.]

Did Pope Francis called remarried divorcees and told they can go to communion? - Vatican silent

Vatican Confirms Controversial Call, but Refused Rectification

Conflicting explanations: If once Francis Pope, another time Jorge Mario Bergoglio? - Once again, the difficult handling of Catholic media with this Pontificate

Pope a "Great Communicator": If He Wants Someone to Say Something, he Picks up the Phone

Now Vatican spokesman Lombardi has remarked yet again about the "new papal telephone ministry" (Dom Ariel Levi di Gualdo).At the end of a communication seminar of the Pontifical University of Santa Croce was held in Rome, Lombardi took a position. Pope Francis was "a great communicator". He has some spontaneity in communication, which "breaks barriers," said Father Lombardi. The Pope was "a person who has no boxes that isolate. He doesn't have them whether he is on and off a train in a jeep and drives around the place, or if he takes children into his arms or prompts others to approach. And he doesn't have them in daily life: If he wants to tell someone something, then he picks up the phone and tells him. That is what is therefore a very characteristic aspect. "

Suggested Treating With "Caution": No "Implications for  Church Teachings"

However, the Vatican spokesman Lombardi warned: "One  can now and then make necessary clarifications. We say: Warning, what can only really be said of these things is they are to be treated with caution, because who knows if what someone says who has received a phone call, or is sufficiently trustworthy. Therefore, it should be taken with great caution, without drawing conclusions that go beyond those confidential, personal cases, so there can not be conclusions concerning the teaching of the Church. "

"I'm Running Behind and Trying Not to Wreck Anything"

In his role as Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi said that he was "on duty"'m the person for whom he is to communicate. He had the presence of Pope Francis already for Pope Benedict XVI. made. To the needs of this person he had to adapt. Pope Francis "is a great communicator" and "I run after him and try not to wreck," which he communicates not only with words but also with gestures.

"Frequent Short" Encounters - "Have Not Seen Everything From Pope Francis"

The collaboration between Father Lombardi and the Pope consists of "frequent, but short, quick" encounters.  Compared to earlier  direct contact is not always necessary with the Secretary of State now. In some cases there is also the need for "direct contact".  "In the afternoon, he meets many people in Santa Marta, there are personal and private meetings," which often take place past the State Secretariat and the Prefecture of the Papal Household. To know then what happens, the Vatican's spokesman has  direct contact with the Pope then.

"We have not yet seen all of the communication of Pope Francis," said Father Lombardi, referring particularly to the upcoming visits by the Pope in the Holy Land and to South Korea. The Vatican spokesman speaks in this context of "new stages in the communication of the Holy Father's message to the world." There is therefore, says Lombardi, probably still "many things that we need, I think, to learn and see."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vatican Inside

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link...

AMGD

The Last Pope-King -- Pope Bergolio’s “New Course” is Not Yet Deciphered

(Rome) "With Francis the papacy came into the shade. The light is all alone for him, the Pope. Not for the institution, but Sfor the person.” With these words, the Vatican expert Sandro Magister begins his recent article in the weekly magazine L'Espresso , the Italian Mirror for Double Saints last Sunday.

"From the Church canons he feels free. He feels himself free from the canonical norms. In just one year he has already suspended six times the ironclad rule that demands a new miracle before a blessed may be proclaimed a saint. John XXIII is the last of the six. Francis wanted at all costs that John Paul II should be canonized not on his own but balanced by another pope with a different profile, less combative, more merciful. "

Francis Wanted to Avoid the  Exclusive Canonization of John Paul II at all Costs

Last Sunday the double canonization was intended by Francis  because he ascended the Chair of Peter too late to slow down the canonization of John Paul II.  "The Congregation for the Causes of Saints, bent its knees his will and pretended it had asked Francis for an exception that was benevolnetly  granted immediately."

A simulated perversion of facts, which was accepted, thus, because the Pope demanded. "In addition Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, who still figures as president of the Italian episcopal conference, has asked Francis that it be he, the pope, who delivers the inaugural discourse to the plenary assembly of the bishops to be held in May, something no pontiff has ever done."

Francis Sets Will Through

At the Cardinal's request is what was said in the official press release, it  then came to the prompt readiness of the Holy Father, who announced to have harbored the same intention’. Really. For over a month we knew that Francis had already decided to make the speech.

Since he is pope, which is Italian Episcopal Conference solidifies and falls silent. Francis asked the Italian bishops that they notify him whether they want to continue to have the Pope as nominal president of the Bishops Conference or would like to choose these freely from their ranks, as in the other countries. In reality,  the Pope’s engagement  of the Italian Bishops' Conference is the living contradiction of the decentralization and “democratization” of the Church allegedly pursued by Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

Francis Holds the Italian Episcopal Conference More Firmly Than Previous Popes

Pope Francis has the Italian Bishops’ Conference more  firmly in his grasp  than all the popes before him. The real authority in the bishops' conference is now its general secretary Bishop Nunzio Galatino Cassano all'Jonio. But the real authority behind this is Pope Francis, who raised Galatino into office and monitors each of his decisions.

The Galatino's first official act after his audience with Pope Francis was the dismissal of the former media officer of the Italian Bishops' Conference , Dino Boffo, who  had been hired by Cardinal Camillo Ruini. Boffo was chief editor of the daily newspaper of the Episcopal Conference "Avvenire" and for three years editor of TV2000, the television station of the bishops with a significantly increasing number of spectators. [Sorry, you’re too successful.?]

Media Work of the Bishops' Conference for Months without Leadership

That was on the 14th of February, so for more than two months. Since then, the entire communication channel of the Episcopal Conference was not controlled without giving word for  a reason for the dismissal of Boffo.

