Cardinal Antonelli's Dual Alarm on the Bishops' Synod

(Rome) Cardinal Ennio Antonelli is an acknowledged expert on the situation. The 78 year old cardinal knows whereof he speaks. From 2008-2012 he was President of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Now he has publicly warned against giving communion to remarried divorcees. Such a move would be disastrous: it would be a diminishment of the Sacrament, but also the end of the marriage sacrament.

Cardinal Antonelli organized two World Meetings of Families in 2009 in Mexico City and in 2012 in Milan.  Before Pope Benedict XVI. brought him to Rome, he was since 2001 Archbishop of Florence, and from 1995 to 2001 Secretary General of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Archbishop of Perugia from 1988 to 1995 and from 1982 to 1988 Bishop of Gubbio.

Former President of the Pontifical Council on Family offers plea for the Sacrament of Matrimony

"The crisis of marriage and the Eucharist"

Although   he was preordained, he did not   participate   on the first part of the Synod of Bishops on the family on October 2014. Pope Francis had not ranked him among the  persons appointed by him to the synod. However, he is actively involved in the current debate and in these days published a book. It is titled "Crisi del matrimonio ed eucaristia" (The Crisis of Marriage and the Eucharist" (Edizioni Ares, Milan 2015, 72 pages, 7 euros).

"This is a special book. It is handy, has little pages and reads in one breath. The foreword is by another Cardinal, Elio Sgreccia, the president from 2005-2008 of the Pontifical Academy for Life was" says the Vatican expert Sandro Magister. For reasons of age   the renowned bioethicist who was born in 1928 and 2010 elevated to the cardinalatial state  by Pope Benedict XVI., did not take part in the conclave of 2013.

Kasper proposal "unrealistic"

Cardinal Antonelli points out how the alleged restriction of admission to communion only to the divorced and remarried is "unrealistic" because the number of people who simply live together, is much larger. Due to foreseeable social pressure and due to an internal logic of the first step, those opinions would gain legitimacy therefore, arguing for an even greater flexibility. It would be then that even homosexual cohabitants will be included.

The cardinal also complains that the Eucharist will be reduced to a mere courtesy with such permissive thinking.  "In today's cultural context of relativism, there is a danger of trivializing the Eucharist and to reduce the rite to an act of  socialization. It has already happened that people who were not even baptized went to communion  because they thought to  make a gesture of courtesy, or that unbelievers demanded a right to be allowed to receive communion at weddings or funerals, just because it is seen as a sign of solidarity with their friends."

"Between good and evil, there is no gradualness" - answer to Schönborn's Gradualitätsthese

Foreword by Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, Former President of the Pontifical Academy for Life

In response to the theses of gradualness which were put forward by the Viennese Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn at the Synod of Bishops in 2014, Antonelli wrote the  chapter: "Between good and evil, there is no gradualness".

Next the cardinal writes: "The admission of divorced and remarried and the cohabitants to the Eucharist is the separation of mercy and repentance, which does not seem in line with the Gospel", because forgiveness always presupposes repentance.

With Kasper  Proposal to Abandon Indissolubility of Marriage 

 The former president of the Pontifical Family Council warns that no matter what the intentions of those who are in favor of the admission of divorced and remarried to the sacraments,  the indissolubility of marriage would be abandoned. "Regardless of their intentions, it will be betrayed because of doctrinal incoherence between the authorization of these persons to the Eucharist and the indissolubility of marriage, end up in actual practice, what in theory and in principle still holds, with the risk that it reduces the indissolubility of marriage to a mere ideal,   perhaps even a beautiful one, but an ideal only accessible to the few", said the Cardinal.

"It is foreseeable that the Eucharistic Communion of remarried divorcees and cohabitants will quickly lead to a general state. Then there  will no longer be much sense to speak of the indissolubility of marriage, which is why even the celebration of the marriage sacrament is losing practical significance,"  are the words of warning of the former president of the Pontifical Family Council.

Full content available in Italian, English and Spanish on the Internet

The text of Cardinal Antonelli has published  in full   on the website of the Pontifical Council for the Family and not just in the original Italian, but also in English and Spanish translation.

"Cardinal Antonelli has presented with amiable stability and practical realism, the doctrine and the pastoral force of the Sacrament of Matrimony. Above all, he makes the untenable consequences visible, which would come with the changes now proposed at various levels of the Church," said Sandro Magister

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: familiam.org/MiL

Investigations Against the President of the Pontifical Council on the Family and Casperian, Archbishop Paglia

(Rome) Curial Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia has not made  a good impression around the Synod of Bishops on the family, although he has been President of the Pontifical Council on the Family  and would thus be obliged of his own accord, to defend Catholic doctrine on marriage and family life. Currently the 70-year-old prelate has received an investigation notice.  The leadership of the Community of Sant'Egidio are being investigated by the prosecution Terni. The Archbishop is accused criminal association for the purpose of illegal appropriation and manipulation of an auction in connection with the purchase / sale of castle San Girolamo di Narni.

The investigation had already begun in July 2013 with the arrest of the former head of the technical office of the Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia, Luca Galletti, the former Treasurer of the Diocese, Paolo Zappelli,  and the head of the city building office Paolo Zappelli, Antonio Zitti. The purchase / sale of the castle is supposed to be in the context of the financial hole the diocese of 20 million euros. A financial gap which dates back to the time when Archbishop Paglia served as Bishop of Terni-Narni-Amelia  in 2000-2013.

There have been no charges filed as yet against the Archbishop. Therefore, he must be presumed innocent. The news that  there is an investigation against the top representatives of the Community of St. Egidio, has spread around like wildfire made in the Umbrian capital.

World Record  Suspicious Financial Hole in Diocesan Coffers

Castello San Girolamo of Narni

The investigations relate precisely to the time when Paglia  was Bishop of Terni and Narni. When he became President of the Pontifical Council on Family in Rome in spring 2013, it came out that he left his diocese bankrupt. The bishop climbed the corporate ladder and left  his diocese sitting on 35 million euros in debts. In relation to the  small population of156,000 baptized in the small central Italian diocese, it seems this could be a negative world record. Where millions have flowed, no one knows and those who know are silent.

Being investigated are   a number of cases, including the suspicious purchase of Castello San Girolamo of Narni. The medieval castle was used  for centuries as a Franciscan monastery and has been, like all monasteries in Italy expropriated in 1860 by the new [Masonic] Italian government. After several changes of ownership and being owned by the local community, it served Narni after the Lateran Pacts for half a century as a training center for missionary orders. Since the 70s the declined  until it was amazingly, bought by the diocese of Terni Narni for nearly two million euros in 2010. To be precise, it was acquired by the diocesan Institute for the maintenance of the clergy with the even more astonishing intention to make a four-star hotel of it.

In summer 2013, the prosecutor's office started investigations, which led to the arrest of several higher diocesan officials.So far, however, the bishop has remained unmolested. That seems to have changed after 22 months of investigation.

Where other bishops Have Long Been Dismissed, Paglia Furthers Career

Since the opaque financial management has already been known at the Vatican, it's astonishing that  Paglia continues as Chairman of the Family Council. A decision which. It's a decision which, may not be  foisted on Benedict XVI.  The protection is attributed to  the then Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone. Other bishops who are "conservative" were simply dismissed for far less from their duties. However, there are a variety Church representatives of the "liberal" stamp,  know how to always sleekly swim to the top.  Archbishop Paglia and the Community of Sant'Egidio belong to this species. Although they tend to be progressively aligned, they managed to make careers under Popes John Paul II., Benedict XVI. and Pope Francis.

The prime example in the German-speaking world for doubtful personnel decisions of Benedict XVI. is Munich's Archbishop Cardinal Reinhard Marx.s

The Community of Sant'Egidio goes back to the controversial Assisi interreligious meeting, their first meeting with papal involvement in 1986 which included syncretistic elements, scandal and church desecration  (see Holiness, move away from the Spirit of Assisi -. Open letter to Pope Benedict XVI and Angela Merkel Visits Sant'Egidio, the "Parallel Diplomacy" of the Vatican ). [Both in German]

Although it has been indicated several times by  Pope Francis, that there would be a comprehensive reorganization with the Pontifical Councils and although Paglia is increasingly involved in embarrassing and compromising news from Terni, which even concerns the Vatican bank IOR, the prelate of a small town about 100 kilometers east of Rome is still at the head of the Pontifical Council on the Family and enjoys the confidence of Pope Francis.

First Press Conference, the First Scandal: Paglia for Recognition of Gay Partnerships

Even at his first press conference as President of the Roman dicastery, there was a scandal when he spoke out in favor of a state recognition of registered partnerships, even homosexual ones.

As the financial scandal in early 2013 became known in Terni,  the Holy See sent Msgr. Ernesto Vecchi, an emeritus auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Bologna as Apostolic Administrator. His task was to restore order in the Diocesan Finance. A few months ago the diocese again has Msgr. Giuseppe Piemontese  as diocesan bishop. Both Administrator Vecchi and the new bishop have fully cooperated with the investigating authorities in order to shed light on the scandal and to clarify responsibilities. It will be  determined who is responsible for the debts of the diocese and for a number of suspicious sales of diocesan property.

"The whole thing is still largely opaque and could be related to other cases, whose  center was Terni," said Nuova Bussola Quotidiana .

President of Sant'Egidio Took Part in the Secret Meetings of the Kasperiens

Curial Archbishop Paglia is, next to the founder and first president, Andrea Ricciardi,  the most important figurehead of the Community of Sant'Egidio.  Although he has no longer been president for many years, the Charlemagne Prize holder and perennial Italian Minister Ricciardi, still is considered a dominant force in the community founded in 1968. His successor Marco Impagliazzo participated on Whit Monday as the sole representative of a "New Community" at the secret meeting of Kasperians at the Gregorian University in Rome. Meanwhile, Archbishop Paglia took part as President of the Pontifical Council on the Family  at the Vatican meeting of the Synod Council convened by the Pope in preparation for the Synod of Bishops. Everywhere, well informed, always on the ball.

Although a possible question of guilt has to be clarified in the investigation against the Kasperian Paglia, from the view of the rebel faction it is nontheless inconvenient for the approaching Synod of Bishops.  This is true for the people involved, the Pontifical Council on the Family and the Community of Sant'Egidio.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: NBQ / Filetelia Umbria

Trans:  Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

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Bishop Synod: Cardinal Baldisseri and Archbishop Paglia Report to Pope Francis

(Rome) On January 28, Pope Francis has received the General of the Synod of Bishops , Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri in audience. He was received with   the Under Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Curia Bishop Fabio Fabene. Baldisseri was before his appointment and being made Cardinal, Secretary of the College of Cardinals, Fabene was Deputy Bureau Chief of the Secretariat of the College of Cardinals.

Today, Friday, the President of  the Pontifical Council for the Family, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia Curia, was received in audience.

From 22th-24th January a Conference was held in advance of the Synod of Bishops on the family for next October in Rome. The Pontifical Council on Family had invited more than 80 of the world's most important Catholic laymen in the family area. The declared aim was to hear the opinion of lay representatives on the subject of the Synod. Cardinal Baldisseri was also present.

Unlike what was evidently expected, the lay movements almost unanimously rejected from the "new family" agenda of the Kasper-line. This provoked a violent slugfest between the angry Cardinal Baldisseri and lay representatives.

Neither the Pontifical Council on Family, the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops nor the Press Office of the Vatican published an explanation after. Following the official Vatican pronouncements, one might get the impression that the meeting never took place.

The audiences for Cardinal Baldisseri, Curial Bishop Fabene and Curial Archbishop Paglia were in connection with the preparation of the final Synod of Bishops on the Family. The Curia representatives meeting  Pope Francis, apparently  were to inform him, inter alia, on the course of the conference with the lay movements.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: vatican.va (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG