The Decline of a Seminary

When there were many seminarians in the diocesan seminaries.

(Rome) The seminary of the diocese of Vicenza was still in its prime just a few decades ago. From this diocese comes Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who was ordained a priest in 1980 for the diocese.

Until the early 1970s, the Major Seminary had a constant 130-150 seminarians. The Minor seminary, the episcopal high school, was attended by about 200 students. Every year 20-25 new priests were ordained.

That was not uncommon, but in whole European regions the rule.

The diocese had a well-known Schola Cantorum, which consisted of a hundred singers who belonged to the two seminaries. It was headed by Msgr Ernesto Dalla Libera (1884-1980), who took piano and organ lessons at his own expense as a student and trained in Gregorian chant with the Benedictines of Parma. He was commissioned in his home diocese to become the main representative of the Cecilia Movement and the then bishop, Msgr. Ferdinando Rodolfi, Bishop from 1911, with the implementation of the liturgical renewal in the diocese. From 1908-1968 Dalla Libera was choirmaster of the Schola Cantorum of the episcopal seminary, which performed her musical service at the Duomo of Vicenza.

The Schola has not existed for a long time.

The Seminary currently has nine seminarians in the academic year 2018/2019, although the population in the diocese has increased by 30 percent since 1970, from 670,000 to 867,000.

In 2018 there was no ordination. Also in 2019 and 2020, as it currently looks, there will be no new priestly ordinations.

The minor seminary was closed three years ago, and the task of the vocation ministry among high school students transferred to a retreat and meeting center for young people. The seminary building, which was rebuilt in the 1950s under great financial sacrifice of the faithful, was sold to the National Health Service in 2015.

Now it became known that the private school H-Farm will move into the former small seminary. It describes itself as a "school of the future.” There are "neither blackboards nor school desks,” but "mobility and networking.” The main tools are "McBook and iPad from primary school.” Digitization and the use of modern, technical aids is a central component of the "school philosophy.” Particular emphasis will be placed on "robotics and artificial intelligence,” but also "magic hour to meet the superheroes of our time" and "soft skills to train capable managers with leadership and empathy.” H-Farm wants to develop a "completely new school model" and test it on some "thousands of students" in the H campus in order to gradually export it.

The spectrum should reach from kindergarten to post-university and further education. "A span from the age of 3 to 33," says the founder and CEO of Riccardo Donadon. Half of the money is privately owned by the insurance company Cattolica Assiscurazioni, whose largest single shareholder is Warren Buffett. The other half are financed by the public sector through a credit institution controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The cooperation had been entered into by the previous government.

According to the traditional website Messa in Latino, it is "sad" that one Diocesan high school closes down while another private board closes.

Messa in Latino accuses the incumbent bishop of Vicenza of being the confirmation that the "typical" activity of a bishop today, that of a "steward of decline" is to "shut down, let go, sell.”

"Is it possible that nobody realizes that he needs a course change?"

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Picture: MiL

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

German Politician: “Cardinal Woelki, Cardinal Marx, where are you now, depraved, disgusting hypocrites!”

Former Bild on Sunday editor-in-chief and current AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) politician Nicolaus Fest has unleashed sharp criticism of the churches, because they are silent on the JUSO extension for abortion until the 9th month.

Berlin (kath.net) Nicolaus Fest, former deputy editor-in-chief of the Bild am Sonntag and current AFD politician, has vigorously criticized the silence of politicians, media and the churches on the JUSO demand for abortion until the ninth month. "Cardinal Woelki, Cardinal Marx, where are you now depraved, disgusting hypocrites?" Mr. Bedford-Strohm, Mrs. Irmgard Schwätzer of the EKD. "Where is your outcry, you bigoted religious actors?" And Fest then criticizes the zeitgeist: "What we experience is disgusting mendacity of the left-green zeitgeist: on the one hand demanding children's rights in the constitution, but at the same time killing children in the womb."

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

General Superior of SSPX: “Rome Doesn’t See Us as Schismatic”

Interview with Fr. Davide Pagliarini, Superior General of the  Society of Saint Pius X  (FSSPX), in the Salzburg news.

(Vienna) "This Pope shakes us deeply," is the title of a detailed interview, the Salzburger Nachrichten published in its Saturday edition (15 December) with the new Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity. Pius X (FSSPX), P. Davide Pagliarni.

Pope Francis seeks dialogue, according to the daily paper: "How does the new superior general respond to the pope's approach?"

Fr. Pagliarini affirmed in the interview the position that the excommunication of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, its founder of the Society "was never considered valid.”

Asked what the Society was expecting from Rome, as "Francis too" came to “approach it,” Pagliarini replied:

"We expect what each Catholic expects from the Church at his baptism. The divine revelation is complete and it is the task of the Pope to faithfully pass on this material of faith. The Pope must therefore put an end to the terrible crisis that has shaken the Church for 50 years. This crisis was triggered by a new concept of faith, which is determined by the subjective experience of the individual.”

On the relationship with Rome, the Superior General said:

"In fact, Rome does not consider us schismatic, but 'irregular'. However, I would leave the Society immediately if I did not have the peace of mind to work in and for the Roman Catholic Church.”

And the relationship with Pope Francis:

"The Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X is deeply attached to the successor of Peter, even if he embraces the errors of the Second Vatican Council."

Yet:

"One of the features of the present pontificate, however, shakes us deeply: the completely new application of the concept of mercy. This is reduced to a panacea for all sins, without pushing for true conversion, for the transformation of the soul through grace, mortification, and prayer. In his post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia, the Pope gives Christians the opportunity to choose their own personal conscience on a case by case basis. This clearly contradicts the necessary and clear orientation to the law of God. We see in it an echo of Luther's spirituality: a Christianity without a demand for moral renewal, a subjectivism that no longer recognizes universally valid truth. "

Referring to the Luther Year 2017, P. Pagliarini said:

"Since the 16th century, the Catholic Church has approached the Protestants to convert them and to return them to the true Church. The year of Luther did not serve this primary purpose of returning the Protestants. On the contrary, these were reinforced in their errors. The reason for this is that since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has believed that every person can find God in his religion. This is a premise that reduces faith to a personal, inner experience rather than clinging to the divine revelation.”

At the Second Vatican Council, the Superior General emphasized that, while it was a “self-proclaimed" pastoral council, it did in fact "make serious dogmatic decisions," such as freedom of religion and ecumenism.

"Pope Benedict XVI. said that the differences between Rome and the Society of St. Pius X were a problem in interpreting the texts of the Council. One must only remember these texts themselves, then an agreement is possible. This is not our position. The fraternity of St. Pius X rejects everything that does not accord with the Catholic tradition in the Second Vatican Council.”

Specifically, he demanded:

"The pope must declare the decree on religious freedom as false and correct it accordingly."

The Italian born in 1970 in Rimini, Fr. Davide Pagliarini, previously District Superior of Italy and then Rector of the Society in Argentina, was elected General Superior of the Society founded in 1970 and the third successor to Archbishop Lefebvre at the General Chapter last July. His term of office is twelve years and lasts until 2030.

I 

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Salzburger Nachrichten (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

New Jesuit Provincial is “Worst of the Worst”

Rafael Velasco, the new Jesuit Provincial of Argentina and Uruguay

(Buenos Aires) The Jesuit General Arturo Sosa Abascal has appointed Father Rafael Velasco as the new Provincial of the Province of Argentina and Uruguay. The appointment was "the worst of the worst," says Spanish columnist Francisco Fernandez de La Cigoña. From 1973 to 1979 Jorge Mario Bergoglio, today's Pope Francis, was Provincial of this province.

The new provincial was Rector of the Catholic University of Cordoba (UCC) until 2014. He advocates the recognition of homosexuality and the introduction of women's priesthood and assures that he will continue to adhere to Marxist liberation theology.

He expressed his views on this in an interview with the Argentine journalist Mariano Saravia in 2013. Velasco then called for "reforms" in the Church that, in addition to recognizing homosexuality and the admission of the women's priesthood, also meant the elimination of the Roman Curia, the last medieval court in the middle in the 21st century.”  "The community should have more say" in episcopal appointments. 

On the objection that Pope John Paul II had definitely excluded the women's priesthood, Velasco replied that Pope Francis could simply "reopen" the question. There is "nothing the Pope can not open. The pope or a council.” [What happened to not turning back the clock?]

There are "logical" consequences to be drawn, "if a homosexual lives the same norms of love and loyalty that we demand from heterosexuals, then we must totally rehabilitate them for the sacraments, beginning with communion."

The former rector of the Catholic University denied the infallibility of the pope in the interview, when he speaks ex cathedra to questions of theology and morality. According to Velasco, the infallibility in matters of faith is "democratizing.”

According to the Jesuit, Marxist liberation theology is "the reality of reading the word of God from the poor.” The Church has "always" made policy, "but the only ones who have been punished are Ernesto Cardenal and Fernando Lugo."

Cardenal, one of the priests who became armed revolutionaries in the wake of Marxism, was from 1979, Minister of the Sandinista Revolutionary Government in Nicaragua, and Lugo was elected as a candidate for a left-wing alliance to the Presidency of Paraguay. Cardenal, lost office in 1987 due to cutbacks. In 1990, the Sandinists were voted out by the people in the first free and democratic elections. Cardenal nevertheless continues to profess himself to be "Sandinista, Marxist and Christian.”

Lugo won the 2008 elections, was relieved of office in 2012. He had just had to acknowledge the paternity of a second child whom he had conceived during his time as bishop of San Pedro with various women. He had already recognized the first child in 2009. Lugo's personal way of life was criticized as a "slap in the face of the Church.”

Due to the heterodox and heretical positions of Father Rafael Velasco, Francisco Fernandez de La Cigoña today greeted his appointment as the new Jesuit Provincial of Argentina and Uruguay as “a scandal.”

"The only positive thing about the news is that the Argentine and Uruguayan Jesuits are only fewer than 200, of whom one hundred must be eighty or almost eighty. Only 50 Jesuits will be younger than 60, of whom he is one of the youngest in the province at the age of 52.”

The cases of Velasco in Argentina and Wucherpfennig in Germany, to mention only the two most recent, as well as the scandalous statements by the Father General Arturo Sosa last year, means that it can be not only marginal cases, but the Jesuit Order seems to have a fundamental problem 

.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: InfoVaticana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

NYT: International Conspiracy to Topple Pope Francis

Princess Gloria von Thurn and Taxis is the linchpin of a conservative conspiracy against Pope Francis for the New York Times.

(New York) The New York Times (NYT) tries to give the impression that there is an organized and conspiratorial group in the Catholic Church that wants to overthrow Pope Francis. And at the center would be Princess Gloria of Thurn and Taxis.

If it were another medium, you could break a smile about it. However, the article was published by the New York Times on December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The New York daily newspaper is not only regarded as an influential newspaper worldwide, but above all is the leading organ of the global, left-liberal mainstream.

Their weight can be briefly illustrated by two examples.

The New York Times issued the slogan on the day after the 2016 US presidential election that the Internet, which the same newspaper had praised eight years earlier when Barack Obama was elected, as the ingenious instrument of a new grassroots movement, allowed and spread "fake news" which was the only thing that made the election of Donald Trump possible. A direct consequence of this article is the "Fake News" discussion and the Network Enforcement Act in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Several articles show how much careful attention even in the Vatican, the pronouncements of the New York daily newspaper are listened to. Several times Pope Francis responded to direct calls from the editorial office, and not only in the withdrawal of the cardinal dignity of Theodore McCarrick.

On December 8, Jason Horowitz published the article “80s Party Girl Now Has a Salon for Conservative Catholics. " 

We are talking about Gloria von Thurn and Taxis. Noteworthy is not the distinctively drawn portrait of the princess in residence in Regensburg, but the attempt to whisper a new slogan to the world public.

The New York Times is introducing the mainstream slogan that there is an internationally organized, conspiratorial group in the Catholic Church to overthrow Pope Francis. It is not said that the princess is the head of this conspiracy, but at least its central hub. Her castle is something like the place of conspiracy.

The story sounds familiar and commemorates the inner-church secret circle of St. Gallen, which Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini SJ, who at that time Archbishop of Milan, founded in the 1990s. The difference: the secret circle of Sankt Gallen really existed, while the alleged conservative conspiracy is an invention of the New York Times. Cardinal Godfried Danneels, not suspected of being a conservative, chatted about the existence of the progressive secret circle to his biographers and self-confidently performed a feat in the 2015 book launch, revealing that the members of the secret circle called themselves "the Mafia":

"The group was called 'Sankt Gallen'. But we called it 'the mafia'.”

Every day, 300 warm meals are served  in the castle for the poor

Horowitz makes every effort to put the idea of ​​the existence of a conservative "secret circle of St. Gallen" in the reader's and probably especially those minds of the disseminators. In addition, he throws everything arbitrarily into a pot, of which he must certainly be aware.

There is the Princess who invites and collects everything that is against Francis, "conservative and traditionalist Catholics," and of course there is somehow a connection to US President Donald Trump, the archenemy of the New York Times par excellence. It goes on with the former nuncio in the USA, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, with Cardinal Raymond Burke, with the traditional Institute Christ the King and High Priest, although one does not exactly understand how and why, then of course there is Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who prior to his appointment to Rome was Bishop of Regensburg, and even Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart leader charged with the unpardonable "offense," of organizing the successful election campaign of Donald Trump. Bannon is currently trying to repeat his hussar's charge in view of the European elections in 2019.

Reporting by the NYT

These ingredients seem to have more the purpose, even to less religiously interested readers, to facilitate the "political" assignment. After all, it should be clearly communicated who is friend and who is enemy, and that the fight takes place globally. No doubt remains as to which side Pope Francis stands or is ranked. The Wall Street Journal wrote in late 2016, when the first shock over the Trump election victory had passed and the ranks were rearranged:

"Pope Francis is the new leader of the global left."

There is no doubt that there are enough faithful people in the Catholic Church who would rather have another pope sooner than later. There are also some circles who still view Benedict XVI. as the truly legitimate successor of Peter. Thats the one thing. But a very different matter is a conspiracy to overthrow Pope Francis. Of course Jason Horowitz knows that too. If he nevertheless suggests the story, it does not lack intentionality. The most common intention is to distract. Above all, a more typically leftist outlook is projected onto the opposite side. There is more evidence that it has become more difficult to understand each other inside and outside the Church. Even more: On the left side of the enemy's delusion against the right seems to have progressed so far that only the smallest idea of ​​"opposition" thinking and feeling is apparent. It simply lacks the willingness to even deal with it.

The article reveals something else: Pope Francis has become very dear to certain circles of the left-liberal establishment. So much so that since the day of his election he has been generously supported by the media; so much that since then they have defended him to such an astonishing degree; so much so that, if necessary, they are eager to brush aside even serious issues.

Elvina Princess Pallavicini

Horowitz uses another blueprint. He portrays the German princess as a new princess Pallavicini. The Roman princess (1914-2004) once said: Anyone who can transform his house can become anything in Italy, even president. Above all, the two princesses share the faithfulness and love of the Catholic Church. The subliminal comparison honors the mistress of the castle of St. Emmeram. Because one thing the energetic Roman woman did not do: neither conspired nor did she want to overthrow a pope. Nothing would have been further from their thinking, but it's not only Horowitz who does not seem to understand that anymore.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: NYT / Wikcommons / CR (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Cardinal Zen: "I must choose between rebellion against the Pope, and silence."

"Global Times on the Vatican delegation in the People's Republic of China. Cardinal Zen: "I have to decide".

(Rome / Beijing) Vatican spokesman Greg Burke indirectly confirmed the Vatican operation in the People's Republic of China to force legitimate, faithful bishops to resign, giving way to schismatic, bishops.
 

"Practical steps"

 

On Saturday, December 15, the Global Times, a regime friendly, English-language newspaper in the People's Republic of China, reported the presence of a Vatican delegation in China. This had taken place in the Communist empire because of "practical steps in the implementation of the agreement on the bishops".

 
Last September, for the first time since the Communist takeover in 1949, a bilateral agreement was signed between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China, but its contents are kept secret by both sides. As the Global Times confirmed, this is about episcopal appointments.
 
In 1958, the Communist regime established its own religiously dependent Catholic Church, independent from Rome, the so-called "Patriotic Association," and has since appointed its own bishops without the consent of Rome. These bishops were excommunicated from Rome.
 
Simultaneously with the signing of the secret agreement, Pope Francis lifted the excommunication of these bishops and recognized them as legitimate bishops. The agreement also appears to require that these bishops be appointed and recognized as diocesan bishops by Rome. Since autumn 2017, it is known that the Vatican is urging two faithful bishops to resign to make way for bishops excommunicated so far.
 
Last week, as the newspaper reported, a Vatican delegation was in the "Middle Kingdom" to hold "talks on the implementation of an agreement on the appointment of bishops."These," said a spokesman for the Holy See,  "talks were conducted with both government and church representatives."
 
The spokesperson, according to the article, was Vatican spokesman Greg Burke, who was contacted by the Chinese newspaper last Friday.
 
The newspaper also quoted Wang Meixiu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as saying that the talks were about filling vacant episcopal chairs. 

The "new model"

The Global Times also confirmed that a bishop appointed by the regime is being used by the Vatican as a legitimate diocesan bishop. Underground Bishop Guo Xijin of Mindong accepted the papal call to resign last Friday. He is replaced by the regime's Bishop Zhan Silu.
 
Bishop Guo Xijin was a dialogue partner of the Vatican delegation. He will be, as the Vatican wishes, auxiliary bishop of Bishop Silu in his former diocese. He confirmed this to Global Times after the meeting with the delegation from the Vatican.
 
Global Times presented the unusual resignation and role reversal as a "normal castling," which goes back to "practical", ecclesiastical "necessities."
 
There is talk of a "new model" that, if accepted by both sides "with good will", could be established with regard to episcopal nominations. Should that translate to mean that the diocesan bishops in future come from the Patriotic Association and the auxiliary bishops from the Underground Church?
 
Global Times concludes:

"The Press Office of the Holy See did not respond to questions as to whether the delegation's mission also included discussions on the establishment of diplomatic relations or a possible visit by Pope Francis to China."

Cardinal Zen: "Unacceptable, so I'll be silent from now on"

Meanwhile, Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong and gray eminence of the Chinese Underground Church, commented on recent events. He was disappointed with the monthly Tempi that Rome forces legitimate and faithful bishops to resign to establish bishops who have been unfaithful and have turned away from Rome.

"I have told these two bishops that they should not resign voluntarily so as not to cooperate with evil. But I have also advised them to obey if the Pope orders it, because a pope's command must always be obeyed."

At the beginning of the year, Cardinal Zen experienced the great defeat when it became clear that Pope Francis is against all warnings, for the agreement with Beijing (see also "The problem is who sits in the cage" ). Because of this disappointment, the cardinal reasons, since it is impossible for him because of his office and as a Catholic, to criticize the Pope, he will at last to retire to a monastery and to keep silent.

He said to Tempi :

"There is the problem of the seven bishops excommunicated and pardoned by Francis. So far none of them has been placed at the head of a diocese. If this happens, I will be silent for ever, because that would be unacceptable and would force me to decide to rebel against the Pope or to remain silent. I will be silent."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Global Times / Wikicommons (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Underground Bishops Expected to Subject Themselves to Communist Ones Favored by Pope as Sign of Obedience

“Gesture of obedience": Archbishop Celli with legitimate bishops of China, who have to resign in favor of bishops who belong to the state.

(Beijing) Two legitimate bishops were called to resign yesterday on behalf of Pope Francis. They have to give way to Patriotic bishops loyal to China’s Communist regime.

Underground Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin was the Bishop of Mindong, officially recognized by Rome. He was rejected by the Communist government in Beijing. At the insistence of Rome, he will now resign to make room for a bishop in the diocese, whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Francis last September. The repeal was a one-sided advance of Rome for the signing of the secret agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China on the same day. The content of the agreement is kept secret in agreement of both sides, but should relate to episcopal appointments.

Pope Francis abolished the excommunication of seven bishops whose episcopal ordination had been ordered by the communist government without the consent of Rome. Part of the agreement seems to be that not only the excommunication should be repealed, but all previously bishops of Rome as diocesan bishops must be used and recognized. In order to make this possible, the Vatican negotiators urged legitimate bishops in the fall of 2017 to renounce their offices. They must subordinate themselves in rank to the bishops who belong to the state and become their suffragan bishops.

Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin was also urged to do so. In the past two years alone, he was arrested twice and taken to an unknown location. A popular method in the People's Republic of China is to exert pressure, intimidate, or subject regime opponents to re-education.

His place as Diocesan Bishop of Mindong will be occupied by Vincent Zhan Silu. This became known yesterday after Bishop Guo gathered his priests in the afternoon to explain the situation to them.

Bishop Guo, who will be Auxiliary Bishop of Mindong in the future, had just returned from a place near Beijing. Curial Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the head of the Vatican delegation that had prepared the agreement and signed it on behalf of the Pope, had sent him there.

Archbishop Celli handed Bishop Guo a letter from Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of Propaganda Fide. In it they asked him to cede the leadership of the diocese to Zhan Silu. Archbishop Celli emphasized to the bishop that Pope Francis awaits his resignation as a "gesture of obedience". It is a "sacrifice for the overall situation of the Chinese Church,” which he has to bring into being.

The news, AsiaNews said, has "saddened" many priests and believers. Until now it was the case that an episcopal bishop, reconciled to Rome and recognized by the Holy See, subordinated himself to the Underground Bishop and became its Auxiliary Bishop. "Now the opposite is the case," says AsiaNews.

In the diocese of Mindong, the vast majority of the faithful and the priests belong to the Underground Church. The Natuonal Patriotic Association has counted at best ten percent of the faithful and 20 percent of the priests. Thanks to the Vatican-Chinese agreement, the state-owned organization is now also in control of the underground church.

The question of who benefits from the agreement does not have to be asked. Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong and gray eminence of the Underground Church said in September. It is the government in Beijing.

Bishop Peter Zhuang Jianjian was also summoned to meet Archbishop Celli. He too will resign "as a papal wish" as Diocesan Bishop of Shantou. His place will be taken over by Bishop Joseph Huang Bingzhang.

The paths approved by Rome  are still a stumbling block for those affected. In order for the legitimate bishops, after their resignation, to become auxiliary bishops of their previous dioceses, they need the approval of the communist government and the bishops' council. They depend on those from whom they have so far been able to stay away from great sacrifices but successfully.

Even before signing, Cardinal Zen said that the Vatican would hand over the faithful underground church to the regime.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: AsiaNews

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Holyart Catholic Religious Art — Guest Article

Edit: here’s a company I endorse and a guest article by Marilyn Nash.  Holyart has many gift ideas for the season. Please let them know we sent you. 

This Italian company has really nice vestments, altar furnishings and religious art.

I’ve purchased religious art and books from people in the states who don’t really share my beliefs, and even hold them in contempt, but here’s a company that not only cares about your faith and its beauty, but their representative has a sense of the history of the faith and beauty as well.  Help support us and a Catholic business as well.

Influence of the Council of Trent on Sacred Art

 

In 1517, Martin Luther originated the Protestant Reformation, a schism against the Catholic Church and papal authority. As Luther’s teachings gained popularity,the Reformation became a threat to the Roman Catholic Church. The Church reacted to this threat with a Counter-Reformation which began in 1545 when Pope Paul III assembled the Council of Trent in Trento and Bologna, Italy.  This council would redefine the Church. 

 

Luther Disapproved of Religious Objects and Sacred Art

The two most important factors which formed the counter-reformation were a growth in the corruption within the Roman Catholic Church and sacred art, which Luther saw as indicating a spiritual deterioration.  Early Renaissance painting commissioned by the Church or its Christian followers, gradually became less religious. Art had become more focused on the middle-class and their life than on the actual sacred subjects, and nonspiritual priorities began to make their way as focal.  Influential painters, such as Andrea Mantegna and Botticelli were utilizing their creative gifts on works with considerable nudity. Other artists were embracing a new style, called Mannerism, which became known for its unrealistic qualities and were not understood by the masses.  

 

The Catholic Church, the Greatest Patron of the Arts

The Catholic Church was the greatest patron of the arts and was, therefore, able to dominate its style. Art should illustrate the ideas of the Church, offering illustrations of humility, obedience, praise, and adoration.  Any art that would detract from a focus upon these spiritual virtues was not acceptable.  Nudity and art which focused upon the human body were forbidden.  This decree issued censorship as well as provided guidelines for what type of art the Church preferred and accepted. 

 

Baroque Era Begins

The Catholic Church began to challenge Protestant attacks on the saints and Our Blessed Mother by clearly focusing on the Virgin Mary.  Paintings and other religious articles would show her innocence, kindness, charity and the grief she experienced by the suffering of her Son.  Jesus also became a popular subject, with paintings clearly representing His suffering and crucifixion for the sake of humanity. The Catholic Church wanted these pieces to be full of emotion and detail.  This pushed art into the Baroque era where realism and emotion dominated art style. 

The Baroque style became very popular in Europe.  Many non-Catholic artists adopted this style and the realism and detail can be shown in their work.  It is fair to say that the Catholic Church motivated this evolution of art style and it all started with the council of Trent.  

There are many famous artists from the Baroque period whose work represent every aspect the Catholic Church had wanted.  Among them, probably the most well-known and favorite is Caravaggio who was first commissioned by a Catholic cardinal to paint for the church of San Luigi de Francesi. Caravaggio was criticized because his religious works were so realistic and dramatic but this is exactly what the Church wanted; prayer via sacred art, and it succeeded. 

 

Marilyn Nash

www.Gardenias4Lina.com

 

 

For information on the Council of Trent and Baroque architecture ~ http://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/charles_borromeo_and_catholic_tradition

 

 AMDG

 

The Strasbourg Attack and Islam Concealed

The attack in Strasbourg, Islam and the "problems" of the media telling the truth.

By Andreas Becker and Martha Burger

The attack in Strasbourg, Islamic terrorism and the media with the self-imposed muzzle.

In Strasbourg, yesterday in an attack on a Christmas market, three people were killed and many injured. Despite being obliged to provide information, the "leading media" are having a hard time telling the truth to their audience. Rita Katz, the founder and operator of Site, a private documentation center for monitoring the activities of the Islamic State (IS), reported with evidence that the jihadist terrorist organization claimed the terror attack and provided  a photo of the attacker which  according to our rights is Cherif Chekatt.

The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) still wanted to make the listeners of the morning news believe that the assassin was "a 29-year-old Frenchman".

Since when do French people murder innocent people at Christmas markets? This slander of a whole people, however, does not matter to the editorial staff.

Learned media consumers now know by what the media engage in cover up, when Muslim perpetrators are responsible for a criminal offense. Does the mass seethrough it? Above all, how does the population, how does the ordinary citizen use anti-manipulation and contemplates all possible background details in order not to be manipulated by the media, which he financed with a license fee?

Even if Cherif Chekatt were a French citizen, his citizenship is not what determines his act of terrorism, but the Islam he adheres to. The media follows a clear pattern in Islamic terrorism. When reporting on Islam, then either positively or maximally, a "liberal" Islam is contrasted with "another" Islam. Muslims can not be culprits. Any terrorist connection to Islam must be hushed up as far and as much as possible.

This is a gross violation of the duty to inform.

The phenomenon is not new. Just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, whoever dared call Marxism by its name or mention the Soviet Union? On ZDF, to give another example, one Gerhard Löwenthal needed the rest of the editorial staff to be silent or to sympathize with the workers' dictatorships behind the Iron Curtain. We experience the  same concealment with Islam. Not even the name of the terrorist organization could be mentioned. Instead of the Islamic State (IS) the Arabic abbreviation Daesh is employed.

The same media, as they have sufficiently demonstrated, have no problem with actual or alleged perpetrators of other contexts in naming the actual or sometimes supposed connections. The keyword Chemnitz will not be soon forgotten.

When it comes to Islam, however, everything is different, even if the facts are obviously on the table. The media put a muzzle on themselves. They do it with the intention to muzzle the public, the people.

The ORF was named. The same cover-up mechanism has also appeared in other European countries today. There can hardly be any chance of a coincidence.

But let us stick to the example of Austria: when does the ÖVP-FPÖ government ensure that the publicly owned Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), financed with compulsory levies, fulfills its neutral obligation to inform and ceases to be the press organ of various left-wing parties and the lackey of the globalist agenda ?

Text: Andreas Becker / Martha Burger

Image: Twitter (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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Osservatore Romano Reacts to the Death of Robert Spaemann

Osservatore Romano Robert Spaemann obituary 13122018

(Rome) The Pope's daily has published an obituary for the great Catholic philosopher Robert Spaemann, who died on Monday. It also acknowledges that he was a critic of the controversial, post-synodal writing, Amoris laetitia.

Prof. Spaemann is one of the most outstanding and formative figures of Catholic thought of the past 60 years (see the obituary of Katholisches.info death of Prof. Robert Spaemann). He was an admonisher against the break with tradition and was called without contradiction, a counter-revolutionary. In this sense, the requiem and the funeral have also taken place in the Immemorial form of the Roman Rite. At his request, on his last earthly journey, he will be accompanied by priests of the Petrine Brotherhood (FSSP), with whom he has been associated since their foundation.

Particularly noteworthy in the obituary of the Vatican newspaper is the indication that Prof. Spaemann was a critic of Amoris laetitia. 

It says in the obituary:

The appreciation of his person is international. The appreciation of his spiritual work must first be done in full. The pope's daily newspaper, the Osservatore Romano, also devotes an obituary to the great German thinker in its current issue. It highlights his "strong resistance" to abortion and euthanasia, as well as mentioning his membership in the Pontifical Academy for Life. Pope John Paul II. called him a personal friend along with Pope Benedict XVI. No mention was made by the Osservatore Romano that Spaemann  was shown the door with other  academicians by Pope Francis im an especially inelegant and arbitrary manner on 31 December 2016.

"In recent years he has expressed very critical thoughts on the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia."

It is noteworthy because it is the first real recognition of the criticism of the controversial, Post-Synodal Exhortation of Pope Francis by the Osservatore Romano. So far, the critics in the daily paper of the Pope, as in the whole Vatican media, is not only offered no room, but conceals the existence of any criticism at all. At best, critics were sharply attacked without commenting on their criticisms.

Prof. Spaemann was among the very first critics of the controversial conclusions that Pope Francis drew from the dual synod to the family. Just a few days after the release of Amoris laetitia he reported on April 28, 2016 in an interview with the German edition of the Catholic News Agency (CNA) to speak and spoke of a "break with the tradition of teaching".

The interview for reading:

"A break with the tradition of teaching" - Robert Spaemann on Amoris laetitia.

It may be assumed and hoped that this is only the communication of his death, and that in the Osservatore Romano will follow with a more detailed appreciation of his greatness, as in the same issue the Jesuit and Schelling expert P. Xavier Tilliette and the Marxist, Paleographer and medievalist, Armando Pettrucci became part of.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Osservatore Romano (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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Papal Blessing for Global Migration Pact

Secretary of State Pietro Parolin grants blessing to the Global Migrationspakt in Marrakech on behalf of Pope Francis.

The Global Compact for Migration is signed. Above all, it bears numerous signatures of representatives from countries of origin. Significantly lower are the signatures of representatives of the target countries. In some state chancelleries one is still able to ask the simple question about the cui bono. The Holy See was represented in Marrakesh by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and gave the Pact the blessing of Pope Francis.

In September 2015, Pope Francis was the only representative of religion and thus the recognized highest moral authority in the New York Glass Palace of the United Nations, giving his blessing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Officially: Transformation of Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development). Abortion or not. Last Tuesday, the Secretary of State did the same with the Global Migration Pact in Marrakesh.

The migration compacts represent another step towards globalization and thus the curtailment of state sovereignty. Ornaments or no. What they mean exactly must first be shown, and not just because they have to be put into action. Rather, because terms are out of focus and therefore fluid. That's the intent. Since 2015, this approach has been pre-explored on a grand scale with the fluent synonymisation of refugee and migrant. The text of the treaty seems to be deliberately conceived as work in progress. It is spongy, so that its concrete implementation leaves a wide scope for those who can shape it. These are the ones who wanted the pact. They have given themselves a remarkable instrument in hand.

Vatican announces new commandments and new sins

At the beginning of the week, the Vatican gave the green light to the Global Compact for Migration on behalf of Pope Francis. Specifically, this means the absolutization of migration as a right. In other words, for the Holy See under Francis, migration under all circumstances is always a good thing, and the reception of migrants by the countries of destination under all circumstances and is always a duty.

In terms of religious history and theology, the "Welcome Culture", postulated overnight in 2015, has been elevated to the rank of a commandment by the Holy See and a violation of it to the status of a sin.

The next step will be in a few days, on the 19th of December, before returning to the Glass Palace in New York. There the UN General Assembly will formally decide on the Migration Pact. The result of the vote is already known.

The Vatican is not a member of the UN, which is why the Secretary of State was present with the status of Permanent Observer in the Moroccan metropolis. As such, it can not only attend the UN conferences, but also speak.

What did Cardinal Parolin say in Marrakesh?

He announced that he had already, “initiated the process, in order to find the most efficient ways in which the Catholic Church institutions and Catholic organizations around the world" could benefit from the global pact. What exactly that means, is in view of the matter is in substance less tangible than the more than unclear contract text. More decisive is the declaration of intent, which is an unconditional commitment to the UN migration agenda.

In fact, for more than five years, Pope Francis has been among the most active among the leading contributors to the migration agenda, even though he is not its inventor.

Merkel's Marrakesh message

Next to him, on the political level, is Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her message in Marrakech consisted of three central points:

-Mass migration is a "normal phenomenon”

- if done legally, "it is a positive thing”

- the handling of a "global phenomenon" can not be "entrusted to individual states" but "only to the international community".

Migration is a global phenomenon insofar as it occurs in many countries worldwide. However, this is not a specific case for a global phenomenon because no migration movement takes place globally. Every situation in each country of origin is different, the migrant, smuggler and boat routes are different, the destinations are different and the situation is different and are the motives of each individual migrant.

This refutes the claim that individual countries can not handle the migration. What else?

In reality, Merkel spoke in favor of the disempowerment and disenfranchisement of the sovereign states, which in a central question in general, human movements, would no longer be one, that is, sovereign. From this perspective, the Migration Pact turns out to be a gigantic attempt to enforce global free movement, which would be the first step towards the end of today's states.

Did someone say so? Has anyone so decided, for example, the German Bundestag? No. Through the back door to the democratically legitimized legislative bodies and above all facts concocted contrary to the constitutional obligations. Sovereignty and democracy were apparently in the minds of some rulers yesterday.

The pact is therefore by no means irrelevant, as some commentators try to assure, just because it does not contain concrete measures and is more like a declaration of intent. The meaning lies exactly in this declaration of intent. It reflects what the truly powerful aspire to, and that is alarming.

"Adverse circumstances"

Secretary of State Parolin justified his presence in Marrakesh by pointing out that "more and more people are forced to leave their homes because of adverse factors". The formulation was surprisingly generic. The political arm of Pope Francis, Curial Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, already described "climate change" as a reason for immigration to be recognized. If one takes the disaster-making of the UN prophets of doom at the World Climate Summit in Katowice at their word, such as the UN Socialist Secretary General Antonio Gutierres, then "whole countries" are threatened by climate change so that they would be uninhabitable in the near future. As a precaution, however, he did not give a concrete example of his daring claim.

However, the notice already announces which arguments could be used to justify coming waves of migration.

Cardinal Parolin

Parolin seconded the advocates of the migration agenda in Marrakesh, categorically identifying migration as the "involuntary journey" that "puts migrants and their families in vulnerable situations.” The most common reason for migration, economic migration, is concealed and neatly excluded from all discussions.

As far as Pope Francis is concerned, everyone has a right to go where he wants to go. But the countries of destination have no rights, because they have to absorb and shut up. If you do not, you are guilty. This is the new moral of the new globalist era.

What was blessed in Marrakesh

Secretary of State Parolin has blessed the very nature of the Marrakesh Conference. The goals can be summarized:

-Reduction of sovereignty of states

- “Persuading" public opinion worldwide that migration is an absolute right and always a positive phenomenon

- definitive elimination of any distinction between refugees and economic migrants and between illegal and regular migration

-Compulsion to accept migrants.

In this sense, Secretary of State Parolin in Marrakesh declared migration as a means of "human development.”

As early as July 2017, Sanchez Sorondo, political advisor to Pope Francis, said:

"Humanity is experiencing a magical moment: For the first time, the Magisterium of the Pope and the Magisterium of the United Nations agree.”

Text: Andreas Becker

Image: Nuova Bussola Quotidiana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Mass Shooting During Mass in Brazil

During the Holy Mass a gunman shot himself - later he shot himself at the altar

Sao Paulo (kath.net) In a church near the Brazilian metropolis Sao Paulo on Tuesday it came to a blood bath. This was reported by the "Krone”. During the Mass, a man armed with a pistol and a revolver opened fire during and shot at least five people. Later he shot himself at the altar. The attack took place in the Catedral Metropolitana, about 90 kilometers from Sao Paulo in Campina. According to eyewitnesses the shooter fired completely randomly on those in attendance. "Most people here were pensioners, innocents, and he shot at everyone. It was terrible, a great tragedy,” said a member of the Church. The Archdiocese of Campinas said: "In this moment of deep pain we count on the prayers of all of you."

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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Cardinal Pell Found Guilty by Unanimous Verdict

Edit: Gloria.tv says this guilty verdict is bogus? How are they bogus? Wish we’d posted something earlier, but despite a lot of the efforts to defend him in various Neocon publications by dry as dust commentators, the accusations against Pell sounded like they carried a lot of water, and 12 of Pell’s peers seemed to think so as well.  A pool member, Les Tyack  gave a very credible testimony that he witnessed Pell in the changing room toweling himself off in front of boy. This prompted Tyack to ban then Father George Pell from that pool. Mr. Tyack approached police in 2012.  Darren Mooney also witnessed the same behavior. [9:35] Mr. Tyack’s account is at [17:00] But be sure to check out the entire documentary and listen to the men who were abused as children give their side. It’s very compelling.

And let’s not be surprised. We should all know by now, despite Pell’s adoption of a rockribbed conservative appearance, who his real constituency is.

[Gloria] The bogus conviction of Cardinal George Pell on December 11 – en.news reported yesterday - was based on an unanimous verdict of the jury, writes the anti-Church TheDailyBeast.com (December 12).

The Cardinal was found "guilty" of having homosexually abused two Melbourne choir boys in the late '90s when he was Melbourne archbishop although, given the location, it is impossible that such abuses could ever have taken place.

The trial is still under a gag order in Australia that prevented any details of the secret trial being made public.

All along Pell has repeated his vehement and consistent denials of any and all such accusations.

AMDG

Argentinian Archbishop Aguer Speaks of the “Homosexual Lobby”

"I can assure you that in some diocese the percentage of homosexual priests is high and they usually protect each other", they form "a kind of lodge or lobby, even those who are non-practicing.”

La Plata (kath.net) Archbishop Emeritus of La Plata (Argentina), Héctor Aguer, told the Spanish-language press agency ACI Prensa, run by EWTN, that there is a kind of lobby in the clergy owing to the "high" proportion of homosexual clerics. This was reported by the British "Catholic Herald". Aguer quoted Pope Francis as saying that homosexuality had become a fad.

"The Pope has addressed a key issue that is generally not mentioned. I can assure you that in some dioceses the percentage of homosexual priests is high and they usually protect each other, they do not go public [with this theme]. "Rather, they would form a kind of lodge or lobby, even those who are 'non-practicing'. "

The archbishop classed it as a fair way of discerning ["discrimination"] if homosexual men are not admitted to the priesthood. It is "a commitment of the Church to choose candidates for the priesthood with full integrity as men. Otherwise, the meaning of celibacy is on the cliff.”

Photo archbishop em. Aguer © Archdiocese of La Plata

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Philosopher Robert Spaemann is Dead

The well-known Catholic philosopher Robert Spaemann died yesterday at the age of 91.

Stuttgart (kath.net/kathpedia.com) The well-known Catholic philosopher Robert Spaemann died yesterday at the age of 91. This kath.net has learned from his family.

Robert Spaemann was born on May 5, 1927 in Berlin, the son of Heinrich Spaemann, later elevated to the priesthood, and his wife Ruth Krämer. He studied philosophy, history, theology and Romance studies at the universities of Münster, Munich, Friborg and Paris. He received his doctorate in Münster in 1952, worked as a lecturer at Kohlhammer Verlag for four years, then as an assistant to Joachim Ritter in Münster. He habilitated there in 1962 in philosophy and education with a thesis on François Fénelon. Spaemann was until 1968 full professor of philosophy at the universities of Stuttgart, until 1972 in Heidelberg and Munich, where he retired in 1992. Spaemann was widowed and father of two children.

For Spaemann, the reasonableness of the belief in God is the center of his philosophy. He explains the traditional philosophical proofs of God and points out that these proofs of God still found philosophical admirers in the 20th century.

The belief in God has endured for Spaemann. He calls him therefore the "immortal rumor". Universalist religions like Christianity could not do without mission. They would have to bring their points of view into the general discourse. He is convinced that a fruitful discussion is possible between different religious positions. For Spaemann, the mark of God in the world is man, created in his own image.

In an essay published in 1996 Spaemann sharply criticized the "Project Global Ethos" of the Tübingen theologian Hans Küng.

Pope Benedict XVI. Appreciated him as a consultant and invited him to Castel Gandolfo in September 2006 to speak about the relationship between science, philosophy and faith.

In his speeches and publications, Spaemann campaigns for the protection of human life from its beginning to natural death. He therefore criticized proposals for - at least partial - release of killing on request and for a "liberalization" of euthanasia. He bases this on an understanding of person and human dignity that rejects any relativization of the right to life with dates, deadlines and other conditions. Together with the former constitutional judge Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde he formulated the following principle: "If there should be anything like rights of the person, they can only exist on the condition that no one is authorized to judge who is the subject of such rights.” Human dignity does not come to the person under the condition of certain qualities (eg self-confidence), but solely because of their biological belonging to the human species. He shows that for the Enlightenment just this thesis that "people before their birth have personal rights,” was self-evident. It is Spaemann's merit to have "raised the debate about abortion and euthanasia to this fundamental level".

Spaemann was considered a representative of an Aristotelian natural philosophy. In his contributions to the philosophy of law, he emphasized the "actuality of natural law". In the dispute over natural law, he did not recognize an argument against, but one for this right. For "if there were no right by nature, it would not make sense to argue about issues of justice". The existence of that right does not mean that it is obvious to everyone, but "that it makes sense to seek something in the direction that this name refers to.” Natural law can no longer be understood as a catalog of norms or a kind of meta-constitution. Rather, it is a mindset, that checks “all critical legal legitimization again.”

Questions of education are, according to Spaemann's view "at the beginning of all ethics.” In the 1970s he commented on the ideas of "emancipatory education.” The idea of ​​emancipation is meaningful there, "where people are freed from outside guardianship with regard to the organization of the framework conditions of their actions.” This concept of emancipation denotes "a process which always has a beginning and an end,” which is called maturity. The idea of ​​"emancipatory" education, which he calls the ideology of emancipation, on the other hand, meant "an infinite and, moreover, a universally conceived process," as an educational ideal. It serves to expand the circle of those who are "declared to be immature" and legitimize a "massive ideological rule by the educators.” The ideology of emancipation deprives the child of the right to possibilities for identification and personality development. [8] He belonged in 1978 to the organizers of the congress "Courage for Education", which was directed against emancipatory education experiments with children. According to Spaemann, the task of the educators is to "bring the child to the independent and recalcitrant reality.” First, the child must be carefully and purposefully guided to reality from "his subjective world of sensation." The decisive factor is that "reality will initially be experienced as helpful and friendly.” The foundation of this basic experience - psychology speaks of basic trust - is the most important thing "that education can do.” For anyone who remembers his childhood as an "ideal world" would "easily cope with the unhappy.”

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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