Diocese of Sodom and Gomorra Gloria TV | March 24, 2015 www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://www.gloria.tv/media/A1wWjhpQi4U In an eight page document in preparation for the Synod on the Family the diocese of Essen, Germany, has asked the Vatican to elaborate a “Rite for the blessing of same-sex-couples”, to de facto abolish the indissolubility of marriage, to accept adultery and to allow artificial birth control. According to the document, blessing of practiced homosexuality would be a – quote – “sign of justice” and “non-discrimination”.

["There has been a certain amount of pressure not to sign the letter and indeed a degree of intimidation from some senior Churchmen": Who could be more senior among the Catholic churchmen in England than His Eminence the Cardinal Primate of Westminster?] Cardinal [Nichols] rebukes 500 priests for going to the press with call to resist change to church teaching 24 March 2015 by Christopher Lamb, Abigail Frymann Rouch www.thetablet.co.uk/news/1909/0/cardinal-rebukes-500-priests-for-going-to-the-press-with-call-to-resist-change-to-church-teaching- Cardinal Vincent Nichols has rebuked the almost 500 priests in England and Wales who have signed a letter resisting any change to church teaching at the Vatican’s next Synod on the Family, saying that discussions around the Synod are “not best conducted through the press”. In a statement, the cardinal took issue with the priests’ decision to air their views in the press. He said on Wednesday: “Every priest in England and Wales has been asked to reflect on the Synod discussion. It is my understanding that this has been taken up in every diocese, and that channels of communication have been established. The pastoral experience and concern of all priests in these matters are of great importance and are welcomed by the bishops. Pope Francis has asked for a period of spiritual discernment. This dialogue, between a priest and his bishop, is not best conducted through the press.” Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who attended the last synod and will be at the next one in October, has said divorced and remarried people could be readmitted to Communion under certain conditions.

[Following the lead of their hierarchy (who urged careful "reflection" on the referendum rather than an outright negative vote) especially the Archbishop of Dublin (who forbade priests from distributing materials on the referendum in churches)] Irish Association of “Catholic” Priests takes neutral stance on same-sex marriage The organisation has urged priests not to tell their parishioners how they should vote Posted Wednesday, 25 Mar 2015 www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/03/25/irish-association-of-catholic-priests-takes-neutral-stance-on-same-sex-marriage/ The Association of Catholic Priests has adopted a neutral position on the same-sex marriage referendum in Ireland and urged priests not to instruct their parishioners on how they should vote in May. The group of priests, with a membership of about 1,000, issued a statement saying: “After a consultation with our members, the results of which indicated clearly a wide range of views, the Association of Catholic Priests has decided not to adopt a position in favour or against the marriage equality referendum.” The statement added: “Sexual orientation does not debar anyone from God’s love. If as priests we are speaking on this matter, we need to remember that the use of intemperate language can cause deep hurt among gay people and their families, as well as doing further damage to an already ailing church.” They concluded: ““We look forward to a debate that will be characterised by freedom of speech and respectful listening so that the best result for the Irish people might be reached” and said that their priests had a particular responsibility to “not to direct their parishioners to vote Yes or No.”

The Death Of Catholic Universities In America Catholic universities in America have lost sight of their institutional identities. Only direct intervention from the Vatican can reverse their decline. By Dominic Lynch March 24, 2015 thefederalist.com/2015/03/24/the-death-of-catholic-universities-in-america/ Catholic universities in America are typically regarded as offering a well-rounded education combined with one of the premier intellectual forces of the West: the Catholic Church, and its vast well of knowledge in almost every discipline. Unlike state-sponsored institutions, which can offer a quality education, Catholic universities have the advantage of a grounded and time-tested moral foundation. This foundation, and the discoveries, advances, and progress it has produced, is unrivaled in any other Western tradition. Secular universities, good though they may be, lack the basic direction Catholic universities receive by their nature. As a result, secular universities are more prone to moral decay and moral bankruptcy than religiously affiliated institutions. Daniel Payne addressed recently in his article, “From Fake Rapes To Petty ‘Microaggressions,’ American Colleges Have Lost Their Way.” Despite the moral bedrock that Catholic universities are founded upon, Catholic-American institutions of higher education have lost sight of their institutional identities. At this point, only direct intervention from the Vatican can reverse their decline and death. Catholic Universities Sponsor Anti-Catholic Activities Catholic universities regularly engage in or sanction activity that obviously contradicts their mission as an arm of the church, yet defend it with doublespeak about free speech and a heavy dose of cognitive dissonance, saying that permitting an activity or group on campus does not equal endorsement. But actions belie statements, and Catholic universities continue to be caught betraying themselves. Actions belie statements, and Catholic universities continue to be caught betraying themselves. The Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic higher education watchdog, reports almost daily on the worst (and occasionally the best) that Catholic institutions offer. For instance, Loyola Marymount University offers internships with the openly pro-choice group Feminist Majority Foundation. Gloria Steinem was hosted at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, despite the objection of the local bishop. In a recent and highly publicized case, Marquette University is taking steps to fire a tenured professor who criticized a “graduate student instructor who told a student not to oppose same-sex marriage in her class.” Even Notre Dame has had its Catholic identity questioned—and by the Washington Post, at that. Lists like these are absurd, and rightly so. But they are just the tip of the iceberg. A number of Catholic institutions engage in deep-seated Progressive politics. “Diversity” offices, drag shows, and programs—even entire courses—focusing on race, class, and gender are the norm. Loyola University Chicago, my home institution, has by now almost completely trampled its Catholic identity. The short list includes running an annual drag show eight years strong, hosting former President Obama advisor Van Jones and MSNBC personality Touré Neblett, hiring a professor accused of bizarre sexual harassment, chartering a pagan club (now named the Indigenous Faith Alliance), and engaging in numerous other questionable activities. How can a university call itself Catholic if it offers Continue Reading

Old Latin past illuminates future for Catholic church Michael Burns March 24, 2015 www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/greer/2015/03/24/old-latin-past-illuminates-future-catholic-church/70372594/ Father Christopher Smith, the pastor at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, holds traditional Latin Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Tom Kelly felt like something was lost 50 years ago this month, when traditional Latin Mass was abandoned by the Roman Catholic Church with a Second Vatican Council ruling that Mass could be said in local languages with alternate choreography. The intention was to make the ceremony more accessible, more understandable, simpler, but connection that lasted through centuries evaporated. Holy reverence and awe seemed to be exchanged for colloquial comfort. Now, though, the formal worship is making a comeback in South Carolina and at Catholic churches worldwide. The daily Latin Mass held at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Taylors – among services that also include English and Spanish Mass – led Kelly and his family to move to the area. “It’s so very reverent,” said Kelly, a native of Long Island, New York, who moved with his wife Donna and children from Rutherfordton, North Carolina, to Taylors in 2005 to be closer to Latin Mass. “You can go to a Mass in New York, you can go in South Carolina, you can go in Rome, you can go in China and it doesn’t really matter. You’re attending the same Mass.” “I can tell my children this is the Mass that all of the saints that they’re learning about in school would’ve been at,” said Joel Raines, a Campobello resident who travels with his wife, Marty, and four children to Prince of Peace almost weekly. “From my perspective with my kids, I try to tell them that the Catholic faith is 2,000 years old, but the Mass that we were taking them to was kind of new. It had contemporary music. It was English. It was like handing them a penny and telling them it’s a 300-year-old penny, but it looks shiny and new. It’s kind of hard to buy into that if you’re a kid.” Now, though, as the smell of incense rises through the sound of Gregorian chants, they more easily sense that they are part of a tradition that’s been handed down from the second century. Prince of Peace Catholic Church, with more than 2,000 families as members, is one of the few churches in the nation to celebrate a daily noon Latin Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. It’s one of only two in the state – Stella Maris Roman Catholic Church on Sullivan’s Island is the other – to celebrate the Latin Mass on a weekly basis. Father Christopher Smith, formally installed as the parish’s pastor just last week after three years as administrator, said it’s helping the church grow. “I think that there are as many reasons that people come to it as there are people,” Smith said. “One of the things that we’ve found very interesting is that a lot of older people Continue Reading

Dallas theologian examines latest Scalfari “interview” scandal March 25, 2015 Posted by Tantumblogo veneremurcernui.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/dallas-theologian-examines-latest-scalfari-interview-scandal/#comments I’m certain virtually every reader has by now heard about or read the latest claims of the geriatric Italian militant atheist Eugenio Scalfari, reporting in the Italian daily La Repubblica ~10 days ago the results of a recent interview he conducted with the Pope. As per his normal habit, Scalfari took no notes and used no recording device, so his reconstruction of events is based totally on memory. Bear in mind, this man is 90 years old, and he has a severe ax to grind as a militant atheist. Having said that, his reported comments have not been rebutted or rationalized in any way by the Vatican. They have been allowed to stand as is, causing untold scandal and confusion. What to make of this? That Scalfari is communicating the grossest errors and condemned heresies should be obvious. What to make of the fact that the Vatican has, to date, made no correction or explanation? As for the errors, University of Dallas theology Professor Christopher Malloy shares the following -Malloy is what you could call a Thomist ( theologicalflint.com/?p=1389 ) [Tantumblogo's comments in brackets]: First, “If one has loved others at least as much as himself… the Father will welcome him.” Well the statement is totally ambiguous. The condition of salvation is to die in grace. No one who dies without sanctifying grace in his soul is saved. Period. This grace entails, as its proper effect, a habitual orientation to love God out of charity for his own sake, and in consequence to love the self and the neighbor in God. Now, love is always oriented to a good……. In short, loving my neighbor “more” than myself or “at least as much” does not identify the proper condition of salvation. In fact, outstanding doctors of theology state that I have a duty to love myself more than my neighbor. That is right, more. They say the order of love is as follows: Love God first of all, your own soul next, your neighbor’s soul next, your neighbor’s body next, and your own body last. That would be the proper order of a loving mother for her children. And why self love in terms of spiritual goods first? Because I do not will my neighbor to have a good unless I appreciate, love, that good too. Moreover, unless I love God and love my loving God, I would not consider it a value to will for my neighbor. Hence, good love of neighbor requires good love of self. In sum, Unless I love my neighbor in God, and because of God, I cannot get into heaven. Second, charity cannot exist without faith. So, if I am not a believer, I cannot have the charity I need to have be saved. I must be converted to the one true God in faith in order to have charity so as to please him. Heb 11. [I would describe this, Continue Reading

Catholic priest, ex-EWTN TV host, fathered child; he’s now in custody fight, accused of abuse Greg Garrison on March 25, 2015 www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2015/03/catholic_priest_ex-ewtn_tv_hos.html David Stone, 54, formerly known as Father Frances Mary Stone, was host of the TV program “Life on the Rock” on Eternal Word Television Network. He fathered a child born in 2008. The mother was fired from EWTN and Stone was put on long-term leave of absence, according to Jefferson County court documents. A national group that monitors allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy has focused attention this week on the Alabama case of David Lawrence Stone, a Catholic priest and former EWTN TV host who was arrested in 2013 and charged with sexual abuse of a minor under 12. The minor he is charged with sexually abusing is his own son, now six years old. Stone, 54, formerly known as Father Frances Mary Stone, was host of the TV program “Life on the Rock” on Eternal Word Television Network. In court filings, Stone’s attorneys have argued that the allegation of child abuse is false. Stone has been in a lengthy custody battle with Christina Presnell, the mother of his child, according to Jefferson County Court records. A spokeswoman for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, was in Birmingham on Tuesday to discuss the case. She said Bishop Robert J. Baker, head of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham, should let people know about the allegation and that the priest still lives in Irondale. “Even if you believe he’s innocent, they should be open about it and let the truth come out,” said Barbara Dorris, outreach director for SNAP. She said that since the Catholic Church was rocked by scandal in recent years over accusations of sexual abuse by priests, bishops have vowed to be more open about allegations against priests. “Protect the kids,” she said. “The bishops in some states have not been taken to task. This crisis isn’t over.” Baker said that Stone no longer is a member of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word, the order of priests founded in 1987 by Mother Angelica, who also founded EWTN. Stone no longer lives at the Annunciation Friary in Irondale, Baker said. Stone lives in a rented house in Irondale, according to court documents. “He’s not living in their community,” Baker said. “They are following canonical procedures on the case.” The diocese investigated the case and it’s now being played out in the judicial system, in both criminal and civil cases in Jefferson County. “We have investigated, and done everything we’re required to do,” Baker said. “He is out of the ministry. Everything is pending the outcome of the trials. My understanding is he is saying he is falsely accused. Any of these situations are difficult.” Priest and mother of his child both lost jobs at EWTN Scott Morro, an attorney for Presnell, said the relationship between Stone and Presnell started when she was working for EWTN. Presnell worked as a human resource Continue Reading

Archbishop Cupich Moving Quickly To Reorganize Archdiocese March 24, 2015 Jay Levine chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/03/24/archbishop-cupich-moving-quickly-to-reorganize-archdiocese/ (CBS) – Major reorganization and downsizing is underway at the Archdiocese of Chicago. Archbishop Blase Cupich, in office for barely four months, has moved quickly to completely reshape the Archdiocese of Chicago under totally new leadership. CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports Cupich is bringing in his own people, dealing with financial reality in keeping with the tone being set by Pope Francis. He’s replaced some, offered early retirement to many others in top management, and is even shaking up seminaries. At the same time, he is inviting supporters to an event, which may or may not happen. Almost immediately after his installation, the archbishop moved to replace his vicar general, his CEO, fired his school superintendent, and has now replaced his moderator of the curia, in charge of 800 priests. But inside the new chancery offices, the recently remodeled former seminary, where Cupich was announced as the new archbishop last fall, the changes will soon be even more extreme. 88 long-time employees, about a quarter of the staff, have been offered early retirement deals. The shake-up even extends to college seminaries, like St. Joseph at Loyola, where the top three educators have just been reassigned. But while Cupich shares Pope Francis’ philosophy of a simple, prayerful life, he is apparently not following the Pope’s lead on an upcoming event. An invitation was recently sent to 450 supporters of the Chicago Archdiocese to join Archbishop Cupich for a $5,000 a person pilgrimage to attend the presentation of his pallium, by Pope Francis. Though at this point it’s not clear whether or not there’ll be a public presentation. Pope Francis, moving to discourage costly ceremonial trips, back in January, declared the formal presentation of the pallium will from now on take place in archbishops’ home diocese, a far cry from the Vatican pomp and circumstance of the past. Back in 1997, Cardinal George received his pallium, the lambswool vestment presented to metropolitan archbishops, from Pope John Paul II. More than a hundred Chicago Catholics accompanied him on that pilgrimage. But now, such trips are no longer the rule, as Pope Francis, who as far back as 2001, when he was made a Cardinal, urged local parishioners to donate to the poor in Buenos Aires rather than fly to see the ceremony at the Vatican. While the pilgrimage appears to be at odds with the spirit, if not the letter of Pope Francis’ philosophy, the archdiocese says it was put together in response to parishioners asking how they could be a part of the event. No church money is being spent, but none is going to charity either.

[Viva Cristo Rey!] Remembering Brent [Bozell] Regis Martin 3/26/15 www.crisismagazine.com/2015/remembering-brent I was still an undergraduate when, in the summer of 1970, I first laid eyes on Spain, spending seven or so heady weeks in the bright shadow of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, an immense, intimidating pile built by Philip II in the shape of a huge gridiron on which its patron, St. Lawrence, had been slowly barbecued back in the second century. He had designed it that way to honor the martyred deacon whose feast (August 10) fell on the same day his army had defeated the French at St. Quentin, an important victory in Philip’s never-ending campaign against the Protestant world. That was in the year 1563, the same year that, as Providence would have it, the Council of Trent issued its final decrees, thus launching all those wonderful Tridentine warheads aimed at restoring the unity of a divided Christendom. Those weeks in Catholic Spain were among the happiest of my life, spent in the company of some of the most colorful and contentious people I would ever know. An assortment so captivatingly odd, in fact, that only a God with a sense of humor could account for them. A young Bill Marshner, for instance, who struck everyone as positively, fearfully brilliant (in several languages). When he spoke, in high Yalie hauteur, even the bells of San Lorenzo fell silent. Or Mike Schwartz, a Son of Thunder from the University of Dallas, who was, without doubt, the most fiercely self-confident Catholic I’d ever met. Averse to almost everything American (including most English antecedents, because of Britain’s barbarous treatment of our Irish cousins), he and I would cross swords not a few times that tumultuous summer. Or Lorenzo Albacete, who was, even then, just about the funniest human being on earth. There were altogether about fifty of us who managed to make it to Spain that summer, armed with as many opinions as the disparate cities and states we came from. But we were all eager to experience firsthand a culture that offered, in the words of the brochure that first caught my eye, “an organically Catholic life style.” And which had succeeded, however residually during the waning years of the Franco regime, in surviving the secularist furies then sweeping across the West. Quite simply, what the program aimed to achieve was “insight into the pubic life proper to a Christian.” Pursuant, as always, to an even larger ambition—“to instaurate the sovereignty of Christ the King in the social order.” In other words, the raising up of a confessional state, intended to follow upon the happy conversion of the country to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Quixotic? To be sure. But no less probable than, say, the conversion of the ancient world, which took place during the first centuries of the Church’s life. Far and away the most striking specimens that summer, however, were the two men who made it possible for any of us to be Continue Reading

A Report on the Sodomy Synod, from [E. Michael Jones'] Culture Wars Posted by Aged parent 3/25/15 theeye-witness.blogspot.com/2015/03/a-report-on-sodomy-synod-from-culture.html Well-informed Catholics the world over have a fairly good idea of what went on a few months ago in Rome but this summary, from Culture Wars, is a useful compendium of the facts that all Catholics should be cognizant of right now. We have to know what we are dealing with. www.culturewars.com/2015/Synod.htm What we are dealing with is not pretty. I can not see it as anything other than a full frontal assault not only on Catholic morality but on simple human decency as well. And we would do well to understand what lies just underneath the surface, just below the radar screen, that which is unsaid but still very much a part of the assault. As the author points out: “It is not only the content of the final document but also its omissions which should cause grave concern. Even though the synod was called to deal with the crisis facing the family there is not one single mention of abortion, in vitro fertilisation, or euthanasia. Nor is there any mention of the serious threat posed to the civil freedoms of those who remain faithful to moral law and the teachings of the Church. Finally the section on contraception, far from strongly reasserting the Church’s teaching, is phrased in such a way that it would seem open to couples making a choice in ‘conscience’ to use contraception. This ambiguous sentence reads: “we should return to the message of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae of Blessed Pope Paul VI, which highlights the need to respect the dignity of the person in morally assessing methods in regulating births.” Those “omissions” are the dagger that will be thrust into the heart of Catholic doctrine and practice, and which will send many, many souls to Hell. It is an awful thought. But that is the final outcome of the machinations of the traitors. And yes, they are traitors, in the truest sense of that word. Many of us are complacent in the belief that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church. Yes, that is true, but how does one really understand the implications of that frightening phrase? How, in the real workaday world, is that going to impact Catholics struggling to hang on to what the Church has always taught? The phrase tells us by implication that something wicked this way comes; that “something” may have great success in obliterating almost the last vestiges of faith on this planet. The phrase carries the further implication that our own, our fellow Christians, are poised to turn against us. If the Bastard Synod/the Sin-nod/the Synod of Sodomy has taught us nothing else it has taught us that we are on the cusp of a great demolition pf faith and morals. This writer thinks of these things when he looks at his children and grandchildren. How will they hang on when their own mother, their Church, Continue Reading

Cardinal Müller : Delegated decisions on the family to bishops’ conferences is an “anti-Catholic idea” 3/26/15 voxcantor.blogspot.com/2015/03/cardinal-muller-delegated-decisions-on.html The French Magazine, Famille Chrétienne, is carrying an interview this morning with Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This is only an excerpt from the interview with the rest in French requiring a registration. However, in this short question and answer, the Prefect states quite clearly that those in Germany such as Cardinal Marx who take the attitude that they are “not a subsidiary of Rome” are engaging in an “absolutely anti-Catholic idea.” Cardinal Müller continues with general comments about the role of Episcopal Conferences that dioceses are not subsidiaries of the secretariat of an episcopal conference and that President “is nothing more than a technical moderator,” and certainly not a little pope! It appears that Cardinal Marx is becoming more isolated and exposed for what is, when it comes to the Church in Germany, a schismatic mentality. Cardinal Müller: “The bishop is to be a martyr by the word” 26/03/2015 – Par Jean-Marie Dumont FAMILE CHRETIENNE In this exclusive interview, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, answers questions raised in the Church at the Synod on the family. In a book of interviews on family, recently published in Italy and the United States, you encourage Christians to “choose the prophetic courage of martyrdom.” Why? The Church is not a philanthropic organisation. To say that we respect the views of all, we want good to all, is not enough. Present the Gospel as a single therapeutic message is not very difficult, but does not meet the requirement of Jesus. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and if we speak all kinds of evil against you because of me,” Jesus said. The first apostles, Church Fathers, the great bishops of the Church’s history have so often sailed facing headwinds. How could it be otherwise for us? Some doctrinal or disciplinary decisions on marriage and the family can they be delegated to the bishops’ conferences? This is an absolutely anti-Catholic idea that does not respect the catholicity of the Church. Episcopal conferences have authority over certain issues, but not a magisterium next to the Magisterium, without the pope and without communion with the Bishops. This is an absolutely anti-Catholic idea. Recently, a German bishop said the Episcopal Conference he leads was not a “subsidiary of Rome”. What about you? An episcopal conference is not a particular council, much less an ecumenical council. The president of an Episcopal Conference is nothing more than a technical moderator, and as such has no special teaching authority. To hear that a Bishops’ Conference is not a “subsidiary of Rome” gives me the opportunity to recall that the dioceses are not subsidiaries of the secretariat of an episcopal conference or diocese whose Bishop presides over the Episcopal Conference. This attitude makes the risk of waking some polarisation between the Continue Reading

Pope Francis’ rottweilers want exclusive rights to publicity stunts TTC (The Tenth Crusade) 2/26/15 throwthebumsoutin2010.blogspot.com/2015/03/pope-francis-rottweilers-want-exclusive.html The synod is sinking and the rats are coming out of the woodwork: blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/03/cardinal-nichols-attempts-to-silence-faithful-priests-this-will-backfire/ Didn’t Francis initiative call for open and honest discussion of Kasper’s heresy? If you can distance yourself from the emotional baggage that comes with the empowerment of the thugs who sell heresy, this is fascinating to watch. Pope picks heretic to teach his us heresy and tells us all to openly discuss the pros and cons of embracing it. Catholics who will never embrace heresy openly and honestly discuss the cons, Pope Francis army of mercy and justice tell us to STFU. The duplicity is too weird to be of human origin. Get this: After the Holy Father tells us to discuss the very public, well-orchestrated circus of deception and heresy at the synod, this Cardinal [Primate of England] tells us not to conduct a debate about the synod through the press. Priests should not conduct a debate about the October Family Synod through the press, Cardinal Nichols has said, following the publication of a letter signed by hundreds of priests, urging the synod to issue a ‘clear and firm proclamation’ upholding Church teaching on marriage. They want exclusive rights to conduct publicity stunts. Remember when Pope Francis said he wanted discussions about the crud of the Relatio to be transparent? Here we see the policy on transparency starting to shape up: Every priest in England and Wales has been asked to reflect on the Synod discussion. It is my understanding that this has been taken up in every diocese, and that channels of communication have been established,’ the statement said. ‘The pastoral experience and concern of all priests in these matters are of great importance and are welcomed by the Bishops. Pope Francis has asked for a period of spiritual discernment. This dialogue, between a priest and his bishop, is not best conducted through the press.’ Get it? Any discussion was supposed to be privately discussed with the heretics trying to implement it. Good one. There is something really creepy about communication in the administration of this papacy. In every conceivable way. Right is wrong and wrong is right. Error is evangelized and truth is silenced. It’s the stink of sulfur. We need to be careful because it is everywhere and demons specialize in capitalizing on naivete and stupidity. But everywhere this agenda is being promoted, the liars and thugs storm to silence and destroy catechesis and truth. We’ve all taken several bites of the apple now and it is rotten to the core.

["To accuse Vatican II of being the cause of disaffiliation and 'resting', therefore, is rather like blaming Trent for the rise of Protestantism": The rise of Protestantism came BEFORE the Council of Trent, while most of the rise of the current "disaffiliation and resting" came AFTER Vatican II!] It’s not Vatican II’s fault[!?] by Stephen Bullivant posted Thursday, 26 Mar 2015 www.catholicherald.co.uk/issues/march-27th-2015/its-not-vatican-iis-fault/ Half of baptised Catholics never attend Mass and a third claim to have ‘no religion’. But it would be wrong to point the finger at the great ecumenical council It is no secret that a great many baptised Catholics are, in the parlance of one of our bishops, “resting”. Forty-eight per cent never attend Mass; one in three claims to have “no religion”. A moment’s reflection, however, confirms that it cannot ever have been thus. The Catholic birthrate would need to be vastly above average (it isn’t) to break even, let alone grow, in the face of such attrition. So when, exactly, did the haemorrhage begin? And why? One need not spend long in the left-footed reaches of the internet to find a definitive answer to both questions: Vatican II. Precisely how the Council Fathers conspired to commit “ecclesicide” might be endlessly debated, but the culprit itself is never seriously in doubt. And,it has to be said, a first glance at the evidence doesn’t look good for the council’s counsel. Using British Social Attitudes data,it is possible to gauge the proportion of Catholics born in a given decade who still identified as such in adulthood. Seventy-eight per cent of cradle Catholics born between 1915 and 1924 retained their Catholic identity: a 20th-century high. In fact, every cohort prior to the end of World War Two has a retention rate of more than 70 per cent. Not so for those born in 1945-54, however. The baby boomers were the ones approaching adulthood during Vatican II itself: their retention rate is only 61 per cent. The next two cohorts, the true “post-conciliars” born in 1955-74, fared even worse: 57 per cent apiece. The laity did not so much “come of age” at Vatican II, a cynic might say, as pack up and leave the family home. Fortunately, I am not a cynic. And nor, I think, need you be. Post Concilium, ergo propter Concilium – the notion that because something happened after the council it is necessarily caused by the council – is by no means so obvious as such statistics might suggest. This is so for two reasons. The plummeting graph lines one sees from the 1960s onwards (in all areas of Church life, not just regarding identity) are not at all exclusive to Catholicism. The Church of England, for example, publishes its statistics on all manner of things: confirmations per parish, number of baptisms as a proportion of live births, total of Easter and Christmas communicants, and so on. They all show the same pattern: consistent levels in the first half of the 20th century, perhaps even with Continue Reading

Book Review: Ethics as a Work of Charity Looks at Thomas Aquinas and pagan virtue David C. Paternostro, S.J. New Oxford Review March 2015 www.newoxfordreview.org/briefly.jsp?did=0315-briefly Ethics as a Work of Charity: Thomas Aquinas and Pagan Virtue. By David Decosimo. Stanford University Press. 354 pages. $65. In the past half century, the Church has had to grapple more and more with the problem of how to view and address society as it becomes less and less religious. Following the emergence of the New Atheism in the early 2000s and what has been termed “the rise of the nones” among millennials, the question of moral goodness apart from revelation has become even more pronounced. Authors have proposed a variety of stances ranging from a general affirmation of social trends (or, at the least, general affirmation of non-religious pursuit of the good in the absence of religious belief) to a general rejection of social trends or attempts to cultivate virtue apart from a system of religious belief. Ethics as a Work of Charity attempts to bridge these stances, and although the book affirms the necessity of grace, it also affirms the virtues that non-Christians can attain. Decosimo states that the purpose of the book is to “elucidate Thomas Aquinas’s conception of pagan virtue — to explain just what that vision is and how it relates to both the substance of his ethics and his way of doing moral theology.” In the introduction, Decosimo distinguishes his position from two opposing camps. On the one hand are “hyper-Augustinian” Thomists, such as Alasdair MacIntyre, who would doubt the possibility of pagan virtue. On the other hand are “public reason” Thomists, such as John Finnis, who would see virtue as something generally accessible. It is worth noting that, while Decosimo does not label them as such, the “public reason” Thomists are all proponents of New Natural Law, a theory, formulated by Germain Grisez and defended by the likes of Princeton’s Robert P. George, of “practical reasoning” that moves men to honor “basic human goods.” Decosimo rightly places the ethical debate within the larger debate of Aquinas’s Aristotelian and Augustinian commitments. Decosimo, however, denies that Aristotle and Augustine are to be pitted against each other — or, at the very least, that Aquinas denies this. Decosimo states that Aquinas is “striving to be Aristotelian by being Augustinian, and vice versa” — a phrase one encounters regularly throughout the book. Decosimo sees much overlap in the worldviews of Augustine and Aristotle. Though they may not say the same things, they do talk about different things with a compatible tone, and Decosimo demonstrates how Aquinas takes the statements of each to form a far more complete picture of the world than would be possible by using only one. “Ethics as a Work of Faith,” the first of the book’s three parts, lays out the fundamentals. Chapter two is a particular highlight: Decosimo provides an excellent treatment of the basics of Aquinas’s ethical thought that is, overall, comparable to the late Continue Reading

[Top 10 Things Liberal Catholics Would Have Us Believe To Be "Truly" Catholic] By Matt Bowman 3/26/15 www.catholicvote.org/top-10-things-catholics-dont-have-to-believe/ Easter is a time for initiating people into the Church. In many Catholic parishes this happens through RCIA: the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. But what do you have to believe to be Catholic? There’s a lot of confusion about this in public discussion. Current popular opinion says that under Pope Francis the Church is more open, more welcoming, more willing to offer full communion to people who diverge from Church teaching. If Pope John Paul II was known for his opening exhortation “Be not afraid!” Pope Francis’s most repeated (and misconstrued) quote is “Who am I to judge?” This supposed openness has an ironic flip side. Liberal Catholic pundits will defend giving communion even to Planned Parenthood award winners. But those same liberals are busy heaping up more and more “teachings” that they say Catholics must believe, or else. The recent death penalty debate is a good example. Conservative Catholics will make the case that the death penalty can be permitted, and even why it is a good idea. But very few conservatives will say you are a bad Catholic if you oppose the death penalty. The liberals are the ones being unwelcome and exclusivistic. They insist that being Catholic necessitates opposing the death penalty. The Patheos Catholic portal’s anti-death penalty statement repeats, as if it forces a conclusion, the mantra “We are Catholic” “We are Catholic” “We are Catholic.” That’s not an argument, it’s a bludgeon. It repeatedly suggests that if you don’t agree with them on this issue, you are not really Catholic and maybe not even Christian. It’s true that on some fundamental policy issues, the Church’s moral teaching requires that we take a position. For example, “don’t kill babies” (abortion must be illegal). Or, “male and female He created them” (marriage is between a man and a woman). Or, Christians must be free to follow Christ’s teachings (the state must respect religious freedom). But on most other policy issues the Church allows the laity freedom to figure those out. So to help guide you through what you will not be required to affirm and profess at this year’s Easter Vigil Mass, here are my “Top 10 Things Catholics Don’t Have to Believe”: 1. The death penalty must be abolished. Take it from then-Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Emeritus Benedict: “There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.” Note that he was talking about who may receive Holy Communion, which is the ultimate measure of being a Catholic in good standing. 2. All gun control must be enacted. The Church teaches that families have a right to defend themselves including by use of arms, and it teaches that guns should be subject to “reasonable” limits by the state. But the Church leaves it to lay policy makers to Continue Reading

New e-mails cast doubt on diocese’s story about firing Patricia Jannuzzi over Facebook flap Ben Johnson www.lifesitenews.com/news/new-e-mails-cast-doubt-on-dioceses-story-about-firing-patricia-jannuzzi-ove SOMERVILLE, NJ, March 25, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New e-mails released by Patricia Jannuzzi’s lawyer have raised questions about whether a Catholic bishop has been entirely truthful about the potential firing of a schoolteacher over a pro-traditional marriage Facebook post. Patricia Jannuzzi, 57, is a theology teacher at Immaculata High School whose post condemning same-sex “marriage” became viral, inspiring a national campaign directed at her New Jersey school. When her family stated that Jannuzzi had been placed on unpaid leave and told her contract would not be renewed in September, the diocese denied the statements. But family attorney David Oakley has released e-mails that cast a shadow over the diocese’s public statements. On Friday, Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski said Jannuzzi “has been put on administrative leave. There has been no interruption in her pay and benefits.” But on March 12, Immaculata High School principal Jean Kline wrote, “Upon further reflection and upon receiving the advice of the Advisory Council, I have decided to place you on administrative leave without pay effective immediately.” She concluded, “P.S.: As stated in my phone message, Msgr. [Seamus Brennan] is looking at ways that will not leave you financially vulnerable.” The family created its crowdfunding page, hoping to raise $100,000 to replace the breast cancer survivor’s salary and benefits and to help pay their children’s tuition, on YouCaring.com shortly after receiving this e-mail. Bishop Bootkoski’s statement also said that Jannuzzi “has never been terminated, as some media outlets have reported.” Oakley released a second e-mail, which he sent on March 20, “to confirm my understanding of your client’s decision with respect to the termination of Patti Jannuzzi.” The e-mail implies that Jannuzzi received an offer of continued pay and benefits for the remainder of the school year, with the understanding it would be her last. “My client’s acceptance of salary and benefits does not, and is not meant to, imply any acceptance of or acquiescence in Immaculata’s decision to terminate her,” he wrote. Oakley noted that he was “deeply sorry that we were unable to reach on agreement on terms for Patti’s reinstatement” and that he and Jannuzzi “remain ready and eager to meet with the Bishop and his advisors to explain our position more fully.” A national radio campaign, launched by Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute, has asked Bishop Bootkoski to explain his position fully. Reviewing the charge and counter-charges, Frank Walker, the assistant news editor of PewSitter.com, wrote that Bishop Bootkoski “seems to have lied.” But the Diocese of Metuchen told LifeSiteNews.com that its employment decisions had not yet been finalized. “In keeping with diocesan school policy, decisions for all teaching positions for the 2015-2016 academic year are made later in the spring,” Erin Friedlander the Diocese of Metuchen said in a statement e-mailed to LifeSiteNews. “We are baffled and disappointed that there has been a website soliciting funds that is filled with misinformation.” “Something is Continue Reading

Martyrology-March 28th Roman Martyrology-March 28th-on this date in various years- St. John Capistrano, confessor, a priest of the Order of Friars Minor, who is mentioned on the 23rd of October. At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of the holy martyrs Priscus, Malchus, and Alexander. In the persecution of Valerian, they were living the suburbs of Caesarea, but knowing that in the city the heavenly crown of martyrdom was to be gained, and burning with the divine ardour of faith, they went to the judge of their own accord, rebuked him for shedding in torrents the blood of the faithful, and were immediately condemned to be devoured by beasts for the Name of Christ. At Tarsus in Cilicia, the holy martyrs Castor and Dorotheus. In Africa, the holy martyrs Rogatus, Successus, and sixteen others. At Norcia, Abbot St. Spes, a man of extraordinary patience, whose soul at its departure from this life (as Pope St. Gregory relates) was seen by all his brethren to ascend to heaven in the shape of a dove. At Chalons in France, the death of St. Guntram, king of the Franks, who devoted himself to exercises of piety, despising the ostentation of the world, and who bestowed his treasures on the Church and the poor. And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins. R. Thanks be to God.

Daughter of Lesbians defends Traditional Marriage A WOMAN raised by two lesbians has come out against gay marriage and defended Dolce & Gabbana’s views on traditional families. Heather Barwick’s mum left her father when her daughter was two or three and moved in with a woman she was in love with. Barwick says her dad “wasn’t a great guy”, and after her mum left him “he didn’t bother coming around anymore.” While she says she feels very much like a “daughter of the gay community”, she says she has changed her view on gay marriage and doesn’t believe it should be allowed. “I’m writing to you because I’m letting myself out of the closet: I don’t support gay marriage. But it might not be for the reasons that you think. It’s not because you’re gay. I love you, so much. It’s because of the nature of the same-sex relationship itself,” she said. “Same-sex marriage and parenting withholds either a mother or father from a child while telling him or her that it doesn’t matter. That it’s all the same. But it’s not. A lot of us, a lot of your kids, are hurting. My father’s absence created a huge hole in me, and I ached every day for a dad. I loved my mum’s partner, but another mum could never have replaced the father I lost.” “Growing up, and even into my 20s, I supported and advocated for gay marriage. It’s only with some time and distance from my childhood that I’m able to reflect on my experiences and recognise the long-term consequences that same-sex parenting had on me,” she said. “It’s only now, as I watch my children loving and being loved by their father each day, that I can see the beauty and wisdom in traditional marriage and parenting.” “I’m not gay, but the relationship that was modelled before me was a woman loving a woman. So I’ve struggled as an adult figuring out how to be in a relationship with my husband,” she said. “It really wasn’t until I came to Christ that I felt that burden lifted off of me. And I’m not bitter. I’m not angry,’ she said. ‘I forgive my dad.” Barwick then pleads with the gay community not to misinterpret her opposition to gay parenting as homophobia. “This isn’t about hate at all. I know you understand the pain of a label that doesn’t fit and the pain of a label that is used to malign or silence you. And I know that you really have been hated and that you really have been hurt. I was there, at the marches, when they held up signs that said, “God hates fags” and “AIDS cures homosexuality.” I cried and turned hot with anger right there in the street with you. But that’s not me,” she said. “I know this is a hard conversation. But we need to talk about it. If anyone can talk about hard things, it’s us. You taught me that.” Barwick Continue Reading

Vatican cardinal tells German bishops: We can’t adapt the faith to the times like Christians did under the Nazis Maike Hickson www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-cardinal-tells-german-bishops-we-cant-adapt-the-faith-to-the-times ROME, March 26, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An influential Swiss cardinal at the Vatican has warned Germany’s bishops that the Church cannot merely adapt itself to the times as some Christians did in order to support the Nazis. In an interview with the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost, Cardinal Kurt Koch firmly (but politely) refuted the proposal of Cardinal Reinhard Marx and Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, both delegates to the upcoming Synod on the Family, that the Catholic Church has to adjust herself more to the “life realities” of Catholics today, and liberalize its attitude toward remarried divorcees. Cardinal Marx had even declared that the German bishops will make their pastoral decisions independently of Rome. Cardinal Koch’s comments followed a strong rebuke of Cardinal Marx by German Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes. “A Cardinal cannot easily separate the pastoral approach from the teaching,” Cardinal Cordes said, “unless he wants to ignore the binding meaning of Christ’s words and the binding words of the Council of Trent.” Cardinal Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that Bode’s words should remind us of a similar historical situation: namely the time of the Third Reich, where the “German Christians” adjusted their faith to the worldview of National Socialism, namely its racist and nationalistic ideas. He said: “Let us think of the ‘German Christians’ during the time of National Socialism, when, next to the Holy Scripture, they also raised up the Nation and the Race as sources of revelation, against which the Theological Declaration of Barmen (1934) [which rejected the submission of the Protestant churches under the state] protested. We have to differentiate very carefully here and listen with sensitivity to the signs of the times – and to the spirit that reveals itself in these signs: Which ones are signs of the Gospel, which ones are not?” With this comment, Koch made clear that it is not the Catholic Church’s mission to adapt her irreformable teaching to the spirit of the time, the Zeitgeist, but, rather, the Church has to follow Christ’s teaching at all times, throughout history. In this context, it is wise to point to that part of German history, where many Christians, mainly Protestants of the movement called “German Christians,” subjected parts of Christ’s teaching under the ideology of Adolf Hitler. Such an adaptation might have sounded convincing at the time, but there will also always be a “time after,” where many Christians then had to regret their inordinate submission to such a false teaching. In reference to our own time, we can apply Cardinal Koch’s words and determine not to adapt to a morally lax atmosphere that has spread throughout the Western world since the cultural revolution of the 1960s, which now also permeates more and more of the culture of the Catholic Church. The standard of Christ is still applicable now, and will always be Continue Reading

[Will he appeal to the Jesuit Pope (the "black" Father General and/or the "white" Holy Father - from the color of their cassocks) for reinstatement?] Jesuit Dismissed from His Academic Position — Kasper Faction Loses a Member Text: Giuseppe Nardi Trans: Tancred 3/26/15 eponymousflower.blogspot.com/2015/03/jesuit-dismissed-from-his-academic.html Cardinal Ezzati Shows Jesuits the Door (Santiago de Chile) The “New Mercy” of Cardinal Kasper, which at present is generously supported by Pope Francis, has lost a not insignificant wheel. Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Ezzati of Santiago de Chile in Latin America, dismissed the famous Jesuit Jorge Carrasco Costadoat from his professorship of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. The Archbishop is Chancellor of the University. As InfoCatolica reported the Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Fredy Parra, had asked the Archbishop to reconsider his decision again. There had also been a meeting. But the Cardinals politely showed the Jesuits the door. Father Jorge Costadoat SJ The reasons for the dismissal can be divided into two key words summarized of the Synod of Bishops in Rome: homosexuals and divorced and remarried. Father Costadoat publicly supported the theses of the Bishop of Antwerp, Johan Bonny, who already worked for Cardinal Walter Kasper when he was in Rome still directing the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Bonny demanded that the church will grant full recognition of homosexual relationships and homosexuality. The Jesuit Costadoat also sent clear signals for the “opening” to the divorced and remarried and demanded admission to the sacraments. Therefore, he tried Kaspers thesis of the “case by case” that rejects a fundamental rule. Father Costadoat represents the so-called theology of circumstances, which is by no means new in reality. He considers it “pastorally negative,” to tell the person concerned the truth, that they are in a state of “grave sin” because “if I put myself in their shoes and I suffer, I feel humiliated.” To deny remarried divorcees Holy Communion, poses “a denial of the ‘truth’ of the Gospel,” according to the Jesuit. Cardinal: Jesuit contrary to Holy Scripture, Magisterium and Tradition There Cardinal Ezzati called upon the plan that actually is considered very cautiously. The Archbishop then accused him of, among other things, of taking no account of the suffering and humiliation of the abandoned spouse and the marriage sacrament and to ignore that we are dealing with a divorce and a civil remarriage as the result of a deliberate and conscious breach. These and similar statements and considerations brought the Jesuit theologians in complete contradition to Holy Scripture, the Magisterium and Tradition whereupon Cardinal Ezzati took action in order not to feed the confusion. A circle of progressive theology students published a press release after the dismissal in which they represented the action as an advantage, because now Father Costadoat would enjoy academic freedom to spread his “rebel opinion”. Abuse of Catholic Structures for the Dissemination of Personal Theories As an entry shows in his blog, Father Costadoat seems to actually have not understood the meaning of the archbishop’s action: “If Continue Reading

Diocese of Sodom and Gomorra

Cardinal Nichols rebukes 500 priests for going to the press with call to resist change to church teaching

Irish Association of “Catholic” Priests takes neutral stance on same-sex marriage

The Death Of Catholic Universities In America

Old Latin past illuminates future for Catholic church

Dallas theologian examines latest Scalfari “interview” scandal

Catholic priest, ex-EWTN TV host, fathered child; he’s now in custody fight, accused of abuse

Archbishop Cupich Moving Quickly To Reorganize Archdiocese

Remembering Brent Bozell

A Report on the Sodomy Synod, from E. Michael Jones’ Culture Wars

Cardinal Müller : Delegated decisions on the family to bishops’ conferences is an “anti-Catholic idea”

Pope Francis’ rottweilers want exclusive rights to publicity stunts

It’s not Vatican II’s fault!?

Book Review: Ethics as a Work of Charity

Top 10 Things Liberal Catholics Would Have Us Believe To Be “Truly” Catholic

New e-mails cast doubt on diocese’s story about firing Patricia Jannuzzi over Facebook flap

MARTYROLOGY-MARCH 28

Daughter of Lesbians defends Traditional Marriage

Vatican cardinal tells German bishops: We can’t adapt the faith to the times like Christians did under the Nazis

Jesuit Dismissed from His Academic Position — Kasper Faction Loses a Member