In the Syrian Crusader City of Tartarus is the First Alawite Marian Mosque in the World

Marian Mosque of Tartarus

(Damascus) is a mosque dedicated Mary  in Syria  not an anachronism? Syria has become the epitome of war and flight. The Christians in the country are being brutally persecuted. Not by the government, but of Islamist combat forces who want to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad. Syria is a majority Muslim country. Only ten percent of the population are Christians.  In1920 they were still 30 percent. However, the Muslims are divided into two groups. 70 percent are Sunni, 20 percent are Alawites. From the latter comes the first mosque named after Mary in the world.

The Alawis of Syria

Alawites in the coastal strip of the Crusader states

Little is known about the Alawites in the West. Within Islam they are considered related parties to the Shiites.  However, there is also the theory that it is the Alawites, if they are not then at least the offspring of Islamized Christians, at least have significant Christian influence in their religious expression. In fact, since their early years in the 10th century, they have  concentrated in Syria and Turkey, two areas which in contrast to other parts of the Islamic world today, which were once heartlands of Christianity.

The Alawites live in what is now Syria, especially along the Mediterranean coast, that area west of the Orontes plane, which belonged to the Crusader states in the Middle Ages and has thus historically and culturally experienced a differing development, than the Islamic territory east of this location. The parallel to the coast mountain range is therefore called the Alawite Mountains (Jebel al-Alawia, Jabal an-Nusayriyah after the original name "Alawite" Alawite).

The Crusaders of Tartus

Fortified Crusader Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa (now a museum)

On the Syrian Mediterranean coast, the city of Tartus is the second largest port in the country. Tartus was founded by the Teutonic Knights and belonged from 1102 to the County of Tripoli, the youngest of the four Crusader states. In 1157 it was  given by King Baldwin III.  of Jerusalem to the Knights Templar. The Templars, the oldest of the  Crusader orders  of religious knights, built the port city into a mighty fortress. Saladin besieged it in 1188 in vain. 1291 Tartus was briefly headquarters of the Knights Templar after the fall of Acre. The city was the last mainland stronghold of the Knights, but fell in the same year. In 1300-1302  the Templars made a last, unsuccessful attempt to recapture Tartus.

The Knights Templar built the fortified cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa (Tartus)  in the city in the Romanesque-Gothic style. It was built on  an original Byzantine site, consecrated to the Virgin Mary consecrated from the early Christian era, and is said to have been consecrated, according to tradition, by the Prince of  the Apostles, Peter. After the Mamelukes conquered the city, they converted the cathedral into a mosque. In 1516 the area was conquered by the Ottomans. Under Ottoman rule, the cathedral was used as a cowshed. Today it is a museum. It is considered one of the best preserved examples of  crusader churches built in the east. Hafez al-Assad, President from 1970-2000 and ruler of Syria, the father of today's President Bachar al-Assad, had promised to give the  the cathedral back to the Christians. His death prevented the return.

First  Mosque Named After Mary  in the World - Marian Devotion in the Koran

Report of the Daily Star of Beirut

In this predominantly  Alawite Tartus the first mosque was built and dedicated to  the Virgin Maryn the world. According to the Beirut daily newspaper Daily Star, the new mosque is called Al-Sayyida Maryam. This is one of several Arab names for the mother of Jesus, says the Minister of Religious and Cultural Goods, Mohammad Abdel-Sattar al-Sayyed at the opening ceremony last Saturday.The minister described the new mosque as a sign "of the opening of Islam that is far  from aberrations and extremism ."

At the opening Antoine Dib, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, who is also a representative of the Eparchy Latakia, was present. He explained that he is "proud of the initiative" has been brought forward and expressed the hope that the mosque dedicated to Mary may be a "sign of peace" for the whole country.

The worship contained in the Koran for the Virgin Mary, the foundation of the mosque dedicated to Mary, is returned by Islamic scholars to Christian context in which the early Islam arose. Some scholars see in Islam an anti-Trinitarian heresy of Christianity.

The Franciscan Giulio Basetti-Sani (1912-20011), a student of the orientalist, Louis Massignon, had especially devoted himself to the Marian devotion in his studies on Islam, including "Mary and Jesus, Son of Mary in the Qur'an", which led him to the conclusion to recognize in Islam a "sister faith". Following in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi and in the pursuit of their Mission, the Franciscans endeavored  to make the figures of Jesus and Mary in the Koran visible.

Islam Knows no Personal God, nor the Son of God, but the Virgin Birth of the "Anointed" 

Impressive interior of the former Cathedral of Tartusa

Islam knows no personal God. For this reason there are no references to "father" that  can be found in the 99 invocations of Allah. For this reason, for Islam a "son of God", which would imply a father, is unthinkable. Nevertheless, the Virgin Mary is called "God's chosen", who was "chosen among all women of creation" (Surah 3.42).The divine sonship of Jesus is, however, denied by Islam vehemently. God has no son. Jesus is acknowledged in the Koran as the "Son of Mary", Isa ibn Maryam, as it says in Surah 19.34 to 36. There is acknowledgment of the virgin birth of Mary, who gave birth to the "anointed one", one of the names for Jesus in Islam.

For several years  the feast of the Annunciation on March 25th in Syria is a national holiday. It's a sign of the relatively good relations between Christians and the ruling Alawite Islam of Syria.

Mary is now considered a "door" in interreligious dialogue between Islam and the Catholic Church.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Daily Star (Screenshots) / Wikicommons / Espen Lutken (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred verkon99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

What is going on in the Vatican?

As reported in The Week, it looks like Pope Francis has lost control of his staff in the Vatican. Michael Doughtery's article deserves a close read and clearly expresses the same position of concern and incomprehension at contemporary events that we at the EF take, albeit in a tone less polemical than our own.


A few things to note: In the contemporary church the only thing worse than the hubris of an archbishop towards well-meaning laypeople seeking clarification for his unCatholic behavior, is the hubris of a lay employee in the Vatican towards her critics. What these people would have us believe is that to combat poverty, slavery, and prostitution in the world, we must join forces with those at the UN who think that the murder of the unborn is necessary to save the environment. Shame on them! And instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue with their opponents, these elitists who have only condescension and contempt for their opponents, are only too eager to engage in mudslinging by accusing their opponents of being funded by the Tea Party and the oil industry. And who, pray tell, funds their salaries? Hmm? It does make one wonder if either of them ever took a course in formal logic and learned about the ad hominem.


One last thing: Apparently, Cardinal Pell does not own a cappa magna. I would only suggest that those of you with the money who support the churchiness-of-the-church might want to think about buying him one. That way someone in the anglosphere other than Cardinal Burke can proclaim to his opponents what he really feels.

Tacky Liberal Incoherence, No. 7

While ordering at a steakhouse: "Do you guys offer a vegan alternative for beacon? Because I'm not opposed to the merciless slaughter of poor, innocent animals for us just to eat them per se, because I'm not intolerant or narrow-minded. No! It's just that I'm here to help."

Bishop of Linz Offers Cathedral For Traditional Ordination on July 4th

(Linz), On July 4, 2015   a  deacon of the traditional  Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) will be ordained a priest  in the Cathedral of Linz. The event is noteworthy as the consecration year of Peter Society  has traditionally used a suitable dedicated church around Wigratzbad. Above all, however, it is because it's the first time  a priestly ordination has been held in the traditional rite in the cathedral church of the home diocese by the bishop. It's a  unique novelty in the German-speaking countries since the foundation of the Fraternity of St. Peter in the year 1988.

Deacon Philip Faschinger from Vorderweißenbach in Upper Austria, is to be ordained a priest.  The consecration in Linz will take place at the request of the diocesan bishop Ludwig Schwarz SDB Maria [!], who has just completed his 75th year since the diocese of Linz in 2015 does not have a priestly candidate. The bishop does not want to finish his tenure  without a vocation, as it is goes in the bishops' world.

The General Council of the Fraternity of St. Peter has finally agreed to the exception  in this year as one has been granted to a French candidate. The French-Canadian candidates of consecration of the vintage of 2015 are to be consecrated the first time in Canada.

Peter Society in Linz has the Same Amount of Seminarians as the Whole Diocese

The New Cathedral of Linz

The Diocese of Linz has in the last several years, no priestly ordinations for the diocese. The vocations in the diocese are at a low ebb. The situation is different at the Peter Society of Linz, which is said to have currently as many seminarians as the entire diocese of Linz.

Young men who feel called,  search, in the Diocese of Linz it's  either a community of tradition or the community of an old monastery. In the past academic year two diocesan seminarians left for monasteries. The diocese fills the thinned ranks of seminarians with some African candidates who prefer to stay in Europe.

The ordinations speak for themselves: In the Diocese of Linz, a candidate of the Fraternity of St. Peter  was consecrated in   the traditional rite and two order priests were consecrated in the new rite in 2015. On August 16, Bishop Schwarz ordained  the Cistercian monk Otto Rothammer in the Collegiate Church Wilhering, and on 13 September, the Norbertine Canon Matthew Stuphann in the Collegiate Church  of Schlägl.

Choose vocations tradition or ancient monasteries

On July 4 ordination, on July 5 Primiz

Originally, the ordination of deacon Faschinger was to take place on June 29, at the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul, in a traditional consecration day in the diocese. By contrast, there was some resistance in the diocese and since priestly anniversaries are also traditionally celebrated on this day. Not all, it was said, found  the "old rite reasonable". As a compromise, the ordination  was elected for the 4th of July.

On June 29, a Vietnamese Cistercian is now but unexpectedly to be ordained in the Cathedral of Linz in the new rite. The monk Gregor Nguyen from the Abbey An Phuoc studied in Heiligenkreuz. His studies were made possible through his support of the Upper Austrian Cistercian Abbey of Schlierbach. After his ordination he will return to his abbey in Vietnam. The consecration in Linz was apparently organized on such short notice that even the Schlierbach Monastery is still not aware of it. The sudden "balance" of a consecration in the old and the new consecration rite must have given "some relief" to the diocesan hierarchy.

The ordination of Philipp Faschinger FSSP will start in Mariendom (New Cathedral) on Saturday, on the 4th of July at 10 O'clock. On Sunday, July 5, the new priests will celebrate his first Mass in the Church of the Fraternity of St. Peter in Linz. The solemn High Mass in the Minorite Church in  Linz (country church) starts at 8:30 clock.

Consecrated Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Linz

The Cathedral of Linz is a St. Mary's Church. It is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and is still called the "New Cathedral" by the residents of Linz even after its inauguration a   century ago. Its construction dates back to the Bishop of Linz, the Servant of God, Franz Joseph Rudigier (1811-1884). Bishop Rudigier is an outstanding figure among the diocesan bishops of the diocese established in 1785, and therefore according to ecclesiastical understanding, a fledgling diocese. The proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX. in 1854 encouraged Bishop Rudigier to advance the construction of a new diocesan church, which was dedicated to the Marian dogma. Until then  the former Jesuit church, popularly known today "Old Cathedral", served as cathedral.

The actual construction work on the neo-Gothic St. Mary's Cathedral began when the groundbreaking ceremony took place in 1862. In 1924 after a war-related interruption,  the consecration of the church too place, which was only completed in 1935.The twin-towered Linz Cathedral is on dimensions and capacity, the largest church in Austria. The Immaculata bell of more than eight tons is the second largest bell in Upper Austria.

In the Minorite Church the bridge for the rite of all time took place

The Minoritenkirche of Linz, which is where the first Mass will be held on July 5th, already dates from the early 13th century. This is the first branch of the Friars Minor in Upper Austria documented in 1235, but is likely to already have been formed immediately after the death of St. Francis of Assisi. The Franciscans played from then on a central role in the pastoral care of the city. In the wake of the Protestant "Reformation" vocations declined so much that the monastery had to be abandoned. The authorities  tore the convent buildings down in1562 and erected a villa in its place.  The church was supervised for several decades by the Jesuits. In 1679 the Franciscans came back in the branch of the Friars Minor in Linz and took over the pastoral care again in their church. In addition to church and villa they built a new monastery and built from 1751 the Gothic church in the late Baroque style with Rococo approaches. The choir stalls in the rear nave date back to the Gothic church. In 1785 the Linz Minorite Cloister was shut by the  Klostersturm of Emperor Joseph II.   The second monastery was integrated as part of the villa. The church has since been assigned to the province of Upper Austria, which is why it is also called "Villa Church".

In the Diocese of Linz,   the Minorite church figured peculiarly in the liturgical reform of 1969/1970. The diocesan priest Josef Kronsteiner, from 1943-1981 Domkapellmeister in Linz, was a lecturer at the diocesan seminary and professor at the Bruckner Conservatory (now Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama and Dance), rejected the liturgical reform and celebrated still in the Immemorial Rite of All Ages. Because of his reputation in the diocese the Landhausstraße church was finally made ​​available. Thus it  was the musician, composer and especially priest, Josef Kronsteiner formed the bridge  in the period by which the celebration of the traditional rite in the Diocese of Linz was never broken. After his death,  another retired diocesan priest continued the celebration in the traditional rite, until 1991 when the chaplaincy at the Minorite church was transferred to the FSSP founded in 1988. 

The Fraternity of St. Peter has its own office in Linz, which is usually supported by several priests. The FSSP ever provides for a dignified and reverent celebration of the Sacred Liturgy. It is a proclamation, administering the sacraments and pastoral obligation that includes the entire, nearly two thousand years of tradition of the Catholic Church and is faithful to the mandate and committed to the teaching of Jesus Christ. It's a seed that falls on fertile ground, as vocations show.

Text: Wenzel Huber-Chwateck
Image: Wikicommons / Gloria.tv (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Polish President Catches Falling Host

Edit: a friend sent us this photo. It's the recently elected Polish President, Andrej Duda who catches a falling Host and reverently hands it back to the priest.

We'd reported earlier that he'd began his presidency by making a pilgrimage go Our Lady of Czestochowa and asking for Her assistance.

When one thinks of all the sacrileges committed by America presidents over the years, including unworthy reception of Holy Communion, seeing a man who believes and is a political figure fills us with hope.

One commenter also posted this video:

What Now? After the Death of Commissar Volpi?

(Rome) After the announcement of the death of Father Fidenzio Volpi,Vaticanista Marco Tosatti  asks "What now?"

The Apostolic Commissioner of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, the Capuchin Volpi had suffered a serious stroke at the end of April.  His health has since been very critical, so that the news of his death was wrongly been spread a month ago.

From anonymous websites who were close to the Apostolic Commissioner, or rather the small group of rebels within the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate , who support the provisional government, the false death report was polemically denied. The Secretary-General of the Order, Father Alfonso Bruno said on May 15  no less falsely, Father Volpi stands directly in the forefront of the government of the Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. But  his health never permitted it at any time following the stroke.  Especially Father Alfonso Bruno, the big winner of the provisional administration, became increasingly nervous since the stroke.

Naming of a new commissioner is likely, but  there is also an opportunity for a change of course

The  death of the Apostolic Commissioner has changed the situation abruptly. Therefore, Tossati's question: "What now?" What is the Holy See's reaction? If the provisional administration is to end or will there be a new commissioner? Anyway: Father Bruno can not be certain of his his leading role. An end of the provisional administration seems unlikely. A provisional administration usually lasts at least three years. The religious congregation should appoint a new Commissioner for the remaining time and the final report out in the summer of 2016 to decide whether a General Chapter of the Order can choose a new head of the order.

The naming of  a new Commissioner, however, also makes a change of course in dealing with the Order possible. Had Father Volpi pursued a course of radical devastation, a new commissioner could be benevolent to the Order. Still, however, everything is open.

Commissioner Volpi leaves a field of desolation

Father Volpi leaves the once blooming Order of Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate since July 2013 after only 22 months of provisional administration as a field of desolation. Vocations have plummeted, friars who leave the Order, monasteries have been closed down, the order's own seminary was shut down and the first measure at all, the celebration of the traditional rite has been met  with prohibitions.

While many Catholic orders  in Europe cite a lack of vocations, the Congregation of the Religious have suppressed under the leadership of Cardinal Prefect João Braz de Aviz, one of the most flourishing Orders. Reasons for radical intervention of the young Order is still not known. Behind closed doors were sown notions that  in the Order there were  "crypto lefebvrian" tendencies. See Commissioner Volpi, the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and the SSPX under Pope Francis .

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Osservatore Romano (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches....

AMDG

Bishop Koch New Archbishop of Berlin -- Participant in Bishops' Synod 2015

Archbishop Koch

(Berlin) Bishop Heiner Koch of Dresden-Meissen was appointed as the new Archbishop of Berlin by Pope Francis today. The appointment comes in appreciation of "Marx'ists and Kasperians" (Hubert Hecker) in the German church. Bishop Koch was elected to the Episcopal Conference alongside Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising and Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabrück by the German Bishops' Conference for the Synod of the Synod of Bishops next October.

Koch is a party to the "opening" of Cardinals Marx and Kasper, albeit he is publicly nuanced reserved. When it comes to homosexuality, he rejects an opening, but pays tribute to homosexuals and verbally encourages widespread recognition. When it comes to admission of remarried divorcees to the sacraments Koch finds probabilistic. Serious opposition to a reinterpretation of  Catholic marriage and morality for pastoral practice is not something he is  previously given him credit for.

On Whit Monday Koch attended the secret meetings of the Kasperians at the Gregorian University in Rome with Cardinal Marx.

A month before his surprising resignation, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Koch on January 2013 the Bishop of Dresden-Meissen. Previously he had been in Cologne as  Auxiliary Bishop of Cardinal Joachim Meisner.  He was already appointed auxiliary bishop in 2006 at the request of Cardinal Meisner by Benedict XVI. The Diocese of Dresden-Meissen is part of the ecclesiastical province of Berlin, of which  Koch will be Metropolitan.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Wikicommons (Martin Ruschl)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches....

AMDG

Tacky Liberal Incoherence, No. 6

This time with an emphasis on the TACKY. Nothing says TACKY like Vatican II music!

https://soundcloud.com/giuseppe_op/laudare-benedicere-praedicare#t=0:00

A Scourge of Resurgent Catholicism is Dead

Father Fidenzio Volpi, who was charged with liquidating a resurgent Catholic order, the Franciscans of the Immaculate, is dead. The FFI was, unlike Volpi's own order and practically all others, was growing and Catholic.

We have noticed that despite real financial and theological scandals, no Apostolic Commissar has been appointed at Sant'Eggidio.

This was reported today by his province, the Lombardy Capuchins.

How long will God allow this to go in, and will He have mercy on this incorrigible Friar? How long will those who continue to support this charade, continue to support it by their negligence, indifference and collaboration?

May he rest in peace, but God will be just, and his deeds be undone.

Bent Cross of Paul VI is Broken But Repaired by Duct Tape For Pope's Visit to Sarajevo

This hideous, radioactive ferula was designed by the modernist artist Lello Scorzelli (1921-1997)  for Pope Paul VI, which was used for the first time to close the Vatican Council in 1965.   

It had mercifully disappeared for the most part during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI, who replaced it with one used by Saint Pius IX (ora pro nobis)  but has now resurfaced as a counterpoise to Pope Francis horizontal, withering pastoral perspectives.

Now it appears that the "bent cross" has broken, as it seems to have been repaired by duct tape in this picture below.

This is singularly symbolic of the Franciscoid pontificate.



Thanks to trusty reader and H/T to Marian Horvath for some details about this ugly thing.

Aberrosexual Priest Calls Cardinal Burke a "Drag Queen"

Edit: Ottawa is the special gift that keeps giving. Will he keep his 130k per annum teaching position?

Hats off to Vox for helping to expose more of this kind of deviant behavior from affected personalities.

[Vox Cantoris] Raymond Cardinal Burke was given a standing ovation yesterday in Canada's House of Commons following the daily Question Period at Ottawa. Cardinal Burke is in Ottawa for an address this evening.

On the eve of his attendance, Ottawa Catholic priest and professor at the University of Ottawa has roundly and severely come out against the very presence of the Cardinal in Canada's capital city.


As reported at the Catholic Intelligence Agency blog, Andre Samson, the former Pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish, said in an Email read out on CBC Radio Canada that “As a gay [man] and as a priest of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, I am upset at the visit of this person. I particularly blame those who invited him, the CCO Movement, Catholic Christian Outreach —who seek to provoke and to distance themselves from the current pope. The resistance towards Pope Francis has regrouped itself around this operetta Cardinal who likes to disguise himself as a drag queen. I know well today’s youth because I’ve taught at the University of Ottawa for the last sixteen years. I can affirm that Burke will have more success at Mado [CIA Note: a drag queen bar] than with the university students that CCO looks to convert.”

In August 2014 in the Ottawa Citizen, Samson said “I would like to see the Catholic church recognize that many of its priests are gay and many of its bishops are gay — and that’s OK." Samson who went on to describe his "life lived in secrecy."

Nowhere on his Twitter page does Fr. Samson refer to himself as a Catholic priest.

According to CIA Blog, Samson was also a speaker at the Annual Ontario Gay Men's Sexual Health Summit where BDSM was discussed in 2010 in Toronto. As Catholics one can ask if this priest spoke about chastity as being part of a single man's overall sexual health.



Ironically, a man who seems to care so much for victims of abuse feels quite justified in heaping abuse on Cardinal Burke who only speaks of the truth of Christ with love and mercy.

The Archbishop of Ottawa is Terence Prendergast, S.J. He has done much and continues to do much to turn around on the right path, the Church in Ottawa. His two predecessors did much damage over nearly fifty years. I saw some of this when I lived in Ottawa and witnessed the treatment of the fledgling Ottawa Oratory at St. Brigid's at the hands of Joseph Aurele Plourde and the cabal at St. Joseph's Church. Pray for Archbishop Prendergast's perseverance. He is a friend of the people that would read this blog and has been a strong supporter of the Fraternity of St. Peter. If you wish to write him, respectfully, and as a commenter noted, "with the greatest charity and kindness," his email is archbishop@archottawa.org.

Cardinal Kasper Denies His Theology is Approved by the Pope

Edit: thanks to another reader for pointing this out.  Kasper is a habitual liar, so who knows if the information he gives in any interview is correct.  Since he is supposed to have also said something disgraceful and heretical, I'd like to hear the full interview, unless someone else can fill us in till I go through the agony of searching the EWTN website and listening to Raymond Arroyo.

He does say that most of the bishops share his hackneyed theological view.  This is probably true.

Cardinal Walter Kasper has clarified that Pope Francis did not approve his proposal to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion after a period of penance. 

The cardinal made the remarks in an interview with EWTN during a visit to the United States. 

He said the Pope wanted him to “put the question”, and that afterwards he “expressed his satisfaction with my talk”. But he added: “I wouldn’t say he approved the proposal, no, no, no.”

Link to Catholic Herald.... 

Tacky Liberal Incoherence, No. 5

Instead of allowing conservative meanies with guns to shoot at deer, kill them, and eat their flesh, why don’t we inject all the does with contraceptive darts? That way, they can enjoy free love almost as much as I do! I mean, just think of BAMBI’s MOM and all the harm being deprived of her love and affection causes fawns! (And don't you dare refer to another Disney movie that might invalidate my point!) And don’t even mention that many hunters do good by donating the meat they don’t want to feed the hungry. Such humanitarian acts which benefit young children undermine my own position!

CLEARLY, sterilizing deer against their will is worth the cost of $135 million every two years just in the state of Connecticut alone! And CLEARLY there will be no negative environmental effects as all those unnatural chemicals pass into the water supply!

Cardinal Dolan Driven Out of NYC by Radtrads?

Edit: color me incredulous, but I doubt the Remnant and the concerned citizens of Mother Church had much to do with it. Cardinal Dolan HAD been critical of Pope Francis in past. We'll see

Anyway, it's fascinating and a bit unprecedented. It's rare indeed that a Cardinal is forced into retirement.

Update: I guess this is satire. Wishful thinking...

[Remnant] Apparently the latest prelate to bite the dust in a contest of parochial will is Cardinal Archbishop Timothy Dolan. He has resigned in submission according to Canon 401, Article 2 in the Code of Canon Law in an April 21 statement, released at noon local time. It was a great blow to liberal neo-Catholics and especially saddened the New York sodomitical community who are active in five Manhattan parishes. Cardinal Dolan was isolated, targeted and ultimately brought down by a militant “Rad-Trad” group who sponsored an open Letter to Pope Francis demanding the Cardinal Archbishop’s replacement. The Letter addressed to the Pope appeared in the New York Times and was signed by 1,000 prominent Catholics from across the Five Boroughs. Cardinal Dolan a favorite of the Democrat Liberal politicians for not interfering with abortion and gay marriage legislation was seen by the conservative traditionalists as a doctrinal sell-out for favors from his leftist friends in high places.

Article 2 of Canon 401, according to the Vatican’s website, refers to a situation when “a diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.” Cardinal Dolan’s resignation will take effect immediately, and although he will still be a Cardinal, he will no longer lead a diocese. It is up to Pope Francis to choose his successor. The brief Vatican statement gave no word as to what Cardinal Dolan will do following his resignation.

Cardinal Dolan came to New York with some unsettled sex scandal baggage he picked up in Milwaukee but, depositions were taken and it appears things have settled down in that regard. The lawyers deposing Cardinal Dolan represent hundreds of people who say they were sexually molested by priests in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which he led for seven years before his appointment as archbishop of New York in 2009. The lawyers want to know when Cardinal Dolan, as archbishop of Milwaukee, learned of allegations against certain priests, and how quickly he made those allegations public.

Link to Remnant....

Tacky Liberal Incoherence, No. 4

Granted that the happiness of some women does depend upon daily male sacrifice, we should still agitate for the abolition of Fathers’ Day, because Fathers' Day perpetuates and legitimizes the rape culture.

The Suicide of Humanity --- Archbishop Crepaldi on the Attacks Against Marriage and Family

Archbishop Crepaldi: attack on marriage and the family a kind of suicide of humanity

(Trieste) The attacks on marriage and the family are a kind of "suicide of humanity" warned Archbishop Giampaolo Crepaldi of Trieste. Archbishop Crepaldi is one of the competitive profile Catholic pastors, which is why he stands out among his brethren.

Last Sunday he preached at the Marian shrine Monte Grisa at Trieste. The archbishop celebrated Holy Mass, prayed at  the conclusion of the Marian Month of May  with the faithful the rosary and concluded the Peregrinatio Mariae. The Peregrinatio is the pilgrimage of the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary which is venerated in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Trieste, and in all deaneries of the Archdiocese.

In his sermon Archbishop Crepaldi spoke about the defense of the family, which is "an inviolable borderline for the future of humanity. The attacks on marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman were described by the archbishop as a "suicide of humanity".  What the Archbishop said:

"Dear brothers and sisters, in this devotional celebration to conclude the Peregrinatio Mariae let us pray to the Mother of God for the family. Today the defense of the family and the marriage covenant is more than ever an inviolable borderline for the future of humanity because the attacks on marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman are a kind of suicide of humanity, especially in our western countries. From a Christian perspective, it is wrong to assert that the fundamental relationship between man and woman is merely a cultural or social product, a 'gift' from any government or a human construct. Children are not the product of the society or the state. Governments can not displace the primary responsibility of parents for their children, nor deny child the right to grow up with his mother and the father. In Christ, the natural state of marriage, is the natural union between a man and a woman in the marriage  sacrament, a sign and instrument of His grace and his own relationship with the Church. This grace is an action of mercy, it is the seal of the conjugal covenant. It is something that you can believe with secure confidence, a gift that must be preserved. The indissolubility of marriage is a grace, not a problem for which you have to look for exceptions. "

Archbishop Crepaldi warned that the attacks on marriage and family life will lead to the suicide of humanity. Just last week, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin had described  the approval by the electorate of Ireland for the legalization of "gay marriage"  as a "defeat for humanity".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vita Nuova Trieste (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred verkon99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

The Pope in Sarajevo -- Strengthen Brotherhood --- Inter-religious Dialogue

(Rome) "I come to Sarajevo to strengthen Catholics in their faith and to support inter-religious dialogue and peaceful coexistence." Pope Francis said this in a video message ahead of his pastoral visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will take place this coming June 6 .. As Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi said, the visit has no connection with the alleged Marian apparitions in Herzegovinian Medjugorje. The Pope will not take a position on the Medjugorje phenomenon in Sarajevo  so Lombardi.

Catholics ought to "be witnesses of faith and love of God". For this, the Catholic Church leader wants to support  inter-religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims and to "encourage"  peaceful coexistence.These are the goals that     Pope Francis has named for his Sarajevo visit. The video message was published in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The motto of the Pope's visit is "Peace be With You". The Pope called on Catholics to unite with him in prayer, so that the visit "will bring the expected fruits for the Church and society as a whole."

"For my part, I prepare to come to you as a brother, as a messenger of peace to all of you - all! - To express my appreciation and my friendship. I want every person, every family, every community to preach the mercy, the tenderness and the love of God."

Pope Francis is to visit the Bosnian city of Sarajevo on Saturday, June 6. It is the seat of government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country which is divided into two sub-states since 1995. The division is a result of ethnic-religious war between 1991 and 1995, which broke out with the collapse of communist Yugoslavia. Another consequence is that the Croat-Muslim Federation, founded in 1994 in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Orthodox Serb Republic (Republika Srpska) were forced by the international community against their will into a common state. The Catholic-Croat and the Muslim-Bosniak population were forced into an unloved federation.

Pope Francis is to visit this Catholic-Muslim defacto EU protectorate. The highest political authority and therefore the actual decision-makers is the "High Representative" of the UN. It was established and carried out by the EU, USA and Russia. Since 2009  an Austrian diplomat, a   Carinthian Slovene Valentin Inzko, has held this office.

The Catholic Croats have repeatedly initiated complaints that they have been treated less favorably than the Bosniaks (see The ignoring discrimination against Catholic Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina German). The ethnic-religious divide in the Federation is about 70 percent Bosniaks and 30 percent Croats with a tendential shift in favor of Bosniaks. Among these it is found, according to observers since the Civil War, a considerable re-Islamization instead. Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are trying through the construction of mosques, to win the establishment of madrassas and assistance toward influence among these European Muslims (see Islamization of Bosnia - Turkey Tries to Establish pro-Turkish Lobbyists  German).

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

AMDG

Dresden's Bishop Koch to be the New Archbishop of Berlin

The Berlin Cathedral Chapter have voted with the majority required for Koch as new archbishop of Berlin, says the Catholic News Agency (KNA) from well-informed circles - appointment by Pope Francis is still pending.

Berlin / Vatican City (kath.net/KNA) The Dresdner Bishop Heiner Koch (60) is to become the new Archbishop of Berlin. The Berlin Cathedral Chapter have voted with the majority required for Koch as new archbishop of Berlin,  well-informed sources told the Catholic News Agency (KNA). If the states of Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have no objection, Pope Francis may appoint Koch in the coming days or weeks as archbishop of Berlin.

The former Cologne Bishop Heiner Koch was Bishop of the diocese of Dresden-Meissen two years. The born Düsseldorfer has led  the German Bishops' Conference, the Commission for Marriage and the Family. He also is involved in the preparation of the family Synod in Rome for October. The Archdiocese of Berlin has been about eight months without archbishop. Last September, Cardinal Rainer Woelki had left the capital diocese after three years  at the head and is turning over the reins of the archbishopric of Cologne. 

  (C ) 2015 Catholic News Agency KNA GmbH. All rights reserved.Photo Bishop Koch (c) Diocese of Dresden / M.Kasiske

Link to Kathnet....

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Cardinal Sarah Complains of Vanishing Faith and a Lack of Understanding of the Sacraments

(Rome) Cardinal Robert Sarah, for half a year prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments answered questions for an audience  late one May at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family while participating at the presentation of the new series of publications on Family "Famiglia, Lavori in corso."

"If one considers the Eucharist as a common food, from which none may be excluded, then you lose the sense of mystery." That was one of the responses of the African cardinal which unfolded in an intensive travel and giving answers in clear words to questions.

The series for the family was issued with a view to the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the family. The plan is to discuss all "hot" issues such as aberrosexuality, sexuality, divorce, artificial insemination, euthanasia, abortion and celibacy. The first three volumes have now been submitted. The first two are from lecturers of the Institute, at the Synod of Bishops in 2014which were not taken into account by  the group of Consultors. It was a circumstance which had caused some amazement and criticism. The volume "Eucharist and divorce: changes the doctrine" was presented by José Granados. He is now the Consultant appointed for the second part of the Synod of Bishops. Volume Two: "Different families: Incomplete Expression of the Same Ideal" comes from Stephan Kampowski. The third volume, "What Jesus thinks about the divorced and remarried?" has been published by Professor of New Testament at the Luis Sanchez Navarro from University of San Damaso of Madrid.

"When one Considers that Even in the Baptismal Rite the Word 'Faith' is no Longer Mentioned"

"The West is indeed involved in its own illusions," said Cardinal Sarah in the book presentation. All problems are related to the faith: "When you consider that even the word 'faith' is no longer mentioned in the rite of baptism, when the parents are asked what they ask of God's Church for your child, then you can understand the scope of the problem. "The question is not trivial," says  Cardinal Sarah.

The answer of Cardinal recalls words of Pope Benedict XVI. at a meeting with priests of the suburbicarian diocese in summer 2006. In contrast to Cardinal Sarah the pope then lamented an aberration. "Is it normal that a pope finds such a serious shortage, without providing to correct it? Is this renunciation begun  with Paul VI., 'normal, which has now turned into arbitrariness?'  asked the Roman traditional website Chiesa e postconcilio.

Already Benedict XVI.  Revealed  the Same Defect - Without Removing It

The criticism of Pope Benedict XVI. and Cardinal Sarah takes place against the background that the answer to the question of what the parents ask for their child from the Church, in most cases is only: "Baptism". In ancient rituals, one said: "Faith". The difference is obvious. In ancient rituals, it  was asked further: "And why do you ask for faith?" "So he may have eternal life."

Parents must answer to the question in the current rituals of the new rite not  "Baptism". They may rather say: "The grace of Christ"; "Eternal life"; "Inclusion in the Church", "The fact that he is a child of God." If they still give the former answer, then this is connected with the preparation for baptism. An understanding of the sacrament of baptism, which is not some "thing", provided that the the parents are not prepared prior the baptism by  the baptizing priest. Therein lies a missionary significance. Otherwise there is a danger that baptism degenerates into a "beautiful family celebration", which is ordered by the parents of the candidate as a service in a parish and has to go smoothly according to their wishes.

"Yes, but" promotes minimalist understanding

Through baptism a person is incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ. Apart from the grace of faith, it frees especially of original sin. Benedict XVI.  made ​​shortly before his resignation an incomprehensible a change in the rite of baptism (see Change in the Rite of Baptism -. Recent Decision of Benedict XVI ), but on this occasion not a few years earlier determined by him,  the diminutio mentioned here was corrected.

The Roman Ritual offers, as an essential characteristic of our time, the possibility of different formulations, exceptions, derogations, additions made ​​by the respective Episcopal Conference. "This yes-but seems to have encouraged more minimalist shortening of the understanding of baptism as the faith, that is hardly mentioned, as Cardinal Sarah currently lamented" said Messa in Latino .

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Chiesa e postconcilio / MiL

Trans: Tancred verkon99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches....

AMDG

Media: Are Poland's Bishops Rejecting the Marx-Proposal to Meet and Agree on His Heretical Proposals?

Edit: very likely.

Preparation for the Synod of Bishops: Warsaw church newspaper "Idziemy" writes, they should go to a meeting to bring the Polish Bishops' Conference President Gadecki "to convince him to take the position represented by Cardinal Marx."

Dachau (KAP / kath.net) The DBK-chairman Reinhard Cardinal Marx is said to have proposed at the beginning of May to the Polish bishops, who had come on the 70th anniversary of Dachau Liberation in Bavaria during the meal, to hold a meeting. This was reported by Würzburg Catholic newspaper "Die Tagespost", citing the US newspaper "National Catholic Register" and the Warsaw church newspaper "Idziemy". This meeting reportedly, according to Marx should have the objective "to work towards a consensus" regarding a common position at the Synod of Bishops in the autumn. The 14th Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops will be held from the 4th to the 25th of October at the Vatican on "The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church in the Modern World".

The proposal by Marx was, however, rejected by the Polish bishops. The Polish journal "Idziemy" writes in a comment, the President of the Polish Bishops' Conference and leader of the Polish synod delegation, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, stand in the teaching on marriage "without a doubt" faithful to the teaching of St. John Paul II. But it they would,  in Marx's proposed meeting, said Gadecki "to persuade him to take the position Cardinal Marx represents". 

Link to kath.net...

Update: the German Bishops' Conference is denying this, and only specifies that representatives are meeting to clarify the points at which they disagree.  Weasels.

On the Importance of Satire

Tancred suggested this morning that I write a post on the importance of satire to explain to readers why I sully his newsfeed with pieces intending to be funny, which “double as critiques of contemporary absurdities,” as a certain friend put it. And lest anyone doubt, he fully supports and enjoys my contributions to his blog and allows me my own policy when it comes to deleting comments I deem unworthy.

As someone once noted, in order to be funny and rhetorically effective, satire needs to have a certain amount of truth in it. The difficulty that now besets us, however, is that so long as there is truth in a piece of satire, a poor, unsuspecting bumpkin somewhere is going to be blind to the joke and miss out on all the fun.

So please, people, get a grip when I mock our opponents by linking articles from leftist (=sinister, usually) sources that are so absurd that they clearly deserve little more than public ridicule and contempt, if their authors refuse to recant their misguided views publicly.

As a side note, however, apparently I am not the only author whose satire and parodies are not always appreciated. C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters was once upon a time also so misunderstood that one reader cancelled his subscription to The Guardian, because he just didn’t get it.

El Papa Solitario: Only 20 Percent of the Bishops are For Franciscus? -- The Shadow Cabinet of Santa Marta

(Rome) Pope Francis (almost) place for all merciful words, but when he talks about the bishops of the Catholic Church, "he seems to pick up the stick," the Corriere della Sera. Italy's bishops had to be told some of the pontiff at the opening of its spring conference on May 18. They had strives startled in the days before, to take cover and Francis to appease (see "Cicero's" Stab in the Hornet's Nest - Italy's Bishops to Take Cover and Rehabilitate even the Ghostwriter of the Pope ).

For months the bishops registered pain not only in Italy, and to their surprise, a rigor of Argentine Pope, with whom she had not expected. A rigor that is directed against them.

Behind expressions of loyalty and fidelity to the Holy Father, there is palpable  discomfort in the episcopate. As much as  the Italian bishops also endeavor to recognize the Pope's cultural coordinates, to understand and to follow these, they seem increasingly convinced that the Argentine Church leader - despite Italian roots - cherishes an anti-Italian prejudice  whose edges are difficult to dull.

Pope of "epochal turning point" has trouble finding followers in the episcopate

The discomfort affects not only the Italian Episcopal Conference and the Vatican. Staff at the Roman Curia have been left pretty hang dog since being  papally diagnosed with 15 diseases diagnostics before Christmas 2014. The mood disorder has been detected also in other countries and their church hierarchies. Francis, the Pope of the "epochal turning point" (Corriere della Sera), seems to be, thanks to media support, easy to do, acting as a popular triumph. Much more difficult, i is for the head of the church to find a convinced followers in the church hierarchy. Moreover, the consensus of Francis seems to sink among the bishops.

According to the Corriere della Sera from last May 20th the numbers 20, 70, 10 apparently reflect the mood of the Roman Curia.  Among all the employees of the pope  there are only 20 percent who would support him with conviction in his government. 70 percent said they would form a "silent majority", which would remain "neutral" to fulfill their cause and wait for the next pope. Ten percent are strongly, however, among the group (though not always stated) who are opponents of Argentina's pontificate.

These figures would tossed around in the papal residence of Santa Marta, in the Argentine community in Rome and in Argentina. The Corriere della Sera talks about a "potential geographic and strategic break".

Bishops Take Pontificate as Truly "Anti-Italian, Anti-European, Anti-Western" 

Catholic bishops

How accurate these figures are, can not be said on the basis of the newspaper's vague source. The fact is that not only in Italy is  the pontificate of Pope Francis perceived as "anti-Italian, anti-European and anti-Western." But  was he not exactly what the Cardinals in conclave wanted? Apparently not quite.

The Fifth General Conference of Latin American Bishops' Council in 2007 in Aparecida, whose final document was then still largely dominated by Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires,  was in the forefront  of Latin American church leaders. Pope Francis register "exactly" that there are cardinals and bishops who never mention Aparecida. In turn, can be heard by high church officials that they did not understand the "reforms of Francis". And ever is the "model Buenos Aires" simply not applicable to the whole Church. It would involve "a" experience, but not "the" experience of the Church.

From the Latin American, especially Argentinean environment of the Pope, however, the   claim is fast at hand among European bishops, and  above all the Western bishops, have the habit to  still to see thsemselves "almost like princes."

Pope Francis seems to do nothing to prevent this divergence between a culturally diverse understanding of the Church at the episcopal level or wanting even merge the two ways of thinking.

Francis "el jesuita" always looking for new ways to reach the goal

However, Francis is quite Jesuit, which is why he seeks the targets in the most viable way. If the opposition to a way is too big, he does not care to insist   and looks for another way to target the same goal. This process repeats itself tirelessly until the set goal is achieved. The probability that a goal was to be closed, is quite low, because it presupposes that the target is recognized as wrong.

A concrete example: When Pope Francis came to Rome, he wanted to change the Roman Curia radically and largely dissolve it. He now had to recognize that this goal is not attainable. The existing Curia but still not to be trusted,  but he has created within the Roman Curia his own "Curia in reduced form".

The remaining Curia he described in turn in his Christmas message of 2014, as the "Levites". Clearly his disapproval of an entire institution could not be missed. Some Vaticanistas felt that the Pope had thus undermined his own pontificate. But Francis sees it differently. In this part of the curia he does not rely in any case. His mansion is a small part of a real existing parallel Curia.

Pope's own parallel Curia - cursus honorum : assets cancelled  with resignation of Benedict XVI. 

In previous preparations of the repeatedly announced eco-encyclical, Francis has not availed himself of the Curia. Rather, the entire preparatory work bypassed the curia. He consulted with it personally, but principally with his team of advisors, selected personalities and experts. For the transcript, he let his ghostwriter from Buenos Aires work. Titular Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, had largely written the instruction of Bergoglios  final document of Aparecida. The text shoul be subjected to in recent weeks to a further revision. The trusted people who crafted it on behalf of the Pope hand, have but remained the same.

And as for the Bishops, Francis does not rely on structural changes, but to a radical change of the cursus honorum ."So, it's as if all balances after the resignation of Benedict XVI. have been canceled," says the Corriere della Sera .

"Insulated" Pope or self-isolation?

More voices of an "isolated" Pope do not refer to a lack of support of the Pope by diocessan bishops or curia representatives, but in a form of self-isolation. It is the Pope, who merges the traditional hierarchies of the Church, ignoring the usual decision-making processes at the Vatican. "I do not know how long the Pope will succeed in  steering the process and to master that which he has set in motion,"  cited the Corriere della Sera  an unnamed "concerned European cardinal". You've seen it in the Synod of Bishops last October. The pope "was in danger, that it slips from his hand," said the same Cardinal.

More significant  is another concern. As the Pope points his finger again and again at all in the Church, Francis' strength, indeed himself, but weakens the Church. Francis has changed the image of the Church. Conflicts such as Vatileaks, the Vatican bank, pedophilia would now felt far less traumatic than under his predecessor. At the international level, the Church is more active than ever in political issues of Ukraine on the Middle East to Cuba. In an indication that there are many in the Church, also in a leading position, who do not understand the reform plans of the Pope, is countered by the   of the circle of the Pope with a standardized statement: Only those who would say that are those who don't want to change anything.

Francesco Cardinal Montenegro

Lightning careers: From unknown province bishop to cardinal

The Pope tried fractures and fissures that open up because his actions -despite his best efforts- are not understood by a part of the Church, to engage   his charisma.  How long this will be possible is also indicated by the Corriere della Sera on the outstanding issues. Above all there has been no match in language between the Pope and many bishops.

Who agile, as the Archbishop of Agrigento, Francesco Montenegro, whose diocese is in  the headline-grabbing  Lampedusa, has experienced a meteoric rise from unknown provincial bishop to be made a cardinal and this overnight possibly the future Pope, theoretically he may even be a contender for the successor of Peter.

The shadow cabinet of Santa Marta

These capricious personnel decisions reinforce the gap between the "People's Pope" (Corriere della Sera) and the bishops. They feel outclassed by the all overshadowing figure of Francis. Yet they do not say it. However, they complain about the Pope's  attempts to govern the universal Church on  demand by means of a shadow cabinet in Santa Marta. Not all seems to be aware that this criticism also means that the procession of the Pope from the Apostolic Palace to Santa Marta more than just a gesture of humility was that gave him much sympathy in the media and among the people. Santa Marta would then not only form a virtual, but  an actual break between the Pope and the Roman Curia.

Pope Francis always makes for new construction, but the resulting internal church problems and fractures do not seem to concern him in any way. It seems as if the constant unrest, unease and a latent discontent is a means of government for him. Above all the last  , two years, two months and two weeks after taking office have been uncomfortable, especially for the critics of Argentine Pope. Francis himself still seems to literally enjoy his pontificate.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Corriere della Sera / Angelo Gelo
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches....
AMDG