When the Silence of the Pope is a Sin -- Roberto de Mattei on the Islamist Murder of Father Jacques Hamel

Comment by Roberto de Mattei

The first martyr of Islam in Europe has a name. He is Abbé Jacques Hamel, murdered while in the parish church of Saint Etienne du Rouvray in Normandy celebrating  Holy Mass on July 26. Two Muslims invaded the church out of homage to Islam, and after taking the few faithful present hostage, they cut the priest's throat and seriously injured another of the faithful. About the identity of the aggressors and their anti-Christian hatred which drives them, there is no doubt. Through its press agency Amaq the Islamic State (IS) described the two attackers as "our soldiers".

The name of Jacques Hamel joins the thousands of Christians who burned alive, crucified and beheaded each day out of hatred for their faith. The bloodbath on the 26th of July is still a turning point, because this is the first time happened in Europe and thus casts a shadow of fear and shock to the Christians of our continent.

It is not possible to guard the 50,000 religious buildings in France and an equally large number of churches, parishes, pilgrimage sites and chapels in Italy and other countries. Every priest has become the object of a possible attack, which are intended to further increase if only because of the effect the  imitation of such acts trigger.

"How many deaths does it take, how many severed heads for the European leaders to understand the situation in which the West is?"

This question was posed by Cardinal Robert Sarah after the recent attacks. What must happen, we add, so that the confreres of Cardinal Sarah comprehend the appalling situation in the College of Cardinals, including the Pope, which is now taking place not only the West, but in the universal Church? What makes this situation so horrific is the policy of starry eyed idealism and false compassion towards Islam and the enemies of the Church. Certainly, Catholics must pray for their enemies, but they need to be especially aware first and foremost, they have such. And they have not to limit themselves in  praying for them.They also have the duty to fight them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, when it says that self-defense is, "not just a right but also a grave duty, when responsible for another life or responsible for the welfare of his family or the community," ( no. 2265). It also says:

"The protection of the common good of society requires that the attacker is unable continue to harm" (n. 2266).

Pope Francis said he was "deeply shocked about the fact that this act of senseless violence took place in a church during a service, a liturgical act, which asks for the peace of God", but yet again neglected to name the killers by name. The silence of Pope Bergoglio corresponds to the Muslims around the world who do not condemn with a loud voice, unanimously and collectively, crimes committed in the name of Allah by their coreligionists. Even French President Francois Hollande spoke in his speech to the nation on Tuesday evening of a war of France against the Islamic State (IS).

During his pontificate, Pope Francis spoke with great haste about some saintly figures of the 20th century like Oscar Arnulfo Romero and Don Pino Puglisi, who were certainly not killed out of hatred for the Catholic faith. On 12 May 2013 he also canonized in St. Peter's Square, the 800 martyrs of Otranto, who were beheaded on 11 August 1480 by the Turks because they had refused to deny their faith.  If Pope Francis were to announce the opening of a beatification process for Abbé Jacques Hamel, that would be a peaceful but strong   signal to the world that the Church is willing to defend Her identity. But if he continues in giving the illusion that there could be an ecumenical agreement with Islam, he will repeat the mistakes of those shameful policies that sacrificed the victims of Communist persecution on the altar of Ostpolitik. The altar of politics is quite another than the holy altar on which the bloodless sacrifice of Christ is celebrated, and with this victim Abbé Jacques Hamel had the grace on July 26,  to unite with it by giving his own blood.

* Roberto de Mattei , historian, father of five children, Professor of Modern History and History of Christianity at the European University of Rome, President of Lepanto Foundation, author of numerous books, most recently appeared: Vicario di Cristo. Il primato di Pietro tra normalità ed eccezione (Vicar of Christ, the Primacy of Peter Between Normality and Exception.), Verona 2013; in German translation last: The Second Vatican Council - a Previously Unwritten History, Ruppichteroth 2011. The intertitles are from the editors.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Riposte Catholique
Trans: Tancred vekrpon99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Abbé Jacques Hamel: "I Will Be Active Until My Last Breath"

"Have you ever seen a priest in retirement? I will be active until the last breath."

Abbé Jacques Hamel said this as he celebrated his golden anniversary as a priest in 2008. At the age of 86 years, Abbé Hamel was murdered on July 26, 2016 by Mohammedans at the parish church of Saint Etienne de Rouvray at Rouen, just as he celebrated Holy Mass at the altar

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Image: Riposte Catholique

Erdogan Protesters Storm Catholic Church in Trebizond

TRABZON. Protesters have attacked Christian places of worship in loyalty rallies for Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey. In Trebizond, participants stormed the Catholic Church of Our Lady and chanted  "Allahu ekber" ( "Allah is Greater"), reports the Catholic News Agency (KNA).

In addition, demonstrators are said to have flown flags of the rightist MHP party alongside Turkish ones. According to KNA, sympathizers of the "Grey Wolves" participated in the storming. After the failed coup attempt an evangelical church was also devastated. These and other reports of anti-Christian riots, however,  due to the media blackout can not be verified.

The Church in Trebizond last appeared  in the headlines in 2006  when the priest Andrea Santoro was shot dead by a Muslim. The 16 year old student had shot  the clergyman from behind and called "Allahu akbar". Later it became known that the priest had been bugged for months by police. In 2011 the Church had been attacked by a mob. (Ls)

Poor Francis' New Decree Calls on Cloisters to Become More Worldly

Pope Francis calls upon Catholic women religious, whose members live in cloistered communities, to a greater engagement with the world.

Vatican City (KNA) Pope Francis calls upon Catholic women religious, whose members live in cloistered communities, to greater engagement with the world. The life of prayer and contemplation should not be lived as  a "retreat into itself," but must "embrace all mankind", according to a papal decree, which the Vatican published on Friday. The nuns should pray for prisoners, refugees, the persecuted and unemployed, so Francis. At the same time the Pope recognizes the indispensability of contemplative religious. They are a prophetic sign for all Christians.

Among the most famous contemplative women religious are the Carmelites or Poor Clares. They live strictly shielded from the outside world in their monasteries, which they may leave  only exceptionally. Canon law recognizes four different forms of strict cloisters. Contemplative female orders will in future decide on one of four forms of  cloister. According to the decree, there can be varying decrees within an order.

The so-called Apostolic Constitution of Francis bears the Latin title "Vultum  Dei Quaerere - The Search for the Face of God". With the letter he wanted to take into account the teaching of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) in the face of a changing social and cultural context, the Pope explains. The last such piece of legislation dates back to the 1950s.

Francis is attempting with the decree to reverse the loss of members  at any price. "The recruiting of candidates from other countries with the sole purpose of establishing their own monastery should be absolutely avoided," it says in the text.

In the comprehensive 35-page letter (Italian version), the Pope deals with twelve points of religious life. Besides the cloister there  is training, prayer, the role of the biblical texts, the Eucharist and Confession, community life, autonomy, work, silence, communication and asceticism. Contemplative woman orders  will in future decide on one of four forms of cloister accordingly.

Francis emphasized the autonomy of the monasteries. It should be not only a canonical status; moreover, a "true autonomy of life" is necessary. A condition for this is a minimum number of nuns in a convent. Other conditions are that there is no aging populations and the dignity of liturgical life as well as ensuring the ability to economic survival. Otherwise, solutions will be sought in regard to the monasteries in question according to which the Pope will commission representatives of the local Church, the Vatican and the Order. At the same time, the Pope states that in future each monastery must belong to

an association, or a federation.

All previous Church legislation or previous decisions on religious life contrary to the new decree, Francis has abolished.

Who Will Be The Next Cardinal Vicar of Rome?

Cardinal Vallini With Pope Francis

(Rome) Once initiated, the rumor mill on personnel changes in the Roman Curia will not fall silent so quickly. The first wave of rumors rolled in a few days ago, citing an "exotic" source, the Catholic weekly Herald of the Archdiocese Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia or its online edition Herald Malaysia Online. Usually it's the Italian media, who report the first rumors of personal curiosities. This also applies to what was disseminated by the new gossip  Fanpage.it. They concern the successor of the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, a post which Cardinal Agostino Vallini has held since 2008.

Vallini, a renowned lawyer, the previous Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura was by 2004, assigned to the suburbicarian diocese of Albano, where he  lead the Roman Province, and was from 1989 to 1999 also Auxiliary Bishop of Naples.

Vallini was born in Poli in the Diocese of Tivoli and thus comes from Lazio, the area of ​​the old Papal States. In 2006 Benedict XVI. created Vallini, born in 1940, Cardinal.

Since the Pope can not perform his duties directly as Bishop of Rome, he shall appoint a vicar of the diocese of Rome to represent him in all matters concerned.

Cardinal Vicar Vallini completed his 75 year in June 2015  and offered Pope Francis his resignation. Speculations assume that the Cardinal will remain in office until the end of the Holy Year of Mercy. On his retirement, so Fanpage,  Vallini has appointed his personal secretary in addition, to the pastor of the Roman parish of San Roberto Belarmino, which incidentally was the Roman titular church of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio before his election as Pope.

Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto

Archbishop Bruno Forte

According to Fanpage  the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, Msgr. Bruno Forte, stands "in pole position" as successor to Cardinal Vicar Vallini, Archbishop Forte became known recently as Special Secretary twice, during the  Synod of Bishops on the Family and thereby took a controversial role. Forte was already known under Benedict XVI. for a "moderately progressive" position that erupted  far more clearly under Pope Francis. The heavily criticized  passages on homosexuality in the interim report of the Synod of Bishops, 2014, originated from him.

Last May 2 , the Archbishop revealed some details about the background of the controversial post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia in the Municipal Theatre of Vasto . Pope Francis had supposedly given him direction as Special Secretary for the drafting of the Synod document following statement:

"If we explicitly speak of communion for remarried divorcees, who knows what a casino [fuss] will be made. We therefore do not talk directly about it. Make it so that the premises are given, then I draw the conclusions I prefer. "

Bishop Giancarlo Maria Bregantini CSS Campobasso

Bishop Giancarlo Bregantini

The second place of the "three candidates" called by Fanpage  is Msgr.Giancarlo Bregantini, the Bishop of Campobasso-Bojano. He had made ​​a name throughout Italy as bishop of Locri-Gerace in Calabria because of his harsh condemnation of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian Mafia. Pope Benedict XVI. relieved the bishop from the Order of the Stigmata in 2007 for safety reasons to Molise. Pope Francis entrusted him with the meditations for the Way of the Cross in 2014 in the Colosseum. Unlike Archbishop Forte, Bishop Bregantini is counted among the "most conservative" among Italy's bishops.

Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano

Bishop Marcello Semeraro

In third place we find the name of Msgr. Marcello Semeraro, who is bishop of Albano, as was Cardinal Vallini. Semeraro has become known only under the current Pope. He appointed him secretary of the C9-Cardinal Council to support the him in the reform of the Curia and the guidance of the universal Church. Semeraro is deemed the Pope's confidant. In fact, he has since tried defending  vigorously in in public the real or perceived positions of Francis. He was particularly aggressive in a sharp attack against the thirteen cardinals among the Synod, who wrote a letter to Pope Francis at the beginning of the Synod of Bishops in 2015. The Cardinals brought serious concerns and expressed the suspicion of being only extras, while the decisions had already been made. As diocesan bishop, Bishop Semeraro has also interacted with the Society of St. Pius X , whose Italian district headquarters is located in Albano Laziale,  Semeraro's diocese.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Wikicommons / MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholishes...
AMDG

"Theological Hypothesis of a Heretical Pope" -- Help in the Current Church Crisis

Edit: unless anyone knows any differently, this isn't available in English that we've seen, although the TFP offers a treatise in English by Arnaldo Xavier da Silveira.

by Cristina Siccardi

The 1975 published book "Hypothèse théologique d'un Pape hérétique" (Theological hypothesis of a heretical pope) by the Brazilian jurist Arnaldo Vidigal Xavier da Silveira, founder of the publisher Veracruz, then as now an excellent contribution to contemporary theology, as well as a valid answer to the dilemmas that arise because of the doctrinal scandals of the current pontificate in various Catholic circles. The book was then published in several languages. Recently the publisher Solfanello put a new edition of the book out in Italian. A German translation has appeared even after more than 40 years, a hitherto unfulfilled desideratum for the German reader.

Anarchy and civil war prevail in the Church from the high hierarchy to laymen: discord, tension, little spirituality, worldliness, escalating prolixity, anger, general and widespread unease, confusion, chaos, unrest, and all fueled by a pope, who today leads many to argue that he stands in the reek of heresy. Of Heretical statements the Pope has offered  in the exercise of his Petrine office in three years, there are several.

It is sufficient to deal with the desolate Apostolic Letter Amoris laetitia or with the statements made by the Pope himself in his recent flying press conference on his return from his visit to Armenia, so even the most unsophisticated faithful will realize that the current pope has created a break with the everlasting Magisterium of the Church. And the souls are no longer protected, neither from sin nor  disorder, nor the abyss of evil.

When asked for joint commemoration with the Lutherans on the occasion of 500 years of Protestant Reformation the Pope explained:

"I believe that the intentions of Luther were not wrong. He was a reformer. Perhaps some methods were not right, but at that time [...] the Church was not was a worthwhile model: there was corruption, worldliness, attachment to money and power. Therefore, he  protested. He was intelligent and took a step forward and justified why he did it. And today we as Protestants and Catholics agree about the doctrine of justification on this very important point, he was not wrong. He made a medicine for the Church, then he consolidated this medicine, into a discipline, making it into a way, to believe. "

Does Francis employ mercy with the faithful?

Cristina Siccardi

What does Francis, in the current Holy Year mercy, for the frightened and suffering soul on account of his remarks, these statements that attack the heart of Catholic doctrine, which undermine the divine wealth of ecclesiastical tradition and endanger the peace, which is of greater value than the peace between peoples?

In 1975 Arnaldo Vidigal Xavier da Silveira published, given the Church crisis that had matured with the Second Vatican Council and the liturgical revolution of the Novus Ordo, in French a study that has now been presented again in an Italian edition with a foreword by the historian Roberto de Mattei ,

Since its first publication, 40 years have passed. "While on the subject of the new liturgy there flourished a discrete literature, the question of a heretical pope, with few exceptions, began to draw the attention of theologians and pastors only after the resignation of Benedict XVI. and the election of Pope Francis," de Mattei (p.6).

The current pontificate has created numerous theological positions

During the current pontificate numerous theological positions have formed, and it remains difficult, if not impossible, to give the one in preference to another, as long as the authority of the Church does not make a statement, of what will happen once it once the current torrent has been overcome and with the help of theologians who have remained in orthodoxy and  heretical doctrines and  practices have been withdrawn.

Preserving the needed balance and at the same time to exercising due Catholic prudence is not for everyone. In this way,  the textually clear and dense essay "L'occupant du Saint-Siège de Rome est-il aujourd'hui réellement Pape?" is offered by the theologian Father Jean-Michel Gleize in Courrier de Rome, which appeared in February. In it he lists the different attitudes and theories as to the validity of the Petrine title of Francis.

Paper discusses discussion on to a higher level

 Professor Xavier da Silveira's book accesses not only the thesis of  Saint Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, one of the leading advocates of papal supremacy, the possibility of a heretical pope, he also examines the possibility of a schismatic or dubious Pope and the possibility of errors and heresies in documents of the Magisterium and in Council documents.

How are those who continue to follow Our Lord Jesus Christ to behave in such a case? Xavier da Silveira writes:

"The Church teaches that  the Catholic who is aware of a bad decision of ecclesiastical authority is not only allowed to refuse consent to this decision, but also to oppose it publicly in some extreme cases. Moreover, opposition in certain situations may eve be applied to  normal duty "(p 141).

The "theological hypothesis of a heretical pope" can be seen as an important building block that fits into the current theological discussion. But it is also an instrument to raise this necessary discussion on a more upscale level than what is now offered in sometimes inappropriate and even impossible newspaper, web and blog articles, whose trivialized arguments of  things of the utmost importance and sacredness are thrown in the dirt, and the heretical and barbaric style is reflected in a worthy Pope for this perverse generation.

* Cristina Siccardi, historian and journalist, whose most recent book publications "L'inverno della Chiesa dopo il Concilio Vaticano II I Mutamenti e le cause." (The winter of the Church after the Second Vatican Council. Change and Causes 2013.); "San Pio X. Vita del Papa che ha ordinato e riformato la Chiesa" (Saint Pius X. The life of the Pope Who Ordered and Reformed the Church, 2014); Francesco II of Bourbon, il Re Cattolico (Francis II Bourbon, the Catholic king, 2015.); "Sono Maria Cristina '. La Beata regina delle Due Sicilie, nata Savoia "(" I am Maria Cristina ". The Blessed Queen of the Two Sicilies and born Savoyerin, 2016).

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi

Picture: Publisher / Cristina Siccardi
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Antonio Spadaro: "World Traveler at the Expense of the Jesuits"

Father Antonio Spadaro SJ (Left) with Pope Francis

(Rome) Pope Francis has criticized on numerous occasions what he calls "curas de aeropuerto" ("Airport-priests") who spend their priesthood in order to travel from one airport to another. A travel activity, dedicated to meetings, congresses and conferences, but not to urgent pastoral care. "So let's take a look at the passport of Father Antonio Spadaro, the highest exponent of these new priests direction," said Gabriel Ariza from independent, Catholic News Service InfoVaticana in Spain. His research, he published under the title: "Antonio Spadaro - traveling around the world at the expense of the Jesuits." As the Jesuit Spadaro, editor of the Roman Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica and one of the closest confidants of Pope Francis, happily publishes enough  information on Twitter about his stays and departures, says Gabriel Ariza, take a look at his Twitter messages. The list is not exhaustive:

Bishops of Costa Rica: "Communion for Remarried Divorced is Not Possible"

Bishops of Costa Rica: "There is no possibility that the remarried divorced can
receive communion."

(San José) The Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica has issued a document to implement the post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia. One possibility is that remarried divorcees might be admitted to communion, is addressed in a single word.

The largest newspaper of the Central American country, La Nacion, reported on 17 July, the Sunday edition, in large presentation on the front page of the new document by the bishops. "Church unwilling to give remarried divorcees communion," headlined the Journal. Presentation and headline reveal the expectations generated by Pope Francis whose questions hung in the air. The newspaper conducted an interview on the topic with Costa Rica's most famous Bishop.

On the question of the state are remarried divorcees,  Bishop José Francisco Ulloa Rojas of Cartago replied:

"They are still in the Church. They were never considered excommunicated. They can participate in everything except the sacramental communion.

On the question of whether these people can receive penance and the Eucharist, Bishop Ulloa clarified:

"In the Pope's document the possibility for remarried divorcees to receive communion isn't mentioned.  The Church, however, recognizes the way to practice continence in marriage, and there are examples. For these people, there is no impediment to participate also in Communion."

He added:

"I think that any Catholic who is conscious of his faith, knows that Communion is an essential aspect of his life. I'm sorry to say that does not mean all. Nevertheless, there are many couples in special situations who wish to receive Communion, but know that there is an obstacle to do it."

Bishop José Francisco Ulloa of Cartago

In 2010 Bishop Ulloa was, from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Costa Rica, the top electoral authority of the country, who, out of the three judges of the Supreme Court,  was condemned  because he had asked Catholics not to choose politicians who contradict the views and goals of Catholic doctrine, At the time of the statement, Costa Rica was in the election campaign. The Constitution prohibits the clergy from "interference" in politics. Although Bishop Ulloa had made his statement in a sermon during a Mass and not as a call to vote, and thus not in the political but in the vital area of ​​the Catholic Church, the court found him guilty.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Wikicommons / La Nacion (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Venice: Moroccan Muslim Entered Church and Damaged Crucifix

San Geremia in Venice: Muslim entered the church and tore
the cross down: "I will give you the truth.  I bring the truth."

(Rome) In Venice a few days ago a crucifix was badly damaged by  a Muslim  in the Church of San Geremia. The man shouted repeatedly: "I will give you the truth. I bring the truth. "

The church in Sestiere Cannaregio is consecrated to the Old Testament the prophet Jeremiah, close to the Grand Canal, which dates from the 11th century. While the Campanile is 850 years old, it is one of the oldest towers of Venice, the church took its present form in the 18th century. It is famous mainly because of the relics stored therein  of St. Lucy.

On July 12, a Moroccan Muslim with French residency, entered the Venice church filled with visitors  and rushed with loud cries to the large 300 year old crucifix. Here the man shouted, according to witnesses, repeatedly: "I will give you the truth. I bring the truth."  He snatched the three-meter-high cross and proceeded to damage the Corpus and cross by stomping it. He tore the left arm figure of Christ off.

The large crucifix of San Geremia: "This is the Son of God"

The Carabinieri led the man away. This "Islamism" is treated in the politically correct West as a form of mental illness, and  the man who will not face the consequences was medically examined, cited and then placed at liberty. Thus it was  politicians and the media downplayed the Muslim massacres of Graz (2015), three dead and 36 injured, and also the Muslim Amokfahrer of Nice, 84 dead and over 300 injured, was an insane individual perpetrators.

Patriarch of Venice: "Such gestures make joint cohabitation difficult"

The patriarch of Venice, Msgr. Francesco Moraglia condemned the incident in a statement.The Patriarch spoke of

"Gestures that make it difficult  to go on with common ways of living together."

For the meaning of the cross, the Patriarch referred to the Letter of Paul to the Philippians:

"His life was that of a man; he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that every knee should bend in heaven, on earth and under the earth before the name of Jesus and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord' - to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:7 to 11).

God had "increased" His Son because of the cross and He bestowed dominion over the universe upon Him. "If we look at the cross where Christ was nailed, we see the sign of love, which was for each of us the foundation of salvation, and will be the cause of salvation for each of us," said Messa in Latino .

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Wikicommons / MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Müller to Mainz, Schönborn and Maradiaga to Rome? Who is Playing the Game of Rumors?

(Rome) At certain intervals the rumor mill surrounding the Roman Curia will run. Currently, there are several speculations, of which the most important would be particularly worrisome. Currently, however, it is unclear who is playing what game with the rumors, and which part of the gossip has veracity.

The previous Prefect, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, it is rumored, will be the new Bishop of Mainz and  succeed there Cardinal Karl Lehmann, who was retired last May 16 with the completion of his 80th year. The new Cardinal Prefect of the Roman Congregation is supposed to be Vienna Archbishop Christoph Schonborn.

The fact is that the relationship between Pope Francis and Cardinal  Müller is severely strained, while the President of the Austrian Bishops' Conference is currently experiencing a flight of fancy in the papal favor. Both such contrasting movements have not the least to do with the Post-Synodal Exhortation Amoris laetitia. It's not about questions of sympathy but  a tangible and fundamental factional dispute. Behind this is the question of where Pope Francis will lead the Church. The Pope has ignored Cardinal Müller, who recently, along with the entire CDF, recently attacked. though only indirectly, the unassailable Pope Francis, but with a breathtaking statement, accusing the Pope's  ghostwriter, Titular Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, of being "heretical". The three magisterial documents by the Pope: Evangelii gaudium (2013), Laudato si (2015) and Amoris laetitia (2016)  all come from the pen of Fernandez.

Cardinal Schönborn

Cardinal Schönborn in turn was also rumored in 2005 to succeed  Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in the CDF. However, the German pope decided otherwise. In 2012,  the Vienna archbishop hailed the decision, to appoint the then Bishop of Regensburg, Gerhard Ludwig Müller, as the new CDF, as an "excellent choice". Since then, however, much has changed, especially the Pope in Rome.

Opaque backers and intentions

The rumor is to be treated with caution: First, the explosive reshuffle has been disseminated by the progressive media. In German-speaking parts it's KNA, the press agency of the German Bishops' Conference was responsible. Secondly, KNA published its information on the basis of information  published in the faraway Malaysia Catholic Herald newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. Verification was not even possible on demand. The probability that a diaspora institution would serve as the first media reporter of so far-reaching a reshuffle is not impossible, but extremely low.

The closer one comes to the progressive Spanish news site Religion Digital, which is known for its notorious papolatria since the recent conclave. It took over  the role of KNA in the Spanish-speaking world and maintains good contacts with the Honduran Cardinal, Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga. The progressive organ headlined several times in recent months, with headlines in the way: "Francis Builds, Müller Destroys."

Rylko back to Poland, Maradiaga still on his second attempt to Rome?

The rumors of personnel changes affect not only the cardinals Müller and Schönborn. According to the same source, the 77-year-old Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the longtime first secretary of Pope John Paul II., is to be replaced as Archbishop of Krakow by Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, the current President of the Council of the Laity. This would be due to the dissolution of the Council for the Laity, whose responsibilities will be incorporated into the upcoming September 1 Congregation for Family, Laity and Health Pastoral. The first prefect of the new congregation would be likely to be the Pope confidant Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga of Honduras.

 Cardinal Maradiaga

Maradiaga, who received the title of "Vice Pope"  because of his euphoric appearance in the first months of the current pontificate is coordinator of the C9-Cardinal Council in support of Pope Francis in the reform of the Curia and the guidance of the universal Church. Recently, however, it was become pretty quiet around the Honduran Cardinal.

In 2010, he was already being talked about as candidate for a Prefect of a Roman Congregation. He was to take over the management of the Congregation of Religious. However,   the Brazilian Joao Braz de Aviz was appointed, who has been hunting the  Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate since 2013. Stubborn voices wanted to know if Cardinal Maradiaga had recommended himself recommended for the Roman post.

Cardinal Angelo Amato, the current prefect of the Congregation of Saints is to be replaced because of his age of 78 years by the current substitutes of the Cardinal State Secretariat, Curia Archbishop Angelo Becciu. New assistant and thus right hand of Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will be the current apostolic nuncio in Lebanon, Titular Archbishop Gabriele Caccia.

The next few days and weeks will bring clarity. Until then, the rumor mill should be given little credence, since for the time being things remain opaque, what game is to being played at and which part could be true. The fact is that the rumors claiming personnel switches around the CDF would drive the wedge of Pope Francis and his entourage deeper into the body of the Church. In the past few days another German cardinal, Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, warned of  the "very great danger" of a schism.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Religion Digital (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Nikolaus Messmer SJ: First and Only Bishop of Kyrgzystan -- Russo-German

(Bishkek) Shortly before surgery the only Catholic bishop in Kyrgyzstan died Monday at the age of 61, as the Vatican and the Jesuits announced. Bishop Nikolaus Messmer came from a Black Sea German family. In 1975 he joined the Society of Jesus. Since 2006 he was Apostolic Administrator of Kyrgyzstan.

Bishop Nikolaus Messmer was born in 1954 in Karaganda in Kazakhstan, where his family had been deported in 1941 under Joseph Stalin. In 1978 he professed his final vows and was ordained priest on 28 May 1989. From 1997 to 2006 he was - with a break to study for his doctorate at the Gregorian University in Rome - Rector of the Minor Seminary in Novosibirsk (Russia). On March 18, 2006 he was appointed  bishop by Pope Benedict XVI. The episcopal ordination was given to him on 2 June 2006 by Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

Catholic life in Kyrgyzstan 60s

There are three brothers from family Messmer,  besides Nikolaus Messmer, his younger brothers Otto and Jerome who are in the Jesuit Order: Otto Messmer SJ was assassinated on 27 October 2008 in Moscow. He was at this time religious superior in Russia. Hieronymus Messmer SJ belongs to the German Province of the Jesuits.

A place in the obituary of Father Otto Messmer also gives information about his brother, Bishop Nikolaus Messmer:

"His parents are a testament to how Russia German clung to their faith under the Soviets in the underground and passed it on to their children. The parents are from Speyer or Kandel in the Black Sea region and were deported to the Soviet Union after the end of World War II from the so-called Warthegau. They managed to make their way up to Karaganda, the center of the underground Catholic Church. There Otto and all his 5 brothers and 3 sisters were born. Otto was impressed by the Lithuanian Jesuit Father Albinas who from 1975 was also active in Karaganda after his time in prison in Siberia. Father Albinas founded the novitiate in the underground, and Otto came in."

The German colonies in Odessa on the Black Sea emerged in 1803. The colony Kandel was founded in 1808. The colony Speyer was founded in the following year 1809. The Messmer family moved after the collapse of Soviet rule, like many Russian-Germans in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Kyrgyzstan is currently home to around 1,500 Catholics. These are  especially the descendants of those deported under Soviet rule from German and Poland. Bishop Messmer was the first diocesan bishop of the Central Asian country. 75 percent of the more than five million inhabitants are Muslim, 20 percent Russian Orthodox. The rest include the Catholics who are overall the descendants of Germans from Russia, which are partly Catholic, partly Protestant.

With the death of Bishop Messmer, there are six priests in Kyrgyzstan including four Jesuits and two diocesan priests. Most are German and Polish origin.

Text: Vatican Radio / Giuseppe Nardi
Image: catholic-kyrgyzstan.org
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Gänswein: "The certainty that the pope was considered a pillar of strength, as the last anchor gives way, is starting to slip in fact."

Hendrick Groth in an Interview with Georg Gänswein: "Doctrinal expressions must
be clear. Expressions which allow different interpretations are a business."

(Rome) A new interview with Archbishop Curia Georg Gänswein was published in the Schwäbische Zeitung. The interview with the personal secretary of Benedict XVI. and Prefect of the Papal Household of Pope Francis was led by chief editor Hendrik Groth in Rome.

The long-time first secretary of Pope Benedict XVI.  confirmed that the former Pope is mentally in top form. "The head is clear, bright, fine. The legs have become somewhat tired."

Even after three years of the pontificate of Pope Francis, Msgr Gänswein  states, "you couldn't put a piece of paper" between the two successors of Peter:

"I have already asked myself the question; and I still affirm according to all that, what I see, hear and perceive. With regard to the principles of their theological convictions there is definitely a continuity. Of course, I'm also aware that there might occasionally be  doubts cast by the different ways of representation and formulation. But when a pope wants to change something in teaching, he must say it clearly, so that is also authentic. Important teaching concepts can not be changed by sub-sentences or something openly formulated in footnotes. The theological methodology in this regard has clear criteria. A law that is not clear in itself, can not bind. The same is true for theology. Magisterial statements must be clear if they are to be mandatory. Statements that allow for different interpretations, are a risky business." [Enter Vatican II]

About the repeatedly criticized ambiguous language of Pope, Francis Gänswein said:

"That he is somewhat imprecise, even flippant in speeches in comparison to his predecessors sometimes, you just have to accept. Every Pope has his own personal style. It's his way of talking, so even at the risk that give rise to misunderstandings, there are sometimes adventurous interpretations. He will continue to mince no words."

Of the Synod of Bishops on the Family  the Curia Archbishop said:

"Let's be frank that some bishops have really to worry that the doctrine may suffer through lack of crystal-clear language."

The related tensions within the Church and the direction that Pope Francis gives his pontificate:

"The certainty that the pope was considered a pillar of strength,  as the last anchor gives way, is starting to slip in fact. Whether this perception corresponds to reality, and reproduces the image of Pope Francis  correctly, or if this is more a media concoction, I can not judge. Uncertainties occasional confusions and a muddle, however, are growing."

The complete interview of Hendrik Groth with Curia Archbishop Georg Gänswein on schwäbisch.de

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: schwäbisch.de (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches..
AMDG

Newspaper: Cardinal Müller to be Archbishop of Mainz

Media report: In a counter-move  

the Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schönborn (71) is supposed to switch to the Vatican and take over the management of the CDF

Kuala Lumpur (kath.net/KNA) Accordjng to a report by the Malaysian Catholic weekly "Herald" Pope Francis plans personnel changes within the Curia. This suggests that the former prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller (68) will occupy the See if Mainz long since vacated by Cardinal Karl Lehmann. In return, the Viennese Cardinal Christoph Schönborn (71) is to switch to the Vatican and take over there, the management of the CDF, the Journal reported over the weekend, citing "well-informed Vatican sources" on its website.

There were indications that the pope also plans the appointment of Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko (71), Polish cardinal and President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Archbishop of Krakow. He would assume the office of the 77-year-old Stanislaw Dziwisz, who has already reached the age limit for resignation.

The paper refers to a decree by the Pope, according to which the Council for the Laity and for the Family will be merged on 1 September into a new office. Its statutes were published by the Vatican in early June. According to "Herald" it will be incorporated into an office of pastoral health care. The new formation will receive the status of a congregation with the decision making power. As head of the new Congregation, the Honduran Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga (73) has been selected, a close confidant of the pope and head of the Cardinal Council for a reform of the Curia.

Another of the personnel according to the  "Herald" referrs to the Congregation of the Causes of Saints. The Vatican Interior Minister, Archbishop Angelo Becciu (68) is supposed to replace the earlier head, Cardinal Angelo Amato (78). The director of the Vatican Secretariat of State is to be the former apostolic nuncio in Lebanon, Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia (58).

(C) 2016 CBA Catholic News Agency. All rights reserved.

Gänswein: No Ambition to Head German See

Curial Archbishop: A long-time employee of the CDF, as secretary of Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope Benedict he obviously  bears a "mark of Cain".

Ravensburg (kath.net/KNA) Curial Archbishop Georg Gänswein has in his own words, no ambitions to occupy a German diocese. "Do you think that a cathedral chapter should my name ever appear there, would choose me? Hardly likely. This also does not offend me," said the Prefect of the Papal Household and personal secretary of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. on Monday for the "Schwäbische Zeitung" in Ravensburg. "The ecclesiastical establishment has a negative image of me.  I do not belong among their favorites."

As a longtime employee of the CDF, as secretary of Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope Benedict, he obviously bears a "mark of Cain"  Black Forest native Gänswein added. "This has somehow managed to have me branded in public as a right winger or hardliner, without naming for offering concrete examples." Conversely, "the cathedral chapters are indeed not just known for having the highest loyalty towards Rome."

In the Catholic Church in Germany, the cathedral chapters outside Bavaria have some say in the selection of bishops.

(C) 2016 CBA Catholic News Agency. All rights reserved.

Photo Archbishop Gänswein (c) kath.net/Petra Lorleberg

Magnificent Spaniard Builds Cathedral by Himself

H/t: Gloria.tv and CNS

At Least 84 Dead From Islamic Terror Attack in Nice -- The Ineptitude of Jacobin Policy

Tractor Trailer as Tool of Murder in Nizza: 84 Dead and Over
100 Wounded by Islamic Attack

(Paris) There are at least 84 dead and over 100 injured last night at a terrible bombing in Nice. A truck raced at high speed into the crowd on the famous Promenade des Anglais, which had just admired fireworks there. The fireworks took place for the French national holiday, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. 

Tunisian Muslim with French Passport

The attack took place around 2300 hrs in the evening when the beach promenade was crowded with  locals and tourists. The fireworks went straight to its end.

According to the first reports, the assassin was killed in a firefight by police. He is supposed to  be a 31-year old Muslim of Tunisian descent, but with French nationality. The talk is of at least two accomplices. It is not yet clear whether they were on board of the truck, where weapons and hand grenades were found.

French President Francois Hollande, who in recent days hit the headlines because because his barber cost the state coffers more than 10,000 Euros every month, conceded that it is a "terrorist attack".  As a first step he extended the state of emergency in France by another three months.

Extended state of emergency - Restriction of civil rights

The state of emergency was imposed after the Islamist terrorist attack of 13 November 2015 on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, which killed 89 people and injured hundreds. The measure is controversial in France, as it restricts the rights, including freedom of assembly of all citizens, while the terrorists can still strike.

Beach promenade of Nice: a place of horror and death

The restriction of civil rights is justified by the "threat to the state and its institutions".

Each prefect, as well as officials,  can impose curfews, block squares and lock meeting places of any kind and prohibit any gatherings. The police can perform house searches as instructed by the Minister of the Interior, or prefect, for which a court order is normally required.

Any person who makes himself "suspect" may be arrested or placed under house arrest. Also in this case judge no longer decide, but the Home Secretary and his officials.

Also,  the Home Secretary and his prefects can dissolve. without examination procedures and without jurisdiction, clubs and organizations, which are seen by them as a "threat".

Just yesterday Hollande had announced the lifting of the state of emergency on July 26 after eight months. Not 12 hours later he extended it again.

Jacobin Contradiction: "Cosmopolitanism" outward - State of Emergency Within 

The Islamic terrorist has forced France to an emergency, without undertaking sustained action to improve the situation. Recently, France imposed the state of emergency took place in the 50s and 60s during the Algerian war, but in the Fourth and Fifth Republic, never in peacetime.

A "war," say French politicians, however, is also the fight against Islamic terrorism. The enemy is visible and invisible at the same time.

In France today there are more than six million Muslims who were generously allowed into the country out of a "cosmopolitan" politics. Some Muslims already sit  in the highest government positions and do harm to France there in  radical left-liberal positions in other ways.

"The whole of France is threatened by Islamic terrorism"

said President Hollande with the addition that there are also "several children" among the dead at Nice.

Noteworthy "Coincidences"

French policy has proven itself incapable. For several decades the Grand Nation dawns only according to itself. The government has allowed on the one hand, the Islamization of France by mass immigration into the country from the Islamic world, allowing thus the formation of parallel cultures and the decline of entire neighborhoods that have become social hotspots, and claimed the Islamic terrorism directly and due to the Islamic parallel milieu is hardly controllable.  At the same time a dubious policy of France  engages in interference not only in the Middle East, but also in other Islamic countries and thus  ignites the fuse ever anew- even at home.

The storming of the Bastille in 1789

It may be coincidence, and not intended by the assassin, and yet there it is: The attack on the concert hall Batanclan in November 2015 occurred when the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal had just played   the song "Kiss the Devil."  The chorus of the song, the words repeated in a   penetrating way: "Who will love the devil? Who will sing his song? I will love the devil and his song! Who will kiss the tongue of the devil? I'll kiss the devil on his tongue!" On November 29, 2015 ​​Msgr. François Schneider , pastor of Wisembach,  in the Lorraine Vosges, made people aware of the Satanic connection, which earned him an immediate  reprimand from the Bishop, and according to media reports, the prefect was ordered  at the direction of the interior minister and had threatened criminal sanctions against the pastor. Certain truths seem to be hard to bear.

The assassination in Nice was held on the national holiday, on which France commemorates the opening of the  bloody French Revolution, thus the prelude to the overthrow of the social order, the radical struggle against the Church and Christianity and the beginning of the tyrrany of the Jacobins, who since then have done great harm to the world and the people  and even govern yet again in France.

Text: Andreas Becker
Picture: n-tv / 0e24 / Wikicommons (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG