Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Pope Francis Receives Left-Wing Trade Union for the First Time


 CGIL, one of Europe's largest left-wing trade unions, received in audience by Pope Francis.

(Rome) An unusual premiere took place yesterday in the Great Audience Hall of the Vatican. Pope Francis received the leadership and a large delegation of the left-wing trade union CGIL in a special audience.


The Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL),  General Italian Trade Union Confederation, was founded in 1944 by the communists, socialists and Christian democrats united in the struggle against fascism and its National Socialist allies, i.e. the forces that were to determine Italian post-war policy until 1992. When the Stalinist, strictly Moscow-oriented Communist Party (PCI) wanted to use the CGIL and the alliance after 1945 to turn Italy into a Soviet republic, the trade union unity that still exists in the German-speaking world today collapsed. In 1948/1950, the Christian trade unions and those socialists who wanted to escape the close embrace of the Communist Party separated from the CGIL and founded their own trade union confederations, the Christian CISL and the socialist UIL. In the political fragmentation, other trade union confederations were added. However, the three leagues confederated and were granted by the state the exclusive right to conduct collective bargaining.


From 1948 at the latest, the CGIL was the trade union of the communists and the popular frontists. Anyone who was a union member did not have to be a party member. But those who wanted to become politically active had to do so in the Communist Party. Dissent was not tolerated. In the troubled 70s, when the turn to the left seemed possible, non-orthodox leftists tried to take over the Christian trade union in order to lead it into a popular front with the communists and thus prepare the establishment of a "people's democracy".


The CGIL now has 5.5 million members (CISL 4.1 million, UIL 2.2 million). The largest non-Confederate union today is the UGL, founded in 1996 with 1.8 million members, which is close to Matteo Salvini's Lega and Giorgia Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia.


While the CISL always maintained good contacts with the Christian Democrats and the Church, the CGIL stood on the anti-Church barricades. All socio-political struggles against the natural order were supported by the CGIL propagandistically, financially and on the streets, especially the legalization of the killing of unborn children. Most recently, it has called for discrimination against doctors who, for reasons of conscience, refuse to assist in abortions.


The Italian Communist Party underwent some metamorphoses from 1991 onwards when, after the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it changed its name to the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), then to the Left Democratic Party and finally to the Democratic Party following the US model. (PD). The latter is a joint project of the former communists and the former left wing of the Christian Democrats. At the trade union level, however, no rapprochement had so far been shown because of the strong Christian trade union.


Under Pope Francis, whose embrace of the political left is well known, new alliances are emerging, as was the case yesterday with the first large audience for the hard-left trade union CGIL, which is still the trade union rallying point of the radical left.


Work, Peace, Fraternity. Pope Francis with GGIL Secretary General (Chairman) Maurizio Ladini (prevented)

In his extensive criticism of abuses in the world of work to the detriment of workers, Pope Francis managed to address the "pandemic years" without finding a word of comfort for the incredible harshness with which the Italian governments at the time forced entire professional groups such as doctors, medical personnel, police, military, teachers to "vaccinate" with an experimental genetically modified preparation or were suspended without salary. Francis also did not find a word about the fact that the Italian state imposed a fine on all over 50-year-olds who did not "get vaccinated" (the payment of which was suspended by the new government until June 30, 2023) and excluded them from the world of work.


Why the Pope is silent on this is obvious: because he himself had introduced these hardships even more radically for the employees of the Vatican State and the Holy See. Measures that have not yet been repealed. Why Francis, however, partly imitated these radical measures, and partly anticipated them, is still unclear.


Here is the full translation of his address to the leadership and the numerous delegation of the General Italian Trade Union Confederation CGIL:


Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!


I welcome you and thank the Secretary-General for his words. This meeting with you, one of Italy's historic trade union organisations, invites me to renew my attachment to the world of work and, in particular, to the people and families who are struggling the most.


There is no union without workers, and there are no free workers without unions. We live in a time which, despite technological progress – and sometimes precisely because of this perverse system called technocracy (cf. Laudato Si', 106-114) – has somewhat disappointed expectations of justice in the field of work. This requires, first and foremost, a new beginning in terms of the value of work as a place where personal vocation and social dimension meet. Work enables man to realize himself, to live in brotherhood, to cultivate social friendships and to improve the world. The encyclicals Laudato si' and Fratelli tutti can help to follow educational paths that provide reasons for commitment in today's world.


Work builds society. It is a primary experience of citizenship, in which a community of destiny is born from the commitment and talents of each individual; this community is much more than the sum of the various professional abilities because everyone is recognized in relation to others and for others. And so the fabric of "democracy" is brought to life day by day in the ordinary web of connections between people and economic and political projects. It is a fabric that is not woven at the desk in some palaces, but with creative diligence in factories, workshops, farms, trade, crafts, on construction sites, public administrations, schools, offices and so on. It comes "from below", from reality.


Dear friends, when I recall this vision, it is because one of the tasks of the trade union is to educate in the meaning of work and to promote fraternity among workers. This educational concern must not be missing. It is the salt of a healthy economy capable of making the world a better place. In fact, "the human price is always an economic price, and economic ills always demand a human price. Stopping investing in people in order to get a greater immediate return is bad business for society" (Laudato si', 128).


In addition to training, it is always necessary to point out the distortions of work. The culture of waste has crept into economic relations and has also penetrated the world of work. This is the case, for example, where human dignity is trampled underfoot by gender discrimination – why does a woman have to earn less than a man? Why send a woman away as soon as you see that she is getting "fat" in order not to pay for maternity leave?  It manifests itself in the precarious situation of youth – why do people have to postpone their life decisions because of the chronic precariat? – or in the culture of redundancy; and why are the most demanding jobs still so poorly protected? Too many people suffer from unemployment or unworthy work: their faces deserve to be heard, and they deserve the commitment of the trade unions.


In particular, I would like to share with you a few concerns. Firstly, the safety of workers. Your Secretary-General has spoken about this. There are still too many deaths – I see them in the newspapers: every day there is someone – too many mutilated and injured people at work! Every death at work is a defeat for society as a whole. We should not only count them at the end of each year, but remember their names, because they are people, not numbers. Let us not allow profit and man to be equated! The idolatry of money tends to trample on everything and everyone and not appreciate differences. It is about educating us to take care of workers' lives and educate us to take safety rules seriously: only a wise alliance can prevent those "accidents" that are tragic for families and communities.


A second concern is the exploitation of humans as if they were performance machines. There are violent forms, such as the "caporalato"1 and the enslavement of workers in agriculture or on construction sites and other workplaces, the coercion of workers into grueling layers, the downward play in contracts, the disregard for motherhood, and the conflict between work and family. How many contradictions and how many wars between the poor take place around work! In recent years, the number of so-called "working poor" has increased: people who, despite working, are unable to feed their families and give them hope for the future. The union – listen carefully – is called upon to be the voice of the voiceless. They have to make noise to give a voice to the voiceless. In particular, I would like to commend you for taking care of young people, who are often forced into precarious, inadequate, even slave-like contracts. I thank you for any initiative that promotes an active labour policy and protects human dignity.


In addition, during these pandemic years, the number of those quitting their jobs has increased. Young and old are dissatisfied with their profession, the climate in the workplace, the forms of contract and prefer to quit. They are looking for other options. This phenomenon does not mean disconnecting, but humanizing work. Here, too, trade unions can take preventive action by focusing on the quality of work and helping people find a job that better matches their talents.

Dear friends, I invite you to be "guardians" of the world of work, creating alliances and not sterile contradictions. People thirst for peace, especially at this historic moment, and everyone's contribution is fundamental. Peace education, even in the workplace, which is often marked by conflict, can become a sign of hope for all. Also for future generations.


Thank you for what you do and will do for the poor, the migrants, the infirm and disabled, and the unemployed. Don't forget to also take care of those who do not join the union because they have lost faith and make room for youthful responsibility.


I entrust you to the protection of Saint Joseph, who knew how beautiful and laborious it is to do his work well and how satisfying it is to earn bread for the family. Let's look at him and his ability to educate through work. I wish you all and your loved ones a peaceful Christmas. May the Lord bless you and Our Lady protect you. And if you can, please pray for me. Thank you!


Text/Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican.va (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com



1 "Caporalato" in Italian means migrant workers who work irregularly in agriculture, often earn only half of the regular helpers, but have to work longer.


AMDG

Sunday, December 18, 2022

Why doesn't Benji speak to Jewish groups about abortion?

60 Minutes 🧭vertime: Lourdes

Fr. Michael Pfleger returned to his BLM parish following 4th credible accusation of kiddie fiddling

Sure we at EF have had issues, at times, with Fr. Pavone's unwavering support of the GOP and his faith that things were going to be solved at the ballot box. And while he seemed indifferent to liturgical aberations, no one seriously doubts he accepts the True Faith. It will be interesting to watch the reaction of the EWTN crowd as this unfolds because he has single handedly revealed what it takes to get defrocked in the church of Francis the Merciful.    By bypassing the nuthouse, it seems that the Holy See is no longer advocating progressive discipline for Orthodox clergy.



Thursday, December 15, 2022

Vatican Apologizes to Muslims — Again


Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin apologized to Russia on behalf of the Holy See, announced Maria Zakharova of the Russian Foreign Office.

Edit: it’s almost as if the groups the Vatican offended weren’t actually murdering thugs!!

(Rome) The Vatican apologized to Russia for the recent comments made by Pope Francis in an interview with a US magazine.  Moscow said it would accept the apology.

 Francis' statements about the Ukraine conflict to the US Jesuit magazine America had caused a stir and upset.  On the Western side, there was talk of a “change of course” by the Pope, which meant moving away from a neutral position in favor of the Western one.  On the eastern side, on the other hand, people were very upset.  The Pope was accused of insult and racism.  Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov even called Francis' words "un-Christian".

No course change can be read from the interview.  Francis tried to accommodate his interlocutors and the American audience by not condemning Vladimir Putin and the Russian government, but by sharply pillorying the third Russian row.  In doing so, he generalized that he attacked the Chechens and Buryats, two small peoples of the Russian Federation, as "particularly cruel."  The Chechens are Muslims, the Buryats are Buddhists.


The Vatican Secretariat of State was anything but happy about the papal verdict.  The months-long efforts to offer the warring parties the opportunity to act as an impartial mediator for peace talks suddenly seemed to have been wasted.

 When Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin tried to take confidence-building measures on Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova countered on the same day:

 “Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin believes that the Vatican could be a suitable place to organize a meeting of the parties for a dialogue on Ukraine.  I'm afraid my Chechen and Buryat brothers wouldn't appreciate it.  As far as I remember, not a word of apology came from the Vatican.”

In any case, the Vatican knew what to do – and reacted after a visit to Santa Marta.

Today Zakharova announced that Moscow has received an apology from the Vatican for the Pope's comments about Chechens and Buryats:

 "We have received a message from the Vatican through diplomatic channels containing an official statement on behalf of the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Pietro Parolin, regarding the above statements by the pontiff.  In particular, the note states: The Vatican Secretariat of State apologizes to the Russian side.”

 At the same time, Zakharova pointed out that

 "The Holy See deeply respects all the peoples of Russia, their dignity, faith and culture, as well as other countries and peoples of the world".

 The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman added:

 The apology shows "that the Vatican not only calls for dialogue, but also knows how to conduct the dialogue and listen to the interlocutors.  This approach deserves sincere respect.

 We believe the incident has been resolved and we look forward to continued constructive engagement with the Vatican.”I’m

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman added:


 The apology shows "that the Vatican not only calls for dialogue, but also knows how to conduct the dialogue and listen to the interlocutors.  This approach deserves sincere respect.

 We believe the incident has been resolved and we look forward to continued constructive engagement with the Vatican.”

Shortly before Moscow made the apology public, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed that there were "diplomatic contacts on the matter," without going into detail.


 Text: Giuseppe Nardi

 Image: VaticanNews/Facebook/Ambasciata delle Fed.  Russa (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.Com

AMDG

Epstein Victim Has Tapes of Elites Abusing Children

 

AMDG

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Will Evil German Bishop Be Appointed to Prefect of Faith?


Pope Francis with Bishop Heiner Wilmer of Hildesheim on 17 October 2022. Will Wilmer become the new Prefect of the Church?

(Rome) Should the Church really recover from the German creature? So it seems. In the past, however, this was already associated with blessings and curses. After the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has been led most of the time by Germans over the past 40 years with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Gerhard Cardinal Müller, a German is now to step again at the head of the most important Roman Congregation in matters of faith, which has been renamed a Dicastery, since last July.


However, the journey should now go in a completely different direction. Pope Francis is known for this unless certain necessity forces him to look for the most progressive candidates. After he got rid of the Prefect of the Faith Müller in 2017 without naming a reason that he had yet to take over from Benedict XVI, the Church in the Federal Republic of Germany got out of hand. The progressives have been great ever since. They set sail and set sail to reach other shores, especially homosexuals.


The flag of the ordination of women was also hoisted in second place on the main mast, which – from a theological point of view – is understandable since it also has to do with homosexuality.


Unity or truth?


Instead of the Church flag to identify themselves safely from afar, they wanted to raise another one. However, one did not think of the German national colors of 1848, which a Martin Luther would not have wrapped himself in  if he had already known about it, nor the EU flag, or even better a world flag. As such, the gay flag seems to be particularly popular in certain circles at the moment. The drive that is supposed to provide the wind is called: Synodal Way.


In order not to endanger the unity of the Church, which is a high good, but must not stand higher than the truth, Pope Francis admonished the high-spirited Germans to take some time. In return, he adopted the synodal path for the whole universal Church and called it the synodal process. So everything will go a little slower, but in unity. This is Santa Marta's approach, which stops at the formal level, but says nothing about the content level. But what about the truths of faith? Will they become predators of German dissidents? Is there even congruence in the point of view?


Is it more important to defend the truth and ward off gay heresy, or to preserve unity at the price of the homo-heresiarchs prevailing not only in Germany, but worldwide? However, a mandate for unity in apostasy cannot be derived anywhere from Sacred Scripture and Tradition.


When the Rhine flows back into the Tiber for a "synodal church"

For the time being, it is only a rumor, and must be treated with due restraint. However, the very fact that there is such a rumour is frightening enough. The information comes from Messa in Latino, a traditional site with much, though not always accurate, information from the Vatican. The site refers to sources "at the highest level". Pope Francis, however, is unpredictable until the last second, who even in his closest environs overturns plans that were already believed to be in place.


According to Messa's sources, Msgr. Heiner Wilmer SCJ is to become the new Prefect of the Dicastery of the Faith (formerly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). Msgr. Wilmer has been Bishop of Hildesheim appointed by Francis since 2018. Previously, the farmer's son from Emsland was Superior General of the Sacred Heart Priests, who are better known outside the German-speaking world as Dehonians. The Dehonians, on the other hand, especially in Italy, where they have a focus, are an ultra-progressive order. This call also hangs on Bishop Wilmer. For this it is sufficient to hear his defense of the theologian Eugen Drewermann, who was condemned by the Church. However, here, too, he follows in the footsteps of someone else.


It was Pope Francis who rehabilitated Drewermann in an irritatingly bizarre catechesis without ever mentioning him by name. With the Judas catechesis of Francis, which is based on an arbitrary Drewermann interpretation of a column capital in the basilica of Vézelay, he opened the door to a variant of the erroneous doctrine of universal salvation. Even more decisive is the rehabilitation of the German rebel theologian, who threw his priesthood into the nettles and even left the Church in 2005.


Cardinal Ladaria has been a Prefect of the Faith on call for months


The mandate of the incumbent Prefect of the Faith Luis Cardinal Ladaria Ferrer SJ expired on 30 June 2022. Pope Francis tacitly leaves him in office, as is customary in the Roman Curia. This means, however, that the Pope can dismiss him at any time and appoint a successor without becoming brute.


Wilmer was enthroned as Bishop of Hildesheim on 1 September 2018. When the new bishop ingratiated himself with the non-church media, he went so far as to claim in a ludicrous interview with the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger on December 14, 2018:


"The abuse of power is in the DNA of the Church." 


Last January, Wilmer praised the gay campaign of 125 church employees who professed to be homosexual. In the meantime, not least with Wilmer's support, the labor law of Church employees has been changed so that homosexuality is now "in". And priestly celibacy "shines" even more beautifully, according to Wilmer, if it is not mandatory.


Four weeks ago, Wilmer was in Rome with his German confreres for an ad limina visit. He was only one of 62 when he was received in audience by Francis on November 17. The Roman admonitions of Cardinal Ladaria and Bishop Prefect Ouellet were obviously not heard or understood by the President of the German Bishops' Conference Georg Bätzing.


A month earlier, however, on October 17, Bishop Wilmer had already been in Rome. On this occasion he was received in audience alone by Pope Francis. According to the Vatican rumor, Francis informed him on this occasion that he wanted to appoint him as the new Prefect of the Faith of the Holy Church.


KNA, the press agency of the German bishops, reported at the time:


"The Bishop of Hildesheim is considered to be well connected in Rome."


Bishop Wilmer was received in audience by Pope Francis on October 17

The press office of the diocese of Hildesheim announced that the conversation had been "among other things about the German synodal way". In addition, reference was made to Wilmer's position as President of the Commission for Social and Social Issues of the German Bishops' Conference "and as head of the German Commission Justitia et Pax". But these are at best sideshows that are no reason for an official audience with the Pope.


In the run-up, Francis had already listened to other German bishops – Hesse, Genn, Overbeck, Cardinal Marx, Timmerevers and Meier – individually, in order to obviously influence the synodal path, whose pace and rhythm he tries to reconcile with his synodal process, but probably also to capture moods, to collect first-hand information and also to get a personal impression of to make individual.


A few days after his return from Rome, Wilmer presented himself as a pugnacious progressive, who announced:


"The Church does not need reforms, but real conversion."


Commenting on the recent Vatican rumor of such an appointment, Messa in Latino said:


"Unfortunately, if confirmed, this would be a terrible Christmas present from Santa Marta, as it would also confirm the ultra-progressive positions of the infamous German 'Synodal Way'. Instead of the Christmas season, we seem to be entering a late winter for the Church."


Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: VaticanMedia/Wikicommons/Synod.va/Vatican.va (Screenshots)


Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Today is an Ember Day

 Edit: ever since Preppy Taylor got attacked by the sissy boys at Rorate, he’s gone up a lot in our estimation.

I thought the Pachamana stunt was funny. Rorate wasn’t amused, and if they didn’t like it, it’s obviously good. Their pearl clutching and shameless tofu gobbling effeminacy knows no shame.

Ember Days

 

AMDG

Groomer and Chief





AMDG

 

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Yet Another Aberrosexual Russian Orthodox Predator

 Edit: anyone who knows anything about human nature knows that you’re going to find these kinds of people working in institutions at all levels. Nowhere are there more of these predators, than in entertainment, where human trafficking quickly enters the equation, paid for by powerful people who often aren’t brought to justice, and many of them are aberrosexual.

Meanwhile, certain people continue to insist that this is merely a Catholic problem.

Fact is, when I look out at who is really responsible, I look at who runs pornography, who is changing societal mores, who is chiseling at the moral bedrock on which societies resist natural calamities and invasion from outsiders, it’s always the same people who are most guilty of what they accuse Catholics of doing.


KODIAK, Alaska (KTUU) - A former monk who was part of the Russian Orthodox Church has been sentenced to five years in prison for the sexual abuse of a minor, the Department of Law reports.

Content Warning: This article contains information that some readers might find disturbing. Certain specific details have been omitted to protect the victim’s identity.

Kodiak Superior Court Judge Stephen Wallace sentenced Evan P. Nicolai, 60, to 15 years, with 10 years suspended and five years remaining to serve, followed by 16 years of probation. Nicolai was a monk with the Russian Orthodox Church and lived in church housing at the time of the abuse.

Nicolai will also be required to register as a sex offender for an additional 15 years following the end of his probation.

Related:

CNN producer John Griffin has pleaded guilty to a child sex charge for sexually assaulting a little girl after he lured her to his home in Ludlow, Vermont.

According to the New York Post, the 45-year-old pleaded guilt in federal court on Monday “to using interstate commerce for the enticement of a minor as part of a plea deal in which the two remaining counts of enticement of a minor he was initially charged with last year were dropped.”

Prosecutors said the man, who is from Stamford, Connecticut, met a woman online and persuaded her to travel with her 9-year-old daughter to his Vermont home where he engaged in sexual activity with the girl.

Also:

[Breitbart] Rick Saleeby, who was a senior producer for CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, is under criminal investigation following a Project Veritas investigation alleging Saleeby solicited sexually explicit photos of an underage girl,” the outlet said.

AMDG

Monday, December 12, 2022

McCarrick Creature Turns 75

 


Pope Francis with Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, who turned 75 on Dec. 7.

(Rome) Every pope has his peculiarities in the administration of office. In addition, however, there are customs that were respected by the popes. Under Pope Francis, many things changed, including the retirement of bishops. Critics accuse Francis of acting according to the Peronist maxim: "For friends everything, for enemies, not even justice". Currently, the focus is on the US capital Washington, where the incumbent archbishop reached the canonical age limit of 75 years on 7 December.


Archbishop of Washington since 2019 is Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who, like his predecessor Cardinal Donald Wuerl, belongs to the so-called McCarrick BoysTheodore McCarrick, as a predecessor of Cardinal Wuerl, was also Archbishop of Washington and himself a purple bearer until he fell deeply in 2018 after an accusation from the New York Times. Because of homosexual abuse, he lost the cardinal dignity and was finally laicized. Who had covered everything McCarrick, who gained the greatest influence under Pope Francis, is still unclear. This also applies to the relationship between Pope Francis and McCarrick. The former apostolic nuncio to the USA Carlo Maria Viganò revealed in 2018 that he had informed Pope Francis about McCarrick's activities as early as June 2013. Francis ignored the information of his ambassador and installed as bishops those candidates in the US that McCarrick suggested to him. McCarrick's desired successor as Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wuerl, also had to leave the field in 2019 after his behavior towards cases of homosexual abuse by clerics became known.


The fact that in 2019, after the fall of McCarrick and Wuerl, a McCarrick boy became the new Archbishop of Washington, showed in a shocking way that old gay cliques and progressive cliques are intact and have influence in Santa Marta.


Gregory's protective hand over Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi


The importance of Washington's appointment of bishops was shown in the dispute over the Communion to abortion politicians such as US President Joe Biden and the now voted out Leader of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. It is remarkable that this implacable advocate of abortion is confronted with homosexuality and abuse in the immediate family environment, although not child abuse.


When several U.S. bishops demanded consequences for politicians who actively promote genocide through abortion and wanted to exclude them from receiving Holy Communion because canon law provides that they are excommunicated latae sententiae, the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, refused this demand and held his protective hand around Biden and Pelosi. He apparently fulfilled the expectations that Pope Francis had placed in him. The point of contention was finally "settled" by Francis himself by receiving Biden in the Vatican in 2021 and then allowing him not only to explain how much the Pope appreciated him, but also to receive Holy Communion. The same was repeated in 2022 with Nancy Pelosi, who even received communion in St. Peter's Basilica in the presence of the Pope. Roma locuta, causa finita. Translated: To whom the Pope grants communion, a local bishop cannot refuse it. Theoretically, yes. The bishop would even have canon law on his side. But he would then be "more papal than the Pope", a negative title that one tries to avoid.


Thus, with the help of the McCarrick boys, who are only a minority in the US episcopate, Francis succeeded several times in imposing his course on the bishops' conference of the United States: in 2018 regarding the fight against sexual abuse by clerics and bishops, 2021/2022 regarding the abortion issue.


"Everything for friends, for enemies..."


Meanwhile, Francis is rebuilding the episcopate through new appointments. According to the maxim mentioned at the beginning, it is to be expected that Cardinal Gregory, who turned 75 on December 7, will remain in office and control the politically important bishopric of Washington.


It will therefore be different in Washington than in the Archdiocese of La Plata, where Archbishop Héctor Rubén Aguer, the Argentine opponent of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was immediately retired, or in the Archdiocese of Ferrara, where Archbishop Luigi Negri had barely finished the thanksgiving service and already had to leave his office, or in the Archdiocese of Milan, where Cardinal Angelo Scola, Bergoglio's opponent in the conclave of 2013, was hardly less quickly removed from office.


In part, this even happened, although the affected episcopal see then remained vacant for years, as happened in the Archdiocese of Caracas, where Cardinal Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino, a staunch critic of the socialist regime of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, retired in 2018 and the episcopal see is still vacant today.


Cardinal Urosa had fallen out of favor with Francis in 2015 because he had participated in the anthology "Staying in the Truth of Christ" before the beginning of the second Synod on the Family in defense of the Church's marriage and moral teaching. On the first day of the synod, he was one of the thirteen cardinals who handed over a letter of complaint to the Pope on October 5, 2015, in which they raised the accusation of a guided synod with "prefabricated results on important controversial issues".


Cardinal Urosa died in September 2021 without Francis, whose friendly relationship with the regime of the "Bolivarian Revolution" is known, having appointed a successor.


Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: VaticanMedia (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Three Islamic Invaders Rape and Kill 13 Year Old Girl

Leonie 

Edit: this has been going on ever since Muslims came out of the desert. It shouldn’t be a shock that they do this. What’s disturbing, is that a certain group of very powerful people insists that they be located in large pockets in European cities where they can rape, loot, pillage and burn with near impunity.

[RMXAll three Afghan nationals arrested for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old Austrian school girl in Vienna in June of last year have been convicted by an Austrian court.

The brutal facts of the case received national condemnation across the country when the bruised body of the victim known as Leonie was discovered by passers-by leaning against a tree next to Viktor-Kaplan-Strasse in the Austrian capital. She was found strangled with her body dumped in a green strip close to the apartment of one of the attackers in Vienna-Donaustadt.

The Vienna court found the Afghan migrants had plied the victim with ecstasy with the intention of raping her; an autopsy report concluded she died of a drug overdose and asphyxiation. 



AMDG 

Saturday, December 10, 2022

The Principle


CHRISTMAS SPECIAL CHAT WITH JOHN WATERS

Serious Accusations Against Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, What’s Going On?


Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, priest, Jesuit, theologian, is best known for his art in sacred space, which can be described as the preferred art of the Holy See.

(Rome) Is Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik a sex offender?  Will the next abuse allegation hit the Church like a thunderbolt?  The Slovenian Jesuit is not personally known to most Catholics, but many are familiar with his mosaics, which he in an unmistakable style adorn the sacral spaces of some of the most famous pilgrimage sites such as Fatima, San Giovanni Rotondo and Lourdes and the churches of Kraków dedicated to St. John Paul II  and Washington [ugh].  He also designed the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace.  Fr. Rupnik is currently completing the mosaics he designed on the facade of the Brazilian national shrine Aparecida.  But what about the allegations?  Caution is advised.

The art of the Slovenian Jesuit can be described, at least indirectly, as the style of sacred art favored by the Vatican, given the promotion in three pontificates.  There were divided opinions about this undue preference, but these are not the subject of this article.  In any case, the esteem of the Holy See is so great that in 2016 Pope Francis celebrated a Holy Mass in the Apostolic Palace for the Centro Aletti led by Rupnik.  P. Rupnik is a priest, Jesuit, theologian and artist.  For many years he has been the central figure of his order's study center “Ezio Aletti”.  Has Pope Francis now prevented an excommunication latae sententiae of his brother by his protective, even covering-up, hand?

Who blames the allegations?  The website Silere Non Possum (“I can't keep quiet”) and a site called – nomen est omen – Left, which is linked to a left-wing theory magazine.  The churchman was guilty of "sexual and psychological violence".  On closer inspection, however, it could be a matter of two corners.  The news has meanwhile also been picked up by media outlets that are close to tradition and critical of the Pope.  Maybe we shouldn't jump on every bandwagon, at least not in haste.

P. Rupnik was born in 1954 in Zadlog, Slovenia.  In 1974 he entered the Jesuit order and in 1985 he was ordained a priest.  He obtained a doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University and studied at the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts.  He has lived at Centro Aletti since 1991, which he managed until 2020.  He teaches at the Gregorian and the Pontifical Liturgical Institute and runs two "studios" at the study center, one for spiritual art and one for theology.  He was or is consultor of several dicasteries of the Roman Curia.





The Sacrament Chapel designed by Rupnik in the new church in San Giovanni Rotondo

 First, a word about Silere Non Possum.  The blog has existed since March 2021 and is run by Marco Felipe Perfetti, who at the time went public as a law student at the University of Bologna and who, as the editor of the “Vatican Code of Criminal Procedure”, is now also being questioned by the media about the case of Cardinal Angelo Becciu.  The Korazym website mistakenly referred to him as a lawyer, but that would have been a bit too premature.  A major concern of the blog is the fight against "homophobia" in the Church, including threats of legal action in state courts against priests who oppose the gay agenda.

This already anticipates that the accusations against P. Rupnik are not of a homosexual nature.  A good 80 percent of cases of sexual abuse by clerics are homosexual acts.

Allegations against the Jesuit go back to 1995, when a member of the women's order Comunità Loyola, which was founded in Ljubljana in the 1980s and is close to the Jesuit order, complained that she had been plagiarized and that she had suffered "mental, physical and spiritual abuse" in 1992/93.  Father Rupnik was the spiritual assistant and confessor of the community of sisters and a friend of the founder and superior general Ivanka Hosta.  The problems which arose ended with the removal of Rupnik after a dispute between Hosta and the Jesuit.

This break was so traumatic for some sisters that they left the order and followed Rupnik to the Centro Aletti in Rome, which he headed.  The male members of the center are almost exclusively Jesuits and form a household.  But there are also numerous female employees who are in no way inferior to their male colleagues in terms of academic training and who teach at various universities.  The women who followed Rupnik to Rome should also be counted in this context.

The matter became public because letters to Pope Francis that three different sisters of the Comunità Loyola had written to him became known.  At least one of them has been published.  The writer says she has given up the "search for religious life."  Because of the refusal to listen to her, she had herself released from the Order.  In the letter she expresses her indignation that Father Rupnik, despite “the serious allegations leveled against him, for which I have been called as a witness more than once, continues to lecture throughout Italy and publish his catechesis on YouTube.”

The Rupnik case is therefore a case in another case, that of the Slovenian women's order, and dates back more than 25 years.  Whether and what role the women who followed him to Rome might also play does not seem to be the question at the moment.  The prosecutor quoted by Left, who remains anonymous, speaks of "knowing at least three sisters" of the Comunità Loyola, upon whom Rupnik inflicted "mental and physical violence" in the early 1990s, but she herself  obviously not.

It's also unclear if Left and Silere are quoting Non Possum from the same letter, although they appear to be basing this on the same source.  The woman, who claims to have been interviewed by the Vatican on several occasions, concludes “that I was not believed.  After so much suffering, I have a legitimate need to know if the Church considers Father Rupnik to be a reliable teacher.”  This is an allusion to the fact that the Jesuit publishes catechesis on the Internet.  The letters would have reached the Pope "certainly", but there has been no answer to this day.



Cardinal Vicar De Donatis in the chapel of the Great Roman Seminary designed by Rupnik

What happened?  In 2019, the women's order founded in Ljubljana underwent a visitation.  In December 2020, with the approval of Pope Francis, the Congregation for Religious appointed an Apostolic Commissar.  Msgr. Daniele Libanori, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome and himself a Jesuit, was appointed as Commissar.  The latter is questionable, although he has been known for his severity in similar cases in the past.

The Commissar was dispatched quietly.  The starting point was not P. Rupnik, but the accusation of abuse of power and the oppression of fellow sisters by the founder of the order and general superior Ivanka Hosta.  However, a significant number of the sisters defend themselves against this Roman intervention, which is seen as an "act of persecution", and reject the accusations.

But did P. Rupnik also become a case in this case?  Has it been too "idealized" up until now?  Wasn't the prosecutor believed because the person she accused is held in high esteem or because her testimonies are not credible?  She herself indicated that she had thoughts of suicide.  At that time, a quarter of a century ago, P. Rupnik was also her confessor.  However, the allegations remain vague.  Sexual violence is also hinted at, but everything seems blurred.

 “In the beginning, the community was characterized by abuse of conscience, but also emotional and allegedly sexual abuse by Fr. Marko Rupnik.  As a friend of the foundress and several sisters from the very beginning, he had a constant closeness and presence in the personal lives of all the sisters and the community as a whole.  When the final separation from Father Rupnik was completed due to the great suffering of some sisters, it was a great burden for the sisters.  Rupnik's responsibilities have never been fully clarified;  on the contrary, they were practically hushed up and not denounced by those directly involved, but also by Sister Ivanka, who knew about it.”

The accusation becomes doubtful when the author completely leaves the factual level of the already less than concrete allegations, which seem to come more from hearsay, and generalizes her allegations by calling on the Pope to "take all means to protect them and to give voice, dignity and freedom of conscience to other many victims of these new religious movements and new communities.”

Is someone leading their very private, exaggerated campaign?  The anonymous source cited by Left claims that harsh sanctions were imposed not only on the women's order but also on Father Rupnik in January 2022.  He has to lead a life of seclusion, "no sermons, no public celebrations and a ban on confession," writes Silere Non Possum.

The fact is that Father Rupnik already gave up the management of the Centro Aletti in 2020, but still runs an artistic and a theological "atelier" there.  His resignation could be put in the distant future with the Commissioner's appointment a few months later, but not January 2022. What happened earlier in the year?

On January 3, 2022, Father Rupnik was received in audience by Pope Francis.  The Vatican press office did not name a function.  Today, the management of the Centro Aletti is held by the theologian Maria Campatelli, who manages the publishing house of the study center and the theological studio "Cardinal Špidlík".  P. Rupnik was therefore only ad personam with the Pope, which is rarely the case.


Awarded an honorary doctorate by the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná

Nothing became known about the content of the audience, since neither the Holy See nor Father Rupnik commented on it.  However, it does not look like the Jesuit will be punished.  In the event of a conviction, distance is sought and contact is avoided.  The anonymous prosecutor, on the other hand, sees the audience as a moment when Francis personally informed his confrere about the "tough sanctions" imposed on him.  A rather erroneous interpretation given Vatican customs.

There is little sign of a travel ban and other strict conditions: Last May Fr. Rupnik led a retreat for priests in the Italian province.  On November 30, he received an honorary doctorate from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná in Paraguay.  The Jesuit is free to move about, appears in public and is active on the Centro Aletti website as before.

The anonymous source says the priest "forced her, with pressure and blackmail, to do things that I reported to the right place in good time."  But "everyone has spread the cloak of silence over it".  And further: "After my first report, nobody helped me, neither the community nor the then Archbishop of Ljubljana nor Father Rupnik's superior, with whom I spoke and tried to explain what had happened."

The woman would like to know the result of the investigations against Fr. Rupnik by Msgr. Libanori and the competent dicastery.  The question is whether and in what form Msgr. Libanori was commissioned to do this at all.  In any case, his appointment as acting head of the women's order Comunità Loyola has nothing to do with an investigative assignment.  The same source, while seeking clarity, claims that Monsignor Libanori has concluded that "the victims heard are credible and their narrative stands".  That is an act of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  The presentation is confusing and doesn't seem to hold up.

Silere Non Possum and Left raise the question of whether Pope Francis is covering up "the abuse of Rupnik" and recall the Inzoli case, which once brought such an accusation to the head of the Church in Italy.  Now it is known that the so-called “Bergoglio system” has beneficiaries.  Especially in connection with homosexuality, which shouldn't bother Left or Silere Non Possum.  However, this does not allow any generalization.  The mere reference to an allegedly prevented excommunication latae sententiae raises serious doubts.  An excommunication in connection with a crime cannot be “prevented” at all.  Anyone who commits the act automatically incurs excommunication.  Therefore, excommunication as a penalty after due process is the rule.

According to what has become known so far, the charges against P. Rupnik are too thin, much too thin.  What if he's guilty?  Then more concrete evidence is needed.  But what if he's innocent?  Then an attempt is made to throw dirt at him, because, as is well known, something always gets stuck.  What remains for the time being are doubts that smack of character assassination.  And it is in the nature of doubts that they gnaw.  Pope Francis did what he always does when he wants to defend someone who is under attack: he showed himself demonstratively together with Fr. Rupnik.




On January 3, 2022, Pope Francis received the Slovenian theologian and artist in audience

 Text: Giuseppe Nardi

 Image: Centro Aletti/Giuseppe Nardi/Facebook/VaticanMedia(Screenshots)