Report predicts 9 million fewer Catholics in France in 30 years Catholic World News – April 08, 2015 If current demographic trends continue, the number of baptized Catholics in France will fall from approximately 44.1 million today to 35.2 million in 2045, according to the French Christian magazine La Vie. The average age of the baptized is expected to increase to 54. With the French population expected to rise from 64.2 million to 70.7 million in the next 30 years, the percentage of French who are Catholics will decline from 69% to just under 50%.

T -180: The Neo-modernist “Theology of Death”! 08 Wednesday Apr 2015 Posted by S. Armaticus sarmaticusblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/t-180-the-neo-modernist-theology-of-death/ FOR THE RECORD: Below is a translation of a post that appeared on the Vatican Radio’s Polish language site. During Lent, Catholics in the Netherlands are getting accustomed to the vision of a future without churches. In this year’s Message for Lent, the President of the Episcopate of the Netherlands Willem Cardinal Eijk, announced that he will take on one of the most painful problems of the local Catholic community, i.e. the necessity to close the vast majority of churches in the country, in the near future. As a result of mistakes made by the local Church after the Council and the actual abandonment of evangelization, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of faithfulin in recent decades. Card. Eijk stressed, that he never takes an initiative in this regard alone. For the “deconsecration” of a sanctuary, it is the parish council that writes a simple request stating that only a few faithful attend a church and therefore the parish does not have the necessary funds for its maintnance. The Utrecht ordinary stressed that the decision to deconsecrate is always taken with a heavy heart. Card. Eijk therefore understands the bitterness of the faithful who find that their village or district will no longer have a church. He however cautions that this should not cultivate these sorts of negative feelings, because they can lead to permanent bitterness. It is important, however, to be open to God and to other Catholics, and with them deepen their faith through prayer, the Word of God and catechesis. Although church buildings might disappear, our faith and the will to be the Church does not disappear from our villages and districts – Cardinal Eijk writes in his message for Lent. A few thoughts on the above. Aside from the stupid “bitterness is not helpful” quote, I think it is to the cardinal’s credit that he lays blame exactly where it should be laid, i.e. on the Second Vatican Council. If you dear reader didn’t catch this, here is the relevant passage: As a result of mistakes made by the local Church after the Council I know that this interpretation can go either way, but what I think is of paramount importance is that the good cardinal LINKS the destruction of the Catholic Church in Holland with the Second Vatican Council. In other words, the Dutch have been brought to the point where DENIAL is no longer an option. With 180 days to the beginning of the Synod today, I wonder if anyone will get around to telling Francis about this “new springtime of the spirit of Vatican II” effect?

How We Think Helps Explain the Culture Wars James Kalb 4/8/15 www.crisismagazine.com/2015/competing-ways-thinking-explain-culture-wars Some say the world has gone mad, others that it is only now becoming sane. The disagreement shows that people disagree on what it is to be rational. It also reflects a widespread and very basic change in how people think. Joe Bissonnette notes that the change is visible in IQ test results. For decades people all over the world have been doing better and better on test questions that emphasize the most abstract forms of reasoning. The accumulated changes from this so-called Flynn Effect are large enough to suggest that most nineteenth century people would be classified as mentally retarded by today’s much higher standards. Other comparisons, for example between popular literature then and now, make that suggestion ridiculous. But if overall intelligence remains constant or nearly so, any improvement in purely abstract reasoning must be coming at the expense of other abilities. And that appears so. The improvement in scores corresponds to a tendency to think less by reference to concrete narratives and more by reference to abstract analysis. That doesn’t make people smarter, but it does mean they think about things differently. People today are less literary, less religious, and more visually and technically oriented. They view the world less as a complex of concrete functional arrangements like family, community, and a natural order that we are part of and must respect, and more as a collection of resources available for whatever purposes each of us may have. I’ll call the former view the traditional or Trad view, and the latter the technological or Techno one. The change from the one to the other has important implications for Catholics. It means that in the world at large acceptance of natural law, which is basic to Catholic moral thought, is giving way to a view that makes morality and social order a matter of structuring equal preference satisfaction for everyone. That change is behind the “culture wars.” Some think the transformation a great advance, a moral Flynn Effect, that indicates growing moral intelligence. Others think it means we’re becoming idiot savants who score well on standardized tests but can’t recognize concrete patterns basic to life, and as a result are unable to understand the human world and the goods to be attained within it. Such disputes seem too basic to resolve or even discuss. How do you argue about which way of thinking works better, and which is more adequate to reality, when each generates its own view of reality and what it means to work well? The Techno objections to Trad views are well-known: such views are racist, sexist, homophobic, irrational, oppressive, anti-science, and deeply weird. Those objections are mostly just statements of incomprehension. Nonetheless, they are enough to scare off most educated people, at least when they speak explicitly and publicly, since the Techno view permeates public discussion today. Trads for their part see obvious problems with their opponents’ approach. It has some connection Continue Reading

“When it rains it pours [nonsense]“ Abp. Chaput on 50 Years of Dignitatis Humanae Louie Verrecchio April 9, 2015 harvestingthefruit.com/dh-at-50/ From the “when it rains it pours” file… On March 17, 2015, the same day His Embarrassment Timothy Cardinal Dolan marched with the gays in New York, Archbishop Americus Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia delivered an address at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Declaration on Religious Freedom of Vatican II, Dignitatis Humanae. Let’s take a look at some of his more noteworthy quotes. In some ways, the Council’s Declaration on Religious Liberty — Dignitatis Humanae in Latin, or “Of Human Dignity” in English — is the Vatican II document that speaks most urgently to our own time. The reason is obvious. We see it right now in the suffering of Christians and other religious believers in many places around the world.  Yes, the reason is entirely obvious, but apparently not to Archbishop Chaput. Truly, it never ceases to amaze me how consistently the bishops of newchurch get things exactly backwards. It is thanks in large measure to Dignitatis Humanae that our churchmen – including every last one of the post-conciliar popes – have been speaking and behaving for the last fifty years as if Catholicism is but one religion among the many that contribute to the common good, and the voice of the Church is but one opinion among many of note in the public square. So what? The crisis at hand is due in part to the fact that civil authorities are pleased to treat, and dismiss, the one true faith and the Holy Catholic Church as precisely that; just another constituency. Even so, Archbishop Chaput points to the declaration as if it’s the solution! He continues: Pope Paul VI, who promulgated Dignitatis Humanae, saw it as one of the most important actions of the Council. It changed the way the Church interacts with states. And it very much improved the Church’s relations with other Christians and religious believers.  Indeed, the Church (meaning, her post-conciliar leaders) are now no longer willing to speak to rulers of State about the Social Kingship of Christ, this is true, and many other so-called “Christians” now see us as equals. Well, praise the Lord! Religious faith, whatever form it takes, gives a vision and meaning to a society. In that light, pagans saw the early Christians as a danger, because they were. Christianity shaped an entirely new understanding of sacred and secular authority. Christians prayed for the emperor and the empire. But they would not worship the empire’s gods.  Notice how effortlessly the newchurchmen speak of “religious faith” in the most generic of ways; with no hint whatsoever that they recognize (much less wish to point out) the great human tragedy wrought by the false religions that lead souls away from Christ. For Christians, the distinction between the sacred and the secular comes straight from Scripture. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus himself sets the Continue Reading

["Uncle Joe": Biden not Stalin, although FDR (who called himself a "Christian democrat") might have thought such of Stalin during their WW2 confabs] Obama & Uncle Joe: Good Christian Democrats! Written by Michael Matt | Editor 4/8/15 www.remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1664:obama-boy-wonder-out-pope-francis Praise the Lord, boys. No, seriously! From a Catholic News Service Report by Patricia Zapor — “Quoting Pope Francis and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the White House Easter Prayer Breakfast, President Barack Obama observed that the celebration of Easter puts other concerns into context. “With humility and with awe, we give thanks to the extraordinary sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our savior,” Obama said at the annual event in the East Room. “We reflect on the brutal pain that he suffered, the scorn that he absorbed, the sins that he bore, this extraordinary gift of salvation that he gave to us. And we try, as best we can, to comprehend the darkness that he endured so that we might receive God’s light.” “Speaking to an audience of Christian religious leaders from around the country, Obama added that “even as we grapple with the sheer enormity of Jesus’ sacrifice, on Easter we can’t lose sight of the fact that the story didn’t end on Friday. The story keeps on going. On Sunday comes the glorious Resurrection of our savior.” FULL REPORT HERE: www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1501497.htm REMNANT COMMENT: Well isn’t that nice! We’re all good, little God-loving, baby-killing Christians again. I guess we’re to the point now where politicians in Washington will say pretty much anything to anyone at any time to keep the “we’re good guys” charade going. Even good ole Uncle Joe Biden got his religious groove on for the event: “Who we are as Christians, and quite frankly, I think that’s who we are as Americans. We’re constantly renewed as a people and as individuals by our ability to enter into the mystery. We live our faith when we instill in our children the ability to wonder, to contemplate, and to listen to that tiny whisper amid the great silence. We live our faith when we nurture the hope and possibilities that have always defined us as a country. We live Easter — and to live Easter is to live with the constant notion that we can always do better. We can always do better.” Yes, Joe, and you can start by calling for an end to the abortion genocide in America and, while you’re at it, stop encouraging the carpet bombing of Christian marriage in this country. Until then, the only thing we’re wondering about is your audacity in waxing all rhapsodic about your “deep Christian beliefs”. Yeah, right! In fact SHUT IT, Joe! You’re an apostate, remember?

Cardinal Dolan and the Church Quiescent by Christopher A. Ferrara April 9, 2015 www.fatimaperspectives.com/sv/perspective721.asp One of the marks of the current ecclesial crisis is the mysterious disappearance of what used to be called the Church Militant, whose members were what Catholics used to call “soldiers of Christ” following their Confirmation. Over the past fifty years, the human element of the same Church that defeated the Muslims at Lepanto and Vienna, thus saving Christian Europe from the threat of Islam, has become a kind of deranged cheerleader for the very thing that once threatened the Church’s existence. From the Pope on down, the Catholic hierarchy today inexplicably continues to promote the myth of a “moderate Islam” that is not to be found in any existing Islamic country, much less among the Islamic butchers prowling about those countries and plotting the destruction of Rome. It seems as if most of the visible Church has been swallowed up in the vast sinkhole of post-Enlightenment liberalism, following John Locke’s Law of Toleration over the abyss. Under the Law of Toleration, every religion, especially the Catholic religion, must preach and teach toleration of all other religions in order to be accorded its place in the new, post-Christendom regime of “religious liberty.” Under this regime a resurgent Islam flourishes while Catholic churchmen, hypnotized by the mantra of tolerance, perversely applaud the advancing Islamicization of a Europe in state of silent apostasy from the Faith that once defined it. In short, the Church Militant has become the Church Quiescent, happily cooperating in her own destruction (if that were possible). In America, no one typifies the Church Quiescent better than Cardinal Timothy Dolan, that relentlessly jovial and utterly vapid spokesman for a Church whose main activity these days seems to be an endless strategic retreat into an ever-smaller ghetto. In yet another of his mealy-mouthed appearances on national television ( www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/cardinal-dolan-same-sex/2015/04/05/id/636520/ ), Dolan could not even bring himself to condemn Obama’s outrageous attempt, at the laughable National Prayer Breakfast, to set up a moral equivalence between the fanatics of ISIS, who are slaughtering Christians en masse simply because they are Christians, and the Crusaders who recaptured the Holy Land precisely from the clutches of Muslim fanatics. Confronted with Obama’s remark, Dolan essentially agreed with it: “There are some that might have thought his remarks were off the mark. I would simply say … sometimes it is not all that bad to remind ourselves that we are not free from sin either….” While Dolan suggested that while perhaps Obama’s remark was ill-timed, “I wouldn’t say it was wrong.” Commenting on the debacle in Indiana, where in a matter of days a bill protecting the right of private business owners not to be coerced into providing goods and services for “gay” events was “amended” to provide precisely for such coercion, Dolan had this to say: “We’ve got to make sure that the rights of conscience and religious ability to publicly exercise one’s religion is balanced with another good, namely the Continue Reading

Vatican Remains Silent as Homo-Fascism Rises by Christopher A. Ferrara April 6, 2015 www.fatimaperspectives.com/sv/perspective720.asp As Cardinal Burke warns that the “gay lobby” within the Catholic Church is plotting for disaster at the Synod, civil society is increasingly dominated by a “homo-Fascism,” aided and abetted by the mass media, that demands absolute conformity on the part of Christians to social acceptance of the sin of sodomy. Witness the debacle in Indiana, where a state version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, designed to protect Christians from demands that they accommodate the “gay agenda” in their businesses — as, for example, by selling “gay wedding” cakes with two male figurines on top — came under furious attack by the media-driven homo-Fascist juggernaut. Within days of the law’s passage, Governor Pence, running for the tall grass, promised to “fix it” by way of legislative amendments that not only gut the law but actually turn it into a “gay rights” measure. And the amended law has just been signed into law by the Governor. As LifeSiteNews rightly noted before the amended law was enacted, “the proposed ‘fix’ amounts to nothing less than a wholesale repeal of the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act with respect to those who need religious liberty protections the most.” The Indiana law now actually prohibits discrimination based on “sexual orientation” — that is, the practice of sodomy and living in unholy “unions” that diabolically mock and defile the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. What is now effectively Indiana’s first statewide “gay rights” law allows narrow exemptions only for churches and other nonprofit religious organizations. The protection for private businesses has been removed, leaving business owners subject to “gay” demands that they lend their goods and services to “gay weddings,” “gay bachelor” parties, and other such abominations arising from the sin of sodomy. Christians will be required to kowtow to “gay community” activists who demand services for their “gay-themed” sodomitical events. In a matter of days, then, Indiana went from passing a law that protected Christians from extortionate demands that they endorse sodomy to a law that compels them to do so! Such is the power of the homo-Fascist enterprise. All over the Western world homo-Fascism is on a conquering march. And the Vatican’s response? Nothing beyond Francis’ infamous “Who am I to judge” regarding hypothetical godly “gays” in the Catholic hierarchy. Worse than silence, the Pope has placed Msgr. Battista Ricca, a flagrant homosexual embroiled in numerous scandals arising from his homosexual activities, in charge of the very household he occupies, prompting the renowned Vaticanist Sandro Magister to dub Ricca “the prelate of the gay lobby.” This infamous photograph of Ricca and Francis is an iconic depiction of the Vatican’s total capitulation to the “gay agenda.” Then there is the Pope’s “private” audience and warm embrace — promptly broadcast to the world — with a “transsexual” woman who pretends to be a man and “his” supposed fiancée. And, just days ago, the astounding installation of Juan Barros as the new Continue Reading

Everybody sing along – the Spirit of Vatican II song! April 9, 2015 Posted by Tantumblogo veneremurcernui.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/everybody-sing-along-the-spirit-of-vatican-ii-song/ Or as I think it might otherwise be called, Vatican II, beyotch! I think I’ve made clear my affinity for the blog Unam Sanctam Catholicam clear many times in the past. Boniface, Noah, and the rest write awesome stuff. But my appreciation has zoomed to new heights with this song performed by Boniface, putting Vatican II in its rightful place: Oh the picture and lyrics @~0:28 are just perfect. Hi, I’m Novus Ordo! Does this song not just nail it? Who cares if the voice is a bit flat? Gram Parsons wasn’t much of a singer, either, but he wrote some awesome songs. Great pics at the end. “modernist hypocrisy” indeed. Thanks for such a fun video, Boniface, no, it doesn’t make me depressed. Franky makes me depressed, not the song. Who knew you were so multi-talented? A real Renaissance man. We need to smile and laugh sometimes. This song does that for me. If I have one regret in life, is that I laid down the guitar way too early. I can scratch out a couple of chords, and knowing my tendency to take things to the Nth degree maybe getting better playing would have been a dangerous thing, but I could have a lot of fun if I could play better. Kind of too late, now. I think Boniface should write and record more music. What do you think?

Cardinal Danneels (family “expert” chosen by Francis) tried to convince King Baudouin to Sign Abortion Law – and shocking news of Brussels archbishop’s possible successor Posted by Augustinus at 4/09/2015 rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/04/cardinal-danneels-family-expert-chosen.html#more Two Belgian politicians admit for the first time openly that Cardinal Godfried Danneels tried to convince King Baudouin to sign the law on abortion in 1990. Former politicians Philippe Moureau (PS, Parti Socialiste) and Mark Eyskens (CVP, Flemish Christian Democrats) did say this in a documentary for the Flemish Broadcasting Corporation VTM on April 6, 2015 (nieuws.vtm.be/binnenland/135916-25-jaar-abortuswet-boudewijn-onder-druk, at 2:05). According to VTM, cardinal Danneels did not want to comment on these. In 1990, the 14 members of the Belgian Government – a coalition led by CVP-Prime Minister Wilfried Martens, signed one of the most liberal abortion bills in the world. King Baudouin, a devout Catholic, refused to sign this bill into law, and was temporarily considered fictitiously “incapacitated” so that the government could have the bill turned into law. Danneels, rabid liberal and a known pedophile-bishop-protector, was picked by Pope Francis as one of his personal choices for the 2014 Family Synod. *** News comes out at a time the influence of Cardinal Danneels in the Catholic Church is bigger than ever. According to the Flemish newspaper De Standaard (04/04/2015), Danneels (81) is nowadays more in Rome than when he was as archbishop of Mechlin-Brussels. Next month, archbishop André-Joseph Léonard will have to present his resign letter to the Pope, when he becomes 75. According to De Standaard, two progressive ’poulains’ of cardinal Danneels are in the running to become the new archbishop: bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp (more about him in comment below) and bishop Jozef De Kesel of Bruges (more about him in comment below). Other names are Mgr. Léon Lemmens (auxiliary bishop of Mechelen-Brussel) and Mgr. Jean-Pierre Delville (bishop of Liège), both linked to the multi-religious San Egidio Community.

Vatican Approves New Emoji Translation Of Mass April 9, 2015 by Admin www.eyeofthetiber.com/2015/04/09/vatican-approves-new-emoji-translation-of-mass/ The Vatican announced today that Pope Francis has approved a new emoji translation of the Mass to help young adults more actively follow along during church services. “We’ve found that most young adults can no longer read complete sentences or even complete words,” said Vatican spokesman Ronaldo Bernini, going to say that the minority of young adults that can read, cannot do so fast enough to keep up with the blistering pace of the Mass. “We still have some work to do before the final version comes out. We’ve hired over one hundred teenagers to look over the new missal and to see whether, for instance, our choice of a clover is the best emoji for the word consubstantial.” Bernini said that he hopes the new missal will not only help young adults better understand the Mass, but that it might also help parents learn how to tell their children that they love and miss them without having to “navigate the treacherous waters of actually having to talk.”

CHRISTIAN BASHING MARKS EASTER SEASON April 7, 2015 by Bill www.catholicleague.org/christian-bashing-marks-easter-season/ Bill Donohue comments on how the Easter season was marked by anti-Christianity: ◦Yesterday, Chris Hardwick used his Easter Monday Comedy Central show, “@Midnight,” to make a joke about Jesus’ resurrection: “Jesus woke up from a nap and now all sins have been wiped clean to make room for even more heinous ones. Whatever you did doesn’t matter so you can go out and be a d*** for another 365 days.” ◦On Easter Sunday, the anti-Christian organization, Freedom From Religion Foundation, placed an ad in the New York Times arguing that religious liberty laws promote “hate.” ◦On Holy Saturday, the Washington Post re-ran a Sally Quinn interview with James Carroll wherein he branded the Church anti-Semitic; she became an atheist at age 13 and then evolved into a “non-religious” person, and he is a Catholic-bashing ex-priest. ◦On Good Friday, David Letterman joked about the pope’s physical, saying his weight gain may be a function of “a little too many Communion wafers.” ◦On Holy Thursday, Letterman made ten jokes about the pope’s physical; all the comments were attributed to the attending physician. The joke listed as #1 was: “I know you don’t use it, but I still have to take a look at it.” The animus against Christianity that is routinely expressed by the entertainment industry and the media is not without serious effect. How else to explain why we did not celebrate religious liberty during Holy Week? Instead, the discussion centered on how religious liberty is the enemy. A free society that turns against its religious moorings is in deep trouble.

Students protest after Catholic high school won’t hire a gay teacher ‘engaged’ to another man Ben Johnson www.lifesitenews.com/news/students-protest-that-catholic-high-school-will-not-hire-an-openly-gay-teac DES MOINES, IA, April 9, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At one time, critics bashed Catholic schools for firing teachers who openly violated Christian teachings. Now, students and alumni are criticizing one parochial high school in Iowa for refusing to hire a teacher who flagrantly violates the Roman Catholic Church’s moral standards on homosexuality. More than 100 students staged a walk out at Dowling Catholic High School in Des Moine, Iowa, yesterday to protest the school’s decision not to offer a substitute teacher a full-time job after discovering the applicant – Tyler McCubbin – was “engaged” to another male. “The Catholic faith is central to our mission, and in order to deliver on that mission it is our expectation that staff and teachers support our moral beliefs,” the superintendent, Luvern Gubbels, Ed.D., wrote in a letter to parents, which did not identify McCubbin by name. Gubbels added, after that, although officials completed the interview process, “a formal written contract wasn’t extended owing to a personal situation that was at odds with Church teaching.” McCubbin told local media that after school officials asked if he was in an open homosexual relationship and about to be “married,” he replied, “’Yes it’s true. I’ve been engaged for almost a year now.’ And they said, ‘Because of that, we can’t offer you the contract.’” He called the school’s reaction “shocking.” However, the school allowed McCubbin to remain on staff as a substitute teacher and coach. Bishop Richard Pates of the Diocese of Des Moines said that was inappropriate. “Based on church doctrine, he should not be a sub,” he said. During that time, word spread that he had been denied a permanent job, and opposition was built up from inside the school as well as outside. Media report that between 150 and 200 alumni, parents, and students staged a walk out Wednesday, demanding the religious school hire an open homosexual. (Sources within Dowling Catholic High School told LifeSiteNews that the number was closer to 120, and that many of the students who left did so only to get out of class.) “The choices of our school leaders and our diocesan leaders don’t directly reflect what we believe as students,” Grace Mumm, a sophomore, told KCCI-TV. Another student, a junior, announced, “I am openly bisexual,” to cheers. They closed their protest with prayers. At the Wednesday rally, many students asked the school to become more gay-friendly by forming an LGBT Alliance group. Father Zach Kautzky told local media he is in an “ongoing talk” about the group’s formation, but if it takes place, homosexual and bisexual students must “be encouraged to live in chastity, the life they are called to.” On the eve of the protest, Bishop Pates stressed that “we respect all persons and civil law in regard to civil unions,” but “the Church teaches based on natural law, Scripture and the Church’s 2,000-year tradition that marriage is Continue Reading

Stop ‘deceptive and unacceptable’ propaganda for abortion and population control in Nigeria, archbishop tells the West Thaddeus Baklinski www.lifesitenews.com/news/stop-deceptive-and-unacceptable-propaganda-for-abortion-and-population-cont April 9, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The West should stop its cultural imperialistic policy of promoting abortion, homosexuality, and gender confusion in Nigeria, a leading Catholic archbishop said at a press scrum on April 8. Most Reverend Gabriel Abegunrin, Archbishop of Ibadan, slammed what he called the relentless promotion of Western ideas about “sexuality and reproductive rights — a euphemism for abortion, artificial family planning,and a culture of contraception” by international organizations “as deceptive and unacceptable.” His words constituted a blunt condemnation of the Western-backed promotion of homosexuality and population control initiatives in Nigeria. Archbishop Abegunrin warned that U.S. and EU anti-life propaganda is making inroads into the education system from well-paid lobbyists who promote contraception, abortion and homosexuality to youth. He stressed the Christian teaching that human beings belong to God and that neither they, nor their body parts, should be treated as objects for sale. Archbishop Abegunrin also condemned human trafficking and prostitution, artificial procreation, and trafficking of human embryos and organs. According to Nigerian news magazine Pulse, the archbishop told the media that Nigerians must continue to uphold the dignity of every human life from conception until natural death, and called for all legislation permitting abortion, such as the “reproductive rights” law surreptitiously passed in the southeastern Nigerian state of Imo in 2013, to be denounced and abrogated. He stressed that the Catholic Church remains adamantly opposed to all forms of terrorism, which includes abortion, as well as ritual and political killings in Nigeria. The Catholic bishops of Nigeria have consistently defended the pro-life culture of their people and repeatedly denounced the culture of death aggression by Western countries. Last summer the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria issued a communiqué calling for “more courageous and consistent in pro-life activities in favor of human life, marriage and the family as counter-cultural antidotes to anti-life ideologies and practices.” The content of the communiqué echoed speeches made by bishops at an international pro-life march and conference held in Abuja, which was attended by approximately 1,500 delegates and speakers from across Africa, Europe, and North America. In a stirring speech, Archbishop Anthony Obinna of Owerri told the conference, “We have become aware of aggressive, ideological and practical assaults on human life, sexuality, marriage and the family.” “By publicly repudiating the aberration of same-sex ‘marriage’ and prohibiting it in law, to the anger of several anti-life European/American governments and agencies, Nigeria, through its current President, Goodluck Jonathan, has placed itself in the position of a global defender of life and proper family values,” said the archbishop. In an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews.com published last month, former U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman revealed the extent of this “anger of several anti-life European/American governments.” Congressman Stockman confirmed that during his June 2014 delegation to Nigeria, top U.S. brass told him they had intelligence to aid the Nigerian military to “crush” the terrorist group Boko Haram, but were Continue Reading

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Christendom is Dying of Selfish Cowardice By Frank Walker 4/9/15 www.pewsitter.com/view_news_id_200766.php At the Remnant, Hilary White’s title says it all ( remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/1663-vatican-ok-with-using-force-as-last-resort-against-isis-on-the-off-chance-we-might-come-to-it-some-day ): Vatican OK with using force as “last resort” against ISIS, on the off chance we might come to it some day In our world today there is nothing detectable whatsoever in the way of Christian power. We have numbers, but we are completely enervated, sleeping, smothered, choked – you choose the descriptor. We are like an enormous man dying. Are we to give a sigh of relief, or a cheer, that the Vatican seems finally to be noticing that Christians are being systematically wiped out en masse in the cradle of Christian civilisation? Or that they are telling the UN Human Rights Council that the use of force “may” be used as a “very last choice,” to defend them? Some news services are reporting that the Vatican “says military force should be harnessed,” in response to the growing threat of ISIS, but I think this might be a bit strong. I’m pretty sure the word “should” was a bit of journalistic license. At the press conference, Time quotes the Vatican’s UN delegate Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, saying, “We have to stop this kind of genocide.” “Otherwise we’ll be crying out in the future about why we didn’t do something, why we allowed such a terrible tragedy to happen.” Alright, but the official joint statement says… well, what, exactly? The Middle East is living in a situation of instability and conflict that recently have been aggravated. The consequences are disastrous for the entire population of the region. The existence of many religious communities is seriously threatened. Christians are now especially affected. These days even their survival is in question. Efforts to build a better future for all are frustrated. We witness a situation where violence, religious and ethnic hatred, fundamentalist radicalism, extremism, intolerance, exclusion, destruction of the social fabric of whole societies and communities are becoming the features of a non-viable political and social model, endangering the very existence of many communities, the Christian community in particular. Why is it necessary that our Holy Church in it’s officials acts and it’s application of doctrine must be entirely passive, even declining to use words on behalf of Christianity itself? In short, what good actually does the Vatican do? Isn’t diplomacy just what happens when nothing is really happening? We are talking about ISIS, of course, as everyone knows. ISIS, the Islamic supremacist group that grew, with the help of US backing, out of the “rebels” fighting the Assad government in Syria, and has now declared itself the new “Caliphate” to fulfill the command of Mohammed to dominate the whole world. ISIS, only one of the group’s acronyms, stands for “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,” and the motivation for its goals is the issue that is being so carefully avoided with such determined diplomatic use of the passive voice. And all the world knows what ISIS is doing: mass slaughter, Continue Reading

S.O.S. to Pope Francis: Come Save the Iran-Obama Nuke Deal! By Frank Walker 4/9/15 www.pewsitter.com/view_news_id_200767.php As the frightening Obama Iran Nuke capitulation seems perhaps to be stalling on all sides; CruxNow’s John Allen, Pope Francis, and Obama remain believers. Seeing how effective the Pope was in lining America up with the Cuban thug regime, Allen suggests it’s time for Pope Francis work another miracle ( www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/04/07/how-pope-francis-could-help-obama-on-the-iranian-deal/ ). Will the Vicar of Christ come through? Popes generally use their Easter Urbi et Orbi address, “to the city and the world,” to pray for peace amid global conflicts. Francis followed that tradition on Sunday, among other things commenting on a tentative nuclear deal between the P5+1 nations, including the United States, and Iran. The pontiff said, “In hope we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework recently agreed to in Lausanne, that it may be a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world.” That may not amount to a direct endorsement, but it’s certainly more favorable than the commentary coming from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Republicans in Congress about the outline for an accord reached April 2 in Switzerland, not to mention Iranian hardliners who see it as a threat to their national interests. (On Monday, Israel backed off its insistence that Iran halt all uranium enrichment, a move seen as acknowledgement that the pact required concessions on all sides.) What is the political point of Pope Francis? Is it to go around lending ‘spiritual’ leverage to enemies of the Church worldwide? Why do John Boehner, Jeb Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden all seem to be faithful new Catholics of FrancisChurch? Does he have something they all want? Moderates on both sides of the divide, in other words, may struggle to bring along the hawks in their own shops. In that effort, the Vatican could turn out to be a surprisingly potent resource. First of all, Pope Francis has plenty of political capital at the moment because of his high approval ratings and perceptions of his moral authority. He also has a proven capacity to translate that capital into results, as his role in restoring relations between the United States and Cuba illustrates. If Francis were to lend his seal of approval to the nuclear deal, even campaigning for it in the oblique but unmistakable way popes sometimes do on political matters, it could move the needle in terms of public opinion. On a more long-term basis, the Vatican may be the global institution with the best shot at rebuilding trust between Iran and the West. Is it ‘building trust’ or just lending false credibility in the name of Christ?

Catholic school reinstates teacher suspended for defending Catholic teaching on Facebook Dustin Siggins www.lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-school-reinstates-teacher-suspended-for-defending-catholic-teachin SOMERVILLE, NJ, April 10, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) — A teacher suspended from a Catholic school for using Facebook to defend traditional marriage has been reinstated. Almost one month ago, Patricia Jannuzzi was suspended from Immaculata High School in Somerville, New Jersey, after she made what became controversial comments about same-sex relationships. Over the next several weeks, she was told that the suspension was effectively a release from her job, as she would not be rehired for the 2016 school year. Jannuzzi was also told that she had lost her pay and benefits for the current school year. The scandal was compounded by the fact that the Diocese of Metuchen and Bishop Paul Bootkoski were involved in Jannuzzi’s suspension and publicly defended it. In a media release provided by the Diocese of Metuchen to LifeSiteNews, however, Immaculata Director Monsignor Seamus Brennan announced on Friday that Jannuzzi would get her job back. “Immaculata High School announced today that all issues related to the employment of teacher Patricia Jannuzzi are resolved,” said the release. According to Brennan, “Immaculata High School has reached an understanding with Patricia Jannuzzi. It is the School’s position that a Catholic school teacher must always communicate the faith in a way that is positive and never hurtful. Tone and choice of words matter and I trust Mrs. Jannuzzi’s stated promise to strive always to teach in a spirit of truth and charity.” “Given Mrs. Jannuzzi’s otherwise good reputation as an educator over her 30 years at Immaculata, Principal Jean Kline and I have made the decision to reinstate her as a teacher as of today.” “From the beginning this was a personnel and not a theological issue,” said the statement. “We are now and always have been united in our understanding and commitment to the teachings of the Catholic Church. By agreement with all parties involved, there will be no further comment on the issue.” Since the controversy first arose several weeks ago, there has been a great deal of confusion as to where Jannuzzi stood with the diocese. Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski first said that the theology teacher was on paid leave, but e-mails showed that Jannuzzi had been effectively fired, as the school was intending to not rehire her in the fall. Jannuzzi, who received praise even from some critics for the quality of her teaching and her relationship with students, ran into trouble when she posted a number of comments against same-sex “marriage” on her personal Facebook page, which the diocese mandated she close down. “One minute they argue hey [sic] are born this way and it is not a choice to get 14th amendment rights equal protection” – which was intended for “unchangeable characteristics such as race and disability,” she wrote. Then, “they will argue everyone should be able to choose” to engage in the homosexual lifestyle. Same-sex relationships and its agenda threaten to “reengineer Western civ[ilization] into a slow extinction,” wrote Continue Reading

Cleveland diocese expands morals clause to high school teachers: bans sterilization, cohabitation, gay ‘marriage’ Lisa Bourne www.lifesitenews.com/news/cleveland-diocese-expands-morals-clause-to-high-school-teachers-bans-steril CLEVELAND, OH, April 10, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) — The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland has added a morality clause reinforcing Church principles for teachers at its five high schools. The updated language is the same as what was added to teacher contracts in the diocese’s elementary schools last year, and covers Catholic teaching on heated issues such as abortion, transgenderism, and homosexual “marriage.” “Actions and speech that are contrary to Catholic teaching shall be grounds for disciplinary action up to and including termination,” the contract language states, according to Cleveland.com. Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon told faculty at the schools in a letter the effectiveness of a Catholic school does not depend only on the quality of religious curriculum, rather, a Catholic school succeeds in its mission only if every aspect of the of the school is inspired and guided by the Gospel. “The Church has long recognized the uniquely important and true ministry of teachers and administrators in fulfilling this mission,” he said. “Furthermore, the example set by teachers and administrators through their actions and their lives is considered by the Church to be even more important than what they say.” In addition to participation in or public support for abortion, transgender issues, and homosexual “marriage,” the contract also specifies that euthanasia, surrogate parenthood, direct sterilization, sexual relations outside of marriage, and cohabiting outside of wedlock are prohibited. Membership in anti-Catholic organizations is also forbidden, as is indecent or lewd behavior, such as illicit drug use or pornography consumption. The contract requires faculty to refrain from using electronics and social media to transmit lewd or indecent messages, and also from behavior or attitudes which could tempt others to commit acts considered by the Church to be evil or immoral. Bishop Lennon defined as well for teachers and administrators why their role is as a minister and role model of the faith, saying, “The Roman Catholic Church views the primary purpose of a Catholic school as a means of building up the Kingdom of God through the holistic and authentically Catholic formation of each student and that such development can only truly be fostered in a wholly Catholic environment.” Referring to faculty as ministers means the diocese has more authority over behavior than secular employers, which don’t have the federally recognized religious exemption in hiring according to their mission. The president of the teachers’ union said there was debate over the language among the union’s executive committee, but that explanations from the diocese, and the fact it was the same language as was added last year were enough to address concerns. “We always knew that we were expected to demonstrate the values of the Catholic teachings,” Mike Desantis said. “[Now] they’re basically defining what was in the old contract.” Bishop Lennon said last year the updated language was necessary because of the increase in wrongful termination lawsuits in Ohio and elsewhere by teachers who publicly rejected Continue Reading

Cardinal Nichols’ misleading statement on speaking about upcoming “Synod as a battle” John Smeaton www.lifesitenews.com/pulse/cardinal-nichols-misleading-statement-on-speaking-about-upcoming-synod-as-a LONDON, England, April 10, 2015 (SPUC) – I was astonished to read in the Catholic Herald that Cardinal Nichols used his sermon at the Westminster Chrism Mass to claim that it is wrong “to think or speak of this Synod as a battle, a battle between contesting sides.” I was present in Rome during the Extraordinary Synod, working with representatives of other pro-family organisations as part of the Voice of the Family coalition. It was plainly evident to us, after numerous meetings with prelates on both sides of the divide, that a battle was taking place over crucial aspects of Catholic teaching and discipline relating to marriage and the family. George Cardinal Pell, Prefect for the Economy, publicly stated that “radical elements” within the hierarchy were attempting to use the synod to undermine Catholic teaching on questions such as cohabitation and homosexual unions. They were, he said, using the issue of Holy Communion for the divorced and “remarried” as a “stalking horse” to help pursue these wider changes. These attempts to undermine the doctrine of the Church were strongly resisted on the floor of the synod hall, resulting in a partial reversal of the radical agenda outlined in the now notorious interim report. The final report remains gravely flawed however, as outlined in Voice of the Family’s in-depth analysis. This serious division between leading prelates is widening as the Ordinary Synod approaches. Cardinal Marx, Chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, has claimed that the Church in Germany is not “a subsidiary of Rome” and that each bishops’ conference must “preach the Gospel in its own, original way.” Cardinal Müller, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has called this idea “absolutely anti-Catholic” and another German, Cardinal Cordes, has accused Marx of false mercy, “theological blurriness” and language better suited to the “counter of a bar”. Furthermore Swiss-German Cardinal, Kurt Koch, has stated that the dissenters are trying to adapt the faith to the world after the manner of some German Christians under the Nazi regime. This sounds like a battle to me. Those interested in knowing what really happened before and during the Extraordinary Synod will benefit reading from the detailed narrative overview produced by Voice of Family. I found Cardinal Nichols’ comments particularly surprising because he himself has taken part in the current battle over Church teaching. I wrote last week about his disappointment that language about homosexuality placed in the heterodox interim report was removed from the synod’s final report. He has also expressed his openness to the admission of those in public and unrepentant mortal sin to Holy Communion, which would contradict twenty centuries of Catholic teaching. I have previously documented many of Cardinal Nichols’ statements and actions relating to homosexuality and homosexual unions.

Bishop Mark Davies: failure to accept Church teaching on marriage linked to lack of faith in the power of God’s grace www.lifesitenews.com/pulse/bishop-mark-davies-failure-to-accept-church-teaching-on-marriage-linked-to April 9, 2015 (VoiceoftheFamily.info) — Rt Rev Mark Davies, the Bishop of Shrewsbury, has drawn attention to one of the most important aspects of the current crisis facing marriage and the family. In a sermon preached at the Mass of Chrism on Maundy Thursday Bishop Davies noted: In our reflections on the vocation of marriage and the family how easily we can fall into thinking of this vocation merely in terms of sociology or psychology and fail to take into account the grace of God by which marriage and every vocation becomes possible. He links this failure to: the unfolding drama which St. Luke recounts in the Synagogue of Nazareth [in which] God’s own people reject the greatness of their calling. They could not see how the salvation of God was manifest among them in the ordinary realities of family and working life. The bishop continued: …this drama continues today whenever we fail to recognise the vocation of marriage and the family as a call to holiness; the vocation to the priesthood and the consecrated life as gifts of Christ to His Church; the greatness of the lay vocation, of a Christian in the world to transform the secular order and not to be conformed to it. In words that that have great relevance during the current controversy over the admission of the divorced and “remarried” to Holy Communion he said: God’s grace and calling is always seen in our ordinary lives and especially when we are able to live and persevere in a way we never imagine is possible. He continued: [People in the] dominant culture around us now all but despair of life-long commitments and often see the promises of marriage as fearful and uncertain; our contemporaries often see chastity, pure love within marriage as much as outside of it as near impossible to attain; and the celibate priesthood or the consecrated life as almost reckless adventures in the face of human weakness. And all because one part of the equation is never reckoned upon: the grace of God which alone makes our vocations possible. In his Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio Pope John Paul II taught that the entry into invalid civil unions by the civilly divorced was “an evil” that “must be faced with resolution and without delay.” (FC, 84) After acknowledging the different situations that exist, and the motives that led people to these situations, he clearly expressed the perennial teaching of the Church: However, the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people Continue Reading

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Students protest after Catholic high school won’t hire a gay teacher ‘engaged’ to another man

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Everybody Sing Along!!!!

Christendom is Dying of Selfish Cowardice

S.O.S. to Pope Francis: Come Save the Iran-Obama Nuke Deal!

Catholic school reinstates teacher suspended for defending Catholic teaching on Facebook

Cleveland diocese expands morals clause to high school teachers: bans sterilization, cohabitation, gay ‘marriage’

Cardinal Nichols’ misleading statement on speaking about upcoming “Synod as a battle” statement on religious freedom battle

Bishop Mark Davies: failure to accept Church teaching on marriage linked to lack of faith in the power of God’s grace