Christian Syria: Love in the Ruins

Marriage in Ruined Church in Homs

(Damascus) destruction and new beginnings are close together for the Christians in the Syrian city of Homs, as the images of a Christian wedding in the ruined Church of St. George show.

The attempt to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad and his Alawites has laid Homs  in ruins. The third largest city in Syria to the west of the country, near the border with Lebanon, it is located in the fertile valley of the Orontes, as the river was called in ancient times. Today it is called the Nahr al-Asi.

In 2011 the Sunni made Homs a stronghold of anti-Assad protest. In 2012, however, it became apparent that hiding under the blanket of allegedly "pro-Western" and "democratic" rebels, were Islamist groups. In April 2012 it was announced that the Farouq Brigade of the Christians of Homs had to exact the Muslim jizya poll tax. In May 2014. Homs was recaptured by government troops.

Christian community alive even after almost 2000 years

Homs wedding in the ruined Church of St. George

The images of a Christian wedding in the ruins of the Church of St. George show the horrifying extent of the destruction. It is at the same time also an expression of a new beginning and to show that the Christian community of the city is alive even after almost 2000 years.

The ancient Emesa, this is the name Homs had in the time of Jesus, was one of the first Christian communities and was a bishop's seat after the second century seat. From the Diocletian persecution 303-305, the first bishop is also known by name. In 609 the Persians conquered Homs and destroyed the churches. In 628  the Christian reconstruction started. Weakened by the Persians, Byzantine Syria fell prey to the Muslims in 637. In 1785 Muslims and Greek, Syrian and Armenian Christians were still balanced in Homs. In 1907  a third of the population was Christian. Before the outbreak of war, Homs counted,  with its suburbs, around one million inhabitants. Of these, 60 percent  were Sunni, 20 percent Alawite and 15 percent Christian. In some districts like Fairouzeh and Zaidal  Christians represented a majority with  60 percent and more. Not far from Homs, several Christian villages are among Maalula, where almost all the inhabitants are Christians and where even Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is spoken. 

See the slide show...

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

The Martyrium of Oriental Christians and Europe's Loss of Identity

In the Midst of the Old City in Jerusalem is a
Memorial to Christians Murdered by Muslims

(Jerusalem) While little is seen and read in the Western mainstream media   about the fate of the persecuted and murdered Christians in the Middle East and North Africa,  the Coptic Orthodox Church has set an example in the middle of Jerusalem. At the 6th Station of the Via Dolorosa, the way of the Passion of Jesus Christ to Golgotha, there is  a big banner which laments the murder of Coptic Christians by the Islamic State of (IS).

Europe wants to help, offering a rather helpless and naive image. An irresponsible "welcoming culture" appeals to a  voluntary solution for the serious problems of the country. The attacks in Madrid, London, Brussels, Paris and Graz speak for themselves. The reason is that Europe through the progressive de-Christianization of its own identity is no longer clear. It has never been clearer than in the case of boundless immigration, that there is no longer a Europe without Christianity.  A de-christianized Europe is like a shapeless toy ball without identity  at the mercy of ideologies and non-European forces. The ideological upheavals of the 20th century were the forerunners of this truth. At that time they paid a psychic price, now physical.

In contrast to the externally colorful,  but internally, increasingly colorless Europeans, the Christians of Egypt and the Middle East know who they are, what history they have, and they are aware of their position. The Christians of Europe could learn a lot from them in terms of Islam and its relationship to Islam. In Europe, the Christians of the Levant are largely ignored, to maintain an equally wrong as much as romanticized, embossed in the German-speaking world with a  Karl May image. In this misconception,  the Arab world is only Muslim. At best, there is still room for Yazidis and of course since 1948 for the Jews of Israel.

Whether the Western view of the Middle East is now appreciated the Islamic or has the Jewish-Muslim conflict in focus, the Oriental Christians play hardly any role for Europe.  A form of haughty self-denial, as is also expressed in the indiscriminate opening of borders, while identifying  illegal mass immigration as a "humanitarian emergency" of "refugees."

Veneto's President Luca Zaia said just a few days ago, that at least two thirds of the "refugees" who are pushing daily into Europe are not refugees. At the same time the Italian police arrested several Muslims, sometimes living many years  in the country, who are accused of having recruited Islamists for jihad and recruiting new terrorists. This is a reality as it manifests itself in all European countries. The difference in the best case, is with what emphasis the opinion-forming media downplays or hides this reality.

That the persecuted Christians in the Middle East do not belong to the precious immigrants of the "welcome cultures" and that they are the same key media who report little about the fate of Christians in the Middle East, completing the vicious circle.

Text: Andreas Becker

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

(Camouflaged) Franciscans at Spiritual Exercises

Franciscans at Spiritual Exercises 

(Madrid) In the shadow of the great Franciscan religious innovator, mystic and preacher of repentance, Peter of Alcantara (1499-1562) spiritual exercises for members of the Franciscan order took place in Arenas de San Pedro.The well-known Catholic journalist Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña on InfoVaticana published a photo.

"The group of Franciscans is not numerous, but few are better than none. After all, the brothers who wear the habit, compared with those who have passed on their habit, is a slight majority. The two youngest among the brothers wear it anyway. About  a brother's shorts I am silent. With a minimum of respect for his status, he would have at least made it to   the back row. The older brothers, the more they seem to seek camouflage. The Franciscans once differed between shod and unshod brothers. Today they differ between Franciscans who are recognizable as such, and camouflaged Franciscans," said de la Cigoña.

Vocation crisis: Six Provinces Joined to One Province 

The Franciscans are from the Province of the Immaculate Concepcion, which has arisen due to the vocation shortage a few years ago from the merger of six provinces and one custody.

The Franciscan in the chasuble shows that the retreatants, as they appear, have just a Mass.

Peter de Alcantara reformed the Spanish branch of the Franciscan order and founded a new branch of the Strict Observance. He himself lived in the strictest asceticism. As confessor he was at the side of Emperor Charles V  when he abdicated and retired to a Hieronymite in Extremadura. Although the most powerful man in the world, he laid down the imperial crown, as he had recognized with the Peace of Augsburg, that he had failed in his role as Emperor to  preserve the unity of the Faith of the Holy Roman Empire. Peter de Alcantara was at an advanced age, also the spiritual advisor of St. Teresa of Avila. In 1622 he was beatified by Pope Gregory XV.  and canonized in 1669 by  Pope Clement IX. canonized.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: InfoVaticana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Imprecatory Psalm 108

Deus, laudem meam. David in the person of Christ, prayeth against his persecutors; more especially the traitor Judas: foretelling and approving his just punishment for his obstinacy in sin and final impenitence.

[1] Unto the end, a psalm for David. [2] O God, be not thou silent in my praise: for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful man is opened against me. [3] They have spoken against me with deceitful tongues; and they have compassed me about with words of hatred; and have fought against me without cause. [4] Instead of making me a return of love, they detracted me: but I gave myself to prayer. [5] And they repaid me evil for good: and hatred for my love.

[6] Set thou the sinner over him: and may the devil stand at his right hand. [7] When he is judged, may he go out condemned; and may his prayer be turned to sin. [8] May his days be few: and his bishopric let another take. [9] May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. [10] Let his children be carried about vagabonds, and beg; and let them be cast out of their dwellings.

[6] Set thou the sinner over him: Give to the devil, that arch-sinner, power over him: let him enter into him, and possess him. The imprecations, contained in the thirty verses of this psalm, are opposed to the thirty pieces of silver for which Judas betrayed our Lord; and are to be taken as prophetic denunciations of the evils that should befall the traitor and his accomplices the Jews; and not properly as curses.

[11] May the usurer search all his substance: and let strangers plunder his labours. [12] May there be none to help him: nor none to pity his fatherless offspring. [13] May his posterity be cut off; in one generation may his name be blotted out. [14] May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered in the sight of the Lord: and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. [15] May they be before the Lord continually, and let the memory of them perish from the earth:

[16] because he remembered not to shew mercy, [17] But persecuted the poor man and the beggar; and the broken in heart, to put him to death. [18] And he loved cursing, and it shall come unto him: and he would not have blessing, and it shall be far from him. And he put on cursing, like a garment: and it went in like water into his entrails, and like oil in his bones. [19]May it be unto him like a garment which covereth him; and like a girdle with which he is girded continually. [20] This is the work of them who detract me before the Lord; and who speak evils against my soul.

[21] But thou, O Lord, do with me for thy name' s sake: because thy mercy is sweet. Do thou deliver me, [22] for I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled within me. [23] I am taken away like the shadow when it declineth: and I am shaken off as locusts. [24] My knees are weakened through fasting: and my flesh is changed for oil. [25] And I am become a reproach to them: they saw me and they shaked their heads,

[24] For oil: Propter oleum. The meaning is, my flesh is changed, being perfectly emaciated and dried up, as having lost all its oil or fatness.

[26] Help me, O Lord my God; save me according to thy mercy. [27] And let them know that this is thy hand: and that thou, O Lord, hast done it. [28] They will curse and thou will bless: let them that rise up against me be confounded: but thy servant shall rejoice. [29] Let them that detract me be clothed with shame: and let them be covered with the their confusion as with a double cloak. [30] I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth: and in the midst of many I will praise him.

[31] Because he hath stood at the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from persecutors.



http://www.drbo.org/x/d?b=drb&bk=21&ch=108&l=17#x

Synod: Curial Bishop Laffitte Remains in His Position

(Rome) Curia Bishop Jean Laffitte remains, at least for the time being, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family . His appointment last July 4 by Pope Francis to Prelate of the Sovereign Order of Malta sparked speculation about his dismissal in the family council.

"Good news," said the well-known Catholic Spanish blogger Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña with good wire to Vatican sources. The personnel decision  before the "decisive Synod of Bishops on the family," said Riposte Catholique, "is not meaningless."

As secretary Msgr. Laffitte holds the second most important office in the pontifical "Family Affairs". The Frenchman Laffitte belogns to the Emmanuel Community , and is considered a serious defender of the marriage sacrament. The same can not be said of his immediate superior Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia.

The Italian Paglia belongs to  the Community of Sant'Egidio. He has fallen, since Benedict XVI., announcing his resignatio, into  homophilic statements, as on June 25 at the press conference to present the World Meeting of Families, which takes place  in September in Philadelphia (USA). With a "slick set" ( Riscossa Cristiana )   the Vatican's "Family Minister" signaled an acceptance of homosexuality (see Before the synod: Family Minister "Flashes" Homophilic signals - Vice is Maltese Prelate ).

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Riposte Catholique

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Vocations Crisis: Decline of the Diocesan Clergy -- Growth of Tradition

(Paris) In many areas in  secularized Europe a veritable spiritual desertification is taking place. Emblematic of this is the crisis of vocations in France. The figures speak for themselves: in 1966, France had 4,536 seminarians. A few years later, in 1975, their number had plummeted to 1,297. The decline had slowed, but it continued. In 1996, there were 1,103 seminarians. It was followed by another slump: in 2005 there were only 784. In 2011 they   finally achieved with 710 seminarians, the lowest since the time of the French Revolution.

If mathematics is not an opinion, the results since 1966 show a decline of 84 percent. "This is the result  of the modernist theologians turning to promote that with which they have destroyed the sense of the supernatural. The figures are of such clarity that they might bring even  ,modern' theologians to blush and should let them fall forever into a penitential silence. Anyway, they require no further comment," said the traditional  blogger Cordialiter .

What is needed is a serious analysis of a catastrophic situation. "Numbers are neither traditionalist nor modernist. They are facts that we need to take note of,"  says Cordialiter.

The situation in France is dramatic. In foreseeable next few years, there will be even fewer active priests.The average age of priests is in these dioceses is already at 75 years.

Key to the vocation crisis is ignored in the dioceses

"The situation is seriously dramatic. It is not a reason to sit back, but there is also no reason to despair," said Cordialiter. Within the vocation crisis, opposing trends can be observed. While the diocesan clergy almost threatens to go  extinct,  the orders and communities of the Old Rite are growing. The vocations that are growing  today, lead  young mento where the faith, the liturgy, the faithful to Christ,  Scripture and Tradition are taken seriously.

"The hope is that more seminaries will be opened, where it is makes ​​possible an even greater number of tradition-bound young men to strive for the Catholic priesthood. It is the holy priests, who will who will model their vocations." 

Where the Sacred Liturgy is celebrated reverently and worthily, where the teaching of Christ is faithfully proclaimed and the order of the Church is respected, there even today can be found vocations. These flourishing oases in the desert, the communities of tradition, some ancient monasteries and several new institutions should all come to the attention of Church leaders, for in them is hidden the key to overcome the crisis of vocations.

Astonishingly, the diocesan church leaders prove sluggish, disinterested or even hostile. "The dilemma is that the way to overcome the crisis of vocations is in front of everyone, but many - and I speak only of those who are responsible -. are looking pointedly away." One has the impression that they want no improvement. The reasons are complex and go deeper. It is not only "convenience" or "world adaptedness", but in many cases it is about a "different theology". In order to avoid having to address this  question, they would prefer to put up with the decline of priestly vocations. 

"The diocesan bishops are responsible for how they respond in their diocese to the vocation crisis, whether the good example is ignored or is imitated. They will be held accountable for it. Regardless of this  the dissolution of the diocesan clergy progresses and it is only a matter of time before the ordinations of  tradition exceed that the Novus Ordo, at least in France," said Cordialiter .

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: FSSP

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Erosion of the German Church -- Gäswein: "Shepherds Must Not Make Decisions Based on Media Applause"

Flashmob in Rio... Reduced to Ridicule

(Rome / Berlin) The Catholic Church in Germany has experienced a record number of almost 218,000 leaving the church last year. 39,000 more than the year before.

More even than in 2010, when the German Church was shaken by the sexual abuse scandal of minors and was under massive public pressure.

The figures highlight a sideshow: Between 2005 and 2013 Pope Benedict XVI was  annually blamed, if there wasn't  a merely  local "culprit", who could share the blame, like  Bishop Krenn in Austria or the bishops Mixa and Tebartz-van Elst in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Church Exit Numbers Were Instrumentalized Against Benedict XVI. - Since silence

"Controversial actions of Pope Benedict XVI. were to blame"  the "like exclusion of homosexuals ", "lack of equality for women"  or the "lifting of the excommunication for Lefebvrian bishops"  which was said, for example in 2010 by the Austrian pastoral theologian Paul Zulehner (Vienna) and Episcopal Vicar Willi Vieböck (Linz). But there has never been when all things are considered, more leaving the Church than under Pope Francis. Since then there is an awkward silence until the  among the wordy Church representatives and the media. Their "interpretations" are subsequently exposed as a church-political instrumentalisation.

In the Federal Republic of Germany, Church membership is directly coupled to tax aspect. The recognized denominations demand and  are payed the so-called "church tax", which is calculated and charged by the state  and sent to the churches.

Church-tax Secures Influence

The money supply is enormous. In 2011 alone, took the Catholic Church in Germany took in about 5.8 billion euros.

With 1.3 million employees, the Catholic Church is  the second largest employer in Germany next to   the public sector. The largest private company, Siemens, employs just over 400,000 employees.

With the bulging coffers, the German Church exerts considerable influence in the Third World.

Majority of the German Bishops Want to Change the Doctrine of the Church

Some commentators, such as the American George Weigel, writing of the growing erosion process, in addition to financial reasons, describes the tendency of most of the German bishops to trying to change the doctrine of the Church.

This includes marriage and sexual morality, especially the doctrine of the right to access the sacrament of marriage and the Eucharist. Concretely it  applies to the recognition of  second marriages and the admission of remarried divorcees to communion. It is exactly these issues that the Synod of Bishops will address this October.

What Curial Archbishop Geogr Gänswein Says

"It is interesting to hear what Curia Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Prefect of the Papal Household and private secretary of Pope Benedict XVI. has to say in a far more extensive interview," said Marco Tosatti. Interview by Jaume Figa i Vaello for the Catalan and Spanish website +1 Sumant Hostories of the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya .

Question: Some of these issues come from your native Germany. Why?

Archbishop Gänswein: Yes. It is true that not all the errors come from there, but the point in question is provided as follows: 20 years ago John Paul II  rejected, after a long and laborious negotiation,  that divorced and remarried would have access to communion.. We can not simply go and change things established in our Magisterium.

Question: Why do some shepherds want that  which is not possible?

Archbishop Gänswein: I do not know. Maybe they give in to the Zeitgeist, perhaps they can be  led by  the applause of the people, which is made by the media ... to be critical of the mass media, is certainly less enjoyable. A shepherd must not decide on the basis of whether the media applauds or not. The benchmark is the Gospel, the Faith, sound doctrine, Tradition.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Mil

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches....

AMDG

Archbishop Apologizes for a Priest Doing His Job

(New York) Tim Ardillo, an avowed aberrosexual "married" to another man,  is claiming that he was denied Communion at the funeral of his dead mother on July 10 in St. Helena's Church in the Diocese of Amite Baton Rouge (Louisiana).  Ardillo wanted to receive the Body of Christ in  Communion, however, he was denied by Pastor Mark Beard.

Them magazine The Advocate stated that the Diocese of Baton Rouge has since apologized to Ardillo for the incident, personally from the archbishop of New Orleans himself, Msgr. Gregory Aymond.

According to Ardillo, pastor Beard had justified his refusal with it because he was "not married in church." The presumed reason, according to the aberrosexual, was that he had previously said  in the obituary  for his mother he was described as being "married" to a man.

The Secretariat of Archbishop Aymond declined to comment. The apology was neither confirmed nor denied. No one from the parish wanted to take a position.

"Those who receive Holy Communion unworthily, commits a grave sin"

"The status of gays and lesbians in the Catholic Church is complicated because the Church rejects same-sex marriage, but respect for LGBT people is recommended," says the magazine The Advocate .

According to the American Bishops' Conference , according to The Advocate,  a "homosexual tendency" in itself is no sin, but a "homosexual act" is "always objectively sinful". People with a "homosexual inclination" should therefore not be encouraged, says the Bishops' Conference,  to talk openly about their passion, but seek help and confide in a spiritual support.  At the same time "any unjust discrimination against any person" should be rejected, which also applies to persons with a "homosexual inclination".

Whoever receives Communion without authorization, "is committing a grave sin," says the paper quoted the Bishops' Conference.

Diocese will not tolerate  denial of Communion, "just because someone is gay"

What this meant in practice, at least in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, said the diocesan press officer, Donna Carville, a communion assistant (Eucharistic Minister): The diocese will not tolerate refusal of Communion to Catholics, "just because they are gay."

It was "very surprising that Communion was denied. This does not work  ... We do not have people refuse communion. Who are we to judge whether they believe [the Church's teaching on Communion] or not? This is a matter between them and God," said Donna Carville.

It should not be used to deny the Eucharist, because someone is not married in Church, seconded the canon lawyer, Roger Keeler, coordinator of the Canon Law Society of America, and a priest of the Archdiocese of Edmonton in Alberta State (Canada). "The Communion is not a weapon. It is not a reward for good behavior. It is food for tired souls," said Keeler. The priest could not know the marital status of those who come forward for Communion. 

"How should I know if someone is not in a state of grace?"

As an example, Keeler explained, he could have read somewhere that a woman has embezzled millions. But they could have previously atoned for everything: "How should I know if she is not in a state of grace," said Keeler. The difference is certainly significant because Ardillo himself announced on the spot and publicly, that he  lives in a "gay marriage".

Ardillo told the newspaper he would not go to Communion if the matter had been broached before the funeral mass for his mother. His mother is with the Holy Spirit, and he did want to connect through the communion with her.

After the incident, he took the hand of his "husband" and ran out of the church. A lesbian had then brought him back, mainly because he was the next of kin.

Ardillo lives in Indiana, as a boy he was an altar boy. He still believes in the Catholic faith, but was not sure  of his "place" in the Church. He prayed with his mother's rosary when they saw each other the last time.

But why did the Diocese of Baton Rouge and the archbishop of New Orleans  apologize for the denial of Communion?

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: The Advocate (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Another Poor Appointment for the USA: Media Celebrity to be Auxiliary of Los Angeles

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Edit: poor Los Angeles, what have you done to deserve this?

It was reported at 12 noon,  that the Rector of Mundelein Seminary, Father Robert Barron, is to be appointed the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, California. Barron may not believe anyone's in Hell, but it's certain as Whispers in the Loggia suggests, that his appointment seems calculated to bank on his substantial media presence.  Maybe now that Barron's an Auxiliary in Los Angeles, even fewer of its substantial Catholic population will be going to confession to avoid it?

This appointment is another evil portent of the growing the problems with this papacy and the American Church in general, but it also underscores the continuing nadir of the once promising EWTN and Catholic media in general.

Some have even long been hailing Barron as another Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

Perhaps it's payback for some enthusiastic and uncritical praise for the Socialism in Laudatio Si?



Bishop Sheen on Hell:



The comparison is ridiculous.

Socialists Want to Block Establishment of "Fundamentalist" SSPX Capuchins

Edit: as Tiberge at Galliawatch notes, it's as if the Devil has commanded his minions to take action against a small settlement of good natured Capuchins who want to take over an abandoned Capuchin friary with the blessing of the local mayor.  Not even the mostly harmless local Ordinary doesn't seem to mind.  He'd prefer to avoid conflict. 

What is interesting to me is the similarity between the tactics, objections and what motivates the Socialists and those within the Catholic Church who use such strident language to attack the Society.

The councilor, Noëlle Aznar-Molliex explains herself at the Osons-Albertville website:  

 During the City Council meeting of July 6, mayor Martine Berthet had intended to put to a vote the turning over of the Clos des Capucins, a city property situated on mount Adolphe Hugues, at the entrance of the medieval village of Conflans, to the association of the Convent of Saint-François de Morgon, that hopes to renovate the site and install there a community.  

Osons-Albertville strongly opposes this plan. The truth is that the community of Capuchin monks of the Morgon convent, said to be "of traditional observance", is part of the line of thought of traditionalist and fundamentalist churches, that of the SSPX, and is not recognized by the church of Rome, because it has been in a state of schism since the Second Vatican Council. These communities reject ecumenism and all initiatives favoring inter-religious dialogue.

Link to Galliawatch...
AMDG

Stations of the Cross Removed: "Lack of Respect for Unbelievers and Muslims"

Stations of the Cross Removed: "Lack of respect for
unbelievers and Muslims."

(Madrid) The Socialist Natalia Nuñez was elected last May 24th as the new Mayor of Cenicientos in Spain. The municipality in the Autonomous Community of Madrid has a population of 2,073 inhabitants. One of the first acts of the PSOE representative was the removal of the Stations of the Cross in the small town by the pilgrimage church of Nuestra Señora del Roble, the city's patron.

The Mayor charged  the Way of the Cross with a "lack of respect" towards non-believers and those are who "profess the Muslim religion and culture." Nuñez described the Way of the Cross in interviews dismissively as "those stones".

The destructiveness of the "Alcaldesa" of Cenicientos caused quite a stir in Spain. The more so because the Way of the Cross represented by the stone steles  were only represented by the Roman station number, but without a cross or other religious symbol. Their  placement was financed by the citizens with a support of the Culture Programme of the provincial administration for 3,000 euros. It was at no cost to  Cenicientos. Only three months after its construction, now that the local elections had taken place, they were again removed. 

"If Stone Steles Offend a Muslim, Will You Want Tomorrow to Demolish the Churches and Chapels?"

A citizens' committee presented a collection of signatures, which were handed over on July 17 at the City Hall. The committee addressed the mayor the question whether the destruction of the Cross, even presented in this simplicity, shows no "lack of respect towards the Catholics." It calls for the return of the stone steles to their place.

Father Jorge González Guadalix, priest of the Archdiocese of Madrid, referred to the activism of the Mayor as "sectarianism". There is a "will not to respect Catholics and to insult them". InfoCatolica quoted the priest with the question: "How could stone steles without any religious symbol insult a Muslim. He doesn't even know their importance. If naked stones already offend, how much more must then churches and chapels 'insult'? Will they demolish them tomorrow?"

According to Father Guadalix this day is not far off for those who think this way: "The truth is that you want to make an end to   Catholics and with everything that reminds us of the Church. This is an old aim under which Spain has already suffered greatly. The 'fruits of this tolerance' we know all too well," the priest said, alluding to the anti-Catholic persecution in the 1930s.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Tempi

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

When the Pope Makes a Blooper -- The Pitfalls of Casual Free Speech

Pope Francis in Asuncion Paraguay

(Rome / Asuncion) the Pope used the word "hermeneutics", a word unusual for him, at a press conference on the flight back from the trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. Within minutes, he used this word eleven times and asked, it should also apply in the context of his words, "in fact it  is often suitable for two- and ambiguous interpretations," said Vatican expert Sandro Magister. Promptly, two days later,   Osservatore Romano dabbled in to be the first to offer  an interpretation of the papal words.  The blooper  Pope Francis had scored with his penchant for casual free speech in Asuncion was passed over in silence.

The Brazilian Msgr Dario Vignanò ventured to make an analysis of the free speech style of Francis. He dedicated his first public statement as the first prefect of the newly established Secretariat for Communication through the "communicative style of Bergoglio between oral form and concreteness". The actual title of the article reads: " Francis in the Global Village."

One-eyed Analysis of Papal Communication Style

Msgr. Viganò is the first head of dicastry in  o the Roman Curia who is neither a bishop  nor raised to Bishop  with his appointment. Viganò took over in 2014 from Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, the management of the Vatican Television Centre CTV, a task which he retains, and carries since 2004 receiving  the title of Honorary Pontifical Chaplain.

It seems that Msgr. Viganò  apparently randomly used the address by Pope Francis to the youth of Paraguay for his theses. The speech on the evening of July 12 was given extemporaneously by the Pope after he had rejected the prepared manuscript.

Viganò wrote: "I believe that the key to understanding the communicative practice of Pope Franzikus is to look in the now classic studies on the relationship between the oral and written. A prepared speech is boring, because it is a text, which has been designed in writing. We know how the written culture has prized abstract thinking, abstract thinking and objectivity over oral conciseness." 

"Rapid progress in zigzag style"

"The Pope's style, however, is a more than an ample style, capable of the ultimate strength of  context - the reference to the hermeneutics during the press conference on the flight back from South America was clear - and  captured the concreteness. By no means does redundancy appear negative, but rather as an intrinsic necessity for those who communicate orally, one the one hand, rapid steps forward rushing along the paths of the word and at the same time proceeding in a zigzag manner by associated by its frequent repetitions, what he has already said."

Viganò concludes:

"The speeches of Pope Francis is a revival of the ancient practice of word of mouth communication, in turn, facing a recognition and stability of actual community, by triggering a network, based on the pleasure of a rediscovered embrace between humanity and the Gospel."

Unprecedented Public Affront of Head of State

In a Church Praying for the Release of Edilio Morinigo

"Redundancy, repetition, zigzag exemplary striding ... Had Msgr. Viganò not spoken of Francis to the youth of Paraguay as the basis taken for his study, but the speech of the day held before the pope to the civil society representatives in Asuncion, he would have recognized not only the benefits but also the limitations of a too naive 'orality' of communication," said Sandro Magister.

There Francis said in his free speech:

"There are things that I want respect yet take before I close. And since politicians are present - also the President of the Republic - I say it in fraternal form.  Someone told me, 'Listen,  Mr. So and So has been kidnapped by the army. Do something!'  I am not saying whether it's true or not, whether it is fair or not, but one of the methods, which applied to the dictatorial ideologies of the last century, of which I have just spoken, was to remove the people, either by exile or by captivity, or - in the case of Nazi and Stalinist extermination camps - they were removed by death. Thus there is a real culture in a nation, a political culture and a culture of the common good, it needs swiftly clear processes, transparent processes. Another type of maneuver is not beneficial. A transparent, clear justice. This will help all of us. I do not know if there is such a thing here or not; I say it with all due respect. You told me so when I came in, they told me here. And may I  - for I do not know who - ask; I have not understood the names well."

Pope Confused Regular Army with a Communist Terrorist Organization and Accused President of a Crime 

Marxist-Leninist Paraguayan People's Army EPP

The name Francis had "not well understood"  is that of Edelio Morinigo, officer of Paraguayan Army (Ejército Paraguayo). Morinigo was kidnapped a year ago, but not by the regular army, which he himself belongs, but by a self-styled Paraguayan People's Army (Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo, EPP), a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization that was founded in 2008, which wanted to overthrow the Paraguayan government  and establish a communist republic.

Although Pope Francis himself admitted to know nothing about the case and had not even understood the name of the person concerned, he had no qualms, in complete ignorance of the facts to "brotherly" and publicly accuse the Paraguayan government and specifically the president of a crime, which he put into a context of the worst atrocities of the Nazis and Communists.

"Hats off to the attitude of Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, who was unaffected by any reaction to an impressive public affront," says Magister.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Settimo Cielo

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Progressive Agenda -- The Horrifying Example of the Diocesan Synod of Bozen-Brixen

Circular Synod in the Diocese of Bozen-Brixen: "All Concerns
Will be Addressed"

(Bolzano) The fact that the diocese of Bolzano-Brixen is part of German-speaking regions, it is impressive, however, is currently proving to be negative.  The German Bishops' Conference and progressive circles would be thrilled.

In June 2013 Bishop Ivo Muser, since 2011 in office, had surprisingly announced the convocation of a diocesan Synod. Catholic observers are tearing their hair in horror over the bishop's genuflection before the influential green left   rooted in the group of priests and laity. Anyway, you know who is in charge in the diocese.

The reason why the Synod of Bishops called the 50th anniversary of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone has to do with the recent political history of South Tyrol. A weak motive, finally, since the Diocese of Brixen boasts a 1500 year  history. But it's no accident what hides behind it, if even a dubious change of agenda: there has only been a Church  since the Second Vatican Council.

Long on Palaver with Fixed Progressive Output

The Synod "Heed Your Word ... With Joy and Hope"  is two years in expectation. The magic incantation is: dialogue, but the unilateral line of approach was - not difficult to predict - already firmly fixed with the chosen form of a mixed Cleric-lay Synod.   As many (selected) Catholics should in as many committees, discuss as long as possible. The Goal? At the end of the great palaver the progressive agenda is to learn with the appearances  "basic democracy"  officially confirming sham marriage. 

In the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, the leading European full-time church apparatus and the tips of the Catholic voluntary sector have slipped to the left since the 1980s. They responded enthusiastically to the Synod announcement.   Faithful Catholics, however, stood shaking their heads to the question: What good is that? The fact that the intolerant progressives would usurp this forum and draw on one side,  was clear from the outset, is the form of the diocesan "lay Synod" which is its conciliar invention. Faithful Catholics were naturally "brought". The dialogue professionals had already reserved the marginal places for them. Whoever engages in the defense of Catholic doctrine, is demonstratively identified as a "troublemaker". You sense who "belongs" and who does not. The bishop himself seems more interested in belonging, than  to be seen  conducting and directing. The Synod decisions are not binding for him, but put him under severe pressure for non-compliance. The question is unanswered in the room, what really prompted him to offer the already vociferous heretical part of the diocese such a stage.

"The Majority of the Baptized Expected Long Been Impatient of Reforms"

Bishop Ivo Muser offers progressive forces a large stage

Now  the first results of the Synod are on  the table. The Synod majority speaks openly of "demands for reform", which have been looked for "since the 60s". The Church has not taken the social changes since then  into account. They are very democratic, "majorities" relied: "The majority of these people of the baptized who profess as Catholics have  impatiently expected reforms for a long time. The gap between the Magisterium of the Church, the Church hierarchy and the reality of life for the people is visible. "

The final documents of the  Chair Circle Synod confirm the fears of faithful Catholics who have to deal with the negative experiences of the "70s Synodalbewegung" [Synod Movement of the 70s]. At that time a first Synod was held in the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone. Numerous formulations appear to have been brought forth out of mothballs from that first Synod.  There are now a lot of new "vision papers". They are untimely and wordy documents at a loss for substance. The same with the product of chair circles of all sizes, from the mini-circle of chairs to Paul Zulehner-circle of chairs. But what good is it if you listen to the wrong "Master"? In a circle of chairs one always looks at himself, not to God. It's a form of self-fixing. The previously submitted "vision papers" thus provide exemplary examples of haughty rebellion against the doctrine and the discipline of the Church.

"The Synod Opens Towards Aberrosexuals and Remarried"

The faithful will be annoyed with meaningless empty formulas as: "The Way the Synod is Man" or "The Church is Always Open and Dynamic". And the disbelieving people show themselves not the least impressed in the religious. There are many politically correct slogans, summarized in the biggest media headlines describing the biennial spectacle: "The Synod opens towards homosexuals and remarried". On the Facebook page of the Synod  a Catholic commented with bitter irony: "yielding to the world and betraying Christ ... good job."

Previously, the Synod had made a mandatory Mea culpa: "We apologize to whomever we have otherwise referred to as 'other'.".Those referred to were "single mothers, people who opt for a pre-marital and non-marital cohabitation, extra-marital children, remarried and homosexuals." They all had been "injured" by the Church. The synod informed the public: that if people do not live according to the will and the order of God, then the church has not only adapt, but also   to apologize for it that she dared to proclaim the commandments of God and to exhort compliance.

"Cry of the People" and "Women Priests"

Synod with many "vision papers"

Against this Church of the past, the Synod will prove to be capable of learning, such as with the motto: "Where  all are the same, there is indifference." It could have been borrowed  from a manifesto of the Green Party.  Progressive denial of reality arise even in formulations that reveal especially the Marxist foundation of the authors: "We must not be deaf to the cry of the people who expected a bold and accurate response towards a path of renewal". That "renewal" means first of all for Christians, conversion and personal conversion, is a spiritual and not a structural process.  The Synod in Bozen-Brixen is obviously an uncharted territory, that has been completely avoided to stay on the safe side.

The Synod has abandoned the vertical and transcendent level. Instead, it says: "Our church has a common project that unites all of us in out  diversity. Our Earth is a home for all, in which each and every one participates in the construction of the common good."

The Synod has announced after two years of wanting consecrated  women as "priestesses" for the Church. Indeed, the Church offers the image "of an aging patriarchal ecclesiastical structure. Especially the younger generation of women feels increasingly in such a male-dominated Church, they are not to be taken seriously and have investigated other spiritual services."  In addition, the Synod announces a church,  which "is open to other forms of cohabitation, not only for  sacramental marriage, and a church that "those individuals and families are respected who fail in their relationships and accompanies them without restrictions in ecclesial praxis." The Vision Paper 8  states, "How a Christian Can Live Marriage and Family in Various Forms Today?"

The Catholic premises could  barely be distorted any further. According to self-definition, the Synod sees itself as follows: "We are a Church that lives and proclaims the Gospel primarily through the life and witness of faith. We are a Church that speaks in community  with a language adapted to the time. "

For this reason, the Synod utters not a word about the murder of the unborn children.

In the autumn there will follow three more synodal assemblies. On December 8, the nightmare will have then come to its end and many papers will be produced for the drawers. Yet on the Facebook page of the Synod states already satisfied: "We now look forward to the fruits". This could take a very long time.

Text: Martha Weinzl
Image: News Cattolici / Facebook (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Cardinal Ravasi Participates in "Mother Earth" Worship

Pachamama-Cult

 (Buenos Aires) Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture actively took part in the Argentine city of San Marcos Sierras  a Pachamama cult ceremony. The goddess Pachamama means in the Quechua language "Mother Earth" or "mother cosmos". It is a relic of pre-Christian, pagan times, which has been preserved in parts by the Quechua and Aymara Indians of the Andean countries.

Sacrifices will be made to the goddess Pachamama, which is "omnipotent" in the indigenous imagination, especially "Coca leaves", "talismans, herbs, llama fetuses", "little dolls" as the Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote. "On the witches' market in La Paz"  there are traded "the ingredients for the burnt offering in honor of Pachamama"  and  "faith as business," said the NZZ.

The animist cult is also operated in a place of central Argentine province of Cordoba. There, San Marcos Sierras, with its nearly 950 inhabitants (2010), about 150 kilometers from the city of Cordoba, is where Pope Francis had been exiled   in the 80s by his provincials. San Marcos Sierras is regarded as the last place, where in the main of which is inhabited by the  more than 5,000 remaining  indigenous people of the Comechingones (Henia and Kamiare).

"Court of Nations" with Idolatry

Cardinal Ravasi at Pachamama cult

The Pachamama cult action was in November 2014 under Ravasis Initiative, "Court of Gentiles", which appeared at that time on Argentinan television stations, but is only now becoming available through the publication of a video. The organized idolatry was organized by Foro Ecumenico Social (Ecumenical Social Forum). The most prominent attendee of the "Mother Earth" was Cardinal Ravasi, "which was cultivated" (ORF) by the curial cardinal. The cardinal was not only an observer but an active participant (see video). With him Theresa Varela, who was vice president of the Foro Social Ecumenico and president of the Foundation Mision Esperanza to San Marcos Sierras  came  "along with the indigenous peoples".

According to unofficial information in Argentina, the place is said to have grown to 3,000 residents, as there is a strong influx of Argentines from the largest cities of Argentina, by Europeans and white US citizens "of the middle and upper classes." San Marcos Sierras is developed for tourism and is considered a destination of the hippie movement. A connection to Pachamama cult is believed.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: liriosdelvalle/Youtube (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG