Syrian Army Recaptures al-Qaryatain -- Relics of St. Elian Are Found

Islamists destroy the monastery Mar Elian

(Damascus) The Syrian city of al-Qaryatain is in close proximity to the ancient ruined city of Palmyra. Last weekend it was recaptured by the Syrian army. The city, which before the war had about 18,000 inhabitants, is inhabited by Sunnis and Christians.

The jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) had taken al-Qaryatain early August, 2015. On August 21, was devastated by shelling and a bulldozer, the 1500 year old monastery Mar Elian.  The destruction was recorded by the Islamists as a video and published on the Internet.

As the video shows,  the jihadists broke into the  grave of the eponymous saint Julian of Emesa. The doctor  had suffered martyrdom here in 312.  The monastery was built above his grave. The Islamists wanted demonstratively to destroy the Christian past of the place. The relics of the saint are still in the grave, as noticed by the prior of the monastery, Father Jacques Murad. He had returned on Monday with the Syrian army to the city. The monastic community of al-Qaryatain belongs to the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian.  The Monastery of St. Moses of Abyssinia is on Syrian slope of the Anti-Lebanon.

The visibly moved Prior finds the relics

In the years before the war the repopulation of the convent of St. Elian (Julian) had been successful there. Father Murad had been captured on 21 May 2015 by the Islamists, as they raided the monastery. Only on October 11 of the same year, he managed to escape from the hands of the Islamic State (IS).

Visibly moved and overjoyed Father Murad realized that the relics of the martyr were still present. "They can now be collected and reassembled. Thus, the life of Christians is beginning in the area again," he said as quoted by Fides. "The fact that the relics of Mar Elian are not lost, for me is a great sign: He wants to tell us that he does not want to leave this monastery and this holy ground. We know that the saints are in heaven. We can always call for their intercession. "

Father Murad had made studies in recent years on the relics. This enabled him to immediately identify the mummified remains.

"A great sign of blessing for our whole Church"

On Wednesdays, a priest of the Syrian Catholic archeparchy of Homs and monks of Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian came to  al-Qaryatain to evaluate the status of the destroyed monastery. "They will collect the relics and bring them safely to Homs," said Fr. Murad on Tuesday. "The old sanctuary was razed. The new church and monastery were burned and shelled. We will build the sanctuary and the monastery again. Then the relics of Mar Elian again be returned. By the grace of God new life will flourish around the grave again. This will be a great blessing sign of our whole Church. "

Text: Fides / Giuseppe Nardi

Picture: Youtube (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Archbishop FÜLÖP KOCSIS: The Synod Must Name Satan as the Chief Adversary of the Family

Edit: this translation is from VOTF.

[Voice of the Family] I am focusing my observation on paragraph 8 of chapter 1, but in truth I sense a general deficiency in the text as a whole, the lack of something that should penetrate our vision regarding these themes. For this reason, I could still indicate all of the paragraphs that, analyzing the contemporary situation, speak of a changed society and epoch, calling these difficulties which have appeared in recent times “challenges.”

It appears to me that the text misses a clarification which is more precise from its inception, from the root of these changes: from where do they come? The great part of these are not compatible with the plan of God; they do not come from Him. If it is thus, then it must be said: From where do these changes, these difficulties, derive?

We must say with clarity that in our very spoilt world the family and the man of good will with good intentions is under attack, under a ferocious and enormous attack. And this attack is of the Devil. We must call these diabolic forces which have a role to play with these phenomena by name because this way we can find some indications even for the research of possible solutions.

http://voiceofthefamily.com/archbishop-fulop-kocsis-synod-must-name-satan-as-source-of-attacks-on-family/

Tomorrow the Cardinal Consistory on Curial Reform -- On Saturday Francis Creates 20 New Cardinals

Consistory Where Pope Benedict Announced His
Resignation

(Vatican) On Thursday and Friday, the Vatican is having an ordinary consistory of the College of Cardinals, which Pope Francis has convened. The cardinals should in this case are informed by the previously laid plans for reform of the Curia, which was developed by the Council of Cardinal Advisers C9. This was announced by Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.

In C9 Council there are just as many reform plans as members. It is generally believed that the reforms will be modest. The Roman Congregations are not, or hardly, to be touched. The number of the Pontifical Councils should be reduced by mergers. Completely unspectacular shifts are expected, with some melodious renaming of existing facilities. In short, it’s what every government is doing after elections. Ministries are regrouped, renamed, new placards are mounted on entranceways and paper is printed with new letterheads.

Number of Pontifical Councils Should be Reduced

"Reducing the cardinals of the Curia is neither bad nor good. Kasper was Curial, Baldisseri is still,” wrote the most famous Catholic blogger of Spain, Francisco Fernández de la Cigoña.

Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, the secretary of the C9 Cardinal Council is to explain to the assembled Consistory the state of reform plans (see Church and Society of Pius X, confidant of Pope threatened excommunication of faithful) Most recently, the C9 Council plans to tap the Irishman, Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, to think of a better organization of the media of the Holy See. Last Monday there was also a meeting with Cardinal Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, held in conjunction with the reform plans.

 "Exotic" Cardinals and Rauber’s Reward 

 On Saturday, February 14, an extraordinary consistory will follow at which Pope Francis will name 20 new Cardinals (see New Cardinals, Unknown Names and Old Europe ). Among them are a number of unknown names from exotic countries. As "exotic whims” of the Pope in the Vatican are also valid in appointments like those of the Bishop of Lampedusa. Among the new cardinals, albeit for reasons of age are no longer eligible to be papal electors, among whom is the former German Vatican diplomat Karl-Joseph Rauber.

The progressivist Titular Archbishop of Iubaltiana attempted as Apostolic Nuncio 1989/1990 to prevent the appointment of Wolfgang Haas as Bishop of Chur and contributed to his removal from Chur. To express disapproval of the Swiss resistance against Bishop Haas, Pope John Paul II. made Haas, the first Archbishop of Archdiocese of Liechtenstein in 1997. Rauber was appointed in the same year as nuncio to Hungary. In 2009 Rauber tried as Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium to prevent the appointment of Bishop Andre-Joseph Leonard of Namur as Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels. Rauber failed as Pope Benedict XVI. made Leonard archbishop and compelled Rauber to retire.

In parts of the church Rauber’s promotion to Cardinal by Pope Francis is evaluated as a reward for his controversial and hostile approach to faithful bishops. His advocate for the dignity of Cardinal was Cardinal Danneels, Leonard’s predecessor as Archbishop of Brussels. The Progressive [Can we just call him evil?] Danneels felt the appointment of Leonard as his successor as a personal slap in the face. The Cardinal appointment of Rauber is now seen as a slap in the face for Archbishop Leonard, who is excluded from the second Consistory, since Danneels has reached the age of 80, at the Cardinal Consistory. Danneels is part of the four-member team Bergoglio organized largely upon his election as Pope Francis. The Raubers elevation at the Consistory is seen as a thank you gesture by the Pope for Danneels.

On Sunday, he will celebrate Holy Mass with the new cardinals in the Vatican Basilica.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi image: Infovaticana Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches…
AMDG

Pope Francis Allows Uniate Churches Worldwide the Ordination of Married Men

Eastern Churches United With Rome May Now
Ordain Married Men Worldwide and Put them in
Parishes

(Rome) While, according to indiscretions  the Congregation for Clergy have considered a dispensation from celibacy for the Brazilian Amazon dioceses, Pope Francis has given married clergy,  hitherto unnoticed by the media, a considerable rise.

It is now official. The Congregation for the Oriental Churches has published  new provisions approved by Pope Francis  that effectively allow the ordination of married men and married priests the pastoral care of   Eastern Catholic Churches outside their historical territories. So far, there were for historical reasons and due to old union contracts requiring special provisions in the clearly defined historic areas of the Eastern Churches united with Rome. Specifically, these were the Middle East and parts of Eastern Central Europe.

"Gravissimum scandalum"

Any further application was rejected by the Latin Church since the Eastern Orthodox practice contradicts the Latin understanding of the priesthood. Especially great were the resistors in America but also in Europe, such as reported by the Vatican expert Sandro Magister. The presence of married priests in the Latin areas would be a "Gravissimum scandalum" and would cause confusion. So far.

In "exceptional concrete cases" although there were sporadic approvals, but were limited by  Benedict XVI in 2008. But now Pope Francis has allowed  the Uniate Eastern Churches principle to be used and without any territorial limitation, to perform ordinations and married priests in the pastoral care of the faithful of the Uniate Churches. The document published by the Congregation of Eastern Churches  is entitled Pontificia de Praecepta clero Uxorato ORIENTALI and was published a few days ago in the issue 6/2014 of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (pages 496-499). The document was already signed  last June 14 by the Argentine Cardinal Prefect Leonardo Sandri.

Prohibition Repealed in 1890

The question did not arise, as long as the faithful of the Eastern Catholic Churches lived in their historical settlement areas. That changed in the late 19th century. In the new document it states that there existed a problem of pastoral care of married priests there, who emigrated since  in the 1880s, thousands of Catholic Ruthenians in the Lower Carpathian regions of Austria-Hungary and from the Western Ukraine in the USA. There was fierce opposition from the Latin Bishops against the establishment of married priests who adopted Congregation of Propaganda Fide on October 1, 1890 with the approval of Pope Leo XIII. a prohibition against the presence of married Ruthenian priests in the USA.

This prohibition was extended to the other Eastern Churches united with Rome and to all areas outside of America and Europe that did not belong to the catchment area applied to ​​these historic churches.

The result was, according to  the Congregation of Eastern Churches that an estimated 200,000 Ruthenian believers were converted to the Orthodox. If there were exceptions since then, it was so only after consulting the competent Episcopal Conference and with the approval of the Holy See. Since 2008, every decision was solely to the Holy See.

Reference to Anglican Personal Ordinariates

In the now published global permission, it is recalled that the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus of 2009, the married former Anglican clergy were also de facto approved for areas that   the Uniate married clergy were previously denied.  That this is merely a transitional arrangement for the returning to Rome of Anglican clerics with family, while for the "Anglican" Personal Ordinariates, no married men can be ordained priests, was not mentioned.

The document lists the new provisions granted by Pope Francis that "provide competent ecclesiastical authority the power to allow the pastoral ministry of the married oriental clergy  outside their historic areas" and also assume the ordinations  there.

Three Possibilities

First, where Uniate Eastern Church administrative units with their own hierarchs (Metropolitan, Eparch, Exarch) exist, they are directly granted the power to decide. They are allowed the competence to ordain as married priests, Eastern Rite candidates. The only condition is to inform the competent Latin bishop about it in  the place of residence. 

Second: In the diocese of the Eastern Rite faithful  without their own hierarchs, the same jurisdiction is transferred to the Latin Ordinaries. As support, they have to inform the competent episcopal conference. Pope Francis himself was in his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires, also an Ordinarius of the faithful of the Eastern Catholic Churches of Argentina.

Thirdly, in the areas such as Italy, where the faithful of the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches are without territorial administrative units and their pastoral care is transferred to the Latin bishops, the previous rule applies. Special permits are reserved after hearing the competent Bishops' Conference of the Eastern Churches' Congregation.

The measure has had no impact on the Latin faithful. A crossing of the Latin rite in a Uniate Eastern Church is actually not provided for because they are ethnically and culturally linked to a particular people. One might consider the new rules as a practical facilitation for the Uniate churches, whose diaspora extends through migration, and extends across more countries. Nevertheless, beyond purely functional considerations, the question of meaning and justification of such unqualified accommodation for a practice that is explicitly  rejected by the Latin Church.  It is normal as it arises from an exemption  and is to a certain extent, self-evident. Since the pressure of progressive circles for Pope Francis to the waiver of  priestly celibacy has abruptly increased, these circles will in any case consider the measures  as grist to the mill.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Settimo Cielo

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Cardinal Husar's Views on Aberromarriage

Edit: the retired  Lubomyr Cardinal Husar was born in Lviv on February 26th 1933.  He resigned in 2011 due to ill health and is currently Archeparch Emeritus.   To the credit of the Holy See he was ordained a Bishop in 1977 by Major Archbishop Josyf Slipyj without papal permission.  There were no excommunications. 

He was made apostolic administrator of the Ukrainian Greek Major-Archeparchy of Lviv in December of 2000.  In January of 2001, the Ukrainian Greek synod elected him Major Archbishop.  On February 21st Pope John Paul II created and proclaimed Husar Cardinal-Priest of Santa Sofia a Via Boccea.    He participated in the papal conclave of 2005.

The Cardinal has been known for years as an Old Liberal with controversial positions on various issues and so we've decided to feature some of his writings in a series without a lot of comment.  We feel they speak for themselves. It's interesting that the current Patriarch has distanced himself somewhat from ++Husar's irenicism. The book is Conversations with Lubomyr Cardinal Husar: Towards a Post-confessional Christianity by Antoine Arjakovsky, Ukrainian Catholic University Press, 2007.

He might be surprised to learn he agrees with a certain depraved American pop star.

Much has been said about the recognition of homosexual
marriage.

Homosexuality to my mind is nothing new. The only problem is
that it has become very vocal, out of proportion, to my mind. Nobody
is responsible for one’s homosexuality. They simply are born that way.
And they have to face this reality, unfortunately, as it is. I feel very
sorry for these people because they are unable to experience conjugal
love, which is love that is fruitful. God created men and women for
them to have children together. Homosexuals cannot accomplish that;
in this sense their love remains sterile. If they insist on living together,
fine. But they cannot pretend that this is marriage. I also have serious
doubts about their capacity to raise children, because then a child will
grow up with homosexual tendencies. But the problem has become
terribly noisy as if half of the world consisted of homosexuals. They
are a tiny minority in humanity. And we should recognize their suf-
fering, their rights, and that’s it.

Link to source...

Pope Francis: Chinese Church “Is in my heart"

Pope Franics received John Cardinal Tong, the Bishop of Hong Kong, on Tuesday.  The theme of the audience was the situation of persecuted Christians in the People’s Republic of China.  The Pope has said that the Chinese Church is in my heart.  “I pray daily for her”, says the Pope.

From katholisches… to be continued.  From Vatican Insider:

Cardinal Tong, the only Chinese cardinal to have participated in the recent conclave, talked with the new pope on a number of occasions in the days following his election. He revealed what the Pope said to him in those encounters, when he spoke during a solemn mass in Hong Kong’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on April 8 to celebrate the inauguration of the Petrine ministry of Pope Francis. encounters.

The Chinese cardinal resided in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse where all the cardinals stayed during the conclave, from March 12, when the conclave began. He remained there until March 20, when he departed for Hong Kong, where he is bishop.

Pope Francis too resided in that same guesthouse and has actually decided to continue living there, instead of moving to the papal apartment on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace, because he wants to be near the people. As a result, he and the cardinal met several times in the days following his election.

In his homily in Hong Kong Cathedral, Cardinal Tong recalled how after his election as pope in the Sistine Chapel on March 13, at about 7 pm, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio took the name Francis. Then, after putting on his white cassock, “he first went to embrace Cardinal Ivan Dias who had difficulty in walking.” Tong noted how “the new Holy Father really cares for everybody, particularly the weak.”

Then, he said, Pope Francis “accepted the congratulations and loud applause of the cardinals” and then “one by one, we extended our personal greetings and embraces of love to him.”

When it came to his turn, Tong presented the new Pope with “a small bronze Chinese statue of Our Lady of Sheshan” and told him, “The Catholics in China love you and will pray for you. Also, we ask for your care for all Chinese Catholics, and please pray for us!”

Pope Francis smiled and responded, “Chinese Catholics have given many testimonies to the Universal Church”. Then to Tong’s surprise, “He kissed my right hand to show his love and devotion for the Church in China. This gesture moved me deeply.”

Next day, March 14, at 5 pm, he recalled that Pope Francis celebrated his first mass as Successor of Peter in the Sistine Chapel together with all the cardinal electors, and in his homily, “he shared with us his reflections about the Church. He highlighted three actions that the Church must take: Journeying with the Lord under the light, actively building up the Church, proclaiming the Gospel and professing our faith. All these focus on the Crucified Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Hong Kong born cardinal revealed that on March 15, early morning, when he was on his way to the chapel in the Domus Sanctae Marthae he happened to be on the same elevator as Pope Francis. The Argentinean-born Pope then told him that the statue of Our Lady of Sheshan, now standing in his own room, reminded him of the Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier who arrived in China more than 460 years ago, . “He told me he never forgets to pray for Chinese Catholics”, the cardinal said.

During Mass that morning, he said, “Pope Francis pointed out in his homily that St. Ignatius of Loyola taught us not to forget the Suffering Jesus whenever we encounter difficulties in life; in this way, God will help us to enter into the mystery of Jesus’ resurrection.” Then, towards the end of his homily, Tong said, “unexpectedly, Pope Francis openly thanked me for the statue of Mary.”

Later that same day, when Pope Francis greeted all the cardinals, one by one, in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, Tong revealed, “I thanked him for remembering the Catholics in China.”

On March 20, the day after the papal installation, Cardinal Tong bade farewell to Pope Francis before departing for Hong Kong, and told him, “On behalf of the Church in China, may I congratulate you again and thank you for your care and prayers for the Church in China.” At that point, he said, the Pope “kissed my hand again to show his devotion to the Church in China, and told him, “The Church in China is in my heart”.

Aleppo's Bishops to Pope: Syria is Desparate

The six Catholic bishops of Aleppo have called for ending the bloody conflict in Syria in an urgent message to Pope Benedict XVI.

Aleppo / Beirut (kath.net / KNA) Six Catholic bishops of Aleppo have called for ending the bloody conflict in Syria. In a message to Pope Benedict XVI. on the 24th of September, who is currently on his travel abroad in Lebanon, they ask the head of the church to demand from the international community a peaceful solution for Syria. The current conflict is destroying the country and bringing poverty and despair to the people.

For more than two months, the city is located in the center of the fighting between the Syrian army and armed opposition groups, say the Catholic bishops of Aleppo. In this situation, we have refrained from participating in the Pope's Lebanon-visit and to remain at the side of the Syrian believers. Benedict XVI. should advocate an end to the fighting on Syrian soil and encourage the parties in a "serious and effective dialogue for national reconciliation" to the heads of state and international organizations. The appeal was signed by a Greek Catholic, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Maronite, Chaldean and the Latin bishop of Aleppo. (C) 2012 Subject Catholic News Agency KNA GmbH.

Syrian Cardinal Passes Away

April 7, 2012 in From Rome | Tags: canon law, congregation for oriental churches,congregation for the causes of saints, congregation for the doctrine of the faith,consistory, easter, ignace cardinal daoud, in memoriam, pontifical council for legislative texts, pontifical council for promoting christian unity, pontifical lateran university, synod of bishops, syrian catholic church | Leave a comment

Just before the dawn of Easter, Ignace Moussa I Cardinal Daoud passed away in Rome, aged 81, early this morning. Cardinal Daoud was the former highest prelate of the Syrian Catholic Church and had retired from his official functions in 2007.

Born in 1930 in Syria as Basile Moussa Daoud, the future cardinal was ordained a priest in 1954 and went on to study canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. In 1977, he became the Syrian Bishop of Cairo, a position he held until 1994, when he became the archbishop of Homs in Syria. Over the course of October of 1998, he was elected, confirmed and enthroned as Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrians, and he took the name Ignace as his first name, a tradition for Syrian patriarchs.

After some two years, Patriarch Daoud was called to Rome as Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, but kept the title of Patriarch ad personam. Shortly afterwards, in the consistory of 21 February 2001, he was created a cardinal, but did not receive a title church, since he was a prelate of an eastern Catholic Church.

From in Cielo...

Vatican Excommunicates Four Ukrainian Priests

Members of the Greek-Catholic Church of the Basilian Order have declared themselves as an "Orthodox Greek-Catholic Church of the Ukraine".   The explanation of the CDF.


Rome (kath.net) Four Greek-Catholic priests have proclaimed themselves to be Bishops, which the Holy See had recognized as a "active unrest".  The four Basilians of St. Joseph (Eliáš A. Dohnal, O.S.B.M., Markian V. Hitiuk, O.S.B.M., Metodèj R. Špirik, O.S.B.M. und Robert Oberhauser) had been previously thrown out of their order. The four so-called Bishops have maintained until now, that their ordinations are ecclesially valid and as such recognised by the Vatican.

The acts of the four priests "are morally and spiritually damaging not only to the Order of St. Joseph and the Greek-Catholic Church of the Ukraine, rather to the Holy See and the entire Catholic Church", says the Congregation for Doctrine in an explanation of 22 February, in a release this Thursday.

It is not been successful to dissuade the priests from their presentiment to found an "Orthodox Greek-Catholic Church of the Ukraine". They had tried, to have it recognized in civil law. The Holy See in its concern for the unity and the peace of the flock of Christ had hoped for a penitent return of the clerics to full communion with the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, they have proven their departure by an attempt to have t

he civil government recognize an "Orthodox Greek-Catholic Church of the Ukraine".

The Congregation has distanced itself for the protection of the common good of the Church and the salvation of the Faithful themselves in the form of these self-described Bishops, whose consecration is not being recognized as valid. Through their act the priests will have drawn the excommunication upon themselves with can. 1459 § 1 des „Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium“ These organizations may not identify themselves as "Catholic". The faithful are called upon to keep themselves distant from these groups and to pray for their members, "so that they come to understand and return to the full communion of the Catholic Church".
Link to original....