Pope Speaks Out on Suicide of Dutch Girl — Demonic Tweets Follow

Where hope is missing: Noa Pothoven and the cruel culture of death.

Edit: now the evil Gabriel will turn on the Pope.

(Rome) Pope Francis found clear words against suicide and euthanasia. He spoke of a "defeat for all". The papal statement was made in response to the death of 17-year-old Dutch girl, Noa Pothoven. A message that is shocking indeed.

Pothoven was euthanized last Sunday because of "depression.” So it was reported yesterday by numerous media. The killing was done in a so-called "Lebensendeklinik" [End of Life Clinic]. By this euphemism is meant no medical device, as the name implies, but a killing device.

Noa Pothoven was sexually molested at the age of 11 and 12, and was raped by two Muslims at the age of 14. The rape caused post-traumatic stress, anorexia and depression. Last Sunday, on the basis of the Dutch euthanasia law and with the permission of the parents, the killing of the girl took place.

However, the news of Noa's euthanasia turned out to be a hoax. It is not wrong, however, that the girl is actually dead, in no less dire circumstances.

Stand by the Sufferer

Therefore, Pope Francis took a stand not only against euthanasia but also against suicide.

The news is so incredible that it is hard to believe. Instead of helping their daughter, the parents agreed to have their child killed. But even the ultraliberal euthanasia law of the Netherlands does not allow euthanasia because of depression.

Because she was denied euthanasia, Noa Pothoven, according to the current reconstruction of events, starved and died of thirst by refusing food and fluid intake. And at home and with the consent of her parents.

Noa herself had announced her death on the social networks, including on Instagram. She herself complained there that she was denied euthanasia, "because I am too young." She would have had to undergo psychiatric or psychological therapy first. Only then could she have been killed at the age of 21, "when my brain is fully mature".

"I'm devastated because I can not wait that long," said the 17-year-old.

The cruel suicide is likely to trigger a new discussion on the further expansion of the euthanasia law in order to "spare" those who "wish" such a dreadful death. 

Today, Pope Francis responded with a tweet to the dire news of Pothov's death:

"Euthanasia and assisted suicide are a defeat for all. The answer to which we are called is never to let the sufferer down, never to resign, but to accept with care and love, to give hope. "

Tweet by Pope Francis.

Tweet by Pope Francis.

On the German Twitter account of the Pope, the majority of reactions were negative. The Christian understanding of suffering and death is barely or not at all present in many. However, in the face of pain and death, the delusion of unlimited self-determination reaches its limits anyway.

Some German reactions of incomprehension to the position of the Pope:

The Kroisos Newsleaf writes:

"One wonders, on which planet this #Franziskus lives ... Go to a hospital, and look at some bodies - people are no longer - who vegetate uselessly under mad pain. To them, death is a true, only salvation. "

Thomas Martin wonders:

"Suffering for the sake of suffering?"

Lady [[[Luna Flausn]]] from the Schnuffel round:

"Does that really fall under self-flagellation?"

Nell Hitchens #noAfD:

"Like Mother Teresa? No thank you."

Lukull:

"And if hope is only death?"

Photographer A. Lauer:

"Who are you that you try to impose your masochism on others?"

The Commentator answered with two tweets:

"Every animal may be euthanized so that it does not have to suffer! And man as a thinking, sensitive being must suffer and vegetate? This is neither Christian nor human! Relatives who think otherwise are selfish & unfeeling. "

"Old man, you are a senile, senile old man and have no idea of ​​real life!"

Colonel Guillaume:

"Comrade Holy Father, are not you of the opinion that every human being must decide this question for themselves? So why are you denying people the opportunity? "

Nizo:

"And who cares about all abuse victims of the church Franzi?"

Sandra Müller:

"Only everyone can make that decision for themselves, their decision must be respected by others. No ifs and buts."

There were other dumbfound reactions published on the pope’s other accounts.

5novembre 2020 writes:

"Jesus decided of his own free will to kill himself."

Gabriele writes:

"Noa needed the only possible medicine: Jesus. The fact that she did not get this medicine is the fault of the world! "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Twitter / (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Crooked Bishop of Crookston Complains About Church Militant

Edit: it’s a tell when someone complains of “divisiveness”. They have something to hide.

CROOKSTON, Minn. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A Minnesota bishop is criticizing Michael Voris, calling him "divisive" and refusing to lend his support to an upcoming speaking engagement.

"The divisive tactics often used by Mr. Voris and Church Militant are contrary to our call to live as missionary disciples," read a statement published Monday by Crookston's Bp. Michael Hoeppner. "Although Mr. Voris may be sincere, I consider his approach more destructive than fruitful."

The bishop is responding to Voris' scheduled speaking engagement at an event titled "Roman Catholic Revival," to be held Sept. 14 in Wildwood City Park, Crookston.

AMDG

Dutch Girl Succumbs to Grief and Kills Herself — Raped by Invaders?

Victim’s Parents

Edit: you’ve probabably already heard about the death of Noa Pothoven. The tragic case has exploded all over the Internet, but there’s damage control. Certainly, it’s bad enough that a perfectly intelligent, beautiful European child should kill herself by starvation but why isn’t there more outrage about the rapes and sexual assaults that had a hand in leading her to commit this terrible sin? All of the news reports avoid mentioning the identity of the men who raped her, but they do mention that the rapes happened in Elderveld.

The graph shows that more than  half of migration to the neighborhood is non-Western

Elderveld, a neighborhood in the town of Arnhem, Holland, suffers from substantial numbers of invading non-European foreigners from Islamic areas. As a result, it’s not surprising that sexual assaults there are already substantially above the national average at 2 per 1,000, which comes to 200 per 100,000. This is already substantially above the national average in Holland. [1]

The bottom figure is for sexual assaults per 1,000

It’s a lot easier to bear a wrong when you have an enemy you intend to defeat. Possible enemies include but are not restricted to Islam, Church leaders, media personalities, Greens, the Dutch Government...

AMDG

Bishop Mixa Silenced for Speaking Out on Islam at AfD Event

The former Augsburg bishop Mixa wanted to speak at an AfD event on the topic of Islamization. After sharp criticism, he has cancelled his appearance.

By Daniel Wirsching 

[Augsburger Zeitung] The retired former Bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa had his planned lecture on "Islamization? Christianity” canceled at an AfD event in the Augsburg Arsenal. His reasoning: He had not known that the Augsburg AfD city council member and Member of Parliament Markus Bayerbach, who had invited him a good month ago, "is an AfD man.”

Mixa was interviewed on Monday by Catholic News Agency. Mixa added that he had received other invitations from the AfD, including from Hamburg. He will not appear for this either. His refusal was made independently of a corresponding request from the diocese of Augsburg.

AfD politician Bayerbach contradicts the former Augsburg Bishop Mixa

AfD politician Bayerbach did not want to leave that event on Monday afternoon without comment. Mixa got to know him in spring at an event as an AfD member of parliament, and there had been correspondence with Mixa about the event "on paper with AfD logo,” according to Bayerbach. Mixa phoned his office on Monday and canceled the appointment on May 24th. Bayerbach had announced that there would be  an event on this day - "on the topic of religion and freedom of expression".

Mixas’ planned appearance at an AfD event in the Augsburg Arsenal had caused indignation - even within the Catholic Church. "The news about the appearance of the emeritus Bishop Dr. Walter Mixa at an upcoming (election) event of the AfD in Augsburg was taken note of by the diocesan leadership with amazement,” said the diocese of Augsburg on Monday morning. It further stated that this appearance was, “neither coordinated with Bishop Dr. Konrad Zdarsa nor with his Vicar General Harald Heinrich.”

Such an appearance would be "expressly rejected and not approved by the two," it said: "The bishop will ask the emeritus bishop in writing, not to appear at this event in the territory of the diocese of Augsburg. According to our editorial staff, he could rely on a statement from the Apostolic See regulating relations between a diocesan bishop and a bishop emeritus."Apparently, the emeritus bishop is unaware," the statement went on to say, "that his behavior causes great dismay to many people, especially to many believers, and thus causes serious damage to the Diocese of Augsburg and the Church as a whole.”

Former Bishop Mixa wanted to speak at AfD event in Augsburg

In addition, AfD politician Bayerbach said in an interview with our editorial on Monday afternoon: "I find it extremely scary how the Church makes policy here. As a committed Catholic, I find it difficult to be satisfied with the administrative staff of the Church. "He accused the Augsburg diocese of Berne that it was enthusiastic for the Greens. Bayerbach demanded: "I now expect a conversation offer from Bishop Konrad Zdarsa and his Vicar General Harald Heinrich.” They have closed themselves off and don’t take their task of pastoral care seriously, if it does not come to a clarifying conversation, said Bayerbach.

The former Augsburg Bishop Walter Mixa wanted to attend the event on 24 May - just two days before the European elections - to speak on the subject of "Islamization? Christianity.” He would have supported - whether wanted or not - the Alternative for Germany in the election campaign.

The event was advertised on the website of the AfD district association Augsburg-Land on Monday afternoon as one of the "highlights in May". In social networks it was heavily criticized at the weekend. Cemal Bozoglu, Augsburg member of the Greens, spoke of a "scandal.” He commented that the former bishop Walter Mixa became "part of the AfD propaganda" was regrettable. Two days before the elections to the European Parliament, the City of Religious Peace Augsburg will be the scene of an event that wants to split society and foster fears. The Munich Greens leader Gudrun Lux, member of the Central Committee of German Catholics, wrote on Facebook briefly and all the more concisely: "He should be ashamed."

The Augsburg AfD City Council and Member of Parliament Markus Bayerbach could not understand the excitement. At the request of our editors, he emphasized on Monday morning that Mixa’s appearance  "is not a party event of the KV Augsburg city, but a lecture evening by the MdL Markus Bayerbach (in organizational cooperation with the State of Augsburg)".

AfD MP Bayerbach resisted criticism

Bozoglus criticism pointed sharply back at Bayerbach: "If a Catholic member of parliament in Catholic Bavaria invites a Catholic dignitary for a lecture, this should be a matter of course. The fact that he has to be tackled by a Green politician with a migration background and stir up fears and divide the society is nothing but blunt campaigning propaganda against the AfD. "And further:" As a Christian, I invite my church representatives, when and wherever I want, and do not let that call me into question. It is precisely when we are denied the right to question the role of Islam in our society, as we here are no longer allowed to hear our bishops, that the question of a possible misguided development is obvious and relevant.”

Bozoglu, according to Bayerbach, was in his view also completely unsuitable to make such statements, and here he organizes populist sentiment against the AfD only shortly before the election. He himself was "personally interested in the topic from the point of view of a bishop" - that's why he invited Mixa for a lecture. "Anyone who knows me knows that provoking is not my political stylistic device, but Im also not going to remain silent about problems," Bayerbach explained.

Already in January, Walter Mixa had talked about the same topic at an AfD event in Stuttgart. At the time, he said, among other things, according to a newspaper report, that Islam is called "submission." Islam has the perspective that one can kill those who "do not submit." In addition, Mixa spoke of the will "for the Muslimization of Europe".

Not only does that make him interesting as a speaker for the AfD, but his positions on family politics or on abortion do not only correspond to those of right-wing and arch-conservative Church circles, but also those of the AfD. Although it was stated by the National Association of the Bavarian AfD in its election program for the state election in 2018  that it was a “lobby group” for the Catholic and Protestant church. Nevertheless, there are similarities, even great ones, between traditionalists within the Catholic Church and the AfD. "Abortion is therefore fundamentally wrong"; "Intentional, ideologically motivated disorientation is intended to break up and neutralize the values ​​and reference systems that have been handed down in families, and to replace them with pseudo-family models"; "Instead of the ever further penetration of the society with the gender ideology the proven traditional family picture is to be strengthened" - such were core statements from the AfD election program.

Mixa, in turn, is unforgotten and controversial for his statements during his time as diocesan bishop. For example, when he drew parallels between the Holocaust, the six million killed Jews, and the number of abortions. In April 2010, he had to offer the pope his resignation because of allegations that he beat students as well as allegations of misappropriation. Since then things have - at least in phases - calmed down around him. Walter Mixa lives as a chaplain in the "Diocesan house, Barbara,”  an Art Nouveau villa in Gunzenheim in the Danube-Ries district, which belongs to the diocese of Eichstätt. He says Mass and may - with "consent and thus on behalf of Bishop Gregory Maria Hanke" - in July 2019 also offer the sacrament of confirmation for the parish association, as it was requested by our editors in January.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Vice President of Lega Nord Supports Catholic Counter Procession to Gay Pride

The vice-president of the Lega Nord has supported a church Sacred Heart procession in Modena on the weekend, which was planned as a counter to a homosexual rally.

Rome (kath.net) Last weekend Lorenzo Fontana, the Italian Family Minister, officially supported a Sacred Heart procession at a church in Modena, scheduled to take place on Saturday as a counter to the Gay Pride homosexual demonstration. In an interview, the Minister and Vice-President of Lega-Nord has clearly stated the objectives of the procession. "I am happy that you are planning this and wish you good luck." The minister then pointed out that Christian values ​​are the foundation of Italy's history, identity and tradition. These must be maintained.

Trans: Tancred velron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Austria: Theological Faculties Show Majorities Voting for Left (Extremist) Parties

Student representatives at Austrian theological training centers voted in part with an absolute majority for left (extreme) groups

Vienna (kath.net/rn) The ÖH elections held in Austria have once again shown that student representatives at theological training centers are in some cases predominantly dominated by left (extreme) groups. For example, at the Private College of Education of the Archdiocese of Vienna, nearly 27 percent have voted for the Green Party, 17.5 percent for the Socialists and even 1.44 for the Communists. Thus, the left there reaches more than 47% of the vote. An absolute majority was almost reached by left groups at the Catholic Theological Private University in Linz. More than 32.47% voted there the Greens, almost 12 percent the Socialists. The Communists came in there at 2.6 percent. With that, the left reaches 49.36%. The absolute majority (56.22 percent) was finally reached by the left at the Private Pedagogical University of the Foundation of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau. There, more than 38 percent voted for the Greens and 13.5 percent for the Socialists and 4.3 percent for the Communists. This number is topped by the Private Pedagogical University Foundation Burgenland (Diocese Burgenland). There, the left-wing groups reached 59.15 percent (33.80 Greens, 24 percent Socialists and 1.4 percent Communists). These numbers are only related to the fact that with 26%, the turnout in the ÖH elections is extremely low and 3/4 of the students ignore these elections.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Argentine Doctor Faces Prison for Saving Baby’s Life

According to the mother, she had conceived the child during a rape. The doctor deliberately delayed the matter so as not  to have performed an abortion, the judge ruled.

Cipolletti (kath.net/jg) An Argentine gynecologist has been convicted by a court for failing to have an abortion. He had not fulfilled his task as a "public official", the court ruled. The punishment will be announced in the next few days, reports the Catholic Herald. In the worst case, the doctor faces two years imprisonment.

Dr. Leandro Rodriguez Lastra is head of the gynecology department of the Pedro Moguillansky Hospital in Cipolletti, Argentina. In May 2017, he treated a 19-year-old woman who was suffering from severe pain after taking misoprostol. She had taken the remedy as the first part of a two-part medical abortion.

The doctor found that she was just before the 23rd week of pregnancy, and the baby weighed more than 500 grams. In agreement with the attending medical staff and the board of the clinic, he decided not to perform an abortion.

In the 35th week of pregnancy, the birth was initiated. The baby was brought to adoptive parents a few days later and is now two years old.

Dr. Rodriguez was accused, together with another doctor, of not having allowed a permitted abortion. Abortion is banned in Argentina, except in cases of rape, incest and when there is danger to the mother's life. In the case of Dr. Rodriguez the mother had claimed to have conceived the baby in a rape.

The judge wrote in his verdict, Rodriguez had deliberately delayed the matter and exploited the situation of a vulnerable woman in order to avoid abortion. He is also not registered as a doctor who does not perform conscientious abortion. Therefore, he was required by law to perform the abortion.

Dr. Rodriguez has announced that it will appeal the verdict.

Photo: Icon image

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

John Paul II’s Secretary Insists They Didn’t Know About Uncle Ted

Long-time Secretary of the Polish Pope, claims John Paul II was the first Pope to systematically introduce the protection of children and young people into the Church.

Krakow (kath.net) John Paul II was the first Pope to systematically introduce the protection of children and youth in the Church. Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz spoke with these words on Wednesday, as the Polish Bishops' Conference announced in a press release. The longtime secretary of the Polish Pope turned in a paper in six points against the recent  and increasingly charged allegations that John Paul had done too little against abuse by clerics and therefore was not a worthy saint.

Dziwisz spoke of "repeated misinformation in some media that deceives many people." John Paul actually represented an "uncompromising stance" on the issue of child protection, the cardinal stressed. In 2001, he obliged all bishops and religious superiors of the Catholic Church to report suspected cases of abuse of the Congregation of the Faith. For example, according to the will of the Pope, the latter had also filed an investigation against the founder of the Legionnaires of Christ, the Mexican Marcial Maciel Degollado. In 2004, today's Archbishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna, traveled to Mexico for surveys. Thus, with the beginning of the pontificate of Benedict in 2005, there was a final judgment.

Dzwisz then recalls that in the beatification and canonization process for John Paul 122 witnesses had testified. The popes Benedict XVI. and Francis had both acknowledged the sanctity of their predecessor, and the Holy See had recognized as miracles two inexplicable healings as the intercession of John Paul.

"Therefore, the attempt to defame St. John Paul II offends the feelings of millions of people around the world for whom St. John Paul II is an undeniable authority and a strong advocate," explains Cardinal Dziwisz literally. He expressly thanked Pope Francis for having "put an end to the attempts to vilify the Polish Pope" and "made it forcefully clear" that "no one can doubt the sanctity of John Paul II". Already in March 2019, Dziwisz had published a similar letter in defense of Pope John Paul.

As Crux opines: 

There’s long been speculation that key aids of John Paul II, including Dziwisz, who valued the support McCarrick delivered to the Solidarity movement in Poland, had a hand in McCarrick’s ecclesial career. The theory is that those architects of John Paul’s papacy chose to ignore question marks about McCarrick since he was useful to them in other areas.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Francis Cardinal Maradiaga Flees in Terror of Lynch Mob

Edit: he was actually going to Panama.

This is something, barring these clergy’s doing penance and acting like Catholics, which may have to take place before something has to happen.  The persistence of these ecclesiastical cockroaches is amazing, and they really have no shame. It saddens me today to think that American and European Catholics are still so pathetic that they allow their evil and irredeemable prelates to get away with murdering the Catholic Faith as their principle career goal. They do all of this while abetting political corruption, of course.

We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to the corruption and fraud happening in Catholic Charities for example, but we’re getting a sense of it as people like Michael Hichborn make their prophetic work known. Maybe things will come to a head where we’ll finally see these snake oil salesmen locked up at the very least, perhaps ++Pell is just a sign of things to come?



Here is Pentin’s tweet from May 30th:

++Maradiaga has been evacuated from a Rome-bound plane due to political protests at Honduras airport. Sources say he was led out the back of the airport, across runway, due to danger of lynching. His support for govt’s bad policies means he’s seen as paid govt official, they say

AMDG

Pope Celebrates Mass at Marian Shrine in Hungary

Francis celebrates Mass in Hungarian, Romanian and German at the pilgrimage shrine of Sumuleu Ciuc in Transylvania - calling for reconciliation despite the difficult past. The sermon in the text

Bucharest (kath.net/KAP) Pope Francis continued his trip to Romania with a visit to Sumuleu Ciuc. The city in the east of Transylvania is a center of Hungarian-speaking Catholics. Since the 16th century Sumuleu Ciuc is a place of pilgrimage of the mostly Catholic Hungarians. Banned under the Communists, the pilgrimage was revived in 1990. At a Mass with tens of thousands of believers at the Shrine of Sumuleu Ciuc, the Pope called for reconciliation and brotherhood between different cultures and traditions. The intercessions were presented in Hungarian, Romanian and German.

Francis emphasized that the wealth of a people was "its thousand faces, cultures, languages ​​and traditions." He referred to the Romanian and Hungarian traditions of pilgrimage and the participation of Christians of other denominations. Thus Sumuleu Ciuc was "a symbol of dialogue, unity and fraternity.”

The pope called for reconciliation despite a difficult past. People should not "allow fraternity to be stolen from earth and injuries that nourish division and fragmentation." At the same time it would be a "grace" to be able to transform old and present hostilities and mistrust into community.

The Pope also encouraged the visitors of the place of pilgrimage, who belonged mainly to social minorities, to openness and hope for the future. "To be a pilgrim means not to look so hard at what could and should not have been, but what awaits us and what we can not delay." These included solidarity, brotherhood and the pursuit of the good, truth and justice.

God looks at the weak to soften the strong, said Francis. At the same time, he emphasized that it was "to fight the notion that those who have been left behind yesterday will become the protagonists of tomorrow and not leave behind today's protagonists.”

The history of the shrine sanctuary of Sumuleu Ciuc goes back to the 14th century and is connected with the Transylvanian army commander Johann Hunyadi and his fight against the Ottomans. At the center of religious worship is a more than 500 year old and more than two meters tall, Gothic wooden statue, Mary with the Child Jesus and scepter. It was built around 1515 for the Franciscan church of Sumuleu Ciuc, founded in 1400, and is said to be the largest known statue of mercy in the world. Traditionally, a big pilgrimage takes place on the Saturday before Pentecost. Most pilgrims are Hungarians, members of the largest minority in Romania, or from the neighboring country itself.

The arrival of the Pope on the morning in Bucharest had to be changed due to bad weather conditions. The planned last leg with a helicopter over the summit chain of the Eastern Carpathians would have been too dangerous, according to the organizers, because of storm cells. Therefore, the papal train had to fly by plane to Targu Mures (Neuburg am Mures) and from there to drive about 150 kilometers by car on rural roads. The area of ​​the service is located on a grassy slope above the pilgrimage church.

In the afternoon, Francis is expected in the northeastern Romanian town Iasi near the border with Moldova. There an encounter with young people and families is planned. In the evening, the head of the church returns to Bucharest.

kath.net publishes the homily of Pope Francis at Holy Mass in the sanctuary of Şumuleu Ciuc (Schomlenberg):

Full of joy and thankful to God, I am with you today, dear brothers and sisters, in this beloved Marian Shrine rich in history and faith. We come as sons and daughters to meet our mother and realize that we are siblings. The sanctuaries are, so to speak, the "sacramental" places of a Church as a field hospital. They preserve the memory of the faithful people, who, in the midst of their afflictions, never tire of seeking the source of living water, where hope is refreshed. They are places of joy and celebration, tears and pleading. Without many words, we go to Mary's feet to be looked at by her. May she lead us to her with her gaze, which is "the way, the truth and the life" (Jn 14: 6).

We do not do it somehow, but we are pilgrims. Every year on the Saturday before Pentecost, you go on a pilgrimage here to fulfill the vows of your ancestors, to strengthen faith in God and to deepen the worship of the Mother of God depicted in the large wooden statue. This annual pilgrimage belongs to the heritage of Transylvania; but at the same time it honors the Romanian as well as the Hungarian tradition. It also respects the faithful of other denominations and is a symbol of dialogue, unity and brotherhood. It calls for renewed witness to a faith that has become life, and a life that becomes hope. To be a pilgrim is to know that we come to our house as a people; it means that we are aware of being a people.

We come as a people whose wealth is its thousand faces, a thousand cultures, languages ​​and traditions. It is the holy, faithful people of God who are traveling with Mary on pilgrimage and singing the mercy of God. Just as Mary in Cana, Galilee, Jesus made an effort to do his first miracle, she is an advocate in every sanctuary - not just to her son, but to each one of us, so that we can not get away from the talk and wounds that cause division and fragmentation which robs our living fraternity. The intricate and sad stories of the past should not be forgotten or denied, but they should not be an obstacle or an argument for preventing the desired brotherly coexistence.

To be a pilgrim is to feel called and inspired, to go forward together, and ask the Lord for mercy to turn former and present resentments and suspicions into new opportunities for the community; Being on a pilgrimage means breaking away from our safety and comfort and seeking the new earth that the Lord wants to give us. Pilgrimage challenges us to discover the Spirit and to share that we can live together and not have to be afraid of mingling, meeting and helping each other. To be a pilgrim is to participate in this somewhat chaotic crowd, which can turn into a true experience of brotherhood, into a solidary caravan writing history (see Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 87). Being on a pilgrimage means not looking so much at what could have been (and not being), but rather at what awaits us and what we can not postpone.

To be a pilgrim is to believe in the Lord, who comes and is in our midst and who promotes and inspires solidarity, brotherhood, and the desire for good, truth, and justice (see ibid., 71). Pilgrimage means fighting and fighting for those who were left behind yesterday to become the protagonists of tomorrow and that the protagonists of this morning will not later be left behind. And that, brothers and sisters, requires the manual work of working together for the future. Yes, that's why we're here to say together, Mother, teach us to design the future.

When we make a pilgrimage to this sanctuary, our eyes are turned to Mary and to the mystery of her election by God. She was a girl from Nazareth, a small place in Galilee, on the margins of the Roman Empire and also on the margins of Israel. With her "yes" she was able to set in motion the revolution of tender love (cf ibid., 88). The mystery of the vocation of God, who turns his eyes on the weak to the strong, also drives and encourages us to say "yes", as Mary did, to follow the paths of reconciliation.

Brothers and sisters, let's not forget: if you dare, the Lord will not disappoint you. Let's go ahead, let's move forward together, we dare something. So we allow the Gospel to be the leaven that can penetrate everything and give our people the joy of salvation. Let's do that in unity and fraternity.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Who’s Worse? Mirus Attacks Taylor Marshall — Thinks Denying Communion to Adulterers is Extreme

Edit: Jeff Mirus has been a horrible, but not very talented opponent of Catholic tradition for years. He’s been presiding over this really low energy website and he ranges from really flat-footed CUF [Catholics United for the Faith] apologetics and analysis. Now he’s taking shots at Taylor Marshall’s ironically named new book “Infiltration” by the Opus Dei publishing house, Scepter.  ( I used to love reading Father Diogenes on Mirus’ site.)

In short, it looks like Mirus thinks Opus Marshall is kooky and extreme for saying adulterers can’t receive Communion.  

Since Opus Marshall has discovered the Masonic conspiracy, he’s talking about it like no one else has heard of it before. You’d think an Opus guy would have been to a Lodge meeting already....

Would the real Catholics please stand up?

Catholic Monitor has this take. He doesn’t seem to perceive the dance between two who are really on the same side. Mirus is absolutely “idiotic”.

[Catholic Monitor] It just makes you want to laugh when Dr. Jeff Mirus shrieks that Dr. Taylor Marshall's new book "Infiltration" and it's publisher Sophia Institute Press are not "sound" in their "Catholic editorial judgment."
(CatholicCulture.org, "Infiltration: An idiot's guide to the problems of the Church, May 31, 2019)

Mirus in his review of the book reviles Marshall and apparently the pre-Vatican II eleven Popes since 1738 for calling out "the secret machinations of the Masons" with his really funny attempt at trying to sound reasonable with his accusations in what appears to be a attempt to smear their reputations.

Here are some of his never ending name calling ravings which are so left-wing "crazy relative"-like you want to laugh:

- "idiot's"
- "absurdity of a crazy relative"
- "McCarthyism"
- "conspiratorial"
- "Catholic far-right"
- "Marian apparitions"
- "papal visions"
- "loss of sanity"
- "Satan's human tools"
- And on and on he goes in crazy left-wing relative-like shrieks...

Read further:

https://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2019/05/communion-for-adulterers-mirus-shrieks.html?showComment=1559402104521&m=1#c1351768896962313987

AMDG

Cardinal Müller Decries Church Officials as Amateurish in Their Attacks on Salvini

Cardinal Müller defends the popular Italian Interior Minister Salvini against attacks by Church officials: "It is absurd that the pope’s staff, like P. Spadaro, act here like political judges."

Rome (kath.net) Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller has defended Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who allegedly did not receive an audience with Pope Francis, against attacks by left-wing Catholics. Salvini, who is also very popular with Catholics in Italy, has repeatedly used Christian symbols in the election campaign and also referred to Christian roots. In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Müller hopes that the Church will come to terms with Salvini and reject the attacks by some church representatives from the close circle of Pope Francis. These are "amateurish" and "inappropriate". "An ecclesiastical authority can talk about theological matters so amateurishly," said Müller. Moreover, one should not interfere in politics, if there was a democratically legitimized parliament and a government like in Italy. "It would be better to talk to Salvini, to discuss with him, to correct him if necessary."

For Müller, the interference of bishops in politics is worse than when Salvini uses religious symbols. "I prefer those who want to talk about Christian traditions to those who want to remove them." It is absurd that Pope’s staff, like P. Spadaro, act here like political judges.” In addition to the attacks of the Jesuit, there were other bizarre attacks on Salvini. The Italian Bishop Domenico Mogavero, for example, said that those who choose Salvini should not call themselves Christians. The bishop even claims that Salvini's views are "inhumane, anti-historical" and diametrically opposed to the Gospel. Cardinal Müller rejects such attacks. "No one can say that those who do not want to have migrants are not Christians, of course we have to welcome migrants, but we can not identify with one single policy."

For Müller, it is strange that Pope Francis is talking to the regime of Venezuela or the Chinese regime, which has persecuted millions of Christians but does not want to speak with Salvini. "But we are here in Italy, not in China, you have to talk to everyone in the spirit of brotherhood."

Trans: Tancred vekron@hotmail.com
AMDG

Taylor Marshall and Tim Gordon Slander E. Michael Jones

Update/up 17:12 GMT:

Update: here’s the video. I felt he was being a little hard on Voris, but I’m sure Voris can take it.

Inb4 anyone does a Taylor Marshal and tone polices this blog, I want to point out that he’s the one who’s shooting at Catholics for no good reason and carrying water for George Soros. He’s worse than Mark Shea.

Edit: like a creeping viper, Taylor Marshall moves in to devour another promising Catholic apostolate. A few years ago, he managed to get a small, rare Catholic Liberal arts school in Texas shut down because he didn’t like the tone of his fellow faculty members, so he joined forces with the local ordinary to get the Mass shut down on the basis of some fairly shaky accusations on Marshall’s part.  AKA Catholic’s take was very charitable, and the thing was also covered
At Rorate as well as this blog.

Now he and his new foil, Tim Gordon (Butthead), are aiming their sites at the prolific polymath, E. Michael Jones.  Gordon started out by accusing Jones of calling mother Angelica a lesbian, and Jones took to a video to contradict this false witness.  At that point Marshall did what he does and flagged Jones for copyright.  What kind of Opus Dei snake flags someone’s youtube because it makes them look bad?  Could it be Taylor Marshall, who’s finding E. Michael Jones’ tone and very Catholic teaching about the perfidious Jewish nation to be too much?

Things are heating up on the Twitter and Facebooks!

Taylor Marshall must be doing it wrong because his channels never get flagged.

AMDG

Archbishop Viganò Accuses Pope of Lying

ROME, May 28, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — For what appears to be the first time, Pope Francis has openly denied that he knew anything of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s immoral activities, directly contradicting Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s account of their conversation on the subject. 

“I didn’t know anything ... nothing, nothing,” Pope Francis said in a new interview published on Tuesday in Vatican News.

In response, the former apostolic nuncio to the United States has directly accused Pope Francis of lying.

Link...

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Pope Lashes Out Uncontrollably as Right-Wing Parties Arise Victorious

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Francis warned on Monday (May 27) against a rise of intolerance and racism as far-right nationalists and eurosceptic parties made historic gains in European elections.

"The signs of meanness we see around us heighten our fear of 'the other', the unknown, the marginalised, the foreigner," he said in a message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

"It is not just about them, but about all of us, and about the present and future of the human family.

"Migrants, especially those who are most vulnerable, help us to read the 'signs of the times'," he said.

Link...

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New Editio Typica of the Missal Reported by Avennire no Word of “Pro Multis”

After an unwilling  journey that lasted 16 years, the new edition of the Editio typica is printed in Italian: But what about the change words pro multis?

(Rome) Pope Francis gave the green light to publish the new edition of the Editio typica of the Missale Romanum in the Italian vernacular.  The Italian daily Avvenire, published an article without mentioning the most important point that led to the new edition: the translation of the words of change pro multis.

An oversight may be excluded. First, the article in its central passage:

The Italian re-translation of the Missale is ready to enter parishes of the peninsula. There is still no sure date, but the pope’s "green light" has been given. During the first day of the Spring Bishops' Conference of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, President, announced to the bishops that Francis would be pleased to announce the publication of the third edition of the Missal Romanum by Paul VI. in Italian. The Italian text was examined by the Congregation for the Divine Worship and the Sacrament Order for the necessary confirmatio. It is still too early to know when some formulas will change that celebrate the Eucharist in our language. It will probably take several months for the "renewed" liturgical book to come into force.

The new translation was decided last November by the General Assembly of the Bishops. Among the innovations introduced are those of the Lord's Prayer: we will no longer say, "and lead us not into temptation,” but "let us not fall into the temptation." In addition, in the same prayer the insertion of a "also" provided ("as are forgiven"). [1] In this form, the text of the Our Father already appears in the new Italian translation of the Bible, adopted by the Episcopal Conference in 2008, and has already been incorporated into the renewed Italian edition of the Lectionary, where the classic "peace on earth to men of good will" replaced by the new version “Peace on Earth to the people beloved by God."
The changes take place at the end of a path that lasted more than 16 years.

John Paul II’s and especially of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and later Pope Benedict XVI. desire was to bring the translations into the vernacular as close as possible to the Latin original. The first Italian edition of the Editio typica came into force in 1970 and implemented the liturgical reform. The deficits of this translation made the second edition necessary already in 1975. It is still in use today, though in the translation from 1983. Now it is replaced by the third edition.

Benedict XVI. in 2006, soon after his election as Pope, he ordered that the words of consecration pro multis should no longer be translated as "for all" but as "for many". On the other hand, there was some strong resistance, especially from the German Bishops’ Conference and the Italian Bishops' Conference. After six years, 2012, Benedict XVI. insisted again, and the same in German. By the time of his resignation his directive could be further delayed.

While other language areas have been publishing and using the new edition for several years, nothing has changed in the German and Italian-speaking world. 13 years after Benedict XVI. had  prescribed a more faithful translation, pro multis it is still rendered as "for all" in German and Italian churches. The mills of the church are slow to grind is the old dictum, but in this specific case, it is about willful procrastination resembling a boycott.

In the Avvenire article it is striking that the central point of the revision of the Editio typica was Benedict XVI’s  re-translation of pro multis, is not mentioned. In some ecclesiastical circles even this legacy of Benedict XVI seems to be  a thorn in the eye, which is why they prefer to remain silent.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Avvenire (screenshot)

[1] This "too" is already included in the German version.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

The Vatican II Revolution Reexamined

 By David Martin

While the gale force of the post-conciliar tempest continues to uproot the Faith, dislodge morals, blow apart revered traditions, topple the Church's edifice, and spread doctrinal debris throughout the Church, there are those who insist that the problem today isn’t due to Vatican II but to a “misinterpretation” of the Council.

Unfortunately, misinterpretation had nothing to do with this, for this revolution was the result of years of careful planning. We might see the conciliar documents as the blueprint for this plan. The ambiguities, omissions, and outright errors in the documents were deliberately calculated by progressivist theologians and bishops who intended to exploit these errors in the text after the Council closed.

If we have lay people today assuming priestly functions as “Eucharistic ministers,” it’s because Vatican II defines the laity as a “common priesthood.” (LG 10) If the Church today ecumenically dignifies other religions, it’s because Vatican II says that “Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation.” (UR-3) Clearly, there was a plan for change in the works.

Italians Ignore Pope to Vote For Salvini’s Lega Nord

[Daily Express] MATTEO SALVINI's Lega Nord (League) Party has claimed a convincing European Parliament victory, in a shock result in Italy.

The group has around 32 percent of the vote so far on the night, way ahead of the Democratic Party. Interior minister Matteo Salvini leads League, which came third in the 2018 general election. Following his victory, Mr Salvini said in Milan: “A new Europe is born.

“I am proud that the League is participating in this new European renaissance.”

He said previously: “As far as I'm concerned, if the League wins nothing changes in Italy, everything will change in Europe, starting from tomorrow.”

Link...

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Vatican outraged that anti-immigration leader commends Italy to Mary

By David Martin

Vatican leaders including Pope Francis are outraged at Italy's deputy premier and interior minister Matteo Salvini for having commended his country, its citizens, and himself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the face of the growing Islamic insurgency. Francis refuses to meet with Salvini because of his strong opposition to the EU's open border immigration policy.

During a rally on May 18, Salvini kissed his rosary, looked up to statue of the Blessed Virgin atop the 14^th-century Milan Cathedral and said on behalf of the Italian people, "I entrust Italy, my life, and your lives to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who I’m sure will bring us to victory." He said, "I am the last among good Christians, but I am proud to always have a rosary in my pocket."

That Vatican leaders should oppose Salvini is telling. Apparently they support the 500 undocumented African migrants that stormed and seized Terminal 2 of France’s Charles de Gaulle airport on Tuesday, and shouted, "France does not belong to the French." https://needtoknow.news/2019/05/migrants-seize-paris-airport-terminal-france-does-not-belong-to-the-french/

Francis' globalist push for a centralized world government with open borders is unfortunately fueling the increasing insurgent attacks we have seen throughout Europe in recent months. As pope he should scrap his political aspirations and join Salvini in his noble attempt to protect Italy from evil. The fact that he doesn't support Salvini raises serious questions about his pontificate and calls to mind Christ's words: "He that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:33)

For the whole story, continue here...

Vatican leaders outraged as anti-immigration politician commends Italy to Mary

President Bolsonaro Consecrates Brazil to Sacred Heart

At this very moment, in Brasilia, the consecration of the largest Latin American country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is taking place.

(Brasilia) Brazil is having a great day today. [Yesterday] But that is not the case everywhere. If not in the Apostolic Palace, at least in Santa Marta, the Vatican has other concerns: universal brotherhood, climate change, a right to unlimited migration, and more recently, rejection of the sovereignty movement. This does not only apply to the US and, because of the upcoming elections, above all the EU, but also Brazil. There today President Bolsonaro consecrates his country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But the Episcopal Conference and Santa Marta signaled lack of interest and the official Catholic media keep the consecration under wraps.

Pope Francis would have liked to continue to see the Labor Party (PT) in power in Brazil, but it failed because of its own corruption. Jair Bolsonaro was elected as the new Head of State and Government last autumn. His coalition consists of several decidedly Christian parties, some of them are evangelicals. He is a Catholic, but married to a free-church member. In Brazil, it may therefore happen that the Head of State and Government quoted a Bible verse on Twitter. This morning President Bolsonaro welcomed the Brazilians with the tweet:

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32. This message is always ahead of our mission. Good morning everyone!

Marian Consecration of Brazil, May 21, 2019

This Twitter message is related to the particularity of today. Today, at 7 pm Central European Time, the consecration of Brazil to the Immaculate Heart of Mary took place in the federal capital Brasilia. It took place not only in the presence of President Bolsonaro, but directly in the Presidential Palace. President Bolsonaro gave the act of consecration the mark of highest state authority by his signature.

The consecration is, regrettably, not an act of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference, but goes back to the initiative of the Catholic laity. The consecration was performed by Don Fernando Areas Rifan, the Apostolic Administrator of the Apostolic Personal Administration of St. John Maria Vianney. The Apostolic Personnel Administration, which is the world's only de facto diocese in the traditional rite.

The driving force of the consecration are the Marian Congregation and other Catholic organizations, as well as the Frente Parlamentario Catolico, in which Catholic federal MPs have joined forces.

Initiative by two members of parliament

The idea itself comes from the two deputies Chris Tonietto and Eros Biondini. They emphasized that the consecration was also and precisely a state act, with which the whole country was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The veterinarian Biondini, who also studied political science at the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, became famous in Brazil for the country's largest Catholic music event, which he launched and organized. The now 48-year-old moderated a few years a music program of the Catholic TV channel TV Canção Nova. In 2006 he was elected deputy of his native country Minas Gerais. Since 2010 he has been a member of the Brazilian Federal Parliament. The main focuses of his parliamentary work include the political renewal of Brazil, the resistance against attempts to make the hypothesis of allegedly human-induced climate change, or the idea of ​​"controlling the climate,” the basis of politics, instead he wants to focus on the strengthening of the family and the protection of unborn children. In 2017, he voted in favor of the law criminalizing the killing of unborn children.

Chris Tonietto with President Bolsonaro

Christine "Chris" Nogueira do Reis Tonietto is a lawyer and member of the Catholic Cultural Center Don Bosco. She became known in 2017 for her initiative against insulting the Catholic Church and the Catholic faith in the Brazilian YouTube comedy Port dos Fundos. In the parliamentary elections in October 2018, she was elected a member of the Federal Parliament. Her broadcasts and Twitter messages ended her mostly with "Viva Cristo Rei!" (High live Christ king).

Tonietto wrote on Twitter today:

"We will be there with the entire group of Catholic MPs to which I belong. We express our deepest support and pray to God to bless our beloved Brazil, the land of the Holy Cross!”

When the governor of Alabama signed the Abortion Abolition Act, Tonietto wrote on Twitter on May 16:

"A big day for the right to life."

On May 17, she was able to further spread the message of  the next strengthening of the right to life of unborn children:

"With a 66-vote lead, the Missouri State legislature voted for several abortion laws that severely curtail this shameful practice in this state."

Tonietto supports the initiative of President Bolsonaro, who recommends the "anti-communist catechism" of the Steyler Missionary and Archbishop of Diamantina, Geraldo de Proença Sigaud, who died in 1999, to those who say they are Catholic but defend communism. During the Second Vatican Council, Archbishop Sigaud belonged to Coetus Internationalis Patrum and was considered in Brazil as the fiercest opponent of Helder Camara, the archbishop of Olinda and Recife.

Cool disposotion taken by Episcopal Conference and Santa Marta

The Brazilian Bishops' Conference, which has long been inspired by the liberation theology, behaves coldly towards the new head of state, especially since Pope Francis clearly expressed his sympathies (and antipathies). They are silent on the  Consecration to Mary. Nothing can be heard from Rome of the cordiality with which Francis thought of the two former Presidents Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff of the Labor Party. Lula da Silva, sentenced to twelve years in prison for corruption, even received a statement of solidarity in prison from the pope.

Instead of looking forward to having Catholic interlocutors among the deputies, the Episcopal Conference and Santa Marta refer to allied journalists of the Pinprick Initiative. The discussion was, openly or suggestively, about “political abuse" of religion.

Because the President of the Republic dedicates his land to the Immaculate Heart of Mary? Because Catholic MPs had the idea for this consecration and put it into action?

The politicization of the Church leads to worrying dead ends, is how episcopal reactions to the consecration of Brazil to Mary go.

Nevertheless, the consecration is a great day for Brazil.

Whoever wants to spread the word about the Consecration, has the opportunity to do so, among other things via the Twitter hashtag #OrePeloBrasil (pray for Brazil).

Text: Giuseppe Nardi / Andreas Becker

Image: Twitter / Chris Tonietto (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Bishop Huonder Retires to a House of the Society of Saint Pius X

The Bishop and the Society today published a statement on this

Chur (kath.net) The bishop of Chur, Vitus Huonder will now retire to a house of the brotherhood of St. Pius X. In a joint statement by Huonder and the Pius Brotherhood from today it  states: 

"The purpose and intention of this step consists solely in devoting oneself to prayer and silence, to celebrate only the traditional Mass, and to work for tradition of which he sees as the only means for the restoration of the Church.

Recognizing the courageous decision of Bishop Huonder, the Society of St. Pius X is pleased to offer him the spiritual and priestly environment that he so desires, and others may follow this example "to renew everything in Christ".

The following description from Gloria.tv is interesting:

It points out that "the troubles did not start yesterday," a fact nobody disputes, calling the current papacy the “ripening of the fruit” which is "poisoned." 

Surprisingly the statement avoids a confrontation with the letter's content, speculating instead about its possible "results," on whether it is "prudent" or has "a chance to succeed." It even claims that its "failure might ridicule the authors and their cause." 

The letter is even called a "waste of time" which begs the question why the SSPX commented on it in the first place.

Related...

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

“The Time of Mercy is Over”

St. Padre Pio on the field of mercy and justice.

The tension between mercy and justice is in the Church's current focus because of Pope Francis' emphasis on mercy. St. Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968) also commented on this field of tension in a letter:

"Once, when our last hour has passed and our hearts have stopped beating, then everything will come to an end for us, the time to gain graces, as well as the time to forfeit graces. Just as death will find us, so will our judgement before Christ. Our pleading cries, our tears, our sorrow for repentance, which on earth had won us the heart of God and could have made us, with the help of the sacraments, from sinners into saints, they then avail nothing more. The time of mercy is over, and the time of justice begins.”

Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, Epistolario IV, ed. from Convento Santa Maria delle Grazie, San Giovanni Rotondo 2002.

Image: Youtube (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Reunion Between Orthodox and Uniates in Ukraine

Unrest and new movement in Ukraine.

(Kiev) Orthodoxy does not rest in Ukraine. At the same time there is a new movement in the country, which forms a transitional zone between the Latin and Greek churches. The Metropolitan of the new Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Grand Bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, unified with Rome, are said to have discussed the possibility of unification. Under what sign?

Historically, Ukraine belongs to the catchment area of ​​the Eastern Church and was originally under the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Because of the territorial principle of Orthodoxy, this fact is still relevant today in the field of jurisdiction.

The Ukrainians united with Rome

But the west of the country  was influenced by Poland and Lithuania for a long time and was therefore influenced by the Catholic Church. On the basis of the reunification of the Eastern and Western Churches at the Council of Florence in 1439, part of Ukrainian Orthodoxy established unity with Rome in the sixteenth century. The reason was the unauthorized elevation of Moscow as a "Third Rome" to patriarchy, after Constantinople had been conquered by the Muslims with its historic patriarchal seat.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church united with Rome is the strongest religious community in the three westernmost regions of Ukraine, Lviv, Tarnopol and Ivano-Frankivsk (Stanislau), which belonged until 1918, as part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, to Austria. They also celebrate like the Orthodox in the Byzantine rite.

The vast majority of today's Ukraine is Orthodox, but is divided into several, divided churches. The fault lines run along the question of statehood and the relationship with Moscow.

When the capital of the Byzantine Empire was overrun by the Ottomans in 1453, Moscow replaced Constantinople in the Russian area, which led to a split in Ukraine and gave rise to the Union of Ukrainian Orthodox in Poland-Lithuania with Rome.

About 10% of Ukrainians belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church today. They live mainly in the extreme southwest of the country. The number of Roman Catholics is very low at less than one percent. All Catholics together make up about 10.5 percent of Ukrainians, as of April 2018.

Ukrainian independence movement and Orthodoxy

In the course of the first independence of Ukraine in 1919 and the second independence in 1991, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate were created autocephalous, that is to say, Orthodox churches independent of Moscow, but yet not recognized by the Moscow Patriarchate.

After long conflicts, the two autocephalous churches of Ukraine in 2018 joined the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (Ukrainian Orthodox Church), which was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on January 6, 2019 as a canonical national church. For the recognition by Constantinople was waived on the Kiev Patriarch already established in 1991.

Religion in Ukraine (by region). In the Carpathian Mountains the new Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the largest religious community.

On 15 December 2018 Bishop Epiphanius was elected Metropolitan in the Kiev Sophia Cathedral to the first head of the new, autocephalous national church.

The Moscow-faithful part of Ukrainian Orthodoxy is affiliated to the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The three Orthodox churches that existed from 1991 to 2018 competed for recognition as a legitimate national church. It was mainly about the ownership of the church buildings. The Ukrainian government supported the formation of an autocephalous national church in order to strengthen state independence and reduce Moscow's political and religious influence. With the 2018 merger of the two independent, Ukrainian Orthodox churches, this goal was realized against the protest of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Two-thirds of Ukrainians profess to be orthodox Christians. However, the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev means that some of the Orthodox do not want to attribute themselves to one or the other of the two churches. The different numbers of church affiliation of Orthodox Ukrainians can therefore vary considerably. The latest figures come from the Razumkov Center in cooperation with the All-Ukrainian Church Council of April 2018. Today, 47 percent of Ukrainians belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox National Church, which is particularly strong in Northwest and Central Ukraine. About 14 percent of the Ukrainians, who concentrate mainly in the east of the country and in the Crimea, profess the Russian Orthodox Church.

Patriarch Filaret dissatisfied with his role

Since its canonical recognition by Constantinople, the autocephalous national church has been headed by a metropolitan, although the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchate from 1991-2018 was headed by a patriarch. Most of the time, from 1995-2018, Filaret was its head.

Filaret, now 90 years old, is Honorary Patriarch of the new Ukrainian Orthodox Church. For several weeks, however, he has been in conflict with his successor and former secretary, Metropolitan Epiphanius. Filaret recently even threatened to annul Epiphanius's allegiance and establish an independent patriarchy. The elderly patriarch is considered to be the central figure of ecclesiastical independence of Ukraine. Recently, he was honored as the "Hero of Ukraine" with the highest honor in the country.

Patriarch Filaret (his successor Epiphanius to his right)

In 1990, Filaret was considered a potential candidate for the Moscow Patriarchate. But this did not happen. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, he sided with the Ukrainian independence movement and separated from the Moscow Patriarchate. With this step, he laid the foundation for Ukrainian autocephaly.

The main reason for the rupture now is that Epiphanius, according to Filaret, does not sufficiently seek to be close. The honorary patriarch is worried about the future of Ukrainian autocephaly since in the presidential elections on April 21 the previous "protector of the church", Petro Poroshenko, was voted out. As the new President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Selenskyj will be sworn in within a few days, and so far he has not distinguished himself either by his closeness to the National Church or his proximity to religion.

Selenskyj met with Metropolitan Epiphanius after his election victory, without making concrete promises to the head of the National Church. Epiphanius nevertheless announced the support of the future head of state.

Filaret also demands, as a patriarch, to be mentioned in all liturgies, which is the case in only part of the churches, while Epiphanius is mentioned everywhere. Filaret's letterhead continues to bear the inscription "Patriarchate of Kiev". He is convinced that the legal status persists as a patriarch. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople had forced him to retreat in 2018 in return for the recognition of autocephaly, otherwise he would be church leader today and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church would have patriarchal status. Moscow is the only patriarchate of Oorthodoxy that could elbow between the historic patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem and Antioch. Filaret wants to extend this claim to Kiev, because today's capital of Ukraine was originally the "mother of all Rus".

Association of Orthodox and Uniate?

Epiphanius has not yet commented on the criticism of Filaret. For other statements of the Metropolitan provide for discussion. In a statement for Espresso.TV he spoke of the "permissibility" of a possible union with the united with Rome Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which is led by Major Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk. There is very good agreement between Metropolitan Epiphanius and Grand Archbishop Svyatoslav.

Metropolitan Epiphanius (left) with Archbishop Svyatoslav of the Greek-Catholic Uniate.

The Metropolitan told Espresso.TV, "We are implementing many important projects with the Greek Catholics and are participating in numerous events". The two church leaders are said to have already talked about a possible union of the two churches. Epiphanius said:

"At a meeting with his Beatitude Svyatoslav, we talked about deepening our cooperation. In it we unfold a dialogue and do not know where it will take us. Theoretically, it is possible to get to the Union.”

Epiphanius is convinced that all Orthodox Ukrainians are destined to unite, meaning both the Orthodox Ukrainians of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Greek Catholic Ukrainians.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Picture: AsiaNews

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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