Pope Francis Retires the Most Traditional Friendly Diocesan Bishop of Italy at 70

Pope Francis and Dom Zappella, Caritas Director for the Diocese
of Albenga-Imperia

(Rome) Bishops who are too traditionally inclined, or promote it in their dioceses, or who allow the celebration of the traditional form of the Roman Rite to an extent that it goes beyond a niche, don't have it easy under Pope Francis.

This is already being felt by Bishop Mario Oliveri of Albenga-Imperia on the Italian Riviera. Despite the above-average earnings in his diocese, he was overthrown by Pope Francis in January 2015.  The Pope appointed the Bishop of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello, Msgr. Guglielmo Borghetti, as the Coadjutor Bishop of Albenga-Imperia, although Bishop Oliveri is in good health and was only 70 years old.

The coadjutor received with immediate effect, all  authority as diocesan bishop. Bishop Oliveri has since been only "decorative" actually.

Last April, Pope Francis summoned bishop and coadjutor separately and on the expressway to Rome. It was reported by Savona News that the Pope demanded Bishop Oliveri's resignation. He is to retire in August.

This dismissal was not made ​​in the context of the new Motu Proprio As a Loving Mother, which will come into force on 5 September.

Bishop Oliveri celebrated in the cathedral of Imperia the Christ the King in the Old Rite and accepted the perpetual vows of seven Franciscan sisters of the Immaculate. That was 2008. Since then, things have  changed a lot for the bishop, his diocese and the Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.

The media knows of the alleged reasons for the reshuffle of the top diocesan official. Yet these reasons are to be regarded with caution. Named are problems with two priests of the diocese.  Don Francesco Zappella was implicated in cases of sexual abuse, and Don Angelo Chizzolini was "xenophobic". So it is maintained by some media, and both priests were included in media campaigns last year.

The allegations have yet to be clarified, and thus are not suited for the preventive impeachment of a bishop, but initially, only for an inadmissible prejudice. Also therefore, they are not be suitable because even the coadjutor would then have to resign, who has been responsible for the two priests for over a year, and the specific cases already concern his tenure.

At the moment only it is only clear that with the help of the media, there is   a thick fog of suspicion and  accusations have been spread, and the church has been indicted by the public. Whoever hurls dirt from a safe cover, reckons that something has gotten stuck.

Bishop Oliveri seems to be the pawn sacrificed to allow the coadjutor to a "fresh start". It is more likely that Bishop Oliveri is disturbing as a traditional shepherd and has to be removed gingerly in a climate disposed to tradition.

The "raping" priest

The sudden urgency was brought about because in Uruguay a case against Don Zappella was initiated for sexual abuse. The priest worked until 2004 in Uruguay in the missions. Among other things, he built an orphanage and a home for maladjusted children and adolescents. The incident for which he has been accused allegedly occurred at the Mission in 2005.

There is currently a wave of scandal in Uruguay rolling across the Church. Several priests have been accused of the sexual abuse of minors. How much of it is true, must first be cleared up. The damage to the Church has already been accomplished by the media's prejudice. Here also the name Zappellas is mentioned, which brings the situation to the level of an international event, about which Pope Francis has had to intervene personally.

Don Zappella himself went public and had addressed the allegations himself. He is said to have then "raped" a 29-year old Brazilian. Don Zappella says it's the tit for tat response, because he had referred the man to a home in Albenga and was sent back to Brazil after he had molested a daughter of the hostess. He himself has no longer been engaged in the mission since 2004, but has visited his mission station since then only once a year.

An Italian victims' association had paid for the Brazilian  come at  society cost to Italy in order to be heard by the public prosecutor in an appeal for an indictment against Don Zappella in 2015. Previously, the victims' association had dragged the priest in this matter before the media. The investigation has been archived at the end of 2015 because of the statute of limitations. Then the association presented a new case in the spring, but this time a mentally unstable young man Don Zappella is supposed to have molested at a time which was within the statute of limitations.

The victims' association is working together with a priest of the diocese in the matter. Therein, Don Zappella sees the reason for the "campaign" against him: This priest is "envious" of him that  Coadjutor Bishop Borghetti has appointed him as the new director of Caritas in the Diocese.

The "xenophobic" priest

Don Chizzolini (right) assisted the vicar general of the diocese as a subdeacon at the celebration of Holy Mass in the traditional rite

Don Angelo Chizzolini for his part, has come into the headlines as an alleged "anti-immigrant priest."  In a broadcast of an Italian private television channel, he was presented as a "xenophobe". He had refused the reception of asylum seekers in his rectory and also refused to bless a dead Muslim. The latter was the initial spark for the negative media attention for the priest.

A gas cylinder exploded in a disaster in the spring of 2015 in a residential building. Several people were killed, including a Muslim. A Requiem and funeral took place in the parish. Relying on the canon law,  the parish priest, Don Chizzolini made ​​a distinction between the baptized Catholics and the Muslim. For some, who showed utterly no understanding, were outraged and appeared in the local press. From there the case reached the national press where the blessing that was not granted was hyped into an "unprecedented scandal" as part of the Refugee-Welcome-Hype.

Given this history, it was not difficult to brand the same priest in autumn 2015 as a "xenophobe" because he had refused to accommodate refugees in his rectory.  It's an accusation that the person concerned rejected: "There is simply no room in the rectory." [Does Pope Francis have to accommodate refugees on his floor in the Santa Marta?]

The brother of the Muslim who died had even threatened the priest and accused him of being "part of the hate." The priest filed a police complaint against anonymous leaflets with insulting insulting slogans on them. The investigations are still underway.

Don Chizzolini is one of those priests of the diocese who celebrate in both forms of the Roman Rite.

Shortly after the Coadjutor Bishop returned from his visit to Pope Francis, Don Chizzolini had to give up the three parishes that he supervised.  About a new task, "he would have to decide in quiet reflection," said the coadjutor. Don Chizzolini is imposed to silence on the matter. This should put the matter to rest, is what is said at the Diocese.

Even Bishop Oliveri now appears to have resign in the wake of a "calming action" personally chosen by the Pope, although he is not personally responsible in either of the cases. "What a coincidence that this is precisely the most traditional friendly diocesan bishop of Italy," so Messa in Latino .

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: IVG (Screenshot)

Papal Purge: Bishop Coadjutor Assigned to Traditional Diocese of Albenga-Imperia

Bishop Oliveri Celebrates the Old Rite

(Rome) Pope Francis has found a coadjutor for the Bishop of Albenga-Imperia, Msgr. Mario Oliveri with right of succession to the side. As Bishop Oliveri enjoys good health, the papal decision appears as a disempowerment  without disavowing the ruling bishop entirely through impeachment. It is the indirect, more elegant form of impeachment. The direct form was felt by Bishop Rogelio Livieres of Ciudad del Este. A dismissal with no ifs or buts.

A coadjutor, sometimes with right of succession, is an auxiliary device, such as when an incumbent bishop is no longer in a position to fully exercise his office fully for health reasons.  This form is also utilized to correct undesirable developments in a diocese or to  reconcile  a successor fluidly without drastically making  visible a public break.

Heavy State of Tradition in the World and Especially in the Church

No this is occuring in the diocese of Albenga-Imperia Riviera.  The traditional alignment of Bishop Oliveri is undesirable. A minority of the diocesan clergy made fierce resistance to the renewal of the diocese in the Catholic faith, which Bishop Oliveri, by replacing   folk altars in churches with appropriate high altars,  promoting the sacrament of penance, the traditional Rite, establishing old ritual communities, and the unabbreviated preaching the doctrine. Majorities play no role in the church, but it should be noted that the majority of the clergy followed this bishop. The diocese has far and wide the highest number of seminarians who are trained in both forms of the Roman Rite.

But then, Pope Francis took the Chair of Peter and quickly found someone in Liguria to afford the opportunity to get rid of the bishop. They quickly sought the anti-clerical media. The liberal daily, Secolo XIX took over the role of the battering ram. Because of their attitude which is critical of the Church they have already offered skirmish in the past few years  with the bishop. That it was seriously meant, with the intention  to drive Bishop Oliveri from office, became clear  a few days ago even as the German media jumped straight into slander mode.

Standardized Strategy of Slander Against Faithful Church Representatives

The ingredients have long been standardized in the case of orthodox bishops. The spreading of rumors, outraged mention of unproven allegations. There are always enough people who accept any slander willingly.

 Secolo XIX has been well informed about from Church circles by the end of October 2014, announced the appointment of a Coadjutor for Albenga-Imperia. A provisional administration of the diocese and disempowerment of the officiating bishop, which was welcomed by the newspaper. Rome was silent. Startled devout Catholics were mocked as seeing "ghosts" and having, attempting to raise and lift  a "blind" antipathy against the reigning pope.

But the rumor was not a rumor. On January 10, Pope Francis, the previous bishop of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello, Msgr. Guglielmo Borghetti has been sent to the diocese of Albenga-Imperia as Coadjutor with right of succession.

Why the Fear of Tradition?

Two things would appear from the new "purging": Pope Francis applies "tolerance and compassion shown demonstratively"  to everyone, but not for traditional Catholics, so says Secretum meum mihi . Against them he cherishes a "deep-seated inner aversion".  Second, it seems the pope can not bear that bishops have full seminaries and numerous priestly vocations, as soon as they turn to the tradition. Tradition was tolerated only within the separate, manageable and controllable enclosure of "Ecclesia Dei".   But where  tradition leaves this enclosure and radiates into the new ritual Church, they will fight relentlessly as the treatment of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, Bishop Livieres and now Bishop Oliveri show.

"Why are even high church officials, including the Pope, so afraid of  tradition? Why don't they exercise their proverbial cherished tolerance? Is it because it holds up the mirror to them and thus call into question their own life's work and understanding of the Church? On closer examination, even brings them to falter?" asks Secretum meum mihi.  Perhaps because the crisis of vocations and all related implications surrounding the priesthood, Holy  Orders, Sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist, including the considerations and plans for the approval of viri probati (priests who left and are now married), the abolition of celibacy, the admission of women to the diaconate and priesthood could collapse within itself?

On December 22, Pope Francis listed 15 "diseases"  in his Christmas message to the Roman Curia, on which  they suffer. "The action against the small Ligurian diocese has confirmed at least ten  of the fifteen pathologies mentioned by Pope Francis," said Traditio Catholica . But in this case it is the Pope, who seems to have a short memory.

Unlike Bishop Livieres of Paraguay, Bishop Oliveri is taking the papal humiliation in silence, as is common in Europe. Bishop Livieres had been ordered to Rome, but he had learned from the media of his deposition. In vain he had asked the Pope for an audience. But the Pope granted him neither an audience yet another opportunity to defend himself against the complaints. Then the bishop had informed the media that he had "naturally accepted the decision" of the Pope, but that the Pope would be "responsible" before God for his decision. Bishop Livieres has been also active since then in evangelization, but without a diocese.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: diocese of Albenga-Imperia

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches....

AMDG

Papal Purges and Their Claques -- Political Orientation More Decisive Than Allegations?

Bishop Oliveri of Albenga

Edit: a claque is a chorus hired by a play's producer, playhouse manager, or in some cases an Emperor who's written a play, to cheer, or I suppose, even boo, a play.

(Albenga / Rome) Pope Francis seems to be continuing his cleansing against tradition. "Ruthless and relentless" says Messa in Latino . Reasons are not known. A stone is thrown into the pond and yet it never lacks worthy men who would not grab it. Francesco Colafemmina, combative art and cultural critic, therefore, speaks of the purges and their claques.

The Purge and the "Allegations"

An accusation, whether valid or less, you find against every man, and of course every bishop. However, going to a visible pattern behind the intervention of Pope Francis that is directed against bishops and communities in the Church who know how to appreciate and rediscover what the Church taught before the Second Vatican Council and the associated understanding of the Church.  There is tolerance and understanding for those who content themselves exclusively with the past 50 years. However zero tolerance goes for those who preserve and maintain what the Church taught over 1950 long years instead - well founded - rather forgo the innovations of the last 50 years.

In short:  a traditional Bishop is replaced, or  traditionally woven community (outside the domestic enclosure Ecclesia Dei ) is reprimanded, the Vatican is silent on the reasons. There are the cheerleaders, who provide more or less behind closed doors for the spread of "dirt".There is now a kind of standard list of accusations available that can be fished out at any time.

The Battle for the Sacramental Priesthood

The allegation of lack of care in the selection of seminarians is particularly popular here, mostly smugly garnished with the catchword of homosexuality. Added to this is the allegation of irregularities in the diocesan finances.

The first argument is particularly perfidious. The seminaries of progressives are empty, gradually abandoned   and merged between diocese. The reason is not the often cited lack of vocations, but rather a lack of understanding of diocesan leaders and parts of the officiating clergy for the sacramental and also still celibate priesthood. Appeals are not supported. In some areas one could get the impression that they intentionally wanted to let  the priesthood die and prepare insidiously for its replacement by married deacons, the demand for abolition of celibacy, deacons and deaconesses, including pastoral assistants, who already occur in some parishes in priest-like robes, preach and stand at the Eucharistic prayer next to the priest at the altar.

The Disturbing Evidence of Tradition

Tonsure of four brothers of Fraternidade Arca de Maria in Ciudad del Este in the Old Rite

Tradition proves that God calls  a sufficient number of men to the priesthood today. The existence of flourishing seminaries of tradition in addition to the dissolving seminaries of progressives belies all analyses, justifications and latter lies. Their anger is directed not so much against those individuals and groups that are labeled with the stamp "tradition" and tolerated in the special room of "Ecclesia Dei", but are controlled simultaneously and marginalized within the Church, the anger is directed against those who preach the progressive understanding of the "real" Church, like the Franciscans of the Immaculate, a Novus Ordo Order, which  discovered tradition and became what some perceived as threatening precedent.The same is true especially for diocesan bishops who turn to the tradition, like Bishop Livieres of Ciudad del Este and Bishop of Albenga-Imperia Oliveri. They provide evidence that tradition is not only the model for a few diehards, but is suitable for the whole Church.

A hostile faction in his own diocese and mostly among neighboring bishops deliver "dossiers" that provide fewer arguments, but the welcome opportunity to intervene. Bishop Oliveri has "a quarter of the diocesan clergy against him, which is progressively minded, who constitute   a real faction that defies the bishop," said Chiesa e Postconcilio . And again, the daily newspaper Il Secolo XIX , "which is closely connected with  Ligurian Freemasonry and fought for years  against Bishop Oliveri performs" and it is not by chance that it plays a not minor role. From the diocese of Bishop Oliveri incidentally, comes the layman Mario Castellano, who belongs to the troika today in the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate and sets the tone (see Troika determined by Franciscans of the Immaculate - but Who is Mario Castellano )

The Dingy Corner as Part of Defamation

The accusation of homosexuality is brought into play with enjoyment, though the progressives can be particularly accommodating to that, but not tradition. The propaganda lie is that there was a "connection" between the Old Mass and  and homosexuality [see David Berger's alleged "tell-all" book], who are up to mischief. Like every propaganda lie, it is sufficient to repeat it frequently enough. Something is always hanging. In German-speaking countries, this "theory" was represented by a particularly tragic figure whose personal homosexuality gained the upper hand and fighting the tradition and led to the Church itself.

Ultimately,  the "allegations" should only distract from the actual motives distract from the fundamental and hard battle for the right understanding  and orientation of the Church.  Which is reprimanded by the Pope or cleared is to be placed in a dingy corner. A particularly unsavory slime action, which says a lot about the opponents of the tradition. This just because those who are purged are proven to be of particular, usually of comparatively outstanding personal integrity, such as Bishop Livieres and Bishop Oliveri,  with the remaining examples already mentioned.

Financial "Irregularities" in the Diocesan Coffers

The accusation of "irregularities", i.e. inappropriate use of diocesan finances is too loose, so that it is unusable without specific designation of allegation and proof of responsibility. Except of course when willingly self-assembled chorus of cheerleaders. This argument is familiar with the German Church in the cases Tebartz van Elst and Mixa.

To show the insignificance of this "allegation" the art and cultural critic Colafemmina  put together a "quick" list. It relates to some bishops who were outed at the Synod of Bishops in their respective areas as progressives who were all guilty of allegations of dubious dealing with the diocesan finances, but all continue to sit on their posts.

This Colafemmina concludes,  that in view of papal purges, the allegations put forward are erroneous. What seems crucial is which orientation you belong, to be dismissed and praised.  Here is his "quick" list:

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia Curia

"Family Affairs" Vincenzo Paglia

Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia: "Change is initiated, there is no turning back". At the Synod on the Family  to  the resistance to  Communion for remarried divorcees and the extra-marital partnerships, he said, "can not change the way that has now been trod." "The mission of Francis has been respected: accept it and go". An excerpt from the interview by Vatican Insider  with Archbishop Paglia of the Community of Sant'Egidio. Paglia is none other than the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, and thus the "family minister" of the Holy See. As such, he was present at the recently concluded Synod of Bishops. He has not yet been confirmed by Pope Francis in his office. In 2012, he was Bishop Paglia of Terni-Narni-Amelia.

The weekly magazine L'Espresso wrote on September 26, 2013: "the Monsignor emphasizes that  in Terni there were two different matters that were not reconcilable: On the one hand the debt of my diocese, on the other hand, the history of the castle, with which the media and the public prosecutor have engaged. I am aware that in my years of episcopate in Terni, the bank debt of the diocese has grown to eight million euros today from what it was then.' (...) As  Espresso was able to find   a few weeks  the Vatican bank IOR granted an interest-free loan for the Diocese of Terni in the amount of 12 million euros, with which the bank debt was to be covered. "

Vatican Insider wrote on April 16, 2014: "That little problems' is a hole in the diocesan budget of more than 20 million euros, the result of real estate transactions, which was determined by the prosecution that occurred in the years when Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia was bishop,  who is President of the Pontifical Council for the Family since 2012. Should the hole be covered with 12 million euros by the Vatican bank IOR, which should be 'repaid without interest in ten years, as the prelate himself announced. Once again the same sum is to be gauranteed by an advance from the Fund " 8 of 1000 " provided by the Italian Episcopal Conference."

Colafemmina: Ironically, Paglia is the author of a recently published monumental "History of Poverty", which was reviewed by "Pope" Eugenio Scalfari personally.

 Diocesan Bishop Domenico Mogavero

Bishop Mogavero wears Armani

Monsignor Domenico Mogavero. "The protest of the bishops against the proposals for the recognition of gay partnerships are unfounded: a secular state can not make religious decisions and the Church can not interfere in the area of civil law." An excerpt from an interview by Vatican Insider with Bishop of Mazara del Vallo, acting since 2007 in that capacity.

The weekly magazine Panorama wrote on June 16, 2014: "The small Sicilian diocese is led by Monsignor Mogavero.. It has 231,000 inhabitants, 70 priests (many of them quite old) and a total of 131 women religious.  Within seven years, debts of almost six million have accumulated to exactly 5,598,090 euros. The thing exploded April-May when the bishop had no more euros in the kitty to pay the banks and creditors. Therefore, the matter will particularly cause concern because Mogavero was sent to Trapani  as Apostolic Visitor (a kind of inspector) in 2011 because of a hole in the diocesan fund of one million Euroa. The inspection then led to the dismissal of Bishop Francesco Micchiché. This time it is Mogavero, who has to answer for one financial hole that has grown at least five times as large as that of Trapani. "

Colafemmina: Approximately three million euros were for the construction of new modern(istic)Church of Pantelleria set in the sand. Bishop Mogavero, who openly opposes Summorum Pontificum to this day, publicly attacked Benedict XVI. for the re-admission of the traditional rite, and also for the lifting of the excommunication against the bishops of the SSPX. For this, the bishop has a particular fondness for the haute couture and wearing Armani. The fashion designer Giorgio Armani designed   the Sicilian bishop his own chasuble for the inauguration of the new sacristy of the church of Pantelleria. Since when do they inaugurate vestries?

 Archbishop Reinhard Marx Cardinal

The guest house for Cardinal Marx, when he stays in Rome

Cardinal Reinhard Marx: "If there is a homosexual relationship that holds for 30 years, I can not say that this is nothing."  said the Archbishop of Munich-Freising  for Vatican insider . "The majority of the German bishops agreed to the Kasper's proposal," the cardinal said at the Synod of Bishops on the issue of admission remarried divorcees to Communion. The church is "not a system of abstract ideas," but must "provide answers to the realities of the people," says Marx.

The Huffington Post wrote on October 24, 2013: "Cardinal Reinhard Marx of the Archdiocese of Munich spent eleven million dollars for the reconstruction of the archbishop's residence, and an additional 13 million dollars for a guest house in Rome."

The Munich tabloid tz wrote on March 13, 2012: "The location is excellent, the price is: € 9.7 million for the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising in Rome has bought a new guest house. Evil tongues have already assigned the property a nickname: Palazzo Marx '(...) ". The restoration of the palace [of the archbishop's residence Palais Holnstein in Munich] cost 8.1 million euros."

The Süddeutsche Zeitung headlined on April 12, 2012: "Our Palace in Rome". And further: "For a long time rumors have been circulating among Church workers in the Holy See that Cardinal Reinhard Marx had a "palace" in Rome," A "completely normal house," justified the press man of the Archdiocese of the purchase. The "Roman branch" for stays of Cardinal Marx in Rome was to belay criticism, by  calling it a "Meeting House".

Colafemmina: No comment.

Edit: His massive wreckovation project must also not be forgotten.  The cost of 51 million euros far outstrips the defamed Bishop Teberst Van-Elst.

 Archbishop Bruno Forte

Archbishop Forte with Cardinal Tagle at Synod

Archbishop Bruno Forte: "Guaranteeing the rights of homosexuals, is a question of decency". With these words,   Vatican Insider quoted Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto in connection with the controversial interim report of the Synod of Bishops, whose passages about homosexuality sprang from his quill, as Cardinal Erdo confirmed. 

Chietitoday reported on 26 November 2011: "The Church by Mario Botta in Sambuceto will be ready in three years. The agreement was sealed.  'On this Artwork '- said Msgr Forte - 'I encountered the harmonious cooperativeness of all.  As all know, Mario Botta has given me the project under the condition that the Church can meet the people, because the Church is an expression of the people of God in a given area. I am convinced that this will be a work that will bring the religious soul of the whole Abruzzo people to expression.'  The work, which will cost between eight and ten million euros, is financed by 45 percent of the Italian Episcopal Conference, by the community and committees, including one of entrepreneurs and business associations and a parish committee."

Colafemmina: For criticism of the church building project see the comment .

Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
image: MiL / Fides et Forma / Vatican Insider / Wikicommons / Fradernidade Arca de Maria / SZ (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches....
AMGD