Father Cavalcoli: "Pope Francis is Not Heretical. But He Surrounds Himself With False Friends and Bad Advisors"

Pater Giovani Cavalcoli: "There is a lot of disinformation.  The signs
of a confused Church. It appears there is a masonic maneuver against
Radio Maria in process."

(Rome) Last Saturday, the 5th of November, Radio Maria Italy has dismissed Father Giovanni Cavalcoli, one of the best-known moral theologians in Italy, who is close to Pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican dissociated itself publicly from the statements by the Dominican, which the latter, really need had not have done at all.  He was alleged to have claimed that the earthquakes in Central Italy was the punishment of God for the legalization of "homosexual marriage." [Homosexual is such a ridiculous word.]

The Catholic online daily La Fede Quotidiana (LFQ) spoke to the 75-year-old priest about the criticism from the Vatican. The moralist found clear words of disapproval for the Vatican's approach. The Secretariat of State publicly "contradicted" him and the Vatican media prepared the spreading of blame against him worldwide.

Father Cavalcoli had not used public criticism of Pope Francis in the past. Rather, he has defended Pope Francis against a "too quick" criticism, which "goes astray in some Catholic circles." Nevertheless, he became a victim of his faithfulness to ecclesiastical wretchedness.

"I confirm everything I said about the earthquake. What should I apologize for? If anyone needs to correct themselves, and to ask for forgiveness, it is they who should ask for forgiveness for their valorization of the heretic, Luther. "

LFQ: Father Cavalcoli, do you regret it?

Father Giovanni Cavalcoli: No. To me, many have rushed at me with wild methods, including many journalists, and this proves how great the disinformation and the ignorance of theology, doctrine, and catechism are. We are at the point where whoever observes these categories, causes  commotion and outrage.  Signs of a confused Church.

"No one is authorized to change the teaching and the Scripture."

LFQ: Does God send punishments or not?

Father Giovanni Cavalcoli: The Catechism, the Holy Scripture and the Doctrine are clear, and no one is authorized to change them. God sends penalties, and the earthquake stands like our catastrophe before our eyes. The punishment of God is a response to the action of man. A simple example: If I drink ten liters of liqueur and then die, I have to attribute the blame to myself, that is my punishment. The Holy Scriptures are full of God's punishments. "

Interview with Father Cavalcoli

LFQ: You have spoken of civil unions (gay marriage) ...

Father Giovanni Cavalcoli: I was misunderstood, or perhaps I expressed myself incorrectly. I have not referred to this law in the narrower sense. An explicit connection with a particular action can never be produced with ultimate certainty. But it involves vice and sinful and disordered behavior like homosexuality. God sends punishment to him who sins and knows what he is doing, consciously acting against the law of God.

LFQ: The State Secretariat, on the other hand, is in revolt ...

Father Giovanni Cavalcoli: I worked there myself. I see with bitterness that today everything is different. And there are also Masonic infiltrations there.

"Freemasonry maneuvers against Radio Maria"

LFQ: This is where your reflections are called pagan ...

Father Giovanni Cavalcoli: The true heathens are those who attack me. I am of the opinion that there is a masonic maneuver underway against Radio Maria, which is disturbing, and the station is probably at risk. Satan has long since penetrated into the Church and also into the Vatican. The pope is not heretical, but he surrounds himself with false friends and bad advisors like Kasper, Ravasi, Bianchi, Ronchi and Cantalamessa.

"Perhaps to apologize to those who have recently revaluated Luther"

LFQ: Will you correct yourself or apologize?

Father Giovanni Cavalcoli: I do not think of it, and confirm everything I said. In actuality they should apologize, those  Catholics who had lately valorized Luther, who may have done good, but is a heretic, and thus have caused much confusion. I am a serious Dominican with a straight backbone and not a bootlicker.

LFQ: And if Radio Maria should finally dismiss you?

Father Giovanni Cavalcoli: Then I will draw my conclusions from it. But I do not think so. I will not change my orthodoxy. The point is that a humanitarianism and a "misericordism" are being spread, but justice is neglected. This is a disservice. God is infinitely good, but He desires repentance and punishes us if that does not happen. The mercy as a scatter gun principle, of which they are telling us, is really a deceit of a Lutheran manufacture. I do not think they will attack me any further, or put me on the sidelines. I have wide shoulders. They'll think twice about that.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Conventosandomenico.org/La Fede quotidiana (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

"Earthquake is a Punishment From God": Radio Marya Distances Itself

Position represented by the 75-year-old Dominican Cavalcoli, according to the broadcaster is "not in accordance with mercy as the core of the Christian message."

Rome (kath.net/ KAP)  Due to a statement on the central Italian earthquake as "punishment from God" Italian Radio Maria has discontinued the priest's series. The position represented is not in harmony with mercy as the core of the Christian message, the Catholic broadcaster announced on Saturday in Milan. At the same time, it apologized to those afflicted in the earthquake zone.