If on instead focuses attention within the Vatican walls, one finds there are still figures with full honors in the saddle that would have been sealed in every  other company long ago.

Advisor to the Pope and the Vatican Bank

These include the members of the Supervisory Board of the Vatican Bank IOR, in other words, the Gang of Four, which brutally sacked the then President of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi  on 24 May 2012.

Not only that Pope Francis followed the advice of the four and ensured the continued existence of the Vatican Bank, although he had repeatedly indicated its dissolution in the previous months. The Pope leaves the Vatican Bank to work as the four want.

The new course of Pope Bergoglio is still not deciphered yet.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Settimo Cielo
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches…
AMGD

The "Luxury Residence" of Cardinal Bertone -- One of the Media Campaigns Against Pope Benedict's Secretary of State?

(Vatican) Catholic  media itself  has been grazing  in the field of moral sanctimony against the former Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. He has created a "luxury apartment" of 600 or 700 square meters through extensive renovations. Pope Francis disapproves this luxury. And many Catholics believe  the media at the touch of the button whatever is put before them.

Now the Salesian Bertone could actually make one a lot better. But that was  not for the years of scolding that made hardly any good to say about the son of Don Bosco. Almost always, when there were attacks anywhere from within the Church against Bertone, it  was mostly mean for Pope Benedict XVI.. Calling him by name was avoided for reasons of expediency.    It was directed to the Cardinal Secretary of State, if only because he also synonymous with the  long odious Roman Curia, led to the  bashing being more uninhibited. It was not always wrong, but in the sum highly disproportionate.

The Jacobin flail it Afflicts Those Representatives of the Church,  That Didn't Dance in the Rio  Flash Mob 

The Jacobin flail was not put away after the resignation of Benedict.  More than a year after the election of Pope Francis Bertone himself is being called upon to contrast between a supposedly "dark" past and now a radiant present of the papacy and the Church in memory. A kind of perpetuation of the same propaganda. Here Pope Francis made known the dismissal of Bertone last year by the Vatican diplomat  Archbishop Pietro Parolin. According to the methods of the Jacobi only certain high church officials are neatly pelted with dirt. Amazingly, it was precisely those that were not ready in Rio de Janeiro to dance the bishop flash mob dance  and thus presented proof, nor to sell their priestly and episcopal dignity in such a clownish way for the amusement of the world.

Scandal Headlines: 600 m² "Luxury Apartment" for Cardinal Bertone

Now Bertone has been  placed in the  pillory for the last few weeks because of an alleged "luxury residence". The former Cardinal Secretary of State had put together several existing apartments in the Vatican in order to make an  extensive, costly reconstruction work. 600 square meters of living space and 100 square meters of terrace. This is a scandal and in addition, a provocation, because Bertone has his new "palace" refers directly next to the guesthouse Santa Marta, where Pope Francis occupies an apartment of less than 100 square meters. The press is underlining the stark contrast between the luxury of pre-Francis-time and the sober modesty of Pope Francis.

The "scandal" was unleased by  the Italian anti-Catholic tabloid Il Fatto Quotidiano . It  drew attention to no less anti-clerical newspaper than La Repubblica last April 20, for international attention.  Cardinal Bertone's reaction was even more late. Which again, is, however, not entirely his fault. Such delays unfortunately were several times a feature of his tenure as Cardinal Secretary of State to the detriment of Pope Benedict XVI. What  Pope Francis  makes too much of in the way of public relations today in their own right, was completely lacked both Pope Benedict XVI. and Bertone. 

Assigned Apartment is Actually Half the Size

The "luxury residence" is quite a canard, in reality. Bertone occupies a space assigned according to his age in office within the Vatican walls. It is a part of one floor in the old Palazzo San Carlo. The rooms are by today's standards  particularly  large, but also not a number of rooms. This all sounds great, but is not very practical. Overall, the former Secretary of State lives in a apartment that is just half as large as that claimed by media, namely 300 square meters. There, he and four members of staff, a secretary and three nuns are housed. In the apartment there is also the study of the Cardinal. The financing of the renovation work organized by the Cardinal himself.   He owns nothing as a religious.

It's Not About Facts, but About Moral Discrediting

The comparison with Pope Francis in Santa Marta is lagging in several ways, starting with the smaller space layout of the guest house. The comparison was made by certain media only to stage a contrived contrast between luxury and modesty, between rich and poor, between good and evil, between Benedict XVI. and Francis. While Il Fatto Quotidiano  still insisted after its first report knew to  present Bertone's higher "luxury" "angering" Pope Francis,  to present the Cardinal  now in a letter to two church newspapers that he had been called by Pope Francis to explain this to him in solidarity. The Pope has shown his disappointment over the media campaign against the former Cardinal Secretary of State.

Vatican Spokesman Asked Unsuccessfully for Official Correction

However, it goes for  Bertone's part also that the Cardinal had asked the Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi several times in vain for an official correction of the incorrect media reports.

The appointment of the Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone has never been accepted by his predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Sodano. In protest, that the German Pope did not assign one of his diplomats to the highest Curia Office, Cardinal Sodano  did not leave his residence until the end of 2007, more than a year after being replaced by Bertone, the official residence of the Cardinal Secretary of State at the Vatican. For that reason Bertone was only able to move  in much later.  This affront, who was made by  the elegant but relentless opponent Bertone Sodano, was the real reason for the ever-changing public attacks on Bertone through the targeted dissemination of true, half-true and false information.

One reason why the public relations during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. never really worked well. If there was trouble, as in the Williamson case, where there is a persistent rumor in Rome that some Church circles that they intentionally let the German pope  run into the knife, ultimately Bertone was held responsible. But now  others are  throwing a wrench in the gears.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: screenshot of Google Infovaticana

Taiwan's VP Receives Sacrilegious Communion

Edit:  Taiwan's Vice President, Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), has committed an act of sacrilege by consuming the Host and the Precious Blood at the Canonization Mass, despite warnings given previously by the Taiwanese diplomatic corp.

Even the Taiwan Bishops' Conference had a clear statement.

It's hard to see how, given the readiness with which it was given in the past to other world leaders, or the ecumenical atmosphere and informality which now seems to rule in the Vatican, how he would have been worried about offending such a protocol at all.  There have been no comments from the Vatican yet.  Do they even care?  Still, there has been a lot of criticism of the VP by people who seem to be quite ashamed of him, as Taiwan News reports:

A secretary for Taiwan’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference confirmed that the Eucharist should be only for Catholics who have undergone baptism by an ordained priest. 

“Take this case involving Vice President Wu. It may be that he joined in because others nearby in the diplomatic group were doing so, and nobody reminded Wu about the rules,” the secretary, surnamed Liao (廖), said. 

“Actually, I think this case was not too serious. Unless Wu had known about the restriction and breached it on purpose, which would be very disrespectful,” he said.
A number of netizens criticized Wu over the Eucharist incident. 

One person surnamed Lin (林) accused Wu of “lacking understanding of diplomatic protocols,” while another netizen wrote: “Wu has shamed himself at the Vatican.”
Another posted under the name Chou: “Wu is an ignoramus. This shows that someone with a high education may not have wisdom or common sense.”

Remember this?

“The Pope Organizes His Life Himself” -- He has “A lot of Imagination” and Works “Methodically"

Edit: especially when it comes to those he studiously ignores, and to those he lavishes special consideration, like a dissident Irish priest whose cause he championed today.

(Vatican) Monsignor Guillermo Karcher, one of Papal ceremonialists spoke recently in an interview about his daily work with Pope Francis. The interview was conducted by the Internet TV channel of the Argentine news site Infobae . The Argentine Karcher has belonged for several years at the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Pope. He is incardinated in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires and has known Pope Francis for 20 years. He works at the State Secretariat and is one of the ceremonialists of the Pope. As such, he was on duty during the conclave. In the evening, when Pope Francis was presented to the world, he held onto the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica the microphone (see picture). In the Bild interview he gives a little insight into the life and work of the Pope.

Monsignor Karcher is a ceremonialist who belongs to those collaborators of the Roman Curia, who work closely with Pope Francis and see him most often. The Pope leads a "very regular life," said Msgr Karcher. "He rises between 4.30 und 5 clock and goes fill 10 to 11pm to bed." The Pope from Argentina "receives a lot of people every day and maintains close contacts with the Roman Curia.” After morning Mass in the chapel of the guest house Santa Marta he goes to "Breakfast, then we bring him the news from around the world, we chat with each other ... and then begins his day.” Karcher said: "He handles his appointments himself, Bergoglio organized his own life. “

"He has learned to be Pope In less than a year"

For handling of the Pope with the people and their expectations in Argentina and the politicians with whom he maintained contact, said the ceremonialist: "He has a lot of imagination. He maintains the contact with the people, that hasn’t changed.”

Among the postures and gestures of the Pope said Karcher: "In less than a year he has learned to be Pope.”

As early as last March, Msgr Karcher said in an interview with Vatican insider , Pope Francis has "a sixth sense". The Pope was able "to recognize a sick or needy person amid the crowd. This is a special grace, he can feel it in the heart.“

The pope goes "very methodically", saying it is "a characteristic of his Jesuit character. In his daily routine is a place for everything and everyone." Prior to morning Mass Francis he prepares his sermon.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 image: Infovaticana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches….
AMGD

Is Pope Francis Ignoring Collegiality to Intervene on Behalf of Dissident University in Peru?

Edit: Some may recall that in Chile, there were attempts to overrule the local ordinary were in turn overruled by Cardinal Bertone in February of 2013. This time, in Peru. Why can’t Pope Francis allow collegiality to take its course, particularly when doctrinal orthodoxy is at question, since they have steadfastly refused, like so many other schools, to implement Ex Corde Ecclesiae.

In the confines of the current Vatican intervention, there is no discussion of bringing the University to heel, but only mediating the two parties. One would think there’s nothing to talk about.”



In a protracted dispute over the Catholic University of Peru, Pope Francis now wants to bring about a decision.

Lima (kath.net / CBA) In a protracted dispute over the Catholic University of Peru Pope Francis now wants to bring about a decision. Francis had invoked the Commission of Cardinals to find a "mutually acceptable final solution", the University PUCP announced in Lima on Monday (local time). The committee will be headed by Cardinal Peter Erdo of Budapest.

In July 2012, the Vatican's only Catholic University of Peru had been forbidden to continue calling itself "papal" and “Catholic”. The background is a conflict over the competence of leadership and Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Lima. Erdo had already mediated between Cipriani and the Rector in December 2011, but was unsuccessful. Other members of the new Commission are reported as the Canadian Cardinal Gerald Cyprien Lacroix and the Chilean Cardinal familiar to Pope Francis, Ricardo Ezzati Andrello.

The deprivation of the title was the culmination of a dispute of the leadership of the university, founded in 1917. The Vatican Secretariat of State justified this step, among other things, that the University in its activities now follow criteria that are "incompatible with the discipline and morality of the Church." The university did not comply with demands for adapting their statutes. The letter, dated July 11, 2012 was signed by the then Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The prominent University is in conflict with Cardinal Cipriani of Lima, who, in addition to his office as Archbishop of the Peruvian capital, has also been Chancellor of the University since 2007. It's about the right to appoint the rector to lead oversight of the teaching content and to control the considerable real estate assets of the University.

(C) 2014 Catholic News Agency KNA GmbH. All rights reserved

A New Blow Against the Franciscans of the Immaculata --- Pilgrimage Church Refused Them

(Rome), a new blow by  the Commission  set upon  the  Franciscans of the Immaculate by the Congregation for Religious. The lay association Mission of the Immaculate Mediatrix (MIM) was denied the Marian Sanctuary of Pompeii.  Since the year 2004, MM brought believers together to  take a pilgrimage from Naples and Campania  to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, the most famous Marian shrine in this part of southern Italy. Yesterday, on Divine Mercy Sunday, however, the faithful were denied  access to the holy image

Prohibition of Commissar Volpi Led Prelate of Pompeii to Ban

On 10 April, when everything was already organized, the faithful were informed by the rector of the Basilica, Monsignor Salvatore Acampora,  the use and access ban without notice. Pilgrimage, Holy Mass, Rosary and Marian songs had to be canceled. On request of the disappointed believers, Msgr Acampora declared the following day that the Church has the status of a Pontifical Basilica Cathedral and was erected as a Territorial Prelature in 1926. So it stands under papal law, which is why the responsible Prelate and Pontifical Delegate for the Shrine, Titular Archbishop Tommaso Caputo currently could not ignore the measures of the Apostolic Commissar of the Franciscans of the Immaculate,  Fr Fidenzio Volpi.

"Tell us What We Have Done Wrong?"

Commissioner Volpi had in the course of the destruction of  the Franciscan Order, which the Congregation of Religious calls "normalization", forbid on 27 November, 2013, the ecclesiastically recognized lay association from any activity.  "A radical intervention, which took place without any justification. Tell us what we've done wrong: If it is a sin, an act against the Gospel or a violation of canon law" demanded Claudio Circelli, one of MIM leaders of Naples, for the last ten years, who organized the annual pilgrimage to the Queen of the Rosary.

Unfounded Prohibitions: "So They Don't Apply to Believers"

The ban on the pilgrimage's access at the basilica of Pompeii can be justified formally,  with the activity ban on the MIM.  "A ban in reference to the unjustified ban of the Commissioner, and one washes the other's hands. That's arbitrariness. So it doesn't apply to  the faithful," wrote the newspaper which quoted Il Mattino di Napoli, an  indignant member of the MIM. In fact, a Commissioner Volpi has not justified that the prohibition will result in further bans after themselves without ever explaining in order to punish the lay organization.

Old Mass, Promoting Tradition, Criticism of the Second Vatican Council - For Some Unbearable

The provisional administration of the Franciscans of the Immaculate was arranged by the prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, João de Aviz Cardinal Bráz in July 2013.   A step that also took place with the express approval of Pope Francis in a form that the Order took every opportunity to appeal.

The crackdown is connected with that of the hitherto flourishing religious order under Benedict XVI. which changed internally to the  old rite and intellectually took a  very active part in the debate initiated by the German theologian Pope   on the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council. It undertook a defense of Catholic tradition against modernist tendencies in the Church and especially in the training of theologians and priests,  which to some was unbearable in the Church, but under Benedict XVI. they could not take action against the Order. However, due to the pontificate change to Pope Francis, they were active immediately and with the utmost severity against the Order. The arbitrary act against the Order has overshadowed the current pontificate.

MIM - Marian and Missionary

The MIM was established in 1990 by the founder of the Franciscans of the Immaculate   in 2013, the deposed   Superior General Father Stefano Maria Manelli in the Marian shrine of Loreto. The MIM align themselves with lay people who try to live in their respective state of the charism of the Order. They vow  to be Marian and missionary and to promote the devotion to Mary and to promote the mission ad gentes, particularly "where the struggle for the salvation of souls and the edification of the Church is particularly fierce."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Wikicommons

Conflicting Attempts to Explain: One Time It’s Pope Francis, Another Time it’s Jorge Mario Bergolio? -- Yet Again, The Difficult Interaction of Catholic Media With This Pontificate

(Rome) Jewish convert Ariel Levi di Gualdo , who became a Catholic priest, the chief editor of a well-known Catholic website has penned  a letter. The occasion was the phone call from Pope Francis to an Argentinian who thereby made ​ statements he allegedly made. The reason is the manner in which controversial actions,  played down, minimized, hidden, and reinterpreted   were justified by certain Catholic.

Since the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Francis, some  faithful Catholic media are in an unenviable predicament. How to deal with the pontificate of Pope Francis? The coordinates of the previous years under Pope Benedict XVI. no longer apply. An unconditional ostrich-like attitude to the motto: "Everything the Pope does is great" can only hold out at a high and especially bitter price.

It needs critical thinking, and also a rejection of any of the various  requests for lese majeste. It must be a painful emission, suddenly to find yourself with the same choir that yesterday criticized some of the victims, because they themselves are responsible for serious abuses in the local churches or tolerate them  at least. This must impose the question if you do not sit in the wrong boat. Really?

Some seem quite resistant. When Pope Francis has made a "Bergogliade”, as  he seems to forget again and again to be the Pope,  thus the Vicar of Christ and successor of Peter and not  an appealing, unfailingly idiomatic,  casual,  quasi anonymous priest somewhere,  there are those who remain true to the Church,  but  increasingly critical Catholics and truly  acrobatic masters making feats into every conceivable variant for the critical inquirer to insist that everything is fine and the rest are merely “misunderstandings”, that someone always has otherwise misunderstood something and it’s always someone else's fault .

This includes variants of schizophrenic explanation, such as the distinction of "official" Pope and a "private" Pope, as  the actor in certain cases is Pope Francis, in others,  Jorge Mario Bergoglio. You can not get past the controversial "Bergogliades" because they usually  put the pope’s  actions   to public attention in the shadows and are known in no time in the far corners of the world. Avoid it but frantically to get to the heart of the question: Bergoglio.

