Friday, February 3, 2017

Condom Knight Boeselager Triumphs Over Good With Pope's Help

Edit: the Order of Malta's condom distributing Grand Chancellor, Albrecht Boeselager, has given a public address wherein he avoids any explanations of the totals capitulation of the Order's sovereignty and praises Pope Bergoglio's autocratic takeover. If you listen to this public sinner's address, he offers no contrition for distributing condoms, and even expresses his own disapproval of the increasing border security in the face of Islamic invasion. Unlike his predecessors, he is surely a friend of Islam, and an enemy of Christ.

He virtue signals thusly:

We are alarmed and concerned by the proliferation of discriminatory positions towards immigrants, not least, based on their national origin. History has already provided us with plenty of examples showing the dramatic and monstrous consequences of policies based on origin and race. Likewise, the Government takes a strong stance against the increasing disregard for the humanitarian laws encoded in the Geneva Conventions ratified by the family of nations.
 https://www.orderofmalta.int/2017/02/02/declaration-sovereign-order-malta-government-priorities/

https://youtu.be/lW4yV56DpFk

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Suspension "A Divinis" of the "First Martyr of Amoris Laetitia" Lifted

Supsension Against Don Uribe Lifted.  Did Bishop Corredor do this after reading Cardinal Schönborn's heretical interpretation?
(Bogota) Don Luis Carlos Uribe Medina, the priest of the Colombian diocese of Pereira, was reinstated by the bishop in his office. Don Uribe has become the "first martyr of Amoris laetitia."
Because of his criticism of Amoris laetitia and his pastoral implementation was characterized as an attack against the indissolubility of sacramental marriage the priest had been treated by his bishop as a heretic and schismatic. He had "apparently" had detached himself from "communion with the Pope", so he was suspended by his bishop a divinis suspended .
Don Uribe's suspension from the priesthood attracted worldwide attention because he had not committed any fault, except to defend the past [and immemorial] doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church.


Don Uribe statement

The sensation seems to have produced an effect. On January 31, Bishop Rigoberto Corredor Bermudez, diocesan bishop of Pereira, reinstated Don Uribe in his priestly power. For this, the Bishop and Don Uribe signed a joint statement. Therein it is explained that Don Uribe, after a "fraternal conversation" with the bishop, has declared of his "free will" that he would "remain obedient and respectful towards the Holy Father Francis and my diocesan bishop in the Apostolic teaching and tradition of the Church."
With "permission of my diocesan bishop, I resume my priestly service from today, January 31, 2017".
An image of the original document signed by Don Uribe and Bishop Corredor about reintegration into the diocesan clergy was published by Secretum meum mihi with the explanation that Don Uribe finally confirmed only what he had said anyway.
As Radio Rosa Mistica Colombia reported, Bishop Corredor had corrected his penalty after he had come to a full understanding of Don Uribe's statements. Specifically, the radio station, points to the Amoris-laetitia -Interpretation of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of 8 April 2016. Pope Francis had a few days later referred to "the Schönborn-statements as the authentic interpretation" of the controversial post-synodal letter.
Don Uribe had criticized and rejected Schönborn's interpretation. He also criticized Pope Francis, because the latter had described Schönborn interpretation as "authentic" and thus made his own.
After Bishop Corredor had read the Schönborn-text, he had changed his mind about Don Uribe and withdrew the sanction, says Radio Maria Mistica Colombia. The station cites its own source which remains unnamed.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Secretum meum mihi (Screenshot)


Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Cardinal Müller Speaks to the Dubia!

[Chiesa] To him too, in addition to Pope Francis, cardinals Brandmüller, Burke, Caffarra, and Meisner had sent their five “dubia” on the interpretation of “Amoris Laetitia,” seeking “clarity.”
And neither he, Cardinal Gerhard L. Müller, prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, nor much less the pope had responded until now to the questions of the four cardinals.
To make up for this, however, now Müller is bringing clarity, and how, in an extensive interview that is coming out today in the magazine “Il Timone,” conducted by editor Riccardo Cascioli and by Lorenzo Bertocchi:
In the interview, the cardinal does not use the word “dubia,” but he says “apertis verbis” precisely what the four cardinals were asking to have clarified.
And he does not fail to lash out against those bishops who with their interpretive “sophistries” - he says - instead of acting as leaders for their faithful are falling “into the risk of the blind leading the blind.”
Here are the key passages of the interview.

http://magister.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2017/02/01/the-pope-is-silent-but-cardinal-muller-speaks-who-responds-to-the-“dubia”-this-way/?refresh_ce

AMDG

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

New Archbishop of Kraków Celebrates Installment Pontifical High Mass Ad Orientem

(Warsaw) The new Archbishop of Krakow, Monsignor Marek Jedraszewski , celebrated the Pontifical Mass for his official installation.

Archbishop Jedraszewski was appointed in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. as the Archbishop of Lodz. Prior to that, he had been auxiliary bishop of Poznań since 1997. After the retirement of Stanislav Cardinal Dziwisz on 8 December 2016 for reasons of age, Pope Francis appointed Jedraszewski as  the 5th Archbishop and 78th Bishop of Krakow. Karol Wojtyla, the later Pope John Paul II, was 2nd Archbishop and 75th Bishop of Krakow. In 1925 Krakow was elevated to an archdiocese. The Church province covers the area of ​​Little Poland.

Last Saturday, 28 January, the new Archbishop's enthronement took place. He is considered a candidate for Cardinal dignity. Since the end of the nineteenth century, all the senior shepherds had belonged to the Cardinal's collegium. Five cardinals, numerous bishops, the clergy and faithful of the Archdiocese  took part in the solemn ceremony in the Wawel Cathedral. President Andrzej Duda also came to Krakow with his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda.

Archbishop Jedraszewski celebrated the Solemn Pontifical Mass ad orientem, as was the case in the church celebration until the liturgical form of 1965. Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Prefect of the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacraments, called on all priests worldwide to return to the Eucharistic direction of ad Deum and to abandon the Protestant celebration in facing the people.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL / InfoCatolica
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Traitor Archbishop Campaigns for Open Borders

Edit: when he's not offending Christ by praising the heretic Martin Luther, this man is betraying his country, canvassing more for the good of his own political power and support for his charity boondoggles, than he is for the spiritual good of his flock.. He has the same ideological alignment as the Pope, Cardinal Schönborn, Cardinal Marx...

Faith leaders from around Minnesota, including Archbishop Bernard Hebda, voiced concerns Jan. 30 about President Donald Trump’s recent ban on immigration from seven different countries.

[Catholic Spirit] Trump [That's God Emperor to you.] signed an executive order called “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry in to the United States” Jan. 27. It included a ban on immigrants from Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iran and Sudan due to perceived security threats by the U.S. government.
Archbishop Hebda joined 11 other Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders at the Jan. 30 press conference to call for lifting the ban. Speaking at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis, the leaders said that God calls all nations to welcome refugees and immigrants.
https://youtu.be/dqnZEw7jLU0

They don't read St. Thomas Aquinas any more.
AMDG

Priest Tells Parishoners Who Oppose Trump to Take a Leap

Edit: please don't resign! Sensitive snowflakes are asking for him to.

I initially thought this was the other way around.
[Washington Post] The pastor of a largely immigrant Catholic church in Queens has a suggestion for his anti-Trump parishioners: Go take a flying leap off the nearest building.
“Show your hate for Trump. Do it for social justice. #JumpAgainstTrump,” read a meme posted by the Rev. Philip Pizzo just hours after he celebrated Sunday Mass.
The message included an illustration of a man plummeting from a skyscraper.
http://nypost.com/2017/01/30/priest-tells-anti-trump-protesters-to-commit-suicide/
AMDG

Bishop Vorderholzer Says, "Islam is Not Compatible With the West"

Bishop Voderholzer on a Pilgrimage picture alliance/dpa
REGENSBURG. The Rev. Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer has denied Islam has the ability to integrate into Western culture. "Only someone who either does not know his own faith or  does not take it seriously, here a far-reaching integration of Islam as Islam is not possible to accomodate," said Voderholzer on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of his episcopal ordination.
"Islam, of course, with as much realism as we must muster, is a post-Christian phenomenon," the bishop said. Islam claims to "negate the core content of Christianity: the belief in the Triune God, the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, and his redeeming work on the cross."
We should not lump together all those who are concerned about Western Christian culture of having any possible pathological phobias, Voderholzer warned. The West was not a static quantity. While many influences and cultures were absorbed and integrated, they were transformed by Christianity. The West was not simply the sum or mere addition of different cultures. (Mv)

Monday, January 30, 2017

Exorcist: "I wish that one day a Great Exorcism will be carried out in the Vatican."

