Benedict XVI. Penned a Critique of Francis Interview

(Rome) Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI wrote an extensive critical commentary on the controversial interview of Pope Francis in the Jesuit magazine Civiltà Cattolic a 19 September 2013.

This was disclosed by his personal secretary and Prefect of the Papal Household, Archbishop George Gänswein  in the context of a broadcast on ZDF on the first anniversary of the election of Pope Francis. Four pages include the critical remarks to that controversial interview. Pope Francis explained himself at the time to the criticism that he is not taking a position on abortion and "gay marriage": "We can not always deal with the issue of abortion, homosexual marriage, and birth control methods. That can not be."  Among the enthusiastic omissions   regarding atheist Eugenio Scalfari about personal conscience as the autonomy of conscience, he stated affirmatively: "Listening to the conscience and  obeying it actually means to choose a thing known in the face of good or evil. And from this decision it depends on whether our actions are good or evil."

When Francis. gave to Benedict XVI the copy of the Jesuit magazine, the interview was already published.  Benedict underwent  a critical  analysis of the interview to a critical and transmitted to his successor the desired criticism "Pope to Pope," a total of four pages with "interesting" comments. What criticism Benedict XVI. directed to the interview, isn't  known to Archbishop Gänswein "naturally".

Archbishop George Gänswein told ZDF television interview:

"When Father Spadaro had then given the first copy of the interview booklet to  Pope Francis, Pope Francis had then given it back and said that you should now bring this to Pope Benedict, and you will see the first page after the table of contents is empty because Pope Benedict should write in anything he has in criticism when he reads it, and then pass on to me or back to me, which I then returned, sorry, I then brought it to Pope Benedict, so now I had only to repeat what Pope Francis had said, so you see Holy Father, here is a blank page, and here is a space for all   considerations, suggestions and  criticisms  and then I will return the packet back to Pope Francis. Three days later he says to me, here I have 4 pages, of course not by hand, but now dictated to sister in a letter and please give this letter to Pope Francis. He has done his homework. So then he says he has read it and has accommodated his  successor's request and had confirmed in fact, yes we say so, some considerations and also made some comments on certain statements or on specific issues, which he means  that,    perhaps what he would have said something elsewhere in addition.  Of course I will not say what, but it was interesting."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: UCCR

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmai.com

Link to Katholisches....

AMGD

Pro Missa Tridentina: Traditional Latin Mass in Germany is Growing

Edit: here's an excerpt from an article on Regina Magazine interviewing Monika Rheinschitt of Pro Missa Tridentina.

Monika Rheinschmitt is a trained computer scientist. These days, however, she keeps a weather eye on some numbers she couldn’t have imagined in her university days — developments in Catholicism and the growth of the Latin Mass in the German-speaking world.

Monika is the Stuttgart-based Director of Pro Missa Tridentina, one of the most active organizations on the planet to practically support the Latin Mass. Since 1990 she has been the editor and publisher of a traditional newsletter, in 2010 upgraded to the magazine “Dominus vobiscum”, which is published twice a year and avidly read in Germany, Alsace, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Belgium and the Netherlands.

An Interview with Monika Rheinschmitt of Pro Missa Tridentina in Germany

Hers is not an easy job, not the least because in these countries the Latin Mass faces an unimaginable uphill battle. In Germany and its neighboring lands, secular attitudes range from indifferent to hostile about the idea of religion itself. Within the Church, both traditional teachings and the traditional rite are often suppressed, ignored or ridiculed in ways that might astonish outsiders.

Even though the numbers of Mass-goers and Catholics continue to drop precipitously in these countries, there seems to be little awareness on the part of Church leadership of the significant power of the Extraordinary Form to attract converts and indeed to bring Catholics home again. (For more about the German church see here.)

Against this background, the gains that the Latin Mass has made are a testimony to the true grit of Catholics, laity and clergy alike. In this exclusive interview withRegina Magazine, Monika gives us a view into her world.

Q. Tell us about Pro Missa Tridentina. When was it founded, and by whom?
Pro Missa Tridentina was founded in Stuttgart in Spring 1990 as an association of  laypeople dedicated to the care of the Traditional Latin Rite of the Catholic Mass. We work to promote this “Vetus Ordo” by supporting Catholic laity who wish to be able to assist at this beautiful rite. That includes the organization of trainings for priests, altar servers and choirs as well as practical help finding locations for the Mass – and from writing letters to the local bishop to preparing the first celebration of a Traditional Latin Mass.

Link to Regina Magazine...

Pope Francis: "The Roman Curia is the Labor Union of the Faithful"

(Rome) After the end of the Spiritual Exercises for the Roman Curia, Pope Francis returned to the Vatican. In the morning he thanked the retreat preacher Don Angelo De Donati before leaving: "We return with  good seed back home. God will send the rain. "

A few minutes before 11:30 clock the tour bus arrived with Pope Francis and the collaborators of the Roman Curia back to the Vatican again. In recent days they had been participating in the Casa Divin Maestro  in Ariccia on Ignatian Spiritual Exercises.

At 9 o'clock the retreat had ended with the Closing Statement by Don Angelo De Donati, the retreat director. De Donati is a priest of the Diocese of Rome. He leads a spiritual retreat house and the smallest parish in Rome with barely 100 souls.

When Pope Francis thanked the preacher, he referred to himself and the 82 participating cardinals and bishops as a "labor union of the Faithful". "I thank you because you were the sower, and you can, you can! Because you throw here and there without noticing or at least you pretend you do not notice it, but you hit the mark, they come to the core, you hit the mark. Thanks for that. And I ask you to continue to pray for this labor union of the faithful. We are all sinners, but we all want to follow Jesus even more, without losing hope in the promises and without losing humor. Thank you. We now return with  good seed back home, the seed of the Word of God. The Lord will send rain and grow these seeds. He will grow and bear fruit. Let us thank the Lord for the seeds and for the rain, He sends. But we also want to thank the sower."

Today, the Pontifical House preacher Father Raniero Cantalamessa held the first Lenten sermon in the chapel Redemptoris Mater of the Apostolic Palace. The theme of the Lenten sermons in 2014 reads: "On the shoulders of giants. The great truths of our faith in the Latin Church Fathers."   The next four sermons are always held in the coming Fridays of the 21st and 28th of February and the 4th and 11th of March.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Una Fides

Trans:  Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com 

Link to Katholisches....

AMGD

Concubinage a Serious Problem With Liberal Clergy in German Areas

Father Gerhard Wagner

(Linz) The situation of the Catholic Church in the German areas,  its weakness in the public debate, trends toward  self-dissolution  and a willingness to oppose the zeitgeist of political correctness and thus succumb to   powers in politics and society,  is only understood by he who understands the clergy. In addition to many loyal and faithful priests and religious, there is a lot of mediocrity, and many "Liberal" priests.  "hearthless priests," said Austrian Priest Gerhard Maria Wagner. And he knows what he's talking about because his home diocese of Linz is the prototype of a progressive diocese.

The Diocese of Linz and Stymying of an Auxiliary Bishop

With a doctorate in dogmatic in 2009 he had been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. as Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Linz. The "hearthless priests in our diocese have a say," said Wagner, have been understandably not thrilled and blew a storm. A campaign was organized quickly  thanks to a willing media who are always there when it goes against the Catholic Church and a "conservative" church representatives. For some weeks the  contrived indignation was mimed, and firmly supported by full-time officials and many laymen. It was an alliance of the status quo, which as far as possible didn't want any alterations to the liberal laissez-faire situation in the diocese, including the Governor (Chief Minister), a teacher of religion and therefore employees of the diocese, which were  not generally for moderation, but felt particularly called to weighty agitating against the appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Rome. Finally, where would you go, when there is a pious priest who would also be  bishop and does get serious with the faith.

"The Hearthless Priests in Our Diocese Say"

The "hearthless priests" feared that an auxiliary bishop and likely future diocesan Bishop Wagner would put an end to their  traffic with concubines. The campaign was successful, the Austrian cardinal in Rome intervened and made pleas for expediency in the face of an impending upheaval of the  "People of the Church", Rome buckled and demanded obedience of Wagner. Wagner obeyed and offered the renunciation of an office which he had not even begun. Rome could send the request for resignation assuming generosity without losing face. The "peace" in the village was restored. What remains are the "hearthless priests, who call the shots."

The 54 year old Father John Teufl, Franciscans and Parish Provisor of St. Georgen in Attergau lived together with a "friend" for several years. Whoever did something about it, to come to him and talk to him,  he informs the parish for three years.  This is how  loosely some take their disobedience. Who wants to play the grouch. The parishioners know what is asked of them nowadays. You are of course thrilled to be "politically correct". Since Friday last week, the priest has been "submerged".  With his triangular relationship, it is not surprising that the police received three missing person's reports: from the parish, the diocese of Linz and the concubine who is described in the media as a  "partner" or "friend".

Msgr. Umberto Begnigni and the Anti-Modernist Battle of the Sodalitium Pianum

(Rome) 80 years ago,  in  grand isolation, Monsignor Umberto Benigni (1862-1934) died.  He was one of the spokesmen of  Catholic anti-Modernism under Pope Saint Pius X (1903-1914) in Rome.  To recall  the Church in this form is apparently increasingly important to remember in times like ours, which is characterized, no doubt, with a new explosion of those tendencies and fallacies that  Umberto Benigni fought a hundred years ago.

In the hope that there will soon be a biography as detailed  as possible which  throws light on these Roman prelates, a few biographical notes should be made in the meantime be made about this rare type of the Catholic clergy. A priest who has been both criticized by the non-Catholic historians, as well as by Catholic historians, in fact, he is but little known.

On the occasion of the beatification (1951) and then the canonization (1954) of Pope Pius X by  Pope Pius XII. there was a particular concern, criticism of the former Patriarch of Venice was noisy, especially  in his fight against Modernism. The Sacred Congregation of Rites, from  which emerged the 1969  Congregation for the Causes of Saints,, the Franciscan Ferdinando Antonelli (1896-1993), who was later to become  Cardinal,  would reveal  the actions of Pius X. as repressive and especially those generated by  Msgr. Umberto Benigni and his Sodalitium Pianum.  The Sodalitium was a Catholic association for the support of the Holy See in the fight against Modernism in theology, politics and society.  Father Antonelli''s study, as Disquisitio  became known, was in the volumes of the positions published for the canonization of Pius X.. This is where  the essential elements of the life and work of Monsignor Benigni can be found.

Journalistic Representatives of Catholic Social Teaching

Umberto Benigni was born on 30 Born March 1862 in Perugia, central Italy near Assisi. At that time, Bishop Gioacchino Pecci, was bishop of the city, in 1878 he was elected Pope as Leo XIII. The future pope had always had such a great appreciation for the priest from his former episcopal city, that he made ​​him his secretary after his ordination in (1884)  at the age of only 22 years. Don Benigni's  a truly diverse and extraordinary personality as was already evident in his youth. He developed numerous activities  in his hometown.  In 1892 he founded the first Catholic weekly newspaper of Sociology. This " Rassegna sociale "(Social Survey), later it was renamed the Biblioteca perodica, geared to the Magisterium of the Popes from the syllabus up to Rerum Novarum . In 1893 he was on the editorial board of the Catholic newspaper " Eco d'Italia "(Echo of Italy) in Genoa.

"Papist" and "Reactionary"

After that he went to Rome at the request of Leo XIII. After a period of studies and research in Germany (the polyglot Benigni followed the press from half of Europe), he graduated to  the Vatican Library graduated, he was in 1901 in the  editor of the " Voce della Verità "(Voice of Truth ) in the capital of Catholicism, one of the main newspapers, which was decried among opponents as "papist" and "reactionary."

From 1902 to 1907 he published a historical, academic journal called "Miscellanea di Storia ecclesiastica" (Human Interest from Church History). From 1906 he was appointed Under-Secretary of the Secretary, and elevated Cardinal in 1907 on the recommendation of Curial Archbishop Pietro Gasparri, the Secretary of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. From 1914 to 1930 he was Cardinal Secretary of State and the predecessor in this office by Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII.

Corrispondenza Romana versus Civiltà Cattolica

1907, in the year of the decree Lamentabili , the first time the term modernism came into use, as well as was the case in the encyclical Pascendi dominici gregis, Msgr Benigni called a press agency to life under the name Romana Corrispondenza.  According to Father Antonelli it encompassed   the new Catholic news agency "in the world by various correspondents and friends  of Benigni,  messages were collected to observe up close the ideological, political and social movements that might interest the Church and Its activities."  Today, the news agency is mistaken for a secret society, which the Sodalitium never was.  The Corrispondenza Romana acted in public. It saw itself primarily as a counterpart to the Roman Jesuit journal Civiltà Cattolica , whose modernist sympathies were fought.

Teaching as Church Historian

In addition to his tireless efforts as a journalist, Msgr Benigni also had other passions, which were invariably in the service of truth and the Church. These included his teaching and historical-theological research. In addition to his ceaseless struggle against the enemies of the Church, even those who claimed to be false friends, Msgr Benigni unfolded a long study in Church History at various Roman universities, thus at the Urban in Saint Apollinare , at the Pontifical Roman Seminary and the Accademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici (the Diplomatic Academy of the Holy See).

Seven Volume "Social History of the Church"

His past publications are of great value. For example, his outstanding Storia sociale della Chiesa (Social History of the Church) in seven large volumes (the first appeared in 1907, the last in 1933 a year before his death). It is a systematic work in the style of two other Church historians, the History of the Popes by Ludwig von Pastor (1854-1928) and the Manual of Universal Church History by Joseph Cardinal Hergenrother (1824-1890), the successor of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, Office of the Cardinal Proto Deacon. Monsignor Benigni's work remained unfinished upon his death. However, the present seven volumes show an excellent informed scientist with the ability to offer an original and stimulating overall view. The modern reader may occasionally be astonished at his language, perhaps even find it strange, sometimes to violent polemics as well for biting humor. A language that is due to the cultural struggle in which he was active during his life on the front line.

Sodalitium Pianum, Observation of Modernists and Their Writings

The activity, however,  brought him as many enemies outside, but also within the Church, connected with the Sodalitium Pianum. The Sodalitium Pianum , named after Saint Pope Pius V, was born in 1909 and was finally dissolved in 1921 under Pope Benedict XV. It was founded "to be a foremost religious  defense against internal enemies (modernism, etc.)" ... "with the full consent, not to say of Pius X himself" in the archives of the Vatican, there are numerous documents for the approval and goodwill of the Sodalitium Pianum by St. Pius X and Cardinal De Lai Gaetano (1853-1928) who led the Holy Consistorial (now the Congregation for Bishops ). Pius X gave to Msgr Benigni every year from his personal box 1,000 lire for his actions and his  public engagement.

The Sodalitium Pianum was initially based at the Secretariat of State, where Msgr Benigni served as Under Secretary. A canonical recognition did not happen by the action of the then Cardinal Secretary of State for reasons of expediency, however, this is why Monsignor Benigni   left off from the Secretariat of State and established in 1911 and gave up his post as Under Secretary. His successor in that office was the future Pope Pius XII., Eugenio Pacelli. Pope Pius X created for Benigni  especially on this occasion the title and rank of eighth  acting Apostolic protonotary , although traditionally it was only seven. He was indeed blocked for a bishop, but Msgr Benigni won with apparent papal benevolence. Pope Francis abolished the title of Apostolic Protonotary  in January 2014.

The Sodalitium would enter according to the original request of Msgr Benigni, a kind secular institute in the service of the Pope and the Holy See to enter into  the fight against the disastrous influence of Modernism and of Freemasonry on society and culture. Above all, it was the endeavor of Msgr Benigni, to repel the influence of these sects within the Catholic Church.  The Sodalitium consisted of a Council in Rome, headed by Monsignor Benigni and groups connected him   ( Peter Conferences ) and priests. In its little more than ten years of existence, the  Sodalitium counted never more than one hundred people, including priests and lay people in the various countries of Europe.

Benigni, Object of Hatred for Modernists Within and Outside the Church

Nevertheless, this tiny association was the most implacable  enemy of the Modernists, such as the French priest and theologian Alfred Loisy (1857-1940), who was excommunicated in 1908 because of his refusal to submit to the Church's teaching,  and died as a pantheist. Or the Italian priest and theologian Romolo Murri (1870-1944), who entered as a hitherto Catholic Leftists, was  for reconciling Catholic Faith and Communism. Because of his refusal to submit to the Church's teaching, he was suspended in 1907 and in 1909 excommunicated when he got himself elected to the Italian Parliament and joined the radical Left. After the First World War, he became a fascist, but was an anti-Fascist when the fascist regime regulated the relationship between the Church and State with the Lateran Treaty in 1929. 

More resistance than from the open Modernists was what   Monsignor Benigni learned that within the Church were the semi-modernists, who had even risen inside to the level of  Cardinal. With the support of St. Pius X and the Cardinals De Lai, the Cardinal Secretary of State and then Prefect of the Holy Office Raphael Merry del Val, the Dutch Redemptorist Wilhelmus Marinus van Rossum and others, however, he was able to hold a few years. To be exact, until the death of Pius X in 1914,  the newly elected Pope Benedict XV. dissolved the association on the outbreak of the First World War. However, the following year saw the need for its restoration. 1921 was the final dissolution because of "changed circumstances".

Attempt to Prevent the Canonization of Pius X.

Pope Pius XII had never known  Msgr Benigni personally, was influenced by the polyphonic choir, who wanted to prevent the canonization of Pius X, in particular by Msgr Benigni was drawn as the dark shadows spread over his pontificate in the blackest colors, but not led astray.  There were all the numerous crypto-Modernists that could or would not come into the open until several years later, who were against the canonization, but there even high prelates who considered this step an "inopportune moment."  As the reigning Pope would not tolerate direct attacks against Pius X, his opponents fired upon  Monsignor Benigni, which was outlined as the worst obscurantist and anti-Semite, to thwart the elevation to the altars. It seems inconceivable that a canonization of Pope Giuseppe Sarto had taken place  in the period 1958 to 1978. [He was beatified in 1951 and canonized in 1954.]

"The Roman Catholic is Entirely Counter-Revolutionary"

The attitude and objectives of the Sodalitium Pianum is in his program summarized from 1911 contains 18 articles. In Article One it states:

"We are integral Roman Catholics. As the word readily implies, accept the Roman Catholic integral teaching and the order of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and the directives of the Holy See and all resulting legal consequences fully for the individual and society. He is papal, clerical, anti-modernist, anti-Liberal, anti-sectarian. It is therefore entirely counter-revolutionary because he is not only an enemy of the Jacobin Revolution and sectarian radicalism, but also the religious and social Liberalism. "

The news agency that  was founded several years ago, Corrispondenza Romana by historian Roberto de Mattei, has no direct connection with the establishment of Msgr Benigni. The use of the same name indicates, however, that the new Corrispondenza Romana has the defense of the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church and the fight against Modernism as its goal.

Text: Corrispondenza Romana / Giuseppe Nardi
image: Corrispondenza Romana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Cardinal Marx Elected to Presidency of the German Bishops' Conference and Most Influential Religious Leader in Europe

(Bonn) At the meeting in Münster Spring Plenary Meeting of the German Bishops' Conference , Cardinal Reinhard Marx was chosen as the Archbishop of Munich-Freising, as expected, to be their new President Cardinal Marx, in the power of consciousness it is said, he has actually become presently the most influential religious leader in Europe. The term of office for the DBK President shall be six years.

The Archbishops of Munich and Freising and Cologne are traditionally contenders for the presidency of the DBK. Exceptions, such as the appointment of Cardinal Karl Lehmann (Mainz) and Robert Zollitsch (Freiburg) were expressions of complex internal conflicts between the bishops, but also with Rome. The archbishopric of Cologne is currently vacant, and therefore the largest German diocese could assert no influence in the election.

Cardinal Marx has been Chairman of the European Bishops' Conferences (COMECE) and as a member of the European representatives was appointed by Pope Francis to his C8 Cardinals' Advisory Committee. By choosing Cardinal Marx as DBK President, he has finally become the most influential religious leader in Europe.

In the conflict over the admission of remarried divorcees to Communion,  Cardinal Marx had intervened  last fall publicly against the Prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller.   Müller had criticized the Freiburg Circular  for Family Ministry and recalled the Church's teaching on the Sacrament of marriage. Cardinal Marx evaluated Müller's opinion as an attempt to "end the discussion" and refused.

Archbishop Marx was elected on the fourth ballot, with "wafer-thin majority" (FAZ).

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vatican Insider

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Mario Palmaro's Last Essay --- "Kasper's Speech is Made From the Stuff of White Flags"

(Rome) "We do not need a Church that moves with the world, but a Church that moves the world." With these words, the legal philosopher Mario Palmaro quoted GK Chesterton a few days ago. On Sunday night, Mario Palmaro died after a long illness. Until the last moment, he remained a champion of his Catholic Church. On this occasion, we are publishing his last essay he wrote  together with Alessandro Gnocchi published on 5 March in the daily newspaper "Il Foglio".. 

It is not known if Pope Francis in his address to the parish priests of the Diocese of Rome held on 6 March, could be  understood as a response to the article by Palmaro and Gnocchi. An answer ante eventum. The picture shows Mario Palmaro, already haggard from the disease, with his wife and four children in May of 2013, when he received the "Faith &  Culture" award.

Language World's Crisis  Instead of Dogmatic and Supernatural Truth?

Mario Palmaro and Alessandro Gnocchi

A field hospital, where one of the sick, injured and dying says they are fine just as they are. There's no talk of returning to the original state of health, and especially of those medicines that do not suit the palate, certainly not. If you want to Pope Francis such an effusive metaphor that has been received by media, chattering classes and retained in the collective Catholic memory, one can  not otherwise define   the meaning of the speech with which Cardinal Walter Kasper opened the consistory on the family. There can be no doubt, when he says, "but we must be honest and admit that a chasm has opened up between the Church's teaching on marriage and the family and the convictions of many Christians."  There is no doubt, because  all of his  considerations do not focus on, retrieving and returning the fugitive and lost sheep from the herd, and not on the reasons why they have been lost in the first place, but on the need to adapt to the new situation. The shepherd is not only to acquire the scent of his sheep, but especially those sheep who have gone.

Pennsylvania: Immemorial Mass in Honor of Blessed Charles Habsburg

Third Annual

Traditional Latin Mass in Honor of Blessed Karl

Luncheon & Conference

Sunday, 6 April 2014, 1:00 PM

Passion Sunday

(Holy Rosary & Confessions begin at 12:30 PM)

St. Titus Church

952 Franklin Avenue, Aliquippa PA 15001

Celebrant:

Fr. Gregory Plow, TOR

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Luncheon & Conference Immediately After Mass

In the Church Hall

(Reservations required for luncheon & conference.  See below.)

Featured Speaker:

 Michael J. Matt
Editor of The Remnant

Cost: $30

Students: $20

For Luncheon Reservations Make Check Payable and Mail to:

Knights of Columbus 2161

2335 Concord Street, Aliquippa PA 15001

Deadline for Paid Luncheon Reservations: 31 March 2014

Hans Küng is "Overjoyed" About Pope Francis -- "No Need to be a Pope Critic Any More"

(Tübingen) In an interview with the Südwestpresse, the heretical Swiss theologian Hans Küng is thrilled by Pope Francis. "He has already achieved some things that can no longer be withdrawn," Küng is convinced. "It can not even be foreseen what the changes already initiated  mean."

Even for Hans Küng there seems to be doubt as to what course is  actually being pursued by the Argentine Pope. He has "joy" about the new Pope, but this is not detrimental. Although "not yet decided upon which course he will really strike out upon" but "to think that he was not a reformer, would be to close our eyes to the facts." The fact that Francis is a reformer, Küng is points directly to form. Rightly, he notes, "There is  control over the content. But if a Pope greets the people with "buona sera", that is a signal. "

The Pope "Is a Jesuit Priest and Therefore One Who Can Prevail"

The papal election was for him a "positive surprise", and he was "delighted,"  reported Küng. Francis "is a Jesuit priest and therefore one who can prevail."  Francis set the tone "even with his clothes - the abandonment of gold, lace and precious stones".  New he uses  "simple, direct language." "People understand him, and feel cared about,"  said Küng, convinced, given the deliberately ambiguous, vague language of the Pope. "I have made many proposals for reform in the course of my life. But that a Pope could leave the papal palace in such an elegant way.  I could not imagine. "

On Remarried Divorcees Followed Pope "a great strategy"

In terms of remarried divorcees Küng is convinced that Francis has pursued "a great strategy." "First of all he surveyed the group of eight cardinals, then the whole College of Cardinals. In the fall there will eventually be a synod on the family. Of course, every step is a risk. But if Francis has the College of Cardinals behind him, he is no longer alone. He lays total emphasis on collegiality. "Küng is convinced that "the admission of remarried divorcees to the sacraments" will be implemented, most of all desires of the Progressive reform. "There he is performing the mercy of which he so often speaks, and putting it into practice." On the question of how large "is resistance within the Church  to reform"  Küng replied. "This is not easy to judge because there are hardliners in Curia and Church. There are also among the laity resistance groups such as the conservative Catholic forum. But this Pope has  amazingly managed to win over many people of all stripes in  virtually no time for himself and his course."

Küng stresses himself to be for women priests, but  he sees its introduction as "more difficult"  than the "overcoming of celibacy."  For Küng,  "women's ordination" affirms the "justified appreciation" that Jesus "gave to women." The Swiss theologian notes at the same time, however, that the question "controversial". The "pastoral need of  communities" considering the shortage of priests might "force" its introduction.

"Hardliners" Try to Prevent "reforms"

Küng described opponents of his theories  as "hardliners" and "resistance groups", referring to among others, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller and the Forum of German Catholics. He puts them in direct opposition to Pope Francis, it was "astonishingly successful" that  "many people are taking stock in no time at all for himself and his course."

The elevation of the Prefect of the CDF to the Cardinal's position was regarded by Küng as "inevitable." A non-survey "would have conjured up a confrontation that would serve no one." Apparently Küng sees  the possibility that a "reform" will be endangered in the "confrontation"  of Pope Francis, which he's identified with himself. So Küng emphasized immediately that Francis entrusted the introductory speech "not to Müller", but Cardinal Walter Kasper in a"significant way" at the Cardinal Consistory on the Family.

Kung's "Concern" in Front of a Shadow Pope Benedict XVI. "Reduced"

At the same time  Küng warns against "false compromises". The Swiss theologian seems worried that  a year after the resignation of Benedict XVI., this "could be a shadow of Pope." In his "recent letter I wrote Joseph Ratzinger," that he "sees  his only job as to help Francis by his prayer." This statement has "reduced" Küng's worry just a little.

Küng concludes the interview by saying, is "happy" about Pope Francis. He had "always said his profession is not as a critic of the Pope." . "So I'm delighted that I no longer have to act as a critic of the pope." But that all stays in place, he added immediately: "However, I stress: if there were a restoration again, I would be back to Pope critic" .

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Clarin

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

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Mario Palmaro is Dead -- The Suffering Critic of Pope Francis is Silenced

(Monza) The well-known Catholic legal philosopher and journalist Mario Palmaro has  died on Sunday night ,  Catholic who was one of the sharpest and most perceptive critics of the pontificate of Pope Francis, of the consequences of a long illness. 

"This evening it has pleased God to dismiss him from his earthly life. The pain we feel about it can be found only in the consolation of the Catholic faith, the intrepid defender and witness he always was. Our affection goes out to his wife and his children, to whom we are close with our heart. We ask all friends to pray  with that confidence of Providence, which He has taught us, by accepting the suffering in Christian humility and is also to become an edifying example to us. “ With these words  the editors of Riscossa Cristiana, with whom Mario Palmaro had worked since its inception, greeted his death.

A Life for the Right to Life and  Catholic Tradition

Mario Palmaro was born on 5 June in 1968 in Cesano Maderno, a small town in northern Lombardy. He studied law at the University of Milan , he graduated with a thesis on abortion. After, he specialized in studies at the Institute San Raffaele in Milan on bioethics, he was a research associate at the Center for Bioethics at the Catholic University of Milan. Finally, he taught bioethics at the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum in Rome and Theoretical Philosophy, Ethics, Bioethics and Philosophy of Law at the European University of Rome. A rich intellectual exchange with another defender of the Catholic cause, the historian Roberto de Mattei, there was at the European University.Palmaro was one of the ardent defenders of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI. and was one of the strongest critics of a "miserable, partly shabby small mind" that impede with some bishops the Motu proprio.

Palmaro was chairman of the Right to Life Association Committee truth and life and belonged to the Association of Lawyers for Life and the Catholic Lawyers Association of Italy.

Together with the Catholic journalists Alessandro Gnocchi, Palmaro published several books and a variety of essays and articles. Palmaro and Gnocchi were the congenial duo of  sharp thinking and linguistic dexterity.

A Life in the Defense of the Catholic Church

Palmaro’s rich journalistic output included, among others, his essays in the newspapers Il Foglio and Il Giornale , the monthly journal Studi Cattolici and his work as editor of the Catholic monthly magazine Il Timone . For ten years, he designed his own show at Radio Maria Italy  "encounters with bioethics".  In the fall of 2013 Radio Maria discontinued its association with them because of Palmaro’s "criticism of the Pope." The immediate cause was his collaboration with Alessandro Gnocchi on 9 October in the daily newspaper  Il Foglio published essay, " Christ is Not an Option Among Many, and Certainly Not  His Deputy on Earth - Why we do not like this Pope ."  A convincing criticism of the papacy of Pope Francis, to whose validity has not changed.

Pope's Criticism, Dismissal by Radio Maria and Papal call

On 1 November, the feast of All Saints   Mario Palmaro was already seriously ill, on three weeks after his dismissal by Radio Maria he received a call from Pope Francis. Palmaro later said that this phone call "surprised, astonished and moved" him.

"For me as a Catholic, was what I experienced was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I have assured the Pope my unconditional loyalty as a son of the Church. But I looked also  recalled my duty, and  expressed to the Pope,    together with Alessandro Gnocchi’s, my very accurate criticism of his actions. The Pope   almost made me not finish the sentence and said he had understood that this criticism was made ​​out of love and how important it is for him, to get those,” said Palmaro to the newspaper Libero in an interview about  the call. 

Immediately prior to the Pope's call,  Palmaro and Gnocchi had released another essay critical of the pope:  The Church as a Field Hospital of  Twitter Followers - Encouragement inversely proportional to the clarity of the message?   Therein they wrote the almost touching Catholic, descriptive and certainlyl prophetic statement:

In some little, out of the way church there will be always be a priest who celebrates the Mass in a holy way; in a little apartment a solitary old woman with unshakeable faith will say the Rosary; in a hidden corner of a House of Divine Providence a Sister will look after a baby considered by all as having no worth. Even when all seems lost, the Church, the City of God, continues to radiate its light on the City of Man.

A Kingdom of Journalistic Work

Among the numerous books, often published Mario Palmaro in collaboration with Alessandro Gnocchi, only those of recent years may be mentioned to give an idea of ​​the tireless work of this Catholic intellectual.

• L 'ultima messa di padre Pio. L'anima del santo segreta delle stigmate (The last Mass of Padre Pio. The hidden soul of stigmatized saints), Milano, Piemme, 2010
• Cronache since Babel. Viaggio nella crisi della modernità (Babylonian Chronicle. Journey through the crisis of modernity), Verona, Fede e Cultura, 2010
• La Bella Addormentata. Perché dopo il Vaticano II è la Chiesa entrata in crisi, perché si risveglierà, Firenze (Dornröschen. Why the Church came after the Second Vatican Council in a crisis. Why they will recover), Vallecchi, 2011
• Ci salveranno le vecchie zie. Una certa idea della Tradizione (The old aunts will save us. A certain idea of ​​the tradition), Verona, Fede e Cultura, 2012
• Truth Be Told: diritto o delitto? Il Conflitto tra i principi Autonomia di e di indisponibilità della vita (Euthanasia: Right or offense, the conflict between free will and the unavailability of life), Torino, Giappichelli, 2012

"This Pope Likes Too Much" - Palmaros’ last book being printed

The last book by Mario Palmaro is currently under pressure. Written by Alessandro Gnocchi and Giuliano Ferrara, the editor of the daily newspaper Il Foglio , it bears the title " This Pope Likes Too Much. The passionate and critical reading of a pontificate," Piemme, 2014. The book will be presented on 25 March  in Rome. Mario Palmaro will no longer be among the three announced authors.

Whether the two critics will change something because of the phone call of the Pope, he was asked in November of last year? No, replied Mario Palmaro, "we will continue down the path we have always gone by, we follow our conscience, always connected to the Pope and the Church in faithfulness, but we will continue on our way, just because of this loyalty and love.”  The book is also  committed to this principle. 

From the Catholic Faith of the Disease and his Family

In an interview with a magazine of Dehonianerordens he said after the Pope's call about his disease and his family:

"Man looks at the cross and understands that this is the heart of faith: without sacrifice,  Catholicity does not exist. Then you thank God that he has made ​​you a Catholic, a very small Catholic, a sinner, but in the Church has a caring mother.

"The disease is therefore a time of grace, despite the vice of meanness that  has accompanied us for a lifetime, or even worse. It is as if the agony would have been used and you fight the destiny of the soul, for its own salvation no one can be sure.

On the other hand, the disease allowed me to get to know an impressive number of people who want good for me and who pray for me, families who pray the rosary at night with the kids   for my recovery, and I lack the words to describe the beauty of this experience. It is a preview of God's love in eternity. The biggest pain I feel, is the idea of ​​having to leave this world. I like it so much, that is so tragic but at the same time so beautiful, to let go of so many friends, my relatives, but most of all to leave behind my wife and  my children, who are still children. Sometimes I imagine my house, my empty study and life will go on there even if I will not. It is a painful, but very realistic idea. It makes me understand that I was an unprofitable servant, and I am, and that all the books I have written, all the lectures I held and the articles that I have written, are ultimately only straw.

But I hope for a merciful Lord and that other parts of my work, my aspirations and my struggles to pick up and carry on, will continue with the eternal duel. "

Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat egg.
Requiescat in pace.
Amen.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Corrispondenza Romana / Pierre

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches….

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Patriarch Bartholomaios I. Speaks Against the Use of Hagia Sophia as a Mosque

Rome / Istanbul (Catholic news / CBA). The Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I is opposed to a conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. The late antique building was "built to bear witness to the Christian Faith," the honorary head of world Orthodoxy said, according to the Vatican Press Office Asianews (Thursday). "If it returns to serve a religion, it can be no other than the Christian one." Bartholomew   commented on the opening of a summit meeting with other Orthodox church leaders at his official residence in Istanbul, the Phanar. Several politicians had brought it into the conversation with a view to the local elections in late March in Istanbul, among others by the ruling AKP of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to re-use of the Hagia Sophia as an Islamic place of worship. The Ecumenical Patriarch called the Hagia Sophia a testimony to the "historical and continuing presence of Christian thought in this country." To the claims for reopening the building as a mosque, he said: "We stand against this, however, and with us, all Christians, whether Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant." Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th Century on the site of an earlier building under Constantine by the Emperor Justinian I (527-565), and it later served as the coronation church of Byzantine rulers. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, it was converted into a mosque. The founding president of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1934 ordered its conversion into a museum.

 Source: © CBA. All rights reserved
 Photo: Bartholomew I - Image source: Wikipedia / Massimo Finizio

  Link to Kathnews...

 Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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"Pastoral Care Must be Based in Reality" -- Benedict's Answer to the Speech of Cardinal Kasper

(Vatican) Cardinal Walter Kasper received the exclusive right to address the Consistory on February 20-21  to explain his "new ways" in the pastoral care of the divorced and remarried. The publication of Kaasper's "secret speech"   seems to have been intended from the outset, as already demonstrated by  the notice given by Herder Publishing House. Thus, it is determined as the only "official" opinion in the discussion.

But already in 1998 Benedict XVI.,  had then still given as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Prefect of the Congregation, a response to Kasper's speech.

On 29-30. November 2011  the "Osservatore Romano" published n various translations a little-known text by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger , then Prefect of the Congregation of Faith "to some objections to the Church's teaching on the reception of Communion by divorced and remarried believers."  The text written by the future Pope Benedict XVI. was an introduction to the book "Pastoral Sulla dei divorziati Risposati" (On the Pastoral Care of Divorced and Remarried), which is published as Volume 17 of the series "Documenti e Studi" by the Congregation in the Vatican publishing house.

The translation into different languages ​​(German, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian versions of the first edition), their footprint in "L'Osservatore Romano" and the publication on the website of the daily newspaper of the Vatican was was made by request of Benedict XVI. to face attempts within Church  to overturn Catholic doctrine and practice in this area, to explain and reaffirm the Catholic position.

Due to the resignation of Benedict XVI. these inner-Church forces have burst forth stronger than ever, which is why the text is now of even greater relevance.

The publication of 2011 had resulted in   the addition of three footnotes. 

Concerning some objections to the Church's teaching on the reception of Holy Communion by divorced and remarried members of the faithful In 1998 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, introduced the volume: "On the Pastoral Care of the Divorced and Remarried", published by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana in the dicastery's series "Documenti e Studi", 17. Because of its interest in our day and its breadth of perspective, we reproduce the third part along with three additional notes. This text is also available on the newspaper's website (www.osservatoreromano.va) in English, Italian, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.

Is Francis Turning Offenders into Victims and Priests Into Social Workers?

(Vatican) Does the Pope say "wounds" and mean sins? He confuses   sinners with the "wounded"? Or he says priest and confessor, however, he believes they are social workers and Caritas employees? In 6 March, Pope Francis gave a long speech to  the priests of his diocese of Rome a long speech at the beginning of Lent in the Paul VI Hall, whom he  had called together. The theme of the address was the question of how a priest had to be to be a "good shepherd". Here are some tentative considerations and more questions from a simple Catholic woman.

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The Sinner as Wounded?

Essay on an unfinished Commentary 

by Martha Weinzl

The speech was as is typical of Pope Francis, divided into three points. "In the whole Church it is the time of mercy." "What is mercy for the priest," And: "Mercy is neither arms too widely opened or  rigidity"

27 Times Mercy, Never Guilt

First, the test of an empirical text analysis. The text uses Pope Francis uses the word mercy 27 times,  twelve times the word heart, ten times the word wounds, six times the word flesh, two of five times he speaks of the sacrament of reconciliation and the confessor, three times he used the words compassion, confess, and penance, only once the words sin, sinners, reconciled and absolve. The words guilt, confession and confessional do not occur, nor salvation, savior, savior, savior, salvation, salvation or absolution.

What tells us this list? Pope Francis  was to talk about  confession and the role of the priest as confessor.  The subject for the talk, one would assume, is the  sin and the sinner who has committed the sin. We are all sinners, but we should beware of sin. The Church presents us with the precious aids available for the lifelong struggle against sin. First, the instruction that contributes significantly to the formation of conscience. Then, however, especially the sacramental means of grace, especially the Sacrament of Penance instituted by Jesus Christ. After all, it is about  eternal salvation, whether we can stand before God's justice and mercy.

Sin and sinners appear as terms in the papal address but each only appears once. Sin is indirectly mentioned in connection with criticism of lax priests who "minimize"  sin, thus  downplaying it. An important statement. 

The Sinner, to be exact, "sinners" are in only one instance mentioned, without further explanation, together with the "sick", "about which nobody cares." Sinners and the sick are referred to by the Pope in the same sentence as "excluded".  For them"Especially,"  the priest needs "tenderness".

Dimension of the Sin and the Sinner's Status Remain Unnoticed

The papal considerations can be far more reasonably followed when missing parts simply included. Nevertheless, it is remarkable how underexposed the dimension of sin and the status of the sinner remains, although they really should be the focus in the face of the subject.

The sinner becomes sick, but not in the sense of a spiritual disease. This can give rise to suspicion, the Pope coul view the priest - just to exaggerate - not as confessor, but as a nurse or Caritas staff member.

No perpetrators (sinner), only victims?

In fact, the Pope speaks not of sins and sinners, but of wounds and the sick. But wounds are not sins, but a change of perspective. The Pope says without a doubt wounded, people who are injured. Sin is a wound. The sinner is but the cause of the wound through sin and not merely the victim of a wound. That the sinner can be an injurer and the wounded a sinner, is another question, to which the Pope, however, did not respond.

Pope Francis sets the priests in the role of the minister in his speech, only to those wounded in the heart. The confessor has only to take care of the sinner. He has to condemn the sin, an issue the Pope doesn't even touch, and to move the sinner to repentance. The penitent who repents, he has - in Pope Francis is in his definition only agree - to go on his way to be reconciled as he is accompanied by God, but so that he no longer falls,this also includes the accompanying penance.  These aspects are not mentioned.

According to Pope Francis, the sinner is not the offender, but obviously a synonym for the wounded. This is in need of explanation, if not to be assumed that the understanding is turned upside down.  Offender and the victim as interchangeable sizes? The sinner is a doer, he wounded a victim. The priest who, according to Pope Francis is to take care of the wounded, so to victims, but in reality - one follows the papal versions - they are perpetrators, because why else would require a confessor.  The sinner is thus in a new dialectic from the perpetrator to the wounded victims. For victims of their own sin? For victims of evil? For victims of the devil, the eternal tempter and seducer? But that is not explained by the Pope.

Sin? "Material problems, scandals, illusions of the world"

He speaks of the Church as a "field hospital" and gives the impression as if there were in a very special way in this day and age a "need to heal the wounds, many wounds! Many wounds!" But that would mean that priests would have had to take care especially to those who have been wounded by sin.  It's just not clear from the further description, however. But why should our time need more to heal "wounds" than previous times, so that the Church is given a new role as "field hospital"?

In fact, the Pope is expected to be right. There were never as many people as today, which is why the number of sins should ipso facto be greater in number than ever before. Since the Pope does not name sin and never really speaks of sinners, his statement is vague and raises a number of questions that remain unanswered. Because the causes of the wounds that need confessors, so to sin, Pope Francis merely says: "Many people are wounded by material problems, scandals, even in the Church ... people who are wounded by the illusions of the world ..." .

You can rub your eyes in disbelief: "physical problems", "scandals", "in the Church", "illusions of the world"? What's this? Is this the dimension of sin, from which we have to guard ourselves? Wounds by social injustice?  Perhaps the Marxists might be right that the only reason offenders sit in our prisons because they are victims of structural social injustices in the end, right? Sociological and psychological considerations? This requires the confessor, confession, the sacrament of reconciliation? This is something completely different: The reinterpretation of the confessor to life consultant? To psychotherapist? To a friend? The confusion of sin with worries and problems of the people? The question would then be justified, whether other professions due to their professional training are not yet suitable to solve such problems, as the "appointed" priests. If God actually is a kind of generic guidance counselor for social work?

The priest as Caritas staff?

Can the Pope's message to the priests of his diocese, and thus to all the priests, be summarized as follows: Go out, and do not fear for you to get dirty to help the people in their lives, everyday worries and troubles. One calling among several for every Christian. Also a perfect job description for a Caritas staff. But is this a definition for the priesthood? Especially in connection with the Sacrament of Penance? Questions, questions.

Picture: Avvenire

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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