Pope Francis is Under Pressure

Pope Francis has rceived Cardinal Sean in audience while a clear demand has come from Chile.

(Santiago de Chile) Twice yesterday, the case of Barros stood front and center: in Rome and in Santiago de Chile. Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati SDB, the Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, opened an extraordinary gathering of the Chilean clergy yesterday. In Rome, the most important critic of Pope Francis was received in audience.
 
The reason is Pope Francis' letter to the Chilean Episcopal Conference. With the letter, the Catholic Church leader responded to the report of his special envoy, Msgr. Charles Scicluna, on the sexual abuse scandal in Chile and around the ex-priest Fernando Karadima. The focus is Bishop Juan Barros Madrid. In spite of serious warnings, Pope Francis made him bishop of the diocese of Osorno in early 2015. Karadima victims and a group of faithful from the diocese of Osorno have since protested against this appointment. They accuse Msgr. Barros  of covering Karadima's crimes.
 
For three years, Pope Francis dismissed any criticism as "defamation" and "instrumentalization" by circles hostile to the Church. Therefore, he refused to speak with Barros critics and listen to them.
  
After Francis maintained this attitude during his visit to Chile last January, the criticism became so strong that he finally had to react. The pope's visit in Chile took place mostly in more remote areas. The Chileans showed demonstrative disinterest. The Karadima case, as the Bishops' Conference noted, severely shook faith in the Church. Nevertheless, Pope Francis saw no reason to change his attitude towards the victims and Bishop Barros. Rather, he explicitly invited him to concelebrate with him publicly. The head of the Church evidently thought of silencing the critics with this gesture of demonstrative confidence in Barros. Instead, Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley OFM Cap of Boston joined the criticism. The cardinal is familiar with the case as President of the Pontifical Child Protection Commission.
 
At the same time, evidence was presented that Pope Francis since the spring of 2015 was informed about the allegations against Msgr. Barros. The pope had claimed otherwise on the return flight to Rome.

 

Course change - or not

 

Ten days after his return from Latin America, therefore, Francis made a course correction to curb the international expansion of criticism of his position. He appointed the Archbishop of Malta, Mgr. Charles Scicluna, Pontifical Special Envoy. Scicluna was commissioned to hear the Barros critics. He should do what Francis had refused to do for three years. In the second half of March, Scicluna presented more than 2,300 pages of reports after hearing more than 60 people in the US and Chile.

Cardinal Ezzati yesterday at the press conference in Santiago de Chile

On April 11, the Vatican Press Office published a letter from Pope Francis to the Chilean bishops. He responded to the Scicluna report and spoke of the "pain and shame" he felt when reading the report.
In parallel, the Chilean Episcopal Conference issued a statement announcing the Pope's contrite attitude to the Chileans in order to restore their shattered confidence. Behind the scenes, the question was not settled.
 
Francis did not mention Bishop Barros in his letter. Rather, he issued an invitation to the bishops to come to Rome to discuss the matter. The bishops were silent in public. However, they knew that Francis was signaling that he would continue to cling to Barros, the stumbling block in public perception.
 
Barros himself had in the past submitted to the pope two resignations, which Francis rejected.  A third request was to have Archbishop Scicluna together with his report at the papal desk. Barros himself denies this.

Clear signals from Cardinal Ezzati to Francis

The fact is that the head of the Chilean Episcopal Conference wants to conclude the Barros case and therefore wants consequences. And not just since today, but already for three years. Francis was then also warned from the ranks of the Episcopal Conference against appointing Barros as Bishop of Osorno. The Pope, however, clings to him steadfastly. More and more often the question arises as to why.
 
Outwardly, the Chilean Episcopal Conference looks to be in good spirits. Yet behind the scenes there is considerable discord that Francis does not want Barros to give up his office.
 
The meeting called by Cardinal Ezzati yesterday in Santiago de Chile appealed to the whole clergy of the country to analyze the letter of Pope Francis. On the one hand, it is about the difficult task of regaining the lost trust among Chileans and, on the other, eliminating the causes. What Cardinal Ezzati imagines, he said very clearly and publicly afterwards. He expects Msgr. Barros to resign:

"I'm not a judge to decide if he's covered up something or not. For the good of the Church, however, he should take a step aside."

At the same time the cardinal tried a difficult balancing act, with which he wanted to protect the reputation of the pope and at the same time wanted to build a bridge to accept the resignation Barros.  
Cardinal Ezzati made it clear at yesterday's press conference that the Pope had to decide on his resignation. So far, Francis has rejected Barros' resignations. Ezzati, President of the Chilean Episcopal Conference from 2010-2016, assured the press that Pope Francis had been "deceived" as far as the information on the Karadima and Barros case was concerned.
 
Will Francis yield to this pressure from the Chilean Episcopal Conference?
 

Audience for Cardinal O'Malley in Rome

Yesterday, an event took place in Rome, even before the clergy meeting had begun in Santiago de Chile, which was likely to be directly linked to Chile.
 

Daily Bulletin: Audience for Cardinal O'Malley

Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley was received in audience by Pope Francis. It was noted in the Vatican's daily bulletin that the cardinal is chairman of the Pontifical Child Protection Commission . Nothing was known about the content of the meeting. However, it is believed that Cardinal O'Malley served as chairman of the Child Protection Commission at Francis and was speaking about the Barros case.
 
The meeting of Chilean bishops with Pope Francis in Rome is expected to take place in the third week of May. Until then, no decisions are likely to be made, as Francis has so far indicated no signs of wanting to change his position on Barros.
 
Has what Cardinal O'Malley said to him yesterday and what Cardinal Ezzati demanded yesterday,  changed his mind?
 
The video with central excerpts from the press conference of Cardinal Ezzati yesterday in Santiago de Chile:
 

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

Pope's Two New Teachings: All Are Children of God and Atheists Go to Heaven

(Rome) Pope Francis visited the Roman parish of San Paolo alla Croce a Corviale last Sunday and announced two new teachings there.

The tears of little Emanuele

The neighborhood was built between 1975 and 1984 on the outskirts of Rome. This includes the "Serpentone," a gigantic silo shaped building with 1,200 apartments, built by the Office for Social Housing of the City of Rome. The parish was established in 1977, the church in modern style was consecrated in 1983. In 1985, Pope John Paul II elevated it to the titular church of a cardinal priest, whose owner since 2007 has been Oswald Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay.
 
A program point of the visit was an encounter with children of the parish. The pope was asked some questions. Emanuele was also allowed to meet the pope. Only a few months ago, the boy had lost his father. When he stood in front of the microphone, he burst into tears and could not speak.
 
Emanuele wept over his father's death, but more because a deeper pain moved him. Pope Francis waved the child to him and said that Emanuele should just whisper in his ear what moved him. The Pope and the child spoke in this way for a few minutes with the exclusion of the microphones. Only them speaking to each other. Then Emanuele returned to his seat and Francis again took the floor for everyone to hear.

Is the father, though he's an atheist, in heaven?

The pope said that the boy is very worried. Although his father had all his children baptized, he was an atheist. Worried about this, if his atheistic father could not go to heaven, Francis answered.

Pope Francis: Would we only cry like Emanuele if we bear suffering in our hearts like him. He cried for his father and had the courage to do it before us all, because in his heart is the love of the Father. I asked Emanuele for permission to repeat his question publicly, and he gave me his consent. That's why I'm repeating it. "My dad died recently. He was an atheist, but had all four children baptized. He was a good man. Is Dad in heaven? "
How nice that a child says of his father, "He was good." It's a beautiful testimony that this man has given to his children, because his children can say, "He was a good man". It is a beautiful testimony of the Son, who inherited the strength of the Father and also had the courage, had the courage to weep in front of us all. If this man was capable of producing such children, then he was really a good man. He was a good man. This man did not have the gift of faith, he was not a believer, but he had his children baptized. He had a good heart. And he has the doubt that his father, because he was not a believer, is not in heaven. Who says who comes to heaven, that's God. But what is the heart of God to such a father? How is it? What do you all mean? ... God has a father's heart. And with a non-believing father, he was able to baptize the children and give them that bravura to the children, do you think that God would be able to keep him away from him? Do you think so? ... loud, with courage ...

All: No!

Pope Francis: Does God forsake His children?

All: No!

Pope Francis: Does God fail his children when they are good?

All: No!

Pope Francis: Emanuele, that's the answer.  God was certainly proud of your father, because it is much easier to have children baptized, if you are a believer than you are not. And certainly God has liked it a lot. Talk to your father, pray for your father. Thank you, Emanuele, for your courage.

The "beautiful words of the Pope"

The Italian media devoted a lot of space to the event and were delighted. The most important newspaper in Italy, Corriere della Sera headlined:

"Pope Francis in Corviale comforts a child:" Your father, though not believing, is in heaven ".

Even the newspaper Il Foglio wrote of "beautiful words of the Pope".

Pope Francis at the meeting with the children.

Did they all misunderstand the Pope? Francis did not say that the father of the child is in heaven, even though he was an atheist.
 
Or did he?
 
Did Francis in the Roman suburban parish apply his special magic formula of communication, with which everyone understands what he wants to say, without having to say it explicitly?
 
Le Cronache di Papa Francesco did not hear in answer to the boy what most media heard, but a "recognition of atheism".
 
Can the serious question of Emanuele really be answered only from the perspective of a child to be comforted? Even in personal conversation and considering the age of the child, the answer would have been shortened and misleading. However, the Pope publicly responded to which the usual media reports followed, "The Pope said ..."  The answer to a specific child in a specific situation becomes a detached statement from the Pope, which can move people around the world and influence them in their thinking and decisions.
 
Le Cronache wrote on the pope's answer:

"Bergoglio is a Jesuit, which is why he puts it in such a way that it is difficult to pin him down. While accusing the devout Catholics of being 'strict' and having 'an answer to everything', it was on Sunday, and not for the first time, that gave the impression of a quick and pleasing answer to everything at hand. With him, it would probably be impossible to have a serious and clear argument about the doctrine. "

Not a word about purgatory, sin and salvation

Emanuele, the child, asked the head of the Church a legitimate question that has its origin in the love of the Father. It is a thoroughly Catholic question, because the concern is concern for the eternal salvation of the Father. The child showed a very clear consciousness. He knows about the atheism of the Father and knows that it contradicts the love of God. That's why he's worried.
 
Pope Francis began his answer as any good catechist would begin. He consoled the child, starting from what the child knew and could tell about the father. What the Father really thought and did is beyond the knowledge of the Pope. For that reason, he did not answer Emanuele with a "Yes, your father is, though incredulous, in heaven," as the media claims.
 
However, from the brief, straightforward question typical of children, Francis asked a whole series of questions that he addressed indirectly to the audience, turning it in one direction and leading to the answer he wanted to put in his mouth. The first answer was certainly the most important one. It is God who "says" who goes to heaven. But then, with broad questions, he turned the ball back and forth several times, so that in the end there seemed to be no other answer than that, though the Pope had not said that Emanuel's father, though an atheist, must be in heaven.
 
Pope Francis has never spoken of purgatory in his pontificate. That day would have been the opportunity. Just as the Pope can not know whether Emanuele's father is in hell - and to say so, would be inappropriate to a mourning child anyway - he can not know directly, nor imply that Emanuele's father, of whom the little child knew that he denied the existence of God, was in heaven, and that directly.

Consolation at the price of misleading?

The comfort of the bereaved is not only an honorable task, but is one of the works of mercy. But also at the price of weighing it in false hopes or even certainties?
 
The Pope could have asked the child if Holy Mass had been said for the Father. In addition, he could have talked about the Purgatory for the poor souls, where those who are saved but still need to be cleansed to gain access to Heaven. This time can shorten the living by their prayer and the sacrifice of Mass intentions and thereby perform great sacrifices of love for the deceased.
 
The Pope could have spoken about the eternal salvation and the necessary conditions for it. One does not go to heaven because one was a "good person" but because one did not die in the state of mortal sin and of course did not reject, reject or even mock God.
 
The Pope could have talked about the meaning of life. About the first of all questions: why did God create me? To know Him, to worship Him, to obey His commandments, and thereby go to heaven. Francis could and should have said a word about atheism. And so the impression had to arise that under the "good pope" Francis that an atheist also goes to heaven.
 
But whom should such misleading benefit?

"People who are not baptized are not children of God?"

Perhaps another, obviously prepared child question on the same day and at the same meeting helps to gain greater clarity. Carlotta, a young girl, also asked Francis a question.

Carlotta: Ciao Pope Francis! When we receive baptism, we become children of God. And the people who are not baptized are not children of God?
Pope Francis: Carlotta, tell me, I'll ask you the other way around: what do you think? The people who are not baptized are they children of God or are they not children of God? What does your heart tell you?
Carlotta: Yes.
Pope Francis: Yes. Now I'll explain. She answered well, she has a Christian nose! We are all children of God. All all. Even the non-baptized? Yes. Even those who believe in other, distant religions that have idols? Yes, they are children of God. The Mafiosi are children of God? ... you are not sure ... yes, even the mobsters are children of God. They prefer to behave like children of the devil, but they are children of God. All, all are children of God, all. But what is the difference? God created all, loved all, and gave all the conscience in the heart to distinguish good from evil. All humans have that. They know, taking was what is good and healthy; even the people who do not know Jesus, who do not know Christianity, all have it in their soul, because God has put it there. But when you were baptized, the conscience of the Holy Spirit entered and strengthened your allegiance to God, and in that sense you became more daughter of God, because you are the daughter of God like all, but also with the power of the Holy Spirit entering. Do you understand, Carlotta? I ask - everyone should answer - Are all people children of God?
Children: Yes!
Pope Francis: The good people are children of God?
Children: Yes!
Pope Francis: The bad people are children of God?
Children: Yes!
Pope Francis: Yes. The people who do not know Jesus and have others, distant religions, worshipping idols are children of God?
Children: Yes!
Pope Francis: The Mafiosi are children of God?
Children: Yes!
Pope Francis: And we must pray that they will return and truly know God. Now no one should answer, but the heart will answer: Who of you prays for the mobsters to convert? Everyone answers in his heart.
Then when we are baptized: Who comes into our hearts? ...
Volume up!
Children: The Holy Spirit!
Pope Francis: Bravo. The Holy Spirit is coming, and this Holy Spirit is letting us have more children of God. He gives us more power to behave like children of God. That's why Saint Paul has a sentence, and I want you to say that sentence to me. "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit who is in you." Why does he say this sentence? Because a Christian, a baptized person who behaves badly, grieves the Holy Spirit who is in us. The sentence is: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit who is in you". "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit who is in you." Are we going to say it?
Pope Francis together with the children: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit that is in you".
Pope Francis: Again!
Pope Francis together with the children: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit that is in you".
Pope Francis: And we children of God, who through baptism have the Holy Spirit, grieve when we behave badly when we commit a sin, the Holy Spirit who is in us. Thanks Carlotta!

The difference abolished by Francis

Carlotta and her question to the pope

In fact, the apostle Paul, mentioned by Pope Francis, in the New Testament refers only to Christians as the children of God and distinguishes them by the baptism to non-Christians. The latter Paul refers as "servants" and "slaves of sin." All men are creatures of God, but only the baptized are children of God. A clear and easy to understand distinction.
 
The non-Christians are, therefore, not children of God, but Pope Francis twists the ball twice in his hands and behold, all people "all, all", "not only the baptized" are suddenly children of God.
 
What is the difference between the baptized and the baptized? All are children of God, but some, the baptized, are "more children of God." With his snazzy way of speaking, last Sunday the head of the Church actually ruined a central biblical, apostolic, and above all, crystal clear distinction in favor of a blurred, ultimately useless substitute.
 
Why?

The message of Francis is pleasing Eugenio Scalfari

If one did not wish to impute the unawareness and naivety of the Church leader, which does not even seem theoretically conceivable vis-à-vis a Jesuit, then one must accept an intention behind this answer.
 
Already in the first controversial " Video of the Pope " of January 2016, all people (in the video were shown Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists) were declared as "children of God" in a syncretistic infusion. It was therefore not a slip by the pope last Sunday. Therefore the message can not be that through baptism one becomes "even more children of God." The real message that Pope Francis wants to spread is the mistaken assertion that all men are children of God.
 
Taking the answer to Carlotta and the answer to little Emanuele, Pope Francis has said two things:

1. Not only the Christians, but all people, even the followers of any other religions or the Mafiosi, in short, really all are children of God, even if they are not baptized.
2. Even those who are atheists will go to heaven. The main thing is he was a "good person".

This statement corresponds exactly to the thesis that the atheist Eugenio Scalfari wanted Francis so much to hear, and he put it in his mouth recently and at the same time "eliminated" Hell. The Vatican responded with a denial that was not really one. Now we also know why: because Eugenio Scalfari did not reproduce the words of the pope verbatim, but exactly his thinking. Exactly as Scalfari had always said: He vouches for the authenticity of the statements.
 
It was therefore the Vatican, that sprinkled with a denial, a fog of non-denial and prevented the necessary clarifications, or at least made it difficult.
 
Or did they all get it wrong?

The video which shows the entire parish event, starting with the meeting with Carlotta:
 

The section with Emmanuel:

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

Cardinal Burke is Snubbed at Lourdes by Maltese Order

The presence of Cardinal Patron Burke at the International Lourdes Pilgrimage 2018 is apparently not desired.

(Rome) 160 years ago, in 1858, the Mother of God appeared in Lourdes. This event is being commemorated in the Catholic World in 2018. From the 4th to the 8th May the 60th International Lourdes Pilgrimage of the Order of Malta takes place. According to the current status, 6,500 knights and ladies and their companions as well as 1,300 sick and disabled pilgrims will participate. According to information, Cardinal Burke, although Cardinal of the Order, was not invited.
 
The information comes, according to the traditional French website Riposte Catholique out of the new religious leadership related sources.
 
Already in 2017, the cardinal had not been invited, after papal intervention had forced him to replace the head of the Order.

The first degradation

Cardinal Raymond Burke opposed the policy of Pope Francis to soften the sacrament of marriage during the first Synod of Bishops on the Family in October 2014. The cardinal denounced actions to manipulate the synod and criticized a break with Church doctrine and practice.
 
After the conclusion of the Synod, Pope Francis suspended him from the then prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura in the course of a purge and removed him from the Vatican. Francis sent the US Cardinal as cardinal patron to the Sovereign Order of Malta. Although this is a prestigious office, it lacks any influence on the leadership of the universal Church.
 
At the turn of the year 2016/2017 there was a conflict between the then Grandmaster Fra Matthew Festing and his Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager. The latter called for help from the Holy See, who jumped to his side. In a less elegant way, the Grand Master was demoted within a few weeks and forced by Pope Francis at the end of January 2017 to resign. Boeselager was again used by Francis as Grand Chancellor and is considered since then the real powerhouse in the Order.

The second degradation

At the same time Cardinal Burke was also disempowered. De jure he remained cardinal patron, thus the official representative of the Pope in the Knights and Hospital Order, but Francis appointed Curial Archbishop Angelo Becciu, as the substitute of the Cardinal Secretary of State, a special representative with the responsibilities of a papal commissioner.
 
Cardinal Burke was accused of having helped Grand Master Festing to take Catholic morality too seriously. Unlike Cardinal Gerhard Müller, whom Francis showed the door more elegantly (officially after the end of a regular term of office), Cardinal Burke has at least one office on paper.
 
Last Saturday, the cardinal in Rome participated in the conference "Catholic Church Quo Vadis?" In the main, Cardinal Burke had called not only upon the possibility, but the  duty to criticize the Pope, if he should deviate from the Catholic doctrine and practice.

persona non grata

As early as the 59th International Lourdes pilgrimage of 2017, the new leadership under Boeselager indicated that although Cardinal Burke must be tolerated as a cardinal partron, he was persona non grata in the Order.
 
After his appointment as cardinal patron in 2015 and 2016, Burke had led the annual pilgrimage and celebrated Holy Mass in Lourdes for pilgrims. Also in 2018, according to the information within the Church, he believes that he is not welcome to the International Lourdes Pilgrimage. The fact that it is the 160th Anniversary of the Marian apparitions, could change nothing. Those who contradict Francis have a difficult time and it is not just persona non grata at the Holy See where they are treated without mercy.
 
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Riposte Catholique
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG 

Bergoglio's Reform Was Written Before. By Martin Luther

Edit: the lucidity and calm of Sandro Magister is something to be grateful for, as are the contributions by these academic voices we scarcely hear from in the US.
*
Much has been written in sketching an appraisal of the first five years of the pontificate of Francis and of his real or imaginary “revolution.”
But rarely, if ever, with the acuteness and extensive scope of the analysis published below.
The author, Roberto Pertici, 66, is a professor of contemporary history at the university of Bergamo and has focused his studies on Italian culture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular attention to relations between Church and state.
His essay is being issued for the very first time on Settimo Cielo.
*
THE END OF “ROMAN CATHOLICISM?”

by Roberto Pertici
1. At this point in the pontificate of Francis, I believe it can be reasonably maintained that this marks the twilight of that imposing historical reality which can be defined as “Roman Catholicism.”
This does not mean, properly understood, that the Catholic Church is coming to an end, but that what is fading is the way in which it has historically structured and represented itself in recent centuries.
It seems evident to me, in fact, that this is the plan being deliberately pursued by the “brain trust” that has clustered around Francis: a plan understood both as an extreme response to the crisis in relations between the Church and the modern world, and as a precondition for a renewed ecumenical course together with the other Christian confessions, especially the Protestant.
*

“Pius XII Was a Saint” Says Cardinal

Pius XII was a Saint, but his canonization was blocked by Israel, said Cardinal Martins.”

Edit: so much for Nostra Aetate!

(Rome) Israel put pressure to block the beatification of Pope Pius XII. This was according to Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, former prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Roman daily Il Messaggero.

From 1998 to 2008, the Portuguese Cardinal was in charge of the Church's canonization and beatification process for ten years. During his tenure, 1320 saints and blessed were raised to the altars. Among them were 500 martyrs, bishops, priests, religious and lay people who were murdered in the Spanish Civil War by members of the Popular Front, who were beatified together in 2007.

Looking back, Cardinal Saraiva Martins regrets a failed beatification that was already considered certain. The pressure exerted by "Israel and the Jewish community" against Pope Pius XII. (1939-1958) did not raise him to the altars, said the cardinal. The pressure had initially slowed the ongoing beatification process until it was finally blocked. Israel and the Jewish community had rejected the idea of ​​beatifying the Pope, who ruled during the Second World War. They accused the head of the Church of not publicly condemning the Holocaust.

"I have tried to do what was possible, and I am content to have brought the position of Pope Pacelli to the stage of a venerable servant of God."

In his conversation with Franca Giansoldati of the Roman daily Il Messaggero, the cardinal made it clear that he was "finally" the beatification of Pius XII. hoped. "He makes no secret of the negative pressing," said the newspaper.

"When I was Prefect of the Congregation, one day the Israeli Ambassador came to the Holy See and wanted to see me and expressed his irritation. He asked me to drop the case. "

In 2016, the cardinal had said that Pope Francis Pius XII. "Could beatify even today," but would not do so because of Jewish resistance.

The Cardinal has no doubt as to the reputation of the Pope's holiness:

"I have thoroughly studied his life. He did his utmost to help the Jew and the persecuted. The Vatican was full and also Castel Gandolfo. He opened the monasteries. Hitler despised him. The question is to be seen in its historical context, and it is the files to study what I have done. Pius XII. was a saint."

The Cardinal, who had accompanied so many canonizations, had been invited by Pope Francis to present his new Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exultate on the call for sanctity last Monday. This presence was the occasion for the conversation with the journalist Giansoldati.

At the beginning of the pontificate of Benedict XVI. theChurch  proceedings were completed. After much pressure, the pope suspended the proceedings and ordered a new file review. At the same time an Israeli-Vatican Historical Commission was used, which led to considerable rapprochement after several years of work. At the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, due to the study of the files, the negative text under the picture of the Pope was corrected. But this did not lead to a resumption of the beatification process.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Cardinal Rai Calls for Order

(Beirut) The teaching of the Church must be taken into account when dealing with the traditional media or social media, with issues and situatikns that affect the teaching and content of the Catholic faith.

This is emphasized by the Maronite Bechara Boutros Cardinal Rai OMM, patriarch of Antioch and the whole Orient of the unified Rome-affiliated Syriac-Maronite Church, in a document entitled "The Truth, Liberated and Unified," which has been published on Monday, April 9. On the same day, Pope Francis published in Rome his most recent Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Esuktate. However, the orientation of the two documents is different.

The Patriarch's document is meant to provide some kind of manual, criteria and guidance that should inspire and guide interventions and debates on topics and issues of the Catholic Church's doctrine and magisterium, following disputes over teaching issues in recent months also happening in the social media that have created confusion among the faithful. Therefore, the Patriarch advises restraint, recalls ecclesiastical order and emphasizes the strict observance and promotion of ecclesiastical doctrine.

The Shepherd of the Maronites

The Patriarch's document is divided into six chapters and 57 paragraphs. It provides criteria to consider when participating in discussions within and outside the Church. As criteria the patriarch names Holy Scripture, its exegesis, the historicity of the Gospels, the dogmas of the Catholic faith, the Virgin Mary and her role in the history of salvation and prayer. But also the nature and the work of the devil, Hell and ecclesiastically recognized Marian apparitions must be considered. The cardinal also comments on private revelations.

With his pastoral hints, the Patriarch asks in particular not to use social media as a means to stir up polemics and to launch personal attacks. In particular, the document calls on all priests and religious not to use the media and the Internet for interventions or to participate in theological-doctrinal discussions without the consent of their bishops or their superiors.

The publication of such a theological-pastoral "Handbook" was already on the agenda of the annual Synod of the Maronite Church in June 2017. At that time, Patriarch Rai has lamented in his opening speech a "weakening of the theological, dogmatic and spiritual preparation" of the clergy and recalled the phenomenon of priests who seem to be pleased with the media's interest in their person and "without formal permission" from their superiors,

to practice a "medial hyperactivism".

Text: Fides / Giuseppe Nardi

Picture: AsiaNews

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Pope Rejects Dogma in Emotional Photo Op With Child

Update: here’s the “accurate” report from Rome Reports now that Herald has seemingly taken theirs down.”, which omits the paragraph included in the Herald report.

Edit: another telegraphed Photo Op to attack the words of Christ.  Or is he invoking his Petrine privilege to bind and loose?

'God has the heart of a father, your father was a good man, he is in heaven with Him,' the Pope said

Pope Francis comforted a grieving child by telling him that his atheist father is in heaven.

During a visit to Rome’s deprived Corviale district on Sunday, the Pope answered questions from a group of children. One of them, a boy called Emanuele, burst into tears when he met the Pope.

After giving the child a long hug, Pope Francis asked him what was troubling him. Emanuele whispered in the Pope’s ear that his father, who was an atheist, had recently died and he was worried he could be in hell.

Pope Francis asked Emanuele for permission to tell the crowd what he had said, and then announced (according to La Stampa): “If only we could cry like Emanuele when we have pain in our hearts.”

http://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2018/04/16/pope-tells-grieving-child-your-atheist-father-is-in-heaven/?platform=hootsuite

AMDG

Pope to Celebrate Huge Mass With Neocatechumente

Edit: you see who he supports and why.

The movement was founded in 1964 and claims to exist in 124 nations with around 25,000 communities in almost 1,500 dioceses.

Rome (kath.net/KAP) On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Roman branch of the "Neocatechumenal Way", Pope Francis will celebrate a service with its members in Rome on 5 May. Tens of thousands of participants are expected to attend the celebration at the University of Tor Vergata on the outskirts of Rome.

The Community of Neocatechumenate (Camino Neocatecumenal / Neocatechumenal Way) was born in 1964 in Madrid from the spiritual teachings of the then 25-year-old Spanish artist Francisco "Kiko" Argüello among the poor of Madrid. Argüellos was the employee of the now deceased Carmen Hernandez.

The Neocatechumenate wants to accompany baptized Christians in the long term on their way of faith and to intensify their religious life. A solid tribe of people who are to live the faith and carry it on. The name of the community, which was finally officially recognized by the Vatican after a two-decade trial in 2008, is inspired by the introduction of baptismal candidates ("catechumenate") into the Christian faith. Camino members are accompanied on their journey of faith to intensify their religious life. The members try that through spiritual exercises as well as the formation of solid groups, which exist over a period of at least 15 years. In 2005, the Vatican urged that members integrate more strongly than before into existing parish structures.

The movement claims to exist in 124 nations with around 25,000 communities in almost 1,500 dioceses. There are more than 100 neocatechumenal seminaries with 2,000 students, all bearing the name "Redemptoris Mater" (Mother of the Redeemer) - including one in the Archdiocese of Vienna. In the dioceses, the movement is usually active at the invitation of the local bishop.

In Austria, the first community of Neocatechumenate was born in the spring of 1974 in the Viennese parish Döbling-St. Paul. Today there are communities and priests from the "Neocatechumenal Way" in several Austrian dioceses, including Vienna, Linz, St. Pölten, Graz and Salzburg. The "Mission College Redemptoris Mater" is located in Vienna-Ober St. Veit.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Vatican Closes Ancient Cloister of the Briggitines in Munich

(Munich) On Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising announced the dissolution of the monastery of the Briggitines of Altomünster.

"The Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura has finally confirmed the dissolution of the St. Birgitta Monastery in Altomünster, Dachau district. In a corresponding Decree from the Vatican, which is now in the archdiocese, the rejection of the complaint of the last religious who lived in the monastery, Sister Apollonia Buchinger OSsS, already confirmed in June 2017, will be upheld. The decree, written in Latin, expressly states that there were no candidates, postulates or novices at Altomünster Monastery at the time of dissolution, and that the women thus designated were neither validly admitted or were nuns from another monastery. The decree confirms once again that a presumptuous resident of the convent, who was still living in the convent, was never regarded as such and is obliged to move out.

The archdiocese can now focus more on a concept of use for the former monastery and associated areas and develop the future of Altomünsters as an ecclesiastical location." [A boutique hotel or disco?  A bookstore where they can sell softcore pornography?]

On Monday, Pope Francis published his new Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate . In it are words that seem to be directed against the two-thousand-year-old, contemplative charism of the order:

"It is not healthy to love the silence and avoid meeting others, to want peace and reject activity, seek prayer and despise ministry. Everything can be accepted and integrated as part of one's own existence in this world and be integrated into the path of sanctification. We are called to live contemplation in the midst of action, and we sanctify ourselves in the responsible and generous exercise of our mission "(GeE, 26).

The Birgitines

Saint Birgitta of Sweden

Saint Birgitta of Sweden (1303-1373), the most famous mystic of Scandinavia, came from her mother Ingeborg's royal family of the Folkunger. Her husband, the knight Ulf Gudmarsson, held a leading position as Lagman in the Swedish countryside Östergötland. Birgitta had four sons by him and four daughters. After a joint pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, both decided to enter the monastery. Ulf became a Cistercian. In 1346 Birgitta founded the monastery Vadstena after receiving divine visions. It became the mother monastery of the Order of the Blessed Savior (OSSalv) founded by her, a contemplative order with a strict rule.
 
The order spread mainly in the Nordic area, in the Scandinavian countries, in Estonia and Livonia as well as in the German-speaking world. Only to a small extent, however, in the Latin countries.
In Germany, the order perhaps flourished in the late Middle Ages and counted itself among the most  prosperous of monasteries. Birgitta founded a women's order, but provided for the celebration of the holy sacrifice of the Mass and the pastoral care of religious women that the monastery should also include priests (maximum 13), deacons and brothers. They lived outside the cloister and were strictly separated from the nuns. The leadership of the entire monastery was exercised by the abbess. The male branch was headed by a prior.
 
Altomünster - the youngest monastery survived the longest
 
The oldest monastery in Germany was Marienwohlde near Lübeck, which was built in 1413. Shortly thereafter, the foundations of Marienkron at Stralsund and Marienforst in the Archdiocese of Cologne followed. The monastery Maria Altomünster, established in 1496, was the twelfth and most recent founding of the Birgitten Order on German soil. It was one of two daughter foundations of the Bavarian Abbey Gnadenberg. In 760, St. Alto built a hermitage, which became a Benedictine monastery. In 1056 there was an exchange. The Benedictine nuns of Altdorf Abbey (Weingarten) near Lake Constance were able to move to Altomünster Abbey, while the Benedictines went to Altdorf and rebuilt the burned-down monastery. In 1496 the monastery was passed on a ducal wish to the Birgitine Order.

The visions of St. Briggita

Only four monasteries survived the Protestant Revolt, as the whole of the Briggitine Order was gravely affected by the Revolt's Nordic focus. In Scandinavia, under severe austerity, only the mother monastery Vadstena was able to hold for some time until 1595 when it was dissolved and expropriated by the Lutheran state. There has been a convent since 1963. In the Catholic countries, the Order experienced a second flowering in modern times, which led to the emergence of its own religious branch in Spain, where the Order only came after the Protestant Revolt.

The second flowering and the rapid decline

Still five independent monasteries of the original order existed in 2012. Today there are Vadstena and two abbeys in the Netherlands. Syon in England was abandoned in 2012 and now Altomünster has been dissolved.
 
The Altomünster Abbey survived the Protestant Revolt in Catholic Bavaria, thanks to the energetic Abbess Ottilia Öffler. On average, 30 nuns lived in the monastery and about 15 priests and brothers. In 1803 it fell victim to the storm of the monasteries in Napoleonic times and was abolished. The sisters were allowed to remain in the monastery until their death. Four sisters survived until the anti-Church climate subsided and King Ludwig I of Bavaria allowed them again in 1841 to accept novices. Since then  Altomünster has existed as a pure convent.

Monastery church of Altomünster

In 1947 the convent counted 62 nuns. Such a high number was reached only in the early 16th century. Today, only one Briggitine lives in Altomünster, the former prioress Apollonia Buchinger, which is why the Vatican had already ordered the abolition of the monastery in 2015. On the other hand, as it turned out, the only nun struggled unsuccessfully. Sr. Apollonia had to leave the monastery in February 2017. A candidate, who wanted to enter as a postulate, is now the subject of a lawsuit against the abolition of the monastery, which was decided with the verdict of the Apostolic Signatura. The archdiocese of Munich-Freising, which owns the properties, successfully attempted an eviction procedure before Bavarian courts.
 
A new Birgitine monastery in Bremen belongs to the third female branch, which was founded in 1911 by the Swedish convert Elisabeth Hesselblad in the tradition of the Order of the Redeemer, which today has 50 branches worldwide. The monastery in Bremen, which was built just a few years ago, does not yet include a German nun.
 
A few years ago, the youngest in the United States established a branch of the Order of the Briggitines, who have returned to the original tradition and cultivated the Immemorial Roman Rite.

Text: Johannes Thiel
Image: SMM / Wikicommons (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG 

SSPX Sisters Elect a New Superior General

(Paris) On Monday, April 9, the General Chapter of the Sisters of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X elected a new Superior General.
 
The General Chapter met in the Mother house of the Congregation in the Abbaye Saint Michel-en-Brenne in the French department of Indre in the presence of Auxiliary Bishop Alfonso de Galaretta.

The capitulars elected Sr. Maria Jean Bréant, the former novice mistress of the Order, the fourth Superior General. Her term of office is six years. So far, Sr. Maria Jean worked at the novitiate Notre Dame de Compassion in Ruffec.
 
The third Superior General was Mother Marie-Augustin de Poulpiquet, who since 2006 has been the head of the sisterhood for two terms of office.
 
The first Assistant General was Sr. Thérèse Trutt from Baden, second General Assistant Sr. Marie Claire Wuilloud from Valais. She is superior of the monastery of St. Pius X in Göffingen in Swabia.
The Sisters of the Society of St. Pius X were founded on September 22, 1974 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in Rome. He was assisted by his biological sister, Mother Marie Gabriel, then a nun of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Spirit (Spiritanerinnen). She asked for thr eclaustration to make the Order with a small group of other women and was the first Superior General. In 1977, the first postulant entered.
 
Today, the congregation has 195 sisters and more than 20 novices living and working in 27 houses on all five continents.
 
The Abbaye Saint Michel -en-Brenne was acquired in 1975 and became the mother house of the sisters. The abbey was founded around 632 by the Frankish archbishop Sigirand of Tours, who is today revered in France as Saint Cyran. In the 17th century, the monastery had become a center of Jansenism, which is why it was abolished in the early 18th century. After the French Revolution, the buildings were used for various purposes until they were restored by Archbishop Lefebvre again to ecclesiastical and monastic purposes.
 
According to the donor's will, the sisters live "intensely with the Lord's sacrifice renewed and continued on our altars" and worship the "sacrificial lamb always present in the Blessed Sacrament." In addition, they support "the apostolate of priests in various fields" in order "to lead the souls to this very worship".
 
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: FSSPX (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG 

Pope Shuts Down Traditional Order

Pope Francis has confirmed the abolition of the Priestly Society of the Holy Apostles by the Brussels Archbishop De Kesel. The reason: too many and too orthodox priestly vocations.

(Rome) Pope Francis signed a decree dissolving the fraternity of the Holy Apostles. Nothing is charged to the Brotherhood. It was guilty of nothing. Their only mistake seems to be orthodoxy in a liberal environ that seems to despise nothing more than faithful priestly vocations.

The Fraternité des Saints Apôtres

The Fraternity of the Saints Apôtres, Dutch Broederschap van de Holy Apostles, was canonically established in April 2013 by the then Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and Primate of Belgium, Mgr. André-Joseph Léonard. The brotherhood goes back to the French priest Michel-Marie Zanotti-Sorkine.

Priestly Society of the Holy Apostles

Archbishop Léonard called the faithful community to Belgium to help with the spiritual renewal of his archdiocese. He allowed the fraternity and gave it the parishes of Sainte-Catherine / Sint-Katelijnekerk, in the center of Brussels, and Saint-Joseph in the formerly Flemish, now French-speaking Ucclé (Ukkel) in the south of Brussels.

Archbishop Léonard, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels since 2010, who was strongly opposed because of his faithfulness inside and outside the Church, built with the help of the Priestly Fraternity a parallel formation of priests outside the diocesan seminary. This is a path other bishops had already taken before him.

Archbishop Léonard’s initiative proved to be a complete success. The Society was able to achieve what the progressive diocesan institutions could no longer do: to lead young men to the "beauty of vocation and service as diocesan priests". The Brotherhood is a community of world priests, but with a strong community life. She sees in it the answer to the crisis of the world priesthood in Western Europe. The parishes entrusted to them flourished in contrast to the neighboring parishes and were visited by numerous young people.

Although the community was only three years old, in the spring of 2016 it included six priests, one deacon and 21 seminarians. An extraordinary success considering that last year there was not one new entry into the Archbishop seminary in the Archdiocese of Brussels.

Danneel's retribution

Among the pope makers of the current pontificate, there is  the progressive Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who was Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels before Msgr. Léonard. Pope Benedict XVI. made him an archenemy when he did not chose Danneels’  preferred candidate. Archbishop Léonard had therefore to face heavy resistance in the liberal archdiocese from the beginning. This massive resistance made the necessary reform of the seminary impossible for the time being, which is why he wanted to promote priestly vocations by establishing a second seminary and to build a new clergy.

Michel Marie Zanotti Sorkine

But his episcopate was too short. With the resignation of Benedict XVI. and the election of Francis the hour of the long-retired Danneels struck again. As a personal friend of the new pope, he was able to take revenge. Pope Francis refused Léonard the cardinalatial dignity and made instead the then apostolic nuncio in Belgium a cardinal, who had been Danneels’ preferred candidate and whom Léonard wanted to prevent. A double affront to Léonard.

Hardly had he completed his 75th birthday then he was retired by Francis, and Pope Bergoglio made Danneel's preferred candidate, albeit with a five-year "delay" yet, the new primate of Belgium. Not only that: he raised the new Danneels-compliant archbishop, Jozef De Kesel, immediately to cardinal.

There has seldom been more a demonstrative presentiment  in this pontificate than in Brussels, of who is in papal favor and who is not, and what that means.

De Kesel's purge

The new Archbishop De Kesel,  with whom Danneels also retired to the Archbishop's Palace, began to systematically eradicate what Archbishop Léonard had done to recover a local church lying on the liberal soil. It is not just about people, but about a far more  involved conflict of direction.

Archbishop Leonard ordains SocietyMembers 

One of the first victims of the purge was the Priestly Fraternity of the Holy Apostles. In June 2016, De Kesel threw the Brotherhood out of his diocese. And to make sure that it did not find acceptance in another Belgian diocese, he immediately made for an expulsion from all over Belgium. The reason? Hard to believe: too many and too orthodox priestly vocations.

The official reasoning was obviously just a pretext: The expulsion was "out of solidarity" with the French bishops - several members of the Society, especially their superior Zanotti-Sorkine, are French - because there is also a shortage of priests there. The seminarians were offered the opportunity to switch to the diocesan seminary or to leave Belgium, as if the training at the Brussels Priestly Seminary was the same as that of the Priestly Fraternity.

But that was exactly what it was about. A progressive episcopate obviously wants progressive priests or if not, the. no priests. In one of the first public statements as Primate of Belgium, De Kesel called for the abolition of celibacy with reference to the prevailing lack of priests.

It is easy to see a direct connection between the expulsion of the fraternity and his plea for married priests.

The thing is not surprising. In 2017, De Kesel "totally" applauded the proposal to set up an Islamic prayer room at every Catholic school.

Brussels: dechristianized and islamicized

The fact that two Brussels parishes would remain without a priest as a result of the expulsion did not seem to burden Archbishop De Kesel. Neither is the fact that the parishes experienced a veritable renaissance after being transferred to the Society. After the expulsion of the Society, De Kesel ordered the demolition of the St. Catherine's Church, as it is no longer needed because of massive parish mergers. One third of the churches have already closed or are due to close.

Ordination by Archbishop Léonard 2015

Since the Society was established according to diocesan law, the new Archbishop De Kesel could also dissolve them again. He did just that for the Saints Peter and Paul Day in 2016, the day on which the new priests are traditionally consecrated in the dioceses. The main task of the Society is the promotion of vocations and the formation of priests. However, the consecrations of the Society had been suspended by De Kesel.

Brussels today is the heavily de-Christianized and massively Islamized capital of the European Union (EU). Nevertheless, the incumbent archbishop has the luxury of removing from his archdiocese those forces that promise renewal. The Priestly Society of the Holy Apostles was only one stage of his purge against orthodox groups. Others were to follow.

Believers are taking legal action

The members of the two parishes of Brussels, under the auspices of the Society, did not for a moment believe that their Archbishop, out of sheer "solidarity" with the French bishops, showed the Society to the door. At the same time 80 seminarians were studying in the diocese of Namur, of which only 25 were Belgians. So far, however, the other 55 seminarians have not been sent home out of  "solidarity". Not even the numerous African or Polish priests who work in Belgium. Therefore, the parishioners asked De Kesel for a discussion. Without a result.

Several laymen then took legal action and turned to Rome. They appealed to the Congregation of Clergy objecting to De Kesel’s decree of dissolution. However, the prefect of the Congregation of Clergy was the first dicastery leader, which Pope Francis changed after his election. Cardinal Beniamino Stella, previously Vatican diplomat, has been sitting there ever since.

In November 2016, the Congregation of Clergy rejected the cases filed by the faithful "without any justification".

Sainte-Catherine church of Brussels

This left only the path to the Apostolic Signatura, to which anyone, layman or cleric, can turn if he sees his rights violated. Prefect of the Signatura was the brilliant canonist, Cardinal Raymond Burke. But Pope Francis had also exchanged him. To be precise, he had been similarly rudely thrown him out of the Vatican, as De Kesel had thrown the Priestly Society out of Belgium. Since the end of 2014, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Vatican, Msgr. Domenico Mamberti, is Prefect to the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura. Formerly a Vatican diplomat like Stella.

In December 2016, the Brussels faithful brought their case before the Signatura. The promoter Justitiae gave a positive opinion. According to the notification to the consignors, the cause should be submitted to a judge's collegium in autumn 2017 for treatment. "We were in good spirits, the right is and remains right."

But then things happened differently.

“A bad story "

On 25 November 2017, the consignors received a succinct statement that the case had been closed. Even before the ordinary legal process was completed - or perhaps for that very reason - Cardinal Stella, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, had visited Pope Francis and submitted to him a decree for the definitive dissolution of the Priestly Fraternity of the Holy Apostles. Pope Francis signed the decree, challenging the case. The objection to the resolution decree by Cardinal De Kesel had become obsolete with the dissolution decree of Pope Francis.

Taking advantage of the papal powers, the ordinary legal process was reduced to absurdity without any apparent necessity. The procedure is understood by those affected as arbitrary. It recalls the approach of Pope Francis against the Franciscans of the Immaculata. With the decree of the Congregation of Religious, the disempowerment of the Order, the appointment of a commissioner and the ban to celebrate without special permission the Holy Mass in the traditional form, the affected religious, including the Superior General and founder of the Order, P. Stefano M. Manelli appealed to the Apostolic Signatura. Pope Francis, however, highhandedly rejected any recourse. The persons concerned have since arbitrarily delivered the decision.

The Catholic Internet newspaper Nuova Bussola Quotidiana commented on the papal decision against the priestly brotherhood of the Holy Apostles by saying:

"The decree signed by Pope Francis seems to violate the right of the weakest in the Church. It’s a story that does not throw a good light on the way business is done by the head of the Reformed Roman Curia and the Pope. A bad story. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: fraternitedessaintsapotres.com

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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