Communist Bishops Want to Censor the Internet: Auxiliary Bishop vs. Auxiliary Bishop

Auxiliary Bishop Barron (Los Angeles) and Auxiliary Bishop Schneider (Astana) represent censorship versus frankness.

(Rome) Cardinals against cardinals and bishops against bishops are currently taking place in the Church. And the vast majority of the pastors are silent - not necessarily elegant, but overwhelmed or cowardly. The most recent example is two auxiliary bishops who take completely opposite positions on the same subject. On one side is Msgr. Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, on the other side Msgr. Athanasius Schneider of Astana.

"It is time to introduce a permit"

Monsignor Robert Barron was appointed Titular Bishop of Macriana and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2015 by Pope Francis. He is quite well known in the English-speaking world for his publishing activities as the founder of the non-profit organization Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. He recently advocated the introduction of a Nihil obstat by the bishops for everyone who publishes on social networks. According to Bishop Barron, online activities by Catholics should be subject to approval. What he brings up is the ecclesiastical variant of a tightened network enforcement law and coincides with the aspirations of certain secular circles in the left political spectrum since the election victory of US President Donald Trump in November 2016 to try to restrict the Internet.

The justification for the required Internet censorship is also congruent with worldly endeavors. There is "hate speech," Auxiliary Bishop Barron said, and positions that "move away from the theology of the Church." What is meant by this seems less clear today than one might think at first glance. What exactly is “the theology of the Church” today that does not tolerate a dissenting opinion? Theology is not the same doctrine. Which theology should you not “move away from” in order not to lose the episcopal permission to publish on the Internet?

The U.S. Catholic National Catholic Register published an interview with Auxiliary Bishop Barron on January 29.

Question: Do you think the Church needs to develop its vision and social teaching in relation to social media?

Auxiliary Bishop Barron: I would like to make a proposal in this regard, knowing that as a little backbencher to the Bishops' Conference I have absolutely no authority to do that. But like John Paul II in Ex corde ecclesia the bishops are called upon to exercise greater oversight of the universities under the aegis of the church, I would recommend that we bishops exercise some authority over those who claim to teach for the Church in social media space. To be honest, there is a troubling number of such people on social media who deal with hateful, divisive speech, who often contradict the theology of the Church and, unfortunately, have a strong influence on God's people. I think that the shepherds of the Church who oversee the magisterium can and should point out when people damage the body of Christ on social media. I wonder if it's time to introduce something like a permit for those who claim to teach the Catholic faith online

"It is our right to express our concern"

Msgr. Athanasius Schneider, who was founded in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI. Titular Bishop of Celerina and Auxiliary Bishop of Karaganda. In 2011 the same Pope appointed him as Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Astana. In September 2019, Bishop Schneider, together with Diane Montagna, published the conversation book "Christus Vincit: Christ's Triumph Over the Darkness of the Age " in the United States. Diane Montagna is the courageous Rome correspondent from LifeSiteNews who asked uncomfortable questions about the idolatry of the Pachamama at press conferences on the Amazon Synod.

The book deals with the same subject that Auxiliary Bishop Barron commented on, but Auxiliary Bishop Schneider answered it quite differently.

Question: Is the Internet an important tool for the laity to defend the faith?

Auxiliary Bishop Schneider: Yes, of course. I see the internet and social media as tools of providence that offer laypeople who want to defend their faith a unique opportunity to be united. That would not have been possible 30 years ago. Now I see lay people, men and women who have the courage to say to their pastor, bishop and also the Holy See: “Please, we are concerned about these facts. This is not the belief of our fathers. We ask to defend the faith of our mother, the Church. "The liberal church establishment - I call it the church nomenclature [1] - now accuses the laity of interference and says: "It is not your business. Shut up!"

Question: That smells of clericalism, wouldn't you say?

Auxiliary Bishop Schneider : Yes, this attitude of these clerics against the lay faithful is evidence of enormous clericalism The lay faithful must answer these arrogant clerics. That is what the Second Vatican Council teaches about the layperson's duty to testify and defend faith. You can tell these clerics: “If you love the Second Vaticanum so much, you must allow yourself to be criticized! Let us stand up and speak frankly in the Church to defend our fathers. We have the right to express our concern, including the Pope, because we are a family. ”In this new and courageous attitude of many lay people, I see a realization of the intentions of the Second Vatican Council. God allowed evil after the Council and uses it to gain greater good from it.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Archdiocese of Los Angeles / Corrispondenza Romana

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[1] The "nomenklatura" were the communist functionaries, all key positions occupied in the socialist dictatorships in the Eastern Bloc and all areas of public life supervised and directed.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Stronger "March for Life" in Rome -- The Hush About it Begins in the Church

(Rome) This year's March for Life took place in Rome on Saturday. Tens of thousands of participants once again put a strong appearance for the right to life of unborn children. Since the March for Life in Italy has evolved into a major event within a few years, the mainstream media have moved to a new strategy. Since it is not possible to make fun of the March for Life because of lack of success, it is silenced - because it is too successful.

Daily newspapers and television, which, when politically appropriate, report about rallies from a handful of people, conceal the Seventh March for Life with thousands of participants. They have concealed it in advance, so that as few citizens as possible can know about it and come up with the idea to take part in it, and they conceal it afterwards. Success and failure are also driven by this. At least an attempted influence is also to be seen in it.

March for life Media Out, march for immigration media In

While the March for Life is largely ignored in the reporting, a simultaneous March for the Immigration in Milan found the greatest media attention. In Milan - no matter what the media acrobatics - hardly any more people took part than the march in Rome. The difference? The march for boundless immigration, organized by numerous leftist groups and some left-catholic associations, obviously fits better into someone's mind. This is not an ideological antithesis, one would like to make believe that the proponents of life are against the advocates of the immigration. It is to understand that life itself is always holy and unconditionally holy, 

Thus, too, Catholicism is by no means is Catholic. The director of the Italian National Broadcasting Service frequents certain Catholic circles who were involved in the pro-immigration march in Milan, but could not be seen in the pro-life march in Rome. Correspondingly, the reporting failed. The millions of children murdered since the legalization of abortion are considered taboo in these circles.

When the march is concealed for life, this has nothing to do with the media (and those who have influence on the media). It starts in the Church itself. Behind the scenes, the legalization of euthanasia appears to be a matter of fact. Since then, the Church has been silent, as has been the case for years on the subject of abortion. If she has to talk about it, then it does not receive too much notice in the public. Above all, she does not go out into the streets for the unborn children: one should not exaggerate  "the love of life", for the question is decided that the Zeitgeist is the same, the fight against it an overwrought thing of past times. Certain faithful and traditional Catholics remain, who do not want to accept the modern taboos.

Pope and bishops remain silent on abortion in Western Europe

As in the German-speaking world, the Church is also silent on abortion in Italy. This silence, of course, contains the necessary minimum, here and there a fleeting clue to signal that the Church still thinks as she always thought. Is this true? Is she really doing that yet? Doubts are appropriate. A real concern is that neither Pope Francis nor most West European bishops are concerned about the law of life. The homoeopathic dosage with which they employ themselves is lacking any initiative spirit, which is expressed elsewhere. It seems to be more a matter of appeasing those Catholics who have preserved an idea of the holiness of life. If these have occasionally dared to criticize, they may be referred to by this and that only casually.

Cardinal Caffarra: "With abortion and homosexuality, Satan challenges God"

In the run-up to the March for Life, the Rome Life Forum took place last Friday. Cardinal Carlo Caffarra said that "Satan challenges God with abortion and homosexuality". The history of mankind is a constant clash between these two forces. The final victory has already been decided, but up to that point, each man should decide, on the basis of his free will, in this struggle for one side or the other.

Today the consciousness has evaporated, "abortion is an obvious sign of the anti-creation," so says Cardinal Caffarra. The diabolic rebellion against God, which manifests itself in abortion and homosexuality, is a "sign of the apocalyptic times" that we experience, according to the Cardinal. We are not to talk about it at all. One must only have to accept and remain silent.

Riccardo Cascioli, the chief editor of Nuova Bussola Quotidiana , wrote in connection with the March for Life :

"It is no coincidence that there are voices about the establishment of a Vatican Commission even for the review of Humane Vitae. In the case of the two episcopal synods over the family, more than one bishop has raised such a demand. It is no coincidence that at the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia was put in charge, a bishop who immediately set about destroying the work of John Paul II. Even the embassies of the Italian Episcopal Conference on the Day of Life avoid talking about abortion, although the day was introduced as a direct response to the abortion legalization of 1978."

Cardinal Burke and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider

Among the participants of the March, Cardinal Raymond Burke and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider were again present this year. Pope Francis sent a greeting message, which can be seen as progress, in view of the coldness with which it has encountered in the past several years of the right to life initiative. At first the March for Life took place on Sunday and was led to St. Peter's Square to participate in the Regina Coeli with the Pope. Francis greeted various groups, but not the March for Life. In the meantime, a decoupling of the two events took place. Obviously the Vatican entertains a meticulous distinction between a brief papal greeting from the State Secretariat and a personal greeting from the Pope in Saint Peter's Square,

Despite the opposition of the abortion lobby, the March for Life quickly became the most important date for the Life movement and the most visible event for the unborn children in Italy. Delegations came to Rome from 20 countries on Saturday to emphasize the international importance of the commitment to the right to life.

Coda Nunziante: "A nation that does not promote life is a nation that dies"

This year the march was under the motto "Uncompromising for Life". The President of the Organizing Committee, Virginia Coda Nunziante, said in her speech:

"This place, so abundantly occupied, wants to reveal the beauty of life, but, with a firm determination from our politicians, to demand that our rulers stop financing our suicide with our taxes. Instead of killing our children, we ask for concrete help for the families so that they can raise their children. We are convinced that the economy would also recover. A nation that does not promote life is a nation that dies. And that is the demographic prediction that our country is making true."

She also referred to the 100th anniversary of Fatima Apparitions.

"Fatima is the most extraordinary event of our era. The Mother of God has come and asked us not to offend God any longer. In the hundred years since, however, the situation has deteriorated decisively, because almost all states have laws against life, against the family, and against the nature of man."

Coda Nunziante quoted from a letter that Sr. Lucia dos Santos had written to Cardinal Caffarra in the 1980s. In this letter, the visionary of Fatima said that the final battle between God and the devil will be on the subject of life and family. Coda Nunziante cited it for the March for the Life.

"We face this challenge in the certainty that with the help of God, life will always win over death."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: NBQ

Trans: Tancred verkron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Pope Invokes New Evangelization to Encourage the Society for Saint Pius X For Jubilee of Mercy

Edit: does Bishop Athanasius Schneider have the Pope's ear? Apparently so, since he has heard many good things about the Society, and that Bishop Schneider was visitor.

Apparently, "all are welcome".  Here is the text:

To My Venerable Brother Archbishop Rino Fisichella President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization

With the approach of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy I would like to focus on several points which I believe require attention to enable the celebration of the Holy Year to be for all believers a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God. It is indeed my wish that the Jubilee be a living experience of the closeness of the Father, whose tenderness is almost tangible, so that the faith of every believer may be strengthened and thus testimony to it be ever more effective. 

My thought first of all goes to all the faithful who, whether in individual Dioceses or as pilgrims to Rome, will experience the grace of the Jubilee. I wish that the Jubilee Indulgence may reach each one as a genuine experience of God’s mercy, which comes to meet each person in the Face of the Father who welcomes and forgives, forgetting completely the sin committed. To experience and obtain the Indulgence, the faithful are called to make a brief pilgrimage to the Holy Door, open in every Cathedral or in the churches designated by the Diocesan Bishop, and in the four Papal Basilicas in Rome, as a sign of the deep desire for true conversion. Likewise, I dispose that the Indulgence may be obtained in the Shrines in which the Door of Mercy is open and in the churches which traditionally are identified as Jubilee Churches. It is important that this moment be linked, first and foremost, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a reflection on mercy. It will be necessary to accompany these celebrations with the profession of faith and with prayer for me and for the intentions that I bear in my heart for the good of the Church and of the entire world. 

Additionally, I am thinking of those for whom, for various reasons, it will be impossible to enter the Holy Door, particularly the sick and people who are elderly and alone, often confined to the home. For them it will be of great help to live their sickness and suffering as an experience of closeness to the Lord who in the mystery of his Passion, death and Resurrection indicates the royal road which gives meaning to pain and loneliness. Living with faith and joyful hope this moment of trial, receiving communion or attending Holy Mass and community prayer, even through the various means of communication, will be for them the means of obtaining the Jubilee Indulgence. My thoughts also turn to those incarcerated, whose freedom is limited. The Jubilee Year has always constituted an opportunity for great amnesty, which is intended to include the many people who, despite deserving punishment, have become conscious of the injustice they worked and sincerely wish to re-enter society and make their honest contribution to it. May they all be touched in a tangible way by the mercy of the Father who wants to be close to those who have the greatest need of his forgiveness. They may obtain the Indulgence in the chapels of the prisons. May the gesture of directing their thought and prayer to the Father each time they cross the threshold of their cell signify for them their passage through the Holy Door, because the mercy of God is able to transform hearts, and is also able to transform bars into an experience of freedom. 

I have asked the Church in this Jubilee Year to rediscover the richness encompassed by the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The experience of mercy, indeed, becomes visible in the witness of concrete signs as Jesus himself taught us. Each time that one of the faithful personally performs one or more of these actions, he or she shall surely obtain the Jubilee Indulgence. Hence the commitment to live by mercy so as to obtain the grace of complete and exhaustive forgiveness by the power of the love of the Father who excludes no one. The Jubilee Indulgence is thus full, the fruit of the very event which is to be celebrated and experienced with faith, hope and charity. 

Furthermore, the Jubilee Indulgence can also be obtained for the deceased. We are bound to them by the witness of faith and charity that they have left us. Thus, as we remember them in the Eucharistic celebration, thus we can, in the great mystery of the Communion of Saints, pray for them, that the merciful Face of the Father free them of every remnant of fault and strongly embrace them in the unending beatitude. 

One of the serious problems of our time is clearly the changed relationship with respect to life. A widespread and insensitive mentality has led to the loss of the proper personal and social sensitivity to welcome new life. The tragedy of abortion is experienced by some with a superficial awareness, as if not realizing the extreme harm that such an act entails. Many others, on the other hand, although experiencing this moment as a defeat, believe that they have no other option. I think in particular of all the women who have resorted to abortion. I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal. I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision. What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet only understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope. The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the Sacrament of Confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father. For this reason too, I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it. May priests fulfil this great task by expressing words of genuine welcome combined with a reflection that explains the gravity of the sin committed, besides indicating a path of authentic conversion by which to obtain the true and generous forgiveness of the Father who renews all with his presence. 

A final consideration concerns those faithful who for various reasons choose to attend churches officiated by priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X. This Jubilee Year of Mercy excludes no one. From various quarters, several Brother Bishops have told me of their good faith and sacramental practice, combined however with an uneasy situation from the pastoral standpoint. I trust that in the near future solutions may be found to recover full communion with the priests and superiors of the Fraternity. In the meantime, motivated by the need to respond to the good of these faithful, through my own disposition, I establish that those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins. 

Trusting in the intercession of the Mother of Mercy, I entrust the preparations for this Extraordinary Jubilee Year to her protection. 

From the Vatican, 1 September 2015

Msgr. Athanasius Schneider: "Society of St. Pius Should be Recognized, Just as They Are"

(Rome) Msgr. Athanasius Schneider, Bishop of Astana, has suggested in an interview with the Catholic Spanish site Adelante la Fe, that the Holy See is close to recognizing  the Society of St. Pius X.. Bishop Schneider said: There is "no reason to deny the priests and faithful of the Priestly Fraternity of an official canonical recognition".

The auxiliary bishop visited  the seminaries of the SSPX in the United States and France in the Spring. Adelante la Fe asked him whether there are "prospects for a speedy reconciliation" and what is the main obstacle to such.

Schneider said: "The Holy See asked me to visit the two seminaries of the SSPX to perform with a group of theologians of the Society and His Excellency, Bishop Fellay, a debate on a particular theological problem. This showed me that the SSPX is not an insignificant ecclesial reality for the Holy See, but should be taken seriously. I have gotten a very good impression during my visits. I was able to observe in two seminaries a healthy theological, spiritual and human reality. The spirit of the sentire cum ecclesia of the SSPX was obvious as they welcomed me as envoy of the Holy See with real respect and great warmth. In both seminaries, I was glad to see the images of Francis, the currently reigning Pope, at the entrance."

Next the Bishop said: "The singing of the traditional prayer for the Pope ("Oremus pro pontifice nostro Francisco ...) during the solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was moving. To my knowledge, there are no grounds to refuse the priests and faithful of the SSPX official canonical recognition, therefore, they should be accepted as they are."

"Vatican II on both sides overvalued and overstimated"

In his reply, Mgr Schneider also addressed the Second Vatican Council: "I think that the question of Vatican II is to be considered not as aconditio sine qua non, as it was an assembly whose purpose and character primarily was pastoral. Parts of the Council statements reflect the circumstances of the time and therefore have only temporary validity, [emphasis ours] as is customary for just disciplinary and pastoral documents. If we look at the matter from the perspective of two thousand years of church history, we can see that an overvaluation and overestimate a pastoral reality of the Church is present as the Second Vatican Council by  both sides (of the Holy See and the SSPX).
The SSPX believes it celebrates a living and moral life as demanded by the highest moral life and Magisterium  as the Church has done for centuries around the world, and they recognize the legitimacy of the Pope and the diocesan bishops praying publicly for them, they recognize the validity of the sacraments according to the typical edition of the new liturgical books, that should be enough for a canonical recognition of the SSPX by the Holy See. Otherwise, the oft-repeated pastoral and ecumenical openness of the present Church would lose its objective credibility, and raise the story someday  of accusations against the Church authorities of today, because they have imposed on  brothers a greater   load than necessary (Acts 15:28), which is the opposite of what is the pastoral method of the Apostles.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Adelante la Fe

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches....

AMDG

Bishop Athanasius Schneider Visits SSPX Seminary in USA

Edit: Interesting news. More talk about an impending resolution.

Link to DICI...

Link to Rorate...

On February 11, 2015, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan, met with Bishop Bernard Fellay, SSPX Superior General, and also with several priests of the Society, at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona (United States). 

This was the second visit by Bishop Schneider to one of our seminaries. On January 16, 2015, he had visited the St. Cure d’Ars Seminary in Flavigny (France). Both meetings pertained to the question of the liturgical reform of Paul VI and the doctrinal presuppositions of the Novus Ordo Missae. 

On December 5, 2014, Cardinal Walter Brandmuller, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, had visited Sacred Heart Seminary in Zaitzkofen (Germany), where the discussion focused on the magisterial authority of Vatican Council II. 

These meetings are a way of continuing the doctrinal discussions between the Society of St. Pius X and the Roman authorities « in a larger and less formal context than that of the preceding meetings », according to the decision made during the meeting of Bishop Fellay with Cardinal Gerhard Muller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on September 23, 2014.

Bishop Schneider Attacks the Pharisaical Denizens of Gender Ideology at the Synod

Edit: from the Toronto Catholic Witness who offers some commentary on what he thinks are the highlights of the following interview translated below.  

The Church and the world do urgently need intrepid and candid witnesses of the whole truth of the commandment and of the will of God, of the whole truth of Christ’s words on marriage. Modern clerical Pharisees and Scribes, those bishops and cardinals who throw grains of incense to the neo-pagan idols of gender ideology and concubinage, will not convince anyone to either believe in Christ or to be ready to offer their lives for Christ - said + Athanasius Schneider Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan in interview with Izabella Parowicz. 

Your Excellency, what is Your Excellency’s opinion about the Synod? What is its message to families?

During the Synod there had been moments of obvious manipulation on the part of some clerics who held key positions in the editorial and governing structure of the Synod. The interim report (Relatio post disceptationem) was clearly a prefabricated text with no reference to the actual statements of the Synod fathers. In the sections on homosexuality, sexuality and “divorced and remarried” with their admittance to the sacraments the text represents a radical neo-pagan ideology. This is the first time in Church history that such a heterodox text was actually published as a document of an official meeting of Catholic bishops under the guidance of a pope, even though the text only had a preliminary character. Thanks be to God and to the prayers of the faithful all over the world that a consistent number of Synod fathers resolutely rejected such an agenda; this agenda reflects the corrupt and pagan main stream morality of our time, which is being imposed globally by means of political pressure and through the almost all-powerful official mass media, which are loyal to the principles of the world gender ideology party. Such a synod document, even if only preliminary, is a real shame and an indication to the extent the spirit of the anti-Christian world has already penetrated such important levels of the life of the Church. This document will remain for the future generations and for the historians a black mark which has stained the honour of the Apostolic See. Fortunately the Message of the Synod Fathers is a real Catholic document which outlines the Divine truth on family without being silent about the deeper roots of the problems, i.e. about the reality of sin. It gives real courage and consolation to Catholic families. Some quotations: “We think of the burden imposed by life in the suffering that can arise with a child with special needs, with grave illness, in deterioration of old age, or in the death of a loved one. We admire the fidelity of so many families who endure these trials with courage, faith, and love. They see them not as a burden inflicted on them, but as something in which they themselves give, seeing the suffering Christ in the weakness of the flesh. … Conjugal love, which is unique and indissoluble, endures despite many difficulties. It is one of the most beautiful of all miracles and the most common. This love spreads through fertility and generativity, which involves not only the procreation of children but also the gift of divine life in baptism, their catechesis, and their education. … The presence of the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in their modest home hovers over you”.

Guillaume Ferluc: "It is Not Possible to Exile the Old Mass Back to the Closet Any More"

Edit: Guillaume Ferluc is an organizer with the Traditional Pilgrimage to Rome. Here's an interview which has appeared in German, but nowhere else on line in English.  Rather than scan the Remnant, we just translated this:

(Rome) After the surprising success of the First International Pilgrimage if Tradition to Rome last year, is the Second International Pilgrimage, from the 24th-27th Held in Rome in October 2013, already in the intensive preparation phase. The American journal The Remnant published an interview with Guillaume Ferluc, the Secretary of the Coetus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum (CISP), Who Organizes Pilgrimages.

How Far Has the Organization Progressed?

We have just completed the writing of the final program with the announcement of the celebrant of the Pontifical Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday, the 26th of October at 11 clock:

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, which day coincides exactly on the of the 61st Anniversary of his ordination. The presence of Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos on this day is a great pleasure and an honor for us, for all the people of Summorum Pontificum. As President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, the Cardinal had no shortage of pity for the rights of believers and priests who are connected to the traditional Liturgy, and adhered with great enthusiasm and loyalty to the publication of the Motu Proprio of Pope Benedict XVI. As the first point to note is the general dynamics of the pilgrimage that this year a great calm reigns over all the pilgrims, the religious and the individual institutions of Coetus. Last year there had been some the impression that we would speak out of nowhere to represent a new reality, they were a little surprised, even though they belong to the same traditional family. The surprise was perhaps also the fact that we ourselves were unable to to convey our initiative sufficiently. Also, they had little time to prepare for the pilgrimage. This year there is a greater openness on the part of all who deem it an important witness to our Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Faith. Roman in the sense, to express to him "ad Petri sedem, cum Petro et sub Petro". Of course there is also resistance, especially by those Church leaders who, because of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation from office would like to take advantage of in order to put the Mass of St. Pius V back in the closet.

Besides Bishop Athanasius Schneider will also Msgr Rifan, the Ordinary of the Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney of Campos in Brazil as celebrant: Why him exactly?

We see in Msgr Rifan a reality that we want to have more in the Church today, that is a bishop who has the mission to celebrate the traditional Liturgy of the Church, to teach and to preserve, but also the ability and the duty to ordain priests in and for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. In order to advance our religious practice to our parishes to visit the Mass in the traditional rite, we need priests and therefore seminaries that train them in a logical sequence and also bishops, who can ordain. As Monsignor Rifan is currently the only bishop whose pastoral use is exactly that, it seemed natural to have him with us. In addition, we received excellent testimonials from the recent World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, where Msgr Rifan held the catechesis for the traditional youth from Juventutem, a group that supports their apostolate to the traditional liturgy. The Church was packed, the Pontifical Liturgy was very worthy and they appreciated the sermons. Who would have dared to think not so long ago that hundreds of young Catholics in Brazil would participate for three days of preaching and witness the Masses, and could confess to priests who are connected to the tradition of the Church? And all with the official imprimatur of the Apostolic, Roman Church? Sure, someone could argue that it was only one of 300 bishops, but there already is an important goal that has been reached. Also the place was very impressive. The place allocated for Catechesis was the old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, a place full of history and faith of past generations and therefore of special symbolic significance. World Youth Day shows in a special way how much the traditional Liturgy attracts the youth. Therefore, we can not stay in our little fort, but must go to meet all who seek a greater solemnity and greater holiness in their lives of faith.

A Recent Report stated that a Mass in the Extraordinary Form is to take place even in the Helsinki Cathedral regularly.



Further proof of growth in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and that the new priests who celebrate their first Mass in the Extraordinary Form [Immemorial Mass of All Ages], increasing from year to year. And not just those connected to Ecclesia Dei Institutes, but also among those being educated in the diocesan priests seminaries. It's a way for many priests to express their affiliation to what we do, what we call Generation Benedict XVI., just as you spoke of the John Paul II generation. This generation of Pope Benedict could also be called the generation of Summorum Pontificum. Starting next year, the majority of the newly ordained priests will belong to those who entered the seminaries after the publication of Summorum Pontificum. And here we are, as I believe, going to experience further growth of the traditional Liturgy. Of course, we hope that these priests will also make use of their rights and celebrate the Traditional Rite in their future parishes. It is also to mention the beautiful practice that many priests consecrated to the Ecclesia Dei Institutes celebrate their first Mass in their home parish and home diocese. I am thinking of Father Massimo Botta of the Fraternity of St. Peter, his first Mass on June 23rd, 2013 was celebrated in the Cathedral of Velletri and therefore the Old Mass was permitted to return, where had no longer been celebrated for 40 years.

What would be in your opinion, the challenges related in the traditional world of the new pontificate? We are convinced that the history of the Church didn't just end in 1962, just as It did not end with the pontificate of Pope Benedict [...] In the traditional liturgy is the partecipatio actuosa in which the faithful engage in a humble participation, from silence, worship, kneeling, petitioning and thanksgiving. Many conversations are not unlike that of a man in difficulty asking for help, a man who suffers. And we think the fact that among the many great holy priests, there were many simple priests and religious, from the Holy Curé of Ars, at Don Orione or Padre Pio. [...] it was always related to a liturgy in which all belonged, from the farmer to housewife, people who had certainly not studied Latin at the Sorbonne, or at any other school of high culture, but felt nevertheless as an integrated part of the Liturgy, because this cult was offered to God.

There is another challenge to take: to refute those who think erroneously, Pope Benedict had resurrected a dead man, and do not want to be carried out for us in the peripheries of the Church, but even outside the Church. For almost 50 years those faithful, religious and priests who are connected to tradition have been ridiculed, despised and ostracized. On the 7th of July in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI. brought this situation to an end, which had oppressed many souls, by sewing together the torn dress the church. It is up to us, to reject every attempt to put a new tear in the unity of the Church, and to be real members of the flock. We are well aware we are not to be the whole herd and we are happy to accept being just one among a hundred sheep, [sic] but we believe that we deserve no less attention and care from our pastors than the others. Some fear our "ideology", but I can reassure them. We have no "ideology" but the love for Jesus in the Eucharist, the Cross and the Resurrection.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: CISP
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...
AMGD

Bishop Builds Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima in Far East

Edit: Veritas vos Liberavit has cited something Vladimir Putin recently said that:

"Nothing is more important in society than the moral principles that form its foundation, nothing. Everything else is secondary"

It's in the back drop of Putin's great program of moral restoration of the country, that he's seeking to not only reinvent the Russian State's relationship to the Church, but is actually keeping his promises in contrast to what's happening further west, where the Church and its believers are increasingly falling under systematic and pervasive persecution. While others are buying outlandish space age designs and passing them off as worthy Catholic edifices, others are not only building in stone, but restoring the Faith. As if to underscore these hopeful circumstances, another restorationist is as work in his Diocese of Karaganda in Kazakhstan, Bishop Athanasius Schneider is, as if by miracle, building a Cathedral devoted to Our Lady of Fatima as we would say, in the ruins of the Soviet Imperium, as reported by Rorate Caeli:

What is the historical and spiritual meaning of the construction of this Cathedral at Karaganda?

Bp. Schneider: The first reason was this: to have a cathedral in a more dignified and visible place. Because the diocese of Karaganda used up to now a building that had still been built at the time of persecution, and this building is in the outskirts of the town and not exteriorly recognizable as a church.

A cathedral in a more central place, built in an unmistakeably Catholic tradition, that is, in the Neogothic style, will be a silent, yet also potent, sign and means of evangelization in a world in which Catholics are about 1% or 2% of the population, in which the majority of the inhabitants are Muslims, and where there is a strong Orthodox minority. Moreover, a considerable part of the population does not belong to any religion, they are people who search God.< br/>...

The historical and spiritual meaning also has this dimension: the new Cathedral is a sacred place for the remembrance of the countless victims of the Communist regime, since there was around Karaganda one of the largest and most terrible concentration camps - of the Gulag - in which people belonging to 100 different ethnicities suffered. At the same time, the new Cathedral will also be a shrine for prayer of expiation for the crimes of the Atheistic and Communist regime.