Pope Receives Major Archbishop Schewtuschuk, to Calm the Waves After the Cuba Meeting with the Moscow Patriarch

Major Archbishop Schewtschuk and Pope Francis: Ukrainian Catholics
Concerned and Discouraged by Rome [Who isn't?]

(Rome) The waves, because of the historic meeting between Pope Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow, have not been smoothed in Ukraine. The Greek Catholic Ukrainians, about 12 percent of the population, feel "betrayed". They accuse the Pope of representing too pro-Russian a line. To dispelled the fears, Francis  received a delegation of the Uniate Ukrainians last Saturday  in the Vatican.

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The meeting between the two heads of churches on 12 February on the Caribbean island of Cuba earned general praise, but not in Ukraine. The apostolic nuncio tried in February to reassure the Greek Catholics. The day after the meeting in Havana, Nuncio Claudio Gugerotti went  so far as to explain to  the Ukrainians united with Rome in Kiev, they should simply "forget" the "Joint Declaration " of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow. It is a counsel, which, considering  a conflict that has been brewing for centuries, and has meant persecution and oppression to the Uniates, is not sufficient. Certainly not, since an armed territorial dispute prevails in  Eastern Ukraine  between Ukraine and Russia. At the same time the nuncio assured the Uniate Ukrainians that Pope Francis was "close" to them.

The head, of the Orthodox Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who has been in union with Rome since the 16th century, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, translated on 13 February, the words of the Nuncio for his confreres into Ukrainian, but not sparing his comments.

Uniates see themselves as the Eastern Orthodox Church, which adheres to the agreement of 1439

The Uniate Ukrainians, some five million believers, see themselves as representatives of the historical reconciliation of Western and Eastern Church at the Council of Florence of 1439. The remaining of  orthodoxy  approved the agreement of Florence, and  sealed it with their signatures  but then they  have not kept it. It's a breach of contract which the Uniates refused to join. The Orthodox churches, especially the Russian Orthodox Church,  see in contrast the Uniates as renegade Orthodox, which  serve as "bait" by Rome.

The Moscow Patriarchate, according to estimates has 150 million believers worldwide, considers the Ukraine part of the Rus. In recent decades  Rome was expected to  retreat to the pastoral care of  Latin Catholics. That's three percent of Ukrainians. The question of Unitarianism was illuminated the historian Roberto de Mattei: The "historic" meeting between Francis and Kiril  ).

Pope Francis receives Greek Catholic Ukrainians in Vatican

As the words of the Nuncio were not enough to calm the Uniate Ukrainians, Pope Francis on Saturday, March 5, received the Major Archbishop Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych and other bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the Vatican. Ukrainians reiterated here that the encounter between Pope and Patriarch have been "prophetic" per se. But they have expressed at the same time also their unease over the political part of the "Joint Declaration" of Havana.

Rome states that the essential aim of the "Joint Declaration" is the creation of an alliance between Catholics and Orthodox against the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.  Moscow also spoke of an alliance against the "crisis of the family", "against abortion and gay marriage."

While the Greek Ukrainians were shocked that the statement in the form of union with Rome is referred to as "outdated",  Metropolitan Hilarion, the "Foreign Minister of the Moscow Patriarchate" showed himself to be happy "about it and spoke of satisfaction that had befallen the Russian Orthodox Church. The Declaration of Metropolitan Hilarion was published last Friday by the Osservatore Romano as an editorial.  For the Russian Orthodox "Foreign Minister", the declaration is a step toward a "durable peace" in Ukraine.

Yves Hamant: Political Part of the explanation of Havana "is" Moscow

For the French Russia expert Yves Hamant, that it is "evident that the meeting serves the  political interests" of both Patriarch Kirill  just as much as Russia's President Vladimir Putin . "Kirill is recognized by the pope as the head of a community of a country where religion flourishes, while much of the rest of Europe is completely secularized."

Through the meeting, said Hamant, Francis had recognized the Moscow Patriarch  as equal, as in Orthodoxy all the patriarchs have the same rank.

Barely an hour after the signing of the "Joint Declaration," Pope Francis showed himself, however, already worried about the political orientation of the document. In the airplane on the way to Mexico he tried to minimize the political side. "This is not a political statement, it is not a sociological statement, it is a pastoral statement," said the Catholic Church leader.

The Greek Catholics of Ukraine saw it differently and are  still concerned. Then there was also the secrecy which formed ahead of the meeting in Cuba. The declaration was negotiated without the involvement of Ukrainian Catholics.

Kirill told the Russian news agency, Interfax that before signing, only five people on his staff knew the content of the "Joint Declaration."   "It is impossible to prepare for an event of this kind in public," said the Patriarch.

Last Saturday Rome has tried to address the concerns and fears of the Uniate Ukrainians.  Has it  succeeded?

Text: Giuseppe Nardi 
Image: Cruxnow (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Consitory to Approve Sainthood of Mother Teresa

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will preside over a consistory to approve the canonization of five men and women, including Blessed Teresa of Kolkata, the Vatican announced. 

The March 15 consistory will also determine the approval of canonization of Argentine "gaucho priest," Blessed Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero and Blessed Jose Sanchez del Rio, a 14-year-old Mexican boy martyred for refusing to renounce his faith during the Cristero War of the 1920s, the Vatican said March 7. 

The meeting of cardinals and promoters of the sainthood causes, also known as an "ordinary public consistory," formally ends the process of approving a new saint.

http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/vatican-announces-consistory-to-approve-canonization-of-mother-teresa.cfm

Volker Beck: When the Prototype of a Political Wind Sower Reaps the Whirlwind

A personal, political "obituary" on Volker Beck or: "I must needs now go."

Guest commentary by Christian Meissner

Berlin (kath.net) Even in the Bible it says, "For they who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind." (Hosea 8,7). Volker Beck (Photo) is for me the prototype of a political reaper of the wind who has now been overtaken the storm.

Like no other in his party, he embodied the representation of the ideal, the self-righteous Old Left, who mercilessly portrayed others on the political spectrum of opinion in the strict focus of his higher moral certainty for the general public.

I have even seen it a few times: sorry, but I can't go into it here! Recently he saw me - our paths have crossed politically several times since 2003 - at the Kirchentag in Stuttgart last year during a visit of the members of Alliance 90 / The Greens, after which he then turned mercilessly with piercing eyes and straight in my direction, roared into the microphone and blustered, "idiots" and "imbeciles of the CDU." . This cold ran down my back.

From my own view I can only say: that is the "fair and respectful treatment", that Claudia Roth now asks for him (rightly), is something he has rarely granted to political opponents, least of all the representatives CDU or CSU.

And the "malice" which was poured out for many years on others, is still taken to heart. That's life! It means we should not pour "malice" over him. Has that now anyone actually done?

The fact that the Greens are just now suddenly rediscovering the virtues of civic decency, which they themselves have not infrequently violated in political discourse, in my opinion, speaks for itself.

Many of Beck's downright hateful and verbal attacks in the characteristic style of the Grand Inquisitor on political dissidents - quite a good party tradition - went directly to the person and not the argument or the thing.

At the latest, in 2013 he personally should have - considering the priggish standards that he uses to measure others - suffered much more significant consequences because of a hushed up and ultimately mendacious statement in his very own essay in the anthology "The Pedosexual Complex" (1988).

Conclusion: With respect to his person, Christian compassion and all understanding are now, indeed, appropriate. One can only wish that he gets away from this terrible addiction.

But as far as his so-called political "merits" (C. Roth), and above all, the manner of his "careful", political discourse, I say without "malice", but from deepest political convictions with Michael Kretschmer: "Good riddance" Christian Meissner is the national director of the Protestant working Group of the CDU / CSU (EAK) . archive photo Volker Beck: (c) Wikipedia / Mathias Schindler. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Translation: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Disgraced Chaoqui Attacks Cardinal Pell

Edit: we've felt that Cardinal George Pell was out of place in the C9 and due to be chased out of Rome. It's astonishing that one who is in as much trouble as the scandalous Chaoqui should feel emboldened to attack the Cardinal.

Rome: A controversial figure at the centre of Rome's "Vatileaks 2.0" scandal claims Cardinal George Pell influenced and hurried the work of a Vatican reform commission to secure himself a job in the Holy See, far from the royal commission dogging the church in Australia.

However the cardinal has denied that he sought the job in order to insulate himself from fallout of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

http://m.smh.com.au/world/vatican-critic-francesca-chaouqui-has-harsh-words-for-cardinal-pell-20160304-gnatav.html

CMTV: What's Really Going on with Cardinal Dolan's Archdiocese

Edit: basically, this priest is affirming that there is an aberrosexual mafia that runs the diocese with the knowledge of Cardinal Dolan.  The priest, very frankly interviewed below,  implicates Cardinal Edward O'Brien as being part of the cabal where he is known as the "master":  

Michael: He was rector of the seminary. 

Bob: He was the rector of the seminary, and in fact these relationships of the people we've been talking about here, which would be Peter Miqueli, Sorgie, Mustaciuolo, Weber, and in fact Cdl. O'Brien, these were all relationships that were forged back in the 1980s at Dunwoodie in St. Joseph Seminary. In fact, it might be shocking to hear, but these men regularly had conversations that I was privy to where they jokingly and openly recollected masochistic activity and parties and things that they did back in the seminary. 

Michael: You were in the presence, you were personally in the presence of these people as they were recounting stories of sexual activities with each other while they were in seminary? 

Bob: Yes, yes. 

Michael: You heard that personally? 

Bob: Yes, yes. The presence of Cdl. O'Brien was not there, but they were all talking of him, in fact, Cdl. O'Brien was referred to as the "master." He was the "master." Whatever that meant, only they know.

See the full transcript. 

Hungarian Pilgrimage to the Church of Our Lady of Csikshomlyo -- 250,000 Participants

Hungarian Pilgrimage to Szekerland

(Budapest) 250,000 people took part in 2015 in the great pilgrimage to Csikshomlyo in Szeklerland in Romania from Hungary. The pilgrimage to the Marian church dates back to an ancient vow that, following years of prohibition, has experienced a new and unimagined rejuvenation after the collapse of communism. Although Poles, Slovaks and Czechs and as well as leaders of eastern Central Europe, take part in the pilgrimage alongside Hungarians, to Szeklerland, the major event is virtually unknown in the West.

The Szekler, a Hungarian minority in Romania

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Who in the German (Or anywhere else for that matter) speaking world knows the place Székelyudvarhely (German Oderhellen, Romanian Odorheiu Secuiesc)? To the Hungarians, however,  the location is not unknown, it is the historical center of Székely Land. Thus it is inhabited by a Hungarian minority in part of Transylvania which is now part of Romania.There are different theories about the exact origin of the Szeklers, which has historical and political origins. The most likely and the thesis most often represented by the Hungarians themselves  is that they were settled by the Hungarian kings for border security since the end of the late Middle Ages, as the Saxons were settled in the 12th century  near the Szeklers. Traces of  Szekler self-government can be traced back, in any case, to the 12th century.

Annual pilgrimage goes back to a vow of 1567

The Church of Csikshomlyo (Sumuleu)

The Hungarians also  know still much better, however, that Csikshomlyo (German Schlomenberg), which is the destination of a the great Hungarian pilgrimage  every year at Pentecost. In addition to the historical significance of the pilgrimage, it is marked by a national commitment that emphasizes a unity between the Christian faith and the Hungarian nation. Originally, therefore, it emerged as a pilgrimage of Szekler, but it is now regarded as a pilgrimage of all Hungary.

The pilgrimage goes back to a vow of a Catholic Szekler that promised the Virgin Mary in 1567 the Virgin Mary promised an annual pilgrimage to her for a happy outcome of a battle at Csiksomlyo against the army of the Protestant princes. Catholics were led into battle by a priest.

The Church of Csiksomlyo goes at least back to the year 1444, when Pope Eugene IV. Issued a circular calling Christendom to support the Franciscans in the construction of the church. He granted a special blessing for pilgrimages to the Marian site. However, there is an older predecessor, perhaps a chapel, for  the special devotion of the Szekler to Our Lady of Csiksomlyo. Already in 1345 it was said by the Szekler of the Tartars, that they were defeated by the Blessed Mother.  The Franciscan monastery associated with the sanctuary became a spiritual center of the Hungarian nation.

Thanks for a miraculous victory

Csikshomlyo (Stich 1856), left the church with the Franciscan monastery, above the Chapel of St. Anthony 

In 1567 the elected Hungarian King Johann II. (John Sigismund Zápolya)., originally himself a Catholic, was initially Lutheran,  then became Calvinist and then become shortly before his death Unitarian, wanted to force the Szekler to Protestantism. Zápoľský, like his father John I, was a vassal of the Ottoman Sultan. Hungary was already a Turkish pashalik. The true Lords in Budapest were the Turks. Transylvania, however, was still a free and independent, Hungarian principality.

On the Saturday before Pentecost in 1567, Johann II. marched with an army into action against the territory of the Catholic Szekler. The Catholic priest Stefan assembled the Catholics in Csikshomlyo. While the men fought in the battle, women, children and the old prayed before the image of the Virgin and Child in the old church from the early 16th century.

As a result of the defeat,  Johann II. granted in 1568 at the meeting of Torda, the decree which allowed different Christian denominations in Transylvania. That same year, the first thanksgiving pilgrimage took place for the miraculous victory in the previous year.

The Marian Statue survived pillaging Turks unscathed

The statue of Mary with baby Jesus, beneath God  the Father

In the 17th century the Turks and Tatars invaded Transylvania, massacred who resisted and abducted thousands into slavery. The churches and monasteries were burned   down. Even to Csikshomlyo they advanced and set the sanctuary on fire, but the statue of Mary with baby Jesus and the altar in the chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua above the Sanctuary, survived the fire unscathed.

Pilgrimages to the Marian church between Kis-Shomlyo and Nagy-Shomlyo (Kleinschomlen and Großschomlen) received a big boost.

After the First World War and the Treaty of Trianon, in which areas inhabited by a majority of Magyars  of the ancient kingdom of Hungary were swallowed up by the newly established successor states of Austria-Hungary , the pilgrimage to Csikshomlyo took on a new meaning for Szekler as a spiritual refuge, as a source of identity. Transylvania with Székelyföld has belonged to Romania  since 1920.

Pilgrimage banned under communist rule 40 years

Back of the covered altar

After the Second World War, Soviet-occupied Romania, was taken over by Communist Party rule. During the Soviet dictatorship, the annual pilgrimage to Csikshomlyo with the traditional procession was forbidden. On a small scale, the tradition was continued by the Szekler Catholics, however.

With the fall of the Ceauşescu regime and the end of communist rule, the pilgrimage was resumed in 1990.  Since then, it has developed into a pilgrimage of all Magyars. Thus, it was not only the Szekler  pilgrimaging to the mountain saddle, but Magyars from across  the border from all Hungarian regions. In the form of a star pilgrimage they come from all over the Hungarian-speaking area, as well as many Hungarians abroad.

Because of the large number of pilgrims, the church became too small.  In1993 a covered altar was built several hundred meters away from the church under the open sky.

The three crosses on Tolvajos - 250,000 pilgrims

The three crosses on the Tolvajos

Under the summit of Tolvajos, there are three large crosses with three years. 896 recalls the year of arrival of the Hungarians, 1442 the original date for the start of the pilgrimage to Csikshomlyo and 1896 to the year of birth of Aron Marton, who during the communist dictatorship was Hungarian Roman Catholic bishop of Alba Iulia , (Gyulafehérvár, in German originally Weissenburg, since 18th century Karlsburg). Bishop Marton is honored for his commitment to the Jews in World War II as Yad Vashem or "Righteous", was immediately arrested after the Communist takeover as an "enemy of the people."  After seven years of jail, he immediately took up service as a bishop again, earning him another eleven years of exile. By Western mediation,  the regime agreed that he could take part in the Second Vatican Council in Rome. Marton declined, however, because he feared that the Romanian government would refuse him right of   return. In 1967 his release was secured by  the mediation of the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Franz König and the Austrian Embassy. The bishop at first remained under police surveillance. Because believers did not trust the communist authorities,  a "small bodyguard" was formed among the Szekler, which accompanied the bishop until his death in 1980

In 2015, 250,000 Hungarians took part in the pilgrimage, which is also a protest against the demarcation of Trianon. The usual procession to the church which until 1993 could not be concluded, happily, because of the increasingly large crowd. Many pilgrims carry along birch branches decorated with church banners and flags of the Hungarian and Székely Land. At  the head of the procession, the pilgrims from the Szekler city of Gyergyószentmiklós (Romanian Gheorgheni, German Niklasmarkt). The special symbol of the pilgrimage is the Labarum , the ensign of the Roman army, the Emperor Constantine the Great before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, a cross and the monogram of Jesus. Under this sign, He achieved victory. The following year, the Edict of Milan was issued, with the lifting of the ban of Christianity and the persecution was discontinued.

The Symbol of Constantine the Great's Army and the Csángós

2015 pilgrimage 250,000 Hungary to Csikshomlyo

The standard at 36kg is respectively supported by the two best students of the local Catholic school. If the Szekler are hardly known to  non-Hungarians,   the Csángós  are completely unknown. They form the end  of the reduced procession. The Csángós or Tschangonen are a Hungarian minority closely related to the Szeklers, whose historic settlement area is located on the eastern slope of the Carpathians. Their territory never belonged to a Hungarian state, but was ruled by a Moldovan, Romanian prince. Finally they sing their hymn, "Thou art all fair, Maria," in reference to one of the oldest Marian prayers, the Tota pulchra es Maria, which is from the 4th century and consists of the Old Testament verses that refer to the Virgin Mary,

The pilgrimages of recent years have each had a motto, for example, in 2003 "Do whatever he says"; 2004 "Woman, behold thy son, and you, behold your mother!"; 2005 "Stay with us Lord"; 2013 "Blessed, because you have believed"; 2014 "Blessed is the womb that bore you"; 2015 "Under your protection we flee".

In 2008 a group of pilgrims broke off from the  pilgrimage to the Austrian Marian shrine of Mariazell and walked 1400 kilometers on foot to Csikshomlyo in order to participate at Pentecost in the pilgrimage.

For the first time in 2008 a special train was launched from Budapest to bring the pilgrims to Szeklerland. In 2010, there were already two pilgrimage trains. Since 2012, three pilgrimage trains leave from Budapest, the "Szekely Gyors,"  "Csiksomlyo Express," and the "Marian Train." 

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Wikicommons
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Priests With Wives Yes, But As Brother and Sister

Edit: people who want to return to the Ancient Church don't realize what they're asking for.  It was more severe and daunting than most of them know. Here is Magister:

This was the discipline in effect during the first centuries of the Church. From Mexico a missionary is re-proposing it for today as well. He has written about it in a book that he sent to the pope, together with a letter 

by Sandro Magister

ROME, March 1, 2016 – Those who were expecting from Pope Francis, during his journey to Mexico, signals of “openness” to the ordination of married priests have been disappointed.

Curiously, these expectations were the strongest among bishops, priests, and faithful of German nationality and of the German tongue, as well as in one Austrian bishop stationed in the Amazon:

> Married Priests. The Germany-Brazil Axis

But not in Mexico. Not only are those in favor of a married clergy in the minority there: a modest 31 percent according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center.

But even in the diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, in Chiapas, viewed by many as the ideal terrain for the start of the experiment, with its almost 400 married deacons, Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel pledges that for a number of years “the married deacons have no longer made it known to me that they aspire to a married priesthood”:

http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351245?eng=y

"Celebrity" Priest Attacks Hollywood Hypocrisy on Gossip Magazine

Edit: whatever one thinks of Father Robert Sirico, he's right about this.  Of course, the entertainment industry has a huge problem with sex abuse that is covered up by a modern cabal of secrecy.  The Boston Globe, among others, also celebrates sexual predators like Allen Ginsberg and Harvey Milk. The Boston daily is full of favorable, if not laudatory pieces on Allen Ginsberg and others of his criminal ilk.

 I don't know Boston Globe and Hollywood, perhaps you should have done some fact checking before you gave positive reviews?

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2008/11/23/i_wanted_evidence_of_these_lives_that_were_cut_short/

Article:

Father Robert Sirico -- a celebrity [sic]  in his own right for his political and cultural commentary -- eviscerated the Academy for embracing "Spotlight" while it celebrated a child molester in its own ranks.

We got the Catholic Priest -- who writes for the NY Times -- and asked about the church scandal that became the centerpiece of the movie.  

You gotta hear his answer ... and he's right. Roman Polanski won Best Director in 2003 for "The Pianist," the same time The Boston Globe was breaking the molestation stories.

http://m.tmz.com/#article/2016/03/02/spotlight-roman-polanski-oscar-father-robert-sirico/

Help Saint Benedict Center Find Priest

Saint Benedict Center is once again actively seeking out a full-time priest. The cleric who was here on an experimental basis for the last six months has returned to his home Diocese. We are looking for another priest to fill the role as soon as possible.

As we are close to Holy Week, a temporary fill in would be welcome.

Here in southern New Hampshire are a small group of religious brothers, sisters, and traditional Catholic lay faithful (200+ on Sundays). We have a small school, too, and do some publishing, such as this web site.

Interested priests who are able to offer the traditional Latin Massare asked to call or send inquiries to Brother André Marie:

• Email: bam [at] catholicism [dot] org
• Office: 603-239-6485
• Mobile: 603-762-2148

Help spread the word on Twitter; retweet this:

 

Prayers to Find a Priest

O Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, please speedily send us a priest who will serve our sacramental needs in accordance with the Holy Will of God, and who will be a boon to the apostolate of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Center, our School, and all our families.

Let us Pray

O God, Who didst wondrously inflame blessed John, Thy Confessor, to promote the public worship of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and through him didst will to found new religious families in Thy Church: grant, we beseech Thee, that we who venerate his merits may also be taught by the example of his virtues, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. (Oration from the Feast of St. John Eudes: August 19)

• Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us!
• Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for us!
• Saint John Eudes, Pray for us!

Note: The religious are offering these prayers in our houses along with our regular spiritual exercises. We ask individuals and families to join us in these prayers. Uniting them, for instance, to the family Rosary would be an excellent idea.

Last Supper to be Omitted From the Papal Celebrations?

(Rome) Pope Francis is not going to celebrate Mass on Holy Thursday,2016, the Last Supper of the Lord in the Lateran Basilica, the Church of the Bishop of Rome and the "mother of all churches", but at an as yet unknown location.

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The Office for Liturgical Celebrations of the Pope yesterday released the calendar of papal celebrations till  White Sunday. On Maundy Thursday, which is reserved for a 9:30 am Chrism Mass in St Peter's. Yet the Missa in Cena Domini is found neither on the official website of the Holy See nor on the site of Vatican Information Service (VIS).  Neither does  the first day of the Paschal Triduum appear in today's Osservatore Romano on (Issue 29 February / March 1), in which the calendar of papal celebrations has also been published. It just seems as though Holy Thursday would have disappeared with the Last Supper from the papal celebrations.

Of course this is not so. The omission rather points out that Pope Francis will celebrate Holy Thursday, as in the past three years, behind closed doors.

Sacraments fall behind footwashing

The establishment of the sacrament (priesthood) and the Sacrament (Eucharist) occur once again behind the gesture of the washing of the feet. The particular coupling of the solemn liturgy of the Episcopal Church of the Diocese will be omitted in favor of a visit in prison (2013 and 2015) or a hostel for the disabled (2014).

The pope not only receives understanding for his visit of prisons, elderly and disabled homes  but praise. He thus sets into practice what he asks of all, to overcome the throwaway mentality and to avoid any exclusion of human beings. Critics reproach the pope for this, since he can visit these facilities and institutions at any time, but during  Holy Thursday, the liturgy is celebrated in a single evening of the liturgical year and indeed is an expression of the celebration of the bishop with his congregation. The celebration is therefore linked to the Episcopal Church and of paramount importance to the liturgy for the Church.

Because of his "exit" (Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña)  Pope Francis has reaped some criticism in traditional circles in the past years. Conservative Catholics dare not criticize the Pope and progressive Catholics are enthusiastic about any deviation from the tradition.

Liturgical calendar 2016 without Last Supper

A primary criticism that the pope is "cut off" without any understandable reason fromm the faithful of his diocese and the universal Church. The washing of feet is an important indication of the humility and the practice of charity. But it is not understood as the most important element of the Holy Thursday liturgy, but only in connection with the establishment of the sacraments. Although the reasoning underlying it means implicitly to  serve all, but primarily for those who are  brothers in faith.

Absence of the diocesan church is an "anomaly"

There was criticism in recent years also that Francis has washed the feet not only men and women, but also members of other religions. "The washing of the feet gives the impression of an action guide for community involvement. But that would be a completely wrong impression. Properly understood, Peter, the Pope, here as servus servorum , appears as servant of the servants of God, or vassal of the vassals of God, as it was earlier. But by the displacement of the more important elements of the Holy Thursday liturgy, everything gets a bitter and inadequate connotation," says the Catholic site Dotta ignoranza, about the  "dubious liturgical liberties of the Pope ".

"Under Francis, the significant  Holy Thursday liturgy has never been publicly celebrated by the Pope. Now he avoids this for the fourth time in a row. The Holy Thursday liturgy seems to have become invisible under him," said Messa in Latino .

To shift to some other church than the episcopal church, in some chapel, to emphasize the connection with the community or with people in a special situation is commendable and understandable, but  in the course of the three holy days is "an anomaly," says Dotta ignoranza . A prison, a nursing home, a home for the disabled  can also be visited  between the Chrism Mass and the Pope's Missa in Cena Domini. "At this time it would not be missed. Speaking of which, perhaps the Pope could visit a life center or antenatal clinic of the pro-life movement in this year, which struggle daily for the lives of unborn children and resist the 'throwaway culture.' We would immediately wish for, however, even then, please, before the Holy Thursday liturgy."

Text. Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL / Osservatore Romano (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Pope Says Arab Invasion is Real

Edit: Here's the excerpt from Rorate:

"The only continent that can bring about a certain unity to the world is Europe," the Pope adds. "China has perhaps a more ancient, deeper, culture. But only Europe has a vocation towards universality and service." ... "If Europe wants to rejuvenate, it is necessary for it to find anew its cultural roots. Of all Western countries, the European roots are the strongest and deepest. By the way of colonization, these roots even reached the New World. But, by forgetting its history, Europe weakens itself. It is then that it risks becoming an empty place."

[La Vie:] Europe, an empty place? The expression is strong. ... Because in the history of civilizations, emptiness always calls fullness to itself. Incidentally, the Pope becomes clinical [in his diagnosis]:

"We can speak today of an Arab invasion. It is a social fact." ... "How many invasions Europe has known throughout its history! It has always known how to overcome itself, moving forward to find itself as if made greater by the exchange between cultures."

Archbishop Blase Cupich Celebrates Year of the Monkey

Edit: if they're not launching speed skaters down ramps anchored to the door of cathedrals, they're worshiping pagan deities, all in the name of diversity.  It's just another day in AmChurch, that's all. What an insult to the Chinese martyrs!

On February 21, 2016, Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich went to Chinatown's St. Therese Chinese Catholic Church to celebrate the Chinese New Year. According to the Chinese calendar, 2016 is the year of the monkey. 

Following Chinese pagan traditions, the lion and dragon dances at the New Year's eve celebration are meant to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck for the future year. Above and below first row, we see Cupich inside the church blessing a monster representing the lion.  

In the second row, the Chicago Archbishop concelebrates a Mass on an altar with several pagan symbols. The dragon, which dominates the front of the altar, represents good luck; the two black and gold labyrinths set on each end of the altar symbolize the flow of cosmic forces that one must try to balance but always ends in the same way: a shadowy life in the underworld. The incense burner at the side of the altar is to offer appeasement for the suffering souls of the ancestors – a pagan animist practice.

Link ...

Praise for the Enemy: Ossevatore Romano Heaps Praise on Anti-CatholicNewspaper

Edit: some  things that don't make the coverage on this issue: 

1. The sexual proclivities of the offenders. The overwhelming majority of offenders are everybody's current favorite victim class.

2. The political and religious inclination of the offenders. (Most are not orthodox to begin with.) 

3. Media pets in the hierarchy are actually protected or their complicity in sexual abuse is ignored or downplayed: see Pope Francis' record in Buenos Aires, it's not pretty, or Cardinal Mahony's handling of sexual abuse, which did lead to his resignation at 75, but he by no means gets the same lurid coverage that the Boston  Globe is unjustly praised for attacking the bumbling but mostly Pro-Life Cardinal Law.

4. The Boston Globe has been an anti-Catholic and anti-Irish paper from the beginning, no surprise that it's following the lead of similarly leftist papers like La Stampa  (which has its own hit-man in Andrea Tornielli) by spawning Crux with its own Old Liberal ecclesiastical perspective.

Old Liberals love the abuse crisis, because it allows them to settle scores with orthodox or neoconservative clergy by employing the weapons of popular opinion, which as we've seen with this pope especially, are very important in the way he governs his Church.

What's especially sickening is to see such uncritical and cowardly praise for Boston Globe which has confused and muddled the situation more than anything else, leading to the public perception that sexual abuse is first and foremost, a Catholic problem when all too many of the perpetrators, even where they wear cassocks, are no more Catholic than the evil and luxurious Cardinal Marx.

[Guardian] The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, has praised the 2016 best picture Oscar winner Spotlight for its convincing attempt to show abuse and cover-ups in the Catholic church. 

The newspaper published a front-page editorial on Monday hailing Tom McCarthy’s film and calling it “not anti-Catholic”. The editorial said Spotlight, which centres on the work of a group of Boston Globe reporters to uncover abuse by Roman Catholic priests, faithfully presented the church’s attempts to defend itself in the face of “horrendous realities”.

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“Not all monsters wear cassocks. Paedophilia [Most of them, however, are aberrosexuals, others are from Hollywood itself and quite a few wear yarmulkes.] does not necessarily arise from the vow of chastity,” wrote the editorial’s author, Lucetta Scaraffia. “However, it has become clear that in the Church some are more preoccupied with the image of the institution than of the seriousness of the act.”

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/mar/01/vatican-newspaper-spotlight-oscars-best-picture

Now This:

How would Osservatore Romano be counted upon to know an anti-Catholic film when it itself is demonstrably anti-Catholic? How much does Hollywood pay them to promote their films?

http://www.osservatoreromano.va/en/news/its-not-anti-catholic-film

Australian Military Bishop Cleared of Charges

[ABC] The former head of the Australian Defence Force's Catholic diocese is yet to decide if he will resume his role in the military, after being cleared of child sex allegations.

Bishop Max Davis was on trial last week charged with six counts of being grossly indecent with boys at St Benedict's College in New Norcia between 1969 and 1972.

A jury found the 70-year-old not guilty on all charges, after about four hours of deliberation.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-16/adf-bishop-max-davis-child-sex-cleared-future-military/7173302

Vatileaks 2: Pope Francis Draws a Line Under it with "Act of Mercy"

Vatileaks 2: Five defendants before the Vatican Court  (Vallejo Balda, Chaouqui, Fittipaldi, Nuzzi)

(Rome) Pope Francis wants to end the scandal of Vatileaks 2 "by a great act of mercy". This was reported by the Catholic Spanish press at InfoVaticana who cite, "sources at the State Secretariat."

"This is to prevent media fire will return again on corruption and Vatican finances again," said the press service.

Last October 31st the Spanish prelate, Lucio Vallejo Balda, was arrested by the Vatican Gendarmerie near Florence. Since then, he has been in Vatican in custody. Italian PR woman Francesca Chaouqui was arrested at the same time. After she had agreed to cooperate with the investigating authorities, Chaouqui was released after several days of detention. This generosity had to do with her pregnancy, but also with the Italian judiciary, whose investigation of Chaouqui, her husband and some public figures of Italy are ongoing in several other cases. Incarceration in the Vatican would have obstructed justice in Italy.

Two books, two scandals, different thrust

The scandal is related to the publication of two books that have been presented simultaneously by Italian investigative journalists. These are the books Avarizia by Emiliano Fittipaldi and Via Crucis by Gianluigi Nuzzi.

Nuzzi was a connected with the first Vatileaks scandal against Benedict XVI.  Although the German Pope was a victim of the scandal, the leading mass media directed the scandal against him and called for his resignation.

Such things did not happen under Pope Francis. Nuzzi even wrote his book, which triggered  Vatileaks 1  against the reigning Benedict XVI., while he has protested several times now that his new book is in support of Pope Francis and "reform".

Never the less it seems Pope Francis wants to put an end to the negative headlines associated with Vatileaks. 2

Five defendants are in the Vatican in court

The two journalists, Valleja Balda, his secretary and Chaouqui have to stand trial in the same case before a Vatican court. It is about abuse of power, breach of the employment relationship and the obligation of secrecy and illegal disclosure of documents.

The opportunity for a "generous act of charity" can drawn a line under the scandal to serve  the Holy Year of Charity and  approaching Easter, says InfoVaticana .

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: InfoVaticana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

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What Dear Pope Francis Thinks of the Mass

Edit: this from Rorate from the book we tried to tell you about earlier. Now it's in English. Not very surprising, I know: