Cardinal Meisner is Dead -- Pope Failed to Answer His Dubia

Cardinal Joachim Meisner (1933-2017) was Bishop of Berlin from 1980-1989 and Archbishop of Cologne from 1989-2014.

(Cologne) As the Archdiocese of Cologne reported, Joachim Cardinal Meisner, peacefully passed away in the early morning hours.

"+++ In deep grief +++

Cardinal Meisner has died.

We mourn our old Archbishop Joachim Cardinal Meisner.

We pray for the deceased and always remember him well.

Let him rest in peace. "

This news was published by the Archdiocese of Cologne on his Facebook page.

Bishop at ecclesiastical and political flash points

Cardinal Meisner was born in the Silesian capital of Breslau on 25 December 1933, the Christmas Day, which he felt as a special grace. After the mass forced relocation of the German population to East Germany, he became a banker in Thuringia. In 1951 he entered Magdeburg in a late-semester seminary. In 1962, he was ordained in Erfurt for the Diocese of Fulda and promoted in 1969 to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Cardinal Meisner at his First Communion

In 1975 he was appointed Pope Paul VI. to the auxiliary bishop of the Episcopal Office of Erfurt-Meiningen, by combining the diocesan parts of Fulda and Würzburg, which lay in the DDR, beyond the Iron Curtain. The life of the church in the Communist dictatorship shaped Meisner deeply. He developed a special relationship with Catholic Eichsfeld in Thuringia, in which he felt reminded of his Silesian homeland.

In 1980, Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of Berlin, who was divided and divided by a wall, was altogether under Allied occupation, but was a united church unit. The Polish pope held the Silesian Meisner, whom he personally knew, as the most suitable man for one of the most difficult diocese, which was also part of a Catholic diaspora. In 1983, John Paul II raised him to the rank of Cardinal to give the Bishop of Berlin special weight. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall, he was also President of the Berlin Bishops' Conference, in which the DDR's ordinaries were gathered.

The "Roman" minority

Shortly before the collapse of the Communist dictatorship and German reunification, the  Pope appointed Meisner to be Archbishop of Cologne, one of the most important and influential bishops' seats in the world, alongside Milan and Chicago. John Paul II thus honored the Cardinal and expressed his appreciation and confidence, and set a strong signal for the idea of ​​German unity, which was already very much in process at that time. Above all, he signaled that he wanted a faithfulness, like that exemplified in the Cardinal, in the internally disturbed German church. The appeal to the Archdiocese of Cologne had become possible because the cathedral chapter could not agree on any candidate, and the Pope considered the right of the proclamation to be dilatory.

Episcopal ordination in Erfurt, 1975

In the following years, the Cardinal became a fixed, "Roman" reference point in the German episcopate, which pushed most of the time ever more in a progressive direction. Many Catholics, and in the entire German-speaking world, saw in him a "rock in the surf". The cleavages and majority relations in the German episcopate were made clear by the fact that Cardinal Meisner was never elected president of the German Bishops' Conference. He remained the leader of a "Roman" minority who, in the post-conciliar period, would no longer succeed in becoming a majority. With the death of Bishop Dyba, the persecution of Bishop Mixa, the ouster of Bishop Tebartz van Elst and the retirement of Cardinal Meisner, who Pope Francis retired in 2014, after the Cardinal had finished his 80th year, the axis shifted even more clearly Left (not in the sense of parliamentary buttressing, but in the sense of right from legitimacy and justice). When the Cardinal resigned, not a few German Catholics complained that they felt "orphaned". A meaningful description of the situation of the church in Germany

The shadow of the "pill after"

One year before his retirement, a shadow fell over his episcopate. It was about the case of a woman who was allegedly raped, who had requested the "morning after pill" from Catholic hospitals, but had been rejected. Because of the potentially abortifacient effect, the "morning after pill" was rejected by the Catholic Church. Meisner reversed his rejection at the end of January 2013, which made a corresponding decision of the bishop's conference possible. Since then, the "morning after pill" can be administered to Catholic hospitals.

Cardinal Meisner with Pope Benedict XVI

To this day, the rumor circulates that Cardinal Meisner had been misinformed by people he trusted who had misinformed him about the "morning after pill." On the basis of a study published by a leading abortionist, an abortion effect was denied and a decision was made instead of calling for further studies. Behind the scenes, the then Green Minister of Health had threatened to turn off the money tap for Catholic hospitals, if they did not administer the "morning after pill." A good third of the total health care in Cologne and surrounding area is operated by the Catholic Church.

Amoris laetitia, Dubia, and the eloquent silence of the pope

Recently, the Cardinal was internationally known in connection with criticism of the controversial document Amoris Laetitia of Pope Francis. As one of four cardinals, he had asked Pope Francis, in the Dubia (doubts), to clarify ambiguous passages of this document. More than nine months after the Cardinals presented their concerns to the Pope in the form of five questions, Cardinal Meiner has now died without receiving a reply.

Because the Pope refuses to speak, and does not react to Dubia at all, they asked him to receive them by the audience in April, in order to present their concerns. Even in this case they received no answer. Although Francis declared the "dialogue" to be the essential feature of his pontificate, his willingness to negotiate has boundaries, but "in the wrong direction," as is the case of the four cardinals.

Cardinal Meisner, as can be heard from Cologne, was very much concerned about this development in the Church and was personally disappointed.

In his last months of life, the former Archbishop of Cologne had to endure a flood of attacks by the "Chupamedias" of Pope Francis. The Chupamedias as it is called in Buenos Aires, as Francis explained in an interview, are Kriecher and Schleimer. Literally, the term means "spit lickers", as Pope Francis explained. Cardinal Meisner did not comment on the words of the  "Chupamedias". How much pain they have given him is not known.

Requiescat in pace

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Archbishopric of Cologne / Facebook (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Priest Marries Aberrosexual Pair -- Bishop: "More Discernment is Needed"

Priest blesses aberrosexual pairing. Bishop: "More Discernment is Needed"


(Rome) Last Saturday, two lesbians of 37 and 34 years of age were "married" in the northern Italian city of Schio. The wedding ceremony took place in the town hall with the "tiny addition", that a priest, Don Giuseppe Gobbo, blessed the wedding rings in advance which the two women put on each other's left ring finger. The "homosexual marriage" was decided in June 2016 by the Italian Parliament with the tacit approval of the Episcopal Conference on the condition that they should not be called "marriages". Bishop Nunzio Galantino, the General Secretary and "Pope's man" at the Episcopal Conference, had informed the government behind closed doors.

Don Giuseppe Gobbo

Officially, "homosexual marriage" is therefore called a "civil bond," but is equal in marriage to the marriage, except in the name. This results in the title of the local newspaper, Il Giornale di Vicenza, of June 27: "Civil Marriage is Blessed by Priest." The report in a recently celestial Catholic area is as follows: "Two girls crown their beloved room with a civilian bond and the priest bless their rings." The mayor left the wedding ceremony to an oppositional council of the radical left.

Don Gobbo was ordained priest in 1978. He helps on Sundays and holidays in a pastoral center in the mountains. He is mainly the president of the social cooperative Progetto Zattera Blu (Project Blaues Stream), a social association in the diocese.

According to the media reports, the faithful in Vicenza drew attention to the incident. Bishop Beniamino Pizziol called upon Don Gobbo to discuss the matter with him. The result was a press release by the diocese. It is stated that the conversation "clearly showed" that the priest "was guided by feelings of undoubted pastoral love." However, he had obviously "underestimated the impact and consequences of his gesture, which threatened to appear like an unsatisfactory equation between the civilian covenant with the Sacrament of Marriage."

The Bishop called "his priests to greater prudence and discretion," "reaffirmed the doctrine of the Church on marriage," but did not take a position on homosexuality, but confined himself to inviting "all pastors and faithful to the diocese, To live and proclaim the Gospel with love and readiness so that fidelity to Christian values ​​and understanding of the individual and the different situations in which they are can be realized in a common path of faith and true Christian love."

In short, the excitement about the blessing of the ring by the priest, which was carried out in open contradiction to ecclesiastical doctrine, dissolved itself in nothingness. There remains the dubious impression that the Church has accepted, even blessed, the "homosexual marriage". Only one must not (still) be caught.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Il Giornale di Vicenza (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Katholisches...
AMDG

Cardinal Müller Sabotages SSPX Reconciliation on His Way Out

Edit: the following is a complete translation of the letter from the Cardinal as confirmed by Rorate and the excerpt of which appeared at the Remnant.  One would almost think that he'd turned over a new leaf, but he was only likely biding his time to strike out before he left.  Here he is in this letter asking for what look more or less like the unsatisfactory conditions expected of the Society before a gaggle of Old Liberal Cardinals (Schönborn, Marx) along with Müller himself were assigned to the committee overseeing the negotiations.

Maybe Ecclesia Dei will throw this letter out and continue as they were before?  Here it is:

From www.medias-presse.info comes the following excerpt of a letter from Cardinal Müller to Bishop Bernard Fellay. According to www.medias-presse.info, Cardinal Müller's letter was communicated to all SSPX members by the SSPX General House.

Excerpt from Cardinal Müller's letter:

“As you know, Pope Francis has many a time manifested his benevolence towards your Priestly Society, granting, in particular, to all priest members the faculty of confessing the faithful validly and by authorizing local Ordinaries to grant licences for the celebration of the marriages of the faithful who follow the pastoral activity in your Society. Furthermore, discussions are continuing concerning questions relative to the full re-establishment of the communion of your Society with the Catholic Church.

In relation to this, with the approbation of the Sovereign Pontiff, I judged it necessary to submit to the Ordinary Session of our Congregation (which met on May 10 last) the text of the doctrinal Declaration which was transmitted to you during the meeting of June 13, 2016, as the necessary condition in view of the full re-establishment of communion. Here are the unanimous decisions of all the members of our Dicastery in this regard:

1) It is necessary to require the adhesion of the members of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X to the new formula of the Professio Fidei dating from 1988 (c.f. annexe). Consequently, it is not sufficient to ask them to express the Professio Fidei of 1962.

2) The new text of the doctrinal Declaration must contain a paragraph in which the signatories declare in an explicit manner their acceptance of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and those of the post-conciliar period, by granting to said doctrinal affirmations the degree of adhesion which is due to them.

3) The members of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X must recognize not only the validity, but also the legitimacy of the Rite of the Holy Mass and of the Sacraments, according to the liturgical books promulgated after the Second Vatican Council.”

www.medias-presse.info adds that Cardinal Müller concluded the letter saying that “during the Audience granted to the Cardinal Prefect on May 20 2017, the Sovereign Pontiff approved these decisions”. The French website also adds that in his accompanying letter to SSPX priests, Father Christian Thouvenot, Secretary General of the SSPX, recalled the words of Bishop Fellay after the meeting of the major superiors in Anzère, Switzerland, on June 28 2016:

“The Society of Saint Pius X does not seek primarily a canonical recognition, to which it has a right because it is Catholic. The solution is not simply juridical. It pertains to a doctrinal position which it is imperative to manifest [...] Divine Providence will not abandon Its Church whose head is the Pope, Vicar of Jesus Christ. That is why an incontestable sign of this restoration will reside in the signified will of the Sovereign Pontiff to grant the means for re-establishing the order of the Priesthood, the Faith and Tradition – a sign which will be, furthermore, the guarantor of the necessary unity of the family of Tradition”.

*** The Professio Fidei of 1988 refers to the Professio fidei et Iusiurandum fidelitatis in suscipiendo officio nomine Ecclesiae exercendo (Formula to be used for the profession of faith and for the oath of fidelity to assume an office to be exercised in the name of the Church) dated July 1, 1988 (coincidentally the day after the 1988 episcopal consecrations in Ecône) and published in the Acta Apostolica Sedis in 1989.

The Profession of Faith is as follows: I, N., with firm faith believe and profess each and everything that is contained in the Symbol of faith, namely:

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God,born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith, I also believe everything contained in the word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by a solemn judgment or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium, sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed.

I also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.

Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act.

AMDG

Relic of Saint Nicholas Drawing of Millions of Pilgrims in Moscow

(Moscow) For the first time in the history of Russia, there are relics of St. Nicholas of Myra, one of the saints especially worshiped in the Orthodox Church, on Russian soil. After almost a thousand years, for the first time, a relic of the Saint has left Italy.

Arrival of the relic shrine at the Moscow airport

During their meeting in Cuba, Pope Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill agreed in February 2016 that a relic of the Saint would visit Russia. This passed May 21, it was time. All the church bells in the Russian capital Moscow rang as a sign of the great joy over the arrival of the relic. In a spectacular procession, it was taken to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where Patriarch Kirill celebrated Divine Liturgy.

Since 22 May, the relics have been venerated by the faithful in the patriarchal church. Millions of believers have come. Since then, people have been patiently standing in mile long lines in front of the cathedral to find their way in. Often, it takes eight to nine hours before they can step in front of the relic and just wait a few seconds. That is enough to touch or kiss the shrine. Prayer is "in the heart" on the way there, as the Russians say. For this reason, the pilgrimage line moves rather quickly. All the more surprising is the never-ending line in front of the cathedral.

On a dedicated website, believers report on their pilgrimage to the relic, including a young woman, Alena Romanenko. She said, "After I crossed myself and kissed the relic, the priest allowed me to kiss him a second time, no one pushed or protested ... I think that everything depends on what you carry in your heart and the Saint brings it."

A few seconds at the reliquary shrine

On all Moscow metro lines (the Russian capital has the world's fourth largest subway network after Shanghai, London and New York), the visitor to the St. Nicholas Reliquary has been given directions since May on how to come to the pilgrimage.

So far, only the exhibition of the girdle of Mary in 2011 and the relics of Saint Andrew 2003 had moved such crowds. In order to find something similar in the past, one has to go back to 1989, when the body of Sakharov was exhibited in Moscow, and the people were kept in long lines at a most inhospitable temperature of up to minus 20 degrees centigrade. (-4 Fahrenheit) Communist rule in the truest sense of the word.

Vladimir Putin, the current President of Russia, visited the relic on the evening of May 21st.

Until July 12, the relic remains in Moscow, then it is transfered to St. Petersburg to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. In St. Petersburg, an equally impressive number of believers are expected. On the way to the shrine of the saint they will touch or kiss, they will pass the tombs of Dostoevsky and Musorgsky, who are buried there.

Remains of the Saint were translated to Bari from the Muslims

The faithful wait patiently in long lines

The mortal remains of the famous martyr bishop have been preserved since 1087 in the southern Italian city of Bari, where they had been brought for the protection from the Seljuk Muslims from the small Asiatic town of Myra (today Demre in Turkey). Since then they have not left the Apennine peninsula. After coming to terms with Patriarch Kiril on 19 June, part of a rib of the saint was recovered from the crypt below the altar of the basilica named after him in Bari. On the morning of May 21, 2017, Metropolitan Hilarion, the "Foreign Minister" of the Moscow Patriarchate, celebrated a Divine Litirgy at the St. Nicholas Basilica of Bari, attended by Monsignor Francesco Cacucci, Archbishop of the Apulian city. At the end of the liturgy, the metropolitain received the relic from the representatives of the Catholic Church.  Hilarion brought the relic to Russia, in a specially designed shrine where the relic was received at the Moscow airport with military honors.

At the request of the Patriarch, all the church bells of Moscow were ringing for this event at 6 pm. The relic reached Russian soil exactly on the eve of the feast, with which the Orthodox Church commemorates the transfer of the relics from Myra to Bari. With a grandiose procession, Patriarch Kirill accompanied the relic into the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the main church of Russian Orthodoxy. The cathedral was blown up by the communist rulers in 1931, but after the end of the Soviet dictatorship it had once again been built up according to the original. On 19 August 2000 it was blessed by Patriarch Alexius II, the predecessor of Kyrill.

Great St. Nicholas procession of Veliteretskoye

Procession of Velitoretskoye

Also this year's Great Procession of Velikoretskoye, one of the great processions of Russia was marked by the presence of the relic of St. Nicholas. The procession, which ended on June 8, is actually a multi-day pilgrimage. It lasts from the 3rd to the 8th of June and finds its end in the inconspicuous place of Velikoretskoye on the river Velikaja in the remote Russia. In Velikoretskoye, about 50 kilometers northwest of Kirov, there is a monastery, where an ancient icon of St. Nicholas was preserved. The icon was found in 1383 by a farmer named Agalakov on the bank of the river. The revered icon is credited with numerous miracles. Soon the procession, still carried out today, was carried out, with the icon being carried 150 kilometers.

During the Soviet period it was first brought to the bishop's church of the city of Viatka, which was renamed by Stalin for the Communist leader Kirov, whom he had executed. When the Communists destroyed the Cathedral of Kirov in 1935, the icon was lost. The Great Procession was already forbidden at that time, but never broke off completely, as small groups of believers kept them secret. After the collapse of the Soviet regime, the pilgrimage was re-established and is now regarded as a sign of the orthodox rebirth of Russia. Since the early 1990s the pilgrimage takes place every year, even if only a replica of the old icon is available. In 2000, Patriarch Alexius II granted the event the status of an all-Russian procession. This year, 35,000 people came to a remote place, including Patriarch Kiril, who, through his personal presence, made the bridge to the relic of the saint, which was revered in Moscow.

https://youtu.be/DLjUmIDOFuo

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Bidl: Asianews

Trans: Tanceed vekron99@hotmail

Is the New Same Sex Marriage Law in Germany Going to be Extinct?

Volker Kauder (67, CDU): "A challenge to the Constitutionality law of marriage for all "will surely come!" Did Merkel (62, CDU), who voted against, already calculate this?

Berlin - On Friday the "marriage for all" was decided by the Bundestag and in many places a big party followed and there were even first marriage promises among same-sex partners. After the rushing celebrations, will there be wailing and lamentations?

The reason for this are statements by Union Chief Volker Kauder (67, CDU). This was from an interview with the news agency AFP on the question whether the new law will end up before the Federal Constitutional Court: "I am certain," the FAZ reports.

And this means in the plain text: The Federal Constitutional Court has the power and the legal possibilities to upend the new law! Then the "marriage for all" for the time being is again on the way out!

How can that be? In the interview, Volker Kauder expressed his concerns more specifically, saying that supporters of the new regulation should "have a wider debate, rather than quickly get a right-wing out-of-law bill out of the Legal Committee."

He also criticized: "In the near future the question of whether the opening of the marriage is really permissible under constitutional law will also put people who are now homosexual, who now want to marry in the sense of the law, in an unstable state of limbo."

Had Angela Merkel already known that the law would not last long, and therefore openly admitted she voted "No"?

These and other questions will have to be clarified in the coming weeks and months. In any case, these developments are a major obstacle for all fans of "homosexual marriage".

Photos: DPA

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Cardinal Müller Mostly Denies Conflict Between Himself and Pope

Edit: it's worth noting that the Pope had a personal grudge against the Cardinal's friend, one of the originators of Liberation Theology, the Peruvian Gutierrez.

Cardinal Müller explains to the "Allgemeine Zeitung" that the Pope told him that he wanted to limit the term of office to a five-year term, "and I was the first person to do it."

Mainz (kath.net) "There were no differences between me and Pope Francis." This was stated by Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller in conversation with the "Allgemeine Zeitung". Rather, the five-year term as the prefect of the Congregation for the Congregation of the Congregation expired. It is customary that these office times should be extended, but Pope Francis decided otherwise. Müller, who is currently in Mainz, told the Allgemeine Zeitung that the Pope had informed him that he wanted to limit his term of office to a five-year term, "and I was the first person to do this." Müller said he did not expect this decision, however, according to the newspaper, he seemed "very relaxed".

The Pope had not given him any further justification, and even Müller was not aware of any reasons. Thus there was no quarrel over "Amoris laetitia," although the opinions were not identical in all respects. Müller only regretted, telling "Allgemeine Zeitung" that the Pope had dismissed three competent employees a few weeks ago.

Archivfoto Cardinal Müller Archivfoto Cardinal Müller (c) Markus Gehling / kath.net
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

CDF Successor is a Jesuit

(Rome) The Vatican confirmed in the daily bulletin of the Vatican press office has announced the dismissal of Cardinal Gerhard Müller as Prefect of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Francis has appointed the Secretary of the Congregation for the Congregation of the Faith, the Jesuit, the curial bishop, Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer.

The daily bulletin confirmed the dismissal of the Prefect of Faith yesterday. Pope Francis had received Cardinal Mueller in audience yesterday. He gave him his dismissal. Over the past few weeks, this had been increasingly speculated about.

Luis Ladaria Ferrer SJ

Francis has appointed the number two of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Spanish curial bishop, Luis Ladaria. Ladaria has been working for the Holy Office since 1995. At first he was a consultor. In 2008 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop and Secretary of the Congregation. He is the first Jesuit in this office.

When the relationship between Pope Francis and Cardinal Müller rapidly cooled, various names were named as possible successors, including Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto and special bishop for the Bishops' Synod on the Family, Victor Manuel Fernandez (Rector of the Catholic University of Argentina and [evil] ghostwriter of the pope), occasionally also Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna.

Since the dismissal of the Prefect of Doctrine and the Faith was a blow in the smoldering conflict surrounding the orientation of the Catholic Church, Francis decided for a less spectacular succession by placing the previous number two at the top. Ladaria is considered a highly qualified and orthodox theologian. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church is likely to compare with him a previous Prefect, Levada. The American William Joseph Cardinal Levada, headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2005-2012. The successor of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger fulfilled his work behind the scenes, but remained colorless and without external influence. [Probably because he was a figurehead.]

In contrast to Cardinal Müller, who was all the more interested in the public, the more Pope Francis isolated him in the Vatican, no such behavior can be expected from Archbishop Ladaria. This is borne out by his previous restraint, and even more so by the fact that the new Prefect of Faith is a Jesuit. Public opposition, whether directly or indirectly, is not to be expected of him against the first Jesuit in the papacy.

This gentle succession can not blind us to the drama of the intervention with which Pope Francis demonstrates once more the determination to carry his will against any resistance with a strong hand.
The resistance concerned the controversial post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia, which is seen by critics as a first step towards the recognition of divorce and second, in the specific case of Cardinal Müller and that "zero tolerance" postulated by Benedict XVI.  against pederastic priests. This received official lip service under Pope Francis. However, implementation seems to depend on the importance and favor enjoyed by an affected cleric. The work of Cardinal Müller was hampered by interventions made by the Pope, such as the cases of a Chilean bishop and "Don Mercedes".

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

Pope Bergoglio Finally Fires Cardinal Mueller

(Rome) Cardinal Gerhard Müller was dismissed by Pope Francis as a Prefect of the Roman Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith.

Müller, previously Bishop of Regensburg, was appointed in June 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. to the Roman Curia to take over the central task as the guardian of the Orthodoxy. On 2 July 2012, he took office. Between Pope Francis and the German Cardinal the relationship was always clearly chilly. In the conflict over the bishops' synod about the family and the post-synodal letter Amoris Laetitia it sank to the zero point. The Cardinal was vehemently opposed to a change in Catholic marriage and morality, without directly criticizing the Pope. In the past there had been an increasing speculation about an imminent dismissal.

Because of his defense of the traditional teachings he was criticized as an "antagonist of the pope" 

The more clearly Pope Francis and his immediate circle, to which Cardinal Miiller never belonged, succeeded toward the admission of remarried divorced persons to Communion, the more vehemently the German Cardinal asserted that no one could alter Jesus' teachings, not even the Pope. The fact that he read Amoris Laetitia in the light of the traditional teachings, sufficed to place him under the title of "pope's antagonist."

At the beginning of the Second Episcopal Synod over the family, Cardinal Müller belonged to the 13 Cardinals, who sent a spectacular protest letter to Pope Francis. They protested against the Synods, which wanted to assign them the role of mere extras, while the results seemed to be fixed in advance.
Since then the door of Francis was closed to the Prefect of the Faith. Not because the Cardinal had been wrong, but because the letter had stifled the strategy of the papal entourage. 

An increasingly severe conflict 

With the dismissal, Francis waited exactly for the expiration of the term of office, which was limited to five years. The dismissal could have already taken place in March 2013, because with the election of a new pope all Curial Offices expire. Francis, however, initially shied away from radical interventions and confirmed the bulk of his work, as is the custom of the Vatican. Gradually, he exchanged leading Curial representatives. The first heads that rolled were "Ratzingerians", such as Cardinal Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation of Clergy, Cardinal Secretary of State Bertone, Cardinal Canizares, Prefect of the Congregation of the Worship and Cardinal Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature. 

The tiny formalism that left Cardinal Müller in office for a full term of office and now, so to speak, to use the legitimate possibility of a new appointment, can not blind us to the radicality of the intervention in an ever harder struggle for the orientation of the Church.
With the dismissal of the Prefect of Faith, the equilibria in the Vatican, in which Pope Francis has repeatedly intervened, are massively slipping, with initially unpredictable consequences.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican.va
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Jesuit College Founded After Vatican II in Brussels Closing

(Brussels) The Jesuit Institut d'Etudes Théologiques (IET) in Brussels, Belgium, is on the way out. According to the Jesuit Order, from the autumn of 2019 onwards, the theological college will no longer offer lectures.

Jesuit College Brussels


The Press Declaration of the Order endeavors to give the event a positive note. This can not, however, brush away the decline. The Institute was established fifty years ago in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. In 1968 the course of studies was established for students who saw their future as a priest in the Jesuit Order. Soon, "improvements" took place. Because of the decline in vocations, seminarians from numerous French dioceses were able to study at the university, as well as male and female religious, and even laymen from the new communities that have emerged over the past decades.

In 2004 the real purpose was abandoned. The European Jesuits, studying theology in French, were concentrated in Paris.

Despite this reorganization, the institution could not be sustained because the number of students and financial resources decreased year after year. In the press statement of the Order, it reads like this:

"The Society of Jesus, therefore, has decided to reorient its theological presence in Brussels."
After an "intensive" internal exchange and dialogue with the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, the new Jesuit General Arturo Sosa Abascal made the decision to cease teaching at the Theological University of Brussels in September 2019.

From Egenhoven to Brussels

In this way, the possibility remains to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its existence. In 1968 the school was founded in Egenhoven near Löwen. It was to have replaced the older, Flemish Jesuit College, named after St. Albert of Lions (1191/1192 Bishop of Liège). The university itself writes on its website:

"La crise qui suivit le concile Vatican II (1962-1965) toucha de plein fouet l'Église et les différentes provinces de la Compagnie de Jésus, en particulier ses maisons de formation et d'études, entre autres les philosophiques et théologats situés à Eegenhoven, près de Leuven. En 1968, au terme d'une référion lucide, les supérieurs jésuites faisaient un constat sévère sur la formation théologique de l'époque. "

The crisis that followed the Second Vatican Council hit the Jesuit Order very hard, especially its houses of study, including Egenhoven. A group of professors was asked to found a new philosophical-theological college capable of responding to the "challenges" through the development of the humanities, social sciences and theology. Against this backdrop, the study was opened to laymen, then to women. This was a development which was "a small revolution" and "not without difficulties", as described on the website of the university.

In 1972, the university moved from Egenhoven to Brussels. In 1980 the first non-Jesuit took up his studies. In 1981 Cardinal Lustiger, then archbishop of Paris, sent the first diocesan seminarist.

In the 48 years of their existence, more than 1,100 priests were trained at the Brussels College. Seven of them are bishops today. In the remaining two years, the Jesuit Order wants to redefine its collaboration with the Archdiocese. It is intended to take up less human and financial resources, but to focus on the "service to the inhabitants of Brussels with their European dimension".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: IET (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Pope's Secretary: "If he had remained Pope, he would not have lived long"

"If he had remained pope, he would not have lived long."

Focus Magazine , No. 26, June 24, 2017, Archbishop Georg Gänswein on Benedict XVI, who was "deeply exhausted" after an eight-year pontificate. Four years and four months have passed since his resignation from office.

Image: Focus (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Catastrophic The End of Cardinal Pell

Edit: without looking at the substance of these accusations, we assume that they're flimsy enough to destroy a conservative Cardinal from Australia. We've never really liked him, but he'd been a friend of tradition and has the enmity of the Pope, and that's pretty good...

SYDNEY (AP) -- Australian police charged a top Vatican cardinal on Thursday with multiple counts of historical sexual assault offenses, a stunning decision certain to rock the highest levels of the Holy See.

Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis' chief financial adviser and Australia's most senior Catholic, is the highest-ranking Vatican official to ever be charged in the church's long-running sexual abuse scandal. Pell said he would return to Australia to fight the charges.

Victoria state Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said police have summonsed Pell to appear in an Australian court to face multiple charges of "historical sexual assault offenses," meaning offenses that generally occurred some time ago. Patton said there are multiple complainants against Pell, but gave no other details on the allegations against the cardinal. Pell was ordered to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 18.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AUSTRALIA_CARDINAL_CHARGED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-06-28-20-16-34

AMDGo

The Leadership of the Maltese Order "Completely Unusually" Present Themselves Before the Pope in Civilian Clothes

The Grand Master Dala Tore

(Rome) Last Friday, 23 June, the new leadership of the Order of Malta was received by Pope Francis in audience. The delegation was led by the Grand Masterless Order of the Governor of the Grand Master, Giacomo Count Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, who was elected for a year on the last 29th of April.

Maltese Order before of the "bagarre"

Vatican Insider, the news platform directed by the pontifical House Vaticanist Andrea Tornielli, reported enthusiastically the same day about the reception. At the same time, the site emphasized the fact that the delegation had not appeared in the uniform of the knights but in civilian clothes before the pope.

The 1000 year old order has passed through some dramatic months. At the beginning of December 2016 there was an open conflict between the then acting Grandmaster Fra Mathew Festing and Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager. Festing dismissed Boeselager, who found support with the Vatican Secretariat of State and with Pope Francis. The Grand Master insisted on the sovereignty of the Order in an Order. Pope Francis saw it differently. When, at the end of January, he received the Grand Master in audience, he did so less to give Fra Festing the opportunity to present his position, but to give him an ultimatum. The Grand Master took the consequences and resigned.

Dramatic conflict just a "bagarre"?

At the same time, the Vatican Secretariat of State re-elected Boeselager as "Grand Chancellor" in the name of the Pope. Until the election of a new Grand Master, Fra Dalla Torre will be responsible for the duties of the management of the Order, as a state administrator. The actual decisions fall on the Boeselager - Secretary of State.

Maltese Order after the "bagarre"

The Pope's audience was traditionally held the day before the Feast of Saint John the Baptist, the patron of the Order. Topics were "the reform of the Order and humanitarian projects". Critics fear structural intervention in the religious order to cement a change in its course. At the core of the "reform," the assumption is that the first class should be subdued in favor of the Second Estate, to which Boeselager also belongs.

"Kneeling and hand kiss, moving look, civilian clothes. Farewell! decorations, red jackets and presumptuous photos."

Thus Vatican insider author Salvatore Cernunzio describes the "new humility" of the Order. The delegation, led by Statthalter Dalla Torre, had a total of twelve representatives. The Maltese Vicar presented himself to the Pope in a completely different way from that of the Order, which was "last December an actor behind a turbulent bagarre."

For Vatican Insider, the serious conflict, which has several courtly spies, was only a "tussle". After a "successful" operation, the Vatican apparently wants to go to the agenda.

Order Knights with Cukulle at Church events

All the members of the Sovereign Council, who had entered before Pope Francis, appeared in civilian clothes, "without the picturesque uniforms," ​​Cernunzio said. The Order also expresses its dual character in its clothing: military as a knightly order through the red uniform, ecclesiastically through the black Cukulle. Obviously, the knights who had been "encouraged," says Cernunzio,  left the appropriate uniform for the secular occasions last Friday in the closet because they "do not like the pope".

Even in the past, the Order's representatives had appeared wearing less formal civilian clothes before the pope. In the context of the Pope, however, past weeks were intended to emphasize this aspect and emphasize a contrast to the past.

The meeting lasted almost 25 minutes. All those present left the audience room "visibly moved", according to Cernunzio.

Pope Francis had "encouraged" them with the words:

"I am near to you, I pray for you, continue this way."

Maltese Order and Immigration

The governor assured the Pope that the Order was fully committed to the promotion of "international humanitarian law" and that it was increasingly active in the area of ​​"Migration and Development". As of June 28,  Fra Dalla Torre, will take part in the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Berlin.

In the course of the mass immigration to Europe and to the USA, Pope Francis has supported a "right to migration". In this connection, he had a strong demand for a change of the National Citizenship Act over the leadership of the Italian Bishops' Conference appointed by him. Those who are born in Italy will automatically be citizens of the country, according to the draft of the Italian left-wing government, which is currently being discussed by parliament. However, the latest opinion of the IPSOS Institute revealed that the majority of the Italians reject the Ius soli and demand the maintenance of the jus sanguinis, as the principle of pedigrees. The success of the bourgeois-right opposition in the municipal elections of Sunday confirms this trend.

Pope Francis, on the other hand, encouragted the Bishops' Conference to "cozy up" with the left-wing government, according to personal preferences, as the critics say: the pigments on the new palette ranges from registered partnerships for homosexuals to immigration issues. The Maltese Order seems to be viewed as a building block in the network of the "migration industry".

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

Swiss Pederast Dissmissed From the Clerical State -- "Father, I Forgive You"

(Berne)   Mon Père, je vous pardonne ("Father, I forgive you"), is the most recent book by the Swiss Philosopher  Daniel Pittet from Freiburg in  Üchtland, where he elaborated his experiences, as a child for four years at the hands of his countryman, Capuchin Father Joël Allaz. The preface to the book was written by Pope Francis. Father Joël has been released from the order and dismissed from the clerical state.

"I was alone"

The book on and against the sexual abuse of children by priests, narrated in a very concrete style, has caused a great sensation because the preface was written by no less than Pope Francis. Daniel Potter is now 58 years old. At the age of 8-12, Joël Allaz, the priest of the Oratory, had Mistrewted him. "I was a child, petrified, crying bathtubs of tears, but I could not resist."
"I have forgiven him," is the message of the author. But nothing should be concealed, nothing should be denied or downplayed. It is rather about "healing these wounds" and "making a clean slate." He was a "shy and fragile" child. His family situation was broken.
"I was alone." The Capuchin Father "should have helped me and not been able to take advantage of the situation".
A great aunt finally suspected and took steps to protect the child.

"80 percent  pedophiles were raped as children"

Petit, with the help of therapy, has succeedsed in leaving behind this "hell" which he has experienced. It was a long, painful path between repressing, wanting to forget and the search for his place in life. "Sometimes I wonder where I would have been today, if that had not happened to me." He has met many other people since then. It was important to help them. This is due to their human dignity, but also necessary, because otherwise there is the danger that they will do the same to others.
"80 percent of pedophiles were raped as children,"

Pittet said this in an interview with the daily La Repubblica last February. Pittet is not an accuser against the Church:
"90 per cent of the abuses occur in the family environment",
 the Freiburg man knows this because of the many encounters with other victims.
Joël Allaz was transferred to France after Pittet's accusation. That was years later. Pittet then learned that the transfer had not changed him. The Capuchin abused other boys as well in the neighboring country.









"He did not apologize"

Daniel Pittet: "Father, I forgive you" appears on 18 August 2017

About a year before the publication of his book, Pittet met the man who had abused him for four years. "He looked at me. I saw his fear. But he neither apologized nor seemed to regret the suffering he had given me. "The Capuchin had also shown himself as an" egoist "at that moment and only spoke of his  "suffering." Nevertheless, his victim has forgiven him: "I have seen in him a sick man who has nothing to do with my faith, which remains untouched by it. But I am fighting for the Church to break its silence and expose the pedophiles. "This is the case in Switzerland, but not yet in other countries.
Pittet entered the Benedictine Abbey of Einsiedeln. It has been "four years of happiness and healing" for him, as he says today. He recognizes, however, that he is not called to religious life. He is still looking for his place with its ups and downs:

"I had to decide whether I wanted to keep faith or not. I followed the advice of Cardinal Charles Journet, with whom I had been an altar server.  if you are suffering, go to Bürglen [a place of pilgrimage in the south-east of Friburg] nine times. At the ninth time I met a girl in the chapel who was crying. I have entrusted her to the Mother of God and have chosen me for faith."
He has became active in the prayer apostolate, until after a few years his past arose in him. He turned to a canonist at his home diocese and was heard. In fact, something happened. The Order sent the Capuchin to France and declared that he would be treated and no longer have contact with children. In 2002 Pittet had come to realize that this was not true.

"The pope had tears in his eyes"

Pope Francis had met Daniel Pittet in 2015 when he introduced him to another book written by him.
"He asked me, 'Where do you get the strength, for your missionary spirit?' He was never satisfied with my answer. Finally, I told him: Holy Father, I was abused by a priest. He looked at me dumbly and with tears in his eyes and hugged me."

The Pope urged him to testify about this in a book and wrote the preface.

"Strong and courageous words of condemnation against pedophilia and silence that kills," the author said.

It took the preface of Pope Francis, so that something was finally done about Joel Allaz. The Swiss Capuchin Province announced last Friday, June 23rd that Joël Allaz was released from his solemn vows by decision of the Roman Congregation of the Congregation of Faith of May 20th, and was released from the clerical state. In other words, Joël Allaz, meanwhile 76 years old, was suspended and expelled from the Capuchin Order. The statement also states:

"The Capuchins, however, are not simply throwing J. Allaz, who has become sick and frail, in the street. According to the claims of the Gospel, which demands justice and mercy, the Order still grants him shelter in one of their houses."

On 18 August 2017 the book has appeared under the title "Father, I forgive you! Abused, but not broken" in Herder-Verlag in its German edition.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Publisher (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDH

"Catholic" School Introduces Gender Neutral Uniforms

Edit: this is from the blog "Listening in the Desert", where the allegedly Catholic Diocesan school in the United Kingdom has introduced a gender-neutral uniform.

St Anthony’s Catholic primary school in Southwark Diocese UK announced yesterday that it will be introducing a “Gender Neutral” school uniform from September 2017.
In its weekly newsletter via the school’s website, Head teacher Mrs. Jane Day says: 

“I am pleased to announce that the Governors have approved the introduction of a gender neutral uniform which will be introduced in September. Rather than having a separate uniform for girls and boys, one uniform list will be produced and girls and boys can choose whether they wear skirts, pinafores, shorts or trousers. There is no change to the uniform which will remain grey, green, yellow and white.” 

Her announcement has left parents stunned and upset as it goes completely against the teachings of the Catholic Church, and they say they were not consulted or informed whatsoever of the changes to the uniform.

The site has contact information for the school leaders and the Archdiocese of Southwark under Archbishop Peter Smith  archbishop@rcsouthwark.co.uk.

AMDG

New Melkite Patriarch

Beirut (AsiaNews) – Bishop Joseph Absi, patriarchal vicar of the Archeparchy of Damascus (Syria), is the new patriarch of the Greek-Melkite Church.

His election took place today during the extraordinary Synod currently underway in Aley, a hilltop town about 17 km south-east of Beirut (Lebanon), following the resignation of Gregory III Lahham.

The resignation of the patriarch emeritus ends a troubled period marked by contrasts between the former patriarch and some "rebel" bishops. The row ended through the mediation of the apostolic nuncio to Syria Card Mario Zenari and his colleague in Lebanon Mgr Gabriele Caccia.

http://m.asianews.it/news-en/Bishop-Joseph-Absi-is-the-new-patriarch-of-the-Greek-Melkite-Church-41083.html

AMDG

Is a Fraternal Correction Being Planned for a Papal Audience?

(Rome) "The words of the Cardinals are full of respect. It may be assumed that it is their intention, through a direct conversation in a personal audience, to better "distinguish" the intentions and plans of Pope Francis, and possibly to make a fraternal correction in camera caritatis."

These words of the historian Roberto de Mattei confirm that the four cardinals were to confront Pope Francis in an audience about the situation of the Church and, if need be, more fraternally. This is probably the reason why Francis has denied them an audience and thus exacerbates the scarcely more tolerable state which he provoked by his post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia. The Cardinals had presented their Dubia (doubts) to him in September of the previous year . They asked him to clarify ambiguous passages in the papal document. Francis has refused to answer the questions of the Cardinals for nine months.

Cardinal Raymond Burke had said last March :

"We will continue to insist that these serious questions be answered."

Already in January he had confirmed :

"Fraternal correction will come if the refusal of St. Francis continues," because it would be "devastating" not to clarify the questions.

In the middle of April, the Cardinal said in an interview with InfoVaticana that the ruling confusion was "very dangerous," because "with the confusion are the divisions: priests against priests" because of disagreements about whether those who are in a non-valid marriage or another irrational relationship that can receive sacraments.

On this occasion he also took a stand on the fraternal punishment. Whether it would be a public and formal punishment of the Pope "is not yet clear," the Cardinal said at the time. Before such a step, the Pope would be "personally confronted" and he would say to the public that "the situation is so serious that we must correct it". The Cardinal expressed the assumption that the Holy Father would react "at this moment" at the latest.

With the request for an audience, an attempt was made to enter into conversation about the Dubia with t silent pope. As de Mattei suggests, the intentions of the pope should be clarified and, if necessary, a fraternal correction of the Church's head should take place.

Pope Francis withdrew from this confrontation by not giving an audience to the cardinals or responding to their audience's request at all. How long will Francis be able to continue this refusal?

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Conciliar Possession

By Don Denis Puga, FSSPX

Le Chardonnet

June, 2017

Father Denis Puga is the new parish priest at the FSSPX Church of Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet  in Paris, which publishes the newsletter of the same name.

[Rorate] Shortly before undergoing His terrible Passion, Our Lord solemnly warned His disciples: “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke, 22, 31). This warning is also for us today, as the Church, following Her Master, is undergoing a terrible crucifixion. Our Church has been abandoned and betrayed.  Our Church has been taken over.

The prudence of a combatant requires that he must never underestimate his adversary. St. Paul tells us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the princes of darkness. Our adversary? The Demon himself, the Prince of this world, as Jesus was to point out often with great precision. 

We cannot sanctify ourselves outside the present concrete situation of the Holy Catholic Church, the Ark of Salvation which, alone, can lead us safe and sound onto the shores of eternal life.

Now, this Church – we have to acknowledge – is in a catastrophic state, like “a boat leaking water in every side” according to a recent Pope despite the fact the he himself, in his lifetime, contributed  in causing many of the leaks. 

Our Church, for some years now, is as if possessed by an alien spirit, not the Spirit of God: this spirit of the Council which has taken possession of everything, which has insinuated its way everywhere. All of it truly resembles diabolical possession.

Some will be shaken up by these words, but wasn’t Christ Himself, at the time of the temptation in the desert, under the physical power of the Demon, who took Him up a mountaintop to offer Him all the kingdoms of the earth? 

Monsignor Lefebvre made a similar analysis. At the time of Vatican II, in 1965, referring to Gaudium et spes, he declared: “This pastoral constitution is neither pastoral nor proceeds from the Catholic Church: it does not feed men and Christians the evangelical, apostolic  truth and besides, the Church has never spoken in this way. This voice, we cannot listen to, as it is not the voice of the Bride of Christ. This voice is not the voice of the Spirit of Christ.  We recognize the voice of Christ, our Shepherd.  This one we ignore. It is dressed in sheep’s clothing:  it is not the voice of Christ, but perhaps that of a wolf.” (I accuse the Council, ed. Ichtys, 2002, p. 126). 

Read at Rorate....

AMDG