Coronavirus Pretext: Does Spain's Left Dream of Dictatorship and Persecution of the Church?

Cardinal Canizares in the sights of a radical left that many Spaniards suspect are dreaming of dictatorship and persecution of the church – as in 1936.

(Madrid) In Spain, parts of the left yearn for the anti-church Popular Front climate of 1936. The pretext and instrument of Church persecution today is the Corona crisis. The left-wing government effectively repealed parts of the constitution, including the right to freedom of religion, thereby massively incorporating the public, social and private lives of citizens. It took a few weeks, but more and more people are realizing that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (PSOE) and other members of the socialist PSOE and radical left-wing Podemos government have justified the radical measures with absurd claims. Statements that were claimed to have been made by government representatives of other countries. The suspicion of central authorities and hidden puppet masters make the rounds. The result is increasingly vociferous protests throughout Spain, which the media in Central Europe do not report. This selective reporting, too, is increasingly aroused suspicion and mistrust. The lasnt barrel to overflow was brought on by the attack against Antonio Cardinal Canizares Llovera.

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The political left has targeted Cardinal Canizares who is being accused of violating the Corona requirements. In 2014, shortly before the first Family Synod, Pope Francis promoted him to archbishop of Valencia and thus away from the Roman Curia. Previously, he was Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacraments by Pope Benedict XVI. Before Benedict appointed him to the Roman Curia, he was Bishop of Avila from 1992 to 1996, then Archbishop of Granada until 2002, and finally Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain until 2008. As such, he was called the "Blade of Toledo" because of his clear language.

The political left is crying out for an investigation into the Archbishop of Valencia, whose "crime" is to open the gates of a church on 10 May and to have blessed his episcopal See with a merciful image of Our Lady at the threshold.

Hue and cry was made that the Cardinal, called "the little Ratzinger" in his Roman time, had violated the Corona emergency measures imposed by the Socialist government.

The Archbishop's office replied that there had been no injury. Nevertheless, the Archbishop was reported and an investigation was launched by the city government.

Every second Sunday in May, it is a tradition in Valencia to celebrate the feast of the Mare de Déu dels Desamparats, according to the Catalan title under which Our Lady is invoked. In Spanish, the Virgen de los desamparados is  Our Lady of the Abandoned in English. She is the Patroness of the city.

The Cardinal with the festively dressed image of Our Lady on May 10, 2020

The year 1409

This devotion and feast date back to 24 February 1409, when the priest Joan Gilabert Jofré, a Mercedarian, saw children on their way to the cathedral mocking and tormenting a homeless mentally ill man. Father Jofré, who had been ordained a priest in 1375, had spent his life following the charism of his order, with efforts to buy Christians out of Islamic slavery. When he returned to Valencia, he saw another need. He recognized the double need for protection of the man who was harassed by the children. In his homily in the cathedral, he denounced the gratuitous, irrational and cruel persecution of vulnerable, innocent mentally ill people and decided to form a brotherhood to serve people like the man whom the children had mocked as "El loco" before his eyes.

In 2010, the Brotherhood celebrated its 600th anniversary

With his Society, founded in 1410, the Lloable Confraria de la Verge Maria dels Innocents, the "Blessed Society of the Virgin Mary of the Innocents", he established the world's first institution for people with mental illnesses and placed it under the special protection of Our Lady in 1414.

Father Jofré and members of the Society, which consisted equally of women and men, along with some priests, erected a chapel in the hospice in honour of Our Lady of the Abandoned. When the chapel was completed, according to tradition, three young men in pilgrim clothes came and offered to create a picture of Our Lady within three days, if they were given a room for it that no one was allowed to enter. This happened, but there was no noise from the room. When nothing happened on the fourth day, the brothers opened the door and found in it the honored image of Our Lady, at whose feet two innocent children can be seen. But the young pilgrims had disappeared. Then the blind and paralyzed wife of the fraternity member who lived in the hospital and had taken her in, was healed. The image of Our Lady with which Cardinal Canizares blessed the city, is therefore said to be el feren el àngels, it was "made by the angels".

Soon the Society also took care of street children, then also homeless sailors and prostitutes. The Fraternity institution became a model for similar foundations, the first of which was established in the Iberian Peninsula in 1438 in Barcelona and in Spanish America, in Mexico City in 1567. In Valencia, Father Jofré's hospital became the city's general hospital.

In 1489, the image of Our Lady was transferred to the city's cathedral. In 1652, the construction of his own basilica in his honour, which was consecrated in 1667, was established directly adjacent to it. The Basilica of mare de Déu dels Desemparats, a collegiate monastery, is connected to the Cathedral of Valencia by a bridge. In 1923, the image of grace was crowned in the presence of King Alfonso XIII and the Apostolic Nuncio on behalf of Pope Pius XI. In the unofficial anthem of the city, the Mother of God of the Abandoned is sung.

The Basilica of the Mare de Déu dels Desemparats, built for the image of Our Lady

The Rage of the Socialists

On the second Sunday in May, on her feast, a procession from the basilica to the cathedral, a distance of 200 meters, traditionally takes place with the great participation of the people. Because of the coronavirus, it had to be cancelled this year. Cardinal Canizares therefore celebrated the Mass behind closed doors, but at the end of the celebration he stood with the image of Our Lady at the threshold of the basilica and blessed the city, while a canon sang the national anthem of the Autonomous Community of Valencia.

That was enough to turn the left-wing city government against him. It launched an investigation to determine whether the cardinal had violated the Corona regulations. Video footage of the event shows that the cardinal did not leave the basilica with the image of Our Lady. Meanwhile, rumors were spread in the city, which could be refuted by the archdiocese thanks to the direct video transmission. But it was of no use. The Socialist City Councillor Aamen Cano (PSOE), responsible for civil protection [Public Safety?], accused the Cardinal of "fraud" because he had blessed the city, even though he had no "permission" to do so. The Cardinal had acted "irresponsibly" by opening the basilica. This was particularly serious because he acted "with intent and treason."

On the instructions of the city government, the basilica was closed by the city police.

The Cardinal's Opinion

Cardinal Canizares responded with clear words. In a statement, he asked the city council:

"Why are you lying and complaining?"

What law or provision prohibits opening the door of a church?

"In all clarity, truth and firmness, and with the freedom that you seem to want to restrict and suppress, I am sorry to tell you that you are lying without mitigating reasons, while at the same time informing you that legality has been faithfully respected and strictly kept by the Church."

The Cardinal informed the city council and its comrades:

"If you had been in the basilica [what Cano would have been able to do as a city councillor] or if you had watched the broadcast of the Mass on television, you would know what happened and what I said."

And further:

"For my part, you are forgiven, and I am sure that the Virgin will forgive you too, because you did not know what you had done on this occasion, and I ask the Valencians, most of whom are not with you, to forgive you and to ignore your words and gestures. The damage you wanted to do has been done against you, even if in some media the damage and slander persists and the lie is spread: this does not contribute to the common good, which has to be the basis for every policy and everyone in politics. This creates damage and hatred."

And even more clearly:

"I note that Marxist ideology is still at large: lies are a political weapon based on the motto: the worse, the better."

And a serious reminder:

"Do not forget that in the countries of our region and in almost all the countries of the world, an inalienable fundamental right is recognised, which is also guaranteed by our Spanish Constitution: the right to religious freedom, which you seem to disregard because you want to dictate what you can and cannot do in a church. Think about it and learn to respect this inalienable and inviolable right."

Das Year 1936

For those who do not know what happened in Spain in 1936, a brief review: on September 14 of that year, Pope Pius XI received 500 Spanish refugees who had to leave their homeland because of the persecution of the Church by the Popular Front. The Pope expressed his sorrow at the persecution and his admiration for the persecuted and the mistreated, especially for those Catholics who had suffered martyrdom.

Manuel de Irujo, Christian Democrat, Basque nationalist, 1937 Minister of Justice of the People's Front

In order not to let the opposite side of General Franco, who is still hated by the political left today, be quoted as Manuel de Irujo (1891–1981), a Catholic from Navarre, representative of the Basque National Party, who was Minister of Justice of the Republican People's Front government in 1937. On 7 January 1937, in Valencia, because of the struggles at that time in the capital of Republican Spain, he presented a memoir:

"The de facto situation of the Church throughout the pro-government area, with the exception of the Basque Country, is as follows:

– All altars, paintings and cult objects were destroyed with a few exceptions, most in a vile way.

– All churches have been closed for the cult, which is totally and absolutely reviled.

The majority of the churches of Catalonia were set on fire, as if it were a normal thing.

– The institutions and the official organs of the state have confiscated bells, chalices, ciboria, candelabra and other cult objects, and material has been extracted from their melting for war or industrial purposes. 

All monasteries were evacuated and the religious life in them was eliminated. The buildings, the cult objects and goods were looted, burned, occupied or demolished.

The priests and religious were arrested, imprisoned and executed, thousands of them without trial. These are facts that continue to happen today, not only in rural areas where they were hunted and brutally killed, but also in cities. Hundreds of arrests have been made in Madrid, Barcelona and the other major cities for no reason other than being priests or religious.

– An absolute ban was imposed on the private expression of religious representations and cult objects. The police carry out house searches, turn apartments upside down and dig into intimate, personal and family life, destroy statues, pictures, religious writings and everything associated with or reminiscent of the cult with ridicule and violence."

Call against Pedro Sanchez's left-wing government: "No to oppression. No to dictatorship"

Meanwhile, "freedom, freedom" calls are making protests against the government's radical measures, the restriction of fundamental rights, the persecution of the people, and the impression of remote control by the vaccination cartel around Bill Gates. The media in Central Europe do not report on this. In Spain, there is concern that parts of the political left are once again dreaming of dictatorship and the persecution of the Church.

A video of the protests against the government's radical measures:

Text: Giuseppe
Nardi Picture: MiL/Wikicommons/Youtube/Twitter (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Cardinal Canizares: "They Will Never Bring Me to Silence"

Valencia's Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera has once again criticized gender ideology. This ideology has been destroying the family, so he should not be silent, the Archbishop said.

Family | Valencia - 18/06/2016

[katolisch.de] Valencia's Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera has once again criticized gender teaching. "They will not silence me," the clergyman said according to Spanish media reports (Friday). "If I were to be silent, I would be a bad bishop."

He would continue to tell the truth "even if they crucify me". "We need the family, and this ideology destroys it, so we must not be silent, but must react."

Already a few weeks ago, Canizares had spoken in a sermon against "the gender ideology" and the influence "of the gay empire". Homosexual groups and other political groups subsequently filed a criminal complaint against the Cardinal; His words were "full of hatred, homophobic and macho." However, Valencia's archbishop is not willing to withdraw his remarks. "Is it homophobic to defend the family?" he replied.

As early as October 2015, Canizares had made a name for himself when he spoke of an "invasion of immigrants", which could prove to be a "Trojan horse" in the face of the refugee crisis. This gave him harsh criticism and withdrawal demands from several politicians. He then suggested a more moderate tone and called in a message to treat the immigrants with "true charity". (Luk / KNA)

Shot Across the Bow for Cardinal Pell -- Non-Bergoglians Have a Difficult Situation in the Roman Curia

Cardinal George Pell and Cardinal Raymond Burke Have a Difficult
Situation in Rome

(Rome) Some heads of dicasteries of the Roman Curia have been removed by Pope Francis after his election to office. Others were left in office, but in fact isolated.  Cardinal Pell is also under constant pressure.

The Dismissal of "Ratzingerians"

With the dismissals, it was not to questions of competence, but a directional decision. It touches on each convinced "Ratzingerianer", a cipher, which is shorthand encapsulating  a faithful understanding of the Church.

First, the Italian Cardinal Mauro Piacenza was replaced as Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, and at only 70 year of age shoved off for the honorary management of the universal Church but completely insignificant post of Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary. In 2010 Cardinal Piacenza had assisted Pope Benedict XVI.  to raise the Curé of Ars, St. John Mary Vianney as a model and patron of priests.  It was an attempt that failed however, owing to violent resistance among the high clergy who rejected a 'pre-conciliar'  priestly style as "backward-looking."  Even the reigning Pope would not warm up to this priest model, replacing Cardinal Piacenza by a man of his choice.

The Catalan Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments , was considered a "little Ratzinger". His rejection of the "new Mercy" by Cardinal Walter Kasper, he had already announced at the cardinal consistory in February, 2014. As a head of a Dicastry, Cardinal Cañizares would have been an ex officio member of the Bishops' Synod on marriage and the family. However, Pope Francis appointed him shortly before the start of Synod 2014 as Archbishop of Valencia. His inauguration in Spain took place before the Synod opening day.

Immediately after the Synod was the American Cardinal Raymond Burke, who had, since 2008 been Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura and President of the Supreme Court of the Vatican State, had been literally chased from office.. Under Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Burke had a decisive influence on the appointment of bishops in the United States. Appointments, which created a healthy episcopate, in their orientation but found the reluctance of Pope Francis. In December 2013 he removed Cardinal Burke from the Congregation for Bishops and from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. 

The real clash of opposing positions, however, would  only be to follow. Cardinal Burke, a brilliant canon lawyer, was the spokesman for the defense of Catholic marriage and morality against the Kasper theses at the Synod of Bishops, 2014.  He hinted at tampering on a grand scale with which the Synod of Bishops was canted in a progressive direction. He was so outraged that there could be such a thing in the Church, he hinted that the manipulation was carried out by papal support. Shortly before the start of the Synod, an anthology to defend the marriage sacrament and the natural family appeared at the initiative of Cardinal Burke  with contributions by five well-known cardinals. The annoyance was so great that loud rumors began to circulate, Pope Francis cherished the intention to remove the cardinal from Rome in the papal environs. The threat would be a shot across the bow of Cardinal Burke to hold back at the Synod of Bishops. However, the US cardinal would not to be intimidated. Less than three weeks after the end of the Synod, Pope Francis acted on his threat and removed Cardinal Burke from the Roman Curia. As Cardinal Patronus of the Sovereign Military Order, the  Cardinal has no more influence on the leadership of the Church. Above all, he was therefore excluded from participating in the Synod of Bishops, 2015. The deposition can also be seen in connection with the provisional administration of the traditional Order of Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. In a regular trial would be the case ended up as a last instance on the table by Cardinal Burke. It was a probability that they obviously did not want to risk in the papal circle.

The interventions involved the central areas clergy, liturgy and sacraments and the Supreme Court. With the appointment of Cardinal Robert Sarah, succeeding Cardinal Cañizares, Pope Francis barely reached what he had intended. Cardinal Sarah developed the new office to become one of the most famous and outstanding cardinal figures. The integration of Africa into the "Latin American Agenda" has so far failed miserably. The African Synod was valuable during the Synod of Bishops in 2015 with an energetic resistance against the "liberal Kasperians" ( Messa in Latino ).

The Marginalization of the Remaining "Ratzingerian"

The depositions of leading Church representatives will have disciplined others who do not want to suffer the same fate. Pope Francis is considered an expert strategist. Too many personal interventions have made a reconstruction of the Church obvious. The "right" dosage protects an open flank. The dicastry  heads, with an unspoilt understanding of the church have little in common with Pope Francis, are ignored and marginalized by it. This concerns two more of the nine Curial Congregations: the Congregation of Faith and the Congregation for Bishops. Faith Prefect Cardinal Gerhard Müller and Bishop Prefect Cardinal Marc Ouellet were indeed left by Francis in office and dignity, but isolated. See:

At Cardinal Müller:  Pope Francis and the marginalization of the CDF
to Cardinal Ouellet: Pope Francis and the appointment of bishops: "He is looking for the most progressive candidate"

This has the optical advantage that the Roman Curia seems "balanced" from the outside and more parts of the Church in Rome could feel somehow represented. It does not match the actual internal power relations. Pope Francis rules autocratically.

Cardinal George Pell: Dismissal from Australia

Another cardinal not trusted by Pope Francis. The Australian Cardinal George Pell is for  the pope's progressive entourage, "the other side."  When Pope Francis announced a month after his election, the establishment of a Cardinal Council  that should assist in the reform of the Roman Curia and the guidance of the universal Church, he adopted a geographical key.  Each continent should be represented by one Cardinal in the new body. Cardinal Pell was at this time the only Cardinal of Oceania and slipped inevitably into the so-called C8 Council of cardinal advisers (today C9 council of cardinal advisers). It was an unintentional "glitch" like the successor of Cardinal Cañizares. 

Cardinal Pell was appointed in February 2014 even to the Roman Curia and appointed Prefect of the newly established Economic Secretariat. Actually an appreciation. First, the new dicastery existed only on paper, while Pope Francis had received the opportunity to restructure the Australian episcopate. Cardinal Pell was the dominant figure on the fifth continent because of his personality and his rank. Francis rejected all three proposed candidates for the successor of the Archbishop of Sydney, which had been suggested to him by the competent Cardinal Ouellet and Congregation of Bishops in consultation with Cardinal Pell. The Pope appointed a candidate of his choice. How this came about, was, as in other cases, completely opaque. According to the Canadian religious experts Alain Pronkin  Pope Francis seeks the most "progressive candidates".  He does not rely on the competent institutions, but to the recommendations of personal confidants.

There was puzzlement in Rome about the appointment of Cardinal Pell to the Curia. The most credible explanation seems that Pope Francis thus, made the same attempt as that made by the Pope John Paul II with Walter Kasper:  Push back his influence in the home country by transportation and involve him in the papal agenda. But the Australian cardinal moved to Rome not of his convictions and proved in the Synod of Bishops as very staunch defender of Catholic marriage and morality.  At the Synod in 2014, he continued his defense against the Kasper theses, although his microphone  had been turned off by the Synod  against the rules of procedure.  About his situation it was said: "Some get dirty." Cardinal Burke called out the "dirty game" publicly and was promptly punished.

Again and again, therefore, there was of papal displeasure against Cardinal Pell's speech, or of "maneuvers" to remove him from Rome. There is also concern is also on the side of the Cardinal himself and reflects a general uncertainty in the Roman Curia. Whoever does not belong to the progressively aligned, narrow court of the Pope, spends his time in Rome  with some trepidation.

The PricecaterhouseCoopers action

Yesterday it was announced that the contract for the audit of the Holy See by the company PricecaterhouseCoopers was to be "suspend." The accounting firm founded in 1865, headquartered in Frankfurt had taken over the external Audit of the Holy See and of Vatican City, as well as its tax advice. The relevant negotiations  were handled by Pope Francis' Economic Council, headed by Cardinal Reinhard Marx as project coordinator. The commissioning of the Frankfurt-based company was announced last December 5, 2015. The duration of the contract relates to a period of three years. The order volume amounts to three million euros. The contract with PricecaterhouseCoopers was signed by Cardinal Pell as the competent prefect.

On the 20th and 23rd of February, the Cardinal had informed all Vatican offices that are subjected to investigation. Therein, the chief officers were informed that PricecaterhouseCoopers itself will be put in touch with them and that they would issue a permit that the auditors can talk to all competent managers of offices and which includes cooperating with them.

In recent days, the State Department suddenly issued a contrary order. All Vatican offices received a letter from Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin and his substitutes curia Archbishop Becciu that the Audit is "suspended." "A decision that can not be done without the consent of the pope," said Vatican Insider .

This involves neither  PricewaterhouseCoopers nor  their work. It isn't related to the "resistance" of some offices, wishing to avoid supervision. It involves "only" formal legal aspects.

Since last year, after a start-up time, the statutes were adopted for the Secretariat of the Economy and the Economic Council, the formal conclusion of the award of the contract does not comply with the intended procedure. This gap must be closed in accordance with the statutes and newly awarded the contract. He promulgated again PricewaterhouseCoopers. The measure would be to "rehabilitate" only formal errors   that might otherwise give rise to legal complaints.

"Message to Cardinal Pell, who has the last word"

The details of this "strange" operation remain opaque. The C9 Council of cardinal advisers (to which Pell belongs) had been expressly discussed concerning orders to external firms  just as Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin and Cardinal Coordinator of the Economic Council Marx.  All the more astonishing is the intervention of the State Secretariat.

The situation this causes is embarrassing  only for Cardinal Pell. He has signed the contract with the consent and on behalf of other, at least this suggests it. Worse  there is the impression he is not capable of leading his office and -- even worse -- not contractible.  Now there is the impression that he was unable to perform his duties.

Therefore Pell let it be known by a spokesman for the Economic Secretariat, "to be somewhat surprised" by the letter of the State Secretariat. But he was convinced that the "work of PricewaterhouseCoopers will continue soon."

The Vatican expert Edward Pentin ( National Catholic Register ) sees in the whole operation a "message" to Cardinal Pell.  Apparently they wanted to give him to understand who's boss. He certainly did not.

Yesterday, Cardinal Pell was received by Pope Francis. It is to be assumed that the audience is in direct connection with these events. The moral of the story: Curia staff, the highest ranking that do not belong to Pope Francis' alignment [Chaotic Evil?], have a tough time at the Roman Curia.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi 
Image: hawaiicatholicherald (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Spain's Bishops Elect Members for Bishops' Synod -- Surprise Bishop Reig -- Little Ratzinger Elected to Chairmanship

Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Surprisingly Strong in the
Bishops' Conference of Spain

(Madrid) The Fall General Assembly of the Spanish Bishops' Conference elected  three synododalists for the Synod of Bishops on the Family in 2015 with a not insignificant surprise.

The  Cardinal Prefect of the   Congregation for Divine Worship, who was dismissed by Pope Francis and sent back as Archbishop of Valencia, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares to Spain, has been, it seems, chosen with great support to the Chairmanship  of the Conference of Bishops. He replaces the retired Archbishop of Madrid Rouco Varela.

Archbishop Blázquez and Bishop Iceta in 2015 as Synodalists in Rome

The second vote is likely some food for thought. The Spanish Episcopal Conference was represented in the first part of the Synod of Bishops, which took place as extraordinary Synod last October, automatically and exclusively by its President, while  three representatives will participate in the second part, the Annual Synod, who were elected by the bishops from their own ranks. First place will  go to the Vice President of the Bishops' Conference, then Ricardo Blazquez, archbishop of Valladolid, who was elected by a large majority. In second place comes a Mario Iceta Gavicagogeascoa, the Bishop of Bilbao who is an acknowledged expert on bioethical issues. Both are considered of "strong character and conservative," said the Spanish Catholic church historian and blogger José Francisco Fernández de la Cigoña.

Jockeying for Third Place at Synod 

For third place, however it came to a scramble.  For this spot,  the Archbishop of Madrid, Carlos Osoro Sierra, who was appointed by Pope Francis,  and him alone, would have gotten the position owing to his rank. In reality, several rounds of voting were needed because Archbishop Osoro could not gather a sufficient majority. In the end, Osoro prevailed because of one vote.. His opponent was none other than Bishop Juan Antonio Reig of Alcalá de Henares. Archbishop Reig is the Spanish bishop who speaks in the most definitive language and does not hesitate to publicly engage in clear words for faith. But he is also most severely under attack by opponents of the church and media. "If the Archbishop of Granada had been present, Archbishop Osoro would have gotten a nasty surprise," says Fernández de la Cigoña.

Surprising Moral Support for Bishop Juan Antonio Reig

The humiliating ballots are a snub for the new Archbishop of Madrid. Perhaps the voting behavior of many bishops were directed not against him, but were rather in support of the positions of Bishop Reig. The Bishop of Alcalá de Henares had to put up with a thorough drubbing in public in recent months, but stood at the forefront in the defense of non-negotiable values ​​and expressed clear positions on the controversial issues at the Synod of Bishops. The vote for him, if he ultimately lost the election, means a substantial strengthening his position in the Bishops' Conference. Bishop Reig was the one who sharply criticized the reigning bourgeois Partido Popular  because of the pandering  to the abortion party. Next year, a new parliament will be elected in Spain. The support of the bishop by his confreres can also be seen in this context and even more importantly, there is nevertheless in most of the Episcopal Conferences a certain unwillingness   to mess with  political power, and certainly not before elections.

The close defeat of Bishop Reig is a loss for the Synod of Bishops. More surprising than its failure, however, is that he could ever unite so many votes against the Archbishop of Madrid, almost half the episcopate. It may be as general custom now   such that Bishop Reig  is a replacement synodalist, should  one of the three newly elected Synod members should not be able to go to Rome.

Spain's bishops are well positioned in sum for the Bishops' Conference. Their position was clearly stated with the election of Archbishop Blázquez, Bishop Iceta and the votes for Bishop Reig.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: InfoVaticana

The Revenge of the Bugnini Clique -- Will Piero Marini Become Highest Liturgist and a Cardinal?

Revenge of the Bugnini Clique:  Will Marini Be the Highest
Liturgist and Cardinal?

(Rome) After the posting away of Cardinal Prefect Antonio Cañizares and the defenestration of the liturgical Ratzingerians Father Anthony Ward and Msgr. Juan Miguel Ferrer-Grenesche as Under Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament, voices have been intensifying in Rome that Archbishop Piero Marini could become the top liturgist of the Vatican and a future Cardinal.

The evidence is compelling, Msgr. Piero Marini, the former master of ceremonies of John Paul II., not to be confused with Msgr. Guido Marini, the master of ceremonies of Benedict XVI., and will again be master of ceremonies of Pope Francis. He formerly held the office from 1987 to 2007. The latter since 2007. The two unrelated Marinis also differ because Piero Marini has been an Archbishop since 1998 and since 2003 Bishop Titular Archbishop, while Guido Marini has only been "created" an honorary papal prelate. More fundamental, however, is the different liturgical understanding that distinguishes the two Marinis.

The question here is that Archbishop Piero Marini, a month after the conclave praised Pope Francis in El Pais and disparaged Benedict XVI.: "You breathe fresh air. He is a window which opens the spring and hope. So far we have bad to breathe stuffy swampy water."

The rumors have a ring of truth

Three weeks after his election, Pope Francis surprisingly received Piero Marini in audience. Numerous senior level curia representatives had still not been received by the new pope at that time. The preference of the liturgical "designer" of John Paul II immediately led to speculation that did not cease since then (see Guido Marini Again instead of New (Old) Master of Ceremonies - Piero Marini in Audience with Pope Francis ).

Initially it was thought that Francis was much more closely  related liturgically to Piero Marini, would replace Guido Marini as Papal Master of Ceremonies. Such a return to the same office would be uncommon in the Church and would also allow obvious conclusions.

At June's End, whispers grew louder, Piero Marini might rise even higher and be put in the place held by Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, as the new Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and thus a candidate for the Cardinal dignity (see Piero Marini next Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship? rumors about personnel changes at the Vatican? ). The purge in the Vatican of Ratzingerians will be made ​​in stages. Cardinal Cañizares was sent back by Pope Francis to be archbishop of Valencia in Spain in late summer 2014. The inauguration took place on October 4, one day before the start of the Synod of Bishops on the Family in Rome, which Msgr. Cañizares would have addressed as Cardinal Prefect. The same now applies also for the despatched Cardinal Burke. You could read it on the Synod of Bishops as the depletion of a particular camp.

"Brutal" Recoloring of a Congregation?

Il Timone wrote of the successor of Cardinal Cañizares on 22 September: "The decision has been made ​​on him. It lacks only the notice. " "Him," said Archbishop Piero Marini. This announcement has not yet occurred, but the appointment of Father Corrado Maggioni on November 5, is interpreted as the new Under Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship in this direction. The dismissal of the two previous sub-secretaries is considered particularly "brutal" ( Riposte Catholique ), because they had to learn of with the public from the Bulletin of the Holy See at the same time.

Since the chair of the Cardinal Prefect is vacant, the Congregation is currently headed by a moderate "progressive" secretary, Archbishop Arthur Roche, and thoroughgoing Bugninist, Under-Secretary Father Maggioni.

Father Maggioni is a close friend of Msgr. Piero Marini, the president since 2007 of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, and taught liturgical sciences at the Benedictine University of Saint Anselm. Piero Marini was already during the Second Vatican Council, the closest collaborator of Msgr. Annibale Bugnini, the "architect" of the Catholic liturgical reform.

Will Piero Marini Receive That Which Annibale Bugnini was Denied?

The realization of Piero Marini's dream, to be chief liturgist of the Vatican, seems a step ever closer and he thus would achieve what is his teacher and mentor, Annibale Bugnini failed at. Msgr. Bugnini, although he was from 1969-1975 to the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, the office of the prefect and the dignity of Cardinal were denied him. Instead, he finally fell out with Paul VI. in disgrace. His pupil Piero Marini can now make this last step.

Roman observers believe, along with the occurrence of contrary rumors in spring 2013, that Archbishop Piero Marini, born in 1942, was already too old for such an appointment. After only three years in office, he would be 75. But Pope Francis just established tougher retirement provisions, which enabled the personnel shuffle against Cardinal Burke, can also be read differently. The Pope has ultimately strengthened especially his right. He will force Curia staff (except the Cardinal Prefects) who are 75 years, to offer their resignations. However, nothing prevents the Pope from rejecting the offer.

Pope Not Shy to Give Offense - Intention of AvengingBugnini Clique's

Other observers thought they might assume that the head of the Church would not allow such a provocation, such as the appointment of Piero Marini appointed as Cardinal Prefect. The exile of Cardinal Burke has made it clear that the Argentine Pope decides and enforces his will without regard to losses.

The "smarter" version, holds that a "moderate" prefect will be nominated to find the balance, but seems to be eclipsed by an overweening desire to avenge the Bugninists. They, above all Piero Marini, have never gotten over the penetration of the "reformers of the reform" into the "holy temple" of the liturgical reform. Their sensitivity to the recovery of the sacred and its openness to the traditional rite was an intolerable affront to the Bugninists. Don Nicola Bux had presented in 2012, together with Canon Raffaele Coppola the book "The Empty Dance Around the Golden Calf" on the topic secularized liturgy and Ius divinum. The introduction was contributed by the way by none other than Cardinal Raymond Burke (see "The Empty Dance Around the Golden Calf" - Liturgy and Ius divinum - Book Publishing ). The appointment of Piero Marini would visibly complete the revenge.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

image: Riposte Catholique

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

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Bugnini Man Appointed to Congregation of Divine Worship -- 4 More Ratzingerians Dismissed

Purge in the Congregation of Divine Worship

(Vatican) Pope Francis continues to purge the liturgical sensibility of his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

On 5 November it was announced in the daily bulletin of the Holy See that Pope Francis had appointed a new Under-Secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship. What was not there is that the two other undersecretaries were also dismissed. The Congregation has had no Cardinal Prefect since the beginning of October, after Pope Francis sent back the previous head of the dicastery, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares   as archbishop of Valencia in Spain. Now the number two of the Congregation has been exchanged and thus within a month, the entire leadership.

Previous  Undersecretaries Have Learned of their Ouster from the Bulletin

The previous Undersecretaries, the Marist Father Anthony Ward and Msgr. Juan Miguel Ferrer-Grenesche had learned from   the publication of the bulletin that they were not re-elected. The dismissal was not preceded by a conversation with the Pope, nor they were previously informed in other ways about it.  Msgr. Ferrer is a priest of the Archdiocese of Toledo, whose Vicar he was. Cardinal Cañizares, the former Archbishop of Toledo, brought him to Rome in 2009.

Msgr. Ferrer is an acknowledged expert in the Mozarabic rite, those Visigothic rite, which was celebrated in Spain before the introduction of the Roman rite and which has been preserved during the Spanish rule in underground and still maintained in some places,  including Toledo and Salamanca. Msgr. Ferrer  is distinguished by a special liturgical sensibility and a close relationship to the Old Rite.

New Undersecretary a "Staunch Bugninist"

The bulletin from Wednesday announced the appointment of the new undersecretary, Monfortian Father Corrado Maggioni. As Pope Francis seems to be the liturgical antipode to Pope Benedict XVI., the same for Father Maggioni seems similarly in comparison to his recently deposed predecessors. 

The Montfortian is a "confident Bugninist" as Riposte Catholic  reports and a "great friend of Msgr. Piero Marini", the papal master of ceremonies of John Paul II. Annibale Bugnini (1912-1982) was largely responsible for the development and implementation of the liturgical reform of 1969/1970.

At the beginning of his pontificate, Francis dismissed all of Benedict XVI's liturgically related consultants in the Office of papal ceremonies. From the staff of Benedict XVI.  who performed ceremonies according to the "reform of the reform", only the papal master of ceremonies, Msgr. Guido Marini is left. One of the members appointed by Pope Francis  as a consultant was Father Maggioni.

Four Ratzingerians Dismissed in One Month

With Msgr. Miguel Ferrer falling within a few days, another head of the Ratzingerian Vatican has fallen, already replaced by  Pope Francis on October 8, Msgr. Celso Morga Iruzubieta as secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy and Msgr. Alberto Gonzalez Chaves as office manager of the Congregation for Bishops. Taking into account Cardinal Cañizares as the highest-ranking dismissed figure, four senior Ratzingerians were removed last month. Including the full leadership of the Congregation for the Clergy and the Congregation for Divine Worship,  the staff in those two congregations most clearly showed the signature of Benedict XVI. 

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Riposte Catholique

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD