Vatican Official Confirms Agreement with SSPX

Edit: it's comical to see Lawler embrace ideas he's always been resistant to. Some day I'd love to see him kiss Bishop Fellay's ring.

March 20, 2017

[Catholic Culture] The secretary of the Ecclesia Dei commission has confirmed that the Vatican is close to an agreement with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) that would regularize the status of the traditionalist group.

Archbishop Guido Pozzo told the German newspaper Die Tagespost that the Vatican will ask the SSPX to endorse a formal declaration, resolving some remaining doctrinal issues. However, confirming what SSPX leaders have said, the Archbishop Pozzo acknowledged that the SSPX would be allowed to continue raising questions about some teachings of Vatican II. Over the years, the archbishop observed, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has answered a number of questions about conciliar documents, and “I do not see why this work of clarification and answers to doubts and reservations... could not be carried forward.”

Archbishop Pozzo said that, in interpreting the documents of Vatican II, one clear principle would be continuity: that if an understanding of the Council’s message involves a break with the constant teaching of the Church, “this intepretation must be rejected as false or inadequate.”

The archbishop suggested that the cause of reconciliation for the SSPX should be confided to the care of Our Lady of Fatima, as the Church approaches the 100th anniversary of the apparitions.

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=31058

AMDG

Dialog With the Lutheran World Federation at the Cost of Catholic Identity

Pope Francis with Munip Jounan, President of the Lutheran World
Federation on 31 October, 2016 in Lund.

With "Joint Declaration" of Lund, Pope Francis has signed a protestant document on 31 October 2016. In this way he brought the Protestants an ecumenical gift for the Lutheran Jubilee which he put in place of essential dimensions of  Catholic Church identity.

A guest contribution by Hubert Hecker.

October 31, 2016 is certainly considered the eve of the Protestant Reformation Jubilee. On that date Pope Francis traveled to the Swedish city of Lund. The Lutheran World Federation had been founded in 1947.  There are 145 Lutheran communities with 70 million Protestants are members included in this umbrella organization. In Lund, Pope Francis signed a "Joint Declaration" for the Catholic Church and Munip Jounan for the Lutheran World Federation.

Two texts in contradiction

In the introduction,

• That "we begin with the memorial of 500 years of Reformation."
• Furthermore, "we deplore before Christ that Lutherans and Catholics have wounded the visible unity of the Church . ...
• Many members of our communities yearn to receive the Eucharist in a meal as a concrete expression of full unity . ...
• If we commit ourselves to move from conflict to fellowship, we do this as part of the one body of Christ , into which we have all been incorporated through baptism. ... "

According to the Catholic catechism, believers are introduced into the Church through the sacrament of baptism as members of the body of Christ. According to the dogmatic Council document, Lumen Gentium No. 8 , the "Church" and "Body of Christ" are to be understood as follows: Jesus Christ wrote "His holy Church ... here on earth as a visible structure, and bears it as such unceasingly. ... The only complex reality - the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church ... " is the society equipped with hierarchical organs and the mysterious body of Christ, the visible assembly and  spiritual community. This Church is realized in the Catholic Church, led by the successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him. This does not exclude that there are various elements of sanctification and truth outside their structure. "This is particularly true of the separate sister churches of Orthodoxy and the ecclesial" communities" of Protestantism.

The Ecumenism decree also states that only the Catholic Church has the full abundance of the means of salvation which the Lord has entrusted to Peter and the apostleship to constitute the Church as "the one Christian body on earth, to which all are fully incorporated who are already in some way a part of the people of God" (Unitatis redintegratio, No. 3).

The Pope signed a Protestant statement

Already, on the first close reading of the two published document excerpts, the impression appeared that they were contradictory in essential points. More precisely, the Joint Declaration reflects the Protestant church image, which is contrary to the Catholic understanding of the Church in the Council. It is precisely in the understanding of the Church that the "most serious dogmatic contrast" exists between Lutherans and Catholics, according to Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller in his lecture at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The differences in questions concerning the Church, office, and sacraments should not be reduced to "striking formulas."

This is exactly what the Joint Declaration of 31 October is.  It seems to be the least common denominator in Church doctrine. However, a Lutheran-style church understanding has emerged. This means a weakening, if not a departure from the Catholic ecclesiology. Accordingly, the Pope has signed a Protestant statement. He brings an ecumenical guest gift to the Protestants at the Lutheran Jubilee, by displacing essential dimensions of the Catholic Church identity.

The EKD emphasizes the ecclesiastical identity of the Protestants ...

The EKD [Evangelische Kirche Deutschland] President Heinrich Bedford-Strohm warned at his Vatican visit in early February: "There should be" no homogenization, which eats one's own. We want to restrain Church dividing identity." (FAZ 7. 2. 2017). The Protestants emphasize their ecclesiastical identity - in contrast to Catholic doctrine. In the Lunder Declaration they have introduced their self-understanding of church. This is not to blame them. But the Pope and his advisers are accused of not having anchored the Catholic, "Church dividing identity" in the Joint Declaration. In so far as the pope signs the Lutheran image of the Church as a common denominator, the pope has permitted the "character" of the Catholic Church to be swallowed down in the supposedly "common," but actually Protestant decline.

... the Pope wants ecumenical dialogue at all costs - even his own identity.

This is shown in the individual statements of the Joint Declaration:

What is with the pope as the head of the Catholic Church commemorating the Reformation in the "We" modality? Luther wanted to replace the "devilish" Pope's Church at least in the "German nation" by his new-believing church. The result was the division and separation of his community from the Church.

Luther wanted to abolish the Catholic Church "as a visible structure" and replace it with an invisible church of the faithful assembled. Luther's contemporary, the humanist Gerhard Lorich from Hadamar, criticizes the reformer as a demolitionist of the Church. The complaint that "Lutherans and Catholics" had equally "wounded the visible unity of the Church" is wrong on both sides: Luther alone and his followers destroyed the visible church in their sphere of influence by separating themselves with their new ecclesial community. On the other hand, the Pope's self-condemnation is absurd that Catholics have "wounded the visible unity of the Church".

According to the doctrine of the Council, the Church founded by Jesus Christ is realized in the Catholic Church with Its sacramental hierarchical character. Luther and his followers did not want a Church in the classical sense but a non-sacramental, new-believing community. But there can be no second apart from the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. That is why the 145 members of the Lutheran World Federation are called and are merely "ecclesial communities".

The Joint Statement speaks of "members of our communities ...". Grammatically, the Catholic Church is also meant.  As a signatory, the Pope thus demoted the Church into one of the many ecclesiastical communities and thereby denied this. If, however, only the Protestant communities which desire a common eucharistic meal are meant, the sentence is a twofold presumption. In the case of their rejection of the Sacrifice of the Mass, the Consecration, and the Transubstantiation, the Lutherans want to receive Communion, and see it as an "expression of full unity."

It is a doctrine particular to the Lutherans that all the baptized members of the Protestant communities belong to the Body of Christ. According to apostolic-Catholic doctrine, the baptized are part of the people of God. But they do not constitute the Church in its visible and invisible-spiritual form of the mystical body of Christ. They are outside the Church, into which they should be incorporated for their salvation - according to the Council Decree Unitatis redintegratio .

The Pope and his advisers have the sacred duty of studying the doctrine of the Catholic Church, to take it to heart, and to explain it. This would prevent them from signing questionable new doctrines of the Protestants.

Text: Hubert Hecker
Photo: MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Pope Francis: The Mission of the Exorcist is "Irreplaceable"

Francis: Exorcists must be chosen "very carefully and with a great deal of prudence" - 

VIDEOS: Pope directs a ceremony of repentance, he confesses himself and hears confession

Vatican City (kath.net/KAP) Pope Francis has looked with generosity from the confessional chair and has suggests an exorcist on a case-by-case basis. The Catholic penitential practice must be "a credible mirror of the mercy of God," he said on Friday to those in attendance at a course on the Vatican Court of Grace, the so-called Penitentiary. It is necessary to avoid rigor and lack of understanding. A confessor who reflects his activity in prayer knows well "that he himself is the first sinner, and the first to be forgiven."

Francis continued to admonish confessors to ask for "the gift of humility." It should be clear that forgiveness is a free gift of God. Priests played only the role of "simple but necessary administrators" according to the will of Jesus, according to the Pope. "He will certainly be pleased if we make generous use of his mercy," he added.

The use of exorcists remains indispensable even today, said the Pope. Sometimes those with "spiritual disturbances" appear at Confession. Unless, as in most cases, they have psychological causes, pastors are not "reluctant to turn to those who are entrusted with this sensitive and necessary ministry in the diocese," the exorcists, said Francis to those attending a Course on Confession this Friday in the Vatican.

The Pope stressed that priests should consult psychologists and physicians for the assessment of supposed "spiritual disorders". It is also necessary to consider the "existential, ecclesiastical, natural and supernatural circumstances." The pope did not mention concrete examples. With a view to the exorcists, Francis said they had to be chosen "very carefully and with a great deal of prudence."

The Apostolic Penitentiary is one of the three highest courts of the Catholic Church. Among other things, it is responsible for the discharge and the lifting of penalties.

Pope Francis confesses in St. Peter's and then hears the confession himself Fasting 2017:

Sexual Abuse Claims Shake the Anglican Church in Australia

(Brisbane) The Anglican Church of Australia is overloaded with accusations of sexual child abuse. A total of 1084 charges have so far been received. According to media reports, 75 percent of the victims are eleven-year-old boys.

The cases take place in the period 1980-2015. The data emerge from the report by the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which was established by the State in 2013.

569 alleged perpetrators are identified. 247 of these are pastors, 285 laymen, and 37 are lacking a precise classification. 94 percent of the perpetrators are men.

The Anglican Archbishop, Philip Freier, expressed his "consternation" about the revelations of the commission of inquiry. "We are deeply ashamed," says Freier.

In recent years the Catholic Church in Australia had been shaken by sexual abuse.

"The scandal in the Anglican Church is no cause for schadenfreude because it has caught others this time. The case, however, confirms that sexual abuse of children is not a specific feature of the Catholic Church, as some have shown. Not to mention sports clubs and certain secular children's and youth groups," said Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: ANN (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Lutheran Youth Group Distributes Condoms for Reformation Anniversary

Evangelical Church Youth Düsseldorf distributed condoms to young people, for example with the Luther quote: "Here I stand and can not do otherwise".

Düsseldorf (kath.net) The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland has stopped an action by the youth church of Düsseldorf. The youth church had distributed condoms with misapplied  quotations from Martin Luther. The SWR and the "Bild" reported. On the packaging of the condoms were Luther quotes, for example, "Here I stand and can not do otherwise."

The church youth wanted to draw attention to the reformation jubilee with the action. The Landeskircheamt, meanwhile, in a letter denounced the action as fundamentally unsuitable for youth work.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

A Jesuit Heretic's Heresy Disected by Benedictine

[HughOSB] As part of our Lenten penance, we are listening to James Martin SJ’s Jesus: A Pilgrimage in the refectory at lunch. It has been not too bad, the bits I have heard; until today. So many blasts from the past: Jesus “discovering” his “call”, “embracing his vocation” as at the wedding feast at Cana. It was the same old tired Christology-from-below (to put it at its best) that triumphed in the 70s and 80s. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.

But then it turned a great deal worse, in one brief phrase: Martin referred to Jesus as “a fully human person”. It is a sad indictment of the last 50 years or more of deficient catechetics that any will not see the problem. Jesus is a man, isn’t he?

Indeed Jesus is human. However, he is not a human person. He is a divine person with a human nature. The heresy of Nestorius(†450) was a rational attempt to reconcile the humanity of Christ with the awesomeness of his divinity. His sticking point was Mary; he objected to her being called Mother of God, because God, by definition eternal and the first principle of existence—the uncreated Creator— could obviously have no mother. So he decided that Jesus must be a union of two persons, one divine and one human. Mary was mother of the human person, but not of the divine. So she could be called Mother of Christ, but not Mother of God.

https://hughosb.com/2017/03/16/there-is-nothing-new-under-the-sun-james-martin-sj-and-christology-101/#more-11225

AMDG

Hungary's Foreign Minister: "How Many Churches Celebrate Ad Orientem?"

The Church of the Sacred Heart Surrounded by Scaffolding

(Rome) On March 8, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto visited the earthquake-hit city of Tolentino. The minister was personally informed about the efforts of Hungarian aid. At the same time, he also inspected the progress of the reconstruction work of art goods and the work on the masonry of the severely damaged Church of the Sacred Heart. The security work on the church is financed by the Hungarian government. The contacts were brought about by Prior Andrea Corradori with the Brotherhood of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is based at the parish.

Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto (center) in Tolentino

"It was touching to see the young minister who entered the church which was closed because of the danger of collapse and genuflected to the Blessed Sacrament which was in the tabernacle, as was the case on the days of the earthquakes from the 26th to the 30th of August," Corradori said.

The minister asked the Prior of the Brotherhood of the Sacred Heart: "How many churches in Italy celebrate ad orientem?"

After the church visit,  the minister said in a local TV-interview:

"Hungary can face the challenges of the future if it is not removed from its Christian roots. For this reason, we are particularly responsible for helping the Christian communities in the world. So we did not think twice when the request came from Tolentino: We had to help!"

The Bishop of Macerata, Monsignor Nazzareno Marconi, also attended the meeting with the minister.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Youtube (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholishes..
AMDG

Cross Procession in Saint Petersburg -- October Revolution and the Return of Religion

(Moscow) Pictures of the cross procession in Saint Petersburg from September 12th. The procession led from the Kazan Cathedral over the famous Nevsky Prospect to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.

Icon of Alexander Nevski

The Rurikid Alexander Newski, Prince of Novgorod (from 1249 Grand Prince of Kiev), brought the advance of the Swedes into Russian territory to a halt at the Battle of the Neva in 1240, and in 1242 in the Battle of Peipus also that of the Teutonic Order. He has been officially honored by the Russian Orthodox Church since 1547 as a saint. The Nevsky Prospekt, a 300-year-old grand boulevard of 4.5 kilometers, connects the Tsar's winter palace to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery at the other end. In the monastery, the bones of the Saint Prince Rurikid are buried.

Along the boulevard you will also find the Kazan Cathedral, erected more than 200 years ago. It was built with St. Peter's in Rome as a model. The cathedral was built over an older predecessor, the Church of the Virgin Mary. It is named after an icon of the Mother of Kazan who is venerated in the cathedral.

Kazan Cathedral

The church is considered a memorial church for the victorious defense against Napoleon's campaign of 1812. In it, Field Marshal Michail Kutusov is buried, who as the Russian commander-in-chief, directed the defense. The Field Marshal had prayed before the fighting in the just finished church and asked the Mother of God for help.

After the Communist October Revolution, the cathedral was plundered and devastated. In 1918 the Archpriest of the Church, the philosopher Ornatsky, suffered martyrdom together with his two sons. Ornatsky had celebrated a requiem for the victims of the Communists. Shortly after, he and his two sons were then arrested. He was allowed to say a prayer for those condemned to death on a cliff above the Finnish Gulf, then he, his sons and 30 other men were shot and their bodies thrown over the cliffs into the sea.

Cross-process through the Nevsky Prospect 2016

In 1922 all the valuables, liturgical implements, and icons were confiscated by the Soviet government, and the cathedral was transformed into a museum of atheism in 1932.

In November 1990, the Sacred Liturgy was celebrated for the first time in consultation with the Museum Directorate - the museum has renamed the Museum of Religious History after the end of the Soviets. In 1999 the evacuation of the museum and the return of the cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church was agreed. The transfer was completed in 2001. In 2002 the icon of the Mother of Kazan was returned to the church. Since 2017, the cathedral has once again been the seat of the metropolitan of Novgorod and Saint Petersburg.

After more than 90 years, the first cross-procession took place in 2013, which commemorates the transfer of the relics of the Rurikid Prince Nevsky to the monastery named after him at the end of the Nevsky Prospect. The video shows recordings of the fourth cross procession since its revival (September 2016).

Archbishop Forte Lashes Out at Cardinals: "The Dubia Cast Doubt on Those Who Raised Them"

Symposium on Amoris laetitia, 9 March, 2017, San Salvatore in Lauro
(Msgr. Forte, 2nd from the left, Alberto Melloni, 2nd from the right.)

(Rome) Archbishop Bruno Forte, Pope-Servant during the two episcopal synods over the family, has attacked the four cardinals: Brandmüller, Burke, Caffarra and Meisner because of the Dubia (Doubts) they have submitted to the pope for the disputed post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia.

The Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto had been appointed by the Pope as the Special Secretary of the Synod. As such he played the little praiseworthy role in the preparation of the individual reports. In the first bishop's synod in the autumn of 2014, the controversial passages on homosexuality came from his pen in the interim report. At the beginning of May 2016 he revealed that he had received a special commission from Pope Francis for the preparation of the final report of the second bishop's synod in autumn 2015. The mission was to obscure the aims of the Pope with the Synod. For this reason, Forte would not mention the remarried divorced in the final report because it could arouse strong resistance. According to the papal commission, the resistance should remain as low as possible. He, the Pope, would then set the course for the remarried divorced.

On May 2, 2016, Forte, in the town theater of Vasto, explained  Pope Francis' order as follows:

"If we expressly speak of Communion for remarried divorced couples, who knows what kind of a casino [a whirlwind] this will make for us. We therefore do not talk directly about it. Make it so if the premises are given, I will draw the conclusions."

Forte was enthusiastic about the papal tactics. This is "typical of a Jesuit," commented Forte, jokingly, his revelation, praising the "wisdom" of Pope Francis, who had allowed us to reach Amoris Laetitia.

The Symposium on Amoris laetitia was in the Church of San Salvatore in Lauro

The Symposium was entitled, "The power of love in a society of indifference." This took place on Thursday in the Roman church of San Salvatore in Lauro, opposite the Castel Sant'Angelo. One of the speakers was Archbishop Bruno Forte, in his capacity as Special Secretary of the Bishops' Synod, whose "accomplishment" is the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia. Another speaker was the historian Alberto Melloni, head of the progressive "Bologna School."

Forte used his allotted time to attack the four reputable cardinals who expressed doubts (Dubia) and gave the Pope five questions on September 19, 2016, which the latter has refused to answer. According to Romasette, the online diocesan blog of the diocese of Rome, Archbishop Forte declared that the criticism of Amoris laetitia, "has no right to exist". Romasette reported:

A faithful interpreter of Amoris laetitia, who had experienced it at the Synod at close quarters, from which the apostolic letter came, namely, Monsignor Forte said: "The doubts raised (Dubia) raise doubts about those who raised them because they were present and experienced the collegial spirit for themselves. Amoris laetitia focuses on the crisis of the real family. The message is that despite the wounds and the failure, it is worthwhile support the family. So what is to be done? Love as God does. And how shall this attention be expressed for the wounded? With forgiveness, which is the great power of love."  Then Forte presented the proposals of apostolic writing: accept, accompany, discern and integrate. "The way of accompanyment has its summit in the Communion for the remarried divorced, which is a sign of obedience toward the mercy of God."

Archbishop Forte no longer knows in 2017 what he said in May 2016 

According to Archbishop Forte, Pope Francis implicitly did not have to answer the questions of the four cardinals because their concerns had "no right of existence". The failure to answer the questions and the lack of response to the concerns of the four cardinals was justified by Forte, because they had been synodalists, and had witnessed the "collegial spirit" of the Synod. The whole was garnished by Forte with polemical wordplay.

On the basis of the revelations of May 2, 2016, made by himself, Forte knew that the Synod had not made a statement with which the controversial passages of Amoris laetitia can be justified. The "collegial spirit" of the Synod is, therefore, unrelated to Amoris laetitia, and certainly not with the Dubia, which consists of five questions, which were asked to be answered by Pope Francis in order to end the ensuing confusion. "Only a blind man can deny that because of Amoris laetitia there is great confusion in the Church," said Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, one of the four signatories of Dubia.

Archbishop Forte obviously does not belong to the blind. On March 9, 2017, he does not even know anymore what he proudly proclaimed on May 2, 2016.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Romasette (Screenshot) in the Church of San Salvatore in Lauro
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches..
AMDG

19 Year Swiss Man Stabbed at Shisha Bar by Syrians

[Epoch] A brutal murder has shattered the Lake Constance region. A 19-year-old man from Switzerland was involved in a quarrel at a Konstanz shisha bar. In the parking lot, one of the attackers drew a knife. A little later the 19-year-old died in the hospital. The offender is said to have been a Syrian, which the police neither denied nor confirmed. The deadly stab wounds are alleged to have been directed specifically against the heart and throat of the 19-year-old.


 Symbolic image: Shisha water pipe whistle Photo: Public Domain 

The investigation by the 50-member special commission of the Kriminalpolizei of Friedrichshafen found several young me. in the course of Sunday, who are suspected to have been involved in the lethal dispute before a Konstanzer Shisha bar. Four suspects were arrested. The role of the persons involved in the event is currently under investigation.

Also on Sunday an autopsy was performed on the 19-year-old victim. The result is expected for today, Monday.

Homicide at shisha bar

In the night of Saturday, March 11, 2017, a deadly conflict broke out at 1.30 am in the parking lot in front of the shisha bar "Pasha of Dubai" on the Fritz-Arnold-Strasse in the industrial area of ​​Constance.

 For hitherto unknown reasons, two groups of people were involved in an argument, during which a 19-year-old Swiss man was stabbed, presumably with a knife. While the victim was still able to go to the bar, where he collapsed, the culprit escaped with his companions." (Police authority)

"In spite of immediately initiated rescue and resuscitation measures, the 19-year-old died a little later in the hospital," said police officer Markus Sauter from Constance.

https://youtu.be/yV7gyl6Be0E

http://www.epochtimes.de/politik/deutschland/konstanz-junger-schweizer-19-mit-gezielten-messer-stichen-vor-shisha-bar-getoetet-taeter-offenbar-syrer-polizei-verschweigt-herkunft-a2069438.html
AMDG

Lenten Exercise 2017 for Pope and Roman Curia --- Why Can't He Just Kneel?

All kneel, only the pope stands. Eucharistic Adoration during the Fifth Exercise 2017 for the Pope and the Roman Curia.

Marginal remarks by Gerd Varga

In the Vatican, the Lenten Exercises for the Roman Curia are taking place. Even Pope Francis takes part. As in previous years, the Pope and the Curia have retreated on Sunday to the Casa Divin Maestro Retreat House in Ariccia, just outside the gates of Rome. The Retreat House and the Holy See have published photos on their pages, which have not gone unnoticed. Two marginal remarks:

Marginal Remark 1

The Church of Jesus Magister 1

During the eucharistic adoration in the church of the retreat house, all the cardinals and archbishops who lead the curia offices were kneeling before the exposed Sacrament. Pope Francis stood in the middle of the church.

The picture recalls an unexplained question, which is somewhat polemical, as follows: Why did Pope Francis kneel at the annual foot-washing on Holy Thursday, but not before the Most Blessed Sacrament?

To be fair, it should be added that Pope Francis was kneeling on a photo taken on Tuesday for a Eucharistic blessing. A rarity in view of his practice on Corpus Christi. This is precisely why it is to be pointed out.

Marginal Remark 2

The Church of Jesus Magister, Via Veritas et Vita Retreat House, next to which there are still several smaller chapels, has an extraordinary seating arrangement: no church benches but cushioned single armchairs. The seating has, however, has kneelers, which is not necessarily self-evident in new buildings or after conversions of churches. The "mature Christian" is familiar with God, he drones in the head, with which we would again refer to observation 1.

The Church of Jesus Magister 2

The first comment may sound presumptuous, but the Holy See would not let a stone fall out of the never used tiara, if it declared the papal weakness of knee briefly and concisely but officially. Who would not understand if there was a physical affliction for it? The physical presence before the Blessed Sacrament is, in any case, is no triviality, and can therefore not be dismissed as the private affair of a pope.

The latter remark may seem irrelevant. Is it, though? I admit: I'm also irritated by Swiss churches, which are heated up to room temperature in the winter. The visit to the church should not be too pleasant and comfortable.

Image: Casadivinmaestro / Vatican.va

Link to Katholisches...
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

CDF Wants SSPX to Help in Fight Against Modernism

March 9, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – In an explosive homily delivered Sunday, the leader of the Society of Pius X (SSPX) said the Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith wants the SSPX to be fully reconciled to help fight modernists in the Church.

"Bishop [Bernard] Fellay [reported] the comments of Cardinal (Gerhard) Muller asking the SSPX to join his fight against the modernists," according to the SSPX's USA District.

Fellay said "there is much contradiction" among Church leaders with regard to the SSPX, which had a break with the Vatican over Vatican Council II.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-cardinal-enlists-the-help-of-sspx-to-fight-the-modernists

AMDG

Pope Francis Gives First Interview to German Journalist: "I am a sinner and I am fallible"

[From Die Zeit] In an interview with the ZEIT, which will appear on Thursday, Pope Francis has critiqued the faith. When asked whether he also experiences moments in which he doubted the existence of God, he says: "I also know the empty moments." But the crisis is also an opportunity to grow: "A faith that does not fall into crisis (...) remains infantile." Pope Francis himself has the experiences of a normal believer. "I do not see myself as something special," says the head of over a billion Catholics around the world: "I am a sinner and am fallible." To every kind of papal cult, therefore, Francis declares a rejection. "We must not forget that the idealization of a person is always a subliminal kind of aggression." When I am idealized, I feel attacked," he says in an interview with ZEIT, which took place at the Vatican in late February. It is the first interview that Francis has given during his four-year term to a German journalist.

The Pope is concerned about the rise of populism in the Western democracies: "Populism is evil and ends badly, as the past century has shown," says Francis. "Populism means to use the people", it always needs a Messiah and also the justification to keep the identity of the people.

The Pope described the increasing lack of priests as a problem in many countries, for example in Germany. The Church is challenged and should face this and other problems also fearlessly. The task of theology is to research. "The truth is not to be afraid," says Francis, "Fears closes doors, freedom opens them, and when liberty is small, it opens a window." In addition, in the interview, there will be a discussion on celibacy, the ordination of married men to the priesthood, Francis addresses himself to the hostility toward his person and whether he will accept the invitation to visit Germany in the "Luther Year."

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Muslim Interrupts Mass in Augsburg Shouting "Allu Akbar"

A Lectoress in Dillinger Studienkirche (Diocese of Augsburg) had to interrupt the reading briefly -  church service visitors afterwards said that they had been frightened.

Dillingen (kath.net) In the Dillingen Studienkirche (diocese of Augsburg) there was a disturbance  last Sunday during the Sunday Mass. According to the police, a man shouted out during the first reading with slogans like "Convert to Allah" and with spread arms "Allahu akbar" (God is great). This was reported by the "Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung". The lectoress had to interrupt the reading briefly. According to the newspaper, various faithful said afterwards that they felt frightened. The  sacristan and two other men led the non-violent man out of the Church and informed the police. They took the 38-year-old Turkish man in the county temporarily and brought him to a hospital because of mental disturbances. It is still unclear whether the pastor will report the incident.

 'Diocese of Augsburg'

According to the Augsburger Allgemeine, last September, the 38-year-old had already damaged several costly statues in a different church, and he also kicked several cars outside. The man was temporarily arrested and then sent to the hospital.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

1.5 Million Peruvians Demonstrate Against Gender-Ideology in the Schools -- Leave the Children Alone

Anti-Gender Ideology Demonstration in Lima Last Saturday

(Lima) Peru is defending itself against the state's compulsory inclusion of gender ideology in the schools. After months of resistance at all levels, from rallies before parliament to parliamentary debates, from newspaper articles and television discussions to signature collections, a million and a half Peruvians went on the streets on 4 March.

The gigantic popular movement was initiated by the movement #Conmishijosnotemetas (hands off my children). In many Peruvian cities, large-scale demonstrations were held. The biggest demonstration took place in the capital Lima.

The Peruvian government wants to transform the entire curriculum at public schools in the sense of gender theory starting with the coming school year, with effects on the children from the most tender age. Cardinal Cipriani Thorne speaks of "ideological colonization." The organizers described the gender-compliant curriculum as "ideological brainwashing for the new generations." The curriculum is a serious attack on parental rights, which should be given priority in the education of children.

The March for Life in Lima.The attack on life is the other
side of the same coin.

The President of Peru has been Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard since July 2016. This son of a German Jew and a Swiss Protestant is Catholic. The director Jean-Luc Godard is his cousin. Peru is a semi-presidential republic. The President of the State appoints the government. Parliament can overthrow the government by a vote of no confidence. However, this has not yet happened. In parliament, Kuczynski's party has only 20 out of 150 seats. The absolute majority is held by the party of Keiko Fujimori, whom Kuczynski had just narrowly defeated. Fujimori is the daughter of former Peruvian president, Alberto Fujimori. The Peruvian left supported Kuczynski as a "lesser evil" against Fujimori.

Kuczynski is a dazzling figure. The investment banker, who became Minister for the first time at the beginning of the 80s, took part in the Bilderberger Conference in Tyrol in 1988. After his election as president, he dedicated Peru to the heart of Jesus and the heart of Mary. He implements the gender agenda, which is run by international institutions, including several UN agencies, without hesitation. The will of his people and the convictions of the vast majority of the Peruvians do not seem to bother him.

Beatriz Mejia, the spokeswoman for #Conmishijosnotemetas, called on Kuczynski to take a step backward and not to impose on the people anything that they neither want nor need.

Massively present in this mass uprising against gender ideology was the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. It was led by Cardinal Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima and Primas of Peru. The next date was just announced at the rally: the March for Life on the 25th of March. The right to life is the other big front, which is attacked from the international side.

There was massive criticism of the mass media at the demonstration, which barely offered space to cover the popular protest against the gender ideology, or downplayed and ridiculed it. The media follows a script that similar popular movements in other countries have experienced: from Manif pour tous in France, the Family Day in Italy and to the Demo Fuer Alle in the Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

"The civil society of Peru proves to be healthy and ready for battle. Will the political power be ready to listen to the citizens?" This is the question asked by Notizie Pro Vita which also formulated an indictment against the prevailing distortion of representative democracy, as can be seen not only in Peru.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Il Timone / InfoVaticana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
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Cardinal Müller: "End with the Cliche of a Reforming Pope and Anti-Reform Resistance"

(Rome) Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine and the Faith, is visibly angry. He had had several occasions to do this in recent times. It is not always possible for him to react. He does not accept everything silently. Now he has reacted to the resignation of Marie Collins.

The resignation of the Irish citizen, Marie Collins as a memeber of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was reproached by some of the media in an accusation against the Congregation for the Faith, led by Cardinal Prefect Müller. That was astonishing. Müller is known for a practice of zero tolerance. It was a hard indictment that he had hindered the work of the anti-pedophile commission. It is an accusation that does not want to match the facts.

"Fake News" from and about the Vatican

The presentation by the media, out of agency reports, however, was one-sided. The resignation had been properly exploited in order to put the position of Cardinal Müller and his Congregation in a bad light on such a delicate subject. The "evil Congregation of the Faith" is a stereotype, which not a few frequently want to willingly believe. The context of the "evil Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith" and the hindrance of the persecution of pedophile clerics and anti-pedophile prevention are all the more a scandalous mixture. Only, this is just not right. They are a lame media, or in other words, fake news, as they are so fond of saying. Coincidence, bad research, disinformation, attempted influence in inner-church affairs?

The line of zero tolerance, which Cardinal Müller pursues in terms of sexual child abuse, is authentic. It is different with the course of Pope Francis. Those who have good contacts with close papal-dignitaries or the pope himself are treated more gently than those who do not have these contacts. The key word Don Mercedes should suffice to name this line Of double standard. The dismissal of three members of the Congregation of the Congregation of the Congregation, which the Pope himself ordered, and which was enforced against the will of Cardinal Mueller, is also connected with the subject. Two of the three dismissed were concerned with the prosecution of clerical offenders, and their dismissal was not because they had a double standard. They represented the null-tolerance line of Cardinal Mueller, still holding to that which had been issued  by Pope Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Müller's Defense - The Case of the Chilean Bishop

Cardinal Müller can not publicly argue a series of connections to his own justification and the protection of his dicastery, because they could appear as a criticism of Pope Francis. Nevertheless, he did not want to take the attacks sitting down and formulated a defense. He criticized the criticism of the resigned Marie Collins, who had been chastised by the media for the Congregation, with the remark that the "Anti-Abuse Commission had so far only asked the Congregation for the dispatch of letters." In plain words, what impediment should have taken place if the Commission did not want anything from the Congregation, and therefore nothing could have been rejected.

The concrete reason for Collins's resignation, who herself had even been abused as a child, is the case of the Chilean bishop who had himself demanded Collins' resignation. Since this was not done after repeated requests, she took her own step to protest according to this threat. However, the bishop's benefactor is not the Congregation of Faith, but  Pope Francis himself.  The bishop concerned is Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid, the Bishop of the Chilean diocese. Francis himself had appointed him Bishop of Osorno in 2015. Immediately, victim organizations were indignant at the appointment. However, Francis stood by Bishop Barroso Madrid, and in Rome, he even assured the Chilean faithful who wanted to bring to this to his attention (see The Bishop of Osorno has a super lawyer, Pope Francis, including a video of the correction). The bishop is not accused of sexual abuse, but a priest, Fernando Karadima, who is very well known in Chile.

Cardinal Müller's more fundamental criticism: "end with the stereotype"

The defense of Müller is thus made clearer in a further sentence, when he attacks a common stereotype: "With this stereotype that the pope stands on one side and the resistors on the other." Thus, the Cardinal already cited Matteo Matzuzzi in the Sunday edition of Il Foglio  in its title.

The fact that Cardinal Müller mingled his statement by no means only in the matter of the anti-pedophile commission is evident from his choice of words. The quotation goes back to an interview of the Cardinal Prefect with Gian Guido Vecchi of the Corriere della Sera. Müller had said:

"I think that this stereotype should be brought to an end, the idea that on the one hand is a pope who wants reform, and on the other a group of adversaries who want to block it."

The words could also be translated so as to recognize their explosive nature. It is probably due to the conflict over the anti-pedophile commission, but it can also be read in a general context. "End with the stereotype that this pope is on the side of the good and the resistance is on the side of the evil."

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

The Invisible Last Super Under Pope Francis -- Footwashing: The All-Purpose Social Gesture

(Rome) The Holy See announced the papal celebrations for the Holy Week, together with the Feast of Easter. As in previous years, the calendar is devoid of the day of the Holy Thursday.

On the morning of the 13th of April, the Pope will be celebrating the Chrism Mass as usual in St. Peter's. The Mass of the Last Supper is not mentioned,  the evening of Holy Thursday, with which liturgically, the Triduum Sacrum begins.

Pope Francis will not celebrate the Last Supper of the Lord in the Lateran Basilica, the Episcopal Church of Rome and the "Mother of All Churches", but in a place not yet known. In the fifth year, a central liturgical moment, which is of paramount importance to the Universal Church, disappears from the field of vision.

As in previous years, a "spectacular" foot wash can be expected in 2017 as well. The speculation among Vaticanists is currently looking at whose feet the Pope will wash this year, excluding the public and the Church.

The Mass on the evening of the Holy Thursday is a liturgy of constitutive importance for the Catholic Church and of great concentration. The washing of the feet recalls the sign the Lord made to the apostles. It's a sign that the apostolic succession must always be a humble service. To express this, Popes, Cardinals and Bishops wash feet as direct followers and direct subordinates.

This is just one element. On the same evening, the establishment of the Blessed Sacrament of the Most Holy Sacrament was conceived by Jesus Christ, and inseparably, the establishment of the consecrated priesthood. This dual institution forms the center of the liturgical liturgy and is closely connected with the Church as a sacred sacred space. This really requires that the Holy Mass in Cœna Domini be celebrated by the leaders in their bishop's church with the faithful.

In other words, the establishment of the sacrament of the priesthood and of the altar's Sacrament (Eucharist) are again behind the gesture of footwashing, which appears above all as a social gesture, through the papal visit to an unknown, closed place.  It's an aspect emphasized by the circumstance that Pope Francis has also washed the feet of Muslims.

Since the visits to prisons and the refugee home, the question has also been raised as to whether Pope Francis gave Communion to those others than believers. Corresponding inquiries were not answered either by the Vatican or by the chaplains of the institutions visited.

In 2014 an initiative of Catholic media called on the bishops not to leave their cathedrals this evening to celebrate in other places. The absence of the bishop from his bishop's church is an "anomaly". This initiative, however, had to fallen into the void, since it was the Pope himself who left his bishop's church, the Lateran Basilica. Pope Francis has made the central Liturgy of Holy Thursday "invisible", according to Messa in Latino. The Holy Mass in the Lateran Basilica was open to all the faithful and was broadcast on television.

The Missa in Coena Domini by Pope Francis, which exclude the public:

2013: Visit to the Youth Prison
2014: visit to a disabled facility
2015: visit to prison
2016: visit to refugee home
2017 :?

Text. Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Vatican.va (Screenshot)

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Cardinal Müller on Medjugorje: "Some Exaggerate the Importance of These Phenomena"

(Rome) "Some exaggerate the importance of these phenomena as if they were almost a dogma," said Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Congregation, who responded yesterday to the questions by the ANSA Press Agency on Medjugorje.

"Even if the Church has spoken out for events of this kind, no Catholic is obliged to go there or believe in it," Cardinal Müller continued.

Since 1981, The Mother of God, is said to appear for "six seers" in the Herzegovinian mountain village of Medjugorje. In the 1980s and 1990s, the bishops declared that they were unable to establish any "supernatural origin" of the phenomenon. Nevertheless, for more than 36 years, pilgrimages of pious and lukewarm Catholics, but also unbelievers and the curious  have been pilgrimaging  to the Balkan village. Recently, the Kinofilm Mary's Land by Juan Manuel Cotelo showed a cross-section of people who say that they have found faith or believed again in Medjugorje, and who have founded apostolic, missionary, or charitable works.

At the request of Pope Benedict XVI. 2010-2012 an international commission investigated the phenomenon. The final report was handed over to Pope Francis in 2014. In February, he appointed a special envoy for Medjugorje, who was to submit proposals for "pastoral solutions" to the Church. The mission of Bishop Henryk Hoser is to be completed in summer 2017.

On the question of whether a decision on Medjugorje should be expected soon, Cardinal Miiller said:

"It takes time. At this moment, it is more important to regulate pastoral care, confession ... "

And further:

"The future of the Church does not depend on either Medjugorje or the recognized pilgrimage places such as Fatima or Lourdes: they are helpful, they can help to convey the message of the repentance of today's world."

Faith, however, is the one "laid down in daily life, in the family, at work, in the parish."

Responding to the "seers" of Medjugorje, the prefect of faith said:

"As for the role of the seers, I must say as a Catholic that we should concentrate on Jesus Christ. There may be some private revelations, but they do not replace the only revelation of God through Jesus Christ. "

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