The Catholic priest Ariel Levi Stefano di Gualdo has written to the editor of a Catholic website that is faithfully Catholic and pious, also presenting many questions, but the key question to show this tense contradiction at work.  Here is a translation. We do this  refraining to mention the name of the chief editor and his website. Instead, anyone can include the name himself. There are also candidates for this  throughout the world. 

.

Cardinal Dolan Has New York’s Traditional Latin Heritage in the Crosshairs

Eugene O’Neill’s Birth Parish Headed for Destruction?

Edit: We’ve just been informed that Cardinal Dolan is probably going to close down the Latin Mass center of Holy Innocents and the Padre Pio Shrine.  Holy Innocents is also known as the “actor’s church”.  Strange choice to base your Traditional Community, but it might help preserve it.

Maybe more thespians need to start having children and going regularly to Mass?

Among the locations being considered for closure by the committee, which is scheduled to issue its final blueprint to archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan in June, are the Church of St. John the Baptist and the Church of the Holy Innocents in Midtown Manhattan, according to internal documents obtained by Capital New York. Both would be consolidated into nearby St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street, which could take a new name.

St. John the Baptist, also on West 31st Street, is directly across from of Pennsylvania Station and a well known parish. It is run by the religious order of the Capuchin Franciscans and is home to the Saint Padre Pio Shrine, which attracts devotees to the 20th century saint. Holy Innocents on West 37th Street, the oldest building in the Fashion Center, was once known as the “actor's church.” Playwright Eugene O'Neill was baptized there in 1888. Some Masses are still celebrated there in Latin.

There’s no word as to what plans there are for St. Francis Xavier parish and its amazing outreach programs, and "loyal opposition” to the Archbishop and Catholic teaching.   At this point, the Cardinal seems enthusiastic about what’s happening there, and less so about what’s happening elsewhere, if these closures are any indication.

As usual, we invite those who live in NYC to comment on this.

Here he is being wildly enthusiastic about sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance…  or so it appears.

Link to Capital...

Lightning Strikes Saint Paul Cathedral During Canonizations

Edit: this is the historic Cathedral overlooking St. Paul from the heights, across the street from the James J. Hill Mansion. The photo was taken yesterday as the canonizations were taking place in Rome.

Statue of John Paul II Crushes Young Man in Italy.

High-Profile Liberal Priest and Former Rector of St. Paul Archdiocese Defended by Softball Article in Fishwrap.

Damaging Testimony from McDonaugh.

Photo Credit: KARE ”Rainy Sunday” Reader Photos… 

Canonization of a Missionary, And Rejection of Mission?

(Rome) Pope Francis celebrated on Thursday in the Roman Jesuit church of St Ignatius of Loyola in Campo Marzio, a Mass of Thanksgiving for the Canonization of the Jesuit missionary José de Anchieta (1534-1597). The new saint is venerated as the "Apostle of Brazil". His canonization was "pro gratia" without a regular canonization process, because such would be impracticable because of the large temporal distance. The missionary and founder of Sao Paulo in Brazil has a reputation for holiness and is venerated in the Portuguese-speaking country in Latin America by the faithful people as "national saint".

Young Jesuit Missionary Zeal with Brazil

Only 19 years old, he had set out as a missionary in the New World. There he received the priesthood in 1566. The Holy José de Anchieta worked all his life as a missionary and is worshiped as such. Pope Francis said, literally, that the new saints of such religious zeal was animated, that he "could form a nation", today's Brazil.

All the more surprising that Pope Francis, the words mission, missionary or proselytizing never mentioned in his sermon was. Instead, he reiterated its condemnation of the "proselytism". Literally, the Pope said: "The Church does not grow by proselytizing, but by the charisma and appeal of the witnesses and the joy."  The testimony arising from the "joy" that will to proclaim. "Without this joy without this joy, you can not start a Church. It is an apostolic joy that radiates and spreads. "

"Proselytism" No, Mission: Unspoken, Joy: Yes

In his interview with the atheist Eugenio Scalfari the Pope had said that "proselytism is a huge stupidity". He included not only an aggressive mission form as  some Protestant groups are accused of being, a rejection, but overall of mission, he said to Scalfari "I do not want to convert" (see the Full Interview of Atheist Scalfari with Pope Francis - Is There No Objective Good? ).

We now know that Scalfari formulated the answers of the Pope himself. However,  the atheist doyen of the prevailing left-liberal mainstream is assured to have this content exactly reproduced in summary as the Pope had told him (backgrounds for Pope Interview - Scalfari: "I Formulated The Pope's Answers Myself" ). 

Otherwise he later spoke two weeks later for World Mission Sunday at the General Audience of 16 October 2013 (see No to Conversions, Yes For Mission - The Pope Contradict Himself? ). The Church has a task, and it is called "mission". In this specifically Christian category and related language Pope Francis, however,  strongly criticizes  "proselytism", "poaching" of other faiths, but speaks simultaneously of a "charism" and "spread" by the "joy" of the "testimony"

What is the Message of the Pope?

In the absence of conclusive presented concept the interpretation of the Pope's words remain  uncertain and there are a variety of questions. For example: Is it a general waiver of mission? What does Pope Francis with "proselytism", that  "there is no way for the growth of Church"? If you want the church to wait passively until other faiths or atheists - attracted by the testimony - ask for  inclusion in the Community Church   but isn't active in any way in  missionary work?    The elimination of the Jewish mission is in fact already a fact, the renunciation of the Protestant mission is mostly accomplished: now there follows a general waiver of mission because the other faiths "already"  believe? Or does the Pope simply redeem  the "old" language regime and replace it with a new one? Joy as a synonym for mission? Why doesn't  he say it?

The papal statements confuse especially in connection with the canonization of José de Anchieta, it resulted solely from his mission and zeal for souls in Brazil. He wanted to proclaim Christ and wanted to evangelize. Had he otherwise remained in Europe, would he have joined another Order and led somewhere a contemplative religious and priestly life?

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches....

AMGD

Bamberg Pastor Asks Pope Francis for "Release" From Celibacy

(Bamberg) Stefan Hartmann (59), Catholic priest and pastor of Oberhaid in Upper Franconia (Archdiocese of Bamberg) wants to be "released" from celibacy. Yesterday he posted   a letter he sent to Pope Francis on his Facebook page.

He Gave a "Premature" Vow of Celibacy

The priest  explains to   the Catholic Church leader that he had given his promise of celibacy  "prematurely"  in 1981.  Celibacy does not comply with his "constitution". After "long evaluation" of his conscience and in view of his "personal situation" and "consciousness" of his "weakness" and his "mistakes," he is making the request for release from celibacy while maintaining his priesthood. Last January, Hartmann had explained on the television show "Höhe der Zeit" [Up To Date] broadcast all over Germany that he has  a daughter. In 1982 he was ordained a priest.

Relationship with Community Officer

Then he started a relationship with his church officer. Retrieved from "love" he never speaks, as a matter a timeeditor (Christ & the world) noticed. 

 He got a lot of obligatory "praise for his honesty, from the community and from the Facebook community", said Die Zeit  which knew to report it, mixing up honesty and dishonesty.   Hartmann belongs to a kind of  Hardliner.   He did not draw the necessary conclusions from his actions and ought to  be unfrocked. For example, in order to take care of his daughter. Other secularized priests became  external Church opponents. Hartmann wants to stay inside the same and rebuild the Church according to his  weakness. The applause of the media is certainly with him.

"Voluntary" Celibacy Nonsense

The priest breaks the vow of celibacy, leads a double life, does not draw the appropriate conclusions, but wants unapologetic adaptation not only for special treatment for himself, but even the whole ecclesiastical order to his "weakness". Because celibacy is just an "anachronism", which should be abolished thinks Hartmann. He speaks generously about not wanting to abolish celibacy,  but the  introduction of "voluntary"  celibacy, which is admittedly utter nonsense. This would elevate married clergy to a standard, which excludes whomever wants to just live as a  celibate priest, from  marriage. But as is known no one is forced into marriage by the Catholic Church. God had given  love, "not celibacy" which  celibacy opponents bring in their assault on the constitution of the Church as a fairly primitive denominator. That Jesus set aside celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom as a special act of love, is suppressed at all costs.

Jesus added, because He knew the people, even in the 21st century: "The one who can accept this should accept it." [Mathew 19:11] Today, all sorts of people jostling in front of the celibacy debate which  doesn't   affected them.  Were they silent, the quality of the discussion would gain much thereby. The priesthood and the religious life are voluntary acts, only obligatory to  those who are called. And to this appeal is included celibacy and chastity. Anything else would be a form of fraud, to oneself,  to God and to man.

The affected Archdiocese of Bamberg is silent. It sees no need for action, because Pastor Hartmann has only performed this escapade  once 24 years ago.  Hartmann himself knows better whether the Pope will offer a release from his vow of celibacy because of his "weakness" and his "constitution".   Strength of character looks different.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: BR (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

King, Crusader, Saint and Penitent -- Today, Louis IX. Was Born 800 Years Ago in France

(Paris) "Every period of history has its representative man. Saint Louis IX. summarizes the entire Middle Ages.  He was a legislator, a hero and a saint. Marcus Aurelius embodied power united with philosophy, Louis IX.  power united with holiness. And it is just the latter that goes to the foreground for him."  The words of François-René de Chateaubriand may be slightly frenchified.  But worth considering the significance in dealing with history and representing these figures, they are nonetheless. 

This coming April 25 is the 800th birthday of a holy king, glory of the Church and of Christendom, a model of a Christian ruler, a real monarch according to the will of God:  St. Louis IX. of France (1214-1270). A king who, in the Christian Middle Ages, embodied in his person, that which is referred to as "sweet springtime of faith".

He was the son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile, daughter, granddaughter, wife, sister and aunt of kings. Blanka was the daughter of King Alfonso IX. of Castile, the stormer of the battlements in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) that paved the way for the reconquest of the southern Iberian Peninsula. She was the granddaughter of King Sancho III of Castile, niece of English kings Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland, wife of King Louis VIII of France, sister of King Henry of Castile, aunt of King Sancho II of Portugal and St. Ferdinand III., King of Leon and Castile and mother of King Charles I of Naples and Sicily and of Saint Louis IX., King of France. A high aristocratic, European network, in which, despite the emergence of principalities and kingdoms, possessing a population of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds still a largely intact early medieval Germanic unit was expressed on sovereign level.

Born in 1214 in the Fateful Battle of France Bouvines

St. Louis was born at Castle Poissy about 30 kilometers from Paris on 25 April 1214. At that time his grandfather  King Philip II Augustus of France still lived, the winner in the decisive Battle of Bouvines for France (1214) against the Anglo-German coalition in which he saved the fate of France, stopped the expansion of England  on the continent and the Empire let go from the Guelphs on to the Staufer.

The Childhood of St. Louis was a mirror image of honesty and wisdom. His father, who also combined chivalrous courage with the zeal for religion, was honored with the nickname "the Lion". He took pains in a special way for the education of his son and gave him excellent teachers and educators, says Matthias II of Montmorency, the Constable of France, and thus  was the highest-ranking nobleman in the service of the king; William of Barres, the Count of Rochefort, who was honored after the Battle of Bouvines as the "Bravest of the bravest" and Clement of Metz.  All three had been commanders of his grandfather and father. But they were also educated men and educated the Crown Prince in the humanistic disciplines and mediated the King above all by a love for the Church.

His mother, Blanche of Castile spared no effort to bring him to a Godly life and to be a wise king. Tradition has her sentence: "My son, I wish you would prefer  the grave, than be  stained with a single mortal sin." Towards the end of her life, Blanka moved back to the Cistercian Abbey of Maubuisson she founded, where she led a life of prayer and penance until her death in 1252.

Anointing and Coronation at the Age of Twelve

With the early death of his father, who died at the age of 40  in Montpellier on the way back from the crusade against the heretical Albigenses, the young saint came to the throne still a minor. The regency was led by his mother.  It was due to the loyalty of Matthias II of Montmorency, the commander of the army, that the throne was not lost at this critical stage to rebellious nobles who instigated internal conflicts to exploit the youth of the king for their aggrandizement.

On November 30, 1226 Louis IX was anointed in Reims at the age of twelve years as  king and crowned. Louis went from the internal struggles to victory and quickly  earned respect with his courage and prudence.

Happy Marriage with Margaret of Provence

On May 27, 1235 he married Margaret of Provence (1221-1295), the daughter of Raymond Berengar V, Count of Provence and grandson of King Alfonso II of Aragon. Her mother was Beatrice of Savoy, the daughter of Count Thomas I of Savoy and Beatrice of Geneva. "The grace of God and nature," as it is called in contemporary sources, had gifted the Queen in every respect with perfection. Throughout a long and harmonious married life the royal couple received eleven children, six sons and five daughters.

Margaret accompanied her young man on his first expedition to Africa to the  Sixth Crusade, according to the German reckoning. After the death of her husband, the queen in 1270 moved back to a Poor Clare Monastery of their native Provence, where she died on December 20, 1295 in the odor of sanctity. She became known as the "mother of the poor". Her funeral procession to the Abbey Daint Denis, where lay the graves of the Kings, where she was buried at her husband's side, was accompanied by a large crowd of beggars and poor, whom she honored.

Education of Children in the Faith

St. Louis raised his children personally together with Margaret. At the heart of his educational activity was the contempt of worldly vanities and love for "Beau Sire Dieu".The royal family took part in the daily Mass and praying the Marian hours of prayer. After dinner,  at Compline they were in the chapel praying together, then the king gathered the family in his room and gave a spiritual direction. Every Friday the royal family kept the law of fasting and abstinence from meat and alcohol. On Fridays the King never wore his crown, because Jesus Christ  had to wear the crown of thorns to ridicule.

A series of spiritual writings of the king have been preserved, including instructions to his daughter Isabella, Queen of Navarre. These texts are considered as exemplary spiritual teachings that are incorporated into some manuals of moral theology.

Wise Ruler

Louis was not only a wise educator of his children, but also an admirable ruler who led government affairs with great prudence. During his reign, France experienced a long period of peace and prosperity. He managed provide for the moral renewal of his country by trying to lift  its way of life and customs. He punished misconduct by severely, especially cursing. The penalties for this were so severe that Pope Clement IV requested the king to mitigate them. He tried to eliminate the bad habit of the duel, which cost much senseless blood because of vanity and other trifles. The same he tried against the gambling, the whole family fell into the worst trouble, against the brothels and other evils by which he saw poisoned the souls of his sub-aunts.

Chief Justice and Fair Administrator

Saint Louis IX. placed special emphasis on honesty in the administration of the state and the application of  laws.The judges appointed by him and officials prohibited the acquisition of state owned enterprises and the employment of children and close relatives. The king created a new Court of judges selected by him, whose task was to examine judgments of the ordinary courts in order to avoid injustice. If an error or an abuse happened, he gave himself at first  a penance as chief judge of the kingdom, and then punished the culprits. He forced a possible res furtiva refund or a restoration for those damages that had been wrongly convicted. Guilt was for the king always a personal guilt. If a judge or an official hired impeccable behavior in his office to prove he was reciprocated well  and rewarded by the king.

When he came to an area, it happened more than once that the king himself sat in judgment, to show his judges what a just and wise judge is.

Zeal for the True Faith

The king tried not just to fix a moral breakdown, but also to eradicate  heresy and to defend the faith. Louis was a great friend and supporter of the young Order of the Dominicans and the Franciscans, he looked for an instrument of Providence to save the soul of the people from apostasy. He joined the Franciscan Order as a Tertiary. In secret without showing outward visibility, he wore under the royal robes up to his death, the gross habit of Saint Francis of Assisi. Frequently and happily he invited great theologians and saints for dinner like St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure.

He acquired by Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople the relic of the Crown of Thorns. In Paris he had the Sainte Chapelle built for their dignified storage.  It is a jewel of Gothic architecture.

The Sixth Crusade (Seventh)

 In 1245 Ludwig was so severely ill that his speedy death was already considered certain. Throughout France prayers were intoned for the king. With Holy Mass, prayer vigils, processions and other spiritual exercises assailed heaven for the king's health. The king himself lived to swear a vow to  break into the Holy Land and liberate the Holy Sepulcher. In fact, he experienced his unexpected recovery and  set out for Lyons on 1248, where he met Pope Innocent IV and received his  Apostolic Blessing. From Aigues-Mortes he drove  with his crusade army in the direction Lake Orient. It was the 25th of August.

His wife Margaret  accompanied Louis IX. in 1249 and his two brothers, Robert of Artois and Charles of Anjou. In 1249 he succeeded in conquering the important Egyptian port city of Damietta in the Nile Delta. However, 1250 was followed by the defeat in al-Mansura, which had been caused by an awkward maneuver by his brother Robert of Artois.The king suffered  humiliating captivity. After 31 days he was released by payment of 200,000 gold ducats, favored by the unexpected death of Sultan Turan Shah, who had been murdered by his Mamluk bodyguard. King Louis IX.remained another four years in the Orient, where he also won the Muslim's high esteem due to his wisdom and his incomparable bearing.  Some Muslim parties even  wanted to raise him to  Sultan. His wife Margaret was always at his side. Because of the birth of a son and the news of his mother Blanka's death, the King and Queen returned from Acre  to France, where they arrived on September 5, 1254. In the Holy Land his crusade had not changed the status quo  in favor of the Christians.

Seventh Crusade and death of the King [Eighth]

In July 1270 Louis struck out again from Aigues-Mortes on a crusade that led him to Tunis. However, plague and dysentery decimated the Christian army before it could be used properly. On August 25, the king also fell victim. Before his brother Charles of Anjou led back the remains of the Crusader army to Sicily, he concluded a treaty with the Muslim Caliph of Tunis that secured him the possession of Malta and the island of Pantelleria located off the Tunisian coast.

The Relics of St. Louis IX.

The mortal remains of the king were brought from Sicily to France and ready to collect there by his son Philip III. His heart, however, remained in Sicily and was buried at Palermo in the Cathedral of Monreale. In 1297 Louis IX was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII. the difference was made primarily by the testimony of John of Joinville, Seneschal of Normandy. Johann was a confidant and companion in arms of Louis. In 1299 he published at the request of Louis's great-niece, Queen Joan of Navarre, a biography of the holy King, considered the first French-language biography in the modern sense.

While Chateaubriand looked at the connection of sovereign power and philosophy in Marcus Aurelius, he wrote that Louis IX. had a combination of sovereign power and holiness. This makes for Louis the emblematic figure of the Middle Ages.  Pope Leo XIII. said that at that time "the philosophy of the Gospel governed the States." The inserts Hélio Viana in his life image of St. Louis added: "Never was the state greater than when it is at the service of the Church. Never so much does the Church complete its mission, as when it forms a culture."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Wikicommons / Ars Cristiana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Katholisches....

AMGD

Basel Becoming Center for Al Qaeda as Islamic Power Grows

(Bern) Switzerland too, the model country of the peaceful coexistence of different ethnic groups and compensation of indigenous ethnic group of successful compensation has a problem with mass immigration: Islamism. The Islamist agitation is particularly serious for Switzerland, as the Confederates  have tried to practice strict neutrality for 200 years. But Islamists have little consideration, not for European borders, customs and sensitivities. This forces the Swiss government  to increased vigilance. Keeping tabs  mainly on Islamist circles in the canton of Basel.

The industrial center of the  Swiss Confederation has experienced in recent years a significant influx of Muslims.  As the Basler Zeitung reported in its current edition, the imam of the Arrahma Mosque on Mühlhauserstraße is an Islamist point of contact. As the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), the Swiss State Treasury Department, that  the Imam has equated  Christians with animals.

Call to Jihad and  Demand to be Recognized as a "National Church"

The same Islam, which calls  “jihad”, for "Holy War” in Basel, wants to be  a “National Church” Switzerland like the Reformed and the Catholic Church.   And he can count on support numerous self-proclaimed Islamic understanders in Switzerland.

Recently in Switzerland   two Kurds from Iraq were brought to justice. A 35-year-old welfare recipient and her younger brother. Both are accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda terror network. They had pitched their tents in Basel. There they would, according to the indictment, direct the "foreign department” of the Didi New Center.  For the prosecution hiding behind the innocuous sounding name base of the international network of Islamist terrorism. The Swiss Intelligence views the Oslo resident  Mullah Krekar as  the head of a "criminal" organization.

Internet Platform Basel Islamists for Al-Qaeda Propaganda

Other features of the Didi Nwe Center included the provision of "safe" chat rooms, so that Islamists were able to communicate with each other undisturbed. This included an online Sharia Academy . The Swiss Federal Prosecutor is certain to have collected sufficient evidence to be able to demonstrate that the Internet platform of Didi Nwe Center was used to disseminate messages, propaganda and information from Al-Qaeda.

Basel has a large Muslim, especially Turkish, community and is “very auspiciously”  established in the tri-border region. This allows the liberty of quick crossing of the borders between Switzerland, Germany and France in any direction. Especially with Germany’s too prominent Turkish community, facilitates the contacts.  Basel had "obviously a central function with a certain appeal,”  the press spokesman for FIS told the Federal Intelligence Service. 

Hate Preacher: "Christians are Animals" - “Kill Infidels"

The state security services monitors Islamic activities  in Basel. In December 2013 hate sermons against unbelievers, especially Christians and Jews were given in the Faysal Mosque. In November, at an information network of the Islamic Central Switzerland called (ICCS) in Basel for the killing of Jews and Christians. The ICCS distributed two different versions of the Quran. To Muslims, the version is distributed with the call for killing, however, they are missing in the German version.

The Swiss and the German Federal Intelligence Service already observed the Basler Said-i Nursi-Mosque in Kleinhueningen together. There are members which apparently include  a Middle Eastern Islamist militia from several European countries, which is classified as a terrorist organization. The head of the mosque is considered number three in the network that wants to impose by force of arms an Islamist state in Turkey.

The Islamist activities in and around Basel show that the Rhine town is an important place in the coordinate system of the Islamists in Europe. The Swiss security authorities are of the opinion that the trouble - at the price of increasing complexity - is  so far   under control. How long this will be the cease, however, no one can say.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: ICCS (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches…

AMGD

Horror Missae: Gregorian Liturgical Ballet

Edit: from the Catholic Conclave.  There's always something novel they can do.