The Dominican priest and former dogmatic professor, Giovanni Cavalcoli (75) had replied in his monthly mission to a listener's question that the earthquake in Central Italy was also a punishment of God "in the sense of an appeal to the conscience, to rediscover the principles of natural law" in view of marriage and family, or the recognition of same-sex partnerships. The Vatican and bishops of the earthquake region expressed their indignation and distanced themselves from the statement.

During a hard-hitting phone interview by Radio 24 following his remarks, Cavalcoli affirmed on Friday  the correctness of his pointed theses that homosexuality or adoption rights for same-sex couples deserved divine punishment by natural disasters.

Cowardly Archbishop and Staff Frantically Deny Christ in San Diego

Edit: the Reuter's headline isn't true, but look at the denials being frantically issued by the Judases at the Archdiocese.

[Reuters] The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego denounced one of its parishes on Friday after its worshippers were told that voting for Democrats is a "mortal sin" that could lead to an eternity in hell.

The Diocese said the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in the neighborhood of Old Town made the statement in an insert to a weekly leaflet given to churchgoers on Oct. 16, calling abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia and other political issues "non-negotiables."

"It is a mortal sin to vote Democrat," the insert read, with the words underlined and bolded. "If your bishop, priest, deacon or other parishioners tell you to do so, you must walk away from them. Your immortal soul and your salvation are at stake."

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN12Z2CJ?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=581cf7ff04d3013729ffaa28&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

Rome's New Chief Exorcist Complains: Few Young Priests Want This Job. -- Even Priests Are Afraid

(Rome) On September 16, the internationally known exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth, died. His successor complains that there are hardly any young priests who are ready to act as exorcists.

Father Amorth belonged to the Catholic Order of the Society of St. Paul (SSP). From 1986 until his death, he was head of the diocese of Rome. Amorth, together with other exorcists, founded the International Exorcist Association (AIE) in 1994, whose president he had been until 2000 and has been honorary president since then.

Accessibility for all: four hours of fixed office hours

On 18 October the BBC reported on another exorcist. What Father Amorth was on an international level, Father Vincenzo Taraborelli is at the Italian level. Father Taraborelli had been an exorcist of the Diocese of Rome along with Father Amorth. He has now followed Amorth's footsteps as a de facto chief priest of the Pope's diocese.

Father Vincenzo Taraborelli is Carmelite. He belongs to the Carmelite monastery on the Via della Conciliazione. The baroque monastery church of Santa Maria in Traspontina is located directly on the boulevard between Castel Sant'Angelo and Saint Peter's Square. In 1936 it was not a victim of the construction of the road through the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Santa Maria in Traspontina

The church has been since 2003, the Roman titular church of Cardinal Marc Ouellet. The Franco-Canadian has been the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops since 2010.

In the Carmelite Monastery, Father Taraborelli offers regular consultations for exorcisms. An exorcist "must be accessible to everyone," says the Carmelite, and he is serious about it. Anyone who goes to the  monastery website will find Father Taraborelli's office hours.

The exorcist can be reached every Monday, Tuesday and Friday after Holy Mass from 7.30 am on Via della Conciliazione 14 / c close to Traspontina Church, and every Wednesday from 5:45 pm during the Eucharistic Adoration, following the Holy Mass at 5 o'clock.

79 years old, but always active

Father Taraborelli is always active, and he is already 79 years old. His pocket calendar is packed with appointments. In a few weeks he practices a hundred and more exorcisms. He is always available for "emergencies" via his own telephone number.

Exorcism is "nothing romantic," says the exorcist. "We speak of obsession and demons." He was born in 1937. On February 17, 1963, he was ordained a priest for the Carmelite Order.

"Before I carry out an exorcism, I ask people to visit a psychologist or a psychiatrist and get the diagnosis." In the Carmelite church, he likes to show visitors an oil painting from the 18th century. "This is a possessed woman. Demons run out of her mouth. She was cured by exorcism. "

No growth among exorcists

"Padre Amorth lived to 91. Perhaps I will be so old, and may still have something to do." The words are not conceited. He has a concrete reason. In the BBC report, Father Taraborelli complained that there was no growth of  new exorcists. "Exorcism in Italy is a frightening job for young priests," the BBC said. "The exorcist of Rome, who does not have a successor," is the title of the Spanish BBC program. The young priests show little interest in the service of the exorcist, at any rate in Italy. "Young priests are not particularly attracted by the prospect of spending hours in windowless rooms to read the prayers of the exorcism ritual for those affected," said BBC.

Father Taraborelli says, "I have told the [auxiliary] bishop that I can not find anyone who is ready to take over. Many of them are afraid. Even priests can be afraid. It's a hard life. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: BBC
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

First Holy Mass in Karakosch (Nineveh Plain) Since Being Liberated From the Islamic State (IS)

Preparing for the first Holy Mass in the Cathedral of Karakosch
Since it Was Desecrated by the Islamic State (IS)

(Baghdad) The Syrian Catholic Archbishop Petros Mouche visited Baghdeda, also known as Karakosh, the largest Christian city on the Nineveh plain in northern Iraq. He celebrated the first Holy Mass in the diocesan Church.  On October 18 Iraqi forces had recaptured the city from the Islamic State (IS).

The Islamic jihadist militias had taken Karakosch early on August 2014 and expelled the Christians .

It's the first time sacred hymns have been heard again in the Aramaic language

The city is littered with war wounds. The site has to be demolished before the population can return to the city. On the church wall there is the inscription "Islamic State".

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception has suffered much damage from the two-year occupation of the Jihadists. It's the first time in 27 months that the sacred hymns have been heard in Aramaic. 

Archbishop Yoanna Petros Mouche

Msgr. Yoanna Petros Mouche is the Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Kirkuk and the whole of Kurdistan."This church is a symbol for us," says the Metropolitian, born in 1943 in Karakosch. "I will tell you this in all seriousness: If we had not found the church like it is, if it had been destroyed, people would not want to return."

Accompanied by four priests, the archbishop visited the city weeks after its liberation from the Islamic State(IS). In the devastated church he celebrated the first Holy Mass since the flight of Christians. In his sermon, he turned directly to the jihadists, who have sacked this city, his birthplace, and left a trail of destruction.

"We have gathered here today to begin the process of cleansing this city from all traces of the Islamic State, from the hatred of which we have all become victims." And further: "There are not large and small people,  not kings and slaves. This mentality must disappear. "

"The incense begins to take possession of the church again"

"For a long time, the bishop's blue eyes look at every part of the church, every sacred representation, every destruction, and every single one of the small crowd attending the Holy Mass: soldiers of the Christian militia and representatives of the city. The incense began to fill the church and 'take possession'. Each view shows a scene of destruction and each step in the Church commemorates the war: crunching underfoot is ash, dust and charred wood," wrote Asianews .

In the city one sees soldiers, but still no population. Everywhere the traces of the war are visible: burnt-out vehicles, mountains of debris, battered and blackened facades of homes. Shots are still to be heard from time to time. The roar of combat aircraft is not far away.

Father Mjeed Hazem, one of the priests who accompanied the Archbishop to Karakosh, said: "This is a new beginning. It shows the world that we Christians persevere, despite all injustices suffered."

In the forecourt of the cathedral you can see an artificial hedge and some dummies. Here is where the Islamic State(IS) performed shooting exercises. "They have no respect," says Imad Michael. The 71-year-old Christian belongs to the commander of a Christian militia dedicated to protect the Nineveh plain. It has taken over the tasks of an auxiliary police, since there is still no regular police in the city. "These are not Muslims, but unbelievers," emphasizes Imad Michael's statement, while firmly clasping his Kalashnikov.

"Then I will start with the reconstruction"

Next to him stands  Michael Jelal, fifty years younger. He has shouldered his assault rifle. "I used to have many friends," says the 21-year-old Christian. There is sadness about his face: "Now many are dead or fled abroad." He hopes, says Michael Jelal, that soon life will return to the city and they can rebuild it.

"Many humanitarian organizations have come," Imad Michael told him, "and have offered the opportunity to emigrate to Lebanon, Australia or Canada. But we declined. We want our families to return. We also want those who went abroad to return."

For the time being, a lot has to be done. The city areas have been partly mined by the jihadists. The cleanup will take a long time. A nearby church was desecrated by the Islamists as a workshop for the production of bombs. "We will purify them," says Imad Michael.

"In their hearts people want to return," said Archbishop Petros Mouche. But first, security must be guaranteed. The Metropolitan himself still lives in exile in Erbil, Kurdistan.

Access to the city is forbidden for the civilian population. A week ago there was still fighting in the area. Soon the first Christians will return. "My house was burnt down. I just want to see it," says a  father, who was expelled in August 2014 with his entire family. "I do not know what to expect, but I want to see it. Then I'll start the reconstruction. "

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

Bishop Edward Slattery Celebrates Immemorial Mass of All Ages Ad Orientem for All Hallows

Edit: with all the people complaining abbout the sky falling, we thought we'd give this some attention.

[Okie Traditionalist] Tonight, the Diocese of Tulsa, especially the Catholic faithful devoted to the Traditional Mass, got a spiritual booster shot in the arm from their recently retired bishop--Bishop Edward Slattery--celebrating the Ancient and Venerable Roman Rite at the Cathedral, on behalf of All Souls.

Curiously, the Cathedral website only announced a Novus Ordo for this evening at the local cemetery LINK. Even its Sunday bulletin made no mention of the Bishop's High Mass (LINK). It took a phone call by an Okie Traditionalist Correspondent to the cathedral's secretary to confirm that His Excellency would in fact be saying a public Traditional Mass where, until just recently, he was Chief Pastor.

As discussed here (LINK), Bishop Slattery has been one of the rare bishops actively promoting the Traditional Latin Mass, and the first American bishop to start saying Mass Ad Orientem every Sunday in his cathedral. As sitting bishop, he often said the Tridentine rite of his own accord at the cathedral and elsewhere, not only as a courtesy to several Latin Mass communities he actively founded over the last 2 decades.

Link...

Also, Laramie Hirsch...
AMDG

Magister: The Jesuits Have Lost Radio Vatican -- Shortwave Broadcasts Discontinued

Edit: the following is from Sandro Magister, espressoonline's resident Vaticanist who sits at the center of the storms racking the Church and its leaders in Rome. It's interesting to see how Father Lombardi is slowly being pushed into further retirement and irrelevance at 74. Will the Vatican's communications and press service be dominated by a dominated by a Godless global corporation?

ROME, October 30, 2016 – Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the first Jesuit in history to sit on the throne of Peter. And yet precisely during his reign the Society of Jesus is at risk of disappearing from the Vatican.

It still has charge of the astronomical observatory. But it has lost command of the press office, the radio network, the television station, the heart of the communication system of the Holy See.

For a few years Fr. Federico Lombardi was at the head of all three of these installations. But one after another they have been taken from him, and no other Jesuit has replaced him.

The new boss of the Vatican media, placed by Pope Francis at the helm of the newly created secretariat for communication, is the Lombard monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò, an expert on cinema, as far as can be imagined from the vision of his predecessor.

Link to Chiesa...

Oriented Liturgy: Benedict XVI Stands Behind Cardinal Sarah -- And Pope Francis Sinks Into Silence

Holy Liturgy: Celebration Direction versus deum, facing to the East,
from which the Lord will come.

(Rome) The news is startling indeed, and was supported by different news agencies like Riposte Catholique and Boulevard Voltaire: Benedict XVI. adopted a position this  October 12th in the Osservatore Romano  on the battle escalating within the Church for the orientation of the Sacred Liturgy. He did not hesitate in himself making the line of Cardinal Robert Sarah entirely his own. Thus, the former head of the Church openly distanced  himself from the line of his successor Pope Francis.

Benedict XVI. has made this downright sensational step on soil familiar to him,  theology. He spoke in favor of changing the celebration direction in the New Rite. The direction of the celebration in the liturgical reform of 1969/1970 facing the people should be abandoned and returned to the celebration facing east, says Benedict. The German Pope wrote:

"In the orientation of the liturgy to the east, we see that Christians want to strive together with the Lord, for the salvation of the whole creation."

It is not the celebrant, who must become  the eyes of all, since - says Benedict XVI :

"A shepherd of the flock of Jesus Christ is never  facing only to the circle of his own faithful."

Benedict XVI. openly contradicts the line of his successor - Cardinal Sarah's Push

Some have expected that since there would be backlash by Pope Bergoglio. Since the publication of the opinion of Benedict XVI.  it's been more than 20 days, so it is probable that no backlash will come, at least not directly.

"The situation is really irritating," said Corrispondenza Romana . A Pope that will be contradicted by his surviving predecessor in a core area, the core area of the Holy Church. In other words: The predecessor slips back into the role of the Pontiff and Supreme Pastor to do what was supposed to be done by his successor, the reigning Pope.

But why has it come about? Last June the prefect of the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Robert Cardinal Sarah, called upon "all, priests and faithful" to "face eastwards" to turn in the Holy Mass, at least in those central parts of the Mass where one turns directly to God: the Kyrie, Gloria prayers and especially the Eucharist. The cardinal urged not only all priests, again to change the Zelebrationsrichtung eastwards, as it has always been in the Church. He also named a specific date to implement the change: the First Sunday of Advent 2016th

The proposal was immediately agreed upon by Cardinal Raymond Burke, once the highest of judges and lawyers of the Church, whom Pope Francis removed in November 2014 from the Roman Curia because he resisted the weakening of the marriage sacrament.

The proposal was also decisively rejected on the part of those circles in the Vatican, who are close to  Pope Francis. The then Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi rushed to the microphone to explain: "There are no new upcoming liturgical directives."

A statement by the Press Office, with which distanced the Holy See from Cardinal Sarah's proposal remained anonymous. Who was commissioned, which office and which person is in charge, is still unclear. There is no doubt, however, that it was approved by Pope Francis.

Unfriendliness against Cardinal Sarah - backing from Benedict XVI.

Since then Cardinal Sarah was  invited to a few more of the numerous events than earlier that take place continuously in the Vatican. The most recent unfriendliness towards the courageous Cardinal from Guinea was his cancellation as a speaker at the opening of the academic year at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute. For Studies on Marriage and Family. Pope Bergoglio, who had previously conducted profound changes at the Institute, which amount to a change of direction, even gave the opening speech.

It was less marveled at that Cardinal Sarah was not even invited by Pope Francis to commemorate Luther and accompany him to the Swedish city of Lund.

But it was Benedict XVI., who stood with his authority behind Cardinal Sarah and the proposal to "reform the liturgical reform".  It would be difficult for the reigning pope to enter the field against the theological competence of his predecessor,without daring to reveal sheer arbitrariness.

This could explain why  21 days after the publication of Benedict XVI's opinion he is still silent.

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

Archbishop Piero Marini Suffers a Severe Stroke -- Disciple of Bugnini

Curial Archbishop Piero Marini was an assistant to the architect
of the post-conciliar reform, Annibale Bugnini. In the night of October 31st, he
suffered a severe stroke.

And thou hast girded me with strength unto battle; and hast subdued under me them that rose up against me. 

(Rome) Curial Archbishop Piero Marini suffered a stroke in the night of 31 October. He is in the hospital Anna Rizzoli Ischia. The condition of the 74 year old Church representative is considered critical. Today a transfer to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome could take place.

On the morning of October 31, Don Antonio Angiolini, the pastor of  the Good Shepherd on the island of Ischia, found him lying on the floor of his room. The Archbishop has been hold up for some time on the island, which he has chosen as a second home.

His appointment this last October 28 by Pope Francis as a member of the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments was only just announced.

Piero Marini spent 20 years under John Paul II, as the papal master of ceremonies.

Marini, who was ordained a priest in 1965, is a student of Curial Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, the architect of the post-conciliar liturgical reform.  Marini worked as Bugnini's secretary and worked directly on the implementation of the liturgical reform. The reform relies on the Second Vatican Council, however, there were theoretical and practical innovations, which are not covered by the Council.

Pope Benedict XVI., therefore, did not confirm Piero Marini as master of ceremonies. It was a decision about which the archbishop has held a grudge even till today. Some see Pope Francis' hand played in his selection to the Consultors of the Pontifical Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Pope.  After the election of Pope Francis, Marini explained, satisfied: "You breathe fresh air. It is a window that opens to spring and hope. So far we have breathed the bad air of swampy suffocating waters."

Piero Marini, since 2007, has been the President of the Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses,  who has often been seen in the past three and a half years at the morning Mass with Pope Francis in Santa Marta. He is a constultant of the Pope in liturgical matters.

Pope Francis appointed Piero Marini Chairman to the Special Commission for the Liturgy in the Roman Congregation for Eastern Churches.   It's a decision that was met with skepticism by experts.

His appointment as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship is seen as part of an experiment, to thwart Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation in his aspiration for a "reform of the liturgical reform."

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

 to press

Christian Times: Charges Against Bill Clinton for Underage Sex Ring

Edit: unlike other websites that fall within the ambit of restoratio, we are political. Being a pet of those in power, whether out of utility or wholehearted collaboration, will never give results. This isn't the perfect source, but we'll see what happens in the coming days.

[Christian Times] Sources within the New York Police Department are confirming that the NYPD is currently investigating allegations that Bill Clinton performed sexual acts on underage girls ranging from 5 to 14 years old in recent years. These reports have been confirmed my multiple others, and it appears that the NYPD is closing in on the former President.

According to senior sources within the department, investigators are making plans to bring charges against Clinton and his accomplices after finding new information in Anthony Wiener’s emails this weekend.

News broke in May that Clinton’s relationship with known pedophile Jeffrey Epstein extended much further than previously reported.

Link Christian Times 

Huma Abedin also had a file marked, "Life Insurance" which included this information.
AMDG

Pope Faces Indifference in Godless Sweden

Edit: here's a piece by Allistair Scrutton about the mostly indifferent reception Pope Francis faces in Sweden, despite his own attempt at rebranding and making the Catholic Church more like Sweden. Even if he is making Europe more welcoming to Islamic invaders while making it more inhospitable to confirmed Catholics, his efforts are met largely with indifference on the part of the people to whom he's desperately trying to appeal.

[Sweden] Usually feted ecstatically by Catholics across the world, Pope Francis may face a far more muted reception when he arrives next week in Sweden, one the world’s most secular nations, with openly gay Lutheran bishops and special cemeteries for atheists.

Add to that the fact that Francis will be there to take part in a joint Catholic-Lutheran service in Lund to mark the start of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s anti-Catholic Reformation that led to a bloody schism in Europe.

In the first papal visit to the country in nearly 30 years, Francis, who is seen as breathing freshness into traditional Catholic doctrine and reaching out to other religious communities, will also hold a public Mass in Malmo, a gateway for thousands of immigrants who have fled from Middle East wars over the last few years.

While trips to the likes of the Philippines attract huge crowds, Francis’s attempt at dialogue with Lutherans may go either unnoticed or criticized by Scandinavians whose views on sexuality and abortion are among the world’s most liberal.

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/10/27/into-the-heart-of-godlessness-pope-francis-heads-for-sweden/

Melbourne Archbishop Closes Down Pro-Life Witness in Australia

Edit: from a reader. We share his concerns.

[Melbourne] Australia's John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family is to close. In a surprise move, Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, Australia, told staff and students on 26 October of his decision. 

The Archbishop cited concerns about low enrolments, but the Sydney Catholic Weekly says it understands student numbers have increased in recent years. (Link: https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/melbourne-archbishop-shuts-down-the-john-paul-ii-institute-for-marriage-and-family/)

Responding to suggestions that the Centre is too costly for the Melbourne archdiocese supporters have pointed to the Institute's national character and said costs should be shared with other Australian dioceses.  

Commentators have said the Institute's closure will remove the main orthodox Catholic voice in Australian debates on marriage and bioethics issues. They suggest the background appears to be Pope Francis' lack of support for sustained debate on such issues.

The Institute, founded in 2001, is affiliated to the Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, founded by Saint John Paul II. 

The Institute was founded by Anthony Fisher OP, now the Archbishop of Sydney. The current director is Professor Tracey Rowland, a respected lay theologian who is a member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission. 

AMDG

Bishop Blesses "Demo for Everyone" Demonstration Against Sex Education

Fulda's Bishop has been shocked that the CDU Minister of Education Lorz has ratified by ministerial decrees the new curriculum "and ignored both the vote of the national parent's advisory council and the opinion of the Catholic bishops in Hessen."

Wiesbaden / Fulda (kath.net/idea) The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fulda, Heinz Josef Algermissen, gave his episcopal blessing to the "Demo für alle" [Demo for everyone] on the 30th of October in Wiesbaden. It is directed against the new curriculum for sex education in Hesse. The program provides that students should learn and accept different sexual orientations and family situations. As Algermissen wrote in a greeting, he was shocked by the fact that the Minister of Education of the Rhineland, Ralph Alexander Lorz (CDU), introduced the new curriculum through a ministerial decree, "ignoring both the vote of the parent's advisory council and the opinion of the Catholic bishops in Hesse."  Algermissen honors the participants in the demonstration. They have showed that they are not indifferent to the sex education of children and adolescents. They have campaigned for "our society to remain Christian." His greeting ended with the words: "I would like to express my thanks to you and I will gladly give you my episcopal blessing." On the other hand, the curriculum was welcomed on the part of the protestant churches in Hesse.

Alliance Secretary General Steeb: Protest is needed

The General Secretary of the theologically conservative German Evangelical Alliance, Hartmut Steeb (Stuttgart), also welcomes the demonstration and calls for participation. It is unfortunately necessary to publicly express disapproval, he writes in an opinion, according to "idea" the Protestant news agency.

21,000 signatures against the new curriculum

As the nationwide action alliance "Demo für alle", over 21,000 people signed an online protest petition against the curriculum. The demonstration will be under the motto "Parental Rights - Stop Indoctrinating Sexual Education". One expects around 2,000 participants - not just from Hesse. At the same time the organization distanced itself from support it has received from extremist circles such as the NPD and other right-wing extremists. You should stay away from the event, it says in a Facebook post. A counterdemonstration is also planned to support the curriculum. The association "Warmes Wiesbaden" (Gay Wiesbaden) called for this.  It has organized the aberro-demonstration Christopher Street Day (CSD) and also expects 2,000 participants.

Hartmut Steeb (Evangelische Allianz Deutschland) at the DEMO FÜR ALLE on 28.2.16 in Stuttgart

Trams: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Battle of Milvian Bridge

Edit: in 312 on October 28th, the Emperor Constantine defeated the forces of Maxentius at the Battle of Milivian Bridge.  His victory was not only decisive in a political sense, but in a religious dimension as well since Constantine attributed his victory the divine intervention, more specifically, the intervention of Christ.  This victory and Constantine's own conversion and personal intervention in later passing the Edict of Toleration, led to the triumph of Christianity over pagan Rome.

Bishop Bonny of Antwerp Accused of Homophilic Statements by Catholic Laity in Rome

(Brussels) The Bishop of Antwerp, Msgr. Johan Bonny, has been brought on charges in the Roman Congregation for the Clergy. "We demand clarity as to whether this is still a Catholic, what Bishop Bonny has claimed or not," said the Belgian, Catholic lay association Pro Familia .

The Bishop has been widely known in recent years primarily through his homophilic utterances. Born in Ostende in West Flanders 1955, Bonny was appointed in 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI, however, he is a "product" of the former primate of Belgium, Godfried Cardinal Danneels, and the then apostolic nuncio, Karl-Josef Rauber. Danneels was retired and "disowned" in 2010 by Benedict XVI.  because the German pope did not see Danneels'  ideal progressive candidate as fit to succeed, but chose the "conservative" André-Joseph Léonard instead. Rauber was also retired by Benedict XVI. Both Danneels and Rauber are, incontrast, held in high regard by  Pope Francis.  Danneels belonged toTeam Bergoglio , who [illegally] organized the election Jorge Mario Bergoglio in the conclave of 2013. Rauber was raised by Francis to Cardinal, while he denied Archbishop Léonard the purple.

"Acknowledge Homosexual love" 

The controversial Bonny-book

Last October 11 is Bonny's book "Mag ik? Dank je. Sorry. Vrijmoedige dialoog over Relaties, huwlijk en gezin" (May I? Thank you. Sorry. Frank dialogue about relationships, Marriage and Family) appeared. As the Gazet van Antwerpen had already reported on October 6, Antwerp's bishop speaks for "new religious rituals" from "which we can recognize the reality of life between homosexuals also from ecclesiastical and religious perspective?" The marriage is indeed  a connection between man and woman, but it is though that the Church should recognize homosexual unions and bless them in a private ritual.

The Belgian Association of Catholic laity Pro Familia (not to be confused with the West German branch of the international abortion group Planned Parenthood ) was no longer prepared to accept this "Belgian situation." They filed a complaint because of  several lines in Bonny's new book with Cardinal Beniamino Stella, Prefect of the Roman Congregation for the Clergy.

Bishop Bonny writes therein:

"In no way could we continue to assert that there is no other form of love outside of heterosexual marriage. We encounter the same love even in a man and in a woman's life in the experience of a gay or lesbian couple.

Roman Congregation for Clergy now has to give an answer

"The Roman Congregation is the competent, senior administrative body, which now must provide an answer to the question of whether what Bishop Bonny teaches is Catholic, or whether it is a false doctrine that contradicts the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catechism refers to aberrosexuality as "an objective disorder". The Congregation will have to consider also whether the bishop is to be condemned for it or not," said OsservatorioGender Rodolfo de Mattei.

They had arrived at a crossroads. It is no longer possible to turn a blind eye. The Catholic lay organization calls for clarification, since the Catholic deposit of faith is not a hotchpotch of different opinions.

The step of the Belgian Association of Pro Familia can also be seen against the background of great confusion caused by the post-synodal papal Letter Amoris Laetitia, which has been driven to new heights. It gives the impression that the Catholic Church has spread the idea everywhere, the "air of a spiritual Wild West" where everyone  - whether episcopal conferences, dioceses or individuals - are trying to do what he wants, and to interpret in his own way, even the most controversial parts of the recent post-synodal letter.

When it became known that the complaint would be introduced, Bishop Bonny said: "Everyone is free to go where he wants." At the same time, he urged his critics to read the texts of Pope Francis again, "especially Evangelium Gaudium  and Amoris Laetitia" before they turn to the Congregation of Clergy. 

"Variations in the perception of moral teaching"

"Bishop Bonny showed ostentatious security by 'spoking for all who today want to be Christians' of, respect, and of variations' in the perception of moral teaching within the Church," said OsservatorioGender.

The Catholic lay organization Pro Familia sees the matter differently: The Church can not bless what God has forbidden. Bishop Bonny had already been made similarly worded statements in the past.  Nevertheless, he was sent by the Belgian Bishops' Conference as the only representative to Rome for the Synod of Bishops on the Family.  There must be a limit of endurance. The Catholic lay organization made it clear that it is not going to be satisfied with an evasive or noncommittal answer from Rome.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: CR / Lannoo (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Istanbul: Hagia Sophia to Have a Permanent Imam -- De Facto Transformation Into a Mosque

(Istanbul) Since 2003 when the Islamic Party for Justice and Development (AKP) took control of the government in Turkey under  Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a re-Islamization of the country has taken place.

Since mid-19th century  the expulsion and oppression of Christians had begun. In the decade 1910-1920 the coup de grace against the Christians took place by a cruel and bloody genocide.  Armenians, Greeks and Chaldeans were killed, expelled or forced to convert to Islam. One hundred years ago  in Istanbul, then still Constantinople, it was said that it was half Christians and Muslims. About 25 percent of the residents in the  area of what is now ​​present-day Turkey were still Christians. Today there are only 0.2 percent.

Prestige

The "Prestige" items of Re-Islamization is fulfilled by the conversion of famous ancient Byzantine churches. After the Turkish conquest of the country, they were made into mosques. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a representative of a national Turkish secularism, made them museums. For years,  ACP Islamic circles have again called to make them mosques.

Magnificent frescoes in the Hagi Sophia of Trebizond: the four Evangelists surrounded by angels. Mosque since 2012.

In some cases, Erdogan's government is already putting the various proposals into practice.

• The Hagia Sophia of Nicea which was built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian I.  again became a mosque in 2011.  In 787 it had witnessed the Second Council of Nicaea. In 1337 Nicaea was conquered by the Muslims and made into a mosque. However, the Turks forfeited it and gave it up at  the end of the 19th century. Under Atatürk it became a museum in 1935.
• 2012  Hagia Sophia of Trebizond followed.  It had been built in 1250 by Emperor Manuel I Comnenus on the site of an earlier church. In 1204 the Byzantine Empire had been conquered during the Fourth Crusade. The noble family of Comnenus established the Empire of Trebizond as a successor state. In the new capital, the Hagia Sophia was inspired by the famous model of Constantinople. Trebizond would even last a few more years than Constantinople. In 1461 the small empire on the Black Sea was conquered by the Muslims as well. Since the Basilica was a few kilometers outside the city walls, it was only desecrated in 1511 by the Turks and  converted into a mosque only in 1584. The monastery which was attached to the Basilica was inhabited until the early 18th century by Greek Orthodox monks. The use as a mosque ended in the 50s of the 20th century. In the spirit of Ataturk it was then made into a museum. At the same the church frescoes whitewashed by the Muslims were uncovered again.

Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, the magnificent Basilica of the East

The most significant and magnificent Basilica of the Byzantine Empire, Hagia Sophia of Constantinople is still a museum. The question is: for how long?

The Hagia Sophia was begun under the Emperor Constantine the Great  in 325. Under Emperor Justinian I it took its present form and was consecrated in 537. It is one of the outstanding monuments of late antiquity. The great dome which rests only on four pillars, represents an architectural masterpiece. It was the cathedral of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the coronation church of the Byzantine emperors. For 1128 years,  the Divine Liturgy was celebrated there, of which 916 years was in its form visible today.

After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by the Turks, it was desecrated and converted into a mosque in the same year.

The Hagia Sophia, the largest and most splendid Basilica of the East, the imperial church of East Rome was desecrated by the Turks and converted into a mosque after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The Christian basilica can be seen today. In the Muslim period, four minarets were built and the cross was replaced on the main dome with the crescent to mark the Islamic conquest. In 1931 it was converted into a museum and is the biggest tourist attraction of Istanbul.

Since 2010 Demand for Renewed Conversion Into a Mosque

Its conversion into a mosque was called for at the political level in 2010. In 2012 an unknown Muslim Turk named Talip Bozkurt from Kahramanmaras in Anatolia, made a proposal in the Turkish Parliament to transform the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. The suggestion was taken up and entered into parliamentary debate in January 2013.

Hagia Sophia of Nicaea, in 787 meeting  place of a council. Mosque since 2011

The Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and Constantinople demand its the return to the Christians. If the Hagia Sophia is to be reopened for prayer, then it should be a church again, says Patriarch Bartholomew

Due to its  formative significance on the cityscape of Istanbul, neither Muslims nor Turkish nationalists are ready to return it to the Christians. For the AKP government, the issue of re-Islamization of the monument has a special symbolic meaning. This also applies to the  Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who was relected in  May. In order to understand the reasoning behind this, the words of the then Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Bulent Arinc, on the conversion of Hagia Sophia of Nicaea (Iznik Turkish) in 2011, are useful:

"With this act we have recovered the recognition of our ancestors. The Hagia Sophia of Iznik is the booty of our conquest and as such we have a right to it. A church can be converted into a mosque. "

From a Ramadan Mosque to a Permanent Imam

Last June, the Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque during Ramadan for a month. This is only a first step, say observers. Since then, imams who entered the Basilica, were there to do two of the five Islamic daily prayers. Now the next step will take place. As the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported, a proposal was made jointly in Constantinople between the State Office for Religious Affairs and the Mufti of Fathi to nominate a permanent imam for the Hagia Sophia who will perform the five-day prayers daily.

With the appointment of Imam, conversion into a mosque is consummated fact, regardless of any  expressed decision.

For now there is still no response from the Greek Government and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Athens has criticized attempts at Islamicization in the past as an "insult to the religious sensibility of millions of Christians", which is all the more serious because these have been "undertaken by a country that wants to join the European Union."

In the European and overall in the international press it is difficult to find mention of these initiatives toward Islamicization. "Not a good sign," writes  Corrispondenza Romana.

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