Henry Sire Fights Back Against “Illegal” Dismissal

(Rome) Henry Sire, the British historian and author of the book "The Dictator Pope," was expelled from the Sovereign Order of Malta. The Briton wants to defend against this.

Marcantonio Colonna 

The decision was already in the air since Sire became known as the author of the book in the Spring. He himself had his identity revealed through the publisher of the English edition. The original edition in Italian was published under the pseudonym Marcantonio Colonna (for the Colonna family see here). For several months, there had been puzzlement about who was hiding behind this name. Some members of the Papal Entourage went mad with rage "hunting" for the author. A discussion on the contents of the book, however, has been avoided so far.

The core of the book is the reconstruction of the strategy of the inner-Church secret circle of St. Gallen, better known as the "Mafia of St. Gallen", to organize the ascent of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the chair of Peter. Another focus is the "climate of fear" that Pope Francis created at the Roman Curia to break any resistance to his agenda.

The pseudonym had also been carefully chosen by the Catholic aristocrat and historian. Marcantonio Colonna was the commander of the papal troops in the naval battle of Lepanto. The Catholic troops and sailors were victorious and were able to break Turkish supremacy to sea. The victory was the first step in repelling the Turkish advance into Europe. Supreme Commander in the battle was Juan d'Austria, a son of Emperor Charles V.

The Sovereign Order of Malta and its submission

The Order of Malta, to whom Sire devoted a chapter of his book because Pope Francis had forced the reigning prince and grandmaster, Fra Matthew Festing, to resign and suspended the historian's membership.

Henry Sire, author of "The Dictator Pope"

At the same time a disciplinary commission was established and an exclusion procedure against the author was initiated. Sire did not take any of his statements contained in the book and documented. Rather, additional translations have been published since the suspension, including a German edition. At Katholisches.info, Sire published the text he wrote on the occasion of the publication of the German edition.

The new reigning prince and grandmaster, Fra Giacomo Dalla Torre, now completed the expulsion from the time-honored order of hospitals and knights, which will soon celebrate its thousandth anniversary. Critics such as Henry Sire, see the sovereignty of the Order as an independent subject of international law endangered by the ruthless and arbitrary actions of Pope Francis, as he had shown in the disempowerment of the legitimate Grand Master.

For the background of the deposition of Grand Master Festing see:

Verdict in case Boeselager confirms the arbitrary dismissal of Grandmaster Festing - a coup took place in the Order

The Order of Malta and the 30 million Swiss francs

Boeselager's Geneva Millions: Grand Master Festing's report to the prosecutor. Was he therefore overthrown?

The expulsion from the Order was justified by the fact that the book Sires to Pope Francis was "insulting and disrespectful". 

The behavior of the British historian in this context is considered "incompatible with membership in the Order".

Book a "necessary wake-up call"

Henry Sire is fighting against his exclusion, which is why he entrusted a law firm to introduce his disciplinary proceeding.

In a statement, he described the expulsion as "illegal" because the proceedings violated the applicable principles of the Order of Malta law. He also disagreed with the assertion of the current administration that he had been summoned to a hearing but had not appeared. That does not correspond to the facts. There had been an exchange of correspondence, but he was "never" summoned to a hearing. Also, witnesses have never been named or heard. [Some things never change.]

Sire sees in his book a "necessary wake-up call" and expresses the hope that "The Dictator Pope" will prevent the Cardinals from "making the same mistake in the next conclave". He wrote the book "for the good of the Church, in defense of the faith, and in obedience to his duty as a Christian to testify to the truth."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: MiL / Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Benedict XVI Warns of the Destruction of the Legal Concept

Benedict XVI. warns of a "proliferation of rights"

(Rome) Benedict XVI. Warns against a dubious understanding of law and asks to speak about the "problem of 'proliferation of laws' and the dangers of 'destroying the legal concept'.”

"It is a topical and fundamental question to protect the basis of the coexistence of the human family." Thus, it deserves a deep and systematic reflection, said Benedict XVI. in a message to Father Federico Lombardi SJ, the former Vatican spokesman and today's President of the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger Benedict XVI.

The message was transmitted by Benedict XVI. on the occasion of the international conference "Fundamental Rights and Conflicts Among Rights" held today and tomorrow at the Roman University LUMSA.

Following the meeting, this year's Ratzinger Prize will be awarded by Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican on 17 November.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: LUMSA / Ratzinger Foundation (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Edit: winner of the Benedict Prize is an architectural genius. Here is his work. 

AMDG

Catholic Church of England and Wales Commemorate “Transgender Remembrance Day”

Edit: while evil clergy like Minneapolis’ own Archbishop Hebda permits the Minneapolis Gay Men’s Choris  which the parish assures us is “kid friendly”, the Bishops of England and Wales Remember Transgender degeneracy.  As Paul Wood  an author living in Romania notes:

Today is the feast of my patron saint, St. Edmund, King and Martyr, the King of East Anglia and English Catholic hero who was martyred in 869 at the hands of infidels invading England - from Sweden. In 689 and for many centuries thereafter the Catholic Church took a strong line against invasions and infidel migrants.

I discovered today that the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have a collective Twitter account and prefer, rather than tweet about St. Edmund or other saints, to tweet about a secular feast called the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The first comments on their Lordships’ tweet:

One could imagine swift reprisals or a glare of disapproval from the Merciful One if there were Catholic events happening.

AMDG

Viganò Has Been Successfully Sued by Brother

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò brought Pope Francis into grave distress. Since then, the Vatican diplomat has been in the spotlight. This also brought a lawsuit with his brother to the public.

(Rome) The matter would have gone unnoticed by the public, but currently the spotlight is on the former nuncio in the US, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò - especially those of his opponents, since the end of August with a dossier has caused Pope Francis dissstress in the sexual abuse scandal.

In the raging war since then, on smaller and larger fronts, a multi-faceted exchange of blows is taking place. This includes a message distributed today by the Italian press agency ANSA, which dates back to 9 October.

At that time, a single judge in Milan ruled in the first instance that Archbishop Viganò must pay his biological brother Lorenzo Viganò, who is also a priest, 1.8 million Euros. The reason is an inheritance dispute between the two brothers. The brother of the former top diplomat of the Vatican feels he is owed a part of his father's inheritance. The judge in Milan proved him right.

In total, there are six siblings, among which the inheritance of the father was divided. The other four siblings, unaffected by the lawsuit, issued a public statement in 2013 defending Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and protecting him from the attacks by his brother Lorenzo. However, he continued his lawsuit.

Archbishop Viganò manages the paternal inheritance, which in 2010 consisted of seven million euros in cash and 20 million euros in real estate. According to Judge Susanna Terni, Archbishop Viganò has to pay his brother Lorenzo a "compensation payment" of 1.8 million euros.

The judgment is not final.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Picture: MiL

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Saintly Don Minutella Excommunicated

Edit: so much for freedom of conscience.

In Italy, a Catholic priest in Sicily was excommunicated for describing Pope Francis as an anti-pope. According to the priest, he has also had supernatural encounters with angels, saints and Our Lady.

Rome (kath.net) In Italy, a Catholic priest in Sicily was excommunicated for describing Pope Francis as an anti-pope. According to the priest, he has also had supernatural encounters with angels, saints and Our Lady. The Archdiocese of Monreale announced on Tuesday that Father Alessandro Minutella was excommunicated for spreading heresies. Already in 2015, the competent bishop, Archbishop Michele Pennisi, warned that believers who believed the priest were in grave danger of salvation. The priest recently criticized Francis because he opened the reception of [sacrilegious] Communion also for divorced remarried.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Italian Bishops Attacking Summorum Pontificum

Benedict XVI: Some Italian bishops attack Summorum Pontificum and want to erase his pontificate.

(Rome) At the autumn plenary assembly of the Italian Bishops' Conference an attempt was made to torpedo the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of Benedict XVI. This was reported by the traditional website Messa in Latino.

In the two Romance states bordering on the Mediterranean, Spain and Italy, there is still an understanding of close ties with Rome. It is true that in these countries, especially Spain, there were far greater concerns about the liturgical reform of 1969-70 than in the German-speaking world. 6,000 Spanish priests asked the Pope for a dispensation from the liturgical reform and permission to continue celebrating in the traditional form of the Roman rite. As Pope Paul VI.  uninterrupted, continued the liturgical reform and rejected the request, the clergy submitted obediently. Since then, tradition in these countries has found it particularly difficult to gain a foothold. Obvious "deviations" are not desired. So far in a condensed and much shortened form the historical context.

Archbishop Radaelli's attack

Archbishop Carlo Roberto Maria Radaelli of Gorizia, a canon lawyer trained at the Gregoriana, allegedly said in the plenary session of the bishops, Pope Paul VI. had abolished the Missal Romanum of Pope John XXIII. of 1962, according to which the Ecclesia Dei communities celebrate. This is the opposite of what Pope Benedict XVI. stated in the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum  and made it the law of the universal Church.

According to Radaelli, therefore, the legal premises were wrong, among those enacted by Benedict XVI. in Summorum Pontificum. The motu proprio is therefore null and void as far as the alleged continuity is concerned, that is, the continued existence of the traditional rite in the form of 1962. Summorum Pontificum was a legal nonsense and therefore the "Tridentine" liturgy was not restored legitimately. In short: According to Archbishop Radaelli, the motu proprio has no legal validity, which is why there is no "freeing" of the traditional rite, as Benedict XVI. wanted and ordered.

The Archbishop of Gorizia's remarks are the most far-reaching attack on the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum since Pope Benedict XVI's unexpected resignation. The German writer Martin Mosebach formulated the tough verdict in the spring of 2013: if anything at all about the pontificate of Benedict XVI. will remain, it will only be Summorum Pontificum. In other words, the attack on Summorum Pontificum wants the total annihilation of the pontificate of the eighth and for the time being, last German Pope.

Behind this is the desire of those bishops who are the most hostile to the traditional rite, ignoring requests from the faithful  for Mass locations, and even eliminating the Mass sites that have emerged since September 14, 2007.

The legal claims of Archbishop Radaelli can easily be refuted by reference to Paul VI.’ self-granted Indult. In the same way it can just as easily be proved that the continuity of the traditional rite was preserved, since it was always celebrated, that is, by no means abolished. Rather Radaelli's attack document the hostility that exists in parts of the Church against the traditional form of the Roman Rite and ultimately against Pope Benedict XVI. and his pontificate.

The secondaries

In addition to Radaelli, Luigi Girardi, the rector of the Institute for Pastoral Liturgy based at the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua, also spoke up. Andrea Grillo, the progressive house liturgist of Pope Francis, who attacked only in June 2018 Summorum Pontificum also teaches there. The institute is a center of the liturgical "aggiornamento" and thus postconciliar liturgical experiments and aberrations.

Girardi is convinced that from the pastoral point of view Summorum Pontificum is "harmful" because it contradicts the will of the Council Fathers. According to Girardi, these would have demanded a radical change of the Missal. The opposite can be inferred from the Council Constitution Sarosanctum Concilium, as to whether the necessary consent to this were given.

The attack against Summorum Pontificum may not have happened spontaneously, as an Apulian bishop whose name is not known spoke in the same vein, and also Bishop Franco Giulio Brambilla of Novara. Brambilla belonged in 1989 to the signatories of the Italian version of the Cologne Declaration against Pope John Paul II by the moral theologian Bernhard Häring (see also: Pope Francis and Bernhard Häring).

Both Radaelli and Brambilla were raised by Benedict XVI. to their respective episcopal chairs.

"The Excellencies" who "worry" about changing traditions such as the Gloria and the Lord's Prayer - such a decision was taken at the autumn meeting, even though no one from among the people would have asked or felt a need - "but do not waste time analyzing the true reasons for the crisis of faith,” says the traditional website Messa in Latino. The introdiction by Pope Benedict XVI., however, to change the translation of the words of consecration of per multis from "for all" to "for many" has not implemented by the Italian bishops until today. Of liturgical sensitivity, or even sensitivity to the sensitivity of traditional faithful, which should be expected in bishops is little felt by the hierarchy. Even the scandal of "horrible episodes of homosexual abuse and pederasty," has not moved the majority of the bishops and on the evils of clerical homosexuality there is nothing.

"The case of the Franciscans of the Immaculate and the hatred of the traditional form of the Roman rite is a clear example of a mad frenzy of shipwrecking, trying to overturn even the few seaworthy craft in the Church instead of climbing aboard or building more." says Messa in Latino.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Picture: MiL

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Man Declares Himself a Woman to Defend Pro-Life Position

WATCH: Australian Sen. Barry O'Sullivan declared himself a woman on Wednesday in Parliament, arguing that doing so would prevent him from being attacked over his stance on abortion.

A senator in Australia has created controversy following comments in which he “declared [his] gender” to be female in an attempt to shield himself from criticism over his stance on abortion.

National Party Sen. Barry O’Sullivan made the comments in Australian Parliament on Wednesday, saying he was tired of being attacked for his beliefs.

Read further...

AMDG

Israeli Government Confiscating Church Land — Council of Jerusalem Churches Threatens to Close Church of Holy Sepulcher

Edit: one of the most persuasive pieces of evidence pointing to the truth of the Catholic Church, for my part, is the pervasive and ancient hostility of the Synagogue to the will of God. Time and time again, they betrayed their covenant with the Lord, and time and time again, the Lord offered them relief from the just punishments they had received for their transgressions. Today is no different. The Jews have the opportunity to do penance and count themselves as true Christians. The pearl of great price!

[Middle East Monitor] The Council of Jerusalem Churches has achieved a new victory against the Israeli government, with an “unprecedented number of US churches condemn[ing] Israeli attempts to confiscate church lands,” a Council statement – a copy of which was sent to MEMO – said on Friday.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, who heads the Council of Jerusalem Churches has toured the USA and EU countries to lobby against an Israeli law – known as the “Properties Bill” – which was recently advanced in the Knesset to target church property.

Following the tour, a group of US churches sent a letter to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemning the Israeli move, the statement said. The US churches wrote in their letter: “The extent to which the Jerusalem Patriarchs and Heads of Churches consider this legislation to be an existential threat cannot be overstated”.

The letter added:

When the bill was first introduced this past February, the Heads of Churches protested by closing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in a historic act of solidarity. In response, eighteen religious leaders in the US, representing a diverse spectrum of Christianity, wrote to [US] President Trump expressing the need to protect the vulnerable Christian community in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Mr Secretary, all efforts must be made so that a similar crisis may be avoided.

Read further...

AMDG

Another Traditional Order Falls to the Bergoglian Commisar

Little Sisters of Mary: The next traditional order falls victim to the Commissar.

(Rome) The Vatican is destroying another traditional order: the Petites Sœurs de Marie, Mère du Rédempteur, the Little Sisters of Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer. Ninety percent of the sisters have asked for release from their vows because of the interference of Rome.

Founded in 1949 by Mother Marie de la Croix (Maria Nault), the Order of Women has four branches in the French dioceses of Laval and Toulouse. The sisters had been transferred to the Novus Ordo in the wake of the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council, but under Pope Benedict XVI. in 2012 they returned to the traditional Roman rite.

Order of the Sacred Heart and Crown of Thorns symbols

This is a step that has not been favored in some Church circles in France and especially in Rome. In the situation with the Franciscans of the Immaculate and the Priestly Fraternity of the Holy Apostles, the surprising resignation of Pope Benedict XVI., cleared the way to take action against these orders, which disrupted the neuronal "consensus.”

In 1989 the Order was canonically recognized by the then Bishop of Laval as an institute of diocesan right. The diocesan Bishop Thierry Scherrer, who had been in office since 2008, "appears to be bergoglianized," according to Riposte Catholique. Above all, he seemed offended by the idea of ​​penance, which is part of religious spirituality.

The Little Sisters of Mary experienced canonical visitations in 2016 and 2018 and were accused of "sectarian" tendencies. Such forms can certainly exist in the Church. However, the term is even more a cipher with which modernist church circles discredit faithful, religious communities, orders and prayer groups, in the better case smile and mock, in the worse case persecute.

The religious concerned describe the final report of the second visitation as "a caricature" of reality. He was unadulterated "prejudice".

The Mother Superior and the novice master were removed from the monasteries and exiled to remote places. In their place, Rome appointed three commissioners of "modern" orientation. The intervention of Rome took place at the request of the local bishop. According to the Vaticanist Marco Tosatti, it is also about "episcopal appetite" for the real estate property of the women's order. In any case, laymen of the diocese who are close to the Little Sisters suspect this.

Like the Franciscans of the Immaculate, the Little Sisters of Mary share the rediscovered love of tradition. "A love that awakens the worst instincts in the current leadership of the Holy See," Tosatti said.

The Little Sisters of Mary are active in the care of the elderly, they work in parishes, help the poor and live a spirituality that seems outdated today in the Vatican: the love of Eucharistic Adoration, the prayers of intercession, sacrifice and the Marian devotion.

Little sisters of Mary

Already in 2009, the local bishop tried to take action against the sisters. At that time Pope Benedict XVI. still ruled in Rome, which is why the attack was unsuccessful. 2016 was different. The bishop had slandered the sisters at the Order's congregation in Rome because of "suspicion of traditionalism". An accusation that has been meticulously and eagerly taken up by the papal court.

As with the Franciscans of the Immaculate, it out of

vengeance that a New World Order returned to the traditional rite, but was not released from the Order's Congregation and placed under the protection of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Nothing seems more to be more of an affront to the Congregation of Religous by Cardinal Braz de Aviz and Curial Archbishop Carballo than a "penetration" of tradition into the great stables of the new Catholic Orders.

And as against the Franciscans of the Immaculate, problems in the Order's administration were claimed and used as an excuse for intervening. The fact that 33 out of 38 women religious gave Mother Mother Superior an excellent judgment did not matter. The Order was "praying too much", the Order had to implement the "new theology of consecrated life," and similar accusations were made that reveal little substance, but all the more ideology.

The Congregation of the Order decreed and upholds the provisional administration, although the sisters are determined to defend themselves against "slander" as they say.

Unlike the Franciscans of Immaculate they were not denied the right of appeal. Cardinal Raymond Burke was Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the summer of 2013. Burke was deposed by Pope Francis at the end of 2014 and replaced by the Vatican diplomat and former "Foreign Minister" of the Holy See, Msgr. Mamberti. Unlike Cardinal Burke, Mamberti seems incapable or unwilling to act against unjust decisions of the pope. The appeal of the Little Sisters of Mary was rejected.

The nuns saw no other way but to go public. They announced that their order was placed on 17 September by Cardinal Prefect Braz de Aviz under provisional administration. "We do not accept that," said the religious women, who refer to the canon law possibility to be released from the Order.

34 of 39 nuns have sought this release because the Order is no longer the same due to the Roman Attack,  to which they wish to belong and to whom they have pledged by virtue of their vows.

"We are 34 out of 39 sisters who have requested the release from the Order’s Congregation. We do not make this sacrifice lightly: we wish to remain in communion with the Church, but we can show neither clearer nor more painfully that it is impossible for us, for reasons of conscience, to obey what we have been forced to do. "

In the diocese of Laval, there is a circle of friends to support the religious, which counts more than 3,000 people.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Picture: Association de Soutien aux Petites Soeurs de Marie Mère du Rédempteur

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Burke: “God’s Law is Higher Than Pontifical Secret”

November 9, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – God’s law comes before all else, Cardinal Raymond Burke said recently in regard to bombshell testimonies from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò on mishandling of clergy sexual abuse in the Church up to and including Pope Francis. Because of this, the former U.S. papal nuncio was obligated to come forward with what he knew, the cardinal said.

“The evils he had denounced are of the most serious nature,” said Cardinal Burke, and if true, then “he was obliged in conscience” to release the information as he did.

“The law of God in these matters is higher than, for example, the pontifical secret,” Burke said.

Viganò’s testimonies implicating Pope Francis and other high-level prelates in the Archbishop Theodore McCarrick cover-up have further rocked the Church in its abuse crisis, bringing the problem of homosexual clergy to the forefront. His testimonies have also shone light on the fact the abuse was not limited to minors, as many assume, and that widespread cover-up in the hierarchy fostered the abuse.

AMDG

The Vocation of Our Time

Youth Really Longs for a Call to Heroism From the Church

Roberto de Mattei: Rebuilding Christian society by living and professing one's vocation in the Church.

By Roberto de Mattei *

Everyone has their own vocation. What God desires of every soul is its vocation. It is the particular form in which providence wants everyone to work and unfold. Every human being has a special vocation, because he is different from God and loved by him. There are no two creatures in history that are identical. Neither are there absolutely identical vocations, because the will of God is different for every creature, and every creature called into eternity by Him out of nothing is unique.

Father Frederick William Faber dedicates one of his spiritual lectures to this theme: "Every human being has a special vocation" (Spirtual Conferences, Burn & Oates, London 1906, pp. 375-396). Each person has a special calling, different from that of any other person, because God loves each one of us with a special love.

What is this special love of God for me? Above all, God created me by giving my body and soul the essentials and qualities He pleases. God not only created me, but also keeps me alive by giving me the being that makes me live. If God stopped for a moment granting me being, I would fall into that nothingness He created me from. God, after creating us, does not abandon us to the arbitrariness of events.

"But with you all the hair on your head are all numbered" (Mt 10:30) "and yet no hair will be bowed to you" (Luke 21:18).

If the number and loss of my hair is numbered, then what should not be counted in my life?

In a word, God has staked out the laws of our physical, moral and intellectual development as well as our supernatural growth. How did he do that? Through some instruments. These instruments are the creatures we encounter in our lives. The Carthusian monk Dom François de Sales Pollien invites us in his famous book "Vive Dieu", also known as "Living Christianity" (published in Italy 2017 in a new edition by Edizioni Fiducia, Rome) to calculate the number of creatures who are worked into our existence.

Don Bosco

The physical influences of time, seasons, climate; the moral influences of relatives, teachers, friends, and enemies we have encountered; all the books we've read, all the words we've heard, and the things we've seen, as well as the situations in which we've found ourselves: nothing is due to chance, because chance does not exist. Everything has a meaning.

These influences, these movements are the work that God works on us. All these creatures, explains Dom Pollien, are moved by God and work on us what He wants them to do. Everything happens in a certain moment, acts at the right moment, brings about the necessary movement and exerts a physical, moral or intellectual influence on us.

This influence is the current grace. The current grace is that supernatural action that God exerts on us at any moment through the creatures. The creatures are the instrument of God for a single purpose: the formation of saints. Everything that happens, everything that is done, says St. Paul, everything without exception, is part of the same work, and this work is the good of those whom the will of God has called to holiness (Rom 8:28).

Nothing fails for this purpose, everything strives for this result. The current grace is everywhere and intimately connects the natural with the supernatural. And God weights the quality of His graces for the necessities of our lives, according to the plans of His mercy toward us, and according to the correspondence with which we respond to His action.

How can we respond to this uninterrupted work of grace on our soul? A religious close to Saint John Bosco was asked if Don Bosco was ever worried amidst his many works and his sometimes stormy life. The religious replied:

"Don Bosco never thought a minute before what he would do in a minute."

Don Bosco understood the work of grace. He always tried to do the will of God in the present moment. In following this path, he realized his vocation.

Sacred Heart Basilica in Rome

In Rome, near the central station, is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, built by Don Bosco among the greatest victims shortly before his death. The basilica was solemnly consecrated by the Cardinal Vicar on May 14, 1887 in the presence of numerous secular and ecclesiastical dignitaries.

On May 16, 1887 Don Bosco celebrated the Holy Mass even at the altar of Mary of the Church. It was to be his only celebration in the Sacred Heart Basilica, and as a commemorative plaque commemorates the 100th anniversary of the event, it was interrupted fifteen times by sighs from the old priest, who understood the meaning of his famous "Dream of the Nine Years". God had shown him a panorama of his life and revealed to him how it had been prepared and guided by God from his earliest childhood to fulfill his earthly mission.

Every soul has its vocation because it has a different purpose in the body of the Church. He who has the vocation for marriage does not have it for himself, but for the Church. Anyone who has the vocation of the Order does not have it for them, but for the Church.

There are vocations of the individual, and there are the vocations of families, meaning not only the natural families, but also the spiritual families with their charisms. There are the vocations of peoples of which Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira spoke so often. Each nation has a special vocation in the role entrusted to it by providence in history. But we are not born into just one family and one people.

Tower of the Basilica with Redeemer statue

We also live in a historical epoch. Since history is also a creation of God, God demands something different from every historical epoch. Every historical epoch has its vocation. The predominant vocation of the first century of the Church was the readiness for martyrdom. Is there a 21st century calling in which we can find our vocation?

The vocation of our epoch is to respond to the desire of heaven, which the Mother of God herself manifested in Fatima: in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. It is the vocation of those who fight in a cloister, in public places, with prayer, penance, written and spoken words, or actions for the realization of this desire.

The triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is also a triumph of the Church because the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the heart of the Church Herself. Triumph presupposes that it is preceded by a great battle. And since this triumph will be of a social, public and solemn nature, the battle will be social, public and solemn. Being holy today means fighting this battle, which is primarily fought by grasping the sword of truth. Only on the truth can the life of men and peoples be established. Without the truth, a society decomposes and dies.

Today Christian society must be rebuilt; and the first need to rebuild it is to confess the truth and live with a combative spirit. If a Christian, with the help of grace, shapes his own life according to the principles of the Gospel and fights for the defense of the truth, no obstacle can stop him.

In his speech of 21 January 1945 to the Marian Congregations of Rome, Pius XII said:

"The present day calls for fearless Catholics, for whom it is quite a natural thing to openly confess their faith in words and deeds whenever the law of God and the feelings of Christian honor demand it. Real people, people of integrity, determined and fearless! Those who are only half of them are thrown away, rejected and kicked by the world today. "

Dom Pollien writes:

"God and the Church call for defenders, but real defenders, those who never step back; those who are faithful to the mission until death; those who prepare themselves for all hardships of discipline in order to be ready for any heroism of struggle "(p. 162).

The youth of the 21st century can not be attracted by calls for compromises with the world. It demands an appeal from the Church for heroism. In the Middle Ages, architects, masons, carpenters, carpenters, bishops, princes, famous and unknown figures participated in the construction of a cathedral. They all shared the same wish: to give the highest glory to God through the stones that raised them to heaven.

We too are part of a big project. Each of us is called today to build on the ruins of the modern world the immense cathedral dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is nothing but her kingdom in souls and society. Our hearts are the stones and our voices proclaim to the world the dream that will come true.

* Roberto de Mattei, historian, father of five, professor of modern history and history of Christianity at the European University of Rome, President of the Lepanto Foundation, author of numerous books, most recently in German translation: Defense of Tradition: The Insuperable Truth of Christ, with a foreword by Martin Mosebach, Altötting 2017.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Wikicommons / Corrispondenza Romana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Pope Threatens to End Thousand Year Tradition in Andora by Provoking Constitutional Crisis

Andora is threatening the introduction of a constitutional crisis with abortion.  In the photo are two of the Co-Princes of the Catholic State: Archbishop Joan Enric Vives i Sicilia, the Bishop of Urgell, and the Former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, today Emmanuel Macron.

(Andorra) Pope Francis telephoned the head of government of Andorra in person to warn him that should the country legalize the killing of unborn children, Co-Prince Joan Enric Vives i Sicilia, Bishop of Urgell, would abdicate. This could lead to a state crisis, as the constitutional basis would be lost, which has established the independence of the Principality since the High Middle Ages.

Andorra is a little known small state in the Pyrenees even to many Europeans. With 486 square kilometers, the land is larger than the Principality of Liechtenstein, but smaller than the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. With around 80,000 inhabitants, however, it is more populous than Monaco and San Marino together. The country goes back directly to the Spanish Marche of Emperor Charlemagne. Andorra is not part of the European Union, but it introduced the euro as its currency.

The peculiarity of the small state, however, is its state form. It is a parliamentary co-principality, that is, a monarchy. Until 1993, sovereignty was shared between two sovereigns who had governed the country since 1278 as a condominium. Since a constitution was introduced 25 years ago, the two co-princes exercise the joint office of head of state, which was largely limited to representative tasks. Co-leaders are the incumbent President of France, as the legal successor of the King of France, and the Bishop of Urgell, a city in the north of Catalonia.

_{Coat of arms of the Principality of Andorra}

The inhabitants of Andorra are Catalans themselves. Catalan is also official language in the mountainous country. Because of the historical border between France and Spain and once rival interests on both sides of the Pyrenees, the country could only maintain its independence through a sophisticated balance. This includes that Spanish (Castilian) and French dominate in education, although only two percent of Andorrans in everyday life speak mainly French and 37 percent Castilian. In recent years, efforts have been made to strengthen the Catalan language.

Since 2003, Bishop of Urgell is the Barcelona native Catalan, Joan-Enric Vives i Sicília. In 1993, Pope John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop for Barcelona and in 2001 coadjutor for Urgell. In 2003 he succeeded his predecessor in the office of bishop and was with the enthronement at the same time also prince of the Principality of Andorra, whose territory has belonged since Carolingian times to the diocese of Urgell. As Bishop of Urgell he belongs to the Spanish Episcopal Conference. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI granted him. the title of archbishop ad personam. In the past, he has shown sympathy for the independence of Catalonia.

Since 2011, the country has been governed by an absolute majority of Democrats for Andorra (DA), a right-wing liberal party that could most likely be compared to the Ciudadanos in Spain. Prime Minister since 2015 is the architect Antoni Marti Petit. Marti originally belonged to Andorra's dominant Andorra Peoples’ Liberal Party (PLA), whose co-founder he was. Political parties have only been admitted to the Principality since 1993. After 2009, the Social Democrats emerged as the strongest force in the election and ruled the country for a short time, Marti left the PLA to found the DA.

The phone call from Pope Francis

Pope Francis now had a telephone conversation with Marti. The Principality is one of the few European countries where unborn children still enjoy protection. The killing of the unborn by abortion is illegal there. Now, even in the small country, the legalization of infanticide is being debated. Above all, there is talk of a constitutional amendment, which is intended to pave the way for the introduction of an abortion law. The same happened recently in Ireland, where in the 1980s citizens had specifically enshrined the protection of unborn life in the constitution in order to protect the country from the atrocity of child murder. A referendum approved the amendment to the constitution, prompting the Irish government to immediately initiate the legalization of abortion. The same is feared for Andorra.

_{A coin of the tiny Monarchy}

As the daily newspaper Diari d'Andorra reported, Pope Francis personally called Prime Minister Marti to inform him that if abortion were introduced, the bishop of Urgell would have to abdicate as a prince. It is unthinkable that the bishop would enact a law that would legalize the killing of unborn children.

The warning of Pope Francis to force the bishop of Urgell to abdicate as a prince, would eliminate an almost thousand-year-old institutional form and could plunge the country into a constitutional crisis.

The proponents of abortion among the members of the 28-member parliament were aware of the problem of wanting to introduce a law on abortion legalization, which would have to be signed by the co-opted to gain the force of law, but on the other hand the bishop of Urgell would not agree to such a law. They have lawyers looking for a loophole to introduce the law even without the signature of the heads of state. Allegedly, a constitutional lawyer has found a constitutionally "very daring" way.

Pope Francis' telephone call put a stop to efforts to introduce abortion with the help of a legal trick. Francis told Marti that he does not care about legal finesse: If Andorra should introduce an abortion law that would oblige all responsible parties, the country would lose one of its co-princes.

The head of the church should have reminded Marti that the right to life of unborn children is "non-negotiable" for the Church. A parliament could never rule against  the lives of its people. A parliament can only legislate for the protection of life. The same applies to euthanasia.

"The ball now lies with the Andorran government, which has to decide what is more important to them: to respect the right to live or to renounce the existing since 1278 state form," said the Spanish news site InfoVaticana.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: InfoVaticana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Bergoglio Wants a New Index of Forbidden Internet Blogs

_{Censur: Rome Wants a New Index of the Internet}

(Rome) In the name of the "open society", there are efforts to restrict open dialogue. What left-leaning groups and media demand, and what leftist governments and parliaments are trying to introduce, also applies to the current Church leadership. Riccardo Cascioli, the editor-in-chief of the Catholic Internet newspaper La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, sounds the alarm and warns against a new Index Liborum. The new index no longer applies to forbidden books, but to "forbidden" websites.

Dissenting Vote from the "Church of Tenderness" Undesirable 

_{Riccardo Cascioli}

The "Church of Tenderness" does not like dissenting voices, according to Cascioli. The "hearing" of a "listening Church" is emphasized, but only applies to certain dispositions. A personality cult has been created around the "humble" pope. Those who do not pay homage to him will not be tolerated.

Yesterday, the Italian daily Il Giornale published a commentary by Riccardo Cascioli, one of the leading international Catholic journalists. It's a wake up call:

"The Pope is putting 'uncomfortable' websites on the index". The reasoning? They would spread "too many fake news".

In response to the Viganò dossier, an office for the "Certification of Catholic Media" has emerged. One could also speak of a new censorship authority. In general, the call for censorship currently seems to move according to the fantasies of the powerful in the Church and world circles. It is no coincidence that an affinity can be seen between the two groups.

Censorship required

The demand for a censorship authority is contained in the final report of the Youth Synod, and it is well known that neither the synod attendees nor the adolescents wrote it. The text is from an editorial committee whose members were handpicked by Pope Francis. The demand comes directly from the papal court, to which it plays itself, in order to derive a staged call to action.

_{Index of Forbidden Books} 

A separate authority should "administer certification systems for Catholic websites". By that, they say, they want to fight "fake news" that affects the Church.

Cascioli sees things very differently and speaks of a "worrying demand":

"It seems to be the latest building block in a subliminal war against websites accused of criticizing Pope Francis and some of his collaborators who are particularly active in driving forward the change of religious instructors."

The idea is not even original, "since the tradition of the Index of Forbidden Books is used.”  The famous Index Librorum Prohibitorum, still blamed on the Church today, was in use from the mid-16th century to the mid-20th century. However, there is a "fundamental difference," according to Cascioli:

"The Index justified itself by the need to protect the Catholic people from heresies, which were more easily spread by the invention of printing. Today, on the other hand, censorship wants to address those who call for orthodoxy and who do not want to conform to the 'new course of the Church, which is full of' surprises' that contradict what has been believed and lived for 2000 years.”

Amoris laetitia as the trigger of an "Internet war"

Cascioli speaks of this "Internet war", which he attributes to the publication of the controversial post-synodal Amoris laetitia in April 2016. Some Episcopates interpreted the letter as a green light for the approval of remarried divorced people (and not just them) to Communion - with papal approval.

Critics warned in advance that this would not only question the marriage sacrament, but the entirety of Catholic moral teaching. Four cardinals, Caffarra, Brandmüller, Burke and Meisner, addressed their doubts (Dubia) directly to Pope Francis. That was more than two years ago. When they received no answer, they handed over their Dubia to some Catholic Internet media in November 2016. These media, including Cascioli's Nuova Bussola Quotidiana and Vatican Sandro Magister's Settimo Cielo, had been selected because the official Catholic press was "on par and ready to support any doctrinal revolution."

_{Answer by Francis to Cardinal Sarah (2017)}

Other Catholic websites, including Katholisches.info for the German-speaking area, published in late September 2016 the Correctio filialis against the spread of heresies, which was signed by theologians, philosophers and priests. They urged Pope Francis to oppose the spread of heresies. The Vatican responded initially with an angry reaction by blocking access to the websites.

A month later, Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Roman Congregation for the Divine Worship and Sacraments, used independent Catholic media instead of the official Vatican media to publish a statement. With it he turned against daring interpretations for the translation of the liturgical texts into the vernaculars that had occurred after the publication of the Motu proprio Magnum Principium by Pope Francis. In November 2017, Francis took an unprecedented step. He demanded from Cardinal Sarah that the same media publish his opposition, with which he disagreed with Sarah's statements.

"This demand made it clear how much the work of certain media, which can not be controlled by the church leadership, disturbs the great mastermind," says Cascioli.

In March 2018, the Vatican even commissioned one of the world's most famous and expensive [aberrosexual] law firms to put an end to the Spanish, independent, Catholic website InfoVaticana.

Francis: "For reasons of mental hygiene, I do not read them"

In the Vatican, however, one does not want to see the confusion and discomfort that reigns among the Catholic people, both among the faithful and among the faithful, because of "the distorted interpretation of the doctrine that seeks to impose a certain progressiveness." Instead, the question is being drawn into the political, according to Cascioli, who speaks of "nests of conservative resistance” against an alleged "springtime of the Church" that this pontificate produces.

This is not only the narrative of his close circle, but also of Pope Francis himself. When he met with the Jesuits of these countries during his trip to Chile and Peru last January, he said:

"For reasons of mental hygiene, I do not read the website of this so-called 'resistance'. I know who that is. I know the groups, but I do not read them. If there is something very serious, please let me know so that I know. "

The suggestion was an invitation to priests and faithful to do the same, and not read critical voices. In fact, the Pope's statement made it clear how much the sting of these independent websites hurts in the flesh. It hurts so much that Francis "reserved" his own space in his recent Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exultate.

In it, Francis accuses some Christians of being "part of networks of verbal violence". "Even in Catholic media, borders can be crossed; Often, slander and libel persist, and any ethics and respect for others' reputation seem to be ignored.”

Topically in step with worldly forces

Punctually, last March Francis not only responded spontaneously but also with the same tones that have been heard from the ranks of the US establishment since the end of 2016. From the circles of the establishment that is opposed to Donald Trump in the US presidential campaign. These are the same notes that were struck a short time later in Western European state chancelleries, after the New York Times had given the go-ahead the day after the election. The Network Enforcement Act is a result of this.

In November 2008, Barack Obama's election victory was celebrated as the "first victory" of the Internet, "the most ingenious invention of progress and democratization" because a "new grassroots movement" had been mobilized through social media, but since Donald's election victory Trump in November 2016, the Internet has been presented by the same circles as a dangerous threat.

Also in this point Francis represents the position of the left establishment. The danger suddenly painted on the wall was an uncontrolled internet that could contribute to the actual or potential dissemination of fake news. The tagline "Fake News" was the deciding slogan issued by the New York Times the day after the US presidential election. Not a word is mentioned that classic media also spread fake news, but this entail far more serious consequences.

The motive of Trump’s opponents and of Pope Francis is the same. Only controlled media are good media.

The new language rule: "self-proclaimed Catholic" pages

The intra-Church conflict has now, through the McCarrick scandal, a whole new battlefield, which had already emerged earlier this year with the Barros case. The former nuncio to the US, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, accused Pope Francis in connection with the sexual abuse scandal of serious wrong decisions and calls for his resignation.

"The papal court - which, in addition to the official Church media, can count on the support of the leading secular media - which tries to reduce the whole issue to a problem of clericalism, while the objectionable websites give wide berth to the source of the problem of homosexuality which is tolerated, if not encouraged, by the Church leadership. "

And Cascioli continues:

"The fight is therefore getting harder. Therefore, the media supporting the doctrinal revolution seeks to deprive independent websites of legitimacy that has recently come to be disparaged as 'self-proclaimed Catholic' sites.”

Here, too, Pope Francis' co-workers, secondaries and helpers follow worldly customs, where for some time now left-wing circles have targeted "self-proclaimed Pro-Life movements" and "self-proclaimed life-defenders" or, in the political sphere, the standard slurs refer to "self-proclaimed patriots" and "self-proclaimed homeland protectors.” The much-vaunted "inclusion" disappears in an instant when it comes to dissenting opinions.

Cascioli concludes:

"This explains the urge for censorship, which certainly will not be without consequences."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Il Giornale (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Pope Says Criticizing Jews Unchristian — Anathematizes Saint John — Wants You Banned

Edit: once again, this evil Opus Dei Mouthpiece grovels for Bergoglio as he parrots a global line, demonizing anyone who criticizes Jews, anathematizing Saint Paul and probabably even declaring the Gospel of Saint John  Anathema, like Pro-Sodomy and Predator Cardinal Bernadin.  The crazy part is that while this man doesn’t care if you’re a heretic, he’ll excommunicate you from humanity for transgressing the divinity of the Jews.

Let us consult Nostra Aetate and recall that Bergoglio has almost nothing to say as Muslims are slaughtering and raping their way through the West.

The virtue signaling and mental gymnastics by the  anointed blogosphere is something to behold.

Here’s Bergoglio claiming that Jews can be saved in their false religion.

As people are calling E. Michael Jones an anti-Semite, and blaming him for the carnage, he reaponds by saying that it’s a point of Catholic doctrine to protect Jews from harm. 

See his video on line before the Jews remove it:

[Crux] ROME - Following one of the most brutal attacks on the Jewish community in the history of the United States, Pope Francis condemned anti-Semitic attitudes “present in our own times” and stressed the importance of religious freedom and interreligious dialogue.

“As I have often repeated, a Christian cannot be an anti-Semite; we share the same roots. It would be a contradiction of faith and life,” the pope said during a Nov. 5 audience with delegates of the World Congress of Mountain Jews on their first ever visit to the Vatican.

“Rather, we are called to commit ourselves to ensure anti-Semitism is banned from the human community,” he added.

Warning: criticizing Bergoglio on this point will invariably lead to you being doxed by Pro-Sodomite Patheos bloggers like Mark Shea.

AMDG

Donate to Katholisches — Site Temporarily Down

Link to Katholisches...

They’re responsible for a lot of my content.

If anyone needs help, I’ll translate the entries for you.

AMDG

Pakistan’s Government Buckles to Islamic Mob On Asia Bibi’s Fate

Government agrees after several days of mass protests to a five-point paper, they will not oppose a revision process - Bibi is denied exit from Pakistan - Bibi's lawyer escapes to Europe because of mortal danger

Islamabad (kath.net) After days of mass protests, Pakistan's government has buckled to the Islamists who continue to demand death by hanging for the Catholic woman, Asia Bibi. On pages signed in five-point paper, as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, it provides that the government will not oppose an appeal procedure. In addition, the Christian who was accused of blasphemy was banned from leaving Pakistan. Bibi's lawyer is critical that the government can not even implement a judgment of its Supreme Court. Since he is in mortal danger, he has since left the country and gone to Europe. Also, Bibi's husband and daughters are not safe and need to constantly change their whereabouts. The FAZ quoted from an editorial in the newspaper Dawn: "Another government has surrendered to the violent religious extremists who believe neither democracy nor the Constitution."

Pakistan’s handling of the Christian is also being reported in mainstream media. However, it is noticeable in mainstream media (with exception of the Bild newspaper) by the way, a tendency that Asia Bibi is represented exclusively as "Christian" and her Catholic faith is not mentioned, also the cited contribution in the FAZ does not mention her confessiom. The Christian media tend to report more accurately on this point.

Link to FAZ...

AMDG

Who Will You be? Denethor or Pippin?

Papal Zouaves from Holland!

Hero Pietro Jong fell this day in 1867, defending the Papacy.

Edit:  just noticed that an old story from last year was getting hits. Some depressives were gazing into their crystal balls and lamenting what they believed was the inevitable reconciliation with “Modernist Rome”. At the time I wasn’t pretending to know anything, and here we are, despite all of the screeching, we still don’t know what’s going on with the reconciliation, but the Pope certainly seems to be going his own way.

This is also part of the reason why I was struck by this recent video with RamZPaul, hosting Literature Prof E. Michael Jones. Jones really gets it with respect to a lot of things. So many people are in despair religiously for various reasons about the way things are going, but around 1:25 he asks a great question. Are you going to be self-immolating or are you going to keep fighting? 

Skojec is trying so hard to stay within that Judaizing Christian identity. He’s still stuck attempting to avoid various taboos. Why can’t you say it’s both blood and identity? God understood it this way, since it’s how he made his deal with Abraham, it’s how he dealt with the Jewish nation, according to tribes.

Then he goes off the reservation and causes a meltdown from the evil editor of America Magazine. He’s definitely going in the right direction. 

VATICAN CITY, October 25, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) ― The Scottish delegate to the Synod on Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment stated that young Catholics in his country have asked for orthodox teaching.

“The young people that I met before I came here wanted me to tell the Synod Fathers that they want to learn about the Catholic faith. They don’t want me to make it easy for them. They don’t want me to sugar-coat it for them,” Archbishop Leo Cushley of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh told a Vatican News reporter.

“They want to know ‘what it says on the tin,’ as it were,” he added with a chuckle. “And so they want me to be in a position to explain to them the richness of our Catholic faith and to put that before them.”

Donate to Katholisches....

AMDG

SSPX Compares the Boomer Aesthetic at Youth Synod to the Immemorial Mass

Edit: while Team Bergoglio is celebrating the ancient mysteries of 1968, a Remnant, a pious leven is celebrating the Immemorial Mass of All Ages.

While the traditional liturgy was celebrating Christ the King of the Universe, Master and Lord of all things, Who reigns through the wood of the Cross and the infinite merits of His Passion, the official website of the Vatican published as headline news: “Synod Youth Thank Pope Francis with a Show in the Vatican”.

The photos published leave no room for doubt as to the atmosphere: the swaying hips of young people and princes of the Church alike speak louder than words. Young people dancing and even pulling several prelates into the dance with them in a grotesque and shameful farandole.

The evening before, on Thursday, October 5, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of Manila, published a videogram. While snapping his fingers, he thanked the young people for teaching the bishops “important lessons about humanity and about following Jesus. I hope that you are going to continue teaching us and that we elders will have something to teach you” in order to build a new Church and a better world. A sad refrain, in which the teaching Church – the bishops are the successors of the Apostles – are in thrall to – sorry, I mean ready to listen to – the “people of God”. – What room does this leave for the revealed truths that make up the deposit of the Faith and that it is the bishops’ duty to transmit?

Link...

AMDG

How Paul VI Signed the Agatha Christie Indult

Edit: the idea that culture and the approval of secular elites mattered more to Paul VI than say, the opinion of the great Cardinal Ottaviani, or the great saints, points to the kind of man he really was, not the hagiography of the Post-Modern cultus. That the opinion of such a man could yield the spiritual fruit of the Indult and the subsequent Sacrosanctum Concilium of Benedict XVI is a real irony of Church history.

A reader sent this elequent account by Joseph’s Shaw last night:

On November 26, 1971, the front page of the Universe informed its readers as follows:

As from this Sunday, the first in Advent, it is forbidden to offer Mass in the Tridentine rite anywhere in the world. In very special circumstances old or retired priests may apply to their own bishop for permission to use the rite, but for private use only.

Only a few days later, however, on December 2, the Times carried a rather different story, under the headline “Pope sanctions traditional Latin Mass in Britain”. The Tridentine Mass was, in fact, celebrated in Westminster Cathedral on June 17 the following year, the first of a series of two annual Masses at the High Altar using the older Missal. Monthly traditional Masses in the Cathedral’s crypt were also initiated. Both series of Masses continue to this day, although the crypt Masses have now moved to the Lady Chapel.

In the nick of time, it would seem, the public celebration of the Vetus Ordo, now also called the Extraordinary Form, was preserved, at least in England and Wales. How had this come about?

Opposition to the liturgical reforms and regret at the passing of a liturgical tradition going back to the 4th century, if not further, was widespread, as the radical nature of what was being done in the name of the Second Vatican Council became apparent in the 1960s. The Latin Mass Society was founded in 1965, as the first reforming documents from Rome made clear that the Latin language was in the crosshairs, and liturgical experiments and abuses were disturbing the faithful in parishes.

Cardinal John Heenan ordered all parish churches in Westminster diocese to celebrate one Mass on Sundays in Latin, in light of Vatican II’s mandate: “the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 36.1). However, the celebration of the reformed Mass in Latin quickly came to be seen as an anomaly, and the rule was withdrawn early in 1971. The debate resolved for most into a choice between the New Mass in the vernacular, and the “Tridentine” (or Latin) Mass.

In an era of deference towards bishops and the pope, and with Pope Paul VI placing his personal authority on the line with his 1969 general audience addresses on the reform, it was hard to know how to make the case that a terrible mistake was about to be made: the complete suppression of a liturgical form on which so much theology, spirituality and culture depended.

Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, a former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, had tried the theological approach, with his famous “Intervention” of 1969. Professor Alexandra Zaina, a leading member of the Latin Mass Society, tried the approach of spirituality, in a letter to the Catholic Herald, quoting Pius XII in Mediator Dei, pointing out that Catholics’ spiritual needs are not all the same, so room should be left for those who prefer the older Mass. But the ultimately successful approach was through the third aspect of the liturgy: culture.

This was developed by the remarkable Alfred Marnau, a Slovakian poet who had come to Britain in 1939. Marnau used his contacts in the arts world to get signatures for a petition which lamented the loss of the old Mass in the context of the “history of the human spirit”:

We are not at this moment considering the religious or spiritual experience of millions of individuals. The rite in question, in its magnificent Latin text, has also inspired a host of priceless achievements in the arts – not only mystical works, but works by poets, philosophers, musicians, architects, painters and sculptors in all countries and epochs. Thus, it belongs to universal culture as well as to churchmen and formal Christians.

This appeal was such that it could be joined by non-Catholics, and in the circumstances of the time perhaps non-Catholics might have had a greater impact. Accordingly, and knowing time was short, in the space of just three weeks Marnau managed to gather the signatures of more than 50 public figures, including an MP from each of the major political parties, two Anglican bishops, and numerous writers, artists and musicians. These included Graham Greene, Colin Davis, Iris Murdoch, FR Leavis, Malcolm Muggeridge, Yehudi Menuhin and Nancy Mitford. William Rees-Mogg, editor of the Times, ensured that it received national attention.

But it was another signatory who, at least in popular legend, caught Paul VI’s eye, when the petition was presented to him by Cardinal Heenan, on behalf of the Latin Mass Society. Marnau relates: “The story goes that Pope Paul VI
was reading quietly through the list of signatories and then suddenly said, ‘Ah, Agatha Christie!’ and signed his approval.”

Christie herself wasn’t a Catholic; but her greatest fictional creation, the Belgian Catholic Hercule Poirot, would surely have approved.

Joseph Shaw is chairman of the Latin Mass Society

This article first appeared in the November 2 2018 issue of the Catholic Herald. To read the magazine in full, from anywhere in the world, go here

Photo: Wiki

AMDG

Muslims Attack Coptic Christians in Egypt — Religion of Peace Kills 7

Coptic church spokesman confirmed at least seven fatalities

Cairo (kath.net/KAP) In Egypt, there was another devastating attack on Coptic Christians on Friday. According to initial media reports, gunmen in the Al-Minya province attacked a bus with pilgrims on their way to Anba Samuel Monastery. At least seven people were killed, according to a spokesman for the Coptic church in the newspaper Al-Ahram. Several others were sometimes seriously injured.

In May, a similar terrorist attack by gunmen on a bus carrying Coptic pilgrims to the same monastery left 30 people dead and two dozen injured. At that time, the terrorist militia IS took responsibility for the act.

Please help kathnet and donate.

AMDG

Cardinal Duka Recalls the Catholic Roots of the Czech Republic

Prague archbishop reproaches in pastoral letter, that the Church does not sufficiently recall the anniversary of the Republic

Prague (kath.net/KAP) Cardinal Dominik Duka commented on the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Czechoslovak Republic with a pastoral letter. The proclamation of the republic on October 28, 1918 had taken place at the foot of the St. Wenceslas Memorial in Prague's Wenceslas Square, and the Vatican was one of the first states to recognize the new state, Duka recalled.

The Pastoral Letter, dated 28 October, and published only on Duka's personal homepage, is signed by him only in his capacity as Archbishop of Prague and Primate of Bohemia, but not as President of the Czech Bishops' Conference, which only took place on the 23rd and held its 115th Assembly on 24 October.

First of all, Duka is reproachful that the Church does not sufficiently commemorate the anniversary of the republic. For, “together with a number of institutions and commissions, they were not only informed about the intended actions, but also shared information among themselves.” For the Catholic Church, "it was especially important to point out the roots of Czech statehood in connection with the worship of St. Wenceslas to the full extent of our early history and their continued existence until the founding of Czechoslovakia or Czech Republic.” This requirement was met in particular with the celebrations for Wenceslas Day (28 September).

The Primate Cardinal recalled the presence not only of Church  organizations, but also of the military and the Sokol ‘Movement at the solemn Mass in Stara Boleslav on the 28th of September. It was the members of this Christian-oriented movement who fought for the rebuilding of the sovereign republic during the First World War and during the Second World War. Thus, the continuity of the cult of Wenceslas was made visible during the celebrations.

Duka also mentioned the problem of founding the state 100 years ago. The festive atmosphere had been clouded by the not yet consolidated demarcation. But the federalization proclaimed by Kaiser Karl at the last moment "could not seal the fates of our peoples, but Karl's earnest efforts to conclude peace were undeniable.” He wanted to emphasize, “Charles’ renunciation of the throne of Bohemia, who had sworn allegiance to the dynasty, and were thus free to decide without inhibition,” said the cardinal.

The Primate cited in detail from the last pastoral letter of his predecessor Archbishop Paul Huyn (1868-1946) and from the first of his Vicar General Moric Picha (1869-1956) from the days of separation of 1918. Two days before the proclamation of the republic, on the 26th of October, the Archbishop of Prague described the war as a "just defensive war", which Catholics in particular must "do their utmost to be victorious.” It was the "last cause of hatred of the enemies" that "we were lucky enough to have a Catholic Emperor and a Catholic Empress." Huyn had then not returned from a visitation to Prague and officially resigned on September 19, 1919.

The Ecclesiastical Loyalty Promise of December 1918

On December 8, 1918, Vicar General Picha struck a new tone, Duka said. One sees "in the destinies of nations, and especially of our people, the hand of Divine Providence"; they wanted and will "wholeheartedly love our country in its new form, live in harmony and justice with all the citizens of our state and stand with due respect and sacrifice to the appointed government," Cardinal Duka quoted. He concluded his pastoral letter "with thanks for 100 years of honest work, bravery and courage, but also forgiveness where we failed.”

The former Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, who spoke at a festive session of the Parliament as honorary president of the party TOP 09, also recalled emperor Karl. 1918 had allowed “a very civilized overthrow" and one must be "thankful to the Emperor Karl of blessed memory, that he had forbidden the use of force.”

In a TV interview in the news service CT24 also greeted Karl Habsburg, the current head of the House of Habsburg, and the historical role of his grandfather. The Emperor "in addition to his deep faith, also believed that, however bad the situation may be, one must endeavor to make the best out of it.” On this basis, one must "also consider the various peace efforts that emanated from him.” Karl came to power in a situation when - after the death of Emperor Franz Josef - the war was essentially beyond salvation."

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG