The Templars and Their Revival

No order of the Church is more shrouded in mystery than the Templar Order. A large number of very different organizations refer to it. What is fantasy, what is reality?

In 1312, the Poor Knighthood of Christ and the Solomon Temple of Jerusalem, better known as the Templar Order, was abolished by Pope Clement V. At that time, the Pope did not act freely, but under pressure from Philip IV, King of France. A large number of groups from Catholics, Protestants, Gnostics to Freemasons today refer to the Templars and claim to have succeeded them. What is it all about?

The Templar Order was founded in 1118 by Crusaders in the Holy Land to protect the Holy Places, as the Crusade armies returned to Europe after their successful or failed military operations. The monastic knightly orders, including the Order of the Templars, were to support the Crusade armies, but above all to ensure the defense and protection of the Holy Places in their absence. The Knights Templar, which had its focus on French chivalry, became the militarily and economically strongest knightly order. Until 1302, this elite of Western knighthood defended the last base in the Middle East, the island of Arwad off today's Syrian coast.

While the Teutonic Order had found a new task in Prussia and the Baltic States and the Order of Malta (at that time still The Order of St. John) had found a new task in the Aegean, such a task was still missing for the Templars, who retreated to their European enclaves at the beginning of the 14th century. Whether France's king also feared their now idle military power is unclear. It is certain that he considered them obsolete and, due to his financial hardships, wanted to lay hands on the proverbial Templar treasure (better, Templar possessions). The Order had built this up through a large number of foundations over two centuries to finance its very costly presence in the Holy Land (construction and maintenance of castles, maintenance and armament of the brothers). In contrast, Philip IV was on the verge of national bankruptcy.

The biggest judicial scandal in the history of the Church

Pope Clement V, a friend of the French king, had led the papacy into exile in Avignon in 1309 and thus made it a "prisoner" of the French king. Clement V, a weak pope in the See of Peter, conducted a lengthy, confused and opaque show trial against the Templars on behalf of Philip IV, which culminated in the condemnation and violent annulment of the Templar Order. Pope Benedict XVI had the trial files made available in 2007. Since then, there is no longer any doubt that the Templars were victims of a judicial scandal. It is also documented that Clement V [Despite being a French puppet, himself] not convinced of her guilt, was too weak to prevail against Philip IV. Nevertheless, a revival of the Order was refrained from in the late Middle Ages, because the reputation of the Order was considered too damaged by the trial and its destruction.

Most of the Templars surrendered to their fate, disappointed and broken. They had defended themselves as well as possible in the trial against the heinous accusations. They could have taken up arms, but a struggle against the legitimate authority of the Pope and the King was beyond the realm of possibility.

Its twenty-third and last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, had been arrested in 1307, like many other Knights Templar, on the orders of Philip IV. Under severe torture in 1309, he confessed to abominations charged to the Order, but immediately recanted his confession. The proceedings dragged on and the members of the order, since they had nothing to expect from the secular power, placed their hope entirely on the Pope, from whom they saw themselves betrayed in the end.

Still impressive today: The ruins of the Templar castle Krak in Jordan

In order to stifle any resistance in the Order, Philip demonstratively had 54 Knights executed in 1310. The Order, rendered leaderless by the arrests, was paralyzed. In 1314, the king also ordered the execution of the Grand Master, although he had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment. Molay was burned at the stake in Paris, one of many breaches of the law in this sensational smashing of a hitherto so respected and important order, to which so many members of the most distinguished families had belonged in two centuries.

The abolition of the Templars differed from the abolition of other orders in history because of the violence used against them, but otherwise it was comparable. The property was confiscated and mostly passed into secular, less often into spiritual hands. The surviving and non-imprisoned members of the Order had to lookfor a new place to stay, each for themselves. Deprived of leadership, dispossessed and threatened by severe repression, the Order simply dissolved.

Only on the Iberian Peninsula, where the Reconquista against the Muslims was still in progress, were new knightly orders founded by the kings of Aragon and Portugal, to whom templar ownership was transferred in these countries, and thus offered a new home to the Knights Templar there, who were knights and monks, which must not be forgotten.

Did the Order live on in secret?

Claims that the Templars persisted in secret in some areas of Europe lack any historical basis. Such theses only emerged in the 18th century in the context of the Masonic guilds that appeared at that time, which absorbed everything that was "tangible" for them and their intentions in terms of actual and even more supposed pre-Christian and non-Orthodox "knowledge", in historical personalities, organizations and currents. The judicial scandal that had led to the end of the Templars for political reasons was particularly predestined to be co-opted by Freemasons and lovers of the mysterious. Until then, it was not so much the Order, but emblematic for it, that the tragic figure of the last Grand Master had been in the public interest. The apparently instinctively recognized judicial scandal was condensed in the narrative that Grand Master Molay had cursed Pope and King at the stake or at least prophesied their death in the same year – and with the king the end of the Capetians – since both Clement V and Philip IV died in 1314.

It was only in the context of "enlightened" circles of the 18th century that imaginative stories and claims about the Templars really shot into the weeds. Only since then have there been ex novo claims of a secret continued existence of the Templar Order and mysterious symbols and signs by which they would recognize themselves. Centuries later, the spectacular and tragic judicial scandal was accompanied by a gigantic humbug.

Armed Christian militia in Syria with the Templar flag

Since the knightly orders, the Crusades, the Holy Land, the ideals of the Crusaders, their castles, their monastics and knighthood, their military and political power, their defensive spirit and overall, their quarrelsomeness, obviously inspire the imagination and exert a certain attraction to this day, a wide variety of groups around the world, often more bad than good, try to follow in the footsteps of the Templars.

According to the Ecclesiastical understanding, an order can be suppressed, but not abolished. It therefore rests only, because the Order continues to exist in the already deceased members of the Order in heaven and purgatory. The Templar Order could therefore also be revived at any time with ecclesiastical permission. So far, however, the Church has refrained from doing so. It would necessitate the annulment of the 1312 conviction, which was long considered a hardly feasible undertaking due to the time distance, lack of documents and witnesses. Since Benedict XVI opened the Vatican archives, it has been known that the annulment of the judgment is possible and would even be necessary. However, there is no one to be seen who could legitimately demand such a repeal. Above all, however, this would compromise the highest ecclesiastical authority, which at that time could be made the instrument of Philip IV. in the Vatican, this is considered an unnecessary mea-culpa compulsory exercise, since there is no need for a revival of the Order.

A Revival of the Templar Order: Claim and Reality

Thoughts about a possible reactivation did not appear in the ecclesiastical scene until 1847, when the Ottoman Empire – five and a half centuries after the fall of the Crusader states – allowed the re-establishment of an ecclesiastical hierarchy in the Holy Land. However, a revival of the Templar Order contrasted with the understanding of the papacy established by the First Vatican Council at the same time, in 1870. The Church met the now existing need for the preservation of the Holy Places by constituting the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1868. This was done without possibly provoking the Ottomans by a reappearance of the Templars and, above all, without "damaging" the papal authority at a delicate moment by admitting that a pope had supported and facilitated a serious judicial scandal in 1312. The "delicate moment" concerned the often misunderstood Dogma of Infallibility of 1870, which caused sufficiently violent conflicts within the Church and even more so hostility from outside. In the Second German Reich, proclaimed shortly thereafter, there was therefore a "culture war" against the public influence of the Catholic Church.

Today, however, the Church recognizes a number of lay associations that were founded after the Second World War and are close to the Templar Order without being able to claim its succession. They follow the ideals of a Christian life and charity, as sought and promoted by the three great ecclesiastically recognized knightly orders, the Maltese, Teutonic Knights and Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, for their lay members. In addition, there are also several "connections" in the Catholic field that are not recognized by the Church, which are committed to more or less the same goals. They usually make a valuable contribution to the Church and society, especially for persecuted Christians.

In addition, there is also a large number of would-be Templars outside the Church and mostly without a religious reference. These groups come together for historical, social or sometimes political reasons. Overall, today's "Templar landscape" is characterized by a high fluctuation: groups, sometimes small and smallest, often arise and dissolve again soon.

Since the end of the 19th century, this has also included a myriad of imaginative organizations in the haze of esotericism and gnosis and, of course, groups that belong to the Masonic cosmos and somehow refer to the Templars.

This myriad of very different groups, none of which can claim an actual succession to the Templar heritage, creates a mess and sometimes exposes even church-recognized organizations to suspicion, as the name "Templar" is discredited by dubious, Gnostic and Masonic initiatives. Overall, it has caused no minor damage to the memory of the Templar Order. A precise distinction is therefore needed.

However, this is made more difficult by groups that are close to the Church, but are on the verge of dubious intellectual property. Father Paolo Maria Siano of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, one of the best Catholic connoisseurs of Freemasonry, deals with them. He shows the confusion that seems to prevail in some circles that claim foundations ecclesiastically and are according to their outward appearance. These include the so-called Frederick Templars or Frederician Templars. The self-designation alone mixes the ecclesiastical with the secular and seeks the aura of the mysterious, the resistant and the criticism of the Church.

See the essay by P. Siano on the Friderician Templars (Frederick Templars):

• The Friderician Templars between church and Gnosis?

Historical fresco: depiction of a Templar.

Text: Giuseppe NardiImage
: Wikicommons/MiL

The New Franciscans of the Immaculata

(London) On July 5, 2019, the southern English city of Portsmouth was without its knowledge,
 for a brief but important moment, something of the center of the Catholic world. The coastal city is the birthplace of Charles Dickens and was the starting point of the Allied landing in Normandy. It has also been the seat of a bishop since 1882, after over 300 years of prohibition,
the Catholic hierarchy could be rebuilt in England.

Since 2012, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, Msgr. Philip Anthony Egan heads the diocese with around 250,000 Catholics (eight percent of the population). Bishop Egan consecrated four Franciscans to priests in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist last July 5 - in the traditional rite.

The brothers of St. Francis of Assisi are former Franciscans of the Immaculata, who were incardinated by Bishop Egan into his diocese of Portsmouth.

The four candidates

The Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculata, founded by Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli, has been suffering a great ordeal since the summer of 2013. The still young order, which looked back to the original charism of the order’s founder, was followed by Pope Benedict XVI. in the Motu proprio Summorum pontificum, and was transformed from a New Mass-religious order to an Old Rite order, since he was committed in his charism to tradition. But he remained subordinate, a complete exception, in the  Roman Congregation of Religious. In pastoral care the Order was bi-ritual, in-house old-ritual. The canonical community, first established in 1990, grew rapidly and received considerable appointments from Europe as well. Towards the end of the pontificate of Benedict XVI, it seemed that the Franciscans of the Immaculata could even become a role model for other new rite-religious orders. It was especially the  young members of other orders were interested in their way.

A few months after the papal change, however, came the turn. The protective hand of Benedict XVI. was replaced by the punitive hand of Francis. In July 2013, the Order's leadership was deposed by the Order's Congregation and the Order was placed under the administration of a Commissar without any reason. This raged in the Order and smashed much of what had been built. With the decree of the Commissar by Rome, the Order had been forbidden to perform the traditional Rite. This left no doubt against whom and what the hard measure was directed. All relevant decisions were declared null and void. Each priest had to apply individually for a special permit if he wanted to continue to celebrate in the traditional Rite. Monasteries were abolished, the internal seminary was closed  and pilgrimage sites and churches entrusted to it were removed from the Order.

Against the founders of the Order and Superior General until the Commissar  came, a slander campaign was carried out, which was also carried out in court. The Commissar embarrassingly failed and reinforced the impression of arbitrary and ideologically motivated persecution. Not only the vocations collapsed, even the friars themselves were urged to leave the Order because the original religious charisma was eliminated. At this point all the harshness became apparent, some even reveal the persecutor’s ugliness. The friars, who reconstituted the Order as an Old Rite order and thereby wanted to submit to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei (now a division of the Congregation of the Faith), this was denied. The friars, who wanted to leave the Order and ask for release from their vows to found a new order, were forbidden to do so. The then Commissar even threatened Italian bishops who would allow Franciscans of Immaculata in their dioceses admission. The bishop of Albenga-Imperia, who had promoted the Order particularly, gave him three settlements there,
entrusted pilgrimage churches and dared to defend the Order against unjustified persecution, was made emeritus by Pope Francis.

The same happened to a Filipino bishop, who received the former Franciscan Immaculata in his diocese and helped to found a new order there.

Others found refuge in England, which was previously tolerated by Rome, because they live their charism without a stir. Bishop Egan granted a new home to one of the Order's brilliant heads, Father Serafino M. Lanzetta. In 2015, he entrusted him with the parish of St. Mary in Gosport and appointed him pastor. P. Lanzetta made the New-Parish a bi-ritual one. The change that became possible coincided with the death of the first Roman Commissar, Capuchin Fidenzio Volpi.

Fr. Lanzetta enabled the other brothers of his order to settle in Gosport. Thus the exile of the
seminarians, who were in the middle of their studies, came to an end when the storm broke over the Order. A few days ago they were consecrated by Bishop Egan, according to their sensitivity, in the traditional form of the Roman Rite.


In the diocese of Portsmouth the former Franciscans of Immaculata can live. Their community is called the Family of the Immaculate Virgin and Saint Francis. It already has nine priests, brothers and seminarians. So far, two other priests have worked together with Fr. Lanzetta in Gosport, who are now strengthened by the four new priests Fra Philemon, Fra Rosario, Fra Faustinus and Fra Michael. Thus, the number of Mass sites reached can be expanded. Wherever the priests of the new community come, they also bring the traditional Rite and tradition.

In recent years Bishop Egan has been particularly sensitive to the priests and the faithful who are associated with the traditional Rite. In September 2018, he established a personal parish of the traditional Rite in Reading, which he entrusted to the FSPC. In March 2019, he paid a visit to St. Michael's School in Burghclere, which is located in his diocese and run by the Society of Saint Pius X  (FSSPX).


In Gosport, a seed has become a small plant.


Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL / MyAlbum / Saint Marys
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Head of Congregation of Religious Gives Insights — Why Attack Holy Franciscans of the Immaculate

(Asuncion) Why, since 2013, have traditional orders and communities, such as the Franciscans of the Immaculata of Rome, been placed under provisional administration since 2013, usually without a reason? This question has been raised since July 2013, four months after the election of Pope Francis, and has to do with Cardinal Braz de Aviz and the Congregation of Religious he leads. In the interview, the cardinal, more unconsciously than he intends, may have given an answer to the question. Braz de Aviz revealed some reasons that seem to be behind the sending of commissars. He also provided illuminating insight into the current understanding of priests in Rome. All in all aspects that are also interesting with regard to the Amazon Synod.

As reported, Cardinal Braz de Aviz recently visited Paraguay. There he gave an interview to the capital's daily newspaper Ultima Hora, which was published last Saturday, July 14th.

Ultima Hora: What are the challenges today (for religious life today)?

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: We are working hard to change the training. We have to think about a training from the womb to the last breath. There is a process of life in which values ​​or sufferings are acquired or not. Everything counts in education, you can not say that is training and that is not. It is a path that must be undertaken, and requires a lot of attention, responsibility, forgiveness, and listening ability. We have a lot to change.

Then we have the problem within the consecrated life of regaining the human, the inclinations, the sexuality. We have to restore the relationship between superiors and subordinates in order to shed new light on them. The man-woman relationship, no longer defensive, but more integrated, deeper and more complete on both sides.

Ultima Hora: There is a career crisis. What does that say in your opinion?

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: I think it's all a problem of the authenticity of life. Another problem is that society denies God in many places. He is not denied in theory, but in practice. So now we have to see: what is fundamental and what is not. Many things of the tradition, many things that belong to the past culture, are no longer suitable.

Ultima Hora: What, for example?

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: For example, we have life forms that are related to our founders, but are not essential: a way of praying, a way of dressing oneself, giving too much importance to certain things that are not important, and others that are really important, too small to pay attention to them. This more globalized view of everything ... that we did not have, now we have it. It is no longer true that my culture is more important than the culture of the other, because the cultures are all the same, but they must find the values ​​of the Gospel.

Ultima Hora: As if spirituality had worsened ...

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: Yes, that's it. All the secondary things can fall, but not the special charisma of the founders.

Ultima Hora: Does celibacy belong in these many things to give up?


Cardinal Braz de Aviz: For the consecrated life, celibacy is of fundamental importance because it is one of the pillars: poverty, chastity and obedience. But these are not commandments, but propositions, they are evangelical counsels. Its value is to discover, someone must discover whether he is called to or not. Sometimes one deceives oneself and thinks he is called to be without it. Others do not accept that because they do not see it as a value. We have to differentiate, recognize and follow.

Ultima Hora: Why do we experience a time when apostolic life seems more endangered?

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: Today we do not think of the priesthood as the most important thing. The priesthood is one of the values, one of the vocations. In consecrated life the priest may not take the first place. He has to take the same place as the other brothers and sisters ... This, for example, must change: the Pope says that we must distinguish between power and authority. The divine authority is in order, the power is not. Because power, according to the mindset of the world, is a form of domination that does not serve. We have to go through another door: be in the secret and be able to
find that brotherhood.

Ultima Hora: How is the Church and the Pope handling the cases of sexual abuse?

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: The Pope wants transparency, he wants responsibility. The Pope says that even if it was only abuse in the Church, it must be clarified because the consecrated figure of the priest is a figure that points to a divine value, a deep human value. If you do not have that, you are abusing. We have to recognize that. And the media is doing very well in putting this into focus, knowing that 95% of these problems are in the family and not in the Church, because that's true too.

Ultima Hora: To what extent have the sexual scandals affected the church, had it led to fewer priestly vocations?

Cardinal Braz de Aviz:  The scandal is always affecting, but that's just one side, because most took place 50 years ago; the other side is that now the consciousness is much bigger. But it has a big influence on the decline. But we have more adaptation to the current culture, authentic life, and think that God will take care of it.

Ultima Hora: How should the stigma be removed?

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: Only by clarifying the cases and then by changing our way of being. Because it is a localized problem, a very serious problem, then you have to change. But we are not worried that this will come to light. It is necessary that it comes to light. We need a more modest church to live together and try to protect life. In everything else God does as He pleases.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Ultima Hora (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Prefect of Religious Preaches Heresy to Women Religious: "The Holy Ghost Destabilizes Today"

Pope Francis gathered representatives of contemplative women's orders in Rome. The Prefect for Religious, Cardinal Braz de Aviz explained to them the "necessary aggiornamento" and provided a whole new interpretation of the Holy Spirit.
 
(Rome) João Cardinal Braz de Aviz blames the "nostalgic" in the Church, because "Peter is currently Francis" and no one else.
 
Braz de Aviz, ordained in 1972, has been bishop since 1994. From 1998 to 2011 he was first Bishop of Ponta Grossa, then Archbishop of Maringa and finally, Archbishop of Brasilia. In 2011 he was appointed Pope Benedict XVI. as Prefect of the Congregation for Religious in the Roman Curia and created Cardinal - one of the failed personnel decisions of the German Pope. Since then, the Brazilian, despite the change on the Cathedra Petri, has kept his office, not least because, as it is said in Rome, because he wrote an inglorious chapter in the Causa against the Franciscans of the Immaculata. Contrary Church circles agree that Braz de Aviz is not among the best that the Brazilian Church has produced. Their Episcopate has long been suffering from Marxist liberation theology and mediocrity.
Yesterday, the cardinal spoke with a confession, which was distributed by the SIR press agency of the Italian Bishops' Conference.

"The name of the Pope is not interesting: at present Francis is Peter, all forms of nostalgia that don't point to now, do not do well."

At the same time, the Brazilian Cardinal emphasized:

"Pope Francis is an unimaginable gift because, with clarity, transparency and simplicity, he has set this line for the Church to follow at this difficult moment".

Also at the conclave of 2013, in which Pope Francis was elected, the cardinal commented:

"There was no argument at the conclave. We were all in agreement with Bergoglio, so that we chose him in only one and a half days, even though we had to eat and drink for two weeks. "

Cardinal Braz de Aviz

Cardinal Braz de Aviz participated in a meeting of the Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei quaerere on the occasion of Pro Orantibus. This highly controversial constitution, issued by Pope Francis in 2016, is described by critics as the "Sovietization" of contemplative women's monasteries. For the conference, which takes place at the request of Pope Francis, nuns from all over the world came together. The Cardinal emphasized the "importance of the bond with the Pope" to them and called for:

"To be ready to listen to the Lord and the Pope, to "aggiornare" the millennial consecrated and contemplative life.

And further:

"The Council demands that we become disciples of Jesus and enter into dialogue with the culture of the moment, not with the past."

Braz de Aviz made a pause with a cryptic statement. According to the Cardinal, the Holy Spirit used to stabilize, but today he destabilizes:

"The Holy Spirit today is more a sign of instability than stability: He moves the water and lets the water up to our necks so we do not rest on our safety."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican.va (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG 

Another Traditional Order Falls to the Bergoglian Commisar

Little Sisters of Mary: The next traditional order falls victim to the Commissar.

(Rome) The Vatican is destroying another traditional order: the Petites Sœurs de Marie, Mère du Rédempteur, the Little Sisters of Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer. Ninety percent of the sisters have asked for release from their vows because of the interference of Rome.

Founded in 1949 by Mother Marie de la Croix (Maria Nault), the Order of Women has four branches in the French dioceses of Laval and Toulouse. The sisters had been transferred to the Novus Ordo in the wake of the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council, but under Pope Benedict XVI. in 2012 they returned to the traditional Roman rite.

Order of the Sacred Heart and Crown of Thorns symbols

This is a step that has not been favored in some Church circles in France and especially in Rome. In the situation with the Franciscans of the Immaculate and the Priestly Fraternity of the Holy Apostles, the surprising resignation of Pope Benedict XVI., cleared the way to take action against these orders, which disrupted the neuronal "consensus.”

In 1989 the Order was canonically recognized by the then Bishop of Laval as an institute of diocesan right. The diocesan Bishop Thierry Scherrer, who had been in office since 2008, "appears to be bergoglianized," according to Riposte Catholique. Above all, he seemed offended by the idea of ​​penance, which is part of religious spirituality.

The Little Sisters of Mary experienced canonical visitations in 2016 and 2018 and were accused of "sectarian" tendencies. Such forms can certainly exist in the Church. However, the term is even more a cipher with which modernist church circles discredit faithful, religious communities, orders and prayer groups, in the better case smile and mock, in the worse case persecute.

The religious concerned describe the final report of the second visitation as "a caricature" of reality. He was unadulterated "prejudice".

The Mother Superior and the novice master were removed from the monasteries and exiled to remote places. In their place, Rome appointed three commissioners of "modern" orientation. The intervention of Rome took place at the request of the local bishop. According to the Vaticanist Marco Tosatti, it is also about "episcopal appetite" for the real estate property of the women's order. In any case, laymen of the diocese who are close to the Little Sisters suspect this.

Like the Franciscans of the Immaculate, the Little Sisters of Mary share the rediscovered love of tradition. "A love that awakens the worst instincts in the current leadership of the Holy See," Tosatti said.

The Little Sisters of Mary are active in the care of the elderly, they work in parishes, help the poor and live a spirituality that seems outdated today in the Vatican: the love of Eucharistic Adoration, the prayers of intercession, sacrifice and the Marian devotion.

Little sisters of Mary

Already in 2009, the local bishop tried to take action against the sisters. At that time Pope Benedict XVI. still ruled in Rome, which is why the attack was unsuccessful. 2016 was different. The bishop had slandered the sisters at the Order's congregation in Rome because of "suspicion of traditionalism". An accusation that has been meticulously and eagerly taken up by the papal court.

As with the Franciscans of the Immaculate, it out of

vengeance that a New World Order returned to the traditional rite, but was not released from the Order's Congregation and placed under the protection of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Nothing seems more to be more of an affront to the Congregation of Religous by Cardinal Braz de Aviz and Curial Archbishop Carballo than a "penetration" of tradition into the great stables of the new Catholic Orders.

And as against the Franciscans of the Immaculate, problems in the Order's administration were claimed and used as an excuse for intervening. The fact that 33 out of 38 women religious gave Mother Mother Superior an excellent judgment did not matter. The Order was "praying too much", the Order had to implement the "new theology of consecrated life," and similar accusations were made that reveal little substance, but all the more ideology.

The Congregation of the Order decreed and upholds the provisional administration, although the sisters are determined to defend themselves against "slander" as they say.

Unlike the Franciscans of Immaculate they were not denied the right of appeal. Cardinal Raymond Burke was Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the summer of 2013. Burke was deposed by Pope Francis at the end of 2014 and replaced by the Vatican diplomat and former "Foreign Minister" of the Holy See, Msgr. Mamberti. Unlike Cardinal Burke, Mamberti seems incapable or unwilling to act against unjust decisions of the pope. The appeal of the Little Sisters of Mary was rejected.

The nuns saw no other way but to go public. They announced that their order was placed on 17 September by Cardinal Prefect Braz de Aviz under provisional administration. "We do not accept that," said the religious women, who refer to the canon law possibility to be released from the Order.

34 of 39 nuns have sought this release because the Order is no longer the same due to the Roman Attack,  to which they wish to belong and to whom they have pledged by virtue of their vows.

"We are 34 out of 39 sisters who have requested the release from the Order’s Congregation. We do not make this sacrifice lightly: we wish to remain in communion with the Church, but we can show neither clearer nor more painfully that it is impossible for us, for reasons of conscience, to obey what we have been forced to do. "

In the diocese of Laval, there is a circle of friends to support the religious, which counts more than 3,000 people.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Picture: Association de Soutien aux Petites Soeurs de Marie Mère du Rédempteur

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Radical Vatican About to Take Vengeance on Father Stefano Manelli

[Gloria.tv]Sanctions against Father Stefano Manelli, 85, the founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, are imminent, writes Marco Tosatti (July 21). Manelli’s order languishes under a Vatican commissioner since July 2013.

The reasons for this crack down, never explained by the Vatican, are evident: for the present Vatican nomenclature, the Friars are “too Catholic”.

According to Tosatti, a document containing sanctions against Manelli, authored by the Congregation for the Religious, is currently on Francis' table.

After the sanctions are imposed, the Vatican will push for a General Chapter. The plan is to change the Friars' constitutions and to abolish the vow of consecration to the Immaculate and the vow of poverty. The latter has created a situation in which all material goods of the friars belong to lay-people. The Vatican has tried in vain to get hold of this patrimony but lost all juridical battles in Italian courts.

Therefore, the Vatican tried to use Father Manelli in order to put pressure on the assets' owners. After this failed, it seems, Francis wants to punish Manelli which reveals Francis’ strange sense of justice.

One of the leading Vatican bureaucrates who fights against the Friars is Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo OFM, the secretariy of the Congregation for the Religious, a Francis intimate, who was one of the main protagonists of the huge financial scandal hitting the Franciscans (OFM) in December 2014. The scandal was quickly hushed up.

Because Carballo is a radical-liberal, nobody touched him, on the contrary, Francis promoted him to become an archbishop.

AMDG

Anti-Catholicism of Freemasonry Remains -- Despite Strange Appeals From Bishop of Syracuse

The Freemasons Seek Among Other Things, Secret Knowledge About the World and What it Contains, but Without Christendom.  Excerpt from the Bible le moraliseé, the Creation of the World (Around 1220) 

On November 12, in Syracuse,  a conference entitled "Church and Freemasonry - So close, So Far?" has taken place. It was organized by the Grand Orient of Italy. Speakers included the theologian Monsignor Maurizio Aliotta (Archbishopric of Syracuse), Msgr. Antonio Staglianò (Bishop of Noto), and Sergio Rosso and Santi Fedele, both grand dignitaries of the Grand Orient.

The Franciscan of Immaculata, Paolo Maria Siano, one of the best authorities on Freemasonry, wondered:

"Why this conference?"

Masonic meeting in Syracuse

The official reason was the 300th anniversary of the founding of Freemasonry in 1717. In an article in Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Episcopal Conference, the priest Ennio Stamile wrote that "despite the differences, it is good," genuine ways of serving the common good and the transparent and responsible use of social justice."

So is it "a Catholic-Masonic co-operation on the level of social justice and solidarity?" is the question asked by Father Siano, who analyzed the four main addresses.

General Superior of the Heralds of the Gospel Resigns (Avoiding the Fate of the Franciscans of the Immaculate?)

Investiture of the Members of the Third Order.  Order and Discipline
Which is a Thorn in the Side of Liberals

(Rome) The founder and first Superior General of the Lay Community of the Heralds of the Gospel (Evangelii Praecones) and the Order, Community of Virgo Flos Carmeli, Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Días, has resigned from office. He announced this step in a letter of June 2nd, yesterday. Is there suspicion in the Church, of that which attracts many vocations?

João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, founder and Superior General of the Heralds of the Gospel and Confreres.

Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, founder and Superior General of the Heralds of the Gospel.

The Heralds of the Gospel and the male and female branches are a young, traditionally based foundation, which originates from Brazil and is now represented in 80 countries of the world. The charism of the community is strongly missionary and Marian. The Heralds originated in the 1970s, when the founder and other young men personally felt the need for a deepened religious and communal life. The actual development as a lay community and then as a branch of the Order took place in the mid-nineties.

The Heralds of the Gospel are the first lay community of pontifical right, recognized by Rome in the third millennium. They therefore also see themselves as "Heralds" of the third Christian millennium. Not for a progressive, but for a renewed, faithful Church. The recognition of the lay community took place with Pope John Paul II. The recognition of the two branches of the order (societies of the Apostolic Life without perpetual vows, but with promises of celibacy) took place in 2009 with Pope Benedict XVI.

In 2005, the first priests were consecrated, including the founder, Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Días, whom Pope Benedict XVI. conferred as a sign of appreciation and recognition in 2008, the title of honorary canon at the patriarchal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Fast-growing, missionary community - Numerous vocations

Today the priestly branch of the Community already has 120 priests and 20 deacons. The two societies of the Apostolic Life include more than 4,000 members. Heralds of the Gospel are over 40,000.

Quickly Growing, Missionary Community. They are Now Available in 80 Countries.

While John Paul II and Benedict XVI. completely stood behind the traditional, missionary community, Pope Francis suddenly changed this relationship. The tradition, the special worship of Our Lady of Fatima, the community discipline of an army which is already expressed in the name of "Heralds," the rigor in youth formation, rapid growth and numerous vocations, have aroused suspicion, envy and resentment in other ecclesiastical circles. It's a negative attitude of which even the Holy See is not free of under Francis.

João Scognamiglio Clá Días will complete his 78th birthday on the Feast of the Assumption. By his resignation he seems to want to save himself from the like that of the Franciscans of Immaculata. The Congregation of Religious, which has already unjustly and acquisitively subjected the Franciscans of the Immaculata, had already set up in recent weeks to take action against the Heralds of the Gospel.

See the background story of the Heralds of the gospel: Is The Pontifical Commissioner Ready for The next "Too Pious" Order?

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Photo: Arautos do Evangelho (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com



AMDG

Is an Apostolic Commissar Ready to Destroy the Next "Too Pious" Order?

Seminarians Pray in the Church of the Brazilian Mother House of the "Heralds of the Gospel": Are they the next target of the Congregation of Religious? Too many vocations, too rapid growth, too pious, too friendly to tradition, too Marian?


(Rome) Has Pope Francis already assigned an apostolic commissioner for the next, "too pious" order?

The fate of the Franciscans of the Immaculate could soon befall the Heralds of the Gospel (Evangelii Praecones, EP). This lay community was founded as a youth movement by the Third Order Carmelite João Scognamiglio Clá Dias in Brazil. The inspiration for the name came from the encyclical Evangelii Praecones, which Pope Pius XII. published in1951 about mission.

The Heralds of the Gospel

João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, born in 1939, son of a Spaniard and an Italian, was a member of the Marian Congregation in Sao Paulo and in 1956 a member of the Third Order of Carmelites. He studied law and did his military service in the Airborne Ranger. Subsequently, he turned to the study of philosophy, theology and the right of the Church. At the university, he became a leader of the Catholic student body, which opposed the 1968 student protests.

Heralds in the Basilica of Our Lady of the
Rosary

The real development of the Heralds of the Gospel began at the same time in the 1960s, when João Scognamiglio Clá Días, Pedro Paulo de Figueiredo and Carlos Alberto Soares Corrêa gathered a group of young Catholics in Sao Paulo to pray in silence, deepen their spiritual life, and to discuss current questions in the Church and in the world. The goal was missioning and evangelization.

In the seventies the desire for a common life arose. The founder and two companions retired to a former Benedictine abbey to deepen their spiritual life in silence and prayer. Of the first companions, no one left, but new ones were added. They first arranged a Marian consecration, began to pray liturgy of the hours together and finally gave themselves a first rule. This resulted in the development of a community life for men and, in 1996, of women. The foundation stone was laid for a flowering male branch, the Societas Clericalis Vitae Apostolicae Iuris Pontificii Virgo Flos Carmeli, and a female feminine branch, Societas Vitae Apostolicae Iuris Pontificii Regina Virginum.

The Heralds of the Gospel were recognized in 2001 by Pope John Paul II as an International Private Association of Believers. They are thus the first ecclesial community to receive this recognition in the third millennium. The two societies of Apostolic Life were consecrated in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. canonically established with papal law.

The laity movement also led to the vocation of the priesthood. In 2005, the first priests were consecrated, including the founder of the Heralds himself at the age of 64 .

The Community is now active in about 80 countries, and only 12 years after the first consecration, has already 120 priests and about 20 deacons. The two societies of consecrated life have, after 20 years, more than 4,000 members, two thirds of whom are men, one third of women. Heralds of the Gospel are around 40,000 worldwide. Anyone who reads the figures of the past ten years sees the massive growth of the movement, which was begun under the pontificate of Benedict XVI. João Scognamiglio Clá Días is Superior General of the Heralds and the Society of Consecrated Life. Since 2008 he has also been an honorary fellow at the patriarchal basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

"Under Francis They Are Already Suspicious of Those Who Had Contact with Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira"

According to "an intimate, internal source",  says Tosatti, a "task force" from the Congregation of Religious, headed by the Brazilian Cardinal João Braz de Aviz and the Spanish Franciscan José Rodriguez Carballo, was being assembled to investigate the Heralds. The group is to consist of a bishop, a religious and a church lawyer. "Nothing is known about the reasons for this initiative," says Tosatti, which recalls the Franciscans of Immaculata. Even after four years of the provisional administration, the Vatican has not yet given any reason for the drastic intervention of this traditional order, which had been flourishing until 2013.

It is obvious, according to Tosatti, that the founder of the Heralds of the Gospel, João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, was in touch with Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira to make him "suspicious". Corrêa de Oliveira, who died in 1995, was a mastermind and leader of the Catholic tradition in Brazil. Clá Dias worked for many years in the Brazilian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Private Property (TFP) founded by Corrêa de Oliveira. On Corrêa de Oliveira's initiative, the Knights of the Gospel emerged, which Clá Dias led after his death, but led away from the social-political struggle and intensified religious life. This is a development expressed by the founding of the Societies of Consecrated Life and its own priestly members. Nevertheless, he calls Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira the "prophet of our time".

The community consists primarily of young people who are distinguished by their discipline. The members of consecrated life do not make vows, but commit themselves to celibacy and devote themselves entirely to the apostolate. They live in houses separated by sex. Their daily routine alternates between Liturgy (Holy Mass, Liturgy of Hours), Prayer (Rosary), study and especially evangelization. To this end they are called in dioceses and parishes, they are missionaries in the streets and go to prisons. The emphasis is on youth work. The religious dress, which is modeled on medieval heralds, is striking. It is equal for men and women, and represents the most visible continuity between the Knights of Corrêa de Oliveiras and the Heralds of Clá Dias.

The two societies of consecrated life are active in the field of art, culture and youth education, which is due to the fact that the founder Clá Dias sees a particularly suitable means of evangelization in music. In addition to activities in schools and universities, they are concerned with communities of elderly care, and they are mainly active in marginal areas, which is also to be understood geographically, for example, in the case of Feuerland.

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: "Throwing a watchful eye on new ecclesiastical realities"

"It is unclear for what reason this apostolic visitation will take place," says Tosatti. Cardinal Prefect Braz de Aviz had recently indicated that it was "appropriate" to raise a watchful eye on this "new ecclesial reality". Why? Because founders sometimes turn out to be "unsuitable," the Cardinal says, "to deal with the many vocations. In the case of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Heart, the Congregation of Religious, with the approval of Pope Francis, radically intervened, dismissed the whole order's leadership, and appointed Commissioners without mentioning any reason. The decision of the Order, founded in 1990, to return from the Novus Ordo to the traditional form of the Roman Rite in 2008, was the bone of contention.

Priests of the Order

After the Congregation of Religious failed to lay hands on the real estate of the Order with the help of the secular jurisdiction, the pressure on Father Stefano Maria Manelli, who had been deposed and held under house arrest, was recently increased to induce the lay associations to surrender the assets. At the same time, the Congregation of Religious does not shrink from threatening canonical sanctions against the implacable former Superior General, now 84 years old.

The Franciscans of Immaculata have been under the tutelage of the Papal Commissioner for four years. The Commissioner has just recently finished with the Institute of the Word of Flesh (IVE), an Order founded in 1984 in Argentina, which also attracts numerous vocations. Currently, the order includes around 800 priests, 2,000 religious women and more than 700 seminarians. It operates on all five continents, including the ballyhooed geographical and Catholic "periphery" such as Tajikistan, Papua New Guinea, Iceland, Palestine, Russia, Tunisia, Ukraine, Albania, Taiwan and Egypt. The order is divided into ten provinces, one vice-province and three delegations. In the Federal Republic of Germany, there has been a center of faith in the Archdiocese of Berlin since 2010, and since 2016, a branch with support of the pilgrimage church on the Mariahilfberg near Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate (Diocese of Eichstätt). The branch of the Order of the Virgin Mary, Door of the Sunrise, which includes parts of Central and Northern Europe, also has branches in Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

The Heralds of the Gospel do not yet have branches in the German-speaking world.

Tosatti's summary:

"Apart from more or less real problems and more or less justified accusations against the founders, these communities have three essential similarities: they are committed to the tradition of the Church (therefore, the more Thomas than Rahner supporters, are characterized by a strong worship of Our Lady of Fatima and are active in the right to life of unborn children), many vocations (which are more suspicious nowadays in church hierarchies and bishops) and have considerable financial resources. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Arautos do Evangelho (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG