To unify Catholics, conservative Pope John Paul II to be canonised alongside progressive John XXIII
Editor’s note: I wonder who chose Pope John Paul II as the designated conservative of the two? As for unity – better look to the Mass and Holy Eucharist – since there’s not much genuine unity going on today in any other allegedly Catholic venue – including the Vatican.
It wasn’t the crimes that did it as much as the bishops’ unwillingness to repent, and the Vatican’s disinterest in holding them to account. If the church’s hierarchy cannot commit itself credibly to justice and mercy to the victims of its own clergy and bishops, I thought, do they really believe in the doctrines they teach?
All this put the moral unseriousness of the American church in a certain light. As the scandal raged, one Ash Wednesday, I attended mass at my comfortable suburban parish and heard the priest deliver a sermon describing Lent as a time when we should all come to love ourselves more.
If I had to pinpoint a single moment at which I ceased to be a Roman Catholic, it would have been that one.
Editor’s note: This is the chief problem with what is termed “The New Evangelism” – poor catechesis and even poorer inspiration, coupled with thoroughly lukewarm, “happy talk” Catholic parishes.
Thanks to the modernist/ideologue/liberal elitists who run the place, there’s very little “sizzle” remaining in the Catholic “steak” – and not much else to help “anchor” a normal person’s budding faith, either. Comrade Lenin couldn’t have done a better job of wrecking things, himself!
It’s interesting that the writer fled to the Russian Orthodox Church in order to help maintain his sanity and his faith – since as of late – Russian President Vladimir Putin has been sounding more authentically Catholic than has Pope Francis. Yet, I suspect that both are in fact, lying!
Still and all – there’s no substitute for fervent prayer and study, along with full, faithful and active participation in all the work, worship, sacraments and devotions of the Catholic Church – even though such a thing is lately, getting much more difficult to accomplish – and to “stomach”.
But we also know that God’s grace is sufficient!
Vatican City (AFP) – The Vatican on Monday said late popes John Paul II and John XXIII would be made saints at an unprecedented joint ceremony on April 27, 2014 in a bid to unite Catholic conservatives and liberals.
Editor’s note: Everybody likes a good party! When highly placed churchmen get caught up … not in the Spirit of Vatican II – or in the Divine, Holy Spirit – but in the Spirit of the World … anything can happen … and often does. Watch and pray!
Obamacare has a drawn a line in healthcare, and it is a line that we cannot cross.
Many people have been paralyzed with fear because they don’t know what to do about this. But here are 2 simple things you can do to start making a difference right away:
They don’t make them like this anymore
Long before most people could read, the Church was preaching the Gospel. And to do so, she used the very structure of her buildings to preach. Many of our older builds are a sermon in stone and stained glass.
The Scriptures come alive in our art, statues, paintings, and majestic stained glass windowsthat soar along the walls of our Churches like jewels of light. Even the height and shape of our older churches preach the word. The height draws our sights up to heaven as if to say, Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at God’s right hand (Col 3:1). And the shape of most of our older churches is the shape of a cross. As if to say, May I never glory in anything, save the Cross of my Lord Jesus Christ(Gal 6:14).
My own Parish Church is a sermon in stone and wood and glass.
“Promise me you will never breath (sic) a word of this to anyone — ok?” he wrote.
(Fr.) Riedlinger had good reason for discretion.
He is a priest of the Diocese of Trenton, and while exchanging more than 1,200 text messages over four weeks last year, he thought was he talking to a 16-year-old boy.
Riedlinger, at the time an assistant pastor at St. Aloysius Church in Jackson and a sex-education teacher at the parish school, was the target of an elaborate sting by a Catholic University of America graduate who says the priest sexually harassed him for years.
Timothy Schmalz, now 23 and a resident of Washington, D.C., said he was moved to action after his first complaint about Riedlinger in 2011 resulted in what he characterized as a slap on the wrist by Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell.
One enormous rotten fruit – complete with maggots
“Vatican II produced a renewal movement that simply comes from the same Gospel. Its fruits are enormous. Just recall the liturgy. The work of liturgical reform has been a service to the people as a re-reading of the Gospel from a concrete historical situation.”
Pope Francis obviously dwells in the same parallel universe from whence John Paul II said, “The vast majority of the pastors and the Christian people have accepted the liturgical reform in a spirit of obedience and indeed joyful fervor,” even as the real fruits of the post-conciliar liturgical reform were such that desolate parishes were being boarded up at an alarming rate in dioceses all over the world as he spoke.
Read 9 other observations about the Pope’s interview
Editor’s note: The “fathers” of Vatican II – and all the post-conciliar popes – evidently never heard the phrase, commonly attributed to Abraham Lincoln, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
Catholics aren’t stupid. Nobody with any sense of history (or common sense) could look back on the last 50 years and see it as anything other than an unmitigated disaster for the Catholic Church – the bulk of it self-inflicted.
Last time I checked – telling lies – even with good intentions – was a sin! What we have here is a 50 year-long credibility gap that sullies virtually the entire Catholic hierarchy. What many of these clerics are doing is urging the faithful to live a lie! We expect that type of thing from cheap, tin-horn politicians – but not from Catholic bishops and popes. No wonder things are so fouled up!
According to the Catechism, the holy office of bishop is supposed to be the image of God the Father. I sincerely hope not, since – based on recent events – that would be blasphemy, on a very large scale!
First, we have a pope who somewhat mysteriously, resigns. Then, we have a new pope who says he doesn’t want to be pope, who appears to be seriously conflicted and/or confused about a number of critical faith issues, and to top things off – he likes to ramble on about it in public – to non-Catholics, atheists and secular newspapers.
Please … enough already!
The time for phony reform is over. Nobody is fooling anyone. The Church is in shambles, with much of our leadership both morally and spiritually bankrupt. Yet all we need do to make things right again is what all Catholics had been doing for the 1,930-some years prior to the disaster now known as the 2nd Vatican Council.
The Church saved souls all that time. It can save souls, today. All we need do is what any failing team typically does, in order to recover from a long losing streak: get back to the fundamentals and practice, practice, practice.
God help us!
“There is a temptation – I would like to say it is thus for everyone , even for me , for everyone – a temptation that the devil likes very much: that against unity, when hidden dangers work directly against the unity of those who live and work in the Vatican – and the devil tries to create internal war, a kind of civil war and spiritual, is it not? It is a war that is not waged with the weapons that we recognize: it is a war waged with the tongue.”
“We ask St. Michael to help us in this war : never speak ill of each other, never open your ears to gossip. And if [one hears] someone gossiping, stop him! [Say] , ‘Here there can be none of that: walk out of St. Anne’s Gate. Go outside and talk there! Here you cannot!’ That’s it, isn’t it? The good seed yes: speak well of one another , yes, but [do not sow the poison seed] of gossip.”
Q: What’s the canonical status of priests ordained by SSPX bishops, and what’s the canonical status of the sacraments they administer? –John
A: It would have been marvelous to be able to respond to John that the priests of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) were now fully united to Rome, and thus had a status comparable to the members of any other religious institute in the Church. Sadly, however, this is not the case! While Pope Benedict was clearly hoping to reconcile the SSPX to the Church during his papacy, the fact is that this important item on his to-do list was left unfinished when he resigned in February.
Catholics should be prepared with at least a brief reply to commonly cited events and issues in the Church’s two millennia past. In the words of Blessed John Henry Newman, we need to be Catholics “who know so much of history that (we) can defend it.” We might not be able to change someone’s mind when she asks us about why the Church was so mean to Galileo, but at least we can demonstrate that we know our history. If she’s not willing to listen to a dissertation-length explanation, a few points might help her understand better. The fact that we know may impress her, open the door to more friendly conversation, and grant an opportunity to witness the reason for our joy in being Catholic. This article offers some guidelines and hints for answering these historical questions.
One advantage any Catholic starts with when discussing our history is the position of the Catholic Church as a historic, unique institution. Our Founder entered human history at a definite place and time, established his Church upon St. Peter and the Apostles, and promised to protect and guide it until the end of time, when he returns. With the Father, he sent the Holy Spirit to inspire it; yet he left imperfect humans to lead it as his representatives on earth. St. Peter had denied him thrice before his death on the cross; all but St. John had abandoned him during his Passion. Upon them, he founded the Church and gave them authority.
So the Church is distinctive among institutions in the history of mankind: it is human and yet divine; perfect, yet in need of reform; holy, yet made up of sinners; infallible, yet led by fallen, fallible humans. That’s a hard concept to express to someone outside the Church—sometimes it’s hard for us inside the Church to remember it.
Photo selected especially for Cathy and Paul
Unfortunately, the church is often still accused of wanting to steer people in directions they did not want to take, he continued. It would have to ask itself whether it hadn’t set the wrong priorities when proclaiming the Gospel message.
“Many older people have grown up with the idea that the church is a moral institution and that God is only a merciful God if we keep his commandments. But God doesn’t say, ‘If you’re good, then I’ll also be good to you.’ Jesus proclaims a God who says, ‘I love you — so live,’ and thus gives us the freedom to decide whether we want to accept and return his love.”
Editor’s note: Yes, Marx is a Catholic Cardinal – although his thinking on sin and mercy are much more in tune with the Lutherans.
“Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly.” ― Martin Luther
Does God really give us license to sin? I doubt it! And why does the Cardinal make no mention of the necessity of contrition and repentance – or are those outmoded theological concepts, as well? More importantly, we have to wonder if this an example of Pope Francis’ thinking on these matters.
How’s this for Gospel, your eminence?:
“If you love me, keep my commandments.” ― Jesus Christ
First, the pope’s comments are going to take the wind out of the sails of some faithful Catholics — the 28 percent who still attend Mass regularly and financially support the church. Most affected are those who have borne the heat of the day in the culture-war protests against abortion and same-sex marriages. The once-sure moral support that these groups enjoyed under past popes has been undermined. Pope Francis‘ message is clear: Cool it.
Second, the pope’s words provide a sword for those critical of the church’s moral teachings on life and of the purpose of human sexuality. It will now be quite easy for them to say, “Why don’t you just listen to the pope and move on?” This sentiment has already been advanced in a letter to the editor in the New York Times by a Planned Parenthood official, who applauds the pope for “getting in step with modern times.”
Finally, the pope’s musings have provided cover for Catholic politicians who support liberal abortion laws and legalization of same-sex marriage. They can now claim that they, like the pope, are concerned about the bigger issues, such as poverty and concern for the poor. For sure, Catholic politicians such as Vice President Joe Biden, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo can point to their liberal social-welfare policies as being Gospel-motivated. They can simply claim they are following the pope’s direction. Pope Francis has thus tied the hands of those bishops who have tried to rein in this hypocrisy.
“We have to defend the future of our children,” said Milonov, who has children aged four and one.
He railed against the legalisation of gay marriage in some European countries, describing it as a “symptom of an illness in society, a spiritual degradation”.
“Ninety-five percent of Russians are against gay marriage. Gays do not have any support in Russian society.”
Contrary to the official party line, Vatican II was no “love-fest”
Could the great apostasy brought on by diabolically disoriented popes be what is spoken of in the portion of the Third Secret of Fatima that has yet to be revealed? Let’s consider the testimony of Cardinal Ciappi who read the Third Secret. Cardinal Ciappi was a distinguished theologian from the pontifical household from 1955 to 1989. In a letter to Professor Baumgartner, the Cardinal made an astonishing admission about the Third Secret. He wrote: “In the Third Secret it is predicted, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.” (6) Notice, he didn’t say it would begin “near the top”, but “at the top” – the same pattern we have seen repeated throughout history.
In a 1984 interview, Cardinal Ratzinger also spoke of the contents of the Third Secret of Fatima. The interviewer asked: “Have you read what is called the Third Secret of Fatima?” To his surprise, the Cardinal answered “yes”, and then went on to discuss what it contained. The Cardinal said “the things contained within the ‘Third Secret’ correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and has been said again and again in many other Marian Apparitions”. (As an aside, we must ask where Scripture speaks of the failed assassination attempt of John Paul II?) Continuing on, the Cardinal said the Third Secret speaks of “dangers threatening the Faith… and the importance of the ‘novissimi ’[the end times].” Once again we see a prelate, who had read the Third Secret, state that it refers to dangers threatening the Faith.
But perhaps the most interesting statement comes from Paul VI himself on the sixtieth anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, during which he spoke of apostasy at the very “summit” of the Church, which confirms what Cardinal Ciappi wrote to Professor Baumgartner. Here is what Paul VI had to say on October 13, 1977:
The tail of the devil is functioning in the disintegration of the Catholic world. The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading throughout the world and into the highest levels within the Church. (7)
Is it just a coincidence that Paul VI made this statement on the anniversary of Fatima? It seems unlikely. It seems more likely that he was revealing what is contained in the Third Secret.
But if this is what the Third Secret contains, when would it begin? Is there a particular date that one could look to as the beginning of this great apostasy that would begin “at the top” – at the very “summit” of the Church?
In the famous 1957 interview of Sister Lucy of Fatima with Fr. Fuentes, about the events of Fatima, the cloistered nun asked her interviewer the following question: “Father, how much time is there before 1960 arrives?” Why would she ask about the date 1960? She then went on to explain. She said when this date arrives, “it will be very sad for everyone, not one person will rejoice at all if beforehand the world does not pray and do penance.” She then ended by saying: “I am not able to give any other details because it is still a secret.”
Apparently Staples is assuming that the priests of the SSPX, and possibly other Traditional laity, are not united with the Church as a part of Her “visible bodily structure” or bonded to Her by “ecclesiastical government.” But is this true? The SSPX was instituted with full approval from the local bishop in 1970 and its ministers are currently under no censure of excommunication, but simply lack a canonical status. Rome has readily admitted that their situation is not like the Orthodox in that they are still considered subject to the Code of Canon Law and are not schismatic. Pope Benedict even went so far as to say in 2007 that the situation of the SSPX is, “a matter of coming to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church.”[5]
Of course, if Staples would look at paragraph eight of Lumen Gentium, he would learn that the “Church of Christ” merely “subsists in” the Catholic Church. Thus, even if the SSPX were not in “full Communion” with the Catholic Church, they could, according to Vatican II, still belong to the “Church of Christ” and thus contain “many elements of sanctification and truth.” Furthermore, even if the SSPX were formally schismatic, as Staples claims the sedevacantists are, paragraph fifteen of Lumen Gentium makes this seem like a pretty good state to be in:
The Church recognizes that in many ways she is linked with those who, being baptized, are honored with the name of Christian, though they do not profess the faith in its entirety or do not preserve unity of communion with the successor of Peter. For there are many who honor Sacred Scripture, taking it as a norm of belief and a pattern of life, and who show a sincere zeal. They lovingly believe in God the Father Almighty and in Christ, the Son of God and Saviour. They are consecrated by baptism, in which they are united with Christ. They also recognize and accept other sacraments within their own Churches or ecclesiastical communities. Many of them rejoice in the episcopate, celebrate the Holy Eucharist and cultivate devotion toward the Virgin Mother of God. They also share with us in prayer and other spiritual benefits. Likewise we can say that in some real way they are joined with us in the Holy Spirit, for to them too He gives His gifts and graces whereby He is operative among them with His sanctifying power…[6]
Thus, according to Lumen Gentium, even if the SSPX is not “fully incorporated into the Society of the Church” they can still “in some real way” be joined with the Catholic Church in the Holy Spirit, receiving gifts and graces whereby God “is operative among them with His sanctifying power.” If this is the case, what is the real importance of full incorporation “into the Society of the Church?” As this exercise demonstrates, trying to pin any precise definition on the shifting, ambiguous, and contradictory language of Vatican II documents is a recipe for utter disaster; hence, the Traditionalists’ critique of the Council texts themselves.
Editor’s note: There’s much more to this wide ranging article.
Given the adversarial relation between the Church and the world—it is the height of naiveté to deny it—the Supreme Pontiff must be careful to weigh every word and phrase he chooses to utter in public, for the world will eagerly seize upon any ambiguity or telling omission in order to declare triumphantly that a new breach has appeared in the citadel and that the invasion of the Church by worldly thinking has made a stunning new advance. Thus a Pope’s pursuit of “simplicity” and “sincerity,” if it leads to the idea that the Pope must shun all formalism in his public addresses and “speak from the heart,” can come—inevitably will come—at the expense of all the faithful and at the risk of undermining the very credibility of the Church herself.
Editor’s note: We’ve all heard the phrase, “The devil’s in the details.” It is also equally true that lack of detail might also serve evil purposes. When a pope makes vague, open-ended statements in public, he incites both scandal and dismay – while at the same time, reinvigorating the enemies of the church – who twist his imprecise language to their own nefarious ends.
The hospital’s compliance with the legislation came into question during the summer when a member of its board of directors said it could “not comply” with the legislation as it ran counter to its Catholic ethos. Fr Kevin Doran, who sits on both the board of directors and the board of governors would not comment this afternoon on the hospital’s decision or his future involvement in it.
The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital is a Catholic voluntary hospital and was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1861. In its mission statement, the hospital says that by caring for the sick, “we participate in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ”.
The Olmsted Falls City School District, located in Olmsted Falls, Ohio has agreed to remove the video “30 Days: Muslim and America” from the 7th grade World History Curriculum. The action was taken to avoid a constitutional challenge by the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which filed a series of requests for public records concerning the video on behalf of Jenny McKeigue, a mother of three children who attend schools within the district.
Video – Three (Real) Things About Islam
With all the attention focused on Ted Cruz’s attempt to defund Obamacare in the continuing resolution, some of the law’s parade of horribles are momentarily out of view. Come October 1, those horribles will resume their onward march as the law’s impact on subsidizing elective abortion will begin to become clearer.
Doug Lawrence's Catholic Site 