Wait until the Francis-USCCCP-Obama “effect” for a larger (number and percent) of Hispanic Catholics leaning Democratic takes effect: Catholic Church Joins Unions, Other Activists Working To Turn Illegals Into Democratic Voters dailycaller.com/2015/04/09/activists-unite-to-turn-illegal-immigrants-into-democratic-voters/ Non-Citizens Registered To Vote As Democrats Through Motor Voter Registration Forms dailycaller.com/2015/04/08/former-doj-official-non-citizens-registered-to-vote-through-motor-voter-registration-forms/ Among US voters, Catholic party affiliations match those of overall population Catholic World News – April 10, 2015 In a study of the religious and political affiliations of American voters, Pew Research has found that Evangelical Protestants are moving steadily toward the Republican party, while Catholics and mainline Protestants fall roughly in line with the overall population. Just over two-thirds of Evangelicals—68%– identify with the Republican party, Pew found; that figure has risen 10% over the past eight years. Just 22% of Evangelicals have Democratic leanings—a drop of 9% in eight years. Among Catholics, 48% identify with the Democratic party, and 40% with the Republican party; those figures closely match the split in the overall population. Among non-Hispanic white Catholics, Republicans have the edge (50-41%), while Hispanic Catholics show strong Democratic leanings (58-25%). Those figures, too, are roughly the same as the party preferences of the overall population.

The Long Retreat in the Culture War Friday – April 10, 2015 By Patrick J. Buchanan The Republican rout in the Battle of Indianapolis provides us with a snapshot of the correlation of forces in the culture wars. Faced with a corporate-secularist firestorm, Gov. Mike Pence said Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act would not protect Christian bakers or florists who refuse their services to same-sex weddings. And the white flag went up again. Politics follows culture. And the cultural revolution of the ’60s is triumphant. Traditional Christianity, driven out of schools and the public square, is being whipped back into the churches and told to stay there. America has gone over to the revolution. Looking back, the sweep of the capitulation becomes stark. First came the plea of atheists not to have their children forced to participate in prayers at school. Fair enough. Americans do not believe in compelling people to do as they disbelieve. Then followed the demand that no child be exposed to prayers or religious books, including the Bible, nor have any day or week set aside as a holiday if connected to Christianity. Out went Christmas and Easter. In came winter break and spring break. Coaches of high school teams were ordered to dispense with prayers before games. The coaches complied. No matter what the majority wanted, the minority prevailed, thanks to a Supreme Court whose dictates were never challenged by democratically elected presidents or Congresses, nor ever defied by a Christian majority. In the sexual revolution there came first the plea that abortion in extreme cases be decriminalized, then legalized, then subsidized, then declared a right. From crime to constitutional right in two decades! Under Obamacare, Christian businesses must dispense abortion-inducing morning-after pills to employees. On gay rights, first came the demand that a bar in Greenwich Village patronized by homosexuals be left alone by the cops. Next came the demand that homosexuality be decriminalized and then that this, too, be declared a constitutional right. And so it went. Soon, same-sex marriages will likely be declared a right hidden in the Constitution and entitled to all the privileges and benefits accorded traditional marriages. Next, those who refuse to provide services to same-sex weddings will become the criminals. Thus does biblical truth become bigotry in Obama’s America. And the process has been steadily proceeding for generations. First comes a call for tolerance for those who believe and behave differently. Then comes a plea for acceptance. Next comes a demand for codifying in law a right to engage in actions formerly regarded as debased or criminal. Finally comes a demand to punish any and all who persist in their public conduct or their private business in defying the new moral order. And so it goes with revolutions. On the assumption of power, revolutionaries become more intolerant than those they dispossessed. The French Revolution was many times more terrible than the Bourbon monarchy. The Russian Revolution made the Romanovs look benign. Fidel Castro’s criminality exceeded anything dreamt of Continue Reading

The litmus test for “full communion” Louie Verrecchio April 10, 2015 harvestingthefruit.com/litmus/ National catholic Distorter recently published a story entitled, Cardinal to religious: Those who abandon Vatican II are ‘killing themselves’, the title alone saying pretty much all that we need to know. The prelate quoted in the title is Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, but also quoted in a similar vein in the story itself is Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo, Secretary if the Congregation. You may want to read the article at NcR for yourself as part of your Friday discipline; unless, of course, you happen to have hair shirt handy. While you will find plenty to suffer in the article, what you won’t find are any surprises. The official position in Rome has long been that total acceptance of Vatican Council II is the new litmus test for so-called “full communion.” In fact, you might say that this policy effectively serves to replace the Oath Against Modernism that Paul VI of most bitter memory abolished. Using statements made by the Vatican prelates quoted in the NcR article, I constructed the following Oath For Modernism. In truth, it would be intellectually honest for the pope to require it of all who wish to enjoy that vaunted “full communion.” Oath For Modernism I [name], firmly embrace and accept the Second Vatican Council, acknowledging with profound conviction that it is my non-negotiable point of reference. Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to a new deepening, a new pausing, and a new listening; always following the great lines of the Second Vatican Council as the departure point, opening myself to the culture of the present moment, never to be closed to new things. I sincerely hold that God is always a new movement of light, of heat, and of demonstration; speaking in new ways to men and women with the true language of their particular time and place. I attest and affirm that those who distance themselves from the Council as if to make another path are killing themselves; will not have sense; will be outside the Church, and sooner or later they will die. I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God.

Martyrology-April 12th Roman Martyrology-April 12th-on this date in various years- For 2015 The Sunday in White, and the Octave of the Pasch. At Verona, the passion of Bishop St. Zeno, who governed that Church with great fortitude amid the storms of persecution, and was crowned with martyrdom in the time of Gallienus. In Cappadocia, in the reign of Emperor Valens, during the persecution raised against the Christians by Atanaric, king of the Goths, St. Sabas, himself a Goth, who was cast into a river after undergoing cruel torments. Many orthodox Goths, as St. Augustine relates, received at that time the crown of martyrdom. At Braga in Portugal, the martyr St. Victor. Although only a catechumen, he refused to adore an idol, and confessed Jesus Christ with great constancy. After suffering many tortures, he was beheaded, and thus merited to be baptized in his own blood. At Fermo, in Piceno, St. Vissia, virgin and martyr. At Rome, on the Aurelian Way, the birthday of Pope St. Julius, who vigorously defended the Catholic faith against the Arians. After a life of brilliant accomplishments, he rested in peace, famed for his sanctity. At the town of Gap in France, St. Constantine, bishop and confessor. At Pavia, Bishop St. Damian. And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins. R. Thanks be to God.

www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Campus-inquisition-8126 Campus inquisition The treatment of John McAdams at Marquette University reveals the newest level of intolerance in the world of higher education. The New Criterion April 2015 The Jesuits these days may have a tenuous relation to Catholic orthodoxy, but their traditional expertise in the matter of conducting inquisitions continues in fighting trim. Consider the case of John McAdams, a sixty-nine-year-old associate professor of political science, and the Jesuits at Marquette University (“Be the Difference”) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. McAdams has been suspended from teaching. He has been banned from the campus. And the Jesuits and their lay minions at Marquette are mobilizing the modern tools of inquisition to revoke his tenure and expel him once and for all from an institution that (according to its website) “prepares [students] for the world by asking them to think critically about it.” We’ll come back to that risible claim in a moment. First, what do you suppose John McAdams did to warrant the academic equivalent of excommunication? Did he steal money from the Women’s and Gender Studies program? Publicly consume gluten on campus? Vote Republican? No, Professor McAdams really violated the canons of civilized behavior. He published a blog post. Yes, that’s right. He actually had the temerity to publish an essay on Marquette Warrior, his personal weblog, that was critical of a graduate teaching assistant and, even worse, he stood up for a conservative student who disagreed with said teaching assistant about gay marriage. No wonder mandarins at Marquette are out for McAdams’s blood. He trespassed against the one commandment modern academics take seriously: thou shalt not violate politically correct orthodoxy. Here’s what happened. In a philosophy class on ethics, a graduate teaching assistant called Cheryl Abbate asked students to apply ideas from John Rawls’s Theory of Justice to some modern political controversies. She listed a few subjects on the blackboard, including “gay rights.” According to McAdams, she then said that “everybody agrees on this, and there is no need to discuss it.” After class, a student approached Abbate and said that he thought the issue worthy of discussion. He argued against gay marriage and gay adoption but was told by Abbate that “some opinions are not appropriate, such as racist opinions, sexist opinions.” (How about the outlandish opinion, expressed in Abbate’s master’s thesis, that, on “utilitarian” grounds, medical research should be conducted not on animals but on prisoners? We gather that’s just fine: it doesn’t affect anyone on this week’s approved list of victims.) The student (who surreptitiously recorded the exchange) objected that it was his right as an American citizen to make such arguments, to which Abbate replied that “you don’t have a right in this class to make homophobic comments,” noting also that she would “take offense” if the student said that women can’t serve in particular roles. She then suggested that the student drop the class. Which he did. (It was a required class, by the way, so he will have to make it up in the Continue Reading

EPISCOPAL “PRIEST” INSULTS CATHOLICS ON GOOD FRIDAY THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 C. J. DOYLE Catholic Action League of Massachusetts The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized the Associate Rector of Boston’s historic Trinity Church, the Rev. William W. Rich, for insulting Catholics on Good Friday. During the church’s annual “Stations of the Cross” walk, while stopped in front of the Central Reform Temple of Boston, Rev. Rich asserted to his followers that in the past, some Catholics murdered Jews on Good Friday. Rich offered no evidence to substantiate this sweeping indictment. Good Friday is the most solemn day of the liturgical year for Catholics. The Catholic Action League called Rich’s crack “a gratuitous and mean-spirited affront to Catholics on the day they commemorate the death of Our Savior on the Cross.” Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: “At a time when Catholics and other Christians are confronted by genocide and ethnic cleansing in the Middle East, Rev. Rich prefers to observe Good Friday by dredging up accusations made against Catholics from a millennium ago. So much for ecumenical sensitivity.” “One suspects that Rich’s unprovoked attack has less to do with solicitude for the Jewish community than with current, culture war issues. Rich is a civilly married homosexual, with a record of activism for same-sex unions.” “The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has a history of cheap shots at the Catholic Faith. In 2002, a couple of days before the resignation of Cardinal Law, when the Archdiocese of Boston was inundated with public criticism, Episcopal bishop Thomas Shaw took the opportunity to pile on by alleging that Catholic moral teaching helped incite violence against homosexuals.” One of those offended by Rich’s remark was Brian Camenker, the leader of Mass Resistance and the Parents Rights Coalition. Camenker—who is an Orthodox Jew—had this to say: “Liberals love to talk about ancient history as a way of diverting attention from what is going on today. Just look at Obama’s crack about the Crusades and the Inquisition. Catholicism poses no threat to the religious freedom of Jews or any other Americans. The homosexual movement, which the Episcopal Diocese seems to have so thoroughly embraced, does pose such a threat.” C. J. Doyle continued: “If Rev. Rich wishes to lament sectarian violence, he can begin by apologizing for the thousands of Catholics murdered in England, and the hundreds of thousands of Catholics murdered in Ireland, by his co-coreligionists, not to mention all the Catholics who were imprisoned, tortured, exiled, destituted, dispossessed of their land, and deprived of their civil rights. Apparently, Rev. Rich has never heard of the clean hands doctrine.” “Incredibly, this is the same crowd—Massachusetts Episcopalians—to whom the Archdiocese of Boston used to lend Holy Cross Cathedral for their ordination ceremonies. Rev. Rich’s remark ought to remind Catholics of the one way street which is called ecumenism.”

Pope Benedict’s Vision Key to Survival of Catholic Colleges, Says Author April 8, 2015 | By Justin Petrisek | www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4113/Pope-Benedict%E2%80%99s-Vision-Key-to-Survival-of-Catholic-Colleges-Says-Author.aspx bxviQuestions have been raised recently about the future of Catholic higher education: Is it dying? Where is it going? Assumption College theology chair and professor Dr. Marc Guerra, author of a new book compiling some of Pope Benedict XVI’s most important speeches on truth and learning, says that Catholic colleges have available to them a tremendous blueprint and model for the survival of faithful Catholic education. The Vatican’s constitution on higher education, Ex corde Ecclesiae, and the example and writings of Pope Benedict XVI provide a crucial model for Catholic colleges, Guerra told The Cardinal Newman Society. And they are especially needed today. “Catholic colleges and universities today face threat[s] both from without and from within,” Guerra said, adding that it is a critical time for Catholic education in America. “These threats take a particular form for us today, a form that, in my view, represents something relatively new under the sun.” Recent attacks have reaffirmed threats to Catholic education, including the right to hire faculty that will support institutional beliefs, the right “to run Catholic schools that are faithful to their mission” and religious freedom protections. “More and more, we are seeing [these attacks] in instances of governmental or bureaucratic overreach,” Guerra said. “We increasingly see efforts to let governmental bodies and policies and educational bureaucracies—at times covertly, at times overtly—define the precise kind of freedom that can be nurtured and practiced in our Catholic colleges and universities.” As a result, many Catholic colleges are falling prey to secular pressure, Guerra said. “Internally, Catholic colleges or universities frequently find themselves putting their own ability to cultivate this kind of freedom in jeopardy,” he said. “In their rush to ‘brand’ themselves along the same lines as so-called elite secular colleges and universities, many Catholic colleges and universities today are running away from the very kind of intellectual and academic life that makes the Catholic college distinct from everything else.” There are also definite indicators that can signal whether Catholic colleges are equipped to impart a faithful Catholic education. “One sure sign of this is that today it is not uncommon to find a strikingly large number of faculty or administrators at a Catholic college or university who themselves haven’t received [that] kind of Catholic education,” Guerra said. Yet Catholic colleges and faculty have precisely what they need at their fingertips. “Pope John Paul II’s Ex corde Ecclesiae gave the Catholic college or community something of a blueprint,” Guerra said. “But in many ways, it is Pope Benedict that allows us to see the kind of person who would be naturally at home in such a community.” Pope Benedict XVI is essential for understanding how the reality of a Catholic college can be lived out, he continued. “Besides providing a model of what an intellectually engaged, thoughtful, and faithful ‘Catholic mind’ looks like to the world, he also shows those of Continue Reading

Liberal World Order and Jihadists: Different Struggles, Same Victim – History’s light of hatred against the Church of God Posted by New Catholic at 4/11/2015 rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/04/liberal-world-order-and-jihadists.html#more Juan Manuel de Prada [Spanish daily] ABC April 6, 2015 The Jihadists, who know quite well that the New World Order is antichristical, do not direct their attacks against organizations and authorities, but against Christians. It will not have failed to call the attention of anyone that the recent slaughter in Garissa University, Kenya, did not lead to the same lamentations among Western leaders as, for example, the murder of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists; it did not unleash the explosion of outcries and manifestos to which the annoying intellectuals, of both left and right, have got us used to; and not even were large protests assembled with solidarity posters (“Je suis This or That”), so that the dumbed-down masses could release their little teat and go back home very proud of getting to know each other. It is probable, on the other hand, that it did not call the attention of some that, at the same time that the young Kenyan Christians were being massacred, the Paris Metro was asking for the removal of some posters in which the concert of some singing priests was advertised; and this was done out of rejection for this foul plague of the singing priests, but because, as it was made clear in the posters, the receipts of the concert would be destined to “the Eastern Christians”. In order to justify the removal of the posters, the Paris Metro claimed that they violated “secularism” [laïcité], a truly demential excuse, because giving money to those in need does not mean making a profession of faith nor proselytism. What these filthy scoundrels of the Paris subway really wanted to say is what we see, under less vile or better concealed expressions, in any place of the West, including our rotting Spain; the only difference is that the French, who have just received their hebdomadal punch, are even more gutless than the others, and that in their eagerness to show an equidistant posture, they overdo the attitude up to the level of infamy. But the disease of equidistance is the specter that haunts all the neo-pagan West: suffering from it are its small politicians, poor puppets at the service of a New World Order that holds it clear (and has always held it) that the true enemy is Christianity, whose downfall must be reached with the help of all means, including the use of Islamic terror, that can push many towards apostasy out of fear; also suffering from it are the dumbed-down masses, these mobs of pagans (in the double sense of the word, because they have stopped believing in God, and because they are simply herds of simpletons that the New World Order milks by way of taxes in order to finance its usury) that, deluded, think that religions (like this, in the plural) are a calamity that must be Continue Reading

Benedict XVI.: Liberation Theology is a Falsification of the Christian Faith Text: Giuseppe Nardi Trans: Tancred 4/10/15 eponymousflower.blogspot.com/2015/04/benedict-xvi-liberation-theology-is.html (Rome) Benedict XVI. wrote the foreword for a book about his predecessor John Paul II.. “By the side of John Paul II. Friends and Colleagues Tell” is the title of a forthcoming book. The publisher is the Polish Vaticanist Wlodzimierz Redzioch. Corriere della Sera published some preliminary statements. Benedict XVI. personally checked the translation of his words into Italian. On the question of the “doctrinal challenges,” he had to make together with Karol Wojtyla, during his tenure as prefect of the CDF, he replied : “The first great challenge we faced was liberation theology, which spread in Latin America. Both in Europe and in North America it was common opinion that it constituted a support for the poor and was therefore of course approved. That was a mistake. The poverty and the poor were undisputedly the subject of liberation theology, but in a very specific perspective. (…) It was not about aid and reform, but the great revolution, from which a new world should emerge. The Christian faith was used as a motor of this revolutionary movement and thereby transformed into a political force. (…) Of course, these ideas were in different variants and they not always appeared with absolute clarity, but overall this was the thrust. Such a distortion of the Christian faith had to be resisted, especially out of love for the poor and the service that would be provided in their favor. ” (…) John Paul II. “Guided us, on the one hand to unmask a false idea of liberation, on the other hand, to show the authentic vocation of the Church to the liberation of man.”

Pope Formally Announces Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy by Edward Pentin 04/11/2015 www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/pope-formally-announces-extraordinary-jubilee-year-of-mercy Pope Francis formally announced the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy during Solemn Vespers this evening in St. Peter’s basilica. The Bull of Indiction, through which the announcement was made, was presented before the Holy Door of the basilica to a representative group of heads of the dicasteries of the Holy See. The Jubilee will open on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th, and end on the Feast of Christ the King on November 20th, 2016. Excerpts of the Bull of Indiction “Misiceridocdiae Vultus” were then read aloud by Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza of the prefecture of the papal household. The Pope explains in the bull it is his “burning desire” that, during the Jubilee, “the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty.” He adds that mercy is “the very foundation of the Church’s life” and that “all of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers.” Francis later says that “nothing in her preaching and in her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy. The Church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love.” In his homily at Vespers, he said “many question in their hearts: why a Jubilee of Mercy today? Simply because the Church, in this time of great historical change, is called to offer more evident signs of God’s presence and closeness. “This is not the time to be distracted,” he continued. “On the contrary, we need to be vigilant and to reawaken in ourselves the capacity to see what is essential. This is a time for the Church to rediscover the meaning of the mission entrusted to her by the Lord on the day of Easter: to be a sign and an instrument of the Father’s mercy.” Accompanying the Holy Father at the Holy Door were the archpriests of the four papal basilicas in Rome. To symbollically reach all the bishops of the world, the Holy Father also delivered a copy of the bull to the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet; the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Cardinal Fernando Filoni; the prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri. On behalf of all the East, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, born in Hong Kong and now secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, was presented with a copy. The African continent was represented by the Archbishop Barthélemy Adoukonou, a native of Benin and currently secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture. For the Oriental Churches, the Pope delivered the Bull to Mons. Khaled Ayad Bishay, the Patriarchal Church of Alexandria of the Copts. Pope Francis then presided at the celebration of First Vespers of Divine Mercy Sunday [a.k.a. the Octave of Easter, Antipascha (Greek Continue Reading

[He also got financial support in the form of a scholarship in honor of a 21-year old college student supposedly martyred by "straights" because of his homosexuality (but actually a drug-related robbery turned violent) from a "gay rights advocacy" foundation] Catholic wrestler finds acceptance after coming out Cole Fox, a two-time state qualifying wrestler from Don Bosco High School, recently came out to his family, friends and community. He says he has received a lot of support. Mike Kilen April 10, 2015 Des Moines Register [Just one of the gals] Cole Fox has lived all his 18 years in the small town of Gilbertville, south of Waterloo. His dad, Ray, is the assistant wrestling coach there and works construction. The family is Catholic, and Cole goes to Don Bosco Catholic High School, where he followed in his father’s footsteps and became a very good wrestler. The preceding lays out the level of difficulty for a young man who made up his mind recently to tell everyone, including his father, that he is gay. One night last month, he was up pacing at 2 a.m. “making impulsive decisions,” he said. He pulled out a piece of paper and began to write a letter to his father. He told him he was gay and that any feelings he had about it were valid because it took him nearly 18 years to come to grips with it himself. Cole’s story has attracted national attention this week. Coincidentally, the tension between the Catholic church and gay rights captured the spotlight in Iowa this week when a teacher candidate at Dowling Catholic High School in Des Moines said he was not hired after school officials found out he was gay. Cole was featured this week on SB Nation’s Outsports, which bills itself as the “galactic leader in gay sports.” That story was shared nearly 17,000 times on Facebook. Since then, he’s also been featured on various local television broadcasts and his social media feeds have lit up with comments from supporters. “You did one of the bravest things I have seen in a long time,” wrote one person on his Facebook page. “I am honored to know you.” In the letter, Cole told his father he would give him time. He told him he loved him, regardless of his reaction. Then Cole slipped the paper in his father’s jacket pocket, knowing he was headed out early in the morning for a three-day work trip. He tells this now because he was just given a Matthew Shepard Scholarship by the Eychaner Foundation, a non-profit in Des Moines that promotes acceptance and non-discrimination. It’s given to students who show academic skill, leadership and community service. More at www.desmoinesregister.com/story/life/2015/04/10/cole-fox-iowa-wrestler-gay-catholic-don-bosco/25617005/

[Santo subito satire] The Vernal Equinox of Beatifications? Written by by John Ingram 4/8/15 remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/a-cnn/item/1667-the-vernal-equinox-of-beatifications Annibale “Brother Buan” (his alleged Lodge name) Bugnini Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, has announced, on the heels of the recent beatification of Pope Paul VI, an exciting new candidate for beatification on the increasingly crowded Expressway to the Ever-Widening Gate of Heaven. It seems that Cardinal Walter Kasper, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has now introduced the cause of Annibale Bugnini, the architect of the highly-touted liturgical reform of Vatican II, to the Congregation. Kasper reportedly gave his permission to open an investigation into Abp. Bugnini’s virtues in response to repeated and urgent requests from Pope Francis and his inner circle. Cardinal Kasper’s correspondence to the Congregation is rumored to elaborate on a little-known connection between Kasper and Bugnini that apparently developed during the recent Synod on the Family. Apparently Kasper had been praying repeatedly to the spirit of Abp. Bugnini – whom he, Kasper, considers to be the apotheosis of the “Spirit of Vatican II” – to ensure that the revolutionary draft language on homosexuals remain in the final Synod document, despite stiff resistance from “conservative” bishops. When this language was in fact retained in the final document, by the anti-collegial order of Pope Francis, Kasper was ecstatic at this miracle, and redoubled his zealous efforts on Bugnini’s behalf. In his long letter to Cardinal Amato, Kasper, according to unconfirmed reports, cites the heroic virtues of Bugnini at length, particularly: . His devotion and enthusiasm for the cause of aggiornamento, as displayed by his heroic perseverance in reforming the liturgy in the face of fierce resistance from Curial reactionaries such as Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci, the two-thirds of the bishops who voted against his “Missa Normativa,” right-wing prelates such as Abp. Lefebvre, rebellious priests such as Fr. Gommar DePauw of the American traditionalist movement and the Abbe de Nantes, and even secular figures such as Tito Casini. . His prophetic ecumenical vision, which led him to invite six Protestants, four Aztec dancers, and an aborigine with a straw hat, to serve as informal advisers during the development of the new Mass, and to consult Protestant liturgical books and the Talmud in great depth, decades before the Council. . His clarity of thought, which formed the foundation of the new countersyllabus of universalism, religious freedom, collegiality, community, futile dialogue and free love. . His kindly refusal to investigate repeated allegations of sexual misconduct among certain members of his Consilium, while invoking St. John the Baptist and the power of ancestral waters to protect them. . The steadfast courage of his radical Christian discipleship, as he stripped the old Mass of Catholic theology and anything else which might offend Protestants, describing the result as “a major conquest of the Catholic Church.” . His pivotal role in the collapse of the ghetto of Catholic tradition and the “razing of the bastions” called for by Continue Reading

Catholic Social Teaching 101: What is Liberalism and What does the Church really say about it? Written by Daniel Schwindt 4/11/15 remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/1675-catholisocial-teaching-101-what-is-liberalism-and-what-does-the-church-really-say-about-it The essay you see before you is not intended to function as a reasoned argument, nor is it an explanation of some new idea. It is meant to act as a sort of “word study,” examining the appearance, usage, and development of the notion of liberalism as found in Catholic Social Teaching. I’ve attempted to keep my commentary to a minimum, only interjecting in order to provide context and “connect the dots.” I happen to consider liberalism to be the fundamental error of the modern world. I believe that there exists, particularly in America a definite allegiance to this error. Moreover, this allegiance is bi-partisan: it is present regardless of party affiliation. I have argued that many of our problems, if not directly caused by the liberal mentality, are at least exacerbated by it. I’ve even gone so far as to suggest that liberalism actually fosters ignorance and guarantees social dysfunction. I acknowledge all of this, and bluntly, only because I hope in what follows to at least maintain some semblance of objectivity. In order for any such objectivity to appear sincere, or even possible, it is necessary to “place one’s cards on the table” at the outset. To begin in any other way might suggest that I have no cards, and that would be disingenuous. Leo XIII takes up the mantle of his predecessors To begin, we must admit that the collision between liberalism and Catholic Social Teaching is present in the very founding document of the latter, which is generally taken to be Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum of 1891. If we meant to study Liberalism more completely, we’d have to go back even further to Popes Gregory XVI (Mirari Vos, 1832) and Pius IX (Quanta Cura, 1864). However, for the sake of brevity and in accordance with the plan of this work, which centers on the corpus of CST proper, we will reach back no further than Leo XIII. But precisely because Rerum Novarum is to be our starting point, we must briefly step outside of this document and take a look at the mind of the pontiff that produced it, and see how Leo XIII had been dealing with the problem of liberalism throughout his papacy. At the same time, this requires a few remarks on the nature of liberalism itself. The three-fold expression of Liberalism Liberalism appears on three fronts, corresponding to three different spheres of man’s social life: It is religious, political, and economic. The religious form can be identified most clearly in the principles of the Protestant Reformation, personified by Martin Luther. The consequences of Luther’s religious liberalism were directly addressed by Leo XIII at various points, specifically in his Providentissimus Deus (1893) where he pointed to the proper principles for the study of Holy Scripture and identified the problems created by subjecting it to secular methods of criticism and private Continue Reading

Martyrology-April 13th Roman Martyrology-April 13th-on this date in various years- At Seville in Spain, St. Hermenegild, son of Leovigild, Arian king of the Visigoths, who was imprisoned for the confession of the Catholic faith. By order of his wicked father he was beheaded because he had refused to receive communion from an Arian bishop on the feast of Easter. Thus exchanging an earthly for a heavenly kingdom, he entered the abode of the saints, both as a king and as a martyr. At Rome, in the persecution of Marcus Antoninus Verus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, St. Justin, philosopher and martyr. He had addressed to the emperors his second Apology in defence of our religion, and upheld it by strong arguments. By the intrigue of Crescens the Cynic, whose conduct and immorality he had reproved, he was accused of professing Christianity, and thus he obtained the reward of martyrdom in payment for his faithful confession. His feast is kept on the following day. At Pergamum in Asia, during the same persecution, the birthday of the holy martyrs Carpus, bishop of Thyatira, the deacon Papylus, and his sister Agathonica, an excellent woman, Agathadorus, their servant, and many others. After many torments they received their crowns of martyrdom for their worthy confessions. At Silistria in Bulgaria, the passion of Saints Maximus, Quinctilian, and Dadas, during the persecution of Diocletian. At Ravenna, St. Ursus, bishop and confessor. And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins. R. Thanks be to God.

[A de jure Protestant eulogizes a de facto Protestant] Southington minister remembers Father Richard McBrien Published: April 11, 2015 www.myrecordjournal.com/opinion/columnguest/7127235-129/southington-minister-remembers-father-richard-mcbrien.html Fr. Richard Peter McBrien, 78, eminent Catholic theologian, prodigious author, and superb communicator, died this past Jan. 25 at his home in Farmington. He was a Hartford native, son of an Irish-American police officer and an Italian-American nurse, and educated at various colleges, including St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield. After his 1962 ordination in the Archdiocese of Hartford, his first parish was Our Lady of Victory Church in New Haven. As a brilliant scholar Fr. McBrien produced 25 significant books and a weekly column which continued for 45 years, carried in diocesan and other papers across the nation. including the [secular] “Record-Journal”. He was often interviewed on network news programs about some occurrence within the Catholic Church. In 1980 Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, president of Notre Dame University (who died this past Feb. 26 at age 97), brought him to Notre Dame where McBrien served as chair of the Department of Theology and president of the Faculty Senate. He also had been president of the Catholic Theological Society of America Fr. McBrien was deeply admired and severely criticized. He represented millions of American Catholics who favor greater intellectual freedom and diversity of opinion within the Church, even on such hot-button issues as the right of priests to marry and the ordination of women. Once he complained about “watching 115 in liturgical dress (and) there isn’t a woman among them.” Upon hearing of his death, George Weigel, a leading conservative theologian, commented: “Fr. McBrien was an able and indefatigable proponent of the Catholic revolution that never was and, now, never will be.” Fr. McBrien chose his words carefully when suggesting that Catholics should be free to follow their consciences, even when questioning basic church doctrines. He hinted at doubts about the perpetual virginity of Mary, for example, or that she had lived a sinless life. He hesitated to assert that Catholicism is the one, true, apostolic church founded by Christ himself, and criticized Eucharistic Adoration as “a doctrinal, theological and spiritual step backward, not forward.” When, in 1968, Pope Paul VI released “Humanae Vitae”, reaffirming Catholic opposition to all artificial birth control, Fr. McBrien was an early signatory to a statement challenging the encyclical. He also criticized the Church’s teachings on homosexuality. He came under heavy fire when he arranged to have Mario Cuomo speak at Notre Dame where the New York Governor (who died this past Jan. 1) delivered an address in which he personally opposed abortion but defended the right of Catholics to be pro-choice. In the eyes of some, both the professor and the governor should have been excommunicated. One of the major accomplishments of Fr. McBrien was his 1344-page “Catholicism”, published first in 1980 without an imprimatur indicating official church approval and selling over 150,000 copies. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops warned that “for some readers it will give encouragement for dissent” – criticism that continued when Continue Reading

[A veiled threat of the resumption of the persecution of authentic Catholics in Ireland by the "establishment"?] Catholic Church ‘will pay price’ for stance on gay marriage Protestant “bishop” tells TCD conference that gay rights is ‘the justice issue of our time’ [Lesbian U-Denver/TCD] Prof Kris McDaniel-Miccio at the Faith in Marriage Equality conference. Colin Gleeson Sat, Apr 11, 2015 A conference discussing the religious case for marriage equality has heard there will be “a price to be paid” by the Catholic Church for its stance in relation to the upcoming referendum. Marriage Equality: The Religious Case for a Yes Vote took place on Saturday and was hosted by Faith in Marriage Equality at the school of ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin. Sociologist Dr Richard O’Leary told the conference there was a danger of a “smaller, more anti-gay” church emerging from the public debate in relation to the referendum. “I predict there will be a price to be paid by the Catholic Church after this referendum,” he said. “Because of the negative stance taken by the bishops, the church as an institution could emerge as a smaller, more anti-gay, more conservative denomination. Some of the bishops might be satisfied with that outcome, but many people might feel that it would be a regrettable and avoidable outcome.” [Protestant] Church of Ireland “bishop” of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory Michael Burrows said he was supporting a yes vote in the referendum and referred to gay rights as “the great justice issue of our time”. “I have long believed that the churches should take the trajectory of human rights law very seriously – all too often we have allowed ourselves to be left behind defending the essentially indefensible,” he said. “The call for same sex marriage is a logical and timely development in the march of law reform and equality. “I am convinced that it will be a contribution to a fairer and more truly equal Ireland, and I cannot see any way in which it could be considered repugnant to the common good, or indeed to the vital role of the family. “I have come to believe that the rights of gay people have become, very properly, the great justice issue of our time just as the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of women were in the past. I could not vote against this proposal because of my utter abomination of homophobia. “I have come to feel that homophobia must be fought in our society as an evil.” Trinity College vice-provost ["Catholic"] Prof Linda Hogan [whom some neo-Modernists think Pope Francis should name as one of the first female Cardinals] said there were no theological impediments to gay people marrying. “Theologically speaking, there are no impediments to gay and lesbian people marrying in a civil ceremony,” she said. “People of faith can exercise their freedom of conscience to vote yes to lesbian and gay people marrying in a civil ceremony. “This debate is being framed as religious people being no voters with everyone Continue Reading

[Backpedalling by the university authorities because of an appeal to (or notice from) the Pope in Rome - either the Black(-cassocked) Pope (the Jesuit Father General) or the White(-cassocked) Pope (Francis)?] The “punishment” of dissident Jesuit theology prof. Fr. Costadoat: a slap on the wrist? An important clarification from Chile Posted by Augustinus at 4/11/2015 rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-punishment-of-fr-costadoat-slap-on.html#more At the beginning of Holy Week, Rorate posted about the action of Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati SDB in refusing to renew the mandatum of the liberal Jesuit theologian Jorge Costadoat SJ: For the record: Cardinal Ezzati’s letter announcing the removal of a dissident Jesuit theologian from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (see rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/03/for-record-cardinal-ezzatis-letter.html or angelqueen.org/2015/03/26/jesuit-dismissed-from-his-academic-position-kasper-faction-loses-a-member/ ). Shortly afterwards, Rorate received the following clarification from an academic in the Pontifical University of Chile. For prudential reasons we can neither reveal his name nor his teaching position in the University. The clarification has also been slightly edited for this posting. The situation regarding Jorge Costadoat is far more complicated than it appears. The academic authorities have declared that Costadoat is and will continue to be a member of the PUC of Chile, as researcher and in other academic capacities (including the so-called “extension”, which are the activities in which we give lectures, seminars, etc., to the general public), but simply will not teach theology; and that his name can be proposed for the mandatum “in the future” (according to the Dean of Theology) or “within a year” (according to the Rector). So he has not been removed or dismissed. And this has been confirmed by the Cardinal. So the move appears hard in the eyes of Roman authorities, but amounts to almost nothing regarding the capacity of the professor (Fr. Costadoat) to spread error within and from the PUC. And the progressivists within the PUC have become enormously strengthened despite appearances. There are even more complexities in the case. See this link in the official website of PUC about the University Rector’s stance on the situation: Rector Sánchez se refirió a la situación del profesor Costadoat www.uc.cl/en/component/content/article/244-noticia-principal/19699-rector-sanchez-se-refirio-a-la-situacion-del-profesor-costadoat In the linked statement, the Rector mouths the usual platitudes about the Pontifical University’s respect for “academic freedom” and “the rights of the individual and the community within the truth and the common good”. He expresses “adhesion” to and “respect” for the Cardinal’s decision not to renew the Jesuit’s mandatum but also stresses that Costadoat has not been fired, but remains “part of the University community in other tasks such as research, extension and the works of the academic life.”

“Dottore [della Chiesa] subito”? PETITION TO POPE FRANCIS: Declare St. John Paul II “Doctor of the Church” Posted on 12 April 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf wdtprs.com/blog/2015/04/petition-to-pope-francis-declare-st-john-paul-ii-doctor-of-the-church/ JP2-Doctor-of-Church-Call-To-ActionI, Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, do hereby petition our Holy Father, Pope Francis, to declare St. John Paul II Doctor of the Church. I ask that St. John Paul II, who instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy, be declared Doctor of the Church on the Feast of Divine Mercy 2016, one liturgical year from today, and that he be endowed with the title Doctor Misericordiae. St. John Paul II should be a Doctor of the Church, because of the outstanding quality and the comprehensiveness of his opus, which includes philosophy, theology, poetry, and even drama. St. John Paul II’s Magisterium serves, among other things, as an authoritative and comprehensive commentary on the Second Vatican Council. His numerous encyclicals touch nearly all aspects of human life. Consider his defense of life, his defense of the Truth of Catholic teaching, his efforts toward the liberation of millions from Communist tyranny, his merciful correction of errant theologians for the protection of the faithful, his social teaching, and his defense of marriage and of the family (e.g, in Familiaris consortio). He issued the Catechism of the Catholic Church and revised the Code of Canon Law for both the Latin and Eastern Churches. Most of all, consider his defense of the Truth of the Faith through his entire body of teaching while applying it appropriately to our times, not just to the 26 years of his pontificate, but to the 21st century. Tens of millions, indeed hundreds of millions, look to St. John Paul II as a fixed point of Catholic Truth. Moreover, Pope Francis, who canonized St. John Paul II, can by this gesture manifest a special relationship with the enduring Magisterium of the Saint during his own pontificate. As Pope Francis himself wrote in the Bull of Indiction for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Misericordiae vultus 11: Saint John Paul II highlighted the fact that we had forgotten the theme of mercy in today’s cultural milieu…. I urge all the faithful who read this to pray that this come to pass and that they, in their own ways, promote this petition with Pope Francis himself, as well as their local bishops and pastors. St. John Paul II, pray for us!

If Cardinal Kasper “does not necessarily represent Pope Francis’ theological stance,” then why did His Holiness speak thus of His Eminence at the February 2014 consistory where the cardinal gave the keynote address at the pope’s invitation? I read and reread Cardinal Walter Kasper’s document and I would like to thank him, as I found it to be a work of profound theology, and also a serene theological reflection. It is pleasant to read serene theology. And I also found what St. Ignatius [Loyola] described as the ‘sensus Ecclesiae’, love for the Mother Church. … It did me good, and an idea came to mind – please excuse me, Eminence, if I embarrass you – but my idea was that this is what we call “doing theology on one’s knees”. Thank you, thank you. Cardinal Napier: ‘The Pope Doesn’t Need Anyone to Be His Theologian’ The South-African cardinal responded to a report that claimed that Cardinal Kasper speaks for Pope Francis. by ANDREA GAGLIARDUCCI CNA/EWTN NEWS 04/10/2015 www.ncregister.com/daily-news/cardinal-napier-the-pope-doesnt-need-anyone-to-be-his-theologian/ VATICAN CITY — A top African cardinal says that German Cardinal Walter Kasper — who has stirred controversy over his views promoting Communion for the divorced and remarried — does not necessarily represent Pope Francis’ theological stance. He also rejected efforts to claim the Holy Father for either side of the debate ahead of the upcoming synod on the family. South Africa’s Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier dismissed a news report’s label of Cardinal Walter Kasper as the “Pope’s theologian,” saying, “I believe Pope Francis is a theologian in his own right. So he does not need anyone to be presented as ‘his’ theologian.” Cardinal Napier, the archbishop of Durban, told CNA April 9 that the Pope is “the head of the Church in general and of the College of Bishops in particular.” “It is wrong, therefore, for any one group or individual to try to ‘own’ him or even to claim him as the adherent to one particular school or another of theology,” he said. Cardinal Napier had voiced concern about efforts to claim the Pope as a partisan of Cardinal Kasper in an April 4 Religion News Service article, which discussed the German cardinal’s new book. The article was headlined: “Cardinal Walter Kasper, ‘the Pope’s Theologian,’ Reveals the Brains Behind Francis’ Heart.” Cardinal Napier said on Twitter April 5, “It’s a real worry to read an expression like ‘the Pope’s Theologian’ applied to Cardinal Kasper.” “Why is it a worry?” the African cardinal asked. “Unlike Pope Francis, Cardinal Kasper isn’t very respectful towards the African Church and its leaders.” According to Cardinal Napier, Cardinal Kasper considers African bishops to be “excessively controlled by taboo” and too reluctant to address polygamy and similar marriage problems. His description of Cardinal Kasper apparently alludes to the German cardinal’s Oct. 15, 2014, remarks to journalist Edward Pentin at the time of the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family. During the conversation, Cardinal Kasper stressed his view that “Africa is totally different from the West. Continue Reading

Notes on Misericordiae Vultus 1. The defense of Vatican II goes into high gear. 2. Has the Church forgotten to be merciful? Francis seems to think so. 3. Urgent questions about the “Missionaries of Mercy.” Posted by Augustinus at 4/12/2015 rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/04/notes-on-misericordiae-vultus-1-defense.html#more The Bull of Indiction for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy was published today (April 11) at St. Peter’s Basilica, just before First Vespers for Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated by Pope Francis. The full text can be found on the Vatican website: The quintessential Jesuit devotion, the merciful and Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, (“have mercy on us!”), is forgotten in the indiction bull We do not intend to post an exhaustive analysis of this document, which seems all but assured of going down in history as one of the programmatic documents of the pontificate of Francis. We will limit ourselves here to commenting on three things: I. The defense of Vatican II goes into high gear. II. Has the Church forgotten to be merciful? Francis seems to think so. III. Urgent and disturbing questions about the “Missionaries of Mercy.” *** I. The defense of Vatican II goes into high gear. When the Pope announced the Jubilee of Mercy during the second anniversary of his election, the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization issued an Explanatory Note stating that: The opening of this next Jubilee will take place on the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. This is of great significance, for it impels the Church to continue the work begun at Vatican II. The Bull of Indiction (# 4) is even more enthusiastic and forthright about the link between the Jubilee of Mercy and Vatican II. I have chosen the date of 8 December because of its rich meaning in the recent history of the Church. In fact, I will open the Holy Door on the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. The Church feels a great need to keep this event alive. With the Council, the Church entered a new phase of her history. The Council Fathers strongly perceived, as a true breath of the Holy Spirit, a need to talk about God to men and women of their time in a more accessible way. The walls which too long had made the Church a kind of fortress were torn down and the time had come to proclaim the Gospel in a new way. It was a new phase of the same evangelization that had existed from the beginning. It was a fresh undertaking for all Christians to bear witness to their faith with greater enthusiasm and conviction. The Church sensed a responsibility to be a living sign of the Father’s love in the world. We recall the poignant words of Saint John XXIII when, opening the Council, he indicated the path to follow: “Now the Bride of Christ wishes to use the medicine of mercy rather than taking up arms of severity … The Catholic Church, Continue Reading

Among US voters, Catholic party affiliations match those of overall population

The Long Retreat in the Culture War

The litmus test for “full communion”

MARTYROLOGY-APRIL 12

Campus inquisition

EPISCOPAL “PRIEST” INSULTS CATHOLICS ON GOOD FRIDAY

Pope Benedict’s Vision Key to Survival of Catholic Colleges, Says Author

Liberal World Order and Jihadists: Different Struggles, Same Victim

Benedict XVI.: Liberation Theology is a Falsification of the Christian Faith

Pope Formally Announces Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy

Catholic wrestler finds acceptance after coming out

The Vernal Equinox of Beatifications?

Catholic Social Teaching 101: What is Liberalism and What does the Church really say about it?

MARTYROLOGY-APRIL 13

Southington minister remembers Father Richard McBrien

Catholic Church ‘will pay price’ for stance on gay marriage

The “punishment” of dissident Jesuit theology prof. Fr. Costadoat: a slap on the wrist?

PETITION TO POPE FRANCIS: Declare St. John Paul II “Doctor of the Church”!

Cardinal Napier: ‘The Pope Doesn’t Need Anyone to Be His Theologian’

Notes on Misericordiae Vultus