(Rome / Madrid) Father Gabriel Amorth, who died in September 2016, was severely criticized when he repeatedly said in interviews that there were satanic sects in the Vatican. Now another exorcist, "I wish that one day a Great Exorcism will be carried out in the Vatican."
In January 2008, Father Amorth said in an interview of Alexander Smoltczyk for the weekly magazine Der Spiegel :
"There are satanic sects in the Vatican. You can not see them. But there are."
Criticism of this statement also came from other exorcists. Father Amorth was exorcist of the diocese of Rome from 1986 until his death. From 1992 he was even the main exorcist in the diocese of the Pope (see Father Gabriele Amorth, the main exorcist of Rome, is dead - 30 years in the fight against the devil ).
Now Father Amorth was indirectly affirmed by another exorcist. Don Antonio Fortea, also priest and exorcist, said in an interview to the Spanish edition of Newsweek :
"I hope that one day a Great Exorcism will be carried out in the Vatican."
Don Fortea himself has already led aseveral large exorcisms . In one even "a cardinal" also took part.
The Spanish Don Antonio Fortea was ordained priest for the diocese of Alcalá de Henares in 1994. In the following years he devoted himself mainly to demonology. In 1998 he completed his studies of theology and Church history at the Facultad de Teología de Comillas with the work "The Exorcism in our time." When confronted in the course of his pastoral work as a priest with "problems of demonic nature", he deepened his studies on the subject and was awarded a doctorate at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum  in Rome with a thesis on "Theological problems of exorcism practice."
He developed his own form for the Great Exorcism, which is directed against the presence of demons in certain places, buildings or even whole cities. This form is not approved by the Vatican, according to his own account. This is true, but it is more important, if it is not "forbidden" by the Vatican or any other ecclesiastical authority, specifies Don Fortea. There had so far been no Church complaint. Even a Cardinal had participated in such a Great Exorcism. He is always willing to defend this form before the competent authority.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Wikicommons
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

First "Gay Marriage" of a Catholic Priest -- "30 Years of Activism for 'Gay Rights'"

Bernard Lynch, Catholic Priest, "Married" his "Long-term boyfriend"
(Dublin) In Ireland the first Catholic priest entered an "aberrosexual marriage". Bernárd Lynch from the Irish County of Clare is a Catholic priest. Since 1986 he has been an avowed aberrosexual. He also became the first priest to have an "aberrosexual marriage".
Lynch, 67 years old, "married" his aberrosexual "life partner" Billy Desmond, with whom the priest has lived in a registered partnership since 2006 - even then as primary. As the newspaper Irish Daily Mail reported on 28 January, 120 guests took part at the civil "marriage." They congratulated the two with prolonged applause on their "aberrosexual marriage", when the clerk declared the two men "husband and husband".
In 2015 the Irish had approved the equality of "aberrosexual marriage" in a national plebiscite. Five months later, the decision was legally implemented.
During the festive celebration of Lynch and Desmond, a text was read to praise the "30-year commitment" of the Catholic priest for the "recognition of the rights of LGBTI persons". "It was a wonderful ceremony," reported the Irish Sun .
Lynch went to the seminary and maintained a long-term sexual relationship with another seminarist. This seminarist then left the seminary, married and established a family. Lnych, on the other hand, was ordained a priest in 1971. He belongs to a missionary order, but has been committed to homosexuality since the 80s in the USA. In 2010, he was one of the speakers at a rally against Pope Benedict XVI, when he visited England. He accuses the Church of hypocrisy. Deafness and celibacy were to blame for everything, for it was also responsible for pedophilia. In 2012, he told media that he knew that the Vatican was "going" against him, as his order clearly closed both eyes.
With the resignation of Benedict XVI. the Vatican "investigations" seem to have subsided.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Irish Sun (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

"Divisions, Controversies and Disputes" -- A Pope Who Confuses and Gives Me Cause for Great Concern

 By Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña *

I do not read the countless words of Pope Francis, for various reasons.
First, because there are so many that it is simply impossible for me. I have no intention of spending my life reading the pope. My faith does not ask it of me. If he should take one day, to proclaim something ex cathedra that will find all my attention.
Secondly, so as not to be offended in what my Church convictions are. After all, I did not invent them. Rather, they are what the Church has always taught. Me and everyone else, and that for two thousand years. Beliefs that go back to the words of Jesus Christ Himself. Or were they not His words?
Thirdly, because some of the things he says or of which he is said to be speaking to me are questionable, and I have neither the time nor the desire to deepen my studies in order to clarify these matters.
Fourthly, and this is a very strong aspect for me because I observe that all the enemies of the Church are satisfied with the Pope, while really good sons of the Church, some of them of great learning, are not a little worried.
The Pope, who is now the Pope, and in this I have not the slightest doubt, is no angel. And if an angel came ...
Today I read the article in a newspaper ( ABC ), which is clearly not against Francis, but very fond of him. Since the Vatican did not deny the statements made in it, I believe it to be true. ABC is not such a meager blog like mine, where you "read nothing". It is a newspaper that is read a lot by the Catholics of Spain.
According to ABC, the pope has called for "fewer divisions, clashes and controversies", which is very good. But something is lost in the transmission when these divisions, clashes, and controversies are generated by the pope himself.
Let us revisit what is in the newspaper Aurora borealis: One should "not be back drilling on their own opinion," we must "listen with respect and accept others' opinions."
This statement seems to me, with all due respect, a papal stupidity. Respect is and always is recommended, but the beliefs of others can only be valid as a rule, if one of these opinions persuade and one therefore renounces one's own. But if they seem to be completely misleading, then one is well advised to make it known. One thing is to respect the one who expresses an opinion, it is something else entirely to respect his opinion. However, Pope Francis usually seems to be little happy in the choice of words. In contrast to him I do not think that proselytizing is something bad.
I think, therefore, that it is better not to read everything the Pope says, plainly speaking, almost nothing. I will limit myself to reading the titles of the media. And, of course, I am always willing to take everything back if I have deceived myself. Nothing is more beautiful to me than to speak well about the Pope, my Pope. He is, however, very much concerned that this is not the case.
* Fernando Fernandez de la Cigoña Núñez, from a noble family of Galicia, studying law and economics, a journalist, like his father, with a focus on the Catholic Church, the publication of several books mainly on the history of ideas and Church, married, father of five children, La Cigüeña de la Torre is one of the most read Catholic blogs in Spain. His grandfather was murdered in the Spanish Civil War by the Popular Front.
Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: La Cigüeña de la Torre
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
 to press

Ecclesia Dei Confirms the Deal is Near

Edit: we don't make any bones about it, this is something we wanted to happen. It was opposed by all the right people, and should have happened shortly before Benedict resigned when the deal was mysteriously and arbitrarily altered. The Society is getting the deal it had initially hoped for, but some people will have to stick a finger in the wound to know this deal has come back from the dead, no doubt, and a few more will have to see it in action.

[Rorate] From Andrea Tornielli, who has been one of the unofficial spokesman for Pope Francis in his pontificate, in an article this morning for La Stampa:

"We are working at this moment in the completion of some aspects of the canonical frame, which will be the Personal Prelature." Archbishop Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Ecclesia Dei commission, charged with dialogue with the Society of Saint Pius X, confirms [SSPX Superior-General Fellay's words] to Vatican Insider that the stage of full communion with the Lefebvrians is near. The accomplishment of the agreement is now in plain sight, even if some time is still needed.

Bishop Fellay Ready to Reconcile

[Rorate]From the interview granted by the Superior-General of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), Bishop Bernard Fellay, to the program "Terres de Mission" by TVLibertes, a conservative French network, as reported by Italian website Radio Spada:

Bishop Fellay confirmed in the program Terres de Mission of TVLibertes broadcast minutes ago: on the factual level, relations with the Vatican are already normal, and only the seal is missing on the agreement (video below):
"This agreement is possible, according to the Superior-general, in his view, without waiting for the situation in the Church to become completely satisfactory." [Source]

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Pope Confirms Fernando Ocariz Braña as the New Prelate of Opus Dei

(Rome) Pope Francis confirmed the election of Msgr. Fernando Ocariz Braña the new prelate of Opus Dei .
Ocariz, who had served as a vicar general of the Personal Prelature for many years, had been appointed deputy by his predecessor, Javier Echevarria, in 2014. With the death of Echevarria last December, Ocariz took over the leadership of the prelacy until the election of a new prelate.
The election of Ocariz aA the third successor of the Opus Dei founder, Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer y Albas, and the third prelate of the personal prelature, had been expected.
The Pope is granted the right of appointment of the prelate by confirming the election. The 1982 Prelacy, established by Pope John Paul II. as Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei is so far the only personal prelature of the Catholic Church. For several years this has been discussed formally about the Society of St. Pius X to grant it canonical status, but a corresponding agreement has not been previously concluded. Ocariz is a member of the three-member Vatican delegation, who leads doctrinal talks with the Society of St. Pius X. He is regarded as a key author of the important Declaration Dominus Iesus in 2000.

About 95,000 members, including 2,100 priests

According to the latest information, Opus Dei numbers around 95,000 members throughout the world, who, in ecclesiastical matters and in their religious life, are not subject to their respective diocesan bishops, but to the prelate. About 2,100 priests are incardinated in the personal prelature. There are also an additional 2,000 diocesan priests, who are the priestly members of the Holy Cross Community, but are not incardinated.
Prelate Fernando Ocariz was born in Paris in 1944 as the son of Spanish exiles, who had left Spain during the Civil War. In 1971 he earned the doctorate of theology and was ordained a priest in the same year. After several years in the youth and student chaplaincy, he was called to Rome in 1986 as a consultor to the Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith. 2003 followed, working in same capacity for the Congregation for the Clergy and  in 2011 for the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization .
Since 1989 he has been a member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. He was a full professor of dogmatic theology at Opus' Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. Ocariz has published numerous books on theological and philosophical topics, including a comprehensive presentation and criticism of Marxism.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Opusdei.it (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG






The Asylum Crisis is Costing Germany Almost 21.7 Billion Euros in 2016

BERLIN. [Junge Freiheit] The asylum crisis cost the Bundesrepublik 21.7 billion euros last year. This is evident from the monthly report published by the Federal Ministry of Finance on Friday. For this year, € 21.3 billion has been earmarked for the national budget.
For the reception, registration and accommodation of asylum seekers, the federal government spent 1.4 billion euros, for integration services 2.1 billion and for combating the causes of flight 7.1 billion.
Social benefits of the federal government cost another 1.7 billion euros. As a direct relief, the federal government also provided the federal states and municipalities with 9.3 billion euros.
Huge stimulus package"
"More than 90 percent of the federal expenditures," says Ferdinand Fichtner, the economic researcher of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), have, however, continued into the economy, such as the spending of refugees for foodstuffs and other consumer goods, rental payments or construction investments. "This can also be described as a huge economic stimulus program," Fichtner told the news agency Reuters.
In 2015 about 890,000 asylum seekers had come to Germany, 2016 about 280,000. According to the report, "high entry rates" were limited to the year 2015.
"Into the black" could be held
The Ministry points out that on paper, in 2016, the Bundesrepublik could, for the third year in a row forgoing new debts and still keeping in the "black" with the budget. A surplus of 6.2 billion euros had even been achieved. This was due above all to the high tax revenues and low interest rates.
At around EUR 289 billion, the Federal Government achieved a 2.6 percent increase in tax revenues in 2016 compared to the previous year. At EUR 288.6 billion, the increase was 7.7 percent for the federal states. At the same time, the government had to pay 17.5 billion euros interest last year - 2.8 billion euros less than expected. In 2015 the interest payments amounted to more than 21 billion euros. (Gb)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG







Third Attack on Copts Since the Beginning of the Year -- Fear Among Christians Grows

Christians in Egypt: The Third Attack This Year
(Cairo) In Egypt, the third assault has been directed against members of the Coptic minority since the beginning of the year. Security forces discovered the body of the Christian physician Bassam Sadouat Zaki.
On January 3, the Coptic merchant Youssef Lamei had been murdered in Alexandria. Only 48 hours later the corpses of the Christian couple Gamal Sami Guirguis and Nadia Amin Guirguis had been found.
The surgeon, Bassam Sadouat Zaki, practiced his profession in the city of Asyut in Upper Egypt, some 370 kilometers south of Cairo. According to the first surveys, he was stabbed with a knife on 13 January.
On January 5, the police discovered the corpses of the Coptic Guirguis couple. They too had been murdered by stabbing. As in the case of Zaki, the bloody act happened at home.The couple had been surprised with death in their sleep. The crime occurred in the governorate of Al-Minufiyya in Lower Egypt, 85 kilometers north of Cairo.
A few days ago some suspects were arrested. Neither the police nor the prosecutor's office wanted to provide more details.
Two days before the murder of the couple, the Copt Youssef Lamei had been murdered in Alexandria in the street where he was taking a break in his shop. While the authorities are silent about the motive  in the other two cases, the Islamic background of the murder in Alexandria is certain. The perpetrator shouted loudly, "Allah Akhbar" while he killed his victim with a sword before the horrified eyes of those passers-by and the inhabitants of the neighborhood.
Four murders within eleven days. Finally, on December 11, a brutal assassination attempt took place at the Peter and Paul Church in the district of al-Abbasiyya in Cairo. Directly adjacent is the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate. On the day when the Muslims celebrate the birth of Muhammad, Islamists detonated an explosive device in a Coptic church, killing 25 Christians. The jihadist militia of the Islamic State (IS) has taken responsibility.
There is growing fear among the Christians of the country.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Asianews
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Friday, January 27, 2017

The "Anti-Bergolio-Cardinal": Cardinal Burke and the "Recommendations" from Santa Marta

(Rome) After the pope demanded the resignation of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, which must be adopted by the Sovereign Council of the Order on Saturday, the Cardinal Patronus of the Order, Raymond Burke, is the focus of increased interest.
Since the beginning of Francis' pontificate, the Cardinal has been on a  confrontation course with the Pope, who "came from a distance". On the Cardinal's side, the matter is formulated differently: the Cardinal defends the doctrine of the faith of the Church against those who are on a confrontational course with the teachings that were handed down.
In the first bishop's synod on the family in October 2014, he was raised to the role of the Synodal spokesman, as opposed to the "new mercy" of Cardinal Walter Kasper, supported by Francis. Cardinal Burke accused the Kasperians of betrayal of the Church, indignant at the machinations behind the scenes to manipulate the Synod.

Pope "Regulates" Legally Hopeless Conflict with a Battering ram

A few weeks after the end of the Synod the courageous cardinal was publicly punished Pope Francis. He made him resign as president of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura and removed him from the Roman Curia. In that November 2014 Burke was appointed to the post of cardinal patron at Sovereign Order of Malta . A prestigious post, but without any influence on the church leadership. A post on which the brilliant lawyer of the Church could "do no harm", to the satisfaction of the papal clique.


Cardinal Burke is always "in the way" of Pope Francis. Or is it the other way around?

Cardinal Burke accepted dismissal and humiliation without publicly speaking a word about it. In his new task, he soon found his way. With the grandmaster, Fra Matthew Festing, an Englishman, their collaboration was not only facilitated by a common mother tongue. It is therefore assumed that the jurist Burke stands behind the procedure and statements of the Grand Master in the Boeselager case. Legally, this soon became clear in the Vatican, as it was accomplished with few expectations . Even the best lawyer, however, is powerless when more powerful rules override the rules and accomplished facts, and Pope Francis is well known to distrust rules and to prefer informal paths. Reacting with a battering ram on Tuesday he was able to overcome a legally hopeless situation in less than half an hour by surprising the grandmaster, who hoped for an honest confrontation and "dialogue" with the Pope, with a hard-hitting resignation. Whether it was that Pope Francis was like an Ernest Hemingway in the pose of a triumphing huntsman, is not to be dismissed. Some things seem to indicate this. Perhaps he himself was astonished at the power which his office is able to exercise with those who take it seriously.

"The Anti-Bergoglio Cardinal"

Now Cardinal Burke is in the focus, because he has already crossed the Pope for the third time. Observers rightly assume that this has not escaped the Pope's notice. After the first time, Burke was mercilessly demoted. The second time is an ongoing conflict. Burke is one of the four signatories of the Dubia (doubts) to the controversial post-synodal Letter Amoris laetitia . Since September 19th, the date of filing, Francis refuses to respond to the five questions posed by the cardinals and bring the hoped and requested clarification on ambiguous points of Amoris laetitia . The refusal of a Pope to answer questions of faith would be difficult to sustain for a long time without harming the office.
Now, thirdly, the conflict with the Maltese rule has also come. The cardinal can do precious little. Francis had forced him into the role as ambassador to the Order. Burke, as he did, kept to the rules. He told the Vatican what was to be reported. There is no way for an ambassador to comment on things being seen differently. In the matter of Maltese Order, the Cardinal never spoke. As a cardinal patron, he also undertook his task to advise the Grand Master, if desired. That Boeselager, whom the Grand Master had set up as a Grand Chancellor, had so good personal contacts with the Vatican Secretariat of State, and thus also with the Pope, is written on another sheet of music. In the meantime, it is generally known that the German Freiherr can call himself the "friend of the pope".
The fact that Cardinal Burke also one of the traditional friendly Cardinals in the Church, who mostly celebrates in the traditional form of the Roman Rite, which accoring to Pope Francis, is a "just passing fashion," maintains that it is also "ideologically" motivated and " semi-Pelagian." The other conflicts appear to be a mere surrender. The context is not, however, accidental.


What future for the Maltese  after "Operation Francis"?

As always, when two are arguing, there are others that stoke things in the background, takes place not always out of declared motives. Since the outbreak of the conflict in the Maltese Order, there are those who are fomenting against Cardinal Burke. The fact is that the Pope has asked Burke to mediate, but he has still heated the conflict. Anyone could see an opportunity to send Cardinal Burke "into the desert". The Dean of the Roman Rota , Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto, a declared Pope's confidant, had already on November 28, 2016, because of Dubia, threatened the withdrawal of the cardinalatial dignity  by Pope Francis. Pinto's zeal, however, had been more detrimental to the image of the pope, and he had to recant his statement shortly after. Cardinal Burke has had to make many statements since then. Yesterday,  the Frankfurter Allgemeine wrote of "ultra conservative hardliners", today, while Il Messaggero described him as the "anti-Bergoglio Cardinal". The Cardinal has rejected the assignment of such a role.

"A step back for the good of the Church"

Since then, in any case, someone in Santa Marta knows that no degradation of Cardinal Burke would really happen. Offices and titles are irrelevant to the pope anyway. Cardinal Burke also, albeit in a very different way, and above all with the utmost respect for every office and dignity. But there is another point where Burke wants to get something. The lawyer is considered, which is the way at least it is seen in the papal entourage, as the main actor behind the Dubia. If one were to make him withdraw his signature, or otherwise to take a "step back" for "the good of the Church", it would make Dubia resistance collapse. Thus one thinks when he is closest to the pope. The Dubia are currently the biggest annoyance for Santa Marta. They are like a barb in the flank of this pontificate. The outcome of this conflict is uncertain, not least for Pope Francis. With a background report in the Rome's newspaper Il Messaggero whose editors traditionally hold good ecclesiastical contacts, Burke was sent this message today: "Burke, the anti-Bergoglio Cardinal could take a step back." That was the heading of the title. The subjunctive refers less to the Cardinal's considerations, but rather to a recommendation to him. Literally it says in the article: "Now it could be Francis who is waiting for Burke to take a step back for the good of the Church."
As far as the current wishes in the guest house of the Vatican, it seems, however, ruled that Cardinal Burke, just because Francis is mad at him, will give up the Dubia . The Franciscan sourness against the US Cardinal has been a permanent state since February 2014 at the latest. This has much more to do with Pope Francis than with Cardinal Burke. There is nothing to suggest that the Cardinal could make such "recommendations". Still, in the first half of the month, the farm boy from Wisconsin was reaffirmed in his determination because of the ambiguous formulations in Amoris laetitia, not about feelings, moods, whims or nuances, but fundamental questions that go to the heart of the Christian Faith. On January 8,  Cardinal Burke said in a television interview: "A Brotherly rebuke will come if Francis' refusal continues." On January 11, he specified in a newspaper interview: "No ultimatum to the Pope, but the faith is in danger." 
On a whole other hand, there is the suffering inscribed on another page, which the Cardinal is undergoing because of the inner-Church conflicts and because of the overall situation of the Church and the faith. But perhaps you will never know about it.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican. va/MiL/orderofmalta (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG