"The Jihadist Couldn't Behead Me and Asked: 'Who Are You?'" -- The Witness of Abuna Nirwan

(Jerusalem) Abuna Nirwan is a Franciscan from Iraq. Before his ordination he had completed a medical examination. When he went to the Holy Land in 2004, the Dominican Women of the Rosary gave him a relic and a rosary from their founder, which Father Nirwan always carries with him.

Maria Alfonsina Ghattas and the Dominican Women of the Rosary

Maria Alfonsina Ghattas

The Dominican Women of the Rosary, a missionary order, were founded by Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas, a Palestinian Catholic who was born in 1843 in Jerusalem, which was still part of the Ottoman Empire. At a young age, she joined a French religious order, but in 1880, according to a vision, she founded her own order for Arab girls.The missionary community, now spread in eight countries of the Middle East, is the only order founded by the Latin Patriarchy, which was reestablished in 1847 in Jerusalem.

In 2009 Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas was beatified in Nazareth's preaching base. On May 17, 2015,  she was canonized by Pope Francis. Her liturgical commemoration day is the 25th of March, when she died in 1927 in A Karim near Jerusalem (then the British League of Nations Mandate for Palestine).

When Benedict XVI in 2009, had ordered the investigation for a miracle for the Beatification of the religious, as usual, he ordered the Exhumation of the Corpse. The local bishop instructs a doctor. With the exhumation of the body of Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas, Father Nirwan was commissioned because of his training, and he also wrote the medical report.

Father Nirwan (center) as head of exhumation

As the Spanish Opus Dei priest Santiago Quemada, who lived in Jerusalem, reported on his blog Un sacerdote en Tierra Santa (A Priest in the Holy Land), two years before, extraordinary events had taken place. The report by Quemada has now been taken up by various media.

What was reported occurred on July 14, 2007. Abuna Nirwan, who had been working in the Holy Land for three years, paid a visit to his family in Iraq. In Jordan, he got in a taxi, as he explained it in spring 2016 in the sermon in the almost completely Christian Palestinian town of Beit Jalla near Bethlehem.

"It was not then possible to visit my family by plane. That was forbidden. As a means of transport, therefore, only the car could be considered. My intention was to get to Baghdad and from there to Mosul where my parents lived. 

The driver was frightened because of the situation that prevailed in Iraq. A family - father and mother with a two-year-old girl - had asked if they could go with me. The taxi driver told me they had asked him to. I had no objection. They were Muslims. The driver was a Christian. He told them that there was room and they could come along. We stopped at a gas station, where another young Muslim asked if he could go to Mossul. Since there was still room, we also took him.

The border between Jordan and Iraq was closed until the morning. As the sun rose, the roadblock opened and the 50 or 60 vehicles were slowly moving in succession.
We continued our journey. After more than an hour we came to a checkpoint. We made our passports ready and stopped. The driver said, 'I am afraid of this group'. It was a military control post. However, as it turned out, an Islamic terrorist organization had killed the soldiers and taken control of the position.
When we were at the checkpoint, our passports were checked while we stayed in the car. Then they left with the passports. A person came back and said to me: 'Father, we need to continue to review. You can come to the office.'  "Well," I said, "if we are to come, we'll come." We then walked a quarter of an hour, until we came to a barrack, which had been directed to us.
Once there, two men with hooded faces came out. One had a video camera in one hand and a knife in the other. The other held a Koran in his hand. They came to us, and one of them asked me, 'Father, where are you from?' I said, from Jordan. Then he repeated the question to the driver. Finally, he turned to the young man who traveled with us, grabbed him from behind and killed him with a knife. We were frozen. They tied my hands behind me and said to me, 'Father, we are recording everything for Al Jazeera . Do you want to say something? But no more than a minute.' I said, "No, I just want to pray." They let me pray for a minute.
Then a man pushed me down to my knees and said, 'You are a priest. It is forbidden for your blood to fall to the ground, that would be a sacrilege.' He fetched a bucket and came to cut my throat. I no longer know what prayers I prayed at this moment. I was very afraid. Then I said to Maria Alfonsina: 'If it is so, that the Lord takes me away, I am ready. But if that is not so, I ask you that no one else will die."
The man grabbed my head and guided his knife with the other hand. Then nothing happened. After a moment of silence, he said, 'Who are you?' I replied, 'A religious brother.' Then he said, 'Why can I not manage to set the knife? Who are you?'
Without answering, he left me and said, 'Father, you and all the others, return to the car.'
We did that and were able to continue the journey.
Since that moment, I have ceased to be afraid of death. I know I will die one day, but now I am really aware that this will be when God wants it. Since then, I am no longer afraid of anything and nobody. What happens to me will be done according to God's will. He will give me the strength to take His cross. What counts is faith. God accepts those who believe in Him."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican.va/Franziskanerkustodie (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Jesuit General Sosa Signed a Hymn of Praise to Fidel Castro in 1989

In 1989, Sosa signed a manifesto, that Fidel Castro be celebrated as a hero

(Havana) The life of Arturo Sosa Abascal, the 31st Father General of the Jesuit Order reigning since October 2016, reads like a Marxist. In the late seventies, in the high bloom of liberation theology, he dealt with the question of how Christian faith could be mediated Marxistically. Many years later, he joined the circle of convinced Castro followers. This is the result of a declaration of solidarity, which was signed by the now "Black Pope".

"Unprecedented victory over tyranny, corruption and vassalism"

In 1989, 911 Venezuelan intellectuals and artists published a Manifiesto de Bienvenida a Fidel Castro , in which they welcomed the visit of Fidel Castro, the communist dictator of Cuba, and celebrated it as the "leader of the Cuban Revolution".

"We want to pay public respect for what you have achieved for the dignity of your people and for the whole of Latin America"

Says the statement.

"In this dramatic hour for the continent, only ideological blindness can deny the place you occupy in the history of the liberation of our peoples. 30 years ago, you came to Venezuela immediately after the exemplary victory over tyranny, corruption and vassalage. At that time, you were received by our people, as only a hero who embodies and symbolizes the collective ideal could."

Fidel Castro already visited Venezuela in the late 1950s

The signatories assured Fidel Castro, "for the same reasons today," to express their affection associated with "the hope" of building a "just, independent and solidarity Latin America". The persecution of the Church by the Cuban regime obviously did not touch the Jesuit Sosa.With this attitude, he was not alone among progressive Catholics. Christians who are not left are not true Christians, but reactionaries who deserve to be persecuted. Thus, the Swiss Capuchin Walbert Bühlmann formulated it in 1986 and thereby meant the Christian persecution of the Cuban supported Marxist regimes of Angola and Mozambique.

Father Arturo Sosa appears as the 811th signatory to the Declaration, which he signed as Director of the Centro Gumilla ( de Investigacion y Accion Social ). He also published his essay "La mediacion marxista de la Fe cristiana" (The Marxist mediation of the Christian faith) in the SIC of the Centro, which he directed from 1979-1996. Seven years after the praise of Fidel Castro, Sosa became Provincial Provincial of the Jesuit Province of Venezuela in 1996.

"The story is history, you can not deny," wrote the Spanish columnist Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña. For people can change over the years. What matters is where they are. The praise to Fidel Castro could however at best be considered a very late "sin of youth," since Sosa was already 41 years old at that time.

The past has passed: what if the now is even more serious?

Sosa after his election to the Jesuit General

Fidel Castro is dead, his brother Raul still dominates Cuba with a Marxist fist, while Sosa's homeland Venezuela is in a serious crisis. The "bolivarian" Maduro regime, with whom communist Cuba is closely aligned, shoots protesters.

More serious than the Marxist and real socialist aberrations of the Jesuit generation in the past are some doubtful statements today. At the very least, his assertion that Japan can only be evangelized in cooperation with Buddhism and Shintoism (see also the discernment between spirits ) is misleading . A comment in an interview with the Swiss journalist Giuseppe Rusconi brought a charge of heresy  against Sosa. The Father General of the Jesuits questioned nothing but the validity of Jesus' words. In order to justify the admission of remarried divorced to the sacraments and the softening of the sacraments of the Church as they read out parts of the Church from the post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia, calling on Pope Francis, Sosa questioned the infallibility of Jesus. At that time nobody had a tape recorder to record the words.

The case is pending with the Congregation of the Faith, which is now faced with the unusual task of judging a Superior General of the Jesuit Order. However, the situation in the history of the Church and the Order is not entirely new.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Venezuelavetada / MiL / Jesuit.org (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

"A Real Bomb" -- Pope Benedict Admonishes Francis: The Liturgy is in "Good Hands" With Cardinal Sarah

Cardinal Robert Sarah on a visit to the Benedictine Abbey of Solesme. Benedict XVI Pope Francis admonishes that the liturgy of the Church is in "good hands" with Cardinal Sarah.

(Rome) At first sight, what seems to be an expression of appreciation is "really a real bomb," according to Riccardo Cascioli, editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Il Timone and the online daily Nuova Bussola Quotidiana,

"With Cardinal Sarah the liturgy is in good hands." Signed: Benedict XVI.

The Pope, who had resigned more than four years ago, has signed a direct defense of Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacraments. The Cardinal was appointed by Pope Francis, who thus replaced the Ratzingerian Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, but is considered an "operational accident" in the papal circle.

Cardinal Sarah, Defender of the Holy Liturgy

The Cardinal from Guinea represents an even more traditional Church and liturgical understanding than his predecessor, and he is above all more consistent and active. When he became aware of this in the Vatican, Pope Francis began to counteract further appointments and isolate Sarah in his own congregation. After the Cardinal had invited all  priests to face liturgical east again at a London conference, giving up the heart of the "Protestant" liturgical form of 1965/1969, the excitement in Rome was so great that Francis himself contradicted Sarah. It says a great deal about the stamina of the black African that he nevertheless held fast to his request and repeated it afterwards.

"Cardinal Sarah has something to say to each of us"

The "eye-catching gesture" of Benedict XVI. Is found in a commentary on the latest book by Cardinal Sarah "La force du silence" (The Power of Silence), which has not yet appeared in German editions. This letter, which will be included in future editions as an afterword, was published yesterday evening by the American side First Things.

Benedict XVI praises Cardinal Sarah's book on a grand scale. He describes the Cardinal as a "spiritual master who speaks to the Lord from the depths of silence: the expression of his inner connection with Him, which is why he has something to say to each of us."

At the end of his letter the Pope, thanking Pope Francis, expressed his thanks for the appointment of "such a spiritual master as head of the Congregation for the Celebration of the Liturgy in the Church".

Defense against creeping disempowerment

This comment is more than just gratitude, according to Cascioli. He wants to protect and defend Cardinal Sarah.

"It is no secret that Cardinal Sarah was effectively deprived of a step by step over the past year, first by the appointment of Congregation members, with the aim of surrounding Sarah with open-minded progressive figures, who rejected the "Reform of the Reform" as described by Benedict XVI, which the Cardinal tried to implement from Guinea; Then the open contradiction of Pope Francis against Sarah's proposal on the direction of celebration; Finally, the reinterpretation of the liturgical texts into the vernacular languages, which hd been entrusted to a commission erected without the knowledge of the Cardinal; And last but not least, steps for an ecumenical Mass which will be undertaken by circumventing the relevant Congregation. "

The "promotion" of Cardinal Cañizares to be Archbishop to Valencia, is a single attack on the pontificate of Benedict XVI. whose efforts were aimed at recovering an understanding of sacredness. Nowhere in the Church is the contrast between a different understanding of the Church clearer than in the liturgy. This is due to the centrality of the sacred liturgy for the life of the Church. This centrality was supported by Benedict XVI. and brought him vigorous criticism from those circles who assert the power of authority over the liturgy.

Benedict's admonition and warning

In the now published epistle to the book by Cardinal Sarah, Benedict XVI offers a reminder:

"As for the interpretation of Scripture, it is also true that the liturgy requires a specific knowledge. In the liturgy, however, it is also true that specialization can fail to be essential if it is not rooted in a profound inner connection with the praying Church, which is constantly learning anew from the Lord, this is adoration."

Therefore the conclusion for Cascioli sounds "like a warning":

"The liturgy is in good hands with Cardinal Sarah, the master of stillness and inner prayer."

Benedict XVI, jumps to Cardinal Sarah's side and make him again the effective head of the worship congregation. There had so far been no such clear intervention in the administration of Pope Francis by the former Pope. Benedict XVI is going on as he has ruled: quiet, reserved, almost shy. Anyone who knows this style of government, and that applies to the entire Vatican, which knows the importance and clarity of this advance. The future epilogue of the book expresses the German Pope's  anxiety about "what is happening in the heart of the Church."

It is no coincidence that Benedict XVI. intervenes precisely in the area which, like no other, has determined his pontificate and is convinced that it will decide the decline or recovery of the Church. It was only recently that, on a question of confusion and divisions in the Church, Georg Gänswein had apparently casually replied that Benedict XVI. follows everything closely in the Church. To this Cascioli said:

"Now we see that he begins to discreetly take a few steps."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: MiL / Riposte catholique (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Has Pope Francis Established a "Secret Commission" for the Revision of "Humanae Vitae"

Does Pope Francis intend to erect a secret commission to dismantle Paul VI's Encyclical?

(Rome) According to leaks from the Vatican, Pope Francis intends (or has already implemented) to appoint a secret commission with the mission to examine possible changes in the position of the Church on artificial contraceptives. This was reported by the Vaticanist Marco Tosatti last week.

The demand was linked to the current pontificate by progressive Church representatives. Pope Francis so far made ambivalent signals on Humanae vitae .

Revision of Humanae vitae ?

Concretely, the issue was to examine the Encyclical Humanae vitae by Pope Paul VI. with a possible revision.The former Archbishop of Milan had reacted with the encyclical on the anti-baby pill, the sexual revolution and the killing of unborn children by abortion. He did it in the middle of the 68-Revolt, which had just broken loose. On July 25, 1968, he published the encyclical Humanae vitae, with a "prophetic message," as Pope John Paul II says in 1981 in the post-synodal letter Familiaris consortio. Pope Francis also spoke of "prophetic geniality" in an interview of March 5, 2014 with the Corriere della Sera. Contradictory signals from the current Pope, however, do not allow an exact classification of his attitude to ( Karnickel , Zika virus and what Paul VI never said). Although he praised the "geniality" of the encyclical on the one hand, he found praise for the German moral theologian Bernhard Häring, one of the sharp critics of Humanae vitae .

Bishop of Aleppo Performed Marian Consecration on Saturday

Marian consecration in North Syria coincides with the papal trip on the 12th and 13th of May in Fatima - Bishop: In the Marian Month of May, "all the churches are full of the faithful who pray the Rosary, kneel before the exposed Eucharist and recite litanies"

Rome (kath.net/KAP) The Christian community in Aleppo is preparing to celebrate the Fatima Jubilee and dedicate Syria's second-largest city to the Mother of God of the Fatima Apparition of Portugal. This was reported by the Chaldean bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, on Wednesday, according to the Roman mission news agency "AsiaNews". According to this, the consecration should bear testimony of a faith which "remained strong" in the time of the affliction on Saturday, May 13th. In the past few years the feeling of a "deep fellowship" reaching beyond confessional boundaries has developed, the bishop said.

The Marian Consecration in North Syria coincides with the Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis on the 12th and 13th of May. In Fatima, 100 years ago Mary appeared to the shepherd children, Francisco Marto, Jacinta Marto, and Lucia dos Santos; Francisco, the sibling of Marto, already beatified in 2000, will be sanctified in Fatima on Saturday.

"It must be said that the whole month of May is important to the Christian communities of Aleppo," said Bishop Audo, "all the churches are full of the faithful who pray the Rosary, kneel before the suspended Eucharist and recite litanies Very important time, it is a tradition that is deeply rooted and has lasted all the time. "

The three days of the festivities dedicated to the Mother of God of Fatima in Aleppo, organized on the initiative of the Latin parish of St. Francis, began on Thursday, 11 May, with a prayer at 5 pm. The highlight of the celebrations was Saturday, May 13th, with the Pope's Mass in Fatima, a solemn Eucharistic celebration in the St. Francis Cathedral, in which all the bishops and priests who are present in Aleppo and the surrounding area are participating. The faithful of all confessions in the largest north-Syrian city are invited to the Mass.

"The long-standing epicenter of the Syrian conflict is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima - after a procession with the statue by the streets," said Audo. This highly symbolic gesture is linked with the hope "that it can help to restore peace not only in Syria but throughout the Middle East after decades of conflict."

"The consecration of Aleppo to Mary and the issue of peace are a source of hope and a sign of our presence as a Church," said the Chaldean bishop: "We also want to use the event to address the themes of dialogue, unity and invitation to the Church. And not only among the various Christian denominations, but also with the inclusion of the Muslims by taking advantage of the huge echo produced by the Pope's visit to Egypt."

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Pope Addresses SSPX Question

Edit: here is the pertinent interview point from New Catholic at Rorate:

"I would toss out any form of triumphalism. None. Some days ago, the Feria Quarta of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, their meeting - the call it the Feria Quarta, because it’s the fourth Wednesday - studied a document and the document still hasn’t reached me, the study of the document. This is the first. Secondly, the current relations are fraternal. Last year, I gave a license for confession to all of them, also a form of jurisdiction for marriages, but even before the problems, the cases they had, for example, had to be resolved by the Doctrine of the Faith. The Doctrine of the Faith carries them forward. For example, abuses. The cases of abuse, they brought them to us, also to the Penitentiary. Also the reduction to the lay state of a priest, they bring to us. The relations are fraternal. With Msgr. Fellay I have a good rapport. I’ve spoken many times… I don’t like to hurry things. Walk. Walk. Walk. And then we’ll see. For me, it’s not an issue of winners and losers, it’s an issue of brothers who must walk together, looking for a formula to make steps forward."

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2017/05/very-important-pope-speaks-on-relations.html?m=1

AMDG

Famous Jesuit Seeks Hungarian Citizenship Because of Orban's Immigration Policy

Ex-Caritas chief for Egypt and former "Caritas Internationalis" Council for North Africa and the Middle East: "The West and the Pope do not know the true nature of Islam"

Budapest-Wien (kath.net/KAP) The well-known Jesuit Henri Boulad has been one of those voices for years, warning against a spreading Islam. A few weeks ago, the long-standing Egyptian Jesuit Provincial and director of the Jesuit Cultural Center in Alexandria has now accepted Hungarian citizenship. In order to support the restrictive migration policy of the Hungarian head of government, Viktor Orban, and to exert a corresponding influence on the European immigration policy. This is what the 85-year-old Jesuit from Alexandria declared in an interview for the Hungarian weekly newspaper "Heti Valasz", the text of which was published by the Austrian magazine "Kirche In" in his current May issue in German. 

During an Egyptian visit to the Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister, Zsolt Semjen, Boulad said that he wanted to be granted citizenship. The request was made by decree. In the middle of March the Jesuit spoke the oath at a ceremony in the Budapest Parliament. With the assumption of Hungarian citizenship, he wanted to "signal that the country led by Viktor Orban has made the right decision on the issue of the migration crisis that threatens the existence of Europe," said Boulad. "I would like to (...) fight for the future and for the Christian values on the side of the Hungarians and Viktor Orbans," explained the Jesuit.

In principle, support for refugees and poor is "right and good," said Boulad, " The Church had adapted itself to the views of the French Islamologist Louis Massignon (1883-1962), for whom mystical Sufism had meant the essence of Islam. Islam, however, historically chose not the "Meccan," but the "Median," path that still determines it: "The surprises of the Koran, which appeal to unbelievers with violence and jihad, are from the Medina period [The prophet Mohammed, note], the tolerant, msystic surprises of the Mecca period."  "Rome," said Boulad, "does not understand this, and the Christians of the East, who know Islam from the inside, are not asked, they are put to the side." According to the Jesuit, the Catholic Church is based on the expertise of "Experts in Paris, Berlin, or America who are regarded as great Islamic scholars, whose views are purely academic," and thus "fell into the trap of the Christian-Islamic dialogue, which in reality resembles a dialogue of pigeons." Boulad sees this dialogue, even after 50 years, "is still at its starting point."  Big announcements about reforms in Islam have hardly any consequences. 

The Jesuit also complained that there is little dialogue with him either, and French and Canadian bishops have banned him from entering in their countries. "Masses of moderate and intelligent Muslims and Muslima think like me. They are trying to destroy Islam to save Muslims and Muslims," Boulad said in the interview. The Liberals of Islam are "faithful to the beauties of their religion. In order to preserve and defend them, they want to free themselves from the imposed dictatorship." 

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

6,000 Police and Sharpshooters Protect the Pope

(Lisbon) The Portuguese government is taking security precautions for the Pope's visit to Fatima seriously. The Catholic Church head is  in Fatima. There, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first apparition of the Virgin, Francis will celebrate a Pontifical Mass, and sanctify the two seer children, Francisco and Jacinta Marto.

Portugal has not only concentrated strong police units in Fatima and secured the access to roads to the pilgrimage site with large concrete blocks. On the roofs around the sanctuary, snipers are posted. "The great square in front of the pilgrimage churches, with all the restraint of the security forces, looks to the attentive observer, like the forecourt of the Western Wall, which is constantly being watched by Israeli snipers. Each sniper position consists of three men. Two observers with binoculars and a shooter," said a Fatima pilgrim.

The concrete blocks were already set up at the beginning of the year to prevent an assassin commandeering a truck  and driving it into the crowd, as most recently followers of the jihad militia Islamic State (IS) did on the Breitscheidplatz in Berlin and before in Nice.

A total of 6,000 policemen are deployed in Fatima to guarantee the safety of the Pope and the many pilgrims who have come to the Shrine to mark the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions and canonizations. Helena Fazenda, secretary general of the Interior Ministry has said that there were "no elements" that are expected to lead a possible terrorist attack.

Text: Andreas Becker

Image: Secretum meum mihi (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekrob99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Our Lady of Fatima Please Protect Our Pope, Francis

Guest commentator, Dr. Markus Büning, would like to make a personal, conciliatory statement to the Pope's visit to Fatima, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the first publication of the Virgin Mary in Cova da Iria. We do not want to miss his request for publication.

Guest comment by Markus Büning *

After many controversies about this pontificate, it is my time to stop. Why? Tomorrow the Catholic world looks to Fatima. For me, Fatima is, in essence, the repetition of the Lord's Word: "Repent and believe in the Gospel!" (Mk 1:15). And, here are also those who demanded a great deal of criticism, certainly justified, in this pontiff, including me. From my point of view, I have said everything about Amoris Laetitia that is to be said. Sure, many a point was very urgent. I also have my limits and it is possible that I have not understood a lot. On the other hand, there are good arguments to ask critical questions.

One thing I must leave to this pope. He has great courage! Yes, I mean this quite sincerely. In the past few days, in a sermon, he has correctly referred to the processability of our values. Here is a quote from it.

"Think of slavery. When we went to school, they told us what they did with the slaves. How they caught them, they were sold, even in Latin America. This is a mortal sin - today we say that. At the time they saw that differently. At that time, some said: This is allowed because these people have no soul at all. One had to go on to understand the faith and morality better. - Oh, Padre, well, there are no slaves today! - Yes, there are, even more than before! But at least we know today that this is a mortal sin. We have advanced. The same applies to the death penalty, which was once normal. And today we say that it is not permissible! "

And now the improper critique is going again: the pope contradicts the Catechism. But, even in the Catechism, there can be things which are simply false, and maybe even when they do not directly concern dogma. There was, of course, a lot of things constrained by time, which we can not say now. He is right when he asks the protection of life also for the people who have fallen into grave sin, even for those who have murdered. Everyone has the right to repentance and every human being is an image of the Creator. And therefore it is imperative: Do not kill! Thank you Pope Francis for this clear impulse.

The Pope is looking forward to Fatima: On Wednesday evening he sent a video message to Portugal. Here he has said a sentence that deeply moves me. The pope utters a deeply Catholic phrase:

"As a shepherd of the world Church, I come to the Virgin Mary to offer her the most beautiful flowers that Jesus entrusted to my care - the brothers and sisters from all over the world, whom He has, without exception, redeemed by His blood. I need you all by my side, I ask for your (physical or spiritual) presence so I can entrust you all to the Virgin. "

Here I feel a profound spiritual vision which he has of his office. Yes, here I can see how much he needs to know the burden of this office. It is great that he takes us all to Fatima. And these words are also directed at we critics: I need you all! Yes, here I would like to answer the Holy Father: We also need you! We need the Pope, who guides the Church and with us the path of pilgrimage as a representative of the good shepherd. I would like to express this longing on the eve of the centennial of Fatima. May Fatima re-awaken us to all of that, in spite of all the differences of opinion, we are together and really need each other. I am very grateful to this pope's conciliatory impulse today, especially the reference to the redeeming power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Here the Pope is at the very center of our faith!

* Markus Büning, born 1966 in Ahaus (Westphalia), studied Catholic theology and philosophy in Münster in Westphalia and Munich as well as jurisprudence at the universities of Constance and Münster; In 2001, he received his doctorate in law, first assistant at the Universities of Konstanz and Münster, then as a lawyer in the administrative service. The proven church lawyer published numerous publications on church and theological topics and about saints. Dr. Markus Büning is married and father of two children.

Image: MiL

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

SSPX Relieves Superiors Who Signed Seditious Letter

Edit: could this be the beginning of the SSPI?

On March 27, 2017, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, signed on behalf of Pope Francis a Letter addressed to the bishops throughout the world “concerning faculties for the celebration of marriages of faithful who follow the pastoral activity of the Society” of Saint Pius X.

On April 4, 2017, the General House published a press release to express “its deep gratitude to the Holy Father for his pastoral solicitude, as expressed in the letter from the Ecclesia Dei Commission, for the purpose of alleviating ‘any uncertainty regarding the validity of the sacrament of marriage.'” This communiqué recalled the Society’s intention to continue in the same spirit what it has always done, namely “to prepare future spouses for marriage according to the unchangeable doctrine of Christ about the unity and indissolubility of this union (cf. Mt 19:6), before receiving the parties’ consent in the traditional rite of Holy Church.”

In an “authorized commentary”, the official website of the Society of Saint Pius X (fsspx.news) clearly recalled the Society’s positions concerning marriages, particularly their validity, even without official delegation: “However, just as the sacrament of penance was not invalidly conferred by the priests of the Society of St. Pius X before 2015, neither were the marriages celebrated without the official delegation of the local bishop or parish pastor.” This commentary was based on what Canon Law provides in such cases.

The District Superior, Father Christian Bouchacourt, has relieved these signatories from their function as deans. He condemns this subversive act, prepared in secret, aimed to destabilize superiors and taking the faithful hostage.

http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/concerning-letter-some-priests-faithful-french-district-29713

AMDG

Nightly Mural in Rome: Pope Francis and Trump Embrace

(Rome) A mural painted on a wall near the Vatican, shows a kiss between Pope Francis and US President Donald Trump. Francis is portrayed with halo, Trump with devil horns.

The exact meaning of the wall painting remains vague. The author (s) have not yet confessed to their nocturnal act. Upon the pope's white cassock was written, "The good forgives the devil."  The Mural is signed with "TVBoy". Some guessed behind this an Italian street artist.

US President Trump will visit the Vatican on the 24th of May and receive him in audience with Pope Francis. It is the first meeting of the two heads of state, who had a verbal duel at a distance during the US presidential election campaign.

Trump is participating in Sicily at the G7 summit in Taormina. He will also travel to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Belgium.

In contrast to the precise pasquinata at the beginning of the year, which criticized the administration of Pope Francis, the authors of the nightly Mural are not presumed to be traditional or conservative Catholics.

Photo: Atena 3

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

http://www.katholisches.info/2017/05/naechtlicher-mural-in-rom-kuss-zwischen-papst-franziskus-und-us-praesident-trump/

AMDG

Assasination Attempt on John Paul II at Fatima in 1982

On May 12, 1982, Father Juan María Fernández y Krohn, a priest of the Society of St. Pius X, attacked Pope John Paul II with a bayonet during the pope’s visit to Fatima.  

There is an interesting post by Father Cekada who knew the assassin and even belonged to the same clique of "hard-liners" in the Society.  Father Krohn was wound up pretty tight, like a lot of Sedevecantists, but anyhow.

Krohn accused Archbishop Lefebvre of being too soft during the trial.

The question now is, with Pope Francis in Portugal, does Krohn still harbour these intense ideas about religion, and if so, will he be in Portugal this weekend to see Francis? Krohn was banned from Portugal after serving three years of a six year sentence and moved to Belgium where he practices law.

SSPX Spokesman Confirms: "No Date for Reconciliation"

(Paris) Father Alain Lorans, spokesman for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X. in France, according to AFP press agency, said: "Dialogue continues without timetable." There is no specific date.  The FSSPX spokesman thus confirms what Guido Pozzo, the secretary of the Pontifical Commission, Ecclesia Dei, and the Vatican representativr for talks with the Society, said yesterday in an interview with Rome Reports.

Both sides thus indirectly denied speculation that the erection of the Society as a personal prelature could be announced by Pope Francis tomorrow, May 13, the 100th anniversary of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima.

Archbishop Pozzo said yesterday that Monsignor Fellay would first have to sign the doctrinal preamble before the canonical recognition could be passed as a personal prelature.

In the end, seven of the Society's French district and three heads of aligned religious communities had very clearly spoken out against an agreement with Rome at the present time. AFP therefore headlined yesterday: "The Lefebvrian integralists between the road to Rome and an internal crisis."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: AFP (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Guido Pozzo: "Lefebvrians" Have to Sign Doctrinal Declaration

(Rome) In an interview with Rome Reports, Archbishop Guido Pozzo, the Secretary of the Pontifical Commission, Ecclesia Dei, spoke of the canonical recognition of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X. There is "no date for reconciliation with the Lefebvrians", but the spirit is "constructive," according to Rome reports, referring to the Archbishop.

Monsignor Pozzo said:

"The reconciliation will occur when Monsignor Fellay formally adheres to the doctrinal declaration that the Holy See presented to him. This is also the necessary condition to then proceed to the institutional regularization with the creation of a personal prelature. I have noticed that there is not a controversial spirit but constructive. The different points of view or opinions we have on some issues do not necessarily need to lead to division, but to a mutual enrichment. I have realized that it is a priority for them to overcome this fracture with the Holy See. For them, it's a priority over other concerns."

Prior to the establishment of the new Personal Prelature, the Vatican would consult the bishops' conferences of the countries in which the Society currently operates. Archbishop Pozzo stated that the "key to reconciliation" was a better understanding of the Second Vatican Council. The misinterpretations that some theologians, intellectuals, and media have promoted would have led to breaches like with the Lefebvrians.

The Archbishop also recalled the criticism of Pope Benedict XVI. at a "hermeneutics of rupture". It was a false interpretation to see the Council as symbolic of a break with the doctrine of the Church which preceded it. This misinterpretation produces a "climate of conflict, confusion and uncertainty" about the interpretation of the Council, which is also the "root of the criticism and difficulties raised by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X," said Pozzo.

AMDG

SSPX -- A Question of Papal Heresy

[SSPX USA] This final section of Part 6 of Fr. Gleize’s precise study of whether or not a heretical pope loses his investiture must be read in the light of the previous sections.

The author of this series, Fr. Jean-Michel Gleize, has been a professor in the SSPX's Seminary of St. Pius X in Econe, Switzerland for 20 years, where he is currently teaching ecclesiology. He is the author of numerous articles in Courrier de Rome and is a consultant to the SSPX commission responsible for doctrinal discussions with the Holy See.

Editor’s Note
 

This final section of Part 6 of Fr. Gleize’s precise study of whether or not a heretical pope loses his investiture must be read in the light of the previous sections. This section closes out Fr. Gleize’s critical analysis of the various speculative approaches to the issue of the papacy and heresy.

Part 6c – Does a pope who falls into heresy lose his investiture in the Primacy?

Comments on Using St. Clement as an Authority

The new explanation of Fr. Devillers presented earlier is untenable. First of all because the argument from authority that it invokes is nonexistent. In the passage quoted from the Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Clement does not maintain any of the assertions that are attributed to him by Fr. Devillers (see Part 6a).

http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/question-papal-heresy-conclusion-6c

AMDG

Venezuelans Protest Pope's Support for Socialist Venezuelan Regime

(Caracas) In the late afternoon of May 7, the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference published a letter from Pope Francis about the situation in Venezuela. The letter is addressed to the bishops. The letter, dated 5 May, expresses the papal "concern for the difficult situation" in which the Venezuelan people live.
On the Saint Peter's Square yesterday, Venezuelan Faithful  with black crosses drew attention to the oppression in Venezuela at the Regina Coeli. The names of the dead were written with white  on the black crosses, who have been shot or killed in the latest protests against the socialist regime of Nicolas Maduro.

The dead of Venezuela as a reminder to Pope Francis
The silent protest should not only draw the attention of the world to the situation in the Latin country, which has been under the "Bolivarian Revolution" for 19 years. The protest with the black crosses was also an answer to Pope Francis'  letter to the bishops. It was an invitation to join the Venezuelan people and give up his support for the PSUV regime.
To this end, the Pope was not ready in his letter to the bishops. In this he repeated his call to seek "dialogue" with the regime and to come to "agreements" with it.
The Venezuelan prime minister, Cardinal Jorge Urosa, and the faithful protested against the oppression of the Socialist regime on Sunday in Rome with the cross in their hands. The Pope simply ignores the fact that the regime, which calls itself "revolutionary," uses "dialogue" to "suppress the people" and gain time to introduce even harsher oppressive measures to maintain power." This criticism also touches Pope Francis, who is accused of supporting the regime and of wanting to split the opposition.
Don José Palmara, one of the most famous priests of Venezuela, accused the Pope of "the complete ignorance of the situation in Venezuela".
Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: SMM (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Canon Lawyer Advises Acceptance of Adulterous & Sacrilegious Communions

 A canon lawyer, employed by a U.S. diocese, taught her audience including priests, that because no directives from the bishop have been issued about Amoris Laetitia,  the priests should follow Buenos Aires and Malta.  In those territories, priests are free to give permission to adulterous partners to receive Holy Communion, even though the couple continues to have sex, and one (or both) of the parties is already married to someone else.  This permission occurs after accompaniment and discernment by the priest.

Mary’s Advocates is sharing the audio recording, though the person that made the recording said the diocese must be kept anonymous. All identifying information has been removed from the recording publicized here, though the full recording has been shared with personnel in the diocese for whom the canonists works.

The mission of Mary’s Advocates is to reduce unilateral no-fault divorce and support those who are unjustly abandoned. The silence from the Catholic diocese tribunals about the injustice of no-fault divorce gives scandal. Granting so many annulments, with no involvement at the time of separation, has made matters worse.

Read further:

http://marysadvocates.org/us-canon-lawyer-tells-diocese-to-follow-malta-buenos-aires/

AMDG

Bishop of Frejus-Toulon Opens Churches to SSPX

(Paris) The bishop of Frejus-Toulon, Mgsr. Dominique Rey, issued a decree on May 4, 2017, which allows priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X to hold funerals in all churches and chapels of the diocese.

The French bishop, who is known as a friend of the tradition, cited the letter of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei on the occasion for his decree. The Commission had announced last March 27 that Pope Francis officially acknowledged the blessings made by priests of the Society in addition to the Sacrament of Penance.

"Each priest who is a member of the FSSPX, has, from the date of the signing of this decree in the territory of our Diocese of Frejus-Toulon, the necessary authority to accept the marriage promise between the bride and groom who turn to a FSSPX priest for their marriage."

The canonical validity and recognition is valid when the marriage takes place in a church or chapel of the Society before a priest, and the episcopal office is informed in advance. A separate form for these notifications has been attached to the decree. The vows are recorded in the marriage register of the Society, the copy of which is sent annually to the diocese's office.

According to the decree, the funeral ceremony can be celebrated by a priest of the Society in every church or chapel of the diocese. The priest of the FSSPX has to arrange the day and time with the local pastor and inform the Chancellery. In this case, the marriage will be entered in the parish register of the parish in which it was witnessed.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Diocese of Frejus-Toulon (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Fatima Canonization With 80 Cardinals and Bishops Coming Up

Vatican announces details of the Pope's program in Fatima.

Vatican City (kath.net/ KAP)  Around 80 cardinals and bishops are expected for the canonization of the shepherd children of Fatima on 13 May by Pope Francis. This was announced by a spokeswoman for the Portuguese Shrine on Friday in the Vatican. Two thousand priests will attend the Mass with Francis. More than 40,000 people also wish to join the event as pilgrims, according to spokeswoman Carmo Rodeia.

Francis travels to Portugal on 12 and 13 May to sanctify Francisco (1908-1919) and Jacinta Marto (1910-1920). The 13th of May is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Marian Apparitions, which lasted from May to October 1917. With millions of pilgrims, Fatima is now the second largest place of pilgrimage in Europe. 

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke announced that before the canonization, Francis would meet the oldest priest of Portugal, a 104-year-old. Prior to this, a brief meeting is planned between the head of the Church with Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

The Pope will be welcomed by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on 12 May at the Air Force Base in Monte Real. After an interview and a visit to the chapel of the airfield, Francis goes by helicopter to Fatima, 40 kilometers away.

There he will first pray privately in the Chapel of the Apparition before he sends a greeting to the faithful in the evening and prays the Rosary with them. Subsequently, Cardinal Secretary Pietro Parolin, with thousands, will celebrate a Vigil Mass on the square of the Shrine.

With the Sacred Ceremony on the 13th of May, the pope brings the seer children, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, into the list of the deceased who are allowed to be venerated in all Catholic churches worldwide. For the third seer, Lucia dos Santos (1907-2005), the beatification process is still ongoing. There were speculations that on the same day, she could also be blessed or sanctified. However, such a step would be unusual.

According to Rodeia, 350 clinically ill people are expected to attend the Mass of Saints; an encounter of the pope with them is expressly provided for. Francis then wants to have lunch with the bishops of the country. In the afternoon he leaves Monte Real for Rome.

Link to kath.net...

AMDG

Saint Joan of Arc Takes Orléans

On this day in 1429 Saint Joan of Arc ended the Siege of Orléans. She had been pierced with an arrow and pulled it from her shoulder and returned to the fight to lead the final charge. 

Marquette Warrior Defeated in Court

Edit: we've been following the travails of the most Catholic man on the Marquette University faculty, who isn't even Catholic, but he has our sympathy.  And given this kind of Stalinist treatment, who could blame him for refusing to convert? Notice, with all the navel gazing going on in supposedly Catholic Traditionalist circles for a while, there are no articles complaining about the Marxist and uncharitable tone among Catholic insititutions or among "mainstream" Catholics and their Gathering Spaces being rigid, pathologically mean and generally indifferent as well as spineless in their magazines and well-endowed periodicals.

Here's the link to the judgement.

AMDG

Bishop Huonder's Retirement Postponed -- "It's a Complete Surprise"

Bishop Huonder

(Chur) "The surprise is complete," the reaction of a Swiss priest friend last night when he communicated the news. Bishop Vitus Huonder of Chur has had his retirement put off for another two years by Pope Francis. Hardly anyone reckoned with this confirmation, even those closest to the bishop.

Msgr. Huonder has been bishop of the oldest Swiss diocese since 2007. On the 21st of April, he completed his 75th year and submitted his resignation on the same day. "That's it," was what the same priest said ten days ago.

Yesterday, Bishop Huonder wrote a letter to "all priests, deacons and pastoral staff in the Diocese of Chur".

"On April 21, 2017, I offered Pope Francis my resignation as a diocesan bishop. In the meantime Pope Francis, after weighing all the circumstances, has already decided and told me that my resolution, now pro-doc, has now been accepted. 'Tunc', so 'then', will be Easter 2019. I will be able to work as a diocesan bishop for two more years."

The Bishop recalls that the Holy See also left his predecessor in the office, Monsignor Amédée Grab, who remained until the age of 77, and till an Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese was appointed until the election of a successor.

Since this was the course under Pope Benedict XVI., however, nobody had expected the usual procedure under Pope Francis. Last autumn, a campaign had been launched against Bishop Huonder, who was already seeking his successor. It was requested that no bishop at all be appointed.

The surprise is also "complete," since Bishop Huonder, with has opposed Amoris Laetitia with the "excellent" Pastoral letter "The Holiness of the Marriage", against the Kasperians and the ambivalent attitude of Pope Francis, who refuses to make a clarification. This faithful confession of the traditional faith and morality has met with little satisfaction in the past few months at the papal court.

Bishop Huonder wrote in his letter:

"The sign of confidence on the part of the Pope, which is connected with his decision, has stirred great gratitude within me. I will continue to use all my powers to continue pastoral service, together with our Auxiliary Bishop Marian, with all priests, deacons and pastoral staff, for the salvation of the souls and the well-being of the Church of Chur."

"I am grateful to Pope Francis for his decision favoring continuity for our diocese.  And I thank him for giving me the opportunity to continue and accompany non-completed work within the diocese as well as at other levels."

Bishop Huonder is the first diocesan bishop of the German-speaking world and beyond, who has appointed his own diocesan vicar to the faithful attending the Immemorial Roman Rite in his diocese. Since diocesan vicars are appointed by the incumbent bishop, the extension also applies to Father Martin Ramm of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

"The surprise is complete," as the Swiss friends repeated.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Bishopric of Chur (screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Protestant Theologian: Conservative Party Has Capitulated to the Zeitgeist on Abortion

Rector of the Freie Theologische Hochschule Gießen: "It is not conceivable that the CDU has nothing to say" - although abortion is punishable, the actual handling of the population leads to the impression that abortion is legal

Cologne (kath.net) In the topic of abortion, Stephan Holthaus has charged politicians and especially the CDU of a "capitulation before the Zeitgeist". Holthaus is a rector of the Freie Theologische Hochschule in Giessen and a professor of Christian ethics and apologetics. He spoke at a discussion in an Lutheran Freikirche in Cologne, which was also attended by deputy CDU chairman Armin Laschet. The Protestant "pro media magazine" reported on this. "100,000 abortions a year are an ethical catastrophe. I can expect that a political system that inscribes a Christian human image on the flag will protect life. "For him," it is not conceivable that the CDU has nothing to say." Although abortion is a punishable offense, the actual impression among the citizenry is that abortion is legal.

Holthaus demanded that politicians should speak more clearly about the fact that only a small percentage of abortions would be carried out because of problematic pregnancies. In addition, said Holthaus, according to the "pro media magazine", they should support the policy initiatives that accompany women in conflicts during pregnancy. Laschet replied that his state did exactly that, he then criticized the fact that the Lutheran Church did not have a clear position here.

Laschet had previously appealed to the participants to participate politically: "There are too few Christians in politics. It is good for the entire political spectrum that Christians engage. "It is conceivable to actively participate or at least choose to go."


Trans: